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Team Sky: Doctor has no records of 'mystery package' for Sir Bradley Wiggins - BBC Sport
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2017-03-02
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A doctor who received a 'mystery package' for Sir Bradley Wiggins has no record of his medical treatment at the time, MPs are told.
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Last updated on .From the section Cycling
A doctor who received a 'mystery package' for Sir Bradley Wiggins in 2011 has no record of his medical treatment at the time, MPs have heard.
In 2014, ex-Team Sky medic Dr Richard Freeman had a laptop containing medical records stolen, the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee were told.
Team Sky and British Cycling's record-keeping was questioned in the hearing.
"No one has any recognition of what was in the package," UK Anti-Doping chief Nicole Sapstead said on Wednesday.
The select committee is conducting an inquiry entitled 'Combatting doping in sport', while Ukad has been carrying out its own investigation into the contents of the jiffy bag package.
• None The cycling inquiry as it happened
Referring to Team Sky's incomplete records, Sapstead described it as "odd", adding that she thought a team founded on the premise of racing cleanly would have evidence "to demonstrate any inferences to the contrary".
Committee chairman Damian Collins MP said after the hearing that the "credibility of Team Sky and British Cycling is in tatters".
He added: "How can you say British Cycling is the cleanest and most ethical in the world when there are no records to substantiate what the doctors are giving the cyclists?"
Collins told BBC Sport the hearing had been "a damning indictment of the way things have been run" at both organisations.
Dr Freeman, who received the package from then-British Cycling coach Simon Cope on the final day of the Criterium du Dauphine in France in 2011, missed the hearing because of ill health.
Cope described himself as a "gap filler" for British Cycling and Team Sky and told MPs he did not ask what was in the package.
In December, Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford told the committee that Freeman had said the package contained an over-the-counter decongestant, Fluimucil.
But Sapstead said Ukad still does not know for sure if Fluimucil was in the package because there is no paperwork.
"We have asked for inventories and medical records and we have not been able to ascertain that because there are no records," she said.
What do Team Sky and British Cycling say?
Team Sky said they had "co-operated fully" with Ukad's investigation and denied any wrongdoing.
"Team Sky is a clean team," the statement said. "We abide by the rules and we are proud of our stance against doping.
"We believe our approach to anti-doping is rigorous and comprehensive."
British Cycling, meanwhile, acknowledged "serious failings in our record-keeping at the time" but said they would review and make changes to their processes.
"We are wholly committed to clean sport and I want to assure athletes, fans and all other stakeholders that this commitment is unwavering," said British Cycling chair Jonathan Browning.
"It is not enough to just be clean, we must also be able to demonstrate that we are clean."
• None Cope said he had no reason to be believe there was anything "untoward" in the package
• None He said he does not believe there is any cheating in British cycling
• None Asked if he felt "stitched up" and "left to dangle" because of the ongoing inquiry, Cope said "yes".
• None Sapstead said a UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) inquiry had been hampered by incomplete or non-existent records
• None She said: "Team Sky did have a policy of keeping records, just not everyone was adhering to it"
• None Freeman could potentially face investigation by the General Medical Council for his poor record-keeping
• None Wiggins said he was treated with Fluimucil but was unaware of the jiffy bag contents
• None Orders of the anti-inflammatory drug triamcinolone were enough for more than one cyclist
• None There was no evidence of a cover-up or tampering of evidence, said Sapstead
It is the team which championed its use of marginal gains. But Team Sky, together with British Cycling, are now embroiled in a monumental mess.
The evidence provided by Nicole Sapstead, and in a different way by Simon Cope, has damaged the reputations of both organisations which have preached a commitment to keeping cycling drug-free in recent years.
The lack of effective auditing and the claimed "resistance" to investigators are problematic enough.
What will require a more rapid response is the assertion by Sapstead that records show British Cycling's medical store held a significant amount of triamcinolone, with suggestions it was being used by more than one rider.
Finding answers to that however would require access to every rider's medical files - a problem given the overriding requirements for doctor/patient confidentiality.
The implications of this long-running and ongoing affair could therefore be wide ranging.
What did anti-doping chief tell committee?
Sapstead said Ukad has interviewed 34 current and former riders and staff members at British Cycling and Team Sky in an investigation that has taken up more than 1,000 man hours.
She described the confusion of how Freeman, who was effectively working for both British Cycling and its road racing off-shoot Team Sky, ordered and stored medicine for riders at the governing body's Manchester headquarters, with no clear separation between which drug was for which outfit.
"It's very clear from our investigation that there is no audit trail of what is going in and out of a comprehensive supply of medical products," she said.
Sapstead was asked why Dr Freeman could not produce any evidence.
"He kept medical records on a laptop and, according to Team Sky policy, was meant to upload those records to a dropbox that the other team doctors had access to," she said.
"But he didn't do that, for whatever reason, and in 2014 his laptop was stolen while he was on holiday in Greece."
Sapstead said Ukad contacted Interpol to check if this theft was reported at the time but has not received any confirmation it was, although Freeman did report it to British Cycling.
What did courier tell committee?
Cope said he was asked by his then-boss Shane Sutton to pick up a package from the National Cycling Centre in Manchester on 8 June, 2011 and take it out to French ski resort La Toussuire, where the Dauphine [won by Wiggins] finished on 12 June.
He told MPs he considered this to be a routine request and common in cycling.
Questioned on why he did not ask what was in the package, he said: "Why would I question it? Why would I question the integrity of our governing body? I just didn't ask. You may think I'm stupid.
"It must have been something medical, because it was for Dr Freeman, but I had no reason to doubt it. Throughout my career, I've looked up to our governing body. We've done so well and with a zero-tolerance stance [on doping]."
When pointed to the fact he was taking medical products overseas, Cope - who now manages Wiggins' professional road-racing team - said: "I probably should have asked what was in the package but the other day I travelled down to Spain with 40 boxes in the car. I didn't check every box, but I presume they were helmets."
Cope was asked to explain a discrepancy between his recollection of his movements that week and the expense claim he submitted to British Cycling.
"I might have been trying to fiddle them. We all do that, don't we?" he said.
How did we get here?
Wiggins is a five-time Olympic gold medallist and in 2012 became the first Briton to win the Tour de France.
He and Team Sky boss Brailsford have come under scrutiny since information on the rider's authorised use of banned drugs to treat a medical condition was released by hackers.
Wiggins, an asthma and allergy sufferer, received special permission to use triamcinolone shortly before the 2012 Tour as well as the previous year's event and the 2013 Giro d'Italia.
His TUEs were approved by British authorities, and cycling's world governing body the UCI. There is no suggestion either the 36-year-old or Team Sky broke any rules.
What the papers said
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39128672
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Tommy Gemmell: Former Celtic defender and 'Lisbon Lion' dies aged 73 - BBC Sport
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2017-03-02
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Celtic pay tribute to Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell, who has died following a long illness.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Celtic have paid tribute to Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell, who has died aged 73 following a long illness.
Former Scotland defender Gemmell scored in the 2-1 victory against Inter Milan in 1967 when Celtic became the first British club to win the European Cup.
"Our thoughts are with Mary and Tommy's family and friends at this very difficult time," Celtic said.
Club chief executive Peter Lawwell expressed sadness at the loss of "a true Celtic giant".
Gemmell also scored in the 1970 European Cup final, which Celtic lost 2-1 to Feyenoord. He spent 10 years at Celtic, between 1961 and 1971, making 418 appearances and scoring 63 goals.
The right-footed left-back also won 18 Scotland caps, making his debut against England in April 1966 and playing in the famous 3-2 victory over the world champions at Wembley the following year.
"Everyone at Celtic is deeply saddened by the loss of Tommy, a true Celtic giant and a man who gave the club so many years of his life in an illustrious football career," said Lawwell.
"Tommy was a Celtic great, one of football's greats and I know he will be so sadly missed by everyone who knew him.
"He was a man of huge stature in the game and someone who made such an important mark on Celtic football club.
Listen: Jim Craig explains what Gemmell was like as a player
"In this particular year [the 50th anniversary of the Lisbon Lions' European cup win] it is so very sad to lose such an important figure. While we mourn his loss, I am sure all our supporters will also celebrate the life and the wonderful achievements of the great Tommy Gemmell."
Fellow Lisbon Lion Bertie Auld says his late team-mate viewed himself as an entertainer.
"Tommy actually thought he was [the actor] Danny Kaye," Auld told BBC Scotland. "He looked like him, but he believed he was.
"And he was, in every degree, because he was an entertainer.
"He was the best left-back in the world at that time - without fear of contradiction."
Former Celtic player Murdo MacLeod said it was "very sad news" and described Gemmell as "one of the greats".
MacLeod, who also had a spell as assistant boss at Celtic, told BBC Scotland: "I know he had been struggling over the last few months. Just really sad news.
"He's obviously been one of the greats at Celtic Park to be part of the European Cup-winning side.
"A top player, one of the first defenders getting forward all the time. [It's] just so sad. We heard Billy McNeill's news [about suffering from dementia] over the last few days and now this. It's just very sad."
Asked how Gemmell would be remembered, MacLeod said: "Scoring a goal in the European Cup final. To be part of that was just fantastic. The Celtic Lisbon Lions - anywhere they went over the years everybody knew who they were.
"And for Tommy Gemmell to score a goal in that [1967] European final was just wonderful."
After retiring as a player with Dundee in 1977, Gemmell managed the club for three years, and also had two spells in charge of Albion Rovers.
SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: "Tommy is one of the most significant figures in Scottish football history having scored in two European Cup finals, including the famous 1967 victory over Inter Milan in Lisbon.
"Today's news is particularly poignant with this year being the 50th anniversary of Celtic's achievement in becoming the first British club to win that special trophy."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39139454
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Jamie Vardy: Leicester striker 'had death threats' over Claudio Ranieri's sacking - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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Leicester striker Jamie Vardy says he has had death threats and his family have been targeted after Claudio Ranieri's sacking.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Leicester striker Jamie Vardy says he has received death threats and his family have been targeted since Claudio Ranieri was sacked as manager.
The 30-year-old blamed "hurtful" and "false" accusations he influenced the club's decision to sack the Italian.
Ranieri left in February, nine months after winning the Premier League, with the club 17th in the table. His successor, Craig Shakespeare, later denied reports of a player revolt.
"It is terrifying," Vardy said.
"I read one story that said I was personally involved in a meeting after the Sevilla game when I was actually sat in anti-doping for three hours.
"But then the story is out there, people pick it up and jump on it and you're getting death threats about your family, kids, everything."
Vardy said he was able to "get on with it" but added: "When people are trying to cut your missus up while she's driving, with the kids in the back of the car, it's not the best."
Vardy is in Dortmund with the England squad as they prepare to face Germany on Wednesday in a friendly.
His international manager Gareth Southgate said he understood why the striker had chosen to discuss the matter publicly.
"It's a very serious subject, we're very supportive of him and I know the club are," said the England boss.
"The authorities are well aware of what's going on. There's no problem with his focus on the game."
BBC Sport understands some Leicester players were summoned to meet the club's chairman after a 2-1 Champions League defeat by Sevilla, and Ranieri's fate was sealed by the negative reaction.
With Shakespeare in charge - first as caretaker and later on a deal until the end of the season - the Foxes have won four successive matches, moving up to 15th, six points above the relegation zone.
That run includes a 2-0 victory in their last-16 second leg with Sevilla which leaves them as England's only representative in the quarter-finals.
"If there was an issue, you went and did it in the gaffer's office or you went and did it on the tactics board, because he was happy for you to come in and put your opinion across," Vardy added of Ranieri's time in charge.
"The stories were quite hurtful to be honest with you. A lot of false accusations were being thrown out there and there was nothing we, as players, could do about it.
"We just had to put it to the back of our minds and concentrate on the football."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39334196
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What makes gambling wrong but insurance right? - BBC News
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2017-03-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Gamblers and insurers both place bets on the future, so how do they compare?
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Business
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Shipowners and traders meet in shipping agency Lloyd's of London's coffeehouse in 1863
Almost a decade ago, I tried to place a bet with a leading UK betting shop that I would die within a year. They should have taken the bet - I am still alive.
But they will not gamble on life and death. A life insurance company, by contrast, does little else.
Legally and culturally, there is a clear distinction between gambling and insurance. Economically the difference is less visible.
Both gambler and insurer agree that money will change hands depending on what transpires in some unknowable future.
50 Things That Made the Modern Economy highlights the inventions, ideas and innovations which have helped create the economic world we live in.
Gambling tools such as dice date back millennia - perhaps five thousand years in Egypt. Insurance may be equally old.
The Code of Hammurabi - a law code from Babylon, in what is now Iraq - is nearly 4,000 years old. It includes numerous clauses devoted to the topic of "bottomry", a kind of maritime insurance bundled together with a business loan.
A merchant would borrow money to fund a ship's voyage, but if the ship sank, the loan did not have to be repaid.
Many of the provisions of the Code of Hammurabi - as seen on this stone stele - deal with matters of contract and trade
Around the same time, Chinese merchants were spreading their risks by swapping goods between ships. If any single ship went down, it would contain a mix of goods from many different merchants.
But all that physical shuffling around is a fuss. Much more efficient to structure insurance as a financial contract instead, something the Romans did a few millennia later.
Later still, Italian city states like Genoa and Venice developed ever more sophisticated ways to insure the ships of the Mediterranean.
Then, in 1687, a coffee house opened on Tower Street, near the London docks. Run by Edward Lloyd, it was comfortable and spacious, and business boomed. Patrons enjoyed the fireside tea and coffee, and - of course - the gossip.
There was much to gossip about: London's great plague, the great fire, the Dutch navy sailing up the Thames, and a revolution which had overthrown the king.
But above all, the inhabitants of this coffee house loved to gossip about ships: what was sailing from where, with what cargo - and whether it would arrive safely or not. And where there was gossip, there was an opportunity for a wager.
Lloyd's patrons were happy to speculate on the likely death of Admiral John Byng, who was shot in 1757
The patrons bet, for example, on whether Admiral John Byng would be shot for his incompetence in a naval battle with the French. He was.
The gentlemen of Lloyd's would have had no qualms about taking my bet on my own life.
Edward Lloyd realised his customers were as thirsty for information to fuel their bets as they were for coffee, and began to assemble a network of informants and a newsletter full of information about foreign ports, tides, and the comings and goings of ships.
His newsletter became known as Lloyd's List.
Lloyd's List was published daily until 2013, when it became online-only
Lloyd's coffee house hosted ship auctions, and gatherings of sea captains who would share stories.
If someone wished to insure a ship, that could be done too: a contract would be drawn up, and the insurer would sign his name underneath - hence the term "underwriter". It became hard to say quite where coffee-house gambling ended and formal insurance began.
Eight decades after Lloyd had established his coffee house, a group of underwriters who hung out there formed the Society of Lloyd's.
Today, Lloyd's of London is one of the most famous names in insurance.
Lloyd's is not an insurer: it is a marketplace in which multiple financial backers, grouped in syndicates, come together to pool risk
But not all modern insurers have their roots in gambling. Another form of insurance developed not in the ports, but the mountains.
Alpine farmers organised mutual aid societies in the early 16th century, agreeing to look after each other if a cow - or child - fell ill. While the underwriters of Lloyd's viewed risk as something to be analysed and traded, the mutual assurance societies of the Alps saw it as something to be shared.
And when the farmers descended from the alps to Zurich and Munich, they established some of the world's great insurance companies.
Risk-sharing mutual aid societies are now among the largest and best-funded organisations on the planet - we call them "governments".
Governments initially got into the insurance business as a way of making money, typically to fight a war in the turmoil of Europe in the 1600s and 1700s.
Instead of selling ordinary bonds, which paid in regular instalments until they expired, governments sold annuities, which paid in regular instalments until the recipient expired. Easy to supply, and much in demand.
Annuities are a form of insurance: they protect an individual against the risk of living so long that all their money runs out.
Providing insurance is no longer a mere money-spinner for governments. It is regarded as a core priority to help citizens manage some of life's biggest risks - unemployment, illness, disability and ageing.
Faced with these deep pools of risk, private insurers often merely paddle.
At least, citizens in richer economies expect insurance from their governments. In poorer countries, governments are not much help against life-altering risks, such as crop failure or illness. And private insurers tend not to take much interest, either. The stakes are too low, and the costs too high.
That is a shame, because there is growing evidence that insurance doesn't just provide peace of mind, but is a vital element of a healthy economy.
A recent study in Ghana showed that farmers were being held back from specialising and expanding by the risk of drought - a risk against which they couldn't insure themselves.
Some small scale farmers in Ghana previously struggled to insure themselves
When researchers created an insurance company and started selling crop insurance, the farmers bought the the insurance and expanded their businesses.
Today, the biggest insurance market of all blurs the line between insuring and gambling: the market in financial derivatives.
Derivatives are financial contracts that let two parties bet on something else - perhaps exchange rate fluctuations, or whether a debt will be repaid. They can be a form of insurance.
An exporter hedges against a rise in the exchange rate. A wheat farming company covers itself by betting that the price of wheat will fall.
The ability to buy derivatives lets companies specialise in a particular market. Otherwise, they would have to diversify - like the Chinese merchants four millennia ago, who didn't want all their goods in one ship. The more an economy specialises, the more it tends to produce.
But unlike regular insurance, for derivatives you don't need to find someone with a risk they need to protect themselves against. You just need to find someone willing to take a gamble on any uncertain event anywhere in the world.
It is a simple matter to double the stakes - or multiply them by a hundred. As the profits multiply, all that is needed is the appetite to take risks.
Before the international banking crisis broke in 2007, the total face value of outstanding derivatives contracts was many times larger than the world economy itself.
The real economy became the sideshow, the side bets became the main event.
That story did not end well.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38905963
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What is the function of an editor? - BBC News
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2017-03-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Editing a newspaper is a hugely demanding and time-consuming role - the editorial side is only part of it.
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Entertainment & Arts
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George Osborne will take over as editor of the London Evening Standard
Editing a newspaper is an extremely rewarding and tough job, probably harder these days than a few decades ago, because of scarcity of resources and the demands of the internet.
But being an editor isn't just an editorial job.
The editorial side of it is the most fulfilling and intellectually stimulating part, but it is only a part.
There are also huge commercial responsibilities - how do we make money and save money? - and leadership and management duties.
Leadership is about creating a moral vision for where you want to take a team; management is the daily activity of getting them there.
It has always seemed to me that in rich newspapers, the editor gets to focus on editing, while other people think about the commercial and managerial side of it.
For instance, the Daily Mail has several busy managing editors, whereas the Evening Standard has only one.
At organisations that are strapped for cash - and the Standard is facing big commercial challenges - editors have to spend relatively more of their time thinking about commercial and managerial obligations.
And all of that is hugely time consuming. It leaves less time than you would like for the really exciting bit: editing.
Editing is an exercise in selection and judgement: what to put in and - just as important - what to leave out.
Which pictures, campaigns, and above all stories to run? What's the best headline on that front page splash? Shall we give this or that person a kicking in the sports pages? And should our cartoonist really depict Nigel Farage as an amphibian yet again?
When making these decisions, based on your judgement, which is in turn informed by your values and experience, an editor has three sacred loyalties - in my view, in no particular order.
First, to the truth; second, to the reader; and third, to the integrity and reputation of the newspaper.
Some would argue that there are other loyalties.
An editor of The Catholic Herald might think they had a duty to God, for instance; an editor of Country Life might feel they had a duty to England's enchanted land; and all editors are likely to feel a duty to those paying the bills.
But those earlier loyalties are supreme.
They are very different to the loyalties required by political parties.
I have never been a member of a political party, but I suspect those who have would say their loyalties aren't primarily to truth, readers, or newspaper reputations.
A political party is an institution that organises its members to acquire and exercise legislative power.
Its members have loyalty above all to that task. If they are committed, they wake up every day thirsting for power.
Once they have acquired it, fidelity to their tribe makes them determined not to relinquish it.
Quite aside from the sheer practical workload, it is not easy to see how the loyalties required by editorship and the loyalties required by membership of a political party can be reconciled.
The latter long to inhabit the corridors of power. The former want to throw grenades at it.
Journalism, at its best, is about the ferocious scrutiny of power.
That requires a certain distance from it. Of course, there are different types of journalism.
I can see how it might be feasible for a theatre critic to be group secretary of his local Socialist Workers Party.
I can also see how a brilliant football correspondent could be a member of the neo-Nazis.
But an editor, who has to conduct daily combat with politicians?
In being a member of the Conservative Party and, soon, editor of the London Evening Standard, George Osborne faces both practical and philosophical problems.
The practical one is when to sleep. The philosophical one is how to reconcile his clearly divided loyalties.
Which of his constituents matter most - those in Tatton, or his near-million readers at the Standard?
How does he cover, say, a Budget: as a loyal Conservative MP, or as a fearless editor?
It is hard enough to see how you reconcile being a member of a political party with being a journalist, let alone being an editor.
However, being not only a member of a political party, but a sitting MP and a recent chancellor, as well as someone who retains political ambitions, is much tougher still.
And that's before we even consider BlackRock. How can you cover the world of asset management while being paid £650,000 by it?
The idea that Mr Osborne could recuse himself from stories about that industry, or indeed the City pages altogether, strikes me as sub-optimal, to put it mildly: it would be bizarre to have a former chancellor as editor, only for him to have no involvement in business coverage.
These conflicts of interest are untenable, and so - as I said on Friday - I can't see it lasting.
Given his sources of income, he's much likelier to give up being an MP before he gives up having lunch at BlackRock.
Whether it happens when Tatton disappears as a constituency, or before, I suspect he will be editor of the London Evening Standard after he is an MP in Cheshire.
As I mentioned in my previous posts, his task at the paper - setting out a clear strategy, improving the product, raising its profile, and turning the business around by finding new revenue streams - is one for which he has relevant experience and connections.
That said, it strikes me as a full-time job. Perhaps, therefore, Osborne hasn't fully grasped the function of an editor.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39325536
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Arsene Wenger: Everyone's talking about the Arsenal manager's future - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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BBC Sport looks at the future of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal after his side lost 3-1 away against West Brom - a fourth defeat in five league games.
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BBC Sport looks at the future of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal after his side lost 3-1 away against West Brom - a fourth defeat in five league games.
WATCH MORE: Wenger will reveal decision on his future 'very soon'
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39322142
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Man City fined £15,573 for incidents relating to Champions League tie - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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Manchester City are fined £15,573 by Uefa for incidents regarding the home leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Monaco on 21 February.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester City have been fined £15,573 by Uefa for incidents in the home leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Monaco on 21 February.
Europe's governing body said the fine related to a pitch invasion, objects being thrown and a late kick-off.
City won the match 5-3 at Etihad Stadium but lost the return 3-1 and went out on the away goals rule.
Meanwhile, City have accepted a Football Association charge relating to Sunday's league game with Liverpool.
They were charged with failing to "ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion".
It followed an incident "in or around the 50th minute" of the 1-1 draw, when referee Michael Oliver gave the Reds a penalty, penalising Gael Clichy for a raised boot on Roberto Firmino.
The case will be heard by an independent regulatory commission.
James Milner scored from the spot, giving Liverpool the lead, but Sergio Aguero ensured City took a point from a thrilling draw at Etihad Stadium.
Both Clichy and David Silva were booked after Oliver pointed to the spot.
• None Watch Manchester City v Liverpool highlights on Match of the Day 2 on iPlayer
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39333531
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How one woman beat her mental illness by helping others - BBC News
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2017-03-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Australian Jessica May overcame acute anxiety by setting up a recruitment firm for people with mental and physical disabilities.
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Business
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Jessica's own troubles inspired her to set up a business to help others in a similar situation
Jessica May was moving quickly up the career ladder until she was tripped up by mental illness.
Following the birth of her first child, Jessica developed a problem with her thyroid gland that greatly exacerbated her pre-existing anxiety disorder.
"I've had anxiety my whole life," says the 36-year-old from Canberra, Australia. "The [thyroid] condition meant that my anxiety got out of control."
This was back in 2012, and Jessica decided to return to her civil service job sooner than originally planned, after she and her doctor agreed that getting back to doing the work she loved would keep her focused and hopefully mitigate her anxiety.
But Jessica, who had to reveal her mental health problem to her employers to receive the flexible schedule she needed, claims that her managers and colleagues started to make negative assumptions about her capabilities, and began to exclude her from projects.
"Because of how I was treated... I didn't really get better," she says.
Having previously managed 17 staff, Jessica says she felt disheartened and devalued.
However, the bad experience did ultimately have a positive impact - it made Jessica determined to help other people with mental or physical disabilities, and gave her the idea for setting up a business to do this.
"I knew there needed to be something for people with disabilities who just need a little bit of flexibility from their employers," she says.
So she decided to quit her government job and launch Enabled Employment, a recruitment consultancy that helps people with a disability find paid work.
Today, the Canberra-based company helps thousands of people find work at more than 400 businesses in Australia, including accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, taxi hire service Uber, and even the Australian Defence Force.
To help get Enabled up and running, Jessica successfully applied for a small entrepreneurship grant from the Australian Capital Territory government.
She left her civil service job one Friday in December 2012, and started work at Enabled the following Monday, with help and support coming from a local start-up support initiative called the Griffin Accelerator. The number of people and companies using the business then slowly started to grow.
The business is similar to a regular recruitment agency, in that it maintains an online listing of available jobs, and acts as a mediator between would-be employees and hiring managers.
However, Enabled also offers what it calls "accessibility brokering", which means that it works to ensure that businesses are able to offer employees the working conditions they need to perform at their best. This includes checking on flexible working hours and ensuring that offices have disabled access and toilets.
Jessica is keen to stress that the company is not a charity. Instead it is a for-profit business.
She believes that charities that pay businesses to take on disabled staff can reinforce negative stereotypes about disabled people.
"It really devalues people with disabilities who are totally capable," she says. "We don't want anyone to feel like a charity case."
Instead, Enabled charges companies, typically a one-off fee equivalent to 10% of a person's annual salary. By contrast, people who use Enabled to find work don't have to pay it anything.
The late Australian comedian Stella Young (centre) was an Enabled Employment ambassador
"There's 4.2 million people in Australia with a disability. Many of these people are very competent, it is really about trying to break down their barriers to work," says Jessica.
"We charge businesses for our services because you should be paying for amazingly qualified people, and you should also be paying for the diversity that it brings."
Enabled is valued at more than six million Australian dollars ($4.6m; £3.9m), and has expanded its services to include military veterans and indigenous Australians.
Suzanne Colbert, the founder of the Australian Network on Disability, says that Enabled has "freshened up" the Australian job market's otherwise "stale" attitude towards hiring people with disabilities.
She adds that Enabled has allowed employers to "tap into new sources of talent".
When it comes to its own staff, Enabled practises what it preaches. Four of its seven full-time employees have a disability and work within a schedule that accommodates them best.
Jessica balances her work with looking after her two young children
The company and Jessica have also won a number of Australian awards, including start-up of the year in 2015, and a National Disability Award for community accessibility.
Looking ahead, Jessica says she plans to expand the business in Australia before considering any moves overseas.
But for now, she says she is "the happiest she's ever been".
"I still have anxiety. It doesn't ever go away, but I can definitely manage it with the flexibility that we have at Enabled."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39255217
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MOTD3: Why was Man City v Liverpool a 'superb' match? - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy join Mark Chapman on MOTD3 to discuss the "superb" 1-1 draw between Manchester City and Liverpool.
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Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy join Mark Chapman on MOTD3 to discuss the "superb" 1-1 draw between Manchester City and Liverpool, and explain why the match proved these two sides will not win the Premier League title this season.
WATCH MORE: Is it the end for Arsene Wenger at Arsenal?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39323706
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England should beat Lithuania whoever plays up front - Shearer - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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England should beat Lithuania whoever plays up front instead of Harry Kane, says former England captain Alan Shearer.
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Tottenham showed in Sunday's win over Southampton that they can cope without the injured Harry Kane - and England should do the same this week.
England manager Gareth Southgate has named three strikers in his squad for Wednesday's friendly against Germany and Sunday's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania - Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford and Jermain Defoe.
The Lithuania game is the more important one, but it should not make any difference which of them starts it. Whoever plays, we should have enough to beat them.
But I think it tells you where English football is right now that we have got to call up Rashford - a teenager who has hardly played as centre-forward this season - and Defoe - a 34-year-old who has been around for years and has not been in the squad since 2013.
Yes, Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge are both injured too, but it is not exactly a position of strength.
Rashford represents the future - and Defoe deserves his place
England are top of Group F and in a strong position to reach Russia but, as long as they get there, what happens in friendly games and qualifiers does not really matter.
We have reached the finals of major tournaments before after being undefeated in qualifying - for the 2014 World Cup, for example - and been absolutely hopeless once we got there.
England will need a fit and in-form Harry Kane to make an impact on the World Cup next summer but I think they could get there without him, if they had to, even with such a shortage of options.
There are different arguments for Vardy, Rashford or Defoe to lead the attack against Lithuania.
For the vast majority of the season, Vardy has been poor. It's only in the past five games, since his goal in Sevilla, that he has found any real form. In the past three-and-a-half weeks he has been brilliant.
Rashford is playing more for Manchester United, and in a central role, at the moment because of Zlatan Ibrahimovic's suspension.
I know he didn't score for United against Middlesbrough but he played well, looked dangerous and had chances, just like he did against Chelsea in the FA Cup last week.
At 19, Rashford represents the future - a player we will look to for the next few years, not just this week.
Defoe isn't the future - but he has scored goals in a struggling side for Sunderland this season, with virtually every chance he has had.
He deserves to be in the squad on current form and I think Southgate was right to leave Theo Walcott out too.
Walcott has scored 15 goals in all competitions this season, only the second time since he has managed that since he joined Arsenal in 2006, and is on course to beat his best total of 21 goals in 2012-13.
Even if this turns out to be his best season ever, I am still not convinced by Walcott as a centre-forward. He still needs to do more, and I would not say he is the answer for England.
Spurs can keep winning without Kane
Without Kane, Tottenham can turn to either Vincent Janssen or Son Heung-min to lead their attack. I don't think Janssen is good enough, and they look a better team with Son leading the line.
Son gives them great energy and makes runs in behind defences. As we saw against Southampton, that can and will create chances for the likes of Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen.
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has called on Son and Janssen to step up while Kane is out but Alli and Eriksen did that against Saints, and both found the net.
Eriksen was excellent again, and is having a really good season. In the first half in particular on Sunday, I thought he was superb.
Alli has now scored in four straight games and you can tell how hungry he is for goals. Once the referee had awarded Spurs a penalty against Southampton, I saw him go chasing after the ball.
He was the only guy who wanted it, and he tucked it away very confidently.
Their goals meant Tottenham already have one win in the bag without Kane this weekend, and I don't see his absence being a huge issue for them over the next few weeks either.
They will need him in their FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea on 22 April but, looking at their next four Premier League games - against Burnley (a), Swansea (a), Watford (h) and Bournemouth (h) - they should be able to win those without him too.
Hopefully the reports that Kane's ankle injury is not as bad as first feared are true, and he will be back in action in another month or so rather than missing any more of the season.
If that is true, it won't be an issue for them at all. The title looks beyond Tottenham now, but I still fancy them to finish inside the top four.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39273470
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Why it's hard to be a Kevin in France - BBC News
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2017-03-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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What happens when your name is perfectly reasonable in your home country, but raises a sympathetic smile when you're abroad?
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Magazine
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What happens when you have a name that seems perfectly reasonable in your home country, but raises a sympathetic smile when you're abroad? BBC Europe Correspondent Kevin Connolly has been finding out the hard way.
There is a theory called nominative determinism, much beloved of students of literature and other idlers. It holds that your character will come over time to match your name.
So if you are called Max Power or Chuck Handgrenade then you are predestined to life as a man of action - and if you're called Ray O'Sunshine or Sunny B Happy then you will be lovability incarnate.
I'd never expected to find myself touched by the theory personally, being equipped as I am with a wholly unremarkable name. I wasn't even given a middle initial on the utilitarian grounds that they're only useful to professional cricketers and American politicians.
That all changed when a colleague drew my attention to an article in a French magazine called The Curse of Kevin.
Its point was that, in the French-speaking world, that Christian name - my Christian name - more or less predestines you to being considered an idiot. And not necessarily a particularly lovable idiot either.
The city of lights. Not of Kevins
My Irish mother would have been mortified to hear this.
To her, Kevin was a respectable saint's name and added the music of alliteration to the prosaic sound of Connolly.
I've never been entirely persuaded myself - Kevin was a curmudgeonly hermit celebrated for pushing a woman who made overtures towards him into a bed of nettles.
If he were alive today I can't help thinking that Kevin would be receiving court-ordered counselling rather than the prayers of the faithful. But of course I had no say in the matter.
And the name wasn't always a curse in the Francophone world either.
When I lived in Paris in the 1990s, I wouldn't say it was enjoying a vogue exactly, but it was experiencing a kind of blip of recognition.
We even settled - in our office at least - on an agreed pronunciation of K'veen. It broke the rules of French phonetics a bit - it should surely be Ke-van - but people had at least heard of the name.
It was never quite clear why it suddenly surged briefly from obscurity, but we know that in 1991 a total of 14,087 French children were given the name Kevin - and no reason to doubt it was a winning ticket in the lottery of life.
We were never sure why. There were the Hollywood Kevins of course - Costner, Bacon and Spacey - but none of them seemed well-known enough individually to explain the phenomenon. Perhaps, we theorised, when you added them together they achieved a kind of critical mass - like a celebrity nuclear reaction.
We need to talk about Kevins
Rival theorists suggested that the name was copied from members of boy bands, or even, God forbid, from the American film Home Alone, in which the geeky super-child at the heart of the story is also called Kevin.
Anyway, our moment in the sun was brief indeed.
The number of new Kevins in France has slowed to a dreary trickle these days, with potential parents frightened off, perhaps, by the trenchant manner in which French sociologists analyse such matters.
Kevin, they say, simply was popular with the lower classes and Kevin was never well-perceived by his betters.
Kevin, in short, is an oik, shown in surveys to have as much as a 30% lower chance of being hired when compared with Philippe, or Jean-Luc or Vincent.
The online discussion that followed the article did not contain, as it might in Britain or America, an angry rejection of this tendency to isolate and marginalise the Kevin, although it did include a handy list of other, equally cursed names, including Brian, Brandon, Jessica and Dylan. It didn't discuss whether this varies according to whether you're named after the American singer or the hippy rabbit from the Magic Roundabout.
Anyway, a novel has now been published in French which tells the story of how a young man improves his chances of being accepted into the intellectual salons of Paris by changing his name from Kevin to Alexandre.
I'm not sure my own disqualification from those salons was ever entirely down to my name but it all feels like a timely reminder of the exclusion which now appears to be part and parcel of the life of a Kevin in the Francophone world.
I'd like to say that I just don't understand it. But then, of course, that's the curse of nominative determinism. Anyone called Kevin is destined to not quite understand anything.
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39278092
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Man City draw with Liverpool one of my most special days - Pep Guardiola - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says his side's 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Etihad Stadium was "one of his most special days in management".
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said his side's performance in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool gave him "one of the most special days in his life".
Guardiola has won two Champions Leagues, six domestic titles and four cups in his stellar career.
But he said he took as much pleasure from the way City responded to the "sadness" of their midweek Champions League exit in Monaco.
"I am so proud," he said. "This is one of the most special days of my life."
He added: "We lived a tough two days after being out of Champions League. We were sad.
"Liverpool had all week to prepare and they always fight until the last moment.
"That is why I am so happy. More than ever I am willing to help the club take the next step forward over the next years if they want to stay with me."
The 46-year-old refused to say whether that meant he would be prepared to extend his contract, which still has over two years to run.
His side had to respond after falling behind to James Milner's 51st-minute penalty.
Aguero equalised on 69 minutes when he turned home Kevin de Bruyne's low right-wing cross from six yards.
It was the Argentina forward's 25th goal of the season and Aguero could have had another in the final minute when he volleyed over from the edge of the area.
City captain David Silva and makeshift right-back Fernandinho wasted good opportunities, although none was as good as the chance Adam Lallana missed 10 minutes from time after Roberto Firmino left him with only goalkeeper Willy Caballero to beat.
'With all his mistakes, I love Stones'
Former Everton defender John Stones produced one of his best performances since his £47.5m move to City last summer.
But Guardiola insists he has never lost faith in the 22-year-old Yorkshireman.
"John Stones has more personality than anyone in this room," Guardiola told a post-match media briefing.
"I am delighted to have him. He has been under pressure. The people criticise him. But it is not easy to play central defence with this manager. I don't want long balls and passes down the channel. I want him 40 metres back to build up the play.
"With all his huge amount of mistakes, I love him."
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was amused by his counterpart's comments on the significance of City's performance.
Klopp said: "He is Spanish. They are a little bit more emotional than Germans."
But the Reds boss could offer no explanation for Lallana's miss and defended the England international, who apologised in the dressing room.
Klopp said: "Adam is one of the best technical players I ever worked with.
"These things can happen. He said sorry afterwards. I said why? His performance was outstanding."
The top-four battle goes on
The result did not make a major difference to the battle to finish in the top four.
City are now two points behind second-placed Tottenham, with Liverpool a point further back in fourth, having played a game more.
Manchester United are in fifth with 52 points, four behind Liverpool, but with two games in hand, while Arsenal and Everton, who go to Anfield for the Merseyside derby immediately after the international break, are level on 50 points.
Klopp said: "We are still in a battle and our next game is not only a derby, it is a really important game.
"There is one outstanding side this year. All the rest must fight with everything they have until the end of season."
Both Manchester City and Liverpool had big chances to win it but a draw was probably a fair result. City could not afford to lose this game, partly after what happened against Monaco. They needed a reaction and performance
I am not sure it is Pep Guardiola's proudest performance after what he achieved as a coach and player. He was pleased with the commitment and passion of his players. It was a strange thing to say.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39323405
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Fifa bans Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey for life for 'match manipulation' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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Fifa bans Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey for life for "match manipulation" during a 2018 World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey has been banned for life by Fifa for what it calls "match manipulation".
The ban results from a penalty he awarded to South Africa in a 2-1 win over Senegal in a 2018 World Cup qualifier in November.
He penalised Kalidou Koulibaly for handball, but replays showed the ball hit his knee.
Football's world governing body says it will give more details "once the decision becomes final and binding".
Lamptey can now appeal to Fifa and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
One of his assistants, David Laryea, also from Ghana, had charges against him dismissed by Fifa's disciplinary committee.
The win for South Africa left them in second place in the four-team group after two matches, with Senegal in third.
Lamptey, who also officiated at the Rio Olympics last year, declined BBC Sport's invitation to comment, saying he would do so later.
The Senegal Football Federation (FSF), who made a complaint to Fifa over Lamptey, is happy with the decision.
"Today there are many reasons to be happy about this decision - a decision that will be remembered as being significant but will also warn everybody that they are being watched," FSF vice-president Abdoulaye Sow told BBC Sport.
"All cheating and stealing will be punished according to its gravity.
"Fifa has clearly struck a big blow and has promised in its decision to talk again about the match when the decision is final and binding."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39327805
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Six Nations 2017: Pundits pick best player, try, breakthrough star and more - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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Mike Phillips, Jeremy Guscott and Keith Wood dish out Six Nations awards and ponder who should be in the British and Irish Lions squad.
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After seven weeks, 15 matches, 653 points and many more hours of discussion, the Six Nations is done for another year.
It was a tournament full of intrigue.
England retained the title, but ended on a flat note as a repeat Grand Slam proved out of reach in Dublin.
Ireland's rousing final-day performance hid disappointments on the road and a failure to fulfil their favourites' tag.
Scotland won three matches for the first time since 2006, but suffered a record-equalling defeat by the Auld Enemy.
Wales finished fifth, but were just a few minutes and seconds respectively from victories over England and France. That would have given the table a very different look.
But what does it all mean? Fortunately, former Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips, ex-England centre Jeremy Guscott and Ireland legend Keith Wood are here to help unpick it.
The trio have handed out their Six Nations awards before trying to get their head around who should follow in their footsteps and represent the British and Irish Lions on the summer tour of New Zealand.
• None 'Echoes of the past as England are blown off course'
• None Was France v Wales the day rugby lost its head?
Mike Phillips: For me, it has to go to a guy who has won the tournament, and Owen Farrell has been outstanding. His distribution skills at inside centre have given England an extra dimension, his kicking has been immaculate and defensively he is never going to let you down.
Jeremy Guscott: Joe Launchbury might not have been one of England's first-choice second rows at the start of the season, with Saracens pair George Kruis and Maro Itoje in harness, but he has pushed his way in. He is just 100% commitment, there is no halt to his work-rate. He is an all-action, in-your-face player, making a tackle one moment and a carry the next. It takes a huge amount of fitness for a man that size to soak up the hits, get off the floor and keep getting through the work.
Keith Wood: Notwithstanding the final-round defeat against Ireland, where it was difficult for any of the England backs to get going, Owen Farrell has been excellent.
Mike Phillips: Elliot Daly only made his first England start in November but has really taken the chance to make himself a first-choice pick on the wing. He has backed up every great performance with another.
Jeremy Guscott: All I want as a back is for my scrum-half to provide whip-fast service and Baptiste Serin has come in and delivered that for France to get their backline moving. He focuses on that part of his game, but can make a break as well.
Keith Wood: There has been a sense of joy every time Serin has got his hands on the ball. That is something that has been missing from French rugby for a while.
Try of the tournament
Mike Phillips: I think you have to look at the opposition and the way Wales cut through a strong Ireland team with Scott Williams barrelling through midfield, Rhys Webb and Leigh Halfpenny linking up and then George North finishing out wide was sensational.
