Democrats struggle to find a message

Summary: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee - the group that will help organise what the party hopes will be a successful push to take control of US House of Representatives in mid-term US elections next year - recently tested out some new bumper-sticker slogans.

Anthony ZurcherNorth America reporter@awzurcheron Twitter It did not go well. There were several variations on the resist/persist theme and one that promised to "Make Congress blue again", referencing the colour associated with the Democratic Party on electoral maps. Drawing the most attention - and scorn - however was: "Democrats 2018: I mean, have you seen the other guys?" Opposition to President Trump and Republicans has been a uniting and motivating factor for Democrats since last November. It has led to massive protests in cities across the US and a fundraising windfall for many politicians and activist groups. At this point, however, some on the left are hoping for a message that's a bit more affirmative; that offers something to vote for, not against. For them, the bumper sticker was a reminder that the Democratic Party doesn't have a cohesive pitch to voters. "Democrats are faced with a dilemma heading into 2018: Are they willing to stand up for the idea of universal healthcare, or do they really think they can win with 'have you seen the other guys?'" writes Charlie May on the liberal website Salon. Drew Magary of GQ was even more blunt. "The political hopes of a majority of Americans currently reside in the hands of a party that has all the strategic acumen of Elmer Fudd and, even worse, still doesn't realise its shortcomings," he writes. In search of a champion If the Democrats lack a clear vision, if their message to America seems to some like it's been crafted by a committee, part of the reason can be simply explained. A vision demands a visionary; a message requires a messenger. The party's rank and file are in search of a champion, and a rotating cast of Democratic politicians have taken the spotlight in the past few months, only to cede it to the next contestant. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren gave a Senate floor speech that drew the ire of Republican leader Mitch McConnell, launching a thousand "but she persisted" gifs. Freshman California Senator Kamala Harris had her star turn, sparring with Attorney General Jeff Sessions during his recent committee testimony on Russian election hacking. Even Hillary Clinton, who still generates mixed feelings from some Democrats after her electoral defeat, edged in on the action last week, thanks to a snide Republican National Committee tweet accusing Democrats opposed to Mr Trump's healthcare reform of not offering their own solutions. "Where's your plan?" the Republicans asked of the former secretary of state. "Right here, includes radical provisions like how not to kick 23 million people off their coverage," she wrote back, linking to a policy paper on her campaign website. "Feel free to run w/it." Then there's Bernie Sanders, who rode a grass-roots tsunami in the Democratic presidential primaries last year to record levels of fundraising, massive crowds and more than 13 million votes. He's still around, he's still raising money, and he's still speaking to huge audiences. Even though Mr Sanders will be 78 in 2020, Vox's Matthew Yglesias says he should be considered the party's presidential front-runner. "He's doing exactly what a candidate who fell short needs to do to run a second time," he writes. "He's established a national political organisation, he's improved his ties with colleagues on Capitol Hill, he's maintained a heavy presence in national media, and he's travelling the country talking about issues." Of course, if Mr Sanders becomes the face of the Democratic Party, he will take political fire the likes of which he has not yet seen. Republicans have generally held their tongues, but the Vermont senator could feature prominently alongside House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in mid-term election adverts. Democrats vying for the spotlight will be less reluctant than Mrs Clinton was in 2016 to engage the self-processed democratic socialist. With front-runner status comes a very large target painted on one's back. Just ask Jeb Bush. The battle to come Mr Sanders' political perseverance is also a reminder that the divide within the Democratic Party that was exposed in the Sanders-Clinton primary fight still exists, even if it's been subsumed, somewhat, by anti-Trump fervour. In a New York Times opinion piece, former 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign strategist Mark Penn and New York City Democratic politician Andrew Stein recommended their party head "back to the centre", saying that "the siren calls of the left" have weakened the party. The piece prompted howls of outrage from progressives everywhere. "The whole op-ed is really just an endorsement of centrist white nationalism filled with catastrophically asinine proposals that, if adopted, would enrage most Democratic voters," Mark Joseph Stern writes in Slate. That could be just a taste of the internecine warfare to come. Nowhere to go but up The Democrats hit bottom last November, with Donald Trump's elevation to the presidency, continued Republican control of Congress and decimation at the state legislative level, and they've been scraping along the bedrock ever since. While they've over-performed in several special elections in traditionally conservative congressional districts, "better than expected" results won't stop Republicans in 2018 or Mr Trump in 2020. Then again, the Republican situation seemed equally hopeless after Barack Obama's big wins in 2008 and 2012. The political wind almost certainly will be at Democrats' backs in the mid-term elections next year, even if there is no clear-cut leader giving voice to their cause. And heavily contested presidential primaries - as 2020 will almost certainly be for Democrats - are an excellent way of discerning who has the most potent political message for a party. Mr Trump himself was evidence of that last year. It's still very early in the game. That's both the good news for Democrats and - when each week in the Trump presidency seems like a lifetime - the bad news.

डेमोक्रेटिक कांग्रेसनल कैम्पेन कमेटी-वह समूह जो अगले साल मध्यावधि अमेरिकी चुनावों में अमेरिकी प्रतिनिधि सभा पर नियंत्रण पाने के लिए पार्टी की उम्मीद को व्यवस्थित करने में मदद करेगा-ने हाल ही में कुछ नए बंपर-स्टिकर नारों का परीक्षण किया।


Chilcot report: Crystal clear, polite - but damning

Summary: It has taken longer than anyone expected.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter But the conclusions, reached with the weight of more than two million words, backed with evidence from thousands upon thousands of documents, are crystal clear, polite - but no doubt, completely damning - even if perhaps no real surprise. There will be weeks of searching through the evidence that's been published for the first time today, so these first reflections may be reshaped in the days to come. But in these first hours, Sir John Chilcot's judgements seem careful, but bold and precise. The report suggests the government failed, the intelligence community failed, the military failed, and that Tony Blair ran his government in a way that meant the possible and probable consequences of military action in Iraq were never properly considered. That's despite the suggestion that as early as December 2001, the former prime minister had discussed a "clever strategy" with George Bush about regime change in Iraq. The report also suggests clearly that although military action might have proved necessary to stop Saddam Hussein at a later date, it was not the last resort at that point, and when British military men and women were sent in to risk their lives, "there was no imminent threat". Here are the main conclusions from the inquiry in its own words. But the inquiry report only goes some way to answer the questions that have been so frequently posed. Was the war legal? The Chilcot report points out that their committee was not a court, they were not a jury. They were not set up to make any legal findings. But they go just about as far as they possibly could with that limitation saying: "We have, however, concluded that the circumstances in which it was decided that there was a legal basis for UK military action were far from satisfactory." What the report also reveals explicitly, is that the final decision on legality was taken by Tony Blair, not the cabinet or the government's legal officers. In fact his attorney general made that plain in documents that the inquiry has published, saying "this is a judgement for the prime minister". The specific decision was as to whether Iraq was in material breach of UN resolution 1441, so that military action could be legally justified without a further resolution. Correspondence from Mr Blair's office replies to say "it is indeed the prime minister's unequivocal view that Iraq is in further breach" but Chilcot concludes: "It is unclear what specific grounds Mr Blair relied upon in reaching his view." Were we misled? Downing Street is cleared of one of the most controversial charges of all, that Number 10 deliberately manipulated or "sexed up" the case. "There is no evidence that intelligence was improperly included in the dossier or that Number 10 improperly influenced the text." But reading the document the impression is certainly created that Tony Blair's government was looking for facts to support his determination to change the Iraqi regime, rather than looking at the facts carefully in order to make that decision. The inquiry concludes the intelligence "had not established beyond doubt that Saddam Hussein had continued to produce chemical and biological weapons". And crucially that, in the September dossier, there was a "deliberate selection of a formulation which grounded the statement in what Mr Blair believed, rather than in the judgements which the Joint Intelligence Committee had actually reached". In other words, the politics blurred the practical judgements even if there is no evidence of deliberate intent to mislead. Were we prepared? Chilcot's answer? Not remotely. It is astonishing to see in black and white, the conclusion that "there were no substantive discussions of the military options, despite promises by Mr Blair, before the meeting on 17 March" - that was less than a week before the war began. It's evident in the report that there was not enough planning or preparation by the military, and not enough capacity for a long-term commitment. And in terms of the turmoil that the war unleashed in the region, Tony Blair told the inquiry that it could not have been foreseen. That's dismissed in a politely caustic conclusion - "we do not agree that hindsight is required. The risks of internal strife in Iraq, active Iranian pursuit of its interests, regional instability and Al Qaida activity in Iraq, were each explicitly identified before the invasion" and to boot, ministers were aware, the report says, of the "inadequacy" of the American plans. It's perfectly feasible that the Chilcot report will confirm opinions rather than change minds. But the inquiry has provided not just fragments of the controversial conflict, but the fullest account in modern times of a recent war. There is a distinct possibility that those who care most passionately about what went wrong will use what's been set out today to seek punishment for those mistakes. Sir John's verdicts run to more than two million words, but there is much much more to come.

इसमें किसी की अपेक्षा से अधिक समय लगा है।


Sir Andrew Motion's creation of verse from soldiers' words

Summary: This year saw the end of the UK combat mission to Afghanistan. At its peak Britain had some 5,000 troops there. Now a small number remain in training and advisory roles. The former poet laureate, Sir Andrew Motion, took the opportunity to discuss their experiences with British military personnel who had come back - and he's turned their words into poetry.

