Coronavirus: Nightmare spreads through Russia's care homes

Summary: When Alexei Sidnev saw the horror caused by coronavirus in European care homes he knew he had to act fast. Way back in March, before any lockdown in Russia, he began sealing off the six homes he runs near Moscow and buying-up protective clothing for staff.

By Sarah RainsfordBBC News, Moscow "I don't sleep much. It's probably the hardest time of my life and I've been through perestroika and all the crises," Mr Sidnev confides, recalling the Soviet Union's reform and eventual collapse. But while the businessman shares his own trials on social media, the struggle in Russia's state care sector plays out old-style, largely behind closed doors. "I know of many care homes right now fighting the virus, it's just not public," Mr Sidnev says. 'In our place no-one does autopsies' The story of a Covid-19 outbreak at the Vishenki home for the elderly in Smolensk, 400km (250 miles) west of Moscow, is one hint at how that wider picture may look. "What's happening here is a nightmare," a carer told the BBC by telephone, one of dozens from the state-run home who are now off sick after residents and staff caught coronavirus. All those we spoke to asked to remain anonymous because they want to keep their jobs. "By 3 May lots of residents had a fever and they started dying," the nurse recalled. "I think about eight people died and that's just on my floor." She believes their "accompanying illnesses" were given as their cause of death, rather than Covid-19. "In our place, no-one does autopsies," she said. "No-one even told us there was Covid-19 in the home!" an orderly complained bitterly, in a separate call. "We found out when the ambulances came and they were dressed in those suits." "We sent a lot of people to hospital," she said, and confirmed that other residents had died. The local governor's office did not respond to a BBC enquiry about fatalities and as of Tuesday Smolensk region had counted just 21 coronavirus fatalities in total. Is Russia unusual in Europe? Across Europe, frail care home residents account for up to half of all coronavirus fatalities. The figures in Smolensk are in line with the unusually low overall mortality rate that Russia is reporting in this epidemic, at around 1%. The government insists that's down to early diagnosis and treatment, though it only counts those found to have died of Covid-19 directly. More from Sarah on Russia's pandemic: So is Russia some kind of exception to a shocking trend? The official mantra is that the country used its couple of weeks' grace to good effect, bracing before the full force of Covid-19 hit. The government certainly advised care homes to stop group gatherings and restrict access in early April. On 17 April, a telegram then recommended "full quarantine", with carers living in at work for a fortnight at a time to reduce exposure to the virus. "The statistics from the UK were terrifying and that helped places here hunker down, desperate not to let the virus in," explains Elizaveta Oleskina, the head of the Starost' v Radost' (Joy in Old Age) charity which works with many state-run homes. 'Nothing to pay us with' But the homes are funded from limited regional budgets and full quarantine is expensive as carers must self-isolate for a fortnight between shifts. Staff at Vishenki said their home was already stretched to the limit before the epidemic, with even incontinence pads in short supply. Managers did consider locking-down from 1 May, they said, then decided against it. "The director said she had nothing to pay us with," a nurse explained. By then, coronavirus had already penetrated. "When the elderly started getting sick, we guessed what it was and said it was time to quarantine," a third employee recalled. "But the director said it was just flu, and we shouldn't worry." The Smolensk governor's office told the BBC its care homes had been informed of all government recommendations and were funded "in full". The Fear Factor Covid-19 is now spreading through Russia's care system. "There are cases in places out in the Taiga, 300km from any town, and in a village care home where no Muscovite has ever been," Elizaveta Oleskina explains. Her charity says at least 95 homes have reported cases so far, out of 1,280 in total. Many are old with large, shared rooms and bathrooms. "If a home is big, the virus is like a forest fire - it spreads instantly," Ms Oleskina warns, stressing repeatedly that the sector here is battling the same extraordinary challenges as the rest of the world. But there is one very Russian factor. A report by sociologists at Moscow's Higher School of Economics describes what they call the "total concealment" of incidents in care homes, driven by a fear of prosecution for negligence. On Tuesday, the prosecutor's office announced it was looking into the situation at Vishenki; the director has already been cautioned. 'We don't really know death toll' Alexei Sidnev believes in transparency, so that everyone learns vital lessons in this unprecedented crisis. But the man who runs six facilities called Senior Homes near Moscow suspects that old habits die hard. "We now know what happened roughly 30 years ago: we learned about it from an HBO series," the businessman says, referring to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and Soviet cover-up, recently dramatised on TV. "The true amount of the death toll and what's happening, we don't really know," he says. "Maybe we'll find out later." Coronavirus in Europe's care homes:

जब अलेक्सी सिदनेव ने यूरोपीय देखभाल गृहों में कोरोनावायरस के कारण होने वाले भय को देखा तो उन्हें पता था कि उन्हें तेजी से काम करना होगा। मार्च में, रूस में किसी भी लॉकडाउन से पहले, उन्होंने मास्को के पास अपने छह घरों को सील करना शुरू कर दिया और कर्मचारियों के लिए सुरक्षात्मक कपड़े खरीदना शुरू कर दिया।


How a country suddenly went ‘crazy rich’

Summary: Indonesia, the nation with the world's largest Muslim population, is home to a rapidly growing middle class. As Rebecca Henschke reports from Jakarta, this has given rise to a striking phenomenon - the so-called "Crazy Rich" Indonesians.

The colourful invitation on our cluttered fridge had said it would be a dog-themed birthday party. "That's cute," I thought - and different. Traditionally in this country dogs are not well-liked or looked after. But that wasn't the only surprise. To celebrate their little girl turning six, her family had turned an empty piece of land in Menteng, the most expensive part of Jakarta, into a park for the day. Security guards escorted us off the street into another world. Real grass - an incredibly rare thing in this concrete jungle - had been rolled out. There were also fully grown trees and an obstacle course for dogs. In one corner, a groomer was giving appreciative canines - which had also been specially brought in for the event - massages and baths. In another was an air-conditioned marquee where the parents were sipping freshly made iced coffees - and, later in the day, wine. High alcohol taxes here mean wine is expensive. The middle of the "park" was filled with dog-shaped balloons, a bubble-blowing performer and a slime-making station. That was back in October and I had just got back from reporting the destruction, grief and devastation in Palu, on the island of Sulawesi, which had been hit by a tsunami and earthquake. It made for a bizarre, almost surreal contrast. "Where do you go from here?" I whispered to one of the other parents. "What would an 18th birthday party have to be, if you kept this up?" "It's not what the children ask for, it's really for the parents," she replied. The party bag we left with was three times the size of the present we had brought. I'm not sure why I'm still surprised. Parties like this have become the norm among the upper-class Indonesian children that my kids now go to school with. One family hired a film company to re-edit the Hollywood blockbuster Suicide Squad so that the birthday girl appeared as a character in key scenes. The kids watched it on a cinema-sized screen in the ballroom of a top hotel. On that occasion I had recently returned from a trip to the remote province of Papua, where I was covering a children's health crisis - tiny malnourished toddlers dying in a measles outbreak. When the film Crazy Rich Asians came out here in September, people took to Twitter to tell stories of the "crazy rich Indonesians" they knew, particularly in country's second biggest city, Surabaya. The hashtag #crazyrichsurabayans started trending on social media after a local teacher at an elite school shared anecdotes about the family of one of her students - tales of them travelling to get their vaccinations done in Japan and of holidays in Europe. She is now writing a book about it and there is talk of a movie. Recently, the luxurious lavish wedding of a couple from Surabaya was dubbed the ultimate Crazy Rich Surabayans event by local media. Hundreds of guests from Indonesia and abroad attended, it was reported, and all were said to have been entered into a prize draw for a Jaguar sports car. The groom, it's understood, had proposed with the assistance of a flash mob in front of hundreds of total strangers at the Venetian Macao resort. Many members of Indonesia's growing upper-middle class, concentrated solely in the west of the country, have money their parents would never have dreamed of - and most think it's normal, and perhaps even essential, to show it off. Following a massive reduction in the country's poverty rate in the last two decades, one in every five Indonesians now belongs to the middle class. They're riding a commodities boom - the burning and churning-up of this vast archipelago's rich natural resources, including logging, palm oil, coal, gold and copper. This, combined with aggressive domestic spending, low taxes and little enforcement of labour laws, means that those who know how to play the system are raking it in. Salimun is one of the many who don't understand that system - but has, in a way, also eked out a future for his children that is very different from his own life. He is a street sweeper, paid the minimum wage of £194 ($254) a month to take away the waste of the wealthy houses in Menteng - great plastic mountains in front of Greco-Roman-inspired concrete mansions - piles of rubbish like monuments to out-of-control consumerism. He drags by hand a cart that he banged together from scavenged wood. He is the strongest man I have ever seen. My children call him Superman. He pulls anything that might have value out of the trash, sorts it and stores it at our house - and then sells it on. Salimun lives in a room behind our house - he effectively came with the property. He was squatting there at the time we came to look it over before deciding to rent it, and asked if he could stay. I am glad we decided, after some debate, that he should - he has become like an uncle to my children. He's a farmer at heart who has turned our swimming pool into a fish pond and the garden into a banana plantation. When I cleaned out my wardrobe and left a pair of high-heeled leather boots I didn't wear any more out at the front to give away, I found him wearing them. He had cut off the heels and was very pleased with them. Whatever he earns, he sends home to his family in a village in central Java, going home just once a year to see them. That money from the waste of the rich has meant that his children finished high school and now have jobs in manufacturing, producing goods for the shops in the giant glittery shopping malls of Jakarta. "What's an iPad?" he once asked me. "My son says he really needs one. How does it work?" I talked him out of paying for one, suggesting a cheaper alternative. His daughter came to stay briefly - she seemed very interested in her phone. Salimun might not be crazy rich, but the next generation are already seasoned consumers. Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

इंडोनेशिया, दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी मुस्लिम आबादी वाला देश, तेजी से बढ़ते मध्यम वर्ग का घर है। जैसा कि रेबेका हेंस्के ने जकार्ता से रिपोर्ट किया है, इसने एक आश्चर्यजनक घटना को जन्म दिया है-तथाकथित "पागल अमीर" इंडोनेशियाई।


Satya Nadella's 'karma' advice: 'Deplorable and incorrect'

Summary: When you're a speaker at a "celebration of women in computing", it's probably not a good idea to make off-the-cuff remarks about how women should trust "the system" to give them the pay they deserve.

