Shielders face dilemma: Should I go outside or not?

Summary: People across England and Wales with health conditions that make them vulnerable to coronavirus were allowed to spend time outdoors on Monday for the first time in 10 weeks. Some welcomed the chance to finally leave their homes, while others opted to stay indoors.

By Alice CuddyBBC News Under the new rules, people who have been "shielding" are allowed outside once a day with members of their household, or with someone from another household while maintaining social distancing if they live alone. More than two million people in England have been strictly isolating at home since March. They include cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and people with severe respiratory conditions. A surprise announcement relaxing the shielding advice was made over the weekend. Family doctors were told about the new measures only hours before they were made public, a senior official with the British Medical Association said, and the Royal College of GPs advised extreme caution, saying it was not a green light allowing people to return to ways of life pre-coronavirus. The government said it had engaged with leading health bodies in making the decision, and that it had relaxed the guidelines because levels of coronavirus transmission were significantly lower than when lockdown was first introduced. But among some of those now free to leave their homes, there is a dilemma: should they take the risk? 'There are still too many people dying each day' I've got severe asthma. I'm not going out - I don't feel comfortable with it and my parents really don't feel comfortable with it. I'm not willing to do anything that will worry my mum and dad more than they're already worried. I've not had a chance to speak to my doctor yet - the last time I spoke to my consultant was earlier on in the shielding process and he told me not to go outside. I asked him about going in the garden and he said no more than an hour a day. I don't see how it's changed that much. I did wonder if I was overreacting but then my MP tweeted that her mum is shielding and she's advising her to stay in her house and not follow this new rule of going out for a walk. It's difficult because people are starting to talk about this "new normal" and starting again and getting on with their lives, and I'm still at home. I think I'll go outside when my consultant says it's OK and when the infection rate drops a bit more. There are still too many people dying each day and too many infections each day for me to feel comfortable. The house has become very much a safe haven. It's very anxiety-inducing, the idea of going back outside. Rachael Paget, 35 'I've been craving a proper walk' I went out at about five in the morning into central Brighton. It was very surreal, very 28 Days Later - shops were boarded up, obviously no-one was around because it was so early. It was a very odd experience to actually feel some wind. There was a lone guy playing bongos and it felt like he was putting on a concert just for me. I had a heart transplant when I was 16 so I'm on immunosuppressants. It had felt like we were a bit forgotten so when the announcement happened at the weekend it was a relief. I live in a flat and we have a small balcony but it's kind of just stick your head out levels of space. This was the first time I'd really stretched my legs and had a proper walk, which I've been craving all this time. I picked 05:00 because while I'm happy to get to go out I only really want to do it when there aren't other people bustling around. I wore a mask as well. I'm going to give it a bit of time before venturing out in the middle of the day. For now, I'm going to carry on cautiously. Joshua Murray, 32 'Anything less than complete confidence isn't going to cut it' I take immunosuppressants for a condition called myositis and have interstitial lung disease. For a long time it felt like people like me had been forgotten. Then we heard the news coming out which should have been great - I've been wanting to leave my house since the start - but the problem was the timing of the message. You can't divorce an announcement like that from everything else that's been happening recently. We've got schools going back and the announcement about trying to get retail back on its feet. I live near a park and I can see people aren't socially distancing. Lots of prominent scientific voices are saying we're opening up too early. And then at the same time you get an announcement saying the most vulnerable people in society are allowed to get a bit more freedom. It's a really confusing message. When you're at the sharp end of this and you feel that stepping out of your front door is a gamble then anything less than complete clarity and confidence in the government and people trying to keep you safe just isn't going to cut it. For that reason, I'm not planning to step outside my front door for three weeks. I figure that's enough time to see the impact of the easing of restrictions this week. I think people like me who are living with the most dangerous realities of this have all become our own experts. I trust my judgment more than I trust the government's judgment at the moment. Nick Lockey, 40 'I've missed walking the dog' I have chronic asthma. At about seven in the evening we got the dog and walked about three miles to go and sit in the garden of a friend. I've been out to the doctors a couple of times but it was my first time going out to do something other than that. I've got a pretty large garden so it's not been as traumatic for me as people in the cities. I was a bit anxious but I suppose that's fairly normal. I had a mask in my pocket just in case. I took the dog out again on Tuesday morning - it's something I've really missed. My wife's been having to walk the dog up to now so she's very pleased. Karl Straw, 55 'I'm afraid of what will happen if I get it' I have scleroderma and pulmonary arterial hypertension. I can't see the point in them easing the rules because how can it suddenly be OK to go out and be near other people. People aren't staying two metres apart. It doesn't suddenly go away so I think we're still in the same dangerous situation we were three months ago. We got a letter at the beginning of all this saying to stay in shielding because of how dangerous it is for people like me to go out and get the disease but we haven't heard anything from our consultant since. Things have to open up at some point and we have to go back to normal but I'm afraid of what will happen if I get it. I feel it's unfair for us all to go out as if it's normal when there are people still suffering from it and I'm worried about the NHS - it's not really protecting them. I think we should have been slower to relax the rules. Karen Waller, 60 'There's a whole different way of life' I've got a lung condition that I've had for about seven years, but it doesn't really affect my life so it was a shock when I got the message that I had to shield. I was really in two minds about going out on Monday and I was really cautious. I just went for a walk for 15 or 20 minutes. It was a really surreal experience - no one expects to not go out for 10 weeks. I bumped into someone I know and had a brief conversation and I suddenly realised it was my first proper face-to-face contact with someone in 10 weeks. I was just talking gibberish - I think it's possibly affected my communication skills. I realised there's a whole different way of life that I hadn't seen or witnessed - everything was brand new for me. Glyn Shemwell, 49 Interviews edited for length and clarity

इंग्लैंड और वेल्स में स्वास्थ्य स्थितियों वाले लोगों को, जो उन्हें कोरोनावायरस से असुरक्षित बनाते हैं, सोमवार को 10 सप्ताह में पहली बार बाहर समय बिताने की अनुमति दी गई। कुछ ने आखिरकार अपने घरों को छोड़ने के अवसर का स्वागत किया, जबकि अन्य ने घर के अंदर रहने का विकल्प चुना।


Distressed swan rescued from Bridgwater Canal

Summary: A distressed swan has been rescued from a canal in Somerset after it partially swallowed a fishing hook and line.

A boat crew from Burnham-on-Sea rescued the cygnet after a volunteer from wildlife charity Secret World saw the bird in Bridgwater Canal on Tuesday. After being captured with a net, the bird was taken to a vet for treatment. Volunteer Mervyn Gratton said: "The bird was in a lot of pain, having attempted to swallow a discarded hook and line." Related Internet Links Secret World - Wildlife Rescue Burnham-On-Sea Hovercraft

समरसेट में एक नहर से एक परेशान हंस को बचाया गया है, जब उसने मछली पकड़ने के हुक और लाइन को आंशिक रूप से निगल लिया था।


Fairview: Will Gompertz reviews the Pulitzer Prize-winning play at London's Young Vic ★★★★☆

Summary: A friend was mulling over whether or not to buy a ticket to see Jackie Sibblies Drury's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fairview at the Young Vic in London (its sell-out run had been extended). She asked me what I thought of the play. I said it was impactful. She said, so is a punch in the face.

Will GompertzArts editor@WillGompertzBBCon Twitter I paused. Maybe impactful was the wrong word. It's certainly an awkward, ugly, uncomfortable word. Maybe, then, it was exactly the right word for a play that sets itself up as a comedy, but is actually a powerful polemic about race. Was the play fun? Not really. Was it entertaining? In parts, but it was also annoying and confusing: absurd, even. Was it impactful? Yes, it was. In fact, it lands some blows so hefty and memorable that there were moments when it did feel like being punched in the face. I, for one, came away feeling dazed and confused. Did I like the play? Did I hate it? Did it work? Or, was it a near-miss? These are questions to which I still do not have answers. What I am sure about, though, is Fairview is an important, provocative, mind-altering work of art, the like of which I have never seen in the theatre before. It starts out conventionally enough. We are in the bourgeois home of a black, middle-class American family. Beverly (Nicola Hughes) is peeling carrots for a celebratory birthday meal for her elderly mother, who is resting upstairs. There is music playing. Beverly is singing along while her husband, Dayton (Rhashan Stone), pops in and out, doing his bit here and there. Enter Jasmine (Naana Agyei-Ampadu), Beverly's opinionated sister, who immediately turns an atmosphere that was already simmering with tension, up a notch or two. Dayton can't be a good lover, she tells her sister high-handedly; it's obvious from the awkward way he "walk around like his balls all heavy." Dayton's response is to offer Jasmine a nibble from the cheese tray, a gracious act at which she turns up her nose, and announces grandly that she no longer eats dairy. Into this family gathering arrives Keisha (Donna Banya), Beverly and Dayton's gifted teenage daughter, who is doing very well at school but wants to take a gap year before going to college, which is against her mother's wishes. And there you have it, a sit-com type set-up with lots of banter and some amusing sight gags. Theatre doesn't get more comfortable or conservative than this, with Jasmine posing upstage in front of an imaginary mirror, and Beverly hiding Dayton's old beer bottle behind a sofa cushion. I mean, it couldn't be more tame. But then, as Jim Thompson, a 20th Century American writer of crime fiction once said: "there is only really one plot: things are not what they seem." And that is the case with Fairview. Act II and Act III take the homely Act I between their teeth like a starving Rottweiler dog, and break its neck in a thousand places. The theatrical fourth wall that Jasmine made such a fuss about accentuating when looking into the mirror in Act I, is not so much broken as smashed to smithereens with a sledgehammer, leaving shards of its imaginary glass all over the auditorium. You see, this is not a play about a birthday party, even a Pinteresque one with all its menacing overtones. Fairview is about something else altogether. It is not a traditional play operating within the confines of a stage framed by a proscenium arch. It is Shakespearian in scope. All the theatre's the stage, and all the men and women in it merely players. I won't divulge more - you'll find out if you go. But what I can say without risking spoilers, is the play's true subject is how white people watch black people perform and the effect that has on both parties. It is, to use a fancy term, about the white gaze. As an art fan, I was familiar with the "male gaze", which is a pejorative term to describe the privileged position male viewers have been given in art. Put simply, the game has been rigged for their benefit: images are produced for the male gaze, most obviously in the genre of the female nude. Jackie Sibblies Drury, Fairview's 37-year old black playwright, describes the "white gaze" in theatre as the effect a predominately Caucasian audience has on black performers, making the actors feel an otherness, while at the same time being expected to conform to racial stereotypes. As with the male gaze, the white gaze is about inequality and privilege: how those subjected to it are diminished while the empowered beneficiaries remain blindly, smugly, oblivious. Far from being a conservative play, Fairview is a radical, conceptually bold piece of theatre that toys with form like a cat plays with a mouse. Tropes and clichés are mischievously subverted, as are the limits of what theatre should be. There's a surreal humour evident throughout, which starts as a knowing wink before becoming increasingly dark and aggressive. It's a week since I saw it and I still don't know what to make of Fairview, an intentionally divisive play with contemporary concerns centred around surveillance and identity politics at its heart. I can't say I enjoyed it, but I will never forget it. And I'm lucky I had the chance to see such a remarkable work of art, which made me think differently about theatre. It is difficult to sum up with a star rating, but easy to do so in a word, which is "impactful." Recent reviews by Will Gompertz Follow Will Gompertz on Twitter

