Have no girls been born in 132 villages in India?

Summary: When reports emerged earlier this week that no girl had been born in 132 villages in the small Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in the last three months, it sparked panic and prompted a government investigation into the matter.

Soutik BiswasIndia correspondent The "no girl villages" were reported from Uttarkashi, where some 400,000 people live in 550 villages and five towns. Much of the terrain is hilly and remote. In a country which has been grappling with an awful sex-ratio imbalance - largely because of illegal sex-selection abortions - the news has caused considerable anguish. Except that this might not be completely true. The reports said 216 boys and no girls were born in the 132 villages between April and June. But officials found 180 girls and no boys were born during the same period in 129 different villages. And to complete the mixed picture, 88 girls and 78 boys were born in another 166 villages. Overall 961 live births were recorded in Uttarkashi between April and June. A total of 479 were girls, while 468 were boys. (The rest were possibly stillborn) This, officials say, corresponds with the district's favourable sex ratio of 1,024 women for 1,000 men, higher than the national average of 933 women per 1,000 men. Officials say the media possibly cherry-picked the birth data provided by volunteer health workers entrusted with collecting it. Some 600 of these workers are tasked with the job of recording pregnancies and births, and carrying out immunisation and birth control programmes. "I feel media reports about the no-girl villages have been misinterpreted. Also, there is not enough understanding of the context. We've ordered an investigation anyway," Ashish Chauhan, the senior-most official of the district told me. So 26 officials have fanned out across 82 villages to check the veracity of the data and to find out whether something is wrong. Slip-up? What could have gone wrong? One possibility is the data is erroneous or incomplete, and the health workers slipped up. Did they assign a number of male births to a group of villages, and a number of female births to another group? Second, Uttarkashi is a thinly populated place. The average population of a village is 500, and some of the more remote villages have a population of about 100. Health officials say the smallest villages will typically have 10-15 households, and a substantial number of such villages with single-sex births "did not add up to much". "If girl babies have not been born in so many villages, it would have hurt the overall sex ratio of the district," Mr Chauhan said. Locals claim there is little history of discrimination between boys and girls in the district, and point to its favourable sex ratio. "Be it girl or boy, we only pray that the child is healthy and happy," Roshni Rawat, a local woman, told the Hindustan Times newspaper. Also, women here are typically more hardworking than men: labouring on farms, cutting grass, milking cows, cooking and doing household chores. Alcoholism among men is high. Officials say they have not reported cases of female foeticide in the district for some years now. There are three registered ultrasound machines in the district, all in government clinics. "There's no economies of scale here to carry out large-scale illegal abortions or tests to abort female births," says Mr Chauhan. But there's an interesting caveat. Of the 961 births here between April and June, 207 were recorded at home. (The rest were recorded in hospitals or institutions.) A total of 109 of them were male and 93 were girls, upending the overall sex ratio in this district. "This is a bit of a puzzle. We have to investigate this further. Home births typically happen in far-flung villages where access to ambulances and clinics is difficult," Dr Chandan Singh Rawat, a senior medical officer of the district told me. In a week's time, we will know more about the so-called "missing girls" of Uttarakhand. Read more from Soutik Biswas Follow Soutik on Twitter at @soutikBBC

जब इस सप्ताह की शुरुआत में खबरें सामने आईं कि पिछले तीन महीनों में हिमालय के छोटे से राज्य उत्तराखंड के 132 गांवों में एक भी लड़की का जन्म नहीं हुआ है, तो दहशत फैल गई और इस मामले की सरकारी जांच शुरू की गई।


Covid-19 Singapore: A ‘pandemic of inequality’ exposed

Summary: Zakir Hossain Khokan has just about had enough.

By Yvette TanBBC News It's been weeks since he was last allowed out of the room he shares with 11 others. The room is bare, except for six metal-framed bunk beds. Clothes and the odd towel hang in front of the beds, providing some semblance of privacy. "Day and night, we are just inside one room," he says. "It's actually torturing our mind. It's like jail." "Then we can't social distance because there's no space." Having already caught Covid-19, recovered, and gone back to work, Zakir thought his worst days were behind him. His dormitory was declared cleared of the virus in June. But last month a new cluster developed at the dorm, and like thousands of migrant workers, he was ordered back into quarantine. Once lauded for its containment of the virus, Singapore's success crumbled when the virus reached its many foreign worker dormitories, something activists say should have been seen coming a mile off. Now months on, Singapore is reporting single figure daily cases in the local community. People are going back to work, cinemas have reopened and laughter can be heard coming out of restaurants again. But many of Singapore's lowest earners remain indoors, facing uncertainty. The men who built the city Singapore saw its first imported virus cases in late January - weeks later, it had more than 100 cases. A huge contact tracing programme began and a national coronavirus-tracing app was rolled out. Public cautions were increased and clearly communicated. Harvard epidemiologists called Singapore's system the "gold standard of near perfect detection". But there was a crisis building, unseen by most of the population. Singapore is home to more than 300,000 low-wage foreign workers from countries like India and Bangladesh, who mainly work in industries like construction and manufacturing. Their right to live in Singapore is tied to their job and their employer must provide accommodation, at a cost. They commute from their dorms in packed vans to building sites where they work and take breaks alongside men from other crowded dorms - perfect conditions for the virus to spread. With no legal maximum occupancy rules, in pre-Covid times it was normal for up to 20 men to share a room in a dorm. In late March, migrant rights group Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) warned that the "risk of a new cluster among this group remains undeniable". Weeks after a partial national lockdown largely brought the situation among the general public under control, the activists' predictions came true. Hundreds of new migrant worker cases were being discovered each day. Since mid-April, the government has released two distinct daily figures - the cases amongst the local community and the cases in the dormitories. The statistics show the stark contrast between the high number of cases in the dorms and the number of cases in the community, which are so low they barely register in the graph below. "Covid-19, much like any other pandemic, is a pandemic of inequality," Mohan Dutta, professor of Communication at Massey University, told the BBC. "How we communicate it - like the idea of reporting two different numbers in Singapore… [these] make the inequalities even more evident. One might even go so far as to say its [an example of] 'othering'." Locked in The authorities decided that the dormitories would have to be sealed off. Around 10,000 healthy migrant workers in essential services were taken out to other accommodation - a skeleton staff to keep the country running. But the majority were trapped in the dorms - some not even allowed to leave their rooms - while mass testing was carried out. Infected workers were gradually removed, isolated and treated. It was a remarkably different experience to the lockdown the rest of the country was going through, with shopping allowed, daily exercise encouraged and every type of outlet offering delivery. These people were well and truly locked down, with only basic meals delivered to them. "Once the lockdown was in place, we were not allowed to come out of the room. We were not allowed to go next door too," Vaithyanathan Raja, from southern India, told the BBC. The turn of events forced many in Singapore to confront the living conditions of many of these migrant workers - the sudden attention, coupled with new hygiene measures, saw a surge of charitable collections, and many dorm operators working to improve conditions. Mahalingam Vetriselvan, a 51-year-old worker from India, says facilities in his dorm had been ok, but that tightly packed bunks have now been replaced with single beds, placed at a "good amount of distance". Another foreign worker sent similar pictures of his dorm being re-arranged, and said the number of beds had gone from 15 to eight. Another worker told the BBC he was lucky to be moved into a hotel by his employer. But this wasn't the case for Zakir, who comes from Bangladesh and works as a project co-ordinator in construction. After being hospitalised with Covid-19, he recuperated in temporary accommodation before finally being taken back to his dorm. "I left the dormitory on 17 April, and when I came back on 9 July, I didn't see any improvements," he said. According to Zakir, his room - which measures around 6m by 7m - is shared by up to 12 men. "They say we should social distance, but to us, that's a joke you know," said Zakir. "How do we have space to distance inside the small room?" Each floor is home to 15 such rooms - or up to 180 men assuming each room is fully filled. They share one toilet facility, with six basins, shower cubicles, toilets and urinals, says Zakir. Government guidelines state there should be 15 beds to one toilet, shower and sink. "They ask us to keep clean but inside the soap dispenser there's no soap," said Zakir. The BBC has reached out to the dormitory operator for comment but has not heard back. According to Dipa Swaminathan, the founder of migrant rights group Its Raining Raincoats, such conditions have long been the norm for many workers. "The things we're talking about now - their dorms, their food - these things have been around for years," she told BBC News. "The reason why we don't hear about it is because they're not the complaining kind. They have a deep sense of gratitude for what they have here [in Singapore]. If they do feel any level of stress, they've really reached a breaking point." There are grim stories of the strain the pandemic has put on the workers. There were several reports of attempted suicides, deaths or self harm. One widely circulated video - which could not be independently verified - showed a worker standing at what appeared to be a window ledge of a dormitory - before being pulled in by his flatmates. "I see some people from my dormitory, they call their family and say they cannot take the situation," said Zakir, who himself runs a charity for migrant workers. "They cry and say they want to go home." Salary issues also contribute to some of this mental stress, with families at home relying on the workers' wages. "We can't send money because we can't go outside," said Zakir, who adds that some others have not been paid their usual salary. The Ministry of Manpower told the BBC that all foreign workers who work full-time must be paid their prevailing salaries, but that for those who could not work, it would be "unrealistic to impose a uniform requirement across all employers". Instead, employers should "engage and mutually agree... on appropriate salary arrangements". A post-mortem Singapore has since pledged to further improve conditions for migrant workers - the government says that by the end of 2020, each resident will be given a living space of at least 6sqm/person. Each room can be allocated a maximum of 10 beds - all of which have to be spaced out by at least 1m. The question now being asked is how the situation was allowed to get so bad in the dorms when, as Prof Dutta said, "many organisations already pointed to basic problems before the pandemic hit". Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has admitted that the government's response to the threat to dorms was "not without shortcomings" but that "communal living in any form poses risks". "We stepped up precautions. For a time, these seemed adequate. But then bigger clusters broke out in the dorms, which threatened to overwhelm us," he said in an address to parliament earlier this month, shortly after winning an election in which the migrant issue was only a minor talking point. Though he conceded that missteps were taken, he ended by saying: "In the fog of war, it is not possible always to make the perfect decisions." Last month, the government declared that all workers living in dormitories had recovered or were tested to be Covid-19 free. But just weeks later - new virus clusters have emerged in a handful of dormitories again. Zakir doesn't know when he will be released. His greatest hope now he says, is to just be able to go back to work, and for things to improve for migrant workers in Singapore. "Many of us have spent a long time here. For me, I have been here 17 years - it's like we are already part of Singapore," he said. "We are not asking to be treated like a citizen. Just treat us like you would treat a human being - like we are a part of society. If it could be like that, that would be very nice." Additional reporting by Krithiika Kannan, graphics by South Asia Visual Journalism

जाकिर हुसैन खोकन के पास लगभग पर्याप्त था।


What's behind Afghan power project protests?

