When ministers say 'no' to FOI requests

Summary: Changes to the NHS have been described as "so big, they can be seen from space". But, closer to home, the risks posed by the shake-up will not be seen by the public. The government has overruled an Information Tribunal order to publish the NHS "risk register". It is not the first time the ministerial veto has been used:

By Sean ClareBBC News Risk register Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's decision to keep the potential negative consequences of his NHS shake-up secret marks a "step change" in the government's attitude to freedom of information, according to the information watchdog. The risk register sets out what could happen as a result of the government's health reforms - an early leaked version warned the cost of GP care could rise and that ministers could lose control of the NHS. Mr Lansley's decision to block a Labour attempt to get the document published is the first time the veto has been used to stop disclosure of a policy document. Campaigners described the minister's move as "potentially a very worrying development". "The veto has only ever been used in relation to ministerial decisions," said Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information. "This is the first extension into other types of information relating to policy formulation." Mr Frankel said campaigners had strongly opposed allowing ministers a veto in the Freedom of Information Act. "We had serious concerns that the government was not submitting itself first to appeal and then to court - choosing instead to go for a veto." But, overruling Information Commissioner Christopher Graham's order to publish the NHS risk register, Mr Lansley told Parliament it was in the "public interest" to keep it secret and protect discussions between ministers and civil servants. "The public interest is best served... by officials and ministers being able privately to consider such issues, including any risks," he said. Iraq Three years ago, the then Labour Justice Secretary Jack Straw became the first minister to use the veto. He overruled the Information Commissioner's orders to publish minutes of cabinet discussions in the run-up to the war with Iraq. And his arguments for doing so were very similar to Mr Lansley's - that publication would "risk serious damage to cabinet government". Dr Christopher Lamb made the request in December 2006 to see minutes of cabinet meetings held in March 2003, when the legality of going to war with Iraq was discussed. The Information Commissioner insisted the public interest in revealing the minutes outweighed ministerial concerns about revealing cabinet splits over the war. But the government appealed and, three years after the request was first made, Mr Straw overruled the commissioner's order to publish. "He considered the potential dangers to collective responsibility and good government that would arise from disclosure of the minutes to be particularly pressing," according to the then Information Commissioner Richard Thomas. Timothy Pitt-Payne QC, who investigated whether Mr Straw's decision could be judicially reviewed, described it as a "serious incursion" on freedom of information powers and questioned whether ministers should have a veto at all. Devolution Government policy states that the veto should be used only "in exceptional circumstances" and only after a "collective decision of the cabinet". And it was Mr Straw who again got cabinet backing in 2009 to block the release of ministers' discussions over Scottish and Welsh devolution. He argued that keeping cabinet deliberations secret was in the "public interest". "A lack of confidentiality would result in watered-down discussion and as a result decision-making would be impaired - an outcome which is not in the public interest," Mr Straw said. Attorney General Dominic Grieve, a Conservative MP, turned down another request to make the same minutes public earlier this year, arguing they were so sensitive that disclosure could harm relations between UK administrations. Many of the ministers involved are still MPs or peers and disclosure of who said what to whom - even though it was 15 years ago - has the potential to cause embarrassment. Maurice Frankel said it was still a very sensitive issue in Scotland. "With the SNP in government and independence high on the agenda, disclosure could well have an impact on active political developments," he added. What it means Dr Ben Worthy, of University College London's constitution unit told the BBC: "Politicians don't like surprises and FOI springs surprises on them." On his blog, Dr Worthy wrote that the fourth ever use of the ministerial veto reflected "growing criticism" of freedom of information from establishment figures. "The veto gets easier politically the more it is used," he wrote. "As ever [the risk register] case is the 'exception'. However, some feel it sends out the wrong signal and each veto use erodes confidence in the system. "It also adds to growing criticism of the Act from Gus O'Donnell, Tony Blair and Jack Straw, who called for additional protections for policy-makers." Criticising the government, information watchdog Christopher Graham said that "none of the criteria for exceptional cases" had been met in NHS risk register case and that, in future, any use of the ministerial veto "should be genuinely exceptional". Alexandra Runswick of Unlock Democracy said the government should have a "much more enlightened attitude" to disclosure. "They are within their right to veto publication but it's extremely disappointing. Central government have never liked FOI - they see disclosures as gaffes or embarrassments. "It takes a long time to change that civil service mindset that it is in the public interest to protect what they're doing. It's a very big culture shift and lots of civil servants aren't used to it." 'Chilling effect' The top Whitehall official until last year has defended the government's right to keep policy deliberations secret. Lord O'Donnell said disclosing documents such as the risk register would "reduce their effectiveness" and would have a "chilling effect" on opinion-sharing. Officials must be candid, frank and not be distracted from their task, he told an Information Tribunal. The retired mandarin said there was a danger that disclosing risk registers "could harm rather than assist public debate". And in a recent appearance before the Commons justice committee, Jack Straw said the law should be changed to ensure there was "a space in which decision-makers can think thoughts without the risk of disclosure". He told MPs officials must be able to give advice without it going public. So is it in the public interest to give ministers and civil servants the freedom to speak their mind when deciding to go to war, discussing the risks of huge policy changes, or disagreeing with colleagues? Or, as freedom of information campaigners argue, would the public be better served having sight of how decisions are made and the potential consequences of those decisions - even if this might cause bad headlines? "It's very hard to separate the two," said the Freedom of Information Campaign's Maurice Frankel. "The more bad headlines there are, the more likely it is there will be an impact on what people in government feel they can say."

एन. एच. एस. में परिवर्तनों को "इतना बड़ा, उन्हें अंतरिक्ष से देखा जा सकता है" के रूप में वर्णित किया गया है। लेकिन, घर के करीब, शेक-अप से उत्पन्न जोखिमों को जनता द्वारा नहीं देखा जाएगा। सरकार ने एन. एच. एस. "जोखिम रजिस्टर" को प्रकाशित करने के लिए सूचना न्यायाधिकरण के आदेश को खारिज कर दिया है। यह पहली बार नहीं है जब मंत्री वीटो का उपयोग किया गया हैः


Is the US government at war with whistleblowers?

Summary: The Obama administration is facing criticism for prosecutions brought under the US Espionage Act against government employees accused of leaking sensitive information. Some accuse the US government of over-reacting, following the release of files by Wikileaks.

By Tom BurridgeBBC News, Washington When Steve Rosen spotted two men walking up his drive early one morning in August 2004, he thought they were evangelicals from a local church. In fact, they were FBI agents who had come to his home in the US state of Maryland to inform him he was being prosecuted for receiving and passing on classified information. ''You could have knocked me over with a feather," Mr Rosen said. ''I hadn't the remotest clue what they were talking about.'' At the time he was working for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), a powerful Washington DC-based pro-Israel lobbying group. The FBI had been following him for five years and monitoring his conversations. 'Sham' One of his sources, included in the charges against him, was Pentagon intelligence analyst Lawrence Franklin. Five years later, the Department of Justice's case against Steve Rosen and his Aipac colleague and co-defendant Keith Weisman collapsed. The prosecution was unable to show they had criminal intent. "If we had had a trial we would have been able to show in great detail what a sham this prosecution was," he said. "They tried to criminalise innocent, constitutionally protected activity and it was very wrong what they did." Mr Rosen's prosecution came under the Bush administration. But Mark Feldstein, professor of media at the University of Maryland, sees a worrying trend of espionage prosecutions since President Obama took office. "To everyone's surprise, the Obama administration has escalated the war against whistleblowers and the attacks on information that journalists and the public were depending on to get evidence of wrongdoing by powerful institutions and individuals," Prof Feldstein says. 'Vindictive and malicious' On Friday, Thomas Drake, a former senior official at the National Security Agency, a highly secretive US spy agency, was sentenced to one year's probation, after the Department of Justice's case against him collapsed. He had been accused of passing on information to a journalist about a government computer programme he considered wasteful. After the government's case against him fell through, he pleaded guilty to a minor charge of overstepping his authorisation when using a government computer. Outside court, Mr Drake said the government's prosecution had been "vindictive and malicious". According his lawyer Jesselyn Radack, the charge that he passed on secret information was a ''bald-faced lie''. Critics say the US classification system is often arbitrary, with documents often often stamped ''classified'' when the content is not secret or that sensitive. The system is now under review by the US government. 'No real purpose' Last year Steven Kim, an employee with a US state department contractor, was accused of leaking top secret information about US policy toward North Korea to a journalist. His lawyer, Abbe Lowell, says the information his client is accused of passing on wasn't eye-catching, let alone secret. ''The US government has a very legitimate interest in protecting the real national security secrets of our nation," Mr Lowell said. "The problem is that so much information is improperly classified that you can't distinguish between the real national secrets and those that just have a stamp on it that says secret." Even PJ Crowley, a former spokesman at the US state department says too much government information is classified. In March, Mr Crowley resigned from the government after he publicly criticised the Pentagon for its treatment of Bradley Manning, a US soldier currently held in a military prison on charges he passed thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks. Mr Crowley draws a strong distinction between Wikileaks, a website that has published tens of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables, and whistleblowing. He believes Mr Assange's website irresponsibly published vast amounts of information and that much of it had no real purpose. 'Government's paranoia' The whistleblowing issue is being discussed at the heart of the US government. In April Mr Obama held a meeting with several groups campaigning for greater transparency in government. Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, attended the meeting and said she was had felt generally positive about Mr Obama's tone. But she said that when she raised her concerns about prosecutions against potential whistleblowers, he leaned forward and told her he disagreed. The Department of Justice said government employees concerned about national security policies have official channels for complaint available to them. But campaigners for greater transparency in government worry that legitimate leaking by government officials may be one of the unintended victims of the Wikileaks case. Prof Feldstein of the University of Maryland says it has ''stoked the government's paranoia on national security'' and empowered the Obama administration ''to feel more justified in going after whistleblowers.''

