The woman who collects clothes of sex assault victims

Summary: Sexual harassment across the world is often followed by victim-blaming and one question survivors are invariably asked is: "What were you wearing?" Indian artist-activist Jasmeen Patheja collects clothes donated by victims as testament to the fact they are not to blame, reports the BBC's Geeta Pandey.

In a small room in her Bangalore home that has been converted into a museum of sorts are dozens of garments. The kind of clothes we see women around us wearing all the time. But each item has a story. This is Jasmeen Patheja's collection of the clothes of sex assault survivors. One red-and-black jumpsuit was donated by a woman who was caught up in the widespread sexual assaults that took place at New Year's Eve celebrations in Bangalore last year. "She said she was present at the celebrations when mobs went berserk, groping and assaulting women," Ms Patheja says. "She talked about how she was harassed, about seeking refuge." Then she holds up a cream-coloured kurta (tunic) with red and black prints - a garment almost startling in its simplicity. It was donated by a woman who was groped while travelling on a train in the southern city of Coimbatore. "She told me she was dissuaded from reporting the assault." The pink dress she shows me next came to her from a woman in Montreal. "She said if you don't take it, I'll have to throw it away. It made her even sick to have it," Ms Patheja says. As we go through the rack, she points out a white dress, a swimsuit, a champagne-coloured gown, a pair of trousers, a school uniform - examples that she describes as "a mirror" to the fact that all women experience abuse and gender violence. "It's got nothing to do with what you're wearing, there's never any excuse for such violence and nobody ever asks for it." And that's why her project is called - "I Never Ask For It." "The project wants to contain and hold space for our collective stories of pain, and trauma." Her fight against sexual- and gender-based violence began nearly a decade and a half ago, just after she moved to Bangalore from the northern city of Kolkata (Calcutta) to study art. "It's not that there was no harassment in Kolkata, but I was new to Bangalore. I was 23 and I had no family to run to for protection," she says. "It was also a time when street harassment was being dismissed as just 'eve-teasing', something that boys do and girls must experience. It was being normalised. There was an environment of denial and silence around the issue, which made it okay to continue it." To address this denial and to break the silence, she decided to start a conversation. "One day, I got all female students into a room and said, 'Let's come up with words that evoke a public space.' In three minutes, we had a vast mind map of only negative words." The result wasn't a surprise - harassment in public places is all too common and almost every woman has experienced catcalls, lewd remarks, touching and groping. And anyone who questions it is told that the fault actually lies with them - she may have done something provocative, she may be wearing clothes that showed skin, she may have been out late at night, she may have been drinking, she may have been flirting: in short, she may have asked for it. "Girls are raised to be careful, we are raised in an environment of fear which is constantly telling us to be careful. We are told if you've experienced assault, then maybe you're not being careful enough, that's the underlying message we're given." She set up the Blank Noise collective in 2003 to "confront" that fear. "We believe that blame leads to shame, shame leads to guilt, guilt leads to more silence and that perpetuates sexual and gender-based violence." The first step to confronting any fear, Ms Patheja says, is to start a conversation around it and one of the things that Blank Noise does as part of the "I Never Ask For It" project is to gather testimonials from women. So they approached girls and women on the streets of Bangalore and other cities, inviting them to write down their testimonials. Ms Patheja says "when one person writes, it encourages others to do the same", so they returned with white boards filled with names, ages, incidents of abuse, what happened, where it happened and what time, what were they wearing, what they did and what they wished they had done. One woman wrote about being harassed on a bus by a middle-aged man and how she just changed her seat, a schoolgirl wrote about how she was stalked by two men on a bicycle, another said she had been groped multiple times in multiple cities. There were testimonials from 14 and 16 year olds and also from women in their 30s and 40s and sometimes older. Almost all women chose to describe what they were wearing at the time of the assault and, Ms Patheja says, that's what gave them the idea about the museum of garments. "We found women often wondering about their garments. They'd say, "I was wearing that red skirt', or 'I was wearing that pair of jeans', or 'I was wearing that school uniform'. So it became a deliberate question at Blank Noise and we began asking, 'so what were you wearing'?" And Ms Patheja says if the question then arises - did I ask for it? - the answer is an emphatic no. "I Never Ask For It." "But we ask people to remember their garments, bring them in because they have memory, and in that memory it's been a witness and it's your voice." This story is part of a series about Indian women fighting for equality.

बी. बी. सी. की गीता पांडे की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, दुनिया भर में यौन उत्पीड़न के बाद अक्सर पीड़ित-दोषारोपण किया जाता है और उत्तरजीवियों से हमेशा एक सवाल पूछा जाता हैः "आपने क्या पहना था?" भारतीय कलाकार-कार्यकर्ता जसमीन पाथेजा पीड़ितों द्वारा दान किए गए कपड़ों को इस तथ्य के प्रमाण के रूप में एकत्र करती हैं कि वे दोषी नहीं हैं।


Housemates from hell - me and my 23-year-old son

Summary: It's becoming normal for grown-up children to spend years at home even after starting work, because of the mismatch between salaries and rents. Sue Elliott-Nicholls and her son, Morgan Elliott, agree that it can be a nightmare. Here's Sue's story with interjections from Morgan.

An unusually warm spring day. I skip up to the door of the family home, it's been a good day at work and a pleasant cycle home. I'm enjoying the lighter evenings and I'm home early - it's only four o'clock! Maybe I can have a cuppa out in the back yard. And then it hits me. I open the front door and a Sahara-like jet of air billows out. HE'S GOT THE BLOODY HEATING ON! I tell a neighbour. She produces a bath plug from her pocket. "I take it out with me so he can't spend all afternoon in the bath, while I'm out working to keep a roof over our heads," she says. You may be forgiven for thinking we're both in dysfunctional relationships with men, and in a sense we are - with our sons! Our sons in their 20s, who are forced to live at home because their wages won't cover London rents (and I mean just the rents, you can forget other bills). According to the Civitas think tank, 49% of 23-year-olds are now living with their parents, up from 37% in 1998. These are our kids. The ones who aren't privileged enough to enjoy the services of the bank of mum and dad, but are privileged enough to enjoy (or not) the lodgings of mum and dad, at a hugely subsidised rent. I have to say at this point that my son Morgan is not lazy. Hard-working, driven, determined to earn money and get on in life - how else would he pay for his trainer habit? I feel for him too. After three years living in Manchester, enjoying independence, spreading his wings, leaving dirty dishes in the sink and festering towels on the floor, to have to come back to a small room in a terraced house where all your conversations - your every breath - can be overheard… that must be desperate. How do I stop myself from turning back into nagging mum and let the boy breathe? Morgan Elliott comments: This Moncler jacket that I basically spent my whole student loan on isn't proving enough for the Arctic conditions I've found myself in recently. I don't even think Bear Grylls would be able to survive the temperatures that my mother chooses to put us through. It's ironic that she spends literally a tenner a day on coffee but she can't afford to heat up the house for her dear son. There are glasses in the dishwasher full of dirty water because they have been loaded the wrong way. He has a university degree, how can he not know how to put a glass in a dishwasher? The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty; the glass is fully full WITH SCUMMY DISHWASHER WATER. The luxury chorizo sausage that was meant for a family tea has been demolished. Maybe I can use the chicken breast instead? No, apparently not. Or the lamb chops? No. All gone. "What?" he says. "You didn't say not to eat it." We have regressed. He into petulant teen, me into screeching banshee. Morgan comments: Seeing as I'm her son, it makes sense for my mum to want to feed me. However, this doesn't seem to be the case. Sometimes I'll spot a bit of chicken in the fridge and I might just decide to cook it up into a wholesome meal. Mum's phone's off but I'm sure providing her son with something to eat won't be too much of a problem. This is always a big regret though. This small decision of mine has now somehow become a case of me potentially being kicked out of the house, and this isn't even an exaggeration. "YOU'RE A 23-YEAR-OLD MAN!" she screams. Exactly! And a 23-year-old man needs to eat! Take the heating, again. Have I mentioned the heating? If it's cold when I'm working at home I light the fire in one room, Ebenezer-Scrooge-like. Imagine my wrath when I see him flitting about the house in a T-shirt and boxers with all the radiators full on. What to do in this instance? Option 1. Ground him. No he's 23, this is not a real option. Option 2. Ask him to pay more rent and risk an argument over money. Option 3. Let it go in a Zen-like fashion and pay the extra heating bill, ignoring the nagging voice that tells you what a mug you are. Option 4. Ask him to leave if he can't keep the bills down. Seems a bit drastic… It's the hidden expense that Morgan doesn't see. It costs money to use an entire washing machine cycle for a pair of shoelaces. The oven turned up to gas mark nine to cook one sausage - and then left on for the rest of the day, costs money. "I've even considered turning the gas off when we're out," laughs my husband. I laugh too, pause, and cast him a sideways look. "Can that be done?" He tells our son tales of how, in his day, he was expected to contribute most of his wages to the family coffers, putting the money in a teapot. "But that was 350 years ago and times were harder then," I interject - once again undermining him, just as I did when the boys were little. The whole family is regressing. If we were flatmates one of us would be under the floorboards rolled in a body bag. But then, as so often happens in families, moments later you're laughing in the kitchen, everything is forgotten in an instant. Until next time. Morgan comments: Annoyingly for me, I happen to have a lot of wealthier friends and so the idea of my mum taking money from me instead of giving me money towards rent seems absurd. It isn't really a problem in itself, and I do completely understand that bills need to be paid, but it seems my rent is increasing on almost a monthly basis. My mum will look for any excuse to raise it - the more I earn the more she wants me to pay! The whole system kind of feels like some sort of online scam in which you subscribe and in the small print it says *rent will increase by £50 each month*. A six-month contract would at least give me an idea of how to budget for the coming months. And yes, that may include buying trainers. Morgan says he feels judged by us and to a certain extent that's true. We got to play out our mistakes in rented flats above shops, visiting our parents with the fresh-faced clean-living industrious demeanour reserved for them and them alone. But I also feel judged by him. When we're sprawled out on the sofa on a Friday night with a bottle and a bag of Kettle chips and the boys are going out around the time we're thinking of going to bed I feel like a social failure. When we're going out or having friends around I proudly tell my kids - and realise I'm seeking approval. "See I have friends, I have a social life, I'm cool too." Morgan comments: Talking about judging, imagine this non-hypothetical scenario: I've just got home from work and I'm completely exhausted - for once I feel like a cheeky smoke. In summer I'd happily take a leisurely stroll down to the park at the end of the road, but right now the garden seems more appropriate. BUT… if I get caught then my mum will definitely think I'm a crackhead, and judging by the commotion she causes when I turn up the heating she definitely can't afford to send me to rehab this year. Also, my brother's window's open and if the wind blows the fumes into his room my dad will definitely sniff me out and shut down my operation swiftly. Not that he was any better at my age. Yes it's true, I do judge... noticing his new trainers. "Why are you buying £150 trainers when you could be saving for a deposit on a flat?" I casually mention. No sooner are the words out of my mouth than I wish I could take them back again. Because why shouldn't he? When I was younger, in fact when he was a baby, I bought myself expensive clothes because at that time I hadn't got a hope of buying a house, so why not? "If I'm paying rent I should at least be able to bring girls back," he says. Well, girls yes, as in girlfriends. But ultimately this is still a family home (not that his teenage brother would mind - it would give him an excuse to do the same). Living in an alpha male household there's nothing I love more than a girlfriend - I'm almost begging them not to leave me as they walk out of the door. But it's not a bachelor pad and so I'd at least like to see them and chat to them. Now I feel like a prude. A neurotic, prudish, stingy harridan. Do other cultures know how to do it better? Do they have the rules - the family traditions that make inter-generational living easier? Morgan comments: It's 3am in Shoreditch and I feel like I could have just potentially met my future wifey. We've walked around the area about 10 times trying to find a bar that's still open but it seems like we're out of luck… I'm acting like I don't actually have anywhere to take her back to. I do of course, but I'm not sure how comfortable she will be meeting the Munster family just yet. They'll assume she's my girlfriend and start questioning her. Or worse, what if there's something unpleasant left in the toilet? I'm really starting to doubt whether the cheap rent in Dalston is worth it. When I was younger, it was a lot easier bringing girls back - but now I'm bringing grown women back, ready to challenge the domain of the lioness. "The next thing is he'll leave and then you'll miss him," says a friend. "And then they come back and you have to get used to that, and then they leave again, it's called boomeranging." A study carried out last year by the LSE concluded the boomeranging generation causes a significant decline in parents' mental health. But I know I will miss him when he's gone. My kids are now 17 and 23 and when we're all chatting in the kitchen, or I hear them laughing in the living room I come over all emotional at how fantastic they both are. They are excellent company, funny, interesting, thoughtful, and their banter is on point. One day they will go. "But that's OK," I tell myself. "They'll be back soon enough." You may also be interested in: Lately, Sue Elliott-Nicholls has been to lots of weddings where the bride and groom have been together for decades. And in September she, too, did the deed in her 50s. So why are all these middle-aged couples finally opting for marriage? (October 2018) Read: Why we said 'I do' after 30 years together Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

