London Right to Buy tenants 'forced out' of city

Summary: For developers, businesses and local authorities, regeneration can lead to big profits, but Inside Out London has discovered that for some homeowners, who bought under the Right to Buy scheme, it can lead to the loss of their homes.

By Zack AdesinaBBC Inside Out, London All over London, dozens of ageing council estates, past their prime, are being demolished to make way for redevelopments. It means that leaseholders who bought their homes on these sites under the Right to Buy scheme are being hit with Compulsory Purchase Orders and forced to move out. Local authorities are legally bound to reimburse these homeowners but Inside Out has uncovered evidence that shows some are being pressured to accept sums that are below market value. 'Fair price' Ten homeowners on the Aylesbury Estate in Southwark say the council has priced their properties at such low rates it will leave them financially ruined and force them out of the capital. But when the leaseholders hired independent valuers they came up with figures far higher than the council's. Beverley Robinson, who bought her home on the estate over a decade ago, claims the local authority valued her flat at £117,000 while two independent valuers priced it at about £300,000. Ms Robinson said if she accepts the council's offer she will have no choice but to move out of the capital. "You can't buy a home in London for under £140,000 which means I will have to start again, finding a mortgage, and at my age that's not an option. I will be turned down by the banks," she said. Agnes Kabuto, who lives on the same estate, said the council had offered her £145,000 for her three-bedroom home while similar-sized properties in the area were going for about £385,000. She said swapping her rent account for a mortgage was a mistake. "I regret buying under Right to Buy. I worked hard to pay for this property. It was meant to be my nest egg for old age but now I feel like the council has robbed me of my home," she said. But Southwark's Cabinet member for regeneration, Councillor Mark Williams, said leaseholders are being offered a fair price. Legal action He said: "We are doing everything we can to work with homeowners who are required to move out. "They are being offered market values for their properties... plus 10% for the inconvenience of moving." The council also claims leaseholders who wish to remain on the estate will be able to move into new homes under shared ownership or shared equity. Several of the affected residents are now considering legal action against Southwark Council. But Southwark is not the only London borough where a row has erupted over a regeneration estate. Inside Out has discovered that homeowners in Hackney, Hendon and Lambeth are also challenging the compulsory purchase amounts being offered by their local authority. You can see more about this story on Inside Out London on BBC One at 20:00 BST on 8 September and on BBC iPlayer for the next week.

डेवलपर्स, व्यवसायों और स्थानीय अधिकारियों के लिए, पुनर्जनन से बड़ा लाभ हो सकता है, लेकिन इनसाइड आउट लंदन ने पाया है कि कुछ मकान मालिकों के लिए, जिन्होंने राइट टू बाय योजना के तहत खरीदा था, इससे उनके घरों को नुकसान हो सकता है।


Six fresh policing ideas from past 12 months

Summary: It is almost a year since the first police and crime commissioners (PCCs) were elected in England and Wales. With a BBC survey showing that more than a third of adults were unaware whether they have a PCC or not, what fresh policies or innovative ideas have made an impact?

By Nick TarverBBC News It was hoped that elected commissioners would make the police more accountable to the public. But with a turnout of just over 15% for the first elections in 2012, critics have questioned the democratic legitimacy of the PCCs. Some have also been dogged with controversy. There have been four investigations carried out by the Independent Police Complaints Commission as well as investigations by the Crown Prosecution Services into expenses claims. But with public recognition so low, what policies have stood out? 1. Youth commissioner It was meant to be a link between young people and the police, ensuring their views were understood and represented. But the post of youth police and crime commissioner in Kent did not get off to a good start. The first choice, seventeen year-old Paris Brown, who was appointed by PCC Ann Barnes with great celebration, resigned from her role after she was accused of making racist and homophobic tweets. The appointment was described as a "fiasco" in a Home Affairs Committee report, with chairman Keith Vaz MP, saying: "We need to guard against maverick decision-making." However, recruitment has started for a new youth PCC, with the successful candidate for the £15,000 per year role to start work in April. Mrs Barnes said she was not looking for an "angel" but someone who was "street-savvy". She added that the new recruit's social media history would be scrutinised. 2. Drug rooms On the face of it, County Durham might not seem the most obvious place for a liberalisation in drug policy. But rooms where heroin addicts could be prescribed the drug - and take it - are being advocated by the Durham PCC Ron Hogg. He said introducing the facilities, often referred to as "shooting galleries", would help take drugs off the streets and reduce crime. Related pilot projects have taken place in Brighton, Darlington and London. However, the suggestion has been opposed by Public Health England (PHE), an agency of the Department of Health, and also Teesside-based drugs charity, Bridges. Home Office minister Norman Baker said government research into drugs strategies in other countries would be completed shortly. 3. Predictive policing It resembles a gadget from a futuristic sci-fi film - a computer that tells police officers where the next crime is going to take place. But this has been a reality for Kent Police, using predictive policing software pioneered in Los Angeles. The £130,000 project was approved by Kent PCC Ann Barnes, and according to Kent Police, during a four-month trial reduced street violence in Medway by 6%. The software uses past trends and current information to identify "boxes" where there is likely to be trouble in the coming few hours. Greater Manchester, West Midlands and West Yorkshire Police have also introduced differing versions of the technique in the past. However, critics have pointed out that the software was only used for car theft and burglary in the US, whereas it is being used for a wide variety of crimes in England. 4. Police 'schools' Two PCCs have viewed education, both for citizens and police officers, as important. Hertfordshire PCC David Lloyd has mooted the idea of a "citizens' police academy" to help teach people "how and when to intervene". And Northamptonshire PCC Adam Simmonds is setting up an academic institute for police to boost best practice in gathering evidence. The first scheme, which involves "short, sharp, training sessions" to help prevent crimes, has received guarded praise from the Police Federation. However - referring to the farcical Police Academy films - the federation said the name was "unfortunate". The academic institute was announced in June, with Mr Simmonds saying it would be launched at the University of Nottingham within his first year in office. However, the programme has been delayed with a new launch date pencilled in for February. A spokesman said: "We were, perhaps, a little ambitious in the original time scale." 5. Drunk tanks With policing of alcohol-related crimes and anti-social behaviour sapping time and resources, Humberside PCC Matthew Grove has raised the idea of introducing drunk tanks. This has received support from the Association of Chief Police Officers, which said the taxpayer should not have to foot the bill for alcohol-fuelled disorder. However, they are beyond the remit of PCCs to set up as it might need legislation from parliament. The idea would see the drunk tanks being run by private companies who would keep hold of the drunks overnight, issue with them with a fixed penalty the following morning and charge them for their care. But the Police Federation has said the idea is neither a viable nor long-term solution and "merely represents a sticking plaster for the problem". 6. 'Residents' IPCC' In Avon and Somerset, a group of residents meet to mull over complaints about police. "One of the things residents have told me is they don't like the police marking their own homework," said Sue Mountstevens, PCC for Avon and Somerset. She said her proudest achievement so far was to introduce residents' panels. The group of volunteers are tasked with scrutinising complaints against the police. Serving and former police officers are not eligible to take part. An independent report is produced by the panel and published on the PCC website.

इंग्लैंड और वेल्स में पहले पुलिस और अपराध आयुक्तों (पी. सी. सी.) को चुने हुए लगभग एक साल हो गए हैं। बी. बी. सी. के एक सर्वेक्षण से पता चलता है कि एक तिहाई से अधिक वयस्क इस बात से अनजान थे कि उनके पास पी. सी. सी. है या नहीं, किन नई नीतियों या नवीन विचारों ने प्रभाव डाला है?


Ripples from the Raspberry Pi

Summary: In May last year, video games entrepreneur David Braben and Cambridge computer scientist Eben Upton came to see me with the prototype of a new computer. It was about the size of a USB stick, it was called Raspberry Pi, and its aim was to inspire a new generation of children to get interested in computer science.

Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent@BBCRoryCJon Twitter The simple video I shot of the device on my phone eventually attracted more than 800,000 views on YouTube. Fifteen months on, the project has taken off in a way its creators never imagined, and the ripples from the Raspberry Pi keep spreading out. When the Pi - slightly larger than the one I was shown last year - launched at the end of February, there was a huge response, and the charity behind it is still struggling to cope with the demand. Two companies, RS and Farnell, have been contracted to distribute the mini-computers, and last week Electrocomponents, the RS parent company, reported that booming sales of the Raspberry Pi had boosted its first quarter revenues. On Saturday I went along to a Raspberry Jam in Cambridge, the latest in a series of events where enthusiasts gather to discuss the project, swap experiences and hear about what may be coming next. The audience at the sell-out event heard some breaking news from Eben Upton. Production had ramped up to 4,000 units a day to meet demand, but there was still a backlog of orders. But what really excited the crowd was the announcement that a camera module for the device was coming very soon, priced at $20-$25 and offering 5MP photos and good quality video. "It's been completely crazy," Eben Upton told me afterwards. "At Christmas last year we thought we might sell 10,000 of these devices, so to be sitting here with 200,000 out in the wild and plans to get to a million by the end of the year is just incredible." But what is extraordinary about this project is the ecosystem (to use a fashionable word) which is being constructed around it. We heard from various organisations with plans to use the device - from the London Zoo which hopes to use the Raspberry Pi and its new camera in a project to crowd source the mapping of endangered animals - to various companies making components to offer greater functionality to the device. We saw a presentation by 18-year-old Liam Fraser whose YouTube channel offering Raspberry Pi tutorials has already had over a million views. The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charity but Liz Upton, who runs the forums, answers the emails, and generally does an amazing job of nurturing the Pi community, told us the organisation was very relaxed about companies making tons of money from picking up the idea and running with it. The lecture theatre at the Cambridge Computing lab where the event took place was packed with teachers, some with deep knowledge of computer science, others just eager to work out how what difference the device could make in their schools. And, amidst all the enthusiasm for this project amongst a largely middle-aged crowd, it is important to remember exactly who it is aimed at - school children. The most telling presentation was by Dr Andrew Robinson from Manchester University's PiFace project, which is providing resources for schools. "Children are experts in time management," he told us. "You've got 10 seconds to get them to say 'wow'. Longer than that, and you may have lost them." Once you've got their interest, he explained, you can get them to do more. That rings true. A generation is growing up used to technology which just works straight out of the box without demanding much expertise from the user. Expert and enthusiastic teachers will be needed to realise the vision behind Raspberry Pi. But here's another idea. Do as I did and take a somewhat cynical teenager to a Raspberry Jam event. You might be surprised at their reaction, and might even hear them say "wow".