ओबामा प्रशासन को संवेदनशील जानकारी लीक करने के आरोप में सरकारी कर्मचारियों के खिलाफ अमेरिकी जासूसी अधिनियम के तहत लाए गए अभियोजन के लिए आलोचना का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। कुछ ने विकीलीक्स द्वारा फाइलों के जारी होने के बाद अमेरिकी सरकार पर अति-प्रतिक्रिया का आरोप लगाया।


LTTE suspects to be rehabilitated

Summary: The Colombo Magistrate Court has ordered to rehabilitate sixty seven LTTE suspects who are in the custody of Terrorist Investigation Department (TDI).

The suspects who were held in the Boossa Detention Centre were produced before the Colombo Magistrate Court TDI told the court that though they had been forcibly recruited to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) investigations have confirmed that they were not hardcore terrorists. TDI further said that the Attorney General has instructed them to direct the suspects for rehabilitation. The court ordered TDI to release them to the Welikanda Rehabilitation Centre for a period of one year. During the war in the Wanni area the suspects had arrived into government controlled area in Vavuniya. They were later arrested by the Terrorist Investigation Department.

कोलंबो मजिस्ट्रेट अदालत ने आतंकवादी जांच विभाग (टी. डी. आई.) की हिरासत में मौजूद 67 एल. टी. टी. ई. संदिग्धों के पुनर्वास का आदेश दिया है।


Brexit: Is Labour's policy logical or confusing?

Summary: Thirteen was lucky for the Labour leader.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter To use the jargon, the 'composite', a plan to force him to campaign straight away to stay in the EU failed. A vote was taken by a show of hands that the chair of the session wasn't even sure which way it had gone to start with, admitting, "I thought it was one way, Jennie [the party's general secretary and vital ally of Jeremy Corbyn] said something else." The chants of 'Oh Jeremy Corbyn' rang out around the room as activists absorbed the result, that they, and most of the unions had got their way after hours of vigorous debate and lobbying even by some of the party's most senior MPs. The policy will not, therefore, change. So Labour will go into the general election without picking a side in the toxic Brexit debate. For the leader's inner circle, that is a perfectly logical position to take - the only way that Labour can appeal to voters on both sides of the argument. But to scores of Labour MPs and swathes of the party's members, it is not just a confusing policy to explain on the doorstep but a political mistake for a party whose heart is with Remain. One senior figure told me: "If you need a flow chart to explain your position you are going to lose a general election." The argument was won today though less on the merits of the neutral policy, but by the way the conversation turned into a test of loyalty to Jeremy Corbyn. "Back the leader," members cried out from the platform. His biggest union backer proclaimed "I implore you, give him the backing he needs." During some moments of the debate it felt not so much a discussion about what the right policy is for the party, or indeed the country, but a contest to see how many delegates would swear allegiance to the leader. Given how bumpy the last few days have been there are plenty of people in Brighton who confess privately they are desperately worried about the state of the play. One senior member of Mr Corbyn's team told me "we're in a very bad place." Another member of the shadow cabinet told me this week the party may as well have "big arrows above us saying we're going to lose" saying the leadership is "bonkers and bunkered". There seem to be precious few Labour MPs actually here this year. Their absence telling. Of course the view of doom is far from universally shared. Another frontbencher said "it's just all nonsense - once we get into an election it won't even be about Brexit." And the delegates here today plainly disagree, backing the leader in that crucial vote. But it's worth remembering that most of the members in Brighton this week are part of the Corbyn-backing Momentum campaign group - party insiders estimate as many as 75 per cent are from that side of the party where loyalty to the leader is the order of the day. So the vote today was won by Jeremy Corbyn with his effective political fan club and most of the unions. Labour in Brighton today had to choose between staying in the EU, and sticking with their leader. They chose him. But not without controversy, and it has not closed down the arguments over the EU. And the classic choice for political parties is whether to please themselves, or please the wider public to win.

तेरह लेबर नेता के लिए भाग्यशाली थे।


Blyth Valley: A year after the first red brick turned blue

Summary: A year ago Blyth Valley made election history when it became the first brick to turn blue after being chiselled out of Labour's so-called red wall. So how does the constituency - and its MP - feel a year on?

By Chris RobinsonBBC News, Blyth Valley The former mining heartland in Northumberland had just elected its first Tory MP - since the seat was created in 1950 it had always been in Labour's hands. Similar versions of the scene were repeated throughout the night but Blyth Valley was the first place to send out the shockwaves of change. Ian Levy, a political newbie, took to the stand, thanked his new constituents and family, and paused. "And I would like to thank Boris," he smiled. A crowd cheered. "You win the seat and there is a certain amount of shock to be the first Conservative MP for Blyth Valley," said Mr Levy, a year later. "So you kind of take that on board and nobody could have predicted the fact that we would have to deal with Covid. "It's been a steep learning curve, shall I say, but an enjoyable one and one that I would certainly do again." Mr Levy stood for election in 2017, coming second to Labour stalwart Ronnie Campbell, although increasing his party's share of the vote. Like the constituency, he had backed Brexit, and called for better local investment. Social media threats The pandemic has taken over much of his first year, being part of a government tackling the nation's health and economy. "I do feel that yes, we have got it right and I also feel these have been very hard, difficult decisions for any government to make, no matter which side of the house you are on," he said, while on a visit to Cramlington Voluntary Youth Project. The area, like the rest of the North East, is currently in tier three of the government's coronavirus restrictions. "We don't want to shut business down, we don't want to shut restaurants down, we are doing this to keep people safe and to make sure, going into 2021, that there are businesses still there," he added. When he voted with the government against giving free school meals during the holidays, Mr Levy, like several colleagues, received threats on social media. Northumbria Police said no arrests had been made but two men were spoken to and "given advice on the Malicious Communications Act". "There were all these demonstrations done and the threats against myself and my family that were awful, absolutely awful," the MP said. "I think instead of people talking to me and asking me why I took that decision to vote the way I did, they jump on social media. "Maybe I was a little naive, to be honest with you, because the reason I got into this was to make people's lives better in Blyth Valley. It is a very steep learning curve to do this job and you have got to be tough." The area has been shortlisted for millions of pounds in government funding to improve Blyth market place and, with many people reliant on buses, there are hopes passenger services will be reintroduced on the Northumberland Line between Ashington and Newcastle, with a railway station on the outskirts of the town. Mr Levy said he was "very confident" he would be able to deliver. "I have to make sure that I go down to London, I knock on the door and I say I want that money for Blyth Valley, let's get it up here," he said. On Friday, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Northumberland after the former Blyth Power Station was announced as the site of the UK's first "gigaplant" to manufacture electric car batteries. It was said 3,000 jobs would be created there. Analysis by Richard Moss, Political Editor, BBC North East and Cumbria If the Prime Minister's promise to "level up" - a drive to improve economic prospects and lives in struggling communities - is to mean anything, it has to deliver for constituencies like Blyth Valley. This pandemic year has made that challenge both more urgent, and more difficult. Blyth's town centre is struggling; the area needs more jobs. The prospect of a new electric battery plant nearby could be a godsend but it remains just a prospect for now. The fact Boris Johnson chose to visit Blyth to mark the first anniversary of his election victory is perhaps an early acknowledgement that the Conservatives will have a fight to keep this seat. Mr Johnson though came with very little new to offer in terms of investment. Instead there were more promises of announcements to come. And although many of Blyth Valley's voters do seem prepared to give him and their Tory MP more time to deliver, rhetoric will need to become reality if Ian Levy's election-defining victory of 2019 is to be repeated in 2024. In Blyth town centre, just a short walk from the harbour and overlooked by a wind turbine, there are hopes of renewed economic waves for the year ahead. Born and bred in Blyth, 60-year-old Lorraine Collins voted Conservative for the first time in December 2019. "I'm quite happy, actually, I think we could have done with a change in Blyth," she said, while shopping. "I think it's been a year where there has been a lot happening, out of our hands, so hopefully the future might bring a little bit more." However she thought voters may switch, and added: "I think maybe four or five years is not enough to turn it around, maybe we need a bit longer time, a bit more investment." Retail manager Joanne Reay said she did not vote last year because she was away, although she was not surprised the seat turned blue. "A change is always good," she said. "There are good things, supposedly the railways, and they are going to do something with the market place... but I think this year it is difficult to say because everything is on hold. "Traditionally it has been very much a Labour town but I think there are a lot more professional people and families coming in that need a little bit more. We'll give them a chance." Postman Jason Mancer was having a socially-distanced chat with former colleague, Dave Brown. "It's taken a long time now, the people of Blyth are seeing that Labour doesn't represent them any more. That is why there was the cataclysmic change last December," he said. "Whether or not it all comes to fruition, we can hope and hopefully Boris Johnson will reward the people of Blyth by giving Ian Levy the money that was promised. We'll wait and see." Could Labour bounce back? "I think so aye, if they put themselves out," said 70-year-old Mr Brown. "I'm a Labour man, through and through, like Blackpool rock," he said, smiling. "We'll see what Brexit brings, if we leave. "Labour has another four years to make a difference, to try and win the seat back, so let's see what we are doing in four years' time. At the end of the day you have to do what the voters want." For Labour veteran and former miner Ronnie Campbell, it was not listening to the voters that lost Labour his old seat. "Europe, without a shadow of a doubt, Europe," he said. "When I met some of the old miners who I worked with down the pit they said they didn't vote Labour, they voted Tory and I was shocked. "I said 'it was the Tories who put you out of a job', but they said 'no, Labour let us down, they didn't listen to us'. I knew that, I knew that before the election." Mr Campbell, who also backed Brexit, stepped down after 32 years ahead of the election, which saw his 8,000 majority disappear. Mr Levy secured victory over Mr Campbell's successor as Labour candidate by just 712 votes. "I was shocked because I didn't expect to lose it," he said, reflecting a year on. "When you have a referendum in this country, take notice of it - that's the people speaking and if you never take any notice of people, the people won't take any notice of you." Vote share Vote share change since 2017 Mr Campbell, who has been shielding during the coronavirus pandemic after undergoing heart surgery, laughed when asked what he made of his replacement on the backbenches. "He might be a nice enough lad but obviously he has got a job on his hands," he said. "I'm not going to say good luck to him because I think in all honesty we will win the seat back if we get Europe sorted out and that settled, I think those votes will come back." Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk.

