Heads in the cloud: Evernote's quest to stay forever young

Summary: Can Evernote find the secret to eternal youth?

By Leo KelionTechnology reporter The memory aid application's boss, Phil Libin, aims to try. "Every time we need to make a decision, we ask is this more or less likely to make us be a 100-year start-up?" he says of the business he founded in 2008. This doesn't mean he wants to avoid expanding the business or to avoid a share sale - both are on the cards - rather he's determined to keep his creation nimble. "It's really about how quickly you can make decisions and how relentlessly you battle encroaching corporate stupidity," he adds. "It's like you are locked in a battle against the natural forces of corporate bureaucracy - the things that just want to seep in and make everything stupid. It's difficult to fight that - but it's fun." The charismatic business leader has invited the BBC to his new headquarters in Redwood City - a tech cluster south of San Francisco that's also home to games giant Electronic Arts and business services titan Oracle. In a room off the building's spacious open plan office Mr Libin drops words such as "quest" and "mission" into the conversation as he describes how he wants the public to adopt his app to make sense of all the notes, articles, photos and other material gathered over their daily lives. "We really want Evernote to be the place where you capture all your important memories," he explains. "But we don't want it to be where you store your media. Evernote isn't where you should be putting your ebooks or 20 gigabyte copy of Avatar. Hack figures "That film is the same everywhere - there is nothing personal about it. But we do want you to store your impressions, your thoughts and your notes about it." Competitors exist - Microsoft is pushing its OneNote service and there are other smaller rivals including Springpad and Catch. But for the moment, at least, Evernote and its elephant icon probably have the most buzz. So just how popular is it? After a recent hack attack the firm talked of having 50 million accounts. When pushed it acknowledges its number of active users - those using the service at least once a month - is closer to 15 million, with the UK accounting for 620,000 of these. That's some way behind Facebook's one billion-plus statistic - but still relatively high for a productivity app. And it's high enough for the business to join Silicon Valley's elite club of tech firms with a $1bn (£665m) valuation based on private stock sales. In another sign of success, more established brands have made efforts to associate themselves with the firm. Moleskine has launched a range of Evernote-branded notebooks and Samsung surprised many at January's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) when it unveiled a fridge with an Evernote-enabled touchscreen. Some critics saw this as outlandish, but Mr Libin insists the tie-up is no joke. "It's funny, I first talked to Samsung about building Evernote into a refrigerator in 2008 and nothing got started for a long time," he reveals. "We've always had the idea that Evernote should be everywhere. It needs to be ubiquitous because we are going to build you a second brain - the idea is, eventually, it's just part of you. Conflict of interest "So, obviously it should be in your refrigerator because it's really a hub of your family information... I'm psyched that they did that." Cars and Google's Project Glass eyewear are also within the firm's sights, he adds. Evernote is losing money, although it was briefly profitable three years ago. Mr Libin says it should be back in the black by 2014, but for now his priority is growth. It must be a temptation to speed things up by introducing adverts related to the contents of users' posts - just as other cloud-based services have done - but Mr Libin firmly rules this out. "People don't fully recognise how much an inherent conflict of interest can hurt brand loyalty," he says. "Google, Facebook and others are great companies but they have that conflict. "Whenever you use one of the products, in the back of your head you're like, you know that you were the product. "We try to only make money when people really love the product and want to pay us [for premium features]." Another option he rejected was to write Evernote's app in HTML 5. Using the web language would have made it less time consuming to offer the software across so many platforms. It supports Windows Phone, Blackberry and LG's WebOS in addition to iOS and Android. But Mr Libin dismisses it as a "lowest common denominator" technology, adding that there are benefits to developing different versions of the app with slightly different sets of features. "If you make consistency a goal you achieve it through mediocrity," he exclaims. "You achieve consistency by making everything equally crappy. "We've always said, let's have independent teams that compete with each other to make the best version for each platform." He suggests this means his workers learn from each other's achievements ensuring the teams continually leapfrog each other. The downside: "It's much more expensive to develop that way," he admits. After life Mr Libin may want to keep Evernote forever young, but death is still on the agenda. The firm recently updated its privacy policy to clarify what happens when its users pass away. "There really is no right answer," he says, "but we've said since our primary mandate is everything is private and protected data, we're going to honour that after your death. "So, we will not turn your data over to anyone, next of kin or whatever. The only way we're ever going to turn your data over to someone is if there's a court order to do it." But longer term Mr Libin acknowledges Evernote needs to offer a way for users to control what happens to their online memories after both their death and, potentially, his company's. As a result he's already planning to offer a new product provisionally named Evernote Century. "It ensures the availability of your data for 100 years and it gives you a way to designate who should have access to it and how," he explains. "The question is how do you make it economically viable for somebody to still care about keeping your data accessible... even if Evernote the corporate entity is no longer in business." He admits he has still to fully puzzle this out, but still hopes to release the product before the end of the year. "I don't think it's a problem that's been answered before," he says, "but if we're saying this is your lifetime memory, I think it's part of our charter to figure this out."

क्या एवरनोट शाश्वत युवावस्था का रहस्य खोज सकता है?


When will Covid recovery take flight?

Summary: Inbound tourism is of vital importance across Scotland and not just at airports, with foreign tourists spending far more per day than staycationers. A second year of colossal losses for airlines is raising concerns that the extent and shape of international travel may be permanently harmed. Industry frustration is high at the lack of detail in Downing Street plans for re-starting foreign travel, and the lack of any plans in Scotland.

Douglas FraserBusiness/economy editor, Scotland It may be a peculiarly British thing to do with the weather, but most political and media discussion of air travel follows a well-trodden flight path in assuming it's all about holidays and getting to the sun. A balanced view would take into account that aircraft also take people out the country to work in support of their British employers, selling goods and services overseas. And in the hold, they carry a lot of light, valuable exports, notably including fresh Scottish salmon. For more balance still, it's worth remembering that aircraft bring people into the UK. And when they do, those people spend a lot more per head than domestic tourists. VisitBritain estimates a 78% drop in international tourist visits to Scotland between 2019 and 2020, and an 85% drop in spend to £388m. That's more than £2bn of spending power suddenly sucked out the economy. So the impact of grounded aviation is felt not only at airports or in travel agents, but in every business where inbound travellers spend their money. That's why the continuing uncertainty about the return of international travel carries wider concerns than Britain's summer holidays. In the rough As my colleague, Steven Godden, reported for TV from St Andrews, the absence of foreign visitors puts golf tourism deep into the rough. Visit Scotland calculates that a golfing tourist spends an average £245 per day. For an overseas golfing visitor, that is £338 daily, and from the US, it's £405. That is in green fees, hotels, meals, drinks, transport and high-end gift shops. Many are located in small towns which have become dependent on the trade, from Turnberry in Ayrshire to Dornoch in Sutherland. Steven heard also from a luxury coach operator who specialises in golf tourism. Gordon Donaldson of St Andrews Executive Travel estimates that his company would be around a third of its size without foreign visitors, employing six to eight people instead of 50-plus in the summer months. He reported that firms are optimistic that visitors will be back before the end of this summer season. The aviation industry is less positive. Burning through billions Edinburgh Airport's chief executive Gordon Dewar sounds increasingly exasperated at the lack of a clear flight path back to the reopening of routes, and is warning they may not return. Last year saw a 76% drop in passenger numbers. International flights have become rare. Last week, Scotland's capital airport operated only 18 routes, of which only nine were international, and these averaged just seven flights per day. The equivalent week in 2019 saw 132 international routes, with a daily average of 173 air traffic movements. Qatar airline's links with Doha is the only remaining wide-bodied long-haul route, at quarter of its previous frequency. So there are no longer inbound flights from Istanbul, Dubai or North America. Norwegian airline has permanently given up trans-Atlantic flights, and others are scaling back their ambitions for growth. Translated into the global picture, on Wednesday IATA, the airline industry body updated the staggering losses being incurred, warning that rising fuel costs and continued barriers to international travel will push carriers to bring back only profitable routes. After totalled losses of $126bn last year, they expect losses this year to be $48bn. With fixed costs and loss-making routes, it is forecast that airlines will burn through $81bn of cash during 2021. Large countries such as the USA, Canada, Russia and Australia have stronger domestic airline operations, but globally, international passenger numbers are down 87% on pre-pandemic levels. That affects Europe (including the UK) most, where only 11% of passenger miles are domestic, so demand is down 66% and capacity down 57%. Midsummer boost Even with agreement on testing regimes and the rollout of vaccines, passenger numbers are expected to rise globally to only around a third of pre-pandemic levels in the second half of this year. And vaccinations appear to be making little impact on rampant infection rates in some countries, with high uncertainty about new variants. The UK story on vaccinations has given it a fortress mentality, with political leadership keen to protect the nations from inbound infections. That has meant that the route to reopening international travel is particularly fraught and uncertain. Boris Johnson's talk of a return to normality by midsummer boosted outbound bookings at first, but since then, a reopening starting from mid-May looks less likely as infection rages in our main travel destinations. The UK government plan has had a scathing response from the Commons transport committee today. MPs say it lacks sufficient detail in most areas, and where it does offer detail, it means very high costs for travellers. The tests required for a family of four travelling to destinations with low infection rates could cost more than the flights. Traffic lights The aviation industry can handle some uncertainty, but it is even more frustrated where the Scottish government offers no provisional dates for reopening any foreign travel. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon cites health reasons for caution. She says the intention is to co-ordinate Scotland's approach with the other three UK nations. That probably means a traffic-light approach of red countries with high infection and green countries for direct links, with tests of some sort required. But the industry is not clear. It needs several weeks to be able to put aircraft and crew in place for a restart, and wants even more to be able to sell tickets. Having got the signal earlier this year that Scotland would be slower to restart international travel than England, airlines warned they would move planes out of Scottish bases. The industry perceives that its concerns are treated as a low priority. The aviation forum with the Scottish government, at which it tries to get its frustrations across, has met three times without much sign of progress, and its meetings are understood to have become increasingly fractious. Hub and spokes Over the past 20 years, Scotland's main airports successfully built direct links to numerous destinations including distant international hubs in the Middle East and North America, with hopes of expanding to Asia. This is more attractive for inbound and outbound travellers, avoiding longer journeys, usually at greater expense, through London, Schipol, Paris or Frankfurt. Inbound travellers to London are notoriously reluctant even to change terminals at Heathrow, so many never get beyond London. That's why direct links are particularly important to inbound tourism in Scotland. That business model has been broken by the pandemic. One big question is whether it can be repaired, or if Scotland's long-haul connections have been harmed in the long term. Another is whether the strengthening emphasis on reducing climate changing emissions will mean that air travel never returns to the way it was.

