Vampire Weekend to play free gig at London ice rink

Summary: Vampire Weekend have announced details of a free show at London's Somerset House ice rink.

The New York four-piece will play in the venue's courtyard at 5.30pm on Thursday 14 January. Tickets cannot be purchased in advance with fans encouraged to turn up on a first-come first-served basis with the first 50 being given the chance to skate for free. Ezra Koenig and co released their second album Contra on Monday (11 January).

वैम्पायर वीकेंड ने लंदन के समरसेट हाउस आइस रिंक में एक मुफ्त शो के विवरण की घोषणा की है।


Government turns down bid for £18m new M49 junction

Summary: The government has turned down an application for £18m to fund a new junction on the M49 near Bristol.

The West of England Partnership bid for funding for the junction saying it would improve access to Avonmouth. The plan for the junction was outlined in South Gloucestershire Council's draft Core Strategy. A spokesman said it was "disappointed" the bid failed but said it will continue to work with the government to secure funding. The West of England Partnership believes a junction would help to open up the Severnside Growth Area - more than 1,000 acres of land and the largest brownfield site in Western Europe - for development.

सरकार ने ब्रिस्टल के पास एम49 पर एक नए जंक्शन के लिए 18 मिलियन पाउंड के आवेदन को ठुकरा दिया है।


Russian spy: Poisoning poses major challenge for MI6

Summary: The attempted killing of Sergei Skripal poses major challenges for British intelligence. This was a man who had been convicted for spying for Britain, pardoned, released and then targeted to be killed on British soil. The search for a motive remains a key question.

By Gordon CoreraSecurity correspondent Skripal is thought to have been recruited by British intelligence in the 1990s while serving under diplomatic cover abroad with the GRU - the Russian military intelligence. He is likely to have provided valuable intelligence at the time - especially the identities of other undercover operatives. But he left the GRU around 2000 and was arrested in 2004. He was then imprisoned. After his release in 2010 in the spy swap, he will have been debriefed by British intelligence but there are few signs so far that he was involved in serious ongoing operational work. It has been reported that he may have given the occasional lecture about the GRU but he would have had little fresh operational knowledge about people or events in Moscow since he had retired close to 20 years ago and had spent the last 14 years either in prison or in Britain. There has even been speculation that he was somehow involved in the famous "dossier" about Donald Trump drawn up by former MI6 officer Chris Steele. But sources close to Orbis - Steele's company - have told the BBC that it had no links with Skripal at any point. So what does that leave as a possible motive? Revenge perhaps. Revenge for someone that former colleagues in Russian intelligence will certainly have seen as a traitor for selling secrets to MI6. And also perhaps a message to others thinking of doing the same. A message that Russia will one day come for you, wherever you are. That has been a recurrent theme from Vladimir Putin, a former intelligence officer himself. It has been pointed out that this case is different because Skripal had been formally pardoned and released as part of a spy swap. Killing someone after a swap would be against the traditional (unwritten) rules of espionage. This may be true. But it also neglects the fact that, under Vladimir Putin, Russia has shown a willingness to push the boundaries of what was previously considered acceptable. The same is true in cyberspace. Here, Russia is alleged to have been involved in acts like switching off a French TV channel and turning off the power in Ukraine, far beyond the realm of traditional cyber espionage and stealing secrets. And, even after allegations it hacked US political parties and operatives and released their emails, the same group - linked it is thought to the GRU for which Skripal worked - is said to have continued operating, hacking other countries such as France and, more recently, Germany. It is almost as if those behind such actions simply do not care about being found and called out about it. In the past, intelligence agencies talked of wanting "plausible deniability" for their covert operations - being able to say it was not them. But observers say that with Russia, it increasingly looks as if the intelligence agencies are happy with "implausible deniability" - even if it seems obvious they are behind an act, they simply say "prove it" and try to muddy the waters with misinformation as much as possible. If the theory of Russian revenge and message sending is correct, it raises difficult questions for British intelligence. MI6 relies on recruiting agents like Skripal in countries like Russia to provide secrets. It has always prided itself on keeping the identity of those agents secret in order to protect them. But if the perception emerges that it cannot protect those agents - even if they are in the UK - then it will make it much harder to do its job and recruit agents to gather intelligence. A risk assessment is normally made for agents who are resettled in the UK or elsewhere and it is possible the risk assessment for Skripal in 2010 was sensible, based on Russian behaviour at the time and the fact he was swapped. But there will be questions over whether the risk assessments were reconsidered given changing Russian behaviour. There will also be challenges for MI5, the security service, more generally. It puts the bulk of its resources - understandably - into counter-terrorism but there have long been questions about whether this has left enough focus on another part of its job - tracking the activities of foreign intelligence services in the UK. Counter-espionage was once the core of its work but it may need a significant boost if the service is going to have to contend with the possibility of other states using nerve agents to try to kill people on British soil.

सर्गेई स्क्रिपल की हत्या का प्रयास ब्रिटिश खुफिया के लिए बड़ी चुनौती पेश करता है। यह एक ऐसा व्यक्ति था जिसे ब्रिटेन के लिए जासूसी करने के लिए दोषी ठहराया गया था, माफ कर दिया गया था, रिहा कर दिया गया था और फिर ब्रिटिश धरती पर मारे जाने के लिए लक्षित किया गया था। एक उद्देश्य की खोज एक महत्वपूर्ण सवाल बना हुआ है।


Your questions to Peter Horrocks

Summary: "Are the international media getting Africa right?" This is the question being asked by this month's BBC Africa Debate programme, to be broadcast from Nairobi, Kenya at 1900 GMT on Friday 30 August and 1200 GMT on Sunday 1 September. Ahead of the programme, BBC Global News director Peter Horrocks has answered your questions in a live Twitter Q&A on Wednesday 28 August.

This is an edited version of the session. Question from @tayo_taiwo: What is BBC Africa's role in the emerging economy of Africa? Peter answers: Africa's economic developments are a key story. The BBC is investing heavily in African business journalism. Question from @olaadaraMD: Are international media not over-exposing African youth to Western cultures thereby eroding African values? Peter answers: It is not our intention to erode anyone's values. But isn't it a good thing for all cultures to exchange ideas? Question from @anastrace: Why has there not been more coverage of the proxy shadow wars funded by the West and fought locally in Africa? Peter answers: Interesting point. Which "proxy wars" are in your mind? Question from @ChaingaZulu: International media would rather send a reporter from South Africa to be based in Zambia. Why not get a Zambian? Peter answers: We are using more and more local journalists to tell the story of Africa to the world accurately. Question from @Finnfield: What role can you recommend higher education plays to improve international media coverage on Africa? Peter answers: Careful academic analysis to show the achievements and gaps in our coverage is always welcomed. Question from @LCHartmann: What is your position on lifting sanctions on Zimbabwe? Peter answers: Lutz, it is not the BBC's job to have a position on sanctions. We report the facts and the issues. Question from @jessiedendere: International media have been accused of not accurately telling Zimbabwe's story. What are you doing to ensure accuracy? Peter answers: Jessie, we use reporters who come from Zimbabwe and we send well-informed reporters there, whenever we are allowed in. Question from @ateist64: How do they deal with #overpopulation in media & politic? Peter answers: I agree it is crucial to tackle solutions as well as problems. For the BBC, Africa is not a "they". Africa is our largest audience. Question from @ndokwa10east: Why is the BBC world service not on FM in Nigeria? Peter answers: We want to be on FM in Nigeria. Unfortunately, government regulation does not allow international news on FM. Question from Alexander Ze Habesha: The BBC gives more coverage to Kenya and other East African countries than Ethiopia. Why is that? Peter answers: BBC has a new reporter in Ethiopia, Emanuel Igunza. We will be doing more on that country, especially the economy. Question from, @tayo_taiwo: Please highlight the challenges BBC Africa faces. As a media house, what are your challenges? Peter answers: Key challenges: scale and variety of Africa; logistics; access to countries and leaders; distribution. Question from @knyaga: How is it that BBC Africa broadcasts from London? What were the challenges faced setting up the studio in Kenya? Peter answers: In the past, journalists needed to be in UK to avoid local pressures. Now they are all across Africa, and in London. Question from @IsaacMensah2: Is there the opportunity to report for the service or you have media houses you deal with in Africa for reporters? Peter answers: Yes, we work with other media houses, training journalists and encouraging them on to BBC airwaves. Question from @EricBright: Why do the international media think that Western analysts and organizations are infallible in everything? Peter answers: Eric, we aim to use as wide a range of experts as possible. Let us know when experts we use disappoint. Question from @LoveAfrica1: How much access does BBC have to report in difficult areas like Somalia, DRC or Nigeria? Peter answers: There are no-go areas in Somalia, DRC and Nigeria. But we have reporters in all three countries. Question from @yokogracy: On what are the criteria used by the BBC as an international media to put their interests in some countries in Africa and not in others? Peter answers: Grace, it depends on many things: size of the country, economy, level of insecurity, cultural impact, etc. Question from @soni_tweets: How does the BBC cover the Great Lakes region? What do you say about it being biased? Peter answers: We have reporters across the Great Lakes area, dedicated to accurate reporting. Please let me know when we fall short. For more tweets from Peter Horrocks you can follow his Twitter account: @PeterHorrocks1 You can also follow BBC Africa on Facebook, Twitter and Google+

नैरोबी, केन्या से शुक्रवार 30 अगस्त को 1900 जी. एम. टी. और रविवार 1 सितंबर को 1200 जी. एम. टी. पर प्रसारित होने वाले इस महीने के बी. बी. सी. अफ्रीका वाद-विवाद कार्यक्रम द्वारा यह सवाल पूछा जा रहा है। कार्यक्रम से पहले, बी. बी. सी. वैश्विक समाचार निदेशक पीटर हॉरॉक्स ने बुधवार 28 अगस्त को एक लाइव ट्विटर प्रश्नोत्तर में आपके प्रश्नों का उत्तर दिया है।


The mind of Donald Trump

Summary: No modern president has been so analysed. Other leaders don't know him and can't read him. He leaves a trail, but it is strewn with contradictions. He craves popularity but revels in being demonised. He trusts his gut instincts and embraces unpredictability as a virtue.

