Sex, lies and legal consent: Can deceit turn sex into rape?

Summary: A man is challenging his conviction for raping a woman who willingly slept with him after he falsely claimed to have had a vasectomy. How can someone be guilty of rape if their partner has agreed to sex, and what implications does the case have?

By Caroline LowbridgeBBC News "I have a confession. I'm still fertile. Sorry xxx" Sally - not her real name - was distraught as she read the text message from Jason Lawrance, a man she had met through a dating website. "Are you serious?" she texted back. "You utter bastard. Why the hell would you do that to me?" Before Sally had sex with Lawrance he told her he'd had "the snip" and she consented to having sex without a condom, but would never have done so if she had known Lawrance was fertile. She also had no idea he was a serial rapist. Then 42 and already a mother, Sally did not want another child. She took the morning after pill but became pregnant, then went through the ordeal of having an abortion. Lawrance, previously of Leicestershire, went on to be convicted of raping Sally twice - because they'd had sex two times - in a case with no known precedent in the UK. "Section 74 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 says a person consents if he or she agrees by choice and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice," said Sue Matthews, the senior crown prosecutor who put the case together. "By lying about the vasectomy he deprived that particular victim of making an informed choice." "If these convictions are upheld on appeal, the concern is that members of the public, both male and female, who have never been considered criminals in the eyes of the law will be at risk of prosecution for serious sexual offences," said Lawrance's solicitor Shaun Draycott. Lawrance is far from alone in deceiving a sexual partner to get sex. So could others who do this now face prosecution? Could removing a condom count as rape? Kelly Davis, an associate professor at Arizona State University, has surveyed men and women aged 21-30 about "condom use resistance", meaning the tactics employed to avoid using condoms when the other partner wants to. Out of the 313 men participating, 23.4% admitted to having used "deception" at least once since the age of 14. The most common tactic was lying about planning to withdraw before ejaculation but not actually intending to (19.9%), followed by lying about having been tested for STIs and being STI-free (9.6%). Dr Davis and her fellow researchers also did focus groups with young men. "The place that these men drew the line was anything involving physical force," she said. "Anything up to that line is just part of the game, because that was how some of the young men in this group viewed it." Of the 530 women surveyed, 6.6% admitted to having used deception at least once since the age of 14, with the most common tactic being pretending to be on birth control. Dr Davis and her colleagues also researched the practice of "stealthing", which means agreeing to use a condom then surreptitiously removing it before or during sex. Again, the men surveyed were aged 21-30. Almost 10% of the 626 participating admitted having engaged in stealthing at least once since the age of 14. "I was shocked that it was almost 10% that reported doing this, and at an average of over three times," Dr Davis said. "So they are not just doing it once - well some are - but many of them are doing it multiple times. It's disturbing." Twelve per cent of the women surveyed reported knowing that stealthing had happened to them, although some might never have realised it had happened. Many people would not consider stealthing to be rape, but Sandra Paul, a solicitor who specialises in cases of sexual misconduct, believes it is under UK law. The issue was considered by judges as part of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's extradition case, and their judgment said sex without a condom would be a sexual offence in the UK if the other partner had only agreed on the condition a condom was used. What if a man doesn't withdraw? Katie Russell, national spokesperson for Rape Crisis, believes that lying about the intention to withdraw before ejaculation falls under the legal definition of rape. "That's an example of someone having agreed to sex with conditions, and the other party having reneged on those agreed conditions," she said. Ms Paul said a such a case has already been considered by a UK court, and it involved a husband and wife. "She didn't want to have any further children and agreed to have sex provided he withdrew before he ejaculated," said Ms Paul. "He seemingly agreed to that but there was sufficient evidence to show he had no intention to withdraw." The CPS decided not to prosecute the husband for rape, so the wife applied for a judicial review of the decision. "The Admin Court made it quite clear that in their view there was good reason for the CPS to consider charging; what happened was capable of amounting to an offence in that her consent had been negated by his never intending to withdraw," said Ms Paul. "It was sent back to the CPS for them to review their decision based on what the court had said." The BBC asked the CPS whether the husband was ever prosecuted but it could not provide the information. Could lying about an STI test count as rape? Ms Paul thinks lying about having had an STI test is more of a grey area. "It's difficult," she said. "I think that, probably, if we were taking baby incremental steps from the decision that's been made about Lawrance, as we must do in the absence of legislation, then potentially." There have already been several prosecutions of men who infected partners with HIV, with Daryll Rowe, Antonio Reyes-Minana and Aaron Sutcliffe being three recent examples. However, they were charged with causing grievous bodily harm, rather than sexual offences. What if a woman lies about being on the pill? Lawrance's defence barrister David Emanuel QC compared his client's lie about the vasectomy to a woman lying about being on the contraceptive pill. He argued that if Lawrance were convicted of rape for lying about being infertile, then a woman could arguably be convicted of a sexual offence for a similar act of deceit. Under current law in England and Wales, a woman cannot be prosecuted for raping a man because rape is defined under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 as an offence of penetration committed with a penis. Legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland also specifies that rape is committed with a penis. Ms Russell has a problem with the vasectomy and contraceptive pill comparison. "With issues around contraception and pregnancy, it's the woman whose body and life and health is affected by that kind of lie," she said. "That is not in any way comparing like for like, because it's a woman who has to deal with the consequences of pregnancy and termination, and, in the example given, the impacts on the man are not of a comparable kind." But Ms Paul is not so sure. "The issue is the extent to which the lie vitiates (negates) consent," she said. "If a man finds himself a father of a child under these circumstances, there are all sorts of consequences that flow from that. "It might be argued there is a double standard. In so many walks of life we [women] have achieved equality and demand to be treated with the same level of respect as men. Where the lie deemed to create criminal liability is exactly the same, I think it is problematic to carve out areas where we are protected solely because we are women." What if someone lies about their gender? There have been several prosecutions where women have impersonated men in order to have sexual encounters with other women, or where trans men have not disclosed their assigned gender to female partners. Notable cases include Gayle Newland, Justine McNally and Kyran Lee. Many such cases involve the use of a dildo and, since rape is an offence of penetration committed with a penis, the charge brought is one of sexual assault or assault by penetration. In the case of McNally, who presented as a teenage boy throughout a relationship with a teenage girl, the Court of Appeal determined that "deception as to gender can vitiate consent". However, cases like these, sometimes called "gender fraud", have raised questions about the rights of people with gender dysphoria, and whether or not transgender people should have to disclose their assigned sex to partners. Barrister and law professor Alex Sharpe, who has been involved in transgender law reform and activism for over 20 years, is among those with concerns. "Most of the people prosecuted on the basis of sexual fraud appear to be gender non-conforming, so there's an issue of the singling out of particular kinds of people or transgression for prosecution," she said. Prof Sharpe believes a trans man is not deceiving a female partner if he presents himself as a man, because he is a man. What about other lies? People tell all sorts of lies in order to have a sexual relationship, such as lying about their age, pretending to be single when they are married, or claiming to be more wealthy than they really are. However, cases like these have not ended up in court, so jurors have not been asked to consider whether or not such lies negate consent. Several women have had sexual relationships with undercover police officers embedded in activist groups. One of these women argued this amounted to "a team of officers conspiring to rape", because the officers knew there was no informed consent. Police have given some of the women compensation, however the CPS declined to bring charges against any of the officers, saying that "any deceptions in the circumstances of this case were not such as to vitiate consent". Ms Paul believes more guidance is needed about the extent to which lies negate consent - and this will hopefully come in the form of a judgment from the Court of Appeal now the Lawrance convictions are being challenged. "Ultimately it may well be that legislation is required," she said. "Failing to wear a condom when you said you would, I think clearly on the face of the legislation as it stands, is problematic but an adult lying about their age in most circumstances probably isn't. "In the absence of specific legislation, who makes the rules about what's in between, and how are juries to navigate these decisions?" Have you been "stealthed" or has a partner used deceptive tactics in order to have sex with you? Have you used deceptive tactics yourself? Tell us about your experiences by emailing caroline.lowbridge@bbc.co.uk

एक आदमी एक महिला के साथ बलात्कार करने के लिए अपनी दोषसिद्धि को चुनौती दे रहा है जो नसबंदी कराने का झूठा दावा करने के बाद स्वेच्छा से उसके साथ सोया था। कोई व्यक्ति बलात्कार का दोषी कैसे हो सकता है यदि उसका साथी यौन संबंध बनाने के लिए सहमत हो गया है, और मामले के क्या निहितार्थ हैं?


Venezuela crisis: Three key recent events

Summary: Venezuela has been in crisis for months , with almost daily anti-government protests sweeping through the country. But events have been moving even faster since a controversial constituent assembly was sworn in on 4 August. Here, we take a look back at what has happened since and what it may mean.

