Is Saudi Arabia to blame for Islamic State?

Summary: Is Saudi Arabia to blame for the rise of the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIL)? It is commonly claimed that Wahhabism, the strict form of Islam originating in the Kingdom - and the Saudi state's aggressive promotion of it - has fuelled terrorism.

Saudi Arabia is also accused of funding IS, either directly or by failing to prevent private donors from sending money to the group. But Saudi Arabia rejects both accusations, and has announced the formation of a new Islamic anti-terrorism coalition. Five experts share their views. Professor Bernard Haykel: IS theology directly linked to Wahhabism Professor Bernard Haykel is director of the Institute for Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia at Princeton University. "The Islamic State's religious genealogy comes from 'Jihadi Salafism', a theological current that is very old in Islam that is quite literalist. "[Followers are] extremely rigorous, and condemn other Muslims who don't share their theology. That gives them the hard edge when it comes to violence, because they can justify it theologically. "Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab is in that Salafist tradition. He was a religious reformer in Arabia who was able to create a religious movement that ended up creating a state. "He saw that Muslims had deviated from the 'true' message of Islam; not praying properly or at all, or engaging in practices that he felt were violations of the faith. "A lot of scholars of the period started writing treatises against his ideas. They felt that he was not sufficiently educated to teach. "Eventually he was able to connect with the leader of the al-Saud family in 1744. That alliance had very strong and lasting effects. "He believed there is a pure version of the faith, and that if one goes back to it, one is guaranteed salvation in the hereafter, but also in life God will give you all the things he promised. "The first Saudi State, based on this Wahhabi faith, seemed to confirm his message because of the political and military success it had throughout the 18th Century and 19th Century where it conquered most of Arabia. "Once a town was conquered he would appoint teachers to educate people in his version of the faith. He wrote a number of short books that were the basis for the teaching, books that are used by ISIS today. "ISIS claims that the Saudi state has deviated from the true beliefs of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and that they are the true representatives of the Salafi or Wahhabi message." Professor Madawi al-Rashid: Wahhabism led to Islamic awakening Saudi-born Professor Madawi al-Rashid is visiting professor at the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics. "The Wahhabis were given full control of the religious, social and cultural life of the kingdom. As long as the Wahhabi preachers preached that Saudis should obey their rulers, the al-Saud family were happy. "In the 1960s and 1970s the Arab world was full of revolutionary ideas. The Saudi government thought the Wahhabis were a good antidote, because they provide an alternative narrative about how to obey rulers and not interfere in politics. "In the 1980s, King Fahd established a printing press to publish Korans, sent for free to different parts of the world. They established Al-Madinah University to teach religion to students from around the world. "Wahhabism is definitely an intolerant form of Islam. It is a local religious tradition that has gone global prematurely. We're seeing that it can be a revolutionary language that would inspire someone to commit atrocities in the name of Islam. "When Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union, Wahhabism was instrumentalised by the Saudi regime. It inspired young Muslim men to go to Afghanistan to fight a jihad against the Russian infidels. "Wahhabism benefitted from the arrival of the Muslim brotherhood, who were exiled from places like Egypt, Syria and Iraq in the 1950s and 1960s. Saudi Arabia welcomed them. "A lot of them became religious teachers so the fusion between this Wahhabi tradition, and the organisational skills of other Islamists, led to the emergence of a new trend in Saudi Arabia; the Islamist trend, what is referred to as the Islamic awakening." Aimen Dean: Salafism has been greatly misunderstood Saudi-born Aimen Dean left school to fight jihad in Bosnia in the 1990s and subsequently joined al-Qaeda. Disillusioned, he then started working undercover for the British government. "The traditional Salafism practised mainly in Saudi Arabia and especially by the religious establishment might not have a favourable view of other strands of Islam, but is nonetheless very active in combating political violence because it believes in the sanctity of governance. It is better to put law and order and stability above the pursuit of justice and political ideals. "The religious establishment in Saudi Arabia hasn't actually done anything in the form of discriminating violently against other forms of Islam. "I always hear people saying 'We don't hear many Muslims condemn ISIS, standing up against terrorism'. "How many Saudi security forces died in the fight against al-Qaeda and ISIS? How many ISIS and al-Qaeda prisoners are in the prisons of Saudi Arabia? This year alone 1,850 ISIS suspects have been arrested in Saudi Arabia. "Just the simple expression of sympathy [for ISIS] could land you in prison in Saudi Arabia. "Saudi jails are filled with radical Islamists, yet across the Gulf Iranian jails are filled with liberals and human rights campaigners. Who is the moderate and who is the hard-liner? "If you look at the numbers of Saudis who joined ISIS, there are up to 180 per million. "In Tunisia - a vehemently secular nation with no religious education whatsoever for more than half a century - it's more than 212 per million." Matthew Levitt: IS is financially self-sufficient Matthew Levitt directs the counterterrorism program at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "Contrary to conventional wisdom, ISIL derives a relatively small share of its funds from deep-pocket donors. And while terror financing within Saudi Arabia was once a major problem, Riyadh has begun to turn a corner - especially when it comes to financing ISIL. "ISIL has been financially self-sufficient for years, including its early days as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). A 2006 US assessment determined that AQI created a self-sustaining insurgency in Iraq, raising $70m-$200m (£47m-£134m) a year from illegal activities alone. "Seized AQI documents indicate that 'outside donations amounted to only a tiny fraction - no more than 5% - of the group's operating budgets from 2005 until 2010'. "Today, ISIL's primary sources of funding are extortion, oil smuggling, and other criminal activities. A small number of major donors were designated as terrorist financiers by the US Treasury Department, but these were exceptions. "The Saudis have arrested several hundred ISIL suspects, reportedly including some ISIL financiers, but Riyadh provides no breakdown of the numbers. Recent polling data suggests support for ISIL within Saudi Arabia hovers around 5%. And yet, those results suggest the Saudis have reason to worry: 5% of the Saudi population represents over a half a million potential donors. "Authorities worry about ISIL sympathisers' ability to raise and move funds through hard-to-monitor cash transfers, a typical method among Saudi donors. "Another concern is ISIL fundraising through social media and other communication technologies. Saudi authorities reported that ISIL fundraisers have solicited donors via Twitter and told them to establish contact via Skype. Donors were then asked to purchase international prepaid cards and provide the card numbers via Skype. These would be sold to earn cash. "In March, Saudi Arabia co-chaired with the US and Italy the inaugural meeting of the Counter-ISIL Finance Group. This working group will get a significant boost this week at a UN Security Council summit of finance ministers focused on countering ISIL financing. "Doing more to prevent ISIL donors moving money through banks and money exchangers is sure to be on the agenda." Mohammed Yahya: Saudi Arabia poses a significant threat to IS Mohammed Yahya is political consultant at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in London. "Accusations that Saudi Arabia funds these groups and supports them ideologically are not only unfounded, they are an extreme disservice to the fight against terrorism, both in Saudi Arabia and internationally. "Saudi Arabia has some of the strictest financial measures and controls to stop any funding to terrorist organisations. "There is very strict monitoring on moving money overseas. Some individuals in the past have beaten the system, but the system that's in place is one of the most rigorous in the world. "Many of these individuals [who may have funded IS] are in jail. Eight hundred people are incarcerated today that have direct links to ISIS. "The Islamic State has conducted several attacks on Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's counter-terrorism and intelligence programmes are the biggest threat they have both ideologically and on the ground. "Saudi Arabia is very diverse. There are many different kinds of Muslims of all backgrounds and around 18 million Muslims visit annually for pilgrimage. Saudi Arabia has enacted laws that strictly prohibit religious incitement and calling for the death of innocent people. "The fact that there is intolerant or controversial speech in Saudi Arabia is not a reflection of government policy. "Much of Islam's teachings have been misconstrued. "Just because one Islamic text by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab is used by ISIS does not mean that his teachings are everything that ISIS believes. They will use whatever fits their narrative from any source. "To blame what is going on today in Syria and Iraq and elsewhere on the teachings of somebody that existed 270 years ago is just misleading." The Inquiry: Is Saudi Arabia to blame for IS? was broadcast on the BBC World Service. Listen online or download the podcast.

क्या तथाकथित इस्लामिक स्टेट (आईएस या आईएसआईएल) के उदय के लिए सऊदी अरब दोषी है? आमतौर पर यह दावा किया जाता है कि वहाबीवाद, राज्य में उत्पन्न होने वाले इस्लाम का सख्त रूप-और सऊदी राज्य द्वारा इसे आक्रामक रूप से बढ़ावा देने से-आतंकवाद को बढ़ावा मिला है।


Worcestershire couple begin Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant trip

Summary: A Worcestershire couple have begun a 216-mile journey to London on their narrowboat in order to take part in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.

Andrew and Wendy Dyke, both Evesham Town and Wychavon District councillors, started their trip at Workman Gardens, Waterside in Evesham. Their boat, Lord Toulouse, will be taken through 235 locks on its journey to the event on 3 June. Organisers expect about 1,000 vessels to take part in the pageant.

एक वॉरसेस्टरशायर दंपति ने थेम्स हीरक जयंती समारोह में भाग लेने के लिए अपनी संकीर्ण नाव पर लंदन की 216 मील की यात्रा शुरू की है।


Europe: Cameron accepts treaty delay

Summary: The BBC understands that the prime minister has accepted that it may not be possible to change the EU's treaties - the laws on which it is based - before the UK votes in a referendum on whether to stay in or leave the EU.

Nick RobinsonPolitical editor In recent meetings with fellow European Union leaders David Cameron has argued instead for what officials call an "irreversible lock" and "legally binding" guarantees that at some future date EU law will be changed to accommodate Britain's renegotiation. As recently as January Mr Cameron insisted that he would be demanding "proper, full-on treaty change". Euro sceptics and those who want to leave the EU altogether have always been suspicious that agreements between political leaders can be later undermined in the courts. They believe that legal or treaty changes are necessary to deliver the Prime Minister's negotiating objectives - in particular to free Britain from the EU's commitment to build an "ever closer union" of nation states and to ensure that benefits such as tax credits be withheld from migrants who have been in the country for less than four years. David Cameron's critics may fear that the formula he is now using is a watering down of that commitment and will demand to know who would interpret any legally binding agreement reached between the Uk and the rest of the EU. Downing Street insists, however, that it is simply a reflection of the fact that any treaty change will require a time consuming ratification process in 28 different countries involving parliamentary votes as well as referendums in France, Ireland and Denmark. They point out that when Ireland had a referendum in 2009 on the Lisbon Treaty all other EU countries had not yet ratified the proposed changes in EU law.

