Mystery as Canadian houseboat washes up on Irish Beach

Summary: A houseboat believed to have been built by an environmentalist in Canada has washed up on an Irish beach. The vessel is thought to have drifted across the Atlantic, and was spotted as late as September in Portugal Cove-St Philip's in Newfoundland.

The coastguard was alerted by a member of the public who spotted the caravan-sized structure floating on the coast. The boat is believed to have been built by eco-adventurer Rick Small, from Thunder Bay, Canada. Inside the the vessel there is a note that reads: "I, Rick Small, donate this structure to a homeless youth to give them a better life that Newfoundlanders choose not to do! No rent, no mortgage, no hydro". Mr Small gained attention in his native country after previously fitting out a three-wheeled bike with solar panels, which powered him across 7,000 km of Canada. Michael Hurst, an officer in charge of the Ballyglass Coast guard in County Mayo, was tasked with securing the unusual vessel. Describing the out-of-the-ordinary rescue mission, he said: "The shape, itself, is very unusual, because of the size of it. I initially thought it might be a caravan." After checking the vessel had nobody on board, his team secured it from drifting back out and contacted the local council and customs service. Mr Hurst described the insides of the vessel as "habitable" and believes it was fitted with an electric motor to run off the solar panels on the houseboat's roof. Samantha Arden from Conception Bay, Newfoundland, saw the abandoned vessel in Portugal Cove-St Philips at the end of July. It is believed it drifted from there across the Atlantic. Timothy John Ewart, another Conception Bay resident and keen sailor, described finding the vessel on a beach near his home one day last year. He spoke to Mr Small where he told him of his plans to sail across the Atlantic. "The boats steering system was only a piece of plywood bolted to a PVC pipe. And the motors barely had enough power to move." "I never saw him again" He recalled his last encounter with Mr Small in 2015: "When he left our area he was standing on top using a long 2X4 (piece of wood) to push his way out because the current was stopping the boat." The vessel has now been taken ashore onto Cross Beach in County Mayo.

माना जाता है कि कनाडा में एक पर्यावरणविद द्वारा बनाई गई एक हाउसबोट आयरिश समुद्र तट पर बह गई है। ऐसा माना जाता है कि जहाज अटलांटिक के पार बह गया था, और सितंबर के अंत में न्यूफाउंडलैंड में पुर्तगाल कोव-सेंट फिलिप्स में देखा गया था।


In pictures: Brazil dam burst aftermath

Summary: On 5 November, the people of Bento Rodrigues in the south-eastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais heard a deafening noise when the nearby Fundao dam holding waste water from iron ore mining collapsed.

In what is one of Brazil's biggest environmental disasters, about 62 million cubic metres of mud spilled from the dam and flooded a vast area. At least 17 people were killed. Two are still missing. The cause of the burst is still unclear but the Brazilian government has filed a lawsuit against Samarco, the joint venture between mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale, which owned the dam. The area was closed off for four weeks while rescue workers and investigators searched the mud. A month after the disaster, Brazilian journalist Nina Neves and photographer Ismael dos Anjos travelled to Bento Rodrigues and nearby Paracatu de Baixo to examine the damage caused. It was afternoon when Bento Rodrigues was swallowed by a river of mud. The residents, who had had no warning of the impending disaster, could do little more than run for their lives. The force of the mud took everything in its path, bending metal and flattening homes. The site has been abandoned since the mud flow hit. Children's toys and people's belongings are scattered throughout the village, a stark reminder of the lively village Bento Rodrigues once was. Some areas of Bento Rodrigues look like twister has torn through it, with metal rods and pieces of wood littering the ground. The force of the mud flow carried washing machines far from the homes where they once stood. But some smaller items, such as these religious statuettes, survived the impact. Behind the ruins of Bento Rodrigues's school, the swings are suspended in mud, giving a strange illusion of motion in the deserted village. Paracatu de Baixo was the second village in the path of the mud flow. Residents here were luckier than those of Bento Rodrigues as they received some warning of the disaster and could take refuge. No-one died here, but a tree left standing bears the marks of the mud and shows the height it reached. Some residents have been back to look for remains of their belongings in the rubble, but most found very little that was salvageable.

5 नवंबर को, दक्षिण-पूर्वी ब्राजील के राज्य मिनास गेरैस में बेंटो रोड्रिग्स के लोगों ने एक गूंगा शोर सुना जब पास में लौह अयस्क खनन से अपशिष्ट जल रखने वाला फंडाओ बांध ढह गया।


Police surveillance: The US city that beat Big Brother

Summary: Mass surveillance of citizens without their knowledge is on the rise in America. This is the story of how one city fought back - and is teaching others how to do the same.

By Brian WheelerBBC News, Washington DC A deprived port city, across the bay from San Francisco, with a history of high crime rates and radical politics, Oakland has seen its share of policing scandals over the years. Surveillance of ordinary citizens and protest groups - from the Black Panthers in the 1960s to Occupy Oakland in the 2000s - is nothing new in California's eighth largest city. "Police-community relations in Oakland are terrible," says Ali Winston, a reporter with the East Bay Express. "They have been terrible for a long time." But Winston and his colleague Darwin BondGraham were still not fully prepared for what they would discover in the summer of 2012, when they were going through court records and council papers. Find us on Facebook "We saw some things that raised questions. Why are they running fibre optic cables out there? That kind of thing," says BondGraham. Winston recognised the name of a security company on a council agenda and knew immediately what they were dealing with - a Domain Awareness Centre. Most cities, including Oakland, have cameras monitoring traffic intersections and public areas. But a Domain Awareness Centre, or DAC, is far more sophisticated. It is still based around a bank of screens, but the camera feeds are augmented by data from weather reports, shipping movements, social media chatter, email records, emergency calls and other data sources. The port of Oakland had been given federal funds in 2008 to build a DAC as part of a post-9/11 push to protect critical infrastructure from terrorist attack. At some point, the city council decided to extend the system to cover the whole of Oakland and its population of 400,000 people. "The feeling from the port seemed to be, 'We are building these really cool systems, why don't we make them city-wide?'," says BondGraham. Hundreds of new cameras would be installed across the city and data would be incorporated from number plate readers, gunshot-detection microphones, social media, and, in later phases, facial recognition software and programs that can recognise people from the way they walk. The city said it needed an early warning system to give "first responders" a head start when dealing with emergencies like chemical spills and earthquakes, as well as major crime and terrorist incidents. But privacy campaigners in the city were alarmed at the thought of the Oakland Police Department having access to an all-pervasive real-time surveillance network - particularly one that did not have a policy on what data would be stored and for how long. The public backlash began in the summer of 2013, just as Edward Snowden's first leaks about the National Security Agency's spying activities were hitting the headlines. Snowden ignited a "huge" public debate about privacy and data, says Brian Hofer, a former civil rights lawyer who led efforts to curb the DAC, which had barely registered as an issue when the plan to expand it citywide had first come before the city council. Hofer was a relative latecomer to the Oakland Privacy campaign, deciding to get involved after reading a December 2013 article in the East Bay Express, based on thousands of leaked emails between city officials, which suggested that the real purpose of the DAC was not to combat violent crime but to monitor and track political protesters. He was among dozens of Oakland residents to speak out against the DAC at a marathon city council meeting on 4 March 2014, at which the fate of the system would be decided. By now, stopping the Oakland "spy centre" had become a cause celebre among former Occupy protesters. Some of them waited their turn, their faces covered by masks, to vent their anger. The meeting also heard from members of the African American community, who argued that the DAC would be used to justify police violence in black neighbourhoods, and from Oakland's large Muslim community, who were concerned that the DAC would be used to spy on them. What linked them all was a visceral distrust of the authorities and a feeling that they did not want to live in a city where they would be constantly monitored as they went about their business. A PowerPoint presentation by city officials on the alleged benefits of the DAC did nothing to mollify them. With the city council tied on the issue, Oakland's then mayor Jean Quan, who had originally been in favour of the DAC, used her casting vote to back a motion that would dramatically scale it back so that it would be focused solely on the port, as originally planned. The public gallery erupted with cries of "shame" - the majority of those present that night had wanted the DAC scrapped altogether. But others believe the city's leaders caved in too easily to the protesters. "Occupy are the people that don't want the cameras," says Nancy Sidebothan, who chairs a neighbourhood crime prevention committee in Central East Oakland. "It's not the ordinary citizens. We want cameras. We want our safety. Because you can't walk down your street without worrying about whether someone is going to randomly shoot at you. Every night you hear gunshots going off." Oakland is a high-crime city, averaging 109 homicides a year for the past 45 years. Many residents and businesses have invested in their own security cameras and are happy to share their contents with law enforcement. "If you don't want government to put cameras downtown, what are you hiding from, that you think is going to get picked up on a camera?" says Sidebothan. Brian Hofer agrees that security cameras can prevent crime but says there is no evidence that mass surveillance does. And he argues that police departments only turn to "shiny gadgets" when relations with the public they are meant to protect, and on whom they rely as witnesses, have broken down. "Instead of trying to repair these relationships we are just throwing more surveillance equipment at the problem. We are smart people here in Oakland. We have Silicon Valley right up the road and we just think all these new tools are going to solve our problems but it just doesn't work." The city council's decision to limit the DAC was a victory for Oakland Privacy and Hofer, who has since been elected chair of the city's first Privacy Advisory Commission, which has been given the task of scrutinising every new piece of equipment the police department wants to buy. He says he has had a largely positive response from city officials and police chiefs, and is working with other Bay Area administrations to improve accountability. Oakland Privacy is also in talks with campaigners in New York and Baltimore - where concern about secret police surveillance of poor, black neighbourhoods is, if anything, even higher than in Oakland - about how they can fight back. "It is not about prohibiting the use of surveillance equipment, it is about narrowing its scope," he says. Hofer's committee began public hearings last month into Oakland Police Department's use of Stingrays - fake phone masts that can be used to track suspects. This is a level of accountability that exists in few other places in the US, where, according to American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) national executive director Anthony Romero, surveillance equipment is "acquired in secret and used in secret" often without the knowledge of elected officials, let alone the public. Last week the ACLU launched proposed legislation in 11 US cities, including New York and Washington DC, that would, if passed, establish community control over police surveillance. The initiative is inspired, in part, by the Black Lives Matter campaign, although many of the guidelines, such as an annual surveillance audit, come straight from the Oakland Privacy playbook. "People of colour have long been the targets of government surveillance - but today's technology makes it more concerning than ever," said Alvaro Bedoya, executive director of Georgetown University's Privacy and Technology Centre at the launch of the scheme. "Communities are being confronted with the very real possibility that law enforcement is tracking them wherever they go - at work, school, places of worship and political gatherings. "People need to feel safe in their neighbourhoods, and this new effort is an important step in the process of taking back control." Equipment catalogue Many of the systems being offered for sale to law enforcement agencies across the US, and around the world, were developed by defence giants for use on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Here is a small selection: Stingray fake phone masts About the size of a suitcase, Stingrays work by pretending to be a phone tower in order to strip data from nearby devices, enabling police to track suspects without a warrant. They are also capable of accessing the content of calls and texts. The next generation of the device, Hailstorm, is now on the market. Number plate readers Police cars mounted with automatic number plate readers are thought to be in use in many US cities, gathering data on the location and movements of drivers. Research in Oakland found black neighbourhoods were being disproportionally targeted. Crime prediction software Software is being used by police in the US and UK that analyses crime statistics to predict where it will happen next. Microsoft, IBM and Hitachi are among the big players moving into this market. The latest Hitachi "crime visualisation" software - effectively a Domain Awareness Centre on your computer desktop - is being trialled in Washington DC and is demonstrated in this YouTube video. There is also growing concern about the use of social media analysis software, which monitors hashtags such as BlackLivesMatter and PoliceBrutality to identify "threats to public safety". Surveillance enabled light bulbs LED light bulbs marketed as energy-efficient upgrades to existing light bulbs on city streets that can contain tiny cameras and microphones linked to a central monitoring station. Through the wall sensors These use radar to peer through the walls of buildings - currently precise enough to show how many people are in a particular room. X-Ray, or 'backscatter" vans Mobile units that use X-ray radiation to see underneath clothing and car exteriors. Aerial surveillance The use of light aircraft to record continuous high definition footage of a city - recently discovered, and stopped, in Baltimore, following a public outcry. Police departments across the US, and in cities around the world, are also buying drones for surveillance. Listening devices Shotspotter microphones have been around for more than a decade and are thought to be in use in at least 90 US cities. They are designed to improve police response times but there are concerns they could be used to listen in to conversations. Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

