Coronavirus: Lockdown, a baby and MND - but I'm feeling great

Summary: When her newborn son was placed in her arms for the first time, Lucy Lintott shed tears of joy. It was the most natural of reactions after what was, undeniably, a remarkable pregnancy.

By Mary McCoolBBC Scotland news The 25-year-old was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2014, making her the youngest person in Scotland with the terminal disease. The illness cast doubt over the very possibility of Lucy bearing children - and so when baby L J arrived in February, she could not believe he was real. "I had built it up so much in my head, I didn't think it was going to happen," said Lucy. "I was very emotional and I wouldn't let anyone take him off me." MND gradually makes gripping, walking, talking and swallowing extremely difficult - and eventually impossible. It kills about a third of people within a year and more than half within two years. Yet six years on from her diagnosis, Lucy, from Garmouth in Moray, says she is experiencing the "best feeling ever", taking care of her "strong, cheeky bundle" - who has a "great set of lungs". Lucy says she has navigated early motherhood without much advice, given that MND usually affects people over the age of 40 and, as such, pregnancy among patients is incredibly rare. She said: "I think there's only five or six cases in the world of people who have given birth while having MND. "They didn't know how my body or lungs would deal with it so it was really up to me. "But it went really well - the only thing I did was come off medication to give L J the best start in life." Just weeks ago, Lucy and her fiancé Tommy were planning a May wedding, which has now been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. As one of the 400 people in Scotland with MND, Lucy has been advised to stay at home for 12 weeks. Normally she would go about her daily life with assistance from three carers - however, she has had to move back to her parents' home in order to protect her health and still receive the care she needs. She said: "Because of isolation, I'm down to one carer and I can't really go out. "The coronavirus has had a massive impact, I'd normally be out shopping, at the gym or seeing friends. "I'll have to reorganise the wedding - and it's hard enough preparing one wedding then to have to change it all. So I'm quite gutted." 'It's crazy and surreal - but the best feeling ever' In 2017, Lucy gave a stark account of how MND was like being "slowly paralysed" in the BBC documentary MND and the 22-year-old Me. However, her strength, positivity and good humour were very much at the forefront of her story - she confessed most people knew her for her "weird-ass laugh". Such qualities have now carried her through not just the upheaval of lockdown, not just illness and not just the challenges of parenthood - but all three at once. She says that living with her parents has been a "godsend", and laughs as she admits the greatest challenge to her family - "probably dealing with me". She said: "I'm really looking forward to introducing LJ to friends and do what we'd normally do over the summer, like going swimming or taking him to the park. Just the little things. "I'm staying away from the coronavirus and my MND is stable and hasn't really changed. "It's very crazy and surreal that I'm a parent - I'm responsible for a little bundle. But honestly, it's the best feeling ever."

जब उनके नवजात बेटे को पहली बार उनकी बाहों में रखा गया, तो लुसी लिंटॉट ने खुशी के आँसू बहाए। यह सबसे स्वाभाविक प्रतिक्रिया थी, जो निर्विवाद रूप से एक उल्लेखनीय गर्भावस्था थी।


Brexit delay proves lesser evil for May

Summary: The request for delay is an answer to one question.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter When confronted with the possibility of taking the UK out of the EU without a formal deal in place or slamming on the brakes, which way would the prime minister jump? Would she choose a pure plan - pursuing Brexit over the risk of instability? Or would Theresa May heed the voices of warning, rather than those in her own party arguing that any short-term pain would be worth long-term gain, and ask for delay, despite the embarrassment of doing so, and the frustration of those who wanted her to keep the promise of leaving on time? Mrs May kept many in Westminster guessing for a long time. But her meetings in Europe, her plea on Tuesday, are evidence of the decision she finally took - that almost any entreaties to European leaders are worth it to avoid opening Pandora's Box. Pausing again brings embarrassment and angers many on her own side, but it's a lesser evil than departing with no deal. If the prime minister is granted a strings-attached delay later, the next question is perhaps as big. What will she do with the extra time she's been granted? Will it even be up to her? Cross-party talks with the Labour Party are serious - both sides in the room are taking part in good faith and expect more negotiations on Thursday. But the more talking they do, the more the scale of the task to bring them together reveals itself. Forget a quick solution from this joint process, and don't bank on one happening at all. The divisions may simply be too great - the moment when it might have worked perhaps has passed. If that fails, then the answer may pass again, back to Parliament - MPs confronted again with the power to choose from a wide array of different choices - with the ability, if not yet the common purpose to choose a version of Brexit for all of us. And of course, if a long delay is agreed it could push hungry Tories who want a change of leadership again into action. But the obvious response to another question is crystal clear - who is in charge for today? It's the EU leaders who will determine the date and nature of this delay - not the country that voted in an effort to pull back control.

विलंब का अनुरोध एक प्रश्न का उत्तर है।


Haiti migrants found dead off Cuba's coast

Summary: At least 38 migrants from Haiti have been found dead after their boat sank just off the eastern tip of Cuba, officials in Havana say.

Another 87 people from the boat were rescued, Cuban TV reported quoting civil defence officials. It said the boat was spotted only 100m off shore. A search for more possible survivors is now under way. Fatal incidents involving migrants from Haiti - the Western hemisphere's poorest nation - are not uncommon. In 2009, US Coast Guard officials called off their search for about 70 migrants from Haiti whose boat capsized off the Turks and Caicos Islands. In May 2007, at least 61 Haitian migrants died when a boat carrying 150 people sank off the Turks and Caicos, a British territory.

हवाना में अधिकारियों का कहना है कि हैती के कम से कम 38 प्रवासियों की नाव क्यूबा के पूर्वी छोर पर डूबने के बाद मृत पाई गई है।


Brighton's i360 stuck: Tweets from the tower

Summary: Nearly 200 passengers were stranded for two hours on Brighton's newest seafront attraction on Thursday evening. A "slight technical hitch" was blamed for leaving the British Airways i360 pod stuck in mid-air. Here's how the story unfolded on social media.

The i360, which only opened last month, promises to take passengers 450ft (137m) above the ground in a 360-degree pod. It ground to a halt about 30ft (12m) off the ground at 17:00 BST. On board were guests of four local businesses who had arranged an event to celebrate the tower's opening. Financial advisor Tim Jones, one of the party organisers, tweeted: "I'm bloody on it and I can report we are trapped and I'm not chuffed!! #i360 #brighton". Oliver McDonald, another financial adviser, was also not happy, tweeting: "Lovely 2 hours stuck 30ft up here this evening #i360 #britishairways #letdown". Mr Jones said it "juddered to a halt and we were told by staff to move to one side of the pod to 'recalibrate the weight' - which made some people a bit nervous". But all was not lost, as there was a free bar at the corporate event. Managing director James Dempster reported that "free drinks were flowing freely!", while photographer Julia Claxton said: "Everyone just kept on partying like it was meant;-}". British Airways stewardess Aimee Harman later told the BBC that free water and juice was offered to everyone on board. She said guests were in "good spirits", and there was "a lot of networking and talking" while the pod was at a standstill. Two fire engines were sent to the scene. East Sussex Fire and Rescue said it was given assurances that specialist engineers following "pre-agreed procedures" were working on the problem. While waiting to be rescued, those on board were able to enjoy the stunning sunset. Shortly before the pod came back down to the ground, British Airways staff discovered there was a portable toilet on board, concealed under the floor. It came complete with a pop-up tent to ensure privacy, but Aimee Harman said fortunately it was not needed.

गुरुवार की शाम को ब्राइटन के सबसे नए समुद्र तट आकर्षण पर लगभग 200 यात्री दो घंटे तक फंसे रहे। ब्रिटिश एयरवेज आई360 पॉड को बीच हवा में फंसने के लिए एक "मामूली तकनीकी अड़चन" को दोषी ठहराया गया था। यहाँ बताया गया है कि सोशल मीडिया पर कहानी कैसे सामने आई।


Facebook v Australia: Who blinked first?

Summary: The war between Facebook and the Australian government is over.

Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent@BBCRoryCJon Twitter Australian news will return to the social media giant's platform, and it will reach deals to pay news groups for their stories. So, who won this titanic battle and how will that play out around the world? The former boss of Facebook in Australia is pretty clear. "I'd say Facebook may have blinked a bit here," Stephen Scheeler told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "I think there's no question that global backlash against this was pretty stern. "And I think Facebook probably observed that governments around the world were taking a harder line maybe than they had anticipated." Microsoft's intervention Australia had support not only from other governments, which wanted to see Mark Zuckerberg's company taken down a peg, but even from another tech firm that has previously been in regulators' sights itself. Earlier this month, Microsoft came out in strong support of the new media law. Its President Brad Smith wrote: "The legislation will redress the economic imbalance between technology and journalism by mandating negotiations between these tech gatekeepers and independent news organisations." Cynics might point out it's not surprising Microsoft backed a law framed specifically to affect two of its biggest rivals. After all, at a time when Google was threatening to leave Australia altogether, Microsoft was telling the Australian prime minister that its search engine Bing would be happy to fill the gap and contribute to the news industry. But a spokesman for the company told me that its stance had always been based on principle. For its part, Facebook says it's happy with the amendments to the law. It believes they will put an end to the idea that the government should set the terms of a deal between private companies. "It gives us the ability to strike commercial deals on terms that make sense which is what we wanted," says one insider. With both Facebook and Google now striking deals with newspaper groups, the Australian government may not feel the need to go ahead with the legislation. So should other governments take inspiration from what looks to have been a successful approach to forcing the tech giants to fund news? 'Screwed it up' Not according to Benedict Evans. The tech consultant and former Silicon Valley venture capitalist has been a ferocious critic of the Australian law. He says it was poorly framed with unrealistic elements, including the demand that Google give 14 days notice of any change in a search algorithm which is constantly tweaked. "Google caved to extortion early," he says. "Facebook stood on principle but screwed up by blocking everything instead of just actual news. "Australia wrote a law that was physically impossible to comply with, and has now said: 'Oh well it's been a success because we're not applying it to anybody.'" But he adds the principle of taxing tech companies to subsidise newspapers is set to spread. "The challenge in this case is that you're sort of pretending it's not a tax and not a subsidy. You're pretending it's a commercial arrangement, which it isn't." Radical action The end result seems likely to be that Facebook and Google will strike more deals around the world to pay money for news. The problem is that this will probably benefit the major newspaper businesses, including Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, rather than struggling regional titles. And it will do nothing to chip away at the dominance of Facebook and Google in online advertising. So what's the answer? According to ex-Facebook Australia boss Mr Scheeler, it's time for radical action: breaking up the tech giants. "I've come around to the view that the scale, size and influence of these platforms, particularly on our minds, our brains, and all the things that we do as citizens, as consumers, are just so powerful that leaving them in the hands of a few, very closely controlled companies like Facebook is the recipe for disaster," he said. While Facebook certainly lost the PR war in Australia, it has suffered very little damage to its bottom line. But in flexing its muscles so unwisely, it may have made the breakup of Mr Zuckerberg's empire a little more likely.

