Neil Harris: How abusive dance teacher went unchecked for decades

Summary: For decades, Neil Harris used his position as a dance and gymnastics teacher to sexually abuse his vulnerable victims. This summer he has been jailed for a second time and some of Harris's victims have told of the impact the childhood attacks have had on their lives.

Harris's job at his mother's Birmingham dance school, which he later took over after her death, left him in a unique position to prey on pupils. Victims have told how he did not allow his pupils to wear underwear underneath their leotards and would use checking for underwear as a pretext to assault them. Harris was jailed in January 2018 and in June 2020 for sex offences. But before that his actions went unchecked for years, with criminal records checks - now commonplace for adults working with children - unlikely to have taken place, police have said. Popular and well-known in the local dance community, for more than 50 years Harris taught at the Ann Harris School of Dance, which was established by his mother and operated from their home on Cecil Road in Erdington. His "charming" personality enabled him to gain the trust and groom parents and children alike, said Det Con Nikki Thomas, the officer who led both investigations into Harris. "He presents himself as a very friendly individual," she said. "The witnesses, some of them will say he used to flirt with the mothers of the children. "He was a bit of a charmer. He was a larger than life character. "Because he was very good at his craft a lot of people looked up to him. He was seen by the children as a god. A number of witnesses have said that to me. "He was very much untouchable." But behind his friendly facade lay a man described by prosecutors as a "persistent, predatory paedophile". Harris, now 75, they said, used "twin disguises of amiability and authority to obscure his depredations". "We used to call him creepy Neil," said Gemma - whose real name we are not using to protect her identity but who took dance classes with Harris from the ages of five to 11. "His hand used to be all over you, he used to put his hands down your leotard." His behaviour went unchallenged as he was often the only adult present. Police said as he ran his mother's business, which then became his business, it was likely he would not have conducted any Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. The combination of being almost the only authority figure over very young children "may go some way to explain why some of the witnesses tolerated the abuse he perpetrated for such a long time", prosecutors said. Harris's abuse first came to light when a victim approached police in 2015. And when Det Con Thomas took on the case she was left "astounded" at the number of potential witnesses she approached who turned out to be victims. Victims told of Harris routinely touching them inappropriately and putting his hands inside their clothes. One said because the assaults took place in disco dancing classes, she associated the Village People's YMCA with the abuse she had suffered. Harris received a five-year sentence in 2018 for indecently assaulting four girls in the 1970s and 80s and in June was jailed for eight years for 25 further offences of indecent assault on 10 girls and one boy between the 1960s and 1990s. He will remain on the sex offenders register for life. The impact of his crimes has been significant. Gemma, now 56, has undergone counselling and said to this day she "can't stand people touching me". Another victim, Sandra - again not her real name - who was five when she attended the dance school, said the abuse was a trigger for mental health problems she has experienced throughout her life. "By sexually assaulting me at the age of five, Neil Harris took something that is very difficult to explain to other people," she said. "It was the moment when I realised my world wasn't safe and it's taken many years to understand this. It left an emptiness that felt like there was something physically missing. "Years on I believed that I was to blame, that bad things just happen to me. This internalised shame and continued silence has been one of the most psychologically damaging things for me in my life." Sandra has struggled with trust issues and said it was only now, at the age of 41, that she had been able to "face it head on and start the process of healing". While there are currently no ongoing proceedings, Det Con Thomas said she believed the true number of Harris's victims could be much higher. "It's really difficult to say and put a number on the number of victims who are out there and who haven't come forward," she said. "We know that he was committing offences from 1967-1991. "He had multiple classes each day and the suggestion from each of the victims was he touched up all of the children in that class repeatedly." Many of Harris's victims came forward after seeing media coverage of the first trial, including Gemma who attended court to face her attacker. It was an experience she described as "awful", but she said to see him handed his sentence "felt like he got justice". For Sandra, the legal process has helped her process her emotions. She added: "Having gone through the legal system I now realise how resilient I am and that the blame and shame I have felt is not mine to keep. Just knowing there were others somehow gave me some strength to go through with it."

दशकों से, नील हैरिस ने एक नृत्य और जिमनास्टिक शिक्षक के रूप में अपने पद का उपयोग अपने कमजोर पीड़ितों का यौन शोषण करने के लिए किया। इस गर्मी में उन्हें दूसरी बार जेल में डाल दिया गया है और हैरिस के कुछ पीड़ितों ने बचपन के हमलों के उनके जीवन पर पड़ने वाले प्रभाव के बारे में बताया है।


Chirk rail station's £1.4m disability access plan submitted

Summary: Work on a £1.4m steel disabled access footbridge and ramp at Chirk railway station could begin in January.

Network Rail has submitted the plans for the structure, to be painted "holly green" and cream, to Wrexham council as part of is Access for All programme. The footbridge will provide wheelchair access to both sides of the north-south platform for the first time. If the plans put in last month area are approved, the work is expected to take around six months to complete. Wrexham council said no date had yet been fixed to decide the matter.

चिरक रेलवे स्टेशन पर 1.40 करोड़ पाउंड के स्टील विकलांग पैदल पुल और रैंप पर काम जनवरी में शुरू हो सकता है।


Ched Evans' rape conviction appeal heard in court

Summary: Footballer Ched Evans' appeal against his conviction for rape has started at the Court of Appeal.

The Wales international was jailed for five years in 2012 after being found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman at a hotel near Rhyl. Evans, 27, was released in 2014 after serving half of his sentence. A three-person panel of judges, headed by Lady Justice Heather Hallett, is hearing the appeal, which is scheduled to last until Wednesday. The former Manchester City, Norwich and Sheffield United player has not been signed by a new club since his release from prison.

बलात्कार के लिए दोषी ठहराए जाने के खिलाफ फुटबॉलर चेड इवांस की अपील कोर्ट ऑफ अपील में शुरू हो गई है।


How many national anthems are plagiarised?

Summary: Several of the world's national anthems are shockingly similar to other compositions. Is this because composers pilfer other people's tunes - or does it tell us more about the difficulties of writing an original melody, asks Alex Marshall, author of a new book on the history of national anthems.

Dusan Sestic is arguably the world's unluckiest composer. Back in 1998, he found himself short of money so decided to enter the contest for a new Bosnian national anthem, one meant to help heal the country's bitter ethnic divides following its civil war. He didn't really want to win - he was more nostalgic for Yugoslavia than patriotic for the new country - so entered a gently stirring song that he felt good enough to come second or third, pocket some prize money and move on. But he won, and his life changed dramatically overnight. Fellow Serbs, some of whom opposed the very existence of Bosnia, started labelling him a traitor. Many Bosniaks and Croats were equally annoyed that an ethnic Serb had written the tune that would symbolise their country. He struggled to get work. Ten years later, he won a second competition for words to the anthem, but ethnically motivated politicians refused to approve them. He's still owed 15,000 euros (£11,000) for that effort. Then in 2009, as if that wasn't enough, someone made a discovery. It turned out that Dusan's anthem was remarkably similar to the music that opens National Lampoon's Animal House - the 1978 film about a debauched university fraternity. Immediately some called for Dusan's anthem to be dropped and he was accused of plagiarism. A newspaper even apparently tracked down the Animal House composer's family and tried to get them to sue. Dusan had to go on TV to defend himself. "I was hurt by the headlines," he told me earlier this year in the largely Serb city of Banja Luka. "I didn't know the name of the movie, but I listened to it and I was really, really surprised. I thought about it, and perhaps as a young man, I'd seen the movie or heard the song and it stuck in my brain somehow, this musical code. It's definitely possible - but I cannot say this is plagiarism." He pointed out some differences between the two melodies. "Not everyone in this country is a thief or corrupt," he added. "If I was, I would be a politician and be doing far better in life." Strangely enough, Dusan's is far from the only anthem tainted by accusations of plagiarism. Take Uruguay's - written in 1846 by Francisco Jose Debali. It's one of the most exciting anthems there is - more like a mini-opera than anything else - but its main theme is exactly the same as a fragment of Donizetti's opera, Lucrezia Borgia. There is evidence Debali could have heard the opera a few years before putting ink to paper - parts of it were performed in Montevideo in 1841, and he may even have heard it in Italy before moving to the country. The anthem and the opera share a run of nine exact notes. But Debali supporters point out it is only nine notes and they occur a quarter of the way through a two-hour opera. Perhaps it's just coincidence. The issue wasn't raised in Debali's lifetime, so he never had to face the accusations Dusan has had to put up with. The rambunctious introduction to Argentina's anthem has also been accused of similarities to a piece by Clementi, while Enoch Sontonga, the man behind South Africa's graceful Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, is often said to have taken his melody from Aberystwyth, by the the Welsh composer Joseph Parry - although both of those examples seem rather far-fetched. It could actually be said that there is a tradition of borrowing, when it comes to national anthems. The first anthem, as we'd recognise the concept today, was Britain's God Save the King. It was a traditional song revived in 1745 during Bonnie Prince Charlie's invasion to restore the Stuart throne. It didn't take long for the invasion to be defeated, but God Save the King kept being sung for decades afterwards to the point that other monarchs started thinking they needed an anthem like it. Soon its melody was in use in Denmark, most of the German states, Russia too. It even ended up as an anthem for the Kingdom of Hawaii. People simply took the music and put different words over on top. Eventually most of those countries decided it was important to have a melody of their own. But there is still one country outside the Commonwealth that stubbornly refuses to budge: Liechtenstein. If you go there, you can hear people happily sing Oben am Jungen Rhein (Over the young Rhine) without a moment's thought for the fact that a British person present could join in, with different words. All Liechtensteiners know, of course, that they share Britain's tune, but they actually seem rather proud of it. "It's been so popular here, there's never been an idea to change it," the country's ruling prince, Hans-Adam II, told me. "And we're in good company with the UK. Great company I would say." In a similar vein, Estonia and Finland share the same melody for their anthem - which meant Estonians could still hear their anthem under Soviet rule by tuning into Finnish radio stations. The tune, written by German composer Fredrik Pacius, is said by some to be based on a German drinking song. Many anthems, meanwhile, use folk tunes for their anthems. Samuel Cohen, who composed Israel's wrenching Hatikvah (The Hope) in 1888 said he took its melody from a traditional Romanian tune - although some claim he actually stole it from a piece by the Czech composer Bedrich Smetana. (Either way, the melody was first heard in 17th Century Italy.) Shared anthem tunes Similarly, South Korea and the Maldives once used the tune of Auld Lang Syne for their anthems. South Korea inherited it from Scottish missionaries. The poet behind the Maldives' anthem, for his part, chose the music after hearing it chiming out of an uncle's novelty clock. Even the Star-Spangled Banner isn't original, sung to the tune of an old British drinking society song, To Anacreon in Heaven. When politicians were debating whether to adopt it as the country's official anthem, many objected, arguing that a unique American melody was needed - and definitely not one people used to get drunk to. What does all this borrowing show? That anthems are exempt from the laws of plagiarism? That people care so little about these songs they don't notice they're unoriginal? Perhaps, but what I actually think it shows is just how difficult it is to be original. If you write an anthem today, you need to come up with a melody so simple it can be whistled in the street and bellowed at football matches - but one that's also dignified and stirring. The chances of doing that while composing something that's not reminiscent of an existing composition are remarkably slim. In Bosnia, the song many would like to be the country's anthem instead of Dusan's is Jedna si Jedina (You Are the One and Only) - some Bosniaks even sing it over Dusan's anthem at sports events. Dino Merlin, one of the country's most popular musicians, wrote the song during the siege of Sarajevo. Only the words, though. The music he took straight from a folk song. Alex Marshall's book, Republic or Death! Travels in Search of National Anthems is published on 27 August. He discusses Bosnia's anthem, God Save the Queen and the anthems of South America on his blog. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

