Bosnia: The cradle of modern jihadism?

Summary: Back in the 1990s something happened in central Bosnia-Herzegovina that inspired people to this day and helps explain why that country now has more men fighting in Syria and Iraq (over 300), as a proportion of its population, than most in Europe.

By Mark UrbanDiplomatic and defence editor, Newsnight The formation of a "Mujahideen Battalion" in 1992, composed mainly of Arab volunteers in central Bosnia, was a landmark. Today the dynamic of jihad has been reversed and it is Bosnians who are travelling to Arab lands. "There is a war between the West and Islam," says Aimen Dean, who, as a young Saudi Arabian volunteer, travelled to fight in central Bosnia in 1994. "Bosnia gave the modern jihadist movement that narrative. It is the cradle." UN firefight Conventional wisdom holds that it was the fight against the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s that created the modern notion of jihad or "holy war". Aimen Dean's point is that the West and the Salafists (or adherents to a strict form of Islam going back to observance in the Middle Ages) were on the same side in Afghanistan, but became enemies in Bosnia. At first, in 1992, it was just a few dozen militants who went to defend their co-religionists in Bosnia, as Serbian paramilitaries drove them from their homes in the west and east of the country. But it was in early 1993, when it became a three-way fight against Catholic Croatians as well as the Serbs, that the Mujahideen Battalion swelled to the hundreds and started to hunt non-believers more actively. After Croatian militias massacred around 120 Bosnians in Ahmici in April 1993, the Mujahideen were involved in numerous reprisals. At Guca Gora monastery two months later, they drove out nearly 200 Croatians, who were evacuated by British United Nations troops. They then entered the chapel, desecrating its religious art, and filmed themselves doing it. British troops fought the Mujahideen Battalion at Guca Gora and elsewhere in the summer of 1993 - the opening shots of that army's fight against jihadism. Vaughan Kent-Payne, then a major commanding a company of British troops involved in those battles, says the foreign fighters were "way more aggressive" than local Bosnian troops, frequently opening fire on the UN's white-painted vehicles. In the nearby town of Travnik, that had been almost equally Muslim, Croatian and Serb before the war, the foreigners helped drive out thousands, and tried to impose Sharia law on those who remained. They were also involved in kidnapping local Christians, and beheaded one, Dragan Popovic, forcing other captives to kiss his severed head. 'They did Bosnia a disservice' The Popovic case eventually went to court, so the facts have been well established. But the Mujahideen Battalion was also suspected in many others including the kidnap and murder of aid workers as well as the execution of 20 Croatian prisoners. The foreigners never amounted to more than one per cent of the fighting force at the disposal of the Sarajevo government, despite the frequent claims of the Serb and Croatian media to have spotted Islamic fanatics from abroad just about everywhere. From an early stage the Mujahideen also started recruiting Bosnians and, by 1995, in the final months of the war, the incorporation of several hundred local men allowed the outfit to be expanded into the Mujahideen Brigade, around 1,500 strong. By the summer of 1993, the Sarajevo government was starting to wake up to the potentially toxic effect of these jihadists on their image as a multi-ethnic, secular republic. So, in an attempt to control it, the battalion was placed under the command of III Corps, the Bosnian Army formation headquartered in the central city of Zenica. Its commander at the time, Brigadier General Enver Hadzihasanovic, ended up facing a war crimes trial in the Hague on charges of overall responsibility for some of the Mujahideen's behaviour, including the Travnik kidnappings. In the end, the prosecution dropped those charges, but the general served two years, having been found guilty of having (Bosnian) troops under him who had abused prisoners. From the outset, the general had felt the Mujahideen were a dubious military asset, and wrote a secret message to army chiefs in 1993, saying: "My opinion is that behind [the Mujahideen] there are some high-ranking politicians and religious leaders." Reflecting now on the jihadists' participation in the war he adds, "they didn't help Bosnia at all, on the contrary, I think they did Bosnia a disservice." However, as the general's 1993 memo implied, there were some leaders, including Alija Izetbegovic, Bosnia's President at the time, who were happy to welcome the foreign fighters, partly as a way of keeping wealthy Arab donors sweet. Recruiting ban When the war ended, under the Dayton Peace Accord, all foreign fighters had to leave, and they were duly ordered out in 1996. Remembering that day, Aimen Dean says there were high emotions, shouting and tears at the Mujahideen base: "And the reason is because everyone was there hoping to die as a martyr. Now that chance was taken from them." Hundreds of Mujahideen went from Bosnia to Chechnya, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Among their alumni were two of the 9/11 hijackers, the murderer of American hostage Daniel Pearl and numerous other al-Qaeda cadres. More than 300 of the foreigners remained in Bosnia, buried in its soil, a testimony to the heavy casualties taken by the unit. A few dozen Arabs who had met local women or were fearful of going home also managed to stay, by taking Bosnian citizenship. Today also there are suggestions in Sarajevo that the SDA - the late President Izetbegovic's party - is not taking a tough enough line against foreign fighters. Only this time they are the hundreds of Bosnians who are choosing to fight in Iraq and Syria. There is "a recalcitrance from more radical elements of the SDA" about condemning those who go to the Middle East to fight, says one Sarajevo diplomat. In fairness, the Sarajevo government has taken action to ban recruiting for foreign wars (in the name of any religion or cause) and has mounted numerous raids to disrupt extremist networks and arrest those who have returned from fighting in the Middle East. However, its critics note that for years it turned a blind eye to those Arab Mujahideen who remained in Bosnia but continued to agitate, and has allowed several communities of home-grown Bosnian Salafists to emerge in recent years. Among those who link what is happening now with the 1990s is Fikret Hadzic, who has been charged with fighting for the so-called Islamic State in Syria. He met our BBC team but said that legal restrictions prevented him giving an on-camera interview, however he was happy to be quoted in print. Hadzic had joined the Mujahideen unit in 1994. For years after the war he worked as a driver and mechanic before deciding he needed to join the fight against "the Assad Shia regime" in Syria. While he insisted he was not a member of IS, and disapproved of its methods, Hadzic told us that before returning from Syria last year he had met some Bosnian members of the organisation who appeared in an IS video that was released this June. Other Bosnians who served with that unit back in the war include the leader of an important Salafist mosque in Sarajevo, and Bilal Bosnic, who is in detention awaiting trial. Bosnic is charged with recruiting fighters for the Islamic State group. With IS now trying to start a "new front for the Caliphate" in the Balkans, there are many who worry that Bosnia is vulnerable because it remains so weak and fragmented, even two decades after its war ended. Mark Urban's report is on Newsnight on BBC Two at 22:30 BST on 2 July. Our World: Bosnia: Cradle of Modern Jihad? is on the BBC News Channel at 21:30 BST on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 July and on BBC World TV at 00:30 BST on Saturday 4 July and also at these times.

1990 के दशक में मध्य बोस्निया-हर्जेगोविना में कुछ ऐसा हुआ जिसने आज तक लोगों को प्रेरित किया और यह समझाने में मदद की कि क्यों उस देश में अब यूरोप की तुलना में अपनी आबादी के अनुपात के रूप में सीरिया और इराक (300 से अधिक) में अधिक पुरुष लड़ रहे हैं।


Bodycams for council recycling centre staff after rise in attacks

Summary: Perth and Kinross recycling centre staff will be fitted with body cameras after a "marked increase" in the number of attacks by members of the public.

The council said the 12-week trial was to deter "violence and aggression" against frontline staff. The cameras will be only be activated if staff believe there is "potential for an inflammatory situation to develop." The trial may be extended if there is a reduction in the number of incidents. The local authority said it chose to pilot the scheme at its recycling centres as "the majority of hostile incidents documented to date" have taken place there. Its environment, enterprise and infrastructure convener, Colin Stewart said: "I believe this technology will not only protect staff but also help drive down unfounded complaints against employees and enable the council to gather better evidence for swifter justice."

पर्थ और किन्रोस पुनर्चक्रण केंद्र के कर्मचारियों को जनता के सदस्यों द्वारा हमलों की संख्या में "उल्लेखनीय वृद्धि" के बाद बॉडी कैमरों से सुसज्जित किया जाएगा।


Coronavirus: How did Cambodia's cruise ship welcome go wrong?

Summary: A former passenger on the cruise ship MS Westerdam who tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus in Malaysia having left the vessel has led to fears that other passengers who have also moved on might have been exposed to the virus.

