title
stringlengths 13
112
| published_date
stringlengths 10
10
| authors
stringclasses 3
values | description
stringlengths 0
382
⌀ | section
stringlengths 2
31
⌀ | content
stringlengths 0
81.9k
| link
stringlengths 21
189
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Raith Rovers had options to sign a keeper before fielding Ryan Stevenson, says SPFL - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-01
| null |
SPFL respond to John Hughes' criticism, saying Raith Rovers had options to sign a new goalkeeper before fielding Ryan Stevenson.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Raith Rovers had plenty of ways to sign a new keeper rather than use midfielder Ryan Stevenson in goal for their 1-0 loss to Ayr United, according to the Scottish Professional Football League.
Rovers manager John Hughes said the governing body should be "embarrassed" by its decision to reject his club's request for a postponement.
His club had no fit goalkeepers.
"Raith Rovers had a number of options open to them once their only fit goalkeeper was injured," said the SPFL.
"They could have brought in an under-21 goalkeeper, or an out-of-contract goalkeeper of any age, in each case without any permission from the SPFL board.
"They could also have sought permission from the SPFL board to bring in a goalkeeper of any age on an emergency basis.
"All of these options were explained to Raith Rovers, who chose to do none of these things and instead requested a postponement on the day of the match."
The Kirkcaldy club, who have Kevin Cuthbert and Aaron Lennox recovering from injuries sustained earlier this year, had gone without a goalkeeper on the bench for their previous three matches.
Then Conor Brennan injured a foot in Saturday's defeat by Queen of the South and a deal to sign Celtic goalkeeper Logan Bailly on an emergency loan fell through late on Monday evening.
Hughes hit out at the SPFL after Farid el Alagui's header moved Ayr, who are second-bottom of the Championship, to within one point of his eighth-placed side.
"It's just making a mockery of it, isn't it?" he said. "They need to have a right good look at themselves. I hope they're embarrassed.
"The guys that sit and vote and put their hand up for it to go ahead, half of them couldn't kick the blankets off the bed, never played football. That's the problem - they don't know what it's all about.
"Maybe for the best of Scottish football, we'll take the hit, but this can't happen again in Scottish football.
"We've got four loans in, so we'd have to try to get someone to go back to their club before we could [sign a goalkeeper on loan].
"We'd be looking at someone who is under 21 for the loan and, if we'd brought in a young keeper, I don't think he'd have done any better than Ryan Stevenson.
"He had a great save in the first minute. He acquitted himself very, very well."
While Ayr manager Ian McCall believed his side were on a "hiding to nothing" because of the "whole circus" surrounding the game, he felt it did not affect the outcome.
"It didn't really influence the game," he said. "He had no chance with the goal and he made a couple of good saves."
Stevenson, 32, played in goal for the final five minutes of Partick Thistle's 4-0 defeat by Hearts in October 2015 after Ryan Scully was sent off with the Jags having used all of their substitutes.
But he wants his stint in goal on Tuesday to be his last.
"It was a strange experience," said Stevenson, who revealed he was wearing gloves belonging to Dundee United goalkeeper Cammy Bell.
"I didn't want to let the boys down and I suppose it's something I can tick off the bucket list.
"I think that's the gloves hung up now. I've got them in the bag and I'll get the shirt framed.
"It's not something you'd have thought you'd have to do in a professional game.
"Hopefully, it's something I'll not be repeating again."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39119114
|
Reality Check: Do 60% benefit from the changes in National Insurance? - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Who are the winners and losers from the Budget announcement on National Insurance?
|
Business
|
The claim: 60% of self-employed people will pay less National Insurance as a result of these changes.
Reality Check verdict: 60% of people according to Treasury estimates will pay less, but only if you combine the abolition of Class 2 National Insurance contributions, which was announced in 2016, with the increase in Class 4 contributions announced on Wednesday. Nobody will pay less National Insurance as a result of the changes announced in Wednesday's Budget alone.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond was on the BBC's Breakfast programme on Thursday, talking about the changes made in his Budget.
He said that 60% of self-employed people would pay less National Insurance as a result of the changes.
What changed on Wednesday was that in April 2018, Class 4 National Insurance contributions will rise from 9% of profits earned between £8,060 and £43,000 a year, to 10%.
The following year it will rise again to 11%.
National Insurance of 2% will still be payable on earnings above £43,000.
George Osborne announced the previous year that Class 2 National Insurance contributions, which are paid at a flat rate of £2.80 a week by self-employed people earning profits of more than £5,965 a year, would be abolished from April 2018.
Mr Hammond was keen to combine the effects of these two changes, describing the net effect as raising £145m a year by 2020-21.
The Budget documents predict that just raising Class 4 contributions will raise £495m in 2020-21, with the measure raising a total of just over £2bn over the next five years.
If you look at the two changes together, the Treasury says that 2.6 million people will be better off by an average of £115 a year, while 1.6 million people will lose out by an average of £240 a year.
The latest labour market figures estimated that there were a total of 4.8 million self-employed workers, but some of them will be earning less than £5,965 so will be neither better off nor worse off, which means the total is feasible.
From those figures, it appears that 60% of self-employed people could be paying less in National Insurance.
But it would be a bit surprising if all self-employed people looked at it like that.
They were expecting a tax cut in April next year, and as a result of this Budget, 40% of them will now face a tax increase instead.
It will be the higher-earning, self-employed people who lose out.
The Institute for Fiscal studies has worked out that anyone earning profits of less than £15,570 a year will be better off, while the maximum loss will be £589 a year.
UPDATE 15 March: More figures emerged in the following days and the policy was reversed a week later. Find more details in this Reality Check.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39219675
|
Why hot chillies might be good for us - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
They might cause a lot of pain, but they also seem to do us good.
|
Health
|
As anyone who has ever eaten a really hot chilli will testify, they can cause a lot of pain.
Chillies come in many shapes, colours, sizes and strengths, but one thing they have in common is the burning sensation they cause in your mouth, eyes and any other part of your body into which their juices come into contact.
Although most people think that the hottest part of a chilli is its seeds, in fact it is the white spongy layer you find inside, called the placenta. Bite into this and you will really feel the burn.
That burning sensation is mainly caused by a chemical called capsaicin, which is found in tiny glands in the chilli's placenta.
When you eat a chilli, the capsaicin is released into your saliva and then binds on to TRPV1 receptors in your mouth and tongue.
The receptors are actually there to detect the sensation of scalding heat.
Capsaicin makes your mouth feel as if it is on fire because the capsaicin molecule happens to fit the receptors perfectly.
When this happens it triggers these receptors, which send a signal to your brain, fooling it into thinking that your mouth is literally burning.
The reason why wild chilli plants first started to produce capsaicin was to try and protect themselves from being eaten by mammals like you.
From an evolutionary perspective the plant would much rather have its seeds dispersed far and wide by birds.
Oddly enough birds, unlike mammals, don't have TRPV1 receptors, so they do not experience any burn.
So producing capsaicin turned out to be the ideal way to deter mammals from eating the plant while encouraging birds to do so.
But then along came an ape with a giant frontal cortex who somehow learnt to love the burn.
Humans have learned to love the burn of chillies
Humans are not only not deterred by capsaicin, most of us positively love it. So what's going on?
The ferocity of a chilli pepper is measured in something called Scoville heat units (SHU).
A relatively mild chilli, like the Dutch Long chilli, is only 500, but by the time you move on to the Naga chilli, which is one of the hottest in the world, you are biting into something with a Scoville score of more than 1.3m units.
The current world record holder for hotness, however, is the Carolina Reaper, first bred in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
According to tests carried out by the University of Winthrop in South Carolina it scores an impressive 1.57m SHUs
So, what happens when you bite into a really hot chill? As part of the new BBC2 series The Secrets of Your Food, botanist James Wong and I entered a chilli eating competition.
Within minutes of eating my first chilli, my eyes began to water and my pulse shot up.
My body had responded to an initial burst of severe pain by releasing adrenaline.
This not only made my heart beat faster, but it also made my pupils dilate. Every round the chillies got hotter and both of us soon dropped out.
Had we been able to tolerate biting into some really hot chillies, it's possible we would have experienced a "chilli endorphin high".
Chilli seeds are dispersed by birds that eat them
Endorphins are natural opiates, painkillers which are sometimes released in response to the chilli's sting. Like opiates they are said to induce a pervasive sense of happiness.
It is a form of thrill-seeking - feeding our brains' desire for stimulation.
Although it is not something I have personally ever experienced, I have certainly heard it described by hard core chilli eaters..
But beyond the pain and the perverse pleasures, are there any health benefits to eating chillies? Perhaps.
In a recent study done by researchers from the University of Vermont they looked at data from more than 16,000 Americans who had filled in food questionnaires over an average of 18.9 years.
During that time nearly 5,000 of them had died. What they found was that those who ate a lot of red hot chillies were 13% less likely to die during that period than those who did not.
This supports the finding of another recent study, carried out in China, that came to similar conclusions.
So why might eating chillies be good for you?
The researchers speculate that it could be that capsaicin is helping increase blood flow, or even altering the mix of your gut bacteria in a helpful direction.
Whatever the reason, it adds to my pleasure as I sprinkle chilli on my omelette in the morning.
The Secrets of Your Food continues on BBC2 at 2100GMT on Friday 10th March .
Join the conversation on our Facebook page.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39217603
|
What is the true meaning of 'Essex girl'? - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Forget the white stilettos and fake tans - the stereotype means something else nowadays.
|
Essex
|
The hackneyed cliché of white stilettos is a thing of the past
"Essex girls" have long been mocked as thick, promiscuous and lacking in class. But a campaign to turn the hackneyed clichés on their heads is fast gathering pace. The BBC's Jodie Halford asks whether being from Essex is a disadvantage in modern life?
A few years ago, I was talking to a colleague over the phone when he asked me my name.
"Wow, that's an appropriate name for someone from Essex," he said. "Conjures up images of white stilettos and fake tans."
If I had hailed from elsewhere in England, I am confident he would not have made such a remark. But then, "Essex girls" have come to expect a certain amount of sneering when our origins are discovered.
It is all the fault of a decades-old stereotype which is so ingrained in British culture that it has its own entry in the dictionary.
The origins of this label possibly lie with the concept of Essex man - that almost forgotten relative of the Essex girl - which reared its head in the early 1990s.
Journalist Simon Heffer used the term to denote a new type of Conservative voter who was "young, industrious, mildly brutish and culturally barren". Such men were typically self-made and had benefitted from the policies of Margaret Thatcher, he said.
The county's women were soon to be stereotyped too.
An article in The Independent from November 1991 related the recent "craze" for Essex girl jokes.
They often went something like this: "How does an Essex girl turn on the light afterwards? She kicks open the car door."
The newspaper said the jokes had been imported from the United States, where they had originated as "blonde" jokes before being adapted for a British audience.
Add to that shows like Birds of a Feather - and later The Only Way is Essex - and the reputation of the county's women was firmly cemented.
Dr Terri Simpkin said Essex girl's negative meaning was developed in the 1980s and 90s
Dr Terri Simpkin, a lecturer in leadership and corporate education at Anglia Ruskin University, said the term Essex girl was first recorded in 1892 but its modern connotations date from the late 1980s.
"There's that connection between post-war migration out of London into the new towns and elsewhere with the decline of manufacturing and the rise of professional occupations," she said.
"Essex became a corridor between dormitory towns and London, so we saw a rise in people having social mobility.
"Out of that came a level of snobbery and a disparaging view of people who had become more aspirational and affluent.
"But with women, there was gender discrimination as well, because so-called Essex girls weren't wilting wallflowers - they were more overt as sexual beings, they took control of their own sexuality."
Southend-on-Sea playwright Sadie Hasler says the Essex girl stereotype is "utterly moronic"
Sadie Hasler, 36, a playwright and columnist from Southend-on-Sea, has encountered her fair share of Essex girl prejudice.
"The most common thing when you mention where you're from to people who aren't from there is that initial glimmer in their eyes," she says.
"You can't hear the word Essex without having a cognitive flash of all the stereotypes. It's part of the battle, all those years of history behind the word."
Ms Hasler, who has worked as an actor and comedy performer, said she moved away from the industry because her accent and age meant she was being given a narrow range of roles where she was "asked to wear PVC catsuits, go topless, always be sexual".
"If I'd been from another county, I don't think that would have happened," she said.
"When I was touring, and doing lots of character comedy, I saw more Essex stereotypes far more widely in other parts of the country than in Southend."
"Travelling into London, people are always surprised to learn I have a brain," she adds. "It's almost like they're saying: 'Well done, you've escaped Essex!'
"It makes no sense for people to feel that way - it's utterly moronic, in fact."
Essex is about more than just stereotypes, as this image of Landermere Wharf in the Tendring district shows
Last autumn, Essex girls were splashed across newspapers and television screens once more, when two bloggers started a petition to remove the definition from the dictionaries.
The Oxford English Dictionary refers to her as "unintelligent, promiscuous, and materialistic", while Collins adds "devoid of taste" to the mix.
Juliet Thomas and Natasha Sawkins, from Motherhub, decided to do something about it.
"We asked the dictionary if there was another example of a stereotype defining someone from a particular area," Ms Thomas said. "There wasn't.
"It's not for us to define what it means, but people have started to reclaim it and give it a far more positive meaning - it's just that there's currently no alternative definition."
Juliet Thomas and Natasha Sawkins are campaigning to change or remove the dictionary definition of Essex girl
The Essex Girl petition was run alongside a social media campaign with tweets from hundreds of women who wanted to reclaim the term.
Great British Bake Off winner Jo Wheatley, writer and vlogger Giovanna Fletcher and Olympic sailor Saskia Clark were among those who threw their support behind #iamanessexgirl.
"We didn't feel successful women in Essex were being talked about enough, with most of the focus going to the lazy stereotypes," said Mrs Thomas.
Another organisation celebrating the county's women is the Essex Women's Advisory Group (EWAG), a charitable foundation set up to "challenge negative stereotypes by promoting the confidence and achievements of Essex women and girls".
Its chair, Juliet Townsend, said she had heard of young women pretending they were from elsewhere when going for jobs outside of the county.
"They're not confident to say they're from Essex, or they feel their accent or what they wear is the subject of ridicule," she said.
"I'm so proud to be an Essex girl. Silly jokes about it are really boring, and make me judge whoever who cracks them.
"But there are so many people who don't have that confidence to brush off the comments and jokes - we want to empower those people to have the confidence not to feel that way."
Shows like The Only Way is Essex were criticised for playing up to the stereotype
So what does it really mean to be an Essex girl in 2017?
She grew up in Ilford - part of the London borough of Redbridge since 1965, but still considered Essex in many people's hearts.
"I left home at 21 and moved to Manchester," she recalled, "and I was embarrassed to tell people where I was from. The stereotype had informed how I felt.
"But the older I got, the more confident and proud I became to tell people. We're strong minded, strong willed - and we know how to have a great time."
Mrs Thomas and Mrs Sawkins - who were born outside of the county but have lived there for a number of years - simply want people to continue to "reclaim the term" and give it a more positive meaning.
"We knew getting the dictionary changed wouldn't happen overnight - it wasn't about that," said Mrs Sawkins. "It's about bringing it to people's attention, and celebrating the success of women from Essex - real women doing amazing things".
The Essex Way runs from Harwich (pictured) to Epping
Wednesday was International Women's Day and Ms Townsend, from EWAG, said she planned to raise awareness of her campaign through a sponsored walk along the Essex Way - an 81 mile (130km) trek from Epping to Harwich.
"My version of being an Essex girl can be completely different to someone else's," she said. "There's no right or wrong way of being an Essex girl.
"It's important to remember the cliché, the heightened version, exists because Essex girls can be proud of looking good while having brains."
Playwright Ms Hasler believes work should be done in schools in the county to give pupils, both male and female, a degree of assertiveness, and to teach them "it's ok to challenge the stereotype."
"If you could take every negative stereotype about Essex girls, and turn them into positives, it would be amazing to see Essex girl come out and say love your body, make the most of what you've got, own it, don't take lip from anyone, say what you think, defend yourself and don't be a wallflower," she said.
"The thing about Essex girl is she actually represents lots of positive messages for women - but they're currently dressed up in the most hideous way."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-39125171
|
Thatcher to inspire UK's Brexit 'divorce bill' talks? - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Boris Johnson says the UK has an "illustrious precedent" and should reject any Brexit bill demands.
|
UK Politics
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
As Theresa May arrived at her last Brussels summit before pushing the button on Brexit, it is enough to give you a splitting headache.
Not just the complexity of actually getting a deal done, but the ceiling of the brand new European Council HQ in Brussels, decked out in a crazy patchwork of rainbow colours.
The architect told the BBC he hopes his design will lead to "joyful meetings" in a space "where politicians' deep talents can be expressed like poets".
Harsh words and hard bargaining are more likely to be a feature of the next two years despite the architect's dreams.
Even if there is goodwill on both sides, as British ministers increasingly hope, the technicalities of doing a deal are impossible to dismiss.
First off there's an exit process to negotiate, with a likely exit bill of as much as £50bn.
Ministers have been careful so far not to say too much.
But Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told me Britain has an "illustrious precedent" and should reject the demands - just as Margaret Thatcher did at the fabled summit in 1984 when she wielded her handbag and didn't just ask for money back, she threatened to walk out if she didn't get her way.
He told me: "We have illustrious precedent in this matter... I think you can recall the 1984… summit in which Mrs Thatcher said she wanted her money back and I think that is exactly what we will, we will get."
A rather more provocative way of telling the rest of the EU that the contentious demands expected to be made just aren't going to happen and - by mentioning the Fontainbleu incident - implying at least that it is possible the UK could walk out over the cash.
That's before we start to untangle four decades when our countries, laws, rules and regulations have been becoming more and more enmeshed.
Then there are the prospects of getting a deal on the future of our relationships done.
What happens to security arrangements, information sharing, rules and regulations, our entire legal system, our future immigration system, fishing, farming, air traffic control, water quality rules, Europol, continent-wide arrest warrants? The list goes on and on.
Theresa May has arrived at her last Brussels summit before pushing the button on Brexit
Then, as our interview with Nicola Sturgeon makes plain, the constitutional implications at home are only starting to be understood.
There are fights too for powers in Northern Ireland with risks of destabilising the peace process, argues Tony Blair.
And if those two nations are fighting for more powers as control returns from Brussels, can Wales sit and just play along?
The hardest solutions to find though are on trade.
It's true that those who were ardent Remainers now in government say privately they are more hopeful.
A senior figure told me: "It's like a divorce. At the start you say, I hate you, I never want to see you again. Then you say, I still don't like you, but we need to talk about the kids."
There is no question that, in Westminster at least, the expectation is that individual members of the EU are softening their resistance.
That's why part of the UK government's strategy is unquestionably to divide and conquer.
But there isn't much sign of any softening, or at least anyone willing to say so in public.
That's why, despite their optimism, there is a realism in government too, and they are preparing to think about having to walk away, with the Brexit Secretary David Davis admitting to me, he is very hopeful of "Plan A", but that ministers "have to do the work for the so-called Plan B or C".
He also reiterated the government's position that there is no way they will agree to a deal on EU citizens in Britain without agreement from the other side of the table.
He claims the "highest probability" is of getting a deal done.
For the many ministers and officials we've spoken to, they believe - for some of them it's more accurately a hope - that a good deal can be reached because in the end, money talks.
Just as Vote Leave argued, the belief at the highest levels of government is that whether it's German cars or Italian prosecco, European politicians will come willingly to an agreement because they rely on the buying power of the British consumer.
That is the argument that's continually cited and the ultimate irony.
Britain's politicians are relying on the EU to put economics before politics.
One of the reasons Britain chose to leave the EU is the perpetual frustration felt on our side of the Channel that continental politicians are incapable of doing just that.
It's a gamble perhaps that Theresa May didn't have much choice but to take.
But if she's wrong, the government, arguably the country, will need Mr Davis' Plan B. And the dreams of an architect might in fact be the start of a nightmare.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39217083
|
Geri Horner: Why my son is named after George Michael - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Former Spice Girl Geri Horner on the band's break up and her friendship with George Michael.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
Geri Horner: "The '90s were like the '60s, very free and full of colour"
It's 20 years since Geri Horner (then Halliwell) strode onto the Brits stage in her Union Jack dress in one of the defining images of the 1990s.
To mark the anniversary, the singer is hosting a BBC Two documentary on the decade, looking at her own journey from Turkish game show host to globe-straddling, Nelson Mandela-cuddling pop phenomenon.
It's called Geri's 1990s: My Drive to Freedom - referring to the 1967 open-topped sports car she bought with her first "fat pay cheque" from Virgin Records.
Ahead of the broadcast this Saturday, the star sat down with BBC News to reflect on the decade that changed her life.
Along the way, she reveals the creative tensions that split up the Spice Girls, her time as a Turkish TV show hostess, and why she named her newborn son after George Michael.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
What struck you most about the 1990s while making the documentary?
It was a really good reminder of how much influence that decade had on my life. It was brilliant in every way - musically, culturally, politically. There was so much colour and creativity. Britain felt like the centre of the universe at that moment.
You turned 18 in 1990, and almost immediately had surgery to remove a lump in your breast...
Yes, I had a little scare. [The lump turned out not to be cancerous]
That's not something most teenagers have to confront. How did it change your life? Did it make you more ambitious?
I think it was something else that put the petrol in my tank. I was always ambitious, but my dad died when I was quite young. He'd always been very encouraging of my career, and when he died not only did I experience the loss of a parent, but also my own mortality. You suddenly think: "Oh God, life's here and you've just got to go for it". That, for me, was a defining moment.
The Spice Girls stole the show at the 1997 Brit Awards
For the next couple of years, you tried your hand at modelling and TV presenting. Were you just looking for the best way to get a break?
Two things happened: I went back to college to study English Literature - but to subsidise that, I had to take lots of little jobs.
One of them, I was a game show hostess in Turkey. The show was a bit like The Price is Right, and I would go to Turkey and do that. I had all these random jobs, but what they ultimately were for, was to fund me going into the studio.
I remember the guy said it would cost £300 to get my demo tape together. I'd written one song myself and the other was a cover of the song A Lover's Holiday.
What was your song called?
It was called Live to Love. It was pretty crap.
You auditioned for the Spice Girls after answering a newspaper advert. How many times had you been through that process?
Oh, I'd tried loads and loads of different things. All sorts of random stuff. And there were some dodgy things, believe me.
The band got huge very quickly. It's amazing to think that the period between Wannabe and you leaving wasn't even two years. What's your memory of that period?
When you're in the middle of it, you just sort of get on with it. I liked being part of a group. The camaraderie. It was a lot of fun.
It got quite hysterical - the paparazzi, the screaming fans, the constant tabloid stories. Was fame what you had dreamt it would be?
What you think about something and what it turns out to be is never going to be quite the same. Some bits are better, some bits are not. But it was a very happy, fun, full-on experience.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Geri says Girl Power was 'more palatable' than feminism
In the documentary, you talk about Girl Power being a less threatening way to discuss feminism.
Twenty years ago, if you said the word feminism, you thought of those bra-burning, marching protestors. It was quite tough and harsh.
For me, Girl Power was a much more punchy way of saying it. But actually, Girl Power embodies much more than a gender. It's about everybody. Everybody deserves the same treatment, whatever race you are, gender you are, age you are. Everybody deserves a voice.
It was just saying that in a very digestible way.
There was a clip that went viral last year, where you and the rest of the band have a blazing row with a director who wanted you to show more cleavage.
Oh, I saw that, when I told the bloke to zip it!
Do you know what? I didn't actually take that very personally. Sometimes people just need reminding that we have to be respectful. He's just being a bit silly. He needs reminding what's what.
I was interested to hear you talk about songwriting earlier, because it's rarely discussed that that Spice Girls have writing credits on all of their singles. Do you think that's been overlooked?
I feel incredibly proud to have been part of the writing. I've always loved lyric-writing, and melodies - so if it gets recognised, fantastic.
I'm proud of my solo album - the first one I did - because it was so honest.
If you listen to Lift Me Up, I was really inspired by the Carpenters. On the bridge, where I sing "it's going to be alright", I was trying to the way Karen's voice would go really low and then soar up again.
But then I also love Wannabe. It's a very confident song.
The Spice Girls hits included Stop, Wannabe, Say You'll Be There and Spice Up Your Life
You had to fight for Wannabe to be your first single, didn't you?
Nobody wanted it. The record company didn't want it. Management didn't want it. And I can understand the hesitation. It was not the coolest.
But the best song to me is when you instinctively like it - not because it's cool, not because it's what the latest fad is. You just connect to it.
The advantage of Wannabe being uncool was that, when Say You'll Be There came out people suddenly sat up and said, "wait a minute, there's more to this band than we assumed".
And we always knew it could only ever be that way round. I had faith in it and Emma had faith in it.
Looking back, would you stand by your decision to quit the band?
Erm… Would I have left? It depends.
They wanted to make an R&B album. Am I a big R&B fan? Not really. I'm a pop writer. I felt comfortable in that genre and it felt completely alien to me to sing in that R&B style. My departure almost set them free a bit, and allowed them to make that album [Forever, recorded with Rodney Jerkins].
So I don't regret it. Part of life is change.
The singer struck up a friendship with her idol, George Michael
You became friends with George Michael around that time. What are you memories of him?
I always had sort of a crush on him, so when I met him I just thought, "wow!".
Most of all, I admired him as an artist, for his music but also, I just think he was a really kind, good person.
I filmed the documentary before he died - but I talk about him, and now that [section] has become really sad and poignant. He was just such a generous, kind, loving being.
Your new son is called Montague George Hector Horner. Is that partly in his honour?
Yeah, it was my mother's idea. Because she was very fond of George and he really loved my mum. He went to her wedding!
I had a month [of pregnancy] to go after George died and when Monty was born, mum said, "why don't you give him George's name?". And I thought, "oh that's really sweet."
After you left The Spice Girls, you worked for several years as a UN spokesperson. I get the feeling that changed you as a person.
I tell you what - it puts it all in perspective. You realise how lucky we are to live in a country like this. We have an NHS - I know we complain about it, but we have one. We have a support system for the unemployed. There is a structure here that supports. And there is a freedom that some countries do not have.
The star lobbied to play a Bond girl in the late 1990s
Another thing you did after the Spice Girls was you attended drama school.
Yeah! You've really done your research!
And then you auditioned for Bond?
Actually, they just called me in for a chat. They didn't give me the part. I don't think I was up their street.
But you did end up with a cameo in Sex and the City.
Oh my God, that was amazing. That was amazing! I had to properly audition for it. They were very strict, because it was all about comedy timing and very tightly scripted. But I think I got more kudos from doing that than anything else. My girlfriends were so excited I was in that.
The Spice Girls sold more than 85 million records and performed for royalty
You're working on a solo album right now. How is that going?
I wrote the majority of the album when I was pregnant and it's really coming together now.
Having children has inspired some great records - Madonna's Ray of Light, Neneh Cherry's Raw Like Sushi…
Do you know what? I felt this surge of creativity when I was pregnant. And you're much more emotional - my feelings were really on tap.
But this album - it's just so different. I feel like I've jumped over to the other side. When you're a certain genre, like the pop genre, it's like being 12 and to get to the other side, to grow up and be comfortable, has taken me a while. But I feel like I've finally done it.
When do we get to hear it?
I'm really, really hopeful that it's this side of the summer. That would be really nice. I'd be really happy to share it.
Geri's 1990s: My Drive to Freedom is on BBC Two at 21:00 GMT this Saturday, 11 March, as part of the BBC's My Generation series.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39216600
|
FA Cup - Arsenal v Lincoln: How to avoid upset against a non-league team - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
Beating non-league Lincoln City in the FA Cup will not be as easy for Arsenal as it seems, says Match of the Day pundit Neil Lennon.
| null |
You can watch FA Cup highlights of Arsenal v Lincoln City and Middlesbrough v Man City at 23:05 GMT on Saturday on BBC One and the BBC Sport website. Highlights of three Premier League matches are on MOTD at 22:20 GMT.
Arsenal go into Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final against National League leaders Lincoln City as overwhelming favourites - but will the tie really be as easy as it seems?
Defeat at Emirates Stadium is simply unthinkable for Arsene Wenger's side, even given their current problems, but this sort of supposed mismatch brings its own pressure for their players.
The Gunners won away at another National League side, Sutton United, in the fifth round but now they face a challenge that will be completely new to them at the Emirates, where they have never played a non-league team before.
Hibernian boss and BBC pundit Neil Lennon draws on his experience as a player and manager in the FA Cup and Scottish Cup to explain what Arsenal must overcome, and why their psychology will be as important as their tactics when it comes to reaching the last four.
'The occasion, atmosphere and opposition are all totally different'
Lennon: "In the space of four days, Arsenal will go from playing Bayern Munich, one of the biggest clubs in the world and with some of the best players, to taking on a team they will have hardly heard of until recently.
"In this sort of situation as a player I always prepared myself as best I could but, mentally, it is hard to approach a game like this the same way as you would normally do.
"When I was playing for Leicester under Martin O'Neill, I remember going to Hereford in the third round of the FA Cup in the 1999-00 season.
"We had played Arsenal the week before the first tie and I was up against Thierry Henry, Marc Overmars and Emanuel Petit. I went from that to playing, among others, an electrician, a teacher and a farmer.
"I had been in the lower leagues with Crewe, and played and scored at Edgar Street when Hereford were a Football League team, so I had an idea of what to expect, which helped. I knew it would be tough.
"Even so, sub-consciously, there was not the same level of intensity to my game as there had been against Arsenal. How could there be?
"Whether you are home or away against a non-league side, the occasion, atmosphere and opposition are completely different to when you are playing one of the big clubs.
"It is very difficult to have the same approach, even if the remit is the same."
'Playing non-league teams like taking a step into the unknown'
Lennon: "We drew 0-0 at Hereford and only just about ended up winning the replay 2-1 after extra time. Martin had done everything he could to prepare us the right way, but we still nearly went out.
"I have been there myself as a manager too. You know the situation is fraught with danger, you can see what might happen - but it doesn't mean you can stop it.
"With Bolton last season, we also needed a replay to get past Eastleigh. Before the first game at their place, I tried to make sure my players knew what to expect.
"I had done everything I could to get rid of any complacency, but I was still looking around the dressing room before kick-off wondering if they all really knew how tough it would be.
"I had it with Hibs this season too, on our way to the Scottish Cup semi-finals.
"In the fourth round we played a junior team Bonnyrigg Rose at Tynecastle. We ended up winning comfortably, but for the first five or 10 minutes we did not settle at all.
"It felt we had stepped into the unknown and the only way of dealing with that was by being out on the pitch."
'There will be nerves in the Arsenal dressing room too'
Lennon: "Believe it or not, with Arsenal there might also be a few nerves in there too, because they will not want to be on the end of an embarrassment.
"Unlike most other matches, they will be thinking about that. You cannot ignore it - you have to address it and try to turn it into a positive.
"Part of my pre-match team talk for Bolton was basically saying to the players that this is Eastleigh's cup final, and that they would be in their dressing room now thinking they can beat us.
"I said that the BBC TV cameras were here to see us lose, for the magic of the cup and all that. So, let's not be the story, let's not be on the receiving end of that.
"I tried to tell them if we play like we can then we will be all right, but we still had to show them the respect that we would do any other team."
'Picking a young team like throwing a kitten into the jungle'
Lennon: "Having some experience in the team will be vital for Arsenal.
"There is no way I could have played a lot of young players against Eastleigh because it would have been like throwing a kitten into the jungle.
"I am sure their scouting report for Lincoln will be similar to the one we got for Eastleigh because at that level, you expect sides to be hard-working and physical.
"Defensively, it is about the basics of the game - you have to stop the crosses and defend set-plays with your life because that is an avenue for them. You can prepare for that in training - we did.
"At Eastleigh, the pitch was so bad that we could not play football on it so we ended up playing their type of game - it became a dog fight.
"That will not happen to Arsenal on a nice surface at Emirates Stadium on Saturday but they still need to be careful."
You put pressure on yourself - 'we should be beating these'
Lennon: "Off the pitch, there is plenty that can affect you too.
"Arsenal have to deal with all the attention on Wenger's future at the moment and speculation over Alexis Sanchez too.
"At least Sanchez won't be sold before Saturday, though. The day before Bolton played Eastleigh I was told bids had been accepted for two of my players who were going to start and they could not play.
"The expectancy levels of the supporters, press and people on social media play a part as well.
"I am sure Arsenal are happier to be playing at home than having another away tie against a non-league team, like they did against Sutton United in the last round.
"But it means their fans will rock up thinking they will see them win by three or four goals, when it doesn't always work out that way.
"If their players think the same, then the longer the game stays at 0-0, the danger is that they will start thinking 'we should be beating these' and stop playing their normal game.
"The first goal will make a difference too - Eastleigh scored first in both ties against us and you could see the lift that gave them.
"Lincoln's run to get this far will give them huge momentum and belief, but I still think Arsenal will get through this tie - in fact I think they will win comfortably.
"We can assume Lincoln will work hard and give everything, but they will probably end up being outclassed.
"Arsenal had the experience and quality to get past Sutton in their last match, so you would have to expect them to negotiate this tie as well."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39225828
|
Six Nations 2017: Scotland 'more than capable' of Twickenham win - Stuart Hogg - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
Stuart Hogg says Scotland are "not a team that lies down" as they target a first win over England at Twickenham in 34 years.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Scottish Rugby
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Radio Scotland 810MW, plus live text commentary via the BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app
Full-back Stuart Hogg says it should not be considered a shock if Scotland secure a Six Nations victory over England at Twickenham on Saturday.
They have not beaten England since 2008 and not won at Twickenham since 1983.
But Hogg, who has scored three tries in the campaign so far, says this side is capable of reclaiming the Calcutta Cup.
"We're no longer a team that just turns up, lies down and allows our bellies to be tickled," said the 24-year-old. "We're more than capable of winning."
With Wales beating Ireland in Cardiff on Friday, England will clinch a second straight title if they beat the Scots on Saturday, with a tilt at a second straight Grand Slam in Dublin on Saturday, 18 March to then round things off.
But a Scotland victory would catapult Vern Cotter's side into title contention, with their final game at home to Italy.
Who can still win the Six Nations?
• None If England beat Scotland on Saturday they will retain the title
• None Victory for Scotland could send them top of the table with a game to play
• None If France beat Italy and England lose, mathematically five teams would still be in with a shout
• None There is one final round of games after Saturday's two matches
Hogg has been in fine form during the Six Nations, and having been named player of the tournament last season he is among the leading contenders to claim the award this time around.
One area of Hogg's game that has come under scrutiny, however, is his defence. The Glasgow Warriors full-back says he expects England to try and put him under pressure.
"Defensively I think I will be challenged," he said.
"There will be high balls from George Ford, Owen Farrell, Mike Brown, they'll stick them on me. I'm fully aware of what's coming. It's just about being mature about the situation and dealing with it.
"You're never going to be the complete player. There are always going to be weaknesses in your game and you could say defence is one of mine.
"When things are going well there is always going to be someone to put you down. I'm fully aware that my defence isn't the strongest but I'll continue to work on it."
Victories over Ireland and Wales have seen Scotland rise to an all-time high of fifth in the world rankings.
Hogg feels teams are now taking notice of Scotland's improvement and is relishing a crack at Eddie Jones' side.
"Slowly but surely we are gaining more respect from teams," he added. "We'll just continue to work hard and hopefully wins will come our way.
"I love playing at Twickenham. Unfortunately we've not been able to get the win here.
"The last time we played here [a 25-13 defeat in 2015], we were winning at half-time and going off the pitch to [the fans singing] the Flower of Scotland. As a proud Scotsman that was terrific.
"Here's hoping there will be a big support down here that will be singing again. We're going to do everything we possibly can to make that happen.
"We're very much in a position to come down here and win, and nothing is going to come in our way."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39233717
|
John Surtees: Former F1 world champion dies at 83 - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
Former Formula 1 and motorcycling world champion John Surtees has died at the age of 83, his family has announced.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Former Formula 1 and motorcycling world champion John Surtees has died at the age of 83.
Surtees is the only man to have won the grand prix world championship on both two wheels and four.
He won four 500cc motorcycling titles - in 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1960 - and the F1 crown with Ferrari in 1964.
Surtees died at St George's Hospital, London, on Friday afternoon after being treated for an existing respiratory condition, a family statement said.
"We deeply mourn the loss of such an incredible, kind and loving man as well as celebrate his amazing life," the statement added.
Legendary F1 commentator Murray Walker told Radio 5 live: "It's an absolute hammer blow for me and for British motorsport in general.
"I have been privileged to commentate on him and to know him as a friend and he's undoubtedly one of the greatest people who's ever lived in the history of motorsport."
Surtees was awarded an MBE in 1959, the same year he won the Sports Personality of the Year award, the OBE in 2009 and the CBE in 2016.
He won six F1 races in 111 starts between 1960 and 1972, and also drove for Honda, Lotus, Cooper, Lola and BRM.
Surtees was world champion in the 350cc motorcycling category as well as 500cc from 1958-60.
He later set up his own F1 team and was behind the wheel when it made its debut at the 1970 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch.
Team Surtees managed two podium finishes but never won a race before folding in 1978.
Surtees went on to become chairman of the British team in the now-defunct A1 Grand Prix series, while his son Henry began competing in Formula Two but was killed in an accident at Brands Hatch in 2009, aged 18.
The family set up the Henry Surtees Foundation in aid of people recovering from brain and physical injuries and to support motorsport-related educational programmes.
Surtees remained involved in motor racing into his eighties, competing in classic car and bike events up until last year.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39235608
|
Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 Derby County - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
Brighton comfortably beat out-of-form Derby to move level on points with Championship leaders Newcastle.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Brighton eased to victory against out-of-form Derby to move level on points with Championship leaders Newcastle.
Winger Anthony Knockaert fired the Seagulls ahead early on, with a low 20-yard effort into the corner.
Sam Baldock slotted the ball in to double the lead just before the break.
Matej Vydra headed against the outside of the post for Derby, before Glenn Murray bundled in his 18th goal of the campaign from Knockaert's cross to seal Brighton's 14th home win of the season.
The Seagulls remain second in the table with an inferior goal difference to Newcastle, but now have a nine-point buffer to Huddersfield in third - albeit the Terriers have two games in hand.
Of their nine matches left, seven are against sides in the bottom half of the table as they look to return to the top flight for the first time since 1982-83.
Following a trip to play-off chasing Leeds next Saturday, April's fixture list is kind to Chris Hughton's men with home games against Blackburn, Birmingham, Wigan and Bristol City.
Their outstanding frontline of Murray, Baldock and Knockaert have now scored 42 Championship goals between them this campaign, and gave Derby's defenders a torrid time with their pace, movement and clinical finishing.
Former Leicester forward Knockaert was instrumental in most of Brighton's attacking play, bending home a superb effort to open the scoring and seeing Scott Carson tip over his fierce second-half strike.
The Rams started with former England pair Darren Bent and David Nugent up front, but Brighton's defence were rarely troubled in keeping their 19th clean sheet of the season.
Derby, who are 10th and 10 points behind sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday, have now only picked up six points from their past nine matches and their play-off hopes appear to be over for another season.
Brighton manager Chris Hughton: "We now have 77 points and there is no points target from our last nine games.
"We've got some tough games coming up and everybody is fighting. But we're on the back of a really good performance against a really good side tonight. We were very good from start to finish.
"The timing of the first goal was pivotal, the second just before half-time lifted us and we were able to take that on in the second half."
Derby County boss Steve McClaren: "It was a lesson for my team and this showed how far Brighton have come. They are going up for certain. Murray was a great signing and Brighton are a team that are going up. The gap showed.
"It was a reality check for us. We have played three games in a week and we couldn't deal with the physicality of that.
"That is the benchmark of where we need to go. In the 16 months I was away teams have really kicked on in terms of physicality. The league has kicked on. We need to learn the lessons and kick on ourselves."
McClaren on his future at Derby: "I am confident I can take it on, absolutely. We need to take the club on to the next level and from one day we knew that.
"The chairman wants Derby in the Premier League. We have all the resources and don't need to panic. We need to prepare to face Forest on Saturday and then take this club on."
• None Attempt blocked. Sam Baldock (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Tomer Hemed with a through ball.
• None Beram Kayal (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
• None Attempt blocked. Tom Ince (Derby County) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Goal! Brighton and Hove Albion 3, Derby County 0. Glenn Murray (Brighton and Hove Albion) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner following a set piece situation.
• None Attempt saved. Glenn Murray (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Anthony Knockaert.
• None Jiri Skalak (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39149498
|
Sir Dave Brailsford: Team Sky boss says he will not resign over 'mystery package' - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
Sir Dave Brailsford says he will not resign as Team Sky boss, despite controversy over a 'mystery package' delivered for Sir Bradley Wiggins in 2011.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Cycling
Sir Dave Brailsford says he will not resign as Team Sky boss, despite the controversy over a 2011 'mystery package' sent for Sir Bradley Wiggins.
Team Sky have admitted "mistakes were made" over the medical package, but deny breaking anti-doping rules.
The team have been unable to provide records to back up the claim Wiggins was given a legal decongestant at the Criterium du Dauphine in France.
"I'm fine in myself and have confidence in my team," Brailsford said.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly at the Tirreno-Adriatico race in Italy, he added: "My thoughts are about what's good for the team and what's right.
"Of course I'm not hiding. On a personal level, I've been through a lot over the years and it's important to make sure you can look at yourself and say there has been no wrongdoing. I'm confident of that.
"From a personal point of view, you've got to put the team first and the riders first."
On Monday, several Team Sky riders tweeted their support for Brailsford, but Chris Froome, a three-time Tour de France winner and the team's leading rider, has yet to comment publically.
Brailsford said he had had since spoken to Froome, but refused to elaborate on the detail, stating: "We had a good conversation, that's it."
UK Anti-Doping is investigating the package received by Dr Richard Freeman, an ex-Team Sky medic who pulled out of a parliamentary select committee hearing into the matter last week.
Earlier on Friday, British Cycling admitted it did not pay "sufficient care and attention" to the wellbeing of staff, following a leaked draft report into claims of a "culture of fear" at the body.
Published in the Daily Mail, it allegedly describes ex-performance director Brailsford as an "untouchable" figure within a "dysfunctional" leadership structure.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39233498
|
Six Nations 2017: Wales and Ireland kick off weekend's action - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
Wales v Ireland in Cardiff kicks off round four of the 2017 Six Nations while England host Scotland on Saturday.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Coverage: Live on BBC One, S4C, Radio 5 live, BBC Radio Ulster, Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru, plus live text commentary via the BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app
Ireland visit Wales on Friday knowing anything less than victory could signal the end of their chances of securing a third Six Nations title in four years.
Joe Schmidt's men are second in the table, three points behind unbeaten England, having beaten Italy and France after an opening defeat in Edinburgh.
Fourth-placed Wales are out of title contention after back-to-back defeats by England and Scotland.
Both sides have named unchanged starting XVs for the game in Cardiff.
Ireland can set up a title decider with England in Dublin on 18 March with victory in Cardiff.
Leaders and defending Grand Slam champions England host Scotland in the Calcutta Cup in Saturday's second game (kick-off 16:00 GMT), while Italy and France meet earlier in the day (13:00 start).
Ireland coach Schmidt is known to value continuity and the tournament's leading try scorers - they have 13, four more than the second most prolific team, England - have used just 19 players in their starting line-up so far.
The previous time he was able to field the same side in the Six Nations was the third round in 2014.
The only change in the match-day 23 is winger Tommy Bowe's recall for his injured Ulster team-mate Andrew Trimble.
Schmidt has stuck with exciting young centre Garry Ringrose, as there were doubts over the fitness of the more experienced Jared Payne.
Number eight Jamie Heaslip will make his 100th Test appearance on Friday as he wins his 95th Ireland cap in addition his five appearances for the British and Irish Lions.
Wales coach Rob Howley's selection of an unchanged match-day 23 was more of a surprise, with Wales in danger of losing three matches for the first time since the 2010 tournament.
It has fuelled claims of a conservative attitude in the Wales camp from pundits and on social media.
Number eight Taulupe Faletau and lock Luke Charteris remain on the bench and Dan Biggar retains the number 10 shirt despite pressure from his Ospreys team-mate Sam Davies.
Wing George North, singled out and criticised by defence coach Shaun Edwards over his defensive display against Scotland, is also retained in a team given a chance to atone for the second-half capitulation at Murrayfield last time out.
Confidence is high in the Irish camp following their workmanlike 19-9 victory over France, but Schmidt believes the Welsh team's disappointing results will have them highly determined.
"They are so used to competing on the last day of the championship to win or lose the championship," said the Ireland coach.
"So for them not to be in that position will certainly provide extra motivation."
Wales forwards coach Robin McBryde believes there will be more pressure on Ireland under the closed roof in Cardiff.
"They've had a great season, beaten the All Blacks in Chicago and pushed them at home as well," he said.
"They've got aspirations for the title - they've got a big finish against England next week.
"We have to be be at our best in whatever they throw at us.
"If we can match that and build on our experience against England we won't be far off."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39220889
|
Joe Hart: Man City keeper says he is 'surplus to requirements' - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
Manchester City keeper Joe Hart - on a season-long loan at Torino - says he does not see himself playing for the Premier League club again.
| null |
England goalkeeper Joe Hart says he is "surplus to requirements" at Manchester City and does not see himself playing for the Premier League club again.
The 29-year-old added that he saw the Spaniard's decision to drop him coming.
"If you're not going to win there is no point in fighting, especially someone as powerful as that," Hart said.
However, Hart believes the decision was "nothing personal" and said he respected Guardiola's honesty.
"He didn't do it to ruin my life, he did it because he thought that was what was right for him to win as a manager," he told the BBC's Premier League Show.
Guardiola was asked about the situation at his Friday news conference, but reiterated his stance that no decision had yet been made.
"I have said many times, at the end of the season we will see which players are happy or unhappy," the manager said. "He is a Man City player. We will decide at the end of the season."
Hart's 33-year-old replacement, Claudio Bravo has been criticised for his performances since his £15.4m arrival from Barcelona in August, with Willy Caballero, 35, preferred in the Premier League and Champions League since 21 January.
Guardiola has said he will not make a decision on Hart's future until the end of the season - but it is expected the keeper will leave the club for good in the summer.
Hart, who has 68 England caps, has been linked with various Premier League and European clubs but said he has had "no communication with anyone" about a transfer after his loan spell at Torino ends in May.
When asked about a return to the Premier League, Hart replied: "I know it really well but I wouldn't say it was top of my wish list.
"Top of my wish list is to play for a club that wants me to be their goalkeeper."
Hart on Man City, England and the future
Match of the Day commentator Steve Bower: How difficult was it to discover Pep Guardiola didn't want to make you number one and you would have to go somewhere else?
Joe Hart: I want to say it was really bad but it wasn't because I saw it coming.
SB: From the moment Guardiola walked through the door?
JH: No but you just pick up vibes and it certainly wasn't a surprise to me. It was something that I wanted to change and felt I was more than capable of changing - but to get results he needed to have a team he felt comfortable with and a team he wanted.
I didn't fall into that category and that's no problem. I'd have loved to have stayed and fought and shown what I can do, but I don't have that time. You don't have that time to do it - especially as a goalkeeper. You can't come off the bench for 10 minutes and prove your worth - it's either you're in or you're out.
I'm up for a fight - I'll fight my corner all day - but if you're not going to win then there is no point in fighting, especially someone as powerful as that at Manchester City.
I know it's nothing personal on me, he's not that kind of guy.
SB: Do you respect his honesty?
JH: Yes of course. He did what he had to do, he did what he felt was right. He didn't do it to ruin my life, he did it because he thought that was what was right for him to win as a manager. So I had to look elsewhere and here I am.
SB: What did you say when your agent said Torino were interested?
JH: I said, 'look into it'. I didn't have many options - things happened very late with Manchester City. For a goalkeeper that's difficult, everyone is pretty settled with goalkeepers, it's an early bit of business and there is only one spot.
My name wasn't necessarily out in the transfer market because people probably presumed that I would be at Manchester City - like I did. But I wasn't going to play at Manchester City, that was pretty obvious - I was third, if not fourth choice at the time so I wanted to play football and Torino gave me the opportunity and I just thought, 'I'm going to go for it.'
SB: There will be Manchester City fans thinking, 'Will you ever play for our team again?'
JH: I'd say I'm pretty much surplus to requirements at my parent club at the moment.
SB: Do you see that changing?
JH: Not really. I've got to be realistic. I love that club and I've always said that as long as they wanted me, I would be there.
