Peru's gold rush pits illegal miners against government

Summary: Tens of thousands of Peruvians have flocked to the country's Amazon region to join a chaotic gold rush. But illegal mining has led to violence, pollution and the destruction of parts of the country's precious rainforest. Can new government measures to control the miners succeed?

By Rob WalkerBBC News, Madre de Dios Manuel Kameno reaches into the undergrowth and plucks out a bright green leaf. "This one is good for back pain," he says. A bit further on, he swoops down again and picks a stem with a fragile yellow flower on top. "For toothache," he says, and marches further into the forest. Mr Kameno, who is well into his seventies, is a walking encyclopedia of the amazing variety of plants and animals in the Peruvian Amazon, one of the most bio-diverse rainforests in the world. But all this is changing before his eyes. Peru's south-eastern Madre de Dios region is in the grip of a frantic and lawless gold rush. Record prices on international gold markets have attracted tens of thousands of migrants from across Peru, overwhelming the existing informal mining sector. Illegal miners now operate right on the border of Kameno's indigenous community, the Amarakaeri. "Since mining started with machines, the gold miners have made holes in the forest. So the animals have run and gone to other places. Our fear is that the forest will disappear," Mr Kameno says. Further up the mighty Madre de Dios river, the reason for his concern becomes clear. Huepetuhe is one of oldest mining areas in the region. It looks as though the skin of the earth has been peeled back. Earth-movers pick unceasingly at the carcass. Walter Baca takes me on a tour of his goldmine. Clad in a pair of shorts and Wellington boots, he proudly shows me how it all works. Truckloads of earth are dumped down a steep metal chute and mixed with water. At the bottom, muddy fluid spews out over mats designed to catch particles of gold dust. By the end of a 10-hour shift, Mr Baca and his team of a dozen miners have collected about 40g of gold. "In the last few years, there has been gold fever here because back in 1999 gold was worth just 27 soles a gram. Last year, there were days when it was worth 145 soles (about $55)," he says. People continue to arrive from Peru's poverty-stricken highlands to seek their fortune. The government believes that anywhere up to 50,000 small-scale miners are now active in the Madre de Dios region. Almost all operate outside the law, without government permits and with little concern for the environment. Deforestation is not the only problem. Miners use mercury to process the gold dust, which then pollutes the rivers and the food chain. The president of Madre de Dios regional government, Jose Luis Aguirre, is frank about the scale of the problem: "It's almost like it has kidnapped us in our own homes. I have had death threats myself from illegal miners." But the administration of President Ollanta Humala, elected last year, is now acting, he says. New decrees issued in February set out tougher penalties for illegal mining. "The police have been using dynamite to blow up the mining pumps because that is the only way of making sure they are completely destroyed," says Mr Aguirre. The government is aiming to clear all illegal miners from areas bordering the national parks, and several thousands have so far been removed. People operating in areas where mining is not prohibited can continue as long as they legalise their activities by getting proper title to land, obeying environmental regulations and paying tax. But that has provoked a fierce dispute between the miners and the government. Corruption Some miners say that, in practice, government corruption and bureaucracy make it impossible to legalise their work. "I handed in my environmental assessment to the Mining Ministry four years ago and it's still sitting there. They still haven't even evaluated it," says Mr Baca. Mr Aguirre accepts that corruption is a serious problem. "The weight of gold buys many consciences. I know there are people involved in corruption, here in the regional government. We have found that there are public prosecutors who even own their own mining dredges." Mr Aguirre says he cannot sack these officials because they are employed by the national rather than the regional government. In the past, corruption and government incompetence have scuppered efforts to control illegal mining in Madre de Dios. But the central government, indicating a determination to act, has sent more staff to bolster the regional mining ministry. It has given miners until March next year to either start operating legally or stop mining. But there is strong resistance. Thousands of miners took to the streets of the regional capital, Puerto Maldonado, in March to oppose the government's reforms. Three were killed in clashes with police. 'Coffins and body bags' More confrontation appears to be looming. Luis Otsuka, the head of Fedemin, the local miners federation, is adamant that his members will not accept the government's reforms. "I am telling the central government to bring coffins and body bags here because they won't just be taking dead miners away, they'll also be taking police and their soldiers. We will never let them steal our work from us." Mining is a sensitive issue for President Humala, who was elected on the promise of ensuring poor Peruvians got a fairer share of the country's natural resources. But Fedemin accuses the government of targeting small-scale miners while doing business with foreign mining corporations that have multi-billion dollar operations in other parts of the country. The government in turn argues that powerful miners' leaders oppose reform simply because they stand to lose huge revenues if they are forced to become registered, taxed and regulated. The outcome of this stand off will depend partly on whether President Humala - unlike his predecessors - sustains his crackdown in the face of likely future protests. But it will also depend on events further away. The rate of increase in illegal gold mining has been determined largely by the global gold price. That, more than anything, may dictate the speed with which the forest is cut down to make way for gold mines. You can listen to Rob Walker's report from the Peruvian Amazon on Assignment on the BBC World Service. The documentary will be broadcast from Thursday 12 July 2012

हजारों पेरूवासी देश के अमेज़न क्षेत्र में सोने की भीड़ में शामिल होने के लिए उमड़ पड़े हैं। लेकिन अवैध खनन ने हिंसा, प्रदूषण और देश के कीमती वर्षावन के कुछ हिस्सों को नष्ट कर दिया है। क्या खनिकों को नियंत्रित करने के लिए नए सरकारी उपाय सफल हो सकते हैं?


Is the hydrogen tech 'revolution' hope or hype?

Summary: In his speech on the planned economic recovery, the prime minister said hydrogen technology is an area where the UK leads the world. He hopes it’ll create clean jobs in the future. But is the hydrogen revolution hope or hype?

By Roger HarrabinBBC environment analyst The digger with the long-toothed bucket bites into a pile of stones, tilts up and flexes its sturdy mechanical arm. It swivels, extends the arm and dumps its load on the harsh ground of a Staffordshire quarry. It’s a beast of a machine and from the front it looks like a normal excavator. But from the back you can see its tank full of dirty diesel has been replaced with a hydrogen fuel cell. The excavator is the latest in a generation of vehicles powered by the lightest element on Earth. The compendium of vehicles powered by hydrogen now stretches from diggers to micro-taxis, trucks, boats, vans, single-deck and now double-decker buses – and even small planes. It works by reacting hydrogen with oxygen in a fuel cell to generate electricity. The only direct emission is water. Talking about a revolution So at last, the long-awaited hydrogen revolution is here. Or is it? Back in the early 2000s, backers of hydrogen thought it would dominate the clean automobile market. But the promised “hydrogen highway” never materialised, for a couple of crucial reasons. Firstly, hydrogen power needed a new infrastructure, whereas rival battery cars could be charged off the near-ubiquitous electricity grid. Secondly, high-powered batteries at that time were already well-advanced for other uses such as computers, but hydrogen was not. So hydrogen lost the head-on battle for the motor car. But now it’s back in the frame for the sort of transport, industry and heating tasks that batteries are struggling to fulfil. Take our large mechanical digger, a prototype from JCB. It has a little battery-powered cousin – small enough to squeeze through a doorway and work in a building. But JCB say the big digger would need a battery weighing five tonnes, and take hours to refuel. Hydrogen on the other hand, is lighter than air and takes minutes to fill a tank. Lorries fall into the same category as diggers – sometimes the battery would be as heavy as the payload. Double deckers The same applies to buses, and the Bamford family, which owns JCB, says it has orders for 80 double-deck buses from its Wrightbus factory at Ballymena in Northern Ireland. That still leaves the issue of charging infrastructure – but that can be solved by providing hydrogen pumps on motorways for long-distance truckers. The same network could fuel hybrid battery and hydrogen cars of the future and dispense with the need for ever-heavier batteries in plug-in cars. Buses could use hydrogen stored at depots in Kevlar-lined tanks for safety. Past fears of hydrogen tanks exploding have been addressed by the advent of tanks lined with Kevlar and hydrogen release mechanisms in case the tank is struck. Taking off Airports could also store hydrogen, and the first test flight of an electric plane in the UK at Cranfield University recently was powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. There is – forgive the pun – a head of steam building over hydrogen. Germany is racing ahead with a network of filling stations and a hydrogen train. It’s investing €7bn in a bid to dominate the hydrogen market. The EU Commission wants a slice of the action, too. The website Euractiv reported that it plans to publish a hydrogen strategy soon. A leaked draft floated the idea of making the Euro the currency for international hydrogen trades, as the US Dollar is for oil. The UK government also intends to announce a hydrogen strategy before the Parliament closes for the summer, as part of its economic recovery package. It’s being spurred on by rebukes that the UK lost the battle for battery technology to China – so it mustn't let the hydrogen bandwagon escape. The government is advised by its Committee on Climate Change to start large-scale trials in the early 2020s. Indeed, within weeks from now, Britain’s first hydrogen train – developed by Birmingham University - will be tested on regular tracks. So it looks as though hydrogen has finally made it. But not so fast… because it’s by no means trouble-free. Currently almost all the hydrogen sold in the UK is produced by splitting it from natural gas. But that’s costly and emits lots of planet-heating carbon dioxide. The problem can be tackled by capturing the CO2 at a hydrogen production hub, then burying it with carbon capture and storage. But that will drive the cost up further. The alternative is inherently clean – but very expensive. It entails using surplus renewable electricity, like when the wind blows at night, to split hydrogen from water using a fuel cell. Fool cells? The process is wasteful because it involves turning electricity into a gas, then back into electricity – a two-step shuffle dismissed by Tesla car chief Elon Musk as “staggeringly dumb”. “Fool cells”, he calls them. But hydrogen-lovers believe the future electricity grid will produce so much cheap off-peak power that we’ll need to find other uses for it. And they hope to see the cost of fuel cells plummet following the example of offshore wind. Certainly, recent events have favoured the advance of hydrogen. When the UK had a target of 80% carbon cuts by 2050, that left leeway for polluting forms of fuel to take up the remaining 20% of the carbon “budget”. Now it’s widely accepted that homes with low-carbon heating systems such as heat exchangers will need a boost in a cold snap from another source – and that’s looking increasingly like hydrogen. Trials are already underway using hydrogen blended into natural gas at Keele University. And, depending on how much support it gets from the government - it looks as though a technology that lost its key battle against battery cars two decades ago will still find a place in the zero-carbon economy of tomorrow. Follow Roger on Twitter.