राष्ट्रगान के इतिहास पर एक नई पुस्तक के लेखक एलेक्स मार्शल पूछते हैं कि दुनिया के कई राष्ट्रगान आश्चर्यजनक रूप से अन्य रचनाओं के समान हैं। क्या ऐसा इसलिए है क्योंकि संगीतकार अन्य लोगों की धुनों को चुराते हैं-या क्या यह हमें एक मूल धुन लिखने की कठिनाइयों के बारे में अधिक बताता है।


Police sergeant charged with assaulting boy in Banbury

Summary: A police sergeant has been charged with assaulting a 16-year-old boy who was in police custody.

The teenager was allegedly attacked in Banbury, Oxfordshire, on 4 January. Sgt Matthew Myers, 49, was charged with battery and appeared before Luton magistrates before being sent for trial in February 2021 The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it began an investigation after the force referred the matter 12 days after the incident. Related Internet Links Independent Office for Police Conduct Thames Valley Police

एक पुलिस सार्जेंट पर पुलिस हिरासत में 16 वर्षीय लड़के पर हमला करने का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Isle of Wight site worker death: No police charges

Summary: No manslaughter prosecution will be brought over the death of a worker who was seriously injured at a demolition site, Hampshire police have said.

David Shayler, 53, died in hospital after the incident in Atkinson Drive, Newport, in October 2016. Police said prosecutors had decided not to bring charges for corporate manslaughter or general negligence. The Health and Safety Executive said it was still considering possible charges under safety legislation. Mr Shayler, of High Street, Ryde, was injured on 13 October 2016 and died at Southampton General Hospital six days later.

हैम्पशायर पुलिस ने कहा है कि विध्वंस स्थल पर गंभीर रूप से घायल एक कर्मचारी की मौत पर कोई हत्या का मुकदमा नहीं चलाया जाएगा।


Jersey retailers saw 6% drop in Christmas sales

Summary: Sales were down by 6% for Jersey's retailers and supermarkets over Christmas, according to the States statistics unit.

In the last quarter of 2011, fewer people visited King and Queen Street in St Helier. Duncan Gibault, from the statistics unit, said sales were down for the second quarter in a row. He said 2011 also saw the first decrease in the total value of sales for two years.

राज्य की सांख्यिकी इकाई के अनुसार, क्रिसमस पर जर्सी के खुदरा विक्रेताओं और सुपरमार्केट की बिक्री में 6 प्रतिशत की गिरावट आई।


The gay people against gay marriage

Summary: After France's first same-sex marriage, and a vote in the UK Parliament which puts England and Wales on course for gay weddings next summer, two US Supreme Court rulings expected soon could hasten the advance of same-sex marriage across the Atlantic. But some gay people remain opposed. Why?

By Tom GeogheganBBC News, Washington "It's demonstrably not the same as heterosexual marriage - the religious and social significance of a gay wedding ceremony simply isn't the same." Jonathan Soroff lives in liberal Massachusetts with his male partner, Sam. He doesn't fit the common stereotype of an opponent of gay marriage. But like half of his friends, he does not believe that couples of the same gender should marry. "We're not going to procreate as a couple and while the desire to demonstrate commitment might be laudable, the religious traditions that have accommodated same-sex couples have had to do some fairly major contortions," says Soroff. Until the federal government recognises and codifies the same rights for same-sex couples as straight ones, equality is the goal so why get hung up on a word, he asks. "I'm not going to walk down the aisle to Mendelssohn wearing white in a church and throw a bouquet and do the first dance," adds Soroff, columnist for the Improper Boston. "I've been to some lovely gay weddings but aping the traditional heterosexual wedding is weird and I don't understand why anyone wants to do that. "I'm not saying that people who want that shouldn't have it but for me, all that matters is the legal stuff." The legal situation could be about to change within days, as the nine Supreme Court judges are considering whether a federal law that does not recognise same-sex marriage - and therefore denies them benefits - is unconstitutional. A second ruling will be made on the legality of California's gay marriage ban. But while favourable rulings will spark celebrations among pro-marriage supporters across the US, some gay men and women will instead see it as a victory for a patriarchal institution that bears no historical relevance to them. Some lesbians are opposed to marriage on feminist grounds, says Claudia Card, a professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, because they see it as an institution that serves the interests of men more than women. It is also, in her view "heteronormative", embodying the view that heterosexuality is the preferred and normal sexuality. "It's undeniable that marriage has historically also discriminated against same-sex couples," Card says. As a result, she thinks the issue of marriage is a distraction. "Gay activists should instead put their energies into environmental issues like climate change, because there's a chance to make a morally more defensible and more urgent difference." Others in the "No" camp oppose marriage more broadly because, they say, it denies benefits to people who are unmarried, or because they say it simply doesn't work. Legba Carrefour, who describes himself as "radical queer", calls it a "destructive way of life" that produces broken families. "We are only one or two generations away from children coming from gay marriage that are also from broken homes," he says. He believes a more important priority for the gay community is the rise in violence against transgendered people. "I'm not concerned about whether I can get married but whether I will die in the street at the hands of homophobes." Support for gay marriage among Americans in general has risen above 50% according to Gallup, but what the figure is among gay people is harder to quantify. Neither Pew Research Center nor Gallup has conducted any such polling. A community made up of millions of people is bound to hold a range of views on any subject, but it will surprise many that some of the people who on the face of it stand to gain the most from gay marriage should oppose it. And these contrary views are not often heard. In the UK, Daily Mail columnist Andrew Pierce says that for speaking out against gay marriage in the past, he has been attacked as a homophobe and Uncle Tom, despite a long history of championing gay rights. He strongly believes that civil partnerships - introduced in 2005 to give same-sex couples equal legal rights - are enough. "We've got marriage, it's called a civil partnership and I rejoice in the fact that people like me who are different from straight people can do something they can't. I relish that." He thinks there are more gay people in agreement with him than people may think - at a dinner party he hosted for 11 gay friends, only one was in favour of marriage, one was undecided and the rest were against, he says. In France, gay men and women joined the protests that preceded and followed this year's introduction of same-sex marriage. A website called Homovox featured 12 gay men and women opposed to it, with some of them citing a belief that children benefit most from opposite-sex parents. For many years, the conservative institution of marriage was never on the gay campaign agenda, says activist Yasmin Nair, who co-founded a group provocatively named Against Equality. But it became an objective in the early 1990s - regretfully, in her view - when the movement emerged from the seismic shock of the Aids epidemic, depleted of political energy. But gay people who are in favour of same-sex marriage believe anything short of marriage is not equality. You rarely hear arguments against it by gay people themselves, says Stampp Corbin, publisher of magazine LGBT Weekly, who sees strong parallels with the civil rights movement. "I'm African American and there were many things society stopped us from doing. When we were slaves we couldn't marry, we couldn't marry outside our race and most notably, we couldn't share facilities with white people. "So when I hear LGBT people saying the same thing: 'I don't think gay and lesbian people should get married', is it different from slaves saying: 'I don't think slaves should have the ability to get married'? "It is internalised hatred, bred by oppression. Why would you want to deny someone of your own sexual orientation the ability to get married? No one [will be] forcing you to get married." Civil partnerships do not provide equality, says Corbin, who was the National Co-Chair of the LGBT Leadership Council during the 2008 Obama presidential campaign. And in the US, the notion of "separate but equal" rekindles memories of segregation and the creation of second-class facilities. With so many different points of view on a subject that has long divided America, perhaps the debate just underlines the obvious - gay people are like everyone else. You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook

फ्रांस के पहले समलैंगिक विवाह और ब्रिटेन की संसद में एक वोट के बाद, जो इंग्लैंड और वेल्स को अगली गर्मियों में समलैंगिक शादियों के लिए तैयार करता है, अमेरिकी सुप्रीम कोर्ट के दो फैसले जल्द ही अटलांटिक के पार समलैंगिक विवाह की प्रगति को तेज कर सकते हैं। लेकिन कुछ समलैंगिक लोग इसका विरोध करते रहते हैं। क्यों?


Do you want to be on a special Question Time?

Summary: On Thursday 10 December, Radio 1 is joining up with BBC One's Question Time for a special programme from Wootton Bassett.

That's the town which has paid tribute as the bodies of British soldiers have been brought home. There will be a panel including the former head of the British Army General Sir Richard Dannatt and the Armed Forces minister Bill Rammell. It's your chance to ask the questions, so if you'd like to be in the audience follow the link below. Join the Question Time audience

गुरुवार 10 दिसंबर को, रेडियो 1 वूटन बैसेट के एक विशेष कार्यक्रम के लिए बीबीसी वन के क्वेश्चन टाइम के साथ जुड़ रहा है।


Is there a US diplomacy vacuum at the UN in Geneva?

