Quebec Bill 21: Is it OK for public servants to wear religious symbols?

Summary: For a decade, Quebec has been debating the issues of state secularism and reasonable accommodation in the Canadian province. Now it has just passed a new law that bars civil servants in positions of "authority" from wearing religious symbols at work.

By Jessica MurphyBBC News, Toronto Bill 21 prevents judges, police officers, teachers and public servants holding some other positions from wearing symbols such as the kippah, turban, or hijab while at work. Like similar legislation introduced by previous Quebec governments in recent years to bolster state secularism, it has led to a fierce debate. Advocates call it a reasonable step, one with broad support in the province. Critics say it is discriminatory, will make it more difficult for religious minorities to integrate into Quebec society, and that it unfairly targets Muslim women. The provincial government says it is a "logical continuation of the Quiet Revolution", a period in the 1960s when Quebec society rapidly embraced state secularism. The Quebec provincial legislature passed the bill late on Sunday in a 73-35 vote. Six people who have been vocal about Bill 21 and its impact spoke to the BBC. 'A textbook definition of discrimination' Furheen Ahmed has been a teacher in Quebec for over a decade, and says she feels both frustrated and angry about new law. Her job will be protected because of a grandfather clause included in Bill 21, but the fact that "a teacher who teaches 10 feet away from me has more opportunity than I do simply because of what I'm wearing" is unfair, she says. "How can somebody sit there and say that is not the textbook definition of discrimination?" she asks. Proponents of the bill have been careful to note that it doesn't target any specific religion, but many critics have argued that Muslim women are most likely to be affected. Ms Ahmed says: "I wish this was about all religious symbols in some way but I don't think it is". "I don't think if hijabi Muslim women weren't out there doing their thing, being successful in this society - but perhaps looking a bit different, dressing a bit differently - I don't think this ban would have even come into the conversation." She says she felt "proud" when both her school's school board and the Montreal city council came out in opposition to Bill 21. 'Hijab is an act of submission' Zahra Boukersi teaches French at a private elementary school in the Montreal region where she would be allowed to wear a hijab at work. But despite her faith, she has always rejected wearing any kind of Muslim head-covering. She doesn't see the need to wear an outward sign of faith. "Religion is intimate - it's personal," she says. "It's between God and me. That's how I see things." And she has never felt comfortable with what she believes a hijab symbolises. "There are women who wear it truly by choice. But even when they do, I see it as an act of submission," she says. Ms Boukersi has spoken frequently in the media in Quebec about her support for secularism - a conviction born from her youth in Algeria. A civil war from 1991 to 1999 pitted Islamists against the government in the North African nation, and the Muslim veil - which already had a complicated history in the country - became mandatory. "In the '80s, I was a student. I was in a mini-skirt. No one cared, it was normal, it was normal to wear tight-fitting pants or a tight-fitting shirt," she says. "Ten years later, it was a catastrophe - a radical change." So Ms Boukersi sees Bill 21 as a fair place to "draw a line" against any potential similar religious influence in Canada. 'My faith is not something I can leave at the door' As a child, Amrit Kaur would watch her parents patiently helping other children with their school work, which sparked her interest in becoming a teacher. But now, the Quebec vice-president at the World Sikh Organisation is wondering whether there's a place for her in Quebec as a school teacher as she finishes her education degree. For her, wearing a turban is "just such an integral part of my ethos and my being that I can't [disassociate] from it". She adds: "My faith is not something I can leave at the door. That's virtually impossible." She rejects the idea the legislation would help integrate immigrants into society. "The people prevented from doing their jobs are the people most integrated [into Quebec society]. They're not immigrants who just moved to the country - they're people who've studied, who know the language, who give back." She says for the first time in her life she feels like she is "looked at like someone who's causing trouble - and that feels really strange". Freedom of expression and of religion is a basic human right, she insists. "And that's being looked down on." 'A debate between two very different visions' Nadia el-Mabrouk, a professor of computer science, has become a prominent advocate for secularism in Quebec. She supports Bill 21 - in particular the provision that would ban teachers in Quebec public schools from wearing any religious symbols - and would like to see the law extended to daycare workers in the province. "I'm not opposed to the veil," she tells the BBC. "I'm talking about at school, at work, when in contact with children - at that point we say they need to be neutral." She has compared asking teachers to remove religious symbols to when cartoon illustrators were asked to replace the constant cigarette dangling from comic strip cowboy Lucky Luke's mouth with a piece of straw. "Lucky Luke wasn't actively pushing cigarettes - it's a drawing - but it was seen as influencing children," she explains. She says a woman wearing a headscarf in a classroom is "passive proselytism". "I'm not saying it's indoctrination," she says. "I'm not saying the Montrealers who are not Muslim are being indoctrinated. I'm saying it's a conditioning mainly for young Muslim students. It transmits the idea that a Muslim woman is veiled." She rejects the idea that the lengthy debate in the province over secularism is due to an undercurrent of Islamophobia or xenophobia - a frequent refrain in criticism of the issue. She contends many Canadians - where the idea of multiculturalism is, in her word, "sacred" - misunderstand Quebec's desire for secularism. "It's a debate between two very different visions," she says. 'Social cohesion has suffered' Taran Singh, Quebec Sikh community representative and member of the Coalition Inclusion Quebec, has a question. "What is the underlying evidence beneath this need?" He sees Bill 21 as a "divisive solution" in need of a problem and says advocates have presented no direct evidence that public servants wearing religious symbols undermine the separation of Church and state. "Here there is a presumption that is being made - that wearing a symbol is somehow proselytising," he says. Previously proposed legislative secularism solutions by former provincial governments in recent years has caused "social cohesion" to suffer in Quebec, he says. "Bill 21 clearly sends me the message that I am not an equal participant citizen in this society." 'I wouldn't wear a T-shirt that says God does not exist' David Rand, a staunch secularist and atheist, calls Bill 21 "a perfectly reasonable restriction" similar to those already in place for public servants when it comes to showing partisan political preference while at work. And he has little sympathy for those who argue they have been given a difficult decision between their faith and their career. There is a certain kind of reserve that is necessary when working for the state, a certain kind of discretion, he says. "I would not wear a T-shirt that says 'God does not exist' if I went to work in the public service and I expect the same savoir vivre of a woman who wears a hijab or a man who wears a kippah, that they would remove it if they go to work in the public service."

एक दशक से, क्यूबेक कनाडा के प्रांत में राज्य धर्मनिरपेक्षता और उचित समायोजन के मुद्दों पर बहस कर रहा है। अब इसने एक नया कानून पारित किया है जो "अधिकार" के पदों पर सिविल सेवकों को काम पर धार्मिक प्रतीक पहनने से रोकता है।


Texas parents battle in court for custody of transgender child

Summary: A Texas judge has given joint custody to two parents locked in a bitter dispute over the gender identity of their child, in a case that has provoked wider debate over the appropriate age for gender transitions.

By Holly HonderichBBC News During the trial, Anne Georgulas said her child - named James at birth - identifies as a girl and wishes to be called Luna. But the father, Jeffrey Younger, claimed Dr Georgulas has pressured their child to identify as female, and charged his ex-wife with child abuse. Judge Kim Cooks ruled on Thursday that decisions over issues like medical procedures and psychiatric treatment should be reached by Mr Younger and Dr Georgulas together. In doing so, she overruled a prior decision by a Dallas jury that voted 11-1 to give Dr Georgulas sole control of the child's medical and physiological care. In Texas parties in custody disputes can opt for a trial by jury, but a judge can review the decision. The case has sparked outcry on the political right, with conservatives echoing Mr Younger's claims of child abuse. The Texas attorney general said child protective services would investigate the abuse allegations involving the family from Coppell, a Dallas suburb. As Judge Cooks issued her ruling, however, she said there was no evidence supporting charges of abuse by either Mr Younger or Dr Georgulas. Both parents have been barred from speaking publicly about the case. For Mr Younger - who has strongly objected to treating his child as a girl - this means shutting down his website, Save James, which has attracted the support of the political right. Dr Georgulas, a paediatrician, said her child - who has a twin brother - began to express a desire to be a girl in 2015, when the child was three, asking to wear dresses and look like the female characters from the Disney movie Frozen. Mr Younger and Dr Georgulas' four-year marriage was annulled in 2016, at which point Dr Georgulas was given exclusive control of decisions regarding medical, psychological and educational issues. "[The child] has been dressing as a girl in public, going to school in public as a girl, and requests that she be named Luna," a lawyer for Dr Georgulas, Kim Meaders, told a court last year. At the child's five-year-old medical check-up, the doctor diagnosed the child with "gender identity disorder", Dr Georgulas testified. After the next annual check-up, the doctor wrote that child was "still referring to self as female". At trial, Dr Georgulas said psychologists had recommended that she allow the child "to present in whatever way they wish". "The interviews with teachers, the counsellor's notes and records, Luna herself and Luna's brother all state Luna has always wanted to be a girl... It's not being forced upon her," Ms Meaders said. Therapists and counsellors who testified confirmed Dr Georgulas' account. Teachers at school call the child Luna. But Mr Younger argued that his ex-wife had pressured their child to identify as transgender, saying in court that his child had been "perfectly happy as a boy". He has been outspoken about the harms he believes are caused by a child beginning a gender transition. "Children who are too young to make the choice can't make the choice," he said in trial. In a podcast this year, Mr Younger described how upsetting it was for him to see his son during their video chats dressed as "a drag queen" with "false eyelashes and makeup". He said in an interview with Texas conservative strategist Luke Macias he said that "tampering" with a young boy's gender identity amounted to sexual abuse. Mr Younger added: "The courts are not going to be fair to you. And the only way you can survive this and get your son through this alive is to calmly allow your son to be tortured right before your eyes and outlast the opposition." He has said he would allow his child to dress as a girl upon reaching 18 years of age. The "wait-and-see" approach, advocated by Mr Younger has been described as "outdated" by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Treating children's chosen gender identities as "possibly true" can deny "critical support", according to the AAP. The case has provoked heated response from conservatives, including President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz. "This is child abuse," Donald Trump Jr wrote in a tweet. Announcing the state inquiry, Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Thursday: "Texans understand that children are cherished, unique individuals who should be supported and properly cared for as they grow up in communities." He said the Department of Family and Protective Services would "conduct a thorough investigation, and protect this child". During the trial, Dr Georgulas said she would consider hormone suppression once the twin reaches puberty, and only if the child "persists" in identifying as a girl. Dr Georgulas had requested that the court demand written consent from both parents before any treatment involving hormone suppression, puberty blockers and transgender reassignment surgery. Hormone suppression prevents the development of sex characteristics such as periods, breasts or voice-breaking. Critics have argued that such treatment would be inappropriate for so young a child. But health professionals stress that hormone suppressors are never used for a pre-pubescent children. They emphasise that hormone suppressors are only prescribed at a certain stage of puberty ("Tanner Stage 2" - typically between the ages of 10-14) and that the drugs' effects are reversible. Laura Edwards-Leeper, a clinical psychologist at Pacific University who specialises in gender identity says he finds it astonishing that "people believe that medical providers are offering treatment to young children". "When there are headlines about sex changes in children, that is completely not true," he told the BBC. In addition to a physician, many patients will also be seen by a therapist for an assessment, like Dr Edwards-Leeper, before being prescribed puberty blockers. Echoing Dr Edwards-Leeper, psychotherapist Wesley Parks said at trial that it "wouldn't be possible" for Ms Georgulas and Mr Younger's child to take hormone blockers at the age of seven. Puberty blockers are "critical" for children who are struggling with their gender identity, Dr Edwards-Leeper said. It "alleviates the distress that puberty causes for many of these kids before they have to make a decision about possibly irreversible interventions". Even for the "handful" of her patients who have chosen to go off the hormone blockers, Dr Edwards-Leeper has observed no psychological harm to the temporary delay in puberty. "It's completely false to say supporting a young child in their affirmed gender is child abuse," Dr Edwards-Leeper said. "It's in the child's best interest." Recent estimates place the number of transgender adults in the US at 1.4 million - 0.6% of the population age 18 or older. A transgender person is someone who experiences a gender identity which differs from that of their assigned sex at birth.