एक साल पहले ब्लिथ वैली ने चुनावी इतिहास रचा था जब यह लेबर की तथाकथित लाल दीवार से छीने जाने के बाद नीली होने वाली पहली ईंट बन गई थी। तो फिर निर्वाचन क्षेत्र-और इसके सांसद-एक साल बाद कैसा महसूस करते हैं?


Paris attacks: Were gunmen aided by terror network?

Summary: There is no mystery about who carried out the Paris attacks last week. The two Kouachi brothers and Amedy Coulibaly boasted publicly about their murderous actions before being shot dead by police on Friday. But the question of who was really behind them, if anyone, is triggering a lot of head-scratching from Washington to Paris to Yemen.

By Frank GardnerBBC security correspondent Here lies the confusion: the Kouachis said they were sent by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the al-Qaeda franchise in Yemen known by its acronym AQAP. Coulibaly said in a video that his allegiance was to Islamic State (IS), headquartered in Syria. Despite sharing a violent, West-hating jihadist ideology, the two organisations have largely been in competition. In Syria this has sometimes erupted into open warfare as their respective followers jockey for territory while their leaders jockey for global influence. Lone wolves? So is it possible that leaders of the two most dangerous jihadist organisations have agreed to bury their differences and co-operate in a joint attack on France? It is not inconceivable but it is unlikely. Far more plausible is the idea that with or without the tacit blessings of both al-Qaeda and IS, the three attackers decided to pool their resources and form a plan on their own. Not exactly self-starters, as they were all connected to jihadist networks. But that is not the same as a formal plan, conceived and directed from overseas like the 9/11 attacks of 2001. So what exactly are their links to al-Qaeda and IS? There does not appear to be a common denominator here, but one of the most influential links on the Kouachi brothers appears to be the convicted al-Qaeda terrorist Djemal Beghal, arrested in Dubai ahead of the 9/11 attacks and seen associating with Cherif Kouachi in 2010. Beghal, a French citizen of Algerian origin, is believed to have further radicalised Kouachi in prison after his conviction for helping send French jihadists to fight in Iraq. The Yemen connection concerns the other Kouachi brother, Said. He spent enough time in Yemen during 2011-12 to meet a number of AQAP operatives, including the influential Anwar al-Awlaki and, it is presumed, receive rudimentary military training. The Yemeni journalist and researcher Muhammad al-Kibsi says that while in Yemen, Kouachi lived with the so-called Detroit "underpants bomber" who was convicted of trying to blow up an airliner in 2009. Links to other militant Islamists Did AQAP "send" Said Kouachi to carry out the Paris attack as he and his brother claim? If so, then more than two years after his departure from Yemen seems rather a long time for the plan to be hatched. It would also be strange that an organisation with a track record of uploading slick, highly produced videos on to the internet, would have nothing prepared in advance. The same goes for IS, whose technically high quality but sickeningly voyeuristic videos are believed to be the work of a Tunisian graphic designer trained in Sweden. No such video has come from them. Instead there is a crude, homemade testimony from Amedy Coulibaly, the third gunman, speaking in faltering Arabic with an IS flag and machine gun behind him. The Syrian connection Investigators believe that one of the Kouachi brothers spent some time in Syria, possibly with IS. Of the estimated 1,000 French nationals who have gone there to join extremist groups, around 200 have returned. In September 2014 the official IS spokesman, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, exhorted his group's members to carry out attacks in their own countries, so it is possible the Paris attacks were a spontaneous reaction to this. While it is still too early to reach a definitive conclusion on which organisation, if any, was behind the Paris attacks, the most likely explanation at this stage is that despite the connections with global jihadist networks this was primarily the work of the three individuals themselves, helped by accomplices still being sought, all done with the encouragement, possibly funding, but little direction from al-Qaeda and IS leaderships in Pakistan, Yemen or Syria.

इस बारे में कोई रहस्य नहीं है कि पिछले सप्ताह पेरिस हमलों को किसने अंजाम दिया। दो कौआची भाइयों और अमेडी कुलिबली ने शुक्रवार को पुलिस द्वारा गोली मारे जाने से पहले सार्वजनिक रूप से अपनी जानलेवा कार्रवाइयों के बारे में दावा किया। लेकिन यह सवाल कि वास्तव में उनके पीछे कौन था, अगर कोई है, तो वाशिंगटन से पेरिस से यमन तक सिर पर बहुत खरोंच हो रही है।


What do you want the BBC to investigate?

Summary: The BBC is keen to hear from you about what you think it should be reporting on.

Is there something that's got you talking but hasn't been covered by BBC News? Are there any issues you think we should be looking at or investigating? We want to hear from you. Get in touch Tell us what you think we should be discussing. If you are reading this page on the BBC News app, you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question on this topic.

बी. बी. सी. आपसे यह सुनने के लिए उत्सुक है कि आपको क्या लगता है कि उसे किस बारे में रिपोर्ट करना चाहिए।


Bedford Borough Council pleads guilty after bus station death

Summary: A council has pleaded guilty to a health and safety breach after a woman died after being run over by a truck delivering sand to a bus station.

Nicola Berridge, 53, from Biggleswade, had multiple injuries after being hit during the redevelopment of Bedford Bus Station on 13 February 2015. Bedford Borough Council pleaded guilty at Luton Crown Court to failing to discharge a duty to a non-employee under the Health and Safety Act. Sentencing will take place next year. During the hearing, DJT Surfacing Limited pleaded not guilty to three health and safety charges. Cambus, a third company charged in relation to Ms Berridge's death, did not enter pleas. A trial date has been set for 11 March 2019. Bedford Borough Council will be sentenced at the end of the trial.

एक परिषद ने बस स्टेशन पर रेत पहुँचाने वाले ट्रक की चपेट में आने से एक महिला की मौत के बाद स्वास्थ्य और सुरक्षा उल्लंघन के लिए दोषी ठहराया है।


Translink report suspected IT hack to the police

Summary: Bus and train operator Translink has reported a suspected hack of its internal IT systems to the police, the BBC understands.

The firm confirmed it has reported an "incident" to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) after experiencing difficulties with its internal IT systems. Bus and train services have not been affected, a spokesperson said. They added that there "is no evidence any data has been compromised". "We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible," the spokesperson said. Passenger and timetable information is still available from the Translink website and contact centre.

बी. बी. सी. समझता है कि बस और ट्रेन संचालक ट्रांसलिंक ने पुलिस को अपनी आंतरिक आई. टी. प्रणालियों के संदिग्ध हैक होने की सूचना दी है।


East Midlands Airport marks 50th anniversary

Summary: East Midlands Airport has marked its 50th anniversary.

It started life as Castle Donington Airfield - a decommissioned RAF base, and now handles 4.5m passengers a year. An estimated 95m passengers have passed through the airport since it opened on 2 April 1965. In 1963, it was bought for £37,500 by a committee of representatives from Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire as a replacement for Burnaston Aerodrome near Derby, which later became part of Toyota's car factory. Work started on the £1.37m airport in 1964. In its first year, 114,000 passengers passed through the airport, which now sees 4.5m passengers a year. The first destination on offer was Glasgow but it now flies to more than 70 locations as diverse as Aberdeen and Barbados. A runway was extended in 1970 to accommodate bigger aircraft but the first Boeing 757 did not arrive until 1982. Since it was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1965, it has had its fair share of royal visitors, including the Queen Mother in 1977 and Princess Anne who opened a £3m passenger terminal in 1986. In 1989, disaster struck when a Boeing 737 tried to make an emergency landing at the airport but crashed on the M1 motorway at nearby Kegworth, killing 47 people. Mercifully, no one was killed on the ground and 74 passengers and crew survived. A £14.5m new departure building opened in 1996, when the airport welcomed its 25 millionth passenger. Managing director Andy Cliffe said the aviation industry had changed "enormously" in the past 50 years, with the proliferation of low cost carriers. Derby Airways was the first company to fly from East Midlands. The firm later became British Midland which operated at the airport in the form of low cost airline BMI Baby until 2012. In 2004, Ryanair began operations and the airport introduced self service check-in. The airport hit global headlines in 2010 when a suspicious package discovered on a Chicago-bound cargo plane was found to contain explosives. The package, which was a printer toner cartridge with wires attached, was addressed to two Jewish places of worship in the city. East Midlands, which employs about 7,000 people across its entire site, is the UK base for carrier services DHL, TNT and UPS and is the main air hub for Royal Mail. The airport, which is owned by Manchester Airports Group, is the busiest cargo airport in the UK, shifting more than 300,000 tonnes a year. "Our long term plan is to grow to about 10m passengers and 1m tonnes of freight. We're ambitious for our future," said Mr Cliffe. A £12m terminal redevelopment is about to be completed at the airport The anniversary was marked with a party on Thursday and a time capsule will be created later this year.

ईस्ट मिडलैंड्स हवाई अड्डे ने अपनी 50वीं वर्षगांठ मनाई है।


Luton Borough Council takes action against EDL over logo use

Summary: Luton Borough Council is considering legal action against the English Defence League (EDL) for using council logos on leaflets without permission.