नियोजित आर्थिक सुधार पर अपने भाषण में प्रधानमंत्री ने कहा कि हाइड्रोजन प्रौद्योगिकी एक ऐसा क्षेत्र है जहां ब्रिटेन दुनिया का नेतृत्व करता है। उन्हें उम्मीद है कि यह भविष्य में स्वच्छ रोजगार पैदा करेगा। लेकिन हाइड्रोजन क्रांति उम्मीद है या प्रचार?


Sterilisation: North Carolina grapples with legacy

Summary: More than 60,000 Americans were sterilised, many against their will, as part of a eugenics movement that finished in 1979, aimed at keeping the poor and mentally ill from having children. Now, decades on, one state is considering compensation.

By Daniel NasawBBC News, Washington In 1968, Elaine Riddick was raped by a neighbour who threatened to kill her if she told what happened. She was 13, the daughter of violent and abusive parents in the desperately poor country town of Winfall, in the US state of North Carolina. While she was in hospital giving birth, the state violated her a second time, she says. A social worker who had deemed her "feeble-minded" petitioned the state Eugenics Board to have her sterilised. Officials coerced her illiterate grandmother into signing an "x" on an authorisation form. After performing a Caesarean section, doctors sterilised her "just like cutting a hog", she says. "They killed my kids," Ms Riddick says. "They killed mine before they got to me. They stopped it." Nearly four decades after the last person was sterilised under North Carolina's eugenics programme, a state task force is seeking the 2,900 victims of sterilisation officials estimate are still alive. The group hopes to gather their stories and ultimately to recommend the state award them restitution. But with public coffers under severe pressure amid a flagging recovery, it is not clear the legislature will agree. "I know I can't make it right but at least I can address it," said North Carolina state legislator Larry Womble. He hopes "to let the world know what a horrendous thing the government has perpetrated on these young boys and girls". America's sterilisation movement was part of a broad effort to cleanse the country's population of characteristics and social groups deemed unwanted, an effort that included anti-race mixing and strict immigration quotas aimed at Eastern Europeans, Jews and Italians. Beginning with Indiana in 1907, 32 states eventually passed laws allowing authorities to order the sterilisation of people deemed unfit to breed. The last programme ended in 1979. The victims were criminals and juvenile delinquents, women deemed sexual deviants, homosexual men, poor people on welfare, people who were mentally ill or suffered from epilepsy. African Americans and Hispanic Americans were disproportionately targeted in some states. 'Coerced' "In general it was the dispossessed of society," said Paul Lombardo, a historian and legal scholar at Georgia State University and editor of A Century of Eugenics in America. The laws were plainly coercive, scholars say, though some incorporated a veneer of consent - illiterate farmhands given forms to sign, institutional inmates told they would not be released with their bodies intact, poor parents told they would be denied public assistance if they did not approve the removal of a wayward daughter's fallopian tubes. Motivating the laws, Prof Lombardo said, was indignation at the thought that people who had violated sexual mores would subsequently end up needing public assistance. "We have in this country have always been extremely sensitive to notions of public stories of inappropriate sexuality," he said. "We exercise that most dramatically when it comes to times in which we think we're spending individual tax money to support people who violate those social norms. It's our puritanical background, running up against our sense of individualism." Supreme Court approval The racial context was inescapable as well. "The fewer black babies we have the better, that's what some people said," Prof Lombardo said. "'They're just going to end up on welfare.'" Also implicated in American sterilisation laws was the classical eugenic notion that as with horses, authorities could use genetic principles to improve society through selective breeding. In a 1927 US Supreme Court decision that upheld the laws, storied jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote: "It is better for all the world if, instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind." All told, scholars estimate more than 60,000 Americans were sterilised under eugenics laws in the 20th Century. North Carolina's law stood out for the wide net it cast. Telling their stories Most states would only order sterilisation of institutional inmates or patients, North Carolina's allowed for people within the community - typically social workers - to petition the state to have someone sterilised. Of the 1,110 men and 6,418 women sterilised in North Carolina between 1929 and 1974, state health officials estimate about 2,900 could still be alive. In recent years several states have re-examined their forgotten legacies - prodded in some cases by newspaper investigations - and extended official apologies. North Carolina did so in 2003, but Mr Womble has continued to push for monetary compensation to the victims. This month, a state task force created by his legislation will hold a public session at which surviving victims are expected to tell their stories. The group will eventually make a recommendation for compensation to the governor - $20,000 per person has been suggested. But the state is facing a $2.5bn (£1.5bn) budget shortfall. The conservative Republicans in control of the state legislature are already poised to slash transport, healthcare and education funds, so it seems unlikely lawmakers will authorise as much as $58m in reparations. "My hope is that the state will recognise that there's never going to be a good time for compensation," says Charmaine Cooper, executive director of the Justice for Sterilization Victims Task Force, the state body. Among those expected to testify is Ms Riddick, who now lives in Atlanta. She describes the prospect of a $20,000 payment as an insult. "I am very angry," she says. "God said be fruitful and multiply. They did not only sin against me, they sinned against God."

60, 000 से अधिक अमेरिकियों की नसबंदी की गई थी, जिनमें से कई उनकी इच्छा के खिलाफ थे, एक यूजेनिक्स आंदोलन के हिस्से के रूप में जो 1979 में समाप्त हुआ, जिसका उद्देश्य गरीबों और मानसिक रूप से बीमार लोगों को बच्चे पैदा करने से रोकना था। अब, दशकों बाद, एक राज्य मुआवजे पर विचार कर रहा है।


Drop in consumer demand hits UK car manufacturing

Summary: Car manufacturing in the UK fell last year for the first time since 2009.

By Theo LeggettBusiness correspondent, BBC News According to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), 1.67 million cars left UK factories in 2017, a decline of 3% compared with the year before. The SMMT says lower demand from UK consumers was the main reason for the fall, although exports also dipped. New investment in the UK motor industry shrank as well, falling to £1.1bn last year, compared with £1.66bn in 2016. Despite the decline last year, manufacturing in the UK remains high by historical standards, having risen steadily in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The number of cars that rolled off the production lines in 2017 was still the second highest since the turn of the century. But the SMMT remains concerned about the effects of falling business and consumer confidence, as well as what it calls confusion over the government's policy on diesel. Output for the domestic market fell by 9.8%, reflecting a decline in new car sales, which gathered pace towards the end of the year. Overseas demand continued to dominate production, with almost eight in every 10 cars built being sent abroad, more than half of them to the rest of the European Union. Meanwhile demand for commercial vehicles in the UK fell by 25%, which the SMMT blamed on "a fall in business confidence and fluctuating buying cycles". However, exports to the EU fell by just over 5%. Despite big increases in demand from other markets, notably Japan, China, Canada and the United States, overall exports fell by 1.1%. Export volumes do tend to fluctuate from year to year, and the arrival of a new model can have a big impact on the figures. However, the SMMT is clearly worried that future exports could be under threat, if rapid progress is not made on the trading conditions which will apply after the country leaves the EU. It argues that there is an urgent need for agreement on a transition deal, allowing the UK to remain in both the single market and the customs union until a final agreement on a new trading relationship has been reached. Brexit clarity call In addition, it wants the UK to continue to benefit from existing EU free trade agreements and customs union agreements during the transition, to protect exports to countries such as South Korea, Canada and Turkey. "We urgently need clarity on the transitional arrangements", the SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes told reporters. Such arrangements, he said, "must retain all the current benefits, else around 10% of our exports could be threatened overnight". The SMMT has also released figures showing that investment in the UK automotive sector fell by a third last year, dropping to £1.1bn from £1.66bn in 2016 and £2.5bn the year before that. Although investment in the motor industry is often cyclical, and can vary sharply from year to year, the SMMT says there is evidence that it is now actually stalling, as companies wait for certainty over our future relationship with the EU. It says rapid progress is needed on trade discussions, to safeguard jobs and promote future growth. Despite the overall fall in production, meanwhile, one segment of the market is currently expanding. Accelerating business Engine production grew by 6.9% in 2017, with 1 million diesel units and 1.7 million petrol units being built. The SMMT attributes much of the recent growth to investment in factories producing the latest generation of high-tech diesel engines - such as Ford's plant in Dagenham, which alone builds 790,000 units each year. It is an important sector, employing some 8,000 people, with nearly half of them working on building diesels. But whether the growth can be maintained is open to question. In the UK, diesel sales fell by more than 17% last year. Across Europe, too, diesel's market share has been falling, as politicians have become more concerned about urban air quality - and consumers have become worried in turn about possible restrictions on using their cars. People within the industry insist that modern diesels are clean. But they admit that persuading enough people to buy them is proving to be a challenge. At the moment, there is no sign of that situation changing.

ब्रिटेन में कार निर्माण 2009 के बाद पहली बार पिछले साल गिरा।


Ed Sheeran: 'People still think Elton John's my manager'

Summary: In the two and a half years since Ed Sheeran released his debut album + (pronounced 'plus'), he has won two Brit awards and an Ivor Novello. He is about to release his follow up album X (multiply). "All the facts hold some truth, some of them are embellished, a lot of people still think Elton John is my manager."

