Why America loved Playboy

Summary: Playboy magazine is stopping publishing pictures of totally nude women because the internet has made them outdated, its US owners say. It's a break with a 62-year format that has had a significant impact on American culture.

By Vanessa BarfordBBC News Magazine, Washington Every month since 1953, fold-out spreads of fully nude women have filled Playboy. The glossy adult men's magazine boasts a plethora of celebrity conquests in its portfolio. Madonna, Sharon Stone and Naomi Campbell were photographed at the peak of their fame. Kate Moss posed for its front cover in a bunny outfit. Lindsay Lohan and Pamela Anderson have also graced it. The magazine may have offended some who see it as sexist and demeaning to women, but the idea of Playboy dispensing with nudity would once have been unthinkable. But in March 2016, that will happen. "You're now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. And so it's just passe at this juncture," Playboy chief executive Scott Flanders is quoted by the New York Times as saying. The redesigned Playboy will still feature "sexy, seductive pictorials of the world's most beautiful women," but full nudity will be banished. It ends a cultural phenomenon that was a rite of passage for a generation of American men - an illicit thrill in adolescent bedrooms or garden sheds - and helped spark America's sexual revolution. From its beginnings editor-in-chief Hugh Hefner founded the magazine on full nudity. Marilyn Monroe famously appeared on the magazine's first cover and centrefold. Hefner didn't hide the magazine's intentions. "If you're a man between the ages of 18 and 80, Playboy is meant for you," he wrote in the first issue. "We want to make it clear from the very start, we aren't a 'family magazine.' If you're somebody's sister, wife or mother-in-law and picked us up by mistake, please pass us along to the man in your life and get back to your Ladies Home Companion." He also described the "pleasure-primer" he wanted to create. "Most of today's 'magazines for men' spend all their time out-of-doors - thrashing through thorny thickets or splashing about in fast-flowing streams. We enjoy mixing up cocktails and an hors d'oeuvre or two, putting a little mood music on the phonograph, and inviting in a female acquaintance for a quiet discussion on Picasso, Nietzsche, jazz, sex," it said. The 50,000 copies - which were sold for 50 cents each - flew off the shelf. Dian Hanson, author of a six-volume history of men's magazines and an editor for Taschen, says Hefner tapped into a new consumer attitude that emerged at the end of World War Two. "America came out the war relatively unscathed, it did not suffer like Europe. Many young men didn't see battle but had experienced more adventurous things, more nudity, and wanted something different when they came back. "It wasn't the first nude magazine, but rather than showing a macho Hemingwayesque way of life that many men didn't relate to, it showed scrawny intelligent guys they didn't have to be rough, tough guys to be a playboy. It was a nerds' way to sexuality - which is what Hefner himself did to get girls," she says. During Playboy's heyday, readers could plausibly claim they read it for its writing and journalism. The magazine published stories by Jack Kerouac, Joseph Heller, Haruki Murakami and Margaret Atwood among others, and interviewed culturally and politically significant figures such as Frank Sinatra, Malcolm X and Jimmy Carter. But nudity was always a big selling point of the magazine, which attracted or coaxed well-known female public figures into gracing its pages. "Some of the pictures were pretty amazing and became pop culture references. Naomi Campbell in her white trap outfit. American actress Bo Derek," says Hanson. "Esquire magazine was the template. They had painted pin-ups but they didn't have nudes. Hefner basically reconfigured a magazine made by older men to fit a younger man's need, and then took it a step further," she says. Playboy's circulation peaked at more than 7.16m copies in 1972, with a quarter of all American male college students reportedly reading it in the 1970s. It literally explained sex to a generation of American men. The success of Playboy magazine gave way to the rise of the Playboy lifestyle, allowing Hefner to build a Playboy mansion, create Playboy clubs with cocktail waitresses decked out in Bunny outfits and endless Playboy merchandise. The rise of feminism led to some criticism that women were being objectified. US feminist and journalist Gloria Steinem worked undercover at the New York Playboy Club to write "A Bunny's Tale," which showed conditions waitresses faced in 1963. But Hanson argues Playboy magazine was a respectable, even desirable, place for women to "show themselves off". "It was a poor girl's pageant, grandmothers would approve," she says. It also ushered in a new era of women's magazine publishing. Cosmopolitan famously published a nude photo of Burt Reynolds as a centrefold in 1972 and the debut issue of Playgirl appeared in June 1973. More raunchy US competitors like Hustler and Penthouse soon arrived, while so-called lad mags such as Maxim, Stuff and FHM followed later. But it was the internet era - which made pornography more readily available - which the magazine blamed for the circulation plummeting to its current 800,000. The company no longer makes most of its money from its racy photos. Instead it's made from licensing its logo on merchandise. Playboy's website has already banished nudity, and web traffic has quadrupled. Magazine executives hope the print version will follow in its footsteps. But Hanson isn't convinced. "Unless a new breed of hipster manages to get retro magazines back in fashion like vinyl records, without nudity Playboy is a limping beast," she says. More from the Magazine Burt Reynolds nude: 10 facts about the Cosmo centrefold (April 2012) Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

प्लेबॉय पत्रिका पूरी तरह से नग्न महिलाओं की तस्वीरें प्रकाशित करना बंद कर रही है क्योंकि इंटरनेट ने उन्हें पुराना बना दिया है, इसके अमेरिकी मालिकों का कहना है। यह 62 साल के प्रारूप के साथ एक ब्रेक है जिसका अमेरिकी संस्कृति पर महत्वपूर्ण प्रभाव पड़ा है।


Bottle deposit: Recycling the idea of the Pop Man

Summary: There's no recycling like the recycling of ideas.

By Neil PriorBBC News A push by UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove to help build a greener future with a financial incentive for people to return bottles and cans bears a striking similarity to a money-making concept enjoyed by hundreds of Welsh school children in times gone by. Under the new plan, shoppers will be able to avoid a new levy on single-use cans and bottles if they return them for recycling… sounding familiar? Not so very long ago, generations of Welsh children would hurriedly gather up their empty glass bottles when they heard the clink of the Corona Pop Man's van… (or even his horse-and-cart, for those with longer memories). In the 1920s each empty yielded a ha'penny, but by the 1980s it had risen to the princely sum of 10p. As Jason Hughes recalls, growing up in Caernarfon, north Wales in the 1970s, those deposits soon added up. "The pop man was a God-send. If you'd blown your pocket money, or if you'd been naughty, you could always hunt around the house for some empties. "I think it took five or six of them to have enough for a full one, which you'd have to down before your mum got home, then hide the bottle under your bed for the next time." As with so much in Wales, the idea of door-to-door pop deliveries was tied up with the late 19th Century Temperance movement. South Wales valleys-based Corona, along with dozens of similar soft drink brands, were created as a rival to beer, in order to slake the thirst of miners after a shift underground. While they failed to prove a panacea for drunkenness, they were a massive hit in their own right; so much so that by 1934 Corona spread out opening further factories in Pengam, Maesteg and Bridgend, with over 200 delivery drivers serving the whole of south Wales. However, with the introduction of plastic bottles and customers preferring to shop in supermarkets, Corona's Porth plant closed in 1987, to be transformed into - fittingly enough - The Pop Factory. In west Wales however, Tovali kept up the tradition until 2001, but they too were forced to bow to the modern trends. They now manufacture squash and cordials for the retail sector, and managing director Eurwyn Harris is sceptical about any attempts to turn back the clock. "Don't get me wrong, I loved the face-to-face contact we had from collecting customers bottles, but we couldn't do that again," he said. "We had a washery cleaning 5,000 bottles a week in the 1970s, but all that's gone now because we were told plastic was the future." He added: "The levy is a great idea in theory, but how is it going to work? We don't have a plastic recycling plant, so who's going to collect the empties, and where are they supposed to take them? "I think it would be far better if the money they collect was spent on educating households about reducing conspicuous usage, and increasing the amount local authorities recycle."

विचारों के पुनर्चक्रण की तरह कोई पुनर्चक्रण नहीं है।


Tommy Robinson to stand in European Parliament election

Summary: English Defence League (EDL) founder Tommy Robinson has announced he will stand in the upcoming European Parliament elections.

Mr Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is expected to stand as an MEP candidate in the North West England constituency. He pledged to represent "the working class of England" if elected as an Independent MEP. Anti-extremism campaigners Hope Not Hate called for voters to oppose him. There are nine parties and two Independent candidates standing in the North West MEP elections as follows:

इंग्लिश डिफेंस लीग (ईडीएल) के संस्थापक टॉमी रॉबिन्सन ने घोषणा की है कि वह आगामी यूरोपीय संसद चुनावों में खड़े होंगे।


Ministers talking about how to get more cash into NHS

Summary: There won't be a red box brandished on the steps of Number 11, a pint won't be up a penny or down a couple, and the chancellor certainly won't have to reach for a stiffener under the despatch box, like some of his predecessors who had a whiskey stashed there for the odd sip or two to get through a marathon Parliamentary statement.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter What there also will not be in Philip Hammond's spring statement are grand gestures of new spending; no big cheques being signed by Mr Hammond to portion out your money. With the balance of the books improving, the chancellor might sound a bit cheerier than at his last big outing. The public spending numbers appear much healthier than before Christmas. Unless he undergoes a personality transplant overnight, however, he's hardly going to be chucking money about with abandon. Expect instead a focus on paying down the debt and taking a "balanced approach" - that's the government's code for carrying on with tight public spending to pay off the public debt. The argument over the deficit may be over, mostly. But the government wants now to focus on the debt. The Hammond case is that we might have cleared the overdraft, but we still have a hefty mortgage that needs to be paid down. But just because Tuesday's spring statement will be skimpy, it doesn't mean there aren't bigger conversations about the future of the public purse going on. In fact, senior figures in government have told me there are discussions going on in government about one of the biggest political priorities of all - the NHS. Several senior sources say that, at the end of January, the cabinet discussed ways of getting more money into the health service in the long term. That included the foreign secretary's by now familiar argument about the hoped-for but disputed Brexit dividend. But more intriguingly for a Conservative government, I'm told that the cabinet discussed the possibility of tax rises to fund more spending for the NHS, even a hypothecated tax, as spelled out by senior MPs like Nick Boles. This does seem to be rather a change of heart. For months last year, and on the general election trail, the prime minister maintained, time and again, that the NHS has the money that it needs - the funds that it requested. With the opposition and senior Tories calling for a long-term look at the levels of cash, the line seemed to stay the same. In January this year, the prime minister repeated that "we have put money in that was asked for in that review, and we've actually put some extra money in, in the spring statement and the Budget last year to deal with this. "You keep talking about the money but actually what you also need to look at is how the NHS works." Behind closed doors however, that position is shifting. One cabinet minister told me "most of us accept now that something has to happen - we have to find a way". Another said: "It's hard to see how healthcare won't need more money". A different cabinet minister accepted that "conversations are very live" about the best way to make sure that the NHS is getting what it needs. There is no consensus in government yet about the right way to go. Number 10 isn't suddenly about to turn the spending taps on and flood the health service with money. But at the highest levels of government there is a growing acceptance that the NHS will need more cash, even if the government is far from settling when or how.

