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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43614400
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/india-43615678
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पहले अमरीका ने स्टील और एल्यूमीनियम पर आयात शुल्क बढ़ाया और अब चीन ने. जवाबी कार्रवाई करते हुए चीन ने पोर्क और वाइन जैसे 128 से ज़्यादा उत्पादों के आयात पर शुल्क बढ़ा दिया है. अब इन उत्पादों पर 15 से 25 फ़ीसदी शुल्क देना होगा.
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The tariffs affecting some $3bn (£2.1bn) of imports kick in on Monday. Beijing said the move was to safeguard China's interests and balance losses caused by new US tariffs. China had previously said it did not want a trade war but would not sit by if its economy was hurt. Mr Trump, however, has insisted that "trade wars are good", and that it should be "easy" for the US to win one. The American authorities have already announced plans for further targeted tariffs for tens of billions of dollars of Chinese imports, the BBC's Chris Buckler reports from Washington. They say that is in response to unfair trading practices in China that affect US companies but it raises the possibility of yet more action being taken in what has become a tit-for-tat trade battle, our correspondent adds. Relatively mild to start with By Stephen McDonell, BBC News, Hong Kong China's theft of foreign intellectual property is what sparked all this in the first place, according to Washington. If international companies want to operate in China they must hand over their intellectual property for the privilege, thus delivering the likes of German high-speed rail technology into the hands of Chinese engineers. Yet now that China's retaliatory tariffs have kicked in, there are also those sympathetic with that argument who are worried that launching a potential tariff war is not the way to fix the problem. Naturally others say China has been getting away with this for years and tough measures were needed in order to force change. There is also the overall imbalance in US-China trade but a large Chinese surplus, of course, means it is potentially much more exposed during a trade war than America. For this reason Beijing will want to negotiate a way out of this escalating tariff showdown. Its first set of tariffs are relatively mild but they come in response to the first round of US tariffs and a second has already been announced. There are plenty more American companies to be hit and other nations, especially those in Europe and Asia, could soon find themselves dragged into this conflict. Which products are affected? US scrap aluminium and frozen pork will be subject to a 25% additional tariff - on top of existing duties. Several other American foods including nuts, fresh and dried fruit, ginseng and wine will be hit by a 15% increase. Rolled steel bars will likewise see a 15% rise in duties. Why is this happening now? China said the new tariffs were a retaliatory measure in light of Mr Trump's decision to raise duties on steel and aluminium imports. But further tax hikes may lie ahead. On 22 March, the US said it was planning to impose duties on up to $60bn of Chinese imports and limit its investment in the US, in retaliation for years of alleged intellectual property theft. The White House said it was acting to counter unfair competition from China's state-led economy. It remains to be seen if China will follow its opening gambit with stronger measures. In theory, Beijing could tax US tech companies like Apple, for example. Such a move could force US tech giants to raise their prices to compensate.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53928783
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international-53948419
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डेमोक्रेटिक और रिपब्लिकन पार्टियों के नेशनल कन्वेंशन से अमरीकी मतदाताओं को यह अंदाज़ा लगाने में मदद मिलती है कि उनके भावी राष्ट्रपति की आंतरिक नीतियां किस तरह की होने वाली हैं.
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By Karishma VaswaniAsia business correspondent But this year they also provided a key insight for China Inc as it navigates its rocky relationship with the US. Several insiders at Chinese technology firms say have told me that a Joe Biden presidency would be more appealing than another four more years of President Trump - which would be seen as "unpredictable". And while they think a Biden administration would still be tough on China, it would be based more on reason, and fact rather than rhetoric and politicking. One thing is clear though: companies on the mainland believe that whoever is in the White House the tough stance on China is here to stay. Here are three things that are worrying Chinese companies the most about the next US administration - and what they're doing to protect themselves: Decoupling This word gets used a lot these days. President Trump and his administration talk about it in tweets and in press statements in relation to China. Decoupling basically means undoing more than three decades' worth of US business relations with China. Everything is on the cards: from getting American factories to pull their supply chains out of the mainland, to forcing Chinese-owned companies that operate in the US - like TikTok and Tencent - to swap their Chinese owners for American ones. Make no mistake, under a Trump administration "decoupling will be accelerated", according to Solomon Yue, vice chairman and chief executive of the Republicans Overseas lobby group. "The reason is because there's a genuine national security concern about our technology being stolen," he said. But decoupling isn't that simple. While the US has had some success in forcing American companies to stop doing business with Chinese tech giants like Huawei, it is pushing Chinese firms to develop self-sufficiency in some key industries, like chip-making and artificial intelligence. "There's a realisation that you can never really trust the US again," a strategist working for a Chinese tech firm told me. "That's got Chinese companies thinking what they need to do to protect their interests." Delisting As part of its focus on China, the Trump administration has come up with a set of recommendations for Chinese firms listed in the US, setting a January 2022 deadline to comply with new rules on auditing. If they don't, according to the recommendations, they risk being banned. While a Biden administration may not necessarily push through with the exact same ban, analysts say the scrutiny and tone of these recommendations is likely to stay. "A Democrat, whether in the White House, Senate or Congress, would have little reason to roll back Trump's toughness on China without some concession in return," said Tariq Dennison, a Hong Kong-based investment adviser at GFM Asset Management. '"One thing both parties seem to agree on in 2020 is to blame China for any of America's problems that can't be easily blamed on the other party. That's not going to change anytime soon." While fears of being delisted aren't high on the list of concerns for Chinese companies that are already listed in the US, it's enough to sway the decisions of companies that are looking to float in the future. Take Ant Group, for example, the mammoth Chinese digital financial services group that this week filed for an IPO. Affiliated to the Alibaba Group, which is listed in the US and Hong Kong, it chose Hong Kong and Shanghai in which to sell its shares instead of the US. Increasingly other Chinese companies are likely to follow suit, as tensions between the US and China get worse. Deglobalisation China has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of globalisation over the last 30 years. It has helped hundreds of millions of Chinese afford a better quality and standard of life, the bedrock upon which President Xi Jinping's Chinese Dream is based. But that's precisely what President Trump says needs to change: his administration argues that China has become richer while the US has become poorer. During Mr Trump's term, deglobalisation - where borders are less open and trade is less free - has become a trend. And it's something that Beijing knows won't change even after the election. "The fundamental adjustment of the US' strategic mind-set over China is real", reads the latest op-ed in the Communist Party's mouthpiece, The Global Times. 'This has to a large extent reset the China-US relationship." One of the natural consequences of globalisation was arguably a safer world. If you're doing business with one another, chances are you're not going to want to get in a fight - or at least not open conflict. A big worry for many businesses in Asia is that a real military clash between the two superpowers is inevitable - and those concerns only grew this week when Beijing fired missiles into the South China Sea, a lucrative but contested waterway. The reset of the US-China relationship is dangerous - not just for the US and China - but for the rest of us too.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-21805415
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international/2015/05/150506_israel_middle_east_pkp
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इसराइल के प्रधानमंत्री बेन्यामिन नेतन्याहू आख़िर समय में नई गठबंधन सरकार बनाने को राज़ी हो गए.
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His Likud-Yisrael Beitenu alliance signed the agreement with the centrist Yesh Atid and the pro-settler Jewish Home, the parties in the coalition say. It is the first time in a decade that an Israeli coalition government will not include any ultra-Orthodox groups. The deal follows weeks of deadlock since Mr Netanyahu's election win on 22 January. It comes a day before a deadline passes for Mr Netanyahu to legally form a coalition. "The prime minister welcomes the coalition agreements that have been signed between the Likud and Yisrael Beitenu (on one side) and the Yesh Atid party and the Jewish Home," a statement from Mr Netanyahu's office said. "On Saturday evening, the prime minister will inform President Shimon Peres that he has completed the task" of forming a government. The government is expected to sworn in on Monday, two days before a visit by the United States President Barack Obama. Hot issue According to Israeli media reports, there will be 22 ministers, making it the smallest government in decades. Likud will reportedly run the interior ministry, while Yesh Atid has secured five portfolios - including finance and education - and Jewish Home will have three. In the new cabinet, it is believed Yair Lapid - a former TV presenter who leads Yesh Atid - will be finance minister and Jewish Home's Naftali Bennett, a high-tech millionaire, will be economic and trade minister. After tough negotiations, it was apparently decided that Mr Lapid's deputy, Rabbi Shai Piron would take the education portfolio while Likud would have the interior ministry, our correspondent says. Mr Netanyahu is expected to act as foreign minister while Avigdor Lieberman, who leads his partner Yisrael Beitenu, faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in a trial. The defence ministry will be headed by former IDF chief of staff, Moshe Yaalon, a Likud member. Tzipi Livni, whose Hatnua party holds six seats, will be justice minister and chief negotiator in talks with the Palestinians. In total Mr Netanyahu will control 68 Knesset seats. The opposition will consist of Labour, the third-biggest party in the parliament with 15 seats, the ultra-Orthodox and Arab parties and centrist Kadima. One of the first challenges for the new government will be passing the 2013 budget which will include austerity measures, our correspondent says. Mr Netanyahu called for an early election last October because he said bickering among his coalition partners made it impossible to pass a "responsible budget". During the drawn-out coalition talks, Mr Lapid and Mr Bennett formed a pact and got commitments to a new draft law that will compel more ultra-Orthodox men to perform national military service or other civilian duties. Sharing the "social burden", as it is known, was a contentious issue in the election. Many secular Israelis object to the exemptions from army service given to students at religious seminaries or yeshivas and to the large state subsidies that their institutions receive.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-47493056
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/india-47900772
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गुरुवार को भारत के आम चुनाव के पहले चरण में करोड़ों मतदाताओं ने वोट दिए.
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Soutik BiswasIndia correspondent Polls to elect a new Lok Sabha, or lower house of parliament, will be held from 11 April to 19 May. Votes will be counted on 23 May. With 900 million eligible voters, India's election will be the largest the world has seen. PM Narendra Modi's ruling BJP will be battling the main opposition Congress and a host of regional parties. Leaders of two powerful regional rivals have formed a coalition against the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, and a key bellwether state. The lower house has 543 elected seats and any party or coalition needs a minimum of 272 MPs to form a government. So what makes these elections distinctive? 1. It's mind-bogglingly big Everything about Indian general elections is colossal - the Economist magazine once compared it to a "lumbering elephant embarking on an epic trek". This time, about 900 million people above the age of 18 will be eligible to cast their ballots at a million polling stations. The number of voters is bigger than the population of Europe and Australia combined. Indians are enthusiastic voters - the turnout in the last general election in 2014 was more than 66%, up from 45% in 1951 when the first election was held. More than 8,250 candidates representing 464 parties contested the 2014 elections, nearly a seven-fold increase from the first election. 2. It takes a long, long time The dates on which voting will be held are 11 April, 18 April, 23 April, 29 April, 6 May, 12 May and 19 May. Some states will hold polls in several phases. India's historic first election in 1951-52 took three months to complete. Between 1962 and 1989, elections were completed in four to 10 days. The four-day elections in 1980 were the country's shortest ever. Read more from Soutik Biswas Elections in India are long-drawn-out affairs because of the need to secure polling stations. Local police are seen to be partisan, so federal forces have to deployed. The forces have to be freed from their duties and moved all around the country. 3. It costs a lot of money India's Centre for Media Studies estimated parties and candidates spent some $5bn (£3.8bn) for the 2014 elections. "It is not inconceivable that overall expenditure will double this year," says Milan Vaishnav, a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the US-based think-tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Compare it to the $6.5bn that the US spent on the famously free-spending presidential and congressional elections in 2016, and you realise how costly India's elections are. Financing of political parties in India continues to be opaque despite the fact that they are forced to declare their incomes. Last year, Mr Modi's government launched electoral bonds, which allow businesses and individuals to donate to parties without their identities being disclosed. Donors have given away nearly $150m in these bonds - and the bulk of it, according to reports, has gone to the BJP. 4. Will women hold the key? Indian women are voting in large numbers. So much so, that more women are likely to vote than men this time around, the first time ever in a general election. The vote gender gap has already shrunk - in 2014, the turnout of women was 65.3% against 67.1% for men. In more than two dozen local elections between 2012 and 2018, the turnout of women was higher than men in two-thirds of the states. Political parties have begun treating women as a constituency and offering them more sops: education loans, free cooking gas cylinders, cycles for girls. 5. It's all about Narendra Modi In 2014, Mr Modi led his BJP and its allies to a historic victory. The BJP alone won 282 of the 428 seats it contested. It was the first time since 1984 a party had won an absolute majority in a general election. The BJP also picked up a third of the popular vote. The staggering win was largely attributed to Mr Modi's ability to promote himself as a decisive, hardworking leader who promised to usher in corruption-free "better times". Despite a patchy performance on several of his promises, Mr Modi remains his party's main vote-getter. He's also supported by a formidable and disciplined party machinery, run by his trusted and powerful aide Amit Shah. Analysts believe the summer elections will largely be a referendum on Mr Modi. The opposition campaign will be entirely targeted at the prime minister, a polarising leader who is loved and loathed in equal measure. So expect a presidential-style faceoff in a parliamentary election. Whether Mr Modi remains a durable brand will be known when the votes are counted. 6. India's Grand Old Party will be hoping for a comeback Can the 133-year-old Congress party step back from the abyss? In 2014, the party suffered its worst defeat ever in a general election. It won a mere 44 seats - down from 206 seats - and picked up less than 20% of the popular vote. Things remained bleak as the party lost a string of state elections over the next four years. By the middle of 2018, the Congress and its allies ran only three state governments, while BJP and its partners ran as many as 20. The party appeared to be in terminal decline. Its leader Rahul Gandhi, fourth generation scion of the famous Nehru-Gandhi family, became the butt of social media jokes. But in December, the party seemed to seemed to have staged a revival of sorts. Led by a more assured and energetic Mr Gandhi, the Congress wrested three key northern states from the BJP. Many attributed the recovery to anti-incumbency - two of the three states had been ruled by the BJP for years. But it would be churlish to deny Mr Gandhi and his party workers credit. Clearly, Congress has got some of its old mojo back. Mr Gandhi has positioned himself as a more open and receptive leader in contrast to the forceful and take-no-prisoners leadership style of Mr Modi. And in a surprise move, his charismatic sister Priyanka has been formally inducted into politics to infuse some fresh energy into the party's campaign.Congress's revival has helped rejuvenate a fractured opposition, and promises to make the 2019 election more of a contest than what was believed it would be. 7. It's the economy, stupid Under Mr Modi, Asia's third-largest economy appears to have lost some of its momentum. Farm incomes have stagnated because of a crop glut and declining commodity prices, leaving farmers saddled with debt and angry. The controversial 2016 currency ban - locally called 'demonetisation' - and a complex and badly executed new uniform goods and services tax hurt small and medium businesses and threw many out of their jobs in India's huge informal economy. Exports have dropped. Joblessness has risen, and Mr Modi's government has been accused of hiding uncomfortable jobs data. To make matters worse, some of India's state-owned banks are drowning in bad loans. Yet, inflation is in check. Increased government spending in infrastructure and public works has kept the economy moving. Growth is expected to be 6.8% this fiscal year. But the fact is that India's GDP needs to grow at a rate faster than 7% for the country to continue to pull millions out of poverty. Mr Modi has said reforming the economy is a work in progress. The elections will prove whether people are willing to give him more time. 8. Parties are banking on populism Economist Rathin Roy says India is moving from a "development state to a compensatory state" where governments are putting cash in the pockets of the poor to cover up for the deficiencies of the state. The result is competitive populism. Mr Modi's government has announced direct cash transfers to farmers and waivers of farm loans. It has also promised job quotas for the less well-to-do among the upper castes and other religions. Rahul Gandhi has promised to guarantee a minimum income for the poor if his party wins the elections. Others will be showering the voters with freebies ranging from TV sets to laptops. There is no clear evidence to show that sops win votes. 9. But nationalism could tilt the balance Mr Modi's muscular nationalism and his party's majoritarian politics have left India a deeply divided and anxious nation, say critics. But his supporters say it has energised and consolidated his base. They believe there's no need to be apologetic about political Hinduism because India, well, is an overwhelmingly Hindu nation. Unfortunately the nationalist rhetoric has emboldened radical rightwing groups to lynch Muslims suspected of smuggling cows. Hindus consider the cow sacred. Thanks to aggressive enforcement of anti-slaughter laws, the cow has become a polarising animal. People critical of radical Hinduism have been labelled anti-nationals. Dissent is frowned upon. India's 170 million Muslims, many say, have become the "invisible" minority. The BJP has no Muslim MPs in the lower house - it fielded seven candidates in 2014 and all of them lost. 10. And India's attack on Pakistan could bolster Modi's strongman image The tit-for-tat aerial bombings by India and Pakistan at the end of February following a deadly suicide attack in Indian-administered Kashmir triggered more nationalistic chest thumping. Mr Modi has made it clear he would not hesitate to retaliate if there was another attack on Indian soil provoked or sponsored by Pakistan-based militant groups. What is clear now is that Mr Modi will make national security a key plank of his campaign. Whether this will work is not clear. The opposition has to still come up with a persuasive counter-narrative. Will the pull of nationalism override other issues and fetch swing votes for Mr Modi? 11. A battleground bellwether could decide the polls The northern state of Uttar Pradesh has an outsize influence on Indian politics. One in six Indians lives here and it sends 80 MPs to parliament. It is also one of India's most socially divided states. The BJP won 71 of the state's 80 seats in 2014. Last time, Mr Modi's charisma and his party's ability to stitch together a rainbow coalition of castes contributed to the rout of powerful regional parties, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Ms Mayawati, who heads the BSP, is an icon to millions of low-caste Dalits, a fifth of the state. She has now joined hands with her arch rival Akhilesh Yadav of SP, a nominally socialist party. Together they hope to win more than 50 seats and halt the BJP's march to Delhi. It is an opportunistic alliance - bitter foes turned strange bedfellows - but could end up hurting the BJP's prospects in the state. It will be pinning its hopes on Mr Modi to neutralise the alliance. Follow Soutik at @soutikBBC
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52959856
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international-52965903
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न्यूयॉर्क टाइम्स के ओपिनियन एडिटर ने रिपब्लिकन सीनेटर के एक लेख की वजह से इस्तीफ़ा दे दिया है, जिसमें उन शहरों में सेना भेजने की वकालत की गई थी जहां नस्लवाद विरोधी प्रदर्शन हिंसक हो गए थे.
