Guernsey Airport concrete re-used for improvements

Summary: Old concrete at Guernsey Airport will be re-used as part of improvements to the site.

About 2,000 cubic metres of concrete and asphalt will be crushed and used as base material for the runway and plane parking areas outside the terminal. Guernsey Airport said using the old material had financial and environmental benefits. It is hoped it will remain in place for up to 30 years.

ग्वेर्नसे हवाई अड्डे पर पुरानी कंक्रीट का साइट में सुधार के हिस्से के रूप में फिर से उपयोग किया जाएगा।


Olympian effort behind the saving of the Hitchcock nine

Summary: The British Film Institute (BFI) is celebrating the work of film-maker Alfred Hitchcock with a season of screenings, including nine of his little-known silent movies, restored to their original glory after a painstaking and time-consuming restoration project. We went behind the scenes to see the meticulous work of the BFI conservationists.

By Stuart HughesBBC News The instantly recognisable figure of Alfred Hitchcock stares out from a giant outdoor poster at this year's Cannes Film Festival. His jowly face is twisted into a grimace. His index finger points accusingly. More than 30 years after his death, Hitchcock remains one of the towering icons of cinema history. Taut 1950s and 1960s thrillers such as Rear Window, North by Northwest, Vertigo and Psycho sealed his reputation as "the master of suspense". Hitchcock's early silent films, though, are often excluded from the canon. For decades, screenings have been limited to festival audiences and small groups of cinema enthusiasts. That is about to change. The British Film Institute (BFI) has spent three years restoring nine Hitchcock films made between 1925 and 1929. They will be shown at a series of gala events as part of the London 2012 Festival taking place alongside the Olympic Games. "We've been trying to show them for years and we were always frustrated by the condition they were in," says Robin Baker, head curator of the BFI's National Archive at Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. "It feels so appropriate at a time when the world's focus is on London that Britain's greatest film-maker, who was born in one of the Olympic boroughs and who made films about London, will be one of the stars." The restoration process began with a worldwide search for surviving prints of the nine titles. A tenth film made during the period, The Mountain Eagle (1926), remains lost. Once the fragile reels, some of them made from unstable and highly flammable nitrate film stock, were located and sent to the BFI's National Archive, they were examined and logged shot-by-shot by film restoration experts. Detective work It was commonplace in the early years of cinema for versions of a film to be different from country to country. With no surviving scripts or original camera negatives to work from, however, the restoration team turned detective to help decide what Hitchcock's original vision for each film might have been. "It's a matter of building up evidence," explains the BFI's Film Conservation Manager, Kieron Webb. "The way films were produced during the period leaves its mark and you can make judgements about when and perhaps why edits were made. "You can date the prints and that can help you work out what the film was like on its first release and what was a later change added by someone else." After being checked, cleaned and repaired if necessary, each frame of film was digitally captured on a £500,000 scanner before being restored and edited using computer software. Familiar themes Hitchcock's unique style is apparent even in his earliest films. The restored works show him beginning to explore some of the signature motifs that were to recur throughout his career. "The very first shot of The Pleasure Garden, which was made in 1926, features a chorus line of blonde women walking down a spiral staircase," says Baker. "They come out onto a stage and they are leered at by a group of middle-aged men staring at them through opera glasses. "Already you have the obsession with blondes seen in The Birds and North by Northwest, the voyeurism of Psycho and Rear Window, even the theatre setting he used again and again in his films," he continues. "If you went through a checklist of things we describe as 'Hitchcockian' you could tick off about half of them straight away," he adds. "Hitchcock knew what he was interested in and how he was going to pursue it from day one." Even before the birth of talking pictures, sound was an integral part of the cinema-going experience. "At the time it was indispensable - nobody would have thought about silent film without its other component, which was the music," says the BFI's curator of silent film, Bryony Dixon. During the 1920s, orchestra leaders at individual cinemas would have written a score to accompany each film. With no original music manuscripts to draw from, the BFI has commissioned scores from leading contemporary British artists such as Soweto Kinch, Mira Calix and Nitin Sawhney. The new soundtracks will be performed live at each screening. "There's a big debate about whether you update the music for a modern audience," admits Dixon. "It's a performance and it's the connection between the visuals and the audience through music that's important. "If the audience has different expectations than a 1920s audience would have had I think it's fine to reinterpret the music." New generation In addition to the nine restored works, a major Alfred Hitchcock retrospective encompassing all of his surviving films will be held at the BFI Southbank in London between August and October. The BFI hopes the Hitchcock season will burnish the Leytonstone-born film-maker's reputation as a central figure in British artistic and cultural history - and also introduce him to a new generation of film fans. "There's a similarity between Hitchcock and Charles Dickens, who wrote incredibly commercial, popular novels but also created some of the most brilliant literature ever written in this country," says Baker. "Hitchcock did exactly the same thing. He created an incredibly commercial, popular cinema but he did it with a profound artistry. "Too many people still see film as a disposable art form but if you analyse what Hitchcock was doing you can understand the genius at work. "I think he's at the top of any list of the most important creative artists Britain has ever produced." The Genius of Hitchcock season opens on Friday 6 July with the world premiere of the restored 1929 film Blackmail at the British Museum in London.

ब्रिटिश फिल्म इंस्टीट्यूट (बी. एफ. आई.) फिल्म निर्माता अल्फ्रेड हिचकॉक के काम का जश्न मना रहा है, जिसमें उनकी नौ कम ज्ञात मूक फिल्में शामिल हैं, जो एक श्रमसाध्य और समय लेने वाली बहाली परियोजना के बाद अपनी मूल महिमा में बहाल हुई हैं। हम बी. एफ. आई. संरक्षणवादियों के सावधानीपूर्वक काम को देखने के लिए पर्दे के पीछे गए।


Week ahead in Parliament

Summary: The last time I noted a quiet-looking parliamentary week ahead, the prime minister went and called an election, so it is with some trepidation that I suggest that next week's agendas in the Commons and Lords look a little short of drama.

Mark D'ArcyParliamentary correspondent Labour MPs are on a two-line whip for a humdrum week of non-controversial legislation and several general debates, with no sign, yet, of the eagerly-awaited Great Repeal Bill, which will be the centrepiece of the forthcoming Brexit legislation. There will be yet another mini-reshuffle of the Labour front bench after the departure of six shadow ministers who backed Chuka Umunna's cross-party Queen's Speech amendment to keep the UK inside the EU customs union and single market (interestingly, nine Labour MPs had signed the amendment but did not, in the end, vote for it - suggesting swift action by their whips). Meanwhile over in the Lords, the voting figures on a similar amendment from the Labour peer, Lord Adonis, were interesting; he was supported by 58 Lib Dems, 25 Labour peers, 16 Crossbenchers and three Conservatives (Heseltine, Hogg and Wheatcroft) plus two "others" - giving a total of 104 votes for, to 172 against in a late night division on a pretty symbolic motion. It's a respectable showing for Lord Adonis, in the face of a three-line Labour whip against him, but it also suggests that the government will only be in danger if and when the Lords Labour leadership is prepared to weigh in on Brexit votes in the Upper House. Another interesting set of voting figures were those from this week's Commons election for a deputy Speaker - a poll dominated by Lindsay Hoyle, who won 354 votes, while former Labour chief whip, Dame Rosie Winterton, took 88 and Roberta Blackman-Woods 51. Mr Hoyle was elected on the first ballot, and his second preference votes were 145 to Roberta Blackman Woods and 145 to Rosie Winterton.....so Mr Hoyle remains the senior Deputy, the Chairman of Ways and Means, and continues to look like the heir-apparent, when Speaker Bercow finally calls it a day. As the only Conservative in the field, Eleanor Laing was elected without opposition and Rosie Winterton takes over from Natascha Engel, who lost her seat in the general election. Roberta Blackman Woods misses out, this time. Elsewhere, every question time in the Commons will increasingly become an audition for the ambitious. This includes would-be select committee chairs, Labour dissidents seeking support, and, ever so quietly, for ministers aspiring to higher office. Here's my rundown of the week ahead: Monday In the Commons (2.30 pm) MPs open with Home Office questions - and as usual, any post weekend statements from ministers or urgent questions will be taken at 3.30pm. Already, the Northern Ireland Secretary, James Brokenshire, is expected to make a statement on any developments in the talks on restoring the Northern Ireland executive and the Stormont assembly. Legislation will be needed to restore the power-sharing agreement, or in the event that the talks fail and direct rule from Westminster is restored. Without new legislation another Assembly election would have to be called. Then, MPs turn to the second reading debate on the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing Bill - this is a fairly uncontroversial measure to modernise the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL) scheme, which provides consumer protection for package holidays that include a flight. Finally, the Labour MP Keith Vaz leads an adjournment debate on the safety of children at theme parks - after an 11-year-old constituent, Evha Jannath, died when she fell from a "river rapids" ride at Drayton Manor theme park. In the Lords (2.30 pm), questions to ministers include one from the Lib Dem, Baroness Walmsley, on plans to review guidance fire safety in new and existing school buildings in the light of the Grenfell Tower fire. Then there are debates on the impact of the United Kingdom's development aid budget - and on air quality in London. MPs open (11.30 am) with Health questions - and assuming no ministerial statements or urgent questions are added to the agenda, they then move on to the second reading debate on the European Union (Approvals) Bill - there's a slightly anachronistic flavour of EU business as usual about this measure, which will approve four draft decisions of the EU Council on such subjects as the participation of Albania and Serbia as observers in the work of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, and on enhanced cooperation between the European Commission and the Canadian Competition Bureau. There seems to be little expectation of controversy, because there will then be a debate on the newly-published Gibb Report on the chronic problems besetting the Southern Rail franchise. Expect any number of MPs living along their commuter routes to weigh in on the effects of the continuing industrial action and other problems around Southern. But watch out for a motion on the allocation of Select Committees. This is the new carve-up agreed between the main party business managers, to decide which party provides the chair for which committee. The election means the Lib Dems will be given the Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, but it is possible not everyone will be happy with the share-out. The list is here: on the order paper. Once the motion is agreed, the Speaker will announce the dates and timings for the committee elections - the chairs should be elected by the whole House, 14 days after the motion is approved. Nominations can be submitted as soon as the motion has been agreed by the House until 5pm the day before the ballot, which is held under the alternative vote. It now looks unlikely that the ordinary committee members will be elected (they're chose by the internal processes of the various party groups) until September. The adjournment debate, on improvements to neighbourhood planning is led by the Conservative John Howell, one of the architects of the coalition government's planning reforms. Westminster Hall sees its first debates of the new Parliament, with the DUP's Jim Shannon raising the issue of the persecution of Christians and the role of UK embassies (9.30 - 11 am). The SNP's Alison Thewliss has a debate on the High Court judgement on benefit cap (11am-11.30am) and at 2.30pm there's a debate on the Kurdistan region in Iraq - this will mark debut in this Parliament of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Kurdistan, one of the most quietly effective all-party groups in Parliament with proceedings opened by the new chair Jack Lopresti. The debate will probably be answered by the Middle East Minister, Alistair Burt, who was brought back into government after the election, and is himself a former Vice Chair of the All-Party Group. The Lib Dem and Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, discusses support for renewable energy generation in island communities (4pm- 4.30 pm) and the Conservative Derek Thomas raises the safety of riders and horses on rural roads (4.30pm-5.30 pm). In the Lords (2.30 pm) peers have their usual half hour of questions to ministers and then they debate a report from their International Relations Committee: The Middle East: Time for a New Realism and a European Union Committee report: Brexit: acquired rights. The Commons day begins (11.30 am) with Cabinet Office questions, followed at noon by Prime Minister's Questions, which now routinely stretches well beyond the scheduled half hour, as the Speaker ensures all the backbenchers listed on the Order Paper get a chance to put their question to Theresa May. Then MPs turn to a motion to approve the Justice and Security of Northern Ireland Act 2007, extension of duration of non-jury trails, followed by a general debate on Israel and Palestine. In Westminster Hall there are debates on road infrastructure (9.30am); support for the Srebrenica genocide commemoration (11am); the state pension age for women (2.30pm); working conditions in the private hire industry (4pm) and the political and humanitarian situation in Yemen (4.30pm). In the Lords (3pm) questions to ministers are followed by the second reading debate on the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill, which aims to ensure people can access free and impartial money guidance, pensions guidance and debt advice. It would set up a Single Financial Guidance Body. Then comes a short debate on the Centenary of the Balfour Declaration - the announcement by the then foreign secretary that the British government supported the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In the Commons (9.30am) International Trade questions are followed (10am) by Women and Equalities questions - where there may be some after the match analysis of the government's concession on NHS funding for women from Northern Ireland who travel to England for abortions. Then comes the weekly Business Statement from the Leader of the House, Andrea Leadsom, with MPs keen to discover when key Brexit legislation, particularly the Great Repeal Bill, will be brought before them. They may also want to know when the long-promised debate on plans to move them out of the Victorian Palace of Westminster, to allow for renovation work, will take place.... if ever. That will be followed by a general debate on Exiting the European Union and global trade - which will doubtless focus on possible trade-offs between access to the EU single market and Britain's ability to strike new trade deals across the world, post Brexit. In the Lords (11am) questions to ministers are followed by debates on subjects chosen by backbench peers - first, on the role of businesses, including SMEs, in creating and spreading wealth, improving life chances, and contributing to the communities in which they operate. Then, peers turn to the government's plans to protect and support victims of domestic violence and abuse, and there will also be a short debate on the promotion of financial inclusion through use of innovative financial solutions and new technology. And even though the Commons are some way from setting up their select committees, their lordships are swinging into action on the committee corridor, with a hearing of their EU External Affairs Committee (10.05am); on common foreign and security policy after Brexit, where the witnesses include the former defence secretary and Nato Secretary-General Lord Robertson, the former foreign secretary Lord Hague of Richmond and the former EU Commissioner Baroness Ashton. Neither House sits on Friday.

