‘Why I don't want to own the land my business is built on’

Summary: Hurricane Irma smashed its way across Barbuda in September 2017. It left a catastrophic trail of destruction. And when, in the aftermath, the island's government resolved to introduce a system of private property, this kick-started old tensions.

By Linda PresslyBBC News Asha Frank hosts intrepid tourists in a wooden cabana built on the east of Barbuda. This is wilderness living - there is a well for fresh water, but no flushing toilet. The only sounds are from myriad birds that swoop and dive overhead and the crash of the Atlantic Ocean from beyond the sand dunes close by. You need a sturdy vehicle to get here because there is no paved road - just a roughly marked track on the stony terrain. "Our visitors like to comb the beach. We have camp fires and grill nights. And a lot of the pictures on our website are of guests who catch fish, and then scale, cook and eat it on the spot." Fifty years ago, you could find many pristine spots in the Caribbean like this one. That was before tourism became the primary engine powering the economies of this region, making real estate highly desirable - and the foundation of many lucrative businesses. Compared to its neighbours and especially its sister island of Antigua, Barbuda - just 23km long and 12km wide - has remained undeveloped. And that is largely because in modern times, private property has never existed here. Since the island's slave population was emancipated in the 19th Century, land has been held in common. Barbudans do not own, but lease it to build their homes, to farm and for economic activity. "Land is part of our culture - this is about 300 years of history," says Frank. Because she didn't have to buy her land, she was able to establish her eco-tourism business without investing thousands of dollars. But moves to dismantle Barbuda's system of tenure began just after Irma. Some 95% of Barbuda's infrastructure was affected by the storm - much of it was completely obliterated. There are shiny new roofs in the village of Codrington, where the majority of Barbudans live. But there is also still plenty of evidence of the destructive powers of the hurricane - piles of broken masonry, tarpaulins tightly fastened over gaping holes, and palm trees ripped from their roots. Less than a week after the storm Gaston Browne, prime minister of the government of the twin-island state of Antigua and Barbuda, declared his intention to privatise land on Barbuda - to enable islanders to borrow against their properties and help rebuild, he said. One of his suggestions was that all Barbudans be given deeds to the land they occupy for a nominal Eastern Caribbean $1. Find out more Linda Pressly's documentary Barbuda: Storms, Recovery and "Land Grabs" is broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents at 11:00 on Thursday 15 August Or catch up later online Many were outraged. There is a history of antipathy between the larger, more developed island of Antigua and the people of Barbuda. Ahead of independence in 1981, and partly to protect their land rights, Barbudans lobbied the British for autonomy. Their efforts failed, and the twin-island state of Antigua and Barbuda was born. After the horror of Irma, the government ordered the evacuation of the Barbudan population - around 1,800 - to Antigua, because another hurricane was barrelling down. Hurricane Jose passed the island by. But the government still did not enable people to return to Barbuda immediately. People complain of much greater losses because their belongings rotted for days in the open air - very few had insurance. John Mussington, the principal of Barbuda's secondary school, came back home as soon as he could in October, 2017. But something puzzled him in those early days. "At night Barbuda was black, because there was no electricity. But in this one concentrated area, the skies were lit up. And from where I live miles away I could hear the sound of heavy-duty equipment and bulldozer blades grating against stones… I said, 'What's going on here?'" He went to investigate, and found work continuing on a new international airport. This was at a time when all services on Barbuda were extremely limited due to hurricane damage - even today, the island's hospital remains unusable. The new airport exacerbated already strained relations between Barbudans and their national government. Mussington began a challenge in the courts. Prime Minister Browne was irked by opposition to the airport and said so on Facebook. "These imbeciles have resorted to their ignorantly destructive ways, trying to undermine a much needed infrastructural project to improve the economic prospects of Barbuda," he wrote. For the government, improving the island's economic prospects means more tourism. On Barbuda there are a smattering of small hotels and guest houses, and some eco-style developments like Asha Frank's. And pre-Irma, with backing from the Antigua and Barbuda government, two top-end tourist complexes acquired leases and began construction along the island's glorious sweeps of sandy beaches. But what some see as modernisation, others look upon as a backward step. "I have a problem with the amount of rich homes that are coming and the fact there will be no way for us to make money other than going to work for somebody else," says Jacklyn Beazer Desouza. Hurricane Irma swept away all three of her businesses - a restaurant, a beautician's and a family bakery. Her home lost its roof during the storm too. This was replaced in the months afterwards by the United Nations Development Programme. But Jacklyn's business properties are still in ruins. And while she saves to rebuild, she flips burgers on a makeshift stall in her garden. "I suppose a few of those rich people might come and see what the locals eat - our lobster and deer burgers - but I don't think we'll get a big cut of the pie," she says. And she is worried about the future. Last year, the Antigua and Barbuda government took a major step in its efforts to introduce private property when it repealed the Barbuda Land Act of 2007 that guaranteed communal land ownership rights on the island. "They want to surround the whole island along the coast with hotels, and big houses and stuff, so we'll be enclosed in the village," Desouza says. "And I have a problem with people from Antigua, telling me where I should and shouldn't live. That's not how we're accustomed to living here." So far, the privatisation of land on Barbuda hasn't taken effect. A legal challenge, on the grounds that the government's actions are unconstitutional, means it is being held up in the courts. "No property of any description should be expropriated by any person. We're saying it's an expropriation by the government to repeal the 2007 Barbuda Land Act," says Justin Simon QC. "What this government wants to do is to develop Barbuda with foreign investment. But not every one of the Caribbean's islands can be a development Mecca." The government of Antigua and Barbuda has always denied accusations it is engaged in some kind of "land grab". "Who's grabbing the land?" asks Dean Jonas, the minister for agriculture, fisheries and Barbuda affairs. "The land is being sold to Barbudans. The government is in the process right now of setting up a land registry for Barbuda. We have a land registry in Antigua, so now we have to set one up to survey all the lands in Barbuda, and get them registered properly in the court. So the process has started. All the land in Barbuda belongs to the government - it's important you understand that." And there are Barbudans who would welcome change. Hasketh Daniel surveys the wreckage of his bar - roofless, and open to the clear blue sky. Pre-Irma it was a buzzing, community hub. "This was where the action lies from Thursday to Saturday - everybody was right here," he says wistfully. "If this was man-made stuff, I'd probably have to kill somebody. But it was the Almighty's work, so I just have to accept it." Now, Daniel runs his bar out of what was once the storeroom. He is another uninsured Barbudan, and after nearly two years he is impatient to get on with reconstruction. "We have rights to occupy this land, but we have nothing to prove that we're owners. If we had deeds, we'd be able to go the banks and borrow against what we own. But after Irma we weren't able to help ourselves - we had to depend on donors and the government to help us to rebuild." Daniel believes privatisation will put an end to the frequent disputes between Barbudans about where one owner's land begins and another's ends. And he is impatient with those who worry their children will be pushed off the island because they will not be able to afford to buy land. "If we're trying to protect the future, we've got to set laws. So maybe if you're from Barbuda you pay $5 for the land, but if you're from somewhere else you pay $50,000 for it - we could make it more or less impossible for anyone else to buy here. And if they do buy, well, we're OK with that!" Dikela George, who opposes the privatisation, is not taking any chances. In her early 20s, she is a teacher at the secondary school where Mussington is head, and has her own plot prepped to start building the foundations of a house. "If we have to pay thousands of dollars for land, some of us won't be able to own homes on Barbuda. So right now it's really important we all get our own piece of land, and I think young people need to understand that." Some Barbudans have more pressing concerns. Tenesha Beazer is one of them. Since she returned from Antigua after the hurricane, she has been living in a tent. She shares it with her partner and two children - there is just enough room for a double and a single bed. "I try to make myself and my kids comfortable, but it's not easy. And when it's windy, you hear a lot of noise from the tarpaulin," she says. The family have a place to shower, but no toilet - they have to go in the bush. Before the hurricane struck, Beazer lived in a home belonging to her extended family. Now it is just a dusty pile of rubble. She has a piece of land she's hoping to build on but does not know what the change of law will mean for her - if and when it is implemented. In the long term, she fears the cost of property will rise, and local people will be priced out. "It's upsetting, real upsetting - poor people aren't going to be able to make it if they have to buy the land." Beazer and her family are still living with the consequences of that dreadful September night in 2017, when the heavens opened, and winds gathered speeds of over 280km/h. Many Barbudans were traumatised by Hurricane Irma. With so much rebuilding still to do, life feels uncertain for many. And if government surveyors arrive to begin marking out the land, they will get a very mixed reception. You may also be interested in... The low-lying Caribbean islands inhabited by Panama's indigenous Guna people are threatened by rising sea levels and increasingly unpredictable weather. But unlike many island communities facing such problems, the Guna have an escape plan. The island people with a climate change escape plan

तूफान इरमा ने सितंबर 2017 में बारबुडा में अपना रास्ता तोड़ दिया। इसने विनाश का एक विनाशकारी निशान छोड़ दिया। और जब, इसके बाद, द्वीप की सरकार ने निजी संपत्ति की एक प्रणाली शुरू करने का संकल्प लिया, तो इसने पुराने तनाव को शुरू कर दिया।


Jersey's Lloyds Bank announces job losses

Summary: Lloyds Banking Group has announced that 30 islanders will lose their jobs.

The reduction in staff is part of its 2011 Strategic Review - when the group announced it was cutting 15,000 jobs across the business. Jersey staff from the retail, risk, operations and commercial banking divisions will be offered voluntary redundancy. A spokesperson said: "Lloyds is committed to working through the changes carefully and sensitively." Related Internet Links Lloyds Banking Group

लॉयड्स बैंकिंग ग्रुप ने घोषणा की है कि 30 द्वीपवासी अपनी नौकरी खो देंगे।


Malakal: The city that vanished in South Sudan

Summary: The roads of central Juba, the capital of South Sudan, bear witness to the British colonial town it once was: They are lined with neem trees, tall and narrow-leafed, their seeds transported from India.

