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Commonwealth Games: Durban, South Africa will not host Games in 2022 - BBC Sport
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2017-03-13
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The 2022 Commonwealth Games will no longer take place in Durban, which was set to be the first African city to host the event.
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Last updated on .From the section Commonwealth Games
The 2022 Commonwealth Games will no longer be held in Durban, South Africa.
David Grevemberg, chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, said the city did not meet the criteria set by his organisation, and the search for a new host city had already begun.
Durban was awarded the Games in September 2015 and was due to be the first African city to host the event, which was first held in 1930.
Liverpool and Birmingham have expressed interest in staging the 2022 edition.
The Commonwealth Games are held every four years and feature athletes from more than 50 countries, mostly former British colonies.
Last month, South Africa's sports minister Fikile Mbalula indicated Durban may not be able to host the 2022 event because of financial constraints.
"We gave it our best shot but we can't go beyond. If the country says we don't have this money, we can't," he said.
Grevemberg said: "We are disappointed but it does not diminish our commitment to the African continent.
"We have had to postpone these ambitions to a later time. We all share disappointment that this ambition needs to be postponed right now.
"We remain committed to the inspiring potential of a Games in the continent."
Grevemberg said the South African government had never signed off on the decision for Durban to host the Games.
"We have a host city contract," he said. "It was signed by all parties on the day except for the South African government.
"We have engaged with the government to really try to work with their current circumstances but also uphold the commitments that were outlined in their bid. They were unable to do that at this time and we have had to look after the citizens and communities that our events serve."
Grevemberg said an announcement on a new host city would be made by the end of the year.
"Discussions with a number of interested parties are under way," he said. "I am confident an alternative host city will be found and that we will have an inspirational Games for the athletes and fans across the Commonwealth."
A spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said: "We had heard rumours that Durban might be unable to deliver the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and have already indicated to the government that we are very willing to host them instead."
Birmingham had already expressed an interest in hosting the 2026 Games.
Councillor Ian Ward, deputy leader of the city council, said: "We are aware of the decision from the Commonwealth Games Federation to seek a new host for the 2022 Games.
"Here in Birmingham we are already in the advanced stages of producing a detailed feasibility study on what would be needed for a truly memorable Games in the city.
"That is due to be completed in the coming weeks and we are in close contact with the government about the developing situation."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/commonwealth-games/39256432
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Manchester United charged with failing to control players against Chelsea - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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Manchester United are charged by the Football Association with failing to control their players during Monday's FA Cup quarter-final loss at Chelsea.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester United have been charged by the Football Association with failing to control their players during Monday's FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Chelsea.
Referee Michael Oliver was surrounded by several United players after sending off midfielder Ander Herrera 10 minutes before half-time.
An FA statement said United have until 18:00 GMT on Friday to respond.
Spanish midfielder Herrera was sent off after a second foul on Chelsea forward Eden Hazard.
No further action will be taken against United's Marcos Rojo for an incident late in game.
Rojo appeared to stamp on Hazard but Oliver has told the FA he saw it and dealt with the incident as he saw fit at the time.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39272896
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Leicester City 2-0 Sevilla (3-2 agg) - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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Leicester City's dream Champions League debut continues as they reach the quarter-finals with a famous 3-2 aggregate win against Sevilla.
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Last updated on .From the section European Football
Leicester City wrote another chapter in their remarkable story as they overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Sevilla and reach the Champions League quarter-finals on a night of raw passion at the King Power Stadium.
The Foxes looked in trouble after a 2-1 first-leg loss in Spain that was the catalyst for the sacking of Claudio Ranieri - the manager who had guided them into this competition after winning the Premier League nine months ago.
Now, with Ranieri gone and Craig Shakespeare in charge, Leicester have been transformed, and they were on their way to another spectacular triumph when captain Wes Morgan bundled them into a first-half lead.
It put Leicester in control of the tie, a supremacy they emphasised when Marc Albrighton drilled home a second nine minutes after the interval, seconds after Sergio Escudero hit the bar for the visitors.
Leicester survived a frantic final spell when Samir Nasri picked up a second yellow card for a clash of heads with Jamie Vardy - who missed two great chances - keeper Kasper Schmeichel saved a penalty from Steven N'Zonzi that could have taken the tie into extra time and Sevilla boss Jorge Sampaoli was sent to the stands as tensions reached boiling point.
The victory means the Foxes join the illustrious company of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and Real Madrid in Friday's quarter-final draw.
On Wednesday, Manchester City go to Monaco and Atletico Madrid play Bayer Leverkusen to determine the final two sides in the last eight.
Who's through to the last eight?
• None Champions League dream - could Foxes defy logic once again?
• None Foxes 'achieved the impossible again', says Morgan
• None We want to avoid Leicester - Juve keeper Buffon
Leicester's place in the Premier League was under threat by the time they lost the first leg of this Champions League tie in Sevilla - and it looked like Ranieri's sacking was another chapter in the story of a dramatic fall from grace.
Now, in the space of three weeks, the Foxes have gone from misery to another potential miracle as Sevilla, so highly rated, third in La Liga and Europa League winners three years in succession, were beaten back by a tide of passion and emotion at the King Power Stadium.
The despair of the early months of the season, when the stricken and out of sorts Premier League champions looked a world away from last season's team, has been forgotten.
When Italian referee Daniele Orsato blew the final whistle after the rawest of encounters, this atmospheric arena was suddenly engulfed in the sort of scenes it witnessed last May when Leicester won the title - the sort of scenes that no-one could have imagined seeing again when Ranieri was sacked amid shock and sadness on 23 February.
As Leicester fans danced and sang in their seats, they were contemplating another unlikely, unthinkable story - a place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Shakespeare has been appointed manager until the end of the season - and if he carries on in his current vein he might be able to name his price.
He has already moved Leicester away from relegation trouble with two Premier League wins out of two against Liverpool and Hull, but this is the sort of victory upon which reputations are made and jobs secured.
Shakespeare, assistant to Ranieri in that title campaign, has simply turned the dial back nine months, restored Leicester City's title-winning team - with Wilfred Ndidi for the departed N'Golo Kante - and style, with spectacular results.
The giant banner unfurled before kick-off, with a nod to William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, read: "Let Slip The Dogs of War" and that is exactly what he has done.
Leicester City's owners can take their time and weigh up their options with Shakespeare at the helm, but he is stating his own case very eloquently.
Leicester's Thai owners came in for heavy scrutiny after taking the ruthless, business-led decision to sack the popular Ranieri nine months after he took Leicester to the title in arguably the greatest story in British sport.
It was made with a heavy heart but a clear head as they feared the Foxes were heading to the Championship. Events since have suggested the decision, which risked popularity and status, was correct.
The familiar saying describes football as a "results-based business" - and the results since Ranieri's sacking have justified his dismissal, however harsh it might have been at a human level.
• None The Foxes are the first English side to overcome a first leg defeat against Spanish opposition in the Champions League knockout stages since Chelsea in 2005 (v Barcelona).
• None Riyad Mahrez has been directly involved in six of Leicester's 10 Champions League goals this season (four goals and two assists).
• None The Algerian's assist means he has either scored or assisted in consecutive games for Leicester for the first time since November 2016.
• None Kasper Schmeichel has saved both of his penalties in the Champions League this season, one in each leg against Sevilla.
• None Sevilla are the first team to miss a penalty in each leg of a Champions League knockout round since Bayern Munich in 2013-14 (v Arsenal).
• None The game's opening goal was the 48th shot Sevilla had faced away from home in the Champions League this season, but the first goal they conceded.
• None Wes Morgan became the first Jamaican player to score in a Champions League game.
Leicester's attention once again turns to Premier League survival. The Foxes are three points above the relegation zone in 15th and travel to West Ham on Saturday aiming for a third successive league win.
• None Attempt missed. Joaquín Correa (Sevilla) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Stevan Jovetic.
• None Attempt missed. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Riyad Mahrez following a fast break.
• None Attempt saved. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Marc Albrighton with a cross.
• None Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Vitolo (Sevilla) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Offside, Leicester City. Daniel Drinkwater tries a through ball, but Islam Slimani is caught offside. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39248930
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Scotland's future: What are Theresa May's options? - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The prime minister is extremely unlikely to either concede another referendum or rule one out straight away but what are the other possibilities?
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UK Politics
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If it was designed to grab headlines it certainly did that. Nicola Sturgeon slammed the ball into Theresa May's court on the question of another independence referendum.
There were accusations on both sides yesterday. The first minister accused the prime minister of "intransigence", of being a "brick wall". The PM accused the Scottish government of "playing politics" (yes that old chestnut) and Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell said Ms Sturgeon was "obsessed".
The first minister has turned up the attacks today, questioning the prime minister's mandate for governing, in this tweet.
Forget about the political verbiage between the two for a second though. What might Theresa May's options actually be?
Is there actually going to be a second independence referendum vote, when it is the last thing that Number 10 wants to happen?
1. She could say 'No' immediately: This is extremely unlikely. Both sides know this would likely give the SNP a big bump in the polls and wouldn't remotely take the issue off the table.
2. Say 'Yes' immediately: This is also extremely unlikely. Number 10 doesn't want this vote to take place and backing down now is almost unthinkable for a prime minister whose first visit was to Scotland, making it clear preserving the union is near the top of her list
3. Say 'Not now, but not never': This is basically the position the government has taken so far, as David Mundell suggested yesterday. Westminster does not want to make it easy for the Scottish government. And what they won't agree to is the SNP's timetable of holding a vote before the Brexit negotiations are done.
4. Play it long: This seems to be the second part of the strategy. Don't allow Nicola Sturgeon to set the terms of the narrative. She did yesterday, but with Theresa May holding off from triggering Article 50, the next fortnight could leave Nicola Sturgeon twisting in the wind, looking as if she moved too fast. While trying to avoid accepting a referendum, the Tories will try to keep the arguments focused on why they believe a vote should not take place. The SNP, however, may equally try to make this look as if Westminster is ignoring their demands, which of course, strengthens their case still further.
5. Do a deal behind closed doors: This isn't the official position and no one on either side would acknowledge such a thing. But there are whispers that this has already happened. The theory goes that the UK government has accepted the inevitable and will allow the referendum to go ahead, but only on the basis that the agreement to do so includes a "sunrise clause" - so Nicola Sturgeon wins the right to hold the vote but in law, can't do so until the UK has left the EU. There's even a suggestion Westminster may stipulate that the second vote can't take place until after the next Holyrood election. That would be fiercely resisted by the SNP who could argue their victory in 2016 gave them a clear mandate for a second vote.
6. Call Ms Sturgeon's bluff: Theresa May could suddenly suggest that despite the frustrations of their talks so far, that there could be a different deal for Scotland, and she will appeal to the EU Commission on Scotland's behalf to pursue that path. If Number 10 explored this publicly, it would be much harder for the Scottish Government to make its case. One SNP insider said it would "shoot our fox". But a UK government source downplayed the possibility of doing so. It would be a significant change in the UK approach and could open the door to complicated concessions and demands on many different fronts.
Let's be clear, Theresa May really doesn't want to have a referendum. Senior SNP figures insist that Nicola Sturgeon, as she said yesterday, is completely serious about still being open to compromises if they can be made.
But with the political temperature already at boiling point, it's hard to see how they can find a solution that works for both sides.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39270725
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Danny Willett: Masters champion says Muirfield women's vote is 'great' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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Masters champion Danny Willett welcomes Muirfield voting to admit women members for the first time and says it "shows golf has changed'.
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Last updated on .From the section Golf
Coverage: Watch live on the BBC, BBC Sport website and the sport app, listen on Radio 5 live and Radio 5 live sports extra
Masters champion Danny Willett says Muirfield voting to admit women members for the first time is a "great thing".
Members at the privately owned golf club voted 80.2% in favour of updating its membership policy on Tuesday.
Golf's ruling body, the R&A, removed Muirfield as a host venue for the Open Championship after it chose to maintain the ban in 2016.
"It shows how times have changed, it shows golf has changed," said Englishman Willett.
"When the vote was passed that females weren't going to be allowed and they were going to be taken off the Open rota, it was not only a blow for a lot of other things, it was a blow for us golfers who think that golf course is one of the best Open courses.
"It's a great thing that they've done."
Willett, 29, will defend his Masters title at Augusta between April 6-9.
Last April, he claimed his first major by three shots on five under par, becoming the first British winner since Sir Nick Faldo in 1996, but has struggled recently and says his form is "nowhere near" what it was.
He does not expect a backlash from American fans after he was forced to apologise last September for an article written by his brother, Peter, in which he called American Ryder Cup fans a "baying mob of imbeciles".
Europe went on to lose 17-11 at Hazeltine.
"I've been in America and played a couple of events and the American fans have been great as you'd expect," added Willett.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/39272893
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Do voters in Scotland want a second referendum? - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, looks at whether there is an appetite for another independence referendum.
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Scotland
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Two important questions arise from Nicola Sturgeon's announcement that she will seek a second independence referendum.
First, do voters in Scotland want a second referendum? And second, how might they vote if an independence referendum were to be held any time soon?
During recent months, a number of polls have asked people in a variety of different ways whether there should be a second independence referendum within the next couple of years.
They have all obtained much the same answer. Around a half say there should not be, while between a third and two-fifths say there should.
Most recently, for example, a poll conducted by BMG Research published in Monday's Herald newspaper found that 39% believe that another referendum should be held prior to the conclusion of the Brexit negotiations, while 49% are opposed to the idea.
People's opinions on the subject tend to depend on their views on the merits of independence in the first place.
Around four in five of those who want Scotland to remain part of the UK oppose having a second referendum within the next couple of years, while around two-thirds of those who back independence would like a ballot to be held soon.
It is the apparent lack of enthusiasm for a second referendum amongst some supporters that is the main reason why opponents of an early second ballot are apparently in the majority.
But that does not mean that most voters think that another ballot should not be held for "another generation".
Polling conducted by Panelbase for The Sunday Times has found that half of voters either think a referendum should be held during the Brexit negotiations (as the first minister appears to have in mind) or that one should be held once the negotiations have been concluded (that is, just a little later than Ms Sturgeon's proposed timetable).
They counterbalance exactly the other half of Scotland which says that a poll should not be held at any point within the next few years.
So this polling suggests that Scotland is evenly divided on the principle of having a relatively early second ballot. In short, both sides in the debate about whether a second referendum should be held can find polling evidence that seemingly bolsters their case.
In the first independence referendum held in September 2014, 55% of Scots voted to stay in the UK, while 45% supported independence. But how might Scotland vote a second time around?
To date, five polls have been conducted since in mid-January Prime Minister Theresa May outlined her vision of the kind of Brexit deal that the UK should seek in the forthcoming negotiations with the EU.
Once those who said 'Don't Know' are put to one side, these polls have on average reported that 48% say they would vote 'Yes' to independence, while 52% say they would vote 'No'.
So the two sides look as though they are more evenly matched than they eventually proved to be two and a half years ago.
Still, Ms Sturgeon is seemingly taking a big gamble in calling for a second independence referendum. It is far from certain that she will win. But equally Mrs May cannot presume that the first minister is bound to lose.
Expect an intense and strongly-fought battle if Scotland does indeed go to the polls once again any time soon.
Did you vote in the referendum in 2014 but have since changed your mind? Contact us by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
You can also contact us in the following ways:
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-39264468
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Cheltenham 2017: Buveur D'Air wins Champion Hurdle - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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Second favourite Buveur D'Air storms to victory in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham, trainer Nicky Henderson's sixth winner.
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Last updated on .From the section Horse Racing
Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, live text coverage on the BBC Sport website and app
Second favourite Buveur D'Air, ridden by Noel Fehily, stormed to victory in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.
The Nicky Henderson-trained six-year-old, a 5-1 shot, came home ahead of My Tent Or Yours (16-1) and Petit Mouchoir (6-1).
It was Fehily's second Champion Hurdle victory, and owner JP McManus' 50th winner at Cheltenham.
Yanworth - the 2-1 favourite - never settled and placed seventh.
Henderson's sixth winner makes him the most successful trainer in the history of the race, following successes with See You Then (1985, 1986, 1987), Punjabi (2009) and Binocular (2010).
"It's fantastic. To win one was great, to win two is special," said Fehily, whose first Champion Hurdle win came on Rock On Ruby in 2012.
"I was very happy with him. My worry was if he would travel well enough down the hill but he travelled well and jumped well - it was a great performance."
Petit Mouchoir, trained by Henry De Bromhead, led with two jumps to go but was hauled back by the two Henderson horses.
The 66-year-old also trains My Tent Or Yours, who finished second for a third time, having fallen just short in 2016 and 2014.
"I just know he's a very talented horse," Henderson said of Buveur D'Air.
"He'd won two novice chases and I just knew there was more there. You just felt there was unfinished business.
"It was very open - you could have had any sort of winner. I was happy with the ground, it hadn't dried like people thought it would. I knew it was safe enough and I thought it would suit him.
"All records are there to be broken. It's the horses and the people that make it. It's rather surreal really. Of course it's special, it's just fun. When this thing happens it's even better fun."
Though the past two champions - Annie Power and Faugheen - weren't present because of injury, and their fans are sure to have a view on how they'd have fared against Buveur D'Air, you have to say the new champ took the crown in fine style.
Taking over the lead as he headed towards the last hurdle, the only six-year-old really asserted, with a three-time runner-up four and a half lengths away in second.
Trainer Nicky Henderson is superb with these top hurdlers, and he enjoyed a memorable day with Altior taking the Arkle Trophy, though how big a battle he'd have had if Charbel - who fell in the lead at the second last - stood up we'll never know.
In the first of Tuesday's races, 17-year-old jockey Jack Kennedy claimed a stunning victory on Labaik, a 25-1 shot who had refused to run in several of his previous races, in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
"It was brilliant, a dream come true. The horse can be very quirky but it all worked out well," Kennedy told BBC Radio 5 live.
"I don't really come from a racing background, My mother's grandfather might have had a pony or something, that's about it.
"My father is a welder and my mother is a child-minder, but my older brother had a few ponies at home. I started pony racing when I was nine and that was it."
Labaik's trainer Gordon Elliott had three wins - a 1,988-1 treble - in total over the day, with Lisa O'Neill steering 16-1 shot Tiger Roll, the 2014 Triumph Hurdle winner, to victory in the National Hunt Chase on her first ride at Cheltenham, and Apple's Jade (7-2) triumphing in the Mares hurdle.
Apple's Jade was previously trained by Willie Mullins, the leading Festival trainer for five of the past six years, but owner and Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary switched to Elliott following a row.
There was another victory for Henderson in the Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices' Chase, as Altior came in ahead of Cloudy Dream and Ordinary World - the trainer's sixth win in the race.
Leader Charbel fell at the penultimate fence, leaving Altior clear to claim a victory which netted one punter £100,000 from a £400,000 bet.
In the Ultima Handicap Chase, Un Temps Pour Tout claimed a second successive victory, with Singlefarmpayment second and Noble Endeavour third.
The final race of the day, the Novices' Handicap Chase, won by Tully East, was delayed because of an injury to Edwulf in the previous race.
BBC Radio 5 live sports extra reported that buckets of water were thrown over the JP McManus-owned horse after it collapsed and was removed from the track.
The horse was attended by vets, who arranged for him to be transported to the racecourse stables for further assessment.
Before the day's racing began, 20-time champion jump jockey Sir Anthony McCoy saw a statue put up in his honour at the racecourse.
"I can only say a huge thank you to Cheltenham," said the jockey, commonly known as AP.
"It was 20 years this week when I won the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup and I had my first ride here in 1994. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have a statue put up in my honour."
McCoy, 42, rode 31 winners at the Festival, including two Gold Cups and three Champion Hurdle successes.
What to watch on Wednesday
The Queen Mother Champion Chase leads the billing at Cheltenham on Wednesday.
The Willie Mullins-trained Douvan is the overwhelming pre-race favourite to add to two previous Festival wins, having landed the 2015 Supreme Novices' Hurdle and the 2016 Arkle Trophy.
Douvan's nine rivals include Special Tiara, who finished third in the past two years, and Fox Norton and Sizing Granite, both trained by Colin Tizzard.
Top Gamble, Garde La Victoire, Traffic Fluide, Gods Own, Simply Ned and Sir Valentino complete the 10-strong field.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/39270787
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Harry Kane: Tottenham striker suffers ankle ligament damage - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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Tottenham striker Harry Kane suffers ligament damage to his ankle - but it is not thought to be as bad as the injury earlier this season.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Tottenham striker Harry Kane has suffered ligament damage to his right ankle - but it is not thought to be as severe as the injury that sidelined him for seven weeks earlier this season.
The England international was replaced after seven minutes of Sunday's 6-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Millwall.
He was hurt when defender Jake Cooper blocked his shot close to the byeline.
Spurs said the injury is similar to the one Kane picked up against Sunderland on 18 September.
The 23-year-old missed five Premier League games and two EFL Cup matches after twisting his ankle tackling Sunderland's Papy Djilobodji.
Kane is likely to miss England's friendly in Germany on 22 March and a home World Cup qualifier against Lithuania four days later.
It is not clear if the top flight's joint leading scorer with 19 goals will be available for Tottenham's FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea at Wembley on the weekend 22-23 April.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39274784
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The wine boss who was glad to be sacked - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The rise and fall and rise again of wine entrepreneur Rowan Gormley, the boss of Naked Wines and Majestic Wine.
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Business
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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.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39153993
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New Zealand coach Steve Hansen says he is not playing mind games with England praise - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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New Zealand coach Steve Hansen insists he isn't playing any media mind games, after Eddie Jones reacted suspiciously to the Kiwi's praise of England's record-equalling run.
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Last updated on .From the section English Rugby
Coverage: Live on Radio 5 live and on the BBC Sport website.
New Zealand coach Steve Hansen says he is not playing media mind games, after Eddie Jones reacted suspiciously to the Kiwi's praise of England's record-equalling run.
Hansen paid tribute to England's achievements on BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek, but England coach Jones was wary, comparing the Kiwi to the Big Bad Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood.
"Eddie's obviously not very used to getting compliments," Hansen replied.
"So he's got to try and brush it off."
Victory for England against Ireland on Saturday would be a record-breaking 19th in a row, and would seal a second straight Six Nations Grand Slam for Jones' men.
Hansen told 5 live that Jones has instilled a worth ethic previously lacking in England's team, but Jones replied: "You've always got to be careful of compliments, particularly from an All Blacks coach."
But Hansen says England deserve to be talked up.
"It's not about playing a game. In this case I - and the team - genuinely believe they should be complimented," he told Radio Sport NZ.
"They've done a tremendous job. Sport is about paying due when it is due, and they've done a good job, so well done."
New Zealand and England are ranked as the top two sides in the world, but the teams are unlikely to meet until the autumn of 2018.
Hansen says all his immediate focus is on the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand this summer.
"If you can't be motivated to meet the Lions - a team made up of four countries who only come here every 12 years - then you are in trouble aren't you.
"Our focus is on getting ready for the Lions. That's going to be a great challenge for us."
• None Get all the latest Six Nations news by adding
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39267854
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FA Cup: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United - Funnies, action and analysis - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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Funnies, action and analysis from Chelsea's 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
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Funnies, action and analysis from Chelsea's 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Available to UK users only.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39260884
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Post-partum psychosis: Why I thought I'd killed my baby - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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As Mother's Day approaches one new mother shares the devastating experience of post-partum psychosis.
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Wales
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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.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-39205485
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Cheltenham Festival 2017: O'Leary v Mullins, Tea for Two and Cue Card - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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Several big names are missing but this year's Cheltenham Festival is not short of talking points, says Cornelius Lysaght.
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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.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/39250167
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Chris Froome apologises over Team Sky controversy - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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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.
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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.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39254063
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Reality Check: Is government giving away £70bn to the rich? - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Jeremy Corbyn says the government is giving away £70bn. Is he right?
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UK Politics
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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.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39260176
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Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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Chelsea capitalise on Ander Herrera's sending-off to win a hard-fought FA Cup quarter-final with holders Manchester United.
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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
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39176050
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Chelsea v Man Utd: Jose Mourinho tells Blues fans 'Judas is still number one' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho tells Chelsea fans he remains their "number one" manager after his side's FA Cup defeat at Stamford Bridge.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho told Chelsea fans "I'm still number one" after being heckled during his side's FA Cup loss at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho, sacked twice by Chelsea, was called 'Judas' by fans during United's 1-0 defeat, responding by pointing three fingers in reference to the three league titles he won with the club.
He said: "Until the moment they have a manager that wins four Premier Leagues for them, I'm the number one.
"Until then, Judas is number one."
N'Golo Kante's low shot was enough for Chelsea to beat holders United - who had Ander Herrera sent off in the first half - and set up a semi-final against Tottenham at Wembley.
Mourinho, 54, is Chelsea's most successful manager after winning titles over two spells in 2005, 2006 and 2015.
He said: "They can call me what they want. I am a professional. I defend my club.
"I'm really proud of my players, I'm really proud of Manchester United fans."
Mourinho would not discuss the Herrera red card, calling referee Michael Oliver "a referee with fantastic potential".
He said: "I don't want to go in that direction. In four matches he [Oliver] has given three penalties and a red card. I cannot change that. I shook his hand and said many congratulations.
"Mr Oliver goes home and he can do his own analysis, because I don't want to analyse his work."
Mourinho's Blues counterpart Antonio Conte accused United of targeting Hazard during the match.
Last night's Chelsea v Man Utd FA Cup quarter final game had a peak TV audience of 7.7m - the highest of the season so far. A further 1.1m also watched live online on the BBC Sport website.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39262677
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Arnold Palmer Invitational: McIlroy, Day & Stenson among those to honour 'The King' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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The crowded PGA Tour schedule has meant high-profile absentees from this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational - but there are still enough big names for a fitting tribute.
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On the day Arnold Palmer passed away, Rory McIlroy collected such riches in prize money that the knock-on effect was a "tsunami" of cash tumbling into the bank account of his caddie.
That's how JP Fitzgerald described his feelings after checking his balance and finding financial rewards for helping his boss win the Tour Championship and with it the lucrative FedEx Cup last September.
Fitzgerald earned around $1.5m (£1.2m) that week. He performs an invaluable role - but remember he is a caddie not a player.
The traditional Florida swing was interrupted by this month's WGC in Mexico City and next week matchplay is introduced when players want to hone scoring skills for their tilts at a Green Jacket. The schedule needs shaking up
By contrast, back in the 1950s and '60s it took the great Palmer around 15 years of swashbuckling, captivating competition to come anywhere close to amassing that figure.
Of course, we are talking vastly different eras and inflationary forces have abounded since Palmer's heyday. But no-one did more to popularise professional golf than the man still referred to as 'The King'.
Arnie's Army, as his support base was known, was a global following attracted by this most charismatic of characters.
Palmer brought attention and money and became one of the world's most famous people. He made golf sexy and laid the foundations for the riches enjoyed by today's players, their caddies and the rest of their entourages.
This week, the PGA Tour stages the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill for the first time since golf lost one of its greatest figures. Palmer died awaiting heart surgery at the age of 87 on 25 September last year.
The great man will never be far from the minds of those competing in Orlando this week and, despite a ludicrously congested schedule, a fitting field has been assembled.
There were worries that the biggest names would be under-represented and last week former FedEx Cup winner Billy Horschel tweeted his concern.
"Disappointing. Totally understand schedule issues. But 1st year without AP. Honor an icon! Without him wouldn't be in position we are today."
And yes, world number one Dustin Johnson along with major winners Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott are absent, but 14 of the world's top 25 will tee it up in Florida this week.
It is a respectable field headlined by numbers two and three in the rankings - Jason Day and McIlroy - along with Open champion Henrik Stenson.
The Swedish winner at Royal Troon last year agrees there was a responsibility on the biggest names to turn up to honour Palmer. "Absolutely, you can definitely argue for that," he said.
"There's going to be some special tributes to his life. We're putting some umbrellas [Palmer's trademark] on our bags and things like that. So I'm sure it's going to be a great week, and we're going to do our best to honour him."
Former Open winner Louis Oosthuizen went further. "I just think it's a tournament that, if you can, you should play it every year," he said.
"And I'm going to try to do that from now on."
But it is never that straightforward, especially with the overly congested nature of the PGA Tour's schedule in the build-up to next month's first major, the Masters.
As Rickie Fowler, another top 10 star playing at Bay Hill this week, commented: "The biggest thing is you want to make sure you're ready to go at Augusta."
This is why Stenson and his Ryder Cup team-mate Justin Rose are skipping next week's WGC Matchplay, a tournament for the world's top 64 players and worth $9.75m prize money.
Rose does not like the idea of playing head-to-head matchplay so close to the Masters but the wider point is that shoehorning in two elite World Golf Championships before Augusta creates tough scheduling choices.
First-world problems they may be, but the current set-up is a mess that made it harder for leading players to honour Palmer this week.
The traditional Florida swing was interrupted by this month's WGC in Mexico City and next week matchplay is introduced when players want to hone scoring skills for their tilts at gaining a Green Jacket.
It is clear the schedule needs shaking up, especially if plans to move back the Players Championship to March come to fruition.
The idea under consideration is to shift the tournament, known as the fifth major, so that an actual major, the US PGA Championship, can move from August to a date in May.
This, in turn, would allow the late summer PGA Tour play-offs an earlier start, with the FedEx Cup being completed before the start of the American football season.
Currently the cash-rich season-ender goes unnoticed in the US because of the sporting behemoth that is the NFL.
These are radical and fascinating schedule proposals under active consideration. Each of the events concerned carries vast prize funds and every stakeholder inevitably wants a slice of maximised exposure.
This is foremost in the minds of Tour bosses - but for this week, at least, they will be better served remembering the man who did most to make possible such multi-million dollar chatter.
Conversations, by the way, that are no longer the sole preserve of players.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/39259006
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How the invention of paper changed the world - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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The Gutenberg press could not have revolutionised how we communicate without the invention of paper.
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Business
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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.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/the-reporters-38892687
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Joanna Rowsell Shand: Double Olympic gold medallist retires - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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Double Olympic gold medallist Joanna Rowsell Shand announces her retirement from international cycling.
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Last updated on .From the section Cycling
Britain's double Olympic gold medallist Joanna Rowsell Shand has announced her retirement from international cycling.
The 28-year-old track cyclist won gold in the team pursuit at London 2012 and Rio 2016.
In a career spanning 10 years, Rowsell Shand was a five-time world and four-time European champion.
"The decision to step away has been the hardest I've ever had to make," she said. "I believe I have more to offer the world."
Rowsell Shand, who also won Commonwealth Gold in 2014 in the individual pursuit, says she will now focus on a coaching career and will be taking part in the L'Etape du Tour in July, an amateur race which covers the same route as one stage of the Tour de France.
British Cycling tweeted: "One of the best there has ever been".
Rowsell Shand began competitive cycling aged 16, having been talent spotted by the British Cycling Apprentice Programme.
After success in the junior ranks she won her first world title in 2008 in the team pursuit and successfully defended the title a year later.
A third world title came in 2012 before she won Olympic gold in London, alongside Dani King and Laura Kenny. She was made an MBE in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to cycling.
Commonwealth gold, a fourth team world title and a first individual pursuit rainbow jersey, crowned a successful 2014 and two years later she completed the Olympic double in the Rio Velodrome, alongside Kenny, Katie Archibald and Elinor Barker.
Over two Olympic Games she was part of a team that broke the world record on all six of its rides.
British Cycling's chairman Jonathan Browning said: "As only one of a few women in Great Britain who has two Olympic gold medals to her name, Joanna can be extremely proud of what she has achieved.
"It's not only her on-bike achievements which have made Joanna an asset to British Cycling, it's also what she's done for the sport off the bike, epitomising the role of an ambassador and encouraging so many women and children to take up our sport of cycling."
Former team-mate Dani King on Twitter: Congratulations to @JoRowsellShand on such an incredible career. Thank you for making mine a more enjoyable one.
Seven-time Paralympic gold medallist Jody Cundy on Twitter: Amazing career, from one of the nicest riders you'll ever meet. Good luck with all the future brings.
British track cyclist Andy Tennant on Twitter: Congrats to @JoRowsellShand on her retirement. One of the all time greats and a fantastic role model and person, I wish her all the best.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39265637
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Why does everyone keep making Nazi comparisons? - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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From Turkey to Trump, Boris and Russia - comparisons to Nazi Germany abound in not so diplomatic discourse.
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World
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Associating someone with Nazis - as in this Turkish TV broadcast - is unlikely to win any logical arguments
Labelling an opponent as "worse than Hitler" or saying a policy is "like Nazi Germany" is hardly new.
But recently, it has crept into political discussion on an international scale.
As a row between Turkey and the EU deepened in early 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused both the Germans and the Dutch of using Nazi tactics.
Similar comparisons plagued the 2016 US presidential election, and they can be found in every medium, from Twitter to national parliaments.
So why is it so widespread?
The answer, according to America's Anti-Defamation League (ADL), is simply that it is the "most available historical event illustrating right versus wrong."
When an argument descends to such fundamentals, the comparison inevitably turns up.
But "misplaced comparisons trivialise this unique tragedy in human history," the ADL's national director Jonathan Greenblatt says, "particularly when public figures invoke the Holocaust in an effort to score political points."
A German float in the Rose Monday parade declaring "blonde is the new brown" referenced the brownshirts - Nazi paramilitaries
Mr Greenblatt made those comments during the US presidential election, at a time when Donald Trump's policy announcements had led to comparisons to Adolf Hitler.
Yet Trump has done the exact same thing himself - comparing the US intelligence agencies to "Nazi Germany".
Johan Franklin's election message went viral - though he admits it's a "pretty crude" comparison
In fact, comparing someone to Hitler to invalidate their point is so popular it's been given its own fake Latin name, the reductio ad Hitlerum - a play on the very real logic term reductio ad absurdum. It's mostly used to point out the fallacy of comparing almost anyone to Hitler.
Even the German man who posted a viral image comparing Mr Trump to Hitler during the election acknowledged the comparison was "pretty crude".
Of course, nowhere are Nazi slurs more numerous than on the internet - and it's always been that way.
In 1990, an American lawyer named Mike Godwin noticed that arguments on early internet forums would constantly resort to calling the other side a Nazi.
And so Godwin's Law - that if an online discussion goes on long enough sooner or later someone will make a comparison to Hitler - was born, and became a "rule of the internet".
But Godwin originally coined the phrase to point out how ridiculous the comparison always is.
"I wanted to hint that most people who brought Nazis into a debate... weren't being thoughtful and independent. Instead, they were acting just as predictably, and unconsciously, as a log rolling down a hill," he wrote in an opinion column for the Washington Post.
In some parts of the internet, the appearance of Godwin's law was seen as a sign the discussion is over.
But the recent spate of high-profile spats proves that it hasn't reduced spurious Hitler references in real life.
When Turkey's President Erdogan levelled accusations of Nazi practices against Germany, it made international headlines.
But for Germans, it's treading old ground in a country which has strong laws against Holocaust denial or glorifying Nazi activity.
"I don't think that most Germans are too fazed about this type of comparison," said Professor Christoph Mick, a historian from the University of Warwick.
"They are used to it, and find it just bizarre that the most democratic and most liberal state in German history is compared to the Third Reich. These comparisons say more about those making [them] than about today's Germany and its politicians."
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So - if a Nazi reference trivialises the Holocaust, is widely acknowledged as a logical fallacy, is ridiculed online, and ignored by the Germans - it must have some persuasive power to have stayed around so long - right?
Not so, according to the English Speaking Union, an educational charity that promotes clear communication and critical thinking.
"Wielding accusations of fascism as an insult doesn't help to get your audience on side - instead, you raise the stakes of the debate, forcing a polarisation between 'good' and 'evil' into a discussion that may have reasonable positions on both sides," says Amanda Moorghen, the group's senior research and resources officer.
"Most of the time, people call others 'Nazis' because they think it will grab the attention of the audience.
"This is a big mistake, because any attention they do get will be drawn to the use of that word, rather than to the nitty gritty of the topic at hand."
And the secret to real success?
"It's far better to save strong words for the argument itself, rather than attacking the people you're arguing with," Amanda Moorghen says.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-39266863
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Where liberal fight goes in the age of Trump - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Annual South by Southwest conference adjusts to a new, anti-government political reality
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US & Canada
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With FBI Director James Comey cancelling, former Vice-President Biden was a political highlight at the conference
In recent years, the annual South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, has been about more than just music, film and technology. Politics keeps seeping into the picture.
That's never been more apparent than now, with Donald Trump's presidency dominating the headlines and generating social media waves with every controversial tweet.
Former Vice President Joe Biden took the stage in Austin on Sunday afternoon looking tanned and relaxed, a man freed from the burden the Washington political pressure cooker.
In an emotional presentation, he spoke of the death of his eldest son, Beau, from cancer and his work since then to help find a cure.
The fight against cancer, Biden said, was "the only bipartisan thing left in America", and there are "a lot of decent people" in politics on both sides of the political divide who want to help.
Even while preaching bipartisanship and pledging co-operation with the new Trump administration, however, the former vice-president couldn't help but take a swipe at the current Washington power players, some of whom, he said, don't believe in global warming and the public health benefits of environmental regulation.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Joe Biden: "Some of the most innovative minds in the world are sitting in front of me"
"I shouldn't have said it that way," Mr Biden said. "But it frustrates me."
Such is this year's reality at South by Southwest.
In the time of Donald Trump, the national political climate sits like a vulture, peering over the shoulder of the largely liberal crowds who circulate among the conference's various events.
"I think that South by Southwest is always a reflection of what is happening in the larger world, and certainly we live in a very politicised time over the last three months," said Hugh Forrest, chief programming officer for the conference.
While there have been plenty of panel discussions on esoteric computer systems and lectures by technological evangelists, evidence of growing concern and, perhaps, resistance emerges.
Democratic mayors spoke of "holding the line" against Trump administration policies. Newspapers editors and social media experts discussed threats to "civil discourse in the age of a Twitterer-in-chief" and how to fight "fake news".
Civil libertarians contemplated "activism in the era of social media surveillance".
"We have in office a demagogue who makes himself feel better about himself by putting down other people," said Jim Kenney, the Democratic mayor of Philadelphia, comparing the president to a bully who can either be confronted or affirmed.
Even ostensibly non-political conversations over the course of the week have been influenced by the gravitational forces emanating from Washington, DC.
"The idea that we have a serial sexual abuser and a pathological liar in that office, I can't get away from it," angel investor Chris Sacca said during an appearance on Saturday.
While some Republican politicians dot the panels, any sort of White House presence is absent this year. According to Forrest, no-one from the Trump team expressed interest in attending - and none were invited. Several executive branch officials were also notable late no-shows.
James Comey, the Federal Bureau of Investigations director who can't seem to avoid the national spotlight, was a scheduled high-profile guest, but he pulled out last week, citing "scheduling conflicts".
Andrey Ostrovsky, the chief medical officer for Medicaid, the US health insurance programme for the poor, also cancelled just days before he was set to talk.
Mr Ostrovsky had made national news earlier in the week when he tweeted that, unlike others at the Department of Health and Human Services, he did not support the Republican-backed plan to replace Obamacare.
"Reluctantly unable to attend," he subsequently tweeted, "given my recent advocacy effort." He told the BBC he still remains a "huge advocate for people served by Medicaid".
Meanwhile Democratic Senator Cory Booker - a possible 2020 presidential candidate - gave the introductory address on Friday, where he set the tone by repeatedly targeting the president and his policies.
Senator Cory Booker was among a series of liberals who spoke to the increasing political conference
"I've never seen in my lifetime an atmosphere of fear as I've seen now," Mr Booker said. "I feel a sense of pain about my country right now."
According to Forrest, it's not so much fear as it is uncertainty that is colouring the attitudes of the tech entrepreneurs, executives and activists who have crowded the convention hallways this year.
"We had a president for eight years and we generally knew what his policies were - friendly to the tech community, wanted to push start-ups," he said.
"We don't really know what the policies are for the new administration. I was naively expecting that some of these policies might have been more in place by March, but I don't think they are."
One area where there has been some certainty as to the direction Trump administration policy is heading is on immigration.
That has many in the technology industry, which relies heavily on drawing from a global talent pool, particularly concerned.
"We want more people all over the world to come here to work," says Adam Lyons, founder of the online auto insurance rate comparison service the Zebra.