By Vincent Dowd Arts correspondent, BBC World Service So far Andrew Motion's poems based on conversations with military personnel returning from Afghanistan have gone under the title Coming Home. "But that's slightly misleading and maybe I'll change it when they appear in book form," he says. The interviews were mainly recorded at the British military base at Bad Fallingbostel in Germany. "It's where the 7th Armoured Brigade, the Desert Rats, are based. But in a sense that's not really home for them either." It's no coincidence that the poems have emerged when the centenary of World War One has meant the work of Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and others has been much quoted. "I yield to no one in my respect for that work," Sir Andrew says. "The first poetry book I ever bought was one by Wilfred Owen. But however great those poems are there's a sense that you're hearing the men speak through their officers and I wanted to do something more direct." The interviews were set up through the MoD, "so it's true that the choice of men and women I spoke to was made for me - and most of the time there was a communications officer present," he adds. "But the interviews were at length and at no point did I feel people were censoring themselves simply for fear of saying the wrong thing about their experiences in a political sense. So I wasn't fettered. "But some of those experiences had been quite bad and I was aware that some kind of control was being exerted by the guys themselves. I think it's a mixture of not wanting to break the army code and not being willing to open up the Pandora's box of all the sights and experiences they recall from Afghanistan. He soon realised his hopes of finding perfectly formed statements recalling intense experiences was unrealistic. "The interviews were typed out and I suppose I hoped I would run my poetic water divining rod over them and it would tweak when I found something of real linguistic interest. But it didn't and for a time I thought that was a problem. But I recalled William Wordsworth's phrase about writing in 'the language such as men do use'. I thought here's a chance to follow that advice. One Tourniquet by Andrew Motion It was a long time ago but I was there, a combat medical technician. I saw children and IEDs which wasn't nice at all. One boy: he had shorts and a dirty vest, he stood on a mine; he was conscious at first, screaming, and I thought what a mess. All in bit of field. None of the other kids cried, they're quite sort of tough. Very tough kids in fact. Definitely. At the time we were only issued one tourniquet each. Camp Phoenix was down the road and he went there. A double amputee. But we heard later he survived. So yeah, brilliant. Everything is hard. Everything they've got to do, everywhere they've got to go. Just hard. I used to imagine little towns in the country nobody knew. Little towns nobody had touched. There would be people living there all the same. Just living there in the vastness. Sir Andrew recalls at first Sergeant Vicky Clarke was hesitant to discuss her time as ambulance crew and the specific incident which led to his poem One Tourniquet: "She'd had to deal with a young Afghan who trod on a mine and what she said wasn't in the usual sense poetic. But I hope that's what gives the piece its strength." Sir Andrew says the thing almost all interviewees were eloquent about was the Afghan landscape. "It made me regret I was doing my interviews in Germany. Even people who found it hard to talk in personal terms about their own experience would talk in great detail about how gorgeous the countryside was. "Perhaps it was a release mechanism - something they could talk about from their hearts when other things were bottled up inside. And the one interview I did with someone not in the military also came to focus on landscape, or at least on a garden." The exception was clinical psychologist Dr Margaret Evison. She had already written a book - Death of a Soldier - about her son Lieutenant Mark Evison. He died in 2009, aged 26, after being shot at Haji Alem in southern Helmand. The poet says when he met Dr Evison he thought her a remarkable person: "We became friends and it seemed to me, however blunt this sounds, that the death of a soldier was an inevitable part of the story." Extract from The Gardener In Memory of Lieutenant Mark Evison We spent many hours kneeling together in the garden so many hours Mark he liked lending a hand watching Gardener's World building compost heaps or the brick path with the cherry tree that grows over it now the white cherry where I thought I mustn't cry I must behave as if he's coming back * It was just after Easter with everything in leaf he is so sweet really though worldly before his time I kissed him and said See you in six months and he turned round he turned round and said * I opened the garden for the first time the National Gardens Scheme you know what gardens are like in May and this man was hovering outside the front as we walked down the side passage he said I'm a Major I said O my son he's in the army sort of brightly. Dr Evison says despite having written her own book about Mark's death, she was happy to take part in Sir Andrew's project. "When soldiers come home they carry so much pain in their heads and their hearts about their lost colleagues. I did understand why it was important for Andrew to talk to the parent of someone who had been killed in Afghanistan," she says. "I had had a close relationship with Mark's soldiers: we had wept many tears together in funny little pubs all around the UK. So I knew what it meant to them to have that loss remembered. I was delighted that Andrew used me talking about the garden in May because it was something Mark loved too. "When Mark died it felt like it was the only death, the only loss. But of course since then I've come to understand the loss of the 400-odd families around the UK who've lost someone in Afghanistan. And there are perhaps 20,000 families in Afghanistan who must feel the same because they lost someone too. "It's always lovely to talk about deep thoughts and have them heard. My career is as a clinical psychologist and I'm aware that it's not something we do very often as human beings. But Andrew listens very intently to people's real thoughts. Even if what they're saying is buried beneath."

इस वर्ष अफगानिस्तान में ब्रिटेन के युद्ध मिशन का अंत हुआ। अपने चरम पर ब्रिटेन के पास लगभग 5,000 सैनिक थे। अब एक छोटी संख्या प्रशिक्षण और सलाहकार भूमिकाओं में बनी हुई है। पूर्व कवि पुरस्कार विजेता, सर एंड्रयू मोशन ने ब्रिटिश सैन्य कर्मियों के साथ अपने अनुभवों पर चर्चा करने का अवसर लिया जो वापस आ गए थे-और उन्होंने अपने शब्दों को कविता में बदल दिया।


HSE makes improvement call for Shell's Brent Charlie

Summary: The Health and Safety Executive has called for improvements on Shell's Brent Charlie oil platform in the North Sea.

It follows a power failure in a pump which caused fluid to enter one of the installation's legs. Staff on the platform were called briefly to muster stations during last week's incident. Brent Charlie is situated about 120 miles north east of Lerwick in Shetland.

स्वास्थ्य और सुरक्षा कार्यकारी ने उत्तरी सागर में शेल के ब्रेंट चार्ली तेल मंच में सुधार का आह्वान किया है।


Q&A: Reform of EU farm policy

Summary: The European Union is negotiating a major reform of its Common Agricultural Policy.

The programme is the most expensive scheme in the EU - accounting for more than 40% of its annual budget - and one of the most controversial. In June 2013 ministers reached a deal with Euro MPs and the European Commission, though the reform package has not yet been agreed in full. The Commission's original goal was to shift rewards away from intensive farming to more sustainable practices - but environmentalists say that ambition has been watered down. There is also a drive to create more of a "level playing field", to give young people an incentive to get involved in an industry dominated by older farmers and traditional vested interests. Political parties of all shades, farmers' unions, environmental campaigners and taxpayer groups have all voiced concern about the reforms. What is the CAP? Agriculture has been one of the flagship areas of European collaboration since the early days of the European Community. In negotiations on the creation of a Common Market, France insisted on a system of agricultural subsidies as its price for agreeing to free trade in industrial goods. The CAP began operating in 1962, with the Community intervening to buy farm output when the market price fell below an agreed target level. This helped reduce Europe's reliance on imported food but led before long to over-production, and the creation of "mountains" and "lakes" of surplus food and drink. The Community also taxed imports and, from the 1970s onward, subsidised agricultural exports. These policies have been damaging for foreign farmers, and made Europe's food prices some of the highest in the world. European leaders were alarmed at the high cost of the CAP as early as 1967, but radical reform began only in the 1990s. The aim has been to break the link between subsidies and production, to diversify the rural economy and to respond to consumer demands for safe food, and high standards of animal welfare and environmental protection. How much does it cost? In 2013 the budget for direct farm payments (subsidies) and rural development - the twin "pillars" of the CAP - is 57.5bn euros (£49bn), out of a total EU budget of 132.8bn euros (that is 43% of the total). Most of the CAP budget is direct payments to farmers. Regional aid - known as "cohesion" funds - is the next biggest item in the EU budget, getting 47bn euros. The CAP has been steadily falling as a proportion of the total EU budget for many years. In 1970, when food production was heavily subsidised, it accounted for 87% of the budget. For the EU's new member states, in Central and Eastern Europe, direct payments to farmers are being phased in gradually. The eastward enlargement increased the EU's agricultural land by 40% and added seven million farmers to the existing six million. What reforms to the CAP are proposed? The proposals include: Keeping EU farm spending level until 2020, though it may be reduced by inflation. This will disappoint some countries, like the UK, that wanted the CAP scaled back significantly. The Commission proposed to cap at 300,000 euros the total subsidy a large farm could receive - but that appears unlikely to get into the final deal. The idea was to combat large payments going to aristocratic landowners and wealthy agri-businesses, but it ran up against powerful lobby groups. Levelling imbalances in payments. Subsidising acreage farmed, rather than production totals, should lead to less intensive farming. Big disparities between high subsidies to farmers in the western EU, and much lower ones to those in the east, should also be levelled out. Under the reform plan, no member state's farmers should receive less than 65% of the EU average. And the biggest farms would lose up to 30% of their payout - money that would be redistributed to help smaller farms. Ending sugar production quotas. These are seen to heavily disadvantage competing farmers in poor countries; and they pay huge amounts to giant European agri-businesses. There has been intense debate about "greening" - the Commission's proposal to make 30% of the direct payment received by farmers dependent on environmental criteria. MEPs and governments insist on flexibility, to allow for the diverse circumstances of Europe's farms. So these greening targets have been watered down, environmentalists say: the requirement for arable farmers to grow at least three different crops, to promote biodiversity; for farmers to leave 7% of their land fallow, to encourage wildlife; and for farmers to maintain pasture land permanently, rather than ploughing it up. The definition of an "active farmer" has also been contentious. The current payments system is largely based on land area and past subsidy levels, meaning that landowners like airports and sports clubs, which do not farm, have been getting subsidies based on their grasslands or other eligible land areas. EU ministers have agreed on a "short mandatory negative list comprising airports, railway services, waterworks, real estate services and permanent sports and recreational grounds". The two-pillar payments system is likely to stay. Currently direct payments and price support (pillar one) account for more than 70% of the CAP budget, while rural development (pillar two) gets less than a quarter. On average, pillar one payments provide nearly half of farmers' income in the EU. Who benefits most from the CAP? Overall, farmers in the 15 older EU member states benefit much more from the CAP than the newer members. Nationally France benefits most, with about 17% of CAP payments, followed by Spain (13%), then Germany (12%), Italy (10.6%) and the UK (7%). France is the biggest agricultural producer, accounting for some 18% of EU farm output. Germany comes second, with about 13.4%. Germany is a net contributor to the CAP budget and France will be too in the near future. The average annual subsidy per farm is about 12,200 euros (£10,374). But payments per hectare range from 527 euros in Greece to just 89 euros in Latvia, because of the transitional arrangements for new member states. The latter are allowed national farm aid to compensate for lower EU subsidies. CAP subsidies have been blamed for perpetuating inequalities in global food distribution - like the subsidies which protect farmers in other industrialised countries, such as the US and Japan. Combined with import tariffs on food, the subsidies make it harder for developing countries to compete. Large agri-businesses and big landowners receive more from the CAP than Europe's small farmers who rely on traditional methods and local markets. About 80% of farm aid goes to about a quarter of EU farmers - those with the largest holdings. Major beneficiaries include rich landowners such as the British royal family and European aristocrats with big inherited estates, according to farmsubsidy.org, a group campaigning for EU transparency. Has the EU done anything else to reform the CAP before now? Yes. The EU agreed that milk quotas, which help protect dairy farmers' income, would be phased out. To cushion the blow, the quotas are rising by 1% a year, before they expire in 2015. Yet there have been widespread protests by dairy farmers. Italy, which overshot its milk quotas, was allowed to implement the full quota increase from 2009. The EU has scrapped the arable "set-aside" policy - a response to fresh concerns about food security. Farmers had been leaving some land fallow, to prevent surpluses accumulating, but that land will now be put back into production. Conservationists are dismayed, saying set-aside has been very beneficial for wildlife. A reform of the EU sugar regime was adopted in 2006. The guaranteed price of sugar was cut by 36%, following protests from developing countries seeking to export sugar to the EU. In international trade negotiations food subsidies are a major sticking point, as farmers are powerful lobbyists in other countries too, and no breakthrough was achieved in the Doha Round global trade talks. What do the critics say? One of the biggest criticisms, especially from campaigners against poverty in developing countries, is that the CAP encourages European agri-businesses to export huge quantities of food worldwide that poor farmers cannot compete with on price. The CAP is seen as part of an unfair trade system rigged in favour of the richer countries. Another widely held view is that Europe is spending far too much on the CAP - when agriculture generates just 1.6% of EU GDP and employs only 5% of EU citizens. With Europe's economic growth in the doldrums, and fierce competition from emerging giants like China and India, the EU needs to pay less for farming and invest more in scientific research and technology, the CAP critics say. There is also pressure to spend less on subsidies and more on agricultural research, to improve crop varieties and livestock, which could benefit developing countries. Even the CAP's supporters agree that there is much room for improvement. Copa-Cogeca says farmers need to obtain a fair income from the market - they want a "level playing field". Farmers complain that other players in the food chain, such as distributors and commodity speculators, reap the rewards while their income is falling. They want the EU to improve farmers' bargaining power and make market data more transparent. What do the CAP's supporters say? If Europe wants to maintain the rich diversity of its rural areas and keep people on the land then it must carry on subsidising farmers, the CAP's defenders say. Many smallholders work long hours, earning less than the average income, and without the CAP they would go out of business, the argument goes. Their role is vital in safeguarding the character of Europe's countryside - and often picturesque mountain areas are also the most precarious for the rural economy. The number of people working on farms roughly halved in the 15 older EU member states between 1980 and 2003. About 2% of farmers leave agriculture every year across the EU - and in some countries the figure is higher. Meanwhile, a growing number of farmers are over 50, so the EU has to provide a financial incentive to attract younger people into farming, CAP supporters say. Copa-Cogeca warns that cutting subsidies would mean a huge reduction in the number of farmers and an intensification of farming in certain areas. Some fear that agricultural conglomerates and US-style factory farms could change Europe's landscape if the CAP goes. Europeans demand very high standards of food safety, animal welfare and consumer choice - and that comes at a price, the argument goes. Globally, CAP supporters say Europe's surpluses can ease food shortages in the developing world. Food security has become a pressing issue again since food prices soared in recent years. Global warming and overpopulation are increasingly squeezing food resources in many regions. Europe's post-war achievement of food security is seen as one of the EU's successes - after years of hunger and rationing for many.