बड़े बच्चों के लिए काम शुरू करने के बाद भी घर पर वर्षों बिताना सामान्य होता जा रहा है, क्योंकि वेतन और किराए के बीच बेमेल है। सू इलियट-निकोल्स और उनका बेटा, मॉर्गन इलियट, इस बात से सहमत हैं कि यह एक दुःस्वप्न हो सकता है। यहाँ मॉर्गन के हस्तक्षेप के साथ सू की कहानी है।


Did UK Special Forces execute unarmed civilians?

Summary: At the height of the war in Afghanistan in 2011, two senior officers from Special Forces met in a bar in Dorset to have a secret conversation. They feared some of the UK's most highly-trained troops had adopted a "deliberate policy" of illegally killing unarmed men. Evidence is now emerging that suggests they were right.

By Matt Bardo & Hannah O'GradyBBC Panorama The two senior officers were thousands of miles from the dust and danger of Helmand province in Afghanistan. One had recently returned from the war where his troops reported their understanding that a policy of execution-style killings was being carried out by Special Forces. The other had been at headquarters, reading reports from the frontline with growing concern. They showed a sharp rise in the number of "enemies killed in action" (EKIA) by UK Special Forces. Special Forces are the UK's elite specialist troops, encompassing both the SAS (Special Air Service) and the SBS (Special Boat Service). After the conversation, a briefing note believed to have been written by one of the most senior members of UK Special Forces was passed up the chain of command. The message contained clear warnings for the highest levels of Special Forces and concluded that these "concerning" allegations merit "deeper investigation" to "at worst case put a stop to criminal behaviour". The documents were released to solicitors Leigh Day, as part of an ongoing case at the High Court, which will rule on whether allegations of unlawful killing by UK Special Forces were investigated properly. The man bringing the case is Saifullah Ghareb Yar. He says that four members of his family were assassinated in the early hours of 16 February 2011. It follows a BBC Panorama programme last year, which reported on the deaths. The programme worked with the Sunday Times Insight team to reveal evidence of a pattern of illegal killings by UK Special Forces. The government maintains that the four members of Saifullah's family were killed in self defence. But now correspondence in the newly-released documents shows that some had grave concerns about the UK Special Forces mission. Just hours after the elite troops had returned to base, other British soldiers were exchanging emails describing the events of that night as the "latest massacre". 'Shaking with fear' At 01:00 in Nawa, rural Helmand, on 16 February 2011, Saifullah's family were asleep in their home. They woke suddenly to the sound of helicopter rotors, followed by shouting through megaphones. Saifullah was still a teenager but he was about to find himself in the middle of a Special Forces "kill or capture" mission. These "night raids" were a common tactic at the time. They were typically carried out in partnership with Afghan forces under cover of darkness. Their purpose was to target senior members of the Taliban. "My whole body was shaking because of the fear. Everyone was frightened. All the women and children were crying and screaming," Saifullah told BBC Panorama. He described how his hands were tied and he was put in a holding area with the women and children. He had not been there for long when he heard gunfire. After the troops had left, the bodies of his two brothers were discovered in the fields surrounding their home. His cousin had been shot dead in a neighbouring building. Going back into his house, Saifullah found his father, lying face down on the ground. "His head, the forehead area, was shot with many bullets, and his leg was completely broken by the bullets," he said. Last year, Panorama exposed how the intelligence that identified the targets for these raids was often deficient. Philip Alston, the former UN Special Rapporteur on executions, told the programme: "I have no doubt that overall many of the allegations [of innocent people being killed] are justified, and that we can conclude that a large number of civilians were killed in night raids, totally unjustifiably." Saifullah believes his family were wrongly targeted and then executed in cold blood. In Nawa district, there was an outcry after the killings. The Governor of Helmand believed the victims were innocent civilians. British military emails from the aftermath of the raid obtained by Panorama suggest that eyewitnesses from the Afghan military supported Saifullah's version of events. A commanding officer from the Afghan forces is quoted as having said that no one was firing at the British but the four family members were shot anyway and that "he sees this as confirmation that innocents were killed". The Afghan commander suggests that "two men were shot trying to run away, and that the other two men were "assassinated" on target after they had already been detained and searched". The correspondence shows that these events sent shockwaves through the British military from Helmand to London. Emails outline concerns over Afghan forces refusing to accompany the British on night raids because they did not believe the killings were justified. This was not the first time that the Afghan forces had made this complaint. One senior Special Forces officer comments that this kind of falling out "puts at risk the [redacted] transition plan and more importantly the prospects of enduring UK influence" in Afghanistan. "Aside from alienating our Afghan allies, the narrative of murderous British forces played right into the hands of the insurgents," said Frank Ledwidge, a former military intelligence officer who served as a justice adviser in Helmand. "The actions of some Special Forces actively undermined the overall counterinsurgency mission, which was challenging enough already," he said. 'You couldn't make it up' Among the documents released to the court is a detailed summary marked "secret". It includes an extract of the classified operational summary (OPSUM), which provides the official account of what the strike team did at Saifullah's home. The UK Special Forces reported that after initially securing the compound they went back in to search the rooms with one of the Afghan men they had detained. While there, it says he suddenly reached for a grenade behind a curtain. "He poses an immediate threat to life and is engaged with aimed shots. The assault team members take cover. The grenade malfunctions and does not detonate," the OPSUM says. That man was Saifullah's father. After the shooting, the OPSUM reports that another Afghan was moved into the neighbouring compound to help with the search of the buildings. They say he was also shot after picking up a weapon. That man was Saifullah's cousin. Both of Saifullah's brothers are reported to have run away when they spotted the unit arriving. One hid in a bush with a grenade and was shot and killed when the explosive was spotted, says the OPSUM. The other was reported to be hiding a short distance away with an assault rifle. When he emerged from a hiding place under a blanket with the weapon, he too was shot. This official account of the killings was met with suspicion by some in the British military. An internal email requests a copy of the OPSUM within hours of the killings and asks: "Is this about [redacted] latest massacre!" The reply includes a summary of the unlikely events in the official report and concludes by saying: "You couldn't MAKE IT UP!" It looks as if the soldiers reading these reports had concerns that they were being falsified using near-identical cover stories. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said "This is not new evidence, and this historical case has already been independently investigated by the Royal Military Police as part of Operation Northmoor. It has also been subject to four reviews conducted by an Independent Review Team. "These documents were considered as part of the independent investigations, which concluded there was insufficient evidence to refer the case for prosecution. "The Service Police and the Service Prosecuting Authority of course remain open to considering allegations should new evidence, intelligence or information come to light." 'Perverting the course of justice' The suspicious pattern of similar incidents leading to the killing of Afghan men during Special Forces night raids caught the eye of several people back at UK Special Forces headquarters in England. The court documents show a review was ordered. A Special Forces Major examined all of the official reports of killings by the elite troops between December 2010 and April 2011. He wrote to other senior officers to say the number of killings led him to conclude "we are getting some things wrong, right now". His report highlighted 10 incidents in which the similarity of the accounts in official paperwork raised his suspicions. All involved the shooting of men who were detained before they unexpectedly grabbed a weapon during a search of the buildings. The Major also found at least five separate incidents where more people were killed than there were weapons recovered. That means either the weapons went missing or the people who were killed were not armed. In one case, nine people had been killed and only three weapons had been recovered. The newly-released evidence appears to support revelations in last year's Panorama and Sunday Times investigation. Panorama reported that a large scale Royal Military Police (RMP) investigation called Operation Northmoor had linked dozens of suspicious killings on night raids. Among them were the deaths of Saifullah's family members. When the RMP interviewed the Special Forces troops who took part in the raid of 16 February 2011, all of them claimed they could not remember the specifics of the mission that night. Operation Northmoor was investigating whether official operation reports had been falsified. In one case, the RMP had even brought charges against members of the UK Special Forces for murder, falsifying a report and perverting the course of justice. But the charges were dropped and the government closed down Operation Northmoor without prosecuting a single case. Insiders said it was closed too soon for them to complete their investigation. "It seems to be one of the unique characteristics of British Special Forces that they are truly accountable to no-one," said Frank Ledwidge. "Accountability must apply to everyone and particularly to the senior commanders and politicians who have allowed, condoned or ignored these alleged crimes and created the environment for them to happen". You can watch Panorama, War Crimes Scandal Exposed on BBC iPlayer

