Spanish flu pandemic 1918 - could it happen again?

Summary: It is 100 years since the influenza pandemic killed millions around the world, a death toll far worse than the bubonic plague. But what is the chance of something similar happening again? New strains of flu continue to emerge and experts warn that another pandemic could happen despite a century of advances in technology and healthcare.

By Steve DuffyBBC News During the 1918-19 outbreak, it was thought that Spanish flu was caused by bacteria rather than a virus. Viruses are now better understood, but scientists have also learned a great deal from studying the pandemic which struck a century ago. They learned how very differently it could behave to our usual experience of seasonal flu. It hit proportionately more younger and healthier adults. Experts believe older people who were infected by Spanish flu may have previously encountered a similar strain, and therefore had a degree of immunity. Dr Niall Johnson, who published a study of the 1918-19 pandemic says the medical profession a century ago was familiar with infectious disease, but not at this scale. "Many of the medical memoirs mention the pandemic, and often say that it was not the presentation of the disease that was unusual but the sheer volume of cases - and how little they could offer people," he said. Dr Jonathan D Quick is an expert on epidemics worldwide and is working to help nations prepare better. "With some flu viruses - it was true in 1918 and in 2009 - one of things which happens is that the way that flu kills you is not the flu itself," he said. "It's what it does to your lungs, it sort of melts the linings and then you get a bacterial pneumonia... that will kill you. "They didn't have antibiotics then, so they died faster. But the other thing that happens, particularly in young people when they have a good, active immune system is that your body overreacts. It ends up just filling your lungs with fluid. A lot of these deaths weren't from the bacterial complications, but from an explosion of the immune system." Dr Johnson says the impact of new viruses today will vary, for several reasons. These include vaccines that may confer some immunity, anti-viral drugs, better hygiene and antimicrobials that deal with the infections such as pneumonia, that were major contributors to the death rate in the 1918-19. "So, yes, I think we are better placed than in 1918 but the potential for a pandemic to be a global infection that sickens the majority of the world's population and kills a substantial number is still there." Dr Quick believes such a scenario is not inevitable, if more is done to make the world safer and prepared. "One of the most important things is to invest in the so-called universal flu vaccine," he says - one which works against all strains of the virus, by targeting the part of the virus which doesn't change. More stories you might be interested in How the 1918-19 epidemic devastated Wales Spanish flu: 'We didn't know who we'd lose next' Why flu is so unpredictable How you could help stop a flu pandemic Why are some flu outbreaks worse than others? The UK government sets out an official National Risk Register, which says that no country is immune to infectious disease from another part of the world. It estimates that in the event of pandemic flu: Dr Quick believes the UK is the only country to report risk in this way. But globally, are we still complacent? "Absolutely," he says. "I believe we're just as vulnerable today to big flu as we had in 1918 but for different reasons. So today we have four times the population, we are twice as urbanised, and that crowding has been a factor in recent Ebola outbreaks, and is a factor in flu. "We are 50 times as mobile - so we're in the air, travelling across borders, there isn't any place on the planet which is more than 24 to 36 hours away from any major city." He says flu is tricky, a virus that keeps mutating and exchanging genes. "With all of those risk factors in play, we could have an epidemic with a new virus that has mutated and that we don't have immunity to," he says. "We could have an outbreak which could kill between 200 and 400m in the matter of a couple of years and knock the global economy as badly as the Great Recession." Predicting the path of a pandemic The BBC Four Pandemic experiment, with mathematicians from Cambridge University, involved nearly 29,000 people downloading an app to track their movements and social interactions to predict how a pandemic might spread. Their modelling predicted that: Dr Meirion Evans, a recently retired consultant epidemiologist at Public Health Wales, believes the key is vigilance and sharing data - underpinned by a global surveillance system which is coordinated by the World Health Organisation (WHO). "Linked to that is a global virology network... when there's an incident, the local specialist laboratory will isolate, identify and type these viruses to work out if it's something new, or if it's not, what virus it is related to," he said. Technology could also help. Dr Quick points to the web crawler created by Public Health Canada which harvested news of the SARS outbreak as it showed itself in China. We have come a long way from old newspaper adverts, offering cure-all remedies, old wives' tales and simple hope. But there are lessons still to learn - and we underestimate flu at our peril. "If anyone doubts it, humanity has not escaped infectious disease," says Dr Johnson. "In the mid-20th Century some people rather hubristically claimed we'd beaten infectious disease. HIV, multi-drug-resistant TB, flu, Ebola all put pay to that. "Flu is particularly interesting due to its ability to change, and our continuing inability to find vaccines that work against more than specific strains". It is impossible to tell when the next pandemic flu may occur - in 25 years or next year. Although a rare occurrence, Dr Quick says in the meantime we must be ready for it at the highest level. "There needs to be that vigilance and the willingness of leaders to open their eyes - because delays are deadly - respond to the immediate epidemic and then once the panic's gone, keep promises about investing in preventing the next one; it's that leadership."

100 साल हो गए हैं जब इन्फ्लूएंजा महामारी ने दुनिया भर में लाखों लोगों की जान ले ली है, मरने वालों की संख्या बुबोनिक प्लेग से भी बदतर है। लेकिन फिर से कुछ ऐसा ही होने की क्या संभावना है? फ्लू के नए उपभेद उभरते जा रहे हैं और विशेषज्ञों ने चेतावनी दी है कि प्रौद्योगिकी और स्वास्थ्य सेवा में एक सदी की प्रगति के बावजूद एक और महामारी हो सकती है।


East Tilbury 'hit-and-run' arrest as woman and child struck by car

Summary: A man has been arrested after a woman was left in a critical condition and a child seriously hurt when they were struck by a car.

The woman, 65, and the girl, 11, were hit by a dark grey Mercedes A-Class on Coronation Avenue, East Tilbury, Essex, at about 08:20 BST. The car failed to stop and was later found abandoned on Mucking Wharf Road. A 25-year-old man from Basildon was arrested soon afterwards and remains in custody. The pair are being treated in hospital. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, drink-driving, driving while unfit through drink or drugs, failing to stop after an accident and driving without insurance. Any witnesses have been asked to call Essex Police.

कार की चपेट में आने से एक महिला की हालत गंभीर होने और एक बच्चा गंभीर रूप से घायल होने के बाद एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Software firm First Derivatives increases turnover

Summary: A software and consulting firm with its headquarters in Newry, County Down, has said it is continuing to grow.

First Derivatives has announced its half-yearly performance on the stockmarket. Company turnover has increased to £27.6m, up from £22.4m in 2011 and at £4.1m its operaing profit has increased by 14.2% over the year. The firm has recently acquired three other companies and issued an interim dividend of 3.1p per share.

न्यूरी, काउंटी डाउन में अपने मुख्यालय के साथ एक सॉफ्टवेयर और परामर्श फर्म ने कहा है कि यह लगातार बढ़ रहा है।


Kidderminster carpet traders dispute the decline of the industry

Summary: While historians say the decline of the carpet industry in Kidderminster was inevitable, those still in the business argue they are making a success of the trade in the face of "challenging" economic times.

By Julia LeonardBBC News Cloth weaving began in the Worcestershire town in the Middle Ages, according to Melvyn Thompson, a former factory worker and carpet historian. He is one of 20 volunteers preparing to open a museum commemorating the town's carpet industry, which at its height, boasted 25 factories and employed about 15,000 people. Mr Thompson said: "Kidderminster used to be wall to wall carpets, if you lost your job at one factory you could walk down the road and get one in another. "The boom time was post-war in the 50s, 60s and 70s when exports opened up - they couldn't make enough carpets. "It was one of the top towns for income per family because work was plentiful and the whole family could get work - it was good money." Today, the industrial landscape looks very different. Many of the old carpet factory buildings have been demolished and replaced by supermarkets and car parks. Mr Thompson, who started work as an apprentice in 1953, said it began in the 1980s when the economic situation changed. He said: "Laminated flooring came in, the price of raw materials has gone up, technology has changed and more carpets are being imported. "Now we reckon there could be as few as 500 people working in carpets, only five factories are still going.." He believes the decline was "inevitable" as traditional skills have been quietly dying out. "This is why the Museum of Carpets is vital, we're preserving machinery but also preserving the skills. "We're training people up to do demonstrations on two working hand looms," he said. Flexible workforce The Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce is unable to put a figure on how much carpet production was, and is, worth to the town but described it as "very important" in the past. Mike Ashton, the chambers' chief executive, said: "The companies still based in Kidderminster are world class and this heritage has created some great opportunities in other manufacturing sectors." However Charles Annable, the managing director of Brockways Ltd, dismissed any so-called "decline". "We don't like to think of it in that way because we're still very active and keep on going. "Of course you have to adapt and change but the last redundancies we made were 15 years ago when we had to lose 40 people - now we're down to 100." Mr Annable said the secret to the firm's survival, with an annual turnover of £15m, was down to the skill of the workforce. He said: "They're great experts because carpet has been in the blood of Kidderminster for so many years. "We have generations of families who have worked for us and that in itself is incredibly helpful. "They're also very flexible as we've had to adapt and evolve using new machinery." But Mr Annable, whose father Roy is the company's chairman, also admitted the market was "incredibly challenging". He said: "The market is down 15-20% from this time last year and my father said it's the most difficult period he can recall in 48 years with the firm. "We rely heavily on the housing market so if that isn't moving then sales aren't moving. "But being a family business, we can ring in the changes quite quickly." Hong Kong airport Other firms like Brintons, with 1,700 staff globally, have also had to adapt and lost 70 of its 700 UK-based staff last year. It was recently bought out by the Carlyle Group in a £40m deal, taking it out of the hands of the Brinton family after more than 200 years. But Mr Thompson said reputation was invaluable. "Brintons have a name that will sell a carpet anywhere, any time - like the word 'Hoover'. They also do well from contract work, he said. "A lot of their woven carpet still goes into cruise liners and casinos and they had the exclusive deal on Hong Kong Airport many years ago," he said. Maria Flint worked as a setter at Carpets of Worth for 19 years and said the shrinking of the industry has had a domino effect on the town. She said: "It's such a shame, Kiddy used to be packed with people but even on a Saturday it's quiet. "When I worked in the factory I used to be able to go down to browse the shops in my lunch hour and buy something if I fancied it - not any more. "People have to stop and think about what they're spending, there's unemployment all over the place."

