Fearne spills the beans on her six years on Radio 1

Summary: Fearne Cotton has presented her last show on Radio 1.

She's seen the likes of Kings of Leon, Justin Timberlake and Ed Sheeran all perform in the Live Lounge over the last six years. During today's farewell she was surprised by a song written especially for her by Coldplay's Chris Martin. Fearne tweeted from the Radio 1 studio during her last ever show. And a whole load of musicians have been tweeting #FarewellFearne. Ed Sheeran tweeted: Lots of love to @Fearnecotton and all the support she's given me and so many others on @BBCR1. You are the bestest evah Nothing But Thieves tweeted: thanks for being so good to us and for saying Itch was your song of 2015. Cheers for having us in the Live Lounge too! Tinchy Stryder posted: Sending mad love on your last day luv @Fearnecotton. You'll be missed!! Catch you soon x Bastille tweeted: Thanks so much to @Fearnecotton for supporting us lot and being generally awesome... Biffy Clyro tweeted: Thank u so much for all your support & friendship. Mornings won't be the same without u. love Biffyx And Sam Smith said: Sorry its your last day @Fearnecotton! Will miss your sweet voice in my ears every day xx thank you for your support Fearne on her last week "This week's been really daunting. I've been excited, but also dreading it at the same time. "I've invested emotionally in my job so much because I love it here. "I'm not leaving for any other reason apart from it's just time for a new chapter. "It's weird and surreal. I can't even really believe it's happening. There's going to be loads of tears. Loads." On her first day "It feels like another lifetime ago. I remember so clearly doing the pilot. "It was a really, really nerve-wracking day. "I started with my good friend Reggie Yates (on Radio 1's early breakfast show) and we were probably terrible. But we were on at 4am so the pressure wasn't as big as it is these days. "I remember fading up the fader and speaking for the first time and thinking 'Oh My God' people are actually listening. "You still have a bit of that fear after all these years and that's why it's enjoyable." On always sounding happy "You have to. This show isn't about me. I am steering this big ship, but it's about everyone at home. "They don't want to hear me moaning. "Everyone listening has great things happening in their life and not so great things happening, but you have to get on with it. "The job is a fun job. My job is to turn up and hopefully make other people's day better. "The technique is knowing this is work and you have to be professional. Then you just go home and be a moody old cow then." On her favourite DJs "There's so many. That's the joy of working in a place like this. We have the best DJs ever, all in one building. "I will never forget doing VS with the mighty Zane Lowe. I've never met someone with so much music crammed in to their brain. I learnt a lot from him. "I've massively admired and loved him and I feel honoured to have worked with him. "I've got some good memories of Tim (Westwood). He used to greet me by saying 'Hey baby girl, how are you Fran?' I think he still thinks I'm called Fran now. "One of my other favourites is the legend that is Annie Nightingale. She will always be the queen of Radio 1." On being a pin-up and loving cake "The whole being on any kind of sexy list (Fearne has appeared in several magazine's 'sexiest woman in the world' lists) I think is completely off the radar right now looking at the state of me. "I think you do reach an age where you're just out the list and I think I am out of the top 100 for good. "I will cherish the days that anyone found me attractive, that's wonderful. "My passion isn't lounging about in a bikini, it is definitely cooking and baking when I'm not here. "It's just something that takes me away from the work I do here and is just a nice relaxing thing." On embarrassing moments "There's basically been one a show, but you get better at covering things up and moving on. "I've done a kind of swear word and I've had to really quickly cover all traces and play a song. "We all do it and we're all human. We talk for three hours a day on the radio. We have to get a thick skin and used to knowing that you're not going to be perfect every show. On what she will miss the most "Definitely the Live Lounge because I'm so proud of what we've achieved over the years. "I've got to watch the best bands and artists in the world and that I will really, really miss. "Music is my main passion, even above cake. "It would have been good to get Lana Del Rey in. We never quite managed it. We had one pre-recorded Live Lounge from the States, which for me doesn't properly count. "I'm just very fond of her and I was there from the very beginning, so it would have been a nice full circle journey to get her in. "I'll also miss just having that relationship with the listeners. You can almost have a conversation with them and I will miss my lovely listeners too." On what's next "At the moment I don't actually know other than having a baby. "In my head I like to think I'll be having breakfast in bed. I won't be. I'll be running around with my two-year-old who'll be having his usual morning tantrum. "It's the first time since I started work when I was 15 that I actually don't know. "I'll be listening to Clara (Clara Amfo will replace Fearne as the host of the mid-morning show on May 25) and of course supporting her." Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram, Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube and you can now follow BBC_Newsbeat on Snapchat

फियरन कॉटन ने रेडियो 1 पर अपना आखिरी शो प्रस्तुत किया है।


Dalai Lama: Seven billion people 'need a sense of oneness'

Summary: The leader of Tibetan Buddhism sees reasons for optimism even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. People are helping one another, he tells the BBC's Justin Rowlatt, and if seven billion people on Earth develop "a sense of oneness" they may yet unite to solve the problem of climate change.

The first time I met the Dalai Lama he tweaked my cheek. It is pretty unusual to have your cheek tweaked by anyone, let alone by a man regarded as a living god by many of his followers. But the Dalai Lama is a playful man who likes to tease his interviewers. Now, of course, such a gesture would be unthinkable - our latest encounter comes via the sterile interface of a video conferencing app. The Dalai Lama appears promptly and sits in front of the camera, smiling and adjusting his burgundy robes. "Half-five," he says with a grin. His eyes sparkle: "Too early!" We both laugh. He is teasing me again. I had been delighted when the leader of Tibetan Buddhism had agreed to an interview but a little downcast when his secretary told me it would be at 09:00 Indian Time. That's 04:30 UK time. It would mean getting into the office at 03:30. James Bryant, who produced the interview, took the matter in hand. "Although nothing is impossible for us, that would be exceptional," he wrote. His Holiness's secretary graciously agreed to move it to 10:00 Indian time. So, at 05:00 on Wednesday last week I found myself in a BBC office in London watching a video feed from Dharamshala in northern India. The contrast could hardly have been greater. I sit among rows of empty desks in the grey half-light while in a palace atop a mountain redoubt in the foothills of the Himalayas, monks in saffron and purple robes sweep by, tweaking cables and adjusting cameras in a gilded room. Clear mountain light streams in through the windows. There are worse places to endure lockdown than a palace with sweeping views of icy mountain peaks, and the Dalai Lama acknowledges as much. "Here we have very pure fresh water and fresh air. I stay here peacefully," he tells me with another of his signature explosive laughs. His thoughts are with those who are suffering and afraid during this terrible pandemic but he says there has been much to inspire and to celebrate. "Many people don't care about their own safety but are helping, it is wonderful." The Dalai Lama smiles. "When we face some tragic situation, it reveals the deeper human values of compassion," he continues. "Usually people don't think about these deeper human values, but when they see their human brothers and sisters suffering the response comes automatically." I ask what advice he has for people who are anxious or frightened. The important thing is to try not to worry too much, he suggests. "If there is a way to overcome your situation then make effort, no need to worry," he explains. "If truly there is no way to overcome then it is no use to worry, you can't do anything. You have to accept it, like old age." The Dalai Lama will be 85 in a few weeks. "It is no use me thinking I am too old, no use as an old person," he continues. "Young people are physical, their minds are fresh, they can make a contribution for a better world but they are too much excited." He chuckles. "Older people have more experience they can help by teaching the young. We can tell them to be calm," he says with another explosive laugh. He believes the young will be at the forefront of tackling what is now one of his most pressing concerns: the need to tackle environmental challenges. He says he has seen the effects of climate change in his own lifetime. He seems quite emotional as he remembers his youth. The 14th Dalai Lama was born in a remote village on the high plains of Tibet in 1935. He was identified as the tulku, the reincarnation, of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1937. "When I was in Tibet," he tells me, "I had no knowledge about the environment. We took it for granted. We could drink water from any of the streams." It was only when he arrived in India and later began to travel the world that he realised just how much damage was being done. "I came here to Dharamshala in 1960. That winter lots of snow, then each year less and less and less. "We must take very seriously global warming," says the leader of Tibetan Buddhism. He urges the world to invest more in wind and solar energy and to move away from dependence on fossil fuels. The important thing, he tells me, is for us to recognise that we are not individuals alone, we depend on the community we are a part of. "No matter how rich your family is, without the community you cannot survive," he says. "In the past there was too much emphasis on my continent, my nation, my religion. Now that thinking is out of date. Now we really need a sense of oneness of seven billion human beings." This, he says, could be one of the positive things to come out of the coronavirus crisis. But while the world woke up quickly to the threat from this virus, global warming is a more insidious threat, he points out, coming "decade by decade". This may make it seem less urgent, and he worries that soon we may find it is beyond our control. The challenge ties in to another of the Dalai Lama's great preoccupations: education. "The whole world should pay more attention to how to transform our emotions," he tells me. "It should be part of education not religion. Education about peace of mind and how to develop peace of mind. That is very important." Now comes the most difficult part of the interview. I want to discuss the Dalai Lama's own death - or more accurately, the question of his rebirth. This is not just an issue for him. What happens when he dies will be key for the future of Tibetan Buddhism and of the Tibetan freedom movement. China sent troops into Tibet in 1950 to enforce its claim on the region. Many Tibetans fiercely oppose what they see as an illegal occupation. As the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, the Dalai Lama has been the figurehead for this opposition. He reminds me that he has said before that his death may well mark the end of the great tradition of Dalai Lamas - the words mean "great leader" in Tibetan. "It may end with this great Lama," he tells me, laughing and pointing to his chest. He says the Himalayan Buddhists of Tibet and Mongolia will decide what happens next. They will determine whether the 14th Dalai Lama has been reincarnated in another tulku. It could be a fraught process. The boy who the current Dalai Lama identified as the reincarnation of the second most powerful figure in Tibetan Buddhism, the Panchen Lama, was abducted in 1995. It is the Panchen Lama who would normally lead the search for the reincarnation of the next Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama says what his followers decide is not an issue for him. "I myself have no interest," he says, laughing. His hope is that when his last day comes he will still have his good name and can feel that he has made a contribution to humanity. "Then finish," he says with another laugh. And with that, our interview is over. You may also be interested in:

तिब्बती बौद्ध धर्म के नेता कोरोनावायरस महामारी के बीच भी आशावाद के कारण देखते हैं। लोग एक दूसरे की मदद कर रहे हैं, वे बीबीसी के जस्टिन रॉलेट को बताते हैं, और अगर पृथ्वी पर सात अरब लोग "एकता की भावना" विकसित करते हैं तो वे अभी भी जलवायु परिवर्तन की समस्या को हल करने के लिए एकजुट हो सकते हैं।


Bloodhound Diary: 'Blink and you'll miss it'

Summary: A British team is developing a car that will be capable of reaching 1,000mph (1,610km/h). Powered by a rocket bolted to a Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine, the vehicle will mount an assault on the world land speed record. Bloodhound will be run on Hakskeen Pan in Northern Cape, South Africa, in 2015 and 2016. Wing Commander Andy Green, the current world land-speed record holder, is writing a diary for BBC News about his experiences working on the Bloodhound project and the team's efforts to inspire national interest in science and engineering.

