Did Dr Beeching get it wrong with his railway cuts 50 years ago?

Summary: Fifty years ago, the Beeching Report was published, spelling the end for thousands of stations and hundreds of branch lines. But now, in one corner of Britain, a new line is being laid that will restore a link cut by Beeching's axe.

By Richard WestcottBBC transport correspondent I still find it incredible that half a century after a rather grey civil servant from the Isle of Sheppey wrote his report about our trains, Dr Beeching remains one of the most famous, or should that be infamous, bad guys in British history. Then again, his bland-looking booklet, called the Reshaping of British Railways, did change the network forever. Beeching was recruited by the government from a very successful business career at ICI, to make the railways profitable again. By the early 1960s the industry was bleeding millions of pounds a year. His solution was simple - close down the bits that lost the money. The Beeching report recommended taking an axe to about a third of the network - 5,000 miles of track, including hundreds of branch lines, 2,363 stations and tens of thousands of jobs. Instead, it would concentrate on the things trains did well. Fast journeys between the cities. Improved bus services could replace branch lines, argued Dr Beeching. In a public information film at the time he said: "On one half of the whole route mileage of British Railways, there is only one 20th of the traffic... the real question is whether you, as owners of the railways, want us to go on running these services at very high cost when the demand for them has very largely disappeared." The report was explosive. Blood boiling Even today the name Beeching can get some people's blood boiling. I met a famous trainspotter from Sheffield at an event to "celebrate" the 50th anniversary of Beeching's report. I asked Michael Palin, the former Monty Python star who later carved out a career travelling the world, often by train, whether he thought Beeching was a hero or a villain. He said: "Definitely villain, to me, but then I always have been a huge supporter of railways. There was something about the scale and the brutality of the attack that I remember at the time made me feel that this is wrong." His memories echo so many others from the time, as the Beeching axe left its mark across Britain. Palin told me: "My father... travelled to London regularly on an express called the Master Cutler, which went from Sheffield to Marylebone, well that line suddenly disappeared. "The line through from Sheffield to Manchester where we lived and grew up, which had the great Woodhead tunnel, one of the longest tunnels in the world, three miles long, the tunnel was closed while they built a motorway over the Pennines. It had very profound effects in our city," he added. But does Dr Beeching really deserve his reputation as the bogeyman of the railways? Arguably not. For starters, he took over an old network that was losing a lot of money. And the line closures began long before the Beeching report. More than 3,000 miles disappeared in the 1950s and the government wanted to axe a lot more. "Beeching has become a handy scapegoat for our frustration at the failings of the transport system and the destruction of 'traditional' branch line England by modern car culture," said Charles Loft, author of Last Trains, Dr Beeching and the Death of Rural England. But he added: "The real instigators of rail closures were civil servants trying to work out how you adapt a country that was built around the horse and cart and steam train, to accommodate the cars people wanted to drive and the lorries business wanted to use." 'Bad press' He is backed up by the man running the railways today, Network Rail boss Sir David Higgins. He told me: "Beeching has had a really bad press... the reality is he made the tough decisions that anyone in that position would probably have had to make, the shame was it wasn't followed on with investment in the subsequent decades after that." True, he took a clinical, bean-counting approach to the problem. But that is what he was meant to do. He is often criticised for ignoring the social benefits of having a rail line. There are doubts over his figures and in the end the railway never did make the savings he promised. But Dr Beeching did not cut the rail lines - successive government ministers did, and they would undoubtedly have cut the network anyway, report or no report. Back then most people assumed that cars, lorries and buses were the future. And they were right. These days nine out of 10 passenger journeys are by road. But what no-one foresaw was the role railways would play in the modern world. Today, record numbers are taking the train despite the recent recession. I have just come back from Scotland, where we braved blizzards to film the new £300m Borders line, which they have just started building between Edinburgh and Tweedbank. Well, I say new. They are actually rebuilding the line Beeching suggested cutting 50 years ago and it is not the only cut line that is being reborn. Billions are now being invested in Britain's trains and we are on the brink of building a new high-speed line linking London to the north of England and possibly beyond. Goodness knows what Dr Beeching would make of it all if he were alive today.

पचास साल पहले, बीचिंग रिपोर्ट प्रकाशित हुई थी, जिसमें हजारों स्टेशनों और सैकड़ों शाखा लाइनों का अंत लिखा गया था। लेकिन अब, ब्रिटेन के एक कोने में, एक नई लाइन बिछाई जा रही है जो बीचिंग की कुल्हाड़ी द्वारा काटे गए लिंक को बहाल करेगी।


Man charged after Cardiff social distancing trees damaged

Summary: A man has been charged with criminal damage after trees placed on a road to help with social distancing were damaged.

Cardiff Council had placed the trees in Wellfield Road, Roath, as part of measures to widen pavements and prevent cars from parking on the street. A 31-year-old man from Pentwyn will appear at Cardiff Magistrates' Court on 30 July, South Wales Police said. He has been bailed with the condition not to enter the street, police added.

सामाजिक दूरी में मदद करने के लिए सड़क पर रखे गए पेड़ों को क्षतिग्रस्त करने के बाद एक व्यक्ति पर आपराधिक क्षति का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Ambulance delay in Sauchen death case 'due to high demand'

Summary: The Scottish Ambulance Service was not able to get to an Aberdeenshire patient who died quickly due to "high demand" for crews at the same time.

John Thomson, 65, died in Sauchen on Sunday 16 September. Police had initially said his death was unexplained but later ruled it was not suspicious. The Scottish Ambulance Service said pressures meant they were not able to get to Mr Thomson "as quickly as we would have liked". It has been reported Mr Thomson had to wait 90 minutes for the nearest ambulance to get to him, from Banchory. The service said in a statement: "This was a tragic incident and we have met with the family to offer our sincere condolences. "At the meeting, we were able to discuss the case in detail and explain that we were experiencing exceptionally high levels of demand that evening with our crews responding to a number of very urgent, high priority calls."

स्कॉटिश एम्बुलेंस सेवा एक एबरडीनशायर रोगी तक पहुँचने में सक्षम नहीं थी, जो उसी समय चालक दल की "उच्च मांग" के कारण जल्दी ही मर गया।


Warsaw Ghetto: The story of its secret archive

Summary: Throughout the bitter days of the Warsaw Ghetto, a clandestine group of researchers compiled a vast archive detailing every aspect of life in this prison city built and then obliterated by the Nazis. Led by a historian, Emanuel Ringelblum, the group then buried the archive for for future generations.

By Monica WhitlockBBC World Service On the hot night of 3 August 1942, 19-year-old David Graber signed his name on a piece of paper and put it inside a metal box at 68 Nowolipki Street, in the heart of the Warsaw Ghetto. "I would love to see the moment in which the great treasure will be dug up and scream the truth at the world," he wrote. "May the treasure fall into good hands, may it last into better times, may it alarm and alert the world to what happened… in the 20th Century… May history be our witness." David knew that he might have only hours, or minutes. German soldiers had arrived in the next street. Two weeks before, they had begun to drive the half-million Jewish men, women and children living in the ghetto into trains taking them to the new death camp at Treblinka. On 2 August, 6,276 people had been taken. On 3 August, another 6,458 were seized. With David was another teenager, Nahum Grzywacz, and a teacher, Israel Lichtensztajn. The three were part of a colossal, secret attempt to record every detail of ghetto life in an archive - David's "great treasure". The codename for this project was Oyneg Shabbes (Joy of the Sabbath). The Oyneg Shabbes collaborators had amassed tens of thousands of documents by August 1942. Some were written, in the form of diaries, essays and commissioned surveys, poetry and precise reportage in Yiddish, Polish and other European languages. Others were gathered. Hundreds of paintings, sketches, maps, tram tickets, recipes and even photographs secretly developed in the ghetto were carefully wrapped in paper and stored. Unearthed from the archive The researchers filled 10 of the metal boxes, bound them with cord and hid them inside the brick foundations of 68 Nowolipki, an old school building. "I only wish to be remembered," reads Lichtenstzajn's last note on behalf of himself and his wife, a well-known artist. "I wish my wife to be remembered, Gele Seksztajn. I wish my little daughter to be remembered. Margalit is 20 months old today." The man behind the Oyneg Shabbes was a historian and social activist, Emanuel Ringelblum. He was living with his wife and young son in Warsaw when the armies of Germany advanced through Europe and into Poland - the heartland of European Jewry. Polish Jewish families in their tens of thousands were driven into walled prison cities known as ghettos, or fled to Warsaw thinking they'd be safe in a modern capital in which every third person was Jewish. They were not. "The Saturday the ghetto was introduced was terrible," wrote Ringelblum in November 1940. "People in the street didn't know it was going to be a closed ghetto, so it came like a thunderbolt." Ringelblum began by recording each day himself. But gradually he invited more and more trusted contacts to join in. Some wrote in Polish, but most in Yiddish. To Ringelblum, the revival and maintenance of Yiddish was of paramount importance, in a population filled with intense debate about its identity and under pressure as never before. Each document provides a precise and personal insight into life in a community that still hoped and planned for peace. Snatched photographs show smugglers vaulting the three-metre wall with the sacks of food which helped the majority just avoid starvation. A recipe for frozen potatoes, an article on rotten fish cooked with saccharine and synthetic honey speak of how far those scraps of food stretched. Researchers logged the words to the cries of beggars, and advertisements for umpteen adult education classes from physics to paper flower making. "Everyone wrote," recorded Ringelblum. "Journalists and writers of course but also teachers, public men, young people - even children. A tremendous amount was written... a photograph of life." Commissioning, writing and collecting was structured tightly. Secretaries made copies in triplicate, in case the project was uncovered, even using the typewriters and carbon paper of the Judenrat, the Jewish council set up by the Germans. No single person knew the whereabouts of all the documents, in order to create a security firewall. Each document reveals the sharp, bright detail of real life. We meet the poet, Wladislaw Szlengel, as he sits by his phone in the ghetto, looking through his window to the park on the other side. The phone still works - but he has no one to call in the other Warsaw beyond the wall, the one he called home before 1940. The bitter jokes in the archive still work: "Hitler comes to the other world. Sees Jesus in Paradise. 'Hey, what's a Jew doing without an armband?' 'Let him be,' answers St Peter. 'He's the boss's son.'" Other testimonies mark the many who died without trace. "Terrible case of a three-year-old refugee child," Ringelblum writes of a family sent by train to the ghetto. "The guard threw the child into the snow. Its mother jumped off the wagon and tried to save the child. The guard threatened to shoot all the Jews in the wagon. The mother arrived in Warsaw and here went out of her mind." The concert programmes and tickets preserved give a glimpse of names once famous in what had been a sophisticated European capital. There are performances by world-class musicians from the Warsaw Radio Orchestra and the Philharmonic. Staff from the Electro-Syrena record company were also confined within the ghetto. The first record label in Poland, Electro-Syrena, had been bringing out popular dance music in Polish and Yiddish since 1904, a back-list of 14,000 titles. In the long summer of 1939, weeks before the German invasion, it produced a smokey foxtrot that would be its last record. One of the label's greatest stars, the elegant Artur Gold, was so famous to his German captors that they made him perform at Treblinka, wearing a clown suit, before they killed him. David Graber, Nahum Grzywacz, Israel Lichtensztajn, Gele Seksztajn, 20-month-old Margalit, Emanuel Ringelblum, Yehudit Ringelblum, Uri Ringelblum, the poet Wladislaw Szlengel, the orchestras, the staff of the Electro-Syrena label, Artur Gold - none of them survived the war. Nor did Nowolipki Street. In 1943, after the ghetto uprising, German soldiers blasted the shabby streets still standing into rubble and ash. But three members of the Oyneg Shabbes inner circle did come through. In September 1946, after weeks of planning and calculation, they estimated where the hiding place must have been and dug beneath the rubble. The 10 boxes were still there, intact, and the papers legible, bar some water damage. Then in 1950, labourers at one of the new post-war housing estates in what was now communist Warsaw stumbled upon two metal milk churns filled with documents. Around 35,000 documents were recovered in total. All efforts to find the last cache - the biggest - have failed. Most recently, archaeologists looked under the garden of the Chinese embassy on what was Nowolipki Street, but found nothing but the burnt scraps of a diary. The rest of the archive may still be under Warsaw. You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook

वारसॉ यहूदी बस्ती के कड़वे दिनों के दौरान, शोधकर्ताओं के एक गुप्त समूह ने नाजियों द्वारा निर्मित और फिर नष्ट किए गए इस जेल शहर में जीवन के हर पहलू का विवरण देते हुए एक विशाल संग्रह संकलित किया। एक इतिहासकार, इमानुएल रिंगेलब्लम के नेतृत्व में, समूह ने भविष्य की पीढ़ियों के लिए संग्रह को दफना दिया।


How dangerous are lasers to planes?

Summary: A New York-bound Virgin Atlantic flight was forced to return to Heathrow Airport after being struck by a laser beam - most likely from a hand-held laser pointer. But how dangerous are these devices? And what does the law in the UK say about their use?

What type of lasers are used? According to the UK government, laser pointers - also known as laser pens - are those most commonly used against planes. They are usually portable, low-powered battery-operated devices. How powerful are they? Lasers are categorised by strength, ranging from Class 1 lasers - including those used to play CDs - to Class 4 devices - which can be strong enough to cut metal and to medically treat eyes. There are seven different levels of laser, in four classes. However, the strength of laser pens can vary widely. Laser pens should have a maximum one milliwatt (mW) power output when sold to the public - one thousandth of a watt - according to Public Health England (PHE) guidelines. Such pointers are too weak to damage eyes - apart from in exceptional circumstances. However, PHE says it has found laser pointers available to buy that are much stronger, with many found to be Class 3 or higher. It says: "A number of high-power laser pointers, generally emitting green beams, are available over the internet. The laser beam powers may be up to a few hundred milliwatts. "These devices are extremely dangerous and are not suitable for sale to the public." What do medics say? Fahd Quhill, a consultant ophthalmologist at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, says any laser beam has the potential to distract and disturb a pilot. However, lasers would have to be extremely powerful to blind someone at 1,300ft (396m). Mr Quhill treated a pilot whose eye was injured by a laser, which he suspects was several thousand times more powerful than guidelines recommend. It left him "flash blind" and unable to see for 45 minutes. The pilot has also suffered permanent damage to the eye, although he retained his sight. "It was enough to cause injury to the retina. If the angle had been different it could have left him blind," he added. He has also treated 10 children who have suffered permanent damage after beams were shone in their eyes, again from pens significantly above the 1mW guideline. Most were found to be 40-100 time more powerful than recommended, Mr Quhill added. How easy are they to get hold of? Laser pens are not illegal in the UK and are widely available online, costing anything from £20 to £500. Those sold in the UK are usually classified in accordance with the current safety standards. However, stronger lasers can be imported via the internet. One South Korean-based website offers to ship the "world's most powerful handheld laser" to the UK, starting from $199 (£137). According to David Taylor, of National Police Air Service (NPAS), it is "extremely easy" to pick up lasers on the internet that are about 5,000 times more powerful than the strength of a typical classroom pointer. What damage can they cause planes? Aviation industry experts say lasers can be "very" dangerous to pilots, and therefore planes. Commercial airline pilot Janet Alexander says: "It's very like a lightning strike in that it's very instantaneous, very bright light, which is dazzling. If it's targeted in exactly the wrong way you could permanently damage someone's sight." Aviation security expert Julian Bray says such shining lasers into cockpits presents a threat to the entire plane. Pilots can be "temporarily blinded" and can receive retina damage, or receive "a very nasty headache", adding: "So it is very dangerous indeed." How common is it? Between January 2009 and June 2015 more than 8,998 laser incidents across the country were reported to the UK Civil Aviation Authority. In 2014 alone, there were 1,440 reported incidents in the UK. Heathrow had the most, at 168. Manchester International airport had the second most in that period, with 107, followed by Birmingham airport, with 92, and Leeds Bradford airport, with 81. Is it illegal? In 2010, a law was passed in the UK which allows offenders to be charged with "shining a light at an aircraft in flight so as to dazzle or distract the pilot". If the distraction or dazzle is serious, a person may be found guilty of "reckless endangerment" and sent to prison. Between 2010 and 2014, 199 people were convicted of the offence in the UK. Last year, a man who targeted a Police Scotland helicopter with a laser pen was jailed for 12 months after detectives used thermal imaging equipment to locate him. In 2014 three men from Leicestershire were jailed for using laser pens to dazzle pilots coming in to land at East Midlands Airport. It is still not an offence to possess a laser, but the NPAS wants stronger laws in the UK to crackdown on the purchase and use of lasers. Lasers should be classed as "offensive weapons" and banned in the UK, the British Airline Pilots Association said.

न्यूयॉर्क जाने वाली वर्जिन अटलांटिक उड़ान को लेजर बीम से टकराने के बाद हीथ्रो हवाई अड्डे पर लौटने के लिए मजबूर होना पड़ा-सबसे अधिक संभावना है कि एक हाथ से पकड़े जाने वाले लेजर पॉइंटर से। लेकिन ये उपकरण कितने खतरनाक हैं? और यूके में कानून उनके उपयोग के बारे में क्या कहता है?


'Boeing was at my father's funeral and I was not'

Summary: Zipporah Kuria was fighting back tears.

By Simon BrowningBBC News Eight months after the Boeing 737 Max crash that killed Ms Kuria's father, Joseph Waithaka, the site of impact was covered on Thursday and unidentified remains of the victims were buried in rows of identical coffins. But Ms Kuria wasn't there. Officials from Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines are believed to have attended a ceremony at the site, but because of the short notice Ms Kuria and other relatives of the dead were unable to attend. Family members of three separate victims told the BBC they were only notified of the ceremony days ago. As a result, only relatives of two of the 157 victims attended. "It is absurd. It makes me shudder that Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines are at my father's funeral and I'm not," Ms Kuria said. The crash happened in a rural area to the south-east of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It left behind a deep crater which until this week still contained accident debris and some human remains. Families of those killed say they were left horrified after they visited the site last month and found that recent rains had uncovered bones and other items. Some, they said, were floating in flood water in the crater. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 was lost minutes after take-off on what should have been a routine flight from Addis Ababa to the Kenyan capital Nairobi on 10 March. It came down in farmland, in a deeply rural area. In the immediate aftermath, those human remains that could be found were removed, along with the plane's flight recorders and large items of wreckage. The crash is believed to have occurred after a flight control system known as MCAS deployed at the wrong time, forcing the nose of the aircraft down when the pilots were trying to gain height. A similar malfunction has been blamed for the loss of a near-identical 737 Max in Indonesia a year ago. The aircraft has been grounded for the past nine months, banned from flying by aviation authorities around the world. The violence of the impact of the Ethiopian Airlines flight meant that when my colleagues and I visited the site in May, there was still a great deal of smaller debris lying in the fields. The deep impact crater itself remained, alongside huge mounds of earth from the recovery operation, with a rough wooden fence the only barrier to access. Animals were able to roam freely across the site. There were no guards and no official presence. After that, the victims' relatives say, the situation worsened as a result of seasonal rains. They have been demanding action. Nadia Millieron, whose daughter Samya Rose Stumo died in the crash, recently told the BBC: "There were bones being revealed all the time and local people are coming to the site and covering them. We want Ethiopian Airlines to move the piles of earth into the crater, take the unidentifiable remains into the crater and to cover everything". Ethiopian Airlines, which is managing the site, told victims' families it was aware of the issue, but claimed insurance issues had prevented it from taking action. But after coming under pressure from the relatives, and following an investigation by the BBC, it appears those difficulties have now been overcome. On Thursday, rows of coffins were placed neatly in the crater. These contained remains that had previously been removed for forensic analysis, but which could not be identified due to contamination. Then they were covered over and the crater itself was filled, the dark earth matching the surrounding fields. The site is now a permanent grave. Relatives of the victims believe Ethiopian Airlines had a duty to keep them informed about the burial and should have given them more notice. The BBC has approached the carrier for a comment. Boeing has refused to comment on reports that one of its senior executives, Jennifer Lowe, was among those present. The company said in a statement: "We continue to offer our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Lion Air Flight 610 and we are committed to helping those affected by these tragedies." Last month, Ms Kuria travelled with her family to Ethiopia to collect and bring home some of her father's remains. She said it was "heartbreaking" that she was unable to get to the site in time for the covering of the site. "My dad is being buried, well most of him, as we only received a small amount of him back," she said. She said she would have jumped on a flight if it had been possible. "They've robbed us of our closure," she said.