एक दोस्त इस बात पर विचार कर रहा था कि जैकी सिबली के पुलित्जर पुरस्कार विजेता नाटक फेयरव्यू को लंदन के यंग विक में देखने के लिए टिकट खरीदा जाए या नहीं। उसने मुझसे पूछा कि मैं इस नाटक के बारे में क्या सोचती हूं। मैंने कहा कि यह प्रभावशाली था। उसने कहा, चेहरे पर भी एक घूंसा है।


South Central Ambulance Service becomes foundation trust

Summary: South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SCAS) is the latest ambulance service to become a foundation trust.

The move sees the service gain greater independent control from the government but remain part of the NHS. SCAS chair Trevor Jones said the new status meant it would be "more accountable to local people". The newly named South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has recruited 8,000 public members but is looking for an additional 4,000. Mr Jones added: "We look forward to working with members and our newly elected governors in developing our future strategy and service development." Foundation trusts were introduced in April 2004. There are now over 100 in England.

साउथ सेंट्रल एम्बुलेंस सर्विस एन. एच. एस. ट्रस्ट (एस. सी. ए. एस.) एक फाउंडेशन ट्रस्ट बनने के लिए नवीनतम एम्बुलेंस सेवा है।


Conwy's smallest house: Owner Margaret Williams' funeral takes place

Summary: The funeral of the owner of Britain's smallest house which has become a landmark visitor attraction on the quayside at Conwy has taken place.

The hearse was due to pass the tiny red frontage of the house owned by Margaret Williams' family for generations after the service at St Mary's church. The Daily Post newspaper paid tribute after her death at age 83, saying she was proud to have been born within the castle walls which surround the town. The house is 72in wide and 122in high. The property, which is listed in the records books, reopens to the public for the February school holidays. Local fisherman Robert Jones was the last resident in 1900 and before that there were a string of other tenants, including an elderly couple.

ब्रिटेन के सबसे छोटे घर के मालिक का अंतिम संस्कार, जो कॉनवी के किनारे पर एक ऐतिहासिक आगंतुक आकर्षण बन गया है, किया गया है।


The week ahead in Parliament

Summary: The contents may be controversial, there may be talk of backbench rebellions and attempts to rewrite the proposals.

Mark D'ArcyParliamentary correspondent But when Parliament plunges into the procedural thicket that is the Budget, the legion of new MPs will discover it's much more difficult than they might imagine. First off, you don't amend the Budget, you amend the subsequent legislation, the Finance Bill. Second, the procedural mechanisms around it make that a rather baffling task. What MPs actually debate in the Budget debate is a series of resolutions on which the Finance Bill is brought in. Typically, they describe the scope of the bill, and only the first one can be amended - and it is normally drafted in such a way as to make amendment a practical impossibility. What MPs don't therefore get is an early opportunity to say "we want to do something different" with, say, corporation tax. The opportunity to try and make changes comes with the Finance Bill, and the thing to watch there is which clauses are allocated for debate in Committee of the Whole House, and which are sent upstairs to the bill committee. Budget peculiarities Since the improbable 1970s alliance of Labour rebels Jeff Rooker and Audrey Wise, with the Conservatives under Nigel Lawson, which pushed through the index-linking of tax thresholds (very significant in those high inflation days), the government whips have been very wary of putting awkward squad backbenchers into a Finance Bill committee. So any major action would probably have to take place on the floor of the House. The Labour whips will doubtless be seeking to force votes on aspects of the chancellor's plans that displease Tory backbenchers. Keep an eye on backbenchers like Robert Halfon, who has led campaigns against increases in fuel duty for a decade, and the formidable duo of Andrew Mitchell and Dame Margaret Hodge, who will doubtless continue their long-running campaign for a register of the beneficial ownership of assets in the UK, and its dependent territories, to combat money laundering. There are other peculiarities to the Budget debate. The proceedings are chaired by the senior deputy speaker, Dame Eleanor Laing, as Chairman of Ways and Means. This tradition dates back to the 17th Century, when the Speaker was considered a stooge of the Crown, and MPs preferred to have debates on taxation chaired by someone else. Test for Starmer Dame Eleanor, incidentally, has a special role: before the chancellor begins, she is presented with a sealed envelope containing the resolutions to be moved immediately - these are any increases in duties on alcohol, cigarettes, or even fuel, that might be proposed. But there's no peeking, and absolutely no pre-emptive lunchtime trips to the off-licence. The chancellor delivers his statement, and then the Leader of the Opposition responds. Saying something coherent about this massive and complex package of measures is probably the single toughest gig in the parliamentary year, so it will be a considerable test of Sir Keir Starmer's parliamentary abilities. The shadow chancellor gets her chance to respond the next day, when she opens the next stage of the Budget debate. The debate lasts for four sitting days, concluding on Tuesday 9 March, and there's some attempt to give each day a theme, with particular cabinet ministers and their shadows opening, but MPs don't have to stick to those themes, so it's all a bit amorphous. Meanwhile, in the House of Lords, a new plotline has emerged with the decisions of the veteran ex-health secretary, Lord Fowler, to quit the Woolsack early. Watch out for open auditioning by would-be successors. Here's my rundown of the week ahead: Monday 1 March The Commons opens (14:30 GMT) with an hour of Education questions, and, as ever, that is likely to be followed by any post-weekend government statements or urgent questions (it's often a sign that something may be dropped into the agenda at the last minute, when the main business looks quite light). In this case, the main business is a series of statutory instruments, secondary legislation to implement policies. There's also a slot on the agenda set aside for Lords amendments. I think this may be for the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Bill, where there have been amendments to change "person" to "woman." The adjournment debate sees Labour's Stephen Morgan hammering away at one of his party's major themes, the protection of leaseholders from fire safety remediation costs. On the committee corridor, Housing, Communities and Local Government (16:00) has a follow-up session on the post-Grenfell drive to remove flammable cladding from tower blocks, with witnesses from the Association of Residential Managing Agents, the UK Cladding Action Group and the National Housing Federation giving their view of the government's latest proposals. Petitions has an evidence hearing on an online petition on TV licensing (16:30). In formal terms, these are select committee sessions, but in effect they're mini-Westminster Hall debates. The star turn is Culture Minister John Whittingdale. Treasury (15:30) hears further evidence on The Financial Conduct Authority's regulation of the collapsed company, London Capital & Finance, from the top brass at the FCA, Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi and Chairman Charles Randell. In the Lords (13:00) proceedings open with the introduction of two new peers, Baroness Chapman of Darlington, the former Labour MP Jenny Chapman, who lost her seat in the 2019 general election, and Lord Etherton, the former Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice, who was the second most senior judge in England and Wales from 2016 to 2021. Then, ministers face questions on allowing cadet forces to resume their activities, domestic energy efficiency and conducting relations with the US government "on the basis of sovereign equality". Then peers polish off the relatively uncontroversial Non-Domestic Rating (Lists) (No. 2) Bill. Peers will also debate the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers and Self-Isolation) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021, which, among other things, bring in a new fixed penalty notice for attending a gathering of more than 15 people in a private home or educational setting, or in an indoor rave. The penalty for a first offence will be £800 (£400 if paid within 14 days) but doubles for each successive offence, to a maximum of £6,400. Tuesday 2 March The Commons begins (11:30) with Foreign Office questions. The day's ten-minute rule bill, from Conservative MP Duncan Baker, aims to require high street banks to provide basic banking services through the 11,500-strong Post Office branch network, as a way of compensating for the loss of 14,000 bank branches since 1988. This would replace a voluntary and, he says, unsatisfactory arrangement, and provide much better security for communities. The bill is supported by a range of backbenchers, the Post Office and the National Federation of Sub Postmasters. Then, MPs debate a 0.5 per cent increase in compensation payments to pneumoconiosis sufferers, and lump-sum payments to mesothelioma sufferers. That is followed by a general debate on Covid-19 and the cultural and entertainment sectors. It's a busy day on the virtual committee corridor, with Education (10:00) focussing on the impact of Covid on education and children's services. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (14:30) hears evidence on fish and meat exports to the EU from Seafood Scotland, the Shellfish Association of Great Britain, the British Meat Processors Association, the National Pig Association and the National Sheep Association. Foreign Affairs (14:30) continues its hearings on the Xinjiang detention camps in China, with witnesses from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Anti-Slavery International and Human Rights Watch. In the Lords (12:00), the action begins with the introduction of Lord Khan of Burnley, Wajid Khan, a former Labour MEP for North West England. Questions range across supporting the economy of Anglesey following Horizon Nuclear Power's decision to drop is bid to build a power station there, the financing of Transport for London, and a redress scheme for women and families harmed by sodium valproate following the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review. Then, peers debate two important statutory instruments. The first deals with the powers of UK Border Force officials operating ("juxtaposed") in ports in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. This order would give them the power to use reasonable force, to enforce compliance with UK immigration controls. The second aims to prevent people from travelling to or from the UK, for security reasons. Since the system began, in 2015, the Home Office has refused authority to carry around 8,000 individuals into the UK. The 2015 scheme has a sunset clause, meaning that it would cease to have effect from April 2022, and a replacement scheme has been fast-tracked because of Brexit. Wednesday 3 March A momentous Commons day begins (11:30) with half an hour of Northern Ireland questions, followed, at noon by Prime Minister's Question Time. (There is no ten-minute rule bill - the legacy of an eruption by Alex Salmond before a 1980s budget, which led to a rule change.) Then comes the day's main event, the 2021 Budget, from Chancellor Rishi Sunak. This kicks off a series of themed debates, in the following days, on the contents of the statement, extending into the following week. The importance of the Budget means that there is no significant committee business clashing with it. But Transport (09:30) does have a session on the post-Covid future of the aviation sector, with Aviation Minister Robert Courts. In the Lords (12:00), questions cover a report by accountants KPMG into loans to Northampton Town Football Club from the local council, the timetable for refugee resettlements under the UK Resettlement Scheme, and how funding replacing EU grants in Wales will be administered. The main legislative action is consideration of the detail of the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill - where there are plenty of amendments from legal heavyweights on the sentencing rules for terror offences. Thursday 4 March MPs begin (09:30) with forty minutes of questions to environment ministers, followed by mini-question times for the MPs who speak on behalf of the Church Commissioners, the House of Commons Commission, the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body, Public Accounts Commission and Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission. Business Questions to Commons leader Jacob Rees Mogg are followed by the continuation of the Budget debate. The day's committee action sees Public Accounts (10:00) looking at the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. In the Lords (12:00), there are questions to ministers on the use of British Board of Film Classifications ratings for user-generated content on video sharing platforms, and government discussions with UK fishing industry representatives during negotiations on the Brexit trade deal. The main event is a series of statutory instruments designed to allow England's local elections to go ahead in May. These could provide an opportunity to debate the row around the government's view on what kind of campaigning is permissible under Covid regulations. Other parties fear this will not allow them a level playing field, particularly because the government has issued guidance that getting activists to post campaign literature is not allowed. And there are also questions about whether party leaders should be allowed to make campaign visits. Finally, peers consider Commons amendments to the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill.