Summary: The Afghan government has halted work on a major regional energy project after thousands of demonstrators from the ethnic minority Hazara group took to the streets of Kabul on 16 May to protest against what they see as moves to marginalise them.

By BBC MonitoringThe world through its media What prompted the protests? The multi-million-dollar project to bring electricity from neighbouring Turkmenistan had originally been scheduled to go through the predominantly Hazara provinces of Hazarajat and Bamiyan, but was later re-routed to the northern Salang Pass. The government says the new route is more cost-effective, but Hazara leaders have called for the decision to be reversed. President Ashraf Ghani has ordered an investigation into the controversy, and a report is due within the next week or so. Who are the Hazaras? The Hazaras - mostly Shia Muslims - make up the third largest group in Afghanistan. They live mainly in the centre of the country. They complain of persistent discrimination, especially during Taliban rule in the late 1990s, when many of them fled to Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan. What are they demanding? Hazara leaders are calling on the government to stick to an initial plan to run the power line through the central regions or brace themselves for more protests. Their demands are co-ordinated by a group called the "Enlightening Movement". Hazara grievances are supported by some representatives of other ethnic groups - particularly the Tajiks - but others accuse them of political opportunism and of trying to use the controversy to shore up their standing among their own supporters. Those singled out by the media in this respect include the former vice-president, Karim Khalili, Mohammad Mohaqiq - an aide to Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah - and Herat MP Ahmad Behazda, a rising Hazara politician. Why is the power scheme important? The project, funded by the Asian Development Bank, aims to improve general access to electricity in Afghanistan. Dubbed TUTAP after the acronym of the names of countries involved - Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan - it will carry power from Central Asia to Afghanistan, with any surplus going on to Pakistan. What might happen next? President Ghani has insisted that all parts of the country would be treated equally and said a commission, which includes representatives of Hazaras, will now review all decisions to do with the project. Some commentators think Mr Ghani's move is motivated by his wish to project the idea of national unity ahead of international conferences on Afghanistan in Warsaw and Brussels. They think that, given that the preliminary work has already been done and contracts awarded, there is little prospect of the decision being reversed, and say the appointment of the commission is just a palliative for Hazara leaders. BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

अफगान सरकार ने एक प्रमुख क्षेत्रीय ऊर्जा परियोजना पर काम रोक दिया है, जब जातीय अल्पसंख्यक हजारा समूह के हजारों प्रदर्शनकारी 16 मई को काबुल की सड़कों पर उतर आए थे, जिसे वे उन्हें हाशिए पर डालने के कदम के रूप में देखते हैं।


German press lambasts 'embarrassing' Netzpolitik row

Summary: The sacking of Germany's top prosecutor over a controversial treason investigation into a politics blog has left commentators shaking their heads at a convoluted saga they believe has turned into an embarrassment for the entire political establishment.

Harald Range was dismissed after accusing his boss, Justice Minister Heiko Maas, of "intolerable interference" for requesting that he drop an independent expert from the inquiry into Netzpolitik.org. The expert concluded that the website had revealed state secrets in one of its articles. Writing in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Robert Rossmann thinks Mr Maas had no choice but to dismiss Mr Range, as failing to respond to what was effectively a "challenge to sack him" would have left the minister's credibility in tatters. But he also castigates the wider failure to stop the "fiasco" of the Netzpolitik.org investigation, despite several officials knowing about it for a long time. "The Netzpolitik affair has revealed a case of multiple political failure," he writes. "The chancellor's office, the interior ministry and the justice ministry have all made fools of themselves." Joerg Diehl in Der Spiegel, agrees that Mr Maas had to sack the prosecutor, but criticises the abrupt manner of the dismissal as "undeserved". He adds that the two men's conflict is not just about a personal disagreement, but also about the "difficult relationship between politics and state prosecutors, about the question as to how far ministries should be allowed to, able to or required to intervene in criminal investigations". "Don't mess with the internet," reads the headline of an article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that casts the story as a success for internet freedom campaigners who have made Netzpolitik.org something of a cause celebre. 'Silly season' But a commentary in the same paper argues that Justice Minister Heiko Maas's intervention in the prosecutors' investigation against Netzpolitik is an act worthy of a "banana republic". His order to drop the independent expert on the material published by the website, Reinhard Mueller writes, "confirms the worst kind of prejudices about the exertion of political influence on criminal proceedings, as if saying: 'It's up to me to decide what is a punishable offence.'" For Die Welt commentator Ulf Poschardt, the politicians and officials involved in the saga are all equally responsible for creating an unnecessary "embarrassing piece of silly season theatre" out of thin air. "The skirmish between Justice Minister Heiko Maas and Prosecutor-General Harald Range is evidence of a lack of professionalism on everyone's part," he writes. "In the end, almost everyone lost." The exception, he adds, is Netzpolitik.org itself, which "could not have wished for a better advert for its product than this self-inflicted crisis of state on the empty stage of the silly season theatre". BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

एक राजनीतिक ब्लॉग में राजद्रोह की विवादास्पद जांच को लेकर जर्मनी के शीर्ष अभियोजक की बर्खास्तगी ने टिप्पणीकारों को एक जटिल गाथा पर अपना सिर हिलाते हुए छोड़ दिया है, जिसके बारे में उनका मानना है कि यह पूरे राजनीतिक प्रतिष्ठान के लिए शर्मिंदगी में बदल गया है।


Pendine caravan park death: Police make two more arrests

Summary: Two more people have been arrested in connection with the murder of a 54-year-old man found dead at a caravan park, police said.

Simon Clark, of Pendine, died at Grove Caravan Park in the village in Carmarthenshire on Friday. A man, 40, was detained on suspicion of murder and a 46-year-old woman is being held on suspicion of assisting an offender, Dyfed-Powys Police said. A 48-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder remains in police custody. In a statement issued at the weekend, Mr Clark's family said they were "absolutely devastated" at the loss of a wonderful father, grandfather, son, brother, friend and partner. Police were called to the caravan park at about 10:00 BST on Friday.

पुलिस ने कहा कि एक कारवां पार्क में मृत पाए गए 54 वर्षीय व्यक्ति की हत्या के मामले में दो और लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Booker Prize: Will Gompertz reviews Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo ★★★★☆

Summary: Indecision is not a trait you'll find in any of the 12 female characters in Bernardine Evaristo's novel Girl, Woman, Other. They're a feisty bunch. Unlike this year's Booker Prize judges who bottled it when it came to their one and only job, which was to pick a single winner.

Will GompertzArts editor@WillGompertzBBCon Twitter We all know arts prizes are a nonsense. There's no such thing as a "best" anybody when it comes to creative excellence: judgement is subjective and discriminatory. But if you do choose to play the game, then at least have the fortitude to see it through. Don't do what this lot did and give us a shortlist of a shortlist. That's just wet. And annoying. I was going to review this year's winner, then I had to pick one of the two finalists. I've gone for Evaristo over Atwood because we know lots about the Canadian and less about the Anglo-Nigerian. You might not agree with my rationale, but at least it's a decision! The first thing I will say about Evaristo's 452-page novel is it has - to use a notorious term employed by a previous Booker judge - "readability". The structure is simple: there are a dozen separate character portraits divided equally into four chapters. Each cluster gives us the lowdown on three (usually) black British woman whose lives are interconnected. So, chapter one starts with Amma, a middle-aged, politically engaged lesbian theatre-maker whose latest play is about to be staged at the National Theatre. Next is her daughter Yazz, a precocious undergraduate who hangs with a group of similarly assertive female pals who agree that: "…the older generation has RUINED EVERYTHING and her generation is doomed unless they wrest intellectual control from their elders sooner rather than later" And then there's Dominique, Amma's great friend and long-time collaborator, who falls for a controlling radical feminist and moves to America. The following three chapters continue the same pattern with occasional stories overlapping to a greater or lesser extent with those earlier in the book. The portraits are well-drawn if a little sketchy. Some characters you want to get to know better, others leave just in time. The novel's geometric shape gives it a solid form on which to explore its major themes of identity, race, friendship, loss, love, longing and contemporary Britain. As Roland, Yazz's gay dad, might say in his archly pseudy way, the book is like a cubist painting, examining the same quotidian subjects from a variety of perspectives. Well, quotidian if you happen to be a black woman living in Britain having to contend with a daily dose of casual racism and prejudice, which is the common dominator that unites the personal vignettes: "Amma was shorter, with African hips and thighs perfect slave girl material one director told her when she walked into an audition for a play about Emancipation whereupon she walked right back out again" or this, from Bummi's story on migrating to Britain from Nigeria: "Bummi complained that people viewed her through what she did (a cleaner) and not what she was (an educated woman) they did not know that curled up inside her was a parchment certificate proclaiming her a graduate of the Department of Mathematics, University of Ibadan just as she did not know that when she strode on to the graduation podium in front of hundreds of people to receive her ribboned scroll, and shake hands with the Chancellor of the University, that her first- class degree from a Third World country would mean nothing in her new country especially with her name and nationality attached to it" Bernadine Evaristo is a good writer. She's funny, precise and confident. Her characters have plenty to say, most of it worth listening to, some of it enlightening. Full stops are abandoned in preference for a poetic style of punctuation with line breaks used to control rhythm and beat. If that sounds horribly mannered, blame my shortcomings, not hers, because the technique works a treat with prose flowing and sparkling like the prosecco at Amma's after-party (final chapter). The collage of well-composed individual stories the author has constructed into a single, albeit fragmented novel, succeeds in depicting a rich and textured account of life in Britain as seen and experienced by her cast of characters. It is very nearly a great book, but not quite. The cracks appear about two-thirds through the novel, when it becomes apparent that the sum is never going to be greater than the parts. This was the point at which the narrative needed to develop and deepen - to flesh out what has gone before, to draw the reader into the world the characters inhabit. But instead of building the story and developing the protagonists and their relationships, we are given yet another batch of brief biographies, all of which are fine in isolation - some excellent, actually - but they are too much in the context of the whole: three more passengers squeezing on to an already packed railway carriage. The once effervescent Girl, Woman, Other becomes a bit monotonous, a tad formulaic; a little predictable. The lively introductory profiles - the getting-to-know-yous - fail to evolve into complex character studies, the net effect of which is a growing sense of superficiality. Evaristo does attempt to add drama and three-dimensionality by way of chapter-connecting plot devices, but the set-ups are too obvious and the pay-offs routine. It leaves you frustrated - too many delicious starters without a truly satisfying main course. In fact, it is doubly frustrating, because this is a book with so much going for it: compelling characters discussing important subjects with intelligence and verve. It is disappointing to be denied the chance to get to know some of them better. Still, it is still well worth reading. It is a strikingly contemporary novel that has plenty to say (it very occasionally spills over into lecturing), and does so with some of the finest writing I've read in a long time. Girl, Woman, Other is Bernardine Evaristo's eighth novel. I have not read her previous seven. I will make a start now. Recent reviews by Will Gompertz Follow Will Gompertz on Twitter

