The cult of the French pastry chef

Summary: No French high street would be complete without a patisserie, and words such as "gateau", "eclair" and "flan" indicate that French pastry chefs are esteemed as much abroad as at home. But in the last couple of years, patissiers have shot to stardom, joining the top ranks of France's celebrity chefs.

By Olivia Sorrel-DejerineBBC News Magazine French patisserie used to be delicious but predictable - the chocolate eclair, the vanilla or raspberry flavoured macaroon, the classic French apple tart or the mille-feuille (a sophisticated vanilla slice). Something has changed. Ever heard of the caramel popcorn, pistachio-orange or pecan eclair by Christophe Adam? Or the olive-oil macaroon with mandarin orange and cucumber water by Pierre Herme? These are a couple of the audacious creations a new generation of French pastry chefs have launched on a startled but delighted French public. France has always loved patisserie, but for some reason it now loves its patissiers more than ever. Their books are filling the shelves of book shops, and their stores are multiplying - five new "patisseries de luxe" opened in the month of September, in Paris alone. And while The Great British Bake Off has gone from strength to strength, France has developed its own competitive baking shows, such as this year's Who Will be the Next Great Patissier? For the last episode contestants had to make a piece of fashion out of chocolate. Another show, The Gateau of My Dreams, where a chef goes to someone's house to help them bake a challenging cake or dessert, began in February 2012 - starting with mille-feuille with caramelised maple syrup, and Black Forest gateau with acidulated morello cherry - and published a spin-off book in its first year. One explanation for the sudden rise of the pastry chef is as a consequence of the recession. In these times of crisis, patisserie has become a relatively affordable luxury - compared say with going to the restaurant - says Sebastien Gaudard, one of today's up-and-coming pastry chefs. He has noticed a change in his customers' habits. Instead of buying a big cake for a Sunday lunch or a dinner party, couples are now more likely to visit during the week to buy one or two patisseries for themselves alone. Patisserie, he says, is a form of comfort food. "What drives the world of sweets, I think, is that eating sweets brings us back to a time in our lives when we had no worries, the carefree time of childhood." But the growing enthusiasm for patisserie is also due to the fact that a new generation of pastry chefs have re-invented their craft, according to Zakari Benkhadra, managing director of the Ecole Nationale Superieure de la Patisserie (ENSP), in the countryside south of Lyon. Chefs have started to make elaborate and visually interesting creations using techniques such as mixing sweetness and saltiness (salty macaroons), creating original shapes (an audio cassette shaped pistachio-chocolate bar) or making surprising high-quality desserts using mainstream products such as Haribo sweets and Nutella. A parallel piece of culinary invention, which made headlines earlier this year, was the cronut - a cross between a croissant and a donut - created by French chef Dominique Ansel in New York. The patisserie craze has had a direct impact on the ENSP's enrolment numbers. Struggling to fill some classes in 2008, it now turns away some applicants for lack of space. But not all the top patissiers are modernising traditional recipes and improvising with new tastes. Sebastien Gaudard represents another trend, which is to return to authentic and relatively simple creations. "My wish is to render the past marvellously present," says Gaudard, 43. Gaudard, the son of a famous pastry chef in Lorraine, eastern France, is one of a number of contemporary pastry chefs who served an apprenticeship at the Paris institution, Fauchon, which is famed above all for its patisserie. Since November 2011 he has run a shop in the ninth arrondissement of Paris, selling delicacies from the past that are no longer always available in every patisserie. These include the Puits d'amour, a dessert created by the 18th Century chef Vincent La Chapelle, its hollow centre stuffed with vanilla cream, and the classic Paris-Brest, made of choux pastry and a praline-flavoured cream, inspired by the Paris-Brest-Paris cycle race - its circular shape representing a bicycle wheel. A speciality is the Mussipontain a cake made of meringue, vanilla cream and caramelised almonds whose name derives from the inhabitants of the city of Pont-à-Mousson, Gaudard's home town. This is his father's own creation. But whether people prefer startling creativity or traditional pastries, all pastry chefs are out to please their customers - and the customers evidently enjoy being pleased. "We sell pleasure," says Gaudard. "People come to us for pleasure." Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook

कोई भी फ्रेंच हाई स्ट्रीट पेटिसरी के बिना पूरी नहीं होगी, और "गेटौ", "इक्लेयर" और "फ्लैन" जैसे शब्द इंगित करते हैं कि फ्रांसीसी पेस्ट्री शेफ को विदेशों में उतना ही सम्मान दिया जाता है जितना कि घर में। लेकिन पिछले कुछ वर्षों में, पेटिसियरों ने स्टारडम हासिल किया है, जो फ्रांस के सेलिब्रिटी शेफ के शीर्ष रैंक में शामिल हो गए हैं।


Coronavirus briefing: NHS staff testing 'scandal' and harrowing survival tales

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

By Andy McFarlaneBBC News Testing questions Throughout the succession of government announcements since the coronavirus outbreak arrived in the UK, ministers have heard persistent calls for NHS workers to be tested. Yet the latest figures for England reveal just 2,000 out of about half a million frontline staff have been tested so far. Industry bodies describe hospitals being able to test just a handful of staff a day, prompting press descriptions of a "scandal". Prime Minister Boris Johnson has issued a video message declaring he has been saying "for weeks and weeks" that testing is "how we will unlock the coronavirus puzzle". Dr Yvonne Doyle, of Public Health England, says there is now capacity for 3,000 tests a day on frontline staff, with the aim to increase that "to hundreds of thousands within the coming weeks". Meanwhile, up to 3,000 additional armed forces reservists are being called up to aid the military response to the coronavirus pandemic. Individuals with specialist skills will provide medical and logistical support to the NHS, engineers and accountants, the Ministry of Defence says. And British Airways is expected to suspend some 36,000 staff - about 80% of its workforce - later, after reaching a broad deal with union representatives. No staff are expected to be made redundant. Global cases near one million Remember, you can follow all the global virus developments via our live page, which reports World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying a million people will be infected globally within days. The WHO is considering changing its advice on the use of face masks in light of research suggesting the virus might be projected further by coughs or sneezes than previously thought. The US death toll has exceeded 5,000 while it passed 30,000 in Europe as Spain logged another day of record fatalities, although infection rates there continue to fall. As scientists in Australia begin "milestone" lab trials on two potential coronavirus vaccines, we examine whether China's use of surveillance technology to track the virus might yield lessons for other nations. Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning Tales from the front line We hear harrowing accounts of hospitalisation from those who have survived the virus. Pregnant Karen Mannering, from Kent, tells us she was "fighting for mine and my baby's life", while bed-bound for three days without visitors. "It was a very lonely, dark time... I was scared I was going to die and my family say they had prepared for the worst," she says. We also have interviews with some of thousands of former NHS workers coming out of retirement to help the sick. “It’s very hard to stop being a doctor," says Dr Jane Williams, 64, from Surrey, who hopes to work from home on triage for the 111 telephone service. "The sooner that I can be deployed to help, the better.” And BBC Stories meets the army of volunteers making scrubs for doctors, sending spare masks to hospitals and making hand sanitiser from chemicals. Meanwhile, Reality Check runs the rule over some more of those dubious virus claims doing the rounds on social media. Remember, you can find loads of trustworthy advice and explainers on our dedicated page. How coronavirus will change national security By Gordon Corera, security correspondent, BBC News Under the last review, an international pandemic was classed as a Tier 1 national security risk in the UK, meaning it was judged to be of the highest priority. But that has not been reflected in the resources or the way in which the issue has been tackled when compared with the other three threats at the same level - terrorism, war and cyber-attacks. But just as in the wake of 9/11, there are people who feel they were not listened to when they warned the lights were blinking red about our health security. For spy agencies, adapting may take a significant gear change. A priority for policy-makers will be knowing the ground-truth about the health situation in another country. For agencies like MI6 and the CIA... it may mean ensuring you have agents in the right place who can report back on what is really happening. Read the full article One thing not to miss today My coronavirus career: stage star to shelf-stacker Listen up The Food Chain, on the World Service, examines the impact of stockpiling and lockdown on the global supply chain, while the latest Coronavirus Newscast hears from palliative care expert Kathryn Mannix about how to deal with death. What the papers say Front pages feature fierce criticism of the conditions under which NHS workers are working. The Metro quotes the head of one doctors' group saying those treating patients without masks and tests are "like soldiers being sent to war with no helmets". Reporting that just 2,000 of 1.2 million workers had been tested for the virus, the Daily Mirror describes the situation as a "shambles". The Daily Mail puts the frontline figure at 550,000 but agrees it's a "scandal". The situation has forced Prime Minister Boris Johnson to shift strategy, says the Times, with private laboratories now being drafted in to do the tests. Meanwhile, the Guardian reports British Medical Association proposals it says would give younger, healthier people priority access to ventilators, ahead of older people and those with an underlying illness. From elsewhere Everyone thinks they're right about masks (Atlantic) It is time to make amends to the low-paid essential worker (Financial Times) 'A beautiful thing': the African migrants getting healthy food to Italians (Guardian) Do not write a novel about coronavirus! Eight cultural guidelines to get you through lockdown (Independent) Sign up for a morning briefing direct to your phone Need something different? With the entertainment world doing its best to find unusual ways to keep us occupied - and sane - arts editor Will Gompertz picks the cultural highlights you can enjoy from your armchair. You can find out how Bafta is hosting its annual Games Awards online (this involves Dara O'Brien sitting in his basement wearing a tuxedo, so sounds more entertaining than the average industry bash), or read why Dua Lipa bucked the trend to bring forward the release of her new album, while under lockdown at a London Airbnb.

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


Mexico candidate López Obrador thrives on promise of change

Summary: The mangoes on Gilberto García's farm are ripening beautifully. An early wet season has brought forward the ideal conditions for harvest and teams of stocky young men are plucking the best mangoes from the trees with long wooden poles.