अमेरिका में नागरिकों की उनकी जानकारी के बिना बड़े पैमाने पर निगरानी बढ़ रही है। यह कहानी है कि कैसे एक शहर ने लड़ाई लड़ी-और दूसरों को भी ऐसा करना सिखा रहा है।


Cuba says 'yes' to English as tourism flourishes

Summary: As Cuba slowly opens up its economy to the rest of the world, more and more Cubans are learning English. The Cuban government has made proficiency in English a requirement for all high school and university students. As Will Grant reports from Havana, that approach differs from the Cold War, when Russian was the preferred foreign language.

At the annual Havana Jazz Festival, the audience members, much like the music, were a mix of international and Cuban. Sitting on plastic chairs at the open-air venue, visitors from the United States, Europe and China mingled with local jazz aficionados. On stage, a saxophonist who lives in Denmark was reunited with some old Cuban friends. At such an international event, the common language is generally English. Many Cubans are already learning the language themselves, and if not, they are trying to make sure their children are. 'Nyet' to Russian Morning assembly at Jesus Suarez Gayol Secondary School on the outskirts of Havana begins with the school's anthem. The school is named after one of the guerrillas who fought alongside Ernesto "Che" Guevara but these teenagers are growing up in an increasingly different Cuba to the one Jesus Suarez did. For a start, a certain proficiency in English is now a requirement for all secondary school children and university graduates. During the Cold War, students could choose between learning English and Russian but Cuba's educational authorities told the BBC they now consider English a necessary skill for all of the nation's youth. "As an international language, English has always had a place in our curriculum," says Director of Secondary Education Zoe de la Red Iturria. "But we are now rolling out new techniques to evolve our learning of the English language," she adds. But language-teaching methods remain quite traditional, relying heavily on textbooks, parrot-fashion repetition and with only very limited Internet access. Olga Perez, national adviser for English teaching in Cuba, says the authorities are hoping to tackle that last issue. "It would be very good for us if we had the internet in the schools. And we hope that in the future, we'll not only have the internet, we're also dreaming of installing language laboratories in every school." And it is not just in the classrooms that English can be heard more frequently but on the streets of Havana, too. Making conversation In what was a record year for tourism to Cuba, many Cubans have tried to teach themselves English without the help of any formal classes. Darvis Luis sells second-hand books and posters to tourists. He says he learnt English entirely through computer games, music videos and rock songs. "I have to make conversation because I need to make money to eat," he says in easy-flowing, fast English. "I have to learn how to speak with them and I have to get better and better. I tell them a story because books aren't so easy to sell. So you have to make them believe in what you're saying." Resources for Anglophiles and budding English-language students like Darvis Luis are limited in Cuba. One place they can go is Cuba Libro, the island's only English-language bookstore. Nestled in the leafy Havana district of Vedado, it is the brainchild of US healthcare journalist and long-time Havana resident Conner Gorry. Ms Gorry says that after some initial misgivings, local residents "welcomed us with open arms" once they saw "the free cultural programming, high-quality literature and community outreach" on offer. "Literature is not subversive," she says. "A Cuban government-run publishing house just published George Orwell's 1984 and that's available in state-run bookstores." "With increased tourism and increased business connections to the wider world, the Cubans are encouraging people to learn English. So we've become a resource," she adds. In the past months, as well as the jazz festival, Havana has hosted the annual film festival and the international ballet festival. It is at events like these that the thaw in relations with the US seems clearer than ever. The decision by the Obama Administration and the Castro government to rebuild their diplomatic ties has undeniably brought Cubans and Americans closer together. It has also brought about some potentially lasting collaboration in science and the arts. There are people on both sides who fear those steps could soon be reversed, especially in light of comments made to that effect by President-elect Donald Trump. For now though, the young students at Jesus Suarez are just keen to keep improving their ability to communicate with the rest of the world.

जैसे-जैसे क्यूबा धीरे-धीरे अपनी अर्थव्यवस्था को बाकी दुनिया के लिए खोल रहा है, अधिक से अधिक क्यूबा के लोग अंग्रेजी सीख रहे हैं। क्यूबा सरकार ने सभी हाई स्कूल और विश्वविद्यालय के छात्रों के लिए अंग्रेजी में प्रवीणता को एक आवश्यकता बना दिया है। हवाना से विल ग्रांट की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, यह दृष्टिकोण शीत युद्ध से अलग है, जब रूसी पसंदीदा विदेशी भाषा थी।


Budget 2012: Farewell, 50p tax rate

Summary: So, farewell then, 50 pence tax rate.

By Ian PollockPersonal finance reporter, BBC News You caused "massive distortions". So next year you will be cut down to size - 45p in the pound. After counting the pounds and pennies for your first year of operation - 2010-11 - the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has decided you were not worth having after all. Chancellor George Osborne was gleeful in telling Parliament that you had raised only £1bn or so extra - rather less than the £2.5bn or so that Labour had predicted back in 2009. "HMRC find that an astonishing £16bn of income was deliberately shifted into the previous tax year - at a cost to the taxpayer of £1bn, something that the previous government's figures made no allowance for whatsoever," the chancellor said. "Self-assessment receipts this year are below forecast by some £3.6bn, while other tax receipts have held up." So is this true, and why did the Revenue take so long to come to that conclusion? The penny drops After all, this is what a variety of economists, business people, Tory MPs and some think tanks had been saying ever since the new 50p rate started in April 2010. In fact the HMRC was ordered by Mr Osborne last year to analyse the tax receipts for 2010-11. And these can only be scrutinised now because the self-assessment system means that about nine million taxpayers only paid the tax they owed for that year at the start of February this year. About 90% of these returns are now in. And the 300,000 or so additional rate taxpayers are almost certainly all going to be in the self-assessment system. The HMRC's main conclusion is that some wealthy people took much greater steps than anticipated to avoid paying the tax, at least in the first year. The main method was for owner-directors of companies to take dividends from investments in the previous tax year when the highest rate was still 40p in the pound. "The conclusion that can be drawn from the self-assessment data is therefore that the underlying yield from the additional rate is much lower than originally forecast (yielding around £1bn or less), and that it is quite possible that it could be negative," HMRC said in its60-page report. Fast movers The latest figures are still estimates and the Revenue says there is a still a margin of uncertainty about its figures. They hinge not just on counting how much income tax came in for 2010-11, but trying to guess how much would have been garnered if the 40p rate had still been the top rate in force. One key problem highlighted for tax collectors is that these days it much easier for highly-paid people to simply move from one country to another to save tax. "International labour mobility has increased in the last 15 to 20 years as both legal impediments and general migration costs have been reduced, which means the adverse affect of high rates of personal taxation on both inward and outward migration to the UK and tax revenues can be significant," HMRC says. Top earnings slump Much of the HMRC's report involves extrapolating from academic theories and past academic research to guess what the effect of the 50p rate might have been. But a key fact leaps out of chart 5.1 on page 27. The HMRC thinks that the total declared taxable income of those earning more than £150,000 a year slumped from £116bn in 2009-10, to £87bn in 2010-11. Not all of that can be attributed to a new 50p tax rate. But HMRC reckons some of it can. "The model suggests that if the additional rate had not been introduced, total net incomes for those with incomes over £150,000 would have been around £107bn," it says. "This compares with the observed total income figure of £87bn, a difference of £20bn." Why was that? We go back to the pre-emptive measures taken by people who could control their incomes. "The analysis suggests that between £16bn and £18bn of income was brought forward to 2009-10 to avoid the additional rate of tax," HMRC says. "The magnitude of the forestalling demonstrates how responsive high income taxpayers are to changes in tax rates." The final result Stripping out the effect of all this evasive action, the HMRC finally estimates that the "true" effect of the 50p rate was to increase the income tax take, but only by £1.1bn. Even that is uncertain, it says. And an alternative calculation suggests that the "true" tax take might in fact have fallen as a result of the 50p rate coming into effect. Ronnie Ludwig, of accountancy firm Saffery Champness, was not surprised by the Revenue's findings. And he warned that there might be more disappointing tax collection figures to come, with the 50p rate now about to live on for a third year. "I am surprised at the delay in implementing the 45p rate for another year," he said. "We will have another year of some people minimising their income and maximising their spending on items that are tax deductible," he added.