पिछली बार जब मैंने एक शांत दिखने वाले संसदीय सप्ताह को देखा, तो प्रधान मंत्री ने जाकर चुनाव का आह्वान किया, इसलिए कुछ घबराहट के साथ मेरा सुझाव है कि कॉमन्स और लॉर्ड्स में अगले सप्ताह के एजेंडे नाटक से थोड़े कम दिखते हैं।


Coronavirus: 'The care home lockdown sent my senile grandad into spiral of decline'

Summary: As I wheeled my grandad Martin up the ramp and into a taxi which would take him away to the care home, I repeated the white lie my family had agreed might make this painful scenario slightly easier.

By Tom BradaBBC News "You're going to see the physio who will look after your leg and then you'll be able to get better." Thankfully his dementia meant that he couldn't fully understand what was happening or where he was going. In fact, he seemed to quite enjoy the novelty of being outdoors for the first time in months. But my granny and I were raw with emotion. Grandad, nonplussed as to why I might be crying, instinctively reached out to stroke a part of my cheek not hidden behind my face mask. Granny blew him a final kiss and the taxi pulled away, leaving me, Granny and my brother-in-law silent in the middle of the street, awash with guilt and relief. Well into his 80s, my grandad still looked immodestly young and was frequently challenged for his pensioner ID when boarding a bus. During retirement he spent many years volunteering at an elderly care home, caring for people who were often much younger than him. But as his 10th decade arrived, so did dementia and things started to fall apart. He'd lose track of his words mid-sentence. Making a cup of tea became a challenge. One time the fire brigade descended after he fed a cracker into the toaster. Family rescue efforts were appreciated by my 92-year-old granny, but in truth they were just stop-gaps - like fixing plasters on a broken leg. "Ageing isn't for sissies," she warned me. When lockdown began, the situation only worsened. Grandad had no understanding of the virus and the changes and restrictions it brought. In late June, my grandparents quietly celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. Just three days later, Martin moved into a care home. The decision was agonising, but by that point, unavoidable. Our family's situation is not uncommon: more than 300,000 people with dementia are living in care homes across the UK, according to Alzheimer's Research UK. Covid guidelines, which allow limited visiting, at a distance, are designed to keep this vulnerable community safe. But the flipside is families being kept apart from their loved ones, unable to do anything to counter their decline. Julia Hailes, a writer who lives in Dorset, has struggled to remain in meaningful contact with her 90-year-old mother, Minker. Minker's worsening dementia meant her move to a care home was, at first, a lifeline for her family. But the pandemic has changed everything. "Before lockdown I would visit mum and she still knew who I was. I'd go and read her poems, we'd sit and listen to music," says Julia. "Now everyone's being kept in their rooms. It's vital for people with dementia to have structure in their day, so that isolation is in some ways worse than death." Video calls often do little for those with dementia. The notion of holding a "moving picture" of a loved one, as they talk, sounds promising. But it can be a hollow, even disturbing experience. "Mum's care home introduced FaceTime calls, which I did a few times," says Julia. "But it was horrendous. What good is that when someone is in such a confused state? Part of how I connect with her is holding her hand and giving her a kiss. Weeks later I was eventually allowed to visit Mum in the garden. By that point it felt like I'd lost her - she wasn't even able to speak anymore." Dr Hilda Hayo, of the charity Dementia UK, says for people with dementia, technology is no match for human interaction. "Physical contact is such an essential tool in looking after someone with dementia. If someone is agitated, stroking their hands or putting your arm around them can be really helpful. So, for families, not being able to do that is really damaging." This resonates with my own grandad's experience. Video calls left him more confused than when we'd begun; he could scarcely focus on the screen and struggled to understand where our voices were coming from. The only thing which seemed to cut through was the repetition of a simple message, "I love you, Martin". To which he could still reflexively respond, "I love you too, Bubala." By the time his home was able to permit visitors, his stark decline was clear to my granny. Sunken-cheeked and unable to speak - he was barely recognisable as the man who had left their home just six weeks before. The dementia of Philippa Thomson's mother, Marjorie, is so advanced Philippa knew better than to attempt a video call. Before lockdown her in-person visits to the care home would have a restorative effect on her mother. "We would do relaxing things like colouring in or simple jigsaw puzzles," she says. "I would sit and hold her hand, or brush her hair. And over two-and-a-half to three days, I would see her coming alive." Government guidelines in England only allow for one person to visit each resident indoors; two if it's outside. But with two older sisters, Philippa has recently been unable to see her mother. "The carers are amazing, but no matter how good they are, they can't offer that same intimacy or affection. I do feel a huge amount of guilt and frustration. My mother is 97 years old and it's not any kind of life that she's got." Care homes have borne immense pressures over the past few months. Aware of the burden on both the residents and their families, many made great efforts to maintain a thread of communication. Donna Pierpoint, the manager of a nursing home in Sheffield, described her role in restricting family visits as being "a cross between a prison governor and a headteacher". In the meantime she's focused the home's efforts on keeping residents as well looked after as possible. "If someone is being isolated in their room then, you've got to take the stimulation to them," says Ms Pierpoint. "Our staff will go to their rooms and read letters from their family, go through old photographs." She sends out a weekly email to keep relatives in the loop and uses social media. "We post pictures on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. We celebrated VE-Day on May 8th. We had a wonderful day and posted pictures so our residents' families could see we were having a good time." On 1 August my grandad died at his care home. The majority of his 92 years were happy ones, but his final months were not. The home came to the rescue for my family at our time of need and looked after my grandad wonderfully in gruelling circumstances. But as relatives, there's a lingering guilt that we were unable to provide that support ourselves. We did everything we could to let my grandad know how much he was loved. But we cannot shake the sense that the lack of our loving physical presence may have worsened his decline.

जैसे ही मैं अपने दादा मार्टिन को रैंप पर और एक टैक्सी में ले गया जो उन्हें देखभाल घर ले जाएगी, मैंने उस सफेद झूठ को दोहराया जो मेरे परिवार ने माना था कि इस दर्दनाक परिदृश्य को थोड़ा आसान बना सकता है।


Lorry wedged under low railway bridge

Summary: A road in Northamptonshire was closed for five hours after a lorry became trapped while attempting to drive under a low railway bridge.

