TASK DEFINITION: Generate an appropriate single-sentence summary for the given text such that it includes the main topic of the text.
PROBLEM: The watch has a stark, circular titanium face. There are no hands. There are no numbers. Around a groove in the centre a ball-bearing rotates to mark the minutes. Around the edge of the watch, another ball bearing rotates to tell the hours. The Bradley was designed for the use of blind people, the latest in a long line of efforts to help those without sight efficiently tell the time. Designer Hyungsoo Kim was in a lecture hall at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in September 2011 when a neighbouring student asked him the time. "My classmate is visually impaired, and had been for 10 years," explains Kim. The student had a watch that could tell the time, but only by pressing a button that would make it speak out loud. Doing so in a classroom could be disruptive, so instead, says Kim, "I was his wristwatch." There are a number of timepieces for the blind, including the Meteor vibrating watch that uses a series of rumbles to denote hours and minutes. Tactile, or Braille watches, are popular in the blind and partially sighted community. They look similar to a normal watch, but the front glass can be flipped up, allowing the wearer to touch the hands and tell the time. "If you're blind you don't know if you've got up in the middle of the night," explains Leslie Duroe of RNIB, the UK's main charity for the blind and partially sighted. "It can make people feel very insecure to not know what time it is." For Kim, previous designs were more functional than beautiful. Sighted people choose their watches as much as a fashion statement as for merely telling the time. Many might assume that blind people care only about function. But that's wrong. There were also practical criticisms over existing watches for some users - in the case of tactile or Braille watches, foreign objects such as food could clog or affect the progress of the hands. Kim wanted a watch that looked good and would work for his friend. "I put together a team of engineers and we came up with the idea of a Braille display, one that would display the time written out in Braille," says Kim. But when a prototype was created, the feedback wasn't great. "We learned that less than 10% of visually impaired people can read Braille," Kim says. What's more, many people in the UK and US are not born blind but develop sight problems later in their lives - 82% of those living with blindness are aged 50 or older, according to the World Health Organization. With less experience of reading Braille, their sense of touch is often less developed. Kim and his team went back to the drawing board - the timepiece went through 25 different versions, each one tested by visually impaired people. There was always a battle between functionality and producing a beautiful object. Eventually, a design was agreed upon - a magnet underneath the metal watch face would control two rotating ball bearings for hours and minutes. But even the ball bearings were a matter of debate. "People wanted the ball bearings to be bigger so they could feel it better," Kim says. "But as designers, were concerned that making them bigger would make the watch clunky. We had to find the midpoint." In September 2011, the same month Hyungsoo Kim started work on his project, life changed for bomb disposal officer Lieutenant Bradley Snyder. He stood on an explosive device in Afghanistan, suffering serious injuries and losing his sight. By August 2012, he had won two swimming gold medals at the London Paralympic games. But the practicalities of daily life were initially an immense struggle. "I was hurt in Afghanistan and the next thing I know I'm waking up in hospital in the United States. There was a 60 hour-long gap in my memory." Immediately Snyder, his sight lost, found getting his bearings difficult. "You don't realise how much you use time to orient where you are. At the beginning it was very disorienting. And especially being in the military, time is all important." Eventually Snyder was approached by Kim, after a chance meeting with a mutual friend. "Hyungsoo was making a product for blind people," says Snyder. "I was his blind guy." "I had a speaking watch for a little while," he begins. "You pressed a button and it told you the time." Uncannily mimicking a robotic voice, Snyder says "the time is 3:30pm" and laughs. "It was utilitarian. And if I'm on a train, I can't hear it. "What's more, as soon as I hit that button it highlights me as someone with a special need. I love the idea of using the same thing that everyone does. And I want to feel as normal as possible." With the watch now named the Bradley, there was an appeal on Kickstarter, the crowdfunding website, in July last year - 3,681 people from 65 different countries backed the project, donating a total of $594,602 (£357,290). It will be available for sale from May in the US, with the UK and Europe likely to follow later. A further 1,000 people have since pre-ordered the watch online but only a tiny fraction of those - Kim estimates between 1-2% - are visually impaired. "It bridges the gap between the disabled and the non-disabled," says Snyder. The watch is now among the favourites in the 76 nominations for the Designs of the Year contest at London's Design Museum. The nomination has already led to interest from European retailers. There's an obvious gimmick for selling to sighted people - you can check the time in a social or work setting without appearing rude. It's easy to imagine seeing the watch, with its titanium face and minimal style, on a wrist and not immediately guessing its genesis as an item for blind people. "The stereotype is that visually impaired people are not fashion-conscious," says Kim. "I had that misconception too. But it's wrong." Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook

SOLUTION: The Bradley Timepiece, a watch designed for blind people and named after a Paralympian gold medallist who lost his sight in Afghanistan, is up for design of the year at London's Design Museum. But it's mostly being bought by sighted people, writes Chris Stokel-Walker.

