Troy: Will Gompertz reviews the British Museum's new blockbuster show ★★★★★

Summary: Troy: Myth and Reality at the British Museum is an exhibition that rewards the diligent. To go unprepared is to start watching Game of Thrones half way through Season 7; it'll still make some sort of sense but will generally be more baffling than Prince Andrew's decision to do that interview.

Will GompertzArts editor@WillGompertzBBCon Twitter I know this because I hadn't sufficiently mugged up when I went to see it and duly fell at the first hurdle, which is the show's title. What was myth and what was reality? Was there ever such a man as Homer? Was there ever an epic war with the Greeks? Was there ever a wooden horse? Did Troy even exist? You need to know this stuff. Which I do now thanks to the good offices of Alexandra Villing and Victoria Donnellan, who took pity on me and escorted me around their 294-object exhibition. They swiftly put me right on the basics. Troy did exist. Well, it did, but even that has been contested. Not least by Homer who reported it had been totally wiped out, a view shared by the Roman poet Lucan, who wrote, "Etiam periere ruinae" - Even its very ruins were destroyed. That small bone of contention aside, it's useful to know the city was also called Ilion (or Ilium in Latin) - hence The Iliad - is now called Hissarlik, and can be found on the far north west coast of Turkey to the south of the Dardanelles strait near the Aegean Sea. As for the 10-year Trojan war, they're not so sure. Probably an invention - at least in the way it's described by Homer. The same goes for the wooden Trojan horse, and possibly even Homer, the great poet of the past. He might have been a she, or someone else altogether, or a collection of individuals latterly embodied as Homer a single genius because that's how we like our great art packaged. The truth is we don't know, it is all myth. I've stood upon Achilles' tomb, And heard Troy doubted: time will doubt of Rome. Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto 4, 101 And then there is the reality, which consists of the art and artefacts that make up this encyclopaedic exhibition. They cover a period of 5,000 years, with the majority coming from the centuries following the fable of the Trojan War, which is thought to have been set in the Late Bronze Age, around 1200BC. These pots, paintings, carvings, manuscripts, and assorted fragments all have inscriptions and depictions relating to the epic tale. The earliest of which is a small, battered drinking cup (circa 715BC) from Pithekoussai, an old Greek colony in southern Italy. It appears at the beginning of the show and sets a suitably poetic tone, with these three lines of verse scribbled within its geometric decoration: "I am the cup of Nestor, good to drink from; whoever drinks from this cup, immediately desire of fair-garlanded Aphrodite will strike him." You wouldn't necessarily know it, but that's a joke. The point being that Nestor, a Greek king featured in Homer's Iliad, drank from a golden goblet that only he was strong enough to lift, whereas anyone could swig from this little clay vessel. What was a joke back then is deadly serious now to a contemporary scholar. The inscription reveals that a small ancient community knew of a story featured in the Iliad. What's more, the pot on which those words appear was not made locally, but in Teos, Turkey, which is near to Smyrna and Chios, two settlements put forward as the birthplace of Homer. Hanging on a wall not far from the cup is a wonderful marble relief (circa 1st Century BC - 1st Century AD) that gets to the crux of the story. It shows the meeting between Paris (the son of Priam, King of Troy) and Helen (wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta.) The rendezvous is engineered by meddling gods and is not entirely of Paris's making. He had been asked by Zeus to pick the fairest of three goddesses: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. It is a scene known as The Judgement of Paris, which is shown in several pictures in the exhibition, the best of which is by Lucas Cranach the Elder, a painting from circa 1530, which has an unforgettably charismatic horse looking on. Paris chooses Aphrodite, who promptly offers to him as his reward, the most beautiful woman in the world, which is Helen. The warmongering gods have done the poor chap up like a kipper. Of course, he falls for Helen and takes her back to Troy. There's a wonderful wall-painting (AD45-79) from Pompeii in the exhibition, showing a servant leading Helen to the ship that will take her to Troy. She doesn't look exactly thrilled by the prospect, but her sombre mood is nothing compared to her husband's. Menelaus is absolutely livid when he discovers that some Trojan bloke has gone off with his missus. He marshals an army of fellow Greeks to bring her home, and thereby begins the decade-long Trojan War. The Iliad only covers 51 days of the drawn-out battle, concentrating on the last year and featuring all our favourite characters and events. We see a lot of Achilles. And the Greeks' famous wooden horse, which is elegantly evoked in a bespoke section that leads to the second part of the show, bringing us into the 19th Century and the archaeological exploits of a German businessman called Heinrich Schliemann. He and Frank Calvert, an Englishman and fellow Troy-head (archaeology was still a largely amateur pursuit in 1870), set out to find the fallen city using Homer's geographical descriptions as their divining rod. The poet had mentioned the Dardanelles, Mount Ida, the islands of Tenedos and Imbros, and local rivers. They identified a mound at Hissarlik as the spot to start digging. Schliemann was determined to prove not only that Troy was buried beneath the surface, but also find incontrovertible evidence of the Trojan War. As you will see, if you visit this excellent exhibition, he did very well on the first objective, but fell woefully short on proving the myth a reality. His years of digging are displayed with a mixture of flair and restraint. The bowls, cups, axes and animal figures are theatrically lit within a shelved structure that represents each layer of the excavation. And so, an object from Troy VII, is shown a metre above one from Troy II. It's a helpful device. The exhibition finishes with a gallery of paintings showing the Western fascination with the mythical tale. A Matisse-inspired collage called The Siren's Song (1977) by the African-American artist Romare Bearden is very good. Eleanor Antin's Judgment of Paris (after Rubens) from 2007 is fun, but does not compare to the Baroque master's painting nearby, The Wrath of Achilles (1630-35). And then there's the William Blake, the Cy Twombly (as you enter the show), and the Elisabeth Frink lithographs. There is so much to enjoy in this show, it doesn't matter that there is the odd dud along the way - I didn't much like the Anthony Caro sculpture with sound effects as you enter the exhibition, or the Shield of Achilles (2019) by Spencer Finch as you leave - but pretty much everything in between them is terrific. Recent reviews by Will Gompertz

ट्रॉयः मिथ एंड रियलिटी एट द ब्रिटिश म्यूजियम एक ऐसी प्रदर्शनी है जो मेहनती लोगों को पुरस्कृत करती है। बिना तैयारी के जाना गेम ऑफ थ्रोन्स को सीजन 7 के बीच में देखना शुरू करना है; यह अभी भी कुछ हद तक समझ में आएगा लेकिन आम तौर पर प्रिंस एंड्रयू के उस साक्षात्कार को करने के फैसले की तुलना में अधिक चौंका देने वाला होगा।


Fire crews tackle wildland blaze in Menstrie Glen

Summary: Fire crews from across central Scotland were called to tackle a wildland fire in Menstrie Glen.

Units from Dunblane, Doune, Bridge of Allan, Stirling, and Auchterarder, supported by a command unit from Bo'ness, attended the blaze on Sunday. Crews used beaters and hosereel jets to contain and extinguish the fire. Dunblane Fire Station said its Polaris all-terrain vehicle was also used during the operation, which lasted about six hours.

मेनस्ट्री ग्लेन में जंगल की आग से निपटने के लिए मध्य स्कॉटलैंड से अग्निशमन दल को बुलाया गया था।


Hull Rosmead Park motorbike crash: Man charged with injuring boy

Summary: A 24-year-old man has been charged with injuring a nine-year-old boy who was hit by a motorbike in a park.

Jerome Cawkwell, 24, of Cambridge Grove, Hull, is also charged with failing to stop after the crash in the city's Rosmead Park on Monday. Humberside Police said the boy is in hospital with "life-changing injuries" and Mr Cawkwell was charged with five vehicle offences in total. He is due to appear at Hull Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. Mr Cawkwell is charged with: More Yorkshire stories

एक 24 वर्षीय व्यक्ति पर एक नौ वर्षीय लड़के को घायल करने का आरोप लगाया गया है, जिसे एक पार्क में मोटरसाइकिल ने टक्कर मार दी थी।


Pramila Le Hunte: 'I tried to be the first female British Asian Tory MP'

Summary: Of the 365 Conservative MPs elected last week 14 were of South Asian heritage and four of them were women. It's a far cry from 1983, when Pramila Le Hunte became the first British South Asian woman to stand for parliament as a Tory, writes the BBC's Kavita Puri.