"Are folks not going to want to come to the US all of a sudden or are there other places they might go? Will we still able to attract top-notch talent? That's very concerning."
"We want more people all over the world to come here to work" says chief executive Adam Lyons
Mr Lyons says while some of Mr Trump's pro-business rhetoric is exciting, workforce issues are paramount.
This is not the first year the conference, and its attendees, have grappled with pressing political concerns, of course.
Three years ago, Edward Snowden made one of his first major public appearances, via a secure video line from Moscow, warning attendees they should encrypt their email communications to avoid government observation.
Multiple panels dealt with the perceived threats of a growing surveillance state and technology's "dark arts".
In 2015, as the political world geared up for the presidential race, Chelsea Clinton spoke and prospective Republican candidate Rand Paul made the rounds, meeting with technology evangelists and opening a Texas campaign office.
Then, last year, President Barack Obama became the first sitting president to attend, offering a full-throated defence of government as a force for good.
"If there are those who despise government - oftentimes because the absence of government allows them to pollute, or keep as much money as they can, or not have to answer to consumers who are complaining about their practices - if they are controlling those who are currently in government and government gets starved of resources, then it can be a self-reinforcing notion that, in fact, government doesn't work because it's being starved," he said.
Needless to say, the current team in Washington - with its promises to "deconstruct the administrative state" - has a decidedly different view of the role of government in US society.
On Sunday Mr Biden - who told the audience he seriously considered his own presidential bid in 2016 - spoke of the important role government plays in cancer research, with a tacit acknowledgement of the new political environment.
"Your government - that many of you don't like - is the vehicle through which this gets funded," he said.
In his conclusion, the former vice-president spoke of the "urgency of now" in efforts to cure cancer.
For many of the progressives and Democratic politicians who travelled to Austin this week, however, it's hard not to look ahead, to political fights and elections to come.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39258416
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Rakesh Sharma: The making of a reluctant Indian space hero - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Rakesh Sharma wishes to return to space one more time, as a "tourist".
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India
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Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian to travel into space
This was a question Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to travel into space, often faced from admirers at home after he returned to Earth in 1984.
"I would say, no, I hadn't met God," he says.
More than three decades later, fact and fiction blur easily with his modern-day fans when they meet Mr Sharma, 68.
"Now many young mothers introduce me to their kids and tell them, 'this uncle has been to the Moon!'".
But Mr Sharma can never forget the hysteria after he returned from space. He criss-crossed the country and lived in hotels and guest houses. He posed for pictures and gave speeches. Elderly women blessed him; fans tore his clothes and sought autographs. Politicians paraded him in their constituencies for votes; and authorities sent him on holiday to a national park in searing 45C (113F) temperatures.
"It was completely over the top. It left me irritated and tired. I had to keep a smile on my face all the time," he recounts.
Pioneering Indians is part of the India Direct series. It looks back at men and women who have helped shape modern India. Other stories from the series:
Mr Sharma wears his achievements and fame lightly. He joined India's air force at 21 and began flying supersonic jet fighters. He had flown 21 missions in the 1971 war with Pakistan before his 23rd birthday. By 25, he was a test pilot. He travelled into space at 35, the first Indian and the 128th human to do so.
"I had pretty much done it all before I went into space. So when the opportunity came, I went along. It was that simple."
Mr Sharma spent eight days in a space station in 1984
Mr Sharma (middle) says the celebrations over his space journey were "over the top"
What is easily forgotten is that Mr Sharma's feat was possibly the only silver lining in what was one of independent India's worst years ever.
1984 saw the Indian army storm the Golden Temple in Punjab to flush out Sikh separatists and the revenge killing of prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.
The anti-Sikh riots, the country's worst religious rioting after Partition, convulsed Delhi. And, before the year had ended, thousands of people in the city of Bhopal had been killed after toxic gases leaked from a chemical factory, the world's worst industrial accident.
In a wounded nation, a young pilot shone as an unlikely beacon of hope.
Mrs Gandhi was pushing for an Indian in space before the 1984 general elections, and dialled her closest ally and space race leader, the Soviet Union, for help. The latter asked for a list of candidates.
Mr Sharma was picked to undergo a battery of gruelling tests from a reported shortlist of some 50 fighter pilots. Among other things, he was locked up by the air force in a room with artificial lights at an aerospace facility in Bangalore for 72 hours to test for "latent claustrophobia". In the end, two of them were selected for the final training in Russia.
More than a year before the launch, Mr Sharma and Ravish Malhotra travelled to Star City, a high-security cosmonaut-training facility some 70km (43 miles) from Moscow, to train for space flight as there were no such facilities at home.
It was bitterly cold. He trudged in the snow from one building to another - "It was very Dr Zhivago".
He had to learn Russian quickly as most of the training was in that language. Six to seven hours of language classes every day meant that he had mastered enough Russian in three months. He was put on a carefully controlled diet of local food, capped at 3,200 calories a day. Olympic trainers tested him for strength, speed and endurance, and how his chest stood up to punishing G-forces.
A Soviet rocket carried Mr Sharma and two Russian astronauts, Yuri Malyshev and Gennadi Strekalov
The three astronauts trained at a cosmonaut facility outside Moscow
Midway through the training, he was told he was the chosen one, and Mr Malhotra would serve as backup.
"It wasn't such a big deal, it wasn't very tough," says Mr Sharma, modestly.
But many, like science writer Pallava Bagla, believe Mr Sharma's feat was a "huge leap of faith".
"He came from a country which didn't have a space programme. He didn't dream of becoming an astronaut. But he travelled to an alien environment, endured a harsh climate, learnt a new language, and trained hard. He's a real hero."
On 3 April, a Soviet rocket carrying Mr Sharma and two Russian astronauts, Yuri Malyshev, 42, and Gennadi Strekalov, 43, left Earth from a spaceport in the then Soviet republic of Kazakhstan.
"The take-off was boringly routine. We were over-trained by that point," Mr Sharma recounts.
"I was the 128th human in space. So I didn't really sweat about it."
Mr Sharma is now among the more than 500 fortunate people who have travelled into space since Yuri Gagarin's single orbit of Earth in 1961.
The media gushed how the joint flight was the high noon of the Soviet Union-India friendship. Soviet news agency Tass filed a report saying Mr Sharma's mother, a teacher, had developed a "general interest" in the Soviet Union after her son was chosen for the flight in 1982. "The mission," says Mr Sharma, "was scientific in content, but with a political end at home."
Tragically, Mrs Gandhi would be murdered within eight months, and her son, Rajiv, would sweep the polls at the end of the year on a sympathy wave for his mother. The space flight wasn't needed to fetch votes for the ruling Congress party.
Indira Gandhi (middle) wanted to put an Indian in space before a general election
Mr Sharma and his fellow astronauts spent nearly eight days in space: grainy TV images from the time show the three men, in grey jumpsuits, floating around in the Salyut 7 space station, and conducting experiments.
He became the first human to practice yoga in space - using a harness to stop him from floating around - to find out whether it could better prepare crews adapt for the effects of gravity. He spoke to his family once on a live link with 2,500 people in the audience in a Moscow auditorium.
When Mrs Gandhi asked Mr Sharma, on a hazy live link, how India looked from space, he delivered a line in Hindi which would have easily become a viral tweet today.
"Sare Jahan Se Acha [The best in the world]", he said, quoting from a famous poem by Mohammad Iqbal, which he had recited every day in school after the national anthem.
"It was top of recall. There was nothing jingoistic about it. India does look so picturesque from space," Mr Sharma told me.
Rakesh Sharma retired as a test pilot with the Indian air force
"You've got this huge coastline, the lovely blue ocean on three sides. Then there are the dry plateaus, forests, river plains, golden sands of the desert. The majestic Himalayas looked purple because sunlight cannot get into the valleys. Then there were snow capped mountains. We've got everything."
The New York Times presciently wrote that "India is not likely to have its own manned space programme for a long time, if ever, and Mr Sharma's flight may well be the last by an Indian for a long time." Thirty-three years later, Mr Sharma remains the only Indian to travel to space. (Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla went into space decades later and and was one of the seven astronauts killed in the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003.)
India plans to put a citizen into space using an Indian rocket from Indian soil one day. It has already developed a space flight suit for potential astronauts, and successfully tested a crew module dummy flight in the atmosphere. But money is scarce, the home-made launch rocket has to be made flight-ready, astronauts have to be trained and launch facilities built or upgraded.
After his space flight, Mr Sharma returned to his life as a jet pilot. He flew Jaguars, and the India designed fighter jet Tejas. Then he switched gears, working as the chief operating officer of a Boston-based company which made software for manufacturing planes, tanks and submarines.
Eight years ago, the space hero retired and built himself his dream home, with sloping roofs, solar-heated bathrooms, harvested rainwater, handmade bricks excavated from the plot, and a sunlit study stacked with his favourite books and music. He lives with his interior designer wife, Madhu, and their pet dog, Kali. A Bollywood biopic is "in the works", with star Aamir Khan rumoured to play the astronaut.
Mr Sharma now lives a retired life in a hill station in southern India
Would you like to return to space again? I ask.
"I would love to," he says, looking out to the hills from his sprawling balcony.
"But this time I would like to go as a tourist and savour the beauty of Earth. There was too much work when I went up there."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-39124828
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'My friends call me Lara Croft' - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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PC Kelly Ellis is training to become a firearms officer, the hardest thing she has ever done.
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UK
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. PC Kelly Ellis says her friends have dubbed her Lara Croft
PC Kelly Ellis has her finger hovering over the trigger of her Heckler and Koch G36 rifle.
She has a split second to decide whether to open fire on a man who appears to be drunk and suicidal and is holding a shotgun, pointing it at the ground.
Her colleague is calmly - but firmly - explaining the right thing to do is to put the weapon down.
But what if he does not? What if he raises the barrels? What then?
Welcome to the firearms training school.
Over three months, the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme had unique access to some of the new recruits being assessed in Cheshire.
These are the scenarios - the life and death decisions - that any British officer who wants to carry a gun must go through.
And if they make the wrong decision - pull the trigger when there was no need, or pull it when it is too late - then they are out. They will not make the grade.
By the end of next year, the UK will have about 7,500 armed police officers, after the government reversed a fall in their numbers since 2010.
Officers with years of firearms experience had been leaving their forces as police budgets were cut.
Now the numbers are rising again because security chiefs want more firearms teams available to counter any attempted Paris-style attack on the streets of Britain.
But given that the job requires volunteers - and those volunteers may one day be accountable for their actions before a jury - have the new recruits got what it takes?
While her friends have dubbed her "Lara Croft" - after the Tomb Raider action hero - PC Ellis says her parents were "apprehensive" when she first told them she wanted to train as a police firearms officer.
However, she says: "I tried to explain to them that the training we get, the weapons we are carrying, that actually I'm going to be more protected than I am now as a regular officer out on the streets."
She says the course is "easily the hardest thing I've ever had to do".
"It's just a lot to take in and a lot to remember. It's exhausting really."
Watch Dominic Casciani's full film on firearms training on the Victoria Derbyshire website.
And she says the possibility of coming face to face with an armed situation is now becoming more of a reality.
"Sometimes I go home from here of an evening, and you see what's going on in the news and you just think, 'In a few months' time, if I pass this course, that could be me, going out to that job, first on the scene, having to discharge a weapon.'"
She adds: "It is about putting your life on the line, but that's what I want to do.
"I get a massive sense of achievement from doing it, as well."
Safety: Officers are first taught how to handle a weapon...
The firearms centre in Cheshire trains officers from all over the country.
We watched 15 recruits being taught how to:
And that includes saving the lives of people they have just shot: according to the programme, they are trained to incapacitate a threat - not to kill.
... and also how to save lives
Did they pass? Well, watch our fly-on-the-wall film to find out.
Without giving too much away, what I and my colleagues John Owen, producer, and Martin McQuade, camera, witnessed was an awful lot of hard work.
There were some moments where recruits got a dressing down by their trainers for failing to learn fast enough.
The point was repeatedly made to them that if they were slow in making the right decision, the consequences could be fatal.
And they also needed to learn when to use words, rather than bullets, to stop a situation spiralling out of control.
Officers practise how to contain vehicles carrying armed suspects
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the recently retired Metropolitan Police Commissioner, warned that his force was recruiting from a very shallow pool of officers willing to carry a gun.
That, he says, is because many don't want the risks that come with the job - not necessarily the risk of being shot, but of ending up in court or under investigation for years.
Despite the political and media focus being on terrorism, the reality is that most of armed response policing work is unchanged from year to year.
Sometimes they'll be called to an armed robbery - less often than they used to be.
But most of the time they'll be dealing with extreme domestic violence situations, organised gang crime incidents and, sadly, mentally unwell people capable of doing themselves, or others harm.
So were the trainee officers I saw up to the task? Watch the film and decide for yourself.
Watch the Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-39260186
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Get Out star says Samuel L Jackson 'entitled to his opinion' - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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British actor Daniel Kaluuya says being black has lost him roles.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out: "It's my one shot"
The actor at the centre of a debate about the casting of British black actors in the US has spoken about how being black has lost him roles.
Daniel Kaluuya, who was born in London, leads the cast of Get Out - a searing racial satire about contemporary America.
Released in the UK this week, Jordan Peele's horror film has already been a massive hit at the US box office, making more than $100m (£82.5m).
But the film hit the headlines last week after actor Samuel L Jackson criticised Hollywood for casting black British actors in films about US race relations.
Speaking to the BBC, Skins star Kaluuya said he was proud to be in the first lead role of his career.
"You do stuff, people make decisions and it goes out there and people have opinions. And everyone's entitled to their opinion," he said.
"I love all my black brothers and sisters worldwide, and that's my position.
"All I know is this my first ever lead role in a film and I've lost out on a lot of roles because I'm black."
He added: "It's my one shot. I'm going to come through it and do my thing and go home."
He went on to describe Jackson as a "legend on and off screen".
Director Jordan Peele is the first African-American to earn $100m with his debut feature
In his original radio interview a week ago, Jackson said he wondered what Get Out would have been like with a US actor in the lead role.
"Daniel grew up in a country where they've been interracial dating for 100 years," he said.
Clarifying his remarks later in the week, he said his criticism was not of other actors, but of the Hollywood system.
Other actors have joined the debate, with Star Wars actor John Boyega tweeting that it was a "conflict we don't have time for".
In an article for The Guardian, Homeland actor David Harewood argued that Britons may be better suited to some parts because they are not burdened by "what's in the history books".
In Get Out, Kaluuya plays Chris, an African-American photographer who goes with his white girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) to visit her parents at their country home.
Chris is worried because Rose has not told her family she has a black boyfriend.
Meet the parents: Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford (on the left) with Allison Williams, Betty Gabriel and Daniel Kaluuya
He initially receives a warm welcome - if a bit odd at times - but as the weekend progresses, Chris discovers Rose's parents have a very different agenda.
"Jordan wrote this as a response to the idea that racism was 'solved' because Obama was president," Kaluuya said.
Peele has admitted he had not wanted to cast a British actor, but that Kaluuya had won him over during an initial audition.
"We spoke on Skype," Kaluuya confirmed. "He was very wary because it's an African-American specific experience, but then we had a chat about what it's like being black worldwide and being black in London."
The film's success has made Peele the first African-American writer-director to earn $100m with his debut movie, according to The Wrap.
How much did Kaluuya identify with the film's themes?
"There are an uncountable amount of instances when I've been paranoid," he said.
"I did a shoot in Lithuania when I was 17. Everywhere I went people were pointing and staring.
"Or when I go to Lidl and I get followed by security guards. Is that because it's me, I'm black or what I'm wearing?
"It's every day, navigating your life, getting stopped by police, I've had it all."
Kaluuya is currently filming Ryan Coogler's superhero film Black Panther in Atlanta, US.
"It's a life-changing experience for me," he said. "I can't wait to finish filming so I can watch it."
Get Out is out in the UK on 17 March.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39256074
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Romelu Lukaku: Everton striker rejects new contract at Goodison Park - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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Everton striker Romelu Lukaku turns down the most lucrative contract offer in the Premier League club's history.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Everton striker Romelu Lukaku has turned down the most lucrative contract offer in the club's history.
The Premier League club had been confident the Belgium international would sign a new five-year deal thought to be worth around £140,000 a week.
The 23-year-old's agent, Mino Raiola, had said his client was "99.9%" certain to extend his stay at Goodison Park.
However, Lukaku has told the Toffees he currently has no desire to extend a contract that has two years to run.
Lukaku has made no secret of his desire to play in the Champions League and has been linked with a return to former club Chelsea, from whom he joined Everton for £28m in 2014.
Everton's contract offer remains on the table and still hope further negotiations could end in an agreement.
For now, however, Lukaku is not willing to agree terms and the Toffees would demand a fee in excess of £60m for a player who has scored 19 goals this season.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39273691
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Reality Check: Did EU court ban Islamic headscarf at work? - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The ECJ has ruled that companies can ban Islamic headscarves from workplaces in certain circumstances.
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Europe
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The claim: The ruling by the EU's top court could exclude many Muslim women from the workplace.
Reality Check verdict: The EU court ruling does allow private companies to adopt rules that bar workers from wearing religious symbols under certain conditions but is not a blanket ban on Islamic headscarves.
On Tuesday, the European Court of Justice, the EU's top court, ruled that a Belgium firm was within its rights to dismiss an employee who began wearing an Islamic headscarf to work on the grounds that the head covering was against company rules on appearance in a public-facing role.
The court ruled in favour of the company because it had an "image neutrality" policy prohibiting the wearing of any religious clothing or symbols. Furthermore, the policy was, in the court's view, "genuinely pursued in a consistent and systematic manner".
Tuesday's ruling included a judgement on another related case which concerned a woman in France who refused to take off her headscarf at a private company, after a client objected to her wearing it. In this instance, the court ruled that she had been discriminated against as the company had no "image neutrality" policy and only dismissed her following the client's complaint.
EU laws prohibit companies, private or public, discriminating on the grounds of sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation.
Indirect discrimination, where rules set by a company may disadvantage a certain group, is also prohibited, unless there is a specific justification such as a company wishing to project a "neutral" image.
In the Belgian case, the ECJ ruling says that because the company's work appearance rules were written and shared among employees the action was justified.
Ultimately, the final judgement on the ECJ ruling will rest with the courts in France and Belgium.
The Open Society Justice Initiative, a group backed by financier George Soros, which supported the two women at the centre of this case, said the ruling "weakens the guarantee of equality that is at the heart of the EU's anti-discrimination directive" and will "exclude many Muslim women from the workplace".
Prof Takis Tridimas from King's College, London, an expert in European law, said the ruling might allow employers to prevent some people wearing religious clothing at work in certain roles. However, the ruling is "not specific to any particular religion".
Wearing an Islamic headscarf, as well as all other religious symbols, is already prohibited in France in public service jobs, even when employees are not in direct contact with the public.
In Belgium, there are no federal rules on religious symbols at work, but the regional parliaments have taken measure to prohibit religious, political or philosophical symbols for public service workers who deal with the public.
Other EU countries, such as the UK, do not have such rules.
A number of EU countries have also taken measures to ban the full Islamic veil, which covers the face, in all public spaces.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39272231
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NBA plays of the week featuring Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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Watch 10 of the best plays of the week from the NBA including a slam dunk from the Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James.
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Watch 10 of the best plays of the week from the NBA including a slam dunk from the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James.
You can watch Leicester Riders v Sevenoaks Suns from the WBBL live on the Red Button, this website and on the BBC Sport app from 12:00 GMT on Sunday.
Available to UK Users only.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/basketball/39267634
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'A lovely man': The woman who dated the Man on the Moor - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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One of the few people with any insight into the puzzle behind the man's death was Maureen Toogood.
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Magazine
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On 12 December 2015 a man's body was found lying on the ground on Saddleworth Moor. He had died from poisoning.
He became known as the Body on the Moor. And the struggle to identify him became one of the strangest mysteries.
No mobile, no identification of any kind. No family or friends came forward.
One of the few people with any insight into the puzzle behind the man's death was Maureen Toogood.
Maureen had a relationship with a man starting in the late 1960s. They didn't marry and she ended up marrying someone else but they stayed friends. For 40 years they saw each other regularly - she helped him in his garden and around the house.
Then in 2006 he simply vanished from Maureen's life - upped sticks and left the country.
All of the interviews here are taken from the new episode of the World at One's Body on the Moor podcast series by Jon Manel.
Maureen believed he had sold his home and emigrated to California.
The first she heard was when she received a call from his neighbour. She was told he was going to the US the following day.
"I was very hurt by this," she says. She was unable to contact him because his phone had been disconnected. Since then, she says, she has thought about him often.
Eleven years later she got another phone call. This time from the police.
They had finally identified the body on the moor. They were calling because it was David Lytton, her friend.
They knew little of his life and Maureen was able to fill in some of the gaps.
Before he left in 2006, David had lived an apparently unremarkable life in south-west London, working as a croupier, a taxi controller for a mini-cab company, a baker and a train driver for the London Underground.
Maureen says she met David in 1968. She was suffering from flu at the time but had ventured out to Finchley in north London to buy a stereo. It was the Last Night of the Proms and she wanted to enjoy listening to it at home.
"I didn't feel very well. I was on my knees, and I was collapsing. There was a young man who went 'Oh, hang on, hang on I'll come over,'" she remembers.
"He walked home to my flat and he made me a nice cup of tea. We hit it off. He made me some toast - I hadn't had any breakfast and he stayed with me until my flatmates came home."
The following day, she says, he was back on her doorstep.
"'Hello, do you remember me?' he said. And he kept coming round every day. He didn't leave me at all. We would even meet in the launderette round the corner and do our washing together."
She describes him as a gentleman who liked to take care of her. He treated her to haircuts in fashionable Mayfair, where he was working as a croupier.
But, although he was happy to treat his girlfriend, there were few extravagances for himself.
His house in Streatham was sparsely decorated. There was no bed, just a piece of foam and a three-piece suite from a second-hand shop. Two items do stand out, though. Korans, one for upstairs and one for downstairs, she says.
There was nothing in the kitchen - no fridge, no kettle, no food.
"He said he wasn't entitled to comforts. Where he got that I don't know," she says.
The police went on to discover that David ate all his meals at the same local vegetarian restaurant at the same time each night.
He dressed smartly and was very particular and precise. Maureen says she could have predicted the clothes that he would be wearing the morning he was found: "M&S socks, white Jockey underwear, white vest, a singlet, cord trousers - navy blue, and round-neck sweater and an old mac that he probably had 30 or 40 years."
His luxury was a pair of shoes made by the Swiss designer Bally.
David grew up in the north London suburb of Finchley. He was born David Keith Lautenberg on 21 April, 1948 to Sylvia and Hyman Lautenberg. He was Jewish, his family having originally come to Britain fleeing from Europe. At some time, his immediate family changed their name from Lautenberg. He changed his name to David Lytton in 1986.
Maureen and David met not long after he left Leeds University. He had gone to study psychology and sociology but, according to the police, he suffered from hypothyroidism and found it difficult to sleep at night. Instead, he slept during the day and didn't get the grades he wanted. When he returned to London he fell out with his family and moved out of his home.
Maureen describes David as a "strange" man with some "quirky ways".
"But I did like him," she says.
"He was very particular, very precise and a gentleman. He was a lovely, lovely man."
He didn't have any hobbies or particular interests that she knew of. But the police have discovered that David had an interest in different religions, including Buddhism and Islam.
His last job was as a driver for the London Underground, one which he was well-suited to, says Maureen. "He enjoyed that - he liked his own company. He was a loner."
Maureen and David had a pregnancy which ended in miscarriage. She says he changed greatly after that, he became withdrawn and quiet.
Unbeknown to Maureen, David put his house up for sale in 2005. It sold on 4 October 2006, and he left for Pakistan on 6 October - not California as Maureen had mysteriously been told.
His departure, it seems, was part of a plan - not a sudden disappearance.
For Detective Sergeant John Coleman, this was one of the hardest cases of his career. He never dreamed it would remain unsolved for so long. Early in the investigation, he believed a titanium plate that had been fitted during an operation on the man's leg would provide the answer. This type of plate is only used in Pakistan, so police only needed to track down the surgeon. After months of searching, they drew a blank.
But as the anniversary of the death of the man on the moor was approaching, there was a breakthrough.
Initial inquiries had also focused on Ealing in West London, as it was here that the man was caught on CCTV.
Because of the Pakistan connection and the fact that he had been seen walking from the direction of South Ealing, which is a few stops along from Heathrow Airport, DS Coleman had a hunch.
He asked for all the passenger lists from Pakistan to be examined from the days before he was first spotted on CCTV in London. The task was to find someone who fitted the profile of a white male between 65 and 75, possibly travelling alone.
At first, the person asked to do this failed to find a match. But as the anniversary approached, he revisited the case.
"That's a hell of a piece of work. Thousands and thousands of people. The tenacity of that officer," he says.
A match was found. The man was British, so police contacted the UK Passport Agency and obtained a copy of his passport photograph. Although the picture was 10 years old, there was a resemblance.
"You can imagine the excitement in Oldham CID," says DS Coleman. CCTV images from Lahore airport came through on the anniversary of the death. The police had found their man.
A DNA sample from a family member was needed for confirmation.
Police checked the electoral roll in London. When this failed to turn up any leads, they turned to genealogy records. Eventually, they found David's mother Sylvia, who suffers from dementia and lives in a care home in London.
The trail led to Maureen, who telephones the care home to check up on her former friend's mother every day.
From David's visa for Pakistan, the police have been able to fill in some blanks.
The found out that he set up home in an area called Hassan Town in Lahore.
Neighbours say he kept himself to himself. One said he used to read all the time and visit the local internet cafe.
"He never bothered anybody, though local lads teased him at times," one told the BBC.
"He was nice to his neighbours and ate food sent by his next door neighbours. You would see him going for a walk in the morning, dressed in a tracksuit."
Another recalled him returning from the hospital after he had the plate fitted.
"His friend requested me to arrange for his food while he was on bed-rest," said Ejaz Ahmad.
"So my family looked after him, our children used to bring him fruit and go to the bakery to buy him cake or pastry. So he was in bed for 15 to 20 days and then he started walking slowly."
Another said that he was a Muslim and that David told him that he had converted in 1996.
"Now, I don't know whether he said this in view of the treatment meted out to Christians here, as they are made to eat in separate pots from us, Muslims, but he definitely told me that he was a Muslim."
The police say there is no evidence to suggest that he had converted to Islam.
On Thursday 10 December, David Lytton sat in seat 25C on a Pakistan International Airlines Flight from Lahore arriving at London Heathrow at 15:30.
He was met at the airport by a friend, who he had known for some 35 years. They ate a meal before the friend dropped David off at the Travelodge in Ealing.
"His friend indicated that since David had not been in the UK for some time, he wanted to spend some time - weeks or months travelling around and seeing the sights," says DS Coleman.
Although he booked into the hotel for five nights, David only stayed one.
And in keeping with the mysterious nature of this story, police have been unable to locate the 18kg suitcase that he brought with him from Pakistan.
And what about the "why". Why did David Lytton travel to Manchester, and then out to the renowned beauty spot?
"I've got all the GP's records - I have records from university - there is no connection to Dovestones," says Detective Sergeant Coleman.
At the inquest in Manchester, Coroner Simon Nelson said Mr Lytton "died of his own hand", but he couldn't be sure whether Mr Lytton had intended to take his own life.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39255114
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'LED street lights are disturbing my sleep' - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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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.
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Magazine
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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."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38526254
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Who is the Brexit Secretary David Davis? - BBC News
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2017-03-14
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An in-depth profile of the David Davis featuring those who have known him through the years.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Who is the minister leading the UK's Brexit negotiations? Nicholas Watt reports
Until well into the 1980s, Tory grandees tended to show interest in new MPs only if they had aristocratic heritage or were a waspish intellect in the mould of Chris Patten.
The odd exception was made. Sir John Major was eventually admitted into the Blue Chip group of Tory MPs first elected in 1979, though only when it became clear he was racing to the top.
David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, who was elected to Parliament a generation ago, in 1987, is neither an aristocrat nor a whimsical intellectual.
He had a troubled upbringing and is more of an intellectual bruiser dating back to the time when he stood up to his bullying stepfather.
But Mr Davis marked himself out to Tory grandees after accepting a dare.
Over dinner hosted by the late Alan Clark at his medieval Saltwood Castle in Kent, Mr Davis agreed to walk along the "black" route, the crumbling ramparts overlooking the ruins of a chapel.
"[He] did the 'black' route without turning a hair, then retraced his footsteps, hands in pockets - first time that's ever been done!" Clark wrote in his diary.
Mr Davis' training in the SAS (Reserve) regiment - which helped fund his way through university - had paid off.
Nonchalantly completing the black route cemented Mr Davis' reputation among Tories as a fearless hard man.
But it also illustrated another character trait that gives an insight into his approach to the Brexit negotiations.
Mr Davis is prepared to take risks but never in a reckless way, and only after a careful calculation of all the options in front of him.
Mr Davis' belief in taking calculated risks explains one of the central decisions Theresa May has taken in her approach to Brexit.
This was her declaration, outlined in her Lancaster House speech in January on the Brexit negotiations, the UK was prepared to walk away from a bad deal.
Mr Davis had advised the prime minister the EU would take the UK seriously only if it showed it was unafraid of no deal.
Lord Howard of Lympne, the former Tory leader, who had difficult relations with David Davis in his days as shadow home secretary, wholeheartedly endorses his approach.
"Obviously it would be better place for the EU and the UK if a sensible constructive deal is struck," Lord Howard told the BBC's Newsnight programme.
"But if, for whatever reason, they don't want to do that, we'll be fine without a deal.
"We can manage without a deal - better with one, fine without one."
The confidence that led Mr Davis to advise the prime minister to think nothing of calling the bluff of the remaining EU member states has won him an admiring band of supporters on the Tory benches. But, to some, his confidence can border on cockiness.
One Tory grandee told Newsnight: "He is the only man I know who can swagger sitting down."
Mr Davis later admitted the use of T-shirts emblazoned with his 2005 leadership campaign slogan, "It's DD for me," had backfired
Andrew Mitchell, the former cabinet minister who ran Mr Davis' unsuccessful campaign for the Tory leadership in 2005, told Newsnight: "He is an extraordinarily optimistic and self-confident person.
"I remember one of the Cameroons saying to me in exasperation that he was the only person he knows who did not go to Eton but has the same level of self-confidence you get from an Eton education."
Mr Mitchell became firm friends with Mr Davis when they both worked in the bruising battleground of the Tory whips' office in the 1990s, pushing through the Maastricht treaty.
There is something of an irony that the man who enforced the integrationist treaty - which pushed many Tories into outright opposition to Brussels - is now leading the UK out of the EU.
Lord Howard, believed to be one of three Eurosceptic cabinet ministers at the time of the Maastricht battle dubbed "bastards" by Sir John Major, sees no contradiction.
"I suppose you could say we've all been on a journey," he told Newsnight.
"Maastricht was a long time ago. The EU has become much more integrationist since then, and the flaws in the project more apparent."
David Davis did not get on with David Cameron
Mr Davis had a mixed career after the Tories lost power in 1997.
He loved hounding civil servants as chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee between 1997 and 2001.
He put down a marker when he emerged as the dark horse candidate in the 2001 Tory leadership contest, making him the favourite in 2005 until he was upstaged by David Cameron during the party conference.
The boy from the south London council estate and the Etonian never hit it off.
Mr Cameron regarded Mr Davis as vain and self-aggrandising when he triggered a by-election over civil liberties, which he won, in 2008.
This paved the way for nearly a decade on the backbenches as a serial rebel, where he repeatedly clashed with Mrs May over civil liberties.
Then, last summer, in his late 60s, he was finally asked to join the cabinet, by Mrs May, as one of three Brexiteers.
And Mr Davis, unlike Liam Fox and Boris Johnson, who are seen as sources of trouble, has won the trust of the prime minister.
Mr Davis (l) has won the trust of Mrs May
No 10 sources say Mr Davis has come into his own on Brexit, and is even turning into something of an elder statesman.
Just down the street, in his office at No 9, Mr Davis puts his success down to two factors: silence and what he calls proximity.
He has avoided talking out of line and has made a point of squatting in the building next to No 10 to ensure he can easily wander up the street if problems arise.
Mr Davis, who will celebrate his 70th birthday a few months before the Article 50 negotiations are due to end, in March 2019, says he has one shot at making a success of Brexit, which he is determined to achieve.
He hopes to retire a happy man at that point, although he appears not to have ruled out another challenge.
Mr Mitchell told Newsnight: "I don't know if this is last hurrah or not. The extraordinary thing about politics [is you] never know what's round the corner."
A man who can saunter along the ramparts of a medieval castle is no doubt capable of springing surprises.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39261668
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FA Cup semi-final draw: Chelsea v Tottenham, Arsenal v Man City - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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London rivals Chelsea and Tottenham are drawn against each other in the FA Cup semi-finals, with Arsenal facing Manchester City.
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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."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39260285
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Commonwealth Games: Durban, South Africa will not host Games in 2022 - BBC Sport
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2017-03-14
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The 2022 Commonwealth Games will no longer take place in Durban, which was set to be the first African city to host the event.
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Last updated on .From the section Commonwealth Games
The 2022 Commonwealth Games will no longer be held in Durban, South Africa.
David Grevemberg, chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, said the city did not meet the criteria set by his organisation, and the search for a new host city had already begun.
Durban was awarded the Games in September 2015 and was due to be the first African city to host the event, which was first held in 1930.
Liverpool and Birmingham have expressed interest in staging the 2022 edition.
The Commonwealth Games are held every four years and feature athletes from more than 50 countries, mostly former British colonies.
Last month, South Africa's sports minister Fikile Mbalula indicated Durban may not be able to host the 2022 event because of financial constraints.
"We gave it our best shot but we can't go beyond. If the country says we don't have this money, we can't," he said.
Grevemberg said: "We are disappointed but it does not diminish our commitment to the African continent.
"We have had to postpone these ambitions to a later time. We all share disappointment that this ambition needs to be postponed right now.
"We remain committed to the inspiring potential of a Games in the continent."
Grevemberg said the South African government had never signed off on the decision for Durban to host the Games.
"We have a host city contract," he said. "It was signed by all parties on the day except for the South African government.
"We have engaged with the government to really try to work with their current circumstances but also uphold the commitments that were outlined in their bid. They were unable to do that at this time and we have had to look after the citizens and communities that our events serve."
Grevemberg said an announcement on a new host city would be made by the end of the year.
"Discussions with a number of interested parties are under way," he said. "I am confident an alternative host city will be found and that we will have an inspirational Games for the athletes and fans across the Commonwealth."
A spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said: "We had heard rumours that Durban might be unable to deliver the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and have already indicated to the government that we are very willing to host them instead."
Birmingham had already expressed an interest in hosting the 2026 Games.
Councillor Ian Ward, deputy leader of the city council, said: "We are aware of the decision from the Commonwealth Games Federation to seek a new host for the 2022 Games.
"Here in Birmingham we are already in the advanced stages of producing a detailed feasibility study on what would be needed for a truly memorable Games in the city.
"That is due to be completed in the coming weeks and we are in close contact with the government about the developing situation."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/commonwealth-games/39256432
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Marcus Rashford: Manchester United striker to be called up to England senior squad - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford will be named by Gareth Southgate in the England squad on Thursday.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford will be named in Gareth Southgate's England squad on Thursday.
The 19-year-old was initially expected to feature for the England Under-21 side in friendlies against Germany and Denmark next weekend.
But with England forwards Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney both ruled out through injury, Rashford will be called up.
England face Germany away in a friendly before a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley on 26 March.
Rashford made a goal-scoring debut for England in a 2-1 win over Australia in May last year and has collected six senior caps.
He was a late inclusion for Manchester United in their 1-0 FA Cup defeat by Chelsea on Monday, having been omitted from the initial squad due to illness.
England captain Rooney was ruled out of Manchester United's trip to the capital with a leg injury sustained in a training ground collision.
And Tottenham striker Harry Kane went off with an ankle injury against Millwall on Sunday.
Spurs said the injury is similar to the one Kane picked up against Sunderland on 18 September.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39286246
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Scotland's future: What are Theresa May's options? - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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The prime minister is extremely unlikely to either concede another referendum or rule one out straight away but what are the other possibilities?
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UK Politics
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If it was designed to grab headlines it certainly did that. Nicola Sturgeon slammed the ball into Theresa May's court on the question of another independence referendum.
There were accusations on both sides yesterday. The first minister accused the prime minister of "intransigence", of being a "brick wall". The PM accused the Scottish government of "playing politics" (yes that old chestnut) and Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell said Ms Sturgeon was "obsessed".
The first minister has turned up the attacks today, questioning the prime minister's mandate for governing, in this tweet.
Forget about the political verbiage between the two for a second though. What might Theresa May's options actually be?
Is there actually going to be a second independence referendum vote, when it is the last thing that Number 10 wants to happen?
1. She could say 'No' immediately: This is extremely unlikely. Both sides know this would likely give the SNP a big bump in the polls and wouldn't remotely take the issue off the table.
2. Say 'Yes' immediately: This is also extremely unlikely. Number 10 doesn't want this vote to take place and backing down now is almost unthinkable for a prime minister whose first visit was to Scotland, making it clear preserving the union is near the top of her list
3. Say 'Not now, but not never': This is basically the position the government has taken so far, as David Mundell suggested yesterday. Westminster does not want to make it easy for the Scottish government. And what they won't agree to is the SNP's timetable of holding a vote before the Brexit negotiations are done.
4. Play it long: This seems to be the second part of the strategy. Don't allow Nicola Sturgeon to set the terms of the narrative. She did yesterday, but with Theresa May holding off from triggering Article 50, the next fortnight could leave Nicola Sturgeon twisting in the wind, looking as if she moved too fast. While trying to avoid accepting a referendum, the Tories will try to keep the arguments focused on why they believe a vote should not take place. The SNP, however, may equally try to make this look as if Westminster is ignoring their demands, which of course, strengthens their case still further.
5. Do a deal behind closed doors: This isn't the official position and no one on either side would acknowledge such a thing. But there are whispers that this has already happened. The theory goes that the UK government has accepted the inevitable and will allow the referendum to go ahead, but only on the basis that the agreement to do so includes a "sunrise clause" - so Nicola Sturgeon wins the right to hold the vote but in law, can't do so until the UK has left the EU. There's even a suggestion Westminster may stipulate that the second vote can't take place until after the next Holyrood election. That would be fiercely resisted by the SNP who could argue their victory in 2016 gave them a clear mandate for a second vote.
6. Call Ms Sturgeon's bluff: Theresa May could suddenly suggest that despite the frustrations of their talks so far, that there could be a different deal for Scotland, and she will appeal to the EU Commission on Scotland's behalf to pursue that path. If Number 10 explored this publicly, it would be much harder for the Scottish Government to make its case. One SNP insider said it would "shoot our fox". But a UK government source downplayed the possibility of doing so. It would be a significant change in the UK approach and could open the door to complicated concessions and demands on many different fronts.
Let's be clear, Theresa May really doesn't want to have a referendum. Senior SNP figures insist that Nicola Sturgeon, as she said yesterday, is completely serious about still being open to compromises if they can be made.
But with the political temperature already at boiling point, it's hard to see how they can find a solution that works for both sides.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39270725
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Danny Willett: Masters champion says Muirfield women's vote is 'great' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Masters champion Danny Willett welcomes Muirfield voting to admit women members for the first time and says it "shows golf has changed'.
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Last updated on .From the section Golf
Coverage: Watch live on the BBC, BBC Sport website and the sport app, listen on Radio 5 live and Radio 5 live sports extra
Masters champion Danny Willett says Muirfield voting to admit women members for the first time is a "great thing".
Members at the privately owned golf club voted 80.2% in favour of updating its membership policy on Tuesday.
Golf's ruling body, the R&A, removed Muirfield as a host venue for the Open Championship after it chose to maintain the ban in 2016.
"It shows how times have changed, it shows golf has changed," said Englishman Willett.
"When the vote was passed that females weren't going to be allowed and they were going to be taken off the Open rota, it was not only a blow for a lot of other things, it was a blow for us golfers who think that golf course is one of the best Open courses.
