CES 2014: What to expect from Las Vegas's giant tech show

Summary: Las Vegas is about to host its annual showcase of the latest digital innovations.

By Leo KelionTechnology reporter More than 20,000 new products are expected to be shown off to 152,000 tech trade attendees at 2014's Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Exhibitors will spend millions on outlandish press conferences; there will be giant-sized TVs you'll never be able to afford in resolutions your eyes would struggle to appreciate; a swarm of celebrities ranging from rapper 50 Cent to rockers Fleetwood Mac; and a seemingly endless smorgasbord of sensor-laden, cloud-powered, app-enhanced inventions. Even if the flops-of-tomorrow are likely to outnumber the success stories, there's always the prospect of a first glimpse of the next big thing. "CES is a hands-on experience," says Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association, which organises the event. "Anyone with an idea can introduce a product and see how people react to it immediately. Whether people want to invest, whether they want to buy it, whether they want to write about it." New TVs Televisions are always one of CES's biggest categories, right back to its first show in 1967. The two biggest manufacturers - Samsung and LG - will square off once again at this year's event with similar sounding products. Both have already announced 105in (267cm) sized 4K Ultra HD screens in the extra-wide 21:9 aspect ratio. The two firms may also show off prototypes that allow users to adjust how curved their OLED (organic light-emitting diode) flexible screens are via a remote control, according to a report in the South Korea Times. Viewers could, for example, adjust the displays to be more more bent while sat up close playing a video game but more flat when watching sport with others. The Wall Street Journal also suggests LG will unveil its first TV powered by webOS - the operating system previously used by Palm phones and an HP tablet. A leaked image published by the blogger @evleaks appears to confirm the card-based interface's imminent rebirth. Japan's Sony, Sharp, Toshiba and Panasonic will also have new Ultra HD models on show, as will China's HiSense and TCL Corp. But the firms are expected to pursue different strategies. "The Chinese manufacturers are pushing 4K as a common technology in a lot of their models, while the Japanese and Korean brands are still looking for it to be more of a premium feature," explains Edward Border from the consultancy IHS Technology. "So, for some brands you will mainly see 4K at the higher-end, but for others it could appear in high 30in and low 40in sets." Polaroid's decision to sell a 50in Ultra HD set for less than $1,000 could also be disruptive. Watch out too for third-party add-ons that transform older sets into "smart TVs". For example Bob is an Android-powered stick that plugs into an HDMI port to offer YouTube and video games. And Tarsier will demo special glasses called Move-Eye that monitor the wearer's hand movements, allowing them to switch channels using gesture controls. Wearable tech With Google Glass still awaiting a sensible-priced release, smaller firms will be showing off their own tech-enhanced eyewear. GlassUp will show off a pair that superimposes smartphone alerts, directions and other app information over the user's right eye. Epson is expected to unveil a new version of its Moverio glasses - the first generation allowed owners to watch 3D movies. And XoEye will show off glasses with two in-built five megapixel cameras designed to stream stabilised video feeds over wi-fi. Much of the other wearable tech will be focused on fitness. Lebanese start-up Butterfleye is at CES with Instabeat, a waterproof heads-up monitor that attaches to swimming goggles to show the wearer's heart rate. Veristride will promote a shoe insole sensor that provides feedback about the owner's movements. And Singapore's Smartmissimo is promising to show off the world's first wearable "smart electrical muscle stimulator" for athletes. The big name brands are also pushing for a slice of the action. Another scoop from @evleaks indicates LG will have a new fitness tracking wristband. The firm unveiled an earlier model at CES in 2013, but never put it on sale. "LG is [also] rumoured to be developing a smartwatch that incorporates the same curved display technology found on its newest TV sets and G Flex handset," @evleaks told the BBC. "For the thin-wristed individual, such a form-fitting piece of kit would be most welcome." Sony's chief executive Kazuo Hirai could also use his Keynote Address to spell out his vision for wearable tech after mixed reviews for his company's smartwatches. And Archos is seeking to shake up the category with a watch costing less than £50. Tablets, smartphones and PCs Many smartphone and tablet-makers are holding back announcements until February's Mobile World Congress or their own standalone shows. But three Asian firms have confirmed they will have new products on show: Intel will want to highlight the release of new Windows laptops that double up as tablets after championing the two-in-one format at previous CES shows. In addition, Time Magazine has reported that PC Plus will launch at the event - a class of devices powered by Windows 8.1 that can run some Android apps through software emulation. There will also be more PCs powered by Google's Chrome OS. Connected home New ways to link household objects to the net has been a hardy perennial of recent CES shows. A Twitter-equipped fridge from Samsung was one of last year's more extreme examples. This time Kolibree's connected toothbrush - which provides feedback on cleaning habits via an app - may prove one of the most unusual launches. The firm says it will tell users if they brush long enough and whether they clean the hardest-to-reach parts of their teeth and gums. Okidokeys will be the latest firm to offer a way to unlock your front door with a mobile phone, with the added twist that you can revoke someone else's access privileges remotely. And to avoid the frustration of missed deliveries, DoorBot will show off a "video doorbell" that lets you see and speak to someone waiting on your doorstep via an app, letting you tell them where to leave the parcel when you're out. Not tasty enough? Then try the Smart Diet Scale - a Bluetooth-enabled kitchen gadget that weighs your food before you cook it, and sends the information to an app that calculates the calories, carbs and fat involved. 3D printers In 2012 there were two 3D printer-makers at CES. This year the tech warrants its own zone and about 30 firms are showing off their wares. New entrants include Singapore-based Pirate3DP and its Buccaneer printer, following a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that raised over $1.4m (£870,000). The firm suggests its machine is less likely to jam than others when building up plastic objects layer by layer. California's AIO Roboticsh will also show off an all-in-one machine that scans and then either prints or "faxes" copies of an object. The industry's granddaddy, 3D Systems, says it will respond to these upstarts with three new model categories: edibles, ceramics and full-colour plastics. Also watch out for Makerbot's Bre Pettis who is hosting a Press Day event on Monday ahead of the scrum of Tuesday's show floor openings. "3D printing has been around for about 30 years, but a lot of the early developments were patent protected," says Duncan Wood, publisher of TCT Magazine who will be running sessions on the tech at CES. "But over last three to four years those patents have started to expire and entrepreneurs are now able to build their own variations, helping cause a downward pressure on prices." Car tech The major carmakers will be out in force despite the fact Detroit's high-profile motor show begins the following week. To distinguish the two events, the auto firms are likely to focus on connected technologies rather than new models at CES. Audi's chairman Rupert Stadler is giving one of the Keynote Addresses and will reveal a tie-up with Google, according to the Wall Street Journal. It says the two firms are developing an in-car entertainment and information system that runs on Android. The German company's rivals General Motors and Honda may have more to say about their efforts to integrate Apple's rival iOS software. Meanwhile BMW, Ford and Mercedes-Benz will offer demonstrations of their self-driving vehicles, while parts-maker Delphi will show off a Tesla model fitted with its autonomous car tech. Yahoo, Steam Boxes and other stuff Yahoo is likely to be one of the other firms attracting attention this year. Chief executive Marissa Mayer is delivering one of the Tech Titans presentations nearly one-and-a-half years after jumping ship from Google. "I would be really interested to hear her innovation story," says Sef Tuma, managing director at consultancy Accenture's digital services division. "The other players - Google, Amazon, Facebook - are playing in the cloud, in social, with mobile operating systems and devices. They are basically expanding the realms of their existing platforms. "I'd really love to know what's Yahoo's goal. Are they trying to play in that arms race or will they start looking at a different strategy to be seen as relevant." Video games firm Valve will also be closely watched. It has told IGN it intends to reveal who will be making Steam Machine consoles and what their specifications will be - potentially a make or break moment for its forthcoming Linux-based platform. Boss Gabe Newell, however, is expected to be more vague about the prospects of Half Life 3 being a launch title. Netflix's chief executive Reed Hastings is also in town. He is likely to be pressed on the rollout of 4K content. Whatever happens at CES, the BBC will bring you news and insights from the event at bbc.co.uk/ces2014. You can also follow some of the reporters attending on Twitter: Technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones: @BBCRoryCJ North America technology correspondent Richard Taylor: @RichTaylorBBC Newsnight technology editor David Grossman: @DavidGrossmanUK News Online technology reporter Dave Lee: @DaveLeeBBC Click team: @BBCClick

लास वेगास नवीनतम डिजिटल नवाचारों के अपने वार्षिक प्रदर्शन की मेजबानी करने वाला है।


Hybrid warfare: The new conflict between East and West

Summary: A Russian submarine thought to be lurking in Swedish waters; Nato fighter jets scrambling to intercept Russian bombers; Russian spies, according to Czech intelligence, fanning out across Europe; an Estonian official allegedly snatched and spirited back to Moscow to be accused of spying.