तो, अलविदा तो, 50 पेंस कर की दर।


Coronavirus: Why are Americans so angry about masks?

Summary: In the midst of the pandemic, a small piece of cloth has incited a nationwide feud about public health, civil liberties and personal freedom. Some Americans refuse to wear a facial covering out of principle. Others in this country are enraged by the way that people flout the mask mandates.

By Tara McKelveyLeawood, Kansas Bob Palmgren tried to be polite - at first. He told a customer he had to wear a mask inside his restaurant, RJ's Bob-Be-Que Shack in Mission, Kansas. The customer, a man in his forties in a Make America Great Again (MAGA) cap, had flashed a gun and said that he was exempt from a state-wide mask requirement. He said that he could explain the exemption in the law to Mr Palmgren. Mr Palmgren, a former marine, told the customer that he was not interested in continuing the conversation. Mr Palmgren was not swayed by the customer's gun, either. "Coronavirus doesn't care if you have a gun or not," said Mr Palmgren, describing his conversation with the customer. "I said: 'Now get the hell out of here.'" The argument in the restaurant reflected a deep divide over requirements to wear masks in this country. People in Kansas, along with those who live in more than half of the country, are now required to wear masks in public as part of an ongoing effort to slow down the spread of the virus. But some people have been fighting against the mandate. The wearing of masks has become a catalyst for political conflict, an arena where scientific evidence is often viewed through a partisan lens. Most Democrats support the wearing of masks, according to a poll conducted by researchers at the Pew Research Center. Most Republicans do not. The Republicans are following the lead of the president: Trump has been reluctant to wear a mask, saying that it did not seem right to wear one while he was receiving heads of state at the White House. He put a mask on in public for the first time during a visit to a military hospital earlier this month. The battle over masks has escalated during the final weeks of the campaign season. The general election is in November, and activists in both parties, Republican and Democrat, are working feverishly to ensure victory at the polls. Some of them have faced off on the issue of masks: as Timothy Akers, a public-health professor at Morgan State University, a historically black college in Baltimore, says: "We're seeing politics and science literally crashing." The dispute over masks embodies the political dynamics of the campaign. It also reflects a classic American struggle between those who defend public safety and those who believe just as deeply in personal liberty. The conflict over masks is tense, volatile and deeply personal. Mr Palmgren, the owner of RJ's Bob-Be-Que Shack, was trying to follow the state mandate when he got into the argument with the gun-toting customer. Other stories about the masks have unfolded across the country. When workers in a Michigan pizzeria told a customer that she had to wear a mask, she made an obscene gesture, kicked someone in the restaurant and, according to local authorities, fled the police. A fight over masks led to gunfire outside a Los Angeles grocery store, according to authorities, and a rapper named Jerry Lewis was killed. The fight over masks is playing out against a backdrop of a health crisis that has reached historic levels. More than 3,544,000 people in the US have tested positive for the virus, according to the World Health Organization, and at least 137,000 people have died. The divide between those who wear masks and the anti-maskers, as they call themselves, has become increasingly sharp. In interviews in the Midwest and across the US, people dug in their heels and defended their position, whether for or against the wearing of masks. Many of those interviewed sounded deeply mistrustful of people on the other side and blamed them for the nation's economic and public-health crises. Resentment was palpable in the voice of Susan Wiles, a retired sign-language interpreter, as she described what happened to her at her local supermarket, Publix in Vero Beach, Florida. Mrs Wiles, who has an autoimmune disorder, was riding in a motorised cart in the produce department when a worker "jumped back", she says, and gave her "a glaring look". As she recalls: "He yelled: 'You're not wearing a mask.' It was quite a commotion. Another guy joined right in and said: 'She's a menace to society. Get her out of here.' Then he yells: 'Why don't you just go attend a Trump rally?'" As it happens, Mrs Wiles has been to the president's rallies. A Trump supporter, she says that she does not wear a mask because she believes that the concerns about Covid-19 are overblown. "Sure, there's a virus," she says. "But people die of the flu every year." When it comes to the pandemic, she says: "I don't fall for this. It's not what they say it is." Since her confrontation at Publix, the supermarket chain has introduced a formal policy requiring customers to wear masks. It goes into effect on Tuesday. Walmart, CVS and other retail stores across the US have already put a mask requirement in place. This makes it harder for Mrs Wiles and other anti-maskers to stand by their principles. Yet some persist. Neil Melton is a construction-project manager who lives in Prairie Village, Kansas, and he admires Mr Trump. When it comes to masks, Mr Melton does not think they are effective: "There's really nothing you can do to hide from the virus." He also believes that the mask mandates in Kansas and other states are an example of "government over-reach". He explains: "There are people in power who want to see what people will submit to." The disease has been spreading rapidly in recent weeks in Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia and other conservative, Republican-leaning states where economies opened up early and where people are less likely to wear masks. The way that Americans in these states and other parts of the country chafe at the mask requirement evokes a time when people here were first told to wear seat belts and not to smoke in restaurants. Americans initially resisted those restrictions, too. But now they follow these safety guidelines. Many have not yet taken to wearing masks, however. One Trump supporter, Crystal Lynn, an administrative assistant in Fairfax, Virginia, says she does not like wearing masks because they make her skin break out. Besides that, she says that she does not think that masks work: "It's a false sense of security." She puts on her seat belt when driving because she knows they can save your life. But masks are not "in the same category", she says: "I don't think a mask protects you in any way." The anti-maskers have expressed their views loud and clear. Yet overall people here accept the wearing of masks and have embraced them more readily than those who live in the UK. Nearly 60% of people in the US said they would always wear a face mask when they go outside, according to Covid-19 Behaviour Tracker. In the UK less than 20% said the same. People who study infectious diseases have been struggling to make sense of the political divide over masks and understand the public reaction to the health guidelines. "Some people don't wear masks because they say that they don't 'work' - quote, unquote," says David Aronoff, the director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. "There are other people who see masks as a violation of their rights." The views of anti-maskers are not shared by public-health experts. They say that wearing masks helps stop infected people from passing the virus on to others. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said recently in a webcast that if everyone in the US started wearing masks "right away", the epidemic would be brought under control within two months. Their advice on masks has changed over the past several months, however, and at times it has been confusing. Earlier this year, public-health officials told people not to wear masks because they were concerned there would not be enough facial coverings for health-care workers. By late spring, scientific understanding of the virus and its transmission had changed, and so did the advice for the public. This is what drives Democrats crazy. They believe that masks can help prevent the spread of infection and that if people covered their faces in public then the country could get back to normal faster. For Matt DiGregory, a restauranteur who lives in Bernalillo, New Mexico, and his employees, the cost of the pandemic has been sharp. He closed down a number of restaurants because of the economic downturn. Of his 550 employees, only 60 are left. Masks, he says, are required for all those who visit the restaurants that remain open. If a customer does not have one, the workers have extra masks for them to wear while they are inside the building. "I think masks are the only way we are getting out from under this," Mr DiGregory says. "I'm incredibly sad that there's a political divide on this, and that there's people who think it's a hoax." Some in Kansas and other states agree with Mr DiGregory even when they do not share his political views. Mr Palmgren, the owner of RJ's Bob-Be-Que Shack, likes the way that Mr Trump has been running the nation. But unlike the president, Mr Palmgren is not ambivalent about masks. Mr Palmgren insists that everyone in his restaurant has a face covering. Several days after his encounter with the MAGA-cap-wearing, gun-toting customer, Mr Palmgren sounds more disappointed than angry about the incident. Mr Palmgren says the customer gave Trump supporters a bad name. Recalling the customer's demeanor, Mr Palmgren says: "That doesn't make MAGA look good." Later that day, Mr Palmgren stood outside the restaurant. He called out to someone who was heading for the front door and told them that they needed a mask. For Mr Palmgren, the requirement is non-partisan and non-negotiable.

महामारी के बीच, कपड़े के एक छोटे से टुकड़े ने सार्वजनिक स्वास्थ्य, नागरिक स्वतंत्रता और व्यक्तिगत स्वतंत्रता के बारे में एक राष्ट्रव्यापी विवाद को उकसाया है। कुछ अमेरिकी सिद्धांत रूप से चेहरे को ढंकने से इनकार करते हैं। इस देश में अन्य लोग मास्क जनादेश की अवहेलना करने के तरीके से नाराज हैं।


Seeing the light: How India is embracing solar power

Summary: India unveiled the world's biggest solar farm earlier this year and has quadrupled its solar capacity in the last three years, bringing electricity to millions of off-grid households. But what are the innovations that could see solar replacing fossil fuels completely?