"It's a great thing that they've done."
Willett, 29, will defend his Masters title at Augusta between April 6-9.
Last April, he claimed his first major by three shots on five under par, becoming the first British winner since Sir Nick Faldo in 1996, but has struggled recently and says his form is "nowhere near" what it was.
He does not expect a backlash from American fans after he was forced to apologise last September for an article written by his brother, Peter, in which he called American Ryder Cup fans a "baying mob of imbeciles".
Europe went on to lose 17-11 at Hazeltine.
"I've been in America and played a couple of events and the American fans have been great as you'd expect," added Willett.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/39272893
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Cheltenham 2017: Buveur D'Air wins Champion Hurdle - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Second favourite Buveur D'Air storms to victory in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham, trainer Nicky Henderson's sixth winner.
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Last updated on .From the section Horse Racing
Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, live text coverage on the BBC Sport website and app
Second favourite Buveur D'Air, ridden by Noel Fehily, stormed to victory in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.
The Nicky Henderson-trained six-year-old, a 5-1 shot, came home ahead of My Tent Or Yours (16-1) and Petit Mouchoir (6-1).
It was Fehily's second Champion Hurdle victory, and owner JP McManus' 50th winner at Cheltenham.
Yanworth - the 2-1 favourite - never settled and placed seventh.
Henderson's sixth winner makes him the most successful trainer in the history of the race, following successes with See You Then (1985, 1986, 1987), Punjabi (2009) and Binocular (2010).
"It's fantastic. To win one was great, to win two is special," said Fehily, whose first Champion Hurdle win came on Rock On Ruby in 2012.
"I was very happy with him. My worry was if he would travel well enough down the hill but he travelled well and jumped well - it was a great performance."
Petit Mouchoir, trained by Henry De Bromhead, led with two jumps to go but was hauled back by the two Henderson horses.
The 66-year-old also trains My Tent Or Yours, who finished second for a third time, having fallen just short in 2016 and 2014.
"I just know he's a very talented horse," Henderson said of Buveur D'Air.
"He'd won two novice chases and I just knew there was more there. You just felt there was unfinished business.
"It was very open - you could have had any sort of winner. I was happy with the ground, it hadn't dried like people thought it would. I knew it was safe enough and I thought it would suit him.
"All records are there to be broken. It's the horses and the people that make it. It's rather surreal really. Of course it's special, it's just fun. When this thing happens it's even better fun."
Though the past two champions - Annie Power and Faugheen - weren't present because of injury, and their fans are sure to have a view on how they'd have fared against Buveur D'Air, you have to say the new champ took the crown in fine style.
Taking over the lead as he headed towards the last hurdle, the only six-year-old really asserted, with a three-time runner-up four and a half lengths away in second.
Trainer Nicky Henderson is superb with these top hurdlers, and he enjoyed a memorable day with Altior taking the Arkle Trophy, though how big a battle he'd have had if Charbel - who fell in the lead at the second last - stood up we'll never know.
In the first of Tuesday's races, 17-year-old jockey Jack Kennedy claimed a stunning victory on Labaik, a 25-1 shot who had refused to run in several of his previous races, in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
"It was brilliant, a dream come true. The horse can be very quirky but it all worked out well," Kennedy told BBC Radio 5 live.
"I don't really come from a racing background, My mother's grandfather might have had a pony or something, that's about it.
"My father is a welder and my mother is a child-minder, but my older brother had a few ponies at home. I started pony racing when I was nine and that was it."
Labaik's trainer Gordon Elliott had three wins - a 1,988-1 treble - in total over the day, with Lisa O'Neill steering 16-1 shot Tiger Roll, the 2014 Triumph Hurdle winner, to victory in the National Hunt Chase on her first ride at Cheltenham, and Apple's Jade (7-2) triumphing in the Mares hurdle.
Apple's Jade was previously trained by Willie Mullins, the leading Festival trainer for five of the past six years, but owner and Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary switched to Elliott following a row.
There was another victory for Henderson in the Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices' Chase, as Altior came in ahead of Cloudy Dream and Ordinary World - the trainer's sixth win in the race.
Leader Charbel fell at the penultimate fence, leaving Altior clear to claim a victory which netted one punter £100,000 from a £400,000 bet.
In the Ultima Handicap Chase, Un Temps Pour Tout claimed a second successive victory, with Singlefarmpayment second and Noble Endeavour third.
The final race of the day, the Novices' Handicap Chase, won by Tully East, was delayed because of an injury to Edwulf in the previous race.
BBC Radio 5 live sports extra reported that buckets of water were thrown over the JP McManus-owned horse after it collapsed and was removed from the track.
The horse was attended by vets, who arranged for him to be transported to the racecourse stables for further assessment.
Before the day's racing began, 20-time champion jump jockey Sir Anthony McCoy saw a statue put up in his honour at the racecourse.
"I can only say a huge thank you to Cheltenham," said the jockey, commonly known as AP.
"It was 20 years this week when I won the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup and I had my first ride here in 1994. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have a statue put up in my honour."
McCoy, 42, rode 31 winners at the Festival, including two Gold Cups and three Champion Hurdle successes.
What to watch on Wednesday
The Queen Mother Champion Chase leads the billing at Cheltenham on Wednesday.
The Willie Mullins-trained Douvan is the overwhelming pre-race favourite to add to two previous Festival wins, having landed the 2015 Supreme Novices' Hurdle and the 2016 Arkle Trophy.
Douvan's nine rivals include Special Tiara, who finished third in the past two years, and Fox Norton and Sizing Granite, both trained by Colin Tizzard.
Top Gamble, Garde La Victoire, Traffic Fluide, Gods Own, Simply Ned and Sir Valentino complete the 10-strong field.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/39270787
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Harry Kane: Tottenham striker suffers ankle ligament damage - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Tottenham striker Harry Kane suffers ligament damage to his ankle - but it is not thought to be as bad as the injury earlier this season.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Tottenham striker Harry Kane has suffered ligament damage to his right ankle - but it is not thought to be as severe as the injury that sidelined him for seven weeks earlier this season.
The England international was replaced after seven minutes of Sunday's 6-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Millwall.
He was hurt when defender Jake Cooper blocked his shot close to the byeline.
Spurs said the injury is similar to the one Kane picked up against Sunderland on 18 September.
The 23-year-old missed five Premier League games and two EFL Cup matches after twisting his ankle tackling Sunderland's Papy Djilobodji.
Kane is likely to miss England's friendly in Germany on 22 March and a home World Cup qualifier against Lithuania four days later.
It is not clear if the top flight's joint leading scorer with 19 goals will be available for Tottenham's FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea at Wembley on the weekend 22-23 April.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39274784
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Ikea drivers living in trucks for months - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Some drivers say their wage is less than three pounds an hour. One feels "like a prisoner" in his cab.
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Business
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Emilian says he feels "like a prisoner" in his cab
Lorry drivers moving goods in Western Europe for Ikea and other retailers are living out of their cabs for months at a time, a BBC investigation has found.
Some drivers - brought over from poorer countries by lorry firms based in Eastern Europe - say their salary is less than three pounds an hour.
They say they cannot afford to live in the countries where they work. One said he felt "like a prisoner" in his cab.
Ikea said it was "saddened by the testimonies" of the drivers.
The drivers the BBC spoke to were employed by haulage companies based in Eastern Europe, which are paid to transport Ikea goods.
Romanian driver Emilian spends up to four months at a time sleeping, eating and washing in his truck.
He moves goods for Ikea around Western Europe, and had been in Denmark most recently.
He says the salary he takes home is a monthly average of 477 euros (£420).
A Danish driver can expect to take home an average of 2,200 euros (£1,900) a month in salary.
EU rules state that a driver posted temporarily away from home should be ''guaranteed'' the host nation's ''minimum rates of pay'' and conditions. But companies can exploit loopholes in the law.
Emilian's colleague Christian prepares dinner in the back of the truck
Emilian is employed by a Slovakian subsidiary of Norwegian trucking company Bring, and is being paid as if his place of work is Slovakia - even though he never works there.
He shows us where he sleeps - a sleeping bag in the back of his cab.
According to EU law, drivers must take 45 hours weekly rest away from their cabs, but governments have been slow to enforce it.
He says he cannot afford to sleep anywhere else - he receives around 45 euros (£40) a day in expenses, which is meant to cover all hotel bills and meals.
Zoe Conway was reporting for the BBC's Today and Victoria Derbyshire programmes.
During the working week, Emilian cooks and eats at the roadside. He says conditions have left him feeling "like a prisoner, like a bird in the cage".
"It's not good for drivers, it's not safe for other people on the road... it is possible to [cause an] accident," he says.
One driver's belongings, as he waits to board a minibus home for the first time in months
Asked if he has a message for Ikea, he says: "Come and live with me for one week. Eat what I eat. See what is happening in reality with our lives."
After a few months on the road he will board a minibus back to Slovakia.
His Slovakian employer, Bring, says Emilian is responsible for taking his rest breaks, and can return home whenever he likes.
Emilian is not alone. We have seen the contracts of drivers working for some of Ikea's biggest contractors - each paid low Eastern European wages while working for months at a time in Western Europe.
It is clear this way of treating drivers is widespread. It is not just within the Ikea supply chain, but also in those of several other big, household names.
In Dortmund, Germany - outside the biggest Ikea distribution centre in the world - truck drivers are drying their clothes. One is making his mash potato on a fuel tank.
There is no toilet, no running water.
Drivers from Moldova say they receive an average monthly salary of 150 euros (£130) from their employer.
Legal action is now being taken against some of Ikea's contractors.
In the Netherlands last month, a court ruled that Brinkman - which delivers Ikea flowers to the UK and Scandinavia - was breaking the law.
The court found that drivers' pay was "not consistent" with Dutch wages law.
The judge described conditions for drivers as an "inhumane state of affairs'', and contrary to EU law.
Edwin Atema, of trade union FNV, says he believes Ikea must have known of the conditions in which drivers are living.
"The Ukrainian, Moldovan, Polish guys remove the furniture from Ikea, they touch the furniture," he says.
"Ikea is the economic employer of all these workers here. They have so much power. Ikea has the tool in hand to change the business model with an eye blink."
One union, the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), met Ikea several times last year to discuss the issue - but talks ended in November.
Ikea said it takes what drivers have told the BBC "very seriously'' and are "saddened by the testimonies".
It said it puts ''strict demands'' on its suppliers concerning wages, working conditions and following applicable legislation, and audits them regularly to check compliance.
Increasing numbers of foreign haulage companies are now moving goods in Britain.
They are working for hundreds of different companies, including Ikea.
At a lorry stop in Immingham, Lincolnshire, one anonymous Polish driver explains: "We spend a lot of time living in lay-bys where there are no toilets, no showers, no facilities.
"The work is paid a bit better than what I would get in Poland, but this life is not good. I do it for my family.''
British haulage companies are nervous that they will be undercut by companies that could be breaking the law.
Jack Semple, from the Road Haulage Association, says: "We are seeing far more foreign lorries that are frankly less compliant with drivers' hours and road-worthiness regulations.
"There is a road safety risk, and the Treasury is losing a fortune in tax revenue.
"They have to get a grip on this because big, well-known UK retailers and other companies are making increasing use of these firms because they don't cost very much."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39196056
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Indian Wells: Rafael Nadal to play Roger Federer in last 16 - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal set up a fourth-round tie at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells - a re-run of this year's Australian Open final.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have set up a fourth-round tie at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells - a re-run of this year's Australian Open final.
Switzerland's Federer, who won his 18th Grand Slam title with a five-set victory over Nadal in January, beat American Steve Johnson 7-6 7-6.
Novak Djokovic beat Juan Martin del Potro, while Angelique Kerber, who is set to become world number one, is out.
• Live commentary of Federer v Nadal on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra from 00:00 GMT, Thursday
The German, who is guaranteed a return to the top of the rankings on Monday following Serena Williams' withdrawal from Indian Wells and the Miami Open, lost 3-6 3-6 to Russian Elena Vesnina.
Serb second seed Djokovic was hugely impressive as he won the deciding set 6-1 against Argentine Del Potro and he will play Australian 15th seed Nick Kyrgios, who earlier beat 18th seed Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-3 6-4.
"That's why I came here, to play against guys like Rafa," said Federer, 35, before a 36th meeting with Nadal, 30. "I'd better be excited now otherwise I came for the wrong reasons.
"I try to see it really as another opportunity to build upon something for the rest of the season.
"So regardless of Australia, winning or losing, I'm going to try to go out there and play free again. I think it's really important."
In earlier matches, unseeded American Donald Young beat French 14th seed Lucas Pouille 6-4 1-6 6-3 in the men's draw, while Japan's fourth seed Kei Nishikori swept past Frenchman Gilles Muller 6-2 6-2.
American 17th seed Jack Sock edged a third set tie-break to beat Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 3-6 6-3 7-6.
In the women's draw, American 12th seed Venus Williams beat Peng Shuai of China 3-6 6-1 6-3, and Czech third seed Karolina Pliskova led Timea Bacsinszky 5-1 when the Swiss retired.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39274847
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Six decisive points that changed Syria's war - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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As the conflict in Syria is passing enters its seventh year, Tim Eaton explains six ways it has changed.
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Middle East
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The war has devastated large parts of the country, and countless lives
The fighting in Syria is entering its seventh year, with no real end in sight.
What began as calls for change on the streets swiftly became a multi-national battleground, which has left more than 300,000 people dead and millions displaced.
Here are six decisive phases which have shaped the course of the conflict to date:
Deraa was one of the first places to see anti-government protests in early 2011
There were almost 18 months between the outbreak of peaceful protests in February 2011 and the point - in July 2012 - that Syria was declared by the Red Cross to be in a state of civil war.
Over this period, the international narrative shifted from one that framed events within the context of the Arab Spring's search for accountability and reform to one of a protracted military conflict.
The Syrian opposition that emerged in this period reflected, and continues to reflect, a broad movement and not a cohesive force.
The government resorted to increasingly violent crackdowns, prompting the establishment of a growing number of armed opposition groups. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) began to form in the summer of 2011, while the key Islamist and jihadist groups such as Ahrar al-Sham and al-Nusra Front were formed in late 2011 and early 2012, respectively.
While the West hesitated over which groups to support, a chaotic influx of funds ensued from regional powers and individual donors in the Gulf and the Syrian diaspora.
The US failure to forcefully respond to chemical weapons attacks disappointed the opposition
US President Barack Obama had declared in 2012 that the US would punish any use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government.
But when the government was reported to have launched a chemical attack in the Ghouta agricultural belt outside Damascus in August 2013, the US did not intervene and instead accepted an offer from Russia to get Syria to dispose of its chemical weapons.
The Obama administration continued to insist that the deal with Moscow was a better outcome. But on the ground it served to embolden President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies, as it appeared to legitimise the use of non-chemical weapons.
These events shattered any hopes the opposition and its regional backers had of direct US military intervention. They would also undermine potential US leverage in peace negotiations, as the government and its international backers henceforth operated with little fear of US sanction.
Following President Obama's decision not to enforce his red line on chemical weapons, Western support for the "moderate" armed groups was eclipsed by the support of Islamist groups by regional powers Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Even prior to this, some FSA groups had begun adopting a more religious image in order to attract Gulf funding, while some fighters had defected to better-equipped Islamist rivals.
Jihadist groups skilfully sought to exploit the weakness of other groups to increase their power and influence within the rebel movement, sometimes targeting FSA units. Paradoxically, by 2015 this made moderate groups increasingly reliant upon jihadist groups on the battlefield.
The growth of radical groups was further facilitated by the government's battlefield alliances with Hezbollah and other Shia militias, which reinforced the sectarian narrative of Sunni jihadists.
The advent of IS changed the dynamics of the war in Syria
IS entered the Syrian conflict by setting up al-Nusra Front, before announcing a merger with the group in 2013 that was rejected by al-Qaeda. The Syrian government's focus on military efforts against the moderate opposition groups afforded IS room for manoeuvre.
In June 2014, IS announced the formation of its so-called "caliphate", encompassing areas of Syria and Iraq. Defeating IS would soon become the priority in Iraq and Syria for Western powers, leading the West to subordinate the peace process in Syria to an "IS first" policy imperative.
In September 2014, the start of air strikes on IS positions in Syria demonstrated that the West was willing to intervene directly to counter the jihadist group, but not to protect civilians in opposition-held areas from the government's barrel-bombs.
This fuelled a deep sense of betrayal within the Syrian opposition and communicated the prioritisation of a military solution to one of the products of the conflict over the search for a peace settlement that would tackle its drivers.
The Russian offensive managed to turn the tide in favour of Assad
Following a string of rebel victories in early 2015 - most notably in Idlib - President Assad was forced to admit that manpower shortages had made ceding territory necessary. Russia calculated that the Syrian government required direct material support to guarantee its survival.
In September 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of Russian forces to Syria. The intervention surprised the international community and immediately tipped the military balance in the government's favour.
Moscow declared its intervention to be aimed at listed terror groups such as IS and al-Nusra Front, but it overwhelmingly targeted more moderate groups, including those receiving US support.
Russia has subsequently become the main arbiter in international peace talks, effectively sidelining the UN and making the US a junior partner in the process.
The Russian intervention has also upped the ante for any form of future Western intervention, as this would bring a real threat of direct combat with Russian forces.
Eastern Aleppo was the rebels' last major urban stronghold until it fell to the government
The recapture of rebel-held eastern Aleppo by the government and government-aligned forces in December 2016 was the most significant victory for President Assad in the conflict to date.
The loss of Aleppo appears to illustrate that the rebels' hopes of overthrowing the Assad regime militarily are at an end. But the government also lacks the capacity to control the whole of the country, meaning that victory will prove a relative term in Syria.
Internationally, events in Aleppo cemented Russia's role as the main external actor in the Syrian conflict. They also resulted in Turkey replacing the US as the key interlocutor with Russia in the last days of the Obama presidency.
With the US and its Western allies having ceded the initiative, it now appears Western marginalisation in Syria could leave Russia and Iran to negotiate with Turkey an eventual settlement to the war.
Tim Eaton is a research fellow with Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa Programme. He manages its Syria and its Neighbours Policy Initiative and is a co-author of the Chatham House report Western Policy Towards Syria: Applying Lessons Learned. Follow him on Twitter.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39233357
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Commonwealth Games: A joint bid for 2022 would be considered - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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A bid from two or more UK cities to jointly host the 2022 Commonwealth Games would be considered by Games chiefs.
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Last updated on .From the section Commonwealth Games
A bid from UK cities to jointly host the 2022 Commonwealth Games would be considered by Games chiefs.
Birmingham, Liverpool, London and Manchester have expressed interest in staging the Games in place of Durban.
Durban was due to be the first African city to host the games but was stripped of the right on Monday.
Commonwealth Games Federation chief David Grevemberg said officials were looking to make a decision quickly and would consider a joint bid.
"We are interested in looking at different delivery models and part of our strategic plan is to look at more affordable and appealing structures for hosting major events," said Grevemberg.
"There is a possibility in the future that we could look at combined events but at this point in time we are trying to ensure we deliver the best possible Games in the best possible city.
"Right now we are not speculating on any specific candidates over another.
"We really need to look over the context, time available, infrastructure, what is the resourcing base and ensure that we are able to have a good fit and a good partner."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/commonwealth-games/39284897
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Can Big Bang Theory learn from past TV spin-offs? - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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The Big Bang Theory's new spin-off sees it join a long list of TV shows that branched out.
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Entertainment & Arts
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TV's most socially-awkward sitcom character, The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper, is getting his own spin-off series.
The eccentric Sheldon, played by Jim Parsons, has been at the centre of America's most popular comedy show since it started in 2007.
Earlier this week, CBS confirmed that The Big Bang Theory's new spin-off, Young Sheldon, will be a prequel focusing on the character's early years.
But will it work? Some spin-off shows have been hugely successful - but there have also been quite a few flops.
Here's a round-up of some of the best and worst:
Frasier is one of television's most successful spin-offs.
It lasted for 11 seasons and notched up 264 episodes - just behind its predecessor Cheers, which managed 270.
The Kelsey Grammer sitcom continued the story of radio psychiatrist Frasier Crane. Digital Spy's TV editor Morgan Jeffery thinks the change in tone contributed to its success.
"Frasier had a different style and sense of humour to Cheers," he says. "A spin-off needs to look and feel different. A lot of bad spin-offs are just watered down versions of the original."
The change certainly worked wonders for Frasier - the sitcom broke an Emmy Awards record, winning 37 over the course of its run (although the record was later beaten by the pesky Game of Thrones).
While Breaking Bad centred on characters played by Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, corrupt lawyer Saul Goodman (played by Bob Odenkirk) developed something of a cult following.
Better Call Saul, which began in 2015, was created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, the brains behind Breaking Bad.
The Times's TV critic Andrew Billen thinks focusing on a less prominent character can often make a spin-off more likely to succeed.
"Most shows are not Marvel Comic universes, they're built around one or two heroes," he says. "But if you take a minor character, there's more chance of succeeding. Then you're into something much nearer to a Hollywood franchise."
Jeffery agrees: "Angel is a good example of a character who maybe wasn't getting the screen time when he was on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, so he was given a show where there was more space to explore that character."
Happy Days and its seven spin-offs
Happy Days certainly knows a thing or two about spin-offs - it had seven. Seven!
The most successful were Mork & Mindy, which starred Robin Williams; and Laverne & Shirley, which was fronted by Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams.
The latter, which first aired in 1976, focused on two single room-mates (who had been friends of Fonzie's in the main show) who work as bottlecappers in a Milwaukee brewery.
It ran side-by-side with Happy Days, and by its third season had become the most popular TV show in the US.
The show was cancelled in 1983, but it still managed an impressive eight seasons.
As one of the most successful sitcoms in television history, Friends was ripe for spin-off when it ended in 2004.
Only Matt LeBlanc stuck with the character that made him famous, and Joey was launched that September.
But it didn't go down well with fans, and viewing figures were low. It was cancelled after two seasons, with the final eight episodes not even making it to air.
"Matt LeBlanc was fantastic in [Friends] but he was playing a caricature," Billen says. "I'm not sure there was enough complexity to Joey as a character, he was more of a clown, and it's difficult to build a show around that premise."
Jeffery adds: "I don't feel there was a clear creative vision behind Joey, they just wanted to keep the Friends train going for a few more years."
The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its three spin-offs
When it comes to spin-offs, Billen describes The Mary Tyler Moore Show as "the mother of them all".
He explains: "It was so successful, the best friend Rhoda, played by Valerie Harper, got a spin-off. And the neighbour and landlady Phyllis also span off, but the really significant one was Lou Grant.
"In the original show, Mary Tyler Moore's character worked in a TV station in the newsroom, and the news editor [Grant] then span off into a drama series. It ran many seasons, and was a post-Watergate view of investigative journalism."
Including the original, that totals an impressive four shows in the Tyler Moore universe.
Only Fools and Horses and Green Green Grass
Ask a British sitcom fan what their favourite shows of all time are, and it's likely Only Fools and Horses will figure highly on their list.
It's slightly less likely they'd choose The Green Green Grass, the Fools spin-off that began in 2005 and focused on Boycie and his wife Marlene
It managed 32 episodes but was cancelled in 2009 after continuing negative reviews from critics.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation began in September 2002 and was hugely popular with audiences.
So popular, in fact, that it sparked CSI: Miami, CSI: NY and the more recent (and less successful) CSI: Cyber.
Jeffery says the CSIs "work on a business level because you're giving people more of what they enjoyed before".
Jeffrey thinks it could be just the right time for The Big Bang Theory to get the spin-off treatment.
"I believe it's close to being renewed again but it doesn't feel like it's got too much life left in it," he says. "It's probably got a couple more seasons before the cast try and shoehorn themselves out of the show."
The Guardian's Stuart Heritage put it slightly more bluntly, writing that the announcement of Young Sheldon means "The Big Bang Theory has officially started its death spiral".
Big Bang may well be ripe for a spin-off, but its makers will have to tread carefully.
"There's absolutely no guarantee a spin-off will work better than any brand new comedy or a brand new programme," cautions Billen.
"It will give you ratings for the first couple of episodes, and after that it sinks or swims on its own merit."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39265553
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FC Rostov pitch closed by Russian Premier League after Mourinho criticism - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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A week after Jose Mourinho criticised the FC Rostov pitch, the Russian Premier League has "closed" the club's stadium.
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Last updated on .From the section European Football
A week after Jose Mourinho criticised their pitch, the Russian Premier League has "banned" FC Rostov from hosting league games due to "shortfalls" in the playing surface.
Manchester United drew 1-1 at the Olimp-2 Stadium in their Europa League last-16 first-leg tie last Thursday.
"It's hard for me to believe we are going to play on that field, if you can call it a field," Mourinho had said.
Rostov now have until 24 March to bring their pitch up to standard.
The pitch was dry and bobbly, and after the match Mourinho said the conditions made it "impossible to play a passing game".
The Russian Premier League told BBC Sport that Rostov will have their pitch inspected again on 24 March, with their next home game on 31 March against FC Krasnodar.
Uefa had deemed the pitch playable for the Europa League game, but the Russian Premier League say they have different regulations in place.
United and Rostov play the second leg at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Like Rostov, Rubin Kazan's Central Stadium has also been banned by the Russian Premier League.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39278583
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Stuart Bingham faces disciplinary hearing over betting on matches - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Former world champion Stuart Bingham is found to have "a case to answer" in relation to betting on snooker.
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Last updated on .From the section Snooker
Former world champion Stuart Bingham faces a disciplinary hearing after it was found he has "a case to answer" in relation to betting on snooker.
Bingham admitted to breaking World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) rules on betting on matches involving other players.
The world number three is now awaiting the conclusion of the investigation before he discovers his penalty.
"This was just a case of me not being clear on the rules," said Bingham.
"I did not know I was not allowed to bet on other players' matches. I thought it was just my own I could not bet on, and I have never done that.
"I have nothing to hide on the matter and have co-operated fully with the investigation and I now await the outcome."
The WPBSA confirmed that there was "no suggestion of any match manipulation or corruption in this case".
Bingham was informed in December that allegations were being investigated by Nigel Mawer, the chairman of the WPBSA's disciplinary committee.
And in a follow-up meeting with Mawer in January, Bingham confirmed he had placed accumulator bets on the outcome of other matches, stating he did not know it was against the governing body's rules to do so.
A WPBSA statement said: "Following an investigation into an alleged breach of the WPBSA betting rules by Stuart Bingham, a decision has been taken today that there is a case to answer.
"The matter has now been referred to the WPBSA disciplinary committee where a formal hearing will take place at a venue and date to be confirmed."
It is unlikely that the hearing will take place before this year's World Championship, which gets under way on 15 April, due to the length of the WPBSA's disciplinary process.
Bingham, 40, won the world title in 2015 and claimed his first victory since that Sheffield triumph at last month's Welsh Open.
In January, Alfie Burden was given a six-month ban - suspended for a year - and fined £5,000 for placing bets totalling £25,000 on matches including his own.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/39284623
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Monaco 3-1 Manchester City - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Manchester City are knocked out of the Champions League on away goals at the last-16 stage after Monaco's second-leg victory at Stade Louis II.
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Last updated on .From the section European Football
Manchester City are out of the Champions League after Monaco struck late to seal a thrilling away-goals victory, which ended 6-6 on aggregate.
The English side were 13 minutes from a place in the quarter-finals after clawing themselves back into a second leg their hosts had dominated, but slack marking from a set-piece allowed Tiemoue Bakayoko to head home the decisive goal.
Having won the competition twice in his time at Barcelona, this is the first time in manager Pep Guardiola's career that he has gone out at this stage.
Monaco lost 5-3 in an extraordinary first leg in Manchester but dominated the first half at the Stade Louis II and opened the scoring through the excellent Kylian Mbappe's poked finish from close range.
The Ligue 1 side, who had scored 123 goals so far this season, deservedly doubled their advantage on the night, punishing City's sluggish start through Fabinho's crisp strike.
City failed to muster any sort of shot in the opening 45 minutes and it took until the 65th minute for Sergio Aguero to call goalkeeper Danijel Subasic into a sharp save.
They forced their way into the game - and back into the aggregate lead - as Leroy Sane swept in when Subasic parried Raheem Sterling's low strike, but their defence could not hold out.
The result leaves Premier League champions Leicester City as the only English team in the last eight.
Monaco join the Foxes, holders Real Madrid, last year's runners-up Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus in Friday's draw.
• None 'I couldn't convince them to attack' - Pep says he takes the blame
• None Listen: 'Man City have failed to live up to expectations' - Phil Neville
Having gained a two-goal advantage at home, City boss Pep Guardiola had vowed his side would go on the attack in order to finish the job.
But while the Spanish coach can boast the best record of any manager in Europe after 100 games, he opted to start with only Fernandinho in the middle of the park against the aggressive and youthful French side.
Five attack-minded players were deployed in front of the Brazilian midfielder, while Yaya Toure was left on the bench, and it proved a costly move as City were overrun by sharper opponents.
Although they pulled a goal back on the night through Sane - putting them briefly back in front in the tie - the English side never recovered from their poor first-half showing.
Big-money signing John Stones struggled again and Monaco's winning goal epitomised the fragility of the visitors' defensive backline, as the impressive Bakayoko was allowed a free header eight yards from goal.
Guardiola has said his maiden City season will be a failure if he cannot deliver a trophy, but barring a dramatic Chelsea collapse in the Premier League, the Spaniard's only realistic hope of silverware is now the FA Cup.
The City boss made some unwelcome history in France as his side became the first team to be eliminated in a Champions League knockout tie after scoring five goals in the first leg.
The Ligue 1 leaders were missing star striker Radamel Falcao, who had failed so spectacularly in England with loan spells at Manchester United and Chelsea.
But the home side took the game to City, allowing them little time and space on the ball, forcing errors and taking their chances superbly. Although they began to tire in the second half, the 2004 runners-up managed to edge through.
Eighteen-year-old striker Mbappe - who has earned comparisons to retired France great Thierry Henry - found the net after just eight minutes for his 17th goal of the season, fed by the brilliant Portuguese midfielder Silva.
Benjamin Mendy caused all sorts of problems by bombing on from full-back, but man of the match Bakayoko deservedly took his side through with the winning goal.
The towering France Under-21 international controlled the midfield and gained possession nine times - more than any team-mate.
They have been two brilliant football matches. City lost it in the first half when they were outplayed, outfought and were bullied.
They got back into the game and they thought they were through. But their Achilles heel was a sloppy goal. Another year has failed to live up to expectations.
I am not so sure the signings over the last five years have been that good, but when Leroy Sane scores, Pep Guardiola is thinking 'this is perfect, we can control the game from here'. Then they concede.
Guardiola doesn't go out there and spend the bulk of his money on defenders. He will be thinking if they had put one of those chances away they would be in the next round.
'Sometimes you have to be lucky'
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, talking to BT Sport: "We played exceptional second half but we forgot to do that in the first. We wanted to defend aggressively. We were better in the second but it wasn't enough.
"Normally we play to a good level but here we didn't. We will learn. The team does not have a lot of experience.
"The second half we had the chances and we didn't take them and that is why we are out. And set-pieces are so important at this level. Barcelona and Real Madrid scored from them last week. We were not there and we were not there in the first 45 minutes.
"We will improve but this competition is so demanding. Sometimes we have to be special and be lucky. We were not."
• None Monaco have progressed from all four of their Champions League knockout ties against English teams.
• None David Silva played his 50th Champions League game, becoming the 25th Spaniard to reach that milestone in the competition.
• None Kylian Mbappe has scored 11 goals in his past 11 games in all competitions.
• None Bernardo Silva has provided an assist in each of his past three games for Monaco in all competitions.
• None City are without a clean sheet in their past 11 away games in the Champions League (excluding qualifiers).
• None The English side failed to muster a single shot in the first half of a Champions League game for the first time.
• None Fabinho has had a hand in three goals in two Champions League appearances versus Manchester City this season (one goal, two assists).
• None Leroy Sane scored with just his 11th shot on target for City this season (all competitions).
• None Thomas Lemar (Monaco) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Valère Germain (Monaco) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Valère Germain (Monaco) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Offside, Manchester City. David Silva tries a through ball, but Leroy Sané is caught offside. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39248906
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Leicester reach Champions League quarter-finals and threaten to defy logic again - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Three weeks after looking destined for the Championship, Phil McNulty sees Leicester join the continent's elite in the Champions League quarter-finals.
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Leicester City delivered a new entry into their list of unlikely success stories with a stunning victory over Sevilla at the King Power Stadium that takes them into the Champions League quarter-finals.
The club and team that makes a habit of turning logic on its head did it again as high-flying La Liga side's 2-1 advantage from the first leg was overturned amid an atmosphere of passion and emotion that evoked memories of last season's Premier League title win.
It was made all the more remarkable by the fact that three weeks ago, after that first game in Spain, Leicester sacked Claudio Ranieri, the man who masterminded that title triumph, amid tales of dressing-room discontent and fears of relegation.
How have they undertaken this transformation? And how far can they now go in the Champions League?
• None Leicester beat Sevilla to reach Champions league last eight
• None Foxes 'achieved the impossible again', says Morgan
From dreading the Championship to dreaming of Champions League glory
When Leicester sacked Ranieri on 23 February, the Champions League was an afterthought set alongside fears the Foxes were on course to drop into the Championship.
They had dredged a creditable 2-1 loss out of a performance that was the final curtain for the popular Italian - but it was wider concerns that led to his dismissal.
The club's Thai owners needed someone to rediscover the element that had been lost in the nine months since Leicester lifted the Premier League trophy in one of the greatest sporting stories ever told. They needed someone to keep them up, with any success in the Champions League falling into the category of added bonus.
They turned to Craig Shakespeare, who came to the club with Nigel Pearson and stayed on to ride shotgun to Ranieri in that dream season.
And, in an instant, the dial has been turned back. Shakespeare has restored this Leicester team to default, title-winning settings - and the transformation has been remarkable.
Who's through to the last eight?
Shakespeare, in charge until the end of the season, has won three out of three. Impressive wins against Liverpool and Hull have soothed relegation fears but this win over Sevilla is the most compelling vindication of his methods. It was the kind of victory on which reputations are made and, in the case of Leicester's players, revived.
He effectively restored the title team, with the obvious exception of Wilfred Ndidi for the departed N'Golo Kante, and ordered them to play in the same intense, counter-attacking manner - using the pace of Jamie Vardy and the creativity of Riyad Mahrez - that brought that success.
It was a move that now has self-belief sweeping through the club, players and supporters, like a tidal wave. To watch the Foxes hurry Sevilla out of their stride was the equivalent of being transported back to last season.
Shakespeare has gone back to improve the future. Leicester have returned to the uncomplicated success of last season, banishing the mediocrity and lacklustre performances of the early months of a season that threatened to be the biggest anti-climax of all.
When they lost 2-0 at relegation rivals Swansea on 12 February, a result that helped to seal Ranieri's fate, they were in 17th place with 21 points from 25 Premier League games. This was a club in freefall.
Shakespeare's approach has been simple but very specific. Leicester have returned to what they do best and what opponents dislike most.
And in doing so, the King Power Stadium is back to the imposing arena it was last term.
Tuesday's win was driven by passion, noise and raw emotion. When the board went up to signal four minutes of stoppage time, a huge roar rippled around the stadium - a roar of inspiration, not fear.
Those closing stages were pure theatre as the clock ticked down in an electric atmosphere. All the ingredients that made Leicester such a success story last year were back.
There was still plenty of criticism of the club's players on social media on Tuesday from those who believed they downed tools under Ranieri only to pick them up once he was gone, but no-one seemed to care inside a thunderous King Power Stadium.
This beating of Sevilla was the most emphatic justification of the events of the past few weeks.
Leicester's Thai owners were painted as heartless, ruthless and almost the enemies of decency and manners when the dignified Ranieri was shown off the premises nine months after bringing them riches they could only have dreamed of.
It was significant that when Leicester made their post-Ranieri return with a 3-1 win at home to Liverpool on 27 February, there was a march of thanks to the departed manager and many banners of appreciation, but little acrimony or open criticism of the club's hierarchy.
This may have been a signal suggesting that, while their fans may have found the decision to remove the Italian uncomfortable, particularly given his obvious warmth and decency, they had been watching a floundering team and realised emergency action was needed.
The club's decision-makers made the move with a heavy heart but without sentiment. Relegation was the fear and it needed to be avoided - and it is unlikely supporters would have thanked them for being sentimental all the way into the Championship.
They have not looked for vindication or justification - remaining silent for the most part - but the performance against Sevilla and the securing of a place in the last eight of the Champions League is evidence that, no matter how unpalatable their sacking of Ranieri may have been to some, it was the right move.
Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, a former Leicester and England striker, tweeted that the decision was "inexplicable, unforgiveable and gut-wrenchingly sad". And there were many who shared his view.
Results since, and the celebrations at the final whistle on Tuesday after another moment of Foxes history, give further credence to what many regarded as a cruel move.
The Foxes' owners have a track record of taking the right decisions - and they look to have done so again.
They kept faith with former manager Nigel Pearson through a period of struggle and he mounted an unlikely survival campaign to stay in the Premier League. And when he was sacked, the appointment of Ranieri - greeted with widespread scepticism - was a masterstroke.
Former England defender Danny Mills, watching as a BBC Radio 5 live analyst on Tuesday, offered his support to the club's owners as he said: "It's just a different Leicester from what we have seen this season.
"All those fans who thought it was a disgrace that Ranieri was sacked have got to eat some humble pie."
It still would have tasted sweet to those who questioned that decision as they made their way out into the streets around the stadium amid scenes of wild celebration.
How far could they go?
It is surely stretching the credibility of even Leicester's scriptwriters to suggest they can win the Champions League - but who is to say they cannot make even more waves after Sevilla, Europa League winners three seasons in succession and third in La Liga, were beaten?
This was a fully deserved win against a side rated as potential dark horses in the competition and comes on the heels of an impressive dismissal of Liverpool.
The Foxes will be rank outsiders against Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus - or anyone who is pitted against them in the last eight.
However, they will not shy away from any challenge, especially not at home and especially not if this arena is the stage for the second leg.
There was a real air of intimidation, noise and theatre in the stadium against Sevilla and Leicester's fans are starting to dream again after the dark months between August and February.
Under Shakespeare, they are playing in a manner designed to unsettle any side who takes the measured approach - and they will do it backed by a 90-minute wall of sound.
All the odds suggest this latest great adventure should end at the next stage - but since when did the odds or logic come into this club's calculations?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39275115
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Muirfield: Rory McIlroy says women ban was 'obscene' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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World number three Rory McIlroy remains critical of Muirfield after the club votes to admit women members for the first time.
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Last updated on .From the section Golf
Rory McIlroy has continued his criticism of Muirfield despite the club voting to admit women members for the first time this week.
McIlroy slammed Muirfield last year when it was removed as an Open venue after choosing to maintain the ban.
"I still think that it got to this stage is horrendous," said McIlroy.
"We'll go back and play the Open because they'll let women members in, but every time I go I won't have a great taste in my mouth."
Members at the privately owned golf club voted 80.2% in favour of updating its membership policy on Tuesday.
"I mean, in this day and age, where you've got women that are leaders of certain industries and women that are heads of state and not be able to join a golf course - I mean, it's obscene.
"It's ridiculous. So th-ey sort of saw sense."
On the nearly 20% who voted to maintain the ban, McIlroy said: "It's horrendous. I mean, I just don't get it.
"So anyway, we'll go back there for the Open Championship at some point and I won't be having many cups of tea with the members afterwards."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/39286496
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Do the technology giants finally face a backlash? - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Despite their immense power, companies such as Facebook and Google have avoided negative headlines - but that might be changing.
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Entertainment & Arts
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It is perhaps the most beguiling irony of our age that a new class of super-rich that has emerged on America's West Coast has its moral, intellectual and even spiritual origins in the anti-materialistic radicalism of 1960s counter-culture.
Silicon Valley is what happened when the flower power generation sobered up.
Steve Jobs was a Buddhist, though to what extent has been the subject of much debate.
And the zealous mission on which Facebook is embarked - to create a more open and connected world, smashing barriers instinctively - owes a substantial debt to the baby boomers and their own particular doctrine, (John) Lennonism. When Mark Zuckerberg speaks, I always hear the lyrics to Imagine.
