Iran's opposition: Gagged by years of intimidation

Summary: In Iran, the what-you're-not-allowed-to-do list keeps expanding. Supporters of the opposition Green Movement are no longer allowed to demonstrate. What's more, they're not allowed even to talk about thinking of demonstrating.

By James ReynoldsBBC Iran correspondent In Tehran, reformists are unable to go and visit their leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who's under house arrest. Even stopping on the street outside his house is too dangerous. A brisk walk-by is all that anyone can get away with. A short clip posted on YouTube claims to show the street in which Mr Mousavi is being held under house arrest. The video-maker walks along an empty road - trying to point the camera across the road towards black metal gates which bar the way to a smaller side street. The footage ends abruptly when a single guard suddenly comes into frame across the road. This silent video demonstrates what's happened to the Green Movement since the disputed presidential election of 2009. The opposition protests of that summer were put down by the government. Mr Mousavi, one of the defeated presidential candidates, has been under house arrest since February 2011. Go-betweens and emissaries He and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, are unable to communicate directly with the outside world. They have to pass messages via their daughters - who are allowed occasional visits and phone calls. These messages are then transmitted by pro-reformist websites, anxious to show that Mr Mousavi remains a significant force in Iranian politics. The pro-reform website Rahesabz writes that one of sons of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has even been to see Mr Mousavi. It says Mojtaba Khamenei, widely regarded as the Ayatollah's most trusted emissary, paid a visit to Mr Mousavi's house earlier this year. The website reports that Mojtaba Khamenei urged Mr Mousavi to compromise. In return, the opposition leader apparently asked for a direct one-to-one meeting with the Supreme Leader and the chance to speak on TV and radio. According to the Rahesabz site, Mr Khamenei left the house "in resentment". This visit is hard to verify independently but publication of the story is a sign that the Green Movement wants to promote Mr Mousavi as a heroic figure, resisting appeals to back down. "I am still standing on my previous position and nothing has changed," the opposition Kalemeh website quotes Mr Mousavi telling his daughters in a recent phone conversation. Struggling to be heard Some supporters fear that the opposition has lost its way. The loose coalition of reformists that formed the Green Movement in 2009 united around a simple desire to defeat President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But the president is still in office. The Green Movement of 2012 struggles to define its goals. Iran's government has made it almost impossible for anyone sympathetic to the opposition to make his or her voice heard. International human rights organisations accuse Iran of carrying out a wave of arrests in recent months against political activists, lawyers, students, journalists, bloggers, filmmakers, religious and ethnic minorities. "Iran's multiple and often parallel security bodies - including a new cyber police force - can now scrutinise activists as they use personal computers in the privacy of their homes," writes Amnesty International in a new report entitled Expanding Repression of Dissent in Iran. "They have restricted bandwidth and are developing state-run servers, specific internet protocols (IPs), internet service providers (ISPs) and search engines. Countless websites, including international and domestic social networking sites are blocked," the report continues. These tactics have helped the government to see off recent attempts by the opposition to stage demonstrations. On 14 February, reformists called for protests to mark the anniversary of the house arrest of Mr Mousavi and his fellow Green Movement leader Mehdi Karroubi. The government was quick to respond. It blocked access to foreign email services. The Intelligence Ministry warned known activists to stay indoors on the day of the planned protests. Uniformed and plain clothes security forces were deployed in great numbers in Tehran. The opposition was unable to demonstrate. 'Graveyard silence' The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that 10 reporters were jailed in January (in addition to the 42 journalists and bloggers whom Iran was already holding in December 2011). "The government's intolerance of dissent is rising as parliamentary elections approach," said the CPJ's Mohamed Abdel Dayem in a statement. "Tehran is using the mass arrests of journalists as an intimidation tactic to silence those who dare criticise it." The Green Movement has little choice but to try to turn that silence to its own advantage. It's asked its supporters not to take part in the forthcoming parliamentary elections on 2 March. It hopes that the silence registered by a low turnout at the ballot box will remind the country that the opposition still exists. "Boycotting the election is a national duty," is the slogan written on posters stuck to walls and benches in the northern city of Tabriz. "Didn't you want graveyard silence across the country?" the Co-ordination Council of Iran's Green Movement says in a statement directed towards Iran's government. "Now the people want to demonstrate the results of this graveyard silence. In a graveyard no-one celebrates, not even for your sake. If you want to - as you put it - turn up the election heat, rig the figures as in 2009, order the state radio and TV to prepare extensive reports from provinces and show the waiting queues longer than ever... what is these people's sin if they do not want to be the fuel for your fire?" In the 2009 presidential election, supporters of the Green Movement voted, then they protested on the streets. In the 2012 parliamentary election, the only way they can resist is to stay at home. As is the case with Mir Hossein Mousavi, their silent leader.

ईरान में, आपको क्या करने की अनुमति नहीं है, इसकी सूची बढ़ती जा रही है। विपक्षी ग्रीन मूवमेंट के समर्थकों को अब प्रदर्शन करने की अनुमति नहीं है। इसके अलावा, उन्हें प्रदर्शन करने के बारे में सोचने की भी अनुमति नहीं है।


UK storms: Before and after

Summary: Stormy weather has wreaked havoc across the UK. A combination of high winds, rain and strong waves have battered the coastline and also caused flooding further inland.

Here, a landmark rock arch in Porthcothan Bay in Cornwall, has been reduced to rubble. In Portland, Dorset, a rock stack off the coast, known locally as Pom Pom rock, has been washed away. Local historian Stuart Morris, who photographed the rock before and after its collapse, said: "You are talking about a natural stack that was hundreds of tonnes, totally demolished and broken to pieces by the storm." In Portreath, in Cornwall, a section of the finger pier and harbour wall has been damaged by the waves. Flooding in the Somerset Levels has left villages cut off and roads and buildings damaged. Residents of Muchelney, which has been cut off since Friday, are having supplies brought in by boat. Aberystwyth promenade was evacuated again on Monday night as the coast was hit by an 'exceptional' wave swell.

तूफानी मौसम ने पूरे ब्रिटेन में तबाही मचा दी है। तेज हवाओं, बारिश और तेज लहरों के संयोजन ने समुद्र तट को प्रभावित किया है और आगे अंतर्देशीय बाढ़ का कारण भी बना है।


Paramore announce UK comeback

Summary: Paramore have announced details of a UK gig.

By Greg CochraneNewsbeat music reporter Hayley Williams and her band will play a one-off date at London's O2 Islington Academy on 7 September. Preceded by new single Ignorance, they will release their third album Brand New Eyes on 28 September. Tickets for the gig are priced £5 and will go on sale from 9am on 21 August. The band have recently concluded an arena tour in the US with No Doubt.

परमोर ने यूके के एक कार्यक्रम के विवरण की घोषणा की है।


Great North Snowdogs raise £367,000 in total for hospice

Summary: Dozens of sculptures based on a character from the animated film The Snowman and the Snowdog raised £367,000 for charity it has been revealed.

An auction of the 64 snowdogs, which made up a free public art trail, and subsequent donations raised the money for St Oswald's Hospice. Jane Hogan, from the Newcastle-based charity, said the response to the trail was "beyond anything we imagined". Plans to hold a similar initiative in autumn 2019 were under way, she added. Standing 1.5m tall (4ft 9ins), the colourful sculptures included several with North East-related designs, including two in the colours of Newcastle United and Sunderland. St Oswald's Hospice provides specialist care for North East adults, young people and children with incurable conditions and needs to raise £7m each year through voluntary donations.

एनिमेटेड फिल्म द स्नोमैन एंड द स्नोडॉग के एक चरित्र पर आधारित दर्जनों मूर्तियों ने दान के लिए £367,000 जुटाए हैं।


Viewpoint: Let Germans read Mein Kampf

Summary: There is no law against publishing Mein Kampf in Germany, but the copyright holders have until now refused permission. Now they are planning to publish a new edition of Hitler's book themselves and Stephan J Kramer, of Germany's Central Council of Jews, agrees the time is right.

Contrary to what some people may think, there is, at present, no general prohibition against the publication of Adolf Hitler's book. The reason it has been possible to ban new editions is purely technical. After World War II, the state of Bavaria became the owner of parts of Hitler's property which had been confiscated by the occupying powers - including the copyright to the dictator's publications. Thus Bavaria has been able, so far, to use its discretion and block new editions. However, the copyright expires in 2015. The only imaginable way to continue the existing ban beyond 2015 would be explicit legislation to this effect - a complicated process which might even run into constitutional difficulties and fail to clear the hurdle of the Constitutional Court. What a triumph for the Nazis this would be. And, of course, the power of the existing ban on publication on copyright grounds has already been eroded, to a considerable degree, by new technologies. Those who really want to read Hitler's credo can do so on the internet. Just put Mein Kampf into a search engine and you can receive a pdf file for your computer. This, too, should be taken into consideration. Also, there is no legal ban on the possession or sale of Mein Kampf - for example, in antiquarian bookshops. A ruling of the German Supreme Court more than 30 years ago made this clear. This does not mean that the re-emergence of the Fuhrer's venomous concoction should be taken lightly. Yes, unhindered distribution of Mein Kampf could make the life of right-wing extremists easier, give them yet better access to the book and provide them with fresh ammunition for their propaganda efforts, which find fertile ground in today's difficult economic and cultural situation. Under these circumstances, I agree with the idea of publishing a properly annotated edition of Mein Kampf - with expert analysis and context provided by historians - as proposed by Bavaria. Such an edition would educate the interested reader and, in particular, German youth. It would unmask Hitler for what he was, a fanatic. One who made his views no secret, and yet won massive support from his fellow countrymen, taking Germany into years of dictatorship, leading it to commit the worst crime in human history, to devastate Europe and, ultimately, leaving the country occupied, divided and weakened. Who knows, maybe such educational efforts should have been made earlier? They definitely should be made now. It is important for the annotated edition - or editions - to establish themselves before non-annotated editions, implicitly or explicitly pro-Nazi, become available. Of course, no amount of expert commentary will turn a Nazi into a freedom-loving liberal who embraces the ideal of equality for all. Proper annotation, however, is important to unmask Hitler's propaganda for what it was - an appeal to the lowest instincts of his readers, hate-mongering and intellectual primitivism. This is, just to give one example, true of Mein Kampf's racial theories. According to Hitler's world view, race is the "fundamental element on which all life is based". Therefore, he states, the worth of nations must be based on the different races from which they spring. Hitler went on to demand that "those elements within the folk-community which show the best racial qualities ought to be encouraged more than others and should be especially encouraged to increase and multiply". These statements must be put in their proper historical context. And the annotations must be prepared by experts in the relevant fields, including psychology and educational sciences. I do not think German democracy will be endangered by new publications of Mein Kampf. But handling Hitler's book will be an important litmus test of German political maturity and of whether Holocaust education of the past 60 years has succeeded or failed. My recommendation to go ahead with the publishing project does not mean I feel no apprehension. It does not mean that I belittle, in any way, the monstrousness of Hitler's ideology. And I do understand those, among the general German public as well as inside the Jewish community, who object to any involvement of the German state in printing Mein Kampf. I think, however, that wise involvement is better than running away from the battle. In the face of increasing right-wing nationalism across Europe, we have to be aware that those who fight can lose, but those who do not fight have already lost. Mein Kampf: Elsewhere on the web The question of whether to republish the book is fraught. Stephan Kramer is not the only German - nor the only Jewish leader - who would like to see a properly annotated version. But some, including academics and historians, believe the effective ban should remain in place. In 2009, German historian Juergen Faulenbach argued against re-release in the Independent : "The book does not provide any important answers to questions about how the Nazi regime was possible. It only contains the polarising views of the author. To lift a 60-year-old ban on Mein Kampf would be problematic." Writing for the Guardian, historian David Cesarani argues that republication would educate the young about the level of responsibility of ordinary Germans for the Holocaust. "Young Germans may start to wonder whether the millions who read Mein Kampf and still voted Nazi or supported Hitler can truly be regarded as 'victims' of all that followed from his rule." In 2011, Waterstones apologised for including Mein Kampf in its Christmas reading list. The festive recommendation was noticed by a customer who told the Jewish Chronicle he demanded an explanation for the bookshop chain's "apparent zeal to promote this disgusting work".