By Padraig BeltonTechnology of Business reporter Rameshwarlal Choudhary, a 45-year old farmer, and his wife Dakha, 40, live with their two children in a small shack near the village of Solawata in India's Rajasthan. Their home has thatched walls, a tin roof, and one side is completely open to the elements. Until six months ago, they were part of the 44% of India's rural households who lack electricity. Now, through a 40-watt solar panel perching on a tree branch outside the hut, they have enough power for three lights: one inside the house, one in the fields, and one on a tree above the roof. "With the extra light we can study until 10 pm," says their daughter Pooja, a 17-year-old student. And her parents can farm and milk their cows beyond sunset - around 5pm - for the first time. "The light also helps keep snakes, rodents, and scorpions at bay," says Ramjilal, their 20-year-old son who is also a student. This one small example is emblematic of how India is going solar in a very big way. In November, the country unveiled the world's largest-ever solar farm at Kamuthi, in Tamil Nadu. It stretches across 2,500 acres, and its 2.5 million solar modules are cleaned each day by a team of robots, themselves solar-powered. While countries like Britain and Germany have seen new solar installations slow after the withdrawal of government subsidies, India and China are ramping up their installations. India quadrupled its capacity in the last three years to 12GW (gigawatts) - 1GW can power about 725,000 homes. This will almost double again this year, with India adding 10GW in 2017; another 20GW is in the pipeline. China is installing solar panels at a similar clip; its capacity leapt to 77GW last year, up from 43GW. As recently as 2010, there was only 50GW of solar capacity installed in the entire world. "This installation of solar power is much higher than anyone could've believed just a few years ago," says Josefin Berg, senior analyst for the IHS solar research group. "The cost of the technology has dropped much faster than anyone anticipated," she says, "but the main decline has been in the technology advances." Solar panels are just not that efficient. A major problem is that about 35% of the sun's light is reflected off the panels rather than being absorbed and converted into electricity, So could biomimicry - copying structures already found in nature - help the panels become more light absorbent? One research team in Finland thinks so. It has been studying leaf structures to find out how they do it. Prof Marko Huttula and senior research fellow Wei Cao at the University of Oulu studied 32 different types of leaf structure to see which absorbed light the best. "Corn seems to be the winner for light absorption," says Prof Huttula. "That kind of makes sense because it is very fast growing." Using what they'd learned, the pair designed a polymer coating featuring patterns of what Dr Cao calls "nanodots". This polymer is then applied on top of silicon cells. So far they have succeeded in reducing the percentage of light lost through reflection from 35% to 12%. Decreasing wasted light this way increases solar panels' energy output by up to 17%, they claim. Now they are working on scaling up the process with collaborators in China. Even with costs of solar cells dropping, there are pretty large leaps forward in efficiency needed before solar energy can broadly supplant fossil sources, says Dr Ross Hatton, an associate professor of physical chemistry at Warwick University. Today's commercial solar cells convert only about 16% to 20% of the sun's energy into electricity. Solar cells based on semiconductors with both organic and inorganic parts - called perovskite solar cells - might boost this up to around 30% if combined with conventional silicon technology. Perovskites can also be made as flexible, lightweight films, meaning they are both cheap and easy to install in a wider variety of places. But a downside is that they tend to disintegrate in humid conditions. "I would say that there would be a very significant cost advantage over silicon, but it's also about the utility - silicon can't be used on the tops of automobiles, or on the cover of your laptop," says Dr Hatton. Also, they "could be fabricated using a roll-to-roll process - it's how you print a newspaper - and is a very well established technology," he says. Several university spin-offs, like Oxford PV and Eight19 in the Cambridge Science Park, have said they aim to market perovskite solar cells this year. Another problem with solar is that at a domestic level, installing it is still a cumbersome process - and many householders don't much like how the panels look. This is why Tesla boss Elon Musk unveiled a new design for solar panels that resemble traditional roof tiles. And Austrian start-up Smartflower has designed a neat, all-in-one solar unit that sits in your garden, tracks the sun like a sunflower, and folds itself up for protection at the end of the day or in poor weather. The Smartflower, which costs from £13,560 ($17,660), produces enough electricity to power a standard household of four people, but needs five cubic metres of space. So the company is developing a smaller version for people with less external space. They have sold the device in Europe since 2014, and last year in the US as well. The firm is also developing an "internet of things" capability for the product so that the Smartflower can switch household appliances on and off depending on how much solar electricity is available. With the cost of solar continuing to drop around the world and efficiency improvements - however modest - coming through, the future of this renewable tech looks bright.

भारत ने इस साल की शुरुआत में दुनिया के सबसे बड़े सौर फार्म का अनावरण किया और पिछले तीन वर्षों में अपनी सौर क्षमता को चार गुना कर दिया है, जिससे लाखों गैर-ग्रिड घरों में बिजली पहुंच गई है। लेकिन ऐसे कौन से नवाचार हैं जो जीवाश्म ईंधन की जगह पूरी तरह से सौर ऊर्जा को देख सकते हैं?


Profile: Stuart Hall

Summary: Stuart Hall, jailed for indecently assaulting 13 girls, was the exuberant host of TV game show It's A Knockout, the voice of lyrical football reports on BBC radio and the face of regional news in the north-west of England for more than 25 years.

As a broadcaster, Hall was eccentric, erudite, egotistical - a distinctive personality who could balance light entertainment buffoonery with sports and serious news. But there was a dark secret behind the on-screen persona. Over two decades, he was an "opportunistic predator", according to police, who molested girls, one as young as nine. Born on Christmas Day 1929 in Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, Hall later recalled how his father, a baker who had survived the Somme in World War I, beat him for playing chicken with trains. At school, Hall directed plays, chaired the debating society and almost became a footballer, having been offered terms by Crystal Palace. But, he liked to recount later, the £20 a week in winter and £10 a week in summer on offer "wouldn't have kept me in tarts and fags". He developed a passion for motor cars and became an amateur racing driver. "I was a dilettante, a rake, louche. I thought the world belonged to me," he once said. "I raced cars. I had an Austin Healey. I had the silk scarf. I fancied myself, there's no doubt about it. Mind, I never won a race." His commentary career began when he decided the PA announcer at a race track was too laid-back and had a go himself. He married Hazel in 1958 and their first son Nicholas was born the following year. But Nicholas had a hole in the heart and died in his father's arms in a hospital waiting room as an infant. The couple went on to have two more children. In 1959, Hall joined the BBC as a reporter on Radio Newsreel and Sports Report. His first game for Sports Report was an eight-goal thriller between Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City. "Alas, the game was shrouded in fog," he later recalled. "I didn't see a single goal. I made it all up." Becoming host of the corporation's nightly Manchester-based regional TV news programme seven years later, he bridged hard news and jocular features and befriended figures including Manchester United legend George Best. "Manchester was the place to be in the 60s and I was its Boswell," Hall said. "I was in there, Slack Alice and the other fleshpots - we had nightclubs here to rival Las Vegas. And Bestie was its hub. "We'd rouster till dawn. When Bestie started absconding, [then Manchester United manager] Matt Busby rang me and said, 'Where's George?' I knew of course, but I wasn't letting on. So we did the contrite interview on the telly and presented him back to Matt." Hall hosted the local news for 25 years and was the face of the region for the rest of the country during regular link-ups with national show Nationwide. On leaving the BBC, Hall took the hot seat on the regional news show with rivals Granada. He was also the original host of A Question of Sport, which was only broadcast in the north at first, and found fame across the UK and beyond for compering It's A Knockout and its European version Jeux Sans Frontieres. Described by Hall as "the Olympic Games with custard pies", the slapstick game show would feature binmen dressed as oversized penguins doing battle with tax collectors dressed as giant chefs, all accompanied by Hall's irrepressible laugh. Fifteen million viewers in the UK watched teams get muddy while tackling greasy poles, log-rolling and bungee runs. Although the programme was cancelled in 1982, in 1987 he presided over a regal one-off, It's A Royal Knockout, which featured Princes Edward and Andrew, Princess Anne and the Duchess of York, and went down in history as a major embarrassment for the Royal Family. However, Hall kept the costumes and the rights to It's A Knockout and travelled the world staging corporate contests long after the demise of the TV version. He continued his sports career, and said the highlight came when he accompanied Liverpool FC to the 1977 European Cup Final. Having had his press pass ripped up by the host Italian broadcaster, Liverpool manager Bob Paisley offered to smuggle him in with the club. Hall spent the match sitting on the Liverpool bench wearing the number 14 shirt. While most sports journalists conformed to a formulaic style, often resorting to cliche, Hall became famous for his esoteric and evocative radio reports. He claims he invented the phrase "the beautiful game" and would pepper his dispatches with Shakespeare and Shelley quotes and florid metaphors. Throughout his career, a series of mishaps, misjudgements and bizarre events meant Hall regularly appeared in the press for more than his broadcasting. In 1978, he appeared as a witness in the trial of a policeman who was drunk and had drugs in his system after visiting Hall's house. The constable claimed the tranquillisers in his bloodstream had been secretly administered by Hall - which the presenter, who was not charged, denied. In 1980, he punched a fellow judge in a beauty contest and the same year helped save the life of a boy who had hit his head on a diving board while on holiday in Portugal. In 1981, he launched a travel agent in Manchester City Centre but was obliged to change the name of Stuart Hall International Travel when the acronym caused offence. He was a "name" - or backer - of Lloyd's of London insurance but almost went bankrupt as a result in 1989 after a series of global shocks. "I've lost a fortune at Lloyd's, so what?" he later said. "I laughed at it. I was taken for a sucker by folk cleverer than me. But I laugh. Life isn't a career, it's a stumble from crisis to crisis." In 1991, he was cleared of shoplifting sausages and a jar of coffee from his local Safeway supermarket - an incident he put down to being "absent-minded" as a result of the burglary of his beloved watch collection. When asked in 1993 whether his frequent appearances in the headlines were a sign of recklessness, he replied: "I am a wild man. I am a total maverick. I know that." Despite hoping for the return of It's A Knockout, his TV career stumbled through the 1990s and 2000s, when he hosted short-lived series like the travel show Travellers Check and antiques programme Going Going Gone. He was made an OBE for services to broadcasting and charity at the end of 2011 and continued to provide football reports for BBC 5 live until his arrest on rape and indecent assault charges in December 2012. After initially denying the allegations, Hall pleaded guilty in May 2013. As he was sentenced to 15 months in jail, he was told by Judge Russell: "There is a darker side to you, one hidden from public view until now, and a side which you were able to conceal taking advantage of your status as a well-liked celebrity." He admitted 14 charges of indecent assault between 1967 and 1986. One count of rape, which he denied, has been left to lie on the court file.