Gavin HewittChief correspondent@BBCGavinHewitton Twitter Diplomats, foreign leaders, business chiefs are all trying to decipher what drives the 45th president. Donald Trump's first two weeks have been about power, about asserting it, about the noise of power, about taking a wrecking ball to the establishment and leaving it wrong-footed and uncertain. No president before him has been so ready with threats against foreign powers, old allies, major corporations, and Washington's public servants. At conferences, seminars, at diplomatic functions, in foreign ministries, I have encountered the same whispered and not so hidden question: what do these erratic actions tell us about the mind of Donald Trump?" Some say he can't survive or that he will over-reach himself. Others are waiting for him to self-destruct, but there is clear calculation behind these early heady days of being the most powerful man in the world. First, Donald Trump is doing in office what he promised he would do, on the campaign trail. At more than 15 campaign stops, I heard him vow to: His claims were dismissed as campaign braggadocio, but he would bracket most of his promises with the words "believe me". He is now delivering. Secondly, President Trump is looking after his core supporters; all those voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and North Carolina who delivered him the White House. While demonstrators gather in cities and at airports, protesting at his banning refugees and citizens from seven mainly Muslim countries from entering the States, the polls indicate that in middle America he has the support of nearly one in two Americans: 49% agreed with the policy. Trump ramps up criticism of judge after travel ban setback Trump's executive order: Who does travel ban affect? The people around the president Newshour Extra: Steve Bannon - The de facto president? All the outrage about the policy being discriminatory, that it is incoherent, that it will prove a recruiting sergeant for extremists, that such a policy - if it had been in place - would have prevented none of the recent terrorists attacks, make little impression on Mr Trump's inner circle. Mr Trump knows his people, and he tweets his messages to them, direct and simple, as they were during the campaign. "This travel ban is not about religion," he tweets, "this is about terror and keeping our country safe." Some who voted for him may have misgivings, but most of them, so far, don't. They like his confrontational style. Offending Washington's elite is a badge of his authenticity. Early battles with judges and state department officials are evidence that he is "draining the swamp" as promised. When a federal judge halted the travel ban, the president tweeted: "The opinion of this so-called judge… is ridiculous and will be overturned." While his critics accused him of showing a lack of respect for the Constitution, Donald Trump reminded his audience that many "bad and dangerous people" could be "pouring" into the country. The president remains in campaigning mode. The dizzying array of announcements and executive orders form part of a strategic plan. Never mind that some of the policies are incomplete. That is to miss the point. The strategy is to demonstrate over the first 100 days of his presidency that he is a "high-energy" leader, shaking up the old order. He is lucky to have inherited a strong economy, but he has promised much more. The bonfire of regulations, the slashing of corporate and personal taxes, the pump-priming investments in infrastructure are all intended to lift growth levels above 3%. If he achieves that, many Americans will stick with him. Social media, as it did during the campaign, enables him to talk directly to those who packed his rallies. The conventional wisdom was that he would not be tweeter-in-chief when he got to the White House. But Mr Trump knows that every tweet becomes a news story and so enables him to manage the news agenda. The mainstream media is still struggling to find a convincing riposte to a president who bypasses them to deliver his messages. He declares he's in a "running war" with the press. His chief strategist labels the media the "opposition party". Again Mr Trump understands that if he denounces the media as "dishonest", it weakens its ability to hold him to account. His detractors call him "narcissist-in-chief". They point to his personal flaws: the need to be loved, to be popular, to make every issue about himself, the thin-skinned retorts, the savaging of those who disagree and the demonising of the press. All are weaknesses that over time may damage and perhaps undo him. His strategy is not just to change America but for him to dominate the public space. Others search for the ideology that will underpin his presidency. For Donald Trump, his guiding slogan will be "America first." It will be his defence against all attacks. If that means challenging the international order, or tearing up old trade agreements or upsetting the global elite, so be it. In these early days, it is impossible to know how much of a revolutionary Donald Trump will be and how much ideology will inform his decision-making. His chief strategist, Stephen Bannon is, on the other hand, deeply ideological. He is a self-proclaimed "economic nationalist". He seeks a new political order, where sovereignty returns to nation states, where the West confronts the "hateful ideology" of radical Islam. In the immediate future, President Trump is likely to continue with his confrontational style, believing it is popular with his core supporters. Many tests lie ahead. Not least is whether his policies will be followed through. Was the announcement about the wall with Mexico intended as a headline or is Mr Trump determined to build it with Mexican money? Will he really impose an import tax? Will he risk a trade and currency war with China? Will he move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem? Will he encourage anti-establishment parties in Europe? The questions are many, and the answers few. To those who have openly doubted the president's sanity in these churning, bruising opening days, a clear strategy emerges. The president and his close advisers will pay scant attention to the outcry from their opponents. But they will nurture those who gave him his majority in the electoral college and might again. In two years, and by the time of the mid-term elections, the American public will deliver an initial verdict on Trumpism. Most importantly the Republican Party will be deciding whether it stays loyal to Mr Trump or whether it allows doubts and reservations to seep in, making Congress the obstacle to his presidency.

किसी भी आधुनिक राष्ट्रपति का इतना विश्लेषण नहीं किया गया है। अन्य नेता उन्हें नहीं जानते हैं और उन्हें पढ़ नहीं सकते हैं। वह एक निशान छोड़ देते हैं, लेकिन यह विरोधाभासों से भरा हुआ है। वह लोकप्रियता चाहते हैं लेकिन राक्षसी होने का आनंद लेते हैं। वह अपनी अंतर्दृष्टि पर भरोसा करते हैं और अप्रत्याशितता को एक गुण के रूप में स्वीकार करते हैं।


Nafta talks: The view from the free trade front lines

Summary: As Canada, the US and Mexico prepare to sit down and renegotiate their trade deal at President Donald Trump's request, unease has enveloped a motor industry town in Ontario which finds itself on the front lines of this battle over North American trade.

