Ada Colau: Spain's anti-eviction crusader

Summary: Hundreds of families in Spain are evicted every day, after falling behind on mortgage payments - and under Spain's draconian laws they must continue paying off the loan even after the home has been repossessed. Their main source of support is a determined woman from Barcelona - Ada Colau.

By Lucy AshBBC News Back in 2009, when Colau organised the first meetings for mortgage defaulters, she was amazed to see hundreds of people turning up. But what surprised her even more was the way they behaved. "We expected to see lots of angry people in the hall", she says "but most were depressed and ashamed. They were embarrassed about discussing their problems. Our government kept telling these people that they were the ones responsible for this situation, that they were to blame. And that message was repeated every day on television." One of those who has sought support from Colau's Platform for People Affected by Mortgages is Ermina Pacheco. As we walk to her flat past high rises and convenience stores, she tells me she began working at the age of 10 when her mother got her a job in a restaurant. Once inside I admire her collection of ceramic dolls and she shows me her wedding pictures. Ermina has been married three times and thought she'd finally found her soul mate. But two years ago the couple's mortgage payments more than doubled from 800 to nearly 2000 euros a month. After the sudden price hike her husband became increasingly worried and couldn't sleep at night. He became so depressed that he overdosed on painkillers and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. "He stayed for a month but that didn't help," says Ermina. "He tried to commit suicide several times after that." She blames the banks and the government for destroying his peace of mind and eventually the marriage. "They pushed us to buy, saying why waste 100 euros in rent when you can have your own property? Now I feel that we were tricked." Ermina thinks her husband is still alive though she has no idea where he is today. But many heavily indebted Spaniards have killed themselves. It was a wave of eviction-related suicides which prompted Ada to set up the Platform five years ago. When the housing bubble burst, migrant workers in the construction industry and low-income families were the hardest hit. Today people from many different backgrounds have been sucked into the mortgage crisis. With unemployment at 26% - the highest rate in Europe except for Greece - people live in fear of losing their jobs. On top of that, many lose their homes. "It is a real social emergency," says Gerardo Pisarello a Barcelona based law professor and mortgage expert. "Spain has one of the worst housing policies in Europe." Unlike Germany, he says, there is no rent control to govern the private market and only 2% of housing is social housing - state subsidised homes for low-income families. This compares with about 20 or 30% in the Netherlands, Scandinavia, France and the UK. Spain also has some of the toughest mortgage laws. People must continue to pay off their mortgages, complete with interest and penalty charges, even after they have been evicted and their home - whose value is appraised by the bank itself - has been repossessed. Since mortgage defaulters are disqualified from filing for bankruptcy, many are saddled with debts they can never escape. Colau's platform has collected one and half million signatures calling for changes in these laws which make it virtually impossible for debtors to wipe the slate clean and start again. Last March, the European Court of Justice ruled that Spain's legislation was in breach of EU consumer protection laws because it did not allow judges to halt evictions, even if mortgage contracts contained unfair terms. These abusive terms, referred to by the court ruling, include high penalties for late interest payments and eviction for missing just one or two payments on a 30-year mortgage. Apart from lobbying the government, the Platform runs a network of local assemblies where people can come for help. There are 65 in Catalonia alone and 150 across the country. I go along to a packed out meeting in a large garage in a run-down part of Barcelona. Desperate and defeated looking people listen intently to the speakers and scribble notes. As the microphone is handed around and person after person gets up to tell his or her story, the scale of Spain's housing crisis becomes apparent. A woman with a tear-stained face tells the meeting that her bank had initially promised she would pay no interest on the loan. Now she has been confronted with a steep bill and she is in a panic. "I will have to go back to Ecuador," she says between sobs. "How can I pay thousands of euros worth of interest on a cleaner's wages?" The Platform's activists chairing the meeting tell her not to give up and explain how she can get detailed legal advice. Suddenly one of the activists reads a note handed to her and grabs the microphone. "Listen everybody! This is urgent," she says. "There's a family here that's going to be evicted on Wednesday morning at 8am and we have to be there to stop that happening." Then she asks for a show of hands to see how many will support the direct action. There's a noisy discussion about bus routes and the best way to reach the property under threat. Most of the people here tonight are first-timers. They are encouraged to become members and stand outside endangered homes when the bailiffs turn up. These demonstrations staged by the Platform have already stopped around 1,000 evictions. Across Spain, though, some 350,000 families have been forced out of their homes since the property market crashed in 2008. Word about the Platform spread, together with Ada Colau's popularity, when she appeared before a parliamentary committee on the mortgage. She reacted to a remark by a representative of the AEB, the Spanish Banking Association, by calling him a criminal. The video went viral. Colau's twitter followers leapt to one hundred thousand and the Platform's website crashed. Her remark tapped into popular resentment about the role played by the banks which is deeply felt across the country. "He boasted that Spain has got the best mortgage system in the whole world," she recalls. "I couldn't believe it when it has caused so much suffering. It was an instinctive reaction but calling him a criminal was the least I could do!" Juan Jose Toribio, an adviser to the Spanish Banking Association, says Colau's attack on his colleague was unjustified. He says the banks stopped evicting the most vulnerable families in 2012. That change in policy came after a 53-year woman died jumping from her fourth-floor apartment in northern Spain, hours before she was due to be forced out of her home. This new policy only suspends evictions for two years but the Platform says thousands of vulnerable families are still being made homeless. According to the Bank of Spain, evictions accelerated in the first half of last year when more than 35,000 Spanish homes were seized by banks for non-payment. Toribio denies that the banks are to blame for the evictions crisis. "Maybe the central bank set interest rates too low but people behaved irresponsibly when they borrowed too much. Some banks or certain bank employees may have been at fault for lending to people who couldn't repay. But we only realised that afterwards, when the recession came. Before that it wasn't so clear." Such arguments cut no ice with Ada. The platform has gone on to stage demonstrations outside the homes of politicians and bankers, and to occupy empty apartment blocks owned by the banks. I visit one in the city of Sabadel, an hour from Barcelona. It is owned by Sareb, a financial entity created by the Spanish government and 40% funded by the taxpayer which allows private banks to get rid of property they cannot sell. The building, now home to several families, has both water and electricity. As Juan Mente, one of the new residents, shows me his sleek kitchen, I wonder if it is fair that he pays no rent? "These flats were partly paid for with taxpayers' money, so we have a right to be here," he says. "Anyway it makes no sense to have thousands of empty flats while people, including sick people and children, are living on the street." He and his wife would be willing to pay a fair rent calculated according to household income, he says, but the banks and Sareb refuse to negotiate. Ada Colau, who has been called a "Nazi" by some members of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party, and "an angel" by her supporters, says she fits neither description. "I'm not particularly intelligent, I'm not powerful. I'm just a normal person and that's what worries them most. It just shows how much power normal citizens can have," she says. When I ask if she is a thorn in the side of the government, she gives a throaty laugh. "In Spain we have another expression - a grain of sand in the bum! But we will never give up our fight for justice - that is absolutely certain." Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook

स्पेन में सैकड़ों परिवारों को हर दिन बंधक भुगतान में पीछे रहने के बाद बेदखल किया जाता है-और स्पेन के कठोर कानूनों के तहत उन्हें घर पर कब्जा करने के बाद भी ऋण का भुगतान करना जारी रखना चाहिए। उनके समर्थन का मुख्य स्रोत बार्सिलोना की एक दृढ़ महिला-अदा कोलाउ है।


How the UK found Japanese speakers in a hurry in WW2

Summary: It's 70 years since Japan surrendered and World War Two ended. But when war with Japan first broke out at the end of 1941 Britain had been woefully unprepared - not least because almost no-one in Britain could speak Japanese.