Summary: "Where is the US in all this? I can't tell you because I don't know." These were the words of the United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, days before a fresh round of peace talks began.

By Imogen FoulkesBBC News, Geneva Only a few months ago, such a comment would have been unthinkable. Former United States secretary of state John Kerry was a regular figure in Geneva, leading US diplomacy not only on Syria, but on the Iran nuclear deal and on Ukraine. Now, however, the US is conspicuous by its silence, the "soft power" expected of the leader of the Western world strangely absent. In Washington, there have been no State Department briefings since the new administration took over and around the world, US embassies are empty of ambassadors. Of course it is not unusual for ambassadors, many of whom are political appointees, to change when a new administration takes office. Normal protocol demands that they submit formal resignation letters when a new president is elected. But that does not mean the resignations are immediately accepted: in fact, ambassadors are often asked to stay on in order to ensure a smooth transition and at the very least to brief their successors. None of this seems to have happened under President Trump: rather, dozens of diplomats were told to clear their desks and leave. In Geneva, not only are there no US ambassadors to the United Nations, there are no nominees either, meaning replacements are likely to be months away. So when the UN Human Rights Council begins its four-week annual session on 27 February, what can we expect from the US? "We can't communicate a message until we know what the message is," are words heard regularly from permanent staff now operating the phones at empty US embassies across Europe. Sources, preferring to remain anonymous, have confirmed that embassy staff have been told by Washington not to talk to the press at all. Some, not wishing to cut all ties with correspondents with whom they regularly communicate US policy, have taken to contacting journalists via Skype, from home, presumably so that their calls cannot be traced. And so, while in recent years the United States has come to the UN Human Rights Council with bold ideas, pioneering an international campaign on LGBT rights, for example, or putting pressure on Sri Lanka to investigate alleged war crimes, this time no such action is expected. "It is clear the United States is opting out of global governance," says Jean-Pierre Lehmann, emeritus professor at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne. "It's 'America First'… and populism really doesn't translate to humanitarianism." Other observers, like Mark Halle, senior fellow at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, are not quite so pessimistic. Pointing out that the new administration is still in a transition period, Mr Halle hopes to see a "backdown when people see the consequences of the fiery declarations he (President Trump) has made". Nevertheless, Mr Halle believes there are some areas of the UN's work where US policy is already worryingly clear. "Refugees, climate, the environment… I'm not optimistic." The problem for the big UN agencies is not only that some of their activities may be less well-received in a Washington which has voiced scepticism about climate change and opposition to accepting refugees, it is that the UN is reliant on US funding for all its activities. The US is the biggest donor to the World Food Programme (WFP), supplying more than 30% of its budget, $2bn (£1.6bn), last year alone. The WFP has this month declared a famine in South Sudan, the first in six years, and has warned of famine in Yemen and the Horn of Africa this year as well. To be able to support millions of people facing starvation, the WFP needs guarantees from its biggest donor that support, both moral and financial, will be sustained. So too does the UN Refugee Agency: currently dealing with the largest number of forcibly displaced people in history, it is dependent on the US for more than a third of its funding and has long relied on America to resettle some of the world's most vulnerable refugees. So what can the UN do to make its case in the new Washington? Mr Halle advises patience, he hopes to see "a growing up of this administration" over time. But this tactic may not help agencies dealing with immediate humanitarian crises. As one aid worker put it, "starving people don't eat retrospectively". Mr Lehmann is less optimistic. "It is going to be very difficult for them to make the case," he says. "If I knew what the UN should do I would be picking up the Nobel Peace Prize in December." But, even if the UN devised a bold strategy to persuade Washington of its importance, there is still the awkward question of who to pitch that strategy to. In the absence of partners in the embassies or in the state department, some UN figures are "reaching out" to members of the US Congress for support. Others are still puzzling. As one senior UN official remarked, "it is not clear who we need to talk to… or where the mailbox is". Of course, it is expected that the diplomatic vacuum in the state department and the embassies will be filled, in time. But that will present a new challenge. How should these new diplomats, political appointees of a president known to be sensitive to criticism, be handled? Should the UN Refugee Agency, for example, question Washington's tough line on refugees from countries such as Syria, or should it stay quiet in the hopes of protecting its funding? "Everyone is picking their battles very carefully," confessed one UN official. "We don't want to burn any bridges," admitted another. So does the new team in Washington spell the end of multilateralism, with seismic consequences for the UN and its humanitarian operations? "It could be a blip," suggests Mr Lehmann. "Or it could be a landmark. I tend to think this is a dramatic change."

"इस सब में अमेरिका कहाँ है? मैं आपको नहीं बता सकता क्योंकि मुझे नहीं पता।" ये सीरिया के लिए संयुक्त राष्ट्र के विशेष दूत, स्टैफन डी मिस्टुरा के शब्द थे, शांति वार्ता के एक नए दौर की शुरुआत से कुछ दिन पहले।


Channel migrants: Boat containing 13 people intercepted

Summary: A group of migrants, including children, have been brought ashore after being spotted in an inflatable boat about four miles off Kent.

A Border Force vessel was deployed to intercept the boat after it had crossed the Channel, the Home Office said. Thirteen men, women and children were transferred to the cutter and taken to St Margaret's Bay. They presented themselves as Iranian, Egyptian and Iraqi and were transferred to immigration officials. More than 1,300 people have crossed the Channel in small boats this year.

केंट से लगभग चार मील दूर एक हवा वाली नाव में देखे जाने के बाद बच्चों सहित प्रवासियों के एक समूह को तट पर लाया गया है।


Should European leaders fear Austria-Italy backlash?

Summary: There are an awful lot of alarmist headlines about this weekend in Europe - screeching headlines about the far right swooping into Austria's presidential palace, and painting Italy as poised to crash into financial, banking and political oblivion if Prime Minister Matteo Renzi loses a referendum on constitutional reform.

Katya AdlerEurope editor@BBCkatyaadleron Twitter And both those hypothetical events would be hugely significant if they came to pass: Europe's first far-right head of state since World War Two in Austria, and uncertainty and instability in the eurozone's third-largest economy - Italy - spoken of in hushed, nervous whispers in EU corridors as "too big to fail". There are fears of a tsunami of nativist populism sweeping through Europe in 2017 - in France, Italy, the Netherlands and beyond. But the UK's June Brexit vote and Donald Trump's US election success do not make victories for Europe's far right or nationalist-minded, anti-establishment parties inevitable. Disconnected voters The so-called populists are growing in influence and strength because there's a yawning gap in the political market. They are able to say to voters "We will actually listen to you". Voter anger, resentment and distrust of the Establishment is widespread, as we know. But traditional politics is not dead in the water. Wake-up call The more than two million Austrians who voted for the Freedom Party (FPOe) in the first round of their presidential election in October are not all a screaming mob of far-right extremists. Marine Le Pen hasn't made the French National Front (FN) the success it is today by continuing with her father's rabid anti-Semitism and xenophobia. She changed the party to make it appear more mainstream. Young Frenchmen with a North African background hold visible positions in the FN. Italy's Five Star Movement says - as do many of these political groupings in Europe - that it is neither of the right nor the left, but of the people. Bingo. So will 2017 in fact be the year traditional politics wakes up? France's Hollande won't seek re-election Italy referendum: Renzi risks populist wave Austria far-right hopeful eyes EU vote Referendum adds to Italian banks' woes If you're worrying about Italy this weekend, take comfort from the fact that the financial markets have wobbled in advance of the referendum, which suggests they won't take a startled nose-dive if Prime Minister Renzi loses as predicted. Italy has had 63 governments since 1945. It's a country well versed in political instability. Not good for the country or the wider EU and eurozone, but if Mr Renzi steps down, you can bet the Italian president already has in mind the technocrat government he will try to form until elections are held. And the vote in Austria? It's not "just" a presidential vote. The resonance in Austria of having of a far-right figure as head of state cannot be overplayed. But it might serve to galvanise the bloated, self-entitlement-oozing parties of the centre in Austria (and elsewhere in Europe) to understand why they are failing, while "populists" are so popular, and perhaps work on serving their electorate far better. And, of course, we don't yet know what Sunday will bring. Polls suggest PM Renzi will lose in Italy and the far right will win in Austria. But who dares trust polls these days?

यूरोप में इस सप्ताहांत के बारे में बहुत सारी खतरनाक सुर्खियां हैं-ऑस्ट्रिया के राष्ट्रपति भवन में दक्षिणपंथी घुसपैठ के बारे में सुर्खियां बटोरना, और इटली को वित्तीय, बैंकिंग और राजनीतिक गुमनामी में दुर्घटनाग्रस्त होने के रूप में चित्रित करना यदि प्रधान मंत्री माटेओ रेंज़ी संवैधानिक सुधार पर जनमत संग्रह हार जाते हैं।


Teenagers seriously hurt in accident on A7 near Ashkirk

Summary: Two teenagers are in hospital with serious injuries following a crash in the Scottish Borders.

The accident happened on the A7 near Ashkirk at about 19:40 on Monday. Police said the driver and the passenger - both 17-year-old boys - were badly hurt in the incident involving their blue Volkswagen Polo. Sgt Mark Banner asked anyone who was in the area at the time or who might have dashcam footage to come forward to assist with inquiries. Related Internet Links Police Scotland

स्कॉटिश बॉर्डर्स में एक दुर्घटना के बाद गंभीर रूप से घायल दो किशोरों को अस्पताल में भर्ती कराया गया है।


Margaret Thatcher funeral attended by 'Essex Man'

Summary: Among the thousands who lined the streets of London to witness the funeral procession of Baroness Thatcher was a self-confessed "Essex Man" who has a picture of the former prime minister in his bedroom.

