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They also agreed to field a joint women's ice hockey team in rare talks at the truce village of Panmunjom. These are the first high-level talks between the countries in more than two years. It marks a thaw in relations that began in the new year when North Korea offered to send a team to the games. The games will take place between 9 and 25 February in Pyeongchang in South Korea. What will happen? If the plans are realised, a hundreds-strong North Korean delegation - including 230 cheerleaders, 140 orchestral musicians and 30 taekwondo athletes - could cross into the South via the land border to attend the Winter Olympics. It will mean the opening of the cross border road for the first time in almost two years. The two countries have also agreed to field a joint team for the sport of women's ice hockey. It would be the first time athletes from both Koreas have competed together in the same team at an Olympic Games. The North has also agreed to send a smaller, 150-member delegation to the Paralympics in March. The agreement will have to be approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday, because North Korea has missed registration deadlines or failed to qualify. South Korea will also need to find ways to host the North Korean delegation without violating UN Security Council sanctions outlawing cash transfers to Pyongyang and blacklisting certain senior North officials. What has the reaction been? South Korea's hockey coach and conservative newspapers have expressed concern about the prospect of a united hockey team, saying it could damage South Korea's chances of winning a medal. Tens of thousands of people are said to have signed online petitions urging President Moon Jae-in to scrap the plan. But the liberal leader told South Korean Olympic athletes on Wednesday that the North's participation in the Games would help improve inter-Korean relations. Japan has viewed the latest detente with suspicion, with Foreign Minister Taro Kono saying the world should not be blinded by Pyongyang's recent "charm offensive". "It is not the time to ease pressure or to reward North Korea," Mr Kono said, according to Reuters news agency. "The fact that North Korea is engaging in dialogue could be interpreted as proof that the sanctions are working." No Korean Spring Analysis by Jonathan Marcus, BBC Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent The Olympic embrace between North and South Korea represents a rare moment of hope in a crisis that at times has appeared to be steadily moving towards another war on the Korean peninsula. But is this a brief respite from the bluster and war-like words exchanged between Pyongyang and President Donald Trump, Seoul's main ally? Or does it really offer a platform for a diplomatic route out of this crisis? The enormity of an armed conflict is clear to all - even President Trump. However, the Olympic detente does not alter the realities of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Both programmes need more testing to demonstrate a true inter-continental capability. And with Mr Trump insisting that this is a capability that the North will not be allowed to obtain, it is hard to see this developing into a Korean spring, let alone a definitive resolution of the nuclear dispute. How did the agreement come about? The talks which resulted in this agreement came after tensions on the Korean peninsula reached their highest point in decades. This is because North Korea has made rapid advances in its nuclear and conventional weapons programmes in recent years. Its latest ballistic missile test, on 28 November, sparked a series of fresh sanctions from the UN targeting petrol shipments and travel. Soon afterwards North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he was "open to dialogue". In a New Year speech, he said he was considering sending a team to the Winter Olympics. South Korea's Olympics chief had said last year that the North's athletes would be welcome. Then, on 9 January, the two countries made the breakthrough announcement that the North would be sending a delegation. It was also agreed that a military hotline between the nations, suspended for nearly two years, would be reinstated. President Moon Jae-in has said the Olympic agreement could pave the way for the nuclear issue to be addressed and lead to dialogue between the North and the US, according to Yonhap news agency in Seoul.
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আগামী মাসে শুরু হতে যাওয়া শীতকালীন অলিম্পিকে একসাথে এক পতাকার নিচে সামিল হবার ঘোষণা দিয়েছে দুই কোরিয়া।
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Perpetrators film or photograph women with hidden cameras in public spaces. Although distributing pornography is illegal in South Korea, the videos and pictures are shared widely online. Organisers say women live in constant fear of being photographed or filmed without their knowledge. Carrying placards and banners with messages like "My life is not your porn", the women were mostly teenagers or in their 20s - seen as the main victims of the hidden cameras. "Those men who film such videos! Those who upload them! Those who watch them! All of them should be punished sternly!" they chanted. The women covered their faces with masks, hats and sunglasses as instructed by the organisers. Demonstrators said around 55,000 women took part, although police put the figure at around 20,000. The recent protests began after police arrested a 25-year-old woman in May for secretly photographing a male colleague who posed nude for university art students. She then shared the picture online. Demonstrators believe police only acted so swiftly because it was a female perpetrator, and pointed to instances of police closing cases with female victims because they could not find the photographers or track them online, because they posted on foreign servers. While the law mandates a maximum five-year prison term or 10 million won ($8,970; £6,770) fine for creating sexual images, and a maximum seven year sentence and 30 million won ($26,900; £20,200) fine for distributing them for profit, protesters say many receive far lighter punishments. South Korea has struggled to contain a rise in the crime in recent years. The number of hidden camera crimes rose from 1,100 in 2010 to more than 6,500 in 2017. Since 2004, the country has mandated that all smart phones should make loud shutter noises when they take a photo or video to make people aware of their use. But apps can be used to silence the noise, and perpetrators are also using miniature cameras hidden in walls, bags, shoes or toilets. President Moon Jae-in said the crime had become "part of daily life". Last week he reportedly told a cabinet meeting that offenders should "suffer greater damage than the damage they inflict", urging officials to look for stronger punishments such as notifying employers of any perpetrators on staff.
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স্পাইক্যাম বা গোপন ক্যামেরায় মেয়েদের ছবি এবং ভিডিও তোলার বিরুদ্ধে দক্ষিণ কোরিয়ায় ব্যাপক বিক্ষোভ শুরু হয়েছে। শনিবার রাজধানী সওলে এর বিরুদ্ধে দেশটির ইতিহাসের সবচেয়ে বড় নারী বিক্ষোভ হয়েছে।
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By Aamir PeerzadaBBC News, Gujarat, India Many are ultimately forced to quit the land and migrate to find other work. "Once our whole family used to work here, and we used to make our livelihood from agriculture," says Madhiben - the family's fields are now covered in a thin white sheet of salt. "They all used to be lush green, now it's all white desert," says Madhiben, who lives in a village in Gujarat in north-west India. Many parts of India are showing severe effects of desertification but now one social enterprise, Naireeta Services, is taking action. Co-founders Trupti Jain and Biplab Khetan Paul have come up with an answer to this. "During the Gujarat earthquake of 2001, I remember how temperatures rose drastically leaving people without water, followed by monsoons, which flooded everything and left farms waterlogged for months. That's when I started looking for a solution" says Biplab. "Later I realised that these erratic rains could be a solution for such dry seasons." Biplab and Trupti then started experimenting with different structures to store excess rain water so that it could be used in dry seasons. "That's when we innovated bhungroo - a water harvesting technique that uses an injection module to store excess rain water underground. Farmers can then use the same water for irrigation during summer and winter," says Trupti. Encroaching deserts The high level of salinity in many regions of Gujarat and other states of India often creates an impermeable white or brown layer that prevents water from penetrating the soil, leaving the surface waterlogged. "This standing water adds to the salinity as many minerals present in the soil also get dissolved in the water, which in the dry season creates a salty layer," says Biplab. Each year, 12 million hectares (29 million acres) of land are lost to encroaching deserts. That's land where 20 million tonnes of grain could have been grown. People living off the land often feel they have no choice but to migrate. "After the monsoons our fields remain waterlogged for up to three months. Because of that, salts accumulate and in summers, there is no water," says Madhiben. "Now all males of our family have had to move to the cities to get work." According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) by 2030, 135 million people could lose their homes and livelihoods to desertification. "In India, five million small holder farmers are affected with salinity, flood and drought problems - and across the globe 650 billion hectares of land gets affected with these issues," says Trupti Jain. Bhungroo irrigation Bhungroo is a Gujarati word meaning "straw" - a pipe between 10-15cm (4-6in) diameter is inserted into the soil at places where waterlogging is a problem. So during monsoons. the excess water drains down the pipe, gets filtered, and then flows down to natural aquifers deep below the soil where it can stay until it is needed during the dry seasons. It means that in the monsoon season farmers can grow crops because their land is not too wet. In the dry seasons of winter or summer they can use pumps to draw up the stored water and irrigate their land, says Trupti. "Due to heavy rains during monsoons, followed by a dry spell in summers we used not to have any crops - and then we had to go to other areas of Gujarat for work," says farmer Kaser Behan. But now she and her family have a bhungroo, "we can easily grow two crops in a year". One bhungroo unit can irrigate up to 8-10 hectares, and construction costs can vary from $750 to $1,500 (£1,100) depending upon the location and size of the project. "Our enterprise is working on hybrid models that mean we are mobilising grant money as well as generating a profit to sell our bhungroo to the customers," says Trupti. "Talking about the grant money, we are mobilising to support the poor farmers who cannot afford the cost of the bhungroo." So far, Naireeta has constructed more than 3,500 bhungroos across India and beyond, and says its aim is "antyodaya", a word used by Mahatma Gandhi that means serving the last person in the queue in the best possible way. "In rural India, the last person is the smallest landholder who does not have any water service for his or her crop," says Trupti Jain. Part of our series Taking the Temperature, which focuses on the battle against climate change and the people and ideas making a difference. This BBC series was produced with funding from the Skoll Foundation
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ভারতের বিভিন্ন স্থানে প্রবল বৃষ্টিপাত বা দীর্ঘায়িত শুষ্ক মৌসুমের কারণে অনেকসময় কৃষিজমিতে জলাবদ্ধতাবা খরার মত সমস্যার মুখে পড়তে হয় কৃষকদের। এর ফলে তাদের ফসল নষ্ট হওয়ার আশঙ্কা থাকে।
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The conversation also included a discussion about the ongoing opposition protests in Russia. A Kremlin statement did not refer to any points of friction, saying the call was "businesslike and frank". Both sides reportedly agreed to extend the countries' last remaining nuclear deal during the call. Former US President Donald Trump sometimes undercut his own administration's tough posture on Russia and was accused by some of being too deferential to Mr Putin. But Mr Trump's predecessor Barack Obama - under whom Mr Biden served as vice-president - was also criticised for failing to check Russia as it annexed Crimea, supported rebel forces in eastern Ukraine and backed the government of warn-torn Syria. What did the White House and Kremlin say? "President Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defence of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies," the White House said in a statement, referencing the main talking points of Tuesday afternoon's call but listing no further details. The US said that the two presidents also discussed the massive SolarWinds cyber-attack, which has been blamed on Moscow; reports that the Kremlin placed bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan; and the poisoning of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny. The Kremlin statement about the call said their president had "noted that the normalisation of relations between Russia and the United States would meet the interests of both countries and - taking into account their special responsibility for maintaining security and stability in the world - of the entire international community". The leaders also discussed the New Start treaty, an Obama-era accord that limits the amounts of warheads, missiles and launchers in the two countries' nuclear arsenals. It had been due to expire on 5 February, but both sides reportedly agreed to extend the treaty during Tuesday's call. The Trump administration, however, had refused to sign it and talks over an extension stalled. On Wednesday, Russia's parliament ratified a five-year extension of the treaty. Mr Putin said the move was a "step in the right direction" to reducing global tensions. Biden doesn't want a confrontation Joe Biden had indicated he would be tougher on Vladimir Putin than Donald Trump, who refused to take on the Kremlin and frequently cast doubt on Russian interference in the 2016 elections. On that matter Mr Biden made his sharpest break with Mr Trump, reportedly telling Mr Putin that he knew Russia had tried to meddle in both the 2016 and 2020 elections. He also warned the Russian president that the US was ready to defend itself against cyber-espionage, and any other attacks. Despite Mr Trump's conciliatory approach, the Kremlin did not benefit from his presidency, because his administration heavily sanctioned Russians for issues ranging from Ukraine to attacks on dissidents. Joe Biden and his foreign policy team will take a robust position on human rights and Mr Putin's intentions in Europe. But they are not looking for a confrontation. Rather, they hope to manage relations and co-operate where possible. In that vein, the two presidents agreed to work at completing the extension of the New Start arms control treaty before it expires next month. What does the New Start treaty actually do? The treaty, signed in 2010, limits each side to 1,550 long-range nuclear warheads, a lower number than under the previous deal. Each country is allowed, in total, no more than 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear arms. Another 100 are allowed if they are not operationally deployed - for example, missiles removed from a sub undergoing a long-term overhaul. Again, this is a significant reduction from the original treaty. You may also be interested in:
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ভ্লাদিমির পুতিনের সাথে প্রথম ফোনালাপে জো বাইডেন আমেরিকার নির্বাচনে রাশিয়ার হস্তক্ষেপের ব্যাপারে সতর্ক করে দিয়েছেন।
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The bill would require the government to resume enriching uranium to 20% - well above the 3.67% agreed under a 2015 nuclear deal - if crippling sanctions are not eased in two months. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said he opposed the implementation of the law. It comes after the targeted killing of Iran's top nuclear scientist. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in a mysterious attack on a road outside the capital Tehran last Friday. Iran believes Israel and an exiled opposition group used a remote-control weapon to carry out the shooting. Israel has not publicly commented on the allegations of its involvement. Fakhrizadeh played a crucial role in Iran's nuclear programme, but the government insists its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful. It has been subjected to crippling Western sanctions aimed at preventing it from developing nuclear weapons. What does Iran's new law mean for its nuclear programme? Under the law, ratified by Iran's Guardian Council, Tehran would give two months for the European signatories of the 2015 nuclear agreement to work to ease sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors imposed when the US abandoned the deal in 2018. If the sanctions had not been eased by the deadline, the government would then increase uranium enrichment to 20% and install advanced centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium, at its nuclear facilities at Natanz and Fordow. It would also block UN inspectors from accessing these sites. "Today in a letter, the parliament speaker officially asked the president to implement the new law," Iran's Fars news agency reported on Wednesday. Before the law was ratified, President Rouhani said his government did not agree with the legislation, which he described as "damaging for diplomacy". US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear agreement in May 2018, and reimposed strict economic sanctions against Tehran. President-elect Joe Biden has said he would return the US to the agreement - negotiated under Barack Obama - and would lift sanctions if Tehran returned to "strict compliance with the nuclear deal". Mr Biden, who is due to be sworn in as the 46th US president on 20 January, told the New York Times that "it's going to be hard", but that "the last goddamn thing we need in that part of the world is a build-up of nuclear capability". Iran breached the 3.67% cap in July 2019 and the enrichment level has remained steady at up to 4.5% since then. Low-enriched uranium - which typically has a 3-5% concentration of uranium-235 - can be used to produce fuel for power plants. Weapons-grade uranium is 90% enriched or more. Suspicions that Iran was using its nuclear programme as a cover to develop a nuclear bomb prompted the EU, US and UN to impose sanctions in 2010. The 2015 deal was designed to constrain the programme in a verifiable way in return for sanctions relief.
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পরমাণু উৎপাদন কেন্দ্রে জাতিসংঘের পরিদর্শন বন্ধ করতে এবং ইউরেনিয়ামের উৎপাদন বাড়ানোর পদক্ষেপ হিসেবে নিজেদের পার্লামেন্টে নতুন একটি আইন পাস করেছে ইরান।
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By Heather ChenBBC News, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia Judge Nenney Shushaidah presides over five trials a day and can hear up to 80 cases a week. Malaysia practises a moderate form of Islam but conservative attitudes have been on the rise and the use of Sharia is growing as well. Under a dual-track legal system, thousands of Muslims use it to settle moral and family matters. Non-Muslims are required to follow secular laws that deal with the same matters. She passes judgment on everything from financial cases to those involving the Sharia concept of Khalwat [unmarried Muslim couples being caught in compromising situations]. But her expertise lies in child custody and cases of polygamy - the Muslim concept of allowing men to marry up to four wives, which is legal in Malaysia. Judge Shushaidah says there are many factors she considers before, for example, allowing a polygamous union. "Every case is complex and different," she explained. "You can't generalise Islamic law and say it favours men and treats women badly... I want to correct that misconception." All those involved in a proposed polygamous marriage are required to be physically present in Judge Shushaidah's court. "I want to hear from everyone, not just [the] men," she said. "I make it a point to speak with women to find out if they are on board with the arrangement. It is important that they agree to it because if I see any signs that say otherwise then I won't grant permission." "I am female and I can understand most women would not like the idea. But it is allowed under Islam, and our Malaysian courts have enacted strict laws to govern this." "A man has to have very strong reasons for wanting another marriage," she said. "He must show he can look after the welfare of his first wife as well as the women who come after. He is not allowed to neglect the needs of anyone." Judge Shushaidah added that some wives can be supportive of the idea. She recalls, for example, a case which involved a seriously ill woman who could no longer bear children. "She loved her husband and wanted me to grant him permission to marry a second wife. So I did." What is Sharia? Background on Sharia law (BBC religion) How is Sharia law applied? She defends her religion's reputation for strict laws by arguing that it is capable of fairness. But critics and rights groups argue Sharia is often misused. "We have no objection to Sharia law that doesn't discriminate against women, gay people or social and religious minorities," Asia deputy director of Human Rights Watch Phil Robertson told BBC 100 Women. "But the problem with Sharia law in Malaysia is that too often it does precisely that. "Religion is never an acceptable reason to violate international human rights standards of equality and non-discrimination." For example rights activists were outraged by the recent caning of two Malaysian women convicted of attempting to have lesbian sex, and say Sharia law was misused in this case. Judge Shushaidah would not address the case, but said: "Caning under Sharia law serves to educate offenders so as not to repeat the act again." Judge Shushaidah also argues that Sharia does not always rule in favour of men. "Our law exists to protect women's rights. It looks at their welfare and safeguards their livelihoods," she said. "Islam holds women in high regard and as judges, we must return to its teachings and maintain worthiness using Sharia." Her greatest concern lies with Muslim men bypassing strict Sharia court procedures by marrying overseas. "He wouldn't be bound by Malaysian law if he marries abroad. Some wives actually consent to this to protect their husbands but they don't realise how it works against them," she said. "Our Sharia laws are in place to protect the interests of women and hold men accountable." Women's groups like Sisters in Islam highlighted a "severe shortage of female representation" in the courts and a "strong sense of patriarchy" in the overall system. "The Sharia legal context in Malaysia not only selectively discriminates against women, it vilifies them as the cause of social immoralities," said spokeswoman Majidah Hashim. "State Islamic institutions... have done little to ensure women are accorded due justice. In fact, the recent prosecution of women under Sharia law clearly shows that their voices are alarmingly silenced and access to justice is worryingly stifled." This makes Judge Shushaidah's appointment a particularly significant one. "Back in my day, most Sharia judges were men who questioned the need for women in the practice," said Judge Shushaidah. "I never dreamed of becoming a judge," she admitted. "As a lawyer, I didn't know if I could take on such a senior role that dealt with complicated cases. And as a woman, I felt doubt and fear." "Sometimes I do feel uneasy. As a woman, I must feel, and I'd be lying if I said I felt nothing. But I am a judge and I have to make sure I am always clear and objective. So in my judgment, I try and address this. I make do with the best evidence I get in court." What is 100 Women? BBC 100 Women names 100 influential and inspirational women around the world every year and shares their stories. It's been a momentous year for women's rights around the globe, so in 2018 BBC 100 Women will reflect the trailblazing women who are using passion, indignation and anger to spark real change in the world around them. 'I don't want to be the UK's only black female history professor' 'Ditch the witch': Julia Gillard shocked by 'vile' abuse Women shouldn't have to feel 'grateful' for opportunities Find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and use #100Women
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ইসলামী আইন বা শরিয়া আইন অনেকসময় দোষীকে অতি কঠোর শাস্তি প্রদান করে থাকে বলে সমালোচনা করা হয়ে থাকে। কিন্তু মুসলিম অধ্যুষিত মালয়েশিয়ার শরিয়া আইন অনুযায়ী পরিচালিত হওয়া উচ্চ আদালতের একজন নারী বিচারক মনে করেন, তিনি নিজের পদমর্যাদা বলে তিনি মুসলিম নারীদের অধিকার রক্ষায় গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ভূমিকা রাখতে পারেন।
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The "nation state" law says Jews have a unique right to national self-determination there and puts Hebrew above Arabic as the official language. Arab MPs reacted furiously in parliament, with one waving a black flag and others ripping up the bill. Israel's prime minister praised the bill's passage as a "defining moment". "A hundred and twenty-two years after [the founder of modern Zionism Theodore] Herzl made his vision known, with this law we determined the founding principle of our existence," Benjamin Netanyahu said. "Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people, and respects the rights of all of its citizens." However, the law risks further alienating Israel's large Arab minority, who have long felt discriminated against. What does the law say? Called The Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People, the legislation essentially defines Israel first and foremost as a Jewish state. Among its 11 provisions, it describes Israel as "the national home of the Jewish people" and says the right to exercise national self-determination there is "unique to the Jewish people". It also reiterates the status of Jerusalem under Israeli law, which defines the city - part of which is claimed by the Palestinians as the capital of a future state - as the "complete and united... capital of Israel". Controversially, the law singles out Hebrew as the "state's language", effectively prioritising it above Arabic which has for decades been recognised as an official language alongside Hebrew. It ascribes Arabic "special status" and says its standing before the law came into effect will not be harmed. In one of its clauses, the law stresses the importance of "development of Jewish settlement as a national value", though it is unclear whether this also alludes to settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Why was this law created? The question of Israel's status as a Jewish state is politically controversial and has long been debated. Before now, it has not been enshrined in law. Some Israeli Jewish politicians consider that the founding principles of Israel's creation, as a state for Jews in their ancient homeland, are under threat and could become less relevant, or obsolete, in the future. Fears over the high birth-rate of Israeli Arabs, as well as possible alternatives to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which could challenge Israel's Jewish majority, have spurred on calls to anchor the Jewishness of Israel in law. The bill has been under discussion since it was first introduced in 2011 and has undergone multiple amendments, with the final version watering down or dropping altogether sections regarded as discriminatory. Israel has no constitution but instead passed over time a series of Basic Laws which have constitutional status. The nation state law is the 14th such basic law. The issue of Israel as a Jewish state has become increasingly important in recent years and a key dispute between Israel and the Palestinians. Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted that the Palestinians must recognise Israel as a Jewish state in any final peace settlement. He argues that the Palestinians' refusal to do so is the biggest obstacle to peace, saying it demonstrates that the Palestinians do not genuinely recognise Israel's right to exist. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meanwhile has said he will never recognise Israel as a Jewish state, arguing that the Palestinians have long recognised the State of Israel and should not be expected to go further. Why does it matter? It is important because it is hugely symbolic, and according to Israel's Arab minority, evidence that Israel is downgrading their status. Israeli Arabs, many of whom identify as or with Palestinians, comprise about 20% of the country's nine million-strong population. They have equal rights under the law but have long complained of being treated as second-class citizens and say they face discrimination and worse provision than Israeli Jews when it comes to services such as education, health and housing. Civil rights groups have denounced the law and some critics, including one Arab MP described it as apartheid - the state-sanctioned racial discrimination of black people during white-minority rule in South Africa. Israel is often accused by its fiercest critics of practising a system akin to apartheid against Israeli Arabs and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Israel vehemently rejects the allegation as a smear tactic used by those who reject its very right to exist.
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ইসরায়েলকে 'প্রধানত: ইহুদি রাষ্ট্র' বলে চিত্রিত করে সেদেশের পার্লামেন্টে এক বিতর্কিত আইন পাসের পর সেখানকার আরব সংখ্যালঘুরা তীব্র সমালোচনা করেছেন। ওই আইনে হিব্রু ভাষাকেও ইসরায়েলের সরকারি ভাষা হিসেবে আরবীর ওপরে স্থান দেয়া হয়েছে।
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There was also a huge increase in the number of cases, with 14,840 people diagnosed with Covid-19. Hubei has started using a broader definition to diagnose people, which accounts for most of the rise in cases. China sacked two top officials in Hubei province hours after the new figures were revealed. Until Wednesday's increases, the number of people with the virus in Hubei, where the outbreak emerged, was stabilising. But the new cases and deaths in the province have pushed the national death toll above 1,350 with almost 60,000 infections in total. Meanwhile Japan has announced its first coronavirus death - a woman in her 80s who lived in Kanagawa, south-west of Tokyo. It is the third death outside mainland China, following one each in the Philippines and Hong Kong. The woman's diagnosis was confirmed after her death and she had no obvious link to China's Hubei province, Japanese media reported. The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is seeking "further clarity" from China about the changes to how cases of the virus are being confirmed. China has been accused of suppressing the full extent of the outbreak in the past, says the BBC's Nick Beake in Hong Kong. David Heymann, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "What has happened in China is that they have changed the definition of what the disease really is - now they are taking people who have lesser symptoms. "The deaths are quite worrisome, there is an increased number of deaths reported, but if you look overall at the total number of deaths and the total number of cases, the fatality ratio is about the same as it has been - but it is still high, as high as the death rate in influenza." Only Hubei province - which accounts for more than 80% of overall Chinese infections - is using the new definition to diagnose new cases. Can we trust the numbers? Just about everyone who's been following China's official coronavirus numbers has been able to see that they have been incomplete. Government officials know this too. There's no way they've accounted for everybody infected. How could they? But at least we had what appeared to be a trend. We could observe the pattern to try and estimate the trajectory of outbreak. Now that's gone too. You can understand why it has been decided that people who have virus symptoms, plus a CT scan showing chest infection, are now being counted in the "definitely infected" column. However, this has thrown the trend mapping into chaos. Over the past 24 hours in Hubei alone, nearly 15,000 people were moved into the infected column. This would have sent shockwaves around the world, but actually, if you consider Wednesday's cases by the old definition, the rate could well mean another day of decline: a completely different picture. So now, we're scratching our heads: do we start looking at the pattern all over again from Thursday onwards? This has also left many wondering what the real death rate must have been over recent weeks and the extent to which we should be treating the overall figures seriously anyway. Meanwhile, the Communist Party secretary in Hubei, Jiang Chaoliang, has been replaced by the Shanghai party chief, Ying Yong, according to state media. The party chief of the capital city, Wuhan, has also been relieved of his duties. It is the first major change of Hubei party officials since the outbreak began. Earlier this week, a number of health officials were "removed" from their jobs. What is the new diagnosis method? The province now includes "clinically diagnosed cases" in the number of confirmed cases. This means it includes those showing symptoms, and having a CT scan showing an infected lung, rather than relying only on the standard nucleic acid tests. Of the 242 new deaths in Wuhan, 135 are such "clinically diagnosed" cases. That means, even without the new definition, the number of deaths in Hubei on Wednesday was 107 - a new high for the province. The province's 14,840 new infections include 13,332 clinically diagnosed cases. Overall, the province now has 48,206 confirmed infections. What is the latest with the cruise ships? A cruise ship carrying more than 2,000 people has docked in Cambodia after it was turned away by five ports over fears that some passengers might be infected with the virus. The MS Westerdam arrived on Thursday morning after Japan, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines and Thailand had all refused to accept the ship despite having no sick patients on board. Meanwhile, another 44 cases have been confirmed on the Diamond Princess, which is in quarantine in Yokohama, Japan. The increase means 218 people of the 3,700 people on board the ship have caught the virus. Not everyone has been tested yet. People with the virus are taken to hospitals on land to be treated, while those on board are largely confined to their cabins. However on Thursday Japan said it would allow those aged 80 or over who have tested negative for the coronavirus to disembark. Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said they could be allowed off the ship as early as Friday but would have to stay in accommodation provided by the government, the Japan Times reported. In other developments: Read more about the coronavirus and its impact SHOULD WE WORRY? Our health correspondent explains YOUR QUESTIONS: Can you get it more than once? WHAT YOU CAN DO: Do masks really help? UNDERSTANDING THE SPREAD: A visual guide to the outbreak Are you in Hubei? Or do you have information to share? Get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:
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চীনের হুবেই প্রবেশে বুধবার ২৪২ জনের মৃত্যুর ঘটনা রেকর্ড করা হয়েছে। বলা হচ্ছে করোনাভাইরাস সংক্রমণ ছড়িয়ে পড়ার পর এটিই ভয়ালতম দিন।
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By Joe Tidy & Becky DaleBBC News As the founder of technology innovation hub IceAddis, his co-working space is usually abuzz with wide-eyed entrepreneurs fuelled on strong coffee and big dreams. But when the internet shuts down, everything is stopped in its tracks. Data shared with the BBC by digital rights group Access Now, shows that last year services were deliberately shut down more than 200 times in 33 separate countries. This includes, on one occasion, in the UK. In April 2019 the British Transport Police shut down the wi-fi on London's Tube network during a protest by climate change activists Extinction Rebellion. Also revealed in the report about shutdowns in 2019: In Addis Ababa, everything stops, says Markos Lemma. "No one comes in - or when they do they don't stay for long because without the internet, what are they going to do? "We had a software development contract that was cancelled because we couldn't deliver on time, because... there was internet disconnection. We've also [had] situations where international customers think our businesses are ignoring them, but there's nothing we can do. " Motorbike drivers wait around, rather than delivering food. Without an internet connection, people cannot order online or on apps, says Markos. "Internet shutdowns have a direct consequence on businesses and people here." Disconnecting the web It is not just Ethiopia, and the impact is not only economic. Access Now's research shows that blackouts are affecting tens of millions of people all over the world in various ways. Government officials are able to "switch off" the internet by ordering service providers to block certain areas from receiving signals - or sometimes, by blocking access to specific web services. Human rights groups are concerned that the measure is becoming a defining tool of government repression around the world. This new data analysed by the BBC suggests that disruption is increasingly linked to times of protest. Governments often say a shutdown is to help ensure public safety and to stop the spread of fake news. But critics say they stifle the flow of information online – and crack down on any potential dissent offline. The UN declared internet access to be a human right in 2016, and achieving universal access is one target of its Sustainable Development Goals. However, not all leaders subscribe to that idea. In August 2019, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared that the internet is "not water or air" and that shutdowns would remain an important tool for national stability. Markos Lemma is angry about that. "The government doesn't see the internet as important. I think they really think the internet is just about social media, so they don't really see the economic value of the internet and how that impacts the economy." India tops the blackout list The new data for 2019 shows that India had by far the highest number of shutdowns of any country last year. Mobile data or broadband services were switched off for residents in various parts of the country 121 times, with the majority (67%) occurring in disputed India-administered Kashmir. And protesters in Sudan and Iraq found themselves forced to resort to organising everything offline when their internet was turned off. The impact of each incident varies greatly depending on the scale of the outage: from localised blocking of social media platforms to countrywide outages of all internet traffic. "Throttling" is a form of blackout that is harder to monitor, and happens when a government slows down data services. They might bump modern, fast 4G, mobile internet down to 1990s-era 2G, making it impossible to share videos or livestream. This happened in May 2019, when the President of Tajikistan admitted to throttling most social networks. including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, saying they were "vulnerable to terrorist activity". Some countries, like Russia and Iran, are currently building and testing their own versions of a locked-off nationwide internet, thought to be a sign of increased control on the web. Digital rights group Access Now says: "It seems more and more countries are learning from one another and implementing the nuclear option of internet shutdowns to silence critics, or perpetrate other human rights violations with no oversight."
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আদ্দিস আবাবার উঁচু অফিস ভবনে যে ডেস্কে বসে মারকোস লেমা কাজ করেন, সেখান থেকে পুরো নগরীর একটা চমৎকার দৃশ্য দেখা যায়।
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The State Department regulations say people will have to submit social media names and five years' worth of email addresses and phone numbers. When proposed last year, authorities estimated the proposal would affect 14.7 million people annually. Certain diplomatic and official visa applicants will be exempt from the stringent new measures. However, people travelling to the US to work or to study will have to hand over their information. "We are constantly working to find mechanisms to improve our screening processes to protect US citizens, while supporting legitimate travel to the United States," the department reportedly said. Previously, only applicants who needed additional vetting - such as people who had been to parts of the world controlled by terrorist groups - would need to hand over this data. But now applicants will have to give up their account names on a list of social media platforms, and also volunteer the details of their accounts on any sites not listed. Anyone who lies about their social media use could face "serious immigration consequences", according to an official who spoke to The Hill. The Trump administration first proposed the rules in March 2018. At the time, the American Civil Liberties Union - a civil rights group - said there is "no evidence that such social media monitoring is effective or fair", and said it would cause people to self-censor themselves online. US President Donald Trump made cracking down on immigration a key plank of his election campaign in 2016. He called for "extreme vetting" of immigrants before and during his time in office. On Friday Mr Trump vowed to impose gradually rising tariffs on Mexico unless the country curbed illegal immigration at the US southern border.
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যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের নতুন আইন অনুযায়ী এখন থেকে দেশের ভিসার জন্য প্রায় সব আবেদনকারীদের ইন্টারনেট-ভিত্তিক সামাজিক যোগাযোগ মাধ্যমের বিস্তারিত তথ্য জমা দিতে হবে।
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By Guillermo D OlmoBBC News Mundo, Caracas Mejicano says that he launched the campaign to alert people to the fact that in Venezuela "something is becoming common which should never be considered normal". The country's economy is in freefall and one in three Venezuelans is struggling to put enough food on the table to meet minimum nutrition requirements, according to a study by the UN World Food Programme. With contraceptives hard to come by and beyond the financial means of many, unwanted pregnancies are common. Strict abortion laws which only allow for terminations in cases when the mother's life is in danger further limit women's choices. Amid the economic crisis, one charity said in 2018 that it had seen the number of babies abandoned in the streets or left at the entrances of public buildings increase by 70%. The Venezuelan government has not released any official figures in recent years and neither the communications ministry nor the government body dealing with the rights of children answered requests for comment. But social services and health workers consulted by the BBC confirmed there had been an increase in the number of abandoned babies as well as a spike in those handed over for informal adoption. 'Shortcuts' Nelson Villasmill is a member of a child protection council in one of Caracas' poorest areas. He explains that, faced with a poorly funded adoption system that is in total disarray, desperate parents sometimes resort to shortcuts. The story of Baby Tomás (not his real name) is one such case. He was born to a mother living in poverty in Caracas who felt she was in no position to raise him. The gynaecologist who was present at Tomás' birth agreed to help. He says it was not the first time he came across a mother who felt she could not bring up her baby. "They almost always change their minds the first time they breastfeed the baby," he explains. "But sometimes that is not the case, and then you have to find a solution." He contacted one of his patients. In her forties and dreaming of having a baby, Tania (not her real name) had not been able to get pregnant. She wanted to help Tomás and his mother, but after some thought decided against taking him in. Instead, she contacted a couple with whom she is friends who agreed to raise Tomás as their own child in their home in rural Venezuela. They had to get the baby registered quickly in order not to arouse suspicion, so Tania paid a $250 (£195) bribe for an official to turn a blind eye and put down her friend's name as Tomás' birth mother. Tomás is now being raised by her friends in the countryside and his new family has just celebrated Tomás taking his first steps. Tania says she does not regret what she did and insists that she bypassed the official adoption channels for Tomás' benefit. "I never thought of doing anything like this but legal adoption doesn't work in Venezuela and that baby would have suffered a lot of hardships in a public orphanage," she explains. Trapped Tomás was given away with his mother's consent but there is no shortage of people exploiting the desperation of Venezuelan women. While she was pregnant with her second child, Isabel's husband died, making Isabel (not her real name) consider giving up the child she was expecting. "I was alone and feared that I wouldn't be able to feed my baby," she says. Following the advice of an acquaintance, she flew to the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean to meet a couple she was told were interested in adopting her baby. She was told she would have the final say in any decision but soon came under pressure from the Colombian woman making the arrangements. "I was told it was going to be all legal and never committed to give my baby away," she recalls. But once in Trinidad, "I realised I had been trapped in a net of human traffickers". "I was always being watched," she recalls. Isabel says that she was not allowed to leave the house where she was staying and that the return ticket for the flight she had been promised would take her back to Venezuela never materialised. Separated Weeks later she gave birth prematurely in a Trinidadian hospital. She decided to keep the baby but immediately was pressured by the Colombian woman and a man who claimed to be a lawyer. "They told me that the new parents were waiting in the parking lot and that I had to sign some documents in English that I didn't understand and to hand over my baby." Isabel refused at first but over the following weeks, her captors increased the pressure, taking away her food, medicine and nappies. "In the end, I had to hand over my son to save his life and for me to return to Venezuela to get help," she says crying. With the help of a non-governmental organisation, Isabel has now set off on a legal battle to recover her son who is under the guardianship of the authorities in Trinidad. At present, she is only allowed to see him once a week. She says she will not give up until she is reunited with him.
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''শিশুদের পরিত্যাগ করা নিষিদ্ধ'', ভেনেজুয়েলার সড়কের পাশের দেয়াল জুড়ে এই বার্তা লিখে রেখেছেন শিল্পী এরিক মেহিকানো। রাজধানী কারাকাসে তার অ্যাপার্টমেন্ট ভবনের কাছাকাছি একটি ময়লার স্তূপে সদ্যজাত একটি শিশু পাওয়ার পর তিনি এই উদ্যোগ নেন।
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By Jonathan AmosBBC Science Correspondent Scientists have established that the whole structure on the Italian island of Sicily is edging in the direction of the Mediterranean at a rate of 14mm per year. The UK-led team says the situation will need careful monitoring because it may lead to increased hazards at Etna in the future. The group has published its findings in the Bulletin of Volcanology. "I would say there is currently no cause for alarm, but it is something we need to keep an eye on, especially to see if there is an acceleration in this motion," lead author Dr John Murray told BBC News. The Open University geologist has spent almost half a century studying Europe's premier volcano. In that time, he has placed a network of high-precision GPS stations around the mountain to monitor its behaviour. This instrumentation is sensitive to millimetric changes in the shape of the volcanic cone; and with 11 years of data it is now obvious, he says, that the mountain is moving in an east-south-east direction, on a general track towards the coastal town of Giarre, which is about 15km away. Essentially, Etna is sliding down a very gentle slope of 1-3 degrees. This is possible because it is sitting on an underlying platform of weak, pliable sediments. Dr Murray's team has conducted lab experiments to illustrate how this works. The group believes it is the first time that basement sliding of an entire active volcano has been directly observed. On the human scale, a movement of 14mm/yr - that is 1.4m over a hundred years - will seem very small, and it is. But geological investigations elsewhere in the world have shown that extinct volcanoes that display this kind of trend can suffer catastrophic failures on their leading flank as they drift downslope. Stresses can build up that lead eventually to devastating landslides. Dr Murray and colleagues stress such behaviour is very rare and can take many centuries, even thousands of years, to develop to a critical stage. Certainly, there is absolutely no evidence that this is about to happen at Etna. Local residents should not be alarmed, the Open University scientist said. "The 14mm/yr is an average; it varies from year to year," he explained. "The thing to watch I guess is if in 10 years' time the rate of movement has doubled - that would be a warning. If it's halved, I'd say there really is nothing to worry about." Of more immediate concern is the confounding effect this sliding could have for the day-to-day assessment of the volcano. Scientists get hints that eruptive activity is about to occur when magma bulges upwards and deforms the shape of the mountain. To gain an unambiguous view of this inflation, researchers will need to subtract the general E-S-E motion. Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
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ইউরোপের সবচেয়ে বিপজ্জনক আগ্নেয়গিরি মাউন্ট এট্না ধীরে ধীরে সমুদ্রের দিকে এগিয়ে যাচ্ছে বলে বিজ্ঞানীরা বলছেন।
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People have expressed anger and disbelief that such a large quantity of potentially explosive material was kept inside a warehouse without any safety measures for more than six years, so close to the centre of the city. The government has not named the source of the ammonium nitrate, but the same amount of the chemical arrived in Beirut in November 2013 on a Moldovan-flagged cargo ship, the MV Rhosus. The Russian-owned vessel set sail that September from Batumi, Georgia, heading to Beira, Mozambique. It was carrying 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, which typically comes in the form of small pellets that are widely used as agricultural fertiliser but can also be mixed with fuel oil to make explosives for the mining and construction industries. While sailing through the eastern Mediterranean the Rhosus suffered "technical problems" and was forced to dock at Beirut's port, according to a 2015 report for industry newsletter Shippingarrested.com that was written by Lebanese lawyers who represented the crew. The Rhosus was inspected by port officials and "forbidden from sailing", the lawyers said. Most of the crew were repatriated, except for the Russian captain, Boris Prokoshev, and three others, who were reportedly Ukrainians. Mr Prokoshev told the BBC on Friday that the Rhosus only stopped off in Beirut because its owner had money trouble. The captain said he was told the ship needed to collect an additional cargo of heavy machinery, to fund passage through the Suez Canal. However, the machinery proved too heavy to load, and when the ship's owner did not pay the port fees and fine, the Lebanese authorities impounded it, along with the ammonium nitrate, he added. More on the explosion in Beirut Shortly afterwards, the Rhosus was "abandoned by her owners after charterers and cargo concern lost interest in the cargo", according to the lawyers. It was also subject to legal claims from creditors. Meanwhile, the crew still confined to the vessel were running out of food and supplies. The lawyers said they applied to the Judge of Urgent Matters in Beirut for an order authorising them to return home, emphasising "the danger the crew was facing given the 'dangerous' nature of the cargo" in the ship's holds. The judge eventually agreed to allow the crew to disembark and in 2014 the port authorities transferred the ammonium nitrate into "Warehouse 12", next to the grain silos. The lawyers said the cargo was "awaiting auctioning and/or proper disposal". Mr Prokoshev said authorities in Beirut knew how dangerous the vessel's cargo was and should not have stored it at the port. "They should have paid the ship owner to take the ship away. A couple of hundred thousand dollars just to remove it and not have that headache there, in the port. But they wouldn't release it. Is that sensible?" "I understand - they wanted the money. But if they'd have known there would be an explosion like that, they wouldn't have done it." The port's general manager, Hassan Koraytem, and the director general of Lebanese Customs, Badri Daher, both said on Wednesday that they and other officials repeatedly warned the judiciary about the danger posed by the stored ammonium nitrate and the need to remove it. Documents circulated online appeared to show that customs officials sent letters to a Judge of Urgent Matters in Beirut seeking guidance on how to sell or dispose of it at least six times from 2014 to 2017. Mr Koraytem told local channel OTV that State Security also sent warning letters. Public Works Minister Michel Najjar, who took office at the start of this year, told Al Jazeera that he only learned about the presence of the ammonium nitrate in late July and that he spoke to Mr Koraytem about the matter on Monday. A fire appears to have triggered the detonation of the ammonium nitrate the next day. The blast killed at least 137 people and injured about 5,000 others, while dozens are still missing. President Michel Aoun said the failure to deal with the Rhosus' cargo was "unacceptable" and promised to "hold those responsible and those who were negligent accountable, and serve them the most severe punishment". The government has ordered officials involved in storing or guarding the ammonium nitrate to be put under house arrest pending an investigation.
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লেবানন সরকার বৈরুত বন্দরে ভয়াবহ বিস্ফোরণের জন্য বন্দরের গুদামঘরে ২,৭৫০ টন অ্যামোয়িাম নাইট্রেটের মজুতে আগুন ধরে যাওয়াকে দোষারোপ করেছে।
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By Michelle RobertsHealth editor, BBC News online The once-daily pill contains hormones designed to stop sperm production. It would be a welcome addition to condoms or vasectomy - the only options currently available to men. But doctors at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting were told it could still take a decade to bring it to market. Sex drive The female pill was launched in the UK more than 50 years ago. So why is a male pill proving so difficult? Some say there has been less societal and commercial will to get a male pill off the ground - but opinion polls suggest many men would consider taking it if a pill did become available. Whether women would trust men to reliably take it is another issue. A UK survey by Anglia Ruskin University, in 2011, found 70 out of 134 women would worry that their male partner would forget to take a pill. Biologically, the challenge of creating a hormone-based pill for men is making sure that it doesn't blunt sex drive or reduce erections. Sperm production In fertile men, new sperm cells are constantly made in the testicles, triggered by hormones. Temporarily blocking this effect without lowering hormone levels to such an extent that it creates side-effects is the issue. But this latest male pill, being tested by researchers from LA BioMed and the University of Washington, should hopefully achieve this goal, researchers say. Initial "phase one" safety tests with 40 men looked promising, they told the Endocrine 2019 meeting in New Orleans. For the 28 days of the study: And among those taking the androgen-based drug, levels of hormones required for sperm production dropped greatly compared with placebo, returning to normal after the trial. Erectile dysfunction Side-effects, meanwhile, were few and mild. Five men on the pill reported mildly decreased sex drive - and two described mild erectile dysfunction - but sexual activity was not decreased, no participant stopped taking it because of side-effects and all passed safety tests. The researchers behind the work, Prof Christina Wang and colleagues, are excited but cautious about the findings. "Our results suggest that this pill, which combines two hormonal activities in one, will decrease sperm production while preserving libido," she said. But bigger, longer trials were needed to check it would work well enough as a birth control. Body gel And this is not the only prototype hormone-based male contraceptive Prof Wang has been testing. She and colleagues have come up with a body gel men in the UK will be trying as part of an international trial. Users apply it daily to their back and shoulders, where it can be absorbed through the skin. Progestin hormone in the gel blocks natural testosterone production in the testicles, reducing sperm production to low or nonexistent levels, while replacement testosterone in the gel maintains sex drive and other functions that rely on the hormone. Meanwhile, Prof Wang, Dr Stephanie Page, and colleagues at the University of Washington School of Medicine, have been testing another compound - DMAU - that they believe men could take as an oral daily contraceptive pill. And trials in 100 men have suggested this is safe enough to move into the next phase of testing. Mood disorders Other scientists have been trying delivering longer-acting birth control hormones in a jab given every other month. But they stopped enrolling men to their phase-two study, looking at the safety and effectiveness of the injection, after some of the volunteers reported side-effects, including mood disorders or depression. For men who don't fancy taking hormones, researchers have been looking at ways to block sperm flow, stopping it from ever leaving the penis - effectively, a non-surgical vasectomy. Vasalgel - a polymer material that is injected into the two ducts that transports sperm from the left and right testicles to the penis - is being developed as a non-hormonal, reversible, long-acting male contraceptive. So far, it has been tested in animals only - but the researchers behind it have recently received funding to look to begin human trials. Potential market Prof Richard Anderson, of the University of Edinburgh, is leading one of the UK trials that will test a contraceptive body gel on men. He said the pharmaceutical industry had been slow to get behind the idea of a new male contraceptive despite good evidence that both men and their female partners would welcome the additional choice. "I think that industry has not been convinced about the potential market," he said. "It's certainly been a long story - part of it is lack of investment." Chequered history With little industry involvement, he said, researchers had had to rely on charitable and academic funding, which took time. Allan Pacey, professor of andrology, at the University of Sheffield, said: "The development of a male birth control pill, or injection, has had a chequered history without much success so far and so it is good to see that new preparations are being tested. "The key will be if there is enough pharmaceutical company interest to bring this product to market if their trials are successful. "Unfortunately, so far, there has been very little pharmaceutical company interest in bringing a male contraceptive pill to the market, for reasons that I don't fully understand but I suspect are more down to business than science."