By Tim FranksBBC News, South Sudan In their broad shade, there is another familiar sight: Lines of men, in plastic chairs, most of them jobless. They wait and talk, scouring the thin pickings of the local newspapers. Victor Lajar is one of them. He is 51 - his purple-striped shirt is perfectly pressed; his grey trousers have crisp vertical creases. Over a cup of clove-laced tea, he tells me he used to be a local government official. He was from the northern city of Malakal. He fled, during the civil war. He has a family to support and no job. I ask my first guileless question: "The war's over; why don't you return?" Mr Lajar answers with his own question: "You don't know about Malakal?" he asks. "It's ashes," he tells me. Camp life Few journalists go to Malakal. There are horrors aplenty elsewhere, and for long periods, the airport at the town has been inaccessible because of the fighting. I arrive, on a tiny United Nations charter, at Malakal airfield. We swiftly have company. A queue of large Russian-made transport planes, with no tail markings, land: Three in one hour, to re-supply the government forces, the SPLA, who currently hold the city. Before I head to Malakal itself, though, I visit the UN camp, just to the north-east. It is where 45,000 former residents of the city now live. I am lucky - the rainy season is almost over. All I have to contend with is the broiling sun and the clouds of mosquitoes. When it is wet, the ground is awash with mud and human waste. The place carries the marks of the refugee camp. The new arrivals, strung out, hollow-eyed at its entrance. The tents and shacks for long-term residents crammed into a crazed puzzle; the attempts to winnow a bit of extra cash: Men selling heaps of rusty nails; children selling single cloves of garlic; women selling small piles of clothes. And there are the stories from their time in Malakal town: Of mothers and brothers shot, their bodies left to rot; of children lost in the chaos of fleeing. So many stories, so much trauma, that by the end of my first afternoon, I have to check my notebook to pick out Nyabed's misery from Teresa's from Mary's from Nyangit's. Looting and vandalism In the morning, I get a rare tour of the city, in a UN military patrol, with an SPLA escort. It is unlike any place I have ever visited. Malakal is - was - South Sudan's second city. In the decades of war with the north, it thrived. Now it is empty. Parts have been razed to the ground in the rage of warfare. But much has been wrecked simply by looting and vandalism, as rival forces allied to rival ethnic groups swept back and forth. Malakal has changed hands 12 times during this civil war. The children's hospital was built as a prize of independence. Now it is a shell, scorched, roofless, slowly strangled by the returning bush. But I could see no bullet holes, no splashes of shrapnel. It, like the Red Cross headquarters, had been wrecked and pillaged by fighters not battling for a front line, but drunk on ownership. Inside the Red Cross offices, amid the dust and destruction and fug of faeces, I find a discarded notebook. "Rules for the Red Cross", a neat hand has written. Avoid "real or perceived breaches of neutrality and impartiality for multiple reasons, including ethnicity". I have seen places wrecked by war, but never a city vanish like this. Back at the UN camp, plans are quietly under way to be ready to deal with another 40,000 people who may yet cross over the White Nile to seek sanctuary and food. South Sudan's elusive peace: Five obstacles to peace in South Sudan And I ask my second guileless question. It is addressed to one of the UN workers - he is a local, from Malakal. Is he going to watch the football that afternoon on TV? South Sudan is playing its first World Cup qualification match. "How can I cheer for this country?" he asks. "We were so happy at independence. I remember the moment. My father - he'd been an agricultural scientist, who'd joined the struggle, and been killed in the struggle. "But what was it for? Now, I only feel shame. We are so much worse off now." How to listen to From Our Own Correspondent: BBC Radio 4: Saturdays at 11:30. Listen online or download the podcast. BBC World Service: At weekends - see World Service programme schedule or listen online. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

दक्षिण सूडान की राजधानी, मध्य जुबा की सड़कें उस ब्रिटिश औपनिवेशिक शहर की गवाही देती हैं जो कभी थाः वे नीम के पेड़ों से पंक्तिबद्ध हैं, लंबे और संकीर्ण पत्ते वाले, उनके बीज भारत से लाए जाते हैं।


The 'green blob' loves Mr Ban - but for how long?

Summary: Former British Environment Secretary Owen Paterson would not have been a happy chappy if he had been in New York for the culmination of a global day of protest against a lack of political action on climate change.

Matt McGrathEnvironment correspondent@mattmcgrathbbcon Twitter In Mr Paterson's words, the world of environmental activism is the green blob - "a mutually supportive network of environmental pressure groups, renewable energy companies and some public officials who keep each other well supplied with lavish funds, scare stories and green tape". Well, Manhattan on Sunday may have seemed like "blobageddon" to Mr Paterson. Here was a baseball capped Ban Ki-moon, standing shoulder to shoulder with groups as diverse as Queers for Climate, Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping, the Granny Peace Brigade and the New York City Breastfeeding Leadership Council. One woman I spoke to was wearing a placard that said "Mississippi wants climate justice right now!" I asked the wearer why she was marching. "I am here because there's no justice. Congress are fighting against President Obama where the poor cannot get their trickle down for housing and disability," she replied. It seemed a long way from hungry polar bears and ruined rainforests. The fact is that climate change has become a very broad church, covering almost every natural grievance. Be it too many people chasing too few resources, the over exploitation of natural assets, declining returns from land and sea, climate is seen to play a major part. But it is too easy, and plain wrong, to put all this down to environmental bandwagonism - here come all the people, chanting together. The reality of the People's Climate March was that it was full of ordinary people as well as the more colourful, activist elements. I saw tens of thousands of regular joes and josephines, couples with their kids, senior citizens, even teenagers who'd managed to wake up in time. For many, if not all of the marchers, with their very different takes on how climate change affects them, the collective sense was disempowerment. They want things to be different, they want a better world, but they feel that they do not have the real power to change it. That's why Ban Ki-moon's participation was more than just a photo opportunity. According to the Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, Mr Ban's march was important and significant. "I give tremendous respect to the Secretary General for involving himself in a type of truly universal social protest," he said. "I think it is very powerful that the head of the closest thing we have got a truly global government, is with the people today, marching with activists, saying this is the change that the grassroots are demanding. That alone signifies a break with the past." By making common cause with the grannies, the fishermen, the students and the immigrants who marched through Manhattan, Mr Ban is trying to forge political will from popular action. He is doing this because climate change has failed to galvanise enough support among global leaders to merit the type of annoying, restrictive but effective laws that make people change their ways. For a few short hours, the green blob was in love with Mr Ban, and he said that he felt like the Secretary General of the whole world. Mr Ban asked the crowd for its energy and its faith. Trust me, and I will deliver a strong global deal on climate change. But on Tuesday, when the hard eyed heads of government gather, Mr Ban may find it is easier to win the hearts of the streets, than it is to win concessions from global leaders. But at least the man is trying.

पूर्व ब्रिटिश पर्यावरण सचिव ओवेन पैटरसन अगर जलवायु परिवर्तन पर राजनीतिक कार्रवाई की कमी के खिलाफ विरोध के वैश्विक दिवस की परिणति के लिए न्यूयॉर्क में होते तो वे खुश नहीं होते।


Downbeat drumbeats for upstream

Summary: If you want a barrel of Brent crude for delivery next month (an idea for the birthday boy/girl who has everything), it'll currently set you back just under $48. Three days ago, it was nearly three dollars cheaper.

Douglas FraserBusiness and economy editor, Scotland Convert that into the Britisher pound sterling, and it's not far over the £30 mark. As I've noted before, that price happens to be the cost per barrel above which 19 fields were operating in the UK sector of the North Sea in 2013. Options to sell oil at $20, or £13.20 are not just being traded, but doing quite a brisk trade. We're told that 13 million barrels have already been covered by such financial instruments, which is a bet on the price continuing to fall. And now, the oil-covered chickens are flying home to roost, or to get decontaminated. BP is expected on Thursday to announce a big job cull to its support roles around the world - including an expected 300 North Sea jobs. As previewed late last year, this is partly to adjust to the shrunken state of the London-based giant, since responding to its Gulf of Mexico disaster and debacle with a big downsizing. Since the review began, it has also taken the falling price into its calculations, so the job cuts may not look pretty. BP has cut back on its assets in British waters, focussing on areas of strength and clusters of fields where there are long-term plans in place, including initiatives west of Shetland. Boom times On Wednesday morning, a smaller operator - Premier Oil - set out its response to the falling oil price, with a cut to its capital spend this year from $1bn to $600m. It is also taking a $300m hit to its asset valuation because of the cuts. Some of that spending cut is from re-negotiating supplier contracts, as with Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy, which put out a trading statement focussing on its west African offshore prospects. It made no mention of its very expensive (and controversial) drilling programme off the west of Greenland. Cairn has cut its directly-employed staff by more than a third, though these are much smaller numbers than BP. How many people work for BP? 84,000 - In 80 countries 15,000 - UK-wide 3,500 - Scotland 600 - On North Sea platforms Tullow Oil, London-based with a focus on Africa and Norway, has today announced a $600m reduction in asset values due to the price fall. It's slashing its exploration budget, with substantial cost cuts on the way. This is an industry where suppliers and individual freelance contracts benefit from rapid price inflation in the boom times, but suffer sharp cost cuts in the bad times. That's why Wood Group, among others, simply lopped 10% off its contractor payments last month. Of course, that feeds through to the spending power of those workers, who could be found living and spending big money across Scotland and beyond. They're important to some remote communities as much as the oil and gas heartlands of Aberdeen city and shire. Plugged and abandoned What, then, of this broader economic impact? There's a lot of analysis coming in these days. Wood Mackenzie, the energy analyst and consultancy based in Edinburgh, has been rather busy. As I wrote in recent days, its analysis of 2,222 oil fields around the world suggests that a $50 barrel means 190,000 barrels per day become cash negative, with the UK and US having most of them. It went on to say that at the $45 level, 400,000 barrels per day become cash negative, and half of those can be found in the USA. WoodMac has since published a study estimating a low price puts at risk $3.2bn of potential spending on projects which are yet to get a green light in UK upstream (exploration and production, before the hydrocarbons get to a refinery, downstream). That's £2bn of difference. After another strong year of investment in 2014 - at £12bn, it's not far off the 2013 record - such a cut would take investment next year to £6.3bn - just over half of the 2014 level. It adds that, with production costs very high in the UK North Sea, there's the potential for "shut-in" - plugging and abandoning wells. Fergus Ewing, the Scottish government's energy minister, was on BBC Radio Scotland, adding to that worry, with a warning that tax cuts and tax breaks have to be brought forward from George Osborne's budget this year, because without them, crucial decisions on shut-ins will be made before then. Exploration to replace depleting UK reserves has been at a low level, says WoodMac. Last year saw only 23 exploration wells drilled, while the recent average has been 81. "The current oil price means 2015 will unsurprisingly bring further budget cuts - with exploration spend top of the list," observes WoodMac analyst Erin Moffat. Deal-making down A further WoodMac report out this week points to difficulties in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, extending north to the Barents. Our Norwegian neighbours have been seen as having a better run of discoveries and luck recently. And while the Edinburgh analysts say there was much good news for Norway's oil industry last year, they also suggest drilling results in 2014 were "lacklustre", and that the oil price fall will result in a 25% drop in capital expenditure, to $22bn. The analysis keeps coming. Deloitte has just published its assessment of the industry in north-west Europe. It reported drilling down, and the number of field start-ups in the UK sector down from 13 in 2013 to only six last year. Deal-making has also stalled, it says. Assets are on the market, but the smaller companies which are likely buyers of mature fields, from which they believe more can be squeezed, are not finding finance easy, so the market is stalling. That could be eased with lower prices meaning lower asset values, and more attractive pricing. Refined Yet another take on it comes my way from Platts, an industry data specialist. It's been looking at the effect of future prices being up to a dollar a barrel higher for future delivery than immediate, meaning there's an incentive to store oil. On-land storage is very high in Europe, and the cost of remaining capacity is high. Platts reports that up to 22 very large crude oil tankers are currently being used to store oil in south-east Asia, rather than transporting it, and they say that can cost up to $65,000 per day for a ship. There remains capacity for refined oil product, so refineries are keeping busy as they fill the on-shore tanks they've got. The over-supply looks particularly bad through next month, particularly in West Africa, which is a key indicator that prices are going to stay low for a few weeks yet, at least. But let's not forget the upside. Oxford Economics, yet another consultancy, has run the figures on the global economy. It reckons that 10 large industrialised economies should gain $440bn lower bills this year for importing energy, which is effectively a direct stimulus to their economies. At an average $55 price, that helps push growth up from 2.6% to 2.9% during 2015, forecasts Oxford. For the UK, the revised lift in economic growth is even higher, from 2.6% to 3%. Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, told MPs on Wednesday that the net impact on the British economy should be positive. He went on to say the net effect on the Scottish economy will be negative, but that fiscal arrangements - handling economic shocks through UK Treasury distributions - should protect Scotland from the effects of that. It's a more political statement than any he made during the referendum campaign.