But I was always cautious when I said that because I'm aware that at the big, big clubs stuff can change quickly, as can opinions and people in charge. Not everyone is going to like you, not everyone is going to want to play you and that's the business side of it, which I've grown into and I'm certainly not going to take personally.
I want to play football, I love to play football so if that opportunity is not going to be given there then I'm going to have to look elsewhere and may have to make somewhere else my home.
SB: Where you at in terms of a transfer at the moment?
JH: It's frustrating to see my name thrown around so much when I'm just trying to get on with what I'm doing for now and then whatever needs to be taken care of will hopefully be taken care of one way or another.
I've still got a parent club that I need to respect and I need to work with. I understand that's the football business now - everyone has got an opinion, a small comment can be used in an article. I don't know where my future lies - I've certainly had no communication with anyone.
The best thing I can do is work hard, be ready to train every day, do my best for Torino, do my best when I represent my country and then hopefully the rest will take care of itself.
SB: How important is it for you to be playing regular football next season to keep your position as England goalkeeper?
JH: [England boss] Gareth Southgate is not the kind of guy to say: 'You need to be doing this or that or you're out.' He's such a positive, interesting person. He came to see me out here, which was good of him, just for an afternoon, just to check in and he wants what's best for the country. The only way I can be a part of that is if I'm playing well, playing regularly and improving.
We've got some really good, strong English keepers at the moment. I'd like to think we're pushing each other and if my levels drop then I'm gone and I understand that. I don't need any threats, I know how the game works as I've been a part of it for a while now.
SB: As a goalkeeper do you have to wait for someone to leave a club for a place to go?
JH: Yes, unfortunately. Especially the top teams because every top team has got at least one top keeper. You need people to move, managers to change. You need something to happen for something to happen. You can't just charge in somewhere.
SB: Would returning to the Premier League be top of your wish list?
JH: I'm open. I love the Premier League, I absolutely love Premier League games. Removing myself a footballer, I watch the Premier League. It's a great league, fantastic football is played in it.
I know it really well but I wouldn't say it was top of my wish list. Top of my wish list is to play for a club that wants me to be their goalkeeper.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39224757
|
FC Rostov 1-1 Manchester United - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
Manchester United are held to a draw by FC Rostov in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie in Russia.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section European Football
Manchester United were held to a draw by FC Rostov in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie in Russia.
On a challenging pitch at the Olymp-2 Stadium - which was criticised by United manager Jose Mourinho before the match - midfielder Paul Pogba miscued from inside the box early on.
But United grabbed a vital away goal through Henrikh Mkhitaryan's close-range finish following excellent work by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Swedish striker shot over the crossbar in the second half, before Rostov forward Aleksandr Bukharov latched on to Timofei Kalachev's pass for the equaliser.
Aleksandr Erokhin stabbed a shot wide for the hosts from a promising position and United's Marouane Fellaini headed straight at the goalkeeper from a corner.
The return leg takes place at Old Trafford next Thursday (kick-off 19:45 GMT).
The Red Devils faced a difficult 3,750-mile round trip for the game in south Russia - and they were cheered on by 238 travelling supporters, who each had their visas paid for by the club and were given blankets on entering the ground.
Mourinho set up with three centre-backs and Ashley Young and Daley Blind acting as wing-backs in a change of formation for the Premier League side.
The Portuguese manager spoke before the game about deploying a more "direct" approach because of the dreadful pitch, but he may also have had Monday's FA Cup quarter-final against his old club Chelsea in mind.
As well as a dry and bobbly surface, the stop-start game - which had a total of 38 fouls - made for a poor spectacle. However, Mourinho will surely be confident his players can go back to Old Trafford and complete the job next week.
For their goal, Fellaini held off a home defender before feeding Ibrahimovic, whose quick feet allowed him to poke the ball into team-mate Mkhitaryan's path and the Armenia international struck for the third time in this season's competition.
Rostov entered the Europa League after finishing third in their Champions League group behind Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich. In fact, they managed to beat the German champions at home - though that was their only victory from six games.
A team without any household European names, they struggled to impose themselves against far superior opponents in the opening period.
But on 53 minutes, Kalachev's raking pass sailed between defenders Phil Jones and Chris Smalling and Bukharov calmly controlled the ball on his chest and slotted in.
Skipper Aleksandr Gatskan struck a long-range shot straight at Sergio Romero late on, but the draw meant Rostov have lost just one of their past eight games at home in Europe.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, speaking to BT Sport: "It was a very good performance in relation to the conditions. It was impossible to play better, impossible to play a passing game.
"We played what the game demanded and we played well. We made one defensive mistake.
"l remember as a kid some matches like this in Portugal - non-league and amateur pitches. To see my players coping with it and the humility to fight for every ball is a good feeling for me.
"We have an open result for the second leg with a little advantage for us. There are no injuries."
Manchester United goalscorer Henrikh Mkhitaryan, speaking to BT Sport: "It does not matter if you are leading 1-0, you have to be ready for everything.
"We conceded the goal and there was a mistake - but we have a second game to come."
Rostov are back in league action when they take on Terek Grozny on Sunday, while Manchester United visit Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-final on Monday (kick-off 19:45 GMT).
Referring to the cup game against his old club, Mourinho said: "Monday we don't go with a Nicky Butt [head of youth academy] team. We cannot go with Nicky Butt's team.
"Manchester United is too big. Manchester United is the winner of the competition."
• None Manchester United have drawn four of their five away trips against Russian opponents in Europe.
• None Jose Mourinho's sides have scored an away goal in the first leg of a European tie in 11 of the 13 games he has overseen.
• None Aleksandr Bukharov's 53rd-minute strike was the first goal United have conceded in 443 minutes in the Europa League.
• None The Red Devils recorded their lowest pass accuracy of the season in this match (61.17%).
• None Henrikh Mkhitaryan is the first United player to score in three successive European games since Wayne Rooney in March 2010.
• None The Armenian has been directly involved in six goals in his past seven appearances for the club (four goals, two assists).
• None Zlatan Ibrahimovic provided the assist for the first goal - he has been directly involved in 40% of Manchester United's 82 goals this season.
• None Attempt missed. Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Antonio Valencia with a cross.
• None Attempt blocked. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Anthony Martial.
• None Attempt saved. Aleksandru Gatcan (FC Rostov) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Sardar Azmoun.
• None Timofei Kalachev (FC Rostov) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Offside, FC Rostov. Denis Terentjev tries a through ball, but Sardar Azmoun is caught offside. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39155369
|
John Surtees: Former F1 world champion was a 'towering figure' - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
John Surtees - the teenage prodigy, the world champion on two and four wheels and a "warm character who was generous with his time".
| null |
John Surtees, who has died aged 83, is the only man to have won a grand prix world championship on two and four wheels.
A brilliant motorcyclist who dominated the top 500cc class for much of the late 1950s, Surtees moved on to cars and immediately established himself as a leading figure, winning the Formula 1 championship for Ferrari in 1964.
Through the mid-1960s he was one of the towering figures in F1 along with Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and Dan Gurney.
The son of a south London motorbike dealer, Surtees was a teenage prodigy on racing bikes and, after making his name in national races, he took the world championship by storm when he was given a factory MV Agusta ride in 1955.
His blistering speed earned him the nickname 'figlio del vento' - son of the wind - and he won the world title in 1956 and again from 1958-60.
Surtees had already made a name for himself while still competing on two wheels. He finished second in only his second Formula 1 race, the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix while driving for Lotus, and at the end of the season he switched to cars full time after winning his fourth bike title.
Two years in privateer teams followed, in which he did enough to catch the eye of Enzo Ferrari, who drafted him into his team in 1963. Immediately Surtees became a major contender.
His first win came in his first season with Ferrari at the German Grand Prix, held at the daunting Nurburgring, and he won the title the following season in a close fight with fellow Britons Clark and Hill, who drove for Lotus and BRM.
The championship went down to a remarkable decider at the final race in Mexico City. Hill went into the race as the favourite, five points ahead of Surtees and nine ahead of Clark.
But Hill was delayed by a collision with Surtees' team-mate Lorenzo Bandini. Clark was then on course to win after dominating from the front, but was forced to stop on the last lap with an oil leak.
Seeing the Scot's problems, Ferrari ordered Bandini to let Surtees by into second place, which gave him the title by one point from Hill.
Through the mid-1960s, Surtees was one of the leading drivers of an era particularly rich in talent.
His Ferrari could not compete with Clark's dominant Lotus in 1965, and despite 1966 starting well with a win in the second race of the season, Surtees walked out on the team following a row with team manager Eugenio Dragoni.
Surtees was Ferrari's team leader, but Dragoni dropped him from the line-up for the Le Mans 24-hour race after a rule change demanded only two drivers per car.
When Surtees asked for an explanation, Dragoni told him that he did not think he was fit enough to race for 24 hours as a result of injuries he had sustained in a serious accident in a Can-Am race in the US in late 1965. Surtees quit on the spot.
The decision was perfectly understandable in the context but it almost certainly cost him a second world title, for the Ferrari was more than competitive enough in his hands to have beaten eventual winner Jack Brabham.
Instead, Surtees found a temporary home at Cooper, before moving to the new factory Honda team in 1967.
He won for them in Italy and finished fourth in the championship, but the team left F1 at the end of the following year, partly because of the death of Frenchman Jo Schlesser in one of their cars.
Surtees had counselled against racing a new car with a body made of magnesium for lightness and an engine cooled by air rather than water because he felt it was unsafe.
But the team overruled him and gave the car to Schlesser to drive at his home race. He crashed at a fast downhill right-hander after just two laps. With almost an entire race's worth of fuel onboard and made of magnesium, the car caught fire immediately and Schlesser had no chance.
After two years with BRM, Surtees formed his own team in 1970, initially as a driver-cum-team boss, before retiring from full-time racing at the end of 1971 to concentrate on running the outfit.
But it was not a success. After several uncompetitive seasons the team failed to find enough sponsorship to continue after 1978 and was disbanded.
Surtees stayed involved in motor racing, competing in classic events for cars and bikes, and in 2005-7 was chairman of the British team in the now-defunct A1 Grand Prix series.
After that, he helped guide the nascent career of his son Henry, who was killed aged 18 in an accident in a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch in 2009.
In the wake of his son's death, John set up the Henry Surtees Foundation to help people recovering from brain and physical injuries return to society and to support motorsport-related educational programmes.
He was widely admired as a warm character who was generous with his time, and many will echo the words of Damon Hill, who has known him well since childhood. "Such a lovely man. We have lost a true motorsport legend," said the 1996 world champion.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/35126201
|
West Indies v England: Joe Root & Alex Hales hit centuries as tourists win - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
Alex Hales and Joe Root hit centuries as England steamroller West Indies by 186 runs in Barbados to complete an ODI series whitewash.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Cricket
Alex Hales and Joe Root struck stunning centuries as England steamrollered West Indies by 186 runs in Barbados to complete a one-day series whitewash.
The pair put on a record 192 for the second wicket, with Hales the more aggressive of the two and Root happy to play the anchor role.
West Indies were never in contention and meekly surrendered with the bat - being bowled out for just 142.
Liam Plunkett and Chris Woakes took three wickets apiece with the ball.
Two teams which are worlds apart
If the West Indies showed glimpses of ability in the first two matches of the series, there was very little of it on show at the Kensington Oval.
The gulf in class between the two teams was striking.
While England's batting order is rich in both talent and depth, the Windies' top order gifted their wickets with a succession of dolly catches offered up to close fielders.
It was a similar story from a bowling perspective as England's pacemen bullied and harassed. The hosts' options lacked penetration in the absence of the injured Shannon Gabriel and proved to be cannon fodder for the likes of Root, Hales and Ben Stokes.
England's morale will be boosted by such victories, but it should be tempered with the realisation their opponents have failed to qualify for this summer's Champions Trophy and now face an uphill challenge to earn automatic entry to the 2019 World Cup.
Both opener Hales and number three Root can lay genuine claim to being among the world's leading top order batsmen in this format of the game.
Their respective innings were poles apart in style, but almost identical in terms of both runs scored and balls faced by the time they returned to the pavilion.
Hales - back in the team after injury - began how he so often does, in a circumspect manner. He nudged the ball into gaps before exploding into life once the spinners were introduced to the attack.
Four of his five sixes came off the slow bowlers, who went for a combined 60 runs in 48 painful deliveries.
The Notts right-hander, who successfully overturned an lbw decision when he was on 93, was particularly strong on the leg side where he scored 73 of his runs.
Root was his usual busy self at the crease and almost paid with his wicket early on, only to be dropped when he had made both 1 and 12.
Once set, however, he dropped anchor and finally registered three figures after eight half-centuries in his previous 11 ODI innings.
Platform laid, England were pushed beyond 300 by Stokes. The Durham all-rounder was reminiscent of former South Africa all-rounder Lance Klusener as he time and again cleared his front leg and muscled the ball to the boundary in his 20-ball 34.
Faced with a strip much quicker than the one which the two teams duelled on in Antigua, England's quicker bowlers relished the extra pace and bounce.
Pitching the ball just back of a length, they induced some horrible dismissals from the West Indies top order.
Only Jonathan Carter (46) offered any real resistance and backbone as the England quicks left their opponents battered and bruised - both in a mental and physical sense.
Plunkett finished the three-match series with 10 wickets at less than 10 runs each, ensuring his name will remain prominent in the selectors' minds when Mark Wood, Jake Ball and David Willey regain full fitness.
Speaking on BBC Test Match Special, former West Indies fast bowler Tino Best said the collapse to 45-6 had been "embarrassing", adding: "It's quite disappointing the way the guys have been dismissed. We call it primary school dismissals.
"Guys have to go back to their hotel room and reflect. Do you want to be an average player or do you want to be a superstar?"
England have just two ODIs against Ireland before opening their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh at The Oval on 1 June.
England captain Eoin Morgan: "I'm extremely satisfied. Over the course of the series we have displayed different skills. Root and Hales put on an outstanding partnership and our bowling performance was outstanding.
"It's a great position to be in. We had guys coming into the side who maybe didn't expect to play and made big contributions, match-winning ones.
"It was an outstanding effort from Alex Hales. A bit of time off has done him the world of good."
England all-rounder Chris Woakes - the man of the series - is asked which part of his game he is most pleased with: "Ball, I suppose. It's always nice to contribute with the bat when required but bowling is my primary skill.
"The more you play and gain experience in international cricket, the more you feel at home. We've got some great players in the team and there are always players pushing for places."
West Indies captain Jason Holder: "Our performance wasn't up to scratch, we gifted a lot of free runs - although the bowlers were decent - and then we didn't put up a good fight with the bat at all.
"I'm frustrated, I thought we were moving in the right direction. We've got to be lot sharper in the field and take our chances, we didn't do that throughout the series.
"This group of players is what we have, I'm comfortable with what we have, we have a lot of talented players in the squad but it's about making the most of it."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/39220763
|
Chris and Gabby Adcock reach All England Badminton semi-finals - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
Chris and Gabby Adcock fight back to defeat the Olympic champions and reach the All England Badminton semi-finals.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Badminton
Chris and Gabby Adcock produced a stunning comeback to defeat the Olympic champions and reach the All England Badminton semi-finals in Birmingham.
The married pair lost the first set 16-21 to Indonesia's Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir but levelled in a gruelling 21-19 second set win.
They then powered to a 21-12 success in the decider to reach the last-four.
"The crowd played a massive part in helping us turn that around," Gabby Adcock told BBC Sport.
Chris Adcock added: "They are the best pair in the world at making you feel like you're not playing well and it was a real struggle for us to begin with.
"We could have easily crumbled and been out of here, going home, so I'm really pleased with how we responded and how the crowd helped us."
The Adcocks, who are seeded seventh, will face fifth-seeds Kai Lu and Huang Yaqiong on Saturday.
The Chinese duo secured a surprise win over London Olympic bronze medallists Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen from Denmark.
"We've played the Chinese a few times and know what we're going to get from them, so we'll rest now and come out fighting again tomorrow," said Gabby Adcock.
"We reached the semi-finals last year and wanted to improve on that, so we're on course and have come here to win."
Find out how to get into badminton with our special guide.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/badminton/39233106
|
Busting the attention span myth - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Is there any evidence that the internet and smartphones have shrunk our attention spans?
|
Health
|
You probably won't get to the end of this article. Everyone knows our attention spans are getting shorter. It's just obvious. Or is it?
In the always-connected world of social media, smartphones and hyperlinks in the middle of everything you read, it can feel that much harder to stay focused.
And there are statistics too. They say that the average attention span is down from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to eight seconds now. That is less than the nine-second attention span of your average goldfish.
But if you pay a bit more attention to where the statistics come from, the picture is much less clear.
More or Less is on the BBC World Service on Fridays.
You can listen online, subscribe to the programme podcast and follow the team on Twitter
All those references lead back to a 2015 report by the Consumer Insights team of Microsoft Canada, who surveyed 2,000 Canadians and also studied the brain activity of 112 people as they carried out various tasks.
However, the figure that everyone picked up on - about our shrinking attention spans - did not actually come from Microsoft's research. It appears in the report, but with a citation for another source called Statistic Brain.
A quick Google and it is easy to find where they got it from. The Statistic Brain website looks pretty trustworthy too. It even says they "love numbers, their purity, and what they represent" - just the kind of people with whom we, at More or Less, can get along.
As if to prove it, the number-lovers at Statistic Brain source all their figures. But the sources are infuriatingly vague.
And when I contact the listed sources - the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the US National Library of Medicine, and the Associated Press - neither can find any record of research that backs up the stats.
My attempts to contact Statistic Brain came to nothing too.
I have spoken to various people who dedicate their working lives to studying human attention and they have no idea where the numbers come from either.
In fact, they think the idea that attention spans are getting shorter is plain wrong.
"I don't think that's true at all," says Dr Gemma Briggs, a psychology lecturer at the Open University.
"Simply because I don't think that that's something that psychologists or people interested in attention would try and measure and quantify in that way."
Dr Briggs has done extensive research on how dual tasking affects attention spans - such as when drivers use their phones
She studies attention in drivers and witnesses to crime and says the idea of an "average attention span" is pretty meaningless. "It's very much task-dependent. How much attention we apply to a task will vary depending on what the task demand is."
There are some studies out there that look at specific tasks, like listening to a lecture.
But the idea that there's a typical length of time for which people can pay attention to even that one task has also been debunked.
"How we apply our attention to different tasks depends very much about what the individual brings to that situation," explains Dr Briggs.
"We've got a wealth of information in our heads about what normally happens in given situations, what we can expect. And those expectations and our experience directly mould what we see and how we process information in any given time."
Some also suggest that evidence of ever-shorter shot lengths in films shows attention spans are dwindling. But the academic behind that research says all it shows is that film-makers have got better at trying to grab our attention.
There's something else fishy about those attention span statistics too.
It turns out that there is no evidence that goldfish - or fish in general - have particularly short attention spans or memories, despite what popular culture suggests.
Have smartphone users and goldfish had their attention spans unfairly maligned?
I spoke to Prof Felicity Huntingford, who has spent almost half a century studying fish behaviour and just delivered a series of public lectures under the title, How Smart Are Fish?
"Goldfish can perform all the kinds of learning that have been described for mammals and birds," she says.
"And they've become a model system for studying the process of learning and the process of memory formation, exactly because they have a memory and because they learn."
She says there have been literally hundreds of scientific papers over the decades on goldfish learning and memory. I found a reference to a study on fish memory as early as 1908.
"That a species that's used by neuro-psychologists and scientists as a model for studying memory formation should be the very species that has this reputation - I think that's an interesting irony," she says.
So goldfish don't have short attention spans or memories. There is no evidence human attentions spans are shrinking.
And you have got to the end of this article when you could have been watching a three-second video of me being hit in the face by a football.
More or Less is on the BBC World Service on Fridays. You can listen online, subscribe to the programme podcast and follow the team on Twitter.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38896790
|
Drug gang infiltrator: I had Samurai sword held to my throat - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Neil Woods's undercover work led to drug gang members getting more than 1,000 years of jail time.
|
UK
|
"I've had a samurai sword to my throat, a knife in my groin, stripped naked at gun point." For 14 years, Neil Woods infiltrated UK drug gangs for the police, at great personal risk.
Posing as an addict to infiltrate some of the UK's biggest drug gangs is not for the faint-hearted.
It takes resolve, courage, and an ability to think on your feet in the most high-pressure of environments.
But for Neil Woods, it was not a life calling that led him to devote 14 years to this cause, but a failure to perform in his normal role.
"I wasn't a very successful uniform cop," he tells the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme.
"I struggled, so I got an attachment with the drugs squad. They suggested trying one of the undercover jobs of buying crack cocaine."
It was 1993, and this form of undercover work was rare in the UK.
For Mr Woods, however, it was a niche that played to his strengths.
"I really enjoyed the work, I found I was good at it," he says.
"I was developing the tactics for it - such as building a cover story, but not acting. Learning to play a different version of yourself.
"It all relies on empathy - 'weaponising' empathy to get close to them."
A shot of Neil Woods undercover, in around 1995
Mr Woods admits he had a "completely prejudiced view" of drug users when he first took the job, but as he began to meet addicts, he saw a different side to those who had been caught up in that world.
"Beforehand, I saw them as people who had made the wrong decision, who didn't have willpower. I thought that it was their fault," he says.
"But then you start to realise some of their life stories - that they had been self-medicating for child abuse, for example.
"Two-thirds of heroin users have a history of abuse."
At the time, however, this did not alter his approach to work.
"I still carried on manipulating them," he says.
"They would get wrapped into the investigation and end up in jail.
"I justified to myself that the end would justify the means."
The reason for this becomes clear when you consider the type of gang members he was looking to put behind bars.
In 2004, he helped bring six members of the notorious Burger Bar Boys to justice.
They operated in the Birmingham area, and were "horrendous criminals", according to Mr Woods.
"They were raping people as punishment for drug debt," he says.
Mr Woods worked across inner cities around the UK, and often found himself in dangerous situations.
"I've had a samurai sword to my throat, a knife in my groin, stripped naked at gun point," he says.
"Once, my hidden camera was found by a particularly vicious gangster.
"He brought two mates to a meet-up who didn't know me.
"They searched me and found the camera.
"I had to react quickly, I just launched into a torrent of abuse.
"It created confusion so I could escape.
"Then they came after me in the car and they tried to run me over.
"I later learned that they had a gun in the car."
Mr Woods says his work has led to more than a combined 1,000 years of jail time for the criminals he helped to lock away.
When he became a father, however, he says he found it difficult to juggle his job with his family life.
"I would do this work in the week, then at the weekends be a dad. I would go swimming with my kids," Mr Woods says.
Eventually, after 14 years, he decided to leave the profession.
He came to see his work as futile, given the greater picture.
"I interrupted the drug supply for no more than two hours in any city. So what's the point?" he says.
"Some of those arrested were organised criminals - but many were just victims of the 'war on drugs', the vulnerable problematic users."
For several months, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of what he had seen undercover.
Mr Woods is in favour of Durham Police's plans to provide heroin to addicts in medically supervised conditions
Despite leaving the police, however, he still feels "duty bound" to continue to stop the spread of drugs on UK streets.
Mr Woods is now the chairman of Leap UK, which campaigns for drugs policy reform.
It supports Durham Police's plan to give heroin addicts the class-A drug in supervised "shooting galleries" in a bid to tackle drug-related crime.
Opponents say trials suggest such initiatives do not have significant, long-term benefits, but Mr Woods argues the move will enable police to "get a grip on heroin, get it away from criminals".
"The drug supply is currently in the hands of organised criminals," he says, "it's so dangerous."
It is very different from his former job, but - as he explains - his time undercover has made a lasting impression.
"I have this unique experience," he says. "Now, I just use it in a different way."
Watch the Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39207718
|
Norwich City: Manager Alex Neil sacked by Championship club - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
Championship side Norwich City sack manager Alex Neil after just over two years in charge at Carrow Road.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Norwich City have sacked manager Alex Neil after just over two years in charge at the Championship club.
Neil, 35, helped the Canaries earn promotion to the Premier League after joining the club in January 2015, but they suffered relegation last season.
City had failed to win in five games under the former Hamilton boss, leaving them nine points outside the top six.
First-team coach Alan Irvine will take charge of the team for Saturday's game with relegation-threatened Blackburn.
A club statement said: "The board has taken the tough but unanimous decision, believing it is in the best interests of the club for a new manager to be in place through a crucial summer transfer window."
• None Listen to Neil's last BBC Radio Norfolk interview as Norwich boss
Norwich were second in October, but have won just seven of their last 24 Championship games and dropped to eighth.
They were thumped 5-1 at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday - their 10th away defeat of the season - and drew 1-1 with lowly Bristol City on Tuesday in Neil's last game in charge.
Neil held his usual pre-match press conference on Friday, just hours before he was sacked, and told BBC Radio Norfolk that the Canaries had not lived up to expectations this season.
"There was an expectation for us, from the squad, from the management, from the fans, from everybody connected with the club, that we would have a better season than we've had," he said.
"All I can do is work as hard as I can to make it better. Sometimes you need to take a step back to take two or three steps forwards, and we are doing everything we can but there isn't a solution that's going to happen tonight and it's not going to happen next week.
"It's going to take a period of time and then things will improve."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39232229
|
The 'robot lawyer’ giving free legal advice to refugees - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A technology used to fight parking fines is now helping asylum seekers apply for emergency housing.
|
BBC Trending
|
A technology initially used to fight traffic fines is now helping refugees with legal claims.
When Joshua Browder developed DoNotPay he called it "the world's first robot lawyer". It's a chatbot - a computer program that carries out conversations through texts or vocal commands - and it uses Facebook Messenger to gather information about a case before spitting out advice and legal documents.
It was originally designed to help people wiggle out of parking or speeding tickets. But now Browder - a 20-year-old British man currently studying at Stanford University - has adapted his bot to help asylum seekers.
In the US and Canada, it's helping refugees complete immigration applications, and in the UK, it can aid asylum seekers in obtaining financial support from the government.
Browder developed the chatbot through the help of lawyers from each of the countries.
"It works by asking a series of questions to determine if a refugee is eligible for asylum protection under international law," he tells BBC Trending, "for example: 'are you afraid of being subjected to torture in your home country?'
"Once it knows a user can claim asylum, it takes down hundreds of details and automatically fills in a completed immigration application. Crucially, all the questions that the bot asks are in plain English and artificial intelligence generated feedback appears during the conversation."
The bot suggests ways the asylum seeker can answer questions to maximise their chances of having applications accepted, for example: "The best answer for your situation will include a description of when the mistreatment started in your home country."
In addition to a completed application, a refugee also receives location specific submission instructions, details of additional documentation needed and resources for further help.
Currently, the lawyer bot is available via the Facebook Messenger app, making it accessible to Android and Apple device users. Browder says that he hopes to roll the service out to more languages and apps in the future, including Whatsapp.
DoNotPay got plenty of attention after it was first launched in March 2016, and Browder says hundreds of thousands of people have used the app to challenge parking tickets. His own brushes with traffic police inspired him to create the bot.
"When I started driving at 18, I began to receive a large number of parking tickets and created the the service as a side project," he says, "I could never have imagined that just over a year later, it would successfully appeal over 250,000 tickets."
He expanded the service to help with emergency housing in August of last year.
DoNotPay creator Joshua Browder says he was moved to work on legal advice for asylum seekers because his grandmother was a refugee from Austria during the Holocaust
However, some tech industry experts say that Browder's creation may struggle to achieve the same level of popularity with asylum seekers.
"Browder's chatbot is a great example of tech to help those in need," says Oliver Smith, senior reporter at tech and business site The Memo. "However, as refugees are often among the least internet-connected groups in society, a Facebook chatbot may not be the best way to help them.
"While governments moving their services online and into digital formats is a boon for people living in a country with consistent wifi or internet-connected smartphones, those who have fled their home countries often struggle to get online in refugee camps or when travelling across countries."
The UN has said that for refugees, connectivity is "as vital to them as food, water, or shelter", but just 39% have mobile internet access.
Next story: The Swedish Trump fans who secretly record journalists
A far-right Swedish website is secretly recording phone calls with journalists and academics - and then posting the edited versions online. READ MORE
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-39205935
|
Can you really be yourself at work? - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
If your creative instincts are stifled at work then you're unlikely to be productive, say experts.
|
Business
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A leader who acts more like a mentor than a dictator is more effective, research suggests.
When you're at work, do you behave in the same way as you do when you're at home? Or do you have a work persona - a duller, more subdued version of your real self?
Of course there are certain behaviours, such as swearing, or nudity, for example, that aren't acceptable in any workplace, but having a toned down version of yourself could be no good for you or your company.
"Zombies", is how Elisa Steele, chief executive of tech firm Jive Software refers to such people.
She says that companies that don't try to encourage staff to express themselves at work, and instead try to force them to fit into some kind of corporate clone - doing what they're told to do without questioning - will lose out.
Staff literally won't want to stay, and as a result turnover will be high, says Ms Steele.
At Jive, the firm uses its own software, which aims to improve the way employees communicate and collaborate on projects internally, to help new staff settle in and feel more at home quickly.
"They feel the culture because they have complete access to the whole company the first day they start," says Ms Steele.
"What are people doing? How is corporate communicating? What's the CEO up to today? What projects are prioritised?"
After their first week, the new joiners are required to write a blog on how they've found it so far, an article that all staff can then read.
Jive chief executive Elisa Steele says bosses that work closely with their staff create more productive workforces
"Time and time again we hear... 'I know so much more about this company in a week - and our customers - than I knew at my other company, you know, in three months'," she says.
As far as Ms Steele is concerned, enabling staff to have close access to herself and what she's doing day to day means they've got a good understanding of what the firm itself is aiming to do, and she says this information helps them feel more connected.
"Those two connections make the work really matter, and then people are engaged, and then drive a more efficient and more productive workforce," she says.
Ms Steele's approach is not that unusual for a tech start-up, which tend to shy away from a defined hierarchy. Arguably, it's also a leadership style that works well in smaller firms, but would be harder for a large company to emulate.
Yet increasingly research suggests that a leader who is closer to their staff, acting more like a mentor than a dictator, is the best way to get results.
"For a long time, the accepted wisdom has been that the CEO controlled everything in the company. The organisation served them, not the other way around," says chief executive coach and author Steve Tappin.
"Today, that's all changed. Good bosses are learning to support those around them."
It marks a start contrast to the stereotypical image of a distant and dictatorial chief executive.
Overworked, exhausted staff without a good work life balance won't create a successful business in the end, says Dr Jim Doty
Dr Jim Doty, the founder and director of The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University School of Medicine, says the shift reflects a growing amount of research suggesting that an authoritarian boss creates an anxious and stressed workforce.
He suggests that leading in a more collaborative, inclusive way instead could pose a solution to the puzzling productivity crisis, which has seen output per hour decrease considerably in most developed countries from the US to the UK in recent years.
"When you are not in a place of threat or fear, your productivity actually increases," he says.
While studies are limited, those that have been carried out, show that firms with a more nurturing environment lead to a stronger performance, and for listed firms, a higher stock market price.
"What we know now through science is that when leaders create an organisation that gives the individual a sense of meaning and purpose, this in and of itself is one of the greatest drivers of results," says Dr Doty.
Ultimately, he says, company leaders need to get across to staff that they're not just a cog in a machine, but that "there's an interest in who you are, instead of ''we can replace you at any time if you don't do exactly what we say'".
The problem is that company boards often fail to recognise this, and hire domineering personalities because they believe this is what will drive a strong performance, says Dr Doty.
"When an organisation actually understands that exhausted employees are not actually that productive, when they understand that people need breaks, when they're looking at the whole picture in terms of a work life balance, that's what I believe results in the greatest success."
Klarna chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski says it can take a while for staff to adapt to a less dictatorial boss
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co founder and chief executive of Swedish start-up Klarna, which provides payment systems for online shopping, says ideally a boss should take a back seat, pushing staff to solve problems themselves.
He admits that this approach can frustrate, with staff annoyed at the lack of guidance, but he says that over time it will enable people to develop and demonstrate their own particular skills.
"If you're very comfortable in the team, and you really trust each other, you can allow each other to take leadership positions for different topics," says Mr Siemiatkowski. "But it's very hard to reach that. I know... "
Yet while such an approach may be tough and require those at the top to swallow their ego, it can pay off.
Ms Steele gives the example of one of its customers: a chief information officer (CIO) of a large firm. The company had hired a lot of so called millennials - those born between 1980 and 1999.
The CIO spent two years frustrated that they weren't listening to him on how to protect the firm's data, and refused to acknowledge his experience and expertise in this area.
Eventually he gave in, agreeing to listen to why the new staff didn't want to use the software system and why they were unhappy.
"And when he did that it opened an entirely new world of how the company could perform, and they're incredibly successful," says Ms Steele.
This feature is based on interviews by CEO coach and author Steve Tappin, and by series producer Neil Koenig, for the BBC's CEO Guru series.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39190756
|
Six Nations: Despite their unbeaten run, do England have a problem? - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
England's powerful finishers have helped them to a 17-match winning run - so what's the problem at the start of the match, asks Tom Forydce.
| null |
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Radio Scotland, plus live text commentary via the BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app
It might sound a curiously mealy-mouthed thing to say about a team that have won their past 17 matches and sit atop the Six Nations table with consecutive Grand Slams a genuine possibility, but England's rugby team might have a problem.
It's clearly not the results. Beat Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday and they will have matched New Zealand's all-time tier one record for consecutive victories. It's not the way they finish games; under coach Eddie Jones, they have scored a cumulative 102 more points in the final quarter of matches than their opponents.
It's what's been happening at the other end of the games that is raising eyebrows among critics and hopes among their opponents.
Scoreless at home against Italy after 20 minutes, struggling to kick from hand, giving away set-piece penalties; 9-3 down to France, with a man in the sin bin; 10-0 down to Australia last autumn after 17 minutes, their opponents with 97% of the territory and 87% of the possession.
It goes further back. Down against South Africa earlier in the autumn, six penalties conceded in the first 21 minutes. Two tries conceded in the first 20 minutes in the third of the summer Tests against the Wallabies, 10-0 down after 15 minutes of the first.
• None Could the Twickenham crowd turn on England?
• None Finn Russell column: 'We can't wait to get stuck into England'
You might say it doesn't matter. All those games were won. Against Wales in Cardiff England led 8-3 after the first quarter, with 74% of the possession. How could anyone complain when England have won their past 10 Six Nations matches, and are about to take on a team who haven't won in south-west London in 34 years?
Jones, all those years of international coaching with four different nations whirring away in his brain, thinks otherwise.
Part of that is about standards. This is a team he wants to win the next World Cup in 2019. Give the All Blacks a head-start and you are unlikely to catch them. Part of it is much more short-term: Scotland's revival in Vern Cotter's last year in charge is genuine. They are outsiders once again this weekend, but seldom in those 34 barren years have they travelled in such form.
"Mate, if I knew I'd fix it," Jones said when asked this week if he had worked out what was going wrong in those opening exchanges. "And I haven't been able to fix it, so I don't know."
"It's something we have been mentioning over the last few weeks," winger Jack Nowell told BBC Sport. "We've got ourselves out of jail a few times now - it is about a fast start, and putting our game on them first."
England's replacements - the finishers, as Jones likes to call them - have done that jail-breaking to perfection. According to Opta, the men off the bench have created more tries than those of any other nation (three scored, two assisted), made more carries, conceded the fewest turnovers and shipped only one penalty (Scotland's replacements have conceded six, France's seven).
It's a wonderful asset for the coach to have. With a bench on Saturday that includes both Vunipola brothers, Jamie George, the returning Anthony Watson and the thundering Ben Te'o, it could be decisive once again this week.
It does not mean the starters cannot be expected to match those same standards. Dig a hole often enough, and one day you might not be able to climb out of it.
"It becomes a case of, are you riding your luck?" says Paul Grayson, the former England fly-half who is part of BBC Radio 5 live's commentary team at Twickenham this weekend.
"The Italy game was as bad an opening quarter as we've seen from an England team under Jones - and that was nothing to do with 'ruckgate' (when Italy's tactic of not committing to rucks befuddled England). They were just nowhere near it mentally.
"Maybe that's a timely wake-up call, because when winning becomes supposedly routine, even if you get away with a couple, you've still got to find a way to motivate yourself. If England are not quite there mentally, they look ordinary, and at some point soon they will lose."
Who can still win the Six Nations?
• None If England beat Scotland on Saturday they will retain the title
• None Victory for Scotland could send them top of the table with a game to play
• None If France beat Italy and England lose, mathematically five teams would still be in with a shout
• None There is one final round of games after Saturday's matches
"England need to start fast," former British and Irish Lions winger Ugo Monye told 5 live's Rugby Union Weekly podcast this week. "They need to get the crowd on their side - three points, six, nine, score a try, shut out Scotland, and put a seed of doubt into their minds.
"Scotland come down here with their fanfare and the bagpipes and their confidence, and everyone is aware of their threat, and if it's a close game you might just have the Twickenham crowd turning on their players a little bit."
Jones has been in ornery form this week, irascible in his media conferences, hard-nosed with his players on the Pennyhill Park training pitches.
"We're preparing to start well," he said irritably when announcing his selection. "We're not preparing not to start well.
"It's an 80-minute game. We've got to be ahead at the 80-minute mark, and that's what we're aiming to be against Scotland.
"It's like starting a 100m race. You can be ahead at the 10m mark, but you've got to be ahead at the 100m mark."
Jones, a self-confessed cricket nut, might enjoy another analogy: a pair of opening batsmen playing and missing on the first morning of a Test match, the opposition fast bowler fired up and the new ball seaming and bouncing past the outside edge.
What does it matter if they are 80-3 at lunch if by the close they have put on 300 for the loss of only one more wicket?
"Ian McGeechan, when he was coaching Northampton and telling us how he wanted us to play, brought up the example of Wigan's very successful rugby league team," remembers Grayson.
"Every team that played Wigan wanted to beat them. They would be totally up for it, and they would go toe-to-toe with them. They got to half-time, and it would be 10-8, or 6-6, or they would only be four points down.
"Then they would get into the second half, and as that effort left them tired and weakened, they would roll over and Wigan would score 40 points.
"I used to think, what does a game look like after 20 minutes? If I can get some points on the board, great; if they've thrown a few shots and we've had to defend for a while and they haven't got much out of it, no problem, we'll see you in the last 10 minutes of the first half and the last 15 minutes of the contest.
"The opposition are always going to be at their most obstinate and most up for it in that period. Yet, barring the Wales game, England haven't had too much flow in attack in the early part of their games. It's always difficult, but if you're the best side in the world, you do it. The All Blacks always manage to come out of the blocks."
Such has been the impact of England's replacements that the impression is that Jones has enviable strength in depth. He does - at prop and hooker, at scrum-half, on the wings.
With first-choice lock George Kruis out injured and his preferred partner Maro Itoje shifted to six, stand-in second rows Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes have arguably been England's most effective players.
But it is not true throughout the team. England's Test cricket team often find themselves early wickets down because they have struggled to replace Andrew Strauss alongside Alastair Cook. They can struggle on turning pitches because no-one who has come into the team has been able to match the impact of world-class spinner Graeme Swann.
"Nathan Hughes looks like the Billy Vunipola of three years ago," says Grayson. "Likely to last 50 minutes or do 30 minutes off the bench, do two or three good things but also disappear for a while.
"And that makes a massive difference. Take Lawrence Dallaglio out of England's World Cup-winning team and put in another number eight, and what do they look like? They're just not quite as big or powerful or dominant or vocal.
"When Dallaglio wasn't playing, England weren't quite the same. And I think that Vunipola is at that point. He's an 80-minute player heading to world class. And they just haven't got that otherwise.
"Billy has been out and with Chris Robshaw being out, that's two-thirds of your first-choice back row. That's a huge loss to England, because they don't have that many great back-row players."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39236510
|
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: How the show influenced modern entertainment - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
20 years since it first hit our screens, the influence of the cult TV show is still felt today.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
It's been 20 years since Buffy The Vampire Slayer first hit our TV screens. It has fans all over the world, and made a star of its lead actress Sarah Michelle Gellar.
A TV series based on a not-great movie about a Californian teenager who attends high school by day and fights vampires by night, seems an unlikely candidate to be a serious contender to become a TV classic and hugely influential piece of popular culture.
But Buffy managed it and after close to 150 episodes - with its final outing airing in 2003 - its influence is still felt today as a truly ground breaking piece of work.
Here are some of the things that Buffy has given the world of entertainment.
Sarah Michelle Gellar became a household name after starring in the cult show
In TV and film it's all too common for female characters to be the love interest or the support to a male lead.
Buffy successfully put a woman at the centre of the series, and led the way for characters like The Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen, The Force Awakens' Rey, Homeland's Carrie Mathison, and so many more.
This was a trademark feature of Buffy - one example, after a gruesome multiple murder at a college fraternity house, a demon approvingly comments: "It's like somebody slaughtered an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue."
Series ranging from Gilmore Girls to Family Guy gleefully use dialogue in a similar, although less gruesome, way.
Joss Whedon (far right) with the cast of The Avengers in 2010
Buffy's show runner is now one of the biggest names in Hollywood.
Two of the films in the Top 10 highest grossing of all time were directed by him - Marvel's The Avengers and its sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron. Both took over $1.5bn (£1.23bn) and he also had a role overseeing other successful Marvel films.
And it all started with the experience he got writing and directing Buffy.
When writer/producer Russell T Davies re-launched Doctor Who in 2005, he changed its format to one that was similar in many ways to Buffy.
The episodes in each series lead up to a climax where the main threat has been bubbling under the surface for several episodes.
Once More, With Feeling saw the Buffy cast spontaneously burst into song
Without Buffy's brilliant musical episode Once More, With Feeling would Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone's movie ever have been green-lit?
Actually, yes, it would have been. But if you enjoyed the singing dancing love letter to LA which didn't win best film at this year's Oscars, you could do worse than to check out Buffy's musical extravaganza.
It's exactly like La La Land, but with added demons.
It also set a trend for other TV shows to unexpectedly feature a musical episode halfway through a series, including medical comedy Scrubs and medical drama Grey's Anatomy - and an upcoming Supergirl/The Flash crossover.
Thanks Buffy, you saved the world - a lot.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What have the Scooby Gang done since Buffy?
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39229395
|
Why I bought my daughter heroin - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
What would you do if your child was a heroin addict suffering from acute withdrawal symptoms?
|
Magazine
|
What would you do if your child was a heroin addict suffering from acute withdrawal symptoms - disintegrating in front of your eyes - while waiting for rehab treatment to start? One mother from a village in the south-west of England describes how she ended up driving her daughter to town, and paying for her to get a fix.
She was pouring with sweat, vomiting, crying, hysterical, shaking - just desperate, feeling desperately ill. I felt like I was trapped in a corner and that there was nothing else I could do. So I said to her, "Is there any way we can do this - on the street?"
She spent a good hour and a half ringing around, and people could only offer her heroin, not methadone.
That's how we ended up in the middle of a local town with me handing over my hard-earned money to buy a drug.
The problem really started five years ago, when she was 18. She had some life changes in terms of friends going off to university and changes in a long-term relationship that she had been happy in, and then it had gone wrong. Her behaviour, her personality, started to change.
Before she had been hard-working, she had loved her horse and would ride, and all these things started to fall by the wayside. She slept a lot in the day. I kept saying to her, "What's wrong with you?"
And then she started hanging around with people that we knew were not a good influence - older people who were using drugs. And it started to sort of click into place.
Listen to the daughter speaking to BBC Radio 4's iPM programme on the BBC iPlayer.
You can also hear the mother's account in audio here.
We were driving back from somewhere one day and I asked her again what was wrong with her.
And she said, "Imagine the worst thing it could be."
I said, "Are you pregnant?" - which, when I think about it now would have been nothing. It would have been fantastic in a way if that had been the answer, because the answer was: "No, no mum. Think of the worst. Worse, much worse than that. Think of the worst thing."
I said, "Are you a drug addict?" And she said, "Yes."
Then she broke down, and it was heartbreaking. It was the worst day of my life.
We talked about how to stop it there and then - how to bring it to a stop as soon as possible. We talked about it as a family, and there was a bit of shouting. You had different emotions - one minute you are shouting and angry, the next minute you are upset.
My husband's brother had been a drug user and had died through depression, when he was trying to come off them. I think my husband thought it was a waste, that his brother could have been a really valuable part of our family life and our society. And I think he felt the same way about our daughter - that she had so much to offer, and he didn't want her to make the wrong choices.
Our daughter at that point didn't feel it was a problem. She kept saying, "It's just fun, OK? It's just fun." And that would be interspersed with periods of depression and it not being fun, but her not being prepared to admit that. And as time went on we gave her an ultimatum. Looking back I don't know whether it was the right decision or not, but we said, "If you continue to use drugs, you can no longer live at home." And we kicked her out, because she continued.
Then her drug use got worse, and her friendship groups deteriorated more and more.
I hated her. I hated her so much.
I felt that she had all the power to stop it - and she didn't. Nothing your children can do will stop you loving them, but the hatred was enormous. I was just desperately angry. I wanted to pick her up literally by her shoulders and shake her like a doll and say, "For goodness sake! Look at what you are doing!"
I had always been a very controlling mum when they were younger. They had set bedtimes and they ate their vegetables and all that. And I felt very out of control. I couldn't say, "No you're not going out. You need to come home and stay home and sort yourself out." Because she would say, "I'm an adult, I can do what I like."
I was disappointed. Very disappointed, because I had great expectations of what she could achieve. She wasn't managing to achieve anything at that point, although things did change briefly when she started to realise she wasn't happy.
She applied to the army, to the military police, and she did her basic training really well and got a good job in the military police. We thought she had kicked her drug habit and turned her life around, and we were just immensely proud. I remember thinking, "Oh my goodness, she's done it. Not only has she done it, she's done it big time - she's got a really good job." We didn't know there was still a problem.
She was earning good money but after about a year, at the end of every month, we started getting phone calls. She kept saying, "I don't know where I spend all my money mum, it just goes. At the end of every month I'm left with nothing and I've got no money for food and stuff."
So we would forward her a sub for the next month. We weren't actually giving her money, we were subbing her until her next pay packet.
All the way through she had a problem, which she was hiding because she was ashamed, I think.
She would come back and associate with the same people, so we would see her very little at weekends, and then she would go back to base on the Monday.
But I think it started to impact on her ability to work. She was getting exhausted, you could tell. She was tiring of partying all weekend and then holding down a full-time job in the week. When you haven't slept from Thursday night until you go back to bed on Monday evening after work, you're very exhausted, and it started to catch up with her. I think her colleagues and her boss started to see there were changes, because we started getting phone calls from the army.
One day she drove back on the Monday, having not slept for days, and smashed her car into the central reservation on the motorway. My husband and I realised that if we didn't stop her, she would kill herself, or someone else. And when the army rang me in the week I said, "You should know, I think my daughter takes drugs at weekends, and she needs to be drug-tested." So that's how she lost her job.
I am sure she resents me for doing that, but I feel that I saved her life, or someone else's, because it was only a matter of time before she didn't smash into the central reservation, but smashed into someone else. That would have been on my conscience forever.
After that, she just sofa-surfed really. She would go from sofa to sofa, drug place to drug place. She had lost her driving licence for drug-driving so she went from being independent, having a car, having a career, to having nothing essentially. At one point one of the houses that she was staying in burned to the ground - luckily, when she was not in it - so she lost all her possessions as well, literally everything she owned.
Each time we saw her, a lot would depend on her state of mind, and on where we were in terms of our ability to accept her for what she was and what she was doing, and love her regardless. But at a certain point we argued, and she said she didn't want contact any more. So we didn't speak for three months.
Then finally she rang and said it was not helping. I think she thought not having contact would help her feel better, mentally, because we were a constant reminder that her life was going down the pan - no-one else was saying that to her, but obviously we were.
So we got back in contact and we had a Christmas meal, which stands out in my memory because she had obviously been using drugs through the night and could no longer stay awake. She fell asleep with her face in the Christmas dinner - just asleep in the plate. It was an indicator of how bad things had become.
Initially my daughter would say taking drugs was fun, just really good fun. After about five years of quite heavy use, she would say it numbs emotion and numbs you to real life, so you don't have to worry, and you don't have to think or care. So at this stage she didn't get an awful lot of enjoyment out of it, if any. I don't think she trusted many people, including me, because you become suspicious of everything and everyone.