टेक्सास के एक न्यायाधीश ने अपने बच्चे की लिंग पहचान को लेकर एक कड़वे विवाद में बंद दो माता-पिता को संयुक्त हिरासत में दे दिया है, एक ऐसे मामले में जिसने लिंग परिवर्तन के लिए उपयुक्त उम्र पर व्यापक बहस छेड़ दी है।


On-the-run Lincoln murderer Mark Edmonds arrested

Summary: A convicted murderer who failed to return to an open prison in Derbyshire has been arrested.

Mark Edmonds was serving a life sentence at HMP Sudbury for the murder of a mother and her daughter 28 years ago when he absconded on 30 May. Edmonds, now 52, stabbed Cecily Browne and her five-year-old daughter Khardine on 18 September 1984 at their home in Stainton Gardens in Lincoln. Police said Edmonds was arrested in Blackburn, Lancashire, on Monday. He was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court in May 1985.

डर्बीशायर में एक खुली जेल में लौटने में विफल रहने वाले एक दोषी हत्यारे को गिरफ्तार कर लिया गया है।


Museum of Lost Objects: The Winged Bull of Nineveh

Summary: One year ago a man took a pneumatic drill to the statue of a winged bull at the gates of the ancient city of Nineveh, near Mosul in modern Iraq. It's one of countless treasures destroyed by vandals, militants or military action in the region in the past 15 years. This is the first of 10 stories about ancient objects that have now been lost.

By Kanishk Tharoor and Maryam MarufBBC News The winged bull had the head of a man, the wings of an eagle, and the hulking body of a bull. Known as a Lamassu, other examples had the body of a lion. It was a composite of the most powerful and ferocious creatures known in the region, and this particular sculpture was huge - about 4.5m high, and up to 30 tonnes in weight. It stood at one of the many gates along Nineveh's city walls, as a protective spirit and a symbol of the power of the Assyrian king. "They're very intimidating. Those faces look quite daunting, the wings, the hooves, and the combined creature of many different animals that's very large and menacing-looking. It does strike you a little bit with fear which I suppose is part of the reason for these things," says Mark Altaweel, an Iraqi-American archaeologist. At the same time, amid its mass of curly hair and its tumbling beard, the Lamassu does have a kind of tight-lipped smile. It is stern, but in its own way welcoming. It was hewn from a single slab of limestone about 2,700 years ago, in the reign of the Assyrian King Sennacherib, ruler of an empire covering parts of modern Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Nineveh, Sennacherib's capital "would have been the city of cities", says Altaweel. "The largest city anywhere on Earth, probably, by the time it reaches its peak in the 7th Century BC. All roads would have literally led to Nineveh." But a few generations after Sennacherib's death, Assyria was overrun. Nineveh was sacked and its palaces, walls and Lamassus slowly sank beneath the ground, eventually becoming a series of mounds of dust, sand and earth. The name of Nineveh lived on partly thanks to its role in the Old Testament and the Koran, and in the 19th Century French and British explorers were inspired by Biblical texts to seek out the famed city. When the winged bulls emerged again from the dirt, the man who led the excavation, Sir Austen Henry Layard, was struck by their majesty and the exquisite craftsmanship. "Wide spreading wings rose above their backs, and their breasts and bodies were profusely adorned with curled hair," he wrote in 1853. "Behind them were colossal winged figures of the same height, bearing the pine cone and basket. Their faces were in full, and the relief was high and bold. More knowledge of art was shown in the outline of the limbs and in the delineation of the muscles than in any sculpture I have seen of this period. The naked leg and foot were designed with a spirit and truthfulness worthy of a Greek artist." Layard shipped Lamassus from Nineveh and other excavated Assyrian cities back to London, where some stand today in the British Museum. There are others in Paris, New York, Chicago and Baghdad. Find out more As modern Mosul developed and grew, the city began to encroach on Nineveh's archaeological sites and gobble them up. There's a story of an Iraqi archaeologist lying down in front of a bulldozer in a vain attempt to stop its advance. "Most of the site was essentially still [an archaeological] site but some of it was occupied by modern housing developments," says Mark Altaweel. "So I should say that the Iraqi government was relatively good, even during the Ba'ath regime in terms of trying to protect archaeological sites. They recognised that these things were important for national identity and for tourism and other kinds of benefits as well. "But particularly after 2003, law and order has broken down, frankly, in Iraq. Since then we're seeing people building on the site willy-nilly, without actually paying attention to the rules that were in place." But the greatest damage has been done in the last two years. When IS turned up, the skyline of Mosul changed forever with the detonation of shrines, minarets, mosques. And in time they turned their attention to Nineveh, and the winged bull, blasting away its face with a drill. "Really I find it the most iconic of what ISIS destroyed, is going and boring the eyes of the Bull," says Lamia al-Gailani, a leading Iraqi archaeologist. "We have even a saying gulla abut ainak." An aggressive insult in the Arab world, it means something like, "I'm going to poke your eyes out." According to al-Gailani, this violent action can be traced back to the ancient world. When cities were sacked, marauding armies engaged in ritualised vandalism. This would involve smashing images of the king on the reliefs along palace walls. You hadn't fully toppled a king till you had also annihilated his images. In Nineveh not only did IS gouge out the eyes of the Lamassu, they also blew up the shrine of the Prophet Jonah - Nabi Younis - who lived in Nineveh after his entanglement with the whale. There's a photo of Nabi Younis taken in the 1980s, and it shows a road, heavy with traffic, snaking between the tall piles of earth on the excavation site. It has always been difficult to separate everyday human life from the ancient monuments. This was also true 3,000 years ago. What Lamia al-Gailani remembers most fondly about the Lamassu wasn't its eyes or the ringlets of its beard, but something easy to miss. At the base of the statue, she found faint lines scratched by generations of ancient soldiers. These guards of the Assyrian empire, when they weren't off campaigning, had to keep themselves occupied on sentry duty, and entertained themselves with a game using a board they carved into the plinth of the august Lamassu. And according to al-Gailani, it looks like a game the people of Mosul still play today, called dana. It can be so easy to imagine these monuments as power frozen in stone. But in the case of the Lamassu, we remember its stony magnificence, but we also remember those Assyrian guards, who refused to be awed and carried on playing. More from the Magazine When Hormuzd Rassam was growing up, Mosul was a peaceful place. The city was part of the slowly dying Ottoman Empire, a provincial backwater that offered few prospects for a young man of energy and talent. But in 1845, when Rassam was 19 years old, he met someone who changed the trajectory of his life - Austen Henry Layard. Layard was an adventurer who had arrived in the Middle East on horseback at the end of the 1830s, armed with plenty of cash and a pair of revolvers. He was captivated by the ruins of Iraq. Read more: The men who uncovered Assyria The Museum of Lost Objects traces the stories of 10 antiquities or ancient sites that have been destroyed or looted in Iraq and Syria. Listen to the episode about the Winged Bull of Nineveh on Radio 4 from 12:00 GMT on Monday 29 February or get the Museum of Lost Objects podcast. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

एक साल पहले एक आदमी आधुनिक इराक में मोसुल के पास प्राचीन शहर निनवेह के द्वार पर एक पंखों वाले बैल की मूर्ति के पास एक वायवीय अभ्यास कर रहा था। यह पिछले 15 वर्षों में इस क्षेत्र में उपद्रवियों, आतंकवादियों या सैन्य कार्रवाई द्वारा नष्ट किए गए अनगिनत खजाने में से एक है। यह प्राचीन वस्तुओं के बारे में 10 कहानियों में से पहली है जो अब खो गई है।


Guernsey nurses' morale low following cuts, says RCN

Summary: Morale among Guernsey's nurses has not recovered following a series of cuts and closures in December, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

Regional officer Lindsay Meeks said she had met with members to discuss their frustration over ward closures. The Health and Social Services Department said in December 2012 that closures, delayed surgery and a stop on recruitment would halt an overspend. Martin Storey, Deputy Health Minister, acknowledged morale had been hit. He said some members of staff had been taken out of their comfort zones by being placed in different wards. Ms Meeks said nurses' moral had dropped due to the upheaval caused by the closure of two wards at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital and one at the King Edward VII Hospital. She said by talking with union representatives and Health and Social Services Department manager, communication would improve. She added that she remained confident that a solution to the staffing issues would be found.