Perhaps it is this moral component to what Silicon Valley's biggest companies do that has, for the most part, protected them from what I had long considered inevitable: a monumental backlash.
I call this the tech-lash, and thought it would have two main components.
First, anti-capitalism: the hostility toward plutocracy shown by groups such as Occupy Wall Street would, eventually, take aim at the astronomical wealth of tech billionaires - especially once it dawned on these protesters, and society at large, that compared to the industrialists of old, these companies don't actually employ many people.
As a result, of the vast capital they have amassed, a disconcertingly small amount actually makes it to the labour force.
That smells like trickle-down economics - without the trickle down.
The second component of the tech-lash would arise from concerns about privacy, fuelled not least by the revelations from Edward Snowden.
It is hard to get your head around just how much data companies such as Google and Facebook hold, and how much information they have about us - most of it voluntarily given over.
If the civil liberties brigade ever needed a cause around which to rally, this could well be it.
Together with disgust at how little taxes these companies pay, you have the elements of an almighty revolt.
And yet, it hasn't really come: partly, I imagine, because of that sense of moral purpose; and partly because of the fact that these brilliant and uniquely innovative companies have improved our lives without asking us to pay a penny.
Your appetite for being horrible toward Google is neutered when you use Gmail to rally comrades to a cause, and Google Maps to get to a protest.
This, then, was the tech-lash that wasn't. Until now.
Two stories this week suggest that the mood is changing.
On Tuesday, the Home Affairs Select Committee gave a ferocious grilling to senior executives from Facebook, Google and Twitter.
The Daily Mail is usually a good indicator of which way the wind is blowing; its front page headline on Wednesday was "Shaming of the web giants".
The next story that showed public feeling might be turning was on the front of another British newspaper - the Financial Times.
And yet the story wasn't about Britain. The splash headline was: "Berlin plans €50m [£44m] fines for hate speech and fake news".
This is a remarkable story: the German government is drafting legislation that will aggressively target internet companies, including social media giants, if they don't do enough to stop the spread of socially corrosive material online, particularly by giving users tools to flag such material.
Germany is uniquely susceptible to the spread of fake news.
Angela Merkel's hugely controversial refugees policy, the rise of the nationalist Alternative for Germany party, the constant threat from neo-Nazis, upcoming national elections, and the staid media landscape - staid compared with Britain's raucous tabloids, for instance - all make conditions ripe for exploitation.
But Germany is now leading the fight-back. Germans have a very different approach to the state to that which is fashionable on America's West Coast.
The new tech giants are often libertarians who believe that innovation and technology can solve social problems much more effectively than government.
They are diametrically opposed to what you might, crudely, call the Teutonic faith in regulation: many Germans - and indeed all those I spoke to while reporting there - believe that a smart, enabling state can, through effective legislation, mitigate social ills.
If the much heralded tech-lash is finally upon us, it is the Germans who hold the whip hand.
It isn't hatred of plutocracy, or love of privacy, that finally turned the temper of a people against tech giants: it is the threat of election, and legislative power falling into the hands of nasty forces, that has prompted action.
Moreover, it took the German faith in the efficacy of regulation to confront those giants with the threat of punitive action.
If the German proposal becomes legislation, it will offer a template that could be rolled out elsewhere.
Whether this is the beginning of a tech-lash - a concerted effort by societies and government to, ahem, take back control from tech companies - or just an incremental development in a constantly maturing new world of law and power, is unclear.
I would hope, whatever the regulatory fallout of the fake news phenomenon, the likes of Facebook and Google continue to earn immense respect for being better at providing exceptional services to customers than most companies in history.
Does that include the British? Yes, basically: our political class reveres Silicon Valley and hopes to replicate its success over here.
But my conversations in Westminster lead me to believe that, in Theresa May, we have a leader who is not far off the pragmatic, populist patriotism of Mrs Merkel; that, like the German chancellor, our prime minister is a provincial Tory who believes in the good that government can do.
Theresa May admires the pragmatism of her German counterpart, Angela Merkel
Given her one-nation rhetoric, Mrs May will be conscious that fake news - which Facebook is taking very seriously - does potentially pose a threat to the social solidarity.
The prime minister and her most senior lieutenants are very close observers of German affairs, and there are people close to the top of British government who are wondering what they can learn, and imitate, from this week's German proposal.
In recent years, the moral fervour of those sons and daughters of the 1960s who have come to dominate Silicon Valley, and all our lives, has forged an alliance with wealth and power of a kind most of us can't imagine.
What happens when it clashes with the alternative worldview of people in faraway lands who have elections to win, and hatred to silence, will determine much of this, the first truly digital chapter in history.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39280657
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Assad is secure, but Syria's war shows no sign of ending - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Six years on, more people are going to die in a war that has changed but not ended, says Jeremy Bowen.
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Middle East
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The view from the presidential palace in Damascus is the brightest it has been since the war in Syria started.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision at the end of 2015 to increase enormously the support he was giving to President Bashar al-Assad has transformed the war in the regime's favour.
The fall of the eastern side of Aleppo in 2016 was a hammer blow to the armed rebels who once had hopes of toppling the regime.
President Assad has not won the war. But it is hard to see now how he can lose it, without an equally decisive intervention against him by an outside power.
The jihadist group Islamic State was incubated by the war. It started as an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
When it was driven out it was able to regroup and transform itself in Syria, taking over territory that the central government lost.
The first peaceful demonstrations against the regime in March 2011 seem a world away. Change seemed to be sweeping the region.
President Assad had talked endlessly about reform of the system in Syria since he inherited power from his father in 2000.
He admitted there was corruption. He did not talk about the well-documented brutality of the security services.
By the standards of the leaders of authoritarian Arabs he seemed relatively open to new ideas, but he never translated talk into action.
The immediate assumption in 2011 was that Bashar al-Assad would go the way of the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
But the Syrian regime, unlike those in Tunisia and Egypt, was well constructed to resist rebellion, around a core of Alawites from the president's own minority sect.
Unlike Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, Syria's president never lost the loyalty of his armed forces, or of his key foreign allies.
He also had real support from important sectors of the population, without which he would not have survived.
Syria has been caught up in the tide of sectarianism that has ripped across the Middle East since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Most of the rebels were Sunnis: Sunni governments in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar supported different groups.
The dominant Alawite minority in Syria is a branch of Shia Islam; the regime's biggest supporters outside Russia are the Shia regime in Iran and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia movement.
By 2012, the violence had escalated and the country had descended into civil war
The first generation of rebels begged Western powers, and sympathetic Saudis and Qataris, for military support. It arrived, but not on the scale that Russia gave President Assad later in the war.
In Libya, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi would probably have regained his grip on power had the UK, France and the US, and allies from Nato and Arab countries, not provided the rebels with an air force. Nothing like that was attempted in Syria.
Generals from Nato countries say that early in the war they had credible plans that could have ended the Syrian war.
But they did not have political leaders who were prepared to take the considerable risk of intervening - and in the White House, President Barack Obama was determined not to repeat the mistakes of his predecessor George W Bush by getting involved in another big Middle Eastern war.
Western powers blamed the government for a deadly chemical weapons attack in 2013
The crucial turning point came in August and September of 2013, after an attack using chemical weapons on rebel-held areas in the suburbs of Damascus.
President Obama first threatened force against the regime, then changed his mind.
In wars, hard power is decisive. Without it, Western countries could only huff and puff against President Assad.
Western countries never decided what they wanted in Syria, beyond saying that Mr Assad had to go.
President Putin knew exactly what he wanted - to preserve a friendly regime and show his supporters and the wider world that Russia was back on the world stage. He made it happen.
Barack Obama's decision not to forcefully respond to the 2013 attack angered the opposition
From the very beginning, President Assad and his people have presented the war as a foreign conspiracy intended to destroy secular, multi-cultural Syria.
The choice, he said, was stark - the regime or Islamist, terrorist extremists, and he made no distinction between different kinds of armed opposition.
They were all terrorists, all enemies of the Syrian people and therefore were legitimate targets.
The Syrian armed forces, President Assad has said throughout, are the protectors of the people.
Government forces have regained control of many areas of the country since late 2015
Early in the war, if you crossed the line from regime held areas to ones controlled by rebels, as I was able to do several times, the message was very different.
Many said they were local men who had taken up arms against a cruel dictator. Some were migrants from the countryside who had suffered badly during years of drought that had been handled badly by corrupt and inept administrators.
But that relative simplicity became muddled as the war developed layers of conflict, as rebel groups changed, sometimes self-destructed, fought each other as well as the regime, and were kept under constant pressure by the Syrian military.
The city of Homs, dubbed "the capital of the revolution" suffered widespread destruction
Half lost their homes, and either left the country as refugees or were displaced, often many times, within Syria.
The Syrian armed forces used siege tactics against enclaves controlled by rebels, sealing them off, stopping food deliveries, and shelling and bombing from the air.
All the available statistics, denied by the regime, say that the biggest killer of civilians has been the Syrian armed forces.
More children died in 2016 than in any other of the previous five years of civil war
I have interviewed the president, and had many conversations with Syrian officers about the scale of killing by the military.
They deny it has happened, and speak passionately about their desire to protect Syrians from religious extremists.
But the tactics they have used against areas controlled by rebels and with large civilian populations guarantee that many will die.
Barrel bombs are an indiscriminate weapon, and artillery and air strikes have laid waste to huge areas.
I have seen the damage myself in areas recaptured from rebels.
In many parts of east Aleppo, which was pounded by the regime and by the Russians, it is hard to find buildings that are undamaged. Entire districts were levelled.
Rebel groups have also used indiscriminate force, but they have a fraction of the firepower of the regime and its allies.
Rebel fighters and allied jihadists are estimated to control about 15% of Syria
Statistics are unreliable in a country that has been in chaos, with many areas impossible to reach. But they give an idea of what has happened.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is a monitoring group based in the UK using sources in Syria, says 321,000 people, including 96,000 civilians, have been killed in the war. Another 145,000 are missing, it says.
So many foreign powers, Western as well as Middle Eastern, have intervened in Syria that it became a mini world war.
The regime is secure, but it does not control large areas of the country. Civilians continue to suffer.
More people are going to die in a war that has changed but not ended.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39278851
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What made these grannies go nude in public? - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Eleven of them regrouped recently to speak to the BBC about their unconventional protest.
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India
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This image of a nude protest by a group of Indian mothers and grandmothers stunned the world 13 years ago.
Defying all stereotypes, the 12 women challenged the security forces and paved the way for real change on the ground in the north-eastern state of Manipur.
Eleven of the mothers regrouped in the state capital, Imphal, recently to speak to the BBC about their unconventional protest. The 12th protester died five years ago.
In a large bare hall, they sit on floor mats, many of them in their sunset years. Many are frail and have failing eye sight, one is accompanied by her daughter as she cannot walk unaided.
As they start telling me about that day, it's hard to imagine these women carrying out that act of protest.
Pioneering Indians is a series looking back at men and women who have helped shape modern India. Other stories from the series:
Manipur has struggled for decades with an insurgency involving several militant groups, and the Indian military has for more than half a century had sweeping shoot-to-kill powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (Afspa).
The mothers regrouped in Imphal to speak about their unconventional protest
Manorama was gang-raped and killed in July 2004
The security forces were often accused of rights abuses, but it was the gang-rape and murder of a 32-year-old woman in July 2004, allegedly by paramilitary soldiers, that set the state on the edge.
Manorama was picked up from her home at midnight on 11 July by soldiers from the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force deployed in Manipur to fight insurgents. A few hours later, her mutilated, bullet-riddled body was found by the roadside. It bore tell-tale signs of torture and rape.
The Assam Rifles denied any role in her death, but the state witnessed unprecedented anger and at the centre of that was the "mothers' protest".
The grannies in front of the Kangla Fort where they had staged their famous protest
The women were all housewives, mostly from poor families, and many did small jobs to supplement their family incomes. The oldest was 73, the youngest 45. Between them, they had 46 children and 74 grandchildren. They were also activists (called Meira Paibis, or torch-bearers). They knew each other, but belonged to different organisations.
Some of them visited Manorama's family and the morgue where her body was kept.
"It made me very angry. It was not just Manorama who was raped. We all felt raped," says Soibam Momon Leima.
Lourembam Nganbi (left) arrived in Imphal a day earlier from her home in Vishnupur, 30km away
The idea of a nude protest was first discussed on 12 July at a meeting of the All Manipur Women's Social Reformation and Development Samaj, but it was thought "too sensitive and radical", says Thokchom Ramani, who was 73 at the time.
But at a meeting later in the day of different women's groups, Ms Thokchom mentioned it and believing that "desperate times call for desperate measures", it was agreed that a small group of women would attempt to strip in front of the iconic Kangla Fort, the Assam Rifles headquarters.
On the morning of 15 July, the day of the protest, Laishram Gyaneshwari left her home at 5:30am.
"I didn't tell my husband or children that I was going to take part in this protest. I had no idea how it would go, I knew I was putting my life in danger and I knew I could die that day. So I touched my husband's feet, sought his blessings and left," she told me.
Thokchom Ramani, at 73, was the oldest protester
Lourembam Nganbi arrived in the city a day earlier from her home in Vishnupur, 30km away. Because of a government-imposed curfew in many parts of the state, there were no buses so she hired a private taxi to reach Imphal and walked the last few miles to the home of Haobam Ibetombi, another of the protesters.
"There, we removed our inner garments and just covered our bodies in the traditional Manipuri sarongs so that we could strip easily," she says.
Just after 9am, a van began ferrying them to Kangla Fort - it made three trips, carrying the protesters and volunteers, depositing them not at the fort but near enough to get there quickly.
Manipuris accuse the Indian army of misusing the sweeping powers given to them under the special law
The women were all housewives and mostly from poor families
"We were crying even before we left. We are women, all we have is our honour. And Manipur is a traditional society, we don't show our bodies. We are uncomfortable even showing our ankles," Mrs Laishram said.
The authorities had somehow got wind of their protest and a large number of police, some of them women, were beginning to gather outside the fort.
At 10am, the rag-tag bunch walked in twos and threes to the fort gate and before anyone could realise what was going on, the mothers stripped. They threw off all their clothes, beat their chests, rolled on the ground and wept.
The women carried banners that read "Indian army, rape us" and "Indian army, kill us". Even though Manorama had been taken away by members of a paramilitary force, most Indians don't know the different branches of the security forces, and so army is used as a loose term to describe them all.
Nine women were accused of arson and waging war against the country and were sent to jail
Although there were no leaders, Mrs Lourembam shouted the loudest, chanting slogans in English "because we wanted to shame them in a language they and the rest of the world understood", she said.
"I was thinking their action must stop, they must be punished. Women should not be raped anywhere in the world.
The women tried to storm the fort, but the soldiers locked the gates. "Two sentries pointed their guns at us. We dared them to shoot us and they lowered their weapons. I think they were ashamed," says Mrs Laishram.
Soon, a large crowd gathered and Mrs Thockchom says most people, including many police personnel, were crying.
The protest continued for just 45 minutes, but those 45 minutes have had a lasting impact on the lives on the 12 women and the story of Manipur.
Laishram Gyaneshwari did not tell her family that she was going to take part in the nude protest
The mothers became celebrities who were feted at neighbourhood receptions. But they were also harassed by an embarrassed government which began a systematic destruction of their offices and organisations.
Nine of the women were accused of arson and waging war against the country and were sent to jail for nearly three months.
Their protest, however, did have the intended impact of putting the spotlight on the Manipur problem.
"The mothers' protest came too late for Manorama, but it played a crucial role in forcing the Assam Rifles to vacate the fort four months later, for the first time since they occupied it in 1949," says Babloo Loitongbam of Human Rights Alert.
Manipur is one of India's most restive states
India also promised to look at the demand to repeal Afspa and then prime minister Manmohan Singh promised a "healing touch" to the Manipuris.
Thirteen years later, though, Afspa remains in large parts of the state and reports of rights abuses by security forces still come in, but campaigners feel the situation has improved.
Along with the 16-year fast by the state's most celebrated activist Irom Sharmila, the mothers' protest has entered the history books.
"We are still naked," Mrs Laishram tells me. "We will believe the government has clothed us only on the day Afspa is removed from the whole state."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-39179515
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Obesity crisis: Is this the food that is making us all fat? - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Could global trade in vegetable oil be to blame for our growing obesity crisis?
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Business
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Oil was previously used sparingly in cooking
A teaspoon of oil, measured out with precision, is how Professor Tim Benton remembers his mother preparing items for frying.
When he was growing up in the 1960s, vegetable oil was still a precious commodity and used sparingly.
Fast-forward to today and oil is now so abundant and cheaply available that most of us use it liberally in our cooking - chucking it in anything from salad dressings to deep fat frying.
It's not only in our home cooking, oil is also an ingredient in most of the items we buy from the supermarket.
In fact, vegetable oil, specifically soy bean oil and palm oil, are two of the eight ingredients, alongside wheat, rice, maize, sugar, barley and potato, that are now estimated to provide a staggering 85% of the world's calories.
Increasingly, no matter what country we live in, we all eat similar diets which are heavy in calories and low in nutrients.
It's a development that Prof Benton, a strategic research dean at the University of Leeds specialising in food security and sustainability, links directly to global trade.
The production of vegetable oils and oil crops have both increased considerably over the past three decades.
The rise has been driven by a combination of trade agreements, which have made it cheaper and easier to export and import oil, and various government policies. Policy incentives in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, aimed at ramping up production for export, have helped to lower the cost of vegetable oil, for example.
Obesity levels around the world have more than doubled since 1980
"Competing in a global market requires a highly efficient production process driving scale and cheapness. Now we have a food system built on incredibly cheap calories," says Prof Benton.
Of course, this food trade has in many cases helped reduce famine and, as Prof Benton points out, means the "poorest of poor have access to cheap calories".
But he says this trade - which means more people are eating less healthy imports, rather than what is locally available - may also have helped to make us fatter.
Over 50% of the world's population is not of a "healthy weight", according to Prof Benton's recent report on food production. And worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980.
"The poorest anywhere still struggle to get sufficient calories and are underweight, but in our rich countries, poverty often does not stop people being able to eat (and drink) calories, but it does stop them having a nutrient-rich diet," the report says.
Prof Corinna Hawkes, director of the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London, says the greatest increase in sources of calories since the globalisation era began, has come from oil crops.
"There was a very sudden and marked increase in the availability of soybean and palm oil and that to me is directly related with policies that made it easier to trade," she says.
The quinoa question - has globalisation disproportionately benefited those who are already advantaged?
Oilseeds are now among the most widely traded crops, and most processed foods contain either palm oil or soybean oil, which can help extend shelf life, she says.
"Because it became much easier and cheaper for the processed food industry to import it there was no disincentive for using it," she says.
A small amount of fat is an essential part of a healthy, balanced diet. But fats are high in calories so eating a lot can increase the risk of becoming overweight or obese. Saturated and trans fats are also associated with heart disease.
Prof Hawkes says that the low cost and availability of oil has meant some countries' cooking habits have changed. In China, for example, food is deep fried in high quantities of oil and in Brazil, people use larger amounts of oil in traditional dishes.
But alongside the increased trade of oil crops, she says, it's important to note that trade in fruit and vegetables has also increased, meaning many people's diets have actually improved.
This discrepancy is what Prof Hawkes calls the "quinoa question". Increasing western demand for the so-called "superfood", which has been grown high in the Andes for thousands of years, has been blamed for its skyrocketing price and unavailability for people in the countries it first came from.
The question goes to the heart of the controversy surrounding globalisation: that its rise has disproportionately benefited people who are already advantaged.
So while people clued-up on nutrition and health may be getting healthier thanks to global trade, those without this knowledge have seen their diet deteriorate.
We can now work, shop and socialise from home whilst barely moving
However, the findings of a recent study by the London School of Economics (LSE), which looked at 26 countries between 1989 and 2005 when globalisation dramatically expanded, contradict this.
The research concluded that "social globalisation" - changes in the way we work and live - was what was making us fat, rather than the wider availability of cheaper and more calorific foods driven by global trade.
Basically, the fact that we are are now increasingly able to work, shop and socialise whilst barely moving a muscle is to blame, says study author Dr Joan Costa-Font.
"Our food intake is driven towards meeting the needs of a pre-global [socially speaking] world, where people would have to walk to places, and where there would not be as many energy-saving activities as today. Individuals would have closer personal social contacts, and would cook and spend more time on daily chores," he says.
Dr Costa-Font says the research suggests that once people adapt their diet and lifestyle to these changes - basically move more and eat less - more normal weights will again prevail.
He points to the US as an example. While obesity levels are alarmingly high at almost 35%, he notes that this level has stayed pretty much the same over the past decade.
"That's good news. That's already something.
"It may be that the US is beginning to start to learn how to eat and adjust its lifestyle to a global one. The hypothesis is that this rise in obesity is only transitory."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39254804
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Who lost the most marks when cheating was stopped? - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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When Romania stopped cheating in its exams, it revealed the scale of the social gap in its school system.
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Business
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It's a conundrum. You might expect a less corrupt exam system to allow ability to shine through regardless of the economic status of the students.
But research into an ostensibly successful anti-corruption campaign in Romania has revealed that one of the consequences is precisely the reverse of its aims: that poorer students actually performed worse in the cleaned-up exam.
The research was carried out by a team of three economists including Dr Oana Borcan of the University of East Anglia, who herself had witnessed this corruption as a final-year high school student in Romania in 2006.
The corruption became apparent as she prepared to sit the all-important Baccalaureate exam which determined whether or not students could progress to elite universities. The cheating, Dr Borcan said, was "blatant". Much of it happened "in plain sight".
"The morning before the exam, students would go around collecting some money, a little contribution to give to the invigilators... some would pay, some would not, it was voluntary.
CCTV cameras were used to detect and discourage cheating in exams
"I remember seeing students who I knew had low marks in general get top scores… this left a very strong and long-lasting impression."
So strong, in fact, that it played a part in the direction of Dr Borcan's subsequent career.
The Bac cheating reached a peak in 2010, when hundreds of students submitted identical answer-sheets.
This time, whistles were blown, and the ensuing media storm led to high-profile prosecutions. As a result, the government introduced tough anti-corruption measures for future exams.
CCTV monitoring systems were to be installed in exam halls, and a range of severe punishments were given maximum publicity to deter would-be cheats.
These ranged from fines and loss of jobs to prison sentences; students caught cheating would be banned from re-sitting the exam as a minimum sanction.
"There were many prosecutions," Dr Borcan said.
"Based on reports by the Anti-Corruption Directorate, between 2010 and 2013, 280 teachers and students were prosecuted, 99 of whom received a prison sentence of between six months and five years."
More stories from the BBC's Global education series looking at education from an international perspective, and how to get in touch.
You can join the debate at the BBC's Family & Education News Facebook page.
All the signs were that the anti-corruption campaign was working. By 2012, the average pass rate had almost halved compared with 2009, from over 80% to 43%. The previously soaring average scores had plummeted and stabilised.
The overall findings were widely welcomed. However, Dr Borcan and her co-authors Mikael Lindahl and Andreea Mitrut of the University of Gothenburg, wanted to find out exactly how effective the different aspects of the campaign had been. They used rigorous statistical analyses of data from each of Romania's 42 counties.
Other potential factors affecting the scores were eliminated by using control groups, and by comparing results in different areas where, for example, CCTV was introduced in different years.
Overall, they found that the cameras were responsible for up to 50% of the overall drop in pass rates. But it was the combination of this monitoring with the real threat of punishment, plus heavy media coverage, that made the campaign so effective.
Romania had taken radical steps to tackle concerns about corruption in education
They also compared the findings with those from a similar anti-corruption drive in Moldova, which had comparable problems of cheating, as well as in Cambodia and India.
The bombshell in this research, however, was revealed when they analysed the impact in terms of students' socio-economic background. The pass rates of poorer students - those in receipt of financial assistance payments - fell by 14.3%, compared to 8.1% for better-off students.
Their overall marks also decreased disproportionately.
As a result, the researchers conclude that "the anti-corruption campaign resulted in increased inequality between poor and non-poor students" - and that it "significantly reduced their chances of entering higher education".
The researchers admit they were surprised by the finding and looked hard to isolate possible reasons.
The most likely culprit, it emerged, was that the "collective" and "petty" forms of corruption, as witnessed by Dr Borcan herself, had a curious effect: they might be paid for chiefly by well-off students bribing invigilators, but everyone benefited. It gave the poorer students "a free ride" to higher marks.
The research raises questions about how exams are used as the entry point for universities
It also meant that when cheating was removed, the academic advantages of wealthier students became even more apparent. Cheating it seemed had provided a kind of levelling effect.
"There's a silver lining to all this," she said. "When corruption was widespread, we couldn't know the true scale of inequality… Our findings have revealed just how much greater the equality gap is."
"Once we know the true gap in attainment, the government can tackle the source of the inequality."
The authors also see wider implications for their findings, for example, about the wisdom of such heavy reliance on a "high stakes" exam for university entrance.
Although she has not had any direct response from the Romanian government so far, she was hopeful that a new government, and a new education minister, would take notice and act.
"I am hopeful they'll have the right dialogue and we will be able to raise the questions that the authorities need to look at."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39254634
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Why does everyone keep making Nazi comparisons? - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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From Turkey to Trump, Boris and Russia - comparisons to Nazi Germany abound in not so diplomatic discourse.
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World
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Associating someone with Nazis - as in this Turkish TV broadcast - is unlikely to win any logical arguments
Labelling an opponent as "worse than Hitler" or saying a policy is "like Nazi Germany" is hardly new.
But recently, it has crept into political discussion on an international scale.
As a row between Turkey and the EU deepened in early 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused both the Germans and the Dutch of using Nazi tactics.
Similar comparisons plagued the 2016 US presidential election, and they can be found in every medium, from Twitter to national parliaments.
So why is it so widespread?
The answer, according to America's Anti-Defamation League (ADL), is simply that it is the "most available historical event illustrating right versus wrong."
When an argument descends to such fundamentals, the comparison inevitably turns up.
But "misplaced comparisons trivialise this unique tragedy in human history," the ADL's national director Jonathan Greenblatt says, "particularly when public figures invoke the Holocaust in an effort to score political points."
A German float in the Rose Monday parade declaring "blonde is the new brown" referenced the brownshirts - Nazi paramilitaries
Mr Greenblatt made those comments during the US presidential election, at a time when Donald Trump's policy announcements had led to comparisons to Adolf Hitler.
Yet Trump has done the exact same thing himself - comparing the US intelligence agencies to "Nazi Germany".
Johan Franklin's election message went viral - though he admits it's a "pretty crude" comparison
In fact, comparing someone to Hitler to invalidate their point is so popular it's been given its own fake Latin name, the reductio ad Hitlerum - a play on the very real logic term reductio ad absurdum. It's mostly used to point out the fallacy of comparing almost anyone to Hitler.
Even the German man who posted a viral image comparing Mr Trump to Hitler during the election acknowledged the comparison was "pretty crude".
Of course, nowhere are Nazi slurs more numerous than on the internet - and it's always been that way.
In 1990, an American lawyer named Mike Godwin noticed that arguments on early internet forums would constantly resort to calling the other side a Nazi.
And so Godwin's Law - that if an online discussion goes on long enough sooner or later someone will make a comparison to Hitler - was born, and became a "rule of the internet".
But Godwin originally coined the phrase to point out how ridiculous the comparison always is.
"I wanted to hint that most people who brought Nazis into a debate... weren't being thoughtful and independent. Instead, they were acting just as predictably, and unconsciously, as a log rolling down a hill," he wrote in an opinion column for the Washington Post.
In some parts of the internet, the appearance of Godwin's law was seen as a sign the discussion is over.
But the recent spate of high-profile spats proves that it hasn't reduced spurious Hitler references in real life.
When Turkey's President Erdogan levelled accusations of Nazi practices against Germany, it made international headlines.
But for Germans, it's treading old ground in a country which has strong laws against Holocaust denial or glorifying Nazi activity.
"I don't think that most Germans are too fazed about this type of comparison," said Professor Christoph Mick, a historian from the University of Warwick.
"They are used to it, and find it just bizarre that the most democratic and most liberal state in German history is compared to the Third Reich. These comparisons say more about those making [them] than about today's Germany and its politicians."
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So - if a Nazi reference trivialises the Holocaust, is widely acknowledged as a logical fallacy, is ridiculed online, and ignored by the Germans - it must have some persuasive power to have stayed around so long - right?
Not so, according to the English Speaking Union, an educational charity that promotes clear communication and critical thinking.
"Wielding accusations of fascism as an insult doesn't help to get your audience on side - instead, you raise the stakes of the debate, forcing a polarisation between 'good' and 'evil' into a discussion that may have reasonable positions on both sides," says Amanda Moorghen, the group's senior research and resources officer.
"Most of the time, people call others 'Nazis' because they think it will grab the attention of the audience.
"This is a big mistake, because any attention they do get will be drawn to the use of that word, rather than to the nitty gritty of the topic at hand."
And the secret to real success?
"It's far better to save strong words for the argument itself, rather than attacking the people you're arguing with," Amanda Moorghen says.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-39266863
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Shashank Manohar steps down as ICC independent chairman - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Shashank Manohar steps down as chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) after eight months in the role.
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Last updated on .From the section Cricket
Shashank Manohar, the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), has stepped down after eight months in the role.
The 59-year-old was elected as the body's first independent chairman on a two-year term in May last year.
Manohar, a two-time president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said the decision was because of personal reasons.
"I hope the ICC achieves greater heights in future," the Indian added.
The ICC confirmed it had received Manohar's resignation on Wednesday, adding that it would "assess the situation" before making any further announcements.
Manohar had previously sought to reduce the power of England, Australia and India - the so-called Big Three - on the ICC's decision-making executive committee.
Speaking in February 2016, he stated: "No member of the ICC is bigger than the other."
A final decision on a new governance structure was due to be taken at a meeting in April.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/39277528
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Cheltenham 2017: Special Tiara wins Queen Mother Champion Chase as Douvan fades - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Special Tiara wins the Queen Mother Champion Chase for jockey Noel Fehily with odds-on favourite Douvan well beaten.
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Last updated on .From the section Horse Racing
Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, live text coverage on the BBC Sport website and app
Special Tiara won the Queen Mother Champion Chase but 2-9 favourite Douvan struggled in a major shock on day two of the Cheltenham Festival.
The 10-year-old Special Tiara (11-1) finished a head clear of Fox Norton (7-1) with Sir Valentino (33-1) third.
It was jockey Noel Fehily's second big-race victory of the Festival following Tuesday's Champion Hurdle success.
Douvan, ridden by Ruby Walsh, jumped poorly and was never in contention, finishing seventh.
A post-race examination by a veterinary officer found Douvan to be lame behind.
• None Listen: 5 live podcast reacts to Day Two at Cheltenham
Fehily told BBC Radio 5 live: "[Special Tiara] felt great and never missed a beat. I have been second in this race a few times so to win one is brilliant."
Unbeaten in 13 previous starts for trainer Willie Mullins, Douvan's defeat was described by BBC horse racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght as "one of the biggest upsets in Cheltenham Festival history".
Douvan, who was the subject of a £500,000 bet at odds of 1-5, which would have produced winnings of £100,000, had never looked himself, and afterwards Mullins suggested the seven-year-old may have pulled something during the race.
"We are all a bit gobsmacked I think, he didn't jump as well as we had hoped with his usual fluency," Mullins told 5 live. "Usually you find something wrong when that happens.
"He probably pulled something, a muscle, a ligament, hopefully something that will come right straight away.
"Over the first two fences, I thought he would have to be a super horse to win this, you don't get away with that in the Champion Chase.
"I'm hoping he could be one of the best horses I have ever trained. Today clearly was not his day. That's the way it is.
"We are all disappointed that this happened, now my main job is to find out what is wrong and how long it will take to fix."
The defeat of Douvan has to rate as among the biggest shocks in Cheltenham Festival history.
It's not just the odds, but since joining Willie Mullins this horse has been winning with an authoritative flamboyance that meant that practically everyone thought his opponents had the proverbial Everest to climb to beat him.
And Douvan's defeat continued a challenging time for the normally rampant Ricci-Mullins-Walsh team and their expensively assembled string.
But good for Special Tiara, a real trooper, in the race for the fourth time and just holding on to make the ever-reliable Noel Fehily a double championship-winning jockey this week. And he's on the favourite in Thursday's feature race too.
Special Tiara's trainer Trainer Henry de Bromhead said: "He seemed in great form coming into it, but it was hard to believe we could win with Douvan and everything else - Douvan had looked so good.
"For our lad, he just tries his heart out and no-one deserves it more."
Fehily, 41, added: "I didn't think we'd beat Douvan, but I thought I had a great chance of being second. I got over the last and was surprised something hadn't come to me, but I knew he wasn't stopping."
The rest of the day's action
After three wins on the opening day, trainer Gordon Elliott claimed another double when Cause of Causes (4-1) won the Cross Country Chase before the fast-finishing Fayonagh (7-1) took the closing Champion Bumper
Both were ridden by experienced Irish amateur Jamie Codd, who also had a Festival double in 2015, and who was full of praise for Cause of Causes.
"He's run at four Festivals now, been second once and won three times," he said. "He's a great little horse and he's been marvellous for my career.
"He's an idle little horse but quick when you need him to be."
The most dramatic finish of the day saw the 7-2 favourite Might Bite beat his Nicky Henderson-trained stablemate Whisper (9-2) by a nose in the RSA Chase.
Might Bite, ridden by Nico de Boinville, was comfortably ahead but made a mess of the last fence and then started to hang badly to his right.
Whisper and Davy Russell saw an opportunity and got past the struggling Might Bite on the run-in, but de Boinville managed to correct his path with the aid of a loose horse and after the pair went past the post together, Might Bite was announced the winner.
There were also first festival winners for trainers Ben Pauling, after Willoughby House (14-1) beat Neon Wolf in the opening Neptune Investment Management Novices Hurdle, and for Nick Williams after the 33-1 chance Flying Tiger took the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle under champion jockey Richard Johnson.
And on Ladies Day, Jessica Harrington claimed her ninth Festival winner when Supasundae (16-1) took the Coral Cup.
However, there was some sad news from the day's racing after Consul De Thaix suffered a fatal fall during the Novices Hurdle.
His jockey Mark Walsh was treated for what was described as a "concussive head injury" and has been ruled out for the remainder of the Festival.
What to watch on Thursday
After his wins in the Champion Hurdle (Buveur D'Air,) and the Queen Mother Champion Chase (Special Tiara), Unowhatimeanharry could give Noel Fehily a third big-race win in the Stayers' Hurdle, the feature race on day three.
The nine-year-old is unbeaten in his last eight starts, including in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle 12 months ago, and is likely to be sent on his way at very short odds - but he likes very testing ground and the drying conditions may not be to his liking
Cole Harden won the race two years ago and is back again for the Warren Greatrex team.
The Jessica Harrington-trained Jezki is one of six Irish declarations, with Willie Mullins responsible for Clondaw Warrior, Nichols Canyon and Shaneshill.
Snow Falcon (Noel Meade) and Dedigout (Gordon Elliott) have also made the journey across the Irish Sea.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/39279372
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'My friends call me Lara Croft' - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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PC Kelly Ellis is training to become a firearms officer, the hardest thing she has ever done.
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UK
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. PC Kelly Ellis says her friends have dubbed her Lara Croft
PC Kelly Ellis has her finger hovering over the trigger of her Heckler and Koch G36 rifle.
She has a split second to decide whether to open fire on a man who appears to be drunk and suicidal and is holding a shotgun, pointing it at the ground.
Her colleague is calmly - but firmly - explaining the right thing to do is to put the weapon down.
But what if he does not? What if he raises the barrels? What then?
Welcome to the firearms training school.
Over three months, the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme had unique access to some of the new recruits being assessed in Cheshire.
These are the scenarios - the life and death decisions - that any British officer who wants to carry a gun must go through.
And if they make the wrong decision - pull the trigger when there was no need, or pull it when it is too late - then they are out. They will not make the grade.
By the end of next year, the UK will have about 7,500 armed police officers, after the government reversed a fall in their numbers since 2010.
Officers with years of firearms experience had been leaving their forces as police budgets were cut.
Now the numbers are rising again because security chiefs want more firearms teams available to counter any attempted Paris-style attack on the streets of Britain.
But given that the job requires volunteers - and those volunteers may one day be accountable for their actions before a jury - have the new recruits got what it takes?
While her friends have dubbed her "Lara Croft" - after the Tomb Raider action hero - PC Ellis says her parents were "apprehensive" when she first told them she wanted to train as a police firearms officer.
However, she says: "I tried to explain to them that the training we get, the weapons we are carrying, that actually I'm going to be more protected than I am now as a regular officer out on the streets."
She says the course is "easily the hardest thing I've ever had to do".
"It's just a lot to take in and a lot to remember. It's exhausting really."
Watch Dominic Casciani's full film on firearms training on the Victoria Derbyshire website.
And she says the possibility of coming face to face with an armed situation is now becoming more of a reality.
"Sometimes I go home from here of an evening, and you see what's going on in the news and you just think, 'In a few months' time, if I pass this course, that could be me, going out to that job, first on the scene, having to discharge a weapon.'"
She adds: "It is about putting your life on the line, but that's what I want to do.
"I get a massive sense of achievement from doing it, as well."
Safety: Officers are first taught how to handle a weapon...
The firearms centre in Cheshire trains officers from all over the country.
We watched 15 recruits being taught how to:
And that includes saving the lives of people they have just shot: according to the programme, they are trained to incapacitate a threat - not to kill.
... and also how to save lives
Did they pass? Well, watch our fly-on-the-wall film to find out.
Without giving too much away, what I and my colleagues John Owen, producer, and Martin McQuade, camera, witnessed was an awful lot of hard work.
There were some moments where recruits got a dressing down by their trainers for failing to learn fast enough.
The point was repeatedly made to them that if they were slow in making the right decision, the consequences could be fatal.
And they also needed to learn when to use words, rather than bullets, to stop a situation spiralling out of control.
Officers practise how to contain vehicles carrying armed suspects
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the recently retired Metropolitan Police Commissioner, warned that his force was recruiting from a very shallow pool of officers willing to carry a gun.
That, he says, is because many don't want the risks that come with the job - not necessarily the risk of being shot, but of ending up in court or under investigation for years.
Despite the political and media focus being on terrorism, the reality is that most of armed response policing work is unchanged from year to year.
Sometimes they'll be called to an armed robbery - less often than they used to be.
But most of the time they'll be dealing with extreme domestic violence situations, organised gang crime incidents and, sadly, mentally unwell people capable of doing themselves, or others harm.
So were the trainee officers I saw up to the task? Watch the film and decide for yourself.
Watch the Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-39260186
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Get Out star says Samuel L Jackson 'entitled to his opinion' - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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British actor Daniel Kaluuya says being black has lost him roles.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out: "It's my one shot"
The actor at the centre of a debate about the casting of British black actors in the US has spoken about how being black has lost him roles.
Daniel Kaluuya, who was born in London, leads the cast of Get Out - a searing racial satire about contemporary America.
Released in the UK this week, Jordan Peele's horror film has already been a massive hit at the US box office, making more than $100m (£82.5m).
But the film hit the headlines last week after actor Samuel L Jackson criticised Hollywood for casting black British actors in films about US race relations.
Speaking to the BBC, Skins star Kaluuya said he was proud to be in the first lead role of his career.
"You do stuff, people make decisions and it goes out there and people have opinions. And everyone's entitled to their opinion," he said.
"I love all my black brothers and sisters worldwide, and that's my position.
"All I know is this my first ever lead role in a film and I've lost out on a lot of roles because I'm black."
He added: "It's my one shot. I'm going to come through it and do my thing and go home."
He went on to describe Jackson as a "legend on and off screen".
Director Jordan Peele is the first African-American to earn $100m with his debut feature
In his original radio interview a week ago, Jackson said he wondered what Get Out would have been like with a US actor in the lead role.
"Daniel grew up in a country where they've been interracial dating for 100 years," he said.
Clarifying his remarks later in the week, he said his criticism was not of other actors, but of the Hollywood system.
Other actors have joined the debate, with Star Wars actor John Boyega tweeting that it was a "conflict we don't have time for".