जबकि इतिहासकारों का कहना है कि किडरमिंस्टर में कालीन उद्योग का पतन अपरिहार्य था, जो अभी भी व्यवसाय में हैं उनका तर्क है कि वे "चुनौतीपूर्ण" आर्थिक समय के सामने व्यापार को सफल बना रहे हैं।


Viewpoints: Teaching children to read

Summary: Finding the best way to inspire children to become fluent readers has long been debated. The "look and say" approach, where children learnt to memorise words, dominated in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. But now the pendulum has swung towards phonics-based teaching, where children decode words by sounds.

The Department for Education says international evidence demonstrates that phonics is the most effective way of teaching early reading, and this year introduced a phonics reading test for six-year-olds. So what is the best way to teach children how to read? David Reedy, UK Literacy Association The teaching of reading should encompass a balance of teaching strategies including a systematic approach to phonics and other word reading strategies, and a significant emphasis on children experiencing a wide range of texts, including moving image and digital - all available to read from the very beginning. Phonics teaching is an important component of the teaching of reading, but not all words in English are phonically regular (the linguist David Crystal estimates 80% are, but the other 20% contains many of the most common words in English). Young children need more than phonics to read words accurately. For many very common words in English such as "come", "once", "was", "the", the best method for accuracy is to read them as "sight" words - that is, using the strategy of look and say. In addition, in order to be fully accurate in word reading, we have to use meaning gleaned from the context in many cases, for example "read", "lead", "sow", "close". Attention should be given to reading for purpose and pleasure, and to introduce children to more challenging texts as well as focus on word reading skills. A school should invest significantly in books and adult time to support reading. Teachers should be knowledgeable and enthusiastic about literature suitable for children so they can recommend and inspire their classes as well as individuals. Motivation to read is a crucial component of a teacher's job. This approach results in deep engagement as well as accuracy in reading, both of which are crucial and lead to high standards. We need to develop both the skill and the will. Shelagh Harvey, head teacher There is no simple way to teach all children to read. Phonics, contextual clues, sounding out, going back to words - all of these are important skills. Phonics is important, but I do think it has been over-exaggerated of late. We run a very successful phonics reading project for the majority of our children, but we need to find different strategies for a small group of children who struggle with it. I think the government's reading test is fundamentally flawed. It didn't give us any clues for helping us move forward with our children. I had two very able readers at the end of Year 1 who failed the test, but who could read a Level 2 book and read fluently. One failed because she refused to read the non-word and the other little girl rushed because she's used to reading, not sounding out words. The over-emphasis on phonics and the test may put pressure on some teachers to "teach to the test" at the expense of a wide richer reading experience. A minority of children, for whom phonics is not successful, could be deprived of other reading strategies and have their difficulties exacerbated. It is also known that some children who are good with phonics and able to decode successfully do so at the cost of understanding what they read, known as "barking at text". The only way we can really measure progress is to let our children read. Here we sit them down with appropriate texts and judge them at the level they are reading at. You have to give children skills and a range of materials. We do a lot of work with parents too, encouraging them to read to and with their children. Prof Maureen McLaughlin, International Reading Association Reading is a complex process that involves multiple factors including decoding, integrating background experiences, having purposes for reading, and using skills and strategies to construct meaning. For very young readers, the process begins with issues such as the alphabetic principle and concepts of print. The goal of successful reading is comprehension. There are five pillars of literacy - phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. All contribute to reading comprehension. Students need ample opportunity to learn, practise, and use these skills. Researchers report that students' construction of meaning is enhanced when they use a repertoire of reading comprehension strategies, including predicting, self-questioning, visualising, monitoring, summarising, and evaluating. Students have diverse strengths, needs, opportunities and cultural backgrounds. To ensure access and opportunities for all students to become readers and achieve their greatest potential, reading instruction should be differentiated. Differentiated instruction enables us to accommodate the diversity of students' needs. Struggling readers, students with disabilities and dual language learners are examples of students for whom instruction should be differentiated. Reading is essential in the complex, global society in which we live. It is important for personal, social and economic well-being. As literacy professionals, our goal is to teach students to become active, engaged readers, who succeed to their greatest potential. Lisa Morgan, speech and language therapist Reading effectively for meaning and pleasure involves a complex range of skills, most of which rely on strong speech and language skills - using sounds to decode, knowing how words work together and understanding the vocabulary to gain meaning, for example. We know that children with good oral language skills are likely to become good readers. In the UK, more than one million children have long-term and persistent speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). We know that these children are at greater risk of literacy difficulties. Add to this the evidence that highlights that in areas of social disadvantage upwards of 50% of children are starting school with delayed language, then this raises key questions about ways to support children with SLCN to learn to read. For some children with SLCN, a phonic approach, within a context of focused language enrichment and opportunities, will work well to support their reading development. For others, it absolutely won't. For some, assessing their phonic skills in Year 1 through the phonics screen has been OK. For others, it absolutely hasn't. Each child and young person with SLCN is different - their needs are different, their strengths are different and the ways in which they best learn are different too. It is therefore essential that firstly teachers understand a child's SLCN and any implications for developing their literacy, and secondly that they are skilled and confident in choosing and using whatever works for that child in developing their reading skills. Siobhan Freegard, parenting website Netmums Reading regularly to children from an early age is important as they will learn to love stories and books. Making reading part of the everyday routine, so children quickly pick up subtle skills such as which way to follow the print of a book, how to use pictures to help decode the words, and how to recognise initial letters and the most commonly used words. It's good to let them see adults reading too, surrounding the home with books, magazines and newspapers, as children learn by copying adults. Parents can share the stories they are reading and any funny parts or interesting nuggets to spark their interest. The other key building block to learning to read is rhymes and sounds. Singing or chanting poems and rhymes to children will help them to learn their favourites and decipher rhyming words and different sounds, all of which will help them with their phonics skills later on. But apart from school books that need to be read, parents should not force books on their children and should let them read what they like - whether that is comics or football magazines - so they realise reading is fun.

बच्चों को धाराप्रवाह पाठक बनने के लिए प्रेरित करने का सबसे अच्छा तरीका खोजने पर लंबे समय से बहस चल रही है। "देखो और कहो" दृष्टिकोण, जहां बच्चे शब्दों को याद रखना सीखते हैं, 1940,50 और 60 के दशक में हावी था। लेकिन अब पेंडुलम ध्वन्यात्मक-आधारित शिक्षण की ओर बढ़ गया है, जहां बच्चे ध्वनियों द्वारा शब्दों को डिकोड करते हैं।


Anders Breivik: Just how cushy are Norwegian prisons?

Summary: Anders Breivik, the Norwegian mass murderer, is arguing that conditions in the prison where he is held violate his human rights. Many Norwegian prisons, on the other hand, are seen by foreigners as extremely cushy. Lars Bevanger describes a system referred to by one American visitor as "prison utopia".

Two Norwegian institutions vie for the title of the world's "nicest" or "most humane" prison. Inmates on the prison island of Bastoey, south of Oslo, are free to walk around in a village-style setting, tending to farm animals. They ski, cook, play tennis, play cards. They have their own beach, and even run the ferry taking people to and from the island. And in the afternoon when most prison staff go home, only a handful of guards are left to watch the 115 prisoners. "We have something we call the 'normality principle' in the Norwegian correctional service," says Tom Eberhardt, the prison governor. "Daily prison life should not be any different than ordinary life, as far as this is possible." The other prison that tends to leave foreign visitors speechless is Halden, also in southern Norway, close to the Swedish border. In 2014 a Finnish TV company took a retired prison superintendent from New York, James Conway, to Halden. His verdict: "I don't think you can go any more liberal, other than giving the inmates the keys." He's startled by the steel cutlery in the kitchen, and the well-equipped workshop supplied with saws, pliers and metal files. "You don't have to bake them in a cake," he quips. In the inmates' music studio - with guitars, keyboards, drums and a mixing deck - he wonders whether it's "a little over the top". "This is prison utopia. This is the best prison you could ever imagine - if you were an inmate," he says. But though Halden is a high-security prison, surrounded by a conventional high wall, it isn't typical. Most Norwegian prisoners will find themselves, at least to begin with, in a prison that foreigners would recognise - places where windows have bars on them, and prisoners are locked in their cells except when taking part in group activities. "Inmates often begin serving their sentence in a high-security prison," says Jan-Erik Sandlie, deputy director general of the Directorate of Norwegian Correctional Service. "The correctional services will then consider whether to transfer the prisoner to a lower-security institution. This is in order to create a gradual transfer from prison to full freedom." Later, towards the end of a sentence, prisoners can be transferred to a halfway house, which in many respects will resemble ordinary life. At this stage prisoners might be allowed "breaks" from their incarceration, to make trips home for example, and the focus turns very much to reintegration into normal society. "This is because we want all prisoners to be as ready as possible for an ordinary life when they are released," says Tom Eberhardt at Bastoey prison. Breivik's world According to the Directorate of Norwegian Correctional Service, prison should be a restriction of liberty, but nothing more. That means an offender should have all the same rights as other people living in Norway, and life inside should resemble life outside as much as possible. All Norwegian prisoners have the right to study, for instance, and they are all allowed to vote. Sentences are kept very short. On average they are no more than eight months long, and nearly 90% of sentences are for less than a year. "This means most prisoners are going to return to society at some point. Put that together with very short sentences, and rehabilitation becomes even more important," says Anders Giaever, a commentator with Norway's daily VG newspaper. Only 94 people in Norway, Breivik being one, are sentenced to "preventative detention" in an extra-high-security prison. This means they can be kept beyond the longest sentence permitted by law - 21 years - if they continue to be considered a risk to society. Norway's prison system does have its critics at home, some of whom think it is too soft. Yet it is hard to argue that it does not work. When criminals in Norway leave prison, they tend to stay out. Norway's recidivism rate of 20% is one of the lowest in the world. By contrast in the UK it's about 45%, while in the US more than 76% of prisoners are re-arrested within five years. Defenders of the Norwegian system are also keen to point out how much money is being saved on successful rehabilitation and reintegration. "Authorities in the US and the UK might want to ask themselves whether all the billions of dollars and pounds they have been spending on locking people up behind tall fences and barbed wire has had any effect at all over the past 150 years," says Tom Eberhardt at the Bastoey prison. Breivik's grievances Yet the Norwegian model has come under strain in recent years. Nearly 35% of Norway's total prison population is now from other countries, mainly Poland, Lithuania and Romania. "This creates challenges linked to language and communication, cultural understanding, attitudes, safety and more," says Jan-Erik Sandlie. "Many inmates spend their time studying, establishing contacts [in the outside world] and looking for jobs. For many foreign inmates this is not interesting, because they might be facing deportation at the end of their prison term, or they are to be transferred to their home country to finish serving their sentence there." So far, though, neither politicians nor the general public have shown any serious appetite to make changes to Norway's penal system and its humanitarian approach. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