In the late spring of 1983, Cambridge University student Bem Le Hunte was on her way to watch an address by Margaret Thatcher. She was with a group of friends, carrying a basketful of eggs. That's when the news reached her. It was about her mother - she had just been selected as the first British Asian female Conservative Parliamentary candidate in the forthcoming election. The announcement caused huge media excitement. Bem, however, was unimpressed, although it did make her think she'd better not pelt the prime minister with eggs, as she'd been intending. Pramila recalls that Bem felt "terribly ashamed to be my daughter". Unlike Pramila, nearly all British South Asians in the early 1980s voted Labour. Pramila says it was in their genes when they arrived in the UK. "Because who gave them independence? Clement Attlee [the Labour prime minister]. Who was against us? Winston Churchill… So Labour was deified from day one. "The good people of Britain were Labour. And the baddies were the burra sahibs, the important white gentlemen." When thousands came to post-war Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, many working the most difficult shifts in mills, factories and foundries, these early settlers also felt that the Labour Party "stood for the working man" like themselves, Pramila says. She had lived a charmed life. Born in 1938, she had spent her early years in British India in "the jungle" in Mosaboni in Bihar. Her father supplied timber to the British copper mine there. They were the only Indian family living among "Britishers", as they were known then. She recalls hearing Mahatma Gandhi speak publicly about taking a stand against the British, during the Quit India movement. She decided, as a little girl, to try that out one late afternoon, at the company tennis courts where she used to meet her English friends. She picked up a stone and, throwing it, said, "All right, Margaret, quit India." She hit her target. Margaret responded by throwing a stone at Pramila, striking her on the head. It was to be Pramila's first political foray. Pramila's first language was English. She still remembers the first poem she learnt: A beetle got stuck in some jam, he cried "Oh how unhappy I am!" His ma said, "Don't talk, if you really can't walk, you better go home in a tram." She was an avid reader throughout her childhood, and in 1957 she went to Cambridge University to study English literature. There were few Indians around in those days and she liked to ride her bicycle wearing a sari. "I felt rather special. Must be a little bit of showmanship. I quite liked the idea of bombing around in a sari in King's Parade." She was delighted to be in the UK, free of all parental controls. Find out more She admits she was not a typical Indian girl. She says there used to be a Poppy Day with celebrations and street parties, and she took charge of her college float, basing it on the Paris cabaret club, the Moulin Rouge. She got people to chant: "A shilling a kiss, a bob for two." Men would jump on the lorry and get a kiss, she says, shaking her head and smiling. "Now which Indian girl would do that?" She met her English husband in her third year. They lived in India together for a number of years with their four children, before settling in Richmond, south-west London. There weren't many South Asians there then, she remembers, and it was the time of the Conservative MP Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech, in which he criticised mass migration, especially from the Commonwealth countries. Her children suffered a lot from racism at that time, she acknowledges. Pramila went on to study further to become an English teacher. It was important to her to be "top notch". She felt that "for an Indian wanting to teach English to the English… you have to have credibility." She went on to be a teacher at some of the most prestigious London day schools. She also supported the Conservative Party, becoming chairman of a Richmond Council ward. She was asked if she would consider putting her name forward for a number of seats with large British South Asian populations, and in 1983 she got selected to stand in Birmingham Ladywood, a staunch Labour constituency. Even though Margaret Thatcher was known for anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric, she also saw potential voters among the million-plus British South Asians of the time. She praised the community for its family values, hard work and entrepreneurial spirit. Local and national press were fascinated by Pramila. "I think it was an oddball interest… they asked me, 'Is this tokenism?' I remember saying, 'What's wrong with it?' Someone has to start somewhere." Ladywood had a large British South Asian population - mostly Sikhs, and Mirpuris from Pakistan-administered Kashmir. When she met with them she would wear salwar kameez - baggy trousers with a long shirt - and she would cover her hair with a veil, so she could "mix and merge". Pramila's parents were Hindu Punjabis, and she felt there was a natural connection with the Sikh community, the majority of whom were Punjabi too. "I dressed like them. It's the same ethic, ate the same food. We were no different." Even though they were all Labour supporters, they told her they would vote for her. She rationalises it by saying, "I'm Punjabi. Their culture. Their person." They told her no politician had ever come to speak to them before. She would eat lunch sitting on the ground in their Sikh temples. Some of the community offered to protect her as she went around canvassing. She refused. While campaigning, Pramila also met members of the Mirpuri community, whom she had never met before either on the Indian subcontinent or England. "Never met a single one until I went there. I was not moving in those circles." Yet she says they also perceived her as one of them. "I look the same." Her father was from northern India, growing up near the borders of the North-West Frontier and she says she could almost speak their dialect. Even though she was Hindu and they were Muslim, the affinity was instantaneous, she says. "It was like striking a match." She mostly spent time with the women. They knew what she ate, she would speak to them about clothes, jewellery, arranged marriages, "girly stuff". And as their lives were quite restricted, they had many questions for her. "They were curious about the world outside and India." The outfits changed when Pramila was canvassing in the leafier suburbs. She laughs as she says the English middle class would not take well to a woman in Asian clothing. "I never wore that. Never. I dressed in what would make them comfortable." She says she swapped the salwar kameez for trousers, a top and a scarf, while she was sipping sherry with the women of Ladywood in their twin sets and pearls. There was hostility towards Pramila. One day, close to the election, she was going around with a loudspeaker on the back of an open-roofed lorry when a stone came flying towards her. "It happened so fast," she makes a whooshing sound. "It touched my hair. A bit of breeze came with the stone." She doesn't know who it was - or the motivation. "So in my life I've had two stones hurled at me. One in Birmingham, and one as a little one being political. Two political stones." Female British South Asian MPs Pramila admits it was tough canvassing in a Labour stronghold. She remembers that it was a time of huge unemployment. She recalls going to homes in the tower blocks around the Bullring area. People were at home she says because they didn't have jobs. "And you got abuse because Thatcher wasn't flavour of the day." There were even death threats. She admits she also got abuse for being non-white, though she doesn't like to dwell on it. Pramila was at the count on election night. Clare Short - who would go on to be a Cabinet Minister years later - won for Labour. Pramila did, however, nearly double the Conservative vote in Ladywood. She says she knew she was never going to win such a Labour stronghold, but "I thought I would make an impression." She didn't stand in 1987. She and her husband had divorced by then and she knew the only seats available to her were ones with a South Asian population. These voters would not be able to accept an unmarried woman as an MP - so she felt it unlikely she would be selected. Pramila went back to teaching. She is a published playwright, and is writing a book about her life. She is still a member of the Conservative Party, but thinks it must have forgotten her part in history. In the 2015 general election she approached her local Conservative office offering to help out behind the scenes, as knocking on doors is difficult for her now. They declined. She says she sent an email to the current Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid, when he was standing to be the leader of the Conservative party, to help him with delivering speeches, but "not a dickie bird". Now aged 81, looking back she acknowledges that by standing in the 1983 election she was "making footsteps in the sand for the next generation". "More than that, somebody has to trailblaze," she says. "And I had the kind of mentality to do that. And the lack of fear. I was quite gutsy." You may also be interested in: It was unusual for first-generation Asian women to learn to drive after arriving in England in the 1960s and 70s, but some were determined to ignore convention. The Asian women who defied the driving taboo

पिछले सप्ताह चुने गए 365 कंजर्वेटिव सांसदों में से 14 दक्षिण एशियाई विरासत के थे और उनमें से चार महिलाएं थीं। यह 1983 से बहुत दूर है, जब प्रमीला ले हंट टोरी के रूप में संसद के लिए खड़ी होने वाली पहली ब्रिटिश दक्षिण एशियाई महिला बनीं, बीबीसी की कविता पुरी लिखती हैं।


Snowball throw caused Dumfries crash

Summary: Police are trying to trace a youth seen throwing a snowball at a passing vehicle which caused it to crash into another car in Dumfries.

The incident happened at about 15:40 on Monday on the town's Lochside Road. The snowball hit the windscreen of a silver Ford Mondeo and resulted in the vehicle colliding with a passing silver Honda Civic. The drivers received a medical check-up by ambulance staff at the scene but suffered no injuries. Police are keen to speak to four male youths who were also seen in the area around the time of the incident.

पुलिस एक युवक का पता लगाने की कोशिश कर रही है जिसे एक गुजरते वाहन पर बर्फ का गोला फेंकते हुए देखा गया था जिसके कारण वह डमफ्रीज़ में एक अन्य कार से टकरा गया था।


Louth illegal butchery inquiry after sheep heads found

Summary: Two sheep have been slaughtered in a field with their heads and feet left behind, prompting an illegal butchery investigation.

Lincolnshire Police said the carcasses were then taken from Highfield Farm in Cadwell, Louth. It happened overnight on Thursday, with the remains discovered at 07:30 GMT. Officers asked people who may have witnessed suspicious activity or have recently been offered meat for sale to contact them. Sgt James Perring said: "Illegal butchery is a serious offence. "Not only are there risks in consuming meat when it isn't from a reputable source, but it can also cause unnecessary suffering to the animal." Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk. Related Internet Links Lincolnshire Police

एक खेत में दो भेड़ों की हत्या कर दी गई है और उनके सिर और पैर पीछे छोड़ दिए गए हैं, जिससे एक अवैध कसाई जांच शुरू हो गई है।


Free breakfast scheme for Blackpool school children

Summary: Children in Blackpool could be given a free breakfast as part of a scheme to improve behaviour, attendance and standards in schools.

From January, the town's 12,000 primary school pupils could receive free milk, fruit juice, cereal or toast as part of the three-month trial. Blackpool Council's executive will discuss the proposals on Monday. Council leader Simon Blackburn said "under-nourishment is a real problem" in the town. He said: "We see and hear of children attending school who quite clearly haven't had breakfast, and are not therefore able to learn. "It will ensure children start the day in the right way. It will encourage them to continue the good habit of eating a balanced breakfast."

ब्लैकपूल में बच्चों को स्कूलों में व्यवहार, उपस्थिति और मानकों में सुधार के लिए एक योजना के हिस्से के रूप में मुफ्त नाश्ता दिया जा सकता है।


Hassan al-Kontar: Who is the man trapped in an airport helping now?

Summary: Hassan al-Kontar became known around the world as "the man from the airport" after spending months living in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. He was granted asylum in Canada last year and now hopes to help 200 refugees also in limbo to resettle in a new home.

The 38-year-old first became aware of the issue of asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru when some of them contacted him on social media, explaining their situation. At the time, he was documenting online his own plight - left living for months in a Malaysian airport in 2018 following a series of events that left him stranded when the Syrian war broke out in 2011. Now in Canada, he has become an advocate on issues pertaining to refugees and settlement. He is partnering with two Canadian non-profit organisations - Canada Caring Society and Mosaic, who both work in refugee resettlement - to get 200 refugees currently on Manus Island and Nauru to be privately sponsored to come to Canada. The newly launched endeavour - dubbed Operation Not Forgotten - has been endorsed by the Refugee Council of Australia and Amnesty International. "We are trying to give hope for the hopeless people," he told the BBC from his home in British Columbia. Since 2012, Australia has sent asylum seekers arriving by boat to Manus Island and Nauru under a controversial policy aimed at deterring further arrivals. Canberra has steadfastly ruled out ever letting those people settle in Australia, even those found to be refugees. The bipartisan policy has been justified as humane because it prevents human trafficking and deaths at sea. But the UN and others say asylum seekers on the islands have frequently suffered human rights abuses, including sexual and physical assaults. Doctors have also increasingly warned of mental health crises. Though no longer officially in detention, the asylum seekers are now effectively in indefinite limbo in transit centres - contributing, experts say, to high levels of self-harm. Some refugees have been resettled in the US under a one-off deal, but about 800 people remain on the islands, said Human Rights Watch last month. Most have been there since 2013. Australia has seen almost two decades of highly politicised debate about border protection. It continues to refuse a standing offer from New Zealand to take 150 refugees - arguing doing so would provide a "back door" to Australia. Mr Kontar was deeply troubled by the situation, and spoke about it to Laurie Cooper, a volunteer with Canada Caring Society, who was instrumental in helping bring him to Canada. She told the BBC she was telling her daughter one evening about the "desperate situation" for those on Manus Island and Nauru last May. It was just after the Australian general election and many asylum seekers had hoped that a change in government would help them, but the incumbent government held power. There were several cases of attempted suicide by some asylum seekers following the news. She said she exclaimed to her daughter that night: "Goddamn it, we should just sponsor all those guys." When Ms Cooper woke up the next morning, she realised it was a good idea, and Mr Kontar agreed. "These guys have been called the forgotten men of Manus and nobody has been able to find a way to help them and it just dawned on me that because of the amazing private sponsorship programme we have in Canada that there actually was a way if we could raise the money," she says. Since the 1970s, Canada has allowed private citizens, along with authorised sponsorship groups, to directly sponsor refugees by providing newcomers with basic material needs like food, clothing, housing, and support integrating into Canadian society. The organisations behind Operation Not Forgotten will raise the funds to sponsor and support the refugees for their first year in Canada, and are training volunteer settlement teams to provide the necessary support for them when they arrive. Under Canadian sponsorship guidelines, C$16,500 ($12,500; £10,300) needs to be raised for each refugee to support them for 12 months - meaning the groups need to raise C$3.3m in total. Australian citizens who are supporting the endeavour have so far raised over C$100,000. "We are not launching this operation to publically shame or to embarrass or to put a pressure or push the Australian government - that's not our intention," says Mr Kontar. "We are offering our friendship, we are encouraging them to do the right thing." The organisations have put the word out to refugees there asking them to register with them if they are interested resettlement to Canada, and more than 200 have done so. The group plans to focus first on those who currently are not eligible for resettlement anywhere else and who have no other alternatives. They will begin submitting applications as funds come in and it could take up to two years from that point before resettlement, but Ms Cooper says they may ask the Canadian government to expedite the cases. The refugees are from countries including Iran, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Iraq. Some of them are stateless. Mr Kontar says he knows from personal experience what it is like to live in limbo and wants them to remain hopeful of a better future. "I want them to hold their ground and keep the faith and believe in us," he says."They are not forgotten, that's for sure." Additional reporting by Jay Savage