यूरोपीय संघ अपनी सामान्य कृषि नीति में एक बड़े सुधार के लिए बातचीत कर रहा है।


Coronavirus: Gibraltar and Thailand removed from Wales quarantine list

Summary: Travellers to Wales from Gibraltar and Thailand will not need to self-isolate for 14 days from Saturday morning.

But people heading back from Guadeloupe and Slovenia will be required to quarantine from 04:00 BST that day. It is the latest change to the coronavirus travel regime overseen by the Welsh Government. The decision differs slightly to moves taken for England and Scotland on Thursday. Travellers from Singapore will no longer need to quarantine on return to either of the two countries - but the exemption for the city state has existed in Wales since August. Gibraltar had only been put on Wales' quarantine list on 4 September.

जिब्राल्टर और थाईलैंड से वेल्स जाने वाले यात्रियों को शनिवार सुबह से 14 दिनों के लिए आत्म-पृथक करने की आवश्यकता नहीं होगी।


UK's new oil find: How big is it?

Summary: Exploration firm UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG) says it has made "a very significant discovery" of oil in southern England that could amount to 100 billion barrels. But is it really there, and how easy will it be to get at it? How big a find is this?

By Jamie Robertson and Faarea MasudBusiness reporters The find is - in theory - a huge one. Even so, UKOG have said that out of 100 billion barrels potentially underground, only an absolute maximum of 15 billion barrels could be extracted from the field. Nonetheless, this would be 10 times bigger than the biggest oil field found in the last 20 years in the North Sea. CIBC strategist Jeremy Stretch says we should treat the estimates with caution. He said: "There remains a considerable divergence between estimates of reserves and the potential degree of extraction. "Recovery rates are low and, of course, there is no estimate in terms of timescales. "By its very nature of being onshore, this suggests that any infrastructure or extraction would need to be commensurate with the surroundings, suggesting recovery may be a slow process." What could it mean for the UK economy? It looks as though this oil - if it is there - will be cheap to extract. That's good news for an industry trying to make money from an oil price that has halved over the last year. Oil analyst Malcolm Bracken from Redmayne Bentley says: "Even in this environment, with low oil prices, this project could be viable because it is onshore, whereas a lot of other oil discoveries would be more expensive. "The oil would be fairly easy to get at - because of the way the rock is structured." Oil extraction is a blessing for the Treasury because of the tax it brings in. CIBC's Mr Stretch says: "A substantial find would help energy security, a factor which should not be understated. "Should we see an uptick in oil production, over time, that would benefit the trade cycle and is likely to provide some support for the currency over the longer term." How long before they start drilling? There's a lot more to be done first, and the numbers are still pretty vague. David Aron, managing director of Petroleum Development Consultants, says: 'It's much too premature to predict when we can start extracting from this. "First, they need to do further testing to get some idea of the area of it, then test to see if the wells are productive. "Previous cases where oil production was not as big as was thought include Regal Petroleum in Romania. It said they had trillions of cubic metres of gas, but after testing the well, it produced at a low rate and it was a small area.' How much onshore oil is there in the UK? Oil extraction has been going on in the UK since 1851, according to the United Kingdom Onshore Oil and Gas industry body. The largest onshore oil field in western Europe was opened in 1973 at Wytch Farm Oilfield in Eastern Dorset, in an area of outstanding natural beauty. There are currently around 120 UK sites with 250 operating wells producing between 20,000 and 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, concentrated in southern England, the Midlands, South Wales and central Scotland. Last year, the British Geological Survey (BGS) produced a report suggesting there were 4.4 billion barrels of oil trapped in shale rock under southern England - which would need fracking to get it out. This latest discovery, if accurate, would be easier and cheaper to exploit. But the oil is sitting under wealthy residential suburbs and protected environmental areas. Environmental pressure groups are not keen. Greenpeace UK chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said: "Dotting the English countryside with drilling rigs and pipelines to squeeze the last drop of oil out of Britain doesn't make any sense. "It's time we uncoupled our economy from the dangerous roller-coaster of fossil fuels and invested in the clean technologies that can provide safe and cheap energy for decades to come." As Redmayne Bentley's Mr Bracken says: "They could start drilling now if they wanted. The real problem in the UK isn't technical, it all depends on land legislation and planning."

अन्वेषण कंपनी यूके ऑयल एंड गैस इन्वेस्टमेंट्स (यूकेओजी) का कहना है कि उसने दक्षिणी इंग्लैंड में तेल की "एक बहुत ही महत्वपूर्ण खोज" की है जो 100 अरब बैरल तक हो सकती है। लेकिन क्या यह वास्तव में है, और इसे प्राप्त करना कितना आसान होगा? यह कितनी बड़ी खोज है?


Electronic voter registration opens in NI

Summary: People in Northern Ireland can now register online to vote.

Those not currently on the electoral roll will be able to input their details in a process which takes a few minutes, the chief electoral officer has said. Electronic voter registration was introduced in all other parts of the UK in 2014. Up to now in Northern Ireland, paper forms had to be filled out and returned to a local election office. Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's morning show, Northern Ireland's chief electoral officer Virginia McVea said: "You can go online on any device and in just a few minutes you can be registered. "The paper version is still there so people don't need to worry, they can do that way if they choose. But now you don't have to download or collect a form." 'Turnout envy' In 2016, the Electoral Office said so-called e-registration would be in place by the end of the year. However, there were repeated delays in implementing the system, and it was not ready for either the Northern Ireland Assembly or Westminster elections which took place in 2017. Ms McVea said Northern Ireland's voter registration and turnout remained generally high. "We have over 1.2 million (registered) out of a population of about 1.8 million. The turnout is over 800,000," she said. "We had the US consul general with us recently and they look at places like Northern Ireland with envy in terms of our turnout and registration. We are really keen to move that up and up." In Great Britain, 90% of voter registrations are now made online.

उत्तरी आयरलैंड में लोग अब मतदान करने के लिए ऑनलाइन पंजीकरण कर सकते हैं।


'Greener and faster' ferry ordered for Stornoway-Ullapool route

Summary: A new ferry has been commissioned by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd to work on the Stornoway to Ullapool route.

Costing £41.8m, the company said it would be faster, greener and more reliable than existing vessels MV Isle of Lewis and MV Muirneag. It will be able to take 700 passengers, 143 cars or 20 commercial vehicles. Transport Minister Keith Brown said passengers would see marked improvements on the route once it starts sailing in June 2014. Related Internet Links CMAL Scottish government

कैलेडोनियन मैरीटाइम एसेट्स लिमिटेड द्वारा स्टोरनोवे से उल्लापूल मार्ग पर काम करने के लिए एक नई नौका शुरू की गई है।


'God will forgive me or not': Inside the world of a people smuggler

Summary: Before he got on the boat to make the clandestine crossing, Shafiullah called his family in Afghanistan to tell them he was OK and on his way to Turkey.

