CES 2014: PlayStation games go console-free

Summary: Sony has announced plans to roll out its cloud gaming service.

By Leo KelionTechnology reporter PlayStation Now will allow subscribers to play some of the platform's greatest hits without the need to own a console. It works by streaming data from the company's servers. The firm's latest smart TVs will be among the first devices to support it, but Sony also intends to offer the facility to other third-party products. One expert said the firm had a rich back catalogue to draw on. "It's a pretty big asset," said Brian Blau from the tech consultancy Gartner. "You can imagine the hundreds of years of manpower that went into building it up, and now they can get value from it for a long time into the future." Sony said it would launch a restricted test of the service in the US later this month before a wider launch in the summer. It has not provided details of plans for other markets yet or information of which smartphone and table platforms will be the first to get apps to run the facility. The announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Tackling lag The new facility is based on technology developed by Gaikai, a cloud gaming start-up that the Japanese firm acquired for $380m (£232m) in 2012. Its rival Samsung had previously announced plans to partner with the firm to let its TVs offer games. Sony said the service would also allow its new PlayStation 4 console to run titles from the PS3's library. Since the two machines use different types of processors, the PS4 cannot currently run the previous generation's titles. It also said that its handheld, the PS Vita, would use PlayStation Now to gain access to a wider catalogue. Sony added that another benefit of hosting titles in the cloud was that subscribers would always be playing the most up-to-date versions. Demo titles on show at CES include The Last of Us, Beyond: Two Souls, and God of War: Ascension. Tech bloggers who tested the kit have noted that it does have some limitations. "There's a slightly perceptible lag between button presses and the corresponding action onscreen," wrote Chris Welch for The Verge. Others noted that the visuals were not as crisp as would be the case if they were running natively on a PS3. But they said the games were still playable. Sony is not alone in offering such a service. OnLive has offered a cloud-based gaming platform since 2010, and is already available in the UK. However, it lacks many of the big-name titles that Sony will be able to offer. Mr Blau said that he expected that PlayStation Now would suit some titles better than others. "I imagine that for the games that don't require a very fast frame rate that lag won't make any difference at all," he said. "But for those that run at 50 to 60 frames per second it could be an issue if you're not close to a Sony server. "However, I imagine the firm has the capability to ensure that most of the connected PlayStations and TV will be close to at least one of its data centres. "And as the years go on that will become less of a problem as the internet's infrastructure matures." PS4 v Xbox One Sony also announced that it had sold 4.2 million PlayStation 4 consoles as of December 28. Its rival Microsoft had previously said that three million Xbox One machines had been sold by the end of 2013. Jason Kingsley, chief executive of developer Rebellion, suggested the numbers reflected the firm's different strategies. "Microsoft seemed to have a US focused launch with an emphasis on TV and US sports," he said. "Sony played the hardcore gamer card well in the UK. "All sales are good for the development scene though and it is still early days. They are both excellent machines."

सोनी ने अपनी क्लाउड गेमिंग सेवा शुरू करने की योजना की घोषणा की है।


Harassment: 'I felt enraged by drunken train behaviour'

Summary: Harassment on a train by a group of men recently left Wales' children's commissioner Sally Holland on the verge of tears. Here, in her own words, she describes why it is important to teach children about gender stereotypes, negative behaviour and personal safety - issues being tackled in a new educational toolkit, Primary Agenda , launched on Wednesday.

Earlier this month I was on a train home. It was the evening and dark and I was in an almost empty carriage, tapping into my laptop, still wearing my yellow cycle jacket, thinking fondly of the lovely youth event I'd been to and wondering if there'd be any food left over for me at home. Some men came into my carriage. They thought they were being friendly and funny in their drunkenness, but in fact they were very crude, mildly threatening and invasive of my personal space. At one point I told them that they were being unacceptable and that it was in fact a crime to talk to me like this. I also said that I work with young people and am upset that girls have to face this kind of thing all the time in public. They said they were sorry but didn't stop. I was left feeling a bit tearful when they rolled off the train about 15 minutes later. After hearing that they had physically grabbed another woman on the train I decided to report it to the police. Cycling home I suddenly felt enraged. I thought about other times I had had my space invaded in public due to my gender over the decades, the first time around the age of ten. Almost every woman has at least one story of harassment or abuse, many more violent or abusive than mine. Not every man has done these things. To a man, those in my life - husband, sons, brothers, friends, colleagues, would be appalled at such behaviour, drunk or sober. But it is pervasive. And of course men experience harassment too - most gay men will have experienced homophobic remarks and some will have faced violence. But it is mainly gendered behaviour. It is an assumption that women are defined by their status as sexual beings - these men started talking about sex immediately on sitting next to me 'as banter'. It is an assumption that women are weaker. They wouldn't have behaved in this way, got right in my personal space, if I had been a man. I am certain of that. 'Recognising it's wrong' This has gone on for millennia. But we are now living in what we like to think of as an advanced civilisation. We know that sexual harassment and abuse is wrong. We have passed laws to make it illegal. We can and should say no to this. But passing laws isn't enough. We need men and boys to understand why this is unacceptable. Those who will grow up to act in these ways need to be freed to think and act in different ways. And we need girls and women to understand it too. Or we'll carry on feeling guilty about how we smiled or dressed, or didn't resist or were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or we won't even recognise that it's wrong. That's why we need good quality resources like Primary Agenda. And we need to be starting conversations about consent and equality, respect and privacy from nursery onwards. I take great strength from the activists I meet in primary and secondary schools, boys and girls, who will not be put into boxes any more to be constricted by stereotypes of how they should think and behave. As a country we are proud of how we have embraced children's rights under the United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child. Primary Agenda supports those rights, especially rights to safety, equality and a full education that helps children to reach their potential. I am very pleased that my team has supported Prof Emma Renold and others to create this set of resources and I urge every primary school in Wales to embrace it.

पुरुषों के एक समूह द्वारा एक ट्रेन में उत्पीड़न ने हाल ही में वेल्स के बच्चों के आयुक्त सैली हॉलैंड को आँसू के कगार पर छोड़ दिया। यहाँ, अपने शब्दों में, वह बताती है कि बच्चों को लिंग रूढ़िवादिता, नकारात्मक व्यवहार और व्यक्तिगत सुरक्षा के बारे में सिखाना क्यों महत्वपूर्ण है-बुधवार को शुरू किए गए एक नए शैक्षिक टूलकिट, प्राथमिक एजेंडा में मुद्दों से निपटा जा रहा है।


Greece's far right hopes for new dawn

Summary: The boxes are packed with warm clothes, the plastic bags full of long-life food. There is even a teddy bear in tow. All sit piled in a rickety blue van, winding its way through Athens to be delivered to the Greek capital's needy.

By Mark LowenBBC News, Athens Behind the aid is not a humanitarian organisation but Greece's ultranationalist party, Chrysi Avgi - or Golden Dawn. Their critics call them violent extremists. But they are keen to show off their soft side - and it wins votes. One of the recipients is 76-year-old Katerina Karousi. She breaks down in tears as she talks of battling with cancer. "Why not vote for Golden Dawn?" she asks. "They're helping us, so I should give them something in return." But beyond the benevolent facade is a party that strikes fear into many here. With a virulent anti-immigrant line, Golden Dawn are often labelled neo-Nazis. The leader was filmed making a Hitler salute in a town council meeting and the party logo has been likened to a swastika, though officials maintain it is the ancient Greek meander symbol. Despite it all, Greeks are flocking to Golden Dawn, spurred by financial angst and deep disillusionment with mainstream politicians. The party scored just 0.29% of the vote in the last election in 2009. Now polls give them over 5% - enough to enter parliament for the first time. A shock for a country that emerged from a right-wing military dictatorship less than four decades ago. Back in the van, I quiz party volunteers Athina and Rosalie about their views and particularly the frequent allegations that Golden Dawn members assault immigrants on the streets; something the party officially denies. "We believe in our race, we believe in our nation's power," Athina says. "These immigrants have not been checked for diseases. If a Greek person feels threatened by an immigrant, I justify someone trying to give them justice. "I don't know why I should care about violence against immigrants." "We are not racist," Rosalie assures me. "They [immigrants] are [racist] towards us, because we love our country. Is this wrong? "We brought civilisation, we brought everything. They kill us and they rape us." 'Mines on our borders' The next morning, the party campaigns in the affluent Athens suburb of Marousi. It is striking to see how many people take the fliers and newspapers as they are handed out, the party's growing popularity clearly visible. But as we enter the local market, a passer-by throws an orange at them. Suddenly, Golden Dawn members turn on who they suspect is the assailant, screaming insults and threatening to attack him. Further on, we reach the main square, where they spot a Socialist MP, Petros Efthymiou. They round on him, pelting him with jugs of water and cups of coffee. It is behaviour giving fuel to those who call the party pure thugs. "This is the face of fascism," Mr Efthymiou tells me. "Just brutal violence. And no respect for democratic values. But this is a problem not only for Greece but for all of Europe." The far right is indeed on the rise beyond Greece's borders. Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Front in France, achieved her party's highest ever share of the vote in the first round of the French presidential election in April. Other countries, including the Netherlands and Denmark, have seen an increase in far right support; political extremes benefiting from the financial hardship. "Greece is dying from immigrants, politicians like the guy you just saw and bankers," says Ilias Panagiotaros, Golden Dawn's spokesman. "We're going to put mines on our borders and we're going to have electric fences." So immigrants should be killed by landmines, I ask? "I don't care, they shouldn't jump into the country - that's their problem," he replies. I ask about the neo-Nazi label. "They can say what they like, it's not true," he says. We're Greek nationalists and we're proud of it." Scapegoats That rhetoric has struck a chord here, feeding into a wider anti-immigrant narrative before the election. With more than 80% of migrants to the EU now passing through Greece, they are an easy target for a nation sinking deeper into recession. The current government has announced the creation of up to 30 detention centres for illegal immigrants, the first of which has now opened. And the leader of the centre-right New Democracy Party, Antonis Samaras - who heads the polls - has made clamping down on illegal immigration one of his key electoral themes. Meanwhile, anti-immigrant violence has risen steadily. In an Athens hospital I meet Altaf - not his real name - a Pakistani immigrant badly beaten in the past few days. He does not know who his attackers were. His arm and nose are broken, he has a thick gash on his skull and a cut above his eyebrow. "I don't understand why this is happening," he says. "We're all human. I'm scared to go out now. It never used to be this way." The other side shouts loudly too - anti-racism rallies have been held by those determined to stop Golden Dawn at any cost. But their efforts may well be futile. A divided and deeply angry nation is going to the polls, desperate for an alternative - a nation fearing the future and looking for someone to blame.