केवल हवाई अड्डों पर ही नहीं बल्कि पूरे स्कॉटलैंड में अंतर्गामी पर्यटन का महत्वपूर्ण महत्व है, क्योंकि विदेशी पर्यटक ठहरने वालों की तुलना में प्रति दिन कहीं अधिक खर्च करते हैं। विमानन कंपनियों के लिए भारी नुकसान का दूसरा वर्ष चिंता पैदा कर रहा है कि अंतर्राष्ट्रीय यात्रा की सीमा और आकार को स्थायी रूप से नुकसान हो सकता है। विदेश यात्रा को फिर से शुरू करने के लिए डाउनिंग स्ट्रीट की योजनाओं में विस्तार की कमी और स्कॉटलैंड में किसी भी योजना की कमी के कारण उद्योग की हताशा अधिक है।


Homelessness in Newry 'on the rise'

Summary: Dawn has yet to break on the morning of Storm Diana.

By Cormac CampbellBBC News NI South East Reporter It's dark, damp and windy. Thankfully it isn't too cold. In an archway at the side of a nightclub two people are sleeping. A passing milkman appears to have left two pints of milk beside them. But this isn't Belfast or Dublin - this is Newry, County Down. The early risers, who Barry Johnston greets for breakfast across the street in Grounded café, are concerned about what they see. Customer Alan Ferris said the pair - a middle-aged man and a woman - have been sleeping rough in Monaghan Street for some time. "I'm in here every morning," he said. "They've been there for about three months, every night." Visibly homeless Builder Sean Mooney said he was soaked to the skin yesterday and was glad to get back into his house. "What do people like that do?" he added. Retail worker George Chambers said many passers-by do their best to help. "Some of the customers would take coffee over to them just to keep them warm," he said. They may be the most visible sign of homelessness in the city but they are not alone. 'Safe spaces' According to Mario Siotto, who runs the St Vincent de Paul drop-in centre on Mill Street, the number of rough sleepers in the city is in double figures. "In collaboration with the police in Newry, I helped them make a list of the number of people sleeping rough," he said. "At the last count in the middle of July there were 18. At least 10 of them are coming here. "Because safe spaces are at a premium they aren't going to tell you where they sleep, but I know they are nearby." He added: "There are strategic positions where they believe they are safe. When the sun goes down, dark alleys aren't where you want to be. "They are coming here because at least they have some hot food to eat. We are there in the frontline to give as much help as we can." Every week, dozens of volunteers from a number of Newry groups work both in the city and in Dublin. One of those groups is Helping the Homeless, which has been operating for more than three years. Initially their focus was on Dublin but now they are also kept busy closer to home. 'Hard times' Aisling McShane, one of the group's volunteers, agrees about the scale of the problem in Newry. "We started last year doing a lot of work in Newry because a lot of people are under the misconception that homelessness only happens in the capital cities - simply because it isn't as visual," she said. "We started doing one night a week but that has grown to four nights a week because of the demand. We are in Hill Street and would have approximately 30 people coming to us. "I think we have about 15 sleeping rough, but homelessness encompasses more than just rough sleepers. "There are people in hostels, people in emergency accommodation. There will be family breakdowns. There are addiction issues." She said Newry's homeless population was a mixture of local residents and foreign people who had "nobody to fall back on". "People assume you'll always have someone and can't understand how you could end up in this situation," she said. But Ms McShane added that not everyone had someone they could depend on when they "fall on hard times". Homelessness is a much broader term than simply rough sleeping. Last year, the Housing Executive said nearly 12,000 housing applicants were deemed homeless across Northern Ireland. About 800 of them were from the Newry, Mourne and Down council area. This is a problem without a simple answer, but there are many people in this city doing what they can to try and find one.

स्टॉर्म डायना की सुबह अभी भोर नहीं हुई है।


Covid: Care staff reveal mental impact of pandemic

Summary: Social care workers need better mental health support and time to recover from the pressures of working through the pandemic, a union has said. Care staff have seen a high number of deaths from Covid-19, particularly in residential and nursing homes.

By Alison HoltSocial Affairs Correspondent, BBC News "I struggled to go into the rooms of the people that passed away," Georgina Noonan says. "I struggled because they're not there anymore. It's like family. It just triggers such emotions." Georgina, a care leader at a residential home in Bristol where she has worked for more than 30 years, was shocked at how quickly people in her unit for people with dementia became ill. Her home had its first case of Covid-19 at the end of December and five of the 12 people in her unit died during the outbreak. "I've always cast myself as a very strong character," she says. "I've always worked with people with dementia, but it did make me stop and think can I carry on? " She adds: "But I know I can because I have asked for help." As well as getting counselling, she is now working in a different part of the home. In the first weeks of April last year, the number of residents dying in care homes in England and Wales rose rapidly; hitting a peak of 1,300 deaths - 495 of which were with Covid-19 - on Easter Sunday, 12 April, according to the Office for National Statistics. Three quarters of staff working in care homes and home care say their mental health has deteriorated significantly during the pandemic, according to the GMB union. Research it carried out between December and January - as the second wave of the virus was having greatest impact - prompted 1,242 responses from care workers, mostly from England but also from other parts of the UK. The union says it found anxiety levels among the care workers questioned were 44% higher than in people working across a broad range of other jobs. And two thirds of respondents said their biggest worry had been they might take the virus home to family. It was a fear that left Mark Topps, the manager of a home for people with learning disabilities, with extremely hard choices. His wife had to shield because of health issues, so fearing Mark might bring the virus home, she and their young children moved out to stay with relatives. "There were a lot of tears, we didn't want to be apart," he says. "Despite long hours working in social care, we've never been apart since I was 18 years old." He has spent most of the last year living separately from his family, only seeing them online or at socially distanced meetings. "It's been an incredibly busy time during the pandemic, and I think that's taken my mind off things, but I've missed out on two birthdays of my middle child, and Christmas and Easter." Mark decided the only way they could return home safely was if he stopped working on the frontline of care and he's now changed jobs. "It wasn't an easy decision. I would have just kept going and going and going. But I think eventually, there is burnout for everybody. You can't keep that up forever." In a sector that already struggles to recruit enough staff, nearly a fifth of those who took part in the research said they expected to stop working in care within the next 12 months. Nurse Johanet Sloan, who manages a home that supports people who need rehabilitation after they leave hospital, said: "You still have to get on doing your day-to-day job, but you've got Covid in the back of your mind, so I think that's where there's a lot of stress." After a small Covid outbreak at the home, she developed symptoms and became so ill she had to be taken to hospital by ambulance. "My husband came to say goodbye and I really thought this is the last time I'm actually going to see him," she says. "It was very scary. "It really felt like I needed to look at him for as long as I could, just to get that image in my head." Johanet describes going into hospital as her lowest point, but also says that was what saved her. She's since returned to work and shares her story with others to encourage them to accept a coronavirus vaccine when invited. "The quicker people get vaccinated, the safer it will be for us," she says. "Then we can actually start to recover properly, because I think that's what we need at the moment." The government is currently consulting on plans to require care staff in England to receive a coronavirus vaccine as a condition of deployment. The GMB says the responses to its survey underline the importance of providing mental health support for staff, as well as reasonable sick pay to allow time to recover. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said it was "committed to ensuring all our dedicated frontline care workers can access the support they need during this difficult time". It added that it had helped to develop a package of psychological and practical resources to support social care workers' wellbeing. "Delivering a care system that is fit for the future remains a top priority and we will bring forward proposals for social care later this year," the spokesperson said.

एक संघ ने कहा है कि सामाजिक देखभाल कर्मचारियों को महामारी के माध्यम से काम करने के दबाव से उबरने के लिए बेहतर मानसिक स्वास्थ्य सहायता और समय की आवश्यकता है। देखभाल कर्मचारियों ने कोविड-19 से बड़ी संख्या में मौतें देखी हैं, विशेष रूप से आवासीय और नर्सिंग होम में।


The Robinson strategy to widen DUP appeal

Summary: For a second year in a row, the DUP leader has pointed his party in a centrist direction, talking up Catholic support for the UK and seeking "to reach out to those with whom we would not traditionally have been associated."