जर्मनी में माइन कैम्फ के प्रकाशन के खिलाफ कोई कानून नहीं है, लेकिन कॉपीराइट धारकों ने अब तक अनुमति देने से इनकार कर दिया है। अब वे खुद हिटलर की पुस्तक का एक नया संस्करण प्रकाशित करने की योजना बना रहे हैं और जर्मनी की सेंट्रल काउंसिल ऑफ ज्यूइज़ के स्टीफन जे क्रैमर सहमत हैं कि यह सही समय है।


Coronavirus: All dressed up and nowhere to go

Summary: As people across the UK continue to live in isolation we are all missing out on meeting up with friends, going for a meal or to the cinema, so photographer Robin Sinha asked his neighbours to pose on their doorsteps dressed as if ready for a night out.

"I was already shooting a series of images regarding my own isolation experience but having seen some doorstep projects from around the world, I felt inspired to approach (at a safe distance) my local neighbourhood," says Sinha. "When my wife and I moved to Walthamstow a couple of years ago, it was immediately apparent to us that our street had a strong sense of community spirit. Lockdown has only strengthened this spirit and there has been a genuine feeling of concern for one another. "Messages have been flowing thick and fast on the street's WhatsApp group with offers of food shops, sharing crafts to keep children entertained, and information about how to support the NHS. "I wanted to differentiate my project from others I'd seen and somehow make it more collaborative. "I finally came up with the working title of, All dressed up and nowhere to go. With pyjamas and tracksuits becoming the lockdown look, I wondered whether people might enjoy putting on their 'Sunday best' and imagining they had a special occasion to attend. "The response was overwhelmingly positive, and it wasn't long before I had 30 houses in my diary. "I'm hoping the project will bring the street's residents even closer, and I've begun to explore the idea of a local exhibition to raise funds for the NHS." Here is a selection of pictures from the project: You can see more of Robin Sinha's work on his website and Instagram.

जैसे-जैसे पूरे ब्रिटेन में लोग अलग-थलग रहना जारी रखते हैं, हम सभी दोस्तों से मिलने, भोजन करने या सिनेमा जाने से चूक रहे हैं, इसलिए फोटोग्राफर रॉबिन सिन्हा ने अपने पड़ोसियों से अपने दरवाजे पर ऐसे कपड़े पहनने के लिए कहा जैसे कि एक रात के लिए तैयार हो।


Minsthorpe Community College swimming pool gets go-ahead

Summary: A new £5m swimming pool is to be built in South Elmsall after it was approved by councillors.

Minsthorpe Community College will run the pool, which replaces the previous local facility that closed in April 2013. The old pool had suffered a major crack in its tank and the building needed upgrading at a cost of £1.2m. Wakefield Council will provide the college with £135,000 a year to support its running costs. Related Internet Links Minsthorpe Community College Wakefield Council

पार्षदों द्वारा अनुमोदित किए जाने के बाद साउथ एल्मसाल में एक नया 5 मिलियन पाउंड का स्विमिंग पूल बनाया जाना है।


Royal profiles give up little-known nuggets

Summary: Newly married Meghan Markle - now the Duchess of Sussex - has been given the ultimate seal of approval that she's "in" with the in-laws. Her official profile on the Royal Family website is up.

By Megan FisherBBC News The duchess, alongside her husband, Prince Harry, is one of 21 royals with their own personal introductions, which tell the public all they need to know about them. Here's several things we spotted in their profiles. Making a statement It's clear from Meghan's profile she wants to be a different type of royal - highlighting her passions for women's rights and social change. Emblazoned in the middle of the biography is this strong quote about feminism: No other royal talks so openly about themselves; some - including the Duke of Sussex - do not have a quote. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge speak strongly about children and the importance of conservation of the world's wildlife. Education While Prince William and Catherine chose to highlight their school achievements prominently, younger sibling the Duke of Sussex seems less keen to do so. Prince William left Eton College in Berkshire in 2000 with A Levels in Geography, Biology and History of Art, while Catherine achieved qualifications in Chemistry, Biology and Art from her time at Marlborough College in Wiltshire. Despite both brothers joining the armed forces, Prince Harry's profile leaves us guessing what he left secondary school with, as it details limited information on the results "that qualified him to fulfil his ambition to join the Army". To gap year or not? It's common for students to take a bit of time out to travel, do some volunteering or grab some extra cash for the years of studying ahead. And who doesn't want to know what a royal would do with their break? Prince William chose to take a breather before starting his degree at St Andrew's University, where he met the duchess. Before their love story began, the duke's year included completing "preparation for survival" exercises with the Welsh Guards in Belize, central America and working on a British dairy farm. Unfortunately, we can only imagine the milking a cow pictures. Royal firsts Horsing around The Princess Royal's biography is dominated by her love and commitment to horses. In one of the first pictures, the princess is seen with the Queen tacking up Greensleeves the pony at Her Majesty's Balmoral estate in 1955. So it's no surprise Princess Anne's involvement as an athlete in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games is mentioned alongside her winning the BBC's Sports Personality award five years previously. Commitment to the title While it's traditional for the oldest male child of the reigning monarch to take on the title of Prince of Wales, Prince Charles made a commitment to learn the Welsh language before his investiture in 1969. He spent a term at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, learning to siarad Cymraeg*. From marines to the theatre Prince Edward deserves recognition for having one of the Royal Family's most interesting career changes. After three years in the Royal Marines, the earl decided theatre would be his next challenge. He even went on to work for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatre Company. Prince Edward's theatrical past sits high up on his official profile including his production work for The Duke of Edinburgh's Award. Longer than the Queen? Profiles by word count Duke of Kent 1,248 words Duke of Sussex (Prince Harry) 1,246 words Prince of Wales (Prince Charles) 1,174 words Countess of Wessex (Sophie) 915 words Duke of Cambridge (Prince William) 877 words Duchess of Cambridge (Catherine) 783 words Earl of Wessex (Prince Edward) 731 words Duke of York (Prince Andrew) 691 words Princess Alexandra 644 words Duchess of Gloucester 612 words Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Philip) 607 words Princess Charlotte 605 words Prince George 580 words The Duchess of Sussex (Meghan) 532 words Princess Royal (Princess Anne) 444 words The Queen 438 words Duke of Gloucester 373 words Duchess of Kent 352 words Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla) 305 words Prince and Princess Michael of Kent 216 words Prince Louis 125 words Figures based on About sections only *Speak Welsh

नवविवाहित मेघन मार्कल-अब डचेस ऑफ ससेक्स-को मंजूरी की अंतिम मुहर दी गई है कि वह ससुराल वालों के साथ है। शाही परिवार की वेबसाइट पर उनकी आधिकारिक प्रोफ़ाइल है।


School bus driver faces trial over Newton-on-Ouse flood rescue

Summary: A school bus driver will face trial after 26 children were rescued from flood water.

Graham Jones, 43, is accused of dangerous driving after a bus became stranded between Newton-on-Ouse and Tollerton on 5 January. The bus was transporting children to Easingwold School. Mr Jones, of Linton Woods Lane, Linton-on-Ouse, will stand trial at York Crown Court on 8 December.

26 बच्चों को बाढ़ के पानी से बचाने के बाद एक स्कूल बस चालक को मुकदमे का सामना करना पड़ेगा।


Fake owls fail to scare seagulls from former hospital due for demolition

Summary: Two fake owls brought in to scare seagulls from a former hospital set for demolition have failed to work.

Work was due to begin last month on demolishing Prestatyn Community Hospital which closed two years ago. But National Resources Wales ruled that because seagulls are nesting on the roof, the demolition must be put on hold until the chicks have flown. Dummy owls were put on the roof and initially worked, but seagulls returned when they realised they were fake. The determination of the gulls to stay put has delighted local residents campaigning to save the hospital building. Developers Pure Residential and Commercial have bought the site and lodged plans for apartments and houses.

ध्वस्त करने के लिए एक पूर्व अस्पताल से सीगल को डराने के लिए लाए गए दो नकली उल्लू काम करने में विफल रहे हैं।


How the killing of a gay academic changed Australia

Summary: On Wednesday, Australia learned the result of a national vote that showed decisive support for legalising same-sex marriage. The discussion over changing the law has been one of the most hotly debated issues in the nation's recent social and political history. But the death of a university lecturer in Adelaide 45 years ago led to an even more fundamental change for Australia's gay community. Jamie Duncan reports.