By Will GrantBBC News, Iguala Building up the organic farm has not been easy, says Mr García, biting into one of the juicy green and red-flecked fruits. With only weeks to go before Mexico's presidential election, the farmer is scathing about the administration of the current president, Enrique Peña Nieto. "This government has done nothing for us, it's solely through our own hard work," he says of his thriving farm. "They say there are subsidies available for farmers but it's impossible to access them unless you know the right people. The level of corruption is a mockery," he says. 'Real change' According to Mr García, farm-hands and landowners alike in Guerrero state crave "real change, not a president who talks about changing things but someone who actually does it". That is why, he says, they are going to vote for the left-wing former mayor of Mexico City, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Mr López Obrador, who comes from a tiny village in the state of Tabasco, has a solid base among Mexico's rural poor. He is a refreshing prospect for millions of ordinary voters, who are tired of battling against a stagnant economy only to see others enrich themselves through widespread corruption, Mr García explains. 'Mafia of power' A few hours later, Mr López Obrador, who most Mexicans simply refer to as AMLO, arrives in Iguala. The crowd at the rally has shown admirable patience in the sweltering heat after an accident on the main highway delayed the presidential candidate by almost three hours. "Justice is like this sometimes: it takes its time but it comes eventually," he tells his audience. The "justice" he is referring to is what polls are predicting will be his almost-certain victory on 1 July following two unsuccessful attempts at running for the presidency in 2006 and 2012. After his 2006 defeat, which saw him lose by fewer than 250,000 votes, AMLO and his supporters took over the main thoroughfare in Mexico City in protest, causing the capital to grind to a halt for weeks. On stage in Iguala, Mr López Obrador, who is standing for a new party called Morena, wastes little time in setting out the central plank of his electoral platform. "Have faith, we're going to win and begin the complete renovation, regeneration and transformation that our country needs," he says to ecstatic applause and chants of "Presidente! Presidente!" from the crowd. Mexico's presidential election He says that "the mafia of power", a term he uses frequently to describe the entrenched economic and political elites that have ruled Mexico for decades, will be "purged". It is a well-received line among much of the public as Mexico ranks 135th out of 180 countries according to Transparency International's corruption perceptions index. Soon he is rattling off further promises such as that he will draw a salary less than half that of President Peña Nieto, and that he will not live in the official residence of Los Pinos. He says that the presidential plane will be sold and that senators will see their wages drastically cut. Teachers, doctors, nurses, police officers and soldiers will all earn more as a result, he insists. 'In touch' "López Obrador has an extraordinary ability to connect with Mexican emotions," says political analyst Jesús Silva-Herzog. Following a presidency in which great economic growth was promised but never materialised, "that emotion is basically rage against the political system and their management of the economy". That connection can be felt at the rally in Iguala, where each of Mr López Obrador's proposals is greeted with more whooping and cheering. Mr López Obrador is painted as a populist and a maverick by his opponents but at this rally people seem convinced he is serious about tackling the systemic corruption and impunity in Mexico. Iguala is the birthplace of the Mexican flag, but these days it is notorious for a much darker reason. In late 2014, 43 trainee teachers were abducted from the town by local police. Mid-way through AMLO's speech, their families invade the stage holding photos of their loved ones. To this day, only the remains of one of them have been found and identified. The others remain missing. "We don't know if he'll be different until he actually wins", says Mario César González, the father of one of the 43, after AMLO's rally. "What we do know is that he has committed to reopening the investigation into case of the 43." Spike in violence This election is taking place in Mexico's most violent year in decades. It is one of the key reasons, alongside the ingrained corruption, the electorate is hungry for change. The long tentacles of organised crime in Mexico can even be felt amid the gentle breeze of Mr García's mango fields. Mr García's father was kidnapped by a criminal gang in 2008. After negotiating with the gang, the family managed to secure his release but he died the following year. "I think the shock was too much for him," explains his son quietly. "People are tired. We hit rock-bottom under this government but we're not going to tolerate it any longer," he says.

गिल्बर्टो गार्सिया के खेत में आम खूबसूरती से पक रहे हैं। जल्दी गीला मौसम फसल की कटाई के लिए आदर्श परिस्थितियों को सामने लाया है और मजबूत युवाओं की टीम लकड़ी के लंबे खंभों से पेड़ों से सबसे अच्छे आम तोड़ रही है।


Carl Davies death: Family 'living in nightmare'

Summary: The family of a teacher found dead on an Indian Ocean island say they are "in a nightmare" after being told the trial of four men accused of murdering him will not be held until next year.

Carl Davies, 33, from Kent, died on Reunion Island in November 2011. The death was initially treated as an accident, but a murder investigation was started 10 days later. His sister Kerrie Stewart said the family had been told the trial should start by the end of next June. "We live in a nightmare that is never ending," Ms Stewart said. "You want to wake up some days and say 'get me off, I've had enough'. "I'd like to wake up one day and feel normal and that's not something that any of us have been able to do." She said the trial would help the family rebuild their lives around her brother's memory. Mr Davies, a former marine, is believed to have arrived on the French-governed island on 7 November 2011. His body was discovered two days later and a murder investigation started on 19 November. Related Internet Links Reunion General Council (French) Kent Police

हिंद महासागर के एक द्वीप पर मृत पाए गए एक शिक्षक के परिवार का कहना है कि उनकी हत्या के आरोपी चार लोगों पर मुकदमा अगले साल तक नहीं चलाया जाएगा।


Murder arrests after man found dead in Wakefield house

Summary: Three men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was found dead at a house in Wakefield.

The body of the 42-year-old man was found at a property on Brighton Street after emergency services were called to attend a fire at 06:00 BST on Friday. A post-mortem examination is due to take place later to establish the cause of his death, police say. The men, aged 21 and 24, all from the Wakefield area, were detained in North Yorkshire and remain in custody.

वेकफील्ड में एक घर में एक व्यक्ति के मृत पाए जाने के बाद हत्या के संदेह में तीन लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


How much of a threat does Russia pose, and to whom?

Summary: Nato defence ministers are reviewing progress in what's known as the alliance's "enhanced forward presence" - its deployment of troops eastwards to reassure worried allies, and deter any Russian move west.

Jonathan MarcusDiplomatic correspondent@Diplo1on Twitter Nato has dispatched four battalion-sized battle groups, one deployed in Poland and one in each of the three Baltic republics: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The US has also begun to bring back heavy armoured units to western Europe. The whole effort is prompted by the shock emanating from Russia's seizure and subsequent annexation of the Crimea, and its continuing support for rebel groups in eastern Ukraine. If Moscow could tear up the rule-book of security in post-Cold War Europe by carving off a slice of Ukraine (as it previously did in Georgia), many feared the Baltic republics - also territory of the former Soviet Union - could be next. Russia says that in response to these Nato moves, it is making new deployments of its own. But the reality is rather more complex. I've been speaking to some of the leading Western experts on the Russian military to get a sense of what is behind Russia's modernisation effort, and to determine what threat it really poses and to whom. "Russia would like us to think that its current militarisation and preparations for conflict are a response to Nato doing the same, but it's simply not true." That's the view of Keir Giles, director of the Conflict Studies Research Centre, and probably Britain's leading watcher of Russian military matters. "Russia's enormously expensive reorganisation and rearmament programme," he told me, "was already in full swing well before the crisis over Ukraine, while Nato nations were still winding down their militaries. "As late as 2013, the US withdrew all its armour from Europe - while Russia was already busy investing billions in upgrading its forces." Analyst Dmitry Gorenburg of Harvard University dates the start of the Russian modernisation programme to 2009. It was a response, he says, to the evident shortcomings in the Russian military campaign against Georgia. He says the main focus was "the improvement of the speed of decision-making and communication of decisions to the troops, and interoperability among military branches, followed by the replacement of Soviet-era equipment that was rapidly reaching the end of its service life". The results have been significant. According to Michael Kofman of the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute, "by 2012 Russia had reorganised its armed forces from a Soviet mass mobilisation army into a permanent standing force, and began improving quality across the board". This was coupled with an intense regimen of snap checks on readiness and countless exercises, to the extent that "by 2014 the Russian military was markedly improved compared to its lacklustre performance in the Russia-Georgia war in 2008," he says. All the experts I spoke to insist that the initial focus of the Russian effort has been on Ukraine, not the Baltics. Indeed, Michael Kofman argues that the war in Ukraine imposed unexpected requirements on Russia's military, which found itself lacking permanently stationed forces on the country's borders, and ill-positioned for the conflict. "Russian armed forces," he says, "were, and still are, in transition." To address the prospect of war with Ukraine in the medium to long term, he says, Russia "has spent much of the past three years repositioning units around Ukraine, building three new divisions, rebasing several brigades, and creating an entire new combined-arms army. The intent is for Russian ground forces to be in place just across the border should they need to reinforce proxies in the Donbas, invade from several vectors, or simply deter Kiev from thinking it could quickly retake the separatist regions by force". Ukraine may be the immediate strategic concern of the Russian general staff. But as Keir Giles notes, "Russia is developing its military infrastructure all the way along its western periphery - not just opposite Ukraine, but also Belarus, the Baltic states and even Finland. They have re-organised in order to be able to deliver combat troops to the western border as rapidly as possible". This includes "setting up new heavy road transport units in order to reduce their traditional reliance on railways to deliver armour to the operational area. That gives them a lot more flexibility to move in areas where road networks are better developed - primarily the west of Russia, including across the border in Russia's western neighbours," he tells me. Given Moscow's focus on Ukraine, have some Nato countries over-reacted to the perceived Russian threat? Not at all, says Keir Giles. On the contrary, he insists, the concern is that Nato has under-reacted. "The direct military challenge from Russia, and confirmation of Russia's willingness to use military force against its neighbours," he argues, "with few exceptions, hasn't translated into European countries taking a serious interest in defending themselves." He adds that the failure of many Nato allies to meet even symbolic commitments, like the pledge to spend 2% of GDP on defence, let alone urgent real measures like regenerating the capacity for high-intensity warfare to match Russia's developing capabilities, "speaks of an unwillingness to recognise politically inconvenient reality". That reality, according to Michael Kofman, is nothing short of a transformation of the Russian military. "Reform, modernisation and the combat experience gleaned from Ukraine and Syria will have lasting effects on the Russian armed forces," he told me. "Russia," he says, "retains the ability to deploy decisive force anywhere on its borders, overpowering any former Soviet republic. In terms of its strategic nuclear arsenal, Russia is not only a peer to the United States, but actually ahead in modernisation and investment in non-strategic nuclear weapons. "Meanwhile Russia's conventional forces are now capable of imposing high costs on even a technologically superior adversary such as Nato in a high-end conflict - i.e. a fight would be quite bloody for both sides." That is hopefully an unthinkable situation. At root, though, Dmitry Gorenburg believes that "Russia's conventional capabilities will be nowhere near as strong as those of the US military or Nato forces as a whole". Above all it is readiness, proximity, and the ability to mass fire-power quickly that gives Russia an immediate local advantage. But Nato needs to get the threat into perspective. As Michael Kofman notes, "Russia is a Eurasian land power, bringing a lot of firepower to the fight, but its strength shines when fighting close to home." Nato's defence and research budget dwarfs Russia's, as does the base capacity of the alliance to generate forces and equip them in a prolonged conflict. "The bottom line," he says, is that "while Nato has genuine worries on what a short-term conflict with Russia might look like, the reality is that this is the world's pre-eminent military alliance, at the core of which is still an incredibly potent military power, and a sustained fight would probably end disastrously for Moscow." The Russian military is simply not structured to hold substantial territory, or to generate the forces needed for a prolonged conflict. Nato needs to be ready, in the view of experts. If deterrence is going to be credible it needs to restore its ability to fight high-intensity combat, a capacity that has atrophied during the counter-insurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. The consensus among the experts seems to be that Ukraine was a warning bell. Russia's newfound assertiveness is not to be confused with a desire to launch a military attack westwards. Indeed, the immediate Russian threat may come from its information warfare and cyber campaigns directed against the West. That's a battle that has already been joined. And it is one the West is equally ill-prepared for.