By Bridget KendallDiplomatic correspondent, BBC News All activity in the shadows or below the radar, accompanied by a barrage of anti-Western messages in the pro-Russian media - what has become known as "hybrid warfare", where propaganda and provocation take centre stage. In fact Russia's probing of Nato borders and defences in the Baltic region is nothing new. But the number of alleged incursions by Russian military aircraft has tripled in the last year, and Nato officials say the manoeuvres go deeper into Nato territory and are more provocative. "What we've seen is an increased Russian military presence in the air, on the sea, and now under the sea," says Tomas Ries, senior lecturer at Sweden's National Defence College. "One could say that this new sort of hybrid warfare is defined by the fact that there is no real distinction between war and peace. "This is a signal from the Kremlin to the West that basically the old days are over. Russia is coming back on the scene and saying, 'We are strong and it is time for you to realise that you need to respect us.'" Yet hybrid warfare is almost always deniable. Western 'propaganda' Remember those "little green men" who first appeared in Crimea to help facilitate the Russian takeover there? Or the Russian troops and heavy weaponry that surfaced in eastern Ukraine in support of pro-Russian rebels? Now, as then, the Kremlin has been quick to deny involvement. In fact, while the West reports a pattern of heightened Russian military and intelligence activity on Nato's eastern borders, Moscow argues the opposite: And what is more, says the Kremlin, if there is any hybrid warfare going on, it is a propaganda campaign inspired and orchestrated by Western governments and led by the US, in order to paint Russia as the enemy. "I'm not saying Russia is blameless," says Dmitry Linnik, London bureau chief of the Voice of Russia radio station. "But spinning the whole thing the way the Western media and politicians have been doing is not just irresponsible, it is actually geared towards isolating and punishing Russia, to drive a wedge between Russia and Europe. Russia is being turned into a bogeyman." Russian officials now routinely blame the United States for almost everything. Nikolai Patrushev, Russia's former spy chief and - it's thought - a close friend of President Putin's, recently even accused the Americans of entangling the Soviet Union in a crippling Afghan war and then deliberately weakening it economically to bring about its collapse in 1991. And according to President Putin, the US is still trying to undermine Russia. In his annual speech to the so-called Valdai Club, he claimed Russia was taking the place of the USSR as the "centre of evil" in American propaganda, in order to "draw dividing lines and put together coalitions directed against an enemy, as was the case during the Cold War years". But Russia's position leaves a puzzle. No trust On the one hand President Putin complains about being treated with suspicion, on the other he seems to want to project Russia as a resurgent power prepared to strike back if its interests are ignored. So how does he intend to win back friends in Europe, if governments see Russia as threatening? Clifford Gaddy, from the Brookings Institution in Washington, co-author of a recent profile of President Putin, says the point is he wants people to be afraid of him. "It is a fundamental principle of Russian foreign and security policy in particular that you can't really trust anyone," he says. "You have to have some kind of form of intimidation or hook or blackmail threats that would ensure that they behave the way you want." In the new grey land of hybrid warfare, goes the theory, there are no longer good and bad guys. "It's been called a liquid ideology or a post-modernist ideology," says Ilya Zaslavsky, a fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London. "The idea is that no-one now has an ideology, so that you can argue everyone is cynical and we are just cynical and corrupt as everyone else. "They actually want to present Russia as a baddie and a bully. It conveniently folds into their own virtual neo-Cold War reality, where Russia is a besieged castle surrounded by enemies and has to fight back." It makes for a confusing and complex conflict. And the question then is - where is it heading? Total break Mr Gaddy says he does not think President Putin wants a total break with the West, but he is also doubtful that Western sanctions will make Russia change its behaviour. In fact he is worried that if sanctions continue to isolate Russia, the next escalation in this war of shadows could be highly dangerous. He says: "We're in the world which is so highly integrated, especially electronically, if we push Russia out of that integration, we are in effect making it more likely that Russia would actually employ cyber-weapons in a very, very dangerous way - namely targeting our financial systems - because we are reducing the cost to them of doing that." It is a scenario dismissed by Mr Linnik as yet more scare-mongering. "I think Moscow is much more pragmatic than it is given credit for," he says. "I don't think Moscow is even considering that sort of path, and hopefully that realisation will sink in in the West as well." But the problem is, in the murky world of hybrid warfare where everything is deniable and nothing is certain, who knows how this crisis will unfold?

माना जाता है कि एक रूसी पनडुब्बी स्वीडिश जल में छिपी हुई है; नाटो के लड़ाकू विमान रूसी बमवर्षकों को रोकने के लिए हाथापाई कर रहे हैं; चेक खुफिया के अनुसार, रूसी जासूस पूरे यूरोप में फैल रहे हैं; एक एस्टोनियाई अधिकारी कथित तौर पर जासूसी का आरोप लगाने के लिए मास्को वापस चला गया।


Profile: Qatar Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani

Summary: British-educated Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was named emir of Qatar after his 61-year-old father, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, announced his abdication as leader of the gas-rich Gulf state in June 2013.

Sheikh Hamad's abdication broke the mould of Gulf politics, where rulers traditionally remain on the throne until they die. Sheikh Tamim, 33, presents a younger face as ruler, at odds with the older generations in neighbouring states. Nevertheless, under Sheikh Tamim's rule Qatar is expected to continue on the path set by his father, with his mother, Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, remaining one of the key driving forces in the country's politics. Taking over from his father, whose 18-year rule was marked by the emergence of Qatar as an influential player on both the Gulf and world stage, Sheikh Tamim's elevation to emir marks the confirmation of the Al Thani dynasty's grip on power in Qatar. Al Thani family members hold many key posts in the country's government, and the smooth transition to a new emir underlines a desire for stability in an unpredictable region. Qatar became an influential regional player under the rule of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, backing the Arab Spring revolutions and siding with rebels fighting against authoritarian governments in Syria and Libya. It is also home to the Al-Jazeera TV channel and it has won the right to host the 2022 football World Cup. Sports figure Sheikh Tamim was born in Doha in 1980, the fourth son of Sheikh Hamad. He became the Gulf state's heir apparent in 2003 after his older brother Jasim renounced his claim to the throne. The young Tamim was sent to Britain for his education at Sherborne School in Dorset. Sherborne's only overseas branch now operates in Doha. After achieving his A-Levels, he followed his father's example by attending the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst. He graduated in 1998 before being inducted into the Qatari armed forces as a Second Lieutenant. He was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of Qatar's armed forces in 2009. It is as a sports administrator that the young sheikh has excelled. In 2006, readers of the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram voted him "the best sport personality in the Arab world". That year he chaired the organising committee of the 15th Asian Games in Doha, attended by all member countries for the first time. A member of the International Olympic Committee, Sheikh Tamim also heads Doha's bid for the 2020 Olympic Games. As well as the Fifa World Cup, Qatar will also host the 2014 Fina (International Swimming Federation) Swimming World Championships. In addition, Qatar Sport Investments, established by Sheikh Tamim in 2005, owns big-spending French football club Paris Saint-Germain. Which sports most interest the new emir is unclear, but he has been filmed playing badminton, and seen 10-pin bowling with former Egyptian military chief Mohammed Hussein Tantawi. Other posts held by Sheikh Tamim include chairman of the Supreme Council for the Environment and Natural Reserves, chairman of the Supreme Education Council, and chairman of the board of directors of the Qatar Investment Authority. In 2005, Sheikh Tamim married his second cousin Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani. They have four children. A second marriage in 2009 to Sheikha Anoud bint Mana al-Hajri brought two further children - in total, three sons and three daughters. BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

ब्रिटिश-शिक्षित शेख तमीम बिन हमद अल थानी को कतर का अमीर नामित किया गया था क्योंकि उनके 61 वर्षीय पिता शेख हमद बिन खलीफा अल थानी ने जून 2013 में गैस समृद्ध खाड़ी राज्य के नेता के रूप में अपने त्याग की घोषणा की थी।


Has India's contribution to WW2 been ignored?

Summary: The numbers are staggering: up to three million Bengalis were killed by famine , more than half a million South Asian refugees fled Myanmar (formerly Burma), 2.3 million soldiers manned the Indian army and 89,000 of them died in military service.

By Yasmin KhanHistorian South Asia was transformed dramatically during the war years as India became a vast garrison and supply-ground for the war against the Japanese in South-East Asia. Yet, this part of the British Empire's history is only just emerging. By looking beyond the statistics to the stories of individual lives the Indian role in the war becomes truly meaningful. Has the massive South Asian contribution to the World War Two been overlooked? In some ways, it hasn't. Everyone has heard of the Gurkhas and many people have heard something of the role of Indian soldiers at major battles like Tobruk, Monte Cassino, Kohima and Imphal. The Fourteenth Army, a multinational force of British, Indian and African units turned the tide in Asia by recapturing Burma for the Allies. Thirty Indians won Victoria Crosses in the 1940s. Untold stories Increasingly, for both the World War One and Two, the contribution of soldiers from across the Empire-Commonwealth has been coming to light. But what about all the other people who were caught up in the war? Numerous other South Asian people sweated behind the scenes to secure supply lines and to support the Allies. There were non-combatants like cooks, tailors, mechanics and washermen, such as a boot-maker to the Indian army named simply as Ghafur who died at the battle of Keren in present-day Eritrea and whose grave can still be seen there today. What do we know about the thousands of women who mined coal for wartime in Bihar and central India, working right up until childbirth? Or the gangs of plantation labourers from southern India who travelled up into the mountains of the northeast to hack out roads towards Myanmar and China? Or the lascars (merchant seamen) such as Mubarak Ali, remembered simply as "a baker" who died in the Atlantic when the SS City of Benares was torpedoed? There were millions of other South Asians working towards the imperial war effort and we never hear about them. It wasn't glamorous work: "coolies" loading and unloading cargo at imperial ports or clearing land for aerodromes did not share the prestige of fighter-pilots. But their work could be very dangerous. Thousands of Asian labourers died building treacherous roads at high altitude, including the Ledo Road between China and India, working with basic pickaxes and falling prey to malaria and other tropical diseases. Harbour accident Others died in industrial accidents - there was an incredible explosion in Bombay harbour in 1944, when a ship loaded with explosives and cotton caught alight, blew warships to smithereens and made over 80,000 homeless. Factory workers and dockworkers also suffered from aerial bombardment - official figures suggest several thousand deaths from Japanese bombs on India's eastern coastline. The men and women who kept the imperial war effort going in South Asia did not write diaries and memoirs. Often for them it was just a job, a way of earning enough money to eat. They did not see it as belonging to a heroic part of world history, worthy of inclusion in history books. The illiterate left little trace of their service. And often their work - hard and poorly paid - was tough and dangerous whether it was wartime or not. British officers wrote hundreds of accounts of their time in South Asia but there is not a single written memoir by an Indian rock-breaker, road builder or miner. Quick profits It's not a simple story of heroism or patriotism; many of these workers were more motivated by the need for bread than by the need to defeat the Axis. And it's not a straightforward case of imperial exploitation - many elite South Asians made quick profits in the war and transformed their own fortunes. Experiences of the 1940s depended on caste, class, vantage point and region: a Punjabi soldier could see things very differently to a metropolitan student in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) or a factory-owner in Kolkata (Calcutta). Often those who worked towards the war were Anglo-Indians, adivasis [tribespeople], Parsis and Christians - and their histories slipped by the wayside during the writing of post-independence nationalist myths. The people who made up the war effort soon had their lives shaped again by the Partition of 1947 and the carving up of new countries. This wartime history belongs to Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan as much as to India. In the rush to write new histories of nation states after 1947, much of the history of the 1940s was locked out from official memory. Tales of the freedom struggle took precedence. And in Britain and the US, the emphasis was placed on remembering military contributions to major battles, not on the everyday lives of anonymous workers. As one report put it at the time, this was not the "forgotten army", but the "unknown army". Perhaps now we can finally start to appreciate the fullest extent of WW2. Yasmin Khan is an associate Professor of History at the University of Oxford. Her book, The Raj at War: A People's History of India's Second World War will be published in July by Random House.