By Jessica MurphyBBC News, Toronto Every day some 8,000 trucks travel the 2.8km (1.75 miles) between border checkpoints at Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, under the steel arches of the Ambassador Bridge and over the Detroit River. The 88-year-old bridge - the busiest border crossing by trade volume in North America - is a vital link between the two countries. It connects industrial nerve centres in each country, feeding highly integrated cross-border supply chains. And each day, trucks from Laval International, a 42-year-old compression mould making company based in Windsor, come and go across the span. Company president Jonathon Azzopardi has a message he'd like to deliver to Donald Trump, as Canada, the US, and Mexico prepare to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). "Canada, of all three of the partners, is the only one that fulfilled its obligations," he says. "You didn't fulfil your promises. We did." On 16 August, the three trading partners will sit down in Washington, DC, for the inaugural round of talks launched at US President Donald Trump's behest. Mr Azzopardi says Canadian companies like his have invested in the American and Mexican economies, creating jobs and helping to sustain communities. "Did we profit from it? We grew, yes. But did we also reinvest? 100%. They can never take that away from us." He says he'd be "hard pressed" to find the same number of American and Mexican companies who did the same for the Canadian economy. In Windsor, where so many livelihoods and companies depend on Nafta, people are feeling wary, says Keith Henry, president at Windsor Mold, a tooling and automotive components company with divisions in Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Mexico. "The Nafta uncertainty is just causing - has caused - everybody to just pause because they don't know where to invest, they don't know what's going to happen," he says. They hope legislators on both sides of the Canada-US border understand the vast and dynamic market that has grown within Nafta, which formed the world's largest free trade zone when it came into force in 1994. Nafta's battlegrounds Canada is America's second largest trading partner. In 2016, more than $540bn-worth of goods passed over the border, from avocados from California to petroleum from Newfoundland and Labrador. But while trade between the two countries is integral for both economies, manufacturing is heavily concentrated in specific regions and industries. Almost 40% of all US goods sold to Canada comes from just five states: Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Texas and New York, and is concentrated in just a few industries such as automobiles and machinery. In Canada, Ontario produces about half of all goods sold to the US and much of its products are tied up in the auto industry. All in all, the auto industry in Ontario and Michigan alone is responsible for about 12% of all trade between the two nations. The Windsor-Detroit region is one of Nafta's epicentres. Windsorites see their town as a Detroit suburb, sharing a vital auto industry with Motor City. The big three - General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) - have had their headquarters in Michigan. Ford and FCA have operations in Windsor, helping generate around 20,000 jobs. Windsor is also a hub to move goods, services, and people across the border. Almost 17% of all Canadian exports end up in Michigan. Over 10% of Canada's imports from the US come from Michigan. Because the border is so close and convenient, over 6,000 Windsor residents cross each day to work in the US, under Nafta provisions for professional workers. Mr Azzopardi didn't always support Nafta. He remembers his father, the company founder, coming home and warning the freshly-inked trade deal was a job killer, a disaster for the Canadian economy and exporters like him. Mexico had cheaper labour and could make cars for less. There were a couple of years of struggle in Windsor. But the region's manufacturers learned how to compete, becoming suppliers within the integrated continental market. "We've expanded to Mexico, we're growing together," says Mr Azzopardi. "That's the secret sauce that people don't see." As the big three auto makers expanded operations into Mexico, their clients - companies like Laval International and Windsor Mold - expanded with them. Says Keith Henry: "We didn't put a plant in Mexico to take advantage of cheap labour and make parts there and ship them back to the United States and Canada." "We located in Mexico because our customers were expanding their business operations in that country." Zekelman Industries is the largest independent pipe and tube manufacturer in North America, producing 2.5 million tons of pipe and tube annually in 15 manufacturing plants in the US and Canada. The company's products can be found in the the roof of the Skydome, where Toronto's popular baseball team - the Blue Jays - plays. The company also produced 125,000 tons of hollow steel structural tubing used in the security fence along the US-Mexico border. CEO Barry Zekelman understands the resentment in US Rust Belt states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin that helped propel Donald Trump into the White House. He's ready with a quote from another US presidential candidate, Ross Perot, who warned in 1992 that Nafta would result in the "giant sucking sound" of American jobs heading to Mexico. "That's exactly what happened," he says. "You have communities that you drive through, you go through these towns and they've disappeared. " Mr Zekelman understands why the Trump administration has targeted the $63.2bn trade deficit the US has with Mexico, and doesn't think that the White House takes real issue with Canada as a partner. "Trump's a big personality and that style rubs a lot of people the wrong way," he says. "But he's there. He's president and you have to learn how to deal with it. So everyone needs to calm down. I don't think he has any animosity towards Canada." It's a belief bolstered by comments the president made to his Mexican counterpart. According to a leaked transcript of a January phone call recently published by the Washington Post, Trump told Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto that: "Canada is no problem - do not worry about Canada, do not even think about them. That is a separate thing and they are fine and we have had a very fair relationship with Canada". In July, the US set out its broad negotiation objectives for the talks, which include reducing the US trade deficit and improving market access in Canada and Mexico for US manufacturing, agriculture, and services. Canadian industries in the US sights include dairy, wine, and grain. Trade-dependent industries worry about who might become pawn in the negotiations, unsure what might be traded for more access or to protect another industry. Canada's economy is hugely dependent on trade with the US, with over 75% of its exports heading south across the border. The trade pact opened up new export opportunities, helped businesses become globally competitive, and brought in foreign investment. But it's not an entirely a one-way street. Canada isn't without leverage, says Lawrence Herman, with the CD Howe Institute, an economic think tank. "We purchase selected products, we're a major market for so many states. The Midwest is highly dependent on trade with Canada. There are pressure points." Almost 9m American jobs are dependent on trade and investment with Canada. It's that message Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has been bringing to American lawmakers. Over the past few months, ministers, provincial premiers and even city mayors have beaten a path to the US to plead the pro-trade case. Industry and lawmakers from US states that count on the agreement being there for business have also warned the administration to tread carefully in the Nafta renegotiations. In Canada, there is no dispute that the US economy has to be sound. The country depends on its 320m consumers. "If the US (economy) catches a cold, we die of the flu. And we shouldn't be ashamed to say that," says Mr Azzopardi. "Just because we're the little brother doesn't mean we don't contribute. We contribute a lot." Data reporting by Robin Levinson King

जैसे-जैसे कनाडा, अमेरिका और मैक्सिको राष्ट्रपति डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प के अनुरोध पर बैठने और अपने व्यापार सौदे पर फिर से बातचीत करने की तैयारी कर रहे हैं, वैसे-वैसे ओंटारियो में एक मोटर उद्योग शहर में अशांति फैल गई है जो खुद को उत्तरी अमेरिकी व्यापार पर इस लड़ाई की अग्रिम पंक्ति में पाता है।


A quick guide to Labour's leaders

Summary: Labour is preparing to unveil its new (or not so new) leader. On Saturday we will learn whether Owen Smith has managed to upset the odds, and Jeremy Corbyn, and add his name to a list which includes the likes of Blair, Kinnock and Attlee.

How many more do you recognise? Scroll down for a look back at 110 years of Labour Party leaders. Jeremy Corbyn (2015-) The current Labour leader was a rank outsider when he narrowly made it onto the ballot for Labour's leadership contest. But a surge in Labour's membership helped propel him to a landslide victory, as he scored 59.5% of the vote. A dramatic year ensued, with Mr Corbyn - the left-wing MP for Islington North - attempting to adjust to a job he could scarcely have expected and to unite a Parliamentary party that largely did not want him to be leader. The divisions came to a head when most of his shadow cabinet resigned, citing his performance in the EU referendum campaign, and MPs signed a no-confidence motion in the leader. This led to a formal leadership contest, with Owen Smith emerging as the sole challenger to his crown. Ed Miliband (2010-2015) Labour's leadership contest after its 2010 general election defeat produced a surprise victory for Ed Miliband over his brother David. It caused a rift in the Miliband family, with former foreign secretary David leaving Parliament and moving to New York. Ed took on the coalition government but was given a rough ride by the press, including mockery over a photograph of him struggling to eat a bacon sandwich. The Conservatives accused him of being a puppet for the trade unions who backed him in the leadership contest and Labour struggled to shake off government accusations that they had overspent when in office. Mr Miliband went into the 2015 general election with policies including a freeze on fuel bills and a "mansion tax" on homes worth over £1m and the polls showed Labour and the Tories neck-and-neck. It wasn't to be, however, and Labour's leader resigned in the aftermath of a Conservative victory. Gordon Brown (2007-2010) Having long coveted the Labour top job, long-serving chancellor Gordon Brown took the helm on 27 June 2007, succeeding Prime Minister Tony Blair, as the sole candidate. He faced several major challenges during his first months in office - including acts of terrorism, an outbreak of foot and mouth disease and widespread flooding. His party's poll ratings improved but his decision to rule out a snap general election prompted accusations of weakness and dithering from his opponents. He took the party into the 2010 general election after surviving the financial crash and calls to step down from some MPs. The campaign included a memorable gaffe as Mr Brown was recorded referring to 65-year-old Gillian Duffy - who he had just met - as a "bigoted woman". The election produced a hung Parliament. Mr Brown resigned after days of coalition talks as the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed a government. Tony Blair (1994-2007) Labour's longest-serving prime minister, and its first to win three consecutive elections, Mr Blair became Britain's youngest prime minister in almost 200 years and went on to spend a decade in Number 10. He was one of the architects of New Labour and moved the party further into the centre ground, alienating some on the left but achieving the electoral success that had long eluded it. Public service reforms - characterised by slogans like "education, education, education" - and flagship policies like the national minimum wage were introduced, before his rifts with his chancellor came to the fore. His second term brought his most controversial moment, the invasion of Iraq, which has dogged him ever since. Despite the huge protests the invasion triggered at the time, Blair won another general election - in 2005 - before finally handing over to Brown in 2007. John Smith (1992-94) Elected party leader with an overwhelming 91% of the vote, he set about unifying the left and right factions of Labour and attacking the government of John Major, dismissing the PM as "devalued" in his first Commons speech as leader in the aftermath of Black Wednesday. But Smith led Labour for just two years before he died suddenly of a heart attack aged 55. "He had achieved a personal ascendancy unmatched by any Labour leader since Clement Attlee," said the Guardian in its obituary. Neil Kinnock (1983-92) After Labour's thumping general election defeat in 1983, Neil (now Lord) Kinnock won the subsequent leadership contest - but went on to lose two general elections. He famously battled the left-wing extremities of his party, including in a memorable conference speech attacking Liverpool City Council, which was dominated at the time by the militant faction. Kinnock's purge of this element of his party opened the way for New Labour in the following decade. He implored, cajoled and ordered Labour to modernise, comfortably seeing off a challenge to his leadership in 1988 from left-winger Tony Benn. Unlike New Labour, his efforts were not rewarded by ballot box success. In 1992, despite leading in the polls, and oozing confidence during a famous pre-election rally, he was defeated - after The Sun's famous "lights out" front page warning against a Labour victory. Michael Foot (1980-83) The left-wing MP, a great political orator, beat Denis Healey in Labour's leadership contest by 10 votes in a ballot of MPs. The result dismayed many on the right of the party, and was one of the main factors leading to the start of three-party politics in Britain. The following year, four senior Labour figures - named the "gang of four" -defected from the party, forming the centre-left Social Democratic Party. The split in the party, as well as the 1982 Falklands War and an ill-judged manifesto contributed, to a heavy defeat for Labour in the general election of 1983. Labour's share of the vote was just 27.6%, the lowest since 1918, and Foot resigned the leadership. James Callaghan (1976-80) The former chancellor and foreign secretary defeated Michael Foot in the 1976 leadership contest, by 176 to 137 in the final round. He was prime minister until 1979 and his time in Downing Street was dominated by economic recession and industrial militancy. That contributed to the election of the Conservatives and Labour's exclusion from office for the next 18 years. His decision to postpone a general election until the spring of 1979 - only to see his government totally discredited by mass industrial militancy during the 1978-1979 "winter of discontent" - was a tactical error and he resigned as leader soon after Margaret Thatcher defeated Labour in the 1979 election. Harold Wilson (1963-76) Harold Wilson won four general elections and held the original EU referendum. He steered Britain away from direct military involvement in the Vietnam War, outlawed capital punishment and liberalised laws on censorship, abortion and homosexuality. Having come to power in 1964, he increased Labour's majority in 1966, but harsh economic measures and the devaluation of the pound contributed to the decline in his popularity, and the Conservatives won a narrow victory in 1970. He returned as prime minister in 1974 and held Britain's first referendum on membership of the European Economic Community, as it was then called, in 1975. He resigned unexpectedly in 1976. Hugh Gaitskill (1955-63) The former chancellor was elected in a ballot of MPs to replace Mr Attlee (see below). His proposal - following Labour's election defeat in 1959 - to modify Labour's image by altering the controversial Clause Four of its constitution was rejected by the party. He had frequent battles with the left wing of the party and campaigned against British membership of the European Economic Community. Gaitskill died suddenly in 1963 after a short illness, aged 56. Clement Attlee (1935-55) An MP since 1922, and Labour leader since 1935, Attlee was deputy prime minister in Churchill's coalition government during the World War Two. He went on to win a landslide victory in the 1945 general election. His 1945-1951 Labour government was seen as the most significant reforming administration of 20th Century Britain. It introduced the National Health Service, nationalised one fifth of the British economy, and granted independence to India. Labour narrowly lost the October 1951 general election, and Attlee resigned after a second defeat in 1955. George Lansbury (1932-35) He took over from Henderson after Labour was defeated in the 1931 general election by MacDonald's National Government. The lifelong pacifist was replaced in 1935 by his former deputy, Clement Attlee. Arthur Henderson (1908-10, 1914-17 and 1931-32) The Glasgow-born trade unionist was raised in Newcastle. He was elected as Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (as the leading figure was then known) in 1908 and he returned to replace Ramsay MacDonald as leader when World War One broke out in 1914. Henderson was home secretary when Labour came to power for the first time in 1924 and later foreign secretary. When Ramsay MacDonald ditched the party in favour of a national government he became leader again, but Labour was crushed in the 1931 general election by the National Government and he resigned in 1932. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 for his work on international disarmament. James Ramsay MacDonald (1911-14, 1922-31) He resigned in 1914 over his opposition to World War One but in 1924 he went on to become Labour's first prime minister. Labour lost power later that year but MacDonald was back in office in 1929. He formed a National Government with Conservative and Liberal support when faced with a worldwide recession and a split cabinet. He continued as prime minister until 1935 but his decision to lead a coalition government was considered a betrayal by many in the party he had done much to create. Joseph Clynes (1921-22) He led Labour for just a year but his reign included the 1922 general election, when Labour made a breakthrough, winning 142 seats. Under the party rules at the time, MPs held leader elections annually while the party was in opposition - and Clynes was replaced in 1922 by MacDonald. William Adamson (1917-21) He was elected unopposed to replace Arthur Henderson in 1917. "Solid, industrious and widely trusted, he was nonetheless a poor debater", says historian Greg Rosen in his Dictionary of Labour Biography, who also notes Adamson was the owner of a "bristling chestnut moustache". George Barnes (1910-11) Labour's third leader lasted 358 days. He resigned after the December 1910 general election. Keir Hardie (1906-08) The founding father of the Labour Party and its first leader, Hardie rose from very humble beginnings to become one of Britain's most notable politicians. The servant's son and former miner was elected in 1892 for the Independent Labour Party and again in 1900 for the Labour Representation Committee, which eventually developed into the Labour Party. When the Labour Party was set up as a separate party in 1906, Hardie was elected its leader. After resigning in 1908, he devoted his energy to promoting the Labour Party and championing equality, particularly in the cause of women's suffrage. He was an outspoken pacifist during the first year of World War One, and died in September 1915. Read more: The man who broke the mould of British politics