यदि आप अगले महीने डिलीवरी के लिए ब्रेंट कच्चे तेल का एक बैरल चाहते हैं (जन्मदिन के लड़के/लड़की के लिए एक विचार जिसके पास सब कुछ है), तो यह वर्तमान में आपको $48 से थोड़ा कम कर देगा। तीन दिन पहले, यह लगभग तीन डॉलर सस्ता था।


Boardmasters 2020 festival line-up announced

Summary: The music festival Boardmasters has announced its line-up for 2020 after storms saw last year's event cancelled.

Skepta, Kings of Leon and The 1975 are among the headliners, while the weekend also hosts surfing competitions. About 55,000 people were expected in the town of Newquay in August, but organisers said the weather forecast was "too severe". Organisers offered full refunds, although many revellers had already travelled across the country. Mura Masa, The Kooks and Sam Fender will also be performing at this year's festival, which takes place between 5 and 9 August.

संगीत महोत्सव बोर्डमास्टर्स ने पिछले साल के कार्यक्रम को रद्द किए जाने के बाद 2020 के लिए अपनी लाइन-अप की घोषणा की है।


Bredon Hill coin hoard returns to Worcestershire museum

Summary: A Roman coin hoard uncovered in Worcestershire has gone on display in a county museum ahead of the launch of a new appeal to conserve it.

The 3,800 coins, dating back to the 3rd Century, were found by metal detector enthusiasts at Bredon Hill, near Evesham, in June 2011. Some £9,000 was raised to bring the hoard back from the British Museum. The coins are now at County Museum in Hartlebury. An appeal to keep them in Worcestershire will start next month.

वॉरसेस्टरशायर में एक रोमन सिक्के के भंडार को संरक्षित करने के लिए एक नई अपील के शुभारंभ से पहले एक काउंटी संग्रहालय में प्रदर्शित किया गया है।


Coronavirus briefing: Help for self-employed and surge in US cases

Summary: If you want to get this briefing by email, sign up here

By Andy McFarlaneBBC News Help for self-employed It seems self-employed people are about to get some of the help they have been demanding since the government agreed to pay 80% of the salary of staff kept on by employers during the coronavirus outbreak. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to reveal what's in the package at a press conference later. It comes as MPs criticise banks for asking business owners to put up personal assets such as property - other than their family home - to secure loans. This is despite government promises to cover 80% of losses if the money is not repaid, up to £5m. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has offered a "special thank you" to those who have volunteered to help the NHS during the outbreak. More than half a million - including 11,000 former medics and 24,000 final-year students - have answered the call. That's more than double the government's recruitment target. Meanwhile, the Royal College of General Practitioners has written to Health Secretary Matt Hancock to ask whether family doctors should wear protective equipment to examine all patients, rather than just those showing coronavirus symptoms. We look at how well prepared the health service is for the anticipated surge in cases. That includes a race to acquire ventilators, with the government ordering 10,000 from Dyson. Insiders at the firm, best known for vacuum cleaners and hand dryers, says it has a prototype "ready to go", provided it passes stringent medical tests. Find out which companies are desperately seeking staff as they ramp up their roles in helping the country cope. Surge in US cases You can keep up with all the global developments via our live page, which has been reporting how the number of deaths in the US has topped 1,000. The number of cases in the US had increased by more than 10,000 in 24 hours. One retired physician, 69-year-old Claudia Bahorik, who documented the frustrations in her quest to get tested for the virus, says her case is an example of Washington's failure to implement the "trace, test and treat" mantra of global health bodies. Meanwhile, the US Senate has passed a $2tn (£1.7tn) aid bill, including direct payments of $1,200 to most adults and help for small businesses to pay workers. Closer to home, our correspondents gauge the mood in Europe's locked-down capitals. The death toll in Spain has risen to 3,434 - surpassing that of China. And coronavirus has triggered the downfall of the government in Kosovo. Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning Personal stories As many countries grow accustomed to increasingly stringent lockdowns, personal stories are emerging that demonstrate how dramatically life has changed. For example, the world of dating has got a lot more complicated. One dad tells us how he's told his daughter he's gone to Africa when, in reality, he's self-isolating in a campervan parked in the field next door. And we hear from young gay people forced into isolation with homophobic parents. How are food supply networks coping? By Jonty Bloom, business reporter, BBC News, Continuing pictures of empty shelves at UK supermarkets have sparked ongoing worries about food shortages. The supermarkets are confident that they can cope, not least because there is a limit to how much people can sensibly stockpile. So they believe that shopping patterns should return to normal eventually. But the coronavirus pandemic has awakened wider fears about the security and strength of the hugely complicated supply chains, or logistics systems, that modern societies depend on. The Chinese military theorist Sun Tzu wrote that “the line between disorder and order lies in logistics”. To test that idea, you only have to look in your kitchen cupboard or fridge. Almost certainly nearly everything in there came from a shop that was stocked by a lorry or van. Read the full article One thing not to miss today Why only some countries wear face masks Listen up The Coronavirus Newscast hears from reporters patrolling the country's parks to find out whether people are following the government's rules on social distancing. And the Inquiry, on the BBC World Service, asks what lessons can be learned from South Korea, which quickly got to grips with the outbreak and kept mortality rates low. What the papers say There is much praise for the more than 500,000 people who have volunteered to help the NHS deal with the coronavirus outbreak. They make up an "army of kindness", according to the Daily Express, while they are "kindhearts" in the Daily Mirror's front-page headline. For the Daily Mail it shows the UK to be "a nation of heroes". Meanwhile, in a thinly veiled dig at the Prince of Wales, who has tested positive, the Daily Star suggests NHS workers are "not amused" by celebrities and royalty "jumping the queue" to be tested ahead of them. The Financial Times says the government is under pressure to test front-line health workers. The Times and Daily Telegraph say testing kits could be available on a mass scale within weeks, while the Guardian and i suggest the government is to announce financial support for self-employed people. From elsewhere Why is the coronavirus killing nearly twice as many men as women in Spain? (El Pais) The coronavirus killed the revolution (Atlantic) 'Massively let down': disappointment in Japan after Tokyo Olympics postponed (Guardian) Seven meditation and mindfulness apps with free tools for coronavirus anxiety (Mashable) Sign up for a morning briefing direct to your phone Need something different? Away from our virus coverage, we have important journalism from BBC Africa Eye which investigates how foreign powers are allowing secret arms shipments to bring misery to the people of conflict-ravaged Libya. Meanwhile, if you're feeling the effects of being confined to quarters, BBC Ideas has put together a stuck-at-home playlist to help you through the day. And if you're simply in need of a laugh, Channel 4 comedy Friday Night Dinner returns to screens this week. And its stars open up about the show's shenanigans, on and off-screen. Oh, and in case you missed yesterday's news, off-licences have been added to the government's list of essential UK retailers allowed to stay open.

यदि आप ईमेल द्वारा यह जानकारी प्राप्त करना चाहते हैं, तो यहां साइन अप करें


Google Map Maker edit tools extended to cover the UK

Summary: Google is expanding its Map Maker edit tools to the UK.