रॉयल कॉलेज ऑफ नर्सिंग (आर. सी. एन.) के अनुसार, दिसंबर में कटौती और बंद होने की एक श्रृंखला के बाद ग्वेर्नसे की नर्सों के बीच नैतिकता ठीक नहीं हुई है।


Black Lives Matter: My year as an accidental anti-racism activist

Summary: In May, the UK was in lockdown and George Floyd was killed by US police officers, prompting a global outpouring of grief and anger - and an increased sense of urgency around the Black Lives Matter movement. For one black Welsh woman, 2020 changed her life.

By Kate RimmingtonBBC Wales At the beginning of the year, photographer Tash Jones had a full diary of weddings to capture, and her own marriage to plan. Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck, preventing large weddings - and in May George Floyd was killed after being pinned to the ground by a police officer in Minneapolis. The combination of events led to the mother-of-two from Denbighshire becoming an "accidental activist". Born to a white, Welsh-speaking mother and a black Jamaican father, Ms Jones was subjected to sustained racist bullying throughout her childhood, once resulting in her hair being set on fire when she was a teenager, and excrement being left on her doorstep. George Floyd's death and the social media reaction of many of her white friends and acquaintances pushed her into being more vocal about her own experiences and worries for her young children. As her wedding jobs were cancelled, she found herself being asked to speak at virtual industry conferences, including one held by Looks Like Film, a large international photography platform. "I was kind of thrust into speaking really. It wasn't really in my to-do list," she said. She was also motivated by "how I felt about my children, not being represented, and having the same struggles that I had growing up in north Wales". "That left me feeling really queasy because I know how hard it was and I don't want that for them. You always want better for your children." "I think because of lockdown, and everybody having their jobs or their hobbies and their social circles taken away, [Black Lives Matter 2020] obviously got more attention because people were forced to watch it and couldn't look away. "I was getting a lot of messages from clients, from old friends, from acquaintances and people I don't even know, asking me what they can do to be better, or what they can do to be anti-racist. "And that was a massive pressure for me, and it was detrimental to my mental health because I found myself having to almost handhold everybody I know through a situation that was more harmful to me. "It was hard to read comments from people that I thought were my friends, showing their true colours. That was so sad because I thought I was a good judge of character. Honestly so many people surprised me." She started a Facebook group "Let's Talk with Tash", where she discussed other issues too, including mental health and plus-size, and also participated in a panel with Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP on mental health among wedding industry professionals during the pandemic. A high point of the year was to be named as one of Professional Photo magazine's top 50 UK photographers. Partly to set an example to her children, she sent the story to a local paper. Based on the experience of others, including black female MPs, she anticipated there could be a mix-up of her photos. She sent separate emails containing her own photo, and portraits of other black people. But instead of picturing her, they mistakenly put her name against an image of one of her black clients, something she said seemed to happen much more to people of colour. For someone who had fought to be recognised, and endured lifelong racism, the mistake triggered painful memories. "I was crying my eyes out. It was just a shock... It reaffirmed all those childhood thoughts that I had that I'll never be good enough, that I'll never be [recognised or] important. I can't tell you how massively that impacted me." She said the mistake also upset other black people - the American client whose photograph was mistakenly labelled, the UK black female photographers network, and her young son, who said "we don't all look the same". She said positive representation was so important because, during her childhood, cultural depictions of black people were overwhelmingly negative. "In films, I would see [black] people who were on drugs or not very good in school and saved by somebody white, or on crack or leaving their kids, or the dads abandon them... I actually thought I didn't have a chance of doing anything." She said the reporter who made the mistake was "mortified", and the paper issued a correction and apologised for any distress caused. But the incident underlined her view that much more needs to be done by organisations to improve diversity and deliver sustainable change. This applies as much to the wedding industry as any sector, she said. As Black Lives Matters protests spread in the summer, big wedding blogs switched from featuring predominantly white people to black brides and grooms. "All of those images that they all posted simultaneously for weeks and weeks and months and months - that content was available to them prior to George Floyd being murdered. "Why weren't you posting it then? Why is it taking a worldwide tragic event in uproar for you to be posting diversity? "That doesn't sit right with me... So people felt the need to perform, when really they should have been addressing why it wasn't like that in the first place." Going into 2021, she wants to capture more pictures of "love and life" again and diversify her portfolio, as she did earlier in the year when her series of images Dŵr Du (black water in English) was selected for the We Are Here exhibition, which showcased black female photography. "Most of all I wish to have a relatively stress-free year... and see a real change in systemic racism and those in power taking this to heart. "Change is long overdue and I hope that people don't forget what needs to be done."

मई में, ब्रिटेन में तालाबंदी थी और अमेरिकी पुलिस अधिकारियों द्वारा जॉर्ज फ्लॉयड की हत्या कर दी गई थी, जिससे दुनिया भर में दुख और गुस्सा फैल गया-और ब्लैक लाइव्स मैटर आंदोलन के आसपास तात्कालिकता की भावना बढ़ गई। एक अश्वेत वेल्श महिला के लिए, 2020 ने उसका जीवन बदल दिया।


Storm Desmond: How kindness is keeping Cumbria afloat

Summary: Carlisle United made headlines after volunteering to help those hit by the devastating floods in Cumbria. But they are not the only ones - complete strangers from all over the region are joining forces to lend a helping hand.

By Lauren PottsBBC News Thousands of homes and business were flooded on Saturday when Storm Desmond battered Cumbria, bringing with it a month's worth of rain and a torrent of destruction. The true scale of its aftermath is still to be fully realised as emergency services and soldiers from all over England continue to bring aid to those who have once again felt the wrath of Mother Nature. But in the worst-hit communities of Carlisle and Cockermouth, work has started closer to home - in places where residents are no stranger to "unprecedented" floods. Kerryanne Graham, from Holmrook, set up a Facebook group on Saturday designed to bring together people who wanted to help. The page has already attracted 11,000 followers from as far afield as London, Wales and Belfast, and the 27-year-old has had to draft in a team of 12 to help cope with the number of donations and volunteers. "It's been quite overwhelming," she said. "The original idea was just to have a single page where people could ask for help or offer help and it just spiralled. "I've got hundreds of messages I haven't event read yet. Everyone has been fantastic." Barmaid Miss Graham said the team worked through the night organising emergency accommodation and collection points, as well as working with firms like haulage company Eddie Stobart, which has offered free storage space in Carlisle to house the mountains of donations pouring in. "We've had offers of everything from building supplies to counselling, but people need to sit tight," she said. "Carlisle is the worst hit for traffic and people are turning up at help centre with [donations] and although they're trying to help it's making things worse as it's gridlocked. "We could do with people contacting their councils with offers of help - they're working with us and will point people in the right direction." The group has been swamped with offers of everything from nappies, kitchen utensils and generators to crates of water, toiletries, free furniture and a bed for the night. "Amazing who you meet in these hard times," wrote member Michelle Smith on the Facebook page. "Tonight I've given my bed up for two old age pensioners and even though they've lost basically everything they've had me giggling all night long. "God bless community spirit, I am proud to be Cumbrian." Another member Alyson Rumney, whose mother died only a week ago, wanted to help so badly despite what had happened she donated her clothes. "My mum was a nurse and she was so caring and compassionate, she would have done the same herself," she said. At the scene, Fiona Trott, BBC reporter "I just want to help." That is what 32-year-old Aaron Turnbull told me as he threw an armful of dripping wet carpet outside a front door. People here have started talking about the 'Cumbrian spirit' and Aaron sums it up. Twenty-four hours earlier, he was in a kayak paddling down the same street, helping desperate residents get to dry land. Unknown volunteers like him are working around the clock here on Warwick Road. "It's what we Cumbrians do," said one local resident who had invited me in for a cup of coffee. Sadly, they've become used to flooding here in Cumbria. That doesn't mean that experience has made this 'unprecedented' event easier. What has made it bearable though, is the kindness of professional volunteers and volunteers like Aaron. Catherine Clarke, who runs Cathy's Cupcakes in Broughton, was invited to join the group and the firm is just one of the local eateries to respond by delivering food and drink in Cockermouth. "On Saturday, I went to the mountain rescue centre with 50 sausage sandwiches and 50 bacon sandwiches as well as 60 litres of homemade soup," she said. "But I'm not the only one, people have been out all night. Everyone's been trying to do what they can and all the little companies have been providing help to each other. "I know how hard it was when the floods hit in 2009 and I just wanted to do something. It's been emotional, it's heartbreaking to see everything gone again." Ali's Takeaway in Shaddongate, Carlisle, posted on Facebook that even though the restaurant is completely underwater, staff were doing their bit to help the rescue teams. "Hot curry and rice and a brew for the boys doing a terrific job," they wrote on their wall. Meanwhile, supermarkets have been helping to deliver food all over the region, including Morrisons which sent a truck full of supplies to rescue centres in Penrith, Carlisle and Kendal. Others have been spreading a little cheer by foot - Scott Murray donned his superhero suit and dished out chocolate and directions to the nearest rescue centre in Carlisle. "Took a bag of food down to the refuge centre at Holy Trinity on Wigton Road this afternoon in my Batman suit to help out and cheer up any kids," he wrote on Facebook. Alison McKerlie is opening up her dance school, Studio A, in Carlisle to local businesses and has also offered free classes to children to keep them occupied. "I've heard there are a lot of bored kids in rescue centres and we are more than happy to open up and run some free classes to get the kids smiling again," she said. "I know dance lessons probably don't seem like a high priority at the moment, but kids are still kids and they need stimulation, especially as a lot of schools are closed. "I've also put an offer out to any local businesses affected, if they need some space to work, we have space and wi-fi."

कार्लिस्ले यूनाइटेड ने कुम्ब्रिया में विनाशकारी बाढ़ से प्रभावित लोगों की मदद करने के लिए स्वेच्छा से काम करने के बाद सुर्खियां बटोरीं। लेकिन वे अकेले नहीं हैं-पूरे क्षेत्र से पूरी तरह से अजनबी लोग मदद का हाथ बढ़ाने के लिए सेना में शामिल हो रहे हैं।


Views sought on future Isle of Man ferry services

Summary: Ferry users are being asked for their views on future ferry services for the Isle of Man, ahead of a new agreement being signed between the island's government and the service provider.