नाटो के रक्षा मंत्री गठबंधन की "बढ़ी हुई अग्रिम उपस्थिति" के रूप में जानी जाने वाली प्रगति की समीक्षा कर रहे हैं-चिंतित सहयोगियों को आश्वस्त करने के लिए पूर्व की ओर सैनिकों की तैनाती, और किसी भी रूसी कदम को पश्चिम में रोकने के लिए।


A route map to the starting point

Summary: Scotland's approach to easing lockdown is more cautious, and gets many businesses only as far as the point they are allowed to reopen their doors. The travel industry and events sector, entering their vital summer season, are left with most uncertainty, and detail on the lower levels of constraint are yet to be set out.

Douglas FraserBusiness/economy editor, Scotland It's a route map, but it's only big enough to get to the starting point. Many businesses have been asking when they will be allowed to reopen. Now they have some rough indication, pencilled in to the calendar, but far from all of them, and with distancing still required. In contrast with Boris Johnson's approach for England, Nicola Sturgeon's statement at Holyrood was not a route map to a late summer of socialising, concerts, sports and travel. The plan is far more cautious. Nicola Sturgeon's idea of release, maybe by late April, is to get through the doors of a restaurant or bar. Both leaders had said they were putting data ahead of dates, but it was the prime minister's dates that the public notice, remember and plan on. Travel bookings soared on Monday and Tuesday. 'Finger in the wind' Scotland's first minister is warning that dates are not much better than "a finger in the wind", and depend on a lot of data variables to reach each point. Scotland's travel and tourism industry isn't being given much to plan on. So by the final week of April, the mainland and most islands may be allowed to ease off, but only to level three. That should mean pubs and restaurants can reopen, but with tight constraints. When does it mean you can book a holiday in another part of Scotland? We don't know, but we do know the answer will vary around Scotland. Unlike England, it's returning to regions and council areas to determine where rules can be relaxed and where they can't. What about a foreign holiday? There's nothing in the new plan that even indicates an end to hotel isolation for inbound travellers. Can Scotland's events sector get to work with planning festivals? Not for "a considerable period ahead", according to the Scottish government framework, and it promises to work with sector representatives to get to their own route map. It's only after running through the educational, health and social priorities for easing lockdown that the Scottish government's strategy reaches business support. Funding continues, in grant schemes funded through Holyrood and councils. Income support schemes, including furlough, are expected to get another lease of life from Rishi Sunak in his Westminster budget next week. Grants for firms forced to close in Scotland are to be run four weeks past their reopening day, and some may be further tapered after that. Business bosses complain, however, the grants don't go far enough and furlough comes with employer costs. To continue burning through cash will be a severe stretch for many firms, still looking into a cloudy and uncertainty future beyond April.

लॉकडाउन में ढील देने के लिए स्कॉटलैंड का दृष्टिकोण अधिक सतर्क है, और कई व्यवसायों को केवल उस बिंदु तक पहुँचाता है जब उन्हें अपने दरवाजे फिर से खोलने की अनुमति दी जाती है। यात्रा उद्योग और कार्यक्रम क्षेत्र, जो अपने महत्वपूर्ण गर्मी के मौसम में प्रवेश कर रहे हैं, सबसे अधिक अनिश्चितता के साथ रह गए हैं, और बाधाओं के निचले स्तर पर विवरण अभी तक निर्धारित नहीं किया गया है।


Veganuary: Is following a vegan diet for a month worth it?

Summary: The Veganuary campaign, encouraging people to try a vegan diet for the month most commonly associated with resolution and change, is under way, with a record 50,000 people signed up. But can forgoing meat, fish, dairy, eggs and honey for 31 days do any good?

The adverts are on display, supporters on board and partner restaurants are promoting their meat and dairy-free dishes. Campaign organisers say following a vegan diet, even for such a short spell, can bring benefits. It promotes the animal rights argument - that sentient animals should not be eaten or used in food production. And environmental grounds - warning about the pollution caused by raising animals and as a by-product of agriculture. But it also says a balanced vegan diet can provide the nutrition people need in concord with health benefits - catchy at a time of year when people look to make up for festive excesses. What would happen if all the world went vegetarian? BBC Good Food: A balanced diet for vegans Rise of the part-time vegans Veganuary spokeswoman Clea Grady told the BBC she feels "brilliant - better than I ever have" as a result of trying, and staying with, a vegan diet. The charity says the change can lessen obesity, cut blood pressure, and lower the levels of type 2 diabetes. "More than 75 per cent of people who have tried going vegan for a month report an improvement in their health. "They said they slept better and they lost an average of 6lbs as a result of their changed diet," the Veganuary website says. So can it? There is a lot to be said for "strict dietary changes" says Lucy Jones, consultant dietician and spokeswoman for the BDA, the Association of UK Dieticians. "If people follow a restricted diet, they think about what they're eating - you can no longer pop into the office and eat a biscuit or a cake." They tend to "plan their meals in advance, prepare and cook from scratch". "It is certainly possible to have an awful diet. But, as a vegan, you tend to have more plant proteins, beans and pulses and more fruit and vegetables," she says. "We have to be cautious about what you can achieve. But having a month where you are eating more fruit, vegetables and nuts can't be a bad thing." Veganuary can lead to changed eating habits throughout the year. Will all those greens and pulses have an impact on pounds and pressures? "The impact on blood sugars is fairly immediate, cholesterol takes a few weeks and blood pressure takes longer, and comes with the weight loss," says Lucy. But nutrition therapist Vanessa Kahler urges caution. There's a bias in play after years of being told meat, eggs and animal fats are bad for us, she says. Nutrients a-plenty "There is a world of difference between hamburgers and hot dogs, fried eggs and pasteurised milk, versus grass-fed organic meat, pastured poultry, poached organic eggs and raw, or at least organic, dairy," she says, touching on the continuing debate about the benefit of organic foods. "Vegan is a plant-based diet with high vegetables but also large amounts of cereal grains (both refined and unrefined) and legumes, both of which are low in bio-available nutrients and high in anti-nutrients such as phytate. "On the other hand wholefood animal produce such as organic meats, fish and shellfish and eggs are among the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat," she explains. Vegans can run low on minerals and vitamins like B12, iron, zinc, D and calcium - in fact the Veganuary website points towards supplementing B12 to ensure it's covered. And, whereas some studies show vegans and vegetarians living longer, she says, they often include people who pursue other healthy lifestyle traits, like exercise and not drinking alcohol, comparing them with the junk food-lovers. No doughnuts In January, both experts observe that anyone going from Christmas excess to a vegan diet plus exercise will feel different. But Kahler warns they can become nutrient-deficient down the line. "People use the words 'balance' and 'in moderation' as a cover to incorporate whatever they want in their diet. Moderation isn't the key to health," she says. "Setting boundaries is the key along with an understanding that there are certain 'foods' - like fizzy drinks and doughnuts - that we consume which simply should not be labelled with the word 'food'".

शाकाहारी अभियान, जो लोगों को आम तौर पर संकल्प और परिवर्तन से जुड़े महीने के लिए शाकाहारी आहार का प्रयास करने के लिए प्रोत्साहित करता है, चल रहा है, जिसमें रिकॉर्ड 50,000 लोगों ने हस्ताक्षर किए हैं। लेकिन क्या 31 दिनों के लिए मांस, मछली, डेयरी, अंडे और शहद को छोड़ने से कोई फायदा हो सकता है?


Inmate charged over prison death in Buckinghamshire

Summary: A man has been charged with murdering a fellow inmate at a jail in Buckinghamshire.

Robert Coello, 44, from Whitley, Berkshire, was found with head injuries by staff in his cell at Grendon prison on the afternoon of 1 August. He was taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he died. He had been jailed in 2006 for four counts of rape against a child. Lee Foye, 27, is due to appear before Aylesbury magistrates on 18 October.

बकिंघमशायर की एक जेल में एक व्यक्ति पर साथी कैदी की हत्या का आरोप लगाया गया है।


£150k land sale boost to Aberystwyth stadium revamp

Summary: Aberystwyth Town FC's plan to redevelop its stadium will take a step forward if Ceredigion council gives the green light to sell neighbouring land.

The club hopes to build 33 flats next to the Park Avenue ground for social housing. Funding from the Football Association of Wales will also allow the club to install a 3G pitch. It is working with housing association Tai Ceredigion. The council's cabinet is due to authorise the £147,500 sale on Tuesday.

एबेरेस्टविथ टाउन एफ. सी. की अपने स्टेडियम के पुनर्विकास की योजना एक कदम आगे बढ़ेगी यदि सेरेडिगियन परिषद पड़ोसी भूमि को बेचने के लिए हरी झंडी देती है।


New coronavirus variant: What do we know?

Summary: The rapid spread of a new variant of coronavirus has been blamed for the introduction of strict tier four mixing rules for millions of people, harsher restrictions on mixing at Christmas in England, Scotland and Wales, and other countries placing the UK on a travel ban.