पिछले साल मई में वीडियो गेम उद्यमी डेविड ब्रेबेन और कैम्ब्रिज के कंप्यूटर वैज्ञानिक एबेन अप्टन एक नए कंप्यूटर के प्रोटोटाइप के साथ मुझसे मिलने आए थे। यह एक यूएसबी स्टिक के आकार के बारे में था, इसे रास्पबेरी पाई कहा जाता था, और इसका उद्देश्य बच्चों की एक नई पीढ़ी को कंप्यूटर विज्ञान में रुचि लेने के लिए प्रेरित करना था।


The Hebrides' wild swimming 'real-life' mermaid

Summary: A wild swimmer has been exploring the Western Isles' coast in a custom-made mermaid tail.

Kate MacLeod, from Uig, Lewis, started her interest in wild swimming when she was a girl and for the last 10 years has taken to the waters of the sea and lochs in both summer and winter. She said: "Living on an island you are bound to be drawn to the sea. It is in my blood." The 24-year-old has made a four-part documentary - Mermaid Tales - for BBC Alba. The first episode will be shown on 16 March. All images are copyrighted.

एक जंगली तैराक एक कस्टम निर्मित मत्स्यांगना पूंछ में पश्चिमी द्वीपों के तट की खोज कर रहा है।


Alderney States meeting abandoned due to low turnout

Summary: Alderney's September States meeting had to be abandoned on Wednesday because there were only six members present.

Under Alderney law there must be seven or more States members present for decisions to be considered legal. Currently there are only nine, rather than ten, politicians as one has resigned. Three were missing for personal reasons at the start of the States meeting, so the agenda was postponed until next month's meeting. A new law is due to come into force later this year meaning in future Alderney States can meet with fewer members.

एल्डर्नी की सितंबर राज्यों की बैठक को बुधवार को रद्द करना पड़ा क्योंकि केवल छह सदस्य उपस्थित थे।


Letter from Africa: I was tortured in The Gambia

Summary: In our series of letters from African journalists, Lamin Cham, editor of The Gambia's Standard newspaper and a former BBC reporter, explains why he wants to testify at the new truth and reconciliation commission.

Our former President Yahya Jammeh went into exile more than 18 months ago, but many Gambians are still haunted by the legacy of his brutal two-decade rule. He had refused to accept his shock defeat in elections in December 2016 and only left power at the insistence of regional leaders, who sent troops when he dug in his heels. Last week, his successor, Adama Barrow, launched the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), saying it was "a historic step towards discovering the truth for national healing". He explained that it would "investigate and establish an impartial historical record" of the human rights abuses committed from July 1994 to January 2017, which covers the period Mr Jammeh ruled The Gambia after staging a coup. And as one of the survivors of the violence meted out during this time I want to take the stand before the 11 TRRC commissioners. I want to expose for the record the brutality and fear that journalists have suffered. Five notorious cases for the TRRC: Jammeh's inglorious end How Gambians have lost their fear My experience at the hands of Mr Jammeh's torturers came without warning on 29 May 2006, when a police officer arrested me in Serekunda, about 13 km (8 miles) south-west of the capital, Banjul. I was given no explanation for my arrest and was transferred to the central police station in Banjul. 'A police officer's moment of kindness' It was already late in the evening, so a junior officer left in charge said to me that I could sleep in the office for the night. "You should thank your stars, because all the people arrested in connection with Freedom Newspaper are usually taken to the cell below," he said. I sat up straight and looked into his eyes because that was the first clue I had about the reason for my detention. I immediately asked if I could make a call from his phone, since mine had been confiscated. He hesitated but agreed - and as I found out later this kindness may ultimately have saved my life. All night I tried to work out what had connected me to the Freedom Newspaper - as I had never filed for it or communicated with its US-based publishers. I mainly covered sport on national TV and filed dispatches for the Focus on Africa programme on the BBC World Service. But I grew afraid, as I knew the government did not like the Freedom's coverage - the online news site would often carry state secrets and stories about alleged human right violations in The Gambia. The next morning, using my own car, I was taken to the headquarters of the feared and now disbanded National Intelligence Agency (NIA), where for a whole day I was made to wait - with no word from any official about why I was there. As darkness fell, I was led to a reception hall furnished with sofas. I chose one and as I lay down, I heard voices from behind me from other sofas. "Lamin. Do you recognise me?" one called and then another. It was hard to see, but I could make out the face of Malick Mboob, a former colleague at The Daily Observer, who left to work as a spokesman at the Royal Victoria Hospital. Then I recognised Lamin Fatty, a reporter for the Independent newspaper, who had also disappeared more than two months before my arrest. I told them that everyone had been looking for them. Both of them jokingly told me: "Cham, welcome to the club." 'Blows were raining down on my head' We tried to get some sleep, but I was woken at about 02:30 and led out barefoot past the buildings to a sand pit that was ringed by heavy stone boulders. I was asked to step into the ring and immediately eight men appeared, apparently drunk - metres away I could already smell alcohol on their breath. Two of them I recognised to be members of the presidential guard: Tumbul Tamba, who was wearing a track suit, and Musa Jammeh, who was nicknamed "Malyamungu" after a notorious killer in Idi Amin's regime in 1970s Uganda. The next thing I knew blows were raining down on my head and back; boots were stamping on my feet and my hands were strapped together. Tamba shouted: "What are you telling Pa Nderry and Omar Bah?" - Nderry was the editor of the Freedom Newspaper and Bah was suspected to be his Banjul reporter who was wanted by the authorities. "Why do you tell lies to the BBC?" he continued. "How much do they pay you? Don't you know they are liars? "Why can't you report without mentioning President Yahya Jammeh?" The TRRC's mission: Like a conductor, Tamba would raise his hand up to signal the torturers to stop while I tried to regain my breath. I kept telling him I did not understand his accusations, and he replied by shouting insults about all Gambian journalists. After more than half an hour, the beating stopped and I was left with whizzing sounds in my ears. I was then escorted to an office, followed by an officer using a cloth to wipe away my bloody footsteps. Tamba and Malyamungu also accompanied me. In the room we were joined by two more senior National Intelligence Agency (NIA) operatives who questioned me and threatened me further - though I could not give them the answers they sought. Later, I was taken back to the reception room. Two days later, the same pattern of torture was repeated. I was released on the fifth day and told by Tamba that I would be monitored and my fate would be worse if I was invited again to the NIA. More Letters from Africa: I feared that my work would put me and my family in further danger - so I fled the country. With the help of friends I was able to do a course in London to take a break and later flew to Dakar in neighbouring Senegal to continue living in exile. 'Prevent tyranny' It was a traumatising experience - and I am still living with the effects. To this day I cannot drive near the area of the former NIA headquarters. But I believe I was saved from further torture by the phone call I made on the day of my arrest. I had managed to get hold of the BBC, who then contacted the British High Commission in The Gambia. Their inquiries into my whereabouts helped internationalise my case, putting pressure on the government to release me. The two colleagues I had met in detention remained in custody for many more months. My two main torturers, Tamba and Malyamungu, are now dead, but with my testimony to the TRRC I want to name their accomplices as I believe that when the truth is established and perpetrators exposed and prosecuted, the lesson will serve to prevent further tyranny. As President Barrow put it: "Never again shall a few people oppress us as a nation. Never Again!" Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

अफ्रीकी पत्रकारों के पत्रों की हमारी श्रृंखला में, गाम्बिया के मानक समाचार पत्र के संपादक और एक पूर्व बीबीसी रिपोर्टर, लमिन चाम बताते हैं कि वह नए सत्य और सुलह आयोग में गवाही क्यों देना चाहते हैं।


Is the ambulance service in crisis?

Summary: It is perhaps one of the untold stories of the health service. While there has been acres of coverage of the junior doctors dispute, the rising waiting times in A&E and the money problems bedevilling the NHS, the plight of the ambulance service has slipped, by-and-large, under the radar.

