King of jazz: The Nigerian saxophonist inspiring generations

Summary: In a small practice room in the Nigerian city of Lagos, a young drummer breaks into sweat as he energetically thumps out rhythms for hours on end. In the next room, a tenor saxophonist is soaring through scales and arpeggios in pursuit of perfection.

By Will RossBBC News, Lagos "I play two or three hours every day. I'm working hard because I don't want to be mediocre," says the saxophonist, 21-year-old Joseph Shaibu. "I'm trying out different genres of music so I can get my own voice out of it," he adds, before blowing some more. The students at Peter King's College of Music in Lagos do not have to look far for inspiration - the college is run by a Nigerian great. Peter King's musical career took off in the pre-independence 1950s when the highlife music style ruled. Back then, there was no music school and budding musicians had to learn on the job. Boney M music director It all began when King, aged 18, walked into the Central Hotel in Ibadan to watch Roy Chicago's band. "It looked exactly like the American films we used to watch at the cinema - people's clothes and the way they danced holding each other like ballroom," he says, at his home opposite the music school. King, known affectionately as PK, spied some maracas and claves on the stage at the Central Hotel and casually mentioned to his friend that he used to play them at home in his family band. "That's when the trouble started. My friend told me I must get on stage and join in, but I was afraid to go on stage without talking to the bandleader. "He started dragging me and it looked like we were going to fight. When it became too much I had no choice than play with the band." He must have been spot on with the rhythm because before long he was drumming and taking lessons on the double bass while performing with the band every night. The other musicians chipped in money from their own salaries to help. Next came lessons on the trumpet but King had his eyes fixed on the saxophone and borrowed one to practise every morning. After touring all over Nigeria with various groups, he joined the band behind the most popular musician of the day, Victor Olaiya. By 1961 King was a very accomplished saxophonist. He headed to London to study at the Trinity College of Music. He later came up with his own unique blend of highlife, jazz, Afrobeat and funk, toured with his African Jazz Messengers band and was still in Europe as disco was taking over the dance floors in the 1970s. He dived into the genre and served as director of music on Boney M's first European tour. 'Music is no joke' His philosophy of learning from all different types of music is clearly evident today at his music school in Nigeria. "Mozart has lots of nice compositions and when you hear them there is this joy that comes within," says one of the teachers Nelson Taiwo, who was himself taught by King. "When you talk of the history of music, it is something many people do not want to study because they feel they want to do popular music not classical. So you have to find a way of making them like it - use examples they can relate to," says Taiwo. I watch as he gets the whole class to sing along to Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. The students switch to a version by a Nigerian gospel singer and he despairs and everyone roars with laughter. "They should stop giving me Yinka Ayefele's version. If Mozart was alive today, maybe Yinka would be in jail. Not just for stealing it - not doing it the right way is also an offence." Some 33 years after King opened the school, graduates are spread throughout Nigeria's music industry and beyond. The most famous of them all is the singer-songwriter Asa, who has made waves on the international scene. "I was teaching her and she started seeing that music is no joke, it's a serious thing," King remembers. "So if we teach her something and she plays it very well she would become so happy, like a child you've given a new toy." He had a stroke a couple of years ago and is still recovering now, but he is attentive and he keeps a close eye - and ear - on the students. As the school's second band puts on a short show in the auditorium, King is in the front row of the audience tapping along to the beats on the arm of his wheelchair. "Not bad at all. Not bad. They've tried," he says afterwards. The whole idea of setting up the school was born when King returned from London in the late 1970s and was frustrated by the standard of his fellow musicians. "It was a hell of a time," he says. "It took so much from me to get a band together. Imagine you are starting a band with a bass player who knew so little I had to start teaching him. "And the trumpeter didn't know much either and I had to start teaching him too, even teaching him scales. It was too much, so I thought, why don't I just start a school?" Differentiating between major and minor Three decades later, the school's current students are hugely grateful for the opportunity. "Most musicians outside this place, they don't really know the theoretical part of music they just play it," says 21-year-old saxophonist Grace Obruche. "If it weren't for Peter King I wouldn't even be able to differentiate between a major and minor." Goodness Offong, 19, started playing the drums as a toddler. "I usually played in my mum's cupboard, then I carried on in primary school," he says. "My friend told me about Peter King's College of Music and when I saw a concert here, that is what inspired me to continue at the school." It is hard for young Nigerians to find job opportunities but for many of these students a musical career is a realistic option. Although convincing your mother can be tough, says Offong. "My mum is supporting me but she doesn't want me to be a drummer, she wants me to be a banker. The drumming will win," he says with a big grin. As for King, he is still composing and he is adding a recording studio at the school. "What drives me is I'm always fed up when I listen to music and nothing's happening," he says. But there is definitely something happening at this school. The abundance of talent and determination, mixed with King's focus on excellence, makes a tasty recipe for musical success.

नाइजीरियाई शहर लागोस के एक छोटे से अभ्यास कक्ष में, एक युवा ड्रमर पसीने में टूट जाता है क्योंकि वह अंत में घंटों तक ऊर्जावान रूप से लय को बाहर निकालता है। अगले कमरे में, एक टेनर सैक्सोफोनिस्ट पूर्णता की खोज में तराजू और आर्पेगियोस के माध्यम से उड़ रहा है।


I acted as a man to get work - until I was accused of rape

Summary: Pili Hussein wanted to make her fortune prospecting for a precious stone that's said to be a thousand times rarer than diamonds, but since women weren't allowed down the mines she dressed up as man and fooled her male colleagues for almost a decade.

By Sarah McDermottBBC World Service Pili Hussein grew up in a large family in Tanzania. The daughter of a livestock keeper who had many large farms, Pili's father had six wives and she was one of 38 children. Although she was well looked after, in many ways, she doesn't look back on her upbringing fondly. "My father treated me like a boy and I was given livestock to take care of - I didn't like that life at all," she says. But her marriage was even more unhappy, and at the age of 31 Pili ran away from her abusive husband. In search of work she found herself in the small Tanzanian town of Mererani, in the foothills of Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro - the only place in the world where mining for a rare, violet-blue gemstone called tanzanite takes place. "I didn't go to school, so I didn't have many options," Pili says. "Women were not allowed in the mining area, so I entered bravely like a man, like a strong person. You take big trousers, you cut them into shorts and you appear like a man. That's what I did." To complete the transformation, she also changed her name. "I was called Uncle Hussein, I didn't tell anyone my actual name was Pili. Even today if you come to the camp you ask for me by that name, Uncle Hussein." In the tight confines of the hot, dirty tunnels - some of which extend hundreds of metres below the ground - Pili would work 10-12 hours a day, digging and sieving, hoping to uncover gemstones in the veins in the graphite rock. "I could go 600m under, into the mine. I would do this more bravely than many other men. I was very strong and I was able to deliver what men would expect another man could do." Pili says that nobody suspected that she was a woman. "I acted like a gorilla," she says, "I could fight, my language was bad, I could carry a big knife like a Maasai [warrior]. Nobody knew I was a woman because everything I was doing I was doing like a man." And after about a year, she struck it rich, uncovering two massive clusters of tanzanite stones. With the money that she made she built new homes for her father, mother and twin sister, bought herself more tools, and began employing miners to work for her. And her cover was so convincing that it took an extraordinary set of circumstances for her true identity to finally be revealed. A local woman had reported that she'd been raped by some of the miners and Pili was arrested as a suspect. "When the police came, the men who did the rape said: 'This is the man who did it,' and I was taken to the police station," Pili says. She had no choice but to reveal her secret. She asked the police to find a woman to physically examine her, to prove that she couldn't be responsible, and was soon released. But even after that her fellow miners found it hard to believe they had been duped for so long. "They didn't even believe the police when they said that I was a woman," she says, "it wasn't easy for them to accept until 2001 when I got married and I started a family." Finding a husband when everyone is accustomed to regarding you as a man is not easy, Pili found, though eventually she succeeded. "The question in his mind was always, 'Is she really a woman?'" she recalls. "It took five years for him to come closer to me." Pili has built a successful career and today owns her own mining company with 70 employees. Three of her employees are women, but they work as cooks not as miners. Pili says that although there are more women in the mining industry than when she started out, even today very few actually work in the mines. "Some [women] wash the stones, some are brokers, some are cooking," she says, "but they're not going down in to the mines, it's not easy to get women to do what I did." Pili's success has enabled her to pay for the education of more than 30 nieces, nephews and grandchildren. But despite this she says she wouldn't encourage her own daughter to follow in her footsteps. "I'm proud of what I did - it has made me rich, but it was hard for me," she says. "I want to make sure that my daughter goes to school, she gets an education and then she is able to run her life in a very different way, far away from what I experienced." Pili Hussein was part of the UN Women Mapping Study on Gender and Extractive Industries in Mainland Tanzania Listen to Pili Hussein speaking to Outlook on the BBC World Service Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

पिली हुसैन अपने भाग्य को एक कीमती पत्थर की उम्मीद में बनाना चाहती थी जिसे हीरे की तुलना में एक हजार गुना दुर्लभ कहा जाता है, लेकिन चूंकि महिलाओं को खदानों में उतरने की अनुमति नहीं थी, इसलिए उन्होंने पुरुष के रूप में कपड़े पहने और लगभग एक दशक तक अपने पुरुष सहयोगियों को मूर्ख बनाया।


Nest and the battle to control your heating

Summary: Competition to be the company that brings smart home technology to Britain and cuts energy bills is hotting up. Nest, the firm whose smart thermostat has been a big hit in the United States, is launching in the UK.

Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent@BBCRoryCJon Twitter The device, from a team which cut its design teeth at Apple, connects wirelessly to your boiler and can be controlled remotely via a smartphone app. It learns your daily routine and adjusts the temperature accordingly. But, with the weather warming up and at least one energy firm promising to freeze bills, April might not seem the best month to be promising to disrupt the market with new technology. What's more, this relatively new market is already quite crowded. Hive Active Heating, owned by British Gas, launched last September and is apparently already in 50,000 homes. Honeywell, whose brand is already familiar in many British homes, has its multi-room system on the market. And a firm called Tado, which is the market leader in this technology in Germany, is now making a big push into the UK. But Nest has one key advantage - it is now owned by a firm with more money and power than anyone else in the market. In January Google bought Nest for $3.2bn (£1.9bn) and made bold pronouncements about its ambitions to be a player in the connected home. The UK launch is the first major event at Nest since the Google takeover, so the new owners will be watching carefully to see how consumers react. Two questions hang in the air - is there really much of an appetite for smart heating control systems, and if so, do people want to buy one from a search giant whose business model depends on collecting personal data? It's not cheap to make your home's heating system smart - £249 including installation. (Mind you, if the engineers spend 90 minutes installing the system, as advertised, the margins for Nest must look pretty slim). That compares with £199 for Hive, the rival product from British Gas, which has an existing network of 12,000 engineers to call upon. But like its rivals, Nest is claiming that consumers make big savings once they have made the initial investment in a learning thermostat. The company says its US customers "experience savings of approximately 20% on average off their heating and cooling bill and we're looking forward to helping customers in the UK save as well". Now the UK is a different market - nobody here spends much on cooling - so customers will need some hard evidence of savings before they can work out how long it takes a Nest owner to recoup that initial £249. But beyond the hard sell of promised savings, Nest and its new owner have to convince British consumers that they need a smart device controlling their heating and monitoring their presence at home and that they are happy for it to be owned by Google. To help spread its message in the British market Nest has formed a marketing partnership with Npower, although given the current reputation of the big six energy firms that may be a mixed blessing. Its German rival Tado is already stressing its own independence. "We think people will worry about Big Brother knowing everything," a spokesman for the firm told me. But in the end it's probably not privacy concerns or even lower bills that will be decisive in determining whether Nest is a success in the UK. It is whether we want to have another gadget in our homes, whether family members want to wrestle over who uses yet another remote control, in short whether there is a large market beyond the dedicated technophiles for the whole idea of a smart, connected home. Google has bet $3.2bn that controlling your home via devices which talk to your smartphone is the next big thing. Now we will find out just how smart an investment that was.

ब्रिटेन में स्मार्ट होम तकनीक लाने और बिजली के बिलों में कटौती करने वाली कंपनी बनने के लिए प्रतिस्पर्धा बढ़ रही है। नेस्ट, फर्म जिसका स्मार्ट थर्मोस्टैट संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका में एक बड़ी हिट रही है, यूके में लॉन्च हो रही है।


What will bank branches look like in the future?

Summary: The Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive has ruled out any further branch closures for now, arguing that the group's 800-strong UK network is "about the right size and shape to meet the needs of our customers". But just what is the right shape for a branch as we move deeper into the digital era?

By Magnus BennettBBC Scotland News In a bank branch in Oregon, a small group of people are lying on orange mats, with legs stretched in the air and hands clenched behind their heads. It is a yoga class, one of a number of innovations introduced by Umpqua Bank to attract the public into their "stores" on the high street. Its "store-as-community-hub" idea, launched in the mid-1990s, created gathering spots for members of the public to enjoy a free cup of tea or coffee, surf the internet, or stage events such as movie nights. "At the time, branches were often intimidating - marble floors and columns, roped lines, impersonal experiences for people," says Eve Callahan, an executive vice president at Umpqua. "The goal then and now was to remove barriers for our customers to talk about their finances, to go beyond the transactional side of banking to those moments where life and money meet." The bank has also been increasingly marrying its store concept with digital technology, such as interactive "walls" offering details on new products and services. It also recently launched a new "human digital banking" app that allows people to choose their own personal banker "devoted to their financial needs". British banks have been slower to innovate as they struggle to keep pace with the digital era. Recent research found that nearly 3,400 branches - more than a third of the UK national network - closed between January 2015 and December 2019 as online and mobile banking surged in popularity. That transformation in customer behaviour has forced banks to take a closer look at their retail outlets - at least those that are left. Recent developments suggest that at least some are following an Umpqua-like model in more populated areas. Virgin Money recently launched a new "store" concept in several British cities which it claims "re-imagines what a bank branch should be". Several branches are now offering "a place for entrepreneurs to co-work and create", as well as a venue for events and concerts. Other banks are also starting to act more like community hubs, although there's a suggestion that they haven't settled on what they think customers want. In December, a new flagship Bank of Scotland branch opened in Glasgow's Argyle Street, designed to "act as a testing ground for the future of banking in Scotland". Among other things, it offers an in-branch cafe and a free events programme on subjects such as home buying, interior design, running a small business and improving digital skills. Bank of Scotland managing director Tara Foley says it is "a different kind of bank branch". "This will offer the services that we know customers want in a modern and flexible environment, combining the latest in interactive digital technology with the trusted personal service provided by our expert colleagues," she says. Some experts believe it is in the banks' own interests to keep branches open. In 2018, US management consultants McKinsey and Company argued that branches remained "an essential part of banks' operations and customer-advisory functions", adding that bricks-and-mortar locations were "still one of the leading sales channels". Despite the growth of digital services, it seems there is still a strong appetite among the public for the personal touch in banking. Recent research by consumer group Which? suggested 8.4 million UK adults (17%) still preferred to bank at a branch, while seven in 10 consumers used a mix of digital and in-person banking. TSB chief exec Debbie Crosbie told BBC Scotland recently that her bank was still "very committed" to a branch network, despite plans to close 82 branches in 2020. "People are doing different things in branches now - they want advice, they want help, " she said. RBS, too, has been rethinking its branch model. The bank says: "We're investing in our branches to bring them up to date with the way customers bank, using state-of-the art technology, combined with expertise from our staff and a greater focus on community engagement." 'Teachers and helpers' Prof Russel Griggs, who produced an independent review of UK bank closures in 2016, agrees that branches will continue to exist - and evolve. He says: "I think bank branches will survive as places we go to for advice and learning. That will be a change from where they are today, although many are moving in that direction already. "That will mean that branch staff will have to have different skills from those they have today as they will be teachers and helpers rather than processors of transactions." Eve Callahan, from Umpqua Bank in Oregon, appears confident that branches do have a future. "They won't go away completely," she says. "There will certainly be fewer of them and they will most likely operate more as centres of financial consultation. "But they will remain an important part of the overall mix of touch points in the customer journey."

रॉयल बैंक ऑफ स्कॉटलैंड के मुख्य कार्यकारी ने अभी के लिए किसी भी शाखा को बंद करने से इनकार कर दिया है, यह तर्क देते हुए कि समूह का 800-मजबूत यूके नेटवर्क "हमारे ग्राहकों की जरूरतों को पूरा करने के लिए सही आकार और आकार के बारे में है।" लेकिन एक शाखा के लिए सही आकार क्या है क्योंकि हम डिजिटल युग में गहराई से आगे बढ़ रहे हैं?


Guernsey minister hopeful for health deal with UK

Summary: Guernsey's health minister said he was hopeful a reciprocal emergency health care agreement between Guernsey and the UK would be reinstated by Christmas.

Deputy Hunter Adam said the fact that the UK and the Isle of Man reached a similar arrangement on Thursday was promising. But he stressed that locals should always have insurance when travelling off island. He said it was unlikely any agreement would cover the costs of repatriation. Since the previous agreement ended in April 2009 treatment in Accident and Emergency departments in the UK has remained covered, but any care beyond that must be funded.

ग्वेर्नसे के स्वास्थ्य मंत्री ने कहा कि उन्हें उम्मीद है कि ग्वेर्नसे और ब्रिटेन के बीच एक पारस्परिक आपातकालीन स्वास्थ्य देखभाल समझौते को क्रिसमस तक बहाल कर दिया जाएगा।


Q&A: Turkey's military and the alleged coup plots

Summary: The Ergenekon coup plot trial is widely considered Turkey's most important court case in recent years. It targeted the military establishment, long seen as the guardian of Turkey's secular values.

The 275 defendants included the former armed forces chief - Gen Ilker Basbug - as well as other senior officers, journalists, lawyers, academics and politicians. They were accused of plotting to topple Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. The ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, which is rooted in Islam, has cracked down hard on alleged anti-government conspirators, and there have been other high-profile trials of military officers.

एर्जेनेकॉन तख्तापलट की साजिश के मुकदमे को व्यापक रूप से हाल के वर्षों में तुर्की का सबसे महत्वपूर्ण अदालती मामला माना जाता है। इसने सैन्य प्रतिष्ठान को लक्षित किया, जिसे लंबे समय से तुर्की के धर्मनिरपेक्ष मूल्यों के संरक्षक के रूप में देखा जाता है।


Actor Gerard Butler's home destroyed by California wildfire

Summary: Scottish actor Gerard Butler has told how he was forced to flee his Malibu home to avoid the Californian wildfires.

The Hollywood star was among thousands of people evacuated as blazes spread across the state last week. The Paisley-born actor returned to his home on Sunday and tweeted a picture of its burned-out shell. He said: "Heartbreaking time. Inspired as ever by the courage, spirit and sacrifice of firefighters." The death toll in wildfires sweeping California has risen to 31, with more than 200 people still unaccounted for, officials have said. Six more people were confirmed killed in the Camp Fire in the north of the state, taking the toll there to 29.