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পুরুষের জন্য এক ধরণের জন্মনিয়ন্ত্রণ বড়ি প্রাথমিকভাবে মানবদেহের জন্য নিরাপদ কিনা - তার পরীক্ষায় উত্তীর্ণ হয়েছে। আমেরিকার নিউ অর্লিনসে একটি নেতৃস্থানীয় মেডিক্যাল সম্মেলনে এ কথা ঘোষণা করা হয়েছে।
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Billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, two members of his staff, the pilot and a passenger were killed when the aircraft spiralled out of control and crashed in a fireball on Saturday. It had just cleared the King Power Stadium when it came down at 20:30 BST. The Duke of Cambridge said he was lucky to have known Mr Vichai, describing him as a dedicated family man. Leicestershire Police said it believed the other people killed in the crash to be two members of Mr Vichai's staff - Nusara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare - and pilots and partners Eric Swaffer and Izabela Roza Lechowicz. Police have said Ms Lechowicz was a passenger at the time of the crash. Mr Swaffer had over 20 years' flying experience as a private jet and helicopter pilot. His career included flying helicopters for live media broadcasting including Channel 4's The Big Breakfast and the Virgin Radio traffic helicopter. Mr Swaffer's friend Lucie Morris-Marr said he was a "veteran in the field" and would have done all he could to prevent lives being lost in the crash. She described him as a "funny and vivacious" man who was in an "aviation love story" with Ms Lechowicz. "Not many people get to work and travel with their soulmate, travelling the world going to glamorous places," she said. The couple were professional pilots who lived together in Camberley, Surrey. Ms Lechowicz moved to the UK from Poland in 1997. In a statement, the Polish embassy said: "With great sadness, we received the news about the death of Izabela Lechowicz in the Leicester catastrophe. "She was a great pilot, winner of the #Polka100 contest. It contributed to the creation of a positive image of Poland in the UK." Mr Vichai, 60, who was married and had four children, bought Leicester City for £39m in 2010. Under his ownership the Foxes won the Premier League in 2016, having started the season as 5,000/1 outsiders. In a statement, Leicester City said the club's thoughts were with "the Srivaddhanaprabha family and the families of all those on-board at this time of unspeakable loss". Prince William, who is president of the FA, said Mr Vichai made a big contribution to football, adding that Leicester City's Premier League title-winning season "captured the imagination of the world". "He will be missed by all fans of the sport and everyone lucky enough to have known him," he said. Former England and Leicester striker Gary Lineker tweeted to say he was "deeply saddened" to hear of Mr Vichai's death. Speaking outside the stadium, club ambassador Alan Birchenall said Leicester City owed "everything" to Mr Vichai. "We wouldn't have won it [the Premier League] without him," he said. "We wouldn't have got near it without him. "There won't be a dry eye among any of the staff today." Thousands of supporters have shared an amended image of the club's emblem with a crying fox on it on social media as a mark of respect. Prime Minister Theresa May said: "The outpouring of grief is a testament to how many people's lives were touched by those on board." The club described Mr Vichai as "a man of kindness, of generosity and a man whose life was defined by the love he devoted to his family and those he so successfully led". "Leicester City was a family under his leadership. It is as a family that we will grieve his passing and maintain the pursuit of a vision for the club that is now his legacy," it added. A book of condolence will open at the King Power Stadium at 08:00 GMT on Tuesday, with an online version on its website for those unable to visit in person. The team's next fixture against Southampton in the EFL Cup, scheduled for Tuesday evening, has been postponed. The players will also wear black armbands this week against Cardiff in the Premier League. Mr Vichai's two horses, due to run at Leicester Racecourse on Monday, have been withdrawn. Jockeys there will wear black armbands at the meeting as a mark of respect. Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who witnesses said ran out of the stadium towards the crash scene, said Mr Vichai had "changed football forever". "I cannot believe this is happening. I am so totally devastated and heartbroken," he added. Club captain Wes Morgan tweeted: "Absolutely heartbroken and devastated regarding the news of our chairman. A man that was loved and adored by everyone here at lcfc." Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: "Vichai was a gentleman who graced the game with his civility and charm and we will miss him enormously. "His impact on Leicester - the football club and the city - will be remembered forever." Kasabian band member and Foxes fan Serge Pizzorno called Mr Vichai "an unbelievable human being". "It never felt like he acquired this club to then sell on after a few years," he said. "He bought into everything, bought into the city, supported everything around it. "He made all our dreams come true." Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Nottingham Forest and Swansea City were among the football clubs that passed on condolences to Leicester. The helicopter came down in a car park near the stadium just over an hour after Leicester had drawn 1-1 against West Ham United in the Premier League. Leicestershire Police confirmed no-one else had been injured and said the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is leading the investigation. Supt Steve Potter said: "Emergency services were immediately on scene when the crash happened, working to put out the fire and gain access to the helicopter in attempts to reach those inside. "Despite those efforts, there were no survivors." Supt Potter said it was likely to take several days to complete the investigation at the crash site. Freelance photographer Ryan Brown, who was covering the game, saw the helicopter clear the King Power Stadium before it crashed. He told BBC Radio Leicester: "The engine stopped and I turned round and it made a bit of a whirring noise, like a grinding noise. "The helicopter just went silent, I turned round and it was just spinning, out of control. And then there was a big bang and then [a] big fireball."
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ইংলিশ ফুটবল ক্লাব লেস্টার সিটির মালিক খেলা দেখে যখন হেলিকপ্টারে করে ফিরে যাচ্ছিলেন তখনই সেটি বিধ্বস্ত হয়েছে।
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A customer service employee deactivated the @realdonaldtrump account, it said, clarifying that it had been their last day in the job. The account was down for 11 minutes and Twitter is now investigating. The president brushed off the outage in a new tweet on Friday, suggesting it showed the impact he was having. Tweets from Mr Trump, who has 41.7 million followers, have frequently caused controversy. The latest incident has sparked debate about the security of the president's account, given the potential consequences of posts falsely attributed to Mr Trump being published. However, @POTUS, the official account of the US president, was unaffected. 'Last day' On Thursday evening, visitors to Mr Trump's page for a short time could only see a message that read "Sorry, that page doesn't exist!" After the account was restored, Mr Trump's first tweet was about the Republican Party's tax cuts plan. Twitter said it was investigating the problem and taking steps to avoid it happening again. On Thursday evening, the @TwitterGov account wrote: "Through our investigation we have learned that this was done by a Twitter customer support employee who did this on the employee's last day. We are conducting a full internal review." Then on Friday, the San Francisco-based company posted: "We have implemented safeguards to prevent this from happening again. "We won't be able to share all details about our internal investigation or updates to our security measures, but we take this seriously and our teams are on it." 'Bing, bing, bing' Mr Trump joined Twitter in March 2009 and he has tweeted more than 36,000 times. He has been actively using the social media platform to promote his policies and also attack his political opponents both during the presidential campaign in 2016 and since taking office in January. In one interview he said that when someone said something about him, he was able to go "bing, bing, bing on Twitter" - and take care of it. After he appeared to directly threaten North Korea with destruction in a tweet in September, Twitter was forced to justify allowing the post to stand. It said that Mr Trump's tweet was "newsworthy". In one of his other most controversial tweets, he taunted FBI chief James Comey days before sacking him in May. Tweeting the following month, he admitted he had no such tapes of Mr Comey. Mr Trump's allies have also got into hot water over their use of Twitter. Roger Stone, who advised him during his election campaign, was suspended from the network after he used abusive and homophobic language to target journalists, including a gay CNN presenter, Don Lemon. He said he had been told by Twitter that he had violated its rules. Mr Stone said he would sue Twitter for blocking his account.
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তার টুইটার অ্যাকাউন্টের সাময়িক নিষেধাজ্ঞা উঠে যাওয়ার পরপরই গতকাল (বৃহস্পতিবার) যে ভিডিও বার্তা ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প পোস্ট করেছেন, তার কাটা-ছেঁড়া শুরু হয়েছে।
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The plan appears to be in its early stages, with all districts in Wuhan told to submit details as to how testing could be done within 10 days. It comes after Wuhan, where the virus first emerged, recorded six new cases over the weekend. Prior to this, it had seen no new cases at all since 3 April. Wuhan, which was in strict lockdown for 11 weeks, began re-opening on 8 April. For a while it seemed like life was getting back to normal as schools re-opened, businesses slowly emerged and public transport resumed operations. But the emergence of a cluster of cases - all from the same residential compound - has now threatened the move back to normalcy. 'The ten-day-battle' According to report by The Paper, quoting a widely circulated internal document, every district in the city has been told to draw up a 10-day testing plan by noon on Tuesday. Each district is responsible for coming up with its own plan based on the size of their population and whether or not there is currently an active outbreak in the district. The document, which refers to the test plan as the "10-day battle", also says that older people and densely populated communities should be prioritised when it comes to testing. However several senior health officials quoted by the Global Times newspaper indicated that testing the entire city would be unfeasible and costly. Peng Zhiyong, director of the intensive care unit of the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, instead that testing was instead likely to be targeted at medical workers, vulnerable people and those who'd had close contacts with a case. Another Wuhan University director suggested that a large percentage of Wuhan's population - around 3-5 million - had already been tested, and Wuhan was "capable" of testing the remaining 6-8 million in a 10-days period. To put the goal into context, the US now conducts around 300,000 tests each day, according to the White House. So far, it's tested almost 9 million people in total. On Chinese social media site Weibo, people have been raising questions about whether such a large number of tests can be carried out in just a matter of days. "It is impossible to test so many people," said one commenter, who also questioned how much it would cost. Another said that such tests should have been carried out before Wuhan re-opened its doors to the rest of China. Taking no chances Stephen McDonnell, BBC News, Beijing Wuhan was where this global emergency started and there was relief when the first cluster site seemed to come out the other side. There would also be despair if the first lockdown city was to be engulfed again by the coronavirus. Not letting this happen has become a priority for the Chinese government. When a new domestic infection appeared in the city three days ago you could feel the concern over 1,000km away in Beijing. Then five others were infected by the 89-year old man previously declared "asymptomatic", and the manager of their housing complex was removed. However, sacking local officials in this way might also encourage a tendency to hide future cases. China's most powerful seven people, in the Politburo Standing Committee, met last week to discuss improving the country's early warning system for outbreaks like this. They could start by easing the "no mistakes at all costs" approach to governing, in which those who reveal the bad news can end up being punished. China reported just one new cases on Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 82,919, with the death toll at 4,633. Hundreds of asymptomatic cases are being monitored by Wuhan health authorities
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চীনে উহান শহরের কর্তৃপক্ষ শহরের সমস্ত বাসিন্দা অর্থাৎ এক কোটি দশ লক্ষ মানুষের করোনাভাইরাস পরীক্ষার পরিকল্পনা নিচ্ছে।
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According to the People's Daily state newspaper, officials at a private aerospace institute in Chengdu want to launch this "illumination satellite" in orbit by 2020, and say it will be bright enough to replace street lights. The straight-out-of-sci-fi news has sparked fascination, scepticism from scientists, lots of questions and outright mockery. What do we know about this project? Not much - and the little information that is available is somewhat contradictory. People's Daily first reported it last week, quoting comments made at an innovation conference by Wu Chunfeng, chairman of the neatly named Chengdu Aerospace Science Institute Microelectronics System Research Institute Co, Ltd. Mr Wu said the idea had been in testing for a few years and the technology was now in place to make it happen, with a launch scheduled for 2020. The China Daily newspaper quoted Mr Wu as saying that three "huge mirrors" could be launched by 2022. It's not clear from any of the reports whether this project has any official backing. How might a 'fake moon' work? The artificial moon would work as a mirror, reflecting sunlight back to Earth, according to China Daily. It would orbit 500km about Earth - roughly the same height as the International Space Station. The Moon orbits, on average, about 380,000km above Earth. The reports gave no details about what the fake moon would look like, but Mr Wu said it would reflect sunlight across an area of between 10km and 80km with brightness "eight times" that of the real Moon. According to Mr Wu, both the accuracy and intensity of the light would be controllable. But... why? To save money. It might sound ridiculous but the Chengdu aerospace officials say putting a fake moon in space could actually end up being cheaper than paying for street lights. China Daily quoted Mr Wu as saying illuminating an area of 50sq km could save up to 1.2bn yuan ($173m; £132m) a year in electricity charges. It could also "illuminate blackout areas" after, say, a natural disaster like an earthquake. "Think of this as sort of an investment," Dr Matteo Ceriotti, a lecturer in Space Systems Engineering at the University of Glasgow, told the BBC. "Electricity at night is very expensive so if you could say, have free illumination for up to 15 years, it might work out better economically in the long term." OK but is it possible? Scientifically, it's viable, says Dr Ceriotti. But to serve its purpose, the fake moon would have to be permanently in orbit over Chengdu - a relatively tiny area when you look at the Earth from space. That would mean it would need to be in geostationary orbit, which is about 37,000km from the Earth. "The only problem is at that distance you'd need the satellite pointing direction to be extremely accurate," said Dr Ceriotti. "If you want to light up an area with an error of say 10km, even if you miss by one 100th of a degree you'll have the light pointing at another place." And to have any impact from that distance, the mirror would have to be truly colossal. What impact would this have on the environment? Kang Weimin, director at the Harbin Institute of Technology, told the People's Daily that the light of the satellite would be similar to a "dusk-like glow" and "should not affect animals' routines". But social media users in China have concerns. Some said it will surely confuse nocturnal animals, while others say that many cities in China already suffer from light pollution. "The moon would significantly increase the night-time brightness of an already light-polluted city, creating problems for Chengdu's residents who are unable to screen out the unwanted light," John Barentine, director of Public Policy at the International Dark Sky Association, told news outlet Forbes. Dr Ceriotti told the BBC that if the light is too strong "it will disrupt the night cycle of nature and this could possibly affect animals". "But conversely if the light is so faint then the question is, what is the point of it?" Is this a first? No, a space mirror to create daylight at night has actually been tried before. In 1993, Russian scientists released a 20m-wide reflector from a supply ship heading to the Mir Space Station, which was orbiting at between 200km and 420km. Znamya 2 briefly beamed a spot of light about 5km in diameter to Earth. The light marched across Europe at 8km/hr, before the satellite burned up on re-entry. Attempts to build a bigger model of Znamya failed in the late 1990s, leading the BBC's science editor at the time to say there was "not the slightest chance that the Earth will be girdled with space mirrors in the foreseeable future".
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চীনের একটি কোম্পানি রাতের আকাশের উজ্জ্বলতা বাড়াতে মহাকাশে একটি ফেইক মুন বা নকল চাঁদ বসানোর কথা ঘোষণা করেছে।
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Theo Van Eijck's little house in Somerset is a treasure trove of curiosities. Toy witches swing on tiny broomsticks from the ceiling of his sitting room, a family of ceramic cats peers down inquiringly from the higher shelves and a couple of skulls sit grinning on the sideboard. But the most fascinating items of all are spread out on Van Eijck's coffee table - Dutch newspaper clippings from 1964, with show-stopping headlines reporting the antics of a young sailor who stole a Grumman Tracker propeller plane from his military base in Malta and flew it to Benghazi, Libya. "It's me!" laughs Van Eijck, now white-haired and aged 76. "That's me right there in the photo and I was just 21!" His wife hands me a mug of coffee and shakes her head in mock despair as he translates the stories for me. "Arrogant little man!" she jokes, wagging her finger at him. "Good job I didn't know you back then." Back then Theo Van Eijck was just a young man who dreamt of flying. In fact, he'd had fantasies about flying since he was seven years old. He wasn't, he admits, the greatest student in the world and feared he would never make the grades needed to join the Air Force as a pilot. But then he heard about a scheme in the Dutch Navy whereby a young man could enter the service as a trainee electrician, and if he did well could apply internally for the Navy's pilot training course. Aged just 19 and full of optimism, Van Eijck didn't hesitate. He signed up immediately for eight years. He picks up a black-and-white photograph of himself in the cockpit of a small plane from the coffee table and hands it to me. From under a heavy dark helmet, I see a boyish face grinning in utter delight, impatient to stop posing and eager to take off. "Oh, it started well," he agrees, when I remark upon how elated he looks in the old print. "I got selected for the pilot scheme and I loved it." But in early 1964, with around 40 hours' flying time stamped proudly into his log book, the exhilarated young Van Eijck went to a party at his barracks in Holland and got rather drunk. His commanding officer was at the party and also rather the worse for wear. He suggested to Van Eijck that they should talk frankly about the quality of the pilot training scheme (which was conducted jointly by the Belgian Air force and the Dutch Navy) and he invited Van Eijck to be honest. It was, he assured him, an off-the-record discussion. And so, perhaps naively, 21-year-old Van Eijck spoke openly. He needed to be trained on a proper plane he insisted, a Grumman Tracker submarine destroyer that would be deployed on naval aircraft carriers, not the twin-engine training planes the Belgians were using to teach them. The planes they were being taught on were (Theo grins self-consciously as he remembers the words he used) "quite frankly, crap". Find out more Up to that point, Van Eijck had maintained a perfect flying record but the very next day after the party he had his report card marked with an orange warning sign, which meant he was at imminent risk of being failed. Furious at the injustice, he wrote something cocky about the slowness of the training programme on the classroom blackboard, while waiting for the instructor to arrive. That move saw him jailed at his barracks for a weekend, but seeing a skirting board was loose he managed to use it to slide back the bolt across his cell door, and escaped. When his absence was discovered, he was immediately kicked out of the pilot's scheme. Van Eijck was encouraged to appeal against the decision by superiors who admired his gumption. But the officers inadvertently gave him the wrong forms to fill in. When he finally got a response, three months later, he was told he had not followed correct procedure and it was now too late to take further action. He was no longer to train as a pilot and must serve out his remaining six years in the Navy as an electrician. "I come from a big family," says Van Eijck who is number nine in a line of 12 brothers and sisters. "And in the family we knew that right was right and wrong was wrong. And this was wrong. It just wasn't fair." Depressed and despondent, with his dreams of flying now shattered, Van Eijck pleaded to be discharged from the Navy, but his request was repeatedly refused. So he started plotting to find a way to extract himself from the force once and for all. "I told absolutely no-one," he smiles coyly. "If I had told someone it would not have worked." Just like Sgt Paul Meyer, Theo van Eijck decided his ticket to freedom was to steal a plane. He found a handbook for a Grumman Tracker plane and hid it in his locker. While his friends went out drinking or headed to bed, Van Eijck secretly studied. He befriended the qualified pilots and chatted to them about instrument flying, about engine start-ups, about take-offs. "Little did they know why I was interested!" he sniggers. "But from Holland the route was difficult - I didn't want to end up in East Germany with all that political trouble. And then one day they asked for volunteers to go on a two-month exercise in Malta with the British Navy. And I thought, from Malta I could fly anywhere!" In Malta, Van Eijck hung around the aerodrome chatting to the aviation mechanics, watching them work. In the early mornings and evenings, he continued to study his now well-thumbed Tracker handbook. On the last weekend before he was due to fly home, he politely attended the farewell party on the base but while his fellow servicemen succumbed to the temptations of the freely flowing liquor, the young Van Eijck was careful to stay completely sober. "And that's where my story matches Sgt Paul Meyer's," he says. "Because the next morning, I got up early and I borrowed a bike and biked to the runway. Sgt Meyer told the guard his name was Capt Epstein. I told the one guard on duty I was called Jansen - which is like Smith in Dutch - so he had no idea who I was and he helped me open the doors of the hangar!" Van Eijck had planned his theft meticulously, he says, even locking up the guard's pistol and bike and removing the microphones from the telephone in his office, to ensure that if he was rumbled too soon, the guard would struggle to get back-up. Van Eijck's blue eyes twinkle as he remembers the thrill of that morning. "So I started the engine, switched the radio on and the control tower started asking who I was, what I was doing. I didn't answer. I taxied and then…" He rubs his hands together theatrically and shows me his open palms like a magician delighting in performing an elaborate disappearing trick. "And then…. I was gone." And so was the Dutch Navy's Grumman Tracker submarine destroyer aircraft, armed with two torpedoes and heading for North Africa. "I did worry a bit about the torpedoes," admits Van Eijck. "But I didn't care because I just wanted out of it. No way was the Navy going to get me back." Flying at 5,000 feet over the Mediterranean to conserve fuel, Van Eijck was completely alone in the sky. "I know how Sgt Meyer must have felt," he says. "Because it's what I felt. It was the best thing ever; you're doing something that everyone says can't be done and it's all you. All you in this big machine and you're more powerful than anyone else, all lonely in that big sky and..." He tails off suddenly and I realise he's crying. "No-one can take it away from you," he says, choking on his words. "It was marvellous, so powerful. I can still feel it now. And I was totally convinced I can do this." I remind Van Eijck that as Sgt Meyer sat in the cockpit, trying to work out where he was going and what he was doing, he called his wife on the radio to calm himself. I ask Van Eijck if he thought of his own family as he flew into the unknown. "My mother," he says quietly. "Yes, I thought of my mother. A week or so before, I had sent her a present. It was a silver cross. And she guessed I was up to something, my mother." Van Eijck is struggling now to master his tears and asks to pause for a moment so he can drink his coffee. The wind chimes suspended from the ceiling knock gently against one another in the breeze slipping in from the open window, filling our silence with a jangled, staccato music. The yellowed newspaper cuttings on the table flutter and curl. For five-and-a-half hours, 21-year-old Theo Van Eijck flew that plane, wondering where might be the safest place to attempt a landing. At Tripoli the British Army still had a presence and, nervous of trouble, he flew to Benghazi where he saw a landing strip with a few huts on either side. The strip was full of sheep, he says, and he had to circle low over it a few times to make sure the animals scattered and cleared the runway for him. His landing, he recalls proudly, was immaculate, and he took pleasure in the thought that this would be reported back to his commanding officers. "I thought, 'If I can land nicely those Navy guys must see I can fly!'" He picks up his flight log book from the table and shows me the scrawled entry in his own large hand from May 1964, where he defiantly recorded his illicit flight in the hijacked plane. On the opposite page someone has overruled the entry, writing firmly and in an indignant hand, "Not to be totalled!" Strangely, the first man who came running out of one of the huts next to the landing strip was a Dutch expat, who was stunned - and rather alarmed - to see a military plane land on his runway. Exhausted but still exhilarated, Van Eijck poured out his story. However, as he related his plans for the future - release from the Navy, a new civilian life, a good job - he noticed his fellow countryman frown, and began to realise that perhaps he hadn't thought his plan all the way through. The Dutchman warned him that he was in big trouble and that if returned to Europe, he would certainly go to jail. On his compatriot's advice, Van Eijck gave himself up to the Libyan police, whom he remembers roaring enthusiastically up the air strip on Harley Davidson motorbikes, delighted to be taking a Dutch hijacker into custody. Claiming (again on the advice of his countryman) to have fled Europe because he objected to its liberal views on homosexuality and women, Van Eijck was offered political asylum and protection. When the Dutch military came to reclaim its AWOL recruit - and of course, to get its stolen plane back - he sometimes refused to see them. When he talks now about those power games, giggling and grinning, it's clear that Van Eijck still relishes the fact that he managed to get one over on the very authorities who had cheated him of his dreams. After a week of negotiations with the Dutch ambassador, Van Eijck agreed to a deal. He would return to the Netherlands (a passenger rather than a pilot) and would serve a 12-month jail term in a state prison for desertion. In return he would receive an honourable discharge from the Navy. In some of the newspaper clippings on the table, Van Eijck is shown in his immaculate Navy uniform standing outside the court in the Netherlands, his white sailor's cap pulled down low over his forehead. At first glance he looks like the model sailor - respectable, neat and disciplined. But study his face closely and you will see just a hint of defiance in his eyes, perhaps the faintest traces of scorn across his lips. "I got what I wanted!" explains Van Eijck. "I wanted to get out of the bloody Navy and I got that. And I still don't regret what I did." Flick past the ignominious page in his flight log book and you will see it is crammed with the details of further flights made in his native Holland or in South Africa, where he lived for many years. This time though they are licensed, legitimate flights; when he left prison, Van Eijck qualified officially as a private pilot. "It was all I wanted," he shrugs. "I just wanted to fly." He brings me back to the story of Sgt Meyer and my investigations into what made him crash in the Channel. He is convinced that Meyer had a lot less experience than he did with instrument flying and rather than being shot down by pursuing British, American or French fighter jets, he is convinced he just made a simple pilot error. "You see, they sent three planes after me," he says. "But they went in the wrong direction so they didn't find me. But I spoke to the pilots afterwards and they were told only to try to make me talk to them on the radio and to follow them; they were never given instructions to shoot me down - and remember, I had two torpedoes on board." He picks up the helmeted photograph of himself in the cockpit, in the halcyon days before he was kicked out of the Dutch Navy's pilot training programme. "If you ask me now what I think about it, I think 'What the hell were you doing you bloody fool, how did you get such a stupid idea in your head?'" He smoothes back his white hair. "I still can't believe sometimes that I bloody did it!" The breeze strengthens and the wind chimes above our heads begin to spill their fractured music again. Theo Van Eijck grips my hand and looks at me with wild, dancing eyes. "But it was marvellous! My God it was marvellous!" You may also be interested in: In January 2018, Greek pilot Vasileios Vasileiou checked into a luxury hilltop hotel in Kabul. The Intercontinental was popular with foreign visitors - which is why, on 20 January, Taliban gunmen stormed it, killing at least 40 people. Vasileios explains how he survived. Read: 'The bed that saved me from the Taliban'
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নববিবাহিত স্ত্রীর সাথে দেখা করতে ১৯৬৯ সালে ব্রিটিশ বিমানঘাঁটি থেকে বিমান চুরি করে পালাতে গিয়ে নিখোঁজ হন মার্কিন অফিসার সার্জেন্ট পল মেয়ের। তার উপরে গত দু'বছর অনুসন্ধান করছেন বিবিসি'র সাংবাদিক এমা জেন কিরবি।
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"If they don't shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO," Mr Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg News. The WTO was established to provide rules for global trade and resolve disputes between countries. Mr Trump says the body too often rules against the US, although he concedes it has won some recent judgments. He claimed on Fox News earlier this year that the WTO was set up "to benefit everybody but us", adding: "We lose the lawsuits, almost all of the lawsuits in the WTO." However, some analysis shows the US wins about 90% when it is the complainant and loses about the same percentage when it is complained against. Mr Trump's warning about a possible US pull-out from the WTO highlights the conflict between his protectionist trade policies and the open trade system that the WTO oversees. Washington has recently blocked the appointment of new judges to the WTO's Geneva-based dispute settlement body, which could potentially paralyse its ability to issue judgments. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has also accused the WTO of interfering with US sovereignty. It comes as President Trump set a Friday deadline for Canada to sign a new agreement with the US and Mexico. He has threatened to tax the country's automotive sector or cut it out entirely. What's Trump's issue with the WTO? The US president has been sounding off about unfair trade since even before he became president. Mr Trump said on Thursday that the 1994 agreement to establish the WTO "was the single worst trade deal ever made". The US has been embroiled in a tit-for-tat trade battle on several fronts in recent months. The one creating the most interest is with China, as the world's two largest economies wrangle for global influence. Mr Trump has introduced tariffs on a number of goods imported into the US. A third round of tariffs on $200bn (£154bn) of Chinese goods could come as soon as a public-comment period concludes next week, according to a Bloomberg report citing various sources. Asked to confirm this during the Bloomberg interview, President Trump said that it was "not totally wrong". China has responded to US tariffs by imposing retaliatory taxes on the same value of US products and has filed complaints against the tariffs at the WTO. China's commerce ministry has said it "clearly suspects" the US of violating WTO rules. An initial complaint at the WTO was filed by China in July after Mr Trump imposed his first round of tariffs. The WTO is at the heart of the system of rules for international trade. It is the forum for sorting disputes between countries about breaches of global trade rules and for negotiating new trade liberalisation. The EU, meanwhile, is trying to steer the US towards reforming the WTO rather than abandoning it. Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament's trade committee, told Politico magazine that it would submit plans to overhaul the organisation in September. He said it would test whether the US was really interested in reform. "This is certainly about calling [America's] bluff," he said. What about other trade deals? Mr Trump has not been a fan of multilateral trade agreements. In a 2016 presidential debate with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump described the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) with Mexico and Canada as "the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere" and a "killer" of US jobs. Once in office he said he wanted to renegotiate - not scrap - the accord, triggering a year of talks. On Monday, Mr Trump announced that the US and Mexico had agreed to revamp Nafta, calling it a "really good deal" that was "much more fair" for both countries. Canada is yet to agree to the new terms. On Thursday, Mr Lighthizer held talks in Washington with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland aimed at reaching a new deal. Following four separate meetings, which continued late into the night, Ms Freeland told reporters that a deal could not be reached, adding that talks would resume on Friday. Also during his election campaign Mr Trump railed against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade deal that was a linchpin of former President Barack Obama's Asia policy. Mr Trump said the deal was a "potential disaster for our country". One of his first acts as president was to withdraw the US from the TTP, although he has since said he might consider rejoining if the terms were "substantially better".
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যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের বিষয়ে নিজেদের নীতি পরিবর্তন না করলে বিশ্ব বাণিজ্য সংস্থা (ওয়ার্ল্ড ট্রেড অর্গানাইজেশন) থেকে বেরিয়ে যাওয়ার হুমকি দিয়েছেন মার্কিন প্রেসিডেন্ট ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প।
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By Michelle RobertsHealth editor, BBC News online The survey of nearly 7,000 sexually active women aged 16 to 74, in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, suggests this medical problem - called dyspareunia - is common and affects women of all ages. Women in their late 50s and early 60s are most likely to be affected, followed by women aged 16-24. Doctors say there are treatments that can help if women seek advice. But many still find the subject embarrassing and taboo, the survey results show. Painful sex was strongly linked to other sexual problems, including vaginal dryness, feeling anxious during sex, and lack of enjoyment of sex. However, there can be lots of different physical, psychological and emotional factors causing painful sex, which can be complex to treat. Some women said they avoided intercourse because they were so afraid of the pain. 'It hurt so much' Karen (not her real name) is 62 and from Greater London. She said her problems began around the age of 40. "I felt that my sex drive dipped quite considerably, arousal seemed to take longer, and, despite an understanding husband, I started to dread him making approaches. "It's like any muscle group I guess, the less you use it the worse it gets." Karen tried using lubricant but still encountered problems. "It became like a vicious cycle. You worry and get tense and that only makes it worse." Karen developed another complication called vaginismus - involuntary tightening of the muscles around the vagina whenever penetration is attempted. "It wasn't just in bed. It happened when I needed smear tests too. I would be crawling up the bed away from the nurse because it hurt so much." Karen spoke to her doctor who recommended she try oestrogen creams and pessaries for the dryness and dilators to help with the involuntary tightening. "Women need to know that there is help out there for these kinds of problems, especially as we are all living longer. "You shouldn't have to be writing off your sex life in your 50s. "Many women don't like to talk about it. We share all the gore of childbirth, yet women of my generation don't tend to talk openly about sex and the menopause. We should." The national survey of sexual attitudes and lifestyles was carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), University College London and NatCen Social Research. Of those who reported painful sex (7.5%), a quarter had experienced symptoms frequently or every time they had had intercourse in the last six months or more. Around a third of these women said they were dissatisfied with their sex life, compared with one tenth of the women who didn't report painful sex. Lead researcher, Dr Kirstin Mitchell, from LSHTM and the University of Glasgow, the said there could be a whole range of reasons for dyspareunia. Lack of enjoyment "In younger women, it might be that they are starting out in their sexual lives and they are going along with things that their partner wants but they are not particularly aroused by. "Or they might be feeling tense because they are new to sex and they are not feeling 100% comfortable with their partner." Painful sex might be caused by other health problems, such as sexually transmitted infections, endometriosis and fibroids, which should be diagnosed and treated. Women around the age of the menopause can find sex painful because of vaginal dryness. Dr Mitchell says it's not just older women who can feel embarrassed talking about painful sex, even though the condition is common. Other research, involving about 200 university students in Canada, suggests up to half of young women find their first experience of intercourse painful. Seek advice Dr Mitchell says sex education should do more to better prepare young people. "Often sex education is about STIs and pregnancy, but it should also prepare people to think about what makes sex enjoyable and how to communicate what they like and dislike in a trusting and respectful relationship." If you have pain during or after sex, you should get advice from your GP or a sexual health clinic. If there is an emotional reason or anxiety that is causing problems, a counsellor or sex therapist may be able to help - and your GP or sexual health clinic can refer you to one.
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বিস্তৃত এক সমীক্ষায় দেখা গেছে, ব্রিটেনে প্রায় প্রতি দশ জন নারীর মধ্যে একজনের কাছে যৌন সঙ্গম বেদনাদায়ক একটি কাজ।
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By Padraig BeltonBusiness reporter In Europe and America, this is one in five people. And since they are less likely to be in work, their poverty rate is about twice as high. So technologies that could help disabled people contribute more in the workplace - and improve their quality of life - are surely welcome. And it also makes good business sense. If a million more disabled people could work, the UK economy alone would grow 1.7%, or £45bn ($64bn), says disability charity Scope. The eyes have it Motor neuron disease affects 400,000 people worldwide, including renowned scientist Professor Stephen Hawking. Multiple sclerosis affects 2.3 million. But neurons controlling eye movement are more resistant to degenerative diseases. This is also true of other parts of the face, like the cheek, which Prof Hawking uses to communicate. US company LC Technologies has invented a device that enables people to control a computer using just their eyes. Eyegaze Edge is the latest invention of the company, which was founded in 1988 by a group of engineers in a basement. It solved the basic scientific problems then, but the early device was cumbersome and very expensive. "We crammed it in back of a single-engine plane and took it around to towns where there was a need," says medical director Nancy Cleveland. "Now, it fits in a suitcase in a commercial aircraft." The technology behind Eyegaze is called Pupil Centre/Corneal Reflection, or PCCR. A tablet is set up in front of the user, with a small video camera underneath. A near-infrared LED (light-emitting diode) light illuminates the user's eye. The camera then measures the distance between the centre of your pupil and the reflection of LED light on your cornea - the transparent bit of your eye at the front. This tiny distance shifts as your gaze changes, and this enables a computer to work out exactly where you're looking. "People have done all kinds of interesting jobs," says Ms Cleveland, "and all they had was the ability to move their eyes." She says about 12 books have been written using the device. Head control A similar device is the HeadMouse Nano, recently developed by Texas-based Origin Instruments. A camera tracks the movements of a reflective dot stuck to the user's forehead, and these motions control a computer cursor. Selections are made using a "sip-puff" switch in the mouth, or by dwell time - how long the head stays in a certain position. It requires slightly more motor ability in its users, but is cheaper. "Lately, we've reduced size and power consumption," says Origin's vice president Mel Dashner, who worked on tracking devices for aircraft during the Cold War. "We're mainly riding the wave of cell phone technology like everybody else." 'Smart glasses' There are about 39 million blind people in the world, according to the World Health Organisation. But 90% have at least some level of light perception. So Stephen Hicks, a neuroscientist at Oxford University, has developed "smart glasses" that accentuate the contrast between light and dark objects. "We try to represent the world in simple and unambiguous real-time images," he says. The nearest image is bright, whereas the rest of the field is black, and the the contrast between them is cranked up to maximum. Mr Hicks started working on the glasses in 2010, with tech firm Epson providing the see-through computer displays. He has since had additional help from the Royal National Institute for the Blind, and prize money from a Google Impact Challenge award. The biggest challenge for him has been in keeping the weight down - if the glasses weigh more than 120g (4.2oz) wearers get headaches, he says. So he has put the battery and processing unit into a handset, connected to the glasses by a small cable. Talking hands Technology can even help the 1.5 million people in the world who are deaf and blind. Helen Keller, most famously, was the first deafblind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree in 1904. Deafblind people can communicate using tactical alphabets - pressing or pinching different parts of the hand represents different letters. Now Nicholas Caporusso, from Bari in southern Italy, has developed a way of turning these movements and touches into electronic signals via a special glove. Sensors in his dbGLOVE turn these alphabet tracings into computer text, and actuators trace the letters back onto the hand. This will enable deafblind people to operate computers and smartphones. Mr Caporusso hopes the final device, which was developed with two partners from Finland - where Nokia has left a legacy of mobile phone inventiveness - will be ready early this year. "The perfect match of Italian design and Finnish technology," Mr Caporusso calls it. The biggest challenge was size, he says, as it is with many of these assistive technologies: "All these cables, actuators, and sensors are in a very small space." 'Reliable signals' Advances in 3D printing and bio-electronics are also helping replace missing limbs with prosthetics and give disabled people extra functionality. For example, in 2014, Ontario-based Thalmic Labs released an armband called the Myo. It enables a person to control computer devices by reading the electricity produced by their skeletal muscles and then sending these signals wirelessly via Bluetooth to the device. In December 2015, researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore adapted this armband to control a prosthetic limb. Thalmic's chief executive, Stephen Lake, says Myo "slides right on the arm, with no surgery or skin prep, and provides much more reliable signals than you can get with electrodes." The technology was originally developed to facilitate gesture-controlled presentations and has been used by DJs to control lighting displays. And if such assistive technology can be used by non-disabled people, too, it can be made more cheaply to the benefit of all.
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বিশ্ব স্বাস্থ্য সংস্থার মতে, বিশ্বব্যাপী প্রতিবছর প্রায় সাড়ে ১৩ লক্ষ মানুষ সড়ক দুর্ঘটনায় প্রাণ হারান।
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By Jeremy BowenBBC Middle East editor Bahrain's foreign minister will attend the event and sign its own agreement to normalise relations with Israel, announced by President Donald Trump last week. This is why the deals are significant. 1. The Gulf states see opportunities for trade and more The deal helps the ambitious Emiratis, who have built themselves into a military power as well as a place to do business or go on holiday. It looks as if the Americans helped seal the deal with the promise of advanced weapons that in the past the UAE has barely been able to window-shop. They include the F-35 stealth fighter and the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. The UAE has used its already well-equipped armed forces in Libya and Yemen. But its most serious potential enemy is Iran, just on the other side of the Gulf. Israel and the US share Emirati suspicions of the Iranians. So does Bahrain. Until 1969 Iran used to claim Bahrain was by rights part of its territory. Bahrain's Sunni rulers also regard sections of its restive Shia majority as a potential fifth column for Iran. Both Gulf states already had barely concealed ties with Israel. They will look forward to trading openly; Israel has one of the world's most advanced high tech sectors. In non-Covid times, Israelis are avid holidaymakers who will be keen to explore the deserts, beaches and malls of the Gulf. It is good business all round. 2. Israel lessens its regional isolation Normalising relations with the UAE and Bahrain is a genuine achievement for the Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a believer in the strategy first described in the 1920s of an "Iron Wall" between the Jewish state and the Arabs. The idea is that Israeli strength will in the end make the Arabs realise that their only choice is to acknowledge its existence. Israelis do not like being isolated in the Middle East. Peace with Egypt and Jordan has never been warm. They might be more hopeful about future relations with Gulf countries a long way from the cockpit of Jerusalem and the occupied territories. Strengthening the alliance against Iran is another big plus. Mr Netanyahu sees Iran as Israel's number one enemy, at times comparing its leaders to the Nazis. He has muted his original complaints about the UAE's possible arms deal. Mr Netanyahu is also beleaguered, facing a trial for corruption that might land him in jail. His handling of the coronavirus pandemic started well and has gone badly wrong. Opponents stage weekly rallies outside his residence in Jerusalem. A ceremony at the White House could not come at a better time. 3. Donald Trump celebrates a foreign policy coup The deal works on a number of levels for the US president. It is a big boost for his strategy of "maximum pressure" on Iran. It is also useful ammunition, especially in an election year, to back his boast that he is the world's best dealmaker. Anything he does that benefits Israel, or more specifically the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, goes down well with American Christian Evangelical voters, an important part of his electoral base. The "friends of America" alliance against Iran should work more smoothly if the Gulf Arabs can be open, rather than secretive, about their relations with Israel. President Trump's so-called "Deal of the Century" to make peace between Israel and the Palestinians is a non-starter. But the "Abraham Accords", as the Israel-UAE agreement is known, is a significant shift in the balance of power in the Middle East and is being presented by the Trump White House as a major foreign policy coup. 4. The Palestinians feel betrayed Once again, they are left holding the wooden spoon. They have condemned the Abraham Accords as a betrayal. The new agreement breaks a long-standing Arab consensus that the price of normal relations with Israel was independence for the Palestinians. But now Israel is cementing new public relationships with Arab states while the Palestinians still languish under occupation in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and in what amounts to an open prison in Gaza. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's de facto ruler, says that his price for the deal was Israel's agreement to stop the annexation of large parts of the West Bank. But Prime Minister Netanyahu seemed to have backed away from the idea, for now at least, because of overwhelming international pressure. The Emiratis offered him a way out of what had become an awkward political cul-de-sac. The Palestinian nervousness will increase now that Bahrain has joined the agreement. That would never have happened without approval by Saudi Arabia. The Saudis were the authors of the Arab peace plan that demanded Palestinian independence. King Salman's status as custodian of Islam's two holiest shrines gives him enormous authority. It is unlikely that he will suddenly recognise Israel. His son and heir, Mohammed bin Salman, might be less reluctant. 5. Iran has a new strategic headache The deal has been roundly condemned by the Iranian leadership. It is more than rhetoric. The Abraham Accords put them under extra strain. President Trump's sanctions are already causing real economic pain. Now they have a strategic headache too. Israel's home airbases are a long flight from Iran. The UAE's are just across the waters of the Gulf. That would be highly significant if there was a return to talk of air strikes against Iran's nuclear sites. Israel, the US, Bahrain and the UAE have a range of new options. The Iranians find their room for manoeuvre has been reduced.