By Laurence CawleyBBC News Bill Sharp, 65, was the the son of a unionised stevedore who loaded and unloaded the ships at the East End's Royal Albert docks. He left grammar school at the age of 15 wanting something more. And he got it - a career in the City and the trappings which come with it. Now living in Hadleigh near Southend, he continues to run his stockbroking firm and work as a consultant. For Mr Sharp, taking his place outside St Paul's Cathedral to say a final farewell was a foregone conclusion. He allowed BBC News to join him on his journey from Essex to central London as Margaret Thatcher was his political inspiration. "She means a great deal to me," he said. "It was in about 1970 that I started to recognise her. "I became a councillor back in 1978 based on listening to her. "She wasn't the first woman prime minister to me, she was the leader of our party and she did a wonderful job." Their paths were to cross a number of times. Mr Sharp made three visits to Downing Street during her tenure, enjoyed a dinner in her company (with others) and was at the Conservative Party conference in 1984 at Brighton's Grand Hotel when five people were killed and 31 were injured. An aspiring politician, Mr Sharp had put his name down to speak on five different subjects. He ended up speaking about the community charge (often referred to as the poll tax) - the subject he had prepared least for. But it was the speech the prime minister delivered the day after the bomb that he remembers most vividly. "The speech was magnificent. There was an explosion of support for her," he said. "I am delighted to be able to say that I met her, shook her hand, listened to her and was told off by her, and followed her principles through my life." Mr Sharp is proud of the parallels between his own humble upbringing and those of Margaret Thatcher, the grocer's daughter. 'Sympathy in my heart' He said: "She was wealthy compared with my family roots. "My father was a union man, I understand unionism but I didn't find socialism the answer. If you go out and work, you can contribute to your family." While the then Margaret Roberts lost out when she contested the parliamentary seat of Dartford in the 1950 and 1951 general elections, Mr Sharp unsuccessfully fought the Barking seat just across the Thames in 1987. His campaign slogan was simple: "She trusts him, why don't you?" The she, of course, was Baroness Thatcher. Since then, Mr Sharp has focused on local politics and continues to serve on Castle Point Borough Council. He said: "I will be standing there with sympathy in my heart, and gratitude for what she did for this nation, for what she did for me personally and for what she did for the party. "People either loved her or hated her. A bit like me."

बैरोनेस थैचर के अंतिम संस्कार के जुलूस को देखने के लिए लंदन की सड़कों पर कतार में खड़े हजारों लोगों में एक आत्म-कबूल "एसेक्स मैन" था, जिसके शयनकक्ष में पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री की तस्वीर है।


Florida shooting: How teenagers started a political campaign in 30 days

Summary: "Someone's shooting up the school at Stoneman Douglas."

By Imran Rahman-JonesNewsbeat reporter These were the first panicked words over the phone from a student when a gunman entered his Florida high school on Valentine's Day. The 911 responder replied: "I'm sorry, I can't hear you. What's happening?" "Someone's shooting up Marjory Stoneman Douglas." "Someone is doing what? Hello? Hello? Hello?" The student is whispering now: "Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is being shot up." "It's being shot up? Are you at the school?" The caller whispers something. "I can't hear you," says the responder. "Are you at the school?" There's a pause. Then the caller hangs up. The day everything changed That Valentine's Day, the lives of 3,300 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School pupils in Parkland, Florida, changed forever. The shooter killed 17 people. Others are still fighting for their lives in hospital. It's become an almost unremarkable event in modern America: This was already the sixth school shooting of 2018 in the US. But this time was different. Because instead of just accepting it for part of daily life, this group of 16, 17 and 18-year-olds decided that guns were tearing apart communities and that too many innocent people were dying. This is the story of how they started a political movement in just a month. They have a clear message: "Never Again". The seed of the campaign was planted less than 24 hours after the attack. Gathering in a local park with candles, students were embracing their friends, talking to the media or grieving quietly. "That's when we all held hands together and said 'This is where there's going to be change. This is where it's going to be different'," Jared, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas student, tells Newsbeat. That was a Thursday. By the weekend, the Never Again movement was up and running. It was amplified on social media with hashtags including #NeverAgain, #MarchForOurLives, #WhatIf and #IWillMarch. But this time, it was much more than an online movement which politicians could ignore. Tweeting "thoughts and prayers" wouldn't be enough this time. It was a real movement, with real people, in real life. Calling 'BS' on gun culture Never Again would culminate with a demonstration on Washington DC which the campaign was calling the March For Our Lives. Its first major piece of media coverage came on the Saturday with an emotionally charged speech by Emma Gonzalez. "[To] companies trying to make caricatures of the teenagers these days, saying that all we are is self-involved and trend-obsessed, and they hush us into submission when our message doesn't reach the ears of the nation: We are prepared to call BS," she cried. "They say tougher guns laws do not decrease gun violence," she added. "We call BS." That speech seemed to change how the world's media covered this latest shooting - instead of the killer being the main story, it became about the survivors who were fighting on behalf of their dead friends and teachers. Six days after the shooting, 100 students were on a bus, on a seven-hour trip to the state capital Tallahassee to meet politicians and representatives of the NRA (National Rifle Association). A lot of people who watched the televised meeting may have been surprised by how articulate, outspoken and well informed the students were. They held their own against some of the most influential people in America - on both sides of the gun control debate. But you only had to hear them speak for a couple of minutes to realise that anyone underestimating these teens would be caught off guard. More than a hashtag Just a week after the shooting, and with the help of celebrities' money, momentum had built. Had this just been a hashtag, the chances are it would have died down by now. Instead, the group of Florida teens taking on politicians and lobby groups had inspired young people around the country to start their own protests. Schools nationwide were staging walkouts - many of them leaving class for 17 minutes to symbolise the 17 lives lost in Parkland. They too were saying that enough is enough. Change happens The teenagers of Marjory Stoneman Douglas were putting more and more pressure on politicians to make a change. They were clear that they didn't want to ban guns. They just wanted more stringent checks on who was allowed to buy them. The NRA, an organisation with five million members in the US, is against stricter gun laws. One of its slogans is "from my cold dead hands" - referring to the only way people will be able to take their guns away. But under the pressure of the Douglas students, the organisation found itself at the centre of a boycott. Car rental companies, airlines and insurance companies stopped offering discounts to NRA members. The changes kept on coming. Two major US retailers announced new restrictions on gun sales. Dick's Sporting Goods said it would no longer sell assault-style rifles - and Walmart raised the minimum age for anyone buying guns or ammunition to 21 years. 'They weren't the ones who heard the gunshots' As the movement grew, its opponents became more enthusiastic in their opposition. Much of it came online. The main figureheads of Never Again were accused of being "crisis actors", put up by the anti-gun lobby to try to ban guns. They were told that it was too soon, and that they were disrespecting their deceased friends and teachers by making this a political movement. They were told to leave the serious stuff to the adults. Florida State Representative Elizabeth Porter said: "Do we allow the children to tell us that we should pass a law that says 'No homework?'" "If you've fallen victim to gun violence, I think you're pretty eligible to talk about it," Amanda, a 16-year-old student at the school, tells Newsbeat. "We understand we're just kids, but they can't tell us that what we're advocating is not right just because we're too young. "They weren't the ones who heard the gunshots, they weren't the ones who ran, they weren't the ones who hid in closets, who hid behind desks, they weren't the ones who were shot at, and they weren't the ones who witnessed their peers die right in front of them. So they don't have a say." Political progress The momentum rolled on. On 6 March, less than three weeks after the shooting, Florida senators voted to raise the age to buy a firearm from 18 to 21 and require a three-day waiting period for most weapons. Three days later it was signed off by the governor of Florida. If you were in doubt that this was as a direct result of political action by the students in the Never Again movement, the bill is called the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. A new normal Just over a month on from the attack on their high school, and the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas are trying to get back to normal. "Inside the red gates of Douglas, we're all normal kids. We're just students, we're not famous," student Nikki tells Newsbeat. "We see that things are different, but it's a good kind of different." A march for their lives On Saturday 24 March, the Never Again students will be outside the home of the man they most need to convince - President Trump. In the last month, he's flip-flopped from one stance to the other. He's definitely pro-gun - something the Florida students would say is due to the $31m (£22m) the NRA spent on supporting Trump and attacking Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election. In the aftermath of the attack, he met some of the survivors of the attack. He's suggested arming teachers, said he would have run into the school without a gun to protect students - but he also suggested stronger gun reform. He also went back on an earlier suggestion he would raise the national age to buy a gun. President Trump also met video games company representatives to discuss violent content. He'd previously said that violent games were "shaping young people's thoughts". The games industry defended itself, saying there is no evidence to suggest a link between violent games and real-life violent actions. It's not been plain sailing for the students of Never Again - they still need to convince their president to enact stricter gun control. Their wish to be the last ever school to be attacked by a gunman has already failed. A 17-year-old girl, Courtlin Arrington, was killed by a classmate at Huffman High School in Birmingham, Alabama, exactly three weeks after the Parkland shooting. The Florida gun control act which bears their school's name also includes something many of them are against - a provision to arm some teachers in schools. The long term And while momentum is still with them now, many key members will be going off to university this summer, disbanding all over the country. That could make it a lot more difficult to keep the movement going in a few months' time. But they're realistic about time. After all, this is an issue which previous presidents have tried and failed to tackle in the past. "We understand that what we're trying to achieve, we won't get that today, probably not tomorrow or the day after," says Amanda. "It's a long process. It would take years, even." But - as many students keep reminding their current politicians - many will be old enough to vote in this autumn's mid-term elections. "This is just the beginning," Alyssa, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas student, tells Newsbeat. "None of us are ready to give up until we see a change. "We know change is happening." Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here.

"स्टोनमैन डगलस में कोई स्कूल को गोली मार रहा है।"


Prodigy's Keith Flint Peterborough mural print collected

Summary: A man spent almost £1,000 on a print of an "iconic" mural of The Prodigy singer Keith Flint as it "resonated" with his work to raise mental health awareness within the building industry.