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James Bennet stepped down after Senator Tom Cotton's article "Send in the Troops" caused revolt in the newsroom. It backed Donald Trump's threat to use troops to quell unrest. The newspaper had initially stood by the publication but then said the article "did not meet" its standards. The change in position came after an outcry from both the public and staff over the piece, published on the newspaper's website last Wednesday. Some journalists did not come into work on Thursday in protest. Mr Bennet, who has been the opinion editor since 2016, later admitted that he had not read the piece before its publication. The Arkansas senator's article called for "an overwhelming show of force" against groups he described as "rioters". Its publication happened as hundreds of thousands of people have been marching across the US in recent weeks against racism and police brutality. There have been violent incidents in some cities. The demonstrations were sparked by the death of African-American George Floyd in police custody last month. Video showed him pinned to the floor, with a white police officer kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes. More on George Floyd's death More than 800 employees signed a letter denouncing the article's publication, saying it contained misinformation. "As a black woman, as a journalist, I am deeply ashamed that we ran this," Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones wrote on Twitter. In a note to staff on Sunday, New York Times publisher AG Sulzberger said: "Last week we saw a significant breakdown in our editing processes, not the first we've experienced in recent years." The note said Mr Bennet had resigned after he agreed that "it would take a new team to lead the department through a time of considerable change". There was no mention of Mr Cotton's piece. The New York Times initially defended the article, saying the editorial page needed to reflect diverse viewpoints. But in a lengthy editor's note added to the text on Friday, it said the piece "fell short of our standards and should not have been published". It said "the editing process was rushed and flawed", adding: "The published piece presents as facts assertions about the role of 'cadres of left-wing radicals like antifa'; in fact, those allegations have not been substantiated and have been widely questioned." The newspaper also said the senator's statement that police officers "bore the brunt" of the violence seen in some cities was an "overstatement that should have been challenged". The headline, which had not been written by Mr Cotton, "was incendiary and should not have been used," the note added. Mr Sulzberger's email announced that Jim Dao, who oversees op-eds as a deputy in the opinion section, will be moved to another role, while Katie Kingsbury will become acting opinion editorial page editor. On Saturday, Stan Wischnowski, the top editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, resigned after publishing a headline that equated property damage to the deaths of black people, which prompted public condemnation from many of the newspaper's staff. Mr Wischnowski apologised for what he described as a "horribly wrong" decision to use the headline "Buildings Matter Too" on an article about civil unrest in the US.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-21669780
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international/2013/03/130314_china_jintao_jiabao_ra
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एक दशक पहले जब हू जिंताओ कम्यूनिस्ट पार्टी के नेता चुने गए थे तो वो हिवेई के एक गांव में गए थे.
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By Kerry BrownProfessor of Chinese politics, University of Sydney Making such a place the destination for one of his earliest "investigative inspections" was interpreted as an attempt to reconnect with the party grassroots, and to demonstrate that the new leadership were earnest in wanting to do something about inequality. Inequality was seen as being something that had been rising over the previous decade as the country emerged even further from its state-led economic model of the past and was getting close to unsustainable levels. In 2013, when we look back at the Hu and Wen period, we can see that this aspiration was bold, and no doubt well-meant, but China is as unequal a place now as it was then. The best that can be said for Mr Hu and his premier, Wen Jiabao, is that in their final three years in power, the country stabilised inequality even if it didn't reign it in. But the grand talk at one party meeting in 2005 of moving towards addressing broader development objectives as opposed to narrowly economic ones looks misplaced now. Growth first As Mr Hu retires from public life in China, this failure to do much about such a critical area raises the more general question of what, in the end, his achievement really was. Answering this is not easy. The things that he did were the results of painstaking political work and administrative patience. This crucial but unexciting stuff usually fails to excite anyone, even historians. In the long term therefore we may well view the Hu and Wen period as a great success. It made China a truly wealthy and significant country, saw off the threats of the economic crisis in 2008, and managed to build up national esteem and importance. The political elite remained unified enough to see through a tricky leadership change, despite needing to sacrifice one of their members - Bo Xilai. Mr Hu was able to create consensus over this period and to maintain the Party's privileged place in society. Mr Hu and Mr Wen were also able to maintain growth over this period in ways which were indisputable and visible. China is now four times larger as an economy than it was in 2002. It has risen on almost every major indicator. It is an economic superpower, whatever its geopolitical status. Those who travel through China today see a country almost awash with activity, from infrastructure to housing, to rising car usage, to the emergence of a middle class in the main cities as consumption-driven as anywhere else on the planet. Consensus builder Mr Hu and Mr Wen also presided over an era of crises which they were able to manage and contain. They dealt with the snow storms of early 2008, the impact of the collapse of exports in 2009, the uprisings in Tibet and Xinjiang in 2008 and 2009 respectively, and the scandal around the fall of Bo Xilai and his wife in 2012. Through all this, Mr Hu was the great consensus builder, almost pathologically tedious in his public statements, but someone amorphous enough in their public persona to never side too obviously with any group in the party against another so that it risked causing schism. Mr Wen performed the function of faithful implementer, the reassuringly human face of the modern Chinese elite, holding the banner of reform up towards the end in ways which granted hope, even though they lacked practical details. But in terms of a single historically significant event in this period, something like entry to the World Trade Organization in 2001 under the previous leaders, the Hu and Wen period is oddly sparse. The Beijing Olympics was important at the time - but securing it was the achievement of Jiang Zemin. There were no mould-breaking moves in terms of domestic reform, no rolling out of village elections to a higher level in government, no bold changes in terms of rule of law, nor of the military or the government system. Plenty of smaller changes, consistent with a cautious leadership, but nothing that stands out as a genuinely historic legacy. The great contradiction of the Hu and Wen period is that, at a time of immense dynamism and change within China socially, economically, and technologically, the politicians proved themselves eerily faceless and, more often than not, absent. China was changing, whether they were there or not. Missed opportunity? Perhaps the single achievement that Mr Hu really expended personal political capital on was the dramatic improvement in relations with Taiwan on the re-election of the Nationalist Party there from 2008. The symbolic importance of signing of a major quasi-free trade deal in the form of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2009 was immense, despite the lack of tangible results in terms of cross-strait trade. In leading however to direct air, postal and tourist links, this agreement and Mr Hu's leadership have done more to normalise the relationship than previous leaders. It is here that Mr Hu personally has some claim to historic leadership. Paradoxically, Mr Hu, who often came across as a highly controlled and a controlling political personality, may find that his legacy lies in the hands of his immediate successors. If they are able to address the long menu of internal reforms in the areas of law, politics, administration and civil society, which he and Mr Wen seemed so reluctant to hit head on, then the Hu-Wen strategy of growth first, political and social change second, will have been proved the correct one. But if the ensuing decade proves unstable and leads to party division, then the Hu-Wen period will be judged a missed opportunity. For the next few years, the court will be out. But the judgment might come through quicker than Mr Hu, Mr Wen or anyone else might imagine.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36041860
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international/2016/04/160419_boko_haram_wife_rd
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17 साल की ज़ारा की कहानी बहुत त्रासदीपूर्ण है. दरअसल यह कहानी है उस क्रूरता की जो चरमपंथी गुट बोको हराम उत्तर-पश्चिम नाइजीरिया और पड़ोस में बसे देशों के हज़ारों लोगों के साथ कर रहा है.
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By Alastair LeitheadBBC News, Yola, north-eastern Nigeria Zara was kidnapped by Boko Haram and then freed by the army, but now finds herself sometimes wishing she was back in the forest rather than suffering the stigma of life as a Boko Haram bride. She wasn't one of the missing Chibok schoolgirls, and until now didn't have her own social media hashtag, but like thousands of others - free or still captive - is deeply traumatised. In telling #ZarasStory it's the first time she has spoken to outsiders about her terrible experience a year on, and the pain she still suffers to this day. "They gave us a choice - to be married, or to be a slave. I decided to marry," she said. There is little difference, but for the child she was soon bearing. Life was tough and dangerous. The air force jets bombarded the vast Sambisa Forest where the militants have their camps and from where soldiers rescued her and eventually returned her to her relatives. "The women in our family realised she was three months pregnant," said her uncle Mohamed Umaru, who told us more of her story. "In our family it happens that some of us are Christians and some are Muslims. She was a Christian before she was kidnapped but the Boko Haram who married her turned her into a Muslim." There was a split in the family over what to do and they took a vote as to whether she should abort or keep the child. The majority prevailed and she gave birth to a boy. "She said her husband's father is called Usman, so that is how she named the child," Mohamed said. And then the insults began. "People call me a Boko Haram wife and called me a criminal. They didn't want me near. They didn't like me," Zara said as a tear slowly slipped down her cheek. She now sits inside the small walled compound around her house, afraid to go outside because of the cruel insults of the neighbourhood children - messages of hate learned from their parents. "They didn't like my child. When he fell sick nobody would look after him," she said. Last weekend, as Zara slept outside with Usman because of the heat, a snake got into their compound and the boy was killed. He was just nine months old. Half the family celebrated what they called God's will. "Some were happy that he died," Zara said. "They were happy the blood of Boko Haram had gone from the family." "They said thank God that the kid is dead, that God has answered their prayers," Mohamed explained. "Sometimes she says she wants to go to school and become a doctor and help society, but sometimes, when people insult her, she says she wants to go back to the Sambisa Forest. "She always talks about her husband who happens to be a Boko Haram commander. She says the guy is nice to her and that he wants to start a new life with her." Listening to Zara's story, told quietly with eyes flicking down at the ground, it is hard to imagine anyone going through what she has gone though, let alone a 17-year-old girl. Mohamed said Zara's life had become so intolerably hard that on one occasion she had said she wanted to "go and do a suicide mission". "She will, she will, she will definitely do that if she gets the chance," he added. Abandoned But there is so much confusion in her face and in her answers - she is not a killer, she is just a child. "The feeling for the forest is strong now, but it will go away. I will forget the time with Boko Haram, but not yet," Zara said. She says she is in love with her husband although she believes she has been brainwashed. She feels abandoned by her family and stigmatised by her community. She is sad, she is angry, she is confused. She is 17. "People should understand that these children didn't create this, but if we continue to stigmatise people with such trauma we might create something much, much bigger than Boko Haram in the future," her uncle says. "You are creating a more dangerous thing than Boko Haram if you grow up not welcomed by society and with nobody wanting to help you. "My prayer is for the government to do something. They should come to their aid and reintegrate them and show them love." So many girls like Zara have been abducted, so many others are still being held. There is torment for those who wait and hope, and there is pain for those who survive.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45383336
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international-45390403
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वियतनाम युद्ध के हीरो और अमरीकी सीनेटर जॉन मैक्केन को आख़िरी श्रद्धांजलि देने पूर्व राष्ट्रपति बराक ओबामा और जॉर्ज डब्ल्यू बुश दोनों पहुंचे.
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The Vietnam War hero, who became one of America's most high-profile politicians, died a week ago from brain cancer at the age of 81. His daughter Meghan was the first to speak, paying an emotional tribute to her father while also criticising President Donald Trump's agenda. Mr Trump did not attend the service. The two Republicans had major differences, both personal and political, and Mr McCain's family made it clear that Mr Trump was not welcome. Members of the Trump administration who were present included the president's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Following memorial services in the state of Arizona - which Mr McCain represented as a senator, and where he died last Saturday - and in Washington, a private burial service will be held at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, on Sunday. On Friday Mr McCain's body was taken back to the Congress buildings where he worked for decades and lay in state in the Capitol rotunda overnight. On the way from the Capitol to the cathedral on Saturday morning, the cortege stopped at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where his widow Cindy laid a wreath. 'The real thing' Meghan McCain told mourners at the cathedral: "We gather here to mourn the passing of American greatness. "The real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly, nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who live lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served. "The America of John McCain is generous and welcoming and bold, she is resourceful and confident and secure, she meets her responsibilities, she speaks quietly because she is strong. "America does not boast, because she does not need to. The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again, because America was always great." Former President Obama paid tribute to the man he defeated in the 2008 US presidential election. He described Mr McCain as an "extraordinary man - a warrior, a statesman, a patriot" who embodied much of what made America great. Mr Obama said that, despite their many differences, "we never doubted we were on the same team". He added: "John understood that our security and our influence was won not just by our military might, not just by our wealth, not just by our ability to bend others to our will, but from our capacity to inspire others with our adherence to a set of universal values - like rule of law and human rights - and an insistence on the God-given dignity of every human being." Mr Bush - who defeated Mr McCain for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 - paid tribute to the senator's courage, honesty and sense of honour. "At various points during his long career, John confronted polices and practices that he believed were unworthy of his country. To the face of those in authority, John McCain would insist: 'We are better than this, America is better than this.' "John would be the first to tell you he was not a perfect man, but he dedicated his life to national ideals that are as perfect as men and women have as yet conceived." Other speakers included former Senator Joe Lieberman and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, 95. Maverick Before he went into politics, Mr McCain was a US Navy pilot who was shot down over Hanoi while on a bombing mission in 1967. He was held as a prisoner until 1973, enduring torture that - along with the injuries he sustained bailing out of his jet - left him with life-long injuries. While deeply conservative on some issues, the Arizona senator had a maverick streak that endeared him to political friends and opponents. He championed reform of US immigration, campaign finance and environmental laws, and was outspoken in criticising those who advocated what he considered torture against captured enemies of the US. The pallbearers he chose reflected his desire to reach across political divides. They included Hollywood actor and liberal political activist Warren Beatty; former independent New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; liberal former Senator Russ Feingold, who drew up campaign finance reform legislation with McCain; and Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara Murza.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-29547567
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/india/2014/10/141009_kashmir_across_border_rns
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भारत और पाकिस्तान के सुरक्षा बलों के बीच होने वाली गोलीबारी में अब तक कम से कम 19 लोग मारे जा चुके हैं. यह कश्मीर में पिछले एक दशक के सबसे हिंसक संघर्षों में से एक है.
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Hundreds of villagers have fled their homes. Although a 2003 ceasefire remains in place, both sides have accused each other of starting the hostilities. The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder and Shaimaa Khalil visited villages on both sides to find out how civilians are bearing the brunt of the latest round of border hostilities. Sanjoy Majumder, Indian-administered Kashmir "They were sleeping outside here when the shell came down. They died instantly." Subarna Devi gestures towards a wooden cot placed in the courtyard of her home. This is where her brother and his wife were killed after a Pakistani shell landed on their home in the border village of Arnia in Indian administered Kashmir. The wall of the house is pockmarked with shrapnel marks. Elsewhere there are other signs - slippers strewn all over, a child's bicycle turned upside down and worse. "Look, you can still see the bloodstains," Subarna Devi says, pointing to a dark stain on the ground. The village, like many others along this suddenly volatile border, has emptied. The houses are locked and there's no-one about, only cattle and a couple of dogs. Across the lush green rice fields, a barbed-wire electrified fence stands out, coils of concertina wire encircling it. This is the border between India and Pakistan. It's strangely quiet. There are a few watchtowers with a couple of soldiers in them. But there's nothing to suggest that this is a frontier which has seen some of the most intense exchange of firing between the two armies in years. Not for long though. As we drive away, we hear a dull thud in the distance. And another, then another. Three mortar shells fired in the space of 20 minutes. This is what has driven thousands of villagers to flee. Many of them are crammed into temporary shelters. At the Government Higher Secondary School in Salehar, some 10km (6.2 miles) from Arnia, villagers have taken up every available space, classrooms, the corridors outside and the playground. "The firing started at one in the morning and continued through the night," says Satya Devi. "We just left with the clothes we had on. Nothing else." In one corner of the camp, a makeshift kitchen has been set up. Rice and lentils are being cooked in large pots, to be served for lunch. "None of us want to go back," says Bharat Bhushan, who came from a neighbouring village. "We don't want to die. But we also have our fields and our livelihood. What do we do?" The sudden escalation of tensions has caught many here by surprise. And while everyone here blames Pakistan, there are others who are hoping it can be contained before it gets out of control. Shaimaa Khalil, Sialkot district, Pakistan The sleepy Pakistani village of Dhamala is not an area which normally sees intense shelling but in the last few days it has. Only a few hundred metres from the Indian border, it took a heavy hit in the latest flare-up between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The latest exchange of fire happened during the festival of Eid, one of the holiest times for Muslims. Maj-Gen Khan Tahir Javed Khan said the number of mortar rounds and bullets fired from the Indian side had surged in recent weeks. "It is the most intense in decades," he said. "My message to them (India) is: please de-escalate." Maj Gen Khan added that the Indian side was getting more aggressive by the day. At least 11 Pakistani civilians have been killed since hostilities erupted more than week ago - three of them in Dhamala village. Walking into the courtyard of the Akhtar family house you can see the damage right away: one of the walls is peppered with holes from the shelling; and a child's slippers abandoned on the floor, next to a blood-stained pillow and shirt, gives away the grave loss of this family. Bits of mortar shells are strewn on the floor. All three deaths in the village were from the Akhtar family. They lost two of their three boys in the shelling as well the grandmother, neighbours tell me. The house itself has been deserted. At a nearby hospital I find the mother. Irum Shehzadi is sitting on a bed next to her only surviving six-year-old son, Akeel Akhtar. He had bandages on his face and hands and was sleeping next to his mother. She burst into tears the minute I asked her about what had happened to her and her family. "My kids wore their new clothes and we're getting ready to celebrate Eid," she said, crying uncontrollably. "And now they're dead. "My whole world has been destroyed - I can never go to that village again," Irum said. Akeel moves in his hospital bed as he wakes up next to his mother. He doesn't yet know he has lost both his brothers. Each side accuses the other of targeting civilian and violating the ceasefire. There's no sign yet of when the latest escalation will stop - nor of where it will lead.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-25090896
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international/2013/11/131126_england_child_abuse_ar
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इंग्लैंड में 11 साल की कम उम्र के बच्चे भी दूसरे बच्चों के ख़िलाफ़ ''चौंकानेवाली'' यौन हिंसा में लिप्त पाए गए हैं. ये बात यहाँ की बाल आयोग की एक आधिकारिक रिपोर्ट में सामने आई है.