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যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের মধ্যস্থতায় ইসরায়েল এবং সংযুক্ত আরব আমিরাতের উচ্চ পর্যায়ের প্রতিনিধিদল আজ হোয়াইট হাউসে এক ঐতিহাসিক শান্তি চুক্তিতে সই করবে।
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"It was all about the sanctions," Mr Trump told reporters. "They wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we couldn't do that." North Korea said it had made "realistic proposals" at the summit. The two leaders had been expected to announce progress on denuclearisation. "Sometimes you have to walk and this was one of those times," Mr Trump said. Speaking at a news conference after the summit, in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, Mr Trump said no plans had been made for a third summit, but he expressed optimism about a "good outcome" in the future. And on his flight back to the United States, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was very hopeful that officials from both sides could resume talks before too long. The original White House programme for the day had planned for a "joint agreement signing ceremony" as well as a working lunch for the two leaders, but expectations were abruptly dashed with the cancellation of both. What were the sticking points? According to Mr Trump, Mr Kim made a significant offer - to dismantle all of the Yongbyon complex, the research and production facility at the heart of North Korea's nuclear programme. But in return Mr Kim wanted all sanctions on North Korea lifted, something the US was not prepared to offer. There was also a question over the network of facilities that extend beyond Yongbyon. Last month, Stephen Biegun, the US state department special representative for North Korea, said North Korea had committed in pre-summit talks to destroy all of the nation's plutonium- and uranium-enrichment facilities, dependent on unspecified US measures in return. Yongbyon is North Korea's only known source of plutonium but the country is believed to have at least two other facilities where uranium is enriched. Those unspecified US measures appear now to have been complete sanctions relief, which Mr Trump would not offer. The US president also suggested in his news conference that Mr Kim had offered only the destruction of Yongbyon and not North Korea's entire nuclear apparatus. The president said that when he raised the issue of a second enrichment facility apart from Yongbyon, the North Korean delegation was "surprised" by what the US knew. North Korea's foreign minister later said that Pyongyang had been seeking partial sanctions relief, not a complete lifting. The North had offered to permanently stop nuclear and long-range rocket testing, the minister added. Is this a setback for Trump? The first summit between the two leaders, which took place in Singapore in June 2018, was criticised for having produced little in terms of substance, leading to anticipation that Mr Trump would push at the summit in Hanoi to produce an agreement on denuclearisation. The failure will be viewed as a setback for self-styled deal-maker Mr Trump, who has talked up his historic rapprochement with Mr Kim as a significant policy achievement. Some saw the president's decision to not agree a deal as a good move. "From Mr Trump's perspective it will be a loss he can weather," Andray Abrahamian, a North Korea expert at Stanford University, wrote in a column for the BBC. "A 'bad deal' in which he gave away a lot would inspire years of debate and pushback from US foreign-policy elites. With this, he's spun it as saveable through working-level talks." The summit came as Mr Trump was facing increased scrutiny at home in the US over his business dealings and alleged ties to Russia, after his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen testified before Congress on Wednesday. International reaction A statement from South Korea's presidential office called the breakdown of talks "regrettable" but said the US and North Korean leaders had made "more meaningful progress than at any time prior". South Korean leader Moon Jae-in has worked to improve bilateral relations between the two Koreas, and played a role in arranging the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore. A later statement from President Moon said he had held a 25-minute phone conversation with Mr Trump and "looked forward to productive results at follow-up consultations between the US and North Korean leaders". China, North Korea's main ally, said it hoped both sides would keep talking. "Solving this problem is definitely not something that can be achieved overnight," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said. What was said about Otto Warmbier? US media extensively covered remarks by Mr Trump about an American student, Otto Warmbier, who died from extensive injuries shortly after he was released from North Korean detention in 2017. The president said he had raised the Warmbier case with Mr Kim and believed the North Korean leader's assurances that he knew nothing of the student's treatment. "Some really bad things happened to Otto - some really really bad things. But he tells me that he didn't know about it and I will take him at his word," Mr Trump said. Warmbier, who was 22, was arrested for taking a propaganda poster from a hotel while on a visit to Pyongyang in January 2016. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour. Mr Trump is not thought to have pressed Mr Kim during their talks on North Korea's wider human rights record. According to Human Rights Watch, the United Nations and international powers, the North Korean regime is among the world's worst human rights abusers, with an estimated 80,000 - 120,000 political prisoners and a history of murder, torture, and sexual violence perpetrated against its citizens. What does denuclearisation mean? There is uncertainty about what exactly both sides mean by denuclearisation. Washington has previously said North Korea must unilaterally give up its all of its nuclear weapons and destroy all of its nuclear facilities before there can be any sanctions relief, but that condition is known to be a sticking point for the North Koreans. It is thought Mr Kim views denuclearisation as a mutual arrangement in which the US withdraws its military presence on the Korean peninsula. Asked at the news conference on Thursday what he meant by denuclearisation, Mr Trump said: "To me it's pretty obvious, we have to get rid of the nukes." Mr Trump said the US delegation "had some options and this time we decided not to do any of the options". Where does this leave the relationship? The pair seemed to get along at the Hanoi summit, as they did at the previous summit in Singapore. They took a poolside stroll for the cameras, although neither appeared to say much. Speaking after the talks in Hanoi, Mr Trump said Mr Kim was "quite a guy and quite a character" and described their relationship as "very strong". Despite the lack of an agreement, the second summit would appear to build on a significant shift in the tenor of the relationship between the two nations. In late 2017, they were exchanging vitriolic threats, with Mr Trump calling Mr Kim "little rocket man" and Mr Kim calling Mr Trump a "mentally deranged dotard". An end to war? Before the summit, there was talk of a possible political declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War, which finished with an armistice rather than a full peace treaty. With the abrupt end of the talks, that peripheral goal seemed to have been kicked into the long grass.
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যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের প্রেসিডেন্ট ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প আর উত্তর কোরিয়ার নেতা কিম জং-আনের মধ্যে বৈঠকটি কোন সমঝোতা ছাড়াই শেষ হয়ে গেছে কারণ উত্তর কোরিয়ার দাবি অনুযায়ী নিষেধাজ্ঞা তুলে নিতে রাজি হয়নি যুক্তরাষ্ট্র।
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Robert Bowers, 46, is accused of opening fire at the Tree of Life synagogue during its Sabbath service. He faces 29 criminal counts, including use of a firearm to commit murder. Federal prosecutors say they will also file hate crime charges, and the suspect could face the death penalty. President Donald Trump described the attack as a "wicked act of mass murder". Six people - including four police officers - were injured in Saturday's attack. The suspect was also wounded in a shootout with police. Hundreds of people - from the neighbourhood and also all across Pittsburgh - later gathered for an interfaith vigil for the victims of the attack in the synagogue in Squirrel Hill. Sophia Levin, a local resident and one of the organisers, told the BBC people wanted to be "together, not alone", and the vigil would help heal the city. President Trump said he would visit Pittsburgh soon. He also ordered US flags at government buildings to be flown at half-mast until 31 October. What are the charges? The 29 charges were announced in a statement issued by the US Attorney's Office of the Western District of Pennsylvania: How did the shooting unfold? On Saturday morning, worshippers had gathered at the synagogue for a baby naming ceremony during the Sabbath. Squirrel Hill has one of the largest Jewish populations in Pennsylvania and this would have been the synagogue's busiest day of the week. Police said they received first calls about an active shooter at 09:54 local time (13:54 GMT), and sent officers to the scene a minute later. According to reports, Mr Bowers, a white male, entered the building during the morning service armed with an assault rifle and three handguns. The gunman had already shot dead 11 people and was leaving the synagogue after about 20 minutes when he encountered Swat officers and exchanged fire with them, FBI agent Robert Jones said. The attacker then moved back into the building to try to hide from the police. He surrendered after a shootout, and is now being treated in hospital for what has been described as multiple gunshot wounds. The crime scene was "horrific", Pittsburgh's Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich told reporters. "One of the worst I've seen, and I've [worked] on some plane crashes. It's very bad." Mr Hissrich said no children were among the casualties. What do we know about the gunman? US media said he had shouted "All Jews must die" as he carried out the attack. Social media posts by someone with the name Robert Bowers were also reported to be full of anti-Semitic comments. FBI special agent Bob Jones told a press conference that Mr Bowers did not appear to be known to authorities prior to the attack. He said that any motive remains unknown but that authorities believe he was acting alone. 'Grief and hurt' Gary O'Donoghue, BBC News, Pittsburgh In the dwindling light, and with the cold autumn rain falling, hundreds gathered in front of the 6th Presbyterian church just a few streets away from the Tree of Life Synagogue. Holding their candles, they sang the Jewish prayer of healing. The elders in the community had wanted to wait a day before holding the vigil, but the young people said no - they wanted an immediate chance to share their grief and voice their hurt. Fifteen-year-old Sophia Levin declared that she was a different Jew today to the one she was yesterday. Anti-Semitism, she said, had been something she thought happened elsewhere and in earlier times; but now she knew it was right here, right now. Some of these young people have been involved in the student gun control movement that sprang up after the Parkland shooting earlier this year. One of them, Rebecca Glickman, told the crowd that gun control was needed now more than ever. She told me that an anti-Semite with a gun is more dangerous than an anti-Semite without a gun, so that's a good place to start. What has been President Trump's reaction? He called the shooting a "terrible, terrible thing". "To see this happen again and again, for so many years, it's just a shame," he told reporters. He described the gunman as a "maniac" and suggested the US should "stiffen up our laws of the death penalty". "These people should pay the ultimate price. This has to stop," he said. Mr Trump added that the incident had "little to do" with US gun laws. "If they had protection inside, maybe it could have been a different situation." Former US President Barack Obama voiced a different position on the ongoing gun law debate, tweeting: "We have to stop making it so easy for those who want to harm the innocent to get their hands on a gun." What about other reaction? Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said in a statement that the incident was an "absolute tragedy" and that such acts of violence could not be accepted as "normal". The president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Jeff Finkelstein, said his "heart goes out to all these families". "Now I'm just sad. This should not be happening. Period. It should not be happening in a synagogue. It should not be happening in our neighbourhood here in Squirrel Hill," he said. Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish non-governmental organisation that fights anti-Semitism, said he was "devastated". "We believe this is the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States," he said in a statement. World leaders also condemned the attack, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said he was "heartbroken and appalled", and German Chancellor Angela Merkel who said: "We all have to stand up against anti-Semitism, everywhere." Extra police officers have been deployed at synagogues and Jewish centres across the US after the attack. The BBC's Dan Johnson in Washington says the shootings come at a tense time in the US, after a week in which mail bombs were sent to critics of Mr Trump, ahead of crucial mid-term elections next month.
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যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের পিটসবার্গ শহরের এক ইহুদী উপাসনালয়ে হামলা চালিয়ে যে লোকটি ১১ জনকে হত্যা করে, তার বিরুদ্ধে আনুষ্ঠানিক অভিযোগ এনেছে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের ফেডারেল কৌশুলিরা।
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By Anahita Shams & Reality Check teamBBC News This is disputed by Washington. "The United States exempts medicine and medical devices for the Iranian people from US sanctions," says Brian Hook, the American special representative for Iran. So how are sanctions affecting access to medicines in Iran? What medicines does Iran import? Iran produces most of its own basic pharmaceuticals - but when it comes to the most advanced medicines, it relies heavily on imports. It's estimated that although only about 4% of its medicines come from abroad in terms of volume, the more expensive imported drugs make up about a third of the total value. There is only limited data on drug imports and prices paid inside Iran but anecdotal evidence can give some idea of the situation. The BBC's Persian Service has heard from its audience about rising costs of medicines. A sufferer of Crohn's disease described the difficulties of accessing vital drugs. "I have to travel to other towns and cities to check if their pharmacies have the drugs," they said. "Some of them do but the prices are so high that I cannot afford them." The BBC also spoke to a pharmaceutical importer from inside Iran who said the past two years had brought shortages and price rises. Drugs for anaesthetics, cancer-treatment and diabetes were particularly hard to find, they said. In the past 12 months, the cost of health and medical services rose by 19%, according to official Iranian statistics. But these shortages and price increases could be for many reasons, not only as a consequence of sanctions against Iran. How do the sanctions work? International sanctions were lifted in 2016 following an agreement with Iran over its nuclear programme, but in November 2018 the United States reinstated "the toughest ever" sanctions on Iranian industry and banks. It threatened heavy punishment and exclusion from the US financial system for foreign companies seeking to circumvent these restrictions. However, exporters of humanitarian supplies such as medicines and medical devices - and the companies facilitating this trade - should not be punished by the US for doing business with Tehran. "The problem is that you need to find banks willing to keep open the business lines and compliance functions to process those transactions," says Richard Nephew, an expert on US sanctions. "Often, they're seen as not worth the headache... so there is a practical problem in getting banks to do it. But can they? Sure." Also, not all medicines or medical devices qualify for the exemption. "Trading humanitarian goods and processing payments with Iran remains complex," says Justine Walker, director of sanctions policy at UK Finance, which represents British banks. "Legally, medicines are not prohibited under sanctions. However, they do become prohibited if they are found to be going to a designated actor or entity." These include Iran's major banks. Are medicines reaching Iran? Official Iranian figures seen by BBC News show a snapshot of the past 16 months of overall Iranian imports of medical drugs and devices. These imports reached a peak of $176m (£145m) in September 2018, then fell significantly. By June 2019, imports of medical supplies had fallen by 60% to about $67m. This fall coincides with the imposition of US sanctions but the data is limited and it's not possible to say with any certainty that sanctions are responsible. There is also data available from the EU, a key trading partner with Iran. Since sanctions were imposed in November last year, medical and pharmaceutical sales to Iran fell at first before rising slightly in May. This followed a period when trade in medical supplies fluctuated, reaching a peak in 2016 (when international sanctions were lifted) and then falling in the following two years. Is trading with Iran risky? Navigating new regulations and incurring extra costs, for example by changing banks, makes trade with Iran "daunting for smaller firms", says Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder of Bourse & Bazaar, which tracks Iran's economy. The lack of foreign currency inside Iran and the volatility of the Iranian currency also make imports more expensive. Iran has been calling for the urgent implementation of a proposed European plan to support companies wishing to bypass US financial restrictions. But this has proven complex and politically difficult to implement. Read more from Reality Check Send us your questions Follow us on Twitter
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ইরান বলছেন চিকিৎসা সামগ্রী বিশেষ ছাড় পাওয়ার কথা থাকলেও নিষেধাজ্ঞার কারণে জীবন রক্ষাকারী ঔষধ পাচ্ছেনা তারা।
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The sultan deposed his father in a bloodless coup with British support in 1970 and set Oman on a path to development, using its oil wealth. Widely regarded as popular, he was also an absolute monarch and any dissenting voices were silenced. No cause of death has been confirmed. His cousin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said has been sworn in as his successor. A family council had three days to choose a successor as Qaboos had no heir or publicly designated successor. Instead they opted for opening the sealed envelope in which Qaboos had secretly left his own choice. The sultan is the paramount decision-maker in Oman. He also holds the positions of prime minister, supreme commander of the armed forces, minister of defence, minister of finance and minister of foreign affairs. Last month Qaboos spent a week in Belgium for medical treatment, and there were reports he was suffering from cancer. Images showed a crowd of men gathered outside the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in the capital, Muscat, where the coffin had been placed before he was buried in a family cemetery. In a televised speech after being sworn in, Sultan Haitham - a former culture and heritage minister who studied at Oxford - pledged to continue his predecessor's policies of friendly relations with all nations while further developing the country. Smooth transition, for now at least By Sebastian Usher, BBC World Service Arab affairs editor This is a day that had long been dreaded in Oman where the elegant, beturbaned and white bearded figure of Sultan Qaboos had for five decades embodied the identity of a country that he had brought into the modern world. There were concerns that his death might bring instability to Oman, which has largely avoided the unrest elsewhere in the region. For now at least, the process of finding a successor has moved swiftly and smoothly. And Haitham bin Tariq Al Said - born in 1955 - was swift to reassure his people and the wider world that he would follow the same path as his predecessor. Being the chosen successor of Qaboos will enhance his legitimacy within Oman, but a far harder task will be to take on the crucial role that Oman has played for so long as a trusted and independent mediator in many of the most intractable conflicts that have blighted the region. Neutral policy, absolute rule For almost five decades, Qaboos completely dominated the political life of Oman, which is home to 4.6 million people, of whom about 43% are expatriates. At the age of 29 he overthrew his father, Said bin Taimur, a reclusive and ultra-conservative ruler who banned a range of things, including listening to the radio or wearing sunglasses, and decided who could get married, be educated or leave the country. Qaboos immediately declared that he intended to establish a modern government and use oil money to develop a country where, at the time, there were only 10km (six miles) of paved roads and three schools. In the first few years of his rule, with the help of British special forces, he suppressed an insurgency in the southern province of Dhofar by tribesmen backed by the Marxist People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. Described as charismatic and visionary, he pursued a neutral path in foreign affairs and was able to facilitate secret talks between the United States and Iran in 2013 that led to a landmark nuclear deal two years later. A degree of discontent surfaced in 2011 during the so-called Arab Spring. There was no major upheaval in Oman, but thousands of people took to the streets across the country to demand better wages, more jobs and an end to corruption. Security forces initially tolerated the protests, but later used tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition to disperse them. Two people were killed and dozens of people were injured. Hundreds were prosecuted under laws criminalising "illegal gatherings" and "insulting the sultan". The protests failed to produce anything in the way of major change. But Qaboos did remove several long-serving ministers perceived as corrupt, widened the powers of the Consultative Council, and promised to create more public sector jobs. Since then, the authorities have continued to block local independent newspapers and magazines critical of the government, confiscate books, and harass activists, according to Human Rights Watch. Reacting to the death on Twitter, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said it was a "loss for the region", and voiced hope that the new leadership would take "inspiration from the past". UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Qaboos had left a "profound legacy, not only in Oman but across the region" while former US President George W Bush said the late leader had been a stable force in the Middle East.
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আরব বিশ্বের সবচেয়ে দীর্ঘস্থায়ী শাসক ওমানের সুলতান কাবুস বিন সাইদ আল সাইদ মারা গেছেন। তাঁর বয়স হয়েছিল ৭৯ বছর।
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By Lucy RodgersBBC News But, while cement - the key ingredient in concrete - has shaped much of our built environment, it also has a massive carbon footprint. Cement is the source of about 8% of the world's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to think tank Chatham House. If the cement industry were a country, it would be the third largest emitter in the world - behind China and the US. It contributes more CO2 than aviation fuel (2.5%) and is not far behind the global agriculture business (12%). Cement industry leaders were in Poland for the UN's climate change conference - COP24 - to discuss ways of meeting the requirements of the Paris Agreement on climate change. To do this, annual emissions from cement will need to fall by at least 16% by 2030. So, how did our love of concrete end up endangering the planet? And what can we do about it? In praise of concrete As the key building material of most tower blocks, car parks, bridges and dams, concrete has, for the haters, enabled the construction of some of the world's worst architectural eyesores. In the UK, it helped the massive wave of post-World War Two development - much of it still dividing opinion - with several of the country's major cities, such as Birmingham, Coventry, Hull and Portsmouth, largely defined by the concrete structures from that building push. But concrete is also the reason some of the world's most impressive buildings exist. Sydney Opera House, the Lotus Temple in Delhi, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai as well as the magnificent Pantheon in Rome - boasting the largest unsupported concrete dome in the world - all owe their form to the material. A mix of sand and gravel, a cement binder and water, concrete is so widely embraced by architects, structural engineers, developers and builders because it is a remarkably good construction material. "It's affordable, you can produce it almost anywhere and it has all the right structural qualities that you want to build with for a durable building or for infrastructure," explains Felix Preston, deputy research director at the Energy, Environment and Resources Department at Chatham House. Despite known durability problems with using steel reinforcement, which can crack concrete from the inside, it is still the go-to material across the world. "Building without concrete, although it is possible, is challenging," says Mr Preston. Growth of cement industry It is these unrivalled attributes of concrete that have helped boost global cement production since the 1950s, with Asia and China accounting for the bulk of growth from the 1990s onwards. Production has increased more than thirtyfold since 1950 and almost fourfold since 1990. China used more cement between 2011 and 2013 than the US did in the entire 20th Century. But with Chinese consumption now appearing to level off, most future growth in construction is expected to happen in the emerging markets of South East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa - driven by rapid urbanisation and economic development. The floor area of the world's buildings is projected to double in the next 40 years, say Chatham House researchers, requiring cement production to increase by a quarter by 2030. Concrete has a long history While many of us assume concrete is a recent addition to our cities, architects, and builders have actually been using cement-like binders for millennia. The earliest use is believed to have been more than 8,000 years ago, with traders in Syria and Jordan using such binders to create floors, buildings and underground cisterns. Later, the Romans were known to be masters of cement and concrete, building the Pantheon in Rome in 113-125AD, with its 43m-diameter free-standing concrete dome the largest in the world. But the concrete used in our modern-built environment owes much of its make-up to a process patented in the early 19th Century by bricklayer Joseph Aspdin of Leeds. His new technique of roasting limestone and clay in an oven and then grinding it to a powder to make "artificial stone" is now known as Portland cement - still the key ingredient in almost all modern concrete. But, despite its ubiquitous presence, concrete's environmental credentials have come under increased scrutiny in the last couple of decades. Not only does the production of Portland cement involve quarrying - causing airborne pollution in the form of dust - it also requires the use of massive kilns, which require large amounts of energy. The actual chemical process of making cement also emits staggeringly high levels of CO2. 'Action needed' The sector has made progress - improvements in the energy-efficiency of new plants and burning waste materials instead of fossil fuels has seen the average CO2 emissions per tonne of output fall by 18% over the last few decades, according to Chatham House. The newly-established Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), currently representing about 35% of the world's cement production capacity and with a focus on sustainable development, was at COP24. Chief executive Benjamin Sporton says the fact the organisation now exists "is a demonstration of the commitment of the industry to sustainability, including taking action on climate change". The GCCA is due to publish a set of sustainability guidelines, which its membership will have to follow. "By bringing together global players to provide leadership and focus, as well as delivering a detailed work programme, we can help ensure a sustainable future for cement and concrete, and for the needs of future generations," Mr Sporton says. But despite the promise, Chatham House argues that the industry is reaching the limits of what it can do with current measures. If the sector has any hope of meeting its commitments to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, it will need to look at overhauling the cement-making process itself, not only reducing the use of fossil fuels. 'Clinker' - the big polluter It is the process of making "clinker" - the key constituent of cement - that emits the largest amount of CO2 in cement-making. In 2016, world cement production generated around 2.2 billion tonnes of CO2 - equivalent to 8% of the global total. More than half of that came from the calcination process. Together with thermal combustion, 90% of the sector's emissions could be attributed to the production of clinker. Because of this, Mr Preston and his colleagues argue the sector urgently needs to pursue a number of CO2 reduction strategies. Further efforts on energy efficiency, a move away from fossil fuels and pursuing carbon capture and storage will help, but can only do so much. "We've got a long way to close the gap," Mr Preston says. What the industry really needs to do is plough efforts into producing new types of cement, he argues. In fact, low-carbon cements and "novel cements" might do away with the need for clinker altogether. New cements One of those trying to drum up greater support for such alternative cements is Ginger Krieg Dosier, co-founder and CEO of BioMason - a start-up in North Carolina that uses trillions of bacteria to grow bio-concrete bricks. The technique, which involves placing sand in moulds and injecting it with microorganisms, initiates a process similar to the one that creates coral. "I have a long fascination with marine cements and structures," explains Ms Krieg Dosier, a trained architect who was surprised to find no real green alternatives to bricks and masonry when she began research at an architectural firm more than 10 years ago. The discovery led her to create her own solution, which, after years of development, now takes only four days. It happens at room temperature, without the need for fossil fuels or calcination - two of the main sources of the cement industry's CO2 emissions. Ms Krieg Dosier believes green cements and technologies such as hers offer a solution to the sector's emissions issue. "Traditional Portland-based cement production practices will continue to release CO2 due to its fundamental chemistry," she says, adding that rather than turning to carbon capture and storage, we should be investing more in techniques that actively remove carbon from the atmosphere. "Alternative cements and binding technologies go beyond evolutionary CO2 capture to revolutionary methods that fundamentally sequester CO2." 'Disruptive forces' Alongside such alternative cements, other "disruptive" forces are also beginning to drive change. Digitalisation, machine learning and an increasing awareness of sustainability are all having an impact on the cement industry's culture. "It's partly changing because of how people want to live, but also because of our ability to dream up new and innovative structures and test those with computer models," says Mr Preston. "There's also the ability to build things more cheaply with robots - with automation." But changing processes quickly enough to meet the cement industry's obligations will be a challenge. The sector is dominated by a small number of major producers who are reluctant to experiment or change business models. Architects, engineers, contractors and clients are also, rather understandably, cautious about using new building materials. "This quite slow-moving, difficult-to-change sector is starting to bump against these quite profound disruptions that we're starting to see in the built environment," says Mr Preston. But, with very few low-carbon cements reaching commercialisation, and none being applied at scale in an industry where bigger and taller is often the ambition, it looks likely that sustained government support will be needed. Without governments applying pressure on the industry or providing funding, it may not be possible to get the next generation of low-carbon cements out of the laboratory and into the market within the required timescale. And the timescale is ever-shrinking. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - the leading international body on global warming - last month argued the global average temperature rise needed to be kept below 1.5C - not 2C as noted in the Paris Agreement. This means CO2 emissions need to decline by 45% from 2010 levels by 2030. Like other young companies, Ms Krieg Dosier describes the difficulties of simultaneously developing and marketing her products and scaling up manufacturing processes to compete within the wider construction industry. But she thinks there are reasons to be optimistic. "I do believe the construction industry is approaching a point where alternative materials will be more widely adopted," she says. "This is in part due to market demand, other innovative technologies and wider concern for climate change." The cement industry, too, points to more optimistic assessments of the industry's progress on emissions and suggests that, across its lifetime, concrete could make a net climate benefit when all possible action is taken into account. This includes re-carbonation (or the re-absorption of CO2 by cement), concrete's contribution to the energy efficiency of buildings, and innovation in the way cement is manufactured - including carbon capture and storage. The GCCA says such innovation is its key priority in the months and years ahead. Projects are already underway and showing promise, it added. But Mr Preston says it is imperative that governments and industry now act quickly at a time when global development is expected to rise but CO2 emissions need to fall. "There's a desperate need for quality, affordable homes," he says. "There's a need for new infrastructure. We can only square this circle if we can dramatically improve the way that we build, so that overall these buildings are constructed with, as close as possible, net zero emissions." Design by Lilly Huynh.
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মানুষের তৈরি যেসব সামগ্রী সবচেয়ে বেশি ব্যবহৃত হয় তার একটি সিমেন্ট। পানির পরেই এই জিনিসটি ব্যবহৃত হয় সবচেয়ে বেশি।
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He urged fellow right-wingers not to back a deal after ultra-nationalist Naftali Bennett said he would form a coalition with a centrist party. Mr Netanyahu's opponents have until Wednesday to form a government. If they are successful, it would bring to an end the rule of the country's longest-serving prime minister. Mr Netanyahu, who faces serious corruption charges and could go to jail, fell short of a decisive majority at a general election in March. It was the country's fourth inconclusive vote in two years - and again he failed to secure coalition allies. But his opponents may only be able to form a minority government, propped up by Arab members of parliament. On Monday, the centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid warned that "many obstacles" remained before a unity government could be formed. "We'll have to overcome them together," he told journalists. "That's our first test - to see if we can find smart compromises in the coming days to achieve the greater goal." Tensions remain following the recent Gaza conflict, which also triggered inter-communal clashes in Israeli cities between Jews and Arabs. Some Arab politicians could be reluctant to back a government led by Mr Bennett, who is a staunch supporter of Jewish settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank - land Palestinians want for a future state. 'Fraud of the century' "Don't form a left-wing government - such a government is a danger to Israel's security and future," 71-year-old Mr Netanyahu, who has dominated Israeli politics for a generation, said on Sunday. Naming left-wing leaders who, he hinted, could weaken Israel's security cabinet, he asked: "What impact will that have on Israel's deterrent capability? How will we look to our enemies? What will they say in Iran and Gaza?" Mr Netanyahu accused Mr Bennett of "misleading the public" and of carrying out "the fraud of the century" - a reference to the Yamina party leader's previous public promises not to join forces with Mr Lapid. Mr Bennett, 49, earlier announced in a televised address that his party would join talks to form a unity government. "Mr Netanyahu is no longer trying to form a right-wing government because he knows full well that there isn't one. He is seeking to take the whole national camp, and the whole country, with him on his personal last stand," Mr Bennett said. "I will do everything to form a national unity government with my friend Yair Lapid." Before the announcement, Israeli media reported that under the proposed terms of the deal, Mr Bennett would replace Mr Netanyahu as prime minister and later give way to Mr Lapid, 57, in a rotation agreement. The arrangement has not been officially confirmed. The proposed coalition would bring together factions from the right, the left and the centre of Israeli politics. While the parties have little in common politically, they are united in their desire to see Mr Netanyahu's time in office come to an end. Mr Lapid, a former finance minister, was given until 2 June to form a new coalition government after Mr Netanyahu failed to do so. His Yesh Atid party came second to Mr Netanyahu's right-wing Likud at the last election. Netanyahu fights on After an evening of high political drama on Sunday, Israel is much closer to a new coalition that will unseat its long-time prime minister. But Benjamin Netanyahu should not be written off. He was quick to respond to the latest announcement with his own appeal to right-wing members of Naftali Bennett's Yamina party - and those of Gideon Saar's New Hope - not to join the agreement. He taunted them by asking "Who will take care of settlements?" and suggested the proposed unity government would offer a weak security cabinet that would be unable to stand up to Israel's rival, Iran. If he chips away just a couple of members of parliament with these attacks, then the prospective government could tumble. And even if this coalition does get sworn in, it will be a fragile one - bringing together parties from across the political spectrum with stark ideological differences. To stay in power, it will be forced to kick many sensitive issues into the long grass. On Saturday night, Mr Netanyahu's Likud party made an offer to Mr Bennett and the leader of another potential coalition party to share the premiership in a three-way split. His offer was rejected but the prime minister repeated the same option on Sunday. Under Israel's electoral system of proportional representation, it is difficult for a single party to gain enough seats to form a government outright. Smaller parties are usually needed to make up the numbers needed for a coalition. Mr Lapid was initially given a 28-day mandate to form a government but this was interrupted by the recent 11-day conflict in Gaza. One of his potential coalition partners, the Arab Islamist Raam party, broke off talks because of the violence.
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ইসরায়েলের প্রধানমন্ত্রী বেনিয়ামিন নেতানিয়াহু হুঁশিয়ার করে বলেছেন যে, প্রস্তাবিত নতুন জোট সরকার দেশটির "নিরাপত্তার জন্য বিপজ্জনক" হতে পারে।
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By Harry Farley BBC News During Ramadan many Muslims abstain from food and drink in daylight hours. Islamic teaching says Muslims should refrain "from anything entering the body" between sunrise and sunset. But Qari Asim, an imam in Leeds, said that because the vaccine goes into the muscle rather than the bloodstream and is not nutritious, it does not amount to breaking the fast. "The majority of the Islamic scholars are of the view that taking the vaccine during Ramadan will not invalidate the fast," Mr Asim, who chairs the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board, told the BBC. He said his message to the Muslim community was: "If you are eligible for the vaccine and have received your invite, you need to ask yourself: do you take the vaccine which has proven to be effective or do you risk catching Covid, which can make you quite ill, and you may potentially miss the whole of Ramadan and possibly end up in hospital?" Some NHS vaccine sites in Nottingham and Brighton are extending their opening hours so Muslims can come after they have broken their fast. But Dr Farzana Hussain, a senior GP from The Surgery Project in east London, said there was no need to avoid daylight hours. "We know that a lot of Muslims are a bit concerned about having their Covid vaccination during Ramadan. Many people believe that having an injection actually breaks the fast," she said. "But it doesn't at all because it's not considered nutrition." She added: "The Quran says saving your life is the most important thing: 'To save one life is to save the whole of humanity.' It's a responsibility of a practising Muslim to take their vaccine." Some mosques are being used as vaccination centres in an effort to boost take up among minority communities. Polling from Ipsos Mori suggests a dramatic increase in ethnic minority Britons who say they have had, or are likely to have, the vaccine - from 77% in January to 92% in March. Ramadan, which is expected to begin on Monday evening after the sighting of the Moon over Mecca, is traditionally marked by regular communal prayers in mosques and shared meals - or Iftars - to break the fast after sunset. Although communal worship is allowed across the UK, social distancing must be enforced and different households cannot mix indoors. The British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) has issued guidance for mosques during Ramadan. They recommend keeping Taraweeh - the main evening prayers - short, increasing ventilation, and say imams should wear "properly fitted double masks to protect congregants". Dr Shehla Imtiaz-Umer, a GP in Derby and representative of the BIMA, told the BBC: "We've seen a lot of devastation in our communities because of the Covid pandemic and we want to try and make sure that our future Ramadans are not affected to this extent. "Unfortunately it's been affected last year and this year. But if we carry on taking our vaccines and making sure that we're all protected, we can ensure that next Ramadan we do return to some normality."
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ইসলামী শিক্ষাবিদ এবং যুক্তরাজ্যের জাতীয় স্বাস্থ্য সেবা বিভাগ বলছে, রমজানের সময়ে রোজা থাকলেও মুসলমানদের টিকা নেয়া থেকে বিরত থাকা উচিত হবে না।
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A bill requiring Boris Johnson to ask for an extension to the UK's departure date to avoid a no-deal Brexit on 31 October is set to gain royal assent. But the PM has said he would "rather be dead in a ditch" than ask for a delay. Legal experts have warned the prime minister could go to prison if he refuses to comply with the new law. MPs have lined up a legal team and are willing to go to court to enforce the law to avoid no deal, if necessary. Meanwhile, pro and anti-Brexit protesters held demonstrations in Westminster on Saturday, with some people arrested by police. The cross-party bill - which requires the prime minister to extend the exit deadline until January unless Parliament agrees a deal with the EU by 19 October - was passed on Friday. Although the government has said it will abide by the law, Mr Johnson described it as obliging him "in theory" to write to Brussels asking for a "pointless delay". Downing Street said the British public had been clear that they wanted Brexit done. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told BBC News the party was not taking legal action over the legislation, but said it was "aware of the actions that are being discussed and prepared for". He added that Labour would allow a general election "when we are clear that there will be an end to the danger of no-deal on 31 October". "We need a clear statement from the prime minister that he is going to abide by that act of Parliament," Mr Corbyn said. Meanwhile, clashes erupted between pro-Brexit protesters and police in Parliament Square in London. Several hundred people joined pro and anti-Brexit demonstrations in Westminster. Pro-leave protesters were seen throwing a metal barricade at officers, while others tried to break the police cordon. Anti-Brexit MP Anna Soubry, who leads the Independent Group for Change, said she had been due to speak at the March for Change rally in London but told organisers she was too frightened to do so, after consulting with police. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said officers made 16 arrests in connection with the protests. That included 13 arrests for violent disorder, one for possession of an offensive weapon, one for affray and one for a racially aggravated public order offence. Some 35 other events were held across the UK and Europe, including a pro-democracy protest in Berlin. 'Dangerous precedent' The Daily Telegraph reported that the prime minister said seeking another extension is "something I will never do", fuelling speculation that ministers could try to find a loophole. But David Lidington, who resigned as Cabinet Office minister in July, in opposition to Mr Johnson's no-deal Brexit strategy, told the BBC's Today programme: "The government is bound by the words of any statute that has been duly enacted by the Queen in Parliament, which is a fundamental principle of our constitution and our ministerial code. "Defying any law sets a really dangerous precedent." He added that at a time when other countries were "holding up alternatives to the rule of law and democratic government" it was imperative that British governments always demonstrate they comply with the law. Mr Lidington, who supported the government in voting for an early general election, urged Mr Johnson to "re-double [his] efforts" in talking to a "wide range" of European leaders to get a Brexit deal he can put before Parliament in October. What are the PM's options? Mr Johnson's options are "narrowing" after this week's Brexit defeats, says Dr Hannah White, deputy director of the Institute for Government. Some possibilities being discussed are: Commentators on PM's next move. Former attorney general Dominic Grieve has warned the prime minister "could be sent to prison" if he refuses to obey the law and delay Brexit. Mr Grieve told BBC News Mr Johnson would be "under an obligation" to abide by the law after it has received royal assent. "If he doesn't, he can be taken to court which will if necessary issue an injunction ordering him to do it," he said. "If he doesn't obey the injunction, he could be sent to prison." Earlier the former director of public prosecutions Lord MacDonald told Sky News a refusal to delay Brexit in the face of court action "would amount to contempt of court which could find that person in prison". One Tory MP said the idea of Mr Johnson ignoring the legislation was "nonsense". Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, tweeted: "Even if it was under consideration, which I'm sure it's not, you would see a very significant number of Conservative MPs resigning the whip, including me." A number of cabinet sources have told the BBC in recent days that they have significant concerns about Number 10's strategy. It comes in the wake of a series of Parliamentary defeats for the government, beginning after Mr Johnson announced his decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks in September and October. First, the prime minister lost control of the House of Commons agenda. That allowed opposition MPs and rebel Tories to put forward the bill to prevent a no-deal Brexit, which Mr Johnson said "scuppered" his negotiations with the EU. In response, the prime minister expelled 21 of his own MPs for rebelling against the government over the vote and then called for a general election. But on Friday, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, SNP and Plaid Cymru jointly agreed to reject Mr Johnson's demand for a snap poll before the EU summit in mid-October. The day before, the prime minister's younger brother, Jo Johnson, resigned as an MP and minister, saying he was "torn between family loyalty and the national interest". According to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson wrote to Conservative Party members on Friday night, saying Labour MPs had "left us no choice" but to call for an election. He said: "They just passed a law that would force me to beg Brussels for an extension to the Brexit deadline. This is something I will never do." No 10 said an election would allow the public to choose between the government's approach - Mr Johnson's commitment to leave on 31 October, either with a re-negotiated deal or no deal - and "more delay, more dither" from Labour. But opposition MPs say they will only agree to an election when the extension to the Brexit deadline has been secured, to ensure the UK does not "crash out" without a deal. What does the no-deal bill say? The bill, presented by Labour MP Hilary Benn, says the prime minister will have until 19 October to either pass a deal in Parliament or get MPs to approve a no-deal Brexit. Once this deadline has passed, he will have to request an extension to the UK's departure date to 31 January 2020. Unusually, the bill stipulates the wording of the letter Mr Johnson would have to write to the president of the European Council. If the EU responds by proposing a different date, the PM will have two days to accept that proposal. During that time, MPs - not the government - will have the opportunity to reject that date. The bill also requires ministers to report to the House of Commons over the next few months. potentially providing more opportunities to take control of the timetable.
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ব্রিটেনের প্রধানমন্ত্রী বরিস জনসন যদি ব্রেক্সিট পিছিয়ে দিতে রাজি না হন, তাহলে আইনি ব্যবস্থা নেয়ার জন্য প্রস্তুতি নিতে শুরু করেছেন পার্লামেন্টের সদস্যরা, যাদের মধ্যে বরখাস্ত হওয়া টোরি এমপিরাও রয়েছেন।
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Spark New Zealand wanted to use Huawei equipment in its 5G mobile network. However, a NZ government security agency said the deal would bring significant risks to national security. The move is part of a growing push against the involvement of Chinese technology firms on security grounds. 5G networks are being built in several countries and will form the next significant wave of mobile infrastructure. Huawei, the world's biggest producer of telecoms equipment, has faced resistance from foreign governments over the risk that its technology could be used for espionage. Telecoms firm Spark New Zealand planned to use equipment from the Chinese firm in its 5G network. The head of NZ's Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) told Spark the proposal "would , if implemented, raise significant national security risks", the company said. Intelligence services minister Andrew Little said Spark could work with the agency to reduce that risk. "As the GCSB has noted, this is an ongoing process. We will actively address any concerns and work together to find a way forward," Huawei said. What other countries have concerns? The move follows a decision by Australia to block Huaewi and Chinese firm ZTE from providing 5G technology for the country's wireless networks on national security grounds. The US and UK have raised concerns with Huawei, and the firm has been scrutinised in Germany, Japan and Korea. Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that the US government has been trying to persuade wireless providers to avoid using equipment from Huawei. In the UK, a security committee report in July warned that it had "only limited assurance" that Huawei's telecoms gear posed no threat to national security. One country is standing by Huawei: Papua New Guinea said this week it would go ahead with an agreement for Huawei to build its internet infrastructure. The Pacific nation has seen a surge in investment from China over the past decade. What are the fears? Experts say foreign governments are increasingly worried about the risk of espionage by China, given the close ties between companies and the state. Tom Uren, visiting fellow in the International Cyber Policy Centre at Australia's Strategic Policy Institute, said the Chinese government had "clearly demonstrated intent over many years to steal information". "The Chinese state has engaged in a lot of cyber and other espionage and intellectual property theft," he said. Links between firms and the government have fuelled concerns that China may attempt to "leverage state-linked companies to be able to enable their espionage operations", Mr Uren said. Those concerns were exacerbated by new laws introduced last year that required Chinese organisations assist in national intelligence efforts. The laws enable the Chinese state to compel people and possibly companies to assist if they needed it, Mr Uren said. The combination of new rules and a history of espionage have increased the perceived danger of using companies like Huawei and ZTE in critical national infrastructure. "It's hard to argue that they don't represent an elevated risk," Mr Uren added.
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জাতীয় নিরাপত্তার কারণ দেখিয়ে সর্বশেষ দেশ হিসাবে নিউজিল্যান্ড চীনের মোবাইল প্রযুক্তি কোম্পানি হুয়াওয়ে থেকে সরঞ্জাম কেনার প্রস্তাব নাকচ করে দিয়েছে।
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The case, which has been bitterly contested for decades by Hindus and Muslims, centres on the ownership of the land in Uttar Pradesh state. Muslims would get another plot of land to construct a mosque, the court said. Many Hindus believe the site is the birthplace of one of their most revered deities, Lord Ram. Muslims say they have worshipped there for generations. At the centre of the row is the 16th Century Babri mosque which was demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992, sparking riots that killed nearly 2,000 people. What did the court say? In the unanimous verdict, the court said that a report by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) provided evidence that the remains of a building "that was not Islamic" was beneath the structure of the demolished Babri mosque. The court said that, given all the evidence presented, it had determined that the disputed land should be given to Hindus for a temple to Lord Ram, while Muslims would be given land elsewhere to construct a mosque. It then directed the federal government to set up a trust to manage and oversee the construction of the temple. However, the court added that the demolition of the Babri mosque was against the rule of law. What has the reaction to the verdict been? Despite warnings by authorities not to celebrate the verdict, BBC correspondents in court say they heard chants of "Jai Shree Ram" (Hail Lord Ram) outside as the judgement was pronounced. "It's a very balanced judgement and it is a victory for people of India," a lawyer for one of the Hindu parties told reporters soon after. Initially, a representative for the Muslim litigants said they were not satisfied and would decide whether to ask for a review after they had read the whole judgement. However, the main group of litigants has now said that it will not appeal against the verdict. Outside the court, the situation has been largely calm. Hundreds of people were detained in Ayodhya on Friday ahead of the verdict, amid fears of violence. Thousands of police officers have also been deployed in the city, while shops and colleges have been shut until Monday. The government issued an order banning the publication of images of the destruction of the Babri mosque. Social media platforms are being monitored for inflammatory content, with police even replying to tweets and asking users to delete them. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reacted to the verdict on Twitter and said that it should not be seen as a "win or loss for anybody". What was arguably one of the world's most contentious property dispute has finally come to an end. The dispute over the plot has polarised, frustrated and exhausted India. The reason is that this is not a humdrum civil matter. It was touched by faith (Hindus believe the plot was the birthplace of Lord Ram, a revered deity) violence (the demolition of the mosque in 1992) and subterfuge (idols of Lord Ram were placed in the mosque surreptitiously in 1949). Saturday's unanimous judgement by the five most senior judges of the court will hopefully lead to some reconciliation that the country badly needs. The verdict showed "judicial craftsmanship and statesmanship where the letter of the law was adhered to, but the relief was moulded, taking into account the ground realities," lawyer Sanjay Hegde told me. The judges appear to have gone by the evidence laid before it. "They have applied a plaster. Let's not reopen the wounds," Mr Hegde added. Will the verdict lead to a closure of past animosities and help close India's deepening religious fissures? Only time will tell. For the moment, India's main communities need to avoid triumphalism - because eventually there are no victors and vanquished, in what is essentially a contestation of faith. What is the row actually about? Many Hindus believe the Babri Masjid was actually constructed on the ruins of a Hindu temple that was demolished by Muslim invaders in the 16th Century. Muslims say they offered prayers at the mosque until December 1949 when some Hindus placed an idol of Ram in the mosque and began to worship the idols. The two religious groups have gone to court many times over who should control the site. Since then, there have been calls to build a temple on the spot where the mosque once stood. Hinduism is India's majority religion and is thought to be more than 4,000 years old. India's first Islamic dynasty was established in the early 13th Century. Have religious tensions eased in India in recent years? Ever since the Narendra Modi-led Hindu nationalist BJP first came to power in 2014, India has seen deepening social and religious divisions. The call for the construction of a Hindu temple in Ayodhya has grown particularly loud, and has mostly come from MPs, ministers and leaders from the BJP since it took office. Restrictions on the sale and slaughter of cows - considered a holy animal by the majority Hindus - have led to vigilante killings of a number of people, most of them Muslims who were transporting cattle. An uninhibited display of muscular Hindu nationalism in other areas has also contributed to religious tension. Most recently, the country's home minister Amit Shah said he would remove "illegal migrants" - understood to be Muslim - from the country through a government scheme that was used recently in the north-eastern state of Assam.