BBC NewsWashington, DC This is the lesson Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella learned the hard way on Thursday. "It's not really about asking for the raise, but knowing and having faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go along," Nadella said during an on-stage interview. "Because that's good karma. It'll come back because somebody's going to know that's the kind of person that I want to trust," he said. Given that this was a tech industry conference, Mr Nadella's controversial remarks appeared on Twitter and other social media sites practically the moment they were spoken. By morning they were making national headlines. The resulting commentary is the stuff of Microsoft public relations nightmares. "Nadella achieved this emotional engagement by offering up the most deplorable and incorrect advice to women in the workplace since Joan Holloway told Peggy Olson to wear something that showed off her darling ankles," writes Nitasha Tiku on the tech blog ValleyWag, referring to the television programme Mad Men, which depicts office culture in the 1960s. At Time, Laura Stampler writes: "Gender pay gap got you down? Take a crash course from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's Etiquette Academy For Polite Young Ladies: Smile pretty and don't be so unbecoming as to ask for a salary bump. After all, a raise is a lot like a male suitor, and if you pursue it, you might just drive it away." Although the "karma" portion of Nadella's speech gained the most attention, Stampler reserves her sharpest words for "the system" that Mr Nadella says will take care of female workers. "Unfortunately, that system that Nadella wants women to put all their blind trust in only provides them with 78 cents to the dollar of what men earn. And if we look closer at the women Nadella was specifically addressing, the reality is fairly grim: a gender pay gap exists on every level of Stem [science, technology and maths] jobs. In Silicon Valley, men with bachelor's degrees earn 40% more than their female educational counterparts," She goes on to say that some technology companies have even taken advantage of the assumption that women are paid less. She tells the story of start-up founder Evan Thornley, who said earlier this year that a perk of hiring women is that their salary is still "relatively cheap compared to what we would've had to pay someone less good of a different gender". As the outrage grew, Mr Nadella backtracked late Thursday afternoon, tweeting: "Was inarticulate re how women should ask for raise. Our industry must close gender pay gap so a raise is not needed because of a bias." He reiterated the idea an hour later in an email to employees, saying he believes men and women should get equal pay for equal work. "I answered that question completely wrong," he writes. "Without a doubt, I wholeheartedly support programmes at Microsoft and in the industry that bring more women into technology and close the pay gap. I believe men and women should get equal pay for equal work." That doesn't fly for Nicole Kobie of the PC Pro Blog, however. She points that Mr Nadella, as CEO of one of the 10 biggest technology companies in the world, has a unique ability within the industry to close the gap - and it's not by tweeting about it. "Want to close the pay gap? Here's what to do: examine the salaries of women and men at Microsoft in comparable jobs," she writes. "Does there seem to be a gap? No. Awesome; issue a press release about how wonderful you are. But if there is a pay gap? Fix it. Pay them more." In fact, just days before the keynote address, Microsoft released data about its staff diversity. Time magazine's Charlotte Alter uses those numbers to show that at Microsoft, like many tech companies, a pay gap is not the only discrepancy between men and women. "Microsoft's leadership is only 17.3% female," she writes. At the same time, "women make up less than 30% of the entire company as a whole." Thanks to its CEO's remarks, Microsoft suddenly has become the poster child for what critics see as a larger issue of disparate pay in the technology sector and beyond. With the spotlight fixed on the computing giant, we'll see if it has any good karma left. (By Micah Luxen)

जब आप "कम्प्यूटिंग में महिलाओं के उत्सव" में एक वक्ता हैं, तो शायद इस बारे में अनौपचारिक टिप्पणी करना एक अच्छा विचार नहीं है कि महिलाओं को "प्रणाली" पर कैसे भरोसा करना चाहिए ताकि उन्हें वह वेतन मिल सके जिसके वे हकदार हैं।


New £9m lab plan for Dounreay nuclear site in Caithness

Summary: A new laboratory to analyse radioactive and other hazardous material could be built at the Dounreay nuclear site at a cost of £9m.

The facility is needed to replace laboratories built at the Caithness plant in the 1950s which no longer comply with modern standards. York-based Yorkon, part of the Shepherd Group, has been named preferred bidder for the building contract. Work could start in March 2012 if planning permission is given. Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) said the construction project would provide work for 40 people.

9 मिलियन पाउंड की लागत से डौनरे परमाणु स्थल पर रेडियोधर्मी और अन्य खतरनाक सामग्री का विश्लेषण करने के लिए एक नई प्रयोगशाला का निर्माण किया जा सकता है।


Baby among five rescued from sinking yacht in Allonby Bay

Summary: Five people including a six-month-old baby were rescued when a yacht began taking on water off the Cumbrian coast.

The alarm was raised shortly before 10:30 BST about the vessel in distress in Allonby Bay, off Crosscanonby. Workington RNLI, Maryport Inshore Rescue, a fishing boat and a windfarm service boat went to the scene. The two women and baby were taken off the yacht which RNLI crew members boarded and pumped out water before it was towed to safety. Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk

कुम्ब्रियन तट पर जब एक नौका ने पानी लेना शुरू किया तो छह महीने के बच्चे सहित पांच लोगों को बचा लिया गया।


Virtual reality helps demystify voting for disabled people

Summary: Going to cast your vote on polling day should be simple.

By Jayne McCormackBBC News NI Political Reporter But for Dave Morton, who has a learning disability, it has always seemed an intimidating experience. That's why he has never voted before. But thanks to virtual reality technology, he and others have been taken through the entire process in time for next month's council elections. 'Confidence' The learning disability charity Mencap has been working to create a scheme to ease anxieties that disabled people might have about going to the polling station. It walks users through everything, from explaining what canvassers are to showing them how to mark their ballot paper. Mr Morton told BBC News NI he "never had the confidence" to go out and vote, because he found the environment too unfamiliar. However he is determined to vote this year and said being walked through the ins and outs of a polling station had really helped him. "Other people probably don't realise there are people with disabilities who do need help and support," he added. The deadline to register to vote is Friday 12 April, ahead of the council elections on 2 May. Mencap is hoping the new project will encourage more disabled people to get on the electoral roll. 'Basic rights' Its director in Northern Ireland, Margaret Kelly, said disabled people faced "many barriers" in society that most people take for granted. "People with learning disabilities are often excluded in so many ways," she said. "For me, voting is one of the most basic rights in society and and one of most basic ways of being included as a citizen." She said research carried out by the charity in 2014 suggested that only 26% of people in Northern Ireland with a learning disability had voted. There are also concerns that some disabled people have been excluded from voting by turning up to a polling station, and not having enough support to help them cast their vote properly. "We want to give people the tools and resources to help them vote. We should help people with a learning disability feel a bit more important in our communities," added Ms Kelly. The technology is not only for first-time voters. It's also hoped disabled people who have had to rely on carers or parents to help them vote before, might feel confident enough to vote independently next time. 'Every vote counts' One of those hoping to do that this year is Christopher White. He said his mum had to help him cast his vote before and that he had always found the process "confusing". "It's very important to me to be able to vote," he said. "People with learning difficulties are human beings too, sometimes people only see the learning difficulty - they don't see the person." The Electoral Commission has also helped Mencap draw up a guide, in an easy-read format, to explain the process of voting. So what's the verdict from those who have tried it out? Mr Morton said he would encourage other disabled people to test out the technology, and use it to get rid of any worries they might have about voting. "They have the right to go out and vote - every vote counts."

मतदान के दिन अपना वोट डालने जाना सरल होना चाहिए।


Hawick flood protection scheme given final approval

Summary: A council has given final approval to plans for a £44m flood scheme to protect more than 900 properties.

It should allow the project in Hawick to be completed by 2022. Stuart Marshall, who represents the area on Scottish Borders Council, described it as an "early Christmas present" for the town. The scheme was drawn up in an attempt to address repeated problems with flooding in the area. A report to the local authority recommended approval for the plans. It concluded that with no objections from people in areas affected by flooding or by the work, there was no need to refer the scheme to Scottish ministers.

एक परिषद ने 900 से अधिक संपत्तियों की रक्षा के लिए 44 मिलियन पाउंड की बाढ़ योजना की योजनाओं को अंतिम मंजूरी दे दी है।


Canadian helicopter missing off Greece

Summary: A Canadian helicopter has gone missing over the Ionian Sea off Greece, officials say.

Contact was lost after the CH-148 Cyclone took off from the frigate HMCS Fredericton during a Nato exercise on Wednesday. Canadian officials gave no further details. Greek media say there were between three and six people on board. They say rescue teams are searching international waters off Greece's Kefalonia island.

अधिकारियों का कहना है कि एक कनाडाई हेलीकॉप्टर ग्रीस के पास आयोनियन सागर में लापता हो गया है।


Princess Anne to open Isle of Man equestrian centre

Summary: The Princess Royal will visit the Isle of Man on Tuesday.

During her visit Princess Anne will visit the island's prison in Jurby and spend time at the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture. The princess will also open an equestrian centre in Santon and visit Peel cathedral for a briefing on its current development campaign. Her last visit to the Isle of Man was in June 2008 when she attended the Tynwald ceremony in St John's. She has visited the Isle of Man on a number of occasions since the 1970s.

राजकुमारी शाही मंगलवार को आइल ऑफ मैन की यात्रा करेंगी।


At-a-glance: Apologies for the past by UK prime ministers

Summary: David Cameron has described the Amritsar massacre as a "deeply shameful event". Although he stopped short of a formal apology, it joins a number of other events - which predate their arrival in No 10 - that UK prime ministers have tackled in recent years.