By James GallagherHealth and science correspondent So how has it gone from being non-existent to the most common form of the virus in parts of England in a matter of months? The government's advisers on new infections have "moderate" confidence that it is more able to transmit than other variants. All the work is at an early stage, contains huge uncertainties and a long list of unanswered questions. As I've written before, viruses mutate all the time and it's vital to keep a laser focus on whether the virus' behaviour is changing. Why is this variant causing concern? Three things are coming together that mean it is attracting attention: All of these come together to build a case for a virus that can spread more easily. However, we do not have absolute certainty. New strains can become more common simply by being in the right place at the right time - such as London, which had only tier two restrictions until recently. But already the justification for tier four restrictions is in part to reduce the spread of the variant. "Laboratory experiments are required, but do you want to wait weeks or months [to see the results and take action to limit the spread]? Probably not in these circumstances," Prof Nick Loman, from the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium, told me. How much faster is it spreading? It was first detected in September. In November around a quarter of cases in London were the new variant. This reached nearly two-thirds of cases in mid-December. You can see how the variant has come to dominate the results of testing in some centres such as the Milton Keynes Lighthouse Laboratory. Mathematicians have been running the numbers on the spread of different variants in an attempt to calculate how much of an edge this one might have. But teasing apart what is due to people's behaviour and what is due to the virus is hard. The figure mentioned by Prime Minister Boris Johnson was that the variant may be up to 70% more transmissible. He said this may be increasing the R number - which indicates if an epidemic is growing or shrinking - by 0.4. That 70% number appeared in a presentation by Dr Erik Volz, from Imperial College London, on Friday. During the talk he said: "It is really too early to tell… but from what we see so far it is growing very quickly, it is growing faster than [a previous variant] ever grew, but it is important to keep an eye on this." There is no "nailed on" figure for how much more infectious the variant may be. Scientists, whose work is not yet public, have told me figures both much higher and much lower than 70%. But there remain questions about whether it is any more infectious at all. "The amount of evidence in the public domain is woefully inadequate to draw strong or firm opinions on whether the virus has truly increased transmission," said Prof Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the University of Nottingham. How far has it spread? It is thought the variant either emerged in a patient in the UK or has been imported from a country with a lower ability to monitor coronavirus mutations. The variant can be found across the UK, except Northern Ireland, but it is heavily concentrated in London, the South East and eastern England. Cases elsewhere in the country do not seem to have taken off. Data from Nextstrain, which has been monitoring the genetic codes of the viral samples around the world, suggest cases in Denmark and Australia have come from the UK. The Netherlands has also reported cases. A similar variant that has emerged in South Africa shares some of the same mutations, but appears to be unrelated to this one. Has this happened before? Yes. The virus that was first detected in Wuhan, China, is not the same one you will find in most corners of the world. The D614G mutation emerged in Europe in February and became the globally dominant form of the virus. Another, called A222V, spread across Europe and was linked to people's summer holiday's in Spain. What do we know about the new mutations? An initial analysis of the new variant has been published and identifies 17 potentially important alterations. There have been changes to the spike protein - this is the key the virus uses to unlock the doorway to our body's cells. One mutation called N501Y alters the most important part of the spike, known as the "receptor-binding domain". This is where the spike makes first contact with the surface of our body's cells. Any changes that make it easier for the virus to get inside are likely to give it an edge. "It looks and smells like an important adaptation," said Prof Loman. The other mutation - a H69/V70 deletion, in which a small part of the spike is removed - has emerged several times before, including famously in infected mink. Work by Prof Ravi Gupta at the University of Cambridge has suggested this mutation increases infectivity two-fold in lab experiments. Studies by the same group suggest the deletion makes antibodies from the blood of survivors less effective at attacking the virus. Prof Gupta told me: "It is rapidly increasing, that's what's worried government, we are worried, most scientists are worried." Where has it come from? The variant is unusually highly mutated. The most likely explanation is the variant has emerged in a patient with a weakened immune system that was unable to beat the virus. Instead their body became a breeding ground for the virus to mutate. Does it make the infection more deadly? There is no evidence to suggest that it does, although this will need to be monitored. However, just increasing transmission would be enough to cause problems for hospitals. If the new variant means more people are infected more quickly, that would in turn lead to more people needing hospital treatment. Will the vaccines work against the new variant? Almost certainly yes, or at least for now. All three leading vaccines develop an immune response against the existing spike, which is why the question comes up. Vaccines train the immune system to attack several different parts of the virus, so even though part of the spike has mutated, the vaccines should still work. "But if we let it add more mutations, then you start worrying," said Prof Gupta. "This virus is potentially on a pathway for vaccine escape, it has taken the first couple of steps towards that." Vaccine escape happens when the virus changes so it dodges the full effect of the vaccine and continues to infect people. This may be the most concerning element of what is happening with the virus. This variant is just the latest to show the virus is continuing to adapt as it infects more and more of us. A presentation by Prof David Robertson, from the University of Glasgow on Friday, concluded: "The virus will probably be able to generate vaccine escape mutants." That would put us in a position similar to flu, where the vaccines need to be regularly updated. Fortunately the vaccines we have are very easy to tweak. Follow James on Twitter

कोरोनावायरस के एक नए संस्करण के तेजी से प्रसार को लाखों लोगों के लिए सख्त स्तर चार मिश्रण नियमों की शुरुआत, इंग्लैंड, स्कॉटलैंड और वेल्स में क्रिसमस पर मिश्रण पर कठोर प्रतिबंध और अन्य देशों में ब्रिटेन को यात्रा प्रतिबंध पर रखने के लिए दोषी ठहराया गया है।


Diamond Platnumz and Africa's most popular YouTube stars

Summary: A bare-chested Diamond Platnumz was surprised by his record producers last week when they rocked up at his house with a cake iced with YouTube's logo to mark a milestone for the Tanzanian pop star.

By Lucy FlemingBBC News As he was filmed getting dressed, the 30-year-old was proudly told by his team that he was the first sub-Saharan African singer to get one billion views on his YouTube channel. Over the last 10 years, the award-winning musician has popularised "bongo flava" - a uniquely Tanzanian offering: romantic melodies with an urban beat influenced by traditional taarab music from the East African coast. "Diamond Platnumz is very hard working and has great showmanship," says DJ Edu, who hosts the weekly pan-African music show This Is Africa for the BBC World Service. And with more than 43% of Tanzania's 55 million people having access to the internet, mainly via mobile smartphones, there is a huge home-grown Swahili-speaking audience ready to lap up his love songs. Other Tanzanian musicians like Harmonize are also huge on YouTube. So how big is a billion views on YouTube? It is difficult to assess the real significance of the one billion figure, given that Diamond Platnumz has more followers on Instagram than he does subscribers on YouTube - 9.7 million compared to 3.7 million. DJ Edu says Instagram is more of an influencer of lifestyle and new platforms such as TikTok, which allows a 30-second copyright free use of songs, are a great way of getting younger fans. "Some songs are becoming viral through TikTok, like Diamond Platnumz' new one called Quarantine," he says. This can drive people to YouTube, where money can be made through adverts. More importantly for musicians in Africa, over the last decade YouTube has allowed them direct access to an audience, rather than relying on TV stations. How does he compare with other African stars? Diamond Platnumz still languishes behind some North African stars, who have huge followings in the Middle East. And then there are African artists based elsewhere such as Malian-born singer Aya Nakamura, who trumps the be-jewelled Tanzanian musician, with more than 1.7 billion YouTube views. The 25-year-old, who moved to France when she was a young girl, is best known for her 2018 hit Djadja. And Akon, the Senegalese-American rapper, smashes them both with 3.5 billion views. In sub-Saharan Africa, Diamond Platnumz's main competitors in the YouTube numbers game are Nigerian Afrobeats stars: Davido's and Burna Boy's numbers are particularly impressive given they only opened their YouTube channels in 2018. Diamond Platnumz has been on the platform since 2011. And StarboyTV is Wizkid's record label, so if you add the figures to his other channel, he has 802 million views. Some stars opt to have their own channels to promote songs and cut bureaucracy as record labels take time to issue new releases. Other notable mentions are Magic System from Ivory Coast - with more than 477 million views. The group is particularly popular in French-speaking West Africa and France. "This following is literally built on their 2001 song Premier Gaou - it's the one song that really connected the whole continent," says DJ Edu. While lower YouTube figures for South African musicians mask their popularity - they are able to make money through local labels, says DJ Edu. And of course YouTube is not the only streaming service. WizKid worked with Canadian rapper Drake on the 2016 hit One Dance - that alone has been streamed more than 1.8 billion times, but it was not officially released on YouTube. What about globally? Drake has more than seven billion views on YouTube and Beyoncé, who worked with African artists for last year's Lion King album, has more than 12 billion. You may also be interested in: To put that all into perspective, Justin Bieber, the 26-year-old Canadian singer who found fame in his teens, has a whopping 21.6 billion views. K-pop stars can also gain huge YouTube audiences quickly - Blackpink, a girl group formed in 2016, has more than nine billion YouTube views. And Africa's female singers? Surprisingly female Afrobeats stars Yemi Alade and Tiwa Savage have far fewer views than their male counterparts, with 434 million and 239 million YouTube views respectively. This may be because it has been harder for women to break through in Africa, where the music industry is so male-dominated - they have to spend time fighting their corner, concentrating on their image and less time churning out tracks, says DJ Edu. "And until very recently they weren't booking female artists for big shows - and if you're in front of big audiences you can generate a following," he says. Ahead of both Alade and Savage is phenomenally popular female Nigerian gospel singer Sinach, with more than 472 million views - no doubt boosted by her international tours and her following at the Christ Embassy mega church where she is a worship leader. "I find gospel singers have an unfair advantage - lyrically they just pick a few verses from the Bible and the following is already there. They don't have to fight for their followers," says DJ Edu. Which is better - online or live shows? Some musicians, like Uganda's Eddie Kenzo, with 388 million YouTube views, focus on building an online audience. For others, like Angola's C4 Pedro, it is more about touring. The Kizomba star can pack stadiums around the world - Diamond Platnumz's appeal is less global. Generally YouTube is where new and younger artists in Africa thrive and strive to make their name. Take Zimbabwe, where 32-year-old musician Jah Prayzah has 99 million YouTube views, while Afro-jazz legend Oliver Mtukudzi, who was on tour until a few weeks before he died last year, did not even have an official YouTube page. "Oliver was too busy touring to be bothered with YouTube. If you looked at his tour dates, he was touring the whole year round - and sometimes it's better to do 50 shows than to have 100 million views," says DJ Edu. "For one million views [you earn] about $3,000 [£2,400] - if you were to do a show you'd make 10 times that. "It's not so say that Diamond Platnumz doesn't perform, but you pick your poison."