स्कॉटिश अभिनेता जेरार्ड बटलर ने बताया है कि कैसे उन्हें कैलिफोर्निया के जंगल की आग से बचने के लिए अपने मालिबू घर से भागने के लिए मजबूर होना पड़ा।


Tour de France Grand Depart diary

Summary: With the world's biggest bike race starting in Leeds on 5 July, BBC Yorkshire's Tour de France correspondent Matt Slater rounds up the best of the gossip, opinion and stories, on and off the bike, and also tries to explain some of cycling's unique lingo. TOP STORIES

Yellow fever The idea that Le Tour de France is almost upon us seemed hard to fathom at a wet BBC Leeds Breakfast outside broadcast in Huddersfield's St George's Square on Thursday morning, particularly when the square's fountains started up during the first traffic update. All that was missing was the water cannon. But the world's biggest annual bike race and highlight of the European sporting summer IS just five weeks away, a milestone marked by the "Fete du Tour" this weekend. This is a Tour tradition that unites the cities, hamlets and service stations along that year's route in a weekend of bike-related celebrations. Yorkshire's Tour venues have risen to the party challenge with a huge range of baking classes, beer festivals, fun rides and organised "yellowing" of some sort or another. From The Real Community Tour in Kirklees to painting lampposts yellow in York, there is something from almost everybody. Full story: Le Tour de France Grand Depart website Me old Muker Still looking for a party on the weekend of the Grand Depart? Let me recommend the charms of Muker, a lovely little place at the bottom of Buttertubs Pass, with a packhorse bridge, a pub that seats 50 and a tea room with room for 20, including my unruly mob on Wednesday. Concerned that those 70 seats might struggle to accommodate the expected hordes of cycling fans, the burghers of Muker - Emily and Darren from the pub, and a farmer called Christine - have decided to put on a three-day festival that can entertain 5,000 revellers. There will be "live art", cinema, music and family fun, and I can vouch for the cream teas. Full story: The King of the Mountains Festival Cobbled classic For those strong enough to resist a dare to ride 120 miles, perhaps a shorter challenge might tempt you. Leeds' first "CityCross" will take place on 14 June in Holbeck Urban Village. This will entail a 20-minute bike route, Belgian beer, cycling stalls and music. Much more sensible. Full story: Yorkshire Evening Post CYCLING ROUND-UP The Italian media has been calling it the "stage of the century", a leading team boss thought it was a farce and wants the race director sacked, a veteran rider likened it to being thrown to the lions and the man who won the day thinks people are joking when they suggest he did something wrong. Tuesday's 16th stage was some race and they are going to be talking about it for years to come. It was certainly the main topic of conversation at the Giro on Wednesday, which witnessed a fairly uneventful stage 17 notable only for Italy's Stefano Pirazzi finally winning a stage at his home race after joining too many breakaways to remember over the last few years. He can probably be forgiven for making an "up yours!" gesture as he crossed the line, particularly as he appeared to be very apologetic about it afterwards. There were no such sentiments from Nairo Quintana, though, as the debate raged about his remarkable display to seize control of the race 24 hours earlier. In case you missed it, the 2013 Tour de France runner-up won stage 16 by eight seconds from the 2012 Giro winner Ryder Hesjedal, but took more than four minutes out of the overnight race leader Rigoberto Uran. That put Quintana in the lead by almost two minutes. But that only tells half the story, because Quintana, Hesjedal et al launched their assault on the way down a snowbound Stelvio, moments after many of the other riders, Uran included, thought cycling's equivalent of the safety car had come out. While confusion reigned at the 2,758m summit, with some riders stopping to put on waterproofs, Quintana was flying down the mountain, oblivious to the slick conditions. By the time everybody realised the race was still on, Uran was two minutes behind and in trouble. Quintana more than doubled that lead on the final climb, it must be said, but that will not stop the debate. The race finishes on Sunday. Meanwhile, the debate about Chris Froome's ability to work with erstwhile colleague Sir Bradley Wiggins continues - we have only been talking about it for two years - with the latest tale suggesting Wiggins is in talks to join Australian team Orica-GreenEDGE. Is the other side of the world far enough for these two? TWEET OF THE DAY "Three major TDF contenders staying on Mt Teide and no out of competition tests for the past 2 weeks. Very disappointing." Reigning Tour champion Chris Froome points that he, Italian rival Vicenzo Nibali and Spanish star Alberto Contador have all been training on Mount Teide, a volcano on Tenerife, recently, but none has been visited by an anti-doping official. A TO Z OF LE TOUR Q is for… Queen stage - Nothing to do with Freddie Mercury's band, this is the stage that includes the highest point in the whole race, and is usually the race's hardest day, too. The Col d'Izoard is this year's peak point at 2,360m and it comes during stage 14 from Grenoble to Risoul in the Alps. It is one of three unclassified (the hardest) climbs that day. Just for context, the highest point on stage one in Yorkshire is Buttertubs Pass at 526m, with Holme Moss on stage two coming in at 524m. TODAY'S TOUR TRIVIA Talk of the Queen stage got me thinking about the L'Etape du Tour, the mother of all mass-participation rides for faux Froomeys and would-be Wiggos. Organised by the owners of the Tour de France, the Amaury Sport Organisation, it is a chance for more than 8,000 amateurs to ride one of the toughest stages of that year's Tour a few days before the pros do it for real. This year's Etape is being held on the route for stage 18 from Pau to Hautacam in the Pyrenees, which is not quite the Queen stage but does feature an ascent of the Col du Tourmalet, a 17km slog to a height of 2,115m: a proverbial leg-breaker. The Etapes are nearly always held on the Tour's second rest day, which means any amateur that manages it will only have to wait four days to see how the peloton copes on Thursday, 24 July. Some of them should be ready to move again by then.

5 जुलाई को लीड्स में शुरू होने वाली दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी बाइक दौड़ के साथ, बीबीसी यॉर्कशायर के टूर डी फ्रांस संवाददाता मैट स्लेटर बाइक के अंदर और बाहर गपशप, राय और कहानियों का सबसे अच्छा दौर पेश करते हैं, और साइकिल चलाने की कुछ अनूठी भाषा को समझाने की भी कोशिश करते हैं।


Coronavirus holidays: You're finally abroad, but was it worth it?

Summary: Queuing to get a socially-distanced sunbathing spot on the beach. Wearing your face mask to the hotel bar. Finding out halfway through your trip that you'll have to quarantine when you get home. People are going abroad for holidays for the first time in months, but as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, is it worth the hassle?

By Alice EvansBBC News Several plans have fallen through for Grace Wilding so far this summer. The 19-year-old trainee teacher had been looking forward to a big family holiday in a villa in Spain, but they postponed the trip for fears her baby nephew could catch the virus. Grace and her boyfriend Alfie Archer, 18, had also booked a trip to Cape Verde, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic. The couple didn't want to lose the opportunity to soak up some sun on their first summer holiday together, and they felt that the virus posed a low risk to them as young and healthy people - so they began hunting for a last-minute deal. "I'd say I feel safer here than home definitely. The same rules are applied but everyone actually follows them here," says Grace from her hotel in Playa de las Americas, Tenerife. The Liverpool Hope University student from Halton, Cheshire, says she was glad to hear flight attendants reminding people to wear face masks on the plane, and that she waited patiently in line for temperature checks at the airport in Tenerife, and happily shared her details with local contact tracers. In Grace and Alfie's hotel, everyone wears face coverings at all times until they reach their rooms, sun loungers, or dinner tables. "Wearing the masks in the heat can be a bit of a nuisance at times, but this is the climate we've decided to put ourselves in so we will abide by the rules like everyone else," she says. In restaurants "you're greeted with hand sanitiser before you sit down", she says. And the couple has mostly steered clear of going to the beach, where officials make people queue up to get a sunbathing spot that's a safe distance from other holidaymakers. In keeping with the theme of the summer so far, more of Grace's plans were scuppered when the UK's quarantine rules changed for Spain - including the Canary Islands - while they were away. Grace and Alfie are now having to self-isolate for 14 days after returning to the UK. Grace admits the couple wouldn't have gone to Tenerife if they had known they would have to quarantine when they came back. Alfie worries about the two weeks of income he will lose, because he is a joiner so cannot work while isolating. But Grace remains upbeat. She says the news meant they enjoyed the holiday "probably even more" as they made the most of their last days of relative freedom before flying home. "I wouldn't hold back on booking another holiday," Grace adds. "The world can't stop for any longer, in my opinion." As Ben Osborne describes his family holiday over the phone, his voice is partly drowned out by the sound of his sons shouting and playing at their rented apartment in Lake Como, Italy. "They're having a fantastic time," he laughs. The family of five, from Hereford, have been to water parks, on day trips, and spent a lot of time at the pool they share with others in the apartment block. Ben, who works for Vodafone as a customer solutions architect, says the pandemic hasn't got in the way of their holiday at all. They've even taken a mini-break from social distancing. Ben, 39, and his wife Nadia, 37, decided they wouldn't be too strict on their children adhering to Italy's one-metre rule during the 11-day holiday, so they have mixed with other young families staying in the complex. Ben says this doesn't mean they have completely given up on social distancing and the adults are remaining wary around each other. But he says three-year-old Cooper has "absolutely no concept of staying away from people" and so the rules have also been relaxed for his older brothers Ashton, 10, and Carter, eight. The only time the pandemic brought the mood down was during the Osbornes' journey to their idyllic destination. The worst part was navigating the not-so-idyllic Luton Airport, which Ben describes as a "nightmare". He recalls only one shop was open - Boots - and that it was difficult to find any empty seats in the airport because so many were cordoned off. But the flight itself "wasn't too bad", he says. The family wore face coverings but did have to sit next to strangers, without any social distancing. The Osbornes have been to Lake Como before, and are enjoying the fact there are far fewer Brits than usual. "We quite like to go away to experience different cultures, [so] what's really nice is I've not heard any English language," Ben says. He adds that it's a blessing to not have to queue for the supermarket, as we have grown used to in the UK. The only visible signs of the virus, to Ben, were people wearing face coverings in shops, and mandatory swimming caps in the pool. "If someone had plonked us here and we didn't know about coronavirus, we wouldn't know the difference. You honestly wouldn't know that there's a pandemic." Julie Grinter's friends told her she was "completely mad" for deciding to go ahead with her three-week holiday to Portugal, after the country failed to make it on to the UK government's quarantine-free list. But Julie, 50, points out that you could catch coronavirus in the supermarket at home, let alone on a plane. "You can't stay inside for the rest of your life so you've got to take the precautions and get on with life," she says. The choice of destination might have horrified Julie's friends, but she and her partner Matthew Boulden, 52, felt extremely safe. After flying to Lisbon they went on a road trip to the Algarve and enjoyed being almost the only tourists, wherever they went. "It's just absolutely deserted. There's just nobody there," says Julie, who works for a consultancy firm in the City of London. The couple ate out regularly, and while most dining was outside to help reduce the spread of the virus, Julie points out that the Portuguese climate meant that was never a problem. Impeccable service, high hygiene standards, free drinks from grateful waiters, and chats with less-than-busy chefs all added to the couple's feeling that they'd stumbled into a luxurious private dining experience. But Julie from Surbiton, south-west London, admits the solitude wasn't always a relief. Tourism is a major industry in Portugal and is popular with British holidaymakers, with almost three million UK visitors a year. The restaurants often lacked "a bit of atmosphere", she says, adding that the staff were anxious for the future, and owners were "hacked off" and "obviously devastated" that their country still has not made it on to the UK's quarantine-free lists. "You do feel massively sorry for them because they are just desperate for business," she says. Portugal's border is open to British citizens, but the UK government advises against travel to most parts unless the trip is essential. On arrival to the mainland, travellers have to do a health screening, and those going to Madeira, Porto Santo or the Azores must take a coronavirus test on arrival or before travelling. Cheap flights, deserted beaches and a free cocktail or two mean now that Julie is home, she's spending her 14 days of isolation persuading her previously horrified friends that Portugal is the place to be in a pandemic. "If you can just work from home when you get back, it's ideal." For Adam Welch, a self-imposed month of minimal social contact at home in Kirkham, Lancashire, is the price he's paying for a five-night getaway to Croatia. The 18-year-old and three friends have formed a temporary household bubble at an Airbnb in Split. In order to reduce the chance of spreading the virus to one another, or to anyone else on their return to the UK, the friends agreed to minimise their social contact with anyone for 14 days before going away and 14 days after getting back. "I just think it comes down to thinking of other people," Adam says. The pandemic led to exams and celebrations being cancelled in Adam's final year of college, so the sacrifice of semi-quarantine will be worth it to "let my hair down" on holiday, he says. "If someone said to me at the start of the year, 'if you go on holiday you have to isolate for 14 days afterwards in your house', I'd be like: 'no way. I can't do that, it sounds so hard'. But now it just sounds easy." So far in Split, the four friends have enjoyed eating out, going out for drinks, exploring the city, and snorkelling off picture-perfect beaches. People have to wear masks in shops and on public transport in Croatia but locals aren't observing social distancing at all, Adam says. While it's weird to see, he adds, it's a nice break from the rules and regulations in place in the UK. In the hiatus between finishing college and starting university in York in September, Adam admits he's tempted by Croatia's nightclubs, which are open albeit with some additional cleaning measures to combat the spread of the virus. But Adam says the "lads' holiday" will be a more muted affair than it would have been in normal times. "At the end of the day, we're in a nice apartment, we can just get some drinks from a shop and stuff like that, and chill out with each other. We can definitely have a really good time and we don't have to go clubbing." England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have separate, albeit similar, lists of destinations that are exempt from the quarantine rule. For some of the most popular warm weather hotspots among Brits, we've got more details of what to expect when you're there. Images subject to copyright