बीबीसी समझता है कि प्रधान मंत्री ने स्वीकार किया है कि यूरोपीय संघ की संधियों को बदलना संभव नहीं हो सकता है-जिन कानूनों पर यह आधारित है-इससे पहले कि यूके यूरोपीय संघ में रहने या छोड़ने पर जनमत संग्रह में मतदान करे।


BHS collapse: 'I was in charge of millions, then I had nothing'

Summary: When then fashion buyer Santosh Kumari was called into the canteen at the offices of BHS more than four years ago to be told she and her colleagues would lose their jobs, the announcement followed plenty of warning signs.

By Howard MustoeBusiness reporter For months before, Santosh says that stock had to be marked down as suppliers hounded the company for payments, later turning down orders because their banks feared that the retailer wouldn't pay up. "It was really bizarre because we were all looking for jobs," she says. "My assistants and I were talking about jobs, where normally you don't talk to your line manager about going for another job elsewhere." When the end came, the business was so bereft of resources that she and other staff were told they would not receive redundancy pay beyond the statutory minimum. "One day I was flying around the world and in charge of millions of pounds in my department, and the next minute, I have nothing and I'm worried about paying my mortgage." BHS's collapse and the subsequent demise of firms such as Carillion and Thomas Cook have had a common thread in that the outside accountants hired to check their finances have been criticised. BHS's auditors, PwC, were fined a record £6.5m after signing off accounts the industry watchdog, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), called "incomplete, inaccurate and misleading" in its report into the aftermath of the collapse. According to the FRC's most recent analysis, a third of UK audits are substandard. Parliament has been scrutinising the audit industry for some time. In 2011, a report from the House of Lords said: "The audit of large firms, in the UK and internationally, is dominated by an oligopoly with all the dangers that go with that." It recommended companies should tender for audit work every five years, and it said that "complacency of bank auditors was a significant contributory factor" to the 2007-08 financial crisis. Since 2018, three government-commissioned reports have been published about audit reform. The Kingman review has suggested replacing the current regulator with a stronger one, the Brydon review said auditors should try harder to detect fraud, while one conducted by the competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority, said auditing and consultancy needed to be separate businesses. Despite all these failings and recommendations, no laws have passed to tighten the rules. The government insists it knows that reform is needed and has said it "will respond with comprehensive proposals for reform and will then bring forward legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows". But over the summer the government was criticised by parliament for dragging its feet. A different approach is suggested by Prem Sikka, a recent entrant into the House of Lords as a Labour peer and a professor in accounting. "I don't think it can really be fixed," he says. "As long as accountancy firms are paid by the companies they audit, and they also then throw in a bit of a consultancy, there is a conflict of interest. Nobody's going to bite the hand that feeds them." He says that the best solution would be to have a state body audit the largest companies, just as HMRC oversees the auditing of tax collection. "I think it matters, because we rely upon auditors to make corporations publicly accountable. And that matters, not only to investors in the stock market, but also to employees, about the safety of their pension schemes and to creditors." He says the public should have access to basic facts about audits such as the size of the audit team, its contract, hourly rates and how long is spent on the work. While no rules have been changed, not everyone has failed to act. In the wake of its $1.9bn settlement with US authorities in 2012 over anti money-laundering concerns, global banking giant HSBC hired more internal auditors and compliance workers and set up more rigorous systems. Part of its plan included hiring consultants with the goal of encouraging a more inquisitive culture at the bank. Employees at the bank were encouraged to ask questions about where money was being made and how. One of those hired to do the training was Ian Hynes, a former police officer and investigator and now chief executive of training firm Intersol Global, which has trained internal auditors in the art of conducting an effective investigation. He says while HSBC's decision to train bankers to do this seems perfectly natural and should be replicated by other businesses, it is hardly the norm among big companies. "Where we delivered training, a very common theme in the feedback was that they were disappointed that they did not receive the training at the outset of their careers, whatever that career was, whether it was audit or compliance," he says. It's even less the norm among the largest auditors, he says, who have shunned his investigative training. "It's been hard work," he says. "We've had little reaction, if any." A questioning mindset could have stopped many a scandal, he says. Auditing "should be seen as an asset that's valuable, that adds value to the business that helps secure, protect reputations, lives, careers, save the entities' money". His business as a trainer in these skills "has been termed the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, and it frustrates the life out of me that we ended up getting commissioned when the damage is being done." Ms Kumari and some former BHS colleagues sued the defunct company's estate and won after a court found it had broken the law in not providing sufficient consultation over job losses. "The speed of BHS's collapse into administration and the announcement of redundancies shortly thereafter left many employees suddenly and unexpectedly out of work," said her lawyer Carl Moran of SDM Legal. Ms Kumari, like many others looking for work in the wake of corporate failure, says the blame of the collapse of BHS should lie with its bosses. But she wonders what auditors knew - or could have asked - about the company's books before the end.

जब चार साल से अधिक समय पहले फैशन खरीदार संतोष कुमारी को बीएचएस के कार्यालयों में कैंटीन में बुलाया गया था, तो उन्हें बताया गया था कि वह और उनके सहयोगी अपनी नौकरी खो देंगे, इस घोषणा के बाद बहुत सारे चेतावनी संकेत मिले।


Appeal over Edinburgh Royal High School hotel refusal

Summary: Developers behind plans to turn Edinburgh's old Royal High School into a luxury hotel are to appeal the council's decision not to grant planning permission.

Duddingston House Properties and Urbanist Hotels want to redevelop the site on Calton Hill, which has lain empty for almost 50 years. They want to turn the A-listed building into a 127-bedroom hotel. Conservationists objected to the scale of the proposals. Last week, the local authority's development sub-committee voted unanimously to reject the revised plans.

एडिनबर्ग के पुराने रॉयल हाई स्कूल को एक लक्जरी होटल में बदलने की योजना बनाने वाले डेवलपर्स योजना की अनुमति नहीं देने के परिषद के फैसले के खिलाफ अपील करेंगे।


Black holes: Cosmic signal rattles Earth after 7 billion years

Summary: Imagine the energy of eight Suns released in an instant.

By Jonathan AmosBBC Science Correspondent This is the gravitational "shockwave" that spread out from the biggest merger yet observed between two black holes. The signal from this event travelled for some seven billion years to reach Earth but was still sufficiently strong to rattle laser detectors in the US and Italy in May last year. Researchers say the colliding black holes produced a single entity with a mass 142 times that of our Sun. This is noteworthy. Science has long traced the presence of black holes on the sky that are quite a bit smaller or even very much larger. But this new observation inaugurates a novel class of so-called intermediate-sized black holes in the range of 100-1,000 Sun (or solar) masses. The analysis is the latest to come out of the international LIGO-VIRGO collaboration, which operates three super-sensitive gravitational wave-detection systems in America and Europe. What is a black hole? The collaboration's laser interferometer instruments "listen" for the vibrations in space-time that are generated by truly cataclysmic cosmic events - and on 21 May, 2019, they were all triggered by a sharp signal lasting just one-tenth of a second. Computer algorithms determined the source to be the end-stage moments of two in-spiralling black holes - one with a mass 66 times that of our Sun, and the other with 85 solar masses. The distance to the merger was calculated to be the equivalent of 150 billion trillion km. "It's astounding, really," said Prof Nelson Christensen from the Côte d'Azur Observatory in France. "This signal propagated for seven billion years. So this event happened 'just before halftime' for the Universe, and now it's mechanically moved our detectors here on Earth," he explained to BBC News. Gravitational waves - Ripples in space-time The involvement of an 85-solar-mass object in the collision has made collaboration scientists sit up because their understanding of how black holes form from the death of a star can't really account for something on this scale. Stars, when they exhaust their nuclear fuel, will experience an explosive core collapse to produce a black hole - if they're sufficiently big. But the physics that's assumed to operate inside stars suggests the production of black holes in the particular mass range between 65 and 120 solar masses is impossible. Dying stars that might yield such entities actually tear themselves apart and leave nothing behind. If the science is correct on this point then the most likely explanation for the existence of an 85-solar-mass object is that it was itself the result of an even earlier black hole union. And that, believes Prof Martin Hendry, from Glasgow University, UK, has implications for how the Universe evolved. "We're talking here about a hierarchy of mergers, a possible pathway to make bigger and bigger black holes," he said. "So, who knows? This 142-solar-mass black hole may have gone on to have merged with other very massive black holes - as part of a build-up process that goes all the way to those supermassive black holes we think are at the heart of galaxies." The LIGO-VIRGO collaboration is reporting the 21 May, 2019, event (catalogued as GW190521) in two scholarly papers. One is in the journal Physical Review Letters and describes the discovery. The second can be found in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, and discusses the signal's physical properties and scientific implications. GW190521 is one of over 50 gravitational wave triggers presently being investigated at the laser laboratories. The pace of research has increased rapidly since the collaboration made its first, Nobel-Prize-winning detection of gravitational waves in 2015. "We are increasing the sensitivity of the detectors and, yes, we could end up making more than one detection a day. We will have a rain of black holes! But this is beautiful because we will learn so much more about them," Prof Alessandra Buonanno, director at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam, told BBC News. Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

एक पल में छोड़े गए आठ सूर्यों की ऊर्जा की कल्पना करें।


North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner candidates 2021

Summary: Elections for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) will be held across England and Wales, including the North Wales force area, on 6 May 2021.