एक नंगे सीने वाले डायमंड प्लैटनमज़ को पिछले हफ्ते उनके रिकॉर्ड निर्माताओं ने आश्चर्यचकित कर दिया था जब उन्होंने तंजानिया के पॉप स्टार के लिए एक मील का पत्थर चिह्नित करने के लिए यूट्यूब के लोगो के साथ एक केक के साथ उनके घर पर धूम मचाई थी।


Creating a buzz: Using bees to pull people out of poverty

Summary: Bees buzz between the blue and white painted hives.

By Thessa LagemanBusiness reporter, Siliana, Tunisia There are light purple flowers growing in between the olive trees, rocks and brown grass. The sun burns. "Don't go any nearer, otherwise you'll disturb the bees' movement, and they may sting you," beekeeper Khairi Kharroubi warns. We are in the middle of the countryside in the Siliana province of Tunisia, a two-hour drive south west of capital Tunis. Khairi, 24, and two other beekeepers are proudly showing some visitors their hives. The three men are the first participants in a new social enterprise project called TuniBee, which is run by students at the Mediterranean School of Business (MSB) in Tunis. Under the scheme, people with beekeeping experience are selected from deprived areas of the country. Money from TuniBee's sponsors is then used to buy those taking part additional beehives. The beekeepers are also given training and guidance to produce better quality and larger amounts of honey. Each hive costs 200 Tunisian dinars ($91; £69), and in return sponsors get 1.5kg of honey a year for a period of three years. This is just over one-third of the current average annual production of a Tunisian hive, and 1.5kg of good quality Tunisian honey costs between 30 and 45 dinars. The beekeepers get to keep the remainder of the honey during the three years, and after that period, the hive, and all its future honey production, is theirs to keep. Gaining expertise The idea for TuniBee came from Noomen Lahimer, professor of economics and entrepreneurship at the MSB, whose father keeps bees. Prof Lahimer proposed it to his students, suggesting that they should set up and run the scheme as part of their studies. "We immediately liked the idea," says MSB student Chaima Ben Romdhan, who is TuniBee's president. "However, we didn't have any specialist expertise [of beekeeping]." To bring in the required beekeeping knowledge, Prof Lahimer put his students in touch with a Tunisian entrepreneur called Khaled Bouchoucha. Mr Bouchoucha, who had previously been mentored by Prof Lahimer in a competition for start-up companies in 2013, runs a business that specialises in helping beekeepers increase honey production. His company, Iris Technology, has developed a beehive with a camera attached to monitor the movement of the bees. The hive is also fitted with a GPS tracker to try to deter theft - which is a growing problem in Tunisia. In addition, the hives are fitted with a monitor that measures temperatures and humidity. If anything goes wrong, the beekeepers are sent a text message so that they can react as quickly as possible. Mr Bouchoucha agreed to come on board and provide the beehives at cost price, and offer his company's technical support. He has been joined by Hidhli Naoufel, a veterinarian who specialises in bees. Mr Naoufel has been training the participating beekeepers in best practice. "Expertise is often lacking, and incorrect practices are adopted from generation to generation," says Mr Naoufel. One example of bad practice Mr Naofel is preventing is bees being fed sugar. This increases a hive's production, but results in a bland honey lacking the flavours you get if the bees are required to harvest various nectars. Economic necessity TuniBee currently has 24 sponsors, including parents and relatives of the students helping to run the scheme, and MSB staff. Recently some of the sponsors joined the students on a coach trip from Tunis to the village of Kesra, in Siliana province, to meet the first three TuniBee participants and see their hives. Mohamed Jouini, 32, says he was very pleased to have been chosen to take part. An electrician, he says he needs to keep bees to make extra money: "The current economic situation in Tunisia makes it hard to survive with just one job." Abdelfatteh Sayari, 38, has his TuniBee hives nearby. A mapmaker by trade, he started keeping bees as a hobby 10 years ago, keen to restart a family tradition. He says: "My grandmother kept bees in the traditional way - in trees - but nobody took over from her when she passed away." Fellow TuniBee participant Khairi Kharroubi has been helping his father look after bees since he was 12. He is currently doing a degree in business administration, so selling honey brings in vital money. One of the sponsors who travelled to Kesra to see the bees is Salwa Battikh. A retired English teacher, the 50-year-old is the aunt of one of the students helping to run TuniBee. She says: "I like the idea, it is something new and I hope it will succeed, because it is so hard to find good honey." Like many Tunisians she usually buys her honey direct from beekeepers in the hope of getting better quality for a lower price than that available in supermarkets. Ms Battikh adds that she hopes the scheme will encourage more people to go into beekeeping. Another sponsor, the MSB's vice dean, Leila Triki, is hopeful that TuniBee can help alleviate poverty in the Tunisian countryside. The intention is for the scheme to be expanded, including sponsoring a number of female beekeepers. TuniBee is also looking to bring on some corporate sponsors, with oil firms Total and Shell and computer giant Microsoft showing an interest. Export sales are also being explored, with the students from TuniBee having already found one US company interested in importing Tunisian honey. 'Significant impact' Currently Tunisia has 12,000 beekeepers who look after 256,000 hives, according to estimates by the Ministry of Agriculture. About 80% of those looking after bees do so to supplement their income from other work. The hope is that the beekeeping skills the TuniBee programme teaches will enable beekeepers to increase production. Presently the average amount of honey produced each year by a Tunisian hive is just 4kg, compared with 13.6kg in the UK and 34kg in Germany. Economist Mehdi Ben Braham of the University of Carthage in Tunis says TuniBee is an "interesting project". "This kind of project could have a significant socio-economic impact in deprived areas, by giving hope and creating sustainable jobs, and providing sufficient financial resources to reduce poverty."

नीले और सफेद रंग के पित्ती के बीच मधुमक्खियाँ गूंजती हैं।


Budget 2021: What do young aspiring actors make of it?

Summary: Chancellor Rishi Sunak has pledged £400m for the struggling arts sector. The BBC spoke to a group from The Young Actors Company in Cambridge to see what they made of the announcement and the Budget as a whole.

By Laurence CawleyBBC News, East Having struggled since last March when gig venues, cinemas and theatres were forced to close, the Budget announcement could not have come soon enough for the arts sector. Many who work in the industry are freelancers who have found themselves struggling during successive lockdowns. The Budget outlined an extra £700m for sporting, cultural and arts organisations as part of an overall £65bn of extra government spending. But paying back the growing debt of recovery will fall partly on the shoulders of the next generation. Here is what some of them made of the chancellor's announcement. 'We have embraced kindness' "For me, lockdown has felt like a time when we have embraced kindness and become more aware of the wider community," says Daisy Bates, 17. "I hope that is going to continue." She says while the government's extra £65bn in spending is vital, a key part in the national recovery post-Covid is the public at large doing what it can to support the people and businesses around them. She particularly welcomes the extra money announced for the creative arts and culture sectors. "I'm passionate about theatre because storytelling is fundamentally about life," she says. "Telling stories, putting on productions in theatres and making films for the cinema is such an important part of life." 'We are the future' Like Daisy, Nina Thandi Ludidi, 11, says the extra funding announcement for the arts is a great boost. "We were working really hard towards a play at the beginning of 2020 and then we were told we could not do it," she says. "This [the funding announcement] gives us hope that things will come back." She says ensuring the funding reaches grass roots arts groups is vital. "The National Theatre and other big organisations are the present," she says. "But we young actors are the future and if we don't get enough support we could be looking at less performing arts in the future." 'Will those younger than me get the same opportunities?' Mani Lad, 16, says while he backs the extension of Universal Credit, he is disappointed with the overall amount saying it was not enough to properly support those families who relied on it. "I was quite impressed by Rishi Sunak's plan to raise the corporation tax on profits for the larger businesses," he says. "But what I fear is that this extra tax money might not be going into the right places. "In the next few years, it is going to be the local organisations and companies that will be the most in need." He says he wants the extra arts funding to be very targeted towards bringing forward new talent. "Before Covid, the creative industries were booming," he says. "But for people younger than me, I fear they might not get the same opportunities." You might also be interested in: 'It will take a lot of time' Alison Heylen, 14, is concerned about the amount of extra spending announced overall in the Budget. "It will take a lot of time for all the extra debt to be repaid," she says. "It all sounds good but we will have to be paying this back at some point." And some of the responsibility for covering the economic costs of the pandemic, she says, will be borne by her generation and the generations to come. She also questions whether the environmental announcements in the Budget - such as the new green bonds to support the sustainable energy sector - were as 'green' as often portrayed. 'Many have not been able to work remotely' Sophie Spencer, 13, welcomes the extension of support for the furlough scheme and for the self-employed. "It is good because there are many people out there who have not been to work at home or do their work online," she says. "So this will help them. And those types of jobs are ones on which other people's jobs often rely. "It is important that the smaller businesses get a lot of care." Sophie is especially keen that government support makes its way to the smaller theatres and production groups. "When things return to normality, people will be going to the bigger theatres because they tend to go to those anyway," she says. "They won't necessarily be thinking about the smaller ones. It will be those which need the extra support." 'I will be asking for more pocket money' Kader N'Diaye, 14, says throughout lockdown a key challenge for actors was to keep practising. For him, that included weekly Zoom sessions with another actor and working through lines together. "It was still acting even if it was not quite the same as performing in person," he says. He says he is pleased with the continued support for the furloughed and self-employed, pointing out that many actors and those involved with the creative arts are self-employed freelancers. "I was quite happy about that," he says. "There are so many people who work for themselves and I think sometimes they don't get the credit they deserve." His mother Kathie is pleased that both VAT and fuel duty has been held at the current level and the increase in the income tax threshold. "Anything which leaves a bit more money in people's pockets is to be welcomed," she says. "And it is great that the furlough scheme has been extended. The recovery is going to take time." "I will definitely be asking for a bit more pocket money," adds Kader. Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk Related Internet Links The Young Actors Company

चांसलर ऋषि सुनक ने संघर्षरत कला क्षेत्र के लिए 400 मिलियन पाउंड का वादा किया है। बीबीसी ने कैम्ब्रिज में द यंग एक्टर्स कंपनी के एक समूह से बात की कि उन्होंने घोषणा और समग्र रूप से बजट के बारे में क्या कहा।


What makes this New Zealand beach a whale graveyard?