Flint was found hanged at his Essex home and the mural in Peterborough, seen by millions on social media, was a tribute to the singer. Glenn Davies travelled from Birmingham to meet the artist Nathan Murdock. The pair met at the mural as Mr Davies wanted to see "the real deal". Construction company director Mr Davies, 60, said he had been a fan of The Prodigy since the early 1990s, had seen the band "about five times" and met Flint after one gig. He said the singer's death "really resonated with me as my company has a big push on mental health and wellbeing at the moment". Mr Davies' company is currently working with charity Mates in Mind which aims "to address the stigma of poor mental health and improve positive mental wellbeing in construction and related industries across the UK". He drove to Peterborough to collect his print from Mr Murdock in front of the 12ft-tall (3.6m) mural, which has been described as "iconic" by guitarist Gizz Butt, who played with The Prodigy in the late '90s. Mr Davies said: "I thought the mural was so amazing when I saw it online and I really wanted to see the real deal." Mr Murdock put his print of the mural in an online auction, which saw Mr Davies' winning bid of £980 going to the local branch of mental health charity Mind. Flint was found dead at him home near Dunmow, Essex, on 4 March. An inquest into the singer's death heard the provisional cause of death was from hanging. If you are struggling to cope, contact the Samaritans on the free helpline 116 123, or please visit this link to access support services.

एक व्यक्ति ने द प्रोडिजी गायक कीथ फ्लिंट के एक "प्रतिष्ठित" भित्ति चित्र के प्रिंट पर लगभग £1,000 खर्च किए क्योंकि यह भवन उद्योग के भीतर मानसिक स्वास्थ्य जागरूकता बढ़ाने के उनके काम के साथ "प्रतिध्वनित" हुआ।


Bloodhound diary: How flat is flat?

Summary: RAF fighter pilot Andy Green intends to get behind the wheel of a car that is capable of reaching 1,000mph (1,610km/h). Powered by a rocket bolted to a Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine, the Bloodhound car will mount an assault on the land speed record. The record bid will take place on Hakskeen Pan, Northern Cape Province, South Africa, in 2012. Wing Cmdr Green is writing a diary for the BBC News Website about his experiences working on the Bloodhound project and the team's efforts to inspire national interest in science and engineering.

By Andy GreenWorld Land Speed Record Holder DOING SOME MATHS One thing we want to know about the run site for the Bloodhound Supersonic Car (SSC) is "How flat is it?" - or perhaps more accurately "How bumpy is it?" I've driven on it in a hire car and it looks and feels flat - but a small undulation at 80-plus mph could be a huge bump at 800-plus mph. We need to know if there are going to be any nasty surprises out there at 1,000 mph. We also need to know how hard the suspension and chassis will have to work. How much suspension travel will we need if there are any significant bumps? What sort of frequencies will the suspension see? Are any of these frequencies anywhere near the "natural" frequencies of the car and suspension? (in which case the motion of the car could become uncontrollable - which would be bad!). Once all of the desert preparation work is completed, some time next year, we will check the whole track from end to end for any bumps that might cause us trouble. In the meantime, we need to have a rough idea of how flat (or bumpy) the surface is, to help with designing the car and its suspension. Thanks to the fantastic level of help that we are getting in South Africa, we now have some data. The Northern Cape team surveyed a 2km stretch of desert, adjacent to the our chosen track, to give us an indication of vertical variation over this length. Why 2km? We want to make sure that we do not have any inputs near the suspension frequency of the car (around 2.5Hz: see the vehicle technical spec for more detail). If we look for inputs at a tenth of this rate or more, we will spot any possible problems. A tenth of 2.5 is 0.25Hz - a quarter of an oscillation a second, or one every four seconds. At 1,000 mph, the car will travel 1,800m in four seconds - so call it 2km. And how many points do we need along this 2km strip? We chose a nominal upper limit of 10 Hz for this study, and the effects only start to get interesting above 200mph - say 100m/s. 10Hz at 100m/s means a survey point every 10m. Hence we have the survey task. Measure the vertical height (as accurately as possible) at 200 points, 10m apart in a 2km long straight line, on a representative part of the desert. This is one of the tasks that our South African team carried out recently and we are hugely grateful to them. It may not be glamorous, but it's a key part of getting this right. Turning up in South Africa with a suspension that doesn't work is really not a good look - and this will help to make sure that we don't. These results are surprising, in a very good way. Total variation over the 2km strip? It's tiny - just 61mm. This is a very flat desert. The above graph may look like the surface of the Moon, but just imagine stretching that line out until it's 2,000m long - it would be so flat that it would look perfect. In fact, as we've seen on the pan, it is so flat that it looks perfect. Now we know just how flat. It's another indication that Hakskeen Pan is the ideal place for the world's first 1,000 mph race track.

आरएएफ लड़ाकू पायलट एंडी ग्रीन एक कार के पहिये के पीछे जाने का इरादा रखता है जो 1,000 मील प्रति घंटे (1,610 किमी/घंटा) तक पहुंचने में सक्षम है। एक यूरोफाइटर-टाइफून जेट इंजन को बोल्ट किए गए रॉकेट द्वारा संचालित, ब्लडहाउंड कार भूमि की गति रिकॉर्ड पर हमला करेगी। रिकॉर्ड बोली 2012 में दक्षिण अफ्रीका के उत्तरी केप प्रांत के हक्सकीन पैन पर होगी। विंग कमांडर ग्रीन ब्लडहाउंड परियोजना पर काम करने के अपने अनुभवों और विज्ञान और इंजीनियरिंग में राष्ट्रीय रुचि को प्रेरित करने के लिए टीम के प्रयासों के बारे में बीबीसी न्यूज वेबसाइट के लिए एक डायरी लिख रहे हैं।


The Indian diver who has saved more than 100 lives

Summary: For years, Shiva helped police find bodies in Hussain Sagar lake in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. And then one day, he stopped someone before they jumped, saving a life for the first time. BBC Telugu's Balla Satish reports.

Shiva, who uses only one name, says he was about 10 years old when he came across a group of policemen who were offering to pay anyone who would bring a body out of a nearby pond. Police in India are underfunded and poorly trained. Many don't know how to swim and are not given funds to hire professional divers. So it's not uncommon for them to rely on such informal, even risky, arrangements. But when Shiva volunteered, he says, they were taken aback. "They initially refused saying I was too young. But I convinced them," he recalls. He did the job and walked away with 40 rupees, now worth about $0.54 or £0.42 but a decent sum for him at the time. That was 20 years ago. He is now 30 and still helping the local police. Shiva lives right by Hussain Sagar, a large artificial lake in the heart of the city. A popular tourist spot, the lake is also used during the Ganesha festival for immersing idols of the Hindu deity. The statues disintegrate under water and Shiva fishes out the iron rods they are made of to sell to recyclers. But the lake is also a place where many come to die and Shiva often helps police retrieve bodies out of the water. Sometimes, he also helps them recover bodies from other rivers and lakes in the city. Shiva does more than pulling bodies out of the lake - he often saves people before they jump into the water, and sometimes even after that. "I have lost count of how many bodies I have found. But I have saved 114 lives," he told the BBC. He is now also training his wife to swim so she can help retrieve bodies of women. Inspector B Dhanalakshmi, who's posted at the police station near Hussain Sagar lake, acknowledges that Shiva has been "a huge help" to them. "I can't confirm how many people he has saved over the years, but I believe it's more than 100," she told the BBC. Suicide is still a crime in India and many people Shiva saves run away even before he can call the police. Shiva says he never knew his parents and spent most of his childhood on the streets, with brief spells in orphanages. At some point - he can't be sure how old he was - he started living with a woman and her children who were also homeless. He grew close to them and it was one of her sons who taught him how to swim, a skill that changed the course of his life. Read more of BBC Telugu coverage "I have lost a lot of friends over the years - to addictions, to disease, to hunger, to accidents," he says. The boy who taught him to swim - "my brother Lakshman," he calls him - accidentally drowned and another close friend died while trying to save someone else. He says because he couldn't save them, he's trying to make up for that by saving others. Saving lives brings him some extra money - sometimes people he saves pay him as a token of their gratitude. And coverage in the local press has turned him into a minor celebrity and fetched him small roles in Telugu films. But Shiva says he doesn't consider saving lives a job. People's motives for suicide, he says, vary - from exam pressures to love affairs gone wrong to family feuds and financial woes. He says sometimes the elderly try to kill themselves when they are abandoned by their children. Recently, he says he saw a man jump into the lake, fearing he might have contracted the coronavirus. The man's friend then jumped in to save him and Shiva too jumped in, but he was only able to save the friend. He says the dead man's family members didn't even take the body, afraid of catching the virus. "So I cremated him," he says. "I saved another man who said his family had begun to neglect him since they thought he had the virus." But his work comes at a cost - Hussain Sagar is heavily polluted and Shiva, who dives into the water regularly with no gear or suit, says he has developed skin rashes and caught other ailments, including a bout of typhoid. "There is no time to put on any gear. You have to react fast. If you see someone jump, you have to jump right away." The lake also smells foul during the summer and snakes are commonly found on its shores, but Shiva has no plans to move on. "I want to stay here," he says. "Only if I stay here, I can save lives. The satisfaction of saving a life is supreme." Read the story on BBC Telugu here Information and support If you or someone you know needs support for issues about emotional distress, these organisations may be able to help. If you are in India and are feeling emotionally distressed, visit Aasra and Befrienders International for more information about support services.

वर्षों तक, शिवा ने दक्षिणी भारतीय शहर हैदराबाद में हुसैन सागर झील में शवों को खोजने में पुलिस की मदद की। और फिर एक दिन, उसने किसी को कूदने से पहले रोक दिया, जिससे पहली बार किसी की जान बच गई। बीबीसी तेलुगु के बल्ला सतीश की रिपोर्ट।


Somalia outrage at remittance bans

Summary: Somalia's president has lashed out at the government of neighbouring Kenya - accusing it of a "heavy-handed" approach to regional security, and specifically criticizing Kenya's recent decision to clamp down on money transfer companies allegedly linked to the militant group, al-Shabab.