By Leo KelionTechnology reporter The browser-based software allows users to add details about buildings, hiking trails, vegetation and other features to its maps of the country. Suggested additions and amendments are reviewed by other users and the firm's own staff before going live. The move comes at a time when Apple, Nokia and others are investing heavily in rival "free-to-use" mapping technologies. Experts suggest the rise of GPS-enabled devices means the efforts could hold the key to future profits if the firms add location-triggered adverts or use the data to promote situation-specific services. But for now they see little or no financial return from their current smartphone map apps beyond the value added to their brands. Codebreaking cartographers Google first launched its Map Maker service in 2008 to allow users to help it add details to its maps of Pakistan, Vietnam and just over a dozen other countries. It allowed the firm to fill in blanks to the third-party data it had licensed at a time when its own cartographers were focused on other territories. The company later extended the facility to much of the rest of the world including the US, France and Australia - countries where it also uses sensor-equipped cars to collect mapping data. Google said there were "technical obstacles to overcome" when merging any of its existing data with Map Maker, helping explain why it had taken until now to bring it to the UK. Ahead of the launch workers at Bletchley Park - the site of Britain's World War II codebreaking efforts - trialled the software to help promote the roll-out. The search giant had previously donated money towards the estate's restoration fund. Trust score Map Maker users are presented with an interface allowing them to add four types of content: Click-through menus allow specific details about each feature and relevant internet links to be added. There is also an option to edit pre-existing objects. Users wishing to amend the firm's UK maps had previously only been able to report problems or suggest limited changes. Before alterations are made to Google's live maps other contributors must review the suggestions. To encourage this Google lets users click a button to show proposed alterations in their neighbourhood, and Map Maker Pulse - a constantly updating display of submissions made across the UK, each one shown seconds after it is uploaded. Volunteers build up a confidence score as more of their submissions are approved and after a while require fewer checks. "We have a trust moderation system in place and that algorithmically figures out whether we can trust this person and how sensitive the feature is," project manager Jessica Pfund told the BBC. "No matter how trusted you are if you change a very prominent feature, like a Tate art gallery, it's going to have to go through a lot more moderation than if you add a small restaurant to the rural countryside." She added that users could expect accurate additions to go live within a few days of them being proposed. Market leader Ms Pfund acknowledged that in its current state Map Maker did not work well on mobile devices, recommending it only be used on PCs. Users may also wish to bear in mind the firm's terms and conditions which state: "You give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive licence to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display, distribute, and create derivative works of the user submission." One contributor to OpenStreetMap - a separate crowdsourced effort to map the world - suggested Google's terms might make its maps unsuitable for some. "The biggest problem with Google Map Maker is that anything people contribute may appear on Google's map, but only Google can get at the underlying data to be able to do anything else with it," said Chris Hill. "If someone includes a Google map on their web site to show where their business is they may also be showing where their competitors are and they can't change that." Others too are trying to outsource at least part of their cartographic efforts to volunteers. Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook, said his firm appreciated feedback when he apologised in September for the rocky start to the iPhone maker's own app, promising "the more our customers use our Maps the better it will get". Nokia is also beta testing its own browser-based Map Creator facility for its Here maps product - but within Europe the tool is currently limited to a few islands belonging to Norway and Denmark. Tech consultancy Gartner says Google's market leading position as the most popular map data provider for smart devices remained secure for now, but adds it will be mindful of rivals' efforts. "Google needs to continue to continue to invest to stay ahead - it's not going to be a free run as it has been so far," said consumer devices analyst Carolina Milanesi.

गूगल ब्रिटेन में अपने मैप मेकर संपादन उपकरणों का विस्तार कर रहा है।


Just how important was the Vauxhall Cavalier?

Summary: Forty years ago a car was unveiled that promised "the power you want, the economy you need (at) the price you'll like". Costing a little over £4,000, the car in question was the Vauxhall Cavalier.

By Laurence CawleyBBC News Was the Vauxhall Cavalier one of the most important cars in British motoring history? Kevin Bricknall believes it was. Along with its little sister the Vauxhall Chevette, which also first rolled off the production line in 1975. Of course, as a paid up member of the Vauxhall Cavalier and Chevette Club, Mr Bricknell might be accused of bias. But he says: "Both cars saved Vauxhall, they turned the company's fortunes around. "They were the cars that when people looked around and saw them they said 'yes, I want one of those'." Mr Bicknell was one of those who saw, wanted and then bought. And he now owns a small menagerie of Vauxhalls and Opels including the Vauxhall Mark II Cavalier Calibre that appeared in James May's Cars Of The People. Later, the Vauxhall Cavalier and Chevette Club will be celebrating 40 years of the Cavalier Mark I and Vauxhall Chevette at the Vauxhall Bedford Opel Association annual rally at the Billing Aquadrome in Northamptonshire. Some of the cars attending are fresh from a road trip from Durness in Scotland and there will be a parade of Cavaliers and Chevettes in the parade ring on Sunday. The Cavalier was one of the UK's best selling family cars until production ceased in 1995. "At one time you would see at least one version of the Cavalier on pretty much any street," says Mr Bicknell. "And sometimes you'd see a Mark II and a Mark III on the same street." Among the keys to its success, says Mr Bicknell, was that it looked good - thanks largely to the distinctive nose introduced by US designer Wayne Cherry - developed a strong racing record on the touring car scene and was easy to fix when it went wrong. And it was good to drive, according to former Mark I owner Tim Gillett. "I loved it," said Mr Gillett, from Southend. "I fell in love straight away. It was a Vauxhall Cavalier Mark I sports coupe, powerful and sporty. "It was a lovely bronze colour, almost gold on a bright sunny day and it reminded me of James Bond. It was a classic British car." There was another side to Mr Gillett's Cavalier ownership, however. Shortly after selling the car to his then girlfriend - now wife - Jackie, the steering column disintegrated and the car that once made him feel a little bit 007 was dispatched to the scrap yard. "Nowadays you'd be lucky to see a single Mark III," says Mr Bicknell. "And it is thought there are just a couple of hundred Mark Is still on the road." As for the Chevette, its marketing slogan was that "it's whatever you want it to be". "It was a good solid family car," says Mr Bicknell. "The Cavalier and Chevettes were among the best selling cars in the country at the time. Sometimes people joke about Vauxhall as a brand. But it is still going strong. "Some people think the Ford Fiesta was the first car of its type. It wasn't, the Chevette predated the Fiesta by a year or two." Will the Cavalier name - with its nod to British civil war history - ever return to British roads? "Well," says Mr Bicknell, "they brought the Viva name back. And they replaced the Vectra with the Insignia. Perhaps one day the Insignia could be replaced with the Cavalier. "It would be great if that did happen."

चालीस साल पहले एक कार का अनावरण किया गया था जिसमें वादा किया गया था कि "आप जिस शक्ति को चाहते हैं, उस अर्थव्यवस्था की आपको आवश्यकता है (उस कीमत पर) जो आपको पसंद होगी।" £4,000 से थोड़ी अधिक कीमत वाली, विचाराधीन कार वॉक्सहॉल कैवलियर थी।


The top surgeon who harmed patients for years

Summary: A top surgeon harmed patients for years and the health board did not have the systems in place to pick up on his mistakes, a BBC investigation has found.

