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London attacks: How is security organised at other seats of power? - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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An attacker tried and failed to access Westminster - so what is security like in Paris, Berlin, Brussels and Washington DC?
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Europe
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The attack on the British parliament building was stopped quickly, and security forces locked down the area within minutes.
But the attacker still managed to enter Westminster and fatally wound an unarmed police officer, before he was shot.
Prime Minister Theresa May has said police are now reviewing security, "as is routine".
So what is security like in other national parliaments and seats of power, and how do other countries balance safety against accessibility?
Berlin's Reichstag has fences in front of the building where the main entrance is, but it is relatively accessible to the public and there are no fences on other sides. Admission to the building's glass dome on the rooftop is free, but you do need to register in advance.
There is even a rooftop restaurant - the only parliamentary building in the world with one, it claims - but it requires the names and dates of birth of guests 24 hours in advance, and you must bring your passport or ID with you.
Despite its open-plaza appearance, the building is encircled by low concrete blocks.
They provide no obstacle to pedestrians, but are a significant impediment to vehicles - and they dot the roadside all around the building, the park, and the German Chancellery nearby.
The Reichstag was famously set alight in an arson attack in 1933, for which a young Dutch communist was sentenced to death - something the Nazi party then used to vilify communist opponents, resulting in electoral gains.
A bridge linking buildings runs over a road in at the European Parliament
The Brussels headquarters of the European parliament is part of a large, modern complex - and so is significantly different from the historic buildings used by many countries.
It's also decentralised, with many of the plenary sessions taking place in France, and some administration work in Luxembourg. But it's the Brussels headquarters that is most iconic.
It is easily accessibly by road or on foot, protected by low steel bollards on the roadside.
Access to the buildings themselves requires a national ID card or passport, plus "airport-style security checks", but when parliament is in session, it's possible to slip in as an observer on the day without advance notice.
The nearby Maelbeek metro station was one of the targets of the 2016 Brussels attacks - but the EU buildings themselves were untouched.
It later emerged that one of the attackers had worked in the European parliament briefly during two summers.
The National Assembly faces the Place de la Concorde over a long straight bridge
The French National Assembly's grand front gates directly face a bridge of the river Seine, offering a straight-line view to the iconic Place de la Concorde.
But, like the German Reichstag, concrete bollards set in front of the gates prevent any high-speed ramming from that long straight road.
The Senate, meanwhile, meets in the Palais du Luxembourg. While one exterior wall by the roadside is solid stone, the remainder lies among public walkways in a park of the same name.
Tourists and locals alike can stroll up to a waist-high gate separating them from the building's many windowed doors - although the area is patrolled by heavily armed police.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. James Reynolds: "The government has suggested that that deployment to protect people is open-ended"
In contrast, the Elysee Palace, home to the French president, is a fortress of high walls, steel fencing, traffic restrictions, and armed patrols. It lies a short distance from the Champs-Elysees, one of the country's main tourist areas.
Groups wishing to visit either the National Assembly or the Senate need the sponsorship of a senator - but because of security measures in effect in France, individual visits are suspended for both.
More than 230 people have died in terror attacks in France since January 2015 - but none have targeted the Paris political strongholds.
The US Capitol building is guarded by heavily armed officers
There are two main centres of power in the centre of Washington DC: the Capitol building and the White House.
The grounds around the Capitol building are open to pedestrians, but vehicle traffic is cut off by traffic barriers - only allowing those with permission in.
The main entrance for visitors to the Capitol building is through a visitors' centre, where security is extremely tight - much like airport security. No liquids, food or pointed objects are allowed.
The guards throughout the area and at several important nearby buildings are very well armed.
A counter-sniper team member of the Secret Service on the White House roof, 2013
The White House is perhaps a more popular symbol of American power, and has a myriad of myths about its security - thanks in large part to Hollywood films.
It is enclosed on all sides by steel railings several feet high, which are in turn encircled by steel bollards and chains. The mansion itself is quite distant from most of the railings, giving Secret Service plenty of time to pick up any fence-jumpers caught by the constant close surveillance - although one man, carrying a knife, made it into the building in 2014.
The closest point from a public area to the mansion is on the North Lawn, a well-known viewpoint of the White House exterior. But security there is especially tight, with armed guards, and gatehouses which protect the entry points.
And then there's the Secret Service and high-tech defences - including sniper surveillance, radar technology on the rooftop, and, of course, the "bunker" of the emergency operations centre under the building.
Westminster lies by the water next to a public square, and is a popular tourist spot
The BBC's Home affairs correspondent, Dominic Casciani, has written about "the attack that security chiefs have been preparing for". Here's what he had to say about the UK parliament:
There is a ring of steel around the Palace of Westminster - but the attacker was able to enter into Parliament's grounds through the gates to New Palace Yard, which is below Big Ben.
The entrance is guarded by armed officers but, unlike other parts of Parliament, there is no elaborate chicane.