By Ed LowtherPolitical reporter, BBC News British 1919 Amritsar Massacre, February 2013 During a visit to India David Cameron described the Amritsar massacre as "a deeply shameful event in British history". Writing in the memorial book of condolence, he added: "We must never forget what happened here." Although he did not offer a formal apology Mr Cameron was the first serving prime minister to pay his respects at the site in person. The death toll at the massacre in 1919 - when British riflemen opened fire to disperse a crowd - is disputed, with an inquiry by colonial authorities putting it at 379 and Indian sources putting it nearer to 1,000. The killings were condemned by the British at the time - War Secretary Winston Churchill described them as "monstrous" in 1920. Unnecessary deaths at Stafford Hospital, February 2013 Prime Minister David Cameron apologised to the families of patients who were subjected to years of abuse and neglect at Stafford Hospital. In a Commons statement on the outcome of a public inquiry into failings at the hospital, he said he was "truly sorry" for what had happened, which was "not just wrong, it was truly dreadful". The unnecessary deaths of hundreds of patients were caused by failings that went right to the top of the health service, inquiry chairman Robert Francis QC had concluded. Mr Cameron announced that a new post of chief inspector of hospitals would be created in the autumn. Hillsborough disaster and cover-up, September 2012 David Cameron said he was "profoundly sorry" for what he called the double injustice of the Hillsborough disaster. He was addressing the House of Commons following an independent report into previously unseen documents about what happened on 15 April 1989. Ninety-six fans died as a consequence of the crush at Sheffield Wednesday's ground, which was hosting an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. The report was compiled by the Hillsborough Independent Panel, which scrutinised more than 450,000 pages of documents over the course of 18 months. The medical advisor on the panel, Dr Bill Kirkup, said up to 41 of the 96 who died could have potentially been saved if they had received treatment earlier. The report also showed police and emergency services had made strenuous attempts to deflect the blame for the disaster on to fans. Mr Cameron said the safety of the crowds at Hillsborough had been "compromised at every level". Bloody Sunday killings, June 2010 Giving the UK government's response to the Saville Report, produced after a 12-year inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday, David Cameron said the killings that took place that day were unjustified and unjustifiable. He said he was "deeply sorry". Thirteen marchers were shot dead on 30 January 1972 in Londonderry when British paratroopers opened fire on crowds at a civil rights demonstration. Fourteen others were wounded; one later died. The report was heavily critical of the Army and found that soldiers fired the first shot. Child migrants sent abroad, February 2010 Gordon Brown apologised for the UK's role in sending more than 130,000 children to former colonies, where many suffered abuse. He expressed regret for the "misguided" Child Migrant Programme, announcing in the Commons that he was "truly sorry". He also announced a £6m fund to reunite families that were torn apart. The scheme sent poor children for a "better life" to countries like Canada and Australia from the 1920s to 1960s, but many were abused and lied to. "We are sorry they were allowed to be sent away at the time when they were most vulnerable. We are sorry that instead of caring for them, this country turned its back," he told MPs. Alan Turing's prosecution, September 2009 Gordon Brown said he was sorry for the "appalling" way World War II code-breaker Alan Turing was treated for being gay. A petition on the No 10 website had called for a posthumous government apology to the pioneer who made significant contributions to the emerging fields of artificial intelligence and computing. In 1952, Turing was prosecuted for gross indecency after admitting a sexual relationship with a man. He was given experimental chemical castration as a "treatment", and subsequently committed suicide. He is most famous for his code-breaking work at Bletchley Park during WWII, helping to create the Bombe that cracked messages enciphered with the German Enigma machines. Slavery, March 2007 Tony Blair said sorry for the slave trade, not long before the 200th anniversary of its abolition. His previous statement of "deep sorrow" had been criticised for stopping short of a full apology. "I have said we are sorry and I say it again," he said after talks with Ghanaian president John Agyekum Kufuor. The most important thing was "to remember what happened in the past, to condemn it and say why it was entirely unacceptable," Mr Blair said. Guildford Four miscarriage of justice, June 2000 Tony Blair apologised to the Guildford Four, who were wrongfully convicted of IRA bomb attacks in England in 1974. In a letter, Mr Blair acknowledged the "miscarriage of justice" which they suffered as a result of their wrongful convictions. Paul Hill, Gerry Conlon, Patrick Armstrong and Carole Richardson, were given life sentences for bombing public houses in Guildford, Surrey. Each of them spent 15 years in prison before the convictions were overturned by the Court of Appeal in 1989.

डेविड कैमरन ने अमृतसर नरसंहार को एक "बेहद शर्मनाक घटना" के रूप में वर्णित किया है। हालांकि उन्होंने औपचारिक रूप से माफी मांगना बंद कर दिया, लेकिन यह कई अन्य घटनाओं में शामिल हो जाता है-जो नंबर 10 में उनके आने से पहले की हैं-जिनसे हाल के वर्षों में ब्रिटेन के प्रधानमंत्रियों ने निपटा है।


Can Microsoft's 'moonshot' carbon goal succeed?

Summary: Tech giant Microsoft has announced two bold ambitions: firstly, to become carbon negative by the year 2030 - meaning it will be removing more carbon from the air than it emits - and secondly, to have removed more carbon by 2050 than it has emitted, in total, in its entire history.

By Zoe KleinmanTechnology reporter, BBC News In an interview with the BBC's Chris Fox, Microsoft president Brad Smith admitted that the plan was a "moonshot" - a very big idea with no guaranteed outcome or profitability - for the company. He stressed there was simultaneously a sense of urgency and a need to take the time to do the job properly. He also said that the tools required don't entirely exist yet. Mr Smith talked about tree planting, and direct air capture - a way of removing carbon from the air and returning it to the soil - as examples of available options. "Ultimately we need better technology," he said. But don't expect Microsoft to roll up its sleeves: "That's not a business we will ever be in but it's a business we want to benefit from," he added, announcing a $1bn Climate Innovation Fund, established with the intention of helping others develop in this space. Microsoft makes 'carbon negative' pledge He expects support from the wider tech sector, he said, "because it's a sector that's doing well, it can afford to make these investments and it should." But historically, isn't it also one of the worst offenders? CES in Las Vegas, the huge consumer tech show, has just ended. It was attended by 180,000 people most of whom probably flew there, to look at mountains of plastic devices clamouring to be the Next Big Thing. From gas-guzzling cars and power-hungry data centres to difficult-to-recycle devices and the constant consumer push to upgrade to new shiny plastic gadgets - the tech sector's green credentials are not exactly a blueprint for environmental friendliness despite much-publicised occasional projects. There was no immediate announcement from fellow tech giants about any collaborations with Microsoft, or indeed similar initiatives of their own - but the aim is ahead of the current ambitions of many, including Facebook, Google and Apple, which have not (yet) made a "carbon negative" commitment. That said, software-maker Intuit has pledged to be carbon negative by 2030, and Jeff Bezos announced in September 2019 that Amazon would be carbon neutral by 2040. Mr Smith made an open offer to share Microsoft's carbon-monitoring tools. "Competition can make each of us better," he said of the notoriously rivalry-fuelled industry. "If we make each other better the world is going to be better off and we should applaud each other as we take these new steps." Mr Smith agreed that "the switching on of an Xbox", Microsoft's games console, was as much part of the firm's carbon footprint as the carbon that went into creating the cement used in its buildings. However, he did not suggest scaling back on collaborations with the big energy firms - on the contrary, we are going to need more power rather than less in the coming decades, he said - and that has troubled campaigner Greenpeace. "While there is a lot to celebrate in Microsoft's announcement, a gaping hole remains unaddressed - Microsoft's expanding efforts to help fossil fuel companies drill more oil and gas with machine-learning and other AI technologies," commented senior campaigner Elizabeth Jardim. Environmental awareness, especially among the under-30s, will ultimately prove to be a big driver for market change, Mr Smith believes. "I think it's interesting to think about a future where buying a product and understanding how much carbon was emitted to create it is like going to the supermarket and looking at what's on the shelf and seeing how many calories it contains," he said.

तकनीकी दिग्गज माइक्रोसॉफ्ट ने दो साहसिक महत्वाकांक्षाओं की घोषणा की हैः पहला, वर्ष 2030 तक कार्बन नकारात्मक बनने के लिए-जिसका अर्थ है कि यह हवा से जितना कार्बन उत्सर्जित करता है उससे अधिक कार्बन को हटा देगा-और दूसरा, 2050 तक उससे अधिक कार्बन को हटा देगा, जो उसने अपने पूरे इतिहास में उत्सर्जित किया है।


Derry peace bridge ready for May

Summary: The £13m peace bridge across the River Foyle is expected to be finished by May, according to the company behind the project.

Ilex said the bad weather caused difficulties for construction staff working on the bridge over the Christmas period. Programme manager Sean Currie said there had been a delay of approximately four weeks. "The snow and ice caused problems accessing the bridge." "Snow had to be cleared from the deck before they could begin work and in the bad weather it was too dangerous to allow anyone to go up in the basket to the masts." A meeting is to be held on Monday to finalise the completion date.

परियोजना के पीछे की कंपनी के अनुसार, फॉयल नदी पर 13 मिलियन पाउंड का शांति पुल मई तक पूरा होने की उम्मीद है।


Revised plans for Guernsey Brewery development

Summary: Revised plans have been submitted by a developer for the site of the former Guernsey Brewery at Havelet Bay.

Thirty-three apartments had been planned at the site in St Peter Port, with work due to be completed by 2016. Developer Comprop said submissions being made to planners would include a redesign which would see more of the planned units moved to the seafront side of the site. The redesign would also increase the number of homes to 34, it added.

हैवलेट बे में पूर्व ग्वेर्नसे ब्रुअरी के स्थल के लिए एक डेवलपर द्वारा संशोधित योजनाएं प्रस्तुत की गई हैं।


Highland cattle to preserve County Durham bog

Summary: Three Highland cattle are being used to conserve a wetland habitat in County Durham.

Hope, Betty and Kate will graze on Wanister Bog, near Chester-le-Street, which is part of the Waldridge Fell Site of Special Scientific Interest. It has been drying out and is in danger of losing some of its plants. The weight of the cattle and their grazing breaks up grass, allowing the area to become wetter. The cows will graze on the bog over the winter.