नॉर्वे के सामूहिक हत्यारे एंडर्स ब्रेविक तर्क दे रहे हैं कि जेल की परिस्थितियाँ जहां उन्हें रखा गया है, उनके मानवाधिकारों का उल्लंघन करती हैं। दूसरी ओर, नॉर्वे की कई जेलों को विदेशियों द्वारा बेहद आरामदायक माना जाता है। लार्स बेवेंगर एक अमेरिकी आगंतुक द्वारा "जेल यूटोपिया" के रूप में संदर्भित एक प्रणाली का वर्णन करते हैं।


The Halle orchestra get creative to make music pay

Summary: The Halle orchestra is taking a leaf out of celebrity choirmaster Gareth Malone's book and holding its first corporate choir competition. The Halle has trained six office choirs in an attempt to use its musical expertise to make up for funding cuts.

In technology companies, finance firms and transport offices across the north-west of England, unusual sounds have been coming from meeting rooms during lunch breaks in recent months. The sound of singing is unusual, that is, compared with the normal office din of rattling keyboards and conversations about contracts. The six office choirs, who have all been coached by the Halle, will hope to be on song when they do battle at The Halle's corporate choir contest in Manchester on Friday. The prize is an opportunity to perform with the full orchestra and it is all part of an attempt by the Halle to find new ways of using its artistic excellence in making money. The office choirs have essentially been teambuilding endeavours, with secretaries and senior executives coming together in (almost) perfect harmony. If the companies involved decide they have benefited from the experience, the hope is that they may pay the Halle to continue running their choirs, or even become more deeply involved in sponsoring the orchestra. Between 2010 and 2015, the Halle will lose between £400,000 and £500,000 from its local council and Arts Council England grants. It hopes to make up at least half of that shortfall through money-spinning schemes like the corporate choirs. "Of course, at the moment when public finances are strained, we need to do everything we can to increase our income from earned sources," Halle chief executive John Summers says. "We're trying to find lots of new ways to create income in order to support the art that we do." Five of the six office choirs are relatively new, but the Halle has been training singers in the headquarters of technology firm Siemens for the past two years. At their final rehearsal before the contest, 20 colleagues were being put through their paces by Halle choir leader Stuart Overington. Caron Eastwood, a personal assistant who has worked for the company for 18 years, says she likes the choir sessions because she feels part of a group. "It lifts you up for the day," she says. "The division I work in is quite small but it makes me feel as if I'm contributing to part of the company." The company's financial director Robin Phillips is also in the choir. He says it brings together some colleagues who would never normally meet. "It's been noticeable how you can motivate a team of people who are out of their comfort zone and through really tactical motivation and encouragement get them to a given goal," he says. "It's been staggering how what we do with the choir can also relate to what we do at the office." Using the arts in training and teambuilding is not new. But as grants are cut, more cultural organisations are thinking about new ways to use their artistic assets. As well as the Halle, the London Symphony Orchestra runs choirs for City of London sponsors and the Royal Northern Sinfonia offers to visit offices to set up ukulele bands and tin whistle orchestras. Meanwhile, theatres from the National Theatre to The Lowry in Salford offer actors and directors to train executives in the art of communication and leadership. "Arts organisations are having to be more creative about who they talk to and how they talk to them in terms of getting money," says Philip Spedding, chief executive of Arts & Business. "But for a number of them, it's about more than just that - it's about showing that the arts can make a difference in communities, and those communities can be where employees come together." One company even got its employees to stage an opera as a teambuilding exercise, he says. But this form of fund-raising will not be open to all arts organisations. "There are natural challenges for arts organisations in rural communities or in parts of the country where the business community has been particularly hard hit. Likewise there are artforms where this is more challenging." Another orchestra using its artistic experience to raise revenue is the Manchester Camerata, which has signed a deal with private care home operator Care UK to provide musicians for music therapy sessions from next spring. That follows a similar project in which players from the chamber orchestra have taken part in therapy sessions for dementia sufferers in and around Manchester. Manchester Camerata chief executive Bob Riley says the sessions were set up because music can have health benefits for care home residents. He also realised the skills could have a commercial value. "As a business, we are looking at different ways to increase and vary our sources of income," Mr Riley says. "We all know the environment we're in - there's not a tremendous amount of money in the public purse. "And we know there are other ways we can be relevant in today's society. Health is one of them, [and] within schools, communities, all sorts of places, so we're trying to work with all sorts of partners who have a new perspective."

हाले ऑर्केस्ट्रा सेलिब्रिटी चेरमास्टर गैरेथ मेलोन की पुस्तक से एक पत्ता निकाल रहा है और अपनी पहली कॉर्पोरेट गाना बजाने की प्रतियोगिता आयोजित कर रहा है। हाले ने अपनी संगीत विशेषज्ञता का उपयोग करने के प्रयास में छह कार्यालय गायकों को प्रशिक्षित किया है ताकि धन में कटौती की भरपाई की जा सके।


Intercity 125: Workers say farewell to British Rail icon

Summary: East Midlands Railway is the latest operator to retire its fleet of high speed trains - better known to millions as the InterCity 125. Some workers at the company's depot have spent most of their careers repairing, improving and tending to the engines, helping them to become a workhorse of the tracks since they came into service in 1976. But now it is time to say goodbye to an icon of Britain's travel network.

High speed trains (HST) were the future of British Rail in the 1970s, with advertisements promising unheard of speeds and shorter journey times. Better known as the InterCity 125, the diesel locomotive was only intended as a stopgap before electrification, but has linked Britain's cities for more than four decades. In the last 10 years, most rail companies have replaced them with newer models, and East Midlands Railway (EMR) is the latest to follow suit. The company's HSTs are serviced and maintained at the Neville Hill depot in Leeds, where staff say they will be sorry to see the trains, described by some as the saviour of British Rail, go. 'Fantastic icon' Maintenance fitter Simon Greaves, 59, says it has been a pleasure to work with HSTs for 30 years. "They have served the railway fantastically well and they saved British Rail back in the 70s and 80s when they were in deep trouble," he says. "They are a brilliant train, a fantastic icon, and a credit to the British engineers who came up with the design and built these brilliant trains. So it's been a pleasure for me to work on them for 31 years, it really has. "On the whole they are extremely reliable and they have been modernised over the time as well. Lots of things have changed over the 40-odd years they have been in service. "It's a shame really but technology moves on so they have to make way for new trains." 'Pinnacle of British Rail's expertise' Fleet engineer Nigel Yule agrees: "They are just an iconic train to be honest. "If you think about the achievements that were made in terms of the way it was built as a stopgap, designed in 20 months, it was the pinnacle of British Rail's engineering expertise. "There's all sorts we've gone through, re-engining new cooling units, we've redesigned whole bits of the trailer car. "If we think back 20 years ago what we were doing on servicing compared to what we do now it is totally different. We were bolting things back up on a nightly basis in some areas and we just don't now. We've engineered them out. We've put the things right and solved the problems. "They are probably more reliable now than they ever were. "They are a brilliant train. I don't believe there's a better train in this country even now, but obviously I am biased." 'Strange without her' EMR quality inspector Paul Corrie, 63, says the HSTs' length of service is a testament to their quality and enduring appeal. "I know them inside out," he says. "The measure of their success is the phenomenal mileage, the public persona of them, they've saved the railway and I don't think any other vehicle will get the amount of running mileage these vehicles have put in. "They are old technology and the old girls do present some problems. "Now and again we do get electrical faults. It is because of the age of the vehicles. Wires break down, wires snap off. Some are quick fixes, others can be a major headache. "I've worked on these since 1981 and it will be a little strange walking into the shed without a HST there" 'Like nothing else on Earth' The HST doesn't just inspire devotion among workers - it is also a firm favourite with enthusiasts, including Anthony Coulls, senior curator of rail transport & technology at York's National Railway Museum (NRM). He credits the trains with changing the perception of rail travel in Britain, where steam locomotives where still in use less than 10 years earlier. HSTs were a complete contrast to the "scruffy, dirty and noisy" early diesel trains, he says. "It was British Rail reinventing itself. They burst onto the scene looking like nothing else on Earth. It's hard to visualise 45 years on." Mr Coulls says designer Sir Kenneth Grange's sleek blueprint, with an aerodynamic wedge-shaped nose cone, made the train "an absolute icon of engineering and design". Because British Rail could not afford full electrification, no-one expected the trains to remain in operation for so many decades, he says. Their speed and significantly reduced journey times helped to change the "look of the commute", Mr Coulls says, making it practical for people to live further outside London and travel to work by train. The HSTs were all built between 1976 and 1982 and, unlike other famous models such as the French TGV and the Japanese Shinkansen [bullet train], the power cars at the front are the originals. "It is actually the most successful passenger train in the world ever," Mr Coulls adds. InterCity 125 EMR's fleet director Neil Bamford began his career just three years after the HST launched. He accepts that the trains have to go, but says it does "bring a tear to the eye". "The HST is a fantastic machine. My career, which is now 43 years, is almost parallel with the HST fleet. HST came in on my birthday in 1976 so they are only a little bit older than when I started in 1979." "In 1981 I remember going on test and commissioning runs from Derby where the trailer cars were built. The power cars were built in Crewe. Then we went up to Darlington and put it through its paces at 125 mph between York and Darlington on a flat bit of straight, fast track. I remember that vividly as an 18/19 year old. "Throughout my career I've been in and out of HSTs and I love them. "I just think the interior, the ride of this fleet is fantastic. The window spacing and seats is fantastic, the seats are comfy. It's just part of the railway. "It's a big miss for the industry, because there's a lot of people, probably more so of my generation... the railway without HSTs, you can't think of it. "They've got to go because they aren't quite up to modern standards in terms of accessibility for passengers and they still discharge effluent onto the track. "So the trains have to retire graciously." ScotRail, Great Western Railway and Cross Country still have HSTs in operation on some routes. Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk or send video here Related Internet Links National Railway Museum East Midlands Railway