2011 में अफगानिस्तान में युद्ध के चरम पर, विशेष बलों के दो वरिष्ठ अधिकारी डोरसेट के एक बार में एक गुप्त बातचीत करने के लिए मिले। उन्हें डर था कि ब्रिटेन के कुछ सबसे उच्च प्रशिक्षित सैनिकों ने निहत्थे पुरुषों को अवैध रूप से मारने की "जानबूझकर नीति" अपनाई थी। अब सबूत सामने आ रहे हैं जो बताते हैं कि वे सही थे।


North Yorkshire drivers warned of icy roads

Summary: Motorists in North Yorkshire are being warned of icy driving conditions after heavy snow on Monday.

About five inches (13 cm) of snow fell on parts of North Yorkshire, causing traffic gridlock during the evening rush hour in Scarborough. A Met Office yellow warning of further snow and icy driving conditions remains in force for the east of the county. Major routes were gritted overnight, according to North Yorkshire County Council. North Yorkshire Police said drivers should take extreme care on the roads and only travel if their journey was essential.

सोमवार को भारी बर्फबारी के बाद उत्तरी यॉर्कशायर में मोटर चालकों को बर्फीली ड्राइविंग की स्थिति के बारे में चेतावनी दी जा रही है।


Mt Hope installed as 'UK's highest peak'

Summary: Britain has a new tallest mountain.

By Jonathan AmosBBC Science Correspondent, New Orleans Mt Hope, which is sited in the part of the Antarctic claimed by the UK, was recently re-measured and found to tower above the previous title holder, Mt Jackson, by a good 50m (160ft). Hope is now put at 3,239m (10,626ft); Jackson is 3,184m (10,446ft). The map-makers at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) were prompted to take another look at the mountains because of concerns for the safety of pilots flying across the White Continent. "In Antarctica there are no roads, so to get around you have to fly planes. And if you're flying planes you really need to know where the mountains are and how high they are," explained Dr Peter Fretwell. As well as giving Mt Hope its new status, the reassessment has provided a more complete description of the relief across the quadrant of Antarctica claimed by Britain. This encompasses the long peninsula that stretches north towards South America. Some of its mountains have now been "moved" up to 5km to position them more accurately on future maps. Mount Vinson, which sits just outside the British Antarctic Territory, remains the undisputed tallest peak on the continent at 4,892m (16,049ft). Dr Fretwell's team is releasing its findings on UN International Mountain Day. Elevation data-sets are a topic of discussion here at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) - the world's largest annual gathering of Earth and planetary scientists. The BAS group used a combination of elevation models built from satellite data to make the new mountain assessment. When this medium-resolution information threw up the possibility that Mt Hope had been underestimated, the researchers then ordered in some very high-resolution photos for confirmation. These pictures, taken from orbit by the American WorldView-2 spacecraft, allowed for a stereo view of the summits of both Hope and Jackson. "We call this photogrammetry," said Dr Fretwell. "Because we know the position of the satellite so well, if we use it to take two images of a mountain that are ever so slightly offset from each other, we can then employ simple trigonometry to work out the height of that mountain." The process raised Hope from 2,860m to 3,239m. The measurement technique carries an uncertainty of just 5m, so there should be no argument over the mountain's new-found superiority. The long chain of peaks that runs down the spine of the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most spectacular landscapes on Earth. The chain was initially built some 50-100 million years ago when an oceanic tectonic plate slid under the Antarctic continent, said BAS geophysicist Dr Tom Jordan. "This produced volcanism and a shortening and a thickening of the crust. Then, more recently, the ice sheet and its glaciers have cut deep trenches into the Antarctic Peninsula, removing rock and depositing it offshore. "As this mass has been removed so the whole of the peninsula has rebounded, uplifting the peaks fairly significantly," he explained. At the AGU meeting in New Orleans, US researchers are showcasing very similar work - but on a much more extensive scale. Dr Paul Morin, from the Polar Geospatial Center at the University of Minnesota, has led an effort to re-map the elevation of both the Arctic and the Antarctic. These projects have access to several years of WorldView images and time on a supercomputer to process all the data. The Arctic map has an elevation point, or "posting," every 2m across the region. The Antarctic map, due to be released early next year, will have the postings every 8m. "With this availability of data, Antarctica has gone from the poorest mapped place on the planet to one the best," Dr Morin told BBC News. "It makes better science cheaper and faster to achieve. And it also makes science much safer because we know where everything is." Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

ब्रिटेन में एक नया सबसे ऊँचा पर्वत है।


New cancer outpatient unit opens at James Cook Hospital

Summary: A new outpatient unit has opened at a Teesside hospital as part of a multi-million pound investment programme in cancer services.

The new Endeavour Unit at Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital boasts three treatment rooms. A spokesman for South Tees Foundation Trust said the unit would offer a full radiotherapy service by early next year. The new two-storey building is part of a new £35m cancer services programme.

कैंसर सेवाओं में कई मिलियन पाउंड के निवेश कार्यक्रम के हिस्से के रूप में टीसाइड अस्पताल में एक नई बाह्य रोगी इकाई खोली गई है।


Coronavirus: Is it time to free the healthy from restrictions?

Summary: The constant stream of bad news on coronavirus, from the rising number of deaths, to doctors and nurses risking their lives because of a lack of protective equipment has, understandably, caused great anxiety.

Nick TriggleHealth correspondent@nicktriggleon Twitter That much is clear from the proportion of adults worried about the threat they believe the virus poses to themselves. Older people are the most concerned, but even among younger age groups the majority believe they are at risk. But have we got this out of perspective? How much actual risk does coronavirus present? The people who are most at risk are older people and those with pre-existing health conditions. The overwhelming majority of deaths has been among these groups. But young people are, of course still, dying - by late April there had been more than 300 deaths among the under-45s. What is more, there are many more who have been left seriously ill, struggling with the after-effects for weeks. So how should we interpret that? And what does that mean for post-lockdown life? Our constant focus on the most negative impacts of the epidemic means we have "lost sight" of the fact the virus causes a mild to moderate illness for many, says Dr Amitava Banerjee, of University College London. The expert in clinical data science believes it is important not to jump to conclusions about the deaths of younger, seemingly healthy adults. Some could have had health conditions that had not been diagnosed, he says. But he admits there will be otherwise healthy people who have died - as happens with everything from heart attacks to flu. In future, we need to stop looking at coronavirus through such a "narrow lens", he says. Instead we should take more account of the indirect costs, such as rising rates of domestic violence in lockdown, mental health problems and the lack of access to health care more generally. A 'nasty flu' for many On Sunday Boris Johnson is expected to set out how restrictions will be eased in England. All indications are that it will be a very gradual process to keep the rate of transmission of the virus down. But some believe we do not need to be so draconian. Edinburgh University and a group of London-based academics published a paper this week arguing restrictions could be lifted quite significantly if the most vulnerable were completely shielded. That would require the continued isolation of these individuals and the regular testing of their carers - or shielders as the researchers call them. If we could protect them - and that would require very good access to quick testing and protective equipment - the researchers believe we could lift many restrictions and allow a "controlled" epidemic in the general population. Good hand-hygiene, isolating when you have symptoms and voluntary social distancing where possible would be needed. But people could return to work, and school - in a matter of months. The majority could even be eating in restaurants and going to cinemas. For the non-vulnerable population, coronavirus carries no more risk than a "nasty flu", says Prof Mark Woolhouse, an expert in infectious disease who led the research. "If it wasn't for the fact that it presents such a high risk of severe disease in vulnerable groups, we would never have taken the steps we have and closed down the country. "If we can shield the vulnerable really well, there is no reason why we cannot lift many of the restrictions in place for others. "The lockdown has come at a huge economic, social and health cost." It is, he says, all about getting the balance of risk right. A risk to live with It is a point others have made. Cambridge University statistician Prof Sir David Spiegelhalter has highlighted evidence which shows the risk of dying from coronavirus is very similar to the underlying risk people of all age groups from early 20s upwards have of dying anyway. His point is that for the average adult getting infected means you are effectively doubling your risk of death. The younger you are, the lower the risk. For children, as you can see on the graph, the risk from the virus is so small that you might be better off worrying about other things. After the first year of life cancers, accidents and self-harm are the leading causes of death. Researchers from Stanford University in the US have been trying to count the risk another way - equating it to that which we face from dying while driving. In the UK, they calculate that those under the age of 65 have faced the same risk over the past few months from coronavirus as they would have faced from driving 185 miles a day - the equivalent of commuting from Swindon to London. Strip out the under-65s with health conditions - about one in 16 - and the risk is even lower, with deaths in non-vulnerable groups being "remarkably uncommon". Putting risk in perspective is going to be essential for individuals and decision-makers, the authors suggest. If we do, we may learn to live with coronavirus. We may have to.