EDL leader Stephen Lennon and member Kevin Carroll were served letters by the council after a protest at a new Discover Islam centre in the town. The logos were on flyers distributed outside the centre at its launch, which Mr Lennon has denied making. The council said it "will not tolerate" the copyrighted logos being misused. "We have asked the EDL not to use them and will be taking legal action as appropriate," a statement said. Mr Lennon said that he did not make the leaflets. "They were handed to me in the town and I was just giving them out," he said. "This logo is used on hundreds of pages across the internet and they are singling me out. Bring it on."

ल्यूटन बरो काउंसिल बिना अनुमति के पर्चे पर परिषद के लोगो का उपयोग करने के लिए इंग्लिश डिफेंस लीग (ईडीएल) के खिलाफ कानूनी कार्रवाई पर विचार कर रही है।


Stafford Hospital public consultation begins

Summary: A public consultation on the future of Stafford Hospital has opened.

Administrators have said Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust should be dissolved, with many services at Stafford Hospital taken on by nearby hospitals. Under the plans, maternity services and seriously ill children would no longer be treated at Stafford. The proposals, announced last Wednesday, were initially met with criticism by people in the area. Other changes to Stafford Hospital would include downgrading its critical care unit and losing some emergency surgery. Its A&E department would operate from 08:00 to 22:00 BST. The consultation will run for 40 working days, ending on 1 October and the final recommendations will be forwarded to the Secretary of State for Health. The first in a series of public consultation meetings to discuss the Stafford Hospital plans is due to take place at Stafford County Showground at 19:00 BST on Wednesday.

स्टैफोर्ड अस्पताल के भविष्य पर एक सार्वजनिक परामर्श शुरू हो गया है।


Guernsey birds: rescued from the storm

Summary: Birds have been the latest casualty of the bad weather, giving animal rescue service GSPCA its busiest new year.

The service has rescued 10 birds from the shores since 1 January, an increase of 300% on last year. Geoff George, acting chief officer, said: "The stormy weather has led to casualties and we are expecting more problems as the weather gets worse." The rescued birds included a cormorant, a kestrel, a snipe and a gannet named Balthazar. All of the birds are currently under heat lamps or in intensive care units and GSPCA hopes to release them back into the wild as soon as the weather improves.

पशु बचाव सेवा जी. एस. पी. सी. ए. को अपना सबसे व्यस्त नव वर्ष देते हुए, खराब मौसम के कारण पक्षियों का नवीनतम नुकसान हुआ है।


Pakistan 'honour': Tracing the final steps of a woman searching for love

Summary: Did Sarakat Bibi finally fall into a trap? M Ilyas Khan pieces together the life, love and mysterious last movements of a Pakistani woman who it's feared was killed for "honour".

Sarakat Bibi spent years on the run. She was last heard of a year ago, aged 37, when she rang home. But her problems began many years before when, aged 14, she refused a marriage with her cousin, arranged by her father. The 'marriage from hell' "She didn't like her cousin and his entire family," said her mother, Husanzadgai. "And she was brave, so she went to her father's elder brother and told him so. It sent shockwaves through the family." As elsewhere in South Asia, the Pashtun tribes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province in the north-west follow a strict patriarchal code in which all decisions for women are made by men. Sarakat's father was furious and left her with little choice - he picked up a gun and told her to agree to the proposal or prepare to die. The woman who survived an 'honour killing' The model and the mullah: Pakistan's 'Kim Kardashian' Mother 'burnt her daughter to death' On the day she was taken as a bride to her husband's house in Barawal Bandi village, in mountainous Dir district, her mother-in-law taunted her for having refused the match and threatened to fix her. Over the next 20 years, Sarakat "lived through hell," Husanzadgai said. "She faced verbal abuse and physical violence." Sarakat, the eldest of seven - four brothers and three sisters - bore five sons, but that didn't earn her respect. "She was getting hardened too," he mother said. "When things got really ugly, she would come over to our house. I would then plead with her to go back home as it could taint her father's good name." A wrong number and an escape But one day in April 2012, when her husband Roghan Shah was away on business, Sarakat disappeared, leaving behind her children, the youngest just four years old. She travelled first to Peshawar and then south, far from her family. Seven months earlier she had taken a call that would change her life. The man on the other end of the phone was hundreds of miles away, in Sindh province, and he had rung a wrong number. "That was my first encounter with Sarakat," said Mohammad Somar. "She said hello, and then something in Pashto which I couldn't understand. I spoke back in Urdu, and she disconnected." Mohammad, 34, lives in Warwalo, a village 1,100km (680 miles) south of Barawal Bandi, along the fertile Indus River plains. His father married him off when he was just 12 and later put him in charge of the four-acre family farm where wheat, cotton and sugarcane grew. Farming was good and Mohammad bought shares in a motorcycle dealership, boosting his income. But there was a void in his life. He said he never felt any real love for his wife, with whom he had eight children. When he heard Sarakat's voice in September 2011 he became desperate to meet her. He had always admired Pashtun women for their courage and good looks, he said. So even though Sarakat hung up the first time, he persisted and over the following days and weeks she gradually came round to talking with him. Life on the run Seven months later, Sarakat left her home in the mountains. "I went to Peshawar to pick her up," said Mohammad. "We drove in a bus to Sindh, and went straight to a court in [the nearby town of] Ghotki where we got married." "I wanted to keep the marriage secret from my family and put her up at a house in Ghotki, but she was afraid I might take advantage of her and then abandon her. She wanted to go to my house." Over the next month, his first wife left him, his in-laws turned into his enemies and Sarakat's continued use of her mobile phone gave away her location to the police, allowing her father and husband to track the couple down. They were arrested on an abduction charge and then released after they produced proof of their marriage. But their troubles were only just beginning. Soon afterwards, Mohammad was named by the police in a criminal investigation. His house was raided in October 2012 but he was alerted by a friend in the police and the couple escaped. They fled to Hyderabad, 400km to the south, where they lived in hiding for the next two years. "We survived on money we had saved from the farmland, the money I got by selling my share in the motorcycle business, and occasional handouts from Sarakat's mother and sister, who knew we were in trouble," Mohammad said. But things got worse. Mohammad developed a kidney stone and was bed-ridden for months. Sarakat had a miscarriage. "She had wanted a child so badly," Mohammad said, his voice choking. He sobbed for a minute or so. "She wanted someone of her own in a strange land. She cried for weeks." Return to court Driven by hunger and isolation, the couple finally decided to go back to Mohammad's village. He had persuaded some old political contacts to stop the police from arresting him until he had arranged bail. But by that time, he had been named in as many as 16 criminal cases, he said. Back home, Mohammad spent most of the next year attending court hearings, trying to run his farm and fighting failing health. Then on 3 December 2015, disaster struck. Sarakat was arrested. How that happened is not fully explained, but it appears she may have approached the authorities for protection after falling out with one of Mohammad's relatives at a market which she had visited unaccompanied. Whether she wanted to leave her life in Sindh is not clear - nor is her apparent decision to contact the police, given all the reasons she had to mistrust them. "I went to the court to see her but she refused to come with me," Mohammad said. "She didn't even talk to me, she just waved goodbye from afar. She was crying." He believes her relatives paid the police to have her taken back to Peshawar so they could redeem their honour. No one can say for sure if he is right, but we know what happened next. The final phone calls "On 5 December, my phone rang and when I picked up, it was Sarakat," said Husanzadgai, her mother. "She said she was in Peshawar with a policeman from Sindh who needed to hand her over to a blood relation. I was in shock." Her husband and three elder sons were working in Saudi Arabia so she asked her fourth son, Khalid Mehmood, then aged about 19, to go instead. He later told a court in Peshawar that he had found his sister in a cheap hotel room with a Sindhi policeman in plain clothes, and a local man, Mohammad Ismail, in whose name the room had been booked. Khalid Mehmood signed the papers, sending the policeman away, but his sister refused to go with him, telling him that her former husband's family would kill her if she set foot in her village. She persuaded him to go back alone. Later that day, she called her mother again, who says she told her of another man in her life: Abdur Rahman. He was, she told her mother, a businessman who had a comfortable house in Peshawar and wanted to marry her. How and when she came into touch with him remains unclear. But the next day, she told her mother that she had been brought to a huge compound where several women put henna on her hands and feet and gave her a wedding dress to wear. "She sounded satisfied and relieved. But that evening her phone went dead," her mother recalls. 'I knew then she was trapped' The day after, Sarakat's father called her mother from Saudi Arabia. He said that a brother of Roghan Shah, Sarakat's first husband, had rung up from Pakistan to pass him the message that Sarakat was in their possession and they would now redeem their honour. Sarakat's father wanted Husanzadgai to go to the police. "I knew then that she had walked into a trap," Husanzadgai said. Police investigations later showed that, after Sarakat's brother left the hotel, Mohammad Ismail, an employee of the local tribal Levies force, took her to a residential compound in the Shahkas area of Khyber tribal region, just west of Peshawar. Ismail confessed in court that he did this as a personal favour to a colleague, Habibur Rahman, who used the fake name Abdur, it is alleged, to contact Sarakat. Mohammad Somar believes Sarakat's first husband somehow trapped her via a fake Facebook account and may have passed details of the account to Rahman. Rahman was later arrested, and it transpired that he was a distant cousin of Roghan Shah. Police also arrested Shah's brother, Falak Niaz, who had been outside the compound where Sarakat was taken. Mobile phone data for all three men corroborated Ismail's statement that they were present in the area at the time Sarakat was delivered there. A search for love So did she really walk into an elaborate trap sprung by her former husband's family? The telephone calls seem to suggest that she did. But a number of elements in Sarakat's story remain unexplained to this day. Assuming it was a trap, she had first to be lured with a false promise of marriage. Others must also have been taken in, including presumably the women who hennaed her and made her ready for the wedding day itself. But seeking retribution in this way is not unthinkable in Pakistan's "honour culture". Then there remains the unanswered question of how long she had known the man she called Abdur Rahman, if he was the real reason for leaving Sindh. Mohammad Somar, who is living at his farm with two of his children, says Sarakat had tried to leave several months before she ended up in police custody. Did she spend months making plans with Rahman, lured into believing he was her way out? And how much did her mother and sister, with whom she'd remained in touch, know of her plans? Had her young brother been primed to leave her in the Peshawar hotel room so she could make a new life? Answers may come out in court. The three men are in custody, awaiting trial. But what is clear is Sarakat Bibi spent her life looking for a man she could love and trust. Forced into a marriage and a life she never wanted, she managed to escape and reinvent herself once. Her mother believes the final attempt to find love once again, and lasting happiness, was just a cruel trick that resulted in her death. But with no body, no murder weapon and all three men denying charges of kidnapping or murder, proving that will be difficult.