By Lucy Adams and Liam McDougallBBC Scotland Disclosure BBC Scotland's Disclosure team saw evidence that dozens of people claimed to have been harmed by Sam Eljamel, the former head of neurosurgery at NHS Tayside. In one case he removed the wrong part of a patient's body. NHS Tayside said it had listened to patients, changed its practices and made improvements as a result. However, the BBC investigation found Mr Eljamel was allowed to continue operating even after an external investigation found he was injuring patients. Mr Eljamel's lawyer said his client had no comment to make. Who is Sam Eljamel? He was the head of the neurosurgery department in Ninewells - one of just four specialist centres in Scotland. The surgeon was an adviser to the Scottish government and also worked at Fernbrae private hospital in Dundee. We know that he qualified in Tripoli in Libya before moving to Liverpool. From there he went to Dublin where Mr Eljamel worked as a senior neurosurgical registrar. He then went to Connecticut where he claims he completed a fellowship at Hartford Hospital. Although when we contacted them they said they had no record of this. He also claims he was a visiting professor at the Universities of Connecticut and San Diego but when BBC Disclosure contacted them the universities said this was not the case. The brain surgery patient Jules Rose was a keen marathon runner until she was told in 2013 that she had a brain tumour. She was nervous about having surgery but reassured to discover it would be carried out by the head of department. After the August procedure Ms Rose said Mr Eljamel told her the benign growth behind her eye was "99% removed". But a few months later the surgeon informed her he would have to do the operation again and on 9 December the second craniotomy took place. Tear gland removed instead of tumour After asking for her medical records, Ms Rose discovered that in the first operation Mr Eljamel had removed the wrong part of her body - instead of the tumour he had taken out her tear gland. She sued the hospital and received compensation. But even then no-one told her that since June 2013 her surgeon had been under investigation and under "supervision". Following the operation she suffers pain and constant dry eye problems. "It's atrocious," she says. "For NHS Tayside to allow this surgeon, who had blatantly made a mistake the first time, to allow him to perform another complex operation is unthinkable. It's not acceptable." The spinal patient Patrick Kelly almost died after his spine operation by Mr Eljamel in 2007, but he had known there were risks. What he did not realise until many years later, after asking for his medical records, was that Mr Eljamel had not actually done the intended surgery. Mr Kelly, who is in constant pain and faces the risk of paralysis, said: "The people who have looked at my case, the medical professionals have said in no uncertain terms, that operation has not been carried out. "That's blatant, and that's half the reason why I'm so angry about this." He has been told that because of the scar tissue caused by the incision made by Mr Eljamel, he cannot have further surgery as the risks are too high. The Report In June 2013 NHS Tayside bosses say they became aware of concerns about Mr Eljamel for the first time. They learned that he had operated on the wrong part of a number of patient's spines. They say they acted "immediately" by placing him under supervision and undertaking an internal audit of his operations. The board also asked the Royal College of Surgeons to investigate which they did, sending an interim report in October 2013 followed by a final one on 6 December. That date is important because NHS Tayside told BBC Disclosure that it acted "immediately" to suspend Mr Eljamel and report him to the GMC. And yet we know that the health board allowed him to operate on Ms Rose on 9 December - three days later. She had expected to see him the next day to discuss her operation but said he had vanished. The health board confirmed that he was suspended on 10 December. When we originally asked for the report through a Freedom of Information request NHS Tayside said it could not confirm if it even existed. Months later, after repeated requests, they agreed to let us see the conclusions and recommendations. The Royal College's own guidelines said the learning from such reports should be published for patients and practitioners to see. The report talks about; Timeline of the surgeon's last months at NHS Tayside June 2013 - Sam Eljamel is put under investigation and under supervision August 2013 - Mr Eljamel operates on Jules Rose's tumour October 2013 - Royal College of Surgeons interim report on Sam Eljamel 6 December 2013 - Royal College of Surgeons final report on Sam Eljamel 9 December 2013 - A second procedure by Mr Eljamel is undertaken on Ms Rose 10 December 2013 - Mr Eljamel is suspended May 2014 - Mr Eljamel retires from NHS Tayside Fears of intimidation It is hard to understand how no-one noticed that a brain and spinal surgeon was repeatedly making mistakes and harming patients. Documents obtained by BBC Disclosure through Freedom of Information requests revealed that the health board did not have effective systems in place to pick up on recurrent mistakes prior to 2013. The document obtained through FOI said prior to 2013, concerns were discussed in committees but "it was difficult to pick up emerging themes". And the Royal College's report says that although Mr Eljamel's colleagues had concerns about his practices for some time they did not speak up because he was "intimidating". Expert reviews patient records Donald Campbell has been a consultant neurosurgeon for more than 30 years and is an expert witness in court. With their permission, we showed him the scans and medical records of a number of Mr Eljamel's patients. He said in two cases - including that of Patrick Kelly - the intended operation on the spinal discs - was not done. In relation to Mr Eljamel telling Ms Rose he had removed her tumour during her first operation, he said: "I think it's dishonest. "Apart from anything else, if you ever make a mistake, the first thing you should do is go to the patient, say 'I got it wrong'." Overall, looking at the medical records of the four patients we share with him, he said: "I don't think his behaviour was acceptable or ethical. "I feel very sorry for the patients and I feel that a lot of what I have been shown was potentially avoidable had action been taken at an earlier stage to give greater guidance to the individual or give him further training." Donald Campbell says it is standard practice across the UK - and has been for decades- to use X-rays during spinal surgery to ensure the right part is operated on. But documents obtained by the BBC Scotland Disclosure team reveal that not only was Mr Eljamel not using X-rays but he was training his junior surgeons to do the same. One of the documents describes how a junior surgeon carried out surgery at the "incorrect spinal level" while "under instruction" from Mr Eljamel. Despite the trainee surgeon clearly raising concerns, he said Mr Eljamel advised him the "site was correct" - and told him to carry on with the operation. The patient ended up with irreversible spinal damage. Dozens of former patients are suing NHS Tayside, claiming Mr Eljamel has harmed them. Several have already secured compensation. 'Many surgical errors' Eilish Lindsay of Thompsons solicitors represents a number of patients. She said: "It's very concerning that someone can be allowed to operate within an NHS facility for that period of time, with complaints arising, with concerns arising, where there's been no checks apparently done and no follow-up done. "Our clients have been reporting issues for a number of years before any of this came to light, which is obviously very concerning for them, and nobody else appears to have questioned any of his decisions at that stage." Some patients are suing Mr Eljamel personally because he treated them privately. Sue Grant, head of clinical negligence at Digby Brown, said: "Highly, highly unusual for such a prominent and established surgeon to make so many surgical errors. This is not just a case of a bad day at the office." Many of his former patients cannot sue because they did not take cases within the three-year time limit. "For some of them, the damage may be irreversible," she said. "The difficulty is that we really don't know. For those whose cases are time barred, they often don't have the benefit of any sort of investigation, any independent review, so they're left wondering and worrying if they might have been victims without ever knowing they were or not, and they will always have that doubt in their minds." We took the medical records of a number of patients to Brian McConnachie QC, former head of high court prosecutions at the Crown Office. He believes there is potentially a case for prosecuting Mr Eljamel. Mr McConnachie said: "Of the ones I have seen there are, I think, three of them where there would be an arguable case for culpable and reckless conduct." In Ms Rose's case, he said: "To remove effectively the wrong part of the body seems on the face of it to be certainly negligent, and probably reckless." He adds: "Standing the fact we're dealing with a surgeon carrying out this kind of work and potentially damaging people's lives forever, then in my view it would be appropriate, certainly, to consider the question of a criminal prosecution." What happens next? So what have the repercussions been for Mr Eljamel? He was allowed to retire from NHS Tayside in May 2014 and to remove himself from the UK medical register. It means: no further investigation, no sanction and no disciplinary action by the General Medical Council. The GMC told BBC Disclosure that its priority was "to protect patients". Not to "punish doctors". NHS Tayside's medical director, Prof Andrew Russell, said: "We have heard from a number of patients from 2012 to 2016 who have had concerns and we have ensured we have listened to their complaints and taken appropriate action to support patients as per our duty of care. "There has been much learning by the organisation immediately following these events and many improvements have been made over the past five years. "I would like to reassure our patients that NHS Tayside complies with all national standards relating to spinal surgery, with patient safety front and centre of every procedure carried out." Some patients want the Scottish government to instigate a public inquiry. Ms Rose said: "He needs to be held to account for what he's done; and NHS Tayside because they've allowed this as well." Mr Kelly said: "We must really find out, we've got to get to the bottom of this if we're going to have any faith in the system. "Because, at the moment, the system is badly, badly broken, that you can walk into an operating theatre, create absolute havoc, and walk away. I mean, what message does that send out?" If you want to speak to BBC Scotland Disclosure about this investigation, or another story, email programme producer liam.mcdougall@bbc.co.uk or reporter lucy.adams03@bbc.co.uk. You can also follow and get in contact with the team on Twitter @BBCDislosure. And remember, you can watch the Disclosure programme on demand on BBC iPlayer.

बीबीसी की एक जांच में पाया गया है कि एक शीर्ष सर्जन ने वर्षों तक रोगियों को नुकसान पहुंचाया और स्वास्थ्य बोर्ड के पास उनकी गलतियों को समझने के लिए कोई व्यवस्था नहीं थी।


Nintendo 3DS: Newsbeat's sneak preview

Summary: As far as Nintendo is concerned the future is all about 3D.

By Dan WhitworthNewsbeat technology reporter Or to be more specific its new 3DS, the world's first hand-held console in 3D. Company bosses are hoping its unique selling point of not needing special glasses will be enough to win over gamers. With big product launches from other rivals the traditionally busy run up to Christmas could be more competitive than ever. Sony has plans to release its new Playstation Move controller in mid September. While the new motion control system for Microsoft Xbox, Kinect, is expected to hit the shelves later in autumn. It's gamers like Neil from Swansea that Nintendo hopes will get on board, so Newsbeat got him to test it out. Bumpy ride? He said: "We've had a sneak preview of some of the games, demos, films and 3D camera. "Competition-wise with the Kinect and Move I think it's going to stand alongside them this Christmas." He added: "I'm pretty impressed to be honest and reckon I would buy one. "But because of the way this 3DS system works you do need to be looking at it at a bang-on straight angle. "So if you were on a train or maybe a bumpy car journey you might need to turn the 3D off." Turning off the 3D and returning to 2D is just a matter of flicking a small, sliding switch on the right of the console. That's something 21-year-old Melanie reckons users would have to use from time to time. "I think the fact that you do have to hold it really still is a weakness," she said. "And some of the graphics on some of the games weren't as good as the other ones. "Overall though I'm pretty impressed with it. So it would all depend on the price tag as to whether I'd get one or not." 'A revolution' Those price details, as well as a specific release date, haven't been released by Nintendo. It's also keeping very quiet about technical specifications for the device, such as the quality of the console's three cameras. All spokesman Rob Saunders would say is that it'll be in the shops sometime between now and March and that the company has never worked so hard on a new product launch. He added: "We've got over 70 games currently in development for it. Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Mario, they're all coming. "What you're seeing, I think, is games developers really getting to grips with 3D for the first time. "Giving gamers something they really haven't seen before which, without the glasses, truly is a revolution."

जहाँ तक निन्टेंडो का सवाल है, भविष्य 3डी के बारे में है।


Sherburn-in-Elmet tyre blaze firefighters remain

Summary: Firefighters remain on "watching brief" at a blaze that sent up a plume of smoke so thick it could be seen from space.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue warn it could take several days to let the smouldering tyres burn out. The fire at Newgen Recycling Centre in Sherburn-in-Elmet among 15,000 tonnes of tyres started on Thursday. A Nasa satellite image showed a column of dark smoke rising above the skies over Yorkshire. Public Health England has said people should stay away from smoke by closing doors and windows. It added that anyone with existing medical conditions concerned about the effects of the smoke should contact their GP.

दमकलकर्मी एक आग पर "संक्षिप्त निगरानी" कर रहे हैं जिसने धुएँ का एक गुबार भेजा है जिसे अंतरिक्ष से देखा जा सकता है।


Is it game over for Greece?

Summary: All eyes are on Sunday's election results in Greece.