Nobody can help. Nobody knows what to say. Everyone's desperate for it to be good news. They say, "How are things getting on?" And if it's good news, they're like, "Oh brilliant, brilliant!" But nobody really wants to hear that it's still the same, or worse. And there is very little professional support unless you're prepared to pay for it.
At times we saw counsellors privately. We had lots of conversations with her about planning for the future - "If you do this and this, then maybe you can move on from drugs…" We even got to the point where we locked her in her bedroom. My husband boarded the windows and locked the door, but it wasn't successful because the person has to want to do it themselves, and she didn't. In the end, one of her companions, who she would be using drugs with I believe, came to the house, threatened my husband and barged in to let her out.
Eventually our daughter got caught stealing from her employer to fund her addiction.
She had also stolen a cheque from the back of my chequebook, written out a cheque for just over £1,000 and cashed it. And we pressed charges.
We had tried everything else that we could. We have a very strong moral compass, and we have two younger children looking at our behaviour and looking at our decisions, and we wanted them to see that you don't steal from your family, and that's the end of it.
We personally took our daughter to court and sat with her and supported her and said, "We are here for you, but you are not going to do this - you are not allowed to steal from us."
And the court issued a drug rehabilitation requirement, which means she has to be tested twice weekly, commence a methadone programme, and receive counselling in group sessions at a specific place for people with addiction problems. She also has a tag for three months, which means she has to be in our house between the hours of 7pm and 7am - which we thought was the best scenario, because we didn't want her to go to prison. We just wanted her to get help, and we just didn't seem to get help from anywhere else or in any other way. So we thought this was the best possible outcome.
We walked out of the court at about 2.30pm or 3pm, and I said to the solicitor, "When does this start?"
And I said, "So we have to go home to the family?"
He said, "Yes, because the people who do the tags can turn up any time from seven o'clock onwards."
And I said, "Well, what about our daughter's drug use? You know, she can't just suddenly stop here, now. What's going to happen? She's going to immediately fail. She's going to run because the desperation to get drugs is so huge that we won't be able to keep her home."
And he said, "Well go to the GP."
So we went to the GP and the GP said, "We no longer prescribe methadone, you need to go to Turning Point."
And they said: "Oh sorry, we're not an emergency service, you'll have to contact the GP."
And I said, "We've been to the GP and the GP said we have to come to you."
And they said, "Well, we can't do anything today. She won't actually die from this withdrawal."
And I was shocked at how nobody was taking responsibility and the whole burden was placed on us, as the parents. "It's your problem, now she's tagged to your house she has to be there." You cannot live with someone who's withdrawing from a £100 a day habit, who's going to be kicking off and screaming and crying and vomiting and probably smashing stuff in a few hours, because she's so frustrated and panic-stricken. But nobody wants to know. A&E don't provide methadone. You're absolutely stuck.
I didn't personally buy the heroin. I just drove my car to the area and she went off, injected herself, and came back, but somehow it felt like we had taken a step into a different place - like I was a different person. I had done something that I never in my entire life have done, and never thought I would do.
But my husband felt utterly betrayed. It was something he felt very, very strongly about. He was very upset. He felt I'd betrayed him by going out and buying drugs off the street because one of the things we'd agreed years ago, right at the beginning when our daughter admitted a drug problem, was that we would provide all the support we could whenever we could, but we would never buy her drugs. We would never give her money or presents, knowing that she would sell them to purchase drugs.
When I got home and told my husband what I had done, he was so distraught... for days. I had not realised at the time, but he emailed the BBC: "Our heroin addict daughter was given a drug rehabilitation requirement, a 7-7 curfew with tag as long as she moved back to our family home. Still unable to get methadone prescribed. My wife has taken her to try to buy some off the street (it's midnight now)."
I promised him I would never do that again. And he made it very clear that if I did I may be dealing with this on my own, because he couldn't stand the betrayal - my having gone against his wishes.
He has a very black-and-white attitude to life, as I think a lot of men do. And if there is something I've learned from this situation over the past eight years, it's that there is no black and white. There's a massive area of grey in between. We've had long conversations about it since. I wouldn't do that now. I think I would go to A&E and insist she was given some sort of strong sedation.
She is now on a prescribed methadone programme, which means she has a set amount of methadone that she collects once a day in the morning from the chemist, swallows it in front of the chemist, then comes home. She doesn't have any of the withdrawal symptoms, and she doesn't have the high. It doesn't make you feel good, it just stops the sickness, and she is functioning during the day. She's helping clean the house and cook the tea. And slowly she will take less and less each day, with the aim of being off methadone altogether in six months.
Before we went to court she had said to me, "I've just had enough. This is awful." She had a couple of suicide attempts, one very serious one that resulted in liver damage. But you have to really show willing to be put on a methadone programme. You don't just go in the door and say, "I've had enough of being a heroin addict, I want to go on methadone." You have to go for about two weeks' worth of meetings at least, and you have to be attempting to come off heroin yourself before they even start you on a methadone programme. It's a real Catch 22 situation, because she wanted to come off it by that point. She was hating her life. She was obviously extremely depressed, because she was trying to take her own life. She was becoming very thin and she'd stolen off her sister, who was, or is, her best friend. There were no positives in life.
By ordering a methadone programme to proceed, the court forced the hand of the local drug help centre. They then had to start her on the programme sooner rather than later.
We are taking one day at a time. It has taken five years to get to this point, so it's not all going to turn around and change within five minutes. Our daughter now has her own accommodation, which is part of our house, but we have sort of made it so that she has her own access and we have to knock to get into her bit of the house. So this is her own home now. She has got her dog back, which the dog is chuffed about, and she is too. So it's small steps like that, remembering that you are loved, remembering that there are people back at home who are still there waiting and wanting you to recover.
I know it's boastful, but she's absolutely beautiful looking and very intelligent. I think she could have been anything. She is so massively into animals that she used to talk about being a vet, so years ago I guess we used to dream about that. And it's so far away from the reality of what her adult life became. Now the dream is very different. It's just, "I want her to be drug-free and happy."
I feel 50% responsible because I think all mothers do. Some days I think I've done everything for the right reasons, even though she may not see it like that, and I'm proud that I am still here and sane and standing. But then on another day I get up and I think this is all my fault. Perhaps if I hadn't kicked her out in those early few months when she refused to stop using drugs… It's hard to know.
Currently I trust her totally not to steal. I leave my handbag lying around. I don't worry about it. I don't entirely trust her not to contact the wrong people, because it's a slow process. Initially, in the first days she was back, I'm sure she didn't trust me. I'm sure she knew that I was going in her room, just having a look around and checking there wasn't any drug paraphernalia - because that's what you start doing, as a parent you start searching out the equipment and the stuff that they're using. But I've stopped doing that now, and she has had clean tests for nine weeks, so I suppose the trust must be building.
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39212295
|
Six Nations wrecking crew: Gray, Lawes, Launchbury, Gourdon, Watson, Tipuric - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
From the hitmen to the tree fellers, Jeremy Guscott picks the best tacklers on show in the 2017 Six Nations. Join the debate and rank his choices yourself.
| null |
This weekend's Six Nations on the BBC Coverage: Wales v Ireland on BBC One, BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Radio Wales; England v Scotland on BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Radio Scotland. Live text online.
These are the tackling machines, the ravenous beasts who bring the opposition to ground time after time.
They range in style from tree fellers to hitmen to ball-and-all envelopers - but they all have one aim in common: to take their man down or out of the action.
They don't have to be forwards - as anyone who saw former England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson in action will attest - but it's no surprise my picks this year are forwards because that's where most of the bish bash goes on, close to the breakdown where the big men lurk.
This kid is a tackling machine who hardly ever misses his man - anyone carrying the ball into his channel is going down and he is so consistent that when he finally missed a tackle in this year's Six Nations it was newsworthy, as he didn't miss a single one in the 2016 tournament, making 58 with a 100% success rate.
So far this year, he's made a tournament-high 52 tackles - including a phenomenal 26 in the opening win over Ireland - but two missed attempts mean he 'only' has a 96% success rate.
He's not the biggest of hitters but he puts himself about to make the numbers and, still aged only 22, he has a long and potentially glorious future in the game ahead of him.
He has a well-deserved reputation for being a tree feller, a smash-and-wipe-out merchant who can wreak havoc on the opposition, but he's not the headless, full metal jacket type of player that some have claimed and is more controlled these days, which is great to see.
He's made 45 tackles so far with a 94% success rate and although he might be a touch behind Gray when it comes to consistency, he's certainly got the upper edge in explosive physicality.
Critics say he only levels half-backs, but how many other second rows have the speed to get out of the line and smash them, or cover across to lasso them after a 50-metre run? He can put anyone down when he times it well.
Another second row in the workhorse mould of Scotland's Gray, Launchbury has formed a superb locking partnership with Lawes for England this season - a remarkable illustration of their strength in depth, with fellow second rows Maro Itoje playing on the blind-side and George Kruis currently injured.
Despite being 6ft 5in and well over 18 stone he has unbelievable staying power, which all locks need these days.
He's made 46 tackles this season and although he may lack the sheer percussive impact of Lawes, the Wasps man brings a rumbustious presence to the heart of the England pack.
The France back row is not one of the game's glamour players, but in a struggling French team he brings a dogs of war spirit to their efforts.
He has a high work-rate and is a real nuisance of a player, shouldering a huge defensive burden to try to get France on the front foot again - he's the second-highest tackler in the tournament, with a solitary miss in 50 tackles.
Like Italy counterpart Maxime Mbanda, who has a similar attitude but misses the odd tackle in a way Gourdon does not, he is not the biggest of flankers. However, there is no doubting the size of his impact in 2017.
At 6ft 1in, Watson is another of the "smaller" players in this list - but another busy bee with a ferocious work ethic.
In Scotland's rearguard win against Ireland he made an astonishing 19 tackles in about 50 minutes of play - he was a human strimmer that day, chopping down men in green like blades of grass.
That performance alone was enough to catch everyone's eye and put him on the tackling map but he's continued in the same vein, having missed just one tackle all tournament.
He is one of the great footballing back rowers, but Tipuric is an amazing all-rounder, as he is proving this tournament with his tackling heroics.
As an open-side it is imperative he takes players out of the game and he does just that with his tackling excellence.
He leads the way for Wales with 43 tackles so far this tournament and has shown that he has the physicality to complement his skill set.
Who has Guscott missed out?
As always with these lists it's impossible to please everyone, but who do you insist should have definitely made the cut?
England flanker James Haskell might count himself unlucky not to have made the selection, and what about Scotland centre Alex Dunbar? Where's Jamie Heaslip? And no Alun Wyn Jones?
Use our interactive tool to rank Guscott's selections for yourselves, and join the debate below on who you think should be in the Six Nations wrecking crew.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39208177
|
Church of England at war after Bishop Philip North's U-turn - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Why is there so much anger among Anglicans after Philip North chose not to be Bishop of Sheffield?
|
UK
|
The Right Reverend Philip North exposed a wound in the Church of England when he announced the withdrawal of his nomination to become Bishop of Sheffield, referring to "the highly individualised nature of the attacks upon him".
More than 20 years after the first female ordinations, senior figures in the Church now face another struggle to reconcile those who believe women cannot be priests and those who think traditionalists are unacceptably sexist.
The Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend John Sentamu, has urged Anglicans to "disagree Christianly".
Another bishop blamed the row on an "intolerant" faction in the Church, and warned "we're all in trouble" if there was no future in the Church for traditionalist Catholics such as Mr North.
The dispute that led to Philip North turning down the Sheffield job began in an Oxford cafe one morning in early February, when the chaplain of Trinity College, the Reverend Emma Percy, was given a copy of a Christian magazine with a proud history but a small circulation.
The general synod is the deliberative and legislative body of the Church of England
New Directions is written and read by traditionalist Anglo-Catholic members of the Church of England: the sort of Anglicans who are referred to colloquially as "high church".
An article explained how some Church of England priests were starting to be issued with identity cards, to show they were members of a traditionalist Anglican institution named The Society Under the Patronage of St Wilfrid and St Hilda.
Members of The Society, to use its shorter name, do not accept the ministry of women priests - or male priests ordained by female bishops.
Soon afterwards, one of the most influential voices on the liberal wing of the Church of England, the Very Reverend Prof Martyn Percy - who happens to be Emma Percy's husband - quoted the article in an attack on Mr North's views.
The Society, of which Mr North is a leading member, was guilty of "rather fogeyish sacralised sexism", said Prof Percy.
He said: "Bishop North needs to be able to give his unequivocal support and affirmation to his male and female clergy alike. It can't be a partial and conditional affirmation, based on gender."
Prof Percy followed a Sheffield vicar, the Reverend Sue Hammersley, in urging Mr North not to accept his nomination.
She told BBC Look North: "I think the very fact that he won't ordain women himself has the potential to give out a really negative message - that somehow the Church of England is a discriminatory organisation."
The Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley, Louise Haigh, also wrote an open letter to Mr North in which she said attitudes to women in the Church were a "major priority for our next bishop".
She wrote: "Your traditionalist views pose many questions about how your leadership in Sheffield will work practically in relation to existing women clergy, men who have been ordained by women, women who are in the process of becoming clergy and congregations who come from a completely different tradition within the Church."
Three days later, an evening statement published on the prime minister's website confirmed that Mr North, who is the Bishop of Burnley, would not be promoted to become Bishop of Sheffield.
All of this was supposed to have been avoided in 2014 when the Church's governing general synod reached the end of a long process of deciding that women could be bishops.
It agreed "five guiding principles", allowing traditionalists who opposed women priests to remain in "the highest possible degree of communion" and to "mutually flourish".
After Mr North's U-turn, which he said had followed "highly individualised attacks" on him, the Archbishop of York said there had been little sign of that commitment to mutual flourishing.
"What has happened to Bishop Philip clearly does not reflect the settlement under which, two and a half years ago, the Church of England joyfully and decisively opened up all orders of ministry to men and women," he said.
Archbishop Sentamu was not alone in criticising the opponents of Philip North.
The Bishop of Willesden, Pete Broadbent, tweeted: "This is what the Church of England will be like if the intolerant exclusive 'inclusives' win… if there is no future for the Catholics, we're all in deep trouble."
Serenhedd James, a historian and columnist for the Church Times, said: "For anyone, anywhere, to be subject of a public bullying campaign of such a personal nature is unacceptable. For it to happen within the Church, and be orchestrated by leading members of the clergy, is wicked.
"And for it to result in one of the most gentle, kind, talented, compassionate, committed, and honourable priests in the C of E being driven out of a post in which his God-given gifts are needed now more than ever is, frankly, diabolical."
At the other end of the Anglican spectrum, the conservative evangelical Bishop of Maidstone, Rod Thomas, said he was "deeply saddened" and described the move as "a body blow to the concept of 'mutual flourishing' which lay at the heart of the agreement to introduce women bishops in the Church of England."
Long, well-intended discussions about principles of conduct appear to have evaporated in the heat of a controversial nomination.
Despite a high-profile campaign in favour of Mr North by high-ranking male and female clergy, there is little talk of good disagreement or mutual flourishing.
While there seems to be embarrassment rather than triumphalism among opponents of Bishop Philip North's appointment, the campaign group Sheffield Action on Ministry Equality said many would now enter a period of mourning.
"We also sense an invitation from God for all of us in the Church of England to take responsibility for our part in a process that has caused such pain for so many people," said a statement on the group's website.
"We pray for Bishop Philip that he may fully recover from an ordeal we believe he should never have had to face."
The Archbishops of York and Canterbury now have to find a way to reunite a Church that is divided over women's ordination as well as sexuality.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39227033
|
Jess Varnish: 'I was thrown under the bus by British Cycling' - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
Track cyclist Jess Varnish says she is "relieved that the truth was finally coming out" following allegations of sexism at British Cycling.
| null |
Track cyclist Jess Varnish says she was "thrown under the bus" by British Cycling and was the victim of a "cover-up".
The 26-year-old was speaking in her first broadcast interview since last April, when she made allegations of sexism at the governing body.
Varnish told BBC Sport she was "relieved the truth was finally coming out" after she was dropped from British Cycling's elite programme last year.
Former technical director Shane Sutton was found to have used sexist language towards her, but was cleared of eight of nine allegations against him.
In an in-depth interview, Varnish also said:
• None that she may take legal action against the governing body
• None that any current board members involved in the internal report into Sutton's conduct should resign
• None and that Sutton should not work as a cycling coach again
On Thursday, British Cycling said it did not pay "sufficient care and attention" to the wellbeing of staff and athletes at the expense of winning medals. This was in response to a leaked draft report of an investigation into alleged failings in its culture.
"I feel vindicated in a way that the truth is coming out but you obviously can't turn back the clock," Varnish said. "All I want is the truth to be out there because it's the truth and that's what people should know.
"I've been pulled from pillar to post. Just to get this stage and see that it's a cover-up is huge."
When asked if Sutton should work in cycling coaching again, she said: "From my experiences, no."
• None Varnish 'was very brave to speak out'
An independent investigation into the culture at British Cycling was launched last year and is expected to deliver its findings imminently. It follows an initial internal investigation into Varnish's complaint about Sutton.
However, the Daily Mail quotes the leaked draft of the independent investigation as saying "considerably more" of Varnish's claims had been proven, but these findings were "reversed".
Varnish said that any current board members involved in the initial internal report into Sutton's conduct should resign.
"I had absolutely no faith in the investigation from the get go," she said. "Now there needs to be changes. These people can't be still in there if they've reversed facts. They can't still be able to be on that board.
"I think the facts say it for themselves. If they're overturning facts just to protect themselves and to protect the look of British Cycling. It's a lot easier for them to throw me under the bus rather than the whole of British Cycling and for the actual truth to come out."
'It's just about doing the right thing'
Varnish said she may take legal action against British Cycling if the report states the organisation failed in the way it investigated her case.
"It is something I've asked my lawyers to take a really close look at," she said. "Until the main report is released that's all we can do, take a look at it. It's never been about money for me, it's just about doing the right thing."
Varnish raced alongside Victoria Pendleton in the team sprint at the London 2012 Olympics, but failed to qualify for Rio 2016.
The World Championships medallist said bosses at cycling's governing body were to blame for her and Katy Marchant not securing a team sprint spot at the Games. She added that their chances had been compromised by decisions over selection.
She was dropped from British Cycling's elite programme in April with Sutton telling the Daily Telegraph at the time that "there is no point carrying on and wasting UK Sport's money on someone who is not going to medal going forward".
Sutton resigned in April last year after being suspended pending the investigation, but has always denied wrongdoing.
"It would have been easier for me to walk away and accept things and say nothing, and it's been really hard," Varnish said. "But it's a sense of fairness which drove me to do it. I have always stuck up for myself and others when I think something is unfair and that's why I've done it, for fairness."
'It was just a complete shock'
Varnish said she still strongly believes that she was not kicked off the team for performance reasons alone.
"Just to be told I wasn't good enough was silly. There were people still on the programme who were a lot, lot slower than me. That was the initial shock, then with that, I knew I wouldn't be going to Rio. It was a really, really hard time.
"None of my reports said 'look Jess, you need to buck your ideas up'. We have so much data taken from us, so somebody at some point should have told me if I was underperforming and I never, ever got that."
When asked why she thought she dropped, Varnish said: "Probably for questioning things and because I did so in the media with a team-mate. In my opinion, it would be that."
In a statement to the BBC, British Cycling's new chair Jonathan Browning said: "I would be more than happy to meet with Jess and discuss any concerns she has about the independent review or on any other matter she would like to raise."
Varnish added: "Many athletes wouldn't want to speak out because it would affect their position. I was definitely in that position in the past. Only since I have not been on the programme have I stepped up and actually said 'look, this is wrong,' because I was always thinking 'oh I don't want to jeopardise my position'."
She said her complaints about Sutton were not because of her being unable to cope in a "tough environment".
"I am actually probably one of toughest - mentally and physically - that there was on the squad," she said. "I've taken a lot of knocks, I've got disqualified from Olympic Games and came back from it."
When is the report due?
Varnish's comments comes after British Cycling briefed riders and staff about an 'action plan' of reforms.
After her claims of a 'culture of fear' were supported by other former riders, British Rowing chair Annamarie Phelps was asked to lead an independent investigation into claims of bullying, favouritism and sexism.
Phelps' report - described by one senior source as "explosive" - is due to be published in the next month.
On 21 February, the head of UK Sport, Liz Nicholl, accused British Cycling of watering down the full findings of an internal review conducted after the 2012 Games.
UK Sport has faced questions over why it did not act on a report that is known to include allegations of bullying.
In March, British Cycling chairman Jonathan Browning apologised for "failings", as the governing body announced planned changes designed to improve the care of riders.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39234548
|
Laura Marling: 'I'm unsure of my femininity' - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Folk star Laura Marling explores what it means to be a woman on her new album, Semper Femina.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
Laura Marling's latest album was recorded in her adopted home of Los Angeles, so coming back to London to promote it in mid-February has been something of a rude awakening.
"I stupidly got on my bike this morning and got the sleet right in my face," she winces.
Having dried off and freshened up, she settles down to chat. Marling has a reputation for being a shy, sometimes reluctant interviewee - but LA clearly has rubbed off on her.
She chews gum as we talk, laughing bawdily as she discusses her penchant for dating drummers. ("What do they bring to a relationship? Rhythm!")
The 27-year-old also reveals her mum keeps a "very meticulous scrapbook" of her career, and admits to cooking up her own brand of Halloumi cheese.
"I'm aiming for direct competition with Alex James," she says, referring to the cheese-making Blur bassist. "But bloody hell, what a boring thing to talk about".
Marling released her first album - Alas, I Cannot Swim - in 2007
So instead we circle back to that new album.
It's her sixth, and possibly best, record since she emerged at the age of 17 as part of the indie folk movement that also spawned Mumford and Sons, Lucy Rose and Noah and the Whale.
Sumptuous and sensual, Semper Femina adds a hint of West Coast sheen to her delicate, acoustic melodies. Marling generously credits her band and producer Blake Mills for the progression.
"All of the musicality of the album is down to them," she says. "I wanted to be in the middle of it, but for someone else to be painting the picture around it."
If you don't have a Latin textbook to hand, the album's title is taken from a line in Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid.
The line is "varium et mutabile semper femina", which translates as "woman is always fickle and changeable". "I thought that was very jolly," says Marling, apparently without sarcasm.
She came across the phrase years ago and had a truncated version - "Semper Femina", or "always a woman" - tattooed on her leg when she was 21.
The singer has Virgil's phrase tattooed on her leg
It's a fitting title for a record that explores femininity in all its forms, from the archetypal wild teenager to the artist's muse, while reflecting on female friendships and betrayals.
Marling prompted a lot of speculation when she announced in a press release that the album was written during a "masculine time" in her life, after she had "gone on this trip of abandoning any sexuality".
She clarifies that today, saying she was simply trying to write about women from a "neutral perspective". But she admits LA prompted a period of androgyny.
"People there are just a bit more far-out," she explains. "Nobody's got a job, they can dress however they want. A lot of my friends are queer or gender-fluid. So I was picking up on that.
"Then there was also my natural relationship with [womanhood]. I'm unsure. I'm unsure of my own femininity or masculinity.
"There are some circumstances in which I employ more of a masculine approach in order to protect myself; and there are circumstances where I indulge in my more feminine side because that vulnerability seems more important.
"I'm interested in the differences between men and women, of which there are plenty, and they need to be understood better."
"Well, I was talking to my producer, Blake, and he said he started playing guitar to impress girls. I think when I started playing guitar, it was to impress my dad.
"So Blake's relationship to his instrument is very different to mine and his reason for writing songs is very different to mine but, at the same time, he is extraordinary. And so those differences can be great.
"You can reduce it down to an Eastern idea that men expend energy and women are self-perpetuating."
One of the album's big themes is how women are observed - both by men and each other.
On Wild Fire, Marling talks about a friend who keeps a "pen behind her ear" and constantly jots down her thoughts in a notepad.
"Of course the only part that I want to read is about her time spent with me," the singer drawls.
"Wouldn't you die to know how you're seen? Are you getting away with who you're trying to be?"
That's a perennial question for a performer - especially one who seems so cautious of the limelight.
"Would I die to know how I'm seen?" she asks herself, when the lyric is brought up. "I don't know!
"I'm aware, obviously, that I'm looked at and considered and reviewed and criticised. But I'm pretty good at steering pretty clear of those [articles], unless they're delivered to me by my mother."
On Nouel, she turns the tables - objectifying one of her real-life friends as a classic muse.
"Oh Nouel, you sing so well / Sing only for me?" Marling pleads, going on to compare her friend to Gustave Courbet's Origine Du Monde - an 1866 painting of a woman sprawled naked on a bed.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Laura Marling performs Nouel, from her new album Semper Femina, for BBC Radio 4's Mastertapes.
"I was interested in what it is like to be made a muse," says Marling. "Nouel is a person who exists, a visual artist I know in Los Angeles, and I took her essence and I exaggerated it into a fantasy.
"She [Nouel] was very flattered by it - but then again she was able to remove herself from it.
"It's her but it's not her. I haven't painted a picture of her - it's my projection of my feelings about how extraordinary I feel she is."
In black and white this all seems very intellectual and, well, pretentious.
Marling is quite aware of how it comes across, poking fun at the "pseudo-science" and "pop psychology" she espouses.
On the album she even sings, "Lately I wonder if all my pondering takes up too much ground?"
But the music breathes warm life into these high concepts, resulting in a romantic, confessional suite of songs.
By the last track, Nothing Not Nearly, Marling has put all the contemplation aside to observe: "Nothing matters more than love. No nothing. Not nearly."
It reflects her current, contented state of mind.
"I'm loving my late twenties," she says. "The closer I get to 30, the more at ease I feel with myself."
Each of her albums has contributed to that sense of self, she continues.
"This one was about understanding femininity and masculinity. The last one was understanding solitude.
"Before that was heartbreak, before that was freedom and before that was anger. It's like I'm tackling the world one emotion at a time!"
"Possibly. Or fear, given the era that we're seemingly stepping into," she says. "It's not been good."
Marling won a Brit award for best British female in 2011
She talks about the "horrifying but unbearably addictive quality" of President Trump, saying she's constantly checking her phone for the latest update.
While the Trump era has already prompted a surge in political protest songs, Marling has trouble viewing this as a positive.
"I don't think anyone would wish that on the world for the sake of writing a good song. That's not the purpose of art - to encounter animosity for the sake of having something to do.
"A singer, who's now a big singer, once said to me: 'It'd be so cool to be really heartbroken because it'd be good for my songwriting."
"I was like, 'You silly, naive wally!' Never wish that on yourself. It's unbearable."
Semper Femina is out on 10 March. Laura Marling is currently on tour around the UK.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39192946
|
British Cycling: 'Sufficient care and attention' not paid to wellbeing of riders - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
British Cycling admits it did not pay "sufficient care and attention" to the overall wellbeing of staff and athletes at the expense of winning medals.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Cycling
British Cycling has admitted it did not pay "sufficient care and attention" to the wellbeing of staff and athletes at the expense of winning medals.
The organisation was responding to a leaked draft report of an investigation into alleged failings in its culture.
Published in the Daily Mail, it claims British Cycling "sanitised" its own probe into claims Shane Sutton used sexist language towards Jess Varnish.
It also spoke of a "culture of fear", with some staff "bullied".
The leaked draft is reported to conclude:
• None Weak leadership allowed first Sir Dave Brailsford and then Sutton to work without supervision as British Cycling chiefs, creating a "dysfunctional structure".
• None Brailsford is described as an "untouchable" figure, while former technical director Sutton is said to be unsuitable for leadership.
• None The pursuit of medals to secure funding had "a blinding effect, causing clear behavioural and cultural issues to be ignored".
• None Conclusions of a November 2012 internal report that raised similar concerns were not acted upon.
In response, British Cycling says it accepts:
• None Its "World Class Programme leadership focused on medal delivery without sufficient care and attention to the overall staff and athlete culture and environment".
• None Leadership "failed to adequately grasp and subsequently address the early warning signs" of failings.
In October, British Cycling found Sutton guilty on one from nine charges of using sexist language towards Varnish, who was dropped from British Cycling's elite programme last April.
The Australian, who quit in the wake of Varnish's allegations, was found to have used the word "bitches", but claims that he used other offensive and discriminatory language were not upheld.
That included Varnish's complaint that Sutton told her to "go and have a baby".
Sutton was also cleared of any bullying allegations, including claims he made comments about the cyclist's weight.
However, the Daily Mail quotes the leaked draft as saying "considerably more" of Varnish's claims had been proven, but these findings were "reversed".
The Mail quotes the draft report as describing this as "shocking and inexcusable", adding that it "calls into serious question whether the composition of the British Cycling board is fit to govern".
An investigation into the culture at British Cycling was launched last year following "disturbing" claims of "fundamental behavioural issues".
A number of ex-riders and former staff members have added to Varnish's claims, including former road world champion Nicole Cooke, who told a parliamentary select committee the body was "run by men, for men".
The investigation is chaired by British Rowing chief Annamarie Phelps, and was co-commissioned by UK Sport and British Cycling.
A report on its findings is imminent, and UK Sport chief executive Liz Nicholl has said "valuable lessons" have been identified.
But she also criticised British Cycling for providing "a very light-touch version" when asked to provide details of its own November 2012 internal investigation.
Earlier in March, British Cycling chairman Jonathan Browning apologised for "failings", as the governing body announced planned changes designed to improve the care of riders.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39228945
|
Six Nations: England's Owen Farrell misses training before Scotland game - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
Owen Farrell remains a doubt for England's Six Nations match with Scotland after missing training at Twickenham on Friday.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Radio Scotland, plus live text commentary via the BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app
Owen Farrell remains a doubt for England's Six Nations encounter with Scotland after missing training at Twickenham on Friday.
The centre, 25, did not take part after sustaining a leg knock on Thursday.
"He's pretty resilient. He will do the right thing by the team and by his body," assistant coach Paul Gustard told BBC 5 live.
England have until an hour before kick-off to finalise their side for Saturday's Calcutta Cup game.
If Farrell does not make it, Gustard says Ben Te'o will start at inside centre with Jonny May coming on to the bench.
"It will be a loss, of course, but we are very happy with the strengths Ben can bring," Gustard added. "We are very happy with the 23 we will have on the pitch.
"We have flexibility, Jack Nowell is there who can come into the centre. Elliot Daly can come in to 13. So we will be very happy."
Victory for England over Scotland would give the defending Six Nations champions a record-equalling 18th consecutive win and put them one win away from a second straight Grand Slam.
Who can still win the Six Nations?
• None If England beat Scotland on Saturday they will retain the title
• None Victory for Scotland could send them top of the table with a game to play
• None If France beat Italy and England lose, mathematically five teams would still be in with a shout
• None There is one final round of games after Saturday's matches
However, regardless of their winning run, head coach Jones was in prickly mood in Thursday's news conference.
"I can't speak for how Eddie is," Gustard said on Friday. "The staff and players are excited. We are just confident. That's not to sound bullish.
"The only record that has been spoken about is finishing on the 80-minute mark beating Scotland."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39229803
|
Barbara Buttrick: The woman who boxed to the top - BBC News
|
2017-03-10
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Barbara Buttrick went from being a typist to a pioneering women's world boxing champion.
|
Humberside
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Barbara Buttrick went from typist to boxer in 1950s Britain
When Barbara Buttrick started boxing in the late 1940s, women in the sport were regarded on a par with gamblers and prostitutes. However, the 4ft 11in Mighty Atom's career took her from the fairgrounds of Yorkshire to the boxing rings of the United States and - ultimately - the world title.
It was a chance encounter with a scrap piece of newspaper that led to Buttrick abandoning her job as a typist.
"I was trying to get a soccer team together and there weren't very many girls that would play soccer in those days, I'm talking about the 1940s," the 87-year-old grandmother said.
"One day I read an article about a woman that travelled with boxing booths and I cut the article out and said I'm going to try it."
That article, about prize fighter Polly Burns, was printed on newspaper she had been given by her mother to clean her boots with.
Barbara Buttrick started boxing in fairground booths around England in the late 1940s
Her parents in Cottingham, East Yorkshire, reluctantly gave her permission for her to take up boxing and she began getting work at fairgrounds, where she would challenge women to fight her in brightly-coloured sideshow booths.
Now confined to history, these had been popular attractions for more than 200 years and had launched many successful boxing careers.
After some time developing her skills, she headed to London in search of a trainer and female sparring partners.
It was there, at Mickey Woods' gym, that she found a trainer in Leonard Smith, whom she later married.
At the time, she was something of a minor celebrity, telling a TV interviewer: "Girls aren't the delicate flowers they used to be. Anyhow, my boyfriend doesn't mind."
Buttrick said in a 1950s interview: 'Girls aren't the delicate flowers they used to be'
However, opportunities for a female boxer were limited in 1950s England where it was regarded as an exclusively male sport.
"It was even hard to get in the gyms, you couldn't work out in the gym, they were really against anything like that," Buttrick said.
"It was girls don't do this and girls don't do that. I was just interested in it and I figured I should be able to do what I wanted to do, the same as any boy."
It was "on a par with getting drunk and with gambling and with prostitution", said Kath Woodward - a sociology professor who researches gender and diversity in sport.
"Boxing goes with being big, with being strong, with being brave - all these things which make up our ideal of masculinity," she added.
"But femininity is not made up in those ways, so for Barbara to have boxed was seen as threatening, because boxing is associated with all the things that go with being a real man."
Attitudes were more enlightened in the United States, though, and Buttrick and Smith decided to move there in search of promoters willing to put on her fights.
"The Americans were more open-minded about it, you couldn't do anything but box on the booths in England," Buttrick said.
She travelled around the US and - when they got to Miami - she began training at the legendary 5th Street Gym, where she met boxing greats Muhammad Ali and his trainer Angelo Dundee.
"He was Cassius Clay back then and he was just starting out," she said. "He was just a young lad."
Antonio Tarver, a former world champion light heavyweight who trained at the 5th Street Gym and featured in the 2006 Sylvester Stallone film Rocky Balboa, said it would have been an intimidating place.
"When I come here it's like hallowed grounds, I feel something special about the 5th Street Gym," he said.
"For Barbara, it had to be hard but she found her way, she made her path. A world champion, I can only imagine the things that she has seen, witnessing and watching the greatness. Her story needs to be told."
Buttrick fought more than 1,000 exhibition matches in the States, winning 30 professional fights, drawing one and losing just one before retiring in 1960.
It was in 1957 that she fought Phyllis Kugler, and won the Women's World Boxing Champion title.
"There was one fight that I lost, with Joann Hagen," Buttrick said. "But she was so much taller than me."
After her boxing career, she stayed in the sport - founding and becoming president of the Women's International Boxing Federation in the mid-1990s.
She was recently the first woman to be inducted into the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame.
Now she is returning to her roots as part of Hull's 2017 UK City of Culture celebrations.
A play inspired by her story is being performed there, focussing on a group of Hull women who put on an unlicensed fight night, aptly called Mighty Atoms.
Buttrick will also appear at Hull City Hall for a talk on Saturday, as part of a series of events called Wow Hull (Women of the World).
Her legacy in the sport is likely to be felt for many decades though.
When women's boxing was finally included in the Olympics at London 2012, Buttrick was there to see Nicola Adams win the flyweight gold for Great Britain.
"It's because of women like her that's made it possible for me to box today," said Adams.
"It was quite tough for me, women's boxing wasn't really accepted so I can't even imagine how hard it must have been for her to keep pushing, keep training and try to be taken seriously.
"I've got to say a big thank you to Barbara for paving the way."
You can see more on BBC Inside Out Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on BBC iPlayer.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-39151832
|
Johanna Konta beats Heather Watson in Indian Wells second round - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-10
| null |
British number one Johanna Konta beats compatriot Heather Watson to reach the third round in Indian Wells, while Kyle Edmund wins.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Tennis
British number one Johanna Konta beat her compatriot Heather Watson 6-4 6-4 to reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Konta, ranked 11th to Watson's 108th, struggled for rhythm in the first set but dominated the second to lead 5-1.
Watson served nine double faults before fighting back but Konta came through.
In the men's event, Kyle Edmund beat Portugal's Gastao Elias 6-1 6-3 to set up a second-round meeting with world number two Novak Djokovic.
British number three Dan Evans registered a 6-1 6-1 win over Germany's Dustin Brown in just 53 minutes.
He will face Kei Nishikori, ranked fifth in the world, in the second round on Sunday while Konta goes on to face Caroline Garcia in round three..
• None Murray has work to do in 2017
"It was definitely a brilliant experience for both of us as Fed Cup team-mates and I am very happy to have come through it," said Konta, who was playing her first match in a month after a foot injury.
It was the first meeting on the WTA Tour between Britain's two leading women.
Their only previous contest was at a second-tier tournament in Barnstaple in 2013 when Watson retired after losing the first four games.
Watson broke serve first but then gifted the advantage back as she made three double faults in the third game.
With both players making errors, the pair traded serves again before Konta, who received a bye in the first round, struck the decisive blow by winning the ninth game.
She went on to hold her serve to love to take the first set.
Konta won eight points without reply at the start of the second set and looked on course for a quick victory.
Watson, who threw her racquet in frustration after making three more double faults in the sixth game, found herself 5-1 down before she rallied.
Konta served two double faults in the seventh game and won only two points as Watson, 24, won three consecutive games.
But the 11th seed composed herself to seal her place in the next round after 94 minutes.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39233518
|
Living loud in China's lively public spaces - BBC News
|
2017-03-11
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Even for a long-time foreign resident, the loudness of life in China can still come as a surprise.
|
China blog
|
Little chance of a quiet cuppa in some Beijing cafes
There are some societies where people are expected to avoid being noisy in public and they behave accordingly. Then there's China.
This country that I love is many things, but quiet is not one of them.
There are plenty of bustling cities - rammed with millions of people - where you could be frowned upon for disrupting others with a raised voice: Seoul, London, Tokyo… especially Tokyo.
China does not have those cities.
The word most often used here to describe a great restaurant is not "moody" nor "intimate" nor "tasteful" but "renao". To be 热闹 is to be bustling with noise and excitement.
After all, who'd want to go to one of those fussy, dull joints where you couldn't bring kids or laugh too loud or spill a beer?
Laughter is often part of the noise
Now, given that I've lived in Beijing for 12 years, you would think that outbursts in public would be as nothing to this hardened correspondent, fully enmeshed in the ways of the Middle Kingdom, yet China can always turn on a surprise.
So there I am at a cafe nearby, feeling all urbane with a light caffeine buzz on: newspaper; some other reading material; Chet Baker's mournful trumpet floating around the room at just the right level; I can't help noticing a smart-looking beautiful woman across the other side of the room talking to her friend and…
Somebody starts a phone call at the top of their voice in full-flight pirate-sounding Beijing dialect. Anyone who has heard a Beijing taxi driver on the phone to the family at home will know exactly how this sounds.
"Naaaarrrrrr? Bu shirrrrrr baaaaa." [Where? No it isn't.]
A cafe in Japan on the other hand, is likely to be an oasis of calm
At this point a Chinese farmer walks in carrying the fake and/or stolen watches he's been selling on the street.
He's carrying his flask of tea, has no intention of buying anything at the cafe and sits on a stool with best view out of the window, next to his mate who also has no intention of buying anything but is very interested in showing the purveyor of watches an awesome new video game on his phone.
Woooshhhh! Bam! Bam! Ba-doing!!! The two of them crack up laughing and they keep playing.
Just as the first conversation is getting heated, a young convert to Christianity sits down next to me and starts praying before diving into her diary-style, each-day-a-new-lesson, introduction to Jesus.
Many countries are densely populated but they respond to the squeeze in different ways
Game, argument, praying, talk, game, laughter, talk... "Look at the stars… Look how they shine for you…"
A hippie looking Chinese bloke has booted up his laptop and Coldplay starts belting out of the speakers.
"And everything you do. Yeah they were all yellow."
He has his eyes closed and is gyrating in the seat as he sings along to himself.
I look around the cafe and, amidst this cacophony of chaos, nobody but me has reacted as if this is anything but completely normal. Some people are chatting amongst themselves, others reading or sending messages on mobile phones but they've not even glanced up to pay attention to the activities around them.
The Big Apple - and unlikely ally to China when it comes to bustle
The other place in the world I've seen this phenomenon is New York.
I went to a diner there once which had an open plan kitchen. It was packed for the morning rush hour. I was preparing to take in the New York Times over breakfast when one of the cooks started ribbing his workmate and the tension was building. At least I thought so.
Then the cook being hassled turned to the other and said in a pretty menacing tone: "Yeah keep talkin' funny guy!" At this point I was considering the possible uses of a spatula as a weapon.
Then the diner owner called out at the top of his voice from the payment counter by the door: "Heh, Pauly, go downstairs and get me some of those ******* strawberries!!!"
The whole country feels like it's on the move
There is something incredible about the way in which societies, cities, subcultures find their level in terms of acceptable public volume.
If a megacity has its own disruptive sound maybe you have to speak up to get over it? But with what noise does a Chinese farmer have to compete in the field?
Maybe you have to speak up in order to be heard amongst a huge population? Yet most Chinese people in recent years grew up with no brothers or sisters and had only their parents at home for evening conversations.
Back in the cafe, Mr Coldplay has packed up his laptop, the game boys have gone and only the first woman is still speaking on the phone… but now much more quietly: she's crying.
Her call has been more important than I had given her credit for.
Loudly playing Coldplay songs in public does not go down well everywhere
I can remember being in London many years ago on a backpacking trip when I got the news that a good friend, a brilliant young doctor, had died back in Sydney.
I didn't know what to do so I went to a cafe and wrote her a letter to say goodbye.
I was crying my eyes out in a public place and people were looking at me but not disapprovingly. They just didn't know how to take it.
When I told a BBC colleague I was going to write this piece she laughed: "What? An Australian talking about noisy people?"
Maybe we are. I hadn't thought about it.
Is that why I fit in here?
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-china-blog-39214869
|
Six Nations 2017: Scotland 'more than capable' of Twickenham win - Stuart Hogg - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
Stuart Hogg says Scotland are "not a team that lies down" as they target a first win over England at Twickenham in 34 years.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Scottish Rugby
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Radio Scotland 810MW, plus live text commentary via the BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app
Full-back Stuart Hogg says it should not be considered a shock if Scotland secure a Six Nations victory over England at Twickenham on Saturday.
They have not beaten England since 2008 and not won at Twickenham since 1983.
But Hogg, who has scored three tries in the campaign so far, says this side is capable of reclaiming the Calcutta Cup.
"We're no longer a team that just turns up, lies down and allows our bellies to be tickled," said the 24-year-old. "We're more than capable of winning."
With Wales beating Ireland in Cardiff on Friday, England will clinch a second straight title if they beat the Scots on Saturday, with a tilt at a second straight Grand Slam in Dublin on Saturday, 18 March to then round things off.
But a Scotland victory would catapult Vern Cotter's side into title contention, with their final game at home to Italy.
Who can still win the Six Nations?
• None If England beat Scotland on Saturday they will retain the title
• None Victory for Scotland could send them top of the table with a game to play
• None If France beat Italy and England lose, mathematically five teams would still be in with a shout
• None There is one final round of games after Saturday's two matches
Hogg has been in fine form during the Six Nations, and having been named player of the tournament last season he is among the leading contenders to claim the award this time around.
One area of Hogg's game that has come under scrutiny, however, is his defence. The Glasgow Warriors full-back says he expects England to try and put him under pressure.
"Defensively I think I will be challenged," he said.
"There will be high balls from George Ford, Owen Farrell, Mike Brown, they'll stick them on me. I'm fully aware of what's coming. It's just about being mature about the situation and dealing with it.
"You're never going to be the complete player. There are always going to be weaknesses in your game and you could say defence is one of mine.
"When things are going well there is always going to be someone to put you down. I'm fully aware that my defence isn't the strongest but I'll continue to work on it."
Victories over Ireland and Wales have seen Scotland rise to an all-time high of fifth in the world rankings.
Hogg feels teams are now taking notice of Scotland's improvement and is relishing a crack at Eddie Jones' side.
"Slowly but surely we are gaining more respect from teams," he added. "We'll just continue to work hard and hopefully wins will come our way.
"I love playing at Twickenham. Unfortunately we've not been able to get the win here.
"The last time we played here [a 25-13 defeat in 2015], we were winning at half-time and going off the pitch to [the fans singing] the Flower of Scotland. As a proud Scotsman that was terrific.
"Here's hoping there will be a big support down here that will be singing again. We're going to do everything we possibly can to make that happen.
"We're very much in a position to come down here and win, and nothing is going to come in our way."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39233717
|
Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 Derby County - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
Brighton comfortably beat out-of-form Derby to move level on points with Championship leaders Newcastle.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Brighton eased to victory against out-of-form Derby to move level on points with Championship leaders Newcastle.
Winger Anthony Knockaert fired the Seagulls ahead early on, with a low 20-yard effort into the corner.
Sam Baldock slotted the ball in to double the lead just before the break.
Matej Vydra headed against the outside of the post for Derby, before Glenn Murray bundled in his 18th goal of the campaign from Knockaert's cross to seal Brighton's 14th home win of the season.
The Seagulls remain second in the table with an inferior goal difference to Newcastle, but now have a nine-point buffer to Huddersfield in third - albeit the Terriers have two games in hand.
Of their nine matches left, seven are against sides in the bottom half of the table as they look to return to the top flight for the first time since 1982-83.
Following a trip to play-off chasing Leeds next Saturday, April's fixture list is kind to Chris Hughton's men with home games against Blackburn, Birmingham, Wigan and Bristol City.
Their outstanding frontline of Murray, Baldock and Knockaert have now scored 42 Championship goals between them this campaign, and gave Derby's defenders a torrid time with their pace, movement and clinical finishing.
Former Leicester forward Knockaert was instrumental in most of Brighton's attacking play, bending home a superb effort to open the scoring and seeing Scott Carson tip over his fierce second-half strike.
The Rams started with former England pair Darren Bent and David Nugent up front, but Brighton's defence were rarely troubled in keeping their 19th clean sheet of the season.
Derby, who are 10th and 10 points behind sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday, have now only picked up six points from their past nine matches and their play-off hopes appear to be over for another season.
Brighton manager Chris Hughton: "We now have 77 points and there is no points target from our last nine games.
"We've got some tough games coming up and everybody is fighting. But we're on the back of a really good performance against a really good side tonight. We were very good from start to finish.
"The timing of the first goal was pivotal, the second just before half-time lifted us and we were able to take that on in the second half."
Derby County boss Steve McClaren: "It was a lesson for my team and this showed how far Brighton have come. They are going up for certain. Murray was a great signing and Brighton are a team that are going up. The gap showed.
"It was a reality check for us. We have played three games in a week and we couldn't deal with the physicality of that.
"That is the benchmark of where we need to go. In the 16 months I was away teams have really kicked on in terms of physicality. The league has kicked on. We need to learn the lessons and kick on ourselves."
McClaren on his future at Derby: "I am confident I can take it on, absolutely. We need to take the club on to the next level and from one day we knew that.
"The chairman wants Derby in the Premier League. We have all the resources and don't need to panic. We need to prepare to face Forest on Saturday and then take this club on."
• None Attempt blocked. Sam Baldock (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Tomer Hemed with a through ball.
• None Beram Kayal (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
• None Attempt blocked. Tom Ince (Derby County) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Goal! Brighton and Hove Albion 3, Derby County 0. Glenn Murray (Brighton and Hove Albion) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner following a set piece situation.
• None Attempt saved. Glenn Murray (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Anthony Knockaert.
• None Jiri Skalak (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39149498
|
Dave Lee at SXSW: AI should help us do less, not more - BBC News
|
2017-03-11
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
At this year’s South by Southwest, a plethora of helpful artificial intelligence - but what I’m looking for is peace and quiet.
|
Technology
|
This year's South by Southwest (SXSW) has a lot of focus on artificial intelligence (AI)
When I think of having an assistant, I'm always drawn to that slightly Hollywood portrayal of a top chief executive, pouring himself a stiff drink, leaning back in his leather chair and pressing the intercom.
"Mary," he'll say. "Please handle my calls. Only disturb me if it's urgent."
It's a bygone era, sure - and a gender stereotype, no doubt - but that dream of having an assistant, one that truly helps you out with daily tasks, is still prevalent. In fact, we're told it's the future of computing - with all the top companies firing up their research divisions to work on the concept. So far, it's Siri, Alexa, Google and Cortana leading the way.
But none of those assistants actually assist you, do they? Not in a "take this load off my mind" kind of way, at least.