संख्या चौंका देने वाली हैः अकाल से तीस लाख तक बंगाली मारे गए, पाँच लाख से अधिक दक्षिण एशियाई शरणार्थी म्यांमार (पूर्व में बर्मा) से भाग गए, 23 लाख सैनिकों ने भारतीय सेना का संचालन किया और उनमें से 89,000 सैन्य सेवा में मारे गए।


Ofsted steps into debate over parents' right to choose education

Summary: The chief inspector of schools has never been afraid of controversy, and with this latest intervention against unregistered schools he is firmly stepping into the debate about how and where people can choose to educate their children.

Branwen JeffreysEducation Editor It is perfectly legal to choose to educate your children at home, and if you do make that choice there is no obligation to follow a particular curriculum. It is also perfectly legal to run a part-time tuition centre to offer additional teaching and support to children who are home-educated. And if your part-time education centre teaches children for fewer than 20 hours a week there are remarkably few obligations. You don't have to register with the authorities or be open to inspection, unlike a private fee-paying school. This has created a grey area of the law, which Ofsted argues is being exploited by people who are running unregistered premises, some of which are quietly opening for as many hours as a school. Some of what the Ofsted inspectors has found provides a strong case for intervention. In some places they are reporting poor physical conditions including dirty mattresses, open drains and a lack of running water. Many part-time centres rely heavily on volunteers, and again there is evidence that not all of them are undergoing the checks expected of people working with children. This means checks on criminal records and other intelligence which would raise concerns about whether there have been allegations or proven incidents of sexual or physical abuse. It's hard to argue against these kinds of safeguards to protect children. Misogynistic and homophobic views Larger mosques and madrassas now routinely screen their staff and volunteers, for example, so why shouldn't tuition centres? Where Ofsted's approach will provoke more controversy is in its judgements about a "narrow Islamic curriculum", and concerns that attempts to make sure children are taught British values are being undermined. This is partly based on texts found in some centres, which Ofsted says contain views which are misogynistic, homophobic and anti-Semitic. We don't know exactly what the texts say, although I understand the text described as homophobic suggests that it is acceptable to kill gay people. So what kind of place is Sir Michael Wilshaw talking about? The only site which has been named was calling itself Bordesley Independent School before it closed after a visit from Ofsted. It charged fees, not uncommon among part-time education centres, which often describe themselves as "flexi-schools". Inspectors reported girls being ushered out the back before they gained entry, dirty mattresses and a lack of running water in the toilet. This week the building on the edge of an industrial estate remained closed, although a courier was still trying to deliver exam papers when I visited. Closed communities But not all flexi-schools in Muslim communities are in such poor premises. Some are housed in community centres, or share converted buildings with charities. Over the last few months I've approached several in different parts of England to ask if they would speak to the BBC. None agreed, either fearful of being judged or simply preferring to turn away from anyone from outside the local community. In one converted pub I was politely shown to a prayer room, before it was decided that no-one was available to speak to me about the education being offered to the children I could clearly hear. Another told me that it wasn't ready to explain its education to the outside world. Some may be choosing to instruct children in a way which is deeply socially conservative by many people's standards. Others prefer a focus on global citizenship, and shared Muslim values, to the British values which now must be incorporated into teaching in England's schools. One parent, who had been through what he considered an academic hothouse of a boys' grammar school, told me the flexi-centre he'd chosen was offering an education in small classes that allowed children to progress at their own pace. This is a choice being made by parents, opting for an education which they believe matches their values. Parents' rights Some low-income families are finding fees of about £1,200 a year for each child to be educated somewhere with few or no qualified teaching staff. This is about a quarter of the amount the state would spend on educating their child at a local school, at the most conservative estimate. It's also less than registered independent Muslim schools charge for a primary stage education. So where does this debate leave the right to educate your child as you see fit? Sir Michael Wilshaw told me that "of course" parents have got a right to bring up a child with a different view and a focus on their religion, "but they've got to bring up their child with awareness of other faiths and beliefs, other ways of living". While the places visited by Ofsted so far are mainly in Muslim communities, the new team of inspectors will apparently look at any facilities in orthodox Jewish and Christian communities which may be taking advantage of the law. The consultation under way at the moment by the Department for Education will determine how regulation should be tightened. Ministers want to be able to intervene in and regulate anywhere children receive more than six to eight hours of instruction a week, without curtailing the right of parents to home-educate their children. It's clear Sir Michael Wilshaw would prefer that all part-time tuition centres, flexi-schools and education centres are forced to close and apply for registration from scratch. The government may choose to tread more gently, coaxing places that are willing to consider becoming an independent Muslim school towards regulation.

स्कूलों के मुख्य निरीक्षक कभी भी विवाद से नहीं डरते हैं, और अपंजीकृत स्कूलों के खिलाफ इस नवीनतम हस्तक्षेप के साथ वे इस बहस में दृढ़ता से कदम रख रहे हैं कि लोग अपने बच्चों को शिक्षित करने के लिए कैसे और कहाँ चुन सकते हैं।


Inside Rick Perry's head during his memory gaffe

Summary: Texas Governor Rick Perry's inability to remember his own policy - the third US government agency he would eliminate if elected - during a televised debate has seriously hampered his chances at winning the White House, analysts say. Politics aside, what was going on inside his head?

By Daniel NasawBBC News Magazine, Washington Most human beings have been there: A favourite actress whose name slips from memory, or perhaps a loved one's birthday, celebrated every year, evades recall. But most everyday memory slip-ups do not occur under the glare of the international news media while vying for the toughest job in the world alongside seven fierce competitors. Mr Perry on Wednesday night failed to name the Department of Energy as one of three cabinet level agencies he would seek to eliminate if elected (the other two are the departments of commerce and education). "I can't - the third one I can't," he said when challenged by debate moderator John Harwood, adding, in evident embarrassment: "Oops." In all likelihood, the longtime governor of Texas, a major oil producing state, knew the answer somewhere in his head. He has vowed to trim the department's budget in the past, and later in Wednesday night's debate he recovered and mentioned it by name. Limited 'cognitive horsepower' Rather, Mr Perry's flub was a fairly typical reaction to stress. It illustrates the potential failures of memory in high pressure situations, psychologists and neuroscientists tell the BBC. "Once he missed naming the department of energy the first time, the stress of that event strongly impaired the neural mechanisms of memory retrieval," says John Guzowski, a professor neurobiology at the University of California at Irvine. "There is a fine line between the amount of stress that is good for memory and that which is bad for memory." The human mind has a limited amount of cognitive horsepower, and in stressful situations, other thoughts compete for the use of those resources, memory and cognition researchers say. Mr Perry may have been keenly monitoring his own performance, for instance, and during the several painful seconds of the encounter he became terrifyingly aware he was making an error. Thoughts in competition In Mr Perry's case, he was searching his brain for the third government agency but other thought processes intruded, says Sian Beilock, a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, who studies the interplay between cognition and stress. "He's worrying about screwing up, and that takes away from important resources that otherwise he could use to search his memory," she says. The individual thoughts - the department names - were competing at that moment to get out of Mr Perry's mouth like children jumping up and down to be picked for a football team, says Art Markman, a psychologist at the University of Texas, who has followed Mr Perry's career. The first two - commerce and education - were selected while the third - energy - was not, he says. "The first two items shoved down that third one that he wanted to pull out," says Mr Markman, author of a forthcoming book Smart Thinking: How to Think Big, Innovate and Outperform Your Rivals. "And at the same time he's thinking about what he's supposed to say, so he has no resources around to pull out that third one." Obstacle Mr Perry also may have suffered from a mental block that worked almost as an active force preventing the correct information - the name - from moving to his lips, says MIT neuroscientist John Gabrieli. When he returned to his mental search for the name "Department of Energy", he may have been dwelling out of habit on the negative consequences of the initial memory lapse, and that drew his attention away from the information he sought, says Dr Gabrieli. "It's not the absence of information, but it's the presence of the wrong thought that's hard to clear," he says. "Some other thought comes into your mind that's not the right one. You know it's not the right one. Once you get stuck on that thought, it's an obstacle to the information that's really in your head." Compounding the stress was Mr Perry's reputation in the media and among voters as a poor debater, which will have meant he was under self-imposed pressure to produce a good showing on Wednesday night. 'Cicero's debate prep' Research has shown that when people are aware of stereotypes about themselves or their gender or ethnic group, they tend to perform down to those stereotypes as if hampered by a weight, says Ms Beilock. For example, in studies, when girls are reminded about negative stereotypes of girls' performance on maths exams just before they are to take one, they perform worse, she says. Mr Perry should take advantage of memory-building techniques known since antiquity to help orators avoid that kind of public error, says Joshua Foer, a science writer and author of Moonwalking with Einstein, about competitive memorisation. "If it had been Cicero up there on stage, part of his debate prep would have involved creating an image in his mind's eye of the three departments he wanted to talk about," Mr Foer writes in an email to the BBC. "Maybe his favourite elementary school teacher standing behind a lemonade stand handing out wads of cash, while shooting lightning bolts out of his underarms. That wacky image would have reminded him he wanted to cut education, commerce, and energy."

