Can you die from a broken heart?

Summary: The poignancy is enough to make anyone weep. Just a day after a beloved daughter dies, the mother passes away. It is a tragedy with a hint of sweetness - the two who lived each other's lives, end those lives together.

By Stephen EvansBBC News And it is not uncommon. We do not know the cause of Debbie Reynolds' death but there are more instances of two people who love each other dying in short proximity than you might think. There are medical reasons why it is possible to die of a broken heart. I once went to the joint funeral in Wales of a couple who died within a week of each other. Then I read a report in the news about a man in California who died hours after his wife. It made me wonder how often this happens - and what could be the reason. In the first case, the widower selected a poem to be read at his wife's funeral - it talked of "two lovers entwined" and a journey "to the end of time's end". But before that funeral took place, the husband, Edmund Williams, also died. He and his wife, Margaret, had been married for 60 years and their love had endured. In their late 80s, they would still go into their garden holding hands. Parting broke his heart. And about the same time Don and Maxine Simpson died in Bakersfield in California. He was 90 and she was 87, and they were as inseparable as they had always been after meeting at a bowling alley in 1952 and marrying that same year. Maxine died first and four hours later, by her side, Don followed. It looks like a pattern, and perhaps it is. Research published two years ago in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine found that, while it happened rarely, the number of people who had a heart attack or a stroke in the month after a loved-one died was double that of a matched control group who were not grieving (50 out of 30,447 in the bereaved group, or 0.16%, compared with 67 out of 83,588 in the non-bereaved group, or 0.08%). One of the authors, Dr Sunil Shah of St George's at the University of London, told the BBC: "We often use the term a 'broken heart' to signify the pain of losing a loved-one and our study shows that bereavement can have a direct effect on the health of the heart." Some people talk about "broken heart syndrome", known more formally as stress cardiomyopathy or takotsubo cardiomyopathy. According to the British Heart Foundation, it is a "temporary condition where your heart muscle becomes suddenly weakened or stunned. The left ventricle, one of the heart's chambers, changes shape." It can be brought on by a shock. "About three quarters of people diagnosed with takotsubo cardiomyopathy have experienced significant emotional or physical stress prior to becoming unwell," the charity says. This stress might be bereavement but it could be a shock of another kind. There are documented cases of people suffering the condition after being frightened by colleagues pulling a prank, or suffering the stress of speaking to a large group of people. It's speculated that the sudden release of hormones - in particular, adrenaline - causes the stunning of the heart muscle. This is different from a heart attack, which is a stopping of the heart because the blood supply is constricted, perhaps by clogged arteries. "Most heart attacks occur due to blockages and blood clots forming in the coronary arteries, the arteries that supply the heart with blood," says an FAQ on broken heart syndrome published by Johns Hopkins University. What becomes of the broken-hearted By contrast, most patients who suffer from cardiomyopathy "have fairly normal coronary arteries and do not have severe blockages or clots", the website says. Many people simply recover - the stress goes away and the heart returns to its normal shape. But in some, like the old or those with a heart condition, the change in the shape of the heart can prompt a fatal heart attack. The scientific name, takotsubo cardiomyopathy comes from the Japanese word for a type of round-bottomed, narrow-necked vessel used for catching octopuses. The sudden stress causes the left ventricle of the heart - the one that does the pumping - to balloon out into the shape of the pot. There is also evidence of an increased risk of death after the hospitalisation of a partner, according to a study published in 2006 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Other research published in 2011, meanwhile, suggests that the odds of the surviving partner dying are increased for six months after their partner's death. The researchers pointed out that a mutually supportive marriage acts as a buffer against stress. Partners also monitor each other and encourage healthy behaviour - reminding each other to take their daily tablets, for example, and checking they don't drink too much. Whatever the science behind "broken heart syndrome", the results are bitter-sweet. There is, of course, the grief of a bereaved family who have lost two people they love. But there is also often a relief that a couple deeply in love should have exited life together. Edmund Williams' poem for his wife Margaret talked about "two lovers entwined" and a journey "to the end of time's end". If there is a benevolent heart condition, surely takotsubo cardiomyopathy is the one - but "dying of a broken heart" puts it better. An earlier version of this feature appeared in August 2014. Additional reporting by Tammy Thueringer. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

यह मार्मिकता किसी को भी रोने के लिए पर्याप्त है। एक प्यारी बेटी के मरने के एक दिन बाद, माँ का निधन हो जाता है। यह मिठास के संकेत के साथ एक त्रासदी है-दोनों जिन्होंने एक-दूसरे का जीवन जिया, उन जीवनों को एक साथ समाप्त कर देते हैं।


Colombia's ex-fighters taught skills for peace

Summary: When Sebastian Cadavid was recruited to join the Farc guerilla group in Colombia he had little idea of how it would shape his future. Lured with promises of cars and money the 12-year-old didn't hesitate to sign up.

By Lucy SherriffBBC News global education Sebastian spent four years fighting with the guerillas, receiving intensive ammunition training - but no schooling. When he was captured by the army at 16, Sebastian was faced with a world he was unskilled and unprepared to join. "I was sent to Bogota," said Sebastian. "To a reform house where street criminals were sent. And I had to find a job, in a busy city where I knew no-one and had no skills. I was scared and nervous - it was the first encounter I'd had with society since I was 12." The majority - 70% - of Farc members were illiterate, giving the recently demobilised guerrillas little chance of finding work, let alone sustainable, full-time employment. "Many just go into construction, where the pay is bad and the work conditions are terrible, but at least you don't need to know how to read," Sebastian explained. "It was so difficult for me to get any work when I came out of the Farc. I had no skills, and who would employ an ex-guerrilla? "I moved back to the countryside and found work on a coca farm [the leaf used to make cocaine] - the only thing I knew how to do - and eventually ended up getting back into narco-trafficking." Demobilising Sebastian's story is not unusual. Although the government is offering the 7,000 recently-demobilised Farc members two years of education, it is insufficient to allow them to compete against other Colombians, particularly in the current economic landscape. Unemployment in Colombia rose to 9.4% in 2017, making it the country with the highest rate in Latin America after Venezuela. But it's not just ex-guerrillas who are struggling to find work as a result of poor education caused by the conflict. Karen Carvajalino started Biz Nation, a social enterprise, in 2016 with her two sisters in a bid to train victims of the conflict and former guerillas in vocational skills, and support them to set up their own businesses. She emphasised the importance of education in healing her country's wounds and providing a stable, peaceful future. Long conflict "We work with a significant amount of vulnerable people who haven't had the chance to finish school or attend university, and so aren't prepared for the world of work and can't break the poverty cycle," she said. "We're trying to help people adapt to society after such a long conflict." Ms Carvajalino says it isn't just ex-guerrillas who struggle to reintegrate into society, but also the hundreds of thousands of people who fled the war. A 2017 report found Colombia has around 7.2 million internally displaced people. "We believe that the victims are just as important as ex-Farc members because they have also been severely affected by war. Millions of children have had their education disrupted, and fled to cities where they don't have the skills to find urban employment. "And it's not just children, many adult victims come from rural areas where they mainly worked in agriculture and they moved to a city where they needed another set of skills." Lack of education Ms Carvajlino adds she is "extremely worried" about the number of former guerrillas who do not have access to productive education. "Yes they are getting basic education - learning to read and write - but this is not workforce or technology skills, and won't give them any competitive edge." William Forerro Pinella, a former Farc commander who left in 2003 and now works with the Ministry of Defence, has similar concerns. "It was very complicated for me to get work after I left. I wanted nothing more than to integrate into society, but I wasn't allowed. There are many people who do not want peace and who refuse to accept us. We are seen as traitors. "Ex-Farc members are not getting the education they need to make them level with other members of society. "There is also still a lot of prejudice and stigma against Farc members, and so most employers will choose a non-Farc candidate over someone who has been in the guerrillas." 'Stigmatised' However the country's Labour Minister Rafael Pardo insists reintegrating Farc is not a challenge. "There are 12,000 former members of Farc so the unemployment rate won't be a problem," he said. "It's not a hard task to bring former guerillas back into jobs. There have been a lot of good reactions from companies to hire and train former guerrilla members." He admits the issue of stigmatisation could pose a problem for the ex-guerrillas, and added: "We do need to reduce polarisation of people who were in the past members of armed groups. The government has to show the advantages and benefits of reintegrating Farc members." Mr Cadavid eventually received training to set up his own shoe workshop, which he runs from his garage, and for every pair of shoes he sells, he contributes one to pair to a vulnerable child. "I want to make sure these children know there is hope that they can start their own business, wherever they're from, and they don't have to go into drug trafficking." However, he added he is one of the lucky ones. "I have many friends who regularly go hungry because they cannot find work. Who is going to employ a 50-year-old man who can only just read and write but has no other skills? "The issue is not giving us education. The issue lies with giving us the skills to work so we can rejoin society. "Otherwise peace will be impossible." More from Global education The editor of Global education is sean.coughlan@bbc.co.uk

जब सेबेस्टियन कैडविड को कोलंबिया में फार्क गुरिल्ला समूह में शामिल होने के लिए भर्ती किया गया था, तो उन्हें इस बात का बहुत कम अंदाजा था कि यह उनके भविष्य को कैसे आकार देगा। कारों और धन के वादों के लालच में 12 वर्षीय ने साइन अप करने में संकोच नहीं किया।


Church lead theft accused in court in Lincoln

Summary: A man has appeared in court charged in connection with a spate of lead thefts from churches in England.

Mihai Birtu, 23, appeared at Lincoln Crown Court charged with 21 offences of theft from churches between May 2018 and March this year. These include churches in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Somerset and East Yorkshire. Mr Birtu, of Port Street, Evesham, did not enter a plea and the case was adjourned until 9 October. More news from across Lincolnshire Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.

इंग्लैंड में चर्चों से सीसा चोरी के सिलसिले में एक व्यक्ति अदालत में पेश हुआ है।


Boy, 14, chased then stabbed in Birmingham takeaway

Summary: A 14-year old boy has been stabbed twice after being chased into a takeaway restaurant, police say.