Tynwald wants to create a new agreement by May 2019 after a £124m government buy-out of the Steam Packet Company. The Department of Infrastructure (DoI) consultation also wants to hear from the tourism sector and freight users. The ferry firm provides between Douglas and five ports in the UK and Ireland. A DoI spokesman said the first agreement was introduced in 1995 and gives the company almost exclusive use of the department's linkspan (the system that links the ferries and the dock) in return for "guarantees on the quality, price and reliability of ferry services". "The views gathered will help lay down the future requirements of the Steam Packet Company for years to come", he added. The buy-out saw the government take shares in the ferry firm, but it continues to run independently. The consultation is due to run until 7 October.

द्वीप की सरकार और सेवा प्रदाता के बीच एक नए समझौते पर हस्ताक्षर किए जाने से पहले, आइल ऑफ मैन के लिए भविष्य की नौका सेवाओं पर नौका उपयोगकर्ताओं से उनके विचार पूछे जा रहे हैं।


Britain's last surviving teddy bear factory

Summary: What could be more British than a teddy bear?

By Lucy BurtonBusiness reporter, BBC News Childhood favourites, Winnie the Pooh and Paddington Bear are as British as tea on the lawn or a rainy bank holiday. Although teddies were invented in Germany and the US in 1902, it was the British who took the teddy bear to their hearts and opened bear making factories all over the country. But by the end of the 20th Century, they could not compete with the cheap bears imported from China and most of them closed down. Of all the 30 or so teddy factories that once existed in Britain, only one still remains. Nestled in the Shropshire countryside, Merrythought Ltd has been making bears since 1930. Occupying an old foundry on the banks of the Ironbridge gorge, the Merrythought factory looks like a relic of a by-gone age. Inside, a dozen or so ladies hand-stitch each teddy in much the same way as was done 100 years ago. The only real difference is the addition of a mechanised stuffing machine. How to make a teddy bear The company makes bears to order and keeps a huge stock of material ready to cater to every possible taste. On the upper level of the foundry, below the glass ceiling, stand row upon row of rolls of brightly-coloured fabric. They have every imaginable shade of brown - coffees, caramels, golds and chocolates. Each piece of fabric has a different feel: there is very soft angora and shaggy mohair, velvets and synthetic pile. Once the material has been chosen, it is taken down to Leslie Hunnisett, who cuts out the arms, legs and heads. She uses what look like a series of giant cookie-cutters to cut each shape: ''This is probably the 218th ear I've cut out today," she laughs. The parts then go to the machinists, who sew them together so the teddies can start to take shape. Once that is mastered, the limbs are sent over to Pauline Davies who puts the eyes on. Health and safety rules mean teddy bear eyes are no longer made of glass, but Pauline has drawers and drawers of painted, plastic eyes of all sizes to choose from. The teddies are then sent over to Sharon Taylor, who operates the huge, noisy stuffing machine. She places the limbs over a pipe and operates a pedal to fill each saggy limb with stuffing. The result is baskets full of dismembered teddies with stuffing protruding out of their limbs. Luckily, they do not stay that way for long. Abi Summers quickly puts joints in each of the limbs and sews them up. The bears now begin to look more complete and they go to Penny Reeves, who sews on their noses and mouths. The snouts are made from a tougher fabric and getting the needle through - and in the right place - can be difficult. No-one wants a grumpy-looking teddy bear, so making sure the stitch falls in the right place is vital. "You sew down the middle first, then do one on the outside, then the other side and you keep building it up," says Penny. Before the bears can be packaged up, they need to be groomed by Wendy Edwards. She trims away excess material from the eyes and brushes each teddy's fur ''so you can see the eyes and the smile". With a flourish, she ties a ribbon around its neck and the teddy is finished. 'Cult in Japan' Oliver Holmes, the managing director of Merrythought, acknowledges that his bears are far more expensive than others on the market. The average price of a soft toy in the UK is £7.81 and the smallest Merrythought bear retails at well over £50. Clearly the price tag does not put people off, as the company produced more than 30,000 bears in 2010. But just who is buying them? Part of the customer base is made up of collectors, but more than 50% of their teddies are exported to Japan, where Mr Holmes says a range of Merrythought bears have ''developed a cult following''. The Japanese market has sustained the company over the past few years and Mr Holmes says the weakness of the pound against the yen means "our products in Japan are even more sought after, because the prices have been maintained". The company works hard to retain its Japanese market and visits the country twice a year to give teddy bear-making demonstrations in big department stores. It is mainly thanks to the huge revenue that the Japanese market provides that Merrythought has stayed open in the face of competition from cheaper imported toys from East Asia. Olympic merchandise The decline of British toy manufacturing does not seem to have harmed the UK toy industry as a whole. Toy sales rose by 6% in value and 9% in volume in 2010, according to the retail tracking group NPD. The British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA) values the industry at an estimated £2.83bn, heralding a return to pre-recession value. Even in an age of electronic games, demand for traditional and retro toys continues. NPD found that in 2010, the fastest growing toy categories were building sets and plush toys (including teddies) which grew at 39%. However, Christine Nicholls, chairman of the BTHA, predicts that 2011 may be tough for the industry as people start to worry about the possibility of losing their jobs and the impact of the VAT rise. "Creativity, resilience and relevance have all played their part in helping the toy industry to weather the past two years," she says. "The economy over the next 12 months will be difficult for many people in the UK and the industry needs to maintain its focus on producing toys with great play value at affordable prices," she says. Toys inspired by blockbuster films proved particularly popular in 2010, with characters from Toy Story 3 bringing in the most revenue. This trend for fashionable soft toys has led many businesses to take advantage of the forthcoming Royal Wedding and the 2012 Olympics. Official London 2012 merchandise will contribute approximately £80m to the staging of the games and will no doubt generate huge amounts of publicity for the companies involved. Merrythought is one of the businesses supplying 2012 products and Mr Holmes hopes it will mean "we can make Merrythought products available to a slightly wider and more discerning audience'' and keep the company going for another 80 years.

टेडी बियर से ज्यादा ब्रिटिश क्या हो सकता है?


Wisteria Lodge: Three men jailed over care home abuse

Summary: Update 11 February 2020: Ivan McChleery's indecent assault conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal on 10 October 2019 Three social workers at a former children's care home who viewed their victims as the "dregs of society" have been jailed.

A man was convicted of indecently assaulting a boy and two others were found guilty of cruelty towards youngsters under their care at Wisteria Lodge in Coventry. One of the victims said they were "treated as if they were nothing." The three men had denied the charges from the 1990s. Ivan McChleery, Russell Garner and Alan Todd were jailed at Wolverhampton Crown Court following two trials at Warwick Crown Court in September and November. Eight men had been charged with a total of 34 child cruelty and sex-related offences, but the case could not be reported until restrictions were lifted by a judge. McChleery, 77, of Greens Road, Coventry, was found guilty of one count of indecent assault on a 15-year-old boy in a caravan and cleared of three counts of child cruelty. He was jailed for four-years and will serve at least half the sentence, with the remainder on licence. Garner, 59, of Orchard Street, Bedworth, was convicted of two counts of cruelty on a boy and girl, both aged 12, in the early 1990s and jailed for 15 months. The ex-Royal Navy officer clipped the boy over the head and pinned a girl to the floor with another staff member after she ran away, the court was told. He was cleared of another cruelty charge and a jury was unable to decide on a further count of cruelty, which will lie on file. Convicted child sex offender Todd, 73, formerly of Stretton-under-Fosse, near Rugby, and now of HMP Stafford, was found guilty of two child cruelty charges on a 15-year-old boy and jailed for nine months. He punched him to the back of the head while carrying a cup of coffee and pushed him in the chest, his trial heard. Todd was cleared of five other child cruelty charges and jurors were unable to decide on another, which will lie on file. He was also found not guilty of three counts of rape and two indecent assaults. 'Pattern of abuse' During sentencing on Monday, Judge Barry Berlin said there was a pattern of psychological and physical abuse at the home. "There was a culture amongst some members of staff that saw children as dregs of society as who would believe them if they complained?" The NSPCC said victims had shown "tremendous bravery" by speaking out, adding the "case shows that abusers like these can be brought to justice no matter how many years have passed". In February 2016, Todd and another man, Kenneth Owen - now dead - were jailed after running "a regime of terror" at the same care home. The site in Earlsdon Avenue South, run by Coventry City Council, was demolished in 2009. Five other men were cleared over their alleged part of the abuse at Wisteria Lodge: Coventry City Council, which ran the care home, said: "These are historical crimes and we believe that, working alongside our safeguarding partners, we now have the procedures and culture in place to ensure vulnerable children are listened to and their concerns taken seriously and acted upon." West Midlands Police had already admitted it did not properly investigate a victim's account of sex abuse at children's homes. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone.

अद्यतन 11 फरवरी 2020: इवान मैकक्लेरी की अभद्र हमले की सजा को 10 अक्टूबर 2019 को अपील न्यायालय द्वारा रद्द कर दिया गया था, एक पूर्व बाल देखभाल गृह में तीन सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता जिन्होंने अपने पीड़ितों को "समाज के मलबे" के रूप में देखा था, उन्हें जेल भेज दिया गया है।


Man in hospital after Aberystwyth night assaults

Summary: Two men remain on bail after a man had to be treated in hospital and another was hurt in two separate late-night assaults in Aberystwyth.

A 20-year-old man was assaulted in the town's Queen Road and another man was assaulted outside the Angel Inn in the early hours of 16 March. Two local men aged 20 and 21 were arrested on suspicion of assault and public order offences. They were later bailed pending further inquiries. One man remained in hospital receiving treatment, Dyfed-Powys Police said. Anyone who was in the area between midnight and 01.45 GMT is asked to contact police.

एबेरेस्टविथ में देर रात हुए दो अलग-अलग हमलों में एक व्यक्ति का अस्पताल में इलाज करने के बाद दो लोग जमानत पर हैं और एक अन्य घायल हो गया था।


Is Tory discipline on the verge of breaking down?