जिप्पोरा कुरिया आँसू बहा रही थी।


Men bailed after Birmingham female genital mutilation probe arrests

Summary: Two men arrested over allegations of female genital mutilation in Birmingham have been released on bail.

The men, aged 55 and 61, were arrested on Friday on suspicion of offences contrary to the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, police said. The arrests were made after police went to addresses in Sparkhill, Moseley and Kingstanding. It follows a Sunday Times article last month alleging the illegal procedure was available in the city. The men have been bailed "while further police inquiries take place", a spokesman said.

बर्मिंघम में महिला जननांग विकृति के आरोप में गिरफ्तार दो पुरुषों को जमानत पर रिहा कर दिया गया है।


The Canary Girls: The workers the war turned yellow

Summary: The sacrifice of soldiers killed during World Wars One and Two is well-documented. But the efforts of munitions workers stained yellow by toxic chemicals is a story much less told. A campaign now hopes to honour the so-called Canary Girls, who risked life and limb to supply ammunition to the frontline.

By Lauren Potts & Monica RimmerBBC News In 1915, while men were fighting on the battlefields, thousands of women were answering the government's cry for help by joining the war effort. In their droves they signed up to fill the gaps left by those called into service, taking jobs in transport, engineering, mills and factories to keep the country moving. But while those who swapped domestic life for the assembly line were spared the trauma of the trenches, their jobs were nonetheless fraught with danger. Munitions workers battling the "shell crisis" of 1915 were prime targets for enemy fire, with sites routinely flattened by enemy bombs. Those who were spared such a fate were no less safe, facing daily peril by handling explosive chemicals that carried the risk of them contracting potentially fatal diseases. And for some, the effects of their work were immediately visible; a lurid shade of yellow that stained their skin and hair and earned them a nickname - the Canary Girls. "We were like a canary," said Nancy Evans, recalling her time at the Rotherwas factory in Herefordshire during World War Two. "We were yellow, it penetrated your skin. Your hair turned blonde and on the top of the crown was the proper colour of your hair." Though temporary, the affects of packing shells with trinitrotoluene - more commonly known as TNT - ran more than skin-deep. According to Dr Helen McCartney, from King's College London, some workers gave birth to "bright yellow" babies. Gladys Sangster, whose mother worked at National Filling Factory Number 9 near Banbury, Oxford, was one of them. "I was born [during the war] and my skin was yellow," she told the BBC. "That's why we were called Canary Babies. "Nearly every baby was born yellow. It gradually faded away. My mum told me you took it for granted, it happened and that was it." As well as suffering the cosmetic consequences of working with TNT, workers risked amputation with every shell that passed through their hands. Amy Dale, who is researching munitions factories for her PhD, said those at Royal Ordnance Filling factories (ROFs) risked losing fingers and hands, burns and blindness. "In these factories, they would take the casing, fill it with powder, then put a detonator in the top and that had to be tapped down. If they tapped too hard, it would detonate," she said. "It happened to one lady, who was pregnant at the time, and it blinded her and she lost both her hands. "She saw the pregnancy through, but the only way she could identify the baby was with her lips, which still had feeling." Explosions were a common occurrence, with fatal blasts reported at factories in Ashton-under-Lyne, Barnbow near Leeds, and Chilwell in Nottinghamshire. Such were fears that a rogue spark caused by static might lead to an explosion that women were banned from wearing nylon and silk. Nellie Bagley, whose first shift at Rotherwas in 1940 was on her 18th birthday, remembers having to strip down to her underwear to be inspected. "You took everything off and you had just your bra and if it had a metal clip on the back you couldn't wear it... and no hair grips of course, because they would caused friction... explosions." The women operated in a tense atmosphere, heavy with the weight of government fears that information could fall into the wrong hands. Posters papered the walls bearing slogans such as "Keep Mum She's Not So Dumb" to deter talk among workers. "They were everywhere, [the word] 'war' with a big ear on it and 'Gossip Costs Lives'," remembered Mrs Bagley. "You were aware all the time of being watched." But even in the darkest of moments, there remained a sense of workforce camaraderie. "When we were on nights they used to say 'Come on Lou, get us started singing'," said Louisa Jacobs, 94. "We would sing from night to the early hours of the morning. It kept us going because we didn't realise the danger we were working in." Fellow Rotherwas worker, Amy Hicks, added: "We would be singing, even when the bombs fell." And fall they did. In 1942, the Rotherwas factory was attacked by the Luftwaffe, which dropped a pair of 250kg bombs on the 300-acre site. Nancy Billings, who was coming to the end of a night shift, survived the blast. "It was about 6am and the girl next to me had said, 'I'm so tired I could sleep forever'. Then all of a sudden the siren went off. "This plane came down so low you could see the big black cross on it and then the bomb dropped. It had a direct hit. "There was [numerous] girls killed in there. It always comes to me about the girl working next to me, because she was one that didn't get out." Of those who survived life in the factories, many were beset with health problems in later life. Some reported bone disintegration, while others developed throat problems and dermatitis from TNT staining. "The women suffered all sorts of illnesses and ailments from turning yellow, but turning yellow was probably the least of their problems," said Dr McCartney. "They accepted all sort of terrible working conditions, they knew they were putting themselves in danger - TNT was yellow, they saw what was happening. "But there's evidence that it was seen as a patriotic act… as them doing their bit for the war effort." Others suffered more sinister illnesses - one of the most serious being a liver disease called toxic jaundice. There were 400 cases of the disease during World War One - a quarter of which were fatal, said historian Anne Spurgeon. "There was the yellow that was the staining of the skin, which while unpleasant, wasn't fatal or a serious disease. "But there was this liver disease that was a different yellow. "When they had repeated exposure to TNT, it attacked the liver. It was a poison and caused anaemia and jaundice." In 1914, it was discovered TNT was poisonous and the following year, toxic jaundice became a notifiable disease. Health and safety measures in factories were stepped up to limit exposure, such as providing protective clothing, but only so much could be done to eradicate the risks. "[The government] wasn't ignoring it, they were trying to do something about it within the limits of their knowledge at the time," said Dr Spurgeon. "But [TNT] was what had to go into the shells, so they had to use it." About a million women worked at thousands of Ministry of Munitions sites during both world wars. But the number of those killed or seriously injured in the line of duty is a mystery - something Ms Dale is trying to find out as part of her research. "It was a really dangerous job, which I think is why so little is known about it," she said. "Women weren't allowed anywhere near a gun, yet they were filling shells in factories. "They were actively engaged in an act of war which I think made people uncomfortable." A campaign led by BBC Hereford and Worcester hopes to see records of how many workers died released, as well as cement the place of munitions workers in war history. The project has already been discussed at Prime Minister's Questions and there are plans to unveil a statue at the National Arboretum in Staffordshire. But Ms Billings said she had always felt the sacrifices made by the so-called munitionettes should have been recognised. "I do think [we] should've got a medal for what [we] did, I've always thought that. And we should've got a letter from the Queen. "It was a very dangerous job and it affected [our] health." For the relatives of those who worked at Rotherwas, which had 4,000 woman at its peak, recognition has been a long time coming. "It was such a dangerous job," said Mrs Hicks's daughter, Jenny Swiffield. "It was as dangerous as going up and flying and dropping bombs. "I'm [proud] and I think anyone would be if their parents had done something like that."

प्रथम और द्वितीय विश्व युद्ध के दौरान मारे गए सैनिकों का बलिदान अच्छी तरह से प्रलेखित है। लेकिन जहरीले रसायनों से पीले रंग के गोला-बारूद श्रमिकों के प्रयासों की कहानी बहुत कम बताई गई है। एक अभियान अब तथाकथित कैनरी गर्ल्स को सम्मानित करने की उम्मीद करता है, जिन्होंने अग्रिम मोर्चे पर गोला-बारूद की आपूर्ति के लिए जीवन और अंगों को जोखिम में डाला।


Man charged over death of Nottingham student hit by car

Summary: A man has been charged with causing the death of a student who was hit by a car in Nottingham city centre.

William Christmas, 19, died at the scene of the crash on Derby Road during the early hours of 19 March. Manish Shah, 38, of Barsby Drive, Loughborough, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving and dangerous driving. Mr Christmas, from Dorset, was a first-year student at the University of Nottingham. Mr Shah has been bailed and is due to appear at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on 14 January. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.

एक व्यक्ति पर नॉटिंघम शहर के केंद्र में एक कार की चपेट में आने से एक छात्र की मौत का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Bands FC on display at Manchester's Football Museum

Summary: An exhibition celebrating the inextricable link between football and pop music has opened in Manchester.

Bands FC is the work of Mark Liptrott and Nick Fraser who have - in their own words - reimagined "bands as football teams and football teams as bands". Oasis and The Stone Roses, for example, are reinvented in the image of Manchester rivals City and United, respectively beloved by the bands. Bands FC is at Manchester's National Football Museum until 22 November.

फुटबॉल और पॉप संगीत के बीच अटूट कड़ी का जश्न मनाने वाली एक प्रदर्शनी मैनचेस्टर में खोली गई है।


Eastbourne stabbing: Man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder

Summary: A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a stabbing in East Sussex.

Two men were seriously injured in Firle Road, Eastbourne, at 21:30 BST on Tuesday. One of the men, aged 37, remains in hospital in a stable condition, while the second, aged 33, has been discharged. Sussex Police said a 21-year-old man from Bexhill had been arrested and remains in custody. A spokesman said it was believed to be an "isolated incident" and has appealed for witnesses.

ईस्ट ससेक्स में छुरा घोंपने के बाद हत्या के प्रयास के संदेह में एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Graffiti on WWII German naval bunker

Summary: Graffiti has been painted on the walls of a German World War Two bunker in Jersey.

The Channel Islands Occupation Society, which looks after the bunkers, said it would be expensive to clean up. Tom Brossman, of the society, said the graffiti was seen when volunteers were doing routine checks in the area. The bunker, known as the Noirmont Command Bunker, was built by Nazi forces during their occupation of the Channel Islands in the 1940s.

जर्सी में द्वितीय विश्व युद्ध के जर्मन बंकर की दीवारों पर भित्ति चित्र बनाए गए हैं।


Could Edinburgh be the next European city to charge a tourist tax?