The attack happened on Rookery Road in Handsworth, Birmingham, during Saturday afternoon. The teenager was approached by a number of men before they chased him into the restaurant, said West Midlands Police. His injuries are not believed to be life-changing or life-threatening, the force added. CCTV and house-to-house inquiries are under way. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk

पुलिस का कहना है कि एक 14 वर्षीय लड़के को एक रेस्तरां में पीछा करने के बाद दो बार चाकू मार दिया गया है।


Guernsey Airport plans decision date due

Summary: It is hoped that a final decision on plans for Guernsey Airport's redevelopment will be made an October.

Planning permission is the final step needed before work can start after the States agreed the £80m budget in July. The work includes upgrades to the runway, taxiways and landing lights. A public consultation on the proposals closed on Friday and a provisional date of the 18 October has been set for an open planning meeting to discuss the proposals.

यह उम्मीद की जाती है कि ग्वेर्नसे हवाई अड्डे के पुनर्विकास की योजनाओं पर अंतिम निर्णय अक्टूबर में लिया जाएगा।


Bradford children's party gunman jailed

Summary: A man has been jailed for more than 13 years for firing a gun at a house where a children's party was taking place.

Sean Durrant, 22, fired the gun during an event at Belmont Avenue in the Low Moor area of Bradford on 20 July 2019. He was jailed for 13 years and two months at Bradford Crown Court after admitting possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life. Durrant, of Dick Lane, Tyersal, initially denied any involvement. Senior Investigating Officer Det Insp Ian Thornes said after the case: "The discharge of a firearm in a public place is a serious matter, particularly in this case where an occupied property was the target."

एक आदमी को एक घर पर बंदूक चलाने के लिए 13 साल से अधिक की जेल हुई है जहाँ बच्चों की पार्टी हो रही थी।


BBC 100 Women 2016: Who is on the list?

Summary: The BBC has chosen its list of inspirational and influential women for 2016. They will bring you groundbreaking moments of defiance, new takes on fairy tales, stories of octogenarian cheerleading, and take you inside the world of e-gaming.

Others will be exploring black feminism or taking part in our first ever live festival. You will hear from some of the world's biggest names but also from women you may never have heard of, but who all have astonishing stories to tell. This site is optimised for modern web browsers, and does not fully support your browser Photo credits: Getty, AFP, Getty Images Sport, Getty Images Entertainment, Abdullah Al-Musharraf, CNN, Elie Estephan, Janis Franklin, Muriel, Laure Abourachid, Bill Watts, NASA JSC, Zapphaire Events, Suneeta Kulkarni, Geoffrey Black/Ebony Magazine, X-ile Project, Sam Churchill, Russel Watkins/DFID and Youth For Change, NASA Langley Research Center, Theo Cottle/Protein, Claire Tailyour, Kate Neil, Aldo Acosta/MIT, Rebecca Reid, Daniela Sanchez Diaz Vildosola, Mark Owens, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Beatriz Quintero, Poncedeleonfotografia, Omotade Alalade, Shaheen A Haq, Scott Kershaw, David Fenton, Omur Ersin, Manyar Parwani, Huw Evans, Holly Randall, Lukazs Suchorab, Aziz Kerimov, Mamaoud Alajrami, Zubeda Mir - BBC, Alex Tamkin, Loujain.

बी. बी. सी. ने 2016 के लिए अपनी प्रेरणादायक और प्रभावशाली महिलाओं की सूची चुनी है। वे आपके लिए अवज्ञा के अभूतपूर्व क्षण, परियों की कहानियों पर नए टेक, ऑक्टोजेनेरियन चीयरलीडिंग की कहानियाँ लाएंगी और आपको ई-गेमिंग की दुनिया में ले जाएंगी।


Dog owners warned of Guernsey beach fine

Summary: Dog walkers in Guernsey have been warned they face up to a £1,000 fine if they flout the summer dog bans on some of the island's beaches.

The Environment Department said it had received three complaints that dogs were being walked at Vazon's main beach and at L'Eree. The ban is now in place until the end of September and sees dogs banned from many of the island's popular beaches. The ban is active at all times of the day, the department said. The summer ban is in action at Fermain, Petit Bot, L'Eree main beach, Vazon main beach, Cobo main beach, Port Soif and L'Ancresse and Pembroke beaches. The department said there were signs with maps showing the boundary of the dog ban area in place near the entrance points of all the beaches, where dogs are prohibited during the summer months.

ग्वेर्नसे में डॉग वॉकरों को चेतावनी दी गई है कि यदि वे द्वीप के कुछ समुद्र तटों पर ग्रीष्मकालीन कुत्ते प्रतिबंध का उल्लंघन करते हैं तो उन्हें £1,000 तक के जुर्माने का सामना करना पड़ेगा।


Court quashes Sri Lanka judge Shirani Bandaranayake inquiry

Summary: A Sri Lankan appeals court has found moves by MPs to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake to be unlawful.

The parliamentary select committee which found her guilty of professional misconduct in December lacked authority to make such a ruling, the court said. The Supreme Court issued a similar ruling last week. Mrs Bandaranayake denies the allegations of financial and professional wrongdoing. Critics say the impeachment charges are politically motivated. They accuse the government of trying to stifle the independence a judiciary which has made rulings unfavourable to Sri Lanka's powerful president. The government has denied pursuing a vendetta.

श्रीलंका की एक अपील अदालत ने मुख्य न्यायाधीश शिरानी भंडारनायके पर महाभियोग चलाने के सांसदों के कदमों को गैरकानूनी पाया है।


Daithí McKay bomb threat: Police say nothing found

Summary: The police have said nothing was found following a security alert at the home of Sinn Féin's North Antrim MLA Daithí McKay.

It followed reports that a bomb had been left at his house. An anonymous caller contacted the MLA's Dunloy office claiming a device had been left at the family home which prompted police to carry out a search. Mr McKay said it was not the first time he had been threatened.

पुलिस ने कहा है कि सिन फेन के नॉर्थ एंट्रिम विधायक डेथी मैके के घर पर सुरक्षा चेतावनी के बाद कुछ भी नहीं मिला।


Man arrested in Norwich over 'terrorism fundraising'

Summary: A man has been arrested on suspicion of fund-raising for terrorism and encouraging support for a banned terror group.

The 31-year-old was arrested in Norfolk by Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism officers shortly after 06:00 GMT on Thursday. He was being held for questioning at a police station in central London. The Met said searches were being carried out at two addresses in Norfolk and one in north London. The arrest relates to suspected activities overseas, police said.

आतंकवाद के लिए धन जुटाने और एक प्रतिबंधित आतंकवादी समूह को समर्थन देने के संदेह में एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Woman missing from Huddersfield hospital found 'safe and well'

Summary: A woman who went missing from a West Yorkshire hospital sparking a police search has been found "safe and well".

The unidentified woman left Huddersfield Royal Infirmary on Monday and West Yorkshire Police appealed for information saying they had "serious concerns" for her welfare. The force said she had now been found in Lincolnshire. Officers thanked the public for their help in sharing the appeal on social media. Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk. Related Internet Links West Yorkshire Police

एक महिला जो वेस्ट यॉर्कशायर अस्पताल से लापता हो गई थी, जिसकी पुलिस खोज शुरू हो गई थी, वह "सुरक्षित और अच्छी तरह से" पाई गई है।


India election: Is there a surge of support for Narendra Modi?

Summary: Since early 2013 one question has dominated Indian political discourse: will there be a "wave of support" for Narendra Modi of the main opposition BJP? The Gujarat chief minister has an impressive economic record, but has been seen as divisive since deadly religious riots in the state in 2002. He currently looks like the man to beat, according to political scientist Milan Vaishnav.