स्टुअर्ट हॉल, 13 लड़कियों पर अभद्र हमला करने के लिए जेल में बंद, टीवी गेम शो इट्स ए नॉकआउट का उत्साही मेजबान था, बीबीसी रेडियो पर गीतात्मक फुटबॉल रिपोर्ट की आवाज और 25 से अधिक वर्षों तक इंग्लैंड के उत्तर-पश्चिम में क्षेत्रीय समाचारों का चेहरा था।


Adam Ellison death: Three held in Prescot motorbike murder probe

Summary: Two 17-year-old boys have been arrested on suspicion of murdering a man who was stabbed in the neck after a row with motorbike riders.

Trainee supermarket manager Adam Ellison died in hospital hours after the attack in Market Street, Prescot, Merseyside, on 4 November 2017. The 29-year-old had been on a night out with three cousins and a friend. A 22-year-old man, of Huyton, was also arrested for theft of a motor vehicle in connection with the murder. The two youths, who are both also from Huyton, have now been released under investigation, said police. After the stabbing, the offenders fled on the motorbike in the direction of a Tesco store. Mr Ellison's partner Rebecca Cunliffe said they planned to get married and he was saving for an engagement ring at the time.

मोटरसाइकिल सवारों के साथ विवाद के बाद गर्दन में चाकू मारकर हत्या करने के संदेह में दो 17 वर्षीय लड़कों को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Local elections: Councils' social care issues worsen

Summary: You might not think the local elections have anything to do with your health - but beyond schools and waste collection, looking after some of our most vulnerable people is an issue that newly-elected councillors will have to quickly get to grips with.

By Steve DuffyBBC news Local authorities have a vital role - and legal obligation - in providing social care, as well as other social services. But they face challenges in the years ahead: The Health Foundation last year estimated pressures on social care in Wales would rise by about 4.1% a year over the next 15 years due to population changes, the nature of complex and chronic conditions and rising costs. This will require the budget to almost double to £2.3bn to match demand which has big implications for councils already dealing with tighter budgets. An independent research programme, Wales Public Services 2025, led by Cardiff Business School but involving councils, health boards and other organisations, is looking at long term challenges. Its latest report estimates that on current population projections, local councils need to be spending at least an additional £134m by 2020-21. This would bring the spending per capita on social services for the over 65s back to levels of seven years ago. This is an equivalent to a year-on-year growth rate of 2.5%. "Projections suggest that there will have to be a near doubling of spending on local authority social services for older people by 2030," said the report. Michael Trickey, Wales Public Services 2025 programme director, estimates that under-pressure local councils have already cut back on spending on neighbourhood services by a third - £40m - in areas including sport, leisure, libraries, open spaces and parks. He believes a "long term" approach is needed by UK and devolved governments to address the social care conundrum. "A lot of the work into the policies and the options available has already been done but government has not wanted to deal with perhaps some of the difficult decisions needed," he said. "But it has come back again and now it has to really get a grip or we'll be back into crisis again in a couple of years' time." But what about the private sector? There are struggles here too - with some residential and home care providers failing. Last month, the UK Homecare Association reported a "real sense of desperation". BBC Wales found 13 of Wales' 22 councils had seen contracts handed back to them. The proportion with returned contracts - 59% - compares to a UK average of 48%. The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) has welcomed relative protection for social care spending by Welsh Government in recent years - including an extra £20m following the Chancellor's Budget - but is worried it will not keep pace. Chief executive Steve Thomas said: "For new councillors, in terms of the challenges ahead - the pressures on social care budgets will be the biggest headache you face. "It's not just about the care of elderly people either, there are also the demands of caring for our looked after children. "Most people don't use these services; if you've a council with a 175,000 population, it might be only 5,000 using those services - but social care is expensive." He welcomed the prime minister's intervention in the issue and said it was a time to consider other solutions - whether social care insurance or taxation - so the burden did not fall on local councils or Welsh Government. "The danger is if this is not addressed over the next 10 or 15 years, local authorities could be left just as social care agencies." Analysis by Owain Clarke, BBC Wales health correspondent An ageing population is often talked about in terms of being an extra burden on services but could there also be opportunities? Far more people aged over 65 now work full-time. Also, the charity King's Fund estimates older people also contribute financially through a variety of other routes - from their spending power to volunteering. So one way of mitigating the challenges of an ageing population is to help individuals contribute to society as long as they can - put another way - to live healthily for longer. It is argued the services councils provide are essential to that. Housing, leisure centres and libraries have arguably a much greater role to play than the NHS and social services in keeping us healthy in the first place. So, even if health and social care spending goes up or is protected to meet the needs of an ageing population, councils are worried other "preventative services" will continue to bear the brunt of cuts. And this could mean bigger problems down the line.

हो सकता है कि आपको यह न लगे कि स्थानीय चुनावों का आपके स्वास्थ्य से कोई लेना-देना है-लेकिन स्कूलों और अपशिष्ट संग्रह से परे, हमारे कुछ सबसे कमजोर लोगों की देखभाल करना एक ऐसा मुद्दा है जिससे नवनिर्वाचित पार्षदों को जल्दी से निपटना होगा।


Twin Sails Bridge in Poole hit by 'technical problem'

Summary: Poole's Twin Sails Bridge has reopened after a technical problem arose following overnight repairs.

Engineers experienced problems reopening the £37m bridge after planned work to the structure's hydraulics system and a number of test lifts. The road was eventually reopened at about 14:30 BST. The bridge has suffered many problems since it opened in April 2012 including being shut to traffic 38 times in its first six months of opening.

रात भर की मरम्मत के बाद तकनीकी समस्या उत्पन्न होने के बाद पूल का ट्विन सेल ब्रिज फिर से खोल दिया गया है।


Wet nurse: The mum who breastfeeds other women's babies

Summary: Any woman who has ever felt judged over her decision not to breastfeed her baby will have welcomed a statement issued by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) this week. On Tuesday, the organisation said if a woman decides to formula-feed her baby it is her choice and must be respected. But before the introduction of the feeding bottle in the 19th Century, women who were unable or unwilling to breastfeed turned to another option - a wet nurse. Here, a mother-of-three from Caerphilly shares her experience of breastfeeding other women's babies.

By Nicola BryanBBC News Samantha Gadsden knows breastfeeding can be a contentious issue - especially when the baby you are feeding belongs to another woman. She has been volunteering her time - and her breasts - to other women's babies since first becoming a mother herself 10 years ago. "I can't even remember any more how many booby brothers and sisters my children have," the 47-year-old said. She first acted as a wet nurse to help out a friend whose baby was in hospital. The woman's older baby was not allowed to stay on the ward and had never used a bottle. "She phoned me because she was pretty desperate for someone to have him.... I said 'fine but how am I going to feed him?'. "She said 'I was kind of hoping that you'd feed him', so that's what I did." She has also breastfed a friend's baby while babysitting: "She asked me because she knew I'd feed the baby. It's just easier because a lot of these breastfed babies aren't used to bottles." Another time she responded to a new mother who was looking for donor breast milk online: "She had twins and they were starving... She was in hospital, she'd had an operation and she couldn't feed and couldn't pump... they were throwing up formula. "I said 'I haven't got a pump but I've got a pair of boobs so, if you're that desperate, I'll feed your babies'. "We're quite firm friends now. That was a couple of years ago and we've just been on holiday." She said she had never experienced jealousy from the mothers of the babies she has fed: "If someone's asking you to feed their babies, it's because they need help and you're giving it to them, so no." Ms Gadsden works as a doula - a woman who gives support, help and advice to another woman during pregnancy and during and after the birth. But she said the wet nursing was completely separate to her paid work and she would never accept money for feeding another woman's baby. "It's not a professional thing, it's something I do as mother-to-mother support," she said. "[Wet nursing] is not something that I would do for money. I don't think particularly that doing it for money is wrong, to be honest, because everything has a value, but personally, no." She has had varied reactions when people learn about her wet nursing: "If they're in the breastfeeding community or my friends it's 'that's amazing, it's so lovely that you do that for other people' but other people are 'oh my God'. She has had particularly strong reactions when people find out she had fed babies after meeting the mother online: "[They said] 'she didn't even know you, you could have been anything, you could have had anything, you might have had Aids'. "For a start, most breastfeeding women have just been through the NHS screening programme themselves and they're not all out there having orgies and suddenly developing these weird diseases. "And to a certain degree, if you're going to ask somebody to give your baby milk, there's got to be an element of trust there in the first place." She is certain there are many more wet nurses out there, and more women would use them if they knew it was an option : "I think a lot more of it goes on than we know about - people just don't always say about it." The National Childbirth Trust said wet nursing was "not common in the UK" but acknowledged some women informally feed other women's babies. In a statement it said: "Some people may find the subject of wet-nursing uncomfortable. There is no legal reason, however, why women who wish to wet nurse or use a wet nurse cannot do so, and NCT believes that women setting up an agreement between themselves to do this should be supported in their decision." Public Health Wales, the body overseeing health and wellbeing in Wales, said mothers should aim to give their baby nothing but breast milk for the first six months and continue to provide it at least until their baby's first birthday. It said if a mother's own milk was not available the next best thing would be donated breast milk, but those sharing milk should be aware of the risks which include the transmission of blood-borne viruses and other infections, the transfer of chemicals, and the bacterial contamination after collection.

जिस किसी भी महिला ने कभी अपने बच्चे को स्तनपान नहीं कराने के अपने फैसले पर न्याय महसूस किया है, उसने इस सप्ताह रॉयल कॉलेज ऑफ मिडवाइव्स (आर. सी. एम.) द्वारा जारी एक बयान का स्वागत किया होगा। मंगलवार को, संगठन ने कहा कि अगर कोई महिला अपने बच्चे को फॉर्मूला-फीड करने का फैसला करती है तो यह उसकी पसंद है और इसका सम्मान किया जाना चाहिए। लेकिन 19 वीं शताब्दी में दूध पिलाने की बोतल की शुरुआत से पहले, जो महिलाएं स्तनपान करने में असमर्थ या अनिच्छुक थीं, उन्होंने दूसरे विकल्प की ओर रुख किया-एक गीली नर्स। यहाँ, कैर्फिली की तीन बच्चों की माँ ने अन्य महिलाओं के बच्चों को स्तनपान कराने का अपना अनुभव साझा किया।


Why Indians abroad succumb to 'Modimania'

Summary: "Of all the world leaders who have visited Britain, only Nelson Mandela and the Pope have addressed bigger public gatherings than Narendra Modi's rally at Wembley," boasts a spokeswoman for the UK Welcomes Modi organisation.