लेबर अपने नए (या इतने नए नहीं) नेता का अनावरण करने की तैयारी कर रहा है। शनिवार को हम जानेंगे कि क्या ओवेन स्मिथ बाधाओं को दूर करने में कामयाब रहे हैं, और जेरेमी कॉर्बिन, और उनका नाम एक सूची में जोड़ें जिसमें ब्लेयर, किन्नॉक और एटली की पसंद शामिल हैं।


Israel embassy review: Why Australia fears upsetting Indonesia

Summary: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's recent announcement that he is considering recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital took many by surprise, and none more so than Indonesia, perhaps Canberra's most crucial regional ally. Enter some unusual diplomacy to mend ties, writes Kathy Marks in Sydney.

He was dumped as prime minister, relinquished his seat and insists he is now just a private citizen. Yet last week Malcolm Turnbull was in Bali, meeting senior Indonesian leaders in an attempt to calm diplomatic tensions created by the man who ousted him, Scott Morrison. Indonesians could be forgiven for feeling confused. Certainly, they are perplexed and angry, following Mr Morrison's announcement last month that Australia is considering moving its embassy to Jerusalem and recognising the contested city as Israel's capital. The news was bound to be received poorly in neighbouring Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country. Yet the government gave barely 12 hours' notice of the policy shift - seen as an attempt to woo Jewish voters before a by-election - to President Joko Widodo and his senior ministers. By unhappy coincidence, Mr Widodo and his Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi were hosting the Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki that same day. "It was rotten timing," says Ross Taylor, president of the Indonesia Institute, a Perth-based think-tank. 'Slap' to Indonesia In leaked WhatsApp messages the previous evening to her Australian counterpart, Marise Payne, Ms Marsudi called the embassy issue a "really big blow" that would "slap Indonesia's face on the Palestine issue". Now diplomats in both countries are scrambling to minimise the damage to a key bilateral relationship which encompasses regional security, defence, policing and anti-terrorism co-operation, as well as joint measures to thwart "people smugglers". Also at stake is a free trade agreement, painstakingly negotiated over a decade and due to be signed soon, giving Australia access to a market of 268 million people, including a huge emerging middle class. Hence Mr Morrison's unorthodox deployment of Mr Turnbull - in Bali for a conference on ocean sustainability - to explain Australia's position to Mr Widodo and Ms Marsudi. While in office, Mr Turnbull built a warm rapport with the president and the bilateral relationship blossomed, following strains caused by revelations that Australia spied on Indonesian leaders and Indonesia's execution of two Australian drug smugglers. Foreign policy experts say what happens next will depend on whether Mr Morrison, following US President Donald Trump's lead, goes ahead with the Israel embassy move - which would be "met with a very negative reaction in Indonesia", Mr Turnbull warned after his meetings. Competing priorities Mr Widodo is facing a presidential election next April, and would be under pressure to prevent his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, from painting him as soft on Australia. "Any hint that Jokowi is undermining Indonesia's sovereignty and hurting the feelings of the Islamic electorate, the opposition can spin it into a big deal," says Evan Laksmana, from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta. It is a sensitive time politically in Australia, too, with a general election due by next May. The by-election, which Mr Morrison's Liberal Party lost, was crucial because the government had a one-seat majority in the House of Representatives. While Indonesian leaders understand the demands of domestic politics, the Israeli-Palestinian question is "particularly sensitive and emotive" in Indonesia, Mr Laksmana says. He adds: "So you're potentially dropping a domestic political timebomb [with the embassy announcement], but you couldn't give us a heads-up that this was even being discussed?" Australia has 'more needs' It has emerged that Mr Morrison did not consult Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs before announcing the policy review. Even Foreign Minister Payne learnt of it only two days beforehand. In a reference to Ms Marsudi's WhatsApp messages, Mr Taylor says: "For someone from Indonesia to be angry like that is quite unusual and not in their culture. The leadership were really, really annoyed that something like this would come out of left field. Australia really set Jokowi up." Although Mr Widodo is keen to sign the free trade agreement and boost his economic credentials at a time when the Indonesian rupiah is plummeting, Mr Taylor believes the agreement would be an early casualty of any deepening diplomatic rift, "and the pain of abandoning it would be felt much more strongly in Australia". "Let's be honest: Australia needs Indonesia much more than Indonesia needs Australia," he says. "50% of our trade goes through Indonesian waters, and Indonesia acts as our first line of defence in issues such as anti-terrorism and people smuggling. This is the kind of co-operation which could be seriously harmed. "Turnbull wasn't exaggerating when he said that Indonesia - and Malaysia, in fact, and the whole region - would take that [relocating the embassy] really seriously." Some doubt it will happen. Marcus Mietzner, an Indonesia expert at the Australian National University, says: "Indonesia's tough response serves Morrison's interests. "He can cite it when he… announces that the review concluded not to pursue it [the move]. This will send a message about the importance of the relationship and help Morrison to save face."