Mark DevenportPolitical editor, Northern Ireland@markdevenporton Twitter But while Peter Robinson told delegates at his annual conference at La Mon Hotel that he's ready to abandon "out-dated dogmas", his party faithful aren't abandoning their old flag waving traditions. Their leader took to the stage amidst a sea of Union and Ulster flags, not necessarily the image designed to appeal to a Catholic unionist considering putting his or her toe in the DUP waters. So what's the Robinson strategy all about? In the short term it seems more about convincing moderate Protestant opinion that the DUP has changed its old, hardline ways. In this sense it appears connected with the party's struggles in greater Belfast with the Alliance party. The cross-community Alliance appears a more likely beneficiary of pro-status quo Catholic votes than the DUP. It's even more likely such voters might continue backing nationalist candidates, whilst not sharing their constitutional aspirations. Yet another option, of course, is not voting at all. 'Thinnest sliver' Mr Robinson may be right to point out that some Catholics (think of the pro-grammar school lobby) may feel disenfranchised by the "left and far left" policies of the SDLP and Sinn Fein. However, it will be an uphill struggle for the DUP to attract any more than the thinnest sliver of this electorate, especially when they continue to seek political advantage in bashing the Parades Commission or pledging support for a 365 days a year flag outside Belfast City Hall. Over on the Detail website Steven McCaffery is quite right to point out that the DUP leader's speech should be seen in the context of 11 December release of the religious breakdown of the Northern Ireland 2011 census. Ten years ago there was a lot of frenzied political activity in the run up to the release of the 2001 census breakdown, amidst predictions that the Protestant majority was dwindling fast. In the event, the 43.76% share was lower than some nationalists had predicted and the politics of demography receded. There has been much less of a build up to next month's figures. But it's likely they will show a further narrowing of the gap, while school attendance figures suggest the census will find a Catholic majority within younger age groups. Seen in that context, the Robinson strategy could be seen as a Dad's Army-style "don't panic" message to his own grassroots, making it clear to Protestants that, even if the demographic gap is closing, there's no reason to assume Northern Ireland's status within the UK is under threat. Despite his avowed confidence on this score, the first minister remains opposed to testing the constitutional question by holding what he calls a "sterile and divisive" border poll. With the Scottish independence referendum looming Sinn Fein will no doubt repeat their demands for the secretary of state to arrange such a poll. But while they try to persuade pro-status quo Catholics to cross the political divide, unionists will resist setting in train what could, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, become a rolling process of border polls to be held on a seven yearly basis.

लगातार दूसरे वर्ष, डीयूपी नेता ने अपनी पार्टी को एक मध्यमार्गी दिशा में इंगित किया है, ब्रिटेन के लिए कैथोलिक समर्थन की बात की है और "उन लोगों तक पहुंचने की मांग की है जिनके साथ हम पारंपरिक रूप से जुड़े नहीं होते।"


The luck of the Canadians (and Mark Carney)

Summary: Before Mark Carney comes here as the next governor of the Bank of England, I thought I should go there, to get a closer look at his record in Canada, and decide for myself whether he's anything like as good as he's cracked up to be.

Stephanie FlandersFormer economics editor My conclusions? He didn't singlehandedly rescue the Canadians from the worst of the global financial crisis - he didn't really need to. But boy, did he win over the press. Britain's press corps like to think they're more hard-nosed than their Canadian counterparts. Meaner. Less easily impressed. Perhaps. But I've read what the Canadian press say about other Canadian policy makers, and I've read what they said about Mark Carney after five years in the hot seat at the Bank of Canada. It's like night and day. One paper put Carney at the top of its list of "Canadians abroad that we want back". Before he had even left. I can't help thinking the hard men and women of Fleet Street might find themselves charmed as well. This is a man who established a reputation as a "working-class hero" to many Canadians, despite having spent 13 years at Goldman Sachs. Then again, Canadians don't have nearly as much reason to dislike bankers. Canada is the only G7 country that has not had to spend any taxpayer money bailing banks out. 'Timely stimulus' That is not strictly down to Mark Carney, though he had a role in improving bank regulation at the Bank of Canada and also during his time at the Department of Finance. But it is one of the things that made his job quite a lot easier, since the start of the financial crisis, than Ben Bernanke's or Sir Mervyn King's. Canada's economy is nearly 5% larger now than it was five years ago. Britain's is more than 2% smaller. Inflation has also been a lot lower under Mark Carney: 1.7%, on average, versus 3.2% in the UK. The OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) says the Canadian economy bounced back so quickly from the 2008-09 crisis "thanks to timely monetary and fiscal stimulus, a sound financial system and high commodity prices." You can't help noticing that only one of those four advantages is directly attributable to Mr Carney. As I've discussed before, Canada's banks were conservative, going into the crisis. So were its financial regulators. Compared to their friends across the border, the big Canadian banks did not end up with a lot of bad debt - and the bad debts they did acquire, they had made much better provision for. The fact that Canada is a big commodity producer and exporter also made a key difference: those big commodity price rises that have made us so much poorer in the past few years, by pushing up inflation, have largely been making Canada richer. As we know, Canada was also helped by having got its fiscal crisis in early. The government spent most of the 1990s doing, in effect, what George Osborne is doing now. (Though the Canadians had the good luck to be doing it when everyone else was doing well. I'll return to Canada's good timing in a minute.) All that past austerity meant that Canada had a lot more room to turn on the taps, with a big increase in public investment and other stimulus policies which increased borrowing by more than 4% of GDP between 2008 and 2010. That's twice the OECD average and much larger than Gordon Brown's rather feeble stimulus programme. So - Mark Carney was dealt a strong hand. But nearly everyone I spoke to in Canada still gave him credit for playing it well. I didn't know, before my trip, that he was a surprise pick for his last job as well. A few weeks before, 36 economists were asked who would get the job as governor of the Canadian central bank. Nearly all thought it would be Paul Jenkins, the senior deputy governor and long-time insider (sound familiar?) Only three thought Mark Carney was in with a chance. When he came in, he quickly made his mark by cutting interest rates by half a percentage point in his first month. That was in March 2008, remember, when other central banks still thought the financial crisis would blow over. The ECB was actually raising rates. 'Moment of truth' That early rate cut helped make Mark Carney's reputation. He also gets credit for using "forward guidance" to convince people the central bank was serious about keeping policy very loose. There'll be plenty more to say on that subject, in the next few weeks. But most other central banks did slash interest rates a few months later, also to record lows. The difference was that it worked in Canada - because the banks were willing and able to lend. That produced a feel-good factor and a pretty reasonable economic recovery. It also produced a rocketing housing market, a big current account deficit, and rising household debt. So yes, he does have some experience relevant to the UK. Paul Krugman says this all makes Canada a test case for two somewhat different views of the financial crisis and its aftermath. One view says that it was primarily down to the banks and their problems. If that's true, you'd expect Canada to stay out of trouble, for all the reasons I've already discussed. The other view is that the banking crisis was just a sideshow for the main event which was the housing boom and bust and the long-term implications for the economy of households being stuck with so much debt. I'm not sure anyone thinks any more that 2008-9 was "just" a banking crisis. For a Nobel prize winning economist, Paul Krugman has quite a weakness for straw men. But when you look at what's happened to Canadian house prices and personal debt ratios, you do have to wonder whether Canada has simply postponed its moment of truth. At this point, it's traditional for us "hard-nosed" UK economics journalists to joke that Mark Carney is "getting out of Canada in the nick of time". We'll see. Maybe our new central bank governor is lucky as well as charming. But you'd have to say, it's lucky for Canada, too, if it has once again been able to postpone its day of reckoning, to a time when its neighbour and main trading partner is on the mend. George Osborne isn't the only one wishing we could have been so lucky in the UK.

मार्क कार्नी के बैंक ऑफ इंग्लैंड के अगले गवर्नर के रूप में यहाँ आने से पहले, मैंने सोचा कि मुझे वहाँ जाना चाहिए, कनाडा में उनके रिकॉर्ड को करीब से देखने के लिए, और खुद तय करना चाहिए कि क्या वह उतना ही अच्छा है जितना कि वह होने के लिए तैयार है।


Stockton motorcyclist killed in A171 crash in North Yorkshire

Summary: A motorcyclist has died after crashing with a car on the A171 in North Yorkshire

The 47-year-old man from Stockton, near Middlesbrough, died at the scene of the crash at the Falcon Pub, near Cloughton, North Yorkshire Police said. He had been travelling on a Yamaha motorcycle towards Scarborough when he collided with a Nissan X-trail at around 10:20 BST. The man was in convoy with a second motorcycle at the time of the crash. North Yorkshire police appealed for witnesses to come forward.

उत्तरी यॉर्कशायर में ए171 पर कार से टकराने के बाद एक मोटरसाइकिल सवार की मौत हो गई है।


Hugh Lenfestey's documents donated to Guernsey Island Archive

Summary: A collection of historical documents is being donated to Guernsey's Island Archive by the family of a prominent local historian.

Hugh Lenfestey died in February last year after a short illness, aged 77. He dedicated many years to preserving medieval records and established the Island Archive in 1986. His collection includes an index of Guernsey place names, a map of all the known fiefs and a list of property transactions from the 1400s. Mr Lenfestey's family said they would donate his collection to the archive later in March.

एक प्रमुख स्थानीय इतिहासकार के परिवार द्वारा ऐतिहासिक दस्तावेजों का एक संग्रह ग्वेर्नसे के द्वीप अभिलेखागार को दान किया जा रहा है।


Tackling food waste in Nigeria with an app

Summary: "Going without food for any person, for any child - it's destabilising, it shakes you to your core. I remember being a child and going without food and being able to have just one good meal in a day."