When Mr Modi was named the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate in September, it was too early to tell whether Indians were prepared to vote in large numbers for him. Following the BJP's triumph in state elections in December, there were signs something was afoot. Now, with the recent release of three pre-election surveys, the evidence of "a wave" is incontrovertible. Notwithstanding this, the gauntlet of Indian politics rarely permits cakewalks. Complex There are four key pieces of evidence in support of this unusual surge behind Mr Modi, drawn from a recent survey conducted by the Delhi-based Lokniti programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), a respected Indian think tank. First, the BJP garnered 18.8% of votes in 2009, a steady decline from its all-time high of 25.6% in 1998 (see figure below). In a CSDS July 2013 survey, the BJP was projected to win 27% of votes. This number had grown to 34% in January 2014 - an 80% rise from 2009. Given the vagaries of India's winner-take-all election system, converting votes into seats is complex. Estimates suggest 34% of the vote would translate to between 192 and 201 of 543 parliamentary seats - a steep increase from its 2009 tally of 116 seats. Second, according to CSDS, there is a huge pro-BJP vote swing under way in the electorally pivotal states in the north Indian "Hindi heartland" (see figure below). In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which together account for 120 seats, the BJP is enjoying increases of 25 and 20 percentage points in its vote share, respectively. What is unusual about these states is that they do not feature head-to-head contests between the Congress and the BJP; instead, each of these states boasts formidable regional parties. This means that the shift toward the BJP goes beyond simple anti-Congress party sentiment. In Uttar Pradesh, disaffection with the Congress is not simply benefitting the state's major regional players - the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party - but rather the BJP. In Bihar, voters would like to see the ruling Janata Dal (United) government remain at the state level, but are flocking toward the BJP when it comes to parliamentary elections. Moreover, the BJP is expected to poll unusually well in states where it historically has not. Popularity This is not due to a suddenly robust party organisation, but the apparent popularity of a Modi candidacy. Indeed, the party has had little traction over the last several elections in southern India, save for the state of Karnataka. Yet in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the BJP's vote share has grown by 6 and 14 percentage points, respectively, albeit from a low base. The BJP's projected performance is probably not enough to win seats, but is indicative of swelling support. Moreover, if the upward trend persists, other regional parties may join hands with the BJP ahead of elections. Third, Mr Modi's impact is evident in voters' preferences (see figure below). In 2009, 2% of voters favoured Mr Modi. That number has steadily grown to 5% in 2011, 19% in 2013 and 34% as of January 2014; comparing favourably to the stagnant support for Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi. In virtually every state where the CSDS conducted its survey, voters preferred Mr Modi over Mr Gandhi. In October, 31% of voters in Madhya Pradesh wanted to see Mr Modi become prime minister. Today, 54% do. In Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, 15% and 40% of voters preferred Mr Modi just months ago. Now, 28% and 48% of voters do. A fourth sign of a Modi wave of support is the BJP's noticeable appeal to younger voters. His relentless talk of growth, jobs and development - not to mention his economic credentials in Gujarat - seeks to capitalise on the aspirations of a population with a median age of 25. Different conditions The BJP is by far the preferred party of voters between the ages of 18 and 25, though its appeal declines as voters get older (see figure below). Nevertheless, the only age group where the Congress trumps the BJP is 56 years and above. It is true that surveys incorrectly predicted BJP wins in 2004 and 2009, but the conditions today are different. For starters, there is palpable resentment over slow growth, high inflation and the lack of employment. Moreover, there are indications that many Indians are hungry for decisive leadership, a quality missing under the prevailing government, but attributed to Mr Modi. Even if the surveys are accurate, other obstacles to Mr Modi's ascension loom. These include nascent alliances between opposition parties seeking to blunt the BJP's popularity and tricky alliance mathematics. A potential ally of the BJP, the AIADMK, recently announced an alliance with left-wing parties in Tamil Nadu, a veiled message by AIADMK leader J Jayalalitha that she is a contender in her own right. Perhaps most worrying for Mr Modi is the rise of the anti-corruption, populist Aam Aadmi Party (Common Man party). This party also targets young, urban, middle class voters, placing it in direct competition with the BJP. With two months before voters cast their ballots, there is more than enough time for surprises. The coast is not yet clear for the BJP, but it appears that they are indeed riding a "Modi wave". Milan Vaishnav is an associate with the South Asia programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC. You can follow him on Twitter @MilanV. Related Internet Links Gujarat state government Wharton India Economic Forum

2013 की शुरुआत से एक सवाल भारतीय राजनीतिक विमर्श पर हावी रहा हैः क्या मुख्य विपक्षी भाजपा के नरेंद्र मोदी के लिए "समर्थन की लहर" होगी? गुजरात के मुख्यमंत्री का एक प्रभावशाली आर्थिक रिकॉर्ड है, लेकिन 2002 में राज्य में घातक धार्मिक दंगों के बाद से उन्हें विभाजनकारी के रूप में देखा गया है। राजनीतिक वैज्ञानिक मिलन वैष्णव के अनुसार, वर्तमान में वे पीटने वाले व्यक्ति की तरह दिखते हैं।


Sir Walter Scott's home plans submitted

Summary: Plans to turn Sir Walter Scott's former home into a tourist venue have been submitted to Scottish Borders Council.

Full funding for the £10m project at Abbotsford House near Melrose has yet to be secured. The running total stands at more than £4m - including money from the council, heritage and enterprise bodies as well as the Scottish government. However, a decision from the Heritage Lottery Fund on a £4.5m bid is not due until July. The Abbotsford Trust wants to refurbish parts of the house and build a new visitor centre with cafe and shop, a large car park and woodland play facilities for children.

सर वाल्टर स्कॉट के पूर्व घर को एक पर्यटक स्थल में बदलने की योजना स्कॉटिश सीमा परिषद को प्रस्तुत की गई है।


Alyn and Deeside by-election campaign trail

Summary: By-elections are by their nature unusual events but there has been nothing quite like this before - a vote prompted by the death of a Welsh Government minister who is thought to have taken his own life while being investigated for misconduct allegations.

Nick ServiniPolitical editor, Wales@NickServinion Twitter The back story of Carl Sargeant was always going to loom large, but once his son Jack decided he was going to try to continue the legacy of his father as the Labour candidate in Alyn and Deeside, it ensured it became a central feature on the doorstep as well. I have been out with the candidates, including Jack Sargeant, and his father obviously comes up in conversation. The 23-year-old says he is more than happy to engage with voters on family matters - how could he do anything else? The challenge for him is to forge his own identity at the same time. In other words, Jack Sargeant has to try to emerge from the shadow of his father while presumably still coming to terms with events. Incidentally, when asked what he thinks of the first minister, he refers to the inquiries under way into his father's death in neutral fashion, while suggesting the time for comment will come later. Close friends of the Sargeant family have called on Carwyn Jones to resign but Jack has kept his views on the matter private and he is not going to reveal them during the campaign. It demonstrates the swirl of emotion and speculation surrounding the Labour Party that the other parties have had to work around. Labour may be defending a big majority but the Conservatives came second last time round. Their candidate, Sarah Atherton, used to work in army intelligence, and they know they will need a clever campaign in order to close the gap. Plaid Cymru's Carrie Harper is a Wrexham councillor who is an experienced campaigner for the party. I caught up with her less than a mile from the English border, a long way from Plaid heartland territory, where she said the big subject on the doorstep was the state of the NHS, although 40% of residents didn't realise it was a devolved matter. Duncan Rees is standing for the Greens and the Liberal Democrats have been gearing up for the arrival of party leader, Vince Cable, this weekend. Their candidate is part-time bank worker Donna Lalek who is making a big play on anti-Cardiff sentiment, particularly in relation to investment. This is well-trodden territory for assembly campaigns in north Wales, and for a banker on the doorstep. To varying degrees, all of the parties are trying to cash in on a sense of alienation from Cardiff Bay. Turnout is also the challenge for everyone. It was only 35% in the 2016 assembly election and that was with a fair wind of a national campaign behind it. There are no posters or banners anywhere indicating there is an election on and polling is also on a Tuesday, which adds to the unconventional nature of the vote. Which takes me back to where we started - there has not been anything quite like this before.

उपचुनाव अपनी प्रकृति से असामान्य घटनाएं हैं लेकिन इससे पहले ऐसा कुछ नहीं हुआ है-एक वोट जो एक वेल्श सरकार के मंत्री की मृत्यु से प्रेरित है, जिसके बारे में माना जाता है कि उसने कदाचार के आरोपों की जांच करते हुए अपनी जान ले ली थी।


Peter Oborne's unofficial Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq war

Summary: Sir John Chilcot's report into the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq is already nearly five years late. He has just announced that it should be published in June or July 2016. Political commentator Peter Oborne cannot understand why there has been such a delay.

So for BBC Radio 4's The Report, he studied much of the testimony given to Sir John and asked some of the witnesses who appeared four key questions at the heart of the inquiry. Here we set out what those questions are and reveal Peter Oborne's own conclusions. Question 1: Was the information presented by the Blair government on weapons of mass destruction and other matters an accurate reflection of the underlying facts? The British government led by Tony Blair justified the war in Iraq as the best way to neutralise the threat that Iraq might pose to its enemies with chemical and biological weapons. Mr Blair did so by publishing a controversial intelligence dossier Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government in September 2002. The dossier said Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had an arsenal of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), which could be deployed in as little as 45 minutes. The claims were questioned by critics both at the time and since, but Mr Blair and his advisers have always denied any suggestion they sensationalised the dossier's contents. Witness 1: Hans Blix, 2002 Chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission for Iraq (Unmovic) "They had taken much of that [the contents of the dossier] from an Unscom document that had been issued in December 1999." [Unscom was the UN's weapons inspection body before Unmovic]. "In the Unscom document they talked about items unaccounted for." ("Unaccounted for" meant there were question marks about where they had gone.) "The big difference in the British dossier was that they simply asserted that these items are there. But when Mr Blair asserts that there were weapons, well that's an assertion and it was not supported by evidence. "Both the UK and the US (figuratively) replaced question marks by exclamation marks. I certainly think it was a misrepresentation." Question 2: Did our military action in Iraq increase the threat to Britain from al-Qaeda? Protecting Britain from a foreign terrorist attack was another reason given to justify the war. As the invasion of Iraq began in March 2003, Tony Blair said in his address to the House of Commons: "Should terrorists obtain these weapons, now being manufactured and traded around the world, the carnage they could inflict to our economies, our security, to world peace would be beyond our most vivid imagination." Critics, however, warned even at the time that by joining in military action in Iraq, Britain was actually making itself more of a target for terrorist attacks. Witness 2: Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller, Director General of the British Security Service MI5 between 2002 and 2007 Baroness Manningham-Buller has refrained from speaking to journalists but told the Chilcot Inquiry that senior government figures had been warned before 2003 that invading Iraq would increase the terrorist threat to Britain. She told the inquiry that in the event, the threat increased "substantially". "The fact is that the threat increased, was exacerbated by Iraq, and caused not only my service but many other services round the world to have to have a major increase in resources to deal with it. "In 2003, having had an upgrade in resources after 9/11, which my predecessor agreed, and another one in 2002, by 2003 I found it necessary to ask the prime minister for a doubling of our budget. "This is unheard of, it's certainly unheard of today, but he and the Treasury and the chancellor accepted that because I was able to demonstrate the scale of the problem that we were confronted by." Question 3: Did Tony Blair enter into a secret agreement with George W Bush that the UK would support US military action come what may? The build-up to the Iraq war saw Britain's biggest ever street protest, with hundreds of thousands of people marching across London and other cities to voice their opposition to military action. Tony Blair insisted that his preferred solution to the crisis was a diplomatic one, but his willingness to send troops to Iraq, despite the huge opposition has led many to believe he had done a secret deal with the US president, during a trip to Mr Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002, 11 months before the war. Witness 3: Sir Christopher Meyer, British Ambassador to Washington from 1997 to 2003 "For quite a significant period of time the president and the prime minister were alone. To this day we are not sure what passed between them. "But on the Sunday after this 24-hour summit at Crawford, Blair went off and made a great speech at the George Bush Senior Presidential Library in College Station. "That speech was the first public time that I know of when Blair supported regime change. "Now is that the same thing as saying we're going to go to war and kick him out? It's not exactly the same thing, but it's another notch down the stick. "I suspect he said something to Bush like, 'Whatever you decide to do, George, you know you can count on me.' "The evidence for that is entirely circumstantial. It's partly the speech the following day, and, secondly, what I started to hear from the American administration in the weeks following the summit. "The message you started to get back from the White House, from the State Department, from the Defense Department was 'Great, you guys are on board for whatever we decide to do. Terrific!'" Question 4: Was the war legal? The British government went to great lengths to prove that war against Iraq would be legal ahead of the invasion, and tried to secure a UN resolution sanctioning action in Iraq. The government's chief legal adviser at the time, the Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith, at first suggested the war would not be legal, but later changed his advice. The British government's argument was that a previous UN resolution - number 678, issued in 1990 at the time of the first Gulf war - had provided a mandate for military action against Saddam Hussein. Witness 4: Carne Ross, UK Iraq expert at the UN Security Council from 1998 to 2002 "On the international law course that I did at the Foreign Office as I became a diplomat, I was taught war is legal under two circumstances: either in self-defence or it has to be authorised explicitly by the UN Security Council. "Neither of those things was the case in the case of the 2003 invasion. "The UK attempted to introduce a resolution at the Security Council explicitly endorsing military action against Iraq and it failed to get that resolution. "In my book if you try to get the Security Council to give you authority to do something and it doesn't give you that authority then you don't have authority. "You can't then claim that in fact all the resolutions from, you know, 12 years ago in fact give you that authority. That's nonsense." Chilcot in a nutshell Peter Oborne concludes that the central questions investigated by Sir John Chilcot can be answered very simply. Did the British government mislead Parliament about weapons of mass destruction? Yes. Did the war very substantially increase the threat from al-Qaeda? Yes. Is there hard evidence that Tony Blair entered into a secret deal with the US president? No. Was the war illegal? Yes. Listen to Peter Oborne's Chilcot Report on this week's edition of The Report on BBC Radio 4 at 8pm GMT on Thursday 29 October or catch up later online.