Jeremy Guscott: England wing Elliot Daly's decisive try at the death against Wales was just so well executed. The passes from George Ford to Owen Farrell and then Farrell to Daly were pinpoint. Daly still had to burn off Alex Cuthbert and the whole thing came together in a magical 10 seconds or so.
Keith Wood: The same for me. It was not so much Daly's involvement but the two passes beforehand were perfection. And you very rarely get anything in rugby that is perfect.
Mike Phillips: Wales' 22-9 win over Ireland was a great way to bounce back from the defeats by England and Scotland in the previous two weeks. There was a lot of pressure on the lads and, as a Welshman, it was great to see the guts they showed.
Jeremy Guscott: That Wales win over Ireland was the most gladiatorial, intense game of rugby that I have seen live and up close in a long time. It was bruising, brutal and brilliant. It reminded me of the battle scene that was the British and Irish Lions' second Test defeat by South Africa in 2009.
Keith Wood: Ireland's win over England was the first Six Nations match I have attended as a fan rather than for work - either as a player or in another role - since 1992. I went with my wife and children and to have that victory out of the dirt and murk of Dublin was the perfect family day out.
Mike Phillips: When I switched on the television midway though the match, expecting to find England 30 or 40 points up against Italy at Twickenham. Instead, Italy were leading, with their 'no-ruck'tactics creating chaos. It was so unexpected, so innovative and such a talking point. I thought we would be spending the next week at Sale trying to work out how to counter it!
Jeremy Guscott: When England captain Dylan Hartley and team-mate James Haskell asked for clarification about Italy's tactics and referee Romain Poite delivered that brilliant line: "I am a referee, not a coach." To deliver that in the middle of the hurly-burly was exquisite. It showed the game's human side.
Keith Wood: The fact the clock stopped at 99 minutes and 55 seconds, after very nearly 20 minutes of added time, in that France v Wales game was just odd on every single level. I was at the Aviva and just couldn't understand what was happening in Paris. With the allowance that the organisers make to ensure that the games don't overlap, it just didn't make sense to me.
Mike Phillips: Some form of relegation has got to come in for me. Italy have improved since their introduction in 2000, but the prospect of dropping out would spur them on again. They are too comfortable, knowing their place in the tournament is assured ever year. The prospect of Georgia potentially coming in would be exciting as well.
Jeremy Guscott: It was an excellent tournament - I think the performance has stepped up from where it has been in previous years. There is nothing that I would especially change.
Keith Wood: I have not been a fan of how replacements are used for a long time. If there were fewer of them, I think you would get lighter weight guys with more stamina who could last 80 minutes. You wouldn't get that situation where a team have worked hard to get on top over their opposite numbers only to see them replaced by fresh legs.
I understand you have to have cover for safety reasons in the front row but perhaps you could limit the replacements to a front row, a utility back and a utility forward.
And now for the Lions...
Mike Phillips: It was tough on the wing, but I think the Scots need to be rewarded for their campaign and that edged Tommy Seymour ahead of Elliot Daly. Sam Warburton might well go as captain and first choice under Warren Gatland, but, for me,Justin Tipuric just edges it at open-side flanker. It is very close, though.
Jeremy Guscott: My selection is based purely on form. If we had to play the All Blacks this week, and everyone was fit, this is what I would go for. Justin Tipuric gets very close to earning a spot in the back row, but is just edged out by the combined excellence of team-mate Sam Warburton and Ireland's CJ Stander.
Keith Wood: At this moment I just can't pick a Lions XV. We are in the middle of March and the first Test is not for more than three months. There are so many factors to consider.
You have the alchemy of how different combinations work together, how players have done against New Zealand in the past and there will always be a bolter. There is always a player who comes on the tour and is expected to be a bit-part player but makes a huge leap in performance surrounded by great players.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39322306
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Afghanistan: Horror at Kabul's military hospital - BBC News
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2017-03-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Afghan capital was rocked by a brutal militant attack last week on the city's military hospital.
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Asia
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In the Afghan capital, Kabul, there's still widespread shock and anger at the brutal militant attack last week on the city's main military hospital.
The authorities have acted swiftly, sacking the deputy interior minister and arresting 24 hospital and military officials, including an army general.
But for many Kabul residents it feels too little, too late.
A local man interviewed on the street this week by state TV spoke for many.
"If this government can't fulfil its responsibilities, someone else needs to take over," he said.
"People have had enough of this situation."
Officials put the death toll at 50, with 31 injured - though these figures are disputed
The 400-bed Sardar Daud Khan hospital is set in extensive grounds in Kabul's diplomatic district, not far from the US embassy, Nato headquarters and the Afghan state television building.
People are demanding to know how such a supposedly secure defence ministry facility could be so vulnerable to attack.
The issue has been furiously debated in parliament and continues to be a key subject of conversation on social media.
Smoke billowing out during the attack at Sardar Daud Khan Hospital
At a hastily arranged press conference this week, defence ministry officials presented their initial findings.
But their version appeared to contradict the accounts of some eyewitnesses and Afghan politicians, and many key questions remain unanswered.
One of the biggest is how the attackers were able to get into what was supposed to be a heavily-guarded compound.
A medical technician who has worked at the hospital for almost a decade told the BBC that security was always very tight.
"Everyone entering the building, including staff, is frisked and their bags are checked," she said.
So did the attackers have help from inside?
Deputy Defence Minister Gen Helaludin Helal briefed reporters about the attack on Wednesday
The defence ministry says five people were involved and that they entered the compound in a car with fake number plates.
One blew himself up at the hospital gates and the others ran inside.
But eyewitnesses, including one who spoke to the BBC, reported hearing gunfire in the hospital corridors at exactly the same time as the blast at the entrance - suggesting at least some of the group could have already been inside.
One eyewitness who spent three hours hiding inside the cardiology department told the BBC that a colleague had seen men in white coats opening fire on people in the corridor.
Ahmad Nesar Hares, a member of the Afghan Senate Committee investigating the attack, told a heated Senate debate this week that according to his information as many as 17 militants were involved and that they had been let in by "an enemy who worked in the hospital for three months".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Special forces were involved in an operation to stop the hospital attackers
"He transferred weapons, guns and ammunition to the hospital and nobody caught him," the senator said.
In a similar vein, some media reports have quoted hospital staff as saying two of the people involved in the attack were interns who had been working there for several months.
The defence ministry says it has no evidence so far that the attackers were helped by medical staff but investigations are ongoing.
The attackers were eventually killed after several hours of fighting
One thing that is not disputed is the brutal nature of the attack.
The defence ministry said the attackers were armed with AK47s, grenades and military issue knives. They also confirmed reports circulating locally that patients had been shot and stabbed to death in their hospital beds.
The exact death toll continues to be disputed.
The defence ministry revised its official figure up to "around 50" with 31 people injured. However, some hospital workers quoted in local media reports insist it was much higher.
The eyewitness who spoke to the BBC said the corridor outside her ward had been full of people when the attack started.
She described watching a scene of horror unfold with her patients, who were finally rescued by Afghan commandoes.
"There were bodies lying everywhere," she said. "Patients, doctors, people I knew and worked with. It was terrible. I will never ever forget it."
It's still not clear who exactly carried out the attack.
The Afghan defence ministry says that both Afghan and foreign nationals were involved, but has dismissed social media speculation about their identity.
It is still not clear who was behind the attack
While the violence was still going on, so-called Islamic State (IS) issued a statement via its Amaq news agency claiming responsibility.
However Afghan security experts have questioned whether a group still thought to be relatively small in Afghanistan could be capable of planning and carrying out such a large scale operation.
Afghan fighters who have declared allegiance to IS are thought to control just a handful of villages in eastern Nangarhar province.
Some eyewitnesses have told local media that the attackers were shouting slogans in support of the Taliban.
One patient who spoke to the BBC said he saw men he described as "Taliban" shouting Allahu Akbar ("God is greatest") and throwing grenades in the corridor.
It's been widely reported that the wards containing Taliban patients were left untouched.
The defence ministry confirmed that injured Taliban fighters were being treated in the hospital but said they were in locked wards with barred windows, and that they were not involved in the violence.
The ministry has asked for patience as it continues to investigate what it said was "a complex case" and has pledged to share more information in the coming weeks.
Syed Anwar and Jenny Norton contributed to this report.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39309469
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Six Nations Remix: Planes, canes & meteorites - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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An alternative look at the final round of the Six Nations, as Ireland are too hot for England, France win in the 100th minute, and Scotland cane Italy.
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An alternative look back at the final round of the 2017 Six Nations, as Ireland are too hot for England, France win in the 100th minute against Wales and Scotland cane Italy.
Available to UK users only.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39323846
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Andiamo: How a boy died and his parents had a medical brainwave - BBC News
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2017-03-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A couple who struggled for years to get the braces their disabled child needed to sit in a chair have found a way to make them in hours rather than months.
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Magazine
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Diamo Parvez was born with cerebral palsy and died from complications when he was nine years old. During his life his parents were constantly struggling to get him the braces and splints he needed to support his body - and have channelled the pain of their loss into the search for a new, fast way of making them.
Diamo's arms and legs were paralysed and he had very little control of his head. He needed a back brace, hand splints and ankle splints - technically known as orthoses - to prevent him suffering pain.
The main problem, says his mother, Samiya, is that when a muscle isn't used it shrinks and tightens.
"Diamo's muscles were so tight they were pulling his hips out of his joints," she says. "The orthosis stretches the muscles and helps to hold the body in the right posture, and avoids the need for surgery."
Getting an orthosis, though, is a drawn-out process, involving different appointments, at different locations. And there is one "horrific" stage, Samiya says, when children have to remain absolutely still for up to an hour as a plaster of Paris mould is made of their body.
Samiya and Diamo's father, Naveed, would often have to resort to restraining their son to keep him from moving.
A child being held in plaster, as seen in a video on the Andiamo website
"We saw how much our son hated being pinned down for the plaster - he would scream and scream and it was a real struggle," says Samiya.
"I know kids who break down and start crying if their parents even drive past a hospital because they think they're going to get a plaster cast."
Next comes a wait for the brace to be created from the mould - and then a trial-and-error process of fitting and refitting.
"Sometimes it would be ever so slightly out and cause him to have sores and bruising so we'd have to start again and hope to keep him still enough for the mould to be accurate," Samiya says.
The whole process could take as long as six months - by which point Diamo had inevitably grown. Throughout his life, Diamo would go through the casting process at least eight times per year his parents say. And that was just for the back brace.
Without a back brace, Diamo would slip out of his wheelchair, so there were periods between outgrowing the old one and a getting a new one when he would be unable to go to school.
"For a good three weeks we were housebound as a family because we couldn't put him in the wheelchair to be able to go out," says Samiya.
She even knows of children who can walk but have had to use a wheelchair while waiting for a new orthosis.
Diamo died five years ago this month. Less than a year later, Naveed attended a tech conference and saw someone making 3D scans of old steam trains in order to reproduce parts with a 3D printer.
"The new parts were so accurate that the scratches in the paintwork of the original were perfectly reflected in the print," he says. He began to think about how that technology could translate into making orthoses.
"I had a lightbulb moment - not just because of the technology but because of the realisation that all that pain could be turned to good," he says.
"We were grieving - we still are - but then it was very raw and I thought that this is something Diamo could leave behind."
Within a year they'd created a prototype and with help from a charity, the Nominet Trust, they set up a health technology company, Andiamo.
Samiya with Naveed (right) and Andiamo co-founder Lee Provoost
Andiamo does not use plaster casts. Instead, a 3D scanner is swept over the child's body for between 60 and 90 seconds. Inside the scanner a number of high-speed cameras take photographs from different angles and these images are then digitally stitched together to make a 3D image, which can be fed into a 3D printer.
"These children are already stressed and in pain, coming to appointments is never fun - but we have been able to turn some of that experience around and get the children excited about the 3D printing," says Samiya.
And the aim is to reduce waiting times from months to 48 hours. So far they've got it down to two weeks.
"We could have avoided so much pain in our lives if that technology had been available to us," says Samiya.
The high-accuracy scanning system produces orthoses that are a better fit, and this combined with the use of lighter, stronger materials results in a finished product that is less bulky and less than half the weight of traditional orthoses, Naveed says.
Fourteen-year-old Sahara - one of Andiamo's first clients - can attest to this. She has cerebral palsy which affects all four limbs but can stand up and bear down on her feet with some support. From the age of two she has worn ankle-foot orthoses - known as AFOs - to hold her ankle in the right position and keep her controlled and grounded when she stands.
The Andiamo AFO "feels great, very lightweight", she says, compared with her old one, which now feels "thick and heavy" by comparison. Lifting her feet is now easier - and as a result it's also easier for her to keep her balance.
Sahara's mum, Salome, used to take the old AFO out with her when shopping for shoes, to see which would be big enough to accommodate its cumbersome shape.
"Children with traditional AFOs have that Frankenstein appearance - skinny legs with massive feet because they're made to be very big and bulky with extra room for the foot to grow," she says.
This is another problem Andiamo may help to fix.
Since seeing its first patient in December 2014, the Andiamo team has been working with 16 patients to develop the technology, and is now ready to see more.
"We have been focusing on ensuring the devices fit, are comfortable, and have a level of quality we are happy with," says Naveed.
"It is easy to do a one-off. It is much harder to have a consistent approach that allows you to scale."
The plan is to see at least 100 patients in 2017, to make more than 40,000 orthoses over the next five years, and to open a permanent clinic in London after a crowdfunding campaign in the near future.
Orthoses make a big improvement to the wearer's quality of life, Naveed says, "but they aren't sexy, they don't make a lot of money and they don't come with huge research and development budgets so they've been overlooked."
The extra accuracy of the orthoses should also result in less time being wasted by patients and medical staff at appointments.
Five years after his death, Diamo remains sorely missed.
"He was a happy, very relaxed kid who would only cry when he was in real pain," says his mother. "He really enjoyed food and especially loved dark chocolate mousse."
Another passion was the music of James Blunt, which came about after the chance discovery by his carer, Carolina, that it would instantly relax him.
"It was painful," Samiya says. "Why did it have to be James Blunt? I even had to suffer through one of his concerts!"
Diamo and Samiya at the James Blunt concert
"People make real assumptions about children with a disability" says Naveed, "but they get obsessed with stuff, just like other kids do. In Diamo's case, it was James Blunt."
Andiamo, which means "let's go" in Italian, is named after him.
"Although I don't have the same pain any more," says Naveed, "if we can reduce another family's and make life a bit better for someone else, it's worth it."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39309238
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France v Wales: Six Nations officials to review incidents at end of game - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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Six Nations officials are reviewing events in the closing stages of Wales' loss to France, including an alleged bite on George North.
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Last updated on .From the section Welsh Rugby
Six Nations officials are reviewing events in the closing stages of Wales' 20-18 loss to France, including an alleged bite on wing George North.
Wales coach Rob Howley was left to "question the integrity of our game" after France replaced Uini Atonio with Rabah Slimani during the 20 minutes of added time that were played.
France's team doctor said Atonio needed to go off for a head injury assessment.
North, meanwhile, said he was bitten in the build-up to France's final try.
Referee Wayne Barnes asked television match official Peter Fitzgibbon to check the incident, but he could not find any clear footage so the game resumed without action being taken.
Six Nations Rugby said an independent citing commissioner would review "all relevant incidents" and raise any issues in due course, normally within 48 hours of the end of the match.
It added it was "aware of concerns" about the head injury assessment in added time and "is looking into the matter".
Speaking after Saturday's game, Howley said: "In terms of the process, I think we have reason to complain.
"You can hear Wayne Barnes ask him if he is OK. He said he had a sore back, but that he was OK. And then the doctor comes on, and he goes off.
"I've no issues about the result, it's just about the process."
France coach Guy Noves said his medical staff told him Atonio was injured.
He added: "We will do a medical check-up. I hope the injury is not too serious, and he will be able to play again soon."
Wales led 18-13 at the end of the 80 minutes but Damien Chouly drove over for the try that brought France level, and Camille Lopez's conversion was decisive.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39322772
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Michail Antonio: West Ham winger to miss England duty with hamstring injury - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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West Ham winger Michail Antonio withdraws from the England squad to face Germany and Lithuania because of a hamstring injury.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
West Ham winger Michail Antonio has withdrawn from the England squad because of a hamstring injury.
The uncapped 26-year-old reported the injury after Saturday's 3-2 Premier League defeat by Leicester City.
Antonio was able to complete the 90 minutes at London Stadium, but West Ham manager Slaven Bilic indicated afterwards that he was a doubt.
England face Germany in a friendly on Wednesday before hosting Lithuania in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday.
Antonio's absence further weakens the attacking options of England boss Gareth Southgate.
Forwards Harry Kane, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney are all out through injury, while Theo Walcott was left out of the squad.
In addition to Antonio, West Ham lost centre-back Winston Reid to a leg injury, while midfielder Pedro Obiang was taken off on a stretcher after rolling his ankle.
On the injuries to Antonio and Reid, Bilic said: "Hopefully, they will be fit after the international break."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39317665
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Arsene Wenger: Arsenal boss is 'selfish' for silence on job - Chris Sutton - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is like "an uncle who doesn't want to leave the party", says former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is like "an uncle who doesn't want to leave the party", says former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton.
Wenger, in charge since 1996, said he will announce "very soon" whether he will remain with the Gunners, after reaching a decision on his future.
Arsenal are in danger of ending a second straight season without a major trophy, and Sutton said he should go.
"It's a dictatorship and he surrounds himself with yes men," Sutton added.
Wenger's contract expires at the end of the season but he has been offered a new two-year deal.
The Frenchman, 67, has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks, with fans responding to defeats in the Premier League, and the 10-2 aggregate loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, by calling for him to leave.
More anti-Wenger banners were held aloft by Gunners fans in the closing stages of last Saturday's 3-1 defeat at West Brom, while in the first half two planes towed banners over the ground - one criticising the manager and the other supporting him.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 live's The Monday Night Club, Sutton, a Premier League winner as a player with Blackburn Rovers in 1995, added: "He's been selfish. I'm surprised Steve Bould [Wenger's assistant] doesn't get hold of him and say this is the reality.
"He's taking the club backwards. They have just accepted mediocrity.
"His work in the transfer market has been a failure lately.
"Do the right thing and if you're not going to do the right thing then tell us."
Arsenal, sixth in the table, are 19 points behind leaders Chelsea in the Premier League and their last realistic chance of winning a trophy this season is the FA Cup.
They face Manchester City in the semi-final at Wembley on Sunday, 23 April (15:00 BST).
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud said the club's players supported Wenger and wanted him to stay and "continue his adventure".
"We hope we can win the cup and that Arsenal qualify for the Champions League," the France international told Canal Plus.
"We want Arsene Wenger to renew his contract, to continue his adventure, because we support him."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39334730
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Petra Kvitova: Tennis comeback 'huge motivation' after knife attack - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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Petra Kvitova speaks of her determination to return to tennis following a knife attack at her home in December.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has spoken of her determination to return to tennis following a knife attack at her home in December.
The Czech, 27, has regained the use of her racquet hand after being stabbed by an intruder in her home in Prostejov.
She still has no comeback date but said: "I can tell you that tennis is a huge motivation for me."
Kvitova's last appearance on court was against France's Caroline Garcia in the Fed Cup final on 12 November.
In a post on her Instagram page on Tuesday, she said: "I realised while I've been away how much I like challenges.
"My perspective on life has changed a lot and I am doing everything to give myself a second chance to be back on the court."
Kvitova added: "I'm working really hard on my recovery."
Surgeons spent almost four hours repairing tendons and nerves on Kvitova's left hand - her playing hand - following the attack on 20 December, in which she struggled with an intruder who was attempting a burglary.
Doctors initially said the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon winner would be unable to compete for at least six months.
Her spokesman, Karel Tejkal, told AFP on Monday: "Petra's recovery is continuing as planned, but everything is up in the air as to her return."
Tejkal said Kvitova's psychological recovery had been "very encouraging" and that she had been fitness training in the Canary Islands.
"Petra uses her hand without problem for daily activities. Of course, the hand is weakened but at first glance you can't see that she was injured," he added.
"But at the moment no-one can give a concrete date."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39333870
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Chuck Berry's only number one: My ding-a-ling - BBC News
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2017-03-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The late Chuck Berry had many hits, but only one of them made it to number one.
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US & Canada
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Is Chuck Berry's only number one also his worst song?
"My ding-a-ling, my ding-a-ling, I want to play with my ding-a-ling."
Chuck Berry had many hits, but this one, to the chagrin of some of his fans but apparently not Berry himself, was his only number one single in the United States and UK.
Rolling Stone once listed it as one of 22 "terrible songs by great artists".
The ditty, replete with double entendre, was recorded in the UK in 1972. Berry was performing in Coventry as part of the Lanchester Arts Festival.
Playing at the Locarno Ballroom, the rock and roll legend cajoled the audience to sing the song's chorus. The women sang "my" and the men sang the "ding-a-ling" refrain.
"I want you to play with my", the women continued, "ding-a-ling", the men finished. It was juvenile stuff, but Berry was clearly delighted. He apparently was unaware that the show, which was followed by a Pink Floyd gig, was being recorded.
The song was released as a single at about four minutes in length, and later appeared on the album The London Chuck Berry Sessions at a whopping 11 minutes.
While it may make diehard fans cringe, Berry considered it to be as good as any of his other songs. It fit with his performing philosophy of giving "people what they want", he told Rolling Stone in a 2010 interview.
"I'm searching for who is attentive out there in the audience. I can look around and be singing My Ding-A-Ling and stop and sing 'The Lord's Prayer' because some people will be sitting out there looking like they're from church," he told the magazine.
And the financial rewards from the number one hit pleased a man with a notorious attitude to money. "Made a lot of money: a $200,000 cheque. I'll never forget that cheque. And it's all dirt. Nice, cleeean dirt!" Rolling Stone quoted him as saying.
But the song, despite cloaking its sexual references in metaphor, caused consternation in some quarters.
In 1973, the conservative activist and campaigner Mary Whitehouse wrote to the BBC director general to complain after a performance of the song on Top of the Pops.
A teacher had written to her National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, she said, complaining that she had found a class of young boys "with their trousers undone, singing the song and giving it the indecent interpretation which - in spite of all the hullaballoo - is so obvious".
The BBC's then-director general Charles Curran replied that he believed that "the innuendo is, at worst, on the level of seaside postcards or music hall humour".
Clearly the public agreed. The single reached number one in Britain, too.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39320370
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Ryan McBride: Michael O'Neill leads tributes to Derry City captain - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill leads the tributes to Derry City captain Ryan McBride, who has died at the age of 27.
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Last updated on .From the section Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill has led the tributes to Derry City captain Ryan McBride, who has died at the age of 27.
Defender McBride was found dead at home on Sunday, a day after he led his side in a 4-0 League of Ireland win over Drogheda United.
The cause of death is not yet known but a post mortem is being carried out.
"He epitomised everything about our club and our city," said Derry City chief executive Sean Barrett.
McBride's funeral will take place on Thursday at 10:00 GMT at St Columba's Church in Derry, after which the player will be buried in the city cemetery.
The league game between Derry City and Limerick, due to take place on 21 March, will be rescheduled.
McBride's death is the latest tragedy to befall the club following the death of striker Mark Farren and the Buncrana pier tragedy, which claimed the lives of members of winger Josh Daniels a year ago.
'He led boys to become men'
Northern Ireland manager O'Neill was manager of League of Ireland Premier Division side Shamrock Rovers when McBride joined Derry six years ago.
"When I first saw him play, I remember thinking, 'what a fantastic young defender'. He was strong, physical and hugely committed.
"His leadership qualities were evident even at such a young age and it was no surprise to me that he became such an inspirational player for his hometown club."
Derry City manager Kenny Shiels said the death was "hard for everybody to take" and that he was "the perfect example to any young player coming through".
And chief executive Barrett added: "Of the words that have been thrown around probably my favourite one is 'warrior'.
"He led boys to become men and he was a man. He was everything that is associated with Derry City Football Club and, indeed, the whole city."
The Irish Football Association tweeted: "Thoughts tonight with the family of Ryan McBride and everyone involved with Derry City FC."
Derry City released an official statement on Monday afternoon saying the team will "miss his inspiration and his leadership".
The statement went on to say: "In the hearts and minds of all of us, and long into the future, Ryan McBride will be remembered as one of the greats of Derry City Football Club."
Phil O'Doherty, Derry City Football Club chairman, said the team was "devastated" at the loss of a "leader on and off the field".
"He was incredibly respected. He was an ideal captain," he told the BBC. "He was from the Brandywell area and he walked across the road to his home after every game."
The CEO of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), John Delaney, said Irish football was in mourning.
"Ryan's passing has left a deep shock throughout football," he said. "We will remember Ryan with a tribute at Friday night's World Cup qualifier against Wales."
Since his debut in 2011, McBride had not only become a mainstay of the club's defence, but a fans' favourite.
He made more than 170 appearances, with more than 50 as captain after he took over the role permanently two years ago.
A self-professed quiet man off the pitch, McBride said it was a "different story" on it. "I switch on and then I'm in game mode," he said.
• None Read more on 'the bravest I've ever seen on the pitch'
Republic of Ireland footballer James McClean, a former team mate of McBride at Derry, said he was "a warrior that literally would throw his body on the line when he pulled on that Derry City jersey, a club that meant so much to him".
He said that McBride was a "big gentleman off the field", adding: "Sleep tight big man. May God bless you and your family."
Ireland manager Martin O'Neill has said West Brom's McClean will be permitted to leave the camp before Friday's game with Wales should he wish.
Former Derry City striker Liam Coyle said: "My brother phoned me to tell me and I was in total disbelief.
"I played football with Ryan's father and Ryan was always a rising star. Derry City has lost the best centre half in Ireland."
DUP leader Arlene Foster tweeted: "My deepest condolences to the family and all Derry City FC as they mourn the loss of the talented Ryan McBride. Such devastating news."
Archbishop Eamon Martin said: "Sad news from Derry. Praying for the family and for his many friends and supporters who will miss him. Lord have mercy. RIP."
The President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, tweeted: "Along with all those who support Irish football, I express my sadness and condolences to the family of Derry City Football Club captain Ryan McBride."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/northern-ireland/39324936
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State of Sport: Amateur doping findings 'concern' sports minister - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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The extent of doping in amateur sport - as revealed by a poll for the BBC - is a "concern", says sports minister Tracey Crouch.
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Last updated on .From the section Sport
The extent of doping in amateur sport - revealed by a poll for the BBC - is a "concern", says sports minister Tracey Crouch.
A BBC State of Sport investigation found more than a third (35%) of amateur sports people say they personally know someone who has doped.
Half said performance-enhancing substance use is "widespread" among those who play competitive sport.
Crouch said doping was "absolutely unacceptable in any level of sport".
She added: "I think there is still more that sports governing bodies can do on this front, working alongside UK Anti-Doping, to help promote clean sport."
The investigation into doping in UK amateur sport also found 8% of amateur sports people said they had taken steroids, while 49% thought performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) were "easily available" among people who play sports regularly.
Nicole Sapstead, chief executive of UK Anti-Doping (Ukad), the body responsible for protecting clean sport, had earlier described the figures as "incredibly alarming".
She called for more resources to tackle doping, saying it was "fast becoming a crisis" at all levels of sport.
Crouch added: "These findings from the BBC are a concern.
"It is important that all involved in sport play their part in educating participants about the dangers of doping, both in terms of the damage it does to sport's integrity but also the health risks to individuals as well."
Would more testing help?
Ukad has an annual budget of about £7m, which is mainly state funding. A single drug test costs about £350.
Ukad directs the vast majority of its testing to elite sport and does not "have the resources" to test at lower levels of sport, says director of operations Pat Myhill.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the research was "robust" and added: "We see lots of young people, young men in particular, who choose to use these substances for image enhancement, but this creeps across into sport as many of them will be involved in amateur sport.
"I don't think it's helpful to criminalise amateur sports people whatsoever - the way forward is to tackle the supply of these substances and take action against those who profit and make criminal money by supplying them."
Michele Verroken, who ran the UK's anti-doping organisation between 1986 and 2004, said she was concerned the BBC Sport research could be "turned into a plea for more money" for anti-doping, arguing testing is "quite limited in its effectiveness".
"Do we want to extend testing down to an amateur level so we could actually be dissuading people from getting involved in sport?" she said on the Victoria Derbyshire programme.
"It would be inappropriate in a society where we have an obesity crisis and a concern with lack of physical activity that we suddenly start testing at an amateur level.
"We don't know at elite level how much is enough. We tested Lance Armstrong and Marion Jones extensively and never tested them positive. We need smarter testing."
American cyclist Armstrong, 45, was stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles and banned from sport for life in August 2012 for what the United States Anti-Doping Agency described as "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".
Compatriot Jones, 41, won gold in the 100m and 200m at the 2000 Olympics but was sentenced to six months in prison in January 2008 for lying about steroid use and involvement in a drugs fraud case.
Kieran, 30, took steroids for a two-month period when he was an amateur bodybuilder and boxer about 10 years ago.
He says it caused extra male breast growth and is now recovering after breast-reduction surgery two weeks ago.
"I was naive, uneducated, and these tablets were going around the gym," he told BBC Radio 5 live's Your Call programme.
"In all honesty it was a cheat and something to get ahead of the other guys in the gym. I looked around the gym and the other guys were getting ahead of me and I wondered why. Peer pressure was one of the reasons I took them.
"The side-effects have been everlasting. It destroyed my life.
"Because I was putting so much testosterone in my body, my own oestrogen counteracted with it. I couldn't wear certain clothes because, even though I was still training, no matter what I did exercise-wise I could not get rid of these male breasts.
"I went through living hell - the psychological effects were worse than the physical effects."
An amateur cyclist, who also called the programme, described injecting performance-enhancing drugs.
"I know from within my team it was quite common," he said. "It was talked about quite openly. It was just the way it worked. It's what was done.
"I was in a whole world of trying to be a better cyclist. All the choices I was making in my life were about trying to be faster. I would do anything to be faster."
Professor Ellis Cashmore, sociologist at Aston University, told BBC Breakfast he thinks doping should be made legal as "we will never rid sport of it".
"You can test over and over again and you can punish violators but you cannot actually control doping," he said.
"Anything that confers a competitive advantage, athletes will take.
"That leads me to the logical conclusion that maybe we should accept it, that it is part and parcel of modern sport and somehow monitor it to try to regulate it, but not penalise athletes who do dope."
Have you ever taken a performance enhancing substance? Does your sport have a problem with doping? Get in touch using this link.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/39329184
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Australian Grand Prix: Formula 1 returns, but will changes make it be better? - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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The speed and power that gave F1 its visceral thrills is back - let's just hope overtaking continues, writes Andrew Benson.
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The crisis is over. At least that is how it seems on the eve of arguably the most important Formula 1 season for a long time.
After three years in which the sport agonised over declining television audiences, a lack of competition on the track, uninspiring cars and an apparently large number of disgruntled fans, F1 seems to be back on track.
The cars that will race for the first time in Melbourne on Sunday are an attempt to put visceral thrills back in a sport many felt had lost its way.
The rule-makers had a simple target - cars that were up to five seconds a lap faster, that tested the drivers to their physical and technical limits, which they could drive flat out most of the time and which looked, well, sexy again. At the same time, overtaking should not be any harder than it already was.
The message from two weeks of testing in Spain was the goals have been achieved. Except maybe the last one.
And - whisper it for now - more than one team might even be able to win.
"The car is amazing in terms of the speed we carry through the corners," three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said of his Mercedes. "It is definitely the fastest I have ever been in F1."
"They look cool," says Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo. "They look pretty mean. And low and fat. Kind of old-school. It is going to be fun."
Why have the cars been changed?
"It all started because the drivers were not happy with the grip levels," says Alexander Wurz, chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association.
The route to F1 2017 began two years ago, when drivers finally began to give organised voice to a dissatisfaction with the cars that had been growing since Pirelli became the sport's tyre supplier in 2011.
Tyres that could not be pushed hard lest they irretrievably lost grip meant drivers had to lap seconds off the pace in races to eke out predetermined ideal stint lengths.
Initially, the sport's leading bosses - on the strategy group - thought drivers were saying the cars were not difficult to drive. Eventually, they realised the message was the cars were "not physically demanding and cool", as Wurz puts it, "and there was a need for something mega".
"You can see from the tests that the new rules are back to a ratio of power and grip and lap time where a race driver is not always easily at the limit of the car," says Wurz, who is also an adviser to the Williams team. "He also has his own limits, which are physical, concentration, respect. That's a good success for the whole industry."
Or as Ferrari's four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel puts it: "From a driver's point of view, it's better pretty much everywhere. Braking is better, cornering is better, you've got much more grip.
"Then in low speed, where arguably downforce effect is less, you have wider tyres so the grip from them, it works pretty much like an aspirin, it fixes everything. It's difficult to compare. It's a different animal, a different beast."
Wurz adds: "The new rules are such a massive step forward and that's why they will be successful despite having potential issues with overtaking which we can address later."
The cars may well be spectacular to watch and fantastic to drive for the first time in almost a decade but will the racing be good?
Hamilton is one of the many drivers who have said they believe the huge increase in aerodynamic downforce will inevitably make passing more difficult.
"Following is not good," he says. "It is worse to follow another car. I don't know how that will work out in a race."
The issue here is downforce, and specifically how that downforce is created.
An F1 car needs clean airflow to work at its best. Put it in turbulent air - such as that created by another car - and the finely tuned airflow that starts at the front wing and cascades backwards over all those pieces of bodywork along the sides of the cars is disturbed. And the downforce is dramatically cut.
"Now the turbulence is easily twice as powerful coming out the back of a car," Hamilton says. "It magnifies the issue we had before. Let's hope the racing is fantastic, but don't hold your breath."
There is another aspect to the potential effect on the show, too.
The new tyres Pirelli have produced are vastly improved in terms of allowing drivers to push hard for long periods. But this has been achieved by, among other things, making them harder. That means they last longer, which almost certainly means fewer pit stops, at least in the first few races for which the tyre compounds have already been chosen.
The season-opening race in Australia, for example, is already expected by engineers to feature only a single pit stop for each car. Most races will almost certainly have one fewer pit stop than last year.
Overtaking and, to a lesser extent, the number of pit stops, are issues about which many fans get very worked up. And yet so is a device that was introduced seven years ago to make overtaking less difficult - the drag reduction system (DRS). This is not the paradox it at first seems.
The DRS is a flap on the rear wing which the driver can open at a designated point if he is within a second of another car. It increases top speed by well over 10km/h and has led to what has become a rather denigrated feature of F1 - the so-called 'DRS pass'.
This is when a driver has such a speed advantage as a result of DRS that he simply drives past his helpless rival on the straight. That has rather diminished what is supposed to be one of the highest levels of skill a racing driver possesses - the ability to overtake a rival.
Hamilton describes DRS as "a bit like a Band-Aid for the wrong rule changes in terms of the way the cars are designed and built".
Wurz says: "Authentic is the biggest word here. In the mid-2000s, there was less overtaking than at any point in F1 history but currently the biggest hype is about that period of time. It's because the product was fit for how people felt.
"Since then, it has been diminished to be an artificial show to achieve overtaking. They maybe achieved it, but it wasn't authentic or heroic. It was too much, too easy and the consumer understands that because no-one will ever scream about an amazing DRS overtaking manoeuvre.
"If there is just one amazing overtake in a race, that delivers much more energy and emotion to the consumer than five DRS fly-bys."
What to do about it
F1 is a restless beast. It's part of what makes it a success; the constant drive to be better, the refusal to accept that something is good enough.
It is unsurprising, then, that before these new wider, faster cars have even raced, the thoughts of the sport's power brokers are already turning to what's next.
F1 is under new ownership this year and Ross Brawn, the former Mercedes team boss now in charge of shaping the sport's future direction, has said he wants to get rid of DRS.
But that is one tiny part of negotiations, that are just starting, about what F1's future might look like. Overtaking will be part of those conversations. For Wurz, the issue is less overtaking per se, more whether the design of the cars allows for close racing.
"Some say overtaking is so important for fans to be attached to F1," he says. "From the beginning, I have said - and I believe - that is not the answer. It is maybe not even true.
"Generally, I believe the most important thing is competition - and not just between two team-mates but between a few teams - and that the races are close. So I think it is fundamental that the aerodynamic philosophy should change so it is not so sensitive driving behind each other. And that can be achieved."
Not only is Wurz the GPDA chairman and a former F1 driver, he is also a two-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours and spent the last few years of his career in the World Endurance Championship.
The cars he raced - the so-called Le Mans Prototypes from Porsche, Toyota and, until last year, Audi - had even more downforce than F1 cars, but can be raced close together without problem.
"In a Le Mans car," Wurz says, "following someone in a 150mph corner, never at any point do you have to think you have to keep your distance because otherwise you are going to slide wide without control.
"You almost touch his bumper and your car will generate the same grip as when you drive by yourself. So all your focus can be solely on the guy in front, to find a little gap or a little mistake and you are close enough to strike.
"In an F1 car, when you go behind someone, you are always thinking: 'OK, I am that close, so I must enter the corner a little bit slower because otherwise I am going to slide too wide in the mid-corner and apex and I am going to lose too much time or even make a mistake.'
"Unless you have much fresher tyres or he makes a mistake, you cannot think: 'OK, I am that close now, I will strike.' And by nature in F1 not too many people make mistakes."
The explanation for this is to do with how the car generates its downforce.
An F1 car's aerodynamics are focused on the front wing. Even the airflow through the diffuser - the back of the car's floor, which is so crucial to overall performance - fundamentally comes in from the sides of the car having been accelerated around it in a process that starts at the front wing.
In an LMP1 car, the downforce is generated almost entirely under the floor - just as was the case with F1 cars when the era of aerodynamics properly started back in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Take a look at a car from, say 1982, and you'll either see no front wing, or a very small one used only for fine-tuning. Like WEC cars, IndyCars in America use this philosophy now, so cars can race closely at 220mph and more on oval tracks.
Changing this philosophy in F1 would not be easy - there would inevitably be resistance from the leading teams who best exploit the current rules, even though, as Wurz puts it, "if you're the best before, you'll be the best after".
Right now, this discussion, as much as it has started, is revolving in public only around the potential difficulty of overtaking. It is yet to move on to what to do about it.
But if Hamilton's fears are borne out, it is not hard to see how it could.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39274891
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Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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Manchester City and Liverpool have to settle for a point apiece as they battle out a thrilling draw at Etihad Stadium.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester City and Liverpool had to settle for a point apiece as they battled out a thrilling draw at Etihad Stadium.
A hugely entertaining game was littered with talking points, astonishing misses and a sense of injustice for both sides as they felt they were on the receiving end of debatable decisions from referee Michael Oliver.
James Milner put Liverpool ahead against his former club with a penalty six minutes after the break, after Gael Clichy was penalised for a raised boot on Roberto Firmino.
Sergio Aguero scored against Liverpool for the fifth successive Premier League game at Etihad Stadium from Kevin de Bruyne's perfect cross after 69 minutes - before both sides wasted glorious opportunities to secure a vital win in the race for top-four places.
Aguero was particularly culpable, stumbling at the vital moment after his superb approach play had fashioned a clear chance eight yards out. After he fluffed his shot, De Bruyne hit the loose ball against the post.
Adam Lallana produced a candidate for miss of the season when he somehow failed to tap Firmino's pass into an empty net before, in stoppage time, Aguero volleyed over the sort of chance he normally takes with comfort.
• None One of my most special days in management - Guardiola
The scoreline only scratches at the surface of a game that was enthralling from start to finish, illustrating the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, who possess verve in attack but frailty in defence.
City and Liverpool both created and missed the sort of chances that could have turned one point into three and made life a little easier in the closing stages of the season.
City's Raheem Sterling could not find the final touch to David Silva's cross in the first half, with Fernandinho missing a presentable finish standing behind him.
The second half was when the real gifts were passed up.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp threatened to rip his cap off in a mixture of shock and disgust when Lallana, the ball presented on a plate by Firmino for what should have been a formality, somehow contrived to fail with his connection and the ball rolled apologetically away.
Sterling then lobbed Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet but the ball drifted wide - with City's real opportunity coming deep into stoppage time when Aguero sent a volley off target at the far post from another superb De Bruyne delivery.
Both sides had to settle for a draw - but both know it could have been so much more.
The life of a referee was summed up by the sight and sound of Michael Oliver incurring the wrath of both sets of players at various points throughout a chaotic 90 minutes.
Liverpool felt they were denied a penalty when Sadio Mane tumbled under a challenge from Nicolas Otamendi in the first half, although the striker also inadvertently made contact with his own leg as he shaped to shoot after escaping the City defender with embarrassing ease.
Yaya Toure was perhaps fortunate to only receive a yellow card after a wild lunge on Emre Can caught the Liverpool midfielder in the chest, while City were furious their penalty claims were ignored as Sterling went down under a challenge from Milner as he closed in on a finish in the six-yard area.
City's players were furious after Liverpool's penalty award - many continuing the discussion with Oliver long after Milner had completed the formalities - but Oliver got this big call right.
Clichy's foot was dangerously high on Firmino as he raced in on goal and Oliver had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
It was a tough afternoon for the official as the big decisions came thick and fast.
City boss Pep Guardiola and counterpart Klopp were both delighted with the performance from their teams - but the body language in the technical area also revealed huge frustration.
Victory for either man would have been a crucial psychological blow as they fight for a place in the top four but both saw their teams waste the sort of chances that could have secured what they craved.
Guardiola and Klopp were both animated in frustration in the first 45 minutes, especially at one point when they were united in mutual dissatisfaction in the technical area, the Catalan racing towards his opposite number for an exchange that concluded with a flamboyant high five.