टेक्सास के गवर्नर रिक पेरी की अपनी नीति को याद रखने में असमर्थता-तीसरी अमेरिकी सरकारी एजेंसी जिसे वह निर्वाचित होने पर समाप्त कर देंगे-एक टेलीविजन बहस के दौरान व्हाइट हाउस जीतने की उनकी संभावनाओं को गंभीर रूप से बाधित कर दिया है, विश्लेषकों का कहना है। राजनीति एक तरफ, उनके दिमाग में क्या चल रहा था?


Jackie Hoadley death: Van appeal in murder probe

Summary: Detectives investigating the murder of a disability rights campaigner at her home in Eastbourne have said a wheelchair-accessible van is part of their inquiry.

Jackie Hoadley's body was found at her home in Broad Oak Close on Sunday. The 58-year-old was confirmed dead at the scene. A 62-year-old man arrested on Sunday remains in custody. Magistrates have granted police a further 24 hours to question him. Det Ch Insp Andy Wolstenholme, from Sussex Police, said officers were looking at the movements of a "distinctive" silver grey Renault van, which had a nearside opening side door and blacked-out windows on the sides and rear, He asked anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage from Eastbourne between 23:00 BST on Saturday and 02:00 on Sunday to contact the force. Officers were particularly interested in the areas around Shinewater and the seafront, he added.

ईस्टबोर्न में एक विकलांग अधिकार प्रचारक की हत्या की जांच कर रहे जासूसों ने कहा है कि एक व्हीलचेयर-सुलभ वैन उनकी जांच का हिस्सा है।


Strauss-Kahn: Why is ex-IMF chief on trial for pimping?

Summary: The former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has told a French court that he attended orgies, but would never have done so if he had known they involved prostitutes.

He is accused of "aggravated pimping", or helping to procure sex workers for a prostitution ring based at a hotel in Lille. Thirteen other people are on trial with him. DSK, as he is widely known in France, was once seen as a leading contender for the French presidency, but if found guilty he could end up in jail. What is the trial about? The "Carlton affair" - named after the hotel in the northern French city of Lille that sparked the initial investigation - erupted in 2011. An anonymous tip-off alerted officials that the hotel was being used for prostitution. Further investigation uncovered an international prostitution ring involving prominent local businessmen. It emerged that some of the suspects had close links to Mr Strauss-Kahn and that he took part in sex parties organised by them in France and Washington in late 2010 and early 2011. Prostitutes have said they were paid to attend those parties. Who are his co-defendants? The 13 other people also facing the charge of "aggravated pimping" include: What is DSK accused of? Using prostitutes is legal in France. However under article 225-5 of the criminal code, the definition of pimping includes not just procuring, but also facilitating prostitution "in any way". Investigators, who have found SMS (text) messages between Mr Strauss-Kahn and the other co-defendants, believe that the sex parties were organised specifically for the benefit of the former head of the International Monetary Fund. Prosecutors therefore believe he played a major role in instigating the orgies. Some have described him as the "party king". He and his co-accused are accused of "aggravated" pimping because the prostitution activities were allegedly organised by a group of people. If convicted he could face a 10-year prison sentence and a fine of €1.5m (£1.13m; $1.72 million). What do we know about the prostitutes? Two former prostitutes have agreed to help the prosecution, Mounia and Jade, and both believe he must have known they were prostitutes. Both attended sex parties at the Hotel Murano in Paris between 2009 and 2010, but never together. Mounia told the court that she was chosen especially for Dominique Strauss-Kahn, but acknowledged no mention of money was ever raised in his presence. She said she was paid €900 (£690) by David Roquet, for what she had been told would be a "small party". She also says DSK forced her to commit an act "against nature" at a party in Paris, which he denies. Jade worked for brothel owner Dominique Alderweireld and had attended lunchtime sex parties in Lille. She is also believed to have travelled to Washington to take part in a sex party there. In her testimony, she said she had been introduced to a "public figure", and said she was paid either by Dominique Alderweireld or Rene Kojfer. What is DSK's defence? Mr Strauss-Kahn has never denied taking part in sex parties. But, he insists: "I committed no crime, no offence." His main line of defence is that he had no idea some of the women there were prostitutes. One of his lawyers once said: "I challenge you to tell a naked prostitute from a naked society lady." Giving evidence on 10 February, he also accused prosecutors of having greatly exaggerated the frequency of his "licentious evenings". He said: "There were only 12 parties in total - that is four per year over three years." It was the prostitutes who said it was obvious what they were, he told the court. "But many other witnesses say they didn't see any prostitutes. I maintain that I neither knew nor suspected there were prostitutes." Strauss-Kahn: A profile

अंतर्राष्ट्रीय मुद्रा कोष के पूर्व प्रमुख, डोमिनिक स्ट्रॉस-कान ने एक फ्रांसीसी अदालत को बताया है कि वह आयोजनों में भाग लेते थे, लेकिन अगर उन्हें पता होता कि वे वेश्याओं को शामिल करते हैं तो वे ऐसा कभी नहीं करते।


Storm Eleanor photos could improve flood warnings

Summary: A council has appealed for photographs from Storm Eleanor to help improve its new flood warning system.

Dumfries and Galloway was hit by winds gusting up to 77mph and significant coastal problems last week. The local authority has asked the public to send in images of the flooding experienced at the time. It said that would help improve its warning system by using evidence of "what actually happened" across south west Scotland. Anybody with photographs has been asked to send them to the council with details of when and where they were taken.

एक परिषद ने अपनी नई बाढ़ चेतावनी प्रणाली को बेहतर बनाने में मदद करने के लिए तूफान एलेनोर से तस्वीरों के लिए अपील की है।


Barry man fined £500 for firing catapult at two dogs

Summary: A man from Barry has been fined £500 for firing at two dogs with a catapult, a court has heard.

Stephen Charles Hammond, 60, admitted one animal welfare offence at Cardiff Crown Court. He went into a garden in Barry last September and fired a catapult at two Jack Russell terriers, who were not injured, the court was told. The RSPCA described CCTV footage of the incident as "shocking" and said the dogs looked frightened. Hammond was also ordered to pay £300 court costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

बैरी के एक व्यक्ति पर दो कुत्तों पर गुलेल से गोली चलाने के लिए 500 पाउंड का जुर्माना लगाया गया है, एक अदालत ने सुना है।


Human trafficking: Poor women and girls targeted in Albania

Summary: The trafficking of people into the UK is on the rise. The latest figures for 2015 suggest that 3,266 people were potential victims of trafficking, a 40% increase on the previous year. The largest number - 600 - came from Albania. The BBC's Reeta Chakrabarti has been speaking to victims of trafficking in both the UK and Albania.

'I was forced to sleep with several men' In a women's refuge in southern Albania, the victims of trafficking and violence are mere schoolgirls, 10 or 12 of them eyeing us shyly and looking impossibly young. They all have tales of brutality and exploitation. Some of these children already have little children of their own, the products of the rapes they were subjected to. Seya was just 14 when she left a violent family home. She was sold into a trafficking ring by a man she thought was her boyfriend, and found herself in a terrifying network of underground crime, unable to distinguish between the pimps and their victims. She was forced for months to sleep with several men a day, and "international clients" who paid more at night. "I hate them," she said, speaking with remarkable composure for someone so young. "I want them to get the punishment that they deserve, because to be under someone's thumb, to do the things they want you to do for them... They steal your freedom - they use you, rule you - I don't know, it's very degrading." Seya's story is sadly far from unique. Albania is a small country in which trafficking - trading in human beings - took hold in the years after the collapse of communism in 1990. It has since been known as a source nation for people being kidnapped, smuggled and then sold. The traffickers are well organised and have a reputation for brutality. 'Many men raped me every day' Other victims include Anna, whom we spoke to in the UK. She came from a small rural town - was duped by a supposed boyfriend into leaving home - and then sold into prostitution in Britain. She was brought here, but has no idea where she was. "I was somewhere underground," she said. "I had no sense of the world around me. They would not let me see. I entered the building blindfolded." Anna is in her late 20s, and was a virgin until she was trafficked. Weeping throughout our interview, but insisting that she wanted to tell her story, she recounted how she was raped repeatedly every day, by many men. They did things to me, she said, that I would never have imagined possible. Anna eventually escaped, and is now supported in a safe house run by the Salvation Army. She has a baby, which gives her a reason to focus on her future and to hope. But her story, and that of Seya and of hundreds of others, should trigger alarm in the authorities in the UK and across Europe. They are lives broken by a brutal crime. The number of adult victims of human trafficking and modern slavery that has been referred to the Salvation Army has grown "exponentially", said Anne Read, director of Anti Trafficking and Modern Slavery for the group. And Albania is of particular concern. "People's lives are torn apart by this heinous crime," she said. Human trafficking in Albania Sources: United Nations, US State Department Albania profile Trafficker: 'It's terrible' Campaigners against trafficking say that deep-seated attitudes in Albanian society towards women contribute to the problem. This is a male-dominated culture, where young women in poorer, rural areas are vulnerable to domestic violence and are looking for a means of escape. It makes them easy prey for the traffickers. The victims are often manipulated and recruited through false marriages and employment opportunities, with traffickers promising them to cover their living expenses, according to a UN report. The country's record on prosecutions is patchy but the government have been praised for taking steps to improve prosecutions. A recent US State Department report made recommendations that more needed to be done to" vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers, including complicit officials". The Albanian authorities let us talk to one prisoner being held at a high security prison in Korce, in the east of the country. It is the middle of winter, the snow is thick on the ground, the prison bleak and freezing. The prisoner is Fatos Kapplani, currently serving a 15-year sentence for trafficking children to Greece, and forcing them to work as prostitutes or beggars. He is himself a father, and was at the time married. What, I asked, made him do it? "It was a time that everyone was doing that kind of thing," he says, with a shrug that is perhaps regret, perhaps shame. "It's terrible. What if that were my child and someone did that to them. It's very terrible."