By Laurence KnightBusiness reporter, BBC News It has been cast as a referendum on the country's future membership of the eurozone. But could it be that the result no longer matters? The steady withdrawal of cash by depositors from the Greek banks has reportedly accelerated in recent days. And if this apparent bank run gets out of hand, there is a danger that Greece could find itself forced out the euro, whichever way its citizens vote. Out of cash Nobody knows who will win the elections - there has been an official polling blackout since 2 June - although, whatever the outcome, it will most probably be followed by many days of coalition negotiations. The big question is whether the radical left-wing upstarts of Syriza will pip the established centre-right New Democracy to first place. That would give Syriza a bonus 50 seats, making it by far the biggest party in the 300-seat parliament, though probably without a majority. Syriza has vowed to reject the austerity programme agreed with Greece's rescue lenders in the eurozone and at the IMF. But her eurozone partners have made clear in that case, they would not make any more bailout money available. The government would then literally run out of cash within a couple of months. And if the government does not have enough money to repay its debts, then the Greek banks - who are among the governments' biggest lenders - would be bust. In which case, the European Central Bank would have no choice but to cut off its lending to the banks. And that would mean the banks also run out of euros, in effect forcing Greece out of the eurozone. Bluff? This narrative makes it sound as though it is up to Greek voters to decide whether they stay in the euro. Germany and Greece's other lenders are saying: "Vote Syriza and you are out." But Syriza says that the Germans are bluffing. In their view, the rest of the eurozone has way too much to lose from forcing Greece out. Syriza says it would cause a financial panic that would soon engulf Spain and Italy, posing an existential threat to the single currency. Last weekend's bailout of Spain - which came with virtually no official strings attached - has seemingly strengthened Syriza's argument that it can repudiate the far more stringent conditions that came with Greece's own bailout. Greece's lenders have countered with tough rhetoric designed to influence the election outcome, as well as with what may turn out to be a very badly thought out "leak". On Tuesday, anonymous EU officials told Reuters news agency that they had discussed imposing capital controls on Greece if it leaves the euro. "Capital controls" mean limits on how much money Greeks can withdraw from ATMs, or transfer - physically or electronically - across Greece's borders. In other words, the savings of Greek families and businesses would be frozen, so that they could be forcibly converted into new drachmas, which would presumably then lose half or more of their value against the euro. Snowball Unsurprisingly, Greeks have responded to this news by taking their money out of the country's banks. Withdrawals have reportedly amounted to up to 800m euros a day in recent days . That figure may sound high, but it is actually small fry compared with the 170bn euros in Greek deposits still at the country's banks. But Greeks have had a long time to plan for this event. And there is a real risk - as with any such phenomenon - that the bank run could snowball. Once Greeks see people around them pulling their money out, they are likely to follow suit. Nobody wants to be the straggler left in the bank when the capital controls get imposed. Automated bailout If Greece does face a bank run, it will be historically quite rare. When a Greek removes 1,000 euros from his or her account, the bank borrows the money from the Greek central bank. What is unique is that the Greek central bank then automatically borrows that same 1,000 euros from the European Central Bank via the Target2 payments system used to settle cross-border transactions in the eurozone. In other words, the run on the Greek banks is being financed by the rest of the eurozone. Every 1,000 euros withdrawn from the Greek banks increases the ECB's exposure to an eventual euro exit by Greece by precisely 1,000 euros. To repeat, this happens automatically, as part of the ECB's payments system. It has nothing to do with the country's much-reported rescue loans. The Greek central bank has already borrowed more than 100bn euros this way. Collusion? If the bank run does pick up, the Greek authorities could stop it by themselves imposing capital controls. But would they actually do this? In 2001, when Argentina restricted dollar withdrawals from its banks, it led to chaos on the streets and a catastrophic breakdown in the political system. Would Greece's caretaker government or its central bank feel it had the authority to put their country through a similar ordeal? The Argentines imposed controls because they were running out of dollars. But the Greeks have a potentially unlimited supply of euros, courtesy of the ECB. Indeed, the Greek government, banks and central bank could collude to make as much money available as necessary to keep feeding the bank run. Keeping the banks' doors open could be deemed a sensible move to stop the panic. And if Greece did end up leaving the euro - well, in that case, the families and businesses who pulled their money out of the banks would have locked in the euro-value of their savings, while the ECB would be left to pick up the bill. Double or quits And what about the ECB? It, too, could stop the bank run, by ordering the Greek central bank to stop lending to its banks, or - failing that - by blocking transfers of money from Greece to the rest of the eurozone. That would force the Greek banks to close their doors and would amount to pushing Greece out of the euro. Would the ECB do this? It would be a highly political decision to cut Greece loose before the country had clearly formed a rejectionist government. And the ECB does not do politics. Moreover, pulling the plug on Greece would set a terrible precedent. Spain and Italy are already reporting a slow but steady withdrawal of deposits from their own banks. If the ECB made clear that money was not safe in Greece's banks, the exodus from these other two much bigger troubled countries' banks may well speed up. But a decision not to pull the plug would also be dangerous. The ECB would face a game of double or quits. Every day that it allowed the bank run to continue, the ECB's exposure to losses from an eventual Greek exit would increase. It's hard to say which way the ECB would jump. The question is, how many Greeks will wait to find out?

ग्रीस में रविवार को होने वाले चुनाव के परिणामों पर सभी की नज़रें टिकी हुई हैं।


GE2017: Why so little changed so much

Summary: It's certainly been an epic drama.

Patrick BurnsPolitical editor, Midlands And yet the net effect here in the Midlands, with its famous clusters of 'marginal' seats is that the Conservatives have one more seat than they did before and Labour have one fewer. Our famous 'swing seats' simply didn't swing. But it is by changing so little that our part of the country has changed so much, helping to put paid to all that talk of a Conservative majority. Yes, the Conservatives won seats from Labour in the biggest Leave-supporting areas, Walsall North and Stoke South. But their efforts to shift the front line of the electoral battle into the biggest cities backfired spectacularly. Labour strengthened in Coventry, Wolverhampton and Birmingham. I was at the count in Birmingham Edgbaston where the Conservatives needed a three-and-a half percent swing, a basic prerequisite for that 'stronger hand' Theresa May once talked about. But there, as elsewhere, it was Labour who did best out of the ex-UKIP vote and the shrinkage of the Liberal Democrats. Now UKIP face an existential crisis here. While the Liberal Democrats may have come within 2,500 of the Conservatives in Cheltenham, in their two other former seats, Birmingham Yardley and Solihull, they trailed badly into third place: perhaps they may now have to think of going back to their old style of 'pavement politics.'

यह निश्चित रूप से एक महाकाव्य नाटक रहा है।


Niger's complicated hunger crisis

Summary: In a small, neat hospital ward in the dusty town of Ouallam, 10 young children are lying on beds displaying the familiar signs of severe malnutrition - laboured breathing, papery skin stretched tight over ribs and back bones. Their anxious mothers hover over them.

Andrew HardingAfrica correspondent@BBCAndrewHon Twitter Three-year-old Dauda Mahmoud has a tube attached to his nose, a hacking cough that shakes his fragile body, and a cocktail of ailments that include suspected tuberculosis. Two years ago, his brother died "from a fever, overnight," says his 22-year-old mother, Halima. The annual hunger season is beginning once again in the vast, arid strip of land just below the Sahara desert, and the medics at Ouallam - a small town an hour's drive north of Niger's capital Niamey - have seen a sudden leap in admissions in the past week and are bracing themselves for an exceptionally tough few months before October's harvest. "It will be bad - of course we are worried," says the senior nurse, Mustapha Aishatu. Already, international aid agencies are beginning to sound the alarm, publicising worst-case scenarios in an understandable bid to attract donations while there is still a chance to buy and stockpile food and supplies before the crisis reaches its expected peak somewhere between June and September. The United Nations' World Food Programme expects that almost 400,000 children in Niger could find themselves so malnourished that they end up like those in Ouallam's hospital. Nearly one in 10 are likely to die as a result. There is something shockingly and compellingly simple about the idea of a child dying of hunger. But here in Niger, the causes are often complex - and so are the solutions. Those involved in fighting hunger here rattle off the contributing factors like ingredients in a grim recipe: And lurking behind all these factors is the biggest, most important one of all - the single, exponential ingredient that is usually responsible for turning a wretched situation into a famine or similar catastrophe: bad leadership. It was the behaviour of Somalia's militant group, al-Shabab, that transformed last year's drought into a famine in the Horn of Africa, and it was Niger's repressive government that failed to acknowledge the scale of hunger in the country in 2005 before it was too late. Today, the Sahel region remains crippled by weak governments, coups and other forms of political instability. But Niger has suddenly emerged, after a coup in 2010, as a welcome and unexpected exception in a rough neighbourhood. The new, democratic government was quick to detect the first signs that this year's food crisis would be particularly severe. There is now "great co-operation", according to insiders, between Niger's authorities and a range of international donors, UN agencies and charities. For the first time, a co-ordinated, flexible response plan has been drawn up in response to the looming emergency. "It's a welcome change," says WFP country director Denise Brown. "It has created a dynamic that could eventually lead to long-term change in the country. It's not just about today's crisis. It's about where it will take us to down the road." That does not mean that children won't starve here this year. It does not mean that foreign donors will step in early enough to fill an 80% shortfall in the WFP's planned budget for the months ahead, and ensure that food supplies are in place in time. But it is an encouraging start, in a wretchedly, chronically poor country.

धूल भरे शहर ओउल्लम के एक छोटे से, साफ-सुथरे अस्पताल के वार्ड में, 10 छोटे बच्चे बिस्तर पर लेटे हुए हैं जो गंभीर कुपोषण के परिचित संकेतों को प्रदर्शित कर रहे हैं-सांस लेने में कठिनाई, पसलियों और पीठ की हड्डियों पर कसकर फैली हुई त्वचा। उनकी चिंतित माताएँ उन पर मंडराती हैं।


Whaley Bridge dam crisis: What's changed one year on?

Summary: It was a shock for 1,500 people in Whaley Bridge last summer when they were abruptly ordered to leave their homes over fears a badly damaged dam could collapse and cause a devastating flood.