Klopp was leaping around in frustration, threatening to throw his cap to the floor as Liverpool squandered good positions, while Guardiola almost slumped to the turf in anguish after Aguero's later miss.
City remain a point ahead of Liverpool in third with a game in hand as Klopp's side lay fourth - while the result suited Manchester United best of all as they are now four points behind the Merseysiders with two games in hand after their win at Middlesbrough.
'One of the happiest days of my career' - what the managers said
"Congratulations to Liverpool and Manchester City. It is one of the days I am proud the most.
"I have not had a long career as manager and it is one of the most special days of my life.
"The Champions League defeat was so tough for us and we recovered today with our mentality and attack, but we could not attack more because Liverpool are a top team.
"I want to stay here and help this club make a step forward and the battle to qualify for the Champions League will go until the last day.
"We played three days after going out of the Champions League. How the players suffer and fight to qualify against Barcelona, Borussia Monchengladbach, how we play in the second half against Monaco, to be out was so tough for all of us.
"The players in training did not speak. How they reacted against Liverpool means a lot."
"Our players did really well. I struggled on the final whistle to be really happy but it's a success to get a point at City and to play like this.
"It's more than OK what we did but we needed a bit more luck.
"The Sadio Mane situation - it was a red card and a penalty. In a game like this, it would've killed them.
"But maybe they could've and should've had a penalty too. 1-1 is better than nothing.
"They are too good to always defend perfectly. When we started playing football in the game, it was really difficult for them.
"Between 50 and 65 minutes we could have decided the game and we didn't.
"We can't speak today about faults and mistakes. Before the game, if someone told me I would get a point at City, I would have taken it."
• None City have gone seven consecutive games without defeat in the Premier League (W4 D3 L0), their longest streak in the competition under Guardiola.
• None Liverpool have won more points in 10 games against the top six this season (20) than they have in 10 games against the bottom six (19).
• None Milner has scored seven penalties in the league this season - only Steven Gerrard (10 in 2013-14) has scored more for Liverpool in a Premier League campaign.
• None Milner now holds the record for the most Premier League games scored in without losing (47 games: W37 D10 L0).
• None Only Gylfi Sigurdsson (11) has made more assists than De Bruyne (10) in the Premier League this season. The Belgian has assisted Aguero more times than any other player this term (3).
• None City have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their past 13 games in all competitions against Liverpool, shipping 24 in the process (W2 D5 L6).
Manchester City have another crucial period coming up after the international break which could decide their top-four status.
First they travel to the Emirates to face Arsenal on Sunday, 2 April (16:00 BST) and three days later they face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, 5 April (20:00 BST).
Liverpool's next Premier League fixture is not an easy one either - they host Everton in the Merseyside Derby on Saturday, 1 April (12:30 BST).
• None Attempt missed. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
• None Attempt missed. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne with a cross.
• None Sadio Mané (Liverpool) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt missed. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by David Silva.
• None Attempt missed. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Sadio Mané following a fast break.
• None Attempt saved. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by David Silva with a through ball.
• None David Silva (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the right wing. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39246699
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Ryan McBride: 'The bravest I've ever seen on the pitch' - BBC News
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2017-03-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Ryan McBride fulfilled a boyhood dream on his way to becoming a hero to Derry City's fans.
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Northern Ireland
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'The best centre half in Ireland': Ryan McBride achieved his dream and became a hero to Derry City's fans
When Ryan McBride was appointed captain of his hometown club Derry City in 2015, his modest reaction helps show why he was beloved by the club's fan base.
"Other footballers have dreams of going across the water and playing for Man United and Celtic," he told local newspaper the Derry Journal.
"But my dream as a boy was to play for Derry City and that came true."
On Sunday, many of those same fans gathered in shared grief at the player's home, just a kick of a ball from the club's Brandywell Stadium, after hearing of his sudden death aged 27.
Just the day before, McBride was leading the team in a 4-0 league victory against Drogheda United. Another win and clean sheet in Derry's impressive 100% start to the League of Ireland season.
That success now feels empty and void in the wake of an event that has devastated the Irish football world.
Derry City players emerge from a press conference after the death of captain Ryan McBride
The club's scheduled game against Limerick on Tuesday has been postponed, while the Football Association of Ireland has announced that Friday's World Cup qualifier against Wales in Dublin will feature a tribute to the defender.
It is the also the third tragedy in just over a year to hit Derry City.
The club's record goalscorer Mark Farren died in 2016 after being diagnosed with a brain tumour, while a year ago to the day winger Josh Daniels lost family members in the Buncrana pier tragedy.
Since his debut in 2011, McBride had not only become a mainstay of the club's defence, but an adored hero of Derry City's Red and White Army - an embodiment of the local football ideal.
He made more than 170 appearances for the club, with more than 50 as captain after he took over the role permanently two years ago.
Derry City updated their social media pages with this illustrated image of Ryan McBride
A self-professed quiet man off the pitch, McBride said things were a "different story" on it.
"I switch on and then I'm in game mode."
Derry City watchers might describe that as understated - McBride's volume on the pitch was thunderous, whether vocally organising the defence, launching into tackles or winning headers.
It wasn't just his ability that made McBride a crowd favourite, although he had no shortage of talent. "Derry City have lost the best centre half in Ireland," club legend Liam Coyle said on Monday morning.
It was the number five's fearless attitude and commitment to the club's cause that secured his place in the hearts of the Derry City faithful.
Stephen Kenny was the manager who gave McBride his debut in 2011.
"A ferociously brave player, the bravest I've ever seen on a football pitch," he told RTÉ.
"He (McBride) just launched himself into every challenge. Aggressive in the air and brave to a fault nearly, which endeared him to everybody.
"He was every fan's favourite player and a great captain of Derry City."
Ryan McBride was 21 when he made his league debut off the bench in a 1-1 draw against Bray Wanderers on 20 May 2011.
That season was an unexpected success story for Derry. After being promoted to the League of Ireland's Premier Division, they made an unlikely bid for the league title.
It was a talented team too - James McClean, now of West Brom and the Republic of Ireland, was on the wing, while Sheffield United's Danny Lafferty and Southend United's Stephen McLaughlin were also key members.
But, it was Ryan McBride who made the biggest breakthrough.
"He was playing for a Saturday morning league team, Brandywell Harps, which was a massive jump to go from there to the first team," said Kenny.
In July, his second League of Ireland start was in a crucial televised game against Shamrock Rovers.
McBride starred in Derry's 1-0 win and while their title ambitions ultimately fell short, the centre half was well on his way.
He picked up two man-of-the-match awards and signed a new two-year contract, all in the space of a few weeks.
More success followed - McBride played and won in the 2011 League Cup final and was a substitute in Derry City's FAI Cup win in 2012. He went back to the final in 2014 and played, but lost out to St Patrick's Athletic.
While the club's fortunes fluctuated, McBride continued as an ever present in the side before becoming the club's captain in 2015.
This League of Ireland season was one that had started promisingly for Derry and their captain - four wins from four games, with McBride scoring twice.
Now, it's a season left shattered by his loss.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-39330463
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Sisterlocks struggle: Stylists want fewer restrictions to braid hair - BBC News
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2017-03-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Professional hairbraiders are putting up a fight over what they say are unnecessary regulations.
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US & Canada
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In college, Tameka Stigers wore her hair in thin locks that looked so attractive, parents at her church wanted her to fashion their young daughters' hair.
"They said, 'Can you do it like yours?'" Stigers recalled. She wore her hair in Sisterlocks, hundreds of tiny locks that allow women with coarse, tightly-wound hair to wear almost any style - from ponytails to braids, curly or straight.
She enrolled in a short training course in order to master the technique of creating Sisterlocks - a trademarked technique - with nothing but her two hands, a comb and small elastic bands. She registered as a Sisterlock hair braider online and requests from other people in the St Louis area poured in.
To meet the demand, Stigers needed to move her business out of her home. That's where her hair braiding business hit its first snag.
Stigers knew that hair salons were regulated by the Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, but she wasn't sure that her business, which doesn't use any chemicals, heat or scissors, would also fall under the board's purview.
She phoned the board to ask if she would have to pay upwards of £8,189 ($10,000) and spend thousands of hours in cosmetology school in order to open up a hair braiding shop. Initially, Stigers said she was told that the regulations wouldn't apply to her.
The board later reversed its course. In mid-2014, Stigers started pursuing a lawsuit against the board after it told her that she and any other hair braiders running businesses in Missouri would need to get a full cosmetology licence, which requires courses at a registered cosmetology school - courses that Stigers said don't teach any natural or African hair braiding skills at all.
"Hair braiding is an art really," Stigers said. "It's something that if I went to cosmetology school today, I couldn't learn how to do braiding."
Stigers joined another braider, Joba Niang, in a lawsuit against the board of cosmetology and barber examiners, seeking reprieve from the regulations.
A judge ruled against Stigers in September, 2016, but her lawyers finished filing briefs to appeal the case last week, just as Stigers settled into a new, larger storefront to accommodate a growing number of customers.
Stigers didn't get a licence to braid hair, and many of her braiders lack licences, though her business partner does have a cosmetology licence to run the spa area in her new salon.
Thus far, the Missouri Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners has declined to enforce its rules while Stigers lawsuit is active, allowing Stigers and other braiders to continue working until the courts resolve the case.
If she loses, Stigers and other hair braiders will face the choice of getting the expensive cosmetology licences or closing up shop.
Women who run hair braiding salons in up to 21 states face similar regulations.
Cosmetology classes mostly focus on how to cut hair, safely dye hair, and treat hair chemically to permanently curl or straighten strands. Hair braiders don't do any of that. The small amount of training that does touch on styling typically does not go into African-style hair braiding, though a few cosmetology textbooks do nod to the techniques.
Other professional hair braiders, like Pamela Ferrell, in Washington DC have won in similar cases
The Missouri Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners does not comment on ongoing court cases, and could not discuss the regulations surrounding hair braiding. However, board members on cosmetology boards in other states have cautioned against loosening regulations because of concerns over sanitation and safety.
Jeanne Chappell, a board member on the New Hampshire Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics told the Associated Press that diseases can be passed through the tools used during braiding and that licensing would allow the board to monitor and enforce against salons that don't use safe practices.
Pamela Ferrell, owns a braiding salon in Washington, DC, and successfully fought licensing regulations. She thinks racial biases and gaps in cultural knowledge play a role in the debate.
"It's a constant attack against our hair, our beauty standards, all under the guise of occupational licensing," Ferrell said. "It's culturally disrespectful. They're using irrelevant occupational laws to put this bias on a particular group of people."
While Stigers and her attorneys wait on a judge to set a date for the oral arguments Missouri is working to pass a bill that would make the lawsuit moot by deregulating hair braiding and imposing a simple £20 ($25) fee to register the business.
Governor Eric Greitens, a Republican, specifically called out Stigers' case as "burdensome" in his January state-of-the-state address.
"We need to end frivolous regulations like these so that our people can start their own businesses and create jobs," he said.
Stigers may have found a political ally in new Missouri governor Eric Greitens
The conservative political powerhouse run by Charles and David Koch has also taken a stand against the licensing regulations as part of a £737,280,000 ($900m) campaign for a free market that encourages small business growth.
Former President Barack Obama issued a call to action to cut down on the state licensing regulations that require nearly one in four American workers to obtain an occupational licence - a huge increase from the 5% who had to get licences in 1950. His administration also allocated federal funds for states who reformed licensing regulations.
Stigers works a lot. She has to carve out time to testify in court and in front of the Missouri state legislators. She just expanded her salon to a new storefront that fits ten braiding booths and a full spa with manicure stations and a soon-to-come sauna.
When she's not braiding a client's hair, she's running to the bank, buying supplies, or discussing business with the eleven other women her business employs.
"It's a constant attack against our hair, our beauty standards, all under the guise of occupational licensing," says braider Pamela Farrell
Stigers said she hopes her lawsuit will help other women realise their dreams of opening a hair-braiding salon.
"I am excited because it's something that, the other native African hair braiders, they see me moving and expanding and they don't have to be afraid of being out in the public eye," Stigers said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39261335
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Premier League statistics: Arsenal, Mahrez, Vardy, Lukaku, Deeney - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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The Premier League's goalscoring charm revealed, Mahrez and Vardy improvement, and Lukaku breaks a 31-year Everton record - the weekend in stats.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
One Premier League defender celebrates an unusual goalscoring record, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy's vital statistics show a sharp upturn under Craig Shakespeare and could Romelu Lukaku be the new Gary Lineker?
BBC Sport takes a look at the most interesting facts and figures from the weekend.
In January, we told you Liverpool midfielder-turned-left-back James Milner had equalled the record for most games scored in without his team losing.
Well now he's out on his own.
The Yorkshireman netted his seventh penalty of the season as Liverpool drew 1-1 against his old club Manchester City on Sunday to extend his unbeaten streak of goalscoring appearances to 47 games.
The run stretches back to the start of his career at Leeds in 2002-03, followed by moves to Newcastle, Aston Villa, City and Liverpool.
Leicester have won all four games since Craig Shakespeare took charge as manager following the sacking of Claudio Ranieri, and much of it owes to the improvement of key players Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy.
PFA Player of the Year Mahrez has contributed two goals and one assist under the new boss, having provided just five goals and three assists in his 32 previous games in all competitions.
The average number of chances created by the Algerian is also up from 1.62 to 1.86, while he is attempting more dribbles per game (7.43) than under the Italian (6.19).
England striker Vardy, who scored 24 league goals last season, has played the same number of games as his team-mate but has performed even better under Shakespeare.
Vardy has scored three times and provided two assists in his past four games. Under Ranieri this season, he scored four times in 32 games and had not contributed any assists.
The chances created by the former non-league striker are up from 0.92 to 1.56 per game, the number of touches in the opposition penalty area have increased from 3.88 to 7.02 and dribbles attempted have gone from 1.79 to 3.12.
Those Atletico Madrid defenders will be quaking in their boots come the Champions League quarter-finals.
Skipper Wes Morgan played every single minute last season as the Foxes claimed a sensational Premier League title triumph.
Although this league campaign has not quite gone to plan, the Jamaican defender has remained a mainstay in the side... until Saturday.
Morgan's 87-game top-flight run ended after a back injury kept him out of the win over West Ham. Impressive, you may think, but it is nowhere near the record for an outfield player.
That accolade goes to recently retired midfielder Frank Lampard, who appeared in 164 games in a row for Chelsea from October 2001 to December 2005.
Not bad, but former goalkeeper Brad Friedel takes the crown for most games played in a row in the Premier League.
The American began his run for Blackburn in 2004, going on to play an astonishing 310 consecutive games for Rovers and Aston Villa, before his run ended at Tottenham in 2012.
Now that will take some beating.
Most consecutive games played in the Premier League
If you have more of the ball, the opposition have less chance of scoring.
Arsenal's tumultuous season hit a new low on Saturday when they were beaten 3-1 by West Brom at The Hawthorns, despite holding 76.86% possession in the fixture.
The Gunners made 750 passes, compared to the opposition's 219, yet still went home with nothing. #WengerIn or #WengerOut, Arsenal fans can't decide whether they want the Frenchman as manager or not.
This will make them feel a little better...
Earlier this season, Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool side went to Turf Moor and dominated a match in which they had 80.38% possession and 26 shots. The final result? Burnley scored with both of their shots on target to claim victory.
On the other hand, Crystal Palace beat Watford on Saturday without having a single shot on target. Troy Deeney's own goal gave Sam Allardyce's side a 1-0 victory.
Since the 2003-04 season, the Eagles became only the fourth side - after Middlesbrough's victory over Manchester City (November 2003), Sunderland beating West Brom (January 2006) and Watford's win over Hull (October 2016) - to win a top-flight game without a shot on target.
There's something in the Merseyside water
Romelu Lukaku's two goals in Everton's 4-0 thrashing of Hull on Saturday allowed him to become the first Toffees player to score 20+ league goals in a season since Gary Lineker in 1985-86, when the Englishman scored 30.
The Belgian's tally stands at 21 - the highest in the league - so he has nine games remaining to overtake the Match of the Day presenter's haul.
Lukaku also became the first foreign player to score 80 or more goals in the Premier League before turning 24. Former Liverpool strikers Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler, as well as ex-Everton frontman Wayne Rooney, also achieved the feat.
The offer of a new £140,000-a-week contract has not been enough to tempt Lukaku to remain at Goodison Park, but the deal remains on the table.
They may want to double the money to get him to stay.
The East Midlands, signposted: 'Managers enter at your peril.'
Saturday's Championship game between Nottingham Forest and Derby - which ended 2-2 - was the fifth successive match between the sides with both teams being led by different managers.
It was the fifth successive match between the two sides with BOTH teams being led by different managers.
So that's 10 new managers for two teams across five fixtures.
Take a look at the most recent meetings:
Who will be in the two hot seats next season?
• None Head here to read five things you may have missed from the EFL
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39318111
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Jocky Wilson: Darts champion celebrated in new play - BBC News
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2017-03-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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In the days when darts players chain-smoked and drank pints of lager between trips to the oche, Jocky Wilson was one of Scotland's most unlikely sporting heroes.
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Scotland
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Jocky Wilson prepares to throw a dart during the British Open in 1984
In the days when darts players chain-smoked and drank pints of lager between trips to the oche, Jocky Wilson was one of Scotland's most unlikely sporting heroes.
Wilson, from Kirkcaldy in Fife, only turned professional at the age of 29, after winning £500 in a tournament at Butlins holiday camp in Ayr.
The tiny, overweight Scot with the distinctive throwing action and toothless grin quickly became a household name as darts gained massive popularity on terrestrial TV in the UK.
He was world champion twice, in 1982 and 1989, but walked away from darts in the mid-90s when he was diagnosed with diabetes and his drinking began to catch up with him.
He lived his final years as a virtual recluse on disability benefits in a council flat in Kirkcaldy.
Wilson died five years ago, at the age of 62, and there were tributes from many who had played against him, including his great rival Eric Bristow, "the Crafty Cockney", whom he beat in the 1989 final.
Wilson's story is now the subject of a new play by sister and brother team Jane Livingstone and Jonathan Cairney.
Livingstone said his rise and fall meant that some people saw him as a great Scottish hero but others were a little embarrassed by him.
"He's a great Scottish character and he's also from Fife, as are we, and we saw this as a great opportunity to get a Fife character on the stage," she said.
"He's someone we were always aware of and impressed by his achievements."
Floral tributes outside Kirkcaldy crematorium following Jocky's funeral in April 2012
Cairney says the play, which will be performed at Oran Mor in Glasgow, is "imagined" but it is based on a real-life incident early in his career.
"One story we really picked up on was when he was over in America for an exhibition match," said Cairney. "[He] missed his lift to get to the next destination and he ended up trying to hitchhike 400 miles across the Nevada desert.
"We thought that would be an ideal setting to place him in that difficult situation and see how he reacts to it.
"He's such a warm character, people root for him. He's the classic underdog."
It's true that Wilson defied the odds to become world champion.
Jocky Wilson was world champion twice but gave up darts in 1995
John Thomas Wilson spent years in an orphanage after being rejected by his parents and joined the Army at a young age.
Despite working as a coal delivery man, a fish processor and a miner, he struggled for money and was unemployed when he decided to try his hand at darts professionally.
Within three years he was world champion and a folk hero.
His gestures to the crowd, face-pulling and pint-swilling made him one of the most recognised personalities in sport.
His picture even ended up on Top of the Pops behind Dexys Midnight Runners when they sang Jackie Wilson Said, a song about the famous soul singer.
Kevin Rowland from the band later claimed that he had put the picture up as a joke because their names sounded so similar, but there was no doubt that most of the audience in 1982 would have known who the darts player was.
Actor Grant O'Rourke, who plays Wilson in the production, says the man had "an unbelievable will to win".
"He had an amazing amount of determination to succeed and become world champion."
The actor confesses to not being good at darts but gets away with it in the play because not a single arrow is thrown.
However, O'Rourke says he watched lots of videos of Wilson to give him an idea of the way he held himself and moved.
He says: "It has given me a new respect for darts. To be able to throw a dart from 8ft away into a target that is about a centimetre wide, often with thousands of pounds hanging on one throw, the pressure is incredible."
Another Scottish darts world champion, Gary Anderson, told BBC Scotland he was "disappointed" that he never met Jocky.
"I think he finished just as I started in the BDO but I've heard plenty of stories about him," he said.
Despite being 20 years younger than Wilson, Anderson, from Eyemouth in the Borders, says they share a similar "working class" approach to the sport.
"I'm probably still like what Jocky was. I still like a good laugh and a bit of carry-on but some of the youngsters now are darts and darts-only."
Anderson, who won the PDC world championship in 2015 and 2016, says that despite the huge crowds that watch darts now the characters of the past are hard to shift from the public's mind.
"You meet anyone now and talk about Scottish darts players and Jocky Wilson is always the first name they come out with."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-39293870
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Doping in sport: Drug use 'fast becoming a crisis' - Nicole Sapstead - BBC Sport
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2017-03-20
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UK Anti-Doping says drug use in sport is "fast becoming a crisis" in response to a poll for BBC Sport into doping in amateur sport.
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Last updated on .From the section Sport
Drug use at every level of sport is "fast becoming a crisis" according to UK Anti-Doping - responding to a BBC poll into doping in amateur sport.
It found more than a third (35%) of amateur sports people say they personally know someone who has doped, and 8% said they had taken steroids.
Half believe performance enhancing substance use is "widespread" among those who play sport competitively.
Ukad chief Nicole Sapstead described the figures as "incredibly alarming".
A BBC State of Sport investigation into doping in UK amateur sport also found that 49% thought performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) were "easily available" among people who play sports regularly.
What do the statistics say?
According to figures from UK Anti-Doping (Ukad), the national body responsible for protecting clean sport, there are currently 52 athletes and coaches serving bans.
Of these, only 12% are professional sports men or women; 62% are amateurs, 21% are semi-professional, and 5% are coaches.
Of the 186 sanctions handed out across 22 separate sports by Ukad since it formed in 2009, 46% have been rugby union or league players - mainly at amateur and semi-professional levels.
What does the poll tell us?
Reacting to the ComRes poll for BBC Sport of more than 1,000 men and women who are members of sports clubs and teams, Sapstead said: "Certainly the figures as regards the prevalence of performance-enhancing substances at an amateur level are incredibly alarming.
"That said, it does confirm what UK Anti-Doping has long suspected and also seen through some of our intelligence-led testing.
"I don't think any sport can say that they don't have a problem at an amateur level.
"I think now is the time for everybody to sit up and acknowledge that this is a reality in every single sport and that you can't just be washing your hands of it or hoping that someone else will address it."
• None Ukad needs an extension of powers and extra cash from individual sports governing bodies to "address what is fast becoming a crisis for sport".
• None There is a "woeful lack of education" at amateur level about the health risks of doping.
• None There is a "robust" anti-doping programme in the UK, but it faces "challenges".
• None Ukad works with police forces to target suppliers of drugs to amateur dopers.
Of the 79 people interviewed who had specifically taken anabolic steroids, 41% said improving performance was the main reason for taking them, followed by pain relief (40%) and improving how they look (34%).
However, when this is widened out to include those who admitted taking other performance-enhancing substances, boosting results was no longer the primary reason.
Only 25% of users overall claim they have taken substances with the intention of improving performance.
Over half say they were primarily used for pain relief, while 17% say they were used to improve looks.
"I think there are clearly a group of individuals seeking to enhance their performance by taking prohibited substances," said Sapstead, "and then there are others who were taking these substances because they have a body image problem, or actually because they think it's the done thing."
Younger people are the main users of anabolic steroids in amateur sport, according to the poll for BBC Sport.
Among sports club members aged 18-34, 13% say they have taken steroids to support performance or recovery while playing. Not one interviewee aged 55 or over said they had used anabolic steroids.
However, users aged between 35 and 54 are significantly more likely than those aged 18-34 to say pain relief is among the main reasons they have used steroids or other sports supplements.
But there is hardly any difference in gender, with 9% of men admitted taking steroids, compared with 8% of women.
And 71% of all those polled said they would not know where to get hold of anabolic steroids.
Using steroids for image reasons is a "worrying" problem among young people in Wales, according to the nation's social services and public health minister Rebecca Evans, who said in January: "It's not just a problem in sport - it is a wider societal issue."
More than 50 types of anabolic steroids are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), the independent body responsible for the list of substances prohibited in sport. The possession of steroids, which are class C drugs, is not illegal under UK law as long as they are only for personal use. It is illegal, however, to supply them to other people.
What else are people taking?
According to the poll, a wide range of substances - both legal and illegal - are taken by amateur sports men and women to support their performance or recovery.
Performance-enhancing substances can also include recreational drugs and prescribed medications:
• None 26% of amateur sports people say they have taken prescribed medications such as cortisone injections or asthma inhalers.
• None 14% say they have taken recreational drugs such as cocaine, MDMA or cannabis.
• None 8% say they have taken anabolic steroids such as nandrolone, testosterone or HGH.
We also asked people about other substances they consumed while playing sport, including: energy drinks (68% had), pain-relief gels (60%), over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicines (59%) and protein shakes (46%).
Former amateur cyclist Dan Stevens was banned after refusing a test in 2014. He turned whistleblower but labelled Ukad's handling of his information "a catastrophic failure".
Responding to the BBC Sport poll, Stevens, 41, said: "I think it is widespread in all ranks. I think it is widespread in celebrity, I think it is widespread in the beauty industry; I think it is certainly widespread in the sports industry.
"I also think it is just a way of modern day life - we are living in a pharmacised world."
Stevens said he took thyroxine and testosterone on prescription, and EPO out of "curiosity".
"I'd always been a clean athlete and this situation happened to me when I was 39 years old. That was enough to see a huge, huge gain.
"But the real thing for me wasn't really about racing - I didn't do a lot of racing on these substances. The main thing was curiosity.
"I don't think in the amateur ranks it is about winning. You've got a situation where someone is overweight, a little bit fat, need to lean down, get in shape. And they get in shape.
"They then get railroaded into doing a marathon or a long bike ride or some kind of competitive event and they improve their fitness levels again and they become a healthier individual and become more body conscious and more health-orientated."
Which sports are most affected?
What is the 'gateway hypothesis'?
More than a third of people (36%) who report consuming recreational drugs to support their performance while playing amateur sport have also taken steroids.
Dr Lambros Lazuras, an assistant professor of social psychology at Sheffield Hallam University who studies doping behaviour, told BBC Sport that there is a "pill-taking culture" in amateur sport and general society, which can act as a "gateway" to stronger substances.
"There are people who engage in stacking practices, using as many as 10 substances at the same time," he explained. "For these people, it's not what they use anymore, it's what they want to achieve."
So what are the health risks?
"The use of steroids, for example, has been associated with problems like heart disease, kidney failure and even sudden death," said Dr Lazuras. "You're not just cheating, you're putting your life at risk.
"This is an emerging public health issue," claimed Dr Lazuras. "You're using substances that are meant to treat diseases, and you're actually misusing them without any prescription.
"We push people into exercise because we want to promote the health benefits. We forget that people in most exercise settings might consider using substances.
"This is actually the dark side of exercise. You don't care about your health anymore. You care about your performance and how you look to other people - or yourself."
Case study two: 'You have to dope to be a good weightlifter'
A British weightlifter who has served a doping ban told BBC Sport steroid abuse is rife at all levels in his sport and that the culture starts at amateur level.
"It begins in the gym," the weightlifter, who wishes to remain anonymous, said. "In weightlifting it gets to the point where you're not growing anymore. You can train, train, train and not get anywhere.
"Every weightlifter will take steroids. Some of them are taking light stuff and some of them are really heavily using steroids - it all depends how much money you have.
"Is it easy to buy bread in the shop? That's how easy it is to get steroids in the UK.
"If you're not taking steroids, basically you're nowhere in the competition, you're not going to get anywhere really.
"I'm really proud of how they fight steroids in England. But the problem is, why are England losing? England won't cheat.
"I've been caught because I didn't think that somebody would come to my house. I left taking steroids one month before competition and I never ever thought somebody would come to my house and test."
"I can't do something that I really love. Only because I've been cheating with steroids, come on. It's like I killed somebody. I'm not even an Olympic sportsman."
Lewis Conlin, 32, a publisher from Buckinghamshire, used a supplement containing the banned substance DMAA when he started weight-training in his early 20s.
DMAA is an amphetamine-derived substance banned from sale in the UK and named on Wada's prohibited list.
It has been linked with high blood pressure, tightening of the chest, stroke, heart attacks and even death, according to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
"In terms of the energy and focus that I got, it was the best pre-workout supplement I'd ever had," Conlin, who was weight-training four or five days per week with friends, told BBC Sport.
"You felt invincible, you felt you could do anything, you were just completely zoned out. You'd stare at a weight and go and lift it. That was great. Afterwards wasn't so great.
"About three hours later you would have a crash and you'd have a real comedown. I'd be depressed and I'd be ratty, happy just to keep myself in isolation and then later on that day I was getting chest pains.
"I would have trouble sleeping and would have heart palpitations - but that didn't actually stop me from taking it the next day. The training I was doing was so high and so intense I just wanted to have that every day.
"Had I known at the time exactly what DMAA did to your blood pressure and your heart rate then there is no way I would have carried on taking it."
Should there be more testing in amateur sport?
More drug testing among amateur sports people is a "waste of time", according to one amateur cyclist who received a two-year ban for missing a post-race drugs test.
It would cost too much money and detract from focusing on drug use in the professional ranks, he added.
"I don't see the point at all," said the Briton, who asked to remain anonymous.
"What effect is it going to have on anything, unless it is something like a national championship where people can move on in the professional ranks and actually earn a living from it? It is a problem then because you're actually affecting people's lives.
In my opinion more testing would be just a waste of time at low level sport
"How far do you go - do you want to test people for doing a fun run? It's up to them if they want to do whatever they want to do, in my opinion," he said.
"If you want to catch someone then catch the right people - like the people that win the Tour de France and get away with it.
"But then that's too much politics and money involved. They would rather get someone that doesn't mean anything because it is easy."
How much does testing cost?
Ukad has an annual budget of around £7m, mainly state funding. A single drug test costs around £350.
Ukad directs the vast majority of its testing to elite sport, with Sapstead saying: "I would love to able to address the issues that we see at an amateur level, but the reality is we just don't have the resources to do that.
"I strongly believe a further investment needs to be paid from sport, whether that's from a levy on ticket sales - some contribution into a greater integrity pot of money, that's distributed not just to anti-doping, but anti-corruption bodies.
"Someone somewhere needs to put their hand in their pocket and their money where their mouth is, and start to help pay for us to do this job, and do it as effectively and efficiently as possible.
"Cheating impacts against the people you are competing against. So it doesn't matter if you're an Olympian, or a Paralympian, and it doesn't matter if you don your trainers at a weekend for a fun run.
"Actually, you're competing, and therefore it absolutely matters that everyone is toeing the line and playing a fair game."
How the poll was done
BBC Sport - using ComRes to conduct the poll - interviewed 1,025 British adults, who are members of sports clubs, teams or gyms, online, between 27 and 31 January 2017. The data was drawn from a nationally representative sample of British adults aged 18 or over and the full tables are available here.
All sports played by those interviewed are regulated by UK Anti-Doping, apart from gyms.
Have you ever taken a performance enhancing substance? Does your sport have a problem with doping? Get in touch using this link.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/38884801
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Could Brexit mean a referendum in Northern Ireland? - BBC News
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2017-03-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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How the UK's withdrawal from the EU is already raising big questions in Northern Ireland.
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N. Ireland Politics
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On the Falls Road, heart of Republican Belfast. there's a new sense of purpose. Sinn Fein pulled the plug on Stormont, did well in the elections and are now, like the Scottish government, demanding a referendum on their future destiny.
Brexit - rejected by 55.8% of voters in Northern Ireland - is seen as just the latest imposition by England.
It has given a new momentum to their whole reason for existing: the belief the island of Ireland should be one country.
Everywhere down the Falls there are reminders of those who killed and died for a united Ireland: here a mural of a young man with a rifle, there a huge sepia portrait celebrating the provisional Irish government set up in 1922.
But there are new signs too, lots of them. Sinn Fein's latest posters say West Belfast stands against Brexit.
The referendum has changed politics here, as all over the UK, even on party night.
The West is gyrating in a sea of joyous green on St Patrick's Day. The social club on the Falls Road in Belfast is packed full of people dancing and drinking.
Theresa May has said the time is not right for a poll on Northern Ireland's border
Some merely wear a token green T-shirt or badge, but several women are in elaborate emerald dress, men in bowlers or stetsons of the appropriate shade: any culture you like as long as its Irish. Inevitably one man is dressed as that most emerald of animals, a crocodile.
Here even the plush is political. It's the greatest day of the year, says one woman: about Irishness, about all of Ireland. Does she feel British at all, I ask .
"Not at all, definitely Irish."
British as well as Irish? I ask another reveller.
And another tells me: "Irish 100%."
What Mrs May calls the UK, the "precious union of nations… the most successful the world has ever known", is seen very differently here.
They are in no doubt about Brexit, either - they are against it, unless you mean exiting from Britain, casting off what they see as the last shackles of the English Empire.
There are concerns on both sides of the border over the possible effects of Brexit
"We're not the UK, we're Ireland. We should have the right to vote. Theresa May is a fascist," one man tells me.
They fear a return to a real border between the Republic and Northern Ireland.
"Borders! Nobody wants 'em. We're nationalists here. Loyalist don't want it. Business people don't want it."
Hence the renewed demand for an all-Ireland referendum is being made by Sinn Féin as they look to exploit their success in the recent elections.
You can believe they pulled out of Stormont in a row over an obscure environmental scheme if you want. But the real story is deeper. Martin McGuinness resigned as deputy first minister over the handling of the botched energy scheme that could cost £490m. But others forces were also in play.
Sinn Fein activists were increasingly feeling they got little out of devolution, that their partners in government, the DUP, were treating them without respect. So they brought the whole thing crashing down.
If they do not do a post-election deal in the coming weeks then there will have to be new elections or London will take over: that's called "direct rule". The prime minister appears to have ruled that out.
The negotiations are a poker game but Sinn Fein has little to lose by blinking first. Their supporters want real movement on issues dear to their hearts, and a re-run of the election might see them increase their vote.
DUP's Nelson McCausland says Brexit "puts a stop" to the promotion of cross-border harmonisation via the EU
The real thorny issues are old ones, about the role of the Irish language and what are known euphemistically as "legacy issues'': whether people should face criminal prosecution for what they did during the Troubles.
The DUP's Nelson McCausland, who lost his assembly seat at the recent election, say this is not an opportunity for Sinn Fein, but a full stop.
"There has been over a number of years within Sinn Fein a concern they had not delivered on their united Ireland dream. What they have used over the years is the European Union and European harmonisation to promote the idea that we are being harmonised with the Republic. Brexit puts a stop to that."
Unionists hardly need to argue against the call for a referendum. The British secretary of state only needs to agree to one if, in the words of the act "it appears likely to him that a majority of those voting" want a united Ireland. Pretty hazy. And not a single opinion poll or commentator suggests there is that majority.
But the next day I return to the Falls and find a different picture at a language school from the hard line espoused by some of those at the West social club. Five people and their teacher sit around the table practising their Irish conversation. Among them, Linda Ervine who's been learning the language for six years.
"Because I am from the Protestant community I never had the opportunity to engage with the language and I fell in love with it."
She says there are many links with her own heritage. "We've been very separate, British identity, Irish identity but in the last few years a Northern Irish identity is coming through more and more. For me I see myself as Irish and British, I don't see that as a contradiction."
And there's the flood of people - including many Unionists and Protestants - applying for Irish passports in the wake of Brexit. The Belfast Newsletter newspaper's Sam McBride sees big changes under way.
"Unionism is facing a crisis at the moment, a seismic change.," he said. "The fundamental question is that there is a significant number of Catholics who support the union with the United Kingdom - why are they not voting for unionist parties? I think the answer is the trappings of Orangism and Protestantism put those people off."
There are straws in the wind across the border too. The cabinet in Dublin decided that eventually all Irish passport holders, including in the North, will be able to vote in presidential elections. The opposition party Fianna Fail is preparing is own white paper on plans for a united Ireland.
But Republican commentator Chris Donnelly, like most observers on both sides of the divide, thinks there will not be a referendum, and it couldn't be won because many from that tradition feel more economically secure in the North.
"I think Sinn Fein know in their heart of hearts they are 20, 25 years away from when a border poll could actually have a credible chance of being won. It's an example of "Hail Mary" politics. It's a lottery move, its not going to happen but it is keeping the issue alive at the centre of political discussions."
While we all get used to all new politics of identity, it has been the language of debate in Northern Ireland for centuries.
Brexit has muddied the political waters. And a new political space may be up for grabs.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-39328073
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Germany 1-0 England - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Lukas Podolski's stunning long-range effort helps Germany beat England in an international friendly in Dortmund.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Gareth Southgate suffered his first defeat in charge of England as Lukas Podolski's spectacular second-half winner provided a fitting farewell to his Germany career in Dortmund.
Southgate had been undefeated in four games as interim manager following Sam Allardyce's abrupt departure from the England post after one match - and he will feel this loss in his first match in permanent control was harsh on his side after a creditable performance against the World Cup holders.
Adam Lallana struck a post and Dele Alli saw a shot blocked at point-blank range by Germany keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the first half as England were superior for spells.
It was almost inevitable, however, that former Arsenal striker Podolski, given a hero's reception before, during and after the game, made the decisive contribution with a rising left-foot drive from outside the area after 69 minutes that gave England keeper Joe Hart no chance.
Germany's reshaped side had the same experimental appearance as England's but there was still plenty to satisfy manager Southgate in a losing cause.
The result will hurt because for a large portion of this game England were the more creative, threatening and energetic side.
Southgate, though, will reflect on a three-man defensive system that worked effectively - although it was not put to the test too often by a Germany team who rarely went through the gears.
Burnley's Michael Keane made an assured debut, almost scoring in the opening minutes, and while the attacking system occasionally left Jamie Vardy isolated it did allow Alli and Lallana to flourish and advance into dangerous positions.
England looked effective in possession and nothing that happened here will damage the confidence Southgate is looking to rebuild and put in place after his appointment as permanent successor to Allardyce.
It was a qualified satisfaction because this was nowhere near a full-strength or full throttle Germany.
But Southgate will still have plenty of plus points to take forward into Sunday's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley.
Alli shows his class - with one regret
Dele Alli gave a man-of-the-match performance when England beat Germany in a friendly in Berlin almost a year ago and this was another display that will have impressed the knowledgeable observers here at Signal Iduna Park.
Alli showed some sublime touches in a system that suited him and brought the best out of his natural creative instincts, making chances and also acting as a goal threat as Southgate looks to find the new way forward for England.
He had been the game's best performer before he was replaced by Jesse Lingard with 20 minutes left - but he will have departed with one major regret from what was an otherwise excellent night's work.
Alli was guilty of missing that great opportunity in the first half when he was played in by Vardy, who had earlier had a penalty appeal turned down.
Alli only had Ter Stegen to beat but shot straight at the German keeper with a surprisingly poor finish for someone of his calibre.
It was a blemish on his efforts - but not enough to disguise the great talent that is at Southgate's disposal.
This friendly international carried the air of a testimonial for long periods - and in many ways it was as Germany striker Podolski bade farewell to the international stage.
The 31-year-old striker was ending his career after 130 caps, 49 goals and a World Cup win in 2014, a goodbye said in some style even apart from his spectacular final goal.
Podolski was given a presentation and delivered a speech that delayed the kick-off by several minutes while Germany fans unveiled a celebratory mosaic to a hugely popular figure in this country.
It may well have accounted for the flat atmosphere in the first half and a German performance to match on a night that almost seemed more about paying tribute to one of their great sporting servants than learning lessons from playing England.
The match-winner exited the stage a few minutes before the end, accompanied by a standing ovation and dramatic music. This was a night dedicated to him.
England manager Gareth Southgate on BBC Radio 5 live: "We have to reflect on a very good performance - a new system that I felt worked well and allowed us to control possession of game but also create chances.
"They've scored a fairytale goal, but I've got to be proud of what the players have done.
"I thought we were the better side up until their winning goal. That was a good learning experience for our young players who made their debuts.
"All that was missing was the finish to get the winning goal I felt we deserved."
Germany goalscorer Lukas Podolski: "It was like in a movie, dear god gave me a strong left foot and I used it tonight.
"It was a great game, a great result and a great way to say goodbye. That gave me goosebumps to get a reception like that."
Germany manager Joachim Low: "It was noticeable that England were playing more intensely, much more vigorously in the tackle especially in the first half.
"It took us a while to get used to this and slowly but surely I think our players got used to our rhythm.
"I think it was a very good game in the end. It was good to play against opponents that really gave us a run for our money."
Both countries return to their World Cup qualifying campaigns on Sunday, when England host Lithuania and Germany are away to Azerbaijan.
• None Offside, Germany. Mats Hummels tries a through ball, but André Schürrle is caught offside.
• None Attempt blocked. Leroy Sané (Germany) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Emre Can.
• None Attempt missed. Mats Hummels (Germany) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Toni Kroos with a cross following a corner.
• None Attempt blocked. André Schürrle (Germany) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jonas Hector with a cross.
• None Attempt saved. Thomas Müller (Germany) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Leroy Sané.
• None Offside, Germany. Thomas Müller 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/39275693
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Jamie Vardy: Leicester striker 'had death threats' over Claudio Ranieri's sacking - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Leicester striker Jamie Vardy says he has had death threats and his family have been targeted after Claudio Ranieri's sacking.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Leicester striker Jamie Vardy says he has received death threats and his family have been targeted since Claudio Ranieri was sacked as manager.