Nick TriggleHealth correspondent@nicktriggleon Twitter But of all the parts of the NHS, it is arguably the one under the most strain and where delays have the greatest impact. In England the ambulance service is meant to respond to the most critical calls - known as red one (cardiac arrests and where the patient is not breathing) and red two (other life-threatening situations) - within eight minutes. But latest figures show that in March just 66.5% of red one calls and 58% of red two calls were dealt with in that time-frame, down from 73.4% and 69.6% respectively. To put that in context, the rate of deterioration outstrips every other area of the NHS. It is now 11 months since the red one target was met, while you have to go back to January 2014 for the last time the red two target was achieved. Problems are also being experienced elsewhere in the UK. It is no surprise that the Patients Association has described the performance as "unacceptable". But this may be just the start of the problems. The three unions representing ambulance staff - GMB, Unite and Unison - are balloting members over industrial action on pay and grading. They say this needs to be addressed because of the "huge recruitment and retention crisis" facing the service. Surveys by the unions suggest record numbers are leaving the profession. Christina McAnea, head of health at Unison, says staff just do not feel their skills and hard work are being "recognised". But this is not just union sabre-rattling. The regulator, the Care Quality Commission, is saying similar things as well. At the end of last year the London ambulance was put into special measures with inspectors warning the large number of unfilled vacancies and slow response times were of particular concern. And a report by the regulator earlier this month made a similar warning about East Midlands Ambulance Service, saying there were "insufficient staff" to respond to demand. The ambulance service now deals with over 9m calls a year - double the number it received a decade ago. But as well as seeing more patients, ambulance crews are being asked to do more with them. Some services treat as many as half their call outs at the scene. They have effectively become mini-treatment centres. And when they do bring patients to hospital they are getting caught up in the A&E log jam. Ambulance crews can only get on their way when they have formally handed over patients to A&E staff, but there are reports this is becoming more difficult. Handovers are meant to be done in 15 minutes from the ambulance arriving at A&E. Performance against this is not published, but I'm told non-compliance is now widespread. Clearly ambulances stuck in queues outside a hospital cannot answer 999 calls. It is, in short, a vicious circle - and patients are paying the price. Read more from Nick Follow Nick on Twitter

यह शायद स्वास्थ्य सेवा की अनकही कहानियों में से एक है। जबकि जूनियर डॉक्टरों के विवाद, ए एंड ई में बढ़ते प्रतीक्षा समय और एन. एच. एस. को परेशान करने वाली धन की समस्याओं के बारे में कई एकड़ में कवरेज हुई है, एम्बुलेंस सेवा की दुर्दशा बड़े पैमाने पर रडार के नीचे आ गई है।


Passenger numbers rise for Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd

Summary: A new route linking Inverness and Amsterdam has helped Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd record continued growth in passenger numbers.

Figures for last month show overall numbers across the Hial group rose by 4.1% to 98,109 passengers. Hial operates 11 airports across Scotland. Inverness, Islay, Stornoway, Sumburgh, Tiree and Wick reported rises but numbers fell at Barra, Benbecula, Campbeltown, Dundee and Kirkwall. Flights between Inverness and Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport started in September last year.

इनवर्नेस और एम्स्टर्डम को जोड़ने वाले एक नए मार्ग ने हाइलैंड्स एंड आइलैंड्स एयरपोर्ट्स लिमिटेड को यात्रियों की संख्या में निरंतर वृद्धि दर्ज करने में मदद की है।


London Olympics diary: Quirky moments around the Games

Summary: Another blistering day of sport is coming your way, with Team GB aiming to add yet more booty to their medal haul. But what else is going on in the world of all things Olympic - have you seen an offbeat 2012 occurrence? A quirk, a quote? A notable news nugget?

See what has caught our eye on day 11 and you can get in touch using the form below. Gold letter day Gold medal-winning dressage rider Carl Hester will get his gold post box on Sark, in the Channel Islands, where he grew up, even though the only one on the island is not owned by the Royal Mail. Local post operator Guernsey Post has promised to get behind Royal Mail's campaign to paint a post box gold in the home town of each gold-medal winning Team GB athlete. Silver's never second for some Not to be outdone, in the village of Emsworth where sailing silver medallist Iain Percy hails from, a post box has been decorated to honour his win. The box has been covered in silver tin foil and a sign reads: "Proud of you Iain." Kat Brown tweets: "To celebrate Iain Percy's silver sailing medal, Emsworth has done this WONDERFUL thing to a post box." And Samantha Loveday who took the photograph tweets: "I just love the fact that I didn't see it over the weekend: did someone get up in the night and do it under cover of darkness?" While impressed fans are chasing down the culprit, we wonder what creative people around the UK will do next to honour the other medallists. The joys of public transport You wait four years to see an Olympic team and then along come 204 at once... and one of them was at the bus stop used by business entrepreneur Michael Acton Smith. He has tweeted this picture: "This is why I love the Olympics. Team Rwanda at my bus stop." Skipping rope-gate Olympic organisers Locog are looking into the confiscation of a skipping rope belonging to the world's fastest man as he entered the Olympic Park. Our reporter at the Park, Claire Heald, told us Usain Bolt had wondered why he was deprived of his training aid. Locog's communications chief Jackie Brock-Doyle said: "If it was taken away as he was heading into stadium, that's not correct. "If it was taken away on the way to the field of play, that probably is correct." Should have stayed in bed For some athletes it just isn't their moment to shine. Flyweight Rau'shee Warren, the first American boxer to compete in three Games, is blaming his defeat on everything from failing equipment to not being able to see. "The headgear... it kept falling down over my eyes. Then my contacts fell out in the first round, so I was having to wait for my opponent to get a little closer so I could throw my shots." It just wasn't his day, was it? Can you do a Bolt? If footballer Rio Ferdinand has his way, he may be joined on the pitch by none other than Usain Bolt. Bolt has once again said he is keen to try out for Manchester United football team, according to The Sun. Ferdinand has tweeted in response: "If you want that trial at Man Utd shout me, I'll speak to the boss!! Well done in 100m, waiting for you to smash the 200m now!" Bolt told the newspaper: "People think I am joking. But if Alex Ferguson called me up and said, 'OK let's do this, come and have a trial', it would be impossible for me to say no. "I would not take up the challenge if I didn't think I was good enough. I am a very accomplished player and know I could make a difference. "I would be the fastest player in the team — but I can play as well." The paper quoted Manchester United as saying: "As the fastest man on Earth he would undoubtedly add speed to the team." We will have to wait and see if he does his famous pose after his race, but in the meantime, we want you to send us your versions for our picture gallery. A group of police officers got in on the act yesterday - so get posing and snapping and show us what you've got! Send them to us on twitter using #bbcbolt, email yourpics@bbc.co.uk and put BBC Bolt in the subject field, or text them 61124. We'll retweet them from the @bbcsport account. The innocence of youth He made history as the first amputee sprinter to take part at the Olympics but for South African Oscar Pistorius, he was just another child growing up. Pistorius came second in his heat but finished eighth in the semi-final on Sunday. He was nicknamed "Blade Runner" because he races on carbon fibre prosthetic blades and has been talking about growing up playing sports with brother Carl. "My mother used to tell us in the mornings, 'Carl put on your shoes, Oscar you put on your prosthetic legs'. "So I grew up not really thinking I had a disability. I grew up thinking I had different shoes." My hero Can life get much better for gold medallist Bradley Wiggins? Hot on the heels of his fourth gold medal, the distinctive cyclist has met his style hero, singer Paul Weller, the inspiration behind his famous sideburns. The former Jam star Weller looks just as impressed. Quacking support The animal kingdom is rallying for Team GB, with these ducklings from London Wetlands Centre showing their true colours. Staff have named this single gold duckling Jessica, in recognition of heptathlon gold winner Ms Ennis. Jessica has five bronze siblings, who have yet to be named. Any suggestions? It seems that golden animals are in vogue, what with Monday's golden retriever being named after long jumper Greg Rutherford. Keep them coming.

खेल का एक और उत्तेजक दिन आपके सामने आ रहा है, जिसमें टीम जी. बी. का लक्ष्य अपने पदक की संख्या में और अधिक लूट जोड़ना है। लेकिन ओलंपिक की सभी चीजों की दुनिया में और क्या चल रहा है-क्या आपने 2012 की एक ऑफबीट घटना देखी है? एक विचित्र, एक उद्धरण? एक उल्लेखनीय समाचार नगेट?


US banking justice - Ben Lawsky style

Summary: Another day, another major fine for a European bank.

Kamal AhmedBusiness editor@bbckamalon Twitter Today, probably at the close of markets in America, BNP Paribas will become the latest bank to join the ignominious list of financial institutions hauled into the dock by US regulators for misconduct. BNP will join HSBC (fined $2bn (£1.2bn) in December 2012 following money laundering allegations), Standard Chartered (fined $300m for breaking sanctions against Iran), Royal Bank of Scotland (fined $100m in December 2013 for similar offences) and Credit Suisse (fined $2.6bn for enabling US clients to evade taxes). Barclays is also in the sights of the US regulators. Following its Libor fine, the bank has now been named in a lawsuit over the operations of its "dark pool", a private trading platform for institutions to deal shares. Apart from Barclays, one name links all these cases. Benjamin Lawsky, the superintendent of the Department of Financial Services, the main New York State regulator. Mr Lawsky is a name now high on the speed dial list of every major banking chief executive. It was not always so. Peter Sands, the chief executive of Standard Chartered, would have been hard pressed to say much about him when allegations of American sanctions-busting were first detailed in a lawsuit compiled by Mr Lawsky. The US media knew more about the allegations and the man behind them than Britain's fifth-largest bank. Which might tell us more about Standard Chartered than American journalism. 'Heads roll' Mr Lawsky's approach is very different from European regulators. Evidence is published and incendiary claims detailed. Mr Lawsky has also made it clear that fining institutions is not enough. "Corporations are a legal fiction. You have to deter bad individual conduct within corporations," he said in an interview with The Financial Times in March. Mr Lawsky wants to see heads roll. His Twitter feed, alongside musings on the US football team's performance in the World Cup, includes supportive links to editorials attacking those seeking to defend European banks. One such article appeared in the Wall Street Journal. Its main argument? "Friendly members of the fourth estate aren't the only ones rushing to defend French bank BNP Paribas for allegedly violating US sanctions against Iran and Sudan. Virtually the entire French governing elite has decided that the most pressing economic issue facing the country isn't slow growth and high unemployment, but how to protect a too-big-to-fail bank from the consequences of its actions." If you want to know what Mr Lawsky thinks about the knotty problem of how to actually punish a bank so it makes a difference, it is worth finding 12 minutes of your day to listen to this National Public Radio "Planet Money" broadcast. It quotes one magazine profile of Mr Lawsky that described him as the "toughest cop on Wall Street". During the broadcast, you can hear Mr Lawsky, admittedly on a pretty scratchy smartphone recording from the back of the hall, saying that the constant uncovering of bad behaviour is "like Groundhog Day for the regulators". He asks what are regulators "doing wrong" that they are still uncovering bad behaviour six years after the financial crisis. And why banks are still behaving in the way they are. Effective deterrent? Is BNP's fine the "right way" to punish banks? Will the signal finally change cultures? Certainly, it is of a size (equivalent to a year's profits) that could affect the bank's capital position. That could raise the prospect of a cut in dividend, a capital raise via debt (issuing bonds) or equity (issuing shares) or a mixture of all three. Raising money in the markets is always risky. The need for a prospectus opens up fresh opportunities for "bad stuff" to be revealed. The share price can become more volatile. And, as the second biggest bank in Europe, BNP is also subject of the European Central Bank stress tests which are due to report in the autumn. The bank's balance sheet is certainly going to be under a lot of scrutiny. Mr Lawsky has alighted on the fact that the size of the fine is at least a partial solution to the issue of making reparations count. Add that to a "heads must roll" approach and the US regulators certainly appear more aggressively on the front foot than those in Europe.