Efforts are now being made to track down those who have left the ship and Cambodia's decision to let the vessel dock - a move praised by the World Health Organization (WHO) - is now being questioned. An outbreak on another cruise ship, the Diamond Princess which is quarantined off Japan, is the biggest infection cluster outside China with more than 600 confirmed cases. How did the Westerdam end up in Cambodia? The Westerdam was taking 1,455 passengers and 802 crew on a cruise around Asia. It was heading to Japan, but was turned away. No-one on board was feeling unwell but the ship had previously docked in Hong Kong, which has been badly hit by the virus. That was enough to spark worries the virus could have found its way on board. The cruise ship was then turned away by four other countries, but last Thursday it was finally allowed to dock in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The WHO called it an "example of international solidarity". What happened after it docked? About 20 passengers had clinical tests on board because they were ill. But the vast majority had their temperature taken and filled out a form. Most of these passengers then left the boat. One passenger - an 83-year-old US woman - took a plane to Malaysia along with 144 other passengers. She recorded a high temperature on landing in Kuala Lumpur and tested positive for the virus. Only after that were the remaining passengers quarantined and clinically tested - but by then hundreds had already left. Dr Asok Karup from the Infectious Diseases Care clinic in Singapore says all passengers should have been clinically screened and quarantined. He described the process of self-certifying on a form that they were symptom-free as "completely inappropriate". Spending two weeks aboard the vessel did not count as a proper quarantine because passengers could have come into contact with an infected person at any point during that period, he added. Westerdam's operator Holland America Line said there had been "no indication of COVID-19 on the ship" during its voyage. During the quarantine period it said it carried out temperature checks and health screenings. But "ships are not designed for quarantine," Dale Fisher, professor in infectious diseases at the National University of Singapore and chair of the WHO's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, told the BBC. "If passengers are allowed to socialise, then it is possible that the virus would continue to transmit during this period of quarantine. In a typical quarantine set-up there are basic comforts, regular temperature taking, and questioning, but no mixing of those quarantined." "In my view quarantining on board a ship is suboptimal - it would be useful to keep details of all the travellers in case, there is a case later then people can be easily contacted." Why did Cambodia's leader greet the passengers? In Sihanoukville - a city with strong economic ties to China - the disembarking passengers were met with flowers and traditional Cambodian scarves by Prime Minister Hun Sen himself. Neither the country's authoritarian leader nor anyone else in the welcoming party was wearing any protective gear, such as face masks. Hun Sen had already expressed scepticism about the risks posed by the virus and offered to go personally to the Chinese city of Wuhan - the centre of the outbreak - to tell frightened Cambodians living there that they must stay put for the sake of relations with China, a vital ally for his country. After that ostentatious welcome, some of passengers then began to be moved to the capital, Phnom Penh, from where some then continued their journeys. Why did Cambodia take the risk? Jonathan Head, BBC South East Asia Correspondent Cambodia's Hun Sen saw the Westerdam as an opportunity. As an authoritarian ruler who has held office for 35 years, he did not have to worry about public criticism over allowing it to dock. Also, by attracting so much attention to his offer he not only appeared generous, but also diverted media attention from the European Union decision the same week to withdraw vital trade privileges from Cambodia over the government's suppression of the political opposition. Most of all it gave Hun Sen something he has wanted for a long time; a chance to repair relations with the US. These were badly frayed three years ago when the opposition leader Kem Sokha, who looked on course to beat Hun Sen in the 2018 election, was arrested and accused of plotting, with US backing, to overthrow the government. Independent media were shut down, journalists arrested, and the US pro-democracy organisation NDI forced to close. The current US ambassador Patrick Murphy has worked hard to improve ties since he was appointed in August last year. The need to get 650 Americans home off the Westerdam offered a chance to do that. Where are the passengers now? On Tuesday Holland America confirmed that all passengers still on board had tested negative. The Westerdam would stay in port "for at least a few more days until testing is complete on the 747 crewmembers", the company said. Of the several hundred passengers in hotels in Phnom Penh, some have already had negative tests returned and are free to leave, others are awaiting results. It is thought that about 650 of the guests on board the ship were from the US, 270 from Canada, 130 from the UK, 100 from the Netherlands, 50 from Germany and several passengers from Australia. The crew consisted largely of Indonesians and Filipinos. What is being done in response? Holland America says it has shared information on the passengers with the respective countries who can now try to get in touch with them. The UK said it was offering consular assistance to British Westerdam passengers, asking them to get in touch. Canada is asking all its citizens returning from the vessel to self isolate for 14 days once back home, local media report. Malaysia has since said all other passengers from the Westerdam transiting in Kuala Lumpur had left the country and that it would not allow any more of the ship's guests to enter or transit. Thailand has also barred Westerdam passengers from entering - but only after several had already arrived to Bangkok where they were being screened again. Other countries such as Singapore have also said they won't allow any former Westerdam passengers to enter except for two of its citizens who have already returned and are in home quarantine.

क्रूज जहाज एम. एस. वेस्टरडैम पर एक पूर्व यात्री, जिसने मलेशिया में कोविड-19 कोरोनावायरस के लिए सकारात्मक परीक्षण किया था, ने आशंका जताई है कि अन्य यात्री जो जहाज छोड़ चुके हैं, वे भी वायरस के संपर्क में आ सकते हैं।


Gatwick Airport's £45m shuttle link opens in Sussex

Summary: A new shuttle service at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex has opened two months ahead of schedule.

The £45m upgraded service will speed up the time it takes passengers to travel between the north and south terminals. Passengers have been using buses to travel between the two sites since work began in September 2009. The new trains were lifted into place in February and replace the old inter-terminal system, which was installed at the airport in 1987.

वेस्ट ससेक्स के गैटविक हवाई अड्डे पर एक नई शटल सेवा निर्धारित समय से दो महीने पहले शुरू हो गई है।


Alpha Solway: The firm gearing up to produce millions of pieces of PPE

Summary: It was the kind of announcement any company would dream of.

By Giancarlo RinaldiSouth Scotland reporter, BBC Scotland news website Alpha Solway recently landed a £53m deal to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to NHS Scotland. The numbers involved - 232 million surgical masks, six million respirator masks and two million visors - are impressive in themselves. Now the firm - with sites in Annan and Dumfries - is gearing up to almost quadruple its 70-strong workforce in order to help fulfil the contract. It is a rapid expansion for a company formed by a merger of Alpha Safety and Solway Safety in the late 1990s. Sherree Gracie, operations director, said they had been selling disposable respirator masks for a number of years as part of a wide range of PPE products. However, in the past, they were mainly bought in from Asia. 'Massive disruption' All that has had to change. "Where we have come to now with the coronavirus pandemic, the disruption to the supply chain has been massive," said Ms Gracie. "There was a need obviously within the UK to be able to manufacture and supply the PPE products from local sources." It has also seen a shift in customer base - away from their traditional industrial demand for a range of protective equipment in the oil and gas, construction and food sectors. "With the coronavirus pandemic we have ended up basically supplying into the health services," she said. "The need was such at the time that they were in need of the product fairly quickly." 'Major shift' It meant Alpha Solway had to transform rapidly as the pandemic struck. "Certainly within a month there was a major shift in having to supply the health service and I guess a lot of private industrial companies had begun to close because of what was going on," she added. "So we were able to focus a bit more on supplying into that health market." Although they are a relatively small operation, based in Annan with a new factory in Dumfries, they are part of the Globus Group - a worldwide PPE supplier. Ms Gracie said that would help them to cope with demand in what was a "very significant" deal for the local economy with the production site in Dumfries set up specifically for new products. "You are having to do it much faster than you would normally do these things," she said. "We have got support at group level to assist us with that. "We are just basically recruiting people as quickly as we can and putting the structure in place that we need." 'Incredibly proud' And can it last longer term? Ms Gracie said sales teams were already working to ensure that was the case - both in their traditional sectors and in the health service. The company also hopes the move to "shop local" will continue in years to come as the coronavirus outbreak has shown how quickly the supply chain from further afield can be interrupted. "I really do think that is important that we retain a big chunk of what we buy locally," said Ms Gracie. As for the NHS deal, she said they were "incredibly proud" to have secured it. "We did work hard with them at the beginning of the pandemic to supply them," she said. "We initially started off doing medical visors and we were producing them and ramping up production at a pace that we have probably never done before. "It is nice for us as a business to see the fruits of our labour."

यह उस तरह की घोषणा थी जिसका कोई भी कंपनी सपना देखेगी।


Tilehurst double stabbing: Boy, 15, appears in court

Summary: A 15-year-old has appeared in court charged with attempted murder after a double stabbing.

Two 16-year-olds suffered stab wounds in Lucey Close, Tilehurst, Reading, on 12 September. At Reading Crown Court the boy, who can not be named for legal reasons, did not enter a plea. He is charged with one count each of attempted murder, grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon. A trial date has been set for 15 March.

दोहरे छुरा घोंपने के बाद हत्या के प्रयास के आरोप में एक 15 वर्षीय युवक अदालत में पेश हुआ है।


12 months, 12 lives: Kashmiris in limbo and lockdown

Summary: On 5 August 2019, the Indian government stripped Kashmir of its constitutionally guaranteed special status and split the region into two federally-run territories. A stringent curfew was imposed and thousands detained along with a communications black-out.