सामग्री विवादास्पद हो सकती है, बैकबेंच विद्रोहों और प्रस्तावों को फिर से लिखने के प्रयासों की बात हो सकती है।


Inside Business: Former Irish ambassador's warning for NI over EU exit

Summary: A former Irish ambassador to the United Nations has warned that a UK withdrawal from the European Union could have implications for the political process in Northern Ireland.

Dáithí O'Ceallaigh told BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Business programme the relationship built up between London and Dublin could be put in jeopardy. "It is very dangerous territory," he said. "For the relationship between Britain and Ireland it is worrisome." He added: "Within the framework of the European Union over the last 40 years we have built up a very close relationship with the United Kingdom in trade, in agriculture, but most importantly in working together to try and help the situation in Northern Ireland. "All of these things are in danger of unravelling." Inside Business is on BBC Radio Ulster at 13:30 GMT on Sunday.

संयुक्त राष्ट्र में आयरलैंड के एक पूर्व राजदूत ने चेतावनी दी है कि यूरोपीय संघ से ब्रिटेन के हटने से उत्तरी आयरलैंड में राजनीतिक प्रक्रिया पर प्रभाव पड़ सकता है।


Border checkpoints 'obvious' targets, says PSNI

Summary: Checkpoints on the Irish border would be "static and obvious" targets for dissident republicans, the PSNI Chief Constable has said.

George Hamilton was giving evidence to the NI Affairs Committee which is looking at the future of the border following Brexit. Mr Hamilton said he did not think police checkpoints were likely, however. He said any border controls were more likely to relate to customs. He said the PSNI's Brexit priority was preserving information sharing arrangements with the Republic of Ireland and replacing the European Arrest Warrant. He added that this may need new legislation or bi-lateral arrangements.

पीएसएनआई के मुख्य कांस्टेबल ने कहा है कि आयरिश सीमा पर चौकियां असंतुष्ट गणराज्यों के लिए "स्थिर और स्पष्ट" लक्ष्य होंगी।


Ramadan TV pranks go to extremes in ratings battle

Summary: From shipwrecks to terror attacks to an air disaster involving Paris Hilton, it seems that almost nothing is off-limits for the prank shows that have become a staple of North African TV during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

By Nesrine KamalBBC Monitoring A recent programme in Algeria earned fierce criticism for fooling a renowned communist novelist into believing he had been arrested for "atheism and espionage". During the segment, 75-year-old Rachid Boudjedra was forced by fake police officers to repeat the Islamic proclamation "God is Greatest" and utter the two Islamic testimonies of faith. The programme, called We Got You was later suspended amid a wave of criticism from civil society. TV has become an important part of the Islamic holy month, and broadcasters will often commission special programmes to draw audiences in as they break their fast in the evening. Prank TV shows have risen in popularity, but have also earned criticism in recent years for taking things too far. Staged terror attack Egyptian actor Ramez Galal has established himself as a major TV prankster, with a series of programmes featuring celebrities in increasingly extreme scenarios. In one edition, he fooled celebrities into believing they were on a sinking ship, surrounded by floating body parts and an approaching shark. In another, victims were locked inside a supposed ancient Egyptian tomb containing bats, insects and a mummy rising from the dead. In 2013 during a programme entitled Ramez, the Fox of the Desert, guest celebrities were fooled into believing the bus they were travelling on had been intercepted by militants. The mock militants pretended to shoot the driver dead and then blindfolded and handcuffed the guests. This was aired at a time when Egypt was witnessing a surge in terror attacks, particularly in the region of Sinai, where military convoys were often attacked by armed bandits in desolate areas. Galal revels in the controversy. In a trailer for his show, he admits to "torturing his friends and fellow actors because he loves them". And it may be that only the audience is being fooled. Sharp-eyed viewers often find clues signalling that the guests are in on the prank. Some celebrities have confirmed that this was the case. Fatwas Tunisia's The Earthquake is another controversial programme which fools guests into believing they are experiencing a violent tremor. In one episode, an elderly religious leader insisted on continuing to pray despite the ongoing quake. The show was widely criticised on social media for disregarding the age and health conditions of the guests, who seemed genuinely scared. Similar charges were levelled at Algeria's We Got You. Following the episode featuring Mr Boudjedra, one Algerian novelist said it was "unbelievable that a famous writer was ridiculously pranked with no regards to his age or fame". Religious bodies in the region have recently issued fatwas (religious edicts) asserting that terrorising people for any purpose is religiously forbidden. The shows are also criticised, like the slew of entertainment programmes aired during Ramadan, for being a distraction from spiritual dedication during the holy month. Chasing ratings Egyptian media expert Yasser Abd-al-Aziz told the BBC that the prevalence of TV pranks has forced production companies to push the boundaries of good taste in order to attract audience and advertising revenue. But one popular show entitled The Shock appears to buck this trend, with more traditional pranks, rather than terrifying ordeals. The show is filmed in a number of Arab countries, capturing reactions to staged situations such as a man violently scolding his wife, a student insulting his teacher or a child standing helpless in the cold weather asking passers-by for a coat. It has won over audiences across the the region by exploring how strangers interact in dramatic but everyday situations. As Twitter user @Nooruldeen89 put it: "Despite the acts being staged, The Shock awakens the human in you and makes you rethink your perspective." BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

जहाज के टूटने से लेकर आतंकवादी हमलों से लेकर पेरिस हिल्टन से जुड़ी एक हवाई आपदा तक, ऐसा लगता है कि रमज़ान के इस्लामी उपवास महीने के दौरान उत्तरी अफ्रीकी टीवी का मुख्य हिस्सा बन गए प्रैंक शो के लिए लगभग कुछ भी सीमा से बाहर नहीं है।


Condition of Aberdeen's Bon Accord baths pleases campaigners

Summary: Campaigners trying to reopen Aberdeen's Bon Accord baths have expressed delight and relief at its condition after getting inside the building to see it.

The swimming pool on Justice Mill Lane closed in 2008 because of council budget cuts. It is estimated more than £5m will be needed to refurbish the historic art deco design building. The campaigners are nearing a £5,000 total to start a Save Bon Accord Baths fund. Fundraising manager John Law told BBC Scotland: "It was great to get into the baths, I have to say first impressions were incredible. "It's an amazing place, and it's in much better condition than we first thought it would likely be. "The main structure seems to be in really good condition."

एबरडीन के बॉन एकॉर्ड बाथ को फिर से खोलने की कोशिश कर रहे प्रचारकों ने इसे देखने के लिए इमारत के अंदर जाने के बाद इसकी स्थिति पर खुशी और राहत व्यक्त की है।


Philippines unrest: Who are the Abu Sayyaf group?

Summary: Abu Sayyaf is one of the smallest and most violent jihadist groups in the southern Philippines. Its name means "bearer of the sword" and it is notorious for kidnapping for ransom, and for attacks on civilians and the army.