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The Office of the Children's Commissioner for England said the perpetrators could be 12 or 13, and rape is seen as "normal and inevitable" in some areas, especially among gangs. Its report said bullying and sexist attitudes existed across the country. Council chiefs said work by agencies on child protection needed to improve. The report is the result of a two-year inquiry by the children's commissioner into child exploitation and gangs. It is being published alongside research on young people's understanding of consent to sex, and a study on the pressures on young people who have been raised in gang-affected neighbourhoods. The report says legislation is there to protect children but agencies from the police to social services need to become far better at spotting children at risk and providing them with the necessary protection. 'Chilling evidence' Deputy Children's Commissioner Sue Berelowitz cited the "sheer levels of sadism" uncovered by the inquiry. In a foreword to the report, Ms Berelowitz said the findings showed the "appalling reality" of sexual violence committed by young people. "The fact that some adults (usually men) rape and abuse children is generally accepted," she said. "There is, however, a long way to go before the appalling reality of sexual violence and exploitation committed by children and young people is believed." "We have found shocking and profoundly distressing evidence of sexual assault, including rape, being carried out by young people against other children and young people." Ms Berelowitz suggested that the music and pornographic industries have a great deal to answer for in creating such attitudes, with young girls being treated as commodities within gangs, passed around as sexual toys or used to ensnare rival gang members. She told BBC Breakfast that most of the girls who had been victims of gangland sexual assaults said it was "part of the inevitability of growing up in their area and that there is no point in telling anybody about it". The inquiry found that 2,409 youngsters were known to be victims of child sexual exploitation by gangs and groups, while a further 16,500 were at risk. It warned that the problem was prevalent in every area of England, and was not restricted just to low-income, inner-city neighbourhoods but "in every type of neighbourhood, rural, urban, deprived, not deprived". 'Normal and inevitable' Research conducted by Bedfordshire University into sexual violence in gangs suggested two-thirds of young people questioned (65%) knew of young women who had been pressurised or coerced into sexual activity. Half gave examples of youngsters offering sex in return for status or protection, and two-fifths (41%) said they knew of individual cases of rape - while more than a third (34%) gave examples of gang rape. A study by London Metropolitan University suggested that young people had a limited understanding of "consent" and that sex without consent where those involved knew each other was often not seen as rape. Only one in 12 of those interviewed said that young people would be likely to report crimes of sexual abuse. It said sexual violence could be seen as "normal and inevitable", with young women "facing the blame" for their own abuse. "The victim, usually a girl (but boys are victims too) is invariably blamed for their own assault," the study concluded. "They should not have gone to visit the boy; should not have worn a tight top; should not have had the drink; have 'done it before' so have no right to say no." The report condemned 94% of safeguarding children boards - which are run by local authorities, police, the NHS, the probation service and other groups - for failing to follow government guidance on tackling child exploitation, and set out recommendations for a new framework. Councillor David Simmonds, chairman of the Local Government Association's children and young people board, said: "Child sexual exploitation is a horrific crime which can destroy lives. It is a complex issue to tackle and can be hugely difficult to track. "Councils know that we need to do better but, as this report acknowledges, we cannot do this alone."
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57213046
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/india-56867440
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हिंदुस्तान टाइम्स में छपी ख़बर के मुताबिक, भारत सरकार ने ट्विटर, फ़ेसबुक और इंस्टाग्राम पर कोविड-19 संबंधी कथित 'भड़काऊ सामग्री' हटाने का आदेश दिया है. ट्विटर के एक प्रवक्ता ने स्पष्टीकरण दिया है कि कंपनी जायज़ क़ानूनी आग्रहों पर इस तरह की कार्रवाई करती है.
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The IT ministry said the World Health Organization (WHO) listed the variant as B.1.617 and any reference to "Indian" was false. Geographical terms have been used to describe a number of other variants, including the UK and Brazil. India's government has faced criticism over its handling of Covid-19. It also drew anger last month after it ordered Twitter to remove posts critical of some of its actions during the pandemic. The country has been hit hard by the new variant since late March and is now second only to the US in terms of overall infections, at more than 26 million, according to Johns Hopkins University research. Covid-related deaths are close to 300,000, behind only the US and Brazil, although some experts believe India's fatalities could be considerably higher. 'False statement' The instruction to social media companies was carried in a government order from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on Friday. The note was not made public but was obtained by news agencies. Platforms were asked to "remove all the content that names, refers to, or implies 'Indian variant' of coronavirus from your platform immediately", the Press Trust of India reported. "It has come to our knowledge that a false statement is being circulated online which implies that an 'Indian variant' of coronavirus is spreading across the countries. This is completely FALSE," AFP news agency quoted the same letter as saying. The note says that the WHO has "not associated the term 'Indian variant' with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in any of its reports". One social media executive told Reuters it would be extremely difficult to take down all references to "Indian variant". B.1.617, a more transmissible variant, was first detected in India last year and has spread to dozens of countries. A number of nations have severely restricted arrivals from India. India is a massive market for social media companies. Statistics from January show it is Twitter's third largest. India's government this year introduced guidelines it said were intended to curb misuse of social media and the spread of misinformation. If what is termed "unlawful" material appears on a platform, the company can be given a takedown order. If it does not comply within a deadline, it can face the possibility of prosecution. The rules in essence mean companies cannot evade responsibility for what users post. Questions have arisen over whether these guidelines promote more censorship and undermine freedom of speech. There has certainly been concern within the media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has been behind persistent attacks on the freedom of the press. Last month, the government told Twitter and Facebook to remove some posts critical of Mr Modi's handling of Covid-19. On Friday, it criticised Twitter for labelling some tweets by Indian politicians "manipulated media", which the platform uses referring to possible fabrications and deceptions.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56085369
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international-56099840
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प्रिंसेज़ लतीफ़ा के असाधारण रूप से किए गए अपहरण और खुफ़िया तौर पर उन्हें हिरासत में रखे जाने से जुड़ी हुई कुछ चौंकाने वाली जानकारियां सामने आई हैं.
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By Jane McMullenBBC News It has been many months since Tiina Jauhiainen last heard from her friend. Princess Latifa, imprisoned in Dubai after attempting a daring escape, had kept in touch with her for some time using a secret phone. But all of a sudden, the contact stopped. When Tiina last saw Latifa, they had lain on the deck of a yacht gazing at the stars, travelling across the Indian Ocean. It was February 2018, and they had embarked on a risky plan to get Latifa out of Dubai and start a new life abroad. The princess is one of 25 children of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai. The sheikh has transformed the emirate into a glittering city, a place people flock to for business, and the playground of the region. But for Emirati women, the laws and customs can make life very restrictive. "I'm not allowed to drive, I'm not allowed to travel or leave Dubai at all," Latifa said in a video recorded just before her escape. "I haven't left the country since 2000. I've been asking a lot to just go travelling, to study, to do anything normal. They don't let me. I need to leave." Sitting in Tiina's apartment, Latifa spoke cheerfully of what was to come. "I'm feeling positive about the future. I don't know how I'll feel just waking up in the morning and thinking I can do whatever I want today. I'm really looking forward to that." The princess had no access to her passport and was under surveillance, so they had to slip out of Dubai and drive to the coast of Oman. It took hours for them to get out to international waters, riding a dinghy and jet ski. By the evening they reached the yacht which was supposed to carry them to freedom. In a Whatsapp message to a friend, Latifa declared: "I'm free". They planned to sail across the Indian Ocean, and then fly to the United States where Latifa could try to claim political asylum. But eight days later, as the coast of India neared, the escape went horribly wrong. Armed men boarded the boat. The friends hid in the bathroom until smoke grenades forced them up to the deck. "Latifa was screaming and kicking. She kept saying 'don't take me back to the UAE. Just shoot me here'," Tiina said. It was the last time she saw her friend. In her later videos, released only now, Latifa gives a vivid account of the storming of the yacht. "I was fighting, and this guy came with a small pouch and he took out the needle and he injected me in my arm." Latifa says she was then transferred to an Indian military ship. "The commandos carried me through this corridor, and to a big room, and there was in front of me like maybe four or five generals. "I'm repeating to them 'my name's Latifa al Maktoum'. "I don't want to go Dubai, I want to get asylum. I was in international waters, you should let me go." Her pleas fell on deaf ears, and she says she was then manhandled by an Emirati commando. "He grabs me. Lifts me up. Kicking and fighting, he's much bigger than me. So I see that his sleeve is rolled up and arm exposed. I had one shot. Bit as hard as I can, and shake my head. And he screamed." She says she was tranquilised and flown back to Dubai. "I just felt really sad at that point. I felt everything I was working on for so many years to get my freedom was gone. And I've been here ever since, by myself, so solitary confinement. No access to medical help, no trial, no charge, nothing." Tiina was taken back to the UAE with the yacht's crew, where she was detained for two weeks. Then she began telling the story to the international media. She formed the campaign group Free Latifa and took the princess's case to the United Nations. But as the months passed, she heard nothing from Latifa. Then one day in early 2019, while she was visiting family in Finland, she got a message from a stranger. First she had to answer security questions. Years earlier, Tiina had taught Latifa capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. Now the stranger wanted to know Latifa's capoeira nickname. Soon Tiina was able to get a phone to the princess directly. "When I first heard her voice, I was crying. I couldn't help it. It was very, very emotional." Latifa was able to start recording video messages. What they reveal is shocking. The princess, now 35, appears in the corner of her bathroom, speaking in a fragile whisper. "I'm doing this video from a bathroom, because this is the only room with a door I can lock. I'm a hostage. I am not free. I'm enslaved in this jail. My life is not in my hands." Pale and puffy, she has spent three years with little access to sunlight. "I am in a villa, and this villa has been converted into jail. All the windows are barred shut. There's five policemen outside and two policewomen inside the house. And I can't even go outside to get any fresh air." The villa is just metres from the beach, in a luxury neighbourhood. "We shouldn't pretend that just because it's a villa, it's fine", the executive director of Human Rights Watch, Ken Roth, says. "This woman is imprisoned. It's basically solitary confinement except for her jailers. Solitary confinement of that sort is broadly considered to be a form of torture, as it becomes prolonged in the way this has right now." The fear is palpable in Latifa's videos. There is a constant urgency and a desperation in her voice. "Every day I am worried about my safety and my life. I don't really know if I'm going to survive this situation. The police threatened me that I'll be in prison my whole life and I'll never see the sun again. So I'm not safe here." But despite the risk that she would be caught with the secret phone, she began to calmly and methodically document her extraordinary story. Watch Panorama's The Missing Princess on BBC iPlayer "For me it's simple, it's like, am I free or am I not free? So ok, the world is going to know that I'm not free. Anybody who cares is going to know that I'm not free, and I'm not going to go along with their propaganda. That's just how I am." The sheikh has said that he considers Latifa's return to Dubai a rescue mission. In December 2018, after Latifa had been missing for nine months, the UAE was facing pressure. The United Nations had requested proof of life - or it would go public with concerns that the princess might have died. Latifa received a visit from her stepmother Princess Haya. Haya asked her to lunch. "She said to me it would be like a test, to see how you will react around people after being in prison for so long," says Latifa in one video. "And if you act well, you react well, you're going to be out in a few days." Unbeknown to Latifa, Princess Haya had been spun an elaborate lie, that Latifa had bipolar disorder and was vulnerable to exploitation. To help prove to the UN that all was well with Latifa, Haya called a friend, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson. On 15 December 2018, Mary Robinson flew to Dubai where she says Haya and her officials briefed her about Latifa's supposed "medical condition". She agreed to help contact the UN. Latifa, meanwhile, was kept in the dark. Over the lunch they discussed the environment, skydiving, and Mary Robinson's upcoming book. "We never discussed me. We never discussed my case," Latifa says. She had no idea that Robinson was a former UN Human Rights Commissioner. Mary Robinson told us that she did not question Latifa about the video or her escape, or ask to meet with her one-on-one. "I didn't know how to address somebody who was bipolar. I really didn't actually want to talk to her and increase the trauma over a nice lunch." But Robinson did allow photographs to be taken of Latifa which she agreed to send on to the UN. Robinson says she believed these were private photographs and that she was stunned when the UAE released them to the world nine days later. After the lunch Latifa was taken back to her prison villa. "It was all a set up. It was like they tricked me," Latifa says. Nothing changed for the missing princess. But for her stepmother Princess Haya, there was an extraordinary development. "Relatively shortly afterwards," recalls Robinson, "I got a call from Haya, saying 'Mary, I am in London. I have just come to London with my two children. I have come in the clothes we were in because I am so fearful. We were wrong. I have found out a lot.'" Haya later said that the sheikh did not welcome her interest in Latifa and that he became progressively more hostile to her. By April 2019, she says that she believed her position in Dubai was unsafe. On 15 April, she fled to the UK. Now confronted with the escape of one of his wives as well as two more children, the Sheikh began a High Court battle to have the children returned to Dubai. But he got more than he bargained for. In March 2020, a High Court judgement revealed further details about his treatment of his adult daughters. Eighteen years earlier, a second daughter, Shamsa, had been abducted in the UK and returned to Dubai, where she has been captive ever since. The judgement laid out the full story, for the first time, of how the sheikh's agents had tracked her down in Cambridge, and flown her back. The judge also found that Haya had been intimidated and Latifa had been abducted and imprisoned - and that the sheikh had not been honest and open with the court. For Tiina, this was a breakthrough. "I thought that would have been something that could have quickly led to her release." But once again, little changed for Latifa in her prison in Dubai. "It's almost like, what do we need to get her free? It's sad. It's very very sad," says Tiina. Alone in her villa in Dubai, Latifa followed the case and maintained daily contact with her friend, along with her UK-based maternal cousin Marcus and Free Latifa co-founder David Haigh. What had begun as concise, factual video recordings evidencing her situation had turned into lengthy text chats. "The phone meant a lot, it was a lifeline," says Marcus. Latifa was now in her third year of imprisonment and solitary confinement. "Every day was a struggle for her, and you could hear that in her voice. I know she was tired, I know her health was not the best," says Marcus. But then one day, the contact stopped just as dramatically as it had begun. Now, many months later, Tiina, David and Marcus have taken the decision to release some of Latifa's videos in the hope they will help pressure the sheikh to release her. "We haven't taken this decision lightly, there's been some sleepless nights thinking about this", Tiina says. "But it's time to do something. I feel that she would want us to fight for her, and not give up. The governments of Dubai and the UAE have said that Latifa is safe in the loving care of her family. Tiina is consumed by fear for her friend. "Initially, I thought maybe she had problems with her phone. I was hoping she would reappear. I didn't want to believe it," says Tiina. But then it dawned on her that Latifa was not coming back. "We are extremely worried about her well-being," she says. "If we assume that she was caught with the phone, her conditions now are probably a lot worse."
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-33844095
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/india/2015/08/150810_china_mao_insult_ps
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चीन की सरकार ने एक टीवी चैनल को आदेश दिए हैं कि वह चीन की सांस्कृतिक क्रांति के नेता माओत्से तुंग की मज़ाक उड़ाने वाले एक मशहूर टीवी एंकर को कड़ी सज़ा दे.
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A video of Bi Fujian singing a parody song at a private banquet and insulting the former Chinese leader in strong language was posted online in April. Mr Bi was taken off air shortly after the incident, amid great controversy. But People's Daily said officials had ordered his employer, state broadcaster CCTV, to punish him for "a serious violation of political discipline". Mao, who led the country through the Cultural Revolution and a crippling famine which killed millions, remains the subject of much debate. Mr Bi hosts CCTV's annual hugely popular New Year variety show, and is best known in China for hosting the talent show Star Boulevard. What did Did Bi Fujian sing? He sang Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, a Mao-era song which dramatises a 1946 incident where a soldier infiltrated and helped to destroy a group of bandits. In the video, he was seen singing part of the song and interjecting the lyrics with his comments. "We are the peasant soldiers who have come to the deep mountains - come to the deep mountains to do what, eh? "To vanquish the reactionaries - can you defeat them? "Changing the earth and sky, several decades of revolutionary war in the north and south - it was tough enough. "The Communist Party, Chairman Mao - Ugh, let's not talk about this son of a bitch any longer, he's caused us so much suffering." Mr Bi's last statement on his Weibo microblog account was an April statement apologising for the incident, saying that his remarks had "created serious adverse consequences... as a public figure I must learn my lesson, and learn to have high standards and strict self-discipline". News of his punishment has been greeted with a mixed reaction on Weibo, with some criticising the lack of freedom of speech and others arguing that he needed to be punished. Some noted the swift clampdown on Mr Bi was reminiscent of the brutal purges of dissent during the Cultural Revolution led by Mao. "He was a bit too much, but he was just talking at the dinner table and someone told on him. If this isn't the Cultural Revolution, then what is?" said user Call Me Lixiumei. Others also noted that many Weibo posts on the topic had been deleted, particularly comments that praised Mr Bi. China regularly scrubs the microblogging network especially on sensitive topics. While China officially acknowledges there were faults in Mao, he remains hugely respected, and insulting him and other leaders is a taboo. His legacy is also growing in popularity among those who feel China has moved too far away from his communist ideals.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23109574
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international/2013/06/130629_obama_mandela_va
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अमरीका के राष्ट्रपति बराक ओबामा ने अपने दक्षिण अफ़्रीका दौरे में नेल्सन मंडेला के नैतिक साहस को पूरी दुनिया के लिए एक प्रेरणा बताया है.