फेसबुक और ऑस्ट्रेलियाई सरकार के बीच युद्ध समाप्त हो गया है।


Why is Russia so desperate to win Eurovision?

Summary: Russia is the bookies' favourite to win this year's Eurovision song contest, and one reason for this is that it has spared no expense to produce an expertly staged performance. Winning Eurovision seems to have become a national priority, but why?

By Jo FidgenBBC News Seven years ago, Swedish television executive Svante Stockselius was in Moscow, watching rehearsals for the Eurovision finals. It was the first and only time the contest had been held in Moscow, after Dima Bilan's victory with Believe at the 2008 contest in Belgrade. "All of a sudden, the Russians they went crazy, and they said Mr Putin, our prime minister, has arrived," remembers Stockselius, who was then Eurovision's executive supervisor. "It struck me how short he was, Mr Putin, but I also remember when shaking his hand it was a fist of iron, it was very, very strong, and he was also very curious about details." But why would the Russian strongman himself take an interest in Eurovision? "Because they said that the Eurovision Song Contest was an event of high importance for the country," Stockselius says. "And also he wanted to make sure himself that this would be a show that would promote Russia, that would show Europe what we can do. And they put a lot of money into that show." In 2013, the Kremlin's total seriousness about Eurovision was on display again. As the votes came in, the singer representing Azerbaijan, Farid Mammadov, won a maximum 12 points from Russia. But when Azerbaijan came to vote for Russia's Dina Garipova, the result was a shocking "nul points". "Ten points were stolen from us, well not from us but from our participant," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov complained three days later, after meeting his Azeri counterpart. "This does not makes one happy. We will agree on a unified course of action so this outrageous action will not remain without an answer." What especially rankled with the minister was the fact that Russia had actually come second in Azerbaijan's popular vote. It's not uncommon for national juries to take a different view of a song than the members of the public, or to be influenced by political considerations, according to Daniel Gould, a British teacher who gave up his job to bet professionally on Eurovision. These are the kinds of things he has to weigh up when trying to predict a winner. Find out more Listen to the Swedish Ambassador's Guide to Eurovision, presented by Nicola Clase, Sweden's ambassador to the UK, on the BBC World Service. Click here for transmission times or to listen online: But politically inspired booing is not normal at Eurovision, or at least it was not until the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. That year the studio audience in Copenhagen, where the contest was being staged, showed its disapproval when the Tolmachevy Sisters walked on to sing. "They booed out two 17-year-old girls," says Jon Ola Sand, a Norwegian TV executive who was in charge of the show. "I met them backstage, they were absolutely devastated. It's the worst thing I've seen. It was so mean to these young girls who had done nothing wrong." So last year he made a special plea before the singing began. "We talked to the audience. We said please, everyone is invited here to compete in a friendly battle. So please do not boo at the artists." The audience ignored him. Russia got booed again. And it wasn't because the song was bad - it came second. One of Vladimir Putin's declared ambitions in his 16 years as president and prime minister has been to restore the country's status in the world. The outcome of this has been seen on the battlefield and the sports field - including the most expensive Olympics ever (winter or summer) in Sochi in 2014. And it seems Russia is determined to chalk up a second win at Eurovision. It's a matter of pride, and after the last two years of booing, of hurt pride. "They have hired every top Eurovision person in their particular field to work on the Russian entry - two composers, a Russian called Philip Kirkorov and a Greek called Dimitris Kontopoulos, who've both written many Eurovision songs before," says the Eurovision gambler Daniel Gould. "They've got the vocal coach, a Cypriot called Alex Panayi, who has worked on numerous successful Eurovision entries. They've hired the best Swedish backing singers. So basically they've put everyone in place to try and win it this year." The verdict of the BBC Eurovision Twitter account after Russian contestant Sergey Lazarev's successful semi-final performance on Tuesday was "Olympic staging" and "Everything but the kitchen sink". Lazarev himself also drew an Olympic analogy, in an interview with the BBC's Steve Rosenberg. "For Russia it's very serious and like the Olympic Games in music, really, really," he said. "Russian audiences love Eurovision. Every year ratings are very high." Across Europe, there are differing levels of enthusiasm for Eurovision. According to music producer Christer Bjorkman, a survey showed that Swedes rank their birthday as the most important day of the year, followed by Midsummer, and then Melodifestivalen - the contest to select Sweden's Eurovision entry. Christmas came fourth. In the UK, on the other hand, Eurovision has come to be regarded as something of a joke, the commentary - by the late Terry Wogan until 2009, and afterwards by Graham Norton - heavy with irony and innuendo. Russia, despite the moral outrage voiced by pundits on TV when Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst won in 2014, definitely lies at the Swedish end of the scale. Dr Karen Fricker of Brock University in Canada, who studies the politics of Eurovision, says the UK's aloof attitude towards the contest mirrors its ambivalent relationship with Europe as a whole. So why, in her view, is Russia so keen to win? "You could make an argument to say that while there is a lot of antagonism between Russia and the rest of the world, a platform in order to show that Russia can do Europe even better than Europe - even though it doesn't even care about Europe - is itself a very strong gesture of political and cultural power." Listen to the Swedish Ambassador's Guide to Eurovision, presented by Nicola Clase, Sweden's ambassador to the UK, on the BBC World Service. Click here for transmission times or to listen online. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

रूस इस साल की यूरोविज़न गीत प्रतियोगिता जीतने के लिए सट्टेबाजों का पसंदीदा देश है, और इसका एक कारण यह है कि उसने एक कुशल मंचित प्रदर्शन के निर्माण के लिए कोई खर्च नहीं छोड़ा है। ऐसा लगता है कि यूरोविज़न जीतना एक राष्ट्रीय प्राथमिकता बन गई है, लेकिन क्यों?


Welsh Architecture Awards 2017: Four buildings shortlisted

Summary: Four buildings have been shortlisted for the Welsh Architecture Awards 2017.

The Royal Society of Architects announced One Central Square in Cardiff, Rhyl High School in Denbighshire, and the Silver House in Gower, were in the running. The Chickenshed, Monmouthshire, completes the shortlist. All the buildings will be visited by a regional jury before the winner is announced at an award ceremony at Cardiff and Vale College on 30 May. The winners will be in the running for the UK-wide 2017 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize for the best building of the year.

वेल्श वास्तुकला पुरस्कार 2017 के लिए चार इमारतों को चुना गया है।


CEO Secrets: Older women strike out in lockdown

Summary: As part of our CEO Secrets series, which invites entrepreneurs to share their advice, we are focusing on businesses that have launched during lockdown. Each week we will look at a different type of person. This week we speak to female entrepreneurs aged over 50.

By Dougal ShawCEO Secrets producer, BBC News “If you feel it, just do it,” is the advice of Feyi Raimi-Abraham. “Don’t stop and wait to have all the ducks in a row for your business idea, because it will never happen.” The south Londoner has started her first commercial venture at the age of 52. It is called The Black Dementia Company and it stems from personal experience. During lockdown she was put on furlough from her job as a community education co-ordinator with a national charity. She became a full-time carer for her mother, who has dementia. People with dementia find it comforting to reminisce about the past using familiar objects. But Feyi found it hard to find relevant ones for her mother, who grew up in Trinidad and Tobago. Many dementia aids would include things like pictures of seaside towns in Devon in the 1950s, or milkmen doing their rounds in London. But her mother wanted to talk about Hibiscus flowers and hummingbirds and listen to Calypso music. Feyi felt there was a gap in the market for dementia care aids with cultural symbols aimed at people who grew up in Afro-Caribbean households. Her online business involves conceiving, creating and selling these objects. She has commissioned puzzle-makers and hired illustrators and printers to make colouring-in books - the shop goes live this month. “I didn’t think I’d be starting a business at this stage of life, I should probably be thinking about retirement options,” says Feyi with a laugh. But she thinks mature entrepreneurs have some advantages. "It brings the ability to absorb 'nos' and knockbacks," she says. “There’s still the emotional effect of rejection, but you put it in your pocket and move on.” She also wondered whether it was "silly" to start a business in lockdown, when most people were simply trying to keep their jobs. But there was one thought that kept driving her, she says. "I know there are people like my mother who need the products." “You are worth something - that’s my advice to older entrepreneurs like me,” says Paula Grady, 57, from Hampshire. Paula has often been left feeling worthless in the job market, even before the Covid-19 outbreak. For the majority of her career she worked as an account manager in IT sales, but this came to an abrupt halt last year. Searching for work during lockdown was a thankless task. She eventually found a part-time, far lesser paid job in the care sector – only for that to close under the pressures of the coronavirus outbreak. She has applied for more than 500 jobs during lockdown, but only secured three interviews. In many cases she felt she was over-qualified. “Recruiters told me off the record that I was the wrong sex and the wrong side of 50. So I decided to take matters into my own hands. If you can’t find a job, create one.” Paula set up a scented candle business. At the very start of her career she had trained in hospitality management, which included creating culinary dishes, something she’d always enjoyed. The process of making candles, which involves following recipes, reminded her of this. So she turned her garage into a candle-making studio. Her Osme Candles business has been active for just over a month and she has signed up a kitchen design company and a gift shop as clients, and entered negotiations with hamper suppliers. She is already able to draw a small wage. She says she enjoys using her people skills. A man came to her house to deliver some fish recently – she struck up a conversation with him and he walked away with four candles bought as gifts for his family. Paula, like Feyi, believes being an older entrepreneur brings benefits. “I don’t understand why experience isn’t valued more,” she says. “Companies need people who have been around the block and have encountered situations before. You have life experience and working examples to draw on – younger people don’t have that breadth.” Her advice to older entrepreneurs is: “Don’t be put off taking the risk, use the skills you’ve learned over the years.” And don’t be afraid of the technology. Setting up things like a website and online payments isn’t as hard as you think, she says. Older entrepreneurs can be more willing to embrace risk than their younger counterparts, according to Kim Brookes. Kim is 59, lives in Somerset, and is no stranger to entrepreneurialism – in fact her day job is advising graduates at a business incubator. Ten years ago she set up a gift registry company, which allows people to create gift wishlists for occasions like birthdays and leaving dos. She launched her latest venture in August. It’s a luxury, scented jewellery brand called Perfino. She sells gift boxes containing pendants and a supply of scented, blended oils. She did a limited run of sets in the summer and sold 20 boxes, generating a turnover of nearly £2,000. She also secured funding from the Virgin Start-up scheme. Young entrepreneurs lack confidence and this stops them taking risks, she says. A lot of her work with young people involves instilling that self-belief. Older people have accumulated experience and that gives you the confidence to take risk, she says. “Also you get to the point where you really don’t care about other people judging you,” she adds, laughing. “I will do Instagram videos and not care what people think.” Age can also bring a sense of urgency to a new business, she reckons. “Perhaps it’s intimations of mortality - you need to get things done!” "My mum died when she was 68 - I'm 59 - I don’t feel old, I feel energetic and I hope I have decades ahead of me, but the years can roll by. "You say to yourself, 'If not now, when?'" You can follow CEO Secrets series producer Dougal on Twitter: @dougalshawbbc