By Hafizullah Maroof BBC Afghan After the call, Shafiullah, who was 16, boarded the boat. He was one of about 100 passengers that night, last June, and one of thousands of men who have have fled Afghanistan every month this year in search of a more secure life in Europe. Shafiullah was already inside Turkey, but the people smugglers he had paid to ferry him to Istanbul were heading across Lake Van to avoid police roadblocks. The lake's waters are dangerous, and the smugglers were setting out at night. Somewhere across the water, the vessel they had chosen to carry their human cargo - including at least 32 Afghans, seven Pakistanis and one Iranian - sank. Sixty-one bodies were recovered, but the rest, including Shafiullah, are missing. Some bodies could be deep below the surface, Turkish authorities told the BBC, making recovery unlikely. At least four of those thought to have perished, including Shafiullah, were sent by a smuggler in Kabul. The BBC approached the smuggler and he agreed to talk on the condition that his identity was disguised. 'Everything is arranged by phone' Elham Noor (not his real name) has well-established links with other criminals and claims a high success rate in sending people to Italy, France, and the UK. "Smuggling is not an individual business, it's a huge network," he said. "We have connections with one another." Noor doesn't travel with the migrants though. "Everything is arranged over the phone," he said. Noor has no shortage of clients. Many Afghans are desperate to leave their country. Afghanistan is among the poorest in the world, it has been ravaged by decades of war. According to the United Nations, 2.7 million Afghans are currently living abroad as refugees - putting Afghanistan behind only Syria and Venezuela in the list of countries which produce the most migrants and refugees. So Noor has no need to advertise. His clients call him. Young Afghans looking to make the journey will typically seek out a trafficker who has already sent somebody else from their region. But only a small percentage of those who try to reach Europe succeed at their first attempt, and some never return. Shafiullah's uncle Sher Afzal said the family knew the journey would be dangerous. "But we didn't anticipate this," said. Afzal is in mourning, but it's a strange, hollow kind of grieving that lacks certainty. Shafiullah is still listed as missing. The family, who live in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, would like to hold a memorial service for Shafiullah, but they have no remains. There has already been a ceremony for the two migrants whose bodies were recovered. "Now we want to see his dead body. We don't expect him to be alive," Afzal said. Shafiullah saw no prospect of a future in Jalalabad. He contacted Noor to get passage to Italy, paying the trafficker $1,000 (£741) as a first instalment. He was bundled together with other migrants and moved from one place to another in cars, trucks, and sometimes on foot. Shafiullah crossed Iran and entered Turkey, but his journey came to an end on Lake Van, moments after he called his family. Noor told the BBC he paid the money back to Shafiullah's family and to others whose journey's were cut short. Shafiullah's family confirmed that they had received the money. $8,500 to get to Italy Noor said the tragedy had added to his misgivings about people smuggling. He recognises the human cost when things go wrong, he said. But it is a lucrative trade, and a hard one to leave after so many years. "We charge $1,000 for Afghanistan to Turkey," Noor said. "From Turkey to Serbia, it is $4,000. From there to Italy, we charge another $3,500. It is $8,500 altogether." These are huge sums of money in a country where the average per capita annual income is just over $500. Noor pockets between $3,000 and $3,500 for every migrant who successfully reaches Italy. And all Noor has to do to is pick up the phone, arrange some money transfers and pay the occasional bribe to the Afghan authorities. He never meets anyone in person who is not known to him or a close relative or friend. He relies on his reputation to bring in clients and is wary of speaking to strangers. It's a comfortable life, particularly by Afghan standards, and the trappings of wealth are obvious - the cars, the clothes, the houses. Noor knows that migrants face a risky journey without travel documents. They are kept hidden during the day and moved at night, using the network's safe houses along the way, in cities like Tehran, Van and Istanbul, he said. The migrants are advised not to carry any valuables like expensive jewellery or watches which could attract thieves. Noor usually tells the migrants not to carry more than $100 in cash. The journey to Turkey, a major hub for Afghans heading to Europe, can take from a week to a couple of months, depending on what happens on the way. One migrant who made it to Istanbul, passing through on his way to the West, was Hazrat Shah, a former soldier in the Afghan army. After his village came under the control of the Taliban, the 25-year-old feared reprisal attacks on his family, so he deserted from his unit and decided to leave the country. He set off from Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan earlier this year, attempting to make it to Italy. "After reaching the border [between Turkey and Iran], it took almost a month to arrive in Istanbul. I stayed there for a few months and worked in hotels to earn money to pay for the smugglers," Shah told the BBC. The eastern Mediterranean route, which involves crossing the sea between Turkey and Greece, is particularly favoured by migrants. The European border agency estimates that in the first 10 months of this year, more than 17,000 people crossed over to Europe through this route, and almost a quarter of these are thought to be Afghan. It was difficult to get from Greece to Bosnia - Shah was deported several times before he made it - but his attempts to move further met with repeated failure. "It was horrible. In the last attempt I was injured as well. The police beat me a lot," he said. "They took our shoes and jumpers. We were forced to return in the dark. It is so hard to get through." 'The smugglers can't help' Shah is not sure if he will ever get to Italy, but he is in no mood to call the people smugglers back in Afghanistan for help. They disappear at the first sign of trouble, he said, and many who undertake the journey regret trusting them. "There is a possibility that you can die or be injured or abducted at every stage of the journey - and nobody can help you," he said. "It is not possible for them [the people smugglers] to help as they are afraid of the police. It is a dirty game." Shah said he had lived in horrific conditions for many months and has seen many die on the way. "You will receive very little food and water to keep you alive. I saw people dying of thirst without water. Other migrants can't help them because if you give your water to them, you face the same situation," he said. According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), more than 1,000 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean this year. This is mainly because they are forced to travel on overcrowded boats, often during rough weather. Many others, like Shafiullah, die before reaching the Mediterranean and are not even included in this statistic. But there is no shortage of Afghans wanting to migrate. After an explosion near the German embassy in Kabul in 2017, which killed at least 150 people, most European countries closed their visa application centres in Afghanistan, which has made travelling legally to Europe even harder and only increased the flow of clients seeking the services of smugglers like Noor. From migrant to trafficker Noor himself was once in a similar situation. Like so many others, he too once dreamed of living a comfortable life in the UK. He undertook the same journey when he was just 14. His dad paid $5,000 to smugglers. "I still remember the difficulties of my journey, particularly in Bulgaria where we were kept hidden in trains - I was even forced to jump from a moving train," Noor said. In Calais, Noor was offered a commission of 100 euros (£90) for every migrant he introduced to a smuggler. This is how he got his start in the business of people smuggling. Noor reached the UK illegally and continued to work with smugglers. But he returned to Afghanistan at the age of 21 when he realised the police were looking for him, he said. Some of the migrants who managed to reach Europe through Noor's network passed on his details to others, and his network and reputation grew. "Despite the uncertainty, people still trust me to take them out of the country," he said. Noor said about 100 people who paid him to deliver them to a better life were currently on their way to Europe. But he insisted they would be the last. He was getting out of the business, he claimed. He said the disaster with Shafiullah's boat had hurt him, but the migrants knew the risks. "I apologised many times to the families. I told them clearly in the beginning, anything can happen on the way," he said. "They have accepted this. God will decide whether to forgive me or not." Another trafficker who knew Noor said he would find it difficult to stop. "People will continue to call him for years to come, and the chance to make money won't simply go away the moment he calls it quits," the trafficker said. Whether Noor gets out or not, the people smuggling will continue. Many thousands Afghans will still be desperate for a safer and better life. In Autumn, not long after Shafiullah's boat sank, two of his relatives made it as far as Turkey. They have just been deported back home. When the weather gets warmer next summer, they may try again. You may also be interested in

इससे पहले कि वह गुप्त रूप से पार करने के लिए नाव पर चढ़ता, शफीउल्ला ने अफगानिस्तान में अपने परिवार को यह बताने के लिए बुलाया कि वह ठीक है और तुर्की जा रहा है।


Brae Alpha platform workers called to muster over 'fire'

Summary: More than 200 personnel on a North Sea oil platform have been called to muster due to a suspected fire.

Marathon said an indication of fire was detected on its Brae Alpha installation, 163 miles north east of Aberdeen, shortly after 09:00. A Shetland Coastguard helicopter was set to help downman the platform, which had 201 people on board, but no fire was found and the operation was called off. Marathon said an investigation had been launched.

संदिग्ध आग के कारण उत्तरी सागर के तेल प्लेटफॉर्म पर 200 से अधिक कर्मियों को इकट्ठा होने के लिए बुलाया गया है।


The amount of woodland in Guernsey is increasing

Summary: Woodland in Guernsey has increased by more than 20% since the last habitat survey in 1999.

The Environment Department still has 10% of the island to survey, but the results so far show an increase by 50 hectares to more than 300. Since March, more than 1,000km of field boundaries have been surveyed along with the island's open ground. The information from the surveys is used to help future planning developments. Parts of the coast and the north of the island are still to be surveyed.

1999 में पिछले आवास सर्वेक्षण के बाद से ग्वेर्नसे में वुडलैंड में 20 प्रतिशत से अधिक की वृद्धि हुई है।


How Britain has been kept safe for a decade

Summary: Terrorism, like Europe, is an issue that has dominated British politics for decades. I woke up on Friday morning expecting to hear the seismic fallout from Brexit monopolising the headlines yet again. I was shocked when I heard the latest news from Nice - that so many men, women and children had been horrifically mowed down by a terrorist driving a lorry.