कुआलालंपुर अंतर्राष्ट्रीय हवाई अड्डे पर महीनों बिताने के बाद हसन अल-कोंतर को दुनिया भर में "हवाई अड्डे के आदमी" के रूप में जाना जाने लगा। उन्हें पिछले साल कनाडा में शरण दी गई थी और अब उन्हें उम्मीद है कि वे 200 शरणार्थियों को भी एक नए घर में बसने में मदद करेंगे।


Leaving Kenya: Tourists brand it an 'over-reaction'

Summary: About 400 British tourists are being evacuated from parts of Kenya, following a warning by the Foreign Office of a "high threat" from terrorists in the country. Tour operators Thomson and First Choice have cancelled all flights to Mombasa until October and said holidaymakers would be flown back as a precautionary measure. Some holidaymakers have already returned to Gatwick, and while a number of them were reportedly "in good form", others were not happy to have their holiday cut short.

Chris and Tracy Jones said they believed the decision to evacuate tourists had been an over-reaction. "I've worked in other areas where there are terrorist problems," Mr Jones said. "This has been going on for years - this is not a one-off incident. There have been incidents throughout the world but do they stop flights to Saudi Arabia, do they stop flights to other places? No they don't." His wife said she thought Thomson had brought people back "too early" and that the situation in Kenya did not seem "that bad". "Coming through Mombasa Island, which is where there was meant to have been the most threat over there, I didn't think it was that bad," Mrs Jones said. Chris Houckham-West from London was evacuated on Thursday evening. He and his husband were supposed to stay at a resort in Mombasa until Tuesday. 'Over the top' He said the Kenyan people were "surprised" about what was happening. "We had a great time. We didn't feel unsafe at any point - when we went on safari there was security in place," Mr Houckham-West added. "I think the FCO's stance is all a bit strange - it changed and suddenly we had to get out of the country. It seemed to be a bit over the top." Alex Dolphin, from Surrey, who also arrived back on Friday morning, said it was not until he and other holidaymakers were being evacuated that he felt uncomfortable. "I didn't feel uneasy until we were in a convoy of three coaches parked on the roadside waiting to leave for the airport," he told the BBC. "I was keeping an eye open as we drove through Mombasa. It was a strange situation to be in." Meanwhile, Kerrie Gardiner was stuck at Moi International Airport in Mombasa waiting for a flight back to the UK. 'We know nothing' Originally from Milton Keynes, she said there was no staff at the Thomson desk and that tourists were not being kept informed. "We have family calling us because they are worried, and I just want to get back home to my two children," she said. "We can't check in and we are just sitting here with no food or water, watching other people catching their flights. "I've been to Kenya in 2009 and have not had any problems - so we just don't understand what is going on. We know nothing - we're not being informed." Back at Gatwick, Barry Jackson said everyone involved in his flight out of Mombasa had been "very kind" and some were "happy to be back". "The captain asked us would we please be kind to the poor stewardesses on the plane, because they had a rough time," he added. "They were meant to be off, instead they were working. Nobody said boo, everybody was very kind, very stiff upper lip. It had to be done." Bob Pever told the BBC on Friday that he was "disappointed" to be leaving Kenya after spending nine days on holiday with his family. And his views were echoed by fellow UK tourist Judy Sharp who was returning to the UK at the same time as Mr Pever. She said: "It's such a shame that we have to cut our holiday short because of other people."

विदेश कार्यालय द्वारा देश में आतंकवादियों से "उच्च खतरे" की चेतावनी के बाद लगभग 400 ब्रिटिश पर्यटकों को केन्या के कुछ हिस्सों से निकाला जा रहा है। टूर ऑपरेटर थॉमसन और फर्स्ट चॉइस ने अक्टूबर तक मोम्बासा के लिए सभी उड़ानें रद्द कर दी हैं और कहा है कि एहतियाती उपाय के रूप में छुट्टियों पर जाने वालों को वापस भेज दिया जाएगा। कुछ छुट्टियाँ मनाने वाले पहले ही गैटविक लौट चुके हैं, और जबकि उनमें से कई कथित तौर पर "अच्छी स्थिति में" थे, अन्य अपनी छुट्टियों में कटौती से खुश नहीं थे।


Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $110m in US talc cancer case

Summary: Pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has been ordered by a US court to pay more than $110m (£85m) to a woman who says she developed ovarian cancer after using its talcum powder.

Lois Slemp, 62, from Virginia, Missouri said she developed the cancer after four decades of using talc products. Prosecutors argued the company did not adequately warn about the cancer risks associated with the items. Experts say links with ovarian cancer are unproven. J&J says it will appeal. The verdict in a St Louis state court is the largest so far to arise out of about 2,400 lawsuits against J&J over its talc-based products, Reuters news agency reports. Ms Slemp is currently undergoing chemotherapy after her ovarian cancer initially diagnosed in 2012 returned and spread to her liver. She said the products she used included J&J's Baby Powder and Shower to Shower Powder. "Once again we've shown that these companies ignored the scientific evidence and continue to deny their responsibilities to the women of America," said Ted Meadows, a lawyer for Ms Slemp. The verdict included $5.4m in compensatory damages and $105m in punitive damages against J&J. The company said it planned to appeal. "We are preparing for additional trials this year and we continue to defend the safety of Johnson's Baby Powder," it said in a statement. "We deeply sympathise with the women and families impacted by ovarian cancer." J&J lost three jury verdicts last year in cases related to its talc-based products, but won its first trial in March, when a jury in Missouri sided with the company. Is talc safe? James Gallagher, health editor, BBC news website There have been concerns for years that using talcum powder, particularly on the genitals, may increase the risk of ovarian cancer. But the evidence is not conclusive. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies talc used on the genitals as "possibly carcinogenic" because of the mixed evidence. Why is there any debate? The mineral talc in its natural form does contain asbestos and does cause cancer, however, asbestos-free talc has been used in baby powder and other cosmetics since the 1970s. But the studies on asbestos-free talc give contradictory results. It has been linked to a cancer risk in some studies, but there are concerns that the research may be biased as they often rely on people remembering how much talc they used years ago. Other studies have argued there is no link at all and there is no link between talc in contraceptives such as diaphragms and condoms (which would be close to the ovaries) and cancer. Also there does not seem to be a "dose-response" for talc, unlike with known carcinogens like tobacco where the more you smoke, the greater the risk of lung cancer. What should women do? The charity Ovacome says there is no definitive evidence and that the worst-case scenario is that using talc increases the risk of cancer by a third. But it adds: "Ovarian cancer is a rare disease, and increasing a small risk by a third still gives a small risk. So even if talc does increase the risk slightly, very few women who use talc will ever get ovarian cancer."

फार्मास्युटिकल फर्म जॉनसन एंड जॉनसन (जेएंडजे) को एक अमेरिकी अदालत ने एक महिला को 110 मिलियन डॉलर (85 मिलियन पाउंड) से अधिक का भुगतान करने का आदेश दिया है, जो कहती है कि उसे इसके टैल्कम पाउडर का उपयोग करने के बाद डिम्बग्रंथि का कैंसर हो गया था।


Rato and other Bankia officials face fraud probe

Summary: Former International Monetary Fund chief Rodrigo Rato is one of 33 current and former officials at Spanish lender Bankia who are facing a fraud inquiry.

Mr Rato, who is Bankia's ex-chairman, and the others are accused of fraud, price-fixing and falsifying accounts. The case opened in the High Court in Madrid after a lawsuit was brought by a small political party, UPyD. The government took control of Bankia in May when it became insolvent after large losses from risky home loans. Former Bank of Spain governor Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez will also be called as a witness in a court case that goes to the heart of the scandal, which has caused widespread public outrage. Bankia's collapse is largely blamed for forcing the Madrid government to seek a rescue package of up to 100bn euros from the EU last month.

अंतर्राष्ट्रीय मुद्रा कोष के पूर्व प्रमुख रोड्रिगो राटो स्पेन के ऋणदाता बैंकिया के उन 33 वर्तमान और पूर्व अधिकारियों में से एक हैं जो धोखाधड़ी की जांच का सामना कर रहे हैं।


Cuba and US find common ground in war on drugs

Summary: The golden beaches of Cayo Cruz lie at the end of a long path through a nature reserve. It is an idyllic stretch of Cuba's northern coast but this is key territory in the fight against international drug-tafficking.