Summary: After their autumn conference the Tories had the blues.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter The spectacle of the prime minister's speech, that was as fun for those watching as having your eyelashes pulled out one by one, has been followed by many bumpy months, with muddling through being the modus operandi. The governing party certainly isn't happy, but Number 10 have managed to keep going, many Conservatives' frankly dumbfounded but frankly grateful that they are level-ish in the polls, even if those numbers sometimes slip behind. But as the mercury has hit the top of the gauge in the last couple of days, are the Conservatives in danger of tipping into serious summer madness? The Brexit fandango is reaching (another) climax. Don't expect too much from this week's Brussels summit, although it's quite possible the EU may be rather, shall we say, punchy, about the need for Britain to get on with it. But the weeks that follow will matter very much. The prime minister is due to see other European leaders again, either one on one in London, or abroad at the start of the week. Then, a week on Friday, she is summoning her whole Cabinet for a spot of country air. This meeting is not just to enjoy the bounty of the Home Counties, but (finally, again) to try to forge a consensus among the factions so that the poor old Brexit negotiators can know what on earth it is the government really wants them to fight for. The outline of this is to be expected in a Brexit White Paper, likely on 11 July, which will provide in a detailed way in black and white, the framework for Britain's relationship with the rest of the EU for decades to come. It is not just about finally concluding the messy episode that readers of this blog are very well used to, getting the cabinet to agree what form of customs arrangements are likely to take after Brexit. For all of the reasons we've discussed many times here this will not be easy. Customs arrangements sketch out only one of the dividing lines on a huge canvas of political disagreements. Jokes abound in SW1 already about the kind of vague compromise that will be reached on that - will it be a 'max-partnership', 'customs-fac' or 'partnership arrangement'. But what the government wants to do is come up with a more detailed version of the Prime Minister's Mansion House speech back in March where she gave her desired broad, very broad approach. EU diplomats say the White Paper simply has to be credible in Brussels, or else they will lose even more faith in the British ability to do a deal. But at home, it has to at least temporarily, get buy-in from a majority of members of the Cabinet, and at least, not be immediately trashed by the different wings of the Tory party. Surely they'll all want the same thing, you may cry. They are in the same party after all. Just in case you need a little reminder, only a few days ago the Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, told us it would be unacceptable to stay in the single market for goods when we leave the EU. This afternoon the Business Secretary, Greg Clark, almost went the full Norway. If you read this blog often enough I won't patronise you by going back through that again - if you don't there is an explanation here. But the run-up to that major event is becoming an ever more stroppy, ever more surreal political environment. One minister told me it's like a bad 45 year marriage: "We've stayed together for the sake of the kids, given birth to Brexit which is now ready to leave home and we're fighting now over who gets what." A former senior minister said, "it's just broken", suggesting that the Cabinet does not understand how bad the situation really is. "They are completely out of touch." they said, blaming the prime minister's desire to keep everyone on side on Brexit for the boiling tensions, "Everyone leaves the room thinking she has agreed with them. It's corrosive. You can argue it out to come to a position but she just won't." In the next ten days there will be much, much more to say about the success or lack thereof of the next phase of the Brexit saga. If nothing else, if the heat wave lasts until then, gathered hacks will be able to look forward to sunbathing rather than freezing at the end of Chequers very, very long gravel drive - mad dogs and Englishmen and all that. While it is a messy picture though, there is not that much that's surprising about the backdrop. Brexit has been driving rival Tory factions crazy for many, many months. It's extremely difficult to corral them in a minority government. Different ministers sounding off about the misperceptions of their opposing gangs don't even always lead hacks to raise a pencil. But that instability has fuelled an atmosphere where party discipline seems on the point of breaking down, even though with the whips in overdrive, government is achieving its most important objective of getting its business through Parliament. Yet the Cabinet seems sometimes to be creating the appearance of chaos where there need not be any. For some of his colleagues, the Foreign Secretary's (yes, him) latest exploits have gone way past testing the patience of saints. What might have been defended as that phrase beloved by some, "cheeky bantz' has become reputation-ruining stuff. This does not, repeat, does not, mean that it is all totally terminal for him. He is still a big figure in the party, still has a huge job in the government, and his supporters point to his unrivalled ability to get noticed, and to communicate plainly. There are only a tiny handful of politicians known by their first name in the country, who people cross the road to meet. He is one of them, even if these days as many of those who want a selfie might want to say something rude too. But in this fractious summer, Mr Johnson is certainly not the only one pushing the rules. Take the new-ish Defence Secretary. Keen, as occupants of that post are, to secure more funding for his department, Gavin Williamson is fighting hard to get more out of the Treasury coffers. He has an eager mini-army of defence stalwarts on the backbenches who he knows will be onside. No one ever fell foul either of the Tory membership by going soft on defence. But some of his colleagues are derisory about how brazen he has been. One of them scornfully told me, "he's a child", and some elements of Number 10 are losing patience too. Then there's Liz Truss who tonight has poked fun at her colleague Michael Gove, mocking his conversion to all things environmental, making a speech that essentially ridicules some of the Tories' own recent policies. More seriously, Ms Truss, the number two at the Treasury, had a pop at Mr Williamson and the idea of raising taxes, when a major move on the NHS by the PM last week promised just that. In less than seven days there have been not just embarrassments and noises off, but more importantly very public statements of direction and ethos that seem to be contradictory. What is the public to make of it if one day one minister says it is well worth raising taxes to pay for the public services so many voters care about, if the next, a different minister says that is not their party's way? One former minister says "what Liz and the Ministry of Defence is calling for is incompatible". What is business supposed to make of a party which has traditionally stood alongside them, but whose ministers swing from saying they listen, to saying it's inappropriate for them to speak out? What is the rest of the Tory party, let alone the EU, to make of a party whose top brass seem to be enjoying disagreeing so much? Fingers point very quickly to the reason why this is happening. The prime minister has survived in office by (here supporters would say skilfully) keeping both sides of a divided party on board. But her critics say that leads to a vacuum which, in tweets tonight commentator Tim Montgomerie says, nature, and politics abhor. Define or be defined. Lead, or be led. If she won't try to make her arguments publicly, let alone privately, others will fill the silence. And in the last couple of weeks it does seem that something has changed. It is not so much that we didn't know there was Tory disagreement, it is that some of the most senior figures seem to have stopped even trying to pretend that they agree. Perhaps this is a more honest way of doing politics and to be admired. Perhaps it is old fashioned to posit that it matters. But in our current system, governments need to be able to agree amongst themselves in order to decide what they want to do. And don't forget this isn't just pantomime, what they actually decide can affect all our lives. In ten days the prime minister is going to try to get her Cabinet to agree what they want from Brexit. Calm may have returned by then, a cool atmosphere of peace and harmony could have replaced all the fever. Politics moves so fast now that in a couple of weeks this blog might seem like something from another century. But Westminster, as well as the rest of the country, is feeling the heat.

अपने शरद सम्मेलन के बाद टोरी के पास ब्लूज़ था।


Giving sexually exploited children a home

Summary: The jailing of nine men in Rochdale last month for the sexual exploitation of young girls has raised wider questions about how we look after vulnerable teenagers. A new pilot scheme aims to protect them by placing them with specially-trained foster carers. Luke Walton is the first person to interview one of the families taking part in the scheme.

By Luke Walton Social affairs correspondent, BBC News Clare*, a retired teacher and Bob*, a former businessman, are in their 50s. They live in the north-east of England and their children have grown up. After approaching the children's charity Barnardo's about the possibility of fostering, they were asked if they would consider caring for a young person who had been sexually exploited. They eventually took on 17-year-old Adam. Clare vividly remembers her first impressions. "He was very thin, very badly dressed, very under-confident. He came in terrified, shivering in a very thin T-shirt. It was quite a contrast to our own children at that age," she said. "But I must admit a year on, he has changed a lot; he goes to college regularly." From his early teens, Adam had been groomed and sexually exploited by an older man. He had come from a violent home, been bullied at school - and the older man had spotted his vulnerability and preyed on him. "If one of those sexual predators can use that weakness, they will use and abuse that," said Clare. Now in the security of his foster home, Adam is putting that behind him. In the early days, Clare says his behaviour - and language - could be difficult. "He could be very crude and it was difficult," she said. "But it wasn't him talking. It was a result of the person who had put him through this, something no-one should have to go through." Clare and Bob are part of a pilot project to recruit specialist carers to look after children who have been sexually exploited. The foster families are carefully prepared for the task. Danger signs Wendy Shepherd, who manages a Barnardo's project fighting sexual exploitation, said: "Where I see the importance of a specialist foster placement is that you can train those foster carers to understand the issues for that young person. "You can have some vigilance on whether they want to talk or not about that exploitation - because we can't force that issue." She says it is important the foster carer remains aware of any danger signs. "For example, are there phone calls to the house from unknown males?" she said. "Does anyone turn up in a car in the area that the foster carer needs to be reporting to the police?" Brenda Farrell from Barnardo's helps to run the specialist fostering scheme. She says the foster carers become part of a team protecting the young person. "So we will have a support worker working with the young person, we will have a social worker working with the foster carer. And we will be providing support to that placement on a 24-hour basis," she said. The two-year project is finding 16 foster placements around England for vulnerable teenagers, funded by nearly £1.5m from the government. Wendy Shepherd believes the approach is a better option for some teenagers than alternatives within the care system, such as living in a children's home. "If young people are placed in a secure unit, they will feel like they have been placed there because they are bad," she says. "If they are placed in a children's home, they can be preyed on or they can encourage other young people to take part in exploitative behaviour." Looking forward Adam's foster carer Clare believes that without the protection of her home, he might have ended up homeless or, even worse, back with the man who exploited him. Instead, roughly a year into his placement, she says he is much happier and now attends college regularly. "Adam has made great strides. He has a better physical presence and self-esteem," she said. "He respects boundaries and is making some very good choices and looking forward to his future. "The fact that he goes on every day now with such courage and such spirit is more reward than I could ever have imagined." *The family's names have been changed.

युवा लड़कियों के यौन शोषण के लिए पिछले महीने रॉचडेल में नौ पुरुषों को जेल में डालने से इस बारे में व्यापक सवाल उठ गए हैं कि हम कमजोर किशोरों की देखभाल कैसे करते हैं। एक नई पायलट योजना का उद्देश्य उन्हें विशेष रूप से प्रशिक्षित पालक देखभाल करने वालों के साथ रखकर उनकी रक्षा करना है। ल्यूक वाल्टन इस योजना में भाग लेने वाले परिवारों में से एक का साक्षात्कार करने वाले पहले व्यक्ति हैं।


National police memorial service held in Cardiff

Summary: A national police memorial service was held in Cardiff on Sunday with the home secretary paying tribute to officers who have made the "ultimate sacrifice".