बर्नार्डिन एवरिस्टो के उपन्यास गर्ल, वुमन, अदर में 12 महिला पात्रों में से किसी में भी अनिर्णय एक विशेषता नहीं है। वे एक उत्साही समूह हैं। इस साल के बुकर पुरस्कार न्यायाधीशों के विपरीत जिन्होंने इसे अपने एकमात्र काम के लिए बोतलबंद किया, जो एक विजेता चुनना था।


Aberdeen City Council vows to help the disadvantaged

Summary: Councillors in Aberdeen have vowed to do what they can to protect vital services for disadvantaged people in the city.

Community groups threatened with losing their grants lobbied members of the finance committee on Thursday. Council leader John Stewart issued a statement which said some cuts were "inevitable" but he would seek to protect those most in need. A final decision could be taken later in the month. Music classes in city schools, public toilets and the city's public parks and gardens could also be axed.

एबरडीन में पार्षदों ने शहर में वंचित लोगों के लिए महत्वपूर्ण सेवाओं की रक्षा के लिए जो कुछ भी वे कर सकते हैं वह करने का संकल्प लिया है।


Man in court over serious sex assault on Glenrothes woman, 83

Summary: A 21-year-old man has appeared in court charged with a serious sexual assault on an 83-year-old woman in Fife.

Kyle McKenzie is accused of attacking the elderly woman at an address in Meldrum Court, Glenrothes, in the early hours of 25 June. Mr McKenzie, from Glenrothes, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court where he was also charged with theft by housebreaking. He submitted no plea and was held in custody pending a bail appeal.

फाइफ में एक 83 वर्षीय महिला पर गंभीर यौन उत्पीड़न के आरोप में एक 21 वर्षीय व्यक्ति अदालत में पेश हुआ है।


Secret wartime bunker near Cardiff opened to public

Summary: While the role of the Home Guard during World War II has been widely celebrated, very little is known of their counterparts in the Auxiliary Units, who would have been Britain's last line of defence in the event of a Nazi invasion.

By Neil PriorBBC News, Wales The units, dubbed "Churchill's Secret Army", were set up to relay vital information about enemy movements and help mount counter-attacks as Britain braced itself for occupation. Now Forestry Commission Wales has unearthed a bunker which would have provided a secret hideout, had the troops needed it. The concrete structure nestled in the Coed Coesau-Whips Woodland near Rudry, between Caerphilly and Cardiff, has been overgrown for 60 years, but even then it would have been hard to spot. It has been cleaned out, and made to look as it would have done in wartime, with the help of historians from the Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team (CART), and a newspaper appeal for secrets held amongst locals for over half a century. CART founder Tom Sykes said, "Preserving sites like this is really important as they allow the public to see just what life would have been like for members of Churchill's Auxiliary Units. "If Hitler had invaded, up to eight men would have lived in bases similar to this and they would have survived off the land and their rations. The Coed Coesau-Whips site was chosen for its strategic advantages. Its elevation gave a view over south Wales and the Bristol Channel. It was also close enough to the heavy industry of the south Wales valleys to act as a base for sabotage missions, and was rural enough for men to have scavenged for food and live anonymously for months at a time without attracting attention. The bunker's concrete facade was camouflaged in soil and undergrowth and was designed to slide away like a sunroof. It would have revealed basic living quarters which could easily have been mistaken for the den of a vagrant if discovered. However, behind another false door was an inner chamber which would have hidden state-of-the-art radio communications, maps and reconnaissance photos, and be a control centre for hundreds of operatives working in the field. To make it safe for visitors, Forestry Commission Wales has had to clear away all the accumulated foliage and rubbish, as well as build a path from the road and put up fences to prevent people falling into the camouflaged bunker. Ranger at the forest, Emma Louise Felkin, said, "We've always said that our forests have an important role to play in providing a whole range of social, environmental and economic benefits, but this bunker reminds us of a time when they were important for a totally different reason. "It's right that we remember our past and we were delighted that CART was able to help us preserve this fascinating part of our heritage."

जबकि द्वितीय विश्व युद्ध के दौरान होम गार्ड की भूमिका को व्यापक रूप से मनाया गया है, सहायक इकाइयों में उनके समकक्षों के बारे में बहुत कम जानकारी है, जो नाजी आक्रमण की स्थिति में ब्रिटेन की रक्षा की अंतिम पंक्ति होती।


PCC elections: Candidates withdrawing over minor crimes 'wrong'

Summary: Several candidates for the role of police and crime commissioner have been forced to stand down over a minor offence committed during their formative years. But is this the right message to be sending to young people trying to break away from crime?

By David McKennaBBC News Former Nottingham gang member Marcellus Baz does not think so. He argues "once someone has a conviction it becomes a vicious circle, they end up returning to crime because no-one will give them a chance". The former boxer, whose career was ended after a cleaver attack, now runs the KK Gym, where he uses sport to build self-worth and break down barriers between rival gangs. "I think it's important to be given a second chance, otherwise I wouldn't be here right now helping young people," he said. "Boxing saved me from jail, or worse, and taught me discipline and to respect others. It helped me channel my energy in a positive way and helped me control my aggression. "It also gave me self-esteem and helped me to get work." 'Wrong turn' Baz, as he is known, said: "I now use my past experiences to help relate [to] and understand young people in similar situations and think candidates with spent records should be allowed to stand." In Nottinghamshire, Conservative candidate Mike Quigley pulled out over a minor offence committed 44 years ago and in Avon and Somerset, Labour's Bob Ashford said a crime committed when he was 13 had blocked him from the candidacy. Labour's Phil Dilks, who stood down in Lincolnshire, said he was "deeply disappointed at not being able to stand" over an incident involving a stolen crash helmet in 1968. Mr Dilks, who became known as "Fair Deal Phil" after he campaigned for reduced bus fares for pensioners and disabled people in the Deepings, said: "As an adult, I've always believed in public service and worked to uphold the law as fair and just. "But I trust those who know me will judge me on my work over a lifetime rather than what resulted in a £5 fine in the 1960s." In Northamptonshire, candidate Lee Barron was suspended by the Labour Party after it emerged he had a criminal conviction from 22 years ago. In a statement on his Facebook page, Mr Barron said he had asked Labour to withdraw its endorsement of his candidacy and suspend his campaign. He said: "We must not let this badly-pieced-together, ill-thought-out legislation take away from the wider campaign any longer." Baz said: "Some of these PCC candidates may well have been the best equipped for the job. 'Right path' He said: "It's all about having positive role models to look up to and try to follow. Anyone can take a wrong turn and make a mistake. "But life is about getting back to the right path." The withdrawal of these and a number of other candidates has prompted calls for a rethink. Simon Duckworth, chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners Transition Board (APCC), which is overseeing the move from police authorities to commissioners, said there were "anomalies" in the rules and has called for changes to be made. But ministers said high standards were needed for elected officials and existing legislation cannot be changed in time for this year's elections. The Home Office said the legislation disqualifies people from standing if convicted of an imprisonable offence, whether or not they themselves were sent to prison for that offence. "This high standard was set with cross-party agreement because PCCs will hold police forces, whose duty is to uphold the law, to account," a spokesman said. The first elections for PCCs will take place in 41 regions in England and Wales on 15 November. The commissioners will replace police authorities, with the power to determine budgets and hire and fire chief constables.

पुलिस और अपराध आयुक्त की भूमिका के लिए कई उम्मीदवारों को अपने प्रारंभिक वर्षों के दौरान किए गए एक छोटे से अपराध के लिए पद छोड़ने के लिए मजबूर किया गया है। लेकिन क्या अपराध से अलग होने की कोशिश कर रहे युवाओं को यह सही संदेश देना है?


Sudbury open prison's missing murderer arrested

Summary: A 43-year-old murderer has been arrested after absconding from an open prison in Derbyshire.

Darran Heywood, from Rochdale, was caught by Greater Manchester Police on Monday. He had failed to return to HMP Sudbury, a category D open prison, on Saturday and police had warned the public not to approach him. Heywood was sentenced to life for murder in 1999. He was arrested in Manchester.

डर्बीशायर में एक खुली जेल से फरार होने के बाद एक 43 वर्षीय हत्यारे को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Google says withdrawal from China 'exaggerated'

Summary: Google says reports of its pulling back from China have been 'greatly exaggerated', as a deadline looms for its mapping service to continue in the country.

