Will Gompertz reviews Beverley Knight's socially distanced London Palladium show ★★★☆☆

Summary: On 29 January 2020, I went to the London Palladium to see Madonna perform her Madame X show. She made the 2,297-seat theatre feel as intimate as a downtown cabaret club. She came down into the audience, sat next to fans, had a chat, swigged beer from their plastic bottles. It was all very cosy.

Will GompertzArts editor@WillGompertzBBCon Twitter On Thursday, I was back at the Palladium to watch Beverley Knight and her band perform. What a difference six months make. The shows were polar opposites. Bev was pitch-perfect, Madonna was not. Bev moved around the stage with dynamism and grace, an injured Madonna hobbled. Bev's banter had everyone cheering, Madonna's left us feeling a bit awkward. But… Madonna's show was better. Not because she was better, she wasn't, but because we, the audience, were better. That's nobody's fault. It's down to the wretched virus and the associated social distancing rules. Madonna performed to a full house, Beverley Knight had the unenviable task of performing to row upon row of empty seats, consisting of about 1,650 plush pink chairs occupied by black crosses on white paper rather than people. There were 640 of us with tickets, whom Andrew Lloyd Webber in a pre-show welcome cheerfully described as guinea pigs. He was making the premise for the show quite clear - it was not so much about entertainment, more about being part of a series of official experiments to see if a major indoor venue such as the Palladium could manage the logistics of putting on a socially distanced show. It was a strange affair. The wearing of facemasks was obligatory, as a fellow journalist discovered when he surreptitiously let his slip mid-show, only for a (masked) usher to sidle up and insist he pull it back up. Notwithstanding debates about the effectiveness of masks, I found the compulsory measure reassuring, while accepting it subdues the atmosphere: a gig without atmosphere is like a joke without a punchline - it can fall a bit flat. The social distancing worked well, in so much as we were so spread out (unless you'd bought a pair of tickets to sit together) that you'd need the vocal projection of Brian Blessed to communicate with your neighbour. The only snag with that is live entertainment is all about a sense of shared experience, which is pretty much non-existent in a huge auditorium with people scattered about like ships on the ocean. The net result was a feeling of watching a rehearsal rather than a show. There wasn't the tension in the air you normally get at a gig, or the union between performer and crowd. Not that Bev didn't give it her best - she was fantastic. But how weird it must have been for her, staring out at hundreds of pieces of paper, in between which was the occasional mask-wearing punter whose facial expressions were impossible to read or respond to. In the circumstances, she was five-star brilliant. The way in which she tore into Piece of My Heart would have made Janis Joplin proud, while a full-bloodied cover of the Rolling Stones' Satisfaction was a highlight. The stand-out moment, though, was her rendition of Memory from the musical Cats - a number she'd performed many times on the same stage when playing Grizabella in Lloyd Webber's long-running show. She nailed the song, which you'd expect. But what caught her by surprise was the audience reaction. We rose as one to give her a spontaneous standing ovation, which caused her to pause, wipe away a tear, and walk away to gather herself. In retrospect it's easy to see why. She was two-thirds of the way through her set, and because we were wearing masks had no clue about how she was doing. We were loving it? Hating it? Bored? Who knew? Not Bev. We were as non-communicative as those cardboard cut-outs in today's football stadiums. Until, that is, we did something impulsive to demonstrate our appreciation, acknowledging she was touching us from afar (safety measures dictate that performers must stand several metres away from the front of the stage). It was a moment of 'liveness' that makes theatre and concerts so unique and important. You can stream Memory a million times, but it'll never be as good as it was at 3:46pm on 23 July 2020 at the London Palladium. It proved to be a cathartic experience for both singer and audience, who found a way to bond as Bev and her well-tuned band powered through I'm Every Woman and Come As You Are. The show stopped with a showstopper: an a capella cover of Ben E King's 60s hit Stand By Me. Did the experiment work? Can a venue such as the Palladium manage the logistics of a socially distanced show? The answer to that appear to be yes. Will it be a template for the future? Beverley Knight and Andrew Lloyd Webber hope not, because as far as they are concerned it doesn't work artistically or commercially. So, it's hopeless really. Was this test better than nothing? Yes. But then what's the point of testing something that is ultimately doomed to fail? The stark choice is simple: for most shows to go on, it will be a case of all or nothing. Recent reviews by Will Gompertz Follow Will Gompertz on Twitter

29 जनवरी 2020 को, मैं मैडोना को उसका मैडम एक्स शो करते देखने के लिए लंदन पैलेडियम गया। उसने 2,297 सीटों वाले थिएटर को डाउनटाउन कैबरे क्लब की तरह अंतरंग महसूस कराया। वह दर्शकों के बीच आई, प्रशंसकों के बगल में बैठी, बातचीत की, उनकी प्लास्टिक की बोतलों से बीयर पी। यह सब बहुत आरामदायक था।


Have Oman and Qatar escaped the Arab revolts?

Summary: After revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, uprisings in Yemen and Syria, and serious unrest in the Gulf state of Bahrain, The World Tonight's Robin Lustig reports from Oman and Qatar on whether it is likely there could be more revolts there.

Usually when you see the word Oman, it is preceded by the word "sleepy". It lies on the south-eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, and for centuries it has been valued for its strategic location at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, linking the Gulf to the Indian Ocean. But over the past few weeks, Oman has been stirring from its slumber. In late February, at least two people were killed during clashes in the city of Sohar between security forces and protesters demanding more jobs. Ticking time-bomb "Oman's stability was always just a cover," says activist Basma al-Kiyumi. She gives credit to the country's ruler, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, for having responded promptly to protesters' demands, but says his words must now be followed by actions. "Oman," she says, "is still a bomb waiting to explode." Unemployment is relatively high in Oman, which has only limited oil reserves and is one of the poorest of the oil-producing countries. Outside the Majlis al-Shura, the consultative assembly, there is a permanent encampment of protesters demanding jobs. They say they will not budge until their demands are met. Sultan Qaboos has ruled as an absolute monarch for the past 40 years. He has a reputation as a pro-Western reformer who introduced paved roads, schools and hospitals into what had been a remote and seriously under-developed nation. But he is now facing unprecedented challenges from the streets as a direct result of the wave of uprisings that has swept through the region. When I visit Sultan Qaboos university, the country's only publicly-funded university, students are celebrating the launch of Oman's first student newspaper. "Just within the past few weeks, we've seen much more press freedom," one of them tells me. "You can write things about ministers that never used to be said publicly. There really has been a big change." The Sultan has been credited with reacting speedily to the protests in February and March. He sacked 12 of his ministers, increased the minimum wage, and promised to create 50,000 new jobs. His richer Gulf neighbours are providing cash to help him - after all, none of them wants to see chaos in a country where, because about 40% of all the world's tanker-borne oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, stability is so vital to their own wealth. As soon as you mention wealth you think of Qatar, a tiny pinprick of a country half way up the Gulf, sticking out like a thumb from the Arabian peninsula, and now reckoned to be the richest country in the world. Its total population is around 1.6m, but of those, only about 250,000 are Qatari. The rest are foreign workers who keep the place going, build its gleaming high-rise offices and hotels, and staff its service industries. Qatar is awash in oil and natural gas, and if you ask why there have been no protests in Qatar, the answer you get is: "Because there's no reason to protest." Game plan On the other hand, even if jobs are not a problem in a country with an economic growth rate approaching 20% a year, Qatar is still an absolute monarchy, with a ruler, Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, whose family have run the place since the mid-1800s. So why are Qataris not demanding democracy, in the same way as so many others are elsewhere in the Arab world? The reply I get from a Qatari student is simple enough: "If you have everything you need, who needs democracy?" But wouldn't they at least like a public debate over the Emir's decision to send Qatari warplanes to join the Nato-led military operation in Libya? There is no need, I am told, because just about everyone agrees that it is right for Qatar to help fellow-Arabs in their hour of need. As for the paradox of a country with no semblance of democracy sending warplanes to help people fighting for democracy thousands of miles away - there's no paradox at all, I am told. The involvement in Libya is simply designed to help save lives. It has nothing to do with democracy. Qatar prides itself on its ability to make friends (how many countries can you think of who manage to remain on good terms with both the US and Iran?). "Brand Qatar" is what some people call it - spend wisely, give generously, and keep your name in the public eye. And if it helps you to win the right to host the World Cup football tournament in 2022, well, no-one in Qatar is complaining. Robin Lustig is reporting from Oman and Qatar this week on The World Tonight at 2200 BST on BBC Radio 4.

ट्यूनीशिया और मिस्र में क्रांतियों के बाद, यमन और सीरिया में विद्रोह, और खाड़ी राज्य बहरीन में गंभीर अशांति के बाद, द वर्ल्ड टुनाइट के रॉबिन लुस्टिग ने ओमान और कतर से बताया कि क्या वहाँ और विद्रोह होने की संभावना है।


Through the shopping glass: The tradition of the Christmas window

Summary: An exhibition charting the window displays of Christmases past has opened in Newcastle. But do these annual themed displays deserve such recognition - or is the Christmas window simply a marketing trick to hook in passers-by during the busiest shopping weeks of the year?