By Sarah RainsfordBBC News, Camaguey Province, Cuba Cuba sits right between the world's major narcotics producers in South America and the biggest market for those drugs, the United States. The island has served as a bridge for traffickers in the past but in recent years it has been a barrier to the illegal trade. "We used to see a lot of suspicious boats here," Ardoldo Cisneros Pena recalls of the 1990s. He is chief border guard in Cayo Cruz, where we were recently given rare access. "There were almost daily drops into the sea," he says. Small planes would bombard Cuban waters with packets of drugs, for speedboats to whisk to the US. Today, the scene is tranquil. A young border guard scans the horizon from a mint-green watchtower. A stone slab below reads "They shall not pass!" and "Viva Fidel!". 'Mortal venom' It was Fidel Castro, then president, who acknowledged a surge in the use of Cuban waters by drug-traffickers in 1999. There was a nascent narcotics market too, as smugglers' packages began washing up on the coast. The government was compelled to act against what Mr Castro calls a "mortal venom". "We have more resources now, there is a helicopter for the border guards and more commitment from the interior ministry, the military and the Cuban people too," Lt-Col Cisneros explains. Operation Ache, as the crackdown was known, also installed a new radar and recruited hundreds of unpaid "collaborators", trained to keep their eyes peeled for suspicious parcels along the shore. The drugs planes have now gone and the main threat today is from speed-boat smugglers attempting to traffic marijuana north. "They try to escape us but if they can't, they try to dump the drugs because they know this activity is very heavily penalised here," explains Lt-Col Mago Llanez Fernandez, who heads the team responsible for intercepting the smugglers at sea. He admits that up to 60% get away. Securing any abandoned narcotics is the priority here. But as the boats flee, Cuba now passes real-time data to the US coastguard so they can pick up the pursuit. It is rare teamwork for two old, ideological enemies. "I think this is important for Cuba, because we're preventing the drugs reaching here, but it's also very important for the US and other countries in the area," Lt-Col Llanez points out. With its very heavily policed society, it is no surprise Communist Cuba is not a big drugs market itself. Scarce supply means even a joint of marijuana can cost up to a week's wage ($5) for a state worker. But some smugglers have begun to see potential here. "We've seen a rise in attempts by Cuban Americans to bring drugs in, especially marijuana, because the prices are high here," says police investigator Yoandrys Gonzalez Garcia. "It's not a huge amount but it concerns us and we're increasing our efforts to fight this." 'Effective' Between January and June this year, 24 attempts to traffic narcotics through the island's airports were foiled, and these figures put Cuba on course to double the interdiction rates of 2010 and 2011. The drugs were mostly destined for sale in Cuba. Police point to a surge in air traffic with the US since President Barack Obama removed travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans. Lifting limits on remittances has also given some Cubans on the island greater spending power. But the US is not the only smuggling source. Boris Adolfo Busto was arrested at Havana airport for drug-trafficking. His group was bringing in drug "mules" from Ecuador, with up to a kilo of cocaine in their stomachs. "There was a Cuban guy involved and he said he could sell everything here, he said it'd be easy," Busto recalls when we meet at Havana's Condesa prison. He is serving a 23-year sentence. "I think the authorities are very efficient," he says forlornly, adding that "dozens and dozens" of other smugglers have since joined him behind bars. Cuba has called for a formal co-operation agreement with the US to help stamp out smuggling in both directions. It already shares intelligence with European governments, and receives funding and training. "Our communication at sea gets good results but sadly we can't say the same about air traffic," Mr Gonzalez police investigator complains of the Americans. The US and Cuba severed diplomatic ties more than five decades ago. But officials on the ground acknowledge Cuba's contribution to the common war on drugs. "[Without] a strong counter-drug stance, Cuba would be a prime area for drug smugglers, but its efforts are very effective," says Louis Orsini of the US coastguard, adding that the US would find it "really challenging" if Cuba became a direct conduit for illicit narcotics. Today, though, the policy is zero tolerance and the interior ministry says nine tonnes of drugs were seized from traffickers last year and incinerated. Most were destined for the US market and beyond.

केयो क्रूज़ के सुनहरे समुद्र तट एक प्राकृतिक रिजर्व के माध्यम से एक लंबे रास्ते के अंत में स्थित हैं। यह क्यूबा के उत्तरी तट का एक रमणीय हिस्सा है लेकिन यह अंतर्राष्ट्रीय नशीली दवाओं की तस्करी के खिलाफ लड़ाई में महत्वपूर्ण क्षेत्र है।


Being a stay-at home dad 'tiring but very rewarding'

Summary: From April, fathers will be able to share maternity leave with their wives. Currently they get just two weeks off after a child is born, while women can take up to a year. So what is it like being a stay-at home dad?

"At first, my dad kept sending me the jobs pages from the Telegraph," says Thom Chesser. "I don't think he was really sure what I was doing all day. Then he looked after his two nephews for a week and realised I already had a full-time job." Thom, 41, has two boys, Jacob, four, and Isaac, two, and another child on the way. His wife Ann is a personnel manager for Network Rail and they live in London. After what he admits was an "eclectic" job history - including working as an agent for circus performers and a graphic designer for a bank - he gave up work in 2006, just before Jacob was born. "The childcare costs were about what I was making and Ann wasn't keen to leave him in a nursery all day, so when she asked me I was more than happy to do it. "My job was mostly designing bits of paper that were going to be thrown away. It could be exciting when deadlines were looming, but ultimately it wasn't particularly fulfilling. "I was fearful in that I didn't know what it was going to be like, but I was convinced I could do it." 'Lots of lists' Ann took six months' maternity leave and during that time Thom helped in any way he could. "When she went back to work she wrote me lots and lots of lists about what I should be doing and I just got on with it." A report released by Demos says new parents are increasingly relying on friends, rather than family, for support, and the government should do more to help them develop local networks. Thom agrees. "NCT (National Childbirth Trust) classes teach you to change a nappy, but they also introduce you to five other couples in your area who are about to have a baby. It's an instant support network. I also go to a group on Fridays called Dads and Little 'Uns, which I help run, and to another group on a Saturday morning. "If you go to a park there'll always be a group of mums with babies chatting and having coffee. There'll be some dads too, but they'll be on their own - they're less gregarious than women. So I've spent four years collecting them. If I see a dad with a buggy I'll always go up and talk to them." 'Marvellous' Being a stay-at-home dad has transformed Thom's personal and professional life, he's now taking an NVQ in childcare and wants to do a primary school teaching course. And apart from his slightly sceptical father - who is now fully on board - Thom says he has received almost universal support. "I've had the odd comment from random blokes in the street, but that's it. Women are very supportive. They always say 'it's marvellous what you're doing'. And I think 'why? It's no more marvellous than you doing it.' "Clearly it's hard work. The kids can be frustrating and I'm so tired, but every day they'll do something new, something I taught them, and that's very rewarding. "It would be lovely if more men got the chance to spend more time with their children. Fathers tend to take longer to bond with babies, so it can only be a positive. It's tiring, but very rewarding thing. And even where dads do go to work, if they didn't have to work such long hours it would make a big difference."

अप्रैल से, पिता अपनी पत्नियों के साथ मातृत्व अवकाश साझा कर सकेंगे। वर्तमान में उन्हें बच्चे के जन्म के बाद केवल दो सप्ताह की छुट्टी मिलती है, जबकि महिलाओं को एक साल तक का समय लग सकता है। तो घर में रहने वाले पिता होना कैसा लगता है?


Townshend and Daltrey: Quadrophenia's enduring relevance

Summary: The Who are back on stage in the UK touring a full-length performance of their classic '70s album Quadrophenia. Its story belongs to a very brief moment in history: the Bank Holiday riots between rival gangs of Mods and Rockers in 1964. Band members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey tell the BBC News Channel why Quadrophenia has had such lasting appeal.

By Amanda BruckshawBBC News Pete Townshend calls Quadrophenia a "quintessentially English piece". The music tells the story of Jimmy, a rebellious and conflicted teenager who searches for an identity, first in the characters of The Who, and then as a member of a gang of Mods. Townshend says: "It's about a young man who sees himself in the four members of the band." But that ultimately "this is a story of any young man who is struggling". The context for Jimmy's story, Townshend says, is "the whole period in which we grew up, the whole post-war condition, all of the elements of life when the Mods and Rockers were meeting on the beaches down in Brighton" - a life which produced what he calls "those kind of strange tensions in the young". Singer Roger Daltrey says the tensions are still there. Asked about the summer riots in England two years ago, he says: "That's the point about it; the adolescent dilemma is exactly the same as it ever was. In that sense it's timeless." The other reason for Quadrophenia's longevity is of course the music itself. It's recognised as some of The Who's finest material, and is still feted by critics as one of the greatest rock albums of the era. The album interweaves several musical themes, creating a mood which is by turns exuberant, defiant and wistful. But while it's ambitious, it's far from inaccessible. Townshend says the band were at their peak as musicians when they recorded Quadrophenia, and the songs bear that out in their energy and immediacy. Townshend had written it "shut away pretty much on my own" - but in the recording studio, the other band members had a transforming influence. "Roger's performances surprised me, because some of the songs that I'd intended to be quite bleak and poignant and painful and shy, like Love Reign O'er Me, Roger performed with immense passion, and yet still delivered the same kind of poignancy and vulnerability that I thought wouldn't be possible with such a bravura performance." But over the years, The Who have struggled to bring the music to life on stage. Their first tour with Quadrophenia was hit by sound problems: the show depended heavily on backing tapes but Townshend says they didn't have enough technical support to make this work. In the 90s, the show used a narrator, which Daltrey believes put a distance between the audience and the music. This time, The Who clearly believe they've managed to connect with their audience. At Daltrey's instigation, the narrator was dropped: he says: "I made the audience Jimmy basically." The result has delighted both men. Townshend says: "I've always said that what makes a great rock band is that it leaves space for the listeners to insert themselves into the story. That's happening in this show, "I'm very aware that when I'm performing to the audience, they're getting something from it that I'm not giving them." The Who's show also pays a poignant tribute to the two band members who died: drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle. Each briefly dominates the concert, appearing on screen in archive video clips which are integrated with the live performance. Moon is seen performing Bell Boy, the song in which the swaggering Mod idolised by Jimmy is brought down to size: shamefully revealed as a lowly hotel porter. Daltrey says: "You really get something coming from Moon that I think most people overlook, because people tend to think he was this madman, this clown, all the time. But when you see him singing Bell Boy, there's this joy in his eyes but there's also the pathos of the song, and it's incredibly emotional to watch." Entwistle's playing is showcased during 5:15 in a virtuoso bass solo which Townshend describes as "astonishing playing, and ridiculous playing as well. I've had a few bass players say to me 'John Entwistle. What?' - they just don't understand what he did". Daltrey and Townshend both talk with gratitude about their own lives now. Townshend says: "I can't imagine being luckier than to get to this place in our lives when we're both pushing 70 and we've got this great music - and we also feel very lucky to be friends." Daltrey says simply: "I've always said about music: you don't give it up, it gives you up, it leaves you." For The Who, that moment still looks some distance away. The Who on Quadrophenia, presented by David Willis, can be seen on the BBC News Channel this weekend, on Saturday 15 June at 00:30 and 15:30; Sunday 16 June at 10:30 and 20:30 and on Monday 17 June at 01:30. All times are BST.