In the foyer of the University of Adelaide's law faculty building, a photograph of a sober-looking man wearing dark-rimmed glasses stares out at posters backing a "yes" vote on Australia's same-sex marriage postal survey. The scene is a symbol of evolving social debate in Australia. The photograph is part of a memorial to Dr George Duncan, a gay law lecturer at the university who in 1972 was killed a stone's throw away at a riverbank in an attack suspected to have been committed by police officers. The crime, still unpunished, revolted mainstream Australia and led the state of South Australia (SA) to become the first national jurisdiction to decriminalise homosexuality. Tragic return Dr Duncan, born in London in 1930, moved to Melbourne with his parents at seven. He studied classical philology at the University of Melbourne, but did not complete the course because he contracted tuberculosis in 1950. Later, Dr Duncan earned degrees in arts and law at St John's College, Cambridge, before completing a PhD at the University of Bristol. A practising Anglican, he returned to Australia to lecture in law at the University of Adelaide, starting on 25 March, 1972. Less than two months later, Dr Duncan was dead. He was 41. In 1970s Adelaide, homosexuality was illegal and the southern bank of the River Torrens in the heart of the city was a well-known meeting spot for gay people. The bank drops sharply below tree-lined Victoria Drive, the northern boundary of the University of Adelaide. It's out of sight from homes north of the river and riverside paths were deserted at night. Around 23:00 on 10 May, 1972, a gang of men confronted Dr Duncan and another man, Roger James, on the southern bank, near a footbridge. Both men were thrown into the water but Dr Duncan could not swim and drowned. Mr James suffered a broken ankle in the attack. He crawled up to Victoria Drive. A passing motorist took him to hospital. He later refused to identify the attackers. Shortly after police retrieved Dr Duncan's body, a TV news crew arrived. Incredibly, police placed the body back in the river and dragged it out again for the camera. In the days following his death, rumours began circulating that members of the police vice squad were responsible, but witnesses feared for their lives. South Australian Premier Don Dunstan offered protection for anyone who came forward. No-one did. Case gathers profile A coroner's inquest began on 7 June, 1972, at which two members of the vice squad refused to answer questions. They and a third detective were suspended and later resigned. The inquest found that Dr Duncan died from violence inflicted by unknown persons. A subsequent police investigation also failed to identify suspects. By then, the case, the possibility of police involvement and a broader discussion about attitudes to homosexuality were making headlines around Australia. Amid the charged political atmosphere, Mr Dunstan authorised police to call in detectives from New Scotland Yard. Meanwhile, Murray Hill, a lawmaker, tabled a bill in the state's ultra-conservative Legislative Council to decriminalise homosexual activity between consenting adult men. It was drafted by two junior solicitors - his son, Robert, and colleague John Cummins. Robert Hill, later an Australian government minister, said the bill was his father's reaction to a discriminatory law that by 1972 lagged well behind community values. "I guess it surprised some people because in many ways [Murray Hill] was a quite conservative chap, but he was progressive in others, particularly in anti-discrimination," Robert Hill told the BBC. The bill passed, but further amendments later in 1972 destroyed its intent. Mr Hill said the public reaction to Dr Duncan's death was strong. "It started a debate about how the police were behaving in relation to homosexuals around the Torrens," Mr Hill said, adding that suspicion of police involvement increased over time. "And it added some momentum to the debate about decriminalisation. It had started before at a fairly low tempo, but when the public became aware of what happened disbelief turned to anger and general community anger pushed the debate along." Community disquiet spread around Australia as gay rights rallies in the big cities pushed for reform. The case revealed the previously little-known practice among a few police officers of terrorising gay men by the Torrens. Mr Hill said the brutality made the general public uncomfortable. In October 1972, the British detectives called into the case delivered their final report, which was never released, and the SA Crown Solicitor decreed no charges would result, further fuelling the case for change and turning Dr Duncan into a symbol for gay rights advocates. A second decriminalisation bill introduced by another lawmaker, Peter Duncan, was defeated twice, but the same bill passed in 1975. It was far from the end of the matter. 'Cover-up' In July 1985, a former vice squad member, Mick O'Shea, told an Adelaide newspaper that there had been a cover-up to protect three other squad members who he said killed Dr Duncan. In February 1986, the three were charged with his manslaughter. Only two faced trial, and in September 1988 both were acquitted. A police taskforce on the case was disbanded in 1990 with no prospect of identifying other suspects. Decriminalisation of male homosexuality had passed in all states and territories bar one by 1990. Tasmania clung to its anti-homosexual laws until May 1997 - passed only when gay activists threatened a court challenge to the laws. Long-time gay rights activist and same-sex marriage campaigner Rodney Croome was at the heart of the fight in Tasmania. He said Dr Duncan is an inspiration for gay rights. "For people like me who became part of the movement for decriminalisation a generation after that, it was a pivotal moment in that historical narrative that we all became a part of," Mr Croome told the BBC. "It was often cited by people from that earlier generation - not just people from Adelaide, but people from all over Australia - as a turning point, a key moment that revealed the depth of our oppression and the need for our emancipation." Mr Croome said he sees parallels between broad support for decriminalising homosexuality following Dr Duncan's death and the same-sex marriage debate in Australia today. But he believes the political debate is vastly different, believing that there is an "element that sees empathy as weakness and refuses to empathise with LGBTI people, instead wanting to portray us as aggressors, and a threat to democracy and civilisation." Opponents of same-sex marriage in Australia's debate have consistently argued that they are protecting traditional values and religious freedoms. Anti-reform lobby groups have said changing the law could have negative consequences for children. Mr Hill said today's same-sex marriage debate is also a fight for equality, but the 1970s debate was coloured by Dr Duncan's horrific death and the fact that harmless acts between consenting men were considered criminal. "You can argue that same-sex marriage is a further progressive reform, but I think it was a fundamentally different sort of debate, and I think the horrific story of what happened to Dr Duncan played a key part in contributing to almost a demand that the law change," he said. SA Police still offers a A$200,000 (£120,000; $150,000) reward for information leading to a conviction in the case. Author Jamie Duncan and Dr George Duncan are not related.

बुधवार को, ऑस्ट्रेलिया को एक राष्ट्रीय मतदान का परिणाम मिला जिसने समलैंगिक विवाह को वैध बनाने के लिए निर्णायक समर्थन दिखाया। कानून में बदलाव पर चर्चा देश के हाल के सामाजिक और राजनीतिक इतिहास में सबसे गर्मागर्म बहस के मुद्दों में से एक रही है। लेकिन 45 साल पहले एडिलेड में एक विश्वविद्यालय के व्याख्याता की मृत्यु ने ऑस्ट्रेलिया के समलैंगिक समुदाय के लिए और भी अधिक मौलिक परिवर्तन का नेतृत्व किया। जेमी डंकन की रिपोर्ट।


Police probe Tywyn jet-ski dolphin attack

Summary: Police are investigating allegations a jet skier tried to ram a pod of dolphins off the Gwynedd coast.

A member of the public reported the incident off Tywyn on Sunday. Sgt Rob Taylor from the North Wales Police rural crime unit said this was "very concerning." "Why on earth someone would do something like this is beyond me. It is almost like a game to them. Behaviour like this is disgusting and will not be tolerated, he said. Police do not believe the man was local and said the witness was able to take down the registration plate of the person's car. Sgt Taylor added: "Not only did he try and hit dolphins, he also aimed for gannets as well."

पुलिस इन आरोपों की जांच कर रही है कि एक जेट स्कीयर ने ग्वेनेड तट पर डॉल्फ़िन की एक फली को कुचलने की कोशिश की थी।


1MDB: The United States v The Wolf of Wall Street

Summary: There is a scene in the 2013 Hollywood smash hit The Wolf of Wall Street where Leonardo DiCaprio, playing corrupt stock trader Jordan Belfort, is chatting with his mentor Mark Hanna, portrayed by Matthew McConnaughey. Hanna explains to him how to cheat clients of their money.

Karishma VaswaniAsia business correspondent@BBCKarishmaon Twitter Mark Hanna: "The name of the game, moving the money from the client's pocket to your pocket." Jordan Belfort: "But if you can make your clients money at the same time it's advantageous to everyone, correct?" Mark Hanna: "No." Going through the 136 page court filing from the US Department of Justice, which has filed a civil lawsuit against the makers of the Wolf of Wall Street, you wouldn't be blamed for thinking you were reading the script for a sequel. The allegations are damning. The FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe says that the "Malaysian people were defrauded on an enormous scale". The lawsuits allege that public money stolen from the Malaysian state fund 1MDB - which was set up by the Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 - was used to buy a laundry list of expensive properties, and even finance the Wolf of Wall Street movie. It alleges that among the things bought by the money were: Red Granite, the production firm that made the Wolf of Wall Street, says none of the funding it received was illegitimate. One of the co-founders of the firm is Riza Aziz, Mr Najib's stepson, who has been named as a relevant individual in the court filing. The Malaysian leader has not been named directly in the filing but documents clearly identify him as a high ranking Malaysian official only called "Malaysian official 1" - someone whose account has allegedly received huge sums of money. When questioned why the US didn't name Mr Najib directly, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch refused to explain, but there is speculation that diplomatic considerations were taken into account. Muslim-majority Malaysia is a key ally of the United States in its war against Islamic militancy. The suit neither provides evidence nor even alleges that Mr Najib spent any of the money himself, but it does say that the funds were taken from 1MDB and used for the personal benefit of public officials, their relatives and associates, and was not returned. The fund was set up in 2009 to help develop Malaysia's economy. It has been mired in controversy and debt and is widely considered a financial failure. When I spoke to the fund's CEO, Arul Kanda, in October last year, he told me "the value of assets outweigh the value of debt." But 1MDB had to sell some of its most prized assets in order to realise this value, and as one Malaysian opposition leader put it to me at the time, any business that has to do that isn't a successful business. 1MDB's financial mismanagement and the allegations of misconduct by the prime minister has raised concern amongst the foreign investment community that Malaysia's economy is in for a rough ride. But there are bigger worries than just the financial performance of 1MDB. At the heart of it is the suggestion that Malaysia's public money has been stolen and used for personal gain. Political analysts say Mr Najib is unlikely to see any blowback from the US move because the court filing doesn't name him directly and because his position within the ruling party in Malaysia is secure. A quick glance through the main Malaysian newspapers and their websites on Thursday morning shows little or no mention of arguably the most important news story for the country this year. "We see the how difficult it is for the media to cover and raise these issues publicly," Michael Vatiokiotis, a long time observer of Malaysian politics, told me. "And also we see the weakness of the opposition to raise anything like this in parliament because the government can consistently say the PM has been cleared." But some opposition members are speaking out. Tony Pua of the Democratic Alliance Party has reportedly said: "The shit has hit the fan now." Don't expect protests on the streets of Malaysia though, or for the opposition parties to mobilise in a effective and co-ordinated way. "There's a sedition law and a new national security act that are going to make it more difficult for the opposition to campaign openly," says Mr Vatikiotis, "So for now, more or less Najib is safe, politically." And for the most part, that appears to be true. In recent months, the gossip around Mr Najib's involvement in 1MDB has been muted. Many Malaysians I've spoken to are resigned. That fatigue has effectively got Mr Najib off the hook. Until now. In another scene from The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort is seen lamenting his situation: "I clean up my act, I did rehab, I'm a TV personality, I'm sober for two years, and THIS happens?" Truth is often stranger than fiction. And one wonders what Mr Najib might make of those words as he wades through the US court filing this morning.