11 नंबर की सीढ़ियों पर एक लाल बॉक्स नहीं होगा, एक पिंट एक पैसा ऊपर या एक जोड़े नीचे नहीं होगा, और कुलाधिपति को निश्चित रूप से प्रेषण बॉक्स के नीचे एक स्टिफनर के लिए नहीं पहुंचना होगा, जैसे कि उनके कुछ पूर्ववर्तियों ने एक मैराथन संसदीय बयान के माध्यम से प्राप्त करने के लिए विषम घूंट या दो के लिए एक व्हिस्की रखी थी।


Tour de France Grand Depart diary

Summary: With the world's biggest bike race starting in Leeds on 5 July, BBC Yorkshire's Tour de France correspondent Matt Slater rounds up the best of the gossip, opinion and stories, on and off the bike, and also tries to explain some of cycling's unique lingo. TOP STORIES

Two wheels good, four wheels bad: We have known the broad brushstrokes of the road-closure plan in Leeds for some time, now we can see the fine detail. While it might not make for a pretty picture for some, for most it remains a magnificent spectacle that will be remembered and talked about for years to come. And even for those who do not appreciate the Tour's aesthetic charms, this is not a permanent piece, although its effect should linger. Full story: Yorkshire Post For the greater good: On the short-term pain/long-term gain front, the Post's sister tabloid, the YEP, says the "inconvenience caused by the road closures will be worth it". An editorial in the paper points out that with proper planning, common sense and a sense of perspective any disruption to people's lives should be outweighed by the overall benefits to the region. Hear, hear. Full story: Yorkshire Evening Post Foxed in: That is not to say, however, that some people will not be paying a bigger price in terms of inconvenience than others, and they deserve a fair hearing. John Flowers, a railway signalman from Sheffield, is one such person. With his home in the Fox Hill part of the city "cut off" by the Tour for most of Sunday, 6 July, he has launched a website to raise awareness of the area's predicament. "Deep down, everyone in Fox Hill is quite proud of how Sheffield will be in the spotlight, but they just feel that being cut off for so long is over the top," says Flowers. Full story: The Star Public service announcement: But let us end today's press pickings with some typically good sense from the people behind the Dalesman's visitor guides. Here you will find lots of sound advice on where to watch the race, when to get there and how to do it. Fail to prepare; prepare to fail. Full story: Dalesman CYCLING ROUND-UP A quieter day news-wise as pundits get their heads around the idea that the 2012 Tour de France champion Sir Bradley Wiggins really might not be on the start line in Leeds, or perhaps ride a Grand Tour for Team Sky again. As discussed on Tuesday, this is all still to be decided and we all really are just speculating at the moment, but even Chris Froome admitted to me on Saturday that "it's a hot topic". Away from Team Sky's three pipe selection problem, Mark Cavendish's Omega Pharma-Quick Step team seem a much more settled bunch. The Manx sprinter joined his colleagues on Monday for a look at the cobbled sections of stage five on the Belgian/French border. The bumps have been added to the route this year as the Tour's way of marking the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, with stage five beginning in the Belgian town made famous (and flattened) by the conflict, Ypres. For a man who had been shaken about for a bit, Cavendish sounded very chipper: "We're the strongest cobbled classics team in the world and we can win every one." One man who definitely will not be in Yorkshire this summer is the Giro d'Italia champion Nairo Quintana. The organisers of the Tour had been quietly optimistic that the Colombian might be tempted to go for the Giro/Tour double this year, adding another big name to their field. But he has now admitted he is cream-crackered and needs a rest, with his next target being the Vuelta a Espana. He will be back at the Tour next year, though, determined to go one better than last year's second place. TWEET OF THE DAY "Want to get paid to ride to work? Move to France where 25c/km payment is being trialled." @roadcc reports on a scheme being trialled by the French government to encourage people to commute by bike. This could be quite lucrative if, for example, your work commute is, ahem, Macclesfield to Leeds. The days would be quite long, though. A TO Z OF LE TOUR U is for… UCI - Cycling's Fifa, and for many years almost as newsworthy as football's governing body. The Union Cycliste Internationale, or International Cycling Union, is based, like most of its sporting counterparts, in Switzerland, but is led by Lancastrian Brian Cookson, the former head of British Cycling. Much maligned in recent decades due to its inability - some say wilful refusal - to tackle the sport's doping problems, its reputation is on the up again thanks to a sense that the worst of those problems are in the past, cycling's rising popularity and a new focus on issues such as women's cycling. The UCI's main function at the Tour is to supply the commissaires, or referees. And to use that football comparison again, there is nearly always a refereeing controversy at the Tour. TODAY'S TOUR TRIVIA To pick up on that point, one of the most memorable recent controversies involved our very own Mark Cavendish. The year was 2009 and the green jersey competition had come down to a straight, and very tight, battle between the rising British star and his more experienced Norwegian rival Thor Hushovd. The contest had ebbed and flowed between them for a fortnight when Cavendish beat Hushovd in a sprint at the end of stage 14 in Besancon. This was not for the victory - although Cavendish had already claimed four of those - it was for 13th place, as a breakaway group had already claimed the top 12 places. But Hushovd claimed Cavendish had veered across him, forcing him to brake or hit the barriers. The commissaires agreed, and relegated the Manx Missile to last place, giving Hushovd the 13 points on offer. Cavendish was furious, but Hushovd did not back down and would go on a few days later to launch a solo attack on a day in the mountains to claim all maximum points in the intermediate sprints. Cavendish would hit back with two more sprint wins, to beat Hushovd 6-1 on that count, but the Norwegian would win the green jersey for his greater consistency but by only 10 points.

5 जुलाई को लीड्स में शुरू होने वाली दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी बाइक दौड़ के साथ, बीबीसी यॉर्कशायर के टूर डी फ्रांस संवाददाता मैट स्लेटर बाइक के अंदर और बाहर गपशप, राय और कहानियों का सबसे अच्छा दौर पेश करते हैं, और साइकिल चलाने की कुछ अनूठी भाषा को समझाने की भी कोशिश करते हैं।


How the French came together for Euro 2016

Summary: France is recovering from its defeat by Portugal in the final of the European Championships in Paris. But despite the loss of the trophy, the host nation walked away from the National Stadium on Sunday with a more highly-prized achievement.

By Lucy WilliamsonBBC Paris correspondent It is France, after all, so there was applause for the winner. Good manners count for a lot here. Scattered applause, to be sure, and understandably half-hearted, but the gesture was there, and many of those gathered in front of TV screens in the bars around the Bataclan on Sunday night were determined to be philosophical rather than bitter. "Of course we wanted to win," said Floris, leaning against the railings of a nearby metro station as he absorbed the news. "We are very disappointed, everybody is sad… "But we were all together tonight. All the country was together behind France, and that's the sort of thing we will never forget: even if we lose, we are together, we are French, we are happy to be French." Portugal stun hosts to win Euros We threw away great chance to win title - Deschamps The coming together of this country was a poignant moment for many, because this tournament was always about more than football for France. It was about lifting the sense of gloom that has permeated the nation since the terror attacks last year; it was about healing the divisions running through the nation; and it was about proving that France could keep its people secure. On that last point, the authorities here will be enjoying a moment of relief. In the run-up to the games, 100,000 security personnel were drafted in to provide protection, and public excitement here was muted amid fears of another attack. But aside from some inter-fan violence in the early stages, few of the security fears around the Euros have materialised, and the Interior Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said on Monday morning that the tournament had been "a success" despite the high security threat. Neither have long-running strikes and protests affected games too badly, nor the floods, nor any of the other grim cycle of challenges that France has faced over the last 18 months. But the terror attacks, economic crisis and worsening social division here have taken their toll, and it has sometimes felt as if everywhere the French looked, the picture seemed dark. The traces of last year's attacks were woven through this competition too: the appearance of the president to watch the national team at the Stade de France brought back memories of the night they played there on 13 November, when suicide bombers blew themselves up outside. The sister of France's star striker, Antoine Griezmann, survived the siege at the Bataclan that night. The Bataclan itself, just down the street from where Floris and his friends were commiserating on Sunday night, is still boarded up. But all along this boulevard, the terraces were packed, the crowds refusing to give in to their fears. "I was very happy that everything went well during this Euro," said Floris. "We were all outside, you know, we weren't at our homes. We go outside, watching the game, because we are free, we are French and we are happy to be here." Striking comments from a losing fan, but then from where France stands, almost everything did go well during the Euros. They did not get the trophy, but they stayed safe. The games, billed as a prime target for terrorism, showed that attacks weren't always inevitable, and that it wasn't only disaster that could bring the country together. If only for a month, this tournament gave France permission to feel good again.

फ्रांस पेरिस में यूरोपीय चैंपियनशिप के फाइनल में पुर्तगाल से मिली हार से उबर रहा है। लेकिन ट्रॉफी गंवाने के बावजूद मेजबान देश रविवार को अधिक सम्मानित उपलब्धि के साथ नेशनल स्टेडियम से बाहर चला गया।


Huawei: 'We stand naked in front of the world'

Summary: Huawei has denied that it has any links to the Chinese government.