Amber Rudd also gave a reading at the service at St David's Hall involving families, friends, colleagues, politicians and government officials. South Wales Police Chief Constable Peter Vaughan said it was an "honour and privilege" to host the 14th event. About 4,400 officers and civilian staff have died on duty across the UK. A £4m appeal has been launched to build a UK police memorial.

रविवार को कार्डिफ में एक राष्ट्रीय पुलिस स्मारक सेवा आयोजित की गई जिसमें गृह सचिव ने उन अधिकारियों को श्रद्धांजलि दी जिन्होंने "अंतिम बलिदान" दिया है।


Charts seek to stay on top after 60 years

Summary: It is 60 years since American crooner Al Martino topped the first ever UK singles chart. Are the charts still relevant in an age when Top of the Pops has been replaced by YouTube as the number one destination for pop fans?

By Ian YoungsEntertainment reporter, BBC News When Robbie Williams scored his 14th number one hit earlier this month, there was little doubt about what being at the top of the charts meant to him. "I haven't been number one since 2004 and it's great... I am number one - it feels brilliant," he said. "There's a lot of vindication, happiness and relief." For Williams, wounded by a series of flops, being number one again was proof that he was still a star. More singles are now sold than ever - about 3.5 million per week - and, judging by the ear-splitting screams that greet stars like JLS and One Direction when they step near a stage, pop music still matters. But a lot has changed in the last decade or two. More than 99% of all single sales are now downloads and pop fans have many more ways of getting music - from YouTube to file-sharing to streaming services like Spotify, none of which count towards the charts. It also feels like the charts are less central to our lives than they were when the Top 10 was beamed into 15 million living rooms every Thursday night on Top of the Pops. "In an environment where singles sales are booming, the chart still is very relevant," says Martin Talbot, managing director of the Official Charts Company. "You need to sell about twice as many copies as you did about 10 years ago to get to number one." After the demise of Top of the Pops, MTV became the home of the official charts on TV. Rather than 15 million, 1.1 million people watch the Top 20 and Top 40 rundowns across MTV's channels per week. A further 1.2 million tune in to the weekly countdown on BBC Radio 1. When Top of the Pops was axed, the BBC said it was a victim of competition from "multimedia and niche musical outlets which enable viewers to consume music of their choice, any time night or day". The internet and countless digital TV and radio channels now offer seemingly endless choice, and have split the music scene into a honeycomb of self-sufficient niches. Today, chart pop is just the biggest niche. Those who do not like it can easily ignore it. And fans no longer have to shell out to hear a song they like. YouTube offers a virtually exhaustive jukebox and recent research from the US suggested that more teenagers now listen to music through YouTube than iTunes, CDs or the radio. The rise of video sites and streaming services have made tracking the popularity of a song much more complicated. "That's the constant challenge that we face - trying to ensure that the official singles chart is the definitive representation of popularity," Talbot says. "Clearly, when the chart was first launched, they were very innocent times. There was one bloke picking up a phone, calling a couple of dozen retailers, writing down what they had sold on a piece of paper and then compiling it into a chart." The singles chart still simply counts sales rather than YouTube views or Spotify streams. "The only way of changing that at the moment, by adding streaming, would effectively compromise what that chart is all about - make it less transparent, slow it down, make it less dynamic and fundamentally make it less interesting," Talbot says. "The reality is that I don't think the chart is any less interesting, relevant and reflective of what music people are enjoying on a week-by-week basis." New developments The Official Charts Company did recently launch a separate streaming chart, based on information from the likes of Spotify, We7, Napster and Deezer. Some 2.6 billion audio streams were delivered in the UK last year - dwarfing the number of download sales - and countries including the US have begun to incorporate such streams into their main singles charts. But that is unlikely to happen in the UK - at least while download sales are still rising, Talbot says. "The number of downloads being bought on a weekly basis would need to start to stabilise and start falling, and we would need to start seeing a decline in the number of singles you need to sell to get into the Top 10 or 20," he says. "It's going in exactly the opposite direction at the moment. And we need to see streaming as an activity begin to catch up with purchasing as an activity." If a streamed single counted towards the official Top 40, one thorny question is how much one stream would be worth compared to one sale. "When you start getting into formulae, inevitably you begin to chip away at that transparency and immediate understanding of what the official chart is about," Talbot says. "That's a big philosophical step for us as an industry." The simplicity of the charts has been an asset as the music industry and media have transformed around them. And as long as the charts are around, musicians will always want to get to number one. Pop Charts Britannia: 60 Years of the Top Ten is on BBC Four on Friday 16 November 21:25 GMT.

अमेरिकी क्रोनर अल मार्टिनो को यूके के पहले एकल चार्ट में शीर्ष पर रहते हुए 60 साल हो गए हैं। क्या चार्ट अभी भी उस युग में प्रासंगिक हैं जब टॉप ऑफ द पॉप्स को यूट्यूब द्वारा पॉप प्रशंसकों के लिए नंबर एक गंतव्य के रूप में प्रतिस्थापित किया गया है?


Intelligent machines: Will we accept robot revolution?

Summary: Would you share your home with a robot or work side by side with one? People are starting to do both, which has put the relationship we have with them under the spotlight and exposed both our love and fear of the machines that are increasingly becoming a crucial part of our lives.

By Jane WakefieldTechnology reporter In Japan they grow so attached to their robot dogs that they hold funerals for them when they "die". Sony, the firm that began making the popular Aibo toys in 1999, decided to stop offering repairs in 2014, meaning once they broke down they were fit only for the scrapheap. But people weren't willing to throw them in the rubbish bin, wanting instead to say goodbye to them in the same way you would to a human or pet. Growing irrationally attached to machines is a common human trait as Kate Darling, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, found out when she started a workshop asking people to torture the loveable robotic dinosaur toy Pleo. "People wouldn't do it. We had to threaten that we'd destroy the dinosaurs if they didn't," she said. She isn't a sadist - the workshop was an experiment to try and unpick why it is that people grow so attached to a machine. In the last year she has conducted more such experiments in the lab, asking people to hit robots with mallets and finding similar resistance. So why do people find it so difficult to be mean to a machine? "We have a natural tendency to anthropomorphise everything and we are hardwired to respond to lifelike movement. We project intent on to it and social robots that mimic our movements, sounds, we subconsciously associate with emotions and feelings," Ms Darling told the BBC. Cute robots It is a trait that those in the robotics industry are keen to exploit and much of the focus of mass-market robots is on making them as cute and non-threatening as possible. Humanoid robots are everywhere. Go along to a robot convention and even the most machine-like bots will be wearing T-shirts or have makeshift faces in order to make them more sympathetic. Pepper, a robotic companion that recently went on sale in Japan, is the ultimate in cute-looking robots. It is also hardwired to understand human emotions. In order to allow it to decode emotions, Pepper is played a video of someone speaking nonsense first angrily and then happily so that it will recognise the different voice patterns. Vincent Clerc, who led the project to design Pepper, told a recent conference in Grenoble: "We want people to be emotionally connected and involved with robots. We don't want a robot to be a simple machine like a vacuum cleaner. If you are tired, you look tired. And you want a robot that recognises when you look tired." Gender worries Making robots more human-like often means assigning them a gender and this could be creating the next big battlefield in the industry, thinks Prof Kathleen Richardson, a robot ethicist from De Montfort University in Leicester. "Male robots tend to be explorer robots or war robots whereas female robots are attractive and play roles in the service industry as receptionists or waitresses," she said. "Ask the scientists behind them why they have assigned a particular gender and they will say there was no deliberate intent but that is not true, it is not innocent. It is a decision taken with their own experience of the world." Ms Darling is similarly frustrated by the gender stereotypes in robotics and AI (artificial intelligence). A recent visit to Austin, Texas to see IBM's cognitive AI platform Watson - named after the male first chief executive of IBM - left her angry. "There was a second AI in the room. It just turned on the lights and greeted visitors and it had a female voice - it drove me crazy," she said. Those who create robots need to think much more about the gender and look of the robots they are designing in order not to "further entrench current stereotypes", she said. Fictional robots The concept of a thinking machine has been around for thousands of years and is something humans seem obsessed with - from the Greek myth of Pygmalion, a statue brought to life, through to the automata of Victorian society, we have long dreamed of putting human characteristics into machines. And when we do - in books, films and TV shows - the machines usually turn bad. From Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey to 2015 film Ex Machina, we clearly have little trust that machines will be loyal to us. So why do we fictionalise robots in our own image and then have them betray us? Jodi Forlizzi, from the US Human-Computer Interaction Institute, puts it down to human nature. "I think we create narratives and stories about everything in the world: people, robots, spirits, zombies, etcetera that set us in opposition to them," she told the BBC. When hitchhiking robot hitchBOT set out on a journey across America to test our relationship with machines, it quickly found out how mean humans can be. Its trip ended abruptly in Philadelphia where it was smashed to pieces. Either an example of the human tendency to destroy what it doesn't understand or mindless vandalism, depending on your point of view. Its creators posted after its demise that "its love for humans will never fade" but can we ever reciprocate this loyalty? Ryan Cato, professor of law at the University of Washington, thinks that we will accept robots into our homes, offices and cars because their usefulness will outweigh any doubts we have about them Whether society can draw up rules for how we treat them is less clear, he thinks. "These robots feel like people to us and there is nothing in law to deal with that relationship between a human and a thing. We are in a weird netherworld," he said. Ultimately it could be humans that lose out, he warns. "These devices may make our lives better but they are also always passively listening to you and they have a physiological presence. "They will be in our cars, in our homes and you will never feel alone which is never a good thing, either psychologically or spiritually."

क्या आप एक रोबोट के साथ अपने घर को साझा करेंगे या एक के साथ काम करेंगे? लोग दोनों करना शुरू कर रहे हैं, जिसने उनके साथ हमारे संबंधों को सुर्खियों में ला दिया है और मशीनों के प्रति हमारे प्यार और डर दोनों को उजागर कर दिया है जो तेजी से हमारे जीवन का एक महत्वपूर्ण हिस्सा बन रहे हैं।


Hereford hunt cruelty inquiry police arrest third suspect

Summary: A third suspect has been arrested over allegations of cruelty to foxes at the South Herefordshire Hunt kennels.