1. Attack on military base On Sunday at 03:50 local time (07:50GMT), a group of 20 people in military uniforms attacked Fort Paramacay military base in the city of Valencia, in Carabobo state. They stole weapons and recorded a video of themselves. In it, a man who identifies himself as Captain Juan Caguaripano says that their action is "not a coup d'etat". "This is a civic and military action to re-establish constitutional order," he says. "But more than that, it is to save the country from total destruction." Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said that for three hours there was fighting within the military base and that two of the attackers were killed and one injured. Information Minister Ernesto Villegas tweeted a picture of seven men whom he said had been arrested. The 10 remaining attackers escaped and are being sought by the security forces. Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino called it "a terrorist paramilitary-type attack", which according to him was "immediately repelled". He also said that those who carried out the attack were "civilian delinquents, dressed in military garb" and a lieutenant who had deserted months earlier. According to Gen Padrino, those detained confessed to having been "hired by activists from the extreme right with foreign connections". What does it mean? To the government and its supporters, this attack will be seen as proof that "the black hand of imperialism", as foreign minister Jorge Arreaza described it in a tweet, is trying to overthrow the government. President Maduro regularly blames foreign powers in general, and the US and neighbouring Colombia in particular, for everything from Venezuela's dire economic situation to the shortages of staple goods. Mr Arreaza also linked "the terrorist actions of the right" to what he said were attempts to isolate Venezuela internationally. Venezuela has come under intense international pressure in recent weeks for going ahead with a controversial constituent assembly. Linking this attack to foreign powers will boost President Maduro's power to dismiss international criticism as meddling. For the opposition, news of the attack was a sign that there is internal dissent within the armed forces. Leading opposition leaders have repeatedly called on the armed forces to join the protests against President Maduro but the army's top brass has so far staunchly defended the government. Seeing a video of uniformed men speaking of a "legitimate rebellion" raised the opposition's hopes that members of the rank and file were ready to switch sides. There were also rumours of the "rebellion" spreading to other army bases but there has so far been no independent confirmation of that. Among Venezuelans in general, who have lived through a number of attempted and successful military coups, news of the attack caused confusion and worry. While the "quick response" of the military was praised by President Maduro, 10 of the attackers remain on the run after raiding the arms depot. People claiming to have links to Captain Caguaripano took to social media to say that the operation had been a success and that a large amount of weapons had been taken and that the support of other military units had been secured. 2. Sacking of the chief prosecutor Venezuela's chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega was sacked on Saturday. It was one of the first decisions taken by the constituent assembly, sworn in the day before. Ms Ortega has been a thorn in the side of the government since the end of March, when she openly criticised the Supreme Court for its ruling stripping the opposition-controlled National Assembly of its powers. She has also denounced the constituent assembly as unconstitutional and publicly contradicted versions given by government officials about how protester Juan Pablo Pernalete was killed. What does it mean? The fact that the decision to remove her from office was unanimous suggests that the members of the constituent assembly are closely aligned with the government. It also suggests that the new assembly sees its duties as much more far reaching than just rewriting the constitution. Allies of President Maduro had said in the days before that Ms Ortega would not be in her post much longer. Opposition leaders fear that the fact that the constituent assembly acted so quickly to sack Ms Ortega means they will also vote in favour of other measures government officials have threatened, such as lifting legislators' immunity from prosecution. Ms Ortega, however, has refused to recognise the decision by the constituent assembly, which she says is illegal, and insists she continues to be Venezuela's chief prosecutor. There is likely to be a stand-off between Ms Ortega and the newly-named chief prosecutor Tarek William Saab. Meanwhile, influential politicians allied with the government have called for her to stand trial and the Supreme Court is currently weighing up whether there are grounds to charge her for allegedly "violating public ethics". 3. Constituent assembly to meet for two years When the constituent assembly first met on Saturday, the influential deputy leader of the governing socialist party, Diosdado Cabello, suggested it should meet for two years rather than six months as originally planned. To rapturous applause, his proposal to modify the rules extending the period that the assembly will meet was accepted. What does it mean? The constituent assembly has more powers than any other body in Venezuela. While a constituent assembly is normally created to rewrite an existing constitution or draft a new one, this assembly has already shown that it sees its powers as being much wider, such as sacking the chief prosecutor. The constituent assembly and its president, Delcy Rodriguez, will therefore play a key role in Venezuelan politics. It is already meeting in the legislative palace and critics fear it wants to replace the existing legislative branch, which also meets in the same building. As the opposition did not field any candidates, the constituent assembly is dominated by government loyalists who showed their allegiance by waving pictures of former President Hugo Chávez at their inauguration. While international leaders have said that they will not recognise the new assembly, its president does not seem bothered by the criticism from abroad, swearing to "defend the homeland from the imperial aggression and the fascist right wing".

वेनेजुएला महीनों से संकट में है, देश भर में लगभग दैनिक सरकार विरोधी विरोध प्रदर्शन हो रहे हैं। लेकिन 4 अगस्त को एक विवादास्पद संविधान सभा के शपथ लेने के बाद से घटनाएँ और भी तेजी से आगे बढ़ रही हैं। यहाँ, हम पीछे मुड़कर देखते हैं कि तब से क्या हुआ है और इसका क्या अर्थ हो सकता है।


Dhaka factory collapse: Three months on

Summary: Strange things have been happening at some clothing factories in Bangladesh.

By Mahfuz SadiqueBBC News, Dhaka Since the Rana Plaza factory building collapsed three months ago killing more than 1,100 people, hundreds of textile workers have been falling ill en masse, blaming drinking water or bad food. But tests have revealed nothing unusual. In another instance, production at a factory was halted after workers reported sightings of a ghost. Work could only resume after special prayers. Public health officials suspect the phenomenon is "mass hysteria" - a panicked reaction to the recent deaths of so many fellow workers. Painful memories aside, realities on the ground are not helping either. There are regular reports of cracks in buildings and fires at factories in Bangladesh's ready-made clothing industry, which, with an annual turnover of $21bn (£14bn), is now second in size only to China's. In the immediate aftermath of the Rana Plaza collapse, there was a chaotic rush to inspect factories at apparent risk. Multiple government departments, Western retailers and an influential trade body, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), have been carrying out their own investigations. An initial visual inspection of 102 buildings, including 60 garment factories, by experts at the country's leading engineering university found that most had some structural problems. In the weeks following the April disaster, more than a dozen clothing factories were shut down amid safety concerns. Global outcry The official response to one of the world's worst industrial disasters has been swift. In late June, the United States revoked preferential trade privileges for Bangladesh until reforms in the clothing industry were carried out. The EU has also put conditions on Bangladesh maintaining its lucrative duty free access to its clothing markets. Both the EU and the US - the top two destinations for Bangladesh's clothing exports - have put special emphasis on the passing of a new labour law, which will ensure freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. Bangladesh's parliament passed a labour law with new amendments on 15 July. But the International Labour Organization (ILO) and various rights groups, including New York-based Human Rights Watch, have said that while the new law makes some improvements, it falls short on key issues. The ILO's concerns include a condition in the new law that at least 30% of all workers at an establishment have to sign up first to form a union and not giving freedom of association rights to workers at export processing zones. Responding to some of the criticism, Mikail Shipar, Bangladesh's Labour and Employment Secretary, said: "It is the best labour law - so far." "Of course, it can be improved. But it will take more time. In this moment, we are unable to allow more than three trade unions in a factory. We are [also]unable to introduce outsiders [- officials employed by the union rather than the company -] in a trade union." Crucial months The other big concern since the Rana Plaza collapse has been how to make Bangladesh's clothing factories safe. Retailers on both sides of the Atlantic have so far signed up to two different safety plans. More than 70 clothing brands, mainly from Europe, have joined a legally binding safety pact launched by global unions. The plan includes inspections of factories that supply the brands' clothes and provides financing to fix any problems that are identified. A separate North American safety alliance has announced plans to provide loans to fix or relocate structurally unsound buildings. It has been criticised by unions, however, for not being legally binding. And some major brands, including Top Shop and the Japanese company Uniqlo, have not yet signed up to either the pact or the alliance These plans are in addition to a national Bangladeshi plan being facilitated by the ILO. "One of the important commitments is to assess all the ready-made garment factories in Bangladesh by the end of this year. It is estimated that some 3,500 factories are there," says Srinivas B Reddy, country director for the ILO in Bangladesh. Mr Reddy points out that common safety standards need to be agreed for all the public and private initiatives to help workers. "The coming months are crucial," he says. 'My factory is not safe' With all the promises made by governments and brands, do the workers now feel safe? Kalpona Akter, a prominent labour rights activist, says while much action has been promised, it still remains at the policy level. Workers at factories don't know about it, and are yet to benefit from any proposed measures, she says. But they are taking matters into their own hands. "On the ground level, workers are taking some initiatives to make changes. Like whenever they see these sparks in the factory, or the crack in the buildings, they are walking out from the factory," says Ms Akter, who is executive director at the Bangladesh Centre for Workers Solidarity. "They are saying, 'My factory is not safe. And, until it is safe, I will not come back.'" Three months on, the aftershocks from the collapse of Rana Plaza can be felt at the boardrooms of major companies and in the corridors of governments. The deaths of so many people three months ago may have prompted a global outcry. But Bangladeshi workers know that changes on the ground will take time.

बांग्लादेश में कुछ कपड़ों के कारखानों में अजीबोगरीब चीजें हो रही हैं।


Alexander Stadium stabbing: Arrest over Birmingham athletics venue attack

Summary: A man suffered "life threatening" injuries when he was stabbed at one of the country's major athletics stadiums.

The man, 46, was knifed at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham at about 10:30 GMT, West Midlands Police said. A 41-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. The man has been taken to hospital. An area of the stadium, which hosts Diamond League events and the national championships, was cordoned off while forensic examinations were conducted. Police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the stabbing.

देश के प्रमुख एथलेटिक्स स्टेडियमों में से एक में चाकू लगने से एक व्यक्ति को "जान से मारने वाली" चोटें आईं।


How you could control your world with just your fingertips

Summary: The QWERTY typewriter was introduced in 1872, and since then tapping on a keyboard or screen has become the standard way to interact with digital technology. But this isn't always convenient or safe, so new "touchless" ways to control machines are being developed.