In 2004 it bombed a ferry in Manila Bay, killing 116 people. In the last year it has taken several people hostage - Malaysian and Indonesian workers, Western tourists and one Filipina among them. Three groups of Indonesians and Malaysians were released earlier in 2016, but two Canadians, Robert Hall and John Ridsdel, were killed after the Canadian government refused to pay the ransom demanded for them. What does it want? Abu Sayyaf has its roots in the separatist insurgency in the southern Philippines, an impoverished region where Muslims make up a majority of the population in contrast to the rest of the country, which is mainly Roman Catholic. It broke from the broader Moro National Liberation Front in 1991 because it disagreed with the MNLF's policy of pursuing autonomy and wanted to establish an independent Islamic state. Its founder, Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, was an Islamic preacher who fought in the Soviet-Afghan war, where he is said to have met Osama Bin Laden and been inspired by him. Al-Qaeda provided the group with funding and training when it was initially set up. After Janjalani died, the group split into two main networks whose leaders were then killed in 2006 to 2007. Since then, Abu Sayyaf has operated as a collection of factions that work with each other through kinship or personal ties but which also occasionally compete against each other. The beheading of a Malaysian hostage, Bernard Then, in 2015, for example, is reported to have resulted from a breakdown in negotiations as one of the two factions holding him wanted more money than was demanded, and different parties involved in the negotiations all sought a share of the ransom. The group is believed to have an estimated 400 members and, since 2014, several of its factions have declared their allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group. Isnilon Tontoni Hapilon, one of Abu Sayyaf's most prominent leaders, has been recognised as the leader of all IS-aligned groups in the Philippines. Filipino authorities have characterised the pledges as opportunistic attempts to obtain funds from IS. But IS has recognised some pledges and its de facto news agency, A'maq, has reported two recent major clashes between Philippine armed forces and militant groups, adding to the likelihood of a relationship between them. How dangerous is the group? Abu Sayyaf's hostages tend to be released if the ransom demanded for them is paid. This has been the outcome for most of their hostages. The group is known to kill captives if its demands are not met. Its recent kidnap of 18 Indonesians and Malaysians has also prompted fears of the maritime region becoming a "new Somalia", as Indonesia's chief security minister put it, which could disrupt regional trade. The Kuala Lumpur-based Piracy Reporting Centre has warned ships to stay clear of small suspicious vessels in the area and Indonesia and Malaysia have proposed joint patrols in the Sulu Sea to prevent further incidents. There are also fears that the group could be supporting terrorist activities by other IS-linked groups in the region. Investigators looking into the Jakarta attack in January said the weapons used in it had come from the southern Philippines. While there is no evidence that Abu Sayyaf was involved in this, the group has long had ties to prominent Indonesian militant groups like Mujahidin Indonesia Timur and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). Several JI members involved in the Bali bombings found shelter with the group after fleeing Indonesia. There is also evidence it has links to jihadist groups in the Middle East. Recently the body of a Moroccan bomb expert, Mohammad Khattab, was discovered following a battle between the group and the Philippine army. What is the Philippine government doing about it? The Philippine army and police have been hunting the group in an attempt to defeat it and rescue its hostages for several months. A clash in early April between the army and the group resulted in 18 soldiers dead and 56 wounded, the army's worst casualties in a year. The presidential office has said that Abu Sayyaf is "on the run" but fighting hard. It is not clear what approach incoming President Rodrigo Duterte will adopt once he takes office from 30 June. On one hand he has threatened to invade Jolo if the kidnappers holding two remaining hostages - Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad and Filipina Marites Flor - do not surrender. On the other he has indicated he is willing to negotiate with them, saying "we don't go to war with our own people". Some observers argue that the roots of Abu Sayyaf lie in the economic and political disparities between the south and other parts of the country. "As long as Muslims continue to be oppressed, there will always be Abu Sayyaf," the vice-chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Ghazali Jaafar, has said. BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

अबू सय्याफ दक्षिणी फिलीपींस में सबसे छोटे और सबसे हिंसक जिहादी समूहों में से एक है। इसके नाम का अर्थ है "तलवार ले जाने वाला" और यह फिरौती के लिए अपहरण और नागरिकों और सेना पर हमलों के लिए कुख्यात है।


Humboldt Broncos crash: 'I feel horribly for my son's killer'

Summary: When Jaskirat Singh Sidhu ran a stop sign and crashed into a bus carrying a Canadian hockey team, he caused an accident that took 16 lives and left 13 more people seriously injured. A year later, the father of one of his victims reflects on the meaning of forgiveness.

By Robin Levinson-KingBBC News, Toronto Scott Thomas has told this story countless times. How he was riding in the car with Cal Hobbs, another hockey dad, on the way to the Humboldt Broncos' game against the Nipawin Hawks on 6 April 2018. How Hobbs's son Declan, the goalie for the Hawks, called his father just hours before the puck was set to drop. How Declan, on speakerphone, said, "Don't bother coming: the game's cancelled. There's been a bad bus accident," before breaking down in tears. How they drove to the crash site in silence, save for the blare of the ambulance sirens and the whir of helicopters overhead. "I just got this impending feeling of doom," Thomas told the BBC, in an interview almost a year after the accident. Thomas's son Evan was killed, along with 15 others, when a semi-trailer driven by Jaskirat Singh Sidhu crashed into the bus carrying the Broncos team and staff. Thirteen others were injured, some permanently. On Friday, Sidhu was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to 29 charges of dangerous driving, causing death and bodily harm. He was not speeding, intoxicated or on his cellphone when he ran through a flashing stop sign at the intersection, colliding with the front half of the bus. He had been on the job one month. The 29-year-old man grew up on a farm in India and moved to Canada in 2013, where he became a permanent resident, according to the CBC. He could face deportation. "I take full responsibility for what has happened," he told the victims' families when he pleaded guilty in January. "It happened because of my lack of experience, and I am so, so, so, so sorry." During his sentencing hearing, family members described a range of feelings towards the man responsible for so many deaths. "I despise you for taking my baby away from me," Andrea Joseph told the court through anguished sobs. "You don't deserve my forgiveness. You shouldn't have been driving." Others offered forgiveness, including the wife of the team's coach, who also perished. "I want to tell you I forgive you," Christina Haugan said. "I have been forgiven for things when I didn't deserve it, so I will do the same." Despite these conflicting feelings, Thomas says the extended victims of the crash have formed their own kind of "family", and they talk nearly every day on WhatsApp or online. Until now, Thomas - who met Sidhu privately in January - has preferred to keep his own feelings to himself. He is concerned that if he reveals too much about what happened in their intense, brief encounter, it could persuade the judge one way or another and alienate members of the "family". Now that Sidhu's sentence has been handed down, Thomas feels it is ok to open up about what he calls "the most amazing experience" of his life. "My shirt was wet with his tears," he says. Although he is not religious, Thomas says he has always been spiritual. The violence of the crash and the randomness of its devastation have in some ways been a relief, answering questions he says he has long pondered about tragedies in the world. "There's no way God was responsible for this. There's no way karma was kicking me in the ass for being a bad guy," he says. "Probably the deepest feeling I've had, since all of this started, is a feeling of resignation. I mean, what can you do? There's nothing you can do about this: it just punches you in the face. I can scream and yell all I want but it's not bringing him back." But when it comes to the subject of forgiveness, Thomas needs to pause. "There's not a goddamn thing I can do about this, so what else am I supposed to do?" he says. "I feel horribly for Mr Sidhu, I really do. I feel horribly for everyone involved in this. So have I forgiven him? Yeah, what other option do I have? I don't think I have another option in order to maintain my own sanity." Moving on The Humboldt tragedy hit close to home for many in Canada, a country where hockey is more of an identity than a pastime. To this day, Thomas still gets letters and poems from Canadians who sympathise with his loss. He says having so much support has been wonderful, but grieving in public is not always easy. It is almost impossible to avoid images of the crash, or to find a quiet moment amidst the frequent media requests. "I find a lot of emptiness in my life right now. Evan's the first thing I think about when I get up in the morning. He's the last thing I think about at night when I go to bed," he says. "It's usually the first word on my mind when I find myself driving anywhere. It's confusing - we're trying to find a way to celebrate his life, but it's hard to not get hooked up on how he died, and the last few moments of his life." Evan began skating almost as soon as he could walk, says Thomas, who played junior hockey himself when he was in his teens, retiring from the sport in 1993. As a child, Evan would watch his father play pickup games with friends, and practised his shooting in the basement. By the time he was a young teen, Thomas says he knew his son had the talent to make it to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, a semi-professional hockey league. He was never the best athlete in their hometown of Saskatoon, Thomas says fondly, but he was one of the best. "It was pretty clear to us that Evan had an opportunity to excel in athletics, and in school too. He was just the kind of kid whom things came naturally to," he says. Before Evan graduated high school, he won the school's science award for achieving top marks. He wanted to go to university, and had talked about becoming an astronaut or an orthopaedic surgeon. Thomas used to catch his son watching the popular medical drama Grey's Anatomy with his mother. Thomas didn't see the appeal of the TV show, which is heavy on romance and melodramatics, "I used to bug him: 'Why the hell are you watching that?'" he recalls. "Dad, I'm just watching it for the surgery,'" Evan explained. 'He's a broken man' One thing that has kept Thomas and his wife going is their campaign for reforms in the trucking industry. The owner of the trucking company that employed Sidhu is facing several charges related to non-compliance with safety regulations. Along with other parents of victims, the couple has drafted a petition calling on the federal government to better regulate commercial trucking. Petition E-2005 has garnered almost 5,000 signatures and they hope to introduce it to parliament. Thomas says ultimately, he blames the trucking company and relaxed government regulations for his son's death, more than he blames Sidhu himself. "Have I forgiven him? Yeah, I would say I have. He's a broken man, he did not intend this outcome, he was taken advantage of by the system that put him there." After their meeting, Thomas left his mobile phone number with one of Sidhu's family members, should he ever need someone to talk to. "I wouldn't give you my cellphone number if I didn't want you to use it," he told him.

जब जसकीरत सिंह सिद्धू ने एक स्टॉप साइन चलाया और कनाडा की हॉकी टीम को ले जा रही एक बस को टक्कर मार दी, तो वह एक दुर्घटना का कारण बना, जिसमें 16 लोगों की मौत हो गई और 13 और लोग गंभीर रूप से घायल हो गए। एक साल बाद, उसके पीड़ितों में से एक के पिता ने माफी के अर्थ पर विचार किया।


McFly announce 10th anniversary concerts in London

Summary: McFly have announced that they will play two special shows at London's Royal Albert Hall this September to celebrate their 10th anniversary.

The band will perform their biggest hits and be joined by some special guests. The shows, on 19 and 20 September, follow their sold out Best Of McFly tour. Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd have recently played 20 venues across the UK. Their greatest hits album, Memory Lane, was released last November and features singles including All About You, Shine a Light and Obviously. McFly have seven number one singles and 10 million album sales to their name. The band also played in the US last year with sell-out shows in New York and Los Angeles. Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter

मैकफ्लाई ने घोषणा की है कि वे अपनी 10वीं वर्षगांठ मनाने के लिए इस सितंबर में लंदन के रॉयल अल्बर्ट हॉल में दो विशेष शो करेंगे।


More evidence essential oils 'make male breasts develop'

Summary: A suspected link between abnormal breast growth in young boys and the use of lavender and tea tree oils has been given new weight, after a study found eight chemicals contained in the oils interfere with hormones.