By Peter TaylorBBC News I was shocked but not surprised, given that the so-called Islamic State has encouraged such attacks by individuals, who don't need a bomb or a gun to carry out slaughter on such a scale. Here in the UK the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby heeded the same call using a knife. The difference is that one of Lee Rigby's attackers was on MI5's radar while the Nice lorry driver was not on France's equivalent - its "S" list of suspects. Mass casualty attacks, as France, Belgium and the UK know only too well, are the perpetual nightmare that governments fear - a nightmare that becomes all too real when intelligence fails to detect them. Since the London bombings of a decade ago, Britain has managed to avoid such a mass attack. But statistics show it has been a close-run thing. Forty terrorist plots have been disrupted since 2005 - including seven in the past 18 months. Reporting on terrorism and political violence as I have done for more than 40 years has few silver linings. "Don't you ever get depressed?" is a question I'm often asked. The honest answer is "yes" - and Nice only underlines it - however, I still try to make sense of what invariably seems senseless. But there is some good news, although I hate to tempt fate by saying so. It's no accident that this country has not yet endured a Paris, Brussels or Nice. Britain's defences against terrorist attack depend not just on the watery buffer of the English Channel and our non-membership of Schengen - Europe's border-free area. Crucially they also rely on the way in which intelligence is now intimately shared between all the agencies: the Security Service (MI5), MI6, GCHQ - and the police. This is the key to keeping Britain safe - although it's by no means guaranteed. In stark contrast, the situation across the Channel is very different. France has six intelligence agencies - and they're decidedly not joined up, as the failures to detect the Paris attacks in January and November last year clearly illustrate. As I discovered when I investigated the November attacks, there was a fatal lack of communication and co-ordination both before and during those attacks. As a result, this month's French Parliamentary inquiry recommends the establishment of a single overarching agency to improve intelligence sharing - similar to America's National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), or the UK's Joint Terrorism Assessment Centre (JTAC). The inquiry concludes: "The multi-layered, cumbersome intelligence apparatus was like an army of soldiers wearing lead boots." From Our Home Correspondent Peter Taylor's report features on this week's From Our Home Correspondent, broadcast on Radio 4 at 13:30 on Sunday 17 July. He also be discussing the Nice attacks on Sunday Morning Live at 10:00 on BBC One. But effective intelligence-sharing in the UK didn't happen overnight - as the history of combating Irish and Islamist terrorism shows. In many years of covering the conflict in Northern Ireland, I lost count of the number of times I was assured that intelligence-sharing had never been closer and the IRA was on the run. Both were fictions. In the mid-1970s, I remember one Northern Ireland Secretary, Roy Mason, boasting that he would squeeze out the IRA like a tube of toothpaste. Martin McGuinness and some of his former IRA comrades now at Stormont bear testimony to the fiction. In the aftermath of 9/11, I was still hearing that intelligence-sharing between the police and MI5 had never been closer - but it wasn't. Take this example. Early in 2004, MI5 surveillance officers were monitoring a cell that was plotting to attack targets in London and the south-east of England. They followed suspects on the fringes of their investigation nearly 200 miles up the M1 to West Yorkshire - and noted the addresses in the Leeds area where they ended up. To my great surprise, I discovered that MI5 didn't immediately notify West Yorkshire Police Special Branch that the suspects were on their patch. I was subsequently told by two senior West Yorkshire officers - independently and on different occasions - that this was common. The Security Service did not routinely share such detailed operational intelligence with the police. I later had sight of the MI5 officers' log that recorded the journey and confirmed what I'd been told. The omission was a fatal error. Two of the suspects turned out to be Mohammed Saddique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer. They were the leaders of the four suicide bombers who murdered 52 people when they attacked London's transport network on 7 July 2005 - known as 7/7. To be fair, MI5 was monitoring dozens of cases and several thousand potential suspects at the time and had to prioritise targets and resources. 7/7 was a tragic wake-up call. In its aftermath, structures were put in place to ensure that intelligence was properly shared. Five Regional Counter Terrorist Units were set up across the country. But the change in attitude was as important as the change in structure. Previously, I had been told by my sources in West Yorkshire that its officers were never allowed inside MI5's inner sanctum. Its door was permanently locked. All that has dramatically changed. The Security Service and local counter-terrorism police officers now work closely together and share all intelligence. The barriers are down. MI5's door is open. This shared intelligence is then passed upwards to the pinnacle of Britain's counter-terrorist pyramid where it's sifted and analysed by MI5, MI6, GCHQ and the police at their weekly meetings in MI5's London headquarters. A further benefit of shared intelligence is that the agencies and police - both at home and abroad - now all work from a single list of targets - the contents and length of which are a closely guarded national secret. These are the hard-learned lessons that have kept Britain relatively safe for the past decade. But, as the intelligence services and the police here are at pains to point out, there is no guarantee that it will always be so. Nice is a grim warning to all of us. Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook

यूरोप की तरह आतंकवाद एक ऐसा मुद्दा है जो दशकों से ब्रिटिश राजनीति पर हावी रहा है। मैं शुक्रवार की सुबह इस उम्मीद में उठा कि ब्रेक्सिट के कारण फिर से सुर्खियों में आने वाले भूकंप के नतीजों को सुनूंगा। जब मैंने नीस से नवीनतम खबर सुनी तो मैं हैरान रह गया-कि इतने सारे पुरुषों, महिलाओं और बच्चों को एक लॉरी चलाने वाले आतंकवादी ने भयानक रूप से कुचल दिया था।


Abduction arrests as missing Manchester teen found in Leeds

Summary: Four men have been arrested on suspicion of child abduction after a missing teenage girl was found in West Yorkshire.

The girl, who was reported missing in Manchester, was found in Leeds on 17 November. Two men aged 23, a 22-year-old and a 27-year-old, have been bailed by police pending further enquiries. Police said the girl is being supported by a team dealing with children at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation. A 50-year-old man was arrested in the Burnage area of Manchester but was later released without charge.

वेस्ट यॉर्कशायर में एक लापता किशोर लड़की मिलने के बाद बच्चे के अपहरण के संदेह में चार लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Cob wall collapses on to Cullompton High Street

Summary: A section of a Devon town's high street has been cordoned off after a piece of wall fell off a derelict building.

Firefighters were called to the scene in Cullompton's High Street at about 20:40 GMT on Sunday after a "large section" of the wall, made of cob, fell on to the pavement. Council surveyors were due to carry an assessment of the building later, Devon and Somerset Fire Service said. Construction materials in cob buildings include mud, straw and earth.

एक जर्जर इमारत से दीवार का एक टुकड़ा गिरने के बाद डेवोन शहर की ऊँची सड़क के एक हिस्से की घेराबंदी कर दी गई है।


How summer fracking protest unfolded in Sussex village

Summary: The summer of 2013 saw a sleepy Sussex village hit the headlines as months of protests over fracking led to dozens of arrests. The protests in Balcombe centred on oil company Cuadrilla's attempt to drill a 3,000ft (900m) vertical well to test for oil. Protesters feared the exploration would lead to fracking. BBC News takes a look at how events unfolded.

The protest begins - 25 July 2013 Up to 100 protesters block a lorry trying to enter the site where the test drilling is due to take place. The vehicle's brake lines are cut during the demonstration, but Sussex Police say the truck is quickly repaired without "interference from any demonstrators". A protest camp with tents and toilets is established. Sixteen protesters arrested - 26 July 2013 Sixteen people are arrested by police as protests intensify in Balcombe. About 75 police officers are involved in the operation as protesters move a tree across the entrance to the site, blocking access. Some activists criticise the police response as "disproportionate". Drilling delayed - 30 July 2013 Exploratory drilling for oil is delayed again following a sixth day of protests. Human rights activist Bianca Jagger visits the site and calls on people across the UK to join protesters. A Tory peer apologises for "any offence caused" after he says fracking should take place in "the North East" because it is "desolate". Protesters glue themselves together - 31 July 2013 Natalie Hynde, daughter of The Pretenders star Chrissie Hynde, is one of two people who glue their hands together outside the test drilling site. Ms Hynde, 30, and Simon "Sitting Bull" Medhurst, 55, formed a "human lock" by the site gate. They are freed within a couple of hours and led into police vans. Fracking protest divides village - 1 August 2013 Protesters block access to the Cuadrilla site with an antique fire engine. Two people are chained to the steering wheel, two more chained behind them, and two chained to the roof. Meanwhile, some residents feel their village has been hijacked by "professional protesters". Oil drilling eventually starts - 2 August 2013 After nine days of protest test drilling at the Balcombe site finally starts. Cuadrilla spokesman Matt Lambert says the company made good progress in getting lorries delivering drilling equipment on to the woodland site. More protesters join camp - 16 August 2013 Cuadrilla scales back exploratory drilling on police advice, as more activists begin arriving at a nearby protest site. Ewa Jasiewicz, who is helping to organise the six-day protest camp, Reclaim the Power, says the oil company has "no social licence" to operate in Balcombe. Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood also joins campaigners. Activists train for direct action - 17 August 2013 Climate activists train ahead of what they say will be 48 hours of direct action against energy firm Cuadrilla. Protesters at the Reclaim the Power camp in Balcombe are learning how to use metal tripods to scale heights in readiness for action. Caroline Lucas MP arrested at protest - 18 August 2013 Green MP Caroline Lucas and her son are among protesters arrested outside the site. Officers serve a Public Order Act notice, saying the crowd might cause serious damage to property or disrupt the life of the community. Large protest camp ends - 22 August 2013 The large Reclaim the Power camp, which attracted about 1,000 people, ends. However, 120 protesters remain camped on the roadside near to the gates. Police scale down their presence and test drilling resumes. Eviction halted in High Court - 17 September 2013 An attempt by West Sussex County Council to evict anti-fracking protesters from their camp near Balcombe is adjourned at the High Court. A High Court judge says the council's attempt to obtain the order is "flawed". Caroline Lucas MP charged - 25 September 2013 Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas is charged over a fracking protest at Balcombe. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says the Brighton Pavilion MP faces one count under the Public Order Act and one of obstructing a highway. Meanwhile, Cuadrilla confirms it found "hydrocarbons" during drilling at the site. Protesters told to go - 5 October 2013 Demonstrators still at the site are handed letters urging them to move from roadside verges. West Sussex County Council says it has given out the letters because of welfare and road safety concerns about people camped by the B2036 London Road. Last protesters leave - 19 November 2013 The last five anti-fracking protesters are evicted from their camp in West Sussex. Protesters have been camped at the site near Balcombe, where energy firm Cuadrilla was test drilling for oil, since August. Bailiffs moved in to enforce an eviction order granted to the county council. Protests cost police £4m - 21 Jan 2014 Nearly £4m was spent on policing demonstrations at the site of exploratory drilling in West Sussex, the area's police and crime commissioner (PCC) reveals. Natalie Hynde guilty - 24 February 2014 Natalie Hynde is found guilty of "besetting" a test drilling site in Balcombe after she superglued herself to another protester. She told Brighton magistrates her aim was to create a "striking and symbolic" media image. Simon Medhurst is also found guilty. Caroline Lucas found not guilty - 17 April 2014 Green MP Caroline Lucas and her four co-defendants are cleared of obstructing a public highway and a public order offence at a protest in Balcombe at Brighton Magistrates' Court. Giving a statement outside the court, the Brighton Pavilion MP, said: "This judgement is right but this is not a victory or cause for celebration. "We will continue to campaign to end fracking and only celebrate when our world is on the path to a clean energy future."