समुद्र तट पर सामाजिक रूप से दूर धूप में नहाने की जगह पाने के लिए कतार में लगना। होटल बार में अपने चेहरे पर मास्क पहनना। अपनी यात्रा के बीच में यह पता लगाना कि आपको घर पहुंचने पर संगरोध करना होगा। लोग महीनों में पहली बार छुट्टियों के लिए विदेश जा रहे हैं, लेकिन जैसे-जैसे कोरोनावायरस महामारी बढ़ रही है, क्या यह परेशानी के लायक है?


How to solve the plastic packaging paradox

Summary: Today, plastic packaging has a bad (w)rap.

By Tim HarfordBBC World Service, 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy But the first commercially viable version of the now ubiquitous material - cellophane - was conceived in a more innocent age, before anyone worried about plastic in landfill, or the sea, or the food chain. It begins in 1904, at an upmarket restaurant in Vosges, France, when an elderly patron spilled red wine over a pristine linen tablecloth. Sitting at a nearby table was a Swiss chemist called Jacques Brandenberger, who worked for a French textile company. As he watched the waiter change the tablecloth, he wondered about designing a fabric that would simply wipe clean. He tried spraying cellulose on tablecloths but it peeled off in transparent sheets. But might those transparent sheets have a market? Find out more 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy highlights the inventions, ideas and innovations that helped create the economic world. It is broadcast on the BBC World Service. You can find more information about the programme's sources and listen to all the episodes online or subscribe to the programme podcast. By World War One, he'd found one: eye-pieces for gas masks. He called his invention "cellophane" and in 1923 he sold the rights to the DuPont corporation in America. Its early uses there included wrapping chocolates, perfume and flowers. But DuPont had a problem. Some customers weren't happy. They'd been told cellophane was waterproof, and it was, but it wasn't moisture-proof. Candies stuck to it; knives rusted in it; cigars dried out. DuPont hired a 27-year-old chemist, William Hale Charch, and tasked him with finding a solution. Within a year, he'd done it - the cellophane was coated with extremely thin layers of nitrocellulose, wax, a plasticiser and a blending agent. Sales took off. The timing was perfect. In the 1930s, supermarkets were changing - customers no longer queued to tell shop assistants what food they required. They picked products off the shelves instead. See-through packaging was a hit. And, as Harvard Business School researcher Ai Hisano points out, had "a significant impact not only on how consumers purchased foods but also on how they understood food quality". Cellophane let them choose food on the basis of how it looked, without sacrificing hygiene or freshness. One study - admittedly funded by DuPont - found that wrapping crackers in cellophane boosted sales by more than half. And retailers had no shortage of similar advice. "She buys meat with her eyes," said a 1938 edition of The Progressive Grocer. In fact, the meat counter was the hardest to make self-service. The problem was that meat, once cut, would quickly discolour. But trials suggested a self-service meat counter could sell 30% more food. With such an incentive, solutions were found: pink-tinted lighting, antioxidant additives and - of course - an improved version of cellophane, which let through just the right amount of oxygen. By 1949, DuPont adverts boasted about the "pleasing new way" to buy meat - "pre-cut, weighed, priced and wrapped in cellophane right in the store". But cellophane would soon fall out of fashion, overtaken by the likes of Dow Chemical's polyvinylidene chloride. Like its predecessor, this was an accidental discovery first used in conflict - in this case, weatherproofing fighter planes in World War Two. And, like cellophane, it needed plenty of research and development before it could be used on food - it was originally dark green and smelled disgusting. Once Dow sorted that out, it hit the market as Saran Wrap - now more widely known as cling film. More things that made the modern economy: After health scares with polyvinylidene chloride, cling film is now often made with low-density polyethylene, though that's less, well, clingy. It's also used to make those single-use supermarket bags now being banned around the world. High-density polyethylene is the kind of stuff you might get milk in. Fizzy drinks come in polyethylene terephthalate. And if you're not lost already, consider that plastic packaging is increasingly made from multiple layers of these and other substances, such as biaxially-oriented polypropylene or ethylene-vinyl acetate. There's a reason for this, say packaging gurus - different materials have different properties, so multiple layers can give you the same performance from a thinner - and thus lighter - piece of packaging. But these compound packaging materials are harder to recycle. The trade-off is hard to fathom. Depending on how much of the heavier, recyclable packaging would in practice be recycled, you might find that the lighter, non-recyclable packaging actually generates less waste. And once you start looking into plastic packaging, this kind of counterintuitive conclusion comes up all the time. Some packaging is a foolish waste. But are shrink-wrapped cucumbers really so silly if it means they stay fresh for 14 days rather than three? Which is worse 1.5g (0.05oz) of plastic wrap or entire cucumbers going off before being eaten? Suddenly it's not so obvious. Plastic bags stop bananas going brown so quickly, or new potatoes going green; they catch grapes that fall off bunches. About a decade ago, one UK supermarket experimented with taking all its fruit and vegetables out of their packaging - and its food wastage rate doubled. And it's not just shelf life - what about waste created before food gets to the shop in the first place? Another supermarket, stung by criticism for putting apples in plastic-wrapped trays, tried selling them loose from big cardboard boxes - but so many were damaged in transit that the approach used more packaging per apple actually sold. According to a UK government report, only 3% of food is wasted before it gets to shops. In developing countries, that figure can be 50% - and that difference is partly due to how the food is packaged. As more of us live in cities, far from where food is grown, this matters. Even the dreaded single-use shopping bag might not be the villain it seems. If you've bought sturdy, reusable bags from your supermarket, it's likely they're made from non-woven polypropylene - and they are less damaging, but only if you use them at least 52 times. That's according to a report by the Danish government, which weighed up the varied environmental impacts of producing and disposing of different kinds of bag. And if your reusable bag is organic cotton, don't feel smug - the researchers reckon they need 20,000 uses to justify themselves. That's a shopping trip every day for over half a century. The market can be a wonderful way of signalling popular desires. Shoppers in 1940s America wanted convenient, pre-cut meat - and what economists call the "invisible hand" of the market delivered the technologies that made it possible. But our desire for less waste may not yield to market forces, because the issue is complicated and our choices at the checkout may accidentally do more harm than good. We can send that message on a more circuitous route only, through governments and pressure groups, and hope that they - and well-meaning industry initiatives - will work out some sensible answers. It seems clear the solution will not be no packaging - it will be better packaging, dreamed up in research and development labs of the kind that gave us moisture-proof cellophane all those decades ago. The author writes the Financial Times's Undercover Economist column. 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy is broadcast on the BBC World Service. You can find more information about the programme's sources and listen to all the episodes online or subscribe to the programme podcast.