In an article for The Guardian, Homeland actor David Harewood argued that Britons may be better suited to some parts because they are not burdened by "what's in the history books".
In Get Out, Kaluuya plays Chris, an African-American photographer who goes with his white girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) to visit her parents at their country home.
Chris is worried because Rose has not told her family she has a black boyfriend.
Meet the parents: Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford (on the left) with Allison Williams, Betty Gabriel and Daniel Kaluuya
He initially receives a warm welcome - if a bit odd at times - but as the weekend progresses, Chris discovers Rose's parents have a very different agenda.
"Jordan wrote this as a response to the idea that racism was 'solved' because Obama was president," Kaluuya said.
Peele has admitted he had not wanted to cast a British actor, but that Kaluuya had won him over during an initial audition.
"We spoke on Skype," Kaluuya confirmed. "He was very wary because it's an African-American specific experience, but then we had a chat about what it's like being black worldwide and being black in London."
The film's success has made Peele the first African-American writer-director to earn $100m with his debut movie, according to The Wrap.
How much did Kaluuya identify with the film's themes?
"There are an uncountable amount of instances when I've been paranoid," he said.
"I did a shoot in Lithuania when I was 17. Everywhere I went people were pointing and staring.
"Or when I go to Lidl and I get followed by security guards. Is that because it's me, I'm black or what I'm wearing?
"It's every day, navigating your life, getting stopped by police, I've had it all."
Kaluuya is currently filming Ryan Coogler's superhero film Black Panther in Atlanta, US.
"It's a life-changing experience for me," he said. "I can't wait to finish filming so I can watch it."
Get Out is out in the UK on 17 March.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39256074
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Leicester's Wes Morgan praises 'impossible' Champions League achievement - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Leicester City have "proved a lot of people wrong" by reaching the Champions League quarter-finals, says captain Wes Morgan.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Leicester City "achieved the impossible again" according to captain Wes Morgan, after a stunning win over Sevilla sent them into the Champions League quarter-finals.
The Foxes won 2-0 at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday to progress 3-2 on aggregate.
It continues a fairytale 12 months for Leicester following their Premier League triumph last season.
"I'm not sure if it will happen again but we did it," Morgan told BT Sport.
"We proved a lot of people wrong and pulled off the impossible again."
Who's through to the last eight?
Leicester, who are still battling for survival in the Premier League despite successive wins under new boss Craig Shakespeare, now go into Friday's quarter-final draw.
• None Champions League dream - could Foxes defy logic once again?
• None Leicester stun Sevilla to reach last eight
• None We want to avoid Leicester - Juve keeper Buffon
Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Juventus are among the teams they could play for a place in the last four.
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said after his side sealed their place in the last eight by beating Porto on Tuesday that Leicester are the team to avoid in the next round.
"We will take whoever comes," added Morgan.
"It is a fantastic night for Leicester. We still need to concentrate on the league but we will enjoy this moment."
'We could be the surprise team'
The 53-year-old Englishman stepped up from his role as Claudio Ranieri's assistant following the Italian's sacking on 23 February - after the first leg of this tie - and has now led the Foxes to three straight wins.
Shakespeare, who has been made permanent Leicester manager until the end of the season, believes the win ranks alongside the biggest in the club's history.
"It has to stand up there with all the achievements, because of the quality of the opposition," he said.
"We know there's going to be some terrific teams, as there were in the previous round. We're in there on merit. Make no mistake about that.
"It will be memorable for everyone at the football club. We might just be the surprise team."
Shakespeare was keen to highlight Ranieri's part in the club's success in Europe.
"Claudio will always be fondly remembered by everyone at this football club for what he achieved and helped us achieve," he added.
"The performance in the first leg when Claudio was in charge, that gave us the springboard for the result tonight."
From League Two to Champions League quarter-finals
Almost seven years ago to the day, goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was playing in League Two for Notts County as they drew with Bournemouth.
On Tuesday, he played a crucial role in securing Leicester's place in the Champions League last eight, saving Steven N'Zonzi's late penalty that could have taken the game to extra time.
"It is a great feeling to help the team progress," said Schmeichel.
"We have gone out and played more like we did last season and we are reaping the rewards of it now.
"A lot of us have come a long way. I've been all the way down in League Two and to be standing here in the Champions League quarter-finals is incredible."
Foxes midfielder Marc Albrighton, who scored his side's second, added: "I'm a bit lost for words.
"I think we thoroughly deserved the victory. We pressed them from the first whistle to the last and rode our luck at times, defended triumphantly, and to get the two goals against such a good team and keep a clean sheet is fantastic for us."
Like Leicester of old - analysis
Former Leeds United and Manchester City defender Danny Mills told BBC Radio 5 live: "It's just a different Leicester from what we have seen so far this season.
"All those fans who thought it was a disgrace that Ranieri was sacked, they have got to eat some humble pie.
"There had to be something wrong there."
Ex-Leicester manager David Pleat: "They looked so fluid and had such amazing passion and determination. It has been such a fantastic time for them over the past few years, which is why we love the game.
"You have to beat your opponents over the course of 180 minutes, which makes the win even more impressive.
"Who would have thought they would win the title last year so whoever they face, who knows? I don't think they would want either Real Madrid or Barcelona in the quarter-final. Perhaps Monaco if they make it through against Manchester City tomorrow."
Sunday Times football correspondent Jonathan Northcroft added: "It reminded me of last season so much. It just had that epic quality. Everything was the same as last year tonight, except the man in the dugout.
"But you have got to be honest, this is not the set-up Ranieri would have chosen - they would have had different instructions.
"This was back to basics for Leicester tonight and that is what the players wanted - that's what got them success last year. It's a pretty simple blueprint but they do it so well."
What the papers said
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39275231
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Six Nations 2017: Wales name unchanged side to face France - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Ken Owens wins his 50th cap as Wales name an unchanged side for the third straight game to face France in the Six Nations.
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Last updated on .From the section Welsh Rugby
Coverage: Live on BBC One Wales & S4C, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, plus live text commentary.
Wales have named an unchanged side for the third consecutive game when they play France in the Six Nations in Paris on Saturday.
Hooker Ken Owens will win his 50th cap as coach Rob Howley sticks with the 23-man squad that beat Ireland 22-9 in Cardiff last Friday.
Howley has resisted calls to include inexperienced players, saying the team deserves a vote of confidence.
"I was delighted for the players at Friday's performance," he said.
"They deserve the opportunity to build on that in our final Six Nations encounter."
Scarlets hooker Owens, 30, has won 31 of his 49 Test caps off the bench, but has started in all four of this season's Six Nations matches and is being tipped as a potential British and Irish tourist for the summer tour of New Zealand.
He lines up alongside Tomas Francis and Rob Evans, while the back row of Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric and Ross Moriarty is retained with Bath number eight Taulupe Faletau on the bench.
Faletau's Bath team-mate Luke Charteris is also among the replacements, with Jake Ball retaining his second-row place alongside captain Alun Wyn Jones in the starting line-up.
Wales could finish as high as second in the championship if they beat France and other results go their way.
"The experience we showed and the intensity we brought to the match was hugely important and that will be just as important as we face a good France team," said Howley.
"For us there are areas of the game we want to work on from Ireland and we have an opportunity to do that on Saturday and finish the campaign with another quality performance.
"The players who took to the field at Principality Stadium deserve the opportunity to start and we were pleased with the impact from the bench so will be looking for the same this weekend."
• None Follow the 2017 Six Nations across the BBC
• None Wales will not host Friday night Six Nations games in 2018 or 2019
Wales in the 2017 Six Nations
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39277003
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Romelu Lukaku: Everton striker rejects new contract at Goodison Park - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Everton striker Romelu Lukaku turns down the most lucrative contract offer in the Premier League club's history.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Everton striker Romelu Lukaku has turned down the most lucrative contract offer in the club's history.
The Premier League club had been confident the Belgium international would sign a new five-year deal thought to be worth around £140,000 a week.
The 23-year-old's agent, Mino Raiola, had said his client was "99.9%" certain to extend his stay at Goodison Park.
However, Lukaku has told the Toffees he currently has no desire to extend a contract that has two years to run.
Lukaku has made no secret of his desire to play in the Champions League and has been linked with a return to former club Chelsea, from whom he joined Everton for £28m in 2014.
Everton's contract offer remains on the table and still hope further negotiations could end in an agreement.
For now, however, Lukaku is not willing to agree terms and the Toffees would demand a fee in excess of £60m for a player who has scored 19 goals this season.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39273691
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'A lovely man': The woman who dated the Man on the Moor - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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One of the few people with any insight into the puzzle behind the man's death was Maureen Toogood.
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Magazine
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On 12 December 2015 a man's body was found lying on the ground on Saddleworth Moor. He had died from poisoning.
He became known as the Body on the Moor. And the struggle to identify him became one of the strangest mysteries.
No mobile, no identification of any kind. No family or friends came forward.
One of the few people with any insight into the puzzle behind the man's death was Maureen Toogood.
Maureen had a relationship with a man starting in the late 1960s. They didn't marry and she ended up marrying someone else but they stayed friends. For 40 years they saw each other regularly - she helped him in his garden and around the house.
Then in 2006 he simply vanished from Maureen's life - upped sticks and left the country.
All of the interviews here are taken from the new episode of the World at One's Body on the Moor podcast series by Jon Manel.
Maureen believed he had sold his home and emigrated to California.
The first she heard was when she received a call from his neighbour. She was told he was going to the US the following day.
"I was very hurt by this," she says. She was unable to contact him because his phone had been disconnected. Since then, she says, she has thought about him often.
Eleven years later she got another phone call. This time from the police.
They had finally identified the body on the moor. They were calling because it was David Lytton, her friend.
They knew little of his life and Maureen was able to fill in some of the gaps.
Before he left in 2006, David had lived an apparently unremarkable life in south-west London, working as a croupier, a taxi controller for a mini-cab company, a baker and a train driver for the London Underground.
Maureen says she met David in 1968. She was suffering from flu at the time but had ventured out to Finchley in north London to buy a stereo. It was the Last Night of the Proms and she wanted to enjoy listening to it at home.
"I didn't feel very well. I was on my knees, and I was collapsing. There was a young man who went 'Oh, hang on, hang on I'll come over,'" she remembers.
"He walked home to my flat and he made me a nice cup of tea. We hit it off. He made me some toast - I hadn't had any breakfast and he stayed with me until my flatmates came home."
The following day, she says, he was back on her doorstep.
"'Hello, do you remember me?' he said. And he kept coming round every day. He didn't leave me at all. We would even meet in the launderette round the corner and do our washing together."
She describes him as a gentleman who liked to take care of her. He treated her to haircuts in fashionable Mayfair, where he was working as a croupier.
But, although he was happy to treat his girlfriend, there were few extravagances for himself.
His house in Streatham was sparsely decorated. There was no bed, just a piece of foam and a three-piece suite from a second-hand shop. Two items do stand out, though. Korans, one for upstairs and one for downstairs, she says.
There was nothing in the kitchen - no fridge, no kettle, no food.
"He said he wasn't entitled to comforts. Where he got that I don't know," she says.
The police went on to discover that David ate all his meals at the same local vegetarian restaurant at the same time each night.
He dressed smartly and was very particular and precise. Maureen says she could have predicted the clothes that he would be wearing the morning he was found: "M&S socks, white Jockey underwear, white vest, a singlet, cord trousers - navy blue, and round-neck sweater and an old mac that he probably had 30 or 40 years."
His luxury was a pair of shoes made by the Swiss designer Bally.
David grew up in the north London suburb of Finchley. He was born David Keith Lautenberg on 21 April, 1948 to Sylvia and Hyman Lautenberg. He was Jewish, his family having originally come to Britain fleeing from Europe. At some time, his immediate family changed their name from Lautenberg. He changed his name to David Lytton in 1986.
Maureen and David met not long after he left Leeds University. He had gone to study psychology and sociology but, according to the police, he suffered from hypothyroidism and found it difficult to sleep at night. Instead, he slept during the day and didn't get the grades he wanted. When he returned to London he fell out with his family and moved out of his home.
Maureen describes David as a "strange" man with some "quirky ways".
"But I did like him," she says.
"He was very particular, very precise and a gentleman. He was a lovely, lovely man."
He didn't have any hobbies or particular interests that she knew of. But the police have discovered that David had an interest in different religions, including Buddhism and Islam.
His last job was as a driver for the London Underground, one which he was well-suited to, says Maureen. "He enjoyed that - he liked his own company. He was a loner."
Maureen and David had a pregnancy which ended in miscarriage. She says he changed greatly after that, he became withdrawn and quiet.
Unbeknown to Maureen, David put his house up for sale in 2005. It sold on 4 October 2006, and he left for Pakistan on 6 October - not California as Maureen had mysteriously been told.
His departure, it seems, was part of a plan - not a sudden disappearance.
For Detective Sergeant John Coleman, this was one of the hardest cases of his career. He never dreamed it would remain unsolved for so long. Early in the investigation, he believed a titanium plate that had been fitted during an operation on the man's leg would provide the answer. This type of plate is only used in Pakistan, so police only needed to track down the surgeon. After months of searching, they drew a blank.
But as the anniversary of the death of the man on the moor was approaching, there was a breakthrough.
Initial inquiries had also focused on Ealing in West London, as it was here that the man was caught on CCTV.
Because of the Pakistan connection and the fact that he had been seen walking from the direction of South Ealing, which is a few stops along from Heathrow Airport, DS Coleman had a hunch.
He asked for all the passenger lists from Pakistan to be examined from the days before he was first spotted on CCTV in London. The task was to find someone who fitted the profile of a white male between 65 and 75, possibly travelling alone.
At first, the person asked to do this failed to find a match. But as the anniversary approached, he revisited the case.
"That's a hell of a piece of work. Thousands and thousands of people. The tenacity of that officer," he says.
A match was found. The man was British, so police contacted the UK Passport Agency and obtained a copy of his passport photograph. Although the picture was 10 years old, there was a resemblance.
"You can imagine the excitement in Oldham CID," says DS Coleman. CCTV images from Lahore airport came through on the anniversary of the death. The police had found their man.
A DNA sample from a family member was needed for confirmation.
Police checked the electoral roll in London. When this failed to turn up any leads, they turned to genealogy records. Eventually, they found David's mother Sylvia, who suffers from dementia and lives in a care home in London.
The trail led to Maureen, who telephones the care home to check up on her former friend's mother every day.
From David's visa for Pakistan, the police have been able to fill in some blanks.
The found out that he set up home in an area called Hassan Town in Lahore.
Neighbours say he kept himself to himself. One said he used to read all the time and visit the local internet cafe.
"He never bothered anybody, though local lads teased him at times," one told the BBC.
"He was nice to his neighbours and ate food sent by his next door neighbours. You would see him going for a walk in the morning, dressed in a tracksuit."
Another recalled him returning from the hospital after he had the plate fitted.
"His friend requested me to arrange for his food while he was on bed-rest," said Ejaz Ahmad.
"So my family looked after him, our children used to bring him fruit and go to the bakery to buy him cake or pastry. So he was in bed for 15 to 20 days and then he started walking slowly."
Another said that he was a Muslim and that David told him that he had converted in 1996.
"Now, I don't know whether he said this in view of the treatment meted out to Christians here, as they are made to eat in separate pots from us, Muslims, but he definitely told me that he was a Muslim."
The police say there is no evidence to suggest that he had converted to Islam.
On Thursday 10 December, David Lytton sat in seat 25C on a Pakistan International Airlines Flight from Lahore arriving at London Heathrow at 15:30.
He was met at the airport by a friend, who he had known for some 35 years. They ate a meal before the friend dropped David off at the Travelodge in Ealing.
"His friend indicated that since David had not been in the UK for some time, he wanted to spend some time - weeks or months travelling around and seeing the sights," says DS Coleman.
Although he booked into the hotel for five nights, David only stayed one.
And in keeping with the mysterious nature of this story, police have been unable to locate the 18kg suitcase that he brought with him from Pakistan.
And what about the "why". Why did David Lytton travel to Manchester, and then out to the renowned beauty spot?
"I've got all the GP's records - I have records from university - there is no connection to Dovestones," says Detective Sergeant Coleman.
At the inquest in Manchester, Coroner Simon Nelson said Mr Lytton "died of his own hand", but he couldn't be sure whether Mr Lytton had intended to take his own life.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39255114
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Pep Guardiola: Man City boss beats Louis van Gaal's European 100-game record - BBC Sport
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2017-03-15
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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola becomes the manager with the best record in 100 games of European competition.
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Last updated on .From the section European Football
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has eclipsed Louis van Gaal as the most successful manager in European club football after 100 games.
The ex-Barcelona boss lost his 100th match on Wednesday in the Champions League last-16 second leg with Monaco.
But his European record stands at 61 wins, 23 draws and 16 defeats.
That puts him marginally ahead of former Manchester United boss Van Gaal, who also won 61 of his first 100 games in Europe, but drew 22 and lost 17.
Titles won by managers with five best 100-game records in Europe
City won the first leg of their last-16 tie 5-3, but were beaten 3-1 in Monaco and went out of the competition on away goals.
Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, now in charge of Championship leaders Newcastle, has dropped from second to third on the list. He won 60, drew 22 and lost 18 of his first 100 games in European competition.
Sir Alex Ferguson, who won the Champions League twice with Manchester United, is 12th (W49; D32; L19), while current United boss Jose Mourinho is ninth (W54; D25; L21).
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger sits 27th on the list after winning 42 of his first 100 games in Europe, drawing 29 and losing 29.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39273148
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Who is the Brexit Secretary David Davis? - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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An in-depth profile of the David Davis featuring those who have known him through the years.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Who is the minister leading the UK's Brexit negotiations? Nicholas Watt reports
Until well into the 1980s, Tory grandees tended to show interest in new MPs only if they had aristocratic heritage or were a waspish intellect in the mould of Chris Patten.
The odd exception was made. Sir John Major was eventually admitted into the Blue Chip group of Tory MPs first elected in 1979, though only when it became clear he was racing to the top.
David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, who was elected to Parliament a generation ago, in 1987, is neither an aristocrat nor a whimsical intellectual.
He had a troubled upbringing and is more of an intellectual bruiser dating back to the time when he stood up to his bullying stepfather.
But Mr Davis marked himself out to Tory grandees after accepting a dare.
Over dinner hosted by the late Alan Clark at his medieval Saltwood Castle in Kent, Mr Davis agreed to walk along the "black" route, the crumbling ramparts overlooking the ruins of a chapel.
"[He] did the 'black' route without turning a hair, then retraced his footsteps, hands in pockets - first time that's ever been done!" Clark wrote in his diary.
Mr Davis' training in the SAS (Reserve) regiment - which helped fund his way through university - had paid off.
Nonchalantly completing the black route cemented Mr Davis' reputation among Tories as a fearless hard man.
But it also illustrated another character trait that gives an insight into his approach to the Brexit negotiations.
Mr Davis is prepared to take risks but never in a reckless way, and only after a careful calculation of all the options in front of him.
Mr Davis' belief in taking calculated risks explains one of the central decisions Theresa May has taken in her approach to Brexit.
This was her declaration, outlined in her Lancaster House speech in January on the Brexit negotiations, the UK was prepared to walk away from a bad deal.
Mr Davis had advised the prime minister the EU would take the UK seriously only if it showed it was unafraid of no deal.
Lord Howard of Lympne, the former Tory leader, who had difficult relations with David Davis in his days as shadow home secretary, wholeheartedly endorses his approach.
"Obviously it would be better place for the EU and the UK if a sensible constructive deal is struck," Lord Howard told the BBC's Newsnight programme.
"But if, for whatever reason, they don't want to do that, we'll be fine without a deal.
"We can manage without a deal - better with one, fine without one."
The confidence that led Mr Davis to advise the prime minister to think nothing of calling the bluff of the remaining EU member states has won him an admiring band of supporters on the Tory benches. But, to some, his confidence can border on cockiness.
One Tory grandee told Newsnight: "He is the only man I know who can swagger sitting down."
Mr Davis later admitted the use of T-shirts emblazoned with his 2005 leadership campaign slogan, "It's DD for me," had backfired
Andrew Mitchell, the former cabinet minister who ran Mr Davis' unsuccessful campaign for the Tory leadership in 2005, told Newsnight: "He is an extraordinarily optimistic and self-confident person.
"I remember one of the Cameroons saying to me in exasperation that he was the only person he knows who did not go to Eton but has the same level of self-confidence you get from an Eton education."
Mr Mitchell became firm friends with Mr Davis when they both worked in the bruising battleground of the Tory whips' office in the 1990s, pushing through the Maastricht treaty.
There is something of an irony that the man who enforced the integrationist treaty - which pushed many Tories into outright opposition to Brussels - is now leading the UK out of the EU.
Lord Howard, believed to be one of three Eurosceptic cabinet ministers at the time of the Maastricht battle dubbed "bastards" by Sir John Major, sees no contradiction.
"I suppose you could say we've all been on a journey," he told Newsnight.
"Maastricht was a long time ago. The EU has become much more integrationist since then, and the flaws in the project more apparent."
David Davis did not get on with David Cameron
Mr Davis had a mixed career after the Tories lost power in 1997.
He loved hounding civil servants as chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee between 1997 and 2001.
He put down a marker when he emerged as the dark horse candidate in the 2001 Tory leadership contest, making him the favourite in 2005 until he was upstaged by David Cameron during the party conference.
The boy from the south London council estate and the Etonian never hit it off.
Mr Cameron regarded Mr Davis as vain and self-aggrandising when he triggered a by-election over civil liberties, which he won, in 2008.
This paved the way for nearly a decade on the backbenches as a serial rebel, where he repeatedly clashed with Mrs May over civil liberties.
Then, last summer, in his late 60s, he was finally asked to join the cabinet, by Mrs May, as one of three Brexiteers.
And Mr Davis, unlike Liam Fox and Boris Johnson, who are seen as sources of trouble, has won the trust of the prime minister.
Mr Davis (l) has won the trust of Mrs May
No 10 sources say Mr Davis has come into his own on Brexit, and is even turning into something of an elder statesman.
Just down the street, in his office at No 9, Mr Davis puts his success down to two factors: silence and what he calls proximity.
He has avoided talking out of line and has made a point of squatting in the building next to No 10 to ensure he can easily wander up the street if problems arise.
Mr Davis, who will celebrate his 70th birthday a few months before the Article 50 negotiations are due to end, in March 2019, says he has one shot at making a success of Brexit, which he is determined to achieve.
He hopes to retire a happy man at that point, although he appears not to have ruled out another challenge.
Mr Mitchell told Newsnight: "I don't know if this is last hurrah or not. The extraordinary thing about politics [is you] never know what's round the corner."
A man who can saunter along the ramparts of a medieval castle is no doubt capable of springing surprises.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39261668
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Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger: Should a rapist be invited on stage? - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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An event featuring a rapist discussing his crime on stage has drawn condemnation and support. Should a perpetrator be given a platform?
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World
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger spoke on the BBC's Newsnight
An international project featuring a rapist discussing his crime on stage has drawn both condemnation and support. So should a perpetrator be given a platform to share his experience?
"There's a rapist in the building," the protesters shouted as they briefly blocked the entrance. "Get the rapist out."
Their banners and loudspeakers were an unusual sight outside a venue better known for world-class concert performances than controversy.
The anger at London's Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre on Tuesday evening was over South of Forgiveness, an event that would see a woman inviting the man who raped her to discuss the impact of his actions.
The discussion between Thordis Elva, from Iceland, and Australian Tom Stranger had already been dropped from a women's festival at the weekend following pressure from campaigners.
But it was rescheduled after organisers of the Women of the World (WOW) Festival said the debate was too important to silence.
"Rape is one of these critical issues and we need to shift the discourse around it, which too often focuses on rape survivors rather than rape perpetrators", Jude Kelly, artistic director of the Southbank Centre, said in a statement.
Diane Langford, one of the protesters waving placards on the banks of the River Thames, condemned the decision.
"I'm here because I feel a rapist is profiting from his rape," said the 75-year-old, herself a survivor of rape.
"I don't believe there can ever be impunity for a rapist."
Diane Langford, left, was at the protest with her daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter
Thordis Elva was 16 when she was raped by her then 18-year-old boyfriend, Tom Stranger, after a Christmas party in her hometown in Iceland.
After years of turmoil she decided to get in touch with him. And to her surprise, he replied with a confession and an offer of "whatever I can do".
By then it was too late for her to press criminal charges. Instead, they wrote a book together about what happened.
A TED talk they filmed last October has been watched by more the 2.7 million people and the pair have since taken part in a handful of stage appearances.
Their London fixture prompted a petition by campaigners who warned it would be a "trigger" for sexual assault survivors - bringing back painful and dangerous memories - and could "encourage the normalisation of sexual violence instead of focusing on accountability and root causes of this violence".
They said it risked "suggesting that standing on a platform alongside one's rapist is a model approach to addressing sexual violence".
The debate comes amid continued concern about the number of victims who report rape to police, both in the UK and around the world.
The BBC has previously covered cases - for example in Colombia and Myanmar - where women have been attacked and even raped again for speaking out against sexual assault.
Elva, who now lives in Sweden with her husband and son, insists she is not sharing a set of recommendations for others.
Instead, she wants to shift the focus of responsibility for sexual violence to the perpetrator rather than the victim, and bring about what she calls the "demonstrification" of attackers.
"Demonisation of perpetrators in the mainstream media got in the way of my recovery," she said.
"The fact that Tom wasn't a monster, but a person who made an awful decision, made it harder for me to see his crime for what it was."
When it was Stranger's turn to speak at the Royal Festival Hall on Tuesday, his words appeared very carefully chosen and he still seemed to have some difficulty getting them out.
"I'm not up here as some form of punishment... or searching for some kind of questionable redemption," he said.
"I'm not trying to benefit my profile or my bank balance. It would be disrespectful for me to do so."
Organisers of the event said Stranger would not be paid for his appearance and he has vowed to donate any profits from the book to charity.
He is being held up as the first and only confessed rapist to speak out publicly and internationally about his crime - without being identified by a court. So there is no guide on how to deal with these sensitivities.
But the attempts to make Stranger's involvement more palatable have failed to pacify some activists and victims.
"Even if he's not getting paid, he will benefit from the cultural capital and the media buzz. He will continue to use his position of the vocal rapist to be protected," Liv Wynter, an artist, activist and survivor of rape, told the BBC.
In a comment piece published before Tuesday's event, Wynter argued that rapists should not be applauded for purely admitting their crime, and worried that such a discussion could encourage other perpetrators to contact their victims.
No-one involved in the event encouraged this. But any possibility - however slight - that rapists might be somehow persuaded to contact their victims "would undoubtedly be concerning", says Katie Russell, a spokesperson for support group Rape Crisis.
"If there is any rapist reading about this who is considering doing so, we urge them not to; it's not your right or your decision," she says.
Rape Crisis as well as The Survivors Trust stress that, while they support Thordis Elva's process of recovery, her approach will not be right for everyone.
"We welcome the debate with caution as each experience is unique," says Fay Maxted of The Survivors Trust.
Campaigners, meanwhile, have questioned how far Tom Stranger will go now to challenge other men who have perpetrated - or could perpetrate - sexual violence.
He told the audience in London he would be "deeply invested in listening to other men" and encouraged more men to take part the debate about sexual violence and responsibility around the world.
"I recognise I'm a problematic individual. But I think there's a hunger for this discussion and it is high time."
His involvement in the talk was broadly welcomed by those in the audience on Tuesday - perhaps unsurprisingly as they had devoted the time to listen.
"It was still her story", said Karla Williams, 34. "He didn't try to hijack anything or make it about himself."
"If you never hear from men, then how is anything ever going to change?" added her friend Simran Chawla, 41.
A handful of the men in the audience also shared their reactions in follow-up discussions after Elva and Stranger's talk. "I think what they are doing is extraordinary. I'm really pleased this is happening," one man said.
"Tom did something quite brave and courageous" in speaking up, said another.
But the small number currently engaging in the debate soon came in sharp focus. It emerged that a separate men-only discussion after Elva and Strange's event only attracted two participants.
"It seems men here weren't ready to have the conversation with themselves," one of them said.
• None 'Why I wrote a book with my rapist' The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-39274941
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What U-turn tells us about May's government - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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Theresa May and Philip Hammond are counting the cost of the fastest - and biggest - U-turn of recent times, on National Insurance rises for the self-employed.
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UK Politics
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"Screech!" The tyre marks must be visible on the tarmac, the smell of burning rubber hanging in the air over Downing Street.
Almost exactly seven days later to the minute, the prime minister and chancellor have dumped the most controversial part of their Budget, scrapping the planned rises to National Insurance.
A U-turn so fast, so blatant, so complete, it's hard to think of recent examples that are so overt. Why?
Number 10 and Number 11 were worried about the fact they would have been breaking a manifesto promise to carry the measure through.
Their complicated excuse just didn't wash. Some Tory backbenchers were so unhappy about it that they had gone into overdrive trying to change the chancellor's mind. And in the end ditching the plan, while politically costly, doesn't cost that much money in the longer term, in the context of the whole government budget.
It undermines the credibility of the chancellor, an admission at the very least, that his political antennae have gone wonky.
Second, it questions the extent to which the prime minister is willing to back him.
Relations between the next door neighbours are businesslike and between their operations certainly frosty - and this will not have improved things at all.
It also tells us that although polling suggests the prime minister is strong in the country, she's simply not that strong in Parliament.
A firm nudge from backbenchers, and they shifted.
One Tory MP told me he was "livid… a little bit of difficulty and they give way?"
Given the complexities of what the government hopes to achieve in the next four years, for ministers to cave so quickly on this is worrying for some of their supporters.
However, whereas in traditional times, a reversal like this would have been a disaster for the Prime Minister, instead, by the end of today's Prime Minister's Questions Theresa May was leaning back and grinning, with the chancellor appearing relaxed alongside.
You could see from the faces of Labour backbenchers, Jeremy Corbyn was unable to land any blows.
Who would have thought it?
A giant, embarrassing reversal from the government, a gift for the opposition, but the Labour leader instead was the one looking uncomfortable by the end of his weekly clash with Theresa May. A bad day at the office for them both.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39281756
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Marine A's colleagues 'wanted Afghan insurgent dead' - BBC News
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2017-03-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Troops who fought alongside jailed sergeant speak for the first time about the 2011 killing.
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UK
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sgt Blackman's murder conviction has now been reduced to manslaughter
As the conviction of Sgt Alexander Blackman for shooting an injured Afghan fighter in 2011 is reduced from murder to manslaughter on the grounds of his mental illness, Royal Marines who fought alongside him have spoken for the first time - offering new insights into the killing.
In interviews for BBC Panorama, the men from 42 Commando said they wanted the insurgent dead and their comrade "took one for the team" when he faced a court martial.
His colleagues said they also suffered from post-traumatic stress and one marine believes such incidents occurred elsewhere during the conflict.
There is much public sympathy for Blackman, 42, but few people who have watched the full video of the killing - recorded by another marine's helmet-mounted camera - would describe him as a hero.
The footage has not been made public but Blackman can be heard trying to cover up his actions, making sure a helicopter above is out of sight before he delivers the fatal shot.
Perhaps more understandable though is the sympathy of the men who fought alongside him and endured the same hardships.
Colleagues suggested there were other pressures on Blackman, who was known as Marine A during the original trial process and was only fully identified when he was convicted.
Rob Driscoll, who was at a nearby patrol base at the time of the killing, told Panorama: "Everyone that was speaking on that radio was sending out a signal to Al... everyone wanted that guy to be dead."
He said no-one would have wanted to send out a medical team to help the insurgent because the ground could have been littered with roadside bombs, while a helicopter might have been targeted in the air.
They would have done it for one of their own, but risking British lives for a wounded Taliban fighter "who has been shooting at them for the last four months" was less appealing, he said.
The helmet-mounted camera of another marine filmed Blackman (pictured) shooting the prisoner
Sam Deen, who was on the patrol, said: "I do remember saying, 'yeah I would shoot him'... and I do think I influenced what happened".
"A few of the other lads said that," Mr Deen said.
The killing, on 15 September 2011, took place after a patrol base in Helmand province came under fire from two insurgents.
One of the attackers was seriously injured by gunfire from an Apache helicopter sent to provide air support, and the marines found him in a field.
The footage from the helmet-mounted camera showed Blackman shooting the Afghan prisoner in the chest at close range with a 9mm pistol.
Blackman, from Taunton, was convicted of murder in November 2013 and jailed for life. He lost an appeal in May of the following year, but his 10-year minimum term was reduced to eight years.
Five judges at the Court Martial Appeal Court in London have now ruled the conviction should be manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility, not murder.
A further hearing will now decide what sentence Blackman should serve.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Extract from helmet camera recording of incident in Helmand, Afghanistan
Filmmaker and anthropologist Chris Terrill was embedded with Blackman's unit at the time of the shooting.
His film for Panorama tries to look beyond the narrow focus of the helmet camera that led to Blackman's conviction and questions whether, in the slow attrition of war, they began to think as a pack and lose their moral compass.
Speaking about Blackman's decision to kill the insurgent, Sam Deen says: "I do think he took the responsibility for the younger lads… he thought it was his responsibility to do it, and then move on."
Rob Driscoll admits to some sleepless nights but adds: "I'm glad Al did what he did because all my guys went home".
Louis Nethercott, another Royal Marine on the patrol, tells Panorama: "I think it was just another day in Afghanistan and that's the way it goes out there.
"And none of us got hurt so it was a successful day as far as I'm concerned".
Chris Terrill asks another Royal Marine who was on that tour whether he thought this was the only time such an incident occurred during the Afghan war.
Panorama, Marine A: The Inside Story will be on BBC One at 22:50 GMT, and available later on iPlayer.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39282574
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Marcus Rashford: Manchester United striker to be called up to England senior squad - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford will be named by Gareth Southgate in the England squad on Thursday.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford will be named in Gareth Southgate's England squad on Thursday.
The 19-year-old was initially expected to feature for the England Under-21 side in friendlies against Germany and Denmark next weekend.
But with England forwards Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney both ruled out through injury, Rashford will be called up.
England face Germany away in a friendly before a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley on 26 March.
Rashford made a goal-scoring debut for England in a 2-1 win over Australia in May last year and has collected six senior caps.
He was a late inclusion for Manchester United in their 1-0 FA Cup defeat by Chelsea on Monday, having been omitted from the initial squad due to illness.
England captain Rooney was ruled out of Manchester United's trip to the capital with a leg injury sustained in a training ground collision.
And Tottenham striker Harry Kane went off with an ankle injury against Millwall on Sunday.
Spurs said the injury is similar to the one Kane picked up against Sunderland on 18 September.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39286246
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Competing mandates over indyref2 - BBC News
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2017-03-16
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Theresa May's stand-off with Nicola Sturgeon over independence is about competing mandates - and political calculations.
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Scotland politics
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Theresa May has declared "now is not the time" for Nicola Sturgeon to call for an independence referendum
To govern is to choose. The prime minister has now chosen to exercise her power over the constitution, reserved to Westminster under the Scotland Act 1998.
This is about competing power, competing mandates, competing interpretations of the verdicts delivered during the European referendum last year.
Theresa May accords primacy to the Brexit negotiations. She says she does not want even to contemplate the prospect of indyref2 during that period. That means she will not countenance a transfer of powers under Section 30 of the Scotland Act, again at this stage.
Nicola Sturgeon accords primacy to the impact upon Scotland of the Brexit process. She says it is undemocratic for the PM to refuse to give Scotland a meaningful choice - that word again - within a suitable timescale, proximate to the Brexit plans. It is sinking the ship and puncturing Scotland's lifeboat.
But this is also about political confidence. Political calculation. Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, plainly calculates that she will have Scottish public opinion on her side. Or, more precisely, a sufficient quotient of public opinion.
The Tories in Scotland have been through a period where they were the party which dared not speak its name, the toxic party. They now reckon those days are behind them. And why? The Union, post-2014.
Their calculation - and it is an arithmetical sum - is that they can corral behind them the supporters of Union in Scotland. That, just as in the past, in the 1950s for example, they can draw backing from a relatively wide range of Scottish society, predicated upon concrete support for the Union - and fixed opposition to the SNP.
It worked, to a substantial degree, in the last Holyrood elections when they became the largest opposition party. Their calculation is that it will work again, this time.
Nicola Sturgeon is likely to press ahead with a Holyrood vote calling for a Section 30 order
Will there be anger in some quarters at the Prime Minister's decision? There will indeed. Stand by for demonstrations to that effect at the SNP conference in Aberdeen.
But the calculation by the Tories - and this is less quantifiable, but a calculation nevertheless - is that sufficient numbers of the populace in Scotland will be relieved that they do not have to decide on independence in the next 18 months to two years.
The Tory leadership insists that they are not blocking a referendum entirely. That was Ruth Davidson's answer when she was reminded that she had told my estimable colleague Gordon Brewer in July last year that there should not be a constitutional block placed upon indyref2.
The argument was that they are merely setting terms: evident fairness and discernible popular/political support for a further plebiscite.
However, these are not absolute, they are open to interpretation. It would seem to be that the verdict on these factors would also lie with the Prime Minister. Such is the nature of reserved power.
But, again, the Tory triumvirate - PM, secretary of state, Scottish leader - stress that a referendum might be feasible once Brexit is signed, sealed and settled. David Mundell seemed particularly keen to stress that point.
However, if they won't contemplate Section 30 meantime, then the time needed for legislation, consultation and official preparation would suggest that - by that calendar - any referendum would be deferred until 2020 or possibly later. Possibly after the next Holyrood elections.
Options for the FM? She could sanction an unofficial referendum, without statutory backing. Don't see that happening. It would be a gesture - and Nicola Sturgeon, as the head of a government, is generally averse to gestures. Unless they advance her cause.
She could protest and seek discussions. Some senior Nationalists believe this to be a negotiation ploy by the PM, the prelude to talks.
Will the first minister proceed with the vote next week at Holyrood, demanding a Section 30 transfer in which the Greens are expected to join with the SNP to create a majority? I firmly expect her to do so, to add to the challenge to the PM.
Beyond that, expect the First Minister to cajole, to urge - but also to campaign. To deploy this deferral of an independence referendum as an argument for…an independence referendum. She will seek public support, arguing that Scotland's interests have been ignored. Just as Ruth Davidson will seek public support, arguing that she is protecting those interests.
Final thought. One senior Nationalist suggested to me that delay might, ultimately, be in the SNP's interests: that people were already disquieted by Brexit and would prefer a pause. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, to quote the old song.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-39297497
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Ikea drivers living in trucks for months - BBC News
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2017-03-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Some drivers say their wage is less than three pounds an hour. One feels "like a prisoner" in his cab.
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Business
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Emilian says he feels "like a prisoner" in his cab
Lorry drivers moving goods in Western Europe for Ikea and other retailers are living out of their cabs for months at a time, a BBC investigation has found.
Some drivers - brought over from poorer countries by lorry firms based in Eastern Europe - say their salary is less than three pounds an hour.
They say they cannot afford to live in the countries where they work. One said he felt "like a prisoner" in his cab.
Ikea said it was "saddened by the testimonies" of the drivers.
The drivers the BBC spoke to were employed by haulage companies based in Eastern Europe, which are paid to transport Ikea goods.
Romanian driver Emilian spends up to four months at a time sleeping, eating and washing in his truck.
He moves goods for Ikea around Western Europe, and had been in Denmark most recently.
He says the salary he takes home is a monthly average of 477 euros (£420).
A Danish driver can expect to take home an average of 2,200 euros (£1,900) a month in salary.
EU rules state that a driver posted temporarily away from home should be ''guaranteed'' the host nation's ''minimum rates of pay'' and conditions. But companies can exploit loopholes in the law.
Emilian's colleague Christian prepares dinner in the back of the truck
Emilian is employed by a Slovakian subsidiary of Norwegian trucking company Bring, and is being paid as if his place of work is Slovakia - even though he never works there.
He shows us where he sleeps - a sleeping bag in the back of his cab.
According to EU law, drivers must take 45 hours weekly rest away from their cabs, but governments have been slow to enforce it.
He says he cannot afford to sleep anywhere else - he receives around 45 euros (£40) a day in expenses, which is meant to cover all hotel bills and meals.
Zoe Conway was reporting for the BBC's Today and Victoria Derbyshire programmes.