By Mary-Ann RussonBusiness reporter, BBC News Huawei's cyber-security chief John Suffolk told MPs on Monday that the tech giant had never been asked by China or any other government to "do anything untoward". Mr Suffolk said Huawei welcomed outsiders to analyse its products and detect engineering or coding flaws. "We stand naked in front of the world, but we would prefer to do that, because it enables us to improve our products." He added: "We want people to find things, whether they find one or one thousand, we don't care. We are not embarrassed by what people find." Huawei was invited to the Technology and Science Select Committee to answer questions from MPs on the security of its equipment, and its links to the Chinese government. The US has encouraged allies to block Huawei - the world's largest maker of telecoms equipment - from their 5G networks, saying the Chinese government could use its products for surveillance. "We've never had a request from the Chinese government to do anything untoward at all," said Mr Suffolk. "We have never been asked by the Chinese government or any other government, I might add, to do anything that would weaken the security of a product." MPs raised concerns about Chinese human rights abuses, such as reports that up to a million Muslims are in detention centres in Xinjiang province. They asked whether Huawei was required to provide equipment to Xinjiang province, especially in light of the 2017 Chinese intelligence law, which requires individuals and associations to comply with Chinese intelligent agencies. Mr Suffolk said: "We have had to go through a period of clarification with the Chinese government, that has come out and made it quite clear that that is not the requirement of any company. "We've had that validated via our lawyers and revalidated by Clifford Chance...according to our legal advice, that does not require Huawei to undertake anything that weakens Huawei's position in terms of security." Remote access MPs asked whether Huawei would be able to remotely access the UK's 5G mobile networks via its equipment. In reply, Mr Suffolk stressed that Huawei is a provider of telecommunications equipment to mobile network operators. "We don't run networks, and because we don't run the network, we have no access to any of the data that is running across that network," he said. He also explained that Huawei is only one of about 200 vendors who would be providing various different bits of equipment that would eventually make up a 5G network in the UK. However, if an operator were to have a problem with Huawei equipment, a support centre based in Romania would be able to remotely access the equipment to fix the problem. MPs wanted to know whether it would be possible for a 5G network to be used to track an individual user. In response, Mr Suffolk explained that mobile phone technology requires the mobile operator to constantly track a user's phone, in order to be able to connect them to the mobile network. By that logic, the operator is constantly tracking all of its customers, all the time. He also told MPs that only about 30% of the the components in Huawei products are actually made by the company - the rest of the components are obtained from a global supply chain that Huawei closely monitors in order to prevent security breaches.

हुआवेई ने इस बात से इनकार किया है कि उसका चीनी सरकार से कोई संबंध है।


The day the entire German fleet surrendered

Summary: Armistice Day is remembered as the day World War One ended, but for naval historians Britain's greatest victory came 10 days later. Operation ZZ was the code name for the surrender of Germany's mighty navy.

By Marek PruszewiczBBC World Service For those who witnessed "Der Tag" or "The Day" it was a sight they would never forget - the greatest gathering of warships the world had ever witnessed. It was still dark in the Firth of Forth when the mighty dreadnoughts of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet began to raise steam and one by one let slip their moorings. The huge shapes of more than 40 battleships and battlecruisers began to ease out, course set due east. As the procession of steel headed for the open water of the North Sea, more than 150 cruisers and destroyers joined them. The mightiest fleet ever to sail from Britain's shores was heading for a final rendezvous with its mortal enemy - the German High Seas Fleet. Victory would be total. But there was to be no battle. After four years of naval stalemate, this was the day when Germany would deliver her warships into British hands, without a shot being fired. The date was 21 November 1918. World War One had ended on land 10 days earlier, but this was to be the decisive day of victory at sea. After tense negotiation, Germany had agreed to deliver its fleet - the second biggest in the world behind only the Royal Navy - into the hands of the British. The mighty assembly steaming to meet the Germans was a reception committee so overwhelming that it would brook no changes of plan. "The Royal Navy perceived something that others did not. They wanted to underline to the Germans that they had truly been defeated, and nothing does that better than having to surrender your fleet into the enemy's hands," explains Andrew Choong, Curator of Ships, Plans and Historic Photographs at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Operation ZZ saw the mightiest gathering of warships in one place on one day in naval history. It was a sight those who saw it would never forget. The unnamed correspondent for the Times, watching from the deck of the British flagship the dreadnought HMS Queen Elizabeth, was overwhelmed: "The annals of naval warfare hold no parallel to the memorable event which it has been my privilege to witness today. It was the passing of a whole fleet, and it marked the final and ignoble abandonment of a vainglorious challenge to the naval supremacy of Britain." Two days earlier nine German battleships, five battlecruisers, seven cruisers and 50 destroyers had set sail, heading west. Under the terms of the Armistice which had ended the war they were to hand themselves over in the Firth of Forth, before being brought to the lonely Orkney anchorage of Scapa Flow. It was a fleet built to challenge Britain's dominance at sea. Its construction had sparked a naval arms race which helped turn the two countries against one another. As an island nation, dependent on imports to feed itself, Britain had to rule the waves. Defeat at sea by Germany could have led to blockade, possible starvation and surrender. The commanders of the Royal Navy knew it was not an option. As Winston Churchill had said, Sir John Jellicoe, the admiral who led the Royal Navy until 1916, was "the only man on either side who could lose the war in an afternoon". To avoid that possibility Britain built more warships and bigger warships than Germany. Throughout the war she held an advantage of roughly two-to-one in battleships and battlecruisers. Superiority in numbers was designed to make defeat in battle impossible, and bottle up the Germans on the other side of the North Sea. It worked. "A lot is said about how close Germany's U-boats came to strangling Britain in 1917, but if you turn it around, by early 1915 the seas were empty of German merchant ships," explains Andrew Choong. "Germany's overseas trade was effectively shut off overnight. It ended up causing her major problems later in the war." The blockade of Germany meant that by 1918 it was the Germans who were hungry, not the British. Unrest followed, then a clamour for peace. For maritime historians like Andrew Choong, the strategic defeat of Germany at sea was an even greater British contribution to victory than the battles fought on land. "I personally think the maritime contribution was our most important one, but not in battle. It was the quieter strangulation by blockade," he says. As he led his fleet out of the Firth of Forth, Sir David Beatty, Jellicoe's successor as commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet, could count on an overwhelming superiority to forestall any final show of German defiance. As well as his ships, he was joined by five American battleships and three French warships. Nevertheless, he was taking no chances. His orders issued the night before were clear - ships were to be ready for action: "Turrets and guns are to be kept in the securing positions, but free. Guns are to be empty with cages up and loaded ready for ramming home. Directors and armoured towers are to be trained on. Correct range and deflection are to be kept set continuously on the sights." As the Grand Fleet sailed into the North Sea, it formed two massive columns, one to the north, one to the south, six miles apart. Just before 10:00 it met the Germans, being led to their surrender by the British light cruiser HMS Cardiff. The Allied columns swung round to due west, forming an overwhelming escort on either side of the Germans. The Times correspondent described the scene: "Between the lines came the Germans, led by the Cardiff, and looking for all the world like a school of leviathans led by a minnow. Over them flew a British naval airship. First came the battlecruisers, headed by the Seydlitz." By late morning it was over. The German ships, missing one destroyer which had struck a mine and sunk, lay at anchor off the Isle of May in the outer reaches of the Firth of Forth, surrounded by their jailers. Beatty rammed home the message with a curt signal: "The German flag will be hauled down at sunset today and will not be hoisted again without permission." Before holding a service of thanksgiving on board HMS Queen Elizabeth, Beatty thanked the sailors of the Grand Fleet. "My congratulations on the victory which has been gained over the sea power of our enemy. The greatest of this achievement is in no way lessened by the fact that the final episode did not take the form of a fleet action." The Royal Navy stood at the apex of its power. Britannia truly ruled the waves. "As of that date, Britain was still the world's predominant naval power, and the world's second naval power had just placed its ships in our custody," Choong explains. But it was not to last. Within a few months the German fleet would be at the bottom of Scapa Flow, scuttled by skeleton crews in a final act of defiance. With no enemy left to face, and Britain desperate to slash military budgets, the Royal Navy could not justify the expense of its massive ships. "The majority were scrapped between the 1920s and the early 1930s. A handful of the most capable went on to serve in World War Two," explains Choong. At least one of the British battleships, HMS Hercules, was towed across the North Sea to meet her fate in a breakers yard in the German naval port of Kiel. But as darkness fell on 21 November 1918 that was still in future. As buglers played "making sunset", cheers rang out from the sailors of the Grand Fleet. The Times correspondent knew he had witnessed a unique spectacle. "The plan of the operation will not convey to the mind any conception of the scene, but it must be placed on permanent record, for it indicates a disposition of hostile fleets such as has never been seen before and will in all likelihood never be seen again." Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

युद्धविराम दिवस को प्रथम विश्व युद्ध समाप्त होने के दिन के रूप में याद किया जाता है, लेकिन नौसेना इतिहासकारों के लिए ब्रिटेन की सबसे बड़ी जीत 10 दिन बाद हुई। ऑपरेशन जेडजेड जर्मनी की शक्तिशाली नौसेना के आत्मसमर्पण का सांकेतिक नाम था।


Dominic Cummings row: The families who stayed away in lockdown

Summary: Boris Johnson said his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, "followed the instincts of every father and every parent" when he drove his wife and child to County Durham during lockdown, rather than isolating at his London home. But there has been anger from members of the public who did not travel to be closer to their families amidst the crisis.