ब्रिटेन में लोगों की तस्करी बढ़ रही है। 2015 के नवीनतम आंकड़ों से पता चलता है कि 3,266 लोग तस्करी के संभावित शिकार थे, जो पिछले वर्ष की तुलना में 40 प्रतिशत अधिक है। सबसे बड़ी संख्या-600-अल्बानिया से आई थी। बीबीसी की रीता चक्रवर्ती ब्रिटेन और अल्बानिया दोनों में तस्करी के पीड़ितों से बात कर रही हैं।


Tariffs and Trump: Why the G7 summit in Canada could be awkward

Summary: Leaders of the world's wealthiest nations are about to descend on a luxury hotel located in a small Canadian tourist town in Quebec. But it's unclear if there's more to divide or unite them.

By Jessica MurphyBBC News, Toronto Canada, which holds the G7 presidency this year, will host the leaders of the US, Italy, France, Germany, the UK and Japan in the town of La Malbaie. Here are four things to know before the two-day summit begins on Friday. 1. Canada, meet Donald Trump. Donald Trump, meet Canada Since Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, new American presidents have had an unofficial tradition - making Canada the destination for their first foreign trip. George W Bush broke with tradition when he took a day trip to Mexico, but it wasn't long before he travelled north for the 2001 Summit of the Americas in Quebec City. Donald Trump waited longer - some 500 days into his presidency. This Charlevoix Summit will be the first time he pays a visit to his northern neighbour as American leader. The US president is unlikely to get the rock star welcome received by his predecessor, Barack Obama, who was greeted in 2009 by people gathered on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to catch a glimpse of the politician. Mr Trump isn't as popular as Mr Obama was among Canadians, and he is currently sparring with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau over US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. 2. Expect awkward conversations On Saturday, G7 finance officials issued a rebuke over the "negative impact" of the US metals tariffs and urged "decisive action" on the matter when world leaders meet in La Malbaie. It won't be the first time Mr Trump's stances on trade and other policy matters have caused friction among his world leader colleagues. In fact, it could be more G6 + 1 than G7. During the Italy summit in 2017, the US leader was left isolated over Paris climate change deal. He was the lone man out when the other leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris accord, the world's first comprehensive deal aimed at reducing greenhouse emissions. "We have a situation of six against one," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the time. Mr Trump later announced his intention to withdraw the US from the Paris deal. This time around, Mr Trump will undoubtedly be held to task over the recent metals tariffs slapped on Canada, Mexico and the European Union (EU). European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk will also both be attending the summit. Canada is also in the midst of intense North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the US and Mexico. A Canadian official who briefed journalists prior to the summit said it's fair to say that any economic talks "will quickly go to a discussion on trade". "There will be a discussion and the president will be participating," he said. 3. The 'lonely hearts club' John Kirton, director of G7 Research Group, says that inevitably, the leaders will find more that unites them than divide them. He says the gathering is a uniquely intimate summit where some of the world's most powerful political leaders can gather "face-to-face around a fireside, a dining room table". "The summit is the perfect place for leaders to freewheel, to say what they want, to be politically incorrect, to complain about their own domestic media. "It's a lonely hearts club, a kind of group therapy." He adds it won't be the first time the consensus-based group finds itself divided since it came into being following the OPEC oil crisis in 1973. The Canadian official said the meeting's format allows for world leaders to have "a frank and full exchange". But as host, Canada is "working to bridge the differences that exists". There are fives themes for this year's summit, which are: Colin Robertson, with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute summed it up in recent report on the coming Summit as "gender, work, climate, energy, our oceans, protectionism, populism and extremism". Foreign policy issues expected to be discussed include the planned meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, tensions with Russia, China's global influence, and the crisis in Venezuela. Mr Kirton says he expects three main "deliverables" to come out of the Charlevoix Summit. They include taking action to prevent foreign interference in democratic elections, an issue that falls directly into the central responsibility of the G7 for defending and spreading democratic governance. It also comes at a time when the member nations have seen the public lose trust in government institutions. A coalition of 30 non-governmental groups are also hoping the countries, whose economies represent 45% of global GDP, will raise $1.3bn (£970m) for educating girls in developing countries. "Summits are often a great global fundraiser," says Mr Kirton. Finally, the countries are expected to make commitments on removing plastics from the oceans - an environmental issue that has grown in prominence in recent months - and on making coastal communities more resilient. The view from the UK from BBC Westminster The British prime minister will raise the US decision to apply tariffs to EU steel and aluminium imports with President Trump at the G7 later this week. Theresa May has already told the President she believes the tariffs are "unjustified and deeply disappointing". There will also be a discussion on North Korea and the president's planned summit with Kim Jong-un. But Brexit may also be on any unofficial agenda. While no formal post-Brexit trade negotiations can begin until 2019, some will look for signs from the US, Canada and Japan about what any future trade deals may look like. 4. Security and beer The fact that the Manoir Richelieu, the venue where the leaders will meet, is well over an hour's drive away from Quebec City offers a limited opportunity for mass protests. Canada is spending some C$600m ($462m; £345m) on the summit and related events, a large chunk of which is going towards security. When Canada hosted the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in 2001, the meeting was the focus of two days of violent clashes between riot police and thousands of anti-globalisation demonstrators. Three days of protests are planned this week in Quebec City, where demonstrators will voice their opposition to the G7 agenda. But the town's chief of police told media in May that the security threat for the summit is considered "moderate" and that he doesn't expect a repeat of the 2001 showdown. About 8,000 soldiers and police officers are expected to be on hand during the event. In La Malbaie, opinions on having their picturesque town overrun by world leaders, law enforcement and security fences elicit everything from a shrug to some concern. "Honestly, I don't pay it any attention at all," Marjolaine Morin told the BBC. "I'm only asking that everything stays calm and in order." Meanwhile, other Charlevoix residents are capitalising on the global attention. Microbrasserie Charlevoix, a popular microbrewery in the region, has concocted a special G7 beer with ingredients from the seven member nations and with 7% alcohol. Microbrewery co-founder Frederick Tremblay says the idea came about when brewer Nicolas Marrant pointed out it will likely be the one-and-only time the region hosts such an event. The brewery made limited run - which sold out - and some crates were sent to the hotel where world leaders will gather. Mr Tremblay says he hopes their beer starts a trend. "If we had more time, we would have invited a brewer per country to come and brew it all together here, that would have been a lot of fun," he said. "It's a worldwide fraternity, the brewing industry. So let's hope that some other brewer takes up (the idea)."

दुनिया के सबसे धनी देशों के नेता क्यूबेक में एक छोटे से कनाडाई पर्यटन शहर में स्थित एक लक्जरी होटल में उतरने वाले हैं। लेकिन यह स्पष्ट नहीं है कि उन्हें विभाजित करने या एकजुट करने के लिए और कुछ है या नहीं।


Emergency services at 'serious' crash near Carmarthen

Summary: Emergency services are dealing with a "serious" traffic accident near Carmarthen.

Dyfed Powys Police was called to the incident along the busy A40 between Llysonnen Road, Carmarthen and St Clears, at around 20:50 BST. Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue service and Welsh Ambulance have both sent "several resources". Motorists are facing long delays and tailbacks with the main link road closed in both directions.

आपातकालीन सेवाएँ कार्मार्थेन के पास एक "गंभीर" यातायात दुर्घटना से निपट रही हैं।


HTC smartphone profits fall 58%

Summary: Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has reported a 58% fall in net profit to 7.4bn Taiwanese dollars (US$248m) in the three months ending in June.

In June, the group cut its forecast by revenue by 13% and warned it would make lower profits for each handset it sold. Second quarter revenue of 91bn Taiwanese dollars was worse-than-expected. HTC sells most of its phones in Asia's developing economies at the lower, less profitable end of the market. The news came on the same day Korean rival Samsung Electronics posted record second-quarter earnings largely due to the success of its Galaxy smartphone. HTC's chief executive, Peter Chou, hopes the planned launch of new models in the second half of this year will help sales and profits to rebound.

ताइवानी स्मार्टफोन निर्माता एचटीसी ने जून में समाप्त होने वाले तीन महीनों में ताइवानी डॉलर (248 मिलियन अमेरिकी डॉलर) के शुद्ध लाभ में 58 प्रतिशत की गिरावट दर्ज की है।


The early Christmas gift many of us now buy

Summary: Advent calendars used to be a cheap way to count down to Christmas with a seasonal picture or chocolate treat, but behind the doors you can now find everything from expensive whisky to fancy face cream. Are they a rip-off that represents the ever-growing commercialism of Christmas, or just a harmless bit of festive fun?