Gynaecomastia is rare, and there is often no obvious cause. But there have been a number of cases linked to use of these essential oils. The American study found that key chemicals in the oils boost oestrogen and inhibit testosterone. Not everyone will have the same reaction to an essential oil. The plant-derived oils are found in a number of products such as soaps, lotions, shampoos and hair-styling products. They're also popular as alternative cleaning products and medical treatments. Lead researcher J. Tyler Ramsey from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), in North Carolina, suggested caution when using the oils. "Our society deems essential oils as safe. However, they possess a diverse amount of chemicals and should be used with caution because some of these chemicals are potential endocrine disruptors." A growing number of reported cases of male gynaecomastia have coincided with topical exposure to the oils. After they stopped using the products, the symptoms subsided. A previous study by Dr Kenneth Korach - who was also co-investigator for this study - found that lavender and tea tree oil had properties that competed with or hindered the hormones that control male characteristics, which could affect puberty and growth. The new study looked at eight key chemicals from the hundreds that make up the oils. Four of the tested chemicals appear in both oils and the others were in either oil. They were tested on human cancer cells in the laboratory to measure the changes. The researchers found all eight demonstrated varying degrees of promoting oestrogen and/or inhibiting testosterone properties. "Lavender oil and tea tree oil pose potential environmental health concerns and should be investigated further," said Mr Ramsey. Many of the chemicals tested appear in at least 65 other essential oils, which is of concern, he added. Essential oil guidelines Prof Ieuan Hughes, emeritus professor of paediatrics at the University of Cambridge said the findings "have confirmed why an individual using such oils containing these chemicals may develop breast tissue". "The anti-male hormone effects are rather unexpected and it is not possible to comment further without the data. "Of course, not everyone exposing themselves to such oils has adverse effects, so it is possible there are particular individuals who may be more sensitive to the effects of the chemicals, or perhaps are using the products in excess. He said attention should be given to better regulation of these products. Prof Hughes added: "Clearly, the longer-term effects of such exposure are unknown." Dr Rod Mitchell, honorary consultant paediatric endocrinologist at the Queens Medical Research Institute in Edinburgh said the study "is important in establishing a possible mechanism for the suggested link between gynaecomastia and exposure to lavender and tea tree oils". "However, there are important factors that must be taken into account when interpreting these results. The tests are conducted in cancer cells, which may not represent the situation in normal breast tissue. "The concentration (dose) to which the cells are exposed may not be equivalent to exposure in humans. There is a complex relationship between oestrogen, testosterone and other hormones in the body, that cannot be replicated in these experiments." He called for further larger studies. "At present, there is insufficient evidence to support the concept that exposure to lavender and tea tree oil containing products cause gynaecomastia in children, and further epidemiological and experimental studies are required." The study results will be presented on 19 March at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Chicago.

युवा लड़कों में असामान्य स्तन वृद्धि और लैवेंडर और चाय के पेड़ के तेलों के उपयोग के बीच एक संदिग्ध संबंध को नया महत्व दिया गया है, एक अध्ययन में पाया गया है कि तेलों में निहित आठ रसायन हार्मोन में हस्तक्षेप करते हैं।


How an asparagus farmer's death spurred robotic innovation

Summary: It seems there are few jobs robots can't do these days, even the most delicate jobs, like picking asparagus or potting plant seedlings. But they're only needed because humans can't - or won't - do the work, farmers say.

By Jen CopestakeBBC Click, the Netherlands Marc Vermeer had a problem. He was struggling to attract workers to pick his white asparagus crop in the Netherlands. The workers he did hire moved on quickly, so he was always training new people. White asparagus needs to be picked at a particular moment while it is still under the ground, otherwise it turns green. It is often difficult to detect and can be damaged easily. So in 2000, fed up with his situation, Marc challenged his inventor brother Ad to make a robot to replace human workers. Ad had been designing intricate machines for decades in the semi-conductor industry. They came up with some ideas to try, but nothing worked. Fourteen years later and facing increasing labour problems, Marc insisted that Ad should now be able to come up with a machine that could "see" deep into the ground to pluck out the asparagus as well as a human. This time Ad saw a way forward using new technology. "Selective harvesting is really complex, you need hi-tech sensors, you need electronics, you need robotics," he says. "But these complex hi-tech machines get more and more feasible to develop because technology is improving." Along with Ad's wife, Therese van Vinken, an expert on securing financial funding, they founded robotic start-up Cerescon. "Marc knew the asparagus farmers and he had experience with sales," Ms van Vinken says. "The deal was Marc does the commercial part, Ad does the development, and Therese takes care of the money." But the day after celebrating the company's legal incorporation on 11 December 2014, tragedy struck. Marc, a 51-year-old father of three, suddenly became ill with meningitis. He was placed in an artificial coma for several days. "One of the first things that his wife Anita said to us was that when Marc was out of the coma he was constantly talking about that machine," Ms van Vinken says. But Marc never lived to see the robot working in his field. He suffered a cerebral haemorrhage after leaving intensive care and died within 10 minutes. In shock, and with no idea about the farming side of the business, Therese and Ad thought about giving up. "Especially in the beginning there were many moments I thought: well forget it, no way," Ms van Vinken says. But with hundreds of thousands of euros in subsidies already spent, they knew they had to push forward. Today, they have sold their first commercial machine to a farmer in France. The three-row version can replace 70 to 80 human pickers. "It's the first selective harvesting machine ever on the market," says Ad Vermeer. "I'm sure it's going to be the first one of a new kind, and there's going to be lots of different selective harvesting machines in the future." To "see" the asparagus, the robot injects an electrical signal into the ground. Sensors dig through the soil and pick up the signal the closer they get to the asparagus. "The asparagus is actually conducting the signal electrically because there is a lot of water in there," he says. "Basically, the difference between the water content of the asparagus and the sand, that makes the difference to how we detect the asparagus." Cerescon's robot is one of many machines being developed around the world to replace delicate farming jobs. "Over the years, we have seen many tasks become feasible to be taken over by robots," says Rick van de Zedde of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, where teams are researching autonomous solutions for jobs up and down the fruit and vegetable supply chain. "If you look at the way the current agri-food production is developing there is a scarcity of labour, but also a lack of motivated or skilled people," says Mr van de Zedde. The problem is that many of the jobs are "repetitive and pretty dull", he says, but still require deft handling when dealing with fragile seedlings and flowers. But even here, robots are learning to adopt a gentle touch. The factory floor at Florensis, one of the Netherlands' largest flower suppliers, is whirring with the sound of robots hard at work. Sticking cuttings into tiny soil pots needs to be done very gently, and is traditionally humans' work. Indeed, there is a line of tables manned by humans, but there are also six autonomous machines on the other side of the warehouse. These machines can plant up to 2,600 cuttings an hour. A skilled human can manage 1,400 to 2,000. And the machine does not tire, rarely breaks down, and plants the cuttings to the same depth every time. "Due to the fact there is a lack of labour it forces us to look for alternatives that will enforce development," says Marck Strik, director of product development at Florensis. The robot works out which end of the cutting is a leaf and which is a stem with the help of image-recognition cameras, and will even shake the conveyor belt to get a better look. More Technology of Business "Everybody has been searching for this breakthrough in the industry and we feel that this is one of those breakthroughs that really has an exponential possibility," says Mr Strik. "At the end of the game, you can work 24 hours a day and save, let's say, 60% of your labour costs," he says. "I believe - and I am convinced - that this is just the start and absolutely this will replace the human being."

ऐसा लगता है कि ऐसे बहुत कम काम हैं जो रोबोट इन दिनों नहीं कर सकते हैं, यहां तक कि सबसे नाजुक काम भी, जैसे कि शकरकंद चुनना या पौधों के पौधे लगाना। लेकिन उनकी आवश्यकता केवल इसलिए है क्योंकि मनुष्य काम नहीं कर सकते हैं-या नहीं करेंगे, किसानों का कहना है।


How the welfare budget is spent and options for savings

Summary: The government says it needs to find a further £12bn in savings from the annual welfare bill to meet its goal of balancing the books by 2017-8.

Chancellor George Osborne is expected to spell out details of what will be cut in next month's Budget and the spending review later this year in the face of calls from opposition parties and anti-austerity campaigners for greater clarity on the issue. The welfare budget currently accounts for about 30% of all government spending. Here are more details about where the money goes. The welfare budget and where it is spent What has already been announced and what is left to be done? What has been ruled out? What are some of the options? Source: Institute for Fiscal Studies

सरकार का कहना है कि उसे वार्षिक कल्याण बिल से £12 बिलियन की और बचत करने की आवश्यकता है ताकि 2017-8 द्वारा पुस्तकों को संतुलित करने के अपने लक्ष्य को पूरा किया जा सके।


Uncovering China's illegal ivory trade

Summary: A major conference in London is considering how to protect Africa's wildlife, including rhinos and elephants, from an unprecedented surge in illegal trafficking. Conservationists warn that the growth in the illegal ivory trade means elephants could be wiped out in parts of Africa in the next few years. As demand from China pushes levels of poaching and smuggling to new highs, we investigate China's illegal ivory traders.