By Andy GreenWorld Land Speed Record Holder The pace of engineering activity on Project Bloodhound is simply extraordinary. We currently have some 700 unique components in manufacture: you can see some of them here in the video of our "kit car". Bloodhound is only able to work at this rate thanks to the support of a huge number of sponsor companies who are producing world-class engineering products for us. To give you some idea of how the project has accelerated recently, we've ordered more components in the past two months than we did in the whole of 2013. We're ramping up to run the car in August of this year, so that we can complete our "slow speed" (200+ mph) testing at Newquay airfield, before flying out to South Africa in September. Want to come and see the car run at Newquay? We'd love to see you there - we're inviting all Gold Members of our 1K Club to come and see the car run, so join the Club and we'll look forward to seeing you soon. We have no real idea how many people have worked on parts of Bloodhound. However, given that we have 200+ sponsor companies, we estimate that we could fill a football stadium with all the people that have contributed to the world's first 1,000mph car. Not that a football stadium would be the place to watch Bloodhound SSC run, partly because it would make a mess of the grass, and partly because it wouldn't be there for long. The average football stadium measures about 150m. At 1,000mph (450m/s), Bloodhound SSC would cover 150m in 1/3 of a second, the same time it takes for the human eye to blink. Quite literally, blink and you will miss it. This year will be a test and development year for the car, but we will also be aiming to set a new Land Speed Record of around 800mph in South Africa, in preparation for the ultimate goal of 1,000 mph in 2016. This step-by-step approach is a deliberate choice, giving us time to check the science as we go along. After all, we're not only going 35% faster than any land vehicle in history, we're aiming to go faster than any jet fighter has ever been at ground level. Travelling at 1,000 mph is easy above 30,000ft, where the air is very thin (I've done it myself on several occasions), but it's a different matter in the very thick air at ground level. It was in about 1913 that aeroplanes first started flying faster than cars - and just over 100 years later, Bloodhound is about to reverse the result! In February, we held a dinner at the Coventry Transport Museum, to celebrate the opening of their new Land Speed Record gallery. The display is brilliant, as is the new "4D" simulator. If you get the chance, go and see it. I've driven at supersonic speeds, and the simulator still gave me goosebumps, bringing back memories of wrestling Thrust SSC's steering and fighting to keep the 10-tonne monster straight at over 600mph. It is also sobering to see the physical battering that Thrust SSC took, leaving cracked panels and scorched paint after every supersonic run. Bloodhound SSC is going to have to survive much worse over the next two years. This was also the first time that the three British Record cars had ever been together: Thrust 2 (1983: 633mph), Thrust SSC (1997: 763mph) and Bloodhound SSC (this year 800mph, next year 1000mph!). The three cars are a great flection of the technology developments of the last 30 years. Thrust 2 was pretty much at the limit of "simple" jet car technology. Even running its engine at 108% of maximum rpm, and near the limit of taking off, it only just broke the Land Speed Record. A new approach was needed to go faster. Thrust SSC was that fresh approach, using the best of 1990s technology, including the new science of computer modelling, to produce the world's first supersonic car. However, the challenge facing Bloodhound SSC is far more ambitious, and we'll need a hybrid rocket motor as well as a jet if we're to reach 1,000mph. We will be test-firing the car's rocket system in a few weeks. In preparation for this, we've been testing the rocket pump down at Newquay. The 550hp Jaguar V8 engine is proving to be the ideal pump motor, as it's reliable and simple to operate. Once we've completed pump testing, the rig will be shipped to Nammo's test centre in Norway, for the full-power rocket tests. If you've been following the rocket programme, it might sound like it's taking a long time to complete all the testing. That's because it's difficult! While you can say "it's not rocket science" about most things, in this case it really is. Another challenge in running a car faster than any jet fighter is looking after the jet engine. We're very lucky to have the loan of an ex-flight test EJ200 engine, from the Eurofighter-Typhoon development programme. As well as having world-beating power output, the EJ200 is perhaps the most reliable military jet ever - which is good news from my point of view, as I'm going to be strapping myself to it fairly soon. Bloodhound's EJ200 engine needs to deliver maximum power at supersonic speeds. The air intake is designed for speeds of 800mph and above, so it is too small for high power at low speeds. Jet fighters have a variable air-intake system to allow for this, but for Bloodhound we've chosen to keep it simple, with a fixed (high-speed) air intake. That means that the engine will struggle to get enough air at slow speed. To protect the engine from what is known as "flow distortion" (turbulent air caused by sucking too hard through Bloodhound's small high-speed intake), I will only be using part throttle at low speeds. This will avoid any risk of the intake airflow becoming turbulent and (possibly) disrupting the engine performance. Rolls-Royce has done a huge amount of work to let us know how the engine will cope with the Bloodhound intake, and I've just been analysing the figures. Subject to confirmation in our engine test programme, it looks like we'll be able to get to full reheat during the Newquay runway tests in August. If you are planning to come down to see Bloodhound SSC running at 200+ mph, then you won't be disappointed - there should be plenty of noise and excitement. One of the other things I'm having to focus on now is my own preparation for driving Bloodhound on a dry lakebed in South Africa. Bloodhound SSC will accelerate at close to 2g (40mph/s) and slow down at almost 3g (60mph/s). You can't really practice this level of g in a race car. F1 drivers experience higher g levels, but only for a few seconds, while Bloodhound will be accelerating (and decelerating) for about a minute each way. The best way to practice this is in an aeroplane - which also gives me the chance to show other people what it feels like. I recently took racing driver Chris "Monkey" Harris flying, after his tour of the Bloodhound Technical Centre. You can see the video of his visit and flight here. Chris doesn't really like flying at the best of times, and I'm not sure that the g-simulation of the "Bloodhound Profile" helped much.

एक ब्रिटिश टीम एक ऐसी कार विकसित कर रही है जो 1,000 मील प्रति घंटे (1,610 किमी/घंटा) तक पहुंचने में सक्षम होगी। एक यूरोफाइटर-टाइफून जेट इंजन को बोल्ट किए गए रॉकेट द्वारा संचालित, वाहन विश्व भूमि गति रिकॉर्ड पर हमला करेगा। ब्लडहाउंड 2015 और 2016 में उत्तरी केप, दक्षिण अफ्रीका में हक्सकीन पैन पर चलाया जाएगा। विंग कमांडर एंडी ग्रीन, वर्तमान विश्व भूमि-गति रिकॉर्ड धारक, ब्लडहाउंड परियोजना पर काम करने के अपने अनुभवों और विज्ञान और इंजीनियरिंग में राष्ट्रीय रुचि को प्रेरित करने के लिए टीम के प्रयासों के बारे में बीबीसी न्यूज के लिए एक डायरी लिख रहे हैं।


Police investigate man's death in Edinburgh

Summary: A man has died after being found in a serious condition at a house in west Edinburgh.

Emergency crews went to the address on North Bughtlin Brae at about 06:50 following reports of concern for a person. The 47-year-old man was pronounced dead a short time later. A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: "Inquiries into the circumstances leading to the man's death are ongoing."

पश्चिम एडिनबर्ग में एक घर में गंभीर हालत में पाए जाने के बाद एक व्यक्ति की मौत हो गई है।


Blackbird Leys swimming pool: Town Green legal bid abandoned

Summary: An £8.5m pool complex is set to be built in Oxford after a legal bid by residents to have the land awarded Town Green status was abandoned.

Campaigners took Oxfordshire County Council to The High Court in April over its refusal to protect land next to Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre. But construction of the eight-lane, 25m pool and a teaching pool is to go ahead after legal aid was withdrawn. It is anticipated that building work will start soon. Mike Rowley, cabinet member for leisure services at Oxford City Council, said: "There's no further decision to be taken. "We're hopeful that building work will start sometime within the next couple of months." The city council submitted the plans to replace pools at Temple Cowley and the existing pool at Blackbird Leys, in 2011.

निवासियों द्वारा टाउन ग्रीन का दर्जा प्राप्त करने के लिए एक कानूनी बोली को त्याग दिए जाने के बाद ऑक्सफोर्ड में एक 85 लाख पाउंड का पूल परिसर बनाया जाना तय है।


Brexit agreement: What happened and what's next?

Summary: Regular readers know that I am sometimes, especially at an uncertain moment, fond of making a list.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter On Wednesday night, the prime minister has taken a big step forward on the path to taking the UK out of the EU without a giant political accident. It's not been a pretty process so far, and five hours of cabinet discussion was not easy either. But again, she made it this far. Surviving tonight, though, does not mean surviving Thursday. So what happened and what's next?

नियमित पाठकों को पता है कि मुझे कभी-कभी, विशेष रूप से एक अनिश्चित क्षण में, एक सूची बनाने का शौक है।


Why corporate team-building events can be terrible

Summary: Nothing quite strikes fear into the heart of employees like the words "team-building event" - especially for those who have attended enough of these events to know how downright bizarre they can sometimes be, says author Alison Green, and creator of the workplace advice column Ask a Manager.