By Kev GeogheganArts and entertainment reporter, BBC News Three years ago, Ed Sheeran was playing his first ever Glastonbury festival. The singer drew one of the biggest crowds of the weekend to the BBC's Introducing stage. In the years since, Sheeran has played all over the world, speaking to hundreds of journalists along the way. But some 'facts' just continue to follow him around. "I have to explain that he [Sir Elton] owns a management company that manages a lot of acts," the flame-haired troubadour offers by way of clarification. "My manager is one of many who works for it and from time to time Elton shows a bit of interest and helps out," "Can you imagine him standing outside now on his Blackberry... little headset on..." Managerial issues aside, there was also Sheeran's oft-quoted living status, sofa-surfing at friends' houses whilst continually playing live shows. "Actually, I'm back sofa-surfing but that's not a financial thing, I've got a flat and I'm doing it up and I can't live in it until August so I'm back to sofas." His living circumstances may have remained the same but his career has gone into orbit since the early days. Sheeran's debut album + was certified quintuple platinum in the UK and, in 2012, he won two Brit Awards for best British male and British breakthrough act. He toured the US, supporting Taylor Swift and Snow Patrol and performed his Ivor Novello-winning single The A Team at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. Sheeran was one of the highlights of the recent BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Glasgow, where, aside from the 30,000 or so fans there to see him on the main stage, a singer from one of the headline acts also popped by to check out his act. "I didn't have a clue and I remember halfway through thinking, 'I bet Coldplay will arrive later because they're in the headline slot and I would have really liked for Chris Martin to have seen my show, just because it's nice to have someone who you have admiration for see you. "As soon as I got off stage, my promotions guy said, 'Did you see? Chris watched the whole show'. "I got back to my dressing room and I said, 'I can't believe Chris saw the whole thing,' and then he popped in and said, 'Hey, I saw the whole thing.' I've met him a few times before, he's really nice." His new album sees Sheeran work with the likes of Rihanna producer Benny Blanco and the legendary Rick Rubin - who has produced records for the likes of Eminem, Jay Z and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The style of production may change throughout the record but Sheeran and his acoustic guitar remain very much at the centre of the album's sound. It has also given Sheeran his first UK number one single, the infectiously catchy Sing, produced by man-of-the-moment Pharrell Williams. The video shows a puppet version of Sheeran drinking and carousing the night away before hooking up with his real life counterpart. Sheeran was kept updated during the puppet design. "They took pictures of all my tattoos and what I was wearing and it was very much a process to get that done. "I wanted to case him up and have him in my house but we might keep him for future stuff because he was an expensive puppet. "That puppet cost more than all the videos on my last album, bar one, for Give Me Love." Role model Is the video a clever reference to the downside of Sheeran's fame? After all, as one of the most famous singers in the country, it must be difficult for him to be able to relax in public places due to the fact that everyone has a phone on their camera. "Honestly, I don't know how many people would care," he explains. "The whole of my first album is about drink and drugs and people picked up on that very fast, so I think if anyone saw me do anything, they'd be like, 'It's what he sings about,' not that I get up to it a lot now, I've calmed down." To illustrate his point, Sheeran points to a recent video, leaked online of two members of One Direction appearing to smoke cannabis during the Peru leg of their world tour. "I feel like, because that's never been talked about with that lot, it shocked people - although it not a very shocking thing, it's legal in that country. I think because I've broached everything I do, no-one would be too surprised." He points out, however, that "I like to be a role model," adding "so I never want to be too much of an advocate. I speak about the experiences and those experiences are never positive so I don't think it promotes it, but it is freeing as an artist." Such openness about his life allows much speculation about his song lyrics, in particular a new song called Don't from the new album. It is a song about being the victim of a straying partner and includes lyrics like, "I never saw him as a threat / Until you disappeared with him to have sex of course/ It's not like we were both on tour /We were staying on the same hotel floor" and have sparked rumours about who the song is about. Sheeran, who is rumoured to have dated singers Taylor Swift and Ellie Goulding, is keeping his mouth shut about the identity of the cheating ex. "I can't tell you who it's about because I think the song is enough," he continues. "I don't want to be that guy. It's a good song at the end of the day, I like it and it works on the record and I'm not putting it out for any other reason than that." Sheeran will be taking his new album out on the road across the UK soon, starting with Glastonbury and taking in dates in October at the O2 in London and cities including Leeds and Manchester, before ending up back in Glasgow, where he played to the Radio 1 audience. Sheeran insists he's ready for it: "The UK is a very unforgiving audience, like, if you mess up, people here will say, '£50 to go and see him? We probably shouldn't do that again.' So I want to come correct." Ed Sheeran's X is released in the UK on 23 June.

एड शीरन द्वारा अपना पहला एल्बम + (उच्चारण 'प्लस') जारी करने के ढाई वर्षों में, उन्होंने दो ब्रिट पुरस्कार और एक आइवर नोवेलो जीता है। वह अपना अनुवर्ती एल्बम एक्स (गुणा) जारी करने वाले हैं। "सभी तथ्य कुछ सच्चाई रखते हैं, उनमें से कुछ अलंकृत हैं, बहुत से लोग अभी भी सोचते हैं कि एल्टन जॉन मेरे प्रबंधक हैं।"


What happened in the city that banned Uber

Summary: Uber's new chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi will be in the UK on Tuesday for a meeting with Transport for London (TfL). He hopes the negotiations will stop the imminent revoking of his company’s license to run its ride-sharing business in the capital.

Dave LeeNorth America technology reporter When TfL, backed by Mayor Sadiq Khan, announced Uber would no longer be allowed to operate, the service's 3.5m users, and 40,000 drivers, were aghast. Despite the very best efforts of the cab trade, Uber has become a valued way for Londoners to get around, particularly late at night. The same was true in Austin, Texas. It’s a city that shares few similarities with London, other than its own bitter tussle with Uber - the fallout from which could contain clues as to what might happen if, and it's a big if, TfL follows through with its threat. Uber had been available in Austin since 2014. But on 10 May 2016, Uber (and rival service Lyft) turned off their apps and left. Less than 24 hours earlier, Austinites had gone to the polls to vote on Proposition 1. It was a law that removed a requirement on ride-sharing companies to gather fingerprints as part of their background checks on drivers, as well as sharing more data with city officials. Uber didn't want to do this. It argued that the fingerprint database drivers would be cross-checked against would be ineffective. It's also likely - though Uber never expressed this publicly - that adding a layer to the sign-up process would make it more time-consuming, and expensive, to recruit drivers. It's something the company, in all the markets it works in, constantly seeks to avoid - and in Austin it was prepared to spend big to avoid the restrictions. Fierce lobbying David Butts, a political consultant who campaigned against Uber during the dispute, estimates that the firm spent more than $10m (£7.5m) fighting city officials. “We have never seen a campaign that spent that much money, for anything,” he said. Uber did not respond to the BBC’s request to comment on this story. Whatever the size of the lobbying bill, it wasn’t enough. Mr Khosrowshahi said Uber’s poor corporate reputation may have been a factor in TfL's thinking, and the same may have been true for Austin’s voters, according to Ben Wear, a reporter for the Austin American-Statesman. "I think a lot of people that actually actively used their service here in Austin voted against them, knowing that they’d leave, because of the corporate behaviour that at that time had gone on for about two years. "They showed up and basically ignored the city’s rules." And so just like that, Uber and Lyft were gone. Alternative apps Andy Tryba and his team got to work. "We basically stayed up all night for about four weeks or so to kind of get it up and going," he told me. “It’s to my knowledge the world’s only non-profit version of ride-share.” He's the co-founder of Ride Austin, a locally developed app that stepped in to take Uber’s place - one of about 11 eventual alternatives that popped up in the weeks and months after Uber's disappearance. Unlike Uber and Lyft, which take a percentage of a ride’s final fare, RideAustin takes a fixed $2 fee, regardless of how long or far the journey. Riders are offered the chance to round up their fare and donate the extra amount to a number of charities - it has so far raised over $250,000. “There were 125,000 a week or so that were occurring in the city when Uber and Lyft were operating here. Obviously, the day that they pulled out there was a bit of an adjustment period. “But within a few weeks, there were several players that came into town. Very quickly that total number of rides were filled by those other players.” Saturday night failure There were teething problems with these new apps, said Mike Allen, who has driven in Austin for almost two years. “It was a fun challenge to get them to a point where they were able to work for us as drivers,” he said. "But we got there." The real test came when it was time for the most famous event in Austin’s calendar - South by Southwest. The tech, music and film festival draws thousands to the city every year, and in 2017 it presented the new apps with their biggest challenge yet in handling the demand. That challenge grew too great on the middle Saturday of the festival, when as afternoon rolled into evening, it started to pour down with rain. I was among those hopelessly opening up apps trying to find one that was still working. RideAustin buckled, as too did Fasten, another app that had moved into the city when Uber left. "Technical issues are just part and parcel of tech businesses," said Vlad Christoff, co-founder of Fasten. “We had braced for a 10x increase… we got 17x. Yes - we had a little bit of a hiccup!” Big boys back in town But by June, Uber and Lyft were back. There hadn’t been a compromise on security or data. Instead, state power in Texas overruled Austin’s local decision by creating statewide rules on ride-sharing that did not insist on fingerprint checks. Within a week, one Austin app, Fare, had folded. RideAustin saw its bookings drop by 55% - and it hasn’t ever recovered. The local apps all maintain that they have plenty of drivers, who make more money on their apps per trip than Uber or Lyft. And though it's difficult to measure independently, the fares are the same or cheaper too. Which makes you wonder - why did users go back to Uber and Lyft? "They are very good at leveraging their cash position to do lots of free rides and promotions to get their share back," Mr Tryba said. Fasten’s Mr Christoff thinks brand recognition beyond the city is the problem. “The part that we’ve lost is visitors. For one year people landed at Austin’s airport, and they found out the hard way that the default ride-sharing apps on their phone didn’t work. "Once Uber and Lyft came back, business continued as usual. [But] the locals stayed with us.” Drivers too have turned more frequently to Uber and Lyft instead of the smaller apps. "It boils down to the quantity of rides," says Mr Allen. "When you’re getting 10 requests on Uber to every one request on RideAustin, you’ve got to go to where the rides are. Right now Uber is paying me the most money, but per ride RideAustin is the best." London calling I think it's unlikely that Uber's troubles in London will reach such a breaking point that the company ends up being forced off the streets. The appeal process keeps it on the road for the foreseeable future, and when dealing with city officials, Uber’s new CEO Mr Khosrowshahi has hinted at an ever-so-slightly more understanding approach than the man he replaced, Travis Kalanick. If Uber does leave, there are already a number of apps already in play (not to mention black cabs) that would seek to pick up the extra business - and the orphaned drivers. Both RideAustin and Fasten said they would consider looking at London as a new market for them, but had no immediate plans. “There is life after Uber,” Mr Christoff said. For political consultant David Butts, who worked with Austin City Council on the issue, the entire dispute speaks to a bigger problem of billionaire-backed start-ups believing they are free to dictate the rules. To city officials in London, he says: "Stand up to them.” "Don’t cave in. They’re not as strong. Make the case to people: do you want a corporation dictating to the City of London?” ______ Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC You can reach Dave securely through encrypted messaging app Signal on: +1 (628) 400-7370

उबर के नए मुख्य कार्यकारी दारा खोसरोशाही मंगलवार को ट्रांसपोर्ट फॉर लंदन (टी. एफ. एल.) के साथ एक बैठक के लिए ब्रिटेन में होंगे। उन्हें उम्मीद है कि बातचीत से राजधानी में अपने राइड-शेयरिंग व्यवसाय को चलाने के लिए उनकी कंपनी के लाइसेंस को आसन्न रूप से रद्द करना बंद हो जाएगा।


Bloodstock 2019: Thousands of metal fans rock out

Summary: The small Derbyshire village of Walton-on-Trent has had its peace shattered, as more than 10,000 metal heads descended on it for Bloodstock.