The 30-year-old blamed "hurtful" and "false" accusations he influenced the club's decision to sack the Italian.
Ranieri left in February, nine months after winning the Premier League, with the club 17th in the table. His successor, Craig Shakespeare, later denied reports of a player revolt.
"It is terrifying," Vardy said.
"I read one story that said I was personally involved in a meeting after the Sevilla game when I was actually sat in anti-doping for three hours.
"But then the story is out there, people pick it up and jump on it and you're getting death threats about your family, kids, everything."
Vardy said he was able to "get on with it" but added: "When people are trying to cut your missus up while she's driving, with the kids in the back of the car, it's not the best."
Vardy is in Dortmund with the England squad as they prepare to face Germany on Wednesday in a friendly.
His international manager Gareth Southgate said he understood why the striker had chosen to discuss the matter publicly.
"It's a very serious subject, we're very supportive of him and I know the club are," said the England boss.
"The authorities are well aware of what's going on. There's no problem with his focus on the game."
BBC Sport understands some Leicester players were summoned to meet the club's chairman after a 2-1 Champions League defeat by Sevilla, and Ranieri's fate was sealed by the negative reaction.
With Shakespeare in charge - first as caretaker and later on a deal until the end of the season - the Foxes have won four successive matches, moving up to 15th, six points above the relegation zone.
That run includes a 2-0 victory in their last-16 second leg with Sevilla which leaves them as England's only representative in the quarter-finals.
"If there was an issue, you went and did it in the gaffer's office or you went and did it on the tactics board, because he was happy for you to come in and put your opinion across," Vardy added of Ranieri's time in charge.
"The stories were quite hurtful to be honest with you. A lot of false accusations were being thrown out there and there was nothing we, as players, could do about it.
"We just had to put it to the back of our minds and concentrate on the football."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39334196
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Bastian Schweinsteiger: Man Utd allow midfielder to join Chicago Fire - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Manchester United agree to let German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger join MLS side Chicago Fire.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester United have agreed to let midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger join MLS side Chicago Fire.
A deal between the clubs was agreed on Monday and is subject to a medical and visa being secured.
The former Germany captain, 32, has signed a one-year contract with an option for a further year.
"I am sad to leave so many friends at Manchester United," he said. "But I am grateful to the club for allowing me the chance to take up this challenge."
He added: "I have enjoyed working with the manager, players and staff but I have to reserve special thanks to the fans. I will always remember their energy and their passion."
Schweinsteiger, who led Germany to World Cup victory in 2014, had talks with Chicago Fire last year but opted to stay at United beyond the end of the January window.
However, Fire requested the midfielder join them now and, as Schweinsteiger was unlikely to play any significant part at United for the remainder of the season, the Old Trafford club have sanctioned his exit.
Last week, he trained with some junior members of the United squad while the remainder prepared for their Europa League game against FC Rostov.
"We would have preferred it to happen in January but United were understandably reluctant to let him leave. I think we wore them down with our persistence," said Chicago Fire general manager Nelson Rodriguez.
"Bastian Schweinsteiger is a great player with great vision and a phenomenal soccer IQ. He doesn't have the same physical attributes as he had as a teenager but people should be wary not to underestimate the heart of a champion," he added.
Schweinsteiger, who was signed by the Old Trafford club under former boss Louis van Gaal in July 2015, trained alone or with the Under-23 side at United after Jose Mourinho took over as manager last summer.
He returned to the first-team set-up before a Europa League game against Fenerbahce in November and played his first game for the club this season in an EFL Cup win over West Ham on 30 November.
However, he has made just three further appearances for the club - scoring one goal - with his last outing coming as a substitute against Saint-Etienne in the Europa League on 22 February.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39336934
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Phil Jones: Man Utd defender awaiting scans on toe injury - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Manchester United's Phil Jones is waiting to discover the seriousness of the toe injury that has forced him out of the England squad.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester United face an anxious wait to discover the seriousness of the toe injury that has forced Phil Jones out of the England squad.
The defender did not travel to Dortmund for Wednesday's friendly with Germany, instead going for scans and X-rays.
Jones, 25, was injured in an innocuous training ground tackle at St George's Park, with reports claiming it involved United team-mate Chris Smalling.
England manager Gareth Southgate did not reveal whether that was the case.
If the injury turns out to be a break and keeps Jones on the sidelines for a lengthy spell, it will cause a selection concern for United manager Jose Mourinho as they prepare for nine games in April.
Southgate said: "I don't know who it was with. It was just a nothing sort of thing really. It is very unfortunate for him and a huge disappointment as he has been playing very well and has had some injury difficulties in the past.
"We have respectfully sent him back to his club and we will know more once he has had scans and x-rays over the next 24-48 hours."
Southgate has no plans to call up a replacement as yet, but will "assess his options" after Wednesday's friendly in Germany, the FA said.
England play a World Cup qualifier at home to Lithuania on Sunday, for which Chelsea's Gary Cahill is suspended.
Southgate's other options at centre-back are Smalling, Manchester City's John Stones and Burnley's uncapped Michael Keane.
On Sunday, West Ham winger Michail Antonio withdrew from the England squad with a hamstring injury.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39344239
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British & Irish Lions: England's Eddie Jones suggests four-man plan for Lions captaincy - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Eddie Jones says the British and Irish Lions should name four captains - one from each of their four national teams.
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Eddie Jones says the British and Irish Lions should name four captains for the tour of New Zealand - one from each of their four national teams.
Lions head coach Warren Gatland has said "half-a-dozen players are in contention" to lead his squad.
England's Dylan Hartley, Ireland's Rory Best, Wales' Alun Wyn Jones and Greig Laidlaw of Scotland are among those.
"I would take those four captains and make that the leadership group," England coach Jones said.
"Then after the warm-up games, whoever was the leading player I would make captain for the first Test," added the Australian, speaking at ESPN's Advertising Week Europe business event in London.
"You look at the last Lions tour and Sam Warburton captained the first two and Alun Wyn Jones captained the third, so I think you can separate it.
"It would be different but I would reckon you would get a great result, with those four captains running the team for you and making sure they set the standards on and off the field."
New Zealander Gatland will name his squad on 19 April, and on Sunday said whoever is picked as captain would not be guaranteed to play.
"When you are looking at a captain, you want to be reasonably confident he is going to be starting in the Tests. But it is not a guarantee, it is just part of the criteria," he told BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek programme.
"Whoever that person is has to rise to that; the message is it's a great honour to captain the Lions but your form has to be good enough to be selected for the Tests."
• None Get all the latest rugby union news by adding
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39347452
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State of Sport: PSG launch League of Legends esports team - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Meet Paris St-Germain's League of Legends team, who are representing the club in the fast emerging world of esports.
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With esports - organised, competitive computer gaming - predicted to become a £1bn industry by 2020, traditional sports clubs are looking to get involved in this fast-emerging world.
As part of a BBC State of Sport week examining different topics and issues across sport, meet Paris St-Germain's League of Legends team, who are representing the club in online tournaments.
They live in Berlin, practise 14 hours a day and prepare like professional sportsmen.
READ MORE: Esports 'to double audience by 2020'.
READ MORE: What is esports?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/39331794
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UK Athletics Para-athletes classification 'could be abused' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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The classification system for GB track and field Para-athletes "could be abused", according to a UK Athletics review.
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Last updated on .From the section Disability Sport
The classification system for British track and field Para-athletes "could be abused" and is "open to exploitation", according to a UK Athletics review.
The review found a "wide consensus" among those with experience of the system that rules could be exploited, also identifying methods of doing so.
It follows claims before the Rio 2016 Paralympics that classifications could be manipulated to boost medal chances.
Yet, there is "no substantive evidence" to suggest widespread cheating.
A four-person panel, chaired by Paralympic wheelchair racer Anne Wafula Strike, conducted the review between November and February, with its findings revealed on Tuesday.
It concluded the system could be abused, "should an athlete or support personnel be sufficiently motivated, have an understanding of the classification process and have an impairment that lends itself to exaggeration."
The classification system puts athletes into groups depending on the level of their impairment to try to ensure fair competition.
However, the UKA review found various methods of undermining those rules, including:
• None Athletes with neurological conditions arriving at classification evaluations tired in order to perform poorly
• None Athletes altering medical forms and/or supporting evidence before submitting them to UKA
• None Athletes presenting medical reports from doctors who are sympathetic to the athlete
Employing such methods could allow an athlete to exaggerate their level of disability and gain an unfair advantage, potentially increasing their chances of medals.
Baroness Grey-Thompson, an 11-time Paralympic champion, has previously raised concerns over athletes abusing the system, adding the issue "goes to the heart of the integrity of the sport".
British sprinter Bethany Woodward, who has cerebral palsy and was not selected for Rio, gave an interview before the Games saying she had lost faith in the way the team was selected.
As part of the review, 26 individuals with experience of the classification system were invited to interviews - 20 of whom accepted - including current and former athletes, coaches and support staff, some of whom had also previously expressed issues with the system.
The findings also drew on other expertise, as well as that of the panel members Wafula Strike, Professor John Brewer of St Mary's University, Iain Gowans of the British Paralympic Association and Peter Taylor of the UKA board.
The report also highlighted difficulties in detecting classification abuses from performances alone, with Para-athletics a "young sport" where records are "broken frequently, sometimes by large margins," while systems of classification are also still developing.
Yet it also warned that the issue "is not exclusive to athletics" but can be seen across Paralympic disciplines.
Despite focusing on UKA's classifications system, the review also noted possible discrepancies between the UKA and the system used by World Para Athletics (WPA).
UKA handles classifications for track and field athletes in the UK, while the WPA controls international competitions classification and other sports regulate their own classification.
Those interviewed by the panel also raised uncertainties that coaches and athletes understood both systems, as well as concerns over the lack of a forum to explain athlete classifications and the absence of an appeal process against potential incorrect allocation that is independent of UKA.
What are their recommendations?
UKA chair Ed Warner confirmed that a number of recommendations made by the report will be implemented in full, including improving the standard of medical documentation, with particular focus on those with fluctuating conditions.
The review also calls for an oversight committee, independent from UKA, to manage the appeals process, as well as a panel of independent clinicians to review medical data.
Despite the issues raised, the panel also found UKA's classification to be "robust" and often cited as "an exemplar of best practice", with Wafula Strike hoping the implemented recommendations mean UKA continues "leading the way" in ensuring the integrity of Para-athletics.
Brewer added: "Many of the recommendations we have made will, we believe, allow the process in the future to be more flexible, responsive to change and - if appropriate - open to challenge and closer review."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/disability-sport/39337576
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Fifa bans Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey for life for 'match manipulation' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Fifa bans Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey for life for "match manipulation" during a 2018 World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey has been banned for life by Fifa for what it calls "match manipulation".
The ban results from a penalty he awarded to South Africa in a 2-1 win over Senegal in a 2018 World Cup qualifier in November.
He penalised Kalidou Koulibaly for handball, but replays showed the ball hit his knee.
Football's world governing body says it will give more details "once the decision becomes final and binding".
Lamptey can now appeal to Fifa and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
One of his assistants, David Laryea, also from Ghana, had charges against him dismissed by Fifa's disciplinary committee.
The win for South Africa left them in second place in the four-team group after two matches, with Senegal in third.
Lamptey, who also officiated at the Rio Olympics last year, declined BBC Sport's invitation to comment, saying he would do so later.
The Senegal Football Federation (FSF), who made a complaint to Fifa over Lamptey, is happy with the decision.
"Today there are many reasons to be happy about this decision - a decision that will be remembered as being significant but will also warn everybody that they are being watched," FSF vice-president Abdoulaye Sow told BBC Sport.
"All cheating and stealing will be punished according to its gravity.
"Fifa has clearly struck a big blow and has promised in its decision to talk again about the match when the decision is final and binding."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39327805
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Jake Livermore: West Brom midfielder wants to make people 'proud' after England call - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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West Brom midfielder Jake Livermore wants to make people proud after overcoming personal difficulties to earn an England recall.
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West Brom midfielder Jake Livermore wants to make proud the people who helped him through difficult times after earning an England recall.
The 27-year-old won his only cap in August 2012 against Italy but has had some dark days since then.
After the death of his newborn son Jake Junior, he tested positive for cocaine in May 2015 but avoided a two-year ban and has gone on to rebuild his career.
"I wouldn't have thought it would come, it was in my distant dreams," he said.
"I never thought I'd have the opportunity to represent my country again. The longer it goes, the harder it seems to get.
"To be honest it wasn't overly in my thoughts, it was more just wanting to get back into club football and put a positive spin on my career, for my friends, for my family and those who stuck by me - the FA among them.
"Hopefully I can do myself, my country and them proud.
"Having this opportunity to repay them in any way, shape or form is like a dream for me."
Livermore was a surprise inclusion in Gareth Southgate's squad to face Germany in a friendly on Wednesday and Lithuania in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday.
He said he got his career back on track after his personal tragedy with the support of then Hull City manager Steve Bruce.
He said in an interview with Football Focus last year that his positive test for cocaine was the "get out of jail free card" he needed to start to come to terms with the death of his son.
The Football Association decided not to ban him because of "the unique nature of circumstances" involved.
He helped Hull win promotion to the Premier League last season before earning a £10m January move to West Brom and wants to be there for others in the future.
"Football always helped me very much because it was a platform for me to propel my life, really," he added. "Everyone has their own story and everyone will be opened up to different opportunities or temptations.
"When people need you, like I needed someone, I want to be a person who can help someone else.
"It's nice to be able to help someone and give something back because when I really needed it I was fortunate to have that with the FA and my club."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39343959
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Is inflation all down to Brexit? - BBC News
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2017-03-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The rise in prices is down to a lot of factors - but the fall in the value of sterling is important.
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Business
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Slowing real income growth could be a challenge for the Prime Minister
It was Harry S Truman who famously pleaded for a one handed economist, so tired was he of proponents of the dismal science saying "well, on the one hand, sir... but on the other..."
Sadly for the 33rd President of the United States, you would need a lot of hands to explain today's surprisingly rapid increase in inflation.
Rising global commodity prices are pushing up inflation pressures around the world.
As global growth strengthens, that upward pressure is likely to increase.
In 2015 and early 2016, we saw a period of deflation - falling prices - in key sectors such as fuel and clothing, so the rise now (in comparison with a year ago) is particularly stark.
More recently, poor weather in southern Europe has meant that foods such as salad have increased in price by over 60%.
Although, as Alan Clarke from Scotia Bank, points out, "the lettuce crisis didn't cause today's big upwards surprise."
Prices for lettuce and other vegetables rose as supermarkets were forced to ration them
What did were increases in the prices of food (the first year-on-year rise for more than two years), fuel and what are described as "recreational" goods (such as televisions and laptops).
These increases can all be linked, at least in part, to the cost of importing goods into the UK.
And a large part of that increase in cost comes from the fall in the value of sterling since the referendum.
Although it is always worth pointing out that sterling's fall was evident before the referendum (many economists argue it was over-valued) and that the dollar has been particularly strong as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates.
Will the increase in inflation continue and put pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates?
Well, input prices - what manufacturers pay for the materials and fuel they use - are rising by over 20% a year, the fastest since 2008.
And those costs will increasingly be pushed through to consumers.
So in the medium term, inflation is on an upward trajectory and could peak above the Bank's own forecast of 2.7% in the first three months of next year.
But, and it is a significant but, wage growth (a long-term motor of inflation) is actually slowing.
Last month, incomes grew by 2.3%, significantly down on a month earlier and the same number as today's inflation figure.
Yes, it is only one month's data, but as it stands, real income growth has stalled and groups such as the Resolution Foundation believe it will now turn negative.
The great wages squeeze which followed the financial crisis could well have returned.
And that is a worry for Theresa May, as I wrote last week.
Given that trend, the dovish position of the Bank is likely to remain in place.
Yes, the markets have upped their expectations of a rate rise, but the Bank has been clear: a cut to support economic growth as the UK begins its Brexit negotiations is as likely as an increase.
And any increase, if it were to come, is likely to be small.
Which is bad news for savers, of course.
It would be ridiculous to say that Brexit is not affecting the UK's course on inflation.
But it is not the whole story. To tell that, you need plenty of hands.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39339834
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Trump's ban and five other ways Hawaii has made a mark in America - BBC News
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2017-03-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A judge in Hawaii has halted President Trump's travel ban. How else has the state influenced the US?
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US & Canada
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Hawaii State Attorney General Douglas Chin speaks after the ruling halting President Trump's second travel ban
A federal judge in Hawaii has ordered that President Donald Trump's travel ban be halted. How else has this island state influenced the rest of the country?
Days before US President Donald Trump's revised travel ban was to go into effect, US District Judge Derrick Watson halted Trump's plan, which would have placed a 90-day ban on people from six mainly Muslim nations and a 120-day ban on refugees.
Fans of Trump's measures, which were signed as an executive order, expressed frustration that one small state, so far from the rest of the US, could halt the plans.
"Hawaii, what do you know?" asked Twitter user @fiverights.
As it turns out, Hawaii has been pretty active in influencing American culture since well before it became a state in 1959.
"We're the link to the Pacific and Asia in many ways," said John Rosa, an associate professor of history at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
It's also where John F Kennedy visited in early 1963, during the height of the civil rights movement, and remarked that "Hawaii is what the United States is striving to be."
How else has Hawaii influenced the rest of the US?
The USS Shaw explodes during the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor
The United States may have never joined World War II if it hadn't been for the attack on the navy base at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 - the "date which will live in infamy".
When Japanese forces attacked the military base on a Hawaiian island, it jettisoned the nation into a war that it would ultimately end by dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The attack on Pearl Harbor remains one of America's most important historic events in the last century.
It also helped turn Hawaii from an exotic outpost to a place of greater US visibility.
"The attack on Pearl Harbor give greater visibility to Hawaii," Rosa said. "You do have veterans who 10 years after getting out of the service, they remember being stationed on Hawaii briefly. They're coming to Hawaii for vacation or at least considering it, whereas they would not consider any other place in the Pacific."
Three Hawaiian princes brought surfing to the mainland in July, 1885, while on a short vacation in Santa Cruz, California. They rode redwood boards and the people of California took note.
It sparked a new economic relationship between California and Hawaii as many surfers wanted redwood surfboards.
Surfing developed a loyal following soon after, and later influenced US pop culture through music like the Beach Boys and dozens of 1950s beach party films.
Hawaii also lays claim to the international symbol for "Hang Loose" - fists forward, thumbs and pinkies protruding to create a gentle y - known locally as the Shaka.
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Former President Barack Obama was born in Honolulu just two years after Hawaii became a state.
He spent most of his childhood in the Aloha State before attending Columbia University and Harvard Law School. He then moved to Chicago, where he served as a US Senator for Illinois before becoming president.
"Some people have argued his outlook for the US as a global partner comes from his roots in Hawaii," Rosa said.
"People in Hawaii are sensitive to the needs and wants of immigrants and are very sensitive to race relations," Rosa said. "That kind of informs not just the judge (who stayed Trump's travel ban) but also Obama."
Although Spam wasn't invented in Hawaii (Minnesota gets that honour), the state is the Spam Capital of the nation.
Hawaii's residents consume more Spam per capita than residents of any other state, eating about six cans of spam a year per person, on average.
Spam and eggs, fried rice and Spam, and Obama's personal favorite - musubi - a sushi-like dish that couples Spam with rice and seaweed - are all popular offerings and dishes that have made their ways to the mainland.
The longest running police procedural of its time, Hawaii Five-O, was shot on a set in Hawaii. To help spread out costs, show creators developed a Hawaii detective show, Magnum PI - the show that launched Tom Selleck's illustrious career.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39298900
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Minella Rocco: Favourite will not run in Grand National - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Favourite Minella Rocco will not run in next month's Grand National at Aintree, says trainer Jonjo O'Neill.
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Last updated on .From the section Horse Racing
Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 live, text updates on the BBC Sport website and mobile app.
Favourite Minella Rocco will not run in next month's Grand National at Aintree, trainer Jonjo O'Neill says.
Minella Rocco was about 8-1 favourite after finishing runner-up to Sizing John in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Stablemate More Of That, who was sixth in the Gold Cup, is set to run in the National on Saturday, 8 April.
"Minella Rocco has been taken out of the Grand National. He's absolutely fine and we'll aim him at the Gold Cup again next year," O'Neill said.
"More Of That came out of the Gold Cup well and will now head to Aintree for the National.
"Shutthefrontdoor has also been taken out of the Grand National and will head for the Irish Grand National next month."
There are 79 entries remaining at the latest stage, after 16 horses were withdrawn, with a maximum of 40 allowed to run.
Pendra, after a revised rating, is at 40 with Rogue Angel 41.
Handicapper Phil Smith only expects a few more horses to be pulled out over the next fortnight and believes those at 50 or above in the list are unlikely to make the line-up.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/39340584
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Olympic Games: Paris and LA 'only want 2024 Games' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Paris and Los Angeles say they are only interested in hosting the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics - and not the 2028 Games.
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Last updated on .From the section Olympics
Paris and Los Angeles say they are only interested in hosting the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics - and not the 2028 Games.
There have been suggestions the International Olympic Committee may award both the 2024 and 2028 Games in September.
"2024 is now or never for us," co-chair Tony Estanguet told BBC Sport.
The LA 2024 committee later issued a statement saying their bid represents "the right city at this critical time".
The American city's statement added: "With all permanent venues already built and 88% public support, only LA 2024 offers the lowest-risk and truly sustainable solution for the future of the Olympic movement in 2024 and beyond."
The 2024 Games are scheduled to be awarded at September's IOC summit in Lima, Peru, with Paris the favourite to win.
"We believe we have the strongest offer but it is only available for 2024," added Estanguet. "We can't host the Games in 2028 because we don't have the project available for 2028.
"We have the guarantees, we have the public support, we have the political support, we have 95% of existing venues. This is the fourth bid from Paris and 2024 is the centenary of the Games in Paris."
• None Read more: Dan Roan blogs on the IOC's likely two-Games deal
There have been reports the losers of the 2024 bid could be awarded the following Games in 2028.
"All options are on the table, and this includes also the 2024-2028 procedure and vote," said IOC president Thomas Bach last week.
Estanguet, a three-time Olympic canoeing champion, says the bid committee has been in discussions with the IOC since the beginning of the bidding process.
He added that the bid committee has talked through the issue of 2028 with the IOC on several occasions.
Earlier this week, Eric Garcetti, the mayor of LA, warned the Americans were intent on winning the right to host the 2024 Games.
"We are competing for 2024," he told insidethegames. "Full stop. We have never contemplated anything else."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/39343954
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Chris Coleman did not call me about Ben Woodburn, says Jurgen Klopp - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he was not told Ben Woodburn was to be given his first Wales call-up.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he was surprised Wales boss Chris Coleman did not contact him before calling up teenager Ben Woodburn.
The 17-year-old was named in the senior squad for the World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.
But his club boss has been left perplexed he was not consulted and believes the call-up has come too early.
"Actually, I was surprised about this," said Klopp.
Nottingham-born Woodburn, who qualifies to play for Wales through his maternal grandfather, has played for Wales at under-16, under-18 and under-19 level.
But Klopp believes he should have been in the loop when Coleman decided to move him up to the seniors.
Klopp added: "I don't know exactly how normal it is here.
"This should not be a criticism, but usually when you call up a player, a 17-year-old player, I thought it would be possible to call me.
"I'm not sure if he knows him well. He didn't play in the team so far for Coleman I think."
'Should it be now? Probably not'
Despite the fact he does not believe now is the right time for Wales to call on Woodburn, Klopp expects the youngster to deal with the situation.
"Obviously Ben is happy about it, so I am happy about it so that is the first thing," Klopp said.
"Do I think [Woodburn's selection for Wales] should it be now? I would say probably not. But is it a problem? No.
"Ben is a wonderful kid and he can deal with it 100%. He understands it all and knows really what he still has to learn and I can understand."
Woodburn has played seven games for Liverpool this season and became their youngest scorer when he netted against Leeds in the EFL Cup in November.
'I make my own mind up'
Wales had been urged to go to 'war' with England to claim Woodburn, but Coleman says the decision to select the youngster was his alone and Liverpool did not intervene.
"I make my own mind up about a player," Coleman said after announcing his squad on Thursday.
"I understand when you pick young players then clubs go, 'Oh, calm down,' but I make my own mind up.
"No matter how old he is, if he is good enough and I think he has something to offer us and can help us in this challenge then I am going to pick him.
"That's no disrespect to Jurgen or anybody else who say maybe he's not [ready], but that's their opinion."
Wales are third in their 2018 World Cup qualifying group and face a crucial tie against the Republic on 24 March and Coleman insists Woodburn "belongs" in his squad.
"He belongs to them [Liverpool], but I've got a job to do for Wales and I have to pick my strongest squad," Coleman said.
"At the minute, from what I have seen, he belongs in our strongest 23. That's why he is there."
Meanwhile, Klopp says he is happy to share Woodburn's development as a player with Coleman.
"I heard the manager said he's one of the best 23 players in Wales so he needs to be there, so that is his decision - all good," the Liverpool boss said.
"But now we are two managers who have to make sure that he develops in the right way, because usually it was more my responsibility and now we can share it a little bit so that is good."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39308768
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Martin McGuinness' IRA past in Derry - BBC News
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2017-03-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Martin McGuinness was a senior commander within the Provisional IRA for many years, reports BBC NI's Vincent Kearney.
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Northern Ireland
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Martin McGuinness carries the coffin at an IRA funeral in 1985
No-one knows how many people Martin McGuinness killed, directly or indirectly.
As a senior commander within the Provisional IRA for many years, there is no doubt there was blood on his hands.
It is known that he was second in command of the IRA in Derry when members of the Parachute Regiment shot dead 13 civilians in the city on Bloody Sunday in January 1972.
Security sources say he went on to become chief of staff of the organisation from the early 1980s right through until the end of the IRA's campaign of violence.
That meant he was also a member of its ruling 'army council', which decided its overall strategy and tactics, and would have approved operational policy.
Security sources say Martin McGuinness became IRA chief of staff in the early 1980s
But his only conviction for terrorist activity was for possession of weapons and explosives in the Republic of Ireland's Special Criminal Court in 1973.
"There is no doubt Martin McGuinness was a key figure within the IRA for almost all of the Troubles, and therefore was responsible for many of its actions, but the fact is there wasn't enough evidence to put him before a court to convict him," says one former senior security source.
"As chief of staff of the organisation for a long period of time he was responsible for its strategic direction and the tempo of its operational activities, so he clearly bore a lot of responsibility for what happened on his watch.
"But while there will be many claims now about what he did, and who and how many he may have killed, it's impossible to be definitive."
However, several well-placed security sources agree that Martin McGuinness would have had advanced knowledge of virtually every Provisional IRA attack in his home city of Derry after he was appointed chief of staff.
"The bottom line is that nothing happened in Derry without Martin knowing about it," says one.
"He wouldn't have been involved in planning every attack, but he would have been told what was planned. If he didn't object, the attack went ahead. If he objected, it didn't. It was that simple, he had a veto."
The Coshquin checkpoint where Patsy Gillespie and five soldiers died
One of the attacks police sources have claimed Martin McGuinness authorised was one of the most notorious of the Troubles.
In October 1990, Patsy Gillespie, a Catholic who worked in a local army base, was taken from his home and strapped into a van containing 1,000lbs of explosives.
Labelled a "collaborator" by the IRA, he was told to drive the van to an army checkpoint at Coshquin near the border, while his family was held hostage.
When he reached his destination, Mr Gillespie was not given time to escape. The bomb was detonated by remote control, killing him and five soldiers.
"Given the way Martin McGuinness controlled the IRA in Derry at that time, it is inconceivable that he would not have had prior knowledge about such an attack because of its scale and the huge public outcry the IRA would have known would follow," says another former senior security source.
"He may not have drawn up the plan, but he would have known, and could have intervened to stop it."
The family of a Derry man shot dead by the IRA as an alleged informer in 1986 have consistently claimed Martin McGuinness was responsible for luring him to his death.
Frank Hegarty had fled to England after becoming aware that the IRA believed he was an informer.
His mother and other family members have said Martin McGuinness later visited their home and gave a personal assurance that he would be safe if he came and met the IRA.
A short time after the meeting he was found shot in the back of the head.
A tape containing his interrogation and admissions that he had worked as an informer was later delivered to the Hegarty home.
Martin McGuinness consistently rejected the family's version of events, and insisted that he told them Frank Hegarty should not meet the IRA if he was an informer.
A former senior security source familiar with Martin McGuinness's career within the IRA said that over the years he had transformed from one its most militant leaders to a restraining influence.
"In his early days, Martin was a fairly hot-headed young revolutionary who helped drive the IRA to be more aggressive and active," he says.
"But in the latter years of the Troubles, as the republican movement moved from violence to politics, he was a calming and restraining influence who definitely saved lives because he stopped things happening."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-39341862
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Arsene Wenger: Arsenal boss is 'selfish' for silence on job - Chris Sutton - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is like "an uncle who doesn't want to leave the party", says former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is like "an uncle who doesn't want to leave the party", says former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton.
Wenger, in charge since 1996, said he will announce "very soon" whether he will remain with the Gunners, after reaching a decision on his future.
Arsenal are in danger of ending a second straight season without a major trophy, and Sutton said he should go.
"It's a dictatorship and he surrounds himself with yes men," Sutton added.
Wenger's contract expires at the end of the season but he has been offered a new two-year deal.
The Frenchman, 67, has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks, with fans responding to defeats in the Premier League, and the 10-2 aggregate loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, by calling for him to leave.
More anti-Wenger banners were held aloft by Gunners fans in the closing stages of last Saturday's 3-1 defeat at West Brom, while in the first half two planes towed banners over the ground - one criticising the manager and the other supporting him.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 live's The Monday Night Club, Sutton, a Premier League winner as a player with Blackburn Rovers in 1995, added: "He's been selfish. I'm surprised Steve Bould [Wenger's assistant] doesn't get hold of him and say this is the reality.
"He's taking the club backwards. They have just accepted mediocrity.
"His work in the transfer market has been a failure lately.
"Do the right thing and if you're not going to do the right thing then tell us."
Arsenal, sixth in the table, are 19 points behind leaders Chelsea in the Premier League and their last realistic chance of winning a trophy this season is the FA Cup.
They face Manchester City in the semi-final at Wembley on Sunday, 23 April (15:00 BST).
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud said the club's players supported Wenger and wanted him to stay and "continue his adventure".
"We hope we can win the cup and that Arsenal qualify for the Champions League," the France international told Canal Plus.
"We want Arsene Wenger to renew his contract, to continue his adventure, because we support him."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39334730
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Petra Kvitova: Tennis comeback 'huge motivation' after knife attack - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Petra Kvitova speaks of her determination to return to tennis following a knife attack at her home in December.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has spoken of her determination to return to tennis following a knife attack at her home in December.
The Czech, 27, has regained the use of her racquet hand after being stabbed by an intruder in her home in Prostejov.
She still has no comeback date but said: "I can tell you that tennis is a huge motivation for me."
Kvitova's last appearance on court was against France's Caroline Garcia in the Fed Cup final on 12 November.
In a post on her Instagram page on Tuesday, she said: "I realised while I've been away how much I like challenges.
"My perspective on life has changed a lot and I am doing everything to give myself a second chance to be back on the court."
Kvitova added: "I'm working really hard on my recovery."
Surgeons spent almost four hours repairing tendons and nerves on Kvitova's left hand - her playing hand - following the attack on 20 December, in which she struggled with an intruder who was attempting a burglary.
Doctors initially said the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon winner would be unable to compete for at least six months.
Her spokesman, Karel Tejkal, told AFP on Monday: "Petra's recovery is continuing as planned, but everything is up in the air as to her return."
Tejkal said Kvitova's psychological recovery had been "very encouraging" and that she had been fitness training in the Canary Islands.
"Petra uses her hand without problem for daily activities. Of course, the hand is weakened but at first glance you can't see that she was injured," he added.
"But at the moment no-one can give a concrete date."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39333870
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Ryan McBride: Michael O'Neill leads tributes to Derry City captain - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill leads the tributes to Derry City captain Ryan McBride, who has died at the age of 27.
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Last updated on .From the section Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill has led the tributes to Derry City captain Ryan McBride, who has died at the age of 27.
Defender McBride was found dead at home on Sunday, a day after he led his side in a 4-0 League of Ireland win over Drogheda United.
The cause of death is not yet known but a post mortem is being carried out.
"He epitomised everything about our club and our city," said Derry City chief executive Sean Barrett.
McBride's funeral will take place on Thursday at 10:00 GMT at St Columba's Church in Derry, after which the player will be buried in the city cemetery.
The league game between Derry City and Limerick, due to take place on 21 March, will be rescheduled.
McBride's death is the latest tragedy to befall the club following the death of striker Mark Farren and the Buncrana pier tragedy, which claimed the lives of members of winger Josh Daniels a year ago.
'He led boys to become men'
Northern Ireland manager O'Neill was manager of League of Ireland Premier Division side Shamrock Rovers when McBride joined Derry six years ago.
"When I first saw him play, I remember thinking, 'what a fantastic young defender'. He was strong, physical and hugely committed.
"His leadership qualities were evident even at such a young age and it was no surprise to me that he became such an inspirational player for his hometown club."
Derry City manager Kenny Shiels said the death was "hard for everybody to take" and that he was "the perfect example to any young player coming through".
And chief executive Barrett added: "Of the words that have been thrown around probably my favourite one is 'warrior'.
"He led boys to become men and he was a man. He was everything that is associated with Derry City Football Club and, indeed, the whole city."
The Irish Football Association tweeted: "Thoughts tonight with the family of Ryan McBride and everyone involved with Derry City FC."
Derry City released an official statement on Monday afternoon saying the team will "miss his inspiration and his leadership".
The statement went on to say: "In the hearts and minds of all of us, and long into the future, Ryan McBride will be remembered as one of the greats of Derry City Football Club."
Phil O'Doherty, Derry City Football Club chairman, said the team was "devastated" at the loss of a "leader on and off the field".
"He was incredibly respected. He was an ideal captain," he told the BBC. "He was from the Brandywell area and he walked across the road to his home after every game."
The CEO of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), John Delaney, said Irish football was in mourning.
"Ryan's passing has left a deep shock throughout football," he said. "We will remember Ryan with a tribute at Friday night's World Cup qualifier against Wales."
Since his debut in 2011, McBride had not only become a mainstay of the club's defence, but a fans' favourite.
He made more than 170 appearances, with more than 50 as captain after he took over the role permanently two years ago.
A self-professed quiet man off the pitch, McBride said it was a "different story" on it. "I switch on and then I'm in game mode," he said.
• None Read more on 'the bravest I've ever seen on the pitch'
Republic of Ireland footballer James McClean, a former team mate of McBride at Derry, said he was "a warrior that literally would throw his body on the line when he pulled on that Derry City jersey, a club that meant so much to him".
He said that McBride was a "big gentleman off the field", adding: "Sleep tight big man. May God bless you and your family."
Ireland manager Martin O'Neill has said West Brom's McClean will be permitted to leave the camp before Friday's game with Wales should he wish.
Former Derry City striker Liam Coyle said: "My brother phoned me to tell me and I was in total disbelief.
"I played football with Ryan's father and Ryan was always a rising star. Derry City has lost the best centre half in Ireland."
DUP leader Arlene Foster tweeted: "My deepest condolences to the family and all Derry City FC as they mourn the loss of the talented Ryan McBride. Such devastating news."
Archbishop Eamon Martin said: "Sad news from Derry. Praying for the family and for his many friends and supporters who will miss him. Lord have mercy. RIP."
The President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, tweeted: "Along with all those who support Irish football, I express my sadness and condolences to the family of Derry City Football Club captain Ryan McBride."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/northern-ireland/39324936
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Volta a Catalunya: Chris Froome loses time to Alejandro Valverde on stage two - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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Chris Froome loses 46 seconds to Volta a Catalunya rival Alejandro Valverde as Movistar win the team time trial.
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Last updated on .From the section Cycling
Chris Froome lost 46 seconds on Volta a Catalunya rival Alejandro Valverde as the Spaniard's Movistar team won stage two's team time trial.
Movistar completed the 43.3km course to Banyoles two seconds faster than BMC, with Briton Froome's Team Sky in third.
The Trek-Segafredo team of Spain's Alberto Contador, another favourite for overall victory, was one minute 15 seconds behind.
Valverde leads the seven-stage Spanish race after a penalty to a team-mate.
Jose Joaquin Rojas had been declared the new race leader but was later punished with a three-minute time penalty for "pushing a team-mate", race organisers said.
Wednesday's third stage is an 188.3km ride from Mataro that features three category one climbs on the way to La Molina.
"It's a first big effort back at a Pro Tour level this season," said Froome, now 18th in the overall standings.
"We'll see what we can do in the next few days. Hopefully we've got a few cards to play, with La Molina tomorrow and a big mountain-top finish on Friday.
"We're not the only ones who have lost time, so it might be in all of our interests to ride an aggressive race. Hopefully we'll light things up at some point."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39346074
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France election: North-east voters are in cynical mood - BBC News
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2017-03-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Emma-Jane Kirby tests the mood of voters in the run-up to France's presidential election.
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Europe
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The forthcoming election doesn't inspire these fishermen who can't see the point of voting
To find out what French voters make of their forthcoming presidential election I am following the route of the Tour de France, testing the mood in towns along the way.
A thick barricade of black clouds has descended over Longwy in north-eastern France this morning. The sun, knowing it's beaten, has retreated so fully that at midday it already feels like dusk.
Yet, despite the lack of light, the Art Deco stained glass windows along the staircase of what used to be the administrative headquarters of the local steel industry, are quite brilliant.
"That used to be me," says Dominique Dimanche, pointing to an image of bare-chested men stoking the furnace.
"These windows were designed in homage to the men of the foundries.
"Can you believe that this is all that's left now of Longwy's history as the lynchpin of France's steel industry?"
"They've deliberately erased Longwy's history," he says. "They don't want anyone to remember what we were."
The Art Deco stained glass windows in Longwy were built as a tribute to the men working in France's steel foundries
Longwy used to be a thriving industrial town with four steel plants and factories. But at the end of the 1970s the French government announced it was ceasing production and closing all the factories.
Ironically, the building in which we are now standing houses the job centre.
"There were pretty violent riots in Longwy when the steel works closed," Philippe explains.
"Lots of the foremen became Communist councillors and for a long time we had a Communist mayor. We were known as Red Longwy."
It's clear that Longwy has never bounced back from the shock of its steel plant closures.
Shops and commerce quickly moved up the hill to the more prestigious Longwy Haut, with its classified Unesco monuments, leaving Longwy Bas, the lower part of the town, very much at the bottom of the heap.
At the side of the road leading out of Longwy a small group of protesters from local unions struggle to keep their fire alight as the hailstones batter down.
Local unions in Longwy have been protesting over low wages
Their banner reads "More Purchasing Power!". When I stop to chat to them, they all tell me they are struggling to get their salaries to stretch to the end of the month.
According to the national institute for statistics, Insee, one in seven families in this deindustrialised Moselle region are living below the poverty line of less than 1,000 euros (£870) a month.
I happen to be in town the day that the French prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve is making a visit to the town hall, which is currently in the hands of his ruling party, the PS, or Socialist Party.
A few people spill out of the bars to watch his arrival but no-one claps.
"Moron," mutters a lady stepping round the puddles in her slippers.
"What's he come for? Is he going to stop this place dying on its feet? Of course not. Neither left or right do anything here."
"I won't say for whom I'll be voting this time, because I don't think people like to hear the name. But let's just say the direction will be right. I'll definitely be going right."
Three hours drive to the south is Troyes and as I get on my bike to explore the town, I feel like I've entered a fairy tale.
Here is the glorious France of yesteryear, 16th Century timber-framed, pastel-coloured houses, narrow cobbled streets and a plethora of imposing churches.
But it's certainly an image of the country - traditional, white and Catholic - for which many people are nostalgic.
It was provincial Catholics who helped the socially conservative Francois Fillon win the primary race to become the presidential candidate for the centre-right Republican party.
When I quiz some elderly parishioners after Mass, they all admit that the question of national identity bothers them.
"It's a big subject, dear," says Dominique as she puts away her payer book.
"But I can summarise it quickly for you: national identity in France no longer exists."
Troyes has a traditional "chocolate box" feel with narrow streets and pastel-coloured buildings
It is illegal in France to hold a census based on ethnicity or religion but five minutes spent in Troyes will show you that the town is very ethnically mixed.
Several kebab and couscous restaurants sit under the eaves of the timber-framed houses alongside the bistros and patisseries.
"This is France today," laughs PE teacher Sabrina, who is taking her pupils to see a multicultural circus act at the local theatre.
"We are a country based on many different cultures."
Preserving a "national identity" has long been the discourse of the National Front (FN) but following the 2005 riots in France's poor and largely immigrant suburbs, the then interior minister, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, controversially launched a countrywide debate on national identity.
The recent attacks in Paris and Nice have pushed national identity back into the forefront of the mainstream political agenda. Most of the attackers had North African roots but were French citizens.
At Troyes' funfair, a few families are braving the rain. Salesman Karim and his care assistant wife Sarah, who wears a hijab, push their children in strollers.
"We don't know what it means to be French any more," Karim tells me bitterly.
"Because you can be born here like us, pay your taxes like us and have republican values like us but these days, when it comes to politics, there's something about us that doesn't quite stick. We are just not accepted as genetically French."
"But we are French," insists his wife.
"Just because I wear this headscarf, it doesn't mean I'm not French."
"I feel French and I am French and I'm a Muslim. And this is just as much my home as it is for Pierre, Paul or Jacques."