"Stories of Google's withdrawal from China are greatly exaggerated," said Andrew McGlinchey, Head of Product Management for South East Asia. He added that Google was actually expanding its offices in the country. Google has previously faced censorship issues and cyber attacks in China. In May, the Chinese government introduced a licence system for internet mapping. Officials said they had not yet received an application from Google, the deadline is 31 March. Cyber attacks Last year, Google said it had seen cyber-attacks from organisations based in China. It said Gmail accounts of Chinese rights activists had been hacked. The incident caused Google to reduce its presence in the Chinese market. Beijing has denied that it was involved in any way with the cyber-attacks.

गूगल का कहना है कि चीन से उसके पीछे हटने की खबरें 'बहुत अतिरंजित' हैं, क्योंकि देश में उसकी मानचित्रण सेवा जारी रखने के लिए एक समय सीमा है।


Motorcyclist, 30, dies in crash with two cars in Botley

Summary: A motorcyclist has died after crashing with two cars in Oxfordshire.

The collision involving a Yamaha motorcycle, Chevrolet Matiz and BMW 525 happened in Eynsham Road, Botley, around 19:15 GMT on Saturday. Thames Valley Police said the motorcyclist aged 30, from Oxford, died at the scene. The force said no arrests have been made, and they were appealing for dashcam footage and witnesses.

ऑक्सफोर्डशायर में दो कारों से टकराने के बाद एक मोटरसाइकिल सवार की मौत हो गई है।


Tour de France Grand Depart diary

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

Somebody far brighter than the diary could probably fashion a very accurate Grand Depart countdown clock out of the times that these diaries appear every day: this one has just beaten sunset, let us hope Friday's makes it online before the race starts on Saturday. Never mind, have you noticed how yellow Yorkshire is? Even the central Leeds statue of Edward of Woodstock, aka The Black Prince, is wearing a maillot jaune for the Tour period. Edward, of course, enjoyed big stage wins at Crecy and Poitiers in the Tour de Hundred Years. Full story: The Yorkshire Post Nobody has enjoyed the yellow-fication of Yorkshire as much as this correspondent, but there are limits: the Emley Moor TV mast in Kirklees, for example. It has come to our attention that plans are afoot to illuminate the UK's largest free-standing structure later this week, turning it into the "world's biggest light sabre". Now, we are all in favour of a bit of decoration, but if there is any damage done to Emley Moor you will have Harry Gration to answer to, and his audience south of Huddersfield. Full story: Huddersfield Examiner Yorkshire's East Riding has been feeling a little left out in recent months - 250 miles of Tour de France racing this weekend and not one of them on its patch. Hull, the UK's City of Culture 2017, did get in on the action on Tuesday, though, by providing a landing point for the Tour's temporary invasion. A ferry-full of flat-bed trucks, carnival floats, sponsors' wheels and VIP mobiles rolled off the King George Dock bright and early, ready to create their first traffic jam of the week. Full story: Hull Daily Mail CYCLING ROUND-UP The good thing about writing this so late is that we can finally get some good news in about team line-ups at Le Tour. Having spent the last few days (or is it decades?) writing about Team Sky's Byzantine internal politics, British riders with curiously bad cases of man flu and general injury woe, a team has actually picked an Englishman to ride in this most English of Tours. Step forward Bury's Simon Yates, the 21-year-old with a big future that starts right here, right now. A world champion on the boards, and 3rd at last year's Tour of Britain, Yates is something of a surprise pick because of his age and his injury-plagued season. But he has bounced back from a broken collar bone to finish seventh at the recent Tour of Slovenia and then claim third at the British road race championship. His twin brother Adam does not make the cut, though, despite enjoying a remarkable breakthrough season. In some ways, he has almost been too good, having ridden more days, and ridden them much harder, than his Australian team Orica-GreenEdge could have predicted at the start of the season. He and his brother will get plenty of chances to ride Tours together in the future. TWEET OF THE DAY "With the #TDF just days away here's your chance to ride with @GiantShimano. Join us @weetwoodhall 1.15pm sharp on 2nd July for a short ride." Want to join Marcel Kittel, Jon Degenkolb & co on an Otley Run on bikes? Here is your chance. Remember where you heard it last. THE COUNTDOWN - 4 DAYS TO GO Given the news about Simon Yates, this is obvious, innit? There will be four British riders on the start line in Leeds: one from the post-Empire Diaspora, one from a self-governing crown dependency in the Irish Sea, another from a part of the United Kingdom with a devolved government and the last from Greater Manchester, truly a team for Britain's constitutional experts. Can you imagine how complicated things would have got if our Belgian-born, northern-based Londoner had made the cut, or if the Maltese-born, Hong Kong-raised, English-educated Scot had convinced his team that he was over the sniffles? We really are better together.

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


Abortion: NI attorney general outlines concerns over amendment

Summary: The BBC has seen a letter from Northern Ireland's attorney general, in which he questions whether a move to allow for abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities is compatible with international human rights law.

The proposal is one of a number of amendments to the Justice Bill. MLAs are due to vote on the issue at Stormont on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the DUP asked the Northern Ireland health minister to set up a working group to examine it. In the letter, John Larkin QC expresses concern to TUV MLA Jim Allister that the move may not be compatible with a United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Mr Larkin wrote that "providing for a criminal law exception for 'fatal foetal abnormality', as proposed by this amendment, provides unborn children diagnosed with such a disability with much less protection under the law of Northern Ireland than those without such a disability". The attorney general pointed to cases in Spain and Austria, in which the UN committee which oversees the convention, has recommended that states should abolish any distinctions related to abortion in foetuses with disabilities. Mr Larkin said: "those unborn children who are 'doomed to die' or are otherwise regarded by the proposers of this amendment as unworthy of life because of the nature of their disability" are as protected by the UN convention as any others. He also said he thinks the 'conscience' provisions in Wednesday's amendments - proposed for NHS employees who have a religious or ethical objection to participating in abortions - are inadequate. Appeal In January Mr Larkin lodged an appeal to a High Court ruling that found Northern Ireland's abortion legislation to be "incompatible" with human rights law. A judge made the ruling in December. A case had been taken by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission against the Department of Justice. The judge said there should be exemptions in the law for women who were the victims of sexual crime and in cases of fatal foetal abnormality. He said the current legal provisions in Northern Ireland breached the European Convention on Human Rights. Unlike other parts of the UK, the 1967 Abortion Act does not apply to Northern Ireland, where abortions are illegal except where the life or mental health of the mother is in danger.

बीबीसी ने उत्तरी आयरलैंड के अटॉर्नी जनरल का एक पत्र देखा है, जिसमें उन्होंने सवाल किया है कि क्या घातक भ्रूण असामान्यताओं के मामलों में गर्भपात की अनुमति देने का कदम अंतर्राष्ट्रीय मानवाधिकार कानून के अनुरूप है।


MtGox bitcoin chief Mark Karpeles charged in Japan

Summary: The founder of MtGox - once the world's biggest Bitcoin exchange - has been formally charged by prosecutors in Japan with embezzlement amid an investigation into losses of nearly $400m.

Japanese police arrested Mr Karpeles in Tokyo, where he lives, on 1 August. His arrest was connected to the MtGox loss of 850,000 Bitcoins in February 2014. At the time, the losses were worth nearly $400m (about £240m). It was claimed the Bitcoin losses were caused by a bug - but the Tokyo-based exchange later filed for bankruptcy. MtGox then said it had found some 200,000 of the lost bitcoins. Mr Karpeles has also been accused of falsifying data and improperly transferring MtGox funds. The French-born former chief executive of the exchange had been held in detention for six weeks without being formally charged, which is allowed under Japanese law. It was not clear if the embezzlement charge was related to all or some of the missing money. Japan's Kyodo News said in August that a lawyer acting on Mr Karpeles' behalf denied his client had done anything illegal. Bitcoin is money that is completely virtual and is regarded as an online version of cash. It can be used to buy products and services. Bitcoin developer Mike Hearn told the BBC last month there was still much confusion over the legal status of Bitcoins in many nations.

एमटीगॉक्स के संस्थापक-जो कभी दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा बिटक्वाइन एक्सचेंज था-पर औपचारिक रूप से जापान में अभियोजकों द्वारा लगभग 400 मिलियन डॉलर के नुकसान की जांच के बीच गबन का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Man charged after boy, 6, injured in Edinburgh hit-and-run

Summary: A man has been charged in connection with a hit-and-run in Edinburgh involving a six-year-old boy.

The child was struck by a car while walking across a pedestrian crossing on the West Approach Road at about 16:40 on 6 November. The car failed to stop. The child was taken to hospital for treatment to facial injuries. The man, who is 44, is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date.

एडिनबर्ग में एक छह वर्षीय लड़के से जुड़े हिट-एंड-रन के संबंध में एक व्यक्ति पर आरोप लगाया गया है।


Parsons Brinckerhoff win tender to manage Jersey's roads

Summary: An American company is taking over managing the maintenance of Jersey's road network.

Parsons Brinckerhoff won the contract which runs until 2015. The company will not actually go out and resurface roads, but will provide the advice on how to deliver the programme within budget. Parsons Brinckerhoff has been working on Heathrow Terminal 5, Network Rail and Cambridgeshire County Council who are building a guided busway.

एक अमेरिकी कंपनी जर्सी के सड़क नेटवर्क के रखरखाव का प्रबंधन संभाल रही है।


Sudan's bold challenge to authoritarianism

Summary: Certain moments in history offer the possibility of change, not just in one place but as a signal in millions of lives and beyond national borders. What is unfolding in Sudan has the potential to shape an epoch on the continent of Africa.