More than 100 bands are playing at Catton Park in the village, which normally has 800 residents. The four-day festival, which began on Thursday, was headlined by Sabaton, Parkway Drive and Scorpions. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.

वॉल्टन-ऑन-ट्रेंट के छोटे से डर्बीशायर गाँव की शांति भंग हो गई है, क्योंकि ब्लडस्टॉक के लिए 10,000 से अधिक धातु के सिर उस पर उतरे हैं।


Man's body pulled from water off Isle of Wight after 'unexplained' death

Summary: A man's body has been pulled from the English Channel off the Isle of Wight after an "unexplained" death, police have said.

Officers said they had alerted the family of 26-year-old Nitin Woocheet, from Southsea, who has been missing from Portsmouth since 18 March. The body, which has not yet been identified, was discovered by crew on a fishing vessel on Sunday evening. It was then recovered by the RNLI's Bembridge Lifeboat. A spokesman for Hampshire Constabulary said: "Officers are in the early stages of an investigation into the death, which at this stage is unexplained." Related Internet Links Hampshire Constabulary RNLI Bembridge Lifeboat station

पुलिस ने कहा है कि एक "अस्पष्टीकृत" मौत के बाद आइल ऑफ वाइट से दूर इंग्लिश चैनल से एक व्यक्ति का शव निकाला गया है।


Kobane: Survival stories from Kobane refugees

Summary: Many of the thousands of people who have fled the fighting between Islamic State (IS) militants and fighters from the Syrian Kurdish YPG in Kobane in Syria have reached the relative safety of south-eastern Turkey. In the town of Suruc, the BBC's Rengin Arslan has been listening to their tales of survival.

By Rengin ArslanBBC News in Suruc, Turkey Vast yellow fields surround this border town. But just across the border inside Syria, white and black plumes of smoke rise above Kobane as Islamic State attacks intensify. In the past two weeks, thousands of women have managed to escape IS and take refuge in Turkey, only a few kilometres from their own homes. Their children have been queuing to register for entry into a new country. With rucksacks strapped to their backs, they could be schoolchildren queuing to begin a new term, were it not for the tragic circumstances. One man carries bright yellow birds in two cages. It seems everyone's priorities differ when it comes to deciding what to take with them. Homesick On my first day in Suruc, I had hoped to be back home in Istanbul in a matter of days. But the plight of the refugees and the stories I heard kept me at the border. I realised I would be staying longer than I had expected. I met a man who had lost his leg to a landmine. He was trying to escape from IS when he stepped on it right on the Syria-Turkey border. Once agricultural land, the Turkish authorities had turned it into a vast minefield in the 1950s to prevent smuggling. The same day I met a 19-year-old female Syrian Kurd YPG fighter in the main hospital in Urfa. She told me she had been shot by an IS extremist in a ditch in a village near Kobane. She had shot back. She looked devoid of emotion as she told her story, and I saw her eyes light up only when I asked her to tell me more about her village. One day at the border, a group of young Kurdish men were tear-gassed by Turkish police as they tried to get home to fight with the YPG. Most of them made it through. I then spoke to a woman nearby. Her name was Amira. She had three small children with her. She was sitting on a rock, refusing to move, she said, until it was safe for her to return home. Her youngest boy was crying silently. That night, I heard there were American air strikes. Earlier, some of the Kurdish refugees and local residents had told me the air intervention filled them with hope. Others refused to believe the strikes had actually happened. "It is all lies. No way were there any US air strikes near Kobane that night," they had told me. The next day some of the refugees went back across the border to Kobane. Still at the border, I remember one elderly woman in a purple dress, probably in her 70s. She said she longed for home and wanted to die there. She pointed at the small stones on at her feet. "I sleep on this ground, just like these stones do. But I want to die in the comfort of my own bed." A few hours later at this same spot, I saw a hearse carrying the coffin of a dead fighter, who had been brought to Turkey for treatment after suffering injuries in the fighting in Kobane. A terrible ending, I thought. In Suruc, a few days later, Hennan Muhammed told me how IS had taken his son hostage while he was travelling to Iraq to avoid being conscripted by Syria in the war. His son was an English literature graduate, just like me. Half way through my trip, a mortar shell landed near the TV satellite trucks stationed on the Turkish side of the border. Luckily no-one got hurt. But the sound of it was unforgettable, so dangerous and so close. I filmed a piece-to-camera as safely as I could. When my recorded video appeared on the BBC Turkish website later that day, I did not post the link on Facebook so my mother would not find out and worry. Two weeks later, I am back home in Istanbul, hoping to be able to report happier news from the border if I return there. I hope the distressing sight of grey smoke rising above Kobane will have vanished. And I hope I will never have to wear body armour in my own country again.

सीरिया के कोबानी में इस्लामिक स्टेट (आईएस) के आतंकवादियों और सीरियाई कुर्दिश वाई. पी. जी. के लड़ाकों के बीच लड़ाई से भागकर आए हजारों लोगों में से कई दक्षिण-पूर्वी तुर्की की सापेक्ष सुरक्षा में पहुंच गए हैं। सुरुक शहर में, बी. बी. सी. के रेंगिन अर्सलान उनके जीवित रहने की कहानियों को सुन रहे हैं।


Trump Bannon row: 'Not the Steve Bannon you are looking for'

Summary: Steve Bannon was not at all surprised by the messages he began receiving on 3 January. After controversial claims by the former chief strategist to US President were published , the predictable social media storm ensued.

By George PierpointBBC UGC and Social News However, this Steve Bannon is not the head of right-wing website Breitbart News nor is he the former White House strategist but a father of three from the UK, who happens to have the same name and the Twitter handle @SteveBannon. As he puts it in his online description he's "nothing to do with US politics or running the White House, etc." You may also like: A heated debate has taken place after extracts from an upcoming book by journalist Michael Wolff, which claims to lift the lid on the Trump administration and extensively quotes Mr Bannon, were released. The President's lawyers have since served Mr Bannon with a cease-and-desist notice accusing him of defaming the president. The story has caused a huge reaction on social media. The term 'Steve Bannon' has been used more than 424,000 times on Twitter and 165,000 times in public posts on Facebook since Wednesday. Mr Bannon received a number of angry messages after the book's extracts hit the headlines. Many tweets expressed their support for Mr Trump and aggressively accused Mr Bannon of treason, betraying the president, and suggested he ought to leave the country. However, not all communication was quite so serious. Spotting the mix up, some sent Mr Bannon messages of support or knowingly played along with the confusion. Steve Bannon is not the first case of mistaken identity on social media. Accounts belonging to people named Michael Bolton, James Taylor, Joe Hart and Edward Snowden as well as another Trump adviser, George Papadopoulos, have all been the subject of misdirected messages meant for their more well-known namesake. President Trump directed a message to the wrong Theresa May after the British Prime Minister chastised the President for retweeting videos posted by a far-right group. Meanwhile, Mr Bannon has been reaching out to others in a similar position. He sent a Happy Christmas message to fellow Twitter user John Lewis - "not a retail store" - who has been mistaken for the UK chain of shops for a number of years. However, when questioned by some about changing his Twitter handle, Mr Bannon is defiant.

स्टीव बैनन को 3 जनवरी को मिलने वाले संदेशों से कोई आश्चर्य नहीं हुआ। पूर्व मुख्य रणनीतिकार द्वारा अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति के लिए किए गए विवादास्पद दावों के प्रकाशित होने के बाद, अनुमानित सोशल मीडिया तूफान आया।


What ingredients make the world's greatest cocktail bar?

Summary: New York likes to think of itself as the home of the cocktail. But these days, London's scene is giving the Big Apple a run for its money. So when it comes to picking the world's greatest cocktail bar, which city wins? Elizabeth Hotson went to find out.