ऑस्ट्रेलियाई प्रधान मंत्री स्कॉट मॉरिसन की हाल की घोषणा कि वह जेरूसलम को इज़राइल की राजधानी के रूप में मान्यता देने पर विचार कर रहे हैं, कई लोगों को आश्चर्यचकित कर दिया, और इंडोनेशिया से ज्यादा कुछ नहीं, शायद कैनबरा का सबसे महत्वपूर्ण क्षेत्रीय सहयोगी। सिडनी में कैथी मार्क्स लिखते हैं कि संबंधों को सुधारने के लिए कुछ असामान्य कूटनीति में प्रवेश करें।


Westminster 9in double yellow lines 'absurd'

Summary: Double yellow lines measuring just 9in (23cm) long in central London have been branded "absurd" by the council which commissioned them.

The lines painted in Caxton Street, Westminster, have been painted between a taxi rank and some parking bays. Westminster City Council said: "This was a mistake by a contractor. We are obviously not happy about it." It added: "We can see how absurd this looks and we will make sure it is corrected." Earlier this year, double yellow lines stretching 13in (33cm) were discovered on a street in Cambridge between parking bays in Humberstone Road.

मध्य लंदन में सिर्फ 9 इंच (23 सेमी) लंबी दोहरी पीली रेखाओं को परिषद द्वारा "बेतुका" करार दिया गया है जिसने उन्हें नियुक्त किया है।


Revised offshore offer rejected by members of Unite

Summary: Members of the Unite union working on three offshore platforms operated by Total have rejected a revised pay offer.

Workers on the Elgin, Alwyn and Dunbar platforms have taken part in several 12 and 24-hour strikes. The concerns include a move to a three-weeks-on and three-weeks-off rota. Talks with the independent arbitration service Acas were held last month, and the consultative ballot was then held. More Acas talks are planned this week.

टोटल द्वारा संचालित तीन अपतटीय प्लेटफार्मों पर काम करने वाले यूनाइटेड यूनियन के सदस्यों ने एक संशोधित वेतन प्रस्ताव को अस्वीकार कर दिया है।


What now for Dominique Strauss-Kahn?

Summary: After all that has been written and alleged in these past three months it is hard to believe Dominique Strauss-Kahn could return to front-line politics in France - even less so to the presidential race in which he was once the front-runner.

By Christian FraserBBC News, Paris But France is a country where the media and the voters have always been more forgiving of the sexual peccadilloes of their politicians, perhaps more so than any other European country. Already there are senior figures within the Socialist Party who are beginning the rehabilitation. Former culture minister Jack Lang believes he can return not to the presidential race, but as kingmaker and perhaps prime minister in a new Socialist cabinet. These are difficult economic times in France. Mr Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the IMF, is a sharp, astute politician; on the economy his stature is unrivalled within the Socialist Party. He was a huge asset - at one point a runaway favourite in the polls for next year's presidential election - and no wonder there are senior figures within the party who would like to see him return to the fray. 'Immensely relieved' Francois Hollande, the new front-runner in the presidential race, hinted that if he wins next year Mr Strauss-Kahn could play a prominent role. Asked if he could return to the race itself he said: "That depends on him. A man with the abilities of DSK can be useful to his country in the months and years to come." Mr Hollande's closest rival Martine Aubry, the party leader and Mr Strauss-Kahn's close friend, echoed those sentiments. "Obviously we have to wait for the judge to confirm this. But I am very happy," she said on hearing the news. "I feel a lot of affection for Dominique and I am immensely relieved. We are all waiting for him to emerge from this nightmare. This is great news." There are no clues as to when Mr Strauss-Kahn might return here to France. It has been suggested he may first travel to Washington to speak to former colleagues at the IMF. Returning to the race? The primary elections that will decide the Socialist candidate for next year's presidential election are not being held until 9 and 16 October, so in theory it is still possible for him to take part. The Socialist Party has hinted it would consider his late application to stand - but it is highly unlikely. Many believe he will throw his support behind Ms Aubry, giving her the kind of heavyweight support that might give her the edge over Mr Hollande. When the speculation first emerged that the case in Manhattan was about to collapse there were snap polls suggesting 60% of Socialist Party voters would support him if he decided to run. Part of the story in France is the anger at the "unjust" way in which he was paraded and humiliated before the evidence had been heard. The "perp walk". "He should now be left in peace," said Pierre Moscovici, another senior figure within the party, who had planned to support Mr Strauss Kahn's bid for the presidency. "When a case like this has been put aside, you can't continue to make accusations against him. That goes for the woman - as well as the media." Other allegations But there are other stories of infidelity, betrayal and sleaze on which the media has focused - including the second allegation against Mr Strauss-Kahn that is still being investigated here in France. Tristane Banon, an author, commentator and the goddaughter of Mr Strauss-Kahn's second wife, alleges he attacked her in 2003 while she sat to interview him in a Paris apartment. Her mother Anne Mansouret, a Socialist politician, believed a criminal prosecution would tarnish her daughter's career and persuaded her not to press charges. It has since emerged that Ms Mansouret, too, slept with Mr Strauss-Kahn - a consensual encounter, in which, she alleges, he behaved with the "obscenity of a soldier". The case looks hard to prosecute. There is a lack of material evidence and Mr Strauss-Kahn may yet be exonerated. But the new Socialist front runner Francois Hollande was told of the incident and has already been interviewed by police. In Tuesday's newspapers Ms Mansouret said she was "outraged" at the decision to drop charges in New York. She added that she was "revolted by the support he has had within the [Socialist] party", pointing to the sexual encounter that was proven by forensic evidence to have taken place. 'Machismo' Sylvie Kauffmann, the first female editor of Le Monde, said the "DSK moment" will outlast the machismo of the political elite. There is a tendency among men "to pretend that nothing has happened", she told the New York Times. "In the establishment mind, this issue is not very important. The political class considers this issue of women and political attitudes toward women not so relevant. But I would bet that the average voter may feel differently." And who would bet against women's rights playing a more prominent role in the upcoming presidential election. In that sense his return to the political fold could backfire badly on the Socialist candidate next year, particularly since the resurgent Front Nationale and its leader Marine Le Pen will shift the attention to Mr Strauss-Kahn's past and his friends and associates within the party who knew - and said nothing of it.

इन पिछले तीन महीनों में जो कुछ भी लिखा और आरोप लगाया गया है, उसके बाद यह विश्वास करना मुश्किल है कि डोमिनिक स्ट्रॉस-कान फ्रांस में अग्रिम पंक्ति की राजनीति में लौट सकते हैं-राष्ट्रपति पद की दौड़ से भी कम जिसमें वे कभी सबसे आगे थे।


New campaign opposes government's Marine Protected Areas

Summary: A new campaign has been launched to oppose the Scottish government's designation of protected areas of seabed and coastline.

The Comhairle Fisheries Industry Group is leading the campaign. Members of the group include Western Isles Council - Comhairle nan Eilean Siar - and Western Isles Fishermen's Association. They argue Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) put unnecessary restrictions on traditional fishing grounds. Representatives from the association and the comhairle have sought a meeting with Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead.

स्कॉटिश सरकार द्वारा समुद्र तल और तटरेखा के संरक्षित क्षेत्रों के पदनाम का विरोध करने के लिए एक नया अभियान शुरू किया गया है।


The prison wing housing only terrorists

Summary: An independent review into radicalisation in jails in England and Wales is due to be published. The BBC has learned that UK officials have visited a Dutch prison that separates terrorist offenders from other inmates. Chris Vallance was granted access to the prison.