The lockdown began to be eased in March, but was then re-imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been a year of shutdowns, anger and fear. The BBC spoke to 12 different Kashmiris, to find out what their lives have been like during this year. Sanna Irshad Mattoo, 26 "In our line of work, you can't separate the personal from the professional," says Ms Mattoo, who has been a journalist for the last four years. "We have been through lockdowns in previous years. But last year there was an environment of fear psychosis. We didn't know what was happening. Our modes of communication changed. We innovated to be heard." Ms Mattoo said that security personnel attitudes towards reporters - already quite hostile - hardened further after August. "Now journalists are questioned, arrested and forced to reveal sources. If I have to put up a post on social media, I have to think twice or thrice now because I have to work too. The fear is always there." "There is a degree of concern for me at home. But I don't share my professional work with my family. I don't discuss it with them. Sometimes one has to lie as well." Altaf Hussain, 55 Altaf Hussain's son was one of the first casualties post the government order on 5 August. Usaib Altaf, 17, drowned after he jumped into a river to escape security forces who were chasing him - a charge they have denied. A year later, his death has still not been officially acknowledged - even the hospital where he died has refused to issue the family with a death certificate. "He had gone to play football but he returned in a coffin. Police insist no-one died that day. They are not acknowledging that he was killed. I have witnesses but still they are refusing to file a case. We went to the police station and courts but there's been no justice," he says. Muneefa Nazir, 6 Muneefa was caught in the crossfire after a protest broke out between protesters and security forces. She was hit in the right eye, apparently with a slingshot. "I was in hospital for many days. But I don't remember much now. I have forgotten my school lessons. I used to get 100 out of 100 marks. Once my eye is cured, I want to become a doctor. I like doctors because they helped me get well," she says. Her father, who is a cameraman for a local news agency, says her eye is completely gone and he had to take her out of school after he could no longer afford to pay the fees. "I can only see shadows. I can't read books. I don't go anywhere. Doctors said I will be able to go to school after 15 days but a year has passed," she says. Farooq Ahmad, 34 Mr Ahmed has a typical rags-to-riches story. He started working while he was still a young boy, helping drivers at a bus yard in Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir. In 2003, with his wife's gold ornaments and his own savings, he purchased a bus of his own. Today, along with a partner and a bank loan, he has a fleet of seven buses - but all of them are grounded. Transport has been one of the worst hit sectors in the region this year. "Recently we renewed the insurance policies of these buses for around 400,000 rupees ($5,335; £4,380) without earning a cent. Seven of my employees are on the verge of starvation. But how am I supposed to take care of their families when my own family is suffering? People like me sold our precious assets to make a respectable livelihood - when we don't earn, how will we repay our debts? Mr Ahmed now works as a manual labourer to try and pay off his back loan. Iqra Ahmad, 28 Ms Ahmad runs her own fashion designing business - a career choice she made she says, because she didn't want anyone bossing her around. She says she wants to promote Kashmiri culture through her work - which she sells online. "The internet shutdown inflicted a big blow to my business and 2G hasn't been helpful. I have customers all over the world including the US, Dubai and Australia. But most of my customers are Kashmiri and they can't see my products because pictures don't open on 2G speed. Earlier, I used to get 100-110 orders a week. Now I only get about five or six. International customers worry over delayed orders. One recently contacted her to congratulate her for delivering her order after six months. Another asked her to "get lost" because she didn't reply to her text on time due to the internet shutdown. "I don't think I can sustain my business for long like this. My monthly expenses are close to 200,000 rupees. And if I don't earn anything, how will I pay my seven workers?" Badrud Duja, 24 "As a law student, I study the constitution, spirit of democracy, fundamental rights, and due process of law. But these are merely words. The castle they build is crumbling. We are losing individual liberties. For all students and teachers, studying law has become a joke." Mr Dujia is fast becoming disillusioned with his chosen profession. "Speaking used to be a remedy but now it can land you in jail. As an intern with a human rights advocacy group in Kashmir, I saw a man bundled into a police van for speaking with media. Our spirit is being destroyed. There is complete hopelessness. We didn't study law to see it damaged by those who are paid to uphold it. I am searching for a different job." Manzoor Bhat, 29 Mr Bhatt heads the media wing of India's ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - which abrogated the erstwhile state's special status. He says he has been ostracised by his friends and family for choosing to join the party, but insists he will "not go to hell" because of it. To the contrary, he feels that he is helping the people of the region. "My aim is not power or earning money but changing the lives of others. Our youngsters pick up guns but this is not a solution. Those who die in Kashmir are my brothers too - but violence is not the answer." Javed Ahmad, 35 Mr Ahmed worked as a boat operator on the picturesque Dal Lake in Srinagar for the last 25 years, ferrying tourists up and down. It was a lucrative enough livelihood - he would earn around 500 rupees a day. "Now, I am forced to sell vegetables to survive - but where are the customers in a lockdown?" he asks. He says he struggles to pay even his children's school fees. "Our future has been ruined. Tourists won't come because of fear. This is a difficult time for everyone in Kashmir. But the tourism sector has suffered the most." Mr Ahmad says the government has promised boatmen 1,000 rupees each but says that won't even help pay his electricity bill. "I have left it to God because I have no hope." Falah Shah, 12 "In the rest of India, students have the best education opportunities. I am at a level where I am being deprived of even a basic education. If we miss out on important concepts at this point, how will we pass competitive exams in the future?" Falah asks. "I am facing problems with basic concepts in science and mathematics. But with the internet cut, I couldn't even search for solutions. Now the internet is back but speeds are terrible. Even if I try to open a book and read, there is no use because I have no concepts to begin with." She says she misses school - her teachers and friends. "I don't leave my home. For one year, I have been confined to this place. If any other state had been under lockdown for a year, students would have come out and protested. They wouldn't stay home. But we can't protest. We can be jailed." Sajid Farooq, 43 Mr Farooq is a hotelier and a third-generation businessman but says he sees no future in Kashmir. He talks about the death and violence he has seen since 1990 - the beginning of a militant uprising against Indian rule in the state. "It took three generations to build this hotel. But since 1990, we have only been surviving." Business, he says, has become unsustainable. "For electricity, I have to pay 200,000 rupees whether my hotel uses it or not. There are other service charges. I don't see things getting better. What Kashmiris mourn, the rest of the country celebrates. What the rest of country celebrates, we mourn it. So everything has become political. In everything, there is conflict. In such a situation, how can businesses run?" Bilal Ahmad, 35 Mr Ahmed is a fruit farmer in Kashmir - one of the main sources of agricultural revenue in the region. He says a combination of unseasonal weather and the lockdown has landed him in a situation where he may have to even sell his land. Unexpectedly early snowfall damaged both his apple and peach trees, and then to add to his woes, a shortage of labour meant that he could not spray his crops, which led to a poor harvest. "We have been idle for a year now. The apple produce used to fetch between 100,000 and 150,000 rupees but this year I have made only 30,000 rupees. My brother harvested 1,200 boxes of peaches but he had to throw away most of them because there were no buyers. If the situation continues like this, I may be forced to sell off the land - I can't do any other work. I have not studied much." Mohammad Sidiq, 49 Mr Sidiq works in pottery but says his work has ground to a halt because he can't get his raw material. The state government recently handed out sand and rock extraction permits to non-local contractors, putting thousands of locals like Mr Sidiq out of work. "The government has banned soil extraction. They say there are court orders. But where were the courts all these years? Did the judges not give a thought about the families of poor men like us? Do they want to starve us to death? Due to the lockdown, all of my products are unsold, I have stopped making new products and instead work as a manual labourer." Pictures by Abid Bhat. Reporting by Jehangir Ali

5 अगस्त 2019 को, भारत सरकार ने कश्मीर से उसका संवैधानिक रूप से गारंटीकृत विशेष दर्जा छीन लिया और इस क्षेत्र को दो संघ-संचालित क्षेत्रों में विभाजित कर दिया। एक सख्त कर्फ्यू लगाया गया और हजारों लोगों को संचार ब्लैक-आउट के साथ हिरासत में लिया गया।


'Idiots' set new Bridgend children's play area on fire

Summary: "Mindless vandals" have been accused of destroying a new playground in Bridgend by setting fire to the equipment.

Emergency services were called to the play area at Heol Las in Cornelly just before 23:00 BST on Saturday. A South Wales Fire crew from Kenfig Hill put out the blaze and police are appealing for witnesses. "It never ceases to amaze me why idiots wreck facilities in local communities," tweeted Richard Lewis, deputy chief constable of South Wales Police. He added: "Particularly when money is tight. If you know them, cough them up. They need to understand how communities work. Disgraceful."

"बुद्धिहीन उपद्रवियों" पर उपकरण में आग लगाकर ब्रिजेंड में एक नए खेल के मैदान को नष्ट करने का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Prince's Trust award for make-up artist who was shot nine times

Summary: "I was shot nine times and left in a wheelchair."

Life looked pretty bleak for Jemma McGrath five years ago. Involved in drink and drugs, her life spiralled out of control after the death of her dad. Aged 24, she was shot, left with multiple broken bones and doctors said she would never walk again. Now, she's just won a Prince's Trust award after launching her own make-up business. "I grew up in a [Belfast] community filled with religious and racial hate, and fought my way through life," she says. "I worked in care but used drugs and alcohol out of hours." Being shot was the wake-up call she needed. "Although it was a horrific thing to happen, it was a real turning point in my life," she tells Newsbeat. The injuries had a huge impact on her body. "There's still a hole in my femur now, there's plates and screws holding my whole body together." Jemma still has a bullet in her stomach which will "probably be with me until the day I die - it doesn't give me any bother," she says. "Some people call me the bionic woman, we have a laugh about it." Whilst she recovered in hospital, she set herself some goals: "To become a professional make-up artist and to walk my friend down the aisle." Three months later, Jemma started walking but she still only had use of one arm. Using social media, she managed to learn and practice her skills. Now 29, she says: "When I was recovering, I sat and played with make-up. I was watching different YouTube tutorials." Her friend advised her to join Enterprise, a Prince's Trust programme which helps unemployed young people get going in business. Jemma says she's had post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and insomnia: "I was up all night, designing and figuring things out through business ideas and getting them all onto paper." After leaving the Enterprise programme, Jemma launched #MakeUpUrLife - a make-up, microblading and inspirational speaking business. Within eight months of trading, she has expanded her business by training in new techniques and selling false eyelashes online. She has also been nominated for an Irish Beauty Award. Now she plans on taking a mentoring and coaching qualification to help others who might be struggling with PTSD. Jemma says: "My aim is to definitely help young people take a different road than the one I took." Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here.

"मुझे नौ बार गोली मारी गई और व्हीलचेयर पर छोड़ दिया गया।"


Newlyn Harbour: Two held in yacht drugs trafficking raid

Summary: Two men have been arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking after a boat was seized in the English Channel.