2013 के हॉलीवुड स्मैश हिट द वुल्फ ऑफ वॉल स्ट्रीट में एक दृश्य है जहां भ्रष्ट स्टॉक ट्रेडर जॉर्डन बेल्फोर्ट की भूमिका निभाने वाले लियोनार्डो डिकैप्रियो अपने गुरु मार्क हन्ना के साथ बातचीत कर रहे हैं, जिसे मैथ्यू मैककोनाघे द्वारा चित्रित किया गया है। हन्ना उसे बताती है कि ग्राहकों को उनके पैसे से कैसे धोखा दिया जाए।


Hull river search for body ends in 'BFG' dummy discovery

Summary: A major search operation for a body reported to have been seen in the River Hull ended with a giant 'BFG' dummy being pulled out of the water.

Police said it had received reports of a body in the river, close to North Bridge in Hull, on Wednesday lunchtime. A helicopter scoured the area for hours and an "object matching the casualty's description" was located, the Hull Coastguard Rescue Team said. "On recovery it turned out to be a dummy," the coastguard said. "Many thanks to the member of the public who phoned this in initially. Thankfully it turned out to be a false alarm with good intent. "All teams were stood down and returned to their respective stations." One Facebook user likened the dummy, which is believed to be several feet long, to the Roald Dahl character, the BFG. Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.

हल नदी में देखे गए एक शव के लिए एक बड़ा खोज अभियान एक विशाल 'बी. एफ. जी.' डमी को पानी से बाहर निकालने के साथ समाप्त हुआ।


Eastern Governor seeks resources

Summary: The first governor of the Eastern province of Sri Lanka has sought more assistance from the Central government to establish the newly de-merged province.

The Governor is not provided with enough financial assistance and resources to establish the new Provincial authority, Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama told BBC Sandeshaya. Resources of the North Eastern Provincial Council has been divided into two provinces as a temporary measure, Governor Wijewickrama said. All the regional ministries of the new administration will be based in Trincomalee, he added. Wijewickrama handed over official appointment letters to Captain Patrick Jayasinghe and S Amirthalingam as Secretaries to the Governor in the Eastern and Northern provinces respectively. The Sri Lanka Navy official sworn in as the Governor of the Eastern province and the acting Governor of the Northern province on 22 December.

श्रीलंका के पूर्वी प्रांत के पहले राज्यपाल ने नए विलय किए गए प्रांत की स्थापना के लिए केंद्र सरकार से अधिक सहायता मांगी है।


Broken fence grant scheme opens to Isle of Man farmers

Summary: A grant scheme aimed at helping Manx farmers fix broken fences after heavy snowfall in March, has been opened to applications.

The Isle of Man government's farm and horticultural improvement scheme is due to close at 16:00 BST on 10 May. A spokesman said applications could be made online. Agriculture minister Phil Gawne said fence maintenance was now a priority for the safety of livestock and road users. More details can be found on the agriculture department's website.

मार्च में भारी बर्फबारी के बाद मैनक्स किसानों को टूटी हुई बाड़ को ठीक करने में मदद करने के उद्देश्य से एक अनुदान योजना को आवेदनों के लिए खोल दिया गया है।


Jersey unemployment 'at lowest level' in more than two years

Summary: The number of people "actively seeking work" in Jersey is at its lowest since 2011, according to States figures.

At the end of July there were 1,570 islanders registered as looking for work, which was 10 fewer than in June and 20 fewer than a year earlier. A quarter of those have jobs but work less than 35 hours per week so are considered under-employed. That figure rose by 10 to 360. Almost 30% of under-employed or unemployed islanders are under 25.

राज्यों के आंकड़ों के अनुसार, जर्सी में सक्रिय रूप से काम की तलाश करने वाले लोगों की संख्या 2011 के बाद से सबसे कम है।


Thomas Cook faces boycott over Corfu gas deaths

Summary: Thomas Cook is facing a consumer backlash over its handling of the deaths of two British children on holiday in Corfu. There are calls for people to boycott the travel company, but will the company suffer long-term damage from the fall out?

Simon Eldritch vowed never to use Thomas Cook again after hearing how the company responded to the deaths of Christi and Bobby Shepherd. He set up a Facebook page encouraging his friends to do the same, expecting "about half a dozen of them to give it a like". A few days later, the page now has more than 10,000 likes and is full of comments from people expressing their disgust, despite the company agreeing to give the family a "financial gesture of goodwill". Similar pages also have thousands of likes, Twitter is littered with the hashtag #BoycottThomasCook, and a petition has more than 3,800 signatures. "The backlash has been astronomical," said Mr Eldritch, who had to take time off work to manage the Facebook page. "We've got thousands and thousands of people vowing never to use them again." Meanwhile, Thomas Cook appears to have abandoned its own Facebook page. The last update was over a week ago, on the day an inquest jury concluded Thomas Cook had "breached its duty of care". In the Facebook update, the company pointed out an investigation by the Greek authorities had "cleared Thomas Cook's employees of any wrong doing". Posts from previous days - featuring photos of idyllic beaches and swimming pools - have now been hijacked by people leaving irate comments. People seem particularly angry about Thomas Cook receiving £3m in compensation. "I am sure that you can afford that view with the millions you made from the deaths of Christi and Bobby Shepherd," said a typical comment under a photo of a beach. In response to the criticism, Thomas Cook has pledged to donate half of the compensation to the charity Unicef, and said the remaining £1.5m went to its insurers for underwriting legal fees. On Saturday it was announced the bungalow where the children died at the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel - whose owners still have business links with Thomas Cook - would be demolished, as their parents had requested. Ashley Braganza, professor of organisational transformation at Brunel Business School, said Thomas Cook had "started to take steps to show a more compassionate side". "If that compassion comes across as being authentic and genuine, if the organisation were to say, 'yes we made a mistake and we are genuinely looking to make up for this', I think people are more likely to be forgiving," he said. "I can imagine that in the short term they will potentially suffer financially as people carry through their boycott. "In terms of what damage this has done to the brand in the longer term it's going to be hard to assess." Outside one branch of Thomas Cook in Nottingham, several potential holidaymakers were not even aware of the children's deaths. Joseph Hall, 38, who had been inside to sort out travel insurance for a trip to Barcelona, said what happened was a "sad, sad story". However, he felt the backlash against Thomas Cook was unfair for the majority of staff, who had nothing to do with the deaths. "At the end of the day, Thomas Cook individuals are not evil people, they are just people going to a job," he said. Pat and Geoff Ward normally use a different travel agent, but said the deaths would not deter them from using Thomas Cook. "That sort of thing can happen anywhere, even in caravans in Lincolnshire," said Mrs Ward, 61. "I would say if somebody says they are not going to use Thomas Cook they don't mean it. "When they want a holiday, whichever is the best value they will use it." Mr Ward, 63, predicted what happened "will be forgotten in a week". "Accidents happen and there's nowt you can do to change it," he said. Thomas Cook was asked to comment on whether the backlash had affected bookings over the last few days, but declined to do so. The children were poisoned by carbon monoxide in 2006, but Thomas Cook's chief executive Peter Fankhauser only publicly apologised on Wednesday. Two Thomas Cook workers were cleared of manslaughter by negligence by a court in Corfu in 2010, but the manager of the hotel and two other members of staff were convicted. Mr Shepherd and Mrs Wood have previously criticised Thomas Cook for not apologising to them. Nigel Quinlan, who set up one of the numerous Facebook pages calling for a boycott, said he was "absolutely horrified" at Thomas Cook's attitude to the family. "I don't know the family at all, but I have two young children and cannot imagine what the parents feel or how they cope," said Mr Quinlan, who works as a lawyer, mainly in family courts. "The way they have been treated must have made this tragedy an even worse matter for them." He added he "would love to see Thomas Cook go out of business". However, Ben Botes, a marketing lecturer at the London School of Business and Finance, does not think this will happen. "Thomas Cook is a long established and trusted brand in the UK," he said. "Although they might see some backlash from a small part of their client base in the short-term, it will soon be business as usual."

थॉमस कुक को कोर्फू में छुट्टियों के दौरान दो ब्रिटिश बच्चों की मौत से निपटने के लिए उपभोक्ता प्रतिक्रिया का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। लोगों से ट्रैवल कंपनी का बहिष्कार करने का आह्वान किया जा रहा है, लेकिन क्या कंपनी को गिरावट से दीर्घकालिक नुकसान होगा?


In pictures: Gender blending at London Fashion Week

Summary: Gender blending and unisex clothing is not a new phenomenon - from David Bowie to Cara Delevigne, men have worn women's clothes and vice versa. However, recently this has been increasingly more common, with brands such as Zara, Selfridges and Alexander Wang, to name a few, creating specific gender neutral lines. Is this just a trend or a larger cultural shift in society?

We went to London Fashion Week to ask people their views. Willa, 20, London "I'm not just a tomboy. Yesterday I was wearing a summery dress. "But I like that I can wear whatever I want and not have to worry about whether or not it's gender appropriate. I feel empowered when I wear combat trousers and a hoodie because I feel like I can wear boys' clothes." Boris, 18, fashion student, Poland "The fashion industry has changed so much in the past 10 to 15 years. People such as David Bowie have pushed gender lines by wearing women's clothes. "You can now wear a Gucci bag if you want - it doesn't matter if you are a woman or a man. Everything is unisex for me - I'm wearing women's trousers, top and bag." Nicky, fashion blogger, Italy "Women and men are now compared to one another in every sector, not just fashion. It's empowering that women can wear suits, as what you choose to wear is very important in all walks of life." Angela, fashion designer, Spain "The unisex style, that passed a few years ago, has now come back into fashion with oversized garments and boyfriend fit clothing. "Fashion changes all the time, today it might be oversized and tomorrow it'll be something different. I like to wear similar things to men - like this XL jacket." Daniel, 19, fashion stylist student "There's been a general change in attitude, I don't think it's much to do with fashion, but I think fashion is the easiest way to get your identity out there. "I wear women's clothes all the time. I don't believe clothing should have a gender - why should a plain hoodie be for a man or woman? I think couture brands are realising this and becoming increasingly unisex, but high street brands have a long way to go." Rich Mnisi, unisex fashion designer, South Africa "I design my clothes to allow men to explore a broader range of fashion. "I've noticed that men are becoming more open to try out different designs and concepts. I don't think it'll get to a stage where men are wearing wedding dresses, but we could get close." Anees Petersen (Young and Lazy), unisex fashion designer, South Africa "My brand ended up becoming unisex because women kept wearing the male pieces, which is often the case. "As for men, they are gradually becoming more adventurous in what they wear. I often add female touches to many of my clothes to try them out.."