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The US leader, who was speaking in Pretoria after talks with President Jacob Zuma, does not intend to visit the 94-year-old, who has been critically ill for nearly a week. But he met the Mandela family in private and spoke by telephone to his wife, Graca Machel. Riot police clashed with anti-Obama protesters in Soweto. The American leader was in Soweto to deliver a speech to young African leaders at the University of Johannesburg. According to Mr Zuma, Mr Mandela remains "stable but critical", and he added that he had "every hope that he will be out of hospital soon". However, South Africa's last apartheid president and the man jointly awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Mr Mandela, FW de Klerk, is to cut short a visit to Europe due to Mr Mandela's poor health, his foundation said in a statement. 'Messages of strength' In Pretoria, Mr Obama said Mr Mandela's example of "the power of principle, of people standing up for what's right continues to shine as a beacon". "The outpouring of love that we've seen in recent days shows that the triumph of Nelson Mandela and his nation speaks to something very deep in the human spirit; the yearning for justice and dignity that transcends boundaries of race and class and faith and country," he added. He met members of the former leader's family at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg. The US First Lady, Michelle Obama, did not accompany him but spoke to Mrs Machel by phone along with her husband. Mrs Machel, who remains by Mr Mandela's side in the hospital in Pretoria, said after their phone call that she had conveyed their "messages of strength and inspiration" to her husband. Mr Zuma said that as the first black leaders of their respective countries, Mr Obama and Mr Mandela were "bound by history" and so "carry the dreams of millions of people in Africa and in the diaspora who were previously oppressed". Mr Obama's visit, he remarked, was "well timed" to take advantage of a growing market in South Africa, and called for greater US investment. When asked whether the US felt threatened by the increasing influence of other countries, particularly China, in Africa, Mr Obama replied that he believed it was a good thing for the development of the continent, but cautioned South Africa to ensure that foreign companies were employing local workers and investing back into the country. Addressing students at the university, Mr Obama said he wanted to spread his "yes we can" message to the continent's future leaders. He urged them to take inspiration from Mr Mandela, who persevered through a long prison sentence. "Think about 27 years in prison," he said. "Think about hardships and the struggles and being away from family and friends. There were dark moments that tested his faith in humanity, but he refused to give up. In your lives there will be times to test your faith." Just before he spoke, police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse protesters against his foreign policy, who had gathered outside the university. At least one person was injured and one arrested. Some protesters were carrying portraits of Mr Obama marked with a Hitler-style moustache. "People died in Libya, people are still dying in Syria... in Afghanistan, in Pakistan, drones are still killing people. So that's why we are calling him a Hitler. He's a killer,'' Ramasimong Tsokolibane, 54, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. Mr Obama arrived in South Africa from Senegal on Friday evening. During his weekend trip, the US president will visit Robben Island off Cape Town, where Mr Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. On Monday, he will continue his African tour in Tanzania. Lung damage Mr Mandela is revered for leading the fight against white minority rule in South Africa and then preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was elected president the following year. He left office in 1999 after a single term. Mr Mandela retired from public life in 2004 and has rarely been seen at official events since. He has a long history of lung problems, and was diagnosed with tuberculosis in the 1980s while he was a prisoner on Robben Island. After his release, Mr Mandela said that the tuberculosis was probably caused by dampness in his prison cell.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-19955705
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/entertainment/2013/02/130224_oscar_youngest_actress_sm
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कम बजट वाली फिल्म 'बीस्ट्स ऑफ द सदर्न वाइल्ड' में कुवैनज़नेजी वॉलिस ने जोरदार अभिनय किया है. ऑस्कर पुरस्कारों के लिए नामित होने वाली वो सबसे कम उम्र की कलाकार हैं.
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By Tim MastersEntertainment and arts correspondent, BBC News Quvenzhane Wallis was just five years old when she auditioned for Beasts of the Southern Wild, and seven when filming ended. Set in a cut-off area of southern Louisiana, known as the Bathtub, the movie has earned critical acclaim on the festival circuit, scooping prizes at Sundance and Cannes. But it is Quvenzhane's performance that is stealing headlines. The film's director, Benh Zeitlin, describes her as a "wise, wise person in a tiny, tiny body". Oscar pundits predict she could be the youngest best actress nominee in Academy Awards history. But Quvenzhane isn't letting the Oscar talk go to her head. "I really don't think about it that much, but I'd be like yes, yes, yes," she says, ahead of a screening of Beasts of the Southern Wild at the London Film Festival. "That's not supposed to be in my brain, but my mum thinks about that!" she adds. In the film, she plays Hushpuppy, a young girl living in squalor with her father. She is largely left to her own devices, but learns at school about the ecological shifts that threaten her ramshackle community. Her world is changed forever when a Katrina-style storm raises the waters and her father falls ill. Time called Hushpuppy "a wise, wild child, who looks like an angel and speaks like a Sybil". What did Quvenzhane (pronounced "kwa-van-je-nay") like about the character? "That she would keep going after what she believed in, and help her father live his life," she responds matter-of-factly. "She had to keep pushing and face what she had to face." Many have described Quvenzhane as a "force of nature" and in person it is not hard to see why. Now aged nine, she handles media interviews with the confidence of an actor with much more experience. As a five-year-old, she had to lie about her age when she auditioned, as the casting notice asked for children aged six to nine. Zeitlin had begun the search for Hushpuppy in early 2009 in New Orleans. By the time Quvenzhane turned up, a year had passed and he had seen some 4,000 hopefuls. As it turned out, she came from the bayou communities where Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar were writing the script (based on Alibar's stage play Juicy and Delicious), and where the film would eventually be shot. It didn't take Zeitlin long to realize he'd found his Hushpuppy. "It was as if you sat a five-year-old down at a piano and she played Mozart. It was the way that she could take these scenes and internalize them and express them in such a fierce way, with such focus and emotion. "She brought this wisdom to this little kid that we'd never seen before in the character. At the time she could barely read the scenes, but she could come up with her own lines. "She just slotted right into this person who's completely different from her, but she was able to channel this character." Could he have made the film without her? "Yeah, we could have made a bad movie. The film was one thing - and then we found her. So the film got rewritten to turn the character into someone that she could really play. So the two things became really inseparable." Zeitlin, directing his first feature film, says it wasn't about executing a perfect plan. "It was about finding elements that had a life of their own, letting Quvenzhane run wild with the character and letting animals run wild on set. "It's like you're chasing this wild animal that you've raised that you can't control. Out of that process comes a physicality and athleticness to the actual cinema that gives it something that you don't get when everything is delicately crafted." After Beasts of the Southern Wild's success at the Sundance and Cannes, Zeitlin says he's trying not to think about the Oscars. "You try not to, but it's in your ear all the time. We're so thrilled, what has happened already is so far beyond our expectations or wildest possible dreams." Oscar nominations are not announced until 10 January 2013, and if Quvenzhane does make the shortlist she would be the youngest best actress nominee by several years. The current record is held by Keisha Castle-Hughes for Whale Rider in 2003. She was 13 years, 309 days when her nomination was announced. Next is Jennifer Lawrence, who was 20 years, 163 days old when she was nominated for Winter's Bone (2010). It's worth noting that Lawrence is also a hot tip for an Oscar nomination in 2013 for her role in David O Russell's Silver Linings Playbook. Meanwhile, Quvenzhane has already filmed a small role in Steve McQueen's new film, Twelve Years A Slave, which stars Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender and Benedict Cumberbatch. Beasts Of The Southern Wild is released in the UK on 19 October.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-43730068
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international-43751310
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सीरिया की राजधानी दमिश्क के नज़दीक कथित रासायनिक हमले के जवाब में अमरीकी राष्ट्रपति डोनल्ड ट्रंप ने रूस से कहा है कि वह अपने सहयोगी सीरिया पर मिसाइल हमले के लिए 'तैयार' रहें.
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Indications suggest that the type of strike being planned by Washington, with the possible assistance of the UK and France, will involve weapons launched from warships or submarines at long range. Any aircraft used would be either firing weapons from beyond the reach of Syria's surface-to-air defence systems or be drones that can be remote-controlled. Russian officials have warned that missiles will be shot down and their "launch sites" targeted. But what weapons - that we know of - do the main players have at their disposal? And how might Russia and Syria respond? US: Defence budget - $600bn The US, whose guided-missile destroyer the USS Donald Cook is already in the Mediterranean, is likely to target chemical facilities in Syria with its cruise missiles. Such action would avoid the risk of its fighter jets being downed. A year ago, two US Navy destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean Sea launched a total of 59 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) at the Shayrat airbase in Syria's Homs province. Washington said the airbase was used to store chemical weapons used in a deadly attack on a rebel-held town just 72 hours before its military response. The Tomahawks used have a small cross-section, fly at low altitudes and are very difficult to detect. They also emit little heat so they cannot be picked up by infrared detection. The US Navy is also carrying a sizeable fleet of fighter jets on carriers in the Gulf, although it is unlikely to risk entering Syrian airspace immediately. The largest US military base in the Middle East is in Qatar, where F-16 and A10 aircraft, also known as Warthogs, are located. These can be scrambled relatively quickly. The F-16 has a reputation as one of the most reliable, manoeuvrable and effective military aircraft in the world. It has a range of about 2,000 miles (3,220km), which allows it to remain in combat zones longer than other aircraft. The Americans also have long-range subsonic B-52 bombers, which they have deployed and used on targets in the region before. In Kobane, a small Kurdish town at the Turkish border in northern Syria, the US has previously used an air base to deliver troops and equipment with C130 and C17 military transport aircraft. The vehicles are large enough to carry smaller aircraft such as helicopters and can be used to refuel combat jets in the air. Russia: Defence budget - $69bn The Russian threat to down any US attack has raised questions over whether their advanced, but as yet untested S-400 air defence system would come into play. The multi-layered anti-aircraft system was deployed to the country after a Russian jet was downed there, and has so far only served as a deterrent. It can fire three types of missiles and is said to be able to engage all aerial targets including aircraft and missiles within a 250-mile (400km) range with remarkable speed and efficiency - essentially providing a blanket of coverage for most of Syria. Russia says the system has remarkable counter-stealth capabilities, warning in 2016 that "any illusions about 'invisible' jets will inevitably be crushed by disappointing reality", Steps 1- 4 show how the S-400 system's radar tracks objects, assesses potential threats and launches missiles to destroy the targets It can guide up to 12 missiles simultaneously, engaging up to six targets at once. Dr Martin S Navias, from the Department of War studies at Kings College London, explains that the S-400 capability complicates usual traditional targeting tactics. Usually air strikes would aim to neutralise a country's surface-to-air capabilities but Russian anti-aircraft capabilities inside Syria would be an obstacle. Its range stretches well outside Syrian airspace, which could mean targets being engaged before they ever reach Syrian territory. Some analysts have doubted the claims around the S-400's interception capabilities. Russia also reportedly has several types of aircraft in Syria; Sukhoi-24 bombers, Sukhoi-25 warplanes, multi-role fighters, transport planes, spy planes and helicopter gunships. Many of them are - or have been - stationed at Hmeimim air base, which is Russia's main base for air strikes on rebel groups. The Russian military also reportedly began using Shayrat as a forward operating base for its Mi-24 and Mi-35 attack helicopters. From the Mediterranean, the Kremlin has said that it has previously used "Kalibr cruise missiles from the Rostov-on-Don submarine" to hit targets in Syria. It has also fired rockets from warships in the Caspian Sea, which it said had struck IS targets in the country. Meanwhile, Russia has withdrawn its battleships from its naval base in the Syrian port city of Tartus, according to recent reports. UK: Defence budget - $50bn The BBC's James Lansdale says the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) is poised and ready to deploy its resources in Syria. These resources include a number combat aircraft based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, which can be called upon for service at any time. The British military has eight supersonic Tornados stationed at the base. While somewhat aged - they were introduced into service in 1982 - the aircraft have more recently been equipped with precision-guided missiles. RAF Typhoons have also been operating in the region and have carried out numerous strikes in Iraq in recent years. The aircraft use Paveway IV laser-guided bombs and Brimstone missiles to target strikes. The Brimstone air-to-ground missiles are radar-guided, they weigh 49kg, are 1.8m long and thought to cost more than $142,000 (£100,000) apiece. Britain has a fleet of unmanned aircraft in the Middle East, including about 10 Reaper drones, which have been used in missions over Iraq and Syria. The RAF MQ-9 Reaper drone can fly as high as 50,000ft (15,240m) and has a range of 1,150 miles (1,850km). It carries "tank-busting" Hellfire missiles, according to the Royal Navy. The UK's Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft, which can operate in any weather, are available and have already been utilised in US-led operations in Iraq. The MoD says the planes are "highly inter-operable with the US", making them ideal for joint operations. Britain, however, does not currently have a submarine in the Mediterranean and getting one into position could take days. France: Defence budget - $42bn The French Navy's nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier has previously been deployed for operations against the Islamic State group in the region, but is currently undergoing extensive refitting. The 38,000-tonne ship - France's only such vessel - can carry an arsenal of missiles and bombs and a crew of more than 1,900 personnel. For now, France has deployed sailors and aviators on board the US aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush for training and joint operations. Separately, France has stationed several Mirage and Rafale fighter jets in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, which it has used to target so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq. The jets can each carry four 250kg laser-guided bombs. French President Emmanuel Macron has said any strikes on Syria in response to the latest alleged chemical attack would "not target allies of the [Syrian] regime or attack anyone, but rather attack the regime's chemical capabilities". Although he did not specify what measures would be taken. Syria: Defence budget - $2bn (estimated) Syria's air defence system has been heavily damaged by recent Israeli attacks, but it remains a threat to any aircraft as its missiles are still fast enough to strike them down. An anti-aircraft missile fired at an Israeli F-16 in February caused the jet to crash in northern Israel. The system used to be highly capable, consisting largely of missiles like the S-200, known to Nato by the codename SA-5 "Gammon". It has more recently been upgraded to include Russian weapons like the SA-22 and SA-17. The S-200 missile is liquid fuelled and designed to fly at speeds of up to Mach 8. It is guided to its target by radar, before detonating a 217kg (478lb) high-explosive warhead. Syria also deploys a variety of sophisticated Chinese-supplied radar systems. Meanwhile, the Shayrat airbase that was previously attacked by the US, has been occupied by the Syrian military throughout the country's civil war. It has two 3km-long (2 mile) runways, as well as dozens of hangars, buildings and storage facilities. Syrian Air Force Su-22 and MiG-23 warplanes fly from there. However, much of the fleet is old or obsolete and requires significant maintenance to remain militarily capable.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-41331736
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/india-41343407
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हिंदुओं के बड़े त्योहार नवरात्रि से पहले देश के पश्चिमी राज्य गुजरात में कंडोम के एक लोकप्रिय ब्रांड, मैनफोर्स के एक विज्ञापन से कुछ लोग नाराज़ हैं.
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Just days before the nine-day festival was to begin on Thursday, huge billboards went up in several cities in the state in which the Canadian actress of Indian origin Sunny Leone is seen advising people to "Play this Navratri, but with love [Aa Navratriye ramo, paraantu prem thi]". A former porn star who has made a successful transition to the role of leading lady in hit Bollywood movies, Ms Leone has a massive fan following in India and is the brand ambassador for Manforce, the country's biggest condom company. The advert outraged some conservative Indians who accused the contraceptive firm of "taking marketing to an all-time low". Many took to social media sites to criticise the "offending advert" and the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) even lodged a complaint with the government, calling for an immediate ban on it. "This is an irresponsible and immature attempt to boost sales by putting all our cultural values at stake," the organisation said in a petition to Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, CAIT general secretary Praveen Khandelwal said: "Navratri is a pious festival which symbolises the strength of women and linking condoms with the festival is highly objectionable." Mr Khandelwal, who's based in Delhi, spotted the billboards during his visit to the city of Surat earlier this week. "The advert doesn't mention the word condom, but it uses double entendre to encourage youths to use Manforce condoms in the name of Navratri festival. It's unethical," he said. Following complaints, police in Surat and Vadodara city (formerly Baroda) have taken down dozens of billboards, but Mr Khandelwal is demanding action against the condom manufacturer and the actress "to set an example for future offenders". And on Wednesday night, the company tweeted saying they had withdrawn the advert: Some, however, say a condom advert during the Navratri festival is perhaps not such a bad idea. Many years ago, friends and family in the Gujarati city of Ahmedabad told me about the "fun" that young people had during Navratri - the festival of nine nights. It's a time when even the most conservative parents adopt a somewhat relaxed attitude and teenagers and young unmarried men and women are allowed to stay out until late in the night, participating in the traditional garba dances held at hotels, banquet halls, parks and private farmhouses. Since the late 1990s, there have been reports that during the festival, youngsters often throw caution to the wind, indulge in unprotected sex, and two months later, there's a spike in the rate of pregnancy and many land up at clinics seeking abortions. Although many long-time residents of Gujarat insist that these reports are hugely exaggerated and maybe even a figment of overactive imaginations, the fact remains that over the years, doctors and health workers have flagged up the issue and state authorities have expressed their concerns. There have been attempts to encourage young people to practice safe sex and reports say that revellers, in many cases girls or young women, are shedding their inhibitions to buy condoms. Jaswant Patel, chairman of the Federation of Gujarat State Chemists and Druggists Associations, says over the past 10 years, he's seen the sale of condoms go up by at least 30% during the festival period. "Condoms are sold not just at chemists and general stores, they are stocked at even corner shops that sell paan (betel leaf) and most of the buyers there are teenagers and college students," Mr Patel told the BBC. But despite the increase in condom sales, Dr Ruby Mehta, a gynaecologist who's run a clinic in Ahmedabad for the past 20 years, says a spike in teenage pregnancies after the festival has continued. "Condoms are extensively available, and couples in their 20s are more responsible, but there's not much awareness among teenagers and they get carried away. So every year, the number of people who come to our clinic seeking terminations after Navratri is double compared to other times of the year," she adds. Dr Mehta laughs when I ask her if the Manforce advert is a good idea and if Ms Leone can encourage youngsters in Gujarat to practice safe sex? "Sex education is one thing, an advert is another. What we need is better sex education in schools. Teenage girls need to be made more aware and that alone will help this issue," she says.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45899845
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international-45909995
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अफ़ग़ानिस्तान में कंधार के पुलिस प्रमुख जनरल अब्दुल रज़ीक की एक अंगरक्षक ने गोली मारकर हत्या कर दी है.