By Ijeoma NdukweAbuja, Nigeria Oscar Ekponimo's drive comes from a childhood fuelled by hunger. When his father got sick and couldn't work, the whole family went hungry. But now this tech entrepreneur in Nigeria's capital Abuja thinks he has the answer to the problem of food inequality. He's the inventor of an app called Chowberry which connects people to supermarket food that would ordinarily end up in the bin. It has already been taken up by 35 retailers, NGOs (non-government organisations) and other organisations in the country. At a supermarket in Abuja, a sales assistant unloads shelves filled with semolina, a type of milled flour, into shopping trolleys. He's preparing the products for collection by Thrifty Slayer - a charity that has bought these discounted items via Chowberry. Discount products As we stand in one of the aisles, Oscar takes out a tablet to show me how the technology works. "We have a system on this app that allows retailers to put information about products that are about to expire. "These products are deeply discounted because the products are reaching the end of their shelf life. "The food would ordinarily be thrown away by the retailers, but with our system they have a way of saving their losses," he adds. "At the same time NGOs are able to take this food at a very reasonable price and acquire more food for distribution." Currently anyone can order food at a discount online, although there are 15 charities with priority access who are able to to order larger quantities. Chowberry has a list of their preferences and sends them updates when it receives the type of food the charities need for their food distribution programmes. The supermarket that Oscar is showing me round was an early adopter of Chowberry when it launched two years ago. "Some of the shops we work with have said they've managed to save 80% of what they used to throw away," he tells me. A study commissioned by the United Nations indicates that globally, one-third of food produced for consumption is lost or wasted. This amounts to 1.3 billion tonnes a year. UN figures also suggest that one in nine of us across the globe go to bed on an empty stomach - despite there being enough food in the world. Oscar's ability to relate to the problem is at the heart of his mission to reach those living on extremely low incomes, right at the bottom of the pyramid. The BBC's Innovators series reveals innovative solutions to major challenges across South Asia and Africa Learn more about BBC Innovators. "They don't have access to smartphones, so the connecting entity is the NGOs," says Oscar. Thrifty Slayer is one of the many charities and NGOs that buys discounted products for its food distribution programmes through the Chowberry app. Its programmes are funded by selling donated second-hand clothing online but Ijeoma Nwizu, Thrifty Slayer's founder, says Chowberry helps the charity's funds go much further. "We started feeding about 40 people, but then the community kept growing. Now we feed them and neighbouring communities - about 200 people every Sunday," she says. "As the numbers of people we feed increased we started to look for ways to keep our costs low. The good thing about partnering with Chowberry is the availability of food in the quantities we need them." UN figures show over 14 million people in Nigeria are classified as undernourished. Hunger is a major problem according to Amara Nwankpa, director of public policy at the Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Foundation, an organisation campaigning for food security. "I think the challenges we face with food supply and access represents an opportunity for innovators. We have no choice but to innovate our way out of this situation," says Amara. "Most times I get emotional about it. I get a sense of fulfilment that a simple idea can reach people in a real way. But the feelings are mixed," says Oscar during a visit to Pyakasa, a small dusty town surrounded by mountains on the outskirts of Abuja where a feeding programme is under way. On the days we are there, around 50 people, mainly women and children, were queuing for lunch. We were told that for most of them, this would have been their biggest meal all week. "The challenge is to scale up, that's where our work is cut out for the next few years," says Oscar. "I'm in it for the long haul, as long as there's the value chain of food there will always be food floating around." Food waste is a huge problem and this entrepreneur has global aspirations for his simple solution. He hopes that once it makes inroads in Nigeria and across Africa, it will go on to transform the lives of people around the world. This BBC series was produced with funding from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

"किसी भी व्यक्ति के लिए, किसी भी बच्चे के लिए भोजन के बिना रहना-यह अस्थिर करने वाला है, यह आपके दिल को हिलाता है। मुझे याद है कि एक बच्चा होने के नाते और भोजन के बिना रहना और एक दिन में सिर्फ एक अच्छा भोजन करने में सक्षम होना।"


Michel Barnier: The EU's point man on Brexit negotiations

Summary: Many and bitter have been the criticisms levelled at the British prime minister and members of her cabinet when it comes to their handling of Brexit, so what about the other side: Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator and his colleagues - what's the dirt on them?

Katya AdlerEurope editor@BBCkatyaadleron Twitter When Mr Barnier was initially named for the role there was a sharp intake of breath in London. His time as EU commissioner for the single market (from 2010 to 2014) included a clash with the City of London over bankers' bonuses - earning him the remarkable British label: "the most dangerous man in Europe". Reacting to Michel Barnier's Brexit appointment, the Financial Times quoted a senior banker saying: "It's incredibly provocative. This is Juncker's revenge on Britain." But interestingly, since taking the job, there have been few direct attacks either in the UK or amongst EU countries which are usually critical of Brussels on Michel Barnier's Brexit manoeuvres. Last month, after the first round of face-to-face EU-UK talks, the vociferously pro-Brexit Daily Mail described him as sleek, dandyish and the model of diplomacy except, it said, when he adopted the tones of an "upset divorce lawyer". By this week, the UK press was so eager for evidence of discontent with the way Brussels was orchestrating Brexit talks that journalists jumped on derogatory comments by German MEP Hans-Olaf Henkel. He asserted that Michel Barnier and Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament's Brexit co-ordinator, were out to sabotage Brexit. In an op-ed in The Times, he wrote that the two men wanted to "make a mess out of this whole unhappy situation" and to "punish the British, full stop". But what most UK publications failed to point out was that, far from representing a mainstream view in Germany, Mr Henkel was, until not long ago, a prominent member of the minority Eurosceptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. That is not to say that European leaders and civil servants I speak to are wild about Monsieur Barnier (who has insisted from the start there is no "spirit of revenge" about his Brexit approach). You find widespread respect for him in EU circles, but many Europeans have an inherent suspicion of the French, whom they view as having a superiority complex. Some criticise Mr Barnier for "being too ready to take to Twitter" to show his preparedness for all things Brexit. One contact said he put out a negative tweet about the British position paper on EU citizens' post-Brexit rights before he could have had time to read it all. "Ego and vanity" were cited as Mr Barnier's main failings in a profile that ran in Spain's conservative El Mundo newspaper last month. The paper said after years of travelling in chauffeur-driven cars (in commission jobs in Brussels and government positions in Paris), he was out of touch with "real people". But the same article also goes on to describe Mr Barnier as indefatigable, a good listener and someone who will tirelessly search for a workable compromise. Compromise will be needed from both the EU and the UK for a Brexit deal to emerge from talks. European diplomats say it's too early to really judge Mr Barnier as this is still the beginning of Brexit negotiations - and Brussels has a habit of showing creative-thinking and making deals at the 11th hour. But you could argue the Barnier team should show some flexibility to encourage the British side - if they are indeed serious about reaching a Brexit deal. The UK has already made significant concessions: accepting the EU-chosen phased timetable for negotiations (divorce first and only then talks about a future relationship) and it has also now acknowledged the notion of financial liabilities on leaving the EU (after the government first pooh-poohed the idea). So, as a confidence-building measure, shouldn't Mr Barnier give an inch or four on the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the UK after Brexit, and/or the total of a Brexit bill, for example? Yet I am unable to put him on the Brexit spot with these questions as BBC colleagues do day in and day out with UK government ministers. Why? Because Mr Barnier and his team are simply not speaking to journalists right now outside scheduled press conferences. So far in his capacity as the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, he has given one simultaneous interview to a group of British and European papers following the UK general election. And that's it. The European Commission would argue that the EU is being extremely transparent - with a plethora of its Brexit position papers available online. But, of course, that's not the same as sitting down for a rigorous interview. Here in Brussels there's not much of a sense of accountability to journalists. Just pop along to the European Commission's daily midday press briefing for a taster. Controversial or uncomfortable questions are often met with a "no comment" in a way that would be unthinkable in London or most other European capitals. The interesting thing for me is that it's not just the commission - European countries have "closed ranks" too. Leading European politicians do not want to give on-the-record interviews about Brexit right now. There has, in fact, been a complete role reversal amongst the Brexit negotiators. Before talks started, UK government ministers were keeping stumm. Their line: we don't give a running commentary on our Brexit positions; that would not help us in negotiations. At that stage, here in Brussels and elsewhere in Europe, leaders were happy to talk. Now, Prime Minister Theresa May is having a hard time keeping her cabinet quiet while the EU has gone silent. This all probably boils down to self-interest. Ministers like David Davis, Boris Johnson and Philip Hammond are keen to make a name for themselves over Brexit, with an eye, following Theresa May's poor election performance, on the prime minister's job. The unusual unity over Brexit amongst often fractious EU leaders can be explained by their common goal in these divorce proceedings: ensuring the UK pays an exit bill. That would go a long way - in the short term at least - towards covering the gaping hole which will be left in the EU budget when the UK walks out the door. Rich countries like Germany and the Netherlands want to put off having to pay a penny more to make up the shortfall, while recipients of EU subsidies like Hungary or Romania want to ensure they get the funding they've been expecting. In the end, we shouldn't be too surprised by the lack of criticism aimed at Michel Barnier in mainstream European circles. He's their man, after all - more divorce lawyer than powerful politician - and can only negotiate along the previously-agreed guidelines 27 EU countries have given him, and according to EU law (hence his assertion that there can be no "cherry-picking" when it comes to single market access, for example). What makes this historic Brexit process all the more dramatic is that it is played out by two starkly different negotiating parties. The EU is like a huge tanker, weighty and solid - its journey carefully mapped out - but unable to react quickly to changing circumstances. The UK is freer to move as it chooses through uncharted waters, though its course - post-election - remains rather erratic and unclear. The final Brexit deal isn't up to Michel Barnier. EU countries will again set political priorities, parameters and tone when it comes to discussing the future EU-UK relationship and any transition periods. For now, Mr Barnier says the European Union is still waiting - with a little anxiety and a lot of impatience - to know exactly what the UK wants, while there is still time left to negotiate.

जब ब्रेक्सिट से निपटने की बात आती है तो ब्रिटिश प्रधान मंत्री और उनके मंत्रिमंडल के सदस्यों पर कई और तीखी आलोचनाएँ की गई हैं, तो दूसरे पक्ष के बारे में क्याः मिशेल बार्नियर, यूरोपीय संघ के मुख्य ब्रेक्सिट वार्ताकार और उनके सहयोगी-उन पर क्या गंदगी है?


Covid-19: How the Czech Republic's response went wrong

Summary: The Czech Republic was praised for its swift initial response to the coronavirus crisis, but seven months on it's now recording 15,000 new cases a day and has the second highest per capita death rate over seven days in the world. So what went wrong?