The A428 was shut between East Haddon and Great Brington when the lorry crashed into the bridge near Althorp at about 11:00 BST. Northamptonshire Police said the road was cleared at about 16:00 BST. London Midland said it had disrupted rail journeys on the Northampton to Rugby line.

नॉर्थम्पटनशायर में एक कम रेलवे पुल के नीचे गाड़ी चलाने के प्रयास में एक लॉरी के फंस जाने के बाद एक सड़क को पांच घंटे के लिए बंद कर दिया गया था।


Arrest over vandalism at Ruth Davidson's Edinburgh office

Summary: A man has been arrested after rocks were thrown at the windows of Ruth Davidson's constituency office in Edinburgh.

The Scottish Tory leader's office building in Roseburn Terrace was targeted at about 11:40 Ms Davidson, who is on maternity leave until next spring, was not in the building at the time. A Police Scotland spokesman said: "A 54-year-old man has been arrested following a report of vandalism." He added that no-one was injured. The office is also shared by Miles Briggs and Gordon Lindhurst.

एडिनबर्ग में रूथ डेविडसन के निर्वाचन क्षेत्र कार्यालय की खिड़कियों पर पत्थर फेंके जाने के बाद एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Boy, 14, arrested over Stockport restaurant owner's death

Summary: A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a man who was hit by his own car during a robbery.

Restaurant owner Mohammed Islam, 53, was delivering food when he was knocked down in Stockport on 8 January, Greater Manchester Police said. He was taken to hospital but died from his injuries two days later. The arrested suspect remains in police custody and was also being questioned on suspicion of conspiracy to commit theft. Another 14-year-old boy was previously charged with the murder of Mr Islam, who owned the Marple Spice restaurant in Marple, and numerous driving offences. Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk Related Internet Links Greater Manchester Police

डकैती के दौरान अपनी ही कार से टकराए एक व्यक्ति की हत्या के संदेह में एक 14 वर्षीय लड़के को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Which New Year resolutions have you kept?

Summary: It's no easy thing to stick to a New Year resolution - with the best will in the world it's a challenge.

But we know there are success stories out there and we want to hear them. Did you quit a bad habit, start a business, pledge to help others or take up a new hobby? We asked you to tell us which New Year resolution you've kept and how you did it. We have finished collecting your anecdotes and are working on a story.

नए साल के संकल्प पर टिके रहना कोई आसान बात नहीं है-दुनिया में सबसे अच्छी इच्छाशक्ति के साथ यह एक चुनौती है।


Belsen 1945: Remembering the medical students who saved lives

Summary: "It deeply affected him and his trust in human nature," says Anne Stephenson of her father John Reynolds, one of 95 London medical students who arrived at the notorious Belsen concentration camp in May 1945 to help care for survivors wracked by disease and starvation.

By Judith BurnsBBC News The camp had been captured on 15 April by British troops who had no idea of the horrors they would find inside when the first tank pushed open the gates. For the BBC's Richard Dimbleby, the first broadcaster to enter the camp, it was "the world of a nightmare". About 10,000 dead bodies lay unburied, sanitation was non-existent. There were 43,000 prisoners still alive, about two-thirds of them women, many so weak from starvation and disease they were unable to move from the huts where they were held and they were dying at a rate of about 500 a day. The medical students, average age 21, were volunteers, recruited initially to help care for starving Dutch children but who found, just before they were due to travel, their destination had been changed to Belsen. By the time they arrived at the beginning of May, most of the bodies had been removed but thousands of sick and dying people still languished in the huts. "People in all stages of disease. Many were dead. Practically all were emaciated," John Reynolds, then a 23-year-old student at St Thomas's medical school, wrote later. "Nearly all the internees had violent colic or diarrhoea." They were suffering from a range of diseases including cholera, typhus, tuberculosis, sores, boils and gangrene. "The people themselves were, on the whole, hopelessly filthy with no sense of decency or pride in themselves, treating the dead as furniture and their beds as latrines." He carried these experiences with him for the rest of his life, says Anne, herself a doctor and a member of the academic staff at King's College London Medical School of which St Thomas's is now part. "I remember once, we were all sitting having dinner and he suddenly said: 'I remember a blonde woman and they shot her in the leg. They shot her in the leg.' "He had post-traumatic stress disorder, honestly. He had terrible PTSD that was never treated." Led by senior military medical staff, the students helped halve the death rate within a month. It tested both their medical skills and their personal stamina to an unimaginable degree, according to Westminster student Michael Hargrave, in his diary. A major puzzle was what to feed the internees. British army rations were indigestible to starving people and could kill them, a concoction called Bengal Famine Mix, was unpalatably sweet, and intravenous feeding threw some, who feared fatal injections, into panic. Ultimately, diluted soup and glucose drinks worked best. Deaths overnight In pairs, the medical students were allocated to huts where each morning they would separate the living from those who had died overnight. "The bodies are dragged out by those who can walk and then the Wehrmacht load them on to massive lorry trailers, guarded all the while, and bury them in immense graves," wrote Guy's student John Kilby in a letter to his mother. Those needing medical help were gradually transferred to a makeshift hospital for 7,000 housed in a military barracks camp. John Reynolds recounts how the huts were burned down one-by-one until only one was left. On 21 May 1945 "an official ceremony of the burning of this last hut was attended by all those who worked in the camp... a volley was fired, the Union Jack unfurled and then the hut was burned to the ground by flamethrowers." A week later, the students' month at Belsen was over and they were sent back to their medical schools. "These days, of course, you would have a debrief and you'd have post-traumatic stress disorder counselling," says Prof Stephen Challacombe, a professor of oral medicine at King's and a medical historian. "It was so stark, just, 'Give up your uniforms, you're back in civilian life'." Of the 95, despite being inoculated, two returned with tuberculosis and seven with typhus. DDT was used liberally to kill lice and Anne Stephenson says her father always wondered whether the cancers he suffered in later life were connected with the pesticide. In their later careers as doctors and academics "all the reports, to a person, talk about how magnificent they were", says Prof Challacombe who has delivered a series of lectures on their story. This year, to mark the 75th anniversary of their endeavour, King's College Medical School, which, as well as St Thomas's, also includes Guy's, and accounts for 34 of the 95 students, is erecting plaques to their memory. "When they were asked to go, they could never have imagined what they would walk into and do," says Prof Challacombe, Sometimes audience members bring their parents' letters and diaries from the period, among them Gilly Kenny and Jenny Meade whose fathers, John and Bernard, were among the King's College contingent and remained lifelong friends. Gilly says it was after her father's death when "we had to clear out all sorts of papers and we came across some that related to his time in Belsen... that it became a bit clearer". She found the lecture "very emotional... I learned a lot". Prof Challacombe believes the most difficult time for the students was when the patients were transferred from the huts into the hospital. "There is a point at which numbers and bodies turn into real people... suddenly individuals in beds as opposed to a mass of individuals lying on a floor... "They did feel it when those patients that they'd been looking after, trying so hard, then died, I think that would have affected them." He hopes modern day medical students will take a message from the story. "I think understanding their sacrifice, understanding their willingness to get involved and to contribute is a real hallmark of medicine. "I think there's a lesson for me in helping people to understand you can attain those pinnacles and you can contribute, everybody can contribute however insecure they feel at the time."

लंदन के 95 चिकित्सा छात्रों में से एक, अपने पिता जॉन रेनॉल्ड्स की ऐनी स्टीफेंसन कहती हैं, "इसने उन्हें और मानव स्वभाव में उनके विश्वास को गहराई से प्रभावित किया", जो मई 1945 में बीमारी और भुखमरी से पीड़ित बचे लोगों की देखभाल में मदद करने के लिए कुख्यात बेल्सन यातना शिविर में पहुंचे थे।


Portishead mural supports fight for railway

Summary: A 40ft (12m) mural has been unveiled in Portishead in support of the fight to reopen its disused railway.

The design tells the "railway story" of the North Somerset town, from 1867 and into the future with trains using the line again. Local artist Aili Purdy was asked to create the painting by businesses and Portishead Railway Group. A bid by the council for £43m to reopen a link between Bristol and Portishead was rejected by the government in 2011. North Somerset Council has said reopening the line is still a "high priority".

अपने अप्रयुक्त रेलवे को फिर से खोलने की लड़ाई के समर्थन में पोर्टिसहेड में एक 40 फीट (12 मीटर) भित्ति चित्र का अनावरण किया गया है।


Cargo ship re-floated six weeks after grounding

Summary: A salvage team has successfully re-floated a cargo ship that ran aground on rocks in late March .

The MV Kaami got into difficulty between the isles of Skye and Lewis. Its crew was unharmed. The ship was carrying pellets of a fuel made from waste. After its cargo was removed, the boat was re-floated on Tuesday and towed to a dry dock. The journey to Loch Kishorn in the west Highlands took about 14 hours. Highland Council said it had been monitoring for any pollution reaching the shores of Skye and mainland Highlands.

एक बचाव दल ने मार्च के अंत में चट्टानों पर गिरे एक मालवाहक जहाज को सफलतापूर्वक फिर से तैराया है।


Aung San Suu Kyi was 'a quiet and inquisitive student'

Summary: Burmese opposition leader and member of parliament Aung San Suu Kyi, who is making her first visit to India in almost 40 years, attended college in the capital, Delhi. Nirmala Khanna, one of her teachers at Lady Shri Ram College for Women, remembers her famous student.