Kathryn de Prudhoe, from Leeds, and her husband had coronavirus in the first two weeks of lockdown. But despite having to take care of their two children - aged five and eight-years-old - and her step-father falling ill, they stayed at home and "followed the guidelines". She told the BBC that her mother was "left on her own" when her stepfather went into hospital, leaving her isolating alone for 14 days. And when she went to drop shopping at her mother's door, Kathryn discovered her stepfather had taken a turn for the worse. "We had to stay three metres apart when she got the news that life support was being turned off," she said. "I sat on a camping chair three metres apart from her. I didn't hug her. We knew that was the right thing to do and we did what we had to do to keep ourselves and others safe." When Kathryn's stepfather was laid to rest, only five people were allowed to attend the funeral. "To now see what Dominic Cummings did, to make a completely new set of rules for himself when we have sacrificed so much, it's completely disrespectful," she said. "To see somebody who's made the rules flouting them so blatantly is really insulting to families like mine." 'Rest of the country has been staying away' Alison Gee, from Guildford, has two grandchildren who she has not been able to see - or help - in the lockdown. "My children have all had symptoms and are trying to work from home, with one child of 16 months and another of nine months," she said. "But I have not, as their grandmother, been allowed to help them out by looking after their grandchildren." Alison said the situation with Mr Cummings was "ridiculous", adding: "The rest of the country has been staying away from relatives, even when fully fit or recovered from Covid-19 as advised, with grandparents not seeing their children or grandchildren - not even newborns. "Yet this man who advises the government to implement these rules decided to travel with his family, who have symptoms." Alison said had she known it was "justifiable and reasonable" to do so, she would have travelled the five miles to look after her grandchildren when their parents were ill. "That would have saved our family an enormous amount of anguish and heartbreak," she said. "[It is] yet another ludicrous situation this government has brought about." 'Emotional cost' Tony Bryson from Ayr said he was "livid" about the actions of Mr Cummings after he missed a family funeral due to the lockdown. His uncle, Ryan Storrie, died 10 days after first showing symptoms of coronavirus. "I couldn't go to my uncle's funeral because only a certain number of people could go," said Tony. "He was only 40. There would have been a lot of people there. "Missing the funeral is something I'll regret for a long time. It's got an emotional cost." Tony said Mr Cummings' trip was "such a clear breach of the guidelines". He added: "There have been all these stories about people being stopped driving to places and this guy's driven further than any of them. "He gets away with it because he's part of the government." He also worried it would "put the whole situation at risk", saying: "If the guidelines don't apply to him, why should they apply to anyone else?" 'Everyone local was there for us' Mick Carter from Surrey has been self-isolating due to having COPD and Asthma, so stuck to the rules by shielding at home. But while he was staying indoors, his mother passed away in a care home just one mile from his own house. "When the lockdown came into full effect I couldn't see her at all," he said. "We got the phone-call saying she was unwell and then a few hours later [she died]." Mick's mother did not have Covid-19, but because of social distancing, he still could not say goodbye, and he still hasn't been able to see his 15-year-old daughter either. "I have been watching every update," he said. "I am on the vulnerable list, but all I wanted was food deliveries. "Everyone local was there for us - my family is all over the place, so I couldn't go to them." He said his family were "staunchly following the lockdown" because "this is what Brits do". "When you see [Mr Cummings' actions] being defended by the PM, I feel cheated out of seeing my mum for the last time," said Mick. "I feel like Dominic Cummings has no respect for the living or the dead."

बोरिस जॉनसन ने कहा कि उनके मुख्य सलाहकार, डोमिनिक कमिंग्स ने "हर पिता और हर माता-पिता की प्रवृत्ति का पालन किया" जब वह अपने लंदन के घर पर अलग-थलग रहने के बजाय लॉकडाउन के दौरान अपनी पत्नी और बच्चे को काउंटी डरहम ले गए। लेकिन जनता के सदस्यों से गुस्सा आया है जो संकट के बीच अपने परिवारों के करीब होने के लिए यात्रा नहीं करते थे।


How Sean Quinn ended up bankrupt

Summary: Fermanagh business man Sean Quinn has been declared bankrupt at Belfast High Court despite the majority of the 64-year-old's holdings and debt being from the Irish Republic. So why has this happened?

By John CampbellBBC News The personal bankruptcy laws in the Republic are onerous - it typically takes 12 years to be discharged from bankruptcy, though in some cases it can be five. In the Republic you will also lose your pension. As a result there are a tiny number of bankruptcies in the Republic - just 30 in 2010. In Northern Ireland and the UK you can be discharged from bankruptcy after a year. You will also keep your pension. As a result the courts would process 30 bankruptcies in a slow week. This means that people with huge debts in Ireland are moving to the UK to take advantage of those differences. The Cork developer John Fleming who owes about 1bn euros was discharged from bankruptcy this week. He had moved to live in Essex. Contracts for Difference (CFD) were Quinn's undoing - in essence they are financial products which allow you to bet on shares without having to own the shares. In that respect they are a derivative - they derive their value from the underlying share. CFDs have three main advantages: Privacy - your name does not appear on the share register Tax - you don't have to pay stamp duty as you would if you bought the shares Leverage - As you are not buying the shares you don't have to put down the full amount of the money. You can 'lever- up' with borrowings. But with leverage always lies danger. Quinn was betting that the price of the shares would rise and he would profit from the difference between the price at which he bought the derivative contract and the new price. Hence 'contract for difference'. But when the Anglo Irish Bank share price nosedived Quinn was in trouble. He was hit with a series of 'margin calls' which meant he had to keep putting up more and more of his money. Eventually things got so bad he had to crystallise his losses by buying the shares outright - which he did by borrowing the 2bn euros from the Anglo Irish Bank. And it's due to those borrowings that he's bust.

फर्मानाघ के व्यवसायी सीन क्विन को बेलफास्ट उच्च न्यायालय में दिवालिया घोषित कर दिया गया है, जबकि 64 वर्षीय की अधिकांश हिस्सेदारी और ऋण आयरिश गणराज्य से है। तो ऐसा क्यों हुआ?


Superfast broadband 'will bring Berkshire £150m'

Summary: Berkshire's economy will be over £150m better off if Bracknell Forest gets superfast broadband, the council's chief executive has claimed.

Broadband providers are expected to provide 80% of Berkshire homes with the service before the end of 2015. However, over 37,000 homes will be left without it. Victor Nicholls, from Bracknell Forest Council, is urging people to support online campaign Superfastberkshire to campaign for the service in the area. Mr Nicholls said that council research estimates that superfast broadband would help create 2,300 new jobs in the area in the next five to seven years and generate £150m. "Fast broadband is hugely beneficial for businesses and makes the area attractive to commercial investors," he said.

परिषद के मुख्य कार्यकारी ने दावा किया है कि अगर ब्रैकनेल फॉरेस्ट को सुपरफास्ट ब्रॉडबैंड मिलता है तो बर्कशायर की अर्थव्यवस्था 150 मिलियन पाउंड से अधिक बेहतर होगी।


Can Ethiopia cope with worst drought in decades?

Summary: Ethiopia is suffering its worst drought in 30 years, but the country is better equipped to cope than the crisis in 1984, writes the BBC's Clive Myrie, who has visited one of the worst affected areas.

It is a hard-scrabble life being a farmer in northern Ethiopia. Normal years are tough. In some areas the soil is poor for farming. There is little or no application of manure, so it is low in nutrients and crop yields are not as high as they could and should be. Any failure of seasonal rains spells big trouble, because reserve stockpiles of food will never be plentiful. Bertukan Ali has lived such a life like many of the rural poor in the district of North Wallo, the most drought-prone region of Ethiopia. Earlier this year she and her family waited patiently for the spring "belg" rains to fall. Day after day they waited. Their fields, full of sorghum seeds, were thirsty. But the rains never came. "OK", she said to herself, "we'll survive. The spring 'belg' are notoriously unreliable anyway, the summer 'kiremt' rains will shower the sorghum seeds in warm water." So they waited, and waited, but again the rains did not come. 'Everyone is suffering' When I met Bertukan a couple of days ago, she had just buried her five-year-old son Abdu Mohammed. He was a sickly child, not in the best of health, but when the family ran out of food because the rains did not come, he just got weaker and weaker. Bertukan and I visited his grave, crowned with a vibrant green canopy of vine leaves. We stood in front of it, and suddenly she began to cry. I did not know what to do. I did not know how to console her, help take away her pain. So I put my arm around her, it seemed to make sense at the time. Bertukan told me that when Abdu Mohammed died, she felt as if she'd lost everything. "Everyone is suffering," she told me. "We all have so little to eat because there was no harvest this season." The UN says that in one area, two babies were dying every day. So Bertukan had joined a growing list of other mothers who had been left inconsolable. As bad as 1984? Many Ethiopians still remember the famine more than 30 years ago that spawned a global humanitarian response. I met a man this week in North Wallo, less than 50 minutes drive from Korem, the area where so many people died in 1984, who recalls a "famine of biblical proportions". Abera Weldu is now 68 and he has a face full of character. Like someone out of a pulp fiction novel, he had seen it all, done it all. Every crease, every line, betrayed a life full of experience, and one of those experiences is having lived through the worst drought in a hundred years. He looked me right in the eye, and like the man from a pulp fiction novel, gave it to me straight, both barrels blazing. "Although this drought has just started, it's going to get worse," he said. "It's already really severe. Some people have died of hunger, others are sick in their beds - right now it's just like 1984." "Hang on," I thought to myself, "some estimates put those dying in the drought of 31 years ago at 100,000 to 200,000 people." But the UN confirmed what Abera knew in his gut, from experience. The failure of the rains in 2015 were indeed as bad as the failure of the rains in 1984. Much has improved But much has changed in the intervening years. In the 1980s, money that may have helped ease the effects of the drought, was instead used to fight a war to keep the country together, with the province of Eritrea wanting to break away. Eritrea gained independence in 1993 but later fought a bitter border war with Ethiopia, which ended in 2000. Ethiopia's economy is now one of the fastest growing in the world according to the International Monetary Fund - a far cry from the 1980s. So much so that the government is now able to set aside $192m (£127m) to help deal with the current emergency, although the UN says far more is needed. Poorer farmers in rural areas have for several years now been able to take advantage of a sort of social security safety net, where in lean times they have received money for public works, like digging water holes for animals. That has meant that fewer people have starved when harvests have been poor. And crucially Ethiopia has moved to a much more federal system of government since 1984. This means local officials have more autonomy to assess regional needs and mobilise resources more quickly to deal with hunger. When I spoke with Bertukan Ali, by the grave of her son, she was carrying one of her other little boys in a sling on her back. He looked fit and strong. Maybe he will survive this drought.