There will be inevitable questions about whether this entrance was appropriately protected - but given the rudimentary nature of this man's murderous plan, it would not have stopped him trying.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39364508
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State of Sport: Fifa's former doctor says painkiller use risks footballers' health - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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Elite footballers' "abuse" of legal painkillers risks their long-term health, says Fifa's former chief medical officer.
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Last updated on .From the section Sport
Elite footballers' "abuse" of legal painkillers risks their health and could "potentially" have life-threatening implications, says Fifa's former chief medical officer.
About half of players competing at the past three World Cups routinely took non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, claims Jiri Dvorak.
He says it is still an "alarming trend" among players, including teenagers.
"It has become a cultural issue, part of the game," said Professor Dvorak.
"It is absolutely wrong," added the Czech, who left Fifa in November after 22 years.
"For me it's clearly abuse of the drugs - that's why we use the word alarming."
However, the Professional Footballers' Association - the players' union in England - said misuse of painkillers was "not a major issue" among its members.
BBC pundit and former England defender Danny Mills says painkillers in football have always been widespread - "and always will be".
"I've been in many dressing rooms where I've seen other players pressured into playing with painkillers," he said.
He added players at the top level of the game did not see them as an issue because they were legal and often monitored by health professionals - but he felt some players lower down the league ladder might suffer problems without that safety net in place.
Professor Dvorak spoke to the BBC as part of State of Sport week, which on Thursday examines the balance of athlete welfare against a winning-at-all-costs culture in sport.
A government-commissioned review into safety and wellbeing in British sport, headed by 11-time Paralympic champion Baroness Grey-Thompson, is due to be published imminently.
It is expected to recommend significant reforms designed to improve the way athletes are treated by governing bodies.
• None Dan Roan: Should welfare come before winning?
Professor Dvorak collected data about the intake of medication by all players at every Fifa tournament between 1998 and 2014, discovering almost 50% took 'everyday' anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers that are available over the counter.
He says some clubs prioritise success over player welfare, leading to players feeling "pressured" into taking medication to overcome minor injuries and play in important games.
Professor Dvorak previously raised these concerns when he was employed by Fifa, but claims the world governing body has still not addressed the issue appropriately.
Fifa says its stance on the issue has not changed since Dvorak first warned about the long-term implications of players misusing painkillers in 2012.
The misuse of legal medication could "potentially" have life-threatening implications for players, claims Professor Dvorak.
"We have to make a strong statement for the players: wake up, and be careful," he said. "It is not that harmless and you can't think that you can take them like cookies. It has side-effects."
Not a major issue for us - PFA
Only one footballer based in England has raised concerns about the misuse of painkillers directly to the PFA in the past decade, according to head of player welfare Michael Bennett.
"It was an individual with a back problem and he was taking ibuprofen tablets to get through games and training with it," Bennett told BBC Sport.
"The issue arose more when he left the game, when he realised he was still taking them and it was a continual problem for him.
"He addressed the issue by going to see his personal GP and decreased the medication he was taking, and coming off it.
"In my time of working in this field, about eight or nine years, that is the only person who has had an issue with painkillers.
"It is not a major issue for us."
BBC pundit Danny Mills made more than 320 appearances for sides including Manchester City and Leeds United in a 14-year career that ended at the age of 32 through injury. He saw painkillers as part and parcel of football and thinks players are unlikely to see them as an issue as a result.
When you're talking about painkilling injections, painkilling drugs, anti-inflammatories, it's widespread in football. Always has been, always will be. As a player the first thing you ask is, "Is it legal?" and if it is, fine. Is it going to help, is it going to get me through a game? If yes, then generally, without too many questions, without too much concern, you take what's being offered.
Most professionals are dictated to now by physios, by doctors, and things are monitored, so they do not see it as a huge issue.
I've been in many dressing rooms where I've seen other players pressured into playing with painkillers. Myself as well, I had pain-killing injections in a broken toe for six months - one before the game, one at half-time. I'd wake up at midnight screaming in agony as it wore off but it was my choice, I wanted to do it. Was it good for me long-term? Probably not.
But players will always look for the short-term fix. Most players would take the attitude, 'it's painkillers, it's legal, it's monitored'. There are times when it might not do the injury any good, there's a good chance you might make it worse but you take that risk. Sport is all about risk and reward. As long as there is that reward, people will always take risks. You're going to win a medal, you're going to get three points. Ultimately it has to be down to the individual to make up their mind. But would I do it again? Yes.
Case studies: 'My body could not cope'
Three former Premier League footballers have blamed the overuse of legal anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers on health problems.
These include over-the-counter pills, such as ibuprofen and vitamins, as well as stronger pain-relief injections like cortisone.
Agger, 32, retired from competitive football when his contract expired at Brondby in June 2016.
Fifteen months earlier he collapsed in the dressing room after being substituted just 29 minutes into a game against FC Copenhagen.