By Nick HighamBBC News The only place that taught the language was the School of Oriental and African Studies, now known as SOAS, part of the University of London. So an 18-month course was devised there for bright sixth-formers with a flair for languages. They were called The Dulwich Boys, and many of them went on to be key players in the post-war relationship between Britain and Japan. The school's Japanese-teaching facilities when war broke out were rudimentary. "Japanese was taught here," says Prof Ian Brown, who is writing a history of SOAS. "There were two teachers at the end of the 1930s. But classes for Japanese - classes for everything frankly - were rather small." The truth was that learning exotic languages was not a priority for imperial Britain in the 1930s. "British investment in Japan was small, and there was no Japanese investment in Britain," says Sir Hugh Cortazzi, who learned his Japanese at SOAS and became Britain's ambassador to Tokyo in the 1980s. "And, of course, Japan had been cutting itself off from the West. But I think there was also an element of arrogance on the part of the British." The shortage of Japanese speakers in 1942 was exacerbated by the disastrous start of Britain's war with Japan. Within weeks of the surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, which brought the US into the war, the Japanese had launched a successful invasion of Malaya, a British colony, and Britain's huge military base in Singapore had fallen. Most of the few who had learnt Japanese at SOAS had, not surprisingly, taken jobs in East Asia. And with the fall of Singapore most had become prisoners of war. So a desperate War Office decided to advertise scholarships for 18-month intensive courses for sixth-formers in Japanese, Chinese, Turkish and Persian (for who knew where the war might spread to next), to start in May 1942. One of those who successfully applied was Guy de Moubray, who died in June at the age of 90. He'd been born in Malaya, where his parents were still living, and was at Loretto School near Edinburgh. "My parents became prisoners of war in February 1942 and it was around then that I put in for this scholarship exam," he said in an interview recorded by SOAS, "partly because of my parents, but partly because I wanted to get away from school a year earlier than I otherwise would have done." De Moubray was one of 30 boys studying Japanese. They were put up at Dulwich College in south London in two of the boarding houses. Each day he and the other "Dulwich Boys" commuted by train to Victoria, and then by bus (if they could afford it) or on foot to SOAS which was based temporarily above St James's underground station, though it seems to have moved to its present home in Bloomsbury during the Dulwich Boys' course. They were a mixed bunch. Sandy Wilson was one, though he soon dropped out - in the 1950s he became famous as the composer of the hit musical, The Boyfriend. "He never took it seriously, he was already writing songs," remembers a contemporary. Peter Parker, who later became chairman of British Rail was another - the boys elected him their prefect. Some on the course thought him dynamic, a born leader - others found him hard to take. "Sanctimonious and self-important" was one verdict. Ronald Dore, another Dulwich Boy, remembers that the group divided naturally into two - the public school types stuck together, and so did the lower middle-class products of grammar schools (of which Dore was one). He thought it a reflection of how class-ridden 1940s Britain was. Dore, now aged 90, was also one of at least four boys on the language courses who later became professors at SOAS. This sudden influx of bright, highly-motivated and state-funded students provided SOAS with an important shot in the arm which was vital to the school's post-war expansion. But in 1942 the biggest problem was a desperate shortage of teachers. Only one of the two pre-war course staff, Saburo Yoshitake, was still in post and he soon left. "The head of the department and the main teacher was a man called Frank Daniels," Dore remembers. "He was a clerk in the Admiralty and had been posted to Japan, and there he very assiduously started learning Japanese and acquired a Japanese wife." Otome Daniels - whom the boys thought very beautiful - also taught on the course. She and her husband had been in Japan when war broke out, but had returned to Britain following a rare prisoner of war swap. Two second-generation Japanese sergeants in the Canadian army helped out. So did Britain's former military attache in Tokyo, General Sir Francis Piggott, who one boy remembered "was almost evangelical in teaching us the titles of the whole hierarchy of the Japanese General Staff". And there were also instructors with even less orthodox backgrounds. "People who had settled down in Soho as manufacturers of lampshades... and they spoke rather less than high-class Japanese," Dore says. And there were a number of Japanese men who had been released from internment. Two of them were correspondents for Japanese newspapers and news agencies. The shortage of teachers was so acute that Ron Dore, after completing his course, soon found himself back on the staff at SOAS. He had been called up into the army, but injured himself during basic training and was invalided out. Among his pupils was Hugh Cortazzi, then an RAF aircraftsman second class who had signed up for a six-month crash course for servicemen. There were two service courses. Learning both to speak and read Japanese in such a short time was thought too difficult. So the servicemen trained either as interpreters, who needed to know only the spoken language, or translators, who could read it but not speak it. In due course the Dulwich Boys themselves were called up. But their first attempts at putting what they had learnt to use weren't always successful. Guy de Moubray was sent to the frontline in Burma to eavesdrop on Japanese military broadcasts. "Every time we got to the new front line, one of us had to climb a teak tree to put the aerial up as high as we could," he recalled, "hoping to receive Japanese regimental radio. Unfortunately, though we tried for over two months, we were never successful." The teak forest, he suspects, was just too thick for radio signals to penetrate. Later, he was the first British soldier ashore when Singapore was liberated. There he found his parents, whom he hadn't seen since he was 14, still alive after three years of Japanese captivity. The Dulwich Boys' real impact came after the war. "Without these young men there would be no UK-Japan relationship," says Dr Christopher Gerteis, the current chair of the Japan research centre at SOAS. "Or if there were it would have rested on the shoulders of an aristocratic class like that of the 1930s. These are the professional statesmen, this is the generation that built the United Nations, that built post-cold war frameworks, that eventually led to the creation of a very strong liberal democracy in post-war Japan." Hugh Cortazzi, now aged 91, plays down the impact of the SOAS wartime graduates on Japan's post-war rebuilding. "The British participation in the occupation was really limited," he says. "We had no role in respect to military government, that was entirely in the hands of the Americans." But his own career is evidence that the Dulwich Boys and their contemporaries at SOAS did become key figures in Anglo-Japanese relations. Some, like Cortazzi, became diplomats. Several, like Ron Dore, became academic experts on Japan. And then there was Sir Peter Parker. After resigning from British Rail, Parker became a director of Mitsubishi. In the 1980s he chaired an inquiry for the government into the teaching at universities of "difficult" languages - a professorship of Japanese at Cambridge was one indirect result. The Japanese liked him, according to Cortazzi. "I think they respected Peter. He had great personal charm, he was interested in Japanese culture, he would always be repeating a haiku at every possible occasion. And when we were working for the establishment of a Japan festival in Britain in 1991 we were clear that the only person who could really be chair of it was Peter Parker." The irony, perhaps, is that it took a war, and a bunch of clever schoolboys, to bring about such a remarkable improvement in Britain's understanding of and relations with Japan. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

जापान के आत्मसमर्पण के 70 साल हो चुके हैं और द्वितीय विश्व युद्ध समाप्त हो गया है। लेकिन जब 1941 के अंत में जापान के साथ पहली बार युद्ध छिड़ गया तो ब्रिटेन बुरी तरह से तैयार नहीं था-कम से कम इसलिए तो नहीं कि ब्रिटेन में लगभग कोई भी जापानी नहीं बोल सकता था।


Gupta and Greensill prompt steel jobs crisis

Summary: The crisis engulfing the UK's third largest steel maker, its financier, and the government now tasked with saving thousands of jobs, is a complex tapestry of strands, none of which are in themselves particularly shocking, but woven together make up a very murky picture of the relationship between industry, finance and government.

Simon JackBusiness editor@BBCSimonJackon Twitter As the BBC revealed on Thursday morning, the government is bracing itself for taxpayer intervention as it all unravels. The saviour-turned-sinner steel magnate, the maverick billionaire now bust financier, and a former UK prime minister, are the principal characters in a story in which the jobs of 5,000 workers and the future direction of UK industry is arguably at stake. For years, Sanjeev Gupta arrived like magic on the scene whenever UK heavy industry was in big trouble. He bought up steel plants in Scunthorpe, Stocksbridge, Dalziel, Newport etc - promising to invest in greener processes while saving jobs. He was hailed by unions and feted and courted by politicians. Where he was getting the money was unclear - partly because his growing empire was a collection of businesses under the Gupta Family Group (GFG) Alliance banner. They were interconnected but, importantly, not consolidated. There were no financial statements that described the group as a whole. The accountants he used for his various businesses were usually minnows in the accounting world. Not what you would expect for a business which grew to 35,000 employees worldwide and £15bn in sales. The trick was to use tomorrow's money to pay today's bills. Lex Greensill, originally a sugarcane farmer from Australia had, he thought, perfected the way to do this. Gupta would bring Greensill Capital the invoices he had sent his customers - which they might have up to 180 days to pay - and Greensill would give Gupta the money immediately. Sometimes Gupta would sell bundles of these invoices to investors with Greensill taking a fee for arranging the deal. The more invoices Gupta could generate, the more bundles he could sell, and he used the proceeds to buy more businesses which generated even more invoices to bundle and sell. This suited Lex Greensill perfectly, who wanted to show the business was growing so he could sell Greensill Capital itself for billions. The music abruptly stopped when the buyers of these bundles realised they were very exposed to one big invoice generator. Gupta accounted for over half of all Greensill's business. Investors and insurers got cold feet and Greensill collapsed rapidly into administration - switching off Gupta's funding. The businesses' reliance on each other destroyed them both. Finally, the juiciest but perhaps the least significant titbit is the involvement of a former prime minister. David Cameron was a paid adviser to Greensill and stood to make millions from Greensill's success, thanks to stock options in a company that was estimated to be worth over £5bn just a couple of months ago. The fact that he reportedly texted Rishi Sunak personally to press the case for Greensill to get greater access to government coronavirus-related loan guarantees has provoked outrage and a call from Labour for an investigation. It seems a particularly brazen intervention by a particularly high-profile figure - but the truth is, former politicians get paid to lobby on behalf of businesses all the time. They are not paid for their fascinating political anecdotes - they are paid to gain political access and influence. On this occasion, the lobbying didn't work and the Treasury rebuffed the approaches of Mr Cameron on behalf of Greensill. But the government cannot sidestep its seemingly inevitable next request - using public funds to stop Gupta's empire collapsing with the loss of 5,000 jobs - some of which are in former red wall areas that fell to blue in the last election. The playbook from the last steel crisis has been dusted off - British Steel was kept on life support by government guarantees to the Official Receiver for five months until Chinese firm Jingye eventually bought the firm - despite heavy interest from guess who? - yep, Sanjeev Gupta. This situation is much more complex. The intricate web of financial engineering between Gupta, Greensill and the investors who bought their bundles of invoices has strong echoes of the financial crisis. It will take months, if not longer, to sort out who has a claim on whom and for what. The five months British Steel was in government intensive care cost the UK taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds. What some may find surprising, is that the kind of intercompany financing that has imploded here, is not a regulated activity. As an official at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) told the BBC, while they recognise there is potentially some painful real world fallout in terms of jobs, the finance bit of this concerns sophisticated people who have deep pockets and teams of advisers. Unlike the financial crisis, its collapse is not considered "systemically important". But socially, strategically and politically it is very important. Government officials said over the weekend they are still "hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst". Efforts at GFG Alliance to find a lifeline continue, but there is little optimism in the air. The Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has set out his stall in a way that would make it hard to let collapse. First, he has promised to procure more steel made in the UK for big transport and defence projects, and second, he has prioritised decarbonising steel production - technology in which Gupta's firms have the UK edge - a fact Mr Kwarteng recently highlighted. Remember, in political currency, every car, aerospace, steel and defence job seems worth 10 times as much as every job in retail or services. When the intersection between industry, finance and the government goes bad, the taxpayer is rarely untouched. Mr Cameron has so far declined to comment on the issue.