ईस्ट मिडलैंड्स रेलवे हाई स्पीड ट्रेनों के अपने बेड़े को सेवानिवृत्त करने वाला नवीनतम ऑपरेटर है-जिसे लाखों लोग इंटरसिटी 125 के रूप में जानते हैं। कंपनी के डिपो में कुछ श्रमिकों ने अपने करियर का अधिकांश समय इंजनों की मरम्मत, सुधार और देखभाल में बिताया है, जिससे उन्हें 1976 में सेवा में आने के बाद से पटरियों का काम करने वाला बनने में मदद मिली है। लेकिन अब ब्रिटेन के यात्रा नेटवर्क के एक आइकन को अलविदा कहने का समय आ गया है।


Spies facing budget squeeze and more oversight

Summary: The committee that oversees the work of Britain's intelligence agencies, such as MI5 and MI6, says it is "out of date" and should be given broader powers to look into operational matters. The Intelligence and Security Committee wants a wider remit and says it must change in order to maintain public confidence in the agencies. Gordon Corera looks at the implications of its report and the challenges ahead.

By Gordon CoreraSecurity correspondent, BBC News Times are changing for British intelligence. For much of the last 10 years since the attacks on 11 September 2001, they have been growing at a rapid pace - MI5, for instance, doubling in size. The last decade has also seen greater controversy surrounding their work - whether over Iraq and its absent weapons of mass destruction, questions over the treatment of detainees, or whether the 7 July 2005 attacks could have been prevented. The latest Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) annual report makes clear that spies are not immune from the latest budget squeeze and that they also now may be subject to increased oversight. Appearing before the committee, the head of MI6 warned that budget cuts meant that it would be 'quite hard' to maintain the capability of the Secret Service. Sir John Sawers told the ISC that, even though his budget settlement had been "reasonable", it would be a difficult year ahead with a 10% reduction in staff. "The aspiration of some ministers that we can provide answers to a whole series of intelligence requirements has to be limited, has to be contained, because we are not going to be able to do that," he told the committee. MI6 should be able to meet the present set of requirements set for it but will not be able to contribute to looking at the global economy in a way that Sawers would have liked. In a speech last week, the former head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, called on the service to do more on this very subject. He said it should not be "squeamish" at looking at spying on other countries to uncover useful information on the future of the euro or other country's economic positions. In its annual report, the committee argues that the 11.3% reduction in budgets for British intelligence agencies "will inevitably have an impact on the ability of all three agencies to maintain current levels of coverage of all aspects of the threat". 'Losing talent' The concern over money also extends to securing the new cyber world. GCHQ director Iain Lobban also says he is having trouble retaining sufficient numbers of suitably-qualified internet specialists. "I need some real internet whizzes in order to do cyber," he told the committee. "They will be working for Microsoft or Google or Amazon or whoever. And I can't compete with their salaries. I can offer them a fantastic mission, but I can't compete with their salaries. "But I probably have to do better than I am doing at the moment, or else my internet whizzes are not going to stay… and we do have a steady drip, I am afraid . "Month‑on‑month, we are losing whizzes who'll basically say 'I'm sorry, I am going to take three times the salary and the car and whatever else'." The committee argues the Cabinet Office may have to look at bonuses for those with specialist skills. Technically, the work of the ISC covers areas such as policy, administration and finances, but not operations. That is one area where the Committee is now making a push for more power. Confidence and credibility The ISC report includes a call for major changes to its oversight function. This comes because of questions over whether the current arrangements do enough to provide accountability and public confidence in the work of the UK's spies. Reports like today's may give a sense of where the money gets spent but not what the agencies really do. Each of the three major controversies over the last decade - Iraq, detainees and 7/7 - were initially investigated by the ISC. But, in each case, questions surfaced over whether the ISC managed to get to the bottom of events, and later inquiries either found out considerably more or, in the case of detainees, remain pending. In the case of 7/7, there were real concerns, as indicated by the coroner, that the ISC had not been given correct information during its inquiries. There have also been rows between the previous ISC and the Cabinet Office over how independent it was. The danger was that - without reform - the credibility of the ISC would continue to be called into question, undermining confidence that intelligence agencies were properly accountable. The result, announced in the committee's report, has been a push to change the standing of the committee and increase its independence from government, as well as its powers to investigate. This, the committee argues, should include formal oversight of operations and the ability to require rather than request information. These recommendations, like the budget squeeze, may be uncomfortable for some in British intelligence but there also may be a realisation that both developments are inevitable.

एम. आई. 5 और एम. आई. 6 जैसी ब्रिटेन की खुफिया एजेंसियों के काम की देखरेख करने वाली समिति का कहना है कि यह "पुराना" है और इसे परिचालन मामलों को देखने के लिए व्यापक शक्तियां दी जानी चाहिए। खुफिया और सुरक्षा समिति एक व्यापक भुगतान चाहती है और कहती है कि एजेंसियों में जनता का विश्वास बनाए रखने के लिए इसे बदलना चाहिए। गॉर्डन कोरेरा अपनी रिपोर्ट के निहितार्थ और आगे की चुनौतियों को देखते हैं।


Man dies after assault outside Tamworth McDonald's

Summary: A teenager has died almost two weeks after he was attacked outside a McDonald's in Staffordshire.

Liam Roche, 18, suffered serious head injuries in the assault outside the restaurant at the Ventura Retail Park in Tamworth on 22 January. The victim, from Kingstanding, died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. A 24-year-old man was arrested on Sunday in connection with the incident and the investigation continues, Staffordshire Police said. Anyone who witnessed the altercation between 22:30 and 23:30 GMT is asked to contact the force.

स्टैफोर्डशायर में मैकडॉनल्ड्स के बाहर हुए हमले के लगभग दो सप्ताह बाद एक किशोर की मौत हो गई है।


'Bullied' Manx teen chased fellow student at school with knife

Summary: A teenage boy who chased a pupil through a school corridor "brandishing" a knife has appeared in court on the Isle of Man.

Manx Police were called to the school shortly after 11:00 GMT on 12 February. The 14-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to affray and having a knife on school grounds which he had taken from home. Magistrates heard that the defendant had "reached breaking point" after being bullied for several years. The defendant had "no intention to hurt" anyone, his advocate told the court. He has been remanded to appear again at Douglas Courthouse on 18 March. Related Internet Links Isle of Man Courts of Justice

एक किशोर लड़का जिसने चाकू लहराते हुए स्कूल के गलियारे से एक छात्र का पीछा किया था, वह आइल ऑफ मैन की अदालत में पेश हुआ है।


Renishaw to create 120 new jobs across Gloucestershire

Summary: Manufacturing firm Renishaw is to take on 120 new members of staff to be employed across its five sites in Gloucestershire.

The company based in Wotton-under-Edge wants to expand its team as part of its growth plans. Skilled workers with engineering and manufacturing experience are primarily being sought by the firm. Renishaw will be holding open evenings at its Stonehouse facility as part of a recruitment drive this month. Group human resources manager, Peter Bowler said: "These 120 new positions are just part of our wider strategy to recruit and develop the talented individuals that will help us to take advantage of the many global commercial opportunities that will drive our business growth in the future." Related Internet Links Renishaw

विनिर्माण कंपनी रेनिशॉ ग्लूस्टरशायर में अपने पांच स्थलों पर 120 नए कर्मचारियों को नियुक्त करेगी।


HMP Doncaster inmate threw urine and excrement at guard

Summary: A serving prisoner has had his sentence extended by two years after he threw a mixture of urine and excrement at a prison officer.

Joshua Morris, 24, squirted the substance out of a bottle in Doncaster prison in December 2017. At Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday, Morris pleaded guilty to administering a noxious substance. He will serve an additional two years at the end of his existing five-year sentence for burglary. Det Con Alex Dorlin from South Yorkshire Police described the attack as "a disgusting offence". "While the officer was not physically injured, the impact of such disgraceful and unprovoked behaviour was quite significant," he said. Related Internet Links HM Courts & Tribunals Service

एक जेल अधिकारी पर मूत्र और मलमूत्र का मिश्रण फेंकने के बाद एक सेवारत कैदी की सजा को दो साल के लिए बढ़ा दिया गया है।


Police appeal over Cockburnspath sheep theft

Summary: Police are appealing for witnesses after 40 ewes and 80 lambs were stolen from a field in the Scottish Borders.

The incident happened between 09:00 on Friday and 08:00 on Saturday at a field beside Kinegar Quarry in Cockburnspath. A statement from Police Scotland said all the animals involved were cross-breeds. Anyone who can assist police trace those responsible for their theft has been asked to come forward with information immediately.

स्कॉटिश बॉर्डर्स के एक खेत से 40 भेड़ और 80 भेड़ के बच्चे चोरी होने के बाद पुलिस गवाहों के लिए अपील कर रही है।


Are Corsica's militants and mafia a thing of the past?

Summary: Located off the Italian coast, but politically part of France, Corsica has experienced a violent independence struggle since the 1970s. But in June armed militants announced they had laid down their weapons. So has peace really broken out?