डिब्बों को गर्म कपड़ों से भरा जाता है, प्लास्टिक के थैले लंबे समय तक रहने वाले भोजन से भरे होते हैं। यहाँ तक कि एक टेडी भालू भी होता है। सभी एक खराब नीली वैन में ढेर हो जाते हैं, जो एथेंस के माध्यम से ग्रीक राजधानी के जरूरतमंदों तक पहुँचाने के लिए अपना रास्ता तय करते हैं।


Mars: Nasa's Perseverance rover sends stunning images

Summary: Nasa's Perseverance rover landed on Mars at 20:55 GMT on 18 February after almost seven months travelling from Earth.

Since then, it has sent back some amazing images from around its landing site, Jezero Crater, a 49km (30-mile) wide impact depression just north of the Red Planet's equator. Here is a selection of the pictures sent back from the mission, as Perseverance hunts for signs of past microbial life, seeks to characterise the planet's geology and past climate, and collects Martian rock. The Perseverance rover has initial funding to operate for one Mars year, roughly two Earth years.

नासा का दृढ़ता रोवर पृथ्वी से लगभग सात महीने की यात्रा के बाद 18 फरवरी को 20:55 GMT पर मंगल ग्रह पर उतरा।


My Money: 'Three months of fuel costs £400'

Summary: My Money is a new series looking at how people spend their money - and the sometimes tough decisions they have to make. Here Caroline Thurston from Oxford records her spending over a week and shares tips for saving.

We're looking for more people to share what they spend their money on. If you're interested, please email my.money@bbc.co.uk or get in touch via our My Money (UK) Facebook group, or, if you don't live in the UK, please join our My Money (World) Facebook group and we'll aim to contact you. Caroline is 33 and works in higher education. She lives on a narrowboat, which she bought three years ago with an unsecured personal loan, which she repays at £705.42 per month. The boat is moored on a permanent residential mooring, for which Caroline pays £257.44 per month in mooring and boat licence fees. In her spare time, when she's not doing "boat jobs" she runs a Guides unit in her village, and enjoys cooking Greek food. Over to Caroline. Caroline's week: A nervous wait for an MOT result, and a comforting mug of hot chocolate It's a grey, drizzly day, and the fire went out overnight. In the winter I tread a fine line between keeping the boat at a comfortable temperature, and inadvertently draining the batteries by running the heating pump continuously. A gravity-fed heating system which doesn't use an electric-powered pump would be more efficient but the upfront cost is beyond my budget at the moment. People assume that living on a boat is cheaper than living in a house, but it's not - you just spend your money in a different way. Ask a boater what "boat" stands for and they'll tell you 'bring out another thousand'. And then they'll laugh, and probably weep a bit too. Oxford is a cycling city (true according to sheer numbers, arguably untrue based on the lack of cycling infrastructure). I cycle to work every day so my commute is free. I'm nearly out of contact lens solution, so I re-order three months' supply online (£17.00) through Amazon Smile, which ensures a donation goes to the RSPCA. I also re-order three months' worth of contact lenses (£35.77). The weather is so grim that I cycle straight home and batten down the hatches. My solar panel hasn't generated much power today, so I run the generator for a few hours to boost the batteries. I need more efficient solar panels, as they will significantly offset my expenditure on petrol for the generator, and diesel for the boat engine (around £8 per week in total), but my current top priority is ordering coal for the winter. Usually I buy enough for a month at a time, but this winter there will be a stoppage (canal closure) at a bridge just north of my mooring, meaning that Dusty the fuel boat will be unable to get through for three months. Ordering three months' worth of fuel in advance is a pricey business, and will set me back around £400-500 on top of my usual monthly bills. So, no new solar panels just yet. Total spend: £52.77 Morale is low at work today, so I buy hot chocolates for me and a colleague (£3.40). After work I drop my car off at the garage for its MOT and say a silent prayer. The car is a 2003 Vauxhall Corsa which I bought two years ago from a colleague of my stepmother's and paid for in instalments. Owning a car is probably as close as I get to "a luxury", but it improves my life immeasurably. It helps me stay connected to friends and family, and has brought down my food costs significantly, by enabling me to do my food shopping at the big out-of-city supermarkets. I spend around £30 a week on food. I plan my meals, and always take my own lunch to work. I lived and worked in Greece for a few years, so I love cooking Greek food. A lot of Greek cuisine is inherently cheap (and tasty!). I make this lentil dish regularly, which is based on a type of lentil soup (fakēs). On Tuesday nights I run a Guides unit in my village. I was really pleased to see that Girlguiding included financial literacy as part of the "skills for my future" theme, running across all ages in their revamped programme, which launched a year ago. Tonight though we have a rather soggy and chaotic game of Capture the Flag on the village green. Total spend: £3.40 D-day. Will my car make it through the MOT? The mechanic calls me mid-morning with the welcome news that, aside from a pair of new tyres and a recommended oil-and-filter change, the car is fine. I pay £296.85, transferring money out of my (very tiny) savings pot. I will put the money back in at the end of the month once I'm paid. Today I also receive a notification that my monthly Geocaching (an outdoor treasure-hunting game) subscription has been paid (£4.63). On the way home I stop at the post office to return my high-viz cycling jacket to the supplier, as the zip has broken. It's under warranty so the repair or replacement is free, but the postage costs me £8.70. Total spend: £310.18 I have a meeting with a colleague today, but as all the meeting rooms in the building are booked we go to the university cafe next door and I buy the coffees (£3.30), which I'll claim back as work-related expenditure. Our office doesn't operate a petty cash system, so all expenses have to be incurred personally and then claimed back, which I think assumes too much about the financial situations of its employees. Two years ago I acquired a £4,000 overdraft debt overnight (due to the Canal and River Trust omitting the VAT on my mooring fees and threatening me with a CCJ [county court judgement] unless I paid the VAT bill in full immediately) and I have been in the debt trap ever since. I recently consolidated my bank loan and overdraft, and my credit rating plummeted as a result. I have been using my credit card for the last year or so with great diligence in an attempt to improve my credit score. I never put more on it than I know I can afford, and I always clear the balance at the end of every month. Nonetheless, the interest rate went up when my credit rating went down, which is incredibly disheartening. The poverty premium is very real, and can affect anyone, no matter how "middle-class" they may seem. Debt - and its impact on a person's mental health - is still a taboo subject. During the six-month process of consolidating my debts, I was very grateful for the support of a good friend who advises the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute. I am now part of MMHPI's research community, offering "lived experience" expertise and input to their work. Total spend: £3.30 Dusty the fuel boat will be out for delivery next week, so I place an order via text for 15 bags of coal, two bags of kindling, and a bottle of gas, which in total will set me back £231. My fuel costs are - unsurprisingly - weighted heavily towards the winter months, and every year I tell myself I'll set aside money during the summer. But I never seem to have enough disposable income to do it. In the winter I burn around 50-60kg (£25-£30 worth) of smokeless fuel a week. A bottle of gas (£33) will last three months. I burn wood for heating too - it's useful to raise the temperature of the boat quickly, but it's not possible to keep the stove going overnight using just wood. Keeping warm isn't just a consideration of comfort - it also prevents damp and condensation, which would otherwise damage the fabric of the boat. My neighbour has invited me for dinner this evening. On the way I stop at Sainsbury's to buy food shopping for next week (£34.34, including wine and chocolate for my hosts tonight and tomorrow) and to fill the car with petrol (£32.02, including a five-litre jerrycan for my generator). Total spend: £66.36 I'm off to London to see my best friend. We haven't seen each other in five months, so we have a lot to catch up on! I would usually get the train to London, but there are engineering works this weekend and I don't fancy a three-hour schlep from Oxford to Upton Park, so I drive. In the afternoon we go for a long walk along the Greenway footpath in east London, then catch the bus back to her home (£1.50). Total spend: £1.50 I am greeted on my arrival back in Oxford by a large pile of firewood outside my boat. In a bid to economise, five of us have pitched in for delivery of a tonne of wood, which my amazing neighbours have - in my absence - already distributed to all the boats. My share costs £14, but I also promise to buy the log-movers a drink at next month's boaters' drinks at our local pub. I spend the afternoon dutifully carrying out my weekly "boat jobs" - filling the water tank, stacking the log store, emptying the toilet, sweeping out the stove, pumping out the engine bay, and tightening the stern gland. Oh the glamour of it all! I also harvest the last of my tomatoes and peas, grown by our community-run gardening project in raised beds on the towpath, and make tomato and basil soup for dinner. Total spend: £14 How does Caroline feel about her week? With the exception of my MOT, it was a pretty typical week - there were no great surprises! It's encouraging to see that, as I suspected, my outgoings are on the essentials I need to stay warm, dry and fed. Unless I get rid of my car, I can't see how I'd pare back this week's spending. I think I am a long way off from having sufficient disposable income to build up any substantial savings. Maybe some better solar panels are in reach, though! Total weekly spend: £451.51

माई मनी एक नई श्रृंखला है जिसमें देखा गया है कि लोग अपना पैसा कैसे खर्च करते हैं-और कभी-कभी उन्हें कठिन निर्णय लेने पड़ते हैं। यहाँ ऑक्सफोर्ड की कैरोलिन थर्स्टन ने एक सप्ताह से अधिक के अपने खर्च को दर्ज किया है और बचत के लिए सुझाव साझा किए हैं।


Somerset council could now close 16 children's centres

Summary: Somerset Council has admitted up to 16 children's centres are now at risk of closure - three days after insisting there were "no plans" to do so.

Labour group concerns about the future of the county's 41 centres were on Tuesday dismissed by the Conservative-run authority. A spokesman said there were "no plans in place to close any children's centres in Somerset". The local authority is consulting people who use the current 41 centres. Under the proposals, 14 would remain exclusively as children's centres and up to 13 would be shared with other services. The remaining 16 would be at risk of closure. Activities for children and their families would continue to run, but in other venues like village halls, the council has said.