ब्रिटेन के तीसरे सबसे बड़े इस्पात निर्माता, इसके फाइनेंसर और सरकार को अब हजारों नौकरियों को बचाने का काम सौंपा गया है, यह संकट एक जटिल टेपेस्ट्री है, जिनमें से कोई भी अपने आप में विशेष रूप से चौंकाने वाला नहीं है, लेकिन एक साथ बुना हुआ उद्योग, वित्त और सरकार के बीच संबंधों की एक बहुत ही अस्पष्ट तस्वीर बनाता है।


Zelensky win: What does a comic president mean for Ukraine?

Summary: Three and a half years ago, Volodymyr Zelensky's television series Servant of the People began airing on Ukrainian television. For a country where money and powerful oligarchs have long dominated politics, the concept was beguiling.

By Jonah FisherBBC News, Kiev A teacher (played by Mr Zelensky) accidentally becomes president after an expletive-laden rant about Ukrainian politics goes viral on social media. Now Mr Zelensky, 41, has achieved the real deal, winning the presidential race with a landslide 73%. Is life imitating art? Or could we be witnessing a sophisticated, very 21st-Century election heist? 73%landslide win on 21 April Comedian but trained as a lawyer Instagram star with 4.2m followers Millionaire thanks to his production company Kvartal 95 Linked to oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky through show on TV channel 1+1 Unconventional campaign Mr Zelensky's entire election campaign was based on being different and defying convention. He shunned official rallies or political speeches, but put out lots of cheerful videos on social media. He was up against incumbent president Petro Poroshenko, who had a more established network on the ground and the support of administrators across the country. Mr Zelensky has made his ignorance a virtue and openly admits to having no strong political views. "No promises, no disappointment" is one of the few memorable things he's said. At the end of January I spent a day with him as he submitted his registration papers for the presidential election. He's an actor by profession, so it could of course all be fake, but my overwhelming impression was that, just like on television, he's a likeable, fun guy. As he showed me around the corridors of his highly successful production company Kvartal 95, Mr Zelensky joked with me about how he liked Monty Python, before lamenting that the audience for his TV shows are more into the slapstick Benny Hill-type humour. We watched as his colleagues toasted his 41st birthday over glasses of champagne. Some were genuinely in tears as they expressed their support for his presidential campaign, but sadness that he might be about to leave them. When we moved into the staff canteen for a more serious interview, it was immediately clear that Mr Zelensky's political views were still very much a work in progress. He told me that he believed people wanted "something new, they want to get a person with a human face". There were vague commitments to "stop the shooting" in eastern Ukraine, but a jumble of ideas of how to do it. Ukrainian emigration was another big issue, he told me, but there were no immediate ideas on how to stop the brain drain. Population: 43.9m GDP per capita:$8,800 GDP growth:2.5% Ethnic Ukrainians (est):78% Ethnic Russians (est.):17% Unemployment (est.):9.2% Questionable links Things didn't get any better when I turned to Mr Zelensky's Achilles heel: his business ties to Ukraine's most controversial oligarch, Ihor Kolomoisky. The links are there for all to see. All the comedian's TV shows are on one of Ukraine's most popular TV channels 1+1. Mr Kolomoisky is the owner of 1+1, but he has to manage it remotely from self-imposed exile because there are numerous investigations in Ukraine into his business dealings. When I spoke to Mr Kolomoisky in Israel, he did little to play down his role in the actor's rise, gushing that he wished there were "millions of Zelenskys". And there's no doubt that 1+1 has given its full backing to the comedian. Four days before the first-round vote, the latest series of Servant of the People premiered, and on the night before the election a full evening was dedicated to Mr Zelensky's back catalogue. The question then is what, if anything, a President Zelensky would give back in return. When we spoke, the comedian insisted he was "no puppet" of Mr Kolomoisky and said that if courts found against the oligarch, he would receive no protection. But the worries linger. After some disastrous performances in closed-door briefings with diplomats, he brought on board advisers with credibility to try and reassure people that, even if he may appear clueless, he'll be surrounded by smart people and getting the best advice. So the comedian now has the last laugh. But it would be no surprise to see more turmoil in Ukrainian politics.

साढ़े तीन साल पहले, वोलोदिमिर ज़ेलेंस्की की टेलीविजन श्रृंखला सर्वेंट ऑफ़ द पीपल का प्रसारण यूक्रेनी टेलीविजन पर शुरू हुआ। एक ऐसे देश के लिए जहां लंबे समय से धन और शक्तिशाली कुलीन वर्गों का राजनीति पर प्रभुत्व रहा है, यह अवधारणा भ्रामक थी।


Driving teacher arrested after drug test in Ipswich

Summary: A driving instructor was arrested after he provided a positive drug test while supervising a learner, police said.

Suffolk Police said the 30-year-old was stopped on Lindbergh Road, Ipswich, on Thursday, and tested positive for cocaine after a roadside "drug wipe". He was arrested on suspicion of drug-driving and taken to police headquarters where a blood sample was taken for further testing. Police said he has been released under investigation pending the test results. A drug wipe is where a swab is taken from the suspect's mouth, providing an instant reading. Related Internet Links Suffolk Constabulary

पुलिस ने कहा कि एक ड्राइविंग प्रशिक्षक को एक शिक्षार्थी की निगरानी करते हुए एक सकारात्मक ड्रग परीक्षण प्रदान करने के बाद गिरफ्तार किया गया था।


Facebook's Instagram deal: Can one app be worth $1bn?

Summary: One billion US dollars is a tidy sum of money.

By Tim WeberBusiness editor, BBC News website It would buy you some 2,100 Rolls Royce Phantoms. Or 200 million mosquito nets to fight malaria. Or the whole of the New York Times company (with $50m change to spare). If you are Microsoft, it buys you some 800 AOL patents to fight the next patent war. Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg chose to spend $1bn on Instagram, a small web start-up just under two years old, with 13 full-time staff who work on a single smartphone app. The business model Yes, Instagram is very popular. The app's fancy "filters" give your photos a lovely vintage feeling, a bit like the faded Polaroids tucked away in the drawers of your parents' living room. They port mediocre photos into an alternate universe where they look kind of good; an online service allows users to share their pictures with friends. The drawback, of course, is Instagram's business model. The company has no revenue to speak of. Maybe its business model was to be bought by another tech firm with too much money in the bank. So is this the return of silly money to Silicon Valley? Is it a case of panic buying, with valuations pushed up in a bidding war with Google or another competitor? Facebook is certainly not spending $1bn on an app. Rather, it is buying three things: a potential rival with a rapidly growing user base; a weapon to fight other even bigger threats in the social networking space; and most importantly a better hook into the world of mobile computing. One user = $28 Instagram's growth is impressive indeed. The app has some 30 million iPhone users. A week ago it launched on Google's Android operating system and chalked up five million downloads in just six days. Still, it suggests that Facebook values an Instagram user at about $28. Cheap, you might say, given the fact that Facebook has a much-touted valuation of $100bn - or $118 per user (Facebook's listing on the Nasdaq stockmarket is imminent). Well, at least Facebook has revenue and is making a nice profit. Facebook's problem, though, is the fact that its days of rapid expansion are over, and that many see Facebook as something that's done on an old-style desktop computer. This is where Instagram comes in. The app's strength - mobile devices - is Facebook's biggest weakness. The social network simply has not got the same traction on smartphones as it has on desktop computers. This is an Achilles heel. The number of phones with web access is already outnumbering computers, and sales of tablet computers could soon outpace those of traditional PCs. Another YouTube deal? Don't forget that pictures were at the heart of Facebook's success; the easy sharing of pictures made it stand out against early rivals. Today, the social network is the world's largest photo-sharing website. Combine Instagram's mobile appeal with some careful Facebook integration (without annoying existing users too much), and Mark Zuckerberg could have made a very nifty move. It could be as clever as Google buying YouTube for $1.65bn in 2006, before it was totally obvious how important web video would become. Buying Instagram could also help Facebook to fend off new rivals like social photo-sharing website Pinterest, which is arguably the world's fastest growing social network yet (albeit still smaller than Instagram, with currently about 20 million users). Facebook will have to tread carefully, though. Instagram users are a passionate bunch, and already they worry that their app will go the way of many other clever online services that were swallowed by tech giants like Google and Yahoo: quickly sidelined, forgotten and closed down. Mark Zuckerberg promises to be different, and says he is "committed to building and growing Instagram independently". The winners The biggest winners of the Facebook deal are, of course, the people directly involved with Instagram. Founder and chief executive Kevin Systrom has reportedly netted $400m; his co-founder Mike Krieger is about $100m richer - all for just under two years' worth of work. Reports suggest that $100m will be shared out among the other 11 members of staff, some of whom joined the company just a few weeks ago. And then there are the investors, a roll call of Silicon Valley greats (including Facebook's first chief technical officer). Kudos, by the way, to the three venture capital firms that reportedly invested $50m in Instagram, valuing the company at just $500m. In less than a week they've doubled their money. Did I hear anybody say "technology bubble"?

एक अरब अमेरिकी डॉलर एक व्यवस्थित राशि है।


Murder arrests after man found dead in Leicester flat

Summary: Two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was found dead at a flat in Leicester.

Police discovered the 51-year-old in Fosse Road North at 11:25 GMT after being contacted by a member of the public. A man and woman, both 29 and from Leicester, were detained and remain in custody. Leicestershire Police said the pair were known to the man and nobody else was being sought. A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out later and the force has appealed for witnesses. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.

लीसेस्टर में एक फ्लैट में एक व्यक्ति के मृत पाए जाने के बाद हत्या के संदेह में दो लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Mid-April snow on Teesside and North Yorkshire causing disruption

Summary: Heavy snow has been falling over parts of Teesside and North Yorkshire causing disruption for motorists.