During the working week, Emilian cooks and eats at the roadside. He says conditions have left him feeling "like a prisoner, like a bird in the cage".
"It's not good for drivers, it's not safe for other people on the road... it is possible to [cause an] accident," he says.
One driver's belongings, as he waits to board a minibus home for the first time in months
Asked if he has a message for Ikea, he says: "Come and live with me for one week. Eat what I eat. See what is happening in reality with our lives."
After a few months on the road he will board a minibus back to Slovakia.
His Slovakian employer, Bring, says Emilian is responsible for taking his rest breaks, and can return home whenever he likes.
Emilian is not alone. We have seen the contracts of drivers working for some of Ikea's biggest contractors - each paid low Eastern European wages while working for months at a time in Western Europe.
It is clear this way of treating drivers is widespread. It is not just within the Ikea supply chain, but also in those of several other big, household names.
In Dortmund, Germany - outside the biggest Ikea distribution centre in the world - truck drivers are drying their clothes. One is making his mash potato on a fuel tank.
There is no toilet, no running water.
Drivers from Moldova say they receive an average monthly salary of 150 euros (£130) from their employer.
Legal action is now being taken against some of Ikea's contractors.
In the Netherlands last month, a court ruled that Brinkman - which delivers Ikea flowers to the UK and Scandinavia - was breaking the law.
The court found that drivers' pay was "not consistent" with Dutch wages law.
The judge described conditions for drivers as an "inhumane state of affairs'', and contrary to EU law.
Edwin Atema, of trade union FNV, says he believes Ikea must have known of the conditions in which drivers are living.
"The Ukrainian, Moldovan, Polish guys remove the furniture from Ikea, they touch the furniture," he says.
"Ikea is the economic employer of all these workers here. They have so much power. Ikea has the tool in hand to change the business model with an eye blink."
One union, the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), met Ikea several times last year to discuss the issue - but talks ended in November.
Ikea said it takes what drivers have told the BBC "very seriously'' and are "saddened by the testimonies".
It said it puts ''strict demands'' on its suppliers concerning wages, working conditions and following applicable legislation, and audits them regularly to check compliance.
Increasing numbers of foreign haulage companies are now moving goods in Britain.
They are working for hundreds of different companies, including Ikea.
At a lorry stop in Immingham, Lincolnshire, one anonymous Polish driver explains: "We spend a lot of time living in lay-bys where there are no toilets, no showers, no facilities.
"The work is paid a bit better than what I would get in Poland, but this life is not good. I do it for my family.''
British haulage companies are nervous that they will be undercut by companies that could be breaking the law.
Jack Semple, from the Road Haulage Association, says: "We are seeing far more foreign lorries that are frankly less compliant with drivers' hours and road-worthiness regulations.
"There is a road safety risk, and the Treasury is losing a fortune in tax revenue.
"They have to get a grip on this because big, well-known UK retailers and other companies are making increasing use of these firms because they don't cost very much."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39196056
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Somalia ship hijack: Maritime piracy threatens to return - BBC News
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2017-03-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Will the latest hijacking be a wake-up call or does it signal the start of a new wave of piracy?
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Africa
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The latest hijacking off the Somali coast could mark the return of a lucrative business
The hijacking of a merchant fuel tanker by pirates off the Somali coast this week has sent shockwaves through parts of the shipping industry.
It is the first successful hijacking of a major commercial vessel in the Somali Basin since 2012 and is prompting debate over whether shipping companies have become complacent about the risk of maritime piracy.
The MT Aris 13 was travelling from Djibouti to Mogadishu on 13 March when, instead of giving the Somali coast a wide berth as advised, it took a short cut between the tip of the Horn of Africa and the Yemeni island of Socotra.
Somali pirates then ambushed the vessel just 11 miles (17km) from shore with two fast speedboats, known as skiffs, while aiming their weapons at the crew.
The vessel and its crew of eight Sri Lankan seafarers have now been seized by the pirates and are being held pending either ransom negotiations or a rescue attempt by the regional Puntland authorities. This brings to 16 the number of seafarers currently being held by Somalia-based pirates, the remaining eight being Iranians.
"For a vessel passing that close to the coast of Somalia without armed guards shows a level of complacency," said a spokesman for Neptune Maritime Security, which is currently running armed protection teams on around 70 vessels this month as they pass through the area of the western Indian Ocean known as the High Risk Area (HRA).
Employing armed teams, usually former servicemen, is seen by many shipping companies as prohibitively expensive. Shipping industry analysts say many vessels, especially those with a high freeboard (the vertical distance between the surface of the sea and the deck) have simply been speeding up to avoid capture. This is part of what is known as Best Management Practice, or BMP4.
Although pirates have, in the past, been incredibly adept at scaling the sides of big ocean-going vessels while in motion, this becomes very hard to do at speeds of 15 knots or more, especially if the captain takes evasive action, creating an unpredictable bow wave that can sink the pirates' skiffs.
A protection team scan the southern Gulf of Aden for pirates while passing through the High Risk Area
The EU anti-piracy naval force off the coast of Mogadishu in 2013
In recent years the European Union and other nations, including China, have mounted naval patrols to deter Somali piracy and escort convoys along the coast of Yemen. But the area is so vast that their ships were rarely able to reach a vessel in distress in time. Once pirates were onboard it became a hostage situation which most naval vessels' rules of engagement prevented them from getting involved in.
"The navies' presence is good," says John Steed from the seafarers' welfare group Oceans Beyond Piracy, "but the primary factor in deterring Somali piracy has been the presence of armed guards onboard, along with best practice like speeding up," he added.
The ship that was captured on Monday had a low freeboard and was travelling so slowly that it was, he says "almost a sitting duck".
So will this latest hijacking be a wake-up call that prompts more precautions being taken at sea or will it signal the start of a new wave of piracy?
Worryingly, the factors that drove many Somali coastal fishermen to become pirates nearly a decade ago are still there. Somalia is currently in the grip of a famine and poverty is widespread; there are few employment options for young people.
There is massive and growing local resentment at the poaching of fish stocks off the coast by Asian trawlers. According to Oceans Beyond Piracy, some foreign vessels have "dubious" licences issued by officials in Puntland, but the local people never get to see any benefit from them.
The high point in Somali piracy came in 2010, both in terms of vessels hijacked and the number of seafarers taken prisoner for ransom. Soon after that, shipping companies began placing armed guards onboard who would "show weapons" to circling pirates and if necessary fire warning shots to ward them off.
This effectively broke the pirates' business model as, until then, they had been able to approach a ship, often at dawn after a night of chewing the narcotic qat leaf, open fire on the bridge to scare the captain into slowing down and stopping, and then they would board it using ladders.
They would then hold the vessel, its crew and its cargo for ransoms of millions of dollars.
After 2010 they were no longer able to do this with impunity. But now that news will have spread that many vessels are not carrying that armed protection there are concerns that the lucrative business of Somali maritime piracy may be set to return.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39283911
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Top US diplomat Tillerson faces first major challenge - BBC News
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2017-03-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The low-profile Tillerson faces several major problems, including North Korea's nuclear threat.
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Asia
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Nuclear threats, contested territory, and a looming trade dispute await the new secretary of state in Asia
The new US secretary of state is heading off on his first trip to Asia, where diplomatic tensions run high.
Rex Tillerson, who has no previous political experience, will be visiting countries in the shadow of North Korea's nuclear programme.
Global superpower China may be the key to that problem, and to stability in the region, but relations with the US are strained at the moment, partly over comments Mr Tillerson himself has made.
His first true test as a diplomat is a potential powder keg. So is the former oil boss up to the task?
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Tillerson's folksy introduction to his department: 'Hi, I'm the new guy'.
Rex Tillerson has kept a remarkably low profile in his first month or so in office, giving no press briefings in six weeks, and sticking to prepared statements.
Any hopes that reporters might see him in action on this Asia trip were dashed, however, when it emerged he wouldn't be bringing the state department press corps along.
Instead, Mr Tillerson will be taking a single reporter from a conservative website, the Independent Journal Review - because of the small plane being used, the state department said. The journalist, Erin McPike, recently wrote about Tillerson in a piece on "Exxon Mobil's special treatment from the White House".
The trip is seen as important because Mr Tillerson will be trying to conduct high-level diplomacy in a region shaken by his president's public comments.
Donald Trump has tweeted that China needs to be "taken on" and decried the country's "military complex" in the South China Sea. The president has said that South Korea "makes a fortune on us" while the US defends it, and has accused Japan of "currency manipulation".
Such remarks have led to uncertainty in the region about the direction of US foreign policy, something Mr Tillerson will have to deal with.
Mr Tillerson's trip starts with Japan, which is likely to be the easiest leg of the journey. He is scheduled to meet the foreign minister, as well as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe - who Trump has already met, and "had a great time" with.
But the military threat from North Korea is likely to dominate the discussion.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. How do you solve a problem like North Korea?
The secretive isolationist nation has continued its development of nuclear weapons despite sanctions and threats from the international community. Two nuclear explosion tests and more than 20 missile launches in the past year have increased tensions.
Both Japan and South Korea, which are US military allies and host US troops, are within missile distance of North Korea.
But it is China, as North Korea's only ally on earth, which holds the power to affect change.
Donald Trump has accused China of ignoring the North Korea situation, and essentially allowing it to worsen.
But Beijing has taken relatively strong steps in recent weeks. Early in March, it asked Pyongyang to stop its missile tests to "defuse a looming crisis", and earlier dealt its ally a severe economic blow by banning coal imports.
Mr Tillerson is likely to urge China to do even more. But at the same time, he'll have to smooth over another row that the US is involved in.
The United States has deployed the Thaad missile defence system (that's Terminal High Altitude Area Defence) in South Korea to defend it from nuclear attack.
Unfortunately, the missile defence system's radar is extremely long range, extending into China.
"It's incredible the speed with which China's leaders can just switch on anti-South Korea sentiment here," the BBC's China Correspondent, Stephen McDonnell, said in a blog post this week.
China's development of artificial islands with defensive capabilities in the South China Sea is deeply controversial.
"We're going to have to send China a clear signal that first, the island-building stops and second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed," Mr Tillerson told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January, likening it to Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
China says its building is legitimate and its military facilities are for self-defence
"They are taking territory or control or declaring control of territories that are not rightfully China's," he said, in remarks that might be welcomed by Japan and others who contest China's territorial claims.
But it makes the delicate negotiation with China that much harder.
For China's part, state-controlled media warned Mr Tillerson that such actions could cause "devastating confrontation" or even "a large-scale war".
A rather more emollient foreign minister told his annual news conference in Beijing that Mr Tillerson "is a person who is willing to listen and is a deep communicator."
Even if Mr Tillerson can bring calm to the South China Sea dispute and persuade Beijing to step up sanctions against Pyongyang, there's still one more problem - an economic one.
One of President Trump's first actions was to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would have opened up trade with Japan and 11 other nations by reducing tariffs. That's good news for China, which saw the TPP as an effort to contain its economic might, but means Japan needs to start over.
And China has its own problems with US trade policy.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Donald Trump is likely to tear up the old rulebook of how trade deals are done, says Anthony Scaramucci
During the election campaign, Mr Trump floated the idea of a 45% tariff on goods from China, and in January, a senior academic adviser warned the current trade deal was "more favourable to China than us".
Anthony Scaramucci told the BBC a trade war is "going to cost them way more than it is ever going to cost us, and I think they know that."
And while the relationship with South Korea may have long been stable, the country is in the depths of a major political crisis following the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.
She had been a long-time supporter of US foreign policy in the region, particularly when it came to isolating North Korea.
But the current frontrunner to replace her, Moon Jae-in, has suggested a new approach might be required in handling North Korea - and has voiced concern about the US deployment of the Thaad defence system in the South.
With so many competing interests in economic and territorial disputes, and a looming military threat, Mr Tillerson will have to thread the diplomatic needle carefully - weighing each nation's goals against the desire of the US, and everyone else involved, for regional stability.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39278421
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Situation vacant: Running Rome's Colosseum - BBC News
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2017-03-16
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The BBC's James Reynolds fancies a crack at running one of the world's iconic sites, the Colosseum in Rome.
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Europe
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Office space: Our correspondent assesses conditions at the Colosseum
It is a pretty tempting job. The successful applicant will be in charge of preserving the site of one of the world's most iconic monuments.
That person may as well be me.
The job advert asks for at least five years' experience managing archaeological sites.
Well, I have five years experience visiting sites. If outsiders with little experience can be elected to lead countries, why can't they also be chosen to run ancient monuments?
The first thing to do is come up with a pitch.
One potential idea is to rebuild the entire Colosseum.
The pyramids in Egypt have not fallen down. So why should Rome have to live with half a Colosseum?
My first campaign stop is with tourists visiting the site.
"Don't touch anything," warn Jocelyn and Tamaya, students from North Carolina.
"Don't you want to see what it would have looked like?" I ask.
"There are digital models online which show what it would have been like. So just keep this," they instruct.
"Do you not think it's iconic to leave it as it is?" asks Stan from Manchester. "It's like when we went to Egypt, they were redoing the Sphinx. In some ways it spoils the effect of what it should be."
So rebuilding turns out to be a bad idea. I change my job pitch from rebuilding to listening.
What needs fixing at the Colosseum?
"The process of entering through security can be slow and occasionally discourteous," says tour guide Agnes Crawford. "The turnstiles very often don't work properly. The people who are manning the turnstiles have the patience of Job because it's a thankless task with a lot of slightly cross people."
Opera singer Andrea Bocelli cheered everyone up when he sang at the Colosseum. The turnstiles were probably working that day.
Andrea Bocelli performed at the Colosseum in 2009 in aid of the earthquake-ravaged city of L'Aquila
Another idea has caused something of a controversy: renting the site to private firms.
"When one considers that the Colosseum saw 450 years of people being killed, I think the occasional corporate dinner seems fairly small beer in comparison," says Agnes Crawford.
Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini will have the final say over the Colosseum's new director.
Nerve-wrackingly, my final appointment is with him.
"We're looking for people with a strong background - archaeologists, art historians, architects, who also have experience managing a cultural site or a museum," he tells me.
"Naturally, if you want to manage the Colosseum and the Imperial Forum, which receive six million visitors a year, you need the scientific knowledge but also the management experience.
"I think in the art world nationalities don't really count. The director of the National Gallery is an Italian, who arrived there from El Prado in Madrid. The director of the British Museum is German. So it's normal that what counts are the CVs, not the nationalities."
"Minister, you've opened this up to outsiders, a lot of people will put in applications coming in with new ideas, I will put an application as well. Are you open to hearing from outsiders?"
There is a slight pause before he answers.
"Well, we have job requirements to be admitted for the selection. When we recently chose the directors of the 20 top museums in Italy we received 400 applications. The selection did more than 100 job interviews. It will be similar this time. So you can definitely apply, but to win you need to fulfil the requirements."
It was an elegant way of saying "don't give up the day job".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39254552
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Marine A's colleagues 'wanted Afghan insurgent dead' - BBC News
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2017-03-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Troops who fought alongside jailed sergeant speak for the first time about the 2011 killing.
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UK
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sgt Blackman's murder conviction has now been reduced to manslaughter
As the conviction of Sgt Alexander Blackman for shooting an injured Afghan fighter in 2011 is reduced from murder to manslaughter on the grounds of his mental illness, Royal Marines who fought alongside him have spoken for the first time - offering new insights into the killing.
In interviews for BBC Panorama, the men from 42 Commando said they wanted the insurgent dead and their comrade "took one for the team" when he faced a court martial.
His colleagues said they also suffered from post-traumatic stress and one marine believes such incidents occurred elsewhere during the conflict.
There is much public sympathy for Blackman, 42, but few people who have watched the full video of the killing - recorded by another marine's helmet-mounted camera - would describe him as a hero.
The footage has not been made public but Blackman can be heard trying to cover up his actions, making sure a helicopter above is out of sight before he delivers the fatal shot.
Perhaps more understandable though is the sympathy of the men who fought alongside him and endured the same hardships.
Colleagues suggested there were other pressures on Blackman, who was known as Marine A during the original trial process and was only fully identified when he was convicted.
Rob Driscoll, who was at a nearby patrol base at the time of the killing, told Panorama: "Everyone that was speaking on that radio was sending out a signal to Al... everyone wanted that guy to be dead."
He said no-one would have wanted to send out a medical team to help the insurgent because the ground could have been littered with roadside bombs, while a helicopter might have been targeted in the air.
They would have done it for one of their own, but risking British lives for a wounded Taliban fighter "who has been shooting at them for the last four months" was less appealing, he said.
The helmet-mounted camera of another marine filmed Blackman (pictured) shooting the prisoner
Sam Deen, who was on the patrol, said: "I do remember saying, 'yeah I would shoot him'... and I do think I influenced what happened".
"A few of the other lads said that," Mr Deen said.
The killing, on 15 September 2011, took place after a patrol base in Helmand province came under fire from two insurgents.
One of the attackers was seriously injured by gunfire from an Apache helicopter sent to provide air support, and the marines found him in a field.
The footage from the helmet-mounted camera showed Blackman shooting the Afghan prisoner in the chest at close range with a 9mm pistol.
Blackman, from Taunton, was convicted of murder in November 2013 and jailed for life. He lost an appeal in May of the following year, but his 10-year minimum term was reduced to eight years.
Five judges at the Court Martial Appeal Court in London have now ruled the conviction should be manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility, not murder.
A further hearing will now decide what sentence Blackman should serve.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Extract from helmet camera recording of incident in Helmand, Afghanistan
Filmmaker and anthropologist Chris Terrill was embedded with Blackman's unit at the time of the shooting.
His film for Panorama tries to look beyond the narrow focus of the helmet camera that led to Blackman's conviction and questions whether, in the slow attrition of war, they began to think as a pack and lose their moral compass.
Speaking about Blackman's decision to kill the insurgent, Sam Deen says: "I do think he took the responsibility for the younger lads… he thought it was his responsibility to do it, and then move on."
Rob Driscoll admits to some sleepless nights but adds: "I'm glad Al did what he did because all my guys went home".
Louis Nethercott, another Royal Marine on the patrol, tells Panorama: "I think it was just another day in Afghanistan and that's the way it goes out there.
"And none of us got hurt so it was a successful day as far as I'm concerned".
Chris Terrill asks another Royal Marine who was on that tour whether he thought this was the only time such an incident occurred during the Afghan war.
Panorama, Marine A: The Inside Story will be on BBC One at 22:50 GMT, and available later on iPlayer.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39282574
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Commonwealth Games: A joint bid for 2022 would be considered - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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A bid from two or more UK cities to jointly host the 2022 Commonwealth Games would be considered by Games chiefs.
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Last updated on .From the section Commonwealth Games
A bid from UK cities to jointly host the 2022 Commonwealth Games would be considered by Games chiefs.
Birmingham, Liverpool, London and Manchester have expressed interest in staging the Games in place of Durban.
Durban was due to be the first African city to host the games but was stripped of the right on Monday.
Commonwealth Games Federation chief David Grevemberg said officials were looking to make a decision quickly and would consider a joint bid.
"We are interested in looking at different delivery models and part of our strategic plan is to look at more affordable and appealing structures for hosting major events," said Grevemberg.
"There is a possibility in the future that we could look at combined events but at this point in time we are trying to ensure we deliver the best possible Games in the best possible city.
"Right now we are not speculating on any specific candidates over another.
"We really need to look over the context, time available, infrastructure, what is the resourcing base and ensure that we are able to have a good fit and a good partner."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/commonwealth-games/39284897
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Have Republicans forgotten how to govern? - BBC News
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2017-03-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Americans gave Republicans a gift - control of the presidency and Congress. Will it be squandered?
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US & Canada
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On election day last year, American voters gave the Republicans a powerful gift - unified control of the presidency and Congress for the first time in a decade. But turning a governing majority into enacted policies is proving to be a challenge for a party that spent the past eight years throwing political bombs from the sidelines.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan took to the lectern for a press conference on Thursday morning facing a crisis. The healthcare reform legislation he has tried to shepherd through Congress is in serious peril.
Conservative members of his chamber, like Dave Brat of Virginia, were savaging the legislation for not fully dismantling the existing Obamacare system.
Moderates and even some middle-of-the-road Republicans, like Florida's Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, said they could not support it because cuts to the Medicaid programme for the poor were too severe.
Mr Ryan has been forced to walk a political tightrope, balancing the competing and often conflicting interests in his caucus in an attempt to get the first step in a multi-part reform effort through the House.
It is a feat that will require a combination of diplomatic finesse, political muscle, relentless focus and more than a bit of luck.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
That's not what reporters wanted to talk about, however.
Instead, the first question was about Donald Trump's allegation - and continued insistence - that his communications had been monitored by Barack Obama's White House during the 2016 presidential campaign.
And therein lies the heart of the problem facing conservatives just a few months into the Trump presidency. At a time when a concerted political effort on the part of Republican leadership in Congress and the White House is essential to the success of a key part of their agenda, distractions and dissent rule the day.
While Mr Ryan is undertaking his juggling act, the president seems intent on throwing baseballs at his head.
Time and again the president has undermined Republican political priorities with off-message comments and tweets.
Behaviour that helped throw opponents off-balance and demonstrate his unorthodoxy during the campaign are proving less helpful when conducted from the confines of the White House.
Mr Trump's remarks about wiretapping and earlier allegations of widespread voter fraud, wholly unnecessary given his victory last November, have forced the White House to scramble with after-the-fact explanations and thrown unwelcome obligations on congressional Republicans to conduct investigations.
On Wednesday, a visibly frustrated Devin Nunes, chair of the House Intelligence Committee and Trump ally, straight-up said Mr Trump was "wrong" about the surveillance.
The Senate Intelligence Committee would later issue a statement that they found "no indications of monitoring Trump Tower by any element of the United States government".
Mr Trump's own words, as well as statements made by his advisors since inauguration day, also helped torpedo the president's second effort at instituting a travel ban on some majority Muslim nations.
House Intelligence committee chair Devin Nunes (foreground) and the committee's ranking Democrat, California's Adam Schiff, said there was no evidence of Trump's wiretapping claims
"The record before this court is unique," wrote the federal judge who suspended the travel order on Wednesday. "It includes significant and unrebutted evidence of religious animus driving the promulgation of the executive order and its related predecessor."
Even without the travel ban and wiretapping controversies roiling Washington politics, Republicans were going to have a challenge transitioning from being the party of opposition, intent on thwarting the efforts of the Obama administration, to the party of action.
While it was easy for the conservatives in Congress to pass straight-up Obamacare repeal legislation when they knew Mr Obama would veto it, crafting legislation that the party has to stand behind - and explain to voters in coming elections - is much trickier.
During a Wednesday night televised town hall forum on healthcare there was a telling moment when Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price listened to a cancer patient lament that he would lose his medical coverage under the Republican plan.
Mr Price's response was to criticise past Democratic promises on healthcare.
The questioner wasn't buying it. Republicans have to come up with solutions now, not just identify problems.
As any Democrat in office during the past eight years will explain, saying "our plan is less bad than the existing system" isn't a recipe for political success.
Yes, it's still the first few months of the Trump presidency, and the drive to pass something, anything on healthcare after eight years of promises will be strong.
Mr Trump could find new focus and use some of his much-advertised dealmaking acumen to pull competing factions within the Republican Party together. His party has the votes in Congress to get things done, and with a bit of positioning he could put significant pressure on Senate Democrats up for re-election next year in states he carried in 2016.
Trump back in rally mode, this time with the seal of the president
Then again, Mr Trump has shown few signs of easing back on his social media rants.
He says he will hold large public rallies every few weeks, where his unscripted comments often set off new controversies.
There also may be powers within the White House - such as senior advisor Steve Bannon - who would be happy if the Republican congressional agenda comes crashing down, bringing the remnants of the party's establishment with it.
For Republican congressional leadership, healthcare reform is only the first piece of the legislative puzzle. The longer that takes, the less time will remain for comprehensive tax reform, which has its own sticky political issues.
A massive budget fight, with the threat of a government shutdown, also looms on the horizon.
Mr Trump's aggressive funding priorities are already coming under fire. Democrats are digging in to defend social programmes on the chopping block.
Some Republicans object to billions of dollars for Mr Trump's border wall and sharp reductions in foreign aid and agricultural subsidies.
If negotiations over healthcare reform go south, Republicans in Congress will be less inclined to give Mr Trump the benefit of the doubt in the coming days. Democrats will smell blood, and the subsequent political lifts will be all the more difficult.
Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren have attacked the healthcare bill
By next year members of Congress will be focused on the coming midterm elections and less inclined to take risks on big legislative actions with uncertain prospects.
There's already evidence of a time bomb underneath the Republican Party. Polls show uneasy independents and near universal opposition to their agenda from Democrats, but for the time being their supporters held firm.
If those numbers dip, however, and enthusiasm diminishes, it could spell ruin for congressional Republicans in 2018.
Ever since Mr Obama swept to power with Democratic congressional majorities in 2008, Republicans have been promising their voters that real conservative change is just an election away.
Yes, they won the House of Representatives in 2010, but they still needed the Senate. Yes, they won the Senate in 2014, but the presidency was in Democratic hands.
Now they have Congress and the presidency, leaving few excuses. After two months of intra-party bickering and a president who can't keep his hands off his Twitter account, it may only be a matter of time before their base gets restless.
Conservative humourist PJ O'Rourke once quipped that "Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then they get elected and prove it".
For the past few months that line has seemed less of a joke than a prophecy.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39295295
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Monaco 3-1 Manchester City - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Manchester City are knocked out of the Champions League on away goals at the last-16 stage after Monaco's second-leg victory at Stade Louis II.
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Last updated on .From the section European Football
Manchester City are out of the Champions League after Monaco struck late to seal a thrilling away-goals victory, which ended 6-6 on aggregate.
The English side were 13 minutes from a place in the quarter-finals after clawing themselves back into a second leg their hosts had dominated, but slack marking from a set-piece allowed Tiemoue Bakayoko to head home the decisive goal.
Having won the competition twice in his time at Barcelona, this is the first time in manager Pep Guardiola's career that he has gone out at this stage.
Monaco lost 5-3 in an extraordinary first leg in Manchester but dominated the first half at the Stade Louis II and opened the scoring through the excellent Kylian Mbappe's poked finish from close range.
The Ligue 1 side, who had scored 123 goals so far this season, deservedly doubled their advantage on the night, punishing City's sluggish start through Fabinho's crisp strike.
City failed to muster any sort of shot in the opening 45 minutes and it took until the 65th minute for Sergio Aguero to call goalkeeper Danijel Subasic into a sharp save.
They forced their way into the game - and back into the aggregate lead - as Leroy Sane swept in when Subasic parried Raheem Sterling's low strike, but their defence could not hold out.
The result leaves Premier League champions Leicester City as the only English team in the last eight.
Monaco join the Foxes, holders Real Madrid, last year's runners-up Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus in Friday's draw.
• None 'I couldn't convince them to attack' - Pep says he takes the blame
• None Listen: 'Man City have failed to live up to expectations' - Phil Neville
Having gained a two-goal advantage at home, City boss Pep Guardiola had vowed his side would go on the attack in order to finish the job.
But while the Spanish coach can boast the best record of any manager in Europe after 100 games, he opted to start with only Fernandinho in the middle of the park against the aggressive and youthful French side.
Five attack-minded players were deployed in front of the Brazilian midfielder, while Yaya Toure was left on the bench, and it proved a costly move as City were overrun by sharper opponents.
Although they pulled a goal back on the night through Sane - putting them briefly back in front in the tie - the English side never recovered from their poor first-half showing.
Big-money signing John Stones struggled again and Monaco's winning goal epitomised the fragility of the visitors' defensive backline, as the impressive Bakayoko was allowed a free header eight yards from goal.
Guardiola has said his maiden City season will be a failure if he cannot deliver a trophy, but barring a dramatic Chelsea collapse in the Premier League, the Spaniard's only realistic hope of silverware is now the FA Cup.
The City boss made some unwelcome history in France as his side became the first team to be eliminated in a Champions League knockout tie after scoring five goals in the first leg.
The Ligue 1 leaders were missing star striker Radamel Falcao, who had failed so spectacularly in England with loan spells at Manchester United and Chelsea.
But the home side took the game to City, allowing them little time and space on the ball, forcing errors and taking their chances superbly. Although they began to tire in the second half, the 2004 runners-up managed to edge through.
Eighteen-year-old striker Mbappe - who has earned comparisons to retired France great Thierry Henry - found the net after just eight minutes for his 17th goal of the season, fed by the brilliant Portuguese midfielder Silva.
Benjamin Mendy caused all sorts of problems by bombing on from full-back, but man of the match Bakayoko deservedly took his side through with the winning goal.
The towering France Under-21 international controlled the midfield and gained possession nine times - more than any team-mate.
They have been two brilliant football matches. City lost it in the first half when they were outplayed, outfought and were bullied.
They got back into the game and they thought they were through. But their Achilles heel was a sloppy goal. Another year has failed to live up to expectations.
I am not so sure the signings over the last five years have been that good, but when Leroy Sane scores, Pep Guardiola is thinking 'this is perfect, we can control the game from here'. Then they concede.
Guardiola doesn't go out there and spend the bulk of his money on defenders. He will be thinking if they had put one of those chances away they would be in the next round.
'Sometimes you have to be lucky'
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, talking to BT Sport: "We played exceptional second half but we forgot to do that in the first. We wanted to defend aggressively. We were better in the second but it wasn't enough.
"Normally we play to a good level but here we didn't. We will learn. The team does not have a lot of experience.
"The second half we had the chances and we didn't take them and that is why we are out. And set-pieces are so important at this level. Barcelona and Real Madrid scored from them last week. We were not there and we were not there in the first 45 minutes.
"We will improve but this competition is so demanding. Sometimes we have to be special and be lucky. We were not."
• None Monaco have progressed from all four of their Champions League knockout ties against English teams.
• None David Silva played his 50th Champions League game, becoming the 25th Spaniard to reach that milestone in the competition.
• None Kylian Mbappe has scored 11 goals in his past 11 games in all competitions.
• None Bernardo Silva has provided an assist in each of his past three games for Monaco in all competitions.
• None City are without a clean sheet in their past 11 away games in the Champions League (excluding qualifiers).
• None The English side failed to muster a single shot in the first half of a Champions League game for the first time.
• None Fabinho has had a hand in three goals in two Champions League appearances versus Manchester City this season (one goal, two assists).
• None Leroy Sane scored with just his 11th shot on target for City this season (all competitions).
• None Thomas Lemar (Monaco) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Valère Germain (Monaco) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Valère Germain (Monaco) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Offside, Manchester City. David Silva tries a through ball, but Leroy Sané is caught offside. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39248906
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Muirfield: Rory McIlroy says women ban was 'obscene' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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World number three Rory McIlroy remains critical of Muirfield after the club votes to admit women members for the first time.
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Last updated on .From the section Golf
Rory McIlroy has continued his criticism of Muirfield despite the club voting to admit women members for the first time this week.
McIlroy slammed Muirfield last year when it was removed as an Open venue after choosing to maintain the ban.
"I still think that it got to this stage is horrendous," said McIlroy.
"We'll go back and play the Open because they'll let women members in, but every time I go I won't have a great taste in my mouth."
Members at the privately owned golf club voted 80.2% in favour of updating its membership policy on Tuesday.
"I mean, in this day and age, where you've got women that are leaders of certain industries and women that are heads of state and not be able to join a golf course - I mean, it's obscene.
"It's ridiculous. So th-ey sort of saw sense."
On the nearly 20% who voted to maintain the ban, McIlroy said: "It's horrendous. I mean, I just don't get it.
"So anyway, we'll go back there for the Open Championship at some point and I won't be having many cups of tea with the members afterwards."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/39286496
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Josh Edmondson: Ex-Team Sky rider says he secretly injected vitamins - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Josh Edmondson tells BBC sports editor Dan Roan he broke cycling's rules by secretly injecting himself with a cocktail of vitamins when riding for Team Sky.
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British cyclist Josh Edmondson has told the BBC he broke the sport's rules by secretly injecting himself with a cocktail of vitamins when riding for Team Sky.
The 24-year-old, who was on the team's books in 2013 and 2014, also said he had severe depression after independently using the controversial painkiller Tramadol.
Edmondson said the pressure of his selection for a major race in 2014 led to him breaching the UCI's 'no-needle' policy "two or three times a week" for about a month.
• None Listen: a BBC Radio 5 live BeSpoke special looks at the issue
Team Sky say legal vitamins and a needle were found in Edmondson's room, but they did not report the incident because he denied using them, and over concerns he "could be pushed over the edge".
Edmondson says he confessed to Team Sky at the time but there was "a cover-up" by senior management.
Team Sky are renowned for their robust, no-needle, no-Tramadol stance.
In a wide-ranging and emotional interview, Edmondson told the BBC:
• None He travelled to Italy from his training base in Nice to purchase a variety of legal vitamins and intravenous equipment.
• None He risked giving himself a heart attack by self-administering the medication secretly at night.
• None He independently took powerful opioid Tramadol during the 2013 Tour of Britain. Team Sky say this was given to him without their knowledge by the race doctor, rather than their own team doctor.
• None He didn't leave his house for two months because of severe depression partly caused by using Tramadol.
"In 2014 I was under a lot of pressure, not just from the team but from myself," said Edmondson.
"You want to renew your contract for one thing, and for me the bigger thing was not letting anyone down - this team had given me a chance by signing me and a bigger chance by letting me go to a Grand Tour [the Vuelta a Espana].
"I think it was just before the Tour of Austria, I went to Italy to buy the vitamins that I was going to later inject. I brought them all back to Nice. I bought butterfly clips, the syringes, the carnitine [a supplement], folic acid, 'TAD' [a supplement], damiana compositum, and [vitamin] B12, and I'd just inject that two or three times a week maybe. Especially when I wanted to lose weight, I'd inject the carnitine more often because it was very effective."
The vitamins Edmondson bought are legal, but the UCI - the sport's governing body - brought in rules in 2011 banning cyclists from using needles.
"It dawned on me while I was doing it how extreme it was, putting the needle in and making sure there are no bubbles because if there is air in it, it can give you a heart attack and people can die from that," he said.
"It is a very daunting thing to be doing, especially as I was sat in a room in a foreign country alone at night. It's just a very surreal thing you do. It's not something you take lightly. You're doing it out of necessity really."
Edmondson admits he was tempted to dope, adding: "But this was my way of closing the gap a little without doping. Some people think there is a grey area, and that's why there is a no-needle policy, but people across sport have been injecting vitamins for years and it is an alternative to doping.
"It's not the same - if you were doping, you are getting massive gains. This is just freshening what you do naturally."
Edmondson says he is prepared to now talk to the anti-doping authorities about his past.
While Edmondson was racing at the Tour of Poland, his secret was exposed when a team-mate took photographs of the vitamins and equipment he had bought, and reported it to team management.
"I got back from that and noticed all the vitamins which had been hidden in my room were on top of this chest of drawers - and I realised I'd been caught out," said Edmondson.
"At that point I was panic-stricken. I'd never known anything like it. You just go weak and I had no idea what to do."
Edmondson said Team Sky's then head of medicine, Dr Steve Peters, informed him of the discovery of the evidence.
"He said 'there's been an incident' and I broke down. I was crying, I was in shock. And he said, 'somebody has sent us some photos of this intravenous equipment and the vitamins'."
Dr Peters confirmed to the BBC that a member of Team Sky who shared a house with Edmondson had found "a needle and some vials", and had taken a photograph of the evidence.
But Team Sky say the incident was not reported, after Edmondson told Dr Peters via Skype that he had not used the equipment.
"He fell apart at the seams quite dramatically. A number of things I asked him during that interview really alarmed me," said Dr Peters.
"I was now in a position where I can say the welfare of the athlete was number one. Obviously, I'm working with the team and anti-doping is a secondary issue but a really important one, and we have to address it, so Josh explained that he had never used needles before.
"He was in a very stressful situation. He was aware that his role in the team was in jeopardy. We sent off the vials, there was only one that was open, the rest were sealed. They turned out to be vitamins which you can buy over the counter, so I asked him 'why on earth would you?' And he had not done any injection, he said he did not know how to use it. All he said was: 'I did not know what to do so I left it.'
"This didn't quite ring true to me. I felt this is very odd from what I've experienced in the past when I've been involved with anti-doping issues. So I said to the team: 'I want to stop here.'
"Wearing my hat as a doctor, for somebody to be culpable they cannot be ill and I suspect he was ill. If he's not able to give informed consent to what he is doing and say, 'I understand this', then in my world, as a psychiatrist, you are not culpable, because your illness is talking.
"The second point from me is, let's say we went ahead at that point because obviously I do not want to cover anything up - there is no way I'm going to do that. But what is the consequence of him suddenly being exposed if I'm right and he's not well? The reason I stopped it in its tracks is my concern has always got to be for the welfare of the individual."
Dr Peters said he then met Edmondson on 2 September 2014, when supervision and a behavioural programme was set up until the end of his contract.
"Once a week he reported to one of the team managers, and she would check on how it was going. She would report back to me, because I can't forcefully get people to speak to me. I don't know what happened to him after that because he did not want to engage with us."
Team Sky say they took legal advice at the time of the incident and say that, although Edmondson had been in breach of team rules by possessing the equipment, they were under no obligation to report the case to the authorities.
'It was a lot of agonising'
Asked whether Team Sky should have handled the case differently, Dr Peters said: "We could have reported it. We could have made a different decision. We'll never know in hindsight. I suppose if I'm looking at safety issues I did think there was a really big risk this lad would be pushed over the edge. I stand by my decision.
"I think I'd definitely have told them if I thought this young man was trying to cheat, but I don't think he was doing that. I think it was a panic reaction. He is making very poor decisions because he is not well, and therefore we need to treat him first of all and then get to the bottom of it. But actually to put him through some kind of investigation or disciplinary at that point could've been very serious and damaged this lad's health.
"I'm not saying that we shouldn't have reported him. We had to make a judgement call which was difficult. I don't think you could go back and think maybe we should've done it and took that risk. I don't think it was easy and I think the problem is if you look at it in black-and-white terms it makes it so that there is a right and a wrong.
"There are shades of grey. Let's be honest, none of us were comfortable but we had a lot of discussion around this and one thing we could say was he violated our rules. On the UCI technicality, he had not violated because he told us very clearly at the time that he had not done the injection because he did not know how to use the needle. This is what he told us at the time."
When asked if there were members of Team Sky's senior management who wanted to report it, Dr Peters replied: "Yeah. We had a lot of debate and discussion. It wasn't just something we decided that we won't bother saying anything. That did not happen. It was a lot of agonising.
"We've got this in the minutes. I'm named as the person saying: 'Please stop until I make sure this young man is OK.' I was involved right from the beginning and I'm trying to explain it is a difficult one. We could have judged differently. I could've done it. I'm saying take it to me, not the team.
"We did it on good faith and decided on two counts. One, we didn't think he'd violated any rules and second and, most important, he was not in a good place."
Edmondson now claims he did tell Team Sky's senior management he had self-injected at the time, but that there was a "cover-up".
"I think that would have meant a bigger admission for them," he said.
"They'd have had to say publicly a kid was injecting. Injecting anything's bad. It's not like they were banned substances but injecting is against the rules - to self-administer anything, I believe."
Team Sky firmly deny the claim. Dr Peters said: "It's not a cover-up. Once you use that word you are saying there was an intent behind us to conceal and that was never the case."
'I felt like someone had thrown me down stairs'
Edmondson also told the BBC he had severe depression after independently using controversial painkiller Tramadol.
He said: "I was depressed sometimes, because if you use it in a race and you come out of the race afterwards you're just absolutely battered.
"Tramadol makes you feel 'dead' the next day. I felt hungover. The withdrawal from the Tramadol made me feel depressed. It feels like you're hungover, so you need to to just get through and I think the withdrawal from that... just immediately after a race, I was just depressed. I felt like someone had thrown me down some stairs for a few days.
"The dangerous thing about it is you don't know when you're coming to your limit. It's not a performance-enhancing drug, it doesn't make you any better, you're not getting any more from your body, you are just pushing yourself a bit harder.
"When you're young and you are facing some kind of depression and it might be linked to some sort of drug you are definitely in denial about what that problem is - I just saw it as the stress of doing that job and training hard. I wouldn't have ever acknowledged that Tramadol was doing that.