एम इलियास खान एक पाकिस्तानी महिला के जीवन, प्रेम और रहस्यमय अंतिम गतिविधियों को एक साथ जोड़ते हैं, जिसके बारे में आशंका है कि उसे "सम्मान" के लिए मार दिया गया था।


Liverpool FC training ground privacy plan backed by council

Summary: Liverpool's plans to build high screens around their training ground have been approved by the city council.

The football club wants to stop people watching and filming sessions at the Reds' Melwood Drive complex. Liverpool City Council backed the club's proposals to install 4.5m (15ft) high retractable screens which would be closed during first-team training. The club said the screens - which will be retracted at all other times - were first planned more than a year ago. This will minimise the impact on residents, as well as allowing the grass to grow properly.

लिवरपूल की अपने प्रशिक्षण मैदान के आसपास उच्च स्क्रीन बनाने की योजना को नगर परिषद द्वारा अनुमोदित किया गया है।


Newport pool reopens after £1m refurbishment

Summary: A swimming pool in Shropshire is reopening following a £1m refurbishment.

Newport pool has been closed since October while its changing rooms were upgraded and the existing building extended to create a new gym. The new changing rooms have improved facilities for families and people with disabilities. The work was paid for by Telford and Wrekin Council's Invest to Save scheme. The new gym will open on 15 March.

श्रॉपशायर में एक स्विमिंग पूल 1 मिलियन पाउंड के नवीनीकरण के बाद फिर से खुल रहा है।


What was a lifer doing in an open prison?

Summary: Ministers say there will be a "full review" of the decision to grant a convicted armed robber permission to leave an open prison on a day-release licence. But what are the rules governing such decisions and why would a man serving a life sentence for a string of violent raids ever be considered a suitable candidate for an open prison?

Police are searching for Michael Wheatley, who was given 13 life terms at the Old Bailey in 2002, after he failed to return to HMP Standford Hill on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Ministry of Justice figures show that on 31 December last year there were 1,242 inmates in open prisons serving either an indeterminate sentence for public protection or life imprisonment, given for offences including murder, rape and robbery. But such prisoners should only be moved to an open prison - also known as category D jails - if the parole board finds they are not a danger to the public or other inmates, or likely to abscond. The transfer is also a precursor to their eventual release from prison and inmates are often given release on temporary licence (ROTL), allowing them to leave the jail for a few hours or even overnight. There has been some criticism of the decision to transfer Wheatley - given the nickname "Skull Cracker" for pistol-whipping his victims - to an open prison in the first place as he was on parole from a 27-year sentence for other robberies when convicted in 2002. A dangerous prisoner sentenced to a fixed number of years can serve their full term in a closed prison. Someone serving a life term, however, would often be transferred to an open prison ahead of their release - a long-standing Ministry of Justice rule. They would first be been risk assessed by the independent Parole Board, made up of members of the judiciary and probation service, as well as psychologists, psychiatrists, and the public. The single most important factor in any Parole Board decision is whether the offender poses a risk to the public. The Parole Board's role is not to rehabilitate offenders but to advise the justice secretary if a serious offender is fit to be released on licence. In Wheatley's case, the judge sentencing him almost 12 years ago said he could be considered for parole after eight years. The fact that four years on from his earliest release date he was in an open prison is an indication that it was thought he could then be trusted to adhere to the less restrictive rules there and perhaps be freed at some stage. Tighter rules Wheatley, 55, failed to return to prison after he was grated a resettlement day release licence. This enabled him to take part in community service projects or other activities such as training or education courses. Other types of licence granted to prisoners in open prisons allow inmates to leave prison to attend funerals, get married, or to receive medical treatment; to spend time with their children if a single parent, or stay at the address they will be living at once released. So why would a prisoner given an indication they were to be released even consider going on the run? In Wheatley's case it is not known why he did not return to prison - and critics of day release say that it's an open invitation for a repeat offender to go on the run and making a mockery of the fact that they are supposedly locked up. But prison reform campaigners say inmates can sometimes have legitimate reasons to return late, which can be as simple as missing a bus back. They say that day-release schemes help reduce reoffending by accelerating the offender's re-integration into society. But in March, the Ministry of Justice said day release from prison was to be scaled back following a series of serious crimes committed by offenders temporarily out of jail. Tighter rules about who is eligible for the scheme were also planned. Prisoners will only be allowed out for a specific purpose, such as work experience, and day-release prisoners will also have to wear electronic tags, said ministers. The government cases that prompted the change include that of Ian McLoughlin, who was convicted of murdering Graham Buck in the village of Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, last July, while on day release. Another incident, which led to an offender being convicted of attempted robbery, also prompted the change.

मंत्रियों का कहना है कि एक दोषी सशस्त्र डाकू को एक दिन की रिहाई के लाइसेंस पर खुली जेल छोड़ने की अनुमति देने के फैसले की "पूरी समीक्षा" की जाएगी। लेकिन इस तरह के फैसलों को नियंत्रित करने वाले नियम क्या हैं और हिंसक छापों के लिए आजीवन कारावास की सजा काट रहे व्यक्ति को कभी भी खुली जेल के लिए उपयुक्त उम्मीदवार क्यों माना जाएगा?


Raspberry Pi - a rapturous reception

Summary: What's not to like about the Raspberry Pi? The bargain basement credit card-sized computer went on sale this morning with a tremendous amount of goodwill behind its mission to give the next generation the computing skills that Britain needs.

Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent@BBCRoryCJon Twitter In fact, there was so much excitement that the websites of the two companies which will now be making it buckled under the pressure. RS and Premier Farnell went live at 06:00 this morning with the news of their involvement in Raspberry Pi - and by 06:01 there were already reports that their sites were inaccessible. That reflects the anticipation that has been building for months about a device which seems designed to make men of a certain age who cut their computing teeth as teenagers on a BBC Micro or a ZX Spectrum go all misty-eyed. Some of them turned angry this morning as it became clear that they would not be getting their hands on the Raspberry Pi in a hurry. But remember, this not-for-profit project has been run so far by just six people on money they rustled up themselves. The transition to a more professional operation, where the manufacturing and management of sales will be carried out by two major electronics suppliers, should eventually pay off - but in the short-term there are bound to be hiccups. The real task, however, is not about getting the Raspberry Pi out to that impatient crowd of enthusiasts. What matters is the kind of reception the device gets when it arrives in schools. A few days ago I spent a morning in Chesterton Community College in Cambridge, watching Raspberry Pi's co-founder Eben Upton show off the device to a Year 8 ICT class. Their reactions were all he could have desired. "That's a computer?!" exclaimed one boy on seeing the device, before piling in with his classmates to reprogramme the classic game Snake using the Python language. But this class in a school where ICT lessons look more creative than in many was perhaps an exception. What we will find out over the next six months is whether there really is a whole new generation eager to look under the bonnet of a computer and get their hands dirty.

रास्पबेरी पाई के बारे में क्या पसंद नहीं है? सौदेबाजी के तहखाने के क्रेडिट कार्ड के आकार का कंप्यूटर आज सुबह बिक्री पर आया, जो अगली पीढ़ी को कंप्यूटिंग कौशल देने के अपने मिशन के पीछे जबरदस्त सद्भावना के साथ था जिसकी ब्रिटेन को आवश्यकता है।


Why are there so many homeless people in Birmingham?

Summary: The sleeping bags are evident as commuters walk to New Street Station in Birmingham. Bedding is piled up in shop doorways and shoppers are regularly asked if they can spare some change. But is the number of homeless people in the city centre increasing and what is being done to help those sleeping rough?