A yellow Met Office warning has now been lifted, but drivers are being warned to expect wintry showers. The A169 White Way Heads in the North York Moors was closed to traffic due to heavy snow but has now been cleared. Meanwhile, police were forced to close the A174 Apple Orchard Bank near Skelton after a lorry got stuck in icy conditions. The road had now reopened and officers are warning drivers to proceed with care. Related Internet Links Met Office

टीसाइड और उत्तरी यॉर्कशायर के कुछ हिस्सों में भारी बर्फबारी हो रही है जिससे मोटर चालकों के लिए व्यवधान पैदा हो रहा है।


Italy police raids 'mafia crime family' in Sicily

Summary: Italian police say they have seized more than €1.6 bn ($1.76 bn) in assets from five Sicilian siblings suspected of links to the mafia.

The five are thought to have been helped by the criminal group to secure public construction contracts. Police in the regional capital Palermo say it is one of the largest raids they have ever carried out. Analysts say Sicily's Cosa Nostra and other mafia groups have expanded their activities during Italy's recession. Among the assets seized are bank accounts, property and furniture. The five - three brothers and two sisters - are all in their 60s and 70s. They worked as labourers in the early 1980s but went on to become billionaires, Italian media reported.

इतालवी पुलिस का कहना है कि उन्होंने माफिया से संबंध रखने के संदेह में पांच सिसिलियन भाई-बहनों से €1.6 bn ($1.76 bn) से अधिक की संपत्ति जब्त की है।


Brexit: Why markets may not bail out the PM's deal

Summary: Financial markets have had a rather bad Brexit. They have taken solace in the wrong things and freaked out at ephemera. But there is a lot of talk at the moment that their conniptions might help make sure Parliament passes Theresa May's withdrawal agreement.

Chris CookPolicy editor, Newsnight@xtophercookon Twitter This is known as the 'Tarp' scenario - a reference to the US government's so-called Troubled Asset Relief Programme. In September 2008, the week that Lehman Brothers collapsed, Hank Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, requested a $700bn fund from Congress to fight the banking crisis - a fund to deal with "the illiquid assets that are weighing down our financial system and threatening our economy". In short: he wanted $700bn to help clean out the financial system and prevent the US economy going into a uncontrolled credit contraction that could cause an economic catastrophe. When he presented the initial draft, it was more or less a request for blank cheque. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the US House of Representatives turned him down - 228 votes to 205. Two-thirds of Republican members of congress voted against this proposal from a Republican treasury secretary. The Dow Jones stock index fell 7%, its largest-ever one-day fall. Faced with that market disruption, 33 Republicans and 24 Democrats switched sides and the measure passed shortly afterwards. The Tarp scenario in Westminster The Tarp scenario for Brexit that is circulating in Westminster is that MPs may vote down the legislation first time around. Certainly, at the moment, it is hard to see a path for it. But, the scenario goes, if there's a vicious financial market reaction, MPs will be cowed into voting the withdrawal agreement through. There are, however, a number of issues here: This outcome is still possible and plausible - especially if one understands the Tarp scenario less literally. If you redefine it to a broader notion about how MPs might get freaked out by some news at some point and vote to accept whatever deal is offered to them, then it becomes much more likely. But maybe it will be some news from Nissan or Airbus rather than the markets. Maybe it won't be economic news at all. And maybe it will come when the deal had looked dead in a few weeks time, not between the first and second votes. You can watch Newsnight on BBC 2 weekdays 22:30 or on iPlayer. Subscribe to the programme on YouTube or follow them on Twitter.

वित्तीय बाजारों में ब्रेक्सिट काफी खराब रहा है। उन्होंने गलत चीजों में सांत्वना ली है और अल्पकालिक रूप से घबरा गए हैं। लेकिन इस समय बहुत सारी चर्चा है कि उनकी मिलीभगत से संसद को थेरेसा मे के वापसी समझौते को पारित करने में मदद मिल सकती है।


England v immigration: A millennium of fears condensed

Summary: The Windrush scandal and the 50th anniversary of the "Rivers of Blood" speech are just the latest reminders that the issue of immigration to the British Isles is a fraught one. For centuries it has prompted debate - and also anger, fear and even murder.

By Greig WatsonBBC News You might say it started well. A Greek explorer in about 320BC described the locals as "especially friendly to strangers". This was perhaps a good thing, as over the centuries there were waves of invasions, by Romans, Saxons and Vikings. After hundreds of years of treaties and battles, it was a Danish-flavoured Anglo-Saxon kingdom that faced the Normans in 1066. And lost. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle weeps at how the new King William divided up the land to his foreign nobles: "[He] let it go into the hands of the man who offered him most of all, and did not care how very sinfully [they] got it from wretched men, nor how many unlawful things they did; but the greater the talk about just law, the more unlawful things were done." Arriving not long after William, in about 1070, the Jews were one of few groups allowed to lend money. One estimate says they made up 0.25% of the population but controlled a third of the coinage. This, combined with religious bigotry, led to resentment. After the 1144 murder of a boy in Norwich, there were attacks on the local Jewish community. The monk and writer Thomas of Monmouth fanned the flames by claiming it was a ritualistic murder: "[The Jews] next laid their bloodstained hands upon the innocent victim, and having lifted him from the ground and fastened him upon the cross, they vied with one another in their efforts to make an end of him." The blood libel - that Jews killed Christian children for ritualistic reasons - was born. In York, in 1190, about 150 Jews killed themselves after being besieged by a mob. In 1255, 18 Jews in Lincoln were executed, others vanished, after another mystery death, and in 1264 a rumour that the Jews of London were plotting against t he city saw hundreds killed. In 1278, nearly 700 were arrested for alleged counterfeiting and perhaps as many as 300 were executed. While condemning such massacres, contemporary writer William of Newburgh claimed: "The Jews... had impudently puffed themselves up against Christ and inflicted very many burdens on Christians." After decades of attacks, high taxes and restricted rights, the entire community, between 5,000 and 15,000 people, was expelled in 1290. The ban would not be lifted for 360 years. Besides being a small, damp island on the edge of the known world, by the 1350s, the nation had another problem. As Prof Mark Ormrod, from the University of York, points out: "England was almost deserted. The Black Death had wiped out about half the population, leaving it with two to three million inhabitants. "England had to find a workforce." The financial gap left by the Jews was filled by Italians - and soon they too were in the firing line. In 1376 there was a move to throw them out of England as they were just "Juys, & Sarazins and privees Espies" and furthermore had introduced "un trop horrible vice" - sodomy. Monarchs and governments had a difficult balancing act: the skills and tax income that immigrants provided were desirable, while dealing with the public hostility they aroused was not. Wool was medieval England's top industry and about 1,000 expert Flemish weavers were in London by the mid-14th Century. In 1378 London weavers demanded control of the Flemish, saying they were "for the most part exiled from their own country as notorious malefactors". This was bloodily expressed during in the 1381 Peasants' Revolt when about 40 were dragged from a church and subjected to a language test. As witnesses described it: "And many Flemings lost their heads at that time, because they could not say 'bread and cheese' but 'brode en case'.". Prof Ormrod says: "For many people nationality was simple: you were either born in England, or you weren't. Foreigners were sometimes treated as a single, undifferentiated whole. "But formal records before the 16th Century almost never made direct reference to the colour of anyone's skin." Venetian ambassadors to England in the 15th Century were "perplexed by the English - especially by their extreme hostility to foreigners". A 1440 tax survey of aliens indicates they made up 2% of England's population - reaching 10% in London and Bristol. In his brief but turbulent reign, Richard III stamped down hard. In 1484, the last Plantagenet monarch banned skilled tradespeople or merchants from entering England, while those already resident were barred from employing anyone except their own family. As Prof Ormrod says: "The clear intent of this statute was to starve out skilled foreign workers. "The public defence of such a radical position was that honest English people were at risk of losing employment and becoming 'thieves, beggars, vagabonds and people of vicious living, to the great disturbance of Your Highness and of your whole realm'." Hostility wasn't just reserved for skilled foreign workers. Gypsies moved across Europe during the Middle Ages, sometimes claiming to be eastern aristocracy. Tudor England initially viewed them as exotic "Egyptians" or "Rowmais". The honeymoon did not last. In 1530 Henry VIII forbade Gypsies from entering England, saying they "many times, by craft and subtlety, have deceived the people for their money; and also have committed many heinous felonies and robberies, to the great hurt and deceit of the people". In 1554 Queen Mary made repeat offences punishable by death. Five decades later, the writer Thomas Dekker described gypsies as "beggerly in apparell, barbarous in condition, beastyly in behaviour... a people more scattered than the Jews, and more hated". A flow of Protestant refugees, known as Huguenots, escaping religious wars on the continent, became a flood after the St Bartholomew's Day massacre in Paris in 1572. Many locals were unimpressed. "They are a commonwealth within themselves", complained one. "They keep themselves severed from us in church, in government, in trade, in language and marriage." Prof Ormrod says: "The issues were around national security, the protection of the economy and religious culture. "Parliament constantly debated whether allowing foreigners to live in the country was a security risk, how much they made from the English economy, and how to classify them." The fact "strangers" were subject to double taxes and limited property rights did not evoke much sympathy. In 1593, posters appeared complaining of the "beastly brutes the Belgians, faint-hearted Frenchmen and fraudulent Flemings" who were permitted by Queen Elizabeth, it was claimed, "to live here in better case and more freedom than her own people". The authorities suppressed this discontent, but were not above scapegoating. Black people might have numbered only about 1,000, but Elizabeth moved to expel them in 1596, saying "there are of late divers blackmoores brought into this realm, of which kind of people there are allready here to manie". A second wave of Huguenots fled in France in the 1680s, with up to 50,000 coming to England. A popular song complained: "The nation it is almost quite undone, by French men that doe it dayly overrune". But these incomers were, on the whole, skilled and educated. Many prospered. The next influx not only shocked the nation but torpedoed an early attempt at a liberal immigration policy. In 1708 leaflets had raised sympathy for German Protestants - "Poor Palatines" - caught up up in new religious wars. The first boatloads - about 900 people in all - were given food and supplies, but an estimated 13,000 landed within months, overwhelming the feeble 18th Century infrastructure. Donations raised thousands of pounds but most of these new arrivals were housed in army camps on Blackheath. Rumours soon swirled of German gangs attacking locals, amid claims many were not even Protestants. One pamphleteer described them as "as parcel of vagabonds, who might have lived comfortably enough in their native country, had not laziness of their dispositions and report of our well-known generosity drawn them out of it". Some were sent to marginal farmland in another strife-torn part of the British Isles - Ireland. England's long and often painful relationship with Ireland went into overdrive in the Victorian era, thanks to the demand for labour, faster steamship travel and, tragically, the Irish famine of 1845-52. Being legally part of Britain, the Irish needed no special permission to travel - but some incomers felt they may as well have come from the moon. Robert Winder, author of Bloody Foreigners, says: "I don't think anyone has been the subject of such bitter feelings as the Irish in the 19th Century. "This is partly because they were Papists, the religious dimension, but also they were really poor. "They were felt to be squalid, verminous, unreliable criminals." An 1836 Royal Commission, actually aimed at helping the Irish poor, nonetheless said they brought "filth, neglect, confusion, discomfort and insalubrity". Between 1841 and 1851, about 1.5 million Irish people - nearly 20% of the population - moved through England. The Times in 1847 reported an "Invasion", saying: "Ireland is pouring into the cities, and even the villages of this land, a disgusting mass of famine, nakedness and dirt and fever." In 1861, the census showed 602,000 Irish-born in England and Wales - about 3% of the population. Nearly 20% of Liverpool's population was Irish. Fears were stoked by both religious and political violence. There were anti-Catholic riots during the 1850s and 1860s. The Irish radical - the Fenian - became a Victorian bogeyman. The South London Press in March 1867 said: "As to the foreign plotters who have imported themselves into these realms for treasonable purposes, there ought to be no mercy or hesitancy; a short shift and a strong cord ought to be the fate of every such a man as shall be proved to be of this class." But again violence abroad brought new challenges. Bloody pogroms in Russia and Prussia forced about 200,000 Jews to Britain - bringing radical politics and cheap labour. Sir John Colomb, MP for Bow and Bromley, said in 1888: "England was being made a human ash pit for the refuse population of the world." In January of the same year, The Morning Post said: "No one can doubt that there is a very serious side to this wholesale immigration of poor Russian Jews... it may become a source of positive danger and demoralisation to a large section of our working population." The established - and often successful - Jewish community tried hard to help but this highlighted the immigrant Catch 22. If they were successful, they were greedy fat-cats; if poor, they were idle leeches. The outbreak of war 1914 saw national security used to slam the doors firmly shut. Following World War Two it was Britain's fading Empire that laid the foundations for a new era of immigration. Needing new workers after 1945, Britain took in or allowed to stay tens of thousands of people from continental Europe, with little controversy. But a call was also made to the colonies and when steamer Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury in June 1948, with about 500 Caribbean passengers aboard, it made front-page news. The Evening Standard greeted the "sons of Empire" with a large "Welcome Home!" headline. The modern phase of mass migration was under way - but the fears and arguments it provoked had been well practised through the centuries.