These cyclists laughed at the idea of voting and said there was no-one they would vote for
The sun is out as I ride along the canal at Dole, 200km (125 miles) south-east of Troyes, and fellow bikers ring their bells and wave as they pass.
On a bench, taking a pause for water, a group of five retired cycling friends laugh when I ask them for whom they'll be voting this April.
"No-one!" shout the women in unison.
"Why would we bother voting for any of these crooks?" says Micheline.
"I've voted all my life but not this time, there's no point. There's been scandal after scandal in this campaign."
"I have no wish to vote either," agrees her friend Stella. "The choice is too difficult."
Further up the bank, a group of elderly men are wondering whether they've got the energy to fish today.
I ask them if they've got the energy to go to the ballot boxes next month and they bawl me out.
"We've had empty promises all our life!" yells one. "We don't believe in politicians any more. So why vote?"
Market trader Catherine believes politicians are out of touch with how people live in towns like Dole
The wind coming from the Jura mountains is biting in the early morning as I watch the stallholders setting up at Dole's market.
Cheap clothes and plastic toys make up most of the produce. I can see no price tag anywhere more than 20 euros (£17).
"That should tell you something," says Catherine, who runs the fruit and vegetable stall.
"Everyone here gets up at the crack of dawn to eke out a living but most people's takings are way down."
"It's interesting this tour of France you're doing," she muses.
"Finding out about ordinary people. Because our millionaire politicians haven't got a clue how we live in places like this. For them, we don't even exist. Sometimes I wonder what they do all day, these bigwigs in Paris."
She looks at me curiously.
"What is the point of our politicians?" she asks me innocently as I bite into the apple.
You can hear Emma Jane Kirby's radio reports as she tours France on BBC Radio 4's PM programme
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39284234
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My daughter's sexual abuse left me feeling like 'a zombie' - BBC News
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2017-03-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Abuse victims in Rotherham are still receiving counselling, while their families are also now getting support.
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UK
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The session are held once a week
"You are walking round like a zombie. You have no heart, and you have no brain, because you just don't know where to turn," Jack says.
His daughter was sexually abused in Rotherham, a town where more than 1,000 children were subjected to appalling exploitation between 1997 and 2013 - mainly by men of Pakistani heritage.
Discovering what had happened to her left Jack - not his real name - feeling like he had been "ripped apart" inside.
Alongside his daughter, he now attends counselling sessions - held once a week outside the town - where they are given a chance to talk about what happened.
The centre which hosts the weekly sessions has also become a place where the wider family members affected by the abuse can receive support.
The organisers have given the Victoria Derbyshire programme and BBC Asian Network exclusive access to the sessions.
One of those who attends the session is "Lisa".
She was groomed, abused and raped as a child and was pregnant at the age of 12. Her daughter is now a teenager.
Six men, including those who groomed and attacked her, were last month collectively jailed for 83 years. She described them in court as "pure evil".
She says their sentencing has reduced her anxiety and depression.
"I feel so positive and empowered now that I am finally using my horrific experience for something good."
Counselling is also open to siblings of those who were abused
Jack says the counselling has "saved not only me as a father, it has saved our family".
"I was a very angry person, probably up to 12 months ago.
"It has helped me because they have taught me how to handle things differently, how to see things differently, and it has shown me how to move forward properly," he says.
"It has allowed me to understand there are other ways to handle things without being 'angry man' all the time."
He says his family - like so many others who have been affected - will probably never fully recover from what happened in the town.
"We all know that, but we can move forward as a family, and that's what we intend to do," he says.
Jayne Senior, a whistleblower who helped to uncover abuse in Rotherham, said organisers of the session had decided to do something about a year ago.
"We offer numerous different things," she says.
"We will go and do art therapy, we have a counsellor outside so people can actually go into counselling and relive some of those awful experience, get the support they need and then come back to the group.
"Then, the group will work with them and help them get through that."
The sessions are also open to siblings of those who were abused.
Jack's other daughter, "Katie", says she was angry "a lot" of the time, after discovering what had happened to her sister.
"I still have my moments, but I am getting there," she says.
"If I need to talk to anybody now, instead of being angry and going on one, I talk to them now and people can listen to me. And they help me."
At least 1,400 children were sexually exploited in Rotherham, a report found
Lizzy - again not her real name - also attends the sessions alongside her parents.
In 2010, five men were jailed for abusing her and other girls.
"It is the only place that does family therapy class," her mother, "Sally", says.
She says she was so consumed by the shock of discovering what had happened to her daughter that she did not have time to think what impact it was having on the rest of her family.
"At the time, I didn't think about how it would affect my husband. Then, when I did realise how bad it had affected him, I felt a bit selfish. Because it affects the whole family."
"When it is going off, your whole focus is just on the girl it is happening to," Lizzy's father, "Phil", says.
"You don't realise how it is affecting everyone else around you; your other kids, your parents, the grandparents. It is the whole family. It is not just the girl that it happens to, it does affect an entire family."
Jayne Senior said women were offered a number of different therapies
For the victims themselves, reaching out to all of the town's residents is another important part of the healing process.
"Elizabeth" and her father have visited local takeaways, pubs, and other businesses to help educate owners on how to recognise potential grooming cases.
One businessman, Sajjad Hamidi, who runs Papa Pizza in Rotherham, says there have been a number of occasions when he has helped potentially vulnerable children in the street, often late at night.
"There have been a few times when I have had to walk people home for their safety because I have seen people around who have had eyes on them," he says.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth's father says working to restore a sense of community in Rotherham, where the scars of the abuse are still so raw, is vital for the safety of children.
"What we have got to do from now on is put that to one side and look out for everybody's children, not just pick on a specific base or religion.
"We have got to look out for everybody's children and build this community back as one.
"The sooner people start to realise that, and try to build communities back together, the better off all our children are going to be."
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-39328913
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How fake data could lead to failed crops and other woes - BBC News
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2017-03-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Not all cyber-attacks are about theft, some seek to undermine the trust placed in data and documents.
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Business
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Attacks on data integrity could target farming data to wreck years of crops
There's a new cyber threat on the horizon. And it's fiendishly subtle and potentially very dangerous.
Fake data - altering databases and documents without anyone noticing.
Say you changed centrally held figures for a key metric such as soil fertility that many arable farmers use to organise their planting schedules.
"That data is used to drive another process, and lots of decisions are made on that basis," says Jason Hart from security firm Gemalto.
Unless the attack was noticed quickly, he says, it could have devastating consequences because the sabotaged data would kick off actions that played out over months and years.
You could end up with failed crops, food shortages and, in a worst case scenario, famine.
"You have no way of going back once a decision is made and the impact has happened," says Mr Hart. "There's a real amplifier effect to that kind of problem."
Could hackers interfere with automated stock trading and cause another crash?
Other scenarios include hackers interfering with automated stock market trading, triggering mass sell-offs and economic instability.
Or "poisoning" supply chain data so that the wrong stuff goes to the wrong stores, not to mention the potential dangers to energy supplies if production forecasts are tampered with.
Many of the decisions we make in business and government are based on data that we assume is accurate. So if you undermine the authenticity of that data - and our trust in it - you can potentially bring an economy to its knees, experts warn.
Businesses are vulnerable to this type of cyber sabotage because they inherently trust the data and documents they produce, says Abe Smith of Dealflo, a company that helps financial firms automate transactions.
Could data hacking prove as damaging to our energy networks as storms?
"There's about $15 trillion [£12tn] of financial agreements processed every year and most of them are manual in one sense or other," says Mr Smith.
Automation helped to cut costs involved with those financial agreements and to weed out mistakes, but these changes only reinforced reliance on digital information.
And anything digital can be tampered with.
Documents that teams have been collaborating on are vulnerable to attackers that can change the core text, alter numbers, or re-write terms and conditions to one party's benefit, says John Safa of Pushfor, a company that makes secure ways for firms to share data and other content.
"At the end of the day it can be edited and it can be changed," he says. "The problem then is if it is a legal contract without enough back-up, then it could be represented as something factual."
Many documents still require a "wet ink" signature to seal a deal
It is still all too easy to drill down into a document's metadata and change its basic properties that, if examined, lend weight to the fiction of it being authentic.
"Whatever emerges at the other end of a workflow system people will accept," he says. "The document preserves the memory and we believe what it says all the time.
"Trust in all of this process is critical," he says. "If that trust is lost then the entire process breaks down."
But there are technical ways to lock down data and documents to thwart the efforts of stealthy attackers to read or change them.
Many firms now use Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems to police who can do what to reports, files and other documents floating around their organisations, says Stuart Barr, chief strategy officer at workflow system firm HighQ.
DRM has been used to stop pirates stealing copies of copyright movies and video games, he says, but is now regularly applied to documents. It restricts editing to a select few and resists other attempts to make changes.
Some firms use digital padlocks to restrict who can edit key documents and data
"You should not be able to fiddle with them," he says.
It's one of the reasons why blockchain technology is gaining momentum as a way to authenticate contracts and transactions.
Mr Barr says firms using DRM have to strike a balance between putting good protections around valuable documents, and not making them so onerous that people avoid them.
"You would be surprised how many people let documents run around in the wild without any protection," he tells the BBC, adding that a lot of organisations are "porous", letting key files flow back and forth with few checks on what has happened to them in the meantime.
Some firms seek to filter this flow using specialist cloud-based services, but, says Mr Barr, work has to be done to ensure that this innovation does not introduce more risk.
"If they have files that are stored in any reputable cloud they should be encrypted at rest and in transit," he says.
Scrambling data, allied to techniques that generate unique identifiers for important files, could go a long way towards preventing attacks on data integrity, he says.
"There's a growing awareness that this is an issue that has to be taken seriously."
Cloud-based management systems that use encryption to protect important documents are still very new in the legal world, says Susan Hall, a partner at law firm Clarke Willmott.
A lot of law firms still rely on Redline editing, she says, which uses the edit tracking systems built in to Microsoft Word.
Many law firms still rely on older technology to manage edits and merge changes
This allows edits to be made and marked on versions of contracts and other documents as negotiations or talks progress, she says.
"Often you have junior staff go through the final version to make sure nothing has crept in inadvertently or has otherwise changed before the signature," she says.
"But in a lot of these situations you are operating under extreme pressure and there's a high risk that people won't pick up that something should have been included but wasn't."
In highly complex business contracts, a surreptitiously included clause could end up losing your business millions.
So it's not just cyber theft we need to worry about, it's data integrity.
Follow Technology of Business editor Matthew Wall on Twitter and Facebook
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38254362
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'My life was ruined by a typo' - BBC News
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2017-03-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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When police mistyped an IP address, Nigel was wrongly arrested on suspicion of being a paedophile.
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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. Nigel says he feared his children might be attacked after he was wrongly arrested
When Nigel Lang was wrongly arrested on suspicion of sharing indecent images of children, he says his life fell apart. It all stemmed from nothing more than a typing error by police.
"When I was arrested, I feared what was going to happen to me.
"What about my family, will they be targeted? Will they target my mum's house? Will they be getting sworn at and attacked in the street?"
Speaking to the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme, Nigel Lang recalls the questions racing through his head one July morning in 2011.
Aged 44 at the time, he had been working as a drug recovery worker, helping young people combat substance abuse.
But when police came to search his home and arrest him, on suspicion of sharing indecent images of children, his life changed.
His reputation has been left "in tatters", he is unemployed and suffers mental health problems, he says.
Not that he knew at the time, but it was all the result of a typo.
In May 2011, officers at South Yorkshire Police were informed by colleagues in Hertfordshire that they had identified an IP address from which more than 100 indecent images of children had been shared in April that year.
The IP address passed on corresponded to an internet account held by Nigel's partner. But it had been typed incorrectly, with an extra digit added by mistake.
When Nigel was arrested, all he could do was to repeatedly assure himself the police would discover the truth.
"You say to yourself, 'Well they're going to find nothing and I haven't done anything, so I'll be alright.'
Nigel's job had been to help young people combat drug abuse
Nigel spent the following weeks living away from home, with his mother.
His young son, he says, could not understand why he had disappeared and would cry.
After three weeks, police returned Nigel's computers to him, and he had been found completely innocent. But the events had caused a deep psychological effect.
"Because of what happened I felt unable to go back into the field of work I was working in," he says. His role as a drug recovery worker had involved helping teenagers.
"It was the best job I'd had in my life, and I felt I was really good at it.
"But I became fearful of working with young females in case any of them said I tried any sexual advances. It made me paranoid."
Eleven months after his arrest, and still without knowledge of why his home had been raided, Nigel began the search for answers - filing a complaint against South Yorkshire Police on grounds of racism and sexism.
He believed he had been unfairly targeted, given that the internet account had been registered to his partner - who is white - but she had not been investigated.
The complaint was dismissed, but it was during this process he first learned of Hertfordshire Police's involvement in the case.
He asked whether it might be possible to check if the cause of his arrest had been incorrect information supplied by those in Hertfordshire, but says he was told that "owing to the passage of time" this would not be possible.
An extra digit had been added to the IP address by mistake.
Nigel decided to ask his solicitor to look deeper. The lawyer contacted Hertfordshire Police and discovered the truth of the incorrect IP address.
Nigel says: "I've had to pay a solicitor to find out the mistake, when the police could have done that. That is what hurts.
"I'm screaming and shouting my innocence and they tell me they couldn't do it, but then I get a solicitor and he can.
"It shows me they don't care about my life. They don't care about ordinary people."
Nigel received an apology, in writing, from Hertfordshire Police in 2014, which accepted responsibility for the error.
Following Hertfordshire Police's admission, Nigel sought compensation for a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998, false imprisonment, police assault/battery, and trespass by police.
In October 2016, Hertfordshire Police settled out of court. Nigel received damages of £60,000, plus legal costs.
"It isn't enough money," Nigel says, "but after six years of fighting, you're tired.
"I didn't even get two-and-a-half years' wages. I haven't worked since.
"If you could take away somebody's livelihood, then surely it's worth more than someone else's wages."
In a 2017 statement to the BBC, Hertfordshire Police said it "made an early admission of the mistake once it had been identified and would like to apologise again for the wrongful arrest and further impact caused".
"It was an administrative error which led to this occurring, and lessons have been learnt to help prevent this happening again.
"This man was completely innocent and compensation has now rightfully been settled."
South Yorkshire Police said it recognises "Mr Lang's arrest in these circumstances was extremely distressing for him and his family... he has been rightly compensated by Hertfordshire Constabulary."
Nigel - who first spoke to Buzzfeed News earlier this month - has decided to open up about the ordeal in order to clear his name.
"I didn't have my day in court, and I need the world to know I'm not a paedophile.
"I was an ordinary hardworking person who has been reduced to benefits, and I don't know what the future holds for me.
"I'm ill because of it, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"My personality has changed. I'm more angry, I struggle with a lack of sleep and am hyper-vigilant around people, being paranoid that people are talking about me."
He says his loved ones were the reason he managed to pull through.
"My children were great. They never wavered and supported me all the way."
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-39328853
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Esports 'set for £1bn revenue and 600 million audiences by 2020' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-21
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BBC's State of Sport week looks at the rise of esports and why football clubs are moving into the world of gaming.
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Last updated on .From the section Sport
Esports will generate more than £1bn in global revenue and almost double its audience to nearly 600 million people by 2020, forecasters predict.
Esports is organised, competitive computer gaming and can be staged in front of a live audience and millions more online.
"It has the potential to become one of the top five sports in the world," said Peter Warman of esport analysts Newzoo.
Esports generated $493m (£400m) in revenue in 2016, with a global audience of about 320 million people.
Prize money of $93.3m (£76m) was won last year, with the winning team at the League of Legends world championship - the biggest esports event - sharing a pot of $1m (£810,000).
Paris St-Germain moved into gaming in October, creating its own esports franchise and signing three of the world's leading gamers.
PSG wants to establish the team in one of esports' most iconic games - League of Legends - as the club tries to raise its global profile, particularly targeting the US and Asian markets.
As part of State of Sport week, BBC Sport was given behind-the-scenes access to PSG's gaming house.
"Esport for us is a way to find a new fan of the brand, not necessarily focus on the soccer," Fabien Allegre, PSG's director of merchandising and brand diversification, told BBC Sport.
"The idea is to bring the club to a large number of people who don't know anything about football."
In the long run I'm pretty sure esports can grow as big as football"
Manchester City and West Ham have already signed players of the Fifa football game to represent them, but no British club has set up a dedicated esports team.
Allegre believes it is the "future" for football clubs and predicts the creation of an online Champions League-style competition between clubs that own esports franchises.
"It's more than a marketing stunt," says Warman. "Football clubs see this opportunity as a strategic part of their franchise. Sports clubs are now dependent on revenues that come from areas outside of their league so this is their marketing objective.
"They are only dipping their toes into it right now but their expectations are long-term and very large.
"Esports is completely global, with hundreds of millions of viewers, so it would take their brand across the globe."
• None Rory Cellan-Jones: Is this the moment esports comes of age?
• Diet: "You're never going to operate well if you're living off junk food and sleeping five hours a night."
• Have fun: "Even though the job is very professional and there's lots of responsibilities as a team, it's always a blast."
• Fitness: "The image of the unhealthy gamer in his room at night, it's kind of not true for professional gamers because you actually need a good work ethic."
• Focus: "Most people tend to be a bit ragey, but you should try to hold it and focus on yourself."
• Dream big: "At first my parents weren't too supportive, they didn't understand what it meant to be a gamer, but they quickly understood it could be a real career for me."
How do you create a professional esports team?
• Personalities: "It's like building a puzzle - you have to put all the pieces together."
• Communication: "Don't be afraid because if you don't talk then we will never solve the issues."
• Teamwork: "We try to always prioritise teamwork over an individual trying to be a star."
• Preparation: "When I was an amateur I had to bring my computer and everything... now as a player you don't have to worry about anything else than just your performances."
Where is the money coming from?
Sponsorship is the biggest revenue stream in esports, bringing in much more than is raised by the media, advertising, merchandise and ticketing.
Newzoo predicts income will treble in the next four years, valuing esports as a $1.49bn (£1.21m) industry by 2020.
"The reason companies are investing in this is because they want more eyeballs and time to promote their product so people will spend more money on their games," said Warman.
"Gaming has been the favourite pastime of the younger generation for a long time and esports branching out to live events is like becoming comparable to [traditional] sports.
"Brands now have a way to reach this audience that previously was so hard to reach, because gaming is transforming into something they understand. They can sponsor it and advertise so brands and other companies are jumping on this like crazy.
"We are going to see a lot of parallels that we see now in sports and that will take it to the next level."
So how big can esports get?
"Considering an audience of about 160 million is watching esports frequently and another 160 million watch big championship games, it already compares to medium-tier sports," says Warman.
"So it can match the size of, say, tennis and field hockey, while it's also coming very close to basketball and the audience size is becoming very comparable to individual sports.
"In terms of revenue, it is still dwarfed by sports but it is only a question of time to when that will change.
"If you see it as an individual sport it has the potential to become one of the top five sports in the world. That will take maybe five years."
• None BBC Three: A guide to League of Legends
"Young digital natives are not really into sports," claims Warman. "The majority of these esports enthusiasts are aged between 20 and 35.
"That is quite surprising because you would expect teenagers to be the majority figures in this group. But the viewing audience is generally older.
"When it comes to gender, there are more women that watch esports than you would expect - about 25% of that audience is female. That may surprise people who think gaming is for a predominantly male audience."
According to Newzoo, in 2016, the total esports audience in the UK reached about 6.5 million, with 3.1 million esports enthusiasts. The vast majority of these are males (69%) and aged 21-35.
BBC Sport was also given access to the Intel Extreme Masters in Katowice, hosting the world championships in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO).
"Fans of esports are normal guys," one spectator told BBC Sport. "Everyone has some hobbies in their real life, not only playing.
"Sports have an older public. My dad never watches Counter-Strike, but I'm never watching tennis or something that he likes."
Another fan said: "Esports is a new experience, especially for younger people to see their heroes in real life."
Diego Gigliani runs Manchester City's esports team as the senior vice-president for media and innovation for the City Football Group.
Keiran 'Kez' Brown is City's professional Fifa player, with the club feeling a football game is a more "authentic way" of moving into esports.
"We can't overlook the fact the way we are participating in esports is in a relatively small space compared to the actual category of esports," says Gigliani.
"The real big esports titles are things like League of Legends, DOTA 2, Counter-Strike, and that's where the massive audiences are going to - that's where people see the commercial opportunities.
"Have we considered those spaces? We have. We've felt that for the time being the right place to start was with Fifa and see how much we learn and where that takes us next."
Three training sessions a day: The life of a gamer
'Sprattel', a 22-year-old Swede, is part of Paris St-Germain's professional League of Legends team.
11am: "Wake up and get ready for practice by playing games on your own or going through replay reviews."
3pm: "Team practice begins. You play three games and that ends about 6pm."
6pm: "Dinner. You have an hour's break and discuss the games."
7pm: "You play three more games and that finishes about 10-11pm."
10pm-11pm: "You play on your own, watch games or see how other people play - it is free time but mostly it is us playing until the early hours of the morning."
2am-3am: "We go to bed. Then repeat it."
What next for esports?
Warman believes the industry needs to professionalise and set up an organised structure of governance.
He also predicts a big battle between the world's leading sportswear giants to get their brand on the jerseys of esports heroes.
"We already have world championships for individual games," says Warman. "The question is are these games going to be put together to create one big World Cup event?
"I think we will see events of a similar size to the World Cup of football. It will take a year or two to structure that. We will need to have qualifying rounds by country and by region for that.
"But this will ultimately make up a World Cup event watched by a billion people."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/39119995
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Crimea: The place that's rather difficult to get into - BBC News
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2017-03-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Three years after Russia annexed Crimea the region remains in a state of flux.
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Europe
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Russia hopes a bridge to Crimea will solve many problems
Three years after Russia annexed Crimea, a move bitterly contested by Ukraine's government, the region remains in a state of flux. It's difficult to get into, and for many people, it's difficult to know where it's going.
At Kiev International Airport, I hand my passport to a border guard.
He pauses. He studies my passport. He seems to be checking a list. He goes to pick up a telephone and asks a question. He does not realise I can hear.
"You remember that pro-Russian journalist from the BBC? Was his surname Rosenberg?"
"It wasn't? OK, thanks." He hangs up. He stamps my passport and returns it.
"Welcome to Ukraine!" he smiles.
Those pauses at passport control are an indication of the current tension between Moscow and Kiev - a relationship clouded by enmity and suspicion.
Our BBC team is only passing through Kiev. Our final destination is Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia three years ago.
For journalists based in Russia, there are faster ways of reaching the Crimean peninsula. Board a plane in Moscow and two hours later you can be in the Crimean capital Simferopol. Ukraine, however, warns foreign nationals that anyone entering "temporarily occupied Crimea" without Kiev's permission and without crossing an official Ukrainian border may be banned from future entry to Ukraine.
Direct flights from Russia to Ukraine stopped in October 2015. We flew from Moscow to the Belarusian capital Minsk, then on to Kiev. Ahead of us is an eight-hour road trip to Crimea.
First, we visit the Ukrainian Migration Service in Kiev to obtain the "dozvil" - a document issued by the Ukrainian authorities permitting travel to Crimea. Three hours later, permission slips in hand, our long car journey south begins.
Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 was a watershed moment. It pushed Moscow and the West to the brink of a new cold war. Three years on we are travelling to Crimea to gauge the mood.
It is dark by the time we reach the final Ukrainian checkpoint before the peninsula. Ukraine does not call the Kalanchak crossing a border - officially, it is a "control point for entry and exit". We show our passports and dozvils. Minutes later we are waved through.
The no-man's land between the Ukrainian and Russian checkpoints is tiny - no more than 50m long. We stop here to change cars - our Kiev driver will turn back. A driver from Simferopol has come to meet us.
On the Russian side this is called the Armyansk crossing. As far as the Russians are concerned, it is an official state border. We show passports and visas and fill out immigration cards. Our documents are in order, but we are asked to wait. The appearance here of British journalists has raised official eyebrows.
A young man in civilian clothes approaches me. "Come with me, please," he says, "I'd like to have a chat."
We enter a small room and sit down at a table. He checks my phone to make sure I am not recording our conversation.
Then come the questions. Lots of them.
"What mission have your editors set you? What will you be filming? How will you be saving your material, on computers or hard drives? What SIM card will you be using in Crimea? As the correspondent, will you be making notes each night about what you have filmed? Can you show me some of the photos on your phone? Where will you be staying? Why didn't you fly direct from Moscow?"
Crimea has a wide variety of Vladimir Putin murals and posters
My interrogator notes down my answers on a piece of paper. His questions are not limited to Crimea.
"What street do you live on in Moscow? What is the nearest Metro station to your home? What does your wife do for a living? You've been in Russia a long time. Have you ever considered applying for a Russian passport?"
"My British one suits me just fine," I reply.
"What do you think of English cuisine?" he asks, adding, "I like Jamie Oliver. Although I consider he uses too much oil."
The questioning lasts an hour. Then the official escorts me back to the van. I ask for his name.
"I have no name," he replies, "only a rank."
The inquisitive young man with "no name, only a rank" invites my colleagues for similar conversations.
Three hours pass. Interrogations over, we are still not free to go. We spend the night in the van waiting for Russian customs officers to process our papers and allow our TV equipment through. Ten hours after arriving at the Armyansk crossing, we finally clear the checkpoint.
Simferopol is the administrative centre of Crimea. The name of our hotel is the "Ukraine". But three years after annexation, the town feels Russian. Most of the cars have switched to Russian number plates, brand new buses manufactured near Moscow have taken to the roads. And, peering down from billboards is the Russian president with some of his choicest Crimea quotations - just to remind everyone who is in charge.
In this poster Putin promises to boost Crimea's spa facilities
"Crimea was famous for being the spa of the Soviet Union," declares Vladimir Putin in one poster. "We will, of course, develop this."
"All Russian army social programmes will be extended to Sevastopol and the Black Sea Fleet," he promises in another.
Near our hotel, the wall of a building is covered with a giant painting of President Putin dressed as a sailor and the words: "Crimea belongs to all of us".
As far as retired teacher Olga Koziko is concerned, the more Putin in Crimea, the better.
"Crimea is a place where people support Putin," Olga assures me. "We just adore him. He's our hero. I even have a T-shirt with Putin and the words: 'In Putin We Trust', like 'In God We Trust.' Thanks to Putin, Russian soldiers came to protect us."
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On 22 February 2014, Ukraine's pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych fled the country after what he - and his Russian allies - called an "illegal coup" in Kiev. On 27 February masked men in unmarked uniforms appeared in Simferopol. Armed with Russian weapons, they seized government buildings, the parliament, the airport and blocked Ukrainian army bases. This mysterious military force picked up a variety of nicknames, including The Little Green Men and The Polite People.
Today Moscow admits the soldiers were from Russia's secretive Special Operations Forces (the SSO). President Putin subsequently signed a decree making 27 February an annual celebration in Russia - "Special Operations Forces Day".
Following a hastily organised referendum, it was announced that more than 95% of people who had taken part had voted for Crimea's "reunification" with Russia. The referendum was not recognised by the international community. To the outside world, Russia had grabbed a piece of Ukraine.
A statue honouring The Little Green Men has been erected near the Crimean parliament building. It depicts a young girl handing flowers to a man with a gun. The inscription reads: "To The Polite People from the grateful people of Crimea."
Russia has shrugged off international condemnation over Crimea
This is how Moscow wants to be seen here: as a force for good, protecting the people of Crimea from violent Ukrainian nationalists. In 2014 Russia's state-controlled media characterised the new Ukrainian government as "fascists", "neo-Nazis" and an "illegitimate junta''. Olga uses similar language as she recalls the past.
"Without Russia, a lot of people would have been killed here," maintains Olga. "Ukrainian Nazis said Crimea would either be part of Ukraine or empty. People would have been oppressed. Perhaps even put in concentration camps."
There is absolutely no evidence to substantiate Olga's claims.
Many of those in Crimea who welcome Moscow's rule see the bloody conflict in eastern Ukraine as confirmation that Russia is a safer home. They discount evidence that unrest in the Donbass was incited and bankrolled by Moscow.
Out on the street I get chatting to a pensioner called Nadezhda. Until recently her sister had been living in Luhansk, one of the self-proclaimed separatist republics in eastern Ukraine.
"Life in Luhansk is terrible," Nadezhda says. "So I moved my sister to Crimea. I will do everything to make sure that kind of violence doesn't break out here."
There is another reason why Nadezhda, an ethnic Ukrainian, trusts Moscow more than Kiev - it is out of nostalgia for Soviet times, when she regarded Moscow as her capital. Nadezhda describes Crimea joining Russia as "a return to the Soviet Union. Our generation was, is and will always be in the USSR. We will die in the Soviet Union."
People pass a mural of Putin at the wheel of a ship
Nostalgia and fear are powerful feelings. But they are not enough to sustain pro-Russia sentiment in Crimea at the level of 2014.
Severing ties to Ukraine has brought problems. With economic links to Ukraine cut, the only way of keeping the peninsula supplied is by sea or air. That means higher prices. Moscow insists that will change once it has completed a road and rail bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland. The bridge is a multibillion-dollar statement that Moscow is here to stay.
As well as higher prices, there is Russian red tape.
I visit a document registration centre in Simferopol. More than two hundred people are queueing outside. They have come to exchange Ukrainian documents, like deeds for apartments, for Russian ones. Some people, like Alyona, have been queuing here all night.
"Life hasn't got better or worse," Alyona tells me, "We're still standing in lines, like we always used to. Maybe some people had big expectations three years ago. But I don't believe in miracles."
People queue for a long time to change Ukrainian documents to Russian ones
I ask Alyona if she could imagine Russia handing Crimea back to Ukraine.
"Nothing would surprise me any more," she laughs. "I wouldn't be surprised if we suddenly ended up as part of Turkey. To be honest, I don't care if we're with China! The most important thing is that there is no war.
"I've learnt that your life can be turned upside down in a day. And there is nothing you can do about it. We're like pawns on a chessboard. They're playing with us. Today our place is in Russia. And tomorrow? Who knows. Maybe that's for the best: if we knew, we might have a heart attack."
Across town, I meet Nadia. She is complaining to me about potholes.
"Where I live there are potholes everywhere," Nadia says. "People have been hurting their legs. I've written to the authorities asking them to do something. They haven't lifted a finger."
Nadia's disappointment extends further than pavements and roads.
"Many people here were happy, but there is disillusionment now," she tells me, "because there is no investment and salaries and pensions are small. My pension is 8000 roubles ($140; £112) a month. Just about enough to cover utility bills and the medicines I need."
I am talking to Nadia beside the statue of Ukraine's most famous 19th Century poet, Taras Shevchenko. It is Shevchenko Day and a group of twenty people have come here with flowers to mark the poet's birthday. Russian police have come, too - with cameras. They are filming everyone, including us. In Russian Crimea, public expressions of Ukrainian pride attract special attention.
Nadia is an ethnic Russian, but she is wearing a small Ukrainian flag.
"In my soul, Crimea is still part of Ukraine," Nadia tells me. "I'm here because this statue is the last symbol of Ukraine left in Crimea."
A woman called Lidiya overhears our conversation. She is furious.
"It was the Russian Empress Catherine the Great who built up Crimea," says Lidiya sternly.
"Well, if you're going to bring up history, we could go right back to the days of the Crimean khans," retorts Nadia.
"Three years ago America was planning to station soldiers in three schools in Sevastopol," she claims. "Nato troops wanted to be in Sevastopol. Crimea would have been wiped from the face of the earth."
"How do you know that?" I ask.
"I read it in the internet," she replies.
"Does that make it true?"
"If people think they live badly in Crimea today, let them go and live in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine. They will be crying to come back here."
Umer Ibragimov is desperate to find what happened to his missing son
We drive to the town of Bakhchysarai in central Crimea to meet Umer Ibragimov. Umer, a Crimean Tatar, is desperate for information about his son Ervin. In May 2016 Ervin was abducted late at night. CCTV cameras caught the moment he was seized by men in uniform and bundled into a vehicle.
"I've written to everyone asking for help," Umer tells me, "from the bottom levels right up to the president. But there has been no information about my son."
Ervin Ibragimov was a member of the executive board of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars. Since annexation, the Crimean Tatar community has come under pressure. Its elected representative body, the Mejlis, which had opposed the 2014 referendum on joining Russia, has been ruled an "extremist organisation" and banned.
Human rights group Amnesty International accuses the Russian authorities of "systematic persecution" of Crimean Tatars. This month the European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini concluded that "the rights of the Crimean Tatars have been gravely violated". Moscow denies the accusations.
Over piping hot tea, Umer tells me the story of his family. In World War Two, his father had fought in the Red Army.
"He was wounded and came home," Umer says. "Ten days later, all Crimean Tatars were deported from their homeland."
It was Josef Stalin who had ordered the deportation - an act of collective punishment and paranoia. The Soviet dictator suspected Crimean Tatars of collaborating with the Nazis. More than 230,000 people were forced on to cattle trains and transported to Central Asia.
"My mother and father told me later they'd be given just 15 minutes to gather their belongings," recalls Umer.
Umer grew up in Soviet Uzbekistan. Conscripted into the Soviet army in the late 1970s, he spent a year fulfilling his "internationalist duty" fighting in Afghanistan.
Umer looks at a photograph of his missing son.
"There is no justice," he says.
And yet this Crimean spring feels calmer than three years ago. While Russia and the West argue over sanctions, sovereignty and borders, it seems that most people here are just trying to get on with their lives, trying to adapt.
"Everything calmed down," artist Svitlana Gavrilenko says. "Everyone who used to be 'pro' something - either pro-Russia or pro-Ukraine - everybody calmed down."
Three years ago Svitlana had opposed annexation. Today her perspective has changed.
"A lot of small and medium-sized businesses fell apart after Russia came because they were all connected to Ukraine. Now they have reconnected to Russia and China. If we become a part of Ukraine again, we will need to solve all this stuff again. Everyone's life is going to be screwed up again."
In the Black Sea resort of Yalta I find the promenade packed with people enjoying a seaside stroll in the sunshine. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore mixes with jazz chords from street musicians. From the conversations, there is an overriding sense of a population desperate for peace.
"Many people in Crimea still love Ukraine," Rodion says. "Russia and Ukraine are too similar, their peoples too inter-connected to feel bad about each other."
Rodion believes "it's not completely impossible" that Crimea would one day return to Ukrainian rule.
"Nobody ever imagined it would become a part of Russia," he says, though he resents Western leaders who demand the peninsula's return. "Crimea is not just a thing to be given to one country or another. It's a place. It's the people who live here. It's history. It's many things that cannot be bought or inter-changed."
Svitlana Gavrilenko believes that the changes that took place here three years ago are irreversible.
"I don't think Russia in its modern state, with Putin at the top, could ever give Crimea back," she tells me. "They made so much effort to connect it. They suffered through all these sanctions just to have Crimea. Why would they give it back?"
• None What is Russia's end game in Crimea?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39329284
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National Archives: Payments for 'great escape' families - BBC News
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2017-03-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Files show funds originally intended for concentration camp survivors given to families of dead PoWs.
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UK
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The Foreign Office paid compensation to families of British airmen shot dead after the "great escape" in World War Two, National Archives files show.
The papers also reveal some of the £1m of West German funds - intended for concentration camp survivors - was paid to families of other dead servicemen.
But survivors of the Nazi PoW camp escape were not initially compensated.
Seventy-three of the 76 men who fled the Stalag Luft III camp in 1944 were recaptured. Fifty were later shot.
Their exploits were subsequently dramatised in the 1963 film the Great Escape, starring Steve McQueen.
Although the Federal Republic - then West Germany - had agreed to compensate victims of the concentration camps, the initial scheme only applied to people who had been living permanently in Germany, or had emigrated from there.
So Britain, along with 10 other countries, pushed for agreements to ensure their own nationals would be compensated too.
Captain Andy Whatley-Smith (left) was killed while on a mission for the SAS
The terms of the 1964 agreement between Britain and Germany were clear.
Persecution by the Nazis meant detention for reason of nationality, race, religion, or political view "in Germany or in any territory occupied by Germany in a concentration camp or in an institution where the conditions were comparable with those in a concentration camp".
It specifically excluded service personnel held in other camps - even if they'd been tortured or murdered.
"Hardships suffered in a normal civil prison civilian internment camp or prisoner of war camp do not constitute Nazi persecution nor does treatment contrary to the Geneva Convention and the rules of war, even though resulting in permanent injury or death," it said.
The files show the Foreign Office initially held to this line, fearing it could open the door to many more claims, from prisoners of war and others - and that was not what the Germans had agreed.
However, according to research by Professor Susanna Schrafstetter of the University of Vermont, the Ministry of Defence lobbied hard for the families of the 50 murdered "great escapers" to be included.
And so eventually payouts were offered by the Foreign Office to the families. These included sums of £2,293 to relatives of Flight Lieutenants Edgar Spottiswoode Humphreys, Gilbert William Walenn, John Francis Williams, and Cyril Douglas Swain.
Christopher Whatley-Smith, seen with a picture of his uncle, says compensation helped bring his family 'closure'
But this family aid was not publicised, and survivors of the Stalag Luft III escape were told they were not eligible for compensation, even though several had spent time in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
It led to a huge outcry at the time, a parliamentary inquiry, and an eventual settlement.
Foreign Office officials quietly added other cases it deemed exceptional including payments to relatives of Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Operations Executive personnel killed by the Nazis.
Captain Anthony "Andy" Whately-Smith of the SAS parachuted into occupied France in September 1944.
The 29-year-old was part of Operation Loyton, tasked with harrying the retreating Germans. At the end of October, Captain Whately-Smith was captured by German soldiers, along with fellow SAS officer Major Denis Reynolds.
They were taken to a camp in Alsace, brutally interrogated, then moved to Gaggenau in Germany where, on 25 November, with 12 other prisoners, they were shot.
According to the newly-released records, the Foreign Office wrote to his family in 1966 - 22 years later - inviting them to apply for compensation for his death as a victim of Nazi persecution.
Captain Whately-Smith had no children and had separated from his wife. His father had founded a successful prep school, Hordle House in the New Forest and the family were not in need.
The records show they eventually received just over £1,000 in compensation for their relative's death.
Captain Whately-Smith's nephew Christopher said: "The family, especially my grandfather, was greatly moved by his loss.
"The compensation meant a degree of closure - which is why they accepted it when offered."
His uncle gave the money to his own children, in premium bonds, while his father bought a small boat.
About 4,000 people applied to the Foreign Office between 1964 and 1965 for help from the £1m fund, paid for by West Germany, with a quarter of claims successful.
Jack Thorez Finken-McKay's claim was turned down because of a technicality
The latest release of National Archives files on the fund also show compensation was paid to a group of Irish-born merchant seamen, who were sent to concentration camps because they refused to work for the Germans.
They were held at the Marlag-Milag Nord camp in Germany and asked to work on railways at Bremen and at the shipyards in Hamburg.
But, being from a politically neutral country at the time, they refused to support the Nazis and were sent to the Bremen-Farge camp until their release at the end of the war.
Unusually, the compensation applications were initiated by the British government itself.
The men were initially awarded £1,000 in compensation, but were subsequently given a further £1,385.
But the papers show a British serviceman who spent two years in solitary confinement was denied compensation because of a technicality about where he had been detained.
Jack Thorez Finken-McKay, who transferred from the Royal Fusiliers to the War Office to perform special duties, said he became "a living skeleton" at the hands of the Gestapo in his letter to the Foreign Office.
He had been arrested and interrogated in France before eventually being sent to the Colditz Castle prisoner of war camp in Germany but his application was turned because the the locations where he was detained "were not Nazi concentration camps or comparable institutions".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39330693
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Alastair Campbell returns to newspapers - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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After George Osborne gets the Evening Standard job, now Alastair Campbell becomes an editor-at-large.
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Entertainment & Arts
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The appointment of Alastair Campbell seems to point towards a growing pro-Remain confidence
Alastair Campbell is returning to British newspapers as editor-at-large of The New European.
Almost a quarter of a century after he left the Daily Mirror to work for Tony Blair, Campbell will write regular columns and, like all editors-at-large, become an ambassador for the product, I have learned.
He will also commission pieces.
It was Campbell who persuaded Blair to write a high-profile front-page story for the paper.
Campbell already has a regular slot, whether a column or interview, in GQ magazine and also the International Business Times.
Last circulation figures for the weekly The New European suggest it sells more than 20,000 copies
The most interesting thing about this story isn't what it says about Campbell, who chose the paper to serialise his recent memoirs, but about the growing confidence, impact and viability of the so-called pop-up paper for the 48% of Britons who voted Remain.
The paper's editor, Matt Kelly, is winning plaudits all over the place for turning a frankly quirky experiment after last year's referendum into a print product whose subscriber base is growing as it approaches its first birthday.
Kelly won special recognition at last week's Press Awards (full disclosure: I was one of the many judges involved in the awards).
Kelly, who looks like Al Capone after a stint with Slimming World, and talks in a thick Scouse accent (he grew up in Formby) that doesn't smack of metropolitan elite, is also chief content officer of Archant, the family-owned publisher founded in 1845.
Latest circulation figures for The New European suggest it sells more than 20,000 copies. Its 48 pages are put together by a staff of about five in Norwich.
I suspect Campbell's 370,000 followers on Twitter will be hearing plenty more about The New European.
He and Kelly both know that if even one in 100 of them took out a subscription, that would be transformative for this brave little title.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39351694
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US ranchers saddle up for trade battle with Washington - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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America's rural heavily supported Donald Trump in the election, but now some are starting to worry his trade plans could hurt their business.
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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. "The export market is very important to our organisation," says cattle rancher Coleman Locke
"Tremendously important" is how rancher Coleman Locke describes the role of international trade to his cattle business.