आज, प्लास्टिक पैकेजिंग में एक खराब (डब्ल्यू) रैप है।


Are Indians losing trust in banks?

Summary: In the last 15 months, three major Indian banks have gone into the red, crumbling under a mountain of bad debt. This has prompted many experts to ask questions about the financial health of Indian banks. The BBC's Aakriti Thapar reports.

"Our business was first hit by Covid-19, and we had no income for two months. Just recently, we couldn't access our savings or carry out day-to-day transactions because our bank got into trouble. We didn't know how to pay our staff," said 50-year-old Mangilal Parihar, a depositor at the privately-owned Lakshmi Vilas Bank. He owns a small convenience store in a suburban area of Mumbai. Traditionally, Indians have chosen their banks based on two factors: attractive interest rates on saving schemes, and proximity of the branch to their home. Mr Parihar chose his bank accordingly. But the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country's central bank, placed the 94-year-old Lakshmi Vilas Bank under moratorium last month and restricted withdrawals for depositors to $335 for one month owing to the bank's failing financial health. Mr Parihar says this isn't the first time that his money has been in jeopardy. Eight years ago, his savings were stuck for two years when a local co-operative bank went under. Lakshmi Vilas is the third bank to meet this fate in the last 15 months. In September 2019, Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC) went under, and the bank is currently being investigated for fraudulent loans worth $600m. In March this year, restrictions were imposed on India's fifth-largest private bank, Yes Bank, after it failed to raise capital to erase its bad debt. The RBI was quick to bail out both Lakshmi Vilas Bank and Yes Bank - it merged the former with DBS, Singapore's biggest bank, and injected capital into the latter. But depositors of PMC bank are still awaiting relief. One of them is 53-year-old Vidya Merwad. Fourteen months after the bank went under, Ms Merwad, who works as a home tutor, says the family is currently living off money borrowed from her elderly mother. All their savings had come from her husband's auto repair company and her work. But now, plans for their daughter's studies in Germany and son's wedding have been put on hold. "Our entire life savings have been wiped out in one shot. How are we supposed to live?". Although the RBI has gradually increased the withdrawal limit for depositors, many such as Ms Merwad, say it's still far below what they require. So, what is causing these banks to fail? It's no secret that Indian banks have been under great pressure in the form of corporate loan defaults over the years - they've had to write off debts worth tens of billions of dollars. Many economists call it a "legacy bad debt problem", and have said liberal lending by banks to businesses has added to India's pile of bad loans. RBI's former governor, Raghuram Rajan, has said the main reason behind the bad loans is the "over-optimism and irrational exuberance" of bankers. "The collapse of banks must be looked at in the context of the current economic situation. India has been in an economic slowdown [further compounded by the Covid-19 crisis] which has led to a pile-up of bad loans," explains Brinda Jagirdar, former chief economist of the State Bank of India or SBI, India's largest state-owned bank. "Another reason for bad loans may be poor corporate governance, mismanagement and lack of board oversight within banks. This problem can be solved by having greater accountability at all levels," Ms Jagirdar added. She said that despite such setbacks, the Indian banking system is on a sound footing - systems and processes have been strengthened and streamlined over the years. In 2016, India passed its first bankruptcy law designed to try and help lenders recover debt. But that hasn't allayed depositors' fears. Jalaja Mehta, a business executive, suffered a double whammy after two banks in which she held accounts - PMC and Yes Bank - went under in quick succession. "I can't help but think that I should deposit only small amounts in the bank now and keep a large chunk of my savings with me at home," Ms Mehta said.

पिछले 15 महीनों में, तीन प्रमुख भारतीय बैंक खराब ऋण के पहाड़ के नीचे गिर गए हैं। इसने कई विशेषज्ञों को भारतीय बैंकों की वित्तीय स्थिति के बारे में सवाल पूछने के लिए प्रेरित किया है। बीबीसी की आकृति थापर की रिपोर्ट।


Bus funding: Where would it make the most difference?

Summary: Boris Johnson is pledging £5bn over five years to boost bus services and cycling in England and campaigners want it to restore "lost" routes in "disconnected" rural areas. Where would new bus funding make the most difference?

More than 4 billion journeys are made by bus every year in England, but the number has been in decline. Transport campaigners blame this on cuts in funding, with local and central government support for bus services having declined by more than £800m, nearly 30%, over the past decade. The new funding announced by the government promises "essential" investments that "people want to see", according to the Chancellor, Sajid Javid. How much is spent on buses already? The £5bn being promised by the Prime Minister on Tuesday is for five years with new priority routes for buses and 4,000 "zero-emission buses" in England and Wales. As local authorities' and central government budgets have been cut since 2010, the overall amount of public money spent on running bus services has also been falling. According to the Department for Transport (DfT) just over £2bn was spent in 2018-19. This is down £834m on 2008-09, when that year's spending is adjusted for inflation, but still higher than 20 years ago. Meanwhile bus fares increased 3.3% last year, which was faster than the Consumer Prices Index rate of inflation, 1.9%. DfT figures show fares in England have risen 71% since 2005. Where would the funding make the most difference? We don't yet know which areas will see the biggest shares of the money although the government promises it will benefit "every region outside London". Official government figures reveal more than half of all England's bus journeys are now made in London. Outside the capital, Brighton and Hove had the most journeys per head of population in 2018-19. The Campaign for Better Transport said the new funding was a "significant step change" and welcome news for communities that had "borne the brunt" of cuts to services and "poor or non-existent local public transport in recent years". A 2019 study by the charity found more than 3,000 local bus routes had been lost or reduced over the past decade. Crispin Truman from countryside charity CPRE said rural communities had been "at the end of the queue" for too long and the funding could be a "lifeline". He said: "If properly targeted, this investment could help tackle loneliness and isolation, reduce car dependency and slash our carbon emissions." Where has bus usage changed the most? Councillor David Williams, from the County Councils Network, said shire areas had seen their funding for local bus services halved since 2010, while major cities had seen funding fall by 19%. Mr Williams said: "As a result, buses are almost non-existent in some of the most rural and coastal areas where services are a lifeline, while county towns suffer from less frequent and more expensive services compared cities." What's in the funding package? According to the DfT the £5bn investment will include: 33,900buses used by local operators in 2018-19 4.32bnjourneys made by bus that year 1.2bnmiles travelled by bus in England 11.2%down on 2008-09

बोरिस जॉनसन इंग्लैंड में बस सेवाओं और साइकिल चलाने को बढ़ावा देने के लिए पांच वर्षों में £5 बिलियन का वादा कर रहे हैं और प्रचारक चाहते हैं कि यह "डिस्कनेक्ट" ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में "खोए हुए" मार्गों को बहाल करे। नए बस फंडिंग से सबसे अधिक फर्क कहाँ पड़ेगा?


Local elections 2019: What happens when councils change hands?

Summary: With just a day until polling stations open, every party vying for control wants an outright majority so they can do what they promised their voters. Without it they can struggle to make long-lasting changes. So what happens when control of a council swaps from one party to another year on year?

Voters are constantly reminded that every ballot paper counts, that the future direction of the services they pay for and rely on - from bins to social care - can be determined by how many councillors each party has. In 97 of the 248 councils holding elections on Thursday, a third of the seats are up for election three years out of every four. For some, that can mean the party that wins the most seats one year could well be out of power again the next - or even sooner. For others the ceremonial mayor, normally there to chair meetings, cut ribbons and present awards, ends up with a pivotal role. Stability or stagnation? In Dudley in the West Midlands, Labour are defending a lead of just one seat over the Conservatives. The party took control from the Conservatives in September last year, having themselves lost power in 2017. Labour councillor Tim Crumpton said the changes in control were "a bit like trying to run a business, but having a new manager come in every year with a slightly different plan". He said the parties had tried to talk to each other more in a bid to keep things moving. "If you flip and flop, all the work you've done over the last few years, unless it suits the incoming party, you tend to stagnate," he said. About eight miles away in Walsall, councillors have been exploring whether to change to holding one election every four years, instead of three out of every four. No party has had a majority on Walsall Council since 2011 and a swing of just one seat could see overall control change. In May last year, the council was deadlocked but the Conservatives had become the biggest party with 30 out of 60 seats. They took control because the mayor, Councillor Marco Longhi, used his casting vote to re-elect himself to serve a second term and was able to use it to break other ties. Council leader Mike Bird said changing to elections every four years would enable bosses to plan for the long term. "With four-yearly elections what you have got is stability," he said. "When one political party gets in they try to unpick what's [been done] in the past and by the time they have done that you are halfway [to the next election]." Mr Bird said he was used to working without a majority but said "the impact on residents has come from reductions in funding more than anything and choices that I would make are not necessarily choices the Labour group would make". Does it affect residents? Mother-of-four Kelly Flanagan, 37, from Walsall, said: "The only thing I notice when a council changes politics is that things get cut. People are living in poverty and whoever is in [charge] things get worse and worse. "All I notice after elections is that there are grand plans that never seem to go anywhere." Mary Hopkins, 75, said she does not worry when a council control changes and "you just have to know a good councillor to get things done". Johnny Singh, who runs a newsagents in Dudley town centre, said: "It doesn't matter who's in, things get worse. "There was a butcher over the road who was there for 50 years and when the council closed the roads to resurface, that killed them off. "Whoever is in it just seems to be about the council making the most money." Will we even notice? The rosette-sporting candidates may be cheering or commiserating in the early hours, but life goes on. Dr Matt Cole, a political expert at the University of Birmingham, said local authorities had specialist, experienced staff who know the organisation and the day-to-day running of things to advise councillors. "Sometimes there's a strong political impetus to make a change," he said. "Sometimes a leader can make a dramatic change and challenge the staff of the council. These things can work to dramatic effect, they can drive big changes." However, he said there was usually an element of "continuity in politics" and some shared policies in any case. "Far more stays the same than changes," he added. Click for a full list of candidates in Dudley and Walsall.