समरसेट काउंसिल ने स्वीकार किया है कि 16 बच्चों के केंद्रों को अब बंद करने का खतरा है-तीन दिन बाद जोर देकर कहा कि ऐसा करने की कोई योजना नहीं थी।


Star Wars' Abrams leads move from CGI to reality

Summary: Every so often, Hollywood has a bete noire. Over the years, it's been talkies, piracy, the video cassette industry and right now, in some quarters, it appears to be computer-generated imagery (CGI).

By John McKieEntertainment reporter That logic may fly in the face of the box office takings of Avengers: Age of Ultron (£924m) and Jurassic World (more than £1bn). Yet, the case for trying alternatives alongside CGI, has been made by both JJ Abrams, the director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rian Johnson, director of its sequel. "Wherever possible, whenever possible, we tried to do things as much in camera as we could," Abrams told AP. "That meant that a lot of artists... were building things, not with pixels, but with wood and paint and foam, and actually constructing sets that we could have done in post [production with CGI]. "It gave the actors the actual location, the actual sunlight or stage light - something to bounce off, and [gave] the movie a feeling of being in an actual location, not an artificial one." "It was really nice to not have to also worry about 'will that ship look good on camera?' because we actually had it, we were actually filming it." Johnson and Abrams have an ally in Roger Deakins, the 11-time Oscar-nominated director of photography behind the camera of the natural landscapes of No Country for Old Men and Skyfall. "I think that trend would be a good thing. I like the look and feel of models," Deakins told the BBC. Ben Falk, film-writer and biographer of Robert Downey Jr, agrees: "In a cinematic world dominated by superheroes and alien beings, I think that a lot of film-makers now are realising that it needs to feel tangible. A puppet Yoda is always going to be better than a CGI Yoda." Other film-makers using techniques other than CGI, include Quentin Tarantino, who shot The Hateful Eight in what its star Samuel L Jackson called, in an interview with Collider, "a 30-degree refrigerated set" so that the cast's cold breath would look realistic. Christopher Nolan used CGI on films like Interstellar and The Dark Knight Rises, but recently spoke to the Directors' Guild of America about "the absolute difference between animation and photography. I prefer films that feel more like real life, so any CGI has to be very carefully handled to fit into that". Deakins is under no doubt why the popularity of CGI has risen. He said: "When you have so many films that seemingly put all their effort into bigger and 'better' action sequences, the over use of CGI becomes inevitable. Old school options "As CGI becomes ever cheaper it is inevitable that 'cinema' will move in that direction. Whether we should develop a new term for what are in essence animated films could be debated." Actors, many used to performing against a green screen, are also speaking out. Tom Cruise told Extra he'd consider making Top Gun 2 as long as there was "no CGI on the jets". Speaking about Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson's use of CGI Viggo Mortensen told the Telegraph: "Whatever was subtle, in the first [Lord of the Rings] movie, gradually got lost in the second and third. Now with The Hobbit I and II, it's like that to the power of 10." And while the Fast and Furious 7 used CGI to cover up the death of Paul Walker, old school options are being considered elsewhere. Philip Seymour Hoffman's untimely passing was explained in the latest Hunger Games film with a letter read out by Woody Harrelson's character. By most accounts, the cast and crew of The Hateful Eight had it easy compared with those working on one of the most awaited films of 2016, The Revenant, director Alejandro Inarritu's follow-up to Birdman. Birdman relied on computers to generate imagery around Michael Keaton's central character, but The Revenant was filmed in anti-social hours in Alberta, Calgary and southern Argentina, to preserve Inarritu's vision. Hollywood Reporter quoted a crew member as saying conditions were "a living hell". Critics have saluted his courage, which slightly depresses Falk, who points out technology will have been involved. "Inarritu is lauded for authenticity and cited as someone doing things a director has never done before simply because he shot a wilderness movie in the wilderness rather than created it on a soundstage and added in computer cold breath in post-production. "Remember a lot of that is part of a PR narrative. It's not like they all stood around in bearskins behind the camera hunting their own food. I'm pretty sure they had a tea urn..." 'Less is more' The most-talked about scene involves an attack on Leonardo DiCaprio's character by a bear. It's not yet clear what technology was involved. "CGI is an amazing tool and a great asset for any visual 'storyteller'," argues Deakins. "Any technique that enlarges our 'canvas' is to be celebrated but, as with anything else, it is all about how it is used." But Inarritu told Hollywood Reporter that CGI was "exactly what I didn't want" for the film. "If we ended up in greenscreen with coffee and everybody having a good time, everybody will be happy, but most likely the film would be..." and a this point he used an expletive. "When you see the film, you will see the scale of it," he said, adding Revenant is about survival, and the actors and crew benefited from having to make it in nature. Inarritu, like the directors of the new Star Wars movies and many other film-makers, has clearly decided less is more.

हर बार, हॉलीवुड में एक जबरदस्त शोर होता है। पिछले कुछ वर्षों से, यह टॉकीज़, पायरेसी, वीडियो कैसेट उद्योग रहा है और अभी, कुछ तिमाहियों में, यह कंप्यूटर-जनरेटेड इमेजरी (सी. जी. आई.) प्रतीत होता है।


Mindale Farm Meliden 133 new homes plan turned down

Summary: Plans for a housing development in Denbighshire have been turned down against the advice of council officers.

The county council's planning committee rejected proposals to build 133 homes on land at Mindale Farm, Meliden. It followed objections by Prestatyn town council and residents. Members said they were concerned about the scale of the development and its impact on road safety and flooding in the area. The application by Penrhyn Homes had been recommended for approval by officers, which said there were limited technical grounds for refusal.

परिषद के अधिकारियों की सलाह के खिलाफ डेनबिघशायर में आवास विकास की योजनाओं को अस्वीकार कर दिया गया है।


Brazil crisis: A timeline

Summary: Dilma Rousseff has been suspended from Brazil's presidency after senators voted to launch an impeachment trial against her. The president faces allegations of violating fiscal rules, which she says is a common practice in Brazil. She will remain suspended for up to 180 days while the trial lasts. Ms Rousseff says efforts to impeach her amount to "a coup attempt". But recent opinion polls suggest most Brazilians support her removal. Here we take a look at the major recent developments in a political crisis that has engulfed Latin America's powerhouse.

How did Brazil get here? How did it go wrong for Rousseff? Who is replacing the president 4 March: Lula questioned by police Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Ms Rousseff's political mentor, is questioned by police and his house raided as part of Operation Car Wash into corruption at the state-owned oil company, Petrobras. Investigators believe he benefited from construction companies targeted by the inquiry. He denies wrongdoings and says the "violence" against him is "arbitrary, illegal and unjustifiable". Protesters supporting and demonstrating against him are held in many cities. How we covered Lula's questioning Who is Luis Inacio Lula da Silva 13 March: Large anti-government protests Huge crowds take to the streets of dozens of Brazilian cities calling for President Rousseff's removal. In Sao Paulo, an estimated 1.4 million people march through the iconic Paulista Avenue, chanting slogans mainly against Ms Rousseff, Lula and their Workers' Party. They say they are fed up with corruption and with the state of the economy. Smaller demonstrations in favour of the president are also held. How we covered the protests 16 March: Protests as Lula is appointed chief of staff President Rousseff names Lula as her chief of staff, sparking protests in several cities. Hours later, Sergio Moro, the judge overseeing Operation Car Wash, releases phone recordings suggesting Ms Rousseff appointed Lula to spare him arrest. The president defends her decision, saying this is not the motivation for the appointment. A Supreme Court judge later suspends the nomination. How we covered Lula's nomination How we covered the Supreme Court decision 18 March: Rousseff and Lula supporters take to the streets Tens of thousands of protesters show support to President Rousseff and Lula. Organisers say about 300,000 people demonstrated there, but a respected pollster puts that number at 95,000. The ex-president addresses a crowd at Paulista Avenue and says "there will not be a coup". How we covered the protests 29 March: Key coalition party leaves government PMDB, the largest party in Brazil's ruling coalition, votes to leave Ms Rousseff's government. This is the party of Vice President Michel Temer and Eduardo Cunha, then Speaker of the Lower House, who has led the impeachment drive. How we covered PMDB's decision 11 April: Temer in controversial audio message A 15-minute audio recording in which Mr Temer appears to be rehearsing a speech to his party is released. In it, Mr Temer speaks as if the impeachment process against Ms Rousseff has been approved. His cabinet says the message has been released by mistake. Ms Rousseff says it is proof of his "coup" plot. She has accused him and Mr Cunha of being "ringleaders of the coup". How we covered the audio message 17 April: Lower house approves start of impeachment process Lower house of Congress overwhelmingly votes to start impeachment proceedings against Ms Rousseff amid scenes of chaos in the chamber. The vote is broadcast live on Brazilian television and loud victory celebrations are held in cities across the country. Process moves on to the Senate. How we covered the vote 18 April: Rousseff 'outraged' President Rousseff reacts to lower house vote, saying she is "outraged". She vows to fight "the injustice" and says she will not bow to pressure. Rousseff tells BBC she will fight on 6 May: Lower house Speaker suspended The Supreme Court suspends Eduardo Cunha from his mandate, following a request by the country's attorney general, over accusations that he tried to obstruct a corruption investigation against him and that he intimidated lawmakers. Mr Cunha, who is charged of corruption and money laundering in relation to the Petrobras scandal, says the decision is "political" and that he will appeal. Deputy Speaker Walter Maranhao takes over as acting Speaker. How we covered his suspension 9 May: Chaos as acting Speaker annuls impeachment vote In a surprise move, Mr Maranhao annuls the 17 April vote, citing irregularities, and asks for a new vote. The decision casts doubts over the impeachment process. The Senate Speaker, Renan Calheiros, says the decision is illegal and that the Senate vote will happen as planned. Hours later, Mr Maranhao announces he is revoking his decision. How we covered Maranhao's U-turn 10 May: Rousseff's last-ditch Supreme Court appeal In a last-ditch effort to stop the Senate vote, Brazil's attorney general asks the Supreme Court to annul the impeachment proceedings, arguing that they are politically motivated. In her last public event before the expected Senate session, she repeats that the impeachment attempt is a "coup" and that she will "resist". Supporters of the president hold demonstrations in many Brazilian cities. How we covered Rousseff's Supreme Court appeal 11 May: Crucial Senate vote Mr Calheiros says the impeachment vote will happen as expected. A Supreme Court judge later rejects Ms Rousseff's appeal. Senators start a marathon session that goes through the night in which they approve the start of an impeachment trial. Ms Rousseff is automatically suspended from the presidency for up to 180 days, while the trial lasts. Mr Temer takes over as interim president. How we covered the vote

सीनेटरों द्वारा उनके खिलाफ महाभियोग की सुनवाई शुरू करने के लिए मतदान करने के बाद डिल्मा रौसेफ को ब्राजील के राष्ट्रपति पद से निलंबित कर दिया गया है। राष्ट्रपति को राजकोषीय नियमों के उल्लंघन के आरोपों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है, जो वह कहती हैं कि ब्राजील में एक आम प्रथा है। वह 180 दिनों तक निलंबित रहेगी जब तक कि मुकदमा चलता है। सुश्री रौसेफ का कहना है कि "तख्तापलट के प्रयास" के लिए उनकी राशि पर महाभियोग चलाने के प्रयास। लेकिन हाल के जनमत सर्वेक्षणों से पता चलता है कि अधिकांश ब्राजीलियाई उन्हें हटाने का समर्थन करते हैं। यहाँ हम एक राजनीतिक संकट के प्रमुख हालिया घटनाक्रमों पर एक नज़र डालते हैं जिसने लैटिन अमेरिका के पावरहाउस को घेर लिया है।


Tech trends 2019: 'The end of truth as we know it?'