The vessel was escorted into Newlyn Harbour near Penzance, in Cornwall, on Thursday. The harbour was temporarily closed after the seizure for "public safety" reasons but has now reopened. The two men are being questioned by officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA), which is leading the investigation. Border Force and NCA officers, supported by Devon and Cornwall Police, remain at the scene. More news from Cornwall

इंग्लिश चैनल में एक नाव जब्त किए जाने के बाद नशीली दवाओं की तस्करी के संदेह में दो लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Coronavirus: How African firms are adapting to the pandemic

Summary: The coronavirus pandemic has brought doom and gloom to many businesses globally, whether big or small, and it looks like there will be more difficult times ahead as governments grapple with the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

By Mary-Ann RussonBusiness reporter, BBC News But while some firms are sinking and may not reopen again, others have so far been able to swim with the tide. Amidst store closures, job cuts and tensions with commercial property landlords, some entrepreneurs in Africa have been able to take the pandemic in their stride and capitalise on changing consumer demands. Here are three firms in different industries from across the continent that still hold hope for the future. Hair and skincare in South Africa In recent years, the growing middle class of Africans has led to the realisation that there is a need for customised products that cater specifically to African consumer needs. The African beauty industry is burgeoning as an increasing number of entrepreneurs are developing product ranges to suit African body types. One such example is Native Child, a South African hair and body care brand that uses only natural ingredients, which was founded by quantity surveyor Sonto Pooe in 2015 from her kitchen. The business had been growing at a steady pace, but the coronavirus lockdown measures mandated by the government caused retail sales to plunge and the cost of procuring crucial supplies to soar, impacted by the falling South African rand. Fortunately Ms Pooe's business has been allowed to stay open as it was classed as an essential service, so she and her team began problem-solving their way past a myriad of challenges. Parcels are still being dispatched to customers, and because many retailers have closed, Native Child gained many new customers online from across the continent. However this brought more problems, as the firm then found it was struggling to keep up with demand. It had to keep working out solutions to supply chain problems, as it became too expensive and too difficult to import some raw materials. "There's a particular product that we use in one of our formulations, which is a blend [of several] raw materials to make one final product. We've had to create a blend ourselves, instead of buying it already premixed...to kind of make sure that production still continues," Ms Pooe tells the BBC. Due to the lockdown, the ecommerce side of Native Child's business has taken off so much that Ms Pooe is having to outsource the running of the website entirely to another firm, as there is now more work than Native Child can handle. E-learning in Nigeria Gradely is a Nigerian technology startup founded in August 2019. The firm has a personalised e-learning platform for children that uses artificial intelligence to assess pupils' strengths and weaknesses. Schools in 144 countries remain closed and parents are having to pull double duty as both bread winners and teachers. While the platform is still in its first year of operation, the coronavirus lockdown has served to accelerate the start-up's progress in developing the product, as frazzled Nigerian parents turned online for support. "Gradely has been highlighted during the pandemic. People now come to find us and there's been a huge spike in demand, but it's also put us in a place where we need to show and prove the power of technology," says Boye Oshinaga, founder and chief executive of Gradely. Because the platform uses artificial intelligence, the system is always learning, and over time it is gathering valuable data about how children learn and the areas where they struggle. Parent Chinyere Ogunbi tells the BBC that she had been struggling to find enough work and material to give her son to do. "Gradely had a wider base where they test the child, identify areas where we need help and focus on those areas," she says. "That means I don't need to sit with him [all the time] - he can get onto the platform, do what he needs to do, and I get feedback on his progress." Mr Oshinaga strongly believes that personalised learning is the future of education: "Parents are using us on a daily basis and we're already tracking how much improvement children are making over a month or two, so we can show the world that this is not just technology for technology's sake - it can make a real difference in every child's learning." Securing funding for healthcare infrastructure Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) is a pan-African investment grade multilateral finance institution that is run by sovereign African states. It typically focuses on addressing infrastructure shortfalls and garnering investments to enable economic development, and in recent years transport and communication have been high priorities. The firm is based in Lagos, Nigeria, but it also works across the continent, with at least half of its staff travelling all the time. The coronavirus lockdown measures imposed by many governments have put a stop to this, and the firm has had to completely transform the way it works so that all staff can work seamlessly at home. The firm has also switched its focus towards improving health infrastructure, by securing funding to quickly build hospitals. So far through lockdown, AFC has built an emergency 110-bed hospital in Lagos, as well as a 340-bed hospital in in Abuja, the federal capital of Nigeria. The firm has also secured financial aid for five African states and is now working to extend that to another 10 African nations. "We're looking at what kind of development support solutions we can provide to enhance the capacity of the healthcare delivery system on the continent and to generally cope with liquidity and the sovereignty challenges that we know most of our institutions will face on the continent," AFC chief executive Samaila Zubairu tells the BBC. He added that the financial industry is hoping that the coronavirus crisis will "turn into some sort of advantage and wake up call for the continent" that will inspire African nations and entrepreneurs to bring production centres and manufacturing activities "closer" to home. "The crisis has revealed a lot of well-known structural deficiencies in the way African economies are set up and the way we trade with the rest of the world," he stresses, explaining that a lot of money is spent by African nations to export basic commodities to other countries where production takes place, and then more money is spent importing the goods back into Africa. "We have the continental free trade agreement coming in force soon - we need to take advantage of this pandemic, not to waste this crisis, to make sure that we have production centres [where] we produce at least 30-40% of what is required for us to trade within ourselves on the continent, and then we continue to build on that going forward." You can tune into In Business Africa every Friday at 18:30 GMT on BBC World News.

कोरोनावायरस महामारी ने विश्व स्तर पर कई व्यवसायों के लिए विनाश और निराशा लाई है, चाहे वे बड़े हों या छोटे, और ऐसा लगता है कि आगे और अधिक कठिन समय होगा क्योंकि सरकारें महामंदी के बाद से सबसे खराब आर्थिक मंदी से जूझ रही हैं।


Man freed after getting his head stuck in bin in Aberdeen

Summary: Firefighters were called out to rescue a man whose head was stuck in a public litter bin in Aberdeen.

It is not yet known how the man got into the predicament, which happened on the city's Justice Street. Emergency services were alerted to the man stuck with his head in the opening of the 4ft-high bin early on Sunday evening. A spokesman for Grampian Fire and Rescue Service said the man was not injured. He was taken to hospital for a check-up.

एक व्यक्ति जिसका सिर एबरडीन में एक सार्वजनिक कूड़ेदान में फंस गया था, उसे बचाने के लिए अग्निशामकों को बुलाया गया।


Murder probe after man left at Birmingham's City Hospital

Summary: A murder inquiry has been started after a man was left at a hospital with multiple stab wounds.

The 20-year-old was taken to Birmingham's City Hospital at about 02:45 BST, West Midlands Police said. Despite treatment he died a short time later. A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out later. Specially-trained officers are with the family of the man, who has not yet been named. Anyone with information is urged to contact police, a spokesman said.

चाकू के कई घावों के साथ एक व्यक्ति को अस्पताल में छोड़ने के बाद हत्या की जांच शुरू की गई है।


The girl who said 'no' to marriage

Summary: Balkissa Chaibou dreamed of becoming a doctor, but when she was 12 she was shocked to learn she had been promised as a bride to her cousin. She decided to fight for her rights - even if that meant taking her own family to court.