हमारी सी. ई. ओ. सीक्रेट्स श्रृंखला के हिस्से के रूप में, जो उद्यमियों को अपनी सलाह साझा करने के लिए आमंत्रित करती है, हम उन व्यवसायों पर ध्यान केंद्रित कर रहे हैं जो लॉकडाउन के दौरान शुरू हुए हैं। हर सप्ताह हम एक अलग प्रकार के व्यक्ति को देखेंगे। इस सप्ताह हम 50 वर्ष से अधिक आयु की महिला उद्यमियों से बात करेंगे।


Mum Direction: Zayn Malik's mother on raising a pop star

Summary: With sales of more than 19 million singles and 10 million albums, One Direction are arguably the most famous boy band in the world. But, in a rare interview, Zayn Malik's mother Trisha reveals he nearly missed the audition that made him a superstar.

By Shabnam MahmoodBBC Asian Network "Whenever I took him out, as a toddler, little old ladies would say: 'Oh, he's cute, he's going to break a few hearts," says Trisha Malik, remembering the not-too-distant past when her son was more Bradford baby than boyband heartthrob. It's the first time she has spoken to the media since Zayn, as one-fifth of One Direction, shot to fame on the seventh series of X Factor. But things could have been very different, she says, if the 20-year-old had got his own way in the summer of 2010. "On the morning of the audition Zayn didn't want to go," she recalls. "He chickened out, saying: 'Can't I just leave it?'" Eventually, she coaxed him into going "just to see what happens". "He hated dancing but loved singing," she recalls. "He used to sing until three o'clock in the morning and I often used to have to ask him to turn it down". His "favourite song at the time was I Believe I Can Fly," by R&B singer R Kelly, she says - but he eventually chose the more contemporary Let Me Love You, by Mario, for his audition. The teenager got a unanimous "yes" and proceeded to bootcamp, but he was still beset by nerves - and almost quit because he "felt like an idiot" during an early choreography session. After a backstage pep talk from Simon Cowell, he was convinced to continue, and was eventually shepherded into a boy band with four other contestants. One Direction may only have placed third in the contest (after Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson) but they are the show's biggest success story, with three US number one albums, and a stadium tour booked for 2014. And they still don't dance. His mother is fiercely proud, but admits she has to watch much of Zayn's success from afar. "He went to Australia recently and I didn't see him for almost three months," she says. "It's sad but the family had to check on the internet to see where he was". However, she keeps her distance when it comes to social media, and gets annoyed with the many fake accounts that exist in her name. "I don't have a Twitter account as I don't even understand it," she says. "Me and Zayn's dad stopped looking at social media because he (Zayn's dad) used to get upset about what people had written. "It's like a kick in the gut to read things that are, most of the time, not even true." Born in Bradford Trisha Malik was born in Bradford to a white British working class family. Her parents ran a pub in the city, but her life changed when she met and married a British Pakistani, Yasser, and converted to Islam. "I've always tried to learn as much as I can about my husband's religion and culture," she says. "I made sure the children went to the mosque. Zayn has read the Koran three times." Since One Direction hit the big time, "I don't get introduced as Trisha Malik but as Zayn's mum," she laughs. Life hasn't changed much in the Malik household, though. "I still shop in my local supermarket and go to the discount store for a pair of shoes," she says. Indeed, our interview takes place, at her request, in a cafe at her local Bradford shopping centre, rather than any starry showbiz locale. However, the family - Zayn's parents, three sisters and the family dog - have made one upgrade, moving to a new house in the city. Zayn paid for it himself and, in the recent One Direction movie, Trisha is seen, overcome with emotion, as she is handed the keys. "We never had enough money to buy our own house," she explains. "We always lived in rented accommodation, so Zayn knew how very important it was for me to have my own place". Until recently, Trisha worked as a halal chef in the kitchen of a local primary school, making meals for Muslim children. On Zayn's advice she gave up her job. "Zayn said 'you don't have to do this anymore'. Instead, he puts my wage into my bank". Trisha is keen to ensure her family remain humble and remember their early years of growing up in the Victorian-era terraced houses of the Bradford's East Bowling district. "None of the sisters will follow Zayn's footsteps into a music career," says Trisha, who describes her offspring as "shy". They don't get to see their brother often but, when they do, she says it's just like it used to be. "He'll tease his sisters, he'll hug them and they might have an argument like brothers and sisters do," she says. "He spoils the younger one." And the family is set to expand soon, after Zayn got engaged to Little Mix star and fellow X Factor alumnus, Perrie Edwards. "Perrie is a lovely girl and I get on really well with her" says Trisha. "They're thinking of the end of next year, although no date has yet been set yet". They might get time to discuss plans this Christmas, when the Malik family travel to London from Bradford to celebrate with Zayn and Perrie. "I will cook the dinner," says Trisha. "Perrie and her mother will be there and we'll open presents, play games and stuff our faces," she laughs. And Trisha's hoping that, once Zayn and Perrie tie the knot, they'll set up home a bit closer to her. "If they have children I wouldn't like to be so far away from them. I would really like to still be part of their lives".

1 करोड़ 90 लाख से अधिक एकल और 1 करोड़ एल्बमों की बिक्री के साथ, वन डायरेक्शन यकीनन दुनिया का सबसे प्रसिद्ध बॉय बैंड है। लेकिन, एक दुर्लभ साक्षात्कार में, ज़ैन मलिक की माँ तृषा ने खुलासा किया कि वह उस ऑडिशन से लगभग चूक गए थे जिसने उन्हें सुपरस्टार बना दिया था।


India’s economic woes may have only just begun

Summary: India's economy contracted by 23.9% in the three months to the end of June, making it the worst slump since 1996. A grinding lockdown brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted business and left millions out of jobs, reports the BBC's Nikhil Inamdar.

For the last five months, since India imposed one of the world's strictest lockdowns, Aditi Limaye Kamat's restaurant business has been bleeding money. Her four popular eateries occupy prime real estate space across Dadar, an expensive neighbourhood in Mumbai, the country's financial capital. "Only deliveries are being permitted. And that's not helping very much. It amounts to merely 10 to 15% of our overall business in normal circumstances and doesn't even cover salary as well as running costs," Ms Kamat told the BBC. She wants the government to permit in-restaurant dining at the earliest with strict social distancing guidelines like in other parts of the world. "If not, many of us will be out of business by January," she adds. India's National Restaurant Association has predicted that 40% of the country's restaurants will not survive the pandemic. A fine print of the April to June GDP data released by the government on Monday reflects the pain of people like Ms Kamat. Hotels and trade saw the sharpest contraction at 47% during the lockdown period, only preceded by construction activity which halved. Barring agriculture, which posted modest growth of 3.4%, everything from mining to manufacturing and electricity to services contracted at alarming levels during this period. "The time has come to unlock all the restrictions imposed in the lockdown phase at the earliest," Milan Thakkar, who runs a company that manufactures wall putty and plaster, said. His company, Walplast, saw sales plunge by a third during the lockdown and expects no incremental growth this year. Calls from desperate Indian business owners to open up the economy are getting louder, despite India's coronavirus tally of 3.6 million cases, with nearly 80,000 new ones being reported every day. One of the most severe lockdowns in the world has done little to curb the spread of the virus in India. What it has done is flatten the wrong curve, Rajiv Bajaj, the managing director of Bajaj Auto, one of India's largest manufacturers of auto rickshaws, said a few months ago. At -23.9%, India has become the fastest contracting large economy in the world, according to economist Vivek Kaul. And the likelihood is that this number will be further downward revised, given that the government's data collection was severely impaired during the lockdown. "I suspect the revisions will be much larger," Pronab Sen, the former chief statistician of India, told the news site Bloomberg Quint. All of this puts India firmly on the path to the deepest recession in its independent history. The country last contracted by -5.2% in 1979-80. The estimates for a contraction this year range between an optimistic -3% to a more realistic -10%. The implications of this for India's capacity to lift large swathes of its population out of poverty and generate employment for the youth are significant. McKinsey Global Institute estimates that India will need to create at least 90 million non-farm jobs by 2030, if it is to absorb all the young workers that enter its labour market. For a country that's lived through a decade of jobless growth and seen 19 million formal economy jobs vanish after the lockdown, this will take some doing. India will have to clock a growth rate of at least 8 to 8.5% in the post Covid-19 scenario to achieve this goal, according to McKinsey. The global consultancy gives the country 12 to 18 months to act on a range of crucial structural reforms in areas such as healthcare and banking, take immediate steps to make its labour markets more flexible, improve social safety nets and ease the climate for doing business. A failure to embark on this path could mean a decade of hardship, signs of which are already visible. In the more immediate term, the government will need to focus on reversing the collapse in domestic demand and private consumption - which determines 60% of GDP - through more aggressive fiscal and monetary response to get the economy back on track. "If left unaddressed, a longer period of below-normal activity risks knock-on effects on the labour market and ultimately on the banking system," warns analyst Sonal Verma. She expects India's central bank to reduce interest rates by at least another half a percent, starting in December. At under 1% of GDP, India's stimulus measures so far have been among the most stingy among the world's major economies. The government has argued that it didn't see the point in pressing both the brake and the accelerator at the same time. But with a gradual unlocking of the restrictions, there are hints that a second stimulus package is being prepared. Sanjeev Sanyal, principal economic adviser to the finance ministry, told local media recently that India was prepared to build infrastructure at an "unprecedented" scale as well as allow a several percentage points rise in its debt-to-GDP ratio to get back on the growth path. But economists warn that with revenues plunging, tax receipts drying up and a fiscal deficit already expected to shoot up four percentage points above the expected levels, the leeway for India to spend its way out of the crisis remains limited at best. And ultimately, a recovery in the economy will hinge on a recovery in the pandemic curve, which in India's case is yet to peak, according to some experts. How expediently the Narendra Modi-led government gets that under control will play a significant role in determining India's economic fate.