By Fergal KeaneBBC Africa Editor I stress the word potential. The triumph of a peaceful pluralist dispensation is far from guaranteed in Sudan. Negotiations with the military elite have not yet established the parameters or personalities that would rule the country in a transition to full democracy. Will the transition be two years or four years? Will the military retain control of security policy and ministries? How will cabinet posts be divided between the constituent parts of the opposition - civil society and established political parties? Big questions but none can detract from the immensity of this moment. Not since the days when Nelson Mandela left prison in 1990 and campaigned in the South African townships have I seen such exuberance - the wide, open face of honest hope. The crowds in front of the army headquarters in Khartoum occupy a space that is both physical and psychological. Every hope - real and forlorn - is funnelled into what has become a sacred space. There are families petitioning for news of long-disappeared loved ones, Darfuris demanding the trial of the ousted President Omar al-Bashir, lawyers calling for the rule of law, doctors pleading for universal healthcare, teachers calling for a revolution in education. Not all can possibly be satisfied. But that is the struggle of the future. Maintaining pressure First comes the immense task of achieving a transition from 30 years of military rule to a civilian administration. In this regard, Sudan appears to be more fortunate than Algeria which is also experiencing street protests against an entrenched "deep state". The Sudanese generals have been extremely pragmatic. They ditched the coup leader within 24 hours when it became clear the street detested him. Three other Islamist generals were forced to resign as part of the price for the protesters resuming negotiations. The new military leader, Lt Gen Abdul Fatah al-Burhan, has given interviews to the international media and is quick to react to opposition initiatives. It is an extraordinary contrast to the sclerotic and paranoid government of the previous three decades. But can Sudan inspire seismic change elsewhere in Africa? The immediate signs are not optimistic. The new strongmen In Algeria, ongoing protests have forced the departure of the long-standing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. But the military deep state remains in power. Preserving the power of one party through a ruthless intelligence service has been a feature of Algerian political life since the country achieved independence from France in 1962. The same party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), has dominated politics ever since. Algeria withstood a violent civil war in the 1990s after the government - backed by the West - refused to acknowledge an Islamist election victory. I will never forget the terror of walking through the Algiers Casbah during that war, surrounded by heavily armed policemen, unsure of who the enemy really was and when they would strike. Next door in Egypt, the strongman Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has just won a referendum which allows him to extend the number of and duration of presidential term limits. Repression of the media and opposition are routine. In Uganda, 75-year-old President Yoweri Museveni has trodden a similar path and could stay in power well into his eighties. His putative challenger, the musician Bobi Wine - real name Robert Kyagulanyi - has been placed under house arrest and faces relentless police harassment. In Zimbabwe, a military coup replaced the tyranny of Robert Mugabe with a government in which former soldiers occupy some of the most senior positions. The army which had been cheered by the crowds after the coup was shooting at opposition supporters the following year. The new strongmen have taken democracy and used its forms and institutions to keep power. The common feature of the new authoritarianism is its ability to use apparently constitutional methods to entrench the ruling elite. There are referendums and elections. People are allowed to vote. But what is the quality or the meaning of democracy when the incumbents enjoy absolute control of state resources, repress the media, when they can rig results - see the compelling allegations in the recent elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo - and marginalise opponents? Potential dangers All of the above factors weigh on the minds of Sudanese protesters. That is why the main civil society actors are seeking a four-year transition to democratic elections. They simply do not trust the military not to manipulate the electoral process. Four years, they argue, will give time to entrench the rule of law and establish robust state institutions. There are dangers in this approach and they are relevant to civil society groups seeking change across Africa. An unelected technocratic government might start out offering more enlightened economic policies, a war on corruption and respect for human rights but it is still government without a popular mandate. What happens when unpopular decisions need to be taken on the economy, or if they face potentially violent conflict with disaffected groups or entire regions? Who enforces the will of the government or faces down popular protest? How will they tackle the systemic corruption of the state? The military will still be there, watching and possibly waiting for its chance to regain power. Growing isolationism The emerging international order offers few reasons for optimism. Europe is preoccupied with its own crises. The US in the age of Donald Trump is not practising any coherent Africa policy. Witness the extraordinary spectacle of one arm of American government sanctioning officials in DR Congo for alleged election rigging, while the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy hailed an "historic peaceful change" in the country. Russia and China pursue their separate agendas in Africa. Neither is remotely concerned with the success of multi-party democracies and strong civil society. For the Chinese, stability is paramount. If that comes about through accountable civilian government they won't object. But don't expect Beijing to campaign for pluralism or exert pressure if they believe autocratic rule serves Chinese interests best. Regionally, the signs are hardly more encouraging. The African Union has extended its deadline for the transition to civilian government in Sudan from two weeks to three months. Its reaction to the alleged election rigging in DR Congo exposed weakness and division in the face of a major crisis for democracy on the continent. Yet, it is still possible to talk of hope. Cause for hope If an agreement can be reached between military and civilians in Sudan international funding will start to flow. Damage to the economy and social fabric can begin to be addressed. And the free ground of debate and argument that has been established in front of military headquarters, and the four months of protests that led to this moment, are a symbol of something wider that is taking hold in much of Africa: a return to the basic principles of democratic expression, something far more important than rigged elections. Remember too that this movement has risen above ethnic, religious and class differences. It has challenged the stereotyping of African politics as irredeemably "tribal". I have spelled out the immense obstacles, but if civilian rule can take hold in Sudan there is the possibility that those struggling against strongmen from Algiers to Kampala will be inspired to maintain a path of peaceful and inclusive protest. That would be a prize for all of Africa. All pictures subject to copyright.

इतिहास के कुछ क्षण परिवर्तन की संभावना प्रदान करते हैं, न केवल एक स्थान पर बल्कि लाखों लोगों के जीवन में और राष्ट्रीय सीमाओं से परे एक संकेत के रूप में। सूडान में जो सामने आ रहा है वह अफ्रीका महाद्वीप पर एक युग को आकार देने की क्षमता रखता है।


The official briefing Tony Blair got on his first day in No 10

Summary: A warning that he and Cherie may have to spend more on clothes. An explanation of which drinks in No 10 he will have to pay for - as well as plenty of policy advice, including the need to avoid the Belgian system of devolution.

By George GreenwoodBBC News The hundreds of pages of guidance from civil servants to in-coming prime minister Tony Blair in 1997 have been obtained by BBC London under Freedom of Information laws. The senior civil servants writing their advice to the new PM - who had been swept to power in a landslide victory - were aiming to guide him through a labyrinth of protocol and policy. The text, which is peppered with cheery exclamation marks, includes a warning that he and his wife Cherie may have to spend more on clothes than they did as "private citizens" - something that would become a sore point with Mrs Blair, who objected to spending her own money on a designer wardrobe for official functions. Mr Blair was advised to give members of the House of Lords ministerial jobs to avoid them "getting sniffy" and blocking his plans to remove peers who had inherited their positions. Ministers, the then Labour leader was told, should use government cars in a way "that could be defended in public if challenged". The civil service also had a dig at Belgium. In advice on how devolution in Scotland and Wales would work within the EU, Belgium was deemed an example of what not do, with "elaborate but badly functioning mechanisms for involving the regions and communities in the agreement of EU legislation." "The country's record on implementation is also poor," the advice said. On honours, Mr Blair was advised that some MBEs should be given to members of the public in "hands on" jobs such as "lollipop ladies" to prevent the award being eroded by "managerial types". The civil service prepares advice for all potential prime ministers, usually the current PM and the leader of the opposition, in the run up to general elections. Jeremy Corbyn last year met Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood to discuss how to implement his manifesto promises if he won power at the general election. The BBC's Martin Rosenbaum previously obtained a copy of the advice that Labour Leader Neil Kinnock would have been given if he had been elected in 1992, which advised Kinnock's plans for a freedom of information law should be watered down. He was defeated by Conservative PM John Major in that election, so the advice was never required. By contrast, in the advice given to Blair, which was released to the BBC after a two year battle with the Cabinet Office, freedom of information laws were deemed "broadly uncontroversial", and civil servants considered whether private companies could also be covered by them. On their living arrangements, the Blairs were told they would only have to pay 50% council tax on their house in Islington if they were resident in 10 Downing Street. Mr Blair was also implored to be disciplined with who he gave his time. "The surest way to chaos is for others to arrange times to see the PM without consulting the diary secretary!", he was told. The civil service also offered detailed policy advice on how to implement the 1997 Labour manifesto. Blair's "formidable" constitutional reform plans for the House of Lords were deemed "extremely controversial", as were his plans for a minimum wage. That's something which didn't match public opinion at the time, according to Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh, first elected in 1997. "People were never taking to the streets on Lords reform. Maybe in parliament it would be controversial, but it never came up on the doorstep" she explained. She did agree with the civil service, however, that appointing a cabinet was a "pretty gruelling process", something she said Blair found to be "a logistical nightmare". Indeed, evidence of what became known by some as the "TBGBs" - conflict between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair over the direction and leadership of the party - is hinted at even in this advice. Regarding a suggested removal of powers from the Treasury to the then Department of Trade and Industry, then Cabinet Secretary Robin Butler advised "I understand that Mr Brown strongly opposes such a transfer, and you may want to discuss it with him before deciding". The advice also shows how the make up of the civil service has changed in 21 years. Information provided to Blair showed that just 14% of senior civil servants were women in 1996. The mundane process of day-to-day living in Downing Street featured prominently in the advice. Tony Blair was told he was entitled to a fully stocked drinks cabinet "maintained by the house manager anywhere in Number 10". However, while drinks consumed in his study could be charged to Number 10, he would have to pay for drinks in the Number 10 flat himself, and the Labour Party would have to pay for drinks in the PM's office in the Commons. The civil service remarked on financial arrangements for Mr Blair that "I'm sure this will not be top of your agenda", and his pension was "I am sure, even less on your mind than your salary etc!". The advice included a tenancy agreement for the No 10 flat, noting the PM will have to pay for any damage to fixtures and fittings not covered by "fair wear and tear". The civil service also complained about the constant need for work on the No 10 flat, with Blair being told "as in any historic building, the task never ends". You can download the full documentation released by the Cabinet Office below. Blair advice bundle A Blair advice bundle B Blair advice bundle C Blair advice bundle D

एक चेतावनी कि उन्हें और चेरी को कपड़ों पर अधिक खर्च करना पड़ सकता है। एक स्पष्टीकरण जिसके लिए उन्हें नंबर 10 में पेय के लिए भुगतान करना होगा-साथ ही बेल्जियम की हस्तांतरण प्रणाली से बचने की आवश्यकता सहित बहुत सारी नीतिगत सलाह भी देनी होगी।


Ipswich deaths: Kamari Russell died from compression of the neck

Summary: A boy who died along with his mother had sustained a compression of the neck, a post-mortem test revealed.