By Katie Hope & Emma KasprzakBBC News "Christmas isn't like it used to be," is a familiar refrain. Yet even putting the rose-tinted spectacles aside, one element of the festive period - advent calendars - really have come a long way. There has long been a tradition in some Christian denominations to mark off the days of Advent, from lighting candles to the calendar's austere origins in 19th Century Germany when 24 chalk lines were rubbed off doors. But counting down to a festival marking the birth of Jesus has changed, from finding cheap chocolate behind the door of a pretty picture - a style popularised in the 1990s - to an extravagant present-filled bonanza boasting everything from pork scratchings to posh toiletries. These bumper versions vary wildly in price, ranging from £10,000 for a rare whisky version, to a rather more modest cheese offering for £8 from Asda. But despite the sometimes eye-watering cost, some do represent value for money, according to MoneySavingExpert's Gary Caffell. "If you want to give yourself a small daily treat of your favourite tipple, cheese or crisp, Advent calendars such as these are meant to be a bit of festive fun. So if that's why you're buying it and you're happy with the overall price, you may not be too fussed about the value you're getting behind each window." "Self-rewarding" is how consumer psychologist Kate Nightingale, founder of consultancy Style Psychology puts it. When you are rushing around trying to please everyone else, treating yourself to an early present is one way to cheer yourself up, she says. Chloe Haskoll, 34, says that is exactly why she bought a beauty advent calendar for herself this year. "I'm not keen on chocolate and like the idea of a daily pick-me up. They're not cheap but I find December exhausting so it's a well deserved treat, I reckon," she says. Mr Caffell says beauty calendars tend to provide the best savings as they can be a cheaper way to buy a lot of products from one of the bigger brands, and any products you don't want can be given as stocking-fillers. "Boots No7, M&S and Body Shop all have popular calendars which are worth looking out for, as you get products worth a lot more than the price of the Advent calendar itself." Natalie Oakley, who is behind beauty blog Lady Like Momma, has been known to stay up for the midnight launch of such calendars and tracks the launch dates in magazines and online. "I choose a calendar based on two things," says the writer, from Sedgley in the West Midlands. "I either go for a brand I know and love already, or brands that I am keen to try out. "And the second thing is the style [and] packaging. I think when you are spending quite a lot on a calendar you want it to look good in your home and I personally want to be able to use it again the following year and add my own things to the drawers." Luxury calendars are a very recent phenomenon - department store Liberty's coveted beauty calendar, which sold out online in 39 hours this year, only launched in 2014. Even chocolate calendars only really became commonplace in the 1990s, says Alex Hutchinson, archivist and historian for Nestle. "It wasn't until after World War Two and after rationing ended that chocolate became a more affordable purchase. "Chocolate was so expensive that manufacturers couldn't afford to put it in an Advent calendar. By the 1960s, people got back into the habit of treating it as a grocery product but [the idea of chocolate being linked to Advent] would still have been a bit sacrilegious." You might also like: Cadbury's says the company launched its first Advent calendar in 1971, with production the following year and again between 1978 and 1980. It wasn't until 1993 the firm began to produce them continuously, when it became more routinely adopted as a Christmas tradition. But trying to marry the commercial desire to sell more during what is, after all, a religious festival, requires some sensitivity. When bakery chain Greggs promoted its advent calendar by swapping Jesus for a sausage roll in a nativity scene, some said it had gone too far. YouTube star Zoella also came a cropper when parents complained that her £50 12-window calendar was "overpriced tat", prompting Boots to halve the price to £25. There are other less obvious pitfalls for retailers. Those fiddly boxes and unusual shapes mean they can be difficult and expensive to make, something pork scratchings firm Snaffling Pig found to its cost when it launched its first calendar last year. The firm's co-founder Andy Allen says a combination of the A3 size, which took up almost all their warehouse space; and the need to produce the calendar in a short space of time to keep the product fresh, "almost broke them". The result was that they had less than a month to make and then post out 11,000 calendars before 1 December. "It piled on a lot of pressure," he says. This year, they are making about 45,000 calendars and have outsourced the fiddly filling and calendar construction to a team. "It is a bit more controlled," he says. For larger firms like John Lewis, Advent is akin to a military operation. Head of Christmas products Dan Cooper has already picked his first set of calendars for next Christmas and across all styles, sales are up 48% so far this year. The chain launched its own £149 beauty product calendar for the first time this year, and the 3,000 it made have already sold out. Mr Cooper believes the growing popularity of more luxurious calendars is partly down to the ever earlier spread of "Christmas hysteria". But he says the real shift is that calendars have become "a family thing". Advent, it seems, is no longer just for kids. Angus Thirlwell is the chief executive and founder of chocolate chain Hotel Chocolat, which has been selling a "posh calendar" pitched squarely at adults for nearly a decade now. He says people are generally buying calendars in addition to their usual Christmas gifts - not instead of them - and Advent has now become "a season in its own right". "That's why we like it," he says. But isn't festive commercialism getting a bit out of hand? "It's difficult to take the hedonism out of Christmas, the genie has already escaped the bottle," says Mr Thirlwell. Retailers, of course, say these calendars are a good deal - to the point of printing it on your receipt. In a clever marketing ploy. Marks & Spencer's beauty calendar (which is £35 if you spend an additional £35 on non-food products), flashes up at the till at £250, which is what the company says it's worth before the price is reduced. But customer reviews show they believe the chance to try more expensive products than they could normally afford makes them worth it. And glowing skin isn't necessarily the only bonus. Some calendars' popularity mean they can be lucrative. Liberty's £175 beauty calendars are now listed on auction site eBay at double the original price, for example. The idea that shops are deliberately under-stocking their calendars to create a fake rush is a "myth" according to Mr Cooper, who adds that changing trends mean "things sometimes sell better than expected". But however big your advent calendar is, and whatever you paid for it, there's still one big challenge left - stopping yourself from opening all those tempting little windows at once.

आगंतुक कैलेंडर क्रिसमस तक एक मौसमी तस्वीर या चॉकलेट दावत के साथ गिनती करने का एक सस्ता तरीका हुआ करता था, लेकिन दरवाजों के पीछे अब आपको महंगी व्हिस्की से लेकर फैंसी फेस क्रीम तक सब कुछ मिल सकता है। क्या वे एक ऐसी धोखाधड़ी है जो क्रिसमस के लगातार बढ़ते व्यावसायीकरण का प्रतिनिधित्व करती है, या सिर्फ एक हानिरहित उत्सव की मस्ती है?


Search resumes for man missing after Aonach Mor avalanche

Summary: Mountain rescuers have resumed their search for a missing climber following an avalanche on a Highlands mountain a week ago.

Andrew Vine, 41, from the Manchester area, was last seen on the west face of Aonach Mor, near Fort William, at about 13:00 last Friday. His climbing partner was injured but she managed to walk to the Nevis Range snowsports centre to raise the alarm. Bad weather and avalanche risk had hampered the search effort. Members of Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team were at the scene of the avalanche on Thursday and again on Friday.

पर्वतीय बचाव दल ने एक सप्ताह पहले हाइलैंड्स पर्वत पर हिमस्खलन के बाद लापता पर्वतारोही की तलाश फिर से शुरू कर दी है।


Welsh ships' 'unsung' role in 1940 Dunkirk evacuation

Summary: As the nation celebrates the 70th anniversary of the evacuation of a third of a million Allied troops from Dunkirk, what is less well-known, even to the experts, was that several of those smaller boats and ships came from Welsh ports.

By Neil PriorBBC Wales What Churchill called a "miracle of deliverance" began this week in 1940 after the German army's surprise attack through the Ardennes forest threatened to cut off the British Expeditionary Force. Between 27 May and 5 June, the Royal Navy worked flat out, while the army fought a valiant rearguard action to delay the German advance and allow as many British and French troops as possible to escape. The navy's efforts were supplemented famously by more than 1,000 civilian vessels, ranging from ocean-going ferries to little more than rowing boats. One was the P&A Campbell paddle steamer Glen Gower which operated in the Bristol Channel, and is featured in Pathe news descriptions of the evacuation. David Jenkins, maritime expert for the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, said the records about the smaller boats or for those from farther afield is often quite confused. He said: "The German advance through France only began on 10 May, so Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay had little more than a fortnight to put together operation Dynamo. "It was quite ordered at first, but as the pace needed to pick up, more and more vessels joined, and there wasn't always time to document them." "Often we find out about the role of Welsh ships and boats from the recollections of rescued servicemen rather than official records. "It seems incredible that boats left Welsh ports, and were able to get to Dunkirk in time to play a part in the evacuation." Yet it appears that many from Wales did answer the call, sailing hundreds of miles around Land's End to join the rescue. Among them were The Scotia, a ferry more accustomed to taking passengers from Holyhead to Anglesey, and the Glen Gower, which until the war had idled its way around the Bristol Channel, making pleasure excursions for the tourists of south Wales and north Devon. As a large, ocean-going ferry, The Scotia was requisitioned by the Royal Navy, and gained the prefix HMS Scotia. She rescued thousands of troops from the make-shift jetty in Dunkirk, surviving unscathed after being struck by German shells and torpedoes. Sitting target However her luck eventually ran out when she was sunk on 1 June 1940. She and her crew are remembered in a special free exhibition at Holyhead Maritime Museum over half-term week. "On her third run out of Dunkirk, and full of French, British, and Belgian troops, she was attacked by 12 enemy aircraft. "A bomb from a dive bomber fell down the funnel blowing out the keel, and she was sunk with great loss of life." John Cave, curator of Holyhead Maritime Museum, said: "Our Holyhead at War exhibition has displays and exhibits from the Scotia as well as for the other Holyhead ferries which served during the world wars of the last century. "The additional temporary exhibition shows images from the evacuation of Dunkirk and the later stationing of the Dutch navy in Holyhead." The paddle steamer Glen Gower fared better, despite her painfully slow progress and lack of manoeuvrability making her somewhat of a sitting target for Luftwaffe bombers. 'Abandoned' She wasn't able to reach Dunkirk until the latter, and most dangerous stage of the operation in the first days of June, when boats were unable to use the jetty and had to come into the beach under intense German artillery fire. Mike Mason, from Trellech, in Monmouthshire, a marine history enthusiast, said: "Despite having had her hull penetrated by an enemy shell, the Glen Gower managed to make it back to Harwich, having rescued hundreds of servicemen from the beaches at Dunkirk. "She returned after the war to operate excursions on the Bristol Channel until 1959 and was scrapped in 1960. "Three other P&A Campbell paddle steamers which had operated in the Bristol Channel, the Devonia, Brighton Queen and Brighton Belle, were not so lucky as they were all sunk at the time. "The Devonia, in particular, was left stranded and abandoned on the beach at Dunkirk." But the extraordinary evacuation was only made possible by the heroic efforts of the troops in northern France, who frustrated the German advance for long enough to allow their comrades to escape. When the battle reached the town of Dunkirk, the fighting was often conducted hand-to-hand, defending each street in an attempt to buy another few vital hours or minutes. Captain Bill Steer, whose family live in Williamstown, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was among the last to leave, and was mentioned in dispatches for his bravery. His son-in-law, Kenneth Martin, said that he thought he'd left it too late to evacuate, and that he'd either die fighting or be taken prisoner. "Bill was commanding a gun installation with the Royal Horse Artillery on the outskirts of Dunkirk. It was vital for them to keep firing to try and put off, for as long as possible, the German guns coming in range of the beach and massacring thousands of allied troops." 'Rowing' "After nearly everyone else had left, Bill was given the order to spike the guns in order to stop the Germans using them, then make a run for it. "Unfortunately his fellow officer ran off with their only motorbike, leaving Bill stranded, so he had to make a dash on foot for the beach, while the Germans poured into the town." "He and a handful of others were pretty much the last people to make it off the beach alive, rowing away in a metal lifeboat! "They were rescued by a Royal Navy destroyer half-way across the channel, and Bill wanted to go back to Dunkirk for more!" "He'd never really talk about it while he was alive, I learnt all this from the men he led there. "He never flinched at what he had to do, even though he'd seemingly given up realistic hope of getting out alive."