By Mark SmithTechnology of Business reporter Imagine being out for a jog, headphones on, and wanting to turn up the volume without breaking your stride. Or receiving a "new message" alert on your phone while driving and wanting to activate the text-to-speech function without taking your eye off the road. These are scenarios where touchless control would come in handy. "Today we interact with computers and devices not just at our desks but in a variety of different contexts - while on a run, on the subway, or in a car," explains Dr Sean Follmer, an expert in human computer interaction at Stanford University. "With mobile computing devices like smartwatches or even, in the future, augmented reality glasses, we no longer have large surfaces on which to place keyboards or mice, so we need to create new input devices and technologies that can allow us to interact while we are on the go." One of these technologies is radar. Most of us might associate radar with air traffic control and military defence - firing radio waves at an aircraft and measuring the time they take to bounce back can reveal location and speed. Google's Project Soli has adapted the concept and effectively miniaturised it. Mini-radars fitted into a range of devices, such as smartphones, kettles, radios, or car dashboards, could enable users to activate and control them using gestures alone. The tech is so precise it can differentiate between the subtlest hand gestures, such as thumb and index finger rubbing or pinching. Now St Andrews Computer Human Interaction research group (SACHI) has honed the tech further using machine learning to make it suitable for object recognition. Prof Aaron Quigley, SACHI chair, says: "A major issue we had to solve is that the energy that comes back from the objects we want to track is a remarkably complex signal. "We need to train our system to recognise the objects from these thousands of overlapping signals and we solve this using advanced AI [artificial intelligence] algorithms." The mini-radar tech could be applied to objects and materials, says lead researcher Hui Shyong Yeo, opening up the potential for assistive technology for blind and disabled people. Recycling centres might be able to sense and process different types of materials automatically, he adds, or home security systems could detect if objects have been stolen. Sound is also being trialled as a means of touchless gesture control. Bristol-based Ultrahaptics uses ultrasound signals - sound waves at frequencies above the range of human hearing - to create the feeling of touch in mid-air. This so-called haptics technology makes it feel like you're pressing a button or turning a dial when it's just your fingers experiencing highly targeted sound vibrations. One of the biggest challenges so far has been accessing enough computer power to keep up with the technological developments, says co-founder Dr Tom Carter. "Our first prototype took 20 minutes to complete one computation on the most expensive PC we could buy - this meant that if you moved your hand you had to wait 20 minutes for the haptics to update," he says. "Not exactly interactive! "[The time delay now is] 10 microseconds on a very small, cheap processer like those you find in your mobile phone.". But why do we really need touchless controls? One of the areas where he sees the tech taking off is inside vehicles. "Touch screens increase driver distraction," says Dr Carter. "You cannot feel the controls so you have to take your eyes off the road and look. "With our technology, users can perform gestures in the air and receive tactile feedback to let them know that the system has recognised what they have requested." While Ultrahaptics uses sound to create physical sensations on the skin, sound can also be used in a similar way to radar - to detect gestures. Elliptic Labs says its software can turn existing speakers and microphones into ultrasound sensors that then enable users to select a music playlist or take a selfie, say, using a simple mid-air hand gesture. "Our virtual smart sensor platform simply utilises the microphone and speaker already on a device to gather its ultrasound data," says chief executive Laila Danielsen. Ultrasound signals can have a range of up to 5m (16ft) and can be generated with relatively little power, says Ms Danielsen. She thinks that within a few years every device with a speaker and a microphone will use ultrasound for at least one gesture. "The most basic gesture a user can do is simply enter or leave a room," she says. "We expect appliances such as lights to turn on or off depending on a person's presence." More Technology of Business While consumers and the tech industry may currently be in thrall to voice control thanks to the growth of virtual assistants and the increasing sophistication of speech-recognition protocols, voice has its limitations, argues Stanford University's Dr Follmer. "Voice works well for entering text or making discrete - such as on/off - selections. However, for spatial or continuous control it can be complicated. Smoothly changing the volume could be done more easily with a virtual slider or knob." Voice control isn't optimal if you're in the middle of a conversation, say, or in a meeting or a library. Dr Follmer anticipates that gestural interaction will continue to grow, particularly in the field of augmented and virtual reality where a physical mouse or keyboard is less useful. Touchless control would also be useful in hospitals to help prevent the spread of germs, he concludes. The QWERTY keyboard - whether real or virtual - will always have a role to play, but touchless is undoubtedly on its way.

क्यू. डब्ल्यू. ई. आर. टी. वाई. टाइपराइटर 1872 में पेश किया गया था, और तब से कीबोर्ड या स्क्रीन पर टैप करना डिजिटल तकनीक के साथ बातचीत करने का मानक तरीका बन गया है। लेकिन यह हमेशा सुविधाजनक या सुरक्षित नहीं होता है, इसलिए मशीनों को नियंत्रित करने के लिए नए "टचलेस" तरीके विकसित किए जा रहे हैं।


Swan and duck deaths on River Great Ouse investigated

Summary: Twenty swans and ducks have been found dead on a stretch of river in Cambridgeshire in the past two weeks, police have said.

The birds were found along a short stretch of the River Great Ouse between Paper Mill at Little Paxton and St Neots Marina. Tests on the 13 swans and seven ducks have so far proved inconclusive. They had no obvious injuries and the Environment Agency said tests found no pollution in the water. A Cambridgeshire Police spokesman said it was "very unusual for such a large number of birds to die in such a short space of time". The force has appealed for information about the birds' deaths.

पुलिस ने कहा है कि पिछले दो हफ्तों में कैम्ब्रिजशायर में नदी के एक हिस्से पर बीस हंस और बत्तख मृत पाए गए हैं।


Betraying the Game: Anas Aremeyaw Anas investigates football in Africa

Summary: Almost one hundred football officials across West Africa and Kenya have been caught on camera accepting cash in a sting operation.

It's part of a two-year long undercover investigation by controversial Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas. BBC Africa Eye has had exclusive access to the footage for their latest documentary. In one case a World Cup bound assistant referee from Kenya accepted six hundred dollars from a man posing as an official of a Ghanaian premiership team. This is a film by Africa Eye, BBC Africa's new investigations unit.

पश्चिम अफ्रीका और केन्या में लगभग सौ फुटबॉल अधिकारियों को एक स्टिंग ऑपरेशन में नकदी लेते हुए कैमरे में कैद किया गया है।


'Until I met my debt mentor, I couldn't always feed my kids'

Summary: When her oldest daughter left home, Audie had to go part-time in order to be there for her two younger children after school. Previously, she'd made ends meet by working long and unsociable hours. Now she was sinking into debt - and at first there didn't appear to be a solution.

By Eleanor BiggsBBC News "If I had one wish it would be to always have food in the house. It's so hard when my son comes home and says, 'Mummy, there's nothing here.' It's really hard." Audie is a 44-year-old single parent from Barking and Dagenham, in East London. One in 10 residents in the borough owes money to the council, in the form of council tax or rent arrears, and she's one of them. Audie had been relying on her oldest daughter for help with childcare, picking up her siblings from school and looking after them while Audie checked stock in a warehouse at night. But when her daughter turned 16 she moved out, and Audie had to find work that allowed her to spend more time at home. "I couldn't risk it," she says. In her new job, though, she didn't earn enough to cover her bills, and month by month her debts began to mount. When I met Audie, she'd been called to the council's Homes And Money Hub in Barking, after receiving a court order to pay her rent arrears. The HAM Hub, as it's sometimes called, helps residents maximise their state benefits and provides budgeting advice designed to enable them to pay their debts. Audie explained that she was a single parent with three children who was now only able to work part-time - an average of 18.5 hours per week. "I've bought a car and I've been paying it off for almost four years now. My monthly payment is £285, and my insurance has gone up to £176," she said. "I have to get help from my family every week, but it's a loan that I have to pay back. So once my payment comes in, I have to pay it out. There's always no money left... I'm living on a day-to-day basis - literally struggling." Audie broke down in tears as she admitted she couldn't always afford to buy food for her children. "I feel like I'm failing them," she said. Her hunched shoulders revealed the intense financial pressure she'd been under - a burden a single parent bears entirely alone. At the end of the session, the adviser concluded that Audie couldn't be spending any less. She left the session stuck in her debt - and with no way out. Then the BBC introduced Audie to Jeanette McKenzie Taylor. Like Audie, Jeannette is a mum in her 40s living in Dagenham. When she was younger she also struggled financially - after becoming pregnant at 18, she received no support from her religious parents. "It was really hard. There were days when I went without lunch," she says. Jeannette vowed not to expand her family until she was in control of her life and her finances. That's not quite how things worked out. She "still had more children!" she laughs, and even though she had finished her education by this point, there were more tough times ahead. Today she's a qualified chartered accountant, and a volunteer for various community initiatives, such as the Community Food Club in Dagenham, which offers a service similar to a food bank. She says her voluntary work has made her realise how many people in her area are in debt She seemed like the perfect person to understand Audie's problems and to help her find the solution that the HAM Hub had failed to identify. Jeannette and Audie met in early December at Audie's house in Dagenham. Audie's car, which altogether costs her more than £450 a month, was parked outside, but at the time she and her family were struggling to eat. "My daughter's lost loads of weight, and I have too," Audie told Jeannette. "I've seen my son eating pieces of cereal one by one. We can't even afford milk." The Fix The Fix, on BBC Radio 4, looks for solutions to some of the UK's toughest problems, by asking thinkers to come up with ways the problems can be solved, and getting those affected to choose the solution they think will work best. Chris Naylor, chief executive of the borough of Barking and Dagenham made clear that he was looking for a solution that would break down the taboo around debt and in-work poverty, encourage community cohesion, and could eventually be self-sustaining. One of the selected ideas was an "I've Been There" network - local people who have experienced debt, and who are willing to coach others, informally, on how to get out of it. If all goes well, Audie could herself be an "I've Been There" ambassador in future. Listen to The Fix: Debt and poverty on BBC Sounds Jeannette's first piece of advice was to visit the Community Food Club - no-one had previously mentioned it to Audie. Then they calculated Audie's budget, which again showed that she had "only £2 left" at the end of the month, once her car hire purchase, rent, bills, and loans had all been paid. There was a moment of quiet. Jeannette asked Audie how she felt, and Audie took a sharp breath. "It's horrible," she admitted sadly, "but I'm not surprised." Jeannette began to share her own hacks for saving money and getting back into the black when she had been living beyond her means. "I call it my mean period - it's what I use to recover myself," Jeannette explained to Audie. "I shop at charity shops, and plan meals." Jeannette of course identified Audie's car as a major drain on her finances. Audie explained that she had bought it on hire purchase as she didn't have the liquid cash to make a big purchase outright. She will eventually own the car, after paying far more money than if she had paid up front - but if she were to miss a single payment, the car would be taken back, "which would be a huge loss for me", she said. By dividing up outgoings into "needs" and "wants", Jeannette offered a tool to help Audie distinguish between essential and non-essential expenses. She accepted the car was essential, but when Audie admitted she had been considering upgrading her phone at the end of her contract to give the old one to her daughter, Jeannette grew fiery: "No, she doesn't need a phone! I would put that in my want category." The phone in fact turned out to be a major opportunity for saving. By not upgrading at the end of her contract, and paying just for calls and data, Audie could make an important dent in her monthly outgoings. It soon became apparent that the two women had more in common than they realised. Jeannette shared tips with Audie on how to cook the Caribbean food they both grew up with. Neck mutton was a cheap alternative to pricey oxtail for Jamaican stews, she pointed out, and grating a carrot in a certain way made it a substitute for the pumpkin noodles used in traditional soup. Audie admitted that it was easy to pay £40 for soup ingredients - too much, under her current circumstances. When Audie told Jeannette she hadn't been able to buy her children any Christmas presents, Jeannette explained her that one year that had happened to her too. "I've been there," she said, advising Audie to "just keep your kids close". Jeannette then erupted into hoots of laughter as she remembered how her children had surprised their mum and dad with presents under the tree, "by wrapping things we already owned!" Audie also mentioned that her daughter didn't have a winter coat because they couldn't afford one - the 13-year-old had been using her scarf for warmth, and caught a horrible cold as a result. At this point, Jeannette offered to give Audie's daughter a coat - while also setting Audie a tough target of saving "£50 a month, minimum". Could she do it? When I next saw Audie, in the new year, she said that meeting Jeannette had been life-changing. The two women had kept in touch over Christmas, and Jeannette beamed as Audie revealed the changes she had made. She had chosen not to upgrade her phone, had made use of the Community Food Bank, and had taken one other very important step. Jeannette had noticed that Audie was working more in some months than in others, which meant the amount of Universal Credit she was receiving was continually going up and down, making budgeting difficult. So, on Jeannette's advice, Audie had spoken to her boss, and stabilised her working hours. The upshot was that Audie was now able to save not £50 per month, but £70. All being well, she will also finish paying off her car by the end of this year, meaning that in future she could save much more. Audie chuckled. Jeannette's advice and encouragement had given her confidence that she could crack this problem that had previously seemed insoluble. "Yeah. It may seem small - but to us, it's really big," she said. "This experience has made a huge impact on the lives of me and my children." If you need help with debt, contact these organisations Photographs by Phil Coomes You may also be interested in:

जब उसकी सबसे बड़ी बेटी घर से चली गई, तो ऑडी को स्कूल के बाद अपने दो छोटे बच्चों के लिए वहाँ रहने के लिए अंशकालिक जाना पड़ता था। पहले, वह लंबे और असंबद्ध घंटों तक काम करके अपनी जरूरतें पूरी करती थी। अब वह कर्ज में डूब रही थी-और शुरू में कोई समाधान नहीं दिख रहा था।


Letter from Africa: Ghanaians saw Mugabe as their in-law

Summary: In our series of letters from African writers, journalist and former Ghana government minister Elizabeth Ohene writes that Zimbabwe's ex-President Robert Mugabe, who has died aged 95, had a special place in the hearts of Ghanaians.

We in Ghana called Robert Mugabe our in-law. It was in Ghana that he met his first wife, Sarah Francesca Hayfron. He married her in 1961, and she became known as Sally Mugabe. She was one half of a set of female twins and she was teaching in Takoradi city in Ghana's Western Region when Mr Mugabe met and fell in love with her. Ghana had achieved its independence from the UK in 1957, and Mr Mugabe had come to "to find himself" and experience the dream of an independent African state. The unofficial story was that he had received training on how to wage the struggle for independence in what was then Rhodesia. Those were heady days in the newly independent Ghana and the Hayfron family was educated, political, well-connected and part of high society. The father was a well-trained horticulturist and his home was famous for well designed gardens. Sarah Francesca Hayfron was certainly quite a catch for the then unknown and struggling Robert Mugabe. As it turned out, his new wife turned out to be a veritable political partner and activist, when he took her back to his home country. Mugabe's extra-marital affair The story of the couple's struggles in Rhodesia - including their incarceration - have become the stuff of legend. In the midst of it all, and when Mr Mugabe was in prison, their son, Nhamodzenyika, died of malaria in Ghana. This was to have far reaching consequences because by the time husband and wife were together again, they could not have another child. In 1987, Mr Mugabe started an affair with his secretary, Grace Marufu, 41 years his junior, because, according to him, he felt he had to provide grandchildren for his mother. It was not because of his desires. Sally stayed by her man, continuing as a political activist and earning the well-deserved title of Amai, or Mother, by the time Mr Mugabe became prime minister in 1980, and First Lady when he became president in 1987. We in Ghana felt we had a special status in newly independent Zimbabwe and it was suddenly the place to go. The 1980s were not good times in Ghana and many top professionals - including medical doctors, university professors, and judges - went to live and work in Zimbabwe. They were anxious for Zimbabwe to learn the lessons from Ghana, and other African countries, which had attained independence earlier and were struggling politically and economically. They admired the orderliness of the Zimbabwean towns and cities, and their hosts admired their self-confidence. But on a reporting trip to Zimbabwe in 1987, I found that many of the Ghanaians were expressing anxieties about Mr Mugabe's decision to transform his position from prime minister to president. They said they feared for Zimbabwe's future. Zimbabweans were welcoming to Ghanaians and I remember arriving at the main airport in the capital, Harare - now known as the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport - and the immigration officer smiling when he saw my Ghanaian passport and saying: "Welcome, our in-law." By the beginning of the 1990s, some tensions were surfacing as the emerging Zimbabwean black middle class began to resent the presence of Ghanaian professionals. But the respected in-law position remained. Indeed, Zimbabwe granted Ghanaians visa-free entry, and the arrangement still exists. We in Ghana silently cheered Sally's firm but tender hold on her husband and it was widely felt that she was his moral anchor, who kept him on the straight and narrow. Sally's death in January 1992 was felt keenly in Ghana and a large delegation went to her funeral in Harare. Our son-in-law looked bereft and he gave a most touching and powerful eulogy at the burial ceremony. Read more: Once Grace was installed as the new Mrs Mugabe in 1996, we knew our status had changed. Many of the Ghanaians left, hardly any new ones went and Zimbabwe disappeared from the destination map of the ever-footloose Ghanaian. 'Unsentimental and unforgiving' In 2017, one of the last surviving members of the group of Ghanaian émigrés - Roger Korsah, a retired judge of the Supreme Court - died, almost bringing down the curtain on that chapter. But Zimbabwe continued to have a special place in the hearts of Ghanaians. We can never be as rude about Zimbabwe as we can be about other countries, and when we hear of its political and economic difficulties, the feeling is one of dismay and bewilderment. In Ghana, your in-law is your in-law, and deserves respect, no matter what happens. I have to admit though that the last time Mr Mugabe came to Ghana, to attend our 60th independence anniversary on 6 March 2017, the younger generation was only interested in poking fun at him for seeming to fall asleep during the ceremony. It was, sadly, a different Robert Mugabe from the man who had married our Sally; now at 90-something and into his 37th year as leader of Zimbabwe, young Ghanaians on social media were unsentimental and unforgiving. Now that he is gone, we will have to go and perform the necessary rites at the funeral; he was our son-in-law, and that cannot change. More Letters from Africa Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

अफ्रीकी लेखकों के पत्रों की हमारी श्रृंखला में, पत्रकार और घाना सरकार की पूर्व मंत्री एलिजाबेथ ओहने लिखती हैं कि जिम्बाब्वे के पूर्व राष्ट्रपति रॉबर्ट मुगाबे, जिनका 95 वर्ष की आयु में निधन हो गया है, का घानावासियों के दिलों में एक विशेष स्थान था।


Cyclist killed in Oxford bin lorry crash

Summary: A woman has died in a crash between a bin lorry and a cyclist.

The collision happened in Horspath Driftway, Oxford, at about 08:50 GMT on Tuesday. The cyclist, who was in her 30s, died at the scene. Her next of kin have been informed, Thames Valley Police said. Officers urged any witnesses to the crash, which involved a white refuse lorry, to contact them. PC Ian Stevens urged motorists to check their dashcams for any footage of the crash.

बिन लॉरी और साइकिल सवार के बीच टक्कर में एक महिला की मौत हो गई है।


Pedestrian killed on main Caerphilly road named

Summary: A man who died when he was hit by a car on main road in south Wales has been named.

Richard Dyas, 30, from Cwmbran, died on the A468 between Caerphilly and Newport, at about 20:30 GMT on Friday. He was hit by a black Mercedes AMG on a stretch of the road known as the "Machen straight". A 25 year old man, from the Newport area, who was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving has been released as inquiries continue.

साउथ वेल्स में मुख्य सड़क पर एक कार की चपेट में आने से मरने वाले एक व्यक्ति का नाम लिया गया है।


Teenager hit by car in fatal Glasgow crash named

Summary: A teenage girl who died after being struck by a car on Glasgow's Great Western Road has been named by police as 16-year-old Sophie Geddes.

The crash involving a grey Ford Focus happened near the Garscadden Road junction at about 19:45 on Saturday. Miss Geddes, from Knightswood, was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where she later died. Police have repeated their appeal for witnesses or anyone who has CCTV or dashcam footage to contact them. Sgt Grant MacIver said: "We are especially keen to hear from anyone who may have dash-cam footage as this could be very helpful to our investigation."

ग्लासगो के ग्रेट वेस्टर्न रोड पर एक कार की चपेट में आने से मरने वाली एक किशोर लड़की का नाम पुलिस ने 16 वर्षीय सोफी गेडेस के रूप में लिया है।


Budget 2017: £2bn for social care and tax rise for self-employed

Summary: Chancellor Philip Hammond has increased National Insurance bills for self-employed people in his first Budget - leading to accusations he has broken a manifesto pledge not to raise taxes.