By Annabel RackhamBBC News The figures speak for themselves. Official statistics - compiled by the council doing a "head count" show there were nine people recorded as sleeping rough in 2010, compared with 36 in 2015, which is an all-time high. But the true figure is probably much higher, and the situation prompted several readers to use Your Questions to ask the BBC to find out why. Robert Flynn said: "I count at least a dozen people sleeping rough in Birmingham city centre on a 10-minute walk to work, very early in the morning. We appear to be doing nothing for these people." Rik James, who runs Birmingham Homeless Outreach, said the demolition of Birmingham Central Library was one of the many reasons why homeless people were now more visible on the streets. An unofficial shelter had been there for several years, with many sleeping underneath the brutalist building, which was held up on concrete stilts. "When I first started doing outreach I used to feed 40 a night under the old library," he says. "The library car park was so big so they were all over the place." Demolition began in December 2015 to make way for the new Paradise development, leaving many people searching for a new place to sleep. Rik, who was once homeless himself, says people were also coming from other cities such as Coventry, Leicester and Wolverhampton, because Birmingham was seen as a more lucrative place to make money - especially nearer Christmas. "They all come up during the German Market time. They see it as a money-making exercise. They find a spot early," he says. Rik says he used to be a well-off businessman, but was left penniless following his divorce. He slept on a bench in Liverpool for three years, before relocating to the West Midlands to be nearer his daughter. When asked about the latest council figures, he says, "Thirty six? I fed 80 people last week." More stories from Birmingham and the Black Country Richard Taylor, aged 33, who is originally from the city's Yardley Wood area, has lived in hostels and on the streets for a number of years. He started sleeping rough under the old library in 2014, along with about 60 other people. "My family didn't want to know me," he says. "I've been in and out of hostels and under the old library." Mr Taylor, who has ADHD and autism, describes life on the streets as "very scary" and says he has seen people being attacked with glass bottles. But he says conditions under the library were dry and there was a sense of community with people using a gas heater to keep warm. Mr Taylor slept under the library for about six months and said he was always overlooked by the council. "The council should do more for people in Birmingham and all over the Midlands. They would hardly come out. I've never seen the council come out once." Birmingham City Council says it is working with the police and local charities by visiting homeless people in the city and directing them to benefits, housing and substance abuse services. "We have also commissioned services that target different groups - whether youth, victims of domestic abuse, former offenders, entrenched rough sleepers," a spokesman said. But could there be other factors, besides the demolition of the old library, behind the increase in homeless people in Birmingham? Cath Gilliver, who runs Sifa Fireside, a day care centre for homeless people, says many homeless people are in work, but cannot afford rising rent prices or are awaiting approval for housing benefit. "A number of homeless people in Birmingham are EU migrants," she adds. "They have a low paid job but they have to sleep on the streets, they also may have come over to work but have been exploited by employers who control their accommodation." Councillor Peter Griffiths blames government policy for the rising numbers. He says: "There are unfortunately more homeless people and more people sleeping rough. This is in part due to the government's welfare reforms. Alongside this, the government's homelessness prevention grants have decreased." But the Department for Communities and Local Government disputes this, with a spokesman saying: "There are many reasons for homelessness and to suggest that it is due to welfare reforms is misleading. "We're investing £500m to tackle homelessness - including protecting prevention funding - and recently announced £40m for councils to help rough sleepers." The government has pledged to support a bill to make councils in England do more to help people off the streets and into homes. But as commuters make their way home in the evening, the streets of Birmingham are still filled with those who say they do not have anywhere to go. And as they are more visible, perhaps they are now harder to ignore.

जब यात्री बर्मिंघम में न्यू स्ट्रीट स्टेशन की ओर पैदल जाते हैं तो सोने के थैले स्पष्ट रूप से दिखाई देते हैं। दुकान के दरवाजों में बिस्तरों का ढेर लगा रहता है और खरीदारों से नियमित रूप से पूछा जाता है कि क्या वे कुछ बदलाव कर सकते हैं। लेकिन क्या शहर के केंद्र में बेघर लोगों की संख्या बढ़ रही है और खराब नींद लेने वालों की मदद के लिए क्या किया जा रहा है?


Is TfL Games Lane 'warnings not fines' tactic working?

Summary: Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy always said he would have a softly-softly approach to the £130 fines for driving in the exclusive Games Lanes during the Olympics and it seems the authorities have been true to their word.

Tom EdwardsTransport correspondent, London@BBCTomEdwardson Twitter I've found out that for the first six days of the Games Lanes from 25 July, Transport for London (TfL) gave out no fines at all and only warnings. This photo shows a warning which one of our crew cars received (the driver actually had a 'sticker' allowing him in the lane - but that's another story). It is similar to what TfL did with the introduction of the Low Emission Zone. It seems to be more interested in compliance and getting behaviour change rather than fining drivers. 'Sensible' system Since the 30 July TfL has issued 2,400 tickets which it says is "low" compared to the 3,000 a day it gives out for non-compliance of the Congestion Charge. The reason for that is 98% of drivers are complying with the rules of the Games Lanes and TfL says it will be sensible with the appeals process. Garrett Emmerson, chief operating officer for surface transport at TfL, said: "The operation of the Olympic Route Network (ORN) and Games Lanes has gone well. "We have no interest in unnecessarily penalising drivers and, with a very high compliance rate of around 98% to date, the overwhelming majority are following the requirement to stay out of Games Lanes when they are in use. "In order to give drivers time to get used to the changes we've made to the road network we issued warning notices rather than Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) during the first six days of its operation. "We are now issuing PCNs to drivers who contravene the ORN, but will continue to be proportionate and sensible; we're seeking compliance from drivers, not income from fines. "To date, some 2,400 PCNs have been issued." So, how have the Games Lanes been for you? Have you been fined? Certainly, after the initial confusion it seems the flexibility of the system has worked? Let me know.

परिवहन आयुक्त पीटर हेंडी ने हमेशा कहा कि वह ओलंपिक के दौरान विशेष खेल लेन में गाड़ी चलाने के लिए £130 के जुर्माने के लिए धीरे-धीरे दृष्टिकोण रखेंगे और ऐसा लगता है कि अधिकारी अपनी बात पर खरे उतरे हैं।


Narendra Modi: India's economic saviour?

Summary: A "king among kings" is how Anil Ambani, one of India's leading industrialists, described Narendra Modi in January last year, long before the latter entered the race to become the country's next prime minister.

By Sameer HashmiIndia Business Report, BBC Mumbai After winning the Indian election comprehensively, the business community here is waiting with its arms wide open to embrace Mr Modi. They hope he will be their saviour at a time when the economic growth rate is flagging, investments are dwindling and consumer demand is dropping. He was the chief minister of Gujarat for over 12 years, during which the state's economy grew at annual average of nearly 10% and became a magnet for investors. He has built a reputation of being a pro-business, decisive and hands-on political leader who can get things done - the polar opposite to how many saw the outgoing government of Manmohan Singh in its final years in charge. "The industry is looking for strong leadership that can bring in clarity and give confidence," says Sunil Kanoria, vice-chairman of SREI Infrastructure Finance. "And Narendra Modi is that leader." It is not only the business community that thinks he is the man who can fix the economy - a large section of Indian voters believe so and that is why they voted out the last government. Mr Modi pitched his economic track record in the state of Gujarat as his main selling point during the course of the election. But when it comes to turning around India's economy, the prime minister-designate faces some key challenges. Faster job creation One of Mr Modi's main pledges was job creation. More than half of India's population is under the age of 25. Every year, more than 10 million jobs are needed to absorb newcomers into the labour market. This means India has to achieve a yearly economic growth rate of 7-8%. The last government failed to meet that target - latest data shows that between 2004-05 and 2011-12, India created just 53 million jobs. A report by the credit rating agency Crisil traces two key reasons for this - inflexible labour laws and a shift in growth pattern towards less labour-intensive jobs such as IT and IT-enabled services. Economists point out that India needs a two-pronged approach. The government needs to give manufacturing a big push, and along with that, it needs to devise policies that will encourage medium- and small-scale businesses. If this combination works, then that will help in creating more employment. Clearing infrastructure bottlenecks One of the biggest limits on economic growth has been India's infrastructure. Given the frantic pace of growth between 2004 and 2010, India needed consistent investment in infrastructure, which would have acted as a cushion even when the economy started to slow down. But instead, red tape and environmental issues stalled many projects. Even though in 2013 the government did set up a high-powered committee - headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh - to improve things, it was too little too late to show results. As of February 2014, the government had cleared 310 projects worth nearly $100bn (£60bn). However, many more are still waiting for final clearance. If the new government acts fast, then some can be completed within a few months. "It's an art to identify projects that can have a big impact," says Samiran Chakraborty, chief economist at Standard Chartered Bank India. "If the new government can pick 20 such projects in the next few months, then that will have a ripple effect." High food prices Rising food prices were one of the key reasons for the huge electoral rout of the outgoing Congress-led government. India's central bank has been waging a war against inflation for the last two year by keeping interest rates high, but this has come at the cost of economic growth. Last November, food price inflation touched almost 20%. Economists point to various reasons for this sharp rise. Demand for food like eggs and milk in villages has gone up in recent years due to rising incomes in rural areas. Inconsistent rainfall has also hit crop yields, pushing up prices. If the government can improve storage facilities, that will go a long way in controlling food prices. A lot of food gets wasted by poor storage conditions, which leads to higher prices during the off-season. The other big factor is hoarding. Many traders keep back their produce until the prices rise - something the government has long been criticised for not cracking down on. Encouraging foreign investors Investment by both international and domestic firms has come down over the last few years. Even though foreign direct investment did go up in 2013, the sentiment has largely been sceptical. Some of the steps taken by India in recent years were seen to be unfriendly for foreign businesses. A bitter tax row with Vodafone and policy flip-flops have made investors apprehensive. And to add to that, India is regularly ranked as one of the toughest places to operate - currently 134th on the World Bank's "ease of doing business" list. "The government's immediate priority should be to improve ease of doing business in India," says Adi Godrej, chairman of the Godrej Group, one of India's largest conglomerates. Challenges ahead So can Narendra Modi deliver? "We need a leader who can get things done," says infrastructure expert Mr Kanori. "It doesn't matter whether it's achieved by a dictatorial approach or by consensus building. And Modi is that leader." Clearly the task ahead for Mr Modi is going to be challenging. But the business community is confident that he has the recipe to fix the economy and lead them to a brighter future.

भारत के प्रमुख उद्योगपतियों में से एक अनिल अंबानी ने पिछले साल जनवरी में नरेंद्र मोदी को "राजाओं के बीच एक राजा" के रूप में वर्णित किया था, जब नरेंद्र मोदी ने देश का अगला प्रधानमंत्री बनने की दौड़ में प्रवेश किया था।


Clevedon Pier: The 150-year-old 'soul' of a seaside town

Summary: In 1869 crowds flocked to Clevedon to witness the opening of its pier. For decades it enjoyed a period of decadence, offering a seaside escape to thousands of visitors. But a century later it succumbed to dwindling numbers and decay, eventually collapsing into the Bristol Channel. The fact it has survived to see its 150th birthday is down to its diehard supporters.