By Andrew WhiteheadFormer BBC India correspondent It is billed as a grand community reception, and 60,000 Modi supporters - almost all of Indian origin - are expected to crowd into the sports stadium in north London on Friday afternoon. It will be his first visit to Britain as prime minister and many in the Indian community have been eagerly awaiting this moment. "People are going mad for Modi, Modi, Modi," says CB Patel, a London-based publisher and columnist and longstanding supporter of India's prime minister. "I call it Modimania." Wherever Mr Modi goes - and he has spent a lot of time globetrotting in the 18 months he has been in office - he seeks to talk directly to the Indian diaspora. He has drawn huge crowds at venues ranging from New York's Madison Square Garden to Dubai's cricket stadium, as well as many smaller events in places ranging from the Seychelles to Paris. The gathering at Wembley just a few days after the Hindu religious festival of Diwali is expected to be his biggest yet. The organisers say they can't meet the demand for the free tickets. The cost is being met largely by donations - 10,000 people are said to have contributed - along with businesses that are both supporting the event and paying to advertise. Not all the 1.5m people of Indian origin living in Britain are cheerleaders for Mr Modi and his Hindu nationalist party, the BJP. A Modi Not Welcome campaign is organising protests during his visit, complaining of religious intolerance and an autocratic style of government. Part of his purpose, say these campaigners, is to create a worldwide network of Hindu right-wingers - something they regard as worrying. But there is broad enthusiasm among the Indian diaspora for Narendra Modi. Here's why: The courting of Indians abroad is in part about money. The 30 million Indians living outside the country contribute an estimated $70bn (£45bn) to the economy each year in remittances. Narendra Modi has already taken steps to encourage diaspora investment in India, as well as making it easier for those with foreign passports to spend time in what many regard as their mother country. Some wealthy Indians overseas are also said to contribute generously to political parties back home. Political financing in India is notoriously murky, and views differ about how important diaspora money is to the BJP - but academic experts say there is little doubt that right-wing movements do well from this source of funds. Modi meets Indians abroad: While in London, Narendra Modi will want to remind David Cameron that India may prove a more reliable Asian ally than China, whose president, Xi Jinping, recently enjoyed a conspicuously successful trip to Britain. As a head of government, Modi won't get the full pomp and pageantry that greets heads of state such as President Xi. And while the British government's overture to China is seen as a bold and distinctive foreign policy initiative, there's not the same diplomatic buzz about the Indian leader's arrival. But British MPs and political leaders - many of whom are being invited to the Wembley event - are bound to be impressed by Narendra's Modi's ability to mobilise large numbers of supporters. It is not often a UK politician attracts a stadium-size crowd. Andrew Whitehead, a former BBC India correspondent, is honorary professor at the University of Nottingham and at Queen Mary, University of London.

यूके वेल्कम्स मोदी संगठन की एक प्रवक्ता ने दावा किया, "ब्रिटेन का दौरा करने वाले सभी विश्व नेताओं में से केवल नेल्सन मंडेला और पोप ने वेम्बली में नरेंद्र मोदी की रैली से बड़ी सार्वजनिक सभाओं को संबोधित किया है।


Hidden Heroines: Could Elaine Morgan win statue vote?

Summary: Cardiff's first statue of a named woman forgotten to history is to be decided by a public vote. Five women have been shortlisted for the artwork which will be placed outside BBC Wales' new headquarters at Central Square. The women, none of whom are still living, are Cranogwen, Lady Rhondda, Elizabeth Andrews, Elaine Morgan and Betty Campbell. BBC Wales is profiling the lives of each of these women and the public can vote online until 21:30 GMT on Wednesday. Here we look at the life of Elaine Morgan.

By Carolyn HittJournalist & broadcaster Elaine Morgan was a woman of many talents who changed the world from her desk in Mountain Ash. Excelling in both the arts and science, she became a top TV writer, a feminist icon and a ground-breaking evolutionary theorist. Born into a poor mining family in Hopkinstown in 1920, she won a scholarship to Oxford University. When she arrived, they heard her valleys accent and assumed she was applying for a job as a cleaner. But Elaine became a star student, chairing political societies and honing her literary skills. After graduation she taught for three years with the Workers' Educational Association. Married with three sons by the 1950s, she began writing plays to help make ends meet. One of the first women to make an impact in the male-dominated world of the small screen at this time, her first television scripts were accepted before she even owned a TV set. In a career spanning 30 years, she won a host of awards and scripted some of the best-loved dramas in television history - including How Green Was My Valley and The Life and Times of Lloyd George. Sian Phillips, who starred in How Green was my Valley, explained her screen-writing gift: "There was a time when the writer was king and she was one of the stars. If you saw that name on your script then you really wanted to do it." She added: "Elaine was a wonderful plotter. She was a very good storyteller for a start, so nobody ever had to do any tweaking. Not a word." Elaine's script for a Horizon documentary about Joey Deacon, the disabled fundraiser, won her the Prix Italia in 1975 while her serialisation of Vera Brittain's wartime memoir, Testament of Youth, won her the Royal Television Society's writer of the year award in 1979. In the 1970s Elaine switched her focus to science, taking on the might of the male-dominated establishment with a new theory of human evolution. In her book Descent of Woman, she argued human evolution wasn't just about the mighty male hunter - females were an equally vital part of the story. The Descent of Woman was an instant global best-seller. Feted in America as a feminist heroine, Elaine's book became a key text in the Women's Liberation movement. In the States she became something of a celebrity as she was invited to promote the book on television in a coast-to-coast tour. Global impact She went on to publish several more books on evolution - including The Aquatic Ape (1982), which again captured global attention; The Scars of Evolution (1990); The Descent of the Child (1994); The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis (1997) and The Naked Darwinist (2008). Championed by Sir David Attenborough, she was still being invited to discuss her ideas across the world well into old age. More than a million people viewed the Ted Talk that Elaine gave at the age of 89 when it was put on the internet. Closer to home, she wrote her award-winning Western Mail column into her 90s. She was appointed OBE in 2009 and the same year was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. A Valleys girl to the end, she made a global impact but never left her Welsh roots behind.

इतिहास में भुलाई गई एक नामित महिला की कार्डिफ की पहली प्रतिमा का फैसला एक सार्वजनिक वोट द्वारा किया जाना है। कलाकृति के लिए पांच महिलाओं को चुना गया है जो सेंट्रल स्क्वायर में बीबीसी वेल्स के नए मुख्यालय के बाहर रखी जाएगी। महिलाएं, जिनमें से कोई भी अभी भी जीवित नहीं है, क्रैनोगवेन, लेडी रोंडा, एलिजाबेथ एंड्रयूज, एलेन मॉर्गन और बेट्टी कैंपबेल हैं। बीबीसी वेल्स इनमें से प्रत्येक महिला के जीवन की रूपरेखा बना रहा है और जनता बुधवार को 21:30 GMT तक ऑनलाइन मतदान कर सकती है। यहाँ हम एलेन मॉर्गन के जीवन पर नज़र डालते हैं।


Ipswich sex assault: Man arrested over Chantry attack

Summary: A man has been arrested on suspicion of a serious sexual assault in Ipswich last year.

A woman reported that she had been sexually assaulted by an intruder inside her home in the Chantry area on 5 June, 2011. A 66-year-old man from Ipswich was arrested earlier, Suffolk Police said. A spokesman said he had been taken to the Martlesham Police Investigation Centre where he awaited questioning.

पिछले साल इप्सविच में एक गंभीर यौन उत्पीड़न के संदेह में एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Islamic State ties broaden Boko Haram threat

Summary: Nigeria predicts that Boko Haram will soon be defeated, but the militant group's ties with Islamic State mean that would probably push the fighters further into neighbouring countries, writes BBC Monitoring Africa security correspondent Tomi Oladipo.

The Nigerian military has been in overdrive in trying to control the narrative of its war against Boko Haram in recent weeks. It says it has cornered the jihadists and the conflict will soon be over - in line with its mandate from President Muhammadu Buhari to end the crisis by mid-November. Boko Haram's eccentric frontman Abubakar Shekau has not appeared in a video since February, when he threatened to disrupt the elections. The following month he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group (IS) in an audio message and since IS also reached out to their Nigerian counterpart, Shekau has taken a back seat. Shekau has released similar audio clips to disprove reports about his death, although the fact that he is not visible leaves room for speculation among the army that they have killed him, as they have claimed on several occasions. His retreat from the forefront signifies that Boko Haram, also known as IS West Africa Province, now takes orders from the further up the IS hierarchy. Nonetheless, there was recently room for another message to once again defy the Nigerian government, which sparked the realisation in the military that this game of cat-and-mouse was going nowhere. Defence spokesman Colonel Rabe Abubakar described Shekau as "irrelevant" and urged Nigerians "not to lose sleep over the concocted audio rhetoric of the waning terrorist sect which is a usual antic of a drowning person struggling to hold on to anything to remain afloat". Overall, Boko Haram's propaganda campaign has waned since the beginning of the year, when it used social media to promote sleek videos showing speeches and attacks. The latest video, released to coincide with the Eid al-Adha festival in late September, is poorly produced and appears to show fighters praying but there is no indication of how recent all the footage is. It has been two years since the US placed a $7m (£4.5m) bounty on Shekau's head but neither he nor his top commanders have been found. As long as that is not achieved, the group will be able to rethink its strategy, recruit, rearm and develop new methods of operating. The jihadists have shown that they can continue to inflict significant damage even with few but deadly explosions. In one recent triple attack, they killed more than 100 people in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, where they were formed in 2002. Boko Haram at a glance Using football to tackle Boko Haram Who are Boko Haram? The global concern for the missing Chibok schoolgirls still gives Boko Haram a bargaining chip. The news of their abduction grabbed the world's attention in a way the deaths of thousands before were unable to. The resulting scrutiny, as well as criticism from human rights organisations, means that the Nigerian military has taken a more cautious approach to the conflict than it did in the early days, when there were frequent allegations that the military was involved in widespread human rights abuses. The new chain of command means that it is now more difficult than ever before for the insurgent group to agree to dialogue with the government As the conflict escalated, Nigeria needed cooperation from its neighbours to secure the borders but this would inevitably come at a cost for Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Each of these allies has now been attacked, as the IS militants look to extend their reach in West Africa. Nigeria remains a priority for the Islamist fighters but what was initially a local conflict is changing. If indeed Boko Haram is defeated in Nigeria, the fact that the group is now part of a wider international network means the campaign of violence could escalate in the neighbouring countries, particularly Chad and Niger, which have broader expanses of land, far more porous borders and are closer to Libya, where IS began its expansion in Africa. For now, the coalition of the African Union-backed Multinational Joint Task Force should be reminded that a wane in the intensity of Boko Haram attacks says little about the strength of the group as a whole. While aiming to end the conflict, President Buhari should learn from the mistakes of his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, who gave a series of failed deadlines to defeat the militants. Mr Buhari's government, like many Nigerians, will be hoping for a speedy resolution but by now they know better than to be naive.