By Kristie KinghornBBC News From the fantasy world of A Christmas Carol and Gulliver's Travels, to the latest designer collections, Christmas windows have become as much of a tradition as the turkey and the tree. Offering the first peek of the products available in store, a well-dressed window can be the difference between the consumer passing by or walking in. Such displays have traditionally featured such staples as the fairytale story or nativity play, although more unusual themes have included Christmas from an alien's perspective and the children's TV series Camberwick Green. Others have been more overtly promotional with stores filling their windows with "festive" displays crammed with designer goods from the likes of Burberry or Stella McCartney. 'A mini army' However, Rebecca Marks, consultant at retail analyst Conlumino, believes that the current trend is moving away from such blatant commercialism. "More and more we are seeing retailers focusing their displays and advertisements more commonly on a story than their products, increasing the meaning of their overall offer to exhibit the 'magical' Christmas journey which can be had in store." she said. "Consequently, consumers love playing into the story and the entertainment of it, and an enjoyable store experience may not only play a part in purchases, but it can also drive repeat visits." At what is possibly the UK's most famous department store, Harrods, the Christmas window discussions begin each year in January, with a team of about 20 working on the concept over a 10-month period. The head of visual merchandising at the London store, Alexander Wells-Greco, said the "mini army" of 63 visual merchandisers input and share their ideas in order to cover the "plethora of categories" from womenswear to toys. The idea behind this year's display at Harrods is a "Christmas for everyone" - with the specific theme of Once Upon a Christmas, named after the popular children's movie. "We started to think about what families did together around Christmas time, from going shopping to going the theatre, and that's where our concept of theatre scenes and storytelling really stemmed from," said Mr Wells-Greco. "A key target for us this year was to really engage and interact with families, with children becoming the main focus and hero of the season." To make this concept a reality, the windows on the Brompton Road store were raised by 60cm to create under-floor theatre scenes at child's eye level - below brands including the likes of Balenciaga and Rosalind Miller. Crashing Santa At Newcastle department store Fenwick, the annual display is seen as a Christmas institution, with thousands gathering on Northumberland Street to see the magic unveiled. The display is now in its 44th year, and has inspired the Fenwick Unwrapped exhibition at the city's Discovery Museum. This Christmas, the store's 30ft-long animated window takes adults and children on a journey through a fantasy world. The display is viewed as if from a bedroom window on Christmas Eve - each section follows the story as Santa Claus flies over the skies of Gateshead and Newcastle before crashing into the store's chimney. The world of windows -Macy's in New York is said to have pioneered the tradition of the Christmas window in the 1870s -Although the animations in the window displays of the grands magasins in Paris are said to have inspired Fenwick -Le Bon Marché's first Christmas window was in 1893 - later followed by Printemps, Galeries Lafayette and Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville. Today, these competitive displays attract close to 8 million tourists and Parisians during the festive period -In the UK, stores such as Hamleys, Selfridges and Fortnum and Mason have followed suit -Harvey Nichols' first Christmas windows were installed in the 1890s - to create this year's disco-theme, the firm's flagship London store used about one million flakes of glitter, 620 mirror balls and 540 baubles -Selfridges in London unveiled its Journey to the Stars Christmas windows in October. Work on the display started in June with 500 staff working a total of 32,000 hours to bring their ideas to reality As with Harrods, the design process for the following Christmas's storyboard begins early, with a team from Fenwick meeting the production design team in November to plan for 13 months ahead. The ideas and initial illustrations are agreed in the first few months of the year, and work on the models, music, lighting and sets takes several more months. "Inspiration can come from anywhere, whether that is a general Christmas theme, classic stories, fairy tales or something more traditional," a Fenwick spokesman said. "The key element is always to make it different from previous years, which can be challenging considering the long history of the animated windows. "It's always the traditional themes which prove the most popular." And when the Christmas season comes to an end, the props are often used in other displays and theme parks around the world. The Fenwick spokesman added: "The windows are now an integral part of Newcastle's festive period and bring people from across the region into the city centre. "The intention of the animated windows is to have a display that appeals to a family audience, both children and adults alike. "It is not a commercial venture so does not feature any brands; it is our way of giving something back to the North East." Fenwick Unwrapped is on display at the Discovery Museum until 10 January.

न्यूकैसल में क्रिसमस के अतीत की खिड़कियों को प्रदर्शित करने वाली एक प्रदर्शनी खोली गई है। लेकिन क्या ये वार्षिक विषयगत प्रदर्शन इस तरह की मान्यता के लायक हैं-या क्रिसमस की खिड़की साल के सबसे व्यस्त खरीदारी सप्ताहों के दौरान राहगीरों को आकर्षित करने के लिए केवल एक विपणन चाल है?


Man denies manslaughter over Boston street attack death

Summary: A man has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter over the death of a man found seriously injured in a market town street.

Gediminas Vaitkus, 43, was discovered injured on Red Lion Street in Boston on 28 July after being attacked and died five days later in hospital. Hikmet Maez, 19, of Spilsby Road in the town appeared at Lincoln Crown Court via video link . Mr Maez was denied bail and is due to stand trial on 25 January. More news from across Lincolnshire Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.

एक आदमी ने एक बाजार शहर की सड़क पर गंभीर रूप से घायल एक आदमी की मौत पर हत्या के लिए दोषी नहीं होने का अनुरोध किया है।


Man dies after being hit by tram in Oldham

Summary: A man has died after being struck by a tram in Oldham.

It happened at just before 06:00 GMT near the Metrolink stop at Shaw and Crompton, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene and detectives are investigating how he came to be on the tracks. A section of the line between Oldham Mumps and Rochdale remains closed, causing disruption to services with passengers being advised to use the bus.

ओल्डहैम में ट्राम की चपेट में आने से एक व्यक्ति की मौत हो गई है।


Coronavirus in winter: 'This time of year is harder than lockdown'

Summary: Full lockdown is over - but so is summer. As the days get shorter, darker and the temperature drops below acceptable BBQ conditions, we're all slowly realising our lives are going to be very restricted for months to come.

Just from talking to people, it feels many are finding this bit harder than full lockdown - the inability to plan, the uncertainty of what's to come, the very real lack of fun - to simply not knowing if you'll be able to see your mum at Christmas. In short, after an emotionally draining six months, a lot of us have run out of steam. Radio 1 Newsbeat's been getting mental health tips on the things we should - and shouldn't do, as well as hearing from some of you on why this time is so tough. 'I can't keep putting my life on hold' Natalie White graduated from the University of Salford in the summer. "Obviously we didn't have a graduation which a lot of students experienced," she remembers. "Which was extremely disheartening." But she got a job and started working as a content creator for a streaming site. But things didn't work out as her mental health began to deteriorate. So she quit. "Being stuck inside the house, away from my friends and family, I really struggled. "There was a lot of anxiety and I got consumed by all the news stories around the virus." Her boyfriend had been in hospital last Christmas and she was "terrified that he'd end up back there and I wouldn't be able to be with him". "The fact we could go through the same again, I honestly don't know how to feel about it. If I carry on putting my life on hold, I think I'll explode. I don't think I'd be able to handle another one." Natalie's far from alone. 'We're all burned out' "The time we've spent coping with the day-to-day difficulties during lockdown, it's easy to not notice the emotional toll that's taken on us - and we haven't had enough time to recover properly," says Chris O'Sullivan from the Mental Health Foundation. After one of the toughest six months any of us have ever faced, "the idea of going backwards is challenging", he adds. "We're all burned out and jaded and now we have to go all over again." Chris says there's no point pretending it won't be hard but there are things we can do to help ourselves. And a lot of that boils down to only worrying about what you can control. Easy to say but when when you're terrified about losing your job or having no money - it's harder to put into practice. 'How do you eat an elephant? One slice at a time' It's an odd mental image but it's a good phrase to back up what Chris is saying. "There are things that will happen over the next few months that we can't plan. We don't know where we'll be at Christmas, we don't know where we'll be in the next month," he says. Chris suggests focusing on what you can control on any given day. "Make short term goals, the next hour, the next day, the next week. Don't worry about what comes down the line." 'How can I do this for another six months?' Jenni Monday was working on a cruise ship when it got hit with coronavirus. She was stuck inside her cabin for two months as the ship floated around international waters, trying to find a country that would allow it to dock. "It was really horrible and really lonely," she says. The 28-year-old from Southampton struggled with her mental health but is now finding things harder. "Performing and singing helped with my anxiety, it gave me a buzz. I've been with the same band for 10 years and I don't get to see them anymore. We don't live near each other. Music to me is therapy. I didn't realise, until now, how much I needed it." Jenni, like many others, thought we were heading in the right direction with the virus - that after the summer things would get better. "I've done six months, can I really do another six months of living a life that is so alien to me? That's the bit that's hit hardest." Lots of advice tends to focus on what you should do to help yourself cope. But just as importantly, there are things that are good to avoid doing. Here are three from Chris O'Sullivan: Another important tip is not to judge yourself compared to what others are doing. "We often compare our insides to everyone else's outsides," he says, pointing out we don't know what's going on in someone else's head. And try and keep some perspective. There are things we can do now that we couldn't in full lockdown - it's worth clinging on to those small wins. "Be kind to yourself and others. There are people to talk to - you friends and family are all going through the same thing," says Chris. That certainly works for Jenni, who likes to remind herself that "every single person around the world in some way has been affected by this virus". "So it's quite comforting to know that - as horrible as that sounds, and to know that we can all relate to each other and help each other out."

पूर्ण लॉकडाउन समाप्त हो गया है-लेकिन गर्मी भी है। जैसे-जैसे दिन छोटे, गहरे होते जाते हैं और तापमान स्वीकार्य बीबीक्यू स्थितियों से नीचे गिरता जाता है, हम सभी धीरे-धीरे महसूस कर रहे हैं कि आने वाले महीनों के लिए हमारा जीवन बहुत सीमित होने वाला है।


Turning the tables on child abuse

Summary: A chance meeting between two men who realised they had both been abused in the same Surrey children's care home has led to a campaign that has seen hundreds of former residents alleging they were also victims of physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