मतदान केंद्र खुलने के केवल एक दिन बाद, नियंत्रण के लिए इच्छुक प्रत्येक दल पूर्ण बहुमत चाहता है ताकि वे अपने मतदाताओं से किए गए वादे को पूरा कर सकें। इसके बिना वे लंबे समय तक चलने वाले बदलाव करने के लिए संघर्ष कर सकते हैं। तो क्या होता है जब एक परिषद का नियंत्रण साल दर साल एक दल से दूसरे दल में बदल जाता है?


Timeline: Maze prison site development

Summary: A bitter political row over a planned peace centre at the former site of the Maze prison has led to the withdrawal of £18m in EU funding for the controversial project. BBC News looks back at the tangled tale of the Maze.

1971 - The government begins to house paramilitary prisoners at HMP Maze, a purpose-built jail constructed on the disused Long Kesh RAF base, south-west of Belfast. Over the next 29 years, it held some of the most notorious paramilitary killers in Northern Ireland. 1981 - Ten republican inmates, including Bobby Sands, die during an IRA hunger strike over a dispute about political prisoner status. 1983 - Thirty-eight republican prisoners break out of the Maze in the biggest prison escape in British history. Several prison officers are stabbed and one later dies from a heart attack. 1997 - Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) leader Billy Wright is shot dead inside the Maze by republican prisoners 1998 - The phased early release of paramilitary prisoners begins at the Maze on 11 September, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. 2000 - More than 1,000 prisoner officers leave their jobs in preparation for the closure of the Maze as a working jail on 30 September. The last four inmates are transferred to another jail. 2005 - Direct rule minister Ian Pearson approves a plan to build a new £55m sports stadium on the 360-acre former prison site, saying it is the only viable location for the project. 2006 - Demolition work begins to transform 360-acre former jail site into a proposed 42,000 seat multi-sports arena and "centre for conflict transformation". It is envisaged that soccer, rugby and Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) sports will be played at the new development. 2009 - Sports Minister Gregory Campbell rules out the plan for a multi-sports stadium which had divided political and sporting opinion, opting instead to explore alternatives with the soccer, rugby and GAA authorities. 2010 - NI first and deputy first ministers, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, announce an agreement has been reached on building a peace and conflict resolution facility at the Maze site. It will also host the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society's annual show 2012 - (2 February) European funding of £18m is approved for building the contentious conflict resolution centre, as part of a £300m redevelopment of the former prison estate. 2012 - (24 August) - It is revealed that Daniel Libeskind, one of the world's leading architects, is to join the design team for the planned peace centre. 2013 (18 April) - Planning permission for the peace centre on the site of the former prison is granted. 2013 - (13 June) - The Orange Order calls on unionist politicians to halt the peace centre plan, objecting to its location on the former prison site. 2013 - (15 August) Peter Robinson calls a halt to the peace centre plan. In a letter to DUP members, he said it would be wrong to proceed without a consensus about how it will operate. 2013 - (4 October) A European Union funding programme withdraws its offer of £18m in financial support for the Maze peace centre, after talks with the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister.

भूलभुलैया जेल के पूर्व स्थल पर एक नियोजित शांति केंद्र पर एक कड़वे राजनीतिक विवाद के कारण विवादास्पद परियोजना के लिए यूरोपीय संघ के वित्त पोषण में 18 मिलियन पाउंड की वापसी हुई है। बीबीसी समाचार भूलभुलैया की उलझी हुई कहानी को देखता है।


Ian Brady: How easy is it to fake mental illness?

Summary: A tribunal is about to decide whether Moors Murderer Ian Brady is moved from mental hospital back to prison. Brady has said he used "method acting" techniques to fool psychiatrists, but how often does this really happen?

By Sam JudahBBC News Magazine The staff at Ashworth Hospital argue Ian Brady is a paranoid schizophrenic and should stay in their care. But Brady, who killed five children, says he was pretending all along, using the method acting techniques of Constantin Stanislavski to fool doctors and psychologists. Whether or not Brady is telling the truth, the issue is one psychiatrists - particularly those working with criminals - have had to deal with for many years. In 2007, Stuart Harling was jailed for life for the murder of nurse Cheryl Moss in Essex. Harling's lawyers claimed he suffered from a personality disorder, but the jury didn't believe his unstable behaviour in court - which included hurling papers from the dock and shouting threats - and rejected his claims of innocence on the grounds of diminished responsibility. In 1996, a jury in Glasgow rejected James Lindsay's insanity plea and he was sentenced to life for murdering 15-year-old Emma Thomson. While awaiting trial, Lindsay wrote to a friend from Barlinnie Prison: "I've a cunning plan to get into Carstairs [mental hospital] and be released after eight years." But the Hillside Strangler, Kenneth Bianchi, represents perhaps the classic case of a criminal faking a mental disorder. Apprehended for a dozen murders of young women in California, Bianchi managed to persuade several respected experts - while under hypnosis - that he had an unpleasant alter ego "Steve". It was this "Steve" that had committed the horrific crimes. If the experts' diagnosis of multiple personality disorder was allowed to stand, Bianchi would be able to plead not guilty by reason of insanity and would be unable to give evidence against his co-accused Angelo Buono. But investigators brought in another psychologist, Martin Orne, an expert in hypnosis, who was able to uncover Bianchi's ruse. Told by Orne that multiple personality disorder patients usually had at least three personalities, Bianchi promptly invented another one called "Billy". Bianchi also exaggerated his confusion at seeing the evidence of actions committed by "Steve" - such as the removal of filter tips from cigarettes during a previous interview. A police search of Bianchi's house turned up a raft of textbooks on psychology, behavioural science, hypnosis and police procedure law. He had also viewed the movies Sybil and Three Faces of Eve, both dealing with multiple personality disorder. He had taken the name of his alternate personality - Steve Walker - from that of a psychology student whose identity he had faked earlier in order to obtain accreditation. While Orne and the police were never fooled, several experts had been. Sentencing Bianchi, the judge said: "In this Mr Bianchi was unwittingly aided and abetted by most of the psychiatrists who naively swallowed Mr Bianchi's story hook, line and sinker." The theme has proved popular in fiction, too. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Randle P McMurphy fakes psychiatric illness to avoid prison, only to find himself in a situation he cannot get out of. Shakespeare's Hamlet invoked a similar tactic, putting on "an antic disposition" to buy himself time and plot revenge for his father's death. Several studies in the US suggest that of those assessed for a psychiatric disorder, about 7% are believed to be faking. In criminal cases, the number is higher. Phillip Resnick, a professor of psychiatry at the Case School of Medicine in Ohio, says the incidence also increases with the severity of the crime. "If a person is facing the death penalty, for example, it happens much more often." In those cases, studies based on psychological testing suggest that people are faking in about 12-15% of cases, he says. Others place the figure as high as 22%. Although the methods are not infallible, experts have devised a series of increasingly sophisticated tests to spot false claims. Eluding detection "would take a very skilful malingerer", says Resnick. The most common giveaway is for fakers to overstate their symptoms, creating an unrealistic picture of their supposed illness. Amory Clarke, a clinical psychologist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust says that "people report dramatic, embellished symptoms which are just too extreme and histrionic to be real". In clinical tests, psychologists suggest a series of symptoms to the patients, some of which match a particular condition and others that don't. A faker might admit to having continuous hallucinations, for example, which would tend to indicate exaggeration. "You're trying to lead them into saying they have a set of symptoms which it's not possible to have. If they say they are experiencing them, you have a very strong basis for determining that they're lying," says Clarke. Avoiding detection is not impossible, though, says Resnick. Fakers are at a distinct advantage if they have experienced a genuine psychotic episode in the past. Even having witnessed psychosis first hand - in a relative or at a hospital - can aid a more accurate performance. In the last few decades, diagnoses have become more accurate, but in the past techniques were much cruder. An experiment in the early 70s exposed several problems in the system. Psychologist David Rosenhan instructed five healthy people to pretend they were experiencing hallucinations and try to gain access to psychiatric hospitals across five US states. All of them were admitted and diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, at which point they began acting normally again. Slowly, all negotiated their release from the institutions under the condition that they admit to being mentally ill - most receiving an official diagnosis of schizophrenia. Hearing about the experiment, staff at one teaching hospital were convinced they couldn't be duped so easily. They challenged Rosenhan to try again, pledging to detect any malingering subjects he sent them. Over a three-month period, the hospital claimed to have found 41 imposters and a further 42 suspects, from a total of 193 cases. But Rosenhan confessed he hadn't sent a single "patient". Though criticised for wilfully attempting to trigger false diagnoses, the study is widely credited with highlighting problems in the way mental institutions functioned, and accelerating the movement to reform them. The process remains problematic, however, and controversy still persists today. Marjorie Wallace, head of mental health charity Sane, says "the difficulty lies in the lack of precision in diagnosis". She notes Moors Murderer Ian Brady's case as a particularly vexing example. "As seems the case with Brady, the mental illness is compounded by severe personality disorder, which can make a person highly devious and convincing." Roger Graef, a visiting professor at the Mannheim Centre for Criminology agrees. Whilst feigning mental illness is extremely difficult for most, "really smart people understand the game and play it", he says. "For people like Brady, it's very hard to tell." Additional reporting by Vanessa Barford You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook

एक न्यायाधिकरण यह तय करने वाला है कि क्या मूर्स के हत्यारे इयान ब्रैडी को मानसिक अस्पताल से वापस जेल ले जाया गया है। ब्रैडी ने कहा है कि उसने मनोचिकित्सकों को मूर्ख बनाने के लिए "मेथड एक्टिंग" तकनीकों का इस्तेमाल किया, लेकिन वास्तव में ऐसा कितनी बार होता है?