सर जॉन चिलकोट की 2003 के इराक आक्रमण की रिपोर्ट में पहले से ही लगभग पाँच साल की देरी हो चुकी है। उन्होंने अभी घोषणा की है कि इसे जून या जुलाई 2016 में प्रकाशित किया जाना चाहिए। राजनीतिक टिप्पणीकार पीटर ओबोर्न समझ नहीं पा रहे हैं कि इतनी देरी क्यों हुई है।


How the US Federal Reserve sets interest rates

Summary: With so much of politics, economics, culture - not to mention every other facet of human existence - taking place online, it is startling to realise that such a loose and baggy concept as the "centre of the global economy," can actually be located somewhere real: in a particular grey stone building in lower Manhattan in fact; and within that building, on a particular floor.

By John MervinBBC Business reporter, New York It is the open markets desk of the New York Federal Reserve - a trading floor that looks much like any other big open plan office. But the people working here aren't typing away at the usual sort of office email or message. What they have their hands on is the basic lever of the whole global economy - US interest rates. Do you pay interest? Probably. Anyone with a mortgage, a car loan, or a credit card does. Do you earn it? Again, it's very likely, if you've ever had money in a savings account. And if you've studied the statements you get from your bank you'll know that the rate of interest that is paid or earned has a big impact on how much money you are able to spend on other things. What's true for you is true for the bank, too. How much it costs you to borrow money, influences how much you can afford to spend. How much it costs the bank to borrow money, directly affects how much it's going to charge you for a loan, or how much it's going to pay you on your savings. And think about those savings. If you're sure you can get a higher rate of return by taking your money out of the bank and putting it into the stock market then usually you will. In this way the entire US economy can be seen as one long chain of interest rates. If it is, then at the start of that chain, is the US's central bank, the Federal Reserve. The interest rate set by the Fed is the one to which almost every other interest rate in the world is linked. You may have seen changes in that rate in the news. They happen in Washington and are decided by the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC), usually accompanied by a jargon-filled press conference by the chair of the Federal Reserve But carrying out the policy of the FOMC, is something that's largely the job of the Open Market Desk in the New York Fed. All of the big commercial banks in the US hold reserves at the Federal Reserve. Reserves are the money banks have to keep on hand in case too many people try to withdraw their money at the same time. The key US interest rate is what is known as the Federal funds rate. It's the rate of interest that banks earn when they lend their excess reserves to each other. The target for that rate is what the FOMC in Washington decides on at its regular meetings. But making that target into an effective rate is where the Open Markets desk comes in. When the FOMC issues its statement it identifies a range for the federal funds rate. Currently it's between 1-1.25%. The simplest method of hitting the target is simply to pay the banks interest on their reserves at the rate at the top of the range. Since banks are obliged to try and make money for their shareholders they're not in the business of lending their money out at a lower rate than they can get for just leaving it in their reserves. The problem is that the banks can borrow reserve funds from other big financial players who are not part of the Federal Reserve System - money market funds for example, or the government sponsored organisations, that play a big role in America's housing market. And because they're not part of the Federal Reserve System and keeping reserves at the Fed, they are sometimes willing to lend reserve funds to the banks at a rate below that at which the Fed is paying interest to the banks for their reserves. What the open markets desk does then is offer to borrow money from those non-bank lenders at a rate at the bottom end of the target. Again, no-one works to lose money, so this creates another floor for the federal funds rate, which therefore sits between the two ends of the range. And remember we're all links in a chain of interest rates. If your bank has to pay 1.25% interest on the money it needs to keep its reserve funds full, it's going to charge you a higher rate on your mortgage in order to make a profit, or pay you a lower rate on your savings. So when the amount of money you have left over after you've paid interest on your loans changes, or when the amount of interest your savings earns changes, you're feeling the effects of the work of the traders at the New York federal reserve. Beyond that, since the US economy is the biggest in the world, and so are its financial markets, borrowers and investors everywhere are living in a world directly shaped by the men and women on the open markets desk in New York.

इतनी सारी राजनीति, अर्थशास्त्र, संस्कृति-मानव अस्तित्व के हर दूसरे पहलू का उल्लेख नहीं करने के लिए-ऑनलाइन होने के साथ, यह महसूस करना चौंकाने वाला है कि "वैश्विक अर्थव्यवस्था के केंद्र" के रूप में ऐसी ढीली और जटिल अवधारणा वास्तव में कहीं वास्तविक स्थिति में स्थित हो सकती हैः वास्तव में निचले मैनहट्टन में एक विशेष धूसर पत्थर की इमारत में; और उस इमारत के भीतर, एक विशेष मंजिल पर।


USAID gives funding to Linda Norgrove Foundation

Summary: A US aid agency is helping to fund a project of a charity set up in memory of a Scots aid worker killed in an attempt to free her from kidnappers.

Linda Norgrove, from Lewis, had been working in the country when she was seized by rebels in 2010. The 36-year-old was killed by a US grenade during a failed rescue attempt. The Linda Norgrove Foundation is being supported by USAID in its work to set up a network of 40 community libraries in Afghanistan. The American organisation has given a grant of about £401,000 towards the project. Her parents launched the foundation in Ms Norgrove's memory. Its relief work so far has included helping Afghan victims of domestic abuse.

एक अमेरिकी सहायता एजेंसी अपहरणकर्ताओं से उसे मुक्त करने के प्रयास में मारे गए एक स्कॉटिश सहायता कार्यकर्ता की याद में स्थापित एक चैरिटी की परियोजना के लिए धन जुटाने में मदद कर रही है।


Diamond Jubilee: Details of Queen's visit to Hereford revealed

Summary: More details have been revealed about The Queen's visit to Hereford as part of the UK Diamond Jubilee tour.

Herefordshire Council said she would travel through High Town on 11 July, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh. The couple will also go to King George V Playing Fields where the city's Diamond Day event is being held. Lady Darnley, Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire, said: "We're going to give the Queen a real taste of life in Herefordshire." The council said an awards ceremony for people who had been judged to have made noteworthy contributions to the county during the past 60 years would also take place at the Diamond Day event.

ब्रिटेन के हीरक जयंती दौरे के हिस्से के रूप में महारानी की हेयरफोर्ड यात्रा के बारे में अधिक जानकारी सामने आई है।


Rebuilding lives in Kashmir

Summary: For more than 20 years, families in Kashmir have been divided by a stretch of water only 100 metres wide - a river that is part of one of the most deeply disputed borders in the world. And despite easing tensions between India and Pakistan, their hopes of returning home seem as remote as ever.