विंडरश घोटाला और "रिवर ऑफ ब्लड" भाषण की 50वीं वर्षगांठ केवल नवीनतम अनुस्मारक हैं कि ब्रिटिश द्वीपों में आप्रवासन का मुद्दा एक भरा हुआ मुद्दा है। सदियों से इसने बहस को प्रेरित किया है-और क्रोध, भय और यहां तक कि हत्या भी।


Dream Wife: 'We need to practise what we preach'

Summary: Alice Go and Bella Podpadec - two-thirds of the punk-pop band Dream Wife - are sharing a laugh in their south London home as they wait for bandmate Rakel Mjöll to join us online from a cafe in her native Reykjavik.

By Paul GlynnEntertainment & arts reporter The singer returned home to Iceland in mid-March at the request of her family, who were concerned about the UK's response to the impending coranavirus crisis. The small Nordic nation launched its testing programme, albeit for a far smaller population, at the end of January, and was praised for having "virtually eliminated" the virus by June. In the UK, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the government "took the right decisions at the right time", including imposing the lockdown on 23 March, but a leading scientist has claimed the delay "cost a lot of lives". "I remember there was a statement where the prime minister said senior citizens should avoid going on cruise ships, and I was like, 'What is happening?'" recalls Mjöll, as she arrives (virtually) to the conversation. "How on earth are countries going into lockdown and the prime minister is telling people not to go on cruise ships?" Many countries imposed strict lockdown restrictions earlier than the UK did - with a few notable exceptions, such as Sweden. "After that my family was quite afraid and asked me to come home and I've been here ever since," Mjöll continues. There's been no need for a lockdown in Iceland, and so there's been no rush for Mjöll to return to her adopted country yet either. As her band drop their subversive second album on Friday, there are currently no UK venues open (drive-ins aside) for them to perform it in anyway. Instead, their fans have had to sink their teeth into the "beautifully gruesome" music video for its punchy title track So When You Gonna... as well as the colourful one for album opener Sports! - which was directed, produced and edited by the band themselves. Dream Wife began life as an art school performance project in Brighton just over five years ago, but soon morphed into a serious musical force, captivating crowds at the BBC's Biggest Weekend in Belfast in 2018, shortly after the release of their eponymous debut. As well as riotous riffs and memorable melodies, the record tackled the topics of gender roles, and sexual assault head on. They then worked with the feminist collective Girls Against to ensure that their live gigs were safe spaces for their young female fans - who they named the "Bad Bitches" - and even put out an open call for a succession of marginalised female and LGBT acts in the UK, US and Europe to support them on different nights of their tour. A few years on, they are continuing to try to redress the gender imbalance of the music industry with their follow-up record, produced by "an incredible team of women", they say. Recent studies have suggested that last year, between 2-5% of popular music was produced by women. 'Sensitivity and power' "It was, for us, a real putting-our-money-where-our mouth-was situation," says guitarist Go, quoting the lyrics to the rock opera-style Sports! "Having the time to actually be like, 'How do we want this record to be recorded? What is the process we want to be supporting here?' And for us it was practising what we preach in that respect," she adds. "And certainly the themes, the spaces it's going to sonically, there's a sensitivity and also power in equal measure that I think was really delicately handled by [producer and mixer] Marta [Salongi]. We couldn't have made this record without her and the conversations she held with us." While working with an all-female production team was a "deeply important part of the process", Podpadec points out, "it wasn't a contrived position or decision". "We were working with the right people, the best people to make what we've made," she adds, referring to Salogni, engineer Grace Banks and mastering engineer Heba Kadry. "Them all being women kind of really helped and enriched it." In their own press materials and social media accounts, the band spell the word "women" as "womxn" - a term which they and others view as being more inclusive to trans women and non-binary people. Many people strongly reject this term, however, and the band are aware that there's been a great deal of controversy surrounding gender terminology. Last month, Harry Potter author JK Rowling sparked a transphobia row with comments she made on social media, though she denied being transphobic. The argument hasn't made the band's bass player want to cancel everybody's favourite schoolboy wizard just yet, but she does think the timing of Rowling's comments was "particularly weird". Podpadec questions why the author chose to post them "at a time where the Black Lives Matter movement is at the front and centre of public consciousness - why would you take attention away from that?" She also doesn't believe that Dumbledore was written as a gay character, as the author retrospectively confirmed in 2007, but that's one to debate another time. For now, album two depicts Dream Wife reconnecting with their friends and family after several years on the road. It tells tales of love, lust, ignorance, not fitting in, and, in the case of Temporary, a heartfelt consolation to a friend who endured multiple miscarriages. Another track, Validation, begins with its protagonists drinking whisky in a cemetery (or so they think) and leads to them pondering over life, and their need for approval from other people. "Lyrically, it's cut between three verses examining different types of validation within our community," explains Mjöll, who is the band's lead lyricist. "And asking, 'why do we need this validation?' From a lover, from an art show community, from your musical peers - and just questioning why that's so important to us." 'Inspiring and educational' "The Wives", as they are affectionately known, are part of a growing number of young stars in the UK, which includes Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford, who are using their online platform to try and bring about societal change. So, as well as delivering the album, they've also launched its namesake So When You Gonna... podcast series, for which they interviewed friends, collaborators and creative professionals who inspire them, in order to help fire the imaginations of their fans, in turn. "I wish I could have had these conversations when I was like a teenager," admits Go. "The normalisation of non-males in these particular roles in the creative industry. "It felt important to just hear people's journey from A-to-B is, as it's never the same, and hopefully it's inspiring and educational for people." The indie-rockers believe the pandemic may have given more people more time to get creative, as well as "casting such a bright light" on global and domestic issues - such as climate change, domestic abuse and racial inequality. They think it's equally important right now, though, to simply "be present" whenever possible... whatever island they find themselves on. "We're just taking it day-by-day like everyone else and if we feel creative then we can use our creative outlets," says Mjöll, "but also now to be physically and actively present is everything I'm thinking about these days. "The tour will come back when it's safe to do so [April 2021, fingers crossed] and I will embrace that with open arms." So When You Gonna... (album and podcast) is out now.