मौतों की बढ़ती संख्या से लेकर सुरक्षात्मक उपकरणों की कमी के कारण अपनी जान जोखिम में डालने वाले डॉक्टरों और नर्सों तक, कोरोनावायरस पर बुरी खबरों की निरंतर धारा, स्पष्ट रूप से, बहुत चिंता का कारण बनी है।


India election 2019: The man who has lost 24 times but won't give up

Summary: Every Indian election throws up several independent candidates who, despite the odds stacked against them, take a chance on democracy. Omkar Khandekar reports on one man who has lost two dozen times but refuses to stop trying.

Vijayprakash Kondekar is now a familiar face in Shivaji Nagar in the western city of Pune. For the past two months the 73-year-old has been going around the neighbourhood trying to drum up support for his election campaign. "I just want to show people that party politics is not the only way in the largest democracy in the world," he says. "I plan to give the country independent candidates like myself. It's the only way we can clean up all the corruption." Mr Kondekar is contesting a parliamentary seat that will go to the polls in the third phase of voting on 23 April. India's mammoth general election kicked off on 11 April and is taking place over seven stages, with votes being counted on 23 May. Mr Kondekar is running as an independent candidate. One day, he hopes to become prime minister. If that happens, he says he will give every Indian citizen 17,000 rupees ($245; £190). He says doing so would be "easy enough" if the government reduced other expenses. Until the late 1980s, he used to work for the state electricity board in Maharashtra. Now, he can often been seen walking around Pune, pushing a steel cart on wheels with a signboard attached to it. Previously, locals say, the board carried a request for donations - but not much, less than a dollar. Now the signboard says "Victory for the boot" - a reference to the election symbol allotted to Mr Kondekar by India's Election Commission. It makes for an amusing sight in the city's streets. While many people ignore the aspiring politician, others request selfies. Mr Kondekar happily obliges, hoping to benefit from free publicity on social media. Others openly scoff at what they see: a frail man with long white hair and a beard, walking in the hot April sun to canvass for votes while wearing only cotton shorts. And that's before they find out that Mr Kondekar has contested - and lost - more than 24 different elections at every level of the Indian political system, from local polls for municipal bodies to parliamentary elections. He is one among hundreds of independent candidates trying their luck in this year's national election. In 2014, just three of the 3,000 independent candidates who contested won. Read more about the Indian election Although there is precedent for independent candidates to succeed en masse - in the 1957 election, 42 of them were elected as MPs - it very rarely happens. Since the first election in 1952, a total of 44,962 independent candidates have run for parliament, but only 222 have won. Independents rarely win because parties have far more money and better resources available to them. And there's no shortage of parties, with 2,293 registered political parties, including seven national and 59 regional parties. The governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition Congress are the two major national parties but in many states they trail strong regional parties with hugely popular leaders. But Mr Kondekar says he has found a novel strategy to gain an advantage. As per election rules, candidates from the national parties are listed first, followed by those from state parties. At the bottom are the independents. "My appeal [to the public] is vote for the last candidate, the one listed before the none-of-the-above option. In all probability, it will be an independent candidate," he says. For Tuesday's vote, he has changed his surname to Znyosho, so that his name appears last on the candidate list. Despite the disadvantages they face, independent candidates jump into the fray every election for myriad reasons. For some it's a vanity project, while many are fielded by political parties hoping to divide votes. Others, like K Padmarajan, contest the polls as a stunt. He has taken part in - and lost - more than 170 elections only to earn a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Mr Padmarajan, who is competing against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the southern seat of Wayanad this Tuesday - recently said, "If I win, I will get a heart attack." Such candidates have even prompted India's law commission to recommend a ban on independent candidates contesting state or national parliamentary elections. That never happened. And although more and more independents are taking part, their success rate is not increasing. "Political parties have a stranglehold on the Indian political system," says Jagdeep Chhokar, founder of election watchdog the Association for Democratic Reforms. There are several systemic problems stymieing independent candidates' election campaigns, Mr Chhokar adds. For one, there are limits on how much can spent by individual candidates but not the political parties backing them. Independent candidates also don't enjoy the income tax exemptions that political parties do. "There are candidates who genuinely want to make a difference but funding limitations, lack of influence and public perception in favour of big parties often constrains their chances." Mr Kondekar is aware that he's unlikely to win. Over the years, he has sold ancestral land and a house to raise money for his campaigns. His only source of income - as per the disclosures he made while filing his nomination - is a monthly pension of 1,921 rupees ($28; £21). But while admitting that his fight is mostly symbolic, Mr Kondekar refuses to give up hope. "It's a contest between their [political parties'] iron sword and my paper cut-out," he says. "But I want to keep trying. Given my age, this will most likely be my last election. But perhaps things might be different this time."

हर भारतीय चुनाव में कई निर्दलीय उम्मीदवार सामने आते हैं, जो अपने खिलाफ खड़ी बाधाओं के बावजूद, लोकतंत्र पर एक मौका लेते हैं। ओमकार खांडेकर एक ऐसे व्यक्ति के बारे में बताते हैं जो दो दर्जन बार हार गया है लेकिन कोशिश करना बंद करने से इनकार कर देता है।


Manchester Piccadilly signal fault leads to rush hour rail misery

Summary: Rail passengers have faced disruption after a signalling fault between Manchester Piccadilly and Wilmslow hit rush hour journeys.

Network Rail said the problem, which affected the line between Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent from about 17:00 BST, has now been resolved. However, it will take some time for services to return to normal. Arriva Trains said passengers can travel between Manchester and Crewe/Warrington using any route.

मैनचेस्टर पिकैडिली और विल्म्सलो के बीच सिग्नल में खराबी के कारण रेल यात्रियों को परेशानी का सामना करना पड़ा है।


Toasting Welsh whisky on St David's Day

Summary: If you are so minded this St David's Day, you might want to toast the patron saint of Wales with a dram of Welsh whisky. With two distilleries, the EU now formally recognises Wales as a whisky-producing country. BBC Scotland's David Allison reports that with several more distilleries planned, Welsh whisky is back...with a bit of Scottish help along the way.

Our Celtic cousins have distilled whisky in Wales since the middle ages, but not continuously. The late 19th Century temperance movement opposed the demon alcohol, and whisky production ended in 1910 when the Welsh Whisky Distillery Company closed its doors for the last time. In 1915, in an attempt to reduce the impact of alcohol on the war effort, the then Chancellor Lloyd George's Immature Spirits Act stipulated that whisky must be matured for at least three years. It led to the drink's reputation as a premium product, and the irony of a Welshman boosting the Scotch whisky industry. Welsh whisky wasn't produced again for almost 100 years until the Penderyn Distillery in the Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales released its first batch on St David's Day 2004, exactly 13 years ago. It's gone on to be a multi-award-winning product, with a bit of Scottish help including a still from the McMillan company in Prestonpans in East Lothian. Penderyn's Sian Whitelock says they've learned plenty of good practice from the industry in Scotland in areas such as sourcing the best barley and barrels. The company's Jon Tregenna says the learning experiences are going both ways. "We have no plans to be releasing a 12-year, or a 15-year, or an 18-year," he said. "There is a rise in non-age statement whiskies and some Scottish distilleries are making advances in that direction as well, realising that out of this fashion maybe the old 12, 18, 25 might start to change a bit over the years." The company is planning a second distillery in two years' time, its copper stills to be located appropriately enough in the area of Swansea nicknamed Copperopolis from when the ready supply of coal for energy made it the epicentre of the world's copper industry. Penderyn is also aiming for a third distillery at a yet to be disclosed location in North Wales, while another firm Halewood International has also submitted plans for another whisky distillery also in the north near Bangor. But currently, the tiny distillery which actually gives Wales that all-important EU recognition as a whisky-producing country is based at a small organic farm in west Wales. The Da Mhile micro-distillery in Llandysul stands out for a number of reasons, not least because in an area where the Welsh language is king its name is actually Scots Gaelic, and means two thousand. It takes its name from an organic whisky that farmer and cheesemaker, and now proud distiller, John Savage Onstwedder commissioned from the Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown to celebrate the new millennium. The first locally-distilled Da Mhile whisky went on sale last November and promptly sold out. Mr Ontswedder says the scale is small but the aim is for the standard to be high. "One cannot survive in rural Wales by producing mediocrity. It won't work. So it has to be top quality," he said. The still was made in Germany, the home of schnapps, but elsewhere on the farm Scottish connections run deep. John Savage Onstwedder is himself half Dutch, half Scots and his son John-James trained at the small Kilchoman distillery on the west coast of Islay. Whisky in Wales is a growth industry, and while lawyers for the industry in Scotland will make sure that they'll never be able to call it Scotch, the regular awards demonstrate that the quality of the product is not in question. So from west Wales "Iechyd da!" - "Cheers!" "Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus!" - Happy St David's Day.

यदि आप इस सेंट डेविड दिवस पर इतने ही इच्छुक हैं, तो हो सकता है कि आप वेल्स के संरक्षक संत को वेल्श व्हिस्की के एक ड्रम के साथ टोस्ट करना चाहें। दो डिस्टिलरी के साथ, यूरोपीय संघ अब औपचारिक रूप से वेल्स को एक व्हिस्की उत्पादक देश के रूप में मान्यता देता है। बीबीसी स्कॉटलैंड के डेविड एलिसन ने बताया कि कई और डिस्टिलरी की योजना के साथ, वेल्श व्हिस्की वापस आ गई है... रास्ते में थोड़ी स्कॉटिश मदद के साथ।


Somerset man accused of police and paramedic assaults

Summary: A man accused of assaulting a paramedic and police officers during an incident in Bridgwater has appeared in court.