Summary: More than 200 firms contributed to our request for ideas on what the global tech trends will be in 2019. Here's a synthesis of the main themes occupying the minds of the technorati this year. You may be surprised.

By Matthew WallTechnology of Business editor This year it's all about data - a small, rather dull word for something that is profoundly changing the world we live in. New technologies, from voice-controlled speakers to "internet of things" (IoT) sensors, connected cars to fitness wearables, are vastly increasing the amount of digital data we produce. And artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and cloud computing are transforming the way we store, analyse and apply it. "In 2019 smart sensors will start to be found everywhere, automating data collection to satisfy the voracious appetite of AI," says Tim Harper, a former European Space Centre engineer and now founder of G2O Water Technologies. AI could be a powerful force for good, improving healthcare and combating climate change, for example. But it also presents many dangers - to democracy, to financial markets, to the belief in objective truth. Data in the wrong hands, used in the wrong way, could even threaten world peace, some commentators warn. Fake news? "Deepfakes" - manipulated digital videos that overlay another person's face onto a body or change what people actually said - pose a growing threat, argues Katja Bego, data scientist at innovation foundation, Nesta. "2019 will be the year that a malicious 'deepfake' video sparks a geopolitical incident," she predicts. "Though deepfakes are still a relatively new technology, they are evolving incredibly fast, making it harder and harder for the naked eye - or even digital forensics tools - to identify them. At the same time, they are also becoming ever easier and cheaper to create." She envisages a nightmare scenario in which a world leader could appear to declare war or spread damaging propaganda, with potentially devastating results. As fake news stories - often state-sponsored - continue to flood social media and China's Xinhua News Agency launches its first AI-created newsreaders, the lines between the fake and the real are becoming increasingly blurred. If we cannot trust what we see or hear any more, is this "the end of truth as we know it?" asks Ms Bego. Andrew Tsonchev, director of technology at cyber security company Darktrace Industrial, believes the internet's openness and lack of accountability - qualities its founders cherished - play into the hands of those with malicious intent. "Ultimately, manipulating the public discourse might prove to be a greater cyber-risk than the hacking of our devices," he says. "Controlling data may soon become more important than stealing it." Under attack Cybersecurity companies are notorious for scaring us witless in the drive to sell more of their products. But that doesn't mean their warnings are worthless. And AI in the hands of criminal or state-sponsored hackers is certainly worth worrying about. "2019 will see the first AI-orchestrated attack take down a FTSE 100 company," predicts Jason Hart, chief technology officer, data protection, at security firm Gemalto. "A new breed of AI-powered malware will infect an organisation's systems, sit undetected gathering information, adapt to its surroundings, and unleash a series of bespoke attacks targeted to take down a company from the inside out." AI will be needed to fight AI, many believe, particularly as the IoT vastly increases the number of potential weak points in this burgeoning network of connected devices. Greg Day from Palo Alto Networks says: "AI on AI cyber-battles will begin. Cybersecurity will be a machine versus machine fight with humans alongside to help and adjudicate. "While cybersecurity will look for new ways to spot adversaries and threats with AI, adversaries will use AI themselves and increasingly look to subvert machine learning and AI." This will ramp up the stakes even further. "We'll see the first example of a scaled-up mass IoT attack affecting critical infrastructure," predicts Darren Thomson, chief technology officer at cybersecurity firm Symantec. Healthier lives But it's not all bad news. AI unleashed on all our health data could herald a new era of personalised medicine, many believe. "We predict that by mid-2020, two in three patients with any condition will be supported by AI and AI-related technologies, either as part of diagnostics, treatment, or administration," says John Gikopoulos, global head of AI and automation at Infosys Consulting. AI-powered computers are getting better at analysing images and diagnosing cancers, and helping to identify molecules that could be turned into life-saving drugs. Virtual doctors and chatbots are giving us health advice via apps. "In 2019, for the first time ever, there will be more health data available outside health systems than inside them," says Othman Laraki, chief executive of Color, a San Francisco-based genetic testing company. "Your Apple Watch can deduce your heart health, your mood, your sleep patterns. Your genome can tell you your risk for inherited cancer and heart disease and traits that impact everything from your caffeine sensitivity to your ability to metabolise medicine." Data-driven healthcare, with an emphasis on prevention rather than cure, will have a "tremendous societal impact", he believes. Taking back control? In the wake of last year's Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal, which resulted in a maximum £500,000 fine for Facebook imposed by the UK's Information Commissioner's Office, how big companies use and abuse our data has been under much greater scrutiny. As firms scramble to get their data privacy policies up to scratch now that the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation is in force, "2019 will be the year of GDPR fines", says Harrison Van Riper, a senior analyst at cybersecurity firm Digital Shadows. Some commentators are predicting a consumer fightback. "In 2019, I expect that consumers will start to reclaim control of their data and monetise it," says Phil Beckett, managing director of disputes and investigations at management consultancy Alvarez and Marsal. Systems are being developed to allow us to control our health, financial, social, and entertainment data effectively, argues Paul Winstanley, chief executive of Censis, a centre of excellence for sensing and imaging systems. "It is then an individual's choice whether they want to share that data with a third party, or not." As consumer trust has been "severely dented", argues Mark Curtis, co-founder at design consultancy Fjord, firms will increasingly adopt a "data minimalism" approach, only asking for data they really need. More Technology of Business "They will have to clearly show the payback for users sharing their data, drawing a straight line from the act of sharing to receiving relevant products and services in return," he says. All this consumer data, analysed by AI, will at least enable firms to personalise their services, argues Nigel Vaz, international chief executive of digital transformation agency Publicis.Sapient. But rebuilding trust will be key, and this means consumers understanding how and why their data is being used, believes Ojas Rege, chief strategy officer at MobileIron, a mobile security company. "Without transparency, there is no trust. Without trust, there is no data. Without data, there is no AI," he concludes. The last word... While data - how it is produced, stored, analysed and applied - is the key theme for 2019, developing technologies, such as voice control, superfast 5G mobile and connected cars, will gather pace through the year. But these will only emphasise further how vulnerable our data is and how much harder we need to work to protect, own and value it.

200 से अधिक फर्मों ने 2019 में वैश्विक तकनीकी रुझानों पर विचारों के लिए हमारे अनुरोध में योगदान दिया। यहाँ इस वर्ष तकनीकी लोगों के दिमाग में रहने वाले मुख्य विषयों का संश्लेषण है। आप आश्चर्यचकित हो सकते हैं।


Australia's 'beautiful prison' in Papua New Guinea

Summary: For more than a year Australia has sent asylum seekers arriving on Christmas Island to a holding camp in Papua New Guinea. If their applications are upheld they can stay in Papua New Guinea, but will never return to Australia. A year ago there was bloodshed, and many in the camp are at breaking point.