What's the strangest team-building exercise you've ever been on? Circus skills, ice-carving or even sheepdog herding are all genuine days out workers have been subjected to. Team-building events are, ostensibly, designed to boost the cohesion of a team and increase communication, co-operation, and morale. Those are all worthwhile business goals, but in practice, many such events involve things like blindfolded trust falls, humiliating dance performances, rope-climbing courses, and other endeavours where the connection to those business goals isn't quite clear. I heard from one reader who worked on a team of people who were having trouble getting along, so her manager organised a team-building event where everyone present had to share what they didn't like about each other. Unsurprisingly, tears ensued. She noted that, contrary to the purpose of the event, she and her colleagues went from not being able to work together well to actively disliking each other in about 30 minutes. Another reader wrote in about a team-building event that her office held on a horse farm. One horse got over-excited and nearly trampled one of her colleagues. "It was a bonding experience to a certain extent," she wrote, "but only because we all thought we were going to die." Another reader described a team-building exercise where she and her co-workers had to spit soda into each other's mouths - why, I don't know - and another was made to watch videos about the leadership skills of dolphins. Another person's team had to line up and pass a grapefruit down the line without anyone using their hands or arms, and without letting the grapefruit fall. Still other team-building exercises put pressure on people to do things that they physically can't do. Recently I heard from a reader whose boss was requiring everyone to gather together in a room to do tai chi several mornings a week - allegedly as a form of team-building. My reader had a medical condition that prevented him from participating. Rather than excuse him entirely, the boss told him to sit silently and watch everyone else do it. "It has left me feeling singled out and punished for not being able to participate, and fielding questions from co-workers about why I'm not following along with the programme," he told me. Not exactly what team building is supposed to achieve. And some team-building exercises ask people to share things that would normally be considered way too personal for an employer to ask about - things like your deepest fears or experiences from childhood. I heard about one where participants were asked to share the story behind a scar - physical or emotional. Yes, emotional. Those questions can be easy for some but if you're someone who, say, dealt with trauma or abuse in your childhood - or if you're someone who just prefers privacy - these are not fun games to play. As these examples make clear, too often employers schedule team-building events without putting real thought into how they'll produce better results, or they use them as a substitute for more meaningful work on communication or co-operation issues. As a result, these events can be tremendously annoying to employees and - the opposite of raising morale - they can actually lower morale, especially if they're a response to deep-rooted, problematic team dynamics that require more serious solutions. Real team building isn't about one or two events per year. Instead, it's about how a team runs, day to day. Good managers prioritise communication, co-operation, and morale year-round, not just for the duration of a team-building event. And good managers build strong teams by having people work together on projects with clear goals, clear roles, and appropriate feedback and recognition; by creating opportunities for people to get a deeper understanding of each other's work; and by giving people the chance for meaningful input into the direction of the team. People are more likely to feel like part of a real team if they have a chance to share their input and talk over challenges, and if they see that that input is welcome and truly considered. And oddly, many team-building exercises are based around solving artificial problems as a group, like building a balloon tower or untangling a human knot - things that aren't likely to come up in our actual work for most of us. It's far more effective, and useful, to instead involve your work group in grappling with real challenges as part of the normal course of business. In other words, what builds strong teams is… good management, day after day after day. That may not be as entertaining as dance performances or rope courses, but it's what works. For more workplace letters from Alison Green and other contributors, download the World Business Report podcast.

"टीम-निर्माण कार्यक्रम" शब्दों की तरह कर्मचारियों के दिल में कुछ भी डर पैदा नहीं करता है-विशेष रूप से उन लोगों के लिए जिन्होंने इन कार्यक्रमों में पर्याप्त भाग लिया है, यह जानने के लिए कि वे कभी-कभी कितने विचित्र हो सकते हैं, लेखक एलिसन ग्रीन कहते हैं, और कार्यस्थल सलाह कॉलम के निर्माता प्रबंधक से पूछें।


PPI mis-selling: Who is to blame for influx of claims?

Summary: Antonio Horta-Osorio, the chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, no doubt smelt a rat when he received calls suggesting he could claim mis-selling compensation from his own bank.

By Kevin PeacheyPersonal finance reporter, BBC News Now he has gone on the offensive against claims management companies and their scattergun approach to making compensation claims for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling. Mr Horta-Osorio says that one in four claims relates to people who never had a PPI policy with the bank in the first place. These spurious claims are costing the bank money, he says, as Lloyds sets aside another £375m to deal with the mis-selling scandal. But how fair is his criticism? The group that represents these claims companies says many people cannot remember whether they had PPI policies year ago. And, after all, if it was the banks that created this mess by mis-selling PPI, should they not have to pay to clear it up? Huge bill PPI is supposed to cover borrowers' loan repayments if they fall ill, die, or lose their jobs. It became highly controversial after the policies were sold, often without the customer's knowledge, along with loans and mortgages. Some people found it was impossible to invoke the insurance policy, and others only received a small refund of premiums when they paid off their loan early. After years of campaigning by consumer groups, and a string of court hearings, banks have started the lengthy process of paying out compensation. Last year, they paid out £1.9bn to the victims of mis-sold PPI. An estimated £5bn is still expected to be paid out. There has been a burst of claims at the start of this year, prompting Lloyds to set aside the extra funds, taking its provision for PPI compensation to £3.6bn. A few days earlier, Barclays announced that it was setting aside an extra £300m on its PPI bill, on top of the £1bn provision in 2011. With such huge amounts involved, PPI claims have become a lucrative business opportunity for an estimated 800 claims management companies. They have spent an estimated £2m a month of advertising their services - to claim compensation on behalf of bank customers. Most of this advertising can be seen on television. If claims are successful, they take a cut of 25% or more from the average £3,000 payout. Pointless claims On the one hand, these customers can include people like Declan Sharkey. He recently told the BBC how he received £400 that he had "never expected to get back". He did not realise that he could have made this claim on his own but, equally, he might never have realised he had anything to claim. The banks say that many claims management companies decide that the best way to work is simply by harvesting as many customers as they can. Then they send their details to all of the banks claiming they were mis-sold PPI. As a result, many of these people never had PPI policies, so there is nothing to claim. Some have never even been customers of the bank. A spokeswoman for Lloyds says processing these claims still costs time and money, even though it is obvious that those involved are not the victims of mis-selling. If the claim goes on to the ombudsman, that is an additional bill of £850 for the bank. A Barclays spokeswoman says that the extra funds set aside for PPI mis-selling is the result of an increase in complaints. "One of the factors in this is the large number that come from claims management companies, some of which are spurious," she says. 'Forgotten' Andy Wigmore, policy director for the Claims Standards Council, which represents some claims management companies, says that the banks are unfairly shifting the blame in the PPI saga. He says these companies are simply trying to find out whether people are able to make a claim, and these businesses only profit if there is a successful claim anyway. "If someone took out a loan on a credit card 10 years ago, they might not know or may have forgotten the details," he says. He also argues that customers retain a mistrust of the banks. They would prefer a claims management company to act on their behalf against a bank that might have mis-sold them a PPI policy in the past. Finally, he claims that there is evidence of banks delaying payouts of compensation claims. Companies can follow these up, he adds, going on to say that experts may also be needed to ensure these people are not short-changed with their payouts. Code of conduct The banks accept that they work successfully with some claims management companies, but they are encouraging customers to make their own claims, bypassing these businesses. They are supporting a push by consumer groups to advertise the do-it-yourself claim by bank customers. Many banks and credit card companies recently agreed to simplify and standardise the claims procedure across the industry to make it easier for people to make a PPI claim on their own. However, some people may choose to use a legitimate claims management company for a key reason - it is authorised by the Ministry of Justice. These companies, listed on a database run by the ministry , are obliged to comply with strict conduct rules. These include: Yet, these rules have not always been adhered to, resulting in a team of officers checking on complaints. "We have made it very clear to businesses that we take a zero tolerance approach to any malpractice or attempts to take advantage of consumers, which is why we have a dedicated unit investigating claims management companies who mishandle PPI claims," says a spokeswoman for the ministry. "This work is ongoing. We investigate all complaints made against businesses and where a breach of the rules is identified, enforcement action is taken that can result in the business being closed down." There are factsheets to help consumers make a choice about claiming compensation for PPI mis-selling. The more they do, the more that banks count the cost of the scandal.

लॉयड्स बैंकिंग ग्रुप के मुख्य कार्यकारी एंटोनियो होर्टा-ओसोरियो को जब कॉल आया कि वह अपने ही बैंक से गलत तरीके से बेचे गए मुआवजे का दावा कर सकते हैं तो उन्हें चूहे की बदबू आई।


Scott Fletcher: Missing investigation 'still ongoing'

Summary: The investigation into a Hartlepool man's disappearance is continuing on the fifth anniversary of his last sighting, police have said.

Scott Fletcher was last seen near to the Jet garage on the A181 at Wheatley Hill in Durham on the evening of 11 May, 2011. Seven people remain on bail after being arrested on suspicion of his murder. Cleveland Police said: "Scott's family are still struggling to come to terms with what's happened." Det Supt Jon Green added: "We want to be able to end this nightmare for them and provide some answers. "I believe we are making progress and would again ask anyone with information which could help to contact Cleveland Police."

पुलिस ने कहा है कि हार्टलपूल के एक व्यक्ति के लापता होने की जांच उसके अंतिम दर्शन की पांचवीं वर्षगांठ पर जारी है।


Coronavirus: Single, pregnant and self-isolating

Summary: The coronavirus outbreak has created different anxieties for pregnant women as they face uncertainty over how they will give birth and who will be there with them. But for Carla Fitzgerald, 28, it's been a double hit, as she split from her boyfriend before discovering she was carrying their child.