By Chris VallanceWorld at One, BBC Radio 4 Visiting De Schie prison in Rotterdam, you lose count of the number of locked doors you pass. The jail, bordered on two sides by broad waterways, is a child of the 1980s; mostly salmon pink and yellow on the outside, pale blue on the inside. Official websites describe the strikingly "colourful character of the building". To increase security, the terrorism unit is at the top of the prison. As we approach through a maze of corridors and interlocked doors, Cees, who manages the wing and requested that we did not publish his surname, points out sophisticated-looking CCTV cameras, equipped with microphones. The TA, as the terrorism wing is called, houses prisoners on remand for terrorist offences or those who have been convicted of them. De Schie Prison, Rotterdam: According to prison deputy director Rob Janssen, most current inmates have either wanted to travel to Syria or Iraq in support of jihadist groups or have returned from the conflict. In Rotterdam there are seven cells in the terrorism wing, each with one inmate. A larger facility at Vught houses another 22 people. On rare occasions De Schie has housed female and juvenile detainees. National security The policy, which began in 2006, separates extremists from the rest of the prison population to prevent them radicalising other prisoners. It is this system that interested the UK officials who visited the terrorism wing at Vught. It is understood the government is currently considering proposals for a unit housing a very limited number of extremist inmates considered to present a genuine and enduring risk to national security. The TA is, in effect, a jail within a jail. There is no contact between the inmates and other offenders. It has its own gym, with speakers playing pop music, and a kitchen. Through its darkened glass, two inmates could be seen cooking, a pleasant smell of frying meat filling the corridor. Recruitment fear The social activity of the inmates is tightly controlled. The cell windows overlook a courtyard used for exercise. The area used by the terrorist prisoners is separated by a fence and a large fretwork metal dome sits over most of it. Guards will intervene if TA inmates attempt to shout to other inmates. For terrorism unit manager Cees, there is no doubt these measures prevent the radicalisation of other inmates. He tells me one prisoner who was in the TA unit was moved into another part of the jail and began radicalising others. "So I think it is good to put the prisoners in one unit," he said. Others have raised concerns that by putting extremist offenders together, they are likely to reinforce each other's beliefs and become further radicalised. Lawyer Andre Seebregts says the "severe" regime, including frequent strip searching of inmates and intense surveillance, is counter-productive. "I have eight to 10 clients who have spent time in these wings, and I distinctly have the impression that they become more and more negative towards the Dutch authorities, and they feed off each other," he says. 'Least worst option' Daan Weggemans, a researcher at Leiden University, found a more mixed picture. For half the detainees he studied, imprisonment resulted in a "confirmation of their hostile world view". However, others saw it as a "wake-up call" and broke with their former violent extremist networks, he says. During my visit, I was not permitted to talk to the detainees, but a former inmate of a Dutch terrorism wing agreed to talk about their experiences on condition that they were not named. The ex-prisoner felt the unit was a necessity and "the least bad of all bad options" because it prevented the radicalisation of inmates in the general prison population. But they said care was needed to house only extremist "leaders" on the wings and not their "followers", who presented a much lower risk of radicalising others. Cees says the Rotterdam prison does recognise such distinctions. Inmates are only allowed to meet in two groups, one group containing those still committed to their extremist beliefs and another smaller group of those who want to work on their "re-socialisation and reintegration". The Dutch government continues to discuss how to deal with extremist offenders in the terrorism units. In her office in The Hague, Angeline van Dijk, director of the prison system in the Netherlands, says the authorities understand that prisoners are not all the same. A newly developed "assessment tool" will, she told me, allow the authorities to separate inmates within the units, helping to keep the high-risk offenders from those who might be further radicalised. With many more terrorist offenders in jail in England and Wales than in Holland, the proposals being considered by the UK government are even more selective, the BBC understands. There are no plans for anything like a "jihadi jail". Any terrorist wing would be small and highly targeted to ensure its inmates would only be those who present the gravest risks.

इंग्लैंड और वेल्स की जेलों में कट्टरपंथ की एक स्वतंत्र समीक्षा प्रकाशित होने वाली है। बीबीसी को पता चला है कि ब्रिटेन के अधिकारियों ने एक डच जेल का दौरा किया है जो आतंकवादी अपराधियों को अन्य कैदियों से अलग करती है। क्रिस वैलेंस को जेल में जाने की अनुमति दी गई थी।


Top five questions for education new boy Damian Hinds

Summary: Damian Hinds has become the new Education Secretary, replacing Justine Greening. What are the questions waiting at the top of his in-tray? And what should he do differently to avoid the sudden exit of his predecessor? 1) How to get back the political initiative?

Sean CoughlanEducation correspondent Damian Hinds will have to re-energise the Conservatives' vision for education, finding something positive that will connect with the public. From the perspective of 10 Downing Street, it must have seemed as though Labour was making much of the weather over schools and universities. Parents were worried about being asked to bail out cash-starved schools. And Jeremy Corbyn's promise to scrap tuition fees had seen Labour's student vote reaching record levels. Justine Greening seemed unenthusiastic about the prime minister's Tory heartlands view of education, characterised by the push for more grammar schools. But, it is suggested, there was impatience in Downing Street about the lack of any clear alternative vision or policy offer for parents. There is a catch for Mr Hinds. His revival has to cost nothing and not take up legislative time consumed by Brexit. 2) Can anyone end the pain of tuition fees? Theresa May has promised a major review of university funding and how much students should be expected to pay - as evidence that she was "listening" after the election. Jo Johnson, the outgoing Universities Minister, had made no secret of his reluctance for any significant changes. But his departure opens the way for a much more far-reaching review. The rising levels of fees, interest charges and student debt, have been like a recurrent political toothache, and Mr Hinds will be looking for an affordable way to neutralise the electoral pain. It's been the mouse-trap hidden in the in-tray for ministers of successive governments. And he will have to see whether university bosses can really be more restrained over pay, after the chastening battles over "fat cat" salaries. 3) What will head teachers be demanding? School funding gaps and teacher shortages are among the issues that heads see as most urgent. They are exasperated that they have to keep juggling and struggling on with what they claim are inadequate budgets. In the election it became a significant doorstep issue, not least because head teachers discovered the power of sending a letter home to millions of parents. When it comes to plausibility, head teachers' warnings of cuts to children's lessons will always win out over politicians protesting that funding is at record levels. It's a challenge that the new education secretary will have to resolve. Otherwise he risks cold water being poured over any other initiatives, as heads tell ministers to get back to the basics of funding and staffing. 4) What does social mobility actually mean? Damian Hinds and Justine Greening have something in common. They both say social mobility is a priority, as has the prime minister. But what does it really mean? The government's own social mobility commissioners walked out claiming so far it had been all talk and no progress. Mr Hinds has previously highlighted the importance of investing in the early years, before the social divide begins to widen. He has also pointed to the central importance of high-quality teachers to making sure that the disadvantaged get the best chances in school. It might seem an age ago, but before the election the focus of social mobility was on the need to help "ordinary working families", working hard on low incomes and without access to good schools. Mr Hinds will have to decide how to make social mobility something more than rhetoric and good intentions. 5) How to balance tradition with reform? As a former grammar school boy from the north-west of England, with a Hampshire constituency, Mr Hinds will be seen as representing a less metropolitan view of education. He will be seen as closer to the views of Tory backbenchers, uncertain about the wholesale ditching of grammar schools. Mr Hinds will also be expected to push through a change to free school regulations, promised in the Conservative manifesto, which would make it easier for faith groups to set up new schools. This would allow religious free schools to give priority in admissions in the same way as existing local authority and academy faith schools. Such a change, likely to increase the number of faith schools, will be opposed by humanists and secular campaigners. But that could be the kind of opposition and clear blue water that would be relished by an education secretary wanting to assert his traditionalist credentials. Ministers have always been advised to pick their enemies as carefully as their friends - and Mr Hinds will also have noted that Ms Greening's bridge-building with the teachers' unions did her no political favours. And someone somewhere is going to write a headline about the benefit of "Hinds-sight".

डेमियन हिंड्स जस्टिन ग्रीनिंग की जगह नए शिक्षा सचिव बन गए हैं। उनके सामने कौन से सवाल हैं? और उन्हें अपने पूर्ववर्ती के अचानक बाहर निकलने से बचने के लिए अलग तरीके से क्या करना चाहिए? 1) राजनीतिक पहल को कैसे वापस लाया जाए?


Lion Mama: The woman who fought off her daughter’s rapists

Summary: Nokubonga Qampi became known as the "Lion Mama" in South Africa after she killed one of three men raping her daughter and wounded the others. She was charged with murder - but after a public outcry the prosecution was halted, and she was able to focus her efforts on her daughter's recovery.