जून के अंत तक तीन महीनों में भारत की अर्थव्यवस्था में 23.9% का संकुचन हुआ, जिससे यह 1996 के बाद से सबसे खराब मंदी बन गई। बीबीसी के निखिल इनामदार की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, कोरोनावायरस महामारी द्वारा लाए गए लॉकडाउन ने व्यवसाय को बाधित कर दिया है और लाखों लोगों को नौकरियों से वंचित कर दिया है।


Is it 'game over' for box artwork?

Summary: To gamers, the artwork on their favourite titles is as recognisable as the front of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or Dark Side of the Moon is to music fans. But as digital downloads eat into physical sales, will it suffer the same fate as the album cover?

By Simon ArmstrongBBC News For many, the colourful images evoke another world - a reminder of countless hours spent escaping the hum-drum of everyday life. But as the click of a button and near-instant download replaces a trek to the High Street, is the importance placed on sleeve artwork going by the wayside? "Great cover art does touch people," says Jonathan Gordon, editor of gamesTM magazine and website. "It adds a lot to the character of the game and the best examples are being thought of more highly. "Resistance 3 on the PS3 was a big, breakthrough moment. It was designed by Olly Moss, a famous graphic designer. You've also got Grand Theft Auto, which has a style of its own and the Final Fantasy series artwork by Yoshitaka Amano is iconic." In a move towards greater interaction with fans, a number of titles now offer a choice of artwork. The team behind BioShock Infinite made several alternative covers available for download, while others have had similarly novel ideas. "Some games have reversible sleeves," Gordon explains. "With Mass Effect 3 you can play as a male or female character so the cover has the male on one side, but if you take it out and flip it over you get a cover with the female character." The design and marketing process is being put under the spotlight at the Game On 2.0 exhibition at Newcastle's Centre For Life. Billed as the world's biggest collection of playable computer games from the past 60 years, it also features concept art and packaging from titles such as Uncharted, Tomb Raider and Pokémon. Among those taking part is Gateshead-based Atomhawk, which has designed covers for titles such as Little Big Planet 3, Wheelman and Dead Island, as well as concept art for box-office blockbusters Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor. Founder Ron Ashtiani says the painstaking process of creating a cover can play a crucial role in a game's success. "Box art is your shop-front for the game. If you don't get people to come inside then it doesn't work. "I think the quality has increased massively. Back in the 80s and 90s you would have a company that would have a mate who was an illustrator and get them to do some artwork. "Now it's a proper process-driven model of working." Leon Hurley, executive news editor at the gamesradar+ website, believes the popularity of digital downloads will only eat further into the market share of physical sales. "I have to say that I'm quite pro-digital. As long as I can see the film/read the book/hear the music, I've no great emotional attachment to any physical thing. "I read almost exclusively on Kindle via my phone for example. Physical stuff's ubiquity was driven by necessity, not love. It was the only option. "Digital's only going to become more convenient, more wide reaching and more accessible with cloud-based things, for example streaming. I've used Chrome and Google Docs for years because all my stuff is wherever I am. As long as I can log in I've got my content." So what does that shift mean? After all, if a game does not need a box then surely you do not need box art. "There'll still be art, just not on a box," Hurley adds. "Covers might not be a thing anymore, but there's still plenty of imagery and art for music. It's just not on a dust cover - it's on phone lock screens and PC desktops." Walter Lorenz, studio marketing director of game developer Reflections, a Ubisoft studio based in Newcastle responsible for Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Watch_Dogs and Tom Clancy's The Division, agrees imagery will remain important even if it is not in the form of a traditional cover. "Before the proliferation of gaming journalism and magazines, a lot of people would pick up a game based on the strength of the box art not really knowing whether it was good or whether the developer was experienced. "The box either spoke to you or it didn't. That was one of the main selling points back in the 80s. That changed with TV advertising. Strong box art was not so important. "With downloads it's very important again, it's the first image that greets you on [digital game store] Steam, it sets the conversation. "If it doesn't draw you in, people will not watch your trailer." And, he adds, it is still very much needed as part of the wider marketing of titles. "When you first present a game you usually have box art - or key art as it is also called - as well as screenshots and a trailer. "Campaigns usually last one or two years and you need one iconic image throughout. You always rely on that piece of art to evoke emotions in the target audience whether that's on banner ads, a website or elsewhere. "Digital is more fractured than traditional media. You have bloggers, Twitter and Instagram, and Facebook Messenger is supposed to be a new channel for advertisers. "Artwork can be used across a number of formats but no matter where it appears, it has to have a strong message." So will it be 'game over' for box art any time soon? Not according to Lorenz: "You can still find all the big launches in bricks and mortar stores. Digital exclusives are not yet the norm." And gamesTM's Mr Gordon agrees. "In much the same way as vinyl has had a revival, boxed copies of games will still hold a value for people who want to hold something in their hands. "So long as there are players who like that, it will survive."

गेमर्स के लिए, उनके पसंदीदा शीर्षकों पर कलाकृति उतनी ही पहचानने योग्य है जितनी सार्जेंट पेपर के लोनली हार्ट्स क्लब बैंड या डार्क साइड ऑफ द मून के सामने की ओर संगीत प्रशंसकों के लिए है। लेकिन जैसे डिजिटल डाउनलोड भौतिक बिक्री को खा जाते हैं, क्या इसका वही नुकसान होगा जैसा एल्बम के कवर पर होता है?


Found: The plane wreck that could solve a 50-year-old mystery

Summary: It's taken 10 years, but professional diver Grahame Knott has finally found a US Air Force plane that crashed into the Channel in 1969. The wreck may help resolve a mystery: did the homesick mechanic who made off with the aircraft from his base in Suffolk lose control - or was he shot down?

By Emma Jane KirbyBBC News "It cost me a fortune in beer," says Grahame Knott, "and I had to filter out a lot of chuff." A crucial part of his decade of research was spent in pubs along the south coast of England, looking for men who operated trawlers and scallop dredgers. These boats scrape nets along the seabed and occasionally turn up curious pieces of metal - which is what Knott was buying beer to hear about. By listening carefully, he could guess whether the objects were likely to have come from aircraft, and if so how old they were, though it was not always easy to know exactly where they had become snagged in the net. The Channel is littered with wrecks from the two world wars and the fishermen often assumed, incorrectly, that these were what Knott was looking for. But eventually, with the information he acquired, he was able to narrow down his initial 100 sq mile search zone to five target areas in a 30 sq mile patch of sea. The culmination of this investigative work in snugs and public bars came in March this year, when Knott set out into the Channel to search for the 37-tonne, four-engine Hercules plane that USAF mechanic Paul Meyer had taken off in, singlehandedly and without permission, in 1969. With fellow members of his Deeper Dorset diving team, he would set out from Weymouth at 04:00 and return home 16 hours later, after a perilous day spent crossing busy shipping lanes in a 13m-long boat. Often they had to dodge enormous container ships as they zig-zagged to-and-fro in one of the search zones. "We were looking 200m either side with our sonar equipment dragging behind us on a 250m cable, so we cut a 400m swathe," says Knott. "But our biggest fear was missing a sign of the wreck." A fully kitted-out recovery boat would have had an easier time of it, Knott acknowledges. A boat like this would have dynamic positioning devices enabling it to automatically hold its position in strong tides - but it would cost millions to buy and about £30,000 per day to operate. By contrast Knott's team had a "day vessel", not designed for long-trips, and equipment that cost about £60,000 in total. They crowdfunded to meet their petrol costs of £200 per outing. On top of that, weather and tides were often unhelpful - in nine months they could only go out 21 times. And it was only on the very last planned search day of the year, in mid-November, that the team finally found something that looked promising. There was no dramatic Eureka moment, Knott recalls, more of a slow realisation that they had made their longed-for discovery. First, sonar readings told them they had found an object of interest. They then lowered a video camera to within 2m of it so they could take a look. This confirmed it was aluminium, because of the distinctive way the metal corrodes. "Then we spotted a wheel sticking out the sand, then a section of wing with rivets, it just got bigger and bigger," says Knott. This was it, the Hercules that had gone missing on 23 May 1969. Knott then found himself thinking of the pilot, alone in the cockpit all those years ago. "The seabed is a lonely place," he says. In 1969, Sergeant Paul Meyer was a US Air Force mechanic based at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk. At 23 he was already a Vietnam veteran and he was deeply unhappy - homesick for his wife and stepchildren and struggling with alcohol. His request to return to a USAF base in Langley, Virginia, had been turned down. On the fateful night of 22 May 1969 something snapped. He drank heavily at a party and was then arrested for being drunk and disorderly. He was escorted back to his barracks and told to sleep it off. Instead, using the assumed name "Capt Epstein", Meyer managed to take charge of aircraft 37789, a Hercules transporter C-130. Having worked as a mechanic on board, he knew the protocols to get access to it, and had some working knowledge of how to fly it. Alone and still inebriated, he took off on a mission to see his wife. While flying westwards, he was able to speak to her on the phone, a call that was partly recorded. Meanwhile, military jets were scrambled to track him. An hour-and-a-half after take-off, radar contact with the plane was lost. A few days later its life raft washed up on the Channel Island of Alderney. Nearly 50 years later, it remains unclear if he lost control of the plane due to poor weather and his lack of experience as a pilot, or if it was shot down to avert the risk of it crashing into a populated area. Knott, who admits to having become obsessed with the story, hopes the wreck may finally provide an answer. The Deeper Dorset diving team have found a few wrecks in the Channel over the years. In the mid-90s they found the Aracan, a sailing ship from 1874 that had once outrun The Cutty Sark - "quite a sight," Knott recalls. They were also the first sports divers to locate the wreck of the Miniota, a WW1-era vessel that sank with silver bullion deep in the middle of the Channel, though Knott says it soon became clear that professional salvage divers had been there first, without reporting their find. Deeper Dorset are not treasure hunters themselves, Knott says. "We're story hunters who dive wrecks to satisfy our curiosity." Although Knott also runs a dive charter business, taking paying customers out to see wrecks, he says he won't do that with the Hercules. "It's not like a typical boat wreck - it's more like a sacred site, especially since Meyer's family are still alive," he says. Instead the plan is for the Deeper Dorset team to dive down to the wreck site in spring, when the underwater visibility in the Channel will have improved, and to video the wreck from all angles. This will enable a computerised, 3D-image of the crash site to be constructed, and studied by air accident investigators. Find out more Emma Jane Kirby worked with Grahame Knott this year on a series of reports for the PM programme on BBC Radio 4, and has written two stories: The mystery of the homesick mechanic who stole a plane (April 2018) Was the newlywed mechanic who stole a plane shot down? (July 2018) What Knott has seen so far has already left him puzzling. "There's a large section of the aircraft that I just can't believe would be as it is, intact, if the plane hit the water at 250 knots, its normal air speed - but I don't want to add more rumour or speculation," he says. A Hercules plane of the type flown by Meyer can be successfully ditched in water so that it floats, says David Gleave, an independent aviation safety investigator who has followed Knott's progress closely. It would then sink, but largely keep its shape. Gleave is especially perplexed by one piece of information in the United States Air Force official accident report from 1969, which says: "The opinion of the investigating officer is that the aircraft impacted the water with such force, immediately followed by explosion and flash fire, that survival of the occupant is most improbable." An explosion and flash fire are inconsistent with a plane hitting the water, whether the pilot lands it on water deliberately or it falls from the sky, says Gleave. But an explosion and fire would be consistent with a missile hitting the engine of the aeroplane. The official accident report says that one US fighter plane from RAF Mildenhall was scrambled to catch up with the Hercules but failed to locate it and returned to base. However there's evidence that British and French aircraft also attempted to intercept Meyer - and the accident report makes no mention of them. "There are many parts of the puzzle still missing," Gleave says. Knott says that one of the things that has kept him going over the last 10 years is a feeling of personal affinity with Paul Meyer. "I feel strongly that his story hasn't been told," he says. "I don't think he was this drunk guy who couldn't fly. In fact I don't think he could have been that drunk to fly for as long as he managed to." In Knott's eyes, Meyer was a man struggling with family problems and work pressure, suffering from what would be described today as post-traumatic stress disorder. He was also something of a "Huckleberry Finn" character, who liked to do things his own way - as one military tutor described him. His body has never been found, though a corpse seen floating near Jersey in July 1969, in what could have been flight gear, was not brought to land and allowed to drift away. Even if the body had remained with the wreckage, Knott thinks none of it would be left today. Meyer's wife, Jane, now in her 80s, and his step-son, Henry Ayer, have both written to Knott since the discovery of the Hercules. Ayer is delighted, Knott says, although "it's also bittersweet for him and tinged with sadness". For the 50th anniversary of the crash, on 23 May, Knott plans to dive down and place a plaque on the wreckage. He hopes it will be possible for Meyer's family to be there for the ceremony. Additional reporting by Dougal Shaw You may also be interested in: On 1 January 1985 a passenger jet crashed into a mountain in Bolivia killing all 29 people on board. No bodies were ever found. Nor were the black boxes that would have revealed the cause of the accident. But in 2016 two young Americans decided to have a look themselves - and ended up achieving far more than official investigators. The housemates who found a lost plane wreck