जैसा कि राष्ट्र डंकिर्क से दस लाख मित्र देशों के सैनिकों में से एक तिहाई की निकासी की 70वीं वर्षगांठ मना रहा है, यहां तक कि विशेषज्ञों के लिए भी जो कम प्रसिद्ध है, वह यह है कि उन छोटी नौकाओं और जहाजों में से कई वेल्श बंदरगाहों से आई थीं।


What does the US want from China? What is its endgame?

Summary: There are increasing hopes in Washington and Beijing that an agreement to help resolve the US-China trade war could soon be in sight. But this is a rivalry between two superpowers that is about much more than just trade, it is one that spans economics, defence, culture and technology.

By David GrossmanUS correspondent, BBC Newsnight So what does the United States want from China - and what is the US endgame? The short answer is the phase-one trade deal that President Trump and the Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He shook hands on in the Oval office last month. But tensions between the two countries go far deeper than just trade, and no one I've spoken to in Washington thinks that this outline deal will make much difference on its own. There has been a pronounced negative shift in attitudes to China in the US in recent years, and it's important to realise that this shift predates Mr Trump's arrival in the White House. "I think if you'd seen a Hillary Clinton presidency, or another Democrat or another Republican in 2016, you would have seen this sharp turn," says Daniel Kliman, a former senior adviser at the US defence department. "There was a sense that our approach to China wasn't working," says Dr Kliman, now director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). There are many reasons for this rise in tensions. The promised economic benefits of China joining the World Trade Organisation in 2001 never materialised, says Ray Bowen, who worked for the US government as an economic analyst from 2001 until 2018. China never intended to play by the rules, he says. "It's more the case that China intended to join multilateral fora in order to begin to shift how multinational fora regulate global trade." In other words, China joined intending to change rather than be changed. The result was a vast wave of job losses and factory closures in the US known as the "China shock". The so-called "rust belt states" that voted for President Trump in 2016 bore the brunt. Many US companies moved production to China to take advantage of lower labour costs. However, according to Daniel Kliman there was a high price for companies moving to China: "China has forced them to hand over their technology, their intellectual property," he says. And, even those companies that didn't relocate production found that China somehow got hold of their trade secrets. Law enforcement agencies in the US have a long list of charges against Chinese individuals and companies for spying and computer hacking. The FBI's director, Christopher Wray, recently told US Congress that there are currently at least 1,000 current investigations into the theft of intellectual property from American firms that lead back to China. The US government has estimated that the total value of intellectual property stolen by China in the four years to 2017 alone to be $1.2tn (£936bn). According to Dean Cheng of the Heritage Foundation, a US conservative think tank, this is the primary reason relations between the US and China have soured. "When companies are finding out that their patents are being rifled through, when their product is being reverse engineered, when their R&D processes are being hijacked, more and more companies concluded that partnering with China was not turning out to be profitable, and could actually be downright negative," he says. From inside government, economic analyst Ray Bowen says he noticed the mood change in late 2015. People who had previously advocated engagement with China were now alarmed to see how fast China was catching up. Rivals is a season of in-depth coverage on BBC News about the contest for supremacy between the US and China across trade, tech, defence and soft power. Read more Rivals features At the same time in the Pentagon, Brig Gen Robert Spalding was leading a team of people trying to formulate a new national security strategy to deal with China's rise and influence. He has since left the military, and has written a book called "Stealth War, How China Took Over While America's Elite Slept". When asked about the threat that China poses to US interests, Gen Spalding's reply is stark. "It's the most consequential existential threat since the Nazi party in World War Two. "I think it's a far greater threat than the Soviet Union ever was. As the number two economy in the world, its reach, particularly into the governments and in all the institutions of the West, far exceeds what the Soviets could ever manage." The result of Gen Spalding's work at the Pentagon was the National Security Strategy, published in December 2017. It's regarded as the lead document within government, designed to guide every department, and represents a profound shift in approach according to Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "There has now been a movement away from the war on terror, and instead, competition among major powers has taken the place of terrorism as the major threat to the United States," she says. The US defence department now believes that addressing the rise of China is one of the major military objectives of the United States in the coming decades. The speed with which China built, and then militarised, a string of artificial islands in the South China Sea in defiance of international law has alarmed many in Washington. According to Dean Cheng, $5.3tn of trade passes through the area every year. "China's actions were in a sense an attempt to be able to cut the carotid artery of global trade," he says. China has been very clear in its ambitions to lead the world in the important technologies of the future, like robotics and AI. "This is very core to the competition now," says Bonnie Glaser, "because if China were to succeed in these areas, then it probably would supplant the United States as the leading power in the world." That is what is now at stake. America's military supremacy is based not on a huge standing army, but on high-tech weapons systems. If China takes the lead in these crucial technologies, then the US may not be able to keep up for long. Daniel Kliman believes that the non-military technological race is also crucial. "Not only is China perfecting technologies for surveillance and censorship at home, but increasingly exporting these technologies as well as finance and knowhow abroad." He believes the battle with what he calls "high tech authoritarianism" is one that will become more and more central to the conversation about China. So, don't expect the US position on China to change in the near term, even if President Trump loses the coming election. The mood in Washington has changed. The only real political conversation is not about whether to take on China but how best to do it. Many Democrats prefer engaging with allies against President Trump's unilateral approach. However, most Democrats know there are few votes to be had by advocating a softer China policy. Rivals - America's Endgame, will be broadcast on BBC World News on Sat 9 November at 07:30 and 19:30 GMT and Sun 10 November at 11:30 and 16:30 GMT. It will be available to UK viewers on iPlayer from 17 November.

वाशिंगटन और बीजिंग में उम्मीद बढ़ रही है कि अमेरिका-चीन व्यापार युद्ध को हल करने में मदद करने के लिए एक समझौता जल्द ही दिखाई दे सकता है। लेकिन यह दो महाशक्तियों के बीच एक प्रतिद्वंद्विता है जो केवल व्यापार से कहीं अधिक है, यह वह है जो अर्थशास्त्र, रक्षा, संस्कृति और प्रौद्योगिकी तक फैला हुआ है।


JLR: Solihull workers react to Land Rover production move

Summary: Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced it will move production of its Land Rover Discovery from the West Midlands to Slovakia from next year. Workers based at the Solihull factory, where the Discovery is manufactured, have reacted to the news.

For workers arriving for their shift at Solihull's Jaguar Land Rover plant, some were unsure as to how the move will affect them. Others have spoken of their fears about the future. While JLR - which is owned by the Indian group Tata Motors - has said it remains "committed to the UK", the company has warned there may be some job losses as a result. There are 1,800 agency workers in the Solihull plant, out of a workforce of 10,000. Land Rover Discovery model moved to Slovakia from the UK JLR had previously said the manufacture of the Discovery would be split between Solihull and Slovakia. The Solihull plant will be used to build a new generation of Range Rover models. Sergei Udolec, who works on the Solihull production line and has been at JLR since 2012, said the news may be "pretty bad" for agency staff. He said: "It's not clear what is going to happen. I think they have to be clear. But it's hard to know at the moment. I'm trying not to think about it. But it may be pretty bad news for agency staff." Matthew Thomas, an engineer based at the site, said: "I've been here about three-and-a-half years. Already around 1,500 people have lost their jobs from JLR. "I'm on a permanent contract so it won't necessarily affect me. But also we don't know how it's going to affect people anyway, it could be a positive thing, with the investment here. We just don't know yet." One worker, who has been with JLR for 29 years, but did not want to be named, said: "I think it's wrong to blame Brexit for this. We have to look closer to home. 'Downturn in market' "I feel sorry for the temporary staff, because with this news they can't plan, they can't think too much about the future." Chris Fry, who works for car supply company Draexlmaier Automotive at the site, blamed a "downturn in the market". "We've known about it since before Brexit, that this type of thing would happen," he added. Nigel Kent, who works for JLR contractors DHL and has been based at the site for five years, added: "I think it is bad news for the temporary staff, of course. "I think because JLR will have bases in Slovakia and they already have one in Brazil, it may not be long before they move production out. But I don't think it'll be soon." In 2016, JLR announced job and production changes to its site in Castle Bromwich. One worker who had recently moved from Castle Bromwich to Solihull said the announcement left things "a bit up in the air" for them. Unions had been in talks with JLR in Solihull on Tuesday morning. Unite national officer Des Quinn said: "Jaguar Land Rover's investment into its Solihull plant and confirmation that the next generation of Evoque will be built at Halewood in Merseyside secures the long-term future of both plants. "Unite is in advanced discussions about securing Castle Bromwich's future in tandem with these two sites. "The investment is a long-term commitment that recognises the skills of a workforce that has worked hard to make Jaguar Land Rover a global success story. "Those workers though will have questions about what the transition to the new production platforms means for their jobs and livelihoods in the short term. "Unite will be working with Jaguar Land Rover over the coming weeks and months to ensure a managed transition that is as painless as possible and retains jobs and skills for the future." Unite regional officer Darren Hall said the union would be fighting to "protect agency staff" and "negate the impact" of the end of Discovery production at the site next February. Mr Hall, who has been taking part in the site meetings, said many of the contract workers, employed via Manpower, were Unite members. An agreement meant contractors were usually taken on by JLR after five years at the firm, he said. Some had been on contracts for three or four years so were approaching the cut off point.