From the Gin Rickey and Mint Julep swilling characters in The Great Gatsby, to the Mad Men who can't get enough Manhattans and Whiskey Sours, in the past it's New York that has tended to put the fizz into fancy mixed drinks. But these days, for true flaunt-it decadence, London's hotel bars are hard to beat. Take, for example, The Connaught Bar. At 5pm on a Saturday we're ushered to the last available table, surrounded by Art Deco opulence, all wood panelling, polished chrome, glass and leather. A waitress provides a bowl of fat, bright green olives. Their signature cocktail, the Vieux Connaught, arrives on a mirrored tray and involves a long list of ingredients: rum, rye whiskey, dry vermouth, Benedictine, Angostura bitters, orange bitters. It's not cheap at £20 ($26), but it comes in fitting style - garnished with orange peel in the shape of a lightning bolt and topped off with saffron-infused smoke. The Connaught represents the glossy, upmarket end of London's cocktail scene. It's about the experience as much as the contents of your glass. If you order a Martini, the Martini trolley is wheeled over, and the gin and vermouth are mixed to your precise specifications. 007 would approve. Ten years ago, New York arguably led the cocktail scene; new bars were cropping up offering freshly squeezed juices and craft spirits, often in simpler, less plush surroundings. Now, inspiration has rippled around the globe and most capital cities boast plenty of places where the barman knows his Woo Woo from his Sex On The Beach. So this year, competition for a place on The World's 50 Best Bars (compiled by publishers William Reed) is stiff. "A great cocktail isn't just about the liquid in the glass," says Sandrae Lawrence, one of the competition judges and editor of The Cocktail Lovers magazine. "It's an overall experience that you're looking for. "Great bars come in all shapes and sizes, from neighbourhood bars, to dive bars and five star hotels," she says. "You've got to look at hospitality, the team work, how that bar makes you feel." And when it comes to the drink, as well as the chemistry and the artistry of presentation, there's also geography - where the ingredients come from; the story behind them is becoming ever more important, she says. According to industry figures, Britons are drinking more cocktails. CGA, which collates data on the food and drink industry, says the market reached £500m last year and is growing at 10% per annum. We're also becoming more adventurous according to CGA's chief executive Phil Tate, and eager for that "added element of theatre" on a night out, particularly in the age of Instagram. But "theatre" isn't always about sumptuous surroundings. An anonymous door off Old Street roundabout in east London, is the threshold of a more bohemian cocktail scene. Like the rough and ready speakeasies of 1920s America, which offered illicit drinking in an era of prohibition, the tiny basement bar, Nightjar, has bare wooden floors and exposed bricks, subdued lighting and live music. A Little Devil waits for me on the counter. Although the venue is more basic, the drink is far from understated: served in pewter goblet with a serpent winding its way to the top, it's a concoction of rum, the Italian herbal liqueur Amaro, the Chinese herb schisandra, and devil's claw root, commonly used as a herbal remedy. The cocktail world can sometimes seem a little swept away by its own mythology, bartenders who "build" or "create" drinks rather than mixing them, infusions and dashes of ever more exotic ingredients. Might they be accused of going a bit overboard, I wonder, experimenting for the sake of it, rather than for the taste? Edmund Weil, the co-owner of NightJar says not. "We really do go to a lot of effort to source interesting ingredients, but you do have to produce drinks with real substance which hang together perfectly," he says. With the growing fashion for cocktails, the lower priced end of the market is booming, too. The chain Be At One now has over 30 bars all over the country, offering cocktails for £7.50 to £11. Be At One sold two million cocktails in 2016, up fourfold over the last five years. Its most popular is the Pornstar Martini - made with vodka, passion fruit liqueur and prosecco - representing 15% of all its cocktail sales. But the winner of the world's best bar, voted on by over 500 experts, bartenders and waiters, was only ever going to be one of those at the top end of the market. More stories from the BBC's Business Brain series looking at interesting business topics from around the world: So who won? In the end, the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London takes first place, its name a nod to a spirit of transatlantic conciliation. But the number two spot was taken by another London bar, Dandelyan. New York's Nomad comes in at number three. After celebrating wildly with his team on stage, Erik Lorincz, the American Bar's head bartender, reflects on the result. "We look into every aspect of what we do," he tells me. "It's not just the drinks themselves, it's how we serve them and how we greet the guests and look after them." He says he will be toasting the win with a few of his bar's house cocktails. "I'll probably start with a Diamond Jubilee Fizz. That's Bombay Sapphire gin, grapefruit and orange oleo saccharum - a sugared oil - Earl Grey tea, lemon juice, almond syrup and champagne." The World's best bars 1. The American Bar, The Savoy, London 2. Dandelyan, London 3. The Nomad, New York 4. Connaught Bar, London 5. The Dead Rabbit, New York 6. The Clumsies, Athens, Greece 7. Manhattan, Singapore 8. Attaboy, New York 9. Bar Termini, London 10. Speak Low, Shanghai Source: William Reed

न्यूयॉर्क खुद को कॉकटेल के घर के रूप में सोचना पसंद करता है। लेकिन इन दिनों, लंदन का दृश्य बिग एप्पल को अपने पैसे के लिए एक दौड़ दे रहा है। इसलिए जब दुनिया के सबसे बड़े कॉकटेल बार को चुनने की बात आती है, तो कौन सा शहर जीतता है? एलिजाबेथ हॉटसन यह पता लगाने के लिए गई।


CES 2015: The robots moving in to your house

Summary: The modern family is getting a new member.

By Leo KelionTechnology desk editor More than a dozen firms are promoting new kinds of home robots at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. None are the human-like automatons of science-fiction. But they do point the way towards how domestic bots might evolve beyond the robo-vacuum. South Korea's Furo-i Home is one of the more advanced examples. It's a sleek-looking sensor-laden cone on wheels topped by a tablet that displays a friendly-looking animated droid's face. You can verbally instruct it to take control of internet-controlled smart devices - telling it to turn lights, music and heating on or off - use it as a teaching aid for your children, or take advantage of its health check software to help care for elderly relations. "The robot has many sensors, facial recognition and can detect the temperature," explains Se-Kyong Song, chief executive of its maker Futurebot. "You can set it to wake up an elderly parent, remind them to take their medicine, eat breakfast and follow the rest of a schedule. "And if something unexpected happens, it can send a message to the family saying there might be a problem and then let them talk to their parent via video chat to ask if they are OK." The machine is set to cost about $1,000 (£660) and Futurebot hopes to make and sell about 10,000 before the year's end. Those looking for a cheaper alternative might be interested in Ukrainian start-up Branto, which has just announced a crowdfunding campaign for a robotic sphere priced at $399. Although it lacks a screen of its own, it promises broadly similar functions, including the ability to send you a notification if its motion sensor is triggered when your house is supposed to be empty. There is one important caveat - at present the prototype's battery only lasts for about three hours before it stops providing most functions. "We are trying to make it longer, but the device is very small and we want to keep it looking nice," says Alexandra Barsukova, the start-up's business development director. Garden bot Most of the other robots at CES are focused on doing a more limited set of tasks - and that may be a wise strategy suggests Casey Nobile from the Robotics Trends news site. "It's very hard to make a robot do everything, like in the Jetsons analogy that everyone likes to refer to," she explains. "You're going to see advances in robots controlling other smart home tech via software before you see something like a machine with an arm that makes you coffee and delivers it to your bedroom, just because of the limitations with manipulation technology and the issues with battery life." Droplet is one example of a more specialist robot. The machine is an internet-connected sprinkler that can be set to propel different amounts of water to different plants in its surrounding area. "We can accurately target two plants less than 6in [15cm] away from each other and give them very different amounts of water," explains Steve Fernholz, the firm's founder. "And we take into account weather data, so if there's an 80% chance of a thunderstorm tonight it'll delay and wait to see if the rain actually falls." He believes most people will be more comfortable with such a device at this stage rather than an automaton wandering through their home. "It's not about when the technology is ready, it's when consumers feel comfortable enough about having a robot in their home. It's a very personal space. "That's why even with Droplet we tried to make it look inviting - not something you would feel apprehensive going up to or might give you anxiety." Specialist droids The brush-spinning Grillbot is another niche robot on show - its speciality: cleaning your barbecue after a cook-out. "It took over two years to come up with the algorithm to get it to run over every grill surface," notes Grillbot's chief executive Ethan Wood. "It runs the three motors in a pattern that looks random, but there's an organisation to the madness." Another bot, Budgee, is designed to help elderly and otherwise infirm owners shift heavy loads around their homes. "We have a transmitter that the owner carries or wears and it pairs with the robot," explains Nick Lynch, lead engineer at Five Elements Robotics. "Once they activate that and put it into follow mode it will follow the sensor wherever it sees it. "I have a co-worker whose father uses it to move a five gallon water bottle about the house, and it can be used for anything like that where you need an extra hand." Other specialist home robotics at CES include: High-five One final home robotics trend is machines designed to help kids learn how to code The latest entrant to an increasingly busy sector is Canada's Spin Master, which owns the rights to construction toy Meccano, and has just announced the Meccanoid. Kids can build and program a robot to move in certain ways, and record and playback voices. "I think it's a no-brainer," says the firm's marketing executive Tara Tucker. "Once you have built a robot that can pick up your soda pop, hit you over the head or high-five you, it's much more engaging that coding at a computer screen, and it will create future visionaries." Whether those visionaries go on to build the nanny/cleaner/security guard/companion/carer all-in-one droid that many envisage when you suggest a home robot is another matter. "Maybe in the very long-term that could happen," reflects Droplet's Mr Fernholz. "But if you look at something that's been around for over a hundred years like the vehicle - there's still no one device that transforms from an airplane to a car. "So, while I think an all-in-one homebot is theoretically possible, it would either be cost prohibitive or in the act of trying to make it do everything, it could end up doing everything poorly." Click here for more coverage from the BBC at CES 2015

आधुनिक परिवार को एक नया सदस्य मिल रहा है।


Douglas Christmas lights switched on by mayor

Summary: The mayor of Douglas has switched on the town's Christmas lights.

Hundreds of people took part in a countdown before Carol Malarkey turned on the 6.5 miles (10km) of lights. The cast of Babes in the Wood, this year's pantomime at the Gaiety Theatre, also performed, along with the Douglas town band and singer Rebecca Forrest. The switch-on marked the start of late-night shopping in Douglas and the signalled the opening of the European market. The market, which includes dozens of food and drink stalls from France, Italy, Germany, Greece and Belgium alongside local stall holders, will be open until 29 November. Douglas Borough Council leader David Christian said: "Snow is forecast and Christmas will start tonight."

डगलस के मेयर ने शहर की क्रिसमस की रोशनी चालू कर दी है।


The woman still protesting over Martin Luther King

Summary: Jacqueline Smith has spent 30 years protesting outside the motel where Martin Luther King was fatally shot in 1968. After being forcibly removed from the premises when it closed, she has devoted her life to protecting his legacy.