He was an injury doubt and, in a desperate bid to play, had taken more than the recommended maximum dose of anti-inflammatory drugs in the week leading up to the game.
"The body could not cope with it," he told Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in July 2016.
"I have taken too many anti-inflammatories in my career.
"I know that full well, and it sucks, but I did stop it [in the end]. I am not gaining anything personally from saying this but I can only hope that other athletes do.
"It could be that others take a pill or two less."
Klasnic, 37, suffered kidney failure while playing for German club Werder Bremen in 2007.
He blamed team doctors at Werder Bremen, saying they failed to diagnose his problem in time and continued to prescribe painkilling medication to him which can be very damaging to kidneys.
The doctors at the club say the problem was caused by genetics and not painkillers.
He was left critically ill in September after his body rejected a transplanted kidney provided by his mother.
Matteo, 42, said he took painkilling injections "for years" during a career spanning more than 350 appearances, and had to have spinal surgery two years after he retired in 2009.
He added he thought under-pressure managers did not consider the long-term effect of players having this treatment and then taking part in games.
"I took painkilling injections to play football when my body was telling me to do otherwise," he said in a 2011 interview.
"Even though the operation was a success, I don't think I'll ever be completely fine but hopefully I'll be able to lift my kids again.
"This problem all dates back to when I was at Liverpool and I had injections to play games. Then, after Liverpool, when I was at Leeds nothing changed; I'd get an injection every Saturday just to play."
Last week, British cyclist Josh Edmondson told the BBC he broke the sport's rules by secretly injecting himself with a cocktail of vitamins when riding for Team Sky.
The 24-year-old, who was on the team's books in 2013 and 2014, also said he had severe depression after independently using the controversial painkiller Tramadol.
Speaking to BBC sports editor Dan Roan, he said he risked giving himself a heart attack by self-administering the medication secretly at night.
"In 2014 I was under a lot of pressure, not just from the team but from myself," said Edmondson.
"You want to renew your contract for one thing, and for me the bigger thing was not letting anyone down - this team had given me a chance by signing me."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/39333763
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Donald Trump Jr criticises London mayor after terror attack - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Trump Jr is accused of exploiting the tragedy by taking the London mayor's comments out of context.
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US & Canada
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Donald Trump Jr is now executive director of The Trump Organization
President Donald Trump's son has come under fire for criticising London's mayor, shortly after a terror attack on the UK capital killed three people.
Donald Trump Jr tweeted an article written last year, in which Sadiq Khan said terror vigilance had become "part and parcel" of life in a global city.
Mr Trump quoted the headline and tweeted: "You have to be kidding me?!"
He angered many Britons who accused him of exploiting the tragedy and implying the quotes were made after the attack.
Dozens were hurt in Wednesday's attack, when an assailant drove a car through pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and then fatally knifed a police officer who tried to stop him entering the Houses of Parliament. He was then shot dead.
Two hours later, Mr Trump tweeted an article from the Independent newspaper in September 2016.
In the article, Mr Khan was speaking shortly before a meeting with New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, on the day after three bombs exploded in New York City and nearby towns, wounding 29 people.
The attacks had given him a sleepless night, he said, as he pondered the dangers faced by big Western cities like New York and London.
"Part and parcel of living in a great global city is you have to be prepared for these sorts of things, you have to be vigilant, you have to support the police doing an incredibly hard job, you have to support the security services," he said.
On Wednesday, after the attack in Westminster, the mayor said that Londoners "will never be cowed by terrorism" and that the city stood together in the face of those seeking it harm.
Mr Trump's tweet incensed many British people on Twitter, including MP Wes Streeting, who called him a "disgrace" for exploiting the tragedy.
Others accused him of implying that Mr Khan's comments were made after the attack.
Mr Khan, London's first Muslim mayor, has previously clashed with Mr Trump's father, in January denouncing the US president's travel ban as "shameful and cruel".
Last year, he accused the then-candidate Trump of being "ignorant" about Islam.
Mr Trump responded by challenging the mayor to an IQ test.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sadiq Khan: "We won't be cowed by terrorists"
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39361079
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Formula 1: Hamilton v Bottas and what else to look out for - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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A Ferrari title push? Can Valtteri Bottas rival Lewis Hamilton? What next for McLaren? How will F1 change? Andrew Benson previews the season.
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It is all change in Formula 1 in 2017.
The cars are different - faster, better-looking and much more demanding. There are new driver line-ups - and new drivers. The sport has new owners, with big plans for the future. And it looks like Mercedes might not find things as easy as they have in recent years.
So let's ponder what will be the main issues of the year.
Ferrari look like they might just have designed a properly competitive car. Not before time, it should be said - it would be the first in nine years.
The SF17 not only features obvious innovations after years of Ferrari being behind the curve in Formula 1 design, but in testing it has been going like stink.
It is not the first time that a Ferrari has looked quick in pre-season. Usually, they have then fallen away when the competition proper started. But this year it appears to be different.