Kamari Russell, two, and his mother Kia Russell, 19, were pronounced dead at their home in Swinburne Road, Ipswich, on 6 March. The boy's death was being treated as murder, Suffolk Police said. Ms Russell died from the compression of the neck, according to a post-mortem test, and her death was not being treated as suspicious, police said. Police said no-one else was directly involved in the incident. A 17-year-old boy who was arrested in connection with the deaths has been released on police bail. A provisional date for a full inquest has been set for 9 September.

एक पोस्टमार्टम परीक्षण से पता चला है कि एक लड़का जो अपनी माँ के साथ मर गया था, उसकी गर्दन पर दबाव पड़ा था।


How do you memorise an entire symphony?

Summary: In a feat of musical memory, the Aurora Orchestra will perform Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony without printed scores at the BBC Proms 2015. Neuroscientist Jessica Grahn explores how musicians manage to remember highly complex arrangements.

The extraordinary ability of musicians to recall millions of musical notes over a lifetime is undoubtedly one of the most impressive feats of human memory. For scientists, such feats provide an opportunity to understand how human memory works - but, for musicians, having to achieve this on a regular basis can be terrifying. Most musicians will have to perform from memory at some time in their career. Some, especially singers or soloists, have to perform from memory most of the time. Feelings about the practice are divided. Some musicians feel that performing without a score allows them to be freer and more expressive. Others feel that memorisation is time-consuming and less reliable than using a written score. Moreover, the fear of memory "slips" can hamper expressive performance, or worse. Debilitating stage fright may cause a musician to withdraw from the profession entirely. Most ensembles escape the burden of memorisation - with notable exceptions being the Kolisch Quartet in the 1930s and the Chiara and Zehetmair Quartets today. An entire orchestra playing from memory, as the Aurora Orchestra will do this summer at the Proms, is all but unheard of. Musicians with a hatred of memorisation may bemoan Clara Schumann and Franz Liszt, who were among the first 19th Century musicians to spark this trend. The image of a piano virtuoso was beginning to form at this time, with Liszt declaring that "virtuosity is not an outgrowth, but an indispensable element of music". Before this time, it was considered arrogant to perform without the score. Beethoven explicitly disapproved of one of his pupils, who could play the composer's entire set of works from memory, as he was concerned that important details in the score could be missed. Chopin was angered when he heard that one of his pupils wanted to play him a Nocturne from memory. Mendelssohn had an amazing musical memory, but would not let on - before one performance when his score was unavailable, he had a page-turner place a random book in front of him and pretend it was the score. However, prior to the Renaissance, playing from memory was a necessity, as little or no musical notation was available. Clara Schumann - the female virtuoso Memorised music performance has interested scientists since as far back as the 1800s. One type of memory that musicians use is commonly called "muscle memory", but the memories are not actually stored in the muscles. Muscle memory instead refers to a type of "procedural" memory called motor learning, in which memories for movement patterns are acquired through repetition. Procedural memory is separate from other types of memory, such as our memory for events (autobiographical memory) or general knowledge about the world (semantic memory). We use procedural memory for actions such as driving, typing on a keyboard or riding a bike. This is the type of memory for which "practice makes perfect", and it allows us to perform complex actions, such as driving a car, with little attention. However, when we are stressed or anxious, procedural memory may fail, and we "choke". Choking is often seen in athletes in high-pressure situations. Musicians also experience choking, for example when performance anxiety disrupts a procedural memory that is normally second nature, resulting in mistakes or memory slips. Many of the practice strategies that musicians use are aimed at preventing and recovering from slips. Simple repetition, the most common practice strategy, does not necessarily prevent slips. A more useful set of strategies for performers is to vary the interactions with the music, providing different sources of memory in case one source fails. For example, musicians may write out the score to rehearse their visual memory, or conduct harmonic analyses to strengthen their memory of the music's structures. Another strategy is to practise the piece starting from multiple points within it. Procedural memories often form as chains of actions, with each action triggering the memory for the next action, and starting anywhere but the beginning of the chain is difficult. If musicians only practise from the beginning, then any momentary distraction (like an audience cough or ringing phone) can break the action chain, and the memory for the next action won't be triggered. Simply knowing that various starting points are available may reduce anxiety enough that memory slips are less likely to occur. The demands placed on musicians' memories may physically alter their brains. When hearing familiar music, both musicians and non-musicians activate a key brain area called the hippocampus, but in musicians the activity is higher. Moreover, musicians have more "grey matter" in their hippocampuses, as do others in memory-demanding professions, such as London taxi drivers who have completed "the Knowledge". Neuroscientists have found that musical memories can be preserved in the brain even when most other memories are lost. Memory loss, such as that experienced by amnesiacs, provides a window for neuroscientists to study how memory works. One amnesiac patient, a German professional cellist, had such profound memory loss that he could not remember well-known facts about Germany, nor important details from his youth or adulthood. He had no memory of relatives and friends, except for his brother and his full-time care-giver. However, he could still play the cello and sight-read music. Moreover, his memory for music from his past was just as good as that of his non-amnesiac colleagues. He could even learn to recognise new music (but not new faces or objects). Somehow, his musical memory system was intact, even though most of his other memories were gone. Neuroscientists are still trying to discover why music can be resistant to memory problems. One possibility is that music, like smell, taps into primitive emotional centres in the brain that have widespread connections to other brain areas. These connections across the brain are what make the memories robust. This wide distribution could also explain why music conjures up rich memories, as for example with a song that hasn't been heard for decades. Even if expectations of memorisation change, there will no doubt continue to be musicians who feel that memorisation is indispensable to performance. And scientists will be glad, as music provides a rich avenue to study the limits of human memory. Jessica Grahn is a cognitive neuroscientist and an Assistant Professor at the Brain and Mind Institute at Western University, London, Ontario. She investigates how music affects the brain and behaviour. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

संगीत की स्मृति की एक उपलब्धि में, ऑरोरा ऑर्केस्ट्रा बीबीसी प्रोम्स 2015 में मुद्रित स्कोर के बिना बीथोवेन की पास्टोरल सिम्फनी का प्रदर्शन करेगा। तंत्रिका विज्ञानी जेसिका ग्राहन यह पता लगाती हैं कि संगीतकार कैसे अत्यधिक जटिल व्यवस्थाओं को याद रखने का प्रबंधन करते हैं।


Man arrested over Tamworth hit and run death

Summary: A man has been arrested over the death of a 90-year-old man who was struck by a car in a hit and run in Staffordshire.

The man was knocked down in Watling Street in Tamworth at about 22:45 GMT on Friday. It happened near the junction with Two Gates and Dosthill Road. Staffordshire Police said a 48-year-old man from Tamworth was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. He is also suspected of perverting the course of justice.

स्टैफोर्डशायर में एक हिट एंड रन में एक कार की चपेट में आने से 90 वर्षीय एक व्यक्ति की मौत के मामले में एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


JLS Aston: 'I was racially bullied'

Summary: Last year racist bullying saw children in England excluded from primary and secondary schools almost 4,000 times. As part of Radio 1's bullyproof anti-bullying campaign, Aston Merrygold from JLS has been talking to BBC Switch presenter Anthony Baxter about his experience of being a victim of this type of abuse.

By Anthony BaxterRevealed presenter At 14 Aston joined a football team that some of his friends were in. He was the only black member of the team but says he never thought that would be a problem. "When you first start in a team, people start to get comfortable with you and you start to make friends," he said. "You have a laugh, and all mates take the mick out of each other, but it got to the point where they'd start making jokes about things that were irrelevant. Skin colour started coming into." Watch: Aston speaks to Switch about bullying He says what started off as typical changing room banter, soon became serious racist abuse. "They would literally come out with stupid stuff. Obviously me being half black and half white, no Asian heritage at all, they'd come out with 'you look like a Paki'," Aston revealed. "World wide we were going through all that stuff with Osama Bin Laden, and they would say 'he's your cousin'. Looking back, it doesn't make any sense, but at the time it was hurtful." Aston tried to stay stong but it wasn't easy. "I used to literally mask it, 'yeah whatever', but when I'd go home and I was on my own, I was really upset by it." Pupils excluded The true level of racist bullying in schools in the UK isn't known. At the moment the only way to quantify the problem is by looking at the number of cases that result in a pupil being suspended or expelled. In England last year children were excluded from primary and secondary schools 3,970 times. In Wales, there were 580 cases, but some of those were for sexual harassment. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, officials have said they don't have specific figures for racial bullying. Aston says he is shocked racism is still a problem in the playground. He said, "There are still some people who feel it's ok to say something about people's skin tone". "As hard as it is, it has to be one person at a time," he said, when asked what the solution is. "You can only change one person at a time. It will happen, it will change, but it's going to take a lot of time." Teachers speak out Earlier this year a survey of over 800 teachers showed that nearly half thought racist bullying was a problem in their school. The government says all schools should have a strong anti-bullying policy, which should also include measures to tackle racist bullying. The teaching union, the NUT says that anti-bullying policies in schools only work if all staff, parents and pupils are aware of the damage racial bullying can do. It wants all racist incidents in schools recorded. Jasmine, 14, goes to a school in south east London. She says while she's not been bullied racially herself, she has witnessed it. "At my primary school there weren't very many black people there, and those that were there were bullied for it," she explained. "It was really racist. The majority of people were white. It was like, that's it, you're going to get hurt or called names. It wasn't nice." Omar, 16, was born in Exeter in Devon. His parents are both from Libya and he says he lives an Arabic lifestyle. He's been the victim of racism because of this, and thinks ignorance is at the root of the problem. "I think that's just human nature. Who isn't racist? Everyone's been racist at least once," he said. "I don't think it's hatred I just think they're unaware. They don't hate Arabs, they just see newspapers and think 'there was a terrorist attack and he was an Arab, we might see Arabs as terrorists'. But we're not."