Summary: Edinburgh Council has been pushing for a tourist tax in Scotland, saying a £1 a night bed charge could generate £11m a year for the city. Other Scottish councils, including Highlands and Aberdeen City, are also keen. But will it happen? Here are some key questions and answers.

By Emma GordonBBC Scotland What is a tourism tax? Tourism tax, also known as an occupancy or bed tax, is a levy that is usually charged per person, per night. It is on-top of the cost of a holiday, and is paid directly by guests to hotels, B&Bs, and campsites. The rate typically varies by the standard of accommodation, location and local authority, and children often attract reduced rates or are exempt. The money raised is usually used to help protect the environment, pay for infrastructure, or promote tourism. There is no such tax currently in the UK, and the idea has attracted opposition from business. A survey by the Federation of Small Businesses found three-quarters of respondents were against the tax, with fears it will put tourists off. That's not the view of Airbnb in Edinburgh which backs the move. Which countries have one already? About two-thirds of EU member states currently impose occupancy taxes on visitors - the exceptions being Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxemburg, Sweden and the UK. Some levies are country-wide, and some are contained to cities, or areas. There are also charges in other part of the world, including the United Arab Emirates, and the USA. Barbados introduced a levy this summer. Why could it happen in Edinburgh? The number of people visiting Edinburgh continues to rise. In the last five years, visitor numbers increased by 18% to 3.85 million. In a city of 489,000 residents, that's a lot of extra people to try and avoid on the pavements. Edinburgh has long advocated a levy for the capital, where visitors are estimated to spend nearly £1.5bn a year, supporting about 34,800 jobs. As far back as 2011, councillors agreed in principle to a tourism tax plan, but establishing such a power would require an act of the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish government has remained lukewarm about the idea of taxing visitors. However, there has been speculation that a levy of this type could potentially become a bargaining chip of the government's as it seeks the support of the Scottish Greens for its forthcoming budget. Where else in Scotland is in favour? Areas which have a lot of tourists, including Highland, Argyll, and Aberdeen. Highland has six million annual visitors, with well documented pressures on roads in places like Skye, as well as parking problems near the Glenfinnan Viaduct.

एडिनबर्ग परिषद स्कॉटलैंड में एक पर्यटक कर के लिए जोर दे रही है, यह कहते हुए कि एक रात के बिस्तर के शुल्क से शहर के लिए प्रति वर्ष 11 मिलियन पाउंड उत्पन्न हो सकते हैं। हाइलैंड्स और एबरडीन सिटी सहित अन्य स्कॉटिश परिषदें भी उत्सुक हैं। लेकिन क्या ऐसा होगा? यहाँ कुछ प्रमुख प्रश्न और उत्तर दिए गए हैं।


Bloody Sunday: PM David Cameron's full statement

Summary: This is the full transcript of the statement Prime Minister David Cameron made to MPs in the House of Commons on the day the Bloody Sunday report was published.

"The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is publishing the report of the Saville inquiry - the tribunal set up by the previous government to investigate the tragic events of 30 January 1972, a day more commonly known as Bloody Sunday. We have acted in good faith by publishing the tribunal's findings as soon as possible after the general election. Mr Speaker, I am deeply patriotic. I never want to believe anything bad about our country. I never want to call into question the behaviour of our soldiers and our army, who I believe to be the finest in the world. And I have seen for myself the very difficult and dangerous circumstances in which we ask our soldiers to serve. But the conclusions of this report are absolutely clear. There is no doubt, there is nothing equivocal, there are no ambiguities. What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong. 'Loss of self-control' Lord Saville concludes that the soldiers of the support company who went into the Bogside did so as a result of an order which should not have been given by their commander. He finds that, on balance, the first shot in the vicinity of the march was fired by the British Army. He finds that none of the casualties shot by the soldiers of support company was armed with a firearm. He finds that there was some firing by Republican paramilitaries but none of this firing provided any justification for the shooting of civilian casualties. And he finds that, in no case, was any warning given by soldiers before opening fire. He also finds that the support company reacted by losing their self-control, forgetting or ignoring their instructions and training and with a serious and widespread loss of fire discipline. He finds that despite the contrary evidence given by the soldiers, none of them fired in response to attacks or threatened attacks by nail or petrol bombers. And he finds that many of the soldiers - and I quote knowingly - put forward false accounts to seek to justify their firing. 'Crawling away' Lord Saville says that some of those killed or injured were clearly fleeing or going to the assistance of others who were dying. The report refers to one person who was shot while crawling away from the soldiers. Another was shot in all probability when he was lying mortally wounded on the ground. The report refers to the father who was hit and injured by army gunfire after going to attend to his son. For those looking for statements of innocence, Saville says that the immediate responsibility for the deaths and injuries on Bloody Sunday lies with those members of support company whose unjustifiable firing was the cause of those deaths and injuries. Crucially, that, and I quote, none of the casualties was posing a threat of causing death or serious injury or indeed was doing anything else that could, on any view, justified in shooting. For those people who are looking for the report to use terms like murder and unlawful killing, I remind the House that these judgments are not matters for a tribunal or politicians to determine. Mr Speaker, these are shocking conclusions to read and shocking words to have to say. But Mr Speaker, you do not defend the British Army by defending the indefensible. We do not honour all those who have served with such distinction in keeping the peace and upholding the rule of law in Northern Ireland by hiding from the truth. There is no point in trying to soften or equivocate what is in this report. It is clear from the tribunal's authoritative conclusions that the events of Bloody Sunday were in no way justified. 'Deeply sorry' I know that some people wonder whether, nearly 40 years on from an event, [if] a prime minister needs to issue an apology. For someone of my generation, Bloody Sunday and the early 1970s are something we feel we have learnt about rather than lived through. But what happened should never, ever have happened. The families of those who died should not have had to live with the pain and the hurt of that day and with a lifetime of loss. Some members of our armed forces acted wrongly. The government is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the armed forces and for that, on behalf of the government, indeed, on behalf of our country, I am deeply sorry. Mr Speaker, just as this report is clear that the actions of that day were unjustifiable, so too is it clear in some of its other findings. Those looking for premeditation, a plan, those even looking for a conspiracy involving senior politicians or senior members of the armed forces, they will not find it in this report. Indeed, Lord Saville finds no evidence that the events of Bloody Sunday were premeditated, he concludes that the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland governments and the army neither tolerated nor encouraged the use of unjustified lethal force. He makes no suggestion of a government cover up. Mr Speaker, the report also specifically deals with the actions of key individuals in the army, in politics and beyond, including Major-General Ford, Brigadier McLellan, and Lieutenant Colonel Wilford. In each case, the findings are clear. It does the same for Martin McGuinness. It specifically finds he was present and probably armed with a sub-machine gun but it concludes, and I quote, "we're sure that he did not engage in any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any justification for opening fire". 'Bloodiest year' Mr Speaker, while in no way justifying the events of January 30th, 1972, we should acknowledge the background to the events of Bloody Sunday. Since 1969, the security situation in Northern Ireland had been declining significantly. Three days before Bloody Sunday, two RUC officers, one a Catholic, were shot by the IRA in Londonderry, the first police officers killed in the city during the Troubles. A third of the City of Derry had become a no-go area for the RUC and the Army. And in the end, 1972 was to prove Northern Ireland's bloodiest year by far, with nearly 500 people killed. And let us also remember, Bloody Sunday is not the defining story of the service the British Army gave in Northern Ireland from 1969-2007. This was known as Operation Banner, the longest continuous operation in British military history, spanning 38 years and in which over 250,000 people served. Our armed forces displayed enormous courage and professionalism in upholding democracy and the rule of law in Northern Ireland. Acting in support of the police, they played a major part in setting the conditions that have made peaceful politics possible. And over 1,000 members - 1,000 members - of the security forces lost their lives to that cause. Without their work, the peace process would not have happened. Of course, some mistakes were undoubtedly made, but lessons were also learned. And once again, I put on record the immense debt of gratitude we all owe to those who served in Northern Ireland. 'Long campaign' Mr Speaker, may I also thank the tribunal for its work and all those who displayed great courage in giving evidence. I would also like to acknowledge the grief of the families of those killed. They have pursued their long campaign over 38 years with great patience. Nothing can bring back those who were killed, but I hope, as one relative has put it, the truth coming out can help set people free. John Major said he was open to a new inquiry, Tony Blair then set it up. This was accepted by the leader of the opposition. Of course, none of us anticipated that the Saville inquiry would take 12 years or cost almost £200m. Our views on that are well-documented. It is right to pursue the truth with vigour and thoroughness, but let me reassure the House there will be no more open-ended and costly inquiries into the past. Today is not about the controversies surrounding the process, it is about the substance, about what this report tells us. Everyone should have the chance to examine its complete findings and that is why it is being published in full. Running to more than 5,000 pages, it is being published in 10 volumes. Naturally, it will take all of us some time to digest the report's full findings and understand its implications. The House will have an opportunity for a full day's debate this autumn, and in the meantime the Secretaries of State in Northern Ireland for Defence will report back to me on all the issues which arise from it. 'Close painful chapter' Mr Speaker, this report and the inquiry itself demonstrate how a state should hold itself to account and how we should be determined at all times, no matter how difficult, to judge ourselves against the highest standards. Openness and frankness about the past, however painful, they do not make us weaker, they make us stronger. That is one of the things that differentiates us from the terrorists. We should never forget that over 3,500 people from every community lost their lives in Northern Ireland, the overwhelming majority killed by terrorists. There were many terrible atrocities. Politically-motivated violence was never justified, whichever side it came from. And it can never be justified by those criminal gangs that today want to draw Northern Ireland back to its bitter and bloody past. No government I lead will ever put those who fight to defend democracy on an equal footing with those who contine to seek to destroy it. But neither will we hide from the truth that confronts us today. In the words of Lord Saville, what happened on Bloody Sunday strengthened the Provisional IRA, increased hostility towards the Army and exacerbated the violent conflict of the years that followed. Bloody Sunday was a tragedy for the bereaved and the wounded and a catastrophe for the people of Northern Ireland. Those are words we cannot and must not ignore. But I hope what this report can also do it is mark the moment where we come together in this House and in the communities we represent to acknowledge our shared history, even where it divides us. And come together to close this painful chapter on Northern Ireland's troubled past. That is not to say we should ever forget or dismiss the past, but we must also move on. Northern Ireland has been transformed over the last 20 years and all of us in Westminster and Stormont must continue that work of change, coming together with all the people of Northern Ireland to build a stable, peaceful, prosperous and shared future. And it is with that determination that I commend this statement to the house."