There was also £2bn for social care services in England, and help for firms hit by business rate rises. On the economy he said growth was expected to be higher - and borrowing lower - than forecast in November. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was "a Budget of utter complacency". Mr Hammond said there had been a "dramatic increase" in the number of people working as self-employed - and that the reason for doing so should not be "differences in tax treatment". The disparity between the rates paid by the self-employed and employees "undermines the fairness of our tax system", he said. Class 4 National Insurance contributions will go up to 10% from 9% and to 11% in April 2019, Mr Hammond told MPs. On its own, the change announced in the Budget would affect 2.5 million people. But a separate category of National Insurance payments, Class 2, are already due to be abolished from 2018, and Mr Hammond said that taken together the two changes meant NI payments for a self-employed person would be on average 60p a week higher. The Treasury later said that 1.6 million people would, on average, pay £240 more a year and no-one earning less than £16,250 would be worse off. Mr Hammond said the different National Insurance rates had traditionally reflected a disparity in pension and benefit entitlement between self-employed people and those in employment. But he said these had now been "very substantially reduced", and that the government would also consult on addressing disparities in relation to parental benefits. The government immediately faced accusations of breaking a Conservative manifesto pledge not to increase VAT, National Insurance contributions or income tax. Ministers said this promise related to the class of National Insurance paid by employees, not the self-employed. Some Conservative MPs also raised concerns. "I don't think we should be going out of our way to tax work, growth and enterprise and success," said former Tory minister John Redwood. Read more - Reality check: Has manifesto pledge been broken? Cash for social care The government has been under pressure to offer more resources for social care budgets, with council leaders warning the entire system stands on the "brink of collapse" without an immediate cash injection and a commitment to a long-term solution. Mr Hammond acknowledged the system was under pressure with an ageing population, and said the new £2bn for services in England over the next three years would allow councils to "act now to commission new care packages". He also said the government would set out the options for long-term funding of the social care system later in the year - although these would not include a "death tax". Read more - Will the extra money plug gap? Economy 'confounding commentators' Opening his statement, Mr Hammond said the UK economy "continued to confound the commentators with robust growth", and promised his Budget would provide a "strong and stable platform" for the Brexit negotiations to come. As predicted, there were improved economic forecasts via the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The OBR has revised up its growth forecast from 1.4% to 2% for 2017, predicting it will slow to 1.6% in 2018 before returning to 2% in 2021. Due to "a number of one-off factors", borrowing was predicted to be £16.8bn lower than previously forecast, the chancellor said. However, as the UK prepares for Brexit, Mr Hammond said there was "no room for complacency", and that the UK's deficit was still high, and productivity "stubbornly low". Read more - Focus on revised UK economy forecasts. Date for balancing the UK's books delayed again... According to the OBR's analysis, the government "does not appear to be on track" to meet one of its key fiscal targets. Mr Hammond told MPs the deficit, the difference between what the government spends and what it receives, was "down by over two thirds". In 2010 the Conservatives' original target was to eliminate the deficit by 2015. That has since slipped year-by-year and in November's Autumn Statement Mr Hammond pledged to eliminate it "as early as possible in the next Parliament". But the OBR said: "The deficit falls little in 2020-21 and 2021-22, while the ageing population and cost pressures in health are likely to put upward pressure on the deficit in the next Parliament." Tobacco and alcohol changes There were no unexpected rises in the Budget, with the chancellor sticking to the previously pencilled-in rises. So a packet of 20 cigarettes will cost 35p more from 18:00, while it will be 44p more for a 30g pack of hand rolled tobacco. A pint of beer will cost 2p more from Monday, from when duty on a bottle of Whisky will rise 36p, with gin up 34p, cider 1p and a bottle of still wine 10p. Business rates Mr Hammond has been facing a backlash, including from Conservative MPs, over businesses facing rates rises as a result of the revaluation of premises that is about to come into force. The chancellor defended the revaluation, although he said he said it "undoubtedly raised some hard cases". He announced a £300m "discretionary fund" to be used by councils to help companies that are badly hit, and a £50-per-month cap on increases for firms facing the loss of small business relief. In a further measure, he said 90% of pubs would be given a £1,000 business rates discount. Read more - help for pubs in rates revamp Share dividend tax change - and other announcements The biggest money raising measure was a reduction in the total amount of dividends company directors and shareholders can receive from businesses without having to pay taxes, from £5,000 to £2,000. Mr Hammond said the move was meant to "address the unfairness" around the dividend tax advantage, which he claimed was "an extremely generous tax break for investors with substantial share portfolios". Other measures included: What the other parties said Responding to Mr Hammond, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Budget ignored the "crisis facing our public services and the reality of daily life for millions of people in this country". He accused the government of "cutting services and the living standards of the many, to continue to fund the tax cuts of the few". He calculated there would be a £70bn tax giveaway for "those who need it the least". As an example, he said that instead of using £10m to set up a children's funeral fund, the government was cutting support for bereaved families. For the SNP, Stewart Hosie said Brexit had barely been mentioned, despite the "momentous" challenge it posed. The Liberal Democrats said the social care announcement "gives sticking plasters a bad name". "It is a woefully inadequate response to the impossible pressure the NHS and care services are under," Norman Lamb, the party's health spokesman, said. UKIP MP Douglas Carswell criticised what he called an "attack" on self-employed people through National Insurance rates, and said the Budget was not "fundamentally sorting out the biggest problem we face", the UK's debt. BBC editors' analysis The chancellor repeatedly emphasised that it is a government that says it is preoccupied by "fairness" with ministers oft-quoted promise of a "country that works for everyone". But does that stack up? The overall picture might be slightly healthier in the government's giant balance sheets but it is still extremely challenging - hardly a land of milk and honey. And that slightly cheerier fettle in the forecasts is very different to the public feeling any better off - Read political editor Laura Kuenssberg's full blog Uber and Deliveroo - the Treasury is on your case. Philip Hammond regularly cites evidence that the growth of self-employment is undermining the tax base - by between £3.5bn and £5bn a year by 2020 potentially. Those who are self-employed point out that they are in a much more precarious employment and have often decided to take a risk as entrepreneurs. And they do not receive pension contributions and entitlements such as holiday pay, which are rights for those directly employed by companies - Read economic editor Kamal Ahmed's full blog Jokes from 'Spreadsheet Phil' It wasn't all dry economics and tax announcements - the chancellor, billed beforehand as "Spreadsheet Phil", also sprinkled some jokes into his 55-minute speech. He played up to his nickname ("this is the spreadsheet bit, but bear with me because I have a reputation to defend") but also took aim at Jeremy Corbyn, sitting across the despatch box. The Labour leader, he said, was "so far down a black hole that even Stephen Hawking has disowned him", in a reference to the scientist's criticism earlier in the week. He didn't stop there, quipping later in the speech that "they don't call it the last Labour government for nothing". He also faced some good-natured heckling from the PM, when he told MPs two of his planned announcements had already been revealed by Theresa May. "It's international women's day", she reminded him. What we already knew Several spending announcements were made ahead of Mr Hammond's Commons statement. These included: Aside from the Budget, several previously-announced changes come into force in April, including an increase in the personal tax allowance to £11,500, a new inheritance tax allowance, a rise in the annual ISA limit to £20,000 and the introduction of a levy to fund apprenticeships. How business reacted The Federation of Small Businesses criticised the changes to National Insurance paid by self-employed people. "This undermines the government's own mission for the UK to be the best place to start and grow a business, and it drives up the cost of doing business," said its chairman, Mike Cherry. Mark Littlewood, of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said the chancellor "defused one bomb" by providing relief for business rate rises: "But he has definitely exploded another bomb with this rise in NICs [National Insurance Contributions] for the self-employed." For the CBI, the "limited" help over business rates "falls short". British Chambers of Commerce director general Adam Marshall said: "Businesses had been advised to expect minimal change, rather than a blockbuster Budget, and Philip Hammond did not disappoint." Read more - Budget reaction in quotes

चांसलर फिलिप हैमंड ने अपने पहले बजट में स्व-नियोजित लोगों के लिए राष्ट्रीय बीमा बिलों में वृद्धि की है-जिसके कारण उन पर करों में वृद्धि नहीं करने का घोषणापत्र प्रतिज्ञा तोड़ने का आरोप लगा है।


Ceredigion £1m EuroMillions winner claims prize

Summary: A lottery ticket-holder has come forward to claim their £1m prize three months after the draw.

The money was won in the EuroMillions draw on 7 February, with the ticket bought in Ceredigion. "It would have been awful if the ticket-holder had missed out on this life-changing amount of money," Camelot spokesman Andy Carter said. Players had been urged to check their tickets after someone in Rhondda Cynon Taff failed to claim a £1m prize.

एक लॉटरी टिकट धारक ड्रॉ के तीन महीने बाद अपने 1 मिलियन पाउंड के पुरस्कार का दावा करने के लिए आगे आया है।


Why a Chinese firm really bought British Steel

Summary: In the warm afterglow of Monday's announcement that Chinese steel maker Jingye had agreed to buy British Steel, workers and unions were grateful and optimistic that the new owners would pour more than £1bn into the struggling company, securing 4,000 jobs at Scunthorpe and 20,000 in the supply chain.

Simon JackBusiness editor@BBCSimonJackon Twitter This little-known company was making big promises to refurbish the blast furnaces, expand production, potentially expand the workforce and return the site to profit. Everyone - including Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom - was smiling. But in some quarters, heads were being scratched as to why Jingye thought it could succeed where many others had failed or decided not to try. It's true that Jingye's promised £1.2bn investment dwarfs the estimated £20m the previous owners - private investment firm Greybull Capital - were prepared to put in. But the government's previous preferred bidder Ataer Holdings - an offshoot of the Turkish military pension fund - also said it would invest heavily. Government sources told me at the time that the Turkish bid was "hands down" the best bid. That means better than Jingye, who the previous Business Secretary Greg Clark met three times in the UK, and once in China. However, after months of having full access to the plant and the books, Ataer's bid stalled. Which begs the question - what is it about loss-making Scunthorpe that the Chinese like and others don't? 'Made in the UK' There are several possible answers. First, the official version. The businesses are genuinely complementary. Scunthorpe is a specialist in rail tracks and other "long products" like reinforcing bars used in construction. Jingye doesn't make these. British Steel gives it new products and new markets. Second, Chinese steel is not welcome in all parts of the world. Indeed, it was the flood of steel coming from Chinese overproduction that saw the UK steel industry have a near death moment in 2016 before strong EU anti-dumping measures that imposed big tariffs on Chinese steel imports offered the industry a degree of protection. Some industry watchers are suggesting that Scunthorpe, and British Steel's plant in Hayange in France would allow Jingye to import raw steel from China, finish it into higher value products and stick a "Made in UK" or "Made in France" badge on it. Peace of mind for big customers like Network Rail in the UK or French ones like SNCF. It would also make exports to the US quite a bit easier than they are now. Third, and connected to the second, there is some valuable intellectual property and expertise that Jingye is acquiring along with the sites themselves. Sources close to Jingye told the BBC that there was still some work to do to clinch the deal and so did not want to comment at this stage. That's fair enough and a useful reminder this deal is not yet in the bag. There are three sets of hoops to jump through. First, competiton tests. That's not thought to be a major problem as there are other big players in the market such as Thyssen, Arcelor Mittal, and Tata. Second, union approval. The positive and deeply relieved noises coming out of GMB and Community on Monday make it likely that will be forthcoming. Third, the approval of the French government. That may be trickier. While the UK government does not consider steel-making a critical industry enabling it to block a takeover, France has always adopted a more cautious, more protectionist stance. SNCF is a major customer of the Hayange plant and company sources acknowledge that this will be the toughest hurdle to clear. It's not just unclear as to why this deal happened. There still remains some element of doubt, perhaps small, as to whether it will happen at all.