By M Ilyas KhanBBC News, Neelum valley, Kashmir Ashraf Jan often visits this particular spot in northern Kashmir where the Neelum river cuts a narrow passage through a mountain village, leaving it divided between two steep hills. She stares at the wooden houses across the river, and points to one of them. "A very old couple live there - they are so old they don't come out of their room any more. They are my father and mother," she says, fighting back her tears. Even though Ashraf Jan, who is 40, is standing just minutes away from the house, she hasn't been there in 22 years. That's because the divide here runs deeper than the river, and she's standing on the wrong side of it. In 1948, India and Pakistan went to war over Kashmir. The war ended with them dividing the region along a de facto border, the Line of Control (LoC), which is still disputed - and often violent. In Keran village, this line passes along the river, and since a 2003 ceasefire, it has become a convenient point for divided families to assemble and wave greetings from opposite banks. Siddique Butt, 65, is here to wave a hello to his daughter. "She was sitting up there a while ago," he says, pointing to a clutch of houses higher up on the same hill. She's married with four children. She recognises me when I walk on the riverbank." Ashraf Jan and Siddique Butt are among roughly 30,000 people who fled their villages on the Indian side of the LoC in or about 1990, when a violent separatist insurgency broke out in Indian-administered Kashmir, the country's only Muslim majority state. They crossed to the Pakistani side where they were housed in temporary camps, hoping to return home soon when the conflict was resolved. But that didn't happen. During a decade following the uprising, another 30,000 youths from the Indian side are believed to have crossed over to receive training and arms to fight Indian forces in Kashmir. Most of them went back to carry out attacks on Indian targets. Many were killed or captured, while some managed to slip back into normal lives in homes they had once abandoned. Today some 3,000 to 4,000 of them remain in Pakistani-administered Kashmir - many of them are now middle-aged and have families. These displaced Kashmiris - who number more than 36,000 in all, according to officials in Pakistani-administered Kashmir - find themselves increasingly alienated as Pakistan mends fences with India, and the insurgency winds down to a mere shadow of what it once was. The divide along the LoC remains as deep as ever, however. Defence analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi says these people are caught in a "time warp". "The insurgency kept Kashmir on the boil for well over a decade, but failed to shake Indian rule, prompting many quarters to question its justification," he says. "Also, the insurgency passed into the hands of religious extremists, which made it unpopular internationally, especially after the 9/11 attacks in the US." Pakistan, then under pressure to severe links with militant outfits, took a series of steps to wind down the Kashmir insurgency. In 2003, it agreed to the ceasefire with India across the LoC. In 2006, it stopped all funding for militant operations in Indian-administered Kashmir, ignoring protests by some of the more influential groups such as Hizbul Mujahideen (HM). Earlier this year, it cut by half the administrative funds it issues to insurgent groups that still maintain offices in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Alongside this financial squeeze, Pakistan offered a cash rehabilitation package to former fighters to get married and set up businesses. These steps sparked a chain of events that further diluted militancy. India's military took advantage of the ceasefire to fence the entire LoC, which it now monitors electronically making infiltration by militants more difficult. On the Pakistani side, communities along the LoC who had virtually lived in bunkers for 16 years rose up in protest against any hint of militant activity that might endanger the ceasefire. These protests forced local authorities to relocate militants to areas away from the border region. On the Indian side support for militancy has also dwindled. People there had backed the uprising of 1988-90, but things began to turn sour for them when infighting broke out between pro-independence nationalists - who had kick-started the insurgency - and Kashmiri Islamists who wanted Indian-administered Kashmir to accede to Pakistan. Although they prevailed initially, the Islamists too became increasingly frustrated when by the mid-1990s many hardline Pakistani groups - such as Harkatul Mujahideen, Al-Badr, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad - joined the fray. These groups brought with them greater resources to eclipse local Kashmiri groups, and professed foreign religious ideologies that were less tolerant of local sensibilities. According to conservative estimates, more than 50,000 people died in about 20 years of conflict, most of them civilians. The prolonged and heavy militarisation of the region played wrecked people's lives and ruined the economy, as well as depriving a generation of proper education and normal upbringings. By the mid-2000s, the downside of the conflict was becoming obvious. Ershad Mahmud, an expert on Kashmir affairs, describes the lessons the Kashmiris have learnt from this "bitter experience". "Today's Kashmiri youth know that the blood-letting of all those years didn't bring them an inch closer to independence. They also know that armed conflict has damaged some of the best values of their society." The new mood in Indian-administered Kashmir is to switch to a movement of civil liberties and human rights, which has not only attracted international attention, but also drawn sympathy from the Indian media itself, he says. This change of thinking on both sides of the divide has put most Kashmiri militant groups out of action, and Pakistani groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba have seen their foothold in Kashmir steadily weaken. "These [Pakistani] groups cannot keep the insurgency going, because they cannot operate without local support," says Dr Rizvi. But while the scene in Kashmir is changing for the better, the circumstances of the people who were displaced from their homes 22 years ago have gone from bad to worse. Once literally coaxed by Pakistani border officials to cross over, they now form part of an unwanted population that is denied both citizens' rights in Pakistan and access to their former homes. For militants, the journey has been from freedom fighter to refugee living in one of the miserable, crowded tent villages in the slums of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. "My children have no future here," says one dejected former fighter, requesting anonymity. "They can't have a Pakistani national ID, which means they can't have a passport, a decent job, or any other rights. We are living in a trauma." As the dream of liberation recedes, the urge to return home grows stronger. It is further fuelled by an Indian offer of amnesty. But neither the Indians nor the Pakistanis want these people to return to their homes all at once. For India this could create security risks and administrative bottlenecks. And Pakistan fears negative publicity - most refugees are disappointed with life there and might speak up once they are out of reach of Pakistan's "unforgiving" intelligence services. To prevent this, the two countries do not allow public movement across the heavily militarised LoC. They have kept refugees off a bus service that began in 2005 and is the only transport link between the divided parts of Kashmir. Officials on both sides strictly screen passengers before issuing travel permits. But since January 2011, the two countries seem to have collaborated in opening an alternative route - presently open only to former fighters and their families - which ensures "controlled" exodus from Pakistan. One former fighter who took this route, explained it to the BBC before returning to India in June. "I sold my belongings in Muzaffarabad to raise money for my family's air travel to Nepal, from where we'll cross into India and reach Srinagar," he said, preferring not to give his name. "Our passports and air tickets were arranged by a contact person in Rawalpindi city." He paid more than $2,000 (£1,278) to arrange travel for himself, his wife and three children. This is big money by local standards, and has kept the numbers of returnees fairly low. Pakistani sources say just over 1,000 people, roughly half of them militants, have gone home or are in the process of doing so, since the route was opened 19 months ago. Officials in Indian-administered Kashmir put the figure at about 500, including relatives of former militants. They expect a similar number to follow suit by the end of this year. Pakistani authorities are now conducting a survey among the refugee population to determine how many of them want to return to their former homes. The refugees fear that they, too, may be required to travel via Nepal. "Few people can raise the kind of money required for that route," says a former militant commander, Bashir Ahmad Peerzada. Mr Peerzada is married with two children, and has set up a small business in Athmuqam, a town in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. He says he is under pressure from his parents and siblings on the Indian side to come home, but he doesn't have the money to pay for the trip. "If India and Pakistan care for the Kashmiris, they should let them cross this arbitrary line they have drawn to divide them," he says. For the moment, there are no signs of this happening, and most refugees who want to return to India feel stranded - and desperate. "It's been 60 years, but there's no freedom," says Siddique Butt. "I don't care about freedom any more. I just want to go home." Ashraf Jan has similar sentiments. "Sometimes I feel like jumping into the river and swimming to the other side. But I can't do that. I have children, a family, back at the camp." For these people, unless things change, a trip to Keran and a walk along the riverbank will be the nearest they ever get to a family reunion.

20 से अधिक वर्षों से, कश्मीर में परिवारों को केवल 100 मीटर चौड़े पानी से विभाजित किया गया है-एक नदी जो दुनिया की सबसे गहरी विवादित सीमाओं में से एक है। और भारत और पाकिस्तान के बीच तनाव कम होने के बावजूद, घर लौटने की उनकी उम्मीदें हमेशा की तरह दूर की नज़र आती हैं।


Stamp collection raises £1,000 for Hartlepool lifeboat

Summary: The sale of 20 stamp albums has raised £1,000 for the RNLI lifeboat station in Hartlepool.

The albums were donated anonymously to be auctioned in aid of the station. They were sold by North East stamp dealers Corbitts at an auction attended by about 200 philatelists. Chris Hornsey, lifeboat operations manager, said the "extremely generous donation" would help provide "first class kit" for crew members. He said funds would also help maintain two lifeboats at the Ferry Road lifeboat station.

20 डाक टिकट एल्बमों की बिक्री ने हार्टलपूल में आर. एन. एल. आई. लाइफबोट स्टेशन के लिए £1,000 जुटाए हैं।


Winnie Mandela in six quotes

Summary: Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was a firebrand activist who fought the apartheid regime in South Africa. She was far more militant than South Africa's first black president, her ex-husband Nelson Mandela. She also became a critic of the African National Congress (ANC), the party to which she was fiercely loyal throughout her political life.

Here is a selection of some of her most compelling quotes. On what prison did to her: "The years of imprisonment hardened me... I no longer have the emotion of fear... There is no longer anything I can fear. There is nothing the government has not done to me. There isn't any pain I haven't known." The quote, in the book Lives of Courage: Women for a New South Africa, highlights the extent to which Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was brutalised by the apartheid regime. She was imprisoned on numerous occasions from 1969, much of it spent in solitary confinement. In 1976, the year of the Soweto riots, she was banished from the township to a remote rural area. At one stage her house was burned down. Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was a politician in her own right, and opposed her husband's move to negotiate an end to apartheid, claiming it would lead to a "sell-out" of black people. Despite their differences, Mr Mandela appointed her as a deputy minister in his first government in 1994. He sacked her after a year, reinstated her when she successfully challenged his decision in court, and then sacked her again. On how black people will achieve freedom: "With our boxes of matches and our necklaces we will liberate this country." The comment, at a rally in Johannesburg, signalled that Mrs Mandikizela-Mandela had endorsed the brutal method of "necklacing" - putting a tyre around suspected collaborators, dousing them with petrol, and burning them alive. It caused shock around the world, and tainted the image of the ANC. The comment was condemned, including by South Africa's Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu (above). On loving Nelson Mandela: "I had so little time to love him. And that love has survived all these years of separation… perhaps if I'd had time to know him better I might have found a lot of faults, but I only had time to love him and long for him all the time." Nelson and Winnie Mandela were the most celebrated political couple in South Africa. Hailed as the "mother of the nation", she kept the name of her husband alive during his 27 in prison. She was a young social worker when she married Mr Mandela, then already a prominent ANC leader, in 1958. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1961 for his role in fighting apartheid. On why she kept the Mandela name after their divorce: "I am a product of the masses of my country. I am the product of my enemy." The couple divorced in 1996, two years after Mr Mandela became South Africa's first black president. The years apart took its toll on their marriage, and Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was also accused of having an extra-marital affair. She kept his surname in what critics saw as an attempt to continue trading on the Mandela brand. On women: "The overwhelming majority of women accept patriarchy unquestioningly and even protect it, working out the resultant frustrations not against men but against themselves in their competition for men as sons, lovers and husbands. Traditionally the violated wife bides her time and off-loads her built-in aggression on her daughter-in-law. So men dominate women through the agency of women themselves." Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was hailed by her supporters as a feminist icon. She became the leader of the women's wing of the ANC in 1993, and believed that black women suffered from "a triple yoke of oppression" - their sex, colour and class. On the ANC in government: "I believe something is very wrong with the history of our country, and how we have messed up the African National Congress." In the latter years of her life, Mrs Madikizela-Mandela became deeply disillusioned with the ANC - the former liberation movement which took power in 1994 - because of the corruption and in-fighting in its ranks. But she remained loyal to the party, and appeared to endorse Cyril Ramaphosa when he replaced the scandal-hit Jacob Zuma as president earlier this year.