The first-time mum, who lives alone in Paignton, Devon, then went into self-isolation when the pandemic broke out, depriving her of her support network of family and friends. From being torn over whether to keep the baby to now being seven months pregnant, the Premier Inn receptionist explains how lockdown has made her a stronger person. 'I thought I couldn't have kids' I'd given up on the dream of having my own children. Doctors suspected I suffered from polycystic ovary syndrome, so when I was late, I didn't think too much of it. But then I woke up from my sleep and felt the urge to take a test. I followed my intuition. I was alone as I'd split from my boyfriend, and my family and friends are back in Somerset. I paced up and down my self-contained studio flat and waited for the result for what seemed an eternity. One line for negative, two for positive. What would I do? I knew nothing about parenting. Would I be able to support both myself and the baby? The test was positive. It was like a rug had been pulled from under my feet. It just wasn't what I'm used to seeing. I burst into tears and thought 'what the hell am I going to do?' By then I was already seven weeks pregnant. I had that urge to say no to it. But I thought: 'This baby is a real gift. What if I don't get another chance? What if I regret not having it my whole life?' 'I don't want to let my baby down' Six months later, the whole country is quarantined and I have to self-isolate. It was a double hit; first the break-up, then accepting that I would have to grapple with this strange experience entirely alone. But I reminded myself this baby is a miracle and clung on to that. It's about finding your way through it. I just pulled in all my resources to kind of keep me afloat because the only person I've got is me and if I let myself down, then I let my baby down, so I just needed to keep going. I am now on my 29th week and the baby's growth is spot on. It loves to kick, especially late at night and early in the morning. I shower as that seems to calm it down. I want to keep the sex a surprise so it makes labour a bit more exciting. It does get lonely at times, I'm not going to lie, and once you're done with breakfast you're left wondering what to do with the rest of the day. I wish my mum and dad could be here to share this all with me. I can't see my mum as she is a hospital maternity care assistant, while my dad suffers from asthma. I hear from them over the phone and it's weird because it's like they're here - but then they're not. The prospect of my mum not being allowed to be with me when I give birth is daunting. But I try to gently push that thought away as it does no good for me or the baby. I'm trying to live in the now. I need to breathe and take it as it comes. 'I love the smell of bleach' I have a fixed routine now. Every morning I wake up and meditate for about 15 to 20 minutes. Then I soak my face in warm water so I wake up. I don't have any cravings but I noticed I clean all the time because I love the smell of the kitchen bleach, which reminds me of swimming pools. I am reinventing myself during lockdown. I had so many plans, to attend hypnobirth classes and mingle with other mums whilst doing yoga and other activities to prepare for this new human. But all that has been taken away from me so I'm now reading e-books on hypnobirth and taking Zoom Pilates lessons instead. The meet-ups with other parents have moved to a WhatsApp group where we can share our feelings, wobbles, tips, routines and hopes for the future. 'The sea takes me away from it all' The fear of contracting the virus while pregnant never leaves me - I can't think of anything worse. I literally have to survive on sending my work colleagues or neighbours to get a food shop for me or take me to my antenatal appointments. I am so grateful for them. When I do go for a walk I carry my bump to Paignton pier and up to the beach in Preston, which is secluded and safe. I stand by the sea and take it all in. I feel the sun on my skin, listen to the waves coming in and hope the baby can hear them too. The sea takes me away from it all and I feel free. I do think what it will be like coming back home and it being just me and the baby. I 100% try to overcompensate for his or her dad not being around. I know I'll never be able to replace him, but what I can do is try my very best to be as supportive as I can. I wonder how it will all play out but somewhere inside me echoes: "You can do this." In a way I feel like I wouldn't have been able to withstand the lockdown if I wasn't pregnant. It has given me a focus. It's not about me any more, I have to drop that ball and think about what is best for both of us. I can't wait to hold my child against me and feel what it's like to share such a bond of unconditional love. As told to Claire Gilbody-Dickerson

कोरोनावायरस के प्रकोप ने गर्भवती महिलाओं के लिए अलग-अलग चिंताएं पैदा कर दी हैं क्योंकि उन्हें इस बात पर अनिश्चितता का सामना करना पड़ता है कि वे कैसे जन्म देंगी और उनके साथ कौन होगा। लेकिन 28 वर्षीय कार्ला फिट्जगेराल्ड के लिए, यह एक दोहरी मार है, क्योंकि वह अपने प्रेमी से अलग हो गई थी, यह पता लगाने से पहले कि वह अपने बच्चे को ले जा रही थी।


Man charged over mum's road death in Darlington

Summary: A man has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving after a mother was knocked down at a pedestrian crossing.

Shantelle Kirkup was struck by a Ford Focus as she crossed St Cuthbert's Way, Darlington, in May 2018. The 29-year-old, of Northallerton, North Yorkshire, was with her five-year-old son, who was also injured. A 36-year-old Darlington man will appear at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates' Court on 21 February. He has also been charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Mrs Kirkup, a mother of two, was taken to Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital by air ambulance but later died.

एक आदमी पर एक पैदल यात्री क्रॉसिंग पर एक माँ को नीचे गिरा दिए जाने के बाद खतरनाक ड्राइविंग करके मौत का कारण बनने का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Is Janet Yellen the Federal Reserve's 'fall gal'?

Summary: A Canadian was appointed to run the Bank of England. A woman, Janet Yellen, will be appointed to run the more powerful US Federal Reserve, if President Obama's wish isn't blocked by Congress. Diversity rules in central banking?

Robert PestonEconomics editor About time you might say. Central banking has been more dominated by white men in suits than any other occupation I can think of. The hegemony of the Y chromosome in monetary policy is greater even than its hold on big business or big politics. For years I have struggled to understand why this is. What is it about the arcana of the money transmission mechanism that repel women just as they approach the secret chamber where they would have the power to expand or shrink the supply of money? The men of the Bank of England, showing less than magnificent imagination, always put it down to women going off to have babies just when they're beginning to learn the game, and - a bit of useful self insight here - the Bank being lousy at helping them to reintegrate when they're ready to return. For what it's worth, the Bank seems to be mending its ways a bit. It invented the post of chief operating office, and appointed Charlotte Hogg as first incumbent. And Jenny Scott, late of the BBC where she was in charge of comms, is back as an executive director and adviser to the governor on a part-time basis, now that her children are a bit older. So that is two women out of 16 at the Bank of England's executive top table, which is a 100% increase on recent history and an increase of infinity over tradition (and I am not counting the vacant post of human resources director). "Well done chaps," you might say. But you might not say "carry on" if you note that the glamorous jobs of governor, deputy governor for monetary policy, deputy governor for financial stability and deputy governor for prudential regulation - the policy making jobs - are all still filled by blokes. But what on earth could be more glamorous than being chairman of the Federal Reserve. I don't want to be accused of overstating it, but the appointment of Janet Yellen feels like quite a big deal. It is not quite like having a woman in charge of the Vatican, but it's not far off. So we've talked about the apparent lack of equal opportunities in the stewardship of our money. What about ideological and intellectual diversity? Well, for the next year or so at least, Yellen would represent continuity in a policy sense. She was an architect and supporter of the plan to create $85bn of new money a month to keep interest rates as low as possible in the hope of bringing down unemployment. So there'll be no charge back to tight-money, anti-inflationary zeal on her watch - or at least not until the risks of self-reinforcing price rises are impossible to ignore. And here is where you have to worry that she's being lined up as the "fall gal" (I don't think that's a sexist descriptor, but I am counting on you to put me right). Because phasing out the extraordinary, exceptional attempts to reduce the cost of money - the hallmark of the central banks of the major rich economies since the crash of 2008 - is fraught with dangers. Just the hint that the Federal Reserve would reduce that $85bn a month of money creation via bond purchases has pushed up important US and overseas interest rates and caused turmoil on currency markets. If that is the impact of just the possibility of a slight turning down of the money faucet, what kind of market reaction is likely as and when the valve is tightened? Maybe with investors' expectations ahead of events, it will be a non-event. But the current Fed chair Ben Bernanke and his colleagues, bar one (who wasn't Ms Yellen), haven't been ready to bet on that. They worry that interest rates will overshoot in an upward direction, and choke off America's fledgling recovery. And another thing. Ms Yellen would be picking up the pieces of the current inability of Congress to agree a new budget. With no end in sight to the partial shutdown of the US Federal government, and fears rising of that most momentous of accidents, a default by the United States (see Onset of the storm), at best she'll inherit an economy weaker than she would have hoped just a couple of weeks ago. At worst she'll be cleaning up a financial crisis not too different from the 2008 debacle. Which means, as minimum, extraordinary money manufacturing would persist for longer. Just to state the most basic challenge for her, the longer the US and global economy is hooked on massive money creation by the Fed, the harder will be the cold turkey, as and when it comes. And, to repeat the bloomin' obvious, because of the budget impasse, it looks like US addiction to cheap money will be fed for some time yet. Or to put it another way, if Congress ratifies her appointment, Ms Yellen will have to make history in a bigger sense than simply being the first woman to be seen as the most powerful financial player in the world. She'll also have to navigate all of us (and I mean all of us) through some of the most treacherous economic rocks we're ever likely to encounter.

बैंक ऑफ इंग्लैंड को चलाने के लिए एक कनाडाई को नियुक्त किया गया था। एक महिला, जेनेट येलेन को अधिक शक्तिशाली अमेरिकी फेडरल रिजर्व को चलाने के लिए नियुक्त किया जाएगा, अगर राष्ट्रपति ओबामा की इच्छा को कांग्रेस द्वारा अवरुद्ध नहीं किया जाता है। केंद्रीय बैंकिंग में विविधता के नियम?


Australia, home to the world's largest camel herd

Summary: Australia is famous for its wildlife - kangaroos, koalas and numerous species of snakes and spiders - but it is also home to the world's largest herd of camels. There are about 750,000 roaming wild in the outback and they cause a host of problems.