नाइजीरिया ने भविष्यवाणी की है कि बोको हराम जल्द ही पराजित हो जाएगा, लेकिन इस्लामिक स्टेट के साथ आतंकवादी समूह के संबंधों का मतलब है कि शायद लड़ाकों को पड़ोसी देशों में और आगे धकेल दिया जाएगा, बीबीसी मॉनिटरिंग अफ्रीका सुरक्षा संवाददाता टॉमी ओलादीपो लिखते हैं।


Herefordshire apple farmers to plant 350,000 trees

Summary: About 1,000 acres (404 hectares) of new orchards are to be planted in Herefordshire as part of a £2.5m investment in the local cider industry.

Birmingham-based Aston Manor said it had agreed 25-year contracts with 25 growers in the Malvern area. The company said some 350,000 extra trees would be planted after it doubled cider sales in the past three years. It said Herefordshire growers had been targeted due to the quality of apple crops. The firm is already supplied by 300 acres of orchards in Malvern and the new planting is expected to take a few years to complete.

स्थानीय साइडर उद्योग में 25 लाख पाउंड के निवेश के हिस्से के रूप में हेयरफोर्डशायर में लगभग 1,000 एकड़ (404 हेक्टेयर) नए बगीचे लगाए जाने हैं।


Game of Thrones: Dark Hedges road could have traffic banned

Summary: It was made famous as the King's Road in fantasy drama Game of Thrones - but now the road through the Dark Hedges could be closed to traffic permanently.

The Department of Infrastructure at the Northern Ireland Executive has proposed banning vehicles. It said the plans were in the early stages of consultation. Earlier this year, the County Antrim road was temporarily closed after high winds ripped up two trees causing them to collapse. The department said it intended to publish a "notice of intention" to for the proposal in the autumn. "Following discussions with Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and other interested parties, the department has agreed to take forward an order prohibiting vehicles using Bregagh Road," it said. The iconic tunnel of trees near Armoy has become a major tourist attraction since featuring in the smash-hit television series. The trees were planted by the Stuart family along the entrance to their Gracehill House mansion.

इसे काल्पनिक नाटक गेम ऑफ थ्रोन्स में किंग्स रोड के रूप में प्रसिद्ध किया गया था-लेकिन अब डार्क हेजेज के माध्यम से सड़क को स्थायी रूप से यातायात के लिए बंद किया जा सकता है।


SNP launch: Scotland's remain party?

Summary: Down the decades, the SNP has deployed sundry formulae to stress their promotion of Scottish interests. One thinks, in particular, of the campaign arguing that the black gold in the North Sea was "Scotland's oil".

Brian TaylorPolitical editor, Scotland@tannadiceladon Twitter Today, at the party's election launch in Edinburgh, Nicola Sturgeon essayed a new version. The SNP, she said, was "Scotland's Remain party". Now, self-evidently, this is primarily a method of addressing Brexit - the core, defining issue of this entire contest. A way, further, of positing the SNP firmly on the side of retaining membership of the European Union. But there is a second, equally expected, element. Which is to place Brexit in the context of the SNP's primary aim. Scottish independence. It can sometimes be difficult for the SNP to get a dog in the race when the contest is for Westminster. By dint of simple arithmetic, they cannot hope to form the UK government. That has, sometimes, left them open to a charge of irrelevance when it is a UK election. Mostly, they counter this rather successfully by offering to provide a voice for Scottish concerns in the Palace by the Thames. But, this time, they have a precise syllogism which has simultaneously afforded them salience and attracted critical attack from rivals. The syllogism is this. Brexit is a Bad Thing. Brexit is the creature of a broken Westminster system. It cannot be reformed; Scotland must leave Westminster through the door marked independence. Thus, will an independent Scotland be able to reverse Brexit. Hence Scotland's Remain party. At the launch today, there was an evident enthusiasm among the SNP ranks, including among candidates who were eagerly swapping stories of individual doorstep encounters in their patch, along with canvass returns. Now, again evidently, there will be those who will challenge Ms Sturgeon's analysis. However, let us confine ourselves for now to conundrums which arise directly from the deliberate conjunction of the Brexit argument and independence. Balance of power It strikes me the SNP has two particular challenges in that regard. Firstly, there will be supporters of independence - and thus potential SNP voters - who also opted to leave the European Union. Secondly, there will be Remain voters who are tempted by the SNP's stance on the EU - but are inimical in principle to independence. Party strategists concede these two challenges arise - just as they acknowledge that the party was ahead of the curve in 2017 in seeking to build an independence case on the Brexit vote, at that stage. Now, though, they are adamant that they can find ways round both conundrums. Not completely, but partially and in a fashion sufficient to bring success beyond the 2017 outcome. First the independence-minded Leavers. The tactic here is to appeal to their fundamental backing for independence, hoping that exerts a stronger pull than their opposition to the EU. The other group may be more tricky still. There are some who are so hostile to independence that it will deter them from voting SNP, regardless of the party's EU stance. But others may be persuaded that the SNP will be firm advocates for Remain - and, crucially, may win or retain more Commons seats than the Liberal Democrats. Others still may be so scunnered by Westminster's handling of Brexit that they are more open than in the past to the option of Scottish independence, or at least to contemplating a further choice through indyref2. And both groupings - independence-minded Leavers and independence-sceptical Remainers - will get a core argument from the SNP. That of "agency". The argument that an independent Scotland could exert influence within the EU comparable to that pursued by countries like Ireland and Denmark. Creating, perhaps, a different EU. What then, if this combination of arguments works? What if the SNP gain seats and find themselves in the position of holding the balance of power in a hung Parliament? Nicola Sturgeon was asked if she would contemplate a deal with Boris Johnson, if promised indyref2. Her answer was: "No." The aim was to eject Mr Johnson from Downing Street. That position is, of course, in line with the SNP's long-standing antipathy to the Conservative and Unionist Party. There are practical causes too. The Tories also deliver a flat No, when asked if they would contemplate indyref2. Further, an SNP which coalesced with the Conservatives, whatever the prize, might then find added difficulty in persuading Scots to opt for independence. Jeremy Corbyn, then? Here, Ms Sturgeon has an alternative difficulty. When asked about the Labour leader, her attitude veers between contumely and dismissal. She does not rate him. Indeed, with an ironic grin, she noted that, were she asked to choose the leaders of the three main UK parties, none of the present incumbents would pass the test. But still she does not rule out a deal with Jeremy Corbyn, or Labour, in the event of a hung Parliament. She has a shopping list which seems to grow by the day - from anti-austerity economics through the enhanced devolution of benefits through action on climate change. But top of that list is a further referendum on independence. Might Mr Corbyn be persuaded to adopt that? Like Bing Crosby, trilling about the Merry Go Run Around, he won't say no and he won't say yes. It isn't a priority, we are told. No deal, no pact. Labour would govern as a minority and challenge others to cast their votes on individual issues. But then successive members of Team Corbyn cloud the issue once more by hinting it might arise a bit down the road. Would Ms Sturgeon be willing to wait? Perhaps - although she insisted at the launch that the timetable should be determined by the Scottish Parliament, not at Westminster. This potential accommodation, of course, does not operate in a vacuum. Particularly in Scotland, each of the other parties is advancing a case with regard to these twin issues of Brexit and independence. The Scottish Greens, who had their campaign launch today, back independence and oppose Brexit. But they also want this election to be firmly about climate change and the environment. Jo Swinson has been campaigning for the Liberal Democrats in Fife North East this afternoon. The Lib Dems claim that the SNP commitment to the EU is only skin deep, that their true interest is independence. This claim - contested by the SNP - is designed to prise that Nationalist syllogism apart, to detach opposition to Brexit from support for independence. The Scottish Tories take a different tack, while also responding to the SNP position. They ask voters with pro-Union sympathise to corral around the Tories. In short, they seek a role as the principal Unionist opponent of the SNP and Nationalism. In particular, the Tories seize on those occasional comments from Team Corbyn to suggest that Labour cannot be trusted to thwart indyref2. All of which, of course, is deeply frustrating for Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard. In vain does he struggle against two internal contradictions. Firstly, he wants to advocate remaining in the EU. But Jeremy Corbyn, while committed to a second Brexit referendum, will not commit to Remain. In fact, to the contrary, he talks about negotiating a "sensible" alternative Brexit package which would indicate the direction of his thoughts. Secondly, Mr Leonard needs to project a clear verdict on independence. His colleague Lesley Laird today denied that the party had conceded anything on the issue. Snag again, as noted above, is that that does not quite square with those occasional comments from Team Corbyn. Comments which also perhaps suggest that Mr Corbyn feels he may need support from the SNP, while both parties rule out a formal deal. All of which puts the Scottish Question front and centre in this UK contest. Alongside, of course, Brexit.