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ভারতের অযোধ্যাতে যে বিতর্কিত ধর্মীয় স্থানটি নিয়ে বহু বছর ধরে সংঘাত, সেখানে একটি হিন্দু মন্দির বানানোর পক্ষেই রায় দিয়েছে সে দেশের সুপ্রিম কোর্ট।
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It had been due to take place at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana but was changed because of concerns over coronavirus precautions. It will now be co-hosted by Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic. The two men will hold three debates in all before the 3 November vote. Reverend John I Jenkins, president of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, said the health precautions needed to stage the event "would have greatly diminished the educational value of hosting the debate on our campus". The new location will be at Western Reserve University's Health Education Campus, the Commission on Presidential Debates said. The second presidential debate on 15 October will take place in Miami after getting shifted from the University of Michigan. The third will take place in Nashville on 22 October, while a debate between Vice-President Mike Pence and the Democratic vice-presidential nominee - who has still to be chosen - will be held on 7 October in Salt Lake City. Mr Biden is currently holding a lead of 15 percentage points nationally, a Washington Post-ABC News poll suggests. The president's national approval ratings have dropped in a year dominated by coronavirus - of which the US has by far the world's highest death toll with more than 147,000 - and widespread protests over the death of black man George Floyd in police custody in May.
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৩রা নভেম্বরে মার্কিন প্রেসিডেন্ট নির্বাচনের আগে প্রথমবার বিতর্কে মুখোমুখি হয়েছিলেন ও রিপাবলিকান ও ডেমোক্র্যাট প্রার্থী ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প ও জো বাইডেন।
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The renowned theoretical physicist's final resting place will also be near that of Charles Darwin, who was buried there in 1882. Prof Hawking, who had motor neurone disease, died on 14 March, aged 76, at his home in Cambridge. The Dean of Westminster said the location was "entirely fitting". A private funeral service will take place at Great St Mary's, the University Church on 31 March, Prof Hawking's family said. The church is close to Gonville and Caius College, where Prof Hawking had been a fellow for more than 50 years. The thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey will take place later in the year. Announcing funeral arrangements on the college website, Prof Hawking's children Lucy, Robert and Tim said: "Our father lived and worked in Cambridge for over 50 years. "He was an integral and highly recognisable part of the university and the city. "For this reason, we have decided to hold his funeral in the city that he loved so much and which loved him. Our father's life and work meant many things to many people, both religious and non-religious. So, the service will be both inclusive and traditional, reflecting the breadth and diversity of his life." The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, said: "It is entirely fitting that the remains of Professor Stephen Hawking are to be buried in the Abbey, near those of distinguished fellow scientists. "Sir Isaac Newton was buried in the Abbey in 1727. Charles Darwin was buried beside Isaac Newton in 1882." He added: "We believe it to be vital that science and religion work together to seek to answer the great questions of the mystery of life and of the universe."
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আন্তর্জাতিক খ্যাতি সম্পন্ন ব্রিটিশ বিজ্ঞানী স্টিভেন হকিং-কে ওয়েস্টমিনস্টার অ্যাবেতে আরেক বিখ্যাত বিজ্ঞানী আইজ্যাক নিউটনের পাশে সমাহিত করা হবে বলে জানা গেছে। তার কাছেই থাকবেন আরো একজন বিজ্ঞানী বিবর্তনবাদের জনক চার্লস ডারউইন। তাকে কবর দেওয়া হয়েছিলো ১৮৮২ সালে।
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By Gavin FischerBBC News, South Africa It was the middle of the night when the telephone call came, waking Nokubonga from her sleep. The girl at the other end of the line was just 500m away - and she said Nokubonga's daughter, Siphokazi, was being raped by three men they all knew well. Nokubonga's first response was to call the police, but there was no answer. She knew, anyway, that it would take them time to reach her village, in the rolling green and brown hills of South Africa's Eastern Cape province. She was the only person that could help. "I was scared, but then I was forced to go because it was my daughter," she said. "I was thinking that when I get there, she might be dead... Because she knew the perpetrators, and because they knew her and knew she knows them, they might think they had to kill her so she couldn't report them." Siphokazi had been visiting friends in a group of four small houses in the same village but had been left alone, asleep, when her friends went out at 01:30. Then three men who had been drinking in one of the other houses attacked her. Nokubonga's sparsely furnished hut has two rooms, a bedroom, where she had been sleeping, and a kitchen - where she picked up a knife. "I took it for me, for walking the distance between here and where the incident was taking place, because it is not safe," she says. "It was dark and I had to use the torch on my phone to light the way." She heard her daughter's screams as she approached the house. On entering the bedroom, the light from her phone enabled her to make out the awful sight of her daughter being raped. "I was scared… I just stood by the door and asked what they were doing. When they saw it was me, they came charging towards me, that's when I thought that I needed to defend myself, it was an automatic reaction," Nokubonga says. Nokubonga refuses to go into detail about what happened next. Find out more Listen to Nokubonga and Siphokazi talking on Outlook, on the BBC World Service Download the Outlook podcast The judge in the court case against the attackers said Nokubonga's testimony showed she had "become very emotional" as she saw one of the men raping her daughter, while the other two stood nearby with their trousers round their ankles, waiting to take their turn again. Judge Mbulelo Jolwana went on to say, "I understood her to mean that she was overcome with anger." But in recounting the story now, all Nokubonga will admit to was fear - for herself and her daughter - and her face betrays only sadness and pain. It's clear, though, that when the men charged at Nokubonga she fought back with her knife - and that as she stabbed them they tried to flee, with one even jumping out of a window. Two were seriously injured, and the other died. Nokubonga did not stay to find out how badly hurt they were. She took her daughter to a friend's house nearby. When the police arrived, Nokubonga was arrested and taken to the local police station, where she was kept in a cell. "I was thinking of my child," she says. "I got no information [about her]. It was a traumatic experience." At the same time, Siphokazi was in hospital worrying about her mother, imagining her in her cell and heartbroken about the prospect of her being jailed for years. "I wished that if she spent time in prison, I would be the one who would serve it on her behalf," she says. Still in shock, she could remember little or nothing of the attack. What she now knows she heard from her mother when she arrived at the hospital two days later, after being freed on bail. From that moment on they have been each other's emotional support. "I didn't get any counselling but my mother has been able to assist me," Siphokazi says. "I am recovering." Nokubonga's efforts are focused on ensuring that life continues just as it was before. "I'm still the mother and she is still the daughter," she says. They share a laugh about the closeness of their relationship, joking that Siphokazi cannot get married, because then Nokubonga would have no-one to look after. In the 18 months since the attack occurred they have come a long way. Buhle Tonise, the attorney who represented Nokubonga, remembers that both seemed to have given up when she first met them, a week after the attack. "The mother was distraught," she says. "When you are meeting with people that are at that level of poverty, then you know most of the time they would feel that the mother is going to jail because she has no-one to stand by her side. The justice system is for those who have money." As Buhle spoke to Nokubonga, Siphokazi watched her silently, as though the attack had deprived her of the power of speech. Although Buhle says she was confident Nokubonga could argue convincingly that she acted in self-defence, she feared it would be a struggle to overcome her client's overwhelming pessimism. What neither of them had foreseen was the help they would get from the media, which ended up creating the legend of the Lion Mama. It is rare in South Africa for a rape case to get more than basic news coverage. This may be in large part down to the sheer number of rapes in the country, estimated at around 110 per day - a situation President Cyril Ramaphosa recently labelled a national crisis. The Eastern Cape province - the country's poorest, with unemployment of over 45% - has a higher level of rape per capita of population than any other. In Lady Frere, the village where Nokubonga and Siphokazi live, there were 74 recorded rapes in the year 2017/2018 - an astonishingly high figure for somewhere with a population of less than 5,000. But among the numerous harrowing stories of rape in South Africa, Nokubonga and Siphokazi's story stood out. The press quickly latched on to the tale of a mother protecting her daughter. Unable to name Nokubonga, to protect her daughter's anonymity, one newspaper labelled her "Lion Mama", placing the story next to a picture of a lion and her cubs. The name stuck. "For me, at first, I didn't like it because I couldn't understand," Nokubonga says. "But in the end I knew it meant I was a hero, because when you look at a lion it would protect its cubs." The public responded by criticising the decision to charge Nokubonga with murder and raising funds to help her mount her legal defence. This raised her spirits, but the extent of the public support did not sink in until her first appearance in a local magistrate's court, a month after the attack. "Going to court I was scared, I woke up and said a prayer," she says. When she got there, she found the place was full of well-wishers. "There were a whole lot of people from all over South Africa. What I said to people is thank you, because the fact that the court was filled to the rafters, it meant that they supported me. They really gave me hope." She was quickly called before the magistrate. "I was told the charges had been withdrawn," she says. "I just stood there, but I was excited, I was happy. At that moment I knew the justice system is able to separate right from wrong, they were able to tell I had no intentions of taking someone's life." Buhle Tonise recalls the impact the magistrate's decision had on Siphokazi as well. "After the case was withdrawn, she calls her daughter. For the first time ever I heard her daughter laugh. I think that's when [Siphokazi] said she also wants to see the guys going to jail." They had to wait over a year for that to happen, but in December 2018 the two remaining attackers, 30-year-old Xolisa Siyeka and 25-year-old Mncedisi Vuba - members of the same clan as Nokubonga and Siphokazi - were each sentenced to 30 years in prison. "I was happy about it," says Siphokazi, now 27. "I felt a bit safe, but a part of me just felt they deserved life imprisonment." This is as close as Siphokazi gets to showing anger toward her attackers. Once the case was finished, she decided to waive her anonymity in order to give encouragement to other rape survivors. "I would tell a person that even after such an attack there is even life beyond it, you can still go back to society. You can still live your life," she says. Nokubonga also shows a surprising lack of anger for someone compared by the media to a lioness. In fact, she has hopes that her daughter's rapists can achieve something positive in the future. "I'm hoping that when they finish their sentence they'll come back as reformed or changed people," she says, "to tell a story about it and be a living example." You may also be interested in: Pili Hussein wanted to make her fortune prospecting for a precious stone that's said to be a thousand times rarer than diamonds, but since women weren't allowed down the mines she dressed up as man and fooled her male colleagues for almost a decade. Read: I acted as a man to get work - until I was accused of rape Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.
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নকুবঙ্গা কাম্পি দক্ষিণ আফ্রিকায় পরিচিত হয়ে উঠেছেন একজন 'লায়ন মামা' অর্থাৎ 'সিংহ মা' হিসেবে। তার মেয়ের তিন ধর্ষণকারীর একজনকে হত্যা এবং বাকি দু'জনকে মেরে আহত করার পর লোকজন তাকে এভাবেই ডাকতে শুরু করে।
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By Dr Sophie Hawkesworth & Dr Lindsay KeirWellcome But the truth is more complex. Nine out of 10 countries are in the grip of a health epidemic known as the "double burden" - where overweight and undernourished people live side-by-side. A worldwide explosion in the availability of unhealthy foods, a shift towards office jobs and the growth of transport and television are among the many causes. Often, this double burden occurs not only within a community, but also within the same family. It can even happen within the same person, who is overweight but lacking in vital nutrients. Alternatively, they can be part of a phenomenon known as "thin-fat", where people appear to be a healthy weight, but carry large amounts of hidden fat. Obese children Every country in the world is struggling with a nutrition problem of some kind. The number of people suffering from chronic food deprivation reached an estimated 815m in 2016 - a 5% increase in two years. Much of the increase was in Africa, where 20% of people were malnourished. Meanwhile, obesity rates have tripled over the last 40 years. Globally, more than 600m adults are obese, while 1.9bn are overweight. The number of obese people in developing countries is catching up with the developed world. The highest rates of childhood obesity can be found in Micronesia, the Middle East and the Caribbean. And since 2000 the number of obese children in Africa has doubled. In many places it is common to find children whose diet does not meet their needs. In South Africa, almost one in three boys are overweight or obese, while a further third are underweight. In Brazil, 36% of girls are overweight or obese, while 16% are classed as underweight. Money to spend Lifestyle changes are partly to blame for the double burden of obesity and under-nourishment. Many low and middle-income countries, such as India and Brazil, have a new middle class with disposable income, rather than just the money to spend on essentials. Often, this has meant a move away from traditional foods towards more Western diets high in sugars, fats and meat, and low in unrefined grains and beans. In some countries this has also happened as people move from the countryside to the city, where there is much more choice of food. For example, a study of young children in China suggested that in the countryside, obesity rates were 10%, while the malnutrition rate was 21%. In cities, 17% of children were obese while 14% were malnourished. Although many people's diets may be higher in calories, they can still offer too few vitamins and minerals. Professor Ranjan Yajnik, a diabetes specialist in Pune, India, is seeing first-hand one impact this change of diets is having. "Diabetes was considered a disease of the older and more obese," he says. "But in India we're seeing it in younger people and with a lower BMI." Indians are eating fewer nutrient-rich foods and getting more calories from junk food, he says, resulting in the problem of thin-fat - "people who are thin by most criteria are actually carrying large amounts of hidden fat". Hidden, or visceral fat, accumulates around internal organs, including the liver. High levels of visceral fat may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, even if the carrier doesn't look overweight. Tackling hunger Children are particularly vulnerable to unhealthy diets, as they need vitamins and minerals in order to grow and develop normally. Some households contain children who are undernourished, even as they eat the same diet as their obese parents, because they are deficient in vitamins. Research also suggests stunted or malnourished children are more likely to become overweight later in life, as their metabolism slows and their body hangs on to fat reserves. This means countries need to be careful that policies aimed at tackling hunger do not accidentally add to the problem of over-nutrition. In Chile during the 1920s, a national programme was introduced to provide rations to pregnant women and the under-sixes. This reduced hunger but in the long-term is thought to have contributed to Chile's rapidly rising rates of childhood obesity. The West While the double burden may be particularly prevalent in developing countries, the problem is also found in richer nations. In the UK, for example, more than a quarter of adults are obese, costing the NHS an estimated £5.1bn each year. At the same time, 3.7m children live in households which cannot afford to follow healthy dietary guidelines, with one in 10 living with severe food insecurity. In the European Union, 14% of 15-19 year-olds are underweight, and a similar proportion are overweight or obese. However, more than half of over-18s are overweight or obese, while just 2% are underweight. Choices The causes of this double burden are complicated. It is not only a question of having access to healthy foods, and no two people or cultures view nutrition in the same way. Our food choices are influenced by many things, some of which we may not be aware of. They include cost, local availability, time pressures, healthily eating knowledge and the diets of people around us. And every person's nutritional needs are different. This partly depends upon their metabolism and how good their health was to start off with. The cost to the individual and society of over and under-nutrition are numerous. Children who grow up undernourished often do worse in school and earn less throughout their life. Childhood obesity is likely to lead to poorer health in adulthood, and increases the risk of diseases like cancer later on. Malnutrition is a particular risk for older people - making them twice as likely to visit their doctor and at risk of longer hospital stays. Making progress In developing countries, problems like diabetes and heart disease are likely to soar in tandem with obesity rates. For health systems which have traditionally focused on infectious diseases such as malaria and have small budgets, this will be a huge challenge. What can be done? South America - where many countries suffer from the double burden - is leading the way. Brazil was the first country to sign up to the UN's Decade of Action on Nutrition, making many commitments. These include halting the growth in obesity, cutting consumption of sugary drinks by 30% and increasing fruit and vegetable intake by 18%. It aims to achieve these with policies such as microloans to farmers, reducing tax on certain fresh foods and educating children on nutrition. Mexico was the first country to implement a 'sugar tax', imposing a 10% levy on artificially sweetened drinks in 2014. This tax is predicted to reduce obesity rates by 12.5% in 12 years, and other countries such as the UK are now adopting similar measures. But much more is needed in order to halt this global nutrition crisis. About this piece This analysis piece was commissioned by the BBC from experts working for an outside organisation. Dr Sophie Hawkesworth works in the population health team at Wellcome and Dr Lindsay Keir is in Wellcome's Clinical and Physiological Sciences Department. They spoke at the October Wellcome/WHO conference "Transforming Nutrition Science for Better Health" with the aim of generating new ideas and collaborations in global nutrition research. Edited by Eleanor Lawrie
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ওবেসিটি বা স্থুলতাকে পশ্চিমা সমাজের আর অপুষ্টিকে দরিদ্র দেশের সমস্যা হিসেবেই মনে করা হতো। কিন্তু সত্যটা আরও জটিল।
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Air India's company advisory instructs crew to say the phrase after a "slight pause and with much fervour". This quickly inspired tweets of imaginary in-flight announcements that end with "Jai Hind". But many wondered if patriotism was the right focus for the struggling airline. Air India, which is in severe debt, has not turned a profit since 2007 and a recent government offer to sell a controlling stake in it failed to attract any takers. The directive from Air India comes at a time when patriotism is particularly high in India. The country has been at loggerheads with its nuclear-armed neighbour Pakistan over the past few weeks, following a deadly suicide bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary troops in the disputed Kashmir region. The incident which led to airstrikes by India and the subsequent capture and release of an Indian pilot by Pakistan, saw increasing nationalist sentiment fuelled by national and social media. While some people welcomed the Air India directive on Monday, others joked about how unusual it might sound to end in-flight announcements - mundane or otherwise - with an energetic "Jai Hind". One Twitter user even suggested a competition to see which passengers respond with the loudest "Jai Hind" - with the winner getting a free upgrade. Air India, the country's oldest commercial airline, has long been the butt of jokes focusing on its customer service and old planes. It was recently in the news for a bed bug infestation on one of its aircraft. So Twitter users did not miss the opportunity to also poke fun at the airline for delays and cancellations.
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ভারতের রাষ্ট্রীয় বিমান সংস্থা এয়ার ইন্ডিয়া তার ক্রুদের বলেছে, যাত্রীদের উদ্দেশ্য করে ঘোষণার সময় তাদের প্রতিবার 'জয় হিন্দ' বলতে হবে।
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They said he had endured a "long-term battle with a progressive lung condition" which "rapidly worsened towards the end of this year". He died at home on Monday with his family by his side, who said they were "heartbroken". Tributes have been paid from the world of entertainment for the "true telly legend". His career spanned five decades. 'Life and soul' Chegwin was perhaps best known for hosting programmes including children's game show Cheggers Plays Pop, Swap Shop and Saturday Superstore. The Liverpool-born star began his career as a child actor, starring in films such as Roman Polanski's Macbeth and TV shows including The Liver Birds, The Adventures of Black Beauty and Z-Cars. He went on to appear in reality TV shows including Celebrity Big Brother. The larger-than-life character, described by his family as "a loving husband, father, son, brother, uncle and friend", leaves his wife Maria and two children. Chegwin had been cared for at a hospice in recent weeks. His last tweet was posted on 28 September. 'Childhood memories' Chegwin was previously married to fellow TV presenter Maggie Philbin, whom he had met on Swap Shop. Philbin paid tribute to her former husband, saying: "It is incredibly sad. Keith was a one-off. Full of life, generous and with a focus on things that mattered - his family. "I saw him two months ago at his sister Janice's wedding, where he was still attempting to be life and soul of the party despite being on portable oxygen and made sure he knew how much he meant to us all. "Our daughter Rose flew home from San Francisco to be with him over the last few weeks and I know he was surrounded by so much love from his second wife Maria, their son Ted, his sister Janice, his twin brother Jeff and his father Colin." Fellow Swap Shop presenter Noel Edmonds said in a statement: "I've lost my first real telly chum and I'm certain I'm not alone in shedding tears for a true telly legend. "The greatest achievement for any TV performer is for the viewers to regard you as a friend and today millions will be grateful for Keith's contribution to their childhood memories and like me they will mourn the passing of a friend." Ricky Gervais, who created the series Extras which Chegwin starred in, described him as a "national treasure". 'Great character' Gaby Roslin, who worked with Chegwin on The Big Breakfast, described him as "so generous and kind" and a "happy and joyous man". John Craven, who worked with Chegwin on Swap Shop told BBC News that his colleague "never lost his cool. I never saw Keith when he wasn't happy. He was a great, great character." He added: "We were great friends for many years, but we lost touch a bit and [his death] came as a huge shock for me." Presenter Chris Evans, who worked with Chegwin on the Big Breakfast, tweeted: "Very sad and shocked to hear of the passing of Keith Chegwin. The king of outside broadcast." Bobby Davro said Chegwin was "one of the nicest guys" in showbiz. And Tony Blackburn said he was "devastated" at the loss of his friend. Blackburn told BBC News that Chegwin was "exactly the same (off air) as he was on television" and that he never saw him with a script. "He was the most lovely person I've ever met and I'm so sad he's no longer with us," he added. 'Saturday morning hero' Breakfast presenter Lorraine Kelly said he was "a kind, funny, brave man". And Fiona Phillips, who also worked with him on breakfast TV, also paid tribute to her friend. Phillip Schofield, who presented Saturday morning show Going Live, described Chegwin as "one of my many original Saturday morning heroes". Chegwin also had a hit single with I Wanna Be A Winner in 1981. The novelty hit, which was recorded by Chegwin and his Swap Shop co-hosts under the name Brown Sauce, reached number 15 in the charts. His career fell away in the 80s and 90s and he had a well-documented struggle with alcoholism for many years. But it was revived by a stint on the Big Breakfast. He went on to make infamous Channel 5 nudist gameshow Naked Jungle, appearing naked except for a hat - which he later described as the "worst career move" of his "entire life". Chegwin - known affectionately by the nickname Cheggers - also appeared in Celebrity Big Brother, Bargain Hunt Famous Finds and Dancing on Ice. He was due to appear in the 2012 Dancing on Ice series but had to pull out after breaking his ribs during the first day of rehearsal. He returned as a contestant the following year. He also took part in Pointless Celebrities and Masterchef. The disease Chegwin had is called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which causes scarring of the lungs. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
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স্টিভেন হকিং এর পরিবারের একজন মুখপাত্র বলছেন, ৭৬ বছর বয়সে তিনি মারা যান।
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1. Pollution drops As countries go into lockdown over the virus, there have been significant drops in pollution levels. Both China and northern Italy have recorded major falls in nitrogen dioxide - a serious air pollutant and powerful warming chemical - amid reduced industrial activity and car journeys. Researchers in New York also told the BBC that early results showed carbon monoxide, mainly from cars, had been reduced by nearly 50% compared with last year. And with airlines cancelling flights en masse and millions working from home, countries around the world are expected to follow this downward path. You can read more about the drops in pollution levels here. 2. Canals go clear On a similar note, residents of Venice have noticed a vast improvement in the water quality of the famous canals running through the city. The streets of the popular tourist destination in northern Italy have emptied amid the outbreak leading to a drastic drop in water traffic, which has allowed sediment to settle. The usually murky water has gone so clear that fish can even be seen. 3. Acts of kindness There are plenty of stories of panic buying and fights over toilet roll and tins, but the virus has also spurred acts of kindness around the world. Two New Yorkers amassed 1,300 volunteers in 72 hours to deliver groceries and medicine to elderly and vulnerable people in the city. Facebook said hundreds of thousands of people in the UK had joined local support groups set up for the virus, while similar groups have been formed in Canada, sparking a trend there known as "caremongering". Supermarkets in Australia are among those to create a special "elderly hour" so older shoppers and those with disabilities have a chance to shop in peace. People have also donated money, shared recipe and exercise ideas, sent uplifting messages to self-isolating elderly people and transformed businesses into food distribution centres. 4. A united front Between a hectic work and home life it is often easy to feel disconnected from those around you. As the virus affects us all, it has brought many communities around the world closer together. In Italy, where a countrywide lockdown is in place, people have joined together on their balconies for morale-boosting songs. A fitness instructor in southern Spain led an exercise class from a low roof in the middle of an apartment complex, which residents in isolation joined from their balconies. Many people have used the opportunity to reconnect with friends and loved ones over phone or video calls, while groups of friends have organised virtual clubbing or pub sessions using mobile apps (including those of us in the BBC who are working from home). The virus has also highlighted the importance of health workers and other people working in key services. Thousands of Europeans have taken to their balconies and windows to applaud the doctors and nurses fighting the virus, while medical students in London have volunteered to help healthcare professionals with childcare and household chores. 5. A creativity boom With millions of people now stuck in isolation, many are using the opportunity to get creative. Social media users have shared details of their new hobbies, including reading, baking, knitting and painting. The DC Public Library in Washington is among those hosting a virtual book club, while Italian Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura has launched an Instagram series called Kitchen Quarantine, teaching basic recipes to aspiring foodies who are stuck at home. An art teacher in the US state of Tennessee has been live-streaming classes for children who are out of school, inspiring them to get creative at home. And while many public spaces have been shut, art fans have been making the most of virtual tours offered by the world's biggest galleries, observing the famous paintings of the Louvre in Paris and the classic sculptures of the Vatican museum from their living rooms. Australia's Sydney Observatory offered a tour of the night sky for people stuck at home. Pop stars including Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and country singer Keith Urban have also been live-streaming gigs to combat the boredom of self-isolation. On Monday, we're going to bring you a day of live coverage focusing on the positive stories, like these, that are emerging from the coronavirus crisis. We hope you can join us from 07:00 GMT.
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বিশ্বব্যাপী করোনাভাইরাস মহামারির ভয়াবহতা নিয়ে মানুষ এখন দিন কাটাচ্ছে আতঙ্কে। সংক্রমণ বাড়ছে, মৃত্যুর হারও বাড়ছে লাফিয়ে লাফিয়ে। বিভিন্ন দেশে ছোটবড় অনেক শহর অবরুদ্ধ করে দেয়া হচ্ছে। বহু মানুষকে জনবিচ্ছিন্ন অবস্থায় থাকতে বাধ্য করা হচ্ছে।
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A BBC report found that hundreds of children from the Uighur minority ethnic group had had both parents detained, either in camps or in prison. At the same time, China has launched a large-scale campaign to build boarding schools for Uighur children. Critics say it is an effort to isolate children from their Muslim communities. However, Chinese ambassador Liu Xiaoming dismissed this. "There's no separation of children from their parents. Not at all," the ambassador told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday. "If you have people who have lost their children, give me names and we'll try to locate them", he added. Evidence gathered by the BBC showed that in one Xinjiang township alone more than 400 children had lost both of their parents to some form of internment. Chinese authorities claim the Uighurs are being educated in "vocational training centres" designed to combat extremism. But evidence suggests that many are being detained for simply expressing their faith - praying or wearing a veil - or for having overseas connections to places like Turkey. More than a million people are thought to be held within the system. After parents are detained, formal assessments are then carried out to determine whether the children need "centralised care". One local official told the BBC that children whose parents had been detained in camps were sent to boarding schools. "We provide accommodation, food and clothes… and we've been told by the senior level that we must look after them well," she said. But Dr Adrian Zenz, who carried out the research commissioned by the BBC, said boarding schools "provide the ideal context for a sustained cultural re-engineering of minority societies." "I think the evidence for systematically keeping parents and children apart is a clear indication that Xinjiang's government is attempting to raise a new generation cut off from original roots, religious beliefs and their own language," he said. Dozens of Uighur parents living in Turkey spoke to the BBC about their desire to be united with their missing children. "I don't know who is looking after them... there is no contact at all," one mother said. Thousands of Uighurs have moved to Turkey to do business, to visit family, or to escape China's birth control limits and what they call religious repression. Many stayed after China began detaining hundreds of thousands of Uighurs over the past three years. Mr Liu, however, described the parents who spoke to the BBC as "anti-government people". "You cannot expect a good word [from them] about the government," he said. "If they want to be with their children they can come back."
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চীনের পশ্চিম শিনজিয়াং এলাকায় মুসলিম শিশুদেরকে কৌশলে তাদের বাবা-মা থেকে বিচ্ছিন্ন করার অভিযোগ অস্বীকার করেছে যুক্তরাজ্যে নিযুক্ত চীনা রাষ্ট্রদূত।
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Lower courts had deemed the ban unconstitutional, but the US top court reversed the decision in a 5-4 conservative majority ruling. At a White House meeting to discuss Mr Trump's proposed border wall he lauded the decision as "a tremendous success". The court's reversal is viewed as a victory for the Trump administration. The ban prohibits most people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen from entering the US. Mr Trump said the Supreme Court decision was a "great victory" for the nation and constitution. "We have to be tough and we have to be safe and we have to be secure," the Republican president said in Tuesday's meeting with lawmakers. "The ruling shows that all the attacks from the media and the Democrat politicians were wrong, and they turned out to be very wrong," he added. He added: "If you look at the European Union, they're meeting right now to toughen up their immigration policies because they've been over-run, they've been over-run. "And frankly, a lot of those countries are not the same places anymore." The travel ban, which the Supreme Court allowed to take effect in December, has been widely criticised by refugee and human rights groups. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion, which said the travel ban was "squarely within the scope of Presidential authority". He also rejected arguments that the ban discriminated against Muslims. "The Proclamation is expressly premised on legitimate purposes: preventing entry of nationals who cannot be adequately vetted and inducing other nations to improve their practices," Chief Justice Roberts wrote. "The text says nothing about religion." Shortly after the Supreme Court released its decision, President Donald Trump shared the news from his Twitter account. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined Justice Sonia Sotomayor in the dissenting opinion, which argues the court failed to uphold the religious liberty guaranteed by the first amendment of the US constitution. "It leaves undisturbed a policy first advertised openly and unequivocally as a 'total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States' because the policy now masquerades behind a facade of national-security concerns," Justice Sotomayor wrote. The dissent also states that "a reasonable observer would conclude that [the ban] was motivated by anti-Muslim animus". What does this ruling mean? The travel ban has been in place since December, when the Supreme Court ruled that it could go into full effect, pending legal challenges. The ban prevents most immigrants, refugees and visa holders from five Muslim-majority countries - Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen - as well as North Korea and Venezuela from entering the US. But the restrictions on North Korea and Venezuela were not part of the legal challenge. The ban allows for waivers on a case-by-case basis, but applicants who cannot afford an attorney to go through the waiver process will likely be unable to immigrate to the US, immigration advocates say. Justice Stephen Breyer noted in his dissenting opinion that the State Department reported that only two waivers were approved out of 6,555 applicants during the first month of the travel ban. The high court has been issuing a number of decisions this week, including a ruling against a California law that required clinics to inform women of the availability of abortions paid for by the state. The Court ruled that the law violated the free speech rights of Christian facilities. Third time's a charm Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC News - at the scene Despite the controversial nature of Donald Trump's travel ban, there were more abortion rights activists outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning than immigration protesters. Perhaps it's because abortion has been a contentious legal battle for decades, while the president's travel directive had been in effect, and out of the headlines, for months. Attention in recent weeks has been on migrants coming across the southern US border, not visitors and prospective residents from countries like Libya, Iran, Yemen and Syria. Nevertheless, this marks a significant victory for Mr Trump - and for presidential power to set immigration policy in general - albeit by the narrowest of margins. The five court justices said they took the president's order on its face, and separated it from his more bombastic anti-Muslim comments made on the presidential campaign trail and via Twitter. The travel ban was implemented haphazardly at the start of the Trump administration and faced repeated setbacks from the US legal system. In the end, however, the president got his way - or at least enough of his way to claim success. The third time turned out to be the charm. What's the reaction? The White House issued a statement saying the ruling was "a tremendous victory for the American People and the Constitution". "In this era of worldwide terrorism and extremist movements bent on harming innocent civilians, we must properly vet those coming into our country." Immigration lawyer Cyrus Mehta told the BBC that the majority opinion "gave in to President Trump's hate and bigotry and will be viewed as a blemish". He added that Congress could overrule the decision "so that a future president will not have a blank cheque to block the entire people of a nation - from babies to grandmothers - out of hate, fear or bigotry. That is our only hope for redemption as a nation". Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement that the decision was "critical to ensuring the continued authority of President Trump - and all future presidents - to protect the American people". Omar Jadwat, director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Immigrant Rights Project called the ruling one of the court's "great failures". "We must make it crystal clear to our elected representatives: If you are not taking action to rescind and dismantle Trump's Muslim ban, you are not upholding this country's most basic principles of freedom and equality." What's the context? Mr Trump's ban has seen several iterations. Iraq and Chad were banned in previous versions. Iraq was removed for having "a close co-operative relationship with the US" and Chad for having "sufficiently improved its practices". The administration said that the ban was the result of carefully considering national security interests, but critics argued it was fulfilling his campaign promise for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States". The state of Hawaii had challenged the ban and a federal judge blocked its implementation. Critics have noted that major attacks such as the 9/11 New York attacks, the Boston marathon bombing and the Orlando nightclub attack were carried out by people from countries not on the list, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kyrgyzstan, or by US-born attackers.
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বিশ্বের পাঁচটি মুসলিম সংখ্যাগরিষ্ঠ দেশের জনগণের আমেরিকা ভ্রমণের নিষেধাজ্ঞার ব্যাপারে সমর্থন দিয়ে মার্কিন সুপ্রিম কোর্টের সিদ্ধান্তকে স্বাগত জানিয়েছেন মার্কিন প্রেসিডেন্ট ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প।
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The rapper will perform at the Jeddah World Fest on 18 July. The concert is the latest example of the kingdom loosening restrictions on entertainment and encouraging the growth of the arts sector. "Nicki Minaj" trended on Twitter on Wednesday as people reacted to the announcement. "Imagine waking up from a three year coma and the first thing you hear is Nicki Minaj [is] opening a musical festival in Saudi Arabia, I'd honestly think I woke up in some parallel universe," one person wrote. Another questioned if the event organisers had Googled the performer prior to booking her. "No one in Saudi Arabia googled Nicki Minaj did they?" tweeted Kabir Taneja. Not all the reaction was as light-hearted. One Twitter user wrote that Minaj's performance would be inappropriate, given its proximity to Mecca - Islam's holiest city. In a video posted on Twitter, a woman wearing a headscarf questioned why the authorities were welcoming the rapper, while requiring Saudi women wear the abaya - a long loose-fitting robe used to cover their bodies in public. "She's going to go and shake her ass and all her songs are indecent and about sex and shaking ass," she said. "And then you tell me to wear the abaya. What the hell?" Others suggested the singer's decision to perform in the country was hypocritical, contrasting her appearances at gay pride events with the Kingdom's stance on homosexuality. Homosexuality is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. Minaj is not the first performer to cause controversy by accepting an invitation to perform in Saudi Arabia. Mariah Carey defied calls from human rights activists to cancel her performance in the kingdom, while rapper Nelly came under fire for performing a "men only" concert. The recent loosening of restrictions on many forms of entertainment is part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious plan to diversify the country's economy. Turki Al al-Sheikh, the head of the General Entertainment Authority, set out his vision for the future of the Saudi entertainment industry in a tweet in January. "God willing, the focus in entertainment in the next phase would be on events, circus performances, mobile theme parks, plays and programmes to develop young men and women and to support national entertainment companies," he wrote.
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সৌদি আরবের একটি সংগীত উৎসবে নিকি মিনাজ অংশ নেবেন বলে ঘোষণা আসার পর সৌদি আরবের সামাজিক মাধ্যমে বিতর্ক শুরু হয়েছে। অনেকেই প্রশ্ন তুলছেন নিকি মিনাজের পোশাক এবং খোলামেলা গানের বক্তব্য রক্ষণশীল রাজতন্ত্রের এই দেশটির সঙ্গে ঠিক খাপ খায় না।
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Speaking to NBC on Friday, he said the US was open to talks but would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. He also expanded on his last-minute decision to call off strikes planned in response to the shooting down of a US unmanned drone this week, saying he had been told 150 Iranians would be killed. "I didn't like it. I didn't think it was proportionate," he said. Tehran says the unmanned US aircraft entered Iranian airspace early on Thursday morning. The US maintains it was shot down in international airspace. Tensions have been escalating between the two countries, with the US recently blaming Iran for attacks on oil tankers operating in the region. Iran has announced it will soon exceed international agreed limits on its nuclear programme. Last year, the US unilaterally pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear activities. The US has now asked the UN Security Council to meet on Monday to discuss Iran. What did Trump tell NBC? He said a plan of attack was "ready to go, subject to my approval" but said he had then asked generals how many people would be killed. "I thought about it for a second and I said, you know what, they shot down an unmanned drone, plane, whatever you want to call it, and here we are sitting with 150 dead people that would have taken place probably within a half an hour after I said go ahead," he told NBC. He denied suggestions that aircraft had already been on their way to attack Iranian targets - reportedly including Iranian radar and missile batteries - saying: "No planes were in the air." Addressing Iran's leaders, Mr Trump said: "You can't have nuclear weapons. And if you want to talk about it, good. Otherwise, you can live in a shattered economy for a long time to come." Earlier on Friday Mr Trump tweeted that the US had been "cocked and loaded" to strike. What reaction has there been? Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was glad the president had not carried out the strikes and said he should seek congressional authorisation before military action. Adam Smith - the Democratic chair of the House Armed Services Committee - warned it was "not smart" of the president to make the details public, saying it undermined the notion of a clear US plan. Some US media reports said the strikes had been recommended by the Pentagon, while others said top Pentagon officials had warned a military response could result in a spiralling escalation with risks for US forces in the region. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton had pushed for a hardline stance, but congressional leaders had urged caution, the Associated Press reported. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency order on Thursday evening prohibiting US airlines from operating in an overwater area of Tehran-controlled airspace nearby in response. Airlines from other countries, including Britain's British Airways, the Dutch carrier KLM, Emirates, and Qantas of Australia, have also said they will re-route their flights to avoid parts of Iran. Meanwhile, a UK government minister will hold talks with Iranian officials in Tehran on Sunday. Andrew Murrison will call for "urgent de-escalation" in the region, the Foreign Office said. What does Iran say? An official warned that "any attack against Iran will have regional and international consequences". "When you violate Iranian territorial space, then we defend," Seyed Sajjadpour, one of Iran's deputy foreign ministers, told the BBC. It was clear, he added, that there were members of Donald Trump's administration who were intent on overthrowing Iran's government. President Trump's decision to order – and then abort – an attack still sends a powerful message to Tehran. The two countries came to the brink of direct conflict. But in this complex game of signalling, just what message will the Iranian leadership receive? It, after all, had sent a significant warning of its own by downing an unmanned US reconnaissance drone. Mr Trump initially appeared to play down the incident – but then apparently came the orders for a US retaliatory strike. That was followed by a last-minute change of heart. The danger now is that Iran receives mixed messages that convey uncertainty and lack of resolve. This might encourage some in Tehran to push back at the Americans even harder. There appears to be no diplomatic "off-ramp" in this crisis. US economic sanctions are hitting home. Tehran is under pressure. Escalation remains an ever-present danger. What happened with the drone? Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced its air force had shot down a US "spy" drone on Thursday morning after the unmanned aircraft violated Iranian airspace near Kuhmobarak in the southern province of Hormozgan. IRGC commander-in-chief Maj-Gen Hossein Salami said the drone's downing was a "clear message" to the US that Iran's borders were "our red line". However, US military officials maintain the drone was in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz at the time. Iranian officials say two warnings were issued 10 minutes before the drone was shot down. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a high-ranking officer in the IRGC, said another military aircraft, carrying 35 passengers, had been flying close to the drone. "We could have shot down that one too, but we did not," he said. The shooting down of the drone followed accusations by the US that Iran had attacked two oil tankers with mines last Thursday just outside the Strait of Hormuz, in the Gulf of Oman.
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মার্কিন প্রেসিডেন্ট ট্রাম্প বলেছেন, তিনি ইরানের সাথে যুদ্ধ চান না, কিন্তু সংঘাত বেধে গেলে, ইরানকে 'নিশ্চিহ্ন' করে দেওয়া হবে।
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Reuters photographer Ahmed Jadallah and reporter Rania El Gamal joined some of the 200 women employees being taught at Saudi Aramco Driving Center in Dhahran. One of the students is Maria al-Faraj (pictured left below), who is having a lesson with driving instructor Ahlam al-Somali. As well as being taught to drive, she is also learning how to check oil levels, change a tyre and the importance of wearing a seat belt. The lifting of the driving ban is a huge moment for the women of Saudi Arabia. Previously they could face arrest and a fine if caught driving, and were reliant on male members of their family to either drive them or hire private drivers. Architect Amira Abdulgader (pictured below) says that on 24 June she plans to be sitting at the wheel of a car giving a ride to her mother. "Sitting behind the wheel [means] that you are the one controlling the trip," Amira Abdulgader said. "I will be the one to decide when to go, what to do, and when I will come back. "We need the car to do our daily activities. We are working, we are mothers, we have a lot of social networking, we need to go out - so we need transport. It will change my life." Women make up 5% of Aramco's 66,000-strong workforce, meaning some 3,000 more could eventually enrol in the driving school, Reuters says. Although Saudi Arabia has been widely praised for deciding to lift the ban, it has not been without controversy. Activists who have been campaigning for the ban to be lifted say they have received online death threats, and a number were arrested in May on suspicion of being "traitors" and working with foreign powers. Photos by Ahmed Jadallah.
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সৌদি আরবে ২৪শে জুন থেকে নারীদের গাড়ি চালানোর ওপর নিষেধাজ্ঞা উঠে যাচ্ছে। তার জন্য ড্রাইভিং শেখার ধুম পড়েছে সৌদি নারীদের মধ্যে।
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A lockdown remains largely in place in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley but authorities said they were re-opening nearly 200 primary schools in Srinagar, the largest city. However, classrooms at schools visited by reporters mostly appeared empty. Parents said that they were worried about safety. Despite the security clampdown in Kashmir, there have been frequent protests against the loss of special status and some have turned violent. Kashmir is a Himalayan territory disputed by India and Pakistan. Each country controls part of the territory and the Indian-administered side - Jammu and Kashmir - has now been downgraded from a federal state and split into two union territories ruled by Delhi. There has been a separatist insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir for three decades, with tens of thousands of people killed. The government began partially restoring landline connectivity over the weekend, but mobile networks and the internet remained switched off as more protests were reported. BBC correspondents report that many parents prefer to keep their children at home until mobile networks are restored. The Reuters news agency quoted a teacher at one school as saying that students could not be expected to attend in such "volatile" conditions. It added that a number of the schools supposed to open had been been locked or very lightly staffed. Only government schools have re-opened, with private schools remaining closed, India's PTI news agency reports. Officials said that they were trying to ascertain how many students had attended in total. The communications blackout in the region has made reporting from Indian-administered Kashmir difficult. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has consistently defended the unilateral move to strip the region of its constitutional special status, saying that it was needed to facilitate economic development and improve security. But Kashmiri political leaders and activists have characterised the decision as a betrayal and have voiced fury that it was implemented without any consultation with local leaders. Well-known political leaders have been held in detention since the revocation of special status. Read more on Kashmir All pictures copyright
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ভারত শাসিত কাশ্মীরে বেশ কিছু স্কুল সোমবার খুলে দেয়া হয়েছে, কিন্তু শ্রেণী কক্ষে ছাত্র-ছাত্রীদের দেখা যায়নি একেবারেই।
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The draft law, part of a long-term drive by President Emmanuel Macron to uphold secular values, tightens rules on home-schooling and hate speech. Some critics, both in France and abroad, have accused his government of using it to target religion. But Prime Minister Jean Castex called it "a law of protection" that would free Muslims from the grip of radicals. He insisted that the text was not "aimed against religions or against the Muslim religion in particular". What is in the law? The bill "supporting Republican principles" would tighten restrictions on online hate speech and ban the use of the internet to maliciously reveal personal details about other people. This is seen as a response to the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty in October. Paty, 47, was killed near his school by a lone attacker after showing pupils cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The investigation has revealed an online campaign had been launched against him. The law also bans "clandestine" schools that promote Islamist ideology and tightens rules on home-schooling. It would also reinforce the ban on polygamy by refusing residency to polygamous applicants. Doctors could be fined or banned for performing virginity tests on girls. There are new rules on financial transparency for Muslim associations and a requirement that they sign up to France's republican values in return for funding. A ban on officials wearing religious attire at work is being extended to transport workers and staff at swimming pools and markets. Meanwhile, separate to the law, President Macron has agreed with France's Muslim Council (CFCM) for a national council of imams to be set up. The president is seeking to put a stop to hundreds of foreign imams practising in France. Why is the law being introduced? The draft law has been under consideration for some time but recent Islamist attacks pushed it up the agenda. Paty's murder was one of three attacks that outraged France. Three people were killed in stabbings at a church in Nice in October. Two people were stabbed and seriously hurt in September in Paris near the former offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine, where Islamist militants carried out a deadly attack in 2015. President Macron is a staunch defender of French republican values including state secularism. He has described Islam as a religion "in crisis" and defended the right of Charlie Hebdo to publish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. France has an estimated five million Muslims, Europe's largest Muslim minority. What has the reaction been? Mr Macron has become the target of sharp criticism in several Muslim-majority countries. Relations with Turkey, already strained, were further undermined with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan describing the legislation as an "open provocation" and saying Mr Macron was "mentally ill". Demonstrations have been held in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Lebanon. The US envoy on religious freedom, Sam Brownback, was also critical, saying: "When you get heavy-handed, the situation can get worse." In France itself, some left-wing politicians have expressed concern that the legislation could be seen as stigmatising Muslims. Le Monde newspaper says it could also antagonise other religious groups who practise home-schooling. But the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Paris says pressure has grown on President Macron to act. Tackling Islamist influence in the name of French secularism may be popular at home, but it's still a delicate operation for the state, she adds.