Damian GrammaticasChina correspondent In a nondescript shopping mall in Beijing sellers offering antiques and artworks are crammed together. The shops are piled high with stone carvings, jade and ivory. Some have whole elephant tusks on display, others ivory figures, statues and intricately worked scenes. As soon as we enter one shop with cabinet after cabinet of carvings, the owner gets tense and defensive. "We have a licence. We have a legal licence to sell ivory. It's hanging there," he says pointing to the wall. China has around 150 legal, government-licensed ivory shops. This is one of them. They are the only places allowed to sell ivory to individual buyers. The government says ivory carving is an ancient art it wants to keep alive. Chinese consumers, increasingly wealthy, desire ivory. Some think it is lucky, while for some it is a way to display their status. Others see it as a good investment and many give ivory as a gift or bribe to win favour with an official or business contact. It is certainly good business. "I've been in this business more than 40 years. I don't get involved in anything illegal," says the shopkeeper. When we ask why he's so worried, he says: "There are illegal shops. But it's a case of 'one rotten egg spoiling the whole soup'." China's government was given permission to import one consignment of more than 60 tonnes of ivory from Africa six years ago. Pieces carved from that legal stockpile can be sold in China as long as they have a driving-licence-sized photo identification. But when we look closely at the pictures on the photo IDs in the shop we are in, the images do not quite match the carvings on sale. When we ask about the discrepancy the shopkeeper tells us it is time to leave. "It's just a matter of the angle the picture is taken from. You shouldn't make a fuss about it," he says, adding: "I'm off. I'm closing now. I told you. It's an angle problem." It is a common scam. Reusing old IDs to sell new pieces of ivory can be a way of laundering ivory that is not from the legal stockpile but illegal, smuggled into China. Cracking down Last month Chinese customs officers destroyed six tonnes of seized ivory. It was a signal that China is trying to tackle the problem. Watching the event, John Scanlon, secretary general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), the body regulating the international trade in endangered species, told reporters Africa's elephants were increasingly threatened. "In 2011, we had 25,000 elephants illegally killed on the African continent. Last year, it was 22,000. So that was almost 50,000 elephants illegally killed for their ivory in just two years. This is decimating the African elephant population and we will soon see local extinctions in some areas, in particular within Central Africa." To evade the current crackdown China's ivory traders are moving online. Selling ivory on the internet is illegal and major websites have banned it. But on sites specialising in auctions, antiques and collectables it is easy to find dozens of photos of ivory pieces for sale. We made contact with one trader. He met us in a Beijing hotel. "People I know who specialise in this trade are already in jail. This business is banned in China," he said. "We have a new police chief in Beijing. They have started to monitor it very strictly." He told us it was getting harder to import and move ivory. Taking it on trains or even the subway was impossible as all bags had to go through airport-style security. Sending it by courier was risky too, he said, and even ivory being moved in bags on public buses had been seized. Rising prices Once he was convinced we were genuine buyers he produced a large tusk. He said it was smuggled ivory, 57cm (22 inches) long, weighing 2.7kg (6 pounds), the asking price 77,000 Chinese yuan ($12,700; £7,600). The trader insisted this was some of the best quality ivory available, taken from an elephant not long after it had been killed, and carved with mythical figures. "Here on top there's a phoenix, here a dragon," he said. "There are different types of ivory, white, yellow and blood ivory. This is close to blood ivory. It's the best." And, he added, the crackdowns themselves are pushing up the price of ivory, making it even more attractive to investors and more profitable for sellers. "There are lots of ivory collectors. But there's less and less ivory available. So the price is shooting up every day," our seller told us. He left with his tusk and has since been in contact, apparently keen to make a sale. Demand from China is a major factor in the surge in poaching and smuggling. Some believe the answer is a total ban on ivory sales. China does not want that. But while the buying goes on, so does the killing, pushing elephants in parts of Africa towards extinction.

लंदन में एक बड़ा सम्मेलन इस बात पर विचार कर रहा है कि गैंडों और हाथियों सहित अफ्रीका के वन्यजीवों को अवैध तस्करी में अभूतपूर्व वृद्धि से कैसे बचाया जाए। संरक्षणवादियों ने चेतावनी दी है कि हाथी दांत के अवैध व्यापार में वृद्धि का मतलब है कि अगले कुछ वर्षों में अफ्रीका के कुछ हिस्सों में हाथियों का सफाया हो सकता है। जैसे-जैसे चीन से अवैध शिकार और तस्करी के स्तर को नई ऊंचाइयों पर धकेल दिया जा रहा है, हम चीन के अवैध हाथी दांत व्यापारियों की जांच कर रहे हैं।


Liz McLucas: 'I had to borrow money from my sons for surgery'

Summary: Liz McLucas is finally looking forward to the future.

By Lesley-Anne McKeownBBC News NI She is is due to become a grandmother for the first time this summer. After a hip replacement last month, the County Down woman is pain-free for the first time in over two years. But her road to recovery has come at a cost - €12,500 (£10,800) to be precise - with the decision to pay for private surgery almost as agonising as the chronic pain that confined her to bed for much of the past 12 months. "I had to borrow the money off my sons," she told BBC News NI. "What mother wants to turn round and ask her children for money? "They offered, but to accept money from your children - you don't do that - it's the mother who gives money to the kids not the kids who give money to the mother," she said. "I had absolutely no option," she added. 'I had no life left' "If I hadn't had that operation I don't think I'd be talking to you today because I could not have carried on the way things were. "My whole life was just basically gone - I had no life left," she said. Like thousands of others in Northern Ireland, Ms McLucas has spent more than two years on a hospital waiting list. New figures out on Thursday show that at the end of December 323,174 people were waiting for a first appointment with a consultant. That is about 18,000 more than for the same period the previous year. Some of the longest waiting lists were for hip and knee replacements and cataract procedures. The number of people waiting to be admitted to hospital for inpatient and day case procedures has also gone up 105,159 - around 5,000 more than for 2019. The vast majority of patients are still waiting more than the recommended nine weeks for an outpatient appointment and more than are half waiting for longer than a year. Pain was getting 'excruciating' Ms McLucas said the decision to pay for private surgery was one "one of the most difficult" of her life. "Up until now, private healthcare would have been something I would have been very much against," she said. "I believed that the NHS was there and would do everything that we needed done. I was on a waiting list for over two years. "The pain was just getting more and more excruciating. I couldn't even stand up - it got to the stage where I couldn't put weight on it. "It was like somebody was just constantly sawing into my hip, groin and then that just completely knocks your mental health. "I just felt that I couldn't go on any more. I didn't want to be here any more. What was the point because all in front of me all I could see was this waiting list going on and on and on." Ms McLucas reached a low last Christmas when she was having to take painkillers, including morphine, to control the pain. "It got to the stage where getting out of bed was nearly too much," she said. She said she spent Christmas Day in her bed. "You knew people were able to enjoy Christmas Day and I was just lying up there in bed crying in pain. "No matter how much pain killers they gave me - it wasn't enough," she said. It took the edge of it but it took the edge off everything else," she added. There have been repeated calls for more to be done to tackle hospital waiting lists which are the worst in the UK. 'Condition has worsened' Northern Ireland director of the charity Versus Arthritis, Sara Graham, said: "I do appreciate the health service is under enormous pressure and it's probably hard to know where to start but the waiting lists do keep getting worse and so we need a clear programme for recovery. "Liz was waiting for two years with no communication at all about her surgery," she said. She added that patients need clear communication from their health providers about waiting times and how to access support while they are waiting. "The reality is their health deteriorates and so by the time they get access to surgery, if that's what they are waiting for, their condition has worsened. "The impact on individuals and on the health service only gets worse as the waiting times continue," she told BBC News NI.

लिज़ मैकलुकास आखिरकार भविष्य की प्रतीक्षा कर रही हैं।


Inquiry into man's death after Cannock cell custody

Summary: A 35-year-old man died after being found unresponsive in a police cell less than a day after being taken into custody, the police watchdog says.

Ian Dyche's death has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) by Staffordshire Police. Mr Dyche, the IOPC said, was arrested at his home in Cannock on 29 April and taken to the town's police station. The following morning, he was found unresponsive and taken by ambulance to hospital where he died on 8 May. A post-mortem examination into the cause of Mr Dyche's death was inconclusive, the IOPC said, adding further tests were due. CCTV from the custody block at Cannock police station is being examined along with body-cam footage from the arresting officers. IOPC commissioner Derrick Campbell said the investigation was at an early stage and extended his sympathies to Mr Dyche's family.

पुलिस वॉचडॉग का कहना है कि हिरासत में लिए जाने के एक दिन से भी कम समय में पुलिस सेल में एक 35 वर्षीय व्यक्ति की मौत हो गई।


Is Shropshire a UFO sighting hotspot?

Summary: A mysterious flying triangle has been spotted in the sky over Shropshire in recent weeks - the latest of unexplained goings on stretching over decades. Is the county a hotspot for UFOs?

The "Flying Dorito" as it has become known, was spotted near Sleap Airfield, near Wem, and over The Wrekin, the Shropshire Star reported. These sightings, the former described as an aircraft making a low humming noise, prompted Nigel Haymen to use Your Questions to ask us to investigate. It is not the first time we have looked into what inhabits the skies above Shropshire - in 2010, actor John Challis joined BBC Inside Out to look for UFOs from Lyth Hill in Shrewsbury. The town's UFO Investigations and Research Unit described the hill as a "high intensity" area for sightings at the time. But no flying objects appeared for our cameras. Christian Delaney of the Shropshire Paranormal and UFO Society said he had seen UFOs over the county for a number of years. "I've seen something yellow that looked like a cigar do a figure of eight over the Wrekin for three or four minutes getting faster and faster," he said. "And on Lyth Hill one [a UFO] appeared and the light got bigger and bigger like it was expanding and then changed colour. "I don't know what it is about Shropshire but they do seem to have quite a presence here," he said. Former UFO investigator for the Ministry of Defence, Nick Pope, said: "Shropshire certainly seems to be something of a UFO hotspot. "I personally investigated a fascinating wave of sightings in 1993, centred on RAF Cosford and RAF Shawbury," he said. A meteorological officer at Shawbury described seeing a vast triangular-shaped craft flying slowly over the base, making a low-frequency humming sound, before suddenly accelerating away, many times faster than a military jet, he said. Mr Pope said previous 'Flying Dorito' sightings may have been generated by people seeing the last airworthy Vulcan bomber which stopped flying last year. Or a B2 stealth bomber rarely flown in the UK. "These two [recent pictures] might show a secret prototype aircraft or drone, though another less exciting possibility is that it's a hang glider or a power hang glider," he said. Nathan Cross from Sleap airfield told the Shropshire Star the photo could have been of a Rutan VariEze aircraft at an angle. "I know that one was flying at about the given time and I have spoken to the pilot who concurs," he said. "Or perhaps it is a genuine UFO - we will remain diligent." A West Mercia Police spokesman said: "We've had no reports of UFOs over the Shropshire area since March of this year. In that case the report turned out to be a helicopter. "Over the last few years we've had a total of four reports of UFOs within Shropshire, including the helicopter...none were suspicious." Mr Pope said aircraft lights, weather balloons, meteors, satellites and Chinese lanterns can be mistaken for UFOs. "People really do want to think there's something out there," he said. "Additionally, people's mistrust of government fuels conspiracy theories, and the idea that the authorities are covering up the truth about UFOs is a popular one. "I should say that there's no smoke without fire, and that while the sceptics have to be right every day, the believers only have to be right once." This story was inspired by a question from Nigel Haymen.