पिछले साल नस्लवादी बदमाशी ने इंग्लैंड में बच्चों को लगभग 4,000 बार प्राथमिक और माध्यमिक विद्यालयों से बाहर कर दिया। रेडियो 1 के बदमाशी-रोधी बदमाशी-रोधी अभियान के हिस्से के रूप में, जे. एल. एस. के एस्टन मेरीगोल्ड बीबीसी स्विच प्रस्तुतकर्ता एंथनी बैक्सटर से इस प्रकार के दुर्व्यवहार का शिकार होने के अपने अनुभव के बारे में बात कर रहे हैं।


Zano - the blame game continues

Summary: The fallout from the collapse of Europe's biggest Kickstarter project continues. The crowdfunding platform has been heavily criticised by Zano backers, who believe they were duped into spending £2.3m on the mini-drone. Now Kickstarter has responded to their complaints.

Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent@BBCRoryCJon Twitter In a letter to all backers it says: "Like you, we're extremely frustrated by what's happened with this project." It goes on to explain that Kickstarter emailed Zano's creators a couple of weeks before the announcement that the project had gone bust to encourage them to be more communicative with the backers, but received only "a cursory response.". Now Kickstarter says it has contacted the Zano team again to seek an "open and transparent account" of what went wrong. If this is not forthcoming, the crowdfunding platform says it will mount its own inquiry into the project. Failure by the drone's creators to meet their obligations, it warns, will lay them open to legal action by backers. What's more, "the creators of Zano will not be allowed to launch another project on Kickstarter". It is safe to say that while some backers have moved on, accepting that Kickstarter projects can go wrong, many have been unimpressed by this letter. "I feel they still cannot waive their responsibility this easy. They are a part of the deal and make money from it," writes one on a Facebook forum. "Why won't they refund their fee to us?" writes another " or... use that money to hire legal counsel to represent us collectively?" Plenty of questions remain to be answered about the Zano debacle, but uppermost in backers' minds will be the issue of getting their money back. People who pre-ordered a drone after the Kickstarter campaign are quite well-placed if they paid by credit card. Under the UK's Consumer Credit Act they should be able to get a refund if the drone was not delivered - or was faulty, as appears to have been the case. The situation for the people who originally pledged their cash to back the project is a lot less clear. The card companies will want to examine carefully the nature of the contract between the backers, Zano and Kickstarter, before offering any refunds - and the trade body UK Cards told me that it could not comment on the likely outcome. The other question is, of course, what went wrong? I have spoken to one backer who also had some business dealings with Torquing Group, the firm behind Zano. He had a plan to use several of the mini-drones together for aerial tracking and filming, taking advantage of their "swarming" capability which was supposed to be a key feature but never worked. He tells me that Torquing had told him it had also been in discussions with a UK insurance company that wanted to use the drones to inspect damaged roofs, apparently a major issue of dispute in home insurance claims. It was clear that there could have been plenty of customers for the Zano - if it had worked. My contact disagrees with those who feel the company had deceived them from the start. He had been told that the Torquing Group had had half a dozen prototypes built - at a cost of as much as £30,000 each. The problem was that the small team then forged ahead with mass production, only to find that they could not build a stable device that would retail at around £200. "I just think they made poor decisions," he says. "They should have got some experts in." But he believes that where they really went wrong was not being frank with backers at an early stage: "They should have said 'We can't do this' and returned what was left of the money." But this man and other backers still believe that Kickstarter now needs to change, paying far more careful attention to the initial claims made by technology hardware projects. It seems the crowdfunding platform has now woken up to the threat posed to its reputation by failures like Zano. It is keen to point the finger at the creators - but the backers think there is plenty of blame to go round, and Kickstarter will remain in their sights. UPDATE - 15:30 GMT A letter from the liquidators of the Torquing Group has shed new light on the status of Zano backers. It informs them that the money they pledged is neither "debts owed by the company nor are they equity investments.". That means they are not creditors, and cannot attend the creditors' meeting on Friday - they are told not to "waste their time and money by travelling here on 4th December 2015". Both the content and the tone of the letter have caused extreme anger among the backers. It also raises further questions about whether Kickstarter needs to be clearer in its warnings about the risks involved in pledging money to a project.

यूरोप की सबसे बड़ी किकस्टार्टर परियोजना के पतन का परिणाम जारी है। ज़ानो समर्थकों द्वारा क्राउडफंडिंग प्लेटफॉर्म की भारी आलोचना की गई है, जो मानते हैं कि उन्हें मिनी-ड्रोन पर 23 लाख पाउंड खर्च करने के लिए ठगा गया था। अब किकस्टार्टर ने उनकी शिकायतों का जवाब दिया है।


When the breakdancing craze swept Britain

Summary: For a few brief years in the 1980s, a phenomenon known as breakdancing swept across Britain in a flash of neon skiwear. Three decades on, a film has documented the experiences of teenagers in Nottingham, a city that fast became the unlikely epicentre of the craze.

By Dave WadeBBC News Across Britain in the early 1980s, tracksuit-clad youths began throwing down pieces of lino and pulling off robotic, seemingly gravity-defying moves. It was called breakdancing and shopping centres across the land were witness to intense, gymnastic dance-offs, soundtracked by boomboxes blasting out the electronic sounds of early hip-hop. Claude Knight, who has spent the past seven years making a film about the phenomenon that for a short time bonded often disaffected black teenagers in Britain, was 16 when he and his friends were swept up by the craze. Their enthusiasm and can-do spirit was to lead to a city better known for the graceful moves of Torvill and Dean - and the sometimes disgraceful antics of Brian Clough - becoming the unofficial capital of British breakdancing. Each week, hundreds of "B-boys" attended Nottingham's biggest nightclub, Rock City, to show off their moves. Drum 'n' bass DJ Goldie, who made the trip regularly from his hometown of Wolverhampton, described the club as his "second home" and Take That's Jason Orange was also a frequent visitor from his native Manchester. Goldie said: "Nottingham Rock City - you heard about the infamy of it all before you actually went there. "[Breakdancing] was everything, it was the music, catching the girl and looking great." Knight, 48, describes his documentary film, NG83: When We Were B-Boys, which focuses on the phenomenon in Nottingham, as the "untold story" of the subculture. He said the city's period at the centre of the UK's breakdancing scene could be traced back to a performance by a US dance troupe, the WFLA crew, in Nottingham's Old Market Square in 1983. The crew, who were dancing at locations across the UK to promote a milkshake, drew huge crowds in Nottingham. Knight, who was there, said the performance inspired dozens of young people, particularly black teenagers, to form crews across the city. One of these collectives, which Knight joined, was the Rock City Crew, which went on to become one of the most prestigious and successful in the UK. "I can remember being at school, sitting in geography or learning about French and German, thinking, I ain't gonna go to these places," said Knight. "But through breakdancing, finding a crew, practising, saving money for tracksuits, going out, getting sponsorship, getting really good, you ended up going to places you never thought you'd go." The Rock City Crew, managed by the club's DJ and manager, went on to perform around the world, supporting the likes of hip-hop legends, Afrika Bambaataa, Run DMC and Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five, as well as Rufus and Chaka Khan. Knight joined the crew on tour as a rapper. "After London, Nottingham was the next big thing, definitely. [Breakdancers] went to Wolverhampton, London, but it was Rock City that had the draw," he said. "When we used to go out of town we used to have this 'we're better' attitude - Rock City Crew weren't the best breaking crew in the UK but were by far the most aggressive. Ask any B-boys, they were the ones you wanted to beat." Breakdancing checklist But why did Nottingham become such a centre for breakdancing? Knight said the city's well-established black community in the 1980s was a big factor. "We had the first race riots in the UK, so there was a tight-knit community," he said. "Plus, music was a real escapism. [My parents' generation] didn't go to pubs, they had weekly parties at different houses and music was a big focus." Rock City provided a battleground for crews across the country. But sadly for those whose horizons were expanded by the breakdancing movement, the craze proved to be short-lived and many were left with a hole in their lives by the mid-to-late 1980s as it fell out of fashion. Knight said some turned to drink, drugs and crime. "It fell off but you had a few who carried on," he said. "It was a bit of a silly thing to people looking in but to some people it shaped who you were, me included." Karl Russell, now a 45-year-old postman in Nottingham, was a teenager when the craze came to town but his links with the scene are still strong - and like many B-boys he is still known by his breakdancing name: DJ D2. "It just gave young kids a direction, it stopped negative things happening at the time," he said. "When I look back, to put so much energy and effort into learning something, it was quite amazing how it focused people." For Knight - also known as Scooby Doo - the film documents a 1980s subculture that gets little exposure in the media. He said he was partly inspired by This is England, made by Nottingham filmmaker Shane Meadows and set around the same time period. "I could relate it to it through the skinheads but it didn't represent my experience and the black experience," he said. NG83: When We Were B-boys is being screened on 1 November at Broadway Cinema in Nottingham - the day after an over-40s breakdancing competition at Rock City. It is due for release at selected independent cinemas in March next year.

1980 के दशक में कुछ संक्षिप्त वर्षों के लिए, ब्रेकडैंसिंग के रूप में जानी जाने वाली एक घटना नियॉन स्कीवियर की एक झलक में पूरे ब्रिटेन में फैल गई। तीन दशकों बाद, एक फिल्म ने नॉटिंघम में किशोरों के अनुभवों का दस्तावेजीकरण किया है, एक ऐसा शहर जो तेजी से क्रेज का अप्रत्याशित केंद्र बन गया।


The hazards of urban skiing

Summary: Slopestyle skiers made a successful debut at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, eliciting gasps with their stunts and jumps. Many miles away in northern parts of the US, a growing number of skiers use city settings to perform and film similar tricks.