By Gavin FischerBBC News, South Africa It was the middle of the night when the telephone call came, waking Nokubonga from her sleep. The girl at the other end of the line was just 500m away - and she said Nokubonga's daughter, Siphokazi, was being raped by three men they all knew well. Nokubonga's first response was to call the police, but there was no answer. She knew, anyway, that it would take them time to reach her village, in the rolling green and brown hills of South Africa's Eastern Cape province. She was the only person that could help. "I was scared, but then I was forced to go because it was my daughter," she said. "I was thinking that when I get there, she might be dead... Because she knew the perpetrators, and because they knew her and knew she knows them, they might think they had to kill her so she couldn't report them." Siphokazi had been visiting friends in a group of four small houses in the same village but had been left alone, asleep, when her friends went out at 01:30. Then three men who had been drinking in one of the other houses attacked her. Nokubonga's sparsely furnished hut has two rooms, a bedroom, where she had been sleeping, and a kitchen - where she picked up a knife. "I took it for me, for walking the distance between here and where the incident was taking place, because it is not safe," she says. "It was dark and I had to use the torch on my phone to light the way." She heard her daughter's screams as she approached the house. On entering the bedroom, the light from her phone enabled her to make out the awful sight of her daughter being raped. "I was scared… I just stood by the door and asked what they were doing. When they saw it was me, they came charging towards me, that's when I thought that I needed to defend myself, it was an automatic reaction," Nokubonga says. Nokubonga refuses to go into detail about what happened next. Find out more Listen to Nokubonga and Siphokazi talking on Outlook, on the BBC World Service Download the Outlook podcast The judge in the court case against the attackers said Nokubonga's testimony showed she had "become very emotional" as she saw one of the men raping her daughter, while the other two stood nearby with their trousers round their ankles, waiting to take their turn again. Judge Mbulelo Jolwana went on to say, "I understood her to mean that she was overcome with anger." But in recounting the story now, all Nokubonga will admit to was fear - for herself and her daughter - and her face betrays only sadness and pain. It's clear, though, that when the men charged at Nokubonga she fought back with her knife - and that as she stabbed them they tried to flee, with one even jumping out of a window. Two were seriously injured, and the other died. Nokubonga did not stay to find out how badly hurt they were. She took her daughter to a friend's house nearby. When the police arrived, Nokubonga was arrested and taken to the local police station, where she was kept in a cell. "I was thinking of my child," she says. "I got no information [about her]. It was a traumatic experience." At the same time, Siphokazi was in hospital worrying about her mother, imagining her in her cell and heartbroken about the prospect of her being jailed for years. "I wished that if she spent time in prison, I would be the one who would serve it on her behalf," she says. Still in shock, she could remember little or nothing of the attack. What she now knows she heard from her mother when she arrived at the hospital two days later, after being freed on bail. From that moment on they have been each other's emotional support. "I didn't get any counselling but my mother has been able to assist me," Siphokazi says. "I am recovering." Nokubonga's efforts are focused on ensuring that life continues just as it was before. "I'm still the mother and she is still the daughter," she says. They share a laugh about the closeness of their relationship, joking that Siphokazi cannot get married, because then Nokubonga would have no-one to look after. In the 18 months since the attack occurred they have come a long way. Buhle Tonise, the attorney who represented Nokubonga, remembers that both seemed to have given up when she first met them, a week after the attack. "The mother was distraught," she says. "When you are meeting with people that are at that level of poverty, then you know most of the time they would feel that the mother is going to jail because she has no-one to stand by her side. The justice system is for those who have money." As Buhle spoke to Nokubonga, Siphokazi watched her silently, as though the attack had deprived her of the power of speech. Although Buhle says she was confident Nokubonga could argue convincingly that she acted in self-defence, she feared it would be a struggle to overcome her client's overwhelming pessimism. What neither of them had foreseen was the help they would get from the media, which ended up creating the legend of the Lion Mama. It is rare in South Africa for a rape case to get more than basic news coverage. This may be in large part down to the sheer number of rapes in the country, estimated at around 110 per day - a situation President Cyril Ramaphosa recently labelled a national crisis. The Eastern Cape province - the country's poorest, with unemployment of over 45% - has a higher level of rape per capita of population than any other. In Lady Frere, the village where Nokubonga and Siphokazi live, there were 74 recorded rapes in the year 2017/2018 - an astonishingly high figure for somewhere with a population of less than 5,000. But among the numerous harrowing stories of rape in South Africa, Nokubonga and Siphokazi's story stood out. The press quickly latched on to the tale of a mother protecting her daughter. Unable to name Nokubonga, to protect her daughter's anonymity, one newspaper labelled her "Lion Mama", placing the story next to a picture of a lion and her cubs. The name stuck. "For me, at first, I didn't like it because I couldn't understand," Nokubonga says. "But in the end I knew it meant I was a hero, because when you look at a lion it would protect its cubs." The public responded by criticising the decision to charge Nokubonga with murder and raising funds to help her mount her legal defence. This raised her spirits, but the extent of the public support did not sink in until her first appearance in a local magistrate's court, a month after the attack. "Going to court I was scared, I woke up and said a prayer," she says. When she got there, she found the place was full of well-wishers. "There were a whole lot of people from all over South Africa. What I said to people is thank you, because the fact that the court was filled to the rafters, it meant that they supported me. They really gave me hope." She was quickly called before the magistrate. "I was told the charges had been withdrawn," she says. "I just stood there, but I was excited, I was happy. At that moment I knew the justice system is able to separate right from wrong, they were able to tell I had no intentions of taking someone's life." Buhle Tonise recalls the impact the magistrate's decision had on Siphokazi as well. "After the case was withdrawn, she calls her daughter. For the first time ever I heard her daughter laugh. I think that's when [Siphokazi] said she also wants to see the guys going to jail." They had to wait over a year for that to happen, but in December 2018 the two remaining attackers, 30-year-old Xolisa Siyeka and 25-year-old Mncedisi Vuba - members of the same clan as Nokubonga and Siphokazi - were each sentenced to 30 years in prison. "I was happy about it," says Siphokazi, now 27. "I felt a bit safe, but a part of me just felt they deserved life imprisonment." This is as close as Siphokazi gets to showing anger toward her attackers. Once the case was finished, she decided to waive her anonymity in order to give encouragement to other rape survivors. "I would tell a person that even after such an attack there is even life beyond it, you can still go back to society. You can still live your life," she says. Nokubonga also shows a surprising lack of anger for someone compared by the media to a lioness. In fact, she has hopes that her daughter's rapists can achieve something positive in the future. "I'm hoping that when they finish their sentence they'll come back as reformed or changed people," she says, "to tell a story about it and be a living example." You may also be interested in: Pili Hussein wanted to make her fortune prospecting for a precious stone that's said to be a thousand times rarer than diamonds, but since women weren't allowed down the mines she dressed up as man and fooled her male colleagues for almost a decade. Read: I acted as a man to get work - until I was accused of rape Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

नोकुबोंगा कैंपी दक्षिण अफ्रीका में "लायन मामा" के रूप में जानी जाने लगी जब उसने अपनी बेटी के साथ बलात्कार करने वाले तीन लोगों में से एक की हत्या कर दी और अन्य को घायल कर दिया। उस पर हत्या का आरोप लगाया गया था-लेकिन सार्वजनिक आक्रोश के बाद अभियोजन पक्ष को रोक दिया गया था, और वह अपनी बेटी के ठीक होने पर अपने प्रयासों को केंद्रित करने में सक्षम थी।


Obituary: Michael Martin

Summary: The son of a merchant seaman and a cleaner, Lord Martin of Springburn, who has died aged 72, symbolised for many in the Labour movement the opportunities their party offered to working class people to rise above their origins.

Michael Martin was intensely proud of his Glasgow roots and the way he had overcome a difficult start in life to ascend to one of the highest ceremonial roles in the land. He was forced out as Commons Speaker in May 2009, after losing a vote of no confidence in his handling of the expenses scandal that was sweeping through Westminster. His critics - led by the then Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who called him a "dogged defender of the status quo", and a major obstacle to greater "transparency and accountability" in the expenses system - claimed he was not up to the job. But his supporters felt that the criticism levelled at him, almost from the moment he assumed the Speaker's chair, had been motivated as much by class-based snobbery as his merits as a Commons ringmaster. His Glaswegian accent and background as a sheet metal worker and union official led him to be dubbed "Gorbals Mick" by some Conservative MPs and newspaper sketch writers. In fact, he had been born in a tenement in the nearby Anderston area, on the north bank of the River Clyde. He cut his political teeth as a shop steward in the Springburn railway engine works and, after a stint as a Labour councillor, became MP for Springburn in 1979. Seen as being on the right of the Labour Party and a social conservative on matters such as abortion and homosexuality, he served as a Parliamentary aide to Labour's then deputy leader Denis Healey. He set his sights on becoming Speaker and - after serving as deputy to Betty Boothroyd - was elected by MPs to succeed her in the role of keeping order in Commons debates and deciding which MPs can speak, in 2000. Breaking traditions He was the first Catholic Speaker since the Reformation and quickly set about making changes to some of the centuries-old traditions surrounding the role. He began with a press conference - provoking critics to say he had broken the convention of keeping a distance from the media. He did away with the tights worn by Speakers in favour of dark flannel trousers and continued the precedent set by his predecessor, Betty Boothroyd, by dispensing with the traditional wig. Martin's father was an alcoholic, and apart from a teenage dalliance with underage drinking, he was a teetotaller, albeit one with his own brand of Scotch Whisky. In March 2001, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme how he went about selecting a new single malt to carry his title, which is traditionally sold in the Commons gift shop, by inviting 16 friends to a blind tasting. "I left it up to the panel, and then afterwards we all had a good supper," he explained. He initially faced criticism of bias towards Labour MPs - Commons speakers cease to represent any political party and are expected to be neutral. In October 2001, he had to apologise after speaking up in favour of Home Secretary David Blunkett's abolition of the voucher scheme for asylum seekers. In February 2002, he told off Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, and then prime minister Tony Blair, for raising what he described as party matters during prime minister's questions. In the ensuing row, it was reported that Martin felt he was being undermined, because of his background, with each slur "an attack on every working class person from Clydeside". Later Labour MP Tam Dalyell said: "All this stuff I read about 'Gorbals Mick' is odious. What the man is trying to do is do the job of Speaker properly." In 2006, Mr Martin provoked uproar in the Commons by stopping Tory leader David Cameron asking Tony Blair whom he wanted as "his successor". Martin insisted prime minister's questions was meant for discussing government business, not party matters. Mr Cameron called the decision "bizarre and extraordinary". He also came in for criticism over the way he allowed the police to search the Commons office of then shadow immigration minister Damian Green, as part of an inquiry into leaked documents, without a warrant. He was accused of failing to protect both MPs' rights and the power of Parliament to hold government to account. But it was the expenses scandal that was to prove his downfall. He led efforts to block the release of expenses details and called for a police investigation into the source of the leak to the Daily Telegraph. His own allowances came under the spotlight - including claims he had flown members of his family in business class from Glasgow to London for a New Year break, using air miles gained from official trips. The figures had been publicly declared already and there was no suggestion he had used his allowance incorrectly. Confidence vote But it was his reaction to the allegations levied against other MPs - and his own handling of the crisis - that led to a campaign to oust him. On one occasion he angrily slapped down two Labour MPs who questioned his handling of the issue, telling one of them, Kate Hoey, he had already heard her "pearls of wisdom on Sky News". He was thought to be the first Speaker in 300 years to be forced out by a confidence vote. In October 2009, the former Labour MP joined his predecessor as speaker, Baroness Boothroyd, on the crossbenches in the House of Lords. Although by tradition speakers are elevated to the Lords, the decision to grant Lord Martin's peerage proved controversial, with some speculation the honour should be withheld. Tributes to him were led by his successor, John Bercow, who described him as "a decent, public-spirited man" who was "both passionate about and proud of his roots". "He also had a great sense of humour," added Mr Bercow. Former Labour leader and prime minister Gordon Brown said: "I knew him as a successful young trade union organiser, a dedicated member of Parliament, a conscientious Speaker of the House of Commons and latterly as a member of the House of Lords and no matter the position he occupied, he never forgot the debt he owed to his upbringing and the people he had been elected to serve."