"It was a serious problem for me especially towards the end of 2014. I didn't leave the house for two months. It doesn't get much worse than that."
Tramadol has been blamed for causing crashes in cycling by making riders drowsy, and there are concerns it may have addictive side-effects. The Mouvement pour le Cyclisme Credible, and both the UK and US Anti-Doping Agencies have called on the World Anti-Doping Agency to ban it.
In 2014, former Team Sky rider Michael Barry said he and some of his team-mates had used Tramadol between 2010 and 2012.
Team Sky responded by saying: "None of our riders should ride while using Tramadol - that's the policy of this team. This has been our firm position for the last two seasons." The team have also called for it to be banned.
When asked why he chose not to tell Team Sky about his difficulties, Edmondson said: "I was just really worried how it would look and it was a naive thing to do because I know now that if I'd gone to someone, like Dr Freeman or Wiggo [Bradley Wiggins] or anyone really, someone I'd trusted, they would have helped me, and there'd have been no problem.
"It just seemed at the time that if I'd gone to them and told them, 'I'm having this too much, I might be abusing it a little', I didn't think they would help me, just see it as a negative thing.
"I'm not trying to pass the buck. I realise I made that mistake. It was something I was doing and I don't want to be that guy moaning about how they didn't pick up on it, but if there was another rider in that position now I would want to help them and I would want there to be a system in place to help someone like that. You'd have thought there'd be a system in place to pick up on someone who's depressed, regardless of drug use."
In a statement, Team Sky said: "We are confident we have mechanisms in place which encourage a rider to bring any issues they may be experiencing to staff in confidence.
"We are also satisfied that staff are equipped and able to raise any concerns they may have regarding a rider's welfare, and for the team to offer support."
Last year, former Team Sky rider Jonathan Tiernan-Locke told the BBC he had been offered Tramadol at the 2012 World Championships in the Netherlands when riding for Great Britain.
He retired recently after serving a two-year doping ban for a biological passport infringement prior to his spell at Sky.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39293763
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Do the technology giants finally face a backlash? - BBC News
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2017-03-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Despite their immense power, companies such as Facebook and Google have avoided negative headlines - but that might be changing.
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Entertainment & Arts
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It is perhaps the most beguiling irony of our age that a new class of super-rich that has emerged on America's West Coast has its moral, intellectual and even spiritual origins in the anti-materialistic radicalism of 1960s counter-culture.
Silicon Valley is what happened when the flower power generation sobered up.
Steve Jobs was a Buddhist, though to what extent has been the subject of much debate.
And the zealous mission on which Facebook is embarked - to create a more open and connected world, smashing barriers instinctively - owes a substantial debt to the baby boomers and their own particular doctrine, (John) Lennonism. When Mark Zuckerberg speaks, I always hear the lyrics to Imagine.
Perhaps it is this moral component to what Silicon Valley's biggest companies do that has, for the most part, protected them from what I had long considered inevitable: a monumental backlash.
I call this the tech-lash, and thought it would have two main components.
First, anti-capitalism: the hostility toward plutocracy shown by groups such as Occupy Wall Street would, eventually, take aim at the astronomical wealth of tech billionaires - especially once it dawned on these protesters, and society at large, that compared to the industrialists of old, these companies don't actually employ many people.
As a result, of the vast capital they have amassed, a disconcertingly small amount actually makes it to the labour force.
That smells like trickle-down economics - without the trickle down.
The second component of the tech-lash would arise from concerns about privacy, fuelled not least by the revelations from Edward Snowden.
It is hard to get your head around just how much data companies such as Google and Facebook hold, and how much information they have about us - most of it voluntarily given over.
If the civil liberties brigade ever needed a cause around which to rally, this could well be it.
Together with disgust at how little taxes these companies pay, you have the elements of an almighty revolt.
And yet, it hasn't really come: partly, I imagine, because of that sense of moral purpose; and partly because of the fact that these brilliant and uniquely innovative companies have improved our lives without asking us to pay a penny.
Your appetite for being horrible toward Google is neutered when you use Gmail to rally comrades to a cause, and Google Maps to get to a protest.
This, then, was the tech-lash that wasn't. Until now.
Two stories this week suggest that the mood is changing.
On Tuesday, the Home Affairs Select Committee gave a ferocious grilling to senior executives from Facebook, Google and Twitter.
The Daily Mail is usually a good indicator of which way the wind is blowing; its front page headline on Wednesday was "Shaming of the web giants".
The next story that showed public feeling might be turning was on the front of another British newspaper - the Financial Times.
And yet the story wasn't about Britain. The splash headline was: "Berlin plans €50m [£44m] fines for hate speech and fake news".
This is a remarkable story: the German government is drafting legislation that will aggressively target internet companies, including social media giants, if they don't do enough to stop the spread of socially corrosive material online, particularly by giving users tools to flag such material.
Germany is uniquely susceptible to the spread of fake news.
Angela Merkel's hugely controversial refugees policy, the rise of the nationalist Alternative for Germany party, the constant threat from neo-Nazis, upcoming national elections, and the staid media landscape - staid compared with Britain's raucous tabloids, for instance - all make conditions ripe for exploitation.
But Germany is now leading the fight-back. Germans have a very different approach to the state to that which is fashionable on America's West Coast.
The new tech giants are often libertarians who believe that innovation and technology can solve social problems much more effectively than government.
They are diametrically opposed to what you might, crudely, call the Teutonic faith in regulation: many Germans - and indeed all those I spoke to while reporting there - believe that a smart, enabling state can, through effective legislation, mitigate social ills.
If the much heralded tech-lash is finally upon us, it is the Germans who hold the whip hand.
It isn't hatred of plutocracy, or love of privacy, that finally turned the temper of a people against tech giants: it is the threat of election, and legislative power falling into the hands of nasty forces, that has prompted action.
Moreover, it took the German faith in the efficacy of regulation to confront those giants with the threat of punitive action.
If the German proposal becomes legislation, it will offer a template that could be rolled out elsewhere.
Whether this is the beginning of a tech-lash - a concerted effort by societies and government to, ahem, take back control from tech companies - or just an incremental development in a constantly maturing new world of law and power, is unclear.
I would hope, whatever the regulatory fallout of the fake news phenomenon, the likes of Facebook and Google continue to earn immense respect for being better at providing exceptional services to customers than most companies in history.
Does that include the British? Yes, basically: our political class reveres Silicon Valley and hopes to replicate its success over here.
But my conversations in Westminster lead me to believe that, in Theresa May, we have a leader who is not far off the pragmatic, populist patriotism of Mrs Merkel; that, like the German chancellor, our prime minister is a provincial Tory who believes in the good that government can do.
Theresa May admires the pragmatism of her German counterpart, Angela Merkel
Given her one-nation rhetoric, Mrs May will be conscious that fake news - which Facebook is taking very seriously - does potentially pose a threat to the social solidarity.
The prime minister and her most senior lieutenants are very close observers of German affairs, and there are people close to the top of British government who are wondering what they can learn, and imitate, from this week's German proposal.
In recent years, the moral fervour of those sons and daughters of the 1960s who have come to dominate Silicon Valley, and all our lives, has forged an alliance with wealth and power of a kind most of us can't imagine.
What happens when it clashes with the alternative worldview of people in faraway lands who have elections to win, and hatred to silence, will determine much of this, the first truly digital chapter in history.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39280657
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Aitor Karanka: Middlesbrough sack manager after three and a half years - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Middlesbrough sack manager Aitor Karanka, with the club in the Premier League relegation zone.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Middlesbrough have sacked manager Aitor Karanka after three and a half years at the club.
Boro are winless in their last 10 Premier League games and currently sit in the relegation zone, three points from safety with 11 games remaining.
They are also the league's lowest scorers with just 19 goals and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City last weekend.
Assistant head coach Steve Agnew will take control of the first team.
"This club will always hold a special place for me," said Karanka, 43.
"I'd like to thank Middlesbrough for a wonderful opportunity and the players, staff and all the people at the club who I have worked with."
The former Real Madrid assistant manager took over at the Riverside in November 2013 to become Middlesbrough's first ever non-British boss.
Boro secured automatic promotion to the Premier League last season.
The club met with Karanka and following discussions, Boro said it was in their "best interests" to make the change.
Former Leicester manager Nigel Pearson is the early favourite to succeed Karanka.
Boro had a solid start to the season including a 1-1 draw at Manchester City, but their form dipped over the winter and without a win since 17 December, they dropped into the relegation zone on 4 March for the first time.
Karanka has won just 15% of his games in the Premier League, with four wins, 10 draws and 13 defeats. His win rate in the Championship was 52%.
Goals have been hard to come by, despite the £7m signing of Aston Villa striker Rudy Gestede in January and they have scored just three goals in their last 10 league games.
In addition to scoring the fewest goals in the league this season, they have also attempted the fewest shots on target with just 65.
But they do have the joint fifth best defence in the league, better than Arsenal and Liverpool, with only 30 goals conceded.
They have also conceded 31 fewer goals than Swansea, who are in 16th place.
Boro spent over £20m in the summer, as they brought in midfielder Marten de Roon for £12m, along with wingers Adama Traore for £7m and Viktor Fischer for £3.8m.
They also signed former Manchester City striker Alvaro Negredo on a season-long loan from Spanish side Valencia.
It was reported that Karanka walked out of the Riverside last March following a row, but returned a few days later.
This season he criticised the board over a lack of January signings and also hit out at the fans' behaviour after a 3-1 defeat by West Ham in January, saying the players deserved more respect.
It has also been reported that he had training ground rows with Stewart Downing and then omitted the former England winger and January signing striker Patrick Bamford from his matchday squad that lost to City on Sunday.
The Boro boss later said he did not pick the pair because he wanted "18 fighters".
• None Fewest touches inside the opposition box - 392 in 27 games, an average of 14.5 per game.
• None Fewest shots from outside the box - 16 in 27 games.
• None Scored one goal from outside the box, another Premier League low.
And history is not on their side...
• None In 15 of the 25 Premier League seasons since 1992, the lowest scorers have been relegated.
• None Since 1992, only 14 other teams have scored 19 goals or fewer after 27 Premier League games. Only five of them have stayed up.
The departure of Aitor Karanka won't come as a massive shock to some Boro fans, many of whom have been calling for change for a number of weeks now.
The same can't be said for Karanka, who just last week declared "I'm not a quitter" to the press, as well as suggesting he had the backing of chairman Steve Gibson.
However, that's not to say the signs weren't there. Just last week BBC Tees Sport learned of a training ground bust-up between Karanka and Stewart Downing, who was frustrated at not being selected for the trip to Stoke.
That was the latest in a long line of fall-outs, from criticising the fans to the board and just last weekend Karanka said Downing, and new signing Patrick Bamford, lacked "fight" after leaving them both out of the match-day squad.
Karanka will always be remembered as the manager who got Boro promotion back to the Premier League after seven years in the wilderness.
However in the end it seems Karanka had lost the dressing room, as well as large section of the supporters, and this time the rifts were too big to mend.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39291081
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Cheltenham 2017: Nichols Canyon wins Stayers' Hurdle ridden by Ruby Walsh - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Nichols Canyon is the big winner as jockey Ruby Walsh and trainer Willie Mullins win four races on a day dominated by the Irish at Cheltenham.
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Last updated on .From the section Horse Racing
Coverage : Commentary on BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, live text coverage on the BBC Sport website and app
Nichols Canyon was the big winner as jockey Ruby Walsh and trainer Willie Mullins claimed four races on a day dominated by the Irish at Cheltenham.
Nichols Canyon shocked odds-on favourite Unowhatimeanharry to win the Stayers' Hurdle, after Yorkhill won the JLT Chase and Un De Sceaux landed the Ryanair Chase.
Walsh completed the first Cheltenham four-timer for a jockey on Let's Dance.
Irish-trained horses won six of the day's seven races, with the four wins for Walsh and Mullins coming in at combined odds of 179-1 which cost bookmakers an estimated £10m.
Mullins and Walsh came into Thursday without a win to their names at this year's Festival but started the day with victory thanks to the 6-4 favourite Yorkhill in the Novices' Chase, before Un De Sceaux won in thrilling style in the Ryanair Chase.
Success there will have been sweet for Mullins, who saw Ryanair owner Michael O'Leary remove 60 horses from his stables last September.
Jockey Noel Fehily was looking for a big-race treble on Unowhatimeanharry after winning the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday and Wednesday's Champion Chase, but despite being well placed coming off the penultimate fence had no answer to 10-1 shot Nichols Canyon's kick for the line.
If Wednesday will live long in the memories of Walsh and Mullins for the wrong reasons after Douvan's shock defeat in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, Thursday was a swift and spectacular return to form.
Yorkhill won by a length in the day's opener before Walsh let Un De Sceaux go ahead after just five fences of the Ryanair - and he never looked back.
Walsh admitted he "was just a passenger" as Un De Sceaux powered to victory to give Mullins his 50th Cheltenham win as trainer.
And after Nichols Canyon stayed well placed throughout the second half of the Stayers' Hurdle, Walsh rode him home to deny Lil Rockerfeller victory.
Mullins said: "I wouldn't like to tell you what was going through my mind on Wednesday night, but on the other side of that coin, when we analysed all the runners, apart from Douvan we didn't have any other runner that should have won.
"People expect us to have winners here, we just hope to have winners here and have huge respect for the place."
Walsh added: "What a day. The horses ran well the first two days, they just weren't winning.
"Everything can't go your way all the time and you have to prepare for that.
"It's been a tough year for Willie but he's taken it great. I've worked for him since I was 17 so could eulogise about him all day.
"In previous years we were front-loaded and this year we were back-loaded. We knew we had great chances today and we think we have a couple on Friday."
Six out of seven for Ireland
With Presenting Percy a fine winner in the Handicap Hurdle for Davy Russell and Patrick Kelly, the Festival was set for a day of all-Irish winners with three races remaining.
And Road to Respect made it five out of five for Ireland with a win in the Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate Handicap Chase.
A sixth Irish win - and a fourth for Walsh - was sealed as Let's Dance comfortably came away to win the Mares' Novices' Hurdle.
An Irish clean sweep - or 'green sweep' - was prevented when Gina Andrews steered Domesday Book to a surprise 40-1 win in the day's final race, the Kim Muir Challenge Cup.
Two horses had to be put down after suffering injuries - Toe The Line after a fall on the flat in the early stages of the penultimate race, and Hadrian's Approach who fell in the final contest.
I said the other day that a successful Cheltenham Festival for Willie Mullins and team after a tumultuous season would read like a movie plot.
Even more so now after they bounced back from the gloom with a sparkling third afternoon here.
To these eyes, the highlight was Un De Sceaux's win, as breathtaking as Douvan's day-two defeat was surprising, though only just ahead of the masterful rides given by Walsh on, particularly, I thought, Let's Dance.
Let's Dance, quiet as a mouse at the back until scything through her opponents, was a joy to watch.
More success for Mullins on Friday?
Cue Card will bid to make amends for a late fall last year when he lines up for the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday.
The popular steeplechaser, under the guidance of trainer Colin Tizzard, will have stablemate Native River among his rivals.
A strong Irish challenge includes the two-time runner-up Djakadam who bids to secure a first win for trainer Willie Mullins.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/39291298
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Cheltenham 2017: Special Tiara wins Queen Mother Champion Chase as Douvan fades - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Special Tiara wins the Queen Mother Champion Chase for jockey Noel Fehily with odds-on favourite Douvan well beaten.
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Last updated on .From the section Horse Racing
Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, live text coverage on the BBC Sport website and app
Special Tiara won the Queen Mother Champion Chase but 2-9 favourite Douvan struggled in a major shock on day two of the Cheltenham Festival.
The 10-year-old Special Tiara (11-1) finished a head clear of Fox Norton (7-1) with Sir Valentino (33-1) third.
It was jockey Noel Fehily's second big-race victory of the Festival following Tuesday's Champion Hurdle success.
Douvan, ridden by Ruby Walsh, jumped poorly and was never in contention, finishing seventh.
A post-race examination by a veterinary officer found Douvan to be lame behind.
• None Listen: 5 live podcast reacts to Day Two at Cheltenham
Fehily told BBC Radio 5 live: "[Special Tiara] felt great and never missed a beat. I have been second in this race a few times so to win one is brilliant."
Unbeaten in 13 previous starts for trainer Willie Mullins, Douvan's defeat was described by BBC horse racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght as "one of the biggest upsets in Cheltenham Festival history".
Douvan, who was the subject of a £500,000 bet at odds of 1-5, which would have produced winnings of £100,000, had never looked himself, and afterwards Mullins suggested the seven-year-old may have pulled something during the race.
"We are all a bit gobsmacked I think, he didn't jump as well as we had hoped with his usual fluency," Mullins told 5 live. "Usually you find something wrong when that happens.
"He probably pulled something, a muscle, a ligament, hopefully something that will come right straight away.
"Over the first two fences, I thought he would have to be a super horse to win this, you don't get away with that in the Champion Chase.
"I'm hoping he could be one of the best horses I have ever trained. Today clearly was not his day. That's the way it is.
"We are all disappointed that this happened, now my main job is to find out what is wrong and how long it will take to fix."
The defeat of Douvan has to rate as among the biggest shocks in Cheltenham Festival history.
It's not just the odds, but since joining Willie Mullins this horse has been winning with an authoritative flamboyance that meant that practically everyone thought his opponents had the proverbial Everest to climb to beat him.
And Douvan's defeat continued a challenging time for the normally rampant Ricci-Mullins-Walsh team and their expensively assembled string.
But good for Special Tiara, a real trooper, in the race for the fourth time and just holding on to make the ever-reliable Noel Fehily a double championship-winning jockey this week. And he's on the favourite in Thursday's feature race too.
Special Tiara's trainer Trainer Henry de Bromhead said: "He seemed in great form coming into it, but it was hard to believe we could win with Douvan and everything else - Douvan had looked so good.
"For our lad, he just tries his heart out and no-one deserves it more."
Fehily, 41, added: "I didn't think we'd beat Douvan, but I thought I had a great chance of being second. I got over the last and was surprised something hadn't come to me, but I knew he wasn't stopping."
The rest of the day's action
After three wins on the opening day, trainer Gordon Elliott claimed another double when Cause of Causes (4-1) won the Cross Country Chase before the fast-finishing Fayonagh (7-1) took the closing Champion Bumper
Both were ridden by experienced Irish amateur Jamie Codd, who also had a Festival double in 2015, and who was full of praise for Cause of Causes.
"He's run at four Festivals now, been second once and won three times," he said. "He's a great little horse and he's been marvellous for my career.
"He's an idle little horse but quick when you need him to be."
The most dramatic finish of the day saw the 7-2 favourite Might Bite beat his Nicky Henderson-trained stablemate Whisper (9-2) by a nose in the RSA Chase.
Might Bite, ridden by Nico de Boinville, was comfortably ahead but made a mess of the last fence and then started to hang badly to his right.
Whisper and Davy Russell saw an opportunity and got past the struggling Might Bite on the run-in, but de Boinville managed to correct his path with the aid of a loose horse and after the pair went past the post together, Might Bite was announced the winner.
There were also first festival winners for trainers Ben Pauling, after Willoughby House (14-1) beat Neon Wolf in the opening Neptune Investment Management Novices Hurdle, and for Nick Williams after the 33-1 chance Flying Tiger took the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle under champion jockey Richard Johnson.
And on Ladies Day, Jessica Harrington claimed her ninth Festival winner when Supasundae (16-1) took the Coral Cup.
However, there was some sad news from the day's racing after Consul De Thaix suffered a fatal fall during the Novices Hurdle.
His jockey Mark Walsh was treated for what was described as a "concussive head injury" and has been ruled out for the remainder of the Festival.
What to watch on Thursday
After his wins in the Champion Hurdle (Buveur D'Air,) and the Queen Mother Champion Chase (Special Tiara), Unowhatimeanharry could give Noel Fehily a third big-race win in the Stayers' Hurdle, the feature race on day three.
The nine-year-old is unbeaten in his last eight starts, including in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle 12 months ago, and is likely to be sent on his way at very short odds - but he likes very testing ground and the drying conditions may not be to his liking
Cole Harden won the race two years ago and is back again for the Warren Greatrex team.
The Jessica Harrington-trained Jezki is one of six Irish declarations, with Willie Mullins responsible for Clondaw Warrior, Nichols Canyon and Shaneshill.
Snow Falcon (Noel Meade) and Dedigout (Gordon Elliott) have also made the journey across the Irish Sea.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/39279372
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Indian Wells: Roger Federer powers past Rafael Nadal, Kyrgios beats Djokovic - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Roger Federer claims a third straight win over Rafael Nadal for the first time in his career in Indian Wells.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Roger Federer played superbly to claim a third straight win over Rafael Nadal for the first time in his career and reach the last eight in Indian Wells.
The Swiss, 35, won 6-2 6-3 to follow up his Australian Open final victory over the Spaniard two months ago, when Federer won his 18th Grand Slam title.
He will next face Australia's Nick Kyrgios, who upset world number two Novak Djokovic 6-4 7-6 (7-3).
Svetlana Kuznetsova was the first player into the women's semis.
The eighth seed saw off fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3 6-2 and will meet Czech third seed Karolina Pliskova, after she beat Spain's French Open champion Garbine Muguruza 7-6 7-6.
In the pair's 36th meeting - and first before the quarter-finals of a tournament since their initial meeting in Miami 13 years ago - Federer notched his 13th victory and third in a row.
Nadal, 30, had built his success against Federer over the years on attacking the Swiss player's backhand, but Federer turned his weaker wing into a weapon in the Australian Open final, and if anything was even more aggressive in Indian Wells.
Federer crunched six backhand winners to none from Nadal as he played a flawless opening set, taking it in a little over half an hour.
Nadal might have hoped to profit from a surface markedly slower than that in Melbourne but it did nothing to curb Federer's aggressive intent.
Another early break in the second set had Federer within sight of the finish line and he raced through with four breaks of serve to none to win in 68 minutes.
"I did very well today, I'm so pleased I'm able to step into the court and play super aggressive," said Federer. "Coming over the backhand has been part of that.
"It's a nice feeling to win the last three, I can tell you that. But most importantly, I won Australia. That was big for me.
"For me, it was all about coming out and trying to play the way I did in Australia. I didn't think it was going to be that possible, to be quite honest, because the court is more jumpy here so it's hard to put the ball away."
Kyrgios, 21, gave further evidence that he is now a force to be reckoned with as he blunted the Djokovic return game with another magnificent serving performance.
Djokovic, 29, was on a 19-match winning streak in the Californian desert, and bidding for a fourth consecutive title, but Kyrgios took their personal head-to-head to 2-0 as he repeated his victory in their first meeting in Acapulco 12 days ago.
Just as he had in Mexico, Kyrgios gave the Serb nothing to work with as he powered through without facing a break point in nearly two hours.
The Australian grabbed the only service break of the match in the opening game, which proved enough to take the first set, and clinched the second after racing into a 3-0 tie-break lead.
"I am serving really well, that is creating chances for me to put pressure on their service games," said the 15th seed.
"My mentality is improving and I am trying really hard to fight for every point and just compete."
Djokovic praised the Australian's serve, adding: "Nick, again, as he did in Acapulco, served so well. I just wasn't managing to get a lot of balls back on his serve, first and second, as well. That's what made a difference."
Japan's fourth seed Kei Nishikori swept past American Donald Young 6-2 6-4, while on the other side of the draw Spanish 21st seed Pablo Carreno Busta and Argentine 27th seed Pablo Cuevas progressed to the quarters.
Austrian eighth seed Dominic Thiem eased past France's Gael Monfils 6-3 6-2. Thiem will play Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka, after the three-time grand slam champion, laboured for two hours and 13 minutes to get past world number 70 Yoshihito Nishioka, winning in three sets 3-6 6-3 7-6.
Fourth seeds Jamie Murray and Brazilian Bruno Soares made it through to the doubles semi-finals with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 win over Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer and Romania's Horia Tecau.
And despite his absence following a shock early exit, Andy Murray saw his position at the top of the rankings enhanced after Djokovic's defeat.
The Serb lost 990 points as he fell well short of defending his title, while Murray's relatively modest record in Indian Wells meant his early loss only cost him 20 points.
Djokovic will also be defending a title later this month in Miami - another tournament where Murray lost early in 2016.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39287717
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Why transgender Africans turned against a famous feminist - BBC News
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2017-03-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Nigeria's LGBT community respond to transgender comments made by writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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BBC Trending
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A leading African writer has transfixed the internet with her comments on gender - but fellow Nigerians say they feel hurt.
Transgender women in Africa have benefited from "male privilege" because they grew up as men. With this argument, writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie kicked off a vexed discussion, trending everywhere from Facebook to Teen Vogue.
But a less noticed discussion has been the pained one among gay and transgender Nigerians. BBC Trending has been speaking to the leading voices.
It all began last weekend when Adichie, a best-selling Nigerian novelist and outspoken feminist, was asked in an interview with Channel 4 News whether a transgender woman was "any less of a real woman."
"I think if you've lived in the world as a man with the privileges the world accords to men, and then switched gender, it's difficult for me to accept that then we can equate your experience with the experience of a woman who has lived from the beginning in the world as a woman, and who has not been accorded those privileges that men are."
The interview has sparked a passionate online debate around the world. But specifically among Africans, one of Adichie's most vocal critics is London-based, Nigerian transgender model Miss Sahhara, who runs an online support community for transgender women called transvalid.org.
Miss Sahhara says transgender women in Nigeria rely on online communities for support
Writing on her Facebook page she said Adichie - who has written several essays and given a viral TED talk on feminism - was divisive in her comments.
"Ahhhhh, I am fuming, these TERF (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist) feminists always think they are above all women who don't fit into their narrative of what a woman should be."
"What happened to being inclusive and tolerant of all women, no matter their life histories?"
"I get a lot of online messages from Nigerian trans girls who are there now and they find it so difficult. A nightmare," Sahhara told BBC Trending, "there's no male privilege for trans women in Africa."
Growing up in rural northern Nigeria, where homosexual activity can be punishable by death (although no executions by law for homosexual activity have been verified), Sahhara says that it was "obvious to all" that she was "a girl in a boy's body".
Nigeria is one 34 African countries that outlaws same-sex relationships, and since the Nigerian government tightened its anti-gay laws in 2014, punishments have become much harsher.
"My uncles beat me up for the way I behaved," Sahhara says. "It's the way it's done in Africa."
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Sahhara moved to the UK 13 years ago, but is in close online contact with the LGBT community in Africa.
She says that social media is a vital lifeline for the transgender community there, who often live in secret. Sahhara lives openly as an LGBT activist in the UK, and many of these women get in touch with her through her Facebook page.
"I've had transgender women from South Africa get in touch with me and ask what hormones I recommend," Sahhara says, "or women from Nigeria saying 'listen sister, a friend of mine has been locked up, can you raise awareness online?'."
"They communicate with me on my Facebook page, or secretly through private digital groups I refer them to".
Mike Daemon (not his real name) who runs an LGBT advocacy website called No Strings Nigeria told BBC Trending: "Africa's transgender women rely on a secret digital life involving Whatsapp groups and closed Facebook groups."
"People are added through referrals and recommendations when they are trusted."
However he reflected the nuanced response Chimanda Ngozi Adiche's comments. Many of those commenting acknowledged Adicihie's feminist contribution and that the issue is complex. Daemon said Adichie was being "realistic" and that trans women and biologically born women have "different journeys."
Miss Sahhara, for her part, is hesitant when BBC Trending asked her if she identifies as a feminist.
"I believe in equal rights and pay for women," she says but, "when I start hearing the ladies from the TERF (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist), it discourages me from wanting to be part of feminism. We are fighting for equality and yet you say other women are not equal because you don't feel comfortable with who they are or who they used to be."
Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, a vocal advocate of LGBT rights in Africa, declined an interview with BBC Trending and referred us to her statement on Facebook.
"I think the impulse to say that trans women are just like women born female comes from a need to make trans issues mainstream," she says there. "Because by making them mainstream, we might reduce the many oppressions they experience. But it feels disingenuous to me. The intent is a good one but the strategy feels untrue. Diversity does not have to mean division."
Next story: The mysterious death of a live-streaming gamer
Brian Vigneault had been playing for more than 20 hours continuously when he died
The death of a young father leads to a conversation about marathon gaming sessions. READ MORE
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-39271690
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Jose Mourinho: Manchester United are not ready to dominate Premier League - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Manchester United "are not ready to be a dominant force", manager Jose Mourinho tells BBC Sport's Premier League Show.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester United "are not ready to be a dominant force" and fans should forget about a return to the days of Sir Alex Ferguson, manager Jose Mourinho has told BBC Sport.
United won 13 Premier League titles under Ferguson, but Mourinho says it is now impossible to be so dominant.
Asked if he could return the club to its former greatness, the Portuguese said: "Forget it.
"Don't try to go 10, 20 years ago because it is not possible any more."
In a wide-ranging interview with Gary Lineker for the Premier League Show, Mourinho also said:
• None United do not need to qualify for the Champions League to attract top players.
• None He would not have sold forwards Angel di Maria, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck had he been United manager.
• None It has not been easy for midfielder Paul Pogba to adjust back to English football.
'We are not ready to be Manchester United'
Mourinho, 54, signed a three-year contract last May to replace Louis van Gaal, who was sacked despite winning the FA Cup.
The Red Devils have finished seventh, fourth and fifth in the three full seasons since Ferguson's retirement, and have been in sixth place since 6 November.
Mourinho does not believe a return to winning the Premier League every year is close, but does not want the season to peter out after winning the EFL Cup last month.
"We are not ready to be Manchester United," he said.
"We are not ready to be a dominant force. We are not ready to try and win everything.
"Because of the nature of the club, and of myself, we are ready to fight for every game, every point. But there is a space between the general ambition of such a giant club and what we are in reality."
Mourinho said United - who beat Premier League champions Leicester City in the Community Shield in August - had won "one and a half" trophies this season.
"Many other teams in England are going to finish the season without a trophy," he said. "But we have to fight for the top four, we have to fight for the Champions League. The cup is not enough to say that the season is over."
Since Mourinho took charge, United have spent an estimated £150m on midfielders Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan and defender Eric Bailly, and brought in striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic for free.
But the Portuguese said the club's previous transfer dealings caused him concern.
He named three forwards - PSG's Angel di Maria, Bayer Leverkusen's Javier Hernandez and Arsenal's Danny Welbeck - as players he would not have sold.
"I found a sad club," he said. "Manchester United sold players that I would never sell, bought players that I would never buy."
Mourinho would not name the players he would not have signed, but in January he allowed midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin and forward Memphis Depay to leave for Everton and Lyon respectively.
He has largely frozen out former Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger and has handed just seven league starts to left-back Luke Shaw, who cost £27m from Southampton in 2014.
Mourinho said he was not worried about attracting players if United fail to qualify for the Champions League, pointing to last summer as proof the club can still sign the best players.
"Manchester United is very powerful, it doesn't need to be in the Champions League to attract the best players," he said.
"Zlatan could still be in Paris. Mkhitaryan could be at Borussia Dortmund. Pogba could be at Juventus. We were able to attract the players because they know that Manchester United sooner or later will get there.
"If any player decides not to come because of that, then I am happy that they are not coming."
'Pogba doesn't disappoint me at all'
Pogba, 24, has scored seven goals since joining United for a world-record £89m last summer, but has been criticised for a perceived lack of impact in matches.
Mourinho says the France international will improve.
"It isn't easy for Pogba," he said.
"The country is so different to Italian football. It is hard for him. I'm not disappointed at all. The most important thing is his personality. He is professional and he will improve for sure."
Mourinho also praised the contribution of 35-year-old Ibrahimovic, who has scored 26 goals this season.
"Zlatan is not a surprise for me," he said. "I know the personality, I know the body, I know the ambition that brought him here.
"Could he do it in the best league in the world? He has done it everywhere else. He's doing amazingly well."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39291303
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Pep Guardiola: Man City boss says he failed to convince players to attack Monaco - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Pep Guardiola says his failure to convince his players to attack and be aggressive in Monaco is the reason for their Champions League elimination.
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Pep Guardiola says his failure to convince his Manchester City players to attack in Monaco is the reason for their Champions League elimination.
Leading 5-3 from the first leg of their last-16 tie, City fielded an attacking XI in the second leg on Wednesday but lost 3-1 to go out on away goals.
"I tried to convince them in all the meetings we had to come here, try to attack and score," said Guardiola.
"My mistake was being not able to convince them to do that."
• None Football Daily podcast: Man City have failed to live up to expectations
The Spaniard added: "I did [convince them] in the second half but it was too late.
"All managers make mistakes but I don't think it was down to a tactical mistake.
"It's simple. The difference was between the first and the second half. In the second half we tried to win the game, we tried to play. I did it all my career in that way. But the problem was the first half. We weren't there."
City were overrun and sloppy at the back as they conceded twice in the first half.
They were much improved in the second 45 minutes and looked to have saved themselves through Leroy Sane's 71st-minute strike, but further defensive frailties were exposed as Tiemoue Bakayoko headed in a decisive third for the home side.
Guardiola continued: "It's not about the defence. Today was not about that. Why was the second half a problem with the defence?
"Our strikers have to be aggressive and pick the ball up, but we didn't at this crucial time. That's why we are out."
This is the first time that a side managed by Guardiola have exited the Champions League at the last-16 stage.
But he was adamant his players would learn from the experience and come back stronger next season.
"I came here to win the Champions League. I tried, I tried - and I will try again," he said. "Playing like we have done this season, like in the second half, would have been enough.
"The competition is so demanding. Hopefully we are going to learn so that, next season, we can come back here and make the same performance we did at the Etihad for the whole 90 minutes."
Former Manchester City winger Trevor Sinclair on BBC Radio 5 live: "I thought Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva and Fernandinho didn't take responsibility on the ball. They looked shell-shocked at the start by Monaco. From the first kick of the second half they went long and the gaps appeared. They needed to realise that sooner. In the first leg, Yaya Toure did that. It happened too late here.
"There was a lack of leadership on the pitch and a lack of bravery. Take John Stones out of that, who was excellent tonight. There was too many players who underachieved and didn't take responsibility."
"Looking at the game management, Pep may feel let down by his players. They didn't have the footballing IQ to know they had to play some long balls in, to recognise the scenario of the game. It took Pep to tell them at half-time. That is basic football."
Former Manchester United defender Phil Neville on BBC Radio 5 live: "They have been two brilliant football matches. City lost it in the first half when they were outplayed, outfought and were bullied. They got back into the game and they thought they were through. But their Achilles heel was a sloppy goal. Another year has failed to live up to expectations.
"I am not so sure the signings over the last five years have been that good. But when Sane scores I think Pep is thinking 'this is perfect, we can control the game from here'. Then they concede.
"Pep Guardiola doesn't go out there and spend the bulk of his money on defenders. He will be thinking if they had put one of those chances away they would be in the next round."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39287162
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Manchester United 1-0 FC Rostov (Agg: 2-1) - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Manchester United reach the Europa League quarter-finals with victory over Rostov thanks to a goal from Juan Mata.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester United edged a nervy encounter with Russian minnows FC Rostov at Old Trafford to reach the Europa League quarter-finals with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Juan Mata got the decisive goal for United when he stabbed in from Zlatan Ibrahimovic's flick, but Rostov threatened to take the game to extra time and Sergio Romero made two good saves late on.
The United goalkeeper first kept out Sardar Azmoun's flicked header before thumping away Christian Noboa's free-kick.
It was a largely frustrating night for United, who dominated for large periods without really threatening and also lost midfielder Paul Pogba to a hamstring injury.
Their best chances before the goal came in the first half, when Henrikh Mkhitaryan shot wide when one-on-one and Ibrahimovic twice hit the post.
United will find out on Friday who they will play in the quarter-finals, with the draw taking place at 12:00 GMT.
Who is into the last eight?
Can United go all the way?
The Europa League is the only major trophy that has so far eluded United, but winning the competition is not just about collecting another piece of silverware.
With a guaranteed place in next season's Champions League for the winners, United, who are sixth in the Premier League, would not have to rely solely on finishing in the top four.
Mourinho showed he was in no mood to take any chances by naming a strong side against Rostov, with Ibrahimovic - who is serving a three-match domestic ban - reinstated.
The Swedish striker, absent from Monday's 1-0 FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Chelsea, looked fresh and hungry from the outset, hitting the post from close range early on before cracking another effort against the upright before the break.
Those chances aside, United struggled to find a way through a packed Rostov defence and it looked as though they would have to rely on the goal they scored in Russia to scrape into the quarter-finals.
An inventive bit of skill by Ibrahimovic helped make the breakthrough in the end, but United know they will need to improve if they are to go all the way in the competition, with better sides than Rostov waiting.
It was a victory that came at a cost for Mourinho as he lost Pogba and Daley Blind to injury.
Midfielder Pogba has come in for criticism recently, but Mourinho clearly sees the £89m midfielder as a crucial part of his side.
The France international was making his 41st appearance of the season for United but has rarely dominated a game, and he was largely a peripheral figure here before pulling up with an apparent hamstring injury early in the second half. He will miss Sunday's Premier League game at Middlesbrough.
Mourinho was then forced into another change, and a reshuffle at the back, when defender Blind went off midway through the half with suspected concussion.
With a congested fixture list caused by United battling for Europa League success and a place in the Premier League top four, Mourinho will hope neither player is out for an extended period.
What they said
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho, speaking to BT Sport: "We were afraid of extra time. It was a difficult game.
"We have lots of enemies. Normally the enemies should be Rostov but we have a lot of enemies. It's difficult to play Monday with 10 men, it's difficult to play now, it's difficult to play 12 o'clock on Sunday. We have a lot of enemies.
"A lot of people might say we should have scored more goals. But a lot of things are going against us. The boys are amazing boys. We will probably lose the game on Sunday. Fatigue has a price.
"I will remember forever when I spoke to the Uefa delegate in Rostov. He told me if any of our players gets injured, the insurance paid. Whoever decided the Monday and Sunday games probably thinks the same way."
• None Mourinho has won each of his past eight European home games (Chelsea 3, Man Utd 5), his teams scoring 21 goals and conceding just two.
• None In fact, Mourinho has not lost a home game in European competition since a 3-1 semi-final second-leg loss to Atletico Madrid in April 2014 (W10 D2).
• None The Red Devils are now unbeaten in their past 16 European matches at home (inc qualifiers, W13 D3), last losing in March 2013 to Real Madrid.
• None Since the start of 2015-16, Russian clubs have faced English teams eight times in European competition and have not won any of those matches (W0 D3 L5).
• None Man Utd's goal was Mata's 10th of the season, equalling his highest tally from the previous two seasons for the Red Devils (10 goals in each).
• None Ibrahimovic has been directly involved in a goal in each of his four Europa League appearances at Old Trafford this season (4 goals, 2 assists).
• None Ibrahimovic has provided 17 assists in European competition since Aug 2011; only Cristiano Ronaldo (20) has provided more.
United are next in action when they travel to Middlesbrough in the Premier League on Sunday (12:00 GMT).
• None Attempt saved. Christian Noboa (FC Rostov) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner.
• None Attempt blocked. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Antonio Valencia.
• None Aleksandr Bukharov (FC Rostov) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Offside, Manchester United. Marcos Rojo tries a through ball, but Juan Mata is caught offside.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Delay in match Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Manchester United) because of an injury. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39173788
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The political cost of Conservatives' record fine - BBC News
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2017-03-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Tories aren't the only party to have messed up their election expenses but it could cause them significant political pain
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UK Politics
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David Cameron gets on the Conservatives' 2015 election battlebus
Money and politics. Put them together and the mix can be toxic.
After long running investigations and digging by Channel 4 News and the Daily Mirror, rumblings over how the Conservative Party used cash in the General Election campaign in 2016 have burst into the open with a record fine from the Electoral Commission.
Seventy thousand pounds is a lot of money, but in the context of a political campaign where millions of pounds are spent, it's not exactly going to break the Tories' bank. But the political cost of what MIGHT happen next is much higher.
Thirteen police forces are now looking at whether the mistakes made might constitute criminal offences. If that was to happen, there could be by-elections in seats around the country, that could seriously affect the PM's unhealthily slim majority in Parliament.