2013 की गर्मियों में एक सुस्त ससेक्स गाँव सुर्खियों में आया क्योंकि फ्रैकिंग पर महीनों के विरोध के कारण दर्जनों गिरफ्तारियां हुईं। बालकोम्ब में विरोध प्रदर्शन तेल कंपनी क्वाड्रिला के तेल के परीक्षण के लिए 3,000 फीट (900 मीटर) ऊर्ध्वाधर कुएं को ड्रिल करने के प्रयास पर केंद्रित था। प्रदर्शनकारियों को डर था कि अन्वेषण से फ्रैकिंग हो जाएगी। बीबीसी समाचार इस बात पर एक नज़र डालता है कि घटनाएँ कैसे सामने आईं।


Grammys: Songwriter Amy Wadge's pride over award

Summary: A songwriter has said she is "so happy" and "proud" after winning a Grammy for co-writing Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud.

Amy Wadge, from Church Village, Rhondda Cynon Taff, collected the award with Sheeran for song of the year for their number one hit. The pair attended the ceremony in Los Angeles together, receiving their award from Stevie Wonder. Afterwards, Wadge tweeted: "Oh my god I am so so happy right now." She added she was "damn proud of @edsheeran we won song of the year woo !!!" Sheeran, who also won a Grammy for best pop solo performance, thanked Wadge on stage "for writing the song with me". "We wrote it on a couch in my house after having dinner - quite odd," he added.

एक गीतकार ने कहा है कि वह एड शीरन की थिंकिंग आउट लाउड के सह-लेखन के लिए ग्रैमी जीतने के बाद "बहुत खुश" और "गर्वित" हैं।


All aboard the chemo bus

Summary: Chemotherapy is a harrowing experience but it becomes even harder to endure when such potentially lifesaving treatment lies in a hospital hours away from home. However, there is now a solution that brings chemo to the heart of the community.

By Dr Ayan Panja BBC Health Check The chemotherapy bus, run by local NHS Trusts and a charity called Hope for Tomorrow, is a fully functioning health unit that allows up to four people to be treated just minutes from their front door. There are now eight chemotherapy buses in operation around the UK, and the one working around Taunton in Somerset has changed the lives of the people who use it. "It's brilliant," says Marion Sayer who is recovering after lung cancer. "It makes life so much easier. I used to have to travel to the hospital which would take an hour and now it takes me a few minutes to come here instead." Around 100,000 people have chemotherapy each year in the UK. Almost all must attend a specialist hospital to have their medication administered. A typical session usually involves the patient having drugs fed into their body through a vein, and can last anywhere between 30 minutes and four hours. It works by poisoning rapidly dividing cells, a phenomenon first observed by looking at the effects of mustard gas on soldiers in World War One. A related chemical, nitrogen mustard, was found to damage DNA in cells. And as cancer cells replicate faster than healthy cells, they - and therefore their DNA - are more likely to be killed off. Moving forward Nitrogen mustard soon spawned a group of drugs which became effective treatments for certain cancers. But while new therapies have since become available, the way they are administered has not changed. Most chemotherapy needs to be supervised by an oncologist or haematologist and they tend to be based in the bigger regional cancer centres. For those living far from their nearest specialist hospital, the additional travel can really take its toll. This is an experience that Christine Mills, who founded Hope for Tomorrow, knows all about. "My husband David had cancer of the spine," Christine told the BBC, "and of the many challenges we faced, the 60-mile round trip to the hospital was particularly stressful. "I was looking out for every pothole and there were problems like traffic and finding a parking space too." It was this personal experience that prompted her to start raising funds for the world's first mobile chemotherapy unit. "I knew that the problem of travelling was something I wanted to help with," she says. "I wanted to give people time to do other things, to find a life outside cancer." All aboard From the outside, the bus looks like a large white box on wheels. But once inside it is like any normal clinic, complete with built-in white units, alcohol gel dispensers, a fully equipped trolley with resuscitation equipment, waste facilities and a sink. Yet there is also something that feels subtly different. The small kitchen area means that patients can have a cup of tea, and the very fact that the unit is parked up on the patient's home turf automatically makes it less threatening. Patients often build close friendships with each other through their visits and some, such as artist Diana Rose, use their time their to create something positive. "My twin boys bought me an iPad and I would sit and draw on it on the bus," she told the BBC. "I'd draw the view out of the window. I couldn't do that in the hospital. There were no windows and all I could do was look at the other sick patients." Marie Ford is the clinic co-ordinator for the chemotherapy bus and has seen the difference it makes. "Patients all say how pleased they are with the service," she says. "It saves them time, they are less tired and they find the service really convenient." Branching out "From a tiredness point of view, it's enormous," says Wendy Hadley, who has been using the bus for four years. "[If I go to hospital] it's pretty much four or five hours out of your treatment day." But it does not come cheap. Each bus is currently made and customised in Wales and costs £260,000 to build, run and maintain over a three-year period. Also, the service is not suitable for every type of treatment. The idea of a mobile health unit does not have to be restricted to cancer treatment alone. They could equally be equipped for services such as neuro-imaging and renal dialysis. For now though, Hope for Tomorrow is looking to expand the chemo bus concept across the UK, with the hope of making the challenge of chemotherapy slightly easier to endure.

कीमोथेरेपी एक कष्टप्रद अनुभव है लेकिन जब इस तरह के संभावित जीवन रक्षक उपचार घर से घंटों दूर अस्पताल में होते हैं तो इसे सहन करना और भी कठिन हो जाता है। हालाँकि, अब एक समाधान है जो समुदाय के दिल में कीमो लाया जाता है।


Welsh Assembly election: Plaid Cymru's bid for power

Summary: Plaid, Plaid Cymru, the Party of Wales. It has had several reincarnations reflecting a journey from a group of fervent Welsh-speaking radicals to a party which has shared the levers of power in Cardiff Bay.

By Aled ap DafyddBBC Wales political correspondent Creating a National Assembly for Wales was a lifetime ambition for the majority of Plaid members and its inception marked an electoral zenith. Under the leadership of Dafydd Wigley, Plaid won its highest share of the constituency vote in any Wales-wide election - 28.4%. Victories in the Labour heartlands of Islwyn and Rhondda contributed to 17 seats. It proved to be an electoral high point. Events within and beyond the party's control affected Plaid's popularity. Amid rumours of a plot, Mr Wigley resigned and was replaced by Ieuan Wyn Jones. Meanwhile Labour's fortunes took an upward turn when Rhodri Morgan succeeded Alun Michael as first secretary, later taking the title first minister. Electoral disappointment was to follow for Plaid. They lost Ieuan Wyn Jones' former Westminster seat of Ynys Mon to Labour at the 2001 general election and the party's representation in the assembly dropped from 17 to 12 following the 2003 Welsh election, with the seats gained in the 1999 election falling again to Labour. Ieuan Wyn Jones resigned as Plaid leader, but was soon re-elected to power as leader of the party's assembly group. At the 2005 general election, Plaid lost Ceredigion to the Liberal Democrats and were reduced to three seats, their fewest at Westminster since 1992. Party in power With support on the wane, Plaid undertook a significant re-branding exercise a year later, opting to use "Plaid" as the party's name, although "Plaid Cymru - the Party of Wales" would remain the official title. The party's colours were changed to yellow from the traditional green and red, while the party logo was changed from the "triban" used since 1933 to a yellow Welsh poppy. The third assembly saw an upturn in fortunes with Plaid increasing its numbers from 12 to 15 at the 2007 election, regaining Llanelli and the newly created constituency of Aberconwy. Following weeks of negotiations involving all four parties, Plaid and Labour formed what became known as the "One Wales" government. Central to the agreement was a commitment to campaign for a 'Yes' vote in a referendum on full law-making powers for the assembly. Ieuan Wyn Jones became deputy first minister as one of four Plaid ministers around the cabinet table with one deputy minister. The 2011 assembly election saw Plaid lose three seats and its place in government, and was overtaken by the Tories as the second largest party. It led to wide-ranging changes which included streamlining the leadership team. Mr Jones stood down as leader and left the assembly altogether two years later, forcing a by-election in Ynys Mon which Plaid won with an increased majority. In March 2012 Plaid elected Leanne Wood as the new leader ahead of two other candidates, Elin Jones and Dafydd Elis-Thomas. The party's first female leader, she was also the first not-fluent in Welsh. In local, European and general elections which followed Ms Wood's victory, Plaid has failed to make a breakthrough. Leanne Wood has said Plaid could lead a minority Welsh Government after 5 May. For that to happen, the party will have to nearly double its number of assembly members.

प्लेड, प्लेड साइमरू, वेल्स की पार्टी। इसके कई पुनर्जन्म हुए हैं जो उत्साही वेल्श भाषी कट्टरपंथियों के एक समूह से एक ऐसी पार्टी की यात्रा को दर्शाते हैं जिसने कार्डिफ खाड़ी में सत्ता के लीवर साझा किए हैं।


David Cameron tribute to departing Plaid MP Elfyn Llwyd

Summary: David Cameron has paid tribute to Plaid Cymru's parliamentary leader Elfyn Llwyd, who is standing down at the general election in May.

During Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Cameron said Mr Llwyd had made "very passionate speeches" on issues such as the Iraq war and civil liberties. The prime minister added that Mr Llwyd, MP for Dwyfor Meirionydd, would be "missed by everyone". Mr Llwyd was first elected at the 1992 general election.

डेविड कैमरन ने प्लेड साइमरू के संसदीय नेता एल्फिन ल्वाइड को श्रद्धांजलि दी है, जो मई में आम चुनाव में खड़े हैं।


Chandrayaan 2: What may have gone wrong with India's Moon mission?

Summary: India's space agency, Isro, has not yet released information on how it lost contact with its Moon lander seconds before it was due to touch down on the lunar surface. But former members of the agency tell the BBC what may have gone wrong.