By Fariba SahraeiBBC Persian "Imagine a large and real cage in the most isolated island, surrounded by ocean and jungle and tall coconut trees," says Omid, a 25-year-old Iranian. "No doubt our prison is the most beautiful prison in the world." Omid is not exaggerating. Manus Island, in Papua New Guinea (PNG), is small and rugged, covered in thick jungle, and the coastline is stunning. It's home to around 50,000 islanders - but also to about 1,000 detained asylum seekers who never wanted to be here and are mostly desperate to get out and go anywhere except back where they came from. Until mid-2013, Omid was a journalist in Iran. He fled the country under the threat of arrest, paying traffickers a small fortune to take him to Australia. Like many asylum seekers setting off from Indonesia, Omid headed for Christmas Island, a tiny Australian territory much closer than the mainland. Despite reaching Australian borders, he was relocated to an overcrowded detention centre on Manus Island, where he has been stuck for the last 18 months. That's because of a controversial deal between Australia and Papua New Guinea in July 2013, in which Australia effectively began outsourcing much of the responsibility for these asylum seekers to its impoverished Pacific neighbour. "Any asylum seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will have no chance of being settled in Australia as refugees," stated Kevin Rudd, Australia's prime minister at the time. If the men and women apply to stay in PNG, and they are judged to be genuine asylum seekers, they will be settled there. If they are judged to be economic migrants, they will be sent home. But most of the people held in the camp have refused to apply for residency in PNG and remain in the camp, for lack of anywhere else to go, in a kind of limbo. "They were padlocked behind gates and [within] the first five minutes [of my arrival] the asylum seekers started shaking the fence and started calling for help," says Australian student Nicole Judge, who worked there as a support worker for four months in 2013. "Manus Island had an instant sense of imprisonment." A former Australian naval base, the centre initially consisted of a series of old army tents, rammed full of people, mainly from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. "It was totally degrading and humiliating," Judge says. "The stench of faeces, it's unbearably hot - and you've got mosquitoes." Detainees contracted malaria and typhoid, which was aggravated by a regular lack of toilet paper and running water. The squalid conditions form part of a long list of troubling claims. "Every day I saw asylum seekers humiliated by staff. We'd have a lot of stereotyping, a lot of racism, ill-treatment," says Judge. The conditions took their toll on vulnerable detainees. "I saw quite a few times men attempt suicide, self-harm, or just sit down and scream, yell or cry," says Judge. Omid, meanwhile, says mental illness is rife, and describes self-harm as a daily occurrence. "We are now used to watching the blood. People cut themselves and they feel relaxed temporarily. "Dozens of asylum seekers are traumatised with sleep disorders and nightmares." One year ago, in February 2014, growing animosity between asylum seekers and their local guards came to a climax. Guards responded violently to protests by detainees, and local people joined in the bloodshed after being allowed into the camp with machetes and knives. Twenty-three-year-old Reza Barati was brutally murdered. A further 77 people were injured, including one who was shot and another blinded in one eye. An Australian parliamentary inquiry concluded that the events were "eminently foreseeable". Improvements to the camp were subsequently made, including new accommodation blocks, clean water from Australia, floodlights at night and higher security fences. But discontent continues to fester. About 700 of the detainees went on hunger strike in January this year. At least 10 sewed their lips shut in protest. Others swallowed razor blades and hazardous chemicals. The Australian government defends its tough actions as a necessary step in combating people trafficking. It also argues that this is the best way to save lives lost at sea in rickety, overcrowded vessels. In 2013, 400 boats carrying more than 26,000 asylum seekers reached Australian territory, but more than 300 people died in the attempt. In 2014, by contrast, just one boat arrived. A further 15 were intercepted and turned back by the Australian navy. At the end of the year the government signed a similar deal Cambodia, raising the possibility of detainees in Nauru being resettled there. Of those held in Papua New Guinea, an unspecified number, up to a few hundred, have gone home of their own accord. Only 80 have so far been granted asylum. Ten of those have moved out of the camp and are living temporarily in Manus, waiting to be resettled elsewhere in PNG. But while Australia and PNG may be close geographically, economically and culturally they're a world apart. Four Australian cities made the top 10 "liveable" cities in 2014, as judged by the Economist Intelligence Unit, while PNG's capital Port Moresby came third from bottom, behind only Dhaka in Bangladesh and Damascus, capital of Syria. Machete attacks, gun crime and carjacking are frequent events. Unemployment is high, health and education standards are low. The country's 7.2 million people speak 700 different languages, and four fifths of them live in rural areas with few of the facilities of modern life. Critics have questioned whether a country with such problems can withstand an influx of foreigners with whom they share very few cultural ties - and this may help explain why few of the asylum seekers have applied to stay there. "They don't want to be in Papua - they want to be in Australia," says Charlie Benjamin, the mayor of Manus. "If somebody doesn't want to be resettled here and you force them to be, definitely there will be a problem." He adds: "Settling people from another culture - another religion - here in Papua New Guinea is not easy for us to accept." Australia spends nearly $500m to run the camp each year, employing local cleaners, caterers and security guards. Manus has also received Australian development aid - a new market is being built in the main town of Lorengau - though critics say Australian construction companies are favoured over local ones. The islanders call it "boomerang aid". The fact that the few refugees to have moved out of the camp are being housed in a new housing unit costing more than $100m - better equipped than most islanders' homes - has already caused some resentment. "Is the assistance they are giving to us equal to what we are giving them?" asks Benjamin. "I don't think so. Maybe my expectation is too high." Omid's expectations, meanwhile, are at their lowest. "What makes it worse than a prison is the uncertainty we face. A prisoner knows how long he will be imprisoned but we don't," he says. "Sorry, I don't care what happens to me any more." Additional reporting by Tom Heyden. Listen to the documentary Dying for a Better Life on the BBC World Service For more on the BBC's A Richer World, go to www.bbc.com/richerworld - or join the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #BBCRicherWorld

एक साल से अधिक समय से ऑस्ट्रेलिया ने क्रिसमस द्वीप पर आने वाले शरण चाहने वालों को पापुआ न्यू गिनी के एक आश्रय शिविर में भेजा है। यदि उनके आवेदनों को बरकरार रखा जाता है तो वे पापुआ न्यू गिनी में रह सकते हैं, लेकिन कभी भी ऑस्ट्रेलिया नहीं लौटेंगे। एक साल पहले रक्तपात हुआ था, और शिविर में कई लोग टूटने की स्थिति में हैं।


Chinese staff paid in bricks to top up unpaid wages

Summary: Employees at a brick factory in southeast China who were collectively owed some 90,000 yuan (US $14,050; £10,080) had their unpaid wages topped up in bricks, it's reported.

By News from Elsewhere......as found by BBC Monitoring According to the Xinhua News Agency, some 30 factory workers in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, agreed to receive 290,000 bricks in exchange for 80,000 yuan of their owed earnings. Jiangxi Daily reports that the workers, all of whom were migrants, came from mountainous regions of Yunnan province in the southwest, and had no choice but to live "by candlelight, with wood fire heating". After their local labour department intervened with the help of the courts, the employees agreed to receive bricks from the factory in exchange for their unpaid earnings. Xinhua says that their employer, who has not been named by local media, is still trying to figure out a way to repay staff the remaining 10,000 yuan that they are owed. The story has ignited lively debate on Chinese social media, with many users of the Sina Weibo microblog expressing concern. "Why is it always rural migrant workers that are paid in arrears?" asks one. Others make jokes at the expense of China's housing bubble, saying that the situation has become so bad that bricks constitute a decent substitute for finances. Disputes between migrant workers and their employers are particularly common during the winter months, especially in the lead-up to Chinese New Year, which this year falls on 16 February. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions says that it has helped more than five million migrant workers in China receive unpaid wages totalling 30bn yuan ($4.5bn; £3.36bn) in the last five years. Reporting by Kerry Allen Next story: Iceland's high court upholds 76% tax on imported chips Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter.

यह बताया गया है कि दक्षिण पूर्व चीन में एक ईंट कारखाने के कर्मचारी जिन पर सामूहिक रूप से लगभग 90,000 युआन (14,050 अमेरिकी डॉलर; 10,080 पाउंड) का बकाया था, उनकी अवैतनिक मजदूरी ईंटों से अधिक थी।


Is removing 'Aboriginal' from birth certificates whitewashing history?

Summary: It was never a requirement, but back in the 1800s some clerks in Australia took it upon themselves to add notes about ethnicity to some birth certificates. As the BBC's Frances Mao in Sydney writes, a move to reverse that has generated a new problem.

Garry Smith just wanted to complete a family tree documenting his Aboriginal heritage. However in 2013, when he retrieved the 19th Century birth certificate for his great-grandmother, he noticed a glaring omission: the word "Aboriginal" had been covered over. He asked authorities what had happened, and was told the word had been erased due to its "offensive" connotations. "Having somebody telling you it's offensive, I just stood there and felt a bit sick," he told the BBC. "Was I supposed to be embarrassed or ashamed to have Aboriginal heritage, ashamed of my father, and great grandparents?" 'Aboriginal is not an offensive word' Five years later, Mr Smith is still fighting to change the practice. And it turns out Western Australia's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages has redacted thousands of racial references in its historical records, because its employees have deemed the terms used offensive. The practice has sparked controversy, and drawn criticism from Aboriginal Australians and historians who argue the actions amount to a white-washing of history. To obtain a copy of his relative's original documentation, Mr Smith said he had to sign a declaration stating that he was not embarrassed by the term Aboriginal. He retrieved the birth certificate for another relative to check that it "wasn't just a one-off". His aunt's Aboriginal identity had also been removed. Mr Smith says he and his family have lobbied the state government for years to change the policy. Later this year, they plan on launching legal action, after attempts to mediate through the Australian Human Rights Commission failed. He told the BBC he was proud to identify as Aboriginal, and did not consider it a derogatory term. Indeed, the Australian government and the United Nations use the word in official contexts to identify the country's indigenous people. "It just reminds me that they're [the Australian government] still trying to erase Aboriginal history and white that out," says Mr Smith. 'White-washing the past' Authorities have not clarified when the alteration of records began, although Mr Smith suggested it may have started when the registry began a digital archive of records. The department involved has rejected allegations of racism, believing what happened was an attempt to right a historic wrong. The state had never required a person's race to be noted on a birth certificate, says Registrar Brett Burns. However past authorities had included "unjustified and unsubstantiated personal observations on racial heritage". That prompted the registry to remove "offensive" terms such as "Chinaman", "native"," nomad" or "half-caste" from its records. "This does not just apply to Aboriginal people and any suggestion we are 'white-washing' history is wrong", Mr Burns said, calling that accusation "ridiculous and hurtful". You might also be interested in: Historians in the state disagree, and argue that historical records should never be altered. "We rely on documentary evidence for information about the past. Sure [some words] are offensive, but that is the way authorities referred to many people in the past and by redacting them, it's giving a distorted picture of the way things were," Emeritus Professor Jenny Gregory from the University of Western Australia told the BBC. "It's historical revisionism, it's falsifying history. They are whiting out these words - literally white-washing the past." Mr Smith says his foremost concern is for other Australians attempting to discover their family history. "These documents are our personal history, to do with us. It's got nothing to do with anyone else, what's written on them. "How are you ever going to know who you are, where you come from, when someone's gone in and interfered with these historical documents?"

यह कभी भी एक आवश्यकता नहीं थी, लेकिन 1800 के दशक में ऑस्ट्रेलिया में कुछ क्लर्कों ने कुछ जन्म प्रमाणपत्रों में जातीयता के बारे में नोट्स जोड़ने की जिम्मेदारी ली। जैसा कि सिडनी में बीबीसी के फ्रांसेस माओ लिखते हैं, उलटने के कदम ने एक नई समस्या पैदा कर दी है।


Brazil property prices: Fears of 'bubble' in home costs

Summary: House prices have soared in Brazil's big cities as salaries have grown and mortgages have become easier to obtain. But while millions of homeowners have benefited, others struggle to pay their bills. In the first of a two-part look at Brazil's housing market, we examine how Rio de Janeiro has become the country's prime property hotspot.