PROBLEM: The Bemrose School in Derby is putting on the extra classes to help those who have struggled to connect to virtual lessons during lockdown. The lessons, which are taught to groups of no more than three, have been funded by the government's catch-up premium. Head teacher Neil Wilkinson said it was important pupils did not fall behind. 'Spark of learning' Mr Wilkinson said: "About 40-50% of our pupils don't have access to a device or internet or the opportunity to do home learning in a virtual way. "We were using paper lessons to send home to pupils, but we feel a teacher is really important - they are the driver and the catalyst." He said the school had accessed 200 computers via a government initiative but it still was not enough. "Therefore we needed to find a way and means to engage these pupils so they don't fall further behind," he said. Other pupils are able to connect to the lessons from home, with about 120 taking part in the weekend lessons. Deputy head Chloe Woodhouse-Meehan, who set up the Saturday school, said: "As a teacher, the thing I miss is having pupils in front of me in the classroom. "You want to see that spark of learning. We are missing that. "You can see students that do have access to devices and those that don't. What we're trying to do is make sure the gap doesn't widen." According to Ofcom, between 1.1 million and 1.8 million children in the UK do not have access to a laptop, desktop or tablet at home. Charities including Barnardo's have expressed concern about the digital divide. Barnardo's chief executive Javed Khan said: "The lack of devices and affordable internet access means many children already at a disadvantage are falling further behind." Funding for the initiative came via a £1bn government scheme, which is aimed at making up for lost teaching during the pandemic. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said schools in England will not be able to fully reopen until 8 March at the earliest. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk. Related Internet Links Bemrose School

SOLUTION: A school has started running Saturday sessions to ensure pupils do not fall behind due to a lack of technology at home.

PROBLEM: Lauri Love, 28, of Stradishall, Suffolk, is accused of breaking into Federal Reserve computers. The indictment was revealed at Manhattan federal court on Thursday. His solicitor Karen Todner, said he was also under investigation by the UK National Crime Agency and it was hoped all matters be concluded in the UK. 'Sophisticated hacker' "If there is an extradition request from the United States it will be vehemently opposed," she said. "We believe that if Mr Love is to face charges that they should be, and will be, in the UK." The offences he is accused of carry a potential penalty of up to 12 years in prison, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said. US attorney Preet Bharara alleged Mr Love was "a sophisticated hacker who broke into Federal Reserve computers, stole sensitive personal information, and made it widely available, leaving people vulnerable to malicious use of that information". It is claimed the offences date from October 2012 to February 2013, when Mr Love allegedly tried to secretly infiltrate the New York Federal Reserve Bank's computer servers in order to steal non-public information and then post that information on certain websites. He allegedly worked with "other hackers around the world to gain access". 'Millions in losses' According to the indictment, in October 1012: "Mr Love used his unauthorised access to locate and steal certain confidential information residing on the Federal Reserve servers, including the names, email addresses, and phone numbers of users of the Federal Reserve computer system. "Mr Love then disseminated that information publicly by posting the information to a website that previously had been hacked and that he controlled." George Venizelos, head of the New York office of the FBI, said: "Cyber-crime knows no boundaries and justice will not stop at international borders." Mr Love is accused of breaching the systems to steal "massive quantities" of confidential data, resulting in millions of dollars of losses. He was arrested by officers from the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) under the Computer Misuse Act (CMA), in October last year, and later charged by US authorities in New Jersey. Under the CMA, individuals can be arrested for launching attacks from within the UK against computers anywhere in the world.

SOLUTION:
Lawyers for a British man charged with hacking into US government computer servers say they will "vehemently oppose" any attempt to extradite him.