PCCs are elected representatives who work to ensure police forces are run effectively and efficiently. They replaced police authorities in 2012 and are intended to bring a public voice to policing. PCC elections are supposed to be held every four years but were postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic. Here is the list of declared candidates for North Wales, in alphabetical order by surname:

पुलिस और अपराध आयुक्तों (पीसीसी) के लिए चुनाव 6 मई 2021 को नॉर्थ वेल्स बल क्षेत्र सहित पूरे इंग्लैंड और वेल्स में आयोजित किए जाएंगे।


Molloy to contest Mid-Ulster when McGuinness steps down

Summary: Sinn Fein's Francie Molloy will contest the Mid-Ulster Westminster by-election when Martin McGuinness steps aside.

The veteran republican was selected at a party meeting in Gulladuff on Wednesday. Sinn Fein is ending the practice of double jobbing and Mr McGuinness will be focusing on his duties as deputy first minister. Mr Molloy, 62, was the director of elections for the Maze hunger striker Bobby Sands. He is the current deputy speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Mr McGuinness was elected MP for Mid-Ulster in 1997, but he has never taken his seat in Westminster. The party has an abstentionist policy, with all of its MPs refusing to attend Parliament.

सिन फेन के फ्रांसी मोलोय मिड-अल्स्टर वेस्टमिंस्टर उपचुनाव लड़ेंगे जब मार्टिन मैकगिनेस अलग हो जाएंगे।


Bailiwick of Guernsey's economy boosted by e-gambling

Summary: The online gambling industry contributed £50m to the Bailiwick of Guernsey's economy in 2009, according to a new report.

A study by accountants KPMG has revealed that the figure has risen from about £7m in 2007. The report predicts further growth of more than 40% over the next two years. Carla McNulty-Bauer, Guernsey's Commerce and Employment minister, said the industry extended the range of jobs available for the local workforce.

एक नई रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, ऑनलाइन जुआ उद्योग ने 2009 में बेलिविक ऑफ ग्वेर्नसे की अर्थव्यवस्था में 50 मिलियन पाउंड का योगदान दिया।


Derby shopkeeper admits sex with children as young as 12

Summary: A shopkeeper has admitted having sex with children as young as 12.

Dilan Amin, 27, of Pear Tree Road in Normanton, Derby, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual assault. The four offences took place between 2012 and 2016 and Amin was remanded in custody until sentencing at Derby Crown Court on 27 April. Judge Jonathan Bennett said to Amin: "It is inevitable you are going to prison." East Midlands Live: Woman's sudden death leads to arrest; Hostel murders accused 'of unsound mad' Amin, who ran a shop called the Famous Shop on Pear Tree Road, will be sentenced for these four charges as well as a number of others he had already pleaded guilty to or was convicted of at trial. Related Internet Links HM Courts & Tribunals Service

एक दुकानदार ने 12 साल से कम उम्र के बच्चों के साथ यौन संबंध बनाने की बात स्वीकार की है।


Rapper Logic signs exclusive deal with Twitch

Summary: Logic has signed an exclusive deal with streaming service Twitch.

"I'm not this rapper guy, man," he told The Verge. "I'm just a nerd. I love video games." The US rapper, real name Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, has been using the platform for years. It's the first exclusive deal Twitch has done with a musician, but it's not clear whether he will be streaming music. It was only last week that Logic said he was leaving the music scene to focus on fatherhood. Although now, he says he felt "forced" when he made that announcement. "It's not that the label made me feel that way. I was doing it to myself, because I'm such a businessman, and I was pushing myself to the brink of insanity." Twitch lost someone who brought a lot of viewers to the site when they banned Dr Disrespect last month. Logic hopes to bring his fan base with him. He told The Verge: "I'm going to bring new eyes to their service, they're going to bring new money to my bank account, and - I'm just kidding." He added: "I'm not going to be on Twitch, having political debates. I'm going to be on Twitch, helping people after they've had a day of protesting or political debates, unwind and laugh and smile." Logic said the site was the "safest way possible" to interact with fans. Twitch was recently accused of not doing enough about abuse claims, as well as not banning streamers who used racist or homophobic language. It announced that it would start issuing permanent bans to certain streamers. Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

लॉजिक ने स्ट्रीमिंग सेवा ट्विच के साथ एक विशेष समझौते पर हस्ताक्षर किए हैं।


The 'sort of impossible' challenge of bringing Life of Pi to life

Summary: A Bengal tiger growls menacingly as it prowls the rehearsal room. A zebra, hyena and orangutan are also on the loose. And a 16-year-old boy is doing his best to stay out of the way of them all.

By Ian YoungsEntertainment & arts reporter The tiger is about to pounce, but the despairing boy distracts it by catching a rat and throwing it in the predator's direction. He's safe. For now. There's no particular panic among the other couple of dozen people in the room, though. Well, only the low-level panic you get when you're turning one of the best-loved and best-selling novels of the past two decades into a major play, and opening night is approaching. The tiger growls again. The boy throws the rat again. And again. The novel is Yann Martel's Life of Pi, which tells the story of an Indian boy who is stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It won the Booker Prize in 2002 and has sold more than 15 million copies. For the rehearsals, one floor of an empty department store in the middle of Sheffield is doubling as the Pacific Ocean - there isn't enough space in the usual rehearsal room at the city's Crucible theatre, where the show is being staged. The animals are puppets, but even though the tiger needs three people to operate it, it still appears disconcertingly realistic, especially when it is growling in your direction. Life of Pi is an enchanting book about survival and religion and what is real and what's not. But for a long stretch, it is just a boy and a tiger. In a lifeboat. At sea. When it was adapted for a film by director Ang Lee in 2012, people wondered how it would work. But Hollywood has the benefit of CGI wizardry, and it ended up winning four Oscars, including best director and visual effects. So how on earth will it work in a theatre? "Loads of people said to me, 'Oh, my God, how are you going to do that?'" says writer Lolita Chakrabarti, who has adapted the book for the stage. "I was like, 'It's just theatre!' And as it's gone on, and I've seen what an enormous story it is, and how theatrically challenging it is, I've got more and more daunted." Martel says he has been more involved in this theatre version than he was in the film. "If anything, I think theatre will work better telling the story than the cinema," he argues. "The problem with cinema is special effects are so developed that they can imitate any kind of invented reality they want, and we're used to it now. "Now you have stupendous special effects that cost thousands of millions of dollars, and we just sort of shrug it off. What's wonderful about theatre is that the artifice is so visible. You can see obviously it's a puppet. It's a dorky puppet. But it moves so naturally." People are asked to use their imaginations and so buy into the magic of a tiger coming to life on stage, he says. "Whereas in the movies, you realise it's just a whole bunch of computers and it seems sweatless and artificial, and you don't buy into it emotionally." The animals, fashioned from a lightweight, super-strong foam, are being overseen by puppetry director Finn Caldwell, who was in the original War Horse cast and has helped pioneer the use of puppets on stage. Life of Pi is full of "sort-of-impossible staging challenges", he says. Some of the actors operating the animals have had lots of experience with puppets, while others have had none. In preparation, they studied videos and read about how tigers, hyenas, zebras and orangutans act, and have tried to imagine what might happen when they get together in a confined space. "That level of puppetry choreography is further than I think I've ever done," Caldwell says. As well as the puppets, the show will use state-of-the-art projections on the stage and backdrop to conjure up an entire Indian zoo, and then swiftly summon up the vast, mighty Pacific. "Sometimes big physical theatre shows are about the tricks themselves, or showing off about spectacle and images, which can be amazing and beautiful," says director Max Webster. "But this is very much taking all these theatrical techniques to serve a great human, serious, emotional story. It's not just about a magic zebra - it's got a big human point to it." To help bring the human story to life, Chakrabarti has decided to make 16-year-old Pi, played by Hiran Abeysekera, see visions of his family and other characters as he is helplessly swept across the sea with only the tiger for company. "If you go through a terrible time in any walk of life, the things that get you through are what you've been taught, and the echoes of people in your life," the playwright says. "So ghosts - elements of people that taught him things and who were significant to him - appear in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and he has a conversation with them, and they help him solve how to eat, how to find water, how to kill a turtle and eat it." This is the first major stage version of Life of Pi, although it has been attempted once before, by now-defunct theatre-in-education company Twisting Yarn, in Bradford in 2004. "Just before we signed on with Hollywood, they snuck in," Martel says. "In fact, there had to be huge negotiations between the Goliaths of Hollywood and these little Davids in Bradford to negotiate to allow it, because I'd already committed to them before we'd signed the contract with Hollywood. And Hollywood, when they buy film rights, they get 'all rights in the Universe'. That's the actual language they use." Twisting Yarn had a tiny budget for their version. "And yet simple stories, reliance on words, great acting and very simple effects - it was very powerful," Martel adds. "So I did have a glimmer of what theatre can do." Life of Pi is at Sheffield Crucible until 20 July. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

रिहर्सल कक्ष में घूमते हुए एक बंगाल बाघ डर के मारे चिल्लाता है। एक जेब्रा, लकड़बग्घा और ओरंगुटन भी खुले में हैं। और एक 16 साल का लड़का उन सभी के रास्ते से दूर रहने की पूरी कोशिश कर रहा है।


Lough Foyle: Run-aground oil tanker returns to port

Summary: Safety checks are being carried out on a large oil tanker that was re-floated after running aground on a sandbank in Lough Foyle.

The Tun Liffey had to be rescued after grounding close to Magilligan Point at the mouth of Lough Foyle about 09:10 BST on Tuesday. It had been en-route to the Welsh port of Milford Haven, in Pembrokeshire. The Dutch-owned tanker has been returned to Foyle Port. "The ship has been brought back to Foyle Port to undergo checks," a spokesman for the port told BBC News NI. Several tugs from the port had responded to the ship captain's request for help on Tuesday morning, he added. The tugs "managed the situation to re-float the tanker which was carried out successfully in a short space of time," he said.

एक बड़े तेल टैंकर पर सुरक्षा जांच की जा रही है जिसे लॉफ फॉयल में एक रेत के किनारे पर बहने के बाद फिर से तैराया गया था।


Car parking charge plans in Powys to be reviewed

Summary: Plans to introduce car parking charges in mid Wales will be reviewed after community concerns were raised.