लिंग सम्मिश्रण और एकलिंगी कपड़े पहनना कोई नई घटना नहीं है-डेविड बॉवी से लेकर कारा डेलेविग्ने तक, पुरुषों ने महिलाओं के कपड़े पहने हैं और इसके विपरीत। हालाँकि, हाल ही में ज़ारा, सेल्फ्रिज और अलेक्जेंडर वांग जैसे ब्रांडों के साथ यह अधिक आम हो गया है, जो विशिष्ट लिंग तटस्थ रेखाएँ बनाते हैं। क्या यह सिर्फ एक प्रवृत्ति है या समाज में एक बड़ा सांस्कृतिक बदलाव है?


Can Manchester music move on from its past?

Summary: Manchester has produced some of Britain's best and most influential bands, and most of them are back this summer. As the oldies lumber back into action, are they threatening to cast a shadow over the next generation of rock 'n' roll stars?

By Ian YoungsEntertainment reporter, BBC News On Saturday night, music fans in Manchester will party like it's 1989, when two of the biggest bands from the "Madchester" music scene, the Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets, play a comeback concert at the city's arena. Next month, 225,000 people will watch the hotly anticipated return of The Stone Roses at three gigs in the city. New Order are currently on the road, while their estranged bassist Peter Hook is playing Joy Division albums live, and planning a rave in the car park of the legendary Hacienda nightclub to mark its 30th anniversary. Meanwhile, The Buzzcocks co-founder Howard Devoto is rejoining his bandmates for the first time in more than 30 years, and 1990s The Charlatans are playing their 1997 album Tellin' Stories in full on tour. That is not to mention Take That's record-breaking stadium reunion tours. Of the legendary Manchester bands of the 1970s, '80s and '90s, only The Smiths and Oasis still have hatchets to bury. "We're proud of what we've achieved over the years and just at a time where we think we should celebrate it," says Inspiral Carpets drummer Craig Gill. As well as playing with his band, Gill is a tour guide who takes fans to see the city's musical landmarks. Artists like New Order made history, he says. "If anybody's got a right to be nostalgic about things, then it's people like that - people who were involved in the scene and are here to tell the tale. I think we should be grateful that people like that are still doing stuff and willing to celebrate what has been a great past 30 years in Manchester." Many big-name Manchester musicians have helped nurture new bands, Gill says, and he cites The Janice Graham Band and The Deadbeat Echoes - who recently supported the Inspirals - as proof that the local scene is still alive and kicking. But will fans be paying to see them reform in another 20 years time? Elbow are the biggest current Manchester band and have been in the limelight for more than 10 years. Otherwise, The Courteeners have played arenas and The Ting Tings have enjoyed chart success. Pop nostalgia is certainly not just a Mancunian phenomenon - everybody from The Police to The Pixies have jumped on the reunion bandwagon over the past decade. That has coincided with a drop in sales of current guitar music, sparking debate about the supposed "death of rock". "There are probably more bands in Manchester now than there's ever been before," says John Robb, who wrote a book on the Stone Roses and, with his blog Louder Than War , is a vocal champion of new music. "Every kid seems to be in a band," he says. "You always read this stuff that guitar music's dead. You think, who is this in these rehearsal rooms I go to? "There are bands crammed into the rooms. There's not one band per room, there's about 10 bands in each room. "In the punk days there were probably 10-15 bands. But [now] you could probably find 2,000-3,000 good bands in town." So why does it seem harder to break through? Natalie-Eve Williams, who co-hosts Manchester Music and BBC Introducing on BBC Radio Manchester, says shifts in technology and the music industry mean it is more difficult to make an impact. "There are bands out there that I'm confident are going to break through, but I do feel that the greats - those big rock 'n' roll bands that have this great big following and dominate the market - are a factor of yesteryear, sadly," she says. "The whole record industry is nothing like it was over the last few decades." Rather than relying on record labels, more people self-release material and compete to get noticed on the internet, she says. "It's good in one way because it's very much more accessible, but also you don't get the huge budget behind you. "Unless you've already reached a certain level, I don't think there's a lot of backing for new bands to go and do what Oasis or The Stone Roses did." One new group who have been given a big leg up are Dirty North , a self-proclaimed "rap reggae rock indie punk funk blues" band from Wythenshawe. They have been given a support slot with The Stone Roses, after being championed by drummer Reni. Dirty North frontman Johnny Gregory is clearly grateful for the platform, saying gig promoters and record labels are normally reluctant to take a chance on new bands. "If you're not established, if you haven't got proof that you can sell out a venue, then, as far as they're concerned, they wouldn't risk losing the money," he says. "But if you did give that band a chance to play, it might be a chance for them to get established. We're so lucky to be supporting the Stone Roses, and what's to say this won't show us to the UK for the band we are? We wouldn't have had that if it wasn't for the Stone Roses liking us. We wouldn't get that from the biggest music promoters or the biggest venues." So does all the attention going on high-profile reunions overshadow the current scene? "It does and it doesn't," Gregory replies, diplomatically. "If all these bands are reforming, then the attention will be on them and there will be less attention on the small indie night that's full of unsigned bands. "No-one's going to write about that when they can write about the Happy Mondays reforming. "However, the Stone Roses reforming has given us the biggest gig we've ever had. So I can't say that it's a bad thing."

मैनचेस्टर ने ब्रिटेन के कुछ सर्वश्रेष्ठ और सबसे प्रभावशाली बैंडों का निर्माण किया है, और उनमें से अधिकांश इस गर्मी में वापस आ गए हैं। जैसे-जैसे पुराने लोग काम में वापस आ रहे हैं, क्या वे रॉक 'एन' रोल सितारों की अगली पीढ़ी पर छाया डालने की धमकी दे रहे हैं?


Third River Don crossing inquiry in Aberdeen starts

Summary: A public inquiry into the potential use of compulsory purchase orders for the planned third River Don crossing in Aberdeen has started.

Aberdeen City Council has had long-held plans to build the bridge, linking Tillydrone and Grandholm. Many people own property in the area and Transport Scotland said the hearing was in response to the number of objections. The council has said the inquiry will not consider the crossing plan itself. The aim of the crossing is to improve access to the north of the city.

एबरडीन में नियोजित तीसरी नदी डॉन क्रॉसिंग के लिए अनिवार्य खरीद आदेशों के संभावित उपयोग की सार्वजनिक जांच शुरू हो गई है।


The family who broke records and changed laws

Summary: Deborah McFadden was top of her class when she was paralysed from the neck down by a rare illness. For the first time, she knew what it was like to be discriminated against. It would later motivate her to challenge the US legal system for the two disabled orphans she adopted from Russia and Albania.