यह प्रधानमंत्री डेविड कैमरन द्वारा जिस दिन खूनी रविवार की रिपोर्ट प्रकाशित की गई थी, उस दिन हाउस ऑफ कॉमन्स में सांसदों को दिए गए बयान की पूरी प्रतिलिपि है।


Grenfell: Test results show scale of building regulations problem

Summary: New cladding tests have shown not only that there are widespread problems with materials used in buildings, but also within institutions that we charge with keeping us safe. The government has announced a review of building regulations. To be successful, it will need to take on a sector that struggles with respecting its own rules.

Chris CookPolicy editor, Newsnight The last significant results of a set of large-scale fire tests were released today. They imply that 228 buildings have cladding that may require replacement or modification. You would be forgiven for having lost the thread of how we got here. But the rough story so far goes like this: after Grenfell, the government effectively commissioned an audit of buildings across England to establish what type of aluminium cladding was used on which buildings. They also audited the types of insulation that lay underneath them. They found three broad types of aluminium cladding in use based on how well they could resist fire: Armed with that information, the government commissioned six large-scale tests which sought to establish which types of insulation could safely be used with each of these cladding types. These fire tests are rather large enterprises: they mock up large-scale models of different wall systems using different combinations of insulation and cladding. They then light a fire under them to watch what happens. The government commissioned two tests for each aluminium cladding type: one with a traditional mineral wool insulation, which is basically fire-proof. And one with a combustible insulation - a so-called "PIR" foam, which is the type of insulation used at Grenfell. Such tests are really supposed to happen before designs using combustible materials are installed on buildings (we have written rather a lot about why this process did not happen previously - but we will return to some of those issues). The full-scale tests The results came in as follows: "FR" cladding passed when paired with non-combustible insulation. Plastic combustible insulation passed when it had the protection of the most fire-proof aluminium panels. But otherwise, allthetests failed. One of the original six tests is still outstanding, but it is almost certain to pass. However, the government has commissioned a seventh test. The rationale for it is that not all plastic foams are alike. The original tests used so-called PIR foam insulation. But there is another popular type of combustible plastic foam, known as "phenolic" foam, which is held to have quite different fire performance. It was conceivable that a phenolic could pass the test with FR-grade cladding, even if PIR did not. So that was the seventh test - the test for which we got the results today. The phenolic did, indeed, perform a little better than the PIR - but it still failed. The phenolic was deemed to have failed the test after 28 minutes. The equivalent PIR test lasted just 25 minutes. Kingspan, a manufacturer of phenolic insulation, said that they intended to commission "further tests of phenolic insulation in combination with a range of FR and non-combustible" alumnium panels in order to improve the evidence base available. They expected that phenolics would pass the test when mounted under non-combustible panels, just as PIR foams had. Altogether, that test means the government knows of 228 buildings with cladding that is of a configuration which failed the test. The lesson appears to be: if you must use combustible insulation, box it in with panels of limited combustibility. And if you really want to use FR cladding, you need to pair it with fireproof insulation. But there is a bigger result to these tests. The failure of the institutions The tests reveal the failure of some of the institutions we have charged with making sure that building standards are maintained. A principle of our building regulations is that if you wish to use combustible materials on the exterior of tall buildings, the design of cladding system you are using should be subject to a fire test. Sector bodies did not uphold that principle. Soon after the Grenfell fire, Newsnight revealed how one of the entities that signs off buildings, supplying so-called "Approved Inspectors" to developers, had issued worrisome advice. Not just any body, either. The National House Building Council (NHBC), the very first entity outside local government to be given the authority to do building sign-off back in the 1980s. They announced last September that they would sign off a variety of combustible insulation boards combined with cladding with a combustible core - and they stated that you did not need to do a test nor commission a study to use such combinations. NHBC themselves stated that "this is on the basis of... having reviewed a significant quantity of data". Some of these combinations have now been explicitly shown to be unsafe. Newsnight's reporting led them to withdraw their advice at the time, back in June, but their judgments about building safety must be called into question. On what basis did they introduce this sweeping guidance? Exova Warringtonfire, one of the few longstanding fire engineering companies, also has questions to answer. They wrote reports which implied that phenolic insulation could be used safely with FR-grade aluminium panels. They stated that you could use combustible insulation and combustible cladding. And this was not on the basis of conducting actual fire tests on the designs in question. Instead, Exova argued that the aluminium panels would behave, in a fire, in a similar way to ceramic tiles. Thus, fire tests using ceramics could be used as a substitute for systems using aluminium cladding. When we first published this story, sector experts were shocked by Exova's judgment - which we now know to be flawed. We have asked both Exova Warringtonfire and the NHBC for comment on the evening of this publication - although the late hour of publication has made it difficult for them to respond. NHBC tonight simply stated that they will only sign off buildings using a reading of the rules that take "the results of these tests into account". Exova said their studies "are based on the data available at the time and issued on the understanding that they are subject to review if further data becomes available". The principles in our building regulations could be better drafted. But the bigger problem appears to be that institutions we expected to care about fire safety did not uphold the standards we demanded of them.

नए क्लैडिंग परीक्षणों से न केवल यह पता चला है कि इमारतों में उपयोग की जाने वाली सामग्रियों के साथ व्यापक समस्याएं हैं, बल्कि उन संस्थानों के भीतर भी हैं जिनसे हम हमें सुरक्षित रखने के लिए शुल्क लेते हैं। सरकार ने भवन नियमों की समीक्षा की घोषणा की है। सफल होने के लिए, इसे एक ऐसे क्षेत्र से निपटने की आवश्यकता होगी जो अपने स्वयं के नियमों का सम्मान करने के लिए संघर्ष करता है।


Harrogate's Great Yorkshire Show gets under way

Summary: The Great Yorkshire Show agricultural event is under way.

Thousands of people are expected to flock to Harrogate for the farming extravaganza, which is in its 157th year. The Prince of Wales, who became its patron in 1998, will be in attendance along with the Duchess of Cornwall. Organisers hope to smash the current attendance record of 135,111 over three days, set in 2006. It fell just short last year with 130,949 visitors. There will be more than 1,200 stands and almost 13,000 entries this year, for competitions ranging from show-jumping to sheep-shearing. Show director Bill Cowling will be stepping down after ten years at the helm. He said: "This will be our 157th show and as ever it, it will be the perfect platform for the best of British farming as well as a fun day out for all the family." The 2012 event was cancelled after one day for the first time in its history due to heavy rain, at a cost of £2m. The forecast on the first day will be mainly dry with the possibility of a few showers.

ग्रेट यॉर्कशायर शो कृषि कार्यक्रम चल रहा है।


Legal action over North Sea helicopter deaths settled

Summary: Legal action by the partners of two pilots who died in a North Sea helicopter crash has been settled.

The pilots - Paul Burnham, 31, of Methlick, Aberdeenshire, and Richard Menzies, 24, of Worcestershire - and all 14 passengers died in April 2009 when the Super Puma came down. Their partners, Joanne McKenzie and Katherine Botham, lodged multi-million pound personal injury claims. Bond Offshore Helicopters said the claims had been settled. A hearing had been due at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

उत्तरी सागर हेलीकॉप्टर दुर्घटना में मारे गए दो पायलटों के भागीदारों द्वारा कानूनी कार्रवाई का निपटारा कर दिया गया है।


Clevedon Pier visitor centre plans on display to public

Summary: Plans for a new £1.6m visitor centre at the grade I-listed Clevedon Pier in Somerset are to go on display to the public.

The proposed glass structure was given planning permission last year. The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has passed it through stage one of its funding application, which would provide half the cost if successful. Chairman Simon Talbot-Ponsonby said: "It's a very exciting project." Facilities will include a cafe, toilet and a meeting and education space. The HLF bid would provide £675,000 of the project's total cost, with the rest made up from local councils and donations from charitable trusts and the public. The plans are to go on display to the public at the Tollhouse on the pier.

समरसेट में ग्रेड I-सूचीबद्ध क्लीवडन पियर में एक नए £1.6 मिलियन के आगंतुक केंद्र की योजनाओं को जनता के लिए प्रदर्शित किया जाना है।


Pope may ruffle feathers on US/Cuba trip

Summary: Pope Francis's forthcoming nine-day visit to the US and Cuba, which starts on Saturday, will be his 10th and longest trip abroad yet and, for the 78-year-old, it is likely to be challenging on many levels.

Caroline WyattReligious affairs correspondent@CarolineWyatton Twitter It is the Argentine-born Pope's first trip to the US and, while he has attained popularity ratings there that any politician would envy, his reputation as a Pope for the poor and the vulnerable - and his stance on saving the environment - has ruffled feathers, especially among conservatives. There is also some nervousness in Washington as to what he may say to representatives of the world's richest country, and in some quarters puzzlement over the way he does not fit easily into America's "culture wars" and defies categorisation. On his three-city tour of the US (Washington, New York and Philadelphia), this Pope from the southern hemisphere will focus on immigration, visit a prison and reach out to the poor. Some liberals are disappointed that he has not done more so far to reform Catholic teaching on same-sex relationships, despite changing the tone of the Roman Catholic Church towards gay men and women, and some campaigners are likely to want to challenge that. It is not yet clear whether he will meet victims of abuse by Catholic clerics in America, where the Church has had to pay out millions in compensation for child abuse and is still facing court cases, although it is thought likely that he will. Catholic identity Pope Francis has also been shifting the meaning of what it is to be Catholic in the US today. Under his predecessors, Catholic identity was tied up with opposition to abortion, a conservative position on marriage and same-sex relationships, but Pope Francis is changing the emphasis from adherence to doctrine to what Catholics do to help the poor, immigrants and the dispossessed. Paul Vallely is author of Pope Francis: Untying the Knots - subtitled The Struggle for the Soul of Catholicism. He said: "Francis is not a liberal. He's a very complicated character. "He's got some liberal tendencies, but he's got some conservative tendencies too. He wants to shift the focus from sex to poverty." There will be many opportunities on this nine-day trip for Pope Francis to challenge both the faithful and the political classes in Cuba and America. He is due to make 26 speeches - eight of them in Cuba and 18 in the US - and as the Vatican knows all too well, he often veers off-script to deliver his pastoral wisdom in the down-to-earth language of a parish priest. Off-the-cuff remarks The majority of his speeches will be in Spanish, a tongue in which he is particularly prone to making off-the-cuff remarks, rather than in his more halting English, although that is the language he will use to make his addresses at the White House and Congress and his prayer at the 9/11 memorial. He is a Pope who has spoken of the need for priests to be "shepherds, living with the smell of their sheep", something he has put into practice in his own Papacy, while his exhortations to consume less and do more for the poor have irritated some on the American right, especially his remarks that the unbridled pursuit of money is the "dung of the devil". On that, he may find an ally in the Castro family, with his first stop in Cuba likely to see a meeting with Fidel Castro in Havana, if he is well enough, as well as President Raul Castro. Although Cuba remains an avowedly agnostic state, its president got on so well with Pope Francis on his visit to the Vatican earlier this year that he emerged with a surprising statement. "If the Pope keeps going the way he's going, I'll go back to praying and go back to the Church, and I'm not joking," President Castro said after their talks. He added: "When the Pope goes to Cuba in September, I promise to go to all his masses and with satisfaction." Pope Francis's foreign visits: Brazil (22 to 29 July 2013) Israel, Jordan and Palestinian territories (May 2014) South Korea (August 2014) Albania (September 2014) France (November 2014) Turkey (November 2014) Sri Lanka and Philippines (January 2015) Bosnia and Herzegovina (June 2015) Bolivia, Ecuador and Paraguay (July 2015) Cuba and US (September 2015) Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic (November 2015)