द हू यूके में अपने 70 के दशक के क्लासिक एल्बम क्वाड्रोफेनिया के एक पूर्ण-लंबाई प्रदर्शन के दौरे पर मंच पर वापस आ गए हैं। इसकी कहानी इतिहास के एक बहुत ही संक्षिप्त क्षण से संबंधित हैः 1964 में मोड्स और रॉकर्स के प्रतिद्वंद्वी गिरोहों के बीच बैंक हॉलिडे दंगे। बैंड के सदस्य पीट टाउनशेंड और रोजर डाल्ट्रे बीबीसी न्यूज चैनल को बताते हैं कि क्वाड्रोफेनिया की इतनी स्थायी अपील क्यों हुई है।


Pale stale and male

Summary: I was in the reception of Blaenau Gwent council offices this week when I met Brian Scully, a Labour councillor for the past 46 years, who jokingly declared himself to be "pale, stale and male".

Nick ServiniPolitical editor, Wales The context was that I'd just been to interview the Minister for Public Services Leighton Andrews in the Gwent Archives about his proposal to introduce a 25 year limit for councillors in order to break up what he called the old boy network and the cosy cabals. Mr Scully summed up the feeling that I suspect will be shared by many veteran councillors that the only people who should decide if he no longer has anything to offer should be the voters themselves. The limit for council cabinet members is 10 years. The aim is to encourage younger people and more woman into local government. That won't be easy when the message is that many senior councillors are overpaid and if you are elected the budgets you work with will be squeezed in an age of austerity. Overpaid The term limits will in particular try to deal with the fact that around 10% of council seats are uncontested. Most people would accept that these are pretty long stints but there'll be plenty of others who agree with Brian Scully, particularly when there are no limits elsewhere. Jane Hutt and Edwina Hart have been in the Welsh government's cabinet for 15 years and then at Westminster Ann Clwyd has recently decided to stand again. She is 77 and has been an MP since 1984. A lot has been made recently about pay levels for council chief executives but Leighton Andrews believes that cabinet members and council leaders are overpaid. There are around 1,200 councillors in Wales with a basic salary of £13,300. Good cop The pay scales of cabinet members vary. The leaders of the largest councils like Cardiff and RCT receive £53,000, medium sized authorities like Bridgend and Wrexham get £48,000 and smaller ones like Blaenau Gwent and Anglesey receive £43,000. So the leader of Cardiff Council, Phil Bale, is paid £53,000, which is less than the £54,000 paid to a backbench assembly member, and yet it will be pointed out that Mr Bale is responsible for an organisation with a budget of close to £1bn. There's also a recommendation from an independent panel for AMs to receive an 18% pay increase which will inevitably be raised by local government. So that's the bad cop. The good cop bit of the white paper which was published by the Welsh government this week is about cutting bureaucracy. Councils complain all the time that devolution has simply heaped regulations and targets on them in areas like social services and education. More powers This was reflected in the findings of the Williams Commission, which portrayed a picture of a hugely complex Welsh public sector. Leighton Andrews is promising to simplify the entire system. We talk a lot about simplifying powers between the UK and Welsh governments but this will be the first in-depth look at the system connecting the assembly and councils. Sorry for the jargon here, but there is also the prospect of greater powers for councils in what is called powers of general competence. An example of where this is useful would be where an authority has to deal with abusive graffiti on a building and under the current system they don't have the ability to act quickly because of a lack of power. The white paper doesn't deal with the elephant in room, which is plans to reduce the number of councils. There's a sense of deja vue here, but the Welsh government will hold talks with opposition parties with a view to putting a map together by the summer. And as was the case last year the best chance of a deal, in fact the only realistic chance of a deal, is with Plaid.

मैं इस सप्ताह ब्लेनाउ ग्वेंट परिषद कार्यालयों के स्वागत समारोह में था जब मैं पिछले 46 वर्षों से एक लेबर पार्षद ब्रायन स्कली से मिला, जिन्होंने मजाक में खुद को "पीला, बासी और पुरुष" घोषित किया।


Man who died in Salford crash was 'kind and generous'

Summary: A man who died after being hit by a car was "kind and generous" and a "loved son", his family has said.

Alan Strong, 52, was struck as he was walking along Littleton Road, Salford, at about 18:00 BST on 30 April and died later in hospital. The car was later found on Dalton Drive in Pendlebury. A 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene. He was released on bail. A statement from Mr Strong's family said: "Alan was a loved son to Norma and the late Norman. He was kind and generous, especially to those in need. "He had a fondness for the elderly and children alike. He will be sadly missed by family and friends."

कार की चपेट में आने से मरने वाले व्यक्ति के परिवार ने कहा है कि वह "दयालु और उदार" और "प्रिय पुत्र" था।


Bill McLaren Hawick rugby museum backed by council

Summary: Councillors in the Borders have given their unanimous support for plans to build a museum of world rugby in Bill McLaren's honour in Hawick.

The authority has agreed to help find a suitable location for the centre as well as offer advice and support. The main force behind the £4m project is the Bill McLaren Foundation set up after the commentator's death in 2010. Cllr Graham Garvie said he believed the museum could be a "fantastic new tourist attraction". It is hoped the museum will tell the story of the sport using Mr McLaren's distinctive voice as much as possible. BBC Scotland has given its support to the project by granting access to its archive of matches on which he commentated over half a century. The target is to have the facility up and running in the next three years.

बॉर्डर्स के पार्षदों ने हॉविक में बिल मैकलारेन के सम्मान में विश्व रग्बी का एक संग्रहालय बनाने की योजना के लिए अपना सर्वसम्मत समर्थन दिया है।


Chris Swallow: New Zealand school's tribute to 'inspirational' TT racer

Summary: Staff and pupils at a New Zealand school have paid tribute to racer Chris Swallow following his death in a crash at the Classic TT on the Isle of Man.

A celebration of his contribution to Tawa College was held on Thursday. Head teacher Murray Lucas said he "inspired young people to be the best people that they could be". Mr Swallow, from Yorkshire, had taught at the school since emigrating to the country in 2010 and lived in the New Zealand city Wellington. The 37-year-old taught classes in PE and also the building of electric vehicles. Student Sam Chambers said he would be "a sorely missed addition to our worlds". Head teacher Mr Lucas added: "He was an effective and innovative classroom teacher who always wanted the best for his students." The experienced racer was killed in a crash at Ballaugh Bridge on the opening lap of the Senior Classic race.

न्यूजीलैंड के एक स्कूल के कर्मचारियों और छात्रों ने आइल ऑफ मैन पर क्लासिक टी. टी. में एक दुर्घटना में रेसर क्रिस स्वालो की मृत्यु के बाद उन्हें श्रद्धांजलि दी है।


Lee Child: Celebrating mystery fiction master MacDonald

Summary: John D MacDonald's Travis McGee series is one of the finest in mystery fiction. But the real mystery is how he became an author at all. As the author of the Jack Reacher series, I explore my fascination with the writer in a forthcoming Radio 4 programme, 21 Shades of Noir: Lee Child on John D MacDonald.

By Lee ChildNovelist It has always intrigued me. Why would an affluent intelligence officer destined for the corporate corner office become a penniless writer of pulp fiction? I draw my own conclusion in the documentary, and in the best tradition of suspense fiction, I won't reveal it here. But it's the story of a man who upon finishing his wartime service, found personal liberation behind a typewriter. John D MacDonald was born in 1916 into a gilded, upper middle class lifestyle in Sharon Pennsylvania. He volunteered for army service in 1940, was commissioned as an officer and finished the war as a serious, bespectacled Lieutenant Colonel in intelligence. This was the American Century: unprecedented prosperity was all around, and a new person was about to emerge - the corporate executive. Ninety-nine out of 100 men like him were taking their Harvard MBAs to General Motors, IBM or the Pentagon. Instead, MacDonald sat at a battered kitchen table and banged out 800,000 words before eventually selling a story to a magazine for 25 bucks. He lost 20lbs in the process. The 21 Travis McGee books have been an inspiration to me. McGee is a Florida boat bum - a so-called salvage consultant. If you lose something, McGee can get it back, but always for a 50% cut. The plots are great and the conclusions are always satisfying but MacDonald takes time out to explore his own fears about the environment and runaway consumerism. He was ahead of his time in that regard. He was also an innovator when it came to marketing. One man with an insight into this was the long-time editor and publisher Otto Penzler. "He was the first person I heard of who would note down the name and address of anyone who sent him a fan letter," Penzler says. "When he had a new book coming out he would have an assistant write out envelopes and stuff them with fliers to say 'this is the new book by John D MacDonald'. "He was a businessman as well as a writer." This was fascinating as an early incarnation of advice given to the modern novelist - always keep your mailing list up to date. The colour-coded titles of the Travis novels, from 1961's The Deep Blue Good-By to The Lonely Silver Rain in 1985, were a triumph of branding. The titles were instantly recognisable to his many fans. Penzler says MacDonald may have been an accomplished novelist but he was also a Harvard MBA, a man who understood business and who wanted to make money from his work. Penzler adds: "I don't think he needed to make too much money, he came from some wealth, but he was certainly interested in promoting his books." Another revelation was the astonishing productivity of writers like MacDonald. I'm considered prolific by modern standards but can't compare to some of the guys in the documentary. It was a pleasure to speak to Lawrence Block, a crime writer whose immense body of work spans the old days and the new. Block says he has no idea how many books he has written but estimates it at somewhere below 200 but well over 100. "I know so many writers who were similarly prolific," he says. "Bob Silverberg, a giant of science fiction... was doing two a month for one publisher, another for a second publisher, and the equivalent of another book for a magazine. "He was writing a quarter of a million words a month." Block suggests that intense work rate was not uncommon. But for modern readers there is a note of caution. While the marketing and the environmental concerns may have been ahead of their time, the gender relations were definitely not. In the documentary the novelist and cultural critic Susan Isaacs allows herself a sharp intake of breath at MacDonald's description of one female character, but draws an interesting conclusion about his ability to convey the rounded reality of their backgrounds and occupations - something lacking in a lot of the genre fiction of the time. She said: "He was capable of being dreadful - but not that often. "I think he was relatively balanced, he saw women as humans but not fully human because [Travis] was always saving them. "Unlike Jack Reacher he never meets women as equals. They're always wounded, they're always hurting. In many cases he's saving them from the evil that they meet - and they meet a lot of evil." I read the Travis McGee novels five years before beginning my own Jack Reacher series and for the first time I was given a sense of "the skeleton beneath" the writing. I could see what MacDonald was doing, how he was compelling me to read on. I was left with the impression that if I needed to write a book, I could. 21 Shades of Noir can be heard on Radio 4 at 1130 on Thursday 13 October.