By Sarah Buckley BBC News "I came from school at around 18:00, and Mum called me," Balkissa Chaibou recalls. "She pointed to a group of visitors and said of one of them, 'He is the one who will marry you.' "I thought she was joking. And she told me, 'Go unbraid, and wash your hair.' That is when I realised she was serious." The young girl from Niger had always been ambitious. "When I was little, I was dreaming of becoming a doctor. Take care of people, wear the white coat. Help people," she says. Marriage to her cousin, who had arrived with his father from neighbouring Nigeria, would make this impossible. "They said if you marry him you won't be able to study any more. For me my passion is studying. I really like to study. That's when I realised that my relationship with him wouldn't work well." Niger's tradition of marrying its girls young - it has the highest rate of child marriage in the world - is partly rooted in its grinding poverty. "The dynamic works in this way: I have lots of children, and if I can marry off one child that is one child less that I have to feed," explains Monique Clesca, the United Nations Population Fund's representative in Niger. Balkissa Chaibou's parents had five daughters, so from their perspective marrying her to her cousin may have made economic sense. But another reason for the tradition of early marriage in Niger is the belief that it reduces the risk of pregnancy outside wedlock. "Nowadays some children are not well brought up," says Hadiza Almahamoud, Chaibou's mother. "If they are not married off at an early age, they can bring shame to the family." Chaibou continued to work hard at school, waking at 03:00 to study, but as she got older the looming marriage with her cousin became a distraction. Then, one day when she was 16, the bride price, suitcases and a wedding outfit arrived. "I felt pain inside of me, it really broke my heart," says Chaibou. "Because I see that I am fighting to fulfil myself, and these people will be an obstacle to my evolution." She plucked up the courage to try to get out of the marriage after getting her junior high school diploma. "I told myself that I can try to pull myself together, see how I can escape this situation." Her mother understood her objection to the marriage but didn't have the status, as a woman, to help her. So Chaibou approached her father, suggesting that as a compromise she could marry but only see her husband in the holidays until she had completed her Baccalaureate. Find out more But the tradition of the Tuareg - the ethnic group to which Chaibou belongs - is that the older brother has power over the children of his younger siblings. Since Chaibou's uncle - the father of her fiance - was older, her father dared not go against his wishes and preparations for a wedding continued. In desperation Chaibou asked her school principal, Moumouni Harouna, for help. He referred her to an NGO called the Centre for Judicial Assistance and Civic Action, which took legal action against her father and uncle for forcing her into a marriage she did not want. Once in court, Chaibou's uncle denied the accusation, she says, and claimed it had all been a misunderstanding, so the case was dropped. But once she got home, her uncle threatened to kill her. "He said that even if he had to wrap me up - even if he had to wrap me up in a body bag - I would go [to Nigeria]," says Chaibou. She was forced to take refuge in a women's shelter. "The first night spent here I didn't sleep well," she says. "I was thinking too much about my parents, about the situation they were in, especially with the anger of my uncle. I was sure he would insult them and threaten them, so I didn't have a clear mind." But faced with the threat of jail, the wedding party returned to Nigeria and after a week Chaibou was able to go home. "When I put on my school uniform... I felt like my life was renewed. As if it was a new beginning," she says, describing the day she started college. Her mother says that she and her husband have now changed their views on forced marriage. "We are finished with [it] in this family. We are scared of it," she says. "If a girl grows up she can choose her husband. We can't do it." Mariama Moussa - president of the shelter Chaibou took refuge in - says domestic violence is a serious problem in Niger and that forced marriage is one of the root causes. "When you force them, as a result there is a succession of violence that they can suffer in their home," she says. "There is physical violence, psychological violence... When the husband cannot tolerate her any more, he can hit her, or make her leave, even in pregnancy." Chaibou is aware that now she has won her freedom it is important for her to succeed in her studies and repay her family's sacrifice. "I know my family's hope is on my shoulders. Everyone counts on me. Everyone has their eyes on me," she says. Now 19, she campaigns for other girls to follow her example and say "no" to forced marriage. She visits schools and has spoken to tribal chiefs about the issue. She has also spoken at a UN summit on reducing maternal mortality, a phenomenon linked to early marriage. "Before [the age of] 15 the body is not ready to have a child," says Clesca. "About 34% of adolescent deaths in Niger are maternal mortality, which gives you a sense of the problem. "It is important for the Balkissas of this world to stand up because it shows the other girls that 'Hey, I can do this.' "And yes we have seen a ripple effect. One girl says no and others are crowding around her [saying] 'What did you do? I mean, why did you say no?'" Balkissa Chaibou is getting closer to becoming a doctor. She passed her International Baccalaureate and is currently at medical school. "I'm not saying don't marry," she tells one group of schoolgirls. "But choose the right moment to do so. The advice I have for you is to fight - study with all your might. I know studying isn't easy but you must force yourself because those studies are your only hope." Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox. Balkissa Chaibou appears in the four-part documentary series Her Story: The Female Revolution which will air on BBC World on 20th February, 27th February, 5th March and 12th March. Find out more about the documentary.

बाल्किसा चाइबोउ ने डॉक्टर बनने का सपना देखा था, लेकिन जब वह 12 साल की थी तो वह यह जानकर हैरान रह गई कि उसे अपने चचेरे भाई से दुल्हन के रूप में वादा किया गया था। उसने अपने अधिकारों के लिए लड़ने का फैसला किया-भले ही इसका मतलब अपने परिवार को अदालत में ले जाना हो।


High Australian real estate prices lead to bubble fears

Summary: Real estate has long been an Australian obsession and sharp spikes in house prices across Australia's major cities in recent years have fuelled the passion for property. But it is not easy working out who or what is to blame.

By Phil MercerBBC News, Sydney Fluctuating prices, and what triggers them, are studiously followed in a country where two-thirds of the population own their own home. The most spectacular growth has been in the notoriously fevered Sydney market, which has grown 15% over the 2013-14 financial year, compared with a combined 10% across all the state capital cities, according to figures from property information firm RP Data. The median house price in Sydney has now reached a jaw-dropping A$800,000 ($697,000, £440,000), many times the average wage. Hardly surprising, therefore, that Australian house prices are among the least affordable in the economic bloc of more than 30 OECD countries, leaving a generation of renters with dwindling prospects of achieving the dream of home ownership. Prime International Residential Index - Square meters US$1m will buy Source: Knight Frank Clearly, the boom reflects market forces: demand has outstripped supply in Sydney and Melbourne but what is stimulating this ferocious appetite? Is it moneybags investors looking to boost their retirement incomes, cashed-up buyers from China, low interest rates, preferential tax regimes or planning laws stifling development? The truth is complicated, and what affects one city, or suburb, almost certainly will not apply to places and properties elsewhere. Chinese demand For example, while residential markets in Sydney and Melbourne performed well, sales this year in Perth have been subdued. "The resources-based economy, which is largely affected by fluctuations in iron ore, gold and precious metal prices, is very slow. There has been a big reduction in employment opportunities in Western Australia and that has fallen back into the property market," says David Airey, president of the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia. On the other side of the continent, it is a very different story. "Buying pressure in Sydney has come from overseas investors literally buying everything they can, particularly from Asia," Mr Airey says. "Sydney prices look cheap to them. They look expensive to Australians but A$1m really doesn't buy you very much." The impact of Chinese investment is the subject of on-going studies at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). Dr Adrian Lee, a postdoctoral research fellow at UTS Business School, says Chinese nationals are only allowed to buy new, not established properties in Australia. But he questions whether Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board "has adequately enforced the restrictions". Dr Lee believes the flow of money will increase. "I think Australian property will continue to be favourable to China's growing middle class as they perceive Australia as a great place to eventually live in for themselves and their families," he says. 'Fraught with danger' Another culprit in climbing house prices is Australia's so-called negative gearing, which offers a tax break to more than a million investors who make a loss on their property investments, says Dale Boccabella from the University of New South Wales, who describes negative gearing as a "defect in the system". "No-one is going to be able to tell us the extent to which the continuing of negative gearing is putting pressure on house prices but it must be making some contribution," says Mr Boccabella. "It is so entrenched. People have just latched onto it. It is part and parcel of the culture." With some of the world's most expensive bricks and mortar, Australians are often warned the housing market is a bubble that will eventually burst. In September, federal treasurer Joe Hockey rejected those grim projections as "lazy analysis", adding that he didn't "see at the moment any substantial risk" because supply wasn't meeting demand. But real estate agents do see the potential for trouble ahead because of reckless lending to some buyers. "The flow of credit for first-time home-buyers is far too easy," says Mark Wizel, a director of real estate firm CBRE in Melbourne. "I think that it is a market that is fraught with a bit of danger because if there is a correction in the housing market buyers that have over-extended themselves to take up the opportunity of the great Australian dream may be left exposed." Predicting where the market goes from here is a national pastime but agents in Sydney believe booming sales will begin to slow towards the end of the traditional peak spring period. The Reserve Bank of Australia is also considering reforms to prevent what it believes is excessive speculation by investors that has helped to drive prices higher.

अचल संपत्ति लंबे समय से ऑस्ट्रेलिया का जुनून रहा है और हाल के वर्षों में ऑस्ट्रेलिया के प्रमुख शहरों में घरों की कीमतों में तेज उछाल ने संपत्ति के प्रति जुनून को बढ़ावा दिया है। लेकिन यह पता लगाना आसान नहीं है कि कौन या क्या दोषी है।


Sword used in Dudley fight injuring two men

Summary: Two men have been taken to hospital after a fight in the West Midlands which involved a sword and cricket bat, police said.

One man suffered a slash wound to his arm and the other a broken leg after being hit by a car. West Midlands Police said they were called to Stourbridge Road, Lye, at about 17:00 GMT on Friday. Investigations are ongoing to establish the circumstances around the fight, the force said. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone.

पुलिस ने कहा कि वेस्ट मिडलैंड्स में तलवार और क्रिकेट बैट से लड़ाई के बाद दो लोगों को अस्पताल ले जाया गया है।


Public toilets to be offloaded by Flintshire council

Summary: The last five public toilets in Flintshire look set to be closed or offloaded in a move that will save the county council up to £94,000.

Facilities in Duke Street, Flint, will shut on 1 April while Mold's New Street car park toilets will be offered to the town council or close. Facilities in Holywell and Talacre will also be offered to community councils. Councillors discussed the plans on Wednesday but a final decision has yet to be made. A decision on the future of toilets at Mold bus station will be delayed.

फ्लिंटशायर में अंतिम पांच सार्वजनिक शौचालयों को बंद या उतारने के लिए तैयार किया गया है जिससे काउंटी परिषद को £94,000 तक की बचत होगी।


Man wanted over Douglas knifepoint purse robbery

Summary: A man wanted in connection with a knifepoint robbery on the Isle of Man has been pictured in CCTV released by police.

A woman had her purse stolen by a man holding a knife on Douglas promenade on Saturday. It happened between Broadway and Castle Mona Avenue at at about 01:00 GMT. CCTV taken from a building on Broadway about an hour after the attack has been published on the Isle of Man Constabulary Facebook page. The force has described the man in the footage as a "person of interest", but declined to clarify if he was a direct suspect or a potential witness. Anyone who recognises him or has any information about the attack should contact police. Related Internet Links Isle of Man Constabulary

आइल ऑफ मैन पर चाकू की नोक पर लूट के सिलसिले में वांछित एक व्यक्ति को पुलिस द्वारा जारी सीसीटीवी में चित्रित किया गया है।


The radiation leak site that wants more nuclear waste

Summary: A recent radiation leak at America's only nuclear waste repository threatens the future of waste storage in the country. But leaders in the city of Carlsbad, New Mexico, still want their area to be a destination for America's radioactive history.