Powys council had hoped to bring in the fees at car parks in Brecon, Llanfair Caereinion, Presteigne, Sennybridge and Talgarth. Councillor Liam Fitzpatrick said he had been contacted by residents who were concerned about the impact on communities of the proposed charges. Plans to introduce residents' parking schemes will also be reviewed.

सामुदायिक चिंताओं को उठाए जाने के बाद मध्य वेल्स में कार पार्किंग शुल्क शुरू करने की योजनाओं की समीक्षा की जाएगी।


The drug-smuggling fishermen vowing to clear their name

Summary: Six years ago, a group of fishermen were convicted for their role in one of the biggest drug smuggling hauls in British history. Campaigners - and one of the original jurors - say that serious doubts remain about the safety of those convictions. Last month, the men lost an official review of their case.

By Jim ReedReporter, Victoria Derbyshire programme On 29 May 2010, a small fishing boat left the Isle of Wight on what its crew claim was a routine trip to catch lobster and crab in the English Channel. At the same time, a major surveillance operation was also under way, led by the Serious Organised Crime Agency - which had intelligence about cocaine being on board a giant container ship sailing from South America. That night, one of the ships being monitored and the men's fishing boat briefly came close together - though exactly how close is still disputed. The next day 11 sacks were found tangled around a buoy in Freshwater Bay to the south of the island, each packed with a pure form of cocaine that had a street value of £53m. The prosecution's case was that the sacks were pushed off the side of the container ship for the fishermen to collect, who then took them to the bay, leaving them there to hide or be collected by another vessel at a later time. The five men - Daniel Payne, Zoran Dresic, Jonathan Beere, Scott Birtwistle and Jamie Green - were found guilty of conspiracy to smuggle class A drugs and given sentences of up to 24 years each. Richard Yardley was the only one of 12 jurors in the 2011 trial to find the men not guilty. When the verdicts were read out, he says his heart "was pounding like it was going to come out of my mouth". "I was devastated. Even more so when I heard the reaction of the families," he tells the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme. "There are lots of things wrong about that case. Loads. "I was convinced beyond reasonable doubt at the time [that they were not guilty]. Now I'm convinced beyond any doubt whatsoever." The men's case has been taken up by the Centre for Criminal Appeals - a charity run by Emily Bolton, a British lawyer who worked for years on death row and innocence projects in the US. Ms Bolton says new analysis of navigational data - not seen in the original trial - suggests the container ship, the MSC Oriane, adjusted its course earlier than thought and would never have come into contact with the fishing boat, the Galwad - meaning the drugs could not have been smuggled on board. "The implication of the tracks not crossing in this case is absolutely fundamental," she explains. "If the tracks didn't cross, they didn't smuggle the drugs." But for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) - the official body which investigates suspected miscarriages of justice, and decided last month not to refer the men's case back to the Court of Appeal - this isn't nearly enough. "Their expert is now saying the little boat was 175m away from the big boat," says David James Smith, the CCRC commissioner who has just reviewed the case. "No-one could say on that basis that the little boat wasn't in a position to collect the drugs. You'd have to remove them [the fishermen] from the area altogether to make a difference." A detailed forensic search could not find a single trace of cocaine on board the fishing boat. The drugs were wrapped in sealed plastic sacks but there is some evidence water leaked into the powder. There are also questions over the testimony of two Hampshire Police officers, who - from nearby cliffs - said they saw "six to seven" dark items being dropped off the side of the boat near to where the drugs were later found. At trial the fishermen claimed, if anything, they may have been throwing waste overboard at the time. After the cocaine was found the Hampshire Police officers changed their entries in the official police surveillance log to closely match a description of the 11 multicoloured drug sacks and rope. Altering a surveillance log is allowed so officers can later clarify what was seen. But to the defence it raises serious doubts about the case against the men. Don Dewer, a retired surveillance officer now working unpaid as an expert witness for the charity's defence team, believes it is "just not possible" that there would be need for officers to change a key fact after the event. "From my point of view, the [fishermen] have been convicted on one piece of evidence, which I do not believe actually happened," he said. The Hampshire officers were later cleared of serious wrongdoing by the independent police watchdog and the recent CCRC review could find no evidence of malice or serious misconduct by either the police or the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca). "Believe me, we've looked hard and if it was there we would have found it," says CCRC commissioner David James Smith. The CCRC points to other parts of the prosecution case which it describes as "compelling". As the men navigated their way through the Channel, a number of calls were made to the satellite phone on the fishing boat from a mobile handset purchased that day with a fake name. The fishermen say a new member of the crew, a migrant worker in the UK on a false passport, had fallen ill and was trying to contact the person who set him up with the job. Health club encounter Find out more Watch video journalist Jim Reed's full film about this case on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme website. Months after the guilty verdicts, Richard Yardley, the only juror to find the men not guilty, wrote a letter to the defence barrister alleging someone at Soca tried to interfere with the trial itself. In allegations later heard in court, Mr Yardley said a Soca officer aware of the case had got into conversation with another of the jurors at a local health club. Court documents show he claimed the juror "received extraneous information about the case" during the encounter, which was then passed on to other jurors. This included the claim that the Soca officer said "although the agency had made mistakes during the operation, the accused were in fact all guilty". But after an investigation, three judges said there was no support for Mr Yardley's allegation. They questioned his credibility and ruled his evidence could not be relied upon. Mr Yardley is still adamant the conversation did take place. "Nobody in that appeal court asked themselves the question, 'What has this guy got to gain by [making these allegations]... by putting himself in a position where he is interrogated for two hours?'," he says. "Why would he go to the trouble unless what he is saying is the truth?" 'Locked door' The decision made last month not to send the case back to the Court of Appeal at this stage does not mean the matter is settled. According to the CCRC's latest annual report, it referred just 12 of the 1,563 cases it looked at last year, the lowest number since it started work 20 years ago. That figure - less than 1% - has angered some miscarriage of justice campaigners at a time when the organisation's budget has been cut significantly. "The CCRC is supposed to be the gateway to the Court of Appeal, but at the moment it's functioning as a locked door," says Ms Bolton. The CCRC rejects any suggestion that funding cuts mean it does not have the proper resources to deal with a complex case like this. "I think we've been extremely thorough in our work," says CCRC commissioner David James Smith. "The Court of Appeal, and therefore us when reviewing cases, are always looking for something new and that just isn't here in sufficient depth and detail in this case." For the fishermen, there is still the chance of fresh evidence emerging which the CCRC will have to look at again. For three of the five men a different route is available - taking their arguments directly to a judge to make a decision.

छह साल पहले, मछुआरों के एक समूह को ब्रिटिश इतिहास में सबसे बड़ी नशीली दवाओं की तस्करी में से एक में उनकी भूमिका के लिए दोषी ठहराया गया था। प्रचारकों-और मूल जूरी सदस्यों में से एक-का कहना है कि उन दोषसिद्धि की सुरक्षा के बारे में गंभीर संदेह बने हुए हैं। पिछले महीने, पुरुषों ने अपने मामले की आधिकारिक समीक्षा खो दी।


The online abuse hurled at Malaysia's Muslim women

Summary: When a 15-year-old Malaysian girl voiced her dream of becoming the country's first female prime minister on Twitter earlier this year, she was roundly abused online for not donning the hijab. Surekha Ragavan asks if Malay Muslim women encounter more rage on social media.

It's no secret that women everywhere are vulnerable to abuse online. In Malaysia, women of all races face abuse, but activists say Muslim women are particularly targeted because of certain societal expectations. "We are seeing a trend where Muslim women [particularly Malay-Muslims] are targeted in a different way, especially when it comes to how they present themselves," says Juana Jaafar, a women's rights advocate who followed the case of the 15-year-old girl. Ms Jaafar says the attacks became so brutal for the girl, she was forced to delete her account and seek help offline. "Certainly if you have a Malay name, you become immediately visible." So what could be uniquely at play here? Well, in many conservative communities here, the "jaga tepi kain" culture, or the culture of minding your neighbour's business, is commonplace. This idea of "airing one's dirty laundry in public" has noticeably seeped into online spaces as well, encouraged in part by thriving Malay language tabloid and gossip sites. But it's more a cultural issue than a religious one. Ms Jaafar said, "The religion doesn't encourage the ["jaga tepi kain"] behaviour. There are hadiths that talk about respecting privacy." 'They would find faults on my body' "These things happen globally, but it does come with an extra layer [in Malaysia], a sense of moral justification that is rooted in quite narrow interpretations of religion," says Dr Alicia Izharuddin, senior gender studies lecturer at Universiti of Malaya. "People use anonymity on social media as a way of justifying hate speech and cyberbullying." As more and more young Malaysian women turn to social media - particularly Twitter - to talk about women's issues, these cases of harassment have also become more frequent. Maryam Lee, a 25-year-old Twitter user who recently decided to stop wearing her hijab, was hit by an onslaught of abuse. Her notifications pinged for days and she fielded threats to her physical safety. "It's not just about people not liking your views, it's about people bulldozing your entire existence, your self-esteem," she says. While she's long been a victim of online violence, Ms Lee says the abuse intensified when she publicly identified as a feminist. "When you give language to a [movement] that questions the status quo, they get much more insecure," she adds. 'The female body is a battleground' In other cases, wearing too much makeup and clothes that are too tight, or being chubby are "crimes" that make women susceptible to gender-based violence. Dyana Sofya, executive committee member of the centre-left DAP Socialist Youth party, is no stranger to making news on local gossip sites that have denigrated her clothes and appearance, something she says her male counterparts don't face. "The female body is a constant battleground for men to argue [about]. A woman may be covered from head to toe, but someone will still complain that the covering is not baggy enough or long enough," she said in an email. In another case, Twitter user Nalisa Alia Amin was victimised for her anti-patriarchal and pro-LGBT views, as well as for refusing to comply with the widely accepted image of "an ideal Muslim woman in Malaysia". "People who couldn't stand my views have attacked my appearances, especially my body since I'm on the chubby side," she says. Users would zoom into hyper pigmentation on her thighs and plaster those screenshots across social media, or post her photos next to an animal for comparison. Most of the women say that it is mostly Muslim men hurling the abuse at them online. While in these cases, the victims come away physically unscathed, online violence can take a toll on mental health. In the case of Twitter and Instagram user Arlina Arshad, she confessed that the abuse she received because of her weight led to thoughts of suicide. Worse still, her suicidal messages - which she made public - were met with brutal responses from haters accusing her of being an "attention-seeker" accompanied by comments such as "kalau tikam pun tak lepas lemak" translating to "even if stabbed, you couldn't go past her fats". Currently, there are no gender-based laws in Malaysia that protect women from online violence, in large part because there is still a perception that what happens online isn't considered "real life". And because lines on the internet are blurry and continually shifting, proposing relevant laws is tricky for activists. "Law is stagnant, it's conservative, it's centralised. You can pass the law today, but if something changes tomorrow, it doesn't apply anymore," says Serene Lim who does research and resource development for women's Internet freedoms through local NGO EMPOWER. "But we know that whenever we have laws that are arbitrary, it will lead to abuse of power." The existing Communications and Multimedia Act sometimes works against internet freedoms by punishing users for messages that are deemed incompatible with the government's line of politics or religion. Another silencing tool employed by both the ruling and opposition parties is cybertroopers who surveil online activity for "controversial" political dissent. Juana Jaafar says, "The counter-propaganda method can be extremely hostile and when they're facing women, it becomes a violent exchange where women are attacked, body-shamed, and policed about their Muslim identities."