There was nothing remarkable about the young girl in my international relations class. Not only me, no one in the college thought she would become a world leader and the torchbearer of her country's movement for democracy one day. I remember I saw her on my first day as a professor at the college on 26 August 1964. I entered the classroom around nine in the morning and took the attendance. Aung San Suu Kyi was one among the 60 students in the room. She was an introvert and a quiet student. I remember her as a down-to-earth person despite the fact that she was the daughter of Burma's ambassador to India. Humble Her mother, who intermittently visited the college to drop or pick Suu Kyi, was also humble. The young girl had an obvious interest in international relations. Though some of her classmates were very forthcoming and frequently asked weird questions apparently to bully me since I was new, Suu Kyi was different. She took part in college activities like debates and discussions. She was never an extraordinary student, though she was always inquisitive. Everyone use to call her "Su Chi" and we also used to call her the same way. She left the college in three years while I kept teaching for 40 years. There was no word from her. When TV channels and newspapers carried reports of her house arrest, people would ask 'Is she the one you taught?' We were concerned since she was a student of our college. The principal used to call me and we used to discuss it sometimes. Suu Kyi made us proud when she took up the cause of democracy in her country. Later when she was given the Nobel Peace Prize, it made us really proud. Our own "Su Chi" had become a Nobel laureate. When she was being felicitated in absentia at India's presidential house, I was invited for the programme. But I could not make it since the invitation came at a short notice. Now that she has come to Delhi and is visiting the college on Friday after 40 years, I have been invited again. But this time I am suffering with arthritis and it is difficult for me to walk without a stick. Cars, I am told, are not allowed inside the campus for security reasons. But I would love to see her after all these years. Does she remember me? I don't know. Nirmala Khanna spoke to BBC Hindi's Salman Ravi

बर्मा की विपक्षी नेता और संसद सदस्य आंग सान सू की, जो लगभग 40 वर्षों में अपनी पहली भारत यात्रा कर रही हैं, ने राजधानी दिल्ली के कॉलेज में पढ़ाई की। लेडी श्री राम कॉलेज फॉर वुमन में उनकी शिक्षकों में से एक, निर्मला खन्ना ने अपनी प्रसिद्ध छात्रा को याद किया।


Q&A: Asteroid and comet impacts

Summary: On Friday, a meteor plunging towards Earth reportedly injured hundreds of people, as the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings. Later on Friday, the asteroid 2012 DA14 will make a close pass of Earth, skimming by at a distance of 28,000km.

By Paul RinconScience editor, BBC News website Astronomers have ruled out any chance of a collision between that asteroid and Earth. But the two unconnected events highlight the potential danger from the primordial material that orbits in our cosmic neighbourhood. So what threat is posed to Earth by all the other cosmic debris out there? There's no danger from 2012 DA14, but what would happen if a similar-sized rock were to hit us? We don't know for sure what 2012 DA14 is made of. But asteroids measuring less than 100m across - and made of stony material - are liable to break up high in the atmosphere. Declassified data from US military satellites (designed to monitor nuclear weapons tests) show that many such rocks burn up with no ill effects on the ground. But occasionally, one of these "airbursts" can occur close enough to the Earth's surface to cause serious damage. In 1908, an asteroid or comet measuring tens of metres across detonated about 10km above Siberia. The explosion flattened some 80 million trees over an area of 2,000 sq km (800 sq m) near the Tunguska River - as luck would have it, a sparsely populated region. One theory proposes that the Tunguska object was a fragment of Comet Encke. This ball of ice and dust is responsible for a meteor shower called the Beta Taurids, which cascade into Earth's atmosphere in late June and July - the time of the Tunguska event. If an equivalent event had occurred over London, it would have destroyed everything within the bounds of the M25 motorway. So media reports of 2012 DA14 as an asteroid big enough to level a city are not so wide of the mark. An object of similar size to 2012 DA14 carved out the magnificent 1.2km-wide depression known as Meteor Crater in Arizona. This object was metallic - composed of iron and nickel - ensuring that it reached the ground relatively intact. Early reports suggest the one that soared across Chelyabinsk in Russia on Friday weighed about 10 tonnes. There was no estimate for its diameter, but it was probably smaller than any of these objects. These things are just big chunks of rock or metal - how can they have such devastating effects? The small rocks, or meteoroids, that shower our planet all the time are travelling very fast, perhaps as much as tens of kilometres per second. As already mentioned, most simply burn up in the atmosphere, while the smaller number that survive the plunge to the surface have their velocities slowed drastically by atmospheric friction. For those heavier than a few hundred tonnes, however, atmospheric friction has little effect on their velocities. A rock with that kind of mass travelling at high velocity will release a huge amount of energy when it smacks into the Earth's surface. This is because the kinetic energy of the space rock is the product of half the mass and the square of the velocity. In other words, if you double the speed of the object, its kinetic energy will go up by a factor of four. Though there are other factors which determine the effects of a given asteroid impact, such as the angle of entry and the nature of the target geology, it is not difficult to see why the energy released explosively by the larger classes of space rock can be many times that of a nuclear weapon. In fact, researchers at Purdue University in the US and Imperial College London have put together a website called Impact Earth! that allows users to input the parameters of the asteroid and find out what effects if would have if it were to hit Earth. How big can they get? The asteroid whizzing by our planet on Friday is actually dwarfed by some of the debris out there. The impact implicated in killing off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was probably caused by an object some 10-15km wide. The space rock hurtled through our atmosphere, striking Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. Scientists estimate that the explosive energy released by the impact was equivalent to 100 trillion tonnes of TNT - billions of times more explosive than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The huge crater that remains from the event is some 180km in diameter and surrounded by a circular fault about 240km in diameter. While rocks the size of 2012 DA14 can potentially have devastating effects on a regional scale, the aftermath of the Cretaceous impact was global and long-lasting. Initially, the Chicxulub impact triggered large-scale fires, huge earthquakes, and continental landslides which generated tsunamis. Then the hot rock and gas blasted at high velocity into the atmosphere shrouded the planet in darkness. There is evidence for considerable cooling following the asteroid strike; this "impact winter" could have lasted up to 10 years. An object of this size hitting Earth today could potentially wipe out civilisation. Statistically, rocky or iron asteroids larger than about 50m would be expected to hit Earth about every century. Asteroids larger than a kilometre are likely to collide with our planet every few hundred thousand years. How much do we know about what's out there? There are a number of search networks around the world set up to catalogue the potentially threatening objects in our neighbourhood. One of them is the US space agency's Near Earth Objects (Neo) programme, which manages and funds the search, study and monitoring of asteroids and comets whose orbits periodically bring them close to the Earth. In 1998, Nasa started compiling an inventory of space rocks larger than one kilometre (0.62 miles) in diameter. But in 2005, the agency was set the much more challenging task of logging objects as small as 140m (460ft) in diameter. The target is to find 90% of them by 2020. But the close flyby of 2012 DA14, the meteor strike in Russia and the forthcoming approach in November by Comet Ison (unknown before last year) show that there are vast gaps in our knowledge. This issue is dealt with in more detail here. What can we do if astronomers detect something with our name on it? One of the best known strategies for dealing with an incoming asteroid - applied by Bruce Willis in the film Armageddon - is to detonate a nuclear weapon near the surface of the object or below it. The hope is that, in addition to blasting a large chunk out of the object, the explosion would nudge the asteroid off a collision course with Earth. However, if we were unlucky, this could fragment the space rock, potentially sending multiple chunks heading towards our planet. Another strategy is to slam a spacecraft into the object to knock it off course. The European Space Agency (Esa) has designed a mission called Don Quijote, which will study the effects of just such a collision in space. With a longer lead time, a spacecraft could be sent to intercept a space rock and fire its engines to slowly push the object off its current trajectory. Firing lasers at the surface of the asteroid might also be a way to deflect the rock. Another, more surprising idea, is to fire balls of light-coloured paint at the object to increase its reflectivity. The pressure of light particles bouncing off the reflective coating, acting over time, would divert the rock off its path. However, there is no firm timetable either for Don Quijote or other missions to test strategies for asteroid deflection. How do I see the 2012 DA14 flyby? The 45m-wide asteroid is not quite bright enough to be visible with the naked eye, but it can be observed through good binoculars between 1800 and 2200 GMT. It is best viewed from Europe, Australia and Asia, but will be whizzing by fast. Astronomer and journalist Stuart Clark says it will be "crossing an area of the sky as wide as the full moon roughly every 30 seconds". The asteroid will only be visible from some regions on Earth. Click through these maps produced by Dr Geert Barentsen, of the University of Hertfordshire, to see when the asteroid should be visible in different areas: For skywatchers in the UK, the graphic below indicates roughly where in the northern sky to try to spot 2012 DA14. Paul.Rincon-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

शुक्रवार को, पृथ्वी की ओर गिरते हुए एक उल्कापिंड ने कथित तौर पर सैकड़ों लोगों को घायल कर दिया, क्योंकि शॉकवेव ने खिड़कियों को उड़ा दिया और इमारतों को हिलाकर रख दिया। बाद में शुक्रवार को, क्षुद्रग्रह 2012 डी. ए. 14 पृथ्वी के करीब से गुजरेगा, जो 28,000 कि. मी. की दूरी तय करेगा।


Portsmouth v Sunderland: Man charged over Twitter threats

Summary: A man has been charged after threats were made to football fans on social media.

Tweets appeared about attacking fans at the League One play-off semi-final between Portsmouth and Sunderland at Fratton Park on Thursday. North Yorkshire Police said Kieron Richardson, 22, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, had been charged with making threats to kill. He is due to appear at York Magistrates' Court on 7 June.

सोशल मीडिया पर फुटबॉल प्रशंसकों को धमकी दिए जाने के बाद एक व्यक्ति पर आरोप लगाया गया है।


'I'm a non-binary 10-year-old'

Summary: Leo is 10 years old. For most of his life he's lived as a girl, but this summer he began to speak openly about his sense that this didn't feel quite right. With research help for his parents, he's decided he is non-binary - in his case, both masculine and feminine - though for the moment he dresses as a boy and has taken a male name. This is Leo's story in his own words.