Anthony McLellan, 35, of Stoke Road, Stoke St Mary, appeared at Taunton Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. He is accused of six charges of common assault on an emergency worker, three charges of common assault and one charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm after the incident on Monday. Mr McLellan has also been charged with causing criminal damage. He was remanded in custody and will appear at Taunton Crown Court on 1 February. Related Internet Links Avon and Somerset Policewww.avonandsomerset.police.uk

ब्रिजवाटर में एक घटना के दौरान एक पैरामेडिक और पुलिस अधिकारियों पर हमला करने का आरोपी एक व्यक्ति अदालत में पेश हुआ है।


Coventry Cathedral: Memories of its construction 50 years on

Summary: Coventry Cathedral, a celebrated example of 20th Century architecture, turns 50 this week and over the years has become, along with the adjoining ruins of St Michaels, a global symbol of peace and reconciliation.

The decision to build it came in the immediate aftermath of the devastation caused to the previous structure by incendiary bombs during World War II. Hundreds of people had a hand in its construction, not least Sir Basil Spence who won a competition to design the cathedral in the 1950s. But it could have looked very different if the man behind Birmingham's Rotunda had won the contract. Jim Roberts, an unknown architect at the time, was one of many given 12 months to submit a design. He felt he played by the rules unlike Sir Basil. Quality craftsmanship Mr Roberts said: "The rules of the competition were specific. They asked to associate the new scheme with the existing tower and spire. "Basil Spence provided the right answer but as far as I was concerned it was a total contravention of the instructions that the competitors were all given. "With my scheme the ruins would have been obliterated because you would have kept the tower and spire but to glue the new building onto it meant the whole of the ruins would have been decimated." One of those who worked as an architect on the successful cathedral project was Anthony Blee, Sir Basil's son-in-law. Mr Blee said: "I saw it as a great opportunity because the building had been designed and yet there was still a lot of design to do. "What I'm proud of is nothing to do with me. It's the level of craftsmanship that is consistent here." The attention to detail is evident throughout. From the tapestry of Christ and the Baptistry Window to the pennies embedded in the floor and the walls of the building itself. Peter Walker and Roy Burnett were just teenagers when they began making the stones for the cathedral in a Staffordshire yard. For Mr Burnett, it was a labour of love. He said: "I reckon one in every 20 stones came through our hands. "Working the ends of the stone, you could probably do 10 or 15 a day. "But if it was a piece of the Baptistry Window you did one every 14 hours. "A lot have got my wife's name underneath them." The cathedral's foundation stone was laid by the Queen on 23 March 1956. But according to Mr Walker, it was not the one Sir Basil had initially picked out. He said: "The first one toppled over. "It had frozen during the day and it was balanced on two blocks. When it thawed the stone tipped and knocked a big piece out of it." Digging up bones One of those to work on the cathedral ahead of its consecration on 25 May 1962 was Tony McGregor, who helped dig the foundation for the Chapel of Unity. Mr McGregor said: "There were graves and we were told any bones or skulls that we dug up we were to put them to one side. They were going to bury them as a communal grave. "We were throwing all the soil onto the wagons. "We didn't wear gloves in those days and some of the lads didn't like handling the bones or the skulls so they used to throw them on the wagon. "Apparently [the police] found the skulls on the tip and they thought a mass murder had been committed." Mr McGregor admits that it is only years after that he appreciates his role in the cathedral's construction. He believes it has stood the test of time. "It'll take a good German bomb to shift this cathedral," he added. "It's so solid." To celebrate the occasion, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire has recorded 50 stories about the cathedral from those who have played a part in its history. The 50 Stories for 50 Years have been shared on the radio and on the station's on the station's Facebook and Audioboo pages.

कोवेंट्री कैथेड्रल, 20वीं शताब्दी की वास्तुकला का एक प्रसिद्ध उदाहरण, इस सप्ताह 50 वर्ष का हो गया है और वर्षों से सेंट माइकल्स के आसपास के खंडहरों के साथ, शांति और सुलह का एक वैश्विक प्रतीक बन गया है।


Covid: Why is Liverpool being used as a test site?

Summary: Events are taking place in Liverpool to test crowd safety and check what impact easing Covid-19 rules will have ahead of a full lifting of restrictions later in the year. But why is the city at the forefront of these trials and how do people feel about the city being used as a test site?

By Lauren HirstBBC News Online The events form part of the government's Events Research Programme (ERP), which will explore the risk of transmission and the effectiveness of measures such as ventilation and testing. Liverpool's involvement is not the first time the city has been used to help shape national policy during the pandemic, as in November it was also selected for the mass testing trial where residents were offered regular coronavirus tests. The city's director of public health Matt Ashton believes part of the reason Liverpool has been trusted to take on the trials dates back to July 2020, when concerns started to grow over a spike in cases in the city's Princes Park ward "right in the heart of one of our most disadvantaged communities". In a bid to stop the virus from spreading, people living in the area were advised to avoid mixing with other households, a walk-in testing centre was opened, community buildings were closed and a local public health campaign was launched. Mr Ashton said this local response not only ensured the outbreak was "squashed in under two-and-a-half weeks" but it also "showed what local areas can do when they take control of the situation". This partly led to the decision to select Liverpool for the mass testing pilot as "the government was keen to work with us as a result of our previous success", he said. So when discussions started over the ERP, Mr Ashton knew the city had the "knowledge and infrastructure in place to deliver complicated projects safely". "We have been knocking on government's door since last year wanting to be a part of pilot events [as] we know we can do it safely and well." He said he was "massively proud of the way Liverpool has come together to fight this awful pandemic," adding it was a "continuation of the city's long-standing tradition of carrying out pioneering public health work". 'Huge honour' The first ERP trial was held on Wednesday and saw 400 people gather for the start of The Good Business Festival at ACC Liverpool. Guests did not have to wear masks or socially distance, but all attendees had to take a test before and after the event. "It is much safer coming to these events than it is going to the supermarket," said Liverpool's director of culture, Claire McColgan, who was part of the team organising the festival. She said it was important to help get these kinds of gatherings back up and running as the events sector "represents more than half of our economy, so also plays a major role in the success of the city". "Liverpool is a really interesting city because it always does put its hands up for things, always has done," she added. Paul Grover, the chairman of the Liverpool China Partnership, was one of those who went along. He said it was a "huge honour to be a part of the project", which had been "really exciting". He added that he hoped it had been "a snapshot of where we are going to get to hopefully in a few weeks' time". Jayne Moore, the chief executive of Jayne Moore Media Group, also attended the event. She said there was a lot of excitement as it was "really important for our economy that we get back to normality as quickly as possible". "I think Liverpool is famous for being first for many things and that's because we are such a tight, well-organised community," she added. 'Old school normality' Other trials in the city will be held at Bramley-Moore Dock warehouse with a nightclub event hosted by Circus, Luna Outdoor Cinema and in Sefton Park, where rock band Blossoms will headline a near-normal gig without any social distancing or mask wearing. Yousef Zaher, the co-founder of Circus events and DJ, said he was "excited to be able to contribute to getting the whole nation back into the real world". He said his event would be "monumental for a thousand reasons" and added that once those attending are through the doors, it would be "old school normality to gather data to be able to get us to 21 June with as least resistance as possible". A spokesman for Liverpool City Council said the choice of the city was down to its "can-do attitude and real sense of community spirit". "People get the importance of being part of something significant that helps get life back to normal," he said. "We saw how people embraced mass testing and similarly we are seeing the same with the ERP." Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk Related Internet Links Liverpool City Council Department of Health and Social Care

लिवरपूल में भीड़ की सुरक्षा का परीक्षण करने और यह जांचने के लिए कार्यक्रम आयोजित किए जा रहे हैं कि साल के अंत में प्रतिबंधों को पूरी तरह से हटाने से पहले कोविड-19 नियमों को आसान बनाने का क्या प्रभाव पड़ेगा। लेकिन इन परीक्षणों में शहर सबसे आगे क्यों है और लोग शहर को एक परीक्षण स्थल के रूप में उपयोग किए जाने के बारे में कैसा महसूस करते हैं?


Ford Bridgend: 'It's over - and it's hard to take'

Summary: The Ford plant in Bridgend will shut down for the last time later, bringing to a close four decades of production at the site. The closure, announced in June 2019 , will have a major impact on the local community in Bridgend, with the loss of hundreds of skilled, well-paid jobs. When opened in May 1980, it was seen as an industrial landmark in Wales. And for those living there, such as BBC Radio Wales presenter Gareth Lewis , its blue logo loomed large over life. 'Synonymous with Bridgend'

By Gareth LewisBBC Radio Wales It was impossible to grow up in Bridgend in the 1980s and 1990s without a connection to Ford. One of your family worked there, you knew someone who worked there, or you were lucky like us and knew Pete, who worked at the factory and did car services on the side. Even now, in 2020, there are still boys I went to school with working at the plant. The house I grew up in looked down on to the industrial estate and the two big names that for decades now have been synonymous with Bridgend: Sony on the right with its big neon sign, and to the left the sprawling Ford building with its unmistakable oval logo towering above it. Motown in my home town, the pride of Detroit in south Wales. But how? Why here? Even as a child it seemed pretty incongruous. But when the deal was struck back in 1977 they were different times. It came down partly to a personal meeting at Chequers where the then Prime Minister James Callaghan wooed Henry Ford II, grandson of the original Henry. Wales wanted Ford, and in the end Ford wanted to come. We did not even have the ironic cheek to specify the colour of the factory. But now Ford - like Sony - is gone. Someone I spoke to this week called it "tragic." Manufacturing they said, is "under immense threat and it will only deteriorate further". 'End of an era' And the future does look more uncertain than it did back in 1977. It feels pretty hard to take that something which started in the year I was born is now over. An industry that provided so many jobs when those in coal were starting to burn out. The end of an era in Welsh manufacturing and despite that concerted wooing 43 years ago, the end of the marriage between Bridgend and Ford.