By Harry LowBBC News, Memphis, Tennessee As the motel door of room 303 was prised open with a wrench, four police officers burst into Jacqueline Smith's home of 11 years, picked her up and carried her along the balcony, down the steps and on to the street below. The last resident of the Lorraine Motel - and her possessions - were being removed. Smith's eviction was captured on page 16 of the New York Times that day in March 1988, under the headline "Eviction empties motel where Dr King died". "You people are making a mistake," Smith said, while sobbing. "If I can't live at The Lorraine, I'll camp out on the sidewalk out front." Thirty years later, Smith remains there. At the corner of Mulberry and Butler Streets, away from Memphis' bustling Beale Street, you'll still find Jacqueline Smith. Dressed in a black hat, scarf and dark clothes, she sits at a table, surveying the scene from behind her sunglasses. Pointedly, she has her back to the Memphis memorial to Martin Luther King. The National Civil Rights Museum opened to the public on 4 July 1991, 23 years after the assassination of America's most famous civil rights activist. The recognisable facade of the Lorraine Motel has been maintained, with a wreath hanging from the balcony in front of room 306 and two replica vintage cars parked outside. "Being forcibly evicted from my home was a very traumatic experience, especially when the reasons for my eviction were just plain wrong," Smith says. "Being homeless, I felt I had had no option... I chose to stand up and protest about how poorly people were being treated and how easy it would be to make a real difference to the people who need it most. "Thirty years on, I still feel the same." During that time, Smith has met thousands of visitors "from all over the world" who have "lifted my heart" with their hunger for knowledge. "I have to explain that I have no problem whatsoever with a National Civil Rights Museum, but I truly believe that the Lorraine Motel is capable of being so much more than an empty space." The site of the motel was purchased by the Lorraine Civil Rights Museum Foundation, which operates the museum, for $144,000 in 1982. Construction cost $8.8m (£6.2m) and was jointly financed by the state of Tennessee, the city of Memphis and surrounding Shelby County. Hundreds of millions of dollars of investment has since transformed this part of Memphis, particularly during this decade, explains historian Jimmy Ogle, a lifelong Memphian. "You can't build apartments or condos fast enough in that area, whether it's new buildings or rehabbing old warehouse buildings that are 100 years old," he says. "All through the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s, there has been a renewal of the area. And when you have things like the National Civil Rights Museum... you've started having I guess what you call gentrification." Smith believes the museum is a tourist trap which focuses too much on the violence of King's death instead of the work he did when alive. "We've seen the glorification of death and negativity with the multi-million dollar purchase of the rooming house from where Dr King was shot. We've seen gruesome artefacts purchased and displayed and we've seen the Lorraine motel host countless black tie dinners where the limousines and ball gowns grace the streets. "But what we've seen most is the complete disconnect between Dr. King's dreams and aspirations and what the Lorraine actually offers today." The museum has caused "devastation" to a "community which has been systematically dismantled, uprooted and relocated against their will," she says. Signs around her stall describe the museum as a "monument to injustice" which "desecrates the memory of Martin Luther King Jr". People need a place to pay their respects to Dr King, she says, but it would be better if they could see his work in action. "Support for the homeless and disadvantaged, healthcare and help for the old and infirm. These are the issues that mattered to Dr King and they still matter today." Mark Russell, executive editor of the Commercial Appeal, a major Memphis newspaper, describes Memphis as "the nation's poorest big city". "It has a huge number of children living in poverty, income inequality and a high unemployment rate for African-Americans while at the same time having a thriving logistics and banking industry. "It's a tale of two cities, so King would think there's still work to be done in Memphis." The museum which attracted 350,000 visitors in 2017, declined to comment. But its website says admission fees "go toward the upkeep of the museum and advancing its educational mission through special programs and the work of our staff". As well as learning about the history of slavery in America and the civil rights movement, visitors can see inside King's bedroom. The museum recently completed a $28m (£19.8m) upgrade. Presidents, prime ministers and politicians have all passed through the museum. George W Bush brought Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Hillary Clinton stopped by in 2008. When former US President Jimmy Carter visited the site in 1991, he refused to enter the museum and instead stood for photographs with Jacqueline, according to The Independent newspaper. Fifty years on from King's assassination, what would the man himself make of her peaceful protest? "Without wishing to sound arrogant, I think Dr King would approve of my work," Smith says. "He was entirely focused on making things better for people and in my own small way, I'd like to think I'm following his example. Other long-term protests Follow Harry Low on Twitter

जैकलीन स्मिथ ने मोटल के बाहर विरोध प्रदर्शन करते हुए 30 साल बिताए हैं जहां मार्टिन लूथर किंग को 1968 में गोली मार दी गई थी। जब इसे बंद कर दिया गया तो जबरन परिसर से हटा दिया गया था, उन्होंने अपनी विरासत की रक्षा के लिए अपना जीवन समर्पित कर दिया है।


Is so-called Islamic State finished?

Summary: Under fire from Russian, Turkish, Iraqi, Syrian and Kurdish forces, as well as US air power, so-called Islamic State has lost large swathes of land, as well as fighters and money. What does this mean for the Islamist militant group? Is it finished?

By Helena MerrimanThe Inquiry, BBC World Service On 13 August this year, the town of Manbij in northern Syria was liberated from IS. After the last fighter left, the town erupted: men sat on street corners, cutting off each other's beards; women tore off their face veils and set fire to them; an old woman lit a cigarette and laughed through the smoke. Previously, all of this was banned by IS. IS has lost other towns too, such as Kobane, al-Qaryatain, Tikrit and Fallujah. But how much land has it lost in total? The risk consultancy group IHS produces maps to show which areas IS currently controls. It says that the amount of territory that IS has lost depends on how you are measuring. "If you include the desert," says senior principal analyst Firas Abi Ali, "then it's lost around half of what it controlled a few years ago." But it is perhaps more instructive to look at which cities it has lost. In losing towns such as Manbij, it has lost access to the Turkish border, which means the supply of foreign fighters, weapons and ammunition is drying up. Losing cities means losing money too. "When you control land and people, you gain access to revenue," says Firas Abi Ali. "You can extort the population. As it loses territory, it loses access to that pile of cash and it has less money available." Firas Abi Ali estimates IS has lost about one-third of its capability to make money and predicts that the group will be defeated militarily by late 2017. The big question now is whether IS can win back some of these cities, and the answer to that is partly about support. Hassan Hassan's hometown in Syria was taken over by IS a few years ago, and he is now an analyst at the Tahrir Institute in Washington DC. Over the past few years, he has been talking regularly to IS fighters online, and he says he has noticed something new. "They're certainly worried," he says. "You get a sense that many people have lost the morale and the zeal that they had in 2014 when they joined because it was a 'caliphate' and it was expanding." Now that the "caliphate" is shrinking, thousands of fighters are leaving. Along with those killed in battle, Hassan Hassan thinks IS has lost about half those who once fought for it. Then there are those who did not fight for IS but supported or at least tolerated the group - not many, but enough to make it easier for IS to conquer so many towns. That is now changing too. "People inside Syria and Iraq, they didn't understand [IS] in the beginning," he says. "They understand it today. People no longer talk about [IS] in the same way they talked about it in 2014." IS itself seems to be accepting its new, weaker position. In its Arabic newsletter, the Dabiq, it is now talking about retreat. "They've started preparing their fighters psychologically for the retreat into the desert," says Hassan Hassan. "They're showing videos of IS members fighting in the desert, and these videos are new." There are questions too about what this loss of land, fighters and money means for IS's ability to launch attacks. Seth Jones, director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at Rand Corporation think tank, has been studying IS documents found by Iraqi and US forces in Syria and Iraq. "Islamic State is moving from an organisation that controls large amounts of territory into a terrorist group that is striking targets," he says. In 2014, he says, every month there were about 150 to 200 attacks. In some months of 2016, there have been almost 400 attacks. "They're trying to encourage people who believe the organisation is declining to continue to fight," he says. "To show that they still exist and they're still targeting 'the infidel'." Other IS documents make it clear, he says, that the group wants to attack those countries involved in operations against it; such as the US, the UK and Australia. But with reduced finances, it will struggle to do so. Increasingly, then, IS is relying on inspiring people to carry out attacks in its name, which means its leaders do not have to mastermind complex plots. IS is branching out too: into Nigeria, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Egypt, as well as parts of Europe. But there, too, it is under threat. This raises a question: how long can IS keep inspiring attacks and spreading its ideology? Will there come a time when it runs out of steam? "At some point those attacks will likely come down as the group begins to lose more broadly," says Seth Jones. "It's unclear when that will be for IS. I don't think it's there yet, but it's certainly possible in the near- to mid-term." Many experts think it is now just a matter of time before IS loses its most important cities: Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria. If that happens, what then? "Even if the territorial caliphate in Iraq and Syria is dismantled, this doesn't mean the end of the movement," says Fawaz Gerges, author of ISIS: A history. Although IS shares some of its ideology with other militant groups, such as al-Qaeda, it differs in one key respect: it did not just talk about a caliphate; it conquered cities, erased borders and declared one. And in doing so, says Fawaz Gerges, it has energised global jihadism. "The caliphate model will likely haunt the imagination of jihadists for many years to come," he says. So where does all of this leave IS? A year ago, no-one predicted IS would lose so much so quickly. And as it loses more land in the coming months, it is likely to lose more fighters. After all, what is Islamic State without a state? So is Islamic State finished? Yes, it will lose its caliphate. But then the insurgency will begin. The Inquiry: Is Islamic State finished? is broadcast on the BBC World Service. Listen online or download the programme podcast.

रूसी, तुर्की, इराकी, सीरियाई और कुर्द बलों के साथ-साथ अमेरिकी वायु शक्ति के हमले में तथाकथित इस्लामिक स्टेट ने बड़ी मात्रा में भूमि, साथ ही लड़ाकों और धन को खो दिया है। इस्लामी उग्रवादी समूह के लिए इसका क्या अर्थ है? क्या यह समाप्त हो गया है?


The dying officer treated for cancer with baking soda

Summary: The father of the alkaline diet, Robert O Young, is hailed as an inspiration by one of the UK's most popular food writers, Natasha Corrett, but he faces a jail sentence for practising medicine without a licence. One patient who believed he could cure her cancer, British army officer Naima Houder-Mohammed, paid thousands of dollars for his alkaline treatment, which consisted mainly of intravenous infusions of baking soda.