Basil Kirchin: The forgotten genius of UK music

Summary: Basil Kirchin was a maverick musician and pioneering composer who is credited as a founding father of ambient music. Yet despite being hailed by acts such as Brian Eno and St Etienne, he remains an obscure figure. Now a festival in Hull is casting a light on a man regarded by many musicians as a genius.

By Pritti MistryBBC News In the early 2000s, in a recording studio in Hull, saxophonist Alan Barnes found himself engaged in a particularly odd performance. "One day Basil said 'I want you to do a duet' and I said 'who with?'," he recalled. "He said 'with Hitler'." Lo and behold, one week later he found himself "screaming on the bass clarinet at Hitler coming out of a speaker at me" with Kirchin recording it. "Dueting with Hitler is the weirdest thing you can get really," added Barnes. "But anything could happen with Basil." Kirchin, who died in Hull in 2005, was an eccentric. He was also a radical innovator whose 1971 record Worlds Within Worlds is often cited as the first ambient album - a genre characterised by its focus on mood and atmosphere rather than traditional song structures. He pioneered techniques which are now commonplace but were considered radical at the time. These included recording sounds he came across and then cutting, splicing, slowing down or stretching the tape to create strange, new noises. Perhaps predictably, this radical approach did not lead to commercial success. Worlds Within Worlds only sold a few hundred copies upon its release on Columbia Records. However, Richard Williams, who subsequently signed Kirchin to Island Records in the early 1970s for a follow up, was not put off by this. "It wasn't going to be a chart album... but I thought it was worth doing because it was pioneering, experimental and a product of a really interesting man," he said. When Kirchin released another Worlds Within Worlds record in 1974, Williams asked a young Brian Eno to write the liner notes. Eno, who would later popularise the ambient genre with his 1978 album Ambient 1, was more than happy to oblige. "He was always interested in the new and the experimental so I played him Basil's music and said would you like to write something for the sleeve of the album," he said. "He was very, very enthusiastic and keen and did indeed write something. "I know that Basil's music certainly affected the way he was thinking, and it was interesting to hear that somebody else was thinking in the same direction that he was." But while Eno achieved fame through his work with Roxy Music and later collaborations with David Bowie, Kirchin continued operating on the edges of the music industry. His subsequent projects and albums, including Abstractions of the Industrial North, Quantum and Particles, all characterise his unique approach and his eccentric personality, but achieved precious little commercial success. Kirchin's musical career began in 1941 when, aged 13, he joined his father's big band as a drummer. The Blackpool-born youngster took to London's Paramount Theatre, where the Ivor Kirchin band had a long-term residency. He spent many nights sleeping in a Tube station as the Blitz erupted above. After the war he continued his jazz career, leading the Kirchin band and touring the UK with singer Sarah Vaughan. The band garnered a number of famous fans - including Sean Connery - but Kirchin grew tired of that scene and decided to travel to India in search of spiritual fulfilment. In the 1950s, he spent time at the Ramakrishna Temple on the banks of the River Ganges, 10 years before The Beatles' famous trip to the subcontinent. "He turned his back on the music business in the late 50s because he was on a spiritual quest really," said Matt Stephenson, director of Nova Studios, which has made a feature-length documentary on Kirchin. "He got ideas about music and sound and about life that he wanted to find out more about, they mattered to him more than fame and success." Kirchin's travels ended when, on a trip to Australia, the tapes containing the Kirchin Band's entire back catalogue fell from a luggage net into the sea. After that traumatic experience, he returned to England, shuttling between London and Hull, where his father's band had a permanent residency. It was here that Kirchin met sound engineer Keith Herd in a music shop. "He had a black Mackintosh, he had very long hair and beard and it was 'blimey who's this?'," recalls Herd. Together, working in Herd's studio, they helped develop the techniques that would produce Kirchin's radical new sound. He created a series of soundtracks for imaginary films before film producer David Greene recruited him to provide scores for The Abominable Dr Phibes, I Start Counting and The Shuttered Room. At around the same time Kirchin delved deeper into the foray of tape manipulation and sound experimentation, giving birth to his innovative Worlds Within Worlds series. Among the sounds he recorded - and manipulated - were those of autistic children. He was living in Switzerland with his Swiss wife Esther, who was a teacher at a school which catered specifically for autistic pupils. Kirchin explained his reasons in a BBC Radio 3 interview in 2003, describing how he was "fascinated by the sounds these children make when they're trying to communicate". "No normal, with the greatest respect, human mind could think of such intervals as they pitch and sing... it's emotional," he said. Many years later, a new wave of musicians and artists began discovering his work. Tim Gane, of Stereolab, said his thirst for the experimental and avant-garde led him to Kirchin's records in the early 1980s. "To me it's experimental, it's also groovy, very wistful, a flowing kind of melodicism which is really unusual, unique to Basil Kirchin's music and it has an identifiable kind of charm about the chords and about the instruments chosen - harpsichord and flutes... "It's quite exotic, very nice arrangements and very modern melodies. It doesn't sound really like it was done in the mid-60s." Former Stereolab stalwart Sean O'Hagan, now of The High Llamas, describes Kirchin's music as being "very instinctive". "It felt very real, very odd and slightly dangerous. "It brought me to very odd areas - noisy experimental, totally unmusical forays but also very lyrical songs and some absolutely beautiful film music." Bob Stanley, of St Etienne, recalls first coming across Kirchin's music in the mid-1990s with a track titled Mind on The Run. "It's a terrific bit of music. It sounded like possibly something from the Avengers, like a chase scene or something, there's that really frenetic drumming and organ work. It's a great piece of music." For Kirchin, his unusual sounds and recording techniques were linked to his spiritual beliefs. "He believed there are several universes going on at the same time," said Stanley, who interviewed Kirchin in 2003. "So, like a fly's world is completely different to our world, it moves at a completely different speed. "And therefore if you speed up or slow down sound you can find a way into these parallel universes." By the end of the 1990s, Kirchin was living an impoverished lifestyle in a two-up-two-down council house with his wife in Hull. However, he continued to produce music with the help of Iain Firth, a young engineering graduate, and paid session musicians with his dole money and royalties. At the same time, his material had been rediscovered by jazz enthusiast Jonny Trunk, who released a number of Kirchin's tracks on his eponymous record label at the turn of the millennium. But by this point Kirchin had become very ill with cancer. "It was difficult to see him deteriorating and it was sad to see," recounts Firth. "It made me really determined to do my best for him." Three months before he lost his battle with cancer, Trunk interviewed Kirchin in his kitchen in Hull. "He was great, he was thrilled to be rediscovered," he said. "He had cancer of everything: he had one eye, he was in a very poor, physical state. "He was full of the most extraordinary energy and passion, [it was] really amazing to experience that sort of raw energy that he had, even in that state where most people would've given up." For Barnes, Kirchin's last days were difficult to witness. "He had this horrible tumour behind his eye so he was visually quite startling," he recalls. "Later on he had it removed. Me and Bruce Adams went to do a session, he answered the door and half his face wasn't there, which was a hell of a shock. It was terrifying and nothing had prepared us for that. "But typical of him he was just carrying on as if nothing had happened... that was the last time, it was just before he died." More than 10 years after his death, Kirchin's achievements are now being publicly recognised at a festival in Hull celebrating his life and work. "Some of his music's pretty difficult," says Trunk. "Worlds Within Worlds is possibly one of the most radical, hardcore records you could ever, ever hear in your life. "When I first heard Quantum I thought the house was on fire. No one ever did anything like that until him." Writer and BBC broadcaster Stuart Maconie, also a Kirchin enthusiast, echoes Trunk's sentiments, saying Kirchin was very much "operating on the margins of music". "I think there are people out there whose palates are a bit jaded and are looking for something more interesting. "Basil's stuff will sometimes frighten you, unsettle you. "Some of the stuff with the autistic kids - it makes you feel slightly unsettled for all kinds of reasons. You think is this exploitative almost, you think 'what's going on here?'. "But that's good I think." For Stanley, Kirchin's musical philosophy and innovative techniques made him "without a doubt the most inspiring person I'd ever met". "When he was doing it, it was almost impossible. He had to use special equipment made in Switzerland to try and do it. "It's something obviously anybody can do now, just get a laptop these days, but it was a lot more difficult in the 60s and 70s. "So yeah he was very inspirational to me." Mind On The Run: The Basil Kirchin Story runs at the Hull City Hall in Hull from 17-19 February.

बेसिल किर्चिन एक कुशल संगीतकार और अग्रणी संगीतकार थे जिन्हें परिवेशी संगीत के संस्थापक पिता के रूप में श्रेय दिया जाता है। फिर भी ब्रायन एनो और सेंट एटिने जैसे कृत्यों द्वारा प्रशंसित होने के बावजूद, वे एक अस्पष्ट व्यक्ति बने हुए हैं। अब हल में एक उत्सव एक ऐसे व्यक्ति पर प्रकाश डाल रहा है जिसे कई संगीतकार एक प्रतिभाशाली व्यक्ति के रूप में मानते हैं।


The Isle of Sheppey: What lies ahead for the holiday haven?

Summary: The land that time forgot, a giant caravan park or a safe haven for Londoners looking for a holiday retreat - all have been used to describe an island which is about nine miles long and five miles wide off the north Kent coast.