By Gavin BevisBBC News, Derby It would be nearly a week before they were allowed back to the Derbyshire town and there were jubilant scenes as they returned. Now 12 months have passed - and amid another major crisis with the coronavirus pandemic - how are residents feeling? What happened? On the afternoon of Thursday 1 August 2019, about 1,500 people were instructed to leave their homes in Whaley Bridge immediately and find alternative accommodation. Heavy rain had caused a large section of the dam's spillway at Toddbrook Reservoir to fall away and there were fears the whole structure could collapse, leading to a huge flood with the potential to wipe out much of the town. Many expected the evacuation to last a few hours or just one night - but in fact it was not until the following Wednesday they were given the green light to return. During that time, emergency crews worked relentlessly to pump huge amounts of water from the reservoir to bring levels down while an RAF Chinook helicopter dropped sandbags and aggregate into the compromised spillway to reinforce it. Is the dam fixed now? Temporary repairs to the dam have almost been completed. The Canal and River Trust, which owns the dam, said it was now "secure against any extreme weather event". Footpaths around the reservoir are due to reopen this month and a permanent repair project has been slated to start next spring, with a scheduled 2023 completion date. In March, an independent review carried out on behalf the government found the emergency was caused by poor design and a lack of maintenance. Any excess rainwater falling in the reservoir has continued to be removed by pumps and it will remain drained until all repair work has concluded. How do locals feel when they look back? There were joyous scenes as residents returned - but did the good feeling continue? "The first few days of being home were a mixture of emotions," said Whaley Bridge resident Kelly Baker. "On the one hand there was total relief we had a home to come back to and pure joy at seeing friends and neighbours. "But on the other hand there was a lot of anxiety about the river bursting its banks again. "Even now, 12 months later, I still get a little anxious when we have heavy rain." Gill Barras, who also lives in the town, does not feel as nervous. "It will be the safest dam in Britain," she said. "The village could have gone - the whole world knew about it. So obviously they're going to make it really strong. "I have no doubts whatsoever. It's all the other dams they need to worry about." Some residents even look back on the evacuation with some fondness. Ian Kidd said: "I think everyone contributed in one way or another - whether it was the two ladies making tea and coffee [for evacuated residents] or the people who came in and started doing hot meals. "So although we had this impending disaster, it was a really nice time to be a member of this community." Have local businesses recovered? The crisis came as a shock to the system to Fred Salmon, who runs Whaley Bridge cycling shop The Bike Factory. "It almost wiped us out completely," he said. "It showed how vulnerable we were at the time. We'd got a great little business going with repairs and a workshop but the online store was only a small part of it. "We changed everything and fully committed to developing our online store and we seem to be motoring ahead now." Did house prices go down? You might have thought the frightening situation would put prospective buyers off moving to the area but estate agent Lorraine Batty said it actually gave the town a boost. "It put us on the world map. Everybody knew about Whaley Bridge," she said. "After about a month when things had settled down a little bit with the dam, we did more sales in the latter part of the year than we've ever done previously. "And property prices were increasing slightly as well - probably between five and 10%. "I'd been extremely concerned how people would perceive the market very close to the dam but we saw the absolute opposite and yes, it surprised me. "I just think it's a beautiful place in the world to be." Do the emergency services feel proud? The emergency response involved police, councils, the military and about 1,000 firefighters who helped to pump millions of gallons of water from the reservoir. Gavin Tomlinson, Derbyshire's chief fire officer, said: "You can look back now with a sense of pride having achieved what we set out to achieve but at the time it was touch-and-go whether the dam would collapse or not. "All the time we had to have another plan. We had to have other crews that nobody actually ever saw that were stood by at two other locations below the dam in case it did burst. "I'm very proud of everyone involved." How does the evacuation compare to the pandemic? Resident Kelly Baker did not believe there was any comparison between the dam evacuation and the ongoing coronavirus situation. "Last year we didn't know if we would have a home to come back to," she said. "This year home is where we have kept our children safe. "Yes, it's been disruptive in the sense that both girls had their birthday parties cancelled, my oldest daughter didn't get to finish her first year of high school and my youngest daughter hasn't been able to go and see her school or meet her teachers before she starts reception in September. "But there's nothing we can do about it - and the plus side of the Covid crisis is the time we as a family have spent together and the memories made along the way." Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.

पिछली गर्मियों में व्हेली ब्रिज में 1,500 लोगों के लिए यह एक झटका था जब उन्हें बुरी तरह से क्षतिग्रस्त बांध के ढहने और विनाशकारी बाढ़ का कारण बनने के डर से अचानक अपने घरों को छोड़ने का आदेश दिया गया था।


Cannabis waste in woodland costs Woodland Trust thousands to clear

Summary: Cannabis paraphernalia dumped in woodland is costing a charity thousands of pounds a year to clean up.

The Woodland Trust recently organised clearances in Smithills Estate, Bolton and Sandybrook Wood, Preston. Police in Greater Manchester and Lancashire have been alerted to both incidents. Cannabis plants, heat lamps, electric fans and dehumidifiers from disused drug farms were discarded, causing a huge eyesore, the trust says. Site manager Colin Riley believes money spent on disposing waste could have been better put towards protecting ancient woodland.

जंगल में फेंके गए कैनबिस के सामान को साफ करने के लिए एक चैरिटी को साल में हजारों पाउंड खर्च करने पड़ रहे हैं।


Reality Check: What are 'ordinary working families'?

Summary: Education Secretary Justine Greening on Thursday kicked off a consultation on plans for grammar schools in England, saying that they must do more to help "ordinary working families" as the government pushes ahead with plans to allow more selective schools to open.

Reality Check says: The government defines "ordinary working families" as those that are not eligible for pupil premium but have below average incomes. It believes that accounts for about one third of all pupils in England, but this calculation is a work in progress. There is no official definition of an "ordinary working family" but Ms Greening said on the Today Programme: "They don't perhaps qualify for free school meals - for pupil premium - but actually they are growing up in families that are below median incomes." The household earning the median income is the one for which half of families have a higher income and half have lower. The Pupil Premium is a pot of money set aside for children who are in care, eligible for free school meals or have had free school meals at any point in the last six years. Pupils are eligible for free school meals if their family is on one of a range of benefits or has a household income of less than £16,190. So, if earning above £16,190 puts you at the bottom end of the "ordinary working families" definition, how is the government defining the top end of the range? The paper published on Wednesday included the first attempt by government statisticians to come up with figures that set out how many children from different income brackets go to grammar schools. In the past, the only figures to help with this have been those covering how many children eligible for pupil premium go to particular schools, so expanding these statistics is an ambitious project. What the statisticians have done is to attempt to match individual pupils in schools with their families' income through looking at tax payments and tax credits details. These figures have then been adjusted to take into account things like household size, because if there are two families with identical household incomes, one of which has one child and the other has four children, their standards of living will not be the same. Taking all these adjustments into account, the median household income comes out as £20,000. However, some families earning more than £20,000 in total will still fall within the definition of an ordinary working family. For example, a single parent's income would be adjusted upwards, so it could be compared directly with the standard of living for a couple. For a two-parent family with two children, the government considers median income to be £33,000. The government says 35% of all pupils in England, which is 2.5 million children fall into its definition of coming from ordinary working families, because they fall below the median income but are not eligible for pupil premium. The government is consulting on how to improve the methodology because, for example, the income figures do not currently include households' earnings from self-employment. They also plan to adjust for housing costs in different parts of England. The consultation closes on 30 June. This new analysis has been welcomed as providing more detail, although there have been warnings from some education groups that the new work on ordinary working families will reduce the focus on the disadvantaged families who are eligible for pupil premium. Read more from Reality Check

शिक्षा सचिव जस्टिन ग्रीनिंग ने गुरुवार को इंग्लैंड में व्याकरण स्कूलों की योजनाओं पर एक परामर्श की शुरुआत करते हुए कहा कि उन्हें "सामान्य कामकाजी परिवारों" की मदद के लिए और अधिक करना चाहिए क्योंकि सरकार अधिक चयनात्मक स्कूलों को खोलने की अनुमति देने की योजना के साथ आगे बढ़ रही है।


Total Elgin gas leak: Permits granted for 'dynamic mud kill'

Summary: Environmental permits for a "dynamic kill" operation to try to stop the gas leak on Total's Elgin platform have been granted by the UK government.

Experts believe pumping heavy drilling mud into the North Sea well from where the gas is escaping is the fastest way to halt the release. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has carried out a full environmental assessment of the plan. The platform was evacuated when the gas began leaking on 25 March. The Health and Safety Executive has also given the dynamic kill operation the go ahead. A spokesman for DECC said the operation was a major step forward for Total and the quickest way to stop the leak. Work is also under way in parallel to drill a relief well as an alternative solution.

टोटल के एल्गिन प्लेटफॉर्म पर गैस रिसाव को रोकने की कोशिश करने के लिए "डायनेमिक किल" ऑपरेशन के लिए पर्यावरण अनुमति ब्रिटेन सरकार द्वारा दी गई है।


Antietam: Re-enacting a bloody 1862 US Civil War battle

Summary: The Civil War Battle of Antietam was one of the bloodiest days in American history, with 23,000 dead, wounded or missing in a matter of hours. One hundred fifty years later, a group gathered to remember the battle - by re-enacting it.

By Daniel NasawBBC News Magazine, Maryland The US Army artillery battery fires round after round dozens of feet from me, and within minutes my ears are ringing and the shock waves have made my heart flutter. Across the battlefield squads of men in blue uniform line up just yards from others wearing grey. The sides exchange volleys of rifle and musket fire. The air grows thick with smoke. Men fall to the ground. The spectacle is dreadful, and anxiety washes over me. But the men are not really dead, of course. They're re-enacting a battle of the American Civil War, for their own amusement, while hundreds of spectators look on. The Battle of Antietam took place 150 years ago last week near a small town in the state of Maryland, 55 miles (89km) from Washington DC. It was one of the bloodiest days in American history, the standard against which September 11 was measured. Twenty-three thousand Americans were killed, wounded or missing in the day-long battle. In proportion to today's population, that number would be 230,000. The Battle of Antietam was a turning point in the Civil War between the Northern Union forces and the Southern Confederates, who had rebelled against the United States to preserve their right to hold African-American slaves in bondage. Days after the battle, the Union victory emboldened President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves held in the rebel states. Last week, I drove to a field about two miles from the original Antietam battle ground to watch more than 4,000 hobbyists dressed in period kit march and fire blanks at one another with period weapons. Civil war re-enactment is a huge American subculture, supporting a cottage industry of companies selling "authentic" uniforms, underpants, weapons and other kit. It's an intense hobby - a lifestyle even, I'm told. But 150 years ago one side took up arms defending slavery, the other to preserve the union. I'm keen to ask re-enactors on both sides what they make of that history. After an hour the guns fall silent and a bugler plays taps, the traditional tune sounded at dusk and at military funerals. I approach the Rebel general, a steely eyed man clad in grey woollens accented with bright brass buttons, a forage cap cocked on his head. Brian Gesuero is a firefighter by profession, from the state of Maryland. But that was a Union state during the war, I say. Two of his ancestors fought for the Rebels at the real Battle of Antietam, he answers. How do he and other re-enactors on the rebel side grapple with slavery's inescapable role in the Civil War? I ask. He bristles. "Slavery has nothing to do with it," he answers. "These boys in grey were out there protecting their homes, their hearths and their sweethearts." A nearby spectator overhears my question and calls out: "States' rights!" It's a familiar slogan. A popular theory goes like this: "The Southern states left the Union in a dispute about the balance of power between them and Washington. The war couldn't really have been to defend slavery, as most southerners were too poor to own slaves." Even today, conservatives invoke "state's rights" when Washington tells them to do something they don't want to. Only now, the argument is not about whether states should ban or allow slavery, but about whether they should do as Washington says and, say, reform healthcare systems. "The fundamental argument Americans are having now about the rights and purposes of government goes right back to the Civil War," says David Blight, a prominent Civil War historian at Yale University. Back on the battlefield in Maryland, I leave the Rebel "general" and wander off toward the re-enactors' campground. A group of men in Union Blue sit under a large canvas tent drinking from tin cups - and the occasional non-period beer can. They portray the Seventh Maryland Volunteer Infantry, they say. In real life, a couple of the men are engineers, others work in IT or are students. There's a college professor and a man who repairs scales. Some of their wives have joined them at the camp - they're dressed in period costume, too. To hear them explain it, Civil War re-enactment offers all the fun of Army life without the hardship. It's comradeship, smart uniforms, shiny kit, tent-camping under the stars - no tyrannical officers or forced marches, no disease or death. "If it's all a game," I ask, "how do you decide who pretends to die?" The men laugh. I'm told that's the classic question from the uninitiated. If the other side fire a particularly good volley, the men answer, someone's got to drop. If you're tired from all the marching, die, take a rest, and watch the battle from the ground. I myself am a northerner by birth and temperament, and, perhaps feeling a bit smug surrounded by fellow Yankees, I ask the men whether they feel morally superior to the guys who wear grey and pretend to fight for the Slave Power. But they're too gentlemanly to taunt the losing side. After all, some of them had ancestors who fought for the rebels. So did I, in fact. "We're all Americans," says Steve Giovannini, an engineer. "We try to honour the memory of the men who fought for their values, whether we agree with them or not. "Their struggle made our country." How to listen to From Our Own Correspondent: BBC Radio 4: A 30-minute programme on Saturdays, 11:30 BST. Second 30-minute programme on Thursdays, 11:00 BST (some weeks only). Listen online or download the podcast BBC World Service: Hear daily 10-minute editions Monday to Friday, repeated through the day, also available to listen online. Read more or explore the archive at the programme website.