No matter who you talk to, or how you do the numbers, the Ferrari looks genuinely quick. So much so that Lewis Hamilton said they were "possibly the favourites".
Ferrari have flattered to deceive so many times in recent years - their inability to produce a car that could compete with the best drove Fernando Alonso to distraction so much that he took the otherwise inexplicable decision to join McLaren-Honda.
Inevitably, then, many in F1 are having difficulty believing that this time it could be real.
Melbourne and the rest of the season may yet prove it not to be, but right now it looks like it is. And if Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are genuinely in contention it will be something to see.
At the same time, Vettel's contract runs out this year. Will he sign another? Or might he be tempted away by Mercedes? Stability has rarely been a Maranello strong point.
Can Bottas get near Hamilton?
Lewis Hamilton has a new team-mate this year after Nico Rosberg decided the only way was down following his title win in 2016.
The latest man set the task of competing with the fastest driver in the world is Finland's Valtteri Bottas.
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff prised the 27-year-old out of Williams - at the cost of a lot of money among other things - because he saw him as the closest he could get to a like-for-like replacement for Rosberg.
That means someone quick enough to keep Hamilton on his toes, and a team player who will not rock the boat.
But three years alongside Felipe Massa at Williams have proved little about Bottas' ultimate ability to compete at the very top of F1.
Bottas comfortably beat the Brazilian - but his superiority over Massa was nowhere near as great as was Alonso's when they were team-mates at Ferrari. Which doesn't necessarily tell you anything, but might.
So will Bottas be another Rosberg - quick and dependable, talented enough to run Hamilton close but only good enough to beat him occasionally? Or another Heikki Kovalainen, Hamilton's McLaren team-mate in 2008 and 2009 - decently talented but hardly ever anywhere near Hamilton's level? Or better than both of them?
If he's Rosberg, things at Mercedes will continue much as they have for the last few years - and Bottas will almost certainly be retained for 2018.
If he's Kovalainen, the atmosphere in the team will be a lot more comfortable than it has been, but Mercedes might find Hamilton even more 'superstar-y' than he can already be from time to time - and Wolff will be looking for a new driver.
And if he's better than both, things could get really interesting, really quickly.
Daniel Ricciardo v Max Verstappen was already a compelling watch in 2016, and it is only likely to get better this year.
There is more hype around 19-year-old Verstappen than any young driver since Hamilton. And by and large he has lived up to it.
A maiden win in his debut race for Red Bull last May was pretty spectacular - even if he was helped by the team inadvertently strategising Ricciardo out of the way.
But even that paled into insignificance compared with his stunning drive in the wet in Brazil, a performance that drew legitimate comparisons with Ayrton Senna.
The fly in the Verstappen ointment, though, was that over the season Ricciardo was the more impressive performer. He out-qualified Verstappen more often than not, and he out-scored him comfortably, too. In fact, Ricciardo was arguably the best driver on the grid last year.
But neither that nor a controversy over his defensive driving tactics did anything visibly to dent Verstappen's sky-high self-confidence, and the Dutchman did seem to develop a momentum in the latter stages of the year, more frequently out-qualifying Ricciardo as the races went by.
Ricciardo is a potential champion in his own right, but if Verstappen is to live up to expectations, he will have to start establishing himself as the faster and better driver this season.
Verstappen will be as determined to do that as the feisty Ricciardo is to stop it - and don't be fooled by the Australian's sunny demeanour; he is as hard as nails underneath the smile.
If Red Bull are contenders for regular wins - as many expect them to be - this one could go nuclear.
Oh Honda. What now?
If they repeat the form showed in pre-season testing, McLaren-Honda will be struggling to get off the back of the grid in Australia this weekend.
That's with one of the cars being driven by Fernando Alonso, one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time; and the other by a novice who shows every promise of being a star himself, Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne.
The McLaren chassis does not appear to be anything special - although it is hard to tell, because the fundamental reason for this is the catastrophic performance of Honda's redesigned engine.
After two difficult seasons since the start of their relationship with McLaren, Honda has effectively built a Mercedes engine this year, in the sense of copying their design philosophy. The problem is it doesn't go like one. In fact, it hardly goes at all.
Will Honda have solved in the two weeks since the last test problems that stopped the car running more than 11 laps at a time, and left it nearly 30km/h slower than the best on the straights? Unlikely.
Can they, ever? That's the bigger question.
BBC Sport revealed last week that McLaren have already sounded out Mercedes about a future engine supply if the Honda relationship cannot be made to work.
That will have come as a shock to Honda, but the question is, how do they respond? If there is as little evidence this year as there has been in the last two that the Japanese giant knows how to make a competitive F1 engine, then the writing could be on the wall.
Alonso's future is also bound up on this. The Spaniard's contract with McLaren runs out this season, and he has already indicated that the new cars are enough of a step forward in terms of challenge for him to want to stick around.