पोप फ्रांसिस की अमेरिका और क्यूबा की आगामी नौ दिवसीय यात्रा, जो शनिवार से शुरू हो रही है, उनकी अभी तक की 10वीं और सबसे लंबी विदेश यात्रा होगी और 78 वर्षीय के लिए, यह कई स्तरों पर चुनौतीपूर्ण होने की संभावना है।


Man charged with attempted murder of Hampshire PC

Summary: A man has been charged with attempting to murder a police officer who was stabbed with two knives.

The officer received injuries to his head, neck and hands while attending a call about concern for someone's welfare in Churchill Way, Basingstoke, on 12 April. Thomas Gracey, 44, of Littlemore in Oxfordshire, is accused of attempted murder. He is due to appear at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court on 10 December. Hampshire Police said the injured officer had fully recovered and was back at work. Related Internet Links HM Courts & Tribunals Service

एक व्यक्ति पर एक पुलिस अधिकारी की हत्या करने का प्रयास करने का आरोप लगाया गया है, जिस पर दो चाकू से वार किया गया था।


AONB Vs National Landscape: What's in a name?

Summary: Wales's Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty could be re-branded 'National Landscapes of Wales', under proposals now being mulled over by the Welsh Government. The recommendation was made in the first stage of a wide-ranging review of how best to preserve and promote our national parks and AONBs in the future. The authors say the name change is "necessary to enhance the status" of these beauty spots and boost their international profile. Not everyone agrees.

By Delyth LloydBBC News As I drive home from work each night, I pass a sign saying: "Clwydian Range: Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty". It could not be clearer: look out of the window now because you are about to see something pretty special. Only five areas of Wales - Gower, Anglesey, the Llyn Peninsula, the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley and the Wye Valley - are classified as AONBs and they wear it as a badge of pride. It is perhaps unsurprising then that a proposal to scrap this name in favour of 'National Landscapes of Wales' has, in some quarters at least, gone down like a lead balloon. Clwyd West AM Darren Millar claims it would "belittle everything the Clwydian Range has to offer". "It is a national treasure," he said. "And it deserves to be called an AONB." In Gower, which was Britain's very first AONB, opposition has been fierce, with volunteer groups, tourist trade organisations and local MP Byron Davies all panning the plan. "The words Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty say it all," said Mr Davies. "If it's not broken, don't fix it." Re-branding can be a 'turn-off' He could have a point. Re-branding is a risky business. "The worst thing you can do is confuse people," said Cardiff-based branding expert Caroline Holmes. "People really buy into a brand and changing even one little thing can really turn them off." "Cardiff City is a classic example," she said, referring to the controversial - and ultimately doomed - attempt by owner Vincent Tan to ditch the blue the club had played in since 1908. Malaysian businessman Mr Tan decided in 2012 that red would prove more attractive commercially in international markets. The colour is perceived as strong, vibrant and lucky in the far east. But the fans hated it, attendances fell and in January 2015, the Bluebirds turned blue again. Royal Mail's shambolic "Consignia" name change is another classic example of when re-brands go bad. It cost £2m, became a public laughing stock and just sixteen months later, was consigned to the dustbin of history. "I think changing your brand is a huge decision," said PR executive Gwyneth Moore. "It's an expensive thing to do. Not only do you have to change your logo, you also have to communicate that change and you have to do it as seamlessly as possible. You also need to make it as transparent as possible so people understand the reasons behind it." 'Coalmines and slagheaps' "When companies or organisations come to us thinking about a re-brand," said Caroline Holmes, "we try to look at it as a story-telling process. What story does your organisation want to tell and does the name of your brand tell it?" Mike Morgan, Director of independent hotel consortium Welsh Rarebits, thinks the term 'National Landscapes of Wales' might throw some tourists off-course. "There's a risk that people will picture coalmines and slagheaps," he said. "There's a danger of confusion and I think it's change for change's sake. "The AONB name has years of brand integrity. Visitors understand exactly what it is and it fits what we have to offer here in Wales. I think it's a great name." Chris Osbourne, Chair of the Wales Tourism Alliance, says he does not understand what all the fuss is about. "We were consulted on this issue and really as long as these areas continue to be looked after, we feel the rest is just bureaucracy," he added. "The name change may help to increase awareness of and therefore the significance of these areas. But it's not a ground-shaker." It will be some months before the Welsh Government makes a decision on the name change. A spokesman said if the recommendation was accepted, it would be subject to a full public consultation. So in the meantime, what do the experts think - AONB or National Landscape? "I think the term AONB is unusual in that it's so descriptive and emotive," said Gwyneth Moore. "The brand has has been around for quite some time and it's become something we understand and appreciate. The name itself says it all whereas the name 'National Landscape' doesn't depict anything out of the ordinary and doesn't actually tell us anything. "I think changing it is a bit of a pointless exercise." Caroline Holmes said she can see both sides of the argument. "I quite like the idea of introducing the world 'Wales' into it. AONBs run across England and Northern Ireland so this could help Wales as a brand. "But is the term 'National Landscape of Wales' as immediately clear as AONB? Possibly not. After all, it could be argued that everywhere in Wales is part of its national landscape."

वेल्स सरकार द्वारा अब विचार किए जा रहे प्रस्तावों के तहत वेल्स के उत्कृष्ट प्राकृतिक सौंदर्य के क्षेत्रों को 'वेल्स के राष्ट्रीय परिदृश्य' का नाम दिया जा सकता है। भविष्य में हमारे राष्ट्रीय उद्यानों और ए. ओ. एन. बी. को कैसे संरक्षित और बढ़ावा दिया जाए, इसकी व्यापक समीक्षा के पहले चरण में सिफारिश की गई थी। लेखकों का कहना है कि इन सौंदर्य स्थलों की स्थिति को बढ़ाने और उनकी अंतर्राष्ट्रीय प्रोफ़ाइल को बढ़ावा देने के लिए नाम परिवर्तन आवश्यक है। हर कोई सहमत नहीं है।


Pip Blom: The rock band with real family 'support'

Summary: Music is deeply-rooted in the Blom family tree.

By Paul GlynnBBC Music Pip, 22, and her brother Tender (as in the Blur track) last week heard the lead single from their band's debut album played on both BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music. Their mum, Leonieke Daalder, acts as their auxiliary tour manager, booking hotels, while dad Erwin is on social media duties. He's even been developing an app to help the band keep track of their merchandise sales. There was a time, though, when Erwin was the Dutch family's chief rock 'n' roll bread-winner, with his own post-punk outfit Eton Crop. Now this Friday, as part of Independent Venue Week, Blom Senior's band will go on stage before his talented offspring, just a few short years after Pip made her own live debut supporting - you guessed it - Eton Crop. 'Special in so many ways' "This show is going to be special to us in so many ways," beams Pip, ahead of the family affair at the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts in Stowmarket, Suffolk. "It was Sheila Ravenscroft's idea. After my father's band recorded five John Peel [Sheila's late husband] sessions for his Radio 1 show in the eighties, they became friends. "First Sheila asked us, and then she had a great idea of Eton Crop doing the support. "My very first solo gig was supporting them. This time it's the other way around. That's life!" She adds: "I am not directly influenced by their music, because Eton Crop wasn't played around the house! "I am influenced by the music my parents played though. There was always music around, from The Breeders to Franz Ferdinand, Hank Williams to Robbie Williams, La Roux to Kylie Minogue. "But it is cool to do this. Eton Crop still do a small yearly tour in England, but this time they'll all come over for this one gig." 'Absolutely brilliant' Before all that, though Pip, Tender and co. will play an entire week of shows in support of Independent Venue Week. They'll kick off at Sixty Million Postcards in Bournemouth on Monday night, before similarly intimate gigs at Moles in Bath, The Horn in St Albans and more. Tor Byrnes, events manager at Sixty Million Postcards, is delighted to be able to provide a platform for such burgeoning bands to flourish. "Being an independent promoter, I'm specifically into female-led indie-tinged punk," says Tor. "Pip Blom played in Bournemouth a couple of years ago in a small venue and the gig was absolutely brilliant. "It's really great to see someone growing, adding to the band, and the fact I can be part of that is even better." For Amsterdam native Pip, the UK has become a home from home over the past few years due to the demand for their shows. After playing alongside their dad, the band - who recently won two Europe Moves Music Talent Awards - will go on to perform at The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, Birkenhead Library and the Music Hall in Ramsgate, where they recorded their forthcoming album, Boat. She says the country's independent venues have "more personality and character" than the arenas and tents that often litter the big cities. "Usually they are a lot smaller which I always prefer," Pip admits, "and the people who work there are usually passionate about what they're doing. "It's cool because lots of them are in smaller towns that don't really get lots of bands going there. "It's really important for people that are into music that they can come to gigs and don't have to travel for like an hour to see something." Official ambassadors The rising indie stars are official ambassadors for this year's Independent Venue Week. They're in good company, with the likes of Novelist, Billy Bragg and The Blinders, as well as Public Service Broadcasting and Thurston Moore, also lending their support. The event, which is supported by the Arts Council, began in 2014 with just 17 venues. Since then it has grown year on year, with more than 200 venues now taking part. This year, for the first time, comedy gigs and screenings of music documentaries (did somebody say Bros?) will also be included. Chloe "Colin" Ward, UK Director for the initiative, says the event has "grown phenomenally". "Every year we're getting brand new venues opening," she says. "This year we've got three venues that are less than one year old, one of which, Beckenham Arts Lab, is opening on 1 February - using the week as a launch for a brand new venue." Financial pressure In 2018 the UK's first live music census found a third of Britain's small venues outside of the capital are struggling to survive. Chloe hopes Independent Venue Week will provide a timely boost. "We hope by drawing attention to the arts and all the activity in and around the venues," she explains, "that people will go more shows throughout the week and throughout the year, and alleviate some of the financial pressure on the venues." The Bloms are clearly doing their bit to support local live music venues. But what about their new single, Daddy Issues? Will that title cause any tensions between the support band and the headliners at Friday's big family gig? "No," laughs the singer. "Daddy Issues has nothing to do with my dad!" Pip Blom's debut album, Boat, is out on 31 May and Independent Venue Week runs from 28 January-3 February Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