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ফ্রান্সে সম্প্রতি চরমপন্থীদের বেশ কয়েকটি হামলার পর ইসলামের উগ্রতাকে দমন করতে একটি বিল পাস করেছে ফরাসি মন্ত্রিসভা।
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Here are just some of the hurdles facing the UK after Brexit. 1. Agreeing a trade deal with the EU This legal departure from the EU means the UK can finally start formal trade negotiations - both with the EU and countries around the world, like the US. The government is determined not to extend the post-Brexit transition period - to discuss the future relationship with the EU - beyond the end of 2020. This means the timetable for getting an agreement with the EU is extremely tight. Formal talks are expected to begin in March, once the remaining 27 EU countries have agreed on instructions for their negotiators. Getting any agreement finally signed off and put into practice will take a couple of months towards the end of the year. So, realistically, that only leaves time for a fairly basic free trade deal to emerge, with plenty of issues still up for discussion once the transition period is over. The government talks about getting a "zero tariff, zero quota" deal on goods, with no border taxes and no limits on exports and imports. But there are a host of issues to be dealt with if the aim is to keep trade flowing as smoothly as possible, and that is before we mention the services sector. From financial and business services to the food and drinks industry, this accounts for more than 80% of UK jobs. It is of course in the interest of both sides to get a deal done, but it remains a massive task. Expect disputes about fisheries, fair competition, the role of the European Court of Justice and more. It is possible that no deal will be done in time, which will generate a fresh crisis in UK/EU relations as 2020 draws to a close. 2. Keeping the UK secure If the challenge to get a trade deal within 11 months is not hard enough, the UK must also agree a treaty to paper over legal cracks in the way countries work together on security. Policing and security experts in the UK and the EU agree that things will become harder after Brexit. For instance, the UK no longer has a place on the team that manages Europol, the agency that co-ordinates major investigations into Europe-wide organised crime. This means the UK's priorities - such as concerns about smuggling people or arms across the English Channel - may, slowly, fall down the pecking order. British police officers can, for now, still use EU systems to check criminal records of foreign nationals, or alerts on wanted people from around the continent. But access to that information could either end or become harder, because many member states have their own specific laws governing data-sharing beyond the EU. The government is trying to think ahead. It has, for instance, pledged to pass laws to ensure the same fast service the UK has enjoyed from the European Arrest Warrant - which allows suspects to be sent to another country for trial - if a deal cannot be struck. Everyone, on both sides, wants that. The question is whether it is legally doable - and if so, can it be done by January 2021? 3. Making sure the food keeps coming From farming and fishing to manufacturing and retail, the UK's food and drink sector adds £460bn to the UK economy every year, employing more than four million people. It represents a fifth of UK manufacturing, by far the biggest chunk of the sector. So there is some nervousness about what will happen to the complicated way that food and drink makes its way to consumers after the end of the transition period. A third of people in the industry are from outside the UK, with many from Eastern Europe. What happens if the number of such workers is restricted because of the introduction of a minimum salary being imposed for migrants? When it comes to trade, there is the prospect products may have to be opened and checked at borders which could add expense and cut the shelf life of fresh food. And the Food and Drink Federation, a body representing food manufacturers, says the most complex challenge is around trying to get a trade deal with Europe that satisfies what are called "rules of origin". UK manufacturers use a mixture of domestic and internationally-produced ingredients, which would not be allowed under rules included in recent EU trade deals. 4. Building a new role in the world The government has a huge task ahead to establish the UK's place in the world after leaving the EU. Ministers have to work out what the government's slogan "Global Britain" actually means. The traditional role of providing a transatlantic bridge between Europe and the US will be put to one side. Instead, ministers must develop a more independent foreign policy. That could mean less automatic support from the UK for the US, as it focuses more on domestic issues and less on its relations with other countries. It will mean a new relationship with European allies, not through EU structures, but through smaller existing groups. These include the E3, an informal group made up of the UK, Germany and France, which has worked together on issues like relations with Iran. The biggest foreign policy challenge will be how to navigate a path between an increasingly stronger China and a defensive US, without the protective membership of the EU. To that end, Boris Johnson has ordered what he calls an 'integrated review" of the UK's security, defence and foreign policy which is expected to report later this year. Please upgrade your browser Your guide to Brexit jargon Use the list below or select a button 5. Showing that all the arguing was worth it The protesters who turn up on Westminster's College Green are a lonely bunch these days. Even the most ardent fan of the EU would have to admit that the heat has gone out of the passionate, and often vicious, political fight of the last few years. The challenge for Mr Johnson is now to show to the public that all the disruption, all the arguing, was actually worth it. That will not be easy. Brexiteers are keen to make the most of the powers that will come back to the UK from Brussels as soon as possible. But now we are in the departure lounge - the transition period where the status quo will stay pretty much the same. Even if you popped champagne on Friday night to celebrate the UK leaving the EU, when you woke up on Saturday morning not much would have actually felt very different. Can the enthusiasm and excitement on that side be managed? And even though the stay or leave debate is now at an end, some voters still believe we are setting off on a path of folly. And there are big fears that a trade deal No 10 wants simply is not doable by the end of the year. Mr Johnson would be perfectly happy if after Friday, the B-word was never heard again, but he needs to show to the public on both sides it was worth it. He has already found a place in the history books, but the chapter is not yet complete. What questions do you have about Brexit and how it will affect you in the future? In some cases your question will be published, displaying your name, age and location as you provide it, unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published. Please ensure you have read our terms & conditions and privacy policy. Use this form to ask your question:
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যুক্তরাজ্য ইউরোপীয় ইউনিয়ন ছেড়েছে কিন্তু এখনো অনেক প্রশ্ন রয়ে গেছে, যার উত্তর মেলেনি।
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By Paul RinconScience editor, BBC News website Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna are the first two women to share the prize, which honours their work on the technology of genome editing. Their discovery, known as Crispr-Cas9 "genetic scissors", is a way of making specific and precise changes to the DNA contained in living cells. They will split the prize money of 10 million krona (£861,200; $1,110,400). Biological chemist Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, commented: "The ability to cut DNA where you want has revolutionised the life sciences." Not only has the women's technology been transformative for basic research, it could also be used to treat inherited illnesses. Prof Charpentier, from the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens in Berlin, said it was an emotional moment when she learned about the award. "When it happens, you're very surprised, and you think it's not real. But obviously it's real," she said. On being one of the first two women to share the prize, Prof Charpentier said: "I wish that this will provide a positive message specifically for young girls who would like to follow the path of science... and to show them that women in science can also have an impact with the research they are performing." She continued: "This is not just for women, but we see a clear lack of interest in following a scientific path, which is very worrying." During Prof Charpentier's studies of the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes, she discovered a previously unknown molecule called tracrRNA. Her work showed that tracrRNA is part of the organism's system of immune defence. This system, known as Crispr-Cas, disarms viruses by cleaving their DNA - like genetic scissors. In 2011, the same year she published this work, Prof Charpentier began a collaboration with Prof Doudna, from the University of California, Berkeley. The two had been introduced by a colleague of Doudna's at a cafe in Puerto Rico, where the scientists were attending a conference. And it was on the following day, during a walk through the streets of the island's capital, San Juan, that Prof Charpentier proposed the idea of joining forces. Together, they recreated the bacterium's genetic scissors in a test tube. They also simplified the scissors' molecular components so they were easier to use. In their natural form, the bacterial scissors recognise DNA from viruses. But Charpentier and Doudna showed that they could be reprogrammed to cut any DNA molecule at a predetermined site, publishing their findings in a landmark 2012 paper. The breakthrough DNA snipping technology allowed the "code of life" to be rewritten. Since the two scientists discovered the Crispr-Cas9 genetic scissors, their use has exploded. The tool has contributed to many important discoveries in basic research; and, in medicine, clinical trials of new cancer therapies are underway. The technology also holds the promise of being able to treat or even cure inherited diseases. It is currently being investigated for its potential to treat sickle cell anaemia, a blood disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. But without regulation, some fear Crispr could equally be used to create "designer babies", opening up an ethical minefield. If genome-edited children grow up and have children, any alterations to their genomes could be passed down through the generations - introducing lasting changes to the human population. Last year, Chinese scientist He Jiankui was jailed for three years after creating the world's first gene-edited human babies. He was convicted of violating a government ban by carrying out his own experiments on human embryos, to try to give them protection against HIV. It had been thought a Nobel for this revolutionary science would not be awarded for many years because the technique is also the subject of a long-running patent battle in the US. The dispute involves Charpentier and Doudna's group at the University of California, Berkeley, and a team at MIT and Harvard's Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The disagreement centres on the use of the Crispr technique in eukaryotic cells - those cells that bundle their DNA in a nucleus. It is in such cells, which are found in higher animals, that the most profitable future applications will exist. The competing institutions claim their scientists made the crucial, most relevant advances. Emmanuelle Charpentier was born in 1968 in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France. She obtained her PhD while at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and subsequently worked at scientific institutes in the US, Austria, Sweden and Germany - in addition to her native France. Jennifer Doudna was born in 1964 in Washington DC but spent much of her childhood in Hilo, Hawaii. She was awarded her PhD by Harvard Medical School. This year is the first time any of the science prizes has been awarded to two women without a male collaborator also listed on the award. Swedish industrialist and chemist Alfred Nobel founded the prizes in his will, written in 1895 - a year before his death. Follow Paul on Twitter. Previous winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019 - John B Goodenough, M Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino share the prize for their work on lithium-ion batteries. 2018 - Discoveries about enzymes earned Frances Arnold, George P Smith and Gregory Winter the prize 2017 - Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson were awarded the prize for improving images of biological molecules 2016 - Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Fraser Stoddart and Bernard Feringa shared the prize for the making machines on a molecular scale. 2015 - Discoveries in DNA repair earned Tomas Lindahl and Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar the award. 2014 - Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell and William Moerner were awarded the prize for improving the resolution of optical microscopes. 2013 - Michael Levitt, Martin Karplus and Arieh Warshel shared the prize, for devising computer simulations of chemical processes. 2012 - Work that revealed how protein receptors pass signals between living cells and the environment won the prize for Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka.
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জিন প্রকৌশলের মাধ্যমে ডিএনএ সম্পাদনার সূক্ষ্মতম কৌশল উদ্ভাবনের স্বীকৃতি হিসাবে রসায়নে নোবেল পেয়েছেন দু'জন নারী গবেষক - ফ্রান্সের এমানুয়েল শাপেনটিয়ে এবং যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের জেনিফার ডুডনা।
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Mr Trump spoke as the two Gulf states signed agreements fully normalising their relations with Israel. The three countries hailed the deals as historic, as did Mr Trump, whose administration helped broker them. The Gulf states are just the third and fourth Arab countries to recognise Israel since its founding in 1948. Mr Trump hopes other countries will follow suit, but the Palestinians have urged them not to while their conflict remains unresolved. For decades, most Arab states have boycotted Israel, insisting they would only establish ties after Israel's dispute with the Palestinian was settled. "After decades of division and conflict we mark the dawn of a new Middle East," Mr Trump told a crowd of hundreds gathered at the White House on Tuesday. "We're here this afternoon to change the course of history," he added. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the deals, saying, "This day is a pivot of history; it heralds a new dawn of peace." But Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said only an Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories could bring peace to the Middle East. "Peace, security and stability will not be achieved in the region until the Israeli occupation ends," he said in a statement after the signing of the deals, AFP news agency reports. The Israeli army said that two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel while the ceremony was under way. Why are these agreements being hailed as 'historic'? Before the UAE and Bahrain, the only other Arab countries in the Middle East to recognise Israel officially were Egypt and Jordan, who signed peace treaties in 1978 and 1994 respectively. Mauritania, a member of the Arab League in north-west Africa, established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1999 but severed ties in 2010. All eyes will be on whether other countries in the region follow suit, above all Saudi Arabia. So far, the Saudis have signalled that they are not ready. The agreements are also likely to usher in new security ties in a region where many of the Gulf Arab states share with the Israelis a common adversary in Iran. A significant achievement Analysis by Gary O'Donoghue, Washington correspondent These agreements represent the most significant diplomatic achievement of the Trump administration. Persuading two Arab states to engage in this kind of rapprochement with Israel - without a solution to the Palestinian question - marks a significant move for pan-Arab unity. The specific details of the agreements are not yet public, but there will be embassies, commercial deals and the opening of travel links between the countries. Mr Trump even suggested five other Arab states were "far down the road" towards finalising similar arrangements. But the agreements have been condemned by the Palestinian leadership as a "black day" for the region. Developments on the ground in the occupied West Bank and Gaza could still derail these new relationships. Why have Palestinians condemned the deals? The Palestinians have said the agreements are dangerous betrayals. They believe the moves by the Gulf countries renege on a promise by Arab states not to embrace ties with Israel until Palestinian statehood is achieved. The UAE has said progress on Palestinian statehood is central, and that their agreement included a promise from Israel to "suspend" its controversial plan to annex key parts of the occupied West Bank that were allocated to it by President Trump under the Middle East peace plan he unveiled in January. The Palestinians rejected Mr Trump's proposals as biased towards Israel and warned that annexation would destroy their hopes of a viable future independent state and violate international law - a stance supported by much of the international community. The UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs told the BBC that it had sensed an "opportunity" when Mr Netanyahu signalled he would press ahead with annexation earlier this year. "Everybody was worried about the annexation of Palestinian lands, which was really a threat to the viability of the two-state solution," Anwar Gargash said. "And I think this sort of brought our plans forward and gave us a reason, a clear reason and clear rationale, why a decision that we would have taken in 2021 or 2022 should be taken now." Mr Gargash said he did not believe Mr Netanyahu or another Israeli leader would be likely to renege on the promise to suspend the annexation plans. The UAE has called on the Palestinian leadership to use this moment to reorganise its approach and prepare to re-engage in productive discussions with Israel. In a statement issued after he attended the ceremony at the White House, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said the deals were "a massive and welcome opportunity to recast the politics of the region". He said he understood Palestinian objections but that "in time, the Palestinian people will understand that it is only by radically changing strategy that the legitimate aspirations for a viable Palestinian state can be realised". What's the background? There is a backdrop of the regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran in these diplomatic moves. The decades-old feud between them is exacerbated by religious differences. They each follow one of the two main branches of Islam - Iran is largely Shia Muslim, while Saudi Arabia sees itself as the leading Sunni Muslim power. The UAE and Bahrain are both Saudi allies. Saudi Arabia's response will be watched closely. There is no indication yet it is ready to follow Bahrain and the UAE. Prior to the announcement of the UAE agreement in August - which included the suspension of Israel's controversial plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank - Israel had had no diplomatic relations with Gulf Arab countries. Last month saw the first official flight from Israel to the UAE, which was seen as a major step in normalising relations. President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, who was on the plane, described the UAE deal as having "the ability to change the whole course of the Middle East".
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সংযুক্ত আরব আমিরাত ও বাহরাইনের সাথে ইসরায়েলের ঐতিহাসিক চুক্তির দিনটিকে মার্কিন প্রেসিডেন্ট ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প বললেন 'নতুন মধ্যপ্রাচ্যের ভোর'।
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The rare admission, from Director of China's National Health Commission Li Bin, comes after sustained criticism abroad of China's early response. The country will now improve its disease prevention, public health system and data collection, he says. China has offered to help North Korea fight the pandemic there. Mr Li told journalists the pandemic was a significant challenge for China's governance, and that it exposed "the weak links in how we address major epidemic and the public health system." China has been accused of responding too slowly to early signs of the virus in Wuhan, where the outbreak began, and failing to quickly alert the international community of the outbreak. China has rejected calls for an independent international investigation into the origins of the virus. In April an EU report accused China of spreading misinformation about the crisis. A doctor who tried to alert authorities about the virus in December was told to stop "making false comments". Li Wenliang later died from Covid-19 in hospital in Wuhan. China has 4,637 deaths from coronavirus, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins university, and nearly 84,000 cases. Globally more than 275,000 people have died, with nearly 4m confirmed cases. A rare admission Celia Hatton, BBC Asia Pacific Regional Editor It's rare for Chinese leaders to admit wrongdoing. Li Bin said the commission would fix the problems by centralising its systems and making better use of big data and artificial intelligence, building on many of the leadership's longstanding objectives. China has faced tough criticism, domestically and abroad, over its early handling of the virus. Several provincial and local officials from the ruling Communist Party have been sacked but no senior member of the Party has been punished. Beijing has not responded to calls to ease censorship and state control of the media. China has now offered to help North Korea, after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un congratulated Xi Jinping on its success in fighting Covid-19, Chinese state media report. North Korea says it has had no confirmed cases of coronavirus, something that is questioned by experts. The country has a fragile health system that would likely become overwhelmed in a serious outbreak.
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চীনের গণমাধ্যমগুলোকে দেশটির একজন জ্যেষ্ঠ কর্মকর্তা বলেছেন, করোনাভাইরাস মহামারি একটি বড় পরীক্ষা যা চীনের জনস্বাস্থ্য ব্যবস্থার দুর্বলতাকে প্রকাশ করেছে।
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Mr Trump tweeted, without providing evidence: "There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent." Twitter put a warning label in the post and linked to a page that described the claims as "unsubstantiated". Mr Trump on Wednesday threatened to "strongly regulate" or even "close down" social media platforms. He tweeted to his 80 million followers that Republicans felt the platforms "totally silence conservatives" and that he would not allow this to happen. In an earlier tweet, he said that Twitter was "completely stifling free speech". Later on Wednesday he said that Twitter "has now shown everything we have been saying about them... is correct" and vowed "big action to follow". It is unclear what regulatory steps the president could take without new laws passed by Congress. The White House has yet to offer further details. For years, Twitter has faced criticism for not acting on the president's controversial tweets, which include personal attacks on political rivals and debunked conspiracy theories. This month the platform introduced a new policy on misleading information amid the coronavirus pandemic. But recent posts in which Mr Trump - who has more than 80 million followers on Twitter - promoted a conspiracy theory about the death of political aide Lori Klausutis, blaming a high-profile critic, have not received the same treatment. What is Twitter saying about Trump's posts? The notification on Mr Trump's tweet shows a blue exclamation mark and a link suggesting readers "get the facts about mail-in ballots". It directs users to a page on which Mr Trump's claims are described as "unsubstantiated", citing reporting by CNN, the Washington Post and others. The pandemic is putting pressure on US states to expand the use of postal voting because people are worried about becoming infected at polling stations. In a "what you need to know" section, Twitter writes that Mr Trump "falsely claimed mail-in ballots would lead to 'a Rigged Election'." "Fact-checkers say there is no evidence that mail-in ballots are linked to voter fraud," it continues. The company had pledged to increase the use of warning labels about false or misleading information on its site, but has been slow to take steps against the US president. Mr Trump posted the same claim about mail-in ballots on Facebook, but it is not fact-checked on that platform. What is President Trump's response? Mr Trump then accused Twitter of interfering in the US presidential election scheduled for 3 November 2020, saying the company was "completely stifling free speech, and I, as president, will not allow it to happen". His tweet on Wednesday told social media to "clean up your act now" and that he would not let a "more sophisticated version" of what they had "attempted to do, and failed, in 2016" happen again. He did not elaborate. With more than 52,000 tweets currently to his name, Mr Trump is a prolific tweeter and relies on the platform to disseminate his views to millions of people. He has used Twitter to launch attacks on opponents, with targets ranging from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to his political rivals in the US. In 2017 he used anti-Muslim tweets aimed at London Mayor Sadiq Khan to serve a domestic political purpose of warning about immigration, BBC North America reporter Anthony Zurcher reported. On Tuesday Mr Trump's presidential campaign manager Brad Parscale also criticised Twitter's decision. "Partnering with biased fake news 'fact checkers' is a smoke screen to lend Twitter's obvious political tactics false credibility. There are many reasons we pulled all our advertising from Twitter months ago, and clear political bias is one of them," Mr Parscale tweeted. What are mail-in ballots? They are voting bulletins that are distributed and returned by post. In a recent opinion survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 66% of Americans said they would not be comfortable going to a polling place to cast their ballot during the coronavirus outbreak. Such concerns have increased pressure on states to expand the availability of mail-in ballots for all voters in order to minimise the risk of viral exposure from in-person voting. While every state provides some form of remote voting, the requirements to qualify vary greatly. Five states in the western US, including Washington, Oregon and Colorado, conduct their elections entirely via mail-in ballot. Others, like California, provide a postal ballot to anyone who requests it. On the other end of the spectrum, 17 states require voters to provide a valid reason why they are unable to vote in-person in order to qualify for an absentee ballot. Twitter refuses to remove 'horrifying lies' The move comes on the heels of Twitter's decision not to remove a comment President Trump made about the death of Lori Klausutis in 2001. The president has tweeted several messages promoting a conspiracy theory that Ms Klausutis was murdered by MSNBC host Joe Scarborough. Her widower Timothy Klausutis asked Twitter to remove the post, saying it included "horrifying lies". The company told Mr Klausutis it was "deeply sorry" about the pain caused by the president's statements, but said the tweets did not violate their policies. You may also be interested in
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এই প্রথম সামাজিক মাধ্যমের বিশাল প্রতিষ্ঠান টুইটার আমেরিকান প্রেসিডেন্ট ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্পের কোন পোস্টের সত্যতা নিয়ে প্রশ্ন তুলে তা নিয়ে সতর্কবার্তা দিল।
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The slaughter was in retaliation for a local man thought to have been killed by one animal from the site. Officials and police said they were not able to stop the attack and may now press charges. The killing of a protected species is a crime that carries a fine or imprisonment in Indonesia. The local villager was killed on Friday morning while gathering vegetables on the crocodile farm's breeding sanctuary. "An employee heard someone screaming for help, quickly went there and saw a crocodile attacking someone," the head of Indonesia's Natural Resources Conservation Agency in West Papua said. After the funeral on Saturday, several hundred angry locals went to the sanctuary, armed with knives, shovels, hammers and clubs. Local media cite officials saying the mob first attacked the office of the crocodile farm and then went on to slaughter all 292 reptiles at the sanctuary. The farm was operating on a licence to breed protected saltwater and New Guinea crocodiles both for preservation and to harvest some of the animals.
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ইন্দোনেশিয়ার ওয়েস্ট পাপুয়া প্রদেশের একটি গ্রামের ক্ষুব্ধ অধিবাসীরা তিনশোটির মতো কুমিরকে মেরে ফেলেছে। এসব কুমির ছিলো সেখানকার একটি অভয়ারণ্যে।
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Mr Biden was speaking in a CBS News interview aired on Sunday. But Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Tehran would only return to compliance if the US first lifted all economic sanctions. The 2015 deal sought to limit Iran's nuclear programme, with sanctions eased in return. Former President Donald Trump, however, withdrew the US from the deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions, leading Iran to roll back on a number of its commitments. Iran, which says its nuclear programme is peaceful, has been increasing its stockpile of enriched uranium. Enriched uranium can be used to make reactor fuel, but also nuclear bombs. Why did the nuclear deal fall apart? Under the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal - an agreement reached between Iran, the US, China, France, Germany, Russia and the UK - Tehran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors to access sites and facilities. In return, sanctions imposed on Tehran were lifted. But Mr Trump withdrew the US from the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in an effort to force Iran to negotiate a new accord, and reinstated economic sanctions. Mr Trump wanted to place indefinite curbs on Tehran's nuclear programme and also halt its development of ballistic missiles. Iran refused. In July 2019, it breached the 3.67% cap on uranium enrichment and in January this year announced it had resumed enriching uranium to 20% purity. Weapons-grade uranium is 90% purity. In a short clip of the interview published before the full broadcast at 16:00 EST (21:00 GMT) on Sunday, Mr Biden was asked if he would halt economic sanctions to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table, and he replied: "No." Meanwhile, Ali Khamenei said that for Iran to return to its commitments under the deal, the US must first "abolish all sanctions", Iranian state TV reported on Sunday. "We will assess, and if we see that they have acted faithfully in this regard, we will return to our commitment," he said, adding: "It is the irreversible and final decision and all Iranian officials have consensus over it." What else did Biden say? The president also talked about the US relationship with China. He said there was no reason for Washington to be drawn into direct conflict with Beijing, but that both sides would engage in what he called "extreme competition" on the global economic stage. Mr Biden said he had not spoken to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, since becoming president last month, and that he had not changed his stance towards Beijing. "He's very bright, he's very tough," Mr Biden said of Mr Xi, adding: "He doesn't have a democratic - small 'd' - bone in his body."
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যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের প্রেসিডেন্ট জো বাইডেন বলেছেন যে ২০১৫ সালের পরমাণু চুক্তির শর্তগুলো না মানা পর্যন্ত তিনি ইরানের বিরুদ্ধে অর্থনৈতিক নিষেধাজ্ঞা তুলবেন না।
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By Frank GardnerBBC security correspondent That's the broad conclusion reached by around half of all those questioned in the poll conducted jointly by the polling research group YouGov and the Saudi-owned newspaper Arab News. A further 40% thought Joe Biden would be better for the region, while only 12% preferred President Trump. The poll was conducted online last month across 18 countries under the heading of What do Arabs Want? Just over 3,000 people took part. Neither the incumbent Donald Trump nor his Democratic Party challenger Joe Biden emerge as being popular candidates. But Mr Biden comes out slightly better, partly due to the unpopularity of President Trump's decision in December 2017 to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, something opposed by 89% of those polled. However, the incumbent fared rather better in Iraq and Yemen, where majorities approved of his tough posture towards Iran, including sanctions. Some 57% of Iraqi respondents said they approved of the US decision to assassinate the Iranian Revolutionary Guards leader General Qasem Soleimani earlier this year while exactly the same percentage in Syria opposed it. Fresh approach Given Mr Biden's previous eight years in the White House serving under President Obama, from 2009-2017, respondents were asked what they thought of that administration. Again, they were less than enthusiastic, with a majority of those polled saying they believed President Obama had left the region worse off and hoped Joe Biden, if elected, would distance himself from his former president's policies. It should be pointed out here that while there is no suggestion of interference in the poll, the partner for it is the Riyadh-based Arab News in Saudi Arabia, where the media operates within approved government editorial guidelines. Saudi Arabia is the regional rival to Iran and the Saudi leadership never forgave President Obama for reaching the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. The deal, which President Trump later withdrew from, released billions of dollars in frozen bank accounts in exchange for stringent nuclear inspections. Critics of the agreement, including the Saudi leadership, maintain that instead of using that money to improve living standards, Iran's powerful security establishment appropriated much of the money to fund ballistic missile programmes, covert special operations in the Gulf and an aggressive, expansive policy across the Middle East. Surprisingly perhaps, given the Palestinians' historic mistrust of US policy towards Israel, the poll results showed a desire amongst Palestinians polled for greater US involvement in securing a peace deal. The poll was conducted shortly after the UAE surprised many by signing a normalisation deal with Israel. Priorities US immigration policy featured in the poll, with around 75% of respondents hoping the next White House administration will make it easier for Arabs to visit the US. Recent reports have indicated a high proportion of young Arabs wanting to emigrate out of the region, notably from Lebanon where corruption and economic collapse have led to despair amongst many. On the need for the US to confront radical Islamist extremism, only 24% said this should be a priority, compared to 44% who named resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict and 37% who mentioned containing the Coronavirus. The perennial issues of poor governance and economic mismanagement - which helped fuel the Arab Spring protests of 2011 - also featured prominently in people's concerns.
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আরব দেশগুলোতে চালানো সাম্প্রতিক জরিপের ফলাফলে বেরিয়ে এসেছে যে আমেরিকার প্রেসিডেন্ট হিসাবে ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প বা জো বাইডেন - কেউই মধ্যপ্রাচ্য এবং উত্তর আফ্রিকার জন্য ভাল হবেন না।
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In experiments on mice, stem cells that control skin and hair colour became damaged after intense stress. In a chance finding, dark-furred mice turned completely white within weeks. The US and Brazilian researchers said this avenue was worth exploring further to develop a drug that prevents hair colour loss from ageing. Men and women can go grey any time from their mid-30s, with the timing of parental hair colour change giving most of the clues on when. Although it's mostly down to the natural ageing process and genes, stress can also play a role. But scientists were not clear exactly how stress affected the hairs on our heads. Researchers behind the study, published in Nature, from the Universities of Sao Paulo and Harvard, believed the effects were linked to melanocyte stem cells, which produce melanin and are responsible for hair and skin colour. And while carrying out experiments on mice, they stumbled across evidence this was the case. "We now know for sure that stress is responsible for this specific change to your skin and hair, and how it works," says Prof Ya-Cieh Hsu, research author from Harvard University. 'Damage is permanent' Pain in mice triggered the release of adrenaline and cortisol, making their hearts beat faster and blood pressure rise, affecting the nervous system and causing acute stress. This process then sped up the depletion of stem cells that produced melanin in hair follicles. "I expected stress was bad for the body," said Prof Hsu. "But the detrimental impact of stress that we discovered was beyond what I imagined. "After just a few days, all of the pigment-regenerating stem cells were lost. "Once they're gone, you can't regenerate pigment any more - the damage is permanent." In another experiment, the researchers found they could block the changes by giving the mice an anti-hypertensive, which treats high blood pressure. And by comparing the genes of mice in pain with other mice, they could identify the protein involved in causing damage to stem cells from stress. When this protein - cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) - was suppressed, the treatment also prevented a change in the colour of their fur. This leaves the door open for scientists to help delay the onset of grey hair by targeting CDK with a drug. "These findings are not a cure or treatment for grey hair," Prof Hsu told the BBC. "Our discovery, made in mice, is only the beginning of a long journey to finding an intervention for people. "It also gives us an idea of how stress might affect many other parts of the body," she said.
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বিজ্ঞানীরা জানিয়েছেন মানসিক চাপে মানুষের চুল কেন সাদা হয়ে যায়, তার প্রতিকার কী কিংবা কিভাবে ঠেকানো যাবে চুল পেকে যাওয়া, সম্ভবত সে রহস্যের সমাধান তারা করতে সমর্থ হয়েছেন।
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Navin Singh KhadkaEnvironment correspondent, BBC World Service But in recent years, the relationship has begun to worsen during the annual monsoon season, which lasts from June to September. Flooding inflames tensions between the neighbours, with angry residents on both sides blaming those across the border for their woes. This year, floods have been wreaking havoc in the region. Dozens have been killed in Nepal, India and Bangladesh, and more than three million people have been displaced in north and north-eastern India. India and Nepal share an open border that stretches for nearly 1,800km (1,118 miles). More than 6,000 rivers and rivulets flow down to northern India from Nepal and they contribute around 70% of the flow of the Ganges river during the dry season. So, when these rivers overflow, floodwaters devastate the plains of Nepal and India. In the last few years, there has been palpable anger on the Nepali side of the border in particular. Nepal blames dyke-like structures along the border that it says block the floodwaters from flowing south into India. During an investigation in eastern Nepal two years ago, the BBC saw structures on the Indian side that appeared to do just this. This was at a location where locals from both sides of the border had clashed in 2016 after Nepal objected to the embankment. Nepali officials say there are around 10 such structures, which inundate thousands of hectares of land in Nepal. Indian officials say they are roads but experts in Nepal say they are embankments that protect Indian border villages from the floods. Gaur, the headquarters of Rautahat district in southern Nepal, remained inundated for three days last week and officials feared clashes. "After much panic, two gates beneath the Indian embankment were opened and it did help us," Krishna Dhakal, the superintendent of the armed police force, told the BBC. Indian officials did not reply to requests for comment. The two countries have been holding meetings on the issue for years now but nothing much has changed. A meeting in May between Nepali and Indian water management officials acknowledged the "ongoing constriction of roads and other structures" along the border but said this should only be discussed through "diplomatic channels". Read more stories about the environment Nepali negotiators and diplomats have faced criticism in their country for not being able to raise the issue effectively with their Indian counterparts. But that's not to say Indians aren't suffering from flooding too. About 1.9m people have been forced out of their homes in the north-eastern state of Bihar alone, the state government said on Monday. Bihar is hit the hardest when major rivers such as the Kosi and Gandaki - which are tributaries of the Ganges - flood, and Nepal is often blamed for opening floodgates and jeopardising settlements downstream. But it's actually the Indian government that operates the barrages on both the rivers even though they are located in Nepal. This is in accordance with the Kosi and Gandak treaties the two countries signed in 1954 and 1959 respectively. The barrages were built by India mainly for flood control, irrigation and hydropower generation. But they have been quite controversial in Nepal because they are seen as not benefiting the local population. The Indian government, on the contrary, points to them as a good example of transboundary water cooperation and management. The Kosi barrage alone has 56 floodgates. Whenever monsoon-induced floods on the river reach "danger" levels, India is criticised for not opening all the gates, which locals say threatens settlements in Nepal. The Kosi, long known as the "sorrow of Bihar", has flooded several times in the past and caused devastation. When it burst through its banks in 2008, thousands died and nearly three million people in Nepal and India were affected. Since the barrage is now nearly 70 years old and there are fears that big floods could damage it, India has been planning to build a dam to the north of the barrage. This too would be located in Nepal. Many of Nepal's rivers flow though the Chure mountain range that has a fragile ecology and is already severely threatened. These hills once checked the flow of the rivers and minimised the damage they could cause, both in Nepal and across the border in India. But deforestation and mining have destabilised the hills. A recent construction boom has led to rampant mining of boulders, pebbles and sand from the river beds in the region. The infrastructure industry in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is further encouraging the destruction of the area's natural resources. And with all of these natural checks gone, monsoon floods are no longer under control, say officials. A high-profile conservation campaign was launched a few years ago but it fizzled out and the plundering of natural resources has now reached alarming levels. The region's ecology is crucial not just for the future of Nepal's plains, known as the country's breadbasket, but also for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Nepal faces criticism from India for failing to control deforestation and mining. Now, as climate change makes the monsoon itself erratic, experts fear that the issues between the two neighbours could become far more complicated.
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পানি সম্পদের বিষয়টি যখন সামনে আসে তখন নেপাল এবং ভারতের মধ্যকার সম্পর্ক কখনোই সহজ ছিলনা।
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By Ammar EbrahimBBC Stories The day before the event the two 22-year-old students attended a poster-making session at their university in Karachi. They wanted to come up with something that would attract attention and started brainstorming ideas. A friend happened to be sitting with her legs spread wide, and this inspired the poster that Rumisa and Rashida made. For Rumisa the way women should sit is a constant issue. "We have to be elegant; we have to worry about not showing the shape of our bodies. The men, they manspread and no-one bats an eye," she says. Rumisa's design depicted an unashamed womanspreader nonchalantly lounging in sunglasses. Her best friend Rashida then provided the slogan. Rashida wanted to draw attention to the fact that women "are told how to sit, how to walk, how to talk". So they decided on the caption: "Here, I'm sitting correctly." Rumisa and Rashida met in their first year at Habib University. Rumisa studies communication design, while Rashida is a social development and policy student. "We are best friends, we laugh together, tell each other everything," Rashida says. They share a passion for women's rights, based on their personal experiences of sexism. For Rumisa, dealing with the family pressure to get married has been a "daily struggle". She sees the fact that she isn't married today as "a personal victory". Rashida says she faces constant harassment on the streets. She also finds the expectation that she should marry and become a housewife uncomfortable. So the two friends were keen to participate in one of several "Aurat" marches - named after the Urdu word for women - staged in cities across Pakistan last month. "It was an amazing feeling, having so many women screaming for their rights," Rumisa says. "It was our space at that moment and I think all who attended could feel that empowered vibe from it." The Aurat marches were a big moment for the country's feminist movement. While women had marched in huge numbers in Pakistan before, these protests cut across class divisions and also included members of the LGBT community. In 2018 the World Economic Forum ranked Pakistan as the second-worst country out of 149 in terms of gender equality - the only country with a worse ranking was Yemen. Women in Pakistan regularly face domestic violence, forced marriages, sexual harassment, and can be the victims of honour killings. Some placards and posters on the Aurat marches were sexual in nature, and in this conservative country these triggered a backlash. The march organisers attribute this response to the fact they were challenging the notion that men should make decisions about women's bodies. "We were questioning body policing, the policing of women's sexuality," says Moneeza, one of the national organisers. "In the religious community there is the notion that a woman should cover herself and stay at home. We were challenging that." Rumisa believes the sight of 7,500 women gathering on the street shocked conservatives. "Doing that on the road with such a loud voice made people uncomfortable," she says. "People feel it's threatening Islam, although I don't see that. I think Islam is a feminist religion." Even before she had got home from the protest, Rumisa realised the picture of her with the placard had gone viral on social media. One comment on a Facebook post said, "I don't need this kind of society for my daughter"; while another said, "I am a woman but I certainly don't feel good about this. Show that we belong to an Islamic society." Another read, "It was women's day. Not bitches' day." However, others supported the placard's message. One woman tweeted: "I genuinely don't understand why people are so horrified by words on a poster when they should be disgusted by the subjugation of women in Pakistan." Rumisa received messages from people she knew saying, "We can't believe you did this. You're from such a modest family." Members of Rumisa's extended family told her parents that they shouldn't let her go on any more marches. Despite this pressure, Rumisa's parents supported their daughter's decision to protest. Another placard at the march said "my body, my choice". According to the Samaa TV channel, this led to one cleric in Karachi ridiculing the slogan in a sermon that was posted online. "My body my choice… your body your choice… Then men's body men's choice… They can climb onto anyone they want," Dr Manzoor Ahmad Mengal is reported to have said in a video posted online. He has been accused by critics of inciting rape, and march organiser Moneeza says that rape and death threats have been commonplace since the protest. "There has been a backlash on social media with a lot of organisers getting rape threats," she says. "I think that is part of the wider misogyny amongst men that we are challenging." The Aurat marches also caused divisions within Pakistan's feminist movement. "A lot of feminists participated in the backlash, self-proclaimed feminists. They were like, ' these are not valid issues, this is not the way women should behave'," Rumisa says. "My own friends - who call themselves feminists - felt my poster was unnecessary." One prominent feminist, Kishwar Naheed, said she believed that Rumisa and Rasheeda's placard, and others like it, were disrespectful to traditions and values. She said that those who thought they could secure more rights using such placards were misguided like jihadis who think that by killing innocent people they will go to heaven. However, an article by Sadia Khatri in the Dawn newspaper accused Kishwar of letting feminists down. She called on those seeking change to embrace the "vulgar" nature of some of the posters. "We need to claim these posters and make the connection between them and the 'larger' feminist struggles," she said. "A girl's right to sit with her legs open is about her agency to do what she likes with her body without reprimand or harassment, it is about her right to move freely, it is about victim-blaming and whose fault it is when someone is assaulted — not the girl's, no matter how she was sitting." Despite the controversy Rumisa doesn't regret making the poster. "I'm kind of happy that my poster got a lot of attention," she says. "I'm not ashamed or afraid of that kind of attention, it's one of the reasons we use slogans like that because we wanted attention to be brought to the women's march and to all kinds of issues." Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.
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রুমিসা লাখানি এবং রাশিদা সাব্বির হোসেন যখন পাকিস্তানে আন্তর্জাতিক নারী দিবস উপলক্ষে একটি প্ল্যাকার্ড তৈরি করেন তখন তাদের কোন ধারণাই ছিল না যে এটি সারা দেশে কতো বড়ো বিতর্কের সৃষ্টি করতে পারে।
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By Toby LuckhurstBBC News It was 2-2 after 90 minutes at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. This was the third game between Honduras and El Salvador in as many weeks; qualification for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico was at stake, a competition neither country had ever competed in before. Honduras won the first leg 1-0 in their capital Tegucigalpa, only for El Salvador to triumph 3-0 at home in San Salvador. Reports of violence marred both games. As the deciding match entered the 11th minute of extra time, El Salvador's Mauricio "Pipo" Rodríguez sprinted into the penalty area to meet a cross and slid the ball past Honduran goalkeeper Jaime Varela. "When I scored the goal, I thought it's not possible with so little time left for them to draw with us," Rodríguez says, 50 years after the critical match. "I was sure with that goal we would win." El Salvador held on to triumph 3-2. The players hugged, shook hands, and left the pitch. Within three weeks, their countries were at war. El Salvador - roughly the size of Wales - had a population of about 3 million in 1969. Most of the country was controlled by a landowning elite, leaving very little space for poorer Salvadoran farmers. Honduras - similarly dominated by a small number of landowners - was five times as large, and in the same year had a population of about 2.3 million. As a result, throughout the 20th Century, Salvadorans had been moving to Honduras to take advantage of the more available farmland, and to work for the US fruit companies which operated in the country. Roughly 300,000 were living in the neighbouring state by that year. El Salvador's small landowning elite had supported the mass emigration, as it eased pressures on their land and calls for it to be redistributed. But the migrant arrivals caused resentment among Honduran peasants who were fighting for more land from their own elite at the time. So the Honduran government passed an agrarian land reform law to ease the tensions. The authorities focused not on the land owned by the elites and US fruit companies however, but on lands settled by the migrants. Honduran President Oswaldo López Arellano began to deport thousands of Salvadorans home. On top of this were simmering land and sea border disputes, including over a number of islands in the Gulf of Fonseca - a small body of water on the Pacific Coast shared between both countries and Nicaragua. "To a very large extent this war was all about available land, too many people in too small a place, and the ruling oligarchy simply fuelling the fire in connection with the press," said Dan Hagedorn, author of The 100 Hour War, which details the conflict. Salvadoran President Fidel Sánchez Hernández's government struggled to cope with the large numbers of returning migrants, while the country's land owners began pushing for military action, and inflammatory reports about persecution and even allegations of rape and murder appeared in the newspapers. It was in the midst of this rising anger that the countries met on the football pitch. "There were much bigger political matters," said Ricardo Otero, a Mexican sports journalist at broadcaster Univision. "But there was this coincidence of three games to qualify for the 1970 World Cup. It didn't help. Football here [in Latin America] is very, very passionate - for good and for bad." "We felt we had a patriotic duty to win for El Salvador," Rodríguez said. "I think we were all afraid of losing, because in those circumstances it would have been a dishonour that followed us for the rest of our lives. "What we didn't know was the significance of that win and the historical importance of that goal - that it would be used as a symbol of a war." 'What the heck is going on?' On 27 June, as the players prepared for that evening's deciding game in Mexico's capital, El Salvador severed diplomatic ties with Honduras. Interior Minister Francisco José Guerrero said close to 12,000 Salvadorans had left Honduras after the second match, with UK newspaper the Guardian reporting that he blamed "alleged persecution… stemming from an international football match". The day after the game, US news agency UPI ran a piece with the headline "Soccer 'War' Won by El Salvador, 3-2". According to the report, 1,700 Mexican police attended the game to prevent violence and Salvadoran fans chanted "murderers, murderers" from the stands. "People abroad stigmatised it as the goal that started the war," said Rodríguez. "The war would have happened with or without that goal." In the days that followed, border skirmishes intensified. On 14 July, El Salvador ordered its forces to invade Honduras, and launched warplanes to bomb the country. Mr Hagedorn, who was serving in the US Army at the time in the Panama Canal Zone, sat at a desk near to his base's teleprinter. "Whenever we would get any kind of an alert, that machine would start chattering and printing stuff out automatically, on its own," he recalled. "I remember it vividly - it started chattering and it kept on going, kept on going. I said, 'What the heck is going on?'. So we went over and took a look at it - that's when we realised the Salvadorans had invaded Honduras." You may also be interested in: Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski was one of the few foreign correspondents in the area when the invasion began. By his own account, he filed some of the first reports of the conflict from Tegucigalpa that night - taking his turn to use the country's only teleprinter machine, after President López Arellano, who was communicating with his ambassador in the US about the invasion. Kapuscinski later wrote of his time in Honduras and immortalised the conflict's name in his 1978 memoir, The Soccer War. In it, he recounts seeing graffiti saying "Nobody beats Honduras" and "We shall avenge 3-0". By the time the Organization of American States managed to arrange a ceasefire on 18 July, it was thought about 3,000 people had died - the majority Honduran civilians. Many more were displaced by the fighting. Under international pressure, El Salvador withdrew its forces from Honduras in August. And the pain did not end there. Trade ceased between both nations for decades and the border was closed. Dr Mo Hume, lecturer at the University of Glasgow, said the domestic problems in El Salvador that caused the Football War - a small landowning elite and large numbers of dispossessed farmers - would affect the country for decades to come. "The bigger socioeconomic questions that were part and parcel of the football war were the ultimate cause of [El Salvador's] civil war from 1979 to 1992," she said. More than 70,000 people are thought to have died in the conflict. There are still tensions between El Salvador and Honduras. Border disputes between both sides continue to this day, despite an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on the issue. But for the man who scored the fateful goal for El Salvador, it was not rancour that he remembered. "For me, that goal will always be a source of sporting pride," said Rodriguez, who is now 73. "What I am sure of is that the authorities and politicians made use of our sports victory to glorify El Salvador's image." And despite what followed, Rodriguez said the El Salvador team retained an immense "appreciation and respect" for their Honduran opponents. "Neither from the Honduras players nor from our side were the games between enemies, but between sports rivals," he said.