Andrew HardingAfrica correspondent@BBCAndrewHon Twitter In an interview with BBC News, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud described the remittance industry as "a lifeline" for millions of Somalis and for others across the region, and said "the massive closing of accounts, the closing of remittances" was counter-productive. Following the massacre of 148 students at Kenya's Garissa University in April, the authorities shut down 13 Somali money transfer agencies, arguing that they were channelling funds to terrorists. Asked if Kenya was mishandling the security threat posed by al-Shabab, President Hassan Sheikh said: "I would not say [they're doing it] the wrong way. But I would say there are better ways to do it. I would have suggested that the Kenyan government change their strategy." It is estimated that an astonishing $1.3bn (£840m) is sent to families in Somalia every year by relatives who fled the country during two decades of conflict, to join the diaspora. That is roughly half of Somalia's gross national income - and 80% of total investment - easily eclipsing all international aid to the country. The World Bank estimates that 40% of all Somalis depend on remittances for their basic needs. "We were getting money from relatives in Kenya. It was helping to pay for school and university fees. Now we're even having to cut back on meals," said Moalim Mohamud, a Koranic teacher in one of the crowded makeshift camps for families displaced by conflict in Mogadishu. And it is not just Kenya's actions that are causing hardship here. Banks in the US and Europe, seeking to avoid the risk of potential fines from regulators, have also been closing the accounts of some Somali remittance companies. This is happening despite precious little evidence that money sent to Somalia has ended up in the hands of militant groups like al-Shabab. "It's very difficult. My daughter didn't go to school now for two months," said a woman named Hawa, emerging empty-handed from a branch of the Dahabshil remittance company on a narrow street in Mogadishu's old quarter. "My brother in America [used to] send me $100 every month," she said. Although the remittance business has not stopped altogether, some speculate that some Somalis abroad - who have often struggled for years to raise the money to send back home - may be taking advantage of the new restrictions to ease off on a burdensome obligation. But Somalis are famously entrepreneurial, and some businessmen in Mogadishu are already looking for ways to turn yet another challenge into an opportunity. "We're forced to come up with solutions. We're resilient people. Finding ways around problems - that is a necessity," said Liban Egal, showing off a new machine that he hopes will convince US banks to keep the remittance industry afloat. The handheld device, dubbed Camelcash, combines a fingerprint scanner with wi-fi, a card reader and printer. It is a way of confirming someone's identity in a turbulent country, which - after decades without a functioning government - still lacks a proper national ID system. "The banks' concern is who's picking up the money in Somalia - they don't want to be penalized if the money goes to the wrong hands. So this device can authenticate the customer. You swipe your card here, and put your finger right here," said Mr Egal, before swiftly moving on to talk about Somalia's extraordinarily successful cashless mobile phone banking system - another example of an entrepreneurial society finding ways to flourish.

सोमालिया के राष्ट्रपति ने पड़ोसी देश केन्या की सरकार पर क्षेत्रीय सुरक्षा के लिए "भारी-भरकम" दृष्टिकोण अपनाने का आरोप लगाया है और विशेष रूप से आतंकवादी समूह, अल-शबाब से कथित रूप से जुड़ी धन हस्तांतरण कंपनियों पर नकेल कसने के केन्या के हालिया फैसले की आलोचना की है।


Has the UK truly 'stocked up' on rainwater?

Summary: Hard as it is to believe now, two years ago the UK was seriously preparing for drought. Since then there's been a lot of rain, so does it mean there won't be hosepipe bans for many years?

By Tom de CastellaBBC News Magazine It's been wet. December last year was the sixth wettest on record for the UK and the wettest ever measured in Scotland. There was no let-up - January this year was the wettest in southern England since records began in 1910. All this after a generally wet 18 months means that where there isn't flooding, the ground is sodden. Yet not too long ago the UK suffered from wildfires, hosepipe bans and fears over drying aquifers. Between April 2010 and March 2012 England and Wales experienced one of the 10 worst droughts of the last 100 years, according to the Met Office. So how long is the UK's grace period before water shortages become a possibility again? In April 2012, after two unusually dry winters and with water companies bringing in restrictions, the Magazine ran a piece entitled "Eight radical solutions for the water shortage". Then the heavens opened. For the next month it barely stopped raining. It was the wettest April since records began. There were flood alerts across England and Wales. And yet parts of the country were still officially in drought, prompting the Magazine to ask on 1 May: "How much rain is needed to ease the drought?" It turned out the answer was a lot. Experts warned that it was the wrong time for rain. In spring and summer there would be too much evaporation, they said. Winter rain was what was needed to top up the aquifers. Dr Adrian Butler, a reader in subsurface hydrology at Imperial College London, then estimated that the Midlands and south of England needed twice the normal summer rainfall for groundwater to recover. It seemed unlikely it would happen. May 2012 saw slightly less rain than average. But in June and July the biblical weather returned - with rainfall above and just below 200% of the average respectively. We didn't know it then, says Prof Nigel Arnell, director of the Walker Institute at Reading University, but the summer rain had more effect than anyone anticipated. "In practice what happened in 2012 was that there was so much rain that it overwhelmed evaporation." Since then higher than average rainfall has occurred more often than dry spells. The Met Office chart tells the story. Before April 2012 there is a wall of red, signifying clusters of dry months, with only the odd blue vertical line, denoting wet months. But after April 2012, blue heavily outnumbers red. A rule of thumb that experts agree on is that the UK can generally cope with one dry winter. Two in a row and you have a serious problem. But what about two wet winters in a row? How useful is this for the future? Water supplies in the UK are now extremely healthy, experts agree. "All the water in the soil and ground is now banked," says Trevor Bishop, head of water resources at the Environment Agency, which oversees England's supply. The long wet period has built up big water stores in the ground (known as groundwater). Aquifers in the rock act as underwater reservoirs, catching water that drains through the soil, releasing small quantities gradually into springs. Groundwater provides the water companies - via pumping - with about 30% of the water consumed in the UK, says Rob Ward, a director at the British Geological Survey. In parts of south-east England, such as Kent, the majority of water comes from aquifers. Groundwater levels were very high last winter, and early indications suggest they will be exceptional this year, says Jamie Hannaford, senior hydrologist at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. "We only have data for selected chalk boreholes but we have already seen some exceptional late-January levels," he says. "We anticipate these levels to be widespread across southern England, with new records in some places." At Tilshead, a borehole on Salisbury Plain, groundwater levels rose by 20m in a fortnight from the end of December to early January, he says. It's the steepest increase since measurements began at Tilshead. The Chilgrove House well in West Sussex was overflowing in late January, something that has only happened six times since 1836. The country is safe from drought for all of 2014 and probably 2015, Bishop believes. The worst drought on record was the summer of 1976. Even if the UK gets similar levels of rainfall (about 60% of the average) from tomorrow, it would be another 6-12 months before the aquifers dropped back to normal levels - the variation depends on rock porosity in different areas. It would then be another 6-12 months before the depleted aquifers caused water shortages. For a drought to occur three things are necessary, Bishop says - a hot, dry summer in 2014, a dry winter in 2014-15 and another very dry summer in 2015. It's very unlikely all three will happen, he says. Thames Water, the UK's biggest water company, broadly agrees. It supplies the capital with water taken from the River Thames or the River Lee and stored in large reservoirs. "The last time we had such a long wet period was in 2000 and 2001," says Stuart White, the firm's media manager. "We didn't experience any potential difficulty until the very hot summer of 2003. Even then water use restrictions were not needed." Others are more cautious. "I think you can rule out hosepipe bans for 2014," says Prof Arnell. But beyond that it's hard to say. If next winter is dry, next year could see shortages, he argues. Groundwater is not the only factor. In the north of England, aquifers are less influential so regular rainfall is important to keep rivers and reservoirs supplied. In the 2012 drought the hosepipe ban began in north-west and not south-east England. Some areas - parts of eastern England and the far north of Scotland - have bucked the trend and had less rainfall than average, says Hannaford. And while reservoirs are nicely topped up now, 2015 may be a different story. "We can say that the current wet winter decreases the chances of a major drought in 2015. But a single dry winter can be influential and if winter 2014-2015 is dry there could still be drought stress the following year." The surprising drought of 2010-12 and the equally unexpected wet summer that followed, should prevent weather complacency. As should the reality - rather than just the hazy memory - of summer 1976. It wasn't just a hot summer, says Hannaford. "The extreme drought of 1976 is associated with the summer heatwave. But the event was also driven by a lack of replenishment of water resources during the previous exceptionally dry winter." In short, a drought is looking unlikely for 2014 and probably 2015. But extreme weather can quickly defy received wisdom. Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook

अब विश्वास करना मुश्किल है, दो साल पहले ब्रिटेन सूखे के लिए गंभीरता से तैयारी कर रहा था। तब से बहुत बारिश हो रही है, तो क्या इसका मतलब यह है कि कई वर्षों तक होज़पाइप पर प्रतिबंध नहीं होगा?


Tokyo's hedgehog cafe: Spiky success or thorny welfare worry?

Summary: Japan's first hedgehog cafe opened recently, to great media attention. But while their spiky stars are the epitome of "kawaii" cute, is it worth the fuss, and how good is it for the hedgehogs themselves?

Tokyo-based journalist Jordan Allen went to the cafe for the BBC to find out more. Tell us a little about this cafe It's called Harry - that's a play on the Japanese word for hedgehog, Harinezumi, literally "needle mouse". It's in Roppongi district. Cafe worker Itohisa Fuka told me they had opened because "we want to let more people know the charms of hedgehogs". You book a time slot or just have to wait outside until there is space. When I went, there were about 10-12 people visiting. So what happens when you're inside? You get in, take your seat, and then either ask for a specific hedgehog or pick one you'd like and the staff give it to you. Once you've had enough, you can swap it with another one. When you handle it, you're supposed to cup your hands - they said as if you're cupping water - and let it sit there. Once it settles, you can stroke it and let it move around on your hands. Incidentally, at Harry you can also hold lizards too. The owners also run a rabbit cafe in the same building, Ms Bunny. So far so cute, but are they happy hogs? They do get passed around a bit. But it was all quite gentle. The staff did seem a bit cagey on the animal welfare issue. Itohisa told me: "We give them a shower, to make them clean, and cut their nails when they get longer." The hogs eat a pre-mixed exotic animal feed containing chicken meal, wheat, dried insects and vegetable matter. "Temperature is the most important thing," said Itohisa. "If the temperature is below 20C, they will go into hibernation, and may die if we leave them like that." Maho Cavalier of local animal welfare group Animal Walk Tokyo, told me she had not heard any concerns about this business, but did have some worries about animal cafes in general. "I firstly worry about the fate of animals when these businesses go wrong and close down," she said, referring to the case of a Tokyo cat cafe that was shut down over allegations of animal neglect. "There may be benefits to humans, such as possible humane education, learning about animals and hedgehogs husbandry, or healing effects. "There may also be benefits from being provided food, water, and special attention and affection. "However, I tend to think that the negative factors of this kind of business, especially to animals, outweigh positive aspects." She also pointed out that hedgehogs were nocturnal but the cafe was open in the afternoon and evening. And how much is a visit? On weekdays they charge 1,000 yen ($9.20; £6.40) for 30 minutes, at weekends 1,300 yen. And if you really enjoy your visit, you can take a hedgehog home. Itohisa said they can sell up to 10 hedgehogs a day, "as they became popular recently because they are easy to keep". "As spring is coming, many people buy hedgehogs as a sign of new life." They are bred as pets, rather than taken from the wild. There's a section on their website about breeding them. I was surprised they could sell so many. There didn't seem to be any restrictions on buying one. It's the same with cats and dogs in Japan, which you can also buy from non-specialist shops, often sitting in small glass display tanks. The hedgehog cafe, though, does seem to look after its animal charges well and should you buy one, they explain that you need a cage, food plate, drinking container, running wheel, bed and, of course, plenty of food - all of which they also sell.