इथियोपिया 30 वर्षों में अपने सबसे खराब सूखे का सामना कर रहा है, लेकिन देश 1984 के संकट से निपटने के लिए बेहतर तरीके से सुसज्जित है, बीबीसी के क्लाइव माइरी लिखते हैं, जिन्होंने सबसे बुरी तरह प्रभावित क्षेत्रों में से एक का दौरा किया है।


Utoeya: How does a country recover from mass murder?

Summary: It's been nearly two years since Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik murdered 77 people, most of them teenagers. Nearly a quarter of Norwegians knew someone directly affected. But as the country began to grieve together, it also embarked on a unique process of healing.

By Stephanie HegartyBBC World Service "It's hard to understand what happened. We read about it. We've seen the movies. But I don't think you can fully understand what happened out there," says Trond Henry Blattman, who lost his son Torjus on Utoeya island on 22 July 2011. "It was the most secure place to be in Norway that day." Mr Blattman is now leader of the 7/22 National Support Group for bereaved families, who have gathered for a weekend every six months since the attacks to share their experience of grieving. It is part of a series of initiatives that offer intensive, targeted, psychological support to survivors of the massacre and the bereaved. "It is a kind of support to feel that the other families had the same kind of thoughts that you had. How did it happen? Did he suffer a lot?" he says. "You get support from that, to feel that everybody is in the same kind of position." Collective therapy on a national scale like this had never been attempted before. The group met for the fourth and final time in February and though many families would have liked them to continue, Mr Blattman says they have done their job. "The most important thing after the fourth gathering is that people can move on. Of course we lost our child, life will never be the same. It will be different, but hopefully it will be good." These meetings are part of a co-ordinated effort by the Norwegian authorities to bring help to everyone affected by the attacks. "Faced with this very large terrorist attack we realised we had to do something special in order to co-ordinate all the groups and organisations," says Dr Bjorn Guldvog, Norway's chief medical officer. Just two days after the massacre, a group of government agencies and voluntary groups met to form a plan to deal with those affected by trauma. They set up a proactive system of support. Survivors and the bereaved would not have to go find help, it would come to them. Those affected by the bombing in Oslo, most of whom worked for the government, would get help through their workplace. The survivors and bereaved from Utoeya Island, who had come from all over the country, would be looked after within their local municipalities. Local health authorities would be responsible for knocking on doors and making phone calls to them. If help was refused the first time, the idea was they should return later. However, not everyone necessarily wanted or needed help. Research shows that there is a natural healing process which, over time, means most people recover from trauma. Statistics range widely and it is thought that anything from five to 35 per cent of people will experience an adverse psychological reaction in the immediate aftermath of trauma. Without psychological intervention a smaller number will go on to develop serious psychological problems such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Figures released this year in Norway reveal that around half of all Utoeya survivors are experiencing psychological difficulties. Dr Alte Dyregrov, head of the centre for Crisis Psychology in Bergen, says there are many reasons why this is higher than average. The age of the victims and the nature of the attack and where it happened had a profound effect. The young people were somewhere that should have been a very safe place but instead they found themselves being hunted down. "They struggle with the brutality of the assault, the intrusive images," Dr Dyregrov says. "This was an hour of fighting for their life. It was a different kind of experience for civilians, they are not military personnel." Norway learned from previous disasters. After the tsunami in Thailand in 2004 - in which many Norwegians were caught up - they found that bringing people back to the scene of the disaster helped them to deal with trauma and loss. "It is important for people who have lost their loved ones to be able to go back to the place where that person spent their last minutes and their last seconds, to get a feeling of connection," says Dr Guldvog. Only a month after the attacks, survivors and the bereaved were taken back to Utoeya island. With the help of the police they were able to give the exact position where each young person had died and relatives could lay a flower or hold some sort of ceremony on the site. "Everyone has a lot of imagination in these kind of situations and it is important for them to have as real a picture of what happened as possible. It helps them with coping later," says Dr Guldvog. "Controlled re-exposure" like this was not new. After a maritime disaster in 1999 in which 69 people survived and 16 died, survivors and the bereaved were taken back to the scene together. "We had some saying, 'This is how I survived,' while there were others there who had lost their loved ones. That was not a good way of doing it, " says Atle Dyregrov. "We learned from that not to do it again." Survivors of Utoeya were taken back to the island but on a different day. Supporting Utoeya victims was made more complex because so many of them were teenagers. The killing spree happened during the summer holidays and four weeks later young survivors had to start a new school year. Schools and universities across Norway had to find a way of supporting them as well as those who had lost friends and classmates. Ronja Breisnes, 18, survived the killing spree on Utoeya by hiding in a toilet for three hours with seven other young people. She texted her mother throughout the ordeal, all the time well aware that her friends had already been killed. "I experienced a lot of flashbacks and nightmares. I still have them sometimes, repeating themselves," she says. Often she woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep. When she returned to school, she was regularly late or absent from class. She found it hard to study and struggled with what to tell her classmates. Her head teacher Hans Vibe had formulated his own plan to deal with the tragedy - he relaxed rules on attendance and performance, usually very strict in Norway. He also assigned sensitive teachers to teach the classes he knew would be worst affected. He acted on his own initiative but the same advice from the Education Directorate was then rolled out across Norway. Though what happened on the 22 July 2011 will haunt Norway for many years to come, the way it dealt with its collective trauma offers a blueprint for communities dealing with a national tragedy. Of course, it helps that Norway is a small and wealthy country but it was the collective, unified response that made the recovery effort possible. For some like Trond Henry Blattman the act of bringing people together was as much a part of the healing process as the treatment received. "I think if I had asked Torjus then he would have said, 'This is very important work Dad, I think you need to (do it). This is something you can focus on because you can help a lot of people.'" says Mr Blattman. "He's an inspiration for me." Healing Norway will be broadcast on BBC World Service as part of The Truth About Mental Health season.

नॉर्वे के सामूहिक हत्यारे एंडर्स ब्रेविक को 77 लोगों की हत्या किए हुए लगभग दो साल हो चुके हैं, जिनमें से अधिकांश किशोर थे। नॉर्वे के लगभग एक चौथाई लोग जानते थे कि कोई व्यक्ति सीधे प्रभावित हुआ है। लेकिन जैसे-जैसे देश ने मिलकर शोक मनाना शुरू किया, इसने उपचार की एक अनूठी प्रक्रिया भी शुरू कर दी।


Consett murder inquiry: No action against arrested teenage boy

Summary: No further action will be taken against a teenage boy following the death of a 47-year-old man in County Durham.

The 14-year-old was arrested on suspicion of murder after David Cameron died following what police called an altercation in Consett on 5 December. Durham Police has now submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which concluded that there was no realistic prospect of conviction. As a result, the teenager has been released without charge. A spokesman for the force said it had been "thorough in gathering all the available evidence". Related Internet Links Durham Police

काउंटी डरहम में एक 47 वर्षीय व्यक्ति की मृत्यु के बाद एक किशोर लड़के के खिलाफ आगे कोई कार्रवाई नहीं की जाएगी।


BMI Regional sale talks advance

Summary: An Aberdeen-based consortium is closing in on a deal to buy the regional division of BMI, following the takeover of the larger BMI airline by British Airways owner IAG.

Granite Aviation is in advanced talks with IAG over the sale of the division for about £20m. Aberdeen-based BMI Regional employs more than 300 people and operates 19 aircraft between smaller city airports. An announcement on a possible deal is expected in the next two weeks. If the regional deal goes ahead, Granite Aviation could take on the BMI brand when IAG stops using it on BMI's mainstream services. IAG has said it has no plans to keep operating the regional division and low-fare BMI Baby. Earlier this week it expressed doubts about being able to sell the two units. IAG boss Willie Walsh said he was "not confident" about selling them.

ब्रिटिश एयरवेज के मालिक आई. ए. जी. द्वारा बड़ी बी. एम. आई. एयरलाइन के अधिग्रहण के बाद एबरडीन स्थित एक संघ बी. एम. आई. के क्षेत्रीय विभाजन को खरीदने के लिए एक सौदे पर बंद हो रहा है।


Birmingham's landmark House of Fraser saved from closure

Summary: A department store that was set for closure after its owner went into administration has been saved, according to staff sources.

House of Fraser on Corporation Street in Birmingham, affectionately known as Rackhams, currently employs more than 600 staff. The store was one of dozens earmarked to shut before the chain, which went into administration, was bought by Sports Direct for £90m. House of Fraser is yet to comment. Staff told the BBC they were given the news earlier this week, but were given no more information. House of Fraser has not yet confirmed the news officially and has not responded to requests for comment.

कर्मचारियों के सूत्रों के अनुसार, एक डिपार्टमेंट स्टोर जिसे उसके मालिक के प्रशासन में जाने के बाद बंद कर दिया गया था, उसे बचा लिया गया है।


How can you tell who's won the local elections?

Summary: If you've been reading about the local elections, which take place in England on 3 May, you might have seen people talking about 'benchmarks' or suggesting numbers of seats that would count as a good result for each of the parties.