काउंटी डरहम में आर्द्रभूमि आवास के संरक्षण के लिए तीन हाईलैंड मवेशियों का उपयोग किया जा रहा है।


Israel and Bahrain establish formal diplomatic relations

Summary: Israel and Bahrain have formally established diplomatic relations.

The deal - brokered by the US - was signed in the Bahrain capital, Manama, on Sunday. For decades, most Arab states have boycotted Israel, insisting they would only establish ties after the Palestinian dispute was settled. Bahrain is now the fourth Arab country in the MIddle East - after the UAE, Egypt and Jordan - to recognise Israel since its founding in 1948. Palestinians have condemned the diplomatic moves as a "stab in the back". At a ceremony in Manama on Sunday evening, Bahraini and Israeli officials signed a "joint communiqué" establishing full diplomatic relations. The two countries are now expected to open embassies. Israeli media report that the document did not include any references to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Following the signing, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani said in a speech that he hoped for "fruitful bilateral co-operation in every field" between the two nations. He also called for peace in the region, including a two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict. The Israeli team flew on El Al flight 973 - in reference to Bahrain's international dialling code - and passed over Saudi Arabia with special permission from the kingdom. Saudi leaders have so far resisted calls to normalise relations Israel. Regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran has played a role in this diplomacy - a decades-old feud exacerbated by religious differences, with Iran a largely Shia Muslim power and Saudi Arabia seeing itself as the leading Sunni Muslim power. The UAE and Bahrain - both allies of Saudi Arabia - have shared with Israel worries over Iran, leading to unofficial contacts in the past. US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin accompanied the Israeli delegates. He will also accompany Israel's first delegation to the UAE on Tuesday. The Israeli agreement with the UAE came after Israel agreed to suspend controversial plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. Palestinian leaders were reportedly taken by surprise by that announcement. They have condemned the UAE deal and the later Bahrain agreement. The Palestinian foreign ministry recalled its ambassador to Bahrain after the deal was announced last month, and a statement from the Palestinian leadership spoke of the "great harm it causes to the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people and joint Arab action".

इज़राइल और बहरीन ने औपचारिक रूप से राजनयिक संबंध स्थापित किए हैं।


Man and woman found dead after crash in Argyll named

Summary: A man and a woman who were found dead following a car crash in Argyll have been named by police.

They were 37-year-old father-of-three Jonathan Graham and 19-year-old Jasmine Herron. Their bodies were discovered near a car on the B8024 south of Ormsary at about 09:00 on Sunday. A police spokesman said an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash continued and officers were speaking to witnesses. Anyone with further information is urged to contact Police Scotland.

आर्गिल में एक कार दुर्घटना के बाद मृत पाए गए एक पुरुष और एक महिला का नाम पुलिस ने लिया है।


Atatiana Jefferson: 'Why I will no longer call the police'

Summary: James Smith has never wanted much to do with the police but he called them to check on his neighbour in the Texas city of Fort Worth, because it was late at night and her front door was wide open. Soon afterwards he heard a gunshot, and later saw the dead body of a 28-year-old woman, his neighbour's daughter, carried out on a stretcher.

By Stephanie HegartyPopulation correspondent James Smith is angry, hurt and tired. Every death of a black person at the hands of a police officer takes him back to the moment in October when Atatiana Jefferson was killed. "I have to live with this guilt, with this cloud hanging over me for the rest of my years," he says. Because he was the reason that the police were there that night. At around 02:30 on 12 October he was woken by his niece and nephew, who told him the front door of their neighbour's house was wide open and the lights were on. The owner of the house, Yolanda Carr, had a heart condition and had recently been in and out of intensive care, so Smith was worried something had happened to her. He went across the road and noticed the lawnmower and other gardening equipment were still plugged in, which he thought was strange. So he dialled a number in the phone book to request a "wellness check" - expecting that a police officer would come out, knock on the door and check the family was OK. He didn't know that Carr was in hospital that night and that her daughter and grandson were up late playing video games. He was standing directly opposite the house when the police arrived. One of the officers, Aaron Dean, had his gun drawn as he approached the front door and then walked around the side of the house to the back garden. Seconds later there was a gunshot. "When that bullet went off I heard her spirit say, 'Don't let them get away with it,'" Smith says. "And that's pretty much why I stayed out there all night long until they brought her out." Police soon filled the street, but they wouldn't tell him what had happened. It wasn't until they wheeled a body out six hours later that he knew Yolanda Carr's daughter, Atatiana Jefferson, had been killed. The two families were still getting to know each other. Yolanda Carr had bought the house four years earlier and was fiercely proud of it. Her house is separated from James Smith's by a road and their wide, green, manicured lawns. Smith is a veteran of the neighbourhood. He's raised children and grandchildren there, and five members of his family still live on the same street. Keeping the yard straight is like a ritual in the area, he says, one that Atatiana's family had been quick to adopt. He describes Yolanda Carr as a hard-working lady. "She had some problems in life that she overcame and her home was her trophy." Atatiana had been staying in the house while her mother was unwell. She was saving for medical school while caring for her mother and her eight-year-old nephew. A few days before the killing there had been a car crash on the street, James Smith remembers. Atatiana rushed out to help, and she stayed with the people in the car until the ambulance came. That was just her nature, he says. "She intended to become a doctor," he says, before going silent for a moment. "But that's not going to happen now." Sometimes he would mow their lawn for them, Atatiana would bring him water and they'd chat. The day that she died she had been mowing the lawn herself, showing her nephew how to do it. On the footage from the officer's body cam, released after she was killed, officer Aaron Dean can be seen walking up to a window at the back of the house, where Atatiana briefly appears. "Put your hands up, show me your hands!" he shouts. He has barely finished speaking when he fires through the window. He never declared he was a police officer. Aaron Dean resigned before he could be fired. He was quickly arrested and in December he was indicted for murder, but the trial has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. Fort Worth police chief Ed Kraus said he "could not make sense" of why Atatiana Jefferson had to lose her life. In a press conference he seemed emotional as he spoke about the damage that her death had done to relations between the police and the community. But James Smith doesn't find any of this reassuring. Atatiana's death has destroyed what little faith he had in law enforcement. "We don't have a relationship with the police because we don't trust the police," he says. "So if we can stay out of their way, we're fine." He's more reluctant than ever to call them. Recently, when his sister heard gunshots in the neighbourhood she asked him to call 911, but he refused. "It's an experience that unfortunately, you would have to be a person of colour to understand," he says. "I don't buy the police kneeling and hugging people, because we've been kneeling and hugging and praying for 60 years." He doesn't feel that the case against Aaron Dean is being pursued properly. It troubles him that no-one from law enforcement has come to speak to him since the night of the shooting. It's his belief that if he hadn't spoken to the media the following morning, Atatiana's death might not have been investigated. He's also upset with the pace of the trial. "With the pandemic going on they said it could be 2021 before this thing starts. On the other hand, had it been a person or colour we'd be tried, convicted and have started our sentence already," he says. "We're still holding our breath. Pardon the phrase, but we can't breathe." There are about 1,000 "officer-involved shootings" in which someone is killed every year in the US. These statistics are not centrally collected but various organisations and researchers have been compiling the data, mostly from media reports. According to one of these organisations, Mapping Police Violence, in 2019 black people represented 24% of those killed by police despite making up only 13% of the population. Dr Philip Stinson of Bowling Green State University has also compiled an extensive database on police crime and, analysing cases where police have been arrested, has found that police crimes against black people tend to involve violence more often than police crimes against other races. Convictions for these crimes are rare. Between 2013 and 2019, Mapping Police Violence recorded more than 7,500 cases in which officers shot and killed someone, but according to Stinson's database only 71 were charged with murder or manslaughter and only 23 were convicted of a crime related to the killing. Since 2005, Stinson calculates, only five non-federal police officers have been convicted of murder. When James Smith went on TV to talk about his neighbour's death he learned that this was the seventh officer-involved shooting of 2019 in Fort Worth, a city of less than one million people. But shootings are only part of the problem. In the midst of the George Floyd protests in early June, a Fort Worth police officer called Tiffany Bunton spoke out about the death of her uncle in police custody two years ago. Christopher Lowe died in the back of a police vehicle after being detained by two officers. The body camera footage of his arrest shows officers dragging him to their car. It's disturbing to watch. Though he's compliant throughout the arrest, the officers taunt Lowe as he struggles to stand up and to walk. He tells them he's sick. "I can't breathe," he says, "I'm dying." "Don't pull that [expletive]," the officer says. And later, "If you spit on me bud I'm going to put your face in the [expletive] dirt." Thirteen minutes later Lowe was found dead of a drug overdose in the back of the car. Tiffany Bunton believes his death could have been prevented if the officers had called an ambulance, instead of ignoring his symptoms and insulting him when he told them he was unwell. Five officers were fired in January 2019, as a result. A year later two of them got their jobs back. When I asked James Smith if he was familiar with this case he simply replied, "That's what we go through. So we avoid the police as best we can." Two weeks after Atatiana's funeral, her father, Marquis Jefferson, died from a heart attack. His brother believes it was grief that killed him. Her mother Yolanda Carr was in hospital the night her daughter was killed and was too sick to attend her funeral. In January she was well enough to return home, and James Smith said he'd treat her to lunch. He was waiting for the barbecue place to open when an ambulance screeched down the street and parked outside the house. He rushed over and found paramedics trying to resuscitate her. She was wearing a T-shirt covered in portraits of her daughter, and lying on a cushion that Smith had given her, decorated with a print of Atatiana's face. In early June the mayor of Fort Worth, Betsy Price put out a statement on the death of George Floyd - who was killed in Minneapolis when officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck. In the statement the mayor mentioned Floyd by name but referred to Atatiana only as Fort Worth's "own tragedy". "She didn't even mention Atatiana's name," Smith says. It felt like a knife being twisted in his gut. As he watches protests all over the country in response to George Floyd's death, he wonders why people didn't respond to the killing of Atatiana in the same way. "The quieter we are the more likely that Atatiana is forgotten and I don't want her forgotten," he says. On 19 June Atatiana's remaining family - her sisters and brothers - are launching a foundation in her honour, funded by donations they received in the wake of her death. The Atatiana Project will focus on education and on improving relations between the police and the community. It will be based in the house where Atatiana was shot. On Facebook, James Smith proudly posts pictures of a wall in his home, filled with framed photos of his children, nieces and nephews in their graduation gowns and mortarboard hats. They're smiling, holding rolled up bachelors and masters' degrees. He and Yolanda Carr should be American success stories. A postal worker and a nurse who worked hard, saved money, educated their children and bought beautiful homes on a quiet street to enjoy into their old age. But James Smith is not sure if he can be happy in this neighbourhood again. "I look through my dining room window and I see Atatiana's house. When I wash my dishes I look out of my window I see Atatiana's house. When I sit on my back deck I see Atatiana's house." And every time the image of that night comes back to him. "I'm going to see these people coming across the street and going to the back of the house and bang! I'm going to see this when my great-grandchildren are born… when I'm sitting on a rocking chair." You may also be interested in: Robert Jones was arrested in 1992, accused of killing a young British tourist in New Orleans. Four years later, he went on trial - by this time another man had already been convicted of the crime, but he was prosecuted anyway. The judge who sentenced the young father to life in prison now says his skin colour sealed his fate. Locked up for 23 years - when the real killer had already been jailed (2015)