जापान का पहला हेजहोग कैफे हाल ही में मीडिया के ध्यान आकर्षित करने के लिए खोला गया। लेकिन उनके तीखे सितारे "कवाई" प्यारे के प्रतीक हैं, लेकिन क्या यह उपद्रव के लायक है, और यह खुद हेजहोग के लिए कितना अच्छा है?


Devon partly reconnected to main rail network

Summary: Devon has been partly reconnected to the main rail network.

Repairs to one line east of Exeter meant some trains would run to Waterloo on Tuesday, nearly a week after flooding damaged several stretches of rail line, South West Trains said. It said services would be limited and take longer. Prime Minister David Cameron paid a visit to Buckfastleigh, south Devon, where nearly 30 homes were flooded. 'Incredibly steadfast' Arriving by helicopter, he visited two householders, mother-of-two Musky Kendall, 48, and her neighbour James Rice, 32, who had been forced to move out of their homes after flooding. He said: "It's obviously very traumatic when communities are hit by floods like this. "What I have found is people who are incredibly steadfast, who behaved incredibly bravely in handling the floods and now we need to help them with the recovery. "We have to make sure the insurance pays out, the Environment Agency puts in good flood defences and make sure there are better warning systems." Mr Rice, who rents a cottage that backs on to the river, said the flood water nearly burst through his rear garden wall, rising almost 10ft. He said: "The water just rushes straight off Dartmoor into the river, which is one of the fastest rising and falling rivers in the country." Disruption to the main line via Exeter's Cowley Bridge continues. A new landslide has also affected services between Plymouth and Exeter. The Plymouth-Exeter line has been closed at Teignmouth because of wet mud falling on the tracks. Network Rail said it was sending a team to clear tracks to allow trains to travel in both directions on the one remaining track. It said work was ongoing to restore the Exeter-Taunton line, with engineers possibly completing some repairs on Tuesday afternoon. There would be limited signalling in operation, restricting services to two trains per hour in each direction, it added. There are no flood warnings in force in Devon, the Environment Agency said. Business organisations and MPs said they were raising questions as to how good Devon's transport network was in times of extreme weather. Charles Howeson, chairman of the Plymouth Area Business Council, said: "I do wish we could have the right investment down here to make sure that our strategic communications are resilient. "We continue to have problems in terms of infrastructure, resilience and [transport] starvation." Torbay MP Adrian Sanders told the House of Commons on Monday that the weather showed how easily transport in Devon could be adversely affected, "particularly Cowley Bridge to Paddington... and roads across Devon that were cut off". The Environment Agency has advice on its website for those who have been affected by flooding. Devon County Council said it would be sending gritters out at 01:00 GMT and possibly 06:00 on Wednesday as temperatures are expected to drop below freezing. Cabinet member for highways and transportation, Stuart Hughes, said: "Obviously with all the recent flooding and so much water running off from the surrounding land, freezing temperatures could bring extremely icy conditions." He added: "Whilst the gritters will be out in force, don't assume a road has been treated."

डेवोन को आंशिक रूप से मुख्य रेल नेटवर्क से फिर से जोड़ा गया है।


Daily and Sunday Politics manifesto tracker: Economy

Summary: Welcome to the Daily and Sunday Politics manifesto tracker. As the name suggests, it tracks the progress the government is making - or not - in achieving the promises made by the Conservatives in their 2015 general election manifesto and major policy announcements.

The traffic light scorecard above shows the current status of all of the policies. The tracker will be updated over the course of this parliament. The tracker has been broken down into policy areas, which can be explored by clicking on each of the links below. Manifesto tracker by theme This section deals with the economy. ECONOMY Work to eliminate child poverty and introduce better measures to drive real change in children's lives - Manifesto, page 28 Britain to become the most prosperous major economy in the world by the 2030s - Manifesto, page 8 Eliminate the deficit entirely and start running a surplus in 2018-19 - Manifesto, page 9 Find £13bn from departmental savings - Manifesto, page 8 Raise at least £5bn from continuing to tackle tax evasion, and aggressive tax avoidance and tax planning - Manifesto, page 8 Find £12bn from welfare savings - Manifesto, page 8 Continue to control government spending in 2018-19, no longer cutting it in real terms, but instead growing it in line with inflation. From 2019-20, after a surplus has been achieved, spending will grow in line with GDP - Manifesto, page 9 A new fundamental principle of fiscal policy, monitored by the independent OBR, will ensure that in normal economic times, when the economy is growing, the government will always run a surplus - Manifesto, page 9 Treble our successful Start Up Loans programme during the next Parliament so that 75,000 entrepreneurs get the chance to borrow money to set up their own business - Manifesto, page 19 Roll-out 'Help to Grow' scheme - Manifesto, page 11 Create another two million jobs over the next Parliament - Manifesto, page 17 Abolish long-term youth unemployment - Manifesto, page 17 What's happening in the UK economy? Aim to be number one in Europe and in the top five worldwide in the World Bank's Doing Business rankings by 2020 - Manifesto, page 17 Aim to achieve full employment in the UK - Manifesto, page 18 Aim to achieve the highest employment rate in the G7 - Manifesto, page 18 A new workplace entitlement to Volunteering Leave for three days a year, on full pay - Manifesto, page 45 Use fines imposed on Deutsche Bank for its involvement in rigging interest rates to fund 50,000 apprenticeships - David Cameron speaking on 28 April 2015 The state pension will rise to £7,000 by the end of the Parliament - David Cameron speaking on 2 May 2015 Finish the process of ring-fencing banks' high street branches from their investment arms by 2019 at the latest - Manifesto, page 9 Continue to sell the government's stakes in the bailed-out banks and building societies - Manifesto, page 9 Keep the bank levy in place - Manifesto, page 9 Continue the funding for lending scheme into 2016 - Manifesto, page 11 Make it a crime if companies fail to put in place measures to stop economic crime, such as tax evasion - Manifesto, page 11 Have 100,000 more UK companies exporting in 2020 than in 2010 and reach target of £1 trillion in exports - Manifesto, page 19 The gender pay gap is the lowest on record, but we want to reduce it further - Manifesto, page 19 Require companies with more than 250 employees to publish the difference between the average pay of their male and female employees - Manifesto, page 19 Aim to halve the disability employment gap - Manifesto, page 19 Accept the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission that the National Minimum Wage should rise to £6.70 this autumn, on course for a Minimum Wage that will be over £8 by the end of the decade - Manifesto, page 21 Support the Living Wage and continue to encourage businesses and other organisations to pay it whenever they can afford it - Manifesto, page 21 Cut government waste; plan a further £10bn annual savings by 2017-18 and £15-20bn in 2019-20 - Manifesto, page 47

डेली एंड संडे पॉलिटिक्स मेनिफेस्टो ट्रैकर में आपका स्वागत है। जैसा कि नाम से पता चलता है, यह 2015 के आम चुनाव घोषणापत्र और प्रमुख नीतिगत घोषणाओं में कंजर्वेटिवों द्वारा किए गए वादों को पूरा करने में सरकार की प्रगति-या नहीं-पर नज़र रखता है।


Colwyn Bay pier will cost £15m to restore, report says

Summary: Plans to restore a grade II-listed Victorian pier in north Wales would cost more than £15m, a report says.

The derelict pier in Colwyn Bay has been closed since 2008 and is in the middle of the town's £37m coastal defence and regeneration work. Conwy council had a £600,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant to investigate the feasibility of restoring the pier. But the report raises doubts over £6m of Welsh government funding, adding that demolition would cost about £1m. The report will be discussed at a meeting of the full council on Thursday. The pier's former owner Steve Hunt has been involved in a legal battle with the council disputing its claim to ownership.

एक रिपोर्ट में कहा गया है कि उत्तरी वेल्स में ग्रेड II-सूचीबद्ध विक्टोरियन घाट को बहाल करने की योजना पर 15 मिलियन पाउंड से अधिक की लागत आएगी।


Stoke's Michelin factory feels effects of £20m investment

Summary: The first tyres have rolled off a new production line at Stoke-on-Trent's Michelin factory.

Michelin said the £20m investment in two production lines would also "provide improved working conditions". The plant on Campbell Road, which has 1,000 workers, opened in 1927 and is the UK headquarters for the French company. The funding has been supported by the government under the Grant for Business Investment. Michelin's new Remix truck tyre retreading operation at the site was visited by Business Minister Mark Prisk. He said: "This investment is helping to protect over 400 skilled jobs."

पहले टायरों ने स्टोक-ऑन-ट्रेंट के मिशेलिन कारखाने में एक नई उत्पादन लाइन शुरू की है।


A358 in Somerset crash: One person dies

Summary: One person has died in a crash overnight on the A358 in Somerset which involved two vehicles.

Avon and Somerset Police were called to Ashill, between Ilminster and Taunton, just after midnight. No further details have been released by the police about whether more people were hurt in the collision. The road has since been reopened and police are now appealing for witnesses into the collision.