By Martin BuckleyCorsica As I drove around Corsica on the first of two visits this year, I was struck once again by the island's violent beauty. Against a backdrop of jagged granite mountains, the maquis had erupted into brilliant yellows and purples. The beaches I glimpsed from the twisting roads showed white sand alongside turquoise water. The survival of the Corsican landscape, compared with the desecration of so much of the Mediterranean, seems miraculous. But as several Corsicans recently reminded me, it's the independence movement's willingness to blow up seashore developments that's protected the so-called Ile de Beaute - the Isle of Beauty. It's important to add that no tourist has ever been harmed. For a mountainous terrain where agriculture is a tough challenge, tourism is a blessing, the golden goose no-one would dream of killing. But outside the summer months, when the island's population doubles with holidaymakers, an armed struggle has raged for more than 40 years. Corsicans have always had a reputation for toughness and vendetta. James Bond fell in love with, and married, the daughter of a Corsican brigand. According to the newspaper l'Express, Corsica's more violent than its near-neighbour Sicily. In the last three years alone there have been 40 murders, mostly mafia-related - grand banditry, as it's rather picturesquely known. Killings take place with clinical efficiency, but the motives are opaque. There's often speculation about land deals, murders designed to, in a sinister phrase, "send a message", and tit-for-tat killings. But experts on organised crime admit the threads of violence in Corsica are impossibly tangled. What is certain is that almost none of the murderers are ever apprehended. Corsica became a French colony in 1768. It had one of Europe's earliest functioning democracies, but France brutally abolished that, shut down the university, and banned the indigenous language. Over the next two centuries the island was rendered into a region of France. But resentment smouldered on. In the 1970s, after Vietnam and revolutions worldwide, armed revolt broke out against Corsica's perceived colonial ruler. The fighters made their mark and wore down the French state with a kind of attrition similar to the IRA in Northern Ireland. But by the 1990s various independence factions were turning against each other and political goals were getting foggy. French security forces had ever more efficient electronic surveillance and public support for armed struggle was declining. Few younger islanders are gripped by the nationalist fervour that animated their fathers' generation. I spoke to a man in his late thirties who has a young family and is building a successful business. He felt uneasily that he should sympathise with the older generation's long struggle. "But what did they achieve?" he asked. Undeveloped beaches, yes. And some say they held back drug trafficking on the island. But they didn't achieve independence. And ironically, the ballot box could now be key to Corsica's future. Recent elections, like the mayoralty of the important city of Bastia, have seen independence candidates gaining power. Why fight a traumatic clandestine war if you can get what you want by legitimate means? So not everyone was surprised when, in June, the movement called FLNC, or National Front for the Liberation of Corsica, unexpectedly announced it was downing arms. Few islanders I met still dream of a genuinely independent Corsica - indeed, many believe that transnational institutions like the European Union make nationhood increasingly irrelevant. The Scottish referendum excited much interest and admiration for British political pragmatism. But all that many Corsicans now hope for is increased autonomy, more control over their language, and a halt to the land speculation that's pushing property values beyond the reach of ordinary islanders. Many also want a halt to immigration, and if that sounds like a UKIP agenda, then - yes: supporters of independence are as likely today to be on the right as the left. What the FLNC called for when it declared its ceasefire was a response from the French state. But so far, there are few signs of movement from Francois Hollande's socialist government. In Northern Ireland arms were eventually put out of commission, destroyed in a process overseen by a neutral Canadian general. When I mentioned this to an elderly independence supporter, he laughed out loud. "We might lay down our arms but Corsicans will never abandon their weapons," he told me. And if Paris doesn't budge, he warned, then Corsican frustration will lead to more violence, worse than ever before. Many former independence leaders disagree. They feel Corsica is moving inevitably towards a new, non-violent phase. But the Island of Beauty is also an island of passionate emotions. And its militants' weapons are very far from being out of commission. 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.

इतालवी तट से दूर स्थित, लेकिन राजनीतिक रूप से फ्रांस का हिस्सा, कोर्सिका ने 1970 के दशक से एक हिंसक स्वतंत्रता संघर्ष का अनुभव किया है। लेकिन जून में सशस्त्र आतंकवादियों ने घोषणा की कि उन्होंने अपने हथियार डाल दिए हैं। तो क्या वास्तव में शांति टूट गई है?


Cleveland Potash Boulby mine tower to be demolished

Summary: A 50m (164ft) tower at a potash mine in East Cleveland is to be demolished as part of a £300m redevelopment.

The old Rockshaft Tower built at the Boulby mine in 1969, is being replaced after the sea air and weather corroded the structure. The £15m project will see the new tower built alongside the current one. Work is expected to be completed by April. Project manager Neil Fickling said the project would "guarantee" the future of the mine for at least 30 years. The renewal will raise the amount of ore lifted to around 5.3 million tonnes a year, a one million tonne increase on the current maximum, owners Cleveland Potash Ltd said. A controlled demolition will take place on Monday.

पूर्वी क्लीवलैंड में एक पोटाश खदान में एक 50 मीटर (164 फीट) टावर को 300 मिलियन पाउंड के पुनर्विकास के हिस्से के रूप में ध्वस्त किया जाना है।


Law firm representing abuse victims calls for inquiry

Summary: A Hampshire law firm representing 21 victims of abuse in Jersey has expressed concerns about the decision not to hold a public inquiry into the historic child abuse investigation.

Verisona is seeking substantial damages from the States on behalf of former residents of the Haut de la Garenne children's home. The law firm specialises in historic abuse cases. It said some victims would now never get the chance to tell their stories. The firm said many had been pinning their hopes on an inquiry which the government had said would take place once the police investigation had closed. Verisona is representing people who were at the home between the 1940s and 1980s. It said it was in the interests of all that an inquiry was held.

जर्सी में दुर्व्यवहार के 21 पीड़ितों का प्रतिनिधित्व करने वाली हैम्पशायर की एक कानूनी फर्म ने ऐतिहासिक बाल शोषण जांच की सार्वजनिक जांच नहीं करने के फैसले के बारे में चिंता व्यक्त की है।


Murder charge after man found in Bilston property

Summary: A man has been charged with the murder of a man who was found with multiple serious injuries.

Deniss Buzmakovs, 42, was discovered in Beckett Street in Bilston, West Midlands, at about 18:30 BST on Sunday. Aleksejs Lusnikovs, 42, from Beckett Street, is due to appear before Walsall Magistrates' Court on Thursday. A 34-year-old man who was arrested has been released with no further action. A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out on Thursday, police said.

एक व्यक्ति पर एक व्यक्ति की हत्या का आरोप लगाया गया है जो कई गंभीर चोटों के साथ पाया गया था।


The real reason humans are the dominant species

Summary: From early humans rubbing sticks together to make fire, to the fossil fuels that drove the industrial revolution, energy has played a central role in our development as a species. But the way we power our societies has also created humanity's biggest challenge. It's one that will take all our ingenuity to solve.