जगुआर लैंड रोवर (जेएलआर) ने घोषणा की है कि वह अपने लैंड रोवर डिस्कवरी के उत्पादन को अगले साल से वेस्ट मिडलैंड्स से स्लोवाकिया में स्थानांतरित कर देगा। सोलिहुल कारखाने में स्थित श्रमिकों, जहां डिस्कवरी का निर्माण किया जाता है, ने इस खबर पर प्रतिक्रिया व्यक्त की है।


Baby born on Armenia plane 'named after stewardess'

Summary: A woman has given birth to a baby girl on a plane flying from Russia to Armenia, local media say.

They say the baby was named Hasmik - after the flight attendant who helped deliver her, Hasmik Ghevondyan. The mother's identity has not been revealed. Both she and the baby are reportedly doing well. The flight, operated by Armenia's Armavia airline, landed in Yerevan. Ms Ghevondyan is quoted as saying that the whole crew helped deliver the baby.

स्थानीय मीडिया का कहना है कि रूस से आर्मेनिया जा रहे विमान में एक महिला ने एक बच्ची को जन्म दिया है।


Being suddenly blind

Summary: David Rathband, the police officer shot and blinded by fugitive gunman Raoul Moat, has been found dead. He had spoken of his struggle to adjust to life without sight. It's a hugely difficult transition to make, writes Damon Rose, who lost his sight at 13.

Losing your dominant sense is shattering and confusing. With the right support you can turn it around and learn to live afresh but it's a very big hill to climb. The journey requires a great deal of patience and practice and is complicated enough without also factoring in trauma and injury in the line of police duty. Everything from your ability to move around, read, write, do DIY and appreciate the scenery around you, suddenly changes or disappears. When your sight does go or gets so bad that you have to acknowledge it, you need to speak to your local social services to get an assessment. It's at this point that you will probably first come across the "blind person tools" that are regularly handed out. These will include the white cane and a "liquid level indicator" which buzzes loudly to tell you that you've put enough boiling hot water in your tea mug - small things matter at this stage. These basic handouts - along with mobility training and orientation plus domestic rehabilitation - are the basics for moving forward. Many listeners to BBC Radio 4's In Touch, the long-running show for blind people, have years of experience under their belts and were keen to pass it along after veteran presenter Peter White did a two-part interview with the former police officer, broadcast in December 2010 and September 2011. Listeners contacted the programme in their droves afterwards with all sorts of practical ideas and support. "People wanted to contact him. They found his comments and what he said quite inspiring. He was saying things that probably they hadn't heard said before," says In Touch producer Cheryl Gabriel, who is also visually impaired. "He talked about reading books and said he didn't like reading. He had this idea people were going to put him in a box with the interests blind people should have: 'Why would I start reading now?' "In his mind he was still a sighted person, a sighted person who couldn't see, rather than a blind person." Gabriel and Rathband were on the phone for an hour before the final interview. "He was saying he got frustrated at not being able to find a matching pair of socks. He wanted to just live on his own to prove that he could do so, and still support his family." Gabriel was a police officer for five years before her sight failed. She says: "Everything in his life was not geared to being a blind person. "He was trying to fight for his independence. He wanted to live almost as if blindness was incidental but your blindness goes in the front rather than behind. David wanted to put it behind him but it was always in front of him. "You're the one who is a police officer, the one who can fix stuff. You go out there and deal with people. To suddenly have that taken away, it must have felt like his world was turned upside down and I have a lot of sympathy." The suddenness of Rathband's blindness is hugely significant. "What he went through is unimaginable," says Gabriel. "Most people have a period of getting used to being blind, you think, 'Hold on, what's going on here?' when you begin to notice deterioration... but his whole experience was just horrific with the mental scarring he must've also had." TheRNIB's Helpline offers emotional and practical support to anyone who is struggling to come to terms with sight loss, sudden or long term. People can call 0303 123 9999 or email helpline@rnib.org.uk. Around the BBC Ouch! Blog In Touch Related Internet Links RNIB - supporting blind and partially sighted people

डेविड रथबंद, भगोड़े बंदूकधारी राउल मोएट द्वारा गोली मारकर अंधा कर दिया गया पुलिस अधिकारी, मृत पाया गया है। उसने बिना दृष्टि के जीवन को समायोजित करने के अपने संघर्ष के बारे में बात की थी। डेमन रोज़ लिखते हैं, जो 13 साल की उम्र में अपनी दृष्टि खो चुके थे।


How Australia is stubbing out smoking

Summary: Australia was the first country in the world to introduce mandatory plain packaging for tobacco products - and the UK will have followed suit by May this year. But will any country copy Australia's plan to keep increasing taxes until a packet of cigarettes costs AUD$40 (£24)?

By Sarah McDermottBBC World Service It's not easy being a smoker in Australia. The smoking bans started inside - in workplaces, bars and restaurants - and moved out. "Smokers would congregate on footpaths and near public transport creating clouds of smoke - what we call 'smoking hotspots'," says Mark Driver, Sydney's Park and Recreation Planner. "Now, smoking is prohibited within 10m (33ft) of a playground, within 4m (13ft) of the entrance to a public building, at rail platforms, taxi ranks and bus stops." Those are the rules in New South Wales, but they are mirrored in many other states. Smoking is banned on many beaches, and most Australian states have now banned cigarettes in jail. All states ban smoking in vehicles if children are present. Fines vary, but in some places you may be fined AUD$2,000 (£1,210) if you smoke in the wrong place. And even if you don't, you'll be paying more than that each year by 2020, if you smoke just one AUD$40 pack a week. It's already five years since Australia became the first place in the world to make plain cigarette packaging compulsory. Tobacco-advertising has long been banned, and now branding has too. The boxes are a drab, dark brown colour (deemed the ugliest in the world by a team of Australian researchers), they carry no logos, and graphic health warnings cover most of the front of the box. "You see this gigantic, see-and-never-forget kind of image of throat cancer - a hole in the neck, or what a stroke looks like with a brain sliced open," Chapman explains. "Some smokers say they don't even look at it, but there has been research which shows that with the people who engage in those avoidance strategies, it's actually a predictor of them quitting later on." All this came on top of anti-smoking campaigns that have been driving down smoking rates in Australia since the 1970s. "It's a toxic, poisonous mix of substances, including ammonia, the bleach in toilet cleaner; acetone, the chemical in nail polish remover; benzene, found in paint stripper; and hydrogen cyanide, used in rat poison," went one advertisement. "And smoking delivers it straight to your body." "The evidence shows that these hard-hitting, graphic ads that really show the harms of smoking are some of the most effective," says Scott Walsberger, head of tobacco control at Cancer Council NSW. But other campaigns have also tried a gentler approach, emphasising how quickly a smoker's health starts to improve once he or she has quit. It was this approach that was taken by the creators of an interactive, behavioural change app called My Quit Buddy, launched in 2012. Offering tips for giving up, daily motivational messages, distractions to overcome cravings, and a place to share success stories and celebrate milestones, it has now been downloaded more than 400,000 times in Australia alone. My Perfect Country In a world where a lot is going wrong, there is also a lot going right. So, what if you could build a country with policies that actually worked, by homing in on ideas from around the world that have been truly successful? "It shows people that just by even quitting for five days, you can start to see changes - you'll have more money in your wallet, your skin becomes clearer," says Paul Den, one of My Quit Buddy's creators. "And the community forum shows people that they're not alone - people generally trust other people more than they trust the government." The cumulative effect of these policies is that smoking rates for adults have almost halved since 1980, says Henrietta Moore, of the Institute for Global Prosperity at University College, London, and are now at about 13%, compared to a global average of about 20%. There has also been a decrease of almost 23% in the rate of hospital admissions caused by smoking. Simone Dennis, an associate professor at Australian National University, says a culture of shame surrounding smoking has begun to emerge, and that itself has become a smoking deterrent. Take, for example, the policy of confining smokers to areas where they will not create a public nuisance. "If you think about smoking in public, those tend to be spaces that no-one wants to hang out in anyway," she says. "So smokers feel marginalised because they can't be citizens in public spaces any more, because they're restricted to these kind of 'dirty spaces.'" Tobacco in Australia Read: The battle for control of the cigarette packet These days, smoking is often taken up by people who are on the lowest rungs of the socio-economic ladder, she points out, "and that adds a burden of shame to people who might already be marginalised". If it's the poor who are now the most likely to smoke, it's hard to see how they will ever afford the AUD$40 pack of cigarettes. Listen to My Perfect Country on the BBC World Service Join the conversation - find the BBC World Service on Facebook and Twitter.

ऑस्ट्रेलिया दुनिया का पहला देश था जिसने तंबाकू उत्पादों के लिए अनिवार्य सादे पैकेजिंग की शुरुआत की थी-और ब्रिटेन ने इस साल मई तक इसका पालन किया होगा। लेकिन क्या कोई भी देश सिगरेट के एक पैकेट की कीमत 40 ऑस्ट्रेलियाई डॉलर (24 पाउंड) होने तक करों को बढ़ाने की ऑस्ट्रेलिया की योजना की नकल करेगा?