By Jonathan HolmesBBC News "Architecturally, it's stunning; I'm magnetised to it," says Amy Horner-Webb, whose fondness for the Victorian structure has seen her tattoo its likeness on her leg. The 28-year-old's childhood is peppered with memories of trips to the town's shoreline, the pier looming large in the background. "It reminds me of being a kid, family days out and playing with my family there in the sun. "It wouldn't be Clevedon without the pier. And for it to survive for 150 years - not many towns have that." Clevedon's pier was built at the height of the Victorian era and partly to provide better transport links between the growing North Somerset town and south Wales. Its construction allowed passengers to cross the Bristol Channel by steamer ship from the pier, opening up a plethora of holiday possibilities to city-dwellers keen to avoid a lengthy detour via Gloucester on the Great Western railway line. But by 1886, the introduction of the Severn Tunnel had put a dent in the pier's appeal as a transport hub and its success started to falter. However, the early 20th Century saw a sustained interest in the pier as a tourist destination as the seaside resort grew. The town's first cinema opened in 1912, a marine lake for swimming followed in 1929, and ships continued to use the pier for excursions. A typical summer's day in the 1930s saw as many as five departures, with round trips to Weston-super-Mare, Barry, Lynmouth and Ilfracombe proving popular. By the 1950s, the pier's popularity had peaked - its tiny dance hall, crammed with youngsters come the weekend, was home to the town's first jukebox. According to Clevedon Pier and Heritage Trust, footfall almost doubled - from 45,000 a year in 1956 to 83,000 three years later. But it was a short-lived resurgence and by October 1970, the future of the 259m (850ft) structure seemed bleak when two outward spans dramatically disintegrated and tumbled into the water. It was earmarked for demolition by the council and only saved after campaigners won the right to a public inquiry - support from which came from former Poet Laureate, Sir John Betjeman, who described it as "the most beautiful pier in England". "Clevedon without its pier would be like a diamond with a flaw," he famously said. Many of those who campaigned for the pier during the 1980s were confident about its future. "We knew it could be brought back," remembers one supporter, Alan Tinkling. "We still had boats coming in, but the council just wanted an easy way out by demolishing it, they didn't think it would be any good. "I'm chuffed as anything it survived." A succession of protests and fundraising events followed, with Victorian-themed marches through the town, Heritage Lottery funds applications lodged, and banners hung on the then-marooned dance hall building. It was, however, a long road to reopening, eventually doing so in 1989 after almost two decades closed to the public and more than £2m spent on repairs. Supporters saw their perseverance further rewarded in 2001, when it became the only intact Grade I listed pier in England. You might also be interested in: Lighthouse life: 'We are so lucky to be doing this job' The last man standing on the Calf of Man Is this England's steepest street? A new visitors' centre and restaurant opened in 2016, with visitor numbers topping 100,000 for the first time in 147 years. In April, it came third behind Worthing and Clacton in the National Piers Society competition which ranked 55 open piers. Today, about 65% of the pier's income comes from admission charges, with the rest covered by rentals for weddings, room hire, fishing permits and even donations from wills. "My role now is to bring in money to keep the pier going," says the 12th pier mistress, Nicole Laken, who manages a maintenance budget of £100,000 per year and a team of six people. "You can start out with your week planned, and then get a phone call one day requesting [permission to] film for a Bollywood film. "The job has changed so much from what it used to be. But it's an honour to have that responsibility, because the pier is very precious to Clevedonians." Indeed, for Stephanie Burns and Terry Burns "it had to be the pier" when they got married. The newlyweds walked its length, accompanied by 20 samba musicians, on a chilly, grey day last June. "Most of our wedding guests had never seen the pier before," she says. "The pier [management] even opened the main gates for us, which are usually closed for people to go through the toll house, and they treated us and the band as if we were royalty. "My husband is a structural engineer, so he appreciates the design of it, and we always take visitors there." Though the pier is to remain largely as it has done for the last 150 years, some improvements are planned, including lighting the ornate pagoda on the pier head for the first time. "I could never understand why the end was always in darkness," says Ms Laken. "It won't be like the Blackpool illuminations but it will be done sympathetically." Regardless of how the pier changes, it remains a constant for people like Amy, who return to it time and again. "As an adult I still hold the pier very close to my heart and as someone who struggles with mental health problems, it's grounding. "You never get the same view twice. The sky and the waves are always different but the pier is always there as a strong, steady reminder. "It's [our] heritage, it's the soul of Clevedon, I'd like to think every Clevedonian holds pride in it."

1869 में क्लेवेडन में इसके घाट के उद्घाटन को देखने के लिए भीड़ उमड़ पड़ी। दशकों तक इसने पतन की अवधि का आनंद लिया, हजारों आगंतुकों को समुद्र तट से बचने की पेशकश की। लेकिन एक सदी बाद यह घटती संख्या और क्षय के कारण गिर गया, अंततः ब्रिस्टल चैनल में गिर गया। तथ्य यह है कि यह अपने 150वें जन्मदिन को देखने के लिए जीवित रहा है।


Sir David Frost's death: Tributes to 'fearsome interviewer'

Summary: Known for his catchphrase "hello, good evening and welcome", broadcaster Sir David Frost, who has died at the age of 74, was a formidable interviewer. Friends, colleagues and past interviewees have paid tribute to the broadcaster.

Prime Minister David Cameron "My heart goes out to Carina and the family. "Sir David was an extraordinary man, with charm, wit, talent, intelligence and warmth in equal measure. "He made a huge impact on television and politics. "The Nixon interviews were among the great broadcast moments - but there were many other brilliant interviews. He could be - and certainly was with me - both a friend and a fearsome interviewer." Tony Blair The former prime minister referred to Sir David as a "huge figure in broadcasting, a great professional and a good friend". "He had an extraordinary ability to draw out the interviewee, knew exactly where the real story lay and how to get at it, and was also a thoroughly kind and good natured man. "Being interviewed by him was always a pleasure but also you knew that there would be multiple stories the next day arising from it." Barney Jones, editor of Breakfast with Frost "David loved broadcasting, did it brilliantly for more than 50 years and was eagerly looking forward to a host of projects - including interviewing the prime minister next week - before his sudden and tragic death. We will all miss him enormously." He added: "The famous contacts book - quite early on when we were working together, we'd done the prime minister of the day and the leader of the opposition of the day, he said 'wouldn't it be quite a trick if we could get the president of the United States?' and I said of course David that would be brilliant. "He said 'hang on a moment', and he took me into my little office, scrabbled around in his contacts book, and five minutes later he was talking to George Bush. I couldn't believe it." Loyd Grossman The television presenter who worked with Sir David on Through The Keyhole, told BBC News: "He so effortlessly roamed all across the piste... from comedy to current affairs to light entertainment for fifty years. "Yet in his presence you forgot you were dealing with the Leviathan of broadcasting and just thought here is a wonderful man, generous, enthusiastic and always excited. He was in love with television." Sir Michael Parkinson Speaking to BBC Radio Berkshire, he said: "He was a remarkable man, I was lucky to know him. He was extraordinary and inspired a generation. "An incredibly talented man, adept at so many things, an all rounder. "He was part of the cultural opening up of the 1960s, and he broke boundaries. "Sir David was also an entrepreneur who helped put together the Two Ronnies, and helped the Pythons get together. "The Nixon interview was a huge gamble, he had to mortgage his house, but one of the best political interviews of all time." Bob Zelnick The executive director on the Nixon interviews on the Watergate scandal said: "Every one of us involved in that project knew that we could not survive with our reputations anywhere near intact if the perception was that Nixon had successfully countered us. "The fact that it drew almost universal praise was a tribute to David's hard work and his very, very tough attitude once the bell rang and the fight started." Michael Sheen The actor played Sir David in the film version of Frost/Nixon. Speaking to BBC News, he said: "Famously he was an incredibly positive man. "I don't think there was anyone who ever heard him say anything negative about anyone, he never had a bad word to say about anyone. I think we sorely tested him by putting his life up on stage and screen. "He was incredibly supportive and he was a very canny man, a shrewd businessman who wouldn't have got where he got without being that way so he knew that this was potentially a good thing, that one of his greatest achievements was going to be very much back in the public eye and for a new generation as well. "He was so nice, such a warm man and he was able to put people at their ease, and then his instinct for what made good television always got interesting and difficult things out of people. "It was a real honour to be any way associated with him." John Cleese The actor, who played a prominent role in The Frost Report, said: "I was very, very sad to hear of David's death. I had known him for 52 years and I was extraordinarily fond of him. "He was always fun and kind and interesting and I never heard him make a mean comment about anyone. "I owe a great deal of my professional career to David and I am very grateful for what he did for me. "Life is going to feel rather diminished by the loss of his welcoming, cheery and optimistic voice." Joan Bakewell The broadcaster said: "He had a finger in many, many pies and although he was a wonderful interviewer and interrogator it can't be forgotten that he was also a businessman and ran companies. "He produced films. He wrote 17 books. "He was hyperactive, David, he had enormous energy, a questing mind, a very great sense of curiosity about the world and how it worked and how people worked." Alastair Campbell Tony Blair's former communications director told BBC News: "It's really, really sad. He was somebody you could be very close to and I would say he was a great friend to me and I hope I was to his family." Mr Campbell added that Sir David had an extraordinary social life but that he never stopped working. He said he made relationships with people so that you would prefer to say yes than no to him even though you knew it would not be an easy ride. "He was an incredibly nice person but if a question had to be asked he would ask it, and he would ask it very directly. "Tony Blair said in his book Sir David was one of the best as he was so nice - by the time you answered the question you probably said something you didn't mean to." Esther Rantzen The TV personality said: "I think fellow interviewers have always been awestruck by David Frost's capacity to elicit memorable, sometimes historically significant quotes from all the movers and shakers or our time - presidents, prime ministers, A-list celebrities. "But for all of us who had the pleasure of knowing him socially, it is his kindness, generosity, loyalty and humour that we will miss so much. "His summer party was always the best party of the year. His fund of anecdotes and his constant wit was a joy. In fact, it was always his greeting, 'a joy to meet you', and it was always a joy to meet him." Sir Menzies Campbell The former Liberal Democrat leader said: "To be interviewed by David Frost was never a chore, even when trying to defend the indefensible. "But his scrupulous and disarming politeness hid a mind like a vice. "David Frost could do you over without you realising it until it was too late. He was a peerless broadcaster." Peter Morgan Playwright Peter Morgan, who wrote Frost/Nixon, said: "He was a pioneer. He combined being a satirist and someone who one satirised. "It was an extraordinary, four-dimensional, vivid career...and he was a great lunch." Peter Fincham The director of television at ITV said: "David Frost was one of the giants of television. He co-founded London Weekend Television and was a hugely influential figure in the development of ITV. "He was a major presence on screen for five decades, able to switch effortlessly from light entertainment to interviewing world leaders. "And he was the most courteous and generous man you could hope to meet, always making it seem that it was his great good fortune to know you, rather than vice versa. "He was the epitome of old school charm." Sir Victor Blank The chairman of the female health charity Wellbeing of Women said: "David was also a marvellous husband, father and friend, but not often recognised is the time, generosity and support he gave to so many charities, not least the 25 years he has spent helping Wellbeing of Women."