संगीत की जड़ें ब्लॉम परिवार के पेड़ में गहरी हैं।


First anniversary of beaver comeback

Summary: This weekend marks one year since beavers were released into the wild in Scotland for the first time since the 17th century. The reintroduction of the animals to Knapdale Forest in Argyll has been controversial as our Scotland Correspondent, James Cook explains.

True to form the beavers have been busy. After a 400 year absence from Britain they wasted no time in getting to work. In a dappled clearing of Knapdale Forest the evidence of their activity is all around. Sharp teeth marks are left on several large trees which have been gnawed to the ground as timber. A little deeper into the woodland, a small clump of rowan trees has been felled and dragged away. Sharp twigs In fact the beavers have neatly thinned out a whole section of the forest near Barnluasgan. The little lumberjacks have removed the wood for a major construction project - a dam built with remarkable precision. It's an impressive piece of engineering. Earth, moss and wood are propped up by a neat array of sharp twigs, supported by larger logs which even a human would find difficult to lift. All but a trickle of water has been stopped, flooding the flat land upstream, including a forestry path. The result has been to extend the beavers' territory, giving them more shallow water in which to forage, seek shelter and, possibly, breed. Nick Purdy who manages the area for the Forestry Commission is impressed with what he calls the "natural woodland managers". He explained: "Dare I say it, some of our forestry contractors have probably got something to learn from them "They've been felling material for creating the dam and it's all cut to length, it was all presented perfectly for dragging out to the dam. "You'd have thought people were doing it rather than beavers to be honest." Chubby spaniels All this work was carried out by animals which are not much bigger than chubby spaniels. As dusk fell earlier this week a small group of enthusiasts watched as one beaver emerged from the family lodge. The animal glided silently across the water, pushing out a little bow wave before dipping and diving with a flash of a powerful tail. The first 12 months of this five year trial have seen their ups and downs. But the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust which are running the project, insist it's been a success so far. Simon Jones, project manager of the Scottish Beaver Trial, said: "We're really happy with the way things have gone to date. "So far we've released four families of animals into the wild here at Knapdale. "Three of them have settled really well and have gone on to build lodges to show that they've settled in." The fate of the fourth family is murkier. Three beavers disappeared last August after reports of unauthorised shooting in the trial area. The beaver reintroduction has plenty of opponents in Argyll and there was speculation that the animals had been shot or scared off by the gunfire. Both are possible, admits Mr Jones, but he says an investigation into the disappearance and the gunshots was inconclusive. "It may have been a sheer coincidence," he says. The episode did highlight the opposition of some locals, particularly anglers, to the experiment. Two miles downstream from the beavers at Barnluasgan is Seafield Farm where Jane Allan manages holiday cottages and makes baskets. She said: "We have concerns about the beavers long term because we're worried that they will create such a huge impact on the environment." Mrs Allan added that three beavers have turned a "fairly small marshy puddle" into a little loch and she thinks such change will continue. She pointed out: "Beavers have to cut down trees on a regular basis to eat. "They have to eat a huge amount of vegetable matter to keep themselves going and if you look at any of the places that the beavers have been they have created quite a lot of devastation." While the project team insist they are listening to such concerns, the next stage of the trial may upset the critics even more. Conservationists are hopeful that the animals will now breed. Scotland's first baby beavers in four centuries would not be welcomed by all.

इस सप्ताह के अंत में 17वीं शताब्दी के बाद पहली बार स्कॉटलैंड में बीवर को जंगल में छोड़े जाने को एक साल हो गया है। हमारे स्कॉटलैंड संवाददाता जेम्स कुक बताते हैं कि आर्गिल में नैपडेल वन में जानवरों का पुनः परिचय विवादास्पद रहा है।


Will Jude Law's Dumbledore be openly gay?

Summary: The news that Jude Law is to play a young Dumbledore in the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them has led to speculation over the direction of the movie - and whether his character will be openly gay.

It's 10 years since JK Rowling revealed that Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore was gay in a Q&A with fans. It confirmed speculation that had been around on fan sites for years - all that was known before that was that he had a mysterious, troubled past. Rowling also revealed that when he was young, Dumbledore had been smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, who he beat in a duel. Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down" she said, and his love for Grindelwald was his "great tragedy". We already know Johnny Depp will play Grindelwald in the movie, so many fans are hoping to see Depp and Law in an on-screen romance. Some LGBT fans were upset that JK Rowling didn't mention in any of the books that Dumbledore was gay and saw it as an "afterthought". In a blog post on the Harry Potter fan site Mugglenet.com, Elayna Mae Darcy says the upcoming Fantastic Beasts film is a chance to put that right. "One has to have hope that she will use this opportunity to show us the side of Dumbledore we could never have seen when he was a much older man who had long before been tragically let down by the man he loved," she writes. "We have the chance to witness, in real time, a Dumbledore who is young and vivacious and who, hopefully, both acknowledges his sexuality and gives us a chance to see a well-rounded gay character in a mainstream blockbuster." She says the Harry Potter author has a responsibility to show the relationship. "Representation can change people's lives and make them feel seen... Kids growing up right now have a chance to experience one of the most important characters in the entire saga as someone who's confident with who he is." And she is backed by other fans, who do not want to see Dumbledore's sexuality glossed over. Speaking last year about the second Fantastic Beasts movie, Rowling said we will see Dumbledore as a younger and "quite troubled man". "We'll see him at that formative period of his life. As far as his sexuality is concerned, watch this space," she said. But Debbie Moon, Bafta-winning writer of the fantasy series Wolfblood, isn't convinced we'll see any romance on screen. "Chances on Young Dumbledore appearing even remotely gay in a major studio tentpole? I'll take 0%..."she tweeted. And some fans have pointed out that any gay storyline may cause problems for the film's distribution worldwide. The live action Beauty and the Beast, which featured the first openly gay character in a Disney film, was recently pulled from Kuwait cinemas and faced issues in Malaysia, where homosexual activity is illegal. Russia's Culture Ministry allowed the release of Beauty and the Beast - but children under the age of 16 are not allowed to see it. It was given a 16+ age rating after a Russian MP petitioned Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky to ban it because of the inclusion of a gay character. When pressed on Dumbledore being gay in the second film, Rowling pointed out that is only the second film in a series. "I would like to say because this is obviously a five-part story, there's lots to unpack in that relationship." So fans may have to wait to watch the love story and ultimate betrayal unfold. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

फैंटास्टिक बीस्ट्स एंड व्हेयर टू फाइंड देम की अगली कड़ी में जूड लॉ के एक युवा डंबलडोर की भूमिका निभाने की खबर ने फिल्म के निर्देशन पर अटकलों को जन्म दिया है-और क्या उनका चरित्र खुले तौर पर समलैंगिक होगा।


'Outrageous' sledgehammer raid on Nottingham jewellery shop

Summary: A jeweller has released pictures of the damage would-be thieves caused after smashing through two brick walls with a sledgehammer to crawl into his shop.

Paul Price, co-owner of Trinity Goldsmiths, in Nottingham, described the burglary as "outrageous". Nothing was taken but up to £30,000 of damage was caused after thieves smashed their way in from another building. An activated "smoke cloak device" ended the raid between Wednesday evening and the early hours of Thursday. Mr Price said entry was first gained through a neighbouring building's bathroom window, before they smashed through the walls until reaching the shop. However, all of the jewellery was locked up in a safe in the Forman Street shop, he said. Nottinghamshire Police has appealed to anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the area at the time. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.

एक जौहरी ने अपनी दुकान में घुसने के लिए एक स्लेजहैमर से ईंट की दो दीवारों को तोड़ने के बाद होने वाले नुकसान की तस्वीरें जारी की हैं।


Research work starts on A9 upgrade

Summary: Preparatory work has started that will help to pave the way for a section of the A9 in Perthshire to be upgraded to dual carriageway.

Environmental Scientifics Group Ltd is expected to spend 20 weeks investigating the ground required to widen the road. Construction of the dual carriageway between Luncarty to Pass of Birnam is due to start in 2017. The project forms part of wider plans to dual the A9 from Inverness to Perth. The upgrade of another section of the A9 - from Kincraig to Dalraddy in the Highlands - is expected to start in 2015/16. The full dual carriageway project is not expected to be completed until 2025.

प्रारंभिक कार्य शुरू हो गया है जो पर्थशायर में ए9 के एक खंड को दोहरे कैरिजवे में अपग्रेड करने का मार्ग प्रशस्त करने में मदद करेगा।


Fire at Hastings and Rye Labour Party office 'suspicious'

Summary: A fire at a Labour Party office is being described as "suspicious" by police.

The fire at the Hastings and Rye Labour Party office in Bohemia Road, Hastings, was reported at 22:20 GMT on Tuesday. A few people were in the building at the time following a meeting, a Labour Party spokesman said. No-one was injured. Sussex Police are treating the cause as suspicious and have asked any witnesses to contact them.