जब एक 15 वर्षीय मलेशियाई लड़की ने इस साल की शुरुआत में ट्विटर पर देश की पहली महिला प्रधान मंत्री बनने के अपने सपने को व्यक्त किया, तो हिजाब नहीं पहनने के लिए उसे ऑनलाइन गाली दी गई। सुरेखा राघवन पूछती हैं कि क्या मलय मुस्लिम महिलाओं को सोशल मीडिया पर अधिक गुस्से का सामना करना पड़ता है।


Whiteball rail tunnel shut for three weeks for repairs

Summary: The main rail link between Somerset and Devon will be closed for three weeks to repair a 170-year-old tunnel.

Network Rail said it was "conducting essential engineering works" on the Whiteball Tunnel between Taunton and Exeter. The repairs include relining the walls of the tunnel to safeguard against brick fall and flood prevention work. Replacement buses will operate until 8 March for passengers travelling on the affected route.

समरसेट और डेवोन के बीच मुख्य रेल संपर्क 170 साल पुरानी सुरंग की मरम्मत के लिए तीन सप्ताह के लिए बंद कर दिया जाएगा।


Why a white poet did not translate Amanda Gorman

Summary: Amanda Gorman's The Hill We Climb stole the show at Joe Biden's presidential inauguration but when a renowned Dutch author was asked to translate her work there was an outcry because the translator is not black.

By Anna HolliganBBC News, The Hague Critics said it was not just about skin colour but identity too. This was not simply about translation but whether Gorman's poetry could be accurately reflected, interpreted by someone of a different ethnicity, genre, and mother tongue. One day after accepting the task, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld decided not to go ahead after all. Who is Rijneveld? Dutch publisher Meulenhoff described poet Marieke Lucas Rijneveld as a "dream candidate", who at 29 became the youngest author to win the International Booker prize in 2020 with debut novel The Discomfort of Evening. Amanda Gorman had selected Rijneveld herself, as a fellow young writer who had also come to fame early, said the publisher. Outspoken on issues including gender equality and mental health, Rijneveld identifies as non-binary and uses the pronouns they/them. Marieke Lucas Rijneveld initially revealed the news of being chosen to translate Amanda Gorman's works on Twitter, accompanied by two sparkling heart emojis. There was praise too for a poet who had highlighted their own respective struggles, and congratulations on a first translation job. Why the outcry? "Incomprehensible" was how Janice Deul described the choice of a white translator. In an opinion piece for the Volkskrant newspaper the journalist and diversity campaigner suggested instead going for someone like Gorman who was a "spoken word artist, young, a woman and unapologetically black". "I'm not saying a black person can't translate white work, and vice versa," Janice Deul told me when we met near her home in Leiden. "But not this specific poem of this specific orator in this Black Lives Matter area, that's the whole issue." Unlike written poetry, spoken word is less about the visuals on a page than rhyme, repetition and word-play and can encompass elements of hip-hop and improvisation. Ethics or ethnicity? Translators serve as a bridge between two languages and Monica Slingerland, head of the opinion editorial team at Trouw newspaper, believes the Gorman debate has raised significant issues that have not really surfaced before. "I tried to get out of the skin tone issue for a moment and ask the question again. Can a man translate a book about giving birth? A look into the bookcase shows that this requirement was rarely imposed on the translator in the past, not even with books that are at least as loaded with content as Gorman's poem." She cites Simone de Beauvoir's feminist pamphlet The Second Sex, translated into Dutch by a man. Or Americanah by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, translated into Dutch by Hien Montijn who is of Chinese-Indonesian descent. For Quinsy Gario, a black Dutch spoken word artist, Gorman's words need to be handled with care as they involve embodied knowledge and the cultural baggage that come with being black. "The Dutch language needs to have a conduit, a person that's been able to push to the same extent as Amanda Gorman did, and connect to a local understanding of what those words mean, and how those words can resonate." Why Rijneveld was asked Although Amanda Gorman did initially agree to the Dutch poet translating her work, none of the Netherlands' black spoken word poets were presented to her as options. In a statement the publisher told the BBC: "Meulenhoff asked MLR if they wanted to be the translator. They said yes, and then Meulenhoff sent their profile to the American agent as their preferred choice." Three "sensitivity readers" had been included in the contract. It was a decision that Janice Deul believes perpetuated the marginalisation of black voices in the Netherlands. She wants Dutch publishing houses to expand their horizons and look behind their "white ivory tower". "Why only celebrate Amanda, as we should? Why be blind to all the talents we have in our own country," she asks. Among the many examples of black Dutch poets are Zaire Krieger, whose work encapsulates the challenges of being a woman of colour in a white country, Rachel Rumai who recently featured in an Afro Lit anthology and spoken word artist Babs Gons, whose Polyglot was chosen as the poem for 2021 Dutch Book Week. How did Rijneveld respond? Marieke Lucas Rijneveld answered the critics with a poem, Everything inhabitable, published in a number of newspapers, including in English translation in the UK. Never lost that resistance and yet able to grasp when it isn't your place, when you must kneel for a poem because another person can make it more inhabitable; not out of unwillingness, not out of dismay, but because you know there is so much inequality, people still discriminated against Excerpt from Everything inhabitable It was written in Dutch and translated into English by Michele Hutchison. Not surprising for a poet who admitted last year to having "very bad English". But Rijneveld's decision not to translate Amanda Gorman's poem into Dutch has only heightened the debate in the Netherlands over the ethics of translation and underlined Gorman's original sentiments of the hills that "all other black girls" must climb.

अमांडा गोर्मन की द हिल वी क्लाइम्ब ने जो बाइडन के राष्ट्रपति पद के उद्घाटन के अवसर पर शो को चुरा लिया, लेकिन जब एक प्रसिद्ध डच लेखक से उनके काम का अनुवाद करने के लिए कहा गया तो हंगामा मच गया क्योंकि अनुवादक काला नहीं है।


Art attack: How idea for Belladrum's 50ft woman grew

Summary: The Highland's Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival uses art to draw revellers to the event. Here festival organiser Joe Gibbs and artist Emily Fraser explain the thinking behind this year's new-look design featuring a giant woman.

By Steven McKenzieBBC Scotland Highlands and Islands reporter Dubbed Bella by its fans, the festival at Beauly's Belladrum Estate, in the Highlands near Inverness, is to be held for the 11th time this August. The acts performing will include Sir Tom Jones, Razorlight, Billy Bragg and Frightened Rabbit. For most of the past 10 years, artist Michael Forbes, whose fans include Ricky Gervais and Terry Gilliam, has worked with Joe and festival marketing manager Kris Reid on the artwork for posters and website. For 2014's event, ideas were invited from designers on the theme of "wild life". Emily Fraser, an illustrator and graphic/digital designer from Inverness, and illustrator/animator Alex Ashman, from Orkney, won the tender with an animal-themed design. Both are based in Edinburgh and have worked on previous projects. Emily said: "Our initial thoughts were to create an atmosphere akin to the feeling of going to the festival, arriving through the forests and approaching the buzz of the festival." She added: "We developed animals and scenery with a glowing sunset and warm colours to reflect the welcoming nature of the festival. We were delighted when our submission won us the competition." Joe said: "We chose to work with Emily and Alex because we liked their approach and design. Then we introduced the concept of the 50ft woman." Bella's team had already been working on adapting 1950s advertising and B movie styling to promote the festival. The idea for Bella's giant came from 1958's science-fiction film, Attack of the 50ft Woman, starring Allison Hayes as a cheated wife who hunts down her husband after she is super-sized by aliens. Emily said: "After a couple of discussions with Joe and Kris we decided we wanted to merge the style of 50s movie poster design, used in previous Belladrum marketing, with the wildlife theme to create an eclectic blend of wildlife, people and nature." Emily added: "We wanted to take the theme of wildlife which is indicative of the festival's eccentric and unpredictable nature and present it in a stylised and visually arresting manner." The look of Belladrum's 50ft woman was completed with a Scottish wildcat mask. Joe and Kris, along with Bella's John Keiller and James Roberts, translated the results of Emily and Alex's work for the festival website, its posters, social media sites and advertising. Another of Bella's team, Paul Graham, also refreshed the event's logo for 2014.