अपने मुख्य वाक्यांश "हैलो, गुड इवनिंग एंड वेलकम" के लिए जाने जाने वाले प्रसारक सर डेविड फ्रॉस्ट, जिनका 74 वर्ष की आयु में निधन हो गया है, एक दुर्जेय साक्षात्कारकर्ता थे। दोस्तों, सहयोगियों और पूर्व साक्षात्कारकर्ताओं ने प्रसारक को श्रद्धांजलि दी है।


Soldier shot dead in Batticaloa

Summary: A twenty-year old soldier was shot dead allegedly by the LTTE in the eastern Sri Lankan town of Batticaloa on Tuesday.

Military authorities have accused the Tamil Tiger pistol gang of shooting dead RDP Senevirathne in Kalladi. It is the first reported such incident since the Sri Lankan authorities announced the capture of the eastern province from the LTTE. At least 12 policemen were killed in Batticaloa district since the commencement of the provincial council elections earlier this year but no military casualties were reported since the province was recaptured. Soldier Senevirathne who has joined Sri Lanka Army a year ago was shot dead by assailants came in a motor bicycle, police said. Police have begun investigations.

पूर्वी श्रीलंकाई शहर बट्टिकलोआ में मंगलवार को कथित तौर पर एलटीटीई द्वारा एक बीस वर्षीय सैनिक की गोली मारकर हत्या कर दी गई।


River pollution kills 100 fish at Llangefni, Anglesey

Summary: An investigation has begun after pollution killed more than 100 fish in the River Cefni on Anglesey.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said it was taking water samples to find out the source of the pollution. Officers are also taking the dead fish away for tests to find out what has killed them. Other wildlife has not been affected and the water "seems clear", the environment body said. Leon Williams, north Wales environment officer for NRW, added: "We will continue to keep an eye on the situation to make sure that there will not be any further incidents."

एंग्लेसी पर सेफनी नदी में प्रदूषण से 100 से अधिक मछलियों के मारे जाने के बाद जांच शुरू हो गई है।


Investigation launched after man found dead in car in Sulby River

Summary: Police are investigating the death of a man who was found in a car in a river in the north of the Isle of Man.

Emergency services were called to the Garey Ford area of the Sulby River at about 23:30 BST on Thursday. Police said the 72-year-old man, who was from the north of the island, was pronounced dead at the scene in Lezayre. A spokesman said it was "unclear" at this stage how the man died or how the car ended up in the water. There was nobody else in the vehicle at the time of the incident, police confirmed. The island's coroner has been informed.

पुलिस आइल ऑफ मैन के उत्तर में एक नदी में एक कार में पाए गए एक व्यक्ति की मौत की जांच कर रही है।


Pitch Perfect: Hollywood's surprising success story

Summary: Pitch Perfect 3 is outstanding. Quite literally.

By Steven McIntoshEntertainment reporter Not only is the third instalment of the successful film franchise highly entertaining - but also highly unusual for Hollywood. Seeing an all-female ensemble cast in a storyline where the main objective isn't finding a boyfriend is something you don't often see. Which is perhaps why the movies have become so popular. "I distinctly remember seeing the first one in the cinema and just feeling so great afterwards," says Hailee Steinfeld, who joined the cast in Pitch Perfect 2 and reprises her role in the third. "I loved every minute of it, loved the musical aspect, I thought the relationships within the movie were so interesting and fun. I remember thinking if there's ever a movie like this I have to be a part of it." Hailee's reaction to the first film, released in 2012, wasn't unique (although sadly the rest of us have yet to be cast in one of the sequels). Audiences knew they were in for a very different type of movie from the opening scene, where Anna Camp's character violently throws up on stage, bringing shame on her a cappella group, The Barden Bellas, and setting up the plotline which sees them try to rebuild their reputation. Its script was sharper and more cutting than the average teen comedy movie, and the film was warmly received by critics. "The first Pitch Perfect was a bit of a sleeper hit," says film critic Rhianna Dhillon. "It felt like a word-of-mouth movie, because on the description alone it didn't necessarily sound that appealing, hearing actors doing covers of songs without any music, but then when you see it and understand it you realise what a fantastic idea it is. "It pushed for the underdog. It was outrageous. It showcased different types of women than we're used to seeing on screen, it broke down stereotypes. It felt really important but also not forced." She adds: "It reminded me of being at uni and making all these friends for the first time, understanding their quirks." After the somewhat surprising success of Pitch Perfect, a sequel was hastily scheduled, and the imaginatively-titled Pitch Perfect 2 became the highest-grossing musical comedy of all time when it was released in 2015. The franchise's success, and in particular, its famous riff-offs [singing battles], even prompted the BBC to commission a new singing competition for choirs and a cappella groups called Pitch Battle, which launched this year. And yet, the Pitch Perfect story remains atypical in the movie landscape. Think back to 2011's Bridesmaids - which was supposed to be a game-changer for Hollywood. The Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy film was said to be one that would convince movie executives that films with a female ensemble cast can be funny, entertaining, and successful at the box office. "It says something that a movie like Bridesmaids was so successful, I think people love that, and find it refreshing," Hailee says. "And for me as an actor, it's fun to be a part of a movie that's about a group of women banding together and lifting each other up and supporting each other. And there's outside relationships involved, but the core of it is between them." After the release of Bridesmaids, The Wrap published an article (typical for what was being written about the film at the time), entitled "Bridesmaids sparks a genre: Why we'll see a lot more R-rated chick flicks." "Bridesmaids has an opportunity to open the door to the crazy, vulgar female comedy," screenwriter Linda Voorhees told the website. But, since then, there haven't been quite as many Bechdel test-passing films as were expected - with the occasional exception, like this year's Girls Trip. "We've had films like Bachelorette and Rough Night, but again these all revolve around a marriage, a hen do, which Bridesmaids did first and did so well that everything since is so overshadowed by it," Rhianna says. "So they haven't broken out of that idea that women can only get together when there's a union with a man involved, like Pitch Perfect did. "You don't think of the Pitch Perfect films as romantic comedies even though there are some romances in them, I think Hollywood needs to sort of realise that women are quite happy seeing female friendships on screen as much as they are seeing romances." Many recent films with a female-ensemble cast have been notable, even controversial, for the gender of the main characters - like the 2016 remake of Ghostbusters. "Ghostbusters was almost set up to fail," Rhianna continues, "because it was tackling a much-loved film, and also they specifically said the difference was that they're all women this time, and that doesn't necessarily make a good film. (Ghostbusters wasn't a huge box office success and, prior to the film's release, its trailer became the most disliked in YouTube's history.) "I'm kind of feeling the same way about [the all-female] Ocean's Eight, they could've just done a fantastic heist movie with women, and not have anything to do with Ocean's anything. It's frustrating that they always seem to have to piggy back off a male franchise to make any headway." Instead, having a film with base material which is unique, rather than just a reboot or remake of an old movie, is precisely where Pitch Perfect excelled. Despite being adapted from a book, it was praised for its originality, largely helped by its gross-out humour and the ad-libbing from cast members like Rebel Wilson. The franchise also doesn't make a big song and dance about the fact the cast is female. They just make a big song and dance, full stop. "We can't believe how successful it's become," Rebel told Graham Norton last week. "And it's so cool because we're all friends in the cast, and so we want to work together again." Hailee agrees: "We love each other, it's funny, even after a 16-hour day of working together, being exhausted, and singing the same songs, wearing shoes that were uncomfortable, we would still all want to go out to dinner and hang out. "You essentially live together for as long as you make these movies because you're living in such tight quarters for such a long period of time, so yeah we're all very close and it's a lot of fun." Journalists aren't allowed to give away any plot details of Pitch Perfect 3 until next week - but you can basically expect all the usual hallmarks of the franchise - along with more cameos from some major music stars. The latest film has been marketed as the third of a trilogy, and the posters carry the brilliant strapline "Last call, pitches", suggesting that the franchise could be wrapping up soon. But given the juggernaut the whole project has been, could the Barden Bellas return for a fourth instalment? Or could there be a spin-off series? Come on Hailee throw us a bone here. "I really am not sure," she says. Not good enough. "It's funny because even after the second one we were awaiting the call for the third and trying to figure out where it was that they were going. "But I think the possibilities are really endless, especially for the Bellas, and I'd love to pick up with them again and see where they go." Would she star in a potential Pitch Perfect 4, if asked? "Absolutely." Super. Now that that's all agreed and legally binding, we'll be watching out not just for more Pitch Perfects, but perhaps also for more films just like them. Pitch Perfect 3 is released in the UK on 20 December. 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पिच परफेक्ट 3 शानदार है।