Summary: Each year locals from Golden Bay at the top of New Zealand's South Island know to expect a whale beaching at a narrow strip of sand curving into the Cook Strait, known as Farewell Spit. Ben Collins looks at what makes the area so deadly.

Each year, according to the conservation group Project Jonah, around 300 dolphins and whales become stranded in New Zealand. Many of these incidents occur at Farewell Spit, a thin arc of sand at the top of the South Island which separates a shallow bay from the open ocean. Last week, more than 400 pilot whales became stranded on this 5km-long (three mile-long) stretch and, while some were saved by conservation officials and volunteers in a desperate rescue effort, most died. The beachings occur in the summer months, according to Gary Riordan, who is 62 and has lived in the area for most of his life. "It pretty much happens every year," says Mr Riordan, who runs a beachside camp ground not far from where they often become stranded. "There's a lot of theories out there as to why it happens, but at the end of the day I think there's four or five hotspots where they strand [in New Zealand], and the one thing they all have in common is shallow water." "As far as often goes: It's pretty much seasonal, always around January or February. It's something that the locals expect every year about this time." Joanna Wheaton, who also lives in the area, said she was pleasantly surprised there wasn't a mass stranding in 2016. "Farewell Spit is a unique natural trap for them," she says. In February 2015 about 200 pilot whales - which, despite their name, are actually members of the dolphin family - beached not far from the cafe where she works. At least half of them died. "It's always the same species, pilot whales, and the same extreme tide situation on the inner beach," she says. Dr Rochelle Constantine, a marine biologist at the University of Auckland, also says the shallow water around Farewell Spit is what causes the whales to beach. "Farewell Spit, geographically, is quite an interesting place," she says. "It spans around in a broad arc. On either side is large bay and the open ocean. "There's a series of really large sand banks all through there in the bay, and it just gradually becomes more and more shallow," Dr Constantine says. Because the water becomes shallower gradually, the whales may not be able to detect the change using echo-location, in the same way they would a sudden rise in gradient, she says. "They can echo-locate, but it's [a problem with] the signal that they get bounced back. It's a combination of this gentle gradient and the soft sand. They probably aren't detecting that they are swimming into more and more shallow water." By the time they do realise, it's often too late. The tide has already begun to run out. Farewell Spit is especially deadly as it sits, like a hook, right in the pilot whales' path. "They can swim straight into Golden Bay and the embrace of the Farewell Spit. It's just geographically a very tricky spot," Dr Constantine says. While the shallow water and its effect on echolocation is the most likely reason the animals become stranded at Farewell Spit, Dr Constantine says pilot whales also have strong social bonds, and this could explain why such large numbers become stuck, or return once rescuers re-float them. "I have attended a fair few strandings and what is highlighted is how variable they all are," she says. "We do know that because they are quite strongly socially-bonded, they will hang out with each other, but to be honest, every stranding is different. Sometimes they just muck up and don't get the right cues, and other times its because they are strongly bonded to [stranded] individuals in the group." "We think there's some confusion going on in each stranding, but finding a reason is often difficult," she says. Scientists don't know for sure why they regularly beach in January or February, though Dr Constantine said it could be because of feeding patterns and changes in ocean temperature which see more whales passing through the Cook Strait at that time of year. "These are quite hard things to measure as scientists, because the reality is we don't often see pilot whales in this area until they are about to strand. They are not really coastal." "We really don't know much about the movements of pilot whales in New Zealand. It could be simply they are not around at other times of the year." According to the New Zealand Department of Conservation, the largest recorded stranding was an estimated 1,000 pilot whales on the Chatham Islands, another stranding hotspot, in 1918.

हर साल न्यूजीलैंड के दक्षिण द्वीप के शीर्ष पर गोल्डन बे के स्थानीय लोग कुक जलडमरूमध्य में रेत की एक संकीर्ण पट्टी पर एक व्हेल के आने की उम्मीद करना जानते हैं, जिसे फेयरवेल स्पिट के नाम से जाना जाता है। बेन कॉलिन्स यह देखते हैं कि इस क्षेत्र को इतना घातक क्या बनाता है।


Could football boss Moise Katumbi become DR Congo president?

Summary: There is speculation that the owner of one of Africa's top football clubs Moise Katumbi could run for president in the Democratic Republic of Congo in polls due in November. The BBC's Maud Jullien went to meet him in his base of Lubumbashi.

"I know the hope people have in me - I know what is their expectation. "The problem is we need to sit around a table as big guys to have at least one [opposition] candidate," Moise Katumbi says, as we drive around Lubumbashi, DR Congo's second city. Mr Katumbi is calling on the country's opposition to unite behind a single candidate, though he hasn't said yet whether that means him. He has asked me to join him on a tour of the capital of Katanga, DR Congo's wealthiest region, with its vast reserves of copper and cobalt. It is also the area which he governed for almost a decade. In September last year he broke ties with the ruling party when he accused President Joseph Kabila, his former ally, of wanting to cling to power. When we get out of the car at a market in the city, I can barely count to 10 before hundreds of people crowd around us singing "Chapwe", Mr Katumbi's third name, used by many to refer to him. People are generally quick to crowd around political figures, especially given their wealth and influence, but his popularity in Lubumbashi does seem genuine. Two men thrust photos of deceased family members at us. They want Mr Katumbi to pay for their funerals. "We've come out to honour you, will you give us something now?" asks one teenager. Mr Katumbi is said to hand out dollar bills to during public visits, but not on this occasion. Still, many faces light up from afar and hands wave as we walk by. His popularity is partly down to his job as the president of a great source of Congolese pride - football club TP Mazembe. They are Africa's reigning football champions, having won the African Champions League for the fifth time in November. Our visit coincided with match day. Hundreds of Mazembe supporters, known as the "100 pour cent" (100%) were out on the streets, their faces painted in the club's black and white colours. Many had decorated their bodies with amulets and fur. Several had even written "Moise" on their chests. "You can tour Congo," one of them said, "but anywhere you'll go, the candidate of the people is no-one else but Moise Katumbi." Mr Katumbi dodges the question when I ask him whether he will run for president. Instead, he says his current priority is to unite the opposition and ensure the presidential elections actually take place by November. There are fears that President Kabila will find a way to delay the polls, violating the constitution in his bid to extend his time in power beyond his second five-year term. Mr Katumbi says the opposition is making progress, with the number of possible candidates now down from 24 to three. Follow the money He is proud of his achievements. He says he has built 1,700 km (1,000 miles) of roads in total, as well as clinics and educational facilities. Investment and tax revenue also increased during his time in office. But his governing style in Katanga, home to much of DR Congo's mineral wealth, has not been without controversy. Mr Katumbi has been accused of abusing his position of power to benefit his football club, something he denies. Between 2012 and 2014, mining giant Tenke Fangurume Mining provided statements to the extractive industries transparency initiative which say they paid nearly $2m (£1.4m) to TP Mazembe over three years. The payments are filed under "voluntary social payments", which means that the company can deduct them from its income taxes. TFM didn't respond to a BBC email requesting details on these donations. A spokesman for TP Mazembe did not give us a definitive answer about where the money went but said the funds were probably used to build a football academy. "He didn't run the province like a statesman, but rather like the head of a household," says Donat Mpiana Ben Bellah, of the human rights group ACIDH, alleging that patronage was rife during his governorship. "I never mixed politics and business," insists Mr Katumbi. "I was born in a family where there was business, I entered into politics when I was already a businessman, but I stopped this work." Still hugely popular The allegations do not seem to have tarnished Mr Katumbi's popularity. "What Moise did in Katanga, many before him were not able to do," says Jean Claude Katende, of the civil society group Front Citoyen. "He built roads, schools, provided running water, and fought for Katanga to get its share of the wealth it provided to the central government." "People believe that he can extend the good he did in the province to the national level. His courage, when he left President Kabila also added to his popularity." After Mazembe's victory at the African Super Cup when they defeated Tunisia's Etoile, hundreds of supporters paraded in Lubumbashi on motorcycles and on top of cars. Many of them were shouting: "Moise, President" in the city's central square. At the moment, Mr Katumbi is seen as the only opposition politician in the country who has a tangible support base and could win an election. But the road to a presidential poll is still a long one and there are still many questions left unanswered about whether it will even take place this year, whether the current leader will run again, and who in the opposition will even be allowed to campaign.

ऐसी अटकलें हैं कि अफ्रीका के शीर्ष फुटबॉल क्लबों में से एक के मालिक मोइज़ कटुम्बी नवंबर में होने वाले चुनावों में कांगो लोकतांत्रिक गणराज्य में राष्ट्रपति पद के लिए चुनाव लड़ सकते हैं। बीबीसी के मौड जुलियन उनसे मिलने के लिए उनके लुबुम्बाशी के आधार पर गए थे।


Boy, 11, kicked in the face in sectarian attack in Belfast

Summary: An 11-year-old boy has been assaulted by a group of youths in north Belfast, during which he was kicked in the face and subjected to sectarian abuse.

The child was attacked as he walked home along the Oldpark Road at about 15:30 GMT on Sunday. Police said he was followed by a group of up to seven youths, one of whom directed sectarian abuse at him, before attacking and kicking him in the face. The others then joined the attack and the boy sustained a leg injury. A woman who was driving past at the time stopped to help the victim. She put the injured boy into her car and drove him to his home. Police have appealed for this woman and any other witnesses to contact them. One of the youths who attacked the boy had black hair with a long fringe, and was wearing black trainers.

उत्तरी बेलफास्ट में युवाओं के एक समूह ने एक 11 वर्षीय लड़के पर हमला किया, जिसके दौरान उसके चेहरे पर लात मारी गई और सांप्रदायिक दुर्व्यवहार किया गया।


Coronavirus: Cardiff man jailed for spitting at police officer

Summary: A 53-year-old man has been jailed for 26 weeks for spitting at a police officer after claiming he had coronavirus.