इसे 10 साल लग गए, लेकिन पेशेवर गोताखोर ग्राहम नॉट को आखिरकार एक अमेरिकी वायु सेना का विमान मिल गया है जो 1969 में चैनल में दुर्घटनाग्रस्त हो गया था। यह मलबा एक रहस्य को हल करने में मदद कर सकता हैः क्या सफोक में अपने अड्डे से विमान के साथ उड़ान भरने वाले घरेलू मैकेनिक ने नियंत्रण खो दिया था-या उसे गोली मार दी गई थी?


Koko: Gorilla death coverage rekindles language debate

Summary: Koko, the celebrated western lowland gorilla , died at the age of 46 this week. Many people paid tributes to her by praising her signing skills. She's famous for her signing skills, but all is not what it seems.

Her death resonated with many people, with videos showing her communicating with her trainers being shared widely on social media. In many obituaries, it was claimed that she "mastered" American Sign Language, using over 1,000 signs, but some experts said the headlines praising her sign language skills were rather inaccurate. When she was about 12 months old, animal psychologist Francine "Penny" Patterson started to train her to use a version of American Sign Language. Her instructors said Koko used it to convey thoughts and feelings. Ms Patterson and her researchers documented that the gorilla understood some 2,000 words of spoken English. The abilities of the gorilla apparently to understand spoken English were documented by Ms Patterson and her researchers. However, sceptical linguists and scientists questioned Patterson's methods. They also debated how much of Koko's communication actually came from herself or how much we projected ourselves onto her. When Koko's death was announced, many news organisations, including the BBC, wrote headlines such as "Koko: Gorilla who mastered sign language" and "Koko, famed gorilla that learned sign language". Many social media users complimented her on her supposed language skills, but not all were convinced that she was actually using sign language. However, many people were impressed by her communication prowess. University of Birmingham's Dr Adam Schembri said the headlines need "to be worded with care to avoid crating a misleading impression." He said Koko "did not learn sign language", but she mastered a number of modified American Sign Language signs, which is not the same as American Sign Language. Marcus Perlman, a linguist, who studied Koko as part of his research into ape communication, weighed in. Gerardo Ortega, a sign language researcher, said Koko never mastered sign language. He tweeted: "At most she ritualised the use of some signs about the here and now and used them only after trainer promoted her." However, some sign language users see things differently, especially some people who said she inspired them to learn sign language. Speaking to BBC News, Prof Graham Turner of Heriot Watt University, said: "Serious efforts to teach apes some signing began in the 1960s with researchers attempting to teach individual signs derived from American Sign Language (ASL). And the apes did learn to use some hand gestures in this way. "But it is a distortion to imply that Koko or any ape has ever learned to use a natural signed language like a human being." Prof Turner said: "These languages use the face, body and hands in an integrated way, exploiting their multidimensional, spatial medium through the layering of simultaneous and extremely precise visual elements. So communication in ASL or any such signed language entails acquiring command of a far more complex system of linguistic expression. "That system must also permit the creation of new patterns and sequences - formed within the constraints of the system - for any context that may arise. With this kind of appreciation of sign language structure it is plain that 'signing' apes have never proven capable of displaying grammatical competence comparable to human fluency. "Although the apes can use two or three signs in a sequence, close inspection of filmed data has repeatedly shown trainers prompting them, and then questionably interpreting separate responses as signed sentences." Whether she used sign language or not, her command of gestures was extraordinary for a gorilla. She connected not only with some humans but also with animals, especially kittens.

प्रसिद्ध पश्चिमी निचले गोरिल्ला कोको का इस सप्ताह 46 वर्ष की आयु में निधन हो गया। कई लोगों ने उनके हस्ताक्षर कौशल की प्रशंसा करते हुए उन्हें श्रद्धांजलि दी। वह अपने हस्ताक्षर कौशल के लिए प्रसिद्ध हैं, लेकिन सब कुछ वैसा नहीं है जैसा लगता है।


Coronavirus: India's circuses struggle to survive the lockdown

Summary: Circuses are already a dying art form in India, and the lockdown imposed to spread the curb of the coronavirus has left them barely hanging on for survival. The BBC's Chinki Sinha reports.

It is the night of 16 April. Biju Pushkaran, 50, is wearing his polka dot overalls, his face painted with white powder, his cheeks reddened with vermilion and lipstick. Ready, he walks into an empty tent in Airoli, a suburb of the western city of Mumbai. Rambo Circus, which Biju is a part of, has not had a show since 6 March. But that night they were taking part in a live-streamed show in honour of World Circus Day. "We will come in to your homes and make you laugh," he announced. The entire crew performs their routines without an audience to cheer and clap. But while the show goes on, they know the reality is that the curtain may well fall on them for good. The performers ran out of food and money soon after India went into lockdown on 24 March and had to appeal to the public to help. In West Bengal state, Chandranath Banerjee, 61, has closed the doors on his Olympic Circus and told all 75 members of his troupe to go home, with the promise that he would call them if they "ever make it out of these dark times". "They cried," he said. "We need people to come and see the shows. With isolation as the new norm, we had to stop." But Jayaprakasan PV, 52, the manager of Great Bombay Circus, doesn't want to give up. Not yet. In a town called Manargudi in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, his tents stay put. "We don't know what will happen after lockdown is lifted. Coronavirus has made us wait in the wings for now," he said. Almost two decades ago, India had 23 active circuses, grouped in a national federation, with almost 300 smaller circuses across the country. In 2013, the government banned the use of wild animals and children in performances, which led to many of them going bankrupt. Now, there are less than 10 registered circuses across India and 25 small ones and 1,500 artists including acrobatic teams from the hilly north-eastern state of Manipur. And it has not been easy. With many of these troupes dependant on cash transactions, a government move to make high value currency notes illegal in 2016, hit them hard. They have written an appeal to the Prime Minister for help, asking for a loan to help them sustain themselves under a Covid-19 vaccine is developed. They are awaiting a response. And the situation is not very different around the globe: the world-famous Cirque du Soleil made headlines when it laid off 95% of its staff last month. Zsuzsanna Mata, the executive director of the World Circus Federation (FMC), said over email that "the pandemic has changed the course of history. Without any income circuses are struggling to assure livelihood for their families, artists and animals." The circus as we know it, may be gone forever.

सर्कस भारत में पहले से ही एक मरती हुई कला है, और कोरोनावायरस पर अंकुश लगाने के लिए लगाए गए लॉकडाउन ने उन्हें मुश्किल से जीवित रहने के लिए छोड़ दिया है। बीबीसी की चिंकी सिन्हा रिपोर्ट करती है।


David Cameron criticises 'terror' remarks in response to John McDonnell question

Summary: The prime minister has said that people who seek to justify terrorism should be ashamed of themselves, in response to a question about the shadow chancellor.