सोमवार की घोषणा के गर्मजोशी से बाद कि चीनी इस्पात निर्माता जिंगे ब्रिटिश स्टील खरीदने के लिए सहमत हो गए थे, श्रमिक और संघ आभारी और आशावादी थे कि नए मालिक संघर्षरत कंपनी में £1 बिलियन से अधिक डालेंगे, स्कनथॉर्प में 4,000 और आपूर्ति श्रृंखला में 20,000 नौकरियां हासिल करेंगे।


How Bosnia is helping identify Cypriots murdered 50 years ago

Summary: In the 1960s and 1970s, hundreds of Cypriots disappeared. Now, there is a renewed effort to find out what happened to them - mass graves are being dug up and a laboratory in Sarajevo is helping to identify the bodies.

By Fiona HillBBC World Service Forty years ago, Maria Georgiadis (above in the white dress), lost her whole family - her mother, her father, her sister and her brother. But she has never been able to lay their bodies to rest. Georgiadis, a Greek Cypriot, was 28 years old at the time and was living in the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia, with her husband and two young children. The rest of her family lived 10km away in Kythrea, but in August 1974 after a Greek-inspired coup and intervention by Turkish troops, their village became part of a Turkish-Cypriot enclave. For two months, she tried to find out what had happened to her relatives. Eventually her fears were confirmed when she saw their names listed in a local newspaper - they had all been killed. Chrystala (her mother, back row second from right), Andreas (her father, middle back row) Melitsa (her sister, back row far right) and Christy were four of 2,001 Greek and Turkish Cypriots who went missing in the early 1960s and 1970s - like hundreds of others, their bodies still haven't been found. "It's as though something is missing. For a long time I was waiting for a knock on the door, for them to come in. Now I just want them to be in one place, where I can go and place some flowers," says Georgiadis. Today, aged 69, with children and grandchildren of her own, she wants a proper funeral and a grave to visit where she can light a candle. For years, the issue of the missing in Cyprus was mired in politics, and with little communication between Greek and Turkish Cypriots it wasn't until 2007 that they could even agree on an official list of who had disappeared. Since then the UN-backed Committee of Missing Persons (CMP) - made up of a representative from both communities as well as UN representative Paul-Henri Arni, has been leading the search for burial sites and organising the excavation, exhumation and identification of bodies. Since 2007, 571 bodies have been found, identified and returned to their families. That means the relatives of a further 1,430 missing Cypriots still wait for news. "These things are very sensitive. We are dealing with people who didn't fall from a bicycle, but people who were killed… So it's normal that it takes a lot of time," says Arni. With time running out for the remaining relatives, there is a renewed push to identify burial sites and speed up the identification of remains. "I've seen women raped, detainees tortured, people losing limbs, their house, their country. All these sufferings of war can heal with time, but not if your son or father doesn't come home for dinner for 30 or 40 years. It's the only wound of war that gets worse with time," he says. The CMP recently decided to tap into the expertise developed at a laboratory in Sarajevo. The centre in Bosnia Herzegovina specialises in extracting DNA from bone samples and matching them with genetic material from living relatives. Run by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), this laboratory was set up in 1996 after the war in the former Yugoslavia left 40,000 people missing. The ICMP helped to identify almost 30,000 of them using DNA techniques, and since then has shared expertise with scientists in conflict zones and places hit by natural disasters around the world. Now, as bodies are exhumed in Cyprus, bone samples are sent to Sarajevo for DNA matching. In the conflicts in both countries, killers dumped bodies in mass graves, and then to try to hide their crimes, moved them, sometimes several times, to different sites. Remains were mixed up and the only way to reassemble the broken bodies so they could be identified was to use DNA. In the former Yugoslavia, even when families buried incomplete bodies, further agony could follow when additional remains were then recovered. "One lady described the hell of burying her son, one bone at a time," says Adam Boys, at the ICMP. "It's heart breaking. They say, 'My son went away alive, and I want him back alive,' they can't accept it." "One mother has in her fridge a jar of Nivea cream, wrapped up for protection in plastic bags. The only evidence her son exists is the fingerprint he left when he was taking cream out of the jar." The CMP in Cyprus has family counsellors to support relatives over the years as they wait for news - each time a potential burial site is discovered, hopes are raised. Georgiadis has been to five excavations. "Every time… my heart was beating in my breast and I was asking will it be now? But nothing. Still I hope that before I die I will be able to bury them. "I have told my children, "If they are found after I die, please put their remains with me.'" In January this year a mass grave was uncovered at a Cypriot stone quarry in Pareklissia near Limassol - families lined the hills above the site, hoping to see the bones of the men and teenage boys who had been abducted, taken from a bus and killed 40 years earlier. So far, 35 bodies have been recovered from this site and partial remains sent to the Sarajevo laboratory for analysis. "The skull is a very important body part to relatives," says Ziliha Uluboy, a clinical psychologist with the CMP. "It's the face. When they don't see this they feel very bad." In Cyprus, the CMP arranged immunity from prosecution for those who come forward with information about where the bodies of the missing are hidden. But evidence is hard to come by. In some cases those involved in the killings are still alive and many people are afraid to talk. As the decades pass, the physical landscape changes too, and it becomes harder and harder to locate hidden graves as memories fade and new building alters and sometimes obscures completely, burial sites. One woman on the island, Sevgul Uludag, is credited by both the Greek and Turkish communities as having had a vital role, over the past 12 years, in finding the missing. An investigative journalist with a popular blog, she carries two mobile phones - one for Turkish Cypriots and the other for Greek Cypriots to call her, anonymously, with information. Uludag receives thousands of calls a year about possible burial sites - she alerts the CMP and investigations begin. She has helped locate hundreds of bodies. But this voluntary, unpaid work has put her at risk and she's had death threats from people who carried out the killings and those trying to protect them. "They said, 'We will shoot you from behind, we will break your legs, arms, cut your tongue. A car will come and hit you.' But I persisted because I knew once the barrier broke, information would flow in and it would bring relief to people," she says. For Uludag, the fate of the missing people in Cyprus and the families waiting for them must not be reduced to just numbers. "These are human faces, human feelings, Turkish Cypriot families, Greek Cypriot families - the same." Cyprus divided • 1960 - independence from British Rule leads to power sharing between Greek Cypriot majority and Turkish Cypriot minority • 1963 and 1964 - inter-communal violence erupts • 1974 - Cypriot President, Archbishop Makarios, deposed in a coup backed by Greece's military junta - Turkey sends troops to the island • UN estimates that 165,000 Greek Cypriots fled or were expelled from the north, and 45,000 Turkish Cypriots from the south - 2001 officially people recorded missing • 1975 - Turkish Cypriots announce establishment of their own state in the north, recognised only by Turkey • 2007 - The Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus begins excavations and exhumations of graves - 571 people identified by August 2014 After 44 years, Turkish Cypriots, Veli Beidoghlou and his sisters, Sifa and Muge, were, finally, able to lay their father, Arturo Veli, to rest. In May 1964, when Veli Beidoghlou was just four, his father was abducted leaving their young mother a widow. He had been the manager of Barclays Bank in what's now the abandoned town of Varosha near Famagusta. In 2005, Sevgul Uludag told Beidoghlou that the CMP was excavating a mass grave down a dry well, in what used to be orange groves in the southern part of Famagusta. Arturo's body was discovered with five others. He had been shot three times. One bullet wound was clearly visible in his head - the others were in his pelvis and torso. The family knew it was him immediately - his wedding ring was still on his finger and they also recognised the tie hanging round his neck. But it took three years to work through the formal identification process. Finally, in 2008, the family was able to bury Arturo in Nicosia cemetery, his grave alongside the other murdered men who'd been dumped down the same well. For their mother, the discovery of his body was a deep shock. "In the beginning she didn't want to believe it. There were flashbacks and memories freshened up, a lot of sadness - even though, at the same time it brings the relief of knowing," says Muge. For Veli Beidoghlou too, finding their missing father has closed one chapter but opened another. "I know why he died, but I still want to know exactly how it happened," he says. More from the Magazine Varosha, where Arturo Veli worked, was once a popular seaside resort that attracted the rich and famous. Its residents fled 40 years ago and the place is now a ghost town. Varosha: The abandoned tourist resort Bereavement Without a Body is broadcast on BBC World Service at 19:30 BST on 1 October. You can also listen on iplayer or download the Health Check podcast here. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

1960 और 1970 के दशक में, सैकड़ों साइप्रस गायब हो गए। अब, यह पता लगाने के लिए एक नए सिरे से प्रयास किया जा रहा है कि उनके साथ क्या हुआ-सामूहिक कब्रों को खोदा जा रहा है और साराजेवो में एक प्रयोगशाला शवों की पहचान करने में मदद कर रही है।


Virtual reality: Lessons from the past for Oculus Rift

Summary: Virtual reality was all the rage a couple of decades ago and looked as if it could become the video games industry's next big thing. But despite public interest and millions of dollars of research, the concept flopped. Now, with excitement building for the release of a new VR helmet - the Oculus Rift - it is worth asking what went wrong the first time round, and can any lessons be learned?