By Dr Giles Yeo and Tristan QuinnSan Diego In May 2009 Naima Houder-Mohammed was commissioned as a captain in the British army. The following year, tragedy struck. Naima was diagnosed with breast cancer. She received treatment and was declared cancer-free. But in 2012, while training with the army skiing team, it was discovered the cancer had returned. Her condition was so serious she was offered end-of-life care. "She refused to accept that this was the end," recalls her friend and former fellow officer, Afzal Amin. "Naima was a fighter. She fought to get through selection for Sandhurst. She fought through Sandhurst and she fought her way through her life in everything she dealt with - army skiing or whatever it may have been. And this for her was another fight in that long list of victories." As her medical options were limited, Naima did what many of us would do - she turned to the internet for a solution. She came across Dr Robert O Young, an American alternative health writer selling a message of hope for cancer patients online. Naima began an email correspondence with him, which reveals how pseudo-science can be used to manipulate the vulnerable. Young is the author of a series of books called the pH Miracle, which has sold more than four million copies around the world. These books lay out his "alkaline approach" to food and health which has influenced many others, including the work of the British clean-eating guru Natasha Corrett, whose Honestly Healthy brand promotes her take on an alkaline diet. Natasha Corrett In one email Young sent to Naima in July 2012, he told her "there is a great need for a daily regime focused on… hyper-perfusing the blood with alkalinity". He went on: "I would suggest your healing program is going to take at least 8 - 12 weeks. It will not be easy but you will be in a controlled environment that will give you the care you need." Naima set about raising the money she would need - in one email Young mentioned a figure of $3,000 (£2,440) per day. Naima's family used their savings, ran fund-raising events and managed to pull together tens of thousands of pounds with the help of a charity so that Naima could be treated by Young. But the treatment did not have the outcome she was hoping for. On one recent sun-kissed Californian morning, we drove up into the hills outside San Diego to visit Young. As we turned off Paradise Mountain Road, the parched golden grass eventually gave way to groves of avocado trees and we entered a millionaire's paradise known as the "pH Miracle Ranch". The front door, preposterously set behind a moat, is reached by walking across some stone slabs. As Young welcomed us into the ranch, our eyes were drawn to an empty spherical fish-tank built into the wall that separated the living area from the kitchen. Noting our interest, he began to share his alkaline view of the world, starting with what he calls the fish-bowl metaphor. "If the fish is sick - what would you do? Treat the fish or change the water?" He went on: "The human body in its perfect state of health is alkaline in its design." The pH of our blood is 7.4, which is slightly alkaline, so Young is broadly correct - although different compartments of our bodies, such as our stomach, function at very different pHs. But then Young's "alkaline living" vision becomes complete fantasy. Young believes that in order to maintain the pH of our blood, we have to eat "alkaline" foods. The main problem with this view is that it doesn't appear to take into account the stomach, which functions at a pH of about 1.5 and is the most acidic compartment in the body. Thus, everything we consume, regardless of its starting pH, becomes acidic before passing into the intestines. Also, the categorisation of foods into alkaline or acidic does not appear to follow any consistent rules, with certain citrus fruits (full of citric acid) considered to be alkaline, for instance. However, Young's view that alkalinity is good and acidity is bad goes beyond food. He told us: "All sickness and disease can be prevented by managing the delicate pH balance of the fluids of the body." He believes that when your blood becomes acidic, something weird happens, and your blood cells transform into bacteria - a phenomenon he calls pleomorphism - thereby resulting in a diseased state. This, frankly wild, view goes against all current scientific understanding. When we put this to him, he simply disagreed, saying: "Germs are nothing more than the biological transformation of animal, human or plant matter. They're born out of that." This is post-truth. The biggest problem is that because Young believes that disease emerges from acidity, then by extension disease can be reversed with alkalinity - echoing his fish-bowl metaphor that you don't treat the disease, but you change the environment. When Young said Naima would be cared for in a controlled environment, he meant the pH Miracle Ranch, which has a large area set aside as a "clinic" to treat cancer. Young told us he uses the term "cancerous" as an adjective to describe a state of acidity. Since 2005 he has brought more than 80 terminally ill patients to stay at his ranch for months at a time. Treatment has included intravenous infusions of an alkaline solution of sodium bicarbonate - the same Arm and Hammer stuff you stick in your fridge to absorb smells. This was the "healing programme" that was being sold to Naima. There is no doubting the impact of Young's message. In an email, Naima wrote to him: "I'll be pronounced text book perfect in a few months." According to her friend Afzal Amin: "Naima was supremely confident that, with her willpower and this therapy, she would be healed. That was the overriding emotion in her that yes, I am going to better." We put it to Young that someone like Naima, in a terminally ill state, who was desperate for a cure, would buy anything, try anything to help get better. He responded: "But I wasn't selling her anything… I didn't force her to come here, it was her decision." Yet, in one email Young insisted on Naima paying for her treatment, before she stepped on to the plane. All in all, Naima and her family paid Young more than $77,000 (£62,700) for the treatment. Young told us: "The doctors need to be paid and the people that are doing the massages need to be paid and the colonics, but I gave her the best price to make sure that those people were paid." There is no evidence whatsoever that infusing an alkaline solution into your bloodstream will do anything against cancer. When we raised this with Young, he said: "These things need to be studied." After about three months at Young's facility, her condition worsened and she was taken to hospital. Naima was brought back to the UK and died with her family. She was 27. Afzal Amin told us: "They feel utterly betrayed. It's just horrific that somebody could exploit people for money. This is I think for them the most disturbing element, that for something as cheap as money he was just able to destroy people's lives." Find out more Young's activities at the pH Miracle Ranch have not gone unnoticed by the authorities. In 2011 the Medical Board of California began an undercover investigation after concerns were raised by a woman treated there. Investigators were able to establish the prognosis of 15 cancer patients treated at the ranch - none of them outlived it. One patient, Genia Vanderhaeghen, died from congestive heart failure - fluid around the heart - while being treated. Young told us he was "out of town" at the time. According to an invoice we obtained, she had been given 33 intravenous sodium bicarbonate drips, each charged at $550 (£448), over 31 days. Some were administered by Young himself. Last year Young was convicted of two charges of practising medicine without a license, and now faces up to three years in prison. In court it was revealed that he is not a medical doctor and bought his PhD from a diploma mill. We asked him if he felt remorse for what he had done. He said: "I don't have remorse because of the thousands if not millions of people that have been helped through the [alkaline diet] programme." We asked Natasha Corrett to comment on the influence of Robert Young on Honestly Healthy. She told us: "We believe that our bodies should be fuelled with healthy and nutritious ingredients but we also believe that life is about having things in moderation." Update, October 2018: Robert O Young was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison in 2017 for practicing medicine without a license. Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

क्षारीय आहार के पिता, रॉबर्ट ओ यंग को ब्रिटेन की सबसे लोकप्रिय खाद्य लेखकों में से एक, नताशा कोर्रेट द्वारा एक प्रेरणा के रूप में सराहा जाता है, लेकिन उन्हें बिना लाइसेंस के दवा का अभ्यास करने के लिए जेल की सजा का सामना करना पड़ता है। एक मरीज जिसे विश्वास था कि वह उसके कैंसर को ठीक कर सकता है, ब्रिटिश सेना अधिकारी नैमा हाउडर-मोहम्मद ने अपने क्षारीय उपचार के लिए हजारों डॉलर का भुगतान किया, जिसमें मुख्य रूप से बेकिंग सोडा के अंतःशिरा जलसेक शामिल थे।


Letter from Africa: Behind Ghana and Nigeria's love-hate affair

Summary: In our series of letters from African journalists, Ghanaian writer Elizabeth Ohene looks at the fraught relationship between Ghana and Nigeria, which underlies the current tensions over the closure of some Nigerian-owned shops in Ghana.

We see them as too loud, and abrasive and chaotic and we believe they think they can outsmart everybody, especially Ghanaians. They think we are too submissive, not very smart, always punching above our weight and nothing upsets them more than Ghana defeating Nigeria, in anything. The Ghana-Nigeria rivalry has been around for as long as both countries have existed. When I was a child, there was a Nigerian in every town and village in Ghana. I went to school with them and there was the Nigerian woman - "Mami Alata" they were called - who sold everything and you could wake her up in the middle of the night to buy three cubes of sugar. The Nigerians were especially visible in the retail trade sector and in the diamond mining towns. The two countries do not share borders, but it has always felt like we did. That we are separated by Togo and Benin has never really mattered - we feel like we are neighbours. Obviously, something to do with the two countries being English-speaking and British colonies in the midst of French-speaking countries. Until independence, we had the same currency and airline, and the same apex court settled all judicial matters. There were regular sporting competitions between our Achimota School and their Kings College. I know of one lasting marriage that came out of those sporting meetings. Then in 1955, came the 7-0 thrashing by Ghana of the Red Devils, as the Nigerian national football team was called at that time. It is the stuff of legends, and for years, it hung there behind every conversation, every argument, private or national, between our two countries. Then Ghana got her independence in March 1957 and our Nigerian cousins got theirs in October 1960. This did not feel right - for many Nigerians, they were bigger and should have got their independence before small Ghana. They might be bigger, but at the time, Ghana felt and was richer than Nigeria - before oil was discovered. Mass expulsions We kept up the neighbourly rivalries and friendships. Then came the Progress Party government's Aliens Compliance Order of November 1969, which ordered all undocumented aliens to leave Ghana. Even though there were Togolese, Burkinabes, Ivorians, Nigeriens and other West Africans in the country, Nigerians, mostly ethnic Yorubas from the south-western states of Nigeria, formed the majority of the foreign population in Ghana then. Some of them had been living here for years and were into their second and third generations. It felt like the exercise was aimed at Nigerians and their journeys home were not pleasant. Then oil came to Nigeria and as they became rich, Ghana's economy collapsed and from around 1974, the exodus to Nigeria was on. University professors, architects, engineers, carpenters, masons, tailors, hairdressers, maidservants and our classrooms were emptied of all teachers from kindergarten, primary, secondary and tertiary. You may also be interested in: If you were a Nigerian family of any worth, you had to have a Ghanaian nanny, a Ghanaian maidservant, a Ghanaian cook, a Ghanaian gardener and your children were likely to have a Ghanaian teacher at school or as a private tutor. Then in 1983 the Nigerian government announced the expulsion of all undocumented aliens. Since Ghanaians constituted the majority of the aliens, it felt like this was aimed at Ghanaians. The unofficial name for the exercise, and for the plastic bag that the desperate departing Ghanaians used to carry their possessions, became "Ghana Must Go". It was not a pleasant journey back to Ghana. We were at our lowest ebb and we were mocked mercilessly as we shopped for toilet roll and cooking oil to take home. The Nigerians would never admit it, of course, but it did feel like the hurt of the Ghanaian 1969 Aliens Compliance Order had been finally assuaged. Diplomatic stand-off Gradually, we went back to building a relationship, because we really couldn't do without each other. The West African regional organisation, Ecowas, had come into being in 1975 and as the two major English-speaking countries in the group, we needed each other to make things work. Things were stable for as long as we recognised their "seniority". That we were the poor relations was firmly established. They brought Ghana to a halt in 1982 by stopping the special terms for selling us oil. We went to beg, and it was restored. Nigeria's leader in the 1990s, General Sani Abacha, sent a suitcase full of $2m, some say $5m, to his Ghanaian counterpart Flt Lt Jerry Rawlings. In the early 2000s Ghana's President John Kufuor went to see Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to tell him the Ghana Police Service had 100 vehicles to its name and Nigeria gave us vehicles for our police. But we remained a favourite destination for their rich and famous, and they send their children to school here in Ghana. The Black Stars also did not often play according to the script and every now and again, defeated the Super Eagles, as Nigeria's national football team were now known. The current tensions between the two countries are being blamed on bilateral trade differences. There is a law that restricts foreigners from retail trade - and Ghanaian traders do not want the Nigerian traders in the markets. Ghana's law and the current crisis: As the trade ministry try to resolve things, matters have assumed diplomatic dimensions. The Nigerian federal information minister has spoken some strong words. The Ghana information minister has issued a comprehensive rebuttal. The Nigerian foreign minister has been busy on his Twitter account complaining about "the forceful closure of the shops of Nigerian traders in Ghana" and ascribing reasons for the closure. Our foreign minister felt her counterpart had overstepped the mark and summoned the Nigerian high commissioner to her office to tell her some choice, straight words. The speaker of our parliament stepped into the fray and invited the speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives to Ghana. He came with a strong delegation and after four days of meetings he pronounced that "the issue at hand is basically a misconception and misinformation". There have been stories in the Nigerian media that Nigerians own most of the buildings in the fancy parts of Ghana's capital, Accra, and that might well be true. They are talking about the number of Nigerian banks in Ghana and there are suggestions they have enough economic muscle to squeeze us where it hurts. The Ghana retail traders might not have 100% support among their compatriots about wanting the Nigerian traders out of the markets. Because, like the "Mami Alata" in days of yore, the Nigerian trader would stay open for one would-be buyer and not close up for three days to go to a funeral. We are all holding our breath and the feeling is maybe we should learn to do without these cousins of ours. But we are yet to learn how the tongue learns to do without the teeth. More Letters from Africa: Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