हाईलैंड का बेलाड्रम टार्टन हार्ट फेस्टिवल इस कार्यक्रम में दर्शकों को आकर्षित करने के लिए कला का उपयोग करता है। यहाँ उत्सव के आयोजक जो गिब्स और कलाकार एमिली फ्रेजर एक विशाल महिला की विशेषता वाले इस साल के नए रूप के डिजाइन के पीछे की सोच को समझाते हैं।


Drivers face new surprise 'repair' motorway fees

Summary: Drivers are being hit with expensive bills from Highways Agency contractors for emergency repairs. Motorists claim the prices are over-inflated and in some cases they question whether the repairs ever took place.

By Hannah BarnesBBC News Sheila Kaur-Patel, who works as a BBC production manager, was shocked when she received an invoice for £3,000 for damage she had allegedly caused during a motorway incident. Nearly three months earlier she had skidded across the M6 after unexpectedly hitting some liquid on the surface and ended up facing the wrong way on the hard shoulder. She said: "When the bill arrived, I was devastated. The damages or so-called 'maintenance fees' are worth more than my car." "The police officer said I was very lucky," she says, "the only damage was a scrape to my bumper." The police closed the motorway for a matter of minutes so that Sheila could safely turn the car round and continue her journey to see her family. The charges came from Amey LG Limited, one of several large construction companies which maintain the motorways on behalf of the Highways Agency. A breakdown of the bill lists items such as a 7.5 tonne tipper hire, repairs to rails and £1,830.91 for the closure of the hard shoulder. But Sheila insists she has no idea where the idea that any damage was caused has come from. She never saw the tipper or anyone from the company. Growing trend Amey LG Limited told Sheila that the bill she received was for inspection work carried out after she left the scene. A spokesperson for the company told the BBC: "It is important that defects are repaired after an incident to ensure the safety of the travelling public." "If repairs are necessary, we liaise with any party found to have caused damage to recover the associated costs. A breakdown of these are provided to the relevant parties in an invoice." The BBC has learned that this is part of a growing trend. Highways Agency contractors are increasingly targeting drivers with expensive bills for repairs. 5 live Investigates has been told of several cases involving drivers who have broken down only to be charged several weeks later for the clear-up of oil spillages. But when the companies concerned have been challenged about either the level of the charge - in excess of £300 in most cases - or asked to provide evidence of the spill and a breakdown of the charges levied - the amount is reduced or not pursued any further. This has raised suspicions that some of the bills are not legitimate. In one case, the driver maintains that the oil was cleared by the fire brigade at the time of the breakdown, while another claims that no oil leaked from his car at all. It is a trend that is surprising those who work on the roads on a daily basis. "In the past, the charges were never levied," says Paul Watters from the AA. "Now the bills are appearing. We need to know what the policy for charging actually is." Legitimate costs People like Sheila question why individual drivers should have to pay anything. "It makes me wonder what our taxes and road tax actually go on?" she says. "I would have turned my car around myself if I knew I was going to get charged almost £3,000." The Highways Agency says when repairs are needed after a breakdown or collision it is not right that the costs should be borne by the taxpayer and therefore they or their contractors will seek to recover the cost of repairs from insurance companies or individuals where appropriate. The cases above highlight a lack of transparency about what is being charged for, the level of the charge and when someone is liable to pay. Insurance companies have been a target for motorway maintenance contractors for some time and insurers have frequently questioned some of the discrepancies that appear in the charges. The rates themselves can vary widely between different companies too. And the prices seem pretty steep. A recent employee of one of the major road maintenance companies told the BBC that he was stunned that drivers were being sent bills of more than £300 to clear up a small oil spillage. The job would take just five minutes and the materials used cost as little at £12.50, he said. It is difficult to say why private Highways Agency maintenance contractors have begun targeting individual drivers. "It is a new development," says Philip Swift of Claims Management and Adjusting Ltd, which fights claims on behalf of insurance companies. "We see it from the insurers' perspective. What you are telling me is concerning." But he and others fear that the situation is about to get a lot worse as maintenance companies implement cuts of around 25% requested by the Highways Agency. And even more so as the Agency introduces a string of new contracts over the next three years, which are considered to be less lucrative. Some anticipate that companies may try to recoup some of the lost revenue from the new contracts by cracking down on drivers more aggressively and over-inflating legitimate charges. "We've geared up for an increase in claims," admits Philip Swift, "and trained additional staff in the claims process." The Highways Term Maintenance Association (HTMA), which represents a number of the private Highways Agency contractors told the BBC that the accusations being levelled at the industry were 'misleading.' "HTMA members are dedicated to help and support the everyday motorist, by making sure our roads are safe and disruption is kept to a minimum," a spokesperson said. "Sometimes we have to clean up after incidents, repairing damage caused by motorists, and sometimes the motorist is asked to pay for the damage they have caused." "We believe this is absolutely fair… We do not believe that our members would ever abuse their status." You can listen to the full report on 5 live Investigates on Sunday, 7 October at 21:00 GMT on BBC 5 live. Listen again via the 5 live website or by downloading the 5 live Investigates podcast.

चालकों को आपातकालीन मरम्मत के लिए राजमार्ग एजेंसी के ठेकेदारों से महंगे बिलों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। वाहन चालकों का दावा है कि कीमतें बहुत अधिक हैं और कुछ मामलों में वे सवाल करते हैं कि क्या मरम्मत कभी हुई थी।


Calculate your inflation rate

Summary: Monthly inflation figures show how much prices have risen for an average person - but what if your spending patterns are different?

The annual rate of inflation in January 2015 was 0.3%, but this calculator - developed with Warwick University - will work out how much prices have been going up for households like yours. To find your household's rate of inflation, fill in the boxes below: Users of the BBC News app tap here for the inflation calculator.

मासिक मुद्रास्फीति के आंकड़े बताते हैं कि एक औसत व्यक्ति के लिए कीमतें कितनी बढ़ी हैं-लेकिन क्या होगा यदि आपके खर्च करने के तरीके अलग हैं?


Eight Chihuahua/Jack Russell cross puppies stolen in Aberdeenshire

Summary: Eight Chihuahua/Jack Russell crossbreed puppies have been stolen from their home in Aberdeenshire.

The puppies are five weeks old, have not been weaned and police are keen to trace them and return them to their mother. They were stolen from the Fyvie area and the incident is believed to have happened between 20:00 on Wednesday 9 July and 08:00 on Thursday 10 July. Police are appealing for information.

आठ चिहुआहुआ/जैक रसेल संकर नस्ल के पिल्ले एबरडीनशायर में उनके घर से चोरी हो गए हैं।


Amaya in $4.9bn deal for Pokerstars

Summary: Canadian online gaming group Amaya is to buy the owner of Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker for $4.9bn (£2.8bn) in a deal that will make it the world's biggest publicly listed online gambling company.

The deal for Rational Group will be completed by 30 September, Amaya said. PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker are the world's most popular and profitable online poker brands. They have some 85 million registered players on desktop and mobile devices. Amaya said it expects the deal will "expedite the entry of Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker into regulated markets" in which it already operates, particularly the US. Online gambling was in effect outlawed in the US until December 2011, when the Department of Justice (DOJ) backed a court decision that said a 1961 law banning interstate sports betting did not apply to other forms of gambling. Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware offer some form of internet gambling, while eight other states considered legislation last year. In 2011, federal prosecutors in Manhattan launched a massive crackdown against online poker in the US. Pokerstars paid $731m in July 2012 to settle a money-laundering lawsuit filed by the DOJ, which argued that the firm used fraudulent means to avoid federal law and deceive banks into processing payments for it.

कनाडाई ऑनलाइन गेमिंग समूह अमाया पोकरस्टार्स और फुल टिल्ट पोकर के मालिक को एक सौदे में $4.9bn (£ 2.8bn) में खरीदना है जो इसे दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी सार्वजनिक रूप से सूचीबद्ध ऑनलाइन जुआ कंपनी बना देगा।


Forget Brexit - bar wars are causing a Westminster stir

Summary: Forget Northern Ireland. The hard border issue that's really generating heat in Westminster is the one imposed by MPs across the entrance to one of Parliament's most popular watering holes, the Pugin Room.

Mark D'ArcyParliamentary correspondent This is a relatively small, comfortable bar, looking out over the river, where MPs and ex-MPs can take tea, coffee, or something stronger, and entertain guests in quiet civilised surroundings. But there have been complaints that honourable members have found themselves crowded out by noble Lords, who're not, strictly speaking, supposed to be carousing there. I'm told there is particular angst about one senior Labour peer's habit of entertaining guests to champagne there, and about one Liberal Democrat peer's regularly sitting alone at a big table. "The problem is that there are just too many peers," snarled my (Conservative) informant. A further annoyance is that peers have a large bar of their own, right next door, but seem to prefer to colonise the MPs' space instead. Now, the Commons authorities have insisted that peers may only use the Pugin room on the same terms as MPs are allowed to use the adjoining Lords guest room….on WTO terms, you might say. That means peers are not allowed in until 8pm on Mondays, and after 6pm, for the rest of the week. This has provoked quite a spat, with the Lord Speaker protesting to the House of Commons Commission, its ruling body - and influential peers making direct protests to the Chair of the Commons Administration Committee, Sir Paul Beresford. And might the next move be a ban on MPs using their Lordships' eateries, which parliamentary trencherpersons regard as being a class above the ones in the Commons? The Commission's expected to discuss the escalating bar wars next week.

उत्तरी आयरलैंड को भूल जाएँ। कठिन सीमा मुद्दा जो वास्तव में वेस्टमिंस्टर में गर्मी पैदा कर रहा है, वह संसद के सबसे लोकप्रिय पानी के छेद, पुगिन रूम के प्रवेश द्वार पर सांसदों द्वारा लगाया गया है।


The Royal British Legion: Turmoil in the charity's ranks over restructure

Summary: The Royal British Legion is spending over £9m on the biggest restructuring in its history - a move deemed unnecessary by some former managers. So can the iconic charity undergo radical change and remain faithful to its founding principles?