जेम्स स्मिथ कभी भी पुलिस के साथ बहुत कुछ नहीं करना चाहता था, लेकिन उसने उन्हें टेक्सास शहर फोर्ट वर्थ में अपने पड़ोसी की जांच करने के लिए बुलाया, क्योंकि देर रात हो चुकी थी और उसका सामने का दरवाजा खुला था। इसके तुरंत बाद उसने एक गोली की आवाज सुनी, और बाद में एक 28 वर्षीय महिला, जो उसकी पड़ोसी की बेटी थी, का शव एक स्ट्रेचर पर ले जाते हुए देखा।


Coronavirus: 'Soft play is heading for a cliff edge'

Summary: They are the salvation of a rainy day - where children can fearlessly fling themselves up and down brightly-coloured, spongy mats as parents seek solace with coffee and a chat, the latter usually drowned out by deafening, delirious-with-happiness screams.

By Rebecca WoodsBBC News But soft play centres face being wiped out amid the coronavirus pandemic as one of the last industries to have a proposed opening date. In the last three weeks, at least 15 have closed their doors permanently and many more are set to follow. More than 25,000 people have signed the #RescueIndoorPlay petition, calling on the government to make a decision on reopening or offer more financial support to the UK's 1,100 centres, which employ 30,000 people. There is also concern among operators about the impact closure could have on families with young children, which rely on soft play centres for sanity and socialisation. "I feel for children and parents' mental health," says Helen Whittington, who has started a crowdfunder to replace "tricky to clean" ball pools at DJ Jungles in St Albans and Hemel Hempstead with new sensory areas that would enable social distancing. "We have baby classes, NCT meets and are a place for people to socialise - postnatal depression could increase and children lose the confidence to mix and make friends, share and take turns." Simon Bridgland made the heartbreaking decision to close Big Fun House in Canterbury at the beginning of July, which he'd run for six years. The announcement was met with an "outpouring of love" from customers on his Facebook page. "I was blown away by the volume of comments," he says. It was not an easy decision to make, with 17 staff losing their jobs. "We'd not had any income whatsoever since March. Soft play isn't the gold mine people think it is - you make your money in winter to get through the summer months. Most are in big warehouses and cost a lot of money to keep going." Only last year he opened a £50,000 go kart track which had just a few months of use. Instead, he has decided to diversify. Mr Bridgland runs Snowflakes Day Nursery on the same site, and is going to extend it into what was Big Fun House. Children will have the run of the place and its facilities. "It's going to be one hell of a nursery, what with the sheer volume of space and lots of unique features. "Personally, I think soft play is dead. The kids, they can't social distance. So we were left with no option but to repurpose the centre." Another owner reworking their business is Ellis Potter, managing director of the Riverside Hub in Northampton, who is soon to get a delivery of 80 tonnes of play sand for a pop-up beach on the car park. "It's cost us about £1,000 a day just to stand still with the doors closed, which is a serious chunk of money," he says. "We've received hundreds of emails from parents who want to bring a sense of normality back to their children's lives, because it's the children that are being affected in all of this. "We've implemented massive hygiene and safety measures, and spent tens of thousands of pounds with air sterilisation and antibacterial fogging - all the things that we can do to keep safe but the government are just not having it. They just won't let us open indoor play. "We've 60 staff on furlough who are apprehensive about the future, and we want to give them some clarity. There's been some very dark times but emails and Facebook messages from customers have kept us going." Mikey Johnson, assistant manager of Jungleland in Telford, said the lack of clarity for soft play centres was "diabolical". Takings went down 90 per cent in the week before lockdown as worried families stayed at home. Within a week it was zero. As the pandemic took hold, Jungleland became a drop-off point for a local food bank. In March the firm had 26 members of staff. Now eight remain on furlough, all eyes on the next government announcement. "At the minute it's an unknown," said Mr Johnson. "Even if we have a date, it's the rebuilding period after that. "We'd probably be working at half capacity, and that's just not a viable business. We need bums on seats. It's just a waiting game." Representatives from the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions (BALPPA) - many in furry costumes - descended on 10 Downing Street recently to raise awareness of their #RescueIndoorPlay campaign. The pandemic meant they weren't allowed to physically hand in a petition, but that is gathering pace on Change.org. "We've had a huge amount of support from people who use these centres all the time - they are embedded in our local communities," said Paul Kelly, chief executive of BALPPA. "We want the government to tell us the date we can reopen, or tell us why we can't. There are 1,100 centres and I can't see them surviving if we don't hear something soon. "We are heading for a cliff edge." Lizzie Elston, 45 from Harpenden, mum to Oliver, eight, is among those who are backing the campaign. "The benefits of soft play are massive. Oliver's not into organised sport - we've tried to get him into rugby or cricket, but he's at his happiest when he's jumping off things just being a ninja," she says. "He's always absolutely loved soft play - just being a lunatic - so it is brilliant as a parent because you can have a coffee with friends and know he's safe, either by himself or with friends. It's so important for his physical and mental wellbeing just not being in front of a screen. "It can't be overestimated, the importance of soft play - it helps how they develop, how they learn and socialise, so it's critically important for their mental health." Additional reporting by Vanessa Pearce

वे एक बरसात के दिन की मुक्ति हैं-जहाँ बच्चे निडरता से खुद को चमकीले रंग की, स्पंजी चटाई से ऊपर और नीचे फेंक सकते हैं क्योंकि माता-पिता कॉफी और एक चैट के साथ सांत्वना चाहते हैं, बाद वाला आमतौर पर बहरेपन, प्रफुल्लितता के साथ खुशी की चिल्लाहट से डूब जाता है।


UKIP leadership: The contenders to succeed Diane James

Summary: UKIP is holding a fresh leadership contest after the recently-elected Diane James unexpectedly quit after 18 days in the post. Her replacement will be announced on 28 November. With nominations closed, who's running?