जॉन डी मैकडोनाल्ड की ट्रेविस मैकगी श्रृंखला रहस्य कथाओं में सबसे बेहतरीन में से एक है। लेकिन असली रहस्य यह है कि वह कैसे एक लेखक बने। जैक रीचर श्रृंखला के लेखक के रूप में, मैं आगामी रेडियो 4 कार्यक्रम, 21 शेड्स ऑफ नॉयरः ली चाइल्ड ऑन जॉन डी मैकडोनाल्ड में लेखक के प्रति अपने आकर्षण का पता लगाता हूं।


Was Royal Mail sold too cheaply?

Summary: With £27bn of investors' money having chased shares priced at just £1.7bn, and with Royal Mail's share price trading at more than 450p this morning, compared with the 330p a share the government is receiving, there is a certainly a case for saying the government could have got more.

Robert PestonEconomics editor And just to put this in slightly more concrete terms, at 330p the government is receiving a fraction under £2bn, if (as is very likely) its bankers exercise what is known as the over-allotment option (if you really want to know more about this, see me after class). However if the shares had been priced at around this morning's market price, at say 450p, the Exchequer would have received £2.7bn. So should taxpayers be raging that they've lost a potential windfall of £700m, which would not have paid off the trillion pound national debt but would have paid for a couple of miles of High Speed 2? There are a number of things to say about this. And the first is that pricing is more art than science, and no vendor of a large number of shares will ever get the best price available. Also the price range for the privatisation shares was set by the government at a time when prevailing opinion was that this was a risky declining business hobbled by lamentable industrial relations; it was only in the course of the share sale that investors noticed a parcels operation growing very nicely, an endowment of potentially valuable properties in city centres and the fat income the company is promising to pay shareholders. What is particularly striking is that Royal Mail's own people are confident that they are in a business that will prosper: I have learned that 15,000 Royal Mail employees, almost a tenth of the workforce, have paid £52m to buy Royal Mail shares (in addition to the free shares being handed to all Royal Mail employees). However, what some may think is odd - including, presumably, ministers - is that investors have completely ignored the risk that Royal Mail could imminently be brought to a grinding halt by a strike. The frenzy to buy Royal Mail shares probably tells you quite a lot about the extent to which better-off people think the economy is recovering - which the government is not going to rage about. That said, a 36% gap between market price and privatisation price is far wider than would normally be thought necessary to whet punters' appetite for future privatisations (remember that the Department for Business Innovation and Skills has another 30% of Royal Mail to flog, probably next summer, so ministers would not want to burn investors buying in this initial share offer). So something does seem to have gone a bit cock-eyed with the sale. What? Well the privatisation prospectus explicitly allowed the government to revise the sale price up, outside of the indicated range, if demand for the shares turned out to be much greater than expected. With big investment institutions putting up money for the shares worth 20 times what was on offer to them, and retail investors bidding for seven times what was available, it is fair to say demand was greater than anticipated. So why did the relevant ministers, Vince Cable and Michael Fallon, sell at the top of the indicated range, rather than breaking through that threshold? They had what they regard as non-partisan advice, from the investment bank Lazards - which was not involved in actually placing the shares, and therefore had no vested interest, in theory - that 330p was a fair price. And that advice was apparently underwritten by the government's own internal counsellor on these issues, the UK Shareholder Executive. But, that said, Cable and Fallon are grown-ups and know that ultimately the buck stops with them: advisers advise, ministers decide. So they know that if the share price stays at this level for weeks and months, they will be vulnerable to criticism - and, probably, to a ticking off by the National Audit Office. But Vince Cable has already made clear that he thinks the market is wrong to price the shares at these levels, by talking about the need to wait until the "froth" has been blown off. Or to put it another way, he and Fallon assume that Royal Mail shares will be back near the offer price before Christmas. Which points towards the most delicious political spat I've seen in a long time. Labour's spokesman on all this, Chuka Umunna, in chastising Cable and Fallon for allegedly selling Royal Mail too cheaply, has in effect been shouting - at the most sensitive period of privatisation - "the government is selling five pound notes for 50p, fill your boots." Whereas the capitalist Tory Fallon and leftish Lib Dem Cable have been saying to retail investors, "I'd take care if I were you, this stock-market game can be a bit dangerous." So what is quite striking is that 700,000 people with a bit of money to spare voted Umunna, by stampeding to apply for the shares - though whether they are natural Labour supporters is another thing altogether. Here is the intriguing political calculation. If Royal Mail shares stay at these levels, the government may well in time be found guilty of having privatised the company too cheaply. But ministers have just delivered a tidy windfall of £187m to 690,000 people who've been allocated £750 of shares each. That is a potential profit of almost £250 for each of them. Which is a fair number of people who are probably prepared to buy Fallon and Cable a drink.

27 बिलियन पाउंड के निवेशकों के पैसे ने केवल £ 1.7bn की कीमत वाले शेयरों का पीछा किया है, और रॉयल मेल के शेयर की कीमत आज सुबह 450p से अधिक पर कारोबार कर रही है, जबकि सरकार को 330p प्रति शेयर मिल रहा है, यह कहने के लिए निश्चित रूप से एक मामला है कि सरकार को और अधिक मिल सकता था।


The brothel operating 'in full view of police'

Summary: Police are choosing to allow brothels to operate providing they create a safe environment for women, one former detective - now a brothel owner - has told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme. We have been to meet the women working in his premises.

By Victoria DerbyshireBBC journalist The small, smart two-bedroom flat in a Victorian residential block could not be further from what you might expect of a brothel. Many across the UK use trafficked or drug-addicted women who are controlled by pimps, but this is different. The interior of the central London apartment is modern, pleasant and warm - there are no grubby net curtains at the windows, or threadbare sheets on the beds. Sitting on the brown, faux-leather sofa in the living room is "Cherub", from Romania, in a dark red bra and knickers, and nude patent heels from Primark. Next to her is "Janine", wearing a short black satin robe over purple underwear. Both are cautiously friendly. 'Moral judgements' One of the women, however, is happy to open up about all aspects of her work, and be pictured. Louise is British, has a diploma in marine biology and £20,000 of student debt. She says she would rather work three or four days a week selling sex, with the earning potential of up to £900 a week, than "12-hour days in a petrol station on the minimum wage". She is also keen to challenge the stigma around sex work. For her it is a choice, she says, and she is not being exploited. 'I'm stubbornly defiant about my right to do this kind of work without people inflicting their moral judgements on me," she says. "I don't want people to think I'm on drugs or that I've been forced or coerced or trafficked. "I'm just here as a normal person who wants to make money, secure a future for myself and do this kind of work because I choose to." The conversation is punctuated every 10 minutes by the phone or front door bell ringing - a man making a booking or arriving for his "appointment". Clients are charged £70 for each half hour. Of that, the women take £45 and £25 goes to the brothel. A busy day for Louise would involve eight or nine clients. We spoke to 11 women and members of staff at the brothel, who all told us they were working there by choice, and not under the control of anyone else. We were not allowed to speak to any of the clients and none of them knew we were there. No-one could say if the neighbours were aware of what went on in the flat. 'Handsome gentlemen' One of the maids - or receptionists - who has been in the industry for more than two decades, says the profile of customers has changed during that time. "There are a lot of younger gentlemen coming in, handsome gentlemen - people that you wouldn't think would need to pay for sex, but it's easier for them than dating," she says. "Sometimes friends will come together before a night out. It's become a lot more normalised." Double doors lead from the living room to a small hall, off which there are two bedrooms (one en suite) and a tiny bathroom. They look like mid-range hotel rooms - cream walls, dark grey bedding dressed with a couple of silk cushions. Either side of the double bed is a wooden chest of drawers containing multiple packets of baby wipes, and nappy sacks for used condoms. A well-thumbed copy of Men's Health magazine sits next to the bed. Between clients, the women sit around drinking tea, scrolling through their phones, and laughing about a customer who had wanted Janine to pretend she had "dumped him". Astonishingly, the 45-year-old brothel owner, Karl, is a former police officer. The father-of-one says he has been in the role for 15 years. His teenage daughter doesn't know about his job. Despite it being illegal to operate a brothel in England and Wales - although not illegal to buy and sell sex - Karl says he has no moral qualms about breaking the law because he does not agree with it, and he says he is not exploiting the women who work for him. "We don't allow drugs, no under-age girls. We check everyone's passports," he says. "If we've got any doubts that they're not there under their own free will, we will call the police." 'I could go to prison' Karl - whose surname we are not using - says he has done that twice in the past decade and a half. He says he operates the brothel in full knowledge of the authorities, and claims they are willing to let him continue as long as the women are in a safe environment. "If they close us down, I could go to prison," he acknowledges. "But then there's 15 to 20 girls who've got to find somewhere to work." The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) lead for prostitution and sex working, Assistant Chief Constable Dan Vajzovic, says: "Officers will now consider a range of factors, including the safety of those sex workers involved, before deciding on whether prosecution is the most appropriate response to an offence. "Enforcement alone has proven to be an inadequate response to prostitution." He says it remains a priority to "crack down on those who use their position to exploit the vulnerable". While Karl and Louise argue for legalisation, feminist Julie Bindel who has written a book on the trade, said legalised brothels were actually worse. She interviewed 100 women who worked in prostitution during her research. "It's a fantasy that legalisation would help anyone except the pimps," she said. "Even the women who choose to, they exist, they are doing it to make ends meet. And we can't keep accepting and condoning it, the buying and selling of the inside of women's bodies." Both Karl and Louise say they pay tax on their earnings. Karl and his wife have a limited company, registered as an escort agency. He says his yearly salary pre-tax was £60,000. Louise agrees with Karl that brothels should be legalised. "If I'm on my own [and not in a brothel] - which is what the law allows me to do - I'm at the mercy of whichever client decides to come in," she says. "A client can come in, rape me, beat me, mug me. "[But] if I work in a brothel where there's other women present, where there's a receptionist, it's a million times safer." Watch the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.