Mark EastonHome editor@BBCMarkEastonon Twitter Music producer Raymond Stevenson, physically abused during his time at the Shirley Oaks home in the 70s, met a childhood friend last year who revealed he'd been raped at the institution. Within a few months, the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association (SOSA) was hundreds strong. "At the very first meeting I can remember there was lots of hugging lots of crying - it was really we are together now, they can't harm us again," Stevenson recalls. "No lies can penetrate our lives because we feel we were going to reveal the truth." The south London production office, from where Stevenson promoted music stars like Jessie J, now looks more like a police incident room. A map on the wall includes details of allegations from hundreds of former residents, suggesting physical, sexual and emotional abuse was routine at many of the houses on the 72-acre Shirley Oaks site. "We have been in contact with over 300 people and the stories we are getting are just horrific," Stevenson says. "Every time we interview someone and hear about what happened to them, it brings tears to our eyes. Reliving some of the horrors they went through again hasn't been easy." There have been two major police investigations into abuse at children's homes in South London and three people including a swimming instructor, William Hook, have been convicted of offences relating to Shirley Oaks. Another operation is currently on-going, but SOSA have lost faith in the authorities who they claim have covered-up the true scale of abuse at Shirley Oaks. "We don't trust them and that's why we have decided to do this campaign ourselves," Stevenson explains. The Shirley Oaks campaigners are part of a wider phenomenon - a "survivor" activism that is changing the balance of power in relation to child abuse. Where once victims were ignored or silenced, now they are coming together, often through social media, forming support groups and building a crescendo of noise that the authorities are forced to acknowledge. A couple of weeks ago, dozens of former Shirley Oaks residents crowded into a Lambeth council meeting - the authority which ran the home until its closure in the mid-1980s. Councillor after councillor spoke of their shame at what had been allowed to happen to children in their care. "I feel angry, genuinely appalled and truly sad to be the leader of a council, Lambeth Council, that in the past enabled such terrible acts of abuse, against some of our young people", council leader Lib Peck told the meeting as victims in the public gallery clapped. Among them was the award-winning author Alex Wheatle who has written about the sexual abuse he suffered as a child at Shirley Oaks. "We have not come here, to go to war with the council, we have come here to gain your support," Wheatle told the meeting. Afterwards he reflected on how far the campaign had come. "It was so strengthening to see my brothers and sisters who I grew up with, one by one, presenting their case, presenting their stories," he said. "You know, I've got such a love for them right now I just want to hug everyone right now ... how brave are they?" The Shirley Oaks association is doing more than compiling evidence. It is using music to press its case. A song entitled "Don't Touch It - It's Mine" includes personal testimony from victims. "I was abused mentally, physically emotionally and violently," the track begins. "Of the original 16 of us, 12 have killed themselves," another haunting voice relates as a video shows child actors playing around what were the Shirley Oaks buildings. "We not going to be told lies anymore," Stevenson explains. "We are not going to leave it in the hands of lawyers, politicians or council officials to tell us what happened to us. We want to discover it ourselves and we know music and dance and poetry are ways that can tell a greater story." The Shirley Oaks Survivors Association is considering whether to give its dossier of evidence to the independent Goddard inquiry but they do believe, whatever happens, the tables have turned. "There was a bond between us and that has come to haunt these people, those who done it," Raymond Stevenson says. "It is the unity of the Shirley Oaks 'massive' as we call ourselves, and the other children's homes coming together, that has built this power base and we are unstoppable." If you have been affected, the following organisations can help:

दो पुरुषों के बीच एक संयोग से मुलाकात, जिन्हें एहसास हुआ कि एक ही सरे बाल देखभाल गृह में उनके साथ दुर्व्यवहार किया गया था, ने एक अभियान को जन्म दिया है जिसमें सैकड़ों पूर्व निवासियों ने आरोप लगाया है कि वे भी शारीरिक, भावनात्मक और यौन शोषण के शिकार थे।


Myanmar Rohingya: Aung San Suu Kyi cuts a haunted figure in court

Summary: The spectacle of Aung San Suu Kyi, a once-persecuted Nobel peace laureate now defending her country against allegations of genocide over its treatment of the Rohingya minority, has been one of bewildering irony.

By Nick BeakeBBC Myanmar correspondent In the years after she was released from house arrest in 2010, princes, presidents and prime ministers welcomed Aung San Suu Kyi with open arms into their own opulent homes. The feel-good factor of rubbing shoulders with someone who had dedicated much of her adult life to the pursuit of democracy was irresistible. Then, the grandeur of the Peace Palace in The Hague - a marble-floored monument to global harmony - would have been comfortable surroundings for Myanmar's Nobel Peace Prize winner. A native habitat, even. But not now. There was no red carpet, welcoming committee or brass band. Instead the light pouring through the stained glass of the Great Hall of Justice illuminated an often haunted-looking figure who had chosen to come and listen to descriptions of some of the most unimaginably gruesome acts. Acts said to have been committed in her country. On her watch. After two years on trial in the court of international public opinion, Aung San Suu Kyi was now trying to win over the 17 judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - as she defended the same Myanmar military which had taken away her freedom for 15 years. It was something she - and the rest of the world - surely never imagined would happen. The cognitive dissonance of a faded beacon of universal human rights arguing against the horrific testimony of some of the 740,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees who had her fled her country pulsed through The Hague this week. I realised that she was taking her seat in court 28 years to the day after she had accepted her Nobel prize, in absentia. It was a quirk of history that defined the slow-motion transformation of Aung San Suu Kyi's global standing. I will long remember certain images from this remarkable week. There were the Rohingya survivors who'd travelled from the crushing bleakness of Cox's Bazar - the largest refugee camp in the world - to be guests in the court. Every morning, they arrived in the same type of sparkling executive transport as Ms Suu Kyi: afforded the same comfort as the leader of the country accused of trying to exterminate their people. For these three representatives of their stateless community, the scales of justice had finally levelled, if only for a few hours. Then there was the face of Aung San Suu Kyi, possibly hearing for the first time in such brutal detail the crimes alleged to have been perpetrated by the Burmese Army in their clearance operation in Rakhine state in August 2017. Such was the interest in Aung San Suu Kyi's appearance, they had to open a second room to contain the international media. There were rueful shakes of the head, gentle intakes of breath as lawyers for The Gambia read out graphic accounts from Rohingya survivors: pregnant women beaten to death, mass rape, children thrown into fires. We watched Ms Suu Kyi's face - seemingly frozen at times - on a large television as she listened to the allegations against her Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi may have sat alongside her legal team and a small Burmese delegation but she often cut a lonely figure. She is a leader who has alienated herself from former friends in the West and taken refuge in the powerful embrace of China, which continues to provide invaluable economic support and political protection in the UN Security Council. It is the certainty of a Chinese veto on any vote on Myanmar's alleged crimes that has blocked the most obvious path to justice for the Rohingya: a referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC). I will remember the crowds outside court - both for and against Ms Suu Kyi. More than a hundred supporters had flown the 5,000 miles from Myanmar to wave banners and shout slogans supporting "Mother Suu". I have no doubt the affection for her was genuine - this was no communist regime-style gathering where pure fear drives the chanting and nobody want to be first to stop applauding. In fact, they sang an old favourite which criticises the former military dictatorship - the apparatus of evil which truly instilled terror in people's hearts. That said, there was an approved list of songs and a ban on waving flags of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Presumably, this was to avoid the impression the NLD was benefitting from her appearance in the Hague. But be in no doubt her defence of the nation will have given her a huge domestic boost ahead of next year's general election in Myanmar. I saw three photographs this week which felt significant. The first was the image of 10 murdered Rohingya men in a grave in the village of Inn Din, shown to the court. This was the massacre exposed by Reuters reporters Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone. The journalistic world rewarded them with a Pulitzer Prize; Myanmar handed them more than 500 days in prison. Aung San Suu Kyi's legal team suggested it was a gratuitous and tasteless picture to show. When it was the Nobel Peace Prize winner's turn to put something on screen she chose a snap of a smiling crowd at a football match in Maungdaw township in Rakhine State. Buddhists and Muslims united, shoulder to shoulder. It felt a strange, naive and weak response to the Inn Din photo. The third and final photograph was sent to me by a Burmese colleague in Yangon. I received it just as Aung San Suu Kyi was addressing the court for the final time. It showed a tank on the street. I froze. Was this a military coup? An attempt by the still-powerful generals to steal back the country while the democratically elected leader was defending their troops to the world? It turned out the tanks were apparently being transported to a new base but it caused hearts to race in a country whose transition to democracy is still precarious. Aung San Suu Kyi's decision to come here ensured this would always become a massive spectacle and one which marked the end of any lingering hope in the West that she would distance herself from the army she doesn't control. After two years of blistering international criticism for failing to use her moral authority to stand up for the Rohingya, she is now the permanent face of the legal defence of some of the worst abuses imaginable. The generals, safe for now and far from the winter chill of The Hague, have watched a Nobel Peace Prize winner trying, in many people's eyes, to defend the indefensible. They wouldn't have it any other way.

एक समय में नोबेल शांति पुरस्कार विजेता रही आंग सान सू की का प्रदर्शन, जो अब रोहिंग्या अल्पसंख्यकों के साथ उसके व्यवहार पर नरसंहार के आरोपों के खिलाफ अपने देश का बचाव कर रही है, एक विस्मयकारी विडंबना रही है।


Otter found 'wandering' on a Port Talbot industrial estate

Summary: A young otter has been found "dazed and wandering" around an industrial estate in Port Talbot, the RSPCA says.

The animal was discovered by the industrial units at the Kenfig industrial estate, near Afon Cynffig. "The otter was found cold and lethargic, although once I had put him in my warm van he started to perk up," said RSPCA inspector Nic de Celis. "It's a young cub that may have been displaced due to flooding, following the heavy rain." The cub has been taken to the RSPCA'S West Hatch Wildlife Centre for rehabilitation. The RPSCA are warning people that before touching any baby wild animal, they should first monitor it as there may be a mother waiting nearby.

आर. एस. पी. सी. ए. का कहना है कि एक युवा ऊदबिलाव पोर्ट टैलबोट में एक औद्योगिक एस्टेट के आसपास "चकित और भटकता हुआ" पाया गया है।


'We're not bridesmaids,' insist identically dressed guests

Summary: For many women, turning up to a 'do' in the same dress as someone else would be crushing, but when you find five other wedding guests have picked the same outfit all you can probably do is laugh.