एक और दिन, एक यूरोपीय बैंक के लिए एक और बड़ा जुर्माना।


Saving the orangutans of Sumatra

Summary: The Leuser Ecosystem is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern Sumatra and one of the largest single continuous blocks of tropical rainforest left in the whole of south-east Asia. It is also home to the orangutan, one of the region's most endangered species.

Despite Leuser's World Heritage status, it is under continued threat from deforestation by palm-oil plantations, affecting both the fragile ecosystem and critically endangered iconic wildlife. Photographer Charlie Dailey travelled to Sumatra to document the efforts to relocate orangutans in immediate danger. The rainforests are the natural habitat of the Sumatran orangutan. A large proportion of the population lives in the borders of Leuser, with the highest density in the lower peat-swamp regions of Tripa, Kleut and Sinkhil - primary tropical forest with canopies up to 40ft (12m) high. When a palm-oil company moves into an area, large swathes of forests are felled to make way for plantations. To plant on the waterlogged peat-land the companies have to create drainage canals. The orangutans are displaced as the trees of old-growth forests are burned. Palm oil is used in approximately 50% of supermarket products, from food and snack manufacturing to cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. Dr Ian Singleton, director of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), has been working with orangutans in Sumatra for more than 20 years and is committed to their preservation, which means, among other things, confiscating those illegally taken as pets and returning them to the wild. The SOCP team also focuses on rescuing and relocating wild orangutans that have become isolated from their natural habitat. Once rehabilitated, these are released back into the wild. The SOCP is creating two new viable satellite breeding populations in the hope of safeguarding the species. To date more than 350 have been released into the new sites. One of the SOCP's field teams had been alerted to the presence of a mother and baby located in a high-risk area of Tripa, one of the most heavily deforested regions of Leuser. The pair had been hemmed into a tiny part of surviving forest, surrounded by palm-oil plantations. The team was able to sedate them safely so that they could be taken to a safe forest site in Jambi, where they were released. As the rescued pair disappeared into the canopy, Dr Singleton said if the Leuser ecosystem could not be protected from the palm-oil companies and further industrialisation, the Sumatran orangutan would become extinct in the wild. All photographs copyright Charlie Dailey.

ल्यूसर पारिस्थितिकी तंत्र उत्तरी सुमात्रा में यूनेस्को की विश्व धरोहर स्थल है और पूरे दक्षिण-पूर्व एशिया में बचे उष्णकटिबंधीय वर्षावन के सबसे बड़े एकल निरंतर खंडों में से एक है। यह ओरंगुटन का भी घर है, जो इस क्षेत्र की सबसे लुप्तप्राय प्रजातियों में से एक है।


Boobs and Brass: The female band raising cash for breast cancer

Summary: In 2006, two friends decided to break the male dominance of the brass band world by forming an all-female band - and called it Boobs and Brass. Eleven years on, they have raised £200,000 for charity and have more than 600 members across the UK.

By Ian YoungsEntertainment & arts reporter On Friday, Boobs and Brass was given the BBC Music Day Brass Band Award, for the band that best embodies the BBC Music Day 2017 theme - "the power of music". The band was born when brass musicians Jane Nichols and Maggie Betts decided to call on all the female players they knew for a charity concert. With a 25-strong band, the friends expected to raise a few hundred pounds. In fact, they took £5,000. "We were absolutely dumbfounded," says Mrs Betts, a 63-year-old cornet player from Northamptonshire. That first show attracted a big crowd - some of whom, Mrs Betts suspects, were only there because they were curious about the name. "I don't think they were quite sure what they were getting," she says. "They might have been disappointed! "All the girls said, 'That was brilliant, we've got to do it again.' And it's just never stopped since." The band has since grown and split into three branches covering the Midlands, north and south of England. More than 600 people aged between 12-73 are on the database, and the first international offshoot will launch in New Zealand later this year. Before that inaugural concert, Mrs Nichols and Mrs Betts decided to choose a charity each and split the proceeds. Mrs Nichols gave her half to a campaign for equipment at Kettering Hospital, where she worked. At the time, a fellow member of Mrs Betts's regular band had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. So she chose Breast Cancer Now. Over the last 11 years, the Boobs and Brass band members - who are all unpaid - have continued to give concert takings to charity. The total stands at £206,000 - more than £170,000 of which has gone to Breast Cancer Now. It is a cause that has become particularly personal to the musicians. Mrs Betts says about 20 members have had treatment for breast cancer, and three are going through it now. The band has become a support group as well as a source of enjoyment. "It's a very tight-knit community when you've got members who are going through something so drastic," she says. "You just want to be there for them. It's scary. It could be any one of us. You just never know whether it's going to be you." The struggles of those band members have made the others especially keen to keep raising money, Mrs Betts says. "We've had a couple of thoughts about how long this band is going to run. Perhaps we ought to call it a day. And the girls have said, 'No way, we've got to carry on.' "You see a friend next to you wearing a wig and going through chemotherapy and she's still at Boobs and Brass playing - you think, we've got to do it for people like you. It makes you more determined." When they started, the name Boobs and Brass "shook a few people" - and some people still find it distasteful, Mrs Betts says. She tells any critics about the work they do and assures them they are "not just a load of silly girls dressing up and flashing our boobs". But they have provided a refreshing change in the brass band world, which has traditionally been overwhelmingly male. Mrs Betts was the first woman to be allowed to play in her local brass band in 1969. "It was quite a big thing," she says. And now, Boobs and Brass have relaxed their women-only rule. Playing with them in the annual Whit Friday brass band contest in Saddleworth, Greater Manchester, on Friday, were two men. "It's difficult to get lady bass players - it's a big, heavy instrument," Mrs Betts says. "But they're also representing the men who get breast cancer. As long as they're brave enough to put the pink jacket on, they can be part of it. "We don't like to bring too many [men] in. But the odd one here and then is acceptable." The BBC Music Day Award was presented at the Whit Friday procession, and Mrs Betts says it's a reward for all the band's musicians and supporters. "When you are given an award like this, that is our way of being able to say, 'Thank you girls, this is what people think of you. This is what you've done'. "To us that is worth a million pounds. An award like this being offered to us is so very special." Apart from raising more money for charity, Mrs Betts has one ambition left. "I'm hoping that somebody will make a film of it some day," she says. It's not beyond the realms of possibility - Brassed Off meets Calendar Girls, perhaps. A tale of real people breaking the established rules and winning the day with heart, ingenuity and generosity. BBC Music Day takes place on Thursday 15 June 2017. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

2006 में, दो दोस्तों ने एक पूरी तरह से महिला बैंड बनाकर ब्रास बैंड की दुनिया के पुरुष प्रभुत्व को तोड़ने का फैसला किया-और इसे बूब्स और ब्रास कहा। ग्यारह साल बाद, उन्होंने दान के लिए £200,000 जुटाए हैं और पूरे यूके में उनके 600 से अधिक सदस्य हैं।


Man dies after car collides with lorry's load on A92 near Montrose

Summary: A man has died after his car collided with a lorry's load in Angus.

Emergency services were called to the accident involving a Kia Picanto, on the A92 at Kinnaber, north of Montrose, at about 12:20 on Saturday. The 53-year-old driver of the Kia was pronounced dead at the scene. His female passenger, 52, was taken to hospital in Dundee with serious but not life-threatening injuries. The road was closed for about 10 hours. Police have appealed for witnesses.

एंगस में एक व्यक्ति की मौत हो गई है क्योंकि उसकी कार एक लॉरी के भार से टकरा गई थी।


Debt killed my dad

Summary: A year ago music student Jessica Hurst, 25, was told her father had died at the age of 56. Then came the discovery that he had killed himself after getting into debt. As she explains here, it had begun as a relatively small debt for unpaid council tax - but it multiplied many times after the council had him declared bankrupt.