By Peter BarnesSenior Elections and Political Analyst, BBC News But what do they mean? And should you pay any attention? The four-year cycle Interpreting local election results in England is not easy. For one thing, there's more than one kind of council and they follow different electoral cycles. In some places voters elect all the councillors once every four years. In other places the councillors are elected a third at a time or a half at a time. Also, the list of places that have elections varies from year to year. In 2018 the elections are weighted towards places where Labour is strong. They currently hold more than half the seats that are up for election and it would take a big shift for them not to end up as the party that wins the most seats on 3 May. Last year it was the opposite. The local elections were concentrated in places where Conservatives are dominant. This geographical variation means it's not particularly useful just to look at the total number of seats each party wins. That's why election analysts tend to focus on change - the number of seats each party gains or loses. What are the results in your council election? How the BBC is reporting the results Baselines and boundary changes In general, councillors are elected for four year terms. That means that most of the seats which are being contested in 2018 were last fought in 2014. We talk about 2014 being the principal 'baseline' year. Gains and losses of seats will mostly be gains and losses compared to 2014. So any assessment of the results this time will have to take into account what happened then. This is the top of the 2014 scoreboard. Labour, UKIP and the Greens made gains. The Conservatives and Lib Dems lost out. There are exceptions to the four year rule. Just like the Westminster parliament, local councils are occasionally subject to boundary changes. When that happens, the normal procedure is that all of the new seats are contested at once, even if that's not the standard pattern. Then some councillors might only get to serve a short term before they have to face the voters again. So there are some council seats being elected this year which were actually last contested in 2015 and 2016 when boundary changes took place in their respective councils. In other cases, councils switch to a different electoral cycle. There were 11 councils with elections in 2014 that don't have them at all this time. Finally, there are councils being fought for the first time on new boundaries at this election. In those cases, just like with parliamentary elections, the BBC and other broadcasters use 'notional' baselines - estimates of how many seats each party would have won if the new boundaries had been in place at previous elections. Putting this all together gives the following figures for the number of seats each party is defending. Benchmarks One way of forecasting local election results is to look at recent opinion polls and compare them against polls from four years ago. If a party has gone up in the polls since then it might be expected to gain seats. If it's gone down in the polls it might be expected to lose seats. By looking into the voting numbers in more detail you can come up with benchmark figures for how many seats each party could be expected to gain or lose if they perform in line with recent polls. The crucial point to realise is that this kind of benchmark does not on its own give you a clear idea of what would count as a 'good' result. If a party is flying high in the polls in comparison with four years ago then a polling benchmark will forecast a large number of gains. If it makes slightly fewer gains you might say that the party has not done quite as well as the polls had suggested. You might also conclude that the party will be a bit disappointed. You should not necessarily say that it has performed badly. It's also possible to produce a similar type of benchmark by looking at the results of local council by-elections instead of opinion polls. These by-elections take place throughout the year when councillors resign or die in office. Using this method, professors Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher estimate that Labour is on course to win about 200 extra seats, mostly in London, whilst the Conservatives could expect a net loss of 75 seats. The Liberal Democrats would make modest gains whilst UKIP would struggle to hold on to the seats they are defending. Again, though, it's important to understand that the benchmark forecasts are an extrapolation from recent by-election results, not an assessment of what would count as a 'good' result. So how do you judge who's done well? Government and opposition One regular pattern in local council results is that the parties who are in government in Westminster tend to lose seats whereas opposition parties tend to gain them, except in years which also have general elections. Looking back again at 2014, when the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were in coalition, that's exactly what happened. For the main opposition party, failing to achieve gains in non-general election years is a sign of a poor performance. Labour did suffer losses in 2016 - by any measure a bad result - but they lost fewer seats than people had predicted. They also lost seats in 2017 but, of course, that turned out to be a general election year. Historic highs and lows Another way of gauging results is to look back at the total number of councillors each party has had over time. Gains are less impressive if a party is starting off from an historic low point. In London, strong gains for Labour could see them set a new record for the number of seats held. The figure to beat is the 1,221 they won in 1971. Substantial losses for the Conservatives could see them fall beneath their 1994 low point of 519 seats - not a record they want to set. Nationally, the picture is different though. The Conservatives have more than 9,200 seats across Britain compared to Labour's 6,400 and will still be the biggest party in local government whatever happens. The Liberal Democrats are also a very long way off the totals they used to achieve before going into government in 2010. Any gains should be seen in this context. Council control As well as looking at the number of council seats each party wins you can also look at how many councils they control and which ones. Again, there's been speculation that in London Labour might be close to scoring historic victories in councils that have been Conservative for decades. Capturing either Wandsworth or Westminster council - both considered Tory flagship councils - would certainly be a feather in their cap. You can read more about some of the interesting council contests in this guide to the local elections. Projected National Share Finally, the BBC will be conducting its regular exercise of trying to extrapolate a national picture from the results of the elections being held this year. Professor Sir John Curtice and his team look at the detailed results in more than 900 council wards to produce what's called the Projected National Share or PNS. It's an attempt to estimate what the national result would have been if council elections had been held across the whole country. It allows us to compare the performance of the main parties with previous years. 2017 saw the Conservatives on 38%, Labour on 27% and the Liberal Democrats on 18% in the PNS. In other words, the Conservatives clearly won. But at the general election just a month later their margin of victory was cut to just 2.5%

यदि आप 3 मई को इंग्लैंड में होने वाले स्थानीय चुनावों के बारे में पढ़ रहे हैं, तो आपने लोगों को 'बेंचमार्क' के बारे में बात करते हुए या सीटों की संख्या का सुझाव देते हुए देखा होगा जो प्रत्येक दल के लिए एक अच्छे परिणाम के रूप में गिने जाएंगे।


Woman charged with attempted murder after Aberdeen fire

Summary: A 47-year-old woman has appeared in court charged with attempted murder after a fire in Aberdeen.

Emergency services were called to Printfield Terrace in the early hours of Sunday 26 July. Police said at the time that two men and a woman were taken to hospital as a precaution and other residents were evacuated from the block. Jeanette Bruce was charged with wilful fire-raising to the danger of life and attempted murder. She made no plea at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and was released on bail.

एबरडीन में आग लगने के बाद हत्या के प्रयास के आरोप में एक 47 वर्षीय महिला अदालत में पेश हुई है।


Kiribati island: Sinking into the sea?

Summary: Lying just two metres above sea level at its highest points, the island nation of Kiribati is the poster child for climate change, with predictions that many of the 32 islands in the group could be lost to the sea in the next 50 years. But what is it really like? Julian Siddle from BBC Science reports from South Tarawa, Kiribati's main island.

The stereotypical image of Kiribati is of classic pacific atolls, palm trees, coral reefs and people living a simple lifestyle, able to fish in abundant seas. But it is threatened by rising sea levels and facing the full force of climate change. All that is real, but in addition this island nation is one of the most populated places on earth. Current estimates suggest around 110,000 people live here, and half of these in South Tarawa - a chain of small islands, sharing a lagoon and coral reefs now linked by concrete causeways topped with a dusty road. The population has boomed since the island obtained independence from Britain in the late 1970s. Villages are now joined, forming a near continuous strip of urbanisation along the roadside and down to the sea. A shortage of land means there is very little agriculture and the population is now heavily reliant on imported and predominantly processed food. Many people come from the rural outer islands to the urban centre of South Tarawa. This has been a largely economic migration, though a loss of land to the sea has also provided a push. "The outer island communities have been affected, we have a village which has gone, we have a number of communities where the sea water has broken through into the freshwater pond and is now affecting the food crops," says Kiribati's president, Anote Tong. "That is happening on different islands, it's not an isolated event, serious inundation is being witnessed. These are the realities we are facing, whether they are climate change induced or not." The less populated Island of Abaiang to the north of Tarawa is where a village disappeared beneath the waves. This island has a much lower population than Tarawa, approximately 10,000. This means there is enough land on which to grow food, staples include breadfruit and coconut. However there are concerns over the long term sustainability of these crops. "We see our coconut trees are less productive. The weather is changing. The trees we rely on, they are drier," says Anata Maroieta, vice mayor of Abaiang island council. With reluctance the island has begun to accept plans from the aid agencies to develop Abaiang as a potential food exporter - with South Tarawa providing the main market. Abaiang is now accepting that producing a food surplus might be the key to its future survival. "Worries over our own food means we accept these new ideas on food crops," says the vice mayor. Despite its lack of food security, South Tarawa provides an illusion of security in another way. Much of the island is heavily fortified with sea walls, partly built by the local population from rock mined from the surrounding reef. More recent walls protecting the road system are made from concrete filled sandbags. Unfortunately both types of sea defence are having a detrimental effect. "The hard sea walls reflect back the force of the waves, just moving erosion to unprotected areas," says coastal engineer Cliff Jullerat, who works with Kiribati's ministry of public works and utilities. "They're a civil engineering solution, rather than marine." Even though his post is funded by the World Bank, he is critical of steps taken in earlier stages of the World Bank-funded Kiribati Adaptation Project, which built much of the now failing concrete structures. The most dramatic example of this is a huge sea wall built to protect a water pipe, electricity and phone cables running next to a causeway road. The design of the wall created erosion, an even greater area of pipes and cabling was exposed - right next to the wall - threatening the fresh water supply for most of the island's population. Mr Cliff says alternative measures should have been considered. "As a coastal engineer I would never recommend sea walls. There are a range of offshore devices that can dissipate the waves and soft solutions such as planting mangroves which encourage the formation of new land." The causeways themselves can be considered the greatest environmental disaster, as they block the flow of water between the island's lagoon and the ocean. Without the ocean's washing effect the lagoon has become heavily polluted. There are serious problems with domestic rubbish human and animal excrement entering the waters. Bacterial infections and diarrhoea have the potential to be life threatening. President Tong says that, given these immediate problems of overpopulation and environmental degradation, it's hard for people trying to survive here to get a perspective on the wider threat of climate change: "They don't have the resources to deal with things that will not directly affect them in their lifetimes. We are very vulnerable. We are on the front line."

अपने उच्चतम बिंदुओं पर समुद्र तल से सिर्फ दो मीटर की ऊँचाई पर स्थित, द्वीप राष्ट्र किरिबाटी जलवायु परिवर्तन के लिए पोस्टर चाइल्ड है, जिसमें भविष्यवाणी की गई है कि समूह के 32 द्वीपों में से कई अगले 50 वर्षों में समुद्र में खो सकते हैं। लेकिन यह वास्तव में कैसा है? बीबीसी साइंस से जूलियन सिडल दक्षिण तरावा, किरिबाटी के मुख्य द्वीप से रिपोर्ट करते हैं।


LTTE too little too late - Dayan

Summary: The Tamil Tigers commitment to safeguard the ceasefire agreement is too little too late, says Dayan Jayathilleke, the permanent UN representative for Sri Lanka in Geneva.

Commenting on the commitment expressed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to stand by the CFA, Jayathilleke said that the LTTE could not be trusted for its words. This has been very evident throughout the past, he said. "The LTTE should have made such commitments to safeguard the Ceasefire Agreement in 2002 and not in 2008", Sri Lanka's permanent representative for UN, Dayan jayathillke said. He said that comparatively the LTTE has violated the CFA much more than the government. The LTTE statement has come out at a time when it is being militarily defeated by the government, Jayathilleke added.