विनी मदिकिज़ेला-मंडेला एक फायरब्रांड कार्यकर्ता थीं जिन्होंने दक्षिण अफ्रीका में रंगभेद शासन का मुकाबला किया। वह दक्षिण अफ्रीका के पहले अश्वेत राष्ट्रपति, उनके पूर्व पति नेल्सन मंडेल की तुलना में कहीं अधिक उग्रवादी थीं। वह अफ्रीकी राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस (एएनसी) की भी आलोचक बन गईं, जिस पार्टी के लिए वह अपने पूरे राजनीतिक जीवन में पूरी तरह से वफादार थीं।


'I didn't know it was abuse until I nearly died'

Summary: It was only when Abi Blake was nearly killed by her abusive husband that she decided to break up with him and press charges. A new policing pilot in Cheshire encourages women not to leave it so late, reports the BBC's Sue Mitchell.

They were introduced by friends just after Valentine's Day in 2014. She was an operations manager at Manchester airport, with a son from a previous relationship, and he was a telecoms manager down south. Just months after their first date, Abi Blake ignored the doubts of friends and family and married the man she called her "prince". As they drove to the hotel afterwards she told him it was one of the happiest moments of her life. But the happiness didn't last long. Moving to live with Abi in the Cheshire village of Knutsford, Sebastian Swamy told his new wife that he wanted to help make her son's life happier than his own had been. But from the start there were things that troubled her about her new husband. He kept telling her how to behave - "from wearing make-up, to wearing high heels, to how I looked, how I'd speak, how I'd conduct myself", Abi says. "He used to tell me, despite my degree, and he even used to point his finger at my head and say, 'For someone with such intellect, you know, you're pretty stupid.' And I started to doubt myself and question myself, and that was just at the beginning." For a long time Abi tried to shrug things off, making excuses for him and focusing on the things she loved: the times he looked after her and was kind and charming, the occasions when he would take her out, buy her flowers and fix things in the house. He was handsome and she felt touched by gifts that meant so much to him, like the ring that had belonged to his grandfather in India. Once the violence started, it was harder to ignore. The first time was after he'd persuaded her to go out with friends. She returned to find traces of what looked like cocaine on her son's Thomas the Tank Engine table and bottles of drink on the floor. She demanded an explanation and Sebastian exploded. "He slapped me very, very hard and then he gripped hold of my mouth and told me to shut up. "I ran up the stairs and the next morning he apologised and said he didn't mean to do it, he'd never do it again and how sorry he was for it. He said it was because of me, because I was screaming and shouting, and it was just to keep me quiet so that the neighbours wouldn't hear. That was the first hit." Abi would try to hide the bruises with long sleeves and scarves, but it was harder to hide the shame. When she got really scared she would call the police, who would come and take Swamy away, and then return to talk to her hours later. But she always refused to press charges, even when her husband appeared to have started a fire in the house as she slept upstairs. "I sat down, I could see the house and I kept thinking, 'I've got to paint it, I've got to clean it.' And I just said, 'No, I can't do it., And [the police officer] said, 'Well Abi, you know he needs to be charged with arson.' I said, 'Oh no, no, no.' It was just all so daunting." Find out more Listen to Abi Blake on the latest edition of Radio 4's My Name Is...on BBC Sounds Her husband had made her believe that she couldn't live without him, she says. "Your self-worth and your self-esteem are so low that you believe everything that they say," she explains. Abi's mum warned her one day that she would end up in a body bag. Five days later her words almost came true, when Swamy kicked and stamped on Abi's body with such force that he damaged her spinal cord, punctured a lung and broke her ribs. As she lay injured, he shouted that he had had enough of her and she needed to shut up. Abi survived thanks to neighbours who came to her rescue and surgeons who carried out surgery on her damaged vertebrae through an incision in her neck. She suffers from permanent spinal cord damage and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. This time she realised she had to leave him. Dr Keri Nixon, a consultant forensic psychologist, is convinced that if she hadn't, she might soon have been killed. "He was a violent person but that level of alcohol that night, I think, made that particular attack so much worse, and that's why potentially she would have ended up dead. Because he would have gone out again and he would have got drunk again, and he would have been angry with her again, and he wouldn't have stopped." Swamy's abuse of Abi was a textbook case of "serious, high-risk domestic abuse", she says. There was coercive control and emotional abuse, isolation - Swamy discouraged her from seeing friends and family - and physical abuse. And as so often in such cases, Abi herself was in denial. Discouraged by the number of times that police officers were getting called out to domestic abuse incidents, and finding that victims were declining to press charges or retracting their statements the following day, Det Insp Claire Jesson of Cheshire Police, together with a student on a placement from Cheshire University, came up with a proposal. Instead of leaving the victim alone for several hours after taking the perpetrator away, it would be better to send a dedicated domestic abuse officer to every incident, who would remain with the victim and talk through the options for seeking help, they suggested. This idea then became a pilot programme, which started in Crewe last June, and is now also being tried in Macclesfield, and could be rolled out more widely. "From the minute they go through the door, they're there for the victim. So we're building that rapport from the off," Claire Jesson says. "What used to happen is if a perpetrator was arrested, the officers would have to take him or her to custody and then return later, by which time people had often decided not to press charges." Of 180 cases dealt with by the domestic abuse team in Crewe, 74 have resulted in a charge, summons, caution, or community resolution, Claire Jesson says - a far higher proportion than previously. The length of an average investigation has also come down from 32 days to less than 20. "I think that we can show that it's been successful. A full review is taking place at the minute and they'll look at how viable it is to roll it out force-wide. The feedback on it has been so positive from the partners but it's not a simple thing. It's a huge investment from the police." Figures from the Office of National Statistics show how important it is for solutions to be found. In 2018, 4.2% of men and 7.9% of women suffered domestic abuse, which equates to about 685,000 male victims and 1,300,000 women. Murders related to domestic violence are at a five-year high, with an average of two women murdered every week. Why does it happen? Abuse victims often ask consultant forensic psychologist Keri Nixon what makes their partners act in the way that they do. "Most of the time, the perpetrators I've worked with grew up witnessing domestic abuse," she says. "Sometimes you have perpetrators who have that very narcissistic personality, whose mother made them feel that they were the best thing ever. When they were told off, they defended them. It was almost like, 'My son can do no wrong.' And they created this narcissistic monster who thinks that they can just waltz through life getting their own way. "And if that kind of guy [has] also witnessed domestic abuse, it's very likely that they're going to be abusive in their relationship and not take any responsibility. So when they get let out of prison, it's 'not their fault'. So they'll get into another relationship and they'll wine and they'll dine and they'll charm, and they'll make that woman fall in love with them and then the pattern will start again." Dr Keri Nixon says that the focus on people who are murdered by their partners means that people like Abi are sometimes forgotten. "I've worked with police forces across the country and examined many, many cases of domestic abuse where victims are almost left for dead, and we don't hear about those cases. "I've worked on a case where a woman got her head repeatedly bashed against the bath until she was nearly dead, a case where a woman was stabbed and then stood up in court and defended her attacker because she was at the point where she couldn't leave," she says. Abi did see her case through to court and in January 2019 Sebastian Swamy admitted causing her grievous bodily harm and was jailed for three years and four months. He said he had been drinking heavily after losing thousands in a scam. Sentencing him, Judge Steven Everett said he had caused serious and catastrophic injuries to his wife and that her life would never be the same again. "You were Dr Jekyll to people in the street, but it was clear you had the ability to be Mr Hyde when you were at home," he said. Although Swamy was sentenced to more than three years, he had spent time on curfew before the trial, and Abi suddenly learned last summer that he was going to be let out much earlier than her lawyers had led her to expect. When probation officers refused to give her the exact date, she appealed to Det Insp Jesson for help. "It was flagged to me because bizarrely, and I still can't quite understand it to this day, Abi wasn't being given the date. For data protection reasons, probation weren't willing to release the date, so I just rang them and told them, 'This is a high-risk case, we really need to make this disclosure straight away.'" How to get help Abi went into hiding as Swamy left Wrexham prison. He travelled to his family home in Berkshire and when she knew he was under electronic surveillance she went back home. Abi is proud to be helping others now, through her work with a Cheshire-based charity, My CWA, which provides refuge places, a crèche, family support, a 24-hour helpline, a perpetrators programme, counselling for children, a relaxing area for people wanting to socialise and facilities for those seeking to train and learn new skills. Claire Jesson's domestic abuse officers are regular visitors and get a warm welcome from the women they have helped. Abi hopes that other victims do not suffer in the way that she has, and urges them to save themselves by taking action at an earlier stage than she did. "It doesn't start with the physical, it starts with the psychological. I didn't know that this was abuse, not until I nearly died - and then I got the help that I so desperately needed. And so, on the psychological level, if they can get out, then get out. I'm speaking out to hopefully help or save one person and/or their children." You may also be interested in: Nicole spent years living with a charming man, but she always seemed to be doing something wrong. Eventually she began to realise that it wasn't her that was the problem, it was him - and when she met one of his previous girlfriends, Elizabeth, everything made sense. Here Nicole tells her story, followed by Elizabeth. Gaslighting: The 'perfect' romance that became a nightmare

बीबीसी के सू मिशेल की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, जब अबी ब्लेक को उसके अपमानजनक पति ने लगभग मार दिया था, तभी उसने उसके साथ संबंध तोड़ने और आरोप लगाने का फैसला किया। चेशायर में एक नया पुलिस पायलट महिलाओं को प्रोत्साहित करता है कि वे इसे इतनी देर से न छोड़ें।


Kenya Tana Delta massacres raise election violence fear

Summary: Deadly clashes in Kenya have raised fears that elections in March could again be violent as politicians exploit tribal rivalries, reports the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in the Tana Delta. One minister has been sacked from the cabinet, accused of inciting conflict in the Tana Delta region. More than 100 people have been killed there in the past month in clashes between two rival communities.