Suzanne Evans The former UKIP deputy chairman launched her bid for the leadership saying she would make the party less "toxic" and aim to occupy the "common sense centre" ground. She told the BBC she would "pour oil on troubled water" after there had been "a bit too much testosterone" in UKIP". Ms Evans was unable to compete in the last leadership election because of a temporary suspension, now lifted, after an internal dispute. A former Conservative councillor, she defected to UKIP in 2013 and is credited with presenting a softer, less abrasive side to the party. She wrote its 2015 election manifesto. But she is also mistrusted by sections of the party and accused one-time contest rival Raheem Kassam (who pulled out shortly before nominations closed) of seeking to take the party too far to the right. Paul Nuttall Paul Nuttall sees himself as the man to "bring the factions together" in UKIP and believes he has "huge support" among both the grassroots and the top of the party. The ex-party chairman, former deputy leader and Bootle-born MEP did not stand for the big job in the summer, reportedly because of the effect that it would have on his family life. But launching his bid this time around, he told the BBC: "I felt that with Brexit that my job and Nigel's job was done and we could hand over to the next generation. "That doesn't appear to have been the case and maybe it's time for someone who's an older hand in many ways." He said UKIP needed to come together as it was currently "looking over the edge of a political cliff". "I want to be the candidate who will tell us to come backwards," he said. "We need a strong UKIP there in the background to ensure that Brexit means Brexit and I believe that UKIP can become the patriotic face of working people." John Rees-Evans The former soldier announced he'd be running for leader on Daily Politics. Mr Rees-Evans describes himself as "a patriot who believes in the innate common sense of the British people." He has not previously held an elected office - his attempt to win the seat of Cardiff South and Penarth at the 2015 general election resulted in a third-place finish. Not standing: Elizabeth Jones Another former leadership contender, Elizabeth Jones came last in the previous contest to replace Nigel Farage. Deputy chair of the party's Lambeth branch, she stood unsuccessfully in May's London Assembly elections and came fifth in last month's Tooting by-election. The family law solicitor is a member of the party's national executive committee but decided not to run this time around. Lisa Duffy A previously less well-known figure in Westminster circles, Lisa Duffy, a town and district councillor in Cambridgeshire, came second in the last leadership contest, with 4,591 votes out of 17,970. She won the backing of key modernising figures in the party such as Suzanne Evans - who was unable to take part in the contest due to a suspension - and MEP Patrick O'Flynn, for whom she is chief of staff. Ms Duffy is a former mayor of the town of Ramsey, and as campaigns director played a key role in fighting by-elections. She joined UKIP in 2004 and stood unsuccessfully against Labour's Hazel Blears in Salford in the 2005 general election. Raheem Kassam A former chief of staff to Nigel Farage, he left his role following a bout of infighting in the wake of the 2015 election and has been editor of the London edition of the Breitbart website. He hit out at what he described as "chicanery and duplicity" at the top echelons of the party and pledged to campaign for a "strong, united UKIP free of Tory splitters". He said he was the man to continue Mr Farage's legacy inside UKIP but pulled out of the contest shortly before nominations closed, claiming the top of the party was treating the contest "like a coronation", criticising his treatment by the media and saying he had not raised enough money to run anything beyond "a digital campaign run from SW1". David Kurten Holding one of two UKIP seats as a London Assembly member, David Kurten sits on the transport, housing and environment committees and the education panel of the Assembly. Announcing his candidacy, he insisted UKIP remained a "vital force" in British politics and has vowed to "not rest" until the country is built up again after decades of "embracing destructive ideologies of political correctness". Before starting his career in politics, he was a chemistry teacher for 15 years. He pulled out of the contest the day before nominations closed on 31 October. Andrew Beadle Andrew Beadle was UKIP's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey and Old Southwark in the 2015 general election. He lost out in the Wallington South by-election of the same year. Mr Beadle said that UKIP "needs a full time leader not a part-time caretaker" and wants to drive the party forward with its "potential" and "staggering ability". Announced he was pulling out of the contest on 26 October. Bill Etheridge A Conservative activist before joining UKIP in 2011, Mr Etheridge has called for major reform of the penal system, including restricting prisoners' privileges, banning visits during the first six months of a sentence and an automatic 10-year increase in sentence for anyone attacking a prison officer. He has also called for far-reaching changes to the tax system, including a 50% cut in alcohol and tobacco duty, replacing VAT with a local sales tax and gradually merging national insurance and income taxes. On 25 October he announced he'd be abandoning his leadership campaign. Steven Woolfe The 49-year-old barrister was a front-runner in the contest - but withdrew, and resigned from UKIP, after a row with party colleagues. Mr Woolfe was taken to hospital after the clash with fellow MEP Mike Hookem in the European Parliament, with the two men giving conflicting verdicts on what happened. He was previously the bookies' favourite for the job, vowing to make UKIP "the main opposition party", to stand up for the "ignored working class" and to bring about a "radically different political landscape in Britain for a generation". But he will now see out his term as an independent MEP. Peter Whittle The party's culture spokesman and most prominent gay representative has dropped out of the race to succeed Diane James. He previously told the the BBC UKIP was "not going anywhere soon" and insisted it was "here to stay". On 4 November Mr Whittle recommended that his supporters back Paul Nuttall instead, saying: "UKIP needs a leader who knows the party inside out and who can command the loyalty of members across the board." Other leading figures Douglas Carswell: The party's sole MP, who defected from the Conservatives in 2014, has repeatedly said the job of leader is not for him Neil Hamilton: The former Tory minister, who is leader of UKIP in the Welsh Assembly, has said he has no interest in becoming leader under any circumstances. Mr Farage, who has a fractious relationship with Mr Hamilton, has said this would be a "horror story".

हाल ही में निर्वाचित डायने जेम्स के अप्रत्याशित रूप से पद छोड़ने के बाद यूकेआईपी एक नई नेतृत्व प्रतियोगिता आयोजित कर रहा है। उनके प्रतिस्थापन की घोषणा 28 नवंबर को की जाएगी। नामांकन बंद होने के साथ, कौन दौड़ रहा है?


10 things you didn't know about Davos

Summary: Every January for almost 50 years, world leaders, the bosses of the world's biggest companies and a sprinkling of celebrities have gathered in a small Swiss mountain town called Davos for the World Economic Forum.

By Katie HopeBBC News, Davos But what is it and why do they go? Here are 10 handy facts to make sure when someone next mentions Davos you can nod wisely and look like you know what you're talking about. 1. It isn't really called Davos Although everyone calls it Davos, the January get-together is actually the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Davos is simply the name of the Swiss mountain resort where the summit is held. The town's association with the glitzy gathering means plenty of rival events have tried to capitalise on the name's cachet, with a proliferation of conferences claiming to be "Davos" this or that. But last year when a Saudi investment conference was dubbed "Davos in the desert" around the time of the controversial death of prominent government critic Jamal Khashoggi, WEF finally hit back. It warned it would use "all means to protect the Davos brand against illicit appropriation". 2. It's not just a conference The World Economic Forum is a not-for-profit group with the ambitious mission of improving the state of the world. Its annual jamboree is officially a conference. There are endless speeches and sessions on everything from the outlook for the global economy to managing stress. In reality, most people aren't there for the sessions but to network relentlessly. Being in a relatively tiny space for four days enables corporate bosses, politicians and journalists to have an incredible number of meetings in an efficiently short space of time with no travel required. This networking carries on late into the night with daily dinners, drinks and parties, put on by the firms who are attending. 3. Meetings can lead to action Forum founder Klaus Schwab started the annual shindig in 1971 to discuss global management practices. Now WEF has a much broader remit, but critics argue that it's still just a talking shop. But the isolated setting of Davos offers politicians a valuable chance to meet away from the public glare. North and South Korea held their first ministerial level meetings in Davos in 1989, for example. Last year, the Greek and Macedonian prime ministers met face to face for the first time in seven years, paving the way to the end of a 27-year dispute over Macedonia's name. 4. Only businesses pay (a lot) to attend The only attendees who pay to attend WEF are companies; all other attendees are invited free of charge. The charge for companies is 27,000 Swiss francs (£20,900; €23,800) per person. But that's not all. Attendees must also be a member of the World Economic Forum. There are a number of tiers of membership, starting at 60,000 Swiss francs per year to a whopping 600,000 Swiss francs to be a so-called "strategic partner". It's a pricey business, but top members get access to private sessions with their industry peers and unlike everyone else, slipping and sliding over the icy pavements, they also get a dedicated car and chauffeur. A price worth paying, some might say. 5. Conference passes are colour coded Improving inequality is always a big talking point at Davos, but WEF operates its own very unequal system determined by a complicated caste system of coloured badges. Yes you might be in the same place as Prince William or the New Zealand PM but it's unlikely you'll bump into them in the loo. Such high-profile guests get a white badge with a hologram on it, giving them access to everywhere - including the hyper-exclusive special backroom meetings. There are different coloured badges for participants' spouses and journalists, all offering various levels of access. The lowest level is a "hotel" badge, which means you can't get into the conference centre at all, but crucially can attend the nightly parties or indeed go skiing. Arguably the best badge going. 6. There are a lot of men In the 49 years since Davos started hosting its annual meetings, men have vastly outnumbered women despite a quota system for large firms who must bring one woman for every four men. "Davos Man" has even become a description in its own right, synonymous with the stereotypical attendee: a powerful and wealthy elite male - whom many see as out of touch with the real world. Of course, this largely reflects the current reality: those at the top in both business and politics are predominantly male. But while photos of the suit-heavy gathering captioned "spot the woman" do the rounds on social media every year, the situation is steadily improving. This year, 22% of attendees will be female. It's not great, but the percentage of women has doubled since 2001. 7. It's not a young crowd It takes time to claw your way to the top and wangle a Davos invite and the average age of attendees reflects this: it's 54 for men and 49 for women. Of course there are some anomalies. At just 16, South African wildlife photographer Skye Meaker is the youngest participant this year, while the oldest is 92-year-old broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. 8. It has its own language Complicated corporate jargon is a hallmark of the conference. What anyone actually means can be mystifying, even to the seasoned WEF watcher. Even the theme of each year's conference is often incomprehensible. This year's is Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. What's it actually about? Umm, we'll let you know next week. 9. It's like flying... without the actual flying This year's attendees include Japanese and New Zealand PMs Shinzo Abe and Jacinda Ardern, as well as Prince William and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Given the high profile of many of the attendees, security is understandably tight. There are snipers on every roof and a secure zone that you need the right pass to access. Every time you enter the main conference centre you have to remove your coat, scan your laptop and bag and then put it all on again. It's like constantly going through airport security without ever flying anywhere. 10. Everyone loves a free bobble hat The attendees may be wealthy heads of state and chief executives earning hundreds of thousands or even millions, but the lure of a free bobble hat is surprisingly irresistible. Every year Zurich Insurance provides bright blue knitted hats you can help yourself to from a hole in the wall. And almost everyone does. Months later if you see someone wearing one, you can nod at each other discreetly. You're part of the Davos set.

लगभग 50 वर्षों से हर जनवरी में, विश्व के नेता, दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी कंपनियों के मालिक और मशहूर हस्तियों का छिड़काव विश्व आर्थिक मंच के लिए दावोस नामक एक छोटे से स्विस पहाड़ी शहर में इकट्ठा होते हैं।


Queer Eye host backs viewers on Netflix subtitle change

Summary: Karamo Brown, a host on the hugely successful makeover show Queer Eye, has added his voice to a social media debate urging Netflix to improve its subtitles for deaf and hard-of-hearing watchers.