Darrell Glen Humphries, from Canton, Cardiff, admitted assaulting an emergency worker when he appeared before the city's magistrates. Supt Jason Rees called it a "despicable" incident. He said the sentence should serve as a deterrent to those who assault "people who are trying to keep them safe". South Wales Police said the assault happened after officers took Humphries to Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales for non-Covid 19 related injuries following an incident at a supermarket on Monday afternoon.

एक 53 वर्षीय व्यक्ति को कोरोनावायरस होने का दावा करने के बाद एक पुलिस अधिकारी पर थूकने के लिए 26 सप्ताह की जेल की सजा सुनाई गई है।


France polls: A step closer to power for the National Front?

Summary: France's far-right party, the National Front (FN), is predicted to make further gains in the first round of the country's departmental elections taking place on Sunday. Could the results mark a step closer to national power for the FN?

By Lucy WilliamsonBBC News, Aisne The market in Fere-en-Tardenois offers a decent spread, with election campaigners for all political tastes. But the regional flavour of the month is the FN - predicted to win more than 40% in the first round of voting. This region of flat, northern farmland is seen as the epicentre of the far-right tremors rippling across France. The party calls it "the France of the forgotten". The local FN candidate in Fere-en-Tardenois, Mireille Chevet, says the biggest issue for voters here is immigration. "We defend the rights of the Indians in the Amazon or natives in Lapland to their culture," she told me. "But the French: no! When we stand up for ourselves, we're accused of being fascists." The identity debate here has been sharpened by years of economic stagnation. The wider Picardy region has lost a third of its industrial jobs in the past 15 years, and unemployment is 14% - well above the national average. The failure of mainstream parties to find solutions is fertile ground for populism - but also apathy. 'Promises, promises' At a food bank, in the north of Aisne, no-one says they are voting for the FN this weekend - but then only one man says he is planning to vote at all. Most, like jobless Caroline Chailloux, say they have given up, because they do not trust politicians anymore. "They're all the same," says Caroline. "They say they'll create jobs but they never do. It's just promises, promises. That's why I'm not voting on Sunday." Apathy has traditionally favoured the FN, but France's two-round election system has tended to work against it. The second round of voting has in the past acted as a brake on the party - with voters from left and right uniting against it. But with apathy and frustration growing, how much longer will those voters turn out to keep the FN from power? 'Perversion' Polls suggest that the party's leader Marine Le Pen is likely to reach the second round of presidential elections here in two years' time. She's not predicted to win, but even so, it is a striking result for a party that currently controls just 11 towns in France. And it is her populist policies that both the ruling Socialists and its centre-right rival, the UMP, are increasingly defining themselves against, says Christian Makarian, editor of L'Express newspaper. "[President] Hollande counts on the success of the FN to show he's a shield against the fascist danger," he explained. "On the other hand [UMP leader] Nicholas Sarkozy tries to incorporate some propositions of the FN to say he's the only bulwark against [them] - and this is a perversion, equally shared by the Socialists and the right: they denounce the FN, but they count on its success to define their own platforms." And it is not just France's traditional parties that are defining themselves against the far-right. In the eastern district of Montbeliard, one of two new Muslim-majority parties - the Equality and Justice Party - is out campaigning for the first time, with a pro-diversity agenda. The Front National may still be largely a protest party - but its impact on France's political landscape is real.

फ्रांस की धुर दक्षिणपंथी पार्टी, नेशनल फ्रंट (एफ. एन.) के रविवार को होने वाले देश के विभागीय चुनावों के पहले दौर में और अधिक लाभ प्राप्त करने की भविष्यवाणी की गई है। क्या परिणाम एफ. एन. के लिए राष्ट्रीय शक्ति के एक कदम करीब हो सकते हैं?


MPs visit Lynx House Cardiff after asylum wristband row

Summary: A group of MPs will visit a firm providing meals and accommodation for asylum seekers in Cardiff following a row over demands they wear wristbands as a condition for receiving food.

Lynx House has scrapped the policy, which some said was dehumanising and made people targets for abuse. There have also been subsequent claims of overcrowding and poor conditions. Welsh Affairs Committee chairman David Davies said the MPs wanted to "see the place for ourselves". "As a committee, we feel it is important to be able to get behind the headlines of news stories about Welsh issues," he said, ahead of Monday's visit. "We currently house over 1,000 asylum seekers in Wales and it is important that we scrutinise this area now, as the refugee crisis shows little sign of abating in the near future." The Clearsprings Group, which runs the service, said wristbands were seen as a "reliable and effective way" to guarantee service delivery, but they would no longer be used.

सांसदों का एक समूह कार्डिफ में शरण चाहने वालों के लिए भोजन और आवास प्रदान करने वाली एक फर्म का दौरा करेगा, जो भोजन प्राप्त करने की शर्त के रूप में रिस्टबैंड पहनने की मांगों पर एक विवाद के बाद है।


Everest climber who survived earthquake in Nepal returns home

Summary: A man who survived the Nepal earthquake while 23,000ft up Mount Everest has retuned safely home to Cardiff.

Mike Hopkins, 56, was aiming to be the oldest Welsh person to reach the summit. He had reached Camp 1 when the 7.8 magnitude tremor struck, but he has able to call his wife to tell her he was safe. More than 2,300 people died in the earthquake on 25 April with 17 killed around the base of Mount Everest. A team of six officers from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service and one from Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service flew out to assist the rescue mission. Mr Hopkins was with with a group of nine other climbers and Sherpas on the north side of Everest.

माउंट एवरेस्ट की 23,000 फीट की ऊँचाई पर नेपाल के भूकंप में जीवित बचे एक व्यक्ति ने सुरक्षित रूप से कार्डिफ में अपना घर वापस पा लिया है।


BBC Radio Humberside presenters Beryl and Betty in Sony win

Summary: BBC Radio Humberside presenters Beryl and Betty have become the oldest ever winners of a Sony Radio Academy Award, for best entertainment programme.

Beryl Renwick, 86, and Betty Smith, 90, were given the award during a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. The duo present alongside David Reeves after they were talent spotted during a tour of the BBC studios in Hull. They beat comedian Frank Skinner and BBC 6 Music's Adam & Joe to the prize, which was presented by Robbie Savage.

बीबीसी रेडियो हंबरसाइड प्रस्तुतकर्ता बेरिल और बेट्टी सर्वश्रेष्ठ मनोरंजन कार्यक्रम के लिए सोनी रेडियो अकादमी पुरस्कार के अब तक के सबसे उम्रदराज विजेता बन गए हैं।


Can Northampton's 'dying' High Street be saved?

Summary: The number of boarded-up shop fronts in towns the length and breadth of England is symbolic of the country's growing High Street crisis. Perhaps nowhere quite encapsulates this as much as Northampton, which in the past five years has lost three major department stores with the future of a fourth uncertain.

By Stuart BaileyBBC News In recent years countless big name chains like Woolworths, BHS, Toys R Us and Comet have faced the administrators and folded. Others have clung on, saved by rescue deals or by swapping their bricks and mortar businesses for the digital marketplace. That in itself appears to be a Catch-22. Only last month, MPs warned that British High Streets were "in danger of becoming ghost towns" as consumers flock to internet retailers. In towns like Northampton, there has been a slow drip of shop closures. And conspicuous by their absence are the shoppers that once used to crowd into its market square. "The place used to be packed," says fruit and veg market trader, Anne Andreoli. "It used to be rammed with customers and you'd be serving non-stop, all day. "At one stage there was a 100-year waiting list to get a stall. Now you can take your pick. The change has been humongous." The square is one of Britain's largest and dates back to 1235. For centuries it was the centre of the town's bustling market trade. "This used to be a good living but I struggle to cover the stall rent now," says Lesley McDonald, who has run an underwear stall for 28 years. She and her husband used to work on it together, but he is now a window cleaner - an income they rely on. "There's just no trade. The youngsters shop online and since we lost M&S we've seen a big decline in older customers," she says. "I get here at six in the morning and often I've not had a single customer by 10 but I can't just walk away. I keep hoping it will go back to how it was but I don't think it will." Marks and Spencer, like many others, was lured away to the £140m Rushden Lakes retail park, which opened 15 miles east of Northampton in 2017. The retailer's move prompted local celebrity and broadcaster the Reverend Richard Coles to describe the town centre as "decaying". On Abington Street - Northampton's main thoroughfare - about a third of units are vacant and many of the entrances now occupied by homeless people in tents. The M&S shop has been empty since August and is now boarded up. BHS, which closed in 2016, has only recently been occupied by a factory outlet store, while House of Fraser closed in 2014. Now, the future of the nearby Debenhams branch is uncertain. It has agreed a £200m refinancing lifeline with lenders but said it would continue with plans to cut the number of its stores. What's happening on the UK High Street? Each year, more shops close than open in the UK and the gap is getting wider. According to figures from PWC and the Local Data Company, 2,692 shops shut in the first half of 2018 - about 14 per day - while 1,569 opened, a net loss of 1,123. That compared with a net loss of 222 in the same six months of 2017. Clothes shops and pubs were the biggest casualties. In January 2008 the internet accounted for 5p in every £1 of retail sales. By August 2018, it was 18p in every pound. In 2018, 43 retailers with multiple stores either closed or went into administration, affecting 2,594 shops and 46,000 jobs according to the Centre for Retail Research. A further 15, with 266 stores and 2,706 employees, did so by the end of February 2019. Life-long resident Jacqueline, 69, says the town's heyday was between the 1960s and 1990s, when the atmosphere was "tremendous". Now she comes into the town centre not to shop, but to drop some paperwork off at the council. "The town centre is a mess. Ask anyone born and bred in Northampton and they'll tell you the same. "I don't come in very often. Mostly just to catch a bus to the shops in Milton Keynes." Northampton is not only competing with online retailers and Rushden Lakes, but larger towns nearby with a greater selection of shops. Milton Keynes, for example, is a 15-minute train journey away and has a Marks and Spencer, House of Fraser and a John Lewis. You might also be interested in The city with no homeless on its streets The last man standing on the Calf of Man Things Bradford gave the world "Big towns and cities can attract the crowds and be a destination for a day out, while smaller centres [offer] convenience," says Kardi Somerfield, senior marketing lecturer at the University of Northampton. "So mid-range towns are particularly and disproportionally affected by store closures." Student Halymah Agboola rarely ventures into Northampton's centre. "It's probably about once a fortnight to look for clothes. There are much better deals and discounts for students online and it's just less hassle," says the 22-year-old. "A lot of students I know are going into the centre regularly to pubs and clubs. But I'm not sure what else would attract young people into town and city centres." Perhaps the answer lies in St Giles Street, which runs adjacent to Abington Street. It features a range of small, independent businesses from barbers to restaurants and - despite a handful of empty units - feels altogether more prosperous. Lisa Witham, 29, runs the Dreams Coffee Lounge with her sister, Nina Neophitou, 25. She says the key to the street's success is simple. "There's a lot of lovely independent shops all offering different experiences for customers, rather than the generic High Street shops. "The experience for the customer is important. Offer something a bit different that online and out-of-town retailers can't." Steve Ward and his wife Caroline run St Giles Cheese, which also sells locally produced gin. "Abington Street is just the classic, dying High Street isn't it? You're losing all these big names, one after another," says Steve. Northampton Borough Council has made efforts to revitalise the town centre. According to some, progress has been slow, but a new board has been created to tackle some of the the town's long-standing issues of shop closures and poor footfall. The board, called Northampton Forward and comprising public and private-sector organisations, has already expressed an interest in bidding for a slice of the government's £620m Future High Streets Fund in order to improve areas including the Market Square and a section of Abington Street. And after being awarded £215,000 in central government funding, the council has also created five new positions, including a specialist mental health worker, to help reduce rough sleeping. "We know the town has some problems, particularly the centre which is suffering through a combination of factors," says council leader Jonathan Nunn. "The primary aim of this new board is to ensure everyone is pulling in the same direction to address those issues and allow the town to live up to its promise." A slew of new cafes and restaurants have breathed life into the town centre area and there has been a flurry of regeneration work around the newly designated Cultural Quarter. It is home to the Royal and Derngate Theatre which recently kicked off the UK tour of Kinky Boots - a nod to the town's shoemaking heritage, based on the story of a struggling Northampton shoe factory. Nearby, the town's museum, which is currently closed for a major refurbishment, is due to reopen next year. And the University of Northampton's new £330m campus, which opened in September, brought some 12,000 students and 2,000 staff to the area. Signs of progress mean many businesses are cautiously optimistic about the future, with caveats. "There needs to be more support from the council and landlords, making sure we get the right businesses in," says Lisa. "There needs to be variety with the retail, with leisure options such as bowling or maybe an arcade. We have students nearby but they need an incentive to come into town. "But the more empty units there are, the more difficult it is to attract new businesses. It's easy to get into a downward spiral."