एलिस गो और बेला पॉडपैडेक-पंक-पॉप बैंड ड्रीम वाइफ के दो-तिहाई-अपने दक्षिण लंदन के घर में एक हंसी साझा कर रहे हैं क्योंकि वे बैंडमेट राकेल मजोल के अपने मूल रेक्जाविक में एक कैफे से ऑनलाइन हमारे साथ शामिल होने का इंतजार कर रहे हैं।


Pakistan forgiveness laws: The price of getting away with murder

Summary: The murder was so brutal it shocked even the hardened detectives who arrived at the scene on the outskirts of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. Bushra Iftikhar, a 28-year-old housewife, had been stabbed with such force that the knife her assailant used had bent out of shape, and he had continued the attack with a screwdriver.

By Secunder KermaniBBC News, Islamabad The killer? Her husband, Sami Ullah. The couple had four children already, and at the time of her death Bushra Iftikhar was pregnant with their fifth. Why exactly her husband killed her remains unclear. He claimed in court to have been suffering a mental breakdown and to have no recollection of the incident. Her family says he accused her of wanting to convert to another religious sect. But what does seem clear is that Sami Ullah was a violent man. He had previously been accused of the attempted murder of a neighbour, and of being part of a violent argument at a restaurant. Police believe he should have been in prison, but instead he didn't even face a proper trial. According to Bushra Iftikhar's brother, Sami Ullah's family were influential in the local area and had paid money to the victims of those earlier cases. "In the old cases, he gave money and quickly got out of prison," Mohammad Zakaria bluntly told the BBC. Under Pakistani law, victims or their families have the right to forgive suspects in a number of serious crimes, including most instances of murder. All they have to do is state in court that they forgive a suspect "in the name of God". In reality, legal observers agree that the primary motive for that "forgiveness" is normally financial, and the informal payment of money to victims is not illegal. The provisions allowing crimes of bodily harm to be "settled" or "forgiven" were introduced in the 1990s as part of a set of Islamic-inspired legal reforms. Supporters of the system say it helps reduce pressure on Pakistan's already overburdened and delay-ridden court system, and reduces the likelihood of feuds developing. But according to one study, the murder conviction rate in the country dropped from 29% in 1990, before the laws were introduced, to just 12% in 2000. Critics argue the law can give repeat offenders a sense of impunity, and is a tool for the more powerful to evade justice. Bushra Iftikhar's brother believes the fact her killer was never punished in any of his previous cases only made him grow more violent. "He became arrogant. He thought: 'I did this, and nothing happened. Now I'm free and the law can't touch me.'" Sami Ullah's family admit the previous cases had ended in what are often termed "compromises", but insist they had agreed them to avoid a drawn-out legal process, not because Sami Ullah was guilty. Sami Ullah is currently appealing against a death sentence after being convicted of murder. Ashtar Ausaf Ali, who served as attorney general under the previous government, put forward plans to reform the laws in 2015 whilst still retaining the element of forgiveness. "A person has the right to forgive," he told the BBC from his office in the city of Lahore, but he added that crime wasn't just a matter for an individual, but for society. His idea was to introduce mandatory minimum sentences, so that "people would know that they cannot put a price tag on a crime". Despite being supported by some clerics, Mr Ali's proposals were blocked by a number of Islamist politicians. At the moment, there seems little prospect of them being resurrected. Undermining the system The current law is a source of frustration at times for both police officers and criminal prosecutors. Courts do have the right to reject settlements if they believe they are coerced, but most observers agree that due to the number of cases in the court system, they rarely investigate thoroughly. Meanwhile, one detective told me he had come across dozens of examples of offenders reaching a settlement with their alleged victims only to go on to reoffend. He said the police would spend time and resources investigating a crime only for the case to end abruptly. Then there are other times, when the police themselves can be the beneficiaries of such "settlements". In August, CCTV images of a thief sticking his tongue out at the camera as he stole a bank card from a cash machine in the central Pakistani city of Faisalabad went viral on social media. But the case took a grim turn as shortly after Salahuddin Ayubi was arrested by police, he died in custody. The compromise Suspicions mounted after another video emerged of Salahuddin Ayubi, who apparently initially pretended to police that he was deaf and mute, writhing in pain as a policeman twisted his arms behind his back while another interrogated him. Salahuddin's father, Muhammad Afzal, initially pressed for justice for his son, who is believed to have suffered from a mental illness. However, a month later, he announced he was forgiving the policemen accused of killing him "in the name of God". The "settlement" or "compromise" in that case is understood to have consisted of an agreement the authorities would build a new 8km (five-mile) road in the family's village, as well as a new gas pipeline, not to mention the payment of an undisclosed sum of money. Salahuddin's father seemed content with the deal, which was brokered by a radical cleric with links to the intelligence services. But others, who don't have powerful backers or the weight of public pressure behind them, often end up feeling as if they have no choice but to agree with what is being offered to them. In a village outside Lahore, I met the family of another man who died in police custody. He had been detained after wrongly being accused of murder. The BBC is not revealing the family's names in order to protect them from repercussions, but they say a mixture of coercion and money led them to drop the case against the police officers they hold responsible for his death. "We haven't forgiven them in our hearts," the victim's brother told me. "We never will, but we were helpless." He said a steady stream of local politicians and influential figures had arrived on his doorstep when they began to fight for justice. "They would say: 'Do a deal. If you don't, you won't be able to do anything anyway. Maybe they'll go to jail for six months or a year, after that they'll be freed and can make all sorts of trouble for you.'" The family are poor and were offered enough money to buy a house, something they would have struggled ever to do otherwise. They accepted, but the mother remained distraught at the bargain she felt forced to make. "I wish to God that we were still living in a rented house, and my son was still alive," she said. "They took my son and gave me money for a house, what kind of deal is that?" Illustration by Nick Galvin

हत्या इतनी क्रूर थी कि पाकिस्तान की राजधानी इस्लामाबाद के बाहरी इलाके में घटनास्थल पर पहुंचे कठोर जासूसों को भी झटका लगा। 28 वर्षीय गृहिणी बुशरा इफ्तिखार पर इस तरह के बल से वार किया गया था कि उसके हमलावर ने जो चाकू इस्तेमाल किया था वह आकार से बाहर हो गया था और उसने पेचकश से हमला जारी रखा था।


Two men killed in plane crash in Wiltshire

Summary: Two men were killed when a light aircraft crashed in a field in Wiltshire, police have confirmed.

The crash happened at about 18:30 BST on Thursday at Brimslade Farm, south of Marlborough. The men, who have not yet been formally identified, died at the scene, a spokesman for Wiltshire Police said. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it has launched an investigation into the incident.

पुलिस ने पुष्टि की है कि विल्टशायर के एक खेत में एक हल्के विमान के दुर्घटनाग्रस्त होने से दो लोगों की मौत हो गई।


EU bill: what are the consequences of today's votes?

Summary: All aboard for another spin of the Brexit hamster wheel!

Mark D'ArcyParliamentary correspondent As MPs embark on the first of what promises to be a long series of votes on Lords amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill, here are a few thoughts on the events ahead: First, and this is almost Rule One of Brexit legislation, there is always another vote further down the road. On several of the big issues around the Customs Union or the EEA, future legislation like the Trade Bill (due back in the Commons by mid-July, we're told), or even the forthcoming Withdrawal and Implementation Bill (due whenever the government can negotiate a deal to put before MPs) will provide further opportunities to put down amendments to shape the government's negotiating strategy. So this is not, the end, or even the beginning of the end, and I sometimes fear it is not even the end of the beginning. Second, for party hierarchies, the list of Tory potential rebels provides a convincing argument against the once-fashionable idea of selecting candidates via an "open primary" process, where non-party members in a particular seat are invited to join a postal ballot on who should be the candidate, in an effort to widen the "selectorate" for new MPs beyond the narrow confines of the local party membership. Newly-resigned justice minister, Dr Phillip Lee, and leading rebel Dr Sarah Wollaston were both the product of David Cameron's brief flirtation with this process - and a third potential rebel, Heidi Allen, came second in the primary for South East Cambridgeshire in 2014, before winning a conventional selection in neighbouring South Cambridgeshire, soon after. All three subsequently proved to be notably independent-minded in the Commons. I'm told the mantra at Conservative Central Office in the selections in 2017, for Theresa May's snap election, was "no more Heidi Allens!" Third, it is worth remembering that the debates on the Lords' amendments to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill take place within unusually restrictive rules, which mean it is almost impossible for Opposition amendments, let alone backbench amendments, to be voted on. So the various compromises offered up by Labour and arch-rebel Dominic Grieve have other purposes than changing the wording of the bill. Labour's is about finding a party line that its warring Brexit factions can unite around, and Mr Grieve's provides a helpful text for an alternative version of the "meaningful vote" which peers might pick up in later stages of the to and fro between Commons and Lords. Fourth, remember the other player in the consideration of this bill; if the Commons rejects all the Lords amendments, peers then have to respond and may not throw in their hand. They might accept the verdict of MPs on some issues, not others - and they will look very closely at what is said in the debate (including the amount of time devoted to particular amendments) the majorities by which their amendments were rejected, and the reasons offered. Peers may well decide, on some issues, to double down, and send back a new amendment. The Lords has a lot of internal inhibitions about defying the Commons and sometimes its will to do so quickly collapses - but not always. Old hands recall the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Bill of 2007 which bounced between the two houses seven times. And then there's the Salisbury doctrine; that peers do not vote against the second reading of a bill which is foreshadowed in a government's election manifesto. There's a very interesting Constitution Unit blog from the former Clerk of the Parliaments (the top official of the Lords) Sir David Beamish, which argues that, whether commentators agree or disagree, peers have done nothing unconstitutional.

ब्रेक्सिट हैम्स्टर व्हील के एक और स्पिन के लिए सभी सवार!


Brexit: How Gibraltar could opt to remain in the EU

Summary: If there is one place in the UK that definitely doesn't want to leave the EU it is Gibraltar. Residents of "The Rock" voted overwhelmingly - by 96% - to stay in the European Union.