The 72-year-old has worked on his family's 10,000-acre ranch on the Gulf Coast of Texas for his whole life and has seen his fair share of struggles in the industry, including droughts and disease.
But now he is gearing up for a new threat - the potential loss of trade deals that could cut off a huge slice of his ranch's yearly sales.
"In 2016, 25% of the breeding stock that we sold here at this ranch went out of the United States, it's a tremendously important market for us," says Mr Locke.
Coleman Locke has worked on the family ranch his whole life
He's not alone. Last year the American beef industry earned over $6bn (£4.9bn) from overseas sales. Among the biggest purchasers are Canada and Mexico, partners with the US in the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).
President Trump's promise to renegotiate Nafta and possibly place tariffs on Mexico or other US trading partners has the industry worried.
"Nafta is extremely important to us. It's one of the biggest trade deals that agriculture has ever had," says John Robinson from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA).
The beef industry is already reeling from the loss of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which President Trump withdrew from in his first week in office.
The free trade agreement with Pacific Rim countries, including many in Asia, was set to expand America's export market for beef. By some estimates, it could have added $400m in sales each year.
The US beef industry is already reeling from the loss of the Trans-Pacific Partnership
"It makes the market very nervous when they hear we aren't going to do the TPP and we are going to change Nafta," says Jennings Steen, a cattle dealer based in Austin.
Mr Steen says he and his partner have been fielding dozens of calls since President Trump's election, from ranchers desperate to know how changes to trade deals could affect their businesses. They are concerned about prices and hesitate to make long-term plans.
American suppliers particularly wanted increased access to Japan's home market, where high tariffs on US beef have made it hard to compete with suppliers from Australia who can sell beef into Japan at lower rates.
But President Trump's supporters say his experience in business will allow him to negotiate better deals for the US, focussing on bilateral agreements rather than bigger deals involving several countries.
According to Texas agriculture commissioner Sid Miller, after 22 years Nafta is in need of a "facelift".
Mr Miller was an outspoken and early supporter of President Trump. But since the election, he has spent a lot of time reassuring the ranching community that trade with Mexico won't disappear and new trade options will be opened up under the Trump administration.
Texas agricultural commissioner, Sid Miller, sat down with the BBC's Michelle Fleury in his Austin office
Mr Miller says he takes "a softer kinder approach [than Donald Trump]," stressing that Texas needs trading partners like Mexico, but also that it needs new deals with countries like China and better deals with its existing partners.
President Trump's vision for changes to Nafta has focused on ensuring more products are made in the US and he has called for tariffs on manufactured goods imported into the US from Mexico.
But such tariffs could result in retaliatory charges on US products sold into Mexico - including agricultural goods like cattle and beef.
Mr Miller is unshaken by this prospect, though. He acknowledges that US farmers produce more than the country can consume - including beef - but sees this as giving the US leverage over other trading partners.
"Agriculture is a good bargaining tool," he says. "People have to eat, they don't have to buy manufactured goods."
President Trump's relationship with the cattle industry though isn't as simple as a beef over trade.
Rural communities voted overwhelmingly in support of Mr Trump. Beef and cattle producers, like other members of the agricultural industry, would like to see the rollbacks on regulations that President Trump has promised.
"I think cattle producers and rural America, in general, are optimistic about the Trump administration," says the NCBA's John Robinson.
Within President Trump's first month, there were regulatory rollbacks that Mr Robinson calls "very encouraging". But he says he hopes the beef industry is given an equal seat to manufacturing when it comes to renegotiating Nafta.
That seat is crucial because the US produces more beef than it consumes. Without international markets, suppliers will have to reduce production or see a significant drop in prices, as the market is flooded with local beef.
There is no guarantee either that the bilateral deals President Trump has promised will be better than the ones he has walked away from.
As a part of TPP, US beef producers who currently face import duties of up to 38.5% on fresh and frozen beef entering Japan would have seen those tariffs phased out over 16 years.
Without that deal, many worry competition from countries that remained in TPP, like Australia, will increase.
For Coleman Locke on his ranch in Texas, it's too soon to worry. No deals have been struck yet and business is still good.
But if President Trump wants to claim his title as America's dealmaker in chief he's going to have to be sure he doesn't trade away this rancher's livelihood.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39238269
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Scotland 1-1 Canada - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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Steven Naismith scores the equaliser as Scotland labour to a 1-1 friendly draw with Canada at Easter Road.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Steven Naismith scored the equaliser as Scotland laboured to a friendly draw with Canada at Easter Road.
Falkirk's Fraser Aird produced a fine finish to put Canada ahead following poor defending from the hosts.
Untidy play at the other end allowed Naismith to level, the forward diverting in Tom Cairney's shot.
Neither team created much in the second half but Canada, world ranked 117, looked as likely to find a winner as their hosts in front of 9,158 fans.
Scotland are currently second-bottom of Group F going into Sunday's World Cup qualifying match against Slovenia at Hampden.
Stewart Regan, the Scottish FA chief executive, and national boss Gordon Strachan have said Sunday's fixture is a "must-win" for the nation's qualifying hopes.
With a crucial qualifier just a few days away the Scotland fans who turned out on a miserable night in the capital would have been expecting a performance against Canada that would give them hope heading into the Slovenia match on Sunday.
But on this performance there was little for the hardy few to cheer about.
The centre-back pairing of Christophe Berra and Charlie Mulgrew were opened up ever so simply time after time in the first half. Up front Chris Martin struggled to hold on to the ball with a first touch as heavy as the Easter Road surface.
In former Scotland youth players Aird and Scott Arfield the visitors had the two best players on the pitch, with Toronto-born Falkirk winger Aird, whose parents are Scottish, scoring his first international goal.
He capitalised on some calamitous defending by Lee Wallace and had several chances to add to his tally.
Burnley's Scottish-born midfielder Arfield, who has a Canadian father, went off injured late on to be replaced by Charlie Trafford.
The Canada goal after 11 minutes stunned the crowd into silence. Not that they had much to cheer about, but there were a couple of encouraging displays for Strachan's side.
With no natural right-backs in the squad, Derby County's Ikechi Anya was again given the role after playing the position in November's defeat by England. And the 29-year-old proved once again his versatility, going forward at every opportunity and attempting to link up with both Robert Snodgrass and debutant Tom Cairney.
And in Cairney, there was a player who at times showed a willingness to get forward and support his strikers. It was his shot that was turned in by Naismith for Scotland's equaliser.
Apart from a cross from Snodgrass that hit the post, there was little else for the fans to cheer about.
Anya will likely continue at right-back on Sunday and although there were appearances in the second half for John McGinn, Leigh Griffiths and Jordan Rhodes, none looked to have done enough to force their way into the starting line-up, with Rhodes passing up a late chance.
• None Substitution, Canada. Charlie Trafford replaces Scott Arfield because of an injury.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Delay in match Scott Arfield (Canada) because of an injury.
• None Attempt blocked. Jordan Rhodes (Scotland) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is blocked. Assisted by Leigh Griffiths.
• None Offside, Scotland. Robert Snodgrass tries a through ball, but Leigh Griffiths is caught offside.
• None Attempt blocked. Leigh Griffiths (Scotland) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
• None Attempt blocked. Jordan Rhodes (Scotland) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Darren Fletcher with a through ball.
• None Attempt missed. Fraser Aird (Canada) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top left corner. Assisted by Nikolas Ledgerwood.
• None Attempt missed. Leigh Griffiths (Scotland) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Barry Bannan. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39275702
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London attack: May condemns 'sick and depraved terrorist attack' - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The prime minister says people will go on with their lives as normal and Parliament will continue to meet.
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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. Theresa May: "We will never give in to terror"
The terror attack in Westminster will not stop Britons from going about their lives and such attacks are ultimately "doomed to failure", the PM has said.
Theresa May said the "sick and depraved" attack in Westminster, in which five people died, would not stop people going to work as normal or Parliament from sitting on Thursday.
Values of freedom of speech, liberty and democracy would prevail, she said.
She praised the "exceptional bravery" of the police officer who died.
Speaking outside No 10, Mrs May - who earlier chaired a meeting of the emergency response committee Cobra - said her thoughts were with the officer's relatives and those others who had been killed and injured in the "appalling incident".
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who have been affected - to the victims themselves, and their family and friends who waved their loved ones off, but will not now be welcoming them home," she said.
"For those of us who were in Parliament at the time of this attack, these events provide a particular reminder of the exceptional bravery of our police and security services who risk their lives to keep us safe.
"Once again today, these exceptional men and women ran towards the danger even as they encouraged others to move the other way."
While the details of the incident - in which a single alleged assailant in a car struck a number of pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before stabbing a police officer at the gates of the Palace of Westminster - were still emerging, she said, the UK would not be cowed.
Confirming that the terror threat level would remain at severe, she said it was no accident that Parliament had been targeted in the incident.
"These streets of Westminster - home to the world's oldest Parliament - are ingrained with a spirit of freedom that echoes in some of the furthest corners of the globe," she said.
"And the values our Parliament represents - democracy, freedom, human rights, the rule of law - command the admiration and respect of free people everywhere. That is why it is a target for those who reject those values.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Corbyn: My thoughts are with the victims
"But let me make it clear today, as I have had cause to do before, any attempt to defeat those values through violence and terror is doomed to failure."
Parliament, she insisted, would meet "as normal" on Thursday and the British public would "come together as normal".
"And Londoners - and others from around the world who have come here to visit this great city - will get up and go about their day as normal.
"They will board their trains, they will leave their hotels, they will walk these streets, they will live their lives. And we will all move forward together. Never giving in to terror. And never allowing the voices of hate and evil to drive us apart."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has also paid tribute to the police and emergency services for their response to Wednesday's attack.
"Lives have been lost and people have been seriously injured," he said.
"I want to thank the police and all the security services who did so much to keep the public, those who work in Parliament and MPs safe.
"Our thoughts are with those who suffered loss and those that have seen terrible injuries this afternoon."
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said it had been an attack on British democracy, while the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has spoken of a "sense of solidarity" felt in Scotland for people in London.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/39355473
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Olympic Games: Paris and LA 'only want 2024 Games' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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Paris and Los Angeles say they are only interested in hosting the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics - and not the 2028 Games.
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Last updated on .From the section Olympics
Paris and Los Angeles say they are only interested in hosting the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics - and not the 2028 Games.
There have been suggestions the International Olympic Committee may award both the 2024 and 2028 Games in September.
"2024 is now or never for us," co-chair Tony Estanguet told BBC Sport.
The LA 2024 committee later issued a statement saying their bid represents "the right city at this critical time".
The American city's statement added: "With all permanent venues already built and 88% public support, only LA 2024 offers the lowest-risk and truly sustainable solution for the future of the Olympic movement in 2024 and beyond."
The 2024 Games are scheduled to be awarded at September's IOC summit in Lima, Peru, with Paris the favourite to win.
"We believe we have the strongest offer but it is only available for 2024," added Estanguet. "We can't host the Games in 2028 because we don't have the project available for 2028.
"We have the guarantees, we have the public support, we have the political support, we have 95% of existing venues. This is the fourth bid from Paris and 2024 is the centenary of the Games in Paris."
• None Read more: Dan Roan blogs on the IOC's likely two-Games deal
There have been reports the losers of the 2024 bid could be awarded the following Games in 2028.
"All options are on the table, and this includes also the 2024-2028 procedure and vote," said IOC president Thomas Bach last week.
Estanguet, a three-time Olympic canoeing champion, says the bid committee has been in discussions with the IOC since the beginning of the bidding process.
He added that the bid committee has talked through the issue of 2028 with the IOC on several occasions.
Earlier this week, Eric Garcetti, the mayor of LA, warned the Americans were intent on winning the right to host the 2024 Games.
"We are competing for 2024," he told insidethegames. "Full stop. We have never contemplated anything else."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/39343954
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France election: North-east voters are in cynical mood - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Emma-Jane Kirby tests the mood of voters in the run-up to France's presidential election.
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Europe
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The forthcoming election doesn't inspire these fishermen who can't see the point of voting
To find out what French voters make of their forthcoming presidential election I am following the route of the Tour de France, testing the mood in towns along the way.
A thick barricade of black clouds has descended over Longwy in north-eastern France this morning. The sun, knowing it's beaten, has retreated so fully that at midday it already feels like dusk.
Yet, despite the lack of light, the Art Deco stained glass windows along the staircase of what used to be the administrative headquarters of the local steel industry, are quite brilliant.
"That used to be me," says Dominique Dimanche, pointing to an image of bare-chested men stoking the furnace.
"These windows were designed in homage to the men of the foundries.
"Can you believe that this is all that's left now of Longwy's history as the lynchpin of France's steel industry?"
"They've deliberately erased Longwy's history," he says. "They don't want anyone to remember what we were."
The Art Deco stained glass windows in Longwy were built as a tribute to the men working in France's steel foundries
Longwy used to be a thriving industrial town with four steel plants and factories. But at the end of the 1970s the French government announced it was ceasing production and closing all the factories.
Ironically, the building in which we are now standing houses the job centre.
"There were pretty violent riots in Longwy when the steel works closed," Philippe explains.
"Lots of the foremen became Communist councillors and for a long time we had a Communist mayor. We were known as Red Longwy."
It's clear that Longwy has never bounced back from the shock of its steel plant closures.
Shops and commerce quickly moved up the hill to the more prestigious Longwy Haut, with its classified Unesco monuments, leaving Longwy Bas, the lower part of the town, very much at the bottom of the heap.
At the side of the road leading out of Longwy a small group of protesters from local unions struggle to keep their fire alight as the hailstones batter down.
Local unions in Longwy have been protesting over low wages
Their banner reads "More Purchasing Power!". When I stop to chat to them, they all tell me they are struggling to get their salaries to stretch to the end of the month.
According to the national institute for statistics, Insee, one in seven families in this deindustrialised Moselle region are living below the poverty line of less than 1,000 euros (£870) a month.
I happen to be in town the day that the French prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve is making a visit to the town hall, which is currently in the hands of his ruling party, the PS, or Socialist Party.
A few people spill out of the bars to watch his arrival but no-one claps.
"Moron," mutters a lady stepping round the puddles in her slippers.
"What's he come for? Is he going to stop this place dying on its feet? Of course not. Neither left or right do anything here."
"I won't say for whom I'll be voting this time, because I don't think people like to hear the name. But let's just say the direction will be right. I'll definitely be going right."
Three hours drive to the south is Troyes and as I get on my bike to explore the town, I feel like I've entered a fairy tale.
Here is the glorious France of yesteryear, 16th Century timber-framed, pastel-coloured houses, narrow cobbled streets and a plethora of imposing churches.
But it's certainly an image of the country - traditional, white and Catholic - for which many people are nostalgic.
It was provincial Catholics who helped the socially conservative Francois Fillon win the primary race to become the presidential candidate for the centre-right Republican party.
When I quiz some elderly parishioners after Mass, they all admit that the question of national identity bothers them.
"It's a big subject, dear," says Dominique as she puts away her payer book.
"But I can summarise it quickly for you: national identity in France no longer exists."
Troyes has a traditional "chocolate box" feel with narrow streets and pastel-coloured buildings
It is illegal in France to hold a census based on ethnicity or religion but five minutes spent in Troyes will show you that the town is very ethnically mixed.
Several kebab and couscous restaurants sit under the eaves of the timber-framed houses alongside the bistros and patisseries.
"This is France today," laughs PE teacher Sabrina, who is taking her pupils to see a multicultural circus act at the local theatre.
"We are a country based on many different cultures."
Preserving a "national identity" has long been the discourse of the National Front (FN) but following the 2005 riots in France's poor and largely immigrant suburbs, the then interior minister, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, controversially launched a countrywide debate on national identity.
The recent attacks in Paris and Nice have pushed national identity back into the forefront of the mainstream political agenda. Most of the attackers had North African roots but were French citizens.
At Troyes' funfair, a few families are braving the rain. Salesman Karim and his care assistant wife Sarah, who wears a hijab, push their children in strollers.
"We don't know what it means to be French any more," Karim tells me bitterly.
"Because you can be born here like us, pay your taxes like us and have republican values like us but these days, when it comes to politics, there's something about us that doesn't quite stick. We are just not accepted as genetically French."
"But we are French," insists his wife.
"Just because I wear this headscarf, it doesn't mean I'm not French."
"I feel French and I am French and I'm a Muslim. And this is just as much my home as it is for Pierre, Paul or Jacques."
These cyclists laughed at the idea of voting and said there was no-one they would vote for
The sun is out as I ride along the canal at Dole, 200km (125 miles) south-east of Troyes, and fellow bikers ring their bells and wave as they pass.
On a bench, taking a pause for water, a group of five retired cycling friends laugh when I ask them for whom they'll be voting this April.
"No-one!" shout the women in unison.
"Why would we bother voting for any of these crooks?" says Micheline.
"I've voted all my life but not this time, there's no point. There's been scandal after scandal in this campaign."
"I have no wish to vote either," agrees her friend Stella. "The choice is too difficult."
Further up the bank, a group of elderly men are wondering whether they've got the energy to fish today.
I ask them if they've got the energy to go to the ballot boxes next month and they bawl me out.
"We've had empty promises all our life!" yells one. "We don't believe in politicians any more. So why vote?"
Market trader Catherine believes politicians are out of touch with how people live in towns like Dole
The wind coming from the Jura mountains is biting in the early morning as I watch the stallholders setting up at Dole's market.
Cheap clothes and plastic toys make up most of the produce. I can see no price tag anywhere more than 20 euros (£17).
"That should tell you something," says Catherine, who runs the fruit and vegetable stall.
"Everyone here gets up at the crack of dawn to eke out a living but most people's takings are way down."
"It's interesting this tour of France you're doing," she muses.
"Finding out about ordinary people. Because our millionaire politicians haven't got a clue how we live in places like this. For them, we don't even exist. Sometimes I wonder what they do all day, these bigwigs in Paris."
She looks at me curiously.
"What is the point of our politicians?" she asks me innocently as I bite into the apple.
You can hear Emma Jane Kirby's radio reports as she tours France on BBC Radio 4's PM programme
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39284234
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World Match Play: Tearful Jason Day pulls out to be with ill mother - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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An emotional Jason Day withdraws from the WGC Match Play in Texas to be with his mother who has lung cancer.
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Defending champion Jason Day broke down in tears after withdrawing from the WGC Match Play in Texas to be with his mother, who has lung cancer.
The Australian, 29, was three down after six holes of his opening match against Pat Perez when he conceded, prompting speculation he had suffered another injury.
But Day said he had found it impossible to focus on golf because of his mother Dening's illness.
"It's been very emotional," he said.
"It's been really hard to play golf this year.
"My mum's been here [the United States] for a while and she has lung cancer. At the start of the year she was diagnosed with 12 months to live.
"The diagnosis is much better being over here, she's going into surgery this Friday and it's really hard to even comprehend being on a golf course right now because of what she's going through.
"She had all the tests done in Australia and the docs said she was terminal and she only had 12 months to live and I'm glad I brought her over here because of it."
Former world number one Day, whose father died from lung cancer when he was 12 years old, added: "I've already gone through it once with my dad and I know how it feels and it's hard enough to see another one go through it as well.
"As of now I'm going to try and be back there with my mum for surgery and make sure everything goes right with her.
"Emotionally it's been wearing on me for a while and I know my mum says not to let it get to me but it really has, so I just need some time away with her to make sure that everything goes well because this has been very, very tough for me.
"I'm going to do my best and try and be there the best I can for her because she is the reason that I'm playing golf today.
"I've obviously pulled out this week because of my mum going into surgery to try and get rid of this three or four centimetre mass that's in her lungs. I'm just hoping for a speedy recovery for her and we can get this behind us and she can live a long life."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/39359530
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London attack: World leaders show solidarity - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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France, Germany and the US send messages of solidarity after the deadly attack near parliament.
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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. The Eiffel Tower turns off its lights
Leaders of countries affected by recent terror attacks have voiced solidarity with the UK after the deadly attack near the Houses of Parliament.
A lone attacker was shot dead after he used a car to run down pedestrians, killing two, and stabbed a police officer to death outside Parliament.
Leaders of France and Germany, which suffered deadly vehicle attacks last year, offered the UK their support.
The US president offered condolences and praised UK security forces.
There is a mixture of nationalities among the dead, police say, and 29 people have been treated in hospital, of whom seven are critically injured.
Among those injured by the car on Westminster Bridge are three French schoolchildren and two Romanians, while five South Koreans were hurt in the chaos that followed the attack.
In Paris, the lights of the Eiffel Tower went out from midnight (23:00 GMT) in a tribute to the victims.
President Francois Hollande expressed his "solidarity" with the British people, saying "terrorism concerns us all and France knows how the British people are suffering today".
Emergency response workers continued to work at the scene into the evening
In July last year, a man drove a lorry into pedestrians in the southern French city of Nice, killing 84 people. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country saw a lorry attack in December that killed 12 people in Berlin and was also claimed by IS, said her thoughts were "with our British friends and all of the people of London".
"I want to say for Germany and its citizens: We stand firmly and resolutely by Great Britain's side in the fight against all forms of terrorism," she added.
US President Donald Trump spoke by phone to British Prime Minister Theresa May to offer his condolences and to praise the effective response of UK security services.
Mr Trump pledged the "full co-operation and support" of the US government in bringing those responsible for the attack to justice, the White House said in a statement.
Belgium's prime minister sent a message of support as his country marked the first anniversary of the suicide bomb attacks on the Brussels airport and underground system, which killed 32 people.
"Our condolences are with those who mourn and all who are affected in London," Charles Michel tweeted. "Belgium stands with UK in fight against terror."
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement that the people of Brussels and Belgium had "suffered a similar pain and felt the support of your sympathy and solidarity".
"At this emotional time, we at the European Commission can only send that sympathy back twofold."
People in Brussels made a heart sign with their hands to remember the victims of the attacks there a year ago
Russian President Vladimir Putin also sent condolences by telegram to Mrs May, expressing support for the bereaved and wounded.
"The forces of terror are acting more and more deviously and cynically. It is clear that, in order to counteract the terrorist threat, all members of the global community must combine forces," he said.
But not all international reaction was so reserved, with some right-wing politicians suggesting that controls on immigration - or even all Muslims - was the way forward. It has subsequently emerged that the attacker was born in Britain.
The leader of Australia's One Nation party, Pauline Hanson, announced her own personal hashtag..
"It's #Pray4Muslimban. Put a ban on it, that's how you solve the problem, and then let's deal with the issues here," she said.
"We've got real problems... make sure that we do not have this religion which is really an ideology that is going to eventually cause so much havoc on our streets, not only for ourselves, but for future generations."
In France, National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who is campaigning for the French presidency, said the London attack showed the need for borders to be protected.
She told French media that security measures needed enhancing amid a rising threat from "radicalised personalities who act alone without networks", and urged countries to co-operate with each other on sharing intelligence.
Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said the London attacks justified the country's policy of refusing to take in refugees.
"I hear in Europe very often: do not connect the migration policy with terrorism, but it is impossible not to connect them," she told private broadcaster TVN24.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39360719
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Ex-football coach Barry Bennell denies 20 sex offence charges - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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Former football coach Barry Bennell pleads not guilty to 20 sexual offence charges against boys.
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UK
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Former football coach Barry Bennell has pleaded not guilty to 20 charges of historic child sexual abuse against four boys in the 1980s.
The 63-year-old appeared via videolink from prison at Chester Crown Court.
Mr Bennell had already denied eight of the offences but entered not guilty pleas again as 12 further charges were added.
He was a youth scout and junior football coach associated with a number of clubs, most notably Crewe Alexandra.
The charges include 14 counts of indecent assault, five counts of serious sexual assault and one count of attempted serious sexual assault.
The alleged offences took place between 1980 and 1987 and involved four complainants who were boys under 16 at the time.
The case was adjourned to 3 July when a hearing will take place at Liverpool Crown Court.
Judge Roger Dutton said a trial was likely to be listed for January in Liverpool.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39352080
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Germany v England: Gareth Southgate says 'island' mentality must end - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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England boss Gareth Southgate insists plans are in place to narrow the gap to Germany but says they must "get off the island and learn from elsewhere".
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Gareth Southgate prepared for his first game as permanent England manager by insisting foundations are now in place to narrow the gap on their opponents Germany - but warned the country's "island" mentality must end.
Southgate, who replaced Hodgson's successor Sam Allardyce after an unbeaten four-game run in interim charge, faces a stern test in Dortmund on Wednesday before a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley on Sunday.
The 46-year-old says plans are now in place that will put England in a position to finally catch up with the German model of consistent success.
"Some of those things have already started, such as the reform of academies and the improved focus on coaching, which is a process they went through," said Southgate.
"We've probably got some work to do in terms of the way they have a connection between the DFB (the German football association) and the Bundesliga that is immensely strong. There is an opportunity for the young German players to play in that league - there is a real buy-in on that, partly because of the ownership model of the clubs.
"To highlight the difference, they postponed the start of the Bundesliga because they got a team in the Olympics. We can't even get a team in the Olympics. That is the collaboration they have."
However, he added: "We are different. We have to get off the island and learn from elsewhere. We have some great strengths and if we couple those with some other traits we could be more powerful than anybody, but we have a lot of work to get to that point."
Southgate also admitted the lack of recent major football success for England was the "missing piece" in the country's sporting portfolio.
"I'm not sure we've always looked at ourselves in the mirror as closely as we should, that's what we need as a football nation," he added.
"We've had success in every other sport in our country.
"It's probably the hardest one to succeed in - and if we do succeed it's the one that will have the most impact on our country and on the people."
Germany midfielder Lewis Holtby, now at SV Hamburg after playing for Tottenham and Fulham in the Premier League, agreed the Football Association has embarked on the mission to catch up and said England's "time will come".
"The youth system in Germany is the best in the world. The training, the managers, the facilities, all of that was very good when I was coming through and now it's improved even more," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
"In England, the FA is definitely improving. You can see how many young players there are in the national team, how many prospects coming through with a lot of talent. There is [Manchester United striker] Marcus Rashford, [Tottenham's] Dele Alli is the future of England's midfield and [Tottenham striker] Harry Kane has been top of the Premier League scoring charts.
"But Germany have always been ahead at being ready for tournaments, knowing when to be ready. All praise to the German FA for the very good work they have done over the years on that."
He added: "I read a lot about people in England looking to the German youth system with big eyes, hoping to be like them - but the FA looks like it's trying to find its own way.
"Their time will come. If they keep progressing this way they should have no problems."
Southgate, a firm admirer of the German system, added: "We can learn from their mentality. When we've played German teams they just have that belief in the way they play.
"I'm watching Gary Cahill on the ball now and he has got that belief and confidence from the way he has been asked to play this year.
"You are working in a different system and opening your mind. Gary working with Antonio Conte at Chelsea reminds me of what [former England boss] Terry Venables gave me as a player, just stretching you into different challenges and doing things that improve you.
"We won't get there overnight but I think we've got players who are able to do that."
Chelsea defender Cahill, who will captain England against Germany in the absence of Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney and played in the game in Berlin, says his team will not be intimidated by the world champions.
"I am certainly respectful of the history of what they have done, but man for man I'm confident in the squad we've got and the players we have when I'm going out to face them," said the 31-year-old.
And how can the gap to Germany's model of consistent success finally be closed?
"That is probably the golden question isn't it?" Cahill said. "To develop, young players have to play as much football as they can at club level and play in massive, important games - play cup finals or win leagues. That will happen.
"The more experiences they go through - good and bad - will bring them on as players and characters.
"One thing for me is having the ability and the other is having the experience. This happens over time."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39347434
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Ronnie Moran: Former Liverpool captain and coach dies, aged 83 - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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Former Liverpool captain and coach Ronnie Moran, who spent nearly five decades at the club, dies at the age of 83.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Former Liverpool captain and coach Ronnie Moran has died at the age of 83.
Moran made 379 appearances for Liverpool between 1952 and 1966 and was the club's longest-serving employee when he retired in 1998.
He joined the coaching staff in 1966 and twice filled in as caretaker manager - after Kenny Dalglish's resignation in 1991 and following Graeme Souness' heart surgery in 1992.
His son confirmed he had passed away on Wednesday after a short illness.
Moran worked under nine different managers during his time in the dugout.
He famously led Liverpool out at Wembley in the 1992 FA Cup final while caretaker manager while Souness was recovering from surgery.
The Crosby-born defender won 44 trophies during nearly five decades with the club.
A left-back in his playing days, Moran signed for Liverpool as a schoolboy in 1949 before turning professional in 1952 and making his debut in November that year. He was club captain when Bill Shankly was appointed manager in December 1959.
Moran was a key part of the side that won the Football League First Division title in 1963-64 and made his final first-team appearance in the 1964-65 European Cup semi-final against Inter Milan.
After being offered a role on the backroom staff by Bill Shankly in the pre-season of the 1966-67 season, Moran was involved as the Reds won 11 league titles and four European Cups.
Working under Shankly, Moran was known as one of the 'Bootroom Boys' alongside Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Kenny Dalglish and Reuben Bennett.
Former Liverpool manager and player Kenny Dalglish - who arrived at Anfield in 1977 and worked alongside Moran for many years - spoke of his admiration for him.
"The success we enjoyed during that period is something that we are all able to look back on with immense fondness and pride," he told the club website.
"But it should never be forgotten that without people like Ronnie it would not have been possible for us to achieve as much as we did.
"In fact, even after he left the club right up until the present day, the club have continued to feel the benefits of the groundwork he laid though his sheer talent and passion.
"My respect and my admiration for him are absolute and there are countless others who feel the same way."
'One of the greats of Liverpool'
Moran was assistant to Roy Evans during much of his spell as manager of the club.
Evans told BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast: "I joined in 1964 and he was playing in those days, then he became a coach. He was one of those guys, Mr Liverpool.
"Any player will tell you they've had a spat with Ronnie. He'd be the first to tell you off and the first to be on your side to become a better player. He will be remembered with great love and affection. Ronnie Moran is one of the greats of Liverpool."
Former Liverpool midfielder Ray Houghton described Moran as "a key member" of successful coaching teams at the club.
"He would have done anything for the club," Houghton told BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast.
"I learned so much from him and he nurtured so many good players. A very humble man and a very honest one."
Peter Reid, who appeared in 13 Merseyside derbies for Everton during the 1980s, told the Everton website: "I'm devastated. Ronnie was a good football man who had a wicked sense of humour.
"One of my best memories of him were the derbies, which as we all know, are fiery affairs.
"One year, they beat us at Anfield and as I was walking off the pitch, Ronnie came over to me and said: 'Hey lad, you played well'. Let's just say I gave him an Anglo-Saxon response!
"The following year we beat them at Anfield and I couldn't see Ronnie in the tunnel so I marched straight into the boot room, found him, and said: 'Unlucky, you played well'.
"I got the same Anglo-Saxon response!
"Ronnie knew the game inside out. He was a warm man. The best compliment I can pay him is that he was a proper Scouser."
Current Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson said Moran was "as humble and down to earth as anyone".
"The reason being captain of Liverpool Football Club is such a huge honour is because legendary figures like Ronnie Moran held it before I did," Henderson wrote in a tribute on Wednesday.
"I wasn't lucky enough to work with Ronnie but I had the great fortune of being in his company on the occasions when he came to Melwood to walk around the training pitch.
"And although we all regarded him as a true great, he was as humble and down to earth as anyone you could ever come across.
"I know I speak for all of the current players when I say that we are all deeply saddened by Ronnie's passing.
"The greatest tribute we can pay to him is to give everything we've got for Liverpool Football Club just as he did each and every single day during the 49 years he spent here."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39350805
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Holyrood vote not in doubt - but what happens next? - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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With the support of the Scottish Greens, the SNP will win the vote calling for a second referendum. But the unionist parties are confident there is no great public demand for another vote - other than among people who are already committed nationalists.
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Scotland politics
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Nicola Sturgeon said she was "frustrated" by her talks with Theresa May in Glasgow on Monday
This afternoon the Scottish Parliament will resume their debate on a Scottish independence referendum.
The debate was suspended and the vote delayed last Wednesday as news reached the chamber of the terror attack in Westminster. Today they will pick up where they left off.
The result of the vote this evening is not in any doubt. With the support of the Scottish Greens, the SNP will win the vote calling for a second referendum.
They will then claim that the prime minister must not stand in the way of the democratically expressed will of the Scottish Parliament.
But the other opposition parties - the Tories, Labour and Lib Dems - all believe that the will of the parliament does not match the will of the people.
Scottish voters don't want another referendum, they argue, and they are convinced public opinion is on their side.
It used to be received wisdom in Scottish politics that if Westminster tried to deny a Scottish referendum it could easily backfire and stir up support for independence.
In general, independence supporters want another referendum while No voters do not
But the unionist parties are confident there is no great public demand for another vote - other than among people who are already committed nationalists.
Opinion polls suggest people are split fairly evenly, about 50/50, on whether they want another vote. And it tends to be Yes supporters who say yes to another referendum and No voters who say no, not now.
The great divide in Scottish politics over the question of independence may only be solidified by this current debate over whether to re-run the 2014 referendum.
Nicola Sturgeon will argue that this is now a great constitutional struggle in which the Scottish Parliament is battling with Westminster.
Tories say Ms Sturgeon is just playing a well rehearsed game, one in which she puts forward a proposal she knows will be rejected by Westminster and then responds with righteous indignation.
And we are about to see that happen once again. The first minster will soon send a letter to 10 Downing Street demanding another referendum.
No 10 will reply to say they are not prepared to talk about it at this time. The prime minister made that clear when she met Nicola Sturgeon in Glasgow yesterday, when she said it was more important to pull together and get the best Brexit deal for the whole of the UK.
The big question, the big calculation for both sides, is how many Scottish voters will then share the SNP's inevitable outrage about being denied another referendum.
Some will. Others will breathe a huge sigh of relief that they don't have to live through another campaign. At least not yet.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-39351980
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Has this dress been to more countries than you? - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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We track a single item of clothing to see just where it goes before it ends up in the shop.
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Business
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This Zara dress had been to at least five countries before it ended up on a shop hanger
"Made in Morocco" says the label on the pink Zara shirt dress.
While this may be where the garment was finally sewn together, it has already been to several other countries.
In fact, it's quite possible this piece of clothing is better travelled than you. If it was human, it would have certainly journeyed far enough to have earned itself some decent air miles.
The material used to create it came from lyocell - a sustainable alternative to cotton. The trees used to make this fibre come mainly from Europe, according to Lenzing, the Austrian supplier that Zara-owner Inditex uses.
These fibres were shipped to Egypt, where they were spun into yarn. This yarn was then sent to China where it was woven into a fabric. This fabric was then sent to Spain where it was dyed, in this case pink. The fabric was then shipped to Morocco to be cut into the various parts of the dress and then sewn together.
After this, it was sent back to Spain where it was packaged and then sent to the UK, the US or any one of the 93 countries where Inditex has shops.
From dresses to t-shirts and trousers, most items of clothing sold around the world will have had similarly complicated journeys.
In fact, they're likely to be even more convoluted.
Most Inditex garments are made close to its Spanish headquarters or in nearby countries such as Portugal, Morocco and Turkey.
This is what helps the firm achieve its famously fast reaction times to new trends.
Most of its rivals' supply chains are far less local.
Regardless of where they're based, most factories are not owned by the fashion brands that use them. Instead, they're selected as official suppliers. Often these suppliers subcontract work to other factories for certain tasks, or in order to meet tight deadlines.
Your cotton top may well have started out in a field in Texas before criss-crossing the globe
This system can make tracking the specific origins of a single item difficult. I contacted several big clothing brands including H&M, Marks and Spencer, Gap and Arcadia Group last week to give me a sample example of the journey of a t-shirt in their basic range from seed to finished product.
Only Inditex was able to respond in time to meet the deadline for this article.
"I imagine companies don't want to respond because they have no clue where the materials they buy come from," says Tim Hunt, a researcher at Ethical Consumer, which researches the social, ethical and environmental behaviour of firms.
The difficulties were highlighted devastatingly by the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster where more than 1,100 people were killed and 2,500 injured when the Bangladesh garment factory collapsed.
In some cases, brands weren't even aware their clothes were being produced there.
The #whomademyclothes campaign encourages customers to put pressure on fashion firms to be more open about their suppliers
According to the "Behind the Barcode" report by Christian Aid and development organisation Baptist World Aid Australia, only 16% of the 87 biggest fashion brands publish a full list of the factories where their clothes are sewn, and less than a fifth of brands know where all of their zips, buttons, thread and fabric come from.
Non-profit group Fashion Revolution, formed after the Rana Plaza factory collapse, is leading a campaign to try to force firms to be more transparent about their supply chains.
Every year, around the time of the disaster it runs a #whomademyclothes campaign encouraging customers to push firms on this issue.
Fashion Revolution co-founder and creative director Orsola de Castro says the mass production demands of the fashion industry and the tight timescales required to get products from the catwalks on to the shelves as quickly as possible means the manufacturing processes have become "very, very chaotic".
"The amount of manpower which goes into the production of a t-shirt - even at the sewing level, it goes through so many different hands. On their standard products most brands wouldn't know the journey from seed to store," she says.
While newer and smaller fashion brands are creating products with 100% traceability, she says it's a lot harder for the established giants.
"It's a big and complex issue to turn around and would require a massive shift in attitude."
Pietra Rivoli travelled from the US to China and Africa to track the journey of a single $6 t-shirt
Yet just over a decade ago, Pietra Rivoli had no problems tracking the journey of a single $6 cotton t-shirt she'd picked out of a sale bin in a Walmart in Florida.
Starting with the tag at the back of the t-shirt, she tracked its journey backwards from the US "step by step along the supply chain".
"A shoe leather project," is how Prof Rivoli describes her journey, which resulted in a book, The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy.
As a teacher of finance and international business at Georgetown University in Washington, Prof Rivoli wanted to investigate her assumption that free trade benefited all countries.
Pietra Rivoli says the current backlash against global trade is linked to political interference
Her travels took her from the cotton-growing region of Lubbock in Texas to China, where the t-shirt was sewn together. Eventually, she ended up in Tanzania on the east coast of Africa, which has a thriving second-hand clothing market.
Her assumption was that the complicated supply chain was driven by cost and market forces.
She concluded that a lot of brands' decisions about where to buy supplies and make their clothing was actually driven by politics. She cites US agricultural subsidies for cotton growers and China's migration policies encouraging workers to move from the countryside as examples.
"Rather than a story of how people were competing - how do I make a faster T-shirt, a better T-shirt, a cheaper T-shirt - what I found is that the story of the T-shirt and why its life turned out the way it did was really about how people were using political power," she says.
The current backlash against global trade is a direct result of this kind of political interference, she believes.
This kind of consumer anger could eventually drive change among fashion firms, she says. Prof Rivoli notes that many firms now list all their direct suppliers and she says there is a move towards developing fewer, longer term supplier relationships.
"There might be a little less hopping around," she laughs.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39337204
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Reality Check: Is lack of cash making women work past 70? - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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The proportion of women working into their 70s has doubled in the past four years, to 11%.
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Business
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The claim: The increase in women working in their 70s is because some of them can't afford to retire.
Reality Check verdict: Although some women keep working out of choice, it is also likely that others are doing so because increased life expectancy and an inadequate pension pot means they don't have enough money to retire on.
The proportion of women working into their 70s has doubled in the past four years, to 11%, according to official figures.
That works out as about 150,000 women still working into their mid-70s.
Although the growth has been strong, there is still a higher proportion of men working into their 70s, at 15.5%.
But are some women continuing to work later in life because they want to, or because they cannot afford to retire?
Life expectancy has been steadily climbing in the UK, and a woman who was 65 in 2015 could expect to live a further 20.9 years, on average, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
A longer life expectancy is, of course, good news, but also means this generation requires a higher level of savings to cover living expenses, not to mention possible care costs.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation puts the minimum income standard for pensioners at £186.77 a week - the equivalent of £9,712 a year.
But a pensioner retiring after April 6 this year and relying purely on their state pension will have an income of £8,300 per year - £1,400 less than the Joseph Rowntree estimate.
This means retirees also need to have built up their own pension pot.
A survey from the pension provider Aegon suggests the average woman has less than half of the retirement savings an average man has.
It also indicated the average woman hoped to retire at 64, compared with 65 for men.
There are a number of factors behind this disparity.
Women have a higher life expectancy than men, and on average earn less over the course of their working lifetimes as they are more likely to have taken time out from work for caring responsibilities.
What's more, one in three women currently earns less than £10,000, which is the threshold at which they are eligible for automatic enrolment into a private pension scheme.
Changes to the state pension age have also played a part.
Until 1995, women expected to draw their state pensions at 60; men at 65.
But changes made by the 1995 Pensions Act meant the pension ages of both men and women would be 65 by 2020.
In 2011, this changed again, meaning some women born between April 1951 and 1960 are now facing a pension age of 66.
The Cridland Report on the state pension age is due out on Thursday.
Action group Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) was set up to campaign for transitional arrangements for women born in the 1950s who have been negatively affected by changes in state pension law.
The group says hundreds of thousands of women are suffering from financial hardship as a result of the changes, with not enough time to re-plan for their retirement.
• None The women still working into their 70s
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39356408
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Jake Livermore: West Brom midfielder wants to make people 'proud' after England call - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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West Brom midfielder Jake Livermore wants to make people proud after overcoming personal difficulties to earn an England recall.
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West Brom midfielder Jake Livermore wants to make proud the people who helped him through difficult times after earning an England recall.
The 27-year-old won his only cap in August 2012 against Italy but has had some dark days since then.
After the death of his newborn son Jake Junior, he tested positive for cocaine in May 2015 but avoided a two-year ban and has gone on to rebuild his career.