This week I'm lucky enough to be at South by Southwest - SXSW - a three-part festival that deals with tech, music and film. Much of the focus this year will be on artificial intelligence - AI - and how it needs to evolve to become more useful and accepted. The sessions will look at how AI can be smart enough to help us achieve more and more.
But really, all I want is for new tech to help me do less.
Have you ever counted how many notifications you get on your smartphone on a typical day? I have. It's horrifying. More than 100 interruptions a day from Facebook likes, Instagram comments, tweet replies, news alerts, text messages, WhatsApp messages, Slack messages… oh my. I can't get a word in edgeways round here, and it's all my fault.
Or is it? I may have sleepwalked into this notification hell, but I was having my hand held throughout it all by the companies desperate for my attention. Every social network, large or small, is after for one thing: engagement. More users, more of the time. And notifications is their surefire way of dragging you back into their apps, time and time again.
It's a lucrative strategy - part of Snapchat's popularity with investors right now is not because of how much money it's making (none) or how many users it has (not that many), but because of incredible statistics that show the average Snapchat user opens the app at least 10 times a day.
Apps can end up sending dozens of notifications a day in an attempt to get users attention
And it's no fluke. In the dark arts of nudging users to breaking point, Snapchat is the Grand High Witch. By default, not only does it tell you when you have a message, it also tells you when you're about to be sent one. "Dave is typing…" it will beep - as if being up-to-date these days requires you to know about messages before they even exist.
Naturally, you open the app; up goes their engagement, and down goes your concentration, your focus, your social etiquette.
Snapchat isn't the only one, of course, and you can turn off notifications manually should you want. But it's at this point your sense of FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out - goes into overdrive. It's a deliberate, emotional tug pulled by app makers, and many push you into a choice between getting all notifications, or none.
Of course one solution to this overwhelming feeling is what people like to refer to as a "digital detox" - a clumsy, cliched term most often pushed by PR companies trying to get clients on to morning radio shows or, worse, from journalists sorely lacking in ideas.
I've always found the outcomes to be pointlessly predictable. You gave up Facebook for a week, you say? Big whoop. Have a sticker.
But this week I read a refreshing view on this issue from Alex Wood. Alex's approach was not to go cold turkey, but instead to implement a few tweaks here and there to regulate use. I'd suggest reading his piece if you want to learn what software he used and other interesting tips.
Snapchat is popular with investors because of how much users open the app
By the time he concluded his piece, he'd managed to disconnect himself sufficiently to feel liberated - but not to the point of being cut off from his friends or profession.
It's an issue also dealt with by another reporter, Kristen Brown, who last year held a panel at an event organised by Fusion, the tech news and culture site that has recently (sadly) been swallowed up into Gizmodo.
One of her suggestions was to hide all the apps on your smartphone into a big folder, so the only practical way to access the was to use the search function. This added step in theory made you focus on what you really needed to do - and put an end to that habit of just idly tapping from app to app.
But what stood out - for both Kristen and Alex - was how difficult the process was. Given technology constantly provides us with smart user interfaces and automation, turning off notifications remains a frustrating manual task - an intentionally fiddly process of ducking through menus, and then, assuming you want them back at some point, going through those menus once again, hopefully remembering what exactly it was you turned off.
If digital assistants go the way of notifications, we're in even more trouble. Notifications won't just be buzzing our pockets, but filling our air with noise.
There is value in that, but after pondering the struggle Alex went through to temporarily silence his digital life, I feel a truly intelligent assistant would be more like Mary, the Hollywood chief exec's assistant.
Why can't I tell Alexa that I want to focus right now, and it should instruct my social networks to chill out - notifications will stop, messages will be reduced.
Dave Lee hopes to find a company to make his life easier at SXSW
Today, asking Siri to "handle my calls" prompts it to bring up a call history. Perhaps instead it should be able to intercept my incoming calls, ask the caller if it's urgent, and only then disturb me if needed.
The iPhone already has a Do Not Disturb function, but it's a bit of a blunt instrument when it comes to filtering out - or letting in - things that are truly worth your time. There are a smattering of apps that help you regulate your time on networks or websites. But it's too cumbersome, and only gets the job half done.
Sadly, it's not in any tech firm's interests to lessen the amount of time you spend interacting with your technology - so progress in this area may be slow. But as I take on the corridors of SXSW this week, I'll be cheering on any company that wants to genuinely make my life easier.
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook. You can reach Dave securely through encrypted messaging app Signal on: +1 (628) 400-7370
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39238809
|
The mysterious death of a live-streaming gamer - BBC News
|
2017-03-11
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The death of a young father leads to a conversation about marathon gaming sessions.
|
BBC Trending
|
Brian Vigneault had been playing for more than 20 hours continuously when he died
The death of a prominent gamer has led to a debate about whether gaming marathons are hazardous to health.
Brian Vigneault was a 35-year-old father of three from Virginia, USA who gamed under the alias Poshybrid. In February he took on a 24-hour-long gaming marathon, playing World of Tanks to raise money for charity.
The marathon was streamed to a live audience on the website Twitch, which describes itself as "the world's leading video platform and community for gamers".
Twenty two hours in, Vigneault reportedly went outside to take a cigarette break. He didn't return to the screen - and later died.
Vigneault's exact cause of death has not yet been established, or conclusively linked to his streaming marathon. But his friend Jessica Gebauer, who spoke to him on the night he died, told BBC Trending that he looked "extremely tired" and was falling asleep during the stream.
Since Vigneault's death, Gebauer, who is a fellow streamer, says she has questioned the health implications of continuous live-stream gaming. She is not the only one.
Hear this story in full on the BBC World Service, or download our podcast
Joe Marino is a "professional" Twitch user, who makes money from subscriptions to his gaming channel. He told BBC Trending that he thinks all streaming platforms should set up limits on how long streamers can stream.
Marino, who says he developed Type 2 diabetes after spending a year streaming on Twitch 12 hours a day, seven days a week, said: "The reason you don't move around on Twitch is because you're live, so if you get up and move you've potentially lost a portion of your audience.
Following the death of Vigneault, Marino penned a warning article warning about the health risks of his streaming career. It received comments from gamers who said they too experienced health issues following marathon gaming sessions.
Joe Marino in front of his gaming setup
Founded in 2011 and bought by Amazon in 2014, Twitch is a huge community of gamers and game watchers. The company estimates that each day close to 10 million people visit the site to watch fellow gamers and talk about video games, and users can also donate money to more than 2 million streamers.
Twitch and other similar sites host tournaments where seasoned players stay continuously online for several hours - or longer - and gaming marathons are becoming more and more common.
Well-known streamers such as ManVsGame have frequently taken part in marathon streams exceeding 24 hours - and in 2015 he spoke about taking drugs to supplement his marathon sessions.
While deaths as a result of video game streaming are incredibly rare, there have been other incidents including the death of a 24-year-old man in Shanghai 2015 who died after playing World of Warcraft for 19 hours, and the death in 2012 of a teenager in Taiwan who reportedly died at an Internet cafe playing Diablo 3 for 40 hours straight.
Twitch is a live streaming social video platform for gamers. The site say they have more than 9 million daily active users
Cam Adair, who is founder of Game Quitters - the largest online support community for people with gaming addiction - says Twitch and other streaming platforms have a duty of care to their users: "I'm not saying that companies need to be policing their users, but they could simply reach out and say 'Hey, I've seen you've been playing 15 hours today which is different to what was going on before. Are you OK?'"
However, for professional Twitch streamer Ben Broman, who has taken part in 11 24-hour gaming marathons, imposing health guidelines on Twitch streamers would be too restrictive.
"Twitch, much like any other creative career, involves risk taking and any artist will tell you that it's very important for them to be able to go about creating it in whatever way they see fit," he told BBC Trending.
Another streamer on Reddit said: "Not intending to speak ill of the dead, but he made the choice to do this... I understand there is pressure to produce, but obviously some things come before that. I don't think we should impose restrictions."
Twitch said they are "greatly saddened" at the passing of one of their users, but the company has not responded to suggestions that they should be taking a more active approach in ensuring the health of their users.
Next story: The 'robot lawyer’ giving free legal advice to refugees
A technology used to fight parking fines is now helping asylum seekers apply for emergency housing. READ MORE
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-39232620
|
Chris and Gabby Adcock reach All England Badminton semi-finals - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
Chris and Gabby Adcock fight back to defeat the Olympic champions and reach the All England Badminton semi-finals.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Badminton
Chris and Gabby Adcock produced a stunning comeback to defeat the Olympic champions and reach the All England Badminton semi-finals in Birmingham.
The married pair lost the first set 16-21 to Indonesia's Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir but levelled in a gruelling 21-19 second set win.
They then powered to a 21-12 success in the decider to reach the last-four.
"The crowd played a massive part in helping us turn that around," Gabby Adcock told BBC Sport.
Chris Adcock added: "They are the best pair in the world at making you feel like you're not playing well and it was a real struggle for us to begin with.
"We could have easily crumbled and been out of here, going home, so I'm really pleased with how we responded and how the crowd helped us."
The Adcocks, who are seeded seventh, will face fifth-seeds Kai Lu and Huang Yaqiong on Saturday.
The Chinese duo secured a surprise win over London Olympic bronze medallists Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen from Denmark.
"We've played the Chinese a few times and know what we're going to get from them, so we'll rest now and come out fighting again tomorrow," said Gabby Adcock.
"We reached the semi-finals last year and wanted to improve on that, so we're on course and have come here to win."
Find out how to get into badminton with our special guide.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/badminton/39233106
|
FA Cup: Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez scores a wonderful solo goal against Lincoln - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez is given space by Lincoln City to run towards goal and bend a brilliant strike deep into the far corner in the FA Cup quarter-final.
| null |
Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez is given space by Lincoln City to run towards goal and bend a brilliant strike deep into the far corner in the FA Cup quarter-final.
Watch highlights of the FA Cup, Saturday 11 March, 23:05 GMT on BBC One and the BBC Sport website & app.
Available to UK users only.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39246037
|
Elise Christie wins 1500m gold at World Short Track Speed Skating Championships - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
Britain's Elise Christie wins the 1500m title at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Rotterdam.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Winter Sports
Elise Christie became the first British woman to win a World Short Track Speed Skating Championships title with victory in the 1500m in Rotterdam.
The 26-year-old Scot had previously won eight other world championship medals but clocked two minutes 54.369 seconds, to win the title, 0.12 seconds ahead of Canada's Marianne St-Gelais in second.
She also reached the 500m final, but finished last of the four competitors.
Christie has the chance of another gold in the 1000m on Sunday.
"I never expected to win the 1500,'' said Christie.
The world title represents an impressive resurgence from Christie, who said she was considering her future in the sport after being disqualified from all three of her events at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
Livingston-born Christie has been focusing on the shorter distance events this season and has already set a new 500m world record of 42.335 seconds.
In the 1500m final, South Korea's Shim Suk-hee was third with her compatriot and defending champion Choi Min-jeong a distant fifth.
Christie was unable to challenge in the 500m final, recording a time of 43.835 seconds, with China's Kexin Fan winning in 43.605.
Meanwhile at the World Freestyle Ski and Snowboard Championships, Zoe Gillings-Brier finished ninth in the snowboard cross.
She only gave birth to a daughter last August and missed out on a chunk of pre-season training.
Gillings-Brier, who does not receive UK Sport funding, told BBC Sport: "I loved every minute of it. Back on a big course with all the best competitors. Hopefully I'll get some great training in the summer."
American Lindsey Jacobellis landed her fifth world title in a photo finish with France's Chloe Trespeuch.
On her first appearance in the competition, 19-year-old Welsh competitor Maisie Potter went out in the snowboard cross quarter-finals.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/39244195
|
Pep Guardiola: Man City boss says no silverware would mean failure - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
Pep Guardiola says his first season as Manchester City boss will be considered a failure if he does not win a trophy.
| null |
Pep Guardiola said his first season as Manchester City boss will be considered a failure if he does not win a trophy.
Guardiola arrived last summer following success with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but his current side trail Premier League leaders Chelsea by 10 points with 11 games remaining.
City are, however, still in the FA Cup and Champions League.
"If I have no silverware, I will not be here for a long time," said the 46-year-old Catalan manager.
"No silverware - it will not be a good season," Guardiola added. "I knew that in August. Being a manager depends on results.
"I know what my standard was in the past and I know what is on my shoulders. I have to handle that.
"But I know we will be judged on the titles we have won. My period in Munich was judged like a disaster because we were not able to win the Champions League. I won three leagues in a row, we won two cups from three, we arrived every time in the semi-finals and finals but it was a disaster.
"I have to handle that but what I can say is try to play better, better, better than the previous month. That's what I want to see for the next year - be better."
City travel to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday before heading to Monaco for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday. They then face top-four rivals Liverpool the following weekend.
Guardiola said: "It is an important week. We have done a good job in the past - especially in two competitions and we are doing quite well in the Premier League as well - but this week is so, so important. These three games will decide what's going to happen in the next two months, definitely."
Guardiola said captain Vincent Kompany is now back in training and the defender could be in contention to return at Middlesbrough.
Analysis - not everything has gone well
Pep Guardiola knows his time as Manchester City manager will be judged on the trophies he wins.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach has brought his distinctive possession-based style to the Etihad Stadium.
At times, beating Barcelona 3-1 [in the Champions League] and West Ham 5-0, [in the FA Cup] it has been mesmeric. But Claudio Bravo's troubles as a ball-playing goalkeeper is proof that not everything has gone well.
Yet Guardiola feels assessments on style are irrelevant compared to results.
With Chelsea 10 points clear in the Premier League and the EFL Cup already won by Manchester United, it puts extra emphasis on City's FA Cup sixth-round tie at Middlesbrough on Saturday.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39237214
|
Six Nations: Despite their unbeaten run, do England have a problem? - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
England's powerful finishers have helped them to a 17-match winning run - so what's the problem at the start of the match, asks Tom Forydce.
| null |
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Radio Scotland, plus live text commentary via the BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app
It might sound a curiously mealy-mouthed thing to say about a team that have won their past 17 matches and sit atop the Six Nations table with consecutive Grand Slams a genuine possibility, but England's rugby team might have a problem.
It's clearly not the results. Beat Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday and they will have matched New Zealand's all-time tier one record for consecutive victories. It's not the way they finish games; under coach Eddie Jones, they have scored a cumulative 102 more points in the final quarter of matches than their opponents.
It's what's been happening at the other end of the games that is raising eyebrows among critics and hopes among their opponents.
Scoreless at home against Italy after 20 minutes, struggling to kick from hand, giving away set-piece penalties; 9-3 down to France, with a man in the sin bin; 10-0 down to Australia last autumn after 17 minutes, their opponents with 97% of the territory and 87% of the possession.
It goes further back. Down against South Africa earlier in the autumn, six penalties conceded in the first 21 minutes. Two tries conceded in the first 20 minutes in the third of the summer Tests against the Wallabies, 10-0 down after 15 minutes of the first.
• None Could the Twickenham crowd turn on England?
• None Finn Russell column: 'We can't wait to get stuck into England'
You might say it doesn't matter. All those games were won. Against Wales in Cardiff England led 8-3 after the first quarter, with 74% of the possession. How could anyone complain when England have won their past 10 Six Nations matches, and are about to take on a team who haven't won in south-west London in 34 years?
Jones, all those years of international coaching with four different nations whirring away in his brain, thinks otherwise.
Part of that is about standards. This is a team he wants to win the next World Cup in 2019. Give the All Blacks a head-start and you are unlikely to catch them. Part of it is much more short-term: Scotland's revival in Vern Cotter's last year in charge is genuine. They are outsiders once again this weekend, but seldom in those 34 barren years have they travelled in such form.
"Mate, if I knew I'd fix it," Jones said when asked this week if he had worked out what was going wrong in those opening exchanges. "And I haven't been able to fix it, so I don't know."
"It's something we have been mentioning over the last few weeks," winger Jack Nowell told BBC Sport. "We've got ourselves out of jail a few times now - it is about a fast start, and putting our game on them first."
England's replacements - the finishers, as Jones likes to call them - have done that jail-breaking to perfection. According to Opta, the men off the bench have created more tries than those of any other nation (three scored, two assisted), made more carries, conceded the fewest turnovers and shipped only one penalty (Scotland's replacements have conceded six, France's seven).
It's a wonderful asset for the coach to have. With a bench on Saturday that includes both Vunipola brothers, Jamie George, the returning Anthony Watson and the thundering Ben Te'o, it could be decisive once again this week.
It does not mean the starters cannot be expected to match those same standards. Dig a hole often enough, and one day you might not be able to climb out of it.
"It becomes a case of, are you riding your luck?" says Paul Grayson, the former England fly-half who is part of BBC Radio 5 live's commentary team at Twickenham this weekend.
"The Italy game was as bad an opening quarter as we've seen from an England team under Jones - and that was nothing to do with 'ruckgate' (when Italy's tactic of not committing to rucks befuddled England). They were just nowhere near it mentally.
"Maybe that's a timely wake-up call, because when winning becomes supposedly routine, even if you get away with a couple, you've still got to find a way to motivate yourself. If England are not quite there mentally, they look ordinary, and at some point soon they will lose."
Who can still win the Six Nations?
• None If England beat Scotland on Saturday they will retain the title
• None Victory for Scotland could send them top of the table with a game to play
• None If France beat Italy and England lose, mathematically five teams would still be in with a shout
• None There is one final round of games after Saturday's matches
"England need to start fast," former British and Irish Lions winger Ugo Monye told 5 live's Rugby Union Weekly podcast this week. "They need to get the crowd on their side - three points, six, nine, score a try, shut out Scotland, and put a seed of doubt into their minds.
"Scotland come down here with their fanfare and the bagpipes and their confidence, and everyone is aware of their threat, and if it's a close game you might just have the Twickenham crowd turning on their players a little bit."
Jones has been in ornery form this week, irascible in his media conferences, hard-nosed with his players on the Pennyhill Park training pitches.
"We're preparing to start well," he said irritably when announcing his selection. "We're not preparing not to start well.
"It's an 80-minute game. We've got to be ahead at the 80-minute mark, and that's what we're aiming to be against Scotland.
"It's like starting a 100m race. You can be ahead at the 10m mark, but you've got to be ahead at the 100m mark."
Jones, a self-confessed cricket nut, might enjoy another analogy: a pair of opening batsmen playing and missing on the first morning of a Test match, the opposition fast bowler fired up and the new ball seaming and bouncing past the outside edge.
What does it matter if they are 80-3 at lunch if by the close they have put on 300 for the loss of only one more wicket?
"Ian McGeechan, when he was coaching Northampton and telling us how he wanted us to play, brought up the example of Wigan's very successful rugby league team," remembers Grayson.
"Every team that played Wigan wanted to beat them. They would be totally up for it, and they would go toe-to-toe with them. They got to half-time, and it would be 10-8, or 6-6, or they would only be four points down.
"Then they would get into the second half, and as that effort left them tired and weakened, they would roll over and Wigan would score 40 points.
"I used to think, what does a game look like after 20 minutes? If I can get some points on the board, great; if they've thrown a few shots and we've had to defend for a while and they haven't got much out of it, no problem, we'll see you in the last 10 minutes of the first half and the last 15 minutes of the contest.
"The opposition are always going to be at their most obstinate and most up for it in that period. Yet, barring the Wales game, England haven't had too much flow in attack in the early part of their games. It's always difficult, but if you're the best side in the world, you do it. The All Blacks always manage to come out of the blocks."
Such has been the impact of England's replacements that the impression is that Jones has enviable strength in depth. He does - at prop and hooker, at scrum-half, on the wings.
With first-choice lock George Kruis out injured and his preferred partner Maro Itoje shifted to six, stand-in second rows Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes have arguably been England's most effective players.
But it is not true throughout the team. England's Test cricket team often find themselves early wickets down because they have struggled to replace Andrew Strauss alongside Alastair Cook. They can struggle on turning pitches because no-one who has come into the team has been able to match the impact of world-class spinner Graeme Swann.
"Nathan Hughes looks like the Billy Vunipola of three years ago," says Grayson. "Likely to last 50 minutes or do 30 minutes off the bench, do two or three good things but also disappear for a while.
"And that makes a massive difference. Take Lawrence Dallaglio out of England's World Cup-winning team and put in another number eight, and what do they look like? They're just not quite as big or powerful or dominant or vocal.
"When Dallaglio wasn't playing, England weren't quite the same. And I think that Vunipola is at that point. He's an 80-minute player heading to world class. And they just haven't got that otherwise.
"Billy has been out and with Chris Robshaw being out, that's two-thirds of your first-choice back row. That's a huge loss to England, because they don't have that many great back-row players."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39236510
|
An absence of peace: When is a war actually a war? - BBC News
|
2017-03-11
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The BBC's defence and diplomatic correspondent examines how armed conflict and war differ.
|
World
|
Earlier this month, a relic from World War Two intruded into daily life in north London. A 500lb Luftwaffe bomb was discovered by builders excavating in the leafy suburb of Brondesbury.
Local homes were evacuated, local train services were closed down. Eventually the weapon was made safe and finally removed to be detonated on an army range.
This relic of a war that ended more than 70 years ago set me thinking.
World War Two - just like the Great War that preceded it - was a total war. The fates of all the countries involved were in the balance. Ordinary soldiers were largely not professionals but were conscripted citizens. The whole of society - its energies and industrial might - were mobilised for the conflict.
Once the war was over, many of its constraints inevitably lingered - the rationing of food, for example. War-ravaged cities also bore their scars.
As a child I remember the temporary homes - the rectangular "prefabs" or prefabricated houses - that dotted many of the bomb sites in east London near my grandparents' home.
My childhood was dominated by films and documentaries about the war. I lose track of the number of plastic Spitfire model kits I must have built to battle with their Messerschmitt equivalents.
But whatever the memories and cultural obsessions, the conflict was definitively over. There was, in short, a clear distinction between war and peace.
Thankfully the so-called Cold War of the 1950s and 60s remained just that: in Europe, at least, it never went hot. War and peace were two separate states of affairs.
Fast forward to today. This week, in London, a memorial was unveiled to the service personnel and civilians who lost their lives in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the government's own website it is described as the Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial.
In the West, at least, the Cold War never became hot
In the lengthy press release that follows there is no mention of the word "war", except to say that the new memorial stands close to monuments to World War Two and the Korean War.
There is rightly, of course, mention of the lives lost and the medals won. There is, too, appreciation for those who "put themselves in harm's way" - an Americanism that has intruded itself into the public debate on armed conflict.
But there you have it. These were undoubtedly armed conflicts far from our shores. But in what sense were they wars? Well of course they were, I hear you say, this is all semantic argument.
Well, they were certainly wars for the Afghans and the Iraqis who were in some cases willing, and in many cases, unwilling participants in the struggles.
They were certainly wars for those actually engaged in combat. From my very limited experience under fire, it matters little if it is a skirmish or a fully-fledged battle if it is you on the spot where the bullets are flying.
The Queen unveiled the Iraq and Afghanistan memorial in London
But were Britain, the United States or their many allies who have contributed troops to these conflicts really "at war"? To what extent were their societies adapted or mobilised for the struggle? In some senses, very little. But in others, perhaps, more than we would like to admit.
None of their economies was on a war footing and the fighting was done largely by regular professional troops or volunteer reservists. Boots on the ground were combined with the signature style of the modern Western military campaign: lashings of air power along with the use of sophisticated armed drones.
Paradoxically, the primary impact of these wars was on the home front: the political obsession with terrorism which has had an impact on policing, community relations and security legislation and created an atmosphere in which debate about "fear of the other" has become an increasingly important factor in democratic elections and referendums.
It has also led increasingly to a militarisation of foreign policy - the idea that the military has an answer for most of the world's problems.
And, in the midst of this, the former US Pentagon official and academic Rosa Brooks has mused eloquently on this theme in a book cogently titled How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything.
Her message, that the blurring of the boundaries of war and peace has consequences for all our lives, is one that seems to resound with ever more people around the globe.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-39222619
|
Six Nations 2017: Italy 18-40 France - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
France end their dismal Six Nations away form with a comfortable win in Italy, boosting their hopes of a top-three finish.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
France ended their dismal Six Nations away form with a bonus-point win against Italy in Rome.
Italy skipper Sergio Parisse scored the quickest try of the 2017 tournament, but Gael Fickou's score helped the visitors lead 16-11 at the break.
Victor Vakatawa, Louis Picamoles and Brice Dulin also crossed, with Camille Lopez kicking 20 points, as France avoided a sixth straight away defeat.
But their slim title chances were ended by England's win over Scotland.
France, who host Wales in Paris next Saturday, must now concentrate on finishing in the top three for the first time since 2011.
Italy produced encouraging displays in gallant defeats against England and Wales, holding half-time leads in both matches before fading away in the second half.
Again, the Azzurri ran out of steam.
They have 'lost' the second halves of their four matches this year by a combined 115-12, compared to a 57-38 first-half deficit.
Conor O'Shea's side made the perfect start when the talismanic Parisse powered over from close range after three minutes, but they were unable to replicate the defensive resilience shown against the English and Welsh.
The Italians had 53 missed tackles, culminating in a tackle percentage of just 66%, and it was exploited by the French attack.
Les Bleus took the lead midway through the first half when Fickou dummied his way through the Italian defence to score and, although Carlos Canna's penalty reduced the gap to 13-11 shortly after.
Italy crumbled after the break as they headed towards an 11th successive Six Nations defeat, although Angelo Esposito's try in the last play of the game avoided a scoreless second half for the hosts.
However, it was little consolation for a side consigned to the wooden spoon for the third time in four years.
Replacements: D'Apice (for Ghiraldini 63), Panico (for Lovotti 64), Chistolini (for Cittadini 40), Biagi (for Fuser 50), Mbanda (for Favaro 51), Bronzini (for Gori 51), Benvenuti (for Campagnaro 65), Sperandio.
Replacements: Tolofua (for Guirado 54), Atonio (for Baille 54), Ben Arous (for Slimani 54), Jedrasiak (for Le Devedec 54), Le Roux (for Picamoles 72), Dupont (for Serin 72), Trinh-Duc (for Lamerat 69), Huget (for Vakatawa 63).
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39221709
|
Middlesbrough 0-2 Manchester City - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
Manchester City comfortably win at Middlesbrough as Pep Guardiola's side secure an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Goals from David Silva and Sergio Aguero gave Manchester City a deserved win over Middlesbrough and earned Pep Guardiola's side a place in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Silva scored just three minutes in from six yards out after Pablo Zabaleta had time and space to cross low from the right.
Middlesbrough goalkeeper Brad Guzan produced a number of fine saves to deny Silva, Leroy Sane and deflect an Aguero shot on to the post.
But Aguero finally made the result safe for the visitors when he converted from Sane's low cross to earn his side a Wembley semi-final.
City have reached the last four of the FA Cup for the first time in four years as Guardiola aims to win some silverware in his first season in English football.
The Spanish manager also had the luxury of taking off Sane and Aguero before City play the second leg of their last-16 Champions League tie in Monaco on Wednesday. City hold a 5-3 lead after a thrilling first leg.
City had defeated West Ham, Crystal Palace and Huddersfield Town so far in the competition and completely dominated against Middlesbrough.
The visitors had 69% of possession and 10 shots on target compared with only three from the hosts at a packed Riverside Stadium.
City's movement off the ball was excellent as they repeatedly carved open a Boro defence that could not cope with the visitors.
Poor marking enabled Zabaleta to get free early on and his low cross was missed by Raheem Sterling before Silva lashed City ahead.
Only an outstanding performance by Guzan kept his side in it as he produced a number of saves to frustrate the visitors.
Aguero, who had earlier hit the post, got a goal he deserved when he finished well from the delivery from the excellent Sane.
For Middlesbrough, 18th in the Premier League, it was another afternoon to forget.
Not only were they outclassed, they also suffered two injuries to key players as forward Rudy Gestede and defender Bernardo limped off.
Gestede had two attempts - heading just over and also having a header cleared off the line by Pablo Zabaleta - before going off after only 26 minutes with what appeared to be a lower back injury.
Boro have scored the fewest goals in the Premier League - 19 in 27 matches - and may now be without a striker who only joined them in January in a £6m move from Aston Villa.
Defender Bernardo also went off early in the second half with 19-year-old centre-half Dael Fry coming on to make only his second appearance of the season.
Boro, against the run of play, had a late chance to score but John Stones cleared off the line after goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had parried Fabio's header.
With 11 Premier League games left, Boro can now focus their attentions on trying to stay in the top flight.
It's not all about the FA Cup, they need to survive in the Premier League too, but Middlesbrough really couldn't have done much when City are in this form. They have had a football lesson.
City were always going to win this, we knew that when we saw the team sheet. They had put the big boys on the pitch.
Full credit to Middlesbrough. They are an honest, genuine side but were just lacking in a class finisher. It was 2-0 but it could have been a lot, lot more.
I do fear for Middlesbrough. They have got to be more adventurous against teams in the bottom half - the ones you think they should beat.
They are currently playing a counter-attacking game and, apart from Adama Traore, they don't have the legs to get forward quickly.
Another semi-final for Guardiola - the stats
• None Manchester City have reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the third time in six seasons (also in 2011 and 2013).
• None City boss Pep Guardiola has now reached a semi-final in all eight of his seasons in club management.
• None David Silva has been directly involved in five goals in his past five FA Cup appearances (two goals, three assists).
• None Silva's goal was the earliest Manchester City have scored this season and the quickest Boro have conceded.
• None Middlesbrough have failed to score in five of their past six matches.
• None Boro have failed to score in 14 games this season, with seven of those coming since the turn of the year.
What the managers said
Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka, speaking to BBC Sport, said: "It is easy to say that the best team won, but I am really proud of my players - they made an amazing effort.
"This is the way we need to keep competing because we will win more than lose. The past two games were awful for us so I was a bit concerned about the atmosphere when they scored the first goal so quickly, but they keep going, with high pressure, trying to win back the ball.
"As a coach you can't be more proud of your players. I have told them now that I take much more positive things than negative."
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola: "We were outstanding from the beginning. We have now played three teams from the Premier League and one from the Championship.
"We played a good performance and were there from the first minute. We have missed a lot of chances throughout the season and the game should have been over 30 minutes before. We need to improve that, but I am happy and we can play Monaco.
"When you attack good, you defend good. We want to play in this way. Claudio made a good performance and that is why we were able to have another clean sheet. I like to work with these guys. I'm so happy."
Manchester City are back in Champions League action against Monaco on Wednesday (19:45 GMT kick-off).
Both City and Middlesbrough are next in Premier League action on 19 March. Middlesbrough entertain Manchester United (12:00) before City play at home against Liverpool (16:30 GMT).
• None Attempt blocked. Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is blocked. Assisted by David Silva.
• None Attempt blocked. Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Gaël Clichy.
• None Attempt missed. Álvaro Negredo (Middlesbrough) with an attempt from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Gastón Ramírez with a cross following a set piece situation.
• None Attempt blocked. Adam Clayton (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Marten de Roon (Middlesbrough) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39162616
|
Six Nations 2017: Wales 22-9 Ireland - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
Wales survive an Ireland fightback to claim victory and hand England the chance to clinch the Six Nations title against Scotland on Saturday.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Welsh Rugby
By Richard Williams BBC Wales Sport at the Principality Stadium
Wales survived an Ireland fightback to claim a pressure-relieving win and hand England a chance to clinch the Six Nations title against Scotland.
Wing George North scored two tries as the hosts opened up a nine-point lead early in the second half in Cardiff.
Ireland, inspired by Johnny Sexton, almost turned the game on its head.
Wales repulsed waves of attacks before Jamie Roberts clinched the victory with a 78th-minute try after Taulupe Faletau's charge down.
The defeat handed a potentially fatal blow to Ireland's championship challenge with England able to secure the title if they beat the Scots at Twickenham on Saturday at 16:00 GMT.
Who can still win the Six Nations?
• None If England beat Scotland on Saturday they will retain the title
• None Victory for Scotland could send them top of the table with a game to play
• None If France beat Italy and England lose, mathematically five teams would still be in with a shout
• None There is one final round of games after Saturday's matches
Joe Schmidt's Ireland side paid a high price for a yellow card handed to Sexton which saw Wales score 10 points in six minutes either side of half-time.
And, after a week which saw Wales coach Rob Howley talk about redemption, North in particular answered criticism with his best performance for Wales in some time.
Ireland contributed much to a brutal encounter, but could not cross Wales' try-line despite long periods of pressure.
And a mistake by centre Robbie Henshaw at a driving maul which handed Wales a penalty when they looked certain to concede a try effectively ended Ireland's hopes.
North looked like a player rejuvenated in the opening stages, clattering through Rob Kearney and looking a threat whenever he received the ball.
His endeavour was rewarded in the 19th minute when Rhys Webb and Scott Williams combined before the scrum-half's long pass found Leigh Halfpenny who fed North.
Faced with three defenders, the Northampton wing blasted through them to score with a bellow of delight. It was like 2012 all over again.
Sexton's ability to pick off Dan Biggar passes was a problem for Wales who were also second best in the aerial battle.
Halfpenny and Paddy Jackson - on briefly for a dazed Sexton - exchanged penalties as Wales reached half-time ahead and with the busy Sexton in the sin-bin for Ireland.
Ireland found themselves nine points behind within four minutes of the restart as Webb fed an unmarked North for a second try, which Halfpenny converted from the touchline.
Sexton's return marked a change in momentum, and his second penalty threatened another second-half heartache for Wales after losing leads against England and Scotland.
But they withstood immense pressure in a tumultuous Principality Stadium with Ireland just failing to turn a number of dangerous aerial bombs into points.
And when Henshaw's rush of blood let Wales off the hook they forced Ireland back and it was another attempted Sexton kick which replacement Faletau charged down to let fellow substitute Roberts crash over at the posts and almost raise the closed roof.
Replacements: Roberts for S Williams (67), S Davies for Biggar (80), G Davies for Webb (67), Smith for Evans (67), Baldwin for Owens (72), Lee for Francis (70), Charteris for Ball (63), Faletau for Moriarty (67).
Replacements: Bowe for Kearney (70), Jackson for Sexton (19), Marmion for Murray (46), C Healy for McGrath (59), Scannell for Best (80), J Ryan for Furlong (80), Henderson for Toner (63), O'Mahony for Stander (63).
• None Get all the latest Six Nations news by adding
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39199479
|
Why I bought my daughter heroin - BBC News
|
2017-03-11
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
What would you do if your child was a heroin addict suffering from acute withdrawal symptoms?
|
Magazine
|
What would you do if your child was a heroin addict suffering from acute withdrawal symptoms - disintegrating in front of your eyes - while waiting for rehab treatment to start? One mother from a village in the south-west of England describes how she ended up driving her daughter to town, and paying for her to get a fix.
She was pouring with sweat, vomiting, crying, hysterical, shaking - just desperate, feeling desperately ill. I felt like I was trapped in a corner and that there was nothing else I could do. So I said to her, "Is there any way we can do this - on the street?"
She spent a good hour and a half ringing around, and people could only offer her heroin, not methadone.
That's how we ended up in the middle of a local town with me handing over my hard-earned money to buy a drug.
The problem really started five years ago, when she was 18. She had some life changes in terms of friends going off to university and changes in a long-term relationship that she had been happy in, and then it had gone wrong. Her behaviour, her personality, started to change.
Before she had been hard-working, she had loved her horse and would ride, and all these things started to fall by the wayside. She slept a lot in the day. I kept saying to her, "What's wrong with you?"
And then she started hanging around with people that we knew were not a good influence - older people who were using drugs. And it started to sort of click into place.
Listen to the daughter speaking to BBC Radio 4's iPM programme on the BBC iPlayer.
You can also hear the mother's account in audio here.
We were driving back from somewhere one day and I asked her again what was wrong with her.
And she said, "Imagine the worst thing it could be."
I said, "Are you pregnant?" - which, when I think about it now would have been nothing. It would have been fantastic in a way if that had been the answer, because the answer was: "No, no mum. Think of the worst. Worse, much worse than that. Think of the worst thing."
I said, "Are you a drug addict?" And she said, "Yes."
Then she broke down, and it was heartbreaking. It was the worst day of my life.
We talked about how to stop it there and then - how to bring it to a stop as soon as possible. We talked about it as a family, and there was a bit of shouting. You had different emotions - one minute you are shouting and angry, the next minute you are upset.
My husband's brother had been a drug user and had died through depression, when he was trying to come off them. I think my husband thought it was a waste, that his brother could have been a really valuable part of our family life and our society. And I think he felt the same way about our daughter - that she had so much to offer, and he didn't want her to make the wrong choices.
Our daughter at that point didn't feel it was a problem. She kept saying, "It's just fun, OK? It's just fun." And that would be interspersed with periods of depression and it not being fun, but her not being prepared to admit that. And as time went on we gave her an ultimatum. Looking back I don't know whether it was the right decision or not, but we said, "If you continue to use drugs, you can no longer live at home." And we kicked her out, because she continued.
Then her drug use got worse, and her friendship groups deteriorated more and more.
I hated her. I hated her so much.
I felt that she had all the power to stop it - and she didn't. Nothing your children can do will stop you loving them, but the hatred was enormous. I was just desperately angry. I wanted to pick her up literally by her shoulders and shake her like a doll and say, "For goodness sake! Look at what you are doing!"
I had always been a very controlling mum when they were younger. They had set bedtimes and they ate their vegetables and all that. And I felt very out of control. I couldn't say, "No you're not going out. You need to come home and stay home and sort yourself out." Because she would say, "I'm an adult, I can do what I like."
I was disappointed. Very disappointed, because I had great expectations of what she could achieve. She wasn't managing to achieve anything at that point, although things did change briefly when she started to realise she wasn't happy.
She applied to the army, to the military police, and she did her basic training really well and got a good job in the military police. We thought she had kicked her drug habit and turned her life around, and we were just immensely proud. I remember thinking, "Oh my goodness, she's done it. Not only has she done it, she's done it big time - she's got a really good job." We didn't know there was still a problem.
She was earning good money but after about a year, at the end of every month, we started getting phone calls. She kept saying, "I don't know where I spend all my money mum, it just goes. At the end of every month I'm left with nothing and I've got no money for food and stuff."
So we would forward her a sub for the next month. We weren't actually giving her money, we were subbing her until her next pay packet.
All the way through she had a problem, which she was hiding because she was ashamed, I think.
She would come back and associate with the same people, so we would see her very little at weekends, and then she would go back to base on the Monday.
But I think it started to impact on her ability to work. She was getting exhausted, you could tell. She was tiring of partying all weekend and then holding down a full-time job in the week. When you haven't slept from Thursday night until you go back to bed on Monday evening after work, you're very exhausted, and it started to catch up with her. I think her colleagues and her boss started to see there were changes, because we started getting phone calls from the army.
One day she drove back on the Monday, having not slept for days, and smashed her car into the central reservation on the motorway. My husband and I realised that if we didn't stop her, she would kill herself, or someone else. And when the army rang me in the week I said, "You should know, I think my daughter takes drugs at weekends, and she needs to be drug-tested." So that's how she lost her job.
I am sure she resents me for doing that, but I feel that I saved her life, or someone else's, because it was only a matter of time before she didn't smash into the central reservation, but smashed into someone else. That would have been on my conscience forever.
After that, she just sofa-surfed really. She would go from sofa to sofa, drug place to drug place. She had lost her driving licence for drug-driving so she went from being independent, having a car, having a career, to having nothing essentially. At one point one of the houses that she was staying in burned to the ground - luckily, when she was not in it - so she lost all her possessions as well, literally everything she owned.
Each time we saw her, a lot would depend on her state of mind, and on where we were in terms of our ability to accept her for what she was and what she was doing, and love her regardless. But at a certain point we argued, and she said she didn't want contact any more. So we didn't speak for three months.
Then finally she rang and said it was not helping. I think she thought not having contact would help her feel better, mentally, because we were a constant reminder that her life was going down the pan - no-one else was saying that to her, but obviously we were.
So we got back in contact and we had a Christmas meal, which stands out in my memory because she had obviously been using drugs through the night and could no longer stay awake. She fell asleep with her face in the Christmas dinner - just asleep in the plate. It was an indicator of how bad things had become.
Initially my daughter would say taking drugs was fun, just really good fun. After about five years of quite heavy use, she would say it numbs emotion and numbs you to real life, so you don't have to worry, and you don't have to think or care. So at this stage she didn't get an awful lot of enjoyment out of it, if any. I don't think she trusted many people, including me, because you become suspicious of everything and everyone.
Nobody can help. Nobody knows what to say. Everyone's desperate for it to be good news. They say, "How are things getting on?" And if it's good news, they're like, "Oh brilliant, brilliant!" But nobody really wants to hear that it's still the same, or worse. And there is very little professional support unless you're prepared to pay for it.
At times we saw counsellors privately. We had lots of conversations with her about planning for the future - "If you do this and this, then maybe you can move on from drugs…" We even got to the point where we locked her in her bedroom. My husband boarded the windows and locked the door, but it wasn't successful because the person has to want to do it themselves, and she didn't. In the end, one of her companions, who she would be using drugs with I believe, came to the house, threatened my husband and barged in to let her out.
Eventually our daughter got caught stealing from her employer to fund her addiction.
She had also stolen a cheque from the back of my chequebook, written out a cheque for just over £1,000 and cashed it. And we pressed charges.
We had tried everything else that we could. We have a very strong moral compass, and we have two younger children looking at our behaviour and looking at our decisions, and we wanted them to see that you don't steal from your family, and that's the end of it.
We personally took our daughter to court and sat with her and supported her and said, "We are here for you, but you are not going to do this - you are not allowed to steal from us."
And the court issued a drug rehabilitation requirement, which means she has to be tested twice weekly, commence a methadone programme, and receive counselling in group sessions at a specific place for people with addiction problems. She also has a tag for three months, which means she has to be in our house between the hours of 7pm and 7am - which we thought was the best scenario, because we didn't want her to go to prison. We just wanted her to get help, and we just didn't seem to get help from anywhere else or in any other way. So we thought this was the best possible outcome.
We walked out of the court at about 2.30pm or 3pm, and I said to the solicitor, "When does this start?"
And I said, "So we have to go home to the family?"
He said, "Yes, because the people who do the tags can turn up any time from seven o'clock onwards."
And I said, "Well, what about our daughter's drug use? You know, she can't just suddenly stop here, now. What's going to happen? She's going to immediately fail. She's going to run because the desperation to get drugs is so huge that we won't be able to keep her home."
And he said, "Well go to the GP."
So we went to the GP and the GP said, "We no longer prescribe methadone, you need to go to Turning Point."
And they said: "Oh sorry, we're not an emergency service, you'll have to contact the GP."
And I said, "We've been to the GP and the GP said we have to come to you."
And they said, "Well, we can't do anything today. She won't actually die from this withdrawal."
And I was shocked at how nobody was taking responsibility and the whole burden was placed on us, as the parents. "It's your problem, now she's tagged to your house she has to be there." You cannot live with someone who's withdrawing from a £100 a day habit, who's going to be kicking off and screaming and crying and vomiting and probably smashing stuff in a few hours, because she's so frustrated and panic-stricken. But nobody wants to know. A&E don't provide methadone. You're absolutely stuck.
I didn't personally buy the heroin. I just drove my car to the area and she went off, injected herself, and came back, but somehow it felt like we had taken a step into a different place - like I was a different person. I had done something that I never in my entire life have done, and never thought I would do.
But my husband felt utterly betrayed. It was something he felt very, very strongly about. He was very upset. He felt I'd betrayed him by going out and buying drugs off the street because one of the things we'd agreed years ago, right at the beginning when our daughter admitted a drug problem, was that we would provide all the support we could whenever we could, but we would never buy her drugs. We would never give her money or presents, knowing that she would sell them to purchase drugs.
When I got home and told my husband what I had done, he was so distraught... for days. I had not realised at the time, but he emailed the BBC: "Our heroin addict daughter was given a drug rehabilitation requirement, a 7-7 curfew with tag as long as she moved back to our family home. Still unable to get methadone prescribed. My wife has taken her to try to buy some off the street (it's midnight now)."
I promised him I would never do that again. And he made it very clear that if I did I may be dealing with this on my own, because he couldn't stand the betrayal - my having gone against his wishes.
He has a very black-and-white attitude to life, as I think a lot of men do. And if there is something I've learned from this situation over the past eight years, it's that there is no black and white. There's a massive area of grey in between. We've had long conversations about it since. I wouldn't do that now. I think I would go to A&E and insist she was given some sort of strong sedation.
She is now on a prescribed methadone programme, which means she has a set amount of methadone that she collects once a day in the morning from the chemist, swallows it in front of the chemist, then comes home. She doesn't have any of the withdrawal symptoms, and she doesn't have the high. It doesn't make you feel good, it just stops the sickness, and she is functioning during the day. She's helping clean the house and cook the tea. And slowly she will take less and less each day, with the aim of being off methadone altogether in six months.
Before we went to court she had said to me, "I've just had enough. This is awful." She had a couple of suicide attempts, one very serious one that resulted in liver damage. But you have to really show willing to be put on a methadone programme. You don't just go in the door and say, "I've had enough of being a heroin addict, I want to go on methadone." You have to go for about two weeks' worth of meetings at least, and you have to be attempting to come off heroin yourself before they even start you on a methadone programme. It's a real Catch 22 situation, because she wanted to come off it by that point. She was hating her life. She was obviously extremely depressed, because she was trying to take her own life. She was becoming very thin and she'd stolen off her sister, who was, or is, her best friend. There were no positives in life.
By ordering a methadone programme to proceed, the court forced the hand of the local drug help centre. They then had to start her on the programme sooner rather than later.
We are taking one day at a time. It has taken five years to get to this point, so it's not all going to turn around and change within five minutes. Our daughter now has her own accommodation, which is part of our house, but we have sort of made it so that she has her own access and we have to knock to get into her bit of the house. So this is her own home now. She has got her dog back, which the dog is chuffed about, and she is too. So it's small steps like that, remembering that you are loved, remembering that there are people back at home who are still there waiting and wanting you to recover.
I know it's boastful, but she's absolutely beautiful looking and very intelligent. I think she could have been anything. She is so massively into animals that she used to talk about being a vet, so years ago I guess we used to dream about that. And it's so far away from the reality of what her adult life became. Now the dream is very different. It's just, "I want her to be drug-free and happy."
I feel 50% responsible because I think all mothers do. Some days I think I've done everything for the right reasons, even though she may not see it like that, and I'm proud that I am still here and sane and standing. But then on another day I get up and I think this is all my fault. Perhaps if I hadn't kicked her out in those early few months when she refused to stop using drugs… It's hard to know.
Currently I trust her totally not to steal. I leave my handbag lying around. I don't worry about it. I don't entirely trust her not to contact the wrong people, because it's a slow process. Initially, in the first days she was back, I'm sure she didn't trust me. I'm sure she knew that I was going in her room, just having a look around and checking there wasn't any drug paraphernalia - because that's what you start doing, as a parent you start searching out the equipment and the stuff that they're using. But I've stopped doing that now, and she has had clean tests for nine weeks, so I suppose the trust must be building.
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39212295
|
Arsenal 5-0 Lincoln City - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
Non-league Lincoln City's astonishing run in the FA Cup comes to an end as Arsenal comfortably progress to the semi-finals.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Non-league Lincoln City's astonishing run in the FA Cup came to an end as Arsenal remain on course for a 13th title by reaching the semi-finals.
Lincoln, 88 places below their Premier League opponents, held their own for much of the first half and even went close to scoring when Petr Cech saved Nathan Arnold's curled effort.
However, Theo Walcott's deflected strike gave the Gunners the lead on the stroke of half-time and Olivier Giroud put the hosts in control with a clinical strike just after the break.
Lincoln's dreams of a fight back were dashed when Luke Waterfall scored an own goal, turning in Kieran Gibbs' cross.
Alexis Sanchez added a brilliant fourth, expertly placing the ball beyond Lincoln goalkeeper Paul Farman's reach, before Aaron Ramsey completed the win when he tapped in from Sanchez's cross.
It was ultimately a routine victory for Arsenal and perhaps eased some of the pressure on Arsene Wenger, who is bidding for his seventh FA Cup triumph as Gunners boss.
A protest was held before the game by around 200 fans urging the club to not give the 67-year-old a new contract when his current deal expires this summer.
Lincoln have undoubtedly been the story of this season's FA Cup. They came through eight games, beating Premier League Burnley and Championship high fliers Brighton along the way to become the first non-league side to reach the quarter-finals of the competition in 103 years.
Against an Arsenal side that had reached the semi-finals 28 times previous, few would normally have given Lincoln a chance.