By Gabriel GatehouseBBC News, Gibraltar "It was a shock," says Stuart Menez, who runs a small glass-blowing workshop in the centre of town. Mr Menez started his business 21 years ago, with start-up funds from the EU. Today his priority isn't funding, but access. "The biggest issue we're facing is a free-flowing border, for people visiting Gibraltar and for the goods that we import. The raw material that we buy is exclusively bought from the European Union," he says. "It has to travel through the European Union to get to us. But if it faces a difficult Spanish border then we have a problem. In the same way it affects us being able to export our goods to the world. So the uncertainty covers every possible aspect of the business." Gibraltar looks like a little bit of England transported to a rocky outcrop less than 10 miles (16km) from the coast of North Africa: red telephone boxes; bobbies-on-the-beat with their distinctive helmets; Marks and Spencer on the high street. Above Mr Menez's shop hangs a banner: "Gibraltar Stronger In Europe," it reads. It may seem a little late for that. But Gibraltar's Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, is exploring options to keep the Territory in the EU, despite the referendum. "There are potentially different formulas out there, this is like a kaleidoscope that has not yet settled," he told the BBC. One option, which Gibraltar is considering jointly with Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, is the so-called Greenland scenario, whereby parts of the UK could maintain Britain's membership of the EU, while other parts leave. "That means that we don't have to apply again for access, we simply remain with the access we have today, and those parts that leave are then given a different sort of access," Mr Picardo said. Spain? No, thanks One thing Gibraltar's 30,000 residents are even more firm about than their desire to stay in the EU is their sovereignty. Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory, ceded to Britain in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht. Hours after the referendum result was announced on 24 June, Spain's acting Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, said: "The Spanish flag on the Rock is much closer than before." Spanish sovereignty would, of course, be one way of keeping Gibraltar in the European Union. But Gibraltarians dismiss such a suggestion out of hand. Fabian Picardo, the Chief Minister, said the Spanish Foreign Minister was "wasting his breath." Stuart Menez, the businessman, called the remarks "silly noises emanating from the usual places." Even across the bay, in the nearby Spanish town of Algeciras, they're not keen on Brexit. "Right now it means that the pound is lower, and so my wages are lower as well," says Laura Heredia Cabezas. She has a job filling chicken pies in a supermarket in Gibraltar and is one of about 10,000 Spaniards who travel in and out of Gibraltar for work. Now she worries her daily commute could become more difficult. "Maybe the government in Spain is being a bit cheeky and they are taking the chance to say they are going to close the frontier." Ms Cabezas hopes it will not come to that. Unemployment in this part of Spain, Andalucia, is in some places higher than 40%. And so Gibraltar is a lifeline for many families here, who care more about their jobs than the colour of the flag flying over the Rock.

यदि यू. के. में एक जगह है जो निश्चित रूप से ई. यू. को छोड़ना नहीं चाहती है तो वह जिब्राल्टर है। "द रॉक" के निवासियों ने यूरोपीय संघ में बने रहने के लिए भारी मतदान किया-96 प्रतिशत।


Whitley Bay sea swimmers inspire photography project

Summary: When the UK first went into lockdown three friends living on the same street in a seaside town found themselves with time on their hands. Working from home meant no daily commute, so they came up with the idea of trying sea swimming. Little did they know how cold it would be or how it would change them and inspire a photographer searching for subject matter.

"We were impressed by the ladies who swim in the sea every day and thought, foolishly, how hard can it be?" recalls Graham Jones, 54, from Whitley Bay. He and his friends Andy Neill, 51, and Katy Keightley, 47, have lived on the same street for nearly 20 years and had "shared many happy moments together". So they jointly decided to take advantage of their extra time and "take the plunge" - in the frigid waters of the North Sea. The trio soon found their new venture, which none of them had ever done before, had a positive effect on their mental health and wellbeing. "We are so lucky to live so close to the sea and now we really take full advantage, especially during these times," Andy said. "Lockdown can be repetitive but the sea is different every day. It's a strangely addictive tonic." Following a passing chat with Graham on the beach one morning, photographer John Donoghue immediately thought the trio's new venture would make a interesting study. "I love shooting people and telling stories... with the swimmers project I wanted to capture some portraits using the early morning light which looks amazing, then some action shots in and round the sea in a more editorial or documentary style," John said. "And also images of them arriving and leaving the beach to start and finish the story." The 47-year-old started the project in November, capturing the three friends every morning. "They arrive at sunrise, get in the sea, get out and go home. All in about the space of about 20 minutes," John said. "The lighting can go from dramatic sunrise to beautiful sunny day in minutes which means I can get many different types of shots in a variety of lighting conditions. Whilst also making Whitley Bay and the swimmers look amazing in the process." One of John's favourite photos from the project is one of Katy, as it has a "lovely calm feel about it". "Apart from the obvious cold, when the sea is calm and you're floating on your back looking out to the horizon it's a magical sense of escapism," Katy said. "Even when miserable, dull, wet and windy by time you get down to the beach your perspective is transformed. There is something wonderful about being in the water even on the greyest of mornings." The worst part of the early morning shoots for John? "I'm not sure it's the worst part of the day but it is very cold. Then I remind myself I'm wearing multiple layers, hat, gloves, the lot watching Graham, Andy and Katy walk into the sea in a swimming costume and then I don't feel so bad. "I think the three swimmers look fantastic in the images and are a great example of the benefits that cold water swimming can bring to your physical and mental health. "I'm almost tempted to have a go myself, but I'm still thinking about it." Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk.

जब ब्रिटेन पहली बार तालाबंदी में चला गया तो समुद्र के किनारे एक शहर में एक ही सड़क पर रहने वाले तीन दोस्तों के हाथों में समय था। घर से काम करने का मतलब कोई दैनिक आवागमन नहीं था, इसलिए उन्हें समुद्री तैराकी करने का विचार आया। उन्हें बहुत कम पता था कि यह कितना ठंडा होगा या यह उन्हें कैसे बदल देगा और विषय वस्तु की खोज करने वाले फोटोग्राफर को प्रेरित करेगा।


The Queen and Prince Philip celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary

Summary: The Queen and Prince Philip, who were married in 1947, celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary on 20 November.

We look through seven decades of marriage in pictures, including moments when the couple have stood together through pivotal events in history. The royal wedding, 20 November 1947 The birth of Prince Charles, 1948, and Princess Anne, 1950 The Queen's coronation 1953 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s The Queen and Prince Philip were married on 20 November 1947.

महारानी और राजकुमार फिलिप, जिनकी शादी 1947 में हुई थी, 20 नवंबर को अपनी प्लैटिनम शादी की सालगिरह मनाते हैं।


NHS agrees to fund 'life-changing' drug for seven-year-old

Summary: NHS England has agreed to fund a drug costing about £100 a day for a seven-year-old boy whose condition could cause brain damage, after being told by a judge to reconsider his case.

The child, "S", has a rare condition that means he cannot break down an amino acid, and his autism makes controlling his diet difficult. NHS England previously said the drug's effectiveness had not been established. The boy's parents said they were now looking forward to a brighter future. "S" has phenylketonuria or PKU, and his parents wanted him to take a drug called Kuvan to help him metabolise phenylalanine, an amino acid found in some proteins, which would cost about £100 a day. If the boy ate normally, protein would accumulate in his blood in dangerous concentrations. The boy's father said: "It's been a very difficult two years for our whole family while we fought for what we felt was right, and we are now looking forward to a brighter future with our son and for him to enjoy a significantly improved quality of life." The family's lawyer, Peter Todd, said it was a relief that the funding panel had now finally taken the decision the family had been waiting for. An NHS consultant who was treating child S, first applied to NHS England for funding for the drug on the grounds that the boy's case was "exceptional". But NHS England, which takes into account a drug's cost against the benefits it offers when making funding decisions, had refused to pay for Kuvan for him. 'Normal' food Last month, in a ruling at the High Court, the NHS was ordered to reconsider their decision. In court, the boy's father described how managing his son's condition had become more difficult over time because the boy had grown more interested in normal foods since going to school and seeing other children eat. He said the boy would be able to get a proportion of vitamins and minerals from ordinary food if he was prescribed the drug. Eric Lange, chairman of the national patient charity NSPKU, said he was relieved the NHS had decided to provide Kuvan treatment for the young boy. "His family should never have been made to fight the NHS through the court to obtain a treatment to keep their child safe. "Kuvan is an established treatment widely used around the world and it is time that the NHS provided it for other patients in the UK." Related Internet Links Phenylketonuria - NHS Choices

एक न्यायाधीश द्वारा अपने मामले पर पुनर्विचार करने के लिए कहे जाने के बाद, एन. एच. एस. इंग्लैंड ने एक सात वर्षीय लड़के के लिए प्रति दिन लगभग £100 की कीमत वाली दवा के लिए धन देने पर सहमति व्यक्त की है, जिसकी स्थिति मस्तिष्क को नुकसान पहुंचा सकती है।


NI state papers: British government feared 'Protestant brain drain'

Summary: British fears of a Protestant 'brain drain' from Northern Ireland in the early 1980s found some support at a meeting between an NIO official and the Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University, Sir Peter Froggat in 1982, according to this year's Belfast releases.

By Eamon PhoenixHistorian This confirmed British government fears that the Protestant community was "opting out of Northern Ireland". In a memo to ministers dated 5 April 5 1982, an official, W E Bell reported a discussion with the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Peter Froggat on the issue. He asked the vice-chancellor for his view on the extent to which Northern Ireland was "exporting its brainpower" and if there were any difficulties in recruiting highly-qualified staff for university posts. In reply, Dr Froggat said that the extent to which grammar school pupils opted for university education in Great Britain was now well documented. This was partly the result of "free trade" - an incentive for the best qualified candidates to bid for places in leading English and Scottish universities. "But", Sir Peter continued, "the tradition was now reinforced by a considerable exodus to other British universities, especially on the part of the Protestant community. This changing pattern had naturally some effect on Queen's University, the most notable being that the proportion of entrants from the (Catholic) minority had been increasing. The university did not provide denominational statistics, but could measure the trend." The official noted that Dr Froggat's view confirmed the general view of "a near balance between entrants from the two communities with a very small proportion coming from outside Northern Ireland". Mr Bell informed the Secretary of State, Jim Prior: "I regard this discussion as another step towards assessing quietly the extent to which the Protestant community is "opting out" of Northern Ireland." He intended taking stock to consider what counter-measures might be contemplated.