By Kelly-Leigh CooperBBC News Fans of the show took to Twitter to complain about the service misrepresenting, censoring and simplifying dialogue from a variety of shows. Tweets by Rogan Shannon, a deaf Netflix fan, in which he demanded that the service explain why it was not captioning word for word, have been shared thousands of times in recent days. His tweets claim the subtitles censor profanity and edit dialogue for brevity. Others accused the service of failing to caption foreign language inserts and correcting distinct dialects into Standard English. Mr Brown, the Queer Eye cast member who focuses on culture, said reading fan comments had broken his heart. After the outpouring of social media complaints, Netflix thanked fans for raising concerns, and said on Twitter that it was looking at fixing some the issues raised - a move that was welcomed by Mr Brown. Subtitles are created in different ways by different broadcasters, with many employing outside subtitling firms. They can be written manually and time-coded to audio, or are generated using dictation software or audio recognition. Gemma Rayner-Jones, 31, from Canterbury in England, uses subtitles to help her to concentrate when watching shows online because of a cognitive impairment. Because she is able to hear and notice the differences, she has been tracking and complaining about inaccuracies in Netflix's subtitles for about two years. She estimates that she has submitted about 150 complaints in that time, and says she has not had a response. "Everyone should be getting the same experience," she told the BBC. "It seems a shame to have a system to report faults there to placate people, but they don't seem to be doing anything about it." She wants Netflix to be more transparent about how it handles complaints, so that users can check in whether action has been taken. Student Chrissy Marshall, 18, studies film at the University of California and runs a YouTube account trying to raise awareness about deaf culture, accessibility and sign language. She was one of many who took to Twitter to complain about inaccuracies in Queer Eye's subtitling. For her, online streaming still remains one of the best entertainment options available. "I don't watch cable or normal TV because captioning is always messed up or lagging. As for movie-going in theatres, the experience normally sucks," she told the BBC. "Netflix is what I use as a primary source for streaming because typically it is the most accessible, but even the most accessible has its issues. "Captioning as a job is not to 'clean up' language, it's to provide accessibility, full accessibility. "We don't care if it's a bad word, vulgar, or maybe inappropriate, if hearing people get to know what is being said, we deserve to know as well." This is not an issue isolated to Netflix itself. While regulations are in place for closed captioning (user-activated) subtitles on typical television services, many on-demand services still lag behind. One YouTube vlogger, Rikki Poynter, has dedicated years to working on accessibility on the platform, lobbying it to improve its automatic subtitle service using the hashtag #NoMoreCRAPtions. 'Second-class service' In the US, the Federal Communications Commission has strict regulations which specify that captions "must match the spoken words in the dialogue and convey background noises and other sounds to the fullest extent possible" - but it only requires the regulations on shows on television, which means that Netflix-exclusive original series may not qualify. The National Association of the Deaf sued and made a four-year agreement with Netflix in 2012, where it committed to ensuring all its programmes were subtitled. Although the four-year decree has now run out, on Thursday the group told the BBC it was "disappointed that Netflix appears not to be providing captioning at the level that was promised" and said it hoped it would ensure it was using verbatim and accurate captions. In the UK, Action on Hearing Loss has spent three years on a Subtitle It! campaign aiming to get the UK government to extend regulation to captioning of video-on-demand content. Dr Roger Wicks, the group's director of policy and campaigns, told the BBC that any attempt by providers to summarise or edit language on subtitles was a "very bad approach" which could lead to people who were deaf or hard-of-hearing feeling "alienated or patronised". "Subtitles are a replacement for speech, they're meant to be verbatim so people have full access," he told the BBC. "Any attempt to summarise is offering a second-class service. I think this is well-intentioned, but it's getting it wrong." He told the BBC his group intended to contact Netflix over the issue. Mr Shannon, whose widely-shared tweets helped spark the debate, wants the company to change and check the way it subtitles its shows. "I'd like to see more oversight on captioning agencies, more strict procedures for checking the captions," he told the BBC. "I'd also like to see those who are doing the hiring, such as Netflix, to check that all the files that they get are accurate, and not just assume they did everything right. "I'm aware that it's time consuming, but this will continue to be a problem if there are no checks and balances. Accessibility really matters." 'There's no reason to miss words out' - Nalina Eggert, BBC News Deaf and hard of hearing people have been saying for years that subtitles just aren't good enough - whether on traditional TV or streaming platforms like Netflix - and it's wonderful that the clamour for change has led to a commitment this time around. I'm hard of hearing and I watch all my on-screen entertainment with subtitles. In many ways streaming has made that easier - if I watched live TV I'd be missing loads of what was going on. If you've ever watched a news channel with the sound off in the gym, you'll know what I mean - whole sentences are missed, random words pop up... But when things are scripted and pre-packaged, in my view there's no reason to miss things out. An estimated nine million people in the UK have a hearing impairment of some kind - more than live in London. Many of us completely depend on the subtitlers to get the meaning across. And many hearing people watch subtitles on their phone when they have no headphones, or for all sorts of other reasons. Programme-makers must realise subtitle users are part of your audience - don't sell them short. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

बेहद सफल मेकओवर शो क्वीर आई के मेजबान करामो ब्राउन ने एक सोशल मीडिया बहस में अपनी आवाज जोड़ते हुए नेटफ्लिक्स से बधिर और कठिन सुनने वालों के लिए अपने उपशीर्षक में सुधार करने का आग्रह किया है।


First look inside Rhondda tunnel wanted for cycle route

Summary: The first photos from inside a disused Rhondda railway tunnel, which campaigners want to convert into a cycle route, have been released.

The Blaencwm tunnel, closed for nearly 50 years, could reopen after a campaign by the Rhondda Tunnel Society. The society wants to reopen the route, which runs for 3km (1.8 miles) to Blaengwynfi, Neath Port Talbot, for cyclists, walkers and tourists. The tunnel was closed during cutbacks of the UK railway network in the 1960s. In May this year, the Welsh government said it would commission a study to look at reopening the tunnel for tourism.

एक अप्रयुक्त रोंडा रेलवे सुरंग के अंदर की पहली तस्वीरें जारी की गई हैं, जिन्हें प्रचारक साइकिल मार्ग में बदलना चाहते हैं।


First Welsh Supreme Court judge is appointed

Summary: The first Welsh member of the Supreme Court has been appointed.

Lord Justice Lloyd Jones - Sir David Lloyd Jones - has been a judge on the Wales circuit and was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2012. One of three new justices, he was born and brought up in Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taff. The concept of needing a Welsh member of the highest court in the UK had been rejected as "premature" by a former deputy high court judge in 2015. Lord Thomas of Gresford said that while Scotland and Northern Ireland had long-standing judicial systems, cases of Welsh law would "not be frequent" and did not require one of the 12 Supreme Court judges to be from Wales. However, the court's then chief executive Jenny Rowe said as the body of Welsh law increased due to devolution, appointing a justice with a Welsh background would have to be considered. On Friday, the Supreme Court said 65-year-old Lord Justice Lloyd Jones would begin work on a date to be agreed. The Supreme Court has handled rows over whether certain powers reside with UK or Welsh ministers. They involved a Welsh asbestos compensation bill in February 2015 and, in July 2014, moves by ministers in Cardiff to protect the wages of agricultural workers.

सुप्रीम कोर्ट के पहले वेल्श सदस्य को नियुक्त किया गया है।


Rayan Saab charged with disseminating terrorist publications

Summary: A man has been charged with multiple terrorism offences.

Rayan Saab, from Birmingham, has been charged with six counts of disseminating terrorist publications between 13 April 2019 and 31 December 2020, West Midlands Police said. The 21-year-old was arrested at a property in Bloomsbury Walk in the city on Wednesday. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, the force said. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk Related Internet Links West Midlands Police

एक व्यक्ति पर कई आतंकवादी अपराधों का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Manchester theatre stars nominated for awards

Summary: Actresses Maxine Peake and Suranne Jones will go head-to-head at this year's Manchester Theatre Awards, after both being nominated for gender-swapping performances.

Peake played a female Hamlet at the Royal Exchange, while Jones starred in the same theatre's adaptation of Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando. Other stars on the list include Robert Lindsay, for his role in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at Manchester's Opera House. The winners are announced on 13 March. A panel of 11 of the region's leading theatre critics has selected the nominees, which include several productions at Bolton's Octagon Theatre and The Lowry in Salford. Here are the main nominees: Best Actor Best Actress Best Actor in a Supporting Role Best Actress in a Supporting Role Best Actor in a Visiting Production Best Actress in a Visiting Production Best Production Best Musical Related Internet Links Manchester Theatre Awards

अभिनेत्री मैक्सिन पीक और सुरैन जोन्स इस साल के मैनचेस्टर थिएटर अवार्ड्स में आमने-सामने होंगी, दोनों को लिंग-विनिमय प्रदर्शन के लिए नामांकित किया गया है।


EasyJet emergency landing after 'smoke smell'

Summary: An EasyJet flight from Glasgow to Berlin issued an emergency alert and landed early after reports of a smoke smell in the flight deck.

The firm said flight EZY6819, which left Glasgow Airport at 11:20, requested a priority landing at Berlin Schoenefeld Airport. Flight Info and Alerts' Twitter account noted it was descending at high speed. An EasyJet spokeswoman said the the aircraft was met by emergency services and passengers disembarked normally. She said engineers in Berlin were working to identify and resolve the issue. "The safety of its passengers and crew is easyjet's highest priority," she said. "We would like to apologise for any inconvenience experienced due to delays."

ग्लासगो से बर्लिन के लिए एक ईज़ीजेट उड़ान ने एक आपातकालीन चेतावनी जारी की और उड़ान डेक में धुएँ की गंध की रिपोर्ट के बाद जल्दी उतर गई।


Alex Salmond trial: What is the political fallout?

Summary: Alex Salmond has walked free from the High Court after being acquitted of charges of sexual assault - but he has made clear that this is far from the end of the matter. With a series of inquiries in the pipeline, what is going to come next?