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Taliban militants claimed the attack after a high-level meeting inside the governor's compound, saying they had targeted Gen Raziq and top US commander Gen Scott Miller, who escaped. The local intelligence head was also killed and the governor was critically injured. Three Americans were hurt. The attack in Kandahar city comes ahead of elections on Saturday. In a statement, the Taliban referred to Gen Raziq as a "brutal police chief". It said it had targeted both him and Gen Miller, but the Pentagon denied that the US commander was among the key targets. Initial reports said the attacker was killed in an ensuing shoot-out. The assassination is seen as a hugely significant victory for the Taliban and a major blow to the Afghan and US counter-insurgency campaign. It is the first time since the 2001 US-led military intervention that the top commander of US/Nato forces has been involved in such an incident. US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the attack would not affect the US military's movements in Afghanistan. What happened? Afghan and international security officials said Gen Raziq was shot in the back as he left the meeting and walked towards an area where the helicopter taking the US group back to Kabul was coming in to land. "Provincial officials including the governor, the police chief and other officials were accompanying the foreign guests when the gunshots happened," said Jan Khakrezwal, head of the Kandahar provincial council. There are reports that the local army commander also died. Local officials suggested that Gen Miller appeared to have been saved by his body armour. The US military only said that he was uninjured. At least two hand grenade explosions were also reported. Gen Miller paid tribute to Gen Raziq, saying he had "lost a great friend". Gen Raziq has long been accused of human rights abuses, including torture. But he was a powerful opponent of the Taliban in their southern heartland and was credited with securing Kandahar. Loss of a powerful Taliban opponent By Dawood Azami, BBC World Service This is one of the most important security incidents of the past 17 years - in which nearly the entire leadership of a province has been eliminated. While Gen Raziq, 40, was the provincial police commander of Kandahar, his influence went beyond his native province. Over the past few years, he had emerged as one of the most powerful military and political figures in Afghanistan. He was considered as one of the strongest opponents of the Taliban and Pakistan and had transformed himself into a symbol of the anti-Taliban struggle in Afghanistan. He had previously survived nearly 20 attempts on his life. In the absence of such experienced and die-hard figures, the Taliban could mount a campaign to increase their territorial control as the loss of an important leader opens a window of opportunity for the militants. Where does this leave the election? Afghan officials had warned that attacks ahead of the parliamentary election were likely. The Taliban has warned voters not to take part in what they say is a ballot imposed by foreigners. Some expressed fears that Gen Raziq's death could keep voters away from polling stations. "Gen Raziq's death will have a huge impact on security and the election in the south because a lot of voters may not feel safe to go to vote," a senior security official told Reuters. The vote is the third parliamentary election to be held since the Taliban were removed from power in 2001. At least 10 candidates have been killed in attacks around the country in the run-up to the vote. There have also been attacks on voter registration centres, including one in April which killed nearly 60 people. The vote is being seen as a test of political reforms undertaken by the Afghan government as well as its ability to organise a free and fair vote. It comes ahead of the all-important presidential elections due in April 2019. What about US forces in Afghanistan? American combat operations against the Taliban officially ended in 2014, but over 8,000 US special forces remained in the country backing and providing training and assistance to Afghan troops. Last year, US President Donald Trump signalled he would keep US boots on the ground indefinitely amid concerns that the Taliban was gaining ground. The US forces are part of the Nato-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, which has more than 16,000 personnel.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31725302
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international/2015/03/150304_paris_drone_alert_sn
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पेरिस पुलिस का कहना है कि उन्होंने शहर में 10 ड्रोन उड़ते दिखे हैं. इसे लेकर शहर के पूर्वी हिस्से में चार लोगों की तलाश जारी है.
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The latest drones were seen hovering near the Eiffel Tower and several other areas further away from the centre. Some 60 drones have been sighted since October, over nuclear installations and central Paris, the government says. The most recent have all been over Paris, prompting security fears after the murders of 17 people last month. Security at key sites in Paris was tightened last month after the killings by Islamist gunmen at Charlie Hebdo magazine, in Montrouge and a kosher supermarket. Flying drones over the capital is banned without a licence and no night flights are allowed over the city at all. The heightened security presence was thought to be one of the reasons why the unmanned aerial vehicles were spotted. There was a sighting in January over the Elysee Palace, home of President Francois Hollande, and last week near the US embassy. Black car Police sources told French media that the latest drones appeared at around 22:00 (21:00 GMT) on Tuesday. One of the machines was spotted by police on patrol close to Porte de Montreuil, on the edge of the city, French news channel BFM-TV reports. They chased the drone in their car but lost track of it because of traffic. The report suggested that the drone had been recovered by four men further south at Porte de Vincennes but they fled in a black car on the nearby Paris ring road. The authorities have been unable to establish who is behind the drones. The incidents above nuclear plants in the autumn were blamed on environmental activists, but no-one has admitted involvement in the latest incidents. On Tuesday, an Al-Jazeera journalist, Tristan Redman, was fined €1,000 (£725;$1,120) for flying a drone in the Bois de Boulogne park on the west side of the city last week, but that was not considered related to the case.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36668592
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international/2016/06/160630_britain_brexit_eu_pm_candidate_sk
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गृह मंत्री थेरेसा मे और लंदन के पूर्व मेयर बोरिस जॉनसन टोरी पार्टी के नेता और इस तरह ब्रिटेन के अगले प्रधानमंत्री के लिए अपने नाम का ऐलान कर सकते हैं.
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They will declare their candidacies, setting out how much support they enjoy and how they propose to unify the party after the Brexit vote. Ex-minister Liam Fox is also throwing his hat into the ring, joining Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb. The outcome of the contest to succeed David Cameron is due on 9 September. Mr Cameron, who has been Tory leader for 10 years and led the country since May 2010, is stepping down after losing the vote on the UK's future membership of the EU. He has said fresh leadership is required to take on the task of negotiating the UK's separation from the EU. The make-up of the field will become clear when nominations close on Thursday, although Mrs May, Mr Johnson and Dr Fox are expected to announce their intentions in a series of speeches in London. 'Role model' Mrs May, who has been home secretary since 2010, told the Times newspaper that she was capable of "uniting Britain" and healing the divisions exposed by the Brexit result. "Following last week's referendum, our country needs strong, proven leadership to steer us through this period of economic and political uncertainty, and to negotiate the best possible terms as we leave the European Union," she wrote. The BBC understands Mrs May will announce a plan for a senior minister with a dedicated department to focus on the Brexit negotiations. She has already won the support of cabinet colleague Justine Greening who told the Evening Standard that she had the "steeliness and professionalism" to secure the best outcome for the UK in Brexit negotiations and was also a "role model" for women coming into politics. In the Times article, Mrs May calls for an ambitious programme of social reform to improve the life chances of those from disadvantaged backgrounds for whom job insecurity is the norm. She also stresses her long experience in a top government role. "Frankly, not everybody in Westminster understands what it's like to live like this," she writes. "And some need to be told that what the government does isn't a game, it's a serious business that has real consequences for people's lives. She also wrote that the role of the state needed to be thought of differently. "Instead of thinking of it always as the problem, we should acknowledge that often it is only the state that can provide solutions to the problems we face. "So yes, the state needs to be small, but it needs to be strong." 'Optimistic vision' In contrast to Mr Johnson, who was a leading supporter of the UK leaving the EU, Mrs May backed a Remain vote although she kept a low profile during the campaign and also indicated she would favour restrictions to freedom of movement rules if the UK stayed in. Mr Johnson is expected to place Brexit at the heart of his "optimistic vision" for the country, saying the greater self-determination that leaving the EU will bring is an opportunity to "believe in ourselves and the values of our country". The ex-London mayor has won the backing of figures on other sides of the EU referendum argument, including Environment Secretary Liz Truss who said his two victories in London showed his ability to "reach out" to people beyond the Conservative base. She has said the Brexit vote meant "leadership must now come from someone who believes in, and campaigned for, leaving the EU". Mr Johnson's campaign is being run by Justice Secretary Michael Gove, who was also a central figure in the Leave campaign. But an e-mail from Mr Gove's wife Sarah Vine to her husband, which emerged on Wednesday, suggested possible obstacles to a Johnson victory. In it, she urged her husband to get "specific assurances" from Mr Johnson about what role he would have in a future government. The e-mail, in which a member of the public is mistakenly believed to have been copied in, suggested party members, and press barons like Rupert Murdoch, would not have the "necessary reassurance" to back Mr Johnson without Mr Gove's input. The two-month contest is inevitably being seen through the prism of the Brexit vote and who is best placed to negotiate an exit from the EU which protects the UK's economic interests while meeting the expectations of those who voted leave about controls on immigration. Mr Fox, who finished third in the 2005 leadership election and was defence secretary between 2010 and 2012, said there could be "no backsliding" on referendum pledges on immigration, tweeting that "access to the single market does not require free movement". He later told LBC Radio that "experience and background" were important characteristics in a future leader and that the leadership campaign could not be totally dominated by Europe - and that issues such as health and defence must feature too.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-39487737
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/entertainment/2015/08/150804_kishore_kumar_birthday_adp
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बॉलीवुड के महान गायक किशोर कुमार का आज 86वां जन्मदिन है.
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Amonkar, who enthralled audiences with her soulful singing for decades, died on Monday night at her house in Mumbai. The singer followed the classical Hindustani school of singing, but was known for creating her own distinctive style. Many, including legendary Bollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar, have paid tributes to Amonkar, and acknowledged her "great contribution" to music. As news of her death broke, many people took to social media to pay tribute. The hashtag #kishoriamonkar has begun trending on Twitter India. Amonkar started training at an early age under her mother Mogubai Kurdikar who was also a well-known vocalist. How an Indian maestro is taking classical music to the masses She was celebrated for the "emotional appeal" of her songs as well as her ability to draw influence from different schools of music. She received two of India's top civilian honours, Padma Bhushan in 1987 and Padma Vibhushan in 2002.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48560874
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/science-48563166
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पर्यटक अगले साल से नासा के अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्पेस स्टेशन पर जा सकेंगे. इसके लिए उन्हें एक रात के 35 हज़ार डॉलर चुकाने होंगे.
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The US space agency said it would open the orbiting station to tourism and other business ventures. There will be up to two short private astronaut missions per year, said Robyn Gatens, the deputy director of the ISS. Nasa said that private astronauts would be permitted to travel to the ISS for up to 30 days, travelling on US spacecraft. "Nasa is opening the International Space Station to commercial opportunities and marketing these opportunities as we've never done before," chief financial officer Jeff DeWit said in New York. Nasa said that private commercial entities would be responsible for determining crew composition and ensuring that the private astronauts meet the medical and training requirements for spaceflight. The two companies hired by Nasa are Elon Musk's SpaceX, which will use its Dragon capsule, and Boeing, which is building a spacecraft called the Starliner. These companies are likely to charge any private astronaut a similar "taxi fare" to what they intend to charge Nasa for its astronauts - close to $60m per flight. Nasa had previously banned any commercial use of the space station and prohibited astronauts from taking part in for-profit research. Nasa does not own the station however - it was built, beginning in 1998, with Russia, which has taken a more relaxed approach in recent decades to commerce. In 2001, US businessman Dennis Tito became the first tourist to visit when he paid Russia around $20 million for a round trip. Nasa's announcement on Friday is part of a move towards full privatisation of the ISS. US President Donald Trump published a budget last year which called for the station to be defunded by the government by 2025. The space agency recently announced that it planned to return to the moon by 2024, taking the first woman there and the first person in decades.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28861630
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international/2014/08/140821_police_firing_analysis_tk
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अमरीका के मिसौरी में पुलिस की गोली से मारे गए युवक की ख़बर पिछले दिनों सुर्खि़यों में रही लेकिन एक पुलिस अधिकारी के दिमाग में गोली चलाते वक़्त क्या रहता है ?
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By Kate DaileyBBC News Magazine The circumstances that led to the death of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, are still unclear. While there is no question that Brown was shot six times by police officer Darren Wilson, there are conflicting stories about circumstance that lead to Wilson pulling the trigger. Was he overzealously shooting at a supplicant Brown, who was unarmed? Or was he defending himself against a violent attack from the 6ft 4in (1.93m) 18 year old? When it comes to US police officers firing their weapons, the rules - on paper - are very clear. "Ultimately you come to your firearm as a last resort," says Jim Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police. "You would only use that weapon in a situation where you felt your life or the lives of civilians in the area were in danger." A 1982 Supreme Court case found it illegal to shoot at fleeing felons. Now, officers can only justify firing their weapons at civilians if they fear the loss of life or limb. The advent of Kevlar vests and other protective technologies enable police officers to work with less fear for their lives than in the past. As a result, the number of killings by police is down 70% in 36 years, says Candace McCoy, a professor of criminal justice at John Jay College in New York. Only a small percentage of the nation's 500,000 police officers are involved in shootings. Most retire without ever firing their gun in the line of duty. Still, she says, officers are 600 times more likely than a non-officer to kill a citizen, and about 400 people are killed a year by police. While there is no national standard, the state rules and regulations regarding officers' use of deadly force is mostly consistent throughout the country. Officers are trained on a continuum of force, run through simulations, and are regularly required to recertify in firearms safety, There are drills and standards and classes. But in the seconds before an officer pulls the trigger, nothing is orderly. "The officer isn't going through any checklist," says Pasco. "At that point they have to make a split-second decision." The moment may come after hours of an escalating situation or it might come with little warning. "You always have to react to a suspect's actions. That's the tough part about it," says Robert Todd Christensen, a use-of-force instructor at Kalamazoo Valley Community College Police Academy in Michigan. "Cops are always playing the defence, rather than the offense, when it comes to force," At that point, the officer has to rely on his training and instincts while trying to control his emotions. The use-of-force continuum Officers are trained to escalate force in response to the situation on the ground. Here are examples of that continuum, abridged from guidelines by the National Institute of Justice. Officer Presence The mere presence of a law enforcement officer works to deter crime or diffuse a situation. Officers' attitudes are professional and nonthreatening. Verbalisation Officers issue calm, nonthreatening commands, such as "Let me see your identification." Officers may increase their volume and shorten commands in an attempt to gain compliance. Empty-Hand Control Officers use bodily force to gain control of a situation, either grabbing and holding a suspect or using punches and kicks.. Less-Lethal Methods Officers use less-lethal technologies to gain control of a situation, such as blunt impact tools like batons or chemicals like tear gas Lethal Force Officers use lethal weapons to gain control of a situation. Should only be used if a suspect poses a serious threat to the officer or another individual. "There's an adrenaline that kicks in and there's a split-second syndrome," says McCoy. "Your judgment is not the same as those of us sitting at desks thinking rationally." Training helps, she says, but it is not perfect. When law enforcement officials do shoot, they shoot to kill - a measure designed in part to reduce gunplay. "You hear about 'shoot to wound' by well-meaning people who want to prevent the death of suspects," says Ms McCoy. "That's a very bad idea." Doing so, she says, would make firing the weapon a less momentous act. "By saying a police officer must draw the gun only to protect life, you reduce police shootings." Shooting to wound is also impractical because in the seconds before an officer fires his gun, his or her aim may be anything but true. "Your heart rate is way up above 200, and you have tunnel vision, you can't even see your sights," says Christensen, referring to the guides on the gun that help locate a target. "Hit the kneecap? You can't even see a kneecap." Instead, officers are taught to aim at "centre mass" - the centre of a suspect's chest. That provides a broad target and one most likely to eliminate the threat posed by the suspect. It's also most likely to kill. After a citizen is shot by an officer, that officer becomes the target of an internal inquiry, and can be the investigated by the federal government or other outside agencies. In the large majority of cases, no charges are brought against the officer. That is in part because in a case of reality versus perception, the police officer gets the benefit of the doubt. "Maybe he wasn't in danger, but if he reasonably believes he was, he would be justified in shooting," says McCoy. That the same benefit of the doubt is not afforded to innocent men shot by the police is the source of much of the tension in Ferguson, even as the actual details of the shooting are still unclear. But even if charges are never filed, the officer is not totally unburdened. "Interview a police officer who has shot someone you will get a sad and damaged person," says McCoy.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52397294
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/science-52432164
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माइकल लेन ब्रैन्डिन को लग रहा था कि उनकी फ़ेसबुक पोस्ट हलचल मचा देगी. लेकिन उन्हें शायद ही इसका अंदाज़ा था कि इसकी वजह से वह गिरफ़्तार हो जाएंगे, नौकरी गंवा बैठेंगे और ऐसे मुक़दमे में फंस जाएंगे, जो उन्हें जेल की सलाख़ों के पीछे भेज सकता है.
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By Joe TidyCyber-security reporter What he didn't realise was that he'd be arrested, lose his job and face a trial that could see him behind bars. It was an otherwise dull afternoon in March and the debate about how to cope with the potential outbreak of Covid-19 was all over his timeline. So he decided to, in his words, "do a social experiment". Mr Brandin posted that he had tested positive for coronavirus. And then he added that doctors had told him the virus was now airborne. That would mean it had suddenly become far easier to catch it than by simply being too close to an infected individual who coughs or sneezes in your general direction. But he had made it up. Mr Brandin says his point was to demonstrate that you can't always believe everything you read online. On Facebook, he was met with sympathy and shock. "I had quite a few reactions," he says. "A lot of friends messaged me to ask if I was OK, so I told them that it was fake." And while he was trying to explain the truth to upset friends, what was happening offline became far more serious. The fake news spread like wildfire across Tyler County, in Texas, where he lived. This was days before any lockdown had been brought in. But anxious people began to call the local hospital and ask if the news was true: how could they now protect themselves from an airborne invisible killer? Arrest warrant Soon the Tyler County Sheriff's Office heard what was going on. Police contacted Mr Brandin and told him to amend his post - which he did. But the rumour had snowballed on social media - and so the next Facebook post was perhaps inevitable. It came from the police themselves. The county sheriff told Facebook followers that the 23-year-old was now facing the criminal allegation of false alarm. Mr Brandin was accused of creating a "baseless" report of an emergency which, in turn, had triggered a response from law enforcement and medical officials. He turned himself in. "They said I had to stay overnight in the jailhouse because I had to wait for the judge to come in the next day. My anxiety was at an all-time high," Brandin says. After a night in the cells he was released on condition of paying a $1,000 (£800) bail bond - and is now waiting for his trial to start. "I have a bachelors of science degree in mass communications," he says. "I did it to prove how easy it is for anyone to post something online and cause panic. "I wanted to prove that it is important for people to be educated and do their own research before assuming everything they read or hear is true. "But because of a Facebook post I lost my job, my health benefits. I couldn't start my masters programme on time due to not having the money. "It has put a financial burden on my entire family because they are all trying to help me pay my bills." Global 'infodemic' The World Health Organization has said there is an online "infodemic" and the stakes are high for authorities trying to tackle false pandemic news and prevent panic. All over the world posting misinformation about the virus could now get you arrested. Research from BBC Monitoring shows there have been reports of arrests for spreading fake coronavirus news in India, Morocco, Thailand, Cambodia, Somalia, Ethiopia, Singapore, Botswana, Russia, South Africa - and Kenya. There, Robert Alai is facing a potential 10-year jail sentence for a tweet. The 41-year-old claimed in a post that he'd heard there was an outbreak in Mombasa, the strategically vital port for east Africa. But the Kenyan government has repeatedly appealed to the public to stop sharing false information and rumours, and warned it would make an example of anyone who didn't comply. And so Mr Alai is now accused of breaking Kenya's cyber crime laws. He denies setting out to mislead or create fake news and says he was shocked to be crammed in a cell with other inmates where none of them could be two metres apart. "I'm not saying that they shouldn't arrest people and I think it's very important the police can do their work but I think they need to focus on the right people."