By Sarah BellBBC News Camels were imported to Australia in the 19th century from Arabia, India and Afghanistan for transport and heavy work in the outback. But when the internal combustion engine came along and they were no longer needed, several thousand were released into the wild. With no natural predators and vast sparsely-populated areas in which to roam, the camels have flourished and are having a huge impact on the wilderness. "One of the biggest problems is that they drink large amounts of water. They gulp down gallons at a time and cause millions of pounds worth of damage to farms and waterholes which are used to water stock. They also drink dry waterholes belonging to the Aborigines," says explorer and writer Simon Reeve. "Camels are almost uniquely brilliant at surviving the conditions in the outback. Introducing them was short-term genius and long-term disaster." Lyndee Severin runs a one-million-acre ranch west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory that has been overrun by the camels. "They do a lot of damage to infrastructure for us, so there's a lot of damage to fences. They break tanks, they break pumps, they break pipes, they break fences - fences have been our biggest concern," she says. But her concern is not confined to her own business - the camels put pressure on native Australian species by reducing food sources and destroying their habitats. "They will just take everything in the landscape and if they destroy the trees and eat the grasses there's no kangaroos, no emus, no small birds if there's no trees, no reptiles," she says. Severin and her team shoot the beasts, often from helicopters, and leave them to rot where they fall. "It's not something that we enjoy doing, but it's something that we have to do." Camels roam freely across an area of 3.3 million sq km (1.3 million sq miles) encompassing the states of Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland, as well as the Northern Territory. They are mainly Dromedaries, but some are Bactrian camels. Humans have introduced dozens of species into Australia - including wild horses, pigs, goats, dogs, cats, rabbits and foxes - and these have now become a major problem for the ecosystem. In 2010 the Australian government endorsed a control plan, the Australian Feral Camel Management Project, which aimed to reduce camel densities through culling and mustering the animals for sale. Between 2001 and 2008 it was estimated there were up to a million feral camels in the outback, but thousands were culled under the project. Animals Australia, a pressure group, described this as a "bloodbath". For its part, RSPCA Australia says it would support a national approach to feral camel management, only if "the programmes are clearly explained and justified... and use the most humane methods available". But many farmers feel that they do not have much choice - and must do what they can with or without a national programme. The economic cost of grazing land loss and damage by feral camels has been estimated at 10m Australian dollars (£6.6m). "Killing them seems a tragic waste to many of us but the sheer logistics involved mean there is little choice. It is an issue I find more and more as I travel around the world. Humans introduce animals into fragile ecosystems. What do we do about it?" says Reeve, who is presenting a new series on Australia for BBC television. "It's not enough for us to stand back and say I can't bear to see animals being killed. If we are going to make ourselves gods by meddling with an ecosystem then we have to take the responsibility to sort it out." Ian Conway, who runs the 1,800 sq km Kings Creek cattle ranch, also near Alice Springs, believes there is a better way of managing their numbers - rounding camels up and selling them for their meat. Camels range over a vast area and can travel more than 40 miles in a day, so his team uses a helicopter to spot "mobs" of camels. They are then rounded up using heavily-modified off-road vehicles and put into a holding pen, before being sold to the Middle East. Conway, who has been mustering animals for more than 40 years, says: "There's no difference to camel and beef, in fact to a lot of people who live on camel like we do, prefer it to beef." Some are also sold as riding camels, he adds. "The Saudis are always interested in them but they are looking for a specific camel. I've got a bloke who wants beauty camels at the moment. The bulls are no good. They like the cows because of their thin heads, but the cows have got to have their lips hanging, for what reason I don't know," says Conway. He thinks a round-up is more humane than the alternative. "They just shoot them and nothing is done with them. We don't know if they lay there for days. I'd like them to come into the yard like this and be sold as meat or riding camels," he says. In many outback areas it is not cost-effective to round up and sell the camels. But Conway is convinced that with the right investment this could become a profitable way of protecting ranches and the environment. Watch Australia with Simon Reeve on BBC2 on 19 May at 21:00 BST or afterwards on BBC iPlayer..

ऑस्ट्रेलिया अपने वन्यजीवों-कंगारू, कोआला और सांपों और मकड़ियों की कई प्रजातियों के लिए प्रसिद्ध है-लेकिन यह ऊंटों के दुनिया के सबसे बड़े झुंड का भी घर है। बाहरी क्षेत्र में लगभग 750,000 जंगली घूम रहे हैं और वे कई समस्याओं का कारण बनते हैं।


How to tackle unsafe drinking

Summary: Drinking too much is bad for you. But too many people underestimate what is a safe amount of alcohol. In this week's Scrubbing Up, Dr Nick Sheron, a liver expert at the University of Southampton, explains why we need a blood test to alert people to the harm they could be doing to their body.

We have a serious problem with liver disease in the UK. If you look at the deaths rates, over the past 30 years or so they have gone down in Europe, but have gone up by 500% in the UK. Practically all of this increase is alcohol related and the most important part of the solution lies in an effective alcohol strategy. We need to target cheap alcohol, and a minimum price for alcohol will do this Around a quarter of the UK population are drinking too much, but may not realise it, and GPs have an important role to play here. Liver disease develops silently. There are no signs or symptoms - the liver has no pain fibres, until disease is very far advanced. By the time the patient presents to hospital the liver is often very scarred. Even if the patient stops drinking entirely at this point, it may be too late and many people die of liver complications over the next year or so. This is partly because doctors do not have the right tools at their disposal. The current blood test GPs use looks for liver enzymes that show up some types of liver damage, but not the liver scarring process, so they can be falsely reassuring. Many patients with liver scarring from alcohol have normal liver enzymes, so the likelihood of a GP picking up a problem is small. For patients admitted urgently to the liver unit in Southampton, in about nine cases out of 10 it comes as a real shock to find they have serious liver disease that has not been picked up previously. About eight years ago we decided we needed a simple liver-scarring test GPs could use to detect liver disease in patients. It took us a while, but now we have a simple blood test, which we call the Southampton Traffic Light test. The result comes in three colours. If more GPs used tests like these we could go a long way towards detecting liver disease before it is too late.

बहुत अधिक पीना आपके लिए बुरा है। लेकिन बहुत से लोग शराब की सुरक्षित मात्रा को कम समझते हैं। इस सप्ताह के स्क्रबिंग अप में, डॉ. निक शेरोन, साउथेम्प्टन विश्वविद्यालय के एक यकृत विशेषज्ञ, बताते हैं कि हमें लोगों को उनके शरीर को होने वाले नुकसान के बारे में सचेत करने के लिए रक्त परीक्षण की आवश्यकता क्यों है।


Budget 2018: 'Everything is just stretched to its limit'

Summary: Chancellor Philip Hammond will be at the despatch box in Westminster at 15:30 GMT on Monday, announcing all his big decisions on the spending power of government, and where he'll get the cash from. But what do people want to hear over 200 miles away, in the Yorkshire seaside town of Scarborough?

By Rebecca WearnBusiness reporter, BBC News, Scarborough It's mid-morning and the brilliant autumn sunshine is sparkling on North Bay. Dave and Simon have been out walking with Fern the spaniel and Bauer the labrador. Like many people, Dave has no idea that the Budget is on Monday. "Did you not know?" Simon says to his friend. "Well, I knew it was the Budget on Monday." The men, both in their 50s, are dubious about the way politicians talk about spending. "There are more people requiring services," says Simon. "We're an ageing population and there are more children in schools. It's alright them saying they're putting more money in, but per individual it doesn't equate." Like many locals, the men are worried about Scarborough Hospital, which is part of York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It is facing a reorganisation and locals fear departments could be closed in their town. "It's a big worry for a town like Scarborough. You can't go to York every time you've got a serious ailment," says Dave. "We give millions away to other countries and we're seeing our essential services decline." As their dogs dance around a ball, we dance around the B-word, Brexit. "The focus is on something much bigger and it's allowing them to detract from the services we all need," says Dave. The hospital and much-needed funding for local services comes up time and again, as do the congested A64 and worries about local schools needing new roofs. But Scarborough's problems are acute. It's been dubbed Britain's "low-pay capital" with average earnings of just over £19,000 - a third less than the UK average. It's the combination of this plus cuts to the local authority spending on nursery school places that's hitting Kathryn Firth and Claire Curtis - co-heads at Childhaven Community School. "We are getting a substantial amount of vulnerable families that need extra support," says Claire. "The government put these pressures on us, but actually they're not giving us the funding to do what they want." As we talk, a parade of three-year-olds in witches' hats march through, past the bright display of conker paintings and into the den full of teddy bears and books. The room is busy with laughter and games. But the women are plagued with worry. "We've had to have a staff restructure which means the quality of the teaching is in jeopardy," explains Kathryn. "Staff are working probably harder than we've ever worked before and everything is just stretched to its limit." It's a view mirrored by Dawn Stephenson who manages emergency accommodation for 16-to-24-year-olds in the town. Since the financial crisis, demand for services has risen but government funding has fallen. "If a teenager is struggling with school or their mental health, or in need of social services, families are at breaking point," she says. For her, help would come from being better connected. "We are an hour away from the nearest motorway, we're so isolated regarding transport links and facilities for young people." In this seaside town, a quarter of jobs are in tourism - historically this was the place to visit. When the baroque facade of the Grand Hotel was built in 1867 it was the largest hotel in Europe. You can stay there now for as little as £35 a night - in spite of a £7m refurbishment. Traditional roles in fishing and farming are in decline. "It has its wonderful side, living in a place like this, lots of people see that, but scratch the surface and you really see that people need help," says Gill Cookson, an economic historian who lives out on the moors. "A lot of what of London can do for us is what we can't do for ourselves - provide the infrastructure, get the railway line sorted out and get some bus services in place. That would really make a difference to get people to and from work." And that is starting to happen. In fact, Yorkshire and the Humber is the only region in the UK increasing working hours and has created the most jobs - according to the latest set of ONS data. Just outside the town, McCain chips have invested £100m in expanding their site. The former Scarborough Building Society office is the new HQ for Sirius, a mining business worth £3.2bn. It plans to extract potash, used in fertiliser, from beneath the moorland, creating 1,000 jobs. For new recruit Asher Haynes, getting to be a geologist near his hometown is a treat. "Most of my friends have had to go off to get work in other cities, there aren't as many opportunities here and it's projects like this that will bring that to the area." He and co-workers Katie Castleton and Emma Whitaker stressed the value of good jobs near home, and want the government to invest in the road and rail infrastructure, plus educational training, to keep things motoring on. "The expectation is you'll always have to leave the area to get that dream job," says Katie. "The opportunity to be near family and friends in a beautiful part of the country is really exciting."