An investigation was launched after police were sent footage obtained by anti-hunt protesters, allegedly showing foxes being kept at the kennels. A 37-year-old man from Abergavenny is suspected of failing to prevent unnecessary suffering to an animal. Another 37-year-old man and a 27 year-old woman, both from Hereford, were arrested on Friday. More updates on this story and other in Hereford and Worcester

साउथ हेयरफोर्डशायर हंट केनेल में लोमड़ियों के प्रति क्रूरता के आरोप में एक तीसरे संदिग्ध को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Organ donation: 'Why I gave my kidney to a stranger'

Summary: How far would you go to help a stranger?

By Louise DayBBC Wales News Bev Bradbury Jones has gone further than most by donating a kidney to someone she has never met. The number of altruistic kidney donations in the UK has declined in recent years. Last year 66 people gave a kidney to a stranger, compared to 110 in 2014, according to NHS Blood and Transplant. The majority of living donations take place between people who know each other, or who have been matched through a national sharing scheme. About 5,000 people are currently waiting for a kidney transplant in the UK and last year about 250 people died before a kidney could be found. 'I thought why not?' Bev, 48, from Cwmbran, became an altruistic kidney donor in April "I signed up to become a bone marrow donor last year and was sent a flyer about becoming a kidney donor - I read it and thought why not? "I am an impulsive person and I will admit I didn't tell my family straight away. "My husband Paul and daughter Cassie were apprehensive but they knew there was no stopping me. "The process took a year and the doctors tested everything they could, so I had a full MOT. "I had the operation in April and I was in hospital for two days. "I had two keyhole incisions and they went in through an old scar, but I did give the surgeon permission to cut me open if they couldn't do it by keyhole. "I didn't want the person waiting for my kidney to be told they weren't going to get it. "They took the left kidney because my right was bigger, and they leave the bigger one for you. "For a few days afterwards I could feel my insides moving to fill the gap, which was strange but that's stopped now. "I've been told if anything ever happens to my remaining kidney I will be treated as a priority case. "I have recovered really well. I'm back at work as a shop assistant and I've started running again. I'm hoping to take part in the British Transplant Games in Newport later this month. "I don't know who had my kidney only that they weren't in Wales and they were very poorly. "I just hope they are feeling a lot better now. I would love to meet them, especially if they have a similar sense of humour and we can have a laugh about it. "After the operation I received a silver pin, which was really special. I've had a tattoo of it because of what it signifies." 'I donated to my Twitter friend' Geoff Crowther, 65, from Hayfield in Derbyshire, became a direct donor in February, by giving his kidney to friend Jamie Bowen, 46, from Resolven, Neath Port Talbot "I became friends with Jamie on Twitter after he asked my advice about wild camping equipment. "I used to be a leader with the Kinder Mountain Rescue Team and I have a reputation for the outdoors. "He came to visit us in 2016 and we hit it off. In September 2017 Jamie was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and was put on dialysis in early 2018. "I asked my wife Chrissie how she would feel if I gave Jamie one of my kidneys and she agreed. "I sent him a message because I knew if I called him we'd end up in floods of tears. "Within 48 hours I was put in touch with a living donor co-ordinator. "I had blood tests at my GP which were sent to be cross matched with Jamie. "When we found out I was a match I was referred to Manchester Royal Infirmary which is where I had the operation in February. "I had my operation in the morning and my kidney was blue-lighted to south Wales and put into Jamie the same day. "The process took nine months, which was frustrating at times. You are warned the tests could find something you weren't expecting. "We were also asked about our friendship often because it's illegal to sell organs in the UK. "It became a concern in case they decided we didn't know each other enough but it was fine. "I underestimated the operation. I had read it was like having an appendix out but I felt completely washed out after it. "I was in hospital for three days and I was told not to pick up a rucksack or get on a bicycle for six weeks. I was very conscious not to over do it and follow the advice. "People have described me as a hero which feels slightly embarrassing. I feel privileged to be in a position to help." Jamie said: "I thank Geoff every time we speak. Life on dialysis was hell and it's fantastic to have my life back. "The experience has changed my perspective, I used to be very career focused and now my health comes first." 'I get emotional when I think about it' Christian Amodeo, 42, from Cardiff, donated his kidney in November 2015 as part of a kidney sharing scheme. His wife Helena, 41, received a kidney from another donor on the same day. "Helena was diagnosed with the hereditary condition Alport Syndrome in her late 20s. "It causes kidney failure in men - her brother has had two kidney transplants - but not usually in women. "We married in 2010 and wanted to start a family but it wasn't happening. "By her late 30s her kidneys began to deteriorate quicker and it resulted in renal failure. "She was told she would be put on a list and hope that something came up. "That's when I said I would like to consider giving Helena one of my kidneys. "I was put in touch with the living donor co-ordinator at the University Hospital of Wales and she was my contact throughout. "Helena had lots of doctors around her but I felt she had my back. "I started having tests in January 2015 and by August they said I wasn't a great match. "We were put into the sharing scheme and the transplant took place in November 2015. "It was a three-way swap - my kidney went to a man in north England, his donor gave a kidney to someone in Ireland and their donor gave a kidney to Helena. "The operations all took place on the same day. I had my operation in the morning but Helena had to wait until her kidney arrived. "It was strange going into hospital feeling well and coming out feeling ill, my recovery felt slow but I don't feel any different now. The birth of our daughter last year felt like the end of the journey." Helena Amodeo said: "I get emotional when I think about it. "I'm not sure I could have done it. What Christian and my donor have done is huge and I'll be eternally grateful. I probably don't say thank you enough!" What do the experts say? Rhian Cooke is a live donor transplant co-ordinator at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. "People need to be physically and psychologically well to donate. "There is no upper age limit for donors, we have had donors in their 70s. "We work solely for the donors and we work independently of the transplant team."

आप किसी अजनबी की मदद करने के लिए कितनी दूर जाएंगे?


Pokemon Go players told not to enter A&E ward in Stoke

Summary: A hospital has warned players of the game Pokemon Go not to enter the accident and emergency unit while they hunt for virtual monsters.

The Royal Stoke University Hospital has been designated as a "gym" in the game where players can train their characters. Fans of the game have been seen walking around the site. The hospital says it was "unconcerned" as long as people played the game where it was safe.

एक अस्पताल ने खेल पोकेमॉन गो के खिलाड़ियों को चेतावनी दी है कि वे आभासी राक्षसों का शिकार करते समय दुर्घटना और आपातकालीन इकाई में प्रवेश न करें।


George Osborne: From history buff to austerity editor

Summary: George Osborne is a history buff at heart.

Amol RajanMedia editor A student of modern history in his undergraduate days at Oxford, his is that cast of mind with a tendency to see himself as the inheritor of distant traditions. When I had a cup of tea with him in No 11 a couple of years ago, he spent the first seven or eight minutes talking about the provenance of the grand portraits in his room, and the figures depicted. I got the message pretty clearly. Here was a historic figure, he seemed to imply, who felt he had no judge so fair or firm as posterity. "He's fascinated by history," the Tory MP and historian Keith Simpson told the Financial Times a few years ago. "He looks at different historical institutions and mechanisms which may have lapsed and sees whether they can be given new life." Like the mechanism by which being an MP is very much a part-time job, perhaps. Osborne will need to mobilise all his knowledge of history when defending the decision to mix two full-time jobs - that of an MP and a newspaper editor - with each other, let alone with his four days a month at BlackRock, the asset manager, for which he gets an annual figure of £650,000 - what most people earn in around a quarter of a century. The fact is, he has no journalistic credentials whatsoever. Most people who edit newspapers will have spent years crafting headlines, sub-editing copy, designing pages, planning stories, and above all reporting. Osborne has never done any of that, and will need to grasp some basic skills very quickly if he is to keep Standard staff on-side. Of course, there is a long tradition of journalists becoming politicians, from Churchill and Horatio Bottomley to Nigel Lawson, Ed Balls, Yvette Cooper, Michael Gove, Ruth Davidson, Benito Mussolini (who edited two socialist papers) and the fictional Jim Hacker. Fewer have tended to go the other way. Bill Deedes was an editor of a newspaper (the Daily Telegraph) and a cabinet member, though not at the same time. Boris Johnson, who in ancient history was thought of as Osborne's main rival for the Tory crown, was editor of the Spectator while MP for Henley. And, long before he entered politics, Michael Foot was editor of the Standard at 28. Evgeny Lebedev, the 36-year-old who is now Osborne's boss, is fond of Evelyn Waugh and 20th Century literature generally (full disclosure: I was for several years Lebedev's adviser, and then his editor at the Independent). I imagine Lebedev will like the idea of reviving quaint, romantic 20th Century ideas about the relationship between politics and newspapers. But Osborne's constituents have daily concerns that are more rooted in 21st Century Britain. He has a huge majority, but together with his four days a month at BlackRock - which is about a fifth of a full-time job in itself - he won't have much time for parliamentary representation. Frankly, I can't see this arrangement lasting. Perhaps forthcoming boundary changes to the constituency will concentrate his mind - and that of his electorate. Tatton has a population of around 85,000, which intriguingly is almost exactly a tenth of the Standard's readership. The latter are his new constituency. What kind of editor will he be for them? Osborne flirted with journalism before entering politics. Years ago he was interviewed for a job on the Economist, the publication whose world view he most closely adheres to, by Gideon Rachman, now the Financial Times' brilliant foreign affairs commentator. He didn't get the job, despite having grown up on the same street as Rachman, and having the same first name (Gideon) and alma mater (St Paul's). There is a strong resemblance between the politics of the Standard, which backed the Remain camp and Zac Goldsmith's mayoral campaign, and Osborne's: globalist in outlook, metropolitan rather than provincial, socially liberal, unashamedly in favour of capitalism, and reliably Tory. In the past, Osborne has also spoken at length about his faintly bohemian upbringing. His interest in the arts, particularly theatre, is genuine. Naturally he will sharpen the paper's political edge, and his appointment serves up the truly delicious prospect of several assaults, under varying degrees of disguise, on the prime minister who so unceremoniously dispatched him to the back benches. Ultimately he will be judged not just on the paper he produces, but on whether together with the commercial team at ESI Media he can reinvent the company. Heavily reliant, like Metro, on print display advertising which is disappearing at the rate of around 20% a year across the industry, ESI Media - which houses the Standard, Independent, and TV station London Live - needs to be re-engineered, perhaps with events, data and ticketing to the fore. Among his key lieutenants beyond the editorial floor will be Manish Malhotra, the former finance director who now runs the company, and Jon O'Donnell, the managing director for commercial whose ad team is outperforming the rest of the market. Osborne was one of 30 applicants, 10 of whom were interviewed, and four of whom were shortlisted. In four meetings in central London with Lebedev, he sought and received reassurance about the proprietor's willingness to invest in the paper and its website. He can take heart from the fact that the Independent, which is now digital-only (I was the last editor of the print edition) is now humming commercially, well ahead of budget and set to make a multi-million pound profit this year. Unimaginable even three years ago, the Independent is currently the financial powerhouse within ESI Media, of which TV channel London Live is the other component. The Independent is co-owned by Justin Byam Shaw, who is also the chairman of the Standard and attended two of the four meetings between Lebedev and Osborne. Relative to the rest of Fleet Street, Osborne won't have much in the way of an editorial budget, and the need to raise revenues means sponsored content and native advertising of a sort that journalists instinctively resist may creep further into his pages. Then again, doing more with less - or austerity - was the ethos that defined his contribution to political history. Not in this for the money, because he will be paid substantially less than his predecessor, the Austerity Chancellor has just been reborn as the Austerity Editor. What his constituents make of that we're about to find out.