But a run of just two wins in their last seven games, coupled with the discontent felt by some Arsenal fans towards Arsene Wenger, gave the minnows reason to believe an upset could be achievable.
The club's fans clearly felt that to be the case as they travelled in huge numbers to the Emirates, and for large periods of the first half their voices were the only ones that could be heard.
The dream was alive. For 44 minutes
On the pitch, Lincoln were impressive, sticking to a game plan that limited Arsenal to only one real chance in the first half half hour, when Walcott hit the post.
There was a momentary silence around the ground when Lincoln threatened to snatch the unlikeliest of leads as Arnold's smart footwork left Laurent Koscielny on the floor, and he took aim at the far corner - but Cech managed to stretch across to make the save.
A goalless draw at half-time would have been a deserved reward for their performance, but Walcott's strike appeared to knock their confidence and in the second half it looked every bit the tie involving a Premier League side and a team four divisions below them.
The FA Cup dream may be over for Lincoln but they could yet walk out at Wembley this season. They are in the semi-finals of the FA Trophy and now switch attention to their first-leg tie at York on Tuesday.
Protests again but players step up
Arsenal could still finish the season with silverware, but success in the FA Cup is no longer enough for a sizeable number of Gunners fans.
They are out of the Champions League and a top-four finish is far from guaranteed as they currently sit fifth, two points behind Liverpool.
Those fans who feel Wenger has taken the side as far as they can go made their feelings known before the game with a protest - their second in a week after around 200 supporters expressed their frustration before the Champions League last-16 second leg tie with Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
But there was support for Wenger inside the ground as some fans held 'In Wenger we trust' banners, while on the pitch his players stepped up after a slow start.
Mesut Ozil was particularly influential after his 27th minute introduction and Sanchez, whose long-term future at the Emirates is reportedly in doubt, impressed with a fine goal and an assist.
What they said
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: "There was always a level of anxiety because these boys are unpredictable. They knocked out Burnley, Ipswich and Brighton, so we have to respect them.
"It was all us in the second half but you have to congratulate Lincoln for what they have achieved in the FA Cup.
"We have been short of confidence after some disappointing results recently. When the confidence was there in the second half the quality came back."
Lincoln manager Danny Cowley: "I thought we did really well for the first 45 minutes. It is very hard to get negative against them because they have such world-class players. At 45 minutes I thought we had limited them in chances and we were hoping to get in 0-0 but they got the goal.
"Arsenal were frightening in the second half and for us it was a pleasure to see world-class players first hand. It felt like Arsene Wenger had brought 15 players on. If we can learn from this experience today and throughout this FA Cup journey we will be better players and better people.
"The best [in this run] was at the end, sharing a moment with our supporters. Our supporters were world class. They were brilliant. We are winners and don't like losing but when we can draw breath we will be proud."
Former Arsenal and England defender Martin Keown on Match of the Day
Lincoln revitalised the FA Cup, their run was magical. Arsenal came in wounded, there was a lack of confidence early on, but the goal just before half-time was perfect and settled them down. Them needing that goal to settle them down was some compliment to Lincoln, but the Gunners played with a swagger in the second half. Still, Lincoln can hold their heads very high.
Former England winger Trevor Sinclair on Match of the Day
A National League team getting to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup? It is a fantastic achievement. I am sure everyone at the club will be so proud, and it doesn't happen by accident. They kept Arsenal at bay for 45 minutes.
The players and fans will remember it for the rest of their lives.
• None This was Arsenal's 300th competitive fixture at the Emirates.
• None The Gunners registered their 200th win in competitive games at the Emirates (D61 L39).
• None Lincoln City failed to find the back of the net in an FA Cup game (excl. qualifiers) for the first time in nine games, since losing 5-0 to Plymouth in November 2013.
• None Arsenal have reached the last four of the FA Cup for the third time in the last four seasons.
• None Theo Walcott has scored 17 goals in all competitions this season; only in 2012/13 did he score more for the Gunners (21).
• None Alexis Sanchez has had a hand in 35 goals this season (21 goals, 14 assists), more than any other PL player in all comps.
• None In his last 20 games in all competitions, Sanchez has either scored or assisted 22 goals (13 goals, nine assists).
• None Olivier Giroud has bagged four goals in total in his last four FA Cup starts.
• None Arsenal's games this season in all competitions have produced a total of 145 goals (95 scored, 50 conceded), more than any other Premier League side.
• None Mesut Ozil registered his first assist for Arsenal in any competition since January 22nd (vs Burnley), after a run of five games without one.
Arsenal are back in Premier League action as they travel to West Brom on Saturday, 18 March (12:30 GMT) looking for their first league win since 11 February. Lincoln, meanwhile, face York in the FA Trophy on Tuesday.
• None Attempt missed. Theo Walcott (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left following a corner.
• None Attempt blocked. Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) hits the bar with a right footed shot from outside the box from a direct free kick.
• None Sean Raggett (Lincoln City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt blocked. Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Lucas Pérez.
• None Attempt blocked. Theo Walcott (Arsenal) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Aaron Ramsey.
• None Attempt saved. Alan Power (Lincoln City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Nathan Arnold.
• None Attempt missed. Adam Marriott (Lincoln City) right footed shot from outside the box is too high from a direct free kick. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39162720
|
F1 testing round-up: Have Ferrari really got the measure of Mercedes? - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
Fast Ferraris, more of the same from Mercedes and a case of 'crisis, what crisis?' at McLaren. Andrew Benson rounds up pre-season testing.
| null |
Want a headline from two weeks of Formula 1 pre-season testing? Here it is: Ferrari look like genuine challengers to world champions Mercedes. They might even be faster.
Two weeks before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, that is the inescapable conclusion from the best evidence after eight days of testing at Spain's Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The usual caveats apply - it's very hard to determine an exact competitive order from testing because the teams do not reveal the specifications their cars are running in, and variables such as fuel load and engine mode make a huge difference to performance.
But while there is inevitably a margin for error in every assessment made on the basis of testing, some things are clear - the Ferrari looked good out on track, and its lap times were genuinely impressive. Even Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton said so.
Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel each said that the other's team was probably in the best shape.
For leading F1 drivers, kidology is part of the job description. So who is closest to telling the truth?
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time of the winter on the final day of testing while doing a qualifying simulation run on super-soft tyres.
The best Mercedes lap of the winter was 0.676 seconds slower. According to the official timing, even Mercedes' best 'perfect' lap — i.e. with all the best sectors a driver achieved on a given day added together - was 0.406secs off Raikkonen's time.
Now let's see if we can get behind those lap times a little. First of all, the list of absolute fastest times by each team over the two weeks of testing:
That list does not take into account any number of potential variables, one of which is the fuel loads in the cars.
It is possible to eliminate the fuel variable to a degree by correcting for the length of the run, and therefore the minimum amount of fuel the car must have had.
Then, look beyond each team's absolute fastest to other times set on other tyres, and correct the times to ones for a 'soft' tyre, which is the quickest one that will be used at the Barcelona race, and the list of fastest times each team achieved looks like this:
Interestingly, Ferrari's advantage grows under this comparison - and it's now so big that it surely cannot be real. More of which in a moment.
But the bottom line is that Ferrari look very strong, that the headline lap times were highly impressive and their long runs were equally good.
The general conclusion from asking around among the teams is that Ferrari are at least level with Mercedes and possibly slightly ahead.
Why do Ferrari look so quick?
At least some of Ferrari's apparent strong form might be coming from the fact that Mercedes are still not consistently comfortable with their car.
"We have had so many different upgrades," Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas said. "And, OK, yes, maybe some of them haven't been perfect. Some have been over-performing, some have been maybe slightly under-performing.
"It's been affecting the car balance, things like that. Once you put new stuff into the car, it's not like it's suddenly better. There's some things that we definitely need to unlock."
Until Ferrari's pace is revealed in actual competition, there will inevitably be scepticism about what they can achieve, given their record of underachievement in recent years.
Last season, for example, Ferrari looked to be about 0.3secs behind Mercedes in testing - and Hamilton was 0.8secs quicker than them in qualifying at the first race in Melbourne.
The balance of evidence over the last few years is that Red Bull and Mercedes run their cars heavier on fuel in testing than Ferrari - perhaps by as much as 30kg.
This is what Vettel was referring to when he said on Thursday: "If you look at the amount of laps Mercedes has done, if you look historically how slow they go in the testing, how much they were able to ramp it up for the races, it's clear. They're very fast if you look at their long-run pace. They're the ones to beat."
If there was a 30kg difference in the fuel weights of the Mercedes and Ferrari at all times, that would suggest the cars are pretty equal, since 10kg of fuel equates to 0.35secs a lap at Barcelona.
If that's the case, Ferrari have made an almighty leap from a 2016 in which they did not win a race and seemed in disarray - and there have been too many false dawns at Maranello for anyone to get carried away right now.
On the other hand, the basis of this car was laid down before the team split with former technical director James Allison in July last year. So it's not impossible Allison - who is now in the same role at Mercedes - led the design of a fundamentally good car, and a restructured team has since added the finishing touches.
Ferrari are said to have made a significant step forward in engine performance over the winter, too.
Equally, perhaps Mercedes have been caught out a little by the new rules - including a clarification over the winter on the use of clever hydraulic suspension systems that help keep the cars stable in cornering and on which they led the way.
Whatever is behind it, so far the evidence adds up to the likelihood of a genuinely competitive start to the season.
Red Bull had looked in the ballpark with Ferrari and Mercedes until Thursday this week, when Daniel Ricciardo was out on a race-simulation run at the same time as Vettel. The Australian's average lap time was a massive one second slower than the German's.
"We certainly have not showed Ferrari's pace yet," Ricciardo said. "So if you were going to put some markers down tonight you would say Ferrari at the moment are their [Mercedes'] closest challenger. That is fair.
"At the moment they look like they are pretty close to Mercedes pace, if not on it. So it is going to make Melbourne interesting, and I think we will get there."
Red Bull very rarely look especially strong in testing - even through their dominant era in the early years of this decade you had to look very hard for evidence of the car's pace in the winter.
Add in that Red Bull looked stronger again on the final day, and the belief that they have a big update package coming for the first race of the season, and no-one is counting them out yet.
Red Bull's biggest concern may well be a reliability problem in their Renault engine, which was running detuned in testing.
Overheating of the MGU-K, which recovers energy from the rear axle, caused failures for all three of Renault's teams - Red Bull, Renault and Toro Rosso - over the course of testing and must be a concern for the first race, regardless of the fact that they say they have a fix for it.
Behind Red Bull - quite a long way behind them - the midfield battle looks tight.
Williams appear to be at the front of it, with the biggest performance leap from the works Renault team, who look to have moved up after their dismal 2016.
McLaren-Honda entered this season hoping the change in rules, and an engine redesign, would allow them to make ground on Mercedes. But their pre-season has been a horrendous catalogue of reliability failures.
So frail has the Honda engine been that it has proved impossible to get any read on the car's potential competitiveness.
McLaren executive director Zak Brown denied in an interview during the final test that the team was facing a crisis - a description used by this writer last week, and by others since.
"Clearly we have problems," he told Sky. "But crisis is a bit strong."
Is it? Crisis is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "a time of intense difficulty or danger" and "a time when a difficult or important decision must be made". Which sounds about as accurate a description of McLaren's situation as you could get.
This is the third year of Honda's return to F1 and it promised that by the start of this season it would at least have matched the power produced by the Mercedes engine last season.
But they are miles away from that. And even if the power was close, reliability is shocking.
The car only did more than 50 laps in a day once this week - and only three times in eight days. Mercedes were routinely doing 150+ in a day. The most flying laps the McLaren ever did in a row was 11. Yes, 11. That's one-sixth of a race distance.
McLaren and Honda have a 10-year contract, but right now it is hard to see how the relationship can run that long.
• None Who are the fastest and slowest teams in 2017?
• None How the final day of testing unfolded
There is no evidence that Honda knows how to get out of this situation. And while the Japanese company provides a huge amount of budget to McLaren - close to a net $100m compared with buying a customer engine, when everything is taken into account - how long can McLaren let it continue before it does serious damage to the team?
As for lead driver Fernando Alonso, one can only imagine what is going through his head right now.
The two-time world champion left Ferrari at the end of 2014 because he had lost faith - after five seasons in which he made them look better than they really were, including two title near-misses - that they would ever be in a position to enable him to win another title.
So far, he has been able to console himself with the thought that he was right.
When he made his decision to leave, he had a contract to the end of 2016, but Ferrari had offered him an extension, which he turned down.
So imagine the purgatory Alonso will be in if this is the year Ferrari finally deliver on their promise, while a man who has won 32 grands prix and is unarguably one of the finest drivers in history is still wasting his time towards the back of the grid.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39234387
|
Hull City 2-1 Swansea City - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
Substitute Oumar Niasse scores two goals as Hull City beat fellow Premier League strugglers Swansea City.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Substitute Oumar Niasse scored two goals as Hull City secured a potentially crucial victory over fellow Premier League strugglers Swansea.
The 26-year-old, on loan from Everton, had only been on the pitch six minutes when he latched on to Abel Hernandez's pass and slotted past Swans keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
The Senegal forward's second came just nine minutes later, with a close-range finish from fellow substitute Ahmed Elmohamady's cross.
It was a nervy finish at the KCOM Stadium, as Swansea defender Alfie Mawson pulled one back in injury time.
The Swans had enjoyed the better chances earlier in the game, but struggled without top scorer Fernando Llorente, who was forced off with an injury at the end of the first half.
The Tigers remain in the bottom three, one point from safety, but moved to within three points of Swansea, who remain in 16th.
• None Relive the action from the KCOM Stadium
• None Reaction from all of Saturday's Premier League matches
Hull were bottom of the table and three points from safety when former Sporting Lisbon and Olympiakos boss Marco Silva was appointed in January.
The 39-year-old Portuguese's first game in charge resulted in a 2-0 win over Swansea in the FA Cup third round.
Fast forward nine weeks and the Tigers are within one point of safety with 10 games still to play after Silva's second win over the Swans.
Silva's decision to replace Alfred N'Diaye with Niasse proved to be a masterstroke, as the substitute showcased his potential when it really mattered.
Hull's home form will be vital in their survival, with all three of their Premier League victories under Silva coming at the KCOM, the same number they had won in their previous 16.
With relegation-threatened Middlesbrough and Sunderland still to play at home, Silva can still believe he has a chance of keeping Hull in the top flight - a task many thought was impossible when he took over.
Swans hit by injuries at the wrong time
Injury problems are coming at the wrong stage of the season for Swansea, with boss Paul Clement forced to make two changes before the end of the first half.
Top scorer Fernando Llorente limped off after a Tom Huddlestone challenge left him with a dead leg just before half-time.
Swansea clearly struggled without the in-form Spaniard, who had scored three goals in his previous two Premier League appearances, and managed just three shots on target in the match, compared with Hull's seven.
Their first real chance of the game fell to Wayne Routledge after Eldin Jakupovic's spilled save fell perfectly into his path, but somehow the 28-year-old blasted his effort over the bar from 10 yards out.
Right-back Angel Rangel, who started in place of the injured Kyle Naughton, was forced off midway through the first half after twisting his ankle in an attempt to tackle Kamil Grosicki.
However, Hull have had injury problems of their own and Marco Silva has been without key players Moses Odubajo, Will Keane, Markus Henriksen, Ryan Mason, Michael Dawson and Dieumerci Mbokani.
Former England defender Martin Keown on Match of the Day
When Marco Silva changed Hull's formation and brought Oumar Niasse on, that made the complete difference. Niasse came out with a point to prove and boy has he proved it. They were two massive goals he got for his team today.
What they said
Hull City manager Marco Silva: "We got three important points, of course I am happy. It was a tough, tough game. We improved in the second half and after that we controlled the game.
"I'm not happy with the last five minutes to give gifts to the opponent. The game only finishes when the referee gives the sign.
"In the first half we had chances, and in the second half we improved our attitude and scored two goals. It is a fair result for us. We work two systems and the players know what we want.
"We need to take points away from home as well, it is difficult."
Swansea City boss Paul Clement: "The way we defended was not good enough. For long periods we looked like we were in control of the game and we were creating opportunities on the counter-attack.
"Two injuries in the first half have hurt us and in the second half we were limited to what we could do. Martin Olsson got hurt and we had to play with an injured player for the rest of the game. Overall we have to be disappointed with how they scored and how open we were.
"Fernando Llorente has been a key player to us recently and gives us lots of different threats, I don't think it is serious, I think he has a dead leg, Angel Rangel's is an injury to the ankle, I'm not sure how serious that one is. Martin got a knock on his ankle, he was not 100% but was able to continue.
"There's a lot of football to be played. I didn't think we were anywhere near safe and we are not anywhere near safe now. We have 10 games to go and have to bounce back next week against Bournemouth."
• None All three of Oumar Niasse's Premier League goals for Hull City have been as a substitute.
• None The Swans have lost their past three visits to the KCOM Stadium, each in a different competition.
• None Swansea have now conceded 61 goals this season. No side to have conceded 60 or more goals after 28 games of a Premier League season has stayed up.
• None Swansea have now conceded more goals in the final 30 minutes of games than any other Premier League side this season (29).
• None Gylfi Sigurdsson has provided more assists than any other Premier League player this season (11).
• None Offside, Hull City. Oumar Niasse tries a through ball, but Kamil Grosicki is caught offside.
• None Attempt saved. David Meyler (Hull City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Ahmed Elmohamady.
• None Goal! Hull City 2, Swansea City 1. Alfie Mawson (Swansea City) header from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Gylfi Sigurdsson with a cross following a set piece situation.
• None Jordan Ayew (Swansea City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Offside, Hull City. Eldin Jakupovic tries a through ball, but Oumar Niasse is caught offside.
• None Attempt missed. Oumar Niasse (Hull City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Kamil Grosicki.
• None Offside, Hull City. Oumar Niasse tries a through ball, but Andrew Robertson is caught offside.
• None Attempt blocked. Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Goal! Hull City 2, Swansea City 0. Oumar Niasse (Hull City) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Ahmed Elmohamady. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39163820
|
England can achieve greatness after Six Nations title win, says Eddie Jones - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
England coach Eddie Jones says his team can "achieve greatness" by beating Ireland next week and completing a Grand Slam.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
England can "achieve greatness" by completing a second straight Grand Slam against Ireland next weekend and breaking New Zealand's record of 18 consecutive wins, says Eddie Jones.
England thrashed Scotland 61-21 at Twickenham on Saturday to retain the Six Nations and coach Jones says his players want more success.
"How many times in your life do you get to be great? It's exciting," he said.
"They're in the dressing room now talking about it. They want to do it."
• None Analysis: Are England on the All Blacks' level?
• None Relive how England won the Six Nations
New Zealand's record run of 18 consecutive victories was ended by Ireland in Chicago just last autumn, and Jones believes that Joe Schmidt's side will prove tough opposition in Dublin next Saturday.
France were the last team to win back-to-back Grand Slams in 1998, with England achieving the feat in 1992 - both before Italy joined the tournament and the number of nations increased from five to six.
"We've got a fantastic opportunity," said Jones. "It would mean for the players they've achieved greatness.
"Our focus is purely on Ireland - back-to-back Grand Slams has never been done in the history of the Six Nations.
"Ireland, psychologically, are in a very strong position," he added. "They're beaten, they're out of the tournament and they love spoiling parties.
"And the party they'd love to spoil the most is the England party."
'We want to be number one in the world'
England's haul of wins has lifted them to second in the world rankings, behind World Cup holders New Zealand, and Jones has set his sights on toppling the All Blacks.
Jones has not faced New Zealand since taking charge in 2015.
He said: "[The half-time message was] that we were ruthless and behaved like the number-one team in the world. The number-one team in the world goes on and finishes that off.
"We're not beating our chests and saying we're the number-one team in the world, but we aspire to be the number-one team in the world.
"We're one year into a four-year project. We've done reasonably well in the first year.
"We want to be the number-one team in the world but we're not, so we have got to get better."
'It doesn't feel like we have won'
England captain Dylan Hartley said that the players haven't allowed themselves to celebrate with one game still to come, and described winning the championship early as "weird".
"If we want to kick on as a team the next challenge is Dublin next weekend," he said.
"The team delivered, we don't need to fill newspaper columns and I'm happy with how the team conducted themselves. We were clinical, ruthless.
"It feels a bit weird - we have retained the Six Nations but it won't feel like it until we win next weekend.
"It's not a dead rubber - it's another step for the team to get better."
Cyprus won 24 matches in a row between 2008 and 2014 but they are not a tier one nation and not a full member of the International Rugby Board. England's best run before Eddie Jones took over was a streak of 14 consecutive wins between 2002 and 2003 - which ended just before their World Cup winning campaign.
It still feels surreal to compare this England team to an All Blacks side that won a third World Cup eight games into their own run, whose march included 41-13 and 57-15 wins over the Springboks, the latter away from home, as well as a 62-13 victory against France and five over Australia.
Before this week, England felt like a good team with a great record, rather than a great team or a team of greats.
The World Cup-winning All Blacks side contained arguably the two finest ever in their positions, fly-half Dan Carter and flanker Richie McCaw, as well as other superstars in Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith. They were the first team in history to retain the Webb Ellis trophy, like the Brazil side that won football's World Cup in 1970 at a sanctified level, taking their sport to heights that none before had touched.
When McCaw and Carter stepped away, the team continued to develop rather atrophy. The XV that set the original 18-match mark with the 37-10 Bledisloe Cup win over the Wallabies contained eight players who would make most critics' fantasy world team: Ben Smith, Julian Savea, Beauden Barrett, Dane Coles, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Jerome Kaino and Kieran Read.
And so there is a gap, even if Billy Vunipola is fast becoming a totemic figure, even as Owen Farrell continues to raise his standards - 26 points on Saturday, 11 successful kicks from 12, his only miss a penalty from inside his own half - even as England's power and pace off the bench continue to flatten tired northern hemisphere defences.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39243644
|
Johanna Konta beats Heather Watson in Indian Wells second round - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-11
| null |
British number one Johanna Konta beats compatriot Heather Watson to reach the third round in Indian Wells, while Kyle Edmund wins.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Tennis
British number one Johanna Konta beat her compatriot Heather Watson 6-4 6-4 to reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Konta, ranked 11th to Watson's 108th, struggled for rhythm in the first set but dominated the second to lead 5-1.
Watson served nine double faults before fighting back but Konta came through.
In the men's event, Kyle Edmund beat Portugal's Gastao Elias 6-1 6-3 to set up a second-round meeting with world number two Novak Djokovic.
British number three Dan Evans registered a 6-1 6-1 win over Germany's Dustin Brown in just 53 minutes.
He will face Kei Nishikori, ranked fifth in the world, in the second round on Sunday while Konta goes on to face Caroline Garcia in round three..
• None Murray has work to do in 2017
"It was definitely a brilliant experience for both of us as Fed Cup team-mates and I am very happy to have come through it," said Konta, who was playing her first match in a month after a foot injury.
It was the first meeting on the WTA Tour between Britain's two leading women.
Their only previous contest was at a second-tier tournament in Barnstaple in 2013 when Watson retired after losing the first four games.
Watson broke serve first but then gifted the advantage back as she made three double faults in the third game.
With both players making errors, the pair traded serves again before Konta, who received a bye in the first round, struck the decisive blow by winning the ninth game.
She went on to hold her serve to love to take the first set.
Konta won eight points without reply at the start of the second set and looked on course for a quick victory.
Watson, who threw her racquet in frustration after making three more double faults in the sixth game, found herself 5-1 down before she rallied.
Konta served two double faults in the seventh game and won only two points as Watson, 24, won three consecutive games.
But the 11th seed composed herself to seal her place in the next round after 94 minutes.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39233518
|
Hounded and ridiculed for complaining of rape - BBC News
|
2017-03-11
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
When Jamalida Begum complained that soldiers had raped her, she was accused of lying by the office of Aung San Suu Kyi and had to flee to avoid reprisals.
|
Magazine
|
When soldiers went searching for militants in Myanmar's Rakhine state last October, the result for members of the Rohingya minority was disastrous. Villages were burned, men were killed, women were sexually abused. And when one woman complained of rape, she was accused of lying by the office of the country's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and hounded by vengeful soldiers.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, 25-year-old Jamalida Begum tells me what happened in the days after her husband was shot dead in the village of Pyaung Pyaik, north-western Myanmar.
Jamalida fled with her two children and watched from a distance as the army set houses in the village on fire. Satellite images confirm that at least 85 buildings were destroyed.
Five days later she returned with some of her neighbours to find her belongings and home destroyed. They sheltered together in one of the few homes that had survived - but at dawn the next day the soldiers came back.
"They chose 30 women. Half were young girls aged between 12 and 15," says Jamalida.
The soldiers took them to the village school.
"Then they chose four from among the 30," Jamalida says.
"It was me and three teenage girls. Then we were separated. The army took me to the east of the school near the pond. Another seven soldiers took the other three girls to the hill to the south of the school.
"They shouted at me to open my shirt and my thami (wrap-around skirt). When I refused they started beating me, grabbed my clothes and pushed me to the ground. Three soldiers raped and tortured me for an hour. Blood came out of my lower part and my legs got cramped. They punched me into the eyes saying I was staring at them. It turned my eyes red like fire coal. They left me bleeding and drove away in their Jeeps."
The soldiers were sent into northern Rakhine state to conduct "clearance operations" after militants from Jamalida's ethnic group, the Rohingya, launched an attack on three Burmese police posts on 9 October last year - killing nine officers and seizing guns and ammunition.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Myanmar: Who are the Rohingya?
A wave of reports of human rights abuses followed, including scores of allegations of rape.
For weeks Myanmar's human rights icon turned leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, denied the allegations, insisting soldiers were adhering to the law, while at the same time refusing to allow independent journalists or observers to access the area.
But as the outcry grew she set up an investigation team, and on 11 December it reached Pyaung Pyaik.
Though initially reluctant, Jamalida was persuaded to speak by the only woman on the team, Dr Thet Thet Zin, the chairman of Myanmar's Women's Affairs Federation.
"She said we won't harm you, bring us the raped and tortured women," Jamalida says. "So I went there and told her everything and they recorded it."
Jamalida's interaction with the investigation team was filmed and several minutes of it broadcast on television. It is extraordinary footage, not just because of the way Jamalida is browbeaten by the translators, but because the Burmese state broadcaster didn't translate what Jamalida is saying to the investigators in the Rohingya language.
Once fully translated, it's clear that Jamalida is describing strong circumstantial evidence that rape has taken place. She tells them she saw three young Rohingya women being taken off into the bushes by soldiers.
"Did you see if those women were raped or not?" the translator asks.
"So, it isn't true," the translator fires back.
"Yes and no," Jamalida says. "They were bleeding directly from here". She points between her legs.
"Don't say that, don't say that, don't say that they are bleeding, just say whether you've seen rape or not," the translator replies.
The translator tells the investigators that Jamalida did not see the women being raped.
Jamalida is also asked directly whether she herself was raped. She tells the investigators that soldiers took her away, stripped her naked and molested her, but says it was "hands only" and not rape.
The translator says: "She wasn't raped."
Ten days later Jamalida is filmed again. This time, a group of handpicked journalists have been brought by the government to Pyaung Pyaik.
Initially none of the Rohingya want to speak to them so someone goes to get Jamalida. She tells the journalists the same story of army abuse again, except this time it changes and she says she was raped.
This discrepancy, between being stripped and molested and being raped, was immediately seized on by Aung San Suu Kyi's office, which was at the time running an aggressive campaign rubbishing foreign and social media reports of atrocities in Rakhine State as "fake news".
Jamalida's face was suddenly on Burmese television and state media once again, now paraded as a liar.
Aung San Suu Kyi's Facebook page called her story an example of "Fake Rape" in a big picture banner.
Banner on the Facebook page of Myanmar's State Counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi
So what's the truth? When I speak to Jamalida her testimony is detailed and convincing. It matches what she told the journalists and what she said to the investigators apart from that one detail. I believe her when she says she was raped.
I ask Jamalida about the difference in her accounts 10 days apart. She insists that she did tell the government investigators she was raped but that one of the translators was shouting and threatening to beat her. If she did tell the investigators this, it's possible Burmese TV chose not to broadcast this part of her testimony.
"I know they told everyone we weren't raped, tortured or anything," says Jamalida. "We do not have justice in our own country."
The promise made by Thet Thet Zin that no-one would face reprisals for speaking out, turned out to be hollow.
When soldiers came looking for her, she fled to a different village. Then, after speaking to the journalists, she realised it was not safe even there.
"The military were searching for me by getting all the women together in the yard and then showing them my picture," says Jamalida. "I was so scared I hid in the jungle."
Unable to take it any longer, the young widow fled across the River Naf into Bangladesh - one of more than 70,000 Rohingya to have arrived in the last few months.
I spoke to Thet Thet Zin on the phone. She said that although she couldn't remember meeting Jamalida, the soldiers must have been searching for her to protect rather than harass her. She added that she had seen no conclusive evidence of rape and that she doubted it had happened, as it went against Buddhist culture and tradition. (While the Rohingya are Muslim, most of Myanmar's soldiers are Buddhist.)
Bangladesh is now the best place to go to learn what is happening in northern Rakhine state, which is closed to journalists. Even the UN's special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, has had very limited access.
"I didn't think that I would say this out loud, that it's crimes against humanity," she says, when we meet in the airport at Cox's Bazaar.
"I think that the military needs to bear [responsibility] but at the end of the day it is the civilian government that has to answer and respond to these massive cases of horrific torture and very inhumane crimes that they have committed against their own people."
On Monday Yanghee Lee will urge the UN Human Rights Council to set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the abuses against the Rohingya.
As dusk began to fall at the Kutupalong refugee camp, where I met Jamalida Begum, I ask her what she thinks of Aung San Suu Kyi.
"She is doing nothing at all for us," she says. "If she was good, we wouldn't have to suffer so much in that country. Since she is in power Myanmar is hell for us."
Suu Kyi's power to stop the army abuses is limited, under the terms of the constitution drafted by the military. The spokesman for her party told me the UN claims were "an exaggeration" and the Rohingya issue was "an internal affair".
But Aung San Suu Kyi hasn't been to northern Rakhine State, and has never visited a Rohingya camp. In short, Myanmar's Nobel peace prize winner has given no indication to the Rohingya that she really cares.
Jonah Fisher's report was a joint investigation by Our World and Newsnight
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39204086
|
Maria Sharapova: Caroline Wozniacki calls Russian's Stuttgart wildcard 'disrespectful' - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Caroline Wozniacki says it is "disrespectful" that Maria Sharapova has a wildcard to play in Stuttgart on the week her drugs ban ends.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Maria Sharapova's wildcard entry to April's Porsche Grand Prix is "disrespectful" to other players, ex-number one Caroline Wozniacki says.
The Stuttgart event starts two days before the Russian's 15-month doping ban ends and she will not be allowed to attend until the day of her match.
"Obviously rules are twisted and turned in favour of who wants to do what," Dane Wozniacki, 26, said.
Sharapova, whose main sponsor is Porsche, has won the event three times.
"I think everyone deserves a second chance... but at the same time, I feel like when a player is banned for drugs, I think that someone should start from the bottom and fight their way back," world number 14 Wozniacki said.
Five-times Grand Slam winner Sharapova will return to tennis on 26 April without a ranking after serving her suspension for testing positive for meldonium.
The 29-year-old was given a two-year ban in March 2016 but her suspension was then reduced in October following an appeal.
She has also been given wildcards for May's tournaments in Madrid and Rome.
Wozniacki said Sharapova should not be allowed to compete at Stuttgart because she is still banned when it begins on 24 April.
"I think it's very questionable allowing - no matter who it is - a player that is still banned to play a tournament that week," she said.
"From the tournament side, it's disrespectful to the other players and the WTA."
Wozniaki was speaking after a 6-3 6-0 win over Polish qualifier Magda Linette in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
The Dane's comments echo those of men's world number one Andy Murray who said wildcards should not be given to players returning from doping bans.
Earlier this week, US Open champion Angelique Kerber said it was "a little bit strange for the other players that somebody can just walk on site Wednesday and play Wednesday".
However, Romanian world number four Simona Halep thinks Sharapova's past achievements justify the wildcards.
"She was number one in the world and won Grand Slam titles," Halep, 25, said on Thursday. "But even without wildcards she could come back easily. Her return is good for tennis."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39246421
|
FA Cup: Superb Son volley extends Spurs' lead - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Son Heung-min deftly scores his second goal with a lovely volleyed finish in Tottenham's FA Cup quarter-final against Millwall.
| null |
Son Heung-min deftly scores his second goal with a lovely volleyed finish in Tottenham's FA Cup quarter-final against Millwall.
Watch all the best action from the FA Cup here.
Available to UK users only.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39250012
|
Craig Shakespeare: Leicester City caretaker boss appointed manager until end of season - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Leicester caretaker boss Craig Shakespeare is appointed manager on a full-time basis until the end of the season.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Craig Shakespeare has been appointed Leicester City manager until the end of the season.
The 53-year-old has been in caretaker charge since Claudio Ranieri was sacked on 23 February, nine months after winning the Premier League title.
Shakespeare, who has never managed full-time, was Ranieri's assistant after being brought to the club by the Italian's predecessor, Nigel Pearson.
Leicester have won both of their games with him in charge.
Foxes vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said: "We always knew the team would be in good hands when we asked him to take charge a fortnight ago.
"He has initiated the type of positive response that we hoped change would bring, showing great leadership qualities and composure under considerable pressure to produce two very important results.
"We have asked him to continue to lead the team this season and we are very happy that he has accepted."
Shakespeare's first match as caretaker manager was a 3-1 league victory over Liverpool, and they beat Hull City by the same scoreline.
The Foxes are three points clear of the relegation zone in 15th.
Leicester host Sevilla in the second leg of their last-16 Champions League tie on Tuesday. The Spanish side won the first leg 2-1.
There are interesting challenges ahead of Shakespeare now - trying to get into the quarter-finals of the Champions League while trying to stave off Premier League relegation.
He made no bones about wanting the job. The players and the fans, in a local newspaper poll, were overwhelming in favour of him getting the job until at least the end of the season. So let's see what sort of fist he makes of it.
He knows very well that stepping up from the number two role is light years away from letting someone else take the unpopular decisions and determine the tactics.
So will he manage to step back from his previous, harmonious working relationship with the players and show a tougher edge?
Will Shakespeare make the grade, so he gets the job beyond this season, or will he be another Sammy Lee or Brian Kidd?
Hugely respected, acknowledged as a fine coach, but ultimately an assistant?
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39228304
|
Living loud in China's lively public spaces - BBC News
|
2017-03-12
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Even for a long-time foreign resident, the loudness of life in China can still come as a surprise.
|
China blog
|
Little chance of a quiet cuppa in some Beijing cafes
There are some societies where people are expected to avoid being noisy in public and they behave accordingly. Then there's China.
This country that I love is many things, but quiet is not one of them.
There are plenty of bustling cities - rammed with millions of people - where you could be frowned upon for disrupting others with a raised voice: Seoul, London, Tokyo… especially Tokyo.
China does not have those cities.
The word most often used here to describe a great restaurant is not "moody" nor "intimate" nor "tasteful" but "renao". To be 热闹 is to be bustling with noise and excitement.
After all, who'd want to go to one of those fussy, dull joints where you couldn't bring kids or laugh too loud or spill a beer?
Laughter is often part of the noise
Now, given that I've lived in Beijing for 12 years, you would think that outbursts in public would be as nothing to this hardened correspondent, fully enmeshed in the ways of the Middle Kingdom, yet China can always turn on a surprise.
So there I am at a cafe nearby, feeling all urbane with a light caffeine buzz on: newspaper; some other reading material; Chet Baker's mournful trumpet floating around the room at just the right level; I can't help noticing a smart-looking beautiful woman across the other side of the room talking to her friend and…
Somebody starts a phone call at the top of their voice in full-flight pirate-sounding Beijing dialect. Anyone who has heard a Beijing taxi driver on the phone to the family at home will know exactly how this sounds.
"Naaaarrrrrr? Bu shirrrrrr baaaaa." [Where? No it isn't.]
A cafe in Japan on the other hand, is likely to be an oasis of calm
At this point a Chinese farmer walks in carrying the fake and/or stolen watches he's been selling on the street.
He's carrying his flask of tea, has no intention of buying anything at the cafe and sits on a stool with best view out of the window, next to his mate who also has no intention of buying anything but is very interested in showing the purveyor of watches an awesome new video game on his phone.
Woooshhhh! Bam! Bam! Ba-doing!!! The two of them crack up laughing and they keep playing.
Just as the first conversation is getting heated, a young convert to Christianity sits down next to me and starts praying before diving into her diary-style, each-day-a-new-lesson, introduction to Jesus.
Many countries are densely populated but they respond to the squeeze in different ways
Game, argument, praying, talk, game, laughter, talk... "Look at the stars… Look how they shine for you…"
A hippie looking Chinese bloke has booted up his laptop and Coldplay starts belting out of the speakers.
"And everything you do. Yeah they were all yellow."
He has his eyes closed and is gyrating in the seat as he sings along to himself.
I look around the cafe and, amidst this cacophony of chaos, nobody but me has reacted as if this is anything but completely normal. Some people are chatting amongst themselves, others reading or sending messages on mobile phones but they've not even glanced up to pay attention to the activities around them.
The Big Apple - and unlikely ally to China when it comes to bustle
The other place in the world I've seen this phenomenon is New York.
I went to a diner there once which had an open plan kitchen. It was packed for the morning rush hour. I was preparing to take in the New York Times over breakfast when one of the cooks started ribbing his workmate and the tension was building. At least I thought so.
Then the cook being hassled turned to the other and said in a pretty menacing tone: "Yeah keep talkin' funny guy!" At this point I was considering the possible uses of a spatula as a weapon.
Then the diner owner called out at the top of his voice from the payment counter by the door: "Heh, Pauly, go downstairs and get me some of those ******* strawberries!!!"
The whole country feels like it's on the move
There is something incredible about the way in which societies, cities, subcultures find their level in terms of acceptable public volume.
If a megacity has its own disruptive sound maybe you have to speak up to get over it? But with what noise does a Chinese farmer have to compete in the field?
Maybe you have to speak up in order to be heard amongst a huge population? Yet most Chinese people in recent years grew up with no brothers or sisters and had only their parents at home for evening conversations.
Back in the cafe, Mr Coldplay has packed up his laptop, the game boys have gone and only the first woman is still speaking on the phone… but now much more quietly: she's crying.
Her call has been more important than I had given her credit for.
Loudly playing Coldplay songs in public does not go down well everywhere
I can remember being in London many years ago on a backpacking trip when I got the news that a good friend, a brilliant young doctor, had died back in Sydney.
I didn't know what to do so I went to a cafe and wrote her a letter to say goodbye.
I was crying my eyes out in a public place and people were looking at me but not disapprovingly. They just didn't know how to take it.
When I told a BBC colleague I was going to write this piece she laughed: "What? An Australian talking about noisy people?"
Maybe we are. I hadn't thought about it.
Is that why I fit in here?
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-china-blog-39214869
|
Dave Lee at SXSW: AI should help us do less, not more - BBC News
|
2017-03-12
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
At this year’s South by Southwest, a plethora of helpful artificial intelligence - but what I’m looking for is peace and quiet.
|
Technology
|
This year's South by Southwest (SXSW) has a lot of focus on artificial intelligence (AI)
When I think of having an assistant, I'm always drawn to that slightly Hollywood portrayal of a top chief executive, pouring himself a stiff drink, leaning back in his leather chair and pressing the intercom.
"Mary," he'll say. "Please handle my calls. Only disturb me if it's urgent."
It's a bygone era, sure - and a gender stereotype, no doubt - but that dream of having an assistant, one that truly helps you out with daily tasks, is still prevalent. In fact, we're told it's the future of computing - with all the top companies firing up their research divisions to work on the concept. So far, it's Siri, Alexa, Google and Cortana leading the way.
But none of those assistants actually assist you, do they? Not in a "take this load off my mind" kind of way, at least.
This week I'm lucky enough to be at South by Southwest - SXSW - a three-part festival that deals with tech, music and film. Much of the focus this year will be on artificial intelligence - AI - and how it needs to evolve to become more useful and accepted. The sessions will look at how AI can be smart enough to help us achieve more and more.
But really, all I want is for new tech to help me do less.
Have you ever counted how many notifications you get on your smartphone on a typical day? I have. It's horrifying. More than 100 interruptions a day from Facebook likes, Instagram comments, tweet replies, news alerts, text messages, WhatsApp messages, Slack messages… oh my. I can't get a word in edgeways round here, and it's all my fault.
Or is it? I may have sleepwalked into this notification hell, but I was having my hand held throughout it all by the companies desperate for my attention. Every social network, large or small, is after for one thing: engagement. More users, more of the time. And notifications is their surefire way of dragging you back into their apps, time and time again.
It's a lucrative strategy - part of Snapchat's popularity with investors right now is not because of how much money it's making (none) or how many users it has (not that many), but because of incredible statistics that show the average Snapchat user opens the app at least 10 times a day.
Apps can end up sending dozens of notifications a day in an attempt to get users attention
And it's no fluke. In the dark arts of nudging users to breaking point, Snapchat is the Grand High Witch. By default, not only does it tell you when you have a message, it also tells you when you're about to be sent one. "Dave is typing…" it will beep - as if being up-to-date these days requires you to know about messages before they even exist.
Naturally, you open the app; up goes their engagement, and down goes your concentration, your focus, your social etiquette.
Snapchat isn't the only one, of course, and you can turn off notifications manually should you want. But it's at this point your sense of FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out - goes into overdrive. It's a deliberate, emotional tug pulled by app makers, and many push you into a choice between getting all notifications, or none.
Of course one solution to this overwhelming feeling is what people like to refer to as a "digital detox" - a clumsy, cliched term most often pushed by PR companies trying to get clients on to morning radio shows or, worse, from journalists sorely lacking in ideas.
I've always found the outcomes to be pointlessly predictable. You gave up Facebook for a week, you say? Big whoop. Have a sticker.
But this week I read a refreshing view on this issue from Alex Wood. Alex's approach was not to go cold turkey, but instead to implement a few tweaks here and there to regulate use. I'd suggest reading his piece if you want to learn what software he used and other interesting tips.
Snapchat is popular with investors because of how much users open the app
By the time he concluded his piece, he'd managed to disconnect himself sufficiently to feel liberated - but not to the point of being cut off from his friends or profession.
It's an issue also dealt with by another reporter, Kristen Brown, who last year held a panel at an event organised by Fusion, the tech news and culture site that has recently (sadly) been swallowed up into Gizmodo.
One of her suggestions was to hide all the apps on your smartphone into a big folder, so the only practical way to access the was to use the search function. This added step in theory made you focus on what you really needed to do - and put an end to that habit of just idly tapping from app to app.
But what stood out - for both Kristen and Alex - was how difficult the process was. Given technology constantly provides us with smart user interfaces and automation, turning off notifications remains a frustrating manual task - an intentionally fiddly process of ducking through menus, and then, assuming you want them back at some point, going through those menus once again, hopefully remembering what exactly it was you turned off.
If digital assistants go the way of notifications, we're in even more trouble. Notifications won't just be buzzing our pockets, but filling our air with noise.
There is value in that, but after pondering the struggle Alex went through to temporarily silence his digital life, I feel a truly intelligent assistant would be more like Mary, the Hollywood chief exec's assistant.
Why can't I tell Alexa that I want to focus right now, and it should instruct my social networks to chill out - notifications will stop, messages will be reduced.
Dave Lee hopes to find a company to make his life easier at SXSW
Today, asking Siri to "handle my calls" prompts it to bring up a call history. Perhaps instead it should be able to intercept my incoming calls, ask the caller if it's urgent, and only then disturb me if needed.
The iPhone already has a Do Not Disturb function, but it's a bit of a blunt instrument when it comes to filtering out - or letting in - things that are truly worth your time. There are a smattering of apps that help you regulate your time on networks or websites. But it's too cumbersome, and only gets the job half done.
Sadly, it's not in any tech firm's interests to lessen the amount of time you spend interacting with your technology - so progress in this area may be slow. But as I take on the corridors of SXSW this week, I'll be cheering on any company that wants to genuinely make my life easier.
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook. You can reach Dave securely through encrypted messaging app Signal on: +1 (628) 400-7370
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39238809
|
The mysterious death of a live-streaming gamer - BBC News
|
2017-03-12
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The death of a young father leads to a conversation about marathon gaming sessions.
|
BBC Trending
|
Brian Vigneault had been playing for more than 20 hours continuously when he died
The death of a prominent gamer has led to a debate about whether gaming marathons are hazardous to health.
Brian Vigneault was a 35-year-old father of three from Virginia, USA who gamed under the alias Poshybrid. In February he took on a 24-hour-long gaming marathon, playing World of Tanks to raise money for charity.
The marathon was streamed to a live audience on the website Twitch, which describes itself as "the world's leading video platform and community for gamers".
Twenty two hours in, Vigneault reportedly went outside to take a cigarette break. He didn't return to the screen - and later died.
Vigneault's exact cause of death has not yet been established, or conclusively linked to his streaming marathon. But his friend Jessica Gebauer, who spoke to him on the night he died, told BBC Trending that he looked "extremely tired" and was falling asleep during the stream.
Since Vigneault's death, Gebauer, who is a fellow streamer, says she has questioned the health implications of continuous live-stream gaming. She is not the only one.
Hear this story in full on the BBC World Service, or download our podcast
Joe Marino is a "professional" Twitch user, who makes money from subscriptions to his gaming channel. He told BBC Trending that he thinks all streaming platforms should set up limits on how long streamers can stream.
Marino, who says he developed Type 2 diabetes after spending a year streaming on Twitch 12 hours a day, seven days a week, said: "The reason you don't move around on Twitch is because you're live, so if you get up and move you've potentially lost a portion of your audience.
Following the death of Vigneault, Marino penned a warning article warning about the health risks of his streaming career. It received comments from gamers who said they too experienced health issues following marathon gaming sessions.
Joe Marino in front of his gaming setup
Founded in 2011 and bought by Amazon in 2014, Twitch is a huge community of gamers and game watchers. The company estimates that each day close to 10 million people visit the site to watch fellow gamers and talk about video games, and users can also donate money to more than 2 million streamers.
Twitch and other similar sites host tournaments where seasoned players stay continuously online for several hours - or longer - and gaming marathons are becoming more and more common.
Well-known streamers such as ManVsGame have frequently taken part in marathon streams exceeding 24 hours - and in 2015 he spoke about taking drugs to supplement his marathon sessions.
While deaths as a result of video game streaming are incredibly rare, there have been other incidents including the death of a 24-year-old man in Shanghai 2015 who died after playing World of Warcraft for 19 hours, and the death in 2012 of a teenager in Taiwan who reportedly died at an Internet cafe playing Diablo 3 for 40 hours straight.
Twitch is a live streaming social video platform for gamers. The site say they have more than 9 million daily active users
Cam Adair, who is founder of Game Quitters - the largest online support community for people with gaming addiction - says Twitch and other streaming platforms have a duty of care to their users: "I'm not saying that companies need to be policing their users, but they could simply reach out and say 'Hey, I've seen you've been playing 15 hours today which is different to what was going on before. Are you OK?'"
However, for professional Twitch streamer Ben Broman, who has taken part in 11 24-hour gaming marathons, imposing health guidelines on Twitch streamers would be too restrictive.
"Twitch, much like any other creative career, involves risk taking and any artist will tell you that it's very important for them to be able to go about creating it in whatever way they see fit," he told BBC Trending.
Another streamer on Reddit said: "Not intending to speak ill of the dead, but he made the choice to do this... I understand there is pressure to produce, but obviously some things come before that. I don't think we should impose restrictions."
Twitch said they are "greatly saddened" at the passing of one of their users, but the company has not responded to suggestions that they should be taking a more active approach in ensuring the health of their users.
Next story: The 'robot lawyer’ giving free legal advice to refugees
A technology used to fight parking fines is now helping asylum seekers apply for emergency housing. READ MORE
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-39232620
|
Celtic 1-1 Rangers - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Clint Hill's late equaliser denies runaway Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic a fourth victory of the season over city rivals Rangers.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Clint Hill's late equaliser denied runaway Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic a fourth victory of the season over city rivals Rangers.
Rangers, with caretaker Graeme Murty in charge for the last time and new manager Pedro Caixinha in the stand, started the game impressively.
Both sides had chances before Hill prodded in with three minutes left to deny Celtic an 18th straight win.
Another win would have made it 23 in succession in the league for Brendan Rodgers' side, but Rangers become the first side to deny them victory since Manchester City in a Champions League game in December.