So instead of spending the day at a wedding in Sydney, Australia, trying to avoid each other, six friends in almost identical dresses decided to poke fun at themselves and lined up for a photograph with the bride, Julia Mammone. Julia also saw the funny side along with Facebook users who have viewed and shared the photo more than 42,000 times. It was posted by Debbie Speranza, who dubbed herself and her friends "#backupbridesmaids." Laughing at the coincidence, Debbie posted a second photo, and asked: "What are the odds?" Slightly overwhelmed at the "outta control" social media reaction, Debbie said she was still amused by what happened. You might also like: Debbie also shared the photo with the shop where the women had bought their dresses, saying: "You really should start a bridal registry so that your customers can enquire whether anyone else has purchased one of your dresses for the same event - no we are NOT the bridesmaids just the guests." That post alone drew more than 10,000 comments with friends tagging each other with memories of similar, if not such large-scale, fashion faux pas. Jamie-Leigh Austin's friend Laura Frazer said wearing the same dress to a wedding as a stranger was a great conversation starter. But Yeng Vang wrote: "My worst nightmare being dressed the same as someone else. I would literally go home and change." And Sandra James wrote about turning up to her daughter's wedding only to find she was wearing the same outfit as the mother-of-the-groom. Rather than dodging the photographer, she said she was on "such a high" that both women just decided to get on and embrace the day. But spare a thought for Chantel Lopex-Rubio. It can be hard enough to cope when you're at a fancy function wearing the same dress as another guest - or as five others - but how do you recover when you realise your expensive frock is a dead ringer for the curtains? By Annie Flury, UGC and Social News Team

कई महिलाओं के लिए, किसी और की तरह एक ही पोशाक में 'करो' के लिए आना कुचलना होगा, लेकिन जब आप पाते हैं कि शादी के पांच अन्य मेहमानों ने एक ही पोशाक चुनी है तो आप शायद केवल हंस सकते हैं।


Coronavirus: New restrictions no longer a 'question of if'

Summary: It is not a question of 'if'.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter Downing Street will have to introduce extra restrictions to try to slow down the dramatic resurgence of coronavirus. You would only have to have dipped into a minute or two of the sober briefing from the government's most senior doctor and scientist this morning, which you can read about here, to see why. A second wave of the disease is here and - unchecked - it could result in many, many thousands more deaths, with potentially around 50,000 cases every day in a few weeks' time. What is not yet settled however, is exactly what, exactly when, and indeed, exactly where these restrictions will be. Here's what it is important to know: The government is not considering a new lockdown across the country right now. The prime minister is not about to tell everyone to stay at home as he did from the Downing Street desk in March. Ministers have no intention at all to close schools again. Nor, right now, are they planning to tell every business, other than the essential, to close again. 'Circuit break' What is likely is some kind of extra limits on our huge hospitality sector. This could, as we reported on Friday, be a 'circuit break' - where pubs, restaurants and other places where people spend leisure time, and money, close completely for a couple of weeks. There is, however, a vigorous debate inside the government about whether tighter safety rules in those kinds of venues, along with the harsher punishments that have already been announced with whopping fines, could have a good enough effect. What about shutting pubs earlier? What about only allowing table service? The chancellor in particular is reluctant to completely close any sector of the economy again. When so much is unknown about this new disease, is it realistic that ministers can find a blend of decisions to have the optimum effect? 'Urgent' In terms of the when, some in government are arguing for more immediate action. It was pretty clear from this morning's briefing that Professor Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance believe the situation is urgent. One of the proposals on the table has been expanding the autumn half term school break, with a tightening of restrictions over a fortnight. Although the tone in government circles seems to be moving more towards swifter action. Still under discussion too is whether additional restrictions should be brought in everywhere. Some parts of the country are lucky enough still to have very little of the second wave spread. It may seem unfair to bring in tighter measures there. But, without country-wide concerted action, will the public's behaviour really change? None of the decisions that ministers are likely to take over the next few critical days can be seen in isolation. Tighten the rules too much, and there could be unnecessary economic damage, which causes hardship and suffering too. Do too little, and the spread of the virus could continue at a deadly pace.

यह 'अगर' का सवाल नहीं है।


Royal Sussex County Hospital hit by norovirus outbreak

Summary: Three wards at a Brighton hospital have been closed to new admissions following an outbreak of the norovirus bug.

Two wards were shut at the Royal Sussex County Hospital on Friday and a third was closed as a precaution on Sunday. Patients and visitors suffering from vomiting, sickness and diarrhoea have been advised to avoid coming to hospital unless it is urgent. Managers at the Royal Sussex County Hospital said they hoped to have reopened two of the wards by Tuesday. The norovirus bug can last for two or three days. People can be infectious for 48 hours before any symptoms appear.

नोरोवायरस बग के प्रकोप के बाद ब्राइटन अस्पताल के तीन वार्डों को नए प्रवेश के लिए बंद कर दिया गया है।


Facebook makes move into search with Questions

Summary: Facebook has made its first steps into the search market.

By Jonathan FildesTechnology reporter, BBC News The social network has launched a trial of a feature called Questions, which allows people to pose queries to the site's 500 million users. The service has been rolled out to a select group of Facebook members and will "evolve over time", the site said. It will go head-to-head with other services such as Yahoo Answers, Twitter and search engines such as ask.com. "The core of search is a question," said Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of the blog Search Engine Land. "For thousands of years we asked questions of people that we trusted. "Then around 15 years ago we underwent an incredible revolution with the arrival of search engines." Mr Sullivan said Questions was a return to this age of more personalised search. "You can now put questions out there in a way we used to do before everyone was online," he said. Expensive business Earlier this year, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said that the future of the web was one where friends, or what he called "your social graph", guide you online. Many interpreted this as a direct challenge to the dominance of Google's automated search. However, said Mr Sullivan, Questions was not going "to kill Google". "It's very difficult to challenge Google as general search leader," he said. "Indexing and ranking the web is very expensive and Facebook has no skills in doing that. "But what they do have is social connections, which allows users to put out those questions to others who they trust." The new feature allows people to quiz the entire Facebook community by clicking on the "Ask Question" button. "Keep in mind that all questions and answers posted using the Questions application are public and visible to everyone on the internet," said Blake Ross of the firm in a blog post. "If you only want to ask a question to your friends or a specific group of people, you can still pose it as a status update on your profile targeted to those people." Users can also create polls, add photos to questions and tag them with a specific topic. "The questions you ask will be shown to people who have expressed interest in the particular topics you tag, as well as to your friends and friends of friends," Mr Ross wrote. However, Nate Elliott, Principal Analyst at research firm Forrester, said he did not think that entering the search market was Facebook's main motivation for launching the feature. "It is looking to generate more data on its users," he told BBC News. "The more they can get people to raise their hands and say 'I want to know more about a subject' or 'I am an expert in a topic', the more it allows them to target marketing and advertising. "Whenever it does anything new these days, you have to ask how does it help them collect more data and learn more about its users."

फेसबुक ने खोज बाजार में अपना पहला कदम रखा है।


European elections 2019: How does voting work?

Summary: More than 400 million people are eligible to vote in this month's European Parliament elections, in one of the biggest democratic exercises in the world. So how do you hold a vote in 28 different countries under a whole host of different rules?

In the last election in 2014, 168,818,151 people took part, with a turnout of just over 40%, and five million ballots were spoiled. That makes it bigger than the US presidential vote, though not even close to the size of India's election, which is the largest. This year's elections are taking place over four days with three voting systems, but it all comes together thanks to a set of common principles- and the willingness of member states to tweak their national election rules to suit. Here's how it all works. When is the vote? Voting takes place across three days, depending on where the election is being held. Voting times vary from country to country, in line with local customs. And each country elects a different number of MEPs, roughly in line with their population – so France (74) and the UK (73) have more seats than Ireland (11) or Latvia (8). And for some, voting is compulsory so there's no escape - in Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, and Luxembourg. Counting is also done on a country-by-country basis – but the results are kept secret until all voting is finished. The results will be announced from 23:00 Brussels time (22:00 BST) on Sunday, 26 May, so that the announcement of results from the UK or other early voting countries cannot affect voters somewhere else. What system is used for voting? Every country is free to use its own system for voting, and there are plenty of differences. The voting age, for example, is set by national law. And there is some sort of postal or proxy system in place everywhere except Czech Republic, Ireland, Malta, and Slovakia. Most countries elect their MEPs in one single big national constituency - so Germany has, for example, 96 German MEPs. But a handful – Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Poland, UK – have multiple constituencies. The most important common rule, however, is that countries must use a proportional system. This is different from the first-past-the-post system used by the UK in its national elections (the only EU country to do so). So the UK has to change its voting system to a more representative model for EU elections. In effect, there are three systems in use: Closed lists In a closed-list system, political parties make a list of their candidates in order from top to bottom preference. Voters then vote for the party they like – but they cannot vote for an individual person or affect the order of the people on the list. Depending on the results and the amount of seats available, seats are handed out to the people on the list in order of preference. So the top party list might get its top two or three people elected, the second-place may get one or two, and so on. The exact distribution method depends on the country. The UK uses something called the D'Hondt method to figure out how to allocate seats; a similar but slightly different system called the Sainte-Laguë method is used in Germany and some other countries. The general principle, though, is that the party with the most votes should get the most seats – and who in the party gets those seats is decided by the party leadership. Preferential lists Preferential lists or "open lists" are very similar to the closed list system detailed above, except that voters can influence which individual person wins a seat by affecting the order of people on a list. Exactly how much influence the voter has on the order of candidates varies from country to country. Generally, voters pick a candidate to vote for and their vote counts for both the party and that individual person. If the candidate gets a significant number of votes, they may be elected ahead of higher-placed people on the list. Some countries give a few "preference votes", others just one; some countries allocate seats based on the number of votes; others only guarantee a seat if a candidate beats a certain target such as winning 5% or 10% of all votes. Single Transferable Vote (STV) Proponents of STV claim it is the most representative system, but it is only used by a handful of countries in European elections. On the ballot paper, voters vote for the candidate they like best by writing the number "1" in a box. They then vote for their second-favourite as number "2" and so on – for as many or as few people as they like with no restrictions. When it comes to counting the votes, organisers first figure out what the election "quota" is. If there are four seats and 100,000 people cast a vote, then the quota would be 100,000 divided by five, plus one - or 20,001. The reason for the maths is that only four people could possibly achieve this number of votes. Four times 20,001 is 80,004: there would be just 19,996 votes left - not enough to reach the quota. The formula works for any number of seats (just divide the total votes by the number of seats plus one), and any number of votes. So the votes are all counted, and if someone reaches the quota, they are elected. If they do not, the worst performer is eliminated - and all their votes are redistributed to the second-place preference on each ballot paper. When someone is elected, any extra votes they have that don't matter (because they already reached the quota) are likewise re-distributed. This is the transferable part of the single transferable vote. The idea is that every vote is counted towards someone, and that no vote is wasted on obvious winners or losers. It is, however, much more complicated to count. What are electoral thresholds, and which countries have them? Some countries have an electoral threshold - where, by law, a party or a candidate needs to gain a certain percentage of the national vote to qualify for a seat. The idea is to prevent very small, fringe, or extremist parties from winning seats without meeting a minimum level of support - usually a small percentage. France, for example, is a single constituency with 74 seats - so, without a threshold, it would take just 1.4% of the vote to win a seat. But France has set its minimum threshold at 5%. The countries where thresholds apply for the 2019 elections are:

दुनिया के सबसे बड़े लोकतांत्रिक अभ्यासों में से एक, इस महीने के यूरोपीय संसद चुनावों में 40 करोड़ से अधिक लोग मतदान करने के योग्य हैं। तो आप 28 अलग-अलग देशों में अलग-अलग नियमों के तहत मतदान कैसे करते हैं?