By Aidan LewisBBC News, St Paul, Minnesota They scope out urban landscapes to find rails to skid down and walls to slam their skis against. They wait for schools and libraries to close, sometimes emerging only under cover of darkness. They play cat and mouse with the police. On one recent day in St Paul, Minnesota, a group of three skiers and a cameraman checked for onlookers, swiftly unloaded a car, and hurried up a staircase onto a balcony at the front of the Central High School. A bungee was attached to the balcony railing, and two skiers pulled the third back before releasing him towards a pre-built snow ramp. From there he slid across a railing, before dropping backwards onto a ledge, then forwards again to the ground. It took about a dozen attempts to get the trick right, just before a private security guard drove up and - after watching the jump played back on a video camera and proclaiming it "cool" - politely but firmly asked the skiers to leave. This is urban or street skiing, an often stealthy pastime that has gradually spread since first surfacing about 15 years ago. That was when, inspired by skateboarders, people first started filming each other sliding down handrails on snowboards or skis. The skiers say that cities allow them to be more creative, and offer greater variety than resorts. "Skiing was born in the mountains and it always will be a mountain sport, but it's cool to bring it into the streets and just put a different spin on it," says Sandy Boville, one of the skiers in St Paul. At the top end are crews who spend much of the winter following the city snow. Their skiers and snowboarders have become increasingly ambitious, using tools such as mechanised winches and bungees to perform ever more spectacular stunts. They star in slick videos made each year by a handful of specialist production companies. One recent film included a segment shot among the derelict industrial buildings of Detroit, which has been viewed on YouTube more than 600,000 times. "Anywhere it snows in the whole world is your canvas," says Karl Fostvedt, who had the main role in the Detroit segment and spent last month skiing in Japan. Outside North America, the region in which urban skiing is most common is Scandinavia. In Norway, film company Field Productions has started promoting skiing videos on the mass market. Tens of thousands of people went to watch Supervention, a film that features urban skiing, after it was released in cinemas across the country late last year. The job may seem glamorous, but it can also be demanding. First, the skiers have to scout out features on which they can perform an original trick. "We usually start with high schools and parks and that sort of area because the architecture's usually conducive - there are stairs and railings and balconies," says Logan Imlach, another of the skiers in St Paul. "But you branch out to really anywhere in cities - wherever there's concrete and metal there's a good chance that you can ski on it." Snow ramps are often constructed in advance, to limit the time spent on site. When the skiers return, water and salt is sprinkled over the snow to prevent them from crumbling, or in urban skiing slang, turning into "mashed potatoes". Protocol demands that snow be shovelled from concrete steps under railings, so those who slip off don't get away with a soft landing. Tricks are then repeated again and again, until skier and cameraman are both happy. "It's not going on a sunny day to the mountains and skiing with your friends, it's putting in hard work," said Khai Krepela, the third of the trio of skiers in St Paul, who declined to ski one day because his "mood" wasn't right. "It's stressful but it's fun." One hazard is being kicked off sites by the police or property owners, either of whom could be worried about damage or liability. Officials in the US are seen as being stricter about urban skiing than their counterparts in Scandinavia - though the police in St Paul seemed unusually relaxed. At one site, they responded to a complaint from a resident only to suggest an alternative spot to the skiers. When the skiers returned a couple of days later, another police car arrived, but the policeman sat in his car watching for more than 20 minutes before finally encouraging the skiers to move on. Another hazard is injuries. The skiers have broken bones, torn ligaments, and suffered concussions on a regular basis. It is also hard to make a living. Whilst freeskiers who compete in big competitions can strike more lucrative sponsorship deals, the urban specialists say they struggle to make it through the winter. The crew of four in St Paul were sharing two double beds in a single motel room and making their own sandwiches for lunch. Boville, a 23-year-old Canadian, and Krepela, a 22-year-old from Utah, both have some sponsorship and are spending the winter filming with Level 1 Productions. Imlach, an Alaskan and at 26 a relative veteran, works three-week stints on an oil platform in his home state to help fund skiing trips. Many urban skiers are already experts on the mountain. But they say the fact that you can ski streets without travelling to a resort and buying a ski pass can make the activity more accessible and help it spread further. "That is a huge part of it," says Imlach, "you don't have to buy a lift ticket. It's growing in popularity." You hear about a lot more kids nowadays trying it out, he adds. Sig Tveit, a Norwegian urban skier currently on tour in Sweden, says he's seen many more people skiing and snowboarding in Scandinavian cities recently - "just friends going out in the streets and filming each other. I think there's a lot of that." Tveit also says that some urban skiers who learnt to ski in cities without ever going to a resort have been emerging from Russia and eastern European countries. The urban skiers take some pride in the underground, amateur nature of what they do. To borrow a word from their phrasebook, it can be more "gnarly" (scary and dangerous) than skiing on a mountain, and more authentic than going to a ski park with built-in rails and jumps. Even so, a little more attention - and financial backing - wouldn't hurt. "It would just be nice for these young guys to think 'I could be a professional urban skier someday and that could be my job'," says Imlach, "but unfortunately right now that's just not the reality." Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook. Additional footage in video courtesy of Level 1 Productions

स्लोपस्टाइल स्कीयरों ने सोची में शीतकालीन ओलंपिक में एक सफल शुरुआत की, अपने स्टंट और कूद के साथ हांफना शुरू किया। अमेरिका के उत्तरी हिस्सों में कई मील दूर, स्कीयरों की बढ़ती संख्या शहर की सेटिंग्स का उपयोग प्रदर्शन करने और इसी तरह की चालों को फिल्माने के लिए करती है।


Murder probe as Hull man dies following house altercation

Summary: A murder investigation has been launched after man died following an altercation with another man.

Kabelo Mokoena, 35, died in hospital on Thursday, two days after he suffered serious injuries during the incident at a property in Lee Street, Hull. Humberside Police said the two men involved were known to each other. The force said a 58-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident but later released on bail pending further enquiries. A post-mortem examination is due to take place in the next few days.

एक अन्य व्यक्ति के साथ विवाद के बाद एक व्यक्ति की मौत के बाद हत्या की जांच शुरू की गई है।


The fugitive well known along the Appalachian trail

Summary: One of the FBI's most wanted white collar criminals hid for years in plain sight along the well-traversed Appalachian trail. But a trail tradition may have protected his secret even as he made friends along the hike.

By Micah LuxenBBC News James T Hammes had eluded the law for years. Since 2009, he had been on the run for allegedly embezzling more than $8.7m (£5.6m) from a Pepsi bottling plant. But when he was finally apprehended earlier this month, it turned out he had been a well-known figure on the Appalachian trail who went only by the name of "Bismarck". "Bismarck was by hiking standards more honest than most hikers I've encountered from my experience," Karl Humbarger, who knew Hammes as a "work for stay" resident at his hostel, commented on a news story. Known on the trail as an honest and religious man, his fellow hikers were shocked to find out their "super nice" comrade had been featured on America's Most Wanted and American Greed: The Fugitives. But when a former hiker recognised Hammes from television, he reported him to the authorities, submitting personal hike photos that included the fugitive. How can one be so anonymous, even among those who claim to have known him so well? It all comes down to the culture of the Appalachian Trail (AT), where trail names are most commonplace form of identity. Larry Luxenberg, president of the AT Museum, admits he doesn't know the real names of many of the close friends he's made - including some he's known for 30 years. "I have a friend ChooChoo," Luxenberg says, "and I have to really rack my brain to come up with his real name". When hikers take on the Appalachian Trail - either in part or the entire 2,180-mile (3508-km) route - they will often take on a trail name. The name describes a hiker's characteristics or experience. "Usually a trail name is given to somebody by their fellow hikers and often is something they do, that they mess up," says Luxenberg. "There were some hikers who knocked over a stove and started a fire, and their trail names became Crash and Burn." Once a hiker answers to the name, and introduces him or herself by that name, it's shared with others on the trail via word of mouth and notebooks - "registers" - that are left in the 250 rudimentary shelters along the way. "People write in them and identify themselves by their trail name," explains hiker Alan "Gonzo!" Strackeljahn. "If the person has particularly interesting stories or style of writing, they become known even before they are met." In 1948, Earl Shaffer was the first to hike the trail, then only 11 years old, in its entirety. He called himself The Crazy One, the unofficial first Appalachian Trail name. The trail didn't become popular with hikers trying to trek the whole distance until the 1970s, and at that point half of the hikers had trail names, says Luxenberg. "I hiked in 1980 and I like to say back then the names were not mandatory. Now they're pretty much mandatory." Luxenberg does not have a trail name - yet. In a blog post on Appalachian Trail Bloggers, writer Evans Prater explains the psychology of a trail name. "A trail name represents a new identity, a new beginning, and a chance to leave everything that was once represented by 'John Smith' or 'Jane Dougherty' behind," writes Prater. "People don't come out here to talk about their jobs as lawyers or bartenders or car salesmen; they come out here to leave the hassles of everyday life - the stresses of rent, insurance, bosses, student loan payments." It's a way to leave the real world behind, something that could appeal to both known fugitives and frustrated middle managers "I feel that it is one way to take on a persona that you might not normally be able to project, but by using a trail name, you can become anything or something you may not be, but want to be," says Strackeljahn. AT Museum manager Joe "EarthTone" Harold did an informal social media survey of hikers earlier this year, to learn about the sources of trail names on the Appalachian. Of 223 respondents, 77% said they had a trail name. Of these, 80% had been given their name and 20% chose their own. "Of those who don't have trail names, most, (73%) are waiting for it to be gifted to them. Another 22% just haven't found the right one yet and are still waiting to find it," Harold wrote on his blog post. Harold also collected the stories of some of these Appalachian Trail name in the same informal survey. One woman was named for her struggles to hydrate before hitting the trail, known in AT parlance as "camel up". "I hated doing it and was always burping and grunting as I tried to drink a lot at once," she wrote. "One day early on, I looked over at my daughter and my husband and said, 'I'm a bad camel'. Their eyes lit up and they both said, 'That's your trail name!' and so I became Bad Camel." But names can change. One hiker who goes by "Little Bear" said the name was "somewhat self-appointed" for carrying a small stone bear fetish given to him by his daughter for a thru-hike. "That was my name on the trail in 2000. If I were to undertake another thru-hike (and I may), I would probably take on a different trail name. In other words, the person I was in 2000, is not the person I am today."

एफ. बी. आई. के सबसे वांछित सफेद कॉलर वाले अपराधियों में से एक कई वर्षों तक अच्छी तरह से यात्रा करने वाले एपलाचियन ट्रेल के साथ सादे दृष्टि में छिपा रहा। लेकिन एक ट्रेल परंपरा ने उसके रहस्य की रक्षा की होगी, भले ही उसने पैदल यात्रा के दौरान दोस्त बनाए हों।