And, with Aberdeen having beaten Motherwell on Saturday, third-placed Rangers are eight points adrift of the Dons, who themselves are 25 behind the champions.
Armstrong's goal - his 11th of the season - was a combination of resourcefulness and power.
Jason Holt contributed to Celtic's opening, since he clumsily failed to clear with his weaker left foot, but when the ball was worked to Armstrong on the edge of the area, it was not a clear scoring opportunity.
He has been dismissing expectations all season though - and, after turning towards goal, he rifled a low, hard shot into the near corner of the net.
More illustrious players - Moussa Dembele, Scott Sinclair, Scott Brown - have hogged attention for Celtic this season, but Armstrong has purposefully and, with growing assurance, built a growing reputation.
Rodgers urged him to play at a higher tempo, to understand the need to forage and hustle as well as being accomplished on the ball.
Armstrong responded and he has become an integral figure for Celtic - and likely a fixture now in the Scotland squad.
He might have scored at other moments in the game, with his first-half free-kick tipped on to the upright by the diving Wes Foderingham and the goalkeeper pushing away two fiercely struck efforts after the break.
The visitors did not have an individual player to match the calibre of Celtic's various potential match-winners - and the Rangers bench contained only one player, Josh Windass, who has impressed this season.
Yet their positional discipline and work-rate was designed to limit Celtic and provide the means for Rangers to try to be proactive.
The shape was 4-4-1-1 when Rangers were without the ball, as Kenny Miller dropped off the front to close down Nir Bitton, Celtic's holding midfielder.
James Tavernier tucked into a central midfield role when Rangers had possession, allowing Miller to join Waghorn and the ineffectual Barrie McKay up front.
With passing angles closed down and a disciplined press, Rangers earned a foothold in the game.
It also delivered a breakthrough when Miller flicked a high ball on to Waghorn, who was left one-on-one with Gordon.
The striker was not clinical enough, though, and the Scotland goalkeeper saved with his legs.
The scoreline was 0-0 at the time and there was a key moment after the break also.
Having been caught by Gordon as the goalkeeper punched a cross clear, Waghorn was left upfield unmarked as he recovered.
When a counter-attack broke upfield, Waghorn found himself onside and in the penalty area, but Gordon blocked his first-time shot.
Celtic have been more dominant in games this season, but they would have felt that their command of the scoreline was enough in this game.
Dembele, who was otherwise unusually quiet, almost scored late on, but his left-foot effort flashed across the face of goal.
The closing stages, though, were mostly about Rangers pushing and probing for an equaliser.
That told of their determination, and Holt caused a flash of alarm for the home side when his curled effort bounced just wide.
The pressure eventually paid off, though, when Hill was the first to react after Gordon pushed Hyndman's shot away and the defender turned the ball into the net at the back post.
The drama was not over though as, moments later, Leigh Griffiths felt he should have been awarded a penalty under a Hill challenge inside the area and then had a shot headed off the line.
• None Attempt blocked. Callum McGregor (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
• None Goal! Celtic 1, Rangers 1. Clint Hill (Rangers) left footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner.
• None Emerson Hyndman (Rangers) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt missed. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top left corner.
• None Attempt missed. Jason Holt (Rangers) right footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right.
• None Attempt missed. James Tavernier (Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left from a direct free kick. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39170663
|
Liverpool 2-1 Burnley - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Emre Can's fourth goal of the season ends Burnley's resistance as a below-par Liverpool strengthen their place in the top four.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Emre Can's fourth goal of the season ended Burnley's stubborn resistance as Liverpool claimed an unconvincing win to strengthen their bid for a top-four finish.
The Reds were far from their best and fell behind when Ashley Barnes turned home Matthew Lowton's brilliant defence-splitting pass.
Liverpool equalised on the stroke of half-time with their first shot on target when Georginio Wijnaldum poked in at the second attempt.
Can then secured a second-successive victory for Liverpool with a long-range effort into the bottom corner.
Burnley threatened to snatch an equaliser late on but Lowton hooked over from close range.
It was a game of few memorable moments but the win means Jurgen Klopp's side, who remain fourth, are now five points clear of fifth-placed Arsenal.
Burnley, who are yet to win a game away from home in any competition this season, are 12th.
Liverpool beat Arsenal 3-1 earlier this month to continue their impressive form against their top-six rivals - they are yet to lose to any of them this season.
But as impressive as the Reds have been against those teams around them, they have struggled against sides lower down the table, with all five of their defeats prior to Sunday's game against sides in the bottom half.
Burnley beat Liverpool at Turf Moor back in August and initially had the measure of their opponents in this encounter, although they were aided by a lethargic display by the hosts.
Liverpool did not create a single chance in the opening 30 minutes but their first shot on target resulted in the equaliser and their second produced the winner.
It was ultimately a clinical display by Liverpool but too many players had off days. They needed Philippe Coutinho to be at his creative best to unlock a disciplined Burnley but the midfielder rarely made a telling pass while in attack Divock Origi failed to manage a single shot on goal.
The win may not have been pretty but that is something Liverpool have struggled to do this season and Klopp believes a corner may have been turned.
"It's the first ugly game we've won," he said.
"In the end I liked it - this is the kind of game we haven't won and we did."
Will Burnley ever win away?
For 44 minutes, it was the perfect away performance for Burnley.
They got an early goal and then successfully nullified Liverpool to the point that a frustrated home crowd started to turn against their side.
But a one-goal lead meant they were always susceptible to getting caught out and the Clarets need to learn to kill off a game - only once have they scored more than one goal in an away game this season.
Burnley's home form is likely to ensure they are in the Premier League next season - they are seven points above the relegation zone with 10 games remaining.
However, a return of just two points from a possible 42 on the road this season will be of major concern for manager Sean Dyche.
What they said
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: "Burnley were always in the game, it was intense and we had to fight. We had some moments, it was not only luck that we scored before half-time and it was a wonderful goal from Emre Can.
"It is clear we have to do a few things better. We were not at our absolute best but we fought. I liked it, it is this kind of game we haven't won until now. It feels kind of strange a little bit. Not the most memorable game but a very nice three points."
Burnley manager Sean Dyche: "It's a tough one to take, because everyone gave a really good account of ourselves and went up with a sublime goal, but it's a tough place to come.
"Their first was a soft one to concede before half-time, and the second one we're disappointed with but we gave a really good account of ourselves. We just needed a scratch of luck along the way."
• None Liverpool have now won 16 Premier League games this season; equalling their tally of wins for the entire 2015-16 season.
• None Liverpool have won 14 points from losing positions in the league this term; a joint-high with Tottenham.
• None Ashley Barnes (10) is now just one goal short of tying with Danny Ings (11) for the most Premier League goals for Burnley.
• None Liverpool conceded inside the first 10 minutes of a league game at Anfield for the first time since August 2015 (v West Ham, Manuel Lanzini).
• None All 16 of Georginio Wijnaldum's Premier League goals have been scored in home matches (five for Liverpool, 11 for Newcastle).
• None Since Jurgen Klopp's first game in charge, the Reds have scored more Premier League goals from outside the box than any other team (21).
It's a big game for Liverpool in the battle for a top-four finish as they travel to Manchester City on Sunday, 19 March (16:30 GMT). Burnley head to struggling Sunderland the day before (15:00 GMT).
• None Attempt blocked. Ben Woodburn (Liverpool) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Lucas Leiva.
• None Attempt missed. Matthew Lowton (Burnley) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is too high. Assisted by Michael Keane with a headed pass.
• None Attempt saved. Sadio Mané (Liverpool) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Emre Can with a through ball.
• None Attempt blocked. Ben Woodburn (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Sadio Mané with a headed pass.
• None Attempt missed. Robbie Brady (Burnley) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right following a set piece situation. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39170671
|
Andy Murray loses to Vasek Pospisil in Indian Wells second round - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
World number one Andy Murray suffers a shock second-round exit to Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil at Indian Wells.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Tennis
World number one Andy Murray made a shock second-round exit at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, losing 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to qualifier Vasek Pospisil.
The Briton, who had a first-round bye, was sluggish throughout the match against the Canadian world number 129.
Murray, 29, was broken four times as he struggled with Pospisil's serve-and-volley style.
It was the first victory for Pospisil, 26, in five meetings with Murray.
Although he is a qualifier here, Pospisil has been ranked as high as 25th in the world and beat both Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans in Britain's Davis Cup victory over Canada in February.
After Murray took a 4-2 lead early on, the Canadian hit back to win six successive games, claiming the first set before finally winning the second 7-5 in a tie-break, hitting a cross-court winner on his fourth match point.
"It was obviously a disappointing one as I had opportunities in the first set but I didn't serve well enough," Murray told BBC Sport.
"I served a few double faults, especially in the first set at important moments, which didn't help things.
"He definitely started to play better in the second set, he was being aggressive and coming to the net and played some great reflex volleys at important moments and deserved to win."
Murray claimed his maiden Dubai Championships title last week, but defeat here continues a poor run for the Scot at Indian Wells, having lost in the third round last year. His best result at the tournament was when he was runner-up to Rafael Nadal in 2009.
However, he remains in this year's doubles alongside fellow Briton Evans as they face Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer and Romanian Horia Tecau in round two.
Evans plays Japanese fourth seed Kei Nishikori in the singles later on Sunday.
Pospisil faces Dusan Lajovic in the third round of the singles after the Serbian qualifier upset 30th seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-2 4-6 7-6.
Elsewhere, French seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was beaten by Italy's Fabio Fognini but there were wins for third seed Stan Wawrinka, 10th seed Gael Monfils and 11th seed David Goffin.
World number one or not, Murray has often struggled in the desert. His serve let him down - he hit seven double faults and was broken four times in a row - and was ultimately second best to a man who is having a great year against the Brits.
Pospisil may be a qualifier ranked 129 in the world but his serve-and-volley game is mightily effective, as Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund learned to their cost in last month's Davis Cup tie with Canada.
Unusually for Murray, he is now out of the singles but still in the doubles so he will stay in Indian Wells to partner Evans and to spend "lots of time" on the practice courts.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39247329
|
Pep Guardiola: Man City face 'season-defining' week - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City face a week which will "define their season" as they look to finish the season with a trophy.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester City are facing a week that will "define our season", according to manager Pep Guardiola.
City, who reached the FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 win at Middlesbrough on Saturday, take a 5-3 lead to Monaco for the return leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.
Guardiola's side, third in the table, then host fourth-placed Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday, 19 March.
City are 10 points behind leaders Chelsea with 11 matches left.
Guardiola's most realistic chances of success in his first season in charge of City are in the FA Cup and the Champions League.
"The Monaco game and against Liverpool before the international break will define our season," Guardiola told BBC Sport.
"Every game you play, you have to play well, try to win and show the opponent you are there to win.
"It's the only way you can improve as a club with a good mentality, and that is what I am going to try in my period here.
"It doesn't matter the competition, no complaints, no regrets. Go there and try to win the game."
City's scheduled home league match with West Brom on 22 April will have to be rearranged following their latest FA Cup win.
The FA Cup semi-finals are scheduled to take place at Wembley on 22-23 April.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39245423
|
Johanna Konta: British number one loses to Caroline Garcia in third round at Indian Wells - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
British number one Johanna Konta and men's number three Kyle Edmund are out of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Tennis
British number one Johanna Konta is out of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with a 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-1) third-round defeat by France's Caroline Garcia.
Meanwhile British number three Kyle Edmund lost to defending champion Novak Djokovic 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in round two.
It ends British interest in the singles after Andy Murray and Dan Evans lost.
Konta, seeded 11th, broke Garcia in the fourth game but the 21st seed levelled the match and dominated the third-set tie-break, winning it 7-1.
Garcia, who was once described by Murray as a future world number one, showed impressive resilience to recover from a set down against Konta and sealed her win and a place in the last 16 with a powerful cross-court backhand.
"There were a number of shots that let me down. Quite honestly, I don't know why, but I'm keen on improving and doing better next time," said Konta.
"I didn't do enough with the opportunities that I did get. Some of the break points, she served well, and others, I wasn't brave enough. I don't think I did enough to really take them. I was a little too passive in parts."
Edmund lost the first set in 42 minutes against Serb Djokovic but won the first three games of the second and served for the set at 5-3, before the five-time champion fought back to seal the match.
"I think I played very well in the first set," said Djokovic. "Second set was obviously up and down. But credit to Kyle for playing some really aggressive tennis.
"He made a lot of winners in the beginning and midway through the second."
The world number two will play former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in the third round.
Australian Open champion Roger Federer needed only 52 minutes to reach round three with a comfortable 6-2 6-1 win against France's Stephane Robert.
World number six Rafael Nadal secured a third-round tie against fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Guido Pella of Argentina in one hour 20 minutes.
Konta played without her usual fluency and, although she served better in the final set, she could not take any of the three break points and was outplayed emphatically by Garcia in the tie-break.
The best part of four weeks off tour resting a foot injury may explain some of the rustiness, and - like Andy Murray - Konta now has virtually two weeks of practice stretching ahead of her before she plays her first singles match in Miami.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39250341
|
Elise Christie wins 1500m gold at World Short Track Speed Skating Championships - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Britain's Elise Christie wins the 1500m title at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Rotterdam.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Winter Sports
Elise Christie became the first British woman to win a World Short Track Speed Skating Championships title with victory in the 1500m in Rotterdam.
The 26-year-old Scot had previously won eight other world championship medals but clocked two minutes 54.369 seconds, to win the title, 0.12 seconds ahead of Canada's Marianne St-Gelais in second.
She also reached the 500m final, but finished last of the four competitors.
Christie has the chance of another gold in the 1000m on Sunday.
"I never expected to win the 1500,'' said Christie.
The world title represents an impressive resurgence from Christie, who said she was considering her future in the sport after being disqualified from all three of her events at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
Livingston-born Christie has been focusing on the shorter distance events this season and has already set a new 500m world record of 42.335 seconds.
In the 1500m final, South Korea's Shim Suk-hee was third with her compatriot and defending champion Choi Min-jeong a distant fifth.
Christie was unable to challenge in the 500m final, recording a time of 43.835 seconds, with China's Kexin Fan winning in 43.605.
Meanwhile at the World Freestyle Ski and Snowboard Championships, Zoe Gillings-Brier finished ninth in the snowboard cross.
She only gave birth to a daughter last August and missed out on a chunk of pre-season training.
Gillings-Brier, who does not receive UK Sport funding, told BBC Sport: "I loved every minute of it. Back on a big course with all the best competitors. Hopefully I'll get some great training in the summer."
American Lindsey Jacobellis landed her fifth world title in a photo finish with France's Chloe Trespeuch.
On her first appearance in the competition, 19-year-old Welsh competitor Maisie Potter went out in the snowboard cross quarter-finals.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/39244195
|
Chris and Gabby Adcock suffer semi-final loss at All England Badminton Championship - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
A broken string on match point leads to defeat for Chris and Gabby Adcock at the All England Badminton Championship
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Badminton
Chris and Gabby Adcock missed out on becoming Britain's first All England Badminton Championship finalists for a decade with an agonising defeat by China's Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong.
They held match point in the third set of their mixed doubles semi-final, but Chris Adcock suffered a broken string and they eventually lost it 22-20.
The Adcocks had taken the opening set 21-19, but lost the second 21-12.
"It's so tough to have been so close," Gabby Adcock told BBC Sport.
"We were quite a way down in the third set and fought back up to get the match point and then for that to happen to Chris is really, really unlucky."
Find out how to get into badminton with our special guide.
The Commonwealth champions - who also reached last year's semi-finals - were bidding to become the first British finalists in the event since Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg in 2007.
Their defeat comes just weeks after British Badminton failed to overturn UK Sport's Olympic funding cut.
Badminton England's chief executive Adrian Christy said on Thursday that the loss of around £1.25m per year in financial support would mean players and staff would now have to leave the programme.
"As you can imagine the atmosphere has been a bit flat at our training centre with the situation and it's a sad time for badminton," said Gabby Adcock.
Badminton England hopes to raise around £600,000 per year in order to help provide some funding support to the Adcocks and Olympic bronze medal-winning pair Chris Langridge and Marcus Ellis.
"It's been a tough patch, but we've shown how resilient we can be on and off the court," Chris Adcock told BBC Sport.
"We really believe we've still got the ability to win majors as well as world and Olympic medals so we'll fight through and no doubt we'll be able to prove a lot of people wrong."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/badminton/39244818
|
Tottenham Hotspur 6-0 Millwall - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Son Heung-min scores a hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup with an easy win over League One Millwall.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Son Heung-min scored a hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup with an easy win over League One Millwall but lost striker Harry Kane with an ankle injury.
England striker Kane was replaced after being hurt when Lions defender Jake Cooper tried to block his shot after seven minutes.
Christian Eriksen, Kane's replacement, opened the scoring with a finish into the bottom corner after Dele Alli's chest down before Son scored either side of half-time.
Alli tapped home the fourth with substitute Vincent Janssen adding the fifth - his first from open play for Spurs - before Son completed his hat-trick with virtually the last kick of the game after a mistake by keeper Tom King.
Spurs join Premier League rivals Manchester City and Arsenal in the semi-final draw, which takes place at Stamford Bridge on Monday after the final quarter-final between Chelsea and holders Manchester United.
Whether Kane will be back in time for the semi-final on the weekend of 22-23 April remains to be seen.
But the sight of the Premier League's joint leading scorer disappearing down the tunnel in pain is a huge blow for boss Mauricio Pochettino.
There was no blame attached to Cooper as Kane fell awkwardly inside the Millwall penalty area with the game goalless.
Pochettino opted for Eriksen instead of Janssen - the only striker on the bench - as Kane's replacement and the Dane broke Millwall's resolve with a first-time strike into the far corner after 31 minutes.
Son added the second shortly before the interval, the South Korea international cutting in from the right to score soon after Victor Wanyama had headed against the bar.
Kieran Trippier's excellent pass was volleyed home by Son to make it 3-0 before Alli tapped home after Eriksen's pass.
One of the biggest cheers of the game greeted Janssen's goal, a first-time shot inside the area after another assist by Son, before the latter completed his hat-trick after a terrible fumble by King.
Spurs will be hoping for a change of fortune at Wembley as they look to win a major trophy for the first time since 2008 when they won the League Cup.
They have lost their last six FA Cup semi-finals - against Arsenal (1993, 2001), Everton (1995), Newcastle (1999), Portsmouth (2010) and Chelsea (2012).
They will also have to overcome their poor record at Wembley, scene of this season's failed Champions League and Europa League campaigns.
Spurs lost to Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League at the national stadium before going out of the Europa League after drawing 2-2 with Gent at Wembley having lost the first leg 1-0.
"It is another opportunity to make Wembley home," said Pochettino, whose side is set to play their home games at Wembley next season while work continues on their new ground.
"It will be different, it is the FA Cup semi-final, but it is a good thing for us because we are thinking next season to maybe play all our games at Wembley."
This was a hard lesson for Millwall as Spurs cruised to victory in their final FA Cup tie at the ground that has been their home for the past 118 years.
They had been seeking a fourth Premier League scalp in this season's competition having beaten Bournemouth, Watford and Leicester.
Steve Morison went close from 25 yards when the tie was goalless but Millwall never recovered once they fell behind.
King will have nightmares about Son's hat-trick goal - the ball somehow squirming under his body.
Despite this result, Millwall's season is far from over.
Neil Harris' side are six points off automatic promotion in League One and the Lions boss will be hoping his players can put this heavy defeat behind them as they look to secure a place in the Championship.
'We lost our way'
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino: "The performance was fantastic. It was very important for us to play well and score goals, so we are very pleased.
"A hat-trick from Son and Janssen scored....the team was good. We need to congratulate them, they were waiting for the opportunity and they took it and stepped up.
"In football you always need to be ready. Not only him [Janssen] but different players too will have the opportunity to play more and they need to be ready."
Millwall boss Neil Harris: "It was disappointing to concede the goals we did. I thought we lost our way in the last 20 minutes but there is no getting away from what a good team Tottenham are.
"We are disappointed because we have been beaten 6-0 at Spurs. This is the quality you are playing against. If we can use this experience then the standards are there that we need to set, individually and collectively."
'Six of the best' - the stats
• None Spurs have won an FA Cup game by a six-goal margin for the first time since January 1973 (v Margate).
• None This was Millwall's first defeat in 18 matches in all competitions.
• None Dele Alli has scored in three consecutive appearances at White Hart Lane for the first time.
• None Son Heung-min is Tottenham's leading scorer in the FA Cup this season with six goals in four appearances.
• None Christian Eriksen has scored nine goals in all competitions this season, surpassing his tally from 2015/16 (8).
Pochettino's former club Southampton visit White Hart Lane in the Premier League next Sunday, 19 March (14:15 GMT). Millwall resume their League One promotion push at home to Bury next Saturday, 18 March (15:00 GMT)
• None Goal! Tottenham Hotspur 6, Millwall 0. Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Christian Eriksen with a cross following a fast break.
• None Attempt missed. Harry Winks (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Moussa Sissoko.
• None Attempt blocked. Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Christian Eriksen.
• None Attempt blocked. Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Kieran Trippier.
• None Attempt missed. Harry Winks (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Son Heung-Min following a corner.
• None Attempt blocked. Vincent Janssen (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Son Heung-Min.
• None Attempt saved. Vincent Janssen (Tottenham Hotspur) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jan Vertonghen.
• None Goal! Tottenham Hotspur 5, Millwall 0. Vincent Janssen (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Son Heung-Min.
• None Attempt missed. Vincent Janssen (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ben Davies. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39170656
|
Six Nations: England equal the All Blacks - but are they on their level? - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
England may have equalled New Zealand's world record for consecutive Test wins but Eddie Jones still aspires to reach their level, says Tom Fordyce.
| null |
"We're one year into a four-year project. We've done reasonably well in the first year."
It sounds like something a college lecturer might say to a room of young undergraduates, or the owner of a small tech start-up to his three staff after filing the company's first year-end accounts.
It is not the sort of thing you expect to greet a world record-equalling victory, one that puts your team alongside arguably the greatest outfit ever to play your sport.
Somewhere under that roguish grin, England coach Eddie Jones must surely feel like skipping around the Twickenham turf, throwing in the occasional giddy cartwheel.
Since taking over, he has seen them win 17 matches in a row, storm to their first Grand Slam in 13 years, complete a series whitewash in his native Australia and secure back-to-back Six Nations titles, with another Slam shot to come against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
It is success beyond imagining, not least for a team that had just been knocked out of the World Cup they were hosting a mere three games in. Allied to the dead-rubber win over Uruguay at the fag-end of that sorry month, it means England, with their 61-21 hammering of Scotland on Saturday, have now equalled New Zealand's tier-one record of 18 Test wins on the spin.
For Jones, history is not enough. Seven tries against Scotland, three of them the sort of high-speed deception and sleight of hand that wins over the unconverted and makes weary old cynics purr, and he spoke almost entirely of the next challenge against Ireland.
"This game has given us the opportunity to play well in that game," he said on Saturday, the noise from partying England supporters echoing around just outside. "It's all about what we do next."
He is probably right, as he has been through so much of his reign. Should England lose to Ireland, the record is unlikely to offer consolation to his players or their travelling support. When those same players step away from the game and assess the impact they made upon it, it is the trophies and medals they will cherish above the statistics.
"It means the players would have achieved greatness," said Jones about the prospect of a second successive Grand Slam, something that has never been done in the Six Nations and only four times in the Five Nations that preceded it. "And how often in your life do you get the chance to achieve greatness?"
It takes something for Jones to use a word as emotive as that, and he immediately qualified it. "We want to be number one team and we're not, so we need to do better."
This may have been a record points tally in the Calcutta Cup and matched the mark for the biggest margin of victory in this oldest of internationals, but it came against a Scotland side who only played when they had already handed the match away.
Had you told Scotland coach Vern Cotter in advance that his side would score three converted tries, he might have dared dream that his penultimate game in charge might see that horrible 34-year winless streak at Twickenham come to a beautiful end.
Instead, with three players lost to head injuries, the replacement for one of them carried off the field and his scrum-half forced to play most of the contest on the wing, he saw misfortune married to ineptitude, his team outwitted in defence and unable to unleash their attacking potential until it no longer mattered.
"We've been trying to move away from being plucky losers," said skipper John Barclay, "but that wasn't plucky today. That was useless."
And so it still feels surreal to compare this England team to an All Blacks side that won a third World Cup eight games into their own run, whose march included 41-13 and 57-15 wins over the Springboks, the latter away from home, as well as a 62-13 victory against France and five over Australia.
Before this week, England felt like a good team with a great record, rather than a great team or a team of greats.
The World Cup-winning All Blacks side contained arguably the two finest ever in their positions, fly-half Dan Carter and flanker Richie McCaw, as well as other superstars in Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith. They were the first team in history to retain the Webb Ellis trophy, like the Brazil side that won football's World Cup in 1970 at a sanctified level, taking their sport to heights that none before had touched.
When McCaw and Carter stepped away, the team continued to develop rather than atrophy. The XV that set the original 18-match mark with the 37-10 Bledisloe Cup win over the Wallabies contained eight players who would make most critics' fantasy world team: Ben Smith, Julian Savea, Beauden Barrett, Dane Coles, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Jerome Kaino and Kieran Read.
And so there is a gap, even if Billy Vunipola is fast becoming a totemic figure, even as Owen Farrell continues to raise his standards - 26 points on Saturday, 11 successful kicks from 12, his only miss a penalty from inside his own half - even as England's power and pace off the bench continue to flatten tired northern hemisphere defences.
"We're not the number one team," Jones said flatly. "Look at the rankings. There's a gap between us and number one. We aspire to being number one."
Yet the aspiration no longer seems impossible, as it did in that warm autumn of 2015, when a gulf existed between New Zealand and England that seemed unbridgeable. If England were to end this four-year project with a World Cup of their own, only then do you sense Jones will be truly satisfied.
New Zealand's record-equalling run (ended by Ireland in November 2016)
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39245817
|
An absence of peace: When is a war actually a war? - BBC News
|
2017-03-12
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The BBC's defence and diplomatic correspondent examines how armed conflict and war differ.
|
World
|
Earlier this month, a relic from World War Two intruded into daily life in north London. A 500lb Luftwaffe bomb was discovered by builders excavating in the leafy suburb of Brondesbury.
Local homes were evacuated, local train services were closed down. Eventually the weapon was made safe and finally removed to be detonated on an army range.
This relic of a war that ended more than 70 years ago set me thinking.
World War Two - just like the Great War that preceded it - was a total war. The fates of all the countries involved were in the balance. Ordinary soldiers were largely not professionals but were conscripted citizens. The whole of society - its energies and industrial might - were mobilised for the conflict.
Once the war was over, many of its constraints inevitably lingered - the rationing of food, for example. War-ravaged cities also bore their scars.
As a child I remember the temporary homes - the rectangular "prefabs" or prefabricated houses - that dotted many of the bomb sites in east London near my grandparents' home.
My childhood was dominated by films and documentaries about the war. I lose track of the number of plastic Spitfire model kits I must have built to battle with their Messerschmitt equivalents.
But whatever the memories and cultural obsessions, the conflict was definitively over. There was, in short, a clear distinction between war and peace.
Thankfully the so-called Cold War of the 1950s and 60s remained just that: in Europe, at least, it never went hot. War and peace were two separate states of affairs.
Fast forward to today. This week, in London, a memorial was unveiled to the service personnel and civilians who lost their lives in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the government's own website it is described as the Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial.
In the West, at least, the Cold War never became hot
In the lengthy press release that follows there is no mention of the word "war", except to say that the new memorial stands close to monuments to World War Two and the Korean War.
There is rightly, of course, mention of the lives lost and the medals won. There is, too, appreciation for those who "put themselves in harm's way" - an Americanism that has intruded itself into the public debate on armed conflict.
But there you have it. These were undoubtedly armed conflicts far from our shores. But in what sense were they wars? Well of course they were, I hear you say, this is all semantic argument.
Well, they were certainly wars for the Afghans and the Iraqis who were in some cases willing, and in many cases, unwilling participants in the struggles.
They were certainly wars for those actually engaged in combat. From my very limited experience under fire, it matters little if it is a skirmish or a fully-fledged battle if it is you on the spot where the bullets are flying.
The Queen unveiled the Iraq and Afghanistan memorial in London
But were Britain, the United States or their many allies who have contributed troops to these conflicts really "at war"? To what extent were their societies adapted or mobilised for the struggle? In some senses, very little. But in others, perhaps, more than we would like to admit.
None of their economies was on a war footing and the fighting was done largely by regular professional troops or volunteer reservists. Boots on the ground were combined with the signature style of the modern Western military campaign: lashings of air power along with the use of sophisticated armed drones.
Paradoxically, the primary impact of these wars was on the home front: the political obsession with terrorism which has had an impact on policing, community relations and security legislation and created an atmosphere in which debate about "fear of the other" has become an increasingly important factor in democratic elections and referendums.
It has also led increasingly to a militarisation of foreign policy - the idea that the military has an answer for most of the world's problems.
And, in the midst of this, the former US Pentagon official and academic Rosa Brooks has mused eloquently on this theme in a book cogently titled How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything.
Her message, that the blurring of the boundaries of war and peace has consequences for all our lives, is one that seems to resound with ever more people around the globe.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-39222619
|
Steve McClaren: Derby County sack manager for a second time - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Steve McClaren is sacked as manager of Derby County, just five months after he was reappointed.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Steve McClaren has been sacked as Derby County manager for a second time, five months after he was reappointed.
Derby, 10th in the Championship, said they acted following a "significant, unexpected and persistent decline in results, team unity and morale".
Rams chairman Mel Morris said: "We need a manager who shares our values and who is prepared to develop the team."
The club said they expect to make an announcement in relation to McClaren's successor "in the next few days".
Assistant manager Chris Powell and technical director Chris Evans have also left.
Former England boss McClaren, 55, was reappointed by Derby in October 2016, 17 months after he was sacked.
He returned to replace Nigel Pearson, who left by mutual consent after less than five months.
Derby lost 3-0 away to second-placed Brighton on Friday and are 10 points off the play-off places.
"The Brighton game was so far from what we expect to see from those wearing a Derby County shirt," added Morris.
"To ensure we are on the right path, it is important to put the building blocks in place so we can develop a team we can all be proud of."
McClaren was in charge for 26 Championship games during his second spell at Derby, winning 12 and losing eight.
Derby have won just one of the past nine league games.
They first appointed McClaren in September 2013 on a two-and-a-half-year deal after sacking Nigel Clough.
His contract was terminated in May 2015 following "a thorough review of the 2014-15 season".
In between his spells at Derby, McClaren managed Newcastle between June 2015 and March 2016, when he was sacked.
So the Derby players escape responsibility while the manager who has been at the club five months carries the can.
Steve McClaren had an immediate effect last autumn, taking the club out of the bottom four and impressing with his acknowledged coaching skill, but the players shrivelled in the face of promotion expectations.
McClaren had set in place a major overhaul of the dressing room this summer, aware that he had been undermined by some malcontents speaking to club owner Mel Morris, a micro-manager who demands success and is not known for his patience - four managers in just over a year testify to that.
But it is his club, his £100m-plus investment, and he will run it his way.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39251254
|
Middlesbrough 0-2 Manchester City - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Manchester City comfortably win at Middlesbrough as Pep Guardiola's side secure an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Goals from David Silva and Sergio Aguero gave Manchester City a deserved win over Middlesbrough and earned Pep Guardiola's side a place in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Silva scored just three minutes in from six yards out after Pablo Zabaleta had time and space to cross low from the right.
Middlesbrough goalkeeper Brad Guzan produced a number of fine saves to deny Silva, Leroy Sane and deflect an Aguero shot on to the post.
But Aguero finally made the result safe for the visitors when he converted from Sane's low cross to earn his side a Wembley semi-final.
City have reached the last four of the FA Cup for the first time in four years as Guardiola aims to win some silverware in his first season in English football.
The Spanish manager also had the luxury of taking off Sane and Aguero before City play the second leg of their last-16 Champions League tie in Monaco on Wednesday. City hold a 5-3 lead after a thrilling first leg.
City had defeated West Ham, Crystal Palace and Huddersfield Town so far in the competition and completely dominated against Middlesbrough.
The visitors had 69% of possession and 10 shots on target compared with only three from the hosts at a packed Riverside Stadium.
City's movement off the ball was excellent as they repeatedly carved open a Boro defence that could not cope with the visitors.
Poor marking enabled Zabaleta to get free early on and his low cross was missed by Raheem Sterling before Silva lashed City ahead.
Only an outstanding performance by Guzan kept his side in it as he produced a number of saves to frustrate the visitors.
Aguero, who had earlier hit the post, got a goal he deserved when he finished well from the delivery from the excellent Sane.
For Middlesbrough, 18th in the Premier League, it was another afternoon to forget.
Not only were they outclassed, they also suffered two injuries to key players as forward Rudy Gestede and defender Bernardo limped off.
Gestede had two attempts - heading just over and also having a header cleared off the line by Pablo Zabaleta - before going off after only 26 minutes with what appeared to be a lower back injury.
Boro have scored the fewest goals in the Premier League - 19 in 27 matches - and may now be without a striker who only joined them in January in a £6m move from Aston Villa.
Defender Bernardo also went off early in the second half with 19-year-old centre-half Dael Fry coming on to make only his second appearance of the season.
Boro, against the run of play, had a late chance to score but John Stones cleared off the line after goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had parried Fabio's header.
With 11 Premier League games left, Boro can now focus their attentions on trying to stay in the top flight.
It's not all about the FA Cup, they need to survive in the Premier League too, but Middlesbrough really couldn't have done much when City are in this form. They have had a football lesson.
City were always going to win this, we knew that when we saw the team sheet. They had put the big boys on the pitch.
Full credit to Middlesbrough. They are an honest, genuine side but were just lacking in a class finisher. It was 2-0 but it could have been a lot, lot more.
I do fear for Middlesbrough. They have got to be more adventurous against teams in the bottom half - the ones you think they should beat.
They are currently playing a counter-attacking game and, apart from Adama Traore, they don't have the legs to get forward quickly.
Another semi-final for Guardiola - the stats
• None Manchester City have reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the third time in six seasons (also in 2011 and 2013).
• None City boss Pep Guardiola has now reached a semi-final in all eight of his seasons in club management.
• None David Silva has been directly involved in five goals in his past five FA Cup appearances (two goals, three assists).
• None Silva's goal was the earliest Manchester City have scored this season and the quickest Boro have conceded.
• None Middlesbrough have failed to score in five of their past six matches.
• None Boro have failed to score in 14 games this season, with seven of those coming since the turn of the year.
What the managers said
Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka, speaking to BBC Sport, said: "It is easy to say that the best team won, but I am really proud of my players - they made an amazing effort.
"This is the way we need to keep competing because we will win more than lose. The past two games were awful for us so I was a bit concerned about the atmosphere when they scored the first goal so quickly, but they keep going, with high pressure, trying to win back the ball.
"As a coach you can't be more proud of your players. I have told them now that I take much more positive things than negative."
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola: "We were outstanding from the beginning. We have now played three teams from the Premier League and one from the Championship.
"We played a good performance and were there from the first minute. We have missed a lot of chances throughout the season and the game should have been over 30 minutes before. We need to improve that, but I am happy and we can play Monaco.
"When you attack good, you defend good. We want to play in this way. Claudio made a good performance and that is why we were able to have another clean sheet. I like to work with these guys. I'm so happy."
Manchester City are back in Champions League action against Monaco on Wednesday (19:45 GMT kick-off).
Both City and Middlesbrough are next in Premier League action on 19 March. Middlesbrough entertain Manchester United (12:00) before City play at home against Liverpool (16:30 GMT).
• None Attempt blocked. Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is blocked. Assisted by David Silva.
• None Attempt blocked. Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Gaël Clichy.
• None Attempt missed. Álvaro Negredo (Middlesbrough) with an attempt from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Gastón Ramírez with a cross following a set piece situation.
• None Attempt blocked. Adam Clayton (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Marten de Roon (Middlesbrough) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39162616
|
Six Nations 2017: England 61-21 Scotland highlights - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
England retained their Six Nations title and equalled New Zealand's world record for consecutive Test wins with a seven-try demolition of Scotland at Twickenham.
| null |
England retained their Six Nations title and equalled New Zealand's world record for consecutive Test wins with a seven-try demolition of Scotland at Twickenham.
Available to UK users only.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39245657
|
Arsenal 5-0 Lincoln City - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Non-league Lincoln City's astonishing run in the FA Cup comes to an end as Arsenal comfortably progress to the semi-finals.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Non-league Lincoln City's astonishing run in the FA Cup came to an end as Arsenal remain on course for a 13th title by reaching the semi-finals.
Lincoln, 88 places below their Premier League opponents, held their own for much of the first half and even went close to scoring when Petr Cech saved Nathan Arnold's curled effort.
However, Theo Walcott's deflected strike gave the Gunners the lead on the stroke of half-time and Olivier Giroud put the hosts in control with a clinical strike just after the break.
Lincoln's dreams of a fight back were dashed when Luke Waterfall scored an own goal, turning in Kieran Gibbs' cross.
Alexis Sanchez added a brilliant fourth, expertly placing the ball beyond Lincoln goalkeeper Paul Farman's reach, before Aaron Ramsey completed the win when he tapped in from Sanchez's cross.
It was ultimately a routine victory for Arsenal and perhaps eased some of the pressure on Arsene Wenger, who is bidding for his seventh FA Cup triumph as Gunners boss.
A protest was held before the game by around 200 fans urging the club to not give the 67-year-old a new contract when his current deal expires this summer.
Lincoln have undoubtedly been the story of this season's FA Cup. They came through eight games, beating Premier League Burnley and Championship high fliers Brighton along the way to become the first non-league side to reach the quarter-finals of the competition in 103 years.
Against an Arsenal side that had reached the semi-finals 28 times previous, few would normally have given Lincoln a chance.
But a run of just two wins in their last seven games, coupled with the discontent felt by some Arsenal fans towards Arsene Wenger, gave the minnows reason to believe an upset could be achievable.
The club's fans clearly felt that to be the case as they travelled in huge numbers to the Emirates, and for large periods of the first half their voices were the only ones that could be heard.
The dream was alive. For 44 minutes
On the pitch, Lincoln were impressive, sticking to a game plan that limited Arsenal to only one real chance in the first half half hour, when Walcott hit the post.
There was a momentary silence around the ground when Lincoln threatened to snatch the unlikeliest of leads as Arnold's smart footwork left Laurent Koscielny on the floor, and he took aim at the far corner - but Cech managed to stretch across to make the save.
A goalless draw at half-time would have been a deserved reward for their performance, but Walcott's strike appeared to knock their confidence and in the second half it looked every bit the tie involving a Premier League side and a team four divisions below them.
The FA Cup dream may be over for Lincoln but they could yet walk out at Wembley this season. They are in the semi-finals of the FA Trophy and now switch attention to their first-leg tie at York on Tuesday.
Protests again but players step up
Arsenal could still finish the season with silverware, but success in the FA Cup is no longer enough for a sizeable number of Gunners fans.
They are out of the Champions League and a top-four finish is far from guaranteed as they currently sit fifth, two points behind Liverpool.
Those fans who feel Wenger has taken the side as far as they can go made their feelings known before the game with a protest - their second in a week after around 200 supporters expressed their frustration before the Champions League last-16 second leg tie with Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
But there was support for Wenger inside the ground as some fans held 'In Wenger we trust' banners, while on the pitch his players stepped up after a slow start.
Mesut Ozil was particularly influential after his 27th minute introduction and Sanchez, whose long-term future at the Emirates is reportedly in doubt, impressed with a fine goal and an assist.
What they said
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: "There was always a level of anxiety because these boys are unpredictable. They knocked out Burnley, Ipswich and Brighton, so we have to respect them.
"It was all us in the second half but you have to congratulate Lincoln for what they have achieved in the FA Cup.
"We have been short of confidence after some disappointing results recently. When the confidence was there in the second half the quality came back."
Lincoln manager Danny Cowley: "I thought we did really well for the first 45 minutes. It is very hard to get negative against them because they have such world-class players. At 45 minutes I thought we had limited them in chances and we were hoping to get in 0-0 but they got the goal.
"Arsenal were frightening in the second half and for us it was a pleasure to see world-class players first hand. It felt like Arsene Wenger had brought 15 players on. If we can learn from this experience today and throughout this FA Cup journey we will be better players and better people.
"The best [in this run] was at the end, sharing a moment with our supporters. Our supporters were world class. They were brilliant. We are winners and don't like losing but when we can draw breath we will be proud."
Former Arsenal and England defender Martin Keown on Match of the Day
Lincoln revitalised the FA Cup, their run was magical. Arsenal came in wounded, there was a lack of confidence early on, but the goal just before half-time was perfect and settled them down. Them needing that goal to settle them down was some compliment to Lincoln, but the Gunners played with a swagger in the second half. Still, Lincoln can hold their heads very high.
Former England winger Trevor Sinclair on Match of the Day
A National League team getting to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup? It is a fantastic achievement. I am sure everyone at the club will be so proud, and it doesn't happen by accident. They kept Arsenal at bay for 45 minutes.
The players and fans will remember it for the rest of their lives.
• None This was Arsenal's 300th competitive fixture at the Emirates.
• None The Gunners registered their 200th win in competitive games at the Emirates (D61 L39).
• None Lincoln City failed to find the back of the net in an FA Cup game (excl. qualifiers) for the first time in nine games, since losing 5-0 to Plymouth in November 2013.
• None Arsenal have reached the last four of the FA Cup for the third time in the last four seasons.
• None Theo Walcott has scored 17 goals in all competitions this season; only in 2012/13 did he score more for the Gunners (21).
• None Alexis Sanchez has had a hand in 35 goals this season (21 goals, 14 assists), more than any other PL player in all comps.
• None In his last 20 games in all competitions, Sanchez has either scored or assisted 22 goals (13 goals, nine assists).
• None Olivier Giroud has bagged four goals in total in his last four FA Cup starts.
• None Arsenal's games this season in all competitions have produced a total of 145 goals (95 scored, 50 conceded), more than any other Premier League side.
• None Mesut Ozil registered his first assist for Arsenal in any competition since January 22nd (vs Burnley), after a run of five games without one.
Arsenal are back in Premier League action as they travel to West Brom on Saturday, 18 March (12:30 GMT) looking for their first league win since 11 February. Lincoln, meanwhile, face York in the FA Trophy on Tuesday.
• None Attempt missed. Theo Walcott (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left following a corner.
• None Attempt blocked. Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) hits the bar with a right footed shot from outside the box from a direct free kick.
• None Sean Raggett (Lincoln City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt blocked. Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Lucas Pérez.
• None Attempt blocked. Theo Walcott (Arsenal) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Aaron Ramsey.
• None Attempt saved. Alan Power (Lincoln City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Nathan Arnold.
• None Attempt missed. Adam Marriott (Lincoln City) right footed shot from outside the box is too high from a direct free kick. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39162720
|
Six Nations 2017: England 61-21 Scotland - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
England retain the Six Nations title and Calcutta Cup and equal New Zealand's record of 18 straight Test wins as they hammer Scotland.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
England retained their Six Nations title and equalled New Zealand's world record for consecutive Test wins with a seven-try demolition of sorry Scotland.
A hat-trick of tries for Jonathan Joseph, and one apiece for replacements Anthony Watson and Billy Vunipola and two for Danny Care put the visitors to the sword at Twickenham as Owen Farrell kicked 26 points.
It was England's highest score in this oldest of international fixtures and equalled their biggest winning margin against Scotland as the Calcutta Cup was retained with style and swagger.
It means England face Ireland in Dublin next weekend with both consecutive Grand Slams and a world record of 19 Test wins in their sights.
It was a chastening afternoon for Scotland despite them scoring three converted tries, their hopes of a first Triple Crown since 1990 wrecked by a dismal first-half performance.
They lost both Stuart Hogg and his replacement Mark Bennett early and were forced to play the majority of the contest with scrum-half Ali Price on the wing, their winless run at Twickenham now stretching past 34 years.
There has been much debate about England's form this Six Nations despite their long unbeaten run.
But in front of a celebrating capacity crowd they cut loose, running in three tries as they scored 30 points in a one-sided first half.
Four more tries and thirty-one more points followed in the second period as they established an unassailable lead atop the Six Nations table.
Never before have England scored more than 44 points against the Scots, and only once before won by the 40-point margin.
Two tries from Huw Jones were scant consolation for Scotland coach Vern Cotter, his team only offering any sort of threat when the match was gone.
After struggling to start well so often under Eddie Jones, England had come storming out of the blocks to bring Twickenham exploding to life.
With Fraser Brown in the sin-bin for lifting Elliot Daly above the horizontal in the tackle, England attacked at pace and with the Scottish defence stretched, Joseph ghosted between his opposite centres for the first try.
After 10 minutes England had 92% possession, Farrell landing two penalties to add to the conversion, and it only got worse for the visitors.
With star full-back Hogg off with a head injury, his replacement Bennett was carried off with a hamstring injury, forcing Price to switch to the wing.
And with Joseph dancing past four static defenders on 24 minutes from George Ford's lovely delayed pass, they were 20 points down with just 25 minutes gone.
Prop Gordon Reid burrowed over from close in after Scotland kicked a penalty to the corner, but another blistering England attack off quick line-out ball let Farrell free Joseph, Watson appearing on his outside shoulder to dash in unopposed.
Scotland strike back, but too little too late
Joseph ran on to Ben Youngs' short pass to complete his treble and make it 35-7 just after half-time, and while Huw Jones squeezed through Joseph and Jack Nowell for a second Scottish try, Eddie Jones then threw on his bench as England went hunting for more.
Vunipola, on as a replacement after returning from injury, battered over from a driving maul and the stage seemed set for white-shirted carnage.
But Scotland refused to roll over and as the game became increasingly unstructured, visiting centre Jones side-stepped his way into the left-hand corner.
However, replacement England scrum-half Care nipped over with nine minutes remaining, and relentless English pressure and possession with time up saw him cap the romp with a celebratory dive over the line.
Cyprus won 24 matches in a row between 2008 and 2014 but they are not a tier one nation (the premier sides in the game). England's best run before Eddie Jones took over was a streak of 14 consecutive wins between 2002 and 2003 - which ended just before their World Cup-winning campaign.
What is the players' view?
Scotland captain John Barclay: "We just didn't show up. We got off to a bad start and continued, our discipline was very poor and we gave away soft tries.
"You don't win however many games in a row without being a good side so good luck to England. We are trying to move away from the tag of plucky losers but that wasn't even that. We were useless."
"Coming back into the team, scoring a hat-trick and winning the Six Nations means it has been a great day.
"We focused on starting each session very well and you could see we did that today. The set piece was unbelievable and what we did on the back of that was very good."
What did the pundits make of it?
"If England are going to play like that next week, I don't know how Ireland are going to win that game.
"Eddie Jones has created so much pressure on this side over the past few weeks and this has been their response, a 40-point whipping of Scotland."
"My goodness me, England were imperious. They will be very pleased with that, but it was an armchair ride they had for most of the afternoon.
"Scotland and their supporters will be bitterly disappointed, they just did not turn up. England were thoroughly deserving of the manner of their victory."
Replacements: Te'o for Joseph (59), Watson for Daly (16), Sinckler for Youngs (61), M. Vunipola for Marler (59), George for Hartley (52), Care for Cole (61), Wood for Lawes (67), B. Vunipola for Hughes (52).
Replacements: Bennett for Hogg (17), Pyrgos for Bennett (21), Weir for Seymour (45), Dell for Reid (44), Ford for Brown (44), Berghan for Fagerson (61), Swinson for J. Gray (75), Du Preez for Wilson (62).
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39223528
|
Arsenal's confidence came back with FA Cup win, says Arsene Wenger - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Arsene Wenger says Arsenal showed against Lincoln that they have their confidence back following Tuesday's heavy loss to Bayern Munich.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger felt his side showed against Lincoln City that they have their confidence back, following a heavy defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
The Gunners beat the non-league side 5-0 at Emirates Stadium on Saturday to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.
It came after they lost 5-1 to Bayern Munich at the same ground on Tuesday.
"We have been short of confidence after some disappointing results recently," said Frenchman Wenger.
"When the confidence was there in the second half, our quality came back.
"It was all us in the second half but you have to congratulate Lincoln for what they have achieved in the FA Cup."
Lincoln, 88 places below their Premier League hosts, were the first non-league side to reach the quarter-finals of the competition in 103 years.
'We had to respond'
This was a much-needed win for Wenger after a difficult couple of weeks for the 67-year-old.