चांसलर फिलिप हैमंड सोमवार को 15:30 GMT पर वेस्टमिंस्टर में प्रेषण बॉक्स में होंगे, सरकार की खर्च करने की शक्ति पर अपने सभी बड़े फैसलों की घोषणा करेंगे, और उन्हें नकदी कहाँ से मिलेगी। लेकिन लोग 200 मील से अधिक दूर यॉर्कशायर के समुद्र तटीय शहर स्कारबोरो में क्या सुनना चाहते हैं?


Ken Loach: Uncomfortable truths

Summary: "Oh dear," said Ken Loach as he entered the room. "What's wrong with natural light". I looked at the very talented BBC cameraman who had spent the last half an-hour meticulously lighting the room for my interview with the esteemed director. "It flattens the picture" the cameraman explained, before helpfully adding "video isn't like film".

Will GompertzArts editor@WillGompertzBBCon Twitter "I see," Ken said graciously. And then winced as he sat down and a 300-watt bright, white light locked onto his eyes. That had to go. Which was a shame because it was the star of our lighting show - without it everything was rather drab. A re-think was required. While we re-set Mr Loach gently tapped his watch and mentioned something about his new movie having to come out next year. Shortly after the fourth watch-tap the cameraman sighed, scratched his head and reluctantly switched off his lights. He then rolled-up the blinds and watched as Ken Loach sat motionless in his chair - now warmed and lit by some late summer sun - without a trace of smug amusement in his eyes. Loach's determination to prevail is so discreetly embedded in his gentle countenance, that it is quite easy not to realise that you have acquiesced. And when you do, not to mind. His conversational tone, humility and openness are beguiling. To most. But back in 1969 - the year that his Bafta-winning film Kes opened - he really annoyed the Save the Children Fund, by making a documentary about the charity that was far from charitable. A situation that was made a lot worse by the fact that Save the Children had helped pay for the film. But then Ken Loach is not the sort of chap who will compromise his beliefs for a few quid. He told me that it was not his original intention to make a film criticising Save the Children, but after researching the organisation he felt compelled to report what he saw. The documentary depicts the charity mostly in poor light and as an old-fashioned, bigoted, snobbish, cruel and manipulative organisation. It opens with scenes of rundown terraces on the outskirts of Manchester while a narrator tells us that the children who live in the houses are taken-away from time-to-time by Save the Children for a jolly good scrub. We see and hear from the austere Auntie Lena and disciplinarian Uncle Chris; then employees of Save the Children and into whose care, kids as young as nine were put for a number of weeks. Tales of cold baths, beatings and indoctrination ensues. We then take off to Nairobi and to a special school run by Save the Children. It is a surreal set-up where vulnerable Kenyan children are plucked from the street and selected for the charity's very traditionally British educational institution where their native tongue is banned and they are taught to read and appreciate PG Wodehouse. It is a bizarre passage. Maybe naively, given Save the Children helped fund the production, Loach didn't think they'd be a problem with getting his documentary shown. His confidence was predicated on the knowledge that London Weekend Television (now part of ITV) had paid the lion's share (two-thirds) of the budget and had commissioned the film. He felt certain LWT would back him up and screen the programme. He was wrong. According to Loach an agreement was eventually reached where LWT / Save the Children would not sue him as long as the film was never shown. Apparently the preference of the joint-funders was to destroy the film but they had consented at the last moment to the BFI (British Film Institute) keeping a copy as long they "threw away the key". The filmed was duly retained by the BFI, as was the key. So now, 42 years later the documentary will be shown in public for the first time at the BFI in London on 1 September. The film's presentation is part of a Ken Loach 75th Birthday retrospective at BFI Southbank, although if you didn't know his age he'd easily pass for a 55-year-old. Political engagement would appear to be healthy for those involved as well as for democracy. The reason that the film can now be shown is due to Save the Children giving the BFI permission to do so. It is a shrewd and appropriate change of mind. It gives the charity a chance to distance itself from its past and providing an opportunity to talk about itself as a contemporary institution. It will also offer social historians a valuable insight into post-war Britain. For film buffs it's a chance to see a piece of previously unknown work by one of the greats of realist filmmaking. And for fans of documentary making it is fascinating. The first half of the film is mostly taken up with images showing life in Save the Children establishments, over which a series of unseen people express their opinions about how the institution is running its affairs. It is not until half way through that we see our first talking head, which by modern standards is radical verging on revolutionary. Nowadays TV execs don't like more than 30 seconds to go by without seeing someone speak. The effect of not doing so is to heighten the power of the spoken word - like radio with pictures. It is even more effective when the spoken word contradicts the pictures. There's a passage where a Kenyan boy is dressed-up in the full British public school kit and doing something jolly decent while a voice tells us that "they are really much happier in mud huts". The political line is set from the top with a quote from Friedrich Engels opening the programme. The polemic of the piece is clear: socialism is best. Ken Loach grins and nods when I remark on this. It is the polite smile of a person who has just be told the bleedin' obvious by someone who knows less than they do. Of course it's socialist his eyes are saying, what did you expect? As we leave Ken asks the cameraman if he is a member of BECTU. "No" is the reply. "I'll pop downstairs and fetch you a form then" said the irrepressible director. Save the Children might have changed; Ken Loach hasn't.

"ओह डियर", कमरे में प्रवेश करते ही केन लोच ने कहा। "प्राकृतिक रोशनी में क्या गड़बड़ है।" मैंने बीबीसी के बहुत प्रतिभाशाली कैमरामैन को देखा, जिन्होंने सम्मानित निर्देशक के साथ मेरे साक्षात्कार के लिए पिछले आधे घंटे में कमरे को सावधानीपूर्वक रोशन किया था। कैमरामैन ने समझाया, "यह तस्वीर को समतल करता है", सहायक रूप से जोड़ने से पहले "वीडियो फिल्म की तरह नहीं है।"


New five year Ironman Wales deal confirmed for Tenby

Summary: Ironman Wales will be staged in Pembrokeshire for a further five years after a new deal was struck with Pembrokeshire council.

Tenby has been the starting and finishing point of the annual triathlon since 2011. A report said the event, which had almost 2,000 competitors last year, was worth £3.7m a year to the economy. It attracts athletes and visitors from around the world and "places Pembrokeshire on the global scene". The triathlon, which is due to be held on Sunday, comprises a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bike ride and a full marathon.

पेम्ब्रोकेशायर परिषद के साथ एक नया सौदा होने के बाद आयरनमैन वेल्स का मंचन अगले पांच वर्षों के लिए पेम्ब्रोकेशायर में किया जाएगा।


Jersey tower block energy use halved

Summary: The refurbishment of a block of social housing flats in Jersey has cut its energy usage in half, the States said.

The Cedars, on Green Street, has been given the island's Electricity Sustainability Award. The 38-year-old tower block has been brought in line with modern building standards. Changes at the building, which is home to 74 families, include new windows and high insulation roofs. The lifts were replaced and heating revamped.

राज्यों ने कहा कि जर्सी में सामाजिक आवास फ्लैटों के एक ब्लॉक के नवीनीकरण ने इसके ऊर्जा उपयोग में आधी कटौती की है।


Change A View: One Scottish man's idea to fix the broken world of online debate

Summary: An idea by a Highlands teenager has garnered worldwide attention and is now, six years later, the basis for a fledgling start-up. At its heart is a simple question: how do you fix the often ugly world of online debate?