I'm not a boy. I thought I was a boy, because I'm not entirely a girl. We tried that for a bit, and I thought: "No, this is not right." Then we did some research and we found the word is gender non-binary... and it really works, it's just me. I don't know what age I was when I identified that I wasn't feeling right. Actually I told my teacher first. I got really frustrated because I asked why none of the girls got boys' parts in a play that we were doing. It wasn't right. I pulled her over and said: "I'm not a girl." Find out more Hear Leo's story on the iPM programme, broadcast at 05:45 and 17:30 BST on Radio 4 - catch up on BBC iPlayer Radio She didn't think I was lying. But because it's not very common at all, I don't think she entirely thought that was how I was feeling. I brought up the conversation with mum. I knew that mum would be totally supportive, but because I didn't know if this was actually how I was feeling, it felt like I should wait until I was sure. But then I didn't think that would do any good either. I was quite nervous. Mum was completely on board. Totally interested. "What would be your name if you were a boy? You've always been more attracted to boys, would you be gay man or a straight man?" In some families, they're just going to laugh, they're not going to believe. Or they don't know how to react, so they don't react. I don't how I would cope. So I'm really lucky. It's so great that I have these two wonderful parents. At school everyone was absolutely great. My teacher told the class, and all my friends were like: "Oh wow. That's really interesting." Because we're 10 and nine, it just doesn't affect anything. We just play, we don't actually talk a lot about personal stuff. Me and one of my friends - who's a girl - were playing in the sandpit. She was like: "So are you a boy?" More from the Magazine Non-binary people are those who don't feel male or female. They may feel like both or like something in between. They may have a gender that changes over time or they may not relate to gender at all. A guide to transgender terms (June 2015) "No, I'm not a boy or a girl. I'm non-binary, so I'm in the middle." She said: "So you're neither?" I actually don't think I'm neither. I'm both. I really want to use the boys' loos because it's more right than using the girls. I'm not allowed to and I think I should be able to. I can understand because there are lots of older boys using the loos who might be a bit worried about someone (being there) who doesn't have what they have. I still feel that "he" doesn't feel particularly right. I feel more right as "ze" or "they", but they draw attention to me and my gender when we're trying to have a conversation about trousers. When I'm older, I'm going to make that decision again, instead of just sticking with "he". There isn't a body of the two genders. I just wish there was some way in the middle. When I grow up it's going to be harder for me to say I'm not a girl. At the moment, I do wear a bra. But if I wear a sports shirt I can kind of get away with it. Breasts are the main thing people notice. I do correct people when people use the word "boy" and "she". I say: "I'm sorry, I'm not a boy or a girl." And leave it at that. If they ask questions, I answer, but it doesn't have to be the centre of attention. It's not even the most interesting thing about me. I really like the idea of having a beard. I really like the idea. You can put hair from your head into your chin, and it grows like a beard. People with girls' bodies use it. My friend's dad told me that it works. Maybe he made a mistake. If there was a way of doing that without getting hormone blockers and male hormones... but then again people would say: "Look at that MAN'S beard." I don't want people to associate me with one gender or another. But I know they will, I don't think there is any way of escaping that. I'm feeling a lot happier than before. I'm feeling a lot more relaxed and I'm feeling able to talk about it without being all shy. I don't need people to understand. I just need people not to be rude. Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook

लियो 10 साल का है। अपने जीवन के अधिकांश समय के लिए वह एक लड़की के रूप में रहा है, लेकिन इस गर्मी में उसने अपनी भावना के बारे में खुले तौर पर बोलना शुरू कर दिया कि यह बिल्कुल सही नहीं लगा। अपने माता-पिता के लिए शोध सहायता के साथ, उसने फैसला किया कि वह गैर-द्विआधारी है-उसके मामले में, मर्दाना और स्त्री दोनों-हालांकि पल के लिए वह एक लड़के के रूप में कपड़े पहनता है और उसने एक पुरुष नाम लिया है। यह उसके अपने शब्दों में लियो की कहानी है।


Can Modi reconnect India with Central Asia?

Summary: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to five Central Asian countries has reinvigorated India's traditional ties with the region. BBC Monitoring's Vikas Pandey analyses the PM's whirlwind tour and India's interests in the region.

"We see an important place for Central Asia in India's future," Mr Modi said in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek. The statement shows his government's stress on increasing Delhi's footprints in the region. Dr Athar Zafar, Central Asia analyst at Indian Council of World Affairs, says India's academic, business and diplomatic community always wanted Delhi's ties with the five nations to go beyond cultural exchanges. Has Mr Modi achieved that? He says the PM has certainly been successful in signalling India's interest in playing a bigger role in the region. During Mr Modi's visit, India signed several deals in energy, trade, culture and security sectors with the five nations. Energy The five Central Asian countries became independent in 1990s and have made steady economic progress in the past two decades. The region is known for its resources like hydrocarbon, mineral deposits, hydroelectric power potential and gold. India signed a fresh deal with Kazakhstan to secure 5,000 tonnes of uranium supply over the next four years. Kazakhstan is the world's largest producer of uranium and the deal has ensured a steady supply of fuel for India's 21 operating nuclear reactors. India's state-run oil firm ONGC Videsh Limited has a minor stake in Kazakhstan's Satpayev oil blocks. Mr Modi wanted additional blocks for India's investments, but no specific announcement was made by the two sides on this front. The Indian PM, however, said, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev "responded positively to my request to consider additional mature blocks". In Turkmenistan, the long-awaited TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline was discussed and Mr Modi termed the project as a "key pillar" of economic engagement between the two countries. The pipeline plan may face hurdles because of the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. But the two countries have showed their sincerity in realising the project that would bring gas from Central Asia to South Asia. Trade The economic development of Central Asia, specially in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, has sparked a construction boom and development of sectors like IT, pharmaceuticals and tourism. India has expertise in these sectors and deeper cooperation will give a fresh impetus to trade relations with these countries. India's trade ties with Central Asia have been performing well below their true potential. "India's struggle to reform its economy, reconstruct relations with major powers after the Cold War and reconstitute ties with neighbours meant Central Asia was never high on Delhi's foreign policy agenda," writes C Raja Mohan in the Indian Express. Poor connectivity has also contributed to the below-par trade between India and Central Asia. But Dr Zafar says India has found a way to solve the problem. Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan recently inaugurated a railway line connecting the two countries with Iran. "India has invested in Iran's Chabahar port and that will allow Indian products to reach Iran and then to Central Asia through the rail link," he explains The successful nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers will also make it easier for Delhi to do business with Tehran. Central Asian countries have shown their keen interest in allowing India to play a bigger role in the region. Russia has been a dominant force in the region and China has also made inroads into the region in recent years. But the five capitals want to diversify their foreign relations and believe that India's presence will help them achieve their aim. And Mr Modi seems to have leveraged Central Asia's quest for diversification to India's advantage. Security Tajikistan, Turkestan and Uzbekistan share borders with Afghanistan and fear that any instability in the neighbourhood will affect them. India's has traditionally stayed away from playing any military role in Afghanistan. But experts say Mr Modi may have to find a middle path to play "military diplomacy" in the region. "Mr Modi also needs to end India's traditional reluctance to embark upon an expansive military diplomacy in the region. Overcoming India's inertia will certainly take a while. But Modi is well positioned to make a fresh start in Central Asia," writes Mr Mohan. Central Asian countries are also "nervous" about the growing influence of Islamic State militant group in the region. The PM has convinced the leaders of the five nations that India stands united in their fight against the jihadist group. Culture India and Central Asia have a rich history of cultural exchanges. Mr Modi emphasised in all the five capitals that India is interested in promoting more cultural activities. He also signed deals to promote tourism between India and the region. Indian filmmakers can use the stunning landscapes of Central Asian countries at a relatively low cost. As one analyst said, the appearance of Central Asia in Bollywood films will be an indication that Mr Modi's tour has been successful. BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी की हाल की पांच मध्य एशियाई देशों की यात्रा ने इस क्षेत्र के साथ भारत के पारंपरिक संबंधों को फिर से मजबूत किया है। बीबीसी मॉनिटरिंग के विकास पांडे ने प्रधानमंत्री की बवंडर यात्रा और इस क्षेत्र में भारत के हितों का विश्लेषण किया है।


Brexit talks; Has US election slowed down trade negotiations?

Summary: Have the US elections really influenced Brexit talks?

Katya AdlerEurope editor@BBCkatyaadleron Twitter Some say the UK slammed on the brakes in negotiations this week, as the government hedged its bets on who would end up in the White House. Not so, say UK government sources. That's not the impression we have, say EU voices close to the talks. Trump or Biden? Clearly, a no-deal situation with the EU would be a bit easier for the government to sell in the short term with Donald Trump in the White House. While a trade deal with the US is proving (unsurprisingly) tough for the UK to negotiate, Mr Trump could probably be relied on to make some very positive noises. Joe Biden, unlike President Trump, has had no contact with the prime minister, warm or otherwise. Relations with the UK, while of interest, would arguably be pretty far down his list of immediate presidential priorities. With his roots in Ireland, Mr Biden would also likely support US lawmakers who've insisted the Irish protocol contained in last year's Brexit divorce deal must be fully respected. This is because of its importance in maintaining an open border on the island of Ireland and, by extension, in safeguarding the Northern Ireland peace process. In September, just after the UK government introduced the Internal Market Bill which had provisions to override parts of the Irish protocol, the influential Speaker in the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said the UK could forget a trade deal with the US, if it did anything to undermine the peace process. The UK government has defended the clauses in the Bill, calling them a safety net, but the stance of a significant section of US lawmakers is unlikely to shift with these elections. Why did pace drop off? Despite this, the UK insists the slow-down in negotiations with the EU this week were fully independent of the drama unfolding in the US. Apart from anything else, the UK is not displaying signs of wanting to pursue a no-deal strategy. Of course anything is possible but, if that had been the plan, why return to the talks at all after the prime minister's very public walk-away last month? Understanding what happened this week - as always - depends who you speak to. No-one denies the pace of talks dropped off. Or that big gaps remain on the three naggingly outstanding points of divergence: fishing rights, competition regulations and how a trade deal would be governed. Brussels sources point the finger of blame at the UK. They wonder aloud whether Downing Street is hedging its bets on the best, or least terrible timing to make the concessions necessary to agree this deal. EU diplomats can see the difficulties Boris Johnson is already facing with his backbench MPs over a separate subject: his handling of the Covid-19 crisis. The question in Brussels is: Is the prime minister, loath to make an uncomfortable situation unbearable, waiting to sign a deal with the EU until all backs are up against the wall, time-wise, for domestic political reasons? "Mr Johnson is certainly not delaying because he's personally involved in haggling over herring or other fishing issues!" remarked one well-placed EU contact. "I can't believe he can be waiting for [the EU] to cave in on competition regulations," retorted another EU insider. "He must have understood by now we're not going to leave our single market exposed. The reasons for the slow-down must lie closer to home," came another EU-insider comment. But the UK rejects this analysis too. 'UK mandate is clear' Sources speak instead of the "natural ebb and flow" of negotiations and insist the UK has continued to play a constructive role in talks. "The thing is, the EU only describes negotiations as constructive when we are agreeing with them," noted one UK contact wryly. "Obviously, we're not always going to do that. The UK mandate is clear." More from Katya: It's important to note that trade talks have not broken down altogether this week. They continue at a technical level on Thursday and Friday, though you could question the value of this. As I've often noted in this blog, high-level political input rather than more technical discussions are needed, to sign off on the difficult compromises required of both sides to get a deal done. The two lead negotiators, David Frost and Michel Barnier, are expected to talk by phone, and "intensive" negotiations, including the continued drafting of joint legal texts on issues already agreed, are then scheduled to resume in London on Monday. There's talk too of more possible contacts next week between the prime minister and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Repeatedly, the word used to describe the negotiating timetable is "fluid". If you're looking for any kind of certainty, it's that the latest in a long, long line of Brexit deadlines - this time it was the EU saying talks had to finish by 15 November - is about to be smashed and extended.