By Justin Rowlatt & Laurence KnightBBC News Energy is the key to humanity's world domination. Not just the jet fuel that allows us to traverse entire continents in a few hours, or the bombs we build that can blow up entire cities, but the vast amounts of energy we all use every day. Consider this: a resting human being requires about the same amount of energy as an old-fashioned incandescent light bulb to sustain their metabolism - about 90 watts (joules per second). But the average human being in a developed country uses more like 100 times that amount, if you add in the energy needed to get around, build and heat our homes, grow our food and all the other things our species gets up to. The average American, for example, consumes about 10,000 watts. That difference explains a lot about us - our biology, our civilisation and the unbelievably affluent lifestyles we all lead - compared, that is, with other animals. Because unlike virtually every other creature on Earth, we human beings do much more with energy than just power our own metabolism. We are a creature of fire. Humanity's exceptional relationship with energy began hundreds of thousands of years ago, with our discovery of fire. Fire did much more than just keep us warm, protect us from predators and give us a new tool for hunting. A number of anthropologists believe fire actually refashioned our biology. "Anything that allows an organism to get energy more efficiently is going to have huge effects on the evolutionary trajectory of that organism," explains Prof Rachel Carmody of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She believes the decisive development was cooking. Cooking transforms the energy available from food, she argues. The carbohydrates, proteins and lipids that provide our bodies with nutrition are unravelled and exposed when they are heated. That makes it is easier for our digestive enzymes to do their work effectively, extracting more calories more quickly than if we ate our food raw. Think of it as a way of "pre-digesting" food. Prof Carmody and her colleagues believe the extra energy it reliably gave us allowed us to evolve the small colons and relatively large energy-hungry brains that distinguish us from our primate cousins. And, as our brains began to grow, it created a positive feedback loop. As neurons are added to the mammalian brain, intelligence increases exponentially, says Suzana Herculano-Houzel, a neuroscientist based at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. With smarter brains, we got better at hunting and foraging. And we figured out more ways to access the calories in our food - by pounding it with a rock, by grinding into a powder, or even just letting it rot - or of course by roasting it over a fire. In doing so, we further increased the supply of energy to our bodies. This allowed us to evolve even smarter brains, and the ensuing virtuous circle propelled our brains to the top of the class. Over hundreds of thousands of years, the climate constantly changed, with ice sheets advancing and then retreating across the northern hemisphere. The last Ice Age ended around 12,000 years ago. Global temperatures rose rapidly and then stabilised, and humanity embarked on its next energy transformation. It was a revolution that would see the world reach unprecedented levels of technological change. "Within 2,000 years, all over the world, in China, in the Near East, in South America, in Mesoamerica, you're getting people domesticating crops," says Dr Robert Bettinger of the University of California Davis. Cultivating crops had been pretty much impossible during the Ice Age, he believes, but the new warmer climate, coupled with a big rise in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, was very hospitable to plant life. The cooking ape became a farming ape too. It took huge investments of human energy in the form of hard, arduous labour. But in return, our ancestors reaped a far more abundant and reliable food supply. Think for a moment about what you are doing when you raise crops. Fields act like a kind of solar panel, but instead of making electricity, they turn the Sun's rays into packages of digestible chemical energy. Above all were cereal crops - domesticated grains like wheat, maize and rice acted like a kind of storable energy currency. You can bank it away in a silo to consume at your leisure during the winter months. Or you can cart it off to market to trade with others. Or invest it in planting the next harvest. Or in fattening up animals, which could convert that energy into meat, dairy or draught power. As the centuries passed, animals and plants domesticated in different locations would coalesce into a kind of agricultural package, says Melinda Zeder, an archaeologist who studies the development of pastoral farming at the Smithsonian Institution. The crops fed animals. The animals worked the land. Their manure fed the crops. And, says Dr Zeder, as a package, they provided a much more reliable and abundant food source. More food meant more people - who could then expand into new territory, and develop new technologies that produced even more food. It was another virtuous circle, but this time powered by the solar energy captured through agriculture. The surplus energy it created meant we could sustain much larger populations, and what's more, not everyone needed to farm. People could specialise in making tools, building houses, smelting metals or, for that matter, telling other people what to do. Civilisation was developing and with it some fundamental changes in the relationships between people. Hunter gatherer communities tend to share resources fairly equally. In farming communities, by contrast, deep inequalities can develop. Those who worked long hours in the fields would naturally want to hoard their grain. And then there were those with metal weapons who took a cut from those granaries in the form of taxation. In fact, for thousands of years, the standard of living for the vast majority people on Earth did not improve significantly, despite the bounty of agriculture. "Hunter gatherer societies were the original affluent society," says Claire Walton, the resident archaeologist at Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire. "They spent something like 20 hours a week in what you would call proper labour." By comparison, a Neolithic, Iron Age, Roman or Saxon farmer would be doing at least double that, she believes. Only kings and nobles lived the kind of affluent, leisurely lifestyles that more and more of us enjoy today. It would take an explosive shift in energy use to achieve that, a shift powered by fossil fuels. By the 18th Century, our increasingly populous societies were beginning to run up against the limits of what the energy provided by the daily influx of the Sun's rays could do. A Malthusian reckoning loomed. How could we grow food fast enough to feed all those mouths? Or indeed wood to build all our houses and ships, and to make the charcoal to smelt all our metal tools? So we began to turn instead to a black rock that we could dig up and burn in almost unlimited quantities. Coal contains the solar energy captured over millions of years by fossilised forests. In the 20th Century, the black stuff would be succeeded by those even richer geological stores of photosynthetic energy - oil and natural gas. And with them, all sorts of new activities became possible. Not only were fossil fuels abundant. They also provided ever greater sources of power, liberating us from our dependence on animals. First came steam engines to turn the heat from coal into motion. Then the internal combustion engine. Then the jet engine. "A horse can only give you one horsepower," explains Paul Warde, an environmental historian at Cambridge University. "We now have industrial machines that can give you tens of thousands of horsepower, and at its limits a Saturn V rocket: 160 million horsepower to deliver you off the surface of the Earth." Fossil fuels power much more than just our vehicles. Some 5% of the world's natural gas supply is used to create ammonia-based fertilisers, for example, without which half the world's population would starve. Turning iron into steel consumes 13% of global coal production. An estimated 8% of the world's CO2 emissions are from concrete. But burning fossil fuels has had an incredible effect on our standard of living. Since the Industrial Revolution we have grown taller and healthier, our life expectancy has increased vastly, and in the developed world we are on average 30 to 40 times better off. And it's all thanks to the energy revolution driven by fossil fuels, argues Vaclav Smil of Manitoba University in Canada, a hugely respected expert on the role of energy in our societies. "Without fossil fuels, no rapid mass transportation, no flying, no surplus consumer food production, no cell phone made in China, brought to Southampton by a giant container ship with 20,000 containers. All of that is fossil fuels," he says. We live in a fossil fuel society, believes Smil. But while they have lifted ever more of us out of agrarian hardship, and created our global economy and high living standards, the catastrophic climate change they are creating now threatens to derail that society. Just as two centuries ago we reached the limits of what agriculture could do, now global warming is imposing a limit on what coal, oil and gas can safely do. It has created the greatest challenge human society has ever faced - moving back to relying on the daily influx of energy from the Sun to meet the huge energy needs of eight billion people and counting. I believe that is possible. But you'll have to listen to my new radio series to find out how. Follow Justin on Twitter. A Pyrotechnic History of Humanity will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 11am on Tuesday 30 March. I've travelled all over the world for the BBC and seen evidence of environmental damage and climate change everywhere. It's the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced. Tackling it means changing how we do virtually everything. We are right to be anxious and afraid at the prospect, but I reckon we should also see this as a thrilling story of exploration, and I'm delighted to have been given the chance of a ringside seat as chief environment correspondent.

आदिकाल के मनुष्यों द्वारा आग लगाने के लिए लाठियों को एक साथ रगड़ने से लेकर औद्योगिक क्रांति को चलाने वाले जीवाश्म ईंधन तक, ऊर्जा ने एक प्रजाति के रूप में हमारे विकास में केंद्रीय भूमिका निभाई है। लेकिन जिस तरह से हम अपने समाजों को शक्ति प्रदान करते हैं, उसने मानवता की सबसे बड़ी चुनौती भी पैदा कर दी है। यह वह है जिसे हल करने के लिए हमारी सारी सरलता की आवश्यकता है।


Yemen crisis: An Iranian-Saudi battleground?

Summary: Yemen is fast descending into a violent cauldron where the competing interests of Shia Houthi rebels, Sunni tribes, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states, Iran, al-Qaeda and now Islamic State are forming a toxic mix.

By Frank GardnerBBC security correspondent The situation has got so bad that the US and UK have closed their embassies and evacuated their staff, while Gulf Arab countries have moved theirs to the southern city of Aden. The Houthis are closing in on Aden, which controls the entrance to the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab strait, through which about 20,000 ships pass annually. The city is also the base of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, who has called for military intervention by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), including the imposition of a no-fly zone, while few people hold out much hope for the promised peace talks in Qatar. So, is Yemen about to embroil the region in a wider war? Sectarian strife At its heart, the current conflict in Yemen is one between the rebels and what remains of the elected Yemeni government. The Houthis are Shia, from the Zaidi sect. They are opposed not just by the government they have ousted but also by Yemen's many Sunni tribes. But above all, they are opposed by the jihadists of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Islamic State, who consider Shia heretics. On 20 March, IS marked its violent debut in the country with four suicide bomb attacks at mosques popular with Houthi supporters, killing more than 130 worshippers. The Houthis come from the far north of Yemen and have little popular support in most of the rest of the country. But they are effective fighters who seized the capital last September (having said they would not) and they are getting a lot of help from some quarters. The powerful former President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is widely reported to be backing them, determined to make Yemen ungovernable by his successor, the UN-backed President Hadi. Iran is also alleged to be supporting the Houthis. The rebels officially deny this, but senior figures have been seen in Iran's holy city of Qom and there are unconfirmed reports of Iranian pilots flying Yemeni planes. All this is enough to seriously rattle the Saudis, who woke up too late to the prospect of a pro-Iranian rebel movement taking over their southern neighbour. The Saudis, who conducted air strikes against the Houthis on their common border in 2010, say they will not allow Iran "to sow sectarian strife in the region" and have vowed to back Yemen's beleaguered president. Saudi Arabia is still in the process of building a massive border fence with Yemen and is now bolstering its naval base at the southern Red Sea port of Jizan. Proxy war fears "The Saudi military preparation," says security analyst Aimen Deen from the think tank Five Dimensions, "signals, along with the increasing diplomatic efforts, Saudi Arabia's intent to stop the Houthis controlling the Bab al-Mandab strait. "The pressing question is whether the Royal Saudi Air Force will intervene to prevent Aden from falling to the Houthis. All indications are that the Saudis are preparing militarily to answer this question, but the political decision is not yet taken." Put bluntly, Yemen is in enough trouble with the ongoing fight between its own citizens. If Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states get drawn in one side, and Iran on another, the conflict risks getting exponentially worse. "The looming danger is seeing Yemen merely as a proxy war between the Gulf Co-operation Council states and Iran," says Jon Altman, Middle East programme director at the Centre for Strategic & International Studies in Washington. "Iran is clearly giving some support to the Houthis, but over the last 10 years that support has been limited and slow to arrive. "There are no indications that the government of Iran sees Yemen as a strategic priority. If the proxy war route is pursued, the conflict is likely to rage for years." 'No exit strategy' Yemen is no stranger to outside interference. In the civil war of the 1960s, Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser sent his country's air force to support the Republicans against the Royalists, dropping chemical weapons from the air. Aden and its adjacent provinces were British protectorates until the British withdrawal in 1967. South Yemen was then ruled by communists with Soviet backing, and the Russians established bases there. In the civil war of 1994, Saudi Arabia allegedly supported the Southerners as they tried, unsuccessfully, to break away from the North. And for the last 20 years, the US military has maintained a small and discreet military presence in the country, mostly training and advising on counter-terrorism, a presence which has now ended in an abrupt withdrawal after al-Qaeda fighters overran a town close to the base used by US Special Forces. "The real danger of the civil war," says a senior Western official who asked not to be named, "is that of outside players getting involved." But outside powers will be thinking carefully before committing themselves to military intervention in Yemen. It is an expensive, difficult country for anyone to wage war in, the battle lines are blurred and there is no clear exit strategy for either side.

यमन तेजी से एक हिंसक कड़ाही में उतर रहा है जहाँ शिया हौती विद्रोहियों, सुन्नी जनजातियों, सऊदी अरब और अन्य खाड़ी अरब राज्यों, ईरान, अल-कायदा और अब इस्लामिक स्टेट के प्रतिस्पर्धी हित एक विषाक्त मिश्रण बना रहे हैं।


Illegal bottom injections on rise in US

Summary: A growing number of American women are getting plastic surgery to enhance their behinds. But with the costs running into the thousands of dollars, many are choosing cheap, illegal and life-threatening backstreet procedures.