By Katy WatsonSouth America business reporter, BBC News Standing by the rooftop pool of a luxury penthouse, Juliana Guzman proudly points out Rio's tourist hotspots - first, the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), one of the city's best-known landmarks. Then there is the famous Ipanema beach, loved by both Brazilians and tourists. And in the distance, the Dois Irmaos (Two Brothers) peaks at the end of the beach, which make for a spectacular sunset here in Rio. This view could be yours too - for a princely sum of $3m (£1.8m). Or if the budget does not stretch, it is rented for $15,000 (£8,900) a month. It is one of dozens of flats Ms Guzman markets through her luxury property company Rio Exclusive - a business that has been very healthy in recent years. Prices started rising when Brazil secured the 2014 World Cup, and kept going when Rio was named as host of the 2016 Olympic Games. Now, she says, it is both Brazilians and foreigners who are cashing in on a city in the international spotlight. "Everyone keeps talking about a bubble but people will keep buying in Brazil even if the prices are high," she says, adding that more and more businesses are moving to Rio. "People see this as an opportunity to get a good return on their investment." The owner of the penthouse has certainly done well - he bought it for $2m (£1.2m) just two years ago. According to the FIPE-ZAP index, property prices in Rio have risen more than 250% in the past six years. In nearby Sao Paulo, they have climbed 200%. Open any newspaper here in Brazil and you are bombarded with adverts trying to sell the latest new launch of apartment blocks. There is even a bottle of whisky on offer from one company trying to tempt potential buyers to a new development. But Luis Carlos Ewald, professor of finance at Fundacao Getulio Vargas in Rio, says the excitement surrounding property prices - especially in Rio because of the World Cup and the Olympics - has got out of hand. "Will foreigners coming here enjoy being hit by a bullet, being robbed?" he asks, sarcastically referring to Rio's high crime rate. "Will they find this exciting and stay on afterwards? It's a complete joke - we were living in a fantasy and we're now returning to reality." The rising prices have sounded alarm bells for some international economists too. The word "bolha" - Portuguese for "bubble" - is a word brought up frequently when it comes to housing. Robert Shiller, the man who predicted the collapse of the US market, recently warned Brazil was facing a housing bubble of its own. But it is a controversial subject here. "He was wrong," says Mailson da Nobrega, a former finance minister and founder of Tendencias economic consultancy in Sao Paulo. "It's not a classic bubble that was inflated through credit. Credit isn't the source of house price increases in Brazil - it's an imbalance between demand and supply." Mortgage lending has certainly become easier in recent years - financing for homes in Brazil rose 32% last year, climbing to a record high of 109.2bn reais (£29bn; $49bn) according to ABECIP, which represents the country's mortgage lenders. Most economists agree Brazilians are buying their homes to live in, not to make a quick profit. If you look at the percentage of mortgage lending as a proportion of the economy, the figures for Brazil are still low - less than 10%. Compared with Chile at about 20% and the US at about 70%, Brazil still has a long way to go to catch up. "It's a psychological bubble," says economist Luis Vivanco. "Brazilians have this mentality that by buying a property, they have more security than putting money in a bank. People feel richer." There is no doubt that Brazil's strong economic growth in recent years was partly fuelled by consumer credit - people have been spending money they did not have before - and that includes property. But now the country is facing slower economic growth and, in an effort to rein in stubbornly high inflation, interest rates are at their highest level in more than two years. All these factors could put a stop to that feeling of wealth in the future. Next week, we look at how rising property prices have given momentum to housing movements that take over unoccupied land and buildings, to try to highlight low-income workers who cannot afford to pay their rent. We report from Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest city, which has the country's worst housing shortage.

ब्राजील के बड़े शहरों में घरों की कीमतें बढ़ गई हैं क्योंकि वेतन बढ़ गया है और बंधक प्राप्त करना आसान हो गया है। लेकिन जहां लाखों घर मालिकों को लाभ हुआ है, वहीं अन्य अपने बिलों का भुगतान करने के लिए संघर्ष कर रहे हैं। ब्राजील के आवास बाजार पर दो-भाग की नज़र के पहले भाग में, हम जांच करते हैं कि कैसे रियो डी जनेरियो देश का प्रमुख संपत्ति हॉटस्पॉट बन गया है।


Brazil with Michael Palin

Summary: Michael Palin has travelled the world for the past 25 years, earning him a reputation as the man who's been everywhere. But there's one big gap in his passport - Brazil.

The fifth largest country on Earth, with an abundance of resources and a melting pot of peoples, it's a nation that's risen almost out of nowhere to become a 21st Century superpower and is next in line to host both the World Cup and Olympic Games. Palin sets off to discover a country whose time has come. With stunning images from photographer Basil Pao, Palin talks about his love of travelling, highlights from his time in Brazil and how it made him aware of why he travels. Brazil With Michael Palin will be broadcast on Wednesday, 24 October at 21:00-22:00 BST on BBC One and on BBC One HD. Produced by Dualtagh Herr. Photography by Basil Pao. Music by KPM music and courtesy of Prominent Television Ltd.

माइकल पॉलिन ने पिछले 25 वर्षों से दुनिया की यात्रा की है, जिससे उन्हें हर जगह रहने वाले व्यक्ति के रूप में प्रतिष्ठा मिली है। लेकिन उनके पासपोर्ट में एक बड़ा अंतर है-ब्राजील।


Natwest boss Alison Rose warns of 'tough times ahead'

Summary: On the very day that the name RBS was consigned to the annals of financial history, the boss of the UK's biggest business lender warned that while the painful memories of the last great financial crisis had faded, the true extent of a new and graver threat to thousands of businesses was emerging.

Simon JackBusiness editor@BBCSimonJackon Twitter Alison Rose, the chief executive of the renamed Natwest Group said: "There are clearly tough times ahead. Not all businesses will survive and there are going to be losses". We got a glimpse of the potential scale of the losses earlier this year when RBS (as was) reported a nine-fold (833%) increase in the amount of money it set aside for bad loans compared to the same period a year ago. New accounting standards require companies to make their best guess of future bad loans - so RBS's best guess in the first quarter of this year was that bad loans would explode. We will get an update on their view next week. Since that time, RBS has gone on to lend £10bn under various government schemes to businesses that they would not normally have done were it not for government guarantees, the vast majority of which were at 100%. However, as Alison Rose was keen to stress - those guarantees are to the lender not the borrower. If RBS predicts the default rate on loans rose by nine times on loans the bank was comfortable making without guarantees, how much higher will it be when that government backing meant the normal lending checks were accelerated or even effectively discarded? Given these loans are guaranteed, the financial problem is primarily the government's (and therefore the taxpayer) but these are loans not grants and Alison Rose accepted that the high street banks will be the ones to be knocking on the door for repayment. "It's a very important point that we have made to businesses that they are 100% liable for repayment. We will be involved in collecting that money because they will need to pay it back but we will do that in a very considered and thoughtful way." She added that a lot of businesses had secured the funds but many had not yet spent them. RBS RIP? The decade or so since the last crisis was the most painful in the nearly 300-year history of a bank that went from solid and dependable and trusted Royal Bank of Scotland (a brand its branches will retain in Scotland) to a by word for reckless expansion, hubristic leadership and, in some cases, the brutal and unethical treatment of its small business customers after the crash. Ms Rose is determined to complete a transformation from that to a "purpose driven, financially sustainable bank that works for all its stakeholders". The name change may help to close the door on a horrible decade for a bank whose losses over ten years amounted to £60bn - wiping out am injection of £46bn in taxpayer money and then some. The shares in TBFKARBS (The bank formerly known as RBS), or Natwest Group, are trading at one quarter of the value at which the taxpayer bought its shares. We will probably never get that money back. That doesn't mean it was the wrong thing to do. A failure of a bank whose assets were worth more than the entire UK economy would have taken that economy down the plughole with it. Ms Rose insists that the bank will not airbrush events since 2009 out of its corporate memory: "We don't want to forget the past, it's important we remember those lessons" New name. New crisis.

जिस दिन आरबीएस नाम को वित्तीय इतिहास के इतिहास में शामिल किया गया था, उसी दिन ब्रिटेन के सबसे बड़े व्यावसायिक ऋणदाता के प्रमुख ने चेतावनी दी थी कि पिछले महान वित्तीय संकट की दर्दनाक यादें फीकी पड़ गई थीं, लेकिन हजारों व्यवसायों के लिए एक नए और गंभीर खतरे की वास्तविक सीमा उभर रही थी।


Wolf Minerals miners' jobs at risk as it stops trading

Summary: A Dartmoor mine closing has put up to 200 jobs at risk.

Australian firm Wolf Minerals (UK) has gone into voluntary administration after talks with international backers seeking further finance failed. Lorry drivers have been reported to have been sent home from Drakelands mine at Hemerdon, near Plymouth, in Devon, which reopened in 2015. However, industry analysts said the mine was expected to re-open "after renegotiations with creditors". Wolf, which had spent £130m in start-up expenses alone, had hoped to produce about 3,000 tonnes of tungsten and tin a year after reopening the mine More stories from Devon It was working to exploit what was said to be the world's fourth-largest deposit of tungsten. Devon and Cornwall Police were called to the mine at 13:35 BST to reports of a "civil dispute" over equipment, the force said. The company released a statement on Tuesday saying that, if longstanding talks on refinancing did not reach a positive conclusion within two days, it would run out of short-term working capital. BBC South West Business Correspondent Neil Gallacher said the statement had shown "either sheer brinkmanship, or it's a sign that Wolf fears its international backers may really be about to decide against a further refinancing". He said: "The puzzle is that, after such a long and bumpy ride, this would be a curious time for the backers to run out of patience. "Recent signals from the mine have suggested tungsten output is improving after early teething problems; and the metal's value globally has risen strongly in the last couple of years." Mining analyst John Meyer, of SP Angel, said it was expected the mine would restart "once the administrator has agreed settlement with creditors and found a suitable buyer for the business". He added it was hoped administrators would "keep the mills turning" to "enable a quick restart". But it is not known how it would affect staff in the meantime.

डार्टमूर खदान के बंद होने से 200 नौकरियां खतरे में पड़ गई हैं।


Emergency Gwent Levels and Severn Estuary sewage pipe repairs

Summary: Emergency repairs are being carried out to a broken sewage pipe after fears it could affect protected areas.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said the "fracture" was at Magor, near Caldicot, close to the Gwent Levels and Severn Estuary. It is working with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water to fix the pipe and manage sewage flows using "emergency storm outlets". NRW said it would keep a close eye on water quality in the area. Holly Sisley, from NRW said: "Repair works are happening close to the footpath and there may be odour and traces of sewage visible for a short stretch."