By Angus CrawfordBBC News In a park in central London I meet two former soldiers. At 18 years old, John went to fight in Afghanistan, where his unit came under hostile fire almost every day of their tour. With him is his friend, 46-year-old Sean. He served in Northern Ireland and Bosnia. They are both now homeless and living in a hostel. Neither blame their time in the military for their situation, and are now getting training and support to find jobs and get their own accommodation. But neither have received any direct help from The Royal British Legion (RBL). John says he has tried to contact the charity: "Many-a-time I've phoned the British Legion [and] to be honest it went through to an answer phone. "I've not had any help whatsoever from the Royal British Legion. Nothing," he says, speaking to Radio 4's The Report. "You know, it's one of those things, I still buy my poppy and the money goes towards the British Legion, but as a veteran, I've not seen this money getting used." Sean says it never crossed his mind to even trying contacting the Legion for help: "People that I know that have been in the military and come out, I've never heard any of them say 'we were helped by the Royal British Legion to get this, get that, to do this, to do that'." A new era According to its accounts the RBL spent £139m in 2011. It runs care homes and lobbies the government, delivers welfare and organises the UK's annual acts of remembrance. Founded in 1921 to help those who survived the horrors of World War I, it is now having to adapt to the needs of the generation that fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. Today there are more than five million veterans and at least another four million family members eligible for help - and as a result the RBL has begun a radical plan to restructure. Under the old system veterans could approach their local RBL office for a small amount of money - in the form of a grant - to buy, for example, a new hearing aid or a mobility scooter. The Legion's accounts show the number of such grants awarded has gone down from 40,423 in 2007 to 22,829 in 2011. The amount of money paid out in grants has also gone down - from £24m to £18m a year. Director general of the RBL Chris Simpkins says the old grant system had to change: "We must do evidence-based practice. It's no longer 'this seems like a good idea, let's throw money at it'. "We've shifted that investment into personal care and support for individuals - helping, hand-holding, mentoring, guiding, supporting - rather than saying 'here's a cheque to pay off your rent arrears'. The RBL says it made 165,000 case work interventions last year, but the BBC programme The Report has spoken to 10 former county office managers who say they have lost confidence in the charity's leadership. They claim the new system is bureaucratic, unnecessary and diverts money from those who need it most. Retired Army Major Craig Treeby was the RBL's county manager in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. He left the RBL in 2010, but still approaches the charity to get help for veterans. "One of the first cases I had to pick up was an amputee soldier who'd lost his leg, who needed some help. "There were the posters being put up at remembrance time of a soldier with a prosthetic leg. He could have been my guy. "So I went to them and said 'look, this chap actually needs some help in order to further his career, although he's still serving' - and that was rejected." This is because the soldier concerned was still serving, and being paid a corporal's wage - which exceeds the RBL's criteria. "I was totally dumbfounded and frustrated," Mr Treeby says. Limited resources The latest RBL guidelines state that anyone receiving means-tested benefits qualifies for a RBL grant, but veterans with savings of more than £11,000 do not. A single man earning £10,600 a year or more, and a couple with two children on an income of just over £16,000, will not be eligible either. Craig Treeby is horrified by the new plans. "It blazons itself in these great posters 'shoulder to shoulder' - their banner headline - but there's a lie behind it… shoulder to shoulder it is not!" The RBL's director general Chris Simpkins rejects this criticism, saying "it must be surely correct, where resources are limited that we direct them to those that are most in need." So where is the Legion directing its money? A week ago it opened the Battle Back Centre in Shropshire - a rehabilitation facility helping wounded and sick servicemen and women through sport. Over the next 10 years, the RBL is putting a total of £50m into the new centre and five more personnel recovery centres - it also runs six care homes. But it is also planning to spend several million pounds on the biggest structural and philosophical change in its history - a project titled Pathway for Growth, which will cost more than £9m to implement. It includes new systems, new offices and staff redundancies. Most of the former county managers have lost their jobs, or retired - and this is where many of the tensions lie. Retired Lt Col Martin McAleese worked for six years as the Legion's county manager in Worcestershire, and still works for the charity in another role. He says the old system was not perfect, but it worked - and he fears the new one will become less effective because of a new layer of management. "It looks like there may be secondary offices of an unknown quantity in the county, so people will have to go to an area manager, who will have to go to a regional manager, who will have to go to HQ. It's just too much." But could this improve the delivery of help to former servicemen and women? "Absolutely not," he replies. 'Die like dinosaurs' The Report spoke to two of the new area managers who insist the changes will enable them to help more people. The programme also obtained documents outlining plans for new RBL offices to be built in at least 16 locations across the UK, with a proposed cost of £5.8m over the next 10 years. Retired RAF Group Captain Nigel Pearson resigned as president of the RBL's Shropshire branch six days before Remembrance Sunday this year, in protest at this new direction, saying the plans are "crazy". "This is a charity, and I don't believe this is acceptable for a charity to spend its money in this way - and I would have thought that the public would find this abhorrent." The RBL insists the plans for the offices are just concepts and director general Chris Simpkins strongly defends the changes outlined in the Pathway for Growth plan: "If we carried on doing what we were doing last year, last month, 10 years ago, we would wither and die like the dinosaurs. "We can't afford to do that. Because the only people who will be harmed out of that are our beneficiaries." Hear more on The Report on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, 29 November at 20:00 GMT. Listen again via the Radio 4 website or The Report podcast.

रॉयल ब्रिटिश लीजन अपने इतिहास के सबसे बड़े पुनर्गठन पर 9 मिलियन पाउंड से अधिक खर्च कर रहा है-एक ऐसा कदम जिसे कुछ पूर्व प्रबंधकों द्वारा अनावश्यक माना जाता है। तो क्या प्रतिष्ठित दान में आमूलचूल परिवर्तन हो सकता है और यह अपने संस्थापक सिद्धांतों के प्रति वफादार रह सकता है?


Six ill-equipped walkers rescued off Tryfan, Snowdonia

Summary: Rescuers battled through 70mph gales to help six ill-equipped walkers off a Snowdonia peak.

Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue team were called to four women and two men who got into difficulty on Tryfan on Friday evening. The group, in their 20s from London, had ventured up the mountain's north ridge despite a forecast of worsening weather. Six rescuers who attended the call-out gave them "suitable advice".

बचावकर्ताओं ने स्नोडोनिया चोटी से छह कम सुसज्जित पैदल चलने वालों की मदद करने के लिए 70 मील प्रति घंटे की रफ्तार से लड़ाई लड़ी।


James Comey: FBI director who took centre stage

Summary: In a detail that was bizarre even by the unpredictable standards of the recent election, James Comey, the 6ft 8in former director of the FBI, while dressed in a blue suit, reportedly attempted to blend in with a matching set of curtains at the White House in January to avoid the attention of the president.

Unsurprisingly, his hasty attempt at camouflage failed. Mr Trump blew him a kiss from across the room and called him over for a warm handshake. The president had every reason to be pleased with the then-FBI director, who had publicly announced an investigation into Hillary Clinton just a week before the election. Mr Comey on the other hand was wary of Mr Trump and concerned about appearing too close to the president. Mr Trump had already praised him for his pursuit of the Clinton investigation, saying publicly that it "took guts" and had earned his "respect". Four months on from that strange encounter, Mr Comey fell sharply out of favour. The president called him a "nutjob" and sacked him. But far from withdrawing to the wings, Mr Comey is now preparing take centre stage. On Thursday he will give blockbuster testimony in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Mr Comey will describe to the congressional panel a series of one-on-one meetings in which the president is said to have asked repeatedly for his loyalty and appeared to lean on him to drop an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and Mr Flynn's alleged ties to Russia. The former FBI director took meticulous notes directly after the meetings and shared them with senior FBI officials. The notes, detailed in an advance copy of his submission to the committee, conjure a picture of a conscientious lawman troubled by the president's overtures and unsure how best to deal with them. Regarded as a canny operator, Jim Comey, as he is known, has been moving in political and legal circles at the highest level for three decades. As US attorney for the South District of New York, he attracted a following among many ordinary New Yorkers for his determination to go after the wealthy and powerful. He was appointed deputy attorney general in 2003 and led high profile prosecutions against lifestyle guru Martha Stewart and Wall Street broker Frank Quattrone. In 2004, as acting attorney general, he rushed to George Washington University Hospital, where top officials of President George W Bush's administration were attempting to lean on his boss, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, who was in intensive care. Mr Bush's White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and Chief of Staff Andrew Card had pressed Mr Ashcroft to re-authorise a controversial programme allowing federal agents to eavesdrop on phone conversations without a warrant. Mr Comey's intervention drew wide praise. 'A man who stands very tall' In 2005, Mr Comey left the Department of Justice for the private sector - working first at defence contractor Lockheed Martin and later hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. A spell as a fellow at Columbia Law School followed, before a call from President Barack Obama. In July 2013, Mr Obama nominated Mr Comey as FBI director, describing him, literally and figuratively, as a "man who stands up very tall for justice and the rule of law". In September he was appointed as the seventh director of the FBI, with a 10-year mandate. Over the next few years he was rarely a figure of public interest. He met with President Obama just twice - once to discuss policy and once to say goodbye at the end of the president's term. Then in mid-2016, everything changed. Mr Comey announced in July that year that an investigation into Mrs Clinton's use of a private email server would be closed without prosecution, drawing partisan ire from Republicans. In late-October, just 11 days before the election, in a surprise about-face, he announced that the FBI had reopened the inquiry following the discovery of new emails. The decision to re-open the investigation, and to announce it publicly so close to the election, was condemned by Democrats. Many accused him of derailing her campaign. Then just two days before the polls opened, another reversal: Mr Comey wrote to congressmen and women to say the investigation would no longer be pursued. In a Senate hearing in May, he claimed that Clinton aide Huma Abedin had forwarded "hundreds and thousands" of emails to her husband Anthony Wiener, "some of which contain classified information". But the FBI later conceded that only two email chains containing classified information were sent by Ms Abedin to her husband for printing. Hours after that Senate hearing, Mr Comey was sacked. In an extraordinary sequence of events, the FBI director found out about his dismissal from a TV news report while he was addressing staff in California. Embarrassingly, he assumed it was a joke, and had to be taken aside and informed that what he was seeing was real. White House staff struggled to defend the surprise dismissal, less than halfway into Mr Comey's 10-year term, and a chaotic whirlwind of briefings and conflicting explanations followed. Mr Comey remained quiet during the fallout. Later he made it clear he wanted to testify at a public hearing, and prepared to head into the spotlight once again.