By Mike WendlingBBC Trending, Inverness Kal Turnbull can't remember what presents he got for his 17th birthday, or what type of cake he had. If someone gave him a particularly amusing birthday card, the joke has long been lost to history. However he does have one standout moment of that day in January 2013. Kal started a discussion group, or subreddit, on the social media site Reddit. Change My View wasn't meant to shake up the world. It was simply the pet project of a curious guitar-playing teenager growing up in the Scottish Highlands near Inverness. "I was very aware that I might have grown up in a bit of a small-town bubble," Kal told us recently while meandering down a path along the River Ness. "It's not that we all agreed on everything, we certainly had disagreements. It's just the sense that there's much more than this place. "Being 17, I wasn't going to start up a website or a company. Reddit provided the perfect platform to try this idea out." In its first iteration, Change My View was - and still is - fairly simple: users post an honestly-held belief, anything from politically provocative ("The case for reparations to African-Americans is strong", "Women already have equality") to the relatively unimportant but still extremely contentious ("Avengers: Endgame did not make any sense"). The posts cover a huge range of topics and political perspectives - and once they're live, other Reddit users are urged to argue against the proposition. You may also be interested in: What are the rules? There are some basic ground rules: explain your reasoning, challenge the proposition, but don't be rude or hostile. Original posters are required to engage and to truly consider counter-arguments. Kal's subreddit took off, growing to 100,000 members within a year and more than 700,000 today. Six years later, what started as a side project has now become Kal's main occupation - and he's convinced it might just help solve a vexing problem of online life. Many of us agree that the quality of most online conversations is dire. Facebook and Twitter are filled with angry shouting (or mindless agreement), people talking past each other, fallacious reasoning, and lies. And that's before you even get to the trolls, the propaganda, the fake news, and the disinformation. Users are caught in filter bubbles and echo chambers, which they leave only to yell at their opponents and wage poorly-punctuated battles against their perceived enemies. Much of what passes for political discourse is either vigorous groupthink agreement or nasty sniping. The inventor of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, recently put it like this: "Humanity connected by technology on the web is functioning in a dystopian way." In an open letter he decried the "outraged and polarised tone and quality of online discourse". What's the answer? Into this world has arrived ChangeAView.com, Kal's attempt to build on his subreddit through a website designed to extend his original idea. "I think most people would agree that the current state of online discourse, if you spend five minutes on Twitter or Facebook, is surely not where we end up," Kal says. "This cannot be how things should be. "We're trying to build a solution to that problem." Kal started Change A View along two US-based co-founders. Structurally it resembles other tech start-ups and is a for-profit business - albeit one based amid the lochs of the Highlands rather than in Silicon Valley's suburban sprawl. It also incorporates features that go beyond the capabilities of Reddit's platform. At the heart of the site is what's called the "delta system", named after the mathematical symbol denoting change. Deltas are awarded to particularly strong or persuasive arguments - ones that are likely to make users reconsider their positions. The site is structured to try to provoke thoughtful, well-reasoned conversation, and reward users who demonstrate both mental flexibility and the ability to back up their views with evidence. "Another thing that Change A View is trying to do is reframe our relationship to being wrong," Kal says. "It's not necessarily a negative thing. It doesn't have to be a humiliating thing. It's a chance to lose some ignorance, and perhaps gain some insight." Will it work? While he was involved with the subreddit, Kal ran it along with volunteer moderators. At the time, he was also studying for a degree in civil engineering at the University of Edinburgh and later, working a full-time job. The new ChangeAView website (the name is subtly different from the subreddit's in order to avoid confusion) has attracted attention from tech bible Wired. And the larger idea has been given a boost from devoted followers, as well as people like former US President Barack Obama and Tesla boss Elon Musk. So how does he answer the Tesla CEO's scepticism - the idea that the people least likely to use the subreddit or the Change A View site are probably the ones who need it the most? "I take the point that some people who are just not interested in considering other perspectives might not appreciate or use this place," he says. "I think what we're trying to do though is we're trying to introduce a bit of a cultural shift," he continues. "That might not necessarily improve everything immediately. "But over time, by having more considered discussions, those will eventually grow in a way that influences people... without even them using the website." There's another criticism that comes to mind: what about situations where intellectual flexibility might not be a virtue? It might not have been a good idea if, for instance, Galileo or Gandhi had been swayed from their steadfast paths. But Kal, who is scrupulous about maintaining his own neutrality on controversial subjects, doesn't think that open-mindedness and determination are mutually exclusive. "I don't think this is always about being open to your view being wrong," he says. "Sometimes it's just about understanding the other perspectives so you can change them more effectively." Google money ChangeAView launched in April and, as of yet, has no investors other than Kal and his co-founders. The company is up and running in part due to money from Jigsaw, the Google-owned tech incubator. "We really got excited about talking to them because the way that they describe their mission is really core to our mission, which is let's help people who have different points of views and different perspectives have a civil debate," says Patricia Georgiou, Jigsaw's head of partnerships and business development. "The more people with diverse points of views and diverse opinions are able to have a civil conversation, the more we have hope in moving society forward." Kal's waking hours are devoted to thinking about the business and the tricky tasks of building investment and potential revenue streams, with the occasional break to wander around Inverness with visiting journalists. He points out places he's played gigs with his former band and somewhat wistfully shows us around a guitar shop - there's not much time for music these days. After an initial publicity bump, Change A View now has a relatively modest 5,000 members. The topics discussed on the site veer towards the serious and political, with something of an American slant: "Euthanasia should be legalized in all US States", "College is a right, make it free", "Boy Scout troops should not include girls". But there's still room for some of the lighter arguments - for instance, someone recently posited: "Season 8 of Game of Thrones was great until the last episode." And a quick scroll through the often well-expressed comments confirms that, yes, some people are definitely changing their views. "Seeing these moments where people are having discussions ... I just want to see this at scale," Kal says. "And we hope that that impact goes well beyond this website." What did you think of this story? Email BBC Trending You can hear more on this story on the Trending podcast from the BBC World Service: Download now Follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending. BBC Crossing Divides A season of stories about bringing people together in a fragmented world.

हाइलैंड्स के एक किशोर के एक विचार ने दुनिया भर का ध्यान आकर्षित किया है और अब, छह साल बाद, एक नए स्टार्ट-अप का आधार है। इसके केंद्र में एक सरल सवाल हैः आप ऑनलाइन बहस की अक्सर बदसूरत दुनिया को कैसे ठीक करते हैं?


Sam Boulton: Man bailed after Leicester railway station cyclist death

Summary: A man arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving after a cyclist died near Leicester railway station has been released on bail.

Sam Boulton, 26, was hit by a van at about 13:20 BST on 27 July on London Road. He later died in hospital. Leicestershire Police said a 50-year-old man was questioned and released. The road was closed between Station Street and the entrance to the station but later reopened. Police have appealed for witnesses. In a statement, Mr Boulton's father Jeff said: "We would like to thank you all for your kind wishes, love and support for our beautiful son, brother and fiancé. We are asking you to respect the privacy of both families during this sad time."

लीसेस्टर रेलवे स्टेशन के पास एक साइकिल चालक की मौत के बाद खतरनाक ड्राइविंग से मौत के संदेह में गिरफ्तार एक व्यक्ति को जमानत पर रिहा कर दिया गया है।


Time running out as Bahrain tries to revive national dialogue

Summary: A recent meeting between Bahrain's crown prince and opposition representatives has raised hopes that the suspended national dialogue process could be revived. The BBC's Bill Law looks at the prospects for ending the deadlock in the Gulf island kingdom.

By Bill LawGulf analyst, BBC News Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's decision to hold talks on 15 January with leaders of the five main opposition groupings for the first time since pro-democracy protests erupted three years ago surprised many observers. Afterwards, the main Shia opposition bloc, al-Wefaq, said the meeting had been "especially frank and very transparent" and studied ways to have a "serious dialogue that would result in a new political framework that shapes a comprehensive solution". The government meanwhile said the parties had committed to "accelerate dialogue and elevate discussion by including more senior representatives from all parties". The meeting was notable for at least two reasons. The first was the prominent role of the crown prince. Seen as a moderate in the Sunni ruling family, the Al Khalifa, he has effectively been sidelined since 2011 by hardliners who want few if any concessions to be made to the Shia majority demanding greater rights and an end to discrimination. The second reason was the presence at Prince Salman's side of one of those hardliners - the Minister for the Royal Court, Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed bin Salman Al Khalifa. The hardliners have been accused of trying to undermine the national dialogue, so it was surprising to see Sheikh Khaled at a meeting to revive the process only days after the government had suspended it, blaming the opposition for the breakdown. 'Deep-rooted issues' A source told the BBC that after halting the dialogue, the Khalifas had come under "intense" pressure from Western allies to get it back on track. "The royal family needed to show the UK and US that it was doing something." However, the source said the opposition's meeting with the crown prince had been merely a "branding exercise", adding: "The hardliners are simply playing for time." Not long after the talks, the UK government published its response to a critical report by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. MPs had criticised what they described as the failure of Bahrain to "quickly implement the important and practical recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry", a review commissioned by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in 2011 that delivered a searing indictment of his government and its handling of the protest movement. King Hamad accepted the BICI's recommendations and promised swift action. However, more than two years after they were issued, critics argue that little has been achieved. The Foreign Affairs Committee said this had "created further difficulties in [Bahrain's] relationship with the UK", and had "squandered the good faith and goodwill that the BICI could have helped restore". The UK government argued that "progress had been made in a number of areas, in particular relating to judicial and security sector reform." But it conceded that the BICI "revealed a number of deep-rooted issues that pose significant challenges for the Bahraini government, some of which involve fundamental institutional, behavioural and cultural change which we acknowledge will take time to address fully". 'Another game' Unfortunately, time may be running out. Bahrain's economy has been severely damaged by the failure to resolve what has become a dangerous sectarian dispute. And the kingdom's international image has been tarnished, not least among its neighbours. The ineffectual efforts of the ruling family to end the crisis are said to have annoyed the leaders of Saudi Arabia and other members of the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC). Senior Wefaq spokesman Jalil al-Khalil told the BBC that the opposition, though welcoming of Crown Prince Salman's initiative, needed to be convinced that this time the government was serious about dialogue, after a year of talks that failed to produce even an agenda. Mr Khalil said he feared it "might be another game that will be spoilt by the hardliners". He called for the release of political prisoners, which Wefaq estimates now number more than 3,000. And he threatened that unless there was significant progress, Wefaq would boycott national elections scheduled later this year. That would be a big blow to the ruling family, which continues to insist that it is serious about reform. Without the largest opposition bloc in parliament, such a claim will only ring hollow to the Bahraini opposition's supporters and increasingly to the country's allies like the US and the UK, who are pushing quietly but firmly for a meaningful dialogue process. The government of Bahrain did not respond to requests to comment.

बहरीन के क्राउन प्रिंस और विपक्षी प्रतिनिधियों के बीच हाल ही में हुई एक बैठक ने उम्मीद जताई है कि निलंबित राष्ट्रीय वार्ता प्रक्रिया को पुनर्जीवित किया जा सकता है। बीबीसी का बिल लॉ खाड़ी द्वीप राज्य में गतिरोध को समाप्त करने की संभावनाओं को देखता है।


Universal credit: My five-year-old searched bins for food

Summary: MPs voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to back a Labour demand for the controversial universal credit scheme to be put on hold but Tory MPs abstained. The Victoria Derbyshire programme has been told some people are being left near-destitute due to flaws in its design.

