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Running a marathon - what are the risks? By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News   Completing 26 miles of physical endurance can take its toll Running a marathon puts immense strain on the body. But just how dangerous for your health can it be? What are the main health risks? Thankfully, most of the casualties that occur during a race concern minor injuries, like sprains and strains. Dehydration is the biggest problem that marathon runners have to overcome. In a hard race on a hot and humid day, up to four litres of fluid can be lost through sweating and exhalation. It is important for runners to keep well hydrated. And there are other things you can do to prepare for the race. Following a training plan in the months leading up to the race to get yourself in shape is advisable. A great many injuries can be avoided by warming up and doing stretches immediately before the race. During the 2012 London Marathon, 4,923

Spam: India leads world in junk emails   Many spammers have shifted their focus from email to social networks India has become the top spam-spewing nation on the planet, suggests a report. Compiled by security firm Sophos, the report ranks nations by the amount of junk mail routed through computers in each country. India has leapt to the top of the spam chart in less than a year, rapidly overtaking the US, said Sophos. About 10% of all junk mail sent across the web came from or passed through computers in India, said the firm. India's rapid rise up the chart of spam producers has been helped by the rapid growth of the web in the country, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. The inexperience of the many first-time net users in India had led many to fall victim to hi-tech criminals, he said. "The latest stats show that, as more first-time internet users get online in growing economies, they are not taking measures to block the ma

A Point of View: Making sense of six decades on the throne Few monarchs make it to their diamond jubilee - and in the past century or so, many of the world's royal dynasties have fallen by the wayside. So the festivities can carry a hint of relief and thankfulness, says historian David Cannadine. It may not yet have fully impinged upon the collective public consciousness, but we are well into the season of celebrating the Diamond Jubilee. The Queen has received addresses from both houses of parliament at a ceremony in Westminster Hall; she's already driven through the streets of London to widespread popular acclaim; and other members of the royal family have begun their visits, on her behalf, to the countries of the Commonwealth. The climax of these celebrations will be the thanksgiving service, to be held at St Paul's Cathedral on 5 June, in conscious replication of that held for Queen Victoria when she celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in the summer of 1897.

Why do some people propose in public? By Mark Bosworth BBC World Service Jimmy Hill's very public proposal to Josie Stanford A wedding proposal is the most intimate of occasions - so why are a growing number of people proposing in public? The traditional wedding proposal was a low-key sort of thing. One might think of something in a restaurant or a peaceful garden. When it was in public, any bystanders might have been completely oblivious. But now a slew of YouTube videos are testament to a wave of ever more elaborate and often very public proposals. You can see compilations of proposals at baseball and basketball stadiums in the US. Some unkind souls have even gathered together the most notable refusals. And the flashmob wedding proposal - a craze which may have begun in the US in 2009 - is increasingly popular in the UK. In November 2011, a marria

ALLEN GINSBERG Interview BBC 1994

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Hindus of upper Sindh: a bruised community carries on Hindus of Sindh are marginalised due to their religious orientation and beliefs.—APP Photo In the little town of Reharki in Ghotki district, a sprawling multi-acre complex sits among fields just off the main road . Known as the Reharki Darbar, it houses the Sant Satram Das temple and is just a few kilometres from the Bharchundi Sharif shrine, which has become the focal point of allegations that Hindu women are being forced to convert to Islam. At one end of the Reharki Darbar, an enormous hostel is being constructed for visiting pilgrims, while a recently completed causeway donated by the federal government provides easy access to temple sites at either end of the massive grounds. In mid-April, according to caretakers at the darbar, tens of thousands of visitors will gather at the complex for a festival marking the death anniversary of Bhagat Kanwar Ram, a popular Sufi poet and singer who was killed in communal riots i