It was Wednesday 4 October 2017. I was scrolling down my Facebook feed during a small break from my opera rehearsal when I saw my dad had posted the words, "Goodnight sweet world." I thought to myself, "This is odd." So I commented: "Have you been hacked? Lol" and I thought no more of it. Several hours later, when my rehearsal was over, I saw lots of missed calls on my phone from my mum and gran. I remember walking along the corridor and picking up a call from my mum who said, "Where are you, lovey?" "I've just finished rehearsal, why?" I replied. "Your dad's gone," she said. My legs collapsed and I fell to the floor. Dad had been found by a bailiff that day at his house, our family home, in Lindale, Cumbria. A few days later, I went to meet the policeman who had been on duty at the time. I broke down in tears when he described how my dad had killed himself. The policeman explained that dad had been discovered by a bailiff intent on evicting him from the house, because of an unpaid debt. He told me dad had left a letter for the bailiff, which he had placed at the bottom of the stairs. It said: "I'm in the first bedroom on the left at the top of the stairs." Dad also left a note for my sister and me. "Jess and Sally, it breaks my heart to write this. This decision is nothing to do with you two. I love you with all my heart. I have been so unhappy in my personal life for so long that I cannot go on. Now that I am about to lose my house as well as my self-respect, I have decided to go." It was my parents' first home when they got married and the place where my sister and I grew up. The house is full of happy memories - of watching TV together on the ancient sofa and crowding around the table with relatives for Christmas dinner. Find out more About 15 years ago my parents divorced and my dad was rushed to hospital due to a tumour bursting through his kidney. He was given 12 months to live and a 15% chance of survival. Although his cancer was successfully managed, the treatment was painful and exhausting. He also had to pay £36,000 to my mother as part of the divorce settlement and £200 maintenance every month both to me and to my sister. In spite of his illness and divorce, dad was an upbeat person - he had a great sense of humour and always made light of every situation. He acted as a bit of an agony aunt for his friends, listening to their problems and giving advice. He organised community events such as bonfires and barbecues and loved cricket, rugby and the village pub. And all the time, he worked hard as a grounds-care specialist sales consultant. I organised a visit to dad's house through the bailiff. He met my sister and I there. "You'll be shocked," he said. Inside I found bankruptcy letters, court letters and other notices on table tops, kitchen surfaces and stuffed in plastic Co-op bags. I went through them one by one. Until he died I hadn't realised my father had been in debt, let alone declared bankrupt. Three days earlier he had dropped me off in Glasgow and helped me move into a flat, ready to start the second year of my master's degree. He had stayed with me all day, helping me to unpack, and called me three times on his journey back home. It was the last time I saw him. He had never stopped supporting me and my sister financially, even though - as I discovered - he had been sliding into debt for 10 years. It all began in 2008 when he missed a council tax payment. Where to get help If you are feeling emotionally distressed and would like details of organisations which offer advice and support, visit BBC Action Line or you can call for free, at any time, to hear recorded information 0800 066 066 When he failed to settle up, South Lakeland District Council billed him for a year upfront. This brought the debt to £1,473. Over the next few years, the debt steadily grew as dad struggled to make ends meet. By 2014, he owed the council £9,332. He also owed smaller amounts to American Express, HSBC and United Utilities North West, bringing the total to £11,738. It was then that the council petitioned to make my dad bankrupt. He was declared bankrupt on 10 March 2014 at Barrow-in-Furness County Court, and at that point his debt started growing at an incredible rate. Straight away he was charged £3,800 in something called "statutory interest", which took his debt to about £15,500. But that was just the start. Over the next three years my dad actually paid £15,000 to the trustees appointed to collect the debt - the accounting and consultancy firm, BDO - but over the same period the bill from the trustees grew to £72,000. Sadly he never sought financial advice and never spoke to me or my sister. He was a very private person and would have seen asking for help as a failure - as a man, as much as anything else. I think he buried his head in the sand, put the letters to one side and tried to carry on life as normal. How did a debt of £11,738 rise to £72,000? Meanwhile, the council just kept sending more letters. The first person who ever turned up at his house to try to talk to him about his debt was a bailiff. And once dad was declared bankrupt, the sum quickly rose to one that he could never pay back. Unlike my father, I tried seeking advice. I set about calling agencies experienced in helping people with debt problems. They just told me that my dad's case was unusual and implied that I must have the wrong figures and details. Eventually, I decided to email my local MP, Tim Farron, who got in touch with South Lakeland District Council, who then got in touch with BDO, the trustees. I also emailed the bailiff to tell him about my dad's cancer and he said he would wait until I had finished my master's degree before clearing the house. Soon after that, BDO told me that they were willing to reduce the debt owed by my dad's estate to £35,869. Then, a little while later, they cut it to £25,100. It felt like a process of haggling. If only they'd negotiated with my dad, he might still be here today. Even the new, reduced debt is not a sum my sister and I can pay, however. I am a student and my sister is unemployed. We can't afford legal advice, so it looks as though we will lose the house we grew up in, as well as our dad. I would like to know why the council decided to take my dad down the route of petitioning to make him bankrupt, when other routes were available. How did South Lakeland District Council handle the case? I understand that my dad didn't reply to the council's letters and that must have been frustrating. But if a client has been a good citizen, paid his council tax all his life and then suddenly stops, there must be something wrong. I believe that in those circumstances the council should try to reach out to that person. Sadly, suicide rates for men over 50 are increasing. This is a generation that doesn't always find it easy to talk about problems. People should be aware of this, and try to talk to them instead. If not, this will happen again. And no young person should be left without their father because of a few thousand pounds of debt. Michael Fisher, revenues and benefits manager for South Lakeland District Council, told the BBC: "Now we have the full picture of Mr Hurst's situation, we do regret starting the bankruptcy process. We would not have taken this course of action had we had the full picture from the outset. Mr Hurst did not co-operate and the reason his fees are as high as they are is because of the amount of time and effort which has been spent on trying to recover the monies that were outstanding. Really, I think Mr Hurst's case teaches us all a lesson - if anybody is experiencing any financial difficulties, they should speak to their creditors at the first opportunity. The earlier you speak to your creditors, the easier it is to resolve. I don't think burying your head in the sand is ever a solution." The trustees, BDO, said they kept "detailed time records" for every case they handled and that many of the charges on Nigel Hurst's bill were "legal and regulatory matters" that did not necessarily bring them any financial benefit. They have now offered to waive their fees in Nigel Hurst's case. Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

एक साल पहले संगीत की छात्रा 25 वर्षीय जेसिका हर्स्ट को बताया गया था कि उनके पिता की 56 साल की उम्र में मृत्यु हो गई थी। फिर पता चला कि उन्होंने कर्ज में डूबने के बाद आत्महत्या कर ली थी। जैसा कि उन्होंने यहां बताया, यह भुगतान नहीं किए गए परिषद कर के लिए अपेक्षाकृत छोटे ऋण के रूप में शुरू हुआ था-लेकिन परिषद द्वारा उन्हें दिवालिया घोषित करने के बाद यह कई गुना बढ़ गया।


Indigenous Australia exhibition tells many stories

Summary: It is just past 8 a.m. on a chilly London morning and the gates of the British Museum have yet to open. An enormous exhibition banner flaps gently in the breeze as a small group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women crane their necks upwards to read the words: 'Indigenous Australia: enduring civilization'.

By Paola TotaroLondon The long awaited exhibition, some six years in the making, has just opened and the group, including Simon Hogan, a senior man and artist of the Spinifex people who is now well into his 80s, is here to see the show. Yolngu men Wukun Wanambi and Ishmael Marika help conduct a ceremonial welcome to re-connect the artefacts with their people. As the sound of a yidaki (didgeridoo) and Aboriginal song fill Gallery 35, there are wide smiles and teary eyes. For Gaye Sculthorpe, the exhibition's curator, it is a significant and moving moment. Imperial legacy Ms Sculthorpe, of Tasmanian Aboriginal ancestry and now curator of the British Museum's Oceania collection, is at the heart of a newly ignited debate on the institution's imperial legacy and the vexed "ownership", provenance and possible future repatriation of key objects in the 6,000-piece collection. Aboriginal advocates in Australia have focused on this issue, raising the possibility of a re-run of the 2004 Australian legal challenge to return bark objects loaned by the British Museum to Museum Victoria. The exhibition contains some of the earliest objects collected from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by British colonists and missionaries after 1770. Most have never been seen in public before. They tell the dual stories of a 60,000-year-old, living culture and the struggle to survive colonisation, along with the contemporary role of museums holding such collections. A scholar, activist and curator for more than three decades, Ms Sculthorpe is no stranger to such controversies, having helped develop policy during the earliest negotiations in the 1990s on the repatriation of human remains to Aboriginal communities in the Australian state of Victoria. Speaking with the BBC just 24 hours before the ceremony, Ms Sculthorpe is pensive but exudes a quiet confidence. "For me, it is the Indigenous voices that come through that are so important. You can see that when they visit - listen to them, hear what they say," she says. The exhibition is the product of an extraordinary, behind-the-scenes project that has seen Ms Sculthorpe and her team open the British Museum's stores and collections to scores of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors who have come looking for artefacts and objects significant to them. Permanent display Launched in 2011 as part of a research collaboration with the National Museum of Australia and the Australian National University, the project has offered Indigenous communities access to important parts of the museum collections. It aims to help them reconnect with significant traditional objects and add to local knowledge, while also helping to improve the museum's own understanding and documentation. The project is particularly important in light of a recent announcement by the museum's Director, Neil MacGregor, that there may be a permanent Indigenous display at the British Museum. "We have had many people who come to look at an object from their area: to be with it is an emotional experience for those individuals and to be there at the moment of sharing that first view is very special", says Ms Sculthorpe. Ishmael Marika, a 24-year-old Yolngu man from north-east Arnhem Land is in London with the Indigenous delegation. A film-maker at Buku-Larrnnggay Mulka art centre in Yirrkala, he is working to try to digitise the complexity and richness of the Yolngu culture. Already, hundreds of thousands of photos, video, audio files and early stills have been archived as part of the project known as Mulka, or "keeping things safe". Kade McDonald, art co-ordinator for the centre, remembers Mr Marika in the collection stores of the museum, surrounded by artefacts including an ancient yidaki. "Everyone had curators' white gloves on looking at objects but Ishmael just picked it up and started to play it. That is what it was for him, completely natural, to be used, alive. It was quite a moment". Collecting continues Ms Sculthorpe says people are often surprised to learn the museum is still collecting. "Documenting contemporary Aboriginal values and beliefs is also ongoing. People might make generalisations, talk about 6,000 objects being returned, but we have been buying from artists and from art centres to continue to develop the collection and we want to develop it even further. "I think it is important to help people who make decisions about the objects - where they are held and what should be displayed - aware of all the information relevant to making those decisions. "For me, it's really important to do what I can to encourage greater engagement of Indigenous people in the collection and the value of doing so, and the way it is done demonstrates the broader significance of this material." The exhibition is open until 2 August and many of the objects will travel to Australia for a related exhibition at the National Museum in November.