David Cameron was responding to Commons question after the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's appointment of John McDonnell. DUP MP Nigel Dodds said Mr McDonnell had in the past said terrorists should be honoured for their bravery. He asked the PM if he would join with members from all sides of the House of Commons in denouncing that sentiment. In reply, Mr Cameron said that from the reaction to what he had said, Mr Dodds had spoken for many, many people in the House of Commons and for the overwhelming majority of people outside. He told MPs that he had a simple view - that the terrorism Britain had faced was wrong and unjustifiable and that people who seek to justify it should be ashamed of themselves.

शैडो चांसलर के बारे में एक सवाल के जवाब में प्रधानमंत्री ने कहा है कि जो लोग आतंकवाद को सही ठहराना चाहते हैं, उन्हें खुद पर शर्म आनी चाहिए।


Four arrested after Derby hit-and-run appeal

Summary: Four people have been arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash which left a man with life-changing injuries.

The 19-year-old, who is now in a wheelchair, was sent flying through the air after being struck by a car in Normanton Road, Derby on 5 November. A 29-year-old man, two men aged 20 and a 20-year-old woman have been arrested. Earlier this week, police released "shocking" CCTV footage of the collision. The four people, from Derby and Burton, remain in police custody and are due to be questioned, Derbyshire Constabulary said. Police added they would still like to hear from anyone with information about the crash or the vehicle involved.

एक हिट-एंड-रन दुर्घटना के सिलसिले में चार लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया गया है, जिसमें एक व्यक्ति को जीवन बदलने वाली चोटें आई हैं।


Aberdeen City Council votes for 1.5% pay rise for staff

Summary: Councillors in Aberdeen have voted for a 1.5% pay increase for thousands of staff, subject to the agreement of trade unions.

More than 6,000 members of staff would benefit, with the increase to be met from savings of £1.6m. If the move is rejected by unions the payments would be deferred until next April. The Lib Dem/SNP administration's motion was carried by 24 votes to 11 at a meeting of the full council.

एबरडीन में पार्षदों ने ट्रेड यूनियनों के समझौते के अधीन हजारों कर्मचारियों के लिए डेढ़ प्रतिशत वेतन वृद्धि के लिए मतदान किया है।


Matt LeBlanc to leave Top Gear

Summary: Matt LeBlanc is to leave Top Gear after the next series.

The Friends and Episodes star began presenting the BBC Two show alongside Chris Evans in 2016. LeBlanc went on to front the show with Rory Reid and Chris Harris when Evans left after his first series. LeBlanc said that despite Top Gear being "great fun", the "time commitment and extensive travel... takes me away from my family and friends more than I'm comfortable with." From the archive: He added: "It's unfortunate, but for these reasons I will not be continuing my involvement with the show. I will forever be a Top Gear fan and I wish the team continued success. Thanks for a great drive." BBC Two controller Patrick Holland said: "I want to thank the fabulous Matt LeBlanc for being a brilliant co-host on Top Gear." "Matt has thrown himself into the show with real passion, revealing his extraordinary car knowledge and a willingness to get down and dirty. We were always going to be borrowing him from his day job as one of the top comic actors in Hollywood so I wish him all the very best. You may also like: "The next series of Top Gear (Matt's last) promises to be something very special and we have great plans to welcome a new co-host to join the team for 2019 and beyond." LeBlanc's last series will be his fourth. When Evans left the show after just one series, he described LeBlanc as the "captain". Critics and fans responded positively to LeBlanc's first series without Evans. The news comes following the fifth and final series of BBC Two's Episodes, in which LeBlanc starred alongside Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan. Attention will now turn to who could replace LeBlanc. The last series of Top Gear was sold to more than 150 territories, so producers may be looking for someone with similar global appeal and star quality. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

मैट लेब्लैंक अगली श्रृंखला के बाद टॉप गियर छोड़ देंगे।


Scottish election 2021: Results in maps and charts

Summary: The SNP has won 64 seats in the Scottish Parliament election - one short of a majority but one more than it won in 2016. Nicola Sturgeon hailed her party's fourth consecutive victory as a "historic and extraordinary" result . We look at the picture across Scotland and the shape of the new Scottish Parliament.

By Philip SimBBC Scotland political correspondent A modern browser with JavaScript and a stable internet connection is required to view this interactive. Scotland's electoral map gives you a pretty good idea of who has won the election - it is swathed in SNP yellow. But look closely and you can see why they fell just short of an outright majority. The seats they failed to win are islands in regions otherwise dominated by the SNP, meaning it was all but impossible for them to win seats back from the regional list, in the swings and roundabouts of the Holyrood system. Two of the constituencies they did gain, in Ayr and East Lothian, were in a region where they already had list seats, two of which were subsequently lost. The small strongholds that other parties have scattered across Scotland ultimately proved decisive. The fact the SNP did not win a majority will make a real difference to the next five years at Holyrood. A minority government needs support from other parties to pass budgets and all its major reforms. If it had been a majority, we could have put every other manifesto in the bin and taken the SNP's manifesto to be the definitive guide to the term ahead. The Scottish Greens in particular - who were the SNP's partner of choice last term - will be looking forward to potentially having some of their policy priorities passed in return for crucial votes. It also means the SNP will not have a majority on any Holyrood committee, meaning their legislation will not necessarily sail through the parliament with ease. The Scottish Conservatives retained their position in second place in a vindication of the party's strategy to target the "peach vote" - the colour of the regional list ballot paper There were initially some nerves that they might have neglected the "lilac" constituency vote, but they ultimately held their key seats with the help of transfers from other pro-union parties. Tactical voting may have had a huge impact overall - every seat seems to have become a race between the SNP and the party that was judged most likely to beat them locally. Labour - the party which may have the most to do to come up with a convincing answer to the constitutional question - finds itself marooned in third place again. The Lib Dems meanwhile have slumped to just four seats due to their failure to pick anything up from the regional lists. They have a number of strongholds in different parts of Scotland, but these are so tightly focused that the party's constituency wins in those areas make it very hard for them to pick up list seats too. In an election of continuity, there was one surprise result which was quite different from previous years - turnout. Some 63% of the electorate came out to vote, a full ten percentage points above the average for previous Holyrood polls. It is hard to say exactly why this happened, but a number of factors will likely have been at play. The rise in postal vote registrations could be one, as could the expansion of the franchise to new groups including refugees. And the pandemic may have ultimately boosted turnout, rather than held it down, as many had predicted. People might have had more time to engage with activists or go out to vote due to lockdown. Indeed lockdown itself may have encouraged some to vote, having been a very clear example of the powers that governments can exercise. Holyrood's diverse representation had somewhat stalled in recent years - but that has all changed now. The class of 2021 includes a record number of 58 female MSPs. The SNP now has 34 women, Labour have 10, the Conservatives have eight, the Scottish Greens have five and the Lib Dems have one female MSP. It has chiefly been driven by the SNP's policy of having all-women shortlists for many seats where male MSPs were retiring - meaning a lot of older male MSPs have effectively been replaced by younger women. Among those are the first women of colour elected to Holyrood, the SNP's Kaukab Stewart and Pam Gosal of the Scottish Tories. Labour's Pam Duncan-Glancy became the first wheelchair user returned to Holyrood, in what may be the most diverse parliament to date. A modern browser with JavaScript and a stable internet connection is required to view this interactive. More information about these elections Who won in my area? Enter your postcode, or the name of your English council or Scottish or Welsh constituency to find out. Eg 'W1A 1AA' or 'Westminster'

एसएनपी ने स्कॉटिश संसद चुनाव में 64 सीटें जीती हैं-बहुमत से एक कम लेकिन 2016 में जीती गई जीत से एक अधिक। निकोला स्टर्जन ने अपनी पार्टी की लगातार चौथी जीत को "ऐतिहासिक और असाधारण" परिणाम के रूप में सराहा। हम पूरे स्कॉटलैंड की तस्वीर और नई स्कॉटिश संसद के आकार को देखते हैं।


Train delays: Passengers react to 'badly treated' report

Summary: Passengers were badly treated by rail companies during an ambitious timetable change earlier this year, a report by an industry regulator has found. The Office of Rail and Road said "no-one took charge" during the transition , which mainly affected Northern Trains in north-west England and Govia Thameslink (GTR) routes into London.

It said track manager Network Rail, the two train operators and the Department for Transport "had all made mistakes". BBC News asked commuters for their reactions to the disruption and the report. St Albans Will Tucker, 33, commutes to and from London three or four times a week. "The report today shows that Govia Thameslink and Network Rail weren't ready to implement the timetable change - but they went ahead ahead regardless," he said. "The thousands of St Albans commuters who were delivered a terrible service have no faith in another timetable change which is due in December. "From the very beginning - we haven't been listened to." Brighton Alex Dowd, 25, is a modelling agent who commutes from Brighton to London. "I've been late numerous times, nearly everyday sometimes up to about an hour. I usually get into work for 9am but on one occasion I didn't get in until 11am, so it has been quite detrimental to my daily schedule. "There was no announcement, there was no nothing, it was just you turn up on the day and absolutely nothing would be available, or delays without any sort of warning or anything. "I just think it's ridiculous. I don't understand why nobody could have made it smoother, or given us an idea of how bad it actually was going to be, otherwise I would have taken action to get to work. For some people they ended up losing jobs over it." Alex Fisher, a 23-year-old kitchen porter, commutes from London to Brighton. "It's an everyday matter that's pretty much something that we have come to accept. "It's often the case of Thameslink trains being delayed. Since the new timetable came out in May, there's often been delays or cancellations. "I think they've got the idea of what they are trying to achieve for us, but there's quite a few flaws that need correcting." Poulton le Fylde, Lancashire Steve Malone, 53, from Poulton-le-Fylde, near Blackpool, was a victim of a succession of cancellations when he was commuting to Wolverhampton, where he works at the university. He said his employer was understanding, but he had also experienced "disastrous" commutes to Manchester and the airport in particular. When he was going on holiday his train was cancelled five minutes before it was due. "The most galling for me is that the National Rail live train times app says the train is on time when I'm on the station platform - then it gets cancelled," he said. "I have ended up driving to Preston, which defeats the object of 'letting the train take the strain'." Windermere Taxi driver John Marchant says trains at Windermere railway station had been "chaotic on and off for a couple of years now". The stoppage on the Lakes Line over the summer had led to a marked reduction in his income. "You don't know if one is going to turn up or not," he said. "I think a lot of tourists decided they weren't coming to the area because there were no connections. "They've either been coming in their own cars or not at all. Tourists coming from abroad usually come into Manchester or London airports and then come here by train, so they faced disruptions. "There were last minute cancellations of trains". Liz Chegwin, from Mountain Goat Tours, which also runs the Tourist Information Centre in the town, described the situation as "chaotic". "We've had lots of customers coming in wanting to know information, and we're not sure what to tell them, where the trains are etc. "Customers, especially internationals, coming up from London to the Lake District are worried about the timeframe. They might have a limited time here so they want to make the most of it."