By Beth RoseBBC News This is the extraordinary story of a woman who caught the attention of a US president, and the siblings who went on to break world records. Deborah was a straight-A student and competitive fencer when she started to feel exhausted. Doctors diagnosed her with Guillain-Barré syndrome, which crept through her body. Her immune system attacked her nerves and destroyed any sense of feeling. "It starts at your feet and it works its way up and you can't stop it," she says. It's loss of sensation and then no movement. I couldn't move my arms. I had to be fed and dressed. "The hospital called my parents and said, 'She may die you'd better get here. If she doesn't die, she'll never walk.'" Deborah stabilised but remained paralysed. She used an electric wheelchair to get around. She hated the inactivity and decided to return to school, because "the only thing I could do was talk". But back in class, she found people treated her differently. "I drooled and needed help doing things. But [people] spoke louder to me. They treated me like an idiot, Why would they do this? "There were people who stayed with me that surprised me. I was also surprised at those who just couldn't handle it." Employment was tough, too. People didn't see her potential. She was offered a job in a call centre because she could dial numbers using a stick attached to a baseball cap. Slowly, over 12 years, she learned to walk again - but it didn't erase the feeling of marginalisation. "I witnessed first-hand discrimination, so I was very active politically, wanting to change the system." Her campaign caught the attention of President George H W Bush. He appointed her United States commissioner of disabilities - and she helped write the Americans with Disabilities Act. That was 1989. Unknown to her, that same year, a baby born with spina bifida - a deformity of the spine - had been handed into an orphanage in St Petersburg, Russia. Nina Polevikova, the child's mother, had been advised it was the best thing for baby Tatyana, as she might receive some medical treatment. She gave her daughter to Orphanage Three, a place which would become the girl's home for six years. "I had no medical treatment, I had no wheelchair, no education," says Tatyana, who is now 29. "You wake up, and just follow the same routine. I scooted around or I walked on my hands." Communism had started to collapse and Deborah was tasked with distributing US aid. A visit to Orphanage Three was arranged. By now it was 1994. She was led around the home and noticed a "little girl with a bow in her hair bigger than her head". The girl was being kept in a separate room because of her disability. "She just had these bright eyes and this great smile. I said, 'Come on in.'" Listen to the BBC Ouch podcast series with Tatyana and Deborah McFadden about their extraordinary lives. Part one: From Russian orphan to Team USA and part two: Turning to snow to find my mother They sat together. Deborah talked in English - Tatyana in Russian - but they understood each other in other ways. "That night when I was back at the hotel I could not get her off my mind," Deborah says. "And so I told the staff 'I'm going to go back to that orphanage.'" She returned every six weeks armed with clothes, toys and a wheelchair. In return the orphanage placed a photo of Deborah in the girl's room. Tatyana told everyone the woman in the picture was her mother. During another visit in 1995 Deborah was told Tatyana was due to be transferred to a home for disabled children. It was time to say goodbye. "It had never been on my mind to adopt, but the moment they said they were going to transfer her to this place that, frankly in your worst nightmare you can't imagine, I said, 'You can't do this.' "The reaction I had was a reaction of a parent." Deborah called her partner Bridgette in Baltimore, who was already well aware of the girl who Deborah "talked non-stop about". Bridgette agreed they should adopt. Twelve months later Tatyana arrived in the US. "It was really exciting, but scary," Tatyana says. "I had a lot of first things happen - surgeries, going to a friend's house or going to school. I even tried ice cream for the first time and I remember telling my parents to put it in the microwave." Behind the excitement, Deborah had sobering news. Doctors had said due to a lack of medical attention, Tatyana wouldn't have a long life. A couple of years, maybe. "I thought I've got to get her strong. I thought swimming - you don't need your legs." They tried the local pool, but every instructor turned them away until Deborah offered to pay over-the-odds privately. After Tatyana pushed herself into the water and resurfaced she shouted "Ya sama!" - Russian for "yes, I can do this". It started her love of sport. She joined a club for children with physical disabilities and tried different sports. "There was just something with wheelchair racing that really clicked with me," Tatyana says. "I'm not sure if it's the need for speed as a child but it was just something I really loved - and it allowed me to become stronger and more independent." As Olympic-fever hit America ahead of Athens 2004, teenage-Tatyana read about the selection competitions for Team USA and declared she wanted to become an Olympian. She had never heard of the Paralympics. She showed promise on the track so her parents found the nearest para trials. Tatyana was 15-years-old and the youngest competitor. Against the odds she qualified for the 100m, 200m and 400m and was told "go for the experience". She returned with a silver and bronze. "It was absolutely amazing," she says. "When I was on the medal stand I was already thinking about the Beijing Games and I wanted to become faster and better." Tatyana returned home on a high with plans to join her high school's track team. But she got a shock. The school told her that due to health and safety reasons, she couldn't use the same track as her friends or join the club. The topic went back and forth between school and family until Deborah made a demand. "You give her a uniform and you let her run around the track. They said, 'Sue us'." The McFaddens did. They filed for no damages - they wanted equal opportunity not compensation. They won their county case - and then a similar battle with the state of Maryland. But nationally, disabled students across the US were not guaranteed the same opportunities as Tatyana. This irked the young athlete. It seemed short-sighted. So she asked her mother to make it law. "I said, 'You're killing me Tatyana, this is a lot of work,'" says Deborah - but they managed to get the Sports and Fitness Equity Act, also known as Tatyana's Law, passed and put into federal law. It enabled those with a disability to participate in school sports. But Tatyana says the battle to get to that point wasn't pleasant. "Every track meet that I went to they were always booing. But on the inside I just knew this was the right thing to do." During the highs and lows the McFadden family had expanded. Hannah was adopted from Albania and Ruthie joined the family too. Hannah, who has an above-knee amputation due to a bone deformity in her left leg, also took to wheelchair racing and won a place on Team USA alongside her sister. The McFaddens became the first ever siblings to compete at the same Paralmypic Games when they raced at London 2012. Ruthie, who is able-bodied, is described as the creative one. "What I saw in them was their spunk," Deborah says of the deprived children she helped shape into extraordinary people. Tatyana has shown her determination and stamina time and again. In 2013, she won all the major marathons - London, Boston, Chicago and New York. She repeated the feat in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Something no able-bodied or para-athlete has ever achieved. But she was tempted by a new challenge in 2014, which would take her to her birth country - the Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia. The problem was, Tatyana didn't do winter sports. She considered the options and settled on cross-country skiing. "It takes a lot of endurance, strength and technique and I had two out of the three," she says. But this time it wasn't just about the sport. In 2011 Deborah had tracked down Nina, Tatyana's birth mother, and she and Tatyana had met. "I was almost emotionless because I didn't really expect anything in case she didn't want to meet me," Tatyana says. "I think she was overwhelmed and kind of relieved too. She had to do the hardest part - give up a child in the hope of a better life - and I have a great life so I'm so grateful for her." They kept in touch with "casual emails", using Google translate, as Tatyana fought for a place on Team USA's winter squad. "It was always a dream of mine to have my birth family and my adopted family at one competition," she says. "So I thought why not, dreams are never too big." But she had a reality check. She was used to being on the podium, but now "you had to turn the last page to see my results" and her fellow competitors weren't always supportive. "I had people making comments like, 'You should just go back to your summer sport, why are you even trying?' "It came to a point where I didn't think I was going to make the team." It took a final sprint in the last competition for Tatyana to secure her place. The underdog once again, she claimed silver in front of her American and Russian family which she describes as "the cherry on top". Tatyana continues to rack up the medals. In the past few weeks she won the Boston Marathon and came second in the London Marathon. She's also involved in the Toyota Mobility Unlimited Challenge - a competition to improve mobility options for those with lower-limb paralysis. Some inventors have suggested installing phone chargers in wheelchairs - while Tatyana wants a lightweight, foldable, wheelchair she can "whip out" on aeroplanes. "I've missed so many connections waiting for the aisle chair assistance and that's just not OK," she says. The winner will be announced in 2020, the same year the Tokyo Paralympic Games take place. A date firmly fixed in the McFadden diary. "Training's going pretty well and so I have big goals in mind, but that's what it's about," says Tatyana. For more Disability News, follow BBC Ouch on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to the weekly podcast.

डेबोरा मैकफैडेन अपनी कक्षा में शीर्ष पर थी जब वह एक दुर्लभ बीमारी से गर्दन से नीचे लकवाग्रस्त हो गई थी। पहली बार, वह जानती थी कि उसके साथ भेदभाव करना कैसा होता है। यह बाद में उसे रूस और अल्बानिया से गोद लिए गए दो विकलांग अनाथों के लिए अमेरिकी कानूनी प्रणाली को चुनौती देने के लिए प्रेरित करेगा।


IS prisoner issue a ticking timebomb for the West

Summary: The latent danger posed by thousands of defeated and captured fighters who joined the Islamic State (IS) group is festering and growing in the squalid, overcrowded prison camps of north-east Syria, where riots and attempted breakouts are becoming commonplace.

By Frank GardnerBBC security correspondent IS has vowed to liberate them, along with their wives and dependants, while a people-smuggling network is reportedly being put together using bribery to secure covert releases. The ruling this month by Britain's Court of Appeal that the British-born former schoolgirl Shamima Begum, stripped of her UK nationality, had a right to return to the UK to face justice has also thrown a spotlight on the issue. As has the recent death in Kurdish custody of a British IS fighter. When IS lost the last of its self-declared caliphate at Baghuz in Syria in March 2019 thousands of its surviving members were rounded up and interned indefinitely in camps run by the Syrian Kurds who had fought them. This, say critics, is unfinished business that risks developing into a renewed security problem for the world. Research published by Kings College London Defence Studies this month warned that escaping IS fighters were regrouping in other parts of the world and that there was now a risk IS could regroup. "If we are committed to defeating IS," says the chairman of Britain's Parliamentary Defence Committee Tobias Elwood MP, "that doesn't mean just packing up after the air campaign is over. "There are tens of thousands of extremists, hardliners' families and other supporters of IS that remain in Iraq and Syria. And we have to make a decision as to whether we are committed to make sure that we defeat Daesh [IS] completely or the ideology will live on as they're able to regroup." Fighters' offspring Around 40,000 jihadists are believed to have flocked to Syria to join IS between 2014-19. Estimates of those so-called Foreign Terrorist Fighters who have survived - some in prison, some at large - range between 10,000-20,000. A few have been processed through the court system in neighbouring Iraq but most are languishing in camps that the IS fugitive leadership has vowed to liberate, including women, whom they call "the chaste women" and "the brides of the caliphate". The UN estimated earlier this year that there were around 8,000 children of Foreign Terrorist Fighters held in Kurdish-run prison camps. Of these, over 700 children are believed to be from Europe, from countries - including the UK - that have so far been reluctant to take them back. Female enforcers Anne Speckhard runs the International Centre for the Study of Violent Extremism. She has interviewed over 200 jihadists and their families over the last three years. She has also visited camps in north-east Syria like Al-Hol, where she says the conditions are appalling and there is an escape attempt almost every week. Many of the women there have renounced IS but are living in constant fear of retribution. "There are IS enforcers in the camps," she says. "And these are women that kill other women. They set their tents on fire. They throw rocks and teach their children to throw rocks." So does that mean that all the dependants of IS fighters incarcerated in these camps are die-hard jihadists? No. Many have quietly turned their backs on extremist ideology but live in fear of the fanatical female enforcers. Under the so-called caliphate those enforcers belonged to the Hisbah, the female morality police, who meted out harsh punishments. Today, despite being behind barbed wire in the camps, they have effectively reconstituted themselves as the same thing. "Part of our research project is asking the women to tell their stories and to speak out," says Ms Speckhard. "But they're terrified because they're afraid they'll be punished. "So the kids are growing up with fear, trauma from having been in IS and trauma from being in this camp." One country that has made a point of taking back its nationals who are dependants of IS fighters is Russia, from where a large number of jihadists went to join the group from its troubled north Caucasus region. "[Russian President] Vladimir Putin supported the idea of repatriating women and children," says Ekaterina Sokirianskaya, Director of the Conflict Analysis and Prevention Centre in St Petersburg. "He made a clear statement that children were not responsible for what their parents did and that Russia could not leave them behind in the war zone." Considerations Broadly speaking, from a legal perspective the issue of the abandoned jihadists of IS breaks down into three strands: legal, humanitarian and security. From the legal aspect it is indefensible to leave thousands of people - especially children - stranded in limbo in these camps with no trial in sight. Many jihadists, both fighters and their dependants, say they are prepared to come home and face justice and even do their time in prison. The problem is that Western governments fear bringing them home - a deeply unpopular measure domestically - in case there is insufficient evidence to convict them and they are then obliged to release them into the population. They also worry what effect it would have on already overcrowded prisons should there be an influx of hardened, radical jihadists who have spent years fighting for their cause in Syria and Iraq. On the humanitarian side, there is mounting criticism from aid agencies and others about the poor conditions in the overcrowded prison camps. Here there is little public sympathy anywhere in the world for followers of a death cult that inflicted unspeakable torture and cruelty on so many, enslaving and raping girls as young as nine. But the West lost much of its moral authority in the Middle East after 2001 when the US carried out "extraordinary renditions" and flew hundreds of suspects to a remote naval base in Cuba, Guantanamo Bay, to be imprisoned there without trial. For European countries, which themselves condemned Guantanamo Bay, to now ignore the problem of its abandoned citizens simply because it is too difficult lays them open to a charge of hypocrisy. Finally, there is the security aspect. Ultimately this comes down to a choice for governments as to which is more dangerous: bringing their nationals home to face justice or leaving them out there. So far, more than 400 Britons have returned from the Syrian battle space to the UK and they have presented very few security challenges. But those were mostly people who went out in the early years of the Syrian uprising. Today, MI5 (the UK's domestic intelligence agency) and the police worry that some of those still in the camps are far more radicalised, having been exposed to extreme violence over a period of years. And Ms Sokirianskaya, from Russia, adds her own words of warning. "We're not even talking about this from just a humanitarian point of view. [Dealing with the problem] is an absolute must to prevent even more ultra-radical jihadist movements in the future because we're talking about them growing up in extremely radicalised conditions in the camps." The Home Office in London says it would like to see those suspected of crimes prosecuted in Iraq and Syria. What next? But is it possible to separate out their dependants and bring them home while leaving the male fighters to face justice? Anne Speckhard believes it is. "A lot of women," she says, "if they're successfully prosecuted would probably get a stay of sentence. But if they do go to prison, at least their children can visit them. They're not stuck in Syria, in danger. "So the best thing is to bring children and mothers back together. But if that's unpalatable, can't be done, then at least bring the children to safety." Either way, it is clear that the present situation cannot continue indefinitely. The Syrian Kurds, who fought IS and who now guard the camps, have their own problems to worry about. President Trump's partial withdrawal of US Special Forces from Syria has left them exposed to attack by encroaching Turkish forces. The Kurds' position on all these IS prisoners from Europe is simple: "They came from your countries. We cannot guard them for much longer. You need to take them back."