ब्रिजेंड में फोर्ड संयंत्र बाद में आखिरी बार बंद हो जाएगा, जिससे साइट पर चार दशकों का उत्पादन होगा। जून 2019 में घोषित बंद होने से ब्रिजेंड में स्थानीय समुदाय पर बड़ा प्रभाव पड़ेगा, जिससे सैकड़ों कुशल, अच्छी तनख्वाह वाली नौकरियों का नुकसान होगा। जब मई 1980 में खोला गया, तो इसे वेल्स में एक औद्योगिक मील का पत्थर के रूप में देखा गया। और वहाँ रहने वालों के लिए, जैसे कि बीबीसी रेडियो वेल्स के प्रस्तुतकर्ता गैरेथ लुईस, इसका नीला लोगो जीवन भर बड़ा दिखाई दिया। 'ब्रिजेंड के साथ समानार्थी'


Tim Burton: 'I've never made a scary movie'

Summary: Nearly 30 years after Disney fired Tim Burton because his short film Frankenweenie was "too scary" for children, the director - who has made a feature length, 3D stop-motion version of the story - insists he has "never made a scary movie".

By Sarah Jane GriffithsEntertainment reporter, BBC News The black-and-white animation pays homage to his favourite, classic horror movies, which Burton's parents say he was watching on TV "before I could walk or talk". It is also just in time for Halloween. But Burton says his intention has never been to make a frightening film. "I don't think I've ever made any scary movie, ever, even if I've tried to. I've never made a scary movie," insists the director, whose visually stunning, darker-than-average films include Beetlejuice, Corpse Bride and the recent Dark Shadows. He also points out that serving up "scary" subject matter to children is nothing new. "You know I grew up on Disney movies and I always thought that's what partly made Disney movies. From Snow White on, they've always dealt with some [scary] imagery. "Those are the most memorable parts of the movie as far as I was concerned," says Burton. He was "never afraid" of the 1930s horror films such as Dracula and The Mummy but as a young boy growing up in Burbank, Los Angeles, who felt "a little isolated", he instead identified with the title characters. "I just linked up the feeling with Frankenstein with the way I felt. The creature, and also the mad scientist. And my neighbours were the angry villagers," he explains. Childhood memories In true Burton style, Frankenweenie deals with death and darkness with a light touch. It tells the sweet story of young science buff Victor Frankenstein, who tries to bring his pet dog Sparky back to life. Burton based Victor on himself as a boy: "On an emotional level anyway, obviously it's not real. "I liked making little Super 8 films and I was a lacking sportsperson. [I] loved my dog," explains Burton. Sadly for the film-maker, his dog Pepe also died. But as well as loss and bereavement, the film also touches on issues of making friends and finding your way in life. "I think a lot of kids feel like they're just sort of loners," explains Burton. "But you also get along, you go to school. In fact I always felt like the other kids were much stranger than I was, which I tried to reflect a little bit in the film." Victor's schoolmates, ranging from toothy misfit Edgar 'E' Gore to Boris Karloff lookalike Nassor and the wide-eyed Weird Girl with her fluffy cat Mr Whiskers, certainly seem to reflect Burton's views of his classmates. "What was fun for me on this is to really delve back into the memory bank. We tried to base everything on a real actual person or memory or a combination of people. And then also how those [horror] movies kind of helped me through those years." 'Powerful combination' Created by Burton and screenwriter John August, Frankenweenie's characters were brought to life as stop-motion puppets at Three Mills Studios in east London, with each animator painstakingly creating just a few seconds of footage in an average week. They were inspired by the original drawings Burton made while working at Disney in 1984. Burton chose to use stop-motion and black and white as they are a "powerful combination" for 3D technology which "shows the artist's work more". "I just felt it was more emotional in black and white than in colour, and more real in a strange way," says Burton. As usual, Burton called on actors he could trust to voice the characters, from Edward Scissorhands star Winona Ryder, to Ed Wood's Martin Landau - who plays Victor's inspirational science teacher Mr Rzykruski. In fact both Catherine O'Hara (Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas) and Martin Short (Mars Attacks!) voice three characters each. O'Hara - who met her husband on the set of Beetlejuice more than 20 years ago - voices Victor's mother Mrs Frankenstein, Weird Girl and the school's overbearing PE teacher. The director persuaded her to base the latter on an "obnoxious" woman on US TV. "The monsters in Tim's life are these scary people who take themselves seriously, and are arrogant and oppress others," explains O'Hara. 'Risky business' Working with people "who just believe in you and basically take a shot" is also Burton's way of negotiating the business end of Hollywood, where "everything is risky". Despite having achieved box office success with films like Batman, he says each project can still be "a struggle to mount". So far critics have raved about Frankenweenie, which opened the London Film Festival last week. But Burton remains unsure of what the public's reaction will be, and is even primed for some "initial resistance". "When I did my first couple of films, Pee Wee's Big Adventure or Beetlejuice, they were on the 10 worst movies of the year list! A few years later people change their minds." Producer Allison Abbate - another longtime Burton collaborator - hopes parents will give it a shot, rather than assuming the animation is too dark. "We've had parents say, 'I like this movie because I can talk to my kids about stuff'. It does seem like a pity if people can't find the movie because they think it might be too scary. "But once kids see it and say 'I wasn't scared', more people will go and see it." With such a personal project as Frankenweenie, the stakes are higher than usual for Burton. "You're always worried, you always feel a bit exposed. I get quite vulnerable and actually depressed." Burton continues: "I never know. Every movie I've ever done could go either way. "I've heard 10-year old girls say they love Sweeney Todd. On other movies people say, 'When one of your films comes on, my dogs love watching it'!" Frankenweenie is released in UK cinemas on 17 October.

डिज्नी द्वारा टिम बर्टन को बर्खास्त करने के लगभग 30 साल बाद क्योंकि उनकी लघु फिल्म फ्रेंकेनवीनी बच्चों के लिए "बहुत डरावनी" थी, निर्देशक-जिन्होंने कहानी का एक फीचर लेंथ, 3डी स्टॉप-मोशन संस्करण बनाया है-जोर देकर कहते हैं कि उन्होंने "कभी भी एक डरावनी फिल्म नहीं बनाई है"।


From Belgian school to Syrian battleground

Summary: Hundreds of Europeans are fighting with rebel forces in Syria and intelligence agencies are concerned some could return home to launch terrorist attacks. One Belgian family says their son has joined rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad's regime.

By Duncan CrawfordBBC News A camera shakily films a group of rebel fighters preparing to pray, lined up in rows, their weapons at their feet. A young man walks into shot and takes off his rifle before briefly turning towards the camera. "That's Brian," says Ingrid de Mulder, pointing at her nephew in the online video on her computer. "I'm 100% sure. That's him. No doubt." Nineteen-year-old Brian de Mulder from Antwerp is one of hundreds of Europeans authorities believe to be in Syria. "It's not the Brian brought up by his mother," says Ingrid. "Brian was athletic, he was sporty, he was helping everybody. We never saw him like this. For me it's a programmed robot." The BBC can't verify the video but analysts believe it was filmed in Syria and European voices can be heard in the background. Ingrid says Brian converted to Islam two years ago. The family were at first supportive but say he gradually became more radical after getting involved with a group known as Sharia4Belgium. "He became fanatic. He wanted to pray only. He left school," says Ingrid. The family were so worried they moved to a new home 100 miles from Antwerp in the summer last year, but it didn't work. "He started saying 'I can do whatever I want and even if I die I am not afraid, I will go to the paradise of Allah,'" she says. Brian left in January this year. By then he had changed his name to Abu Qasem Brazili. His 12-year-old sister Ashia was the last family member to see him. "Brian told her he was saying goodbye. He said: 'I love you but you will never see me again.'" says Ingrid. "To leave all your family and not contact your mother anymore. I think he's in a state of being a soldier. A soldier of Allah," she says. Belgian police raided dozens of houses of people linked to Sharia4Belgium last week. The authorities have accused the group of recruiting more than 30 people to fight in Syria in the last year. The EU's anti-terror chief says that hundreds of Europeans have gone there and that some could join radical groups. "Not all of them are radical when they leave. But most likely many of them will be radicalised there, will be trained," says the EU's counter terrorism co-ordinator, Gilles de Kerchove. He says the UK, Ireland, France, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and other EU nations have significant numbers involved in the fighting. "As we've seen from previous situations this might create a serious threat when they get back." "They will be veterans and they may inspire other people and all of this may have a sort of radicalising impact," he adds. Earlier this month, a survey by King's College London found that up to 600 people from Europe have taken part in the conflict since it began two years ago. There are other online videos which back up the findings. In one, rebel fighters appear to be in a firefight and a Flemish voice says: "Only shoot once when you see them". "It's dangerous. Make sure you aim," says a Dutch voice in another video. Bashar al-Assad has repeatedly said the insurgency against him is largely the result of "foreign-backed terrorists". So far the US and EU have refused to supply the rebels with weapons, partly over concerns that they may end up in the hands of Islamist extremists inspired by al-Qaeda. Jacques Beres, co-founder of medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, says that he treated five injured Europeans in Syria last year. "Two brothers were from France, two others were from the UK and there was a Swedish national who was of Syrian origin. They seemed to be completely lost. They looked as if they were machines. It was terrifying." Mr Beres says one of the brothers was inspired by Mohammed Merah, a gunman who killed seven people in south-western France last year in the name of al-Qaeda. Merah was killed in an armed siege after police surrounded his block of flats in Toulouse. "He (the French brother) told me that the real hero is Mohammed Merah, that he was an example to follow," Mr Beres says. Intelligence agencies across Europe have stepped up investigations in response to the growing number of European fighters in Syria. The Netherlands raised the terror threat level from "limited" to "substantial" last month, partly over concerns about radicalised citizens returning. The UK has increased efforts to track how fighters are recruited and funded. And in Belgium, some politicians have called for pre-emptive action to stop young Belgian Muslims from travelling. "People suspected of wanting to go to Syria should have their ID cards confiscated in advance," says Flemish Socialist MP Hans Bonte. The EU is pushing to bring in a Europe-wide passenger database for air-travel which in future could help track individuals down. Questions have also been asked about what Muslim leaders are doing to deal with the problem. The body that represents Muslims in Belgium has rejected claims they haven't spoken out forcefully enough against radical elements. "Some people may be talking in a way that might radicalise some Muslims but we categorically condemn this," says Semsettin Ugurlu, the president of the Muslim Executive in Belgium. "As a body we do not accept words of hate and of violence in mosques," he adds. For Brian de Mulder's family the waiting continues. They say Brian put up a notice on his Facebook page a few days ago saying they need to become true believers. "You are not my family anymore," he wrote. "My Muslim brothers are now my family. If I ever contact you again, you must be on your knees asking forgiveness and convert to Islam first." He added: "I will never come back to Belgium as it's a country full of unbelievers." The family say Brian also messaged a friend saying he was near the Syrian capital Damascus. His aunt Ingrid fears her nephew will never be the same again. But sitting in her garden, staring at photos of him in his old football kit, she clings on to hope. "I'm praying every day. I hope he sees the light one day. To use their words: inshallah [God willing]."