By Elyse BettersTechnology reporter, New York Sandwiched among old consoles in a second-hand video games shop is a vibrant box with a machine inside that was meant to change the world… and play 3D Tetris. Released in 1994 by Nintendo, Virtual Boy was the first games console marketed with out-of-the-box VR for a relatively-affordable $180 (£115). It proved to be a dud. Gamers complained about the lack of motion tracking - the ability to match the view to movements of the player's head - and even headaches from the graphics which could only be shown in red. Despite being launched at the forefront of a VR-mania, it vanished - like the craze - amid unrealistic expectations. "In the 80s and 90s there was so much hype we had to do expectation management," says Scott Fisher. He is founding chairman of the Interactive Media Division at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts and previously worked at Atari and Nasa. "What's frustrating now that VR's a hot topic again is that we're seeing a lot of reinventing the wheel. There's good research [already] out there. It's been around for years." Slow start Imagine being Paul McCartney, walking out on stage at the height of Beatlemania - that was the promise of virtual reality: the ability to be whoever and do whatever you wanted. The only limit would be the software designer's imagination. But in practice the "reality" offered looked very different to real life, and proved awkward to operate. From eye-piece-like consoles to arcade pods, VR rigs were cumbersome and expensive. The technology can be traced back to 1962 and the launch of the Sensorama - a stereoscopic 3D movie booth, called an "experience theatre" into which viewers placed their head to be transported "into another world". Four years later the US Air Force developed its first computer-controlled flight simulator. That was followed in 1968 by a head-mounted display developed by a Harvard University professor which showed wire-frame graphics that moved as the wearer turned their head. The term "virtual reality" itself was made popular by California-based technologist Jaron Lanier who founded VPL Research in 1984 - a firm which made early VR headsets and data-gloves. Among buyers of the kit was Nasa, where a researcher adapted it to be used as a control system for later Mars Rover pilots. But it wasn't until the early-90s that VR really hit the mainstream. Movies including The Lawnmower Man, Virtuosity and Johnny Mnemonic and novels such as Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and Michael Crichton's Disclosure entranced the public with the promise of immersive computer-created worlds. Start-ups capitalised on the opportunity, trying to create kit that would let the public visit cyberspace. But the phenomenon was short-lived - and mostly limited to video games arcades - as the firms struggled to match the quality of the graphics depicted in fiction, failed to agree on a standard format, and put off customers with high prices. "With consumers, VR hasn't been successful. But it's a success for industry," says Mr Lanier. "Every car company and boat builder uses VR to build vehicles. But there's still no place for consumers to try VR." Consumer VR is often disappointing: it's expensive to develop, and there are technical limitations on hardware, processors and resolution. "Thirty years ago we didn't have real-time graphics to keep up with head or body motion," Mr Fisher says. "People would get sim-sick because of lag." Computing power has now had a chance to catch up. Moore's Law states that the number of transistors on a chip will double approximately every two years. So processors should now be more than 1,000 times more powerful than in 1993. Yet VR systems remain outside most consumers' budgets. Even so, some of the related technologies have worked their way into homes. Mr Lanier helped develop the Xbox's original Kinect motion-tracker, something he describes as one of the "baby steps of bringing VR to consumers". The motion-tracking technologies used by Nintendo's Wii consoles also had their roots in VR - but Mr Lanier admits the products aren't "great". "There's nothing you can do to make the stuff cheaper," he adds. "It's happening as fast as it can." The big hope on the horizon for the games industry is Oculus VR, a California-based firm which raised $2.4m via crowdfunding site Kickstarter to develop a VR headset. "Virtual reality got featured in movies, TV shows, games, and books as a kind of holy grail technology about to change the world," Palmer Luckey, the firm's founder tells the BBC. "Unrealistic portrayals led to lots of hyperbolic media coverage, further bolstering the public perception that (VR) was more advanced. "[But] computers are finally powerful enough to render realistic virtual worlds at high frame rates, and the mobile phone industry has massively improved the price, size, and performance of display and sensor technologies. "We may be a long way from making virtual reality perfect, but what exists today is still an experience far beyond what any game can do with a TV." Even so, it will take more tech advances to succeed. Part of the reason the Virtual Boy failed was because it was launched with just three games under its belt. "To succeed among consumers there needs to be software, games - all of it," Mr Fisher says. "That's important." And not everyone believes VR is finally at its breakthrough moment. "Every few years there's some entrepreneur," says Mr Lanier. "There've been things like Oculus [before]. "They're cute and remind me so much of myself when I was a kid… I just don't know if they'll make it."

कुछ दशक पहले आभासी वास्तविकता सभी गुस्से में थी और ऐसा लग रहा था कि यह वीडियो गेम उद्योग की अगली बड़ी चीज बन सकती है। लेकिन सार्वजनिक रुचि और लाखों डॉलर के शोध के बावजूद, अवधारणा फ्लॉप हो गई। अब, एक नए वीआर हेलमेट-ओकुलस रिफ्ट के विमोचन के लिए उत्साह निर्माण के साथ-यह पूछने लायक है कि पहली बार क्या गलत हुआ, और क्या कोई सबक सीखा जा सकता है?


How Islamist militancy threatens Africa

Summary: With Islamist militant groups across the Sahara region still able to flex their muscles despite the French intervention in Mali, former UN diplomat and security expert Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah considers their threat to Africa.

The countries of North and West Africa have become embroiled in a new war waged by violent Islamist militants - a conflict that has no front line. Last week's suicide assaults in Niger on a military base and French-run uranium mine, and a siege in January of the gas plant in Algeria reveal the insurgents' ruthless tactics. And the start of the withdrawal of French troops from Mali, four months after recapturing northern cities from Islamist insurgents, is being touted by the militants on internet forums as the beginning of their victory. But this is no sudden development. Militants and armed radical groups have expanded and entrenched their positions throughout the Sahel and Sahara over the last decade under the umbrella of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM). They move from one country to another - a hard core of operatives working in an area that covers parts of south-west and south Libya, southern Algeria, northern Niger, north-east Mauritania and most of northern Mali. Poorly administrated, these vast desert spaces provide the groups with an ideal terrain. They also have connections in northern Nigeria, especially with home-grown militant group Boko Haram. Cocaine Analysts believe there are dormant cells in many large cities, including most capitals in the Sahel region. There are several reasons that this network of militancy has flourished. One significant factor is the perceived arrogance and corruption of urban elites. The marginalisation of poorer communities - both in rural areas and smaller towns - and minority ethnic groups has further alienated them from the governing classes. Disgruntled young men have been happy to join radical groups that not only offer them an ideology, but money. And it is the widespread drug trafficking in the region that is believed to have enriched militant groups. Details about the operations are sketchy - large amounts of money are involved to ensure secrecy and loyalty. Drugs from South America are taken across Africa to Europe, where they are more profitable and marketable. A kilogramme of cocaine bought in Latin America for $3,000 (£1,990) can be sold in the capitals of West Africa for about $16,000; in North Africa it sells for $25,000 and can fetch about $45,000 in Europe. Getting involved in the transit business as the conveyor or security agent provides not only a good salary but also the social recognition that money brings. This is a tantalising prospect to many unemployed young men. Western hostage taking is no less profitable for militant groups - and is another "business" that has grown in the last 10 years. Between 80m-100m euros ($103m-130m) is estimated by the Center for Strategy and Security in the Sahel Sahara to have been paid in ransoms in this time, despite both the United Nations and the African Union discouraging such payments. Information technology has been a great help to a hard core of between 350 and 450 experienced AQIM fighters estimated to work within the coalition of Islamist militant groups in the Sahel and Sahara region. Co-operation The leadership and high ranking officers are mostly Algerians and Mauritanians, but increasingly the Sahelians are moving up the ladder. They are very mobile and knowledgeable about the region, can often avoid detection and the monitoring of their communications, and can count on hundreds of determined militias and armed sympathisers. AQIM has its roots in groups in Algeria, Libya and Tunisia. One of its key affiliates is the well-disciplined Mujao group, which was active in Mali and claimed responsibility for last week's Niger attacks. There is also believed to be a connection between AQIM and the growing piracy of the Gulf of Guinea - similar to the situation in Somalia where the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabab group has strong links with pirates operating in the Indian Ocean. In both cases the main objective is to expand the source of their funding and to enlarge their popular support through redistribution of the loot. Last summer also saw reports of a liaison between the Islamist militants in the Sahel, al-Shabab and a few other "informal units" operating in the porous borders area between Chad, Libya and Sudan. Al-Shabab militants were reported to have travelled overland to Mali disguised as Koranic students or merchants. En route it is believed they stayed in safe houses in major cities before joining groups in the AQIM network to share experiences. The groups interact on more of an informal than a co-ordinated basis - facilitated by lax border controls and territorial continuity. They also exploit the tribal systems and relationships between ethnic groups, using them to their advantage. Most rebel groups' supplies and logistics come down from the Maghreb or the fighters seize them by force from local armies. Frustrated border populations either help the combatants or fail to report on them to government officials, despite being given Thuraya satellite phones to do so. Today, however, the Sahel and Sahara region is at a crossroads. There is an opportunity for the region's governments to get a grip on the situation and take advantage of France's gains. Improving economies coupled with nascent freedoms in North Africa could also help improve weak governance, a major ingredient of terrorism. In coalition with the private sector and civil society organisations, they could fight poverty and disenfranchisement, which could help quell the rebellion. But there is only a short window of opportunity. Combatants presently fighting on far fronts, such as Syria, may well return - whether victorious or defeated - to boost the morale and numbers of the Saharan radical groups confronted by French troops. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah is the former UN envoy for Somalia and West Africa and now runs the Center for Strategy and Security in the Sahel Sahara in Mauritania

माली में फ्रांसीसी हस्तक्षेप के बावजूद सहारा क्षेत्र में इस्लामी आतंकवादी समूह अभी भी अपनी मांसपेशियों को फ्लेक्स करने में सक्षम हैं, संयुक्त राष्ट्र के पूर्व राजनयिक और सुरक्षा विशेषज्ञ अहमदौ औल्ड-अब्दुल्ला अफ्रीका के लिए अपने खतरे को मानते हैं।


HMP Woodhill prisoner death: Police release three inmates

Summary: Three men, arrested on suspicion of murder after an inmate died in prison, have been released under investigation.