Coronavirus privacy: Are South Korea's alerts too revealing?

Summary: As South Korea battles a snowballing number of Covid-19 cases, the government is letting people know if they were in the vicinity of a patient. But the volume of information has led to some awkward moments and now there is as much fear of social stigma as of illness, as Hyung Eun Kim of BBC News Korean reports.

As I sit at home, my phone beeps alarmingly with emergency alerts. "A 43-year-old man, resident of Nowon district, tested positive for coronavirus," it says. "He was at his work in Mapo district attending a sexual harassment class. He contracted the virus from the instructor of the class." A series of alerts then chronicle where the men had been, including a bar in the area until 11:03 at night. These alerts arrive all day, every day, telling you where an infected person has been - and when. You can also look up the information on the Ministry of Health and Welfare website. No names or addresses are given, but some people are still managing to connect the dots and identify people. The public has even decided two of the infected were having an affair. And, even if patients are not outright identified, they're facing judgement - or ridicule - online. When you search online for a virus patient's case number, related queries include "personal details", "face", "photo", "family" - or even "adultery". Some online users are commenting that "I had no idea so many people go to love motels" - the by-the-hour hotels popular with couples. They are also joking that people cheating on their spouses are known to be keeping a low profile these days. One recent alert concerned a woman, aged 27, who works at the Samsung plant in Gumi. It said that at 11:30 at night on 18 February she visited her friend, who had attended the gathering of religious sect Shincheonji, the single biggest source of infections in the country. City mayor Jang Se-yong further revealed her surname on Facebook. Panicked Gumi residents commented on his post: "Tell us the name of her apartment building." "Please do not spread my personal information," the woman later wrote on Facebook. "I am so sorry for my family and friends who would get hurt, and it's too hard for me psychologically, more than (physical pain)." South Korean laws on managing and publicly sharing information on patients of infectious diseases changed significantly after the Mers outbreak in 2015. South Korea had the second-largest number of Mers cases after Saudi Arabia. At the time, the government was criticised for withholding information, such as where the patients had been. After that, the laws were amended to empower investigators. "We know that it is [in the] the territory of important personal data," Goh Jae-young, an official at the Korea Centers for Disease Control Prevention, told BBC Korean. "At first we interview the patients and try to gather information, emphasising that this affects the health and safety of the entire people. "Then to fill in the areas they perhaps haven't told us, and also to verify, we use GPS data, surveillance camera footage, and credit card transactions to recreate their route a day before their symptoms showed." Mr Goh emphasises that they do not reveal every place a patient has been. "We share with the public only places where there was close contact or infections could have spread - like where there are many people, where the patient was known to have not worn a mask." Sometimes they have to reveal the name of specific store, too - which leads to closure for certain time and financial loss to the business owner. South Korea has had more than 5,000 confirmed case of Covid-19 and more than 30 deaths. But with most cases not leading to serious health problems, South Koreans now dread stigma as much as they fear the virus itself. A research team at Seoul National University's Graduate School of Public Health recently asked 1,000 Koreans which scares them the most: Prof You Myoung-soon's team found "criticisms and further damage" were more feared than having the virus. A man who contracted the virus along with his mother, wife and two children wrote an emotional, lengthy post on Facebook asking people to stop blaming them. "I didn't know my mother was a follower of Shincheonji [church]," he wrote. He went on to defend his wife, a nurse, who had been criticised for visiting so many places during her incubation period. The husband said her job was to accompany people with physical disabilities to clinics for appointments, and she had no idea she had the virus. "It is true my wife moved around a lot, but please stop cursing her. Her only fault is marrying someone like me, and having to work and take care of the children." What do I need to know about the coronavirus? Doctors warn that online pursuit of patients could have very serious consequences. Malicious comments online have long been a problem in South Korea, and in some cases have led to suicide. Lee Su-young, a psychiatrist at Myongji Hospital in Goyang, Gyeonggi, told BBC Korean that some of her patients "were more afraid of being blamed than dying of the virus". "Many have told me repeatedly 'someone I know got infected because of me,' [or] 'the person is quarantined because of me.'" It was at Myongji Hospital that the two people accused of being in adulterous relationship were treated. One is known to have high levels of anxiety and suffered sleep deprivation due to online comments. As the virus spreads rapidly, it's vital that the public are giving the information they need to protect themselves and others. But Dr Lee says the public needs to remain mature with this information - otherwise "people who fear being judged will hide and this will put everyone in further danger". Mr Goh, from the Korea Centers for Disease Control Prevention says this is the first time the government has given quite so much information about each individual affected. ''After the spread of virus ends," he says, "there has to be society's assessment whether or not this was effective and appropriate."

जैसे-जैसे दक्षिण कोरिया कोविड-19 मामलों की बढ़ती संख्या से जूझ रहा है, सरकार लोगों को बता रही है कि क्या वे किसी मरीज के आसपास थे। लेकिन जानकारी की मात्रा ने कुछ अजीब क्षणों को जन्म दिया है और अब बीमारी के रूप में सामाजिक कलंक का उतना ही डर है, जितना कि बीबीसी न्यूज कोरियाई के ह्यूंग यून किम ने बताया।


Wily MP plays first Article 50 card

Summary: In the blink of a Commons eye - it took just 21 seconds on Wednesday - the Conservative MP Peter Bone introduced a private member's bill aimed at cutting through the constitutional imbroglio over the triggering of the process to leave the EU.

Mark D'ArcyParliamentary correspondent His Withdrawal from the European Union (Article 50) Bill would require the government to start the formal process by 31 March 2017. The small snag is that it doesn't have a prayer of getting a second reading debate - so why is the wily Mr Bone, a veteran of the private members' bill process, as well as a key anti-EU agitator on the Tory backbenches, bothering? His bill is already down on the Commons agenda for Friday 16 December - but it's lurking at the bottom, 11th out of 12 bills - and on most Fridays, the Commons is doing well if it reaches the third bill on the list. As for the rest, they're summarily dispatched in a kind of ritual pole-axing, at the end of the main business, at 2.30pm. The clerk reads out the titles of bills not debated, and then a government whip (or any other MP) shouts "Object!" And here we reach the point of Mr Bone's exercise. Because what they're objecting to is giving the bill a formal second reading, without debate. That would allow the bill to go through to detailed scrutiny in committee. This is a kind of hidden legislative trap-door through which favoured legislation can bypass the initial stage of debate, without passing Go. (I first came across this particular parliamentary peculiarity, some years ago, when the whips of both main parties connived to spirit through a bill to exempt MPs' expenses from Freedom of Information legislation, as the expenses storm was a-gathering.) The point is that when the Bone Bill comes to this point, it can drop through this trap door and spring into legislative life, unless someone shouts that magic word, "object". And he wonders who will dare? The Government? The Opposition? Some pro-EU backbencher? If anyone does, they could risk being framed as defying the Referendum-expressed view of the British people, and you can guarantee that micro-seconds later, he will raise a point of order to name (although probably not shame) the culprit. And then he will just bring his bill back on the next available Friday and repeat the process. In effect, Mr Bone is playing a game of Commons "chicken". And to hear the clucking, tune into BBC Parliament at 2.30pm on Friday 16 December, for the first episode.

कॉमन्स की पलक झपकते ही-बुधवार को इसमें सिर्फ 21 सेकंड का समय लगा-कंजर्वेटिव सांसद पीटर बोन ने एक निजी सदस्य का विधेयक पेश किया जिसका उद्देश्य यूरोपीय संघ छोड़ने की प्रक्रिया को शुरू करने पर संवैधानिक उलझन को दूर करना था।


Banksy decorates West Bank hotel with views of Israel's wall

Summary: A hotel which prides itself on the "worst view in the world" is set to attract international attention - because it is a collaboration with the famous street artist Banksy.

The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem looks out on the concrete slabs of the controversial barrier Israel has built in and around the occupied West Bank. Israel says it is needed to prevent terror attacks. Palestinians say it is a device to grab land and the International Court of Justice has called it illegal. The rooms of the hotel are also filled with the anonymous artist's work, much of which is about the conflict. The owners say it will be a real, functioning hotel, opening on 20 March. But the hotel is also part art gallery and part political statement. The Walled Off Hotel opens on 20 March.