"I wouldn't have thought it would come, it was in my distant dreams," he said.
"I never thought I'd have the opportunity to represent my country again. The longer it goes, the harder it seems to get.
"To be honest it wasn't overly in my thoughts, it was more just wanting to get back into club football and put a positive spin on my career, for my friends, for my family and those who stuck by me - the FA among them.
"Hopefully I can do myself, my country and them proud.
"Having this opportunity to repay them in any way, shape or form is like a dream for me."
Livermore was a surprise inclusion in Gareth Southgate's squad to face Germany in a friendly on Wednesday and Lithuania in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday.
He said he got his career back on track after his personal tragedy with the support of then Hull City manager Steve Bruce.
He said in an interview with Football Focus last year that his positive test for cocaine was the "get out of jail free card" he needed to start to come to terms with the death of his son.
The Football Association decided not to ban him because of "the unique nature of circumstances" involved.
He helped Hull win promotion to the Premier League last season before earning a £10m January move to West Brom and wants to be there for others in the future.
"Football always helped me very much because it was a platform for me to propel my life, really," he added. "Everyone has their own story and everyone will be opened up to different opportunities or temptations.
"When people need you, like I needed someone, I want to be a person who can help someone else.
"It's nice to be able to help someone and give something back because when I really needed it I was fortunate to have that with the FA and my club."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39343959
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What really makes Bear Grylls afraid? - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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Everyone has to tackle their fears. Adventurer Bear Grylls explains how he tackles his own self-doubt.
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Business
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Bear Grylls might be confident about climbing mountains, wrestling alligators and challenging the wilderness to do its venomous worst - but there's one thing that fills him with horror.
"We all have fears. People say, 'You can't have any fears', but I'm scared of so many things," says the man who has what must be the best ever job description, of "adventurer".
"I'm really bad at cocktail parties with lots of people I don't know. I really genuinely am."
Maggots and steep rock faces are less daunting to him than unarmed combat with canapes and small talk.
Speaking at an international education conference, Grylls says he lacked confidence as a youngster and describes his own approach to tackling fear and those nagging self-doubts.
"I've learned that the best way over our fears is right bang through the middle. It really is. The only way you don't see the fear is when you're right on it.
"I've learned this the hard way. It's how I deal with it now," he said at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai.
Climbing Everest became a focus for the adventurer's recovery from back injuries
He says he is also "really nervous" of jumping out of aeroplanes, which is understandable since in his 20s he broke his back in three places in a parachuting accident in Africa.
His recovery from this injury became the springboard for his later ambitions - setting the target of climbing Everest and giving him the fire in his belly to make the most of this "second chance" in life.
"It was definitely a dark time after that accident.
"My over-riding emotion was that I really have got lucky. I should either be dead or paralysed. There's got to be some purpose behind this. Life has given me a second chance.
"I might be a bit crook and a bit scarred, but I'm OK and I'm really going to claw my way back - and I really want to do something with my life.
"Sometimes in life it takes a knock to remember what we really value."
There probably isn't a pamphlet in the careers office for people wanting to become adventurers.
But Grylls has a straightforward explanation for the path he took - and the occupational hazard of constantly putting himself in danger.
"It's the only thing I'm good at. I'm not saying that out of modesty, it really is. It's my job, it's what I really love. It's what over the years I've become half-decent at."
And he says the parachute accident was another spur to improve and get things right in split-second decisions.
When his parachute was failing to function properly and he was spinning to the ground, he says he wasn't thinking about his life flashing before his eyes - instead he was trying to sort out the parachute.
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.
But he "ran out of time and hit the ground very hard" and says that, in retrospect, he should have used those seconds to use the reserve chute.
"I made a promise to myself on that hospital bed that I was going to become the fastest-thinking, the quickest-reaction dude out there. Now I really take pride that I'm good in those moments. But these are skills we develop."
"Sometimes in life it takes a knock to remember what we really value"
He is famous for his survival skills. But he says the first inhospitable terrain he had to conquer was his own lack of self-confidence.
"I wasn't very good at school - and I struggled a lot with confidence," says the Eton-educated adventurer.
But he says such early struggles can be better preparation than success coming too easily.
"The great people I know in life often struggled at school, because it was the struggle that developed their strength."
His descriptions are also punctuated by an awareness of the small margins between success and failure - and life and death.
When he talks about the last exhausting phase of climbing Everest, he describes coming across the body of another climber he had known, Rob Hall, who had died on the mountain two years before.
"I remember just sitting next to Rob, still perfectly there, his hair blowing, as if I could nudge him and he'd stand up and be fine.
"I desperately needed something to give me strength - and he is such a hero of mine. I just remember this panic filling me - there are a lot of bodies on the mountain, but this was different - we were so close, but now so far away."
He pushed on and became one of the youngest climbers to get to the summit of Everest.
And he says he brought back some snow from the summit and kept it as a liquid symbol of conquering his self-doubt.
Bear Grylls says young people need some risk in their lives
Grylls's popularity as a TV presenter has been based on his Boy's Own adventures in the world's wild places. It's in contrast to the worries about young people spending too long in front of screens, missing out on exercise and stressing over social media.
He says young people need to see the outdoor world and to experience risk in their lives to build a spirit of adventure and curiosity.
"If you strip risk out of young people's lives, you kill that spirit. Risk is all around us - and you empower kids if you teach them how to manage that risk."
And he says it's the shy and under-confident youngsters he wants to encourage most.
"The rewards in life don't always go to the biggest or the bravest, the cleverest, or even the best," he tells them.
"The rewards in life go to the dogged and the determined, to the tenacious, those who get back on their feet when they get kicked."
He's prepared for numbingly cold temperatures and the threats of hungry predators.
Just don't try and ambush him with a cocktail sausage and a conversation about the traffic.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39334917
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Republic of Ireland v Wales: James McClean shirt tribute to friend Ryan McBride - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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Republic of Ireland midfielder James McClean is to wear the number five shirt against Wales in memory of Derry City skipper Ryan McBride.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Coverage: Live on S4C, live commentary on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, plus live text commentary
James McClean is expected to wear the number five shirt for the Republic of Ireland against Wales in memory of Derry City captain Ryan McBride.
West Brom midfielder McClean used to play for Derry and was a friend of McBride, who died on Sunday aged 27.
McClean is to be excused from training with Martin O'Neill's squad to attend McBride's funeral in Derry on Thursday.
The Republic, who lead Group D in World Cup qualifying, face Wales at Dublin's Aviva Stadium on Friday evening.
McClean is expected to play some part in the match, despite not starting regularly at club level.
Central defender Richard Keogh, who usually wears number five, is understood to have agreed to McClean's request to wear the shirt.
Republic assistant manager Roy Keane said he was not concerned about McClean being ready for the important qualifier.
"James McClean not having played regularly does not keep me awake at night," said Keane.
"The assurance I get is what he does for Ireland, whether he is having a good or bad time at club level.
"I have to say, that goes for a lot of our players."
The Republic of Ireland lead their qualifying group with 10 points from four games, Serbia have eight points with Wales in third on six.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39351392
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Is inflation all down to Brexit? - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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The rise in prices is down to a lot of factors - but the fall in the value of sterling is important.
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Business
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Slowing real income growth could be a challenge for the Prime Minister
It was Harry S Truman who famously pleaded for a one handed economist, so tired was he of proponents of the dismal science saying "well, on the one hand, sir... but on the other..."
Sadly for the 33rd President of the United States, you would need a lot of hands to explain today's surprisingly rapid increase in inflation.
Rising global commodity prices are pushing up inflation pressures around the world.
As global growth strengthens, that upward pressure is likely to increase.
In 2015 and early 2016, we saw a period of deflation - falling prices - in key sectors such as fuel and clothing, so the rise now (in comparison with a year ago) is particularly stark.
More recently, poor weather in southern Europe has meant that foods such as salad have increased in price by over 60%.
Although, as Alan Clarke from Scotia Bank, points out, "the lettuce crisis didn't cause today's big upwards surprise."
Prices for lettuce and other vegetables rose as supermarkets were forced to ration them
What did were increases in the prices of food (the first year-on-year rise for more than two years), fuel and what are described as "recreational" goods (such as televisions and laptops).
These increases can all be linked, at least in part, to the cost of importing goods into the UK.
And a large part of that increase in cost comes from the fall in the value of sterling since the referendum.
Although it is always worth pointing out that sterling's fall was evident before the referendum (many economists argue it was over-valued) and that the dollar has been particularly strong as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates.
Will the increase in inflation continue and put pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates?
Well, input prices - what manufacturers pay for the materials and fuel they use - are rising by over 20% a year, the fastest since 2008.
And those costs will increasingly be pushed through to consumers.
So in the medium term, inflation is on an upward trajectory and could peak above the Bank's own forecast of 2.7% in the first three months of next year.
But, and it is a significant but, wage growth (a long-term motor of inflation) is actually slowing.
Last month, incomes grew by 2.3%, significantly down on a month earlier and the same number as today's inflation figure.
Yes, it is only one month's data, but as it stands, real income growth has stalled and groups such as the Resolution Foundation believe it will now turn negative.
The great wages squeeze which followed the financial crisis could well have returned.
And that is a worry for Theresa May, as I wrote last week.
Given that trend, the dovish position of the Bank is likely to remain in place.
Yes, the markets have upped their expectations of a rate rise, but the Bank has been clear: a cut to support economic growth as the UK begins its Brexit negotiations is as likely as an increase.
And any increase, if it were to come, is likely to be small.
Which is bad news for savers, of course.
It would be ridiculous to say that Brexit is not affecting the UK's course on inflation.
But it is not the whole story. To tell that, you need plenty of hands.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39339834
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Kell Brook to defend welterweight title against Errol Spence Jr at Bramall Lane - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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IBF world welterweight champion Kell Brook will defend his title against American Errol Spence Jr at Bramall Lane, Sheffield on 27 May.
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Last updated on .From the section Boxing
IBF world welterweight champion Kell Brook will defend his title against American Errol Spence Jr at Bramall Lane in Sheffield on Saturday 27 May.
Brook, 30, has not fought since he was defeated by middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin in September - his first professional defeat in 37 fights.
Brook claimed the IBF belt beating Shawn Porter in August 2014 and will be aiming for his fourth title defence.
"I'm so excited about this fight and to make history in my city," said Brook.
"It's long been a dream of mine to fight outdoors at Bramall Lane and I'm pleased to do that in the biggest fight in the welterweight division.
"All I've ever wanted to do is to give the fans the fights they want and they have it right here on May 27.
"I'm going to show the world that I'm the best welterweight on the planet and I'm going to do it right before my people's eyes."
After jumping up two weight divisions to face Golovkin, Sheffield United fan Brook has elected to return to welterweight and face mandatory challenger Spence, 27.
American Spence, unbeaten in 21 professional bouts with 18 knockout victories, said: "I'm happy I'm finally getting an opportunity to accomplish a lifelong dream of becoming a World champion.
"This is one of the best and biggest fights in world boxing and I am 100% focused and determined to bring the belt back home to the USA.
Brook's promoter Eddie Hearn called it "one of the best fights in world boxing".
He added: "It's 'The Special One' vs 'The Truth', a historic event at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane - we are planning an unforgettable night."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/39355917
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British & Irish Lions: England's Eddie Jones suggests four-man plan for Lions captaincy - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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Eddie Jones says the British and Irish Lions should name four captains - one from each of their four national teams.
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Eddie Jones says the British and Irish Lions should name four captains for the tour of New Zealand - one from each of their four national teams.
Lions head coach Warren Gatland has said "half-a-dozen players are in contention" to lead his squad.
England's Dylan Hartley, Ireland's Rory Best, Wales' Alun Wyn Jones and Greig Laidlaw of Scotland are among those.
"I would take those four captains and make that the leadership group," England coach Jones said.
"Then after the warm-up games, whoever was the leading player I would make captain for the first Test," added the Australian, speaking at ESPN's Advertising Week Europe business event in London.
"You look at the last Lions tour and Sam Warburton captained the first two and Alun Wyn Jones captained the third, so I think you can separate it.
"It would be different but I would reckon you would get a great result, with those four captains running the team for you and making sure they set the standards on and off the field."
New Zealander Gatland will name his squad on 19 April, and on Sunday said whoever is picked as captain would not be guaranteed to play.
"When you are looking at a captain, you want to be reasonably confident he is going to be starting in the Tests. But it is not a guarantee, it is just part of the criteria," he told BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek programme.
"Whoever that person is has to rise to that; the message is it's a great honour to captain the Lions but your form has to be good enough to be selected for the Tests."
• None Get all the latest rugby union news by adding
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39347452
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Martin McGuinness' IRA past in Derry - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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Martin McGuinness was a senior commander within the Provisional IRA for many years, reports BBC NI's Vincent Kearney.
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Northern Ireland
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Martin McGuinness carries the coffin at an IRA funeral in 1985
No-one knows how many people Martin McGuinness killed, directly or indirectly.
As a senior commander within the Provisional IRA for many years, there is no doubt there was blood on his hands.
It is known that he was second in command of the IRA in Derry when members of the Parachute Regiment shot dead 13 civilians in the city on Bloody Sunday in January 1972.
Security sources say he went on to become chief of staff of the organisation from the early 1980s right through until the end of the IRA's campaign of violence.
That meant he was also a member of its ruling 'army council', which decided its overall strategy and tactics, and would have approved operational policy.
Security sources say Martin McGuinness became IRA chief of staff in the early 1980s
But his only conviction for terrorist activity was for possession of weapons and explosives in the Republic of Ireland's Special Criminal Court in 1973.
"There is no doubt Martin McGuinness was a key figure within the IRA for almost all of the Troubles, and therefore was responsible for many of its actions, but the fact is there wasn't enough evidence to put him before a court to convict him," says one former senior security source.
"As chief of staff of the organisation for a long period of time he was responsible for its strategic direction and the tempo of its operational activities, so he clearly bore a lot of responsibility for what happened on his watch.
"But while there will be many claims now about what he did, and who and how many he may have killed, it's impossible to be definitive."
However, several well-placed security sources agree that Martin McGuinness would have had advanced knowledge of virtually every Provisional IRA attack in his home city of Derry after he was appointed chief of staff.
"The bottom line is that nothing happened in Derry without Martin knowing about it," says one.
"He wouldn't have been involved in planning every attack, but he would have been told what was planned. If he didn't object, the attack went ahead. If he objected, it didn't. It was that simple, he had a veto."
The Coshquin checkpoint where Patsy Gillespie and five soldiers died
One of the attacks police sources have claimed Martin McGuinness authorised was one of the most notorious of the Troubles.
In October 1990, Patsy Gillespie, a Catholic who worked in a local army base, was taken from his home and strapped into a van containing 1,000lbs of explosives.
Labelled a "collaborator" by the IRA, he was told to drive the van to an army checkpoint at Coshquin near the border, while his family was held hostage.
When he reached his destination, Mr Gillespie was not given time to escape. The bomb was detonated by remote control, killing him and five soldiers.
"Given the way Martin McGuinness controlled the IRA in Derry at that time, it is inconceivable that he would not have had prior knowledge about such an attack because of its scale and the huge public outcry the IRA would have known would follow," says another former senior security source.
"He may not have drawn up the plan, but he would have known, and could have intervened to stop it."
The family of a Derry man shot dead by the IRA as an alleged informer in 1986 have consistently claimed Martin McGuinness was responsible for luring him to his death.
Frank Hegarty had fled to England after becoming aware that the IRA believed he was an informer.
His mother and other family members have said Martin McGuinness later visited their home and gave a personal assurance that he would be safe if he came and met the IRA.
A short time after the meeting he was found shot in the back of the head.
A tape containing his interrogation and admissions that he had worked as an informer was later delivered to the Hegarty home.
Martin McGuinness consistently rejected the family's version of events, and insisted that he told them Frank Hegarty should not meet the IRA if he was an informer.
A former senior security source familiar with Martin McGuinness's career within the IRA said that over the years he had transformed from one its most militant leaders to a restraining influence.
"In his early days, Martin was a fairly hot-headed young revolutionary who helped drive the IRA to be more aggressive and active," he says.
"But in the latter years of the Troubles, as the republican movement moved from violence to politics, he was a calming and restraining influence who definitely saved lives because he stopped things happening."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-39341862
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Chinu Sandhu: Four-year drugs ban for Commonwealth Games medallist - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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British wrestler Chinu Sandhu, who won Commonwealth bronze in 2014, is banned for four years after failing a drugs test.
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Last updated on .From the section Sport
British wrestler Chinu Sandhu, who won Commonwealth bronze in 2014, has been banned for four years after failing an out-of-competition drugs test.
Sandhu, 29, who competed in the 125kg men's freestyle, tested positive for an anabolic steroid in September.
"It is sad that his reputation within the sport has been tainted because of his own actions," UK Anti-Doping chief executive Nicole Sapstead said.
British Wrestling said the news was "extremely disappointing".
A BBC State of Sport investigation into doping in amateur sport led to UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) saying drug use at every level of sport is "fast becoming a crisis".
Sandhu argued he had not acted intentionally and that the positive sample had resulted from taking a contaminated supplement.
"Athletes are solely responsible for any substance which is found in their system, regardless of whether there is an intention to cheat or not," Sapstead added.
"No-one can ever guarantee that a supplement is free from prohibited substances and taking them will always carry an element of risk."
Sandhu's ban has been backdated to start from 14 October 2016, meaning it will run until October 2020.
"It is extremely disappointing news - for the athlete and the sport," added British Wrestling Association chief executive Colin Nicholson.
"The sport is working with Ukad to make sure that athletes are educated in anti-doping.
"The British Wrestling Association has a zero tolerance approach to doping in sport and believes in wrestling clean."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/39350734
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Montserrat celebrates its Irish roots - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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Gemma Handy speaks to Montserratians about their Irish roots and why they celebrate St Patrick's Day.
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Latin America & Caribbean
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Giant puppets made an appearance at the St Patrick's Day parade
Ask Joe Sweeney about his Irish heritage and he is only too happy to share the snippets of trivia gleaned from family lore.
Perched on the edge of a grave in Montserrat's historic Carr's Bay cemetery, his fingers reverently trace the engraved words just visible on the aged tombstone.
This St Patrick's Day pilgrimage to the final resting place of his paternal ancestor Nathaniel Bass Daly is an annual ritual for Mr Sweeney.
The 87-year-old left the Caribbean's "emerald isle" in 1954 for a new life in England but has diligently returned to his homeland every year for almost four decades.
Joe Sweeney, 87, is proud of Irish heritage and his ancestor Nathaniel Bass Daly
The 1793 grave was prepared for Nathaniel's wife Elizabeth, lost at just 31 to an unknown epidemic, and refers only to Nathaniel as her "disconsolate husband".
"But we know he's buried here," Mr Sweeney says. "He insisted his name wasn't put on the stone because he didn't want to disturb her."
The former stonemason is proud of his Irish roots which date back, he says, to the early settlers of the 1600s when the Irish made up the majority of Montserrat's white population as indentured labourers, merchants and plantation owners.
Joe Sweeney has not been to Ireland, but his daughter has researched their family history
"Nathaniel Daly came on an official visit and liked it so much he stayed. He was a sophisticated, respected man. The Daly family owned a lot of land," Mr Sweeney continues, gesturing to the surrounding landscape fringing Daly Hill, one of numerous locations here with an Irish name.
"My daughter went to Ireland to find out about our family; she discovered the Sweeneys were from Donegal and the Dalys from Tipperary."
Mr Sweeney has never been to Ireland himself, something he regrets. But what he regrets more is not extracting further information about his familial roots from his parents before they died.
"You didn't question your parents in those days; they'd say you were cheeky," he says, blue-flecked eyes twinkling.
"For some people, having Irish ancestors is just a fact of life. But I am proud to be one of them; I feel a kinship," he adds.
From the shamrock-shaped passport stamp upon arrival at the tiny British territory, to the marking of St Patrick's Day with a public holiday and a week of festivities, Montserrat's Irish heritage is eulogised.
The thousands of international visitors who flooded in for this year's celebrations transformed the isle of 5,000 residents, many of whom bear surnames like Riley, O'Brien and Meade, into a vibrant sea of green.
Leprechauns, shamrocks and Guinness are ubiquitous but the revelry features the island's rich Caribbean and African culture too, evidenced in feasts of traditional food such as goat "water" or stew, a "freedom run" in tribute to its slave history, and gospel and soca performances.
Retired schoolteacher Sylvester Browne helped organise Montserrat's first official St Patrick's Day festivities in 1985. Prior to that, the date was marked informally with low-key events in individual villages.
Sylvester Browne helped organise Montserrat's first official St Patrick's Day celebrations in 1985
Mr Browne's own village of St Patrick's was destroyed by the Soufriere Hills volcanic eruption of 1997, part of a two decade-long crisis that forced more than half of the island's erstwhile 11,500 inhabitants to flee.
The volcano remains active to this day, although it has been relatively quiet in recent years. Today, visits to the ruined capital city of Plymouth and Montserrat's "black sand" beaches are a draw for adventure tourists. More than half of the island is still within an exclusion zone.
The villages of St Patrick's and Morris were destroyed in less than 30 minutes in 1997
"St Patrick's Day celebrations started because we wanted to commemorate the village more than anything," Mr Browne tells the BBC. "It's evolved in a way we never imagined."
The original plantation-era costumes have stood the test of time - and appeared sporadically in this year's parade, alongside garb in the green, white and marigold national tartan, masquerade dancers, and African-inspired grass skirts and head-wraps.
The national tartan was a popular choice for the St Patrick's Day parade
Some groups commemorated events in the island's history
"I'm happy it's grown to be this big but it saddens me that it's become so commercialised," Mr Browne continues. "It would nice if it focussed more on local tradition and what makes us unique."
These days, Montserrat's ethnic melting pot makes it hard to quantify how many people are of Irish descent.
"Some people deny it; others are proud for sentimental reasons, it's a connection they value," Mr Browne explains.
Some of the costumes bear little resemblance to those worn at parades in Ireland
Spirits were high at the parade in Montserrat
"St Patrick's Day is a nice way to showcase the island to visitors; some people are still not certain how safe it is. It's also great to see so many Montserratians return home for it."
Vince Greenaway was one of more than 1,000 Montserratians living overseas to attend the 17 March parade.
"Last year my buddies back home called me in Canada to tell me I was missing out," he says, laughing.
"I promised them I would be here this year; it's wonderful to see people I haven't seen in years."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-39341211
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Crimea: The place that's rather difficult to get into - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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Three years after Russia annexed Crimea the region remains in a state of flux.
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Europe
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Russia hopes a bridge to Crimea will solve many problems
Three years after Russia annexed Crimea, a move bitterly contested by Ukraine's government, the region remains in a state of flux. It's difficult to get into, and for many people, it's difficult to know where it's going.
At Kiev International Airport, I hand my passport to a border guard.
He pauses. He studies my passport. He seems to be checking a list. He goes to pick up a telephone and asks a question. He does not realise I can hear.
"You remember that pro-Russian journalist from the BBC? Was his surname Rosenberg?"
"It wasn't? OK, thanks." He hangs up. He stamps my passport and returns it.
"Welcome to Ukraine!" he smiles.
Those pauses at passport control are an indication of the current tension between Moscow and Kiev - a relationship clouded by enmity and suspicion.
Our BBC team is only passing through Kiev. Our final destination is Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia three years ago.
For journalists based in Russia, there are faster ways of reaching the Crimean peninsula. Board a plane in Moscow and two hours later you can be in the Crimean capital Simferopol. Ukraine, however, warns foreign nationals that anyone entering "temporarily occupied Crimea" without Kiev's permission and without crossing an official Ukrainian border may be banned from future entry to Ukraine.
Direct flights from Russia to Ukraine stopped in October 2015. We flew from Moscow to the Belarusian capital Minsk, then on to Kiev. Ahead of us is an eight-hour road trip to Crimea.
First, we visit the Ukrainian Migration Service in Kiev to obtain the "dozvil" - a document issued by the Ukrainian authorities permitting travel to Crimea. Three hours later, permission slips in hand, our long car journey south begins.
Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 was a watershed moment. It pushed Moscow and the West to the brink of a new cold war. Three years on we are travelling to Crimea to gauge the mood.
It is dark by the time we reach the final Ukrainian checkpoint before the peninsula. Ukraine does not call the Kalanchak crossing a border - officially, it is a "control point for entry and exit". We show our passports and dozvils. Minutes later we are waved through.
The no-man's land between the Ukrainian and Russian checkpoints is tiny - no more than 50m long. We stop here to change cars - our Kiev driver will turn back. A driver from Simferopol has come to meet us.
On the Russian side this is called the Armyansk crossing. As far as the Russians are concerned, it is an official state border. We show passports and visas and fill out immigration cards. Our documents are in order, but we are asked to wait. The appearance here of British journalists has raised official eyebrows.
A young man in civilian clothes approaches me. "Come with me, please," he says, "I'd like to have a chat."
We enter a small room and sit down at a table. He checks my phone to make sure I am not recording our conversation.
Then come the questions. Lots of them.
"What mission have your editors set you? What will you be filming? How will you be saving your material, on computers or hard drives? What SIM card will you be using in Crimea? As the correspondent, will you be making notes each night about what you have filmed? Can you show me some of the photos on your phone? Where will you be staying? Why didn't you fly direct from Moscow?"
Crimea has a wide variety of Vladimir Putin murals and posters
My interrogator notes down my answers on a piece of paper. His questions are not limited to Crimea.
"What street do you live on in Moscow? What is the nearest Metro station to your home? What does your wife do for a living? You've been in Russia a long time. Have you ever considered applying for a Russian passport?"
"My British one suits me just fine," I reply.
"What do you think of English cuisine?" he asks, adding, "I like Jamie Oliver. Although I consider he uses too much oil."
The questioning lasts an hour. Then the official escorts me back to the van. I ask for his name.
"I have no name," he replies, "only a rank."
The inquisitive young man with "no name, only a rank" invites my colleagues for similar conversations.
Three hours pass. Interrogations over, we are still not free to go. We spend the night in the van waiting for Russian customs officers to process our papers and allow our TV equipment through. Ten hours after arriving at the Armyansk crossing, we finally clear the checkpoint.
Simferopol is the administrative centre of Crimea. The name of our hotel is the "Ukraine". But three years after annexation, the town feels Russian. Most of the cars have switched to Russian number plates, brand new buses manufactured near Moscow have taken to the roads. And, peering down from billboards is the Russian president with some of his choicest Crimea quotations - just to remind everyone who is in charge.
In this poster Putin promises to boost Crimea's spa facilities
"Crimea was famous for being the spa of the Soviet Union," declares Vladimir Putin in one poster. "We will, of course, develop this."
"All Russian army social programmes will be extended to Sevastopol and the Black Sea Fleet," he promises in another.
Near our hotel, the wall of a building is covered with a giant painting of President Putin dressed as a sailor and the words: "Crimea belongs to all of us".
As far as retired teacher Olga Koziko is concerned, the more Putin in Crimea, the better.
"Crimea is a place where people support Putin," Olga assures me. "We just adore him. He's our hero. I even have a T-shirt with Putin and the words: 'In Putin We Trust', like 'In God We Trust.' Thanks to Putin, Russian soldiers came to protect us."
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On 22 February 2014, Ukraine's pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych fled the country after what he - and his Russian allies - called an "illegal coup" in Kiev. On 27 February masked men in unmarked uniforms appeared in Simferopol. Armed with Russian weapons, they seized government buildings, the parliament, the airport and blocked Ukrainian army bases. This mysterious military force picked up a variety of nicknames, including The Little Green Men and The Polite People.
Today Moscow admits the soldiers were from Russia's secretive Special Operations Forces (the SSO). President Putin subsequently signed a decree making 27 February an annual celebration in Russia - "Special Operations Forces Day".
Following a hastily organised referendum, it was announced that more than 95% of people who had taken part had voted for Crimea's "reunification" with Russia. The referendum was not recognised by the international community. To the outside world, Russia had grabbed a piece of Ukraine.
A statue honouring The Little Green Men has been erected near the Crimean parliament building. It depicts a young girl handing flowers to a man with a gun. The inscription reads: "To The Polite People from the grateful people of Crimea."
Russia has shrugged off international condemnation over Crimea
This is how Moscow wants to be seen here: as a force for good, protecting the people of Crimea from violent Ukrainian nationalists. In 2014 Russia's state-controlled media characterised the new Ukrainian government as "fascists", "neo-Nazis" and an "illegitimate junta''. Olga uses similar language as she recalls the past.
"Without Russia, a lot of people would have been killed here," maintains Olga. "Ukrainian Nazis said Crimea would either be part of Ukraine or empty. People would have been oppressed. Perhaps even put in concentration camps."
There is absolutely no evidence to substantiate Olga's claims.
Many of those in Crimea who welcome Moscow's rule see the bloody conflict in eastern Ukraine as confirmation that Russia is a safer home. They discount evidence that unrest in the Donbass was incited and bankrolled by Moscow.
Out on the street I get chatting to a pensioner called Nadezhda. Until recently her sister had been living in Luhansk, one of the self-proclaimed separatist republics in eastern Ukraine.
"Life in Luhansk is terrible," Nadezhda says. "So I moved my sister to Crimea. I will do everything to make sure that kind of violence doesn't break out here."
There is another reason why Nadezhda, an ethnic Ukrainian, trusts Moscow more than Kiev - it is out of nostalgia for Soviet times, when she regarded Moscow as her capital. Nadezhda describes Crimea joining Russia as "a return to the Soviet Union. Our generation was, is and will always be in the USSR. We will die in the Soviet Union."
People pass a mural of Putin at the wheel of a ship
Nostalgia and fear are powerful feelings. But they are not enough to sustain pro-Russia sentiment in Crimea at the level of 2014.
Severing ties to Ukraine has brought problems. With economic links to Ukraine cut, the only way of keeping the peninsula supplied is by sea or air. That means higher prices. Moscow insists that will change once it has completed a road and rail bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland. The bridge is a multibillion-dollar statement that Moscow is here to stay.
As well as higher prices, there is Russian red tape.
I visit a document registration centre in Simferopol. More than two hundred people are queueing outside. They have come to exchange Ukrainian documents, like deeds for apartments, for Russian ones. Some people, like Alyona, have been queuing here all night.
"Life hasn't got better or worse," Alyona tells me, "We're still standing in lines, like we always used to. Maybe some people had big expectations three years ago. But I don't believe in miracles."
People queue for a long time to change Ukrainian documents to Russian ones
I ask Alyona if she could imagine Russia handing Crimea back to Ukraine.
"Nothing would surprise me any more," she laughs. "I wouldn't be surprised if we suddenly ended up as part of Turkey. To be honest, I don't care if we're with China! The most important thing is that there is no war.
"I've learnt that your life can be turned upside down in a day. And there is nothing you can do about it. We're like pawns on a chessboard. They're playing with us. Today our place is in Russia. And tomorrow? Who knows. Maybe that's for the best: if we knew, we might have a heart attack."
Across town, I meet Nadia. She is complaining to me about potholes.
"Where I live there are potholes everywhere," Nadia says. "People have been hurting their legs. I've written to the authorities asking them to do something. They haven't lifted a finger."
Nadia's disappointment extends further than pavements and roads.
"Many people here were happy, but there is disillusionment now," she tells me, "because there is no investment and salaries and pensions are small. My pension is 8000 roubles ($140; £112) a month. Just about enough to cover utility bills and the medicines I need."
I am talking to Nadia beside the statue of Ukraine's most famous 19th Century poet, Taras Shevchenko. It is Shevchenko Day and a group of twenty people have come here with flowers to mark the poet's birthday. Russian police have come, too - with cameras. They are filming everyone, including us. In Russian Crimea, public expressions of Ukrainian pride attract special attention.
Nadia is an ethnic Russian, but she is wearing a small Ukrainian flag.
"In my soul, Crimea is still part of Ukraine," Nadia tells me. "I'm here because this statue is the last symbol of Ukraine left in Crimea."
A woman called Lidiya overhears our conversation. She is furious.
"It was the Russian Empress Catherine the Great who built up Crimea," says Lidiya sternly.
"Well, if you're going to bring up history, we could go right back to the days of the Crimean khans," retorts Nadia.
"Three years ago America was planning to station soldiers in three schools in Sevastopol," she claims. "Nato troops wanted to be in Sevastopol. Crimea would have been wiped from the face of the earth."
"How do you know that?" I ask.
"I read it in the internet," she replies.
"Does that make it true?"
"If people think they live badly in Crimea today, let them go and live in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine. They will be crying to come back here."
Umer Ibragimov is desperate to find what happened to his missing son
We drive to the town of Bakhchysarai in central Crimea to meet Umer Ibragimov. Umer, a Crimean Tatar, is desperate for information about his son Ervin. In May 2016 Ervin was abducted late at night. CCTV cameras caught the moment he was seized by men in uniform and bundled into a vehicle.
"I've written to everyone asking for help," Umer tells me, "from the bottom levels right up to the president. But there has been no information about my son."
Ervin Ibragimov was a member of the executive board of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars. Since annexation, the Crimean Tatar community has come under pressure. Its elected representative body, the Mejlis, which had opposed the 2014 referendum on joining Russia, has been ruled an "extremist organisation" and banned.
Human rights group Amnesty International accuses the Russian authorities of "systematic persecution" of Crimean Tatars. This month the European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini concluded that "the rights of the Crimean Tatars have been gravely violated". Moscow denies the accusations.
Over piping hot tea, Umer tells me the story of his family. In World War Two, his father had fought in the Red Army.
"He was wounded and came home," Umer says. "Ten days later, all Crimean Tatars were deported from their homeland."
It was Josef Stalin who had ordered the deportation - an act of collective punishment and paranoia. The Soviet dictator suspected Crimean Tatars of collaborating with the Nazis. More than 230,000 people were forced on to cattle trains and transported to Central Asia.
"My mother and father told me later they'd be given just 15 minutes to gather their belongings," recalls Umer.
Umer grew up in Soviet Uzbekistan. Conscripted into the Soviet army in the late 1970s, he spent a year fulfilling his "internationalist duty" fighting in Afghanistan.
Umer looks at a photograph of his missing son.
"There is no justice," he says.
And yet this Crimean spring feels calmer than three years ago. While Russia and the West argue over sanctions, sovereignty and borders, it seems that most people here are just trying to get on with their lives, trying to adapt.
"Everything calmed down," artist Svitlana Gavrilenko says. "Everyone who used to be 'pro' something - either pro-Russia or pro-Ukraine - everybody calmed down."
Three years ago Svitlana had opposed annexation. Today her perspective has changed.
"A lot of small and medium-sized businesses fell apart after Russia came because they were all connected to Ukraine. Now they have reconnected to Russia and China. If we become a part of Ukraine again, we will need to solve all this stuff again. Everyone's life is going to be screwed up again."
In the Black Sea resort of Yalta I find the promenade packed with people enjoying a seaside stroll in the sunshine. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore mixes with jazz chords from street musicians. From the conversations, there is an overriding sense of a population desperate for peace.
"Many people in Crimea still love Ukraine," Rodion says. "Russia and Ukraine are too similar, their peoples too inter-connected to feel bad about each other."
Rodion believes "it's not completely impossible" that Crimea would one day return to Ukrainian rule.
"Nobody ever imagined it would become a part of Russia," he says, though he resents Western leaders who demand the peninsula's return. "Crimea is not just a thing to be given to one country or another. It's a place. It's the people who live here. It's history. It's many things that cannot be bought or inter-changed."
Svitlana Gavrilenko believes that the changes that took place here three years ago are irreversible.
"I don't think Russia in its modern state, with Putin at the top, could ever give Crimea back," she tells me. "They made so much effort to connect it. They suffered through all these sanctions just to have Crimea. Why would they give it back?"
• None What is Russia's end game in Crimea?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39329284
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Everton FC: The football club that teaches troubled children - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Everton Free School is the first school run by a Premier League club. It is expensive but is it worth it?
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Education & Family
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Everton Free School is the first school run by a Premier League club
Everton Free School is the first school run by a Premier League football club, taking on students who have not been able to stay in mainstream education. The Victoria Derbyshire programme has been given exclusive access to the school.
Liam, whose full name we have not used, has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism, and witnessed domestic violence while growing up.
His own mental health has also been a worry, and he has been the target of bullies. All of this had a big impact on his time at school, and by the time he was entering his teens, options for his education were running out.
"It was very anxious for me as a parent, to know you had to be at work all day and your son was somewhere he hated being," says his mother Laura.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Liam's mum says he was quite suicidal before he started at Everton Free School
"I'd worry all day. Is he going to get hit? Are they going to be waiting for him after school?"
It was a dark time for Liam, and meant his progress was slipping. He wasn't turning up to class, and when he did, he'd get into fights.
"It was hard to get the work done. I'd always need the one-on-one. It would always be so hard to complete a task," he says.
Three years ago, Laura was told about Everton Free School - the only school run by a Premier League football club. For lifelong fan Liam, it seemed like a real opportunity.
A class is held at a corporate box at Everton's Goodison Park
The school has 120 students and teaches English, maths and science as core GCSEs, as well as a range of more practical subjects aimed at getting the students jobs when they finish.
But all of them have special needs of some kind - behavioural problems, issues at home and some with drugs and crime.
Chloe, who is also 15, had serious behavioural problems.
"I got kicked out. I was naughty, and used to do nothing in school and used to argue with all the teachers. I used to fight," she remembers. "People used to go around carrying knives and that. And if they'd get into a fight they'd stab them."
Laura was in two minds about sending Liam into a school where students had such problems.
"Definitely without a doubt, it was the hardest decision I've ever had to make," she says. "Am I throwing my child from the furnace into the fire? I really had to think hard about it."
The school has 120 students and teaches English, maths and science as core GCSEs
At £14,500 a year per pupil, it is three times the cost of a mainstream school - a bill picked up by the taxpayer.
I ask Richard Cronin, the school's executive principal, if it is just a way of rewarding difficult kids.
He says there is a "really high correlation" between young people not being engaged in the education system and being involved in crime.
"We are engaging them. That's got to be beneficial to everybody," he says.
Most would have had a 5-10% attendance. This school aims to get them up above 80%.
One of the perks of being associated with Everton - for fans like Liam anyway - is meeting the players when they come and visit the school.
England and Everton defender Phil Jagielka came to join a science lesson.
"A few of them want to speak to you," the footballer says.
"A few of them want to give you a little bit of banter - there are a couple of Liverpool fans in here and all sorts, so they refuse to write the word blue down for instance.
"I've been here for a long time now and I've met some fantastic characters, some great people.
"If you give these kids a chance to open up and talk, more often than not, you know you've had a great day. These are going to be young men and women in a couple of years and if we can give them a decent foothold then that's what's important."
Liam beams as he meets his team's captain, wearing the Everton kit. He's now doing extra maths and is working towards a qualification in coaching football.
"As a fan it makes you proud. The crest on your chest every day. It's what you want really."
The Everton brand - and its profile and money - is a big bonus for this school.
But in wearing the kit and being associated with its name, the students gain something more important: respect.
And it is changing their lives.
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/education-39340843
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Football on the frontline – Syria's World Cup dream - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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Despite conflict entering a seventh year, the 16-team Syrian Premier League is still going and the international team still harbour hopes of making it to the biggest stage of all, the World Cup.
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Despite conflict entering a seventh year, the 16-team Syrian Premier League is still going and the international team harbour hopes of making it to the biggest stage of all, the World Cup.
The national team can't play qualifiers in Syria and face a 9,000-mile round-trip to Malaysia to play their "home" games.
Syria have already beaten China away and sit fourth in their World Cup group, five points from an automatic qualifying spot.
As part of the BBC's State of Sport week, we spoke to the team as they prepared for their next qualifier against Uzbekistan in Kuala Lumpur.
READ MORE:Football on the frontline and Syria's World Cup dream
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39342483
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Nicola Sturgeon sees 'sense of solidarity' with London after attack - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon expresses her concern for those caught up in the terrorist attack at Westminster.
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Scotland politics
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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has expressed her concern for those caught up in the terrorist attack at Westminster.
She spoke of a "sense of solidarity" felt in Scotland for people in London.
Four people have died after a car was driven at pedestrians near the UK parliament before the occupant jumped out and stabbed a police officer.
The Scottish Parliament suspended a debate on an independence referendum following the attack.
Ms Sturgeon said: "My thoughts, as I'm sure the thoughts of everybody in Scotland tonight, are with people caught up in this dreadful event.
"My condolences in particular go to those who've lost loved ones.
"My thoughts are with those who've sustained injuries and we all feel a sense of solidarity with the people of London tonight."
She said Scotland would consider whether there were any wider lessons for public safety.
The first minister added: "I convened a meeting of the Scottish Government's Resilience Committee to review what is currently known about the incident at Westminster and also to review any implications for Scotland.
"(But) it is important to stress that there is no intelligence of any risk to Scotland."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Ken Macintosh: "The fact that our sister parliament has had a serious incident is affecting this particular debate."
The Scottish Parliament had been close to concluding its debate on a call for a referendum on Scottish independence when Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh announced that the sitting would be suspended.
He said the incident in London was affecting the contributions of MSPs, and that the debate would resume at another time.
A vote had been due to be held at 17:30, but politicians including Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson called for the session to be suspended.
The London attack is currently being treated as a terrorist incident
Politicians and staff immediately left the chamber once the debate had been suspended
Parliament officials initially ruled that the debate should continue as planned, before Mr Macintosh decided that it should be halted.
The presiding officer said: "The fact that our sister parliament has had a serious incident is affecting this particular debate, and is affecting the contribution of members. And so it is for that reason we are deciding to suspend the sitting.