जिनेवा में श्रीलंका के लिए संयुक्त राष्ट्र के स्थायी प्रतिनिधि दयान जयतिलके कहते हैं कि युद्धविराम समझौते की रक्षा के लिए तमिल टाइगर्स की प्रतिबद्धता बहुत कम देर हो चुकी है।


Drilling at new oil fields off Shetland to begin in 2013

Summary: Aberdeen-based Dana Petroleum expects to start drilling at two new oil fields off Shetland next year.

The company has entered the detailed engineering design phase of what it calls its Western Isles Project. The first oil from the North Sea fields, named Harris and Barra, should be available in 2015. The UK government is expected to give its full approval to the project, which involves investment of almost £1bn, towards the end of this year. Once under way, the project could run for 15 years.

एबरडीन स्थित डाना पेट्रोलियम को अगले साल शेटलैंड से दूर दो नए तेल क्षेत्रों में खुदाई शुरू करने की उम्मीद है।


Germany's rising tide of populism

Summary: Germany's Baltic coastline can be a bleak place out of season. In the small fishing village of Freest, boats creak idly against their moorings. A lone fisherman, stark in his yellow overalls, stands on deck, scraping the scales from yesterday's catch.

By Jenny HillBBC Berlin correspondent It feels a long way from Berlin. And inside the quayside smokehouse, as she carefully threads sprats on to long metal skewers, fish factory worker Ines tells me she feels forgotten by Angela Merkel's government. "They just look after the big cities," she says. "But these small communities up here - no. Nothing is being done for us. Nothing gets through to us." It can be hard to make a good living here, especially in the winter. The workers in the smokehouse worry about unemployment. This is not a rich community and they feel it's time for political change. Fertile ground then for Germany's right wing, anti-Islam party Alternative for Germany (AfD). A regular poll for the national broadcaster suggests it would take 15% of the vote if the general election was held tomorrow. The party may well complicate coalition building come the autumn. Angela Merkel's CDU party still leads those polls at 37%, but her junior coalition partner, the SPD, is at 20% Roland delivers another load of slippery, silvery fish to the smokehouse. He pushes his woolly cap off and tells me AfD will be getting his vote. "The other parties avoid the real problems," he explains. "Merkel just sticks to her views, even though she sees what she's got us into - like the terror attacks. If she hadn't brought those people into the country," he insists, "the victims of the Berlin Christmas markets would still be alive." Freest is in the northern state of Mecklenburg Vorpommern. It is also home to Mrs Merkel's constituency. Last year AfD beat her Conservatives into third place in the regional election and now, they want to compound that humiliation by putting up a candidate - Leif-Erik Holm - directly against her. Mr Holm, a smartly-dressed former radio presenter who believes a large proportion of Europe's Muslims hold radical views and want to establish a global caliphate, is, in reality, unlikely to take the chancellor's seat. But it's not impossible. "We have a big problem with radical Islam and we need to talk about it," he tells me. "It's been taboo in Germany. The AfD broke that taboo and thank heavens people now talk about their fears. Just look at who's carrying out terror attacks in Europe, they're all extreme Islamists." It is AfD's vociferous anti-Islam, anti-migrant position which, critics argue, is key to its success. Certainly, support for what originally began as an anti-euro party surged during the latter part of the refugee crisis, as party leaders began to campaign against Mrs Merkel's asylum policy. But Mr Holm rejects the notion that AfD is a one issue party, seeking political gain by whipping up fear of Muslim immigrants. "During the regional election hustings we spoke with people in small towns and villages and realised fear was the most prominent theme. We don't create fear, we talk about it - the everyday fear that people have of terrorism, of uncontrolled mass immigration. "That's what we work with as politicians. We make politics for the people." AfD's anti-EU rhetoric is also growing louder as it seeks to emulate the success of the giants of Europe's far right. It recently hosted a rally of the right in the German city of Koblenz, sharing a stage - and a platform - with the French presidential candidate Marine le Pen and Geert Wilders, whose Freedom Party leads the polls ahead of the Dutch general election. Both Ms Le Pen and Mr Wilders have pledged referendums on EU membership. AfD's manifesto now promises to pull Germany out if significant structural reforms are not implemented. During the rally (from which the mainstream German broadcasters and press were banned) its leader Frauke Petry likened the EU to Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union and joined Ms Le Pen and Mr Wilders in their calls for a revolution in Europe. This was a show of solidarity, a display of unity from Europe's right. Emboldened by Brexit and Donald Trump's victory, the leaders are keen to focus on the threefold message which unites them; a visceral dislike of Islam, a loathing of Mrs Merkel's refugee policy and that contempt for the EU. And they believe 2017 will be their year. It's hard to say whether they create, reflect or exploit social division, but an interesting recent German survey gave a fascinating glimpse into what might motivate AfD supporters. The poll found, for example, that despite last year's terror attack in Berlin, 73% of those polled felt safe in Germany. But when the researchers asked AfD supporters, they found that only 34% felt secure. Similarly, when asked whether life is better or worse than 50 years ago, 17% of Germans said it is worse, but this figure rises to 40% among AfD supporters. In 2017, Europe's real election battles will take place in communities like Freest, where people feel forgotten by their national governments and left behind by establishment parties. If Europe's leaders want to halt the rise of the right, they must reconnect with those voters and regain their trust. Because in this windblown harbour on the German coast, those who feel left out in the cold are warming to what Europe's right already refer to (prematurely perhaps) as the "patriotic spring". This article is part of the 100 Days season, presented by Katty Kay and Christian Fraser, Monday - Thursday at 19:00 GMT on BBC News Channel, BBC Four and BBC World News.

जर्मनी की बाल्टिक तटरेखा मौसम की तुलना में एक निराशाजनक जगह हो सकती है। फ्रीस्ट के छोटे से मछली पकड़ने वाले गाँव में, नावें अपने ठिकानों पर सुस्त हो जाती हैं। एक अकेला मछुआरा, जो अपने पीले रंग के कपड़ों में पूरी तरह से खड़ा होता है, डेक पर खड़ा होता है और कल के कैच से तराजू को खुरचता है।


EU referendum: Immigration impact on region

Summary: The issue of immigration into Yorkshire is not a new one.

By David RhodesBBC Look North In the 1950s West Indian families began moving into Leeds whilst people from India and Pakistan began to populate Bradford. But the EU referendum has brought into sharp focus the issue of migration from Europe. In order to have a meaningful debate on this issue, it is important that we understand the numbers. So, what do we know? The latest estimates show that in 2014, 179,000 EU-born nationals were living in Yorkshire and the Humber. These are people born in one of the other 27 EU countries who have been living in the region for more than a year. That's an increase of 42% from 2010 when 126,000 EU-born nationals lived in the region. Compare that to the national picture where over the same period the number of EU-born nationals living in the UK as a whole has increased by 30%. By any measure 42% is a big increase, but in a wider context EU-born nationals account for 3.4% of the region's overall population. However, Yorkshire's history with immigration is represented in numbers that show there are more foreign-born nationals from outside the EU living here. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) population estimates, in 2014 there were 298,000 people living in the region born outside the UK and the EU, representing 5.6% of Yorkshire and Humber's population. That data shows people born in Pakistan were the single biggest foreign-born cohort, numbering 85,000 people in 2014. Those born in Poland were the biggest group of people living in the region who were born within the EU, numbering 55,000. However, with all these estimates it is important to remember they are just that - an estimate. Recent questions have been raised about the validity of the UK's immigration numbers with an ONS report showing that more EU migrants have got National Insurance numbers than have shown up in the immigration statistics. So what has been the impact of immigration into our region? It's hard to put a specific number on the cultural and social impact but it's possible to get a snapshot of the economic effect. For example, 14% of nurses working in the region's hospitals were born outside the UK, according to NHS data. But to work legally here or to draw from the welfare state you need a National Insurance number. The latest registration figures up until December 2015 show that in one year, 29,946 EU nationals in Yorkshire and the Humber registered for an National Insurance number. This figure will not, of course, pick up those working in what's known as the "black economy", often involving cash-in-hand jobs. And there are concerns that more EU nationals entering the jobs market are driving down wages. Mike Smith, who runs a carpet company in Leeds, says EU workers have had a negative impact on the amount he can earn. "They are working for less money and a lot of employers are taking advantage of that." There is evidence to show the wages of those working in retail and manual labour jobs across the UK have been negatively affected. A Bank of England report last year found that in some low-skilled jobs a 10% increase in migrants resulted in a fall in wages for native workers of between 0.5% and 1.9%. That might not sound a lot but for someone in a retail job earning £16,000 a year, a fall of 1.9% means potentially £300 in lost wages. However, in the main, the majority of economic opinion says EU migration has had a positive impact on the region's economy. Research undertaken by the University College London claimed that inward migration from the EU had boosted the UK economy by £20bn. Gary Rogers, who owns a restaurant in Skipton, supports this. "We've been employing good workers from the EU for about 12 to 13 years. I don't see any supply of workers being readily available in the UK. Our biggest problem is British people don't regard catering or hospitality as a desirable career." So what would change if the UK left? Would we see a fall in the number of people arriving in the region from the remaining members of the European Union? The group Migration Watch has suggested leaving the UK would see net migration fall by "perhaps 100,000 a year from the current level of 180,000". At this stage, however, we can't definitely predict what would happen. A future UK government might be able to impose restrictions on European migrants coming to the UK. And at the same time it's possible that, like Norway, which is outside the EU, to gain access to the single market as part of a new trade deal the UK might have to accept the continued free movement of people from the remaining EU countries. Given what we know about the current population of Yorkshire and the Humber, in or outside of the European Union, some communities across our region will remain ethnically and socially diverse.

यॉर्कशायर में आप्रवासन का मुद्दा कोई नया नहीं है।


Polls close in Douglas East by-election on Isle of Man

Summary: Polls have closed in the Douglas East by-election.