पुलिस वेश्यालयों को संचालित करने की अनुमति देने का विकल्प चुन रही है बशर्ते वे महिलाओं के लिए एक सुरक्षित वातावरण बनाएँ, एक पूर्व जासूस-जो अब एक वेश्यालय का मालिक है-ने बीबीसी के विक्टोरिया डर्बीशायर कार्यक्रम को बताया है। हम उसके परिसर में काम करने वाली महिलाओं से मिलने गए हैं।


Coronavirus outbreak: 'People would rather give their mum some loo roll'

Summary: "Business has been really tough. Customers are not thinking about Mother's Day, they're thinking about their groceries at the minute. Flowers are a luxury, and they'd rather give their mum some loo roll!"

Ruth Donoghue owns The Flower Shoppe in Lee, south east London. She closed her store on Friday, having only had a handful of orders for Mother's Day. "We've had the worst Mother's Day I've seen in 34 years of having my shop," she says. "I pre-ordered all of the flowers two weeks ago, but we just don't have the customers. Everyone's saving their pennies and understandably worried about their jobs." Ruth adds that she isn't clear on whether or how she can access the support that the government has offered. She says that the cash grant of £3,000 for very small businesses affected by Covid-19 wouldn't go far enough. "That's my rent - and it's due next week," she says. "I'd normally pay that out of my Mother's Day profits, but I won't have any this year." As well as seeing lower footfall to her shop than usual, Ruth has also had to deal with brides and grooms cancelling orders for wedding flowers as celebrations are postponed. Online sales boost But as fewer people go to the shops, some businesses say that online sales have seen a boost. Cat Owen, the owner of Cat Food Cakes, says she has sold "double the amount I normally would" this week, despite having no walk-in customers. "I've had to completely adapt my business. Normally for Mother's Day, I would take about 30 orders of trays of personalised cupcakes. "But, I've had no orders for those. Instead, I've made delivery boxes of everything you'd need for an afternoon tea at home, and they've been really popular." Cat adds she has "no idea" about whether she will have to close her shop over the next few weeks. "I'm taking as many orders as I can right now. It's stressful because I'm not sure whether I'll even have any ingredients, so I'm trying to make as much money as I can right now". 'Not enough' to make up for the fall Although small businesses like Cat's are changing to keep up with online orders, analytics company Global Data suggests that the increase in internet sales won't make up for the sharp fall in "physical" purchases. This was echoed by Angus Thirlwell, the chief executive of luxury retailer Hotel Chocolat. Although its online sales have seen a big increase in the run-up to Mother's Day, he told the BBC this was not enough to "wholly off-set" the reduction in footfall seen across its 125 UK shops. Hotel Chocolat has also asked staff to work in roles they normally wouldn't because demand has spiked in different areas of the business. Mr Thirlwell said: "We're asking staff to adapt and work in different locations, or for example on packaging chocolates if they normally make them." He told the BBC that the changes meant that the firm would not be cutting jobs, although some of its stores are closing temporarily. He added: "I do think that this will result in a lasting change. Huge parts of our customer base will get used to buying online, they've registered and found out how easy it is." "Hopefully, there are some silver linings in the clouds ahead," he said.

"व्यापार वास्तव में कठिन रहा है। ग्राहक मदर्स डे के बारे में नहीं सोच रहे हैं, वे इस समय अपने किराने के सामान के बारे में सोच रहे हैं। फूल एक विलासिता हैं, और वे अपनी माँ को कुछ शौचालय रोल देना पसंद करेंगे!"


Beamish Museum recreates miners' life from 1950s

Summary: The 1950s have been brought back to life at an outdoor museum.

Beamish Museum in County Durham has recreated an exact copy of the former Leasingthorne Colliery Welfare Hall and Community Centre, near Bishop Auckland. Visitors will be able to experience social activities of the time such as games and music, as well as a mother and baby clinic. It is the first part of a forthcoming 1950s town, which will feature housing, a chip shop and a hairdressers. In recreating the hall, Beamish worked closely with people from the local community, who shared memories, stories and objects. Pam Hymas, from the Leeholme and Coundon Community Centre, said: "Just the feel of the place actually makes you feel you are back in our original hall. "It's the same vibe, the same feeling - it's amazing." It also hosts a replica of an NHS clinic, where mothers would go for pre and post natal care. Collections development officer, Emma Sayer said of the clinic: "We've tried to pay particular attention to all of the details, looking at the kinds of products which were available to mums in the 50s. Richard Evans, the museum's director, said: "People come [here] with their own stories, their own history. "It's not our role to tell people what their history is, it's to provide a space where they can come reflect and connect with the stories from their communities and their own background." The opening is being marked by a weekend of activities and events. Related Internet Links Beamish, The Living Museum of the North

1950 के दशक को एक बाहरी संग्रहालय में फिर से जीवंत किया गया है।


Inquest opens after Stadco factory death

Summary: A man who died after an accident at a car parts factory in Shropshire has been identified at an inquest.

It is not known how Keith Ivison died but he was injured in an incident at the Shrewsbury plant of Stadco on Monday. He died in hospital the early hours of Tuesday, the firm said. The inquest was adjourned to take place at a later date. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is investigating as well as the firm. A spokesman for the firm, which provides parts for the automotive industry, described the death as a "tragic incident".

श्रॉपशायर में एक कार के पुर्जों के कारखाने में एक दुर्घटना के बाद मारे गए एक व्यक्ति की पहचान एक जांच में की गई है।


What Addenbrooke's tells us about state of NHS

Summary: The idea that Cambridge's world-renowned Addenbrooke's Hospital has been branded a failure by regulators is a jolt to the system. But perhaps equally as worrying is that it happened so quickly.

Nick TriggleHealth correspondent@nicktriggleon Twitter A year ago, the trust that runs the hospital - Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - wasn't even on the Care Quality Commission's radar in terms of being a failing centre. In fact, two years ago as the regulator was embarking on its new inspection regime it was among the band of hospitals considered to be the safest, according to the risk-rating system at the time. But now a hospital that can boast of being a centre of excellence for major trauma, transplants, cancer, neurosurgery, genetics and paediatrics, has been judged to be a basket case and will join the 12 other failing hospitals already placed in special measures. So what does this tell us about the state of health of the NHS? Sir Mike Richards, the CQC's chief inspector of hospitals, believes Addenbrooke's problems are largely of its own making, criticising the trust's management for "losing grip". Certainly it seems to have made mistakes - as the troubles with its £200m computerised patient records programme illustrates - but it's hard to escape the feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg. While the scale of the problems at Addenbrooke's may set it apart - it was running up deficits of over £1m a week - the nature of many of those difficulties are, worryingly, all too familiar among the 162 hospital trusts in England. A system under pressure CQC report on Addenbrookes and the Rosie Hospitals Rising demand led to the trust increasing spending on agency staff, which meant costs spiralled and care suffered, with nurses working on wards without having the adequate skills needed for what was being asked of them. Bottlenecks were seen as the hospital struggled to discharge patients (partly because of the lack of services in the community) and bed occupancy levels rose, while pressure on surgical services meant waiting times grew. Or - in the words of the chief inspector - "a vicious cycle" developed. But these problems are mirrored elsewhere. When Barts Health NHS Trust - the biggest hospital trust in the country - was placed in special measures earlier this year, the regulator also cited staff shortages and waiting times. These issues are not unique to failing hospitals, however. Key waiting time targets are being missed or have been missed in cancer, A&E and for routine operations in recent months. Great leadership Meanwhile, deficits continue to grow. Last year was the worst for a decade, with NHS organisations (hospitals, mental health trusts, community providers and ambulances combined) finishing over £800m in deficit. The sector only managed to finish in the black because of a £250m bailout from the Treasury and raiding the capital budget, which is meant to be spent on buildings. This year, finance directors have told the King's Fund think tank it is likely to get worse. Of course, it is not all down to circumstances. The CQC is rightly pointing out there are trusts out there still managing to run a "good" hospital. That is true. To date, there are 22 hospital trusts that have been rated good by the CQC and two outstanding. The only problem is that three times that number have been judged as requiring improvement or inadequate (although it must be said that the regulator has tended to focus on the trusts it has suspicions about first, so you would expect there to be a greater proportion of poor performers given less than two-thirds of the hospital sector has been inspected). The lessons from those that are doing well is that great leadership can make a difference. However, the nature of great means that it's not found everywhere. There is a growing consensus that the NHS is struggling to recruit or develop great leaders. This was made clear in the recent review of management by ex-Marks and Spencer boss Lord Rose. The issue is also illustrated by the number of vacant posts. Nearly one in five hospital trusts does not have a permanent chief executive in post, according to the Health Service Journal. This was an issue that was raised by experts last week at the launch of the Spending Review submissions by the three leading think tanks, the King's Fund, Health Foundation and Nuffield Trust. They suggested high-calibre leaders may be being put off because the outlook in the sector was so bleak. Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb, a care minister in the coalition government, went even further this weekend in an interview with the Observer newspaper, warning the NHS was heading for a "crash". That may be the doomsday scenario, but the fact it is getting mentioned is a sign of how difficult things are getting.

यह विचार कि कैम्ब्रिज के विश्व प्रसिद्ध एडेनब्रुक अस्पताल को नियामकों द्वारा विफलता करार दिया गया है, प्रणाली के लिए एक झटका है। लेकिन शायद उतना ही चिंताजनक है कि यह इतनी जल्दी हुआ।


Oxfordshire hosepipe ban beaten by gardeners own sources

Summary: Oxfordshire faces a hosepipe ban from 5 April.