संरक्षित क्षेत्रों को प्रभावित करने की आशंका के बाद एक टूटी हुई सीवेज पाइप की आपातकालीन मरम्मत की जा रही है।


2018 St David Awards shortlist announced

Summary: Twenty five people have been shortlisted for the 2018 St David Awards.

The annual event at the Senedd in Cardiff takes place on 22 March and recognises the achievements of people in Wales from all walks of life. Among the eight categories being considered are bravery, citizenship, innovation, sport and young people. First Minister Carwyn Jones will also give a special award on the night. "This event, now in its fifth year, is a celebration to acknowledge just some of the people who have had input to make the significant difference to someone else's life, overcome adversity or have achieved something truly inspirational," he said. "Once again, the St David Awards finalists are an exceptional group of people. Every single one is a credit to Wales." Bravery Citizenship Culture Enterprise Innovation, Science and Technology International Sport Young Person

2018 के सेंट डेविड पुरस्कारों के लिए 25 लोगों को चुना गया है।


Why US lags behind on graphic cigarette warnings

Summary: The US wants to put graphic images on cigarette packets - the first change to health warnings on tobacco products in 35 years. Other countries have long used such shock tactics to discourage smokers, so why does the US lag behind?

By Holly HonderichBBC News, Washington Grisly images of cancerous tumours and diseased lungs and feet. Stark warnings that smoking can cause everything from blindness and bladder cancer to strokes and stunted foetal growth. If the US Food and Drug Administration gets its way, these mandatory health warnings will feature on cigarette packets from 2021. Those disturbing images - which are shown further down this article - would mark the first change to labels since 1984. The FDA proposed a similar move nine years ago, but it was ultimately blocked in court by tobacco firms on the grounds of free speech. The pictures may be an unwelcome addition for smokers in the US, but in many parts of the world such images are already part of the price of buying a packet of cigarettes. What is the FDA proposing? If approved, new warnings from the FDA will feature "photo-realistic" colour images depicting the health risks of smoking. "While most people assume the public knows all they need to understand about the harms of cigarette smoking, there's a surprising number of lesser-known risks that both youth and adult smokers and non-smokers may simply not be aware of," said Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharples in a statement. The graphic warnings will cover the top half of the front and back panels of cigarette packages and at least 20% of the top area of cigarette advertisements. "The diseases embedded in these images will improve public understanding of the negative consequences of cigarette smoking," said Mitchell Zeller, head of the FDA's tobacco division. Warnings first appeared on cigarette packages in the US in 1966, and were most recently updated in 1984. For the past 35 years, cigarette packages and advertisements have carried one of the same four warnings from the Surgeon General, noting health damage like lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema. "Their unchanged content over decades, as well as their small size and lack of images, undermines the current warnings' effectiveness," the FDA said in a statement. According to the FDA, 34.3 million US adults and nearly 1.4 million young people in the US, ages 12-17, currently smoke cigarettes. Despite declines in cigarette smoking, tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the US, killing about 480,000 Americans every year - more than alcohol, HIV, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined. Erika Sward, assistant vice-president of national advocacy for the American Lung Association, called the graphic warning labels "overdue". "The bottom line is that graphic warning labels have been demonstrated in study after study around the world to deter kids from starting to use cigarettes and promoting adults to quit," she says. "It's so important." How do other countries warn smokers? According to the World Health Organization, 91 countries already mandate strong graphic warnings on packaging, covering 52% of the world's population. It's quite a jump from 20 years ago, when Canada became the first and only country to put graphic warnings on cigarettes. By 2007 this number had grown to nine - 5% of the global population - before gradually expanding to cover all 28 members of the European Union, and countries such as India and New Zealand. In 2012, Australia became the first country to use "plain packaging", which restricts the use of logos, colours, brand images and promotional information. It's considered the toughest type of restriction on cigarette packages. Regulations there required that cigarettes be sold in plain brown containers, without any distinguishing features other than a brand and product name. Graphic health warnings depicting the consequences of smoking was ordered to cover 75% of the front of packs and 90% of the reverse. Even the colour - Pantone Cool Gray - and font - 2C Lucinda Sans Regular - was specifically mandated in the 2012 legislation. Though WHO notes that the US has mandated "large warnings" covering at least 50% of cigarette packaging, they fail to meet the WHO's standards for best practices. Why is the US lagging behind? This new proposal is not the first time the FDA has tried to add graphic imaging to cigarette packaging. In 2011, in response to demands from Congress, the FDA published a rule requiring graphics depicting the negative consequences of smoking on cigarette packaging. But the rule was thwarted when a federal appeals court found that the agency's plan undermined free speech protections. Jonathan Havens, a former FDA lawyer who worked with the agency's then newly-established Center for Tobacco Products, says the First Amendment is the primary obstacle separating the US from other countries. "Not every country has the First Amendment," he says, which extends protections to companies as well as individuals. "It's a pretty simple but agreed upon point." Instead of warning consumers about specific health risks, the first round of FDA graphics were seen as a mere "shock and awe" tactic, and not a reasonable infringement upon tobacco companies' free speech. "We take freedom of speech more seriously than most other things in our country," Mr Havens adds. But experts disagree on whether the First Amendment should preclude graphic cigarette warnings. "The Tobacco Control Act gives the FDA the authority they need to protect the public health," the ALA's Erika Sward says. "Time and time again, FDA and the [Obama and Trump] administrations have failed to act." But it's still unclear if these new warnings will be met with with a challenge in court. Using a "science-based approach" that focuses on health risks, the FDA is "trying to have a better and more defensive case" than the last time around, Mr Havens says. But, "that doesn't mean they're going to win." Kaelan Hollon, a spokeswoman for Reynolds American, the tobacco company that led the 2011 suit, says they are "carefully reviewing the FDA's latest proposal for graphic warnings." "We firmly support public awareness of the harms of smoking cigarettes," she says, "but the manner in which those messages are delivered to the public cannot run afoul of the First Amendment protections that apply to all speakers, including cigarette manufacturers."

अमेरिका सिगरेट के पैकेटों पर ग्राफिक चित्र लगाना चाहता है-35 वर्षों में तंबाकू उत्पादों पर स्वास्थ्य चेतावनियों में पहला बदलाव। अन्य देशों ने लंबे समय से धूम्रपान करने वालों को हतोत्साहित करने के लिए इस तरह के सदमे की रणनीति का उपयोग किया है, तो अमेरिका पीछे क्यों है?


Hand grenade found in garden wall in Amlwch

Summary: A hand grenade was found in a garden wall as developers refurbished a house.

Residents in Bethesda Street, Amlwch, Anglesey, were ordered from their homes and told to stay at least 650ft (200m) away after the discovery. Llinos Williams, whose house shares the garden wall, said: "The whole street was moved out, including some people who are elderly". A bomb disposal team removed the grenade and people were let back home at 17:00 BST, North Wales Police said.

एक बगीचे की दीवार में एक हथगोला पाया गया जब डेवलपर्स ने एक घर का नवीनीकरण किया।


How did Nigeria secure the 21 Chibok girls' release from Boko Haram?

Summary: In the early hours of Thursday morning, 21 of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls were released by their Boko Haram captors in the town of Banki close to Nigeria's border with Cameroon, security sources told the BBC.

By Martin PatienceNigeria correspondent, BBC News They were handed over to a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross who provided assistance during the transfer of the girls. A few hours later this group of young girls, whose kidnap from their school dormitories in the town of Chibok triggered international condemnation more than two years ago, were arriving in the capital Abuja to be received by the country's vice-president. It was a rare piece of good news in Nigeria's brutal fight against a Boko Haram insurgency that has killed thousands of people and destroyed much of the country's northeast. The girls' release was all the more surprising given that just last month the government - under intense pressure to do more to free the students - announced that negotiations with the Islamist group had broken down. So why were the negotiations successful this time? There are conflicting reports but one security official told the BBC that four Boko Haram commanders were freed as part of a swap. The AP news agency also reported that a "handsome ransom" - in the millions of dollars - was paid by the Swiss government on behalf of the Nigerian government. The Nigerian government has denied any prisoner swap. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said: "Absolutely, there was no exchange of any kind." But, perhaps significantly, he did not rule out exchanges in the future, saying the government would "consider all options available". Security analysts say it is ludicrous to suggest that Boko Haram handed over the girls while getting nothing in return. The freeing of the students comes at a time of turmoil in the Islamist militant group. Boko Haram has split in two factions over its links with the so-called Islamic State. The infighting may have created an opening. The schoolgirls are being held by former Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who appears to have lost out in the power struggle. From a position of weakness, he perhaps concluded he had nothing to lose by releasing some of the girls. The Nigerian government says that negotiations with Boko Haram will continue to free the 197 students who are still missing. Sadly for the families it appears that some of the girls have died in captivity. The mother of the schoolgirl Amina Ali who escaped in May of this year told the BBC some of Amina's classmates were killed in military bombardments. The respected Daily Trust newspaper also reported that, after more than two years in captivity and after being married off to Boko Haram fighters, some of the girls to do not want to go home.

सुरक्षा सूत्रों ने बीबीसी को बताया कि गुरुवार की सुबह, अपहृत चिबोक स्कूली छात्राओं में से 21 को उनके बोको हराम अपहरणकर्ताओं ने कैमरून के साथ नाइजीरिया की सीमा के पास बांकी शहर में रिहा कर दिया।


St Albans police officer injured as squad car hits wall and overturns

Summary: An officer was seriously injured after a police car hit a wall and overturned while responding to an incident, a force said.

Hertfordshire Police said the crash happened on London Road in St Albans at about 13:35 BST on Tuesday. It said the officer's condition was serious but not thought to be life-threatening and he continued to receive treatment in hospital. The circumstances of the crash were being investigated, police said. No-one else was injured in the crash and the officer was taken to hospital by air ambulance. The road was closed for about six hours.

एक पुलिस बल ने कहा कि एक घटना का जवाब देते समय एक पुलिस कार दीवार से टकरा गई और पलट गई, जिससे एक अधिकारी गंभीर रूप से घायल हो गया।


Mackerel talks failure 'disappointing' says Richard Lochhead

Summary: The failure of the latest attempt to secure a deal on mackerel quotas is "very disappointing", Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead has said.