By Rajini VaidyanathanBBC News, Miami She did it because she thought she'd look better, and be more desirable. But getting injections for a bigger behind was the biggest mistake Natalie Johnson ever made. At her home in a Miami suburb, she shows me pictures of her scarred body, bruised and blackened from decaying tissue. "I didn't need it, I was perfect without it," she says. "I was in a lifestyle where I felt if I had a big old butt, I could make more money." The pain she has to endure is so severe that it is hard for her to sit down for too long. Johnson relies on her nine-year-old daughter to help with the most basic of tasks. Johnson was working as an exotic dancer when she met someone claiming to be a doctor who offered to perform a buttocks-enhancement procedure at a fraction of the price of a registered surgeon. It did not seem out of the ordinary. Other friends had it done and plenty of young women in Miami desire a larger behind to look like the dancers in music videos, Johnson says. She says a man named O'Neal Morris came to her house wearing white scrubs - "looking professional" - and injected a substance into her behind using plastic syringe. At first the results were good: a firmer, rounder rear, bringing her closer to her goal of a "Coca-Cola bottle-shaped body". She had two more rounds of treatment. Soon after, the problems began. "It started making me really, really sick. I noticed it was starting to disintegrate and my butt turned wrinkly," she says. Bottom's up Surgical attention to the backside is on the rise. In 2013: • 2,438 people got a buttock lift, an 80% increase over 2000. • 7,281 people received a "lower body lift", which includes shaping the buttocks, thighs, hips and abdomen. That represents 3,417% increase over 2000 and the biggest growth measured by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. • 942 people got buttock implants, compared with 858 in 2012. Rates were not measured in 2000. • 9,993 people in the US got a buttock augmentation with fat grafting, compared with 8,654 in 2012. "I was getting dizzy, and feeling fatigued." On one occasion Johnson was rushed to hospital after she stopped breathing. Morris began a one-year jail sentence in January for practising medicine without a licence. Women who came forward during the trial said Morris, who is not a qualified doctor, had injected them with a range of substances including cement, superglue and tyre sealant. The Federal Bureau of Investigations says the numbers of cases of people posing as fake doctors to perform this kind of treatment are on the rise, especially in Florida, New York, California and Texas. At his surgery in a Miami suburb, Dr Alberto Gallerani shows me vials containing things he has pulled out of patients' buttocks, including olive oil and super glue. A certified plastic surgeon, Gallerani has been treating Johnson and hundreds of other women and men who come to him for corrective surgery after botched procedures. He shows me photos of what can go wrong. They are too horrific to post online, but in some cases the skin has changed colour and is badly scarred. Other more extreme images show how the body has become severely disfigured. Gallerani says in many cases the symptoms can take several years to appear. "What many of the people doing this don't realise is, they're putting a ticking time bomb in their body," he says. He says he gets 100 calls a week from people asking for help. Buttocks are an increasing target for surgical enhancement. In 2013, the numbers for this procedure doubled over the previous year, according to the American Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. It costs thousands of dollars to get it done properly, which is why many women are opting for cheaper, unregulated methods. Hip-hop culture celebrates a larger rear, and the pressure on women to have a bigger behind is huge, says Tee Ali, a London-based casting agent. His client and friend, 20-year-old Claudia Aderotimi, died in 2011 after she flew from London to Philadelphia to get injections from a woman she met online. Doctors believe the illegal silicone shots spread to her organs, killing her. The person accused of administering the procedure is due in court next year. Ali says Aderotimi believed a bigger behind would help her make it in the music industry. "When girls go out and one of them has a big rear, she gets all the attention. She'll get everything, free lifts, free drinks," he says. "It's well known, girls with bigger bums have more attention and they have big jobs and they're more in demand." Ali says young women to whom he has spoken are afraid to discuss the issue openly, and won't admit they might want to get surgery in the first place, which also drives many to underground procedures. He says many women fly to the US to get the injections because they are harder to find in the UK. Tragically, Aderotimi is not alive to warn others of the dangers, but Johnson believes by sharing her story she can save others from the same fate. "Stick with what God gave you," she says. "I tell girls, if it ain't broke don't fix it. You are beautiful the way you are."

अमेरिकी महिलाओं की बढ़ती संख्या प्लास्टिक सर्जरी करवाती जा रही है ताकि वे अपनी कमर मजबूत कर सकें। लेकिन हजारों डॉलर की लागत के साथ, कई सस्ती, अवैध और जानलेवा बैकस्ट्रीट प्रक्रियाओं को चुन रही हैं।


Woody Allen allegations spur debate over legacy and celebrity culture

Summary: On Saturday, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof posted to his blog an open letter to the public from Dylan Farrow detailing allegations that her adoptive father, legendary actor and director Woody Allen, sexually assaulted her when she was seven years old.

By Anthony ZurcherEditor, Echo Chambers The allegations first surfaced during contentious divorce and child custody proceedings between Mr Allen and actress Mia Farrow in 1993 but returned to public debate when the Golden Globes honoured the director with a lifetime achievement award and he received an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay for his latest film, Blue Jasmine. "For as long as I could remember, my father had been doing things to me that I didn't like" wrote Dylan Farrow. After the assault, which she says occurred in the attic of her house, she told her mother. She recounts how the court battle between her parents played out from her perspective and the emotional impact the alleged assault and resulting high profile debate over Mr Allen's guilt have had on her mental health. "I was stricken with guilt that I had allowed him to be near other little girls," she writes. "I was terrified of being touched by men. I developed an eating disorder. I began cutting myself." Ms Farrow, who lives under a new name in Florida with her husband, lays blame for her situation in part on Hollywood culture and a US society that glorifies celebrities. "Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse," she writes. On Sunday Mr Allen issued a statement denying his daughter's claims. "Mr Allen has read the article and found it untrue and disgraceful," his publicist, Leslee Dart, writes. He continues: At the time, a thorough investigation was conducted by court appointed independent experts. The experts concluded there was no credible evidence of molestation; that Dylan Farrow had an inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality; and that Dylan Farrow had likely been coached by her mother, Mia Farrow. No charges were ever filed. Ms Farrow's letter has largely generated sympathy from the commentators and columnists. "Dylan Farrow's bravery is to be commended," writes the Washington Monthly's Kathleen Geier. "I hope that by going public, she finds renewed serenity and strength, and that her example gives hope to other survivors. Actress/director Lena Dunham tweeted: "To share in this way is courageous, powerful and generous." Others have called for Mr Allen to be shunned by the public and Hollywood. "Look, none of us can be certain what happened," writes Kristof in a column that accompanied Ms Farrow's letter. "The standard to send someone to prison is guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but shouldn't the standard to honor someone be that they are unimpeachably, well, honorable?" That Mr Allen has been able to continue to move in celebrity circles and find support for his artistic work is a reflection of a "rape culture" that gives equal weight to the accuser and the accused, writes the New Inquiry's Aaron Bady. "In a rape culture, there is no burden on us to presume that she is not a liar, no necessary imperative to treat her like a person whose account of herself can be taken seriously," he writes. "It is important that we presume he is innocent. It is not important that we presume she is not making it all up out of female malice." Bernard O'Leary of the Guardian Liberty Voice writes that the allegations present a dilemma for Mr Allen's fans - similar to what fans of other celebrities have faced when their idols are accused of heinous crimes. "The truth is that society does not really know how to deal with celebrity sex offenders, especially when the work they've produced is widely admired," he writes. "Fans and supporters will try to sweep it under the carpet and people will try to focus on the work. Perhaps it is possible to celebrate the art while condemning the artist, but hopefully society will not soon be listening to Woody Allen's apologists trying to claim that it wasn't 'rape-rape.'" Reason magazine's Nick Gillespie notes that history is full of artists with tarnished legacies. How, he asks, should we treat their creations? "If artists are not simply awful human beings but criminals, should we turn away from their work?" he writes. Arthur Koestler was a rapist, according to one of his biographers. Does that mean his great anti-totalitarian novel, Darkness at Noon, should go unread? Edmund Wilson was a wife-beater, Picasso well beyond a sociopath, and on and on. When it comes to figures such as Martin Heidegger (an actual Nazi) and Paul de Man (a Nazi collaborator) and others in the past, the question is simpler: We can add new disclosures or information to a study of their influence and an estimation of whether their reputations are deserved. When faced with living, breathing creators such as Allen and [director Roman] Polanski, that sort of dodge isn't really available. Other writers have argued that Mr Allen should have the benefit of the doubt. "Clearly, this is a woman who is very damaged, if not by Allen himself, then by her parents' bitter breakup and savage custody battle," writes Susie O'Brien in the Melbourne Herald Sun. "I believe Farrow does think something terrible happened in that dark attic all these years ago, and she has clearly not recovered from it. However, it doesn't necessarily mean Allen is a child abuser who should be shunned from society, and ignored professionally." Tablet Magazine's Alana Newhouse writes that the "entire premise" of Ms Farrow's letter is wrong. She shouldn't be blaming the public and Hollywood for her pain. Instead it was her mother's decision to not pursue criminal charges against Mr Allen that has left ambiguity in the case. "It disabled our ability to judge anyone either way, and it solidified this as an endless he-said-she-said," she writes. "Imagine if Mia Farrow had pressed charges and Allen had been convicted and gone to prison. Does anyone think, for one second, that he'd be the recipient of a Golden Globes lifetime achievement award?" The details in this case have been extensively covered over the past two decades. Several pieces in Vanity Fair present the case against Mr Allen. Robert B Weide, who directed a documentary about Mr Allen, offers his critique of the allegations and a defence of the embattled director in the Daily Beast. Since the statute of limitations for charges against Mr Allen relating to Ms Farrow's allegations has passed, there will likely be no definitive resolution to this sad story. The public, and in the end history, will be the only judges for Mr Allen and his daughter.

शनिवार को, न्यूयॉर्क टाइम्स के स्तंभकार निकोलस क्रिस्टोफ ने अपने ब्लॉग पर डायलन फैरो से जनता के लिए एक खुला पत्र पोस्ट किया जिसमें आरोपों का विवरण दिया गया कि उनके दत्तक पिता, महान अभिनेता और निर्देशक वुडी एलन ने सात साल की उम्र में उनका यौन उत्पीड़न किया था।


Solicitor Jane Poole-Wilson elected to Legislative Council

Summary: A solicitor has been elected to the upper house of Tynwald following a vote by the Members of the House of Keys.