एक होटल जो खुद को "दुनिया के सबसे खराब दृश्य" पर गर्व करता है, अंतरराष्ट्रीय ध्यान आकर्षित करने के लिए तैयार है-क्योंकि यह प्रसिद्ध सड़क कलाकार बैंक्सी के साथ एक सहयोग है।


Tour de France Grand Depart diary

Summary: With the 101st Tour de France starting in Leeds on 5 July, BBC Yorkshire's Matt Slater rounds up the Grand Depart gossip, opinion and stories, as well as trying to shed some light on the race's mysterious ways. TOP STORIES

Warm-up act Despite refuting my suggestion that the Giro d'Italia was a mere warm-up act for the Tour de France during a debate on the Good Morning Ulster radio programme on Saturday, BBC Northern Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson is now suggesting the province could make a bid to host the world's biggest bike race in 2017. Huge crowds in Northern Ireland and Ireland watched the first three stages of the Giro over the weekend, with early reports suggesting the "Big Start" was a resounding success, despite a little too much of the weather that keeps the Emerald Isle green. Full story: BBC News Essex boy Contrary to some reports, the 2014 Tour de France does not finish in Sheffield. Not only does it continue for three weeks in France, it travels from Cambridge to London on 7 July, passing through the People's Republic of Essex. News of this occurrence has finally reached Essex County Council, which has launched a website with all the information about the race's visit to the land of Lakeside, Joey Essex and yours truly. Full story: Heart Cycle Yorkshire Yorkshire's plans to create a positive legacy for cycling across the region after the Tour de France are starting to be rolled out. The Leeds Schools Cycle Challenge on 1 July will see schoolchildren of all abilities and ages compete at Temple Newsam Park. The city council is also providing bikes, rides and races, as well as bike maintenance and safety courses, at other sites across Leeds this summer. These schemes are part of the wider Cycle Yorkshire campaign which is aiming to give everybody in God's Own County access to a bike by 2023. Full story: Yorkshire Evening Post Charity partner Leading charity Marie Curie is looking for volunteers to help with its Tour de France plans. The charity, which provides free home care to people with terminal illnesses, is an official partner of the Grand Depart. Full story: The Press CYCLING ROUND-UP This weekend's action was dominated by two riders: Dutch superstar Marianne Vos and German sprint sensation Marcel Kittel. The former won the last three stages of the inaugural Women's Tour of Britain to confirm her continued status as the best female rider on the planet, while the latter won the second and third stages at the Giro. Kittel's second victory in Dublin on Sunday was particularly impressive as he came from a long way back to deprive Rotherham's Ben Swift of a first Grand Tour win by a matter of inches. But that is all you need in this game, as Kittel's big rival Mark Cavendish proved late on Sunday in the first stage of the Tour of California. Kittel's teammate and compatriot John Degenkolb was the beaten party this time, making it 1-1 between GB and Germany in the sprint stakes this week. The sight of both Cavendish and Kittel in this kind of form bodes very, very well for some spectacular racing in Yorkshire come July. TWEET OF THE DAY "Yorkshire too busy hosting ancient British culture like the Tour de France to worry about modern fads like the Ashes." The Mirror's Mike Walters on news that Headingley is not getting an Ashes Test in 2015. A TO Z OF LE TOUR E is for… Echelon - One for purists (and Belgians) this, an echelon is the formation that riders take up when there are crosswinds. Instead of the more usual straight lines, the riders form diagonal lines across the road to give themselves some shelter from the side, whilst still riding in the slipstream of the rider in front. An occupational hazard when riding in the Low Countries, crosswinds can liven up even the flattest of Tour stages. Fail to get on the back of an echelon, and you can soon lose chunks of time in a lonely battle against the breeze. Equipe - French for "team" - and road cycling is very much a team sport - it is also the name for the Tour's paper of record, L'Equipe. The French daily is a direct descendant of L'Auto, the paper that launched the race in order to boost sales, and is still owned by the same family company that runs the race. Etape - The French word for "stage", or the daily races-within-the-race that add up to make the overall contest. There are 21 stages at Le Tour, with two rest days. The winner of the race's general classification, and yellow jersey, is the person who gets to Paris with the quickest total time. L'Etape du Tour, or just the Etape to most Anglophones, is an event staged by the Tour's organisers that allows amateurs to try one of the route's most difficult mountain stages, usually on one of the Tour's rest days. FACT OF THE DAY This year's L'Etape du Tour will be held over the route of the 18th stage of the race between Pau and Hautacam in the Pyrenees. On Sunday 20 July, amateurs will attempt to get over the 17.1km climb of the Col du Tourmalet, before attempting to get up to the summit finish at Hautacam, a 13.6km climb with an average gradient of 7.8%. Good luck everybody, you will have earned every beer and doughnut you consume whilst watching the pros do it four days later.

5 जुलाई को लीड्स में शुरू होने वाले 101वें टूर डी फ्रांस के साथ, बीबीसी यॉर्कशायर के मैट स्लेटर ने ग्रैंड डिपार्ट गपशप, राय और कहानियों के साथ-साथ दौड़ के रहस्यमय तरीकों पर कुछ प्रकाश डालने की कोशिश की।


Donald Trump adds his name to the Turnberry golf resort

Summary: The Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire is to be renamed Trump Turnberry after its acquisition by Donald Trump.

The US property tycoon announced that he is to spend £100m developing the resort after finalising the deal to buy it from from Dubai-based Leisurecorp. Mr Trump will announce his plans during a visit to the resort on 2 July. Trump Turnberry will be managed by The Trump Organization. The hotel will be part of a franchise agreement with Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Mr Trump owns another Scottish course at Menie, on the Aberdeenshire coast.

डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प द्वारा अधिग्रहण के बाद आयरशायर में टर्नबेरी गोल्फ रिसॉर्ट का नाम बदलकर ट्रम्प टर्नबेरी कर दिया जाएगा।


Rapper Pa Salieu wins BBC Sound of 2021: 'I am the voice of the voiceless'

Summary: Rapper Pa Salieu has won BBC Music's Sound of 2021 - identifying him as Britain's most exciting musical talent thanks to his adventurous, infectious tracks with hard-hitting lyrics about life and death on the "frontline" in Coventry.

By Ian YoungsEntertainment & arts reporter In topping the Sound of 2021 list, Pa Salieu follows in the footsteps of previous winners like Adele, Ellie Goulding and Michael Kiwanuka. He knows the headlines could have been different, however. "If I died last year," he begins, reflecting on how he was shot in the head outside a pub in his home city in 2019. "If I actually died - in their eyes, I would be a criminal." That's how he believes he would have been perceived by the authorities, the press and the outside world. "'Gang related. Drive-by shooting.' Trust me, the whole perception would be different right now. You would have never heard of me. If you do hear of me, it's, 'That's that kid that died.' 'Gun crime.' 'These foolish youths.' No." The life Salieu talks and raps about is murky and precarious. He has been in trouble with the law, arrested six years ago for possessing a knife - for his defence, he insists. "Police used to say I'm in a gang. I wasn't in a gang. I was never in a gang. Because I used to try to survive? I got caught with a knife when I was 17? What, because I'm paranoid of the streets? "I got shot in the head. People get killed every day for no reason where I'm from. I don't expect no-one to understand." Forty years after The Specials' Ghost Town painted Coventry as a city in decline, Salieu raps about it as "COV, #CityOfViolence". But he now wants to be the voice for those who could not make it out, like the two close friends who were killed. "Our voices count," he says. Salieu's debut mixtape Send Them To Coventry - named after the saying for deliberately ostracising or marginalising someone - can also be life-affirming. Now 23, he was born in Slough, then spent six years of his childhood in The Gambia before being sent to Coventry at the age of eight. His fresh voice has a lilt that serves to soften the edges of the stories he tells. Musically, he has more depth and guile than most two-dimensional hip-hop pretenders. His smart wordplay is delivered against an inventive range of backdrops, from the slowed-down siren of Frontline - the song that started to build his buzz early last year - to the soft slow-jam synths of More Paper. "He has a unique perspective on Britain," says BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac, who was among the 160 tastemakers who voted for Sound of 2021. "His songs are exquisitely produced, with enough restraint for Pa's voice to shine through and have the space to tell the stories of his life. They are stories of friendship and family, of violence, exclusion and racism, and they act as timeless evidence of British street life at the turn of new decade." Read the full interview with Pa Salieu below. What is BBC Sound of 2021? How has 2020 been for you? 2020's been sick. It's just been a year of taking life in. I'm excited for next year and what's to come, and 2020 has given me the chance to see the light. The light's there but I'm still in that tunnel. Your auntie is a folk singer in The Gambia - did she inspire you to get involved in music? She's always been around and she goes to so many Gambian and Senegalese events. Folk music is part of your past and who you are. Back home, that's what it means. But me getting into music was out of nowhere. I just saw a studio and fell in love with it. I was like, "Woah, I like how my voice sounds in this." I could basically make my voice into an instrument. You were sent to Coventry when you came back from The Gambia? Straight to Coventry, yeah. Straight to the trenches. What was it like - why do you call it the trenches? Gambia is sick. I was born in England but my first language is technically Wolof. In Gambia, I learned who I am and what I am. My history, my culture. In England, I learned what life is. This is real life. Two different kinds of lessons. I feel like I'm lucky. Was it a shock to come to Coventry? Yeah. In Coventry, Hillfields is a hood. It's the gutter in that area. Since Gambia I was sent straight to Hills and [went] nowhere else. Watching the ends [streets] change, watching the years go by, nothing really changed. The violence just went worse. More youth clubs closed down. Survival - that's what I learned in Hillfields. I didn't see crackheads or crack-fiends like that in Gambia. When I was a kid going to school [in Coventry], you have to pass fiends. You have to pass night workers. It was the morning, but night workers were still about, you know what I'm saying? Never did I know most of my friends were going to turn into crackheads, most of my friends are going to die from the circumstances of the ends. That's what I learned here. Real life. You know what I'm saying? Being shot must have been terrifying. Actually it's less painful than getting stabbed. It's shocking not knowing if you're going to live or not. That's when it's shocking. I was just trying not to close my eyes. It's scary but it's the weirdest feeling I've ever had. I was more focused on the blood coming out. Has that changed you? Nah. A lot of stuff to open my eyes has happened way before that. The music, I had to get serious with it after my best friend got killed. Then a few months after, my other best friend got killed. Everything I've learned back home is embedded in me, everything I've seen here is embedded in me. Trust me, I should be strong regardless of that gunshot or anything. It's another eye-opener. I've been shot at, but it's never actually hit me until that moment. It's just normal. All I can do is look forward, as always. Why did somebody want to shoot you? I don't know. People get shot every day. Wrong place, wrong time. People hate on you. It's the hood. It's different. It is a treacherous world, believe it or not. Very treacherous. People die for no reason every day. It's life. The thing that matters is what you're going to do with it - let it eat you up, or rise above it? Getting shot is the same as getting fired from your job. What are you going to do with it? Rise up, or what? That's life. Everything is a lesson. You said you got serious about music after what happened to your friends - is that because you decided you had to do something with your life? I always say, either break down or make it out. There are so many friends that have lost their life, turned into crackheads or [been] in prison for a very long time. Their voices ain't going to be heard like that. I'm going to be the voice of that as much as I can. That's my intention. Hood representative. No-one can understand what we've been through. But I know a lot of people who've been through what I've been through, or coming from where I'm coming from, can relate to that. That's their voices. So many voices can't be heard. It's so sad. I am the voice. And that spurs you on? Yeah. My best friend had a clothing line called Money Moves before he died. You see why I hit music even more after he died, because he was one of the first people to try to do something. He went and printed his own shirts. Started it. We all started helping, pushing it. When I started music, he pushed me the most. Is there a message you want to send with your music? Build. Unity. That's what we lack. Where I come from, we lack compassion. It's going to have to come from me. I'm not a punchline artist. Everything I say is exactly how I feel and exactly what I see and exactly where I'm coming from. My message is just build, build, build. Break down or make it out. Protect your energy. Protect everything. Sound of 2021 - the rest of the top five Who are your role models? To be honest, my grandparents. Simple, spiritual, kind-hearted. That's all that you need in life. You can be the richest or the maddest businessman in the world - you need pure vibes, that's what counts. Coventry is UK City of Culture in 2021. Is it a good place to make music? It just needs more opportunity. There's so much talent. Different kinds of music, different cultures infused with their lives. But it lacks opportunity, which we need to push, which we will push. Do you know Coventry's musical history, people like The Specials? Yeah, my best friend that got killed, his granddad was Neville Staple, he was in The Specials. [Staple's grandson Fidel Glasgow was stabbed to death in 2018.] I knew his granddad used to make music but I never knew the powers of it. Then he just died. So it's not a joke. His name has to live on. What are you aiming for in 2021? I aim for progression. Just building, still. I'm so laid-back, bro. I work every day - I ain't slept for the last five days - but I'm so laid back as in I don't pressure myself. I accept that this is the start.