By John OwenBBC Victoria Derbyshire programme Without any income for two weeks, Anna was unable to buy food for her five-year-old daughter. She was waiting for her first instalment of the new benefit. "Last weekend her last food was school dinners. On Saturday we were walking down the street and she was searching in bins for food, she was starving. She was ripping McDonald's bags to see if there were any chips or anything on the floor. It was awful, broke my heart," she says. "You take her to bed but her tummy's rumbling. You're just giving her water but she wants food and you can't. She had no food Saturday, Sunday, went to school really, really, hungry." Anna, from Hammersmith in west London, says she was told to apply online and the first payment would take up to three months to arrive. This was despite the government's expectation that claimants should be paid within six weeks - a target which has itself attracted criticism. The government says universal credit, which rolls six working-age benefits into a single payment, is designed to make the system simpler and ensure no-one faces a situation where they would be better off claiming benefits than working. Anna says all of her current benefits were stopped - child benefit, child tax credit, income support, council tax and housing benefits - whilst she waited for them to be grouped under the new system. Food banks Senior Labour backbencher Frank Field told the Victoria Derbyshire programme claimants were being "pushed into destitution". He called on the government to temporarily halt the "disastrous" roll-out. "What we're seeing is increased numbers who are hungry, increased numbers of people who can't pay their rent, and an increase in the number who are without fuel or light in their houses… those numbers [of people in destitution] are rising," he said. Anna says she had to go to a food bank for supplies - otherwise they would still be hungry. "I can't go to the shop and steal. It's awful. I can't keep asking neighbours for food, I shouldn't have to live like this," she says. "I don't know if I am going to still have my house, as I need to pay my rent, my council tax is due. What do I do next? Beg on the street to get some milk and bread?" The Trussell Trust says its network of 400 food banks may be unable to cope with the rise in demand resulting from the introduction of universal credit. "We're genuinely worried that with the combined demands of winter and [the fallout from universal credit] we might not be able to feed everyone who comes through our doors," says Gareth Lemon, from the charity. 'On my knees' The government has said anyone in financial distress can apply for advance payments. But these payment are only a type of loan, which claimants have to pay back from subsequent instalments. For some, the requirement to pay back an advance, has itself resulted in them slipping into debt. Brendan, 51, from West Yorkshire, who has a range of disabilities and is awaiting bariatric surgery, says the failure to be paid the housing element of universal credit has left him thousands of pounds in arrears and facing eviction. He took an advance while waiting for his first instalment but is now paying that back, exacerbating his debt problems. "It probably lasted me about two weeks and then left me with nothing. Then you're hoping that what you have in is enough, which it wasn't. I've got a good family who have helped me out a lot. Without my sisters I'd be absolutely on my knees," he says. Brendan says he went without food for three days, until his sister took him shopping and gave him some money. "She said, 'If you're ever like this again, phone me'. But I won't because it's embarrassing," he adds. "I've never struggled like this before in my life I've never been in this situation where I could lose my home. I'll die on those streets if I do get evicted, I don't know what I'll do. I don't know where to go for help." 'Really significant' Ed Boyd, managing director at the Centre for Social Justice, which designed the policy, insisted that the government should be congratulated for introducing universal credit, saying that it is far better than the system it replaces. He said the old system disincentivised work and trapped people on benefits. "When universal credit is fully rolled out you will have 250,000-to-300,000 more people in work and the effect this will have on families across the country, taking people out of poverty, is really significant," he says. The Department for Work and Pensions says its latest data, from last month, indicates 81% of new claimants were paid in full and on time at the end of their first assessment while 89% received some payment. Cases of non-payment, it said, were due to claimants either not signing paperwork, not passing identity checks or facing "verification issues," such as providing details of their earnings, housing costs and childcare costs. Watch the Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel.

सांसदों ने बुधवार को विवादास्पद सार्वभौमिक ऋण योजना को स्थगित करने की लेबर की मांग का समर्थन करने के लिए भारी मतदान किया, लेकिन टोरी सांसदों ने मतदान में भाग नहीं लिया। विक्टोरिया डर्बीशायर कार्यक्रम को बताया गया है कि इसके डिजाइन में खामियों के कारण कुछ लोगों को लगभग बेसहारा छोड़ दिया जा रहा है।


Morden Ladbrokes murder accused remanded

Summary: A 21-year-old man has appeared in court charged with murdering a father of two in a betting shop in south London.

Andrew Iacovou, 55, was found dead at a branch of Ladbrokes in Aberconway Road, Morden, where he worked, last Saturday morning. A post-mortem examination showed he died from blunt force trauma to the head. Shafique Ahmad Aarij was remanded by Camberwell Green magistrates to appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.

दक्षिण लंदन में एक सट्टेबाजी की दुकान में दो बच्चों के पिता की हत्या के आरोप में एक 21 वर्षीय व्यक्ति अदालत में पेश हुआ है।


How did Thailand come to this?

Summary: Three months ago, Bangkok appeared to be a successful South East Asian capital city - now government troops and anti-government protesters are fighting in the streets. The BBC's Vaudine England considers how it came to this.

By Vaudine EnglandBBC News, Bangkok Huge and thriving, Bangkok has long been seen - and seen itself - as a great city. But now there is blood on the streets. It is hard to imagine how Thailand got to this - and how it will manage to recover. One explanation is simply that a crazed rabble of poor people came to the city from the under-developed north, flauning their love for a former prime minister - Thaksin Shinawatra - and being paid to do so. Another vision talks of class war and a peoples' uprising, as the masses rise up on the barricades. The reality lies somewhere in between and can only be understood by a brisk walk through Thailand's recent political history. It is easy to speak of the 18 new constitutions in the past half-century, and the many coups. It is hard for people living in more settled countries to imagine that level of uncertainty about the basic rules of the political game. Absolute monarchy only gave way to constitutional rule in 1932 and the play of power between the old feudal system, the military and various democratic forces has been fought out ever since, often with fatal consequences. Certain big dates stand out: 1973, 1976, 1992, 2006 and now 2010. Thailand's overwhelming image as a Land of Smiles - as a fantasy land of sun, sea, sex and surgery - has been carefully crafted. It has seduced many, outsiders and Thais, into believing a facade of stability where there was perhaps more a papering over the cracks. That paper is now badly torn. Deep-seated fissures, long in existence, can no longer be ignored. If nothing else, commentators agree, the red-shirts have achieved that much. Bloody history Thailand lived under variations of military rule most of the time since the 1932 constitution, during World War II, into the 1970s. On 14 October 1973, more than 70 protesters were killed and 800 were injured when troops opened fire on huge demonstrations held in support of pro-democracy students. The then military government collapsed; a new constitution and new elections in six months followed. On 26 September 1976, two students were garrotted and hanged, allegedly by police. Thousands of students gathered in their support and against military rule. Two weeks later, on 6 October, that tension exploded into the killing by soldiers, police and right-wing mobs of at least 46 people. Students said many more died. This moment marked the end of a democratic period, and caused parts of a generation to flee to the hills, joining a communist movement which was later decimated. By 1980, Gen Prem Tinsulanonda was appointed prime minister after a fellow general had ruled for three years following an October 1977 coup. Gen Prem is now chairman of the Privy Council, and a target of red-shirt ire for what they claim was his role in the 2006 coup. Coups and wobbly coalition governments led by appointed prime ministers carried Thailand into 1992, when Chamlong Srimaung led protests against the choice of Gen Suchinda Kraprayoon as prime minister. King Bhumiphol Adulyadej famously called the two men into his presence to end fighting on the streets in mid-May that year, which had left scores dead, many injured and more than 2,000 people missing. Back to future Elections in September 1992 produced a Democrat-led coalition, with Chuan Leekpai as prime minister. Two years later, a telecommunications tycoon called Thaksin Shinawatra made his political debut, under the wing of Mr Chamlong. In 1995, Mr Chamlong led his Palang Dharma party out of the coalition, causing the Chuan government to fall. Mr Thaksin was deputy prime minister in the next government. Two coalition governments later, General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh was prime minister - he is now chairman of Mr Thaksin's Peua Thai Party. The 1997 economic crisis brought back the Democrats under Mr Chuan. But elections in January 2001 gave Mr Thaksin a resounding win. Mr Thaksin used this to accrue wealth and power across a range of Thai institutions. He earned a shocking human rights record and quashed the free press, but poured money into rural areas usually starved of attention. In elections in 2005 he again won by a landslide, with the highest voter turnout in Thai history. He called another, snap, election in 2006, which the Democrat opposition boycotted. His win was ruled invalid by the constitutional court on 8 May 2006. Plans for elections in October were foiled by the 19 September coup in 2006. Since then, two Thaksin-allied governments have been elected and stymied by court actions, leading to the current Democrat government, elected by another vote in parliament, not a general election. Determining whether current troubles are sudden and shocking, or in fact an outgrowth of a long history of conflict - discussion of which has been suppressed by censorship and strict lese majeste laws - all depends on where you choose to start. Whatever version of the recent past is chosen, neither violence nor a death-defying commitment to democracy is unusual in Thai politics.

तीन महीने पहले, बैंकॉक एक सफल दक्षिण पूर्व एशियाई राजधानी शहर प्रतीत होता था-अब सरकारी सैनिक और सरकार विरोधी प्रदर्शनकारी सड़कों पर लड़ रहे हैं। बीबीसी के वाउडाइन इंग्लैंड का मानना है कि यह कैसे हुआ।


Tall ships start to arrive for Bristol Harbour Festival

Summary: Tall ships taking part in Bristol's annual Harbour Festival have started to arrive in the city.

The Kathleen and May - believed to be the only three-masted schooner of her type left in the world - sailed in from Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel. The Harbour Festival attracts over 200,000 people and is one of the biggest free events in the UK. It starts on 30 July and has this year expanded from the harbourside in the city centre out to Castle Park.

ब्रिस्टल के वार्षिक हार्बर महोत्सव में भाग लेने वाले लंबे जहाज शहर में आने लगे हैं।


Inverness arts group chairman quits over giant see-saw

Summary: The chairman of Inverness City Arts working group has quit in a row about a giant see-saw-like art installation proposed for a bank of the River Ness.

Councillor Ken Gowans said he did not believe The Gathering Place to be a viable concept. About 200 people have opposed it in a public consultation. The arts group continues to review the project, as well as other arts schemes proposed for the city. Highland Council said a new chairperson would be appointed in due course. The Gathering Place would be designed to tilt gently up and down. A child-friendly water feature and a project called River Connections, which involves seating areas and poetry set into stones have also been proposed for locations next to the Ness in Inverness. The public art would form part of the River Ness Flood Alleviation Scheme. The working group includes senior councillors, including Thomas Prag, and local authority officers and involves Highlife Highland.

इनवर्नेस सिटी आर्ट्स वर्किंग ग्रुप के अध्यक्ष ने नेस नदी के तट के लिए प्रस्तावित एक विशाल सी-सॉ जैसी कला स्थापना के बारे में एक पंक्ति में इस्तीफा दे दिया है।