हाल के हफ्तों में श्रॉपशायर के ऊपर आकाश में एक रहस्यमय उड़ने वाला त्रिकोण देखा गया है-दशकों से फैली हुई अस्पष्ट घटनाओं में से नवीनतम। क्या काउंटी यू. एफ. ओ. के लिए एक हॉटस्पॉट है?


Mitsubishi shares jump 16% on news of Nissan stake

Summary: Shares in Mitsubishi Motors jumped 16.6% following suspension on news Nissan is planning to take a major stake in the embattled carmaker. Nissan itself fell 1.4%.

Both sides announced a strategic alliance after the close of regular trade, valued at $2.2bn (£1.52bn). Elsewhere in Asia, trader sentiment was weighed down by a disappointing close on Wall Street overnight. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.4% higher at 16,646.34. China's Shanghai Composite finished flat at 2,835.86 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed down 0.7% at 19,915.46. In Australia, the ASX/200 fell 0.2% to close at 5,359.30 points. South Korea's benchmark Kospi index finished the day flat at 1,977.49.

मित्सुबिशी मोटर्स के शेयरों में इस खबर के निलंबन के बाद उछाल आया कि निसान संकटग्रस्त कार निर्माता में एक बड़ी हिस्सेदारी लेने की योजना बना रहा है। निसान खुद 1.4% गिर गया।


Work starts on new Low Moor railway station in Bradford

Summary: Work has started on a new railway station in a Bradford village, more than 40 years after the closure of the old one.

The station on Cleckheaton Road in Low Moor is due to open in spring and will serve the Calder Valley line between Bradford Interchange and Halifax. It has been funded by the sale of rolling stock and money from the Local Transport Plan. The old Low Moor station closed in 1965 and was subsequently demolished. West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee said it would attract park and ride users, which would reduce congestion on the roads. The station will include 130 car parking spaces and have direct access to and from the adjacent Spen Valley Greenway for pedestrians and cyclists.

ब्रैडफोर्ड गाँव में एक नए रेलवे स्टेशन पर काम शुरू हो गया है, पुराने के बंद होने के 40 साल से अधिक समय बाद।


Eight claymoremines found

Summary: A civillian was killed when suspected Tamil tigers attacked a checkpoint at Komari in Ampara on Saturday, the 21st.

Police said the civillian was a mason who was involved in the construction of houses for the tsunami affected families. At the time of the attack he was walking on the road, police said. Wasantha Chandrapala, Lake House Correspondent for Ampara said,subsequent to the attack construction workers have left the area in fear of further violence. Meanwhile, police found eight claymore mines burried in a paddy filed in Damana in Amapara area. Police also found a variety of ammunitions concealed in the area, Lake House Correspondent for Ampara Wasantha Chandrapala said.

शनिवार, 21 तारीख को अम्पारा के कोमारी में एक जांच चौकी पर संदिग्ध तमिल बाघों के हमले में एक नागरिक की मौत हो गई।


Clachnacuddin: The fire-hit football club longing to return home

Summary: Highland League club Clachnacuddin FC is at the heart of its community - but the team is now playing its football on a rugby pitch after part of its ground was damaged in a fire. BBC Scotland journalist Donald Pollock says the club is grateful for the help, but keen to return to its traditional home.

There was a time when Clach na Cùdainn - The Stone of the Tub - was an important symbol for the people of Inverness. The stone was where women rested with baskets of clothes after washing them in the River Ness. So synonymous was the stone with the Highland capital that locals were known as Clachnacuddins. A story goes of a fine gentleman from India arriving in town and asking to be shown the famous Clachnacuddin, only to be somewhat underwhelmed by the stone to which he had drunk so many toasts. Times change, and despite the stone's now prominent position by Inverness Town House, Clach na Cùdainn lost significance among Invernessians. Except in the Merkinch area, where they cherish the football team that kept the name alive. There are those who maintain that Merkinch is almost a town within Inverness. And right enough, there is a feeling of the high street about Grant Street. As you cross the Black Bridge over the River Ness, it's hard not to conclude that you're entering a distinct community. At its heart is Grant Street Park, the home of Clachnacuddin FC. Like all good football clubs, Clach typify the community that surrounds them. They roll with the punches. Whether you know it as Grant Street, Clach Park, or the Ferry San Siro, their home has its own special charm. Celtic Park had the Jungle. Anfield has the Kop. The Clach diehards gather in the Wineshed. The team used to take to the field to the tune of the BBC's Grandstand. With the late Billy Nelson on the tannoy, there would be a running commentary on local news between the team lines and songs - some of his own numbers among them. Surely you've heard Westering Home to the Ferry? 'Welcome to the Ferry' On another occasion, Forres Mechanics were visiting Merkinch. As time slipped away, a high ball was pumped into the box. The Mechanics keeper rose majestically to make a catch, only to be confronted by a gang of Clach attackers in whom the spirit of Nat Lofthouse was alive and well. Ball and man were left gasping for air in the back of the net at the bottom of a Merkinch pile up. An elderly gentleman, barely awake through the game, was taking it all in behind the goals. The magnificent scene seemed to rouse him from his slumber. Perhaps it took him back to his youth. He was awake now all right and he had a message for the Forres custodian, one delivered with such style and volume that they might well have heard it back at Mosset Park. He shouted "Welcome to the Ferry." Aye, Clach Park has a special charm. But only rarely does it have a queue of spectators waiting to get in. That's exactly what happened earlier this month when Clach made a temporary flit across town. With repairs continuing at Grant Street following a fire in a changing room before Christmas, the Merkinch Lilywhites were granted permission to switch their Highland League match against Fort William to Canal Park, the impressive home of Highland Rugby Club. Friday night games On a biting cold January night, Clach against the Fort was the hottest ticket in town as 700 fans turned out to watch two sides at the foot of the Highland League. It wasn't a great night for Clach from a football perspective. A number of the young Fort side on loan from Caley Thistle were well acquainted with Canal Park from training sessions with their Scottish Championship club. They seemed visibly more comfortable than Clach on the plastic pitch as they secured just their second league win of the season. Both against Clach. But off the park, the bumper crowd was a significant boost for Clach at a time when they need every penny. Little wonder that talk began of more Friday night games at the shiny new Canal Park. In their hour of need Clach will be back this Friday when Forres visit the Highland capital once more. Depending on those repairs at Clach Park, this could yet be a more regular occurrence in the weeks ahead. Will 700 fans turn up as the novelty factor wears off and without the Inverness Caledonian Thistle link to Fort William? Perhaps not. But any kind of increase on their average will be good news for Clach. Highland Rugby Club and High Life Highland, the body that runs leisure facilities in the Highlands, deserve great credit for helping out the Merkinchers in their hour of need. Canal Park is an excellent facility and one which appears to have breathed new life into the rugby club. It's a welcome short-term fix for Clach too, and one they are grateful for, but it isn't home. Even with 700 fans, the atmosphere against Fort William was a little flat. In truth, it felt a bit like watching a training session. It certainly wasn't Clach Park. Because if you take Clachnacuddin out of Merkinch, they aren't really Clachnacuddin at all. Let's hope they're Westering Home to the Ferry soon.

हाईलैंड लीग क्लब क्लाचनाकुद्दीन एफ. सी. अपने समुदाय के केंद्र में है-लेकिन टीम अब रग्बी पिच पर अपना फुटबॉल खेल रही है क्योंकि उसके मैदान का एक हिस्सा आग में क्षतिग्रस्त हो गया था। बीबीसी स्कॉटलैंड के पत्रकार डोनाल्ड पोलक का कहना है कि क्लब मदद के लिए आभारी है, लेकिन अपने पारंपरिक घर लौटने के लिए उत्सुक है।


What do 'hangars' on disputed islands in the South China Sea tell us?

Summary: Satellite images appear to show China has built aircraft hangars on disputed islands in the South China Sea. The images, from late July, were released by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and appear to confirm that Chinese military fighter jets could, at some point, be based on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs. The revelation is likely to stoke tension with neighbours and the US, all of whom have raised concerns over what they call "the militarisation of the South China Sea", says analyst Alexander Neill from the International Institute for Strategic Studies - Asia.