By Taylor Kate BrownBBC News, New Mexico Carlsbad works underground. On the road into the city, derricks pump oil from deep in the Earth. Residents go to work mining potash, a raw material used in fertiliser. Others give tours at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. And some of Carlsbad's underground workers make a half-mile (0.8km) journey into the earth not to take from the ground, but to bury the wastes of human invention. This is WIPP, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the only long-term geologic repository for nuclear waste in the United States. While other locales across the US have fought mightily to prevent the establishment of similar operations, almost all of Carlsbad is sanguine about the storage of nuclear materials just a 40-minute drive from the centre of town. That confidence has been tested this month after a radiation leak and the initial report 13 workers had tested positive for radioactive contamination. And as the only permanent storage facility for nuclear waste, problems at WIPP create problems for the larger US nuclear defence complex, including delays of already scheduled shipments from around the country. But it is the first serious incident in WIPP's history, and Carlsbad still appears to have confidence, albeit slightly shaken, in the site. In fact, town officials are hoping their corner of New Mexico can be the home of even more nuclear waste. Radiation leak The facility, 26 miles (42km) east of the city, looks from the outside like any industrial site, except for the large, empty canisters sitting in the car park. But 2,150ft (655m) below, WIPP is a cool cavern, with wide pathways cut out of pure salt on every side. Each storage section, known as a panel, is 13ft high, 33ft wide and 300ft long. WIPP can only take certain types of waste. It must all be from US defence projects and be transuranic - contaminated by elements beyond uranium in the periodic table in which radioactivity is particularly long-lived. Most of its waste is solid: radioactive gloves, tools and debris. Stand next to canisters of these types of waste for an hour and you'll be dosed with about half the average amount of radiation an American receives in a year. Workers wear radiation counters and spend limited time in direct proximity to the waste. Most of it emits radioactivity through particles known as alpha-emitters, which are seriously dangerous only if ingested and inhaled. In October 2013, WIPP officials and Carlsbad residents told the BBC the site's excellent safety record gave them confidence. In early February, that record ended, when a small fire on a lorry hauling salt closed down the underground portion of the site. Then late on 14 February, underground sensors detected radiation. More tests confirmed that two radioactive particles, isotopes of americium and plutonium, were found on aboveground air filters. Later, preliminary test results indicated 13 employees working above ground that day had inhaled or ingested radioactive material. On Wednesday, energy department officials said follow-up testing on the employees was negative for both isotopes. Such a result "indicates that levels were extremely low and the employees are unlikely to experience any serious health effects", Carlsbad field office manager Jose Franco wrote. WIPP officials said the amount of radioactivity detected aboveground, about 3 mRems, is less than in the exposure of a chest x-ray (10 mRems). An investigation is underway to determine what exactly happened. 'Proud of what we do' In the 1970s, Carlsbad's main industry, potash, was on an economic downswing just as a proposal to bury nuclear waste in underground salt deposits near Lyons, Kansas, fell apart. Carlsbad officials realised nuclear waste disposal could be a stable industry. The area had salt deposits and plenty of people willing and able to work underground. A local oversight board spent years studying safety concerns, and the plant received its first waste shipment in 1999. Since then, more than 90,000 cu m have come to rest here from around the US. When the BBC visited in October, city development director John Waters said the city was "proud of what we do here". "We want people to know that we're helping the nation take care of a problem that the whole world is experiencing," he said. "We want to be the example of how to do it right." About 1,000 people in Carlsbad, a city of 26,000, are employed by WIPP or related contractors, and the site's annual budget is about $215m (£129m) per year. While oil and potash have been booming again in south-eastern New Mexico, they have busted before. WIPP promised a stable economic base for lifelong residents. "Those are our high-paying jobs, they support our baseball teams, they are part of our community," says Eddy County Commissioner Susan Crockett, who represents Carlsbad. Before the leak, most residents told the BBC that the nuclear storage didn't worry them - or even cross their minds. But now there are signs of increased concern. A town hall meeting with WIPP officials about the incident attracted about 300 residents. The local newspaper, the Carlsbad Current-Argus, reported a sharp rise in appointments for people wanting whole body scans for radiation. "One citizen came [to the town hall] with a very simple question, 'Is my family safe in Carlsbad?'" says city councillor Jason Shirley. He says the answer is yes, that safety measures at WIPP did exactly what they were supposed to do in such a situation. What happens next at WIPP could also determine the future of another potential nuclear waste project in the region. Eddy County and neighbouring Lea County have proposed making an aboveground storage site for radioactive waste produced by power plants. Known as the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance (ELEA), it is intended to be an interim site for spent fuel awaiting a permanent US repository. The two counties have three companies on board - firms already in town for WIPP - to create private storage if the state and federal governments permit it. When asked recently whether the leak would affect ELEA's future, Mr Waters said it was a separate project that would have to "stand on its own merits anyway". WIPP was long held up as a rare success story in nuclear waste. But with its safety record no longer clean, its economic promise will again be tested against the potential perils. For now, Carlsbad seems to be keeping the faith. "Moving forward, their safety record is going to be phenomenal," Ms Crockett says. "There's no reason for us to not feel safe having WIPP there."

अमेरिका के एकमात्र परमाणु अपशिष्ट भंडार में हाल ही में एक विकिरण रिसाव देश में अपशिष्ट भंडारण के भविष्य के लिए खतरा है। लेकिन न्यू मैक्सिको के कार्ल्सबैड शहर के नेता अभी भी चाहते हैं कि उनका क्षेत्र अमेरिका के रेडियोधर्मी इतिहास के लिए एक गंतव्य बने।


Islamic State: Profile of Mohammed Emwazi aka 'Jihadi John'

Summary: What do we know for sure about Mohammed Emwazi?

Dominic CascianiHome affairs correspondent@BBCDomCon Twitter Mohammed Emwazi was born in Kuwait in 1988 and came to the UK in 1994 when he was six years old. He was educated at the Quintin Kynaston Community Academy in St John's Wood, north London. The then headteacher, Jo Shuter, has told the BBC that she never suspected that the "reasonably hardworking" pupil would become the man we know him to be today. Emwazi was 14 when Ms Shuter arrived at the school and she found him to be a quiet young man, with caring responsibilities outside of school as the oldest of a number of siblings. "He had adolescent issues," she said. "Particularly at that age - year nine, particularly the boys, is a time when the hormones start raging, and he had some issues with being bullied, which we dealt with. "By the time he got into the sixth form, he, to all intents and purposes, was a hardworking aspirational young man who went on to the university that he wanted to go to. "I can't stress enough, he wasn't a huge concern to us." He later graduated in computing from the University of Westminster in 2009 and his final address in the UK before he went abroad was in the Queen's Park area of north-west London. Emwazi came to the attention of the security services during the same year as MI5 and other agencies monitored suspected extremists linked to foreign fighters joining al-Shabab in Somalia. 'Rough and noisy' Going by the name Muhammad ibn Muazzam, he had travelled to Tanzania with another Briton, known as "Abu Talib" and a third man, a German convert called "Omar". Once they arrived, they were denied entry and interrogated and Emwazi later claimed to Cage, a campaign group in London, that they had been subject to harassment and abuse. But a police officer in Tanzania has told the BBC that Emwazi was deported for being drunk and abusive, The officer said Emwazi "brought chaos to the airport" by being "rough and noisy" and that he behaved "like alcohol was involved". His behaviour led him to being refused entry to the country, along with his two friends. Emwazi later said he had been threatened at gunpoint and was told to ask the British government why he had been stopped. But Tanzanian immigration commissioner Abdullah Khamis Abdullah said no instructions had been issued from any other country to stop Emwazi. And the arresting officer said Emwazi was not tortured, as he later claimed. Cage said that Emwazi was questioned by both Dutch and British security services as he returned home via The Netherlands. The account he gave to the campaign group includes allegations that MI5 spoke to his fiancee - and she then ended the relationship. Emwazi himself was not charged with an offence. Wider network But MI5's view was that this had been no innocent post-university safari holiday. He was considered an associate of a number of high-profile suspected jihadists whom they were tracking across the world. One of them was a married man with two children whom we can only identify as "CE". He was placed on a control order in 2011 and forcibly relocated from London. During his legal challenge against the house-arrest style conditions, the security service's lawyers argued that his network included, amongst others, Mohammed Emwazi, "BX", J1 and Bilal Berjawi. All of these men were said in court to be involved in the "provision of funds and equipment to Somalia for terrorism-related purposes and the facilitation of individuals' travel from the United Kingdom to Somalia to undertake terrorism-related activity". BX - now known to be a man called Ibrahim Magag - went on the run and is widely thought to have reached Somalia. Bilal Berjawi, another Londoner, also succeeded in reaching the Horn of Africa. The ethnically Lebanese man had dual nationality and the Home Secretary stripped him of his British citizenship. Some time later he was killed in a US drone strike on militant targets. As for J1, in a 2013 court ruling on attempts to deport him the Court of Appeal described the Ethiopian as someone who had "thrown in his lot with a group of Islamist extremists who are committed to terrorism". J1 is, in turn, linked to some of the men jailed for the failed suicide attacks on London on 21 July 2005. Mohammed Emwazi timeline: Source: Cage, London-based campaign group 'Jihadi John' movement mapped Kuwait future Between late 2009 and early 2010, Mohammed Emwazi returned to Kuwait to stay with his father's family and, according to reports, look for a new life in the Middle East. The family are of Bedoon ethnicity - a group that is marginalised in Kuwaiti society. He was looking for a good computing job and was, according to Asim Qureshi of Cage, planning to marry and settle down. He spent three months working as an IT salesman before returning to the UK - but he never returned. According to Cage, he was prevented from returning to Kuwait when he was detained for six hours at Heathrow. He alleged that he was assaulted by an officer. Cage claims that he became desperate to leave the UK and that in 2013, he changed his name by deed poll to Mohammed al-Ayan and tried once more to travel to Kuwait. But he was stopped again. His parents reported him missing in August. Four months later police are said to have told the family that he was in Syria, although the family thought by now that he was doing aid work in Turkey. We do not know exactly when he entered the war zone but he was first reported to be in Idlib in the same year, assisting in guarding Western hostages. Jihadi John sightings In August 2014, he appeared in the video which shows the murder of US journalist James Foley - and then over the subsequent months, similar films showing the killing of Steve Sotloff, David Haines and Alan Henning. In none of these videos is it clear whether it is the masked man or another person off camera who kills the victims. But in November 2014, the same militant features in a hostage death video - and this time he appears to be carrying out the killing of a Syrian military officer. He also stands over the severed head of American Peter Abdulrahman Kassig. Two months later the man features in another video in which he kills the Japanese hostage, Kenji Goto. This January 2015 video was the last appearance of the masked killer. A British newspaper later reported that it had seen new footage of Emwazi "unmasked" - although it was unclear when the video had been shot or whether the man in it was definitely Emwazi. In her interview with the BBC, Emwazi's former headteacher Jo Shuter said: "I can't even begin to say the shock and the horror that I feel. "Even now when I'm listening to the news and I hear his name I feel the skin on the back of my neck stand up because it is just so far from what I knew of him and it is so shocking and so horrendous the things that he has done."