समरसेट में ए358 पर रात भर हुई दुर्घटना में एक व्यक्ति की मौत हो गई, जिसमें दो वाहन शामिल थे।


Salvador Dali's Christ painting packed for loan

Summary: One of Scotland's most famous paintings - Salvador Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross, which usually hangs in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery, is being prepared to go on loan.

The painting is to feature in the Dali/Duchamp exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. It has been unframed to allow for inspection before being packed. Henry Raeburn's Boy and Rabbit will go on show at Kelvingrove as part of a reciprocal loan agreement. Cllr David McDonald said Christ of St John of the Cross would be one of the main attractions of the Dali/Duchamp exhibition, which opens on 7 October. "Glasgow is proud of its extensive art collection, considered by many to be amongst the finest in Europe. "By working with respected institutions such as the Royal Academy of Arts we continue to strengthen our reputation and are able to bring outstanding works of art, such as Raeburn's Boy and Rabbit, to Kelvingrove this autumn." Artist's grandchild The Dali/Duchamp exhibition aims to throw light on the relationship between the father of conceptual art, Marcel Duchamp, and Surrealist Salvador Dali. The exhibition, which will bring together more than 60 works, is to travel to The Dali Museum in St Petersburg, Florida, from February to May 2018. Christ of St John of the Cross will return to the Kelvingrove in summer 2018 where it is expected to be on display for more than a year, before going on loan again. It is due to go to Auckland Castle, County Durham, in autumn 2019. The painting, which was bought by the City of Glasgow for £8,200 in 1952, will then return to Kelvingrove in spring 2020. An image of the painting will remain in the space at Kelvingrove. Boy and Rabbit will hang in the portrait section of the Looking at Art gallery in Kelvingrove from September until May 2018. The painting is of the artist's grandchild, Henry Raeburn Inglis, with his pet rabbit. The boy was deaf and the work is about the senses, particularly the importance of touch in the relationship between the child and his pet.

स्कॉटलैंड के सबसे प्रसिद्ध चित्रों में से एक-साल्वाडोर डाली की क्राइस्ट ऑफ सेंट जॉन ऑफ द क्रॉस, जो आमतौर पर ग्लासगो की केल्विंग्रोव आर्ट गैलरी में लटकती है, को ऋण पर जाने के लिए तैयार किया जा रहा है।


EU faces challenge from three states to Covid budget

Summary: In Brussels a high-stakes game is being played in which the jackpot is worth €1.8tn (£1.6tn) - the total value of the EU budget until 2027 plus its €750bn Coronavirus Recovery fund.

By Kevin ConnollyBBC News, Brussels On one side of the table sit 24 of the member states backed by the European Commission and a majority in the EU Parliament. Facing them across the table are Hungary and Poland with Slovenia preparing to play a supporting role. The issue for EU leaders meeting via video on Thursday is simple enough: should the division of EU funds between member states be linked to the behaviour and the values of individual governments? Who is setting the rules? The problem is that it's not quite clear what game they're playing - poker or chicken. If it's poker then the two sides will play their cards carefully, winning some hands and losing others until some kind of compromise eventually emerges. If it's chicken then they'll seek to wait each other out in the hope that the other side will lose its nerve first. The EU wants to link the behaviour of member states with access to EU funds by means of a "rule of law" mechanism - in other words, pursue policies that the EU feels are in conflict with its core values and you lose access to EU funds. Opposition to that idea comes from Poland and Hungary - with the support of Slovenia this time around. Why Poland and Hungary? The two larger EU states have a lot in common. Both emerged as democracies from communist dictatorship as recently as the 1990s; both have gone on to elect right-wing nationalist governments and both are heavily dependent on EU funds. They each receive around 5% of their GDP from Brussels. Many in the EU see their need for EU funds as a factor that will push them into backing down - but there's no sign of that happening yet. And that uneasy combination of political opposition and economic reliance has introduced a strain of toxicity into their relations with Brussels. Hungarian leader Viktor Orban - the man once greeted by Jean-Claude Juncker with a cheery cry of "Hello Dictator!" - sees it as a threat to his country's sovereignty. He ties it to the long-running dispute between Brussels and those Eastern European states - like Hungary - which refused to help resettle migrants who cross the Mediterranean and end up as a burden on front-line states like Greece and Italy. How far will Poland go? Poland's nationalist-conservative coalition government says the rule of law mechanism breaches both EU treaties and the spirit of the agreement reached by leaders at a summit in July. For hard-line justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who heads a junior coalition party, the mechanism is simply a pretext to erode Poland's sovereignty and force it to accept liberal policies such as same-sex marriage. One of his colleagues said it was an attempt by Germany to colonise Poland. The cover of government-supporting weekly magazine Sieci reads Veto or Death this week. "The government is afraid this mechanism will create constant pressure on them and give Brussels and Berlin the ability to blackmail Poland. The definition of the rule of law is so broad the government thinks that in practice it means introducing a liberal-left agenda through this mechanism," its editor-in-chief Jacek Karnowski told the BBC. There is a distinct lack of trust in Warsaw about Brussels' real intentions. Poland is currently the largest recipient of EU funds, but it's prepared to block the bloc's new budget, because it calculates it can wait for perhaps a year for a solution to be found, something it reckons many southern EU member states will not be able to do. How far will it go? The depth of opposition within the government varies. Foreign language-speaking Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was picked for the job partly because of his ability to negotiate in Brussels. He is more moderate than Mr Ziobro and would perhaps be more willing to accept a compromise that more precisely defines the mechanism, allowing him to present it as a victory, both for Europe's and Poland's interests. What hope of a compromise? From the Brussels perspective, Poland and Hungary share rather more than similar recent histories. Governments in other member states see worrying trends towards authoritarianism in both Warsaw and Budapest. They're especially concerned by attempts to rein in or silence opposition voices in the media, and by judicial reforms which they see as naked attempts by governments to take greater control of the legal process. Only on Wednesday a chamber of Poland's Supreme Court lifted the immunity of a judge who has been one of the most vocal critics of the governing coalition's reforms. The chamber was created by the coalition and the European Court of Justice has ordered its suspension. One EU diplomat put it like this: "This is not about taking away the independence of any elected government - it's about having shared values and defending them." The EU may take some comfort from the fact that the rotating six-month presidency is currently held by Germany, which places the search for compromise in the safe hands of Chancellor Angela Merkel. But the search won't be easy. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has already described the current proposals on a rule of law mechanism as a "bare minimum", when they are being rejected as excessive by Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. And time is tight. The EU struggled to assert its authority in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic and was hoping to restore its reputation by having recovery funds ready to be spent in January. This dispute makes that even more challenging. After EU leaders have concluded Thursday's video conference and the two sides have had a chance to assess the scope for deal, we should at least know what rules they're playing by - chicken or poker.

ब्रसेल्स में एक उच्च दांव वाला खेल खेला जा रहा है जिसमें जैकपॉट की कीमत € 1.8tn (£ 1.6tn) है-2027 तक यूरोपीय संघ के बजट का कुल मूल्य और इसके €750bn कोरोनावायरस रिकवरी फंड।


Police continue to question man over London Overground stabbing

Summary: Detectives are continuing to question a man on suspicion of attempted murder after a stabbing on a London Overground train.

A male victim was seriously injured as the train pulled into Hackney Central Station at about 18:00 BST on Tuesday. Police said the man was in a stable condition and recovering in hospital. The arrested man, aged 55 and from Hackney, is also being held on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon, police said.

जासूस लंदन ओवरग्राउंड ट्रेन में छुरा घोंपने के बाद हत्या के प्रयास के संदेह में एक व्यक्ति से पूछताछ करना जारी रखे हुए हैं।


Reverend Philip North named new Bishop of Burnley

Summary: Philip North has been appointed the new Bishop of Burnley.

The new Right Reverend North, currently team rector of four inner-city churches in north London, will replace the Right Rev John Goddard, who retired in July. Bishop-elect North said his new role was "a great pleasure and a daunting privilege", adding it was a "tremendous relief" to now be able to talk about his appointment. He will be consecrated at York Minster on 2 February. He said he is anxious to continue the multi-faith work across the county that his predecessor had started. "This kind of inter-faith work is something I am very familiar with where I am currently based in London," he said. "I am a governor of a church school with a 68% Muslim population and I have sought to encourage close links between people all faiths to strengthen the already vibrant local community." The bishop-elect was born in north London and after leaving school studied history at the University of York. In 2002 he moved to Norfolk where he spent six years overseeing the regeneration of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, an Anglican and Catholic shrine to the Virgin Mary.

फिलिप नॉर्थ को बर्नले का नया बिशप नियुक्त किया गया है।


Work on Douglas prom stalled due to economy woes

Summary: Work on an Isle of Man promenade will not start until the economic situation improves, a minister has said.

Phil Gawne MHK admitted Douglas promenade is starting to deteriorate and the government is receiving complaints about it looking shabby. However, he said the repairs would cost in the region of £10m and "it is hardly the best of times" to promote such an expensive scheme. He said they need to start thinking about improvements in a few years. "Hopefully the economy will have bounced back. Everybody will be happy again and money will be flooding back in," he said.

एक मंत्री ने कहा है कि आर्थिक स्थिति में सुधार होने तक आइल ऑफ मैन सैर पर काम शुरू नहीं होगा।


Google sued by Oracle over Android operating system

Summary: Business software maker Oracle has filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the search engine giant of infringing patents on its technology.

Oracle says Google infringed patents on its Java software while developing its Android operating system. Oracle acquired the Java technology when it took over Sun Microsystems in a deal agreed last year. Android is fast becoming one of the most widely used operating systems used in smart mobile phones. Google "knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle's Java-related intellectual property," Oracle said. "This lawsuit seeks appropriate remedies". The lawsuit was filed on Thursday night in the US.

बिजनेस सॉफ्टवेयर निर्माता ओरेकल ने गूगल के खिलाफ मुकदमा दायर किया है, जिसमें सर्च इंजन दिग्गज पर अपनी तकनीक पर पेटेंट का उल्लंघन करने का आरोप लगाया गया है।