क्या अमेरिकी चुनावों ने वास्तव में ब्रेक्सिट वार्ता को प्रभावित किया है?


London welcomes Year of the Dog at Chinese New Year

Summary: Thousands of people lined the streets of London to welcome in the Year of the Dog at the capital's annual Chinese New Year celebrations.

Dancers and dragons joined a parade around Chinatown before performers took to the stage in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Martial arts displays, music shows and cultural activities were also held in streets across the West End. The event is the biggest Chinese New Year celebration outside of Asia.

राजधानी के वार्षिक चीनी नव वर्ष समारोह में कुत्ते के वर्ष में स्वागत करने के लिए हजारों लोग लंदन की सड़कों पर कतार में खड़े थे।


Covid-19: PPS to examine Tyrone funeral of SF councillor

Summary: A PSNI file on its investigation into potential health regulation breaches at the funeral of a former Sinn Féin councillor in County Tyrone last year is now being considered by prosecutors.

By Julian O'NeillBBC News NI Home Affairs Correspondent Police had said mourners at Francie McNally's funeral in Ballinderry blatantly ignored rules around crowds. The investigation into the April 2020 ceremony has taken 10 months to complete. The file has been passed onto the Public Prosecution Service (PPS). It contains evidence related to two individuals at the event which happened at the height of the pandemic. A crowd of around 200 attended Mr McNally's funeral. A file on the investigation into the funeral of senior IRA figure Bobby Storey is also with the PPS for consideration, dealing with 24 people, including the deputy first minister, Michelle O'Neill. There is no timeframe for decisions in either case.

पिछले साल काउंटी टायरोन में एक पूर्व सिन फेन पार्षद के अंतिम संस्कार में संभावित स्वास्थ्य विनियमन उल्लंघनों की अपनी जांच पर एक पीएसएनआई फाइल पर अब अभियोजकों द्वारा विचार किया जा रहा है।


'Unusual and enigmatic' long-finned pilot whales spotted off Welsh coast

Summary: People have been urged to keep an eye out for "unusual and enigmatic" whales off the Welsh coast after scientists were told about a number of sightings.

Long-finned pilot whales typically live in large groups in deep waters beyond the edge of the continental shelf in the Atlantic. But they occasionally come closer to the British Isles for food. Research charity Sea Watch Foundation said there had been four sightings in a week - "a very unusual occurrence". Kathy James, sightings officer for Sea Watch Foundation, said: "We'd love people to get out there to look for these enigmatic whales and report any sightings to us." Dr Peter Evans, director of the research charity, said pilot whales typically live in large groups and feed on oceanic squid or shoaling fish. "It is likely that an abundance of a particular prey species brought them into Welsh coastal waters on this occasion," he added.

वैज्ञानिकों को कई बार देखने के बारे में बताए जाने के बाद लोगों से वेल्श तट पर "असामान्य और गूढ़" व्हेल पर नज़र रखने का आग्रह किया गया है।


Bilston murder probe after baby boy dies

Summary: A murder investigation is under way after a six-month-old boy died when he went into cardiac arrest.

Police were called to Walnut Close, Bilston, West Midlands, shortly before 14:00 BST on Sunday 12 June. The boy was taken to hospital but died a short time later. A 24-year-old man and 23-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of murder have been bailed, West Midlands Police said. A post-mortem examination is under way to determine the cause of death.

छह महीने के एक लड़के की दिल का दौरा पड़ने से मौत हो जाने के बाद हत्या की जांच चल रही है।


The sacrifice at heart of May’s Brexit deal

Summary: If you are one of the thousands of firms - and millions of jobs - that rely on the £423bn annual trade in goods between Britain and the EU, today you may be feeling a little brighter.

Kamal AhmedEconomics editor@bbckamalon Twitter Yes, it is still far from clear that the EU will even go part of the way to accepting the government's offer of a "common rule book" on that goods trade. Or, in a technologically indistinct future, whether it ever allow a "third country" to be responsible for collecting its own customs tariffs. But the White Paper on UK-EU relations has at least put that goods relationship at the heart of attempts to secure a future trade deal. The Government has said it will be willing to fully abide by EU rules and regulations, even though after March 2019 it will have no formal say in how those rules are constructed. Business groups that rely on goods trade have been supportive. The EEF manufacturers' group described it as a "further step forward". Yet when it comes to the UK's £1.4 trillion services sector - which makes up 80% of the economy - it is a very different matter. Here the Government has called for "regulatory flexibility" out of the EU services single market and admitted that "this means that the UK and the EU will not have current levels of access to each other's markets". In other words, there are costs attached. 'Real blow' That has brought strong words of protest from the financial services sector, and more specifically the City, which relies on friction-free access to the EU for much of its business. "Today's Brexit white paper is a real blow for the UK's financial and related professional services sector," said Catherine McGuiness, head of policy for the City of London Corporation. "With looser trade ties to Europe, the financial and related professional services sector will be less able to create jobs, generate tax and support growth across the wider economy. It's that simple." It seems the Government has made a calculation. If there is no agreement on regulatory alignment on goods, chaos at the ports - and economic damage - could ensue. Essential supply chains - such as those used to produce millions of cars - will be disrupted. And there will be no solution to the "no hard border" on the island of Ireland. That has to be headed off. On services, the risks are less clear. In sectors such as finance, law and legal - Britain is a global leader, the government says. As such, its services enjoy high levels of global demand. The City has a large trade surplus with the EU, and the Bank of England, for example, has always made it clear it believes the EU needs Britain more than Britain needs the EU when it comes to governments and businesses raising finance across the continent. The huge growth markets for financial, technology, legal and business support services are China and the rapidly growing emerging economies of south-east Asia, as well as America and India. 'Cherry picking' The government believes Britain can make progress on services trade deals outside the EU, where services trade grew by more than 73% between 2007 and 2017. "Essentially the UK has accepted it will not have access to the single market in services," Michael Gasiorek of the UK Trade Policy Observatory at the University of Sussex told me. He said that asking for single market access for goods and services together would "almost certainly" be rejected by the EU as "cherry picking" - particularly as the government has rejected free movement of people, a third principle of the single market. "Because single market access in goods is needed to resolve the Irish border issue, the UK government is accepting no single market access in services. Instead the government wants to negotiate services access in particular sectors," Dr Gasiorek said. "This is analogous to the approach taken by the EU in its [free trade] deal with Canada. Given that services comprise around 80% of the UK economy, and over 40% of UK exports, inevitably this will have a negative impact on services trade and consequently investment." The UK appears to want a close deal on goods - and is willing to sacrifice services to get it. Read more from Kamal Ahmed here

यदि आप उन हजारों फर्मों में से एक हैं-और लाखों नौकरियां-जो ब्रिटेन और यूरोपीय संघ के बीच वस्तुओं के 423 अरब पाउंड के वार्षिक व्यापार पर निर्भर हैं, तो आज आप थोड़ा उज्ज्वल महसूस कर रहे होंगे।


Up close and personal with the biggest drone squadron ever

Summary: Before taking office, Donald Trump called the war in Afghanistan a "total disaster". But last August he changed his mind and announced that the US would stay until the war was - in his words - "won". Military commanders see air power as key to the hoped-for victory, and have assembled in the country what they say is the biggest drone squadron ever.