एक उद्योग नियामक की एक रिपोर्ट में पाया गया है कि इस साल की शुरुआत में एक महत्वाकांक्षी समय सारिणी परिवर्तन के दौरान रेल कंपनियों द्वारा यात्रियों के साथ बुरा व्यवहार किया गया था। रेल और सड़क कार्यालय ने कहा कि संक्रमण के दौरान "किसी ने भी कार्यभार नहीं संभाला", जिसने मुख्य रूप से उत्तर-पश्चिम इंग्लैंड में उत्तरी ट्रेनों और लंदन में गोविया थेम्सलिंक (जीटीआर) मार्गों को प्रभावित किया।


Disruptive passengers cause Belfast Ibiza flight diversion

Summary: A Jet2 flight from Belfast to Ibiza was diverted to Toulouse on Friday evening due to "disruptive passengers".

A spokesperson for the airline could not confirm how many people were involved in the incident that caused the flight to land in the French city. However, a Toulouse-Blagnac Airport press officer confirmed that one passenger was removed from the flight. Flight LS397 left Belfast International airport at around 15.30 BST. It was due to land at Ibiza Airport at 19.35 local time. The airport's arrivals board listed the flight as diverted on Friday evening.

बेलफास्ट से इबिज़ा के लिए जेट2 की एक उड़ान को शुक्रवार शाम को "विघटनकारी यात्रियों" के कारण टूलूज़ की ओर मोड़ दिया गया था।


Ten 'slaves' freed in Wiltshire since police unit set up

Summary: Ten people, all believed to be victims of slavery, have been rescued by police in Wiltshire since August after a specialist unit was set up.

Seven were victims of domestic servitude, one of criminal exploitation, and two others were found to be working in a cannabis garden. Wiltshire Police has arrested three people on suspicion of slavery offences but none have yet been charged. Operation HEET was set up to increase awareness of human trafficking.

अगस्त में एक विशेषज्ञ इकाई की स्थापना के बाद से विल्टशायर में दस लोगों को पुलिस द्वारा बचाया गया है, जिनमें से सभी को गुलामी का शिकार माना जाता है।


Ironbridge Power station to stop work next week

Summary: Ironbridge Power Station will stop generating electricity next week.

Operator E-On said it has 50 hours of its licensed operating hours left, which will end in the middle of next week. The station, in Shropshire, had to close by the end of the year or after a set number of operating hours under EU environmental regulations. E-On said no decision had yet been reached about the future of the station's well-known cooling towers. The station, originally coal-fired, was converted to burn wood pellets in 2013 ahead of its planned closure this year. It can generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of up to 750,000 homes.

आयरनब्रिज पावर स्टेशन अगले सप्ताह बिजली उत्पादन बंद कर देगा।


Absconding: Why do prisoners take the risk?

Summary: On average, a prisoner walks out of prisons in England and Wales without permission once every 43 hours. But why do they take the risk, when most will end up serving longer inside once caught?

By Emma Hallett & Caroline LowbridgeBBC News "It is kind of like you have won the lottery, you've escaped, you've turned the tables on them and you have a massive amount of freedom." Former bank robber and south Londoner Noel "Razor" Smith has served time in 33 different prisons, escaping from category C prison The Verne in 1992 and making several attempts to escape from a category A prison. Walking out of The Verne in Dorset, Smith said there was a feeling of excitement in the knowledge he was "living on borrowed time". Jailed for life for armed robbery, he escaped for 79 days, during which he committed a further 15 bank robberies. He was sentenced to 15 years for the robberies and two years, to run concurrently, for escaping. "Human beings are not made to be locked up - it's not part of our nature," he said. "If you are in prison all you dream about is getting out of prison. Nobody wants to be in prison. It's not a holiday camp. "If you escape prison... you can do whatever you like because you know that it is only a matter of time before they catch you." Most incidents take place at open prisons, with some offenders keen to be sent back to closed prison conditions, while others may abscond if they feel they have been refused leave unfairly. Another reason is prisoners struggling to cope with the drugs culture or feeling threatened within open prisons. "People have walked free from their open prison and straight to the closed prison, knocked on the gates and said 'take us back in - there are too many drugs in the open prison'," said Smith, who was a career criminal for 35 years but now writes for Inside Time, the national newspaper for prisoners. "The prison system is very big. There's a lot of drugs. The murder rate is seven times higher than outside. There are a lot of attempted murders and assaults." Chris, 28, from Nottingham, served three years at HMP Sudbury, an open prison in Derbyshire, towards the end of his sentence for stabbing another man. He said there were problems with drug-taking inside the prison because the open conditions made it easier to get the drugs in. "Someone came into my room and said 'do you want to buy some ecstasy?' I said 'no. I'm sitting in a prison cell, why do I want ecstasy?'" he said. "There were a lot of not very nice people there." Smith found himself in an open prison - Blantyre House in Kent - only once, in 2008. By this point he "had had enough" and wanted to keep his head down. But he said prisoners desperate to get away from cellmates taking drugs and tensions between different "classes" of prisoners were common problems. "You're surrounded by basically petty criminals who are on shorter sentences and don't really give a toss," he said. "They will start a fight with a lifer who has served 20 years, and the lifer will go back into closed conditions for six or seven years, while the person on the short sentence will get out. "It's absolute madness. So open prisons for long termers are a very frightening prospect, it is like a minefield." When prisoners abscond they are usually caught and sent back to prison, where they are likely to stay for longer than if they had not absconded in the first place. Despite this, 204 prisoners absconded from open prisons in England and Wales between April 2012 and March 2013. This is a fall from a peak figure of 1,301 absconds in the year 2003-04, but one that still equals an average of one absconder every 43 hours. In the year 2012-13 a further 431 prisoners failed to return to prison after being given temporary leave. The POA union, previously known as the Prison Officers' Association, has criticised open prisons for their high absconding record. "We are concerned at the current allocation system, which resulted in dangerous offenders being placed in open conditions far too early," said spokesman Glyn Travis. "The union has been campaigning for a change to the current system for seven years and despite our concerns the tickbox mentality of allocating prisoners remains in place." The POA said while the numbers may have reduced across open prisons, the risk to the public and staff had not reduced. "No-one really knows why prisoners abscond but staff believe it is because they feel vulnerable, are being bullied and want to avoid the gang culture which exists in most open prisons," Mr Travis said. "The underlying factor, of course, is that there is little or no consequences for their actions. The recent well-publicised absconds of dangerous offenders must now force the Ministry of Justice to act." Prisons Minister Jeremy Wright admitted the system "has been too lax up to now" but said the Ministry of Justice was changing that. "We are not prepared to see public safety compromised," he said. "In future when prisoners are let out on temporary licence they will be tagged, more strictly risk assessed and tested in the community under strict conditions before being released."

औसतन, एक कैदी इंग्लैंड और वेल्स की जेलों से हर 43 घंटे में एक बार बिना अनुमति के बाहर निकलता है। लेकिन वे जोखिम क्यों उठाते हैं, जब अधिकांश पकड़े जाने के बाद अधिक समय तक अंदर रहने की सजा काटते हैं?


Melania Trump says 'don't care' jacket was a message

Summary: It was a mystery which sparked countless think pieces: Why did US First Lady Melania Trump wear a $39 jacket emblazoned with "I really don't care, do you?" during a trip to a migrant child detention centre?

At the time of the June trip, Donald Trump said it was a message to the "Fake News Media". Her communications chief, however, had insisted it was "just a jacket". Now we have an answer: Mrs Trump has admitted she was sending a message. Mrs Trump visited the New Hope Children's Shelter in McAllen, Texas, on 21 June. The centre housed 55 children, including some separated from their parents as part of the Trump administration's zero-tolerance policy towards illegal immigration. However, she was criticised for wearing the controversial jacket on her way to the centre and during her return trip, although she took off the jacket before arriving at the centre itself. There was widespread speculation and criticism over what message Mrs Trump intended to send by wearing the jacket on that particular trip - although her spokeswoman said "there was no hidden message". However, in an interview with ABC news that was released on Saturday, the former model acknowledged the jacket "was a kind of message, yes". "It's obvious I didn't wear the jacket for the children, I wore the jacket to go on the plane and off the plane," she said. "It was for the people and for the left-wing media who are criticising me. I want to show them I don't care. You could criticise whatever you want to say. But it will not stop me to do what I feel is right." Mrs Trump criticised the media for being "obsessed" about her clothing. "I often asking myself, if I had not worn that jacket, if I will have so much media coverage," she said, adding: "I would prefer they would focus on what I do and on my initiatives than what I wear." Mrs Trump's apparent stand delighted supporters, but critics have focused on the fact the admission has caught her team in a lie, and criticised the timing of her message. Either way, it seems likely what the First Lady wears will continue to be a source of speculation throughout her husband's time in the White House, with commentators now more likely than ever to look for hidden, and not-so-hidden, messages in her outfit choices.

यह एक रहस्य था जिसने अनगिनत विचारों को जन्म दियाः अमेरिकी प्रथम महिला मेलानिया ट्रम्प ने एक प्रवासी बाल निरोध केंद्र की यात्रा के दौरान "मुझे वास्तव में परवाह नहीं है, क्या आप?" लिखा हुआ 39 डॉलर का जैकेट क्यों पहना था?


Lincoln murder: Two held over fatal stabbing

Summary: Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 23-year-old man was stabbed to death in Lincoln.

The victim was found with serious knife wounds in the St Giles area of the city on Thursday night and died a short time later, Lincolnshire Police said. Two men, aged 23 and 24, were arrested in connection with the attack which happened in Coleridge Gardens, the force added. Detectives have appealed for anyone with information to get in touch. Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk. Related Internet Links Lincolnshire Police

लिंकन में एक 23 वर्षीय व्यक्ति की चाकू मारकर हत्या करने के संदेह में दो लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Second giant aircraft carrier sets sail from the Forth

Summary: The UK's newest aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, has set sail from the Firth of Forth.