But if McLaren cannot find a decent engine, he will be looking for a new employer. Even if it is not immediately obvious who that could be.
He's unlikely to want to return to Ferrari - and they may not want him back, although if Vettel left that could change things. Red Bull is a non-starter. One suspects Alonso might have Wolff on speed dial.
How will the sport change?
One of the big questions heading into 2017 is how the new cars work, both in terms of challenging the drivers and improving the spectacle, and how the races might change.
Hot on its heels is when new owners Liberty will start to make changes and what they will be.
Some of this is known - Liberty have made it clear they want to make a bigger promotional impact with grands prix themselves.
Beyond that, the shape of the calendar will change sooner or later. Liberty is keen to establish new races in the Americas - north and south - and Asia. And less enamoured of what might be called 'propaganda' races such as Azerbaijan, where a grand prix is held in a country for no obvious reason other than to give its regime a cloak of respectability.
Equally, former Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn has been charged with making the sport "purer and simpler".
The controversial DRS overtaking aid is in his sights. But he will be looking far and wide - at how to change the design of the cars to make racing closely more feasible; at what the engine formula should be post-2020.
While all this is going on, Liberty has to begin negotiations with the teams over new contracts - all but one of them are committed to F1 only as far as 2020.
Up for discussion? A more equitable balance of payments. Ferrari's $100m bonus for, well, being Ferrari. And the political and decision-making structure of the sport itself.
It's going to be an interesting year, all in all.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39307622
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World Match Play: Tearful Jason Day pulls out to be with ill mother - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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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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World Cup qualifying: How did Syria win 'most important match in their history'? - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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Syria faced Uzbekistan in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and BBC Sport's Richard Conway was there.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
It was goalless after 90 minutes and Syria's dreams of qualifying for their first World Cup were fading fast.
Then Omar Kharbin converted a bold, Panenka-style stoppage-time penalty to earn victory over Uzbekistan and make an appearance at Russia 2018 a realistic goal.
Syria, in fourth, move within one point of their opponents in Asian Qualifying Group A. The top two qualify automatically, with the third-place side advancing to a continental play-off.
As we reported in Syria: Football on the frontline on Wednesday, the Syrians are playing their home fixtures at neutral venues, and Malaysia has been their "home" since last September.
BBC Sport's Richard Conway travelled to Hang Jebat Stadium in Malacca to watch the game...
With the hopes and dreams of a nation resting on his shoulders, Omar Kharbin opted to hit a Panenka-style penalty.
It was a truly bold decision given the risk and stakes involved.
But in a way it is entirely in keeping with the spirit and ethos of this Syrian team.
They believe they are playing for a higher purpose than simply qualifying for the World Cup, with the players determined to cast themselves as a symbol of unity.
It is, they feel, about giving the Syrian people something to cheer about as the war that has engulfed their country enters its seventh year.
The emotion poured out on the final whistle and the head coach, Ayman Hakeem, broke down in tears in the post-match press conference. Choking on his words he said this was a victory for the Syrian people.
The team will now fly to Seoul to take on South Korea on 28 March with renewed belief that the dream to make it to Russia 2018 can become a reality.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39363248
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London attack: World leaders show solidarity - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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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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Wendy Houvenaghel: British Cycling had 'medal at any cost' culture - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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A "medal at any cost" approach created a "culture of fear" at British Cycling, says former cyclist Wendy Houvenaghel.
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Last updated on .From the section Cycling
A "medal at any cost" approach created a "culture of fear" at British Cycling, says former rider Wendy Houvenaghel.
The Olympic silver medallist accused the organisation of "ageism" and having "zero regard" for her welfare.
She is the latest high-profile cyclist to come forward after Jess Varnish, Nicole Cooke and Emma Pooley criticised the World Class programme.
Houvenaghel told the BBC she felt "vindicated" by a leaked draft report detailing British Cycling's failures.
The report said British Cycling "sanitised" its own investigation into claims former technical director Shane Sutton used sexist language towards Varnish, who went public last April about her treatment.
British Cycling subsequently admitted it did not pay "sufficient care and attention" to the wellbeing of staff and athletes at the expense of winning medals, an approach Houvenaghel attested to in her BBC interview.
Both Sutton and predecessor Sir Dave Brailsford have now left British Cycling.
Houvenaghel, 42, spoke to BBC Sport during its State of Sport week, which on Thursday examines the issue of athlete welfare versus a win-at-all-costs culture.
A government-commissioned review, headed by 11-time Paralympic champion Baroness Grey-Thompson, into safety and wellbeing in British sport, is due to be published imminently.
It is expected to recommend significant reforms designed to improve the way athletes are treated by governing bodies.
• None She felt "oppressed" by both Sutton and Brailsford, describing the training environment as "horrid".
• None Sexism and "ageism" were prevalent at British Cycling.
• None She put up with the situation because "if you rocked the boat, you were out".
• None She was "discarded" by British Cycling after London 2012 despite six years of "constantly" winning medals at major championships.