हम मोहम्मद एमवाज़ी के बारे में निश्चित रूप से क्या जानते हैं?


Soviet-era tin cans among rubbish found near Ullapool

Summary: Tin cans from Soviet-era fish factory ships have been found among rubbish cleared from two shorelines in the north west Highlands.

More than 300 bags of rubbish were gathered during the beach cleans at Dun Canna, north of Ullapool. The tins were from factory ships, known as klondykers, which would anchor in Loch Broom off Ullapool to process mackerel in the 1970s to early 90s. Almost 50 volunteers were involved in collecting the rubbish. The effort was part of the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Living Seas project.

सोवियत काल के मछली कारखाने के जहाजों के टिन के डिब्बे उत्तर पश्चिम हाइलैंड्स में दो तटरेखाओं से हटाए गए कचरे के बीच पाए गए हैं।


Saffiyah Khan: From EDL viral photo to The Specials

Summary: It is less than two years since Saffiyah Khan's calm smile, inches from the face of an English Defence League activist, made global headlines. But since then, she has gone through a frenzy of activity that has taken in everything from the catwalk, to making a film with the BBC, to performing with ska revivalists, The Specials.

By David SchafferBBC News When the 20-year-old was photographed defending a woman at a protest outside Birmingham Library on 8 April 2017, she was moments away from going viral. That photograph of her coolly going toe-to-toe with a protester was seen by thousands and described in The Guardian as a symbol of the city "standing up to the far-right group". But perhaps what is less known about that image is that from a different angle Khan can be clearly seen wearing a Specials T-shirt. Within hours the band had offered her tickets to one of their gigs. But that has become a distant footnote to the story. She now appears on The Specials' new album, Encore, with Ten Commandments - a personal riposte she penned based on a track by one of the forefathers of ska, Prince Buster. "I'm just rolling with it," says Khan, from Acocks Green in Birmingham. "I left school with no qualifications, so I haven't had a choice." That very approach to life saw her walk on stage for the first time to perform the track with the band she now regards as family at London's 100 Club last Friday. It was also the first time in almost 40 years - since the release of More Specials in 1980 - that the band debuted new material with Terry Hall on vocals. The band ribbed her about how excited she was. But this was after finding out The Specials' recording of Ten Commandments had taken place at the same mixing desk that produced Exodus by Bob Marley & The Wailers in 1977, so what did they expect? "I didn't care. I was thinking, 'I might never do this again'," she said. The Ten Commandments of Man was a hit in the United States for Prince Buster in 1965. But some of his lyrics - such as "Thou shall not provoke me to anger, or my wrath will descend on your heavily" - are an uncomfortable read for 21st Century eyes. Horace Panter, bass player and founding member of The Specials, happily admits the Prince was a big influence on why he started things in the first place. "The band had done a cover of Enjoy Yourself and sampled Al Capone on Gangsters," he remembers. "But Ten Commandments has not travelled very well, and from listening to it again it felt important to do a contemporary version. "The problem is our attempts ended up sounding like comedy versions of the song." It led to the idea of turning it "completely on its head" by getting a woman to do the vocals - and getting Khan onboard injected real excitement. "And, you know what - she bit our hands off," Panter says. After masking her excitement at getting the call from Hall, Khan was suddenly faced with having to come up with the right words. She has reacted to lyrics like: "Two, thou shall not encourage no man to make love to you... For I am your man, a very jealous man; And is ready to lay low any other man that may intrude in our love." But she had a mental block for months before she found the right words, namely: "Thou shall not listen to Prince Buster or any other man offering kindly advice in matters of my own conduct". "I only got the lyrics written finally the night before we recorded it," she says. "For ages I'd been telling them I was sorted, 'but, I'm not near my computer at the moment, so I can't send them to you'. "I had a lot of ideas but it was trying to get it to work in a song." Despite clearly pointing out how blatantly sexist Prince Buster's original lyrics were, Khan is quick to state her version is not a "man-hating track". "It's [also] not saying to women, 'Throw away your make-up and become a militant feminist'," she says. "What it's about is common sense with how we treat each other." You might also be interested in: One day last summer, after five or six takes, Khan nailed the track in the studio. And it was a very similar story at the 100 Club, a gig set up to mark the end of BBC 6Music's Independent Venues Week, led by DJ Steve Lamacq. "When she arrived, the first thing Saffiyah said was 'I've never done this before, I don't know how it works'," says Panter. "We said, don't worry, we're not really sure how it's going to work either." No-one needed to worry though, as the track was one of the highlights of the hour-long set. "When we got up for breakfast on Saturday, we all still had smiles on our faces - it was great," adds Panter. Since its release last week the track has split opinion. Rather surprisingly, Panter points out that it has gone down particularly well in the US. "If there are people finding it too radical, too feminist, too liberal, there are a lot of people who are saying it's not radical enough," Khan says. But that it has provoked strong reactions on both sides suggests it is a statement much-needed in the current political climate, she adds. Her continued presence, it seems, is important too. Khan has just confirmed that the 100 Club performance has led to her securing a slot on The Specials' upcoming tour of the US, Europe and the UK. Panter cautions people not to be fooled into thinking she is some representative of "the younger generation". "Most young people don't think about politics. But Saffiyah really is at the cutting edge of something," he says. "She is doing [all this], whereas the majority of people her age have got their heads stuck in their mobile phone, taking selfies."

सफिया खान की शांत मुस्कान को दो साल से भी कम समय हो गया है, जो एक अंग्रेजी डिफेंस लीग कार्यकर्ता के चेहरे से इंच दूर है, जिसने वैश्विक सुर्खियां बटोरी हैं। लेकिन तब से, वह उन गतिविधियों के उन्माद से गुजरी हैं जो कैटवॉक से लेकर बीबीसी के साथ एक फिल्म बनाने, स्का पुनरुद्धारकर्ताओं के साथ प्रदर्शन करने, द स्पेशल तक सब कुछ ले गई हैं।


Apple Pay: How will it work in the UK?

Summary: For those who find carrying around and safeguarding their credit and debit cards a hassle, a hi-tech, easier-to-use alternative is at hand - or so Apple would have us believe.