Thames Valley Police said a 49-year-old man died after an "altercation" at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes on Tuesday. It is understood the arrested men, aged 32, 33 and 26, who were also inmates, have been returned to prison. Thames Valley released the men from police custody while inquiries continue. The authorities have not publicly released the name of the dead man. Woodhill is a Category A jail which has about 800 prisoners.

जेल में एक कैदी की मौत के बाद हत्या के संदेह में गिरफ्तार किए गए तीन लोगों को जांच के तहत रिहा कर दिया गया है।


Why are MPs banned from clapping?

Summary: Britain's Parliament has some pretty bizarre rules - as the new intake of SNP MPs found out when they were given a stern warning for clapping during the Queen's Speech debate. So why is applause banned in the Commons?

By Brian WheelerPolitical reporter You can wave your order papers, shout until you are purple in the face, hurl abuse across the Chamber, join in with frankly weird displays of mass groaning or that elongated "hear, hear" thing they do. But try joining your party comrades in a sincere appreciation of a point well made in the traditional way and you will have Speaker John Bercow on his feet telling you to respect the traditions of the House. At least, that's what the 56 new SNP MPs found on Wednesday, when they broke into applause to support Angus Robertson, their leader at Westminster, who was hitting back at a furious attack on the party by Labour MP Ian Austin. "May I say at the start of the Parliament," said Mr Bercow, "that the convention that we do not clap in this Chamber is very, very long established and widely respected, and it would be appreciated if Members showed some respect for that convention. "They will get their speaking rights from this Chair - of that they can be assured. They will be respected, but I would invite them to show some respect for the traditions of this Chamber of the House of Commons." Extraordinary scene But like many other things in Britain's elasticated, unwritten constitution, the no-clapping convention is there to be broken. The most famous occasion was on the 27 June, 2007 when Tony Blair gave his farewell speech to the House of Commons. With wavering voice, the outgoing Labour prime minister admitted he was not really a Commons man, but he respected the place and the "noble" profession of politics, and with a final thespian flourish spoke his final words to the Chamber: "I wish everyone, friend or foe, well and that's that, the end." A ripple of applause on the Labour benches soon spread across the floor before turning into an unprecedented cross-party standing ovation. It was an extraordinary scene - and one the then Speaker Michael Martin did nothing to stop. Underhand tactics John Bercow himself has not always enforced the no-clapping rule as vigorously as he did on Wednesday. When the previous government mounted a last minute attempt to oust him as Speaker, on the final day of Parliament in March this year, Tory MP and friend of the speaker Charles Walker delivered an emotional speech denouncing what he saw as the underhand tactics of then-chief whip Michael Gove. The Speaker's supporters got to their feet to give Mr Walker a standing ovation. A clearly overcome Mr Bercow let it go. The history of applause Making a noise with the hands to show appreciation or disapproval is as old as civilisation itself. In ancient Rome, clapping was part of a repertoire of gestures, including the snapping of the finger and thumb and the flapping of togas, used by audiences at public performances. In French theatre, groups of professional clappers, known as "claques", were hired by performers to make them appear more popular with audiences. In politics, the length of the ovation at the end of a speech is sometimes seen as a sign of how well it went down. This took on a more sinister dimension in Soviet Russia, when party leaders would give long speeches with orchestrated applause and ovations. In the book Gulag Archipelago, author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn recalls how someone toasted Stalin at a local Communist Party conference and "stormy applause, rising to an ovation", broke out. The great leader was not present but the applause continued regardless. "Palms were getting sore and raised arms were already aching... however, who would dare be the first to stop?" So why is applause normally banned in the Commons? There is certainly plenty of claptrap spoken in the House (in the traditional sense of the word, meaning something designed to elicit applause). But MPs and members of the House of Lords are encouraged to find other outlets for their approval, mainly through the shouting of "hear, hear!", which started life in the 17th Century as a cry of "hear him! hear him!". The rules are laid out in the Parliamentary etiquette bible Erskine May, which says: "Members must not disturb a Member who is speaking by hissing, chanting, clapping, booing, exclamations or other interruption." But it adds: "When not uttered till the end of a sentence, the cry of 'hear, hear,' offers no interruption of the speech." MPs are well aware of how absurd this can sound to the uninitiated. The modernisation committee, set up by Tony Blair's government in an effort to drag the Commons into the 20th Century, said new MPs found it "incomprehensible that it is not in order to clap at the end of a speech, a practice which is commonplace in other gatherings and indeed in other Parliaments". But the committee backed the applause ban in a 1998 report: "While we agree that spontaneous clapping at the end of a speech could in no way be interpreted as disturbance of the speaker, there is a danger that such a practice might be open to abuse and could lead in certain circumstances to orchestration of what would amount to standing ovations with the success or failure of a speech being judged not by its content but by the relative length of the ovation at the end. "This might not disrupt an individual speech, but would disrupt the tenor of the debate, as indeed would slow handclapping." So it looks as if MPs will have to continue sitting on their hands. And the SNP will have to find a new way to show their appreciation.

ब्रिटेन की संसद में कुछ बहुत ही विचित्र नियम हैं-जैसा कि एस. एन. पी. सांसदों के नए प्रवेश को तब पता चला जब उन्हें रानी के भाषण की बहस के दौरान ताली बजाने के लिए कड़ी चेतावनी दी गई थी। तो फिर कॉमन्स में तालियाँ बजाना क्यों प्रतिबंधित है?


'High-powered' laser targets aircraft over West Berkshire

Summary: A high-powered laser has been shone at civilian and military aircraft flying over West Berkshire six times in the past four months.

PC Darryl MacAndrew said the lasers carried a "high level of risk that could ultimately prove fatal" to those on board. Offences of endangering aircraft "could lead to a life sentence" under the Aviation Act 1982, he added. Laser misuse crimes could lead to a five-year prison sentence. The reports of lasers being shone include:

पिछले चार महीनों में छह बार वेस्ट बर्कशायर के ऊपर से उड़ान भरने वाले नागरिक और सैन्य विमानों पर एक उच्च शक्ति वाले लेजर को चमकाया गया है।


South Africa debates whether to allow fracking

Summary: South Africa's Karoo region is a pristine wilderness of red hills and wildflowers. It is beautiful, desperately poor and is now the new frontline in the global battle over a hugely controversial drilling practice called "fracking".

By Kate ForbesBBC News, Johannesburg The semi-desert area of about 400,000 sq km in the west of the country is home to what could be one of the largest deposits of shale gas in the world, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) - possibly enough to supply the country with gas for the next 400 years. But the country is not sure whether to allow the gas to be extracted by fracking. Fracking supporters say it is the future of energy; detractors that it is an environmental disaster - and the resource-rich country does not have laws in place to properly regulate what is literally an "earth-shattering" type of exploration, which can pollute water sources. Both sides are furiously lobbying the government - and two major reports have just been published to back up their arguments. 'Mighty big fish' South African think-tank Econometrix says fracking would give what is desperately needed in the Karoo: Jobs and development. The Karoo is popular with tourists because of its unspoilt landscapes - but the mostly black population battles with high unemployment and what services there are in the area are basic. Preserving the status quo, Econometrix says, will do nothing for local communities - while, it argues, the trickledown effect of cheaper energy supply to business will help the local economy to grow and provide jobs. "This is big stuff in terms of contribution to GDP [gross domestic product], in terms of employment potential," author of the report, Tony Twine, said before his death earlier this month. "Even if the gas finds turn out to be a lot smaller than the estimate, we are talking about a mighty big fish," he said. The amount of gas under the Karoo could provide 400 years worth of energy to South Africa, he said. 'Wildly inflated' The Econometrix study was funded by Royal Dutch Shell, the energy company that wants to explore for gas in the region. Washington-based group, Food and Water Watch, says the link between fracking and local jobs is yet to be proven. "The US experience has shown that fracking helps oil and gas companies, not communities," says its new report Fracking: The New Global Water Crisis. "It is a favorite industry talking point but when you examine the fancy economic models and look at the actual number of jobs created, their claims are wildly inflated," the report says. The group which campaigns for safe and clean water and food, says that one industry study of fracking exaggerated projected job creation by 900%. It also says that the damage to the environment and human health will be irreversible - citing examples in the US, where shale gas exploration has grown substantially in the past decade. Last year in the US town of Wyoming, residents were told by the environmental protection agency not to drink the water because chemicals had leached into it as a result of fracking. While in Texas, near the Barnett shale wells, environmental officers found the levels of benzene - which can cause cancer - were five times higher than allowed limits. Ask the people? The South African government has a dilemma on its hands. The Karoo is an area that desperately needs economic development, and so could benefit from any jobs created by drilling for shale gas in the area, even if it is not the hundreds promised. Its national development plan has committed the country to moving away from coal to cleaner fuels - and this could include shale gas. But the same plan also promises clean drinking water for all - and the US experience shows that fracking could cause water pollution. Another problem, says Muna Lakhani of South African environmental group Earthlife Africa, is that the local population has largely gone unheard. Shell has asked residents to sit on advisory panels. But Mr Lakhani says that "no-one has wanted to, or been able to, put enough resources in to properly canvas the views of communities." "Fracking has to be explained to people, particularly in poor or rural communities without internet access and only basic education," he says. The spokesman for the department of mineral resources told the BBC they are "still considering and finalising" their report and that their decision will come soon. The African National Congress government is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The problem is, inside that rock there might be gas.

दक्षिण अफ्रीका का कारू क्षेत्र लाल पहाड़ियों और जंगली फूलों का एक प्राचीन जंगल है। यह सुंदर है, बेहद गरीब है और अब "फ्रैकिंग" नामक एक बेहद विवादास्पद ड्रिलिंग अभ्यास पर वैश्विक लड़ाई में नई अग्रिम पंक्ति है।