इस्लामिक स्टेट (आईएस) समूह में शामिल होने वाले हजारों पराजित और पकड़े गए लड़ाकों द्वारा छिपा हुआ खतरा उत्तर-पूर्वी सीरिया के अस्वच्छ, भीड़भाड़ वाले जेल शिविरों में बढ़ रहा है, जहां दंगे और तोड़फोड़ के प्रयास आम हो रहे हैं।


Angolan man dies during Heathrow Airport deportation

Summary: Detectives at Heathrow Airport have begun an investigation after an Angolan man became unwell and died as he was being deported from the UK.

The 46-year-old was being escorted by three security guards on a plane preparing to leave the west London airport on Tuesday night. After falling ill he was taken to nearby Hillingdon Hospital where he died soon after arriving. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is also investigating the matter. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said inquiries were continuing to establish the full circumstances of the incident. There have been no arrests. A UK Border Agency spokesman said: "We can confirm that a detainee was taken ill on a flight preparing to depart from the UK last night [Tuesday]. "Paramedics were called and he was taken to hospital where he died."

हीथ्रो हवाई अड्डे पर जासूसों ने एक अंगोला के व्यक्ति के अस्वस्थ होने और ब्रिटेन से निर्वासित किए जाने के दौरान उसकी मृत्यु के बाद जांच शुरू कर दी है।


Bloodhound Diary: 'Speed bumps' on the way to 1,000mph

Summary: A British team is developing a car that will be capable of reaching 1,000mph (1,610km/h). Powered by a rocket bolted to a Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine, the vehicle will mount an assault on the world land speed record. Bloodhound will be run on Hakskeen Pan in Northern Cape, South Africa, in 2015 and 2016. Wing Commander Andy Green, the current world land-speed record holder, is writing a diary for BBC News about his experiences working on the Bloodhound project and the team's efforts to inspire national interest in science and engineering.

By Andy GreenWorld Land Speed Record Holder A fascinating thing about prototype engineering projects in general, and Land Speed Records in particular, is how they appear to move forwards in fits and starts. Right now, Bloodhound is charging ahead towards completion of the car this summer, but there are still a few minor "speed bumps" to deal with. The trick is to recognise these bumps for what they are: a perfectly normal part of the "engineering adventure" to build the world's first 1,000mph car. Fortunately, the speed bumps remain few and far between, so we're taking them in our stride and still smiling. Terrific progress has been made over the past few weeks on assembling Bloodhound's fin (have you put your name on the Fin yet?). This huge structure is very nearly completed after an impressive burst of activity. I'm proud to say that the RAF has made this happen, as the fin has been built by a small and highly skilled team from 71 Squadron, the RAF's aircraft repair specialists. They've got a unique chance to practise and develop their repair and fabrication skills and, as you can imagine, they are loving every moment. At 1,000 mph, Bloodhound will be travelling faster than any jet fighter has ever been at ground level (yes, even faster than the remarkable Eurofighter Typhoon). This makes Bloodhound's fin the hardest working aerodynamic fin ever. The front and rear edges of the Fin need to line up to within 2mm or less, and the whole structure is stressed to survive side loads of over 5 tonnes. All this strength and accuracy needs to be produced from a kit of 139 precision parts held together by 5,000 rivets. The challenge doesn't end there. The metal skins for the fin have "compound" curves (they curve in 2 different directions), so the huge panels need "wheeling" by hand to produce the right curvature, before hand-trimming. Then the drilling-off starts, by hand, which is an epic job. Each hole is created by back-drilling through the relevant rib with a "pilot drill" (that's a small diameter drill, not an aeroplane checklist). The hole is initially widened to line it up and finally drilled off to the finished size. Then the hole is counter-sunk, to create a shallow depression around the hole for the rivet head, before de-burring (removing any stray slivers of metal) completes the task. That's four different precision hand-drilling tasks for each hole - and there are 5,000 of them on the fin alone. I don't know where the 71 Squadron team gets its patience, but I don't think I could do this job. Fortunately for me, I don't have to. They are all over this task, delivering world-class work to finish off not only the fin, but also the equally complex titanium floor that protects the underside of the car. Hurray for the Royal Air Force! While the bodywork and fin are going brilliantly, the rocket system has supplied one of this month's minor speed bumps. After a previous rear bearing failure in the rocket's HTP pump, we went back to Newquay to prove that the new test rig had cured the problem. It hadn't. The bearing failed again. This failure was even more impressive, with the rear pump bearing completely destroyed, taking out the impeller as well. This was obviously not just a test rig problem. The team quickly found the answer: re-calculating the bearing loads showed that we needed stronger bearings. Simple as that. On the plus side, the bearing loads are higher partly because the pump is working better and pumping harder than we had originally expected, which is a good problem to have. Looking ahead, the bearing failure means that the rocket will not be ready in time for our UK test programme in August. However, Nammo is doing everything it can to help us, so we should still have time to get the rocket system ready for a punt at 800mph in South Africa in October. The timescale is very tight, but if this was easy, everyone would be doing it… On the plus side, we've already got a full range of Swagelok connectors to bolt the rocket system together. High-quality components are a critical part of assembling so much of Bloodhound, particularly the really "exciting" (or scary) bits like the rocket system. It's another reminder of just what a huge team effort this engineering adventure really is. A football stadium's worth of highly skilled people, spread across the UK (and around the world), all helping to build the world's first 1,000mph car. I love the thought. Thanks to the terrific support of some 300 sponsor companies, lots of other bits of the car are rapidly coming together. The suspension assemblies are mostly done, and the first brake parachute cans have been delivered. These "inner" chute cans each contain a brake parachute, and to load a fresh chute we just slide the old (empty) can out and slide the new (packed) one in, simple as that. The airbrake door moulds are now complete and the doors themselves are about to be produced, along with the wheel fairings for both front and rear wheels. We've even started planning slots for the paint bay, to get the car ready for the outside world, which is a real indication of how far through the build we are now. I was excited to try the URT/SHD/Sigmatex carbon driver's seat for the first time last month. The good news (as you would expect from a precision-moulded seat) is that it fits me perfectly. The not-quite-so-good news is that the seat harness routeing isn't quite where we'd hoped. This is almost inevitable: the carbon fibre cockpit monocoque had to be designed and manufactured about three years ago (including the attachment points for my seat harness), and my seating position has changed very slightly, now that the rest of the cockpit is complete. Fortunately for us, we are working closely with the FIA Institute, who are giving us world-class advice on how to resolve these and other minor snags with the cockpit and safety systems. A change in the layout of the harness lap straps, together with a change to a Simpson hybrid HANS (head and neck restraint system) should solve the problems. Another minor speed bump crested on the way to 1,000mph.

एक ब्रिटिश टीम एक ऐसी कार विकसित कर रही है जो 1,000 मील प्रति घंटे (1,610 किमी/घंटा) तक पहुंचने में सक्षम होगी। एक यूरोफाइटर-टाइफून जेट इंजन को बोल्ट किए गए रॉकेट द्वारा संचालित, वाहन विश्व भूमि गति रिकॉर्ड पर हमला करेगा। ब्लडहाउंड 2015 और 2016 में उत्तरी केप, दक्षिण अफ्रीका में हक्सकीन पैन पर चलाया जाएगा। विंग कमांडर एंडी ग्रीन, वर्तमान विश्व भूमि-गति रिकॉर्ड धारक, ब्लडहाउंड परियोजना पर काम करने के अपने अनुभवों और विज्ञान और इंजीनियरिंग में राष्ट्रीय रुचि को प्रेरित करने के लिए टीम के प्रयासों के बारे में बीबीसी न्यूज के लिए एक डायरी लिख रहे हैं।


Stockton murder probe: Three men arrested after man dies in hospital

Summary: Three people have been arrested after a 42-year-old man died in hospital.

It followed an "incident" at a property in Smith Street in Stockton at 22:45 BST on Friday. The man died on Sunday at University Hospital of North Tees. Three men aged 20, 26 and 28 have been arrested on suspicion of murder, and remain in custody. Police are appealing for any key workers or members of the public who were travelling in the area at the time to come forward with information.

अस्पताल में एक 42 वर्षीय व्यक्ति की मृत्यु के बाद तीन लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


M25 barrier work begins between Godstone and Sevenoaks

Summary: Work to replace barriers on the central reservation of part of the M25 is expected to last several months.

The Highways Agency said new concrete barriers, which are intended to be safer, will replace the current metal ones between Godstone and Sevenoaks. Work has started between junctions five and six and is scheduled to continue until spring 2013. When completed construction will begin on a scheme to open up the hard shoulder as a fourth lane.