एंटीटैम की गृहयुद्ध की लड़ाई अमेरिकी इतिहास के सबसे खूनी दिनों में से एक थी, जिसमें कुछ ही घंटों में 23,000 लोग मारे गए, घायल हुए या लापता हो गए। एक सौ पचास साल बाद, एक समूह युद्ध को याद करने के लिए इकट्ठा हुआ-इसे फिर से लागू करके।


Indiana Jones: How to enjoy the film as an adult

Summary: On 8 October Paramount Pictures releases the Indiana Jones films in the UK on Blu-ray, more than three decades after the premier of Raiders of the Lost Ark. So is it still possible to enjoy those absurd action sequences without adult reason spoiling the fun?

By Daniel NasawBBC News Magazine, Washington In the third scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, two men from "Army intelligence" despatch Indiana Jones on a quest to find the lost Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis do. The mission is critical to US national security and is funded by the government. So why does Indy travel alone with no security team, wield no weapons heavier than a bull whip and a revolver, and have no intelligence or logistical support? Action and adventure films require what theorists call the suspension of disbelief. To enjoy the film, the audience must let go that sense of "nah, that could never happen". But upon repeated viewings, the audience already knows the plot and the scenes and is free to reflect on just how ridiculous the action is, says Brad Chisholm, a professor of film studies at St Cloud State University in Minnesota. Raiders, the first film in the Indiana Jones cycle, was released in 1981. It has been a television staple in the US and Britain since. We watched Raiders recently and had a blast. But here are five scenes where the gleeful child inside us was shouted down by the rational adult. Spoiler alert! Temple of broom Scenario: Raiders opens as Indy enters a temple deep in a South American jungle. He's after a golden idol still worshipped by the Jovitos Indians. Implausible moment: The pre-Columbian civilisation that built and outfitted the temple were master engineers. They built spiked booby traps triggered by optical sensor, like a supermarket door ("stay out of the light"). They engineered devices that shoot poison darts when an intruder steps on the wrong paving stone. And their system destroys the entire temple when the idol is disturbed. The temple and its mechanisms obviously undergo regular maintenance: Its floor has been recently swept, and those booby traps need frequently to be oiled, cleaned and tested, moving parts replaced. Yet the administrators in charge of keeping up the temple fail to post a guard at the front. If they are such brilliant builders, why didn't they make a better door? Possible solution: By 1936, when the action takes place, the Jovitos had begun moving out of the jungle into urban settlements and lacked the man-power to post a full-time guard. Indy's expedition coincided with a staff furlough. Snakes in a tomb Scenario: Indy and his sidekick Sallah drop into the Well of Souls to retrieve the Ark. But first, they must deal with hundreds of snakes crawling around on the floor. Implausible moment: The Well of Souls is a ruined temple long-buried in the middle of the Egyptian desert. How did all those snakes get in there? Where did they come from? What do they eat and drink? Possible solution: ? Superhuman strength Scenario: The Nazis seal Indy and Marion in Well of Souls to die. Implausible moment: Indy finds an exterior wall. He pushes a loose block from the wall and they escape. The block appears to be about 3ft by 3ft by 4ft, or 36 cu-ft (1 cu-m). A limestone block that size weighs more than 6,000lb (2,721kg). Possible solution: ?? Submarine stowaway Scenario: Indy and Marion smuggle the Ark out of Egypt on a tramp steamer. A German submarine intercepts the ship. The Nazis capture the Ark and kidnap Marion while Indy hides below decks. Implausible moment: Indiana Jones swims over open water to the U-boat and stows aboard it just as it is about to dive. How does he break into the sub? Where does he hide from the crew? Anyone who has ever seen Das Boot knows how claustrophobic those craft were. Why, for that matter, didn't the US government exfiltrate them on a military plane or naval vessel? Possible solution: Indy's hair and clothing are wet in the next scene. By 1936 the Mediterranean had not yet become a theatre of naval combat, so the U-boat only underwent a shallow dive as an exercise. Indy clung to the gunwale until it resurfaced, rode in the conning tower and leapt off when the crew disembarked. And Indy was working on Mission: Impossible rules. The US government needed plausible deniability should he be captured. Uniform switcheroo Scenario: On a secret Nazi island base, Indy joins the rear of a detachment of soldiers sent to open the Ark. He is clad in a German uniform pilfered from a soldier he knocked unconscious without raising a commotion. Implausible moment: The detachment includes about two dozen men, yet none notice two of their comrades are missing and have been replaced by a poorly-shaven stranger with no rifle. Didn't the German army have non-commissioned officers to enforce discipline? Possible solution: A closer look reveals Indy is wearing a different uniform from the rest of the troops in the column. Amid the unusual circumstances, the enlisted men assume he's a high-ranking officer sent in for the special operation. Forget disbelief and enjoy the fun Even if you spend the film's 115 minutes picking apart the many incongruities, Raiders remains terrific fun. "There's an understanding from the outset that he's a mythical character," says Michael Lindley, a film student at American University in Washington DC and Indiana Jones fan. "You understand that no normal person could do this - but he's not a normal person."

रेडर्स ऑफ द लॉस्ट आर्क के प्रीमियर के तीन दशक से भी अधिक समय बाद, 8 अक्टूबर को पैरामाउंट पिक्चर्स ने ब्लू-रे पर यू. के. में इंडियाना जोन्स की फिल्मों को रिलीज़ किया। तो क्या अभी भी वयस्क कारण के बिना उन बेतुके एक्शन दृश्यों का आनंद लेना संभव है जो मज़े को खराब कर रहे हैं?


Apprenticeships: 'It's the money that puts people off'

Summary: Apprenticeship starts this summer were down almost two thirds on the same period last year despite a new funding scheme which started in April. Tia Spencer, 20, from Manchester, recently completed a two-year apprenticeship in business administration.

Pay us better "I think it's the money that puts people off. If you are being paid [the minimum] £3.50 an hour, how are you supposed to live? "I was in care and have been living independently since I was 17. "I started a two-year apprenticeship in business administration aged 18 but the money was just awful. I got £5 an hour. "I pay all my bills so it was really hard to survive on such low pay. "I completed the apprenticeship last year and I did think about going on to a level three [advanced] apprenticeship but the pay was rubbish." "I am now working in a bar in central Manchester for £8.50 an hour which is much better." Teach us real skills "In the college part of my apprenticeship I learned quite a bit but I didn't really learn much at work. It was all very basic. "I had to email people and ask for references for jobs, do the filing and the post, answer the phones and do the photocopying. "I didn't need a two-year apprenticeship to do that, although going to work every day was good experience. "There should have been more goals to work towards to motivate people and make them feel more involved and appreciated. "They could have made the apprenticeship shorter and given me more responsibility: 12 months would have been enough and then I could have moved on to a level three apprenticeship. Offer better advice and support "I started a college course in health and social care when I was 18 but dropped out after two weeks because I wanted to earn money. "I started the business administration apprenticeship with a charity because I just knew that I wanted to get a qualification in something at the same time as earning. "The charity offered me a job at the end of it but I said no because I was the only apprentice there and everyone else was so much older than me. Conversations with people twice my age could be awkward and I felt a bit isolated. "Towards the end I was just fed up and I couldn't wait for it to finish. "I am applying for office jobs and temporary contracts. "I get interviews but I just keep being rejected. I am not sure why as I have a diploma and the apprenticeship." Create part-time apprenticeships "If there were part-time apprenticeships you could earn a living through bar work, for example, and build up your qualifications through apprenticeships at the same time. "I hoped my apprenticeship would help me get a good job but that hasn't turned out to be the case." What does the government say? Since April, big UK employers have had to pay a levy to fund up to 3 million new apprenticeships. England's Department for Education points out that employers have 24 months to spend funds from the levy and a spokesman said the government was confident they would hire more apprentices. "It is right that they are taking their time to plan ahead and maximise the opportunities the apprenticeship levy can bring," said the spokesman. Tia is a member of the Young Women's Trust Apprenticeship Advisory Group. Produced by Judith Burns, BBC Family and Education reporter.

अप्रैल में शुरू हुई एक नई वित्त पोषण योजना के बावजूद इस गर्मी में प्रशिक्षुता की शुरुआत पिछले साल की इसी अवधि की तुलना में लगभग दो तिहाई कम थी। मैनचेस्टर की 20 वर्षीय टिया स्पेंसर ने हाल ही में व्यवसाय प्रशासन में दो साल की प्रशिक्षुता पूरी की।