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১৯৬৯ সালে এল সালভেডর এবং হন্ডুরাস চারদিনের একটি যুদ্ধে লিপ্ত হয়েছিল যেখানে হাজার-হাজার মানুষ নিহত এবং বাস্তু-চ্যুত হয়।
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A number of cases of blood clots were reported in Europe after the vaccine was administered. But the numbers are below the level you would expect in the general population. The UK medicines regulator and the WHO say there is no evidence of a link between the vaccine and clots. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) - the European Union's medicines regulator - is also meeting on Tuesday. It is expected to issue its decision on the continued use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccination on Thursday. About 17 million people in the EU and the UK have received a dose of the vaccine, with fewer than 40 cases of blood clots reported as of last week, AstraZeneca said. Concerns that there could be a link prompted leading EU states to suspend use of the vaccine, including Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Other countries, including Austria, have halted the use of certain batches of the drug as a precautionary measure. However, Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine said they would continue to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine. And in Thailand, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha became the first person in the country to receive the AstraZeneca inoculation. Odds in favour of vaccination It is understandable anyone going to get vaccinated would be concerned given these reports. But the regulators in the UK and Europe are clear that vaccination should continue even though some individual nations have taken a different approach. Why? It's all to do with risk. From what has been published so far the chance of a blood clot after vaccination is very low and at this stage looks like it could be in line with what you would expect to happen anyway - coincidence rather than cause. In comparison, the risk from Covid to those currently being offered the vaccine is significant. Most of continental Europe is still working its way through the over-70s. If they are infected and have symptoms they have around a one in four chance of becoming seriously ill and needing hospital care. In the UK those in their 50s are being invited. They have a one in 10 chance. What is more, one of the most common consequences of serious Covid illness is blood clots. When it comes to risk, the odds are clearly in favour of vaccination. What has the WHO said? The UN's health body says it is investigating the reports of blood clots. On Monday, a spokesman said there was "no evidence" that the incidents were linked to the vaccine. "As soon as WHO has gained a full understanding of these events, the findings and any unlikely changes to current recommendations will be immediately communicated to the public," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said. The EMA - which is also currently carrying out a review into incidents of blood clots - said the vaccine could continue to be administered. The agency said the benefits of having the vaccine outweighed the risks of any side effects. The UK medicines regulator also said evidence "does not suggest" the jab causes clots, as it urged people in the country to get the vaccine when asked to do so. What does AstraZeneca say? The company says there is no evidence of an increased risk of clotting due to the vaccine. It said that across the EU and the United Kingdom there had been 15 events of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) - a blood clot in a vein - and 22 events of pulmonary embolism - a blood clot that has entered the lungs - reported among those vaccinated. These figures were "much lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar across other licensed Covid-19 vaccines". Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford vaccine group which developed the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, told the BBC on Monday that there was "very reassuring evidence that there is no increase in a blood clot phenomenon here in the UK, where most of the doses in Europe [have] been given so far". Finland has also done a "very careful study" and not found an increased risk, he added. He said it was "absolutely critical that we don't have a problem of not vaccinating people".
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জার্মানি, ইটালি, স্পেন ও ফ্রান্সসহ ইউরোপের এগারোটি দেশ অক্সফোর্ড-অ্যাস্ট্রাজেনেকা উদ্ভাবিত টিকা প্রদান স্থগিত করার পর বিশ্ব স্বাস্থ্য সংস্থার ভ্যাকসিন সুরক্ষা বিশেষজ্ঞরা আজ মঙ্গলবার টিকাটির পর্যালোচনা করতে বৈঠক করতে যাচ্ছেন।
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President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday's stabbings at the Notre-Dame basilica were an "Islamist terrorist attack". A suspect is in custody. Mr Macron later met police and emergency workers at the scene of the attack. Nice's Mayor Christian Estrosi, pictured below, said the suspect had repeated the words "Allahu Akbar (God is greatest)". An elderly woman and a man were killed inside the church, while another woman who escaped died later of her injuries. Many on the streets of Nice were shocked at the attack. The killings come two weeks after a schoolteacher in Paris was beheaded after showing his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. There have been anti-France protests in a number of Muslim countries after President Macron defended publication of the cartoons. Security remains tight at the scene as investigations continue. This is not the first time that Nice has experienced a terror attack. In 2016, 86 people were killed when a man drove a truck into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day. All images are subject to copyright
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ফ্রান্সের নিস শহরে একটি গির্জায় ছুরি নিয়ে চালানো হামলায় তিন ব্যক্তি মারা গেছেন।
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The group waved torches and chanted "White lives matter" as they marched through the Charlottesville university. There were clashes with counter-protesters, while the local mayor condemned the march as racist and a "parade of hatred". A larger "Unite the Right" rally is planned in the city on Saturday. The protesters are angered at the planned removal of a statue of General Robert E Lee from Charlottesville. Lee commanded forces of the pro-slavery Confederacy in the US Civil War. Protest organiser Jason Kessler, who has previously accused the town of "anti-white hatred", described the event as an "incredible moment for white people who've had it up to here and aren't going to take it anymore". The New York Times and Washington Post reported that the crowd chanted "You will not replace us" and "Jew will not replace us" during the event. Demonstrators held lit torches - which some observers described as a reference to the Ku Klux Klan - and chanted "blood and soil" and "one people, one nation, end immigration". The rally was met by a smaller group of counter protesters who had surrounded the university's statue of Thomas Jefferson, holding a banner that read "VA Students Act Against White Supremacy". At the scene: The BBC's Joel Gunter in Charlottesville The marchers were tightly organised. They gathered after dark at Nameless Field, where they lit their torches and formed into a line, which snaked out of the park and into the University of Virginia campus. Almost entirely white and male, and in their twenties and thirties, they chanted "You will not replace us", "Blood and soil", and "Our streets". They marched through the campus to the university's statue of Thomas Jefferson, where they were met by a small group of counter-protesters. One of the counter-protesters apparently sprayed pepper spray at the marchers and the two groups clashed violently. Police moved in and the marchers extinguished their torches, filling the hot air with acrid smoke. "The heat here is nothing compared to what you're going to get in the ovens," shouted Robert Ray, a writer for white supremacist site Daily Stormer. "I never thought I'd have to see this in America in my lifetime," said one of the counter-protesters, a student who did not want to be named. The marchers slowly dissipated. Across the street, more than 500 people were packed into St Paul's Memorial Church, where they had heard readings from the Bible and the Quran and prayers for peace and unity in Charlottesville. At the end, the congregation filed slowly out of a side door to avoid the white nationalists walking back down Main Street. The protest was criticised by many local residents and politicians. Charlottesville mayor Mike Signer called the march "a cowardly parade of hatred, bigotry, racism and intolerance". He wrote on Facebook: "Everyone has a right under the First Amendment to express their opinion peaceably, so here's mine: not only as the Mayor of Charlottesville, but as a UVA [University of Virginia] faculty member and alumnus, I am beyond disgusted by this unsanctioned and despicable display of visual intimidation on a college campus." Charlottesville is considered a liberal college town - and 86% of the county voted for Hillary Clinton in last year's presidential elections. However, the town has become a focal point for white nationalists after the city council voted to remove a statue of General Lee. Some observers also argue that US President Donald Trump's election to the White House re-energised the far right across the US. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organisation, says that "Trump's run for office electrified the radical right, which saw in him a champion of the idea that America is fundamentally a white man's country." Last month, Ku Klux Klan supporters staged a march in Virginia - but were outnumbered by counter-protesters.
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দাস প্রথার পক্ষে লড়েছিলেন এমন এক কনফেডারেটপন্থী জেনারেলের মূর্তি অপসারণের প্রতিবাদে শত শত শ্বেতাঙ্গ জাতীয়তাবাদী যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের ভার্জিনিয়া বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে মিছিল করেছেন।
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The ruling clears the way for the execution of Russell Bucklew, who asked for gas rather than lethal injection, citing an unusual medical condition. Bucklew, 50, argued the state's preferred method amounts to legally banned "cruel and unusual punishment". The 5-4 ruling split along the court's ideological lines. Bucklew was sentenced to death in 1996 for rape, murder and kidnapping in an attack against his ex-girlfriend and her new partner and six-year-old son. In recent court filings, Bucklew argued that his congenital condition, cavernous hemangioma, might cause him excessive pain if he is put to death by lethal injection. The condition causes blood-filled tumours in his throat, neck and face, which he said could rupture during his execution causing him extreme pain and suffocation. According to Bucklew, he would feel excessive pain if the state executioner is allowed to use the state's preferred method of a single drug, pentobarbital, applied by needle. But the Supreme Court's conservative justices said on Monday they considered the legal effort to be a stalling tactic. They said it was up to the prisoner to prove that another method of execution would "reduce a substantial risk of severe pain", but he had not done so. Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that Bucklew had been on death row for more than 20 years. "The eighth amendment [to the US constitution] forbids 'cruel and unusual' methods of capital punishment but does not guarantee a prisoner a painless death," wrote Justice Gorsuch, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017. He continued: "As originally understood, the eighth amendment tolerated methods of execution, like hanging, that involved a significant risk of pain, while forbidding as cruel only those methods that intensified the death sentence by 'superadding' terror, pain or disgrace." Liberals on the court, including Justice Stephen Breyer, argued that Bucklew's condition should have allowed for him to be put to death by nitrogen gas, a method allowed in three states. "There are higher values than ensuring that executions run on time," wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a separate opinion, adding that secrecy in the death penalty process has recently yielded different results in two similar cases. In one case in Alabama, a Muslim man was forbidden from having an imam with him during his execution, but the court halted a similar sentence after an appeal by a Buddhist who wanted his spiritual adviser present when he was put to death. In Justice Gorsuch's majority opinion in the Bucklew case, he referred to those two cases, saying the inmate in Alabama had been given ample time to voice his complaint, but chose to do so only 15 days before he was scheduled to die.
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যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের সুপ্রিম কোর্ট বলেছে হত্যার দায়ে মৃত্যুদণ্ডপ্রাপ্ত অপরাধীর ব্যথাহীন মৃত্যুর অধিকার নেই। মিজৌরী অঙ্গরাজ্যে একজন মৃত্যুদণ্ডপ্রাপ্ত অপরাধীর করা মামলায় দেশটির সর্বোচ্চ আদালত এমন রায় দিয়েছে।
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The People's Climate March is campaigning for curbs on carbon emissions, ahead of the UN climate summit in New York next week. In Manhattan, organisers said some 310,000 people joined a march that was also attended by UN chief Ban Ki-moon. Earlier, huge demonstrations took place in Australia and Europe. "This is the planet where our subsequent generations will live," Mr Ban told reporters. "There is no 'Plan B' because we do not have 'Planet B'." The UN Secretary General was accompanied by primatologist Jane Goodall and the French Ecology Minister, Segolene Royal. New York hosted the largest of Sunday's protests, drawing more than half of the 600,000 marchers estimated by organisers to have taken part in rallies around the world. Manhattan echoed to the sound of chants, horns and drums as the colourful protest progressed through the streets. Organisers of the Manhattan event said it surpassed the largest previous protest on climate change. They said the massive mobilisation was aimed at transforming climate change "from an environmental concern to an everybody issue". Business leaders, environmentalists and celebrities joined the demonstration. Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio also took part, having been appointed as a UN representative on climate change last week. Analysis: Roger Harrabin, BBC Environment analyst Another protest, another climate conference - will this time be any different? Well, the marches brought more people on to the streets than ever before, partly thanks to the organisational power of the e-campaign group Avaaz. And the climate talks will also be influenced by technology, as it was reported this week that the sun and wind can often generate power as cheaply as gas in the home of fossil fuels, Texas. Certainly the UN's Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, hopes that he can make a fresh start in the endless blame-your-neighbour round of climate talks. Next year world leaders are due to show up in Paris to settle a global climate deal based not on a bitterly-contested chiselling negotiation in the middle of the night, but on open co-operative offers of action to tackle a shared problem. Mr Ban has invited leaders to New York to make their offers public. Some small nations will doubtless make new contributions to the carbon contraction effort as they realise the vulnerability of their own economies to a hotter world. But some big players may continue the game of climate poker, holding back their offers until they see what else is on the table. So there is no guarantee that Ban's idea will work - but at least for weary climate politics watchers it will be a change. The New York rally was part of a global protest that included events in 156 countries - Afghanistan, the UK, Italy and Brazil among them. On Tuesday, the UN will host a climate summit at its headquarters in New York with 125 heads of state and government - the first such gathering since the unsuccessful climate conference in Copenhagen in 2009. Mr Ban hopes leaders can make progress on a universal agreement to be signed by all nations at the end of 2015.
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জলবায়ু পরিবর্তনের ক্ষতিকর প্রভাব মোকাবেলার দাবি নিয়ে লক্ষ লক্ষ মানুষ বিশ্বজুড়ে প্রতিবাদ-বিক্ষোভে অংশ নিয়েছেন।
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By Stephen WoodmanGuadalajara People started leaving in May, when police found a decomposed body in a home on a quiet side street. Last month, a kidnap victim escaped and directed police to another address on the same road. Inside, they found a corpse and three severed heads. So far this year, more than 15 murder and burial sites - some holding dozens of dead bodies - have been found within homes in Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state. 'You can feel the fear' This is a frightening development in a country where more than 40,000 people have been reported missing since 2006. When criminals bury victims in private properties, they create legal barriers to accessing their bodies. Search parties in Guadalajara can no longer rely on shovels. Instead, they now need diggers and drills to bore through concrete. The silence of neighbours fuels impunity. Although some locals later reported hearing screams or smelling decaying flesh, few have dared to call the police. "No one is reporting on what they know," said one La Estancia resident who asked not to be named due to safety concerns. "You can feel the fear…it's palpable." Since Mexico's government deployed troops to fight drug cartels in 2006, mass graves have been uncovered with shocking frequency. A study led by journalists Alejandra Guillén, Mago Torres and Marcela Turati found at least 1,978 clandestine burial sites were unearthed between 2006 and 2016. Authorities have made little effort to locate these graves. Instead, politicians have routinely painted the disappeared as criminals, despite overwhelming evidence that there are many law-abiding civilians among them. Digging for the dead Across Mexico, desperate parents have taken up the task of digging for the remains of the missing. These informal investigations have led to shocking discoveries. In 2016, an anonymous tip-off led one collective to a wooded area in the eastern state of Veracruz. At least 298 bodies and thousands of bone fragments were eventually recovered from the site. But the obstacles to finding missing people in Guadalajara have multiplied in recent years, says Guadalupe Aguilar. A founding member of Families United by Disappearances in Jalisco, Ms Aguilar has been searching for her son, José Luis Arana, since he disappeared in a Guadalajara suburb in 2011. "In [other regions] criminals are closer to the countryside," Ms Aguilar explains. "Here in the city, it's much riskier to transport a dead body… But it is always more difficult to search a private property because you need a warrant to enter." A city at war A police official who spoke to the BBC under the condition of anonymity says two gangs are behind the burials in Guadalajara homes. The first is the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG), which the government considers the country's most powerful criminal organisation. The second is Nueva Plaza, a rival group which split from the CJNG in 2017, sparking violence across the city. "[These gangs] rent from landlords who have no idea what the property is being used for," the official said. "We have also documented cases in which they simply invade. They find uninhabited properties and turn them into torture houses or burial sites." This strategy has not been seen on this scale in Mexico since 2011 - after a series of mass killings in the northern state of Durango. But the police official warned the burial tactic could soon spread to other cities, as criminals from Jalisco, particularly the CJNG, strengthen their grip across the country. Poor and underpopulated areas are particularly vulnerable to cartel invasions. The problem is so severe in Chulavista, a housing complex on the fringes of Guadalajara, that locals brick up the doors of abandoned homes to prevent criminals from seizing them. 'No one is looking' Jalisco's security crisis made international news in September last year, when authorities parked a refrigerated trailer filled with 273 unidentified bodies in suburban Guadalajara. The state government had rented the container after a surge in violence overburdened forensic facilities. Politicians blamed the scandal on Jalisco's forensic chief, Octavio Cotero. But Mr Cotero accused the state of ignoring his appeals for funding. He also revealed there was a second trailer containing more unidentified bodies. Both the Jalisco state government and the federal government changed following elections in July 2018. But Mr Cotero says that the new leadership, which was sworn in in December, is not addressing the disappearance crisis. According to Mr Cotero, the number of bodies found in burial pits in Guadalajara homes exceeds the official capacity to identify them. "We need to invest in [forensic] training," he argues. For the former forensic chief, Mexico's security crisis is also a personal tragedy. In July last year, his daughter, Indira Cotero, vanished without a trace. That month, police announced they were searching a Guadalajara property as part of the investigation. But Mr Cotero says nothing has been done since. "The worst thing is not knowing where she is," he said. "And the fact that nobody is looking."
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মেক্সিকোর গুয়াদালাজারা শহরের সবুজে ছেয়ে থাকা শহরতলী লা এস্তান্সিয়া। সেখানে যে সমস্যা আছে তার ইঙ্গিত দেয় বাড়িগুলোর সামনে ঝোলানো 'বিক্রির জন্য' সাইনবোর্ডগুলো।
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Yumi Yoshino, 48, said that she found her mother dead and hid the body 10 years ago because she "didn't want to move out" of the Tokyo home they shared, local media reported, citing unnamed police sources. There were no visible wounds on the frozen body, police said. The authorities could not determine the time and cause of the woman's death. The body was reportedly discovered by a cleaner after Ms Yoshino had been forced to leave the apartment due to missing rent payments. The body had been bent to fit in the freezer, police said. Ms Yoshino was arrested in a hotel in the city of Chiba, near Tokyo, on Friday.
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জাপানের পুলিশ একটি ফ্ল্যাটবাড়িতে ফ্রিজারের ভেতর এক মৃত নারীর লাশ উদ্ধার করার পর তার কন্যাকে গ্রেফতার করেছে।
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Mr Trump dismissed as "ridiculous" efforts by Democrats in Congress to impeach him for inciting insurrection. He leaves office on 20 January, when President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on an article of impeachment on Wednesday. "I think it's [the impeachment procedure] causing tremendous danger to our country and it's causing tremendous anger. I want no violence," Mr Trump said. He was speaking as he left the White House for a visit to Texas to inspect a section of the border wall with Mexico. It was his first public appearance since the violence at the Capitol, in which five people died and dozens of people were injured, including at least 60 police officers. What did Mr Trump say in his speech? During his speech at the rally in Washington on 6 January, Mr Trump repeated his unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud during the 3 November presidential election and urged his supporters to march on Congress. "We're going to walk down to the Capitol, and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them, because you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength," he told the crowd of several thousand supporters. He said Vice-President Mike Pence should have "the courage to do what he has to do", claiming without foundation that Mr Pence had the constitutional power to overturn the votes which were being formally tallied in Congress that day. "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard," Mr Trump said. Dozens of people have since been detained in connection with last week's violence. Of the five who lost their lives, one was a police officer and one was a rioter shot dead by police. Meanwhile, a third US lawmaker has said he has Covid-19 after sheltering with maskless Republicans in a safe room during the events of 6 January. What is happening with efforts to remove Trump from office? The House of Representatives will vote on Tuesday to ask Mr Pence to invoke the 25th amendment to the constitution to remove Mr Trump from office - an idea Mr Pence is said to oppose. That vote is expected to fail, and so the House will then consider an article of impeachment against Mr Trump for "incitement of insurrection". Democrats have the majority in the House, so the impeachment vote is likely to pass. If it does, Mr Trump will become the first president in US history to be impeached twice. However, the impeachment will only lead to his removal from office if a two-thirds majority votes in favour of his conviction in the Senate. That would need the assent of a substantial number of Republicans and so far, few have shown any willingness to vote against a president from their own party. Speaking on his visit to Texas, Mr Trump brushed off the threat of removal from office under the constitution. "The 25th amendment is of zero risk to me but will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration," he said. Do Republicans leaders back impeachment? According to the New York Times, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has told confidants he is pleased Democrats want to impeach the president. The Kentucky senator believes the punishment will make it easier to cleanse Mr Trump from the Republican party, reports the newspaper. Mr McConnell has also told associates he believes the president committed impeachable offences, reports the Washington Post. Neither Mr McConnell nor his Republican counterpart in the House, Kevin McCarthy, plan to whip votes for or against impeachment, according to US media. On Tuesday afternoon, one of the most senior House Republicans, Liz Cheney, said she would vote to impeach Mr Trump. The Wyoming representative said in a statement: "There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution." Ms Cheney, the number three Republican in the lower chamber and the daughter of former Vice-President Dick Cheney, said Mr Trump had "summoned this mob, assembled the mob, lit the flame of this attack". Trump almost never shies away from a fight. He didn't on Tuesday, either. When asked about his incendiary speech to supporters outside the White House last week - the one many allege helped incite a riot - he did not apologise. Instead, he lashed out at his critics and cast himself as a victim. The Democrats, he said, were the problem. Their effort at impeachment, he explained, was "causing tremendous danger to our country", along with "tremendous anger". It was vintage Trump. In his final days, he is relying on a strategy borrowed from his beloved sport, mixed martial arts, to defend himself: throw quick punches and duck. Meanwhile in the West Wing, offices are emptying, cardboard boxes are lying on the floor next to people's desks, and aides are leaving in droves. Calls for Mr Trump's resignation, removal from office or impeachment have grown among Democrats and some Republicans in the days following the riots in Congress. The FBI is warning of armed protests in all 50 states by right-wing extremists ahead of Mr Biden's inauguration. Up to 15,000 National Guard troops will be deployed in Washington DC for the event. The leaders of the US military's different branches, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued a message describing the riots as a direct assault on Congress and the constitution, Reuters news agency and CNN report. The message said Mr Biden would be inaugurated on 20 January and warned service members: "Any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law." Key dates to watch
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যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের প্রেসিডেন্ট ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প মনে করেন, ক্যাপিটল হিলে দাঙ্গার আগে তিনি যে বক্তব্য দিয়েছিলেন, তারা পুরোপুরি ঠিক আছে।
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By Orla GuerinBBC International Correspondent, Istanbul It was the one of the fastest growing outbreaks in the world - worse than China or the UK. There were fears that the death toll would soar turning Turkey into another Italy, which was then the hardest hit country. Three months on that hasn't happened, even without a total lockdown. The official death toll is 4,397. Some doctors here dispute that, claiming the real figure could be twice as high because Turkey only includes those who test positive. Either way, in the horrific annals of the Covid-19 era, it's a relatively low number for a population of 83 million. An unusual lockdown Experts warn it is hard to reach conclusions and compare statistics while countries are still burying their dead. But Turkey has "clearly averted a much bigger disaster", according to Dr Jeremy Rossman, Lecturer in Virology at the University of Kent. "Turkey fits in the category of several countries that responded fairly quickly with testing, tracing, isolation and movement restrictions," he told the BBC. "It's a fairly small club of countries that have been quite effective in reducing the viral spread." As the virus multiplied, the authorities subtracted key pieces from the jigsaw of daily life - no trips to the coffee shop, no shopping in crowded markets, no communal prayers at the mosque. The over-65s and under-20s were locked down completely, weekend curfews were imposed, and major cities were sealed off. Istanbul was the centre of the epidemic. The city lost its rhythm, like a heart that keeps missing a beat. How Turkey tracks the virus Now restrictions are gradually easing, but Dr Melek Nur Aslan remains on alert. She's director of public health for the district of Fatih, a heavily populated area in the heart of old Istanbul. Dr Aslan, who is articulate, and energetic, leads a contract-tracing operation. Across Turkey there are 6,000 teams. "We feel we are in a war," she tells me. "People forget to go home. We say 'OK eight hours is completed' but they don't even care about going home because they know this is a duty they have to complete, before it spreads to anyone else." Dr Aslan says they began tracking the virus on day one - 11 March - thanks to decades of experience tracking measles. "Those plans were ready," she says. "We just got them off the shelf and started using them." We join two young doctors in the narrow streets of Fatih, equipped with an app, and clad in Hazmat suits. They head for an apartment block where two flatmates in their twenties have been in quarantine. Their friend is Covid-19 positive. The women are framed in the doorway of their apartment, both in face masks, and one wearing a headscarf. They are tested on the spot for Covid-19 and will get the results within 24 hours. It's just a day since they started showing mild symptoms. Nazli Demiralp, 29, is grateful for the prompt response. "We follow foreign news," she says, "and when we first heard about the virus we were really scared. But Turkey has rallied faster than we thought - much faster than Europe and the United States. " Turkey embraces hydroxychloroquine The country has public health lessons to offer, according to acting head of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Turkey, Dr Irshad Shaikh. "Initially we were worried," he told the BBC. "They were having 3,500 positive cases per day. But what has worked is testing. And they did not have to wait five or six days for results." He also credits the quarantine, isolation and contract tracing measures but says it's too soon to judge Turkey's treatment protocol for patients. Controversially that includes the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, as standard. It's much touted by President Donald Trump - but has been roundly rejected by the latest international research. The WHO has temporarily suspended it from their trial of possible treatments for the virus. That followed research published in the Lancet which suggested hydroxychloroquine can cause cardiac problems in Covid-19 patients, and could do more harm than good. We were given access to a hospital where it has been part of the standard treatment for thousands of patients. The Dr Sehit Ilhan Varank hospital, a two-year old-state hospital, is also state of the art. It's a bright, spacious battlefront against the virus. Chief doctor Nurettin Yiyit - whose art work is on the hospital walls - says it's key to use hydroxychloroquine early. "Other countries are using this drug too late," he says, "especially the United States. We only use it at the beginning. We have no hesitation about this drug. We believe it's effective because we get the results." On a tour of the hospital, adding and subtracting protective layers as we go, he explains that Turkey's approach is to "get ahead of the virus", by treating early and treating aggressively. They use hydroxychloroquine and other drugs, along with blood plasma and oxygen in high concentrations. Dr Yiyit is proud of his hospital's mortality rate of under 1%, and of the empty beds in the intensive care unit. They try to keep patients out of here, and off ventilators. We meet 40-year old Hakim Sukuk who has left the ICU and is homeward bound, brimming with gratitude. "Everyone took care of me so well," he said, sitting up in bed. "It was like being in my mother's arms." Not over yet The government's handling of the pandemic has not been given a clean bill of health by the Turkish Medical Association. It says there were many mistakes in Ankara's "inadequate" response to the pandemic, including leaving borders open for too long. However, Turkey is getting some credit from the WHO. "This is a young outbreak," said Dr Shaikh. "But we would expect more people to be severely sick. Something is going right." Turkey has advantages in the fight against Covid-19, including a young population and a high number of ICU beds. Despite this, new cases continue to be recorded, currently at the rate of about 1,000 a day. While the country is being seen as a success story, there's still plenty of caution because the story isn't over yet.
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তুরস্কে করোনাভাইরাস সংক্রমণের অস্তিত্ব জানা গিয়েছিল ১১ ই মার্চ। এরপর থেকে বেশ দ্রুত দেশের প্রতিটি জায়গায় সংক্রমণ ছড়িয়ে পড়ে। একমাসের মধ্যেই তুরস্কের সবগুলো প্রদেশ আক্রান্ত হয়।
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By The Visual and Data Journalism TeamBBC News The northern states of Roraima, Acre, Rondônia and Amazonas have been particularly badly affected. Huge fires have also been burning across the border in Bolivia, devastating swaths of the country's tropical forest and savannah. So what's happening exactly and how bad are the fires? There have been a lot of fires this year Brazil - home to more than half the Amazon rainforest - has seen a high number of fires in 2019, Brazilian space agency data suggests. The National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) says its satellite data shows an 76% increase on the same period in 2018. The official figures show more than 87,000 forest fires were recorded in Brazil in the first eight months of the year - the highest number since 2010. That compares with 49,000 in the same period in 2018. Nasa, which provides Inpe with its active fire data, confirmed recordings from its satellite sensors also indicated 2019 had been the most active year for almost a decade. However, 2019 is not the worst year in recent history. Brazil experienced more fire activity in the 2000s - with 2005 seeing more than 142,000 fires in the first eight months of the year. Forest fires are common in the Amazon during the dry season, which runs from July to October. They can be caused by naturally occurring events, such as lightning strikes, but this year most are believed to have been started by farmers and loggers clearing land for crops or grazing. There had been a noticeable increase in large, intense, and persistent fires along major roads in the central Brazilian Amazon, said Douglas Morton, head of the Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center. The timing and location of the fires were more consistent with land clearing than with regional drought, he added. Activists say the anti-environment rhetoric of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has encouraged such tree-clearing activities since he came into power in January. In response to criticism at home and abroad, Mr Bolsonaro announced he was banning setting fires to clear land for 60 days. The president has also accepted an offer of four planes to fight the fires from the Chilean government and has deployed 44,000 soldiers to seven states to combat the fires. However, he has refused a G7 offer of $22m (£18m) following a dispute with French President Emmanuel Macron. The north of Brazil has been badly affected Most of the worst-affected regions are in the north of the country. Roraima, Acre, Rondônia and Amazonas all saw a large percentage increase in fires when compared with the average across the last four years (2015-2018). Roraima saw a 141% increase, Acre 138%, Rondônia 115% and Amazonas 81%. Mato Grosso do Sul, further south, saw a 114% increase. Amazonas, the largest state in Brazil, has declared a state of emergency. Deliberate deforestation? The recent increase in the number of fires in the Amazon is directly related to intentional deforestation and not the result of an extremely dry season, according to the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (Ipam). Ipam's director Ane Alencar said fires were often used as a way of clearing land for cattle ranches after deforesting operations. "They cut the trees, leave the wood to dry and later put fire to it, so that the ashes can fertilise the soil," she told the Mongabay website. While the exact scale of deforestation in the rainforest will only be certain when 2019 figures are published at the end of the year, preliminary data suggests there has been a significant rise already this year. Monthly data shows the scale of the areas cleared has been creeping up since January, but with a spike in July this year - almost 278% higher than in July 2018, according to Inpe. Inpe tracks suspected deforestation in real-time using satellite data, sending out alerts to flag areas that may have been cleared. More than 10,000 alerts were sent out in July alone. The record number of fires also coincides with a sharp drop in fines being handed out for environmental violations, BBC analysis has found. The fires are emitting large amounts of smoke and carbon Plumes of smoke from the fires have spread across the Amazon region and beyond. According to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (Cams), a part of the European Union's Earth observation programme, the smoke has been travelling as far as the Atlantic coast. The fires have been releasing a large amount of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of 228 megatonnes so far this year, according to Cams, the highest since 2010. They are also emitting carbon monoxide - a gas released when wood is burned and does not have much access to oxygen. Maps from Cams show this carbon monoxide - a pollutant that is toxic at high levels - being carried beyond South America's coastlines. The Amazon basin - home to about three million species of plants and animals, and one million indigenous people - is crucial to regulating global warming, with its forests absorbing millions of tonnes of carbon every year. But when trees are cut or burned, the carbon they are storing is released into the atmosphere and the rainforest's capacity to absorb carbon is reduced. There were more fires in the mid-2000s While the number of fires in Brazil is at its highest level for almost a decade, the data suggests that Brazil - and the wider Amazon region - has experienced more intense burning in the past. An analysis of Nasa satellite data this month indicated that the total fire activity in 2019 across the Amazon, not just Brazil, is close to the average when compared with a longer 15 year period. Figures from Brazil's Inpe, dating back to 1998, also show the country suffered worse periods of fire activity in the 2000s. Reports in mid-August, including on the BBC, had said there were a record number of fires in Brazil this year. Inpe has since made more data easily accessible, showing how far back its records stretched. We have now amended our reports to reflect this information. Inpe's historic figures are backed by numbers from Cams, which show total CO2 equivalent emissions - used to measure of the amount and intensity of fire activity - were also higher in Brazil the mid-2000s. Other countries have also been affected A number of other countries in the Amazon basin - an area spanning 7.4m sq km (2.9m sq miles) - have also seen a high number of fires this year. Venezuela has experienced the second-highest number, with more than 26,000 fires, with Bolivia coming in third, with more than 19,000. This is a rise of 79% on last year. Peru, in fifth place, has seen a rise of 92%. The size of the fires in Bolivia is estimated to have doubled since late last week. About one million hectares - or more than 3,800 square miles - are affected. Bolivia has hired a Boeing 747 "supertanker" from the US to drop water, and accepted an offer of aid from G7 leaders. Extra emergency workers have also been sent to the region, and sanctuaries are being set up for animals escaping the flames. South American countries are planning to meet in the Colombian city of Leticia next week to discuss a co-ordinated response to the fires. By Lucy Rodgers, Nassos Stylianou, Clara Guibourg, Mike Hills and Dominic Bailey. Design by Mark Bryson.
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ব্রাজিলে আমাজনের জঙ্গলে হাজার হাজার জায়গায় আগুন জ্বলছে। গত এক দশকে এত ব্যাপক মাত্রায় সেখানে দাবানল সৃষ্টি হয়নি।
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"No such meeting occurred," Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud tweeted. Mr Netanyahu has declined to comment on the Israeli reports that he was on board a private jet that travelled from Tel Aviv to the Red Sea city of Neom. It would be the first known meeting between leaders of the historical foes. US President Donald Trump has been pressing them to normalise relations after brokering deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan in recent months. Saudi Arabia cautiously welcomed those moves, but indicated it would wait until there was a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Also on Monday, a delegation of senior Israeli officials travelled to Sudan on what would also be the first such visit to a formerly hostile country, an unnamed Israeli official confirmed. The countries are expected to map out areas of co-operation. Citing unnamed Israeli sources, Israeli public broadcaster Kan and other media earlier reported that Mr Netanyahu and the head of the Mossad intelligence service, Yossi Cohen, attended talks in Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening with Crown Prince Mohammed and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. A senior Saudi adviser told the Wall Street Journal that the leaders discussed several issues, including normalisation of ties and Iran, but that no substantial agreements were reached. However, the Saudi foreign minister later denied that any Israeli officials had attended the meeting between Prince Mohammed and Mr Pompeo. "The only officials present were American and Saudi," Prince Faisal said. The BBC's Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet, who is in Riyadh, says senior Saudi officials are denying this highly sensitive story, on and off the record. This has long been a matter of very delicate diplomacy for the kingdom, which has taken an awkward, if not embarrassing, turn, she adds. Mr Pompeo meanwhile tweeted that he held constructive talks with Prince Mohammed in Neom and posted a photograph showing them together. The reported trip was spotted by an Israeli journalist on a flight-tracking website; a private jet used by Mr Netanyahu was flying to the Saudi city of Neom. The Red Sea resort is a hi-tech and tourism hub planned by Mohammed bin Salman. It is close to the borders of Egypt and Jordan, and only some 70km (44 miles) from the southern tip of Israel - a symbolic destination for the leaders to discuss a changing Middle East, mediated by President Trump's outgoing team. With the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan signed up, normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia would be the big deal. The agreements mark big diplomatic and trade wins; also in the background are some controversial US arms sales, and the Trump team's desire to consolidate its regional allies against Iran. But Saudi Arabia will be cautious over going public with an Israeli rapprochement for fear of a backlash in the conservative nation. And the big hurdle comes back to a core issue - the Saudis still say there will be no deal before the Israelis reach a permanent peace agreement with the Palestinians. Israeli media reported that Mr Netanyahu flew on a private jet belonging to Israeli businessman Udi Angel that the prime minister had used for previous overseas trips. According to data from FlightRadar24.com, a Gulfstream IV jet took off from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International airport on Sunday afternoon and flew south along the eastern coast of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula before heading towards Saudi Arabia's north-western Red Sea coast. The aircraft landed in Neom just after 18:30 GMT and remained there until 21:50, according to the data. It then returned to Tel Aviv via the same route. Mr Netanyahu said he would not comment, adding only that he was "working on broadening the circle of peace". But in an interview with Army Radio, Israel's Education Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to confirm the meeting took place, saying talks between Mr Netanyahu and Crown Prince Mohammed were an amazing achievement. Mr Netanyahu's social media adviser, Topaz Luk, meanwhile tweeted: "Gantz is playing politics while the prime minister is making peace". Mr Luk seemed to be referring to a decision by Defence Minister Benny Gantz, Mr Netanyahu's rival, to establish a commission of inquiry into a $2bn (£1.5bn) submarine deal with Germany that has been described by some as the biggest corruption scandal in Israeli history. President Trump has said he expects Saudi Arabia to normalise relations with Israel, but such a move faces big hurdles. Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said in an interview on Saturday with Reuters news agency during the G20 summit - hosted by Saudi Arabia but with world leaders participating virtually - that the kingdom's position had not changed. "We have supported normalisation with Israel for a long time, because we are the authors of the 2002 Arab Peace initiative, which envisioned complete normalisation with Israel." "But there is one very important thing that has to happen first, which is a permanent and full peace deal between the Palestinians and Israelis that delivers a Palestinian state with dignity within the 1967 borders to the Palestinians."
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ইসরায়েলের প্রধানমন্ত্রী বিনিয়ামিন নেতানিয়াহু একটি প্রাইভেট জেট বিমানে করে সৌদি আরবের নেওম শহরে গিয়ে গোপনে যুবরাজ মোহাম্মদ বিন সালমানের সাথে বৈঠক করেছেন - এই খবর বেরুনোর পর বেশ হৈচৈ পড়ে গেছে।
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Ahead of his arrival in the US, the crown prince pledged that Riyadh would "enter a nuclear arms race" if Iran ever acquired nuclear weapons. And during the visit, Congress rejected a bill to withhold US military aid to Saudi Arabia over the war in Yemen. But for social media users, something else stood out: a meeting of at least 20 men and no women. The two leaders and over a dozen of their advisors and senior officials attended the working lunch on 20 March, but the only women in the room were part of the press corps. The disparity was pointed out on Twitter in a post shared over 10,000 times. On the US side, it is not the first time that Mr Trump has faced criticism for the absence of women at key moments in the White House. One photo in January 2017 struck a particular nerve after showing an all-male panel watching as the president signed a law preventing federal money going to international groups which provide abortions or information about them. Critics argued that the photo showed men were making decisions about women's bodies. Although the president's daughter and senior advisor Ivanka Trump has previously met Saudi delegations, she was not present for Tuesday's meeting. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is a deeply conservative country. But Mohammed bin Salman has sought to present himself as a reformer, especially when it comes to the subject of women's rights. Since becoming crown prince last year, he has been credited with a number of initiatives that benefit women. The most high-profile of these changes - lifting the ban on women drivers - is due to come into effect in June later this year. Others include allowing women to attend a football match for the first time and allowing women to open businesses without permission from their male guardian. But critics argue that the country is still a very long way from true gender equality, as the White House photo shows. A small number of users argued that the lack of women in the picture was not due to a lack of equality and that to imply otherwise was in itself sexist. You may also like:
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হোয়াইট হাউসে ২০শে মার্চ সৌদি যুবরাজ মোহাম্মদ বিন সালমান এবং প্রেসিডেন্ট ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্পের মধ্যে যে বৈঠকটি হয়, তা ছিল নানা কারণে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ।
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Polling to elect a new Lok Sabha, or lower house, will be held from 7 April to 12 May. Votes will be counted on 16 May. With some 814 million eligible voters, India's election will be the largest the world has seen. The ruling Congress party and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party will be battling a host of smaller parties. Leaders of 11 regional parties have formed a Third Front against the Congress and the BJP. A new anti-corruption Aam Aadmi (Common Man's) Party (AAP), which made a spectacular debut in recent polls in the capital Delhi, will also contest the elections. If no single party wins a clear majority, smaller parties could play a crucial role.it one of the most exciting elections India has seen for years India's lower house has 543 elected seats and any party or a coalition needs a minimum of 272 MPs to form a government. New option The dates on which polling will be held are 7 April, 9 April, 10 April, 12 April, 17 April, 24 April, 30 April, 7 May and 12 May. Some states will hold polls in several phases. The new parliament has to be constituted by 31 May. Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath said school examination schedules, weather and crop harvesting seasons had been taken into account in deciding the polling dates. Some 814 million voters - 100 million more than the last elections in 2009 - are eligible to vote at 930,000 polling stations, up from 830,000 polling stations in 2009. Electronic voting machines will be used and will contain a None of the Above (Nota) button, an option for voters who do not want to cast their ballot for any of the candidates. Elections in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar will take place in six phases. Kashmir and West Bengal will vote in five phases each. Uttar Pradesh is India's most populous states and one of its largest. Elections in the capital, Delhi, will be held on 10 April. The election pits the governing Congress party-led coalition against the opposition BJP and its allies. The BJP is being led by the charismatic and controversial Hindu nationalist leader, Narendra Modi. Mr Modi, who is ahead in all the pre-poll surveys, is the leader of Gujarat state which witnessed one of India's worst anti-Muslim riots in 2002. The incumbent Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, is stepping down and Congress is being led by Rahul Gandhi, the latest member of India's influential Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Correspondents say a number of smaller regional parties are also in the running and some of them could play important roles if neither of the main party coalitions secures a majority in the elections. Related Internet Links India Election Commission
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ভারতে আগামী ১১ এপ্রিল থেকে ১৯ মে পর্যন্ত মোট সাত দফায় দেশের আগামী সাধারণ নির্বাচন অনুষ্ঠিত হবে বলে এদিন ঘোষণা করা হয়েছে। নির্বাচনের ফল গণনা করা হবে ২৩ মে, বৃহস্পতিবার।
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Soutik BiswasIndia correspondent The largest bay in the world - 500 million people live on the coastal rim that surrounds it - is also the site of the majority of the deadliest tropical cyclones in world history. According to a list maintained by Weather Underground, 26 of the 35 deadliest tropical cyclones in recorded have occurred here. Cyclone Amphan is the latest, expected to make landfall in coastal areas of India and Bangladesh on Wednesday afternoon. India meteorological officials say it will be an "extremely intense cyclone" when it hits the coast of the bay, with wind speeds up to 195km/h (121mph) and storm surges as tall as a two-storey building. What makes the Bay of Bengal so deadly? The worst places for storm surges, say meteorologists, tend to be shallow, concave bays where water, pushed by the strong winds of a tropical cyclone, gets concentrated or funnelled as the storm moves up the bay. The Bay of Bengal is a "textbook example of this type of geography", Bob Henson, meteorologist and writer with Weather Underground, told me. What makes matters worse are high sea surface temperatures in the Bay of Bengal, which can trigger extremely strong cyclones. "It is a very warm sea," says M Mohapatra, head of India's meteorological department. There are other coastlines around the world which are vulnerable to surging storms - the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, for example - but the "north coast of the Bay of Bengal is more prone to catastrophic surges than anywhere on Earth", says Mr Henson. The highly populous coastline also exacerbates the threat: one in four people in the world live in a country that borders the bay. Why is there rising concern over Amphan? For one, it has been designated as a super cyclone where wind speeds cross 220kmph (137mph). Cyclones are "multi-hazard" occurrences: strong winds cause physical damage; and tidal waves and heavy rains cause flooding. This time round there is the coronavirus pandemic to contend with too - social distancing protocols to curb the spread of infection mean more shelters are needed, and thousands of migrant workers displaced by lockdown restrictions in India are on the move, many heading by foot to coastal villages. Only a handful of storms in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal - about one every 10 years - achieve the level of super cyclone. In November 1970, Cyclone Bhola, the deadliest storm in world history, occurred in the Bay of Bengal and killed an estimated half a million people. It brought a storm surge estimated at 10.4m (34 feet) to the coast. Dr Amrith, who teaches at Harvard University, says the frequency of intense cyclones has risen in the Bay of Bengal in recent decades. At least 140,000 people died and two million people were displaced when Cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy Delta in Burma (Myanmar) in May 2008. "It seemed as if a bucket of water had been sloshed across an ink drawing; the carefully marked lines [of the delta's waterways] had been erased and the paper beneath was buckled and distorted," one journalist wrote about the calamity. The last super cyclone to hit India occurred in 1999 and caused nearly 10,000 deaths in Orissa (Odisha) state. I remember rotting corpses in ditches and smoke from funeral grounds clouding the skies as I travelled through some of the worst affected areas. That was when I first realised the untrammelled fury of a super cyclone in the Bay of Bengal.
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ঐতিহাসিক সুনিল অমৃত বঙ্গোপসাগরকে বর্ণনা করেছেন এভাবে: এক বিস্তীর্ণ জলরাশি, যা জানুয়ারিতে একেবারে শান্ত এবং নীল; আর গ্রীষ্মের বৃষ্টিতে এটির রূপ একেবারে ভিন্ন। ফুঁসতে থাকা ঘোলা জলের সমূদ্র।
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The test site at Punggye-ri has been used for six nuclear tests since 2006. After the last, in September, a series of aftershocks hit the site, which seismologists believe collapsed part of the mountain's interior. On Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced he was suspending his country's nuclear and missile tests. The surprise declaration came ahead of historic talks with South Korea and the US. The latest research from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) is due to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, in the coming days. It concluded that eight and a half minutes after September's test, there was "a near-vertical on-site collapse towards the nuclear test centre". The Punggye-ri site is situated in mountainous terrain in North Korea's north-east, and tests have taken place in a system of tunnels dug below Mount Mantap. A one-page summary of the research on the USTC website concluded: "The occurrence of the collapse should deem the underground infrastructure beneath mountain Mantap not be used for any future nuclear tests." But those words do not appear in the final peer-reviewed paper. It instead says that the "collapse in the test site calls for continued close monitoring of any leaks of radioactive materials". Prof Wen Lianxing, the lead author of the study, told the Wall Street Journal that the conclusion about the test site's viability would not be included in the published paper, but did not say why. The research echoes similar findings by a team from the Jilin Earthquake Agency, published in the same journal last month. That team concluded that the explosion "created a cavity and a damaged 'chimney' of rocks above it", leading to a collapse. The earlier paper did not offer an opinion on the viability of the test site in the wake of the collapse. A possible tunnel collapse at Mount Mantap has long been suspected, with Chinese scientists expressing concern soon after September's large-scale nuclear test. The US Geological Survey recorded a second seismic event about eight minutes after the test, which it assessed as a "collapse" of the cavity. Two aftershocks were detected as late as December, prompting concerns about the stability of the surrounding mountains.