इस वर्ष की बेलफास्ट रिलीज़ के अनुसार, 1980 के दशक की शुरुआत में उत्तरी आयरलैंड से एक प्रोटेस्टेंट 'ब्रेन ड्रेन' की ब्रिटिश आशंकाओं को 1982 में एक एन. आई. ओ. अधिकारी और क्वींस विश्वविद्यालय के कुलपति, सर पीटर फ्रॉगट के बीच एक बैठक में कुछ समर्थन मिला।


Coronavirus: Ten African innovations to help tackle Covid-19

Summary: As Africa passes more than a million confirmed Covid-19 cases, innovators on the continent have responded to the challenges of the pandemic with a wide range of creative inventions. Here are 10 we've picked out. 1. 'Doctor Car' robot

Students from the Dakar Polytechnic School in Senegal have built a multifunctional robot designed to lower the risk of Covid-19 contamination from patients to caregivers. The device is equipped with cameras and is remotely controlled via an app. The designers say it can move around the rooms of quarantined patients to take their temperatures and deliver drugs and food. 2. Automatic hand-washing machine Nine-year-old Kenyan schoolboy Stephen Wamukota invented a wooden hand-washing machine to help curb the spread of coronavirus. The machine allows users to tip a bucket of water to wash their hands by using a foot pedal. This helps users avoid touching surfaces to reduce the risk of infection. Stephen was given a presidential award in June. 3. The Respire-19 portable ventilator Amid a shortage of ventilators on Covid-19 wards in Nigeria, 20-year-old engineering student Usman Dalhatu attempted to help meet the shortfall. Dalhatu built the portable automatic ventilator to help people with respiratory problems - often a symptom of a severe coronavirus infection. He now plans to build up to 20 ventilators. 4. 3D mask printing Natalie Raphil is the founder of Artificial Intelligence company Robots Can Think South Africa. She's using 3D printers to produce 100 masks a day for use in some of Johannesburg's major hospitals. South Africa accounts for around half of all reported coronavirus cases in Africa. 5. Solar-powered hand-washing sink Amid a lockdown in Ghana aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19, shoemaker Richard Kwarteng and his brother Jude Osei decided to design a solar-powered hand-washing basin. When hands come into contact with a sensor on the device, soapy water is automatically released. An alarm goes off after 25 seconds of hand-washing - within the timescale recommended by the World Health Organization. 6. Web-based X-ray lung scans Engineers in Tunisia have created an online platform that scans lung X-rays to try to determine if a person could be suffering from coronavirus. When an X-ray is uploaded onto the platform, it runs a test to detect signs of a possible coronavirus infection. Researchers at the National Institute of Applied Science and Technology in Tunis say the tool is 90% effective in indicating the probability of infection. The platform is still in development, but thousands of lung X-rays have been fed into the system to enable it to recognise the impact of Covid-19 on lungs. 7. Police robots on lockdown patrol Authorities in Tunisia deployed police robots on the streets of the capital Tunis in April to enforce lockdown measures. The surveillance robots, called PGuards, spied on people walking on the street and approached them to ask why they were out. Offenders then had to show their ID and other documents to the cameras attached to the robots. The four-wheeled devices are equipped with thermal-imaging cameras and light detection and ranging technology. More about coronavirus in Africa: 8. Wooden money sanitiser Kenyan mobile money agent Danson Wanjohi has built a wooden device that sanitises cash notes that are passed through a slot in the machine. Wanjohi constructed the mechanism using a motor, a rubber band and gears which enable notes to pass through the machine. As the notes pass through the device, they are cleaned with a sanitising solution. 9. Rapid 65-minute Covid-19 testing kit South African tech entrepreneurs Daniel Ndima and Dineo Lioma have created a Covid-19 testing kit which provides results in just 65 minutes. Typically, it can take up to three days for Covid-19 tests to produce results. The testing kit is known as qPCR, and features a technology used to measure DNA. The testing kit needs to undergo regulatory approval before it can be rolled out. 10. Socially distanced haircuts In Ethiopia, barbers have come up with a way to continue cutting hair for clients while minimising the risk of Covid-19 transmission. The barbers stand in a specially constructed booth which acts as a partition separating them from clients, minimising person-to-person contact.

जैसे-जैसे अफ्रीका ने दस लाख से अधिक पुष्ट कोविड-19 मामलों को पार किया है, महाद्वीप के नवप्रवर्तकों ने रचनात्मक आविष्कारों की एक विस्तृत श्रृंखला के साथ महामारी की चुनौतियों का जवाब दिया है। यहाँ 10 हैं जिन्हें हमने चुना है। 1. 'डॉक्टर कार' रोबोट


Letter from Africa: Why Nigerians fear social media sanctions

Summary: In our series of letters from African writers, Nigerian journalist and novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani looks at why the Nigerian authorities are worried about social media and its impact in the era of #EndSars protests.

Over the past week, some Nigerian state governors and public officials have called for some sort of regulation of social media, though not a total shutdown. "Social media has come to stay and it will be an antithesis to democracy to shut it down because it is the fastest way of disseminating information," the country's Information Minister Lai Mohammed assured. "However, we must regulate social media in a manner that it does not become a purveyor of fake news and hate speech," he said about a bill being debated by the Senate to criminalise the peddling of false and malicious information online. Under the proposed bill, offences range from transmitting information that is false to information that affects security or causes enmity between people or groups. Punishments will include fines of 300,000 naira ($785; £600) and three years in prison. Many Nigerians worry that this is simply an attempt to stifle activism and prevent future acts of defiance against the state. Social media platforms, like Twitter, played a key role in the recent #EndSars anti-police brutality protests that swept across the country for about two weeks, scenes unprecedented in Nigeria's recent history. Daily convergence times and locations, fundraising, legal aid, and other organisation for the protests were spread via social media. More on #EndSars protests: Videos of incidents were also posted on social media, such as unconstitutional attacks or arrests by security personnel. And, while Nigerian authorities continue to deny that any protesters were shot dead on the night of 20 October when soldiers were sent to disperse a gathering of protesters at the Lekki Tollgate area in Lagos, viral videos seem to tell a completely different story. 'Fearful whispers' "Considering recent events in the country, it has become extremely important for the Nigerian government to demonstrate its accountability to the people," read a statement by a coalition of activist groups opposed to the anti-social media bill. "And the social media remains a crucial platform where citizens can lead such a conversation." Nigerians have good reason to be worried about any attempt to control what people say. Our country's history is fraught with episodes of authoritarian governments stifling freedom of speech, with dire consequences for anyone who spoke out of line. During the era of military rule which lasted from 1983 to 1999, government critics were regularly detained or harassed. Politics was discussed in fearful whispers. In 1984, the administration enacted a decree that shut down any newspapers, radio, or television stations whose activities were considered to be damaging to the government. Muhammadu Buhari, then 42 years old and a general, was military ruler at the time. Today, the septuagenarian is the country's elected president, and some Nigerians are wary of his old ways breaking through the veneer of converted democrat. 'Nigeria is diverse and volatile' However, there is a valid case against the negative impact of social media in Nigeria. While dubious laws and edicts may not be the solution, the problem needs to be acknowledged. Ethnic rivalry, religious intolerance, and other forms of aggression have been stoked by fake news items on social media. You may also be interested in: A country as diverse and volatile as Nigeria can definitely do without the hatred and incitement. Some fake news items from social media have travelled unchecked into the mainstream media, becoming even more difficult to extinguish. While fake news is a problem faced by almost every country around the world, Nigeria's situation is particularly dangerous because most young people here depend completely and entirely on social media for their news, and the elderly on messaging apps like WhatsApp. In a country where more than 152 million of a 200 million population live on less than $2 (£1.50) a day, according to the African Development Bank, few people can afford diverse sources of information. Buying newspapers , magazines or books is a luxury. Libraries are almost non-existent outside big cities like Abuja and Lagos. Nigeria has the least affordable internet globally, according to this year's Digital Quality of Life Index by Surfshark Press. Therefore, the average person might invest in data for Twitter or Facebook and WhatsApp, but not have enough for online newspapers or to research whether what they have seen on social media is accurate. During the #EndSars campaign, a bogus claim went viral urging people to remain in the streets for as long as possible because the UN would be obliged to intervene only if the protests lasted for a month. Also, the photograph of a man carrying a dead body wrapped in a bloodstained Nigerian flag went viral, purportedly from the night of the Lekki Tollgate shootings. It turned out to be from a theatre production to mark Nigeria's independence anniversary. "These young people don't even watch television or listen to the radio or read newspapers," said the information minister, as he made a case for the anti-social media bill during a press conference. "We are sitting on a time bomb on this issue of fake news." But, Nigerians are determined to resist to the end. The activism has already begun - on social media, with the trending hashtag #SayNoToSocialMediaBill. More Letters from Africa: Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

अफ्रीकी लेखकों के पत्रों की हमारी श्रृंखला में, नाइजीरियाई पत्रकार और उपन्यासकार अडाओबी ट्रिसिया नौबानी देखते हैं कि नाइजीरियाई अधिकारी सोशल मीडिया और #EndSars विरोध के युग में इसके प्रभाव के बारे में क्यों चिंतित हैं।