Justin RowlattChief environment correspondent@BBCJustinRon Twitter I'm lying in the belly of a KC-135 "stratotanker", peering down at the snowy IS-infested mountains of north-eastern Afghanistan. Suddenly the first wasp-like F16 fighter jet comes into view. It delicately positions itself under the boom that hangs down from the back of this flying fuel tank and - moments later - has locked on. The "Viper" is now taking on hundreds of pounds of aviation fuel a second. We are so close I can see the pilot glance up at me, yet - unbelievably - this intricate ballet is playing out at high speed and thousands of feet up. A couple of minutes later, its tanks full, the fighter arcs away and another noses up to take its place. The scene is so dramatic, beautiful and bizarrely serene it is easy to forget its real purpose - wreaking havoc and death among the insurgent fighters that have been making steady inroads in Afghanistan since the Nato combat mission here ended in December 2014. KC-135 "Stratotanker" The sense of being insulated from the conflict is hard to shake. Back on the tarmac at Kandahar airbase, I watch an MQ-9 wobble uncertainly out on to the runway. The "Reaper" drone is surprisingly flimsy-looking, but this strange creature with its domed fuselage, distinctive downward slanted tailfins and rear-mounted propeller is probably the most controversial aircraft in America's entire fleet. The MQ-9 represents asymmetrical warfare at its most stark. Critics say these "unmanned aerial vehicles", as the US Air Force prefers to call them, alter the moral calculus of war by taking the pilots out of the planes, thereby converting deadly conflict into something more like a video game. Maj Gen James B Hecker has the buzz cut, square jaw and easy manner you'd expect of a senior US Air Force officer. I'm worried he might be uncomfortable talking about the ethics of the drone war. But, as we sit in the shade of some sand-coloured camouflage netting alongside the runway, it becomes clear he's actually keen to talk about this notorious aircraft. As he talks, I realise why. He explains he's spent thousands of hours in the air-conditioned comfort of an airbase base back home in the US watching the footage from the array of high-tech cameras and sensors that are packed into the MQ-9. "I've spent weeks looking at a single compound in Afghanistan," he tells me. "You kinda get to understand the patterns of life. You get a sense of belonging. You're kinda in touch with them when you watch them for so long. "You watch dad playing soccer with his son, you watch him flying his kite with his daughter and kiss his wife goodnight. And you watch him sleep outside in the summer when it is hot." He pauses, giving me a moment to consider this chillingly intimate image. I imagine the invisible aircraft, thousands of feet above the scene, its blank eyes staring down at the banal routines of family life. "Then dad would go out and plant an IED" - a home-made explosive device - "that might kill one of our soldiers, and then we would have to take him out." He says this without any apparent emotion, and pauses again. "We have to do that. We know that son, that daughter, will never have a dad again, OK? And that wife will never have a husband. Now that's the last thing we want. But what we won't stand for is for the Taliban to go in and kill a bunch of innocents. And that's what they are doing right now - blowing up innocent people." This idea of unblinking surveillance backed up by deadly force is, of course, the most potent of propaganda. The message back home is that these drones are precise, even surgical tools, dispensing death only when the target has been identified with certainty. The message to the insurgents is very different - "We are always watching, you are never safe." Find out more The vast drone squadron America has amassed here - along with all the other aircraft - is evidence of the massive increase in the intensity of the air war that is a key part of President Trump's new strategy in Afghanistan. Another key part is building the offensive capability of Afghan forces. According to the commander of US forces here, Gen John Nicholson, the message to the Taliban is simple: "Reconcile or die." What he means is, "We will continue the fight until you are willing to negotiate some kind of peace." But it is a message the Taliban have heard before. The truth is, the war here in Afghanistan has always been giddyingly unbalanced. Killing has always been easy for the coalition forces. Seventeen years into this conflict, the real challenge remains trying to create real momentum towards peace and stability. And the commanders here really do believe that is happening now. Other observers insist peace remains as elusive as ever, despite the technical wizardry bearing down on this fractured country. Read more The most feared bomber plane of the 20th Century is still going strong after 60 years in service in the US military - from Vietnam to Afghanistan. And she will keep on flying until 2044. How does this 1950s behemoth survive in the era of drones and stealth aircraft? Read: America's iconic war machine

पदभार ग्रहण करने से पहले, डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प ने अफगानिस्तान में युद्ध को "कुल आपदा" कहा। लेकिन पिछले अगस्त में उन्होंने अपना मन बदल लिया और घोषणा की कि अमेरिका तब तक रहेगा जब तक युद्ध नहीं हो जाता-उनके शब्दों में-"जीत"। सैन्य कमांडर हवाई शक्ति को अपेक्षित जीत की कुंजी के रूप में देखते हैं, और देश में इकट्ठा हुए हैं जो वे कहते हैं कि अब तक का सबसे बड़ा ड्रोन स्क्वाड्रन है।


Woman charged following Scottish Borders fox hunt

Summary: Police have charged a woman after concerns were raised about practices at a fox hunt.

It follows an event which took place in the Scottish Borders in October last year. A short police statement said the 42-year-old woman would be the subject of a report to the procurator fiscal. PC Andy Loughlin, wildlife crime officer for the Lothians and Scottish Borders, said they took all reports of wildlife offences "very seriously".

लोमड़ी के शिकार की प्रथाओं के बारे में चिंता व्यक्त किए जाने के बाद पुलिस ने एक महिला पर आरोप लगाया है।


Isle of Man penguin arrival pleases wildlife park staff

Summary: A penguin chick has been successfully reared at an Isle of Man wildlife park for the first time in about a decade.

The Humboldt penguin recently appeared from its nest box and swam for the first time. A spokesman for Curraghs Wildlife Park said staff were delighted with the new arrival, who has been named Charlie. South American Humboldt penguins are classed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The species breed on the continent's Pacific coast, and on islands belonging to Chile and Peru. The spokesman added: "Improvements to the enclosure and the keepers' hard work has really paid off."

लगभग एक दशक में पहली बार आइल ऑफ मैन वन्यजीव उद्यान में एक पेंगुइन चूजे का सफलतापूर्वक पालन-पोषण किया गया है।


The Bitcoin believers

Summary: On the 39th floor above Canary Wharf, overlooking London's finance centre, I found a cash machine with a difference. This ATM chews up your £10 notes rather than spewing them out, and in return you get a computer code. This is the world's first Bitcoin cash machine and if the people showing it to me are to be believed, it shows us the future of money.

Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent@BBCRoryCJon Twitter I found it at the Bitcoin London conference, the biggest event about the crypto currency yet staged in the UK. The crowd at this event is young, mostly male - and often evangelical about the subject they have come to discuss. These are interesting times to hold a Bitcoin conference. The currency has seen wild gyrations, with new investors rushing in, then rapidly finding that prices can go down as well up. Regulators have been taking a closer interest, particularly since another innovative currency scheme, Liberty Reserve, proved to be a haven for criminals and money launderers. And on Tuesday, some of the biggest investors in Bitcoin, the Winklevoss brothers of Facebook fame, have announced plans to float a business based on the virtual currency. If you were looking for reasons to be either cheerful or cynical about the prospects for Bitcoin, you could have found both in the conference room high above Canary Wharf. What struck me was how professional, intense and deeply knowledgeable about their subject most of the speakers seemed. The professionals have moved in. "It's not a bunch of 16-year-olds in basements any more, it's institutions," as one speaker put it. There were lawyers, venture capitalists and software developers, as well as people who had just put a lot of their own money into Bitcoin. There was plenty of hype about the prospects for the currency: Other speakers predicted that Bitcoin would become the natural means of exchange in African countries, where so many people have mobile phones but so few have bank accounts. And another described how Iceland, already a digital pioneer, could switch entirely to Bitcoin. The strong libertarian tendency that is a characteristic of Bitcoin enthusiasts was on display too, with speakers railing against regulation in the United States: "Stay the hell away from the US" was the advice to a query from someone wanting to know where best to set up a Bitcoin business. Somewhat surprisingly, a lawyer who worked in this field told the conference that the EU was five years ahead in the way it thought about framing policies for Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. But amidst all the enthusiasm, there were still questions about the long-term viability of the idea and how likely it was to enter the mainstream. One sobering moment came when a software developer described how he'd lost 7,000 Bitcoins because they had not been backed up properly to his computer. That had cost him about $200,000 which he would never see again. "You get over it," he told the crowd. And the sheer complexity of getting and spending Bitcoins is another issue. Asked how the attractions of the currency would be communicated to the public, one speaker said everyone would need to learn computer science. Good luck with that... For myself, I am beginning to get the hang of how you obtain the virtual currency - it is spending it which is the bigger problem. I already had a Bitcoin wallet on my phone, which meant using the ATM at the conference was relatively simple. I showed the machine the barcode which is the public address of my wallet, and once I'd inserted a £10 note into the slot, it popped up as roughly 0.2 Bitcoin on the phone screen within seconds. In all I had 0.7 Bitcoin - worth about £43 at Tuesday's exchange rate. And by this time I was hungry. Sadly, nowhere nearby seemed to take Bitcoin in exchange for food. Evangelists for the crypto currency say it's flexible, durable, secure and transportable. Now all they need to do is make sure it's useable.

कैनरी घाट के ऊपर 39वीं मंजिल पर, लंदन के वित्त केंद्र को देखते हुए, मुझे एक अलग कैश मशीन मिली। यह एटीएम आपके 10 पाउंड के नोटों को उगलने के बजाय चबाता है, और बदले में आपको एक कंप्यूटर कोड मिलता है। यह दुनिया की पहली बिटक्वाइन कैश मशीन है और अगर मुझे दिखाने वाले लोगों पर विश्वास किया जाए, तो यह हमें पैसे का भविष्य दिखाती है।


Wife pays tribute to man stabbed to death in Birmingham

Summary: The wife of a man who was driven to hospital in Birmingham with a fatal stab wound has paid tribute to her "gentle giant".

Giovanni Lewis, 28, was left outside Heartlands Hospital at about 19:45 BST on 18 October. A post-mortem found he died from a stab wound to the heart. West Midlands Police said a 27-year-old man from Shard End who was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of murder had been bailed pending further inquiries. Mr Lewis's wife said her heart had been "ripped apart". "Words cannot express how I feel right now, I do not know how I'm going to get through this, he was my soulmate," she said. Related Internet Links West Midlands Police HM Courts & Tribunals Service

चाकू के घातक घाव के साथ बर्मिंघम के अस्पताल ले जाए गए एक व्यक्ति की पत्नी ने अपने "सौम्य राक्षस" को श्रद्धांजलि दी है।


The terrible price of a Korean defection

Summary: Oh Kil-nam's life was ruined by his decision to defect to North Korea. Seventy years old, he still does not know the fate of his wife and daughters - either dead or imprisoned in a labour camp.