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https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-21963301
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/news/story/2005/05/050524_strike_ends
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नौकरियों में कटौती के प्रबंधन के फ़ैसले के ख़िलाफ़ चौबीस घंटे की हड़ताल के बाद बीबीसी के कर्मचारी और पत्रकार अपने काम पर लौट आए हैं.
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Members of the National Union of Journalists and Bectu, representing technical staff, voted in favour of the walkouts earlier this month. The latest action follows a 24-hour strike by NUJ members on 18 February. The strike affected programmes, including news bulletins. The BBC said it was disappointed and apologised for the disruption. The BBC News and BBC World channels both switched to a pre-recorded broadcast at 12:00 GMT, when the strike began. Both channels broadcast a mixture of live news bulletins and pre-recorded programmes. A shortened BBC News at One was broadcast at 13:00 on BBC One, while there was no World at One on Radio 4. There were no editions of PM and The World Tonight on Radio 4 on Thursday, and Newsnight was not broadcast on BBC Two. On BBC One, however, the BBC News at Six and BBC News at 10 were broadcast as scheduled. A complete list of affected programmes is available from the BBC Media Centre's website. Moratorium The corporation is cutting about 2,000 jobs over five years as part of its Delivering Quality First (DQF) programme. The jobs will be shed mostly through voluntary redundancy, but 110 staff have been made compulsorily redundant. The unions have called for a six-month moratorium on further post closures to allow for a review of workplace issues - but the BBC has said this would increase the savings it eventually has to find. The unions also said they had submitted a dossier detailing "shocking levels" of bullying and harassment to an internal BBC inquiry, called Respect at Work, being conducted by Dinah Rose QC. The NUJ vote was 61% in favour of stoppages, while backing among Bectu members was 56%. Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the NUJ, said workers were sending a clear message to the BBC that it needed to address problems created by the "ill conceived and badly implemented" cuts. "It is disappointing that once again the BBC has decided not to properly engage, refusing our call for a moratorium to give space for meaningful discussions on the worrying impact of the cuts. "The DQF plans remain on the table, regardless of the consequence for workload and stress levels," she said. "We know that the cuts are already having an impact on the quality of work. We know that it is leading to unacceptable workloads and stress. 'Great pity' "We know that management is using DQF as a means to harass and bully staff - making worse an already entrenched problem of bullying that has been largely ignored by those in positions of power." Gerry Morrissey, general secretary of Bectu, said: "Our members are suffering because the BBC thinks it can deliver the same levels of output with many fewer staff. "The reality is that excessive workloads caused by massive job cuts are already taking their toll with staff reporting more stress, more bullying and more harassment. "The BBC has a duty of care which it is not exercising currently and it is a great pity that strike action is needed to make senior managers take the issues seriously." NUJ members staged a 24-hour walkout in February that changed some schedules and disrupted news output including BBC Breakfast and the Today programme on Radio 4. The BBC said it was "extremely disappointed" the unions had gone ahead with the latest strike action and apologised in advance to audiences for any disruption to services. It has said "constructive meetings" had been held with the unions in recent weeks but its position on compulsory redundancies remained unchanged. "We must progress with those given the significant savings we have to make and strike action simply will not change this," a spokesman added.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47015794
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international-47016707
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अमरीकी प्रतिनिधि ज़लमय ख़लीलज़ाद ने कहा है कि अमरीका और तालिबान के बीच अफ़ग़ानिस्तान में 17 साल पुराने संघर्ष को ख़त्म करने के लिए हुई वार्ता में 'महत्वपूर्ण प्रगति' हुई है.
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In a series of tweets, Zalmay Khalilzad did not give details but said the unprecedented six days of talks in Qatar were "more productive than they have been in the past". He said he was on his way to Kabul to consult Afghan government officials. The Taliban also said progress had been made in the negotiations. However, a spokesman added that talks about "unsolved matters" would continue. Mr Khalilzad also emphasised that talks with the Taliban would continue and that nothing had been finalised. The Taliban have so far refused to hold direct talks with Afghan officials, whom they dismiss as "puppets". They say they will only begin negotiations with the government once a firm date for the withdrawal of US troops has been agreed. Earlier on Saturday, Taliban sources quoted by Reuters said the two sides had finalised clauses to be included in a draft agreement. They envisaged foreign forces withdrawing within 18 months of the deal being signed in return for assurances that al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group would not be allowed to use Afghanistan as a base to attack the US. The two sides have also found agreement on other sticking points including the exchange of prisoners and the lifting of travel bans on some Taliban leaders, Reuters reported. The Taliban's power and reach have surged since foreign combat troops left Afghanistan in 2014. On Friday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said more than 45,000 members of the country's security forces had been killed since he became leader in 2014. It is estimated that about 15 million people - half the Afghan population - are living in areas either controlled by the Taliban or where the militants are openly present and regularly mount attacks. Is a ceasefire on the horizon? Analysis by Secunder Kermani, BBC Afghanistan correspondent The simple fact that there have been six days of talks between the two sides is significant - and shows how serious both are about trying to find a peaceful solution to this conflict. It seems there has been progress in discussions about the Taliban's key demand - American troop withdrawal - though no timetable has yet been given. In return, the Taliban appear to be willing to give guarantees about not allowing Afghanistan to become a base for international jihadists. However, this is a position the group has articulated for some time now, and it remains to be seen what other concessions they might be willing to make. The key question for many ordinary Afghans is whether a ceasefire might be on the horizon? That would provide much needed relief to a war weary population. At the moment the focus is on ending the violence - and getting the Taliban face-to-face with the Afghan government. But it's after that that even more delicate negotiations may have to take place - about the role of women's rights, freedom of the press and democracy in Afghanistan. Mr Ghani has previously said that the Taliban could be recognised as a political party if they accepted a ceasefire and recognised the country's constitution. In December, reports emerged that the US was planning to withdraw about 7,000 troops - roughly half the remaining US military presence in the country. Analysts warned that such a withdrawal could offer the Taliban a propaganda victory. Who are the Taliban? The Taliban emerged in the early 1990s following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, shortly before the demise of the Soviet Union. The militants ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, imposing a brutal version of Sharia law that included public executions and amputations, and the banning of women from public life. They were driven from power by US-led troops following the 9/11 attacks which Washington blamed on al-Qaeda militants sheltered by the Taliban.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-20663447
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/science/2012/12/121211_apple_maps_sdp
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ऑस्ट्रेलिया की पुलिस ने चेतावनी दी है कि ऐपल मैप में गलत जानकारी आपकी जान जोखिम में भी डाल सकती है.
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Officers in Mildura, Victoria, say they have had to assist drivers stranded after following the software's directions. Some of the drivers had been without food or water for 24 hours. Apple's software was heavily criticised by users when it was released in September. Last week, chief executive Tim Cook admitted Apple had "screwed up" and was working to improve the program. 'No water supply' In a press release, Victoria police's acting senior sergeant Sharon Darcy made her force's concerns clear. "Tests on the mapping system by police confirm the mapping systems lists Mildura in the middle of the Murray Sunset National Park, approximately 70km [45 miles] away from the actual location of Mildura," she said. "Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the park and temperatures can reach as high as 46[C], making this a potentially life-threatening issue." The force advised travellers to use an alternative mapping service until the issues had been fixed. In September, Apple dropped Google Maps from its iOS software in favour of its own mapping program. However, users were quick to complain it contained many inaccuracies, poor imagery and unreliable directions. The company defended the software at first, telling users it was "confident about our map quality". However, Apple soon backtracked, posting an apology notice on its website. "We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better," said Mr Cook. A specially created section on the App Store highlighted alternative mapping software. However, an app for Google Maps has yet to be made available - although some reports suggest one is in its testing phase. The fall-out from Apple Maps saw high-profile senior executives leave the company. GPS vulnerability Apple's mapping woes come as researchers at Carnegie Mellon University warned about newly discovered vulnerabilities in the world's Global Positioning System (GPS). The research paper suggested that just $2,500 (£1,500) of equipment could be used to knock out 30% of systems supporting "safety and life-critical applications". The researchers proposed "defences such as hardening GPS software against RF [radio frequency] and network attacks, as well as an attack detection system". They added: "Until GPS is secured, life and safety-critical applications that depend upon it are likely vulnerable to attack."
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38456419
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international-38460892
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फ़िलीपींस के राष्ट्रपति रोड्रिगो ड्यूटर्ट ने भ्रष्ट अधिकारियों को उड़ते हेलिकॉप्टर से नीचे फेंकने की धमकी दी है. उन्होंने कहा कि ऐसा वह पहले कर चुके हैं.
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"If you are corrupt, I will fetch you using a helicopter to Manila and I will throw you out," said Mr Duterte, who is waging war on corruption and drugs. It's the latest claim by the president that he has personally carried out extra-judicial killings. His spokesman played down the remarks, which he described as "urban legend". Earlier this month another spokesman Martin Andanar said his blunt-speaking boss should be taken "seriously but not literally" when he said he had shot dead three men while mayor of Davao. The senator who dares to defy Duterte Duterte drug war: Manila's brutal nightshift The woman who kills dealers for a living Mr Duterte made his latest comments in a speech to victims of a typhoon in the central Philippines on Tuesday. A video clip of his remarks was posted by his office. He threatened the helicopter punishment for anyone who might steal the financial aid he was promising. "I have done this before, why would I not do it again?" he said to applause. He suggested his victim or victims were kidnappers who had murdered a hostage. It is not clear when or where the incident took place. On Thursday, the president appeared to distance himself from his earlier remarks. "Helicopter to throw a person? And if that is true, I will not admit it," he said in an interview with ABS-CBN news. The president has made a similar claims in the past - and has a history of contradicting himself. On 16 December he told the BBC he had shot dead three criminal suspects while he was mayor of Davao. "I killed about three of them... I don't know how many bullets from my gun went inside their bodies. It happened and I cannot lie about it." He made a similar claim to business leaders in Manila a few days earlier, when he said he used to cruise Davao on a motorbike "looking for a confrontation so I could kill." Mr Duterte was mayor of the southern city of Davao for two decades, presiding over a big fall in crime but also being accused of sponsoring death squads. As president he has pledged to root out drugs and corruption in the Philippines, at the cost of millions of lives if necessary. Nearly 6,000 people are said to have been killed by police, vigilantes and mercenaries in the Philippines since Mr Duterte launched a war on drugs after being elected in May. Opposition politicians and human rights groups have called for his impeachment, but he remains very popular with voters who want him to clean up the country. Last week the Philippines independent human rights watchdog said it would investigate President Duterte's claims that he personally killed drug suspects.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23051270
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international/2013/07/130630_smell_and_taste_dil
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ओलंपिक में दो बार स्वर्ण पदक जीत चुके जेम्स क्रैकनेल न सूँघ सकते हैं और न ही किसी चीज का स्वाद ले सकते हैं. एक दिमागी चोट के कारण उनकी सूँघने और स्वाद लेने की शक्ति कमजोर हो गई है۔ जिंदगी कैसी हो, अगर हमारी ये महत्वपूर्ण इंद्रियाँ काम करना बंद कर दें?
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By Denise WintermanBBC News Magazine Duncan Boak lost his sense of smell in 2005 after a fall resulted in a serious brain injury. With smell said to be responsible for 80% of the flavours we taste, the impact of losing it has been huge. "It's so hard to explain but losing your sense of smell leaves you feeling like a spectator in your own life, as if you're watching from behind a pane of glass," he says. "It makes you feel not fully immersed in the world around you and sucks away a lot of the colour of life. It's isolating and lonely." Like Boak, double Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell suffered a serious brain injury. He was hit by a petrol tanker while riding a bike in the US in 2010. In an interview with the Radio Times this week he said he was now unable to smell or taste very much. Eating is just something he has to do to survive, like putting petrol in a car. The loss of taste, known as ageusia, is rare and has much less of an impact on daily life, say experts. Most people who think they have lost their sense of taste have actually lost their sense of smell. It's known as anosmia and the physical and psychological impact can be devastating and far reaching. "Studies have shown that people who lose their sense of smell end up more severely depressed and for longer periods of time than people who go blind," says Prof Barry C Smith, co-director and founder of the Centre for the Study of the Senses. "Smell is such an underrated sense. Losing it doesn't just take the enjoyment out of eating, no place or person smells familiar anymore. It is also closely linked to memory. Losing that emotional quality to your life is incredibly hard to deal with." Sue Mounfield lost her sense of smell three years ago after having the flu. She says the smells she misses the most are not to do with food. "It's things like smelling my children, my home and my garden. When they're gone you realised just how comforting and precious these smells are. They make you feel settled and grounded. Without them I feel as if I'm looking in on my life but not fully taking part." Losing your sense of smell also makes the world a much more dangerous place. Even in the womb smell and taste are "gatekeepers" for allowing things into our bodies and rejecting harmful toxins, says Smith. It nearly had extremely serious consequences for Alan Curr, who lost his sense of smell after knocking himself out in a gym lesson when he was eight. "When I was at university someone left the gas on by accident. I was home all day but never noticed. At about 3pm my flatmates returned and I was in a bit of a daze but had no idea why. They smelt gas as soon as they walked in the door." Boak says he only really started to understand why he was feeling depressed six years after his accident. He started to read about the sense of smell and had a "road to Damascus" realisation that it was the reason he was feeling such emotions. He has now set up the UK's first anosmia support group, Fifth Sense. There are no official figures for how many people in the UK suffer from the loss of smell or taste, but estimates for the US and Europe put the number at 5% of the population. Losing smell happens for several reasons. Some people are born without a sense of smell, it can be the result of a frontal head injury or something as mundane as an infection. Old age is also a factor, with smell and taste deteriorating rapidly after the age of 75. Unexplained disturbances in smell and taste can indicate the onset of brain illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, often years before other more recognisable symptoms emerge. "An unexplained loss of smell or taste acts like a canary in cage, it is a warning that something is wrong," says Smith. "People need to get it checked out quickly but they don't." Often the problem is dismissed as trivial by the medical profession, adds Smith. Sufferers agree they are regularly turned away doctors who dismiss the loss of smell as trivial and say there is no treatment. "Because you're not in pain many doctors basically just tell you to live with it," says Mounfield. Outside the medical profession people often find it amusing and something of an oddity. The physical consequences can also be extreme. People often lose weight because they no longer get any pleasure from food. Boak says he has been contacted by people who have been hospitalised because they find eating so difficult. Whether or not anosmia can be cured depends on the underlying cause. Smell can improve for some people but never return for others. It can come back but odours might have been re-coded by the brain so things don't taste the same. Chocolate can smell like beef. But unlike sight and hearing, you can improve your smell by training it, say experts. Studies have also shown this applies to anosmia sufferers. Research by Professor Thomas Hummel, who runs the Smell and Taste Clinic at the University of Dresden in Germany, found that smelling certain strong odours - including rose oil, lemon and cloves - repeatedly over a 12-week period resulted in some improvement in olfactory function. But for Boak it is a case of working with what he has left. With his taste buds still working he can bring out things like the sweetness and saltiness of food. Textures have also become important. "I can even detect the different texture of different types tomatoes," he says. "Not something I thought I would ever have mastered before losing my sense of smell." You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52824839
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/science-52828137
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अमरीकी विदेश मंत्री माइक पॉम्पियो ने कांग्रेस को बताया है कि हॉन्ग कॉन्ग को जिस आधार पर अमरीकी क़ानून के तहत विशेष सुविधा मिली थी, वो आधार अब नहीं बचा है. अमरीका के इस फ़ैसले से अमरीका-हॉन्ग कॉन्ग व्यापार पर बहुत व्यापक असर पड़ेगा.
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The declaration could have major implications for Hong Kong's trade hub status and is likely to anger Beijing. "No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground," he said in a statement. It follows Beijing's plan to impose a controversial new security law on the territory. The security law was "only the latest in a series of actions that fundamentally undermine Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms," Mr Pompeo said. "It is now clear that China is modelling Hong Kong after itself," he added. Hong Kong police have arrested hundreds of people amid new anti-mainland unrest. What is the significance of Pompeo's statement? Until now the US has given Hong Kong - a global financial and trading hub - special status under US law. The provision dates from when the territory was a British colony and gives it favourable trading terms. But since last year this status has been conditional on the US secretary of state regularly certifying that Hong Kong maintains sufficient autonomy from mainland China. If the secretary of state fails to certify this, the US Congress can revoke Hong Kong's special trade status. This would mean treating Hong Kong the same as mainland China for trade and other purposes. What impact would revoking status have? It could jeopardise billions of dollars worth of trade between Hong Kong and the US and could dissuade people from investing there in the future. It would also hurt mainland China, which uses Hong Kong as a kind of middleman for transactions with the rest of the world. Mainland companies and multinational firms use the territory as an international or regional base. Shortly after Mr Pompeo's declaration, prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong called on US, European and Asian leaders to follow his lead and reconsider Hong Kong's special trade status if Beijing imposes the security law. "Once the law is implemented, Hong Kong will be assimilated into China's authoritarian regime, on both rule of law and human rights protections," he warned. The security law would create "massive damage to expats and investors in Hong Kong", he said. Maintaining the city's autonomy was the "only way" to protect business, he added. US 'nuclear option' on Hong Kong will infuriate Beijing Zhaoyin Feng, BBC Chinese, Washington Mr Pompeo's latest declaration serves as a warning to Beijing that the special administrative region's preferential treatment is at risk. It has huge economic implications, but the geopolitical implications may be even greater. The move will likely meet angry reaction from Beijing and further jeopardise already fragile US-China relations, which appear to be in free fall amid tensions over trade, the pandemic and technological rivalry. A key question to ask is how much removing Hong Kong's special trade status helps Hongkongers fighting for their autonomy and freedoms. Or does it mostly punish people in Hong Kong while adding limited strategic leverage over China? What is Beijing's security law about? Beijing has proposed imposing it in Hong Kong. It would ban treason, secession, sedition and subversion and China says it is needed to combat violent protests that have grown in the territory. The anti-mainland sentiment was fuelled last year by a proposed - and later scrapped - bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to China. Critics say the security law is a direct attempt to curtail the freedoms given Hong Kong in the mini-constitution that was agreed when sovereignty was handed back to China in 1997. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam has denied that the law, which is set to go to a vote this week and could be in force as early as the end of June, will curtail the rights of Hong Kong residents. A group of 200 senior politicians from around the world have issued a joint statement criticising China's plan. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said the US would announce a "very powerful" response to the proposed legislation before the end of the week. China's plans had already been condemned by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who described them as a "death knell" for the city's freedoms. The UK, Australia and Canada have also expressed their "deep concern".