One of the largest vessels to be operated by the Royal Navy, it is to begin its initial sea trials. The ship has been built to operate F35B Lightning II Joint Strike fighter jets. Its sister ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, was completed two years ago. It is currently crossing the Atlantic to begin operational trials with fighter aircraft in the USA. All images courtesy of the Royal Navy.

ब्रिटेन का सबसे नया विमान वाहक, एच. एम. एस. प्रिंस ऑफ वेल्स, फर्थ ऑफ फोर्थ से रवाना हुआ है।


David Hockney: Why art has become 'less'

Summary: David Hockney thinks that over his lifetime art has become "less". He blames the art establishment (museums, galleries, art schools) for becoming over-enamoured with conceptual art: "It gave up on images a bit" the artist laments.

Will GompertzArts editor@WillGompertzBBCon Twitter By which he means that the artworld ignored figurative art: paintings, sculptures, videos and installations that aim to represent the known world: the sort of work Hockney makes: landscapes, portraits and still lifes. Instead he feels, museums and galleries have jumped too willingly into the unmade bed of conceptual art where lights go on and off in a game of philosophical riddles. But Hockney says "the power is with images", and in neglecting them the artworld has diminished the very thing it aimed to protect: art. It's difficult to ignore Hockney's latest images that now fill the vast galleries of the Royal Academy in London. They are huge (two paintings are about 10-metres across), they are innovative (numerous iPad print-outs and an 18-screen film installation), and they are very colourful (purple paths and orange tree trunks aplenty). By and large, they all depict the same subject: the hills, fields, woods and roads of rural East Yorkshire. These things are subjective, but I found them potent and poetic. And exciting. Exciting because it has been a rarity over the last half-a-century for a supremely gifted painter to take on the English landscape. Constable and Turner did so in the 19th Century. And John Nash and Stanley Spencer rose to the challenge in the mid-20th Century. But not much has emerged since. Maybe it's due to the 30 years he has spent in Hollywood that Hockney blames the camera for the hiatus. He directs a damning finger at the one-eyed monster in all its guises: photography, film and television. He believes it is the camera that has caused many of today's artists to forsake figurative art, having decided that a single mechanical lens can capture reality better than any painter or sculptor. "But they're wrong," he told me. "A camera cannot see what a human can see, there is always something missing." He talks about the inability of a camera to reproduce a sense of space and volume. He makes the point that a photograph documents only a split second in time. Whereas a landscape painting, portrait or still life might appear to be a moment immortalised in a single image, but it is in fact the culmination of days, weeks and in the case of many artists (Cezanne, Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Hockney), years of looking at a single subject. It is a result of vast quantities of stored information, experience, jottings and spatial sensitivity that has eventually appeared in the colours, composition and atmosphere of a final finished artwork. For all his outspokenness David Hockney is a canny man. He twinkles when talking about why he chose to tackle the English landscape, seeing it, I suspect, as an opportunity to make another big splash: a great subject overlooked by most other artists. When people told him that the "landscape genre was worn out" he thought it illogical. "The way of looking at it [the landscape] might be worn out, but the landscape can't be," he said. "It needs re-looking at…[to] look at it afresh." Which is exactly what he has done. And it looks like Hockney on Yorkshire will be a hit with the public as advance bookings are already at the upper end of the Royal Academy's expectations. But I wonder if the show will have a more lasting impact than simply to re-assert the general feeling that the Bradford-born painter is the country's greatest living artist. I think it is possible that it could mark the moment - together with the Lucian Freud exhibition that will be opening shortly at the nearby at the National Portrait Gallery - when figurative art once again starts to become the dominant genre in the contemporary exhibitions and displays mounted at the likes of Tate, Paris's Pompidou and New York's Museum of Modern Art. The paintings of urban Coventry by George Shaw were shortlisted for last year's Turner Prize. He didn't win. But maybe this year will be different, and an artist who produces landscapes or portraits or still lifes will carry the day?

डेविड हॉकनी को लगता है कि उनके जीवनकाल में कला "कम" हो गई है। वह कला प्रतिष्ठान (संग्रहालयों, दीर्घाओं, कला विद्यालयों) को वैचारिक कला से अत्यधिक आकर्षित होने के लिए दोषी ठहराते हैंः "इसने छवियों को थोड़ा छोड़ दिया" कलाकार विलाप करता है।


Russia and Europe joint Mars bid agreement approved

Summary: Europe and Russia are cementing their plans to explore Mars together.

By Jonathan AmosScience correspondent, BBC News, Naples European Space Agency member states have approved the agreement that would see Russia take significant roles in Red Planet missions in 2016 and 2018. The former is a satellite that will look for methane and other trace gases in the atmosphere; the latter will be a surface rover. Russian participation fills a void left by the Americans who pulled back from the projects earlier this year. For a while, it looked as though the ventures, known as ExoMars, might have to be cancelled. But Russian desire to pick up many of the elements dropped by the US means ExoMars is now on a much surer footing. Esa member states indicated their happiness with the cooperation text on Monday. All that remains is for the documentation to be signed by both parties. This is likely to happen before the end of the year. 'Other opportunities' Officials say they want the ExoMars partnership to be the catalyst for further planetary exploration ventures. "We have other opportunities to consider cooperation - for Jupiter missions, for example," said Frederic Nordlund, the head of international relations at Esa. "Esa has selected Juice, a large mission for Jupiter, and in Russia there is a plan for a Ganymede lander which is of interest to Europe. "We are initiating discussions to see how we could co-operate on those missions. But this could extend to lunar robotics where we would like to see if we could join forces as well. "Russia already has its Luna-Glob and Luna-Resurs missions, which are already being implemented, but we're considering other opportunities for this in other areas." The planned agreement calls for Russia to provide the Proton rockets to send the two ExoMars missions on their way. Russia would also get instrument space on the 2016 satellite and the 2018 rover. In addition, its researchers would join the science teams that exploit the missions' data. One key contribution would be the landing system that places the rover on the surface of the Red Planet. With the exception of some key components, this would be built by Russian industry. ExoMars was formally initiated in Europe by ministers in 2005, and Esa has so far spent in excess of 400m euros on technology development. The final budget on the European side is projected to be about 1.2bn euros for the two missions. So far, 850m of that total has been committed. But officials remain confident of closing the gap. The 2016 orbiter will try to track down the sources of methane that have been observed at Mars. Its presence in the atmosphere is intriguing and could conceivably indicate biological activity on the planet. A key role for the satellite also will be to provide the communications relay for the 2018 rover. The six-wheeled vehicle would look for signs of past or present life. It would have the ability to drill 2m into the ground. Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

यूरोप और रूस एक साथ मंगल ग्रह का पता लगाने की अपनी योजना को मजबूत कर रहे हैं।


Mars500: Just like the real thing?

Summary: There was all the pageantry of a real space launch.

By Richard GalpinBBC News, Moscow The six "astronauts" wearing bright blue jump-suits and even surgical masks, were paraded before banks of television cameras and hordes of journalists at a news conference before entering their mock spaceship. Amongst the long rows of VIPs at the news conference were senior officials from the United States, China and the European Union. If, as some experts believe, the main aim of the Mars 500 experiment is to publicise the concept of human flight to the red planet, then it has surely succeeded beyond all expectations. "I am very happy to be part of this project," said Diego Urbina, the Colombian-Italian and most extrovert member of the crew. "It will raise awareness of space flight so hopefully a few years from now there will be a real flight to Mars." He confessed that Elton John had been his inspiration. "I don't know if you know that song Rocket Man," he asked. "I want a future like that… where people will be going frequently into space and will be working there and it will be very usual." In front of the world's media, all the team spoke confidently about the chances of the experiment being successful - in other words that noone would crack under the stress of such lengthy confinement in such claustrophobic and bizarre conditions and demand to be let out. "The target is for all six of us to be here for 520 days," said the French crew-member Romain Charles who took a guitar with him into the cluster of brown and silver-coloured metal tubes which will be home until November 2011. After the news conference, the six crew disappeared, re-emerging an hour later by the entrance hatch to the mock spaceship, where they put on another high-spirited performance for the media. Finally, blowing kisses and waving to wives, girlfriends and relatives, they walked up the steps and through the entrance hatch. A solemn-faced official slowly closed and sealed it behind them. So now reality bites for the six-member volunteer crew. What will they be thinking as they sit inside their tin cans in north-west Moscow where outside the warm sun shines and the flowers blossom? There is no thrill of a blast-off and flight through space. There are no windows from which to watch the Earth gradually shrink away. And no anticipation of reaching a new world more than fifty million kilometres away. Instead, silent inertia, stale air and tinned food. And everywhere cameras watching their every move, looking out for signs of mental collapse. They have just one thing to cling on to, that they are playing their part in the history of space exploration. That their success in this experiment will mean a human flight to Mars is a step closer. And space experts already believe the first flight could be just 25 years away or even less if there is the political and economic will from countries with advanced space programmes.

वहाँ एक वास्तविक अंतरिक्ष प्रक्षेपण की सारी प्रदर्शनी थी।


Rhyl RNLI crew rescue nine from sandbank

Summary: Nine people have been rescued after getting cut off by an incoming tide at Rhyl.

Five adults and four children were spotted in difficulty on a sandbank 200m (656ft) off Rhyl seafront on Friday at about 19:34 BST. The adults were carrying the children in waist-deep water by the time Rhyl RNLI's inshore lifeboat crew reached the group. All nine people were taken on board and returned to shore safely.

राइल में आने वाले ज्वार से कट जाने के बाद नौ लोगों को बचाया गया है।


Isle of Man Civil Service jobs under threat

Summary: Up to 11 jobs are under threat at the Manx Department of Community, Culture and Leisure, a spokesman has confirmed.

Public Transport Division staff have been told savings were needed as the department was anticipating financial difficulties next year. The department said it had "no option but to consider making savings from salaries budgets". However, it said it was still early in the process and no decision on redundancies had been made.

एक प्रवक्ता ने पुष्टि की है कि मैनक्स डिपार्टमेंट ऑफ कम्युनिटी, कल्चर एंड लीजर में 11 नौकरियां खतरे में हैं।