सैकड़ों यूरोपीय सीरिया में विद्रोही बलों के साथ लड़ रहे हैं और खुफिया एजेंसियों को चिंता है कि कुछ लोग आतंकवादी हमले करने के लिए घर लौट सकते हैं। बेल्जियम के एक परिवार का कहना है कि उनका बेटा बशर अल-असद के शासन से लड़ने वाले विद्रोहियों में शामिल हो गया है।


Man reported after Gretna sheep worrying

Summary: Police have said a man is being reported to the procurator fiscal after an incident which resulted in the death of a dozen sheep on a farm near Gretna.

Two animals died immediately and another 10 had to be put down later at West Scales farm in Rigg on 1 November. Police Scotland said a 50-year-old local man had been traced and reported in relation to the incident. They said he would be charged with offences under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953.

पुलिस ने कहा है कि ग्रेटना के पास एक खेत में एक दर्जन भेड़ों की मौत की घटना के बाद एक व्यक्ति को खरीददार वित्तीय को सूचित किया जा रहा है।


The Swansea couple who have fostered 1,000 children

Summary: Wendy Taylor and her husband Steve have fostered more than 1,000 children since they took in their first child 34 years ago. As charities call for all Welsh councils to exempt young people leaving care from paying council tax until they are 25, Wendy describes the challenges faced by her children as they leave home for an independent life at 18.

My husband Steve and I decided to foster children after we had our daughter, Becky, in 1984. We were unable to have any more children but did not want her to be an only child - now she jokes she's been brought up with half of Swansea. At the last count, we'd fostered 1,000 children and on the whole it's a rewarding job, although it can be very difficult as you're taking on other people's problems and trying to manage them. There was a time in the 1990s when all my boys were involved in car crime - car theft, that sort of thing, which was quite prevalent in Swansea at the time. Steve and I were in police stations and courts daily - we were on first name terms with the solicitors and they knew us well at Swansea Prison. There is a bypass that goes behind our house and if the boys had stolen a car they would beep all along the bypass - I would hear it and know to expect a call about 20 minutes later from the police after they'd been arrested. But that's when Steve and I would do a lot of our work to help those children. When they were locked up in a police cell I would ask to go and sit in there with them. We're talking about hardened criminals here, but at that point they would be at their most vulnerable - their defences would be down and they would just sit and put their head on my lap - that's when I felt I was really making a difference. Not all made it out of that cycle okay. Sometimes I'm in Swansea shopping and I walk past a few familiar faces who are now homeless and live on the streets. I have also lost about 20 children over the years - some through suicide, others through drugs - and that is sad. It devastates me. They are just children who don't have a good start in life. And that's why I think we need to do all we can to help these kids - and giving them one less bill to pay by exempting them from council tax when they first leave home would help. We mainly take in teenagers and a lot of what I do is to try to equip them for life on their own when they leave us aged 18 or 19. Some choose to leave at 16 and they then go into supported lodgings. Unlike most children, they do not have a mum or dad who they can turn to for help or money - they don't have the luxury of a mother at the end of a phone. They have also been through a lot in their lives already - many are immature and struggle in school. So I feel I have a lot to cram in to prepare them for living on their own at such a young age. I usually start when they are about 15 with basic things like teaching them to do their own washing, to tidy up after themselves and to do their own shopping. I give them £25 a week and with that they have to buy everything they need - toiletries, clothing, food... they have their own cupboard in the kitchen and an area in the fridge and freezer. It takes a while for them to get to grips with it and I have to stay firm - it's thinking about tomorrow, not today. A lot of them are keen to leave - they want to live on their own. Initially when they do, they are put in a little studio flat - or a bedsit as I would call them - in a shared house owned by the local council. But when the reality hits, we often get calls from them in tears saying they want to come back to us. Your instinct is to mother them and at first I would find it hard. But now I know you have to hold firm. 'Guiding hand' Every child is different but facing the world as an adult can be very stressful and it's a shock for them. Just grasping the concept of bills is hard. All of a sudden they are having to pay things like water rates and it's funny because they say to me "don't be silly, you don't pay for water, it comes out of a tap". And they really don't understand council tax - it's really hard to explain it to them. They might come from a background where maybe their parents didn't pay this stuff anyway - they would just move from place to place to avoid it. They have been brought up to think you don't pay, you vanish. Equally, many have come from a background where education isn't seen to be important so going to school and college can be very frightening for them. But sometimes, when they are given an opportunity and a guiding hand, they can surprise you. We have been so proud to see some of our children go on to college and make a good life for themselves. We keep in touch with lots of them - you never know who will show up at Christmas time and that's lovely. I must admit, I find it hard to remember all of their names - sometimes someone comes to the door and I recognise the face but just can't find a name, so I just say 'come in, come in' and get chatting and hope the name pops into my head. 'Feeling of belonging' I would say it's been a huge learning curve - I took in my first foster child when I was just 28 and he was 15 and I wasn't really old enough to be his mother. I was more like a sister. But I've grown in confidence and learned a lot over the years - I used to feel threatened by their families, for example, but now I love working with them. Our second foster child is 46 now - but I still call him my child - and he always comes for Sunday lunch. One of our other boys has just come out of prison, which I'm so pleased about. I'm 61 now and I suppose I'm thinking of retiring in the next few years - Steve retired from his job on a youth offending team last year. But I think I'll have to do it gradually - go down to two children at a time perhaps - because I know I will miss it all so much when it ends. It's a lovely feeling having them all - I suppose it's a feeling of belonging. It's a strange circle we have here, but it's our own little bubble and we love it.

वेंडी टेलर और उनके पति स्टीव ने 34 साल पहले अपने पहले बच्चे को जन्म देने के बाद से 1,000 से अधिक बच्चों का पालन-पोषण किया है। जैसा कि दान सभी वेल्श परिषदों से 25 साल की उम्र तक देखभाल छोड़ने वाले युवाओं को परिषद कर का भुगतान करने से छूट देने का आह्वान करता है, वेंडी अपने बच्चों के सामने आने वाली चुनौतियों का वर्णन करती है क्योंकि वे 18 साल की उम्र में स्वतंत्र जीवन के लिए घर छोड़ते हैं।


Daniel Radcliffe's stiff Swiss Army challenge

Summary: It's been the most talked about film at the Sundance Film Festival, and it stars Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe. But Swiss Army Man, a feature film debut by directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, is achieving headlines for two reasons - not only has its sensationalist plot divided critical reaction, but Radcliffe plays a dead body with flatulence issues.

By Emma JonesEntertainment reporter Speaking as the film had its world premiere at the Sundance festival in Utah, 26-year-old Radcliffe called making Swiss Army Man "one of the most joyous experiences of my entire life". Yet the media had differing opinions with Rolling Stone calling it '"Sundance's craziest movie" and the Guardian's headline reading "Daniel Radcliffe's flatulent corpse prompts Sundance walkouts" - a reference to the amount of people who deserted the premiere, apparently in disgust. From start to finish, Swiss Army Man is controversial. Paul Dano, currently starring in the BBC drama War and Peace, plays Hank, a lonely young man on the shore of a desert island. He is thinking about finishing it all, when the body of Radcliffe's character is washed up. Manny, as the corpse is called, can't control any of his bodily functions, but his gaseous presence saves Hank's life, and he's not prepared to let him go, taking him bodily back into civilization. Dano says he spent most of the weeks of filming "dragging Dan's corpse around the woods". But Radcliffe, far from having an easy job, says he found playing a dead body a difficult move. "It was a massive challenge physically," he says, "I mean he's dead, rigor mortis is setting in, so everything has to be said with the eyes. It was weirdly emotional, playing a corpse, but I'm really pleased about just how dead I look in the film." The actor, who after finishing Harry Potter, has taken parts such as beat poet Allen Ginsberg in Kill Your Darlings, and Igor in Paul McGuigan's gothic Victor Frankenstein, admits "a liking for the strange and fantastical". "Why did I take this part? Well, why not? I think it's a fantastic and important movie and it's just an amazing work of imagination." Kwan and Scheinert, Americans who met at a college animation class, collectively call themselves the "Daniels", and are known for making music videos, as well as a short film called My Best Friend's Sweating. They say that after writing Swiss Army Man they "thought we would just have to act in it ourselves, because the plot is so crazy, we really thought we would never get any actor to do it". Radcliffe says: "I didn't know what I was doing until I turned up, even though I had read the script. In fact I didn't know what I was doing from day to day. As you'll see if you watch the film, it was a hard one to be prepared for. But I had such a good experience. "A lot of my friends would say that playing a dead guy is a good role for me, I took some flak on that before I even filmed it. I don't want to say exactly what happens to me, apart from getting lugged around by Paul Dano, but his character uses and abuses my character's body. "It's going to split opinion, it's going to be divisive, and you're either going to love it or hate it. There's something very, very absurd about the movie." But Radcliffe denies that his heart now lies in independent film-making, saying "people should stop thinking big budget films aren't a challenge to make for actors". "I am sure I'll do one again sometime. For me, it's all about the freedom to do what project I want at the time. " Now living in New York, Radcliffe was due to take a part in a John Krokidas comedy about George W Bush's senior advisor Karl Rove, but the project is on hold. However, taking such a controversial role in Swiss Army Man will do his career no harm. According to trade magazine the Hollywood Reporter, it has all the makings of a cult classic. It says: "By turns enchanting, irritating, juvenile and yet oddly endearing… Swiss Army Man will probably make very little money theatrically. But over the long haul, there will be plenty of punters willing to watch it." Radcliffe himself says he has no regrets: "This is a film where cinematically, anything goes. It's crazy and wild. Am I happy I did it? You bet." The Sundance Film Festival runs until 31 January. Swiss Army Man is yet to receive a release date in the UK.