लंदन की ठंडी सुबह अभी सुबह 8 बजे हुई है और ब्रिटिश संग्रहालय के द्वार अभी खोले नहीं गए हैं। एक विशाल प्रदर्शनी बैनर हवा में धीरे-धीरे लहराता है क्योंकि आदिवासी और टोरेस स्ट्रेट आइलैंडर पुरुषों और महिलाओं का एक छोटा समूह इन शब्दों को पढ़ने के लिए अपनी गर्दन ऊपर की ओर झुकाता हैः 'स्वदेशी ऑस्ट्रेलियाः स्थायी सभ्यता'।


Man denies 1986 rape of woman in Nottingham

Summary: A man has pleaded not guilty to the rape of a woman which took place 30 years ago.

John Bainbridge, 54, denied one count of rape via video link at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday. The offence is alleged to have taken place in Vernon Road, Basford, in May 1986. Mr Bainbridge, of Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, is set to stand trial on December 12. He was remanded in custody following the hearing.

एक आदमी ने 30 साल पहले हुई एक महिला के बलात्कार के लिए खुद को दोषी नहीं माना है।


Virtual reality looks for a role in journalism

Summary: I recently visited a refugee camp for Syrians, spending time in the home of 12-year-old Sidra, accompanying her to a makeshift school, meeting her friends and watching children playing football on a rubble pitch or pass the time in a woefully ill-equipped gym.

By Jane WakefieldTechnology reporter It brought home to me the reality of life for the millions of displaced Syrians, trying to make the best of daily life in the face of an uncertain future. But I did not go to Jordan, where the Zaatari camp is based, to experience all this. Instead I made my visit via a virtual reality (VR) headset at the Ted (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference in Vancouver. Film-maker Chris Milk spoke at the event in the Canadian city about how he wanted to use technology as an empathy tool - and delegates got a chance to watch for themselves the film that his team had made. An estimated four million Syrians have become refugees since the conflict began, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), of whom a million are children. 'Changing lives' Clouds Over Sidra, which shows life for refugees from one child's perspective, was made in partnership with the UN and Samsung, which supplied the Gear VR headset. It was made using a 360-degree camera with scenes then stitched together. It was shown at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, where a series of state and business leaders were given the chance to watch it. For Mr Milk, being able to show the film at Davos was important. "We took it there to show to people who can change the lives of the people in the film," he said during his Ted talk. Film-makers are increasingly seeing the benefit of using virtual reality to give viewers a far more empathetic view of things than has ever been possible before. 'More human' Film director Rose Troche made a film about sexual assault on college campuses, which invited viewers to experience the reality of rape from the male and female perspectives. And in 2012 film-maker Nonny de la Pena, seen by many as the godmother of virtual reality films, showed off her "immersive journalism" piece Hunger in Los Angeles, which won plaudits at the Sundance Film Festival. She has since made a follow-up film, also highlighting the civil war in Syria. She told the BBC: "Virtual reality, as a journalistic medium, will follow a similar trajectory as newspaper, radio and television. "And like those different platforms, virtual reality has its own affordances, the most exciting being the embodied feeling of being 'on scene'. This can give the audience a deep and more visceral understanding of a story." For Mr Milk, VR offers a way to "connect humans to other humans in a profound way". Virtual reality, he said, had the power "to change the world. "It is just a machine but through it you can become more passionate and empathetic and ultimately more human." Gabo Arora, senior adviser at the UN, who also worked on the project said: "By leveraging breakthrough technologies, such as virtual reality, we can create solidarity with those who are normally excluded and overlooked, amplifying their voices and explaining their situations." They are bold claims for a technology that many remain sceptical about. VR has long promised and never quite delivered but, in recent months, it has stepped up a gear with a series of announcements and demonstrations suggesting that the technology is nearing maturity and mass-market adoption. Sony, Samsung and the Facebook-owned Oculus Rift all have headsets that provide a good consumer experience. But it still has some technological hurdles to overcome - a lot of people testing the current headsets on the market report that it makes them feel sick or woozy. My own experience of watching the Syrian film was that it was somewhat blurry - something that was not rectified by adjusting the focus or even by wearing glasses beneath the headset. The focus of developers making content for VR is currently on gaming, so can it also play a role in film-making and journalism? "The technology is just at the beginning of being used as a story-telling medium," said Piers Harding-Rolls, head of games research at analyst firm IHS. Visceral reaction "When you experience films such as Clouds Over Sidra, it makes quite an impact. It is not a passive experience and there is a small amount of interactivity because you can look around you. Like any piece of journalism this can be quite powerful. It adds a dynamic to the storytelling." Increasingly, he said, Hollywood studios are looking to the potential of VR as a entertainment medium, and short promotional films are already being shot using the technology. Using virtual reality as a tool for empathy is an interesting way to elicit a visceral reaction from audiences that are now more than familiar with surround sound, 3D and special effects. I can testify that watching the film was a very moving experience. You really believe you are walking alongside the children and experience the details of their lives as if you were with them. If you reach out your hand you believe you can touch them. And when you take the headset off and find yourself in the Vancouver Convention Centre you feel a little disorientated and rather silly particularly if, like me, you have tears streaming down your face.

मैंने हाल ही में सीरियाई लोगों के लिए एक शरणार्थी शिविर का दौरा किया, 12 वर्षीय सिद्रा के घर में समय बिताया, उसके साथ एक अस्थायी स्कूल गया, उसके दोस्तों से मुलाकात की और बच्चों को मलबे की पिच पर फुटबॉल खेलते हुए देखा या बुरी तरह से सुसज्जित जिम में समय बिताया।


What chance for a new 'centre ground' party in the UK?

Summary: New political parties have a remarkably high failure rate in the UK. They almost never succeed - but are things different now?