By Philip SimBBC Scotland political reporter In the first instance, very little is going to happen. Politics is essentially on hold while the country is in the grip of the coronavirus crisis - there are frankly far more important things to be dealing with right now. But there is already much activity beneath the surface, with both opposition politicians and some within the SNP starting to pose questions. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she will answer many of them in due course. What did we learn during the trial which could give an indication of the political fallout from the case? To start at the end of the trial, what did Mr Salmond mean when he said outside court that there was "certain evidence I would have liked to have seen led in this trial" which had not come out? This almost certainly refers to the limits placed on the questions which can be asked of complainers in sexual offences trials. Primarily this refers to questioning about their sexual history, but it can also extend to other matters. There was much debate in pre-trial hearings - which could not be reported until after the trial itself - about what could be asked of the complainers. The defence wanted to press some of the women about later developments, around the judicial review process where Mr Salmond challenged the government over its handling of internal complaints against him. Lady Dorrian ruled that this would remove the focus of the trial to another matter - which took place a decade after some of the charges - and would distract the jury from the merits of the charges themselves. The defence actually tried to challenge this decision with another judge, but were rebuffed by Lady Stacey in similar terms. Why did the defence want to talk about the judicial review? Because they believed it was central to a politically-driven conspiracy against Mr Salmond. There was little direct talk of this in the trial itself, Gordon Jackson's assertions that "this stinks" in his closing speech aside. Mr Salmond said some allegations had been "deliberate fabrications for a political purpose", but the jury were never told why this might have been the case. To again look to the pre-trial hearings, here the defence were able to be much clearer. Mr Jackson said there had been "a great deal of egg on faces" in government over the "spectacular" collapse of its case in the judicial review. He said that after this, people working within the current administration turned their attention "very directly" to the criminal probe and "sought to influence that process to discredit the former first minister". Text messages were read out saying Mr Salmond's ire over the botched internal probe risked "bringing down Nicola on the way". Where might this evidence come out, then, if not in court? MSP Alex Neil has called for a "judge led public inquiry" - post-coronavirus - to find out if there was a "criminal" conspiracy to "do in Alex Salmond". However, a series of inquiries are already waiting in the wings, having been set up in 2019 before being put on ice after criminal charges were brought. A parliamentary inquiry is due to examine the role of Nicola Sturgeon and her advisors in the internal inquiry, which the government conceded had been unlawful shortly before Mr Salmond's legal challenge was to be heard at the Court of Session. Ms Sturgeon insisted at the time that the process was "completely robust" and had only fallen down in one "deeply regrettable" area in the case of Mr Salmond. However, one of the complainers in the trial also hit out at the government process, saying it was "flawed" and that she didn't want to be part of the internal inquiry because there was too much "risk" around it. This is almost certainly set to be the focus of much of the parliamentary inquiry - along with the questions posed repeatedly at Holyrood back in 2019, about what Ms Sturgeon knew and when. The first minister has also referred herself to a standards panel who will decide whether she broke the ministerial code during the government investigation of her predecessor. Ms Sturgeon told MSPs she had face-to-face meetings with Mr Salmond and spoke to him on the phone while the probe was ongoing, but insisted that she "acted appropriately and in good faith" at all times. Ms Sturgeon previously insisted that she first heard about complaints against Mr Salmond at a meeting at her house in Glasgow on 2 April, 2018. She has also said this meeting was party business, rather than that of the government - negating the need for official notes to be taken. This meeting was facilitated by Mr Salmond's former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein. And while giving evidence under oath, Mr Aberdein said he had held an earlier meeting with Ms Sturgeon at her Holyrood office, on 29 March. The question eliciting this revelation appeared to be specifically prompted by Mr Salmond, who called his QC across for consultation before it was asked. Clearly, the former first minister thinks this a significant point. What actually happened at that meeting was not discussed in court, but the fact it was held sparks immediate questions. If it was in the first minister's parliamentary office, was it government business? And why did we only hear about it via testimony in court? And outside of government itself, there have also been questions asked about the role of the SNP. Mr Salmond's supporters were quick to comment on the verdict, with Kenny MacAskill calling for resignations - without specifying whose - and Joanna Cherry demanding an independent inquiry into the party's internal complaints procedure. One complainer, Woman H, said she had made a complaint to the SNP specifically so it would be on file for vetting purposes should Mr Salmond ever run for office again. The court heard she had received a text message from a party official saying "we'll sit on that and hope we never need to deploy it". Woman H was clear that this was at her request, but questions are sure to be asked about a process which saw a complaint of sexual assault effectively buried. What else might political parties be "sitting on"? Mr Salmond quit the party at the point he launched his judicial review. Will he now seek to rejoin it? Or has the rift with the current leadership grown too stark? Finally, while he has walked free from court acquitted on all counts, has Mr Salmond's reputation come through the trial intact? He will not mind that one verdict was "not proven" rather than not guilty - in practice, they mean the same thing, that he is innocent in the eyes of the law. He is free to return to normal life and society - albeit a society currently in lockdown - and will presumably keep his arm in the political debate while presenting his TV show on Russian channel RT. But the defence case readily admitted that he had not always behaved well. Mr Jackson said throughout that the "touchy-feely" Mr Salmond could certainly act inappropriately, and led witnesses who called him "extraordinarily pugnacious" and "extremely demanding". The QC said in his closing speech that the former first minister "could certainly have been a better man" - but that none of this made him a criminal, something the jury accepted. Mr Salmond admitted to having a "sleepy cuddle" with one complainer, and what Mr Jackson called "a bit of how's your father" with another - both members of his staff far younger than he, and neither of them his wife. The defence also never really attempted to dispel the slightly raucous image of Bute House drawn by the prosecution, of exotic liquors being poured late at night after celebrity dinners and staff being invited to do paperwork in the bedroom. To stress again, a jury has ruled that none of this was criminal conduct. But that does not mean nobody will question it. The SNP's equalities convener has already called elements of it "deeply inappropriate", although Mr Salmond is also sure to fight for his reputation in light of the verdict. While the trial may be over, the political fallout is only just beginning. This is a difficult moment for all concerned - ultimately, very few people may come out of this affair well.

एलेक्स सैल्मंड यौन उत्पीड़न के आरोपों से बरी होने के बाद उच्च न्यायालय से मुक्त हो गए हैं-लेकिन उन्होंने स्पष्ट कर दिया है कि यह मामले के अंत से बहुत दूर है। पूछताछ की एक श्रृंखला के साथ, आगे क्या होने वाला है?


Coronavirus: Swansea Bay health board restricts hospital visits

Summary: Patients in hospitals in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot are to be allowed visitors for just one hour a day in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Swansea Bay University Health Board said it was also introducing a one visitor at a time policy immediately. Visiting at all sites, including Morriston, Singleton and Neath Port Talbot hospitals, will run from 15:00 GMT. It said those with suspected COVID-19 could not have visitors. The health board said its measures include no child visitors. The rules "may be relaxed" for palliative care patients, the health board added. The restrictions apply to all sites, including community and mental health wards. It apologised for the inconvenience or distress caused by the restrictions. Powys Teaching Health Board has said it had no restrictions in place at the moment. Hywel Dda University Health Board advised families to restrict visiting to what is necessary and not visit if unwell.

स्वानसी और नीथ पोर्ट टैलबोट के अस्पतालों में रोगियों को कोरोनावायरस के प्रसार को रोकने के लिए दिन में केवल एक घंटे के लिए आगंतुकों की अनुमति दी जानी है।


A16 Newborough: Pedestrian dies after he is hit by lorry

Summary: A man has died after being hit by a lorry.

The 21-year-old was hit by the truck on the A16 at Newborough, near Peterborough, at about 20:25 GMT on Thursday and was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the lorry was not injured and has not been arrested, Cambridgeshire Police said. The road was initially closed, but has since reopened.

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


HTC's time to refocus

Summary: It was by common consent the standout smartphone of 2013. The HTC One, with its sleek steely looks and its zippy performance, won all kinds of awards. But what it didn't do was sell enough to pull HTC out of its downward spiral. So can the new version, the catchily named HTC One (M8), pull off the trick of delighting the critics and proving a massive sales hit?

Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent@BBCRoryCJon Twitter HTC certainly needs some good news. Last year it had just 2.2% of the smartphone market according to the analysts IDC - down from nearly 9% two years earlier. The company made its first ever quarterly loss last year, though it was in good company - apart from Samsung and Apple, everyone is struggling to make money in this business. I got a brief chance to try the new HTC One this morning in the company of the firm's co-founder Cher Wang. It's another good-looking, nice feeling, all-metal device with one standout feature - a camera that allows you to perform all kinds of tricks with a picture after it has been taken. The Duo camera enables you to change which area of the picture is in focus, so that those photos where you find you've focused on the building in the background rather than the person in front of it won't be such a problem in future. The phone also has excellent speakers, producing the kind of sound you used to expect from something much bigger, and it features the latest version of HTC Sense, the software overlay that provides a customised version of Android. A quick demo revealed an experience not unlike the Flipboard app, delivering news, weather and your social media comings and goings with a few swipes of a finger. Here's the problem. I've no doubt that for the kind of people who pore over the list of technical specs when choosing a new smartphone, the HTC One (M8) will prove a popular choice. But that's a minority. To most of us, these days just about every smartphone looks the same - an oblong pane of glass with some icons. I rather suspect that if you walked out on the street and showed this phone to a crowd, many would struggle to distinguish it from a Samsung Galaxy S5 or a Sony Xperia Z1 or an LG G2. So in the end it all comes down to marketing - how big a budget you have to make your phone stand out from the crowd. Cher Wang admits that this is a challenge for HTC. "We have to communicate better. If we go out and actually communicate with our customers, I think they will love it." It is hard to see how HTC can outspend the mighty Samsung, although Ms Wang contends her firm will win by spending its money more smartly. Some, however, may question whether the name HTC One (M8) is such a smart piece of branding. She made a brave prediction that HTC would increase its market share this year - "2014 is HTC's year", she told me. Right now, the firm is in 10th place in IDC's smartphone league - Samsung with 31%, and Apple with 15% are way ahead of the rest of the pack. Four Chinese firms, Huawei, Lenovo, Coolpad and ZTE, are all ahead of HTC, and they, too, are likely to have more to spend on marketing - and a bigger base in their home market - than the Taiwanese phone-maker. Then there's Nokia, which under the new ownership of Microsoft should also have quite a substantial war-chest. The smartphone business is beginning to look a bit like football's Premier League - only the richest have any chance of winning. The concern for HTC must be that it will continue to muddle along in the middle of the table - and that looks like a very unprofitable place to be.

यह आम सहमति से 2013 का उत्कृष्ट स्मार्टफोन था। एचटीसी वन, अपने स्लीक स्टीली लुक और अपने ज़िप्पी प्रदर्शन के साथ, सभी प्रकार के पुरस्कार जीता। लेकिन इसने जो किया वह एचटीसी को उसके नीचे की ओर खींचने के लिए पर्याप्त बिक्री नहीं थी। तो क्या नया संस्करण, आकर्षक रूप से एचटीसी वन (एम8), आलोचकों को प्रसन्न करने और भारी बिक्री हिट साबित करने की चाल चला सकता है?