Arsenal had lost five of their seven games prior to the visit of the Imps - including 5-1 defeats home and away to Bayern Munich and a 3-1 loss to Liverpool in the Premier League.
Wenger's long-term future at Arsenal is uncertain, with his contract due to expire this summer, and there were protests calling for him to step down prior to Saturday's game.
Arsenal initially looked nervous against Lincoln before Theo Walcott opened the scoring just before half-time.
Olivier Giroud put the hosts in control with a clinical strike, with an own goal from Luke Waterfall and goals from Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey completing the win.
"We were a bit nervous because your confidence drops when you don't have the results," added Wenger.
"The team was unjustifiably criticised for our last game against Bayern Munich because we had an outstanding game.
"The game was killed not by the fault of the players but we have to look at the bigger perspective.
"Overall, we had to respond and that's what we did."
Defeat for Lincoln brought to an end their historic FA Cup run.
About 9,000 fans made the trip south to cheer on Lincoln, and boss Danny Cowley praised their "world-class" support.
"We need to learn from this journey, not just from today but this journey," he said.
"And if we can really, really learn and take something from playing against world-class players then we will be better footballers and players as a result.
"I did our fans a massive disservice in the week because I said they were Premier League. They were much, much better than that.
"You saw world-class players play today in the Arsenal team but you also heard and witnessed world-class supporters because that's how good they were."
Former Arsenal and England defender Martin Keown on Match of the Day
Lincoln revitalised the FA Cup, their run was magical. Arsenal came in wounded, there was a lack of confidence early on, but the goal just before half-time was perfect and settled them down. Them needing that goal to settle them down was some compliment to Lincoln, but the Gunners played with a swagger in the second half. Still, Lincoln can hold their heads very high.
Former England winger Trevor Sinclair on Match of the Day
A National League team getting to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup? It is a fantastic achievement. I am sure everyone at the club will be so proud, and it doesn't happen by accident. They kept Arsenal at bay for 45 minutes.
The players and fans will remember it for the rest of their lives.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39246110
|
Why Liverpool's 'ugly win' over Burnley mattered so much - MOTD2 analysis - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Former Liverpool defender and Match of the Day 2 pundit Mark Lawrenson explains why an 'ugly win’ mattered so much on Sunday.
| null |
Questions remain about Liverpool's performances against lesser teams despite Sunday's win over Burnley, but I could tell from talking to Jurgen Klopp how important the result was to him.
I was at Anfield for Match of the Day 2 and the Reds manager came to speak to us on the show after the game.
He called it an "ugly win". He was exactly right and he was also correct that it was a very good sign.
I could tell from Klopp's entire demeanour that he saw it as a massive result in his side's season, and it was fascinating to talk to him about how he thought his side played.
When he answers your questions, he gives you everything. He kind of looks at you as if to say 'well you have watched the game anyway, so I am not going to come out with any rubbish'.
I think that is why football fans like to listen to him - I do. He does not just talk openly, he is convincing when he explains things too.
'Liverpool unhinged and could not impose themselves'
I said before Sunday's game that I thought it held huge significance for Liverpool's bid to finish in the top four, even more so than last week's win over Arsenal.
Klopp's side started 2017 so badly and suffered some poor defeats against teams from the bottom half of the table. It was vital that did not happen again.
Going back further, we saw in August when the Reds lost at Turf Moor how they struggle to break down teams even when they dominate possession.
I was expecting this game to follow a similar pattern, but Burnley did far more than just defend in numbers.
This game was completely different to what happened at Turf Moor because this time Burnley caused Liverpool lots of problems too, especially in the first half and not just on the break.
When the Clarets were on the ball they looked more dangerous and that was in terms of territory, because they saw more of the ball than Liverpool in the right areas.
It looked like they targeted the little corridor between Liverpool's left-sided centre-half Ragnar Klavan and their left-back James Milner, and it seriously worked.
It unhinged Liverpool for the first 20 to 25 minutes and, even after that, the Reds did not impose themselves on the game or get their short passing going.
Burnley were playing with two centre-forwards to stop Liverpool building from the back. It meant they were playing more long balls instead, and Michael Keane and Ben Mee can deal with those all day.
The home crowd were getting frustrated because Burnley's gameplan was working. When Georginio Wijnaldum equalised in first-half injury-time, it was with Liverpool's first shot on target.
There was no dramatic difference in Liverpool's play in the second half either - yes, they were better, but that wasn't difficult.
Any improvement was minimal - they just found a way to pinch the win despite a poor performance. They had to, really.
Divock Origi started up front, which is his best position, but he had a bad day and Klopp did not have many attacking alternatives on the bench - just youngsters in Ben Woodburn and Harry Wilson.
Klopp gets criticised for not having a 'Plan B' but part of that is down to a lack of options. At 1-1 he brought on Woodburn for Philippe Coutinho, which shows he is not afraid to change things if they are not working.
Coutinho is Liverpool's best player when he is on form but he was another one having an off day so Klopp gave a kid a chance.
That shows how limited Liverpool's squad is, when you compare it to the rest of the top six. On Wednesday night, for example, Manchester City brought on David Silva in the second half to try to change the game in their draw against Stoke.
Yes, Emre Can scored from long range seconds after Woodburn came on but that does not hide the fact that the Liverpool bench on Sunday was short of the experience they need.
'This can be a launchpad for the rest of Liverpool's season'
Beforehand I saw this game as the launchpad for the rest of Liverpool's season. The result still means it might be.
That is the big positive, but the worry would be that they have still not shown that they are capable of rolling any of the lower teams over.
Their next game, away at Manchester City next Sunday, is obviously important as well.
But it is against another top team, and we know what they are like against those sides - they have not lost against anyone else in the top six all season.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39225865
|
Hull City 2-1 Swansea City - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
Substitute Oumar Niasse scores two goals as Hull City beat fellow Premier League strugglers Swansea City.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Substitute Oumar Niasse scored two goals as Hull City secured a potentially crucial victory over fellow Premier League strugglers Swansea.
The 26-year-old, on loan from Everton, had only been on the pitch six minutes when he latched on to Abel Hernandez's pass and slotted past Swans keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
The Senegal forward's second came just nine minutes later, with a close-range finish from fellow substitute Ahmed Elmohamady's cross.
It was a nervy finish at the KCOM Stadium, as Swansea defender Alfie Mawson pulled one back in injury time.
The Swans had enjoyed the better chances earlier in the game, but struggled without top scorer Fernando Llorente, who was forced off with an injury at the end of the first half.
The Tigers remain in the bottom three, one point from safety, but moved to within three points of Swansea, who remain in 16th.
• None Relive the action from the KCOM Stadium
• None Reaction from all of Saturday's Premier League matches
Hull were bottom of the table and three points from safety when former Sporting Lisbon and Olympiakos boss Marco Silva was appointed in January.
The 39-year-old Portuguese's first game in charge resulted in a 2-0 win over Swansea in the FA Cup third round.
Fast forward nine weeks and the Tigers are within one point of safety with 10 games still to play after Silva's second win over the Swans.
Silva's decision to replace Alfred N'Diaye with Niasse proved to be a masterstroke, as the substitute showcased his potential when it really mattered.
Hull's home form will be vital in their survival, with all three of their Premier League victories under Silva coming at the KCOM, the same number they had won in their previous 16.
With relegation-threatened Middlesbrough and Sunderland still to play at home, Silva can still believe he has a chance of keeping Hull in the top flight - a task many thought was impossible when he took over.
Swans hit by injuries at the wrong time
Injury problems are coming at the wrong stage of the season for Swansea, with boss Paul Clement forced to make two changes before the end of the first half.
Top scorer Fernando Llorente limped off after a Tom Huddlestone challenge left him with a dead leg just before half-time.
Swansea clearly struggled without the in-form Spaniard, who had scored three goals in his previous two Premier League appearances, and managed just three shots on target in the match, compared with Hull's seven.
Their first real chance of the game fell to Wayne Routledge after Eldin Jakupovic's spilled save fell perfectly into his path, but somehow the 28-year-old blasted his effort over the bar from 10 yards out.
Right-back Angel Rangel, who started in place of the injured Kyle Naughton, was forced off midway through the first half after twisting his ankle in an attempt to tackle Kamil Grosicki.
However, Hull have had injury problems of their own and Marco Silva has been without key players Moses Odubajo, Will Keane, Markus Henriksen, Ryan Mason, Michael Dawson and Dieumerci Mbokani.
Former England defender Martin Keown on Match of the Day
When Marco Silva changed Hull's formation and brought Oumar Niasse on, that made the complete difference. Niasse came out with a point to prove and boy has he proved it. They were two massive goals he got for his team today.
What they said
Hull City manager Marco Silva: "We got three important points, of course I am happy. It was a tough, tough game. We improved in the second half and after that we controlled the game.
"I'm not happy with the last five minutes to give gifts to the opponent. The game only finishes when the referee gives the sign.
"In the first half we had chances, and in the second half we improved our attitude and scored two goals. It is a fair result for us. We work two systems and the players know what we want.
"We need to take points away from home as well, it is difficult."
Swansea City boss Paul Clement: "The way we defended was not good enough. For long periods we looked like we were in control of the game and we were creating opportunities on the counter-attack.
"Two injuries in the first half have hurt us and in the second half we were limited to what we could do. Martin Olsson got hurt and we had to play with an injured player for the rest of the game. Overall we have to be disappointed with how they scored and how open we were.
"Fernando Llorente has been a key player to us recently and gives us lots of different threats, I don't think it is serious, I think he has a dead leg, Angel Rangel's is an injury to the ankle, I'm not sure how serious that one is. Martin got a knock on his ankle, he was not 100% but was able to continue.
"There's a lot of football to be played. I didn't think we were anywhere near safe and we are not anywhere near safe now. We have 10 games to go and have to bounce back next week against Bournemouth."
• None All three of Oumar Niasse's Premier League goals for Hull City have been as a substitute.
• None The Swans have lost their past three visits to the KCOM Stadium, each in a different competition.
• None Swansea have now conceded 61 goals this season. No side to have conceded 60 or more goals after 28 games of a Premier League season has stayed up.
• None Swansea have now conceded more goals in the final 30 minutes of games than any other Premier League side this season (29).
• None Gylfi Sigurdsson has provided more assists than any other Premier League player this season (11).
• None Offside, Hull City. Oumar Niasse tries a through ball, but Kamil Grosicki is caught offside.
• None Attempt saved. David Meyler (Hull City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Ahmed Elmohamady.
• None Goal! Hull City 2, Swansea City 1. Alfie Mawson (Swansea City) header from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Gylfi Sigurdsson with a cross following a set piece situation.
• None Jordan Ayew (Swansea City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Offside, Hull City. Eldin Jakupovic tries a through ball, but Oumar Niasse is caught offside.
• None Attempt missed. Oumar Niasse (Hull City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Kamil Grosicki.
• None Offside, Hull City. Oumar Niasse tries a through ball, but Andrew Robertson is caught offside.
• None Attempt blocked. Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Goal! Hull City 2, Swansea City 0. Oumar Niasse (Hull City) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Ahmed Elmohamady. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39163820
|
England can achieve greatness after Six Nations title win, says Eddie Jones - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-12
| null |
England coach Eddie Jones says his team can "achieve greatness" by beating Ireland next week and completing a Grand Slam.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
England can "achieve greatness" by completing a second straight Grand Slam against Ireland next weekend and breaking New Zealand's record of 18 consecutive wins, says Eddie Jones.
England thrashed Scotland 61-21 at Twickenham on Saturday to retain the Six Nations and coach Jones says his players want more success.
"How many times in your life do you get to be great? It's exciting," he said.
"They're in the dressing room now talking about it. They want to do it."
• None Analysis: Are England on the All Blacks' level?
• None Relive how England won the Six Nations
New Zealand's record run of 18 consecutive victories was ended by Ireland in Chicago just last autumn, and Jones believes that Joe Schmidt's side will prove tough opposition in Dublin next Saturday.
France were the last team to win back-to-back Grand Slams in 1998, with England achieving the feat in 1992 - both before Italy joined the tournament and the number of nations increased from five to six.
"We've got a fantastic opportunity," said Jones. "It would mean for the players they've achieved greatness.
"Our focus is purely on Ireland - back-to-back Grand Slams has never been done in the history of the Six Nations.
"Ireland, psychologically, are in a very strong position," he added. "They're beaten, they're out of the tournament and they love spoiling parties.
"And the party they'd love to spoil the most is the England party."
'We want to be number one in the world'
England's haul of wins has lifted them to second in the world rankings, behind World Cup holders New Zealand, and Jones has set his sights on toppling the All Blacks.
Jones has not faced New Zealand since taking charge in 2015.
He said: "[The half-time message was] that we were ruthless and behaved like the number-one team in the world. The number-one team in the world goes on and finishes that off.
"We're not beating our chests and saying we're the number-one team in the world, but we aspire to be the number-one team in the world.
"We're one year into a four-year project. We've done reasonably well in the first year.
"We want to be the number-one team in the world but we're not, so we have got to get better."
'It doesn't feel like we have won'
England captain Dylan Hartley said that the players haven't allowed themselves to celebrate with one game still to come, and described winning the championship early as "weird".
"If we want to kick on as a team the next challenge is Dublin next weekend," he said.
"The team delivered, we don't need to fill newspaper columns and I'm happy with how the team conducted themselves. We were clinical, ruthless.
"It feels a bit weird - we have retained the Six Nations but it won't feel like it until we win next weekend.
"It's not a dead rubber - it's another step for the team to get better."
Cyprus won 24 matches in a row between 2008 and 2014 but they are not a tier one nation and not a full member of the International Rugby Board. England's best run before Eddie Jones took over was a streak of 14 consecutive wins between 2002 and 2003 - which ended just before their World Cup winning campaign.
It still feels surreal to compare this England team to an All Blacks side that won a third World Cup eight games into their own run, whose march included 41-13 and 57-15 wins over the Springboks, the latter away from home, as well as a 62-13 victory against France and five over Australia.
Before this week, England felt like a good team with a great record, rather than a great team or a team of greats.
The World Cup-winning All Blacks side contained arguably the two finest ever in their positions, fly-half Dan Carter and flanker Richie McCaw, as well as other superstars in Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith. They were the first team in history to retain the Webb Ellis trophy, like the Brazil side that won football's World Cup in 1970 at a sanctified level, taking their sport to heights that none before had touched.
When McCaw and Carter stepped away, the team continued to develop rather atrophy. The XV that set the original 18-match mark with the 37-10 Bledisloe Cup win over the Wallabies contained eight players who would make most critics' fantasy world team: Ben Smith, Julian Savea, Beauden Barrett, Dane Coles, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Jerome Kaino and Kieran Read.
And so there is a gap, even if Billy Vunipola is fast becoming a totemic figure, even as Owen Farrell continues to raise his standards - 26 points on Saturday, 11 successful kicks from 12, his only miss a penalty from inside his own half - even as England's power and pace off the bench continue to flatten tired northern hemisphere defences.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39243644
|
Hounded and ridiculed for complaining of rape - BBC News
|
2017-03-12
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
When Jamalida Begum complained that soldiers had raped her, she was accused of lying by the office of Aung San Suu Kyi and had to flee to avoid reprisals.
|
Magazine
|
When soldiers went searching for militants in Myanmar's Rakhine state last October, the result for members of the Rohingya minority was disastrous. Villages were burned, men were killed, women were sexually abused. And when one woman complained of rape, she was accused of lying by the office of the country's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and hounded by vengeful soldiers.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, 25-year-old Jamalida Begum tells me what happened in the days after her husband was shot dead in the village of Pyaung Pyaik, north-western Myanmar.
Jamalida fled with her two children and watched from a distance as the army set houses in the village on fire. Satellite images confirm that at least 85 buildings were destroyed.
Five days later she returned with some of her neighbours to find her belongings and home destroyed. They sheltered together in one of the few homes that had survived - but at dawn the next day the soldiers came back.
"They chose 30 women. Half were young girls aged between 12 and 15," says Jamalida.
The soldiers took them to the village school.
"Then they chose four from among the 30," Jamalida says.
"It was me and three teenage girls. Then we were separated. The army took me to the east of the school near the pond. Another seven soldiers took the other three girls to the hill to the south of the school.
"They shouted at me to open my shirt and my thami (wrap-around skirt). When I refused they started beating me, grabbed my clothes and pushed me to the ground. Three soldiers raped and tortured me for an hour. Blood came out of my lower part and my legs got cramped. They punched me into the eyes saying I was staring at them. It turned my eyes red like fire coal. They left me bleeding and drove away in their Jeeps."
The soldiers were sent into northern Rakhine state to conduct "clearance operations" after militants from Jamalida's ethnic group, the Rohingya, launched an attack on three Burmese police posts on 9 October last year - killing nine officers and seizing guns and ammunition.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Myanmar: Who are the Rohingya?
A wave of reports of human rights abuses followed, including scores of allegations of rape.
For weeks Myanmar's human rights icon turned leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, denied the allegations, insisting soldiers were adhering to the law, while at the same time refusing to allow independent journalists or observers to access the area.
But as the outcry grew she set up an investigation team, and on 11 December it reached Pyaung Pyaik.
Though initially reluctant, Jamalida was persuaded to speak by the only woman on the team, Dr Thet Thet Zin, the chairman of Myanmar's Women's Affairs Federation.
"She said we won't harm you, bring us the raped and tortured women," Jamalida says. "So I went there and told her everything and they recorded it."
Jamalida's interaction with the investigation team was filmed and several minutes of it broadcast on television. It is extraordinary footage, not just because of the way Jamalida is browbeaten by the translators, but because the Burmese state broadcaster didn't translate what Jamalida is saying to the investigators in the Rohingya language.
Once fully translated, it's clear that Jamalida is describing strong circumstantial evidence that rape has taken place. She tells them she saw three young Rohingya women being taken off into the bushes by soldiers.
"Did you see if those women were raped or not?" the translator asks.
"So, it isn't true," the translator fires back.
"Yes and no," Jamalida says. "They were bleeding directly from here". She points between her legs.
"Don't say that, don't say that, don't say that they are bleeding, just say whether you've seen rape or not," the translator replies.
The translator tells the investigators that Jamalida did not see the women being raped.
Jamalida is also asked directly whether she herself was raped. She tells the investigators that soldiers took her away, stripped her naked and molested her, but says it was "hands only" and not rape.
The translator says: "She wasn't raped."
Ten days later Jamalida is filmed again. This time, a group of handpicked journalists have been brought by the government to Pyaung Pyaik.
Initially none of the Rohingya want to speak to them so someone goes to get Jamalida. She tells the journalists the same story of army abuse again, except this time it changes and she says she was raped.
This discrepancy, between being stripped and molested and being raped, was immediately seized on by Aung San Suu Kyi's office, which was at the time running an aggressive campaign rubbishing foreign and social media reports of atrocities in Rakhine State as "fake news".
Jamalida's face was suddenly on Burmese television and state media once again, now paraded as a liar.
Aung San Suu Kyi's Facebook page called her story an example of "Fake Rape" in a big picture banner.
Banner on the Facebook page of Myanmar's State Counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi
So what's the truth? When I speak to Jamalida her testimony is detailed and convincing. It matches what she told the journalists and what she said to the investigators apart from that one detail. I believe her when she says she was raped.
I ask Jamalida about the difference in her accounts 10 days apart. She insists that she did tell the government investigators she was raped but that one of the translators was shouting and threatening to beat her. If she did tell the investigators this, it's possible Burmese TV chose not to broadcast this part of her testimony.
"I know they told everyone we weren't raped, tortured or anything," says Jamalida. "We do not have justice in our own country."
The promise made by Thet Thet Zin that no-one would face reprisals for speaking out, turned out to be hollow.
When soldiers came looking for her, she fled to a different village. Then, after speaking to the journalists, she realised it was not safe even there.
"The military were searching for me by getting all the women together in the yard and then showing them my picture," says Jamalida. "I was so scared I hid in the jungle."
Unable to take it any longer, the young widow fled across the River Naf into Bangladesh - one of more than 70,000 Rohingya to have arrived in the last few months.
I spoke to Thet Thet Zin on the phone. She said that although she couldn't remember meeting Jamalida, the soldiers must have been searching for her to protect rather than harass her. She added that she had seen no conclusive evidence of rape and that she doubted it had happened, as it went against Buddhist culture and tradition. (While the Rohingya are Muslim, most of Myanmar's soldiers are Buddhist.)
Bangladesh is now the best place to go to learn what is happening in northern Rakhine state, which is closed to journalists. Even the UN's special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, has had very limited access.
"I didn't think that I would say this out loud, that it's crimes against humanity," she says, when we meet in the airport at Cox's Bazaar.
"I think that the military needs to bear [responsibility] but at the end of the day it is the civilian government that has to answer and respond to these massive cases of horrific torture and very inhumane crimes that they have committed against their own people."
On Monday Yanghee Lee will urge the UN Human Rights Council to set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the abuses against the Rohingya.
As dusk began to fall at the Kutupalong refugee camp, where I met Jamalida Begum, I ask her what she thinks of Aung San Suu Kyi.
"She is doing nothing at all for us," she says. "If she was good, we wouldn't have to suffer so much in that country. Since she is in power Myanmar is hell for us."
Suu Kyi's power to stop the army abuses is limited, under the terms of the constitution drafted by the military. The spokesman for her party told me the UN claims were "an exaggeration" and the Rohingya issue was "an internal affair".
But Aung San Suu Kyi hasn't been to northern Rakhine State, and has never visited a Rohingya camp. In short, Myanmar's Nobel peace prize winner has given no indication to the Rohingya that she really cares.
Jonah Fisher's report was a joint investigation by Our World and Newsnight
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39204086
|
Six Nations: How England 2017 team match up with 2003 World Cup winners - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
How do England's record-equalling class of 2017 measure up to the World Cup-winning side of 2003? Jeremy Guscott runs the rule over the two teams.
| null |
Victory against Scotland on Saturday was a world record-equalling 18th in a row for the current England team, who were already on a longer winning streak than Sir Clive Woodward's 2003 world champions - their best was 14.
Extending their run to 19 in Ireland next weekend would secure Eddie Jones' side back-to-back Grand Slams, another feat beyond their legendary predecessors.
However, they will need to win a World Cup of their own to join the 2003 team in the pantheon of English sides.
Next Saturday, the current team do have the chance to do something that eluded Woodward's side in 2001 when, having beaten Scotland by 40 points, they failed in their shot at a Grand Slam as they lost in Dublin.
They are not yet the finished article - and have some way to go to match the achievement of the World Cup winners - but how do they compare man to man to the greats of 2003?
• None Are England on the All Blacks' level?
Whereas Josh Lewsey could alternate between the two positions, Mike Brown is definitely a full-back, not a winger.
He is the classic high-ball warrior, relishing the aerial battle that is such a big part of the modern game. Ireland's Rob Kearney, Wales' Dan Biggar and New Zealand's Ben Smith are among the best in the world at fielding the ping-pong kicking exchanges, but none are better than Brown.
Lewsey is a better all-rounder however. He eclipses Brown in attack with his speed, and was rock-solid in defence.
His rib-breaking hit on Australia's Mat Rogers the summer before the World Cup final left his opposite number unable to surf as lying on the board was too uncomfortable.
Poor Jack Nowell. Any wing in the world would suffer by this comparison because Jason Robinson had unique attacking skills.
He combined the best step I have ever seen with breathtaking acceleration that would leave defenders choking on dust.
Nowell has boundless energy and always wants to get his hands on the ball and take on the opposition. Still only 23, that attitude has fuelled his improvement with every game.
What a contrast. Jonathan Joseph and Mike Tindall are two totally different types of players, but each perfectly fitted their eras. Tindall was direct, confrontational and strong, but he also had an eye for the pass and the ability to deliver it.
He was uncompromising in attack and defence, relishing the collision with or without the ball.
Joseph's most eye-catching quality is his pace and ability to pick a defence-piercing line. We saw the perfect demonstration of that in his hat-trick performance against Scotland on Saturday.
His defence is more subtle than Tindall's crash-bang style, but it is equally effective.
While there were differences at outside centre, the two sides' inside centres bring similar assets to the table.
Will Greenwood was both a playmaker and try-scorer for the 2003 side. He was deceptively quick, picking clever lines and gobbling up the yards with his long stride. He has a superb rugby brain, and made time and space for others as well as finding holes to exploit himself.
Farrell has perhaps improved more than any other player under the guidance of England coach Eddie Jones. His running with ball in hand is now a real threat to the defensive line, he knows how to set traps for tacklers and then can deliver a decisive scoring pass. Add to the mix his metronomic goal-kicking and he is becoming world class.
Anthony Watson, with just 23 years and 24 Tests under his belt, is still relatively raw. He has electrifying pace and great feet though and finishes his chances well. Add the greater awareness which should come with experience and he'll be very good.
Cohen had more physicality, but did not sacrifice much speed for it. He had an exceptional step and pace for a big man.
George Ford has a wonderful skill-set - his vision, passing and kicking from hand are generally exceptional. However, he was short of his best in 2016 as the uncertainty over his future at Bath dragged on. Now that his return to Leicester has been sorted, I would like to see the 23-year-old showing his pace with ball in hand and making yards for his team.
What can you say about Jonny Wilkinson? He would deliver just exactly what his coach wanted from him. He understood England's gameplan inside out and executed everything it in his methodical and clever way.
Defensively he set new standards for the position with shuddering hits and, crucially in that World Cup final, he was a penalty-kicking genius.
Ben Youngs has sublime matches, good matches and some poor ones. His best - such as the man-of-the-match display in December's 37-21 win over Australia - is world class. He just needs a bit more consistency.
Matt Dawson was another clever player. He had an eye for the gap, a step that would send cameramen the wrong way, and he took on the responsibility in the biggest of matches.
His half-break in the phase before made Jonny Wilkinson's decisive drop-goal that much easier in the World Cup final and his try in the first British and Irish Lions Test in South Africa was typical impudent opportunism.
Loose-head Trevor Woodman was probably the unsung hero of the 2003. He was an old-school prop with technical skills that weren't always easily identifiable, but were definitely there.
Mako is a prototype player who is ahead of his time. His ball-carrying ability gives England another option in the loose and his deft handling skills belie his size.
Steve Thompson was a hooker who bristled with aggression in everything he did. Nothing unusual there perhaps, but he was also one of the best ball-carrying hookers who has played the game, combining pace and a piston-like hand-off.
Hartley leads the current England team by example, whole-hearted and relentlessly competitive. He is more of a set-piece specialist though and it has been noticeable in recent Tests that he has been replaced by the more mobile Jamie George early in the second half as the match opens up.
Tight-heads tend to be lone wolves, who live for the scrummage and the chance to cause the opposition front row pain. Phil 'Raging Bull' Vickery though moved out of that comfort zone and carried in the loose to great effect. That was his point of difference.
The current England team are evolving into an all-round footballing side in which one to 15 can run with the ball effectively, but Dan Cole does not fit that model. In addition to his primary role keeping the scrum solid, he is predominantly a breakdown cleaner and is far more effective there than as a runner.
Martin Johnson was the complete second row, adapting brilliantly throughout his 10-year international career to changing times in rugby. He had a marathon runner's durability, a heavyweight boxer's capacity to fight and a gladiator's instinct for survival. Add in his ferocity in the tight, soaring leaps in the line-out and quiet authority on the pitch and you have one of the best players ever.
Joe Launchbury is a workaholic, getting though his defensive duties, doing the hard yards from first receiver and decorating his performances with slick handling skills.
Ben Kay got the dirty work done for the 2003 England team. He was a clever player on the field, knowing where to put himself for maximum effect. He may have been overshadowed by other bigger names in the public imagination, but he was as important as any of them on the pitch.
Courtney Lawes' muscularity around the pitch means he is unlikely to be similarly overlooked. He has developed his game over the past year. The monster straight-to-showreel hits are still there, but now he has become a more prominent ball carrier as well. That added dimension is something that he needs to keep his shirt in a highly competitive position in the 2017 side.
In my opinion, Richard Hill was England's best player for a number of years. He had the pace and intelligence of an open-side flanker and the warrior's instinct of a blind-side flanker. He was truly world class.
It is hard to believe Maro Itoje is only 22 years old. His unique selling point is his rugby intelligence. He makes a veteran's decisions on whether to go into the breakdown, stand out to make a tackle on the fringes or run out wide to plug a gap in the defensive line. He is the prototype modern back-five forward.
Two totally different players with different skill-sets and different characters off the field as well, if you judge by their social media skirmish in the wake of the last World Cup.
Neil Back was the try-scoring tackle jackal at open-side flanker, linking play, covering every blade of grass and rarely making a mistake. He also complemented the rest of the 2003 back row perfectly. Eddie Jones, who indentified England's lack of an out-and-out fetcher like Back as one of their weaknesses before taking charge, is still searching for the perfect balance in that area.
Back was frequently told that he was too small to make it in international rugby before proving his critics wrong. It is never a charge that could be laid against the physically imposing Haskell. Recently he has come up against the best players in the world in his position and held his ground, most noticeably nullifying Australia's Michael Hooper and David Pocock in two Tests in the summer.
Just imagine these two running at each other. They are both massive warriors. Lawrence Dallaglio allied raw athleticism from his early days on the sevens circuit to a stubbornly competitive mentality.
He just refused to allow his opposite number to get the better of him. That will ensured he was a world-class player rather than merely an excellent one.
Vunipola seems to brought some of that steely focus to his game after being challenged to establish himself as the best number eight in the world. He has started to dominate games and opposition.
He has a huge amount of natural ability and, at 24, a lot will come down to whether he can continue to climb that steep learning curve he is on.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39249287
|
The wine boss who was glad to be sacked - BBC News
|
2017-03-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The rise and fall and rise again of wine entrepreneur Rowan Gormley, the boss of Naked Wines and Majestic Wine.
|
Business
|
Mr Gormley has set up and grown two separate wine firms - Virgin Wines and Naked Wines
Rowan Gormley says he had no idea that he was about to be sacked.
Back in June 2008, as the founder and boss of Virgin Wines, he was trying to lead a management buyout from its then-parent group Direct Wines.
"I got called into a meeting, I thought it was to discuss the purchase price," says Mr Gormley, now 54. "Instead, a letter was pushed across the table to me, which said I was being dismissed.
"I immediately walked out of the room and tried to use my [company] mobile phone, but it had been barred while I had been in the meeting."
Mr Gormley says he immediately decided that as buying back Virgin Wines was now impossible, he would instead set up a rival business. But he faced a race against time to get key staff to leave with him.
"I went across the road to a shop and bought another telephone as quickly as I could," he says. "I phoned the office, and the guy I spoke to said, 'oh my God, there is an army of people here trying to get us to sign bits of paper saying we are not going to talk to you, and all sorts of things.'
"So I gave him a list of 17 people and said, 'tell these 17 not to sign anything.'"
Mr Gormley has also been the boss of Majestic since April 2015
Thankfully for Mr Gormley, the staff that he most wanted to keep decided to follow him out the door, and six months later he launched his new venture - Naked Wines.
Today he is the boss of both Naked Wines and fellow UK wine retailer Majestic Wine, which have combined annual sales of more than £300m.
"I think I was sacked because of a clash of personalities, or perhaps egos, but it was honestly the best thing that ever happened to me," says Mr Gormley. "Otherwise Naked would never have happened, nor would I have gone on to also lead Majestic."
Born and bred in South Africa, Mr Gormley says he first became interested in wine as a teenager. But before he started selling it in his late 30s, he spent almost two decades working in finance.
After going to university in Cape Town, he trained as an accountant, and moved to the UK in his mid-20s.
Mr Gormley then worked in private equity for seven years before joining Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group.
It was Mr Gormley's idea for Sir Richard to move into offering financial services, and Virgin Money was born in 1995. Five years later Mr Gormley said he came up with the idea for Virgin Wines, saying he recognised the opportunity of selling wine via the then-still nascent internet.
"I pitched the idea to the Virgin guys but they weren't very excited about it. So I started just selling wine at nights and weekends with my brother and friend to prove that it worked," he says, "and six months later Virgin Wines was born."
But he says he and Virgin Wines immediately "made all the classic dotcom mistakes".
"We did everything wrong - we had a flash London headquarters, a huge IT office, a big advertising campaign, and absolutely nothing worked."
Mr Gormley says he has worked hard to boost morale at Majestic
Ultimately, Mr Gormley says that for Virgin Wines to survive it had to cut its workforce by 90%, "retreat to Norwich with our tails between our legs", and start again from the very bottom.
In addition to cutting costs, Mr Gormley says he turned around the company by focusing on selling interesting wines from small producers instead of selling the same big brands that people could buy from the supermarkets.
By the time he and his team had managed to make Virgin Wines profitable, it was sold to larger UK firm Direct Wines in 2005, only for Mr Gormley to be sacked three years later.
At Naked, Mr Gormley's big idea was to encourage customers to become "angels", who pay a direct debit of £20 a month, in exchange for getting wine at reduced prices.
Naked then uses this money to pay independent wine producers in advance, so that they can focus all their energies on making the wine instead of worrying about being able to sell it.
Winemakers are also profiled extensively on Naked's website (it is an online only operation), and customers are encouraged to review each wine, including saying whether they would buy it again.
To drive sales the company gave away free samples, and today it has more than 320,000 angels.
Such has been the growth of the business since it was founded in 2008 that it was bought in 2015 by wine giant Majestic for £70m.
The deal made Mr Gormley many millions, but instead of retiring to count his cash, he was given the top job at Majestic, and tasked with turning around its fortunes after three years of poor sales and weak profits at its UK stores and website.
Mr Gormley's action plan has seen him focus on raising staffing levels at Majestic's 211 UK shops to try to boost both customer service and staff morale, and allowing customers to buy just one bottle of wine rather than the previous minimum order of six.
The average cost of a bottle of wine at Majestic is £8, compared with £4.60 at supermarkets
"Majestic has to offer better service, and give people the type of help and advice that they don't get in a supermarket," he says.
While the company is still struggling to make a profit, and an expansion into the US has not been successful, group sales are now rising strongly again.
Retail analyst Jonathan Pritchard of stockbrokerage Peel Hunt says he would score Mr Gormley's first two years leading Majestic as "eight out of 10".
He adds: "He is a fabulous entrepreneur, and a very good presenter - he is excellent at getting his message across - but there have been a few bumps in the road since he took over."
UK wine journalists have mixed opinions. The Daily Mail's Olly Smith says Mr Gormley is "something of a visionary and powerhouse in connecting wine directly with consumers", but Jamie Goode from the Wine Anorak blog complains that the pre-discount prices at Naked are too high.
Mr Gormley says his focus is always on selling enjoyable wines.
"I don't regard myself as having a great palate, but I consider that to be an advantage," he says. "Too many people who are really into wine see their tastes become so esoteric and refined that normal people don't like what they drink. I'm not like that at all."
Follow The Boss series editor Will Smale on Twitter @WillSmale1
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39153993
|
Post-partum psychosis: Why I thought I'd killed my baby - BBC News
|
2017-03-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
As Mother's Day approaches one new mother shares the devastating experience of post-partum psychosis.
|
Wales
|
Mother's Day is approaching but as any mother knows, stepping in to the role can be a turbulent time. For some it can be devastating. As many as one in 500 are thought to suffer from post-partum psychosis. University lecturer Sally Wilson was one of them.
The photo shown above is of me, my husband Jamie and our two-year-old daughter, Ella, taken on a skiing break in France a few weeks ago.
It looks no different to any other happy family holiday snap does it?
But the events leading up to it, the beginning of our family life, is wildly different to that of other new parents.
It is a story of ruin, of living the most terrifying, inescapable nightmare day after day, of being in such utter pain and despair that I constantly thought of walking into the sea near our home in north Wales.
Before giving birth to Ella I was totally unaware of a condition called post-partum psychosis (PP).
Newlyweds Sally and Jamie, huge sports enthusiasts who met at university, walk under an arch of climbing axes and hockey sticks
Two years on, I have virtually fully recovered. It's not been easy and involved some controversial treatment.
But the day I thought would never come is here; when I enjoy the familiarity of the old me.
In 2013, Jamie and I got married and, as planned, started a family a year-or-so later.
My pregnancy was good. I was a week overdue and had some signs of pre-eclampsia, a condition in late pregnancy which can be dangerous if not treated, so I was induced.
Five months pregnant: Sally with Jamie, who also works as an academic, in Greece
My labour was painful, no shock there. But as the hours went by, things began to deteriorate. I became terribly confused. I had difficulty grasping the notion of time. I barely slept and felt feverish.
The medics ramped up hormones for induction and I was given gas and air and pethidine. Ella's heart rate kept dropping and she was in distress.
She was born early in the morning in March 2015 by Caesarean section.
As I came round from the anaesthetic, something very sinister was unfolding.
My confusion was by now off the scale. I kept saying I didn't understand what was going on, asking why there were doctors in the room.
A brain scan for a suspected stroke and blood tests came back negative.
A new-born Ella who was initially being treated in special care for breathing difficulties
At one point I remember my eyes rolling back in my head and I slumped onto the bed.
At night I pleaded with the nurses to sit with me as I was so scared. I was also paranoid that the midwives were talking about me.
By now I was very panicky, convinced I was doing something wrong and would get upset.
A few days later things got a lot worse. I got up to go to the toilet and collapsed. I was sobbing and refused to get up.
In my mind there was a strange realisation that I'd died. I could see everyone around me, the midwives and Jamie behind me. I saw a midwife take Ella away, I believed they were taking her to be resuscitated because I'd harmed her.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sally Wilson explains her experience of suffering from postpartum psychosis
I now know that I was having a psychotic episode. My reality had shifted, I believed I had died and was living in an afterlife. I began to hallucinate.
The sound of babies crying was deafening, the whirr of air conditioning unit overwhelmed me and the canteen trolleys sounded like trains crashing through the ward; lights being switched were like explosions and I could see shadows on the wall.
I was convinced that because I'd hurt my baby I had died and was now living in the 'after life', a kind of hell.
The most terrifying nightmare imaginable was now my reality.
The nurses brought Ella to see me, to reassure me she was ok. I was convinced they'd swapped her.
This wasn't my baby. My baby was dead. I had killed her.
"What's wrong with Jamie? Why's he crying?" He's not crying Sally, look he's fine. "Who are those people outside the door in white coats?" There's no one outside the door Sally. "Yes, there are. They've come to get me and take me to prison. Oh God… how could I have harmed my baby?"
I was transferred to the psychiatric ward and Jamie was told I was suffering from PP. I was prescribed anti-psychotic and anti-anxiety medication.
All I can recall is being led into a terrifying maze where I'd see people pacing around as grotesquely exaggerated caricatures.
I would refuse to have bloods taken, convinced there was a conspiracy against me.
Jamie and my parents would visit with Ella and I'd hold her but couldn't understand that she was mine. I felt no connection.
We went to the café and she needed her nappy changed. The toilets were near to the labour ward and I became really stressed out and upset as I didn't want to go anywhere near there. I thought I couldn't be trusted on the labour ward as I was convinced I'd hurt my own baby.
A month-old Ella's first experience of the Snowdonia National Park
A week later I had a review with the consultant and I told him things were better than they were just to be allowed out of there.
A home treatment team was arranged to visit me every day but things didn't improve much. I'd manage to help meet Ella's basic needs, change and feed her. But I was going through the motions.
I still 100% believed that I'd killed my baby.
I'd read a news article about a murder at a caravan park which had happened on the day I had the psychotic episode in hospital. In my mind I'd committed the murder.
The sound of birds was really loud, particularly crows. I then discovered the collective noun for crows is 'murder' - I interpreted meaning to that, of what I'd done in the hospital.
Sally on holiday a few months after embarking on ECT and around the time she began to feel better
I had an obsession with a certain number bus which always seemed to pass when I left the house. This was part of the conspiracy and had a hidden meaning.
Over-powering, intrusive images constantly flashed into my mind, of walking out into the sea near our home and ending it all.
Ten months after coming home, I told Jamie that I couldn't go on. My husband, who'd done so much to help me, was distraught.
Determined to help, Jamie did a literature review on PP treatments. Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) came up a lot.
My psychiatrist contacted Ian Jones, Professor of psychiatry at Cardiff University, National Centre for Mental Health director and a world expert in PP. He agreed that ECT might help me.
You immediately think it's a barbaric, horrible treatment, involving being strapped to a chair and electrocuted.
It's fairly dramatic - you're anaesthetised and electrical currents are passed through your brain to trigger a seizure.
Half way through the 10 sessions, there was a shift in my thinking. Something terrible was being lifted from me. It saved my life.
It's sad to think about what I've missed out on but now I look at her and get excited that everything's ok, we're here, happy and healthy.
I can't say I'm the same person. But I'm back at work a few days a week and I'm pre-occupied with the everyday challenges of parenting.
Once you've suffered from PP there's a very high chance of it recurring with subsequent pregnancies. It's a very personal choice, but even if there was only a slight risk of going through that again, for us, it's just not worth it.
But it's very important to me to give hope to others going through the horrors of PP. You'll be convinced it will never, ever end. I was convinced too. But this is a day I thought would never come when life feels good once again.
Of wide spectrum of post-natal mental health problems, PP is one of the most severe. Post-natal depression affects something like one in 10 women, and PP one in 500 to 1000. Includes psychotic symptoms, believing things that are not true and prominent mood symptoms - both high and low
PP can come on quickly, out of the blue. Within hours women can go from perfectly well to as ill as we see people needing psychiatric care. In others, it might not be so rapid or obvious
For around 50% PP is the first episode of mental illness they've had. The other 50% will have had previous psychiatric illnesses. Bi-polar disorder are at particularly high risk, a 20% (1 in 5) chance. Extremely high risk are those with previous PP episodes with a 50-60% chance of reoccurrence
There are many hypotheses - big hormonal changes, sleep disruption or immunological changes. An important role, and an aspect of our ongoing research, are genetic factors.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-39205485
|
Cheltenham Festival 2017: O'Leary v Mullins, Tea for Two and Cue Card - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
Several big names are missing but this year's Cheltenham Festival is not short of talking points, says Cornelius Lysaght.
| null |
Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, live text coverage on the BBC Sport website and app
Welcome to the 2017 Cheltenham Festival.
In terms of quality, there are two ways in which to look at this year's four-day jump racing extravaganza, which starts on Tuesday.
On the one hand, it's been badly hit by a list of star absentees, probably unprecedented in length, but on the other it will, of course, present an opportunity for others to start their upward trajectory.
None of last season's 'Big Four' championship winners are back to defend their titles.
Champion Hurdler Annie Power is injured though she may return for Ireland's Punchestown Festival in April; Sprinter Sacre, the hugely popular Queen Mother Champion Chaser, has been retired; Thistlecrack, winner of the Stayers Hurdle - and winter Gold Cup favourite - is also hurt and misses the rest of the year, while Don Cossack's Gold Cup success turned out to be his swansong.
Faugheen, Vautour, Coneygree, Road To Riches, Don Poli, Finian's Oscar and The Storyteller are other high-profile names that won't be there.
All sorts of theories abound for the reason behind the prevalence of injury, including the likelihood that an increasingly intense level of competition takes more than ever out of these horses, though it's bad luck that remains the principal factor.
This year, the already upwardly curving profiles of Altior (Arkle Trophy) and Douvan (Queen Mother Champion Chase) are tipped to soar further.
Willie Mullins, the leading Festival trainer for five of the past six years, insists that he's put behind him September's shock split with the Gigginstown House Stud operation of Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary.
For his part, O'Leary, who removed 60 horses from Mullins' HQ apparently because of a rise in training fees, has spoken of hoping that "agreement can be reached at some time in the future … to resume buying and training more graded winners for us".
That's it, then? Well, no because these two massive National Hunt figures will, of course, be in opposition throughout the week.
• None Willie Mullins says he will try to beat everyone
And just like the footballer transferred to a rival club or the Formula 1 driver who switches teams, observers relish the opportunity to witness the potential aftershocks as the parties face up to each other.
Especially intriguing will be encounters between Mullins' horses and any Gigginstown runners he previously had under his care but which are now elsewhere.
In the Champion Hurdle, the Mullins-trained pair Footpad and Wicklow Brave must contend with ex-stablemate Petit Mouchoir, trained these days by Henry de Bromhead; elsewhere, the clash of Limini and Vroum Vroum Mag (both Mullins) and Apple's Jade (moved to Gordon Elliott) in the Mares Hurdle looks intriguing, as does the presence of Outlander (another which left for Elliott) against Djakadam for Mullins in Friday's Cheltenham Gold Cup.
As only the second female jockey to ride in the Gold Cup - after Linda Sheedy who partnered Foxbury behind Burrough Hill Lad in 1984 - many eyes will be on Lizzie Kelly as she rides Tea For Two, part-owned by her mother Jane and trained by her step-father Nick Williams.
Many ears too, actually, as she's a pundit on BBC Radio 5 Live's coverage.
Kelly is expected to have four chances of big-race glory; even more in the jockey spotlight will be Mark Walsh, no relation to leading Festival jockey Ruby Walsh or his sister Katie, but an integral part of the team around owner JP McManus in Ireland.
Walsh, who's not yet ridden a Festival winner, has been propelled onto a number of high-profile McManus-owned mounts in place of the injured Barry Geraghty.
None will be higher than the Alan King-trained Yanworth, winner of races this season at Ascot, Kempton and Wincanton, and one of the principals in the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday.
Walsh is highly likely to make an impression, as is Jack Kennedy, Irish racing's 17-year-old 'wonderkid', who, in only his second season race-riding, looks as polished as some of his more senior colleagues.
The name of the former champion of Ireland's fiercely competitive pony-racing circuit should be an easy one to remember, and, riding for his prolific boss, trainer Gordon Elliott, he'll have some strongly fancied mounts all through the 28-race programme at Cheltenham.
From Melon and A Genie In Abottle to Unowhatimeanharry - only 18 characters and spaces are allowed, remember - to The Crafty Butcher and Djakadam, all kinds of weird and wonderful horses' names will be popping up during the Festival.
Some will be memorable, some ingenious, some a bit random, others just plain bonkers.
Many deserve prizes for inventiveness, and my award goes to Might Bite, so named by members of the Knot Again Partnership not because the RSA Chase favourite is free with his gnashers nor because he's a son of the stallion Scorpion (they sting anyhow) but because of his mum, Knotted Midge.
A knotted midge is a fishing fly that gives fishermen or women as good a chance as any that a trout - for which they're particularly effective in catching - might bite.
Cueing up the Gold Cup with the Tizzards
Perhaps the Festival is a little light on stardust, but there is one very notable exception to that suggestion.
The 11-year-old Cue Card, racing for octogenarian owner Jean Bishop and trained by Colin Tizzard, will line up in a Festival race for a fifth time. He's won twice, the Weatherbys Bumper (2010) and the Ryanair Chase (2013), and was moving well until falling at the third-last fence in the 2016 Gold Cup.
Along with stablemate Native River, who was successful in this season's Hennessy Gold Cup, Welsh Grand National and Denman Chase, Cue Card, a nine-time Grade One race winner, spearheads Tizzard's strongest ever challenge at Cheltenham.
And that's despite his Thistlecrack, once Gold Cup favourite, being injured in February.
Not long ago, Tizzard was a dairy farmer based in the lush green pastures of the Dorset-Somerset borders, who trained a few racehorses, mainly ridden by jockey-son Joe.
Today, assisted by wife Pauline, the now retired-from-the-saddle Joe and daughter Kim, he runs one of the most successful stables in these islands - with quite a few cows on the side.
National Hunt racing is famously proud of its roots in rural Britain and Ireland, so the Tizzards are seen as typifying what it's all about, and the sport loves them all for it.
Especially Cue Card, who's the one horse this year that could raise the roof as he attempts to become the first Gold Cup winner aged over 10 since the late 1960s.
Though considerable momentum has built up behind the Jonjo O'Neill-trained More Of That, the 2014 champion staying hurdler, most of the perceived main challengers against the Tizzard pair are Irish raiders: two-time runner-up Djakadam, Sizing John, Outlander and maybe Empire Of Dirt.
Time please (for four drinks only)
The Cheltenham Festival media guide is essential reading for media folk though, as a veteran of about thirty, I've noticed one difference this time.
The 'In Figures' pages includes a flurry of must-have stats, like the fixture's £100m boost to the Gloucestershire economy or the record seven wins by a jockey at a single Festival (Ruby Walsh, 2009 and 2016) or the nine tons of potatoes whose boiling and frying is overseen in 34 temporary kitchens by 350 chefs.