एक व्यापारी नाविक और सफाईकर्मी के बेटे, स्प्रिंगबर्न के लॉर्ड मार्टिन, जिनकी 72 वर्ष की आयु में मृत्यु हो गई, ने श्रम आंदोलन में कई लोगों के लिए उन अवसरों का प्रतीक था जो उनकी पार्टी ने श्रमिक वर्ग के लोगों को उनके मूल से ऊपर उठने के लिए दिए थे।


Letters to kids: Why it's a good time to write to your children

Summary: The pandemic has presented many with an urge to express their feelings in writing. And for some that means passing on, in letters to their children, parts of themselves hitherto hidden from view.

By Rebecca SealesBBC News "I think a lot of families faced the same quandary that I was running into - do my kids really know about my life? Maybe I should tell them while I still can. Because at some point it's gonna be too late." - Bob Brody The pain and privations of this weird year have reshaped many families. From lost loved ones, to relationships frayed - or formed - in the intensity of lockdown. Diary-writing has been booming, as a way to carve out mental space or clarify feelings while we grapple with instability. And if you've tried to explain the new world to children, perhaps it's left a sense that we're living through something worth recording. Something they'll understand better if we can pass our memories on. The literary history of parental letter-writing goes back to Ancient Rome, where the philosopher and statesman Cicero wrote a three-book essay to his son Marcus, outlining how to act with honour. More recently, Barack Obama released a picture book, Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters, in 2010, during his first term as US president. You don't have to be a politician or philosopher to record events or guidance for your children. Bob Brody, 68, is a New York-based consultant and essayist who felt that impulse more than a decade ago, long before Covid-19. He started a blog - Letters to my Kids - which became a movement of journal-keeping parents. Many of them wrote in stolen moments; coffee-fuelled on the train to work, or in half-conscious half-hours while a new baby slept. "It happened as I entered my mid-50s," Bob says. "I just one day realised I had written all kinds of stuff for decades and decades, everything from articles to newsletters, brochures, stuff for newspapers and magazines, a book, two unpublished novels… some deeply misguided short stories… and somehow I had managed to do all this writing without aiming anything at the audience most important to me - namely my kids. "All I could think was - how much do my kids know about me, how much do they know about my recollections of their childhood, how much do they know about my family - my parents and grandparents? "Somehow we had never really found time to tell stories. Everybody was just busy doing stuff, living our lives." His children, Michael and Caroline, were 25 and 20 years old when the project started in 2008. It was a New Year's Resolution, and Bob set out the terms. He would write by hand, in journals, and they would take the form of letters addressed to his son or daughter. Nothing would be crossed out or rewritten, and he would try to capture moments - incidents, encounters, something Caroline said, something Michael did. One journal for each child. Time - or the lack of - was a problem, so Bob committed to writing a few hundred words once a week, in secret, on Saturday or Sunday mornings. He spent a year beavering away. "Then on Christmas Day we were all together, our family, and I said to the kids - I wrote something for you, Michael, and I wrote something for you, Caroline. And here you go." Bob had written the letters as an act of love and memory for his children, but also as a legacy - a repository of knowledge about the relatives who came before them. "They told me they appreciated my honesty in talking about my own life, my parents, my career, and everything that came through about my feelings for my kids," he says. "And something that really stuck with me was - they told me they felt bad about some of the difficulties I'd gone through as a boy, particularly because both my parents were deaf. I think some of those recollections about trying to have a conversation with my mother, and my mother having trouble understanding me, brought my kids a certain sadness." Bob ended up writing for a second year, figuring there was more he had to say and more the children wanted to know. Then on Fathers' Day 2010, with his family's tentative sign-off, he made the letters the basis for a blog and started encouraging people to write their own. As well as his own letters and a how-to guide, Bob wanted to feature guest posts from other parents. One of those he asked was Lisa Sepulveda, a former colleague and friend of 30 years. At the time, he had no idea she'd been writing journals for her daughters for 18 years. Now 56, Lisa is CCO of global clients at international PR firm Edelman. Her eldest child is Sara, 25, and Megan her younger daughter is 23. She started penning letters to her daughters before they were born, with a deep sense of purpose drawn from the early loss of her own mother. "When I was growing up my mom passed away when I was 19," she says. "She had leukaemia, she was sick. We were very close. And there are some scrapbooks, some photos. I cherish every one of those things that my mother had collected. What I realised after my mom passed away is that I didn't have all the answers to my questions. Some of them were really mundane, like when did I lose my first tooth, and things like that. So I had this burning desire to leave my daughters answers to as many questions as I could, for as long as I was here. "And so I started the letters, and it went 'Dear Sara…'" Over the years, Lisa filled several journals for Sara and Megan, and decided she would pass them all on when the girls turned 21. She stored them in a steel box for maximum safe-keeping. "I lovingly named Sara's The Sara Chronicles, and Megan's Letters to Megan. It was my favourite project, so it was going to be something that I did for as long as I could. But I also wanted [them to be] old enough to appreciate it. "As they got older, I started adding some photographs, some articles of things that were happening in the world. I tried to keep it upbeat but I didn't want to hide that there's sadness in the world also. There was a couple of entries that I typed and put in each of their journals, and one of them was after 9/11, 'cos it was so hard to write it." Then at 42, Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her daughters were 15 and 16 at the time. "I had to write about that, because you couldn't ignore that moment, in the middle of telling them about their lives. That's another reason why I think the journals had to wait, for a moment that was happy, to be celebrated. But you couldn't only paint a rosy picture. You had to paint a picture that was real and true." "There are small joys in this horrible time that we're living in, and you have to find them because it's what lifts you up. I think that people are using their time in different ways, and sometimes looking for more meaningful ways. I didn't start a journal or anything like that during the pandemic - but boy, it would be interesting for my girls' children to see." It's clear her daughters feel the same. Sara had this message for her mum: "The day I was handed those six journals I knew I was in for the most special journey. Who knew the story of my life would be such a page-turner? I am beyond lucky to cherish these handwritten journals you kept for me over the years - this will become a tradition we pass down from one generation to the next." Megan also plans to write for her own children one day, adding: "Words cannot express how lucky I feel to have a mom so thoughtful and dedicated to these memory books." Lisa admits that friends would say to her "How do you find time? You must have 27 hours in your day. You're making me feel guilty." But over the years, many have taken up their pens for special family occasions, or committed to one journal entry a week. "I think I have motivated a lot of my friends to either start, do it for their grandchildren - it's never too late to write a letter," she says. "It's never too late." If at this point you're thinking you'd love to record your memories for your kids, but writing doesn't come easy to you, sociologist Dr Michael Ward has some excellent advice - try another medium. Dr Ward, a Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences at Swansea University, has been collecting submissions for a sociological study about lockdown life - the Corona Diaries - since mid-March. "I kind of hoped for about a dozen people," he smiles. "I've ended up with 178 participants between the ages of 11 and 89, from 12 different countries." Diary entries of all kinds are welcome, and importantly, submissions don't have to be written: "There's a range of other virtual media things," says Dr Ward. "Videos, memes, TikToks, YouTube videos, artwork, we're talking paintings, sculptures… One person sent me a radio show that they did for local radio: fourteen nights' dinner with the host. Somebody kept a dream log. One participant's mother who was doing some cross-stitch said, 'Ooh, can I contribute my corona cross-stitch to the project?' And she did." The Corona Diaries will ultimately go into an online archive at Swansea University, to help illustrate and illuminate the pandemic in years to come. Yet writing, and other forms of memory-keeping, can compound pain as well as joy - and Covid-19 has brought trauma and loss into many people's lives this year. "We have to remember that some people find writing about chaotic events quite triggering," Dr Ward says. "So writing and recording your thoughts and feelings isn't always productive because it can set you back into a difficult mental space." On that basis, letter-writing isn't something anyone owes to children, no matter what you live through or how much you love them. It's vital to look after your mental health. But if you are in the right headspace, and what's holding you back is lack of confidence, Bob Brody has a parting word of encouragement. "I understand that a lot of people are uncomfortable with writing," he says. "I think people should do it anyway. Sometimes non-writers can pull off something like this even better than a writer might. They're not trying to be literary. "A lot of people know how to tell stories. And everybody has stories to tell. I would just say to people: Tell your story. And tell it to your kids. Who better to tell it to?"

महामारी ने कई लोगों को लिखित रूप में अपनी भावनाओं को व्यक्त करने का आग्रह किया है। और कुछ लोगों के लिए इसका अर्थ है, अपने बच्चों को पत्रों में, अपने कुछ हिस्सों को अब तक दृष्टि से छिपा कर रखना।