Mr Lochhead said the talks in Edinburgh - involving the EU, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands - seemed the best recent chance to get a deal done. The EU has been at loggerheads with Iceland and the Faroe Islands since they upped their quotas in 2010. Mackerel is Scotland's most valuable catch. Mr Lochhead said the longer the dispute continues the greater the uncertainty faced by Scottish fishermen.

मत्स्य पालन सचिव रिचर्ड लोचहेड ने कहा है कि मैकेरल कोटा पर एक सौदा हासिल करने के नवीनतम प्रयास की विफलता "बहुत निराशाजनक" है।


The country that's 'high risk, high return' for start-ups

Summary: After decades of dictatorship and international sanctions, Myanmar (formerly called Burma) is now home to a small but fast-growing tech start-up scene, offering everything from home-cooked food deliveries to comic apps. But the country is still considered too risky by many big international investors.

By Suzanne BearneTechnology of Business reporter, Yangon Dressed in a traditional Burmese longhi and a conical hat offering much-needed shade from the blistering sun, a farmer planting rice seedlings in a paddy field in the Shan state stops work briefly to flip out his phone and check Facebook. Just five years ago, when mobile phone SIM cards cost up to $500 (£380), this scene would have been unthinkable. But since international telecoms companies opened networks in Myanmar, SIM card prices have come crashing down to around a dollar, and four out of five citizens now have a smartphone - catapulting the country's digital economy into the 21st Century. In the country's former capital, the sense of change is apparent. Housed in an block of flats in downtown Yangon is Phandeeyar, the country's first-ever community tech hub hosting hackathons and workshops. It provides desk space for start-ups on Myanmar's first-ever accelerator programme. Benefiting from $25,000 worth of seed funding and mentoring from Phandeeyar, seven young start-ups are busy working on their fledgling businesses. Many like Shwe Bite, a marketplace which delivers home-cooked food to offices, are challenging business norms in this most traditional of countries. Since its launch in September 2017, Shwe Bite has sold more than 5,000 lunch boxes, each costing 2,000 kyats (£1.07). "I decided to set up Shwe Bite because of my personal experience as an office worker away from home," explains co-founder Moe Htet Kyaw. "Most, like me, don't have the time or enough skills to cook. On the other hand, in Myanmar, women - especially housewives - are seeking sustainable income for family expenses." Shwe Bite connects these home cooks with busy workers. It's not as quick as meal delivery services like Deliveroo - customers have to pre-order before 4pm the day before - but the company has lofty ambitions. "It's only available in Yangon but we plan to expand to other cities and maybe other countries - there are a lot of Burmese people living in counties like Singapore," says Moe Htet Kyaw. One of Myanmar's most successful start-ups is White Merak Comic Studios, a comic app, which received $140,000 in funding from three local angel investors in 2017 and now employs 20 people. A big fan of comics growing up, co-founder and chief executive Aung Ye Kyaw launched the app in 2016 after discovering that many small, dedicated comic book stores had been forced to close during the years of military dictatorship. "I wanted to resurrect [the comics industry]," he says. "One of the main reasons why it had experienced a downfall is because people wanted newly-created content, not old republished comics. "With the previous government there was a lot of censorship, so artists couldn't innovate or be creative." White Merak currently has 1,000 subscribers paying 1,000 kyats (54p) per month for content, while around 3,000 people have so far bought single episodes. New generation Jes Kaliebe Petersen, the Danish chief executive of Phandeeyar, says the first wave of smartphone-enabled tech start-ups in Myanmar were "focused on the urban middle-classes services" - such as jobs databases for professionals and property websites. This new wave is "targeting a new generation of digital consumer in Myanmar who doesn't necessarily live in Yangon or Mandalay or have a high disposable income but already has a smartphone". MM Tutors, for example, helps parents find private tuition for their children. "No matter how rich or poor, most parents get tutors for kids," says Mr Petersen. "The market for this is huge but very fragmented. Now there's a platform that is open for everyone to rate and book tutors." One of the major challenges facing start-ups in Myanmar is taking payments. "There's no major payment system that people can use - for example PayPal - and not a lot of people have a credit or debit card," says White Merak's Aung Ye Kyaw. Instead customers pay by topping up their mobile phone SIM cards. Another challenge is the lack of legislation protecting intellectual property. "There's a lot of piracy here," says Aung Ye Kyaw. "It's easy to copy and duplicate. There are no laws for the time being." A new trademark law is scheduled to come into effect this year, but White Merak has already put its own preventative measures in place - ensuring subscribers can't take screenshots of the comics on their phones, for example. More Technology of Business Lack of investment is also a well-discussed issue. One or two start-ups have been able to raise significant capital. The employment site JobNet has received two seven-figure US dollar funding rounds, while software developer My Play was bought by Australian firm iSentric in 2017. But overall there's been little interest from investors wanting to risk significant sums in a politically fragile country facing international opprobrium for its treatment of the Rohingya people. "Investors are reluctant to invest under these political conditions," says Shwe Yamin Oo, chief executive of RecyGlo, a start-up that organises a recyclables pick-up service for offices in Yangon. "[They] want to make sure that they get their money back. But Myanmar is high return, high risk." Despite having the decades-long US sanctions lifted following the appointment of Aung San Suu Kyi's democratic administration, Western and East-Asian investors remain cautious, says Sui-Jon Ho, research manager at IDC Financial Insights. Despite all the challenges, Phandeeyar's Mr Petersen is optimistic. "As Myanmar's economy grows and its middle class grows, it has all the factors in place to create a successful and thriving ecosystem," he believes. "There's a really good number of people building the next generation of companies."

दशकों की तानाशाही और अंतर्राष्ट्रीय प्रतिबंधों के बाद, म्यांमार (जिसे पहले बर्मा कहा जाता था) अब एक छोटे लेकिन तेजी से बढ़ते तकनीकी स्टार्ट-अप परिदृश्य का घर है, जो घर पर पकाए गए भोजन की डिलीवरी से लेकर कॉमिक ऐप तक सब कुछ पेश करता है। लेकिन देश को अभी भी कई बड़े अंतरराष्ट्रीय निवेशकों द्वारा बहुत जोखिम भरा माना जाता है।


Lederhosen and dirndl dresses make a comeback

Summary: In Austria and Germany, the traditional costume known as Tracht always used to be the preserve of the ultra-conservative. But these traditional clothes - lederhosen for men and dirndl dresses for women - have recently become rather fashionable.

By Bethany BellBBC News, Vienna High on a hill near Salzburg, a farmer, with an impressive beer belly, danced at a village festival. He was wearing a checked shirt, embroidered braces and weather-beaten leather shorts, known as lederhosen. They were very short. Little of his stout, hairy thighs was left to the imagination. Close-by, a group of girls giggled at some private joke. They could have been extras from The Sound of Music, because they were all wearing dirndl dresses: dark bodices over white blouses with plunging necklines, and full skirts with colourful aprons. "It is quite normal to wear Tracht here," one of the villagers told me. "Perhaps not every day - but it is part of who we are." And not just in the countryside. Even in big cities like Vienna, you come across people going to work in traditional jackets with short green collars, loden coats with horn buttons and even dirndls. In post-war Austria, it has often been seen as a political statement. "For many years, wearing Tracht was associated with conservative or even far-right ideology," one Viennese told me. "During the Nazi era, Jews were forbidden from wearing it - and later it was often taken as a sign that you were not open to the world. But that is changing. In fact these days it is really trendy." So trendy, in fact, that Tracht retailers are reporting big profits. There are cut-price Dirndl-chains, and discount supermarkets sell lederhosen, along with cheap food and socks. Recently at a party, I met Clemens, who is in his early 30s and works for a telecommunications company. He says he likes to mix the traditional and the modern. "On dress down Fridays at my office, a lot of us wear lederhosen," he told me. "I like wearing them with a T-shirt. It is comfy and I do not think it is political any more." It is still not everyone's cup of tea. Another friend told me vehemently he would not be seen dead in lederhosen - or even a loden jacket. "It is what far-right politicians wear - never!" he said. But then he relented slightly. "Perhaps I might, if I was invited to a wedding." And weddings in traditional costume are now very popular. At the shop belonging to Austria's Grand Dame of Tracht, Gexi Tostman, there are albums full of personal photos of grooms in brilliant waistcoats and knee breeches and brides in silken dirndls. Mrs Tostman thinks that the change in attitude towards Tracht owes a lot to a remark by the British designer Vivienne Westwood on a visit to Austria in 2001. "Vivienne Westwood said, 'I do not understand you Austrians. If every woman wore a dirndl, there would not be any more ugliness'." The quote caught on, Mrs Tostmann told me, and slowly young people started to reclaim their heritage. "Can anyone wear a dirndl?" I asked her. "Or do you have to come from Austria?" "You cannot wear the Tracht from the Bregenzer Forest region," she told me. "Traditionally, that is just for them - but otherwise yes, anyone can wear it. It is a gesture of respect towards Austria." And here I have to make a confession. Despite having lived in Austria for more than a decade, I had never been tempted to wear a dirndl. But that, I decided, was about to change. And so I asked to try one on. A smiling saleswoman ushered me over to the changing area and handed me a dirndl. It had a dark blue bodice with tiny white polka dots, a black skirt and a pink and white striped apron. "Do you have to wear the apron?" I asked. "Yes," she said firmly. "The apron is always worn." I put on the little white blouse, and then stood still while she buttoned me into the tight bodice, and tied the apron in a bow at my waist. "There now," she said. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I began to see why Vivienne Westwood is such a fan of the dirndl. The puffy sleeves, close-fitting bodice and the full skirt produced an hourglass effect - very flattering to a woman's figure. And the contrasting colours and patterns were pretty. But I did not buy it. It still felt slightly too Austrian for someone of Anglo-American heritage like me. And because I knew there was one thing I would never be able to resist: the constant urge to sing "Edelweiss". How to listen to From Our Own Correspondent: BBC Radio 4: Saturdays at 11.30am and some Thursdays at 11am. Listen online or download the BBC World Service: Short editions Monday-Friday - see World Service programme schedule.

ऑस्ट्रिया और जर्मनी में, ट्रेक्ट के रूप में जानी जाने वाली पारंपरिक पोशाक हमेशा अति-रूढ़िवादी लोगों के लिए संरक्षित रहती थी। लेकिन ये पारंपरिक कपड़े-पुरुषों के लिए लेडर और महिलाओं के लिए डर्न्डल कपड़े-हाल ही में फैशनेबल हो गए हैं।