Chandrayaan-2 (Moon vehicle 2) entered the Moon's orbit on 20 August and was due to land on the lunar surface a little after midnight India local time (1800 GMT) on 7 September - a month after it first shot into space. But contact was lost moments before the lander (named Vikram, after Isro founder Vikram Sarabhai) was expected to touch down at the lunar south pole. The orbiter has since spotted the lander on the surface of the Moon - unbroken, but tilted on its side. So far, scientists have not been able to establish contact with it. The lander's final heart-stopping descent were monitored on screens, complete with readings which reflected the movement of the lander as it headed towards the surface of the Moon. The screens carrying the readings also appeared on television and various social media accounts as the landing was broadcast live. When the countdown began, the lander was moving at a velocity of 1,640 metres per second. Scientists say it appeared to be moving as planned during the first two phases of deceleration, known as the rough braking and fine braking operations. It was during the final stage, known as the "hovering" stage, that the problem occurred. The problem could well have been with the lander's central engine, according to Prof Roddam Narasimha, a former member of Isro. He said that his theory was based on the readings on the screen. "One plausible explanation was that the lander started falling more rapidly," he told BBC Hindi's Imran Qureshi. "It's supposed to come down at a velocity of two metres per second when it hits the Moon's surface. But the gravity on the moon would have made it fall somewhat more rapidly.'' He believes this could be because the central engine was not "producing the thrust that is required and, therefore, the deceleration was no longer what it was supposed to be". And this, in turn, may have led to eventually losing communication with the lander itself. The head of India's first Moon mission, Mylswamy Annadurai, also said the anomaly in the velocity profile was an indication that something had malfunctioned in the lander as it hurtled towards the Moon. "Most likely the orientation [of the lander] could have been disrupted. Once we look at the data we will be able to say for sure what happened, but it is likely that either a sensor or a thruster could have malfunctioned," he told BBC Tamil. Dr Rajeswari Rajagopalan, the head of the Nuclear and Space Policy Initiative of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), also said an engine malfunction was the likeliest reason. "In the absence of data parameters, it is difficult to come to a conclusion, but the readings on the screen did show that something was wrong," she told BBC Hindi. "The other possibility is that when you do a landing at a higher speed, you cause a lot of dust to rise that also shakes up the spacecraft because of the gravitational pull. But it's more likely the malfunctioning of one of the engines." Chandrayaan-2 was the most complex mission ever attempted by Isro. The lander carried within its belly a 27kg Moon rover (called Pragyan, which translates as wisdom in Sanskrit), which included instruments to analyse the lunar soil. The rover had the capacity to travel 500m from the lander in its 14-day life span, and would have sent data and images back to Earth for analysis. The mission would have focused on the lunar surface, searching for water and minerals and measuring moonquakes, among other things. Read more about India's space ambitions

भारत की अंतरिक्ष एजेंसी, इसरो ने अभी तक इस बारे में जानकारी जारी नहीं की है कि चंद्रमा की सतह पर उतरने से कुछ सेकंड पहले उसने अपने चंद्रमा लैंडर से संपर्क कैसे खो दिया। लेकिन एजेंसी के पूर्व सदस्यों ने बीबीसी को बताया कि क्या गलत हो सकता है।


Will Smith bungee jumps out of helicopter for 50th birthday

Summary: Will Smith has celebrated turning 50 in style.

Bungee jumping probably isn't everyone's cup of tea, but at least he won't forget his big day in a hurry. And this wasn't a standard bungee jump, the star decided to do it out of a helicopter over the Grand Canyon, watched by his family and friends. Will shared the moment on his YouTube channel and once he'd made the jump but was still dangling he said: "It goes from pure terror to pure bliss." The video is called Will Smith: The Jump. A warning, there's some language in the video that you might find offensive. Just before the jump he seemed a little nervous, but he soon got into it and blew kisses to the crowd. His wife Jada Pinkett Smith and his three kids Trey, Jaden and Willow were watching, along with his friend Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Carlton in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Doing a bungee while attached to a helicopter added an extra element of danger because the helicopter is constantly moving. Hanging off the edge of the helicopter, Will took a little sneak peek down the canyon and shook his head, shouting: "Never look down!" But once he'd taken the plunge he seemed to have forgotten his fear and what happened during the test. He posted on Instagram before the jump that they were testing with a dummy, but the dummy's leg fell off during it. Once he made it on the crash mat and was detached from the helicopter his family and friends looked relieved. They then watched a video of the jump, with Will and Alfonso doing some post-jump analysis. Will said: "You have to commit. "Life is hard, you might get hurt, your heart might get broken, you might lose your job, but you've still got to commit." And commit he did, he was challenged by Yes theory to do the jump. He performed the bungee jump to raise awareness of the charity Global Citizen, which aims to end extreme poverty by 2030. Will's jump is raising money to support a project called Education Cannot Wait. It provides access to education for children in crisis-affected areas. Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here.

विल स्मिथ ने 50 साल के होने का जश्न मनाया है।


The writers breathing life into black British history

Summary: From an African girl who was "gifted" to Queen Victoria to a slave who took on his master in a British court, several little-known but remarkable chapters of black British history are being put in the spotlight on stage this year.

By Ian YoungsEntertainment & arts reporter A string of writers are reaching back to the 18th and 19th Centuries to fill in gaps in the story of Britain. In the year that British actress Cynthia Erivo is up for an Oscar for playing US slave-turned-abolitionist Harriet Tubman, many of the new plays are examining the slave era from a British perspective. Find out more about four of the plays and the stories behind them. The African girl adopted by Queen Victoria The experience of a young black woman in royal circles could hardly be more timely. But 170 years before Harry met Meghan, there was Sarah Bonetta, a girl who was taken from slavery in Africa by a Royal Navy captain and presented as a gift to Queen Victoria. "As a child I'd heard of Queen Victoria having a black godchild," says Janice Okoh, whose new play The Gift includes Bonetta's story, alongside a fictional modern-day black woman, also called Sarah. "The story goes that she was about to be sacrificed by an African king," Okoh says of Bonetta. "We don't know whether that story is 100% true. "Queen Victoria did not bring her up in her palace, but she fostered her out to people she knew. But Sarah Bonetta had a strong relationship with Queen Victoria's children and mixed in their circles." Okoh's play comes from Eclipse Theatre's Revolution Mix project, which aims to tell overlooked stories from black British history - especially those from before the Windrush docked from the Caribbean in 1948, which is widely perceived as the start of mass immigration. Okoh says: "I find it interesting to learn more about my history that is not covered in school. You go away thinking you don't belong anywhere, that black people didn't do anything or contribute to British society, and they did. It's about that." Linking the past and present in The Gift are the themes of cross-cultural adoption, and how racism rears its head. "The big question is, how can white people understand what racism is without ever having experienced it?" the writer asks. "That really feeds into the debate at the moment with Meghan, and people saying she hasn't experienced racism, she's just disliked. "She's experiencing that on that level. Can you imagine what black women experience on an everyday level?" That being said, Okoh stresses that she has channelled the sensitivities and frustrations around race into humour in her play. "Please say it's a comedy," she adds. "Because it's fun!" The Gift is at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Saturday 25 January, then at Theatre Royal Stratford East, London, and on tour. The national slave debt only repaid in 2015 In 1833, the UK parliament passed a law to finally outlaw slavery in the British Empire. The catch? In order to persuade slave owners, the government had to pay £20m in compensation for the loss of their "property". That bailout to slave owners amounted to 40% of the country's national budget at the time, or £2.4bn in today's money. The debt wasn't fully paid off until 2015. "So your salary has gone to paying for this, as has mine as a descendant of the slave trade," says playwright Juliet Gilkes Romero, a former BBC journalist. The political manoeuvring behind the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act forms the backbone of Gilkes Romero's new play The Whip, written for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The title has a double meaning - referring to the chief whip who tries to push through abolition, as well as the instrument of torture. The play also features a runaway slave who is the chief whip's parliamentary assistant; another former slave based on Mary Prince, the first woman to petition parliament; and a mill worker who provides a comparison between conditions in the Caribbean and those faced by workers at home. Hours spent researching in the House of Commons library, and a trip with the cast to the Palace of Westminster, gave Gilkes Romero an admiration for the mother of parliaments, she says. "They knew that slavery was untenable," she says. "It was a moral decision and a pragmatic one. How long could the Empire continue to drive its economic industry and wealth on the back of the enslavement of peoples? It was the right call. "In America they couldn't agree. They had a civil war. There was carnage. The [British] bill was flawed. It wasn't perfect. But isn't it incredible what was achieved?" On top of the huge financial outlay, there was great uncertainty about how the British economy would cope. Gilkes Romero sees parallels with the Brexit debate. "When this country decided to have abolition, they didn't really know what was on the other side of that wall. You're giving up a massive income stream." The 1830s parliament was debating the fates of freed slaves. While today's decisions about EU citizens and other migrants come at a very different time, she notes similarities in the "moral choices" being made. "What becomes of those people? Will they come here, and what will happen? Will there be bloodshed and violence? Will people forgive and forget? I think there are definitely resonances." The Whip is at the RSC's Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, from 1 February-21 March. The artist and the slave massacre In 1781, more than 130 slaves died when they were thrown overboard from a British slave ship called the Zong, which had been hit by sickness. Its owners then filed an insurance claim on the value of the loss of their property - the slaves. The artist JMW Turner later depicted the Zong massacre in his 1840 painting The Slave Ship. "I find it an incredible artistic response," writer Winsome Pinnock says. "In that painting, he says, 'This isn't finished, history doesn't end. And you have to look at it, you have to examine it, before you can move on.'" Turner, his painting, a black sailor called Thomas and a modern-day actress all somehow feed into Pinnock's new play Rockets and Blue Lights, which switches between Victorian times and the present day. "The play is about memory. It's about a shared British history," she says. "Contrary to the things people seem to think, there aren't very many plays written on the themes of enslavement by black British writers. There really aren't." Rockets and Blue Lights is being staged at Manchester's Royal Exchange theatre, a building that itself echoes with history, having once been the largest cotton trading hall in the country. "The fact that I, a black woman writer, descended from enslaved people - who were denied their voice and their culture - is speaking in that space and have written a play in which I explore that history… That has a lot of resonance," she says. Pinnock was the first black woman to have a play staged by the National Theatre in 1995 and has long been regarded as a trailblazer. Her mother arrived in the UK from Jamaica as part of the Windrush generation. When she died several years ago, the writer started thinking about her own connection with slavery, and Britain's role. But she says her show "plays around with history" and "is not looking at enslavement in quite the way that one might expect". So it's not a straightforward historical re-enactment. "I often wonder if my ancestors would want me to keep reliving their trauma. And I don't think they would," she says. "I think they would want me to do something else with it. And there are lots of things I can do theatrically to make this relevant." Rockets and Blue Lights is at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, from 12 March-4 April. The slave who took his master to court, and won In 1778, Joseph Knight successfully challenged his status as a slave in court in Edinburgh - not only defeating his master and winning his freedom, but ensuring that slavery was ruled illegal in Scotland. Knight had been taken from Jamaica to Scotland as the personal servant of sugar plantation owner Sir John Wedderburn. It was, for the period, a more "nurturing" relationship than that experienced by most slaves, according to May Sumbwanyambe, who tells the story in the National Theatre of Scotland's play Enough of Him. "This was a young black man who wanted his freedom but at the same time felt such a degree of loyalty towards his 'master and father' - somebody who had actually been very loving and caring towards him," the writer says. "This was a master and slave owner who genuinely felt anguish and felt betrayed that this young man wanted to be free of him." Sumbwanyambe was born in Edinburgh but grew up in Grimsby, working night shifts on the docks to earn money during the university holidays while studying for a law degree. He wrote the play against the backdrop of debate about Brexit. "You kept hearing this thing - 'We want our country back.' "And it was constantly linked to immigration. The thing that I struggled with is that it was based on this idea that, if only you could just go back 70 years, back to the glory days when Britain still just had an empire but was all completely white. I knew that was a myth." The point that immigration was happening long before Windrush underpins his play. Sumbwanyambe was surprised to learn that there were thought to have been between 10,000 and 20,000 black people in mid-18th Century London, out of a population of around 700,000. "Black people have been here and we've been living side-by-side in this country with white people for a very long time," the playwright says. "For all those glory days that people want to go back to - we were there too." Joseph Knight was among those who left a legacy. "The journey towards this noble idea of justice and dignity and respect that we think of [as British] was contributed to by that young black man's actions." Enough of Him is at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 17 October, then at Perth Theatre and the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. Follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