इंग्लैंड के लंबे और चौड़े शहरों में बोर्डिंग-अप शॉप फ्रंट की संख्या देश के बढ़ते हाई स्ट्रीट संकट का प्रतीक है। शायद कहीं भी इसे नॉर्थम्प्टन के रूप में शामिल नहीं किया गया है, जिसने पिछले पांच वर्षों में चौथे अनिश्चित भविष्य के साथ तीन प्रमुख डिपार्टमेंट स्टोर खो दिए हैं।


Bionic pancreas: A new dawn for diabetics?

Summary: Those with type 1 diabetes often say having the condition is like having a second job such is the stress of monitoring their blood sugar levels and administering doses of insulin. Now a group of researchers in the US say they have developed the first bionic pancreas that works in the real world enabling patients to lead a near normal life. Lin Lin Ginzberg and Kate Dailey investigate.

Like many teenagers Christopher Herndon loves sports. He is an avid fisherman, swimmer, cross country runner and mountain bike racer. But managing his Type 1 diabetes often limits his ability to follow his passion. Every time he eats, exercises or gets stressed he has to check his blood sugar levels in order to ensure he has injected the right amount of insulin in his bloodstream. That often means sitting out games or simply not taking part. This job is usually performed automatically by the body's pancreas but Type 1 diabetics do not produce insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar, so they have to inject it Last summer however, Christopher was one of a small group of people who road tested a 'bionic pancreas' in a real-world trial that has life-changing potential. The device uses a smart phone, a continuous blood sugar (glucose) monitor and pumps to automatically deliver the correct quantity of hormones directly into the bloodstream. It mimics a real pancreas by delivering both insulin to lower blood sugar and glucagon to raise it. Dr Edward Damiano of Boston University, who has helped develop the device, says: "When you're physically active, suddenly your glucose levels can drop dramatically and so what the body does in response to that is to secrete glucagon and our system does the same thing. Information on blood sugar levels is fed to the smart-phone 'brain' which makes decisions every five minutes and tells the pumps, via Bluetooth, how much insulin and glucagon to deliver. Although the separate components of the device have been available for some time, this is the first time they have been made to work with an automated system and trialled in a 'real world' environment. The new element here is that all the guess work and calculation normally carried out by the patient is handled entirely by the device explains Dr Damiano who has a personal motivation to get the bionic pancreas ready quickly. His son David has Type 1 diabetes and will have to manage his diabetes care when he goes off to university in just over three years time. "It's really too much for anyone to bear," Dr Damiano says. "Young people who start college with type 1 diabetes have such a hard time managing this new world that they're engaging with and at the same time they're taking full responsibility of their diabetes. "My goal is to build a device that will unburden him of that." And it is not just Dr Damiano. Labs across the world are racing to develop the most efficient bionic pancreas. Dr Alasdair Rankin, Diabetes UK Director of Research, agrees it is an exciting time and the race is nearing its finishing line. "It's fantastic that research on the artificial pancreas is forging ahead, both in the United States and right here in the UK. "Clearly more work will be needed before these systems can be used independently at home as a routine treatment option, but there is now real hope that this technology has the potential to transform the lives of people with Type 1 diabetes within a generation." 'Send them home' Certainly, early signs are that the trial represents a critical step forward in taking the bionic pancreas out into the real world. "We had people walking around Boston with no set schedule, no limitations on what they could eat or when they could eat it," says Dr Steven Russell of Massachusetts General Hospital, who worked on the trial Christopher took part in. "We give them a bionic pancreas and send them home". The device might also tackle one of the most dangerous aspects of diabetes, what the professionals call 'dead in the bed syndrome'. "This is the scenario where somebody with diabetes goes to bed and they are found dead in the morning and the cause of that is low blood sugars that occur at night" says Dr Russell. Diabetes UK's Dr Rankin says that people with Type 1 diabetes are "over twice as likely to die in any given year as someone of the same age who does not have the condition. That is a tragic reality that the artificial pancreas has the potential to change." In the trial the bionic pancreas was better at controlling blood sugar than the patients. "If this system behaves in the big trials the way it's been behaving so far, it will get approved and it will become the new standard of care," Dr Rankin says. There are limitations to the bionic pancreas however. It runs on batteries which need to be replaced regularly and the pumps filled with glucagon and insulin. It also requires a certain amount of maintenance. "Of course we hope that there will be a true cure that comes along but this system can keep people safe until that happens. It's the next best thing to a cure." says Dr Russell "I would love to be able to provide this to every one of my patients, and say 'see me in a year'." 'Minute to minute' Christopher says it transformed his life for the brief time he used it. "I used the bionic pancreas last summer at camp. The week that I was on the bionic pancreas I never had to sit out any activities because my blood sugar was low. "If I had the bionic pancreas, I could do so much more with it and I could feel normal more."

टाइप 1 मधुमेह वाले लोग अक्सर कहते हैं कि यह स्थिति दूसरी नौकरी करने के समान है जैसे कि उनके रक्त शर्करा के स्तर की निगरानी करने और इंसुलिन की खुराक देने का तनाव। अब अमेरिका में शोधकर्ताओं के एक समूह का कहना है कि उन्होंने पहला बायोनिक अग्न्याशय विकसित किया है जो वास्तविक दुनिया में काम करता है जो रोगियों को लगभग सामान्य जीवन जीने में सक्षम बनाता है। लिन लिन गिंजबर्ग और केट डेली जांच करते हैं।


Article 50: The view from Northern Ireland

Summary: Northern Ireland's unique Brexit challenge is the Irish border.

By John CampbellBBC News NI Economics & Business Editor The main Stormont parties, the Irish government and business groups across the island want border arrangements to remain as close as possible to the status quo. Currently people and goods can pass unimpeded across that 500km border. The movement of people is governed by the Common Travel Area (CTA). It's an arrangement which has existed since 1922 and allows for free movement between Ireland, Northern Ireland the rest of the UK. It also allows Irish and UK citizens to access various services and benefits in each country such as the right to work, to access public services and to vote in certain elections. It also means there is a large degree of co-operation on immigration controls. It is a bi-lateral arrangement between Ireland and the UK, which means it should be reasonably straightforward to sort out. Brexit Secretary David Davis has described the continuation of the CTA as "non-negotiable" and the Irish government have it as one of its Brexit priorities. The main complication could be around any new migration controls the UK imposes on EU citizens. The top official at Ireland's Department of Justice has said that Ireland cannot be expected to use its migration system to prevent non-Irish EU citizens using the CTA to travel to the UK. "We're not going to interfere with the rights of free movement of EU nationals, that's simply not going to happen," he told a parliamentary committee. There are greater complications around what happens to the free movement of goods when the UK leaves the EU customs union. David Davis and the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, agree there should be no return to a hard border, meaning a border which has physical form, through checkpoints or customs posts. From 1923 until the creation of the EU Single Market in 1993, there were customs posts at points on the border. David Davis has said the British government has no intention of rebuilding those posts. The Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Enda Kenny added that there is "a political agreement" between the British and Irish government that there will no customs posts. But after Brexit the Irish border becomes an EU frontier and what happens there is an issue for the EU as whole, not just the Irish government. The EU's Mr Barnier, says he will be "particularly attentive... to the consequences of the UK's decision to leave the customs union, and to anything that may, in one way or another, weaken dialogue and peace." So the main players all share the will to prevent a hard border but the caveats in their language suggest they have not yet found a way. Much of the speculation has centred on a virtual border where all declarations are made electronically and freight movements are monitored by number plate recognition technology. The Sweden/Norway border is suggested as a model. However, there are still physical customs posts on that border, so the Irish solution would need to go beyond what has been achieved there. This will have to be resolved sooner rather than later, because Mr Barnier said it is one of three issues which needs to be settled before talks on a trade deal and the future UK/EU relationship can start.

उत्तरी आयरलैंड की अनूठी ब्रेक्सिट चुनौती आयरिश सीमा है।