Read more: What do the pictures show exactly? These images show three new air bases built on artificial islands nearing completion in the Spratly islands at the heart of the South China Sea. They demonstrate the remarkable pace and scale of China's island-building campaign in the South China Sea, where only two years ago coral reefs and atolls existed. The pictures focus in particular on the construction of reinforced hangars designed to shelter an array of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft. What else is on the islands? Apart from accommodation blocks and administrative buildings, the images also show a selection of unidentified hexagonal structures facing towards the sea on the three islands. Each island has four of these structures forming a trapezoid shape. In addition, each island also hosts a mysterious group of three towers. There is speculation that such structures are in fact reinforced air defence facilities which could house surface-to-air missile batteries. Beyond the hangars and air defence systems, we can also see three naval bases readying for operation, including large berthing facilities and harbours for the PLA Navy, the coast guard and other maritime law enforcement agencies. What does this tell us? China has embarked on a power projection drive in the region which will considerably extend the range of its naval and air capabilities. This military construction on the islands indicates that within a few months China will be in a position to deploy fighter regiments on the islands totalling nearly 80 aircraft - a formidable addition to its existing capabilities in the South China Sea. In addition, the bases will be able to host Chinese strategic bombers such as the H6-K, early warning and surveillance aircraft and long range transport and tanker jets. Because such airbases are inherently vulnerable to attack, China appears to be deploying a sophisticated air defence network and the command and control infrastructure to protect its new island bases. But didn't China promise it wouldn't militarise the South China Sea? In his state visit to the US in September 2015, Xi Jinping stated that China did not intend to pursue militarisation of the Spratly islands. However, from China's perspective, the islands it claims and the sea space within the nine-dash line are China's sovereign territory requiring necessary defence measures. US officials quickly sought more specific reassurance from Mr Xi to include all of the South China Sea. Chinese senior figures later qualified Mr Xi's statement by suggesting that defence measures should be commensurate to perceived threat to China's territorial integrity. Beijing has now blamed US Navy Freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) for triggering military escalation in the South China Sea, allowing justification in Beijing's narrative for defensive measures on the new artificial islands. What does this mean for China's neighbours? In the wake of the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling overwhelmingly in favour of the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to react to the appearance of three advanced Chinese airbases within his nation's exclusive economic zone. Perhaps there may be little reaction at all. The Philippines' navy is almost non-existent, so its only recourse may be to rely on its defence treaty with the US, but Mr Duterte seems to have been reticent towards too cosy a relationship with Washington. Vietnam on the other hand - another claimant in the South China Sea - apparently has little tolerance for Beijing's activities. Recent news reports suggest that Vietnam has deployed advanced mobile rocket launchers to some of the islands it occupies in the region, putting China's new island garrisons within range of bombardment. The timing of Beijing's deployment of fighter jets, bombers and air defence missiles on the islands is uncertain, but Vietnam's military deployments will also offer Beijing further justification for its future arms build-up in the South China Sea. Alexander Neill is a Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow at IISS-Asia (International Institute for Strategic Studies - Asia).

उपग्रह चित्रों से ऐसा प्रतीत होता है कि चीन ने दक्षिण चीन सागर में विवादित द्वीपों पर विमान हैंगर बनाए हैं। जुलाई के अंत से छवियां एशिया समुद्री पारदर्शिता पहल द्वारा जारी की गई थीं और इस बात की पुष्टि करती प्रतीत होती हैं कि चीनी सैन्य लड़ाकू विमान, किसी समय, फायरी क्रॉस, सुबी और मिसचीफ रीफ पर आधारित हो सकते हैं। इस रहस्योद्घाटन से पड़ोसियों और अमेरिका के साथ तनाव बढ़ने की संभावना है, जिनमें से सभी ने "दक्षिण चीन सागर के सैन्यीकरण" पर चिंता जताई है, इंटरनेशनल इंस्टीट्यूट फॉर स्ट्रैटेजिक स्टडीज-एशिया के विश्लेषक अलेक्जेंडर नील कहते हैं।


Aid groups fear impact of US austerity budget

Summary: The US Congress has slashed $85bn (£56bn) from the federal budget through the end of September. Now, foreign aid groups that rely on US support fear the cuts will devastate the people in the most desperate need.

By Tara McKelveyBBC News Magazine When Jeremy Konyndyk, director of policy for Mercy Corps, talks about budget cuts in the US, he barely mentions the impact the reductions will have on Americans. Instead, he worries about people overseas - such as those he met recently in Niger. In January, Konyndyk visited a village in the county's Ouallam region, roughly 62 miles (100km) from Niamey, where he met a group of about 20 women who had received a goat through a food-security programme. "This programme at least gives them some prospects for getting through the drought without getting totally wiped out," he says. The budget cuts, he says, will make it harder to help those and other women in Niger. The US Congress has slashed $85bn from US spending for this fiscal year, which ends in October. The deficit reduction measures are referred to in Washington DC jargon as sequestration. In Washington, White House officials say the cuts will affect everything from White House tours (cancelled) to domestic airline flights (delayed). Despite those claims, though, some of the cuts to the budget will barely be felt. "It's not the end of the world," says Gordon Adams, an American University professor who was a senior budget official in the Clinton White House. "It's a haircut." But the cuts affect not only Americans - people around the world will see its impact. European officials may spend less time in meetings, for example, because their counterparts in Washington will be making fewer overseas trips. Some Pentagon officials have already cancelled trips to Europe this spring. But for people living in other parts of the world, the impact could be more significant. The US is the world's largest provider of humanitarian aid, according to the London-based Overseas Development Institute. The US also offers military assistance to countries in the Middle East and other regions and funds programmes for global health, refugee aid and more. The March law writing the cuts into the budget slashed funding for these and other programmes by roughly 5%. More than $2.7bn will be taken from state department foreign operations and other programmes, according to the Congressional Research Service. In some cases the cuts will affect government institutions in other countries. Aid to countries such as Egypt (the US provides roughly $1.3bn annually to its military) and Israel (roughly $3bn annually) also may be reduced. The budgetary reductions will have an impact on individuals, say aid workers, since the cuts will be applied to programmes already stretched thin. Contributions to international peacekeeping, which helps to tamp down on violence in conflict-ridden countries such as Mali, will be reduced by $20m. And funds for humanitarian programmes, which help families in the Horn of Africa and other places in crisis, will be cut by roughly $200m, state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland has said. Efforts to fight disease in Africa may also be affected, since global health programmes will lose more than $400m in US funding. "We work on programmes for the most needy people on the planet," says Tom Hart, US executive director for the ONE Campaign, the advocacy group founded by U2's Bono. "These people are living on the edge. About a million kids won't be vaccinated. A million bed nets that prevent malaria won't be distributed." Hart and other advocates fear the lives of many people overseas will become harder if aid programmes, which include food security and agricultural projects, are reduced. And many humanitarian aid workers say their programmes are already financially strapped. "At this point, we are facing an acute number of crises," says Jeremy Kadden, a senior legislative manager at InterAction, a consortium of non-governmental organisations based in the US. "We have more people in need than ever before." Konyndyk of Mercy Corps says the budget cuts chip away at efforts to help people in other parts of the world and put Americans in a bind. "The government is faced with a kind of Sophie's choice," he says. "Which disaster do you save?"

अमेरिकी कांग्रेस ने सितंबर के अंत तक संघीय बजट से 85 अरब डॉलर (56 अरब पाउंड) की कटौती की है। अब, विदेशी सहायता समूह जो अमेरिकी समर्थन पर भरोसा करते हैं, उन्हें डर है कि कटौती लोगों को सबसे अधिक आवश्यकता में बर्बाद कर देगी।


Major slip road in Derby reopens after works

Summary: A main route into Derby has reopened after months of roadworks.

The Wyvern Way slip road taking city-bound traffic from the A52 into Pride Park has been closed for 13 weeks as part of major improvements. However, the road from Pride Park back on to the A52 will remain closed until July 2020 to allow a new footbridge over the road to be assembled on site. Derby City Council thanked businesses, residents and motorists for their patience during the disruption. When the project started in June, it was already 12 months behind schedule and at £42m, nearly three times over budget. An audit report identified a series of mistakes with the project, saying "everything that could go wrong did go wrong". The authority said once all the work was completed, it will deliver benefits to people in Derby and Nottingham. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.

डर्बी में एक मुख्य मार्ग महीनों के सड़क निर्माण के बाद फिर से खोल दिया गया है।


Lord Kitchener World War I casualty letter sold for £687

Summary: A letter written to World War I Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, has been sold in Oxford.

Sent by Chancellor of the Exchequer Reginald McKenna in 1915, it discusses the numbers of troops needed to replace casualties on the Western Front. His calculations show the levels of "irrecoverable wastage" before conscription was introduced in 1916. The letter sold for £687 at Bonhams auctioneers, more than the expected price of £400.

प्रथम विश्व युद्ध के युद्ध सचिव लॉर्ड किचनर को लिखा गया एक पत्र ऑक्सफोर्ड में बेचा गया है।


Mercedes 'relay' box thieves caught on CCTV in Solihull

Summary: CCTV footage has been released showing thieves using a "relay" device, which receives a signal from the victim's key inside their home, to steal a car.

West Midlands Police believe it is the first time the high-tech crime has been caught on camera. Relay boxes can receive signals through walls, doors and windows but not metal. The theft took just one minute and the Mercedes car, stolen from the Elmdon area of Solihull on 24 September, has not been recovered. In the footage, one of the men can be seen waving a box in front of the victim's house. The device receives a signal from the key inside and transmits it to the second box next to the car. The car's systems are then tricked into thinking the key is present and it unlocks, before the ignition can be started. Mark Silvester, from West Midlands Police's crime reduction team, advised using a Thatcham-approved steering lock to cover the entire steering wheel. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said an option was to put keys inside an RFID signal blocking bag, which stop electromagnetic signals.

सीसीटीवी फुटेज जारी किया गया है जिसमें चोरों को एक "रिले" उपकरण का उपयोग करते हुए दिखाया गया है, जो उनके घर के अंदर पीड़ित की चाबी से एक कार चोरी करने का संकेत प्राप्त करता है।


Fault closes Middlesbrough's Transporter Bridge

Summary: A landmark bridge on Teesside has closed as a result of technical difficulties, less than a month after it underwent a major overhaul.

Middlesbrough's Transporter Bridge re-opened three weeks ago after work to replace its century-old motors. A problem has now arisen with the new remote system which controls the gondola. The software is being upgraded and it is hoped the Grade II listed structure will be back in action by the weekend. Councillor Paul Thompson, Middlesbrough Council's executive member for transport, said: "The bridge is renowned for its reliability, but on occasions unforeseen problems arise, and these are dealt with as quickly as possible to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum. "I'm grateful to users for their patience, we will do our best to have the Transporter up and running again as soon as possible."

टीसाइड पर एक ऐतिहासिक पुल तकनीकी कठिनाइयों के परिणामस्वरूप बंद हो गया है, एक महीने से भी कम समय में एक बड़े सुधार के बाद।


Cannabis farm 'worth £300,000' found in Loftus

Summary: A cannabis farm consisting of more than 500 plants with a street value of £300,000 has been found.

Cleveland Police said an officer discovered the farm in a property on West Road in Loftus. Officers are trying to find the people responsible for growing the plants, a spokeswoman said. Police have also issued a list of "tell-tale signs which often give cannabis farms away" for which members of the public "should be vigilant". These include:

3, 00, 000 पाउंड के सड़क मूल्य वाले 500 से अधिक पौधों से युक्त एक भांग फार्म पाया गया है।