रैपर पा सेलियू ने 2021 का बीबीसी म्यूजिक साउंड जीता है-कोवेंट्री में "अग्रिम पंक्ति" पर जीवन और मृत्यु के बारे में कठिन गीतों के साथ उनके साहसिक, संक्रामक गीतों की बदौलत उन्हें ब्रिटेन की सबसे रोमांचक संगीत प्रतिभा के रूप में पहचाना गया है।


Guernsey kerbside recycling levels rise to 49%

Summary: Household recycling levels have reached 49% for the first time after hundreds of tonnes of materials were collected through a new kerbside scheme.

The recycling rate was 49.1%, up from 46.9% in 2013. It includes the first ten months of the collection service launched in March 2014. The scheme, costing £2.5m, aims to get 70% of household rubbish recycled by 2025. Deputy Scott Ogier said "more islanders are recycling than ever before". "The kerbside scheme has been very successful, and it is now the preferred option for the majority of households," the public services department minister said.

एक नई कर्बसाइड योजना के माध्यम से सैकड़ों टन सामग्री एकत्र किए जाने के बाद पहली बार घरेलू पुनर्चक्रण का स्तर 49 प्रतिशत तक पहुंच गया है।


Haudagain roundabout investigation work begins in Aberdeen

Summary: Ground investigation work as part of plans to tackle the notorious traffic blackspot at Aberdeen's Haudagain roundabout has got under way.

The junction at the bottom of Anderson Drive is a notorious bottleneck. Transport Minister Keith Brown visited the site and said the work would provide detailed information that was needed to fix the problem. It is hoped work will be ready to begin in spring 2018, when the Aberdeen bypass is completed. Mr Brown said: "The Scottish government has repeated many times our commitment to tackling the congestion caused by the traffic bottleneck at Haudagain, and we are determined to see a solution put in place to bring much needed relief to drivers and the nearby communities."

एबरडीन के हौडागैन गोल चक्कर में कुख्यात ट्रैफिक ब्लैकस्पॉट से निपटने की योजना के हिस्से के रूप में जमीनी जांच का काम चल रहा है।


Comfort women: South Korea's survivors of Japanese brothels

Summary: Elderly women once forced to work in Japan's military brothels live out their days in a unusual retirement home next to a museum that records their suffering. Their numbers dwindling, the former "comfort women" feel they have never had a full and sincere apology - and are still waiting.

By Lucy WilliamsonBBC News, Seoul On a winding country road, shadowed by South Korea's mountainous countryside, sits a strange building, jutting awkwardly from the cottages and tomato farms around it. A sweeping arched portico looks down sternly on the narrow lane, from where you can glimpse the striking statues and memorials inside. There's a gravel car park, bigger than the building's nine elderly residents would normally warrant, and leaflets at the door in English, Japanese and Korean. Because, despite the game show blaring from the living room television, this isn't your typical retirement home. It's a living museum, known as the House of Sharing, and its statues and plaques tell the story of its residents' unusual lives - as "comfort women" for Japan's wartime army. The youngest resident is now 84, but as young women during World War II, all say they were forced to work as sex slaves in Japan's military brothels. Yi Ok-seon is a frail old lady with a walking frame who has difficulty speaking. But her eyes, when you meet them, are still sharp. She says she was 15 when a Korean and a Japanese man forcibly took her to north-west China, then under Japanese control. She had been begging her parents to send her to school for years, but with a dozen children to feed, they couldn't afford it. At the time she was taken, Ok-seon was working away from the family home. Once in China, she says she was forced into sexual slavery for three years, in "comfort stations" set up by the Japanese military to service its troops. "I felt really violated, being tricked and taken like that as a young teenager," she says. "It was like a slaughter house there - not for animals, but for humans. Outrageous things were done." She shows me old scars on her arms and legs - from being stabbed, she says. A volunteer at the house tells me later that she sustained other injuries from that time, preventing her from bearing her own children. Up to 200,000 women are estimated to have worked as comfort women in Japan's military brothels, most of them Korean. Until the end of WWII, Korea was under Japanese occupation, and its people forced to learn Japanese, which meant Korean women were easier to corral - and communicate with - than women of other Asian nationalities. Many died during their ordeal, and many others died later. Since the issue came into the light in 1981, 234 former comfort women have come forward in Korea. There are now just 59 known survivors - nine live together in the House of Sharing in Gwangju city in Gyeonggi province. The house is a peaceful place, full of light. But there's a disturbing quality too. Each resident has her own room, with a fridge, a bookshelf and a phone. The manager tells me that, because of what the residents have been through, having their own space is important. "They often trust no-one," he explains, "not even each other." In the pretty garden outside is a haunting statue of a naked women half-risen from the earth, her face crumpled, her shoulders sunk. And opposite her, in the centre of the courtyard, a growing collection of memorial busts for residents who have already passed away. The age of these last remaining survivors is a pressing issue for those who want to see greater acknowledgement from Japan over its past. "We're all very old," Ok-seon tells me. "We're dying each year, one by one. Historically speaking the war might have stopped, but for us it's still going on, it never ended. We want the Japanese Emperor to come here, kneel before us and apologise sincerely. [But] I think the Japanese are just waiting for us to die." Twenty years ago, the Japanese government did offer an apology. A statement by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono admitted that "the Japanese military was, directly or indirectly, involved in the establishment and management of the comfort stations, and the transfer of comfort women.... that, in many cases they were recruited against their own will." The government of Japan, it continued, would like to "extend its sincere apologies and remorse to all those who suffered immeasurable pain and incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women". A private compensation fund was also set up. But for many former comfort women, it wasn't enough. Textbooks in Japan remain virtually silent on the issue, and there are many Japanese politicians who continue to claim that the women worked in the brothels voluntarily. One nationalist mayor recently described the past use of military comfort women as "necessary", and Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has appeared to question his country's earlier apology. To raise awareness and debate about the issue, the House of Sharing has built a historical museum at the site, housing official documents, old photographs and testimony from several survivors. There are vivid paintings, too - part of the therapy offered to residents. The museum draws a small stream of visitors from around the world - including, on the day we visited, a group of American university students on a study tour of South Korea. Most, like history major Christopher DeWald, had never heard about Japan's wartime use of comfort women. "I was a history major for three years in college, and it makes me wonder why we don't learn more about it in America," he says. "Especially with the conflict between North and South Korea, and the Korean War, where America helped out South Korea. I think it would be very beneficial for America to say, 'Look, Japan, you've got to do something about this.' It's something that's very close to us because we're very close with South Korea." Some US politicians have taken up the issue in recent years, but the home's general manager, Ahn Shin Kweon, says that international awareness still lags behind that of other major human rights abuses. "In the US a lot is known about the Holocaust, for example," he says. "There are lots of museums and facilities to raise awareness. In contrast, the issue of comfort women is much less known. Partly, that's because Korea has had a late start - we've been so caught up in our own industrialisation, and we only have a limited number of scholars or academic papers on this issue. Also, a lot of the official documents are stored in Japan, with restricted access. We only have the oral testimonies of the women themselves. That's why we decided to build the museum." These days, 40% of the visitors are Japanese, who come to find out about their country's past. For the moment, part of that history is still living, in the house behind the museum. Some of the women occasionally meet the museum's Japanese visitors - by prior arrangement - to try to get some kind of acknowledgement and to raise awareness. But in perhaps just a few more years, this small collection of photos, belongings and mournful statues may be all that's left. You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook

कभी जापान के सैन्य वेश्यालयों में काम करने के लिए मजबूर बुजुर्ग महिलाएं अपने दिन एक संग्रहालय के बगल में एक असामान्य सेवानिवृत्ति घर में बिताती हैं जो उनकी पीड़ा को दर्ज करता है। उनकी संख्या घटती जा रही है, पूर्व "आरामदायक महिलाओं" को लगता है कि उन्होंने कभी भी पूरी और ईमानदारी से माफी नहीं मांगी है-और अभी भी इंतजार कर रही हैं।


Ant and Prince Charles - is a double handshake ever a good idea?

Summary: A good old British handshake. Defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "an act of shaking a person's hand with one's own, in greeting or farewell, or as a sign of assent, good will".