जॉर्ज ओसबोर्न दिल से इतिहास के शौकीन हैं।


Who is the real winner in the David Davis 'backstop' row?

Summary: David Davis is the victor of the hour, it seems.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter The Brexit secretary threatened to quit the government if the prime minister refused to change her proposal to fix the customs conundrum - after he demanded a time limit on the "backstop", the insurance policy for avoiding a hard Irish border if trade talks break down. There is a date in the document that is now on its way to Brussels. Ministers are signed up to a plan that says the whole UK would stay closely tied to the EU until the end of 2021, if none of the other customs options can be made to work. This means David Davis has stayed in his job, and the government is intact for now. The consequences of him resigning might have been enormous. There were whispers this morning that if Mr Davis had resigned, then other ministers might have followed him out of the door, which could, and this is hypothetical of course, have brought the whole pack of cards tumbling down. But it is an imperfect political fix, nothing like a firm solution. The wording of the document is loose enough that it can't be considered a cast-iron cut-off point. The text gives the Brexiteers their prize of a date. A senior Conservative on that side told me it shows "if we are going to stand and fight, we are going to win", suggesting the PM "can't win inside government". But look at the text closely and it is not a concrete commitment to stick to a date. It's also not a solution that Brussels will be willing to stomach. The prime minister has been publicly held to ransom by her own cabinet and has made a decision to back down. But it has damaged her own stock in Westminster, and possibly made her negotiations with the EU even harder. One senior MP told me this morning the PM "needs to be able to show that she can boss it in Brussels. If she can't even boss it here, can we go on?".

ऐसा लगता है कि डेविड डेविस समय के विजेता हैं।


Zermatt: 'Longest' hanging pedestrian bridge opens in Switzerland

Summary: A nearly 500m (1,640ft) bridge for hikers billed as the longest hanging pedestrian bridge in the world has opened near the Swiss town of Zermatt.

The 494m bridge, named the Europabrücke (Europe Bridge), hangs up to 85m above the Grabengufer ravine. The Zermatt Tourist Board says it is the world's longest, although a 405m bridge in Reutte in Austria hangs 110m higher above the ground. It replaces a previous bridge that had been damaged by rock falls. The new bridge, whose cables weigh about eight tonnes, is equipped with a system to prevent it from swinging, the Zermatt Tourist Board said. It forms part of a two-day hiking route between Zermatt and Grächen in southern Switzerland with views of the Matterhorn mountain.

पर्वतारोहियों के लिए लगभग 500 मीटर (1,640 फीट) लंबा पुल जिसे दुनिया का सबसे लंबा लटकता हुआ पैदल यात्री पुल कहा जाता है, स्विस शहर ज़र्मैट के पास खोला गया है।


Edinburgh-Aberdeen train services restored after sinkhole repair

Summary: A sinkhole that led to the suspension of train services between Aberdeen and Edinburgh has been repaired.

The line was shut on Monday after a metre-deep hole appeared beneath the track north of Leuchars. Network Rail engineers needed to replace three tonnes of ballast to fill the hole and make the line safe. Work was completed overnight and the line reopened on Tuesday. ScotRail, LNER and CrossCountry services were affected by the line closure.

एबरडीन और एडिनबर्ग के बीच ट्रेन सेवाओं को निलंबित करने वाले एक सिंकहोल की मरम्मत की गई है।


Migrant crisis: Afghan people smuggler talks frankly

Summary: It is hard to know who is winning in Afghanistan.

By Shaimaa KhalilBBC News The government is under immense pressure. Its underpaid and overstretched forces have been on the back foot in their first season without Nato combat support. They are trying to push the Taliban back, most recently in the key southern province of Helmand - but the way the insurgents took the northern city of Kunduz still weighs on people's minds. Afghans are watching all this with great concern. It is no surprise that - after Syria - the highest number of migrants in Europe come from Afghanistan. People here wonder which is the greater gamble - continuing to live in Afghanistan or risking death on the journey out. Trafficking boom In the current climate one group is doing good business: people smugglers. The BBC gained rare access to one - we will call him Abdul (not his real name). Abdul said a trip out of Afghanistan into Iran, Turkey and ultimately Europe costs between $5,000 and $7,000 (£3,250 to £4,550). Abdul gets 10%, the rest goes to other smugglers in the network and pays for transportation. Migrants pay a deposit and their families pay the balance when they reach their destination. The journey is fraught with danger, something Abdul said he did not hide. "The most dangerous part is between Turkey and Greece. People get shot by police and sometimes the boats capsize. But Allah guarantees safety, not me," he said. People from all walks of life and various parts of the country seek him out, he said, but he will not take them if they are unhealthy, too old, with small children or pregnant. Abdul seems conflicted about what he does - he feels he is helping people, but also acknowledges he is taking their money and sending them to an uncertain fate. "I smuggled my own three sons. I miss them a lot and I get upset when I see parents crying. I don't like my job very much you know. I feel guilty sometimes," he said. 'Rather die' Standing outside the passport office on a chilly Kabul morning, it is easy to see why people like Abdul are in business. Queues have already started forming. People crouch on car bonnets filling in forms. Everyone wants to leave - and most don't want to come back. Arif Mohamady, in his late 20s, is angry and frustrated. "There are no jobs here, no security and lots of corruption. I'd rather live in an infidel country," he said. "In 2007 my father was killed in a suicide bombing. My mother and brother were killed by the Taliban. I know it's a dangerous journey but I'd rather die on the way than stay in Afghanistan." 'Afghanistan needs you' Despite the overwhelming sense of despair, some take a more hopeful view. A group of young people have started a digital campaign called "Afghanistan Needs You". Shakib Mohsanyar, 23, said they wanted to stop the brain drain, while Sharam Gulzad, 26, said many Afghans had unrealistic expectations about life abroad. "I was in Germany and I saw Afghans begging for the first time there. It was heartbreaking. People think once they arrive things will get better. They won't," he said. Both acknowledged that the problems of corruption, lack of jobs and insecurity are all too real. "When you go out in the morning you don't know if you're coming back home in the evening," said Mr Gulzad. "But this is the risk we take. We do have potential. This is not the end of Afghanistan. If we take responsibility and action we will change this country."

यह जानना मुश्किल है कि अफगानिस्तान में कौन जीत रहा है।


First phase of Dounreay nuclear waste vaults completed

Summary: The first phase of a project to build up to six vaults to store tonnes of low-level radioactive waste from Dounreay has been completed.

Two vaults have been excavated on land near to the nuclear power complex in Caithness. The larger of the two holes involved the excavation of about 200,000 cubic metres of rock by contractor Graham Construction. The waste will include paper and clothing contaminated by radioactivity. Once inside the store it will be monitored for 300 years. After that period of time the radioactivity will have decayed by 95%. Dounreay, an experimental nuclear power complex built in the 1950s, is being demolished and the site cleaned up.

डौनरे से टनों निम्न-स्तरीय रेडियोधर्मी कचरे को संग्रहीत करने के लिए छह तहखानों तक बनाने की परियोजना का पहला चरण पूरा हो गया है।


NatWest's online glitch reveals wrong accounts

Summary: Customers of NatWest's online business banking service have seen other companies' balances and transactions after logging in.

By Kevin PeacheyPersonal finance reporter Bankline allows online management of accounts and says on its website that it offers "security you can trust". But customers said that after logging in, they had seen details of a different account holder. NatWest said it was an isolated incident affecting a small number of customers and had now been resolved. It said it was working with customers who had been affected in order to keep them up to date and provide support.

नेटवेस्ट की ऑनलाइन व्यावसायिक बैंकिंग सेवा के ग्राहकों ने लॉग इन करने के बाद अन्य कंपनियों की शेष राशि और लेनदेन देखे हैं।


Security firm wins Dyfed-Powys Police CCTV research contract

Summary: Plans to research CCTV provision to tackle crime across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys have taken a step forward.

Security consultant Instrom has won a contract to look at the effectiveness of CCTV and the potential for new technology to be used. A report is due to be published in the autumn. The work is being funded by Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner Christopher Salmon and county councils. Mr Salmon said he would like a co-ordinated approach to CCTV across the force area. "As many local councils reduce CCTV funding due to pressure on the public purse, our research will look at evidence of CCTV effectiveness in Dyfed-Powys and the potential for new technology to reduce crime," he said. Related Internet Links Dyfed-Powys Police

कार्मार्थेनशायर, सेरेडिगियन, पेम्ब्रोकेशायर और पॉव्स में अपराध से निपटने के लिए सीसीटीवी प्रावधान पर शोध करने की योजना ने एक कदम आगे बढ़ाया है।