In the village of Kilelengwani, the morning of 10 September began just like any other Monday. Then suddenly, says Ismail Bodole, a resident of this small settlement of several dozen thatched mud houses, the place was surrounded by a group of armed men. "They were many," he says. "They had red scarves tied around their foreheads. They were shouting, 'Kill, kill, kill!' That was their roar." The attackers were several hundred strong. Some were armed with guns, but most carried spears, machetes, or bows and arrows. They set fire to the villagers' huts. Then they hacked them to death: men, women and children, indiscriminately. At a hospital in the nearby town of Malindi, we met Jamila, a survivor of that attack. She is eight years old. The left side of her face was slashed from ear to mouth: a machete wound, a doctor said. Jamila's condition was stable, he added; she would pull through. She was too traumatised to speak for herself. Stench of death Days after the attack, the stench of rotting flesh still hangs over Kilelengwani. The severed head of a cow lies in the dust, buzzing with flies. Nearby, a square mound of raised earth indicates the location of a shallow grave, where some of the 38 victims of this massacre lie buried. Ismail Bodole believes this was no spontaneous outpouring of tribal anger. This was, he says, a planned attack, an organised act of brutality and terror. "The attackers were divided into three groups. One group torched the houses. Another would carry off the injured. Then there was a third group whose job it was just to kill." On one level, this is a conflict over access to land and water. On one side are the Pokomo people. They are mostly farmers, smallholders who eke out a living growing cash crops by the banks of the Tana River. On the other are the Orma, semi-nomadic cattle drovers who roam the land in search of grazing grounds for their herds. In the past, disputes would often be resolved peacefully. But not now. We met Ali, 25, and Adhan, 19, driving a herd of cattle through the bush. Instead of the usual herdsman's sticks, each young Orma man carried a sharp spear. "Of course we are afraid," said Ali. "But we have our weapons. If anything happens, we will defend ourselves." Adhan said he wished he had a more effective weapon. "Some of them [the Pokomo] have guns as well as bows and arrows. But I only have this spear. "I haven't killed anyone with it," he added, "but we have wounded many." Scramble for power The killings have left more than 100 people dead on both sides. Thousands have been forced to flee their villages, living in makeshift shelters or on the outskirts of the larger towns. On Saturday, in the town of Garsen, a crowd of several hundred gathered under the shade of a tree as religious leaders led prayers for peace. A number of politicians had also come to convey their support for that message. But land is a valuable commodity in the Delta region, and not just for the relatively small communities who live on it. As Kenya prepares for elections next spring, many are convinced that political interests are stoking the violence. "There has been a scramble in the Delta in the last four or five years," says Francis Kagema, a conservationist. Investors, both Kenyan and foreign, have been acquiring leases on vast tracts of land in the region for the purposes of large-scale cultivation of food and biofuel crops. Getting elected to office can mean gaining control of such lucrative deals. "Political power is everything in Kenya," says Mr Kagema. "Even foreign investors have discovered how to manoeuvre by getting the right political connections." The government has, belatedly, sent some 1,800 paramilitary troops to the Tana Delta region to halt the violence. The move appears to have had an effect: in recent days the cycle of tit-for-tat attacks has abated, though many villagers are still too fearful to return to their homes. And the wider fear is that, as the scramble for votes intensifies ahead of the election next spring, the killings in the Tana Delta could mark the start of another bloody Kenyan election.

ताना डेल्टा में बीबीसी के गैब्रियल गेटहाउस की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, केन्या में घातक झड़पों ने आशंका जताई है कि मार्च में चुनाव फिर से हिंसक हो सकते हैं क्योंकि राजनेता आदिवासी प्रतिद्वंद्विता का फायदा उठाते हैं। ताना डेल्टा क्षेत्र में संघर्ष भड़काने के आरोप में एक मंत्री को मंत्रिमंडल से बर्खास्त कर दिया गया है। पिछले महीने दो प्रतिद्वंद्वी समुदायों के बीच झड़पों में 100 से अधिक लोग मारे गए हैं।


Q&A: Bladder infections in the elderly

Summary: The Duke of Edinburgh has been admitted to hospital with a bladder infection for the second time in just over two months. Elderly people tend to be more prone than most to infections of the urinary tract, including the bladder. They are found in about one in 10 men in their 80s and can recur. How common are the infections?

In general, the elderly are more vulnerable to infections because the immune system weakens with age. The muscles of the bladder also get weaker which can make it harder to completely empty it when urinating. This means bacteria that can cause infection may get more of a chance to grow in the residual urine left behind. How else can they be caused? In some elderly men an enlarged prostate gland may lead to obstructed urinary flow. Kidney stones may also cause problems. What are the symptoms? Symptoms of a urinary tract infection include pain when urinating, cloudy, bloody or smelly urine, and a need to go to the toilet very often. How serious are these infections? It can be more difficult to spot infection in elderly people as some don't develop a fever - as younger sufferers often do - because their immune systems are not powerful enough to swing into action to fight the problem. Sometimes these infections - if not picked up an early stage - may also cause confused thought. However, the vast majority of sufferers improve within a few days of starting antibiotic treatment. Why might the Duke of Edinburgh be especially vulnerable? Prince Philip has long been recognised as a very fit and active man for his age - 91. But in December last year he underwent treatment for a blocked coronary artery. He was fitted with a metal tube known as a coronary stent, designed to keep the blocked artery open. It also reduces the pain from the blockage, caused by a lack of blood supply to the heart tissues. In some instances patients are given drugs to minimise the risk of complications, such as over-growth of new tissue, after their stent is fitted. These drugs may suppress the immune system. If the duke received this form of treatment it is possible that made him less able to fight off infections, such as the bladder infection in June, which now appears to have recurred.

ड्यूक ऑफ एडिनबर्ग को केवल दो महीनों में दूसरी बार मूत्राशय के संक्रमण के साथ अस्पताल में भर्ती कराया गया है। बुजुर्ग लोगों में मूत्राशय सहित मूत्र पथ के संक्रमण का खतरा अधिक होता है। वे 80 के दशक में लगभग 10 में से एक पुरुष में पाए जाते हैं और फिर से हो सकते हैं। संक्रमण कितने आम हैं?


Hundreds of jobs confirmed with Statoil Aberdeen HQ selection

Summary: Seven hundred new jobs have been confirmed by offshore firm Statoil after it selected a new UK North Sea head office in Aberdeen.

The Prime Four business park base will be the operations centre for developing the Mariner field, creating 200 onshore and 500 offshore jobs. The Mariner field is about 150km (93 miles) east of Shetland. Statoil expects to start production from Mariner in 2017 and the field is expected to produce for 30 years. Statoil and the business park's developers, Drum Property Group, are in the process of finalising terms for the new base.

एबरडीन में एक नए यूके उत्तरी सागर मुख्य कार्यालय का चयन करने के बाद अपतटीय फर्म स्टेटोइल द्वारा सात सौ नई नौकरियों की पुष्टि की गई है।


The massacre that marked Haiti-Dominican Republic ties

Summary: Seventy-five years ago, the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic was the scene of a mass slaughter that has long burned in Haitians' collective memory but was either unknown or forgotten in the wider world.

By Nick DavisBBC News, Caribbean correspondent It earned the name the Parsley Massacre because Dominican soldiers carried a sprig of parsley and would ask people suspected of being Haitian to pronounce the Spanish word for it: "perejil". Those whose first language was Haitian Creole found it difficult to say it correctly, a mistake that could cost them their lives. Historians estimate that anywhere between 9,000 and 20,000 Haitians were killed in the Dominican Republic on the orders of the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. Bodies were dumped in the Massacre River, ominously named after an earlier colonial struggle between the Spanish and French. The killings of 1937 changed the relationship between the two countries on the island of Hispaniola and its effects can still be felt today. From late September to mid-October that year, men, women and children were rounded up, then beaten or hacked to death for just being Haitian. Even dark-skinned Dominicans were caught up in the purge that became known as "el corte", the cutting. Haitian migrants had for generations crossed the informal border region in the north of the island to work as labourers in the sugar plantations of the Dominican Republic. But during the Great Depression the country's economy began to slump and immigrants became the scapegoat. US diplomatic cables at the time described the killings as "a systematic campaign of extermination". The US administration regarded Trujillo as a staunch ally but after the scale of the massacre emerged, President Franklin D Roosevelt's administration made the Dominican Republic pay reparations to the victims' families - money that ultimately never reached its intended recipients. There is evidence that in many villages Dominicans risked their own lives to help their Haitian neighbours escape. But in other cases, local people pointed out Haitian immigrants to the authorities. Shared history Today, the border is officially open on Mondays and Fridays. The bridge that connects the town of Dajabon on the Dominican side and Ouanaminthe in Haiti is a sea of people carrying goods to market. The two towns, filled with the sounds of Spanish and Creole, depend on each other. "We have more in common than the differences. Trujillo tried to rid the Dominican Republic of its Haitian roots but our cultures and lifestyle are very similar," says Lesly Manigat, a Haitian doctor living in the Dominican town of Santiago. "The French, the Spanish, the Africans, it's a shared history." Dr Manigat belongs to a group called Border of Lights that has been marking the anniversary by using art, poetry and social action to bring the communities together. Church services were held in both towns to remember the dead, and people took part in a candlelight vigil, marching to their respective border fences. Distant voices of support could be heard as flickering tea lights floated down-river. There were some, however, who felt that too much time had passed. In the Dominican newspapers, there was concern that marking the event may raise tensions. But organisers of the commemorations said it was important to remember. "People have described it as 75 years of silence and this is a chance to talk about it because these wounds are still in us and so we don't repeat the past," said Cynthia Carrion. Joint efforts However, attitudes marked by the past still haunt both countries. It is estimated than more than a million illegal Haitian migrants live in the Dominican Republic, and in Dajabon, people-smuggling is rife. "After 1937, the Dominican culture became exclusive. On a local level people could work together and could accept that we have a society that's mixed, of which Dominicans of Haitian descent are a part," said Dr Edward Paulino, a Dominican-American member of Border of Lights. "But at the state level there's still this sense of rejection of dark-skinned Haitians." Recently it was alleged that a Haitian worker in a town near the border, Loma de Cabrera, had killed a Dominican. Local people told the Haitians to leave within 24 hours. But many of those taking part in the events to mark the massacre spoke of the unity that exists between people on the border. "We did a park clean-up on the Haitian side. One of the volunteers couldn't believe we'd come to help his community and I realised that this was a first," said Sady Diaz, one of the organisers. People in both towns will be coming together again later in the month to paint murals along the border, a lasting tribute to those who died. Related Internet Links Border of Lights