British Cycling said it "has acknowledged and takes very seriously previous cultural and governance failings in the World Class Programme".
It said it has accepted the draft report's findings and already put into a place a 39-point action plan to "systematically address the cultural and behavioural shortcomings".
The statement added: "Our new chair Jonathan Browning has apologised for instances where we have fallen short in our commitment to athlete welfare and has offered to meet with anyone who can help improve British Cycling."
Who else has spoken out?
• None Varnish spoke about the culture she experienced within British Cycling, after she was dropped from the elite programme last April.
• None She claimed Sutton used sexist language towards her.
• None The Australian, who quit in the wake of Varnish's allegations, was found to have used the word "bitches" when describing female riders.
• None British Cycling was run "by men for men" and its attempts to stop doping were "ineffective".
• None saying "a fish rots from the head".
Houvenaghel won silver in the individual pursuit at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and gold in the World Championship team pursuit in 2008, 2009 and 2011.
She retired in 2014, aged 39, after withdrawing from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with a back injury.
Houvenaghel was critical of both Sutton and her team-mates in the aftermath of the London 2012 Olympics, where she was left out of all three team pursuit races as Dani King, Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell-Shand won gold in a world record time.
Speaking to BBC Sport this week, the Northern Irish rider said that experience was "very traumatic" and she felt "torment" at having "no explanation" for her last-minute omission.
At the time, Brailsford, then performance director, defended the selection saying they had to "take the personal element out of it, and look at the data and be professional".
He added: "I think when a team steps up and makes six world records on the trot and a gold medal, then I don't think you can argue with that."
British Cycling reiterated that point on Thursday, adding it was "proud to support Wendy in what was a wonderfully successful cycling career" and she was "part of a pioneering generation of riders who set new standards of excellence", but was dropped in London 2012 "based on her performance".
Other elite cyclists, including King and Roswell-Shand have praised the leadership at British Cycling.
Asked whether she was simply not good enough for the 2012 team, Houvenaghel replied: "It was definitely not about performance. I don't think the fastest team on the day were permitted to race.
"There are certain chosen riders on the team who will not have experienced the culture of fear and will not have been on the receiving end of that - the bullying, the harassment, being frozen out of opportunities.
"It was horrid - it was not the training environment I expected. There was no choice. If you rocked the boat, you were out. There was no alternative.
"Medals at any cost, that's how it was whenever I was there, certainly in 2012."
Houvenaghel said she also witnessed the sexism that has been highlighted by other female riders, and also claims she was discriminated against because of her age.
"I can certainly relate to the bullying," she said. "For me personally, I felt it was more ageism - being a little bit older than my team-mates, it didn't seem to be something that the staff necessarily wanted for our team in 2012.
"They didn't care about what happened to me afterwards. I never heard another thing from them.
"After six years of constantly medalling at World Cups, World Championships, nationals, both on the track and on the road, they discarded me in a very undignified way from the team, which I don't feel was right."
Fourteen-time Paralympic gold medallist Dame Sarah Storey told BBC Sport that elite level sport in Britain is "cut-throat" but there are "no excuses for crossing that line" into bullying.
Asked about the balance between winning and athlete welfare, the 39-year-old replied: "It's a really difficult question because you have to be a human being, you have to allow for people to make mistakes. But the currency is race wins, the currency is gold medals.
"It's not an excuse but you have to have a thick skin in sport, you have to be able to take the rough with the smooth because of the racing that you go through.
"But there are no excuses for crossing that line, and if those lines have been crossed they will be found out and they'll be dealt with."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39339718
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Has this dress been to more countries than you? - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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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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2017-03-23
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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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British Swimming: Bullying claims by Paralympians are investigated - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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British Swimming is conducting an investigation after multiple bullying claims by Paralympians about a coach, the BBC learns.
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Last updated on .From the section Disability Sport
British Swimming is conducting an investigation after multiple bullying claims were made by Paralympians about a coach, the BBC has learned.
The sport's governing body began an internal review after several Para-swimmers made complaints.
The complainants are understood to include Rio 2016 medallists.
Swimming was ParalympicsGB's most successful sport in Rio, winning 47 medals - 16 golds of 152 available - and setting eight world records.
But it has now emerged the team, which is based at the Manchester Aquatics Centre, has been embroiled in a bullying controversy for the past two months.
British Swimming has appointed investigators to look into the allegations.
UK Sport said it was aware of the internal review and "disappointed" to hear the claims.
A parent of one of the complainants told the BBC that swimmers were "belittled and criticised".
"We were told elite sport was not about the welfare of athletes but the pursuit of medals. There was a culture of fear," the parent said.
In a statement, British Swimming told the BBC: "Whilst some athletes have expressed some concerns, we have immediately undertaken an independent fact-finding investigation into these.
"The investigation remains ongoing and, until it is completed, we do not propose to make any further comment."