It was the first poll since reforms to the election procedure came into effect in April and meant a majority of 13 was no longer required for election. Jane Poole-Wilson received 14 votes with her closest rival Alan Wright gaining six. The mother of two will fill the seat made vacant when Tony Wild retired due to "ill health" in February. The Speaker of the House of Keys Juan Watterson congratulated her and said she would be sworn in on 23 May. She will hold the position until February 2018.

हाउस ऑफ कीज के सदस्यों द्वारा मतदान के बाद टिनवाल्ड के ऊपरी सदन के लिए एक वकील चुना गया है।


Avoncroft Museum windmill damaged in heavy gusts

Summary: A windmill that is part of a Worcestershire tourist attraction has been damaged during severe weather.

One of the sails of the Danzey Green windmill, at Avoncroft Museum, near Bromsgrove, was left hanging off after heavy gusts of wind. The tourist attraction is a collection of historic buildings. Simon Carter, director of Avoncroft Museum, said it was a "major setback" to their planned maintenance schedule for this year. Related Internet Links Avoncroft Museum

एक पवनचक्की जो वॉरसेस्टरशायर पर्यटक आकर्षण का हिस्सा है, खराब मौसम के दौरान क्षतिग्रस्त हो गई है।


Kevin Nunes shooting: The police mistakes that sank a murder case

Summary: A promising young footballer shot dead. Five men jailed for his murder released after a catalogue of police mistakes.

By Phil MackieFile on 4 Fifteen years on from his cold-blooded killing, the family of Kevin Nunes have no answers to their questions, no-one has been held responsible for his death and no police officers have been disciplined. Here, those at the centre of the saga tell their stories to File on 4. Things could have worked out very differently for Kevin Nunes. Arriving in the UK from Jamaica as a schoolboy, he began to show promise as a talented footballer. He impressed scouts at Tottenham Hotspur, and was on Leyton Orient's books. When he moved to the West Midlands, he began playing for Stafford Rangers semi-professionally. At about the same time, 18-year-old Leanne Williams, from Wolverhampton, caught his eye. "A friend phoned me and said that somebody liked me, so I went to see who - I was quite intrigued," she recalls. "He was a good person. He liked playing football, going to the gym and just hanging out really. He was very committed in football." By 2002, Leanne was pregnant with his son. But any hopes of Kevin realising his dream as a professional footballer had begun to fade. He had started hanging around with a bad crowd - a gang of drug dealers linked to a notorious criminal gang in Heath Town, Wolverhampton. He learned there was quite a bit of money to be made buying cheap cocaine in the West Midlands, and selling it on in Aberdeen. In what was known as the "Aberdeen run", small-time dealers would board a train in Wolverhampton and head up to the Scottish city, making three or four times as much as they could back at home. Kevin, then 20, began making several trips. But his money-making scheme did not last long after he clashed with gang members back in the Midlands. Kevin's bullet-ridden body was found on a grass verge near a farm in the Staffordshire village of Pattingham in September 2002. Leanne, who had been frantically looking for her boyfriend after he failed to return home, was visited by Staffordshire Police and quizzed about his last known movements. "The last thing they asked me was what was he wearing. I said 'red cardigan, jeans, white trainers', and they said 'sorry to tell you, it is Kevin we found'. "I broke down and started crying. Up to this day I don't know what happened or why." Detectives took about 1,000 statements but, as is often the case with gangland killings, no-one was willing to put a name to anyone responsible. Star witness "They said that they were met with reluctance and that wall of silence, which I know amongst the black community - it's a thing there between the police and ethnic minority, really," says Leanne. "There's not really that trust there, because we don't believe that they're for us in that way, you know." But in 2005, a man by the name of Simeon Taylor came forward with key information. He told detectives that he had been there when Kevin was repeatedly shot and beaten by five men, having driven one of them to the scene. He denied being involved in the murder, and said he was willing to give evidence at a trial. Already in jail for another offence, when released, Taylor was given protective witness status. It was the job of Staffordshire Police's sensitive policing unit (SPU) to keep him safe ahead of the trial. The force had their star witness. Five men were in custody awaiting trial for murder. But it is at this point that the investigation started to go very wrong indeed. Drugs paraphernalia As the only person placing the five suspects at the murder scene, Taylor was afforded gold-plated police protection, and he knew it. He continued to commit crime - such as being in possession of an offensive weapon - but was never charged amid fears it would harm his role as key witness. His handlers had to clear up drugs paraphernalia he left behind in hotel rooms and safe houses - with no consequences for Taylor. He was even taken on nights out drinking with officers. But the most startling revelation is that while on the witness protection scheme, he and his relatives were sent on a lavish, taxpayer-funded trip to South Africa, believed to have cost up to £10,000, as part of a potential relocation package. His behaviour was so bad, he was asked to leave the country. Joe Anderson, a former detective inspector who had recently taken charge of the SPU, was flabbergasted. "I found out he was sent to South Africa - his mother and his two brothers were also sent to South Africa, and spent several weeks over there having a holiday. "Staffordshire Police was held to ransom, and Staffordshire Police gave in to the vast majority of [the] demands." Despite being informed about Taylor's behaviour - he had breached a behaviour code of conduct 76 times - Staffordshire's then head of crime, Assistant Chief Constable Suzette Davenport recommended he continue to be granted protected witness status. "The bottom line is that because of the type of lifestyle he was involved in, I feared for his life," she now says, speaking for the first time on the subject. "And one of the overriding drivers, because I am a public servant, is to protect life and property, and I absolutely feared that if he wasn't within that protection scheme - regardless of if he might have given evidence or not - that he would potentially have come to significant harm. I feared for his life." But when Taylor cancelled a hotel booking police made for him, keeping the £320 refund, it was enough to make Det Insp Anderson turn whistleblower. He believed colleagues had deliberately not recorded this, knowing it could jeopardise the investigation. "Constantly the words that kept being used to me were, we must get him to court at all costs," said the officer. This time, he went to Supt Jane Sawyers, the then head of Professional Standards for Staffordshire Police. He told her he believed what was happening in his department amounted to corruption. But in her first interview about the case, she recalls a different conversation, during which Det Insp Anderson complained about a lack of professionalism and management support. Ms Sawyers spoke to her line manager, the then Deputy Chief Constable Adrian Lee, who commissioned an internal review into the department's actions. It was completed in 2007, before the murder trial took place. The report "exposed failings in the structure, procedures, working practices, culture and management of the unit". Officers were criticised for socialising with Taylor, and concerns were also raised over the amount of money being spent on him. A defence lawyer could suggest this amounted to a bribe, the review added. One member of the SPU was given formal advice by a senior officer, another was put in a different unit. But the contents of the report were only circulated between a handful of senior officers, and were not disclosed to detectives investigating Kevin's murder. The murder trial went ahead in January 2008, and five men were found guilty and handed life sentences. Adam Joof and Antonio Christie were jailed for a minimum of 28 years; Levi Walker and Michael Osbourne were handed 27-year tariffs, and Owen Crooks was given at least 25 years in prison. Leanne, who had travelled to court with her mother and brother Benji, was overwhelmed at the verdicts. "I cried and I was overjoyed, you know, because I didn't think anybody would get convicted of Kevin's murder. "I just thought it would be another unsolved case, to be honest." Leanne and her family moved on with their lives. But two years later, rumours emerged the five men were appealing against their convictions. Simeon Taylor had been secretly recorded telling a friend he lied in court. 'Shell-shocked' The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) launched an investigation called Operation Kalmia. Still concerned the case had been mishandled, Joe Anderson, says he approached Marcus Beale, then the assistant chief constable at the Staffordshire force. When he heard nothing back, he took his complaints to the CCRC. "I think the word I'd use is 'shell-shocked'," he says. "They were clearly shocked at what I was telling them. They told me to go back to the force to secure whatever evidence I could, copy everything and retain everything and bring it back to them." The chief constable of Derbyshire, Mick Creedon, was put in charge of the probe, which concluded the initial report into the handling of Taylor should have been disclosed long before the trial went ahead. All five men's convictions were overturned at the Appeal Court on 4 July 2012. Lord Justice Hooper said the case was "seriously flawed". "It's to be hoped that the appropriate measures will be taken against those responsible for what appears to be a serious perversion of the course of justice," he concluded. The Independent Police Complaints Commission took up the investigation. 'Collective failure' Meanwhile, the four senior officers under investigation had moved up the ranks since 2012. Adrian Lee was chief constable in Northamptonshire; Suzette Davenport was about to be promoted to be chief in Gloucestershire; Jane Sawyers was poised to become chief constable in Staffordshire, and Marcus Beale was an assistant chief constable in the West Midlands with responsibility for counter-terrorism. While Mick Creedon's review found the officers did have a case to answer for gross misconduct, the IPCC ultimately concluded no action would be taken following discussions with the officers' own police and crime commissioners. Agreeing there had been a collective failure, they all said that there was no evidence that could point to an individual being held responsible and so none faced misconduct charges. Three years after the report was completed, its findings were made public this month. While it found "significant and serious collective failings within Staffordshire Police" and serious problems with the handling of the protected witness, it concluded there was no deliberate conspiracy. Jane Sawyers, who retired earlier this year, acknowledges "serious mistakes" were made. "There was a cock-up, without a shadow of a doubt. There wasn't a cover-up and there wasn't a conspiracy," she adds. She describes the family of Kevin as being "incredibly dignified" throughout the whole process. "As I said right at the outset, they've lost a member of their family and they've had absolutely no closure on those responsible for the murder of Kevin. It's a regret of mine." 'It's shocking' Fourteen officers were investigated by Operation Kalmia. Thirteen have retired including the three of the most senior. Only Mr Beale is still a serving officer. Two of the five men cleared of Kevin's murder were awarded £200,000 in damages from Staffordshire Police earlier this year, and it is thought the others may lodge their own claims. Leanne, whose son is nearly 15, still dreams of justice for Kevin. "Nobody has been punished, nobody is held accountable, so to me, a report is nothing. "How is it that nobody, not one person, has been disciplined - nobody? "It's just shocking to me, it's just absolutely shocking and I just think it's really, really, really, bad." The full report can be heard on File on 4, Tuesday 17 October, at 20:00 and afterwards on iPlayer. *Additional reporting by Rebecca Woods

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