By Brian WheelerPolitical reporter The success of new French President Emmanuel Macron, who created a liberal pro-European party of government, En Marche, from scratch in less than two years, has made some people wonder if it could happen in the UK. Conventional wisdom says a fresh face could never rise so rapidly to the top - the first-past-the-post electoral system is biased in favour of the existing "big two" parties, the argument goes. But politics is more fast-moving and fluid than it has ever been and there appears, to some at least, to be a gap in the market. "The Tories are committing Euro-suicide. Labour is kidding itself that a party with no economic policy can govern. There is a chasm in the middle of British politics," wrote Tony Blair's former speech writer Philip Collins recently in the Times. Dominic Cummings, who masterminded the Vote Leave campaign, said on Twitter this week that a new party looks increasingly "tempting" (although he does not spell out what it might stand for). Even Gary Lineker has got in on the act. "Anyone else feel politically homeless? Everything seems far right or way left. Something sensibly centrist might appeal?" Lineker asked Twitter recently. Within minutes, one of the Match-of-the-Day-presenter's followers had called for the creation of En Marche of the Day, with the ex-England footballer as leader, naturally. Anti-Brexit Conservative MP Anna Soubry sounded like she could hardly wait for the birth of a new party in a New Statesman interview. "If it could somehow be the voice of a moderate, sensible, forward-thinking, visionary middle way, with open minds - actually things which I've believed in all my life - better get on with it." But she was speaking before the general election. Labour is back in business Jeremy Corbyn's better-than-expected performance at the general election has killed off any talk of new parties in the Labour ranks, for now. "Moderate" Labour MPs who thought Mr Corbyn was leading their party to oblivion have been forced to eat their words and rally behind him, as he agitates for another general election. But the truce may be temporary, says Prof Tim Bale, of London's Queen Mary university, with continued "scepticism" among Labour MPs about "whether the direction Jeremy Corbyn is taking the Labour Party can actually get it into government in the long term". "I don't think the split between the Parliamentary Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn has gone away. It's probably gone underground for a little bit but it hasn't disappeared," he adds. We already have a centre ground party "Why don't you join the Liberals?" is the taunt currently being directed at "moderate" Labour MPs by the more hard core Corbynistas. Lib Dem leader elect Sir Vince Cable has said he would happily provide shelter for "refugees" from Labour but he is directing his energy towards "cross-party" working to scupper what he regards as Theresa May's "hard" Brexit. With just 12 MPs, he knows that this is his party's best hope of wielding any real influence, for now. The rise of the 'definitely-not-a-new-party' If launching a new party is too hard, why not launch something that looks a bit like a new party but isn't? Something that could, perhaps, be quickly turned into one if the time was right. Earlier this year, Tony Blair launched a "new policy platform to refill the wide open space in the middle of politics". The former Labour prime minister insisted his Institute for Global Change was more than a think tank, saying it will arm politicians with policies to "rebuild" the centre ground and combat the growth of right wing populism. Former Lib Dem leader, Lord Ashdown, has, meanwhile, helped to set up More United, an organisation inspired by the words of murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, who famously appealed for tolerance in her maiden Commons speech. More United pumped some fairly serious cash into the campaigns of mainly Labour and Lib Dem MPs - the sole Tory was Anna Soubry - at this year's general election. The money was raised through crowdfunding and the MPs who got elected, and who had signed up to More United's policy agenda - tolerance, "working with the EU" and fighting inequality - are proudly displayed on the group's website, sans party branding. Bye, then Recent British politics is littered with the remains of dead parties. Here are just a few of them: Libertas - Ambitious attempt to set up a pan-European party by Irish telecom magnate Declan Ganley. Won one European Parliament seat in France. Veritas - Where Robert Kilroy-Silk went when he stormed out of UKIP. Merged with another Eurosceptic fringe outfit, the English Democrats, after Kilroy-Silk's departure. NO2EU - Late rail union leader Bob Crow's bid to make the left-wing case for leaving the EU. Morphed into a trade-unions-against-the-EU campaign. The Jury Team - Late millionaire Tory donor Sir Paul Judge poured money into independent candidates. Few were elected. Your Party - An early stab at crowd sourcing policies by a group of marketing executives. Met with apathy and quietly killed off. It can be done It is not all doom - small parties can and do break through on to the national stage in the UK. The public are willing to give them a hearing in a way that they never did in the past - witness the seven-way debates at election time and the extraordinary rise of the SNP. But the ones that succeed tend to be born in the angry margins, speaking up for voters who feel their views are being ignored by the mainstream. The "centre ground" tends to be the preserve of political insiders, who can come with a lot of unhelpful baggage. UKIP and the Green Party both built successful grass-roots movements from the ground up, gaining their first foothold in the European Parliament, which uses a form of proportional representation and is therefore kinder to smaller parties. Neither has been able to get more than one MP elected at Westminster, however. To do that, you probably still need to attract significant numbers of MPs from other parties, to make you look like a serious contender for power. Like the SDP did. Three letters that spell disaster? They were going to "break the mould of British politics" and for a brief period it looked like they might just do it. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) was formed in the early 1980s by a group of high-profile Labour MPs disillusioned with the "hard left" direction their party was taking. The new "centre ground" force soared in the opinion polls and eventually recruited 28 Labour MPs, and one Tory, to its ranks. Their efforts to gain power through an alliance with the Liberal Party succeeded in getting a quarter of votes at the 1983 election, but, thanks to first-past-the-post voting, that only translated into 23 MPs. They had a similar result in 1987 prompting moves which ended up with a merger with the older party - to form what would become the Liberal Democrats. The Lib Dems went on to get more than 50 MPs at later elections but the party has so far failed to match their 1980s vote share. Waiting for the great leap forward The SDP never quite died. David Owen's party lives on, minus David Owen or any of the original "gang of four" founders, its flickering flame kept alive by a handful of diehards who never accepted the merger with the Liberals and new members attracted by what they see as its "sensible", centrist message. "Just because we failed once, it doesn't mean we are going to fail again," says SDP leader Steve Winstone, a former UKIP election candidate. Today's SDP, which got fewer than 500 votes at the general election, is all about "direct democracy", electoral reform and regional government. It is based in Sheffield and claims to be growing quickly. The Liberal Party also survived the 1988 merger. Its leader, Steve Radford, got 2,000 more votes than the Liberal Democrat candidate at this year's general election in the Liverpool, West Derby constituency, although still finished third. He looks forward to the creation of a new centre ground party at Westminster because it would "take a great weight off our shoulders", ending the public's confusion between the Liberal Democrat "defectors" and his own party, which he says is the true home of "liberalism". "They (the Lib Dems) have damaged our brand," he tells BBC News. The SDP and the Liberal Party are both in favour of Brexit because, they say, the people voted for it. Neither leader would discuss the size of their parties' membership, but it is not a large number. Oh, and - 80s nostalgists take note - Steve Winstone has not ruled out an alliance with the Liberals to fight for electoral reform... 'We live in interesting times' So, if building a movement from the grass roots is a non-starter, if you have ambitions of running the country, but launching a new party with the same old, tarnished Westminster faces is likely to turn voters off, then what exactly would it take? "You would need at least 100 or so MPs," and it would need to be a "spectacular" and game-changing coup, says Prof Tim Bale. "It would need to be exciting enough - and big enough and sexy enough - to convince people." A charismatic leader, without too much baggage (sorry, Tony) is a must. And timing would be everything. If the launch is too far from the next general election, the shine could come off and the whole enterprise come crashing to the ground before anyone gets a chance to vote for it, says Prof Bale. The disappointing performance of the Lib Dems at the general election suggests a new party would need to have a broader policy agenda than just being against Brexit, he adds. "It still seems to me to be unlikely. But we do live in interesting times so I wouldn't rule anything out."

ब्रिटेन में नए राजनीतिक दलों की विफलता दर उल्लेखनीय रूप से अधिक है। वे लगभग कभी सफल नहीं होते हैं-लेकिन क्या अब चीजें अलग हैं?


Leicester Royal Infirmary's intensive care unit reopens

Summary: Leicester Royal Infirmary's intensive care unit has reopened after being closed following the discovery of a patient with a rare superbug.

A patient was found to be infected with Acinetobacter baumannii, a bacteria that is resistant to a wide range of antibiotics. The unit closed on Friday and has now been steam cleaned and disinfected, a hospital spokesperson said. The hospital continued to provide intensive care on other wards. Up to 10 non-urgent operations had to be cancelled as a result of the closure.

लीसेस्टर रॉयल इन्फर्मरी की गहन देखभाल इकाई एक दुर्लभ सुपरबग के साथ एक रोगी की खोज के बाद बंद होने के बाद फिर से खुल गई है।


Iraqi Christian refugees lament lives destroyed by IS

Summary: "My daughter was the first to be born in exile here in Jordan," says Abu Safwan, cradling the tiny infant in his arms, amidst the din of displaced Iraqi Christians sheltering in a Catholic centre outside the Jordanian capital, Amman.

By Dale GavlakAmman, Jordan First escaping to the northern city of Irbil, some 1,800 Iraqi Christians from Mosul and surrounding villages are now temporarily sheltering in Jordan. They have come at the invitation of the country's ruler, King Abdullah II, with assistance from the Catholic humanitarian aid agency, Caritas. The latest batch arrived last week. "Militants from the so-called Islamic State uprooted and expelled us from our country. We left Mosul broken," Mr Safwan says of his hometown - the centre of Iraq's Christian heartland for the past 1,600 years until this summer when they were forced to convert to Islam, flee or be killed. "They took away our homes and businesses and slaughtered our Bishop Faraj and priests Ragheed and Boulous. How could we ever possibly return there?" he implores. 'Dark film' Earlier this month, the United Nations reported that Islamic State had committed a "staggering array" of systematic and widespread human rights abuses and "acts of violence of an increasingly sectarian nature" in Iraq. It alleged that it had carried out possible war crimes including mass executions, the use of child soldiers and the kidnapping of women and girls to use as sex slaves. The Christians also maintain that "crimes against humanity" have been committed against them and Iraq's other minorities - such as the Yazidis - by Islamic State militants, and urge international help. "They put a red letter 'N' on my house, signifying 'Nasrani,' meaning Christian in Arabic, and declared it to be the property of Islamic State. I've lost my shop, everything I ever had in life," says Abu Suleiman, a man in his 60s from Mosul. "How do I live after that? All of our human rights have been abused. Now I've heard that a militant from Afghanistan is living in my family's home. This is unbearable for us," he says, shaking his head. "We only survived because we escaped from the city early in the morning. Other Christians had their cars, gold, money, even diapers stolen from them by Islamic State militants," he says. Most are now penniless, fleeing with just the clothes on their backs, and are dependent on the generosity of others. "We walked to a safe area under Kurdish control and slept under the trees in Irbil until we arrived in Jordan," Ms Suleiman says of his family of seven. Businessman Jassam Hanna says his beloved city of Mosul has been turned into a "dark, dystopian end of times film" with the IS takeover in June. "Men ran around with swords. How can this be happening in the 21st Century? There is no humanity in Iraq. It's dead," he angrily told Jordanian Catholic and Muslim officials during a recent day of solidarity with the Iraqi refugees. 'Decisive' battle Mr Hanna's father built a prosperous business over the past 40 years, owning three shops, he said. But after the IS occupation, a militant told Mr Hanna he should "pay" to keep his shop. Also the 33-year-old Christian says a teenager came to the family home and announced he was the new "governor". "He declared the region was part of Islamic State, including my house and property. It's enough. This is my family's property and we worked for it," Mr Hanna says. "But in the end, we had to flee for our lives." The Christian refugees expressed resentment that neither Iraqi nor US troops came to Mosul's aid when IS laid siege to Iraq's second largest city. "America did nothing for Mosul when Christians were forced to flee the city," says Mr Suleiman. "It was a different story when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990." "It has been four months, since IS took over Mosul and neither the Iraqi military nor the Americans have tried to regain control," adds Mr Hanna. The latest US air strikes began in Iraq in August in an effort to help Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar to escape being massacred by IS. John Allen, US President Barack Obama's envoy for the coalition against IS, recently said the battle to retake Mosul, Iraq's largest jihadist hub, could take up to a year to plan, adding it would demand as much preparation as possible. Meanwhile, Gen Martin Dempsey, the US' military commander, told ABC's This Week on Sunday that Mosul could at some point be the "decisive" battle in the ground campaign which may require US ground troops working alongside Iraqi forces. Nevertheless, most Christians said they will never return to Iraq as long as IS is around. Jordanian Catholic leaders and Muslim officials have expressed concern that this latest wave of displaced Iraqi Christians could lead to more and more of their number forsaking their historic home for the West - a growing trend among Christians across a turbulent Middle East.

जॉर्डन की राजधानी अम्मान के बाहर एक कैथोलिक केंद्र में शरण ले रहे विस्थापित इराकी ईसाइयों के शोरगुल के बीच, छोटे शिशु को गोद में लिए अबू सफवान कहते हैं, "मेरी बेटी जॉर्डन में निर्वासन में पैदा होने वाली पहली थी।"


The Kashmiri fighters who lost their cause

Summary: In the quagmire of Kashmir militancy, those who took up arms for independence appear to have been quashed. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan investigates the fate of the Kashmiri fighters who did not want to be ruled by India or Pakistan.