UK Sport said: "While we are disappointed to hear of these allegations, we are reassured that athletes feel able to challenge any behaviour that they are uncomfortable with and that British Swimming are investigating.
"As part of our action plan following the independent review into British Cycling, we will be looking at sharing learnings and best practice across the entire high performance system to ensure we continue to support our best athletes to reach their full potential within a positive performance culture of the upmost integrity and ethical standards."
A British Paralympic Association statement added: "We understand that some athletes have raised concerns with British Swimming, their national governing body. Athlete welfare is of the utmost importance, therefore it is quite right that British Swimming have undertaken an independent fact-finding investigation into the matter, which remains ongoing."
The revelations come amid mounting concern over the culture of high-performance programmes at British sports, and whether medal success has come at the expense of athlete welfare.
Team GB and ParalympicsGB both came second in their respective medal tables in Rio.
British Cycling apologised last month for various "failings" after an independent investigation into allegations of bullying and sexism.
A leaked draft version of the report, due for publication, found there was "a culture of fear" in the national velodrome, and "cracks in terms of the climate and culture… were ignored in pursuit of medal success".
Several former riders and staff have complained about the way they were treated, with track cyclist Jess Varnish saying she was "thrown under the bus" and the victim of a "cover-up".
Former technical director Shane Sutton has always denied any wrongdoing.
British Cycling has introduced an action plan of reforms dedicated to improving training, governance and welfare.
Last year, British Rowing coach Paul Thompson was cleared of bullying following an investigation.
Former GB rower Emily Taylor had claimed Thompson was "a massive bully". A review concluded more care needed to be taken of athletes' wellbeing and the culture at British Rowing was "hard and unrelenting".
Meanwhile, in 2016 the government asked former Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson to conduct a comprehensive 'duty of care review'.
Publication of her report is imminent. It is expected to recommend significant reforms designed to improve the way athletes are treated by governing bodies.
Last month, UK Sport chief executive Liz Nicholl told BBC Sport there is "no excuse for not putting athletes first... there probably hasn't been enough attention in sport about how they do things.
"There's a lot of focus on operational delivery, probably not enough on leadership management and communication."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/disability-sport/39368319
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What really makes Bear Grylls afraid? - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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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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David Haye told to explain pre-Tony Bellew fight behaviour - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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David Haye is called before boxing authorities to explain his behaviour in the build-up to his bout with Tony Bellew.
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Last updated on .From the section Boxing
David Haye has been called before boxing authorities to explain his behaviour in the build-up to his heavyweight bout with Tony Bellew.
Haye graphically described injuries he hoped to inflict on Bellew in the run-up to last month's stoppage defeat.
The former world heavyweight champion must appear before the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) on 12 April.
The BBBofC believes Bellew's behaviour improved after both fighters were warned days before the bout.
"Mr Haye was told to behave himself but the board have called him," the board's general secretary Robert Smith told BBC Sport.
"He will now be given the opportunity to come and explain his behaviour."
The BBBofC condemned the actions of both fighters during a fight week which included a boisterous news conference in Liverpool and a media event in London.
• None Bellew v Haye - in their own words
According to records on the BBBofC website, Haye, 36, made a donation and apologised for his behaviour to the Southern Area Council at a meeting three days before the bout.
Bellew, 34, was handed a four-month suspended suspension by the board in December as a result of his ringside behaviour when he called Haye out following victory over BJ Flores in October.
Further misdemeanours could have seen his licence withdrawn before the meeting with Haye.
After his 11th-round stoppage win, an emotional Bellew told reporters: "What we have done for boxing tonight is put it on a pedestal.
"Two men fought their hearts out. The board can't say nothing to me and if they do, I will go and get a licence somewhere else."
Haye said after the fight that he expected to be fined for his pre-fight comments.
The ex-WBA heavyweight champion has said he intends on returning to the ring after recovering from Achilles surgery.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/39375355
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Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari are F1 title favourites, says Mercedes driver - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari are favourites to win the Formula 1 world title as the new season starts in Australia this weekend.
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Ferrari are favourites to win the Formula 1 world title as the new season starts in Australia this weekend, says three-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton's Mercedes team have dominated for the past three seasons but pre-season testing suggested Ferrari have bounced back from a winless 2016.
"I see Ferrari being quickest," he said. "They are definitely favourites."
But Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel said Mercedes were the team to beat, adding: "We are doing our best to catch up."
• None Will changes make F1 better?
The new cars that will race at Melbourne's Albert Park and for the rest of the season will be considerably quicker than last year's after major rule changes aimed at making them faster and more demanding.
But Vettel said that made no difference to Mercedes' position after three dominant seasons, since the introduction of turbo-hybrid engines in 2014, in which Hamilton won two titles and Nico Rosberg the other.
Vettel said: "Mercedes have been very strong and even if you change the rules if a team is strong they will build a strong car.
"Looking at the performance of the cars, it was expected to be a big step up. And that's what we all said when we got out for the first time.