By Rob CameronBBC News, Prague Letnany Exhibition Grounds on the northern outskirts of Prague is usually where you go to check out the latest caravans or fitted kitchens. But its cavernous halls are now home to a ghostly field hospital, built by the army in just over seven days. On Sunday it was formally handed over to Prague's main infectious diseases hospital. "Our task is to enhance the capacity of civilian hospitals," said Colonel Ladislav Slechta, commander of the Czech Army's Military Medical Agency which built the facility. "This is to create conditions for them to accept more seriously ill patients and of course save their lives," he added. The reserve facility has 500 beds, including 10 ICU units and an MRI scanner. If needed, it will be staffed by 200 army medical personnel - 20 doctors, 70 nurses and the remainder logistics troops. Colonel Slechta is used to building such hospitals in Afghanistan or Iraq. Not on the outskirts of Prague. "There's no time at this moment to think about emotions. But I'm sure they're coming, because it's really an unusual situation," he told me. "We were discussing it, and going back in history, we think the last time this type of facility was deployed in this country was during the First World War." As we spoke, mechanical ventilators hidden in green metal containers wheezed and groaned, connected to no-one, at least not for now. A gap in the wall offered a glimpse of an even larger hall, housing hundreds of empty hospital beds, arranged with military precision in rows. Medical monitors at their heads beeped at each other, the sound echoing in the deserted hall. Like the soldiers, they're on standby. 'A stronger flu' A short drive away, in the centre of Prague, and it was a different world - a world of crowds strolling along the river embankment in the autumn sun, feeding the swans, thronging the farmer's market. Everyone, it seemed, had a slightly different way of interpreting the authorities' pleas to stay at home except for essential shopping and exercise. On Wednesday the government ordered most non-essential shops to close, leaving open supermarkets, grocery stores, chemists, pet shops and those providing goods and services essential to the economy such as computers and IT. Restaurants, cafés and pubs are closed to seated customers and dissuaded from letting people linger outside. Takeaway and delivery service is allowed until 8pm. All schools have gone online. Unlike in spring, border restrictions have not been reintroduced, although visiting the Czech Republic for tourism is forbidden. "I mean it's like a general sickness we believe, so like a stronger flu," said one man, claiming that he'd studied the virus intensively since March, using the WHO and other sources. "We're young, we're not afraid of it," said his companion. "We're doing everything for our health, whatever we can. We take exercise. We eat properly. And I think that's a good weapon for it," she said. Confidence at a low point Czech efforts to fight the virus haven't been helped by the man who wrote the rules being caught by a tabloid newspaper in the act of breaking them. Czech Health Minister Roman Prymula says he will resign as soon as his successor is named, after the tabloid Blesk published a photograph of him emerging maskless from a restaurant around midnight, holding his wallet. All pubs and restaurants are supposed to be closed to customers, and can only provide hatch service until 8pm. The restaurant was an upscale establishment located at Prague's Vysehrad Fortress, inside a building owned by the Church. Mr Prymula spent most of Friday arguing he had merely walked through the restaurant to attend a meeting with a senior member of the prime minister's ANO party in a back room used by the Church, not the restaurant. The Church denied having any such room at its disposal. Meanwhile the damage - to his ministerial career and public confidence in government restrictions - has been done. 'Efforts down the drain' Dr Marie Bourne, a GP in the city's Karlin district, said she understood people were tired of the pandemic. But they were becoming complacent, she said, at precisely the moment it was threatening to spiral out of control. "It's really disappointing. I've felt very angry at times. Because all of the effort from springtime just seems to have gone down the drain. The virus is still here, and things have gone pretty badly since then," she told the BBC. Dr Bourne trained in the UK and worked for 15 years in the NHS. She returned to her home country in February, a few weeks before the pandemic hit. Now, barely two months since she resumed work as a GP, she's been asked to help out in the hospitals. However, she - like most doctors - doesn't believe the worst-case scenario will arrive. The Czech Republic, she says, has far more hospital beds per population than the UK for example. She believes the branch will bend, but not break. Others, including many eminent scientists, are less optimistic. A few weeks ago, an online map of the country showing community spread by district was mostly green with a few red spots. It is now entirely red. "Our estimate is that small hospitals will be overwhelmed within a few days, and big hospitals in a few weeks," said Petr Ludwig, a data scientist and best-selling author who divides his time between New York and Prague. That prediction was repeated on television a few days later by the head of the Czech Medical Chamber, who said Covid was now the second most common cause of death in the Czech Republic. Petr has brought together about a dozen scientists - including many of the country's leading epidemiologists, virologists and microbiologists - in an appeal called "Save the Czech Republic". They urge people to take individual responsibility regardless of government mandates - staying at home as much as possible and wearing masks everywhere. If not, they say, their modelling shows the current death toll of more than 2,200 could reach 15,000 by Christmas. It's a terrifying statistic. But of those 2,200 deaths since spring, half have come in the last two weeks.

चेक गणराज्य को कोरोनावायरस संकट के लिए अपनी त्वरित प्रारंभिक प्रतिक्रिया के लिए सराहा गया था, लेकिन सात महीने बाद अब एक दिन में 15,000 नए मामले दर्ज किए जा रहे हैं और दुनिया में सात दिनों में दूसरी सबसे अधिक प्रति व्यक्ति मृत्यु दर है। तो क्या गलत हुआ?


Did VE Day parties cause a spike in Covid-19 cases?

Summary: One day last week the number of new coronavirus cases registered at Bradford Royal Infirmary jumped to 30. Dr John Wright thinks there could be a link to VE Day parties that ended in fist fights, or in embraces.

The day after the Prime Minister announced an easing of the lockdown, the number of new Covid patients in the hospital fell to a reassuring three. And two of them were my medical colleagues. The low figure partly resulted from delays in reporting, which happen every weekend, but there was still a collective sigh of relief. Maybe everything was going to be all right after all? But three days later, on Thursday 14 May, the number of new Covid-positive patients had shot up to 30. It's just one figure, and in normal times we might discount it as random variation. However these are times of alertness, and every flicker of the Covid dashboard needle triggers nervous anticipation of a possible spike. There is a delay between infection and symptoms, usually about five-to-seven days. So these cases would have been incubating since the week before - and possibly since the communal gatherings on VE Day, six days earlier. VE Day - the 75th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe in World War Two - would normally have been a massive street party across the UK. Even in the lockdown, communities did what they could - decorating their homes with bunting, sitting outside in deckchairs, socialising with neighbours in street parties, keeping 2m apart. But as alcohol began to have its effect, staff in our accident and emergency unit began seeing evidence of a collapse in social distancing. "On VE day we had patients in who had been assaulted in the middle of street parties," says A&E consultant David Greenhorn. "There were a number of assaults and it was quite clear that as the alcohol flowed, the street parties became closer and they were no longer street parties, and more garden parties - and then eventually front-room parties. And then, as often happens with parties, they were boxing matches." As he points out, it's not possible to punch someone from 2m away. People rarely end up in A&E after falling in love so David has less evidence to support his next theory, but he speculates that the parties also helped to incubate Covid cases in another way. "It was a clear night and people were out and looking at the stars and singing, 'We'll meet again.' There is a lot of pent-up emotion and I understand that frustration - I know why people would want to have a drink, and once you've had a few drinks your inhibitions and judgement go and you forget to stay 2m away, and you get that 'I love you' moment. "And, you know, next thing people are hugging." So David was expecting to see a spike. Front line diary Prof John Wright, a doctor and epidemiologist, is head of the Bradford Institute for Health Research, and a veteran of cholera, HIV and Ebola epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa. He is writing this diary for BBC News and recording from the hospital wards for BBC Radio. After Thursday, the daily number of new cases at Bradford Royal Infirmary fell back to less than 15. Even before the prime minister's announcement on 10 May, the lockdown had been slowly leaking, and the legacy of any leak is an increase in the number of Covid cases. It was reported on Friday that the R number - the average number of people each infected person passes the coronavirus to - has been creeping back up across the country, and nowhere more so than in Yorkshire and the North East. Consultant in respiratory medicine Dinesh Saralaya has concerns, therefore, about members of Bradford's Muslim population gathering in the evening to buy hot food from the South Asian restaurants the city is well-known for. "A few of us have been talking about a breakdown in social distancing - I'm worried about the possibility that this might be happening as we approach the end of Ramadan," he says. He points out that people are doing less cooking at home during Ramadan, when they fast every day until sunset, and that some restaurants have opened takeaways outside. "They want the food to be hot when they break their fast, so they start queuing from around 8.30pm," Dinesh says. "You can see lots of cars pull up and there are lots of people waiting. I think that it could be exposing people and worry that we will start to see some impact of that." The end of Ramadan is approaching, with Eid-al-fitr, the breaking of the fast, being celebrated this bank holiday weekend by roughly a third of Bradford's population. Mosques would normally fill with grateful worshippers, and when Eid falls at this time of year it is particularly joyous - the city's streets and parks would typically be filled with sunshine and festivities. But this year, under the Covid cloud, the mosques will remain closed and gatherings ruled out. The message remains unchanged in our city: Stay at home, Eid at home, save lives. Follow @docjohnwright and radio producer @SueM1tchell on Twitter

पिछले सप्ताह एक दिन ब्रैडफोर्ड रॉयल इन्फर्मरी में दर्ज किए गए नए कोरोनावायरस मामलों की संख्या बढ़कर 30 हो गई। डॉ. जॉन राइट को लगता है कि वी. ई. डे पार्टियों का कोई संबंध हो सकता है जो मुट्ठी के झगड़े या आलिंगन में समाप्त हुए।


Site visit before decision on Union Terrace Gardens plan

Summary: Councillors have agreed to visit Aberdeen's Union Terrace Gardens before making a decision on whether to allow a redevelopment plan to go ahead.