Constituents have been voting for a new member of the House of Keys (MHK). The seat became vacant when Phil Braidwood was elected to the Legislative Council. The House of Keys is the lower, directly elected branch of the Manx parliament. Six candidates - Kate Beecroft, Colin Cain, Chris Heath, John Joughin, Kevin Woodford and Chris Robertshaw - stood for the seat. Five people arrested over allegations of corrupt or illegal practice in the proxy voting process this week have been released on bail.

डगलस ईस्ट उपचुनाव में मतदान बंद हो गया है।


Tomasz Dembler death: Six charged with murder after man found in woods

Summary: Six people have been charged with murder after a man's body was found dumped in woodland.

Tomasz Dembler, 39, was found in woods near Flatts Lane Country Park in Middlesbrough on 12 April. Cleveland Police said five men and one woman, aged between 27 and 46, appeared at Teesside Magistrates' Court on Saturday. They were remanded in custody and are due to appear at Teesside Crown Court on Tuesday. The force said the six people charged with murder are: Related Internet Links HM Courts & Tribunals Service

एक व्यक्ति का शव जंगल में फेंके जाने के बाद छह लोगों पर हत्या का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Murder arrest after woman found dead in Leeds house

Summary: A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 39-year-old woman was found dead at a house in Leeds.

Police and paramedics were called to the property in Hovingham Terrace, Harehills, at 05:29 BST and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. A 37-year-old man was arrested and is being held in custody. West Yorkshire Police said it was treating the death as "domestic-related". Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk or send video here.

लीड्स में एक घर में 39 वर्षीय महिला के मृत पाए जाने के बाद हत्या के संदेह में एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Decoding Bush’s thinly veiled Trump speech

Summary: Nowhere in George W Bush's 2,000-word speech does he mention the name Donald Trump. It was crystal clear, however, that the 43rd US president took dead aim on the 45th president from a podium at the Lincoln Center in New York City on Thursday.

Anthony ZurcherNorth America reporter@awzurcheron Twitter Ex-presidents traditionally shy away from the political stage. It was long considered in poor taste for a former occupant of the Oval Office to criticise one of his successors. Then again, these are days when seemingly set-in-stone norms and standards of behaviour have fallen by the wayside. Mr Trump's victory in the Republican presidential primaries was in some measure a repudiation of Mr Bush's presidency and his vision for the Republican Party - and not just because the New Yorker belittled and subsequently bested Mr Bush's brother, Jeb Bush. Mr Trump frequently criticised Mr Bush's decision to invade Iraq. He bashed the Texan's efforts to broaden the Republican Party's appeal to Hispanic voters by pushing for comprehensive immigration reform. He denounced free trade deals, including Nafta - signed by Mr Bush's father, George HW Bush. Now Mr Bush is offering his rebuke. When asked after his speech if his message would reach the White House, he smiled and replied, "I think it will". Here are just a few of the choicest lines that might be flying toward 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - and what they could mean. "Since World War II, America has encouraged and benefited from the global advance of free markets, from the strength of democratic alliances, and from the advance of free societies." Mr Bush offers the classic defence of an internationalist foreign policy - that engagement and advancement of free markets and free societies is in the US's best long-term interests. Compare that to Mr Trump's contention that the US has been taken advantage of by other nations - both through trade and in defence arrangements. He has expressed general distrust of multilateral engagement and views the global arena as a largely a zero-sum contest between competing national interests, where the US must put "America first". "Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication." Mr Trump rose to national prominence by becoming a high-profile advocate of a particularly insidious conspiracy theory - that Barack Obama was not born in the US and, consequently, was ineligible to be president. Republican Senator Bob Corker, just last week, accused the president of lying on Twitter. "I don't know why the president tweets out things that are not true," he said. "You know he does it, everyone knows he does it, but he does." Mr Bush's line was another shot across Mr Trump's bow. "We've seen nationalism distorted into nativism - forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America." Mr Trump not only has pushed for a crackdown on undocumented immigration, he's proposed drastic cuts in refugee resettlement programmes and backed a bill in Congress that would cut in half the number of permanent residency "green cards" issued each year. "This legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families who deserve an immigration system that puts their needs first and that puts America first," Mr Trump said in August. Mr Bush looks at the benefits of immigration; Mr Trump focuses on the costs. "According to our intelligence services, the Russian government has made a project of turning Americans against each other." Mr Trump, and his supporters, have consistently expressed scepticism about the conclusion by US government officials that Russian agents and hackers attempted to influence the US presidential election through social media, fake new reports and the release of purloined material from Democratic Party sources. Mr Bush, here, casts his lot with those who have concluded that the Russian threat is real. "Our identity as a nation - unlike many other nations - is not determined by geography or ethnicity, by soil or blood... Bigotry or white supremacy in any form is blasphemy against the American creed." "Blood and soil" was one of the phrases white supremacists chanted as they demonstrated in Charlottesville, Virginia, the night before violent clashes with counter-protesters in August. (Another was "Jews will not replace us"). It was this evening rally that Mr Trump called a "very quiet protest", while apportioning blame for violence to both the supremacists and those who gathered to denounce them. Mr Trump was roundly criticised, by Democrats and many Republicans - including Mr Bush and his father - for not immediately condemning the Nazi sentiments expressed that weekend. "Bullying and prejudice in our public life sets a national tone, provides permission for cruelty and bigotry, and compromises the moral education of children." During the primary campaign, Mr Trump called Jeb Bush a hypocrite, weak, low-energy, a lightweight, a failure, a "sad sack" and a "pathetic figure" with "zero communications skills". He tweeted that Jeb had to ask his "mommy to take a slap at me" but that "mom can't help you with ISIS, the Chinese or Putin". He alleged that the former Florida governor had a "soft spot for people from Mexico" because his wife, Columba, is a Mexican immigrant. It doesn't take a whole lot of reading between the lines on this one.

जॉर्ज डब्ल्यू बुश के 2,000 शब्दों के भाषण में कहीं भी उन्होंने डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प के नाम का उल्लेख नहीं किया। हालाँकि, यह स्पष्ट था कि 43वें अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति ने गुरुवार को न्यूयॉर्क शहर के लिंकन सेंटर में एक मंच से 45वें राष्ट्रपति पर निशाना साधा था।


Africa blighted by multiple Jihadist threats

Summary: Boko Haram was recently rated as the world's most deadly terrorist organisation - eclipsing even so-called Islamic State (IS) - but it is far from the only jihadist group posing a threat to stability in Africa.

By Tomi OladipoBBC Monitoring Africa security correspondent Based on the situation reports we receive every few days from the Nigerian military, troops are active in destroying dozens of Boko Haram camps. Suspected terror "kingpins" are often arrested and abductees freed. Army press releases also include photographs of the aftermath of these operations. There has been significant progress in slowing down the killings by the insurgents and keeping them from openly holding territory - considering that this time last year the sect controlled much of the north-eastern state of Borno. That, however, should not be seen as weakness on the part of Boko Haram. Its attacks continue sporadically across the region, both in the form of bombings and raids on both military and civilian targets. The Nigerian authorities must be wondering how this group is able to replenish its weaponry and get its members still to continue audacious and deadly attacks. Across the border, Cameroon's Rapid Response Force (BIR) has also suffered major setbacks in the fight. Nigeria cannot afford to ignore the large number of insurgents - or the tactical capabilities present within their ranks. With the continued violence, President Muhammadu Buhari has accepted that the target he set for the military to end the conflict by the end of the year is not achievable. In a statement, he said: "The timeframe should serve as a guide and if exigency of multiple operations across the country advises a modification, the federal government will not hesitate to do so in order to address new flashpoints that are rearing their ugly heads in some parts of the country." Jihadists join forces Nigeria's neighbours in the Lake Chad Basin are also struggling to keep jihadist factions at bay. The vast Sahel region, which spreads coast to coast across a band of northern Africa, is itself a haven for armed groups from bandits to global extremist franchises. Among the latter is al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM), which seemed to be on the back foot, but has recently seen a mending of relations between its offshoots. Its leader Abdelmalek Droukdel recently announced that AQIM was working with al-Mourabitoun - led by the veteran Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar - to fight against France and its allies in the region. This comes after they claimed to have jointly planned the November attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital Bamako. This alliance is important for both groups to keep IS from attempting to spread its dominance from North Africa to the Sahel. Militancy in Mali: "IS interests in the region have become strong enough that dissenting parties within the AQIM constellation are willing to put aside their grievances and collaborate once again to protect their own interests," says Yan St-Pierre of the international security-consulting group MOSECON. "This means AQIM will be more aggressive, not necessarily in terms of attacks, but in announcing its presence." Both groups are competing globally and are likely to attempt to outdo each other even in Africa. One theatre where this could be seen is in Somalia, where the al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group al-Shabab has been witnessing dissent within its ranks as some of its members pledge their allegiance to IS. Since 2006, al-Shabab has been the source of instability in the Horn of Africa but as fresh fissures become increasingly apparent within the group, this fragile nation could potentially be home to two global jihadist movements. However the number of defections to IS so far is not yet significant enough to change the scene. The core al-Shabab remains the major threat in the region and the reason for the international military intervention, hence why IS has consistently sought to win them over with its propaganda. Counterinsurgency needed As groups in the Sahel and the Horn decide which terror franchise they will sign up to, there is a great need for robust counterinsurgency efforts. Military might is vital in the response but evidently has only produced limited results - despite the involvement of world powers like the US and France - and even though it could achieve a lot, people within African armies often point to the challenges in the US interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan as examples as to why it is difficult to suppress insurgencies. That, however, should not be a dead end - as if Washington's methods are the only way to go. African governments and their partners should not underestimate the ideological angle - assuming that jihadist insurgencies are driven solely by poverty, even though that is itself an important factor. As has been seen elsewhere in the world, recruitment into jihadist groups (and sympathy for them) is not exclusive to the marginalised. As things stand, terrorism will remain in Africa for at least the near future.

बोको हराम को हाल ही में दुनिया के सबसे घातक आतंकवादी संगठन के रूप में दर्जा दिया गया था-तथाकथित इस्लामिक स्टेट (आईएस) को भी ग्रहण करते हुए-लेकिन यह अफ्रीका में स्थिरता के लिए खतरा पैदा करने वाले एकमात्र जिहादी समूह से बहुत दूर है।