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56048654
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international-56051207
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अमेरिका के पूर्व राष्ट्रपति डोनाल्ड ट्रंप पर महाभियोग का मुक़दमा चल रहा है और मुक़दमे के चौथे दिन बचाव पक्ष को अपनी बात रखने का मौक़ा दिया गया.
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Anthony ZurcherNorth America reporter@awzurcheron Twitter Earlier this week, Mr Trump's legal team asserted that the entire impeachment trial was unconstitutional and a violation of the former president's due process rights. They lost that argument, so now they had to set about defending the former president on the merits of the case. All in all, it took Trump's lawyers just over three hours to present their arguments - a far cry from the 13 hours the impeachment managers took to lay out their prosecution. For the defence, less could be more, as it already seems clear that enough Republicans will stick by the former president to assure a not guilty verdict. Here are some of the ways they went about it. The Democrats did it, too During their defence of the president, Trump's lawyers tried to turn the words of Democrats against them. They played clip after clip of members of the House of Representatives, including lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin, contesting the results of previous presidential elections. If Democrats can challenge the election results, Trump's lawyers said, why can't Trump? In another video montage, the lawyers featured Democrats praising and encouraging the Black Lives Matters demonstrations of 2020, suggesting - as the clips flipped to acts of violence during those protests - that Democrats used rhetoric as bad or worse than Donald Trump. President Joe Biden's campaign slogan, Michael Van der Bleen noted, was "a battle for the soul of America". He added that he was not suggesting that Democrats should face punishment. Rather, heated rhetoric has long been a part of US politics. It might be time to cool down the vitriol, van der Bleen said, but Trump's speech certainly wasn't grounds for impeachment and conviction. The Democrats misrepresented the president When Trump lawyer David Schoen got his first crack at defending the president, he went on the attack against the Democratic impeachment managers. He accused them of selectively editing Trump's speeches to make them seem more inflammatory than they were. He played the entirety of the ex-president's now infamous "good people on both sides" response to the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that turned violent. Trump, Schoen noted, was referring to peaceful protests the night before. (Although he did not mention that the Friday night gathering featured torch-bearing men chanting "Jews will not replace us.) In one rather remarkable twist, Schoen suggested that a Trump supporter who tweeted that she was "bringing the Calvary" to support Trump on 6 January was a reference to the hill on which Christ was crucified, not a typo for cavalry. According to journalists watching the proceedings live, that prompted Democratic senators in the chamber to exchange incredulous looks. A play to the base At times, Trump's defence presentation felt like it was drawn from the conservative media ecosystem that fuelled the former president's political rise. The video montages - frequently featuring the same handful of clips packaged in different ways, accompanied by foreboding music and rapidly edited scenes of fire and violence - would seem familiar to regular viewers of evening opinion programmes on Fox News. The clips featured many of the Democratic politicians who have become villains for the right - Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and Ayanna Pressley - as well as media figures like CNN's Chris Cuomo and Hollywood stars such as Madonna and Johnny Depp. Trump's defence also used lengthy excerpts of Trump speeches, some of which included attacks on Republicans as well as Democrats to cheering crowds, as if to remind the Republican senators sitting in judgement of the support Trump still enjoys within the Republican Party. It could also be an attempt to shore up that Trump base after two days of attacks from the Democrats. This case isn't just about the law, after all. It's about politics. Donald Trump's free speech A large portion of the president's defence on the merits has been built around the assertion the First Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees free speech rights - rights they say Trump was exercising on 6 January. If the Senate voted to convict the president for his words, they argued, it would have a chilling effect on political speech across the political spectrum and open any politician up to punishment. "This is ordinary political rhetoric that is virtually indistinguishable from the language that has been used by people across the political spectrum for hundreds of years," van der Veen said. Van der Veen, a Pennsylvania-based personal injury lawyer, dismissed as "legally frivolous" a letter signed by 144 constitutional law scholars saying that the First Amendment did not apply in this case. He added that House impeachment managers cited it in their presentation as a way to intimidate Trump's defence team. "How dare you?" he said, turning to where his legal opponents were sitting. It wasn't exactly the most robust legal argument, but the confrontational attitude will probably play well with Trump back in Florida. What's more, the suggestion that any politician might be next to face constitutional "cancelling" might find a friendly ear among the senators sitting in judgement. Did Trump know Pence was in serious danger? After the defence rested, it was time for questions and Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins just posed one of the more interesting queries - to both sides - so far during the trial's four-hour question time. When Donald Trump sent a disparaging tweet about Mike Pence, they asked, did he know that the vice-president had been removed from the Senate chamber by Secret Service for his safety? Answering for the impeachment managers, Congressman Joaquin Castro said that the president must have known that Pence was being threatened by the mob. The violence was being broadcast on national television, the White House has the extensive communications facilities and the president himself had just been informed by Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville that Pence had been evacuated during a phone conversation the two had at roughly the same time. Responding for Trump's defence, lawyer Michael van der Bleen said Trump did not know. He added that the House Democrats had done no investigation into the matter during their "rushed" impeachment proceedings and, besides, Trump's actions during the Capitol riot were not included in the impeachment article, which dealt with inciting an insurrection. The question - from two Republicans who are likely to vote to convict - gets to the heart of the case against the former president. Did Trump's actions during the riot - including his condemnation of Pence - indicate that he knew that violence was likely and that he welcomed and encouraged it? The House impeachment managers insist the answer is yes.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50179735
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international-50237531
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बुरी फिल्मों के बारे में आपको पहले से पता होता है कि आख़िर में क्या होने जा रहा है. मध्य पूर्व में भी एक जगह वैसी ही कहानियां दोहराई जा रही हैं.
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By Frank GardnerBBC security correspondent Kurdish-run camps and detention centres confining tens of thousands of Islamic State (IS) fighters and their dependants are boiling over with frustrated rage. This month, spurred on by Turkey's incursion into Syria and encouraged by their fugitive leadership, they have vowed to break out and wreak revenge on both their captors and the West, reconstituting themselves as they did in 2013. While Turkey's actions have undoubtedly propelled this problem into a crisis - in excess of 100 IS prisoners (some reports put the figure as high as 800) have reportedly escaped already and are now at large - the problem goes much deeper. The fault lies primarily with Europe's governments. Since the military defeat of IS by the US-led coalition at Baghuz in Syria in March, the world has had seven months in which to resolve the issue of all these beaten jihadists and their often-fanatical dependants. Most are from Syria and Iraq but both those countries are in varying states of upheaval and the recent sentencing to death by an Iraqi court of French jihadists has discouraged further transfers there. The hard core of die-hard IS fighters and their dependants are nearly all from outside the region - Europe, North Africa, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Recent reports from the largest camp, al-Hawl in north-east Syria, depict an ever-increasing takeover inside its walls by IS, including deadly punishments meted out by jihadist women. Children are growing up without any proper education and in some cases are being brainwashed with extreme and violent ideology. "The people there (in these camps) are very extreme," said Michael Stephens from the London think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). "If they escape or are allowed to keep raising children in these camps the problem in 10 years will be severe." Washington and its Kurdish allies have been pressing Europe to take back the estimated 4,000 plus nationals who slipped unnoticed across its borders and into Syria when IS was at its height. But Europe doesn't want them back. Its intelligence agencies warn that many of those who survived the final days of IS's last stand will remain highly dangerous radicals, brutalised by the atrocities they have witnessed, and in some cases, committed. According to the German magazine Der Spiegel, German officials believe that a third of its nationals currently in the camps - a total of 27 men and women - are "capable of carrying out violent acts including terrorist attacks". This, it says, explains the German government's reluctance to bring them home. The problem is two-fold. Firstly, there is a fear that if and when these jihadists were eventually brought to trial in their home countries there could well be insufficient evidence - given the fluid circumstances in which they were captured - to convict them. Governments would then be accused of allowing back in dangerous men and women who would go free and then pose a potential risk to national security. Secondly, even if they were convicted they would only add to the growing problem of violent radicalisation taking place in European jails, where a disproportionate percentage of the prison population - notably in France - are from Muslim communities. So the net result is that Europe has failed to act and the problem has been left to fester. As well as dangerous jihadists, thousands of innocent women and children have been left in limbo in these camps where in some cases those who do not follow IS's draconian rules are getting either indoctrinated or punished. It is impossible to under-estimate the importance of "unjust imprisonment" in jihadist psychology. It goes right back to the 1960s when the radical Egyptian Islamist Sayyid Qutb was imprisoned and executed and his writings later became a blueprint for jihadist thought. The assassination of Egypt's President Anwar Sadat in 1981 was followed by the mass imprisonment of Islamists in that country, something which became a rallying cry for their followers and which fed into Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation. After the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 the genesis of today's IS started out in the confines of the US-run Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca prison camps that were set up. Men like Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the group's current leader, exchanged ideas, swapped phone numbers with other prisoners and laid plans for an insurgency for when they got out. After eight years of misrule by an Iraqi government that discriminated against the country's Sunni minority, the jihadists chose their moment and swept into Mosul and northern Iraq in 2014. The rest is history: it took another five years to dismantle their self-proclaimed caliphate. So could the same thing happen again now? Probably not, say experts like Michael Stephens. "The truth is that IS will struggle to reconstitute much past a low-level insurgency, but they'll be an irritant for years to come," he said. "A jail break would be highly worrying but the conditions on the ground are not really conducive to them simply rushing back in and filling vacuums in the way they did in 2013." Certainly it is hard to see IS being able to rebuild anything like the physical, geographic space it occupied and controlled for five years across a great swathe of Syria and Iraq. But Dr Emman El-Badawy, who has spent years researching Islamist extremism and who now works for the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, warns that IS is unlikely to pass up the opportunities now presented to it. "The recalibration of IS is likely to be just as deadly and destructive as what we saw in 2014-17," she said. "The group will be planting itself deeper into weakly governed areas and establishing safe havens for recruitment and training, fuelling instability and no doubt continuing to plot attacks abroad including in Europe and the US." Ultimately, the problem comes down to this. Unless there is a secure and humane resolution to the issue of those thousands displaced by the collapse of the IS caliphate then this will be a ticking time bomb that Europe and other parts of the world will live to regret.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29136063
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/science/2014/09/140909_smartwatch_apple_tb
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ऐसा कम ही होता है कि बहुप्रतीक्षित गैजेट्स से जुड़ी जानकारियां उनकी रिलीज़ तक राज़ बनी रहें, लेकिन ऐपल वॉच एक अतिश्योक्ति साबित हुई.
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It helped that Apple isn't ready to release the wearable until next year - missing the busy Christmas shopping season - though it may squeak in in time for the Chinese New Year in February. Tim Cook and Co managed to tantalise their audience with the promise of elegantly designed miniature apps - some, such as Maps and the exercise-focused Workout sounding genuinely useful, others, such as the ability to transmit your heartbeat to a loved one, perhaps less so. And while the Digital Crown control and pressure-sensitive screen hold the promise of a clever user interface tailored for the Watch's size, there was surprise from some that the fashion-conscious firm had opted for a rectangular watch face rather than a circular one, bearing in mind Motorola and LG have been praised for doing the opposite. But if one thing is clear from previous Apple launches - until you get time to play around with their products at length it's easy to miss many of their fine points and flaws. Of course, that didn't prevent a flood of instant feedback before U2 had a chance to round off the press conference. Below is a selection of what appeared online in the hours after the announcement. Vogue: From a fashion point of view, the external aesthetic seemed neutral: neither super-stylish nor repellent. I would imagine that geeks would love it more than aesthetes. Yet smartphones have already transformed the fashion world in a way we never imagined. Gizmodo: Maybe the cleverest part of the Apple Watch's design is how you control it. Instead of relying on multi-touch gestures designed for bigger screens, the Apple Watch leans on the use of the "digital crown," aka "the spinny knob" aka that thing you typically use to adjust the time... Think clickwheel 2.0. Wired: An intriguing feature is the Maps app, which in addition to offering directions also takes advantage of the haptic vibration system inside the device. In practice, this allows Apple's Maps app to not only plot a journey from your current location, but guide you using different types of vibrations on the wrist. The Verge: Apple left out some key details about the product, such as screen resolution, processing capabilities, and most importantly, expected battery life.... It also doesn't bode well that the display is not always on and only lights up when you move your wrist or interact with the watch Financial Times: What's the psychology behind showing your audience a rapid-fire demo of your most important new product for years, then blasting them senseless with a deafening rock band? Maybe it's to bludgeon us all into submission. Wall Street Journal: OK, someone tell me why I need to share my heart rate with another Apple Watch owner. Honest question. I guess if I am very close to my caregiver. Techcrunch: It seems spectacular, worlds better than other solutions. No doubt there are countless other consumer companies gearing up to announce their Android Wear devices. And now, instead of simply competing with the round-faced Moto 360, they have to announce their device in the face of the Apple Watch. Washington Post: Look, do we really need this? Besides, if you want to know what time it is, there's always your phone. Twitter: A lot of kitchen-sinking in the Apple watch. Much like the iPad launch. It's a piece of glass that could be anything, but what in particular? @BenedictEvans Apple to left-handed people wondering about the lack of left hand controls on the watch: "You're wearing it wrong." @rort [Apple later confirmed that the watch could be worn the other way round to suit left-handed users. However, this will mean that the Digital Crown will be located at the bottom of the device rather than at the top, as depicted in promotional images] Apple Watch design ... #uninspiring. Thick, square, still looks like a tech geek's toy. @jasonhiner I was just watching a video on the Apple Watch, and no exaggeration drooled on myself. I wish I was joking. I'm at work. @elizabiitchanna Apple Watch is the antithesis of what we've come to expect from Apple. Software looks absolutely amazing, hardware design is dated and ugly. @zacharye Complete standing ovation for the Apple Watch - looks utterly stunning. Am worse than drooling @stephenfry The Apple Watch allows us to share our heartbeats. Next year: colon x-rays. Stop over-sharing, America @bobcesca_go The differences between Google Glass and Apple Watch tell you a lot about the two companies... @nxthompson For Apple Watch as it was for the iPad and the iPhone before that: it is all about the apps! @caro_milanesi With Apple Watch, Apple Pay, is Apple changing it's naming convention from iEverything? @jaspmeshultz Facebook: I've a Breitling on my wrist. What will I do with Apple watch? Jochen Winkler No mention of waterproof... in the announcement or on the Apple pages. Very disappointing. Guess no swimming apps then? Stephen DeVito I would gladly pay $250 but $350 is ridiculous. Dave Hunter Wish it was coming out before Christmas! Debbie Argyle Treiber Did you make one for left-handers? Kimberly Huebner I think that the requirement for the Watch to require the iPhone should be re-thought on the next one. Cathy J Cross Reddit: The only appealing part of it in my opinion is the user interface. I can't believe I'm saying this, but a Motorola product looks infinitely more elegant and well designed than an Apple product. OsamaBeenModdin I really like it... but the more I think about it there is one critical piece that keeps nagging at me. When I think of an iPhone/iPad, I am purchasing it for a limited cycle (I don't expect to keep the device for more than three years). When I buy a watch, I'm wanting to buy something that will last 10+ years. lastmessiah No sleep tracking, since you're probably gonna have to charge the thing at night, removes 50% of what I want my wearable to do. arcalumis It looked thick in the pictures alone, but when they showed it on peoples' wrists it looked a lot better. I like it. gallionator I saw how the iPhone was revolutionary and how the iPad is one of the most amazing entertainment devices around, but I don't know what the watch is fulfilling. am0x The battery will be make-or-break on this one. abbotleather There's going to be an explosion of third-party bands and accessories, which may also serve to drive sales over the competition in the same way the accessories market for iPhone does. stultus_respectant Apple has previously waited for others to pioneer new tech before leapfrogging the competition as the graphic below illustrates: Xerox Alto Macintosh 128k Rio iPod IBM Simon iPhone Fujitsu Stylistic iPad Apple Watch Fossil Wrist PDA 1973 The Xerox Alto personal workstation The Alto was one of the first computers to use a mouse, and an early pioneer of the “desktop” concept. 1984 Macintosh 128K Apple’s first almost-affordable, mass-market computer was launched with a futuristic ad by Ridley Scott. 1998 Audible / MPMan / Rio The Rio had just 32MB of memory – enough to store roughly an hour of music. 2001 iPod Apple launched the original iPod with the slogan '1,000 songs in your pocket'. 1994 Weighing half a kilogram and featuring a rather crude touchscreen, the Simon was able to send and receive emails, as well as take notes. 2007 iPhone At the iPhone’s launch, Steve Jobs told the audience the device was 'five years ahead of any other mobile phone'. 2003 Fujitsu Stylistic Based upon what used to be known as the 'slate form factor', Fujitsu’s tablet PC could be operated with a pen or connected to a keyboard for use at a desk. 2010 iPad One million iPads were sold in 28 days after its launch in the US. 2003 Fossil Wrist PDA Developed in partnership with Microsoft and Palm, the Fossil could deliver traffic and weather reports, among other things. 2015 Apple Watch The Apple Watch comes in three ranges, each built out of different materials. All provide access to apps, notifications and activity-tracking data.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53086042
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international-53087533
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अमरीका के पूर्व राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा सलाहकार जॉन बोल्टन ने अपनी नई किताब में कहा है कि अमरीकी राष्ट्रपति डोनल्ड ट्रंप ने फिर से राष्ट्रपति चुने जाने के लिए चीन के राष्ट्रपति शी जिनपिंग से मदद लेने की कोशिश की थी.