एक अफ्रीकी लड़की, जिसे रानी विक्टोरिया को "उपहार में" दिया गया था, से लेकर एक गुलाम, जिसने ब्रिटिश दरबार में अपने मालिक का मुकाबला किया था, इस साल काले ब्रिटिश इतिहास के कई अल्पज्ञात लेकिन उल्लेखनीय अध्यायों को मंच पर सुर्खियों में लाया जा रहा है।


Dumfries new hospital plans approved

Summary: Proposals for a new £200m general hospital on the outskirts of Dumfries have been approved by planning committee councillors.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway has earmarked farmland at the Garroch roundabout for the 350-bed facility. There is also provision for more than 100 staff residences, a helipad and parking for nearly 1,000 cars. It will replace the existing infirmary building, constructed in the 1970s, on the Bankend Road. A number of other potential locations for the development - including the current site - were ruled out. The Scottish government has earmarked funds to finance the replacement for the town's infirmary.

डमफ्रीज के बाहरी इलाके में एक नए 200 मिलियन पाउंड के सामान्य अस्पताल के प्रस्ताव को योजना समिति के पार्षदों द्वारा मंजूरी दी गई है।


Leadership result is a 'big moment' in Labour history

Summary: Whatever the result of the Labour leadership contest there's no disguising how big a moment this is in history of the Labour Party - one which casts the whole future shape both of the party and of Welsh politics into doubt.

By Vaughan RoderickBBC Welsh affairs editor If, as the polls suggest, Jeremy Corbyn emerges victorious Labour will have chosen its most left-wing leader since Keir Hardie, the Merthyr MP who died exactly a century ago. Despite calls for unity from all sides, Mr Corbyn would find it difficult to lead a parliamentary party where he has few supporters and Welsh Labour MPs are no keener on Mr Corbyn than their English colleagues. On the other hand, a narrow defeat for Mr Corbyn might prove equally traumatic, with a newly enthused left prepared to take the fight to the new leadership over policy-making and parliamentary selections. While Labour in Westminster have almost five years to sort themselves out before the next general election, in Wales the party faces a crucial contest next May when Carwyn Jones will be defending the record of the UK's only remaining Labour government. While Welsh Labour will try and distance itself from any turmoil in Westminster during the election campaign, the Conservatives believe they could reap huge benefits from a Corbyn leadership particularly in the eleven Welsh constituencies they won in this year's general election. Plaid Cymru though might be forced into a tactical rethink over their strategy to outflank Labour from the left. A Corbyn win would almost certainly increase pressure for a federal Labour Party - a move long supported by many assembly members but viewed with suspicion by Welsh Labour MPs. Parliamentarians horrified at the prospect a Corbyn leadership may well support a more autonomous Welsh party to put some distance between themselves and the new leadership.

लेबर नेतृत्व प्रतियोगिता का परिणाम जो भी हो, लेबर पार्टी के इतिहास में यह कितना बड़ा क्षण है-एक ऐसा क्षण जो पार्टी और वेल्श राजनीति दोनों के पूरे भविष्य के आकार को संदेह में डाल देता है।


Newspaper headlines: Vaccine priorities and Brexit deal block

Summary: The headline in the i newspaper announces "Vaccine arrives in the UK" , or as the Sun puts it: "The needle has landed" . The Daily Express reports that industrially-frozen shipments of the jab turned up on the back of unmarked lorries , which rolled off Eurotunnel freight carriages in convoy. The Times says health officials have dismissed global criticism of Britain's rapid approval of a vaccine as sour grapes . According to the paper, they say regulators in other countries who have been beaten to the decision will ultimately make the same judgement.

By BBC NewsStaff The Guardian's main story is that NHS frontline staff will no longer be prioritised for the vaccine after a drastic rethink about who should come first. It says NHS bosses have warned that the UK's first consignment of 800,000 doses may be "the only batch we receive for some time" - raising questions about how soon further supplies will arrive and how long frontline personnel and vulnerable groups will have to wait. Care home staff, and in-patients and out-patients aged over 80, will take priority, the paper adds. Several papers blame French demands for access to fish in UK waters for the setback in the Brexit talks. According to the Financial Times, President Macron wants to preserve a substantial chunk of existing fishing rights for the French fleet - and is also insisting on a strict UK state-aid regime. The Daily Telegraph quotes UK sources as saying Paris has been "lobbying hard" among EU member states to agree fresh demands on these issues. A number of papers report that Sir Keir Starmer faces the prospect of unrest over his plans for Labour to vote in favour of any Brexit deal. The Times says at least one shadow cabinet member and several shadow ministers will consider resigning if Labour backs an agreement. According to the paper, they believe the party should abstain and wash its hands of the consequences of a hard Brexit. The Daily Mirror is calling on the government to save the hospitality industry with the nearly £2bn that supermarkets are handing back in business rates relief given at the start of the pandemic. It suggests setting up a rescue fund to support pubs, bars and restaurants who may struggle to survive beyond Christmas. Supermarkets have done the right thing - the paper says - and now is the time for the chancellor to do the right thing too. Finally - with the vaccine expected to be rolled out within days, the Telegraph says ministers are at odds with scientists over whether Father Christmas will need the jab before delivering presents. It reports that the deputy chief medical officer for England, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, said yesterday that Santa Claus would be "at the top of our list" to be vaccinated. But hours later - the paper goes on - Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, insisted he would not need the jab, telling MPs that Santa had been allocated a special travel corridor, while his elves would count as "key workers". Sign up for a morning briefing direct to your inbox

आई अखबार की हेडलाइन में घोषणा की गई है कि "वैक्सीन यूके में आ गया है", या जैसा कि द सन कहता हैः "सुई उतर गई है"। द डेली एक्सप्रेस की रिपोर्ट है कि जैब का औद्योगिक रूप से जमे हुए शिपमेंट अचिह्नित लॉरियों के पीछे आ गया, जो काफिले में यूरो टनल माल डिब्बों से लुढ़क गए। द टाइम्स का कहना है कि स्वास्थ्य अधिकारियों ने ब्रिटेन की खट्टे अंगूर के रूप में एक वैक्सीन की तेजी से मंजूरी की वैश्विक आलोचना को खारिज कर दिया है। अखबार के अनुसार, वे कहते हैं कि अन्य देशों में नियामक जिन्हें निर्णय के लिए पीटा गया है, वे अंततः वही निर्णय लेंगे।


Chevron's North Sea gas release investigated

Summary: A gas release on a North Sea platform is being investigated.

The 135 personnel on board Chevron's Alba Northern platform, 130 miles north east of Aberdeen, were called to muster on Wednesday afternoon. Chevron said emergency shutdown systems were activated immediately, functioned correctly, and no-one was hurt. The company said the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had been informed, and the cause of the release would be fully investigated. The muster was stood down just over an hour after the incident.

उत्तरी सागर के प्लेटफॉर्म पर गैस छोड़े जाने की जांच की जा रही है।


Crayfish found at Ballachulish Quarry in Lochaber

Summary: North American signal crayfish have been found in a pond at Ballachulish - the most northerly recording of the invasive species in the west Highlands.

A Highland Council ranger made the find at a quarry. The crayfish have been blamed for feasting on native insects, frogs and small fish in the River Clyde and in lochs in Dumfries and Galloway. The most northerly recordings of the species were made in the River Nairn in the Highlands. Highland Council, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Lochaber Fisheries Trust are discussing what action to take to control the crayfish.

उत्तरी अमेरिकी सिग्नल क्रेफिश बालाचुलिश के एक तालाब में पाई गई है-जो पश्चिमी हाइलैंड्स में आक्रामक प्रजातियों की सबसे उत्तरी रिकॉर्डिंग है।


Mother and children found dead in Dublin named

Summary: A mother and her two children whose bodies were found at a house in south Dublin on Wednesday afternoon have been named locally.

They were Seema Banu, 37, Asfira Syed, 11 and Faizan Syed, 6, according to Irish broadcaster RTÉ. Gardaí (Irish police) were called to the house in Llywellen Court in Ballinteer at about 12:00 local time after neighbours became concerned. The deaths have been described as "unexplained". Police said they were still investigating the circumstances of what happened. A candlelit vigil was held for the family in the Llewellyn estate on Wednesday night. RTÉ reported that police have been in contact with the woman's partner who was described as being in a distressed state.

एक माँ और उसके दो बच्चों के शव बुधवार दोपहर दक्षिण डबलिन के एक घर में पाए गए, जिनका नाम स्थानीय रूप से रखा गया है।