सनडांस फिल्म फेस्टिवल में यह सबसे चर्चित फिल्म रही है, और इसमें हैरी पॉटर अभिनेता डेनियल रैडक्लिफ हैं। लेकिन स्विस आर्मी मैन, निर्देशक डेनियल क्वान और डेनियल शाइनर्ट द्वारा एक फीचर फिल्म की शुरुआत, दो कारणों से सुर्खियां बटोर रही है-न केवल इसके सनसनीखेज कथानक ने आलोचनात्मक प्रतिक्रियाओं को विभाजित किया है, बल्कि रैडक्लिफ ने पेट फूलने के मुद्दों के साथ एक मृत शरीर की भूमिका निभाई है।


Birmingham Central Library: Demolition work begins

Summary: Demolition work has begun on Birmingham's old Central Library.

Once described by the Prince of Wales as looking like "a place where books are incinerated, not kept", the concrete building is being cleared as part of a major redevelopment project. Built more than 40 years ago, it has been stripped inside, although work is not expected to be finished until next autumn. Campaigners had wanted it to be given listed status and preserved. Updates on this story and more from Birmingham They handed a 2,000-signature petition to the city council earlier this month. Crowds gathered to watch the city's "important example of brutalist architecture" be slowly taken down. Designed by local architect John Madin, who was also behind the BBC's Pebble Mill studios and the chamber of commerce building in the city, it was opened in 1973. A "concrete cruncher" is being used initially to "nibble" at the exterior, but because of the impact of the work the building has been strengthened with about a dozen steel joists, developers said. Timeline: Birmingham Central Library The nearby one-way Paradise Circus loop has been closed to enable demolition equipment, including a special excavator used on buildings in tightly constrained places, to be put in place. While work to clear the site takes place, a walkway through the old Paradise Forum has been closed, along with a large part of Chamberlain Square. Pedestrians and cyclists are being re-routed through Fletchers Walk. Developers described the start of the demolition work as a "significant milestone". Once fully demolished, it will be replaced with office space as part of the £500m Paradise regeneration scheme. The 10-year project will see new offices, shops and walkways created, which will link Chamberlain and Centenary Squares. A new £190m library opened in Centenary Square in 2013.

बर्मिंघम के पुराने केंद्रीय पुस्तकालय को ध्वस्त करने का काम शुरू हो गया है।


Wales football team marks Aberfan disaster anniversary

Summary: The Wales football team has visited Aberfan to mark the 50th anniversary of the mining disaster which killed 144 people.

The players visited the memorial garden to pay their respects before rejoining their clubs. The village was devastated in 1966 when a colliery waste tip collapsed, with slurry engulfing Pantglas Junior School on the last day before half term. Manager Chris Coleman described the visit as "humbling". "In a small way we wanted to show our respect and reflect on the tragedy of 50 years ago," he said. "It puts everything into perspective."

वेल्स फुटबॉल टीम ने खनन आपदा की 50वीं वर्षगांठ को चिह्नित करने के लिए एबरफान का दौरा किया है जिसमें 144 लोग मारे गए थे।


Guernsey clinics offer minimum wage advice

Summary: Workers and their employers can find out more about Guernsey's minimum wage advice at two seminars.

The new minimum wage of £6 for anyone over 19 and £4.26 for 16 to 18 year olds, starts on 1 October. All workers including part-timers will also have to be provided with written terms and conditions of service. Commerce and Employment will be holding seminars on the requirements of the new minimum wage at Les Cotils on 2 and 8 September.

श्रमिक और उनके नियोक्ता दो संगोष्ठियों में ग्वेर्नसे की न्यूनतम मजदूरी सलाह के बारे में अधिक जानकारी प्राप्त कर सकते हैं।


Syrian conflict: Untold misery of child brides

Summary: There is an alarming rise in the number of Syrian refugee girls in Jordan being forced into early marriages, according to the new figures from the United Nations. As Orla Guerin reports from Zaatari refugee camp, poverty is forcing some families to effectively sell their daughters to much older men, and there is now an organised trade in young girls.

In a prefabricated cabin in the sprawling camp, a girl, 13, sat on the floor engulfed by a frilly white dress, and a hooded silk cape. She was surrounded by children, not much younger than her, clapping and singing a nursery rhyme. What looked like a game of dressing-up was in fact her wedding reception. Her Mother looked on from a distance and wept - for her war torn homeland, and perhaps for her daughter. She asked us not to give their names. No choice Earlier, at a makeshift beauty salon, a fellow Syrian refugee curled the girl's hair and layered make-up on her face - the finishing touches to the end of a childhood. The bride told me her 25-year-old husband had been chosen by her family and she had never seen him before. She appeared relaxed, and said she was happy to be getting married. The reality is she had no choice. Almost one third ( 32% ) of refugee marriages in Jordan involve a girl under 18, according to the latest figures from Unicef. This refers to registered marriages, so the actual figure may be much higher. The rate of child marriage in Syria before the war was 13%. Some families marry off their daughters because of tradition. Others see a husband as protection for their daughters, but the UN says most are driven by poverty. City of the dispossessed "The longer the crisis in Syria lasts, the more we will see refugee families using this as a coping mechanism," said Michele Servadei, deputy Jordan representative for Unicef. "The vast majority of these cases are child abuse, even if the parents are giving their permission." In Zaatari camp - a city of the dispossessed sprouting in the desert - some are married before they reach their teens. Jordanian midwife Mounira Shaban, known in the camp as "Mama Mounira", was invited to the wedding of a 12-year old girl and a 14-year old boy. She could not bring herself to attend. "I felt like I wanted to cry," she said. "I felt like she was my daughter. I think this is violence. It's a shame. If a girl is 18 or over they think she is old and will not marry." Mounira tries to spare young girls from adult burdens. At her clinic she lectures refugees, sitting on benches in the sand, about the problems faced by young brides. "They don't know how to cook," she said, "and they don't know how to read and write. They have to take care of their husbands, when they want to go outside and play. Many of them get divorced." That is what is ahead for a slender 17-year-old we met who did not want to be identified. She was married at 15 and has a treasured baby girl. 'Not scared of divorce' The two-month old wriggled in her arms, snug in a pink and white baby-grow, and her mother's love. But her husband is threatening to take the child away, as the price of her freedom. "I am not scared of divorce. I know I will start a new life, but I am scared that my daughter will be taken from me," she said. "I will die without her. A mother's heart burns if her child is taken from her." At the other side of the camp we met Alaa, a shy young girl in a floral headscarf. Back home in Syria she loved school but now her only lessons are in housework. When we heard the sound of dishes being dropped her 20-year old husband Qassem joked that she was no good at cooking. Not surprising perhaps. Alaa - an orphan - is just 14. She fled Syria with her extended family. When she had to share accommodation with male relatives she was married off to Qassem, her cousin. The couple seemed happy in each other's company, but Alaa is pregnant, and worried. "I am scared of having the baby because I feel I won't be able to look after it," she told us, over a pot of sweet tea. "I wish I could have continued my studies and become a doctor and not got married so young." Shopping for brides Not far from the camp, in the city of Mafraq, there is an organised trade in young girls, according to Syrian refugees and local aid workers. It involves Syrian brokers and men - mainly from the Gulf States - who present themselves as donors, but are actually shopping for brides. They prey on refugee families, living in rented accommodation, who are struggling to get by. Local sources say the going rate for a bride is between 2,000 and 10,000 Jordanian dinars ($2,800/£1,635 to $14,000/£8,180) with another 1,000 ($1,400/£818) going to the broker. "These guys from the Gulf know there are families in need here," said Amal, a refugee, and mother of four. "They offer money to the family and the first thing they ask is 'do you have girls?' They like the young ones, around 14 and 15." Some men want even younger children like 13-year-old Ghazal, a slight but spirited girl with blue nail varnish. A 30-year-old Saudi man proposed to her, but she turned him down - against her family's wishes. She told us she was determined to continue her studies, but it is unclear how long she can defy her parents. Saying "no" was not an option for another teenage refugee in the city, who had dreams of becoming a lawyer. Instead she was married off at 14 to a 50-year-old from Kuwaiti. She told her story from beneath a black veil, which concealed her face, but not the pain in her eyes. "Usually a girl's wedding day is the happiest day in her life," she said, "for me it was the saddest. Everyone was telling me to smile or laugh but my feeling was fear, from the moment we got engaged." Her mother - a Syrian war widow - sat alongside. She told us she accepted 10,000 Jordanian dinars ($14,117/£8,248) for her daughter because she had seven more children she could not provide for. "I would never have considered this back in Syria but we came here with nothing, not even a mattress to sleep on. I thought the money would secure the future of my children. He took advantage of our situation." Instead of a better future, the family now has another mouth to feed. Her daughter has a four-month-old baby boy. His Kuwaiti father has never met him. He abandoned his young bride as soon as she became pregnant.

संयुक्त राष्ट्र के नए आंकड़ों के अनुसार, जॉर्डन में सीरियाई शरणार्थी लड़कियों की संख्या में खतरनाक वृद्धि हुई है, जिन्हें जल्दी शादी करने के लिए मजबूर किया जा रहा है। जैसा कि ज़तरी शरणार्थी शिविर से ओर्ला गुएरिन ने बताया है, गरीबी कुछ परिवारों को अपनी बेटियों को प्रभावी रूप से बहुत बड़े पुरुषों को बेचने के लिए मजबूर कर रही है, और अब युवा लड़कियों में एक संगठित व्यापार है।