And the whiff of financial wrong-doing is an odour no political party wants. But how likely is that actually to happen?
On the central charge laid at the Tories' door - were they deliberately trying to channel national cash into local campaigns to get round the spending rules, the Electoral Commission report is not completely conclusive.
They've found no direct evidence of intent to fiddle the system, but the message is essentially, that the party should have known better.
Senior Tory sources tell me they think it's unlikely the mistakes, and there were plenty of them, will reach the hurdle for the prosecution. The CPS has to believe there is a good chance of a successful conviction, and while this is speculation, senior Tories don't believe in most of the cases that's likely.
When it comes to South Thanet however, the seat where the Conservatives were desperate to hold off Nigel Farage, Tory insiders fear the situation may be more fraught for them.
The discrepancies may be more serious, the amounts of money more significant, and therefore, potentially, this could bring a lot more trouble in the coming months.
The Tories aren't the only party to have messed up their election expenses, both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have also been fined. But it's most serious for the Tories and could, hypothetically, cause a significant amount of political pain.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39289923
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Liverpool teen Ben Woodburn is in Wales squad - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Liverpool's Ben Woodburn receives a first call up to Wales' squad for the World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland on 24 March.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, plus live text commentary.
Teenager Ben Woodburn has received a first call up to Wales' squad for their World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland on 24 March.
The 17-year-old has made seven appearances for Liverpool this season and become their youngest scorer.
The Chester-born forward qualifies for Wales through his maternal grandfather and has already played at under-16, under-18 and under-19 level.
Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey are also included after returning from injury.
Manager Chris Coleman's side are third in Group D, four points behind Martin O'Neill's Republic of Ireland, who are top.
Forward Bale, 27, has featured in five games for Real after recovering from ankle injury which kept him out of action for three months.
Midfielder Ramsey was sidelined for a month by a calf injury but has played in Arsenal's last two matches.
Coleman has also included striker Tom Lawrence, who has scored 11 goals during a season-long loan at Ipswich Town from Leicester City.
The only other uncapped player in Coleman's squad is MK Dons defender Joe Walsh, although uncapped Barnsley winger Marley Watkins is named on a stand-by list as Wales have a couple of minor injury concerns.
• None Wales will not rush to cap teenager Woodburn
• None Wales and England set for 'war over Woodburn' says Evans
Coleman says Woodburn's inclusion is not a spur of the moment decision and is not about keeping him away from England.
"Everyone got excited about Ben when he burst into the Liverpool side and said 'we should be looking at Ben Woodburn', but we've been excited about him since he was 13 years old," Coleman said.
"He's been in our system for five years, so we know all about him; he's done well this season. We are looking forward to having him on board."
Coleman rejected suggestions England were a factor in the decision to pick Woodburn.
"Absolutely not, that is not the case," he said. "If we want to put him on for tactical reasons, it would be for that, but not because we are worried about anyone else looking at him.
"He has been part of the Welsh set-up since he was a young boy. There will be no knee-jerk reaction to cap him.
"If Ben wanted to go and play for England, there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.
"None of our players belong to us. They aren't contracted to us. But he's earned this call-up.
"If I thought it was too early I wouldn't call him up because this game is massive for us.
"It's not about what game is good to get him in, it's the best squad. He's a Welsh international, he's played for us since a young boy and this is a the natural progression for him."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39283420
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Jermain Defoe: England recall Sunderland striker aged 34 - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe is recalled to the England squad, more than three years after his last international appearance.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe has been recalled to the England squad.
The 34-year-old won the most recent of his 55 England caps against Chile in November 2013.
Uncapped Southampton duo Nathan Redmond and James Ward-Prowse are also selected, as is 19-year-old Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford.
Gareth Southgate's side face Germany away in a friendly on 22 March before a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley on 26 March.
• None 5 live Football Daily: Jenas feels Defoe is "as sharp as he's ever been"
Captain Wayne Rooney is absent as he recovers from a leg injury, while Tottenham striker Harry Kane is missing after injuring his ankle against Millwall on Sunday.
West Brom midfielder Jake Livermore, who made his sole international appearance against Italy in 2012, returns to the squad.
Burnley defender Michael Keane and West Ham winger Michail Antonio - both of whom are uncapped - are also selected.
Southgate has also called up Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw, who has made two appearances since December, and Everton midfielder Ross Barkley.
Defoe has scored 19 times for England since making his debut against Sweden in 2004, and has 14 Premier League goals this season, the second most by any English player behind Kane (19).
"You can have the young players who are hungry and the old players who are hungry as well," Southgate told the England website.
"I think we can't just look at young players all the time. I think we have to get results now and also plan for the future."
Southgate said there was "a chance" Rooney would be fit for Manchester United's Premier League game against Middlesbrough on Sunday.
"The injury, coupled with the fact he's not really had a lot of game time recently and others have, has sort of determined my decision on that one," said Southgate.
He added: "There are some very good players and it's a battle to get in this squad.
"Wayne totally understands that. He's the most realistic senior player I think I've dealt with in terms of how he views the game.
"He doesn't have any expectations of being treated differently or treated in a special way."
Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge is also absent through injury, while Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has not been selected.
"I've got to say [Walcott] wasn't chuffed to bits to get the call this morning and I understand that," said Southgate.
"Quite rightly, he said: 'I'm one of the leading goalscorers in the league.' I don't mind being challenged on that at all. I totally respect that. I don't expect him to be happy.
"But I've got to make decisions and I think it was the right thing to call him to talk that through, even though the timing probably wasn't great.
"He's a player I still like. I've said to him I'm not ruling out, but in terms of just having him as a squad player, I think it's a better opportunity for me to look at one or two others and see what they can do."
Harry Redknapp, who managed Defoe at Tottenham, believes the forward will believe he has a chance of playing at the 2018 World Cup.
Redknapp told BBC Radio 5 live: "Jermain is a fantastic professional and good to have around the place. I'm sure he'll be a big influence on the younger players.
"He really does take care of himself and spends time on the training ground when everyone else is finished.
"He's never short of confidence and he'll be eyeing the next tournament with relish. He will feel he has a chance."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39291266
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'A lovely man': The woman who dated the Man on the Moor - BBC News
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2017-03-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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One of the few people with any insight into the puzzle behind the man's death was Maureen Toogood.
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Magazine
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On 12 December 2015 a man's body was found lying on the ground on Saddleworth Moor. He had died from poisoning.
He became known as the Body on the Moor. And the struggle to identify him became one of the strangest mysteries.
No mobile, no identification of any kind. No family or friends came forward.
One of the few people with any insight into the puzzle behind the man's death was Maureen Toogood.
Maureen had a relationship with a man starting in the late 1960s. They didn't marry and she ended up marrying someone else but they stayed friends. For 40 years they saw each other regularly - she helped him in his garden and around the house.
Then in 2006 he simply vanished from Maureen's life - upped sticks and left the country.
All of the interviews here are taken from the new episode of the World at One's Body on the Moor podcast series by Jon Manel.
Maureen believed he had sold his home and emigrated to California.
The first she heard was when she received a call from his neighbour. She was told he was going to the US the following day.
"I was very hurt by this," she says. She was unable to contact him because his phone had been disconnected. Since then, she says, she has thought about him often.
Eleven years later she got another phone call. This time from the police.
They had finally identified the body on the moor. They were calling because it was David Lytton, her friend.
They knew little of his life and Maureen was able to fill in some of the gaps.
Before he left in 2006, David had lived an apparently unremarkable life in south-west London, working as a croupier, a taxi controller for a mini-cab company, a baker and a train driver for the London Underground.
Maureen says she met David in 1968. She was suffering from flu at the time but had ventured out to Finchley in north London to buy a stereo. It was the Last Night of the Proms and she wanted to enjoy listening to it at home.
"I didn't feel very well. I was on my knees, and I was collapsing. There was a young man who went 'Oh, hang on, hang on I'll come over,'" she remembers.
"He walked home to my flat and he made me a nice cup of tea. We hit it off. He made me some toast - I hadn't had any breakfast and he stayed with me until my flatmates came home."
The following day, she says, he was back on her doorstep.
"'Hello, do you remember me?' he said. And he kept coming round every day. He didn't leave me at all. We would even meet in the launderette round the corner and do our washing together."
She describes him as a gentleman who liked to take care of her. He treated her to haircuts in fashionable Mayfair, where he was working as a croupier.
But, although he was happy to treat his girlfriend, there were few extravagances for himself.
His house in Streatham was sparsely decorated. There was no bed, just a piece of foam and a three-piece suite from a second-hand shop. Two items do stand out, though. Korans, one for upstairs and one for downstairs, she says.
There was nothing in the kitchen - no fridge, no kettle, no food.
"He said he wasn't entitled to comforts. Where he got that I don't know," she says.
The police went on to discover that David ate all his meals at the same local vegetarian restaurant at the same time each night.
He dressed smartly and was very particular and precise. Maureen says she could have predicted the clothes that he would be wearing the morning he was found: "M&S socks, white Jockey underwear, white vest, a singlet, cord trousers - navy blue, and round-neck sweater and an old mac that he probably had 30 or 40 years."
His luxury was a pair of shoes made by the Swiss designer Bally.
David grew up in the north London suburb of Finchley. He was born David Keith Lautenberg on 21 April, 1948 to Sylvia and Hyman Lautenberg. He was Jewish, his family having originally come to Britain fleeing from Europe. At some time, his immediate family changed their name from Lautenberg. He changed his name to David Lytton in 1986.
Maureen and David met not long after he left Leeds University. He had gone to study psychology and sociology but, according to the police, he suffered from hypothyroidism and found it difficult to sleep at night. Instead, he slept during the day and didn't get the grades he wanted. When he returned to London he fell out with his family and moved out of his home.
Maureen describes David as a "strange" man with some "quirky ways".
"But I did like him," she says.
"He was very particular, very precise and a gentleman. He was a lovely, lovely man."
He didn't have any hobbies or particular interests that she knew of. But the police have discovered that David had an interest in different religions, including Buddhism and Islam.
His last job was as a driver for the London Underground, one which he was well-suited to, says Maureen. "He enjoyed that - he liked his own company. He was a loner."
Maureen and David had a pregnancy which ended in miscarriage. She says he changed greatly after that, he became withdrawn and quiet.
Unbeknown to Maureen, David put his house up for sale in 2005. It sold on 4 October 2006, and he left for Pakistan on 6 October - not California as Maureen had mysteriously been told.
His departure, it seems, was part of a plan - not a sudden disappearance.
For Detective Sergeant John Coleman, this was one of the hardest cases of his career. He never dreamed it would remain unsolved for so long. Early in the investigation, he believed a titanium plate that had been fitted during an operation on the man's leg would provide the answer. This type of plate is only used in Pakistan, so police only needed to track down the surgeon. After months of searching, they drew a blank.
But as the anniversary of the death of the man on the moor was approaching, there was a breakthrough.
Initial inquiries had also focused on Ealing in West London, as it was here that the man was caught on CCTV.
Because of the Pakistan connection and the fact that he had been seen walking from the direction of South Ealing, which is a few stops along from Heathrow Airport, DS Coleman had a hunch.
He asked for all the passenger lists from Pakistan to be examined from the days before he was first spotted on CCTV in London. The task was to find someone who fitted the profile of a white male between 65 and 75, possibly travelling alone.
At first, the person asked to do this failed to find a match. But as the anniversary approached, he revisited the case.
"That's a hell of a piece of work. Thousands and thousands of people. The tenacity of that officer," he says.
A match was found. The man was British, so police contacted the UK Passport Agency and obtained a copy of his passport photograph. Although the picture was 10 years old, there was a resemblance.
"You can imagine the excitement in Oldham CID," says DS Coleman. CCTV images from Lahore airport came through on the anniversary of the death. The police had found their man.
A DNA sample from a family member was needed for confirmation.
Police checked the electoral roll in London. When this failed to turn up any leads, they turned to genealogy records. Eventually, they found David's mother Sylvia, who suffers from dementia and lives in a care home in London.
The trail led to Maureen, who telephones the care home to check up on her former friend's mother every day.
From David's visa for Pakistan, the police have been able to fill in some blanks.
The found out that he set up home in an area called Hassan Town in Lahore.
Neighbours say he kept himself to himself. One said he used to read all the time and visit the local internet cafe.
"He never bothered anybody, though local lads teased him at times," one told the BBC.
"He was nice to his neighbours and ate food sent by his next door neighbours. You would see him going for a walk in the morning, dressed in a tracksuit."
Another recalled him returning from the hospital after he had the plate fitted.
"His friend requested me to arrange for his food while he was on bed-rest," said Ejaz Ahmad.
"So my family looked after him, our children used to bring him fruit and go to the bakery to buy him cake or pastry. So he was in bed for 15 to 20 days and then he started walking slowly."
Another said that he was a Muslim and that David told him that he had converted in 1996.
"Now, I don't know whether he said this in view of the treatment meted out to Christians here, as they are made to eat in separate pots from us, Muslims, but he definitely told me that he was a Muslim."
The police say there is no evidence to suggest that he had converted to Islam.
On Thursday 10 December, David Lytton sat in seat 25C on a Pakistan International Airlines Flight from Lahore arriving at London Heathrow at 15:30.
He was met at the airport by a friend, who he had known for some 35 years. They ate a meal before the friend dropped David off at the Travelodge in Ealing.
"His friend indicated that since David had not been in the UK for some time, he wanted to spend some time - weeks or months travelling around and seeing the sights," says DS Coleman.
Although he booked into the hotel for five nights, David only stayed one.
And in keeping with the mysterious nature of this story, police have been unable to locate the 18kg suitcase that he brought with him from Pakistan.
And what about the "why". Why did David Lytton travel to Manchester, and then out to the renowned beauty spot?
"I've got all the GP's records - I have records from university - there is no connection to Dovestones," says Detective Sergeant Coleman.
At the inquest in Manchester, Coroner Simon Nelson said Mr Lytton "died of his own hand", but he couldn't be sure whether Mr Lytton had intended to take his own life.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39255114
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Prince William: How hard has he worked in 2017 so far? - BBC News
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2017-03-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Duke of Cambridge was criticised after he was seen partying on a ski holiday.
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UK
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Headlines questioning Prince William's work ethic have dominated the tabloids after he was pictured on a ski holiday while other senior royals attended a service with Commonwealth leaders.
"Throne Idle" and "Ice work if you can get it" were among the newspaper puns to greet the future king as he returned to the UK, having missed the Commonwealth Day events.
When he's not dad-dancing in Verbier or spending time with his young family, the Duke of Cambridge splits his time between royal duties, a part-time job as a pilot and his charitable work.
So far this year, the 34-year-old has attended royal engagements on 12 days, including a trip to south Wales, a gala dinner and an investiture at Buckingham Palace.
The record of these attendances is detailed in the Court Circular, which was last updated on 10 March and does not specify the hours of each event.
Nor does it take into account behind-the-scenes activity or preparation for royal events.
Since 2015, the prince has worked as a helicopter pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance Service. There, he works 9.5 hour shifts, clocking up an average of 20 hours per week - the salary for which is donated to charity.
Based on these hours and the royal engagements, Prince William will have worked the equivalent of 34 of the possible 53 working days in 2017 so far.
Earlier this year he announced he would be leaving his ambulance job in the summer to take on more royal duties.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at a service of commemoration earlier this month
This is not unfamiliar terrain for Prince William or indeed for his family.
To be found wanting in the eyes of the tabloids is an occupational hazard that has dogged them for decades.
When the prince decided to ski with his mates rather than leave early and attend a church service that mattered to his grandmother, he could have predicted that he would be judged to have made an error of judgement.
It was an error that he can regret at leisure.
But what he couldn't necessarily have predicted was that he would have remained headline news for so long. The future king is wary of the media. The newspapers are increasingly concerned at his attempts to bypass them and use social media instead.
The next test will come in the autumn when he becomes a full-time senior royal.
If by then there isn't a noticeable increase in his royal workload, there's a risk the tabloids will once again sit in judgement and once again find Prince William wanting.
In 2016, Prince William clocked up 80 days of royal engagements - well behind the busiest member of the royal family, Princess Anne, with 179 days of engagements.
Prince Charles, 68, came second with 139 and the Queen, 90, matched her grandson with 80 days.
Despite denouncing the work-shy claims as "absolute rubbish" and "grossly unfair", royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said the headlines were "irresistible" for the tabloid press.
"It's an unfair perception that the photographs reinforce," he said.
Prince William has said criticism of being work-shy was not something he ignored, but not something he "took completely to heart" either.
Prince William works about 80 hours a month as a co-pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance
Prince William is patron or president to 23 organisations, including the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
Not all the work he does to fulfil these roles is classed as a royal engagement.
Centrepoint - the youth homelessness charity of which the Prince has been a patron since 2005 - said the royal visits hostels publicly and privately, volunteering alongside staff and regularly meeting with the Centrepoint parliament.
Chief executive Seyi Obakin, said: "Within the last three months, he has publicly and actively supported our plans to create a national helpline for homeless young people.
"Last month, he launched with us the Centrepoint helpline."
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry race during the Team Heads Together London Marathon Training Day in February
Prince William has also campaigned vigorously against animal poaching. At an international conference in November he called on the UK government to pass a total ban on the domestic ivory trade.
This week, the Cambridges are visiting Paris and in July, the royal couple are due to make an official visit to Germany and Poland, at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Kensington Palace declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39280761
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Super League: Leigh Centurions 22-8 Warrington Wolves - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Warrington Wolves remain bottom of Super League as Leigh Centurions earn a deserved win at the Leigh Sports Village.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby League
Warrington Wolves' losing start to the season stretched to five straight Super League defeats as Leigh Centurions earned a deserved win in an electric atmosphere at the Leigh Sports Village.
Tries from Gareth Hock and Ben Crooks gave Leigh a 12-2 half-time lead.
Adam Higson and Hock extended the hosts' advantage after the break before Tom Lineham crossed to give Wolves hope of a comeback that never looked likely.
Ben Reynolds missed three conversions but his late kick capped a big win.
Warrington managed the first win by an English club over Australian opponents since 2012 when they beat Brisbane Broncos in the World Club Series in February - after a 2016 season in which they enjoyed a +250 points difference. This season they remain rooted to the bottom of Super League without a point.
By contrast, newly promoted Leigh have already earned more points this term than in any previous Super League campaign in their history.
Hock showed his strength to cross early on and Reynolds added the conversion before Crooks raced over to make it 10-0, Reynolds striking the post with his kick.
The teams traded two-pointers before the break to maintain Leigh's 10-point lead.
Both sides were temporarily reduced to 12 men in the second half as first Leigh's Glenn Stewart saw yellow for a high tackle on Kevin Brown, and then Wolves' Lineham was binned for lashing out at Ryan Hampshire.
Handling errors let Warrington down and enabled Leigh to withstand heavy pressure when they were a man down before sealing victory with further unconverted tries from Higson and Hock, to move up to fourth in Super League.
"It was a real tough opening six games and to get 50 percent of them as wins is a real credit to the boys. We're finding our feet, we're getting battle-hardened.
"It's a cauldron here. We're starting games well but we're also finishing them strong so we're getting some consistency.
"Our defence was outstanding. Warrington are a class side and we did a real good job to put them under pressure,
"It never looked in doubt. I was disappointed with the try we conceded at the end but I can't complain too much."
"They out-enthused us. Both teams made a reasonable amount of errors in the first half and we gave away too many penalties.
"There was an amount of self-inflicted pain again. My players are trying hard but just coming up with wrong options and it's hurting us.
"Once we start making better decisions, we will come out the other side and get on a roll.
"We will re-group. We'll get in tomorrow into some hard work and fix it up. We'll have Stef Ratchford back next week but we've got to get some the people who are already out there back in their best form."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/39274018
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Six Nations 2017: Billy Vunipola & Anthony Watson return for England - BBC Sport
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2017-03-16
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Number eight Billy Vunipola and wing Anthony Watson return from injury to start in England's Grand Slam meeting with Ireland.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Number eight Billy Vunipola and wing Anthony Watson return to the starting XV as England aim to win the Six Nations Grand Slam against Ireland.
Vunipola replaces Nathan Hughes and Watson comes in for Jack Nowell in the two changes to the side that thrashed Scotland to win the Six Nations.
Elliot Daly is fit to start on the left wing after a head knock.
England are chasing a record-breaking 19th straight win, while victory will also secure back to back Grand Slams.
Flanker Tom Wood is set to win his 50th cap from the bench.
Vunipola made his comeback from a knee injury against Scotland, while Watson returned following a hamstring problem. Both scored tries from the bench in the Calcutta Cup match.
Daly was forced off in the win over Scotland after an illegal tip-tackle that earned Scotland hooker Fraser Brown a yellow card, but has been declared fit to play after tests for a possible concussion.
"We're very excited ahead of a huge opportunity," said England head coach Eddie Jones. "It's going to be quite an occasion in Dublin so we understand we have to be prepared emotionally, physically and mentally.
"Ireland not having anything to play for means they have the courage to fail which frees them up mentally.
"We are a little bit vulnerable because we have already been crowned the Six Nations champions and we had a big win against Scotland, so for us it's getting the right mind-set for the game."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39290748
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Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho says Premier League doesn't help clubs - BBC Sport
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2017-03-17
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Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says the Premier League has no interest in helping English clubs in Europe.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
The Premier League has no interest in helping English clubs in Europe, says Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho.
United play Middlesbrough on Sunday with the 12:00 GMT kick-off coming 62 hours after the end of their Europa League last-16 victory over FC Rostov.
Mourinho says United will "probably lose" and it would be "common sense" for the game to start at 17:00.
"They simply don't care," added the Portuguese of the Premier League, who offered no comment on the situation.
There is an agreement that clubs in Europa League action on a Thursday do not play on Saturdays. An international break stops the Premier League game at The Riverside from being played on Monday.
Premier League host broadcasters Sky and BT Sport decide which games they will televise live. Sky can show two mid-afternoon games on a Sunday - Tottenham v Southampton and Manchester City v Liverpool this week - and the game at Middlesbrough is being shown on BT Sport, who have the option of a midday slot.
Mourinho said that football authorities in other countries are more helpful to their European contenders.
"In Italy when clubs go to the knockout stages and play on the Tuesday or Wednesday, the week before they play on the Friday. In Portugal, the week after they play on the Monday," he explained.
But Mourinho knows the Premier League's combined £10.4bn TV deals take precedence.
"It's the simple criteria of 'we give you so much money'," he said.
"That is true and we appreciate it. They are totally right and we have to thank them so much for what they are building.
"But you can just have a little touch. Nobody can explain why we are playing at 12 o'clock."
United have played 20 matches since 26 December and have a minimum of 14 more to complete before the Premier League reaches its conclusion on 21 May.
Next among their top four rivals are Manchester City, who will play a minimum of 29 games in the same period. Arsenal and Tottenham are both on 28, with Chelsea and Liverpool, neither of whom qualified for Europe this season, on 26, eight fewer than United.
Of United's 20 most recent games, Paul Pogba played in 18 and was an unused substitute in one. The only game he missed was the FA Cup fourth-round tie against Wigan on 29 January.
Pogba suffered a hamstring injury during Thursday's win over Rostov which rules the midfielder out of the Middlesbrough game, plus France's international fixtures against Luxembourg on 25 March and Spain three days later.
Mourinho defended his decision not to play a weakened team in the 1-0 FA Cup quarter-final defeat by Chelsea on 13 March, when the physical strain on United was increased by Ander Herrera's first-half red card and not arriving back in the north west until 04:00 on Tuesday after they had to make the journey by bus.
He said: "This is Manchester United, I don't sacrifice anything.
"I don't go to Chelsea with a Nicky Butt team [Under-23s] like Manchester City did last year.
"Do you want me to play with Nicky Butt's boys at Middlesbrough? What would Hull, Sunderland and the other teams in the relegation battle say then? We cannot do this."
Not everyone in the United squad has been used extensively.
In midfield, Michael Carrick has played for one minute in United's past three games, while Jesse Lingard has played for nine minutes and Bastian Schweinsteiger not at all.
Full-back Luke Shaw, who is in England's squad to face Germany and Lithuania, has not been involved since the Premier League game against Bournemouth on 4 March.
Former United captain Roy Keane is giving no credence to Mourinho's complaints.
The Irishman, who made 480 appearances and won seven league titles, a European Cup and four FA Cups in a 12-year United career, feels Mourinho is making excuses and they could have beaten Rostov - eighth in the Russian Premier League - with a reserve side.
He told ITV: "Why do we have to listen to that garbage?
"He is manager of one of the biggest clubs on the planet. They've had an easy ride in the cups, with a lot of home draws.
"Maybe the club's too big for him. I'm sick to death of him. Manchester United reserves could have won that game."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39301241
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Competing mandates over indyref2 - BBC News
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2017-03-17
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Theresa May's stand-off with Nicola Sturgeon over independence is about competing mandates - and political calculations.
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Scotland politics
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Theresa May has declared "now is not the time" for Nicola Sturgeon to call for an independence referendum
To govern is to choose. The prime minister has now chosen to exercise her power over the constitution, reserved to Westminster under the Scotland Act 1998.
This is about competing power, competing mandates, competing interpretations of the verdicts delivered during the European referendum last year.
Theresa May accords primacy to the Brexit negotiations. She says she does not want even to contemplate the prospect of indyref2 during that period. That means she will not countenance a transfer of powers under Section 30 of the Scotland Act, again at this stage.
Nicola Sturgeon accords primacy to the impact upon Scotland of the Brexit process. She says it is undemocratic for the PM to refuse to give Scotland a meaningful choice - that word again - within a suitable timescale, proximate to the Brexit plans. It is sinking the ship and puncturing Scotland's lifeboat.
But this is also about political confidence. Political calculation. Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, plainly calculates that she will have Scottish public opinion on her side. Or, more precisely, a sufficient quotient of public opinion.
The Tories in Scotland have been through a period where they were the party which dared not speak its name, the toxic party. They now reckon those days are behind them. And why? The Union, post-2014.
Their calculation - and it is an arithmetical sum - is that they can corral behind them the supporters of Union in Scotland. That, just as in the past, in the 1950s for example, they can draw backing from a relatively wide range of Scottish society, predicated upon concrete support for the Union - and fixed opposition to the SNP.
It worked, to a substantial degree, in the last Holyrood elections when they became the largest opposition party. Their calculation is that it will work again, this time.
Nicola Sturgeon is likely to press ahead with a Holyrood vote calling for a Section 30 order
Will there be anger in some quarters at the Prime Minister's decision? There will indeed. Stand by for demonstrations to that effect at the SNP conference in Aberdeen.
But the calculation by the Tories - and this is less quantifiable, but a calculation nevertheless - is that sufficient numbers of the populace in Scotland will be relieved that they do not have to decide on independence in the next 18 months to two years.
The Tory leadership insists that they are not blocking a referendum entirely. That was Ruth Davidson's answer when she was reminded that she had told my estimable colleague Gordon Brewer in July last year that there should not be a constitutional block placed upon indyref2.
The argument was that they are merely setting terms: evident fairness and discernible popular/political support for a further plebiscite.
However, these are not absolute, they are open to interpretation. It would seem to be that the verdict on these factors would also lie with the Prime Minister. Such is the nature of reserved power.
But, again, the Tory triumvirate - PM, secretary of state, Scottish leader - stress that a referendum might be feasible once Brexit is signed, sealed and settled. David Mundell seemed particularly keen to stress that point.
However, if they won't contemplate Section 30 meantime, then the time needed for legislation, consultation and official preparation would suggest that - by that calendar - any referendum would be deferred until 2020 or possibly later. Possibly after the next Holyrood elections.
Options for the FM? She could sanction an unofficial referendum, without statutory backing. Don't see that happening. It would be a gesture - and Nicola Sturgeon, as the head of a government, is generally averse to gestures. Unless they advance her cause.
She could protest and seek discussions. Some senior Nationalists believe this to be a negotiation ploy by the PM, the prelude to talks.
Will the first minister proceed with the vote next week at Holyrood, demanding a Section 30 transfer in which the Greens are expected to join with the SNP to create a majority? I firmly expect her to do so, to add to the challenge to the PM.
Beyond that, expect the First Minister to cajole, to urge - but also to campaign. To deploy this deferral of an independence referendum as an argument for…an independence referendum. She will seek public support, arguing that Scotland's interests have been ignored. Just as Ruth Davidson will seek public support, arguing that she is protecting those interests.
Final thought. One senior Nationalist suggested to me that delay might, ultimately, be in the SNP's interests: that people were already disquieted by Brexit and would prefer a pause. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, to quote the old song.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-39297497
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Situation vacant: Running Rome's Colosseum - BBC News
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2017-03-17
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The BBC's James Reynolds fancies a crack at running one of the world's iconic sites, the Colosseum in Rome.
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Europe
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Office space: Our correspondent assesses conditions at the Colosseum
It is a pretty tempting job. The successful applicant will be in charge of preserving the site of one of the world's most iconic monuments.
That person may as well be me.
The job advert asks for at least five years' experience managing archaeological sites.
Well, I have five years experience visiting sites. If outsiders with little experience can be elected to lead countries, why can't they also be chosen to run ancient monuments?
The first thing to do is come up with a pitch.
One potential idea is to rebuild the entire Colosseum.
The pyramids in Egypt have not fallen down. So why should Rome have to live with half a Colosseum?
My first campaign stop is with tourists visiting the site.
"Don't touch anything," warn Jocelyn and Tamaya, students from North Carolina.
"Don't you want to see what it would have looked like?" I ask.
"There are digital models online which show what it would have been like. So just keep this," they instruct.
"Do you not think it's iconic to leave it as it is?" asks Stan from Manchester. "It's like when we went to Egypt, they were redoing the Sphinx. In some ways it spoils the effect of what it should be."
So rebuilding turns out to be a bad idea. I change my job pitch from rebuilding to listening.
What needs fixing at the Colosseum?
"The process of entering through security can be slow and occasionally discourteous," says tour guide Agnes Crawford. "The turnstiles very often don't work properly. The people who are manning the turnstiles have the patience of Job because it's a thankless task with a lot of slightly cross people."
Opera singer Andrea Bocelli cheered everyone up when he sang at the Colosseum. The turnstiles were probably working that day.
Andrea Bocelli performed at the Colosseum in 2009 in aid of the earthquake-ravaged city of L'Aquila
Another idea has caused something of a controversy: renting the site to private firms.
"When one considers that the Colosseum saw 450 years of people being killed, I think the occasional corporate dinner seems fairly small beer in comparison," says Agnes Crawford.
Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini will have the final say over the Colosseum's new director.
Nerve-wrackingly, my final appointment is with him.
"We're looking for people with a strong background - archaeologists, art historians, architects, who also have experience managing a cultural site or a museum," he tells me.
"Naturally, if you want to manage the Colosseum and the Imperial Forum, which receive six million visitors a year, you need the scientific knowledge but also the management experience.
"I think in the art world nationalities don't really count. The director of the National Gallery is an Italian, who arrived there from El Prado in Madrid. The director of the British Museum is German. So it's normal that what counts are the CVs, not the nationalities."
"Minister, you've opened this up to outsiders, a lot of people will put in applications coming in with new ideas, I will put an application as well. Are you open to hearing from outsiders?"
There is a slight pause before he answers.
"Well, we have job requirements to be admitted for the selection. When we recently chose the directors of the 20 top museums in Italy we received 400 applications. The selection did more than 100 job interviews. It will be similar this time. So you can definitely apply, but to win you need to fulfil the requirements."
It was an elegant way of saying "don't give up the day job".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39254552
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George Osborne to become Standard editor - BBC News
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2017-03-17
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The former chancellor will continue in his role as an MP despite his new job.
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Entertainment & Arts
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George Osborne's appointment as Editor of the London Evening Standard is a remarkable move that will dazzle the worlds of politics and media.
The former Chancellor will continue as MP for Tatton for the foreseeable future while taking the top chair at London's afternoon paper, as I exclusively revealed on Friday.
He starts in mid-May and replaces Sarah Sands, who is joining the BBC as editor of Radio 4's flagship morning news programme Today in June.
Osborne has spoken to Standard staff in the newsroom.
He will not be in charge of the Standard's website. David Tomchak, former head of digital at No 10, was appointed digital director of editorial earlier this month and will report to Zach Leonard, managing director for digital across ESI Media, which houses the Standard, The Independent, and TV station London Live.
It marks a sudden return to the fray for Osborne, who was summarily dismissed from cabinet by Prime Minister Theresa May last summer.
Like May, Osborne backed the Remain campaign in the Brexit referendum. Unlike May, he was central to its ultimately doomed strategy, despite having doubts about whether the referendum should have been called in the first place.
Since last summer he has spoken strongly in parliament on the subject of Aleppo's destruction, and repeatedly resisted suggestions that he should begin his memoirs.
The former chancellor is paid £650,000 a year for four days' work a month at the asset management company BlackRock
But he has also been in the headlines for less flattering reasons.
Having signed up to the Washington Speakers Bureau, Osborne has capitalised on his high stock to earn fees such as £81,174 and £60,578 for speeches to JP Morgan. In total he earned £786,450 from 15 speeches in 2016.
More controversially, the former chancellor, still only 45, signed a deal with BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, worth £650,000 a year for just four days work a month.
That revelation was made public on Budget day, causing some to suggest that he had lost none of his expertise in media management. At BlackRock he will work with Rupert Harrison, his closest adviser while in No 11.
Osborne flirted with a career in journalism before becoming, together with David Cameron, the outstanding Tory adviser of his generation, rising to shadow chancellor at 33.
His latest job is undoubtedly a tremendous coup for the newspaper, whose staff will be galvanised by the appointment of such a high-profile figure.
It also appears to be a notable win for Evgeny Lebedev, the owner of ESI Media, who was my boss when I was editor of the Independent.
After buying a majority stake in the Standard from Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere in 2009, when it was threatening to lose £25m or more, Lebedev made it a free product and transformed its fortunes, turning a profit a few years ago.
In the year to September 2015, the Standard recorded a pre-tax profit of £3.4m on revenues of £71.3m.
But while this is refreshing news for the Standard - which has a circulation of between 850,000 and 900,000, a readership of around double that, and unrivalled influence in the capital because of its monopoly position among afternoon commuters - it is a further blow for his constituents in Tatton.
This time last year, their MP was the chancellor of the Exchequer, a strong contender to be future prime minister, and in prime position to champion his Northern Powerhouse initiative.
The appointment is a coup for the paper's owner, Evgeny Lebedev
Now he is a backbench MP who has a new and more exciting job - quite aside from his four days a month at BlackRock.
Though an advisory committee in the civil service has not yet objected to this appointment - a decision is pending - many of his constituents will.
The Standard is an afternoon paper, which means that the daily edition is sent to the printers at 11:00 GMT. Osborne will get into the office around 05:00 GMT, work until midday, and then balance his other duties thereafter.
But aside from persuading constituents he is still available to them, he faces a huge challenge in keeping the Standard profitable.
As a free paper, with no cover price to raise, the Standard generates the vast majority of its revenues through print display advertising - a market that is in structural decline to the tune of around 20% annually.
Though standard.co.uk is growing, virtually all newspapers are finding digital advertising is growing far more slowly than print advertising is falling.
Aside from this monumental structural threat, the sharp rise in the cost of newsprint as a result of the fall in the pound after Brexit has damaged the balance sheet of almost all newspapers.
Simple mathematics dictates that, even if it significantly outperforms the rest of the display advertising market (as it is currently doing), the Standard will struggle to maintain profitability.
Mr Osborne will work at the Standard from 05:00 GMT to midday
Therefore Osborne's task will be as much commercial as editorial: finding fresh revenue streams, perhaps through ticketing, data, and above all events in London.
With a roster of high-level international contacts, including in the world of finance, he is uniquely well placed to deliver that. Indeed I suspect he sees this as an attraction to his job. But it will require a considerable time commitment beyond his hours in the office.
Another challenge, which I know he will relish, is picking fights with the government - particularly on the issue of Brexit. To be seen as a Tory lackey, or someone who held back from sharp attacks on former colleagues and friends because he didn't want to damage his still simmering political ambitions, would be fatal for his journalistic integrity.
Having dispatched him to the back-benches in a rather brutal manner, Mrs May could soon find that the pages of the Standard are a vehicle for vengeance. Osborne is nothing if not mischievous.
He has long had a reputation as one of the hardest-working people in Westminster. He will need to work harder than ever in his new capacity and outline a clear editorial strategy for the paper.
The sheer thrill and power of being an Editor, and the chance to make things happen in his native city, will at least initially help to carry him and his staff.
Lebedev has long argued there's life in print yet. After this - the most interesting, unexpected and bold appointment of an editor in living memory - who could doubt him?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39304899
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Guscott's Six Nations hot steppers: Joseph, Watson, Vakatawa, Hogg, Zebo, North - BBC Sport
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2017-03-17
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Jeremy Guscott has ranked the players with the most sizzling footwork on show in the Six Nations - now it's your turn.
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Coverage:BBC One,Radio 5 live sports extra.BBC Radio 5 live, plus live text commentary on all matches on BBC Sport website
Jerry has picked out the best fast-footed steppers in the championship in the last of his Six Nations features on rugby archetypes.
These are the men who can sidestep you in a phone box, the ankle-breaking flyers who leave even the best defenders lying face down in the grass with twisted blood wondering what just happened.
The current crop may have some way to go to rival the likes of all-time greats Jason Robinson and Shane Williams, but there is no doubt they get the blood pumping among the fans when they leave tacklers strewn in their wake as they zigzag their way to the line.
The man they call JJ had a slow start to the season and was given a gentle reminder when he was rested for the Italy game and sent back to Bath, but he confirmed against Scotland that he has the most sizzling footwork on show in the tournament.
Everyone witnessed the England outside centre's devastating footwork last weekend, some - such as Alex Dunbar and Stuart Hogg - from very close up.
Unlike some players he does not seem to have favourite side, rather he steps one way to see how the defender reacts and then goes the opposite way - it all happens very quickly, leaving defenders lead-footed.
The England winger has been sidelined by injury for much of the tournament and so has had limited chances to strut his stuff, but he oozes class and will get the chance to show off his 'cat on a hot tin roof' qualities as England chase all manner of accolades against Ireland on Sunday.
Watson is quick in a straight line - even though ex-England flyer Ugo Monye is convinced he could take him over 100m - but explosive when stepping.
He has got a strong all-round game but it is the 23-year-old's lightning footwork that lights up matches.
The fast-stepping flyer from Fiji is one of rugby's most celebrated archetypes, and Vakatawa - who was raised on the island having been born in New Zealand - more than fits the bill.
Fijians have it in their rugby DNA to step comfortably off either foot while maintaining their speed - and it's glorious to watch.
Vakatawa, who also plays sevens for France, is a natural attacker and although he has not lit up the tournament in quite the way he did last year, he is undoubtedly one of the best steppers in the game and deserves the number three spot on my list.
He might not be quite as flamboyant as some on this list with his footwork, but anyone who has seen Hogg slice his way through defensive lines with a step off the left or right, followed by explosive acceleration and lively top speed, knows how dangerous he can be.
He sometimes uses both feet to accelerate, putting in a little jump before springing forward as the two firmly planted feet give him extra thrust.
The Scotland full-back is many people's favourite to take the Lions 15 shirt this summer and his percussive footwork, allied to his all-round skills, would make him a fine addition.
Zebo is a stepper, but not necessarily in the ordinary sense. Yes, he can sidestep as well as most but the talented Ireland winger also likes a little hitch kick on occasions, the stop and go move enabling him to beat men on the outside, as well as the odd spin to disorientate the opposition.
His combination of long and short strides and that deceptive running pattern is part of a pretty full armoury.
And although he has reined in his more maverick talents in order to fit into head coach Joe Schmidt's Ireland patterns, anyone who has ever seen his audacious backheel flick four years ago will know this is a man who is a threat every time he has the ball.
He's the biggest man in this list by some distance but anyone who thinks the 6ft 4in Wales winger is a straight-ahead bosh merchant doesn't understand what North is all about.
Yes, the 24-year-old can dish out a beasting if required and go straight over the top of defenders, but he'd rather step (often quite subtly), brush past tacklers now they are off balance and then burn them on the way to the line.
He is another who employs the split-step sidestep, jumping up before thrusting off two feet, and he generates a lot of power when he steps off his right foot.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39296555
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