By John HandBBC News Simple, effective, easy to get right. Works at every level of society. So when TV presenters Ant and Dec spent a few days in the company of the Prince of Wales to film an ITV documentary marking the 40th anniversary of the Prince's Trust, keen etiquette watchers were quick to use social media to comment on Ant's handshake with the prince who will one day be king - and perhaps even say "Arise, Sir Anthony". The prince offers Ant his hand (Ant had earlier broken royal protocol by making the first move). Ant shakes it firmly and then places his left hand on top in one classic variation of what is popularly known as the "double handshake". To provide some context, the exchange was wrapping up an "informal chat" in which Prince Charles said his Welsh home would be a "nice place" for Dec's (then) upcoming honeymoon and thanked the pair for being "nice to my darling wife". Thankfully for Ant, there was no regal flinching following his supposed faux pas - a testament to the fact that the TV duo had built up a warm relationship with the prince. But is a double handshake ever an appropriate move? Etiquette experts Debrett's never comment on an individual's behaviour but their website clearly sets out what is expected in a handshake: Handshakes are brief, and should preferably be accompanied with direct eye contact. Do not complicate the greeting with other forms of touching - hands on the back, double-handed handshakes etc. Britain is still a comparatively non-tactile society. The origins of the double-handshake are often credited to former US President John F Kennedy but in recent years it has often been labelled as "a politician's handshake" and associated with false sincerity. And in business circles, it is often associated with one-upmanship. The Definitive Book of Body Language, by Barbara and Allan Pease, labels it the "double-hander" and says it "communicates dominance through intimacy". The authors advise it should only be employed in situations where a hug would also be acceptable - which naturally rules out most business, political and royal encounters. Glad-handed - the exponents of the double handshake Leading etiquette expert William Hanson, who provides coaching to individuals and businesses - including those who are about to meet royalty - is quite clear that a double handshake is almost always best avoided. He said: "Body language experts will say it shows insecurity. If you use your free hand on top of the handshake, you are entrapping someone by saying 'I'm on top of you'. He says the classic example of that was after the 2010 election when the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition was formed and David Cameron welcomed Nick Clegg to Downing Street - an occasion when both politicians wanted to be seen to be "in control" of the handshake. In social life, Mr Hanson agrees there are times when the double handshake might seem more natural - such as long-time friends greeting each other after a long absence and adding a touch of intimacy as they continue chatting and shaking hands. But he says that he advises his own clients - who include several VIPs - that simple is always better. "A good handshake is sadly very rare. The double handshake is not really advisable and certainly not with someone you have not met before. It is a little insincere."

एक अच्छा पुराना ब्रिटिश हाथ मिलाना। ऑक्सफोर्ड इंग्लिश डिक्शनरी द्वारा परिभाषित किया गया है "किसी व्यक्ति के हाथ मिलाने का कार्य, अभिवादन या विदाई में, या सहमति, सद्भावना के संकेत के रूप में।"


Second person charged over Bristol Mercure hotel attack

Summary: A second person has been charged following an assault at a city centre hotel which left a 24-year-old man in a "critical" condition.

Daniel Service, 27, from Yate, South Gloucestershire, has been charged with causing GBH with intent. It follows an attack at the Mercure Bristol Brigstow Hotel on Sunday. Kimberley O'Driscoll, 30, of no fixed address, previously appeared before Bristol Magistrates' Court to face the same charge and was released on bail. Related Internet Links HM Courts Service

एक दूसरे व्यक्ति पर शहर के केंद्र में एक होटल में हमले के बाद आरोप लगाया गया है, जिसमें एक 24 वर्षीय व्यक्ति की हालत "गंभीर" हो गई थी।


Alan Turing: why the tech world's hero should be a household name

Summary: The life and achievements of Alan Turing - the mathematician, codebreaker, computer pioneer, artificial intelligence theoretician, and gay/cultural icon - are being celebrated to mark what would have been his 100th birthday on 23 June. To mark the occasion the BBC has commissioned a series of essays to run across the week, starting with this overview of Turing's legacy by Vint Cerf.

By Vint CerfTuring Award winner / Chief internet evangelist, Google I've worked in computing, and more specifically computer networking, nearly all my life. It's an industry in a constant state of innovation, always pushing beyond the limits of current capability. It is sometimes said that "broadband" is whatever network speed you don't have, yet! Things we take for granted today were, not that long ago, huge technological breakthroughs. Although I've been lucky enough in my career to be involved in the development of the internet, I've never lost sight of the role played by my predecessors, without whose pioneering labour, so much would not have been accomplished. This year, in the centenary of his birth, there is one man in particular who is deservedly the focus of attention: Alan Turing. Turing was born into a world that was very different, culturally and technologically, yet his contribution has never been more important. His is a story of astounding highs and devastating lows. A story of a genius whose mathematical insights helped save thousands of lives, yet who was unable to save himself from social condemnation, with tragic results. Ultimately though, it's a story of a legacy that laid the foundations for the modern computer age. In 1936, while at King's College, Cambridge, Turing published a seminal paper On Computable Numbers which introduced two key concepts - "algorithms" and "computing machines" - that continue to play a central role in our industry today. Computing before computers He is remembered most vividly for his work on cryptanalysis at Bletchley Park during World War II, developing in 1940 the so-called electro-mechanical Bombe used to determine the correct rotor and plugboard settings of the German Enigma encryptor to decrypt intercepted messages. It would be hard to overstate the importance of this work for the Allies in their conduct of the war. After the war, Turing worked on the design of of the Automatic Computing Engine (Ace) at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and in 1946, he delivered a paper on the design of a stored program computer. His work was contemporary with another giant in computer science, John von Neumann, who worked on the Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (Edvac). Ace and Edvac were binary machines and both broke new conceptual ground with the notion of a program stored in memory that drove the operation of the machine. Storing a program in the computer's memory meant that the program could alter itself, opening up remarkable new computing vistas. Remarkably, the Ace designs found their way into the Bendix Corporation's G-15 computer by way of Harry Huskey who had spent 1947 working on the Ace project at NPL. The first Bendix G-15 ran in 1954, the year that Alan Turing tragically died. Artificial Intelligence In 1949, Turing became the deputy director of the Computing Laboratory at the University of Manchester where he focused on the software needed to drive the Manchester Mark 1 stored program computer. In 1950, he published a paper entitled Computing Machinery and Intelligence, in which he explored the notion of artificial intelligence. In this paper, he posed the so-called Turing Test in which an artificial intelligence would be judged intelligent if another human could not tell the difference between the responses of a human and the artificially intelligent machine. While this too-short and incomplete summary does not do justice to Alan Turing's immense contributions to the birth of computer science and computing, it has great personal resonance for me. As it happens, I share the same birth date with Turing - mine is June 23 1943, when his code cracking was at a peak. Even more coincidental, the first computer I ever got to programme was a Bendix G-15 at UCLA that my best friend, Stephen Crocker, was able to obtain access to in 1960 when we were both in our teens. The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) calls its highest award the Alan M Turing Award which includes a $250,000 (£160,000) prize that is partly subsidised by Google. My colleague Robert Kahn and I were so honoured in 2004 with this recognition for our work on the internet. 'Creative genius' Turing's legacy continues to evolve, astonish, challenge and excite. His insights and fearless approach to daunting problems set benchmarks for decades to come. His clarity of thought and creative genius infused those with whom he worked. His conceptual notions, such as the Universal Turing Machine, provided the basis for serious analysis of computability and decidability. His practical realisations of computing engines, special systems like the bombe and general purpose ones such as Ace, shed bright light on the feasibility of purposeful computing and lit the way towards the computing rich environment we find in the 21st Century. Had he lived to see 2012, one wonders what his thoughts might be and what new ideas he would challenge us to think about. As my own journey into computing and networking continues to unfold, I find myself wondering and wishing that Turing were still around to consult. His fresh way of articulating problems would surely cast new light on solutions. Space travel In addition to working towards higher speeds and more parallelism in computing and communications, I have spent some serious time thinking about and helping to formulate methods for communication across the long distances of the solar system. My colleagues and I have had to re-think the basic communication paradigms for large scale networking owing to the slow nature of light speed propagation (eg 20 minutes one way from Earth to Mars) and disruption caused by planetary motion. The problems only get worse when thinking about interstellar communication. Yet, these ideas must inevitably be confronted and solved as the human race continues its drive to expand beyond the planet of our origin. Mortality is an affliction that limits our ability to explore our galaxy. Turing's ideas for artificial intelligence make one wonder whether the legacy of the human race will be intelligent robots that might be maintained in perpetuity to serve as our surrogates in a migration to the stars. Celebrations Turing is a hero to so many Google engineers, and we are deeply gratified to help commemorate and preserve his legacy. Last year Google helped Bletchley Park raise funds to purchase Turing's papers so they could be preserved for public display in their museum. More recently, we've funded and collaborated with the London Science Museum as they put together their stunning new exhibition "Codebreaker: celebrating the life and legacy of Alan Turing". They've gathered an amazing collection of artefacts - including items loaned by GCHQ, the government intelligence agency, that have never before been on public display. But the most impressive part isn't the items on show, but the way they're woven together to tell a story not just of his scientific achievements, but of the man himself. It illuminates Turing, the man, and explains what he contributed in a profoundly moving way that anyone can understand. I hope it will help make Turing a hero and household name beyond the technical community that reveres his memory. Indeed, 2012 has been dubbed the "Alan Turing year" by the scientific community, with a series of events and lectures taking place all over the world. I'm personally taking part in several. To celebrate his birthday (and mine!) I will be speaking at the Turing Centenary Conference in Manchester about his legacy in the networked world. I hope you'll join me - whether in person, or in spirit - in commemorating the life and work of this truly remarkable genius. Vint Cerf is a computer scientist who co-designed the TCP/IP protocols used to create the internet's underlying architecture. He was later dubbed one of the "founding fathers of the internet". In 2005 he joined Google to help the search giant develop its network systems, and continues to serve as its chief internet evangelist.

एलन ट्यूरिंग के जीवन और उपलब्धियों-गणितशास्त्री, कोडब्रेकर, कंप्यूटर अग्रणी, कृत्रिम बुद्धिमत्ता सिद्धांतकार, और समलैंगिक/सांस्कृतिक आइकन-को 23 जून को उनके 100वें जन्मदिन को चिह्नित करने के लिए मनाया जा रहा है। इस अवसर को चिह्नित करने के लिए बीबीसी ने पूरे सप्ताह चलने वाले निबंधों की एक श्रृंखला शुरू की है, जिसकी शुरुआत विंट सर्फ द्वारा ट्यूरिंग की विरासत के इस अवलोकन से हुई है।