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চীনা বিজ্ঞানীরা বলেছেন, উত্তর কোরিয়ার পারমাণবিক কেন্দ্রের অংশ-বিশেষ ধসে পড়ায় তা ব্যবহারের অনুপযোগী হয়ে থাকতে পারে।
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By Abigail Ony NwaohuochaBBC Africa women's affairs journalist, Lagos A successful career woman, Olufunmilola Ogungbile, 30, never thought that she would be sleeping on a friend's couch after five months of apartment-hunting in Abeokuta city in south-western Nigeria. She had moved from Lagos after securing a good job with the Ogun state government as a project administrator. Despite being financially independent, she struggled to find an apartment in middle and upmarket areas because she was single. "The first question the landlord would ask me is if I'm married?" Ms Ogungbile said, "I'd say 'No', and they'd follow with, 'Why not'?" She was often left puzzled. "What does my marital status have to do with me getting a place to live in?" 'We want decent people' Ms Ogungbile said the discrimination was widespread. "Ninety-nine per cent of the landlords I met did not want to rent to me because I am a single woman," she told the BBC. "Most landlords and agents would tell me, 'Can you bring your boyfriend or your husband?' In these kinds of apartments, we don't like boys coming in. We just want decent people." Ms Ogungbile believes the hurdles she faced are down to cultural expectations - marriage is a benchmark used to measure decency. "In this part of the world, if you are not married then you are a prostitute," she added. Sylvia Oyinda - a product manager in the retail sector in Lagos, Nigeria's throbbing metropolis - agrees that the stigma makes it difficult for single women to rent in Nigeria. Ms Oyinda, 31, was engaged when she started looking for an apartment. Landlords refused to meet her without her fiancé. "There is a saying 'small girl, big god' that describes young single women who rent alone or squat with other females. "The saying refers to single women who have sponsors, typically older men, who pay their rent," she said. 'Men have more money' Ms Oyinda believes landlords assume most young single women are like this. "The three landlords I met all refused to show me their apartments. They would tell me, 'Don't bother.'" Out of frustration she stopped scouting on her own. On the fourth attempt, she went with her partner, to whom she is now married, and was taken seriously. The couple eventually settled for a four-bedroom flat in the high-end area of Lekki. Olufunmilola Ogungbile on her five-month flat hunt: "Part of fighting the stigma was me refusing to bring a partner because that was part of the criteria before they would hand me the key" Coleman Nwafor, a landlord and property owner, said he does not discriminate, but most of his tenants and buyers are men because they have more money. "Most single ladies are under the responsibility of their parents or a lover. You can never tell what will happen after the first year. And every landlord wants a tenant who will pay without stress and renew their contract once it expires," he told the BBC. "Most single ladies are not working. There are more jobs for men than women in Nigeria. That is just the way it is." 'Landlords try to police women' Yinka Oladiran, 25, who moved from New York to Lagos in May 2016 to pursue a career as a TV presenter, said she lived independently in the US and wanted to maintain her freedom in Nigeria. She also wanted to reduce a three-hour commute to work from her father's home, but she could not rent an apartment without her father giving his consent to landlords. "There were landlords who said they did not want to rent to me until they had spoken to my father to make sure that he was OK with it, even though I was paying with my own money," Ms Oladiran told the BBC. "My opinion didn't matter. The landlords try to police women," she added. After searching independently for more than six months, she finally got an apartment in April 2017. More on housing: However, she said she felt constantly undermined by security staff, especially when she came home late from work, as they often asked her who she was visiting. "For that to even happen over and over again was very insulting," Ms Oladiran said. As for Ms Ogungbile, her five-month hunt ended last week when she finally moved into a studio flat. She said she secured it through a letting agency which focused on her income rather than her gender or marital status. The 30-year-old, who is now excited about painting her new home in her favourite colours - purple and lilac - believes she fought back against discrimination in her own little way. "Part of fighting the stigma was me refusing to bring a spouse or a partner because that was part of the criteria before they would hand me the keys," she said.
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নাইজেরিয়ার অনেক বাড়ির মালিক সন্দেহ করেন একা মেয়ে মানেই যৌনকর্মী।
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By Reality Check teamBBC News 1) It's home to almost one-third of the world's population About 2.4 billion people - out of 7.4 billion globally - live in the Commonwealth's 53 countries. And most of them are under the age of 30. The biggest country by population is India, which accounts for about half of the total. But 31 Commonwealth members have a population of 1.5 million people or fewer. 2) Some members were never part of the British Empire Rwanda and Mozambique became members in 2009 and 1995 respectively, and neither has a British colonial past or constitutional link. The club has lost members in the past. Robert Mugabe took Zimbabwe out in 2003 after its membership was suspended amid reports of election rigging. Pakistan was suspended after a military coup in 1999 and was re-admitted four-and-a-half years later. And South Africa withdrew in 1961 after it was criticised by Commonwealth members for its apartheid policies. It became a member again in 1994. The last country to leave was the Maldives in 2016. 3) The Queen is head of state in only 16 of the countries Most of the Commonwealth states are republics and six - Lesotho, Swaziland, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Samoa and Tonga - have their own monarch. 4) It's rather big The Commonwealth makes up a quarter of the world's land mass. The giant of the group is Canada, the world's second largest country. India and Australia are huge too. But many of the states are small - like the Pacific island nations of Nauru, Samoa, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, and Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean. 5) It changed its name The modern Commonwealth was formed in 1949, after "British" was dropped from the name and allegiance to the Crown was removed from its statute. Only two people have been head of the organisation - King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. But it's not a hereditary role, although the Prince of Wales is widely expected to take it up when he becomes king. The founding Commonwealth members were Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom, who formed a "free association" of independent countries. The Commonwealth had no constitution until it adopted its Charter in 2012, which committed members to 16 values of democracy, gender equality, sustainable development and international peace and security. The Commonwealth has been criticised for being a post-colonial club and for having little influence. The Gambia announced its withdrawal in 2013 describing it as a "neo-colonial institution". Supporters say the benefits which membership brings include developmental support and co-operation on international goals. Secretary-general Lady Scotland, said: "Our member countries have committed to nurture and protect democracy, development and respect for diversity." 6) The UK still has the biggest Commonwealth economy… just India could claim number one spot soon - possibly as early as this year. The combined GDP of the 53 countries is $10tn (£7tn). That's nearly as big as China's ($11tn, £7.7tn) but some way behind that of the United States, on $19tn (£13.4tn). UK exports to Commonwealth countries in 2016 were roughly the same as those to Germany, accounting for about 8.9% of all UK exports. Imports from the Commonwealth represented about 7.8% of the UK's total - equivalent to the value of those from China. 7) There's more than one commonwealth Don't forget the International Organisation of La Francophonie - a group of French-speaking countries. And there's the Commonwealth of Independent States, which was set up in 1991 by former members of the Soviet Union. What do you want BBC Reality Check to investigate? Get in touch Read more from Reality Check Follow us on Twitter
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লন্ডনে কমনওয়েলথ নেতারা একটি সম্মেলনে মিলিত হতে যাচ্ছেন। এখানে কমনওয়েলথ সম্পর্কে সাতটি তথ্য তুলে ধরা হল, যা হয়তো আপনি জানেন না। ১. বিশ্বের এক তৃতীয়াংশ মানুষের সংগঠন
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Mr Ambani, 54, has amassed a $22.3bn fortune and is ranked 19th in the the global rich list, the magazine said. He is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, one of the largest conglomerates in the world. Of the 1,226 billionaires in this year's Forbes list, 48 are from India. There are also nine billionaires of Indian origin living in countries like the US, UK, Indonesia, Ireland and Thailand. "Mukesh Ambani is the world's richest Indian, despite losing $4.7bn in the past year," Forbes said. Two years ago Mr Ambani built a 27-storey residence, believed to be the world's most expensive home, in the western city of Mumbai. Reports suggest the house is worth more than $1bn (£630m). Indian steel boss Lakshmi Mittal, in 21st place, was one of the biggest fallers on the list this year, dropping out of the top 10. His wealth is now estimated at $20.7bn, down by $10.4bn as a result of higher costs and lower steel demand in Europe. Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim has topped the list for three years in succession. The magazine estimates that Mr Slim, whose business interests range from telecommunications to construction, is worth $69bn (£44bn).
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আন্তর্জাতিক ব্যবসা সাময়িকী 'ফোর্বস' এবছর সিঙ্গাপুরের শীর্ষ ধনীদের যে তালিকা প্রকাশ করেছে, তাতে ৩৪ নম্বরে আছেন বাংলাদেশের সামিট গ্রুপের চেয়ারম্যান মুহাম্মদ আজিজ খান। ফোর্বসের হিসেবে তার ব্যবসা প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলোর মোট সম্পদের পরিমাণ ৯১০ মিলিয়ন ডলার। মিস্টার খান সেই অর্থে বাংলাদেশের প্রথম ডলার বিলিওনিয়ার, অর্থাৎ ডলারের হিসেবে তিনিই বাংলাদেশের প্রথম 'শত কোটিপতি'। কিভাবে আজিজ খান এই অবস্থানে পৌঁছালেন? তার প্রতিষ্ঠানে মূল ব্যবসা-বাণিজ্যই বা কী? তার সঙ্গে কথা বলেছেন বিবিসি বাংলার মোয়াজ্জেম হোসেন:
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The 25,000-square-metre (30,000 sq yd) Huoshenshan Hospital, one of two new hospitals being built, is scheduled to open on Monday. On 24 January, diggers were speedily clearing the ground where the hospital will sit. China's health authorities say 304 people have died from the coronavirus, with more than 14,000 cases in the country and beyond. There have been about 100 cases in another 22 countries, including two people in the UK. The number of cases worldwide has surpassed that of the Sars epidemic, which spread to more than two dozen countries in 2003. There were around 8,100 cases of Sars - severe acute respiratory syndrome - reported during that outbreak. The coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, home to around 11 million people. According to state media, the new Huoshenshan Hospital will contain about 1,000 beds. China's official CCTV broadcaster has been hosting livestreams so people can watch the hospitals being built in real-time - and they have proved an unlikely hit. The Global Times newspaper says more than 40 million people have been watching the livestreams in China. The popularity of the footage has led to the construction vehicles earning unusual fame. Cement mixers have found themselves with nicknames like "The Cement King", "Big White Rabbit" and "The White Roller". Huoshenshan Hospital is based on Xiaotangshan Hospital, set up in Beijing to help tackle the Sars virus in 2003. Xiaotangshan Hospital was built in seven days, allegedly breaking the world record for the fastest construction of a hospital. "China has a record of getting things done fast even for monumental projects like this," says Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. Just like the hospital in Beijing, Huoshenshan Hospital will consist of prefabricated buildings. Mr Huang said that engineers would be brought in from across the country in order to complete construction in time. "Engineering work is what China is good at. They have records of building skyscrapers at speed. This is very hard for Westerners to imagine. It can be done," he added. .
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প্রাণঘাতী করোনাভাইরাসে আক্রান্ত রোগীদের চিকিৎসার জন্যে চীনের উহান শহরে খুব দ্রুত একটি হাসপাতাল নির্মাণ করা হচ্ছে। কর্মকর্তারা বলছেন, মাত্র ১০ দিনে তৈরি এই হাসপাতালটি হয়তো সোমবারই খুলে দেয়া হবে।
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When Payal met Kanchan, back in 2017, she had no idea she would fall in love with her fellow trainee. In 2018, India’s Supreme Court ruled that gay sex was no longer a criminal offence, overturning a previous judgement that upheld a colonial-era law. But age-old customs and regressive attitudes survived, making it difficult for same-sex relationships to be accepted by larger society. The women, both now 24, have been living together as a couple since 2018 in the western Indian state of Gujarat, and they know first hand what the discrimination feels like. Their love story was thrust into the limelight last month when they approached the high court. “Our families are against our relationship. They are threatening us,” Payal said, adding that the two filed an application before the court, asking for police protection. The court ruled that the couple should be protected by armed guards. So-called honour killings - when someone is murdered by a family member due to the belief that they have brought shame upon the community - are not uncommon in India and other South Asian countries. One study found that hundreds of people are killed each year in India for falling in love or marrying against their families' wishes. Payal and Kanchan grew up in two remote villages in Gujarat, where a conservative and patriarchal culture reigned supreme. Both said they wanted to break barriers and felt inspired to enter a field dominated by men. They settled on policing. In 2017, when they first met, they said others in the force were reluctant to speak to them since they came from rural parts of the state whereas the rest were from bigger towns and cities. Instantly, they felt alienated from their peers. The two women were assigned the same room during police training. They fell into a comfortable routine - in the evenings, exhausted from exercise, they would meet to catch up and discuss their day. Soon, their chats stretched to include their lives and families, and the two became best friends. “If Kanchan washed my clothes, I cooked food for her. With time, our friendship grew stronger and we exchanged phone numbers to keep in touch after training finished,” Payal said. Coincidentally, the two were then posted to the same city and they decided to live in police accommodation, sharing a room. “If Payal had night duty, I handled all the work at home and if I had to work at night, Payal managed all the housework," Kanchan said. “We were happy with our work and as time passed, our lives started to revolve around each other.” It was around this point in their friendship that the two fell in love. “On 31 December 2017, we hugged each other on New Year’s Eve just before the clock struck midnight. It was maybe the first time we had hugged each other - and we felt completely different,” Kanchan said. Soon, the families of the two women began asking them to get married - Kanchan’s family had already lined up suitable matches for her - but they managed to stave off the pressure. It was at the end of last year when their colleagues living in the police quarters found out about their relationship that the couple decided to tell their own families. “They were in shock,” Payal said. The women claim that their families started following them and keeping a constant check on their movements. And then, earlier this year, things got really ugly. “One day, my family followed us when we were on duty. They stopped our vehicle in the middle of the road and threatened us,” Payal alleged. “They also came by the police quarters once and created a scene there, calling us names and using abusive language. “A few days after this incident, I received an anonymous death threat. That’s when we decided to approach the court for protection,” she said. The couple are happy that the court has ruled in their favour and granted them protection - it’s given them some time to think of the future. “Once the coronavirus pandemic ends, we want to go to southern India on a sort of honeymoon,” Kanchan said. The couple also want to adopt a child in the future. While homosexuality is no longer illegal, there is no law in India that facilitates same-sex couples to get married - or spells out their rights, including that of adoption. But the women are hopeful. “We’re only 24 now but we want to start saving money and adopt a child, raising them well with access to good education,” Payal said. Illustrations by Nikita Deshpande The names of the two policewomen were changed to protect their identities.
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পায়াল ও কাঞ্চন ভারতীয় দুই নারী। তারা দুজনেই পুলিশের চাকরিতে যোগ দেওয়ার আগে প্রশিক্ষণ নিতে গিয়েছিলেন। এসময় তারা প্রেমের সম্পর্কে জড়িয়ে পড়েন এবং তাদের এই সম্পর্ক নানা রকমের বাধা বিপত্তির সম্মুখীন হয়। নিজেদের পরিবারের কাছ থেকেও নানা ধরনের হুমকির মুখে পড়েন। এর পর নিজেদের নিরাপত্তা চেয়ে তারা দ্বারস্থ হন আদালতের। বিবিসির গুজরাটি বিভাগের ভারগাভ পারিখ তাদের সেই অভিজ্ঞতার কথা তুলে ধরেছেন।
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By Secunder KermaniBBC News, Kabul How did we get here? And why did it take so long? The Afghan war has been a bloody stalemate for years now, with the Taliban increasingly controlling or contesting more territory, yet unable to capture and hold major urban centres. There seems to have been a growing realisation, both amongst the group's leadership and in the US that neither side is capable of an outright military victory. President Trump, meanwhile, has been clear about his desire to withdraw American troops from the country. One key concession by the US, which allowed negotiations to take place, was the decision in 2018 to change its longstanding policy that the Taliban should talk first of all to the Afghan government, who the insurgents dismiss as illegitimate. Instead the US sat down directly with the Taliban to address their chief public demand - the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan. Those negotiations led to Saturday's accord, with the Taliban agreeing in exchange to address the core reason for the US invasion in 2001, the group's links to al-Qaeda. This deal now opens the door to separate, wider talks between the militants and other Afghan political leaders - including government figures. Those discussions will be much more challenging. Somehow there will have to be a reconciliation between the Taliban's vision of an "Islamic Emirate" and the democratic modern Afghanistan that has been created since 2001. Where does that leave women's rights? What is the Taliban's stance on democracy? These are questions that will only be answered when the "intra-Afghan talks" begin. Up until now, the Taliban have been, perhaps deliberately, vague. There are possible obstacles even before those talks begin. The Taliban want 5,000 of their prisoners released before they start. The Afghan government wants to use those detainees as a bargaining chip in the talks to persuade the Taliban to agree to a ceasefire. Then there's the ongoing political dispute over the results of the presidential election - with Ashraf Ghani's rival Abdullah Abdullah alleging fraud. A backdrop of political instability could make it harder to establish the "inclusive" negotiating team international observers want to see sitting across the table from the Taliban. One Afghan official admitted to me that even when they start, the "intra-Afghan" negotiations could take years. But the US has signalled its intent to withdraw all its forces within 14 months if the Taliban fulfil their side of the agreement. It is not immediately clear if that means the US will stay on beyond that time, if no settlement has been reached. Afghan officials have emphasised the pullout is "conditional", but one diplomat told me withdrawal was only contingent on the "intra-Afghan talks" starting, not concluding. He expressed concern that if the US were to pull forces out and the Taliban decided to up the ante on the battlefield, Afghan forces would be left extremely vulnerable. Other analysts have warned that the Taliban doesn't appear to be in the mood for concessions, presenting the agreement today to their supporters as a "victory". The Taliban do however appear to want international legitimacy and recognition. The fanfare around the ceremony in Doha has given them that, and they may feel negotiations offer the best chance of achieving their aims. The priority for many ordinary Afghans, at least in the short term, is a substantive reduction in violence. We'll find out in the coming weeks, when the warmer spring weather generally heralds the start of "fighting season", if that will happen.
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দোহায় শনিবার স্বাক্ষরিত চুক্তিকে যুক্তরাষ্ট্র, আফগানিস্তান এবং তালেবান কর্মকর্তা কোন পক্ষই 'শান্তিচুক্তি' আখ্যায়িত করেনি এখনো।
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Dr Mahinder Watsa, a trained obstetrician-gynaecologist, wrote his famous "Ask the Sexpert" column for more than ten years. He responded to the anxious queries of thousands of Indians, advising them with both with wit and clarity. An official statement by his children said that "he [Dr Watsa] lived a glorious life and on his terms." It is unclear if he was suffering from any illness at the time of his death. Dr Watsa was 80 when he began writing the now-famous daily sex advice column in the Mumbai Mirror newspaper. It quickly drew both interest and censure given that sex is still a taboo subject in most Indian households. "Until we ran the column, Indian media rarely - if at all - used words like 'penis' and 'vagina'," the paper's editor, Ms Baghel, told the BBC in 2014. She said she had to deal with accusations of obscenity, lawsuits and hate mail, but she feels the benefits of running the column far outweighed any of the troubles the paper went through. "In the Mirror alone, he [Dr Watsa] would have answered 20,000 readers' queries. Through his career as a sex counsellor, it would be over 40,000. This excludes the patients whose lives he has touched more intimately," Ms Baghel wrote in a profile of Dr Watsa. Dr Watsa was first asked to write a Dear Doctor column in the 1960s by a woman's magazine. He was in his late 30s. "I didn't have much experience, I must confess," he told the BBC in an interview in 2014. He soon realised that many of the problems that readers wrote to him about stemmed from a lack of sex education. So he set off on a life-long mission to provide it, first through the Family Planning Association of India (FPAI) and later through his own organisation, the Council of Sex Education and Parenthood International, (CSEPI). In 1974, when Watsa was working as a consultant to FPA India he persuaded them to introduce a programme of sexual counselling and education. At the time, talking about sex was a great taboo - many felt his suggestion was pornographic, whereas health professionals felt it was "unscientific". However the FPAI supported him and set up India's first sex education, counselling and therapy centre. While he was at medical college in Mumbai, Dr Watsa stayed with a big extended family his parents knew - that's where he met his wife, Promila. She was originally from Sindh, he was Punjabi, and they were from different castes. They had a son and lived in the UK for a couple of years, where Watsa worked as a hospital houseman and registrar. They were happy in the UK but when his father - an army doctor - fell ill, they returned to India, where he worked as a medical officer with Glaxo, as well as running a practice as gynaecologist and obstetrician. "Sometimes I delivered babies all night and then would go to work all day," he told the BBC. "Sex is a joyful thing, but a number of writers tend to become rather medical and serious," he said. He, however, preferred to tackle readers' concerns and curiosities with humour and compassion. Q: Two days ago, I had unprotected sex with my girlfriend. To prevent pregnancy, we bought an i-Pill. [emergency contraceptive] But in the heat of the moment I popped it instead of her. Can it cause any complications for me? A: Next time round please use a condom and make sure you don't swallow that too. Q: I have heard that any kind of acidic substance can prevent pregnancy. Can I pour some drops of lemon or orange juice in my girlfriend's vagina after the intercourse? Will it harm her? A: Are you a bhel puri [snack] vendor? Where did you get this weird idea from? There are many other safe and easy methods of birth control. You can consider using a condom. Q: After having sex four times a day, I feel weak the next day. For about five minutes, my vision goes blank and I can't see anything properly. Please help. A: What do you expect? Shouts of hurray and I am a champion all over town? Q: I have a small penis and I can't seem to satisfy my girlfriend. My astrologer has advised me to pull it every day for 15 minutes while reciting a shloka [prayer]. I have been doing this for a month but it hasn't helped. What should I do? A: If he was right, most men would have a penis hitting their knees. God doesn't help gullible, foolish men. Go visit a sexpert instead who can teach you the art of making love. Q: My family is demanding that I get married. How can I ascertain if the girl is a virgin? A: I suggest you don't get married. Unless you appoint detectives, there is no way to find out. Spare any poor girl of your suspicious mind.
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ভারতে একজন যৌন বিশেষজ্ঞ, যিনি পত্রিকায় যৌন সম্পর্কের ওপর কলাম লিখে ও পাঠকের এ সংক্রান্ত প্রশ্নের জবাব দিয়ে ব্যাপক জনপ্রিয়তা অর্জন করেছেন, ৯৬ বছর বয়সে তিনি মারা গেছেন।
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Mr Trump said Soleimani's "reign of terror" was "over" following a strike at Iraq's Baghdad airport on Friday. Soleimani spearheaded Iran's Middle East operations as leader of the country's Quds Force. Iran vowed to take "severe revenge" over his death. The killing marked a major escalation in tensions between Iran and the US. US officials said 3,000 additional troops would be sent to the Middle East as a precaution. Meanwhile, Iraqi state television said there had been another air strike in the country, 24 hours after the killing of Soleimani. An Iraqi army source told the Reuters news agency that six people were killed in the new strike, which hit a convoy of Iraqi militia in the early hours of Saturday morning local time. A US military spokesman denied that the American-led coalition fighting in the region was responsible. "FACT: The Coalition @CJTFOIR did NOT conduct airstrikes near Camp Taji (north of Baghdad) in recent days," said Colonel Myles Caggins III, in a post on Twitter. What did President Trump say? Speaking at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Mr Trump said of Friday's attack: "The United States military executed a flawless precision strike that killed the number one terrorist anywhere in the world, Qassem Soleimani." He said: "Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel but we caught him in the act and terminated him." How did Iran react? In a statement following Soleimani's death, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: "His departure to God does not end his path or his mission, but a forceful revenge awaits the criminals who have his blood and the blood of the other martyrs last night on their hands." In a letter to the UN Security Council, Iranian ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi said that Tehran reserved the right to self-defence under international law. How does Iraq fit into this? Iran supports a variety of Shia militia groups in neighbouring Iraq. Soleimani had just arrived at Baghdad airport and was travelling in a convoy alongside officials from such militia, when their cars were hit by several US missiles on Friday. Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the strike. He commanded the Kataib Hezbollah group - also backed by Iran - which Washington blamed for a rocket attack that killed a US civilian contractor in northern Iraq last week. Iraq is in a difficult position, as an ally both of Iran and of the US. Thousands of US troops remain in the country to assist in the broader struggle against the Islamic State (IS) group. But the Iraqi government insists that the US has acted beyond the terms of this agreement. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi labelled the missile strike as a "brazen violation of Iraq's sovereignty and a blatant attack on the nation's dignity". Iraq's parliament announced that it would hold an emergency meeting on Sunday. The US State Department warned Americans in Iraq to leave "immediately". Who was Qasem Soleimani? The 62-year-old was widely seen as the second most powerful figure in Iran, behind Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Quds Force, an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported directly to the ayatollah, and Soleimani was hailed as a heroic national figure. Under his 21-year leadership of the Quds Force, Iran bolstered Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian militant groups in Lebanon; expanded its military presence in Iraq and Syria; and orchestrated Syria's offensive against rebel groups in that country's long civil war.
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মার্কিন প্রেসিডেন্ট ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প বলেছেন, 'যুদ্ধ শুরু করতে নয় বরং বন্ধ করতেই' ইরানের শীর্ষ সামরিক কর্মকর্তা কাসেম সোলেইমানিকে হত্যা করেছে যুক্তরাষ্ট্র।
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By M Ilyas KhanBBC News, Peshawar She was from Nowshera, northern Pakistan, where society is conservative and tolerance for non-conformity runs thin. And Maya didn't conform. She was transgender, born male but identifying and living as woman. She had escaped abuse at home three times, running far away each time. She'd found happiness and a new community, but then took the chance of moving closer to her family home in Peshawar. "I wish we had known better," says her childhood friend Mehek Khan. Because Maya's family tracked her down and within a month of her move, she was dead. Police suspect her brother and uncle killed her, but they have denied any involvement. Rights activists allege the police have left many loopholes in the case, meaning justice may never be reached for Maya, as for so many of Pakistan's murdered transgender women. 'We were drawn to each other' In Maya's home state of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, transgender women tend to identify as being a third gender - they often refer to themselves as "she-males". A series of court rulings since 2009 have recognised a third gender in law, but implementation is problematic. Socially, transgender individuals continue to be treated as lesser beings, having no right to claim privacy or personal dignity, or even safety. Maya's story highlights the dark side of these realities. "We were drawn to each other right from the start," says Mehek. "It may be because we were becoming aware of our common gender." Maya and Mehek grew up across the road from each other in the rural outskirts of Nowshera. Both were born male, but always felt female, says Mehek. She would sometimes put on a dupatta (a head scarf) or paint her nails. Mehek's father and uncle considered her a disgrace. "They would often beat me up, lock me in a room... but I couldn't stop repeating it," Mehek says. Maya faced the same treatment from her male relatives when she experimented with dressing as a woman. Things became harder as they approached their teens, says Mehek, when "she-males start feeling they are not what people think they are". "When that happens, life with the family becomes increasingly difficult, and you wait for an opportunity to step out." The two fantasised for years about running away and becoming great dancers, and then, in 2016, Mehek finally managed to do so. She fled to Peshawar, where a boyfriend found her work at a garment factory. It was a year before she heard from Maya, who called her saying she was planning to escape. "I was so happy I cried," says Mehek. Maya and Mehek moved together to Kamra, in the northern highlands of Punjab province, and into the care of a guru. Pushed to the fringes of society, transgender women in Pakistan tend to cluster in small communities organised around an older trans woman, a guru, who acts as their guardian and protector in exchange for a cut of their earnings. The guru will also teach them how to dress and perform, so they have access to one of the few sources of income available for them - as wedding dancers. Betrayed and dragged home The year the two spent fulfilling their dream of dancing "was the best year of our lives", says Mehek. Having transgender dancers at weddings is not only a cheaper alternative but also spares the hosts the censure they would expect from community elders if they invited cisgender women. For dancers, it's a way of avoiding having to beg, or enter sex work. "We went all over Pothowar region, dancing at weddings and other parties, and making more money than we had seen before." But it was a brief period of happiness - they were both ultimately betrayed by boyfriends, who tricked them into putting themselves in the path of their families. Both were dragged back home. Both women had their hair cropped and, Mehek says, were tortured. Maya was badly beaten, she says, and her brother chained her to a bed in the basement of their house for several days. Undeterred, in March, they both escaped again, eventually ending up in Peshawar, where the trend for "Tommy dancers" - transwomen dancers with a less feminine look - meant they could still get wedding work, despite their shorn heads. Naina Khan became their new guru. She described how Maya seemed to be settling well in Peshawar. "She was quite relaxed, and bold, almost over-confident," she says. But then on Saturday, "the doorbell rang and an old acquaintance walked in, holding a phone in his hand", she says, sitting in the nine-room apartment where she houses nearly 20 youthful chailas, or disciples. Maya was reclining in a cot in the lounge, she says, talking on phone. The visitor sat in another cot, and kept looking at his phone, sometimes stealing a glance at Maya. "I now suspect he had Maya's picture in his phone and wanted to confirm her presence," Naina says. The visitor left abruptly. Minutes later the bell rang again, and three men walked in. "I saw Maya rush in. She quickly removed her earrings and nose-pin, turned off her phone, put everything in a purse and gave it to me. She was very frightened. She said her brother and uncle had come to get her." A tall young man barged into the room, walked up to Maya and hit her. Naina and her chailas rushed in. The man pulled out a gun but Naina refused to be intimidated and, with the help of the others, was able to push all three men out of the apartment. But within half-an-hour, a police party arrived and the officer ordered Maya to go with him. When Naina intervened, he said Maya had stolen gold from her home. Left with no option, Naina and her chailas decided they would accompany them to the nearby police station. Over the next couple of hours, they raised a ruckus, demanding to know why Maya was there since she didn't want to go home. She was an adult, they said, and couldn't be forced to do anything she didn't want. The head of the police station assured her that they just wanted Maya to have a word with her father, who was on his way from Nowshera, and that after that, Maya would be free to go where she wanted. Naina and her followers left for a wedding appointment, but when they went back to the police station in the early hours, Maya was not there. A law that can clear murderers What happened to Maya that night is not clear, and may never be. A top police officer of Peshawar city, Zahoor Afridi, told the BBC that Maya had given her consent to leave with her father, uncle and other male relatives. But an undertaking shown to BBC by the Hashtnagri police is written on a plain paper and signed only by her father and uncle, not Maya. Investigations by Nowshera police showed that the car carrying Maya had stopped briefly at a petrol station owned by her uncle. There, Maya was moved to the car in which her uncle and brother were travelling. The rest of the family was asked to proceed home. The next morning Maya was found dead, lying in a pool of blood in the woods near Nowshera. Nearly a dozen people have been arrested so far, including Maya's father, her brother, uncle and other members of the extended family. In statements to court, they all denied having killed Maya. All have been released on bail. Taimur Kamal, a transgender rights activist, says the circumstantial evidence is strong, but the police are "reluctant to include some relevant clauses in the case that will make it hard for the offenders to avoid punishment". For years in Pakistan, the heirs of a murdered person had the right to pardon the killers in exchange for blood money, an ancient Arab custom. However, in 2016, in order to curb so-called honour killings - and letting families get away with murder and walk away with money - parliament abolished this right in all cases classified as "honour crimes". "Maya's is clearly an honour killing," says Taimur Kamal. "But the police haven't included the honour clause in the case, which leaves the door open for Maya's mother or sister to pardon her killers." A body unclaimed but paid for Peshawar-based transgender rights group Transaction says at least 70 trans women have been murdered in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province alone since 2015, when the group started keeping data on crimes against the community. Among the more recent cases, that of a Peshawar trans woman, Nazo, stands out. She was killed by two friends in July last year. They hacked her body into pieces, stuffed it in plastic bags and were carrying it for disposal when police caught them. Nazo's family considered it below their dignity to accept her body, so it was buried in a police graveyard in Peshawar. But they did feel they owned Nazo when they were offered blood money by the killers in return for filing a pardon in court. The two men were acquitted on the basis of that pardon two months ago. More recently, a trans woman from Mardan was allegedly killed by her family. Though pictures of her dead body were circulated by rights activists on social media, no-one filed a murder case with the police, nor did the police bother to act on the tip. According to rights activists, a majority of these murders are committed by angry lovers. Murders by family members are rare, mainly because most trans-women leave their homes at an early age and lose all contact with their relatives. The only "relatives" these trans women are left with are members of the community where they live. And that is where they are missed the most when they are gone. Naina, Maya's former guru, says she is reminded of her every time she opens her safe. "I see her purse, and start crying. It's all there; some money, her phone, her national ID, her jewellery. She was so young. You can't look at a young person and imagine death." For Mehek, Maya's memories run even deeper. "Naina is kind and protective, and our place is bustling with friendly she-males. But my heart continues to be in pain. I've lost my best friend and no-one will ever replace her," she says.
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২০১৯ সালের শুরুর দিকে, মায়া পালিয়ে যান- তবে তিনি এজন্য বেশ খুশি ছিলেন।
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"The second Arab country to make peace with Israel in 30 days," he tweeted. For decades, most Arab states have boycotted Israel, insisting they would only establish ties after the Palestinian dispute was settled. But last month the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed to normalise its relationship with Israel. There had been much speculation that Bahrain might follow suit. Mr Trump, who presented his Middle East peace plan in January aimed at resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict, helped broker both accords. Bahrain is only the fourth Arab country in the Middle East - after the UAE, Egypt and Jordan - to recognise Israel since its founding in 1948. What have the two sides and Mr Trump said? Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was "excited" that "another peace agreement" had been reached with another Arab country on Friday. "This is a new era of peace. Peace for peace. Economy for economy. We have invested in peace for many years and now peace will invest in us," he said. This is a diplomatic achievement for President Trump and for his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who largely brokered the agreements with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. On returning from a recent trip to the Middle East, Mr Kushner told journalists the Trump administration had "unleashed an energy positivity" in the region that was "quite overwhelming." White House bullet points suggest how Mr Trump will be framing his international dealmaker credentials for his election campaign: as a harbinger of Middle East peace and prosperity, with more Arab and Muslim countries likely coming on board to normalise relations with Israel. This will allow Mr Trump to deflect attention from the "Deal of the Century" that he failed to achieve: Israeli-Palestinian peace. That project was widely criticised as heavily slanted in Israel's favour and rejected by the Palestinians. Focusing outward is the Trump administration's way of telling the Palestinians they can no longer dictate the region's relations with Israel. "Another historic breakthrough today!" Mr Trump wrote on Twitter, adding: "Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain agree to a Peace Deal." The president also posted on Twitter a copy of a joint statement between the three leaders - Mr Trump, Mr Netanyahu and Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa. "This is a historic breakthrough to further peace in the Middle East" that will "increase stability, security, and prosperity in the region", the statement reads. What has the other reaction been? The UAE welcomed the latest move. The ministry of foreign affairs said it was "another significant and historic achievement which will contribute enormously to the stability and prosperity of the region". However, there was an angry response from Palestinian officials. The Palestinian foreign ministry recalled its ambassador to Bahrain for consultation and a statement from the Palestinian leadership spoke of the "great harm it causes to the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people and joint Arab action". The Palestinians have long relied on a unified Arab response on the issues of Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory and the acceptance of a Palestinian state. Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls Gaza, said the move "represents a grave harm to the Palestinian cause". Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, a special adviser on international affairs for the speaker of Iran's parliament, said it was a betrayal of the Palestinian cause, Reuters reports. What's the background? There is a backdrop of the regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran in these diplomatic moves. The decades-old feud between them is exacerbated by religious differences. They each follow one of the two main branches of Islam - Iran is largely Shia Muslim, while Saudi Arabia sees itself as the leading Sunni Muslim power. The UAE and Bahrain - both Saudi allies - have shared with Israel worries over Iran, leading to unofficial contacts. Saudi Arabia's response will be watched closely. There is no indication yet it is ready to follow Bahrain and the UAE. Prior to the announcement of the UAE agreement in August - which included the suspension of Israel's controversial plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank - Israel had had no diplomatic relations with Gulf Arab countries. Last month saw the first official flight from Israel to the UAE, which was seen as a major step in normalising relations. President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, who was on the plane, described the UAE deal as having "the ability to change the whole course of the Middle East". Bahrain last week said it would allow flights between Israel and the UAE to use its airspace. Mr Trump is due to host a ceremony at the White House in Washington next Tuesday for the official signing of the Israel-UAE agreement. In 1999, Mauritania, a member of the Arab League in north-west Africa, established diplomatic relations with Israel - but severed ties in 2010.
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যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের প্রেসিডেন্ট ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প জানিয়েছেন, ইসরায়েল এবং সংযুক্ত আরব আমিরাত দুই দেশের মধ্যে স্বাভাবিক সম্পর্ক স্থাপনে রাজি হয়েছে।
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She was speaking at a special party conference to elect her successor. She plans to stay Chancellor till 2021. Her preferred choice, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, is in a run-off with millionaire lawyer Friedrich Merz. The former chief minister of Saarland received 450 votes to Mr Merz's 392 in a first round of votes on Friday. A third candidate, health minister Jens Spahn, received only 157 of the 999 votes cast in CDU's party conference in Hamburg. Counting from a second round of voting is now under way. Ms Merkel plans to serve out her full term as chancellor. Ms Merkel's speech was punctuated by applause and she got a standing ovation of more than six minutes at the end. CDU delegates at the congress in Hamburg also held up signs saying "Thanks boss". Then the conservative party paid tribute to Ms Merkel, 64, with a video showing highlights from her 18-year CDU leadership. The soundtrack was the 1960s hit Days, by The Kinks. Ms Merkel was first elected chancellor in 2005 and is not seeking a fifth term beyond 2021. In her speech she warned of tough challenges ahead, including climate change, maintaining European unity and coping with Brexit. She reminded the CDU of other electoral successes last year, avoiding mention of this year's setbacks in state elections, which were heavy blows for her. "I don't need to be party chairman to remain bound to this party. And I'm still chancellor," she said. She stressed that the CDU stood for human dignity, and praised the late US President George Bush Senior and late German Chancellor Helmut Kohl for reuniting Germany in 1990. She was at the funeral of George HW Bush on Wednesday. Speaking of the end of the Cold War, she told the CDU that "at that decisive time he [Mr Bush] trusted Chancellor Kohl... he understood how politics must serve everyone". She expressed "overwhelming gratitude" for having had the role of CDU leader. "The future will test our values... we must always approach work joyfully," she said. Who wants Merkel's job? Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer - known as AKK, the Merkel choice The 56-year-old former prime minister of the state of Saarland was appointed CDU general secretary earlier this year and is the party favourite, polls suggest. Popular in Saarland and Berlin, she has an unpretentious style and a reputation for calm analysis, as well as political acumen. Her greatest strength is also her greatest weakness; she is a Merkel loyalist, perceived as someone who will replicate much of the chancellor's style and policy. The millionaire businessman was a powerful player in the CDU in the early 2000s but left politics when he fell out with the chancellor. Since then the 63-year-old lawyer - who has strong links to America - has built a career in the private sector and works for US investment firm Blackrock. He appeals to the more conservative and business-minded wing of the party and has the official backing of ex-Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. The health minister is ambitious and, aged 38, the youngest of the three candidates. A former banker, he was once described by Mr Schäuble as "one of the great hopes for the future of our party". But Mr Spahn has ruffled feathers in the party and in the cabinet. Sharply conservative, Catholic and gay, he is a divisive figure for many.
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জার্মানির ক্ষমতাসীন দল ক্রিশ্চিয়ান ডেমোক্রাট দলের প্রধানের পদ থেকে সরে দাঁড়িয়েছেন দেশটির চ্যান্সেলর এঙ্গেলা মের্কেল।
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By Dr Oyinlola OyebodeUniversity of Warwick Many find resolutions like cutting back on unhealthy snacks or taking part in a weekend fitness class easier when friends and family are making the same changes. However, not all decisions affecting our health are intentional, as we copy the behaviour of friends, colleagues and family who we relate to and admire. Unfortunately, we also imitate habits that are bad for our health, like smoking or eating too much. This phenomenon means non-contagious conditions like heart disease, strokes and cancer can appear to spread from person to person like an infection. Can your friends make you obese? People whom we value and are in regular contact with, form our social network. The Framingham Heart Study has studied the power of social networks since the late 1940s, by tracking three generations of residents in Framingham, a Massachusetts city. The research indicated a person was far more likely to become obese if someone in their circle had also become obese. It suggested they were 57% more likely if it was a friend, 40% if it was a sibling, and 37% if it was their spouse. The effect was more pronounced if the two people were of the same gender, and was linked to how strongly the individual felt about the other person. For example, the Framingham study indicated a person's weight was not affected by that of a neighbour they saw daily if they didn't have a close relationship. In unbalanced friendships, the person who saw the friendship as important was more likely to put on weight if their "friend" did, but not the other way around. The level of divorce, smoking and alcohol drinking also appeared to spread via friends and family. These findings are important. Although we are affected by ageing and can be predisposed to certain conditions, our risk of developing the most common non-infectious diseases is significantly increased by certain behaviours: These non-infectious conditions - including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and lung disease - cause seven out of every 10 deaths globally and nearly 90% of all deaths in the UK. Emotions are catching Social networks may also affect our behaviour and mood. Perhaps unsurprisingly, smoking in teenagers may be influenced by popularity. When popular adolescents smoke, overall levels of smoking increase and the number of people who quit falls. Separately, young people whose friends suffered from low mood were found to be more likely to develop low mood themselves and vice versa. These symptoms didn't amount to clinical depression, which was not found to spread. But low mood is known to affect teenagers' quality of life and can sometimes lead to greater risk of clinical depression later on. The idea that emotions are catching is backed up by a controversial experiment secretly conducted on almost 700,000 Facebook users. The experiment selectively filtered what could be seen on users' news feeds, which use an algorithm to show relevant posts from their Facebook friends. Two parallel experiments were conducted; one reduced users' exposure to posts displaying positive emotion, while the other reduced exposure to posts featuring negative emotion. Users who encountered positive posts were more likely to post positively themselves, and vice versa. This suggests emotions may spread through online social networks, despite a lack of face-to-face interaction or body language cues. One criticism levelled at studies of our social networks is that we become friends with people who already have similar traits to us or are in a similar situation. But many studies try to account for this theory, known as social contagion. More like this Social butterflies If we copy the behaviour of friends and family, how can we harness this trait for good? Dry January and Veganuary - which encourage people to give up alcohol or go vegan - are high-profile examples of collective attempts to become healthier. Stoptober, which encourages people in England to stop smoking in October, is another well-known example of a group lifestyle change. The initiative, based on the spread of behaviour through social networks, has been hugely successful since it began in 2012. It is thought to have prompted more than a million attempts to quit, suggesting a single big collective push may boost rates of people stopping more than constant low level messaging throughout the year. You are 57%more likely to become obese if your friend does and 40%more likely if your sibling does, a landmark study found 7 out of 10deaths worldwide are caused by non-infectious diseases ...and 9 out of 10UK deaths While Stoptober is a big success story, high-profile health campaigns aren't effective on everybody. Traditional health messaging can make health inequalities bigger, because not everyone is in a position to take the advice that is given. Often it works on only the healthiest people; those who prioritise their health, and have the education, finances and social support that allows them to change their behaviour. However, even those who are not "health-conscious" are influenced by the behaviour of those they regularly interact with and care about. If we want to improve the health of the whole population, it may be helpful to target "social butterflies". These influential individuals, who are the lynchpins of their social networks, are more likely to share experiences, interact with lots of people and be admired by others. Further investigation into how behaviour spreads could help the government and the NHS do more to increase healthy behaviour - reducing future suffering and death from non-infectious disease. About this piece This analysis piece was commissioned by the BBC from an expert working for an outside organisation. Dr Oyinlola Oyebode is associate professor at the University of Warwick Medical School. Edited by Eleanor Lawrie
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বছরের শুরুতে অনেকে ওজন কমাতে প্রতিজ্ঞা করেন, শুরু করেন ডায়েট এবং শরীর চর্চা।
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By Sean CoughlanBBC News family and education correspondent The university says this is one of the the biggest rising threats to global health, already causing 1.5 million deaths per year worldwide. The institute will be funded by £100m donated by the Ineos chemical company. Vice chancellor Louise Richardson said the Covid pandemic had shown the "high cost of ignoring something that is likely to head our way". 'Growing menace' There will be 50 researchers working in the new Ineos Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Resistance, addressing the "over-use and mis-use" of antibiotics, which the university warned could cause 10 million excess deaths per year by 2050. Routine operations and "taken-for-granted treatments" would become much riskier without effective antibiotics, said the university. "The growing menace of bacterial resistance to antibiotics is one of the most under-reported issues of our time," says David Sweetnam, a surgeon advising the new institute. "We now have a very narrow window of opportunity in which to change course and prevent the unthinkable from becoming the inevitable," he said. Prof Richardson said the growth of resistance to antibiotics made it "absolutely imperative that we act" "It may seem very costly to do all this research now but it's nothing on the cost of failure to act," she said. The vice chancellor said Oxford's success in developing a Covid vaccine had created a much more positive public perception of university research and the value of experts. 'Cannot get enough of experts' "We were able to adapt so quickly and produce a vaccine in less than a year because we had spent 20 years working on it, doing blue skies research," said Prof Richardson. There had been debates about universities not providing value for money and too many people going into higher education, but Prof Richardson suggested the public mood had changed. "The British public cannot get enough of experts at the moment," she said. The high-profile development of a Covid vaccine had shown the value of university research, said Prof Richardson - "critical not just to health, but to the economy, to the preservation of culture and to generation of new ideas". "It's so much in the national interest that we have good universities," she said. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, billionaire chairman of Ineos, said the partnership with Oxford aimed to "accelerate progress in tackling this urgent global challenge".