हाल के चुनाव के अप्रत्याशित मानकों से भी विचित्र विवरण में, एफ. बी. आई. के 6 फीट 8 इंच के पूर्व निदेशक जेम्स कोमी ने नीले रंग का सूट पहने हुए, कथित तौर पर राष्ट्रपति के ध्यान से बचने के लिए जनवरी में व्हाइट हाउस में पर्दे के एक मेल खाने वाले सेट के साथ मिश्रण करने का प्रयास किया।


Retained firefighters needed in Devon

Summary: Retained firefighters are urgently needed in Devon or crews could be delayed in reaching some incidents, the fire service said.

There are 75 vacancies in the county, with south Devon needing the most, said Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue. If recruits were not found, towns like Kingsbridge would be covered by crews from other areas at certain times, the service said. Modury is looking for six recruits and two are needed in Kingsbridge. A spokesman from the fire service said they could move staff to nearby stations to fill gaps. But there could be "potential delays" if crews had to cover for other stations and travel a greater distance. "The service would do everything it could to minimise this [the delays]," he added.

अग्निशमन सेवा ने कहा कि डेवोन में रखे गए अग्निशामकों की तत्काल आवश्यकता है या चालक दल को कुछ घटनाओं तक पहुंचने में देरी हो सकती है।


Street named after Carpathia's Captain Arthur H Rostron

Summary: A Hampshire street has been named after the captain of the ship which sailed to the aid of the stricken RMS Titanic in 1912.

Captain Arthur H Rostron diverted the Carpathia to pick up survivors when Titanic sank in the north Atlantic. He spent his final years in West End, near Southampton, where Rostron Close was unveiled in a new housing development. A £15m museum dedicated to Titanic is due to open in Southampton next year.

हैम्पशायर की एक सड़क का नाम उस जहाज के कप्तान के नाम पर रखा गया है जो 1912 में आर. एम. एस. टाइटैनिक की सहायता के लिए रवाना हुआ था।


Transgender in Pakistan: Maya, the woman who almost broke free

Summary: In early 2019, Maya was on the run - but happy.

By M Ilyas KhanBBC News, Peshawar She was from Nowshera, northern Pakistan, where society is conservative and tolerance for non-conformity runs thin. And Maya didn't conform. She was transgender, born male but identifying and living as woman. She had escaped abuse at home three times, running far away each time. She'd found happiness and a new community, but then took the chance of moving closer to her family home in Peshawar. "I wish we had known better," says her childhood friend Mehek Khan. Because Maya's family tracked her down and within a month of her move, she was dead. Police suspect her brother and uncle killed her, but they have denied any involvement. Rights activists allege the police have left many loopholes in the case, meaning justice may never be reached for Maya, as for so many of Pakistan's murdered transgender women. 'We were drawn to each other' In Maya's home state of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, transgender women tend to identify as being a third gender - they often refer to themselves as "she-males". A series of court rulings since 2009 have recognised a third gender in law, but implementation is problematic. Socially, transgender individuals continue to be treated as lesser beings, having no right to claim privacy or personal dignity, or even safety. Maya's story highlights the dark side of these realities. "We were drawn to each other right from the start," says Mehek. "It may be because we were becoming aware of our common gender." Maya and Mehek grew up across the road from each other in the rural outskirts of Nowshera. Both were born male, but always felt female, says Mehek. She would sometimes put on a dupatta (a head scarf) or paint her nails. Mehek's father and uncle considered her a disgrace. "They would often beat me up, lock me in a room... but I couldn't stop repeating it," Mehek says. Maya faced the same treatment from her male relatives when she experimented with dressing as a woman. Things became harder as they approached their teens, says Mehek, when "she-males start feeling they are not what people think they are". "When that happens, life with the family becomes increasingly difficult, and you wait for an opportunity to step out." The two fantasised for years about running away and becoming great dancers, and then, in 2016, Mehek finally managed to do so. She fled to Peshawar, where a boyfriend found her work at a garment factory. It was a year before she heard from Maya, who called her saying she was planning to escape. "I was so happy I cried," says Mehek. Maya and Mehek moved together to Kamra, in the northern highlands of Punjab province, and into the care of a guru. Pushed to the fringes of society, transgender women in Pakistan tend to cluster in small communities organised around an older trans woman, a guru, who acts as their guardian and protector in exchange for a cut of their earnings. The guru will also teach them how to dress and perform, so they have access to one of the few sources of income available for them - as wedding dancers. Betrayed and dragged home The year the two spent fulfilling their dream of dancing "was the best year of our lives", says Mehek. Having transgender dancers at weddings is not only a cheaper alternative but also spares the hosts the censure they would expect from community elders if they invited cisgender women. For dancers, it's a way of avoiding having to beg, or enter sex work. "We went all over Pothowar region, dancing at weddings and other parties, and making more money than we had seen before." But it was a brief period of happiness - they were both ultimately betrayed by boyfriends, who tricked them into putting themselves in the path of their families. Both were dragged back home. Both women had their hair cropped and, Mehek says, were tortured. Maya was badly beaten, she says, and her brother chained her to a bed in the basement of their house for several days. Undeterred, in March, they both escaped again, eventually ending up in Peshawar, where the trend for "Tommy dancers" - transwomen dancers with a less feminine look - meant they could still get wedding work, despite their shorn heads. Naina Khan became their new guru. She described how Maya seemed to be settling well in Peshawar. "She was quite relaxed, and bold, almost over-confident," she says. But then on Saturday, "the doorbell rang and an old acquaintance walked in, holding a phone in his hand", she says, sitting in the nine-room apartment where she houses nearly 20 youthful chailas, or disciples. Maya was reclining in a cot in the lounge, she says, talking on phone. The visitor sat in another cot, and kept looking at his phone, sometimes stealing a glance at Maya. "I now suspect he had Maya's picture in his phone and wanted to confirm her presence," Naina says. The visitor left abruptly. Minutes later the bell rang again, and three men walked in. "I saw Maya rush in. She quickly removed her earrings and nose-pin, turned off her phone, put everything in a purse and gave it to me. She was very frightened. She said her brother and uncle had come to get her." A tall young man barged into the room, walked up to Maya and hit her. Naina and her chailas rushed in. The man pulled out a gun but Naina refused to be intimidated and, with the help of the others, was able to push all three men out of the apartment. But within half-an-hour, a police party arrived and the officer ordered Maya to go with him. When Naina intervened, he said Maya had stolen gold from her home. Left with no option, Naina and her chailas decided they would accompany them to the nearby police station. Over the next couple of hours, they raised a ruckus, demanding to know why Maya was there since she didn't want to go home. She was an adult, they said, and couldn't be forced to do anything she didn't want. The head of the police station assured her that they just wanted Maya to have a word with her father, who was on his way from Nowshera, and that after that, Maya would be free to go where she wanted. Naina and her followers left for a wedding appointment, but when they went back to the police station in the early hours, Maya was not there. A law that can clear murderers What happened to Maya that night is not clear, and may never be. A top police officer of Peshawar city, Zahoor Afridi, told the BBC that Maya had given her consent to leave with her father, uncle and other male relatives. But an undertaking shown to BBC by the Hashtnagri police is written on a plain paper and signed only by her father and uncle, not Maya. Investigations by Nowshera police showed that the car carrying Maya had stopped briefly at a petrol station owned by her uncle. There, Maya was moved to the car in which her uncle and brother were travelling. The rest of the family was asked to proceed home. The next morning Maya was found dead, lying in a pool of blood in the woods near Nowshera. Nearly a dozen people have been arrested so far, including Maya's father, her brother, uncle and other members of the extended family. In statements to court, they all denied having killed Maya. All have been released on bail. Taimur Kamal, a transgender rights activist, says the circumstantial evidence is strong, but the police are "reluctant to include some relevant clauses in the case that will make it hard for the offenders to avoid punishment". For years in Pakistan, the heirs of a murdered person had the right to pardon the killers in exchange for blood money, an ancient Arab custom. However, in 2016, in order to curb so-called honour killings - and letting families get away with murder and walk away with money - parliament abolished this right in all cases classified as "honour crimes". "Maya's is clearly an honour killing," says Taimur Kamal. "But the police haven't included the honour clause in the case, which leaves the door open for Maya's mother or sister to pardon her killers." A body unclaimed but paid for Peshawar-based transgender rights group Transaction says at least 70 trans women have been murdered in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province alone since 2015, when the group started keeping data on crimes against the community. Among the more recent cases, that of a Peshawar trans woman, Nazo, stands out. She was killed by two friends in July last year. They hacked her body into pieces, stuffed it in plastic bags and were carrying it for disposal when police caught them. Nazo's family considered it below their dignity to accept her body, so it was buried in a police graveyard in Peshawar. But they did feel they owned Nazo when they were offered blood money by the killers in return for filing a pardon in court. The two men were acquitted on the basis of that pardon two months ago. More recently, a trans woman from Mardan was allegedly killed by her family. Though pictures of her dead body were circulated by rights activists on social media, no-one filed a murder case with the police, nor did the police bother to act on the tip. According to rights activists, a majority of these murders are committed by angry lovers. Murders by family members are rare, mainly because most trans-women leave their homes at an early age and lose all contact with their relatives. The only "relatives" these trans women are left with are members of the community where they live. And that is where they are missed the most when they are gone. Naina, Maya's former guru, says she is reminded of her every time she opens her safe. "I see her purse, and start crying. It's all there; some money, her phone, her national ID, her jewellery. She was so young. You can't look at a young person and imagine death." For Mehek, Maya's memories run even deeper. "Naina is kind and protective, and our place is bustling with friendly she-males. But my heart continues to be in pain. I've lost my best friend and no-one will ever replace her," she says.

2019 की शुरुआत में, माया भाग रही थी-लेकिन खुश थी।