Glasgow-based LDA Designs already has outline planning permission for the work to regenerate the Victorian sunken gardens. The proposals include new walkways, an amphitheatre, play area and a water feature. Officials had recommended the plans be approved. The site visit is due to happen next Wednesday.

पार्षदों ने पुनर्विकास योजना को आगे बढ़ाने की अनुमति देने पर निर्णय लेने से पहले एबरडीन के यूनियन टेरेस गार्डन का दौरा करने पर सहमति व्यक्त की है।


Omar al-Bashir: Sudan's ousted president

Summary: Sudan's ousted President Omar al-Bashir's career has been defined by war. He came to power in a military coup in 1989 and ruled what was until 2011 Africa's largest country with an iron fist.

When he seized power, Sudan was in the midst of a 21-year civil war between north and south. Although his government signed a deal to end that conflict in 2005, another one was breaking out at the same time - in the western region of Darfur, where Mr Bashir is accused of organising war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Despite an international arrest warrant issued by the ICC, he won consecutive elections in 2010 and 2015. However, his last victory was marred by a boycott from the main opposition parties. The arrest warrant has led to an international travel ban. However, Mr Bashir has still made diplomatic visits to various countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. He was forced into a hasty departure from South Africa in June 2015 after a court considered whether to enforce the arrest warrant. Before taking the helm, he was a commander in the army, responsible for leading operations in the south against the late rebel leader John Garang. When he signed the peace deal with Garang and his Sudan People's Liberation Movement, he took pains to stress the deal had not been a defeat. "We did not sign it after we had been broken. We signed it while we were at the peak of our victories," he said. Accusations against Omar al-Bashir Genocide Crimes against humanity War crimes His goal was always to keep a unified Sudan, but a referendum on secession for South Sudan was agreed as part of the peace deal. In the January 2011 referendum, about 99% of South Sudanese voters were in favour of separation. The independent state of South Sudan was declared six months later. While he agreed to let South Sudan go, his attitude to Darfur, where a conflict has raged since 2003 when rebels took up arms at alleged government discrimination, has been characterised by belligerence. But he denies international accusations that he has backed Arab Janjaweed militias accused of war crimes against the region's black African communities. Military background Mr Bashir was born in 1944 to a farming family in northern Sudan - then Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. He is a member of al-Bedairyya al-Dahmashyya, a Bedouin tribe belonging to the larger Ja'alin group. He joined the Egyptian army as a young man and rose through the ranks, fighting in the 1973 war against Israel. Little is known about his private life. He has no children and took a second wife in his 50s. He married the widow of Ibrahim Shams al-Din, considered a war hero in the north - as an example to others, he said. The long civil war had seen many colleagues fall, and he implored others to marry again so war widows could be taken care of. As head of state, his focus largely remained soldiering - the political lead being taken by two other figures. The first in the 1990s was Hassan al-Turabi, a prominent Sunni Muslim who until his death in 2016 advocated an Islamic state and ushered in a bill introducing Sharia to all provinces but the south. After they fell out in 2000, Mr Turabi told the BBC: "He's a military person who has been in power for a while and he wants to assert military power." Then Osman Ali Taha, a politician who negotiated the north-south deal, came to the fore. But his influence waned and the president took centre stage. Sudan analyst Alex de Waal said Mr Bashir's longevity in office was probably down to the fact that powerful rivals in the ruling National Congress Party distrusted each other more than they did Mr Bashir. But political unrest gained momentum quickly. Nationwide protests first started in December 2018 after the government announced that prices for fuel and bread would rise. This turned into a wider call for Mr Bashir and his government to step down. Mr Bashir declared a state of emergency in February 2019, reshuffling his cabinet and replacing all state governors with members of the army and security forces. After months of unrest, Sudan's military stepped in and finally toppled Mr Bashir on 11 April 2019. Mr Bashir was later charged with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters. He also faces corruption charges, after prosecutors said a large hoard of foreign currency was found at his home. Oil money flows - and leaves For a while during his presidency, there were pockets full of dollars as the oil flowed, controls were lifted and the telecommunications system revolutionised. But the economy floundered since the secession of the south, which took three-quarters of the country's oil with it. Ever since, belts have had to be tightened in Khartoum. Mr Bashir - who became president when it was punishable by death to be found in possession of US dollars - has denied accusations that access to government funds and oil money was an underlying cause of the unrest in Darfur. It was perhaps inevitable that a soldier-president could only be brought down by the armed forces. Once they lost faith in his ability to maintain stability in the country, there was little he could do. Despite the corruption trial, there will be little appetite to send him to also face justice at the ICC, as some of those who fought for him in Darfur retain considerable power and influence under Sudan's new dispensation.

सूडान के अपदस्थ राष्ट्रपति उमर अल-बशीर का कार्यकाल युद्ध द्वारा परिभाषित किया गया है। वह 1989 में एक सैन्य तख्तापलट में सत्ता में आए और 2011 तक अफ्रीका के सबसे बड़े देश पर एक लोहे की मुट्ठी के साथ शासन किया।


Man killed in Dublin gun attack

Summary: A man has been killed in a gun attack in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland.

The incident occurred at Grange Lodge Avenue in Clongriffin at about 15:30 BST on Monday. A second man was injured in the shooting. However, his condition has yet to be confirmed. Irish police believe that at least two gunmen were involved in the shooting.

आयरलैंड गणराज्य के डबलिन में एक बंदूक हमले में एक व्यक्ति की मौत हो गई है।


Covid-19: Mixed message from Stormont over school return

Summary: This latest Stormont split over schools feels all too familiar.

By Jayne McCormackBBC News NI Political Reporter On Thursday the executive said it had agreed a phased approach, even though DUP ministers had been advocating a quicker return. Stormont's health officials advised that a gradual, staged process would be the best way of managing the spread of the virus. But five days later and we are witnessing more friction over the issue within the executive. First Minister Arlene Foster wants Stormont to revisit its schools strategy in light of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to get all pupils in England back to classrooms on 8 March. But Sinn Féin's Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill described the phased approach as "responsible". There was some support on social media for Mrs Foster's comments but the DUP has also faced accusations of wanting to simply follow England's lead, as opposed to sticking to advice issued by Northern Ireland's health advisers. There are other reasons why the DUP feels inclined to push again on this issue. The plan agreed by Stormont on Thursday was not roundly welcomed, with some critical of the decision to bring a limited number of primary school pupils back for a short period before returning to remote learning for a week, while leaving other year groups to wait until after Easter before deciding when they might return to classrooms. TUV leader Jim Allister called it a "hokey cokey" approach, a view shared by some DUP politicians who have since taken to Twitter calling for other executive parties to reconsider the plan. The DUP may also have been listening carefully to the comments by England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty on Monday, who pointed to the damage being done to students the longer they are not in class, and that data showed there was a "minimal risk" to children of contracting the virus. It's not clear what officials in Stormont's Department of Health made of what Mrs Foster had to say or whether they'll now be inclined to speed things up. For Sinn Fein's part, there doesn't yet appear to be a desire to move faster, with South Down MP Chris Hazzard critical of how the return of schools last September was managed. The party's chair of the Stormont health committee, Colm Gildernew, argued that the executive should be doing what "suits the situation" in Northern Ireland, as opposed to moving in lockstep with Great Britain. Some teaching unions have said they want to ensure students can return quickly but it must be done safely and they remain hesitant about a full return next month. Calls for teachers to be prioritised for the vaccine continue to get louder too. Special schools in Northern Ireland have begun to be offered weekly testing but plans to introduce testing at secondary schools here, like in England, have yet to emerge. The move to remote learning for most pupils after Christmas was the result of the number of coronavirus cases spiralling out of control in Northern Ireland, and executive ministers were fully aware of the pressures it would create for teachers, parents and pupils. Alliance Party, SDLP and Ulster Unionist ministers on the executive will likely be concerned that tensions between the largest parties - the DUP and Sinn Féin - on schools could bubble over when ministers discuss their pathway-to-recovery blueprint on Thursday. The make-up of Northern Ireland's five-party executive has repeatedly made it more complicated to tackle the pandemic. How Stormont handles this developing row over schools will indicate what might come down the track with managing wider plans to exit lockdown. That too could end up feeling familiar.

स्कूलों में यह नवीनतम स्टॉर्मोंट विभाजन सभी को बहुत परिचित लगता है।


Gagandip Singh's fatal infatuation

Summary: To the outside world, Gagandip Singh had it all.