By Leo KelionTechnology desk editor The world's most valuable company has extended its mobile wallet service Apple Pay to the UK, making it the first country outside the US to get the facility. The scheme has the potential to further enrich the tech giant. But, of course, it's far from being the first to try to popularise a digital wallet, and other rival services are on their way. So, how do you use Apple Pay? Once a user has added their payment card details to the platform, they can buy things in high street stores, restaurants and other real-world locations by using just their iPhone. To trigger a payment the shopper brings their phone close to one of the contactless readers already used for tap-and-go sales in the UK, and use the handset's fingerprint sensor to confirm their identity. There is no need to launch a special app, but the consumer will need to select a different card from the screen before entering their fingerprint if they do not want to use the default option. Alternatively, if they own an Apple Watch, they can make purchases by holding the wearable up to a reader and double-clicking its side button. In addition, iPads join the watch and iPhone in being able to buy products from online shops, apps and adverts served up via Apple's iAd platform. Are there any restrictions? Yes. Shoppers require at least one of Apple's newest devices to get going. Only the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Watch contain near-field communication (NFC) chips, which are required to make contactless payments. And the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 are the firm's only tablets fitted with fingerprint readers, which are needed for online sales. According to research firm KantarWorldPanel, there are currently 2.9 million Apple Pay compatible devices in use in the UK, although it should be recognised that older handsets can be used if paired with the smartwatch. Another restriction is that just as tap-and-go card transactions are limited to £20 - rising to £30 in September - the same will be true of Apple Pay at many retailers. Stores can, however, upgrade their back-end software systems to recognise fingerprint readings as an ID-check alternative to pin codes in order to remove that cap. Finally, the service is only offered to those aged 13 and above. Who is going to support it? The UK's leading credit card providers - Visa, Mastercard and American Express - have all signed up, and the initial wave of banks and building societies includes Ulster Bank, Nationwide, NatWest, Santander, MBNA and the Royal Bank of Scotland. HSBC had also been listed as being set to participate as late as Monday evening, but now says it is not quite ready. A spokeswoman denied it had been punished for leaking the launch date over the weekend. "We're working hard to bring Apple Pay to HSBC and First Direct customers, and they'll be able to use it later in July," she told the BBC. Halifax, Lloyds, Bank of Scotland and TSB also say they will join "soon". What was the biggest hold-out, Barclays, has also revealed it intends to join the platform despite having only just launched three contactless payment devices of its own. "We are really excited about the launch of Apple Pay and can confirm that we will bring Barclays debit cards and Barclaycard credit cards to Apple Pay in the future," said a spokesman. That still leaves the Co-operative Bank uncommitted - it says it is still "actively looking into our future participation". As far as participating outlets are concerned, Boots, Lidl, Transport for London and M&S are all being promoted as big-name participants. But, in truth any organisation - large or small - already using one of the UK's 410,000 contactless pay terminals should be able to offer it. What if someone steals or hacks one of your devices? In theory, your details should still be safe because of the way the system is designed. Rather than save the original card details on a device, Apple Pay requires each of the banks and payment networks involved to create two new elements: The token and encryption key are installed into a dedicated chip on the devices, which their operating systems cannot access. To authorise an in-store sale, the device's token and an associated cryptogram are transmitted via the contactless terminal to the payment provider, who checks they belong together. Even if a thief did manage to intercept the information, they could not re-use the token without knowing a way to make new matching cryptograms, nor could they reverse-engineer it to reveal the original payment card's details. This should protect users - but there are caveats: Does this mean Apple can start tracking people's payments? No - or at least not in a way that they can be linked to individual shoppers. The firm's privacy statement promises: "Apple Pay doesn't collect any transaction information that can be tied back to you. Payment transactions are between you, the merchant, and your bank." So, while the iPhone's Passbook app can be used to display the last 10 transactions per card, this information is provided by the payment providers themselves rather than recorded on Apple's servers. That does not mean, however, that Apple collects no data at all. If the user has the "location services" option switched on, the tech firm can anonymously track the time and place a real-world purchase is made. Similarly, if Apple Pay is used to buy something within an app, the company retains data about the sum spent, when the service was bought and who the merchant was - but not the shopper's identity. And if Apple Pay is used to buy something from an iAd promotion, details of the purchase "that can't be tied" to a specific user are shared with the advertiser. All of this is potentially commercially useful to Apple. How else might it benefit? Once a user has registered with Apple Pay, there have an added incentive to stay within Apple's ecosystem, helping it sell them more phones, smartwatches and tablets. Last year, the Financial Times also reported that Apple had convinced the US banks to let it keep a 0.15% cut of each transaction, which comes out of the lenders' fees. It is not known if it has struck the same deal in the UK. And a recently published patent suggests Apple is also exploring extending the service to let users send payments to each other, for which it could charge a fee. But more people use Android than iOS. What about them? Samsung has announced its top-end handsets will soon offer Samsung Pay in South Korea, the US and Europe. In addition to using similar NFC-based tech, the facility can also mimic the swipe of a magnetic strip card. That may prove popular in the US where terminals that accept contactless and chip-and-pin payments are relative rare. Meanwhile, Google intends to revamp and rebrand its US-only Google Wallet mobile service as Android Pay. The new version will support the use of fingerprint scanners and also support typed-in passwords or drawn patterns as alternative ID checks. Both Samsung Pay and Android Pay will adopt similar token-based security system to Apple's. Are there other mobile wallet schemes? Lots. In the UK alone, shoppers can use Barclays' Pingit and PayM to send and receive money by using mobile numbers. PayPal - already popular for online money transfers - has also been trialled in-store and in-restaurant payments with Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Wagamama among others. Visa's V.Me service allows users to store a range of credit card details securely online to help speed up internet purchases. And on the horizon, a new service called Zapp promises to let older smartphones make bank debit payments in stores belonging to Asda, Sainsbury's, House of Fraser and Clarks among others.

उन लोगों के लिए जो अपने क्रेडिट और डेबिट कार्ड को ले जाने और सुरक्षित रखने में परेशानी महसूस करते हैं, एक उच्च तकनीक, उपयोग में आसान विकल्प हाथ में है-या तो ऐप्पल हमें विश्वास दिलाएगा।


Rail crisis: Your train journey horror stories

Summary: The ongoing chaos on the UK's rail network has been met with growing frustration and anger by many of the people affected. The BBC has spoken to some passengers who are facing daily disruption to their journeys.

Rebecca Pipe, from Rochdale, is currently undergoing treatments for breast cancer and says the rail disruption is affecting her recovery. She says travelling home from Manchester Victoria after treatment is "horrible and incredibly stressful". "My journey home should take 20 minutes, but with all the cancellations it can take a really long time." Rebecca says that she has decided to take some time off work because travelling by train is too difficult. "I am supposed to be recovering and I feel like the train problems have had an impact on my health." On Monday Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said commuters would be compensated and announced an inquiry into what had gone wrong, but Rebecca feels that "no-one seems to care" about the impact the disruption is having on people. Karen Bregan says the cramped conditions on the trains into Manchester from Blackrod are "more suited to herding cattle" than commuting. She says "arguments regularly break out as desperate passengers try to get on the train". Karen suffers from back problems and told the BBC she finds it difficult to stand up during her journey. "By the time I get home my back hurts, I'm really stressed and uncomfortable." Stephen Pimlott, from Wigan, says that since the new timetables were introduced, "more often than not" his train is cancelled. Stephen feels that the train service in the North of England has been "going downhill for a long time". He says: "This has been a stress test for Northern and they have completely failed. "As paying customers we are sometimes paying for imaginary trains." Claire Lamb, from Surrey, says her commute to London Bridge has become a "horrendous ordeal" since the timetable changes. Claire says her local station is no longer served by a Thameslink service to London Bridge. "I'm having to drive for 20 minutes on a really busy road every morning to get to a different station. "I then have to change at East Croydon, which is now under so much pressure. Everyone is just running around like headless chickens." Claire says she now has to leave her 13-year-old son alone at home in the morning to get to work on time. Sam Holt, 42, commutes from Buckshaw Parkway, near Chorley, to Manchester Piccadilly. The disruption to train services on the line have caused him to miss two weeks of work. "The bar is now so low for the service that I am not even surprised when I can't get to work. "The first thing I think when I wake up is 'can I get to work today'. I have zero confidence in the trains." Sam says that he has been missing out on time with his children in the evening because of delays. "I have no confidence that I will be able to see my children before they go to bed." On 4 June Sam's train arrived on time: "I punched the air when I saw it approaching." He documented the rare moment in a video he posted on Twitter.

ब्रिटेन के रेल नेटवर्क पर चल रही अराजकता को कई प्रभावित लोगों द्वारा बढ़ती हताशा और गुस्से का सामना करना पड़ा है। बीबीसी ने कुछ यात्रियों से बात की है जो अपनी यात्रा में दैनिक व्यवधान का सामना कर रहे हैं।


Bus crashes into Falmouth railway bridge

Summary: A double-decker bus has been badly damaged after hitting a railway bridge in Cornwall.

Part of the front of the top deck of the First Bus vehicle was crushed when it hit the bridge in Arwenack Street in Falmouth earlier. Only the driver was on board the bus at the time and no-one was hurt in the incident, police said. The road was closed while engineers from Network Rail examined the bridge. It has since been reopened. Related Internet Links First Bus Devon & Cornwall Network Rail

कॉर्नवाल में एक रेलवे पुल से टकराने के बाद एक डबल डेकर बस बुरी तरह क्षतिग्रस्त हो गई है।


Henley Royal Regatta 2018 in pictures on first day

Summary: Boats, blazers and bellinis are out in force with the start of one of the world's most famous regattas.

Thousands of people are expected to watch rowers battle it out on the River Thames in Oxfordshire over the next five days as part of the Henley Royal Regatta. The event - which first started in 1839 - attracts participants including Olympians, university and school teams and novices. The regatta runs until Sunday.

दुनिया के सबसे प्रसिद्ध रेगाटा में से एक की शुरुआत के साथ नावें, ब्लेज़र और बेलिनिस चालू हो गए हैं।


Southsea Castle cleaned 'for first time'

Summary: The walls of a Tudor castle are being cleaned, possibly for the first time since it was built, according to a Hampshire council.

Portsmouth City Council is restoring Southsea Castle by cleaning the walls, windows and fixtures. The castle was built in 1544 for Henry VIII as part of a network of coastal fortifications. More improvements will take place later in the year, including work on railings and architectural lighting. A new cafe is also due to open when the castle reopens to the public in May. Culture councillor Lee Hunt said: "Southsea Castle is a fantastic asset to the city and one that we really treasure, the jewel in our crown on the seafront."

हैम्पशायर परिषद के अनुसार, ट्यूडर महल की दीवारों को साफ किया जा रहा है, संभवतः इसके निर्माण के बाद पहली बार।


Murder arrest as woman fatally 'stabbed' in Jersey

Summary: A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman died in a suspected stabbing in Jersey.

Pamela Nisbet, who was 68, was found at a property in St Peter at about 18:55 BST on Tuesday. She was taken to hospital "but died of her wounds", an officer said. A 40-year-old man, who was known to the victim, was arrested by armed officers and remains in custody. No-one else was being sought and Mrs Nisbet's family had been made aware, police said.

जर्सी में छुरा घोंपने के संदेह में एक महिला की मौत के बाद हत्या के संदेह में एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।