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Mr Bolton says Mr Trump wanted China to buy agricultural produce from US farmers, according to details of the forthcoming book previewed by US media. He also says Mr Trump "remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House". The Trump administration is trying to block the book from going on sale. Speaking to Fox News, Mr Trump said of Mr Bolton: "He broke the law. This is highly classified information and he did not have approval." "He was a washed-up guy," the president added. "I gave him a chance." John Bolton joined the White House in April 2018 and left in September the following year, saying he had decided to quit. President Trump, however, said he had fired Mr Bolton because he disagreed "strongly" with him. He is known as a foreign policy hardliner and also served in the administration of President George W Bush. As national security adviser, he was the top counsellor to the US president on security matters at home and abroad. Mr Bolton's 577-page tome, The Room Where It Happened, is due to go on sale on 23 June. But on Wednesday night, the Department of Justice sought an emergency order from a judge to stop the book's release. The publisher, Simon & Schuster, said in a statement: "Tonight's filing by the government is a frivolous, politically motivated exercise in futility." It said hundreds of thousands of copies of the book had already been distributed around the world and the injunction would accomplish nothing. Mr Trump's Democratic challenger in this November's election, Joe Biden, said in a statement about the book: "If these accounts are true, it's not only morally repugnant, it's a violation of Donald Trump's sacred duty to the American people." What does Bolton allege about the meeting with Xi? The allegations refer to a meeting between President Trump and President Xi at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in June last year. "Trump, stunningly, turned the conversation to the coming US presidential election [in 2020], alluding to China's economic capability and pleading with Xi to ensure he'd win," Mr Bolton wrote. "He stressed the importance of farmers and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome." Farmers make up a key voting bloc and largely supported Mr Trump in the 2016 election. Speaking on Wednesday evening, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer disputed Mr Bolton's account, saying the request for help with re-election "never happened". Mr Bolton also mentions an earlier conversation at the summit's opening dinner, in which they discussed the building of camps in China's western Xinjiang region. Mr Trump said the construction should go ahead as it was "exactly the right thing to do". China has detained about a million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the camps for punishment and indoctrination. The Trump administration has been publicly critical of China's treatment of Uighurs, and on Wednesday the president signed legislation authorising US sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for the repression of Muslims in Xinjiang province. China denies mistreating Uighurs and attacked the US move, calling it malicious and threatening countermeasures. On one hand, the account John Bolton offers in his new book should seem somewhat familiar. This is hardly the first time a former adviser or anonymous current aide to Donald Trump has offered anecdotes about a president seemingly uninterested in the details of governing and uninformed on basic issues of foreign policy. For nearly three-and-a-half years, there have been plentiful stories about a White House rife with backbiting and internal power struggles. Mr Bolton's book goes beyond this well-trodden ground, however, in painting a broad portrait of a president willing to bend foreign policy to advance his domestic and personal political agenda. This was the heart of the impeachment case congressional Democrats made against Trump in January. Mr Bolton confirms their allegations that the president wanted the withholding of military aid to pressure Ukraine to provide damaging information about Democratic rival Joe Biden. Mr Bolton adds that Trump's dealings with China were also done with an eye on his re-election, and that he repeatedly intervened to assist friendly autocrats around the world. Republicans suggest this is all the work of a disgruntled employee trying to sell books, while Democrats are already growling that Bolton should have volunteered these bombshells during the impeachment proceedings. That ship has sailed, of course, but Bolton's book can still have a bite, distracting a presidential campaign struggling to find its footing less than five months before election day. What else did Mr Bolton say? Mr Bolton says the impeachment inquiry into the president might have had a different outcome this year if it had gone beyond Ukraine and investigated other instances of alleged political interference. In January, President Trump was impeached for withholding military aid to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into starting a corruption investigation into Mr Biden and his son Hunter. The president denied the wrongdoing and was acquitted after a two-week trial in the Republican-controlled Senate in February, which did not include any witnesses. Mr Bolton - who was criticised by Democrats for declining to testify to the hearings - does not discuss in the book whether he thinks that Mr Trump's actions on Ukraine were impeachable. The publication contains a number of other damaging allegations: 'Oh, are you a nuclear power?' Among other things, Mr Trump is alleged to have been unaware that the UK was a nuclear power. Britain's atomic deterrent came up during a meeting with Theresa May in 2018, when it was mentioned by one of the then-prime minister's officials. According to the book, Mr Trump said: "Oh, are you a nuclear power?" Mr Bolton said he could tell it "was not intended as a joke". Mr Trump also once asked his former chief-of-staff John Kelly if Finland was part of Russia, writes Mr Bolton. Invading Venezuela would be 'cool' Mr Trump said invading Venezuela would be "cool", according to the book, and that the South American nation was "really part of the United States". But he was less enthusiastic about another invasion. Of the Afghanistan conflict, Mr Trump is quoted in the book as saying: "This was done by a stupid person named George Bush." Mr Bolton writes that in a May 2019 phone call Russian President Vladimir Putin pulled off a "brilliant display of Soviet-style propaganda" by likening Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó to 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, which "largely persuaded Trump". Mr Putin's objective was to defend his ally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Mr Bolton writes. In 2018, Mr Trump labelled the leftist Mr Maduro a dictator and imposed sanctions, but he clung to power. In an interview with ABC News to be broadcast in full this Sunday, Mr Bolton says of Mr Trump: "I think Putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle." 'This is a bad place' Mr Bolton writes that many of the president's closest aides privately disparaged him. When he arrived at the White House, Mr Bolton said Mr Kelly warned him: "You can't imagine how desperate I am to get out of here. This is a bad place to work, as you will find out." During Mr Trump's 2018 meeting with North Korea's leader, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo passed Mr Bolton a note about the president that said: "He is so full of shit." He writes that Mr Pompeo, often described as a Trump loyalist, was among aides who considered resigning in disgust in frustration at working for the president. Mr Bolton writes that the president "saw conspiracies behind rocks, and remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House, let alone the huge federal government."
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https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30345221
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/science/2014/12/141209_old_laptop_batteries_power_vr
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शोधकर्ताओं के अनुसार लैपटॉप की बेकार हो चुकी बैटरियों में इतनी जान होती है कि उससे झुग्गी झोपड़ियों में रहने वाले लोगों के घरों में रोशनी की जा सकती है.
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By Dave LeeTechnology reporter, BBC News An IBM study analysed a sample of discarded batteries and found 70% had enough power to keep an LED light on more than four hours a day for a year. Researchers said using discarded batteries is cheaper than existing power options, and also helps deal with the mounting e-waste problem. The concept was trialled in the Indian city of Bangalore this year. The adapted power packs are expected to prove popular with street vendors, who are not on the electric grid, as well as poor families living in slums. The research, which comes from IBM's India-based research team, will be discussed at a conference in San Jose, California, according to Technology Review from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cheap The IBM team created what they called an UrJar - a device that uses lithium-ion cells from the old batteries to power low-energy DC devices, such as a light. The researchers are aiming to help the approximately 400 million people in India who are off grid. Options such as solar power are considerably more expensive and logistically more cumbersome at the moment. If the UrJar, which would last a year, is made in sufficiently large volume, researchers estimate the price per unit at just 600 rupees (about £7). They conclude: "UrJar has the potential to channel e-waste towards the alleviation of energy poverty, thus simultaneously providing a sustainable solution for both problems." Feedback from the trial was positive, the team said. Among the improvements suggested by users was a call for rat-resistant wires. Urgent E-waste is a major problem, particularly in the developing world, where the majority of the West's unwanted technology ends up. IBM's research said 142,000 computers are thrown away in the US daily - around 50 million a year. India's predicament is particularly urgent. Not only does the country receive a lot of e-waste from other countries, but with a booming IT market it is also generating huge amounts of its own - around 32 tonnes a day, according to one estimate. Computer Aid, a UK-based charity that redistributes unwanted old technology, welcomed the initiative. "We think that this is an excellent initiative as it is in line with our practice of reusing and refurbishing rather than recycling," said Keith Sonnet, its chief executive. "Refurbishing has definitely a more positive impact on the environment and we should encourage more companies to adopt this practice." Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-25889728
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international/2014/01/140125_court_orders_removal_life_support_dil
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अमरीकी प्रांत टेक्सास में एक जज ने एक ब्रेन डेड महिला से जीवन रक्षक प्रणाली हटाने के आदेश दिए हैं. महिला को गर्भवती होने के कारण ज़िंदा रखा गया है.
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Judge RH Wallace gave John Peter Smith Hospital until Monday evening to cease life-saving measures for Marlise Munoz. Mrs Munoz, 33, was 14 weeks pregnant when she fell unconscious in November. It is believed she had a blood clot. The hospital had argued that a state law prohibits denying life-saving treatment to pregnant patients. 'Legally dead' Mrs Munoz's husband, Erick, filed suit against the hospital on 14 January, arguing that life-support efforts go against her wishes as a paramedic familiar with end-of-life issues. "Marlise Munoz is legally dead, and to further conduct surgical procedures on a deceased body is nothing short of outrageous," he claimed in court documents. The court filing also stipulated that, as Mrs Munoz is technically deceased, "she cannot possibly be a 'pregnant patient'" under Texas health and safety codes. Mrs Munoz, 33, has remained unconscious since her husband discovered her on the kitchen floor on 26 November while pregnant with the couple's second child. A blood clot has been listed as a possible cause. Mr Munoz's lawyers subsequently revealed that Mrs Munoz's foetus - believed to be at 22 weeks gestation and to have been without oxygen for some time before medical intervention in November - was "distinctly abnormal", according to hospital medical records. On Friday, Judge Wallace ruled the Fort Worth hospital must remove Mrs Munoz's life support by 17:00 local time (23:00 GMT) on Monday.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-25533339
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international/2013/12/131228_china_child_policy_ap
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चीन के शीर्ष विधायी मंडल ने देश की एकल-संतान नीति में ढील देने वाले प्रस्ताव को औपचारिक मंज़ूरी दे दी है.
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The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed a resolution allowing couples to have two children if either parent is an only child. A proposal to abolish re-education through labour camps was also approved. The changes in policy were announced following a meeting of top Communist Party officials in November. The reforms, which came at the end of a six-day meeting of the congress, have already been tested in parts of the country. They needed formal legislative approval to be put into effect. It is expected that reforms will be rolled out gradually and incrementally around the country, with provincial authorities entrusted to make their own decisions on implementation according to the local demographic situation. Factors other than the one-child policy, such as a lack of social security support, have also encouraged couples to limit their offspring. China is now believed to have a birth rate of just over 1.5 children per woman of child-bearing age - which is, in fact, higher than many of its regional neighbours, including Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. Niger has the world's highest birth rate per woman, with over seven, India has 2.55 and the US has 2.06. 'Leftover men' China introduced its one-child policy at the end of the 1970s to curb rapid population growth. But correspondents say the policy has become increasingly unpopular and that leaders fear the country's ageing population will both reduce the labour pool and exacerbate elderly care issues. By 2050, more than a quarter of the population will be over 65. The one-child policy has on the whole been strictly enforced, though some exceptions already exist, including for ethnic minorities. Previous reforms also permitted couples to have a second child where both were only children or, in the case of rural couples, where their first-born child was a girl. The traditional preference for boys has created a gender imbalance as some couples opt for sex-selective abortions. By the end of the decade, demographers say China will have 24 million "leftover men" who, because of China's gender imbalance, will not be able to find a wife. The decision to close the labour camps puts an end to a controversial punishment system long criticised for its human rights abuses. State media said the development of China's legal system had made the camps "superfluous" and signalled the end of their "historic mission". Chinese leaders had previously said they wanted to reform the system. The network, which was created in the 1950s based on the Soviet Gulag, allowed the Chinese police to send anyone to prison for up to four years without a trial. A labour camp sentence was almost impossible to appeal. China had 260 labour camps holding 160,000 inmates at the start of this year, according to figures from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Watch. Correspondents say most of the detainees were arrested for drug offences - either selling or buying small quantities of illegal narcotics. Some of the labour camps are expected to be transformed into drug rehabilitation centres.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39012572
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international-39013643
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दूसरे विश्वयुद्ध में एडोल्फ़ हिटलर का इस्तेमाल किया फ़ोन अमरीका में इस हफ्ते नीलाम होना है.
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The red phone, which has the Nazi leader's name engraved on it, was found in his Berlin bunker in 1945. Soviet soldiers gave it to British officer Sir Ralph Rayner as a souvenir shortly after Germany surrendered. Auction house Alexander Historical Auctions says bidding in Chesapeake City, Maryland, will start at $100,000 (£80,567). It hopes that the phone, which is being sold by Sir Ralph's son Ranulf, can fetch as much as $300,000. Auction house official Bill Panagopulos said the phone was a "weapon of mass destruction", as it was used by Hitler to give orders that took many lives during the war, the Associated Press reports.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-26410106
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/entertainment/2014/03/140303_oscars_selfie_twitter_record_ar
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साल 2014 के ऑस्कर समारोह में होस्ट ऐलन डेजेनेरस द्वारा पोस्ट की गई सेल्फ़ी ट्विटर पर सबसे ज़्यादा री-ट्वीट होने वाली तस्वीर बन गई है. इसे पोस्ट किए जाने के बाद कुछ देर के लिए माइक्रोब्लॉगिंग साइट ट्विटर क्रैश कर गई.
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By BBC TrendingWhat's popular and why The photo includes, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper, and best supporting actress winner Lupita Nyong'o. It took less than 40 minutes to beat the previous record for most tweeted image - a photo of Michelle and Barack Obama, posted on his re-election in 2012. By the end of the Oscars ceremony, the celebrity selfie had been retweeted more than two million times. Host DeGeneres encouraged those watching the Oscars - about one billion people - to make the image the most-retweeted in history, and less than an hour later announced the target had been met. "We crashed Twitter!" she joked, adding that the service was up again shortly after. Not quite as popular, but perhaps more amusing, was actor Benedict Cumberbatch's surprise attempt to appear in a red-carpet photo of U2. As the band posed in neat line, Cumberbatch "photobombed" the picture by leaping up behind them and pulling a face. The hashtag #Cumberbomb has cropped up on Twitter, with most users quick to praise the Brit for his sense of humour. KlausisKing said "Best photo bomb ever goes to Benedict Cumberbatch :') seriously how can anyone not love this man :D #Cumberbomb." All in all, there have been more than seven million tweets using the hashtags #oscars and #oscars2014. Leonardo DiCaprio's fans flooded the social networking site with messages of condolence after he missed out on the Oscar for Best Actor. The phrase 'Poor Leo' started trending when he failed to win for his performance in The Wolf of Wall Street. The award went to Matthew McConaughey instead for his role in Dallas Buyers Club. It was the fourth time DiCaprio had been nominated for an Oscar - having been shortlisted for his appearance in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Aviator, and Blood Diamond - but he is yet to win. Poor Leo has been tweeted almost 40,000 times in the last 12 hours, accompanied by a string of images of the actor looking dismayed. Many were overlaid with mock quotes such as "Dear academy why do u hate me, luv Leo". It was also a big night on Twitter for Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o, who won her Oscar for playing Patsey, a young slave girl working on a cotton plantation in Louisiana, in 12 Years a Slave. Quotes from her speech were widely tweeted, especially this line: "May it remind me and every little child that no matter where you are from, your dreams are valid." Even before the ceremony started, Nyong'o was trending - from London to Nairobi to LA - for her simple, sparkly headband and her dress. One of the most popular hashtags was #Nairobiblue, which began to trend soon after Nyong'o spoke on the red carpet and said the colour of her dress reminded her of Nairobi. She was among the candidates for #bestdressed - though Kate Hudson seems to have won over both the Twitter audience and the fashion critics. Jennifer Lawrence also trended, when what must surely be her worst nightmare came true: She tripped… again! This year's trip was on the red carpet - not on the way up to the stage - but was nevertheless spotted by photographers, and images of the stumble were widely shared. One of the top trending hashtags in the lead up to the ceremony was #OscarsforVenezuela. It was started by activists as a way of encouraging Oscar nominees to raise the profile of the protests in Venezuela. The hashtag has been used more than 670,000 times in the last four days. They got a mention from the very first winner of the night - Jared Leto, who won best supporting actor for his role in Dallas Buyers Club. "We are thinking of you tonight," he said in his acceptance speech, referring to both Venezuela and Ukraine. His comments were welcomed by Venezuelan actor Albi De Abreu. "It is the only way we have to communicate our violated human rights to the world," he said. In the last few years, there has been a growing trend for academics and data analytics companies to attempt to predict the results of the Oscars, using social media. And it was a successful night for them. "To be honest, I'm quite amazed - I wasn't really expecting to get so many correct," says Colin Cheng, with the London-based digital agency MintTwist, which correctly predicted four out of five of the main winners. The analytics company Farsite scored a full house - getting six out of six predictions correct. Both companies combine an analysis of social media discussion, with patterns from previous Oscar years, and results from other awards in the season. Reporting by Cordelia Hebblethwaite All our stories are at BBC.com/trending Follow @BBCtrending on Twitter and tweet using #BBCtrending
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https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-32160083
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https://www.bbc.com/hindi/international/2015/04/150403_oldest_person_alive_rv
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अमरीका की 116 वर्षीय गरट्रूड वीवर दुनिया की सबसे बुजुर्ग व्यक्ति बन गई हैं. उनका नाम गिनीज़ वर्ल्ड रिकॉर्ड्स में दर्ज हो गया है.
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Gertrude Weaver was born in 1898 and lives in a nursing home in the city of Camden. She celebrates her birthday on 4 July, but it's unclear whether she was born on this date as there's no record. Ms Weaver is a fan of President Barack Obama and she's hoping he'll join her to celebrate her 117th birthday. In an interview with CBS, Ms Weaver said her secrets were trust in the Lord, working hard, and loving everyone you meet. She's outlived all but one of her four children, Joe, who turns 94 this month. He visits regularly along with other family members and friends. The announcement comes after the previous record holder, Misao Okawa from Japan, died a few weeks after her 117th birthday. Ms Weaver has a few years to go to beat the oldest person ever to have lived - Jeanne Calment from France lived until she was 122 years and 164 days old. Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube
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