लेबर पार्टी के कार्यालय में लगी आग को पुलिस द्वारा "संदिग्ध" बताया जा रहा है।


War of 1812: Violence, glory and a new Canadian-ness

Summary: Canada today is seen as a harmonious nation of hockey, mounties and maple leaves, in peaceful contrast to its often fractious and noisy neighbour to the south. But Canadian-ness itself was born amid the blood, gunpowder and glory of the War of 1812, writes Grant Stoddard.

As a British-born newcomer to Canada, I've noticed Canadians see their Canadian-ness as the sum total of their shared values, interests and beliefs. By contrast, in other places national identity is more typically linked to battles, popular uprisings and improbable triumphs in the face of adversity: the Boston Tea Party, the storming of the Bastille, the October Revolution. This led me to assume that while Canada is a wonderful place to live, it lacked a rousing origin story. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the story of the birth of Canadian-ness - which began 200 years ago this week - is as rollicking, bloody, stirring and inspiring as they come. Canadians famously cannot bring themselves to brag, so I am taking it upon myself to recount the series of events that paved the long road to Canadian nationhood. Hold on to your toque! Challenges and disunity In the years after the American Revolution, Britain set about creating a mirror-state to the north of the 13 rebellious former colonies. Hoping in part to entice the US back into the empire, Britain aimed to demonstrate that life in North America could be happier and more stable under her administration. There were challenges: the territory in what is now Canada was rugged, under-developed and thinly populated. Furthermore, the main groups of people living there did not like each other very much. First Nations tribes resented the unrelenting European expansion into the heart of the continent. Disaffected French Catholics had settled along the St Lawrence River in the early 1600s and remained after Britain finally wrested control of Canada from France in 1763. British inhabitants of Nova Scotia, known as the "14th Colony", had not joined their sister colonies in revolt. And tens of thousands relocated north after the American War of Independence: refugee crown loyalists and former black slaves rewarded with their freedom for fighting alongside the British. The new arrivals were so numerous that Britain carved a new colony - New Brunswick - out of Nova Scotia to accommodate them. Yet even after the influx, the US still had about 20 times the population of what was now called British North America. The British government encouraged even more immigration from the US by offering free land and low taxes. These opportunist migrants, who had little loyalty to the British crown, were euphemistically called the Late Loyalists. At the dawn of the 19th Century, what is now Canada was no melting pot or even patchwork quilt but rather a hodgepodge of disparate groups who held wildly varying opinions on British rule and American republicanism and a deep distrust of one another. By 1812, with the British embroiled in war with France, US hawks moved to take advantage of their northern neighbour's disunity, finish the job of the revolution and kick the British off the North American continent once and for all. Proponents of war were confident that the fractious Canadians would greet US forces as liberators, with former President Thomas Jefferson quipping that annexing the vast territory would be "a mere matter of marching" and could be completed within a few months. One of the leaders of the invasion force was US General William Hull, a 58-year-old veteran of the revolution who had been reluctant to take part. He promised the Canadians liberty and prosperity, while also threatening "instant destruction" and a "war of extermination" at the first whiff of collusion between the Canadians and the natives. Though some Canadians took heed, others, regardless of their allegiances, were uninterested in receiving liberty and prosperity at the point of an American sword. So they took up arms. Bravery and patriotism In battles on both sides of the border, vastly outnumbered Canadian militiamen, British regular troops and First Nations warriors inspired by Shawnee warrior Tecumseh overcame the Americans. A force led by British Maj Gen Isaac Brock and Tecumseh captured Detroit from Gen Hull, taking almost 2,500 American regulars and militiamen captive with only 300 British regulars, 400 Canadian militiamen and 600 natives. At the Battle of the Chateauguay near Montreal, French Canadians repelled a US attack. Under the leadership of Charles de Salaberry, 50 regulars, 400 volunteers, 900 militiamen and 180 Mohawks drove off 4,000-strong US force. Despite their difficult history with British rule, Les Canadiens had proved their bravery and patriotism beyond a doubt. Their victory inspired yet another improbable defence of Canada just over two weeks later at the Battle of Crysler's Farm, in which 900 British regulars and Canadian militiamen repulsed 8,000 US troops. By the war's end, both York (now Toronto) and Washington DC had been put to the torch by invaders; the British bombardment of Ft McHenry in Baltimore had inspired a new national anthem; and Gen Andrew Jackson had routed the British Army at the Battle of New Orleans. But the map of North America had hardly changed. The US withdrew to well within the boundaries of the 13 colonies. Inexperienced British diplomats gave away her territorial gains at the negotiating table, while bullish and skilled US negotiators rejected the British-backed idea of an independent "buffer state" for the indigenous tribes between the US and British North America. This betrayal of the natives hastened the demise of native autonomy in North America, as the US turned its attention from annexing lands in the north to pushing west toward the Pacific Ocean. The War of 1812 was declared in Washington 200 years ago yesterday. The British and Americans drew and the natives lost, leaving the fledgling Canadians with the best claim to victory. In the spirited defence of their way of life, they surprised both the invaders and one another with their resourcefulness, co-operation and tenacity in the face of an invasion force with an overwhelming numerical advantage. In that sense, their struggle was not unlike the American Revolution a generation earlier. What Canadian-ness actually means continues to evolve and remains a perennial topic of discussion both domestically and internationally. Nevertheless, its beginnings can be traced back to 18 June 1812, when her fractious inhabitants stood together against subjugation by a foreign power. The 33.5 million people living in Canada today - fully one-fifth of whom are foreign-born - have this patchwork vanguard to thank for their country's steady path to progressive prosperity.

कनाडा को आज हॉकी, पहाड़ों और मेपल के पत्तों के सामंजस्यपूर्ण राष्ट्र के रूप में देखा जाता है, दक्षिण में अपने अक्सर खंडित और शोर-शराबे वाले पड़ोसी के शांतिपूर्ण विपरीत। लेकिन ग्रांट स्टॉडर्ड लिखते हैं कि कनाडा-नेस स्वयं 1812 के युद्ध के खून, बारूद और महिमा के बीच पैदा हुआ था।


Profile: Jean Charles de Menezes

Summary: Nearly a decade after the police shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, his family have lost a case at the European Court of Human Rights over an attempt to see someone prosecuted over the 27-year-old's killing.

Mr Menezes, an electrician who was fatally shot at Stockwell Tube station in south London on 22 July 2005 by officers who mistook him for a suicide bomber, arrived in the UK from Brazil in 2002. He had joined an estimated 60,000 to 100,000 Brazilians - including some relatives - in London and quickly learnt to speak English. The son of bricklayer Matosinhos Otoni da Silva, Mr Menezes was born in the town of Gonzaga in the state of Minas Gerais - a source of many migrants to Europe and the US. He spent his childhood living in an adobe hut in the town. Mr Silva told BBC News his son had always wanted to be an electrician - as a child, he would make electrical toys with batteries, copper and matchboxes. Mr Menezes moved to Sao Paulo to live with his uncle at the age of 14, attended high school and became a qualified electrician. 'Good money' His father said Mr Menezes had always had a desire to move abroad to earn money. "When he was a child he said: 'Father, I heard on the radio people make good money in England, the United States, France. If I have money to go, I will go. I will take advantage of my age and my energy to help you out.'" About half of the young people from Gonzaga move abroad in the hope of securing a better future. The Home Office said Mr Menezes had been granted entry to the UK for six months as a visitor on his arrival on 13 March 2002. He then applied for leave to remain as a student, which was approved. He was granted leave to remain until 30 June 2003. The Home Office says his visa expired at that time and that he remained illegally in the UK until his death. Like many Brazilians in London, Mr Menezes would send money home to his parent's modest farm in Gonzaga. "He didn't make a lot of money," his father said. "Most of his money went on rent and food. "He wanted to stay for another two years to save money so he could come back and invest in a ranch." He said his son was happy in London. Friends say Mr Menezes was as shocked as all Londoners by the 7 July 2005 Tube and bus bombings, as well as the attempted London public transport attacks on Thursday 21 July - the day before he was shot. Gésio César D'avila, a friend and colleague, said Mr Menezes had considered alternative transport after the failed attacks. "We were together on Thursday, and when we saw what happened, Jean said he wanted to buy a motorbike to avoid the Tube," he said. On 22 July, the day Mr Menezes was killed, police and soldiers had been watching the block of flats in Tulse Hill, where the electrician lived. They believed Hussain Osman, one of the failed 21 July bombers, was living there. What they did not immediately realise was that the flats shared a communal entrance. It is thought Mr Menezes left his flat, which he shared with cousins Vivian and Patricia, in order to fit a fire alarm. Undercover police officers began following Mr Menezes because they thought he looked like Osman. He took a bus to Stockwell station, where he boarded a train. There he was pinned down and shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder by two officers trained in stopping suicide bombers. Police were later to say the officers had feared for their own lives and for those of other passengers on the train. Open verdict In the days that followed the shooting, a makeshift memorial to Mr Menezes was set up outside Stockwell Tube station. The shrine of flowers, candles, pictures and newspaper articles became a gathering point for campaigners seeking answers over the incident. Almost a year after his death, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that no officers would be prosecuted, but the Met Police would be tried for breaching health and safety laws. On 1 November 2007, the force was found guilty at the Old Bailey of endangering the public over the operation that led to the shooting and fined £175,000 with £385,000 costs. A jury found the force broke health and safety laws when officers pursued Mr Menezes and shot him seven times An inquest into Mr Menezes death began on 22 October 2008. The jury rejected the police account Mr de Menezes was killed lawfully by two officers and returned an open verdict. The coroner had instructed the jury not to return a verdict of unlawful killing, and gave it the choice of two possible verdicts. The Met Police settled a damages claim with Mr Menezes family in 2009. The amount of compensation the family will receive was not disclosed. In January 2010, Menezes family members and campaigners gathered at Stockwell station on what would have been his 32nd birthday to unveil a permanent memorial. A colourful mosaic framing a photograph of Mr Menezes was created by local artist Mary Edwards.

जीन चार्ल्स डी मेनेजेस की पुलिस गोलीबारी के लगभग एक दशक बाद, उनके परिवार ने 27 वर्षीय की हत्या पर किसी पर मुकदमा चलाने के प्रयास पर यूरोपीय मानवाधिकार न्यायालय में एक मामला खो दिया है।