अफ्रीकी पत्रकारों के पत्रों की हमारी श्रृंखला में, घाना की लेखिका एलिजाबेथ ओहने घाना और नाइजीरिया के बीच भरे हुए संबंधों को देखती हैं, जो घाना में कुछ नाइजीरियाई स्वामित्व वाली दुकानों के बंद होने पर वर्तमान तनाव को रेखांकित करता है।


How real is the threat of returning IS fighters?

Summary: Driven out of their de facto capital of Raqqa after three brutal years, IS fighters have lost much of the territory they once held. How real is the danger they will now travel to other countries to carry out attacks, asks Dr Lorenzo Vidino.

As the self-declared Islamic State steadily crumbles in Iraq and Syria, security officials throughout the world are asking themselves a crucial question: what will happen to its fighters? Roughly 30,000 foreign fighters joined IS and there is concern that these battle-hardened individuals will return home, or move elsewhere, carrying out terrorist attacks to avenge the demise of the "caliphate". While difficult to forecast, the changing fortunes of IS will undoubtedly have major implications for global security. Over the border There are indications, including an assessment by US counter-terrorism officials, that some foreign fighters will stay in Syria and Iraq. The head of the UK security service MI5 said this week that fewer than expected of the 800 Britons who joined IS had returned recently and that at least 130 had been killed. Those foreign fighters who do remain are likely to continue with IS as the group morphs into what it was in its early days, some 10 years ago: a lethal insurgent force using tactics ranging from terrorist attacks to guerrilla warfare. Foreign fighters have been over-represented among militants making last, desperate stands in the battles of Mosul and Raqqa. And many of them are now being tried in Iraqi courts, creating legal and moral dilemmas for many of their countries of origin, as some may face the death penalty. However, many other fighters have been leaving the "caliphate", mostly through the 822km (510 mile) long border between Turkey and Syria. While Turkish authorities have been patrolling with significantly more zeal than in the past, mountainous terrain and the presence of sophisticated smuggling networks mean the border is quite permeable. IS has a long-established support network throughout Turkey, which is playing a key role in extracting foreign fighters from Syria. Given the scores of attacks that have bloodied the country over the last three years, Turkish authorities are understandably concerned about this influx. Neighbouring countries, such as Jordan and Lebanon, have similar fears. From battlefield to battlefield The potential end destinations for foreign fighters leaving Syria and Iraq are plentiful. There is evidence that some have joined the official wilayat, or "provinces", IS has established in Yemen, the Sinai Peninsula, the North Caucasus and East Asia. The group also has a strong presence in Libya, where the US suggested last year that it had up to 6,500 fighters, and several hundred in Afghanistan, where the US reported killing at least 94 fighters in an attack on underground tunnels. There are also anecdotal indications of militants travelling to conflicts in far flung places such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and the Philippines. The arrival of foreign fighters to these regions could strengthen the capabilities of local jihadist groups and change the course of sometimes devastating conflicts. Vulnerable countries Many other foreign fighters are choosing to return to their countries of origin. While some returnees may no longer engage in militant activities, others are establishing clandestine networks seeking to carry out attacks and, according to local circumstances, destabilise the country's political situation. North African countries are particularly vulnerable to the risk - nowhere more so than Tunisia, as about 6,000 of its citizens left to join IS - the highest per capita rate in the world. Arab Gulf countries may also suffer from this type of blowback. Russia, the Caucasus, and a number of Central Asian countries are also areas of concern, having seen large numbers join IS - many of whom went on to play a prominent role on the battlefield. The threat to Europe European authorities consider the return of some of the estimated 6,000 European foreign fighters a major security concern. To date, fewer than one in five individuals involved in attacks on the West since the "caliphate" was declared in 2014 had experience as foreign fighters, according to research by the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) and the George Washington University's Program on Extremism. But this might change as the number of returnees - now estimated at roughly 1,000 - increases. Many may show no sign of wishing to engage in further violent activities, but there is a valid concern that some may make use of their combat skills. It is plausible that they could use their network of contacts and "celebrity status" among unaffiliated jihad enthusiasts to plan terrorist attacks. The territorial losses suffered by IS are not likely to affect the operational ability of these largely independent militants. A legal return While significant problems still exist, European authorities have improved intelligence sharing to better detect returning fighters. And thanks to improved co-operation with Turkey, many militants have been arrested before they get any further. A few do manage to reach Europe illegally, or by posing as refugees - as some of the November 2015 Paris attackers did. But most foreign fighters will come to Europe legally, often using their genuine European passports. If detecting them is a problem, working out what to do with them is equally fraught. Arresting them may be the obvious answer, but the reality is significantly more complicated. The UK Home Office, for example, disclosed last year that of the 400 British foreign fighters who had returned from Syria and Iraq, only 54 were convicted. Similar dynamics can be observed throughout the continent. What is preventing authorities from arresting, prosecuting and convicting returning foreign fighters? It is mostly a legal matter, with lawmakers struggling to keep up with a constantly shifting threat environment. While legislations vary from country to country, they share some common problems. In some countries, joining a terrorist organisation or fighting in a foreign conflict were not criminal offences at the time when most individuals travelled to Syria. Several countries have since introduced new laws which, however, cannot be applied retrospectively. Even in countries where such actions have long constituted criminal offences, authorities struggle to gather the evidence needed to build a strong criminal case. Knowing that somebody joined IS or committed atrocities in Syria from an intelligence perspective is one thing. Being able to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law is another. Even more complicated is the issue of children either born or raised in the "caliphate" by their foreign fighter parents. While most are not punishable under the law, they deserve attention because of the trauma they have suffered and, in some cases, because they present severe signs of radicalism despite their young age. The result is that authorities are overwhelmed, having to monitor hundreds of battle-hardened fighters, on top of the burgeoning number of home-grown IS sympathisers, in an attempt to determine which pose an immediate security threat. Instead, authorities throughout Europe have increasingly invested in programmes seeking to deradicalise returning foreign fighters. While it might be premature to definitively assess them, there are indications that some, like the one established in the Danish city of Aarhus - offering rehabilitation and inclusion in society, are effective. Others, like the French plan to set up 12 deradicalisation centres, have been shelved. Looking to the future The loss of much of its territory is a major blow to ISIS. Yet the group and its adherents are already surfacing in various parts of the world and are likely to do so with even more frequency and vehemence in the near future. IS will become a more decentralised, amorphous organisation operating in a more asymmetric fashion, but it will not disappear. Moreover, the IS brand and the emotional appeal of its "caliphate" are unlikely to vanish any time soon. And, despite critical challenges, the organisation's remarkably strong digital presence, the so-called "virtual caliphate", will survive in some form, potentially rekindling the commitment of sympathisers worldwide and prompting some to carry out terrorist attacks in its name. The fall of the "caliphate" closes a chapter, but a new one is about to be opened. About this piece This analysis piece was commissioned by the BBC from an expert working for an outside organisation. Dr Lorenzo Vidino is the director of the Program on Extremism at the George Washington University and of the Program on Radicalisation and International Terrorism at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) in Milan. Edited by Duncan Walker

डॉ. लोरेंजो विडिनो पूछते हैं कि तीन क्रूर वर्षों के बाद अपनी वास्तविक राजधानी रक्का से बाहर निकाले गए आईएस लड़ाकों ने उस क्षेत्र का अधिकांश हिस्सा खो दिया है जिस पर वे एक बार कब्जा कर चुके थे। अब वे हमले करने के लिए अन्य देशों की यात्रा करने का कितना वास्तविक खतरा है।