दशकों से, एस. एन. पी. ने स्कॉटिश हितों के प्रचार पर जोर देने के लिए विभिन्न सूत्रों को तैनात किया है। एक व्यक्ति विशेष रूप से, इस अभियान के बारे में सोचता है कि उत्तरी सागर में काला सोना "स्कॉटलैंड का तेल" था।


US top diplomat to visit Colombo

Summary: The US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Robert O Blake, is to arrive in Sri Lanka on Wednesday for talks with the Sri Lankan leaders.

“Assistant Secretary Blake will have consultations with the Sri Lankan government, political parties, business leaders and civil society,” a statement by the US embassy in Colombo said. Mr. Blake is to visit Maldives on Thursday. He is expected to discuss the political uncertainty in the atoll nation, in his first visit to the Maldives as Assistant Secretary. Apart from the political leaders, Mr. Blake will meet civil society representatives, anti-trafficking activists, and religious leaders in Male, the statement added.

दक्षिण एशिया के लिए अमेरिकी सहायक विदेश मंत्री रॉबर्ट ओ ब्लेक श्रीलंका के नेताओं के साथ बातचीत के लिए बुधवार को श्रीलंका आने वाले हैं।


Has Britain's defence budget been cut too much?

Summary: Has Britain cut defence spending too much in recent years? Are our armed forces stretched too far or should we accept we are no longer a military world power? I decided to find out for The Editors, a programme that sets out to ask challenging questions.

By Caroline WyattDefence correspondent, BBC News On Monday, the Pentagon revealed plans to scale back the US Army to its lowest level since before World War Two, as the US and Nato forces - including Britain's - edge towards the end of the war in Afghanistan. The US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel recommended shrinking US forces from 520,000 to between 440,000 and 450,000, a proposed cut of some 13% by around 2017. Congress must still approve the move. British forces are undergoing a similar process, with a 20% reduction in regular army numbers from 102,000 to 82,000, between 2010 and 2018, announced following the UK's defence review in 2010, along with a proposed rise in the number of reservists. The Royal Navy and the RAF were also cut, though by a smaller proportion. Skilled work Critics of the 2010 defence review have long argued that the cuts to defence spending left significant gaps, and made the UK a less reliable ally for international partners such as the US. Above all, they wondered whether the cuts meant the UK had given up on its global ambitions, and its desire to project power beyond these shores. At a dockyard in Rosyth, in Fife, it would seem those ambitions are far from being abandoned when it comes to the aircraft carriers of the future. A ship bigger than any the UK has built before is taking shape in the dry dock there, offering skilled work to thousands. So big is the nation's newest aircraft carrier that one of the future ship's company, Lt Cdr Harvie Montgomery, is working on a GPS system to help its crew navigate the many floors. The ship feels like a small noisy city already, as workers weld and drill. HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to be handed over in 2017, and the aim is for the Royal Navy to be flying F-35 Lightning II jets from her not long afterwards - if all goes to plan, though both complex projects have suffered delays. The second carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, should be finished after that, with both ships in the hands of the Royal Navy by the end of 2019. Yet it is still not clear whether the UK will be able to afford to run both carriers, which might seem odd for a nation that still - just - boasts the world's fourth largest defence budget. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond says he is keen for the UK to use both carriers, rather than mothball one, but that is a decision for the next defence review. "My personal view is that having invested well over £6bn in two aircraft carriers, we ought to do everything we can to ensure both are available to the Royal Navy so that we can have a carrier continuously available," he says. Unequivocal 'yes' And what of the aircraft to go on board? "We haven't made final decisions on numbers but we're clear we will need 48 to sustain the carrier force. That's the number we expect to buy," he says. After years of headlines following the 2010 defence review, which cut 8% from the defence budget and resulted in the sell-off of the Harrier jet force, two of the nation's three aircraft carriers for scrap, as well as thousands of military redundancies, have we cut too deep? Former Welsh Guardsman Simon Weston, who suffered terrible injuries in the bombing of the ship Sir Galahad during the Falklands War in 1982, gives an unequivocal "yes". He still feels a strong connection to the armed forces, and believes passionately that the cuts to the Army have gone too far, from 102,000 to 82,000 regular soldiers by 2018, with a planned boost to the number of trained reservists to 30,000. "We now have far too few people to do the role. We're relying too heavily on the TA or reservists, as they've tried to rebrand them. And it's not working," he believes. "The biggest problem is that the cuts and redundancies are being made, but you need to have well-trained regular soldiers to send to any conflict straightaway. If you bring regular numbers down to 80,000, then that really means a fighting force of 20,000 with 60,000 soldiers to support them and carry out logistics," he points out. "The knife is being pushed too deeply in defence. The Territorial Army have been magnificent, but it takes a heck of a long time to prepare people for war with the skills and the talents needed to be able to serve on the front line. For that, you need regulars. It concerns me greatly," he says. His concerns are echoed by many still serving within the armed forces but what do defence experts think? 'One-shot force' Prof Mike Clarke, director general of the Royal United Services Institute, says: "We have full spectrum forces, which mirror American forces but at one-tenth the size, for which we pay about one-tenth the cost. "But our numbers are now very small, and the question is: can we keep alive a small version of America?" That debate has already begun ahead of the next defence review, due after the general election in 2015. Prof Clarke says: "The real problem is that we have a one-shot force. That is, we can send our forces to war, they can go to a conventional war but they can't stay. Is that sufficient? And if we prepare them for a one shot war, as we did in 2003 or the Gulf in 2001, are they then in the right structure to do all the things we want them to do?" He adds: "We've cut too far for our present level of ambition. We are still a very big military power. We spend the fourth biggest budget in the world, but we don't get the fourth biggest forces for it. So we either have to scale back our ambitions, or we've got to say: it is important to do those things, and - come 2015 - we will spend more on defence, something in the order of £2bn to £3bn more than we were planning to. That is the choice that defence planners face." 'Real argument' Over the next few years, the Royal Navy will be the beneficiary of much of the current equipment spending in defence, with the carriers, Type 26 frigates, and potentially the submarines to carry the successor to the UK's Trident nuclear deterrent system - another key decision being left for the next government. "We are on the cusp of a real argument that goes back to something we used to talk about in the 1930s, as to whether we should be predominantly a land power or a maritime power. It's going to be very difficult to say, 'We have elements of everything, we can do it all.' I don't think we can," Prof Clarke believes. "Informed opinion within the defence business is beginning to line up around whether we need a more overt maritime strategy built around the carriers, or whether we need a ground force strategy with a modernised army with new equipment." The recent cuts, and last year's vote in Parliament not to engage British forces in Syria also had an impact on opinion abroad. "That's led people in some other countries to ask - is the UK a serious military player any more? A series of relatively small issues led to the perception that we are not the power or the reliable ally for the US we once were ten years ago," says Prof Clarke, who adds: "I think it's a misperception, but it is there." 'Pedal hard' When we interviewed Mr Hammond he had just returned from talking to his inundated constituents in Surrey about flood defences. He has ensured the armed forces took a role in helping the civil authorities, as they did at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Does he think the defence budget has been cut too far? "I hope the signal that we're sending is that the UK is committed to living within its means. You can only build a strong and sustainable defence on a strong and sustainable economy," he replies. "There is a balance between equipment on the one hand and manpower on the other, and there is a challenge there for the medium term about the balance between equipment spending versus manpower spending," he adds. Mr Hammond says: "I'd like the defence budget to be bigger. I'd like to have a bigger military, who wouldn't? But where we are at the moment is a position we can sustain. "It requires hard work and careful management, but it is sustainable. We can deliver the outputs that we're mandated to deliver in Future Force 2020. The budget will allow us to do that. It is not allowing us to put our feet up while we do it. We're having to pedal very hard to make the savings, deliver the efficiencies that make it possible to have that capability within the budget envelope." And he finished with a warning to the Treasury over any future cuts: "I'm not sure that we'll be able to deliver those outputs if we got much smaller. But at the current level of resource, it is something we can do." Viewers in England can watch it on BBC One at 23:20 GMT on Monday 24 February or catch it later on the BBC iPlayer.

क्या ब्रिटेन ने हाल के वर्षों में रक्षा खर्च में बहुत अधिक कटौती की है? क्या हमारे सशस्त्र बल बहुत अधिक फैले हुए हैं या हमें यह स्वीकार करना चाहिए कि हम अब एक सैन्य विश्व शक्ति नहीं हैं? मैंने द एडिटर्स के लिए पता लगाने का फैसला किया, एक ऐसा कार्यक्रम जो चुनौतीपूर्ण सवाल पूछने के लिए तैयार होता है।


Stuck sheep rescued with sunflower oil in Merthyr Tydfil

Summary: A sheep that got two of its legs "well and truly stuck" in a bridge's grid was rescued using sunflower oil.

The ewe was spotted by a dog walker off Pontycapel Road in Merthyr Tydfil. RSPCA inspector Gemma Cooper said she asked the dog walker to fetch some sunflower oil from home when she was unable to free the animal. The sheep only had superficial wounds to its legs and was "walking well" after its release on Boxing Day, she said. "After coating her legs with the oil I was able to free her safely within a matter of five minutes," Ms Cooper said, adding: "It was a very satisfying moment." The sheep was later reunited with its owner.

एक भेड़ जिसके दो पैर पुल के ग्रिड में "अच्छी तरह से और वास्तव में फंस गए" थे, उन्हें सूरजमुखी के तेल का उपयोग करके बचाया गया था।


InShops in Belfast set to close

Summary: The InShops centre in Belfast's High Street is set to close, it is understood.

The centre manager said they were told on Thursday and that the news had not been expected. There are 25 shops in the centre, employing 60 people. They have been given until 26 June to leave. The shopping centre is owned by the French company Group Geraud.

समझा जाता है कि बेलफास्ट की हाई स्ट्रीट में इनशॉप केंद्र बंद होने वाला है।