Some 8,000 gallons of tea and coffee made get big mentions too, as do 45,000 bread rolls, but the amounts of champagne and Guinness consumed - once a staple diet of promotional material - are gone. (For the record, it was 20,000 bottles of fizz and 265,000 pints of stout).
This change of emphasis follows the embarrassment caused by pictures of intoxicated footballers and other racegoers being published around the world in 2016.
Now, there's a chance that the Jockey Club, the owner of Cheltenham and custodian of British horseracing since the 18th century, is being a tiny bit po-faced about all this - it was hardly an epidemic - but they've launched a crackdown.
Consequently, a limit of four alcoholic drinks at a time will be imposed on those among the 260,000 visitors buying a round of drinks, while complimentary hospitality bars will close earlier and more water will be made available.
Champion Hurdle: Festival regulars The New One and My Tent Or Yours are guaranteed to run solid races. 'My Tent', along with Buveur D'Air and Brain Power, is trying to give trainer Nicky Henderson a record sixth win. Yanworth is a danger to all though front-running Petit Mouchoir could run them all into the ground.
Queen Mother Champion Chase: The brilliant Douvan is unbeaten since joining Willie Mullins, and barring something extraordinary is expected to extend his sequence.
Stayers Hurdle: Unowhatimeanharry is all the rage, but Festival regular Jezki is the most solid of performers who will relish the challenge ahead.
Gold Cup: The Tizzard pair, Cue Card and Native River, and Djakadam all have strong credentials, but so does Irish Gold Cup winner Sizing John, who has a bit of something about him. The one concern is his stamina lasting out the three-and-a-quarter-mile distance, but he gives the impression he'll be OK.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/39250167
|
Chris Froome apologises over Team Sky controversy - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
Britain's Chris Froome apologises for the way Team Sky has handled questions over its record on doping but stresses the importance of boss Sir Dave Brailsford to the team.
| null |
Britain's three-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome has apologised for the way Team Sky has handled questions over its record on doping.
But Team Sky's leading rider stressed the importance to the outfit of under-fire boss Sir Dave Brailsford.
UK Anti-Doping is investigating a 'mystery package' sent for Team Sky's former rider Sir Bradley Wiggins at a race in 2011.
Brailsford last week said he would not resign over the package.
"Without Dave B, there is no Team Sky," said Froome, who added it would "take time for faith to be restored".
Brailsford has said he was told the package contained a legal decongestant - Fluimucil - but the team has been unable to provide records to back up the claim.
Team Sky has since accepted "mistakes were made" over how medical records relating to the package were kept but denied breaking anti-doping rules.
Froome added: "I would like to apologise for this on behalf of myself and the other riders of Team Sky who feel passionately about our sport and winning clean."
A parliamentary select committee into anti-doping has been hearing evidence about the package, with committee chairman Damian Collins MP saying that Team Sky's reputation had been "left in tatters".
Dr Richard Freeman, who received the package for Wiggins at the Criterium du Dauphine, did not attend the last hearing because of ill health.
The committee has also heard evidence about Wiggins' use of therapeutic use exemptions, or TUEs, which allow athletes to take otherwise-banned substances when there is a clear medical need.
Wiggins was granted a TUE to take anti-inflammatory drug triamcinolone before the 2011 Tour de France, his 2012 Tour win and the 2013 Giro d'Italia.
Wiggins' TUEs were approved by British authorities and cycling's world governing body the UCI, and there is no suggestion either he or Team Sky have broken any rules.
Last week several Team Sky riders - including Britain's Geraint Thomas - tweeted their support for Brailsford, but Froome did not comment publicly at the time.
Thomas also said last week there were "still questions to be answered" and expressed his annoyance that "Freeman and Brad don't seem to have the flak".
"It disappoints me hugely to see the way in which Team Sky has been portrayed by the media recently. It does not reflect the support crew and the riders that I see around me.
"At the same time, I completely understand why people feel let down by the way in which the situation has been handled, and going forward we need to do better.
"I would like to apologise for this on behalf of myself and the other riders of Team Sky who feel passionately about our sport and winning clean. I believe in the people around me, and what we are doing.
"With respect to Dave Brailsford, he has created one of the best sports teams in the world. Without Dave B, there is no Team Sky.
"He has supported me throughout the last seven years of my career and I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunities and the experiences I've had. By his own admission, mistakes have been made, but protocols have been put in place to ensure that those same mistakes will not be made again.
"I know it will take time for faith to be restored, but I will do my utmost to ensure that happens, along with everyone else at Team Sky."
This may appear to be Chris Froome belatedly backing his under-fire boss Sir Dave Brailsford, but read the careful wording closely and it is clear that his support is very, very qualified. This is different from the "100% backing" messages that several of Froome's team-mates gave to the Team Sky principal last week.
Instead, Froome seems to be taking a more pragmatic stand, making the point that unless Brailsford stays, Sky's sponsorship may cease, and the team could fold. This is how high the stakes have now become for one of the most successful professional teams in sport.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39254063
|
Reality Check: Is government giving away £70bn to the rich? - BBC News
|
2017-03-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Jeremy Corbyn says the government is giving away £70bn. Is he right?
|
UK Politics
|
The claim: The government is giving away £70bn to corporations and the country's wealthiest people.
Reality Check verdict: Labour's estimate of £70bn in lost revenue does come from official forecasts, but it includes tax cuts going back to 2010 and does not take into account other changes to corporation tax reliefs and allowances, which will bring in revenue.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has attacked the government for planning to give away £70bn to companies and rich people by 2022.
His party says it reached the figure in consultation with the House of Commons Library, based on data about the cost of policy decisions collected by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), an official economic watchdog.
The overwhelming majority of Labour's £70bn figure comes from cuts to corporation tax: the tax that businesses pay on their profits.
Labour says this alone will result in lost revenue of more than £60bn between 2016 and 2022.
George Osborne repeatedly announced reductions to corporation tax when he was chancellor, taking the tax rate from 28% to a planned 17% by 2020.
Looking at these cuts, and other changes to allowances and reliefs that reduce bills for businesses, the total cost to the public purse is estimated at about £62bn between 2016-17 and 2021-22.
Although the £62bn loss is incurred in these years, Labour is actually talking about policy changes that were announced as far back as 2010, when the party lost power.
Labour also points to cuts to three other taxes, which are predominantly paid by banks and wealthy people:
These smaller changes take the total giveaway to about £70bn.
So taken on its own terms, Labour's figure makes sense. But it only gives one side of the story.
Over the same period the government also announced other changes to corporation tax allowances and reliefs that will recoup £32bn, about half the headline cut.
Furthermore, on Sunday, shadow business secretary Rebecca Long Bailey told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show six times the government was giving away £70bn in tax breaks "by 2020". But Labour's own analysis is clear: the figure covers the cost over six years.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39260176
|
Pat Nevin analysis: Can Manchester United exploit Chelsea's 'weakness'? - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
BBC football analyst Pat Nevin investigates whether Chelsea have a "weakness" which Manchester United could exploit in Monday's FA Cup quarter-final at Stamford Bridge.
| null |
BBC football analyst Pat Nevin investigates whether Chelsea have a "weakness" which Manchester United could exploit in Monday's FA Cup quarter-final at Stamford Bridge.
Watch live coverage of Chelsea v Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Monday 13 March from 1930 GMT on BBC One, the BBC Sport app and this website.
Watch all the best action from the FA Cup here.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39224712
|
Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
Chelsea capitalise on Ander Herrera's sending-off to win a hard-fought FA Cup quarter-final with holders Manchester United.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section FA Cup
Chelsea remained firmly on course for a domestic Double as N'Golo Kante's second-half winner settled a stormy FA Cup quarter-final meeting with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
United manager Jose Mourinho was involved in touchline clashes with opposite number Antonio Conte and was verbally abused by Chelsea fans at the scene of many of his triumphs, including three titles.
The Portuguese was furious when midfielder Ander Herrera was sent off 10 minutes before half-time after a second foul on Eden Hazard, and the managers were kept apart moments later after Marcos Alonso tumbled to the floor after being brought down.
Kante's low 51st-minute drive finally beat defiant United keeper David de Gea, who saved superbly from Hazard and Gary Cahill before the break to keep Mourinho's side in contention before Chelsea made the breakthrough.
Marcus Rashford, who came off his sick bed to play - with Zlatan Ibrahimovic suspended, and Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial injured, created United's best chance for himself but Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois saved with his feet to set up a semi-final against Tottenham at Wembley.
• None 'Judas' Mourinho says he's still Chelsea's No 1
Mourinho's first return to Stamford Bridge after he was sacked as Chelsea manager ended in humiliation with a 4-0 defeat in October - and every piece of his body language here spoke of a man intent on putting matters right.
He was pacing his technical area from the first whistle, applauding, imploring and cajoling his team, stripped of talisman Ibrahimovic as well as Rooney and Martial.
With Mourinho in fired-up and combative mood, it was almost inevitable he would clash with his equally passionate and animated Stamford Bridge successor.
The flashpoint came seconds after Herrera's sending-off. Mourinho, still simmering, felt Alonso had dived, the Portuguese exploding in fury - soon to be joined by Conte in a head-to-head bout of bad blood that ended with the pair being separated and, in boxing parlance, being sent to their corners by fourth official Mike Jones.
It was a feud that bubbled throughout, with Conte reacting angrily in the second half when Mourinho kicked the ball along the touchline too close to the Chelsea manager for his liking.
The players seemed to take a cue from their managers through a series of tetchy clashes, one of which could lead to further action against United defender Marcos Rojo for an apparent stamp on Hazard.
Mourinho certainly did not feel the love on his return to the place where he enjoyed so much success, responding to four-letter abuse from Chelsea's fans behind his technical area by raising three fingers to signify the Premier League titles he won at Stamford Bridge.
The Portuguese was also taunted with chants of "Judas" - even though he was sacked by Chelsea a year last December.
He will feel a sense of injustice at Herrera's red card and frustration at Ibrahimovic's suspension - but the unpalatable truth for Mourinho is the team he left behind is currently far superior to the one he now guides.
In the absence of Ibrahimovic, this was a night when United needed £89m world-record buy Paul Pogba to step forward and prove his worth. Instead he did a disappearing act.
The contrast between the influence of Pogba, on the periphery of the action and conceding possession with alarming regularity, and Chelsea's own summer purchase Kante was stark.
Kante was perpetual motion, starting attacks, breaking up moves and crowning another magnificent performance with the winning goal, emphatically drilled past De Gea.
Pogba simply could not get into the game, either before Chelsea took the lead or afterwards when Mourinho looked to his showpiece summer capture, the signing he set his heart on, to revive United's hopes.
Chelsea's fans revelled in Pogba's struggles as they chanted "what a waste of money" - no such charges will be levelled at Kante, who looks a £30m bargain.
Chelsea remained on course for that domestic Double, a feat they achieved under Conte's countryman Carlo Ancelotti in 2010.
And this was a victory for quality, persistence and character, albeit aided by Herrera's silly foul on Hazard that drew the second yellow card from referee Michael Oliver and left Chelsea with the numerical advantage.
Chelsea already look like Premier League champions-elect, standing 10 points clear, and their confidence gives them an air of invincibility.
Conte's side are at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final - and it will take a special performance from any opponent to stop the bandwagon.
'We can compare the yellow cards with others not given'
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte: "It was a good performance against a strong team with good players. United has the best squad in the league. We must be pleased to go into the next round."
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho: "I don't speak [about the red card]. I just want to say that I'm really proud of my players and Manchester United fans.
"Everybody can analyse from different perspectives but we all watch the match until the red card and after the red card. So we can compare the decisions of the two yellow cards, in this case with others which were not given.
"I don't want to go in that direction. Michael Oliver is a referee with fantastic potential but in four matches he has given three penalties and a red card. I cannot change that. I shook his hand and said many congratulations."
United's worst possession stats of season - the figures you need to know
• None Chelsea are now unbeaten in 12 games against United in all competitions (W7 D5) since a 3-2 home defeat in October 2012.
• None Indeed, only twice in their history have United had a longer winless run against one opponent (13 vs Liverpool in 1927 and 13 against Leeds in 1972).
• None The Blues' victory means there are three London teams in the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2002 (Arsenal, Chelsea and Fulham).
• None Mourinho's side received their third red card of the season, with two of those shown to Herrera.
• None All three of Kante's goals in English football have been scored at home, with two in games against United this season.
• None United had just 28% possession, their lowest figure in a match this season.
• None Chelsea have reached their 22nd FA Cup semi-final, the fifth highest in the competition's history (Arsenal 29, Man Utd 28, Everton 26, Liverpool 24).
Leaders Chelsea travel to Stoke for a Premier League game on Saturday. United, meanwhile, host FC Rostov in the second leg of their Europa League tie on Thursday before visiting Middlesbrough in the Premier League on Sunday.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Eden Hazard (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt blocked. Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Eden Hazard.
• None Attempt saved. Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Diego Costa.
• None Substitution, Chelsea. Kurt Zouma replaces Victor Moses because of an injury.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Delay in match Victor Moses (Chelsea) because of an injury.
• None Diego Costa (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt missed. Paul Pogba (Manchester United) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Jesse Lingard. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39176050
|
Liverpool 2-1 Burnley - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
Emre Can's fourth goal of the season ends Burnley's resistance as a below-par Liverpool strengthen their place in the top four.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Emre Can's fourth goal of the season ended Burnley's stubborn resistance as Liverpool claimed an unconvincing win to strengthen their bid for a top-four finish.
The Reds were far from their best and fell behind when Ashley Barnes turned home Matthew Lowton's brilliant defence-splitting pass.
Liverpool equalised on the stroke of half-time with their first shot on target when Georginio Wijnaldum poked in at the second attempt.
Can then secured a second-successive victory for Liverpool with a long-range effort into the bottom corner.
Burnley threatened to snatch an equaliser late on but Lowton hooked over from close range.
It was a game of few memorable moments but the win means Jurgen Klopp's side, who remain fourth, are now five points clear of fifth-placed Arsenal.
Burnley, who are yet to win a game away from home in any competition this season, are 12th.
Liverpool beat Arsenal 3-1 earlier this month to continue their impressive form against their top-six rivals - they are yet to lose to any of them this season.
But as impressive as the Reds have been against those teams around them, they have struggled against sides lower down the table, with all five of their defeats prior to Sunday's game against sides in the bottom half.
Burnley beat Liverpool at Turf Moor back in August and initially had the measure of their opponents in this encounter, although they were aided by a lethargic display by the hosts.
Liverpool did not create a single chance in the opening 30 minutes but their first shot on target resulted in the equaliser and their second produced the winner.
It was ultimately a clinical display by Liverpool but too many players had off days. They needed Philippe Coutinho to be at his creative best to unlock a disciplined Burnley but the midfielder rarely made a telling pass while in attack Divock Origi failed to manage a single shot on goal.
The win may not have been pretty but that is something Liverpool have struggled to do this season and Klopp believes a corner may have been turned.
"It's the first ugly game we've won," he said.
"In the end I liked it - this is the kind of game we haven't won and we did."
Will Burnley ever win away?
For 44 minutes, it was the perfect away performance for Burnley.
They got an early goal and then successfully nullified Liverpool to the point that a frustrated home crowd started to turn against their side.
But a one-goal lead meant they were always susceptible to getting caught out and the Clarets need to learn to kill off a game - only once have they scored more than one goal in an away game this season.
Burnley's home form is likely to ensure they are in the Premier League next season - they are seven points above the relegation zone with 10 games remaining.
However, a return of just two points from a possible 42 on the road this season will be of major concern for manager Sean Dyche.
What they said
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: "Burnley were always in the game, it was intense and we had to fight. We had some moments, it was not only luck that we scored before half-time and it was a wonderful goal from Emre Can.
"It is clear we have to do a few things better. We were not at our absolute best but we fought. I liked it, it is this kind of game we haven't won until now. It feels kind of strange a little bit. Not the most memorable game but a very nice three points."
Burnley manager Sean Dyche: "It's a tough one to take, because everyone gave a really good account of ourselves and went up with a sublime goal, but it's a tough place to come.
"Their first was a soft one to concede before half-time, and the second one we're disappointed with but we gave a really good account of ourselves. We just needed a scratch of luck along the way."
• None Liverpool have now won 16 Premier League games this season; equalling their tally of wins for the entire 2015-16 season.
• None Liverpool have won 14 points from losing positions in the league this term; a joint-high with Tottenham.
• None Ashley Barnes (10) is now just one goal short of tying with Danny Ings (11) for the most Premier League goals for Burnley.
• None Liverpool conceded inside the first 10 minutes of a league game at Anfield for the first time since August 2015 (v West Ham, Manuel Lanzini).
• None All 16 of Georginio Wijnaldum's Premier League goals have been scored in home matches (five for Liverpool, 11 for Newcastle).
• None Since Jurgen Klopp's first game in charge, the Reds have scored more Premier League goals from outside the box than any other team (21).
It's a big game for Liverpool in the battle for a top-four finish as they travel to Manchester City on Sunday, 19 March (16:30 GMT). Burnley head to struggling Sunderland the day before (15:00 GMT).
• None Attempt blocked. Ben Woodburn (Liverpool) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Lucas Leiva.
• None Attempt missed. Matthew Lowton (Burnley) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is too high. Assisted by Michael Keane with a headed pass.
• None Attempt saved. Sadio Mané (Liverpool) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Emre Can with a through ball.
• None Attempt blocked. Ben Woodburn (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Sadio Mané with a headed pass.
• None Attempt missed. Robbie Brady (Burnley) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right following a set piece situation. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39170671
|
How the invention of paper changed the world - BBC News
|
2017-03-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The Gutenberg press could not have revolutionised how we communicate without the invention of paper.
|
Business
|
The Gutenberg printing press - invented in the 1440s by Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith from Mainz in Germany - is widely considered to be one of humanity's defining inventions.
Gutenberg figured out how to make large quantities of durable metal type and how to fix that type firmly enough to print hundreds of copies of a page, yet flexibly enough that the type could be reused to print an entirely different page.
His famous bibles were objects beautiful enough to rival the calligraphy of the monks. The crisp black Latin script is perfectly composed into two dense blocks of text, occasionally highlighted with a flourish of red ink.
Actually, you can quibble with Gutenberg's place in history. The movable type press was originally developed in China. Even as Gutenberg was inventing in Germany, Koreans were ditching their entire method of writing to make printing easier, cutting tens of thousands of characters down to only 28.
It is also not true that Gutenberg single-handedly created mass literacy. It was common 600 or 700 years earlier in the Abbasid Caliphate, spanning the Middle East and North Africa.
Still, the Gutenberg press did change the world. It led to Europe's reformation, science, the newspaper, the novel, the school textbook, and much else.
But it could not have done so without another invention, just as essential but much more often overlooked: paper.
50 Things That Made the Modern Economy highlights the inventions, ideas and innovations which have helped create the economic world we live in.
Paper was another Chinese idea, from 2,000 years ago.
Initially it was used for wrapping precious objects, but soon people began to write on it because it was lighter than bamboo and cheaper than silk.
This Chinese worker makes paper using techniques devised almost 2,000 years ago
Soon the Arabic world embraced it, but Christians in Europe did not. Paper came to Germany only a few decades before Gutenberg's press.
Why? For centuries, Europeans did not need the stuff.
They had parchment, made from animal skin. It was pricey - a parchment bible required the skins of 250 sheep - but since so few people could read or write, that hardly mattered.
But as a commercial class arose, needing contracts and accounts, cheaper writing material looked more attractive.
And cheap paper made the economics of printing more attractive too: the cost of typesetting could easily be offset by a long print run, with no need to slaughter a million sheep.
Printing is only the start of paper's uses. We decorate our walls with wallpaper, posters and photographs, we filter tea and coffee through it, package milk and juice in it and as corrugated cardboard, we use it to make boxes.
We use wrapping paper, greaseproof paper, sandpaper, paper napkins, paper receipts and paper tickets.
In the 1870s - the same decade that produced the telephone and the light bulb - the British Perforated Paper Company produced a kind of paper that was soft, strong, and absorbent. It was the world's first dedicated toilet paper.
In fact, paper is the quintessential industrial product, churned out at incredible scale and when Christian Europeans finally embraced paper, they created arguably the continent's first heavy industry.
Initially, paper was made from pulped cotton. Some kind of chemical was required to break down the raw material. The ammonia from urine works well, so for centuries the paper mills of Europe were powered by human waste.
Pulping also needs a tremendous amount of mechanical energy. One of the early sites of paper manufacture, Fabriano in Italy, used fast-flowing mountain streams to power massive drop-hammers.
Once finely macerated, the cellulose from the cotton breaks free and floats around in a kind of thick soup. Thinned and allowed to dry, the cellulose reforms as a strong, flexible mat.
Over time, the process saw endless innovation: threshing machines, bleaches and additives helped to make paper more quickly and cheaply, even if the result was often a more fragile product.
By 1702, paper was so cheap, it was used to make a product explicitly designed to be thrown away after only 24 hours: the Daily Courant, the world's first daily newspaper.
When it began, The Daily Courant only covered foreign news
And then, an almost inevitable industrial crisis: Europe and America became so hungry for paper that they began to run out of rags.
The situation became so desperate that scavengers combed battlefields after wars, stripping the dead of their bloodstained uniforms to sell to paper mills. An alternative source of cellulose was found - wood.
The Chinese had long since known how to do it, but Europeans were slow to catch up.
In 1719, a French biologist, Rene Antoine Ferchault De Reaumur, wrote a scientific paper pointing out that wasps could make paper nests by chewing wood, so why couldn't humans?
When his idea was rediscovered years later, paper makers found that wood is not an easy raw material and contains much less cellulose than cotton rags.
It was the mid-19th century before wood became a significant source for paper production in the West.
Today, paper is increasingly made out of paper itself, often recycled - appropriately enough - in China.
A cardboard box emerges from the paper mills of Ningbo, 130 miles (200km) south of Shanghai, and is used to package a laptop.
The box is shipped across the Pacific, the laptop is extracted and the box is thrown into a recycling bin in Seattle or Vancouver. Then it's shipped back to Ningbo, to be pulped and turned into another box.
When it comes to writing, though, some say paper's days are numbered, believing the computer will usher in the "paperless office". But this has been predicted since Thomas Edison, in the late 19th century, who thought office memos would be recorded on his wax cylinders instead.
The idea really caught on as computers started to enter the workplace in the 1970s and it was repeated in breathless futurologists' reports for the next decades.
Meanwhile, paper sales stubbornly continued to boom. Yes, computers made it simple to distribute documents without paper, but printers made it equally easy for recipients to put them on paper anyway.
America's copiers, fax machines and printers continued to spew out enough sheets of paper to cover the country every five years. After a while, the paperless office became less a prediction, more a punchline.
But perhaps things are finally changing: in 2013, the world hit peak paper.
Many of us may still prefer the feel of a book or a physical newspaper to swiping a screen, but the cost of digital distribution is now so much lower that we are increasingly choosing the cheaper option.
Finally, digital is doing to paper what paper did to parchment with the help of the Gutenberg press: outcompeting it, not on quality, but on price.
Paper may be on the decline, but it will survive not only on the supermarket shelf or beside the lavatory, but in the office too.
Old technologies have a habit of enduring. We still use pencils and candles and the world still produces more bicycles than cars.
Paper was never only a home for beautiful typesetting, it was everyday stuff. And for jottings, lists and doodles, you still can't beat the back of the envelope.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/the-reporters-38892687
|
Scotland: Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Fraser & Tom Cairney called up - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
In-form Celtic midfielder Stuart Armstrong is called up to the Scotland squad for the games against Canada and Slovenia.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
In-form Celtic midfielder Stuart Armstrong has been called up to the Scotland squad by Gordon Strachan.
Bournemouth's Ryan Fraser, fellow midfielder Tom Cairney of Fulham and West Brom winger Matt Phillips are also included.
It is a first call-up for Fraser and Cairney, with recalls for keeper Allan McGregor and striker Jordan Rhodes.
Scotland host Canada in a friendly on 22 March, then Slovenia in a World Cup qualifier on 26 March.
Celtic midfielder captain Scott Brown, who reversed his decision to retire from international football last year, is also included.
There is no place in the squad for the likes of Graeme Shinnie and Kenny McLean of Aberdeen, who had been strongly tipped to make the cut.
Armstrong, capped 20 times by the Under-21s, has scored 11 times for Celtic this season, eight times since the start of December.
Fraser, 23, has been in excellent form for Bournemouth in recent months and Cairney, 26, has impressed for Championship side Fulham.
And boss Strachan believes the trio will add "freshness" to the squad.
"Up until four or five months ago, they (Stuart and Tom) played wider and I always thought both would be better central," he said.
"Since then, they have moved to central positions and similar positions and done very well.
"I saw both players over the weekend. Stuart scored his goal yesterday, he had five shots, five on target.
"He is now using his assets. He has great fitness. He plays players he is up against out the game. He is getting goals, so he is leaving a footprint.
"Tom Cairney was the best man on the pitch at St James' Park (a 3-1 win for Fulham), but that was no surprise - he has been the best man on the pitch on many occasions - and Ryan is doing very well at Bournemouth.
"He is keeping out some good players, some high-value players at Bournemouth with his ability and work rate and he played very well at the weekend."
Rhodes had been left out of recent squads after failing to command a starting place at Middlesbrough but is now playing regularly on loan with Sheffield Wednesday.
"Jordan's playing and he scored a couple of goals the other week there - one was a great cross from Barry Bannan," said Strachan.
"There's an opportunity for Jordan to be in the squad because, at the moment, if you look at our strikers, there's quite a few of them not really playing regularly, but Jordan's played the last five or six games and looked comfortable in his new surroundings."
Forwards: S Fletcher (Sheffield Wednesday), Griffiths (Celtic), Naismith (Norwich City), C Martin (Fulham, on loan from Derby County), Rhodes (Sheffield Wednesday, on loan from Middlesbrough)
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39253748
|
Storhamar Dragons beat Sparta Warriors in 'ice hockey's longest game' - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
A Norwegian League play-off match lasting 217 minutes - and eight overtime periods - finally finishes at 02:32 local time.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Ice hockey
Two Norwegian teams have contested what is thought to be the longest game in ice hockey history - spanning eight and a half hours, with eight overtimes.
The Storhamar Dragons finally beat Sparta Warriors in the Norwegian League play-offs at 02:32 local time.
After 217 minutes and 14 seconds of play, Joakim Jensen broke through to give the Dragons a 2-1 victory.
In the longest NHL game, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Maroons in the sixth overtime in 1936.
Baseball's famous "Longest Game" between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox lasted a record 33 innings and took more than eight hours over two different days to complete in 1981.
The longest NBA game was in January 1951 when the Indianapolis Olympians beat hosts Rochester Royals after six overtime sessions.
And the longest top-level tennis match took place at Wimbledon in 2010 when John Isner beat Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the final set of a contest lasting 11 hours, five minutes over three days.
Isner tweeted Mahut when he saw the Norwegian ice hockey story, quipping that it was nothing compared with their meeting.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/ice-hockey/39253319
|
Johanna Konta: British number one loses to Caroline Garcia in third round at Indian Wells - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
British number one Johanna Konta and men's number three Kyle Edmund are out of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Tennis
British number one Johanna Konta is out of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with a 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-1) third-round defeat by France's Caroline Garcia.
Meanwhile British number three Kyle Edmund lost to defending champion Novak Djokovic 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in round two.
It ends British interest in the singles after Andy Murray and Dan Evans lost.
Konta, seeded 11th, broke Garcia in the fourth game but the 21st seed levelled the match and dominated the third-set tie-break, winning it 7-1.
Garcia, who was once described by Murray as a future world number one, showed impressive resilience to recover from a set down against Konta and sealed her win and a place in the last 16 with a powerful cross-court backhand.
"There were a number of shots that let me down. Quite honestly, I don't know why, but I'm keen on improving and doing better next time," said Konta.
"I didn't do enough with the opportunities that I did get. Some of the break points, she served well, and others, I wasn't brave enough. I don't think I did enough to really take them. I was a little too passive in parts."
Edmund lost the first set in 42 minutes against Serb Djokovic but won the first three games of the second and served for the set at 5-3, before the five-time champion fought back to seal the match.
"I think I played very well in the first set," said Djokovic. "Second set was obviously up and down. But credit to Kyle for playing some really aggressive tennis.
"He made a lot of winners in the beginning and midway through the second."
The world number two will play former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in the third round.
Australian Open champion Roger Federer needed only 52 minutes to reach round three with a comfortable 6-2 6-1 win against France's Stephane Robert.
World number six Rafael Nadal secured a third-round tie against fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Guido Pella of Argentina in one hour 20 minutes.
Konta played without her usual fluency and, although she served better in the final set, she could not take any of the three break points and was outplayed emphatically by Garcia in the tie-break.
The best part of four weeks off tour resting a foot injury may explain some of the rustiness, and - like Andy Murray - Konta now has virtually two weeks of practice stretching ahead of her before she plays her first singles match in Miami.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39250341
|
FA Cup: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United highlights - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
N'Golo Kante scores the only goal of the game as Chelsea defeat 10-man Manchester United to progress to the FA Cup semi-finals.
| null |
N'Golo Kante scores the only goal of the game as Chelsea defeat 10-man Manchester United to progress to the FA Cup semi-finals.
Watch all the best action from the FA Cup here.
Available to UK users only.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39262122
|
Gary Rowett: Derby County appoint ex-Birmingham City boss as manager - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
Gary Rowett is named as manager of Championship side Derby County, succeeding Steve McClaren who was sacked on Sunday.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Derby
Gary Rowett has been appointed as Derby County manager until the end of the 2018-19 season.
Derby, 10th in the Championship, sacked Steve McClaren on Sunday, five months into his second spell in charge.
Rowett is the Rams' fifth manager in 13 months following Paul Clement, Darren Wassall, Nigel Pearson and McClaren.
Rowett, who was sacked by Birmingham in December, made 120 outings for the Rams from 1995 to 1998, admitting that he has a "special bond" with the club.
"During that time," he said, "we tasted success when we were promoted to the Premiership (1995-96) and moved to Pride Park under Jim Smith.
"Living in the local area, I understand the expectation of the fan base and it goes without saying that Derby County have fantastic and committed supporters.
"I have coached in the academy in the past so I know the values of the club and I am looking forward to sharing my experience and knowledge of the league with the staff and players."
The ex-Burton Albion manager was also linked with the vacant Norwich job and also held talks with Rangers.
He has brought in Kevin Summerfield as assistant manager, Mark Sale as first-team coach, Kevin Poole as goalkeeping coach and Joe Carnall as head of performance analysis.
Current first-team coach Kevin Phillips will continue as part of the set-up but Pascal Zuberbuhler has left his role as goalkeeping coach.
"Gary is being tasked with, and has the full responsibility for, leading our redevelopment programme," said Derby chairman Mel Morris.
"He is an exemplar of the qualities and values we want in our team and has clearly demonstrated his abilities to get that from his players too."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39255324
|
Tottenham Hotspur 6-0 Millwall - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
Son Heung-min scores a hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup with an easy win over League One Millwall.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Son Heung-min scored a hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup with an easy win over League One Millwall but lost striker Harry Kane with an ankle injury.
England striker Kane was replaced after being hurt when Lions defender Jake Cooper tried to block his shot after seven minutes.
Christian Eriksen, Kane's replacement, opened the scoring with a finish into the bottom corner after Dele Alli's chest down before Son scored either side of half-time.
Alli tapped home the fourth with substitute Vincent Janssen adding the fifth - his first from open play for Spurs - before Son completed his hat-trick with virtually the last kick of the game after a mistake by keeper Tom King.
Spurs join Premier League rivals Manchester City and Arsenal in the semi-final draw, which takes place at Stamford Bridge on Monday after the final quarter-final between Chelsea and holders Manchester United.
Whether Kane will be back in time for the semi-final on the weekend of 22-23 April remains to be seen.
But the sight of the Premier League's joint leading scorer disappearing down the tunnel in pain is a huge blow for boss Mauricio Pochettino.
There was no blame attached to Cooper as Kane fell awkwardly inside the Millwall penalty area with the game goalless.
Pochettino opted for Eriksen instead of Janssen - the only striker on the bench - as Kane's replacement and the Dane broke Millwall's resolve with a first-time strike into the far corner after 31 minutes.
Son added the second shortly before the interval, the South Korea international cutting in from the right to score soon after Victor Wanyama had headed against the bar.
Kieran Trippier's excellent pass was volleyed home by Son to make it 3-0 before Alli tapped home after Eriksen's pass.
One of the biggest cheers of the game greeted Janssen's goal, a first-time shot inside the area after another assist by Son, before the latter completed his hat-trick after a terrible fumble by King.
Spurs will be hoping for a change of fortune at Wembley as they look to win a major trophy for the first time since 2008 when they won the League Cup.
They have lost their last six FA Cup semi-finals - against Arsenal (1993, 2001), Everton (1995), Newcastle (1999), Portsmouth (2010) and Chelsea (2012).
They will also have to overcome their poor record at Wembley, scene of this season's failed Champions League and Europa League campaigns.
Spurs lost to Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League at the national stadium before going out of the Europa League after drawing 2-2 with Gent at Wembley having lost the first leg 1-0.
"It is another opportunity to make Wembley home," said Pochettino, whose side is set to play their home games at Wembley next season while work continues on their new ground.
"It will be different, it is the FA Cup semi-final, but it is a good thing for us because we are thinking next season to maybe play all our games at Wembley."
This was a hard lesson for Millwall as Spurs cruised to victory in their final FA Cup tie at the ground that has been their home for the past 118 years.
They had been seeking a fourth Premier League scalp in this season's competition having beaten Bournemouth, Watford and Leicester.
Steve Morison went close from 25 yards when the tie was goalless but Millwall never recovered once they fell behind.
King will have nightmares about Son's hat-trick goal - the ball somehow squirming under his body.
Despite this result, Millwall's season is far from over.
Neil Harris' side are six points off automatic promotion in League One and the Lions boss will be hoping his players can put this heavy defeat behind them as they look to secure a place in the Championship.
'We lost our way'
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino: "The performance was fantastic. It was very important for us to play well and score goals, so we are very pleased.
"A hat-trick from Son and Janssen scored....the team was good. We need to congratulate them, they were waiting for the opportunity and they took it and stepped up.
"In football you always need to be ready. Not only him [Janssen] but different players too will have the opportunity to play more and they need to be ready."
Millwall boss Neil Harris: "It was disappointing to concede the goals we did. I thought we lost our way in the last 20 minutes but there is no getting away from what a good team Tottenham are.
"We are disappointed because we have been beaten 6-0 at Spurs. This is the quality you are playing against. If we can use this experience then the standards are there that we need to set, individually and collectively."
'Six of the best' - the stats
• None Spurs have won an FA Cup game by a six-goal margin for the first time since January 1973 (v Margate).
• None This was Millwall's first defeat in 18 matches in all competitions.
• None Dele Alli has scored in three consecutive appearances at White Hart Lane for the first time.
• None Son Heung-min is Tottenham's leading scorer in the FA Cup this season with six goals in four appearances.
• None Christian Eriksen has scored nine goals in all competitions this season, surpassing his tally from 2015/16 (8).
Pochettino's former club Southampton visit White Hart Lane in the Premier League next Sunday, 19 March (14:15 GMT). Millwall resume their League One promotion push at home to Bury next Saturday, 18 March (15:00 GMT)
• None Goal! Tottenham Hotspur 6, Millwall 0. Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Christian Eriksen with a cross following a fast break.
• None Attempt missed. Harry Winks (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Moussa Sissoko.
• None Attempt blocked. Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Christian Eriksen.
• None Attempt blocked. Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Kieran Trippier.
• None Attempt missed. Harry Winks (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Son Heung-Min following a corner.
• None Attempt blocked. Vincent Janssen (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Son Heung-Min.
• None Attempt saved. Vincent Janssen (Tottenham Hotspur) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jan Vertonghen.
• None Goal! Tottenham Hotspur 5, Millwall 0. Vincent Janssen (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Son Heung-Min.
• None Attempt missed. Vincent Janssen (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ben Davies. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39170656
|
Steve McClaren: Derby County sack manager for a second time - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
Steve McClaren is sacked as manager of Derby County, just five months after he was reappointed.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Steve McClaren has been sacked as Derby County manager for a second time, five months after he was reappointed.
Derby, 10th in the Championship, said they acted following a "significant, unexpected and persistent decline in results, team unity and morale".
Rams chairman Mel Morris said: "We need a manager who shares our values and who is prepared to develop the team."
The club said they expect to make an announcement in relation to McClaren's successor "in the next few days".
Assistant manager Chris Powell and technical director Chris Evans have also left.
Former England boss McClaren, 55, was reappointed by Derby in October 2016, 17 months after he was sacked.
He returned to replace Nigel Pearson, who left by mutual consent after less than five months.
Derby lost 3-0 away to second-placed Brighton on Friday and are 10 points off the play-off places.
"The Brighton game was so far from what we expect to see from those wearing a Derby County shirt," added Morris.
"To ensure we are on the right path, it is important to put the building blocks in place so we can develop a team we can all be proud of."
McClaren was in charge for 26 Championship games during his second spell at Derby, winning 12 and losing eight.
Derby have won just one of the past nine league games.
They first appointed McClaren in September 2013 on a two-and-a-half-year deal after sacking Nigel Clough.
His contract was terminated in May 2015 following "a thorough review of the 2014-15 season".
In between his spells at Derby, McClaren managed Newcastle between June 2015 and March 2016, when he was sacked.
So the Derby players escape responsibility while the manager who has been at the club five months carries the can.
Steve McClaren had an immediate effect last autumn, taking the club out of the bottom four and impressing with his acknowledged coaching skill, but the players shrivelled in the face of promotion expectations.
McClaren had set in place a major overhaul of the dressing room this summer, aware that he had been undermined by some malcontents speaking to club owner Mel Morris, a micro-manager who demands success and is not known for his patience - four managers in just over a year testify to that.
But it is his club, his £100m-plus investment, and he will run it his way.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39251254
|
'LED street lights are disturbing my sleep' - BBC News
|
2017-03-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Cities around the world are converting to low-energy LED street lights - but some residents say their sleep is being affected and are fighting back.
|
Magazine
|
In towns and cities across the world, the colour of night is changing. Traditional yellow sodium street lights are steadily being replaced by white LED lamps. The new lights use less energy, dramatically cutting carbon emissions and saving money. But not everybody is happy.
"When the leaves left the trees and I tried to sleep, I turned to one side and the light's shining right in my eyes."
Like most of us, Karen Snyder had never really paid much attention to street lights. But that all changed last year when the city council began installing LED lights outside her home in a quiet corner of Washington DC.
In addition to the light shining into her bedroom, the 63-year-old teacher's guest room, where she watches TV, is now bathed in something akin to strong moonlight.
"It's like there's a ray coming in. Like a blue ray. Right directly on to the couch. If you are sitting down, the moon would be above the house and you'd get the beautiful feel of the moon. This is shining right in your eyes so it's pretty different than a moon. Moons don't go this low into the windows."
An LED light (left) shines directly into Snyder's guest room, while a sodium light glows on the other side of the house
Her friend, Delores Bushong, says her sleep has also been disturbed by the LED street lights outside her home, and is now one of the main opponents of the new lighting in the city. She fears they will ruin the atmosphere on her back porch, where she likes to relax after dark in a hammock in the sweltering summer months.
"In some kinds of torture they put a light on someone's face all the time," she says. "Am I going to be subjected to a kind of torture forever? It doesn't make sense to me. Just because we have a new technology and you can save money."
Bushong has become well-versed in the jargon of colour temperature (measured in degrees Kelvin) and light intensity (measured in Lumens), as she battles to get the city to take her concerns seriously. At the very least, she wants the 4,000-Kelvin bulbs in her neighbourhood, which she compares to the harsh lighting in a prison yard, to be replaced by bulbs with lower Kelvin ratings, closer in look and feel to the old high-pressure sodium bulbs.
The city insists it is listening to her campaign group's concerns but there is no turning back the march of the LEDs.
"There are many reasons why cities are switching to LED lights," says Seth Miller Gabriel, the director of Washington DC's Office of Public Private Partnerships.
"One, not be looked over, is cost - 50% or more over the life cycle of this new light. The lights last a lot longer. So we save electricity, by at least 50%, we save on the maintenance costs and we get a better lighting solution."
Then there are the environmental benefits: "We estimate that in the District of Columbia by switching our 71,000 street lights over to LEDs we can save upwards of 30 million pounds (13,600 tonnes) of coal a year, in electricity we won't be using for the lights," he says.
Miller Gabriel argues that many city-dwellers are blundering around in neighbourhoods that have never been properly lit, allowing crime to fester in the shadows. He dreams of a world where every street light is an LED. He may live long enough to see that happen.
About 10% of America's street lights have so far been converted, but the Department of Energy has estimated that if the whole country switched to LEDs over the next two decades it would save $120bn over that 20-year period.
Cities across Europe and the Asia Pacific region are going down the LED route and, in China, the central planning agency is in the middle of a conversion programme it expects will cut annual carbon emissions by 48 million tonnes.
Against these sort of statistics, those campaigning against LEDs can sound like Luddites, railing against scientific progress, but they insist they have a strong case.
They point to a recent report by the American Medical Association (AMA), which warns that the blue light emitted by first generation high-intensity LEDs, used in many cities around the world including New York, can adversely affect circadian sleep rhythms, leading to reduced duration and quality of sleep, "impaired daytime functioning" and obesity.
The AMA report calls on cities to use the lowest-intensity LEDs possible and shade them better to reduce glare, which it warns can also harm wildlife.
Seth Miller Gabriel says the report does not contain original research and is "more of a literature review of what's been published elsewhere".
"We would really like to see more concrete evidence of what's going on with these lights," he says. "If it's really a problem, based on a particular intensity of lights, we want to know that. That AMA report really didn't give us the kind of hard data we would need [on which] to base a large scale procurement."
He is overseeing the tendering process for the next phase of Washington's LED conversion which he promises will be done in a more sensitive way, with lower Kelvin ratings, better shading and remote controls, so that lights can be dimmed or increased in intensity at different times to suit the needs of particular neighbourhoods.
But he adds: "Let's be honest, humans are not engineered for change. So when we come home and see a different light. Even if it's a much better light, there's going to be a reaction - 'Oh my goodness, it's a different light, what happened?'"
It is true that many of the same arguments being made against LED lights were heard in the early 1970s, when cities were converting to the yellow sodium lights we are so familiar with today.
There was no LED lighting in Edward Hopper's day
High-pressure sodium bulbs used less energy than the mercury vapour bulbs they replaced. But some campaigners, most notably a Vancouver-based artist called Ralf Kelman, argued at the time that their "antiseptic orange" glow was too bright and would damage growth in young trees, as well as blocking out the stars in the night sky.
The light pollution argument has also been used against LEDs, although some researchers say that properly directed, they could dramatically improve the visibility of stars.
But, for some people, the debate goes beyond dry arguments about Kelvin ratings, light pollution and carbon emissions and touches on questions about the quality of life city-dwellers should expect.
"When the lighting is right you have a sense of peace and contemplation, of aesthetic joy in the world," says novelist Lionel Shriver, who is campaigning against LEDs in the South Brooklyn neighbourhood where she spends part of the year.
"I am not someone who believes she can stand in the way of the march of the LEDs. The savings in energy are too great. The savings in money are too great. And if we just say 'but it's not pretty' that's not going to stop these things.
"The truth is that the technology of LEDs has advanced fantastically so that it is no longer necessary to make a stark choice between economy and the environment and aesthetics. You can have both.
"What is going on in some cities, in New York especially, that is what I am most familiar with, amounts to a kind of widespread civic vandalism."
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38526254
|
FA Cup semi-final draw: Chelsea v Tottenham, Arsenal v Man City - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
London rivals Chelsea and Tottenham are drawn against each other in the FA Cup semi-finals, with Arsenal facing Manchester City.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
London rivals Chelsea and Tottenham have been drawn against each other in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Arsenal, who will play in a record 29th FA Cup semi-final, face Manchester City in the other last-four tie.
Both semi-finals will be played at Wembley on the weekend of 22 and 23 April.
Chelsea knocked out holders Manchester United in a hard-fought 1-0 win on Monday, with Spurs thrashing League One side Millwall on Sunday.
Arsenal, who lifted the trophy in 2014 and 2015, proved too good for non-league Lincoln City in a 5-0 home win on Saturday.
Manchester City are playing in the semi-finals for the first time in four seasons after beating Middlesbrough in a 2-0 away win.
Follow all the reaction to the semi-final draw
"Tottenham have given Chelsea problems this season and it is a London derby too so gives it an edge," said former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, speaking as a BBC Match of the Day pundit after the Blues' quarter-final win.
"They are two very form teams but I think Chelsea are slight favourites as it stands."
Former England striker Alan Shearer added: "When the big boys joined in the FA Cup it got off to a slow start with teams resting players.
"But now there are four big hitters left and they are two semi-finals to look forward to."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39260285
|
Why Liverpool's 'ugly win' over Burnley mattered so much - MOTD2 analysis - BBC Sport
|
2017-03-13
| null |
Former Liverpool defender and Match of the Day 2 pundit Mark Lawrenson explains why an 'ugly win’ mattered so much on Sunday.
| null |
Questions remain about Liverpool's performances against lesser teams despite Sunday's win over Burnley, but I could tell from talking to Jurgen Klopp how important the result was to him.
I was at Anfield for Match of the Day 2 and the Reds manager came to speak to us on the show after the game.
He called it an "ugly win". He was exactly right and he was also correct that it was a very good sign.
I could tell from Klopp's entire demeanour that he saw it as a massive result in his side's season, and it was fascinating to talk to him about how he thought his side played.
When he answers your questions, he gives you everything. He kind of looks at you as if to say 'well you have watched the game anyway, so I am not going to come out with any rubbish'.
I think that is why football fans like to listen to him - I do. He does not just talk openly, he is convincing when he explains things too.
'Liverpool unhinged and could not impose themselves'
I said before Sunday's game that I thought it held huge significance for Liverpool's bid to finish in the top four, even more so than last week's win over Arsenal.
Klopp's side started 2017 so badly and suffered some poor defeats against teams from the bottom half of the table. It was vital that did not happen again.
Going back further, we saw in August when the Reds lost at Turf Moor how they struggle to break down teams even when they dominate possession.
I was expecting this game to follow a similar pattern, but Burnley did far more than just defend in numbers.
This game was completely different to what happened at Turf Moor because this time Burnley caused Liverpool lots of problems too, especially in the first half and not just on the break.
When the Clarets were on the ball they looked more dangerous and that was in terms of territory, because they saw more of the ball than Liverpool in the right areas.
It looked like they targeted the little corridor between Liverpool's left-sided centre-half Ragnar Klavan and their left-back James Milner, and it seriously worked.
It unhinged Liverpool for the first 20 to 25 minutes and, even after that, the Reds did not impose themselves on the game or get their short passing going.
Burnley were playing with two centre-forwards to stop Liverpool building from the back. It meant they were playing more long balls instead, and Michael Keane and Ben Mee can deal with those all day.
The home crowd were getting frustrated because Burnley's gameplan was working. When Georginio Wijnaldum equalised in first-half injury-time, it was with Liverpool's first shot on target.
There was no dramatic difference in Liverpool's play in the second half either - yes, they were better, but that wasn't difficult.
Any improvement was minimal - they just found a way to pinch the win despite a poor performance. They had to, really.
Divock Origi started up front, which is his best position, but he had a bad day and Klopp did not have many attacking alternatives on the bench - just youngsters in Ben Woodburn and Harry Wilson.
Klopp gets criticised for not having a 'Plan B' but part of that is down to a lack of options. At 1-1 he brought on Woodburn for Philippe Coutinho, which shows he is not afraid to change things if they are not working.
Coutinho is Liverpool's best player when he is on form but he was another one having an off day so Klopp gave a kid a chance.
That shows how limited Liverpool's squad is, when you compare it to the rest of the top six. On Wednesday night, for example, Manchester City brought on David Silva in the second half to try to change the game in their draw against Stoke.
Yes, Emre Can scored from long range seconds after Woodburn came on but that does not hide the fact that the Liverpool bench on Sunday was short of the experience they need.
'This can be a launchpad for the rest of Liverpool's season'
Beforehand I saw this game as the launchpad for the rest of Liverpool's season. The result still means it might be.
That is the big positive, but the worry would be that they have still not shown that they are capable of rolling any of the lower teams over.
Their next game, away at Manchester City next Sunday, is obviously important as well.
But it is against another top team, and we know what they are like against those sides - they have not lost against anyone else in the top six all season.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39225865
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.