By Dil NeiyyarBBC Asian Network He was young, wealthy, ran his own satellite TV station and had started up the British Sikh Student Federation. To a handful of people who knew him well however, the 20-year-old was a tortured soul, obsessed by an "attractive and intelligent" medical student. Mundill Mahil, also 20, liked Mr Singh as a friend but had no interest in a relationship with the millionaire Sikh activist from Bexleyheath in south-east London. And one night in 2010, on a visit to Mahil's flat in Brighton, he overstepped a line for which he would ultimately pay with his life. She had allowed him to stay overnight but Mr Singh misread the signs and tried to force himself on her. She managed to fight him off and, shocked by his own actions, he broke down and apologised, before fleeing the flat. 'Gangster friend' For months afterwards, he bombarded Mahil with apologetic calls and text messages but she was upset and angry over the attempted rape. From then on, she developed an intense hatred for him and confided her feelings to others. One of those confidants was Harinder Shoker, who was also a close friend of Mr Singh. Shoker was also infatuated with Mahil, so when she told her "gangster friend" of the attempted rape the pair plotted revenge. She told the Old Bailey the plan was for Shoker and a friend to give Mr Singh a lecture on his unacceptable behaviour and possibly "a slap or two". So, after months of silence she lured Mr Singh to Brighton with an offer of talks. He had resolved to cure his obsession with her but he was "excited" at the chance to see her again and renew their friendship, the court heard. But he was also worried he could be walking into a trap and had even sent her a text message asking: "OK, can we talk civil or do you just want me dead?" On 25 February last year, he set off to Brighton borrowing his sister's Mercedes. The moment he arrived, carrying a teddy bear and flowers, and stepped through the front door and into Ms Mahil's bedroom, Shoker set upon him. He violently beat him. Ms Mahil told the court she ran out of the room in a panic because she had not expected the violence. Shoker and Peters wrapped Mr Singh in bedding and bundled it into the boot of the Mercedes. The pair drove the car back to a road near the wide open spaces of Blackheath in south-east London and poured petrol over the vehicle before setting it on fire. A post-mortem examination revealed Mr Singh was alive when the fire was started and died from inhaling the fumes. 'Revenge and retribution' The fire had been so fierce the car was unrecognisable to his family the following day. Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee QC told the jury the attack was carried out to "exact revenge and retribution" on Mr Singh, who Mahil knew "remained besotted by her". "Her role was central," Mr Jafferjee said. "If she hadn't agreed to lure him to Brighton that fateful evening the deceased would have been safe and alive today." "[Shoker] almost certainly had his own agenda and it was not of the righteous crusader protecting a young woman's virtue," he said. "He, being besotted with her, was more than happy to get rid of Gagandip." The court was told Peters was a "hired" help. Shoker, 20, of Charlton Park Lane in Greenwich, south-east London, has been convicted of murder and jailed for at least 22 years. Peters, of Shooters Hill Road in Blackheath, also 20, was convicted of manslaughter and imprisoned for 12 years. Mahil, from Maidstone road in Chatham, Kent, was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm and received a six-year sentence. All three had denied murder. It is the second tragedy for the Singh family in as many years. In 2009, Mr Singh's father Charanjit, who had built up a successful employment agency, was shot dead on a trip to India. Mahil gave Mr Singh emotional support following the murder and they grew close, before the relationship broke down. Related Internet Links HM Courts Service

बाहरी दुनिया के लिए गगनदीप सिंह के पास सब कुछ था।


Asylum seekers' anger catches fire in Lesbos

Summary: Through the barbed wire fence, the signs are there - tips of blackened trees and patches of scorched earth where a fire engulfed large parts of Moria, the biggest migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.

By Mark LowenBBC News, Lesbos By Tuesday, 12 hours after the blaze, damaged tents had already been cleared away and most of the residents of this sprawling facility had returned after escaping the flames and sleeping out in the bush. The metaphor of the inferno was clear. For months, anger has been building in Moria as asylum applications were delayed and migrants were held in an overcrowded camp. Moria has capacity for 3,500 - but about 5,000 live here in stretched facilities. "Fighting broke out between blacks and Afghans," says Kingsley, a Ghanaian man whom we spoke to through the fence, the authorities not allowing us in. "They were throwing stones at each other and there was an argument over food. The fire caused a lot of damage and my luggage was destroyed." Does he have hopes of staying in Europe, I ask? "We've been given papers that say we'll probably have to return to Turkey," he replied. "But I have hope in God." The EU deal struck to deport failed asylum seekers to Turkey and then back to their country of origin significantly cut the numbers of new arrivals here. But the quid pro quo was supposed to be visa-free travel for Turks travelling to the EU's Schengen zone in return. It hasn't happened, as Brussels says Turkey needs to amend its broad anti-terror legislation. Ankara has refused and the deal is foundering, sparking fears that new arrivals here will again soar. In the wider Lesbos community, there's also growing anger over the continued migrant presence. The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has stoked it, organising protests and exploiting the tension. It could prompt more flare-ups here. With the burnt tents removed and new ones brought in, Moria has an air of permanence. There are holes in the fences - the residents sometimes wander out, through the litter-strewn forest around it. But there's little place to go. The doors of the Balkans remain closed and the desperate are being kept here until Europe decides what to do with them.

कांटेदार तार की बाड़ के माध्यम से, संकेत हैं-काले पेड़ों की नोकें और झुलसी हुई मिट्टी के टुकड़े जहां आग ने ग्रीस के लेस्बोस द्वीप पर सबसे बड़े प्रवासी शिविर मोरिया के बड़े हिस्से को अपनी चपेट में ले लिया।


South Dakota alcohol project inspires copycats

Summary: The rural US state of South Dakota is curbing crime with a hardline programme aimed at problem drinkers. The scheme is catching the attention of policy makers in regions as far away as Hawaii and the UK, as the BBC's Catrin Nye reports.

Laverne Volk walks in Sioux Falls jailhouse and up to a counter where he hands over his dollar bill and blows hard into a breathalyser. "Morning, Laverne," he is greeted. The women behind the counter here know him. They know most of the people on the programme by name. They see them every day, twice a day. There's a click - the reading's zero. Volk, 47, walks swiftly out of the building, like most of the others who have blown into the breathalyser today. South Dakota's 24/7 Sobriety Program requires participants to take the twice-daily breath tests to prove they are not drinking excessively. Volk, who has four drink-driving convictions, says he has not drunk at all since being put on the programme, but things used to be very different. "Alcohol's been a problem all my life. I was mostly drinking on the weekends, about half a case - sometimes on Sundays and sometimes during the week," he says. He adds: "I know I had a problem. But now I'm sober. It [the 24/7 Sobriety Program] is a pain, but it works." Other participants coming in to "blow" are less positive. Andres Torres, 30, was also convicted of driving under the influence. Now he can only ride his motorbike to work and to the test centre. He says being tested twice a day is completely invasive. "The program is a huge inconvenience, and I really don't think it's very effective in what it's trying to achieve, especially for the people who have the most serious alcohol problems," he says. "People with a serious problem come in, they blow hot [positive], they can't complete the programme and they just end up back in jail." Torres has already been to prison for his driving offence. He argues he has done his time and should not still be paying for it. The testing process here in Sioux Falls is swift. One woman enters the building in full Lycra - fitting the test into her morning jog. But the programme does limit how far you can travel from test centres, which are located all across the state. The tests can be used as a sentence, as a pre-trial condition or imposed upon parents as a condition of having children returned to a household. 'Severe consequences' In Sioux Falls, the largest city in South Dakota, participants must show up for their first test of the day between 0600 and 0900 and for their second between 1800 and 2100. They pay their dollar to take a breath test, and if it is clear of alcohol they leave. If, however, the test is positive, the person is given 15 minutes to sit down and retest - and another positive reading leads to more severe consequences. Lt Scot Pfeiffer, supervising on the day the BBC visits, says that of the more than 350 people who come each day to take the test, on average up to three will fail or not show up. He says that someone can drink a small amount and still get a clean reading - a failure signals that the participant has been drinking to excess. That failure causes the participant immediately be taken to the jail's holding area, put in prison "stripes" and placed in front of a judge the same day. Depending on a person's record he or she may get 24 hours, 48 hours or possibly a week in prison. The theory is that the short, sharp consequences of failing the test give an offender a taste of life inside - but prisons are not made crowded for long periods of time. Judge Larry Long first came up with the programme in the early 1980s, when he was a prosecutor in tiny Bennett County in South Dakota. Judge Long says he was seeing the same people day in, day out, and prison was not stopping their drinking. "I was a frustrated local prosecutor because alcohol was involved in every crime, so the sheriff and I set upon this plan, frankly out of desperation," he says. "These people were coming through the system time and again for the same reason. They had had too much to drink, and they had gone out and driven a car or beaten on their wives. It was a lifestyle and we knew if we could get them separated from alcohol we could save them," Mr Long says. The pilot started and has grown from there. It was in 2007 that South Dakota's legislature unanimously created the 24/7 Sobriety Program, giving authority to the Department of Corrections and the Board of Pardons and Paroles to use it. Dealing with addiction Officials also say additional help is available for people with more serious alcohol problems. They cite statistics showing an improvement in road safety and a drop in South Dakota's prison populations since the programme's inception. Marty Jackley, attorney general for South Dakota, says the programme's success is down to removing the problem at its source. "I think it could work very well in other places," Mr Jackley says. "Whether it's Montana or North Dakota or any place seeing the benefits, it's the underlying concept - if you have an individual that's getting into trouble with the law because of alcohol, you have to deal with the addiction. "It's cost effective, and I don't think you're infringing on people's rights when the alternative is to put them in jail." The programme has already been introduced in North Dakota and is being piloted in Montana. Policy makers in London and Hawaii are looking at how it could be adapted to deal with their problems. Officials from Hawaii have recently spent time in South Dakota looking at how the programme works. In London, the mayor's office hopes the 24/7 Sobriety Program can be adapted for other drink-related crime, notably drunken violence. In July 2010, the UK Home Office reported that the total cost of alcohol-related crime and disorder to the UK taxpayer was estimated to be between £8bn ($13bn) and £13bn ($21bn) per year. And in 2009, almost one million violent crimes were alcohol related, with a fifth of all violent incidents taking place in or around a public house or nightclub.

अमेरिका का ग्रामीण राज्य साउथ डकोटा शराब पीने वालों की समस्या को दूर करने के उद्देश्य से एक कठोर कार्यक्रम के साथ अपराध पर अंकुश लगा रहा है। यह योजना हवाई और ब्रिटेन जैसे क्षेत्रों में नीति निर्माताओं का ध्यान आकर्षित कर रही है, जैसा कि बीबीसी की कैटरिन न्ये रिपोर्ट करती है।


Weather: Sunny scenes as England sizzles in heatwave

Summary: These sunny scenes show how people across England are enjoying what could be one of the hottest days of the year.