पचहत्तर साल पहले, हैती और डोमिनिकन गणराज्य के बीच की सीमा एक सामूहिक वध का दृश्य था जो लंबे समय से हैतीवासियों की सामूहिक स्मृति में जल रहा है, लेकिन व्यापक दुनिया में या तो अज्ञात था या भुला दिया गया था।


Who are the MEP candidates in Scotland?

Summary: Scotland's political parties have submitted their candidate lists for European Parliament elections in May - should the UK end up holding them.

Voting has been fixed for Thursday 23 May, but could still be called off if a Brexit deal is agreed before then. Scotland operates as a single nation-wide constituency for the election, and is represented by six MEPs. Parties put forward lists of candidates who are then elected on a proportional representation basis from votes cast. Here is the full list of candidates confirmed as standing in Scotland by the Electoral Commission. SNP Scottish Conservatives Scottish Labour Scottish Greens Scottish Lib Dems UKIP Change UK Brexit Party Independent

स्कॉटलैंड के राजनीतिक दलों ने मई में यूरोपीय संसद चुनावों के लिए अपने उम्मीदवारों की सूची जमा कर दी है-अगर ब्रिटेन उन्हें अपने पास रखता है।


Proposal to ban the display of tobacco in Guernsey

Summary: Shops in Guernsey face being banned from displaying tobacco, if a proposal from health officials gets the backing of the States.

The Health and Social Services Department also wants stricter rules surrounding tobacco vending machines. Deputies are being asked to agree to ban the display of tobacco at the point of sale and restrict vending machines to adult-only establishments. The proposals will go before the States in June. In 1996, the States became the first government in the British Isles to ban tobacco advertising. The proposals also include making tobacco vending machines token operated and ensuring all products imported into the island include pictorial warnings.

यदि स्वास्थ्य अधिकारियों के प्रस्ताव को राज्यों का समर्थन मिलता है तो ग्वेर्नसे में दुकानों पर तंबाकू के प्रदर्शन पर प्रतिबंध लगा दिया जाता है।


Cockermouth flood defence work begins

Summary: More than £4.4m is being spent on flood defence work in a Cumbria town where hundreds of homes were deluged in 2009.

The Environment Agency is carrying out the work in Cockermouth to protect 360 vulnerable homes and 55 businesses prone to taking in water. The work will include building walls, embankments and flood gates along the Cocker and Derwent rivers. The agency has already built new flood walls and fitted gates to protect homes in Waterloo Street and Graves Mill. Construction has also begun on an embankment along Derwentside Gardens where existing flood walls are being extended.

कुंब्रिया शहर में बाढ़ सुरक्षा कार्य पर 4 करोड़ 40 लाख पाउंड से अधिक खर्च किया जा रहा है, जहां 2009 में सैकड़ों घर जलमग्न हो गए थे।


How to get along for 500 days alone together

Summary: The search is on for a couple to train as astronauts, for a privately funded mission to Mars. But wouldn't any couple squabble if cooped up together for 18 months? Explorer Deborah Shapiro, who spent more than a year with her husband in the Antarctic, provides some marital survival tips.

It never ceases to amaze us, but the most common question Rolf and I got after our winter-over, when we spent 15 months on the Antarctic Peninsula, nine of which were in total solitude, was: Why didn't you two kill each other? We found the question odd and even comical at first, because the thought of killing each other had never crossed our minds. We'd answer glibly that because we relied on each other for survival, murder would be counter-productive. Still, people do get cabin fever - an emotional disturbance that can affect people living in small spaces, in an isolated place. Cabin fever usually manifests itself first in signs of irritation, and ends in violence. At a remote Antarctic station during a winter, one man killed another over a chess game. The episode could have started from him not liking the way his colleague buttered his toast... People can and do have a difficult time living together in this era of self-reliant independence. We figure that a couple who ran a farm a few generations ago would be very likely to have a successful trip to Mars. Why? Because a couple on a farm lived in interdependence, with accepted roles. They lived frugally, entertaining themselves, producing what they needed and repairing their tools that broke. All those traits are necessary for a long space voyage. In hindsight, we can say that there are some guidelines for living in harmony in a confined space, and all of them fall into the category I call "simple, but not necessarily easy". One has to be able to give the other person mental elbow room. During our winter, when a person settled into the sofa in the salon with a book and started reading, he or she was not interrupted. Keeping quiet when the person is close enough to practically read one's thoughts, is a matter of self-discipline, fuelled by caring. The only exception to our silence rule was for boat-related safety issues. The boat, for obvious reasons of survival, always came first. Showing tangible signs of caring and of empathy ensures that cabin fever never takes hold. It's one of the personality traits Sir Ernest Shackleton looked for, when signing-on crew for his expeditions. As Rolf, who has Shackleton as a role model, always says: "I can teach anyone how to sail, but I can never change a person's personality." Two simple examples of our interaction - firstly, remaining sensitive to each other's moods and concerns, never belittling. We learned early on that I, the novice, when scared, expressed anger. After it happened a few times, Rolf brought it to my attention. "Whenever you are about to get in the dinghy to take photos of the boat sailing, your mood changes," he said. "You become aggressive and have lots of 'reasons' why we can't do it. Remember, you once agreed to take these photos." My unspoken response was: Yeah, but that was before I realised the dangers. Then I had a think, and decided that I could not let my weakness jeopardise our documentary project. Whenever I felt the anger, I would simply keep my mouth shut. As I gained experience, fear dwindled and the trait evaporated. The second important rule, is that showing care benefits both. We believe this to the point that it is built into our daily routine - we alternate cooking days. Each day's food becomes a present to our partner. We try to surprise the other with new dishes. There's a prize to be won - the other person's admiration. Lives lived at close quarters People sometimes joke that long-distance sailors must have a high boredom threshold, but my response is that one can only be as bored as one is boring. Doing things is the antidote. We always have a creative project in progress - the documentation of the voyage itself. There are hours of repairs to accomplish every day, just to keep things operational. In the evenings, we often play games. Or we read aloud for each other, pausing to discuss our reactions and thoughts. We also developed thoughts during the winter as a team, mostly along the lines of our favoured subject: world politics and management. Rolf came up with an idea he called Global Justice, a method of sharing non-renewable resource that doesn't generate war. It was based on an idea that whatever man has not created, he can't own. All winter we discussed and honed the idea. It seems everyone who temporarily removes themselves from civilisation has these discussions. Astronauts, who look back through the deadly distance to that beautiful planet they call home, have the supreme position. Their perspective is indeed unique. In essence, our opinion is that a likely pair for the trip to Mars would be a loving couple who have been living together a long time, who are technically clever and bright, remain ice-cold under pressure, and are naturally upbeat - and whose main goal is to support each other through every phase of life. Both Rolf and I still consider the 270 days we spent alone in Antarctica as the highlight of our lives. Had our engine not broken down, we would have stayed for another year. But there is a big difference between our small-scale expedition and a trip to Mars. In a space capsule, the couple will have to depend upon a vessel they have not built, and the people working at space control. The outcome of the project is therefore not just in the hands of the couple, and they must be willing to put their lives in someone else's hands. That will demand a special strength. You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook

अंतरिक्ष यात्री के रूप में प्रशिक्षित होने के लिए एक जोड़े की खोज जारी है, मंगल ग्रह के लिए एक निजी वित्त पोषित मिशन के लिए। लेकिन क्या कोई जोड़ा 18 महीने तक एक साथ काम नहीं करेगा? खोजकर्ता डेबोरा शापिरो, जिन्होंने अंटार्कटिक में अपने पति के साथ एक साल से अधिक समय बिताया, कुछ वैवाहिक उत्तरजीविता युक्तियाँ प्रदान करते हैं।


Meghan and Harry: Prince Charles has toasted baby news 'several times'

Summary: Prince Charles has toasted the news that he is to become a grandfather again "several" times, he has said.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced Meghan's pregnancy on Monday. The Duke of Rothesay spoke about son Prince Harry being set to become a father, as he visited Lochnagar Distillery in Crathie, Aberdeenshire. After sampling a 30-year-old malt, he was asked if he had toasted the news, to which he replied, laughing: "Oh yes, absolutely. Several times." The baby is due in the spring. The royal couple married in May.

उन्होंने कहा है कि प्रिंस चार्ल्स ने इस खबर का स्वाद चखा है कि वह "कई बार" फिर से दादा बनने वाले हैं।