Thames Water and six other firms said they will impose water restrictions after two unusually dry winters left reservoirs, aquifers and rivers below normal levels. While this could be disastrous news for many gardeners and allotment owners, some are turning to their own supplies to beat the ban. "I'm probably in a very envious position at the moment," says Richard Preston, a retired vegetable grower from Steeple Aston. He is the chairman of the local gardening club and passionate about the acre of well-tended land around his north Oxfordshire home, which he is able to keep it looking lush and green with the help of harvested rainwater. 'Foresight and fortune' "We've just built a new house which we've moved into only a few months ago and in the design of the house we decided we should try and retain all the water from the roof," said Mr Preston. "We've installed a 4,500 litre rainwater harvester which means all the rainwater I collect off the roof of the house goes into a massive tank underground. "Then I've just got to switch on the switch and an electric pump sends it up to all my outlet taps which are in the garden. "So hopefully if we have the occasional rain that I can fill up the tank with, we should be ok for water." Mr Preston said his investment had been "great foresight and great fortune considering the situation at the moment" but thinks more should be done by the water companies. But at a cost of about £5,000, underground reservoirs are not the solution for everyone. Steeple Aston has 23 allotments and last May the allotment association paid to have mains water connected. This automatically fills three metal troughs so users can fill their watering cans. Chairperson Jennifer Hallam said: "We didn't get taps installed because it would allow people to connect a hosepipe and waste water. "Everyone has been very grateful for the water because we've struggled on for years and years without it." But before turning to the troughs the allotment owners also use their own rainwater which they collect in butts next to their sheds. 'In this together' A spokeswoman for Thames Water said they would encourage people to harvest rainwater and collect or to use "greywater" to recycle in their garden. Using the water from the trough with a watering can or bucket was also acceptable under the new restrictions. But she added: "We want everyone to use as little water as possible - we're all in this together so the less water our customers use now, the more we'll have to supply them with later." Hosepipe bans are nothing new and Mr Preston said: "Way back in 1976 and many, many years since we've had this situation down in the south east and the midlands, there has been a hosepipe ban because of a lack of water. "We live in an island which has a massive high rainfall in the north of the country i.e. Scotland, we have severe drought problems in the south east. "Why don't they consider getting water from the wet part of the country to the dry part and not wait for this to happen all over again?" However, the Environment Agency considered creating a network of pipes to transfer water south in 2006. It concluded it would be massively cheaper and less environmentally dangerous to improve the infrastructure in the south. Until that happens though, gardeners, allotment owners and water companies must keep looking to the skies for salvation.

ऑक्सफोर्डशायर 5 अप्रैल से होज़पाइप प्रतिबंध का सामना कर रहा है।


Brexit: No imminent breakthrough in border backstop stand-off

Summary: Boris Johnson's letter to EU Council President Donald Tusk doesn't point the way towards any imminent breakthrough in the stand-off over the Brexit border backstop and the ill-fated EU-UK withdrawal agreement.

Mark DevenportPolitical editor, Northern Ireland@markdevenporton Twitter However, one interesting aspect of the letter is the PM's willingness to tackle head on the assertion from Dublin and Brussels that their approach is simply intended to protect the status quo and the Good Friday Agreement. That argument has resonated not just in Europe, but also in sections of the US political spectrum. While President Trump and his senior officials have been upbeat about their willingness to seal a trade deal with the UK after it quits the EU, members of Congress have argued that Brexit poses a potential threat to the peace process. Earlier this month, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned that "if Brexit undermines the Good Friday accord, there will be no chance of a US-UK trade agreement passing the Congress". This week, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Ms Pelosi and other "supporters of the Good Friday Agreement (and opponents of a return to a hard border)", pledging to do all in his power to prevent any post Brexit US-UK trade deal which would threaten the 1998 deal getting Congressional approval. Pro Brexit unionists get annoyed by the assumption that the UK's withdrawal from the EU is in breach of the 1998 deal, or any easy assumption that the backstop equates to a defence of the peace process. Witness a joint live broadcast on BBC NI Newsline, when Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster visibly rolled her eyes as Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew moved between Brexit and recollections of the military fortifications from which the security forces used to monitor the border at Aughnacloy during the Troubles. By contrast, Mrs Foster welcomed the section of Mr Johnson's letter in which the PM argues that the Brexit backstop could weaken, rather than preserve, what he calls "the delicate balance embodied in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement." Prime Minister Johnson says he appreciates "the laudable intentions with which the backstop was designed" but argues that "by removing control of such large areas of the commercial and economic life of Northern Ireland to an external body over which the people of Northern Ireland have no democratic control, this balance risks being undermined". These arguments aren't new. They have previously been advanced by the former Ulster Unionist leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Lord Trimble and his one time adviser Lord Bew. But the Johnson letter represents a greater endorsement of this ideological approach than anything which emanated from Downing Street when Theresa May was in residence. Will this line of analysis change minds in Brussels or Washington? It seems unlikely, given that Irish government ministers were extremely effective in propagating their view of the Good Friday Agreement and the backstop in both capitals at an early stage in the Brexit proceedings. Will it feature in legal challenges should something like the backstop ever be put in place? Quite possibly, although a previous court challenge by the victims' campaigner Raymond McCord concluded with the Supreme Court handing down a fairly narrow definition of the "principle of consent" provisions of the Good Friday Agreement. If either the UK or the EU blinks in the coming weeks or months and agrees a new deal, their different perspectives on the compatibility of either Brexit or the backstop with the 1998 peace deal could prove to be no more than an academic footnote bar to the negotiations. But if the UK leaves without a deal, this argument - if Downing Street sticks to it - could prolong the process of finding any alternative trade and regulatory deal which can be deemed acceptable to both sides.

यूरोपीय संघ परिषद के अध्यक्ष डोनाल्ड टस्क को बोरिस जॉनसन का पत्र ब्रेक्सिट सीमा बैकस्टॉप और दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण यूरोपीय संघ-ब्रिटेन वापसी समझौते पर गतिरोध में किसी भी आसन्न सफलता की ओर इशारा नहीं करता है।


Urban pelicans attract photographic attention

Summary: It seems there's some sort of big event taking place in London this week and no doubt that will draw the attention of thousands of snappers. Yet just a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace in St James's Park you will find another subject worthy of a picture or two.

Phil CoomesPicture editor@philcoomeson Twitter There, photographer Stephen McLaren has been focusing his attention on the pelicans who inhabit the park, one of whom has been affectionately named William, or Willy, by his fans. I asked Stephen about the work: "Photographers are always on the lookout for obliging photogenic subjects, and even though I am a street photographer preferring to stay in the background and shoot unobserved, I often feel the need to directly connect with the subject of my camera's gaze. "It was in St James's Park in London where I finally found my muse. His name, or so I'm told, is Willy, a five foot high male American White Pelican. We first met five years ago when I found him sitting regally on a bench having just swooped there from his usual home of Duck Island in the park's lake. "One day I came around the corner of St James's park expecting a good view of the Palace and instead was confronted by a huge white bird preening itself on a park bench. Like virtually everyone else who has had that encounter I whipped out my camera and recorded my disbelief for posterity and have been taking pelican pictures ever since. "The flock of pelicans residing in St James's park was first introduced in 1664 as a gift from the Russian Ambassador. Although they technically belong to the Queen they are likely to become Boris Johnson's responsibility if the management of the Royal Parks is transferred to the London Mayor's office. "Although they are wild animals with wings un-clipped, the pelicans have become increasingly inured to human beings. Indeed after spending several years of watching them at close quarters I have come to the conclusion that it is they who own and run the park, and us human gawkers are the beasts under inspection. "It has become obvious to me is that the pelicans love having their pictures taken. Sometimes there can be upwards of 20 people at a time shoving phones and various flashing devices in their face. They never object, or peck, or throw a strop. Instead they will adjust their pose as required, shifting from full frontal to coquettish side-on 'you looking at me' stance. This always requires the wide-angle lens. Willy, in particular, loves the attention of cameras and must be the most photographed animal in London. "Although I love photographing the pelicans the longer I did it the more I realised that I was just as interested in the people that were drawn to them. Alongside the flotsam and jetsam of tourists and lunchtime snackers, there is a community of older people who adore all the animals in the park, but save particular affection for the white giants. "There is Dave who brings his pet snake and polecats to add to the menagerie, there is a gentleman who wheels a bag full of animal feed through the park, and there is Michael who has somehow trained Willy to follow him through the park and who will talk to him while reading the newspaper. "As for the tourists, they are the ones most beguiled by Willy and his pals. Russian ladies and well-marshalled groups of Chinese people seem particularly thrilled by their antics. Bread, biscuits and nuts are often proffered as snacks but these are usually treated with disdain as favoured foods include worms, and any careless pigeons that get too close. "For those who want to see these magnificent animals up close, the best opportunity is at 1430 every day when the Royal Parks staff bring buckets of fish for those huge beaks and gullets to devour. It's one of London best wildlife spectacles and for those on a budget it beats going to the zoo. But be sure to bring your camera, you never know what might happen." So once you've waved at William and Kate, perhaps you could turn your attention to the pelicans in the park.

ऐसा लगता है कि इस सप्ताह लंदन में कुछ बड़ा आयोजन हो रहा है और इसमें कोई संदेह नहीं है कि यह हजारों स्नैपर्स का ध्यान आकर्षित करेगा। फिर भी सेंट जेम्स पार्क में बकिंघम पैलेस से कुछ ही दूरी पर आपको एक या दो तस्वीरों के योग्य एक और विषय मिलेगा।


Feedback on Tweedbank Borders Gateway project 'positive'

Summary: Detailed plans for a £12m development near the terminus of the Borders Railway will be lodged within weeks.

Edinburgh-based New Land Assets is behind the Tweedbank scheme which includes a hotel, retail units, drive-through coffee shop and petrol station. The company said feedback from a recent community consultation event had been "positive". Managing director Duncan Hamilton said the "overwhelming majority" of people were supportive of the project. The company has claimed the development could create up to 100 jobs and attract other investment. It said it would now review the public feedback and look to submit a detailed planning application "in the coming weeks".

सीमा रेलवे के टर्मिनस के पास 12 मिलियन पाउंड के विकास के लिए विस्तृत योजनाएँ हफ्तों के भीतर दर्ज की जाएंगी।