Many headed to the beach as forecasters predicted temperatures could reach a sizzling 36C in south-east England. Further inland, those with that Friday feeling stripped off to sunbathe in parks or cooled down in fountains and open air pools. And the good news is the sunshine is expected to stretch out over the weekend for much of the UK, according to the Met Office. By Jennifer Meierhans

इन धूप वाले दृश्यों से पता चलता है कि कैसे पूरे इंग्लैंड में लोग आनंद ले रहे हैं जो साल के सबसे गर्म दिनों में से एक हो सकता है।


The RAF weathermen who helped save D-Day

Summary: D-Day could have been one of the biggest disasters in military history were it not for the decisions of a Scottish weatherman and data from an RAF squadron based on a small island off Scotland's west coast.

By Cameron ButtleBBC Scotland Group Captain James Martin Stagg, from Dalkeith near Edinburgh, was the chief meteorological adviser who persuaded US General Eisenhower to change the date of the Allied invasion. Stagg not only predicted a storm on 5 June 1944, but made the vital forecast that the weather would break for long enough the following day to allow Operation Overlord to go ahead. Some of the data that helped inform Stagg's decision came from a little-known RAF squadron operating on Tiree. The 518 Squadron flew dangerous missions from Scotland's west coast hundreds of miles out into the Atlantic in all weathers to send back meteorological readings. The Normandy landings were the largest seaborne invasion in history and laid the foundations for the Allied victory in World War Two. They had been planned for 5 June but low tides and good weather were vital to be able to get hundreds of thousands of troops on to the beaches of France. The low tides were easy to predict but getting the weather right as well was another matter. Low cloud would mean no air cover and rough seas could sink landing craft. In those days, many years before satellite imaging and computer modelling, weather forecasting was far from an exact science. Prof Liz Bentley, from the Royal Meteorological Society, said: "In 1944, the forecaster was reliant on pure weather observations." However, observations from land stations could not tell forecasters what the weather was like far out in the Atlantic. This was where the 518 squadron came in. It was their job to fly from the inner Hebrides out over the Atlantic in specially-equipped bombers and record the weather conditions. Dr John Holliday, a local historian on Tiree, said the story of the 518 squadron's contribution has never properly been told. The RAF unit moved to the island in September 1943 from Stornoway on Lewis. According to Dr Holliday, their mission was to fly on two "tracks" for hundreds of miles over the Atlantic and radio back temperature and air pressure measurements, which were fed to the headquarters near London. The squadron used Halifax bombers, which had all their bombing equipment stripped out to help them fly the long-range sorties. Dr Holliday says the missions could take eight to 10 hours and were often conducted at night and in severe weather conditions, requiring "amazing" navigation skills. "Consequently they lost a lot of men," he says. "This was one of the most dangerous stations to be in." In January 1944, eight men died when a meteorological flight got lost in bad weather and hit cliffs at Bundoran in Donegal. Dr Holliday says: "I'm struck with admiration when you look at what they had to do and read their descriptions of the battering they got out in the Atlantic. It is just extraordinary." The island of Tiree was transformed by the presence of about 3,000 military personnel, with many from Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Poland as well as the UK. One of the squadron crew, Warrant Officer Gordon Wilkes, later wrote: "We were never glamorised on the front page of the daily newspapers, or talked about in pubs and bars, but we were always there, whatever the weather." He calculated that 10 aircraft and 54 crew were lost while operating from Tiree in 1944. Meanwhile, in the south of England, at the heart of the Allied Supreme command, was Group Captain Stagg. Using the data from Tiree and other squadrons, he fought to convince General Eisenhower to delay the landings by one day. Eventually Eisenhower listened and the largest maritime operation in history was put on hold. Prof Bentley, from the Royal Meteorological Society, said there was much disagreement between the US and UK forecasters. She says: "They had ruled out 5 June as too stormy but Stagg had seen one observation about 600 miles to the west of Ireland that showed the surface pressure was beginning to rise, so there was potential for things to settle down." They came back on the morning of 5 June to check if this was still the case. Stagg felt there was an opportunity for a small ridge of high pressure to be settling in the English Channel the next morning but he was still met with disagreement. Prof Bentley said it was likely that the German forecasters were also expecting the bad weather to continue and had not expected an invasion under those conditions. If the D-Day landing had not taken place on 6 June they would have been delayed for two weeks and on that day the Channel was again hit by a large storm, which meteorologists would have struggled to forecast. Instead, Stagg was proved right and the D-Day invasion went ahead on 6 June, beginning the liberation of German-occupied France, and later Europe, from Nazi control.

डी-डे सैन्य इतिहास की सबसे बड़ी आपदाओं में से एक हो सकती थी, अगर यह स्कॉटिश मौसम विज्ञानी के निर्णयों और स्कॉटलैंड के पश्चिमी तट से दूर एक छोटे से द्वीप पर स्थित आरएएफ स्क्वाड्रन के आंकड़ों के लिए नहीं होता।


Chellaston crash: Driver charged over passenger death

Summary: A man has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving after a woman died in a crash in Derbyshire.

Lizzy Keenan, 30, was a passenger in a car involved in a crash in Derby Road, Chellaston, at 03:10 BST on Monday. Derbyshire Police said it was still investigating what caused the crash. Richard Keenan was also charged with driving while disqualified, driving without insurance, driving while under the influence of alcohol and criminal damage. The 23-year-old, of Hartshill Road in Swadlincote, has been remanded in custody and will appear at Derby Crown Court on 19 September.

डर्बीशायर में एक दुर्घटना में एक महिला की मौत के बाद एक व्यक्ति पर खतरनाक ड्राइविंग से मौत का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Reading school closed after cyclist 'struck by car'

Summary: A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a cyclist was struck by a car near a girls' school, police have said.

The rider, a 37-year-old man, suffered serious leg injuries in the crash which happened at about 05:20 BST on Friday. Reading Girls' School closed for the day due to Northumberland Avenue, in Whitley, being cordoned off by police. A 45-year-old man from Reading remains in police custody. Thames Valley Police said it was called to "reports of an altercation", and they believe the men are known to each other. Det Insp Dave Turton said: "I appreciate the concern this will cause in the local community, but we believe this to be an isolated incident." Related Internet Links Thames Valley Police

पुलिस ने कहा है कि लड़कियों के स्कूल के पास एक साइकिल सवार को कार ने टक्कर मारने के बाद हत्या के प्रयास के संदेह में एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


The odd argument over public spending

Summary: British politics is a rather unfamiliar landscape at the moment: the share of voters who back none of the main parties is expected to reach an all-time high at this year's elections. Who knows how things will turn out?

Chris CookPolicy editor, BBC Newsnight Yet today, the Conservatives launched a campaign which feels very 1992. The Tories unveiled a re-run of one of their oldest campaign messages: "Labour cannot be trusted not to spend more than the country can afford". In making that case, the Tories have - as is traditional for a governing party - produced civil service estimates for how much some Labour policies will cost. Next year alone, the Conservatives say, Labour would spend £23bn more than them. But the whole exercise is a bit odd. First, because we know that Labour do want to spend more than the Conservatives. There's no conspiracy here. As the Institute for Fiscal Studies says, Labour's fiscal rules imply it could "spend more or tax less to the tune of around £43bn in 2019-20". Second, because as one senior civil servant put it to me: "It's fair to say that opposition costings are not given the same care as real ones. Which is to say, I do not think paying attention to them is a terribly good use of your time." Just silly In some cases, the government costings are just silly. For example, Labour has a policy of introducing a network of "director of school standards" to take on functions exercised by the Department for Education's local panjandrums and by local councils. Labour says there will be 40 to 50 of these people. But the official costing assumes there will be 150. It keeps going: Labour thinks all classroom teachers should have a teaching qualification. But not, say, hockey coaches or piano teachers. But the DfE costing assumes that all of those people - along with conventional teachers - will all need to be qualified. In some cases, the extra spending is not real. For example, part of the cost of insisting all teachers be qualified is higher pay for now-qualified teachers. The need for higher pay is a major part of the cost of implementing that policy. But we fix the overall cost of schools and let head teachers sweat the details. So in the short term, the cost of higher pay for some will come from other teachers experiencing lower pay. It will not come from overall spending rises. Not all the oddnesses go the Conservatives' way: costings for Labour's pledge on apprenticeships could have been higher, but for an error. Still, it's rather odd that, when Labour's own plans imply that it could spend £43bn more a year at the end of the parliament, that the Conservatives have focused their efforts on a slightly dubious £23bn at the start. There's a proper argument to be had here. And, in what I fear will be a constant refrain in the coming months, we still don't know about how spending squeezes in the coming years will be parcelled out among departments and spending areas by any of the parties. That's really where the voters need detail.

ब्रिटिश राजनीति इस समय एक अपरिचित परिदृश्य हैः उन मतदाताओं की हिस्सेदारी जो किसी भी मुख्य दल का समर्थन नहीं करते हैं, इस साल के चुनावों में सर्वकालिक उच्च स्तर पर पहुंचने की उम्मीद है। कौन जानता है कि चीजें कैसे बदलेंगी?


No defence witnesses called in Craig Whyte fraud trial

Summary: Former Rangers owner Craig Whyte's defence team have closed their case in his fraud trial after deciding not to call any witnesses.

Mr Whyte's QC Donald Findlay read a joint minute of agreed evidence at the High Court in Glasgow. Prosecutor Alex Prentice QC will now sum up on Thursday, before Mr Findlay concludes on Friday. Mr Whyte is accused of acquiring Rangers by fraud. He denies the charge and another under the Companies Act. The trial, before judge Lady Stacey, was adjourned for the day and will continue on Thursday.

रेंजर्स के पूर्व मालिक क्रेग व्हाइट की बचाव टीम ने किसी भी गवाह को नहीं बुलाने का फैसला करने के बाद उनके धोखाधड़ी के मुकदमे में अपना मामला बंद कर दिया है।