Ismat Karim gives a harrowing account of a recent 20-day detention in what he calls a "torture cell". Mr Karim says he was held along with two other residents of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and describes how they were "punished and interrogated" in turn for half-an-hour every evening. "They would whip us with lashes, and ask the whereabouts of a person whose name we had never heard." They were given no reason for their arrest. Mr Karim was an emotional and aggressive activist who belonged to the United Kashmir Peoples National Party (PNP), which advocates a sovereign Kashmir, independent of both India and Pakistan. He says that he had been rounded up by Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Pakistan's military spokesman, Athar Abbas, told the BBC that all such allegations were simply not true. But Mr Karim has now quit politics out of fear. Independence hopes In Kashmir, such groups are called pro-independence, as opposed to pro-Pakistan groups that advocate union with Pakistan. Pakistan and India went to war over Kashmir in 1948. A ceasefire negotiated by the United Nations left the region divided between the two countries, pending a final resolution which still remains elusive. While initially there was a predominantly pro-Pakistan sentiment across the region, over the last few decades many pro-independence groups have emerged. Pakistan's security establishment, which India accuses of fuelling an insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir since 1989, views these groups with suspicion. Abdul Majeed is a member of one. Many years ago while he was a student he was implicated in as many as 47 different criminal offences ranging from murder and treason to rioting and theft. "For three months I was in a police lock-up. When the court set aside one case, they would bring another one against me," he says. Finally, a senior law enforcement official summoned him to his office and told him that if he withdrew from student politics, the court cases would be quashed. "I assured him accordingly. Three days later I was released. I stayed away from politics for several years." Former Kashmiri militants who later gave up fighting have also been under pressure. The first group of fighters to renounce militancy was linked to the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), a secular, pro-independence group that started the 1989 insurgency in Indian Kashmir. Pro-Pakistan fighters Pakistan's government denies any involvement with militant groups in Kashmir. But security sources and analysts maintain that certain elements of the ISI are involved in Kashmiri militancy. According to JKLF leaders, the group was initially supported by Pakistan and its fighters crossed into Pakistan-administered Kashmir where they were trained by the military. But when the uprising became popular, the Pakistani authorities decided to abandon JKLF and field a pro-Pakistan force instead. In the early 1990s an Islamic group of Kashmiri fighters, Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), was introduced into the conflict with a mandate to fight both the Indian forces and the JKLF, analysts say. Thus cornered, many JKLF fighters laid down their arms and quietly slipped into a life of social and economic exclusion. Abdul Wadood is one such fighter. Once a top JKLF commander in the Baramulla region of Indian-administered Kashmir, he now lives in a tent with his wife and two children in a village near Muzaffarabad. "My future is a lost cause, and that of my children is at stake. It's a traumatic existence," he says. By the mid-1990s, frustration also started to creep into the HM ranks as the insurgency descended into a stalemate and the local population began to suffer the fallout from the conflict. "The problem which we left our homes to resolve has remained where it was. For a while we thought it was holy war. Now I think it's just business," says Abdul Rauf, a former HM militant. Originally from a merchant family of Sopore on the Indian side, Mr Rauf now makes a living as a construction worker in Muzaffarabad. As the Kashmiri fighters became increasingly disillusioned, activists say the Pakistani security establishment started to raise Pakistani groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad to keep the conflict going in Indian Kashmir. These groups still have offices and camps in several parts of Pakistani Kashmir, says Fazal Mehmood Baig, a lawyer and pro-independence activist. "They conduct open propaganda campaigns to promote jihad, while those who oppose them are threatened, beaten up and arrested," he says. Missing 'warriors' In 2004, former Kashmiri fighters tried to organise a group they called the "Real Warriors" which opposed the activities of the pro-Pakistani militant groups. But it soon became defunct when, according to one group member, some of its leaders were picked up by the ISI and others were threatened with incarceration. Mr Baig says hundreds of pro-independence activists and former militants are currently missing, and are presumed to be held by the ISI. The authorities in Muzaffarabad do not dispute this claim, but justify such action on the grounds that local laws do not allow pro-independence politics. "There may be some innocent people among [those arrested] … there may be mistakes made [by the intelligence operatives] … but the imperatives of national defence sometimes necessitate such arrests…" says Sardar Atique Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. As resentment in the region continues to simmer, activists with aspirations for independence have found themselves without their voices and their guns. Some names have been changed

कश्मीर आतंकवाद के दलदल में, स्वतंत्रता के लिए हथियार उठाने वालों को रद्द कर दिया गया प्रतीत होता है। बीबीसी के एम इलियास खान उन कश्मीरी लड़ाकों के भाग्य की जांच करते हैं जो भारत या पाकिस्तान द्वारा शासित नहीं होना चाहते थे।


Turpins: The 'happy family' at centre of torture allegations

Summary: They lived in a smart suburban home, owned nice cars and posed together on family holidays. Outwardly, the California couple accused of torturing, imprisoning and endangering their 13 children presided over a happy American family.

But when police entered their home on Sunday, they found a very different reality from the one that David and Louise Turpin posted to Facebook. Prosecutors say they found the couple's 13 children, aged from two to 29, in a state of severe malnutrition. The couple have denied all the charges against them. What have we been told so far? Prosecutors have painted a disturbing picture of a couple who "punished" their children over a period of years by tying them to their beds for weeks or months, first with ropes and later - after one escaped - with chains and padlocks. Punishments also took the form of beatings or strangulations. District Attorney Mike Hestrin said the children were forced to live nocturnally, and were allowed to shower only once a year. There was evidence they were not freed from their shackles to go to the bathroom, he said. He said they were only allowed to eat one meal a day but their parents would taunt them with food. "The parents would apparently buy food for themselves and not allow the children to eat it," Mr Hestrin told reporters. "They would buy food... apple pies, pumpkin pies, leave it on the counter, let the children look at it but not eat the food." Some of the children were suffering from brain and nerve damage caused by the prolonged abuse, Mr Hestrin said. They had not visited a doctor in more than four years and had never seen a dentist, he added. Despite being "home-schooled" they lacked even basic knowledge of the outside world and did not know what a police officer was, he also said. They were however allowed to write in journals, and hundreds were recovered from the home. How was the situation discovered? The alarm was raised when a 17-year-old girl called police saying she had escaped the house by climbing out of a window. Mr Hestrin said the girl and her siblings had planned the escape for two years. He said another of the siblings had escaped with the teenager but became afraid and returned to the house. Riverside County Sheriff's Capt Greg Fellows, speaking alongside Mr Hestrin, said the girl had photographs to back up her story. When police arrived at the house one of the couple's children was still chained to a bed and two others may have just been released, Mr Hestrin said. What have family members said? David Turpin's parents, James and Betty Turpin, told ABC News they were "surprised and shocked" at the allegations made against the couple, describing them as "the sweetest family". They said their grandchildren were home-schooled, and that they had not seen their son and daughter-in-law in several years, although they had spoken by phone. Referring to David and Louise, they said "God called on them" to have as many children as they did. They also said the children were given "very strict" home-schooling and they had to memorise long passages of the Bible. Some of the children were aiming to learn it in its entirety, they said. Despite this, the school listed at their address is on public records as "non-religious". When the grandparents last visited the family, four or five years ago, they noticed the children "looked thin", they said, but they seemed like a "happy family". The sister of Louise Turpin, Elizabeth Flores, told ABC's Good Morning America programme that she had never felt comfortable around her brother-in-law, and accused him of watching her in the shower when she briefly lived with the couple. "I thought they were really strict, but I didn't see any abuse," Ms Flores said. Another sister, Teresa Robinette, said she was "hurt and shocked" by the revelations about the children's alleged treatment. "I always made comments to Louise when I did talk to her, about, 'Gosh, they're so skinny.' And she would laugh it off: 'Well David's so tall and lanky. They're going to be like him'," she told NBC's Today programme. Neighbours recall 'low-key' family Residents in California have struggled to comprehend the discovery at the spacious Turpin family home located on Muir Woods Road in Perris, some 59 miles (95km) south-east of Los Angeles. "I can't believe this. I can't believe this. It's so sad," neighbour Jennifer Luna told CBS News. Andrew Santillan, who lives nearby, told the network: "I had no idea this was going on. I didn't know there were kids in the house." Nicole Gooding, who has lived in the neighbourhood for three years, told Reuters news agency the first time she saw the family was two months ago when the mother and children were cleaning the garden. "I had never seen them at all until that day," she said. Other neighbours expressed concern about the appearance of the children and said they rarely saw them playing outside. The couple had lived at their current California address since 2014, and moved to the state from Texas in 2010. A family who say they bought their old home outside Fort Worth in 1999 shared photographs of its condition with a local CBS news affiliate on Wednesday. The images appear to show extremely dirty surroundings and scratches on the backs of doors and walls, which the family said they assumed were from animals. A neighbour at another Texas address, Shelly Vinyard, told CBS that she used to describe their house as like a "religious compound". She said she remembered asking one of the girls her name, but the girl responded that she wasn't allowed to tell people it. Financial trouble As with what happened inside their home, the family kept any serious financial troubles hidden from public view. Mr Turpin is said to have had a relatively well-paid job as an engineer at aeronautics and defence technology company Northrop Grumman. Mrs Turpin is listed in public records as a housewife, with no income. With many children and only one earner, public records suggest the family's expenses exceeded their income. Bankruptcy documents show Mr Turpin earned more than $140,000 (£124,000) in 2011, but that the family's expenses exceeded his take-home pay by more than $1,000 a month. A lawyer who represented the couple when they filed for bankruptcy for a second time in 2011, Ivan Trahan, told the Los Angeles Times: "To me and my wife, Nancy, who was with me during the interviews, we always thought of them as very nice people who spoke highly of their children."

वे एक स्मार्ट उपनगरीय घर में रहते थे, अच्छी कारों के मालिक थे और पारिवारिक छुट्टियों पर एक साथ पोज देते थे। बाहर से, कैलिफोर्निया के दंपति पर अपने 13 बच्चों को प्रताड़ित करने, कैद करने और खतरे में डालने का आरोप लगाया गया था।