"We will resume this debate and we will be able to do so in a full and frank manner, but I think to continue at the moment would not allow members to make their contributions in the manner they wish to."
The debate is expected to continue next week, with a decision due to be made on Thursday morning.
Conservative MSP Fin Carson tweeted ahead of the presiding officer's ruling that he had left the parliament chamber, saying: "I can't understand how this debate can go on. At least a suspension would have shown some respect."
However, some politicians were unhappy about the decision to suspend the debate.
Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles was among those to argue it was a "mistake", telling BBC Scotland that had huge sympathy for those affected by the attack, but that: "We should not be giving in to terrorism, and I believe we've done that".
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham was also unhappy with the decision - but was later said to agree entirely after learning the full details of the London attack.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had been expected to win the backing of a majority of MSPs for her plan to ask the UK government for a section 30 order, which would be needed to hold a legally-binding referendum on independence.
The UK government has already said it will block the move, and will not enter into any negotiations until after the Brexit process has been completed.
Security has been increased around the parliament building
Several MSPs called for the debate to be suspended out of respect for those affected - but some argued it was "giving in to terrorism"
An increased police presence could be seen in and around the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood on Wednesday afternoon.
An email to MSPs, staff and Holyrood pass-holders from the Scottish Parliament chief executive's office said: "While there is no intelligence to suggest there is a specific threat to Scotland, Edinburgh or Holyrood, we have increased security with immediate effect at the Scottish Parliament as a precaution."
Police vehicles were seen outside the parliament building, with a spokesman for Police Scotland saying the force was "liaising with colleagues in London and will ensure appropriate safety and security plans are in place based upon what we know".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-39354555
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New Zealand will not face England after All Blacks v Barbarians game is confirmed - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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England will not face New Zealand until 2018 after the All Blacks are confirmed to face the Barbarians in November
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Last updated on .From the section English Rugby
England will not face New Zealand this year after a game between the All Blacks and the Barbarians at Twickenham on 4 November was confirmed.
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) was understood to be interested in a fixture between the world's top two sides before the end of the year.
However, England and New Zealand will not now meet until autumn 2018.
The Baa-Baas match against New Zealand replaces one previously announced against Australia.
"The entire Barbarians Committee would like to thank the RFU for approving this fixture against New Zealand," said John Spencer, chairman of the Barbarians.
"For the record, and contrary to some recent media reports, the Barbarians have a strong and very collaborative relationship with the RFU, and any suggestion that the RFU has not acted correctly in any part of the discussions around staging this fixture is unfair and wrong."
The Barbarians are next in action against England at Twickenham on Sunday, 28 May, before returning to Belfast's Kingspan Stadium to play Ulster on Thursday, 1 June.
England's record of 18 consecutive wins, equalling New Zealand's record total, came to an end at the weekend in the final Six Nations match against Ireland in Dublin.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39357540
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Scotland winger Oliver Burke relishing his German education at RB Leipzig - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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Scotland winger Oliver Burke loves "getting better and better" as he continues his football education at Bundesliga RB Leipzig.
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When Adam Lallana's diving header sailed past Craig Gordon to double England's lead over Scotland at Wembley Stadium last November, all but one head on the Scottish bench slumped to a resigned sigh.
Although he had not made the squad for the previous qualifier in Slovakia a month before, Oliver Burke still believed his coach Gordon Strachan would swivel on his seat and turn to the recently acquired RB Leipzig signing in the hope that he would change the game.
In front of the famous Wembley crowd Burke believed he would be Scotland's hero.
Yet the Scotland coach did not pick the 19-year-old talent. In fact, he didn't pick anyone at all until Gary Cahill had made it 3-0 11 minutes later, when defensive midfielder James McArthur was brought on to limit the damage already done.
"I'm sure any player would say that he wasn't very happy," Burke told BBC Scotland when asked about that day. "But really I think I just had to take a step back and realise what I'd done and where I am.
"Obviously I'm still very proud to be a part of the team and at the end of the day it's the manager's choice."
Any misplaced assumptions of playing a key role for the national team that night are quickly excused when consideration is made for the hype that has followed Burke to Leipzig over the past eight months.
Compared to Real Madrid star Gareth Bale owing to his style of play, and touted as a future Scotland star, the German club were inundated with requests to interview Burke when he first arrived. Despite only scoring his first goal for Nottingham Forest 11 months prior to that night at Wembley, the young talent was already an established name within the European game.
"I was really taken aback," said Burke when asked about the attention. "I didn't really think this was a part of football as much. When you're a young kid you don't see these things. You just see footballers playing and enjoying it out on the pitch."
Despite his new-found fame, Burke had joined a club that stresses the importance of team performances over individualism and was quickly made aware that he had plenty to learn before he would be stealing the headlines in Leipzig, as he had done in Nottingham.
After setting up the winning goal against Borussia Dortmund in the opening game of the season, Burke's coach Ralph Hasenhuttl chose to instead note that the player had an "empty hard drive" - referring to his reluctance to track back and follow his marker.
• None Five things about Scotland's most expensive player
"It took me a long while to get used to it and get me up and running," said Burke when asked about the re-education he has had since leaving England. "There are so many little bits in this team. So if you're not doing your job as well as you possibly can then it can cost you in the Bundesliga. That's how tough this league is."
Ralf Rangnick, RB Leipzig's director of football, was the man who brought Burke to Germany after watching a video prepared by the club's analytics team of the Forest prospect. After just 10 minutes the former Stuttgart, Schalke and Hoffenheim coach decided he had seen enough. Two weeks later Burke was on a plane to Leipzig sitting alongside Rangnick, as he explained the club's playing ethos.
"When we saw and scouted him we could easily see the weapons he has," the 58-year-old told BBC Scotland. "He's very powerful, very fast and physically strong. He's good on the ball for a player of that size and that tempo. Where he still has to improve is tactically - 'when do I have to do what?' - our style of football is a little bit different from what he was used to in England."
He added: "Obviously those are things that nobody has told him in the past and he has to learn that. He has improved but there is still plenty of room for further improvement."
'I love the fact I'm getting better and better'
Rangnick gives off a headmaster-like demeanour that fits in with the manner in which Leipzig intend to run their club. Buying young, raw talent to develop in to continental stars is the plan at a fledging club backed by the ambitious energy drink makers Red Bull.
Despite sitting second in the German top division, the average age of Burke's teammates is just 24.2 years. In Leipzig, the 19-year-old has not joined a normal football club, but instead a purpose-built academy in one of the best football leagues in the world.
"I've loved every moment of it and I just love the fact that I'm getting better and better," noted Burke. "That's what I came here for. I wouldn't want to go to a club not knowing that I'm going to get better than what I was at Nottingham Forest."
He added: "I've got to take a bit of pressure off myself at times because I do pressure myself, but I'm enjoying it."
Indeed, it may be some time before Burke displaces striker Timo Werner, the 21-year-old German talent who has scored 14 Bundesliga goals this season and just earned a call-up to his national team. Or even 25-year-old Bundesliga player-of-the-year contender Emil Forsberg on the left wing.
Yet in Leipzig the Scottish international continues to work hard as the country's most exciting work in progress.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39344413
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Germany v England: Name the German players in the Premier League - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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With Germany hosting England in an international friendly, we've scoured our picture archive for some of the more obscure German players to feature in the Premier League.
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Germany v England: Name the German players in the Premier League Last updated on .From the section Football
With Germany hosting England in an international friendly on Wednesday, we've scoured our picture archive for some of the more obscure German players to feature in the Premier League. It's not meant to be easy - we think anyone getting more than 70% has either done a reverse image search or has a great career ahead of them in pub quizzes. Let's get started and see if you know you can accurately tell Stefan Malz from Stefan Schnoor.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39331116
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Germany 1-0 England - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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Lukas Podolski's stunning long-range effort helps Germany beat England in an international friendly in Dortmund.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Gareth Southgate suffered his first defeat in charge of England as Lukas Podolski's spectacular second-half winner provided a fitting farewell to his Germany career in Dortmund.
Southgate had been undefeated in four games as interim manager following Sam Allardyce's abrupt departure from the England post after one match - and he will feel this loss in his first match in permanent control was harsh on his side after a creditable performance against the World Cup holders.
Adam Lallana struck a post and Dele Alli saw a shot blocked at point-blank range by Germany keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the first half as England were superior for spells.
It was almost inevitable, however, that former Arsenal striker Podolski, given a hero's reception before, during and after the game, made the decisive contribution with a rising left-foot drive from outside the area after 69 minutes that gave England keeper Joe Hart no chance.
Germany's reshaped side had the same experimental appearance as England's but there was still plenty to satisfy manager Southgate in a losing cause.
The result will hurt because for a large portion of this game England were the more creative, threatening and energetic side.
Southgate, though, will reflect on a three-man defensive system that worked effectively - although it was not put to the test too often by a Germany team who rarely went through the gears.
Burnley's Michael Keane made an assured debut, almost scoring in the opening minutes, and while the attacking system occasionally left Jamie Vardy isolated it did allow Alli and Lallana to flourish and advance into dangerous positions.
England looked effective in possession and nothing that happened here will damage the confidence Southgate is looking to rebuild and put in place after his appointment as permanent successor to Allardyce.
It was a qualified satisfaction because this was nowhere near a full-strength or full throttle Germany.
But Southgate will still have plenty of plus points to take forward into Sunday's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley.
Alli shows his class - with one regret
Dele Alli gave a man-of-the-match performance when England beat Germany in a friendly in Berlin almost a year ago and this was another display that will have impressed the knowledgeable observers here at Signal Iduna Park.
Alli showed some sublime touches in a system that suited him and brought the best out of his natural creative instincts, making chances and also acting as a goal threat as Southgate looks to find the new way forward for England.
He had been the game's best performer before he was replaced by Jesse Lingard with 20 minutes left - but he will have departed with one major regret from what was an otherwise excellent night's work.
Alli was guilty of missing that great opportunity in the first half when he was played in by Vardy, who had earlier had a penalty appeal turned down.
Alli only had Ter Stegen to beat but shot straight at the German keeper with a surprisingly poor finish for someone of his calibre.
It was a blemish on his efforts - but not enough to disguise the great talent that is at Southgate's disposal.
This friendly international carried the air of a testimonial for long periods - and in many ways it was as Germany striker Podolski bade farewell to the international stage.
The 31-year-old striker was ending his career after 130 caps, 49 goals and a World Cup win in 2014, a goodbye said in some style even apart from his spectacular final goal.
Podolski was given a presentation and delivered a speech that delayed the kick-off by several minutes while Germany fans unveiled a celebratory mosaic to a hugely popular figure in this country.
It may well have accounted for the flat atmosphere in the first half and a German performance to match on a night that almost seemed more about paying tribute to one of their great sporting servants than learning lessons from playing England.
The match-winner exited the stage a few minutes before the end, accompanied by a standing ovation and dramatic music. This was a night dedicated to him.
England manager Gareth Southgate on BBC Radio 5 live: "We have to reflect on a very good performance - a new system that I felt worked well and allowed us to control possession of game but also create chances.
"They've scored a fairytale goal, but I've got to be proud of what the players have done.
"I thought we were the better side up until their winning goal. That was a good learning experience for our young players who made their debuts.
"All that was missing was the finish to get the winning goal I felt we deserved."
Germany goalscorer Lukas Podolski: "It was like in a movie, dear god gave me a strong left foot and I used it tonight.
"It was a great game, a great result and a great way to say goodbye. That gave me goosebumps to get a reception like that."
Germany manager Joachim Low: "It was noticeable that England were playing more intensely, much more vigorously in the tackle especially in the first half.
"It took us a while to get used to this and slowly but surely I think our players got used to our rhythm.
"I think it was a very good game in the end. It was good to play against opponents that really gave us a run for our money."
Both countries return to their World Cup qualifying campaigns on Sunday, when England host Lithuania and Germany are away to Azerbaijan.
• None Offside, Germany. Mats Hummels tries a through ball, but André Schürrle is caught offside.
• None Attempt blocked. Leroy Sané (Germany) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Emre Can.
• None Attempt missed. Mats Hummels (Germany) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Toni Kroos with a cross following a corner.
• None Attempt blocked. André Schürrle (Germany) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jonas Hector with a cross.
• None Attempt saved. Thomas Müller (Germany) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Leroy Sané.
• None Offside, Germany. Thomas Müller 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/39275693
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Team Wiggins 'surprised' by Tour de Yorkshire omission - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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Team Wiggins say they are "surprised" and "disappointed" at their exclusion from next month's Tour de Yorkshire.
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Last updated on .From the section Cycling
Team Wiggins say they are "surprised" and "disappointed" after being excluded from next month's Tour de Yorkshire.
The team, founded by five-time Olympic champion Sir Bradley Wiggins to develop young British talent, was omitted from the race which runs from 28-30 April.
"It's very disappointing and it is very much a surprise," said the team's sports director Simon Cope.
Race organisers said the event was oversubscribed and "unfortunately someone had to miss out".
A total of 49 teams applied for 36 slots - 18 in the men's race and 18 in the women's.
The decision on who was included was made between Welcome to Yorkshire and cycling event organisers ASO, who jointly run the event.
A Welcome to Yorkshire spokesman said that Team Wiggins were welcome to apply for any future editions of the race.
But Cope told Cycling Weekly that he believed the team, who are the only British third-tier UCI Continental outfit not included, could have made an impact in the race.
"Good or bad press at the moment, there's a percentage of the UK population who will be going to the race who want to see (Team) Wiggins there," he said.
"You would have thought that we would have got in, but the organisers have made their selection and that's it, we can't do anything about it. We will have to go and find another bike race to do."
An investigation by UK Anti-Doping is currently ongoing into allegations of wrongdoing in cycling involving Wiggins - who retired in December - and Team Sky.
Cope, who used to work for Team Sky, was questioned by MPs earlier this month about the contents of a medical package he delivered to Wiggins when he was racing at the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine in France.
Team Sky have admitted "mistakes were made" around how medical records relating to the package were kept but deny breaking anti-doping rules.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39357541
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London attack: Welsh MP tells of 'shots' as five people die - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A Welsh MP tells of hearing shots outside Parliament after a terrorist attack in which five people died.
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Wales politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Mobile phone footage by Monmouth MP David Davies captures the panic inside the Houses of Parliament
A Welsh MP has told of hearing shots outside Parliament, following a terrorist attack which left five people dead and at least 40 injured.
One was a police officer who died after being stabbed, another was his alleged attacker who was shot by armed police.
Monmouth MP David Davies told BBC Wales: "The shots started, I was with other MPs, we immediately dropped to the floor and then hid behind pillars."
It came after a car crashed into several people on Westminster Bridge.
Scotland Yard confirmed there was a "firearms incident" on Westminster Bridge at 14:40 GMT on Wednesday following a car crash.
At least one woman is known to be among those killed, with many of the 40 injured being struck by a car on Westminster Bridge.
The police officer killed in the attack has been named by Scotland Yard as PC Keith Palmer.
The 48-year-old husband and father was stabbed by his attacker, who was then shot dead.
Acting Deputy Commissioner and head of counter terrorism at the Metropolitan Police, Mark Rowley said they believed the attacker was inspired by Islamist-related terrorism.
He also said police believe they know the identity of the man.
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Downing Street said the prime minister was in Parliament at the time but had been taken back safely to Number 10.
Staff inside Parliament were told to stay inside their offices as proceedings in the Commons were suspended and they were later evacuated to Westminster Abbey.
Mr Davies told BBC News he had been walking with fellow Conservative MP Grant Shapps at the time of the incident.
"We were in New Palace Yard. We heard a load of shouting - I thought it was protesters," he said.
"The next thing there was at least one shot, I think I looked around and thought 'that can't be for real, can it?'
"And then more shots - I can't remember exactly, but I shouted 'get down', or 'everyone get down on the floor'.
"People started moving backwards, I waited for the shots to stop.
"I was behind a pillar, and I just took a chance and ran back to Portcullis House - I just didn't know what was going on."
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns, who was in a meeting with the Prime Minister and cabinet members at the time of the incident, described it as a "tragic attack at the heart of democracy".
"My thoughts and prayers are with those who were tragically killed and injured and my undiluted gratitude goes to the police, house staff and emergency services for keeping us safe. I will be forever grateful," he added.
Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies said MPs had been voting at the time of the incident, and there was a "lockdown" of Parliament as police checked the area.
"We're a bit shaken as the reality of the attack sets in," he said. "My thoughts go out to anyone who's been injured."
Several Welsh MPs used social media to let family, friends and colleagues know they were safe before MPs were allowed to leave Westminster Abbey at about 19:30 GMT.
Among them was Rhondda MP Chris Bryant, who paid tribute to security services saying they had done an "amazing job".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "Nothing will stop British democracy" says Chris Bryant MP
"We're just constantly aware that people put themselves in harm's way to protect us and to protect our way of life," he said.
"My heart goes out to the people who have lost people.
"The idea that completely innocent individuals walking past - who have absolutely nothing to do with political life - might have lost their life is obviously very distressing."
Mr Bryant added he hoped Parliament would be open on Thursday.
"We need to be able to show that nothing will stop British democracy," he said.
Proceedings at the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff were suspended on Wednesday afternoon in the wake of the incidents, and following the suspension of proceedings in the House of Commons and the Scottish Parliament.
The presence of armed officers around Welsh Assembly buildings and in the surrounding area has been increased as a precaution, presiding officer Elin Jones said.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Elin Jones suspended proceedings in light of the "serious terrorist incident" in London
Interrupting a debate, Ms Jones said: "We are aware of the disturbing events at Westminster.
"I have spoken to our security personnel here in the Senedd and we are taking appropriate steps.
"I will be keeping this matter under review as the business of the afternoon progresses.
"I'm sure all our thoughts are with our colleagues and all involved at Westminster at this very difficult time."
First Minister Carwyn Jones tweeted: "Disturbing images emerging from Westminster. This is a terrible attack at the heart of our democracy; thoughts are with all those affected."
South Wales Police assistant chief constable Richard Lewis said additional security was being taken at key locations as a "sensible precaution".
But he said there was no intelligence of a specific threat to locations in south Wales.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-39353103
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Calm and stoic mood on Westminster streets - BBC News
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2017-03-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Westminster's streets - normally teeming with tourists and protesters - are eerily quite after terror attack.
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UK Politics
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The roads around the Houses of Parliament are choked with traffic and tourists at the best of times but on Wednesday there is an extra buzz about the place for Prime Minister's Questions at midday.
It is the best day to see your MP, as they are nearly all in the building. Queues to get into Parliament start forming early in the morning. The protests in Parliament Square seem noisier and more colourful than normal.
Things start to wind down after the main event but there is still a festive atmosphere in nearby pubs, as people from all parts of the UK - down in London for the day to lobby their MPs - swap stories and buy drinks.
Now the wide roads leading in all directions to the Houses of Parliament are silent and empty, blocked off by police tape, following a deadly terror attack. The police cordon covers an area of a few square miles and keeps being extended.
"You are now in the de facto press pen," shouts a police officer as we are moved back further down a side road behind a more distant line of tape. "I have to make this road sterile."
The incessant clattering of helicopters overhead and the occasional police siren have replaced the roar of traffic.
Foreign TV crews mill about at the police cordons, their mobile phones clamped to their ears as they explain to their editors why they can't get near the scene.
A few locals chat to the reporters. The mood is calm and almost resigned.
"It was a matter of time I suppose," says one man. "I'm old enough to remember the IRA days. I remember them saying 'we only have to get lucky once'."
Father Giles Orton, a Church of England curate from Derbyshire, in London to shop for "ecclesiastical supplies", says he is "just shocked and saddened".
But he adds, we "should be grateful" that it had not been worse.
Constantine, a 23-year-old student, says he was near Trafalgar Square when news of the attack broke.
"I saw the police start shutting everything off. I heard a lot of people talking. I have a cousin who works in Parliament and I live in Soho and I am a little worried about safety. Particularly LGBT safety which I am heavily involved with."
"I heard one man say 'this is why we need Donald Trump' which annoyed me," he adds.
Some MPs were earlier evacuated from the Palace of Westminster to nearby New Scotland Yard and Westminster Abbey, while others had to remain in the Commons chamber.
Pupils from Westminster School, next door to the Abbey, were in high spirits after being sent home early, although others said they had been in a state of shock when news of the attack broke.
Some of them wondered aloud why the school wasn't put on lock down like most of the other buildings in the area, including both House of Parliament and St Thomas's hospital on the other side of the Thames.
A man from Merseyside, visiting his daughter, who is a teacher at the school, said he was in the National Gallery when she texted him about the attack.
"It happens in any big city now," he says, "and any small city. I am not really surprised."
On Birdcage Walk, at the rear of Downing Street, civil servants were streaming out of imposing government offices after being sent home early; heads down, chatting to colleagues, refusing to chat to the media.
They trooped off towards Trafalgar Square in search of an alternative route home since Westminster Underground station was closed, melting into the crowds at Charing Cross and Embankment.
Beyond the police cordons and the TV crews it felt like any other day.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39359404
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Chris Coleman did not call me about Ben Woodburn, says Jurgen Klopp - BBC Sport
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2017-03-22
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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he was not told Ben Woodburn was to be given his first Wales call-up.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he was surprised Wales boss Chris Coleman did not contact him before calling up teenager Ben Woodburn.
The 17-year-old was named in the senior squad for the World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.
But his club boss has been left perplexed he was not consulted and believes the call-up has come too early.
"Actually, I was surprised about this," said Klopp.
Nottingham-born Woodburn, who qualifies to play for Wales through his maternal grandfather, has played for Wales at under-16, under-18 and under-19 level.
But Klopp believes he should have been in the loop when Coleman decided to move him up to the seniors.
Klopp added: "I don't know exactly how normal it is here.
"This should not be a criticism, but usually when you call up a player, a 17-year-old player, I thought it would be possible to call me.
"I'm not sure if he knows him well. He didn't play in the team so far for Coleman I think."
'Should it be now? Probably not'
Despite the fact he does not believe now is the right time for Wales to call on Woodburn, Klopp expects the youngster to deal with the situation.
"Obviously Ben is happy about it, so I am happy about it so that is the first thing," Klopp said.
"Do I think [Woodburn's selection for Wales] should it be now? I would say probably not. But is it a problem? No.
"Ben is a wonderful kid and he can deal with it 100%. He understands it all and knows really what he still has to learn and I can understand."
Woodburn has played seven games for Liverpool this season and became their youngest scorer when he netted against Leeds in the EFL Cup in November.
'I make my own mind up'
Wales had been urged to go to 'war' with England to claim Woodburn, but Coleman says the decision to select the youngster was his alone and Liverpool did not intervene.
"I make my own mind up about a player," Coleman said after announcing his squad on Thursday.
"I understand when you pick young players then clubs go, 'Oh, calm down,' but I make my own mind up.
"No matter how old he is, if he is good enough and I think he has something to offer us and can help us in this challenge then I am going to pick him.
"That's no disrespect to Jurgen or anybody else who say maybe he's not [ready], but that's their opinion."
Wales are third in their 2018 World Cup qualifying group and face a crucial tie against the Republic on 24 March and Coleman insists Woodburn "belongs" in his squad.
"He belongs to them [Liverpool], but I've got a job to do for Wales and I have to pick my strongest squad," Coleman said.
"At the minute, from what I have seen, he belongs in our strongest 23. That's why he is there."
Meanwhile, Klopp says he is happy to share Woodburn's development as a player with Coleman.
"I heard the manager said he's one of the best 23 players in Wales so he needs to be there, so that is his decision - all good," the Liverpool boss said.
"But now we are two managers who have to make sure that he develops in the right way, because usually it was more my responsibility and now we can share it a little bit so that is good."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39308768
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Women's Champions League quarter-final: Fortuna Hjorring 0-1 Manchester City Women - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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Carli Lloyd scores her first goal for Manchester City Women as they beat Fortuna Hjorring in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.
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Last updated on .From the section Women's Football
Carli Lloyd's first goal for Manchester City Women ensured they took a lead into the second leg of their Women's Champions League quarter-final against Danish champions Fortuna Hjorring.
Lloyd's first-half header was the only goal of the first leg in a game City were unlucky not to win by more.
The USA midfielder rose unmarked to meet a Jane Ross cross on 30 minutes.
Lucy Bronze was denied in either half with a volley off the crossbar and a header just wide in the closing stages.
City are appearing in the last eight of the competition for the first time.
The two sides will meet in the return leg at Manchester's Academy Stadium on 30 March.
The winners will face one of last year's finalists - Wolfsburg or holders Lyon - in the semi-finals in April.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39361527
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Alastair Campbell returns to newspapers - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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After George Osborne gets the Evening Standard job, now Alastair Campbell becomes an editor-at-large.
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Entertainment & Arts
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The appointment of Alastair Campbell seems to point towards a growing pro-Remain confidence
Alastair Campbell is returning to British newspapers as editor-at-large of The New European.
Almost a quarter of a century after he left the Daily Mirror to work for Tony Blair, Campbell will write regular columns and, like all editors-at-large, become an ambassador for the product, I have learned.
He will also commission pieces.
It was Campbell who persuaded Blair to write a high-profile front-page story for the paper.
Campbell already has a regular slot, whether a column or interview, in GQ magazine and also the International Business Times.
Last circulation figures for the weekly The New European suggest it sells more than 20,000 copies
The most interesting thing about this story isn't what it says about Campbell, who chose the paper to serialise his recent memoirs, but about the growing confidence, impact and viability of the so-called pop-up paper for the 48% of Britons who voted Remain.
The paper's editor, Matt Kelly, is winning plaudits all over the place for turning a frankly quirky experiment after last year's referendum into a print product whose subscriber base is growing as it approaches its first birthday.
Kelly won special recognition at last week's Press Awards (full disclosure: I was one of the many judges involved in the awards).
Kelly, who looks like Al Capone after a stint with Slimming World, and talks in a thick Scouse accent (he grew up in Formby) that doesn't smack of metropolitan elite, is also chief content officer of Archant, the family-owned publisher founded in 1845.
Latest circulation figures for The New European suggest it sells more than 20,000 copies. Its 48 pages are put together by a staff of about five in Norwich.
I suspect Campbell's 370,000 followers on Twitter will be hearing plenty more about The New European.
He and Kelly both know that if even one in 100 of them took out a subscription, that would be transformative for this brave little title.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39351694
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US ranchers saddle up for trade battle with Washington - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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America's rural heavily supported Donald Trump in the election, but now some are starting to worry his trade plans could hurt their business.
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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. "The export market is very important to our organisation," says cattle rancher Coleman Locke
"Tremendously important" is how rancher Coleman Locke describes the role of international trade to his cattle business.
The 72-year-old has worked on his family's 10,000-acre ranch on the Gulf Coast of Texas for his whole life and has seen his fair share of struggles in the industry, including droughts and disease.
But now he is gearing up for a new threat - the potential loss of trade deals that could cut off a huge slice of his ranch's yearly sales.
"In 2016, 25% of the breeding stock that we sold here at this ranch went out of the United States, it's a tremendously important market for us," says Mr Locke.
Coleman Locke has worked on the family ranch his whole life
He's not alone. Last year the American beef industry earned over $6bn (£4.9bn) from overseas sales. Among the biggest purchasers are Canada and Mexico, partners with the US in the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).
President Trump's promise to renegotiate Nafta and possibly place tariffs on Mexico or other US trading partners has the industry worried.
"Nafta is extremely important to us. It's one of the biggest trade deals that agriculture has ever had," says John Robinson from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA).
The beef industry is already reeling from the loss of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which President Trump withdrew from in his first week in office.
The free trade agreement with Pacific Rim countries, including many in Asia, was set to expand America's export market for beef. By some estimates, it could have added $400m in sales each year.
The US beef industry is already reeling from the loss of the Trans-Pacific Partnership
"It makes the market very nervous when they hear we aren't going to do the TPP and we are going to change Nafta," says Jennings Steen, a cattle dealer based in Austin.
Mr Steen says he and his partner have been fielding dozens of calls since President Trump's election, from ranchers desperate to know how changes to trade deals could affect their businesses. They are concerned about prices and hesitate to make long-term plans.
American suppliers particularly wanted increased access to Japan's home market, where high tariffs on US beef have made it hard to compete with suppliers from Australia who can sell beef into Japan at lower rates.
But President Trump's supporters say his experience in business will allow him to negotiate better deals for the US, focussing on bilateral agreements rather than bigger deals involving several countries.
According to Texas agriculture commissioner Sid Miller, after 22 years Nafta is in need of a "facelift".
Mr Miller was an outspoken and early supporter of President Trump. But since the election, he has spent a lot of time reassuring the ranching community that trade with Mexico won't disappear and new trade options will be opened up under the Trump administration.
Texas agricultural commissioner, Sid Miller, sat down with the BBC's Michelle Fleury in his Austin office
Mr Miller says he takes "a softer kinder approach [than Donald Trump]," stressing that Texas needs trading partners like Mexico, but also that it needs new deals with countries like China and better deals with its existing partners.
President Trump's vision for changes to Nafta has focused on ensuring more products are made in the US and he has called for tariffs on manufactured goods imported into the US from Mexico.
But such tariffs could result in retaliatory charges on US products sold into Mexico - including agricultural goods like cattle and beef.
Mr Miller is unshaken by this prospect, though. He acknowledges that US farmers produce more than the country can consume - including beef - but sees this as giving the US leverage over other trading partners.
"Agriculture is a good bargaining tool," he says. "People have to eat, they don't have to buy manufactured goods."
President Trump's relationship with the cattle industry though isn't as simple as a beef over trade.
Rural communities voted overwhelmingly in support of Mr Trump. Beef and cattle producers, like other members of the agricultural industry, would like to see the rollbacks on regulations that President Trump has promised.
"I think cattle producers and rural America, in general, are optimistic about the Trump administration," says the NCBA's John Robinson.
Within President Trump's first month, there were regulatory rollbacks that Mr Robinson calls "very encouraging". But he says he hopes the beef industry is given an equal seat to manufacturing when it comes to renegotiating Nafta.
That seat is crucial because the US produces more beef than it consumes. Without international markets, suppliers will have to reduce production or see a significant drop in prices, as the market is flooded with local beef.
There is no guarantee either that the bilateral deals President Trump has promised will be better than the ones he has walked away from.
As a part of TPP, US beef producers who currently face import duties of up to 38.5% on fresh and frozen beef entering Japan would have seen those tariffs phased out over 16 years.
Without that deal, many worry competition from countries that remained in TPP, like Australia, will increase.
For Coleman Locke on his ranch in Texas, it's too soon to worry. No deals have been struck yet and business is still good.
But if President Trump wants to claim his title as America's dealmaker in chief he's going to have to be sure he doesn't trade away this rancher's livelihood.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39238269
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What Next tells us about shopkeepers' woes - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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Next - like its rivals - is battling many problems - unlike them it has spelt them out in full.
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Business
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If you want a clear explanation of what's wrong with the retail sector, read Next's results statement.
Not a recommendation you'd hear very often, frankly, about most companies' financial reporting.
But rather than seeming designed to confuse and mislead, Next's report crisply spells out the challenges it's facing.
And of course it's not just Next that's up against it, it's the High Street as a whole.
A stark reminder of the difficulties came just yesterday when "value" shoe retailer Brantano went into administration, its pricier sister company Jones Bootmaker is up for sale.
One of the administrators said the fall in the pound and a change in shopping habits were key factors.
Next's results reflect these trends in spades. Its annual profits have fallen for the first time in eight years and it doesn't seem in the mood to pull any punches.
The most obvious challenge is the continuing gravitation to online shopping. Next Directory sales have been rising every year for the past 10. This time they rose by 4% to £1.7bn but sales in the stores - pretty much flat for the past 10 years - fell by nearly 3% to £2.3bn.
It's still a significant chunk of business, and as Next points out in its statement, it's still opening new shops.
However, it concedes that with increasing amounts of business being transferred online "it is legitimate to question the long term viability of retail stores and whether the possession of a retail portfolio is an asset or a liability".
Its conclusion is that the stores are indeed "valuable" assets which will remain profitable "even in very difficult circumstances".
Nevertheless it has painstakingly worked through a scenario of what would happen if retail sales continued to decline at "high rates" for the next decade, and it says the stores could be "managed down profitably".
Another issue which leaps out from the pages of Next's statement is the change in what the UK consumer is prepared to spend money on.
A new dress or pair of shoes is no longer the go-to quick fix of choice, it seems.
Instead Next quotes Barclaycard figures which show the growth in spending on pubs, restaurants and entertainment, compared with High Street clothing in the last three months of 2016. "We believe that these numbers demonstrate the continuing trend towards spending on experiences away from 'things'," says Next.
"Shifts in consumer spending patterns are not unusual and we expect that the trend will stabilise and reverse at some point," it continues.
Is it all gloom for Next's stores?
As if the fickleness of shoppers were not enough, of course, consumers have finally woken up to the fact that higher inflation means their money spreads more thinly.
The fall in sterling since the Brexit vote has pushed up the cost of imports for the likes of Next, although it says it doesn't expect price rises to be any worse in the second half of the year, and "they may be a little better".
Nevertheless, it doesn't see inflationary pressures easing until the second half of next year.
Meantime, it says, inflation is "slowly rising to the level of general wages growth and look set to continue to do so for the remainder of the year, we therefore expect a continuing squeeze on real incomes in the year ahead".
Added to this Next has is own internal problems which it's dealing with, including taking its eye off the ball in terms of stocking its "heartland" products. That is "easy to wear styles that can be delivered in large volumes and great prices across several colours".
In short, Next reckons the year ahead looks "tough" with a "combination of economic, cyclical and internal factors working against us".
But it's worth remembering this is not the first time Next - or retailers in general - have confronted such a mountain of adversity.
Back at the start of the financial crisis in 2008, the number of retailers exiting the High Street seemed unstoppable. Woolworths went, and that was the last time Next saw profits drop.
As chairman John Barton points out today "by the following year our profits had started to grow again and our share price recovered strongly in the following years.
"I believe that by focusing on our core strengths as we did during 2008, we will see Next emerge from this period stronger than before" he adds.
Investors may well agree. Next's shares were up following the release of the results, and not just because they were a textbook example of how a company should get its message across.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39367139
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Why Sangin's fall to the Taliban matters - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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The Taliban's capture of the crucial southern Afghan city of Sangin is highly significant.
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Asia
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Afghan forces have been under intense pressure from the Taliban in Helmand
The Taliban's capture of the strategically-located Sangin, once considered the deadliest battlefield for US and British troops in Afghanistan, will increase the group's mobility in the north of the province and give it control of an important supply line with the provincial capital Lashkar Gah
The Taliban has already captured a few of the 14 districts of Helmand, which borders Pakistan. According to some estimates, the insurgent group now controls more than half of the province, which produces the bulk of Afghanistan's lucrative opium crop.
Reports say that the Afghan security forces pulled out overnight from the district headquarters and the main bazaar, after the Taliban launched a major attack.
The Taliban insurgents had been trying to capture the Sangin headquarters for two years.
The Afghan soldiers and police who had been fighting hard to repel the repeated attacks by Taliban fighters, at times complained about not receiving reinforcements and being short of ammunition and food.
The fall of Sangin, one of the most heavily-populated districts in Helmand, also indicates the Taliban's growing strength in the south, and has a symbolic significance for the US-Nato led mission in Afghanistan.
Sangin district was perhaps the most dangerous and deadliest for all sides involved in the war in Afghanistan.
Both the US and UK lost more soldiers in Sangin than in any of around 400 other districts in Afghanistan.
Of the 456 British lives lost in Afghanistan since 2001, most of them - more than 100 - were killed in Sangin over a period of four years.
British forces were deployed in Helmand province in 2006 to secure it and prepare the ground for good governance and reconstruction.
Although some progress was made by the more than 10,000 British troops based there, the fighting soon intensified, resulting in the death of many Afghan and British forces as well as civilians.
British troops pulled out of Sangin in 2010
By 2009, the then Afghan president Hamid Karzai and American officials expressed dissatisfaction with the British performance.
In 2010, thousands of US Marines were deployed to replace British troops and responsibility for security was transferred from the UK to the US in several areas of Helmand, including Sangin, Nawa, Garmsir, Marjah, Khanshin and Nawzad.
Within the first 90 days of their deployment, around 20 US Marines were killed in Sangin.
Since responsibility for security was handed over from international forces to the Afghan government in 2014, hundreds of Afghan forces have lost their lives defending Sangin.
The fight to capture Sangin also took the lives of more Taliban fighters than any other battle for territory in Afghanistan.
Afghan forces say they have made a tactical retreat from the centre of Sangin, which has been fiercely fought over for more than a decade.
The Taliban's capture of Sangin will also have a destabilising effect on neighbouring Kandahar, a province of huge strategic and political significance, and whose capital is Afghanistan's second-largest town.
The fall of Sangin is an indication that this year's fighting season might be even tougher as the group is planning to push even harder to expand its footprint throughout the country.
The Taliban now controls more territory than at any point since the US-led invasion in 2001 which toppled its regime.
Helmand governor Mirza Khan Rahimi had insisted that the Taliban would be beaten back
The loss of Sangin underlines the challenge facing the Afghan government and its Western allies, who, according to US military officials are in a "stalemate" with the Taliban.
The new US President Donald Trump has yet to announce his Afghanistan strategy, but it is likely to involve sending a few thousand more troops to help the approximately 13,000 personnel from Nato allies and partner countries currently based in the country.
There are two possibilities now.
The Afghan forces, with the help of US Special Forces and aerial bombing, might try to recapture the district as seen in some other parts of the country.
Or the government will leave it to the Taliban, as they have done in a few other districts in Helmand, and focus on defending Lashkar Gah.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39366111
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London attack: May condemns 'sick and depraved terrorist attack' - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The prime minister says people will go on with their lives as normal and Parliament will continue to meet.
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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. Theresa May: "We will never give in to terror"
The terror attack in Westminster will not stop Britons from going about their lives and such attacks are ultimately "doomed to failure", the PM has said.
Theresa May said the "sick and depraved" attack in Westminster, in which five people died, would not stop people going to work as normal or Parliament from sitting on Thursday.
Values of freedom of speech, liberty and democracy would prevail, she said.
She praised the "exceptional bravery" of the police officer who died.
Speaking outside No 10, Mrs May - who earlier chaired a meeting of the emergency response committee Cobra - said her thoughts were with the officer's relatives and those others who had been killed and injured in the "appalling incident".
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who have been affected - to the victims themselves, and their family and friends who waved their loved ones off, but will not now be welcoming them home," she said.
"For those of us who were in Parliament at the time of this attack, these events provide a particular reminder of the exceptional bravery of our police and security services who risk their lives to keep us safe.
"Once again today, these exceptional men and women ran towards the danger even as they encouraged others to move the other way."
While the details of the incident - in which a single alleged assailant in a car struck a number of pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before stabbing a police officer at the gates of the Palace of Westminster - were still emerging, she said, the UK would not be cowed.
Confirming that the terror threat level would remain at severe, she said it was no accident that Parliament had been targeted in the incident.
"These streets of Westminster - home to the world's oldest Parliament - are ingrained with a spirit of freedom that echoes in some of the furthest corners of the globe," she said.
"And the values our Parliament represents - democracy, freedom, human rights, the rule of law - command the admiration and respect of free people everywhere. That is why it is a target for those who reject those values.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Corbyn: My thoughts are with the victims
"But let me make it clear today, as I have had cause to do before, any attempt to defeat those values through violence and terror is doomed to failure."
Parliament, she insisted, would meet "as normal" on Thursday and the British public would "come together as normal".
"And Londoners - and others from around the world who have come here to visit this great city - will get up and go about their day as normal.
"They will board their trains, they will leave their hotels, they will walk these streets, they will live their lives. And we will all move forward together. Never giving in to terror. And never allowing the voices of hate and evil to drive us apart."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has also paid tribute to the police and emergency services for their response to Wednesday's attack.
"Lives have been lost and people have been seriously injured," he said.
"I want to thank the police and all the security services who did so much to keep the public, those who work in Parliament and MPs safe.
"Our thoughts are with those who suffered loss and those that have seen terrible injuries this afternoon."
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said it had been an attack on British democracy, while the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has spoken of a "sense of solidarity" felt in Scotland for people in London.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/39355473
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Greg Clarke: England chants 'inappropriate, disrespectful and disappointing' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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Behaviour of a section of England fans during the friendly in Germany was "inappropriate, disrespectful and disappointing", says FA chairman Greg Clarke.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Behaviour of a section of England fans in Germany was "inappropriate, disrespectful and disappointing", says FA chairman Greg Clarke.
England lost 1-0 to Germany in Dortmund on Wednesday night, but a section of England supporters booed the German national anthem and sang chants referencing World War Two.
It is understood that the FA is trying to gather footage of the behaviour.
If found to be involved, supporters could be banned from attending games.
"The FA has consistently urged supporters to show respect and not to chant songs that could be regarded as insulting to others," said Clarke.
"Individuals who engage in such behaviour do not represent the overwhelming majority of England fans nor the values and identity we should aspire to as a football nation.
"We are working with the England Supporters Travel Club and speaking with the Football Supporters' Federation to come together to address this issue.
"Everyone involved in the game has a responsibility to ensure that attending a football match is a safe and enjoyable experience for all."
The FA part-fund the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF). This includes funding for an annual supporters' summit to discuss fan issues.
An FSF spokesperson said: "Over the last 20 years, English football fans have built a worldwide reputation for our passionate support and the vocal backing we give to our teams.
"Unfortunately little of the wit and imagination that goes into our club football songs is reflected at England games.
"England's travelling support is made of people of all ages from a range of clubs, many of whom have worked hard in recent years to improve our standing abroad and have expressed concern to us about these chants.
"We don't want to regress to a situation where that reputation is tarnished by the actions of a minority."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39370763
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