By Sue NicholsonBBC News, Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey can be like stepping back in time, with some areas barely changed since the 1950s. As a result, it has often suffered from negative press, not least because it has several holiday parks, many of them in Leysdown, housing about 7,000 caravans and chalets. That is more "bedstock" of its type than any other district in Kent, and when full doubles the island's population to about 80,000, according to Swale Borough Council. Earlier this year, Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson suggested Sheppey was one big caravan site, prompting an offer from local MP Gordon Henderson to personally show him the other sights the island had to offer. "If the island was as bad as some people make out then you wouldn't have all 7,000 of the holiday homes occupied and owned," said John Sissons, the sales and service manager at Priory Hill Holiday Park, in Leysdown. The family-run business was founded in 1951 when holidaymakers used to come down to the island from London, Essex, and the rest of Kent by the coach-load, but had nowhere to stay. The 54-year-old has lived on the island all his life and has seen generations of families coming on holiday together. Many have an emotional attachment to the area and some even settle permanently on the island. Mr Sissons said Sheppey had a "lot to offer" and they loved "the lure of the coast" and the "traditional seaside entertainment" at Leysdown, which is renowned for its family amusement arcades. Ron Wood, who has owned a fish and chip shop in the town for seven years, said Leysdown was "what it's always been". "It's the back end of the island, it's cheap and cheerful... it's old-fashioned." Jobs boost But in stark contrast, the island suffers from a high level of unemployment with Sheerness, the island's largest town, hit particularly hard. Many people had their hopes dashed in June when the Danish wind turbine firm Vestas scrapped its plan to set up a manufacturing plant at Sheerness Dock, and with it about 1,600 jobs. It came just six months after Thamesteel announced it was going into administration with the loss of more than 350 jobs. Hopes were then raised when the steel plant was bought back by the old owners, but the Conservative MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey says there is still "a great deal of uncertainty" due to a dispute about the ownership of the fixed assets. However, Mr Henderson added that about 75% of the Thamesteel workers had managed to find other employment, and he was hopeful that another renewable energy company could be attracted to the island in place of Vestas. There has been a fall in unemployment across his constituency over the last five months and a new retail park, to include a Morrisons supermarket, opening in Queenborough next spring will bring up to 500 jobs to the island, along with another 500 jobs on offer at a local jobs fair this week. "I'm quite bullish about the future of the Isle of Sheppey as long as we as islanders stop running ourselves down and actually start saying this is a fantastic place to come to," Mr Henderson said. Mr Wood, who also used to run a haulage company on the island, added that sometimes islanders were "their own worst enemies", and although money had been tight this year, he was hopeful too. "If there was no future... I wouldn't be here," he said.

उस समय जिस भूमि को भुला दिया गया था, एक विशाल कारवां पार्क या छुट्टियों की वापसी की तलाश करने वाले लंदनवासियों के लिए एक सुरक्षित आश्रय-सभी का उपयोग एक द्वीप का वर्णन करने के लिए किया गया है जो उत्तरी केंट तट से लगभग नौ मील लंबा और पांच मील चौड़ा है।


The twilight world of China's wild west

Summary: China says it is facing a growing threat from militant Islam. It is in the midst of a year-long crackdown on what it describes as terrorism driven by religious extremism. The campaign is focused on the western province of Xinjiang, home to China's Uighur ethnic minority, who are predominantly Muslim.

Carrie GracieBBC China editor@BBCCarrieon Twitter This is a story about China's wild west, a place where different rules apply. Our driver and local guide is called Army. Many Chinese born in Chairman Mao's era have names that are martial, patriotic or ideological. I guess Army is as good a name as any other. We meet in the high altitude air of Kashgar. It's two flights from Beijing, 2,000 miles away, much of it desert and mountain. Kashgar is the last of the legendary oasis towns on the Chinese side of the ancient silk road. Closer to Baghdad than to Beijing. Next stop Pakistan. Our flight is late in because it snowed overnight, the temperature dropping to minus 14C and turning the runway to ice. But an unforgiving winter is only the most ancient of Kashgar's challenges. This city is also the front line in a tussle for 10 million Uighur souls. You can start charting the front line even as you leave the airport. The soldiers in khaki with hi-tech bayonets look straight through us foreigners, through the Han Chinese passengers and through the old Uighur women in shawls and fur coats. But young Uighur men are stopped and searched. We load our bags into Army's 4x4 and he passes over headscarves and maps, along with a flatbread the size of a dinner plate because we haven't had time for lunch. He explains that though everyone here works on Kashgar time, which runs two hours behind the rest of China, we'd better stick with Beijing time so as not to get confused. Eat your bread seeded side towards you, he advises, or you'll offend local sensibilities. As we pull out into the traffic, Army explains that he grew up here in the 1960s and 70s. It was before the troubles between the Han Chinese and Uighur communities. He's a Han but went to school with Uighurs and still has Uighur friends. Like every community, he shrugs, there are good people and bad people. Xinjiang Province •Xinjiang province has a history of autonomy but was brought under Chinese control in the 18th Century •Russian influence remained strong and the Soviet Union supported an Uighur-led East Turkestan Republic in the north of the region in 1944-1949 •It is a similar size to Iran and has considerable oil reserves On either side of the road stretches a leached landscape under a leaden sky. The air is too dry for more than a light dusting of snow. Mudbrick houses, empty fields, a solitary crow on a wire. And cantering along the road straight out of a childhood fairytale, hunched old men with tall hats and wispy beards on donkey carts. I've been here before. But that was 30 years ago. I was a carefree young teacher straight out of university and it was before the troubles. I'm nervous about coming back as a reporter. I don't speak Uighur, only Chinese. I'm afraid of asking questions which might put people in danger. And afraid of not asking them and leaving with as little idea of what's going on as when I arrived. Army warns that there's a police checkpoint up ahead. Only two days ago, 15 people were killed in a big attack and security is tight as a result. I'm not going to ask Army what he thinks about Xinjiang's violence. You can go to jail for having your own view here, or even worse, criticising government policy. Army's phone keeps ringing. It sounds like it might be a girlfriend. I'm just about to mention that the BBC believes in two hands on the steering wheel when the checkpoint appears. A carful of Uighurs are having their papers checked. We pull in behind and a stony-faced officer motions everyone out of the vehicle. We file into a concrete bunker with riot shields, batons and helmets lined up against the wall. A dozen or so police officers ask if we are journalists and where are we going. The answer to the first question has to be yes but we'd rather not tell them where we're going because that will give us even less chance of getting there. We need a coherent cover story. Army comes to the rescue, offering a plausible tale about places we want to film. Plausible enough to get our documents back but not to plausible enough to get us through the checkpoint. Foreign reporters may not be a terrorist threat but they can be a danger to the official version of events. As we U-turn and head back in the direction we came, Army mutters that things must be bad to have the local police chief out at a checkpoint on a Sunday afternoon. Who knows what really happened, he muses. But asking questions gets you nowhere and thinking too hard serves no purpose. I observe that in our first police encounter, our driver has shown greater competence than anyone else in the team. Our Han Chinese producer suggests this is because Army used to be a policeman. I wonder why I'm only learning this now. But it figures. Army exudes the authority and calm of a seen-it-all police officer. Back in town, we're not clear whether it's Beijing time or Xinjiang time, late lunch or early dinner, but in the absence of a better plan, eating seems like a good idea. Army orders barbecued lamb, yoghurt, rice with raisins, sweet tea. We discuss our next move. He enters into the spirit of the mission, weighing the risks as earnestly as we do and explaining that if we don't get what we came for, he'll be embarrassed to take money from us. And then we tour Kashgar, starting with the night market where smoke is rising over the charcoal barbecues and steam over the vats of rice and mutton entrails. Hawkers sell cubes of fermented yoghurt, and labour over ice cream churns with wooden paddles. But Army warns that spies are everywhere. And I know enough not to ask sensitive questions in public. So I look for the people who can converse in Mandarin and we talk about food and hats. No mention of the fact that only just over the road the imam of China's largest mosque was recently stabbed to death on his way out of morning prayers. Or the riot police and sniffer dogs at major junctions. Just along Liberation Avenue under the smiling statue of Chairman Mao the people's square is filling with armoured vehicles. Our hotel is next door and has bag scanners and doormen in bullet proof vests. Armed police file in and out to use the toilet. A police officer comes to pay us a late night visit. He is not on our side. Army has made himself scarce, but not before giving advice on the best positions from which to film some of this. We're getting used to thinking he is on our side. But the problem is he's not. He is actually just a better class of spy, as we discover the next day. How do we find out? It's a long and involved story involving the police revealing information about us that only Army could have told them. Our Chinese producer felt betrayed and sent him packing. I don't feel so angry with him. This is a place where people grow up playing all sides to survive. Foreign ideas of loyalty and betrayal are just that: foreign. China is desperately short of Han Chinese who speak Uighur and have Uighur friends. Army is useful to the state and a diet of news featuring death sentences and long jail terms makes it abundantly clear that the state will crush those who resist. So if you're Army and you have to double cross someone you're going to choose the BBC because we are not going to imprison you for the offence. But the experience leaves me sad and disorientated. Forced to rewind and relive each minute with a different set of assumptions. Perhaps these are the facts? We thought we were protecting Army from too much information about the place we were going but he always knew far more than we did. The woman I thought was the girlfriend on the phone was a police handler. And Army was reporting back on all of our plans whenever he had a chance. So everyone at the police checkpoints was expecting us. We get another driver. He too seems to know more about us than we have told him. We get stopped again by the police. We never reach our destination. But if life is about the journey not the arriving then so is reporting. Our Xinjiang trip bears fruit in other ways. I have many conversations with Uighurs and Han Chinese that illuminate my understanding of the challenges on all sides. Our new driver is a danger to those inside his vehicle and out. What's more he gets lost on the way to Kashgar airport so we miss our flight back to Beijing. At least Army was competent even if he was working for the other side. Some day I'll go back to Kashgar and ask him to tell me some true stories. Too bad I'll never know which of them to believe. How to listen to From Our Own Correspondent: BBC Radio 4: Saturdays at 11:30 Listen online or download the podcast. BBC World Service: Short editions Monday-Friday - see World Service programme schedule. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

चीन का कहना है कि वह उग्रवादी इस्लाम से बढ़ते खतरे का सामना कर रहा है। यह धार्मिक चरमपंथ द्वारा संचालित आतंकवाद के रूप में वर्णित एक साल की लंबी कार्रवाई के बीच है। यह अभियान पश्चिमी प्रांत शिनजियांग पर केंद्रित है, जो चीन के उइगर जातीय अल्पसंख्यकों का घर है, जो मुख्य रूप से मुस्लिम हैं।