By Robin BanerjiBBC World Service In 1985, North Korean agents approached Oh Kil-nam and suggested he defect. The agents offered him an important job working as an economist for the North Korean government and promised to provide free treatment for his wife's hepatitis. Oh took the offer seriously. He had just completed his PhD in Germany on a Marxist economist. Back at home in South Korea, he had been active in left-wing groups opposed to the country's authoritarian regime. His wife Shin Suk-ja was horrified by the idea of going to the North and opposed it from the start. "Do you know what kind of place it is?" she asked. "You have not even been there once. How can you make such a reckless decision?" But Oh replied that the Northerners were Koreans too - they "cannot be that brutal", he told her. So at the end of November 1985, Oh, his wife and two young daughters travelled via East Berlin and Moscow to Pyongyang. When they arrived at Pyongyang airport, Oh began to see he had made a mistake in coming. Communist party officials and children clutching flowers were there to meet them. But despite the cold of a North Korean December, the children were not wearing socks and their traditional clothes were so thin that they shivered. "When I saw this I was really surprised and my wife even started to cry." Communist party officials drove Oh and his family to what they described as a guest house. The building was inside a camp in the mountains and guarded by soldiers. There was no treatment for Shin's hepatitis and no job for Oh as an economist. Instead, for several months, North Koreans indoctrinated them in the teachings of The Great Leader Kim Il-sung, the founder of the current regime. Oh and his wife began working for a North Korean radio station. "My wife began as a broadcaster but she was not able to carry on for long. Her health had deteriorated and at the same time she was quite critical of the North." Oh was less independent. "I began to read scripts based on party directives - in the end, I was like a parrot." While he was there he came across South Koreans who had been abducted, including two air stewardesses and two passengers from a Korean Air Lines flight that had been hijacked by North Koreans in 1969. Oh was approached to go on a mission abroad. He was to be based in the North Korean embassy in Copenhagen, from where he could do what had been done to him - lure South Korean students in Germany to the North Korean embassy. When Shin heard about the plan she was furious. "I remember the two of us talking about it softly under the blanket. I told my wife that by fulfilling this mission, we would preserve our livelihood in North Korea. But she slapped me in the face." Shin said they would have to pay the price for his mistakes - he could not entrap others. "She told me I had to find a way to escape when I got to Europe, that there would be a way to rescue the family." On arriving at Copenhagen airport, Oh managed to escape from North Korean control. "I approached the immigration desk. I had a little piece of paper on which I had written: HELP ME. I explained that the passport they were seeing was not my real passport, that my real name was Oh Kil-nam, and that my real passport had been confiscated in North Korea." After two months in jail in Denmark, the Danish authorities sent Oh to Germany. There he tried to free his family, but with no luck. "My biggest mistake was not to approach the German Foreign Ministry directly." For Shin and her two daughters, Oh's defection was catastrophic. They were taken to Yodok concentration camp, where the North Korean government imprisons its enemies. The conditions in this slave labour camp are reportedly as bad as anything in Nazi Germany or Stalin's Gulag. For a time, Oh heard nothing about the fate of his family. Then in February 1991 he managed to get six photographs of his wife and daughters and a tape cassette with a message from them. "On the tape my daughters were telling me how much they missed me and my wife was saying that perhaps it would be OK for me to come back now." Oh suspected a trap. "North Korea was trying to stop me from heading back to South Korea because I had experience of working in its propaganda division. I knew a lot of its secrets, including the fact that many people from South Korea, who were kidnapped and taken to the North, were working there." But nonetheless the realisation that he could not get back in touch with his family was devastating. "By that time I had completely given up. My whole body was just broken down." In 1992, he returned to South Korea. "I felt that my death was not far away. I just wanted to be close to my brother and my sister on my death bed." Oh did not die but nor has he ever heard from his wife and daughters again. He does not know whether they are alive or whether they died in the prison camp. "I do feel that I may be able to meet my family again, but it is just a hope, a glimmer of hope inside a dark tunnel. "I hope there will come a day when I can meet my family again, hug them and embrace them, and cry tears of happiness. If it does happen it will be the happiest day of my life." Oh Kil-nam spoke to Outlook on the BBC World Service

ओह किल-नाम का जीवन उत्तर कोरिया जाने के उनके फैसले से बर्बाद हो गया था। सत्तर साल की उम्र में, वह अभी भी अपनी पत्नी और बेटियों के भाग्य को नहीं जानता है-या तो मृत या श्रम शिविर में कैद।


Blue plaques: Do you live in an English Heritage building?

Summary: Blue Plaques linking prominent historical figures with buildings around London are celebrating their 150th anniversary this year with singer Freddie Mercury and footballer Bobby Moore receiving memorial plaques. Do you have a plaque on your home or workplace?

The plaques were founded in 1866 and there are now over 900 dotted around the capital and eight outside London with the scheme currently run by English Heritage. The first blue plaque granted to the poet Lord Byron in 1867 was destroyed when his house in Holles Street, Cavendish Square was demolished and the longest surviving plaque from the same year commemorates the French Emperor Napoleon near St James's Square. Did you move to a building with a blue plaque because of the prestige attached to it? Or did having a plaque on your building encourage you to find out more about the celebrity in question? We'd like to hear your stories and see photos of blue plaques outside your homes and workplace. You can contact us in the following ways:

लंदन के आसपास की इमारतों के साथ प्रमुख ऐतिहासिक हस्तियों को जोड़ने वाली नीली पट्टिकाएं इस साल अपनी 150वीं वर्षगांठ मना रही हैं, जिसमें गायक फ़्रेडी मर्करी और फुटबॉलर बॉबी मूर को स्मारक पट्टिकाएं मिल रही हैं। क्या आपके घर या कार्यस्थल पर कोई पट्टिका है?


The American Civil War surrender on the Mersey

Summary: One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, several months after the end of the American Civil War, the Confederate ship the CSS Shenandoah sailed up the River Mersey to surrender in Liverpool. But why was the last belligerent Confederate flag of the war lowered in the city, thousands of miles away from the deserted battlefields of America? And what was Liverpool's connection with the rebel forces of the South?

By Paul BurnellBBC News In what was a curious footnote to four years of carnage, on 6 November 1865 a figure in a grey Confederate uniform strode into Liverpool Town Hall to surrender formally. James Waddell, captain of the CSS Shenandoah, was a former US Navy officer who had resigned his commission on the outbreak of war. It was for very good reason Waddell chose to surrender the vessel in Liverpool - where it had been purchased, outfitted and registered the year before - as he could have been hanged for piracy if he returned to his homeland. In the months before their voyage to Liverpool, Waddell, along with his Confederate officers and British sailors, had been wreaking havoc on whalers, as part of the Confederacy's strategy of targeting unarmed merchant vessels. During its short life as a Confederate vessel, the Shenandoah sank or captured 38 merchant ships. In June 1865, and with the crew unaware the war had already ended, the Shenandoah fired the last shots of the war in the Bering Sea off Siberia. "It was the 19th Century version of the Japanese soldier who was found on a Pacific island thinking the Second World War was still on," said Dr Thomas Sebrell, visiting lecturer in history at the University of Westminster. But on 2 August, as the ship headed for San Francisco stalking a vessel carrying gold, Waddell and his crew encountered another Liverpool ship, Barrocouta, sailing out of San Francisco Harbour. They were shown newspaper reports confirming the war was over and Waddell decided to take the ship to its registered port of Liverpool. Arriving to what local newspaper the Liverpool Mercury called "considerable excitement" on 5 November, the Shenandoah sailed up the Mersey and moored alongside HMS Donegal. The next morning Waddell surrendered to the Donegal and lowered the war's last belligerent Confederate flag. Later that day, the formal notice of surrender was delivered to Liverpool Town Hall by Waddell, where he met the Lord Mayor of Liverpool. The American Civil War Liverpool was a hotbed of Confederate support - a fundraising event at the city's St George's Hall had raised the equivalent of nearly a £1m for Southern prisoners-of-war held in Union camps. Dr Sebrell said: "Visitors who enter 19 Abercromby Square [later the residence of the Bishop of Liverpool], now part of the University of Liverpool, will likely not understand why there are Confederate and South Carolina symbols in the moulding, ceiling paintings and ornamental features. "This house, built by Charles Kuhn Prioleau [a prominent cotton trader], boasts the most valuable Confederate art and architectural pieces in the world, and most of them are now well-preserved. "The fact that some of the South's most wealthy and prominent cotton-trading firms had offices based in Liverpool destined the city to become a hotbed of pro-Confederate activity throughout the four-year conflict," Dr Sebrell said. The CSS Shenandoah Source: The Officers of the CSS Shenandoah - Angus Curry Rifles, cannon, uniforms, munitions and medicine were sent across the Atlantic from Liverpool in a bid to beat President Abraham Lincoln's naval blockade of his country's southern and eastern coastline. Local historian Roy Rawlinson said the city's sympathies were clearly not with the Union. He said: "It is said more Confederate flags flew over Liverpool than Richmond [the city in Virginia was one of the Confederacy's capitals]. "Years later the British sailors would talk about 'their ship' and 'their war'." And so while the Shenandoah may have been welcomed in Liverpool, the British Government was less enthused by its return. Dr Sebrell said: "They wanted to avoid a diplomatic incident and wanted the matter dealt with quietly." Foreign Secretary Lord Clarendon did not want attention to be focused on the British crew members on the ship. "Sailors were simply asked of their nationality, upon which each put on a fake Southern accent and lied, and they were all also paroled," Dr Sebrell said. "Whitehall, intentionally, avoided a diplomatic quagmire and international embarrassment." For Waddell, his time in Liverpool lasted longer than he might have anticipated as he was taken ill on the evening after the surrender. He spent two bedridden years at the city's Royal Hotel, until he gradually recovered from his illness. An amnesty in the USA in 1867 meant Waddell was able to return to his native Maryland where he died aged 61 in 1886.

एक सौ पचास साल पहले, अमेरिकी गृहयुद्ध की समाप्ति के कई महीने बाद, संघीय जहाज सी. एस. एस. शेनान्दोह ने लिवरपूल में आत्मसमर्पण करने के लिए मर्सी नदी की यात्रा की थी। लेकिन युद्ध के अंतिम जुझारू संघीय झंडे को अमेरिका के सुनसान युद्ध के मैदानों से हजारों मील दूर शहर में क्यों उतारा गया था? और लिवरपूल का दक्षिण की विद्रोही ताकतों के साथ क्या संबंध था?


Bournemouth councillors vote to demolish Imax building

Summary: Councillors have voted to demolish a Bournemouth seafront building which has been described as an eyesore.

The Imax Waterfront building will be pulled down from this autumn to create an "open air event space" for drama, live music and sport. In 2010 the council wanted to lower the building to reclaim views, but received "no suitable bids" from developers. The demolition will cost £2m using money left over from its original £8.5m budget. The building opened as an Imax cinema in 2002 despite protests from residents against the plans but closed three years later.

पार्षदों ने एक बोर्नेमाउथ सीफ्रंट इमारत को ध्वस्त करने के लिए मतदान किया है जिसे आंखों के दर्द के रूप में वर्णित किया गया है।