एम25 के हिस्से के केंद्रीय आरक्षण पर बाधाओं को बदलने का काम कई महीनों तक चलने की उम्मीद है।


Isle of Man government outlines future cuts

Summary: The Isle of Man government has begun to outline public spending cuts as attempts are made to save £35m in the next year.

Each main department has seen a reduction in spending except Education, Health and and Social Care. Funding for the three front line services has been increased by 0.2%, 3% and 4.9%, respectively. Health minister David Anderson said despite the extra investment, savings of £1.5m must still be made. He added: "A number of options in relation to prescription exemption criteria will be considered and presented in due course". The following information was released from the Isle of Man government shortly after the budget announcements in 2012. Health Social care Home Affairs Infrastructure Economic development Related Internet Links Isle of Man government

आइल ऑफ मैन सरकार ने सार्वजनिक खर्च में कटौती की रूपरेखा तैयार करना शुरू कर दिया है क्योंकि अगले वर्ष 35 मिलियन पाउंड बचाने के प्रयास किए जा रहे हैं।


Aberdeen City Council offer primary teaching tuition to staff

Summary: Aberdeen City Council is offering to pay the tuition fees of staff who want to become primary school teachers in a bid to tackle a shortage.

The authority has emailed all of its workers offering to pay their way through an 18-month diploma course at the University of Aberdeen. They would do this while continuing in their existing job. The council has a severe shortage of primary teachers, which has already seen it offer incentives in past years.

एबरडीन सिटी काउंसिल उन कर्मचारियों की ट्यूशन फीस का भुगतान करने की पेशकश कर रही है जो कमी से निपटने के लिए प्राथमिक विद्यालय के शिक्षक बनना चाहते हैं।


Franglais row: Is the English language conquering France?

Summary: The French parliament is debating a new road map for French universities, which includes the proposal of allowing courses to be taught in English. For some, this amounts to a betrayal of the national language and, more specifically, of a particular way at looking at the world - for others it's just accepting the inevitable.

By Agnes PoirierFrench journalist It all started with a faux-pas - to use a French phrase commonly borrowed by English-speakers. On 20 March, when French higher education minister Genevieve Fioraso unveiled the proposed road map, she mentioned that there were only 3,000 Indian students in France. In order to attract more foreign students, she added, French universities would have to start offering courses taught in English. "We must teach in English or there will only remain in France a handful of experts discussing Proust around the table," she said. But Proust was an unfortunate choice. The author is actually one of France's best literary exports and the reason why many students in the world take up French at university. The influential Academie Francaise, the official authority on the French language founded in 1635, led a chorus of disapproval of Fioraso's proposals. Few countries guard their linguistic heritage as jealously as France, and defend it so vigorously from foreign threats - such as the growing worldwide influence of English. Though, interestingly, the institution was originally founded by Cardinal Richelieu to fight off the invasion of Italian in the French language. Today, there are as many Italian as there are English originated words in the French language. But Fioraso fought back, saying she only meant to be pragmatic. Elite French business schools, and Grandes Ecoles such as the Institute of Political Studies also known as Sciences-Po, have been teaching in English for the last 15 years. Why, she asks, shouldn't other less prestigious universities follow suit? According to the left-leaning daily newspaper Liberation, 790 higher education courses in France are already taught in English, and like Fioraso it sees nothing wrong with the idea. Its all-English front page on Tuesday featured the words "Let's do it" in bold capital letters. Liberation represents a growing fringe of the French population - young, urban, trendy, the kind which, in the last 20 years, has adopted franglais in their daily life. For them, the work of the Academie Francaise - which offers grammatical advice and alternatives to new foreign words - now feels irrelevant and obsolete. They like nothing more than adding English sounding suffixes to French words, or combining English words into new terms such as "fooding" (made out of "food" and "feeling"). The result is a fantasy English that exists nowhere else; this, many think in France, is an inverted snobbery. "Why speak French well when you can speak English badly?" asks with irony the literary critic Bernard Pivot. These people present themselves as pure pragmatists. English is conquering the world, they say, and it would be foolish to resist an inevitable evolution. Once the language of the world's elite, French now ranks as only the eighth most-spoken language in the world and its influence is clearly receding. Even within Europe, if one takes a look at the European Union, there is no doubt that since the addition of 10 new member states in 2004 French has lost its appeal. Once the lingua franca around the negotiating tables in Brussels and Strasbourg, French has given way to English. Though, if the UK were to leave the EU, there would be no reason for this to continue - English would remain the joint official language only of Malta, as well as widely-spoken in the Republic of Ireland (where Irish is the "national language") and Cyprus. Those who oppose the introduction of English in French universities are attached not only to the national language, however, but more importantly, to the vision of the world it carries. A vision that differs from the English or American world view. This is the crux of the matter, and, for a majority in France, the strongest argument in favour of rejecting the government's bill. Teaching English is very different, they argue, from teaching in English. They support the teaching of foreign languages, and suggest starting it even earlier - in nursery schools - but they oppose the teaching of subjects such as mathematics, history and literature in any language but French. Antoine Compagnon, a distinguished French scholar who taught at Columbia University and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science, maintained in a public letter that it would be better to teach foreign students French than tolerate "Globish" (the primitive English of non-English-speakers) and the dumbing down of teaching that would inevitably follow. Foreign students who choose France over Britain, Compagnon says, are not only choosing the French lifestyle but also its culture and language. Teaching them Proust in English, in France, would be a travesty. French MP Pouria Amirshahi, who represents French expats in North and West Africa, backed him up. "The signal given out to those everywhere who learn French abroad and in francophone countries throughout the world is not reassuring," told The Daily Telegraph. It looks as though, in France, if you want to teach students in English, you have to do it quietly like the elite universities which never asked permission but never boasted about it either. Here is a selection of readers' Franglais favourites. You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook

फ्रांसीसी संसद फ्रांसीसी विश्वविद्यालयों के लिए एक नए रोडमैप पर बहस कर रही है, जिसमें पाठ्यक्रमों को अंग्रेजी में पढ़ाने की अनुमति देने का प्रस्ताव शामिल है। कुछ लोगों के लिए, यह राष्ट्रीय भाषा के साथ विश्वासघात है और विशेष रूप से, दुनिया को देखने का एक विशेष तरीका है-दूसरों के लिए यह सिर्फ अपरिहार्य को स्वीकार करना है।


What can we expect from Johnson's cabinet reshuffle?

Summary: "Reshuffles go wrong more often than they go right."

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter So says one seasoned politician who was in the cabinet for many years, regaling the time when they refused to accept the job that was pressed upon them for two full hours by the then chief whip, who may as well have been shouting into an empty cupboard. However powerful prime ministers are - and the current one is pretty much up there (for now) in the grand scheme of things - reshuffles are not a series of individual acts. They are the culmination of dozens and dozens of decisions, woven together in the hope of conveying a coherent political front. They are too, which has not always been front and centre, the way in which prime ministers can build the team of protagonists who they hope can drive through the changes they want to make effectively without too much grumbling, too much protest. And given it's politicians we are talking about here, too much show-boating or vanity of their own. Their relative success or failure on the big actual reshuffle days is down however to the individual reactions of the ministers or about to be sacked ministers, who are involved. A senior figure from a recent administration told me how a cabinet minister had been demoted by the then prime minister and cabinet secretary but was refusing to accept the new reality. They were sent into another office in Number 10 where they continued to argue the case, eventually to accept that their only option was to leave Number 10, stick a smile on their face and pretend it was the job they had always wanted if they wanted to stay in the cabinet at all. The source who'd been lumbered with having the second go at the demotion then watched on Downing Street's TV screens as the minister marched down Downing Street wearing a rictus grin for the camera - job done. Another legend of reshuffles relates to the occasion when the post-it note that held a loyal and respected MP's name fell off the board where the moves were being worked out (think like a game of chess with more moving parts, or the bit in an American detective drama where names of victims and suspects are scrawled on pieces of paper and moved around to make connections, without the violence of course). The reshuffle was done, the team complete, all the posts had been filled. Back slaps all round. Except only then it was realised that the poor, hard working and crucial lieutenant of the leader had been left out completely. Leaving him out simply could not stand, the story goes. So a job was literally made up, not attached to any government department, or more diplomatically, 'created', for him to do until the next reshuffle when he became a proper minister. There are other warnings too, it's even suggested that Margaret Beckett was made foreign secretary by Tony Blair as an unintended consequence of how the dominoes all fell during the hiring and firing. And in true Westminster pantomime style, one government only narrowly avoided creating a department that would have had the acronym P.E.N.I.S, it's been claimed! Try that on your letterhead. Putting aside the big or comic mishaps of the past, the point is that however careful the planning, however optimistic Number 10 is about sending a swift, firm, message with this first post-election reshuffle, it is not entirely in their hands. Ministers have to accept the promotions or the demotions they are given. If one refuses, that has knock-ons for the whole shebang. And unlike the reshuffle when Boris Johnson took over from Theresa May where 15 people were sacked in the space of about half an hour, so eager was the PM to claim this was an entirely new government (despite the Tories having been in charge for nine years), this is not likely to be a Valentine's Day Eve massacre. Nor is it likely to be a truly historic overhaul of the shape of Whitehall, despite a lot of bold talk earlier on about changes to MOG - a terrible acronym, short hand for a popular drinking hole in Westminster but also 'Machinery of Government'. There have been debates about whether to incorporate the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development but it sounds at this stage unlikely to come to fruition, although it may yet happen. There were conversations about even scrapping the Department for Culture, or combining the Home Office and Justice Department, and sending rather a lot of ministers for the exit. But overall it doesn't seem at this stage like it will be a dramatic big bang. There will be an emphasis on bringing forward the next generation, particularly of women ministers, and it's likely that the overall size of the cabinet will be cut. It doesn't seem that all of those who have been touted for the door will actually be sent that way - whether Andrea Leadsom, Ben Wallace, Geoffrey Cox or others. The composition of the cabinet matters hugely of course - the blend of different strands of the Tory party, levels of experience, imagination, or unthinking loyalty to the prime minister. The cabinet are potentially one of the only real brakes on Boris Johnson - particularly when the government has an enormous majority. It's due to start early, with the sackings first, possibly in the Commons away from the cameras, then the Downing Street walk of hope for all of the contenders. But by the end of reshuffle day, you can expect less of a bold new world order in the shape of the government, but a government that is determined to stay for the long haul. That's unless, of course, as Mr Johnson's predecessors have so often discovered, it all goes terribly wrong. Careful with the post its.

"फेरबदल सही होने की तुलना में अधिक बार गलत हो जाते हैं।"