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ব্রিটেনের অক্সফোর্ড বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় অ্যান্টিবায়োটিকের রোগ প্রতিরোধ ক্ষমতা কমে যাবার বিষয়টি নিয়ে কাজ করার জন্য একটি নতুন গবেষণা কেন্দ্র খুলেছে। নতুন এই গবেষণা সম্পর্কে জানাচ্ছেন বিবিসির সংবাদদাতা শন কফলান।
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By Sameer HashmiBBC News, Kashmir The BBC heard from several villagers who said they were beaten with sticks and cables, and given electric shocks. Residents in several villages showed me injuries. But the BBC was not able to verify the allegations with officials. The Indian army has called them "baseless and unsubstantiated". Unprecedented restrictions have put Kashmir into a state of lockdown for more than three weeks and information has only trickled out since 5 August when Article 370 - as the provision giving the region special status is known - was revoked. Tens of thousands of extra troops have been deployed to the region and about 3,000 people - including political leaders, businesspeople and activists - are reported to have been detained. Many have been moved to prisons outside the state. The authorities say these actions are pre-emptive and designed to maintain law and order in the region, which was India's only Muslim-majority state but is now being divided into two federally-run territories. The Indian army has been fighting a separatist insurgency here for over three decades. India blames Pakistan for fomenting violence in the region by supporting militants - a charge that its neighbour, which controls its own part of Kashmir, denies. Many people across India have welcomed the revocation of Article 370 and have praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking the "bold" decision. The move has also been widely supported by mainstream media. Warning: Content below might cause distress to some readers I visited at least half a dozen villages in the southern districts which have emerged as a hub of anti-India militancy in the past few years. I heard similar accounts from several people in all these villages of night raids, beatings and torture. Doctors and health officials are unwilling to speak to journalists about any patients regardless of ailments, but the villagers showed me injuries alleged to have been inflicted by security forces. In one village, residents said that the army went from house to house just hours after India announced the controversial decision that upended a decades-old arrangement between Delhi and Kashmir. Two brothers alleged that they were woken up and taken to an outside area where nearly a dozen other men from the village had been gathered. Like everyone else we met, they were too afraid of reprisals to reveal their identities. "They beat us up. We were asking them: 'What have we done? You can ask the villagers if we are lying, if we have done anything wrong?' But they didn't want to hear anything, they didn't say anything, they just kept beating us," one of them said. "They beat every part of my body. They kicked us, beat us with sticks, gave us electric shocks, beat us with cables. They hit us on the back of the legs. When we fainted they gave us electric shocks to bring us back. When they hit us with sticks and we screamed, they sealed our mouth with mud. "We told them we are innocent. We asked why they were doing this? But they did not listen to us. I told them don't beat us, just shoot us. I was asking God to take me, because the torture was unbearable." Another villager, a young man, said the security forces kept asking him to "name the stone-throwers" - referring to the mostly young men and teenage boys who have in the past decade become the face of civilian protests in Kashmir Valley. He said he told the soldiers he didn't know any, so they ordered him to remove his glasses, clothes and shoes. "Once I took off my clothes they beat me mercilessly with rods and sticks, for almost two hours. Whenever I fell unconscious, they gave me shocks to revive [me]. "If they do it to me again, I am willing to do anything, I will pick up the gun. I can't bear this every day," he said. The young man added that the soldiers told him to warn everyone in his village that if anyone participated in any protests against the forces, they would face similar repercussions. All the men we spoke to in all the villages believe the security forces did this to intimidate the villagers so that they would be too scared to protest. In a statement to the BBC, the Indian army said it had "not manhandled any civilians as alleged". "No specific allegations of this nature have been brought to our notice. These allegations are likely to have been motivated by inimical elements," army spokesperson Col Aman Anand said. Measures had been taken to protect civilians but "there have been no injuries or casualties due to countermeasures undertaken by the army", he added. We drove through several villages where many residents were sympathetic towards separatist militant groups, whom they described as "freedom fighters". It was in one district in this part of Kashmir in February that a suicide attack killed more than 40 Indian soldiers and brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. This is also the same region where popular Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani was killed in 2016, after which many young and angry Kashmiris joined the insurgency against India. There's an army camp in the region and the soldiers regularly comb the area to track down militants and sympathisers, but villagers say they often get caught in the middle. In one village, I met a man in his early 20s who said the army threatened to frame him if he didn't become an informant against militants. When he refused, he alleged, he was beaten so badly that two weeks later he still cannot lie on his back. "If this continues I'll have no choice but to leave my house. They beat us as if we are animals. They don't consider us human." Another man who showed us his injuries said he was pushed to the ground and severely beaten with "cables, guns, sticks and probably iron rods" by "15-16 soldiers". "I was semi-conscious. They pulled my beard so hard that I felt like my teeth would fall out." He said he was later told by a boy who had witnessed the assault that one soldier tried to burn his beard, but was stopped by another soldier. In yet another village, I met a young man who said his brother had joined the Hizbul Mujahideen - one of the largest groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir- two years ago. He said he was recently questioned at an army camp, where he alleged he was tortured and left with a leg fracture. "They tied my hands and legs and hung me upside down. They beat me very badly for more than two hours," he said. But the army denies any wrongdoing. In their statement to the BBC they said they were "a professional organisation that understands and respects human rights" and that all allegations "are investigated expeditiously". It added that 20 of a total 37 cases raised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the past five years were found to be "baseless", 15 were being investigated and "in only three cases allegations were found to be probe-worthy". Those found guilty, the statement added, are punished. However, earlier this year, a report released by two prominent Kashmiri human rights organisations documented hundreds of alleged cases of human rights violations in Kashmir over the past three decades. The UN Commission on Human Rights has also called for setting up a Commission of Inquiry (COI) to conduct a comprehensive independent international investigation into allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir. It has released a 49-page report on alleged excesses by security forces in the region. India has rejected the allegations and the report. What is happening in Kashmir? Read more on Kashmir:
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ভারতের সংবিধান থেকে কাশ্মীরের বিশেষ মর্যাদার ব্যবস্থা বাতিল করার পর ভারত শাসিত কাশ্মীরের নিরাপত্তা রক্ষাকারী বাহিনীর বিরুদ্ধে স্থানীয়দের মারধর এবং নির্যাতনের অভিযোগ ওঠে অনেকদিন আগে থেকেই।
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"We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" the US leader tweeted. In March, Mr Trump stunned the world by accepting an invitation to meet Mr Kim for an unprecedented sit-down. The pair had previously exchanged insults and threats. The breakthrough came after landmark talks between North and South Korea. Mr Trump's announcement came hours after he welcomed home three US detainees released by North Korea. Their release came during a visit to Pyongyang by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to arrange details of the meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Kim. No sitting US president has ever met a North Korean leader. The White House said the American trio were freed as a gesture of goodwill ahead of the summit, which Mr Trump earlier said he thought would be a "big success". "I really think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful," he said. The big question at the centre of the talks The key issue expected to be discussed is North Korea's nuclear weapons programme - over which Mr Trump and Mr Kim furiously sparred in 2017. The communist North has carried out six nuclear tests since 2006, despite international condemnation and sanctions, saying it needs the weapons for its own security. The US wants Pyongyang to give up its weapons programme completely and irreversibly. Ahead of the meeting, Mr Kim has pledged to stop nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile launches, and also to shut down a nuclear test site. But analysts caution that Mr Kim is unlikely to easily abandon nuclear weapons that he has pushed so hard to obtain, and that "denuclearisation" means something quite different to both sides. There has been no word from Pyongyang on what it might specifically offer at the summit, but key issues for the North will be the presence of 30,000 US military personnel in South Korea, and the lifting of sanctions that are choking the economy. At a summit in April, Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed to work to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons, although the means of achieving this were not detailed and previous such pledges have been abandoned. Still, the dramatic meeting - which saw a North Korean leader setting foot on South Korean soil for the first time since the end of the 1953 Korean War - marked a historic breakthrough between the two countries. Why Singapore? Singapore, a small and highly prosperous island nation, has been used before for high-profile diplomatic occasions. In 2015, the leaders of China and Taiwan held historic talks in the South East Asian city-state, their first in more than 60 years. It had been seen by top US officials as a good, neutral choice for the Trump-Kim talks. The US and Singapore have a close relationship. Singapore has diplomatic ties with North Korea but suspended all trade with the country in November last year as international sanctions were tightened. Other locations which had been considered for the Trump-Kim summit included Mongolia and the Korean border's demilitarised zone (DMZ).
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মার্কিন প্রেসিডেন্ট ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প বলেছেন, উত্তর কোরিয়ার নেতা কিম জং আনের সাথে তার শীর্ষ বৈঠকটি হবে সিঙ্গাপুরে - জুন মাসের ১২ তারিখে।
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By James GallagherHealth and science correspondent They classified foods including cakes, chicken nuggets and mass-produced bread as "ultra-processed". A study of 105,000 people hinted the more of such foods people ate, the greater their risk of cancer. A lot of caution is being expressed about the study, but experts said a healthy diet is best. What counts as ultra-processed Diet is already known to affect the risk of cancer. Being overweight is the biggest preventable cause of the disease after smoking and the World Health Organization says processed meat does slightly increase the risk of cancer. But what about ultra-processed foods? The team - at Universite Sorbonne Paris Cite - used food surveys on two days to work out what people were eating. Those on the study, who were mostly middle-aged women, were followed for an average of five years. The results, in the British Medical Journal, showed that if the proportion of ultra-processed food in the diet increased by 10%, then the number of cancers detected increased by 12%. During the study: The researchers concluded: "These results suggest that the rapidly increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods may drive an increasing burden of cancer in the next decades." But they said the findings need to "be confirmed by other large-scale" studies and research was needed to establish what could be behind the link. A 'warning signal' This study is far from the definitive take on ultra-processed foods and cancer. It cannot say ultra-processed foods are a cause of cancer. There are also factors that muddy the waters as people who ate a lot of ultra-processed foods had other behaviours that have been linked to cancer. They were much more likely to smoke, were less active, consumed more calories overall and were more likely to be taking the oral contraceptive. While the researchers did adjust their analysis for this they say their impact "cannot be entirely excluded". Prof Linda Bauld, Cancer Research UK's prevention expert, said: "It's already known that eating a lot of these foods can lead to weight gain, and being overweight or obese can also increase your risk of cancer, so it's hard to disentangle the effects of diet and weight." You might also be interested in: Overall she said the study was a "warning signal to us to have a healthy diet" but people should not worry about eating a bit of processed food "here and there" as long as they were getting plenty of fruit, vegetables and fibre. Dr Ian Johnson, from the Quadram Institute in Norwich, said the study had "identified some rather weak associations". But he criticised the vagueness of the term ultra-processed. He said: "The problem is that the definition of ultra-processed foods they have used is so broad and poorly defined that it is impossible to decide exactly what, if any, causal connections have been observed." For Prof Tom Sanders at King's College London, the definition of ultra-processed foods throws up too many quirks. He said mass-produced bread would be classed as ultra-processed, but a home-made loaf or bread from a posh local bakery would not. "This classification seems arbitrary and based on the premise that food produced industrially has a different nutritional and chemical composition from that produced in the home or by artisans. This is not the case," Prof Sanders said. Even the accompanying commentary in the British Medical Journal warned against jumping to conclusions. Martin Lajous and Adriana Monge from the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, warned "we are a long way from understanding the full implications of food processing for health and well-being". They said the study was simply "an initial insight".
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অতিরিক্ত মাত্রায় প্রক্রিয়াজাত করা খাবার গ্রহণে ক্যান্সারের ঝুঁকি বাড়ে বলে জানিয়েছেন ফরাসী গবেষকরা।
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The space agency's chief, Jim Bridenstine, said that the risk of debris colliding with the ISS had risen by 44% over 10 days due to the test. However he said: "The international space station is still safe. If we need to manoeuvre it we will." India is the fourth country to have carried out such a test. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the test - Mission Shakti - with great fanfare on 27 March, saying it had established India as a "space power". In an address to employees, Mr Bridenstine sharply criticised the testing of such anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons. He said that Nasa had identified 400 pieces of orbital debris and was tracking 60 pieces larger than 10cm in diameter. Twenty-four of those pieces pose a potential risk to the ISS, he said. "That is a terrible, terrible thing to create an event that sends debris in an apogee that goes above the International Space Station. And that kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human spaceflight that we need to see have happen." A day after India successfully carried out its ASAT test, acting US defence secretary Patrick Shanahan warned that the event could create a "mess" in space but said Washington was still studying the impact. Delhi has insisted it carried out the test in low-earth orbit, at an altitude of 300km (186 miles), to not leave space debris that could collide with the ISS or satellites. "That's why we did it at lower altitude, it will vanish in no time," G Satheesh Reddy, the chief of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation, told Reuters in an interview last week. Mr Bridenstine said that it was true that this would eventually happen. "The good thing is, it's low enough in Earth orbit that over time this will all dissipate," he said. China provoked international alarm with a similar test in 2007. The Nasa chief said "a lot" of the debris created by that test remained in orbit. The US military is in total tracking about 10,000 pieces of space debris, nearly a third of which is said to have been created by the Chinese test. Arms control advocates have expressed concern about the increasing militarisation of space. ASAT technology would allow India to take out the satellites of enemy powers in any conflict, and the test is likely to fuel the growing regional rivalry between India and China. The announcement also angered opposition parties in India, who have accused Mr Modi of using the test as a political stunt ahead of a general election. Indians will begin voting in national elections on 11 April.
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ভারতের সাম্প্রতিক অ্যান্টি-স্যাটেলাইট টেস্ট বা স্যাটেলাইট ধ্বংস পরীক্ষা আন্তর্জাতিক মহাকাশ স্টেশনকেও বিপদের মুখে ফেলতে পারে, নাসা প্রকাশ্যে এই অভিযোগ করার পর ভারত এদিন তা জোরালোভাবে অস্বীকার করেছে।
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By Jonathan AmosBBC Science Correspondent The picture was captured in infrared by the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii, and is one of the sharpest observations of the planet ever made from the ground. To achieve the resolution, scientists used a technique called "lucky imaging" which scrubs out the blurring effect of looking through Earth's turbulent atmosphere. This method involves acquiring multiple exposures of the target and only keeping those segments of an image where that turbulence is at a minimum. When all the "lucky shots" are put together in a mosaic, a clarity emerges that's beyond just the single exposure. Infrared is a longer wavelength than the more familiar visible light detected by the likes of the Hubble telescope. It is used to see past the haze and thin clouds at the top of Jupiter's atmosphere, to give scientists the opportunity to probe deeper into the planet's internal workings. Researchers want to understand better what makes and sustains the gas giant's weather systems, and in particular the great storms that can rage for decades and even centuries. The study that produced this infrared image was led from the University of California at Berkeley. It was part of a joint programme of observations that involved Hubble and the Juno spacecraft that's currently orbiting the fifth planet from the Sun. Fast facts about Jupiter Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
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বৃহস্পতি গ্রহের অসাধারণ কিছু নতুন ছবি তুলে ধরেছেন জ্যোতির্বিজ্ঞানীরা, যেখানে গ্রহটির বিশাল গ্যাস স্তরের নীচে উষ্ণ ঝলমলে অঞ্চলগুলো ফুটে উঠেছে।
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Now 21, she has made it her life ambition to prove they were right to keep her. Nargis now campaigns for women's education and empowerment in her home country, and is one of the BBC's 2018 100 Women. In 1997 I opened my eyes to the world as my parents' fifth child, and their fifth girl. My father's sister, and other relatives, immediately put pressure on my mum to agree to my father taking a second wife. Taking a second or even third wife is not uncommon in Afghanistan, and is sometimes done because they believe a new wife could mean a new chance to have a male child. When she refused, they suggested that my father swap me for a boy. They even found a family in the village who was willing to give their boy away and take me. Swapping children is not something that is part of our culture, and I haven't heard of it happening before, but boys are more valued in Afghan society as the traditional family breadwinners. People deliberately said things to upset my mother and make her feel inferior for not having a son. Despite her refusal to part ways with me, some elders still kept approaching my father. But he had a completely different mentality. He told them he loved me, and he would one day prove to them that a daughter can achieve everything a son can. It was not an easy time for my father. He had a military background and a history of service in the previous Soviet-backed regime, and my native district at the time was controlled by people with religious or fundamentalist tendencies. So certain people in the village used to detest him and did not socialise with us. But my father believed in what he said, and he always stood by his word. Although there was pressure on my parents to swap me because I was a girl, it was a man who had the most positive impact on my character. Fleeing home Things got worse for us after Taliban militants took control of our district. In 1998 my father had to flee to Pakistan and soon after that we joined him there. Life there was not easy - but he managed to get work as a manager in a shoe factory. Perhaps the best thing to happen to my parents whilst in Pakistan was that they finally had a son, followed by my fifth sister. In 2001, we all returned to Kabul after the Taliban regime was toppled. We didn't have a house of our own and had to live with my uncles. My sisters and I managed to keep going to school despite conservatism in our culture. I went on to study public policy and administration at Kabul University and graduated two years ago with the highest marks for that year. Throughout that time my father never stopped supporting me. A couple of years ago I went to watch a cricket game in Kabul with my sister. There weren't many women in the stadium and our photographs and videos were circulated on social media. People started criticising us and leaving negative comments, saying we were shameless to be in a stadium amongst men. Others said we were trying to spread adultery and were being paid by the Americans. When my father saw some of the comments on Facebook, he looked at me and said: "My dear. You have done the right thing. I am glad you have annoyed some of these idiots. Life is short. Enjoy it as much as you can." My father died of cancer earlier this year. In him, I lost someone whose constant support made me into the person that I am today, and I know he will always be with me. Three years ago I tried to open a school for girls in my native village in Ghazni. I talked to my father about it and he said it would be almost impossible because of cultural boundaries, and even boys have difficulties because of the security situation. My father thought giving it a name of a religious madrassa might have improved our chances. In the end I was unable to travel to my native village because it was simply too dangerous. One of my sisters and I still hope to achieve this goal one day. In the meantime, I volunteered for several years for NGOs in that part of the world, working for women's education, health and empowerment. I've also presented talks on a girl's right to go to school, university and to get a job. I've always dreamed of studying at the University of Oxford one day. When I look at international university rankings I always find Oxford in first or second position, and when I compare that with Kabul University I feel a bit sad - although that's not to say I'm not thankful I was able to go. I love to read in my spare time - an average of two to three books a week - and Paolo Coelho is my favourite author. 'No compromise' In terms of marriage, I would like to choose someone myself and my family have given me permission to marry someone of my own choice. It would be great if I can find someone who has the same qualities as my father. I would want to spend the rest of my life with someone who has a similar attitude - who can support me and stand by my choices. Family is also important - sometimes you marry the best man out there but then you cannot adapt to his family. They will have to support me in what I want to do in my life. If they resist then I will try and change their minds. I believe in what I want to achieve in life and will not compromise. What is 100 Women? BBC 100 Women names 100 influential and inspirational women around the world every year and shares their stories. It's been a momentous year for women's rights around the globe, so in 2018 BBC 100 Women is reflecting the trailblazing women who are using passion, indignation and anger to spark real change in the world around them. Read more:
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পরিবারের পঞ্চম মেয়ে সন্তান হিসেবে যখন আফগানিস্তানের এক গ্রামে নার্গিস তারাকির জন্ম হয়, তার বাবাকে সবাই পরামর্শ দিয়েছিল একটি ছেলে বাচ্চার সাথে মেয়েকে বদলে নিতে।
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The historic moment, which happened at 23:00 GMT, was marked by both celebrations and anti-Brexit protests. Candlelit vigils were held in Scotland, which voted to stay in the EU, while Brexiteers partied in London's Parliament Square. Boris Johnson has vowed to bring the country together and "take us forward". In a message released on social media an hour before the UK's departure, the prime minister said: "For many people this is an astonishing moment of hope, a moment they thought would never come. "And there are many of course who feel a sense of anxiety and loss." He said some had worried the political "wrangle" would not end but it was his job to take the country forward. How did the UK mark the moment? Brexit parties were held in pubs and social clubs across the UK as the country counted down to its official departure. Thousands gathered in Parliament Square to celebrate Brexit, singing patriotic songs and cheering speeches from leading Brexiteers, including Nigel Farage. The Brexit Party leader said: "Let us celebrate tonight as we have never done before. "This is the greatest moment in the modern history of our great nation." Pro-EU demonstrators earlier staged a march in Whitehall to bid a "fond farewell" to the union - and anti-Brexit rallies and candlelit vigils were held in Scotland. Police in Whitehall arrested four men and also charged one man with criminal damage and being drunk and disorderly, while in Glasgow one man was arrested. Meanwhile, other symbolic moments on a day of mixed emotions included: In Northern Ireland, the campaign group Border Communities Against Brexit staged a series of protests in Armagh, near to the border with the Irish Republic. The Irish border - now the UK's land border with the EU - was a major sticking point in the Brexit divorce talks. NI and the Irish Republic "will continue to remain neighbours", said NI First Minister Arlene Foster on RTÉ on Friday. At 23:00 GMT, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted a picture of the EU flag, adding: "Scotland will return to the heart of Europe as an independent country - #LeaveALightOnForScotland". Ms Sturgeon is calling for a new referendum on Scottish independence, arguing that Brexit is a "material change in circumstances". Speaking in Cardiff, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said Wales, which voted to leave the EU, remained a "European nation". Labour MP Hilary Benn, who chairs the Brexit select committee and backed Remain, said he was "sad last night... but we have to accept it". He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the UK was always a "reluctant" EU nation, adding: "We joined late and we left early." What now? It's happened. A dreary night didn't discourage those celebrating in Parliament Square. We wake this morning out of the European Union. But we follow their rules until the end of the year, without a say. We are separate after more than 40 years, but remember much of the status quo will hold for now - the UK and the EU, the awkward couple, finally divorced - but still sharing a house and the bills. But what the prime minister hails as a new era, a bright new dawn, starts months of hard bargaining with our neighbours across the Channel. The UK's requests: a free trade agreement, cooperation on security, and new arrangements for fishing are just some of the vital arguments that lie ahead. Read more from Laura here. What happens now? UK citizens will notice few immediate changes now that the country is no longer in the European Union. Most EU laws will continue to be in force - including the free movement of people - until 31 December, when the transition period comes to an end. The UK is aiming to sign a permanent free trade agreement with the EU, along the lines of the one the EU has with Canada. But European leaders have warned that the UK faces a tough battle to get a deal by that deadline. Former Brexit Secretary David Davis said agreeing a trade deal was "not a charitable exercise, this is an exercise of both sides recognising their own best interests". "From today, we are their [the EU's] biggest export market," he told the Today programme. What's the reaction in Europe? In an open letter to the British people, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "deeply sad" but: "The channel has never managed to separate our destinies; Brexit will not do so, either." He also defended the way France acted in the negotiations, saying neither the French nor anyone else in the EU was "driven by a desire for revenge or punishment". Meanwhile, the European Parliament's Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt said he would "look after your star and work to ensure the EU is a project you'll want to be a part of again soon". European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said Britain and Brussels will fight for their interests in trade talks. She paid tribute to UK citizens who had "contributed to the European Union and made it stronger" and said the UK's final day in the EU was "emotional". Whilst never the most enthusiastic member, the UK was part of the European project for almost half a century. On a personal level, EU leaders tell me they'll miss having the British sense of humour and no-nonsense attitude at their table. If they were to be brutally honest they'd have admitted they'll mourn the loss of our not-insignificant contribution to the EU budget too. But now we've left the "European family" (as Brussels insiders sometimes like to call the EU) and as trade talks begin, how long will it take for warm words to turn into gritted teeth? Read more from Katya here. European Council President Charles Michel warned: "The more the UK will diverge from the EU standards, the less access to the single market it will have." Mairead McGuinness, the vice president of the European Parliament, said she fears progress to agree a trade deal - which Mr Johnson hopes to secure by December 2020 - "might be left to the very last minute". "Normally in trade negotiations we're trying to come together," she said. "For the first time we're going try and negotiate a trade agreement where somebody wants to pull away from us. I can't get my head around that and I think it's going to be quite complicated." What about the US? US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said he was "pleased" the UK and EU had agreed a Brexit deal and the US would continue to build its "strong, productive, and prosperous relationship with the UK". Washington's ambassador to the UK, Woody Johnson, said Brexit had been "long supported" by President Donald Trump. How did we get here? Britain joined what was then European Economic Community on 1 January, 1973, at the third attempt. Two years later the country voted by an overwhelming majority to remain in the bloc in the first nationwide referendum. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron held another referendum in June 2016, amid growing pressure from his own MPs and Nigel Farage's UK Independence Party. Mr Cameron led the campaign to stay in the EU but lost by the narrow margin of 52% to 48% to the Leave campaign, fronted by fellow Conservative Boris Johnson. Mr Cameron's successor as prime minister, Theresa May, repeatedly failed to get her version of an EU withdrawal agreement passed by Parliament and was replaced by Mr Johnson, who also failed to get his plans through. Mr Johnson managed to secure an early general election in December last year, which he won with an 80-seat majority on a promise to "get Brexit done". The PM's EU withdrawal deal was approved by MPs just before Christmas, and the bill became law earlier this year.
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গণভোটে সমর্থনের তিন বছরেরও বেশি সময় পর আনুষ্ঠানিকভাবে ইউরোপীয় ইউনিয়নের ৪৭ বছরের সদস্যপদ ছাড়লো যুক্তরাজ্য।
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By Charlie JonesBBC News Six dogs are being trained by Medical Detection Dogs in Milton Keynes. Claire Guest, the charity's co-founder and chief executive, said the dogs were already showing signs that they would be able to sniff out the virus. She has previously trained dogs to spot the scent of malaria, cancer and Parkinson's disease. "The study is moving forwards very well and the signs are all really positive," said Dr Guest. "At the moment, we are cutting up tiny strands of a tennis ball, and then touching the strands with a piece of paper and hiding the paper, and they are able to find it. They are incredibly skilled." Norman, Digby, Storm, Star, Jasper and Asher will be trained to smell the virus on sterilised socks, stockings and face masks worn by NHS staff in London. The team expects the 3,200 samples to start coming back next week. Scientists will work out whether they contain the virus and the dogs will be tasked with spotting the positive samples from the negative ones and alerting the trainers. Dr Guest said her rescue dog Asher has been doing "exceptionally" well in training. The cocker spaniel was rehomed seven times because of his high drive before he found a home with her. "He had already learned how to spot malaria and Parkinson's so we knew he would be well suited to this. He has been finding the training odour without any errors," she said. "He is really leading the way and Storm is also doing incredibly well. He is very driven and really enjoying the work." After eight weeks' initial training, the successful dogs will move on to a second phase to test them in live situations. It is hoped the scheme will be expanded and dogs will be able to screen up to 250 people per hour, potentially at airports. They could also be used at testing centres. The trial, backed by £500,000 of government funding, involves scientists from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Durham University. Dr Guest started training dogs to detect cancer in 2002 and set up the charity in 2008. A year later, her fox-red Labrador Daisy, trained to detect bladder and prostate cancer, started pawing at her chest. Doctors discovered she had a breast cancer tumour so deep it would have been very hard to detect had she not been alerted. "I know from my own experience how clever these dogs are. They are primed and ready for the task and we are very optimistic we can help in the fight against coronavirus." Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk
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কুকুর গন্ধ শুঁকে করোনাভাইরাস ধরতে পারে কিনা তার পরীক্ষা "সফলভাবে এগোচ্ছে" বলে দাবি করেছে একটি স্বেচ্ছাসেবী সংস্থা।
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India's monsoon season started in June, but the death toll in Kerala has soared in the past 24 hours. Rescuers are battling torrential rains to save residents, with more than 200,000 people left homeless in camps. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in the state to see the devastation for himself. The Kerala government said many of those who died had been crushed under debris caused by landslides. With more rains predicted and a red alert in place, Kerala's main airport is expected to remain shut until 26 August. Hundreds of troops have been deployed to rescue those caught up in the flooding. Helicopters have been airlifting people marooned by the flooding to safety, with photographs and footage emerging from the area showing elderly people and children being rescued. More than 300 boats are also involved in rescue attempts, AFP news agency reports. The government has urged people not to ignore evacuation orders, and is distributing food to tens of thousands of people who have fled to higher ground. The Indian home ministry says more than 930 people have now died across India since the country's monsoon season began. How bad is the Kerala flooding? The region's chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, has described the flooding as the worst the state has seen in a century. "We're witnessing something that has never happened before in the history of Kerala," he told reporters. Mr Vijayan said more than 223,000 people were now living in more than 1,500 emergency relief camps set up in the area. Parts of Kerala's commercial capital, Cochin, are underwater, snarling up roads and leaving railways across the state impassable. The state's airport is a hub for domestic and overseas tourists, so its closure is likely to cause major disruption. Some local plantations are reported to have been inundated by water, endangering the local rubber, tea, coffee and spice industries. Schools in all 14 districts of Kerala have been closed and some districts have banned tourists, citing safety concerns. What is the government doing? Prime Minister Modi arrived in the region on Friday evening, Indian media reported, and is due to see the worst affected areas from the air on Saturday. The country's home minister has also offered his support. Anil Vasudevan, the head of the Kerala health disaster response wing, has said they are prepared to help victims and are setting arrangements in place to deal with the potential risks of water-borne diseases when the flooding recedes. Why is the situation so bad? It is normal for Kerala to get some of the country's highest rainfall during monsoon season, but the India Meteorological Department said it had been hit with 37% more than usual because of a spell of low pressure over the region. Further downpours are forecast for the weekend, leading many to fear the situation may get worse. Environmental scientists are also blaming deforestation, especially the failure to protect ecologically fragile mountain ranges in the area, local media report. Mr Vijayan, the region's chief minister, has said the situation in Kerala has been made worse by neighbouring governments. Earlier this week, he and his counterpart in Tamil Nadu entered a public spat over the release of water from a dam. Kerala has 41 rivers flowing into the Arabian Sea, and 80 of its dams are now said to be open after being overwhelmed. "Almost all dams are now opened. Most of our water treatment plants are submerged. Motors are damaged," Mr Vjayan said. 'Neck-deep water' BBC Tamil's Pramila Krishnan spoke to several people who had escaped the flooding in Cochin. Krishna Jayan, 58, said she was at home sleeping when her friend woke her up. "I opened the door and water gushed in," she said. "When we stepped into the street, we were neck-deep in water." She said locals had tied ropes along the streets to help people walk through the water, allowing her and her friend to reach a bus to escape. Another resident, 33-year-old Shabbir Saheel, said he had to carry his two-year-old daughter on his shoulders through the flooded streets to safety.
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ভারতের দক্ষিণাঞ্চলীয় রাজ্য কেরালায় গত একশো বছরের ইতিহাসের সবচেয়ে ভয়াবহ বন্যায় এপর্যন্ত তিনশোর বেশি মানুষ মারা গেছে।
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The French foreign ministry said the "baseless" calls for a boycott were being "pushed by a radical minority". French products have been removed from some shops in Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar. Meanwhile, protests have been seen in Libya, Syria and the Gaza Strip. The backlash stems from comments made by Mr Macron after the gruesome murder of a French teacher who showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in class. The president said the teacher, Samuel Paty, "was killed because Islamists want our future", but France would "not give up our cartoons". Depictions of the Prophet Muhammad are widely regarded as taboo in Islam, and are offensive to Muslims. But state secularism - or laïcité - is central to France's national identity. Curbing freedom of expression to protect the feelings of one particular community, the state says, undermines unity. On Sunday, Mr Macron doubled down on his defence of French values in a tweet that read: "We will not give in, ever." Political leaders in Turkey and Pakistan have rounded on Mr Macron, accusing him of not respecting "freedom of belief" and marginalising the millions of Muslims in France. On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested, for a second time, that Mr Macron should seek "mental checks" for his views on Islam. Similar comments prompted France to recall its ambassador to Turkey for consultations on Saturday. How widespread is the boycott on French products? Some supermarket shelves had been stripped of French products in Jordan, Qatar and Kuwait by Sunday. French-made hair and beauty items, for example, were not on display. In Kuwait, a major retail union has ordered a boycott of French goods. The non-governmental Union of Consumer Co-operative Societies said it had issued the directive in response to "repeated insults" against the Prophet Muhammad. In a statement, the French foreign ministry acknowledged the moves, writing: "These calls for boycott are baseless and should stop immediately, as well as all attacks against our country, which are being pushed by a radical minority." Online, calls for similar boycotts in other Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, have been circulating. A hashtag calling for the boycott of French supermarket chain Carrefour was the second-most trending topic in Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's largest economy. Meanwhile, small anti-French protests were held in Libya, Gaza and northern Syria, where Turkish-backed militias exert control. Why is France embroiled in this row? Mr Macron's robust defence of French secularism and criticism of radical Islam in the wake of Mr Paty's killing has angered some in the Muslim world. Turkey's Mr Erdogan asked in a speech: "What's the problem of the individual called Macron with Islam and with the Muslims?" Meanwhile Pakistani leader Imran Khan accused the French leader of "attacking Islam, clearly without having any understanding of it". "President Macron has attacked and hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims in Europe & across the world," he tweeted. Earlier this month, before the teacher's killing, Mr Macron had already announced plans for tougher laws to tackle what he called "Islamist separatism" in France. He said a minority of France's estimated six million Muslims were in danger of forming a "counter-society", describing Islam as a religion "in crisis". Cartoons caricaturing the prophet of Islam have a dark and intensely political legacy in France. In 2015, 12 people were killed in an attack on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had published the cartoons. Some in Western Europe's largest Muslim community have accused Mr Macron of trying to repress their religion and say his campaign risks legitimising Islamophobia.
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প্রেসিডেন্ট এমানুয়েল ম্যাঁক্রর মন্তব্যের জের ধরে ফরাসি পণ্য বর্জন না করতে মধ্যপ্রাচ্যের দেশগুলোকে আহ্বান জানিয়েছে দেশটি। এর আগে ম্যাঁক্র ইসলামের নবীর কার্টুন দেখানের পক্ষে সাফাই দিয়েছিলেন।
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He called for China to be held "accountable" for the pandemic. In his speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country had "no intention to enter a Cold War with any country". Ties between the two world powers are strained on a number of fronts. This year's summit at New York is largely being held virtually, with world leaders providing pre-recorded speeches. The new format meant some of the geopolitical theatre normally on offer at the key UN meeting was absent. Each country was represented by a single delegate and there was little opportunity for one nation to rebut another. But as often is the case for speeches to the assembly, President Trump used his address to tout his achievements and tear into a rival. China 'infected the world' - Trump "We must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague on to the world - China," he said. "In the earliest days of the virus China locked down travel domestically, while allowing flights to leave China and infect the world. China condemned my travel ban on their country, even as they cancelled domestic flights and locked citizens in their homes," he added. President Trump, whose own record on coronavirus is under close scrutiny as the US heads towards elections, has frequently accused Beijing of covering up the virus, saying they could have stopped the disease spreading. China has called the attacks an unfounded distraction. The US death toll for coronavirus, at more than 200,000, is the highest in the world and President Trump has often downplayed the disease. Tensions are high between the US and China on a number of other issues, including trade, technology, Hong Kong and China's treatment of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang province. Speaking soon after the US leader, President Xi warned of the risks of a "clash of civilisations". "We will continue to narrow differences and resolve disputes with others through dialogue and negotiation. We will not seek to develop only ourselves or engage in zero sum game," he said. In remarks released ahead of Tuesday's speech, President Xi took a more overt swipe at the US, saying "no country has the right to dominate global affairs, control the destiny of others, or keep advantages in development all to itself", something China itself has been accused of by critics. Also in his speech, President Xi said China - the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases - aims to hit peak emissions in 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2060. Trump targets US voters By Laura Trevelyan, BBC News This was a stump speech by President Trump, who faces re-election in 40 days time. He had Beijing firmly in his sights - blaming what he and his followers call the China virus for taking countless lives. Mr Trump is trying to deflect attention from his own handling of the pandemic by heaping opprobrium on China, while emphasising US efforts to find a cure. We will end the pandemic, the president pledged, saying thanks to US efforts three vaccines are in the final stage of development. For good measure, Mr Trump lumped the UN's World Health Organization into his critique of China - saying the international body, which he's withdrawing US funding from, is virtually controlled by China, blaming it for spreading what he called misinformation about the virus. This was not a subtle speech. It was a clear attempt to shift blame as Americans are already voting in the presidential election. The assembly was opened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who, without naming China or the US warned "we must do everything to avoid a new Cold War". "We are moving in a very dangerous direction," he said. "Our world cannot afford a future where the two largest economies split the globe in a great fracture - each with its own trade and financial rules and internet and artificial intelligence capacities." He said there was no room for self-interest in the face of the coronavirus. "Populism and nationalism have failed," he said. "Those approaches to contain the virus have often made things manifestly worse." President Trump gave a very different vision in his speech, saying "only when you take care of your own citizens will you find a true basis for co-operation". In other speeches:
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যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের প্রেসিডেন্ট ডোনাল্ড ট্রাম্প বিশ্বে করোনাভাইরাস ছড়িয়ে পড়ার জন্য চীনকে দায়ী করে বক্তব্য দেয়ার পর জাতিসংঘের সাধারণ পরিষদের অধিবেশনে যুক্তরাষ্ট্র আর চীনের মধ্যে চলমান উত্তেজনা সামনে চলে এসেছে।
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Mr Trump said E. Jean Carroll was "totally lying" about the alleged attack in a New York department store. "I'll say it with great respect: Number one, she's not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" Mr Trump told The Hill. Ms Carroll, 75, made the allegations in the New York magazine last Friday. In follow-up interviews with CNN and MSNBC, the Elle columnist said she would consider pressing charges against Mr Trump. Ms Carroll is the 16th woman to accuse Mr Trump of sexual misconduct. Mr Trump has denied all allegations against him. What does E. Jean Carroll allege? She says the attack allegedly happened at a Bergdorf Goodman store in Manhattan in late 1995 or early 1996, when the pair bumped into each other while shopping. The former Apprentice star and real estate magnate allegedly asked her for advice when buying lingerie for another woman and jokingly asked her to model it for him. In the changing rooms, she said Mr Trump lunged at her, pinned her against a wall and forced himself on her. Ms Carroll, whose "Ask E. Jean" advice column has appeared in Elle magazine since 1993, claims she managed to push him off after a "colossal struggle". Mounting accusations and a muted response At this point it's hard to keep track of the total number of women who have come forward to accuse Donald Trump of sexual improprieties ranging from unwanted touching to assault The response from the president, however, is easy to remember because it's almost always the same: The women are lying. He doesn't recall ever meeting them. They're in it for the money and attention. Or, as in this case, they're not his "type". As the allegations mount, these defences become more difficult to make - complicated further by the Access Hollywood recording of Mr Trump boasting about kissing and groping women without their consent. Of course, Mr Trump won the presidency after many of these women had already come forward and the Access Hollywood tape was public. Stories about Mr Trump's past behaviour are, as the old political saying goes, "baked into the cake". Without conclusive evidence of the alleged assault, E Jean Carroll's account is unlikely to change the political dynamic heading into the next election. Those who dislike the president will vote against him. Those who support him - or tolerate him because of his conservative policies - will stick by him. How did Mr Trump respond? Speaking to The Hill from the White House on Monday, Mr Trump staunchly dismissed the allegations due to appear in Ms Carroll's forthcoming book, What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal. He denied even knowing Ms Carroll despite being pictured with her in New York magazine alongside details of her allegations. "She is — it's just a terrible thing that people can make statements like that," he said. It is his third denial since Ms Carroll went public, with Mr Trump previously accusing her of "trying to sell a new book" and "peddling fake news". In response to Mr Trump's latest denial and "not my type" comment, Ms Carroll told CNN: "I love that I'm not his type." In 2016, Mr Trump made similar remarks about another accuser, Jessica Leeds, who alleges he groped her on an aeroplane in the 1980s. Addressing crowds at a rally, Mr Trump said "she would not be my first choice".
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যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের একজন নারী কলামিস্ট প্রেসিডেন্ট ট্রাম্পের বিরুদ্ধে ১৯৯০-এর দশকে তাকে ধর্ষণের যে অভিযোগ করেছেন মি. ট্রাম্প তা আবারও অস্বীকার করে বলেছেন, "তিনি আমার পছন্দের নন।"
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Voting for the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) is mandatory and there's no choice of candidates. Any kind of dissent is unheard of. Turnout is always close to 100% and approval for the governing alliance is unanimous. North Korea is an isolated state, ruled by the Kim family dynasty. Citizens are required to show complete devotion to the family and its current leader. So how does it work? On election day, the entire population aged 17 or older must come out and vote. "As a sign of loyalty you're expected to turn up early, that means there'll likely be long queues," says North Korea analyst Fyodor Tertitskiy, who is based in the South Korean capital Seoul. Once it's your turn, you receive a ballot paper with just one name on it. There's nothing to fill in, no boxes to tick. You take that paper and put it into the ballot box, which is located in the open. There's also a voting booth where you could vote in private, but doing that would raise immediate suspicion, analysts say. You theoretically have the right to cross out that single candidate. But, according to Mr Tertitskiy, doing that would almost certainly mean the secret police go after you and you likely would be declared insane. Once you leave the polling station, you are expected to join the cheering groups outside to express your happiness about having been able to cast your vote for the wise leadership of the country. "In state media, election days are portrayed as festive events, with people outside each polling station celebrating," explains Minyoung Lee, an analyst with NK News - a North Korea specialist news website. Because voting is obligatory, the election also works as a census for authorities to monitor the population of each constituency and to track defectors who might have fled to China. What powers does parliament have? The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) is a rubber-stamp body with no power. Elected every five years, the parliament is the only legislative body North Korea has. "I know that international media often hedge their reporting a bit, saying the SPA has 'little' power or influence - but that's not correct. It has zero," said Mr Tertitskiy. Laws are in fact written by the party apparatus and then merely approved by the SPA as a formality. That's a far cry from the far-reaching powers that, in theory, it does have. A two-thirds majority would be enough to change the constitution and a mere simple majority could remove Kim Jong-un from power. In fact, the SPA doesn't even meet regularly. In its first meeting, it elects a much smaller body to work in its stead and then the original assembly only comes together on rare occasions. Are there different parties? You might assume there's only one single party, but surprisingly, there are actually three different factions in parliament. The Workers Party, of which Kim Jong-un is the chairman, is by far the biggest but a few seats are usually held by two other parties, the Social Democratic party and the Chondoist Chongu party. In practice, there is no difference between the three parties and they're all grouped together in the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea. What result is expected? The result is not much of a nail biter, but it will take a few days before the final numbers are announced. First, there's usually an announcement of the impressive turnout. In 2014, that number stood at 99.97%. A few people might not have voted due to illness - though a running joke is that on election day no one dies and everyone is in good health. The next step is that the numbers of Kim Jong-un's constituency are released, both turnout and political support are usually 100%. Finally, the results for the other constituencies will be released. While turnout might be a few percentage points lower, political support for the candidate in each constituency is again bound to be 100%, if previous years are any indication.
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উত্তর কোরিয়ার ভোটাররা রোববার সে দেশের ক্ষমতাহীন রাবার স্ট্যাম্প সংসদ নির্বাচনে ভোট দিয়েছেন। প্রেসিডেন্ট কিম জং-আন ক্ষমতা গ্রহণের পর সে দেশে দ্বিতীয়বার এই নির্বাচন হলো।
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