"I think they will be the fastest cars we have ever driven. it is nice to have that. Competitiveness? We are all here to find out."
'I have never seen the fans so excited'
The season starts without the reigning champion on the track for the first time since 1994, when Alain Prost retired after winning his fourth title. Following Rosberg's retirement, Finn Valtteri Bottas will partner Hamilton.
Hamilton, 32, said: "It doesn't make any difference to me. Every year is a brand new challenge. You just want to beat whoever it is you're up against and the bigger the fight the more satisfying it is.
"I have never seen the fans as excited [as they are] about this year, not knowing where the cars and teams are. More of these changes would be welcome. Maybe they should shorten the time between rule changes."
Hamilton said he would relish a fight for the title with Vettel, who won four consecutive championships with Red Bull from 2010-13.
And the Briton added he would like to see old rival Fernando Alonso back in a competitive car, which seems a forlorn hope given a dire pre-season for the 35-year-old Spaniard's McLaren-Honda team.
"I have not had a lot of battles with Sebastian on track, and I would love that and the fans would too," Hamilton said. "And we need this guy [Alonso] to have a good car so he can get up there and fight with us as well - before his time is up. I feel we're yet to see the best of Fernando. The sport needs that and he deserves to be able to show that. You want to be racing against the best. That's what the fans want to see."
Hamilton added he was also wary of the threat from Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo, 27, and 19-year-old Max Verstappen.
"I am very keen to see what Red Bull bring because they were quite far behind in testing compared to Ferrari," Hamilton said.
"I didn't see many upgrades and I am excited to see what they bring here."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39359382
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Kell Brook to defend welterweight title against Errol Spence Jr at Bramall Lane - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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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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Spain's female bodyguards who protect abused women - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The story of Ana, a victim of domestic violence, and how an organisation of women bodyguards came to her help.
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Europe
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Two bodyguards keep a close eye on a victim of domestic violence in the centre of Bilbao
When Ana reported her male former partner for an assault at her home in Spain she thought she would be protected.
In fact she ended up living as a prisoner alone in her own house, afraid to go out in case she was confronted by her aggressor once more.
"I was living in terror. The only thing the police gave me was a special kind of telephone to call if he turned up. But I didn't feel safe."
Ana went online to contact women's support groups and was put in touch with Carolina, a former police bodyguard now using her skills and training to keep women safe from violent men.
Carolina had guarded public figures in the years before Basque separatist group Eta declared a halt to its bombing and assassination campaign in 2011.
She launched private association Edemm in response to cases just like Ana's. Women who had gone to the police but were left unprotected by the judicial system. Some were murdered by husbands or former partners.
Edemm describes itself as a Basque association for investigating men who mistreat women
The organisation offers 24-hour protection free of charge, helping vulnerable women to shake off the paralysing effects of fear and to face the world.
"We are talking to the Basque regional authorities and political parties. I want this to become standard, to be rolled out across the country and we are training more female bodyguards for this work," she explains.
Carolina lived with Ana for two weeks before the assault trial last year and remains on hand for moments when she needs company.
"I was wasting away and totally depressed," says Ana.
"I stayed in bed, I had stopped eating, lost 12 kilos and couldn't go out to work. Every time I heard a car outside, I felt panic. I did not go outside even to walk the dogs.
"She came and listened and said she was going to be with me. I wanted to hug her there and then but I thought it might not be ethical.
"I began to cook again, something simple like an omelette. She opened the windows and the blinds. She listened to me and I felt better every day. I could sleep properly again as I knew she was a professional bodyguard and I was protected."
A widow living on the outskirts of a village in Spain's Basque Country, Ana started what turned out to be a toxic relationship in early 2015. "Now I know he was a classic abuser," she says.
She describes being humiliated in front of her friends and psychological attacks that undermined her confidence. "He would say that it was my awful character that had killed my husband, and that I was ugly."
The psychological abuse became so bad at times that she called the police four times during the 18-month relationship. But she was told that she could only get help and protection if she formally reported her partner for an offence.
Eventually she ended the relationship in September 2016 when she caught him chatting with other women online. But, she says, he would not accept it.
"He kept calling, sending WhatsApp messages and SMS, some of which tried to be loving and others threatening, saying: 'I am coming to see you; you'd better be nice.' He used to spend hours outside my house, with me inside with the lights off and the blinds pulled down."
One night in mid-November, Ana relented and let her former partner in after he had been kicking at the door.
"He said he wanted to talk and would leave afterwards. I heard him out and said nothing had changed for me. I got him as far as the doorway and he struck me across the face with his hand."
When she came to, Ana took the step of calling the police. But her problems got worse.
At a preliminary hearing the day after the assault she was given a seat close to her former partner who, she says, tried to intimidate her.
A social worker sent to visit her listened to her story and said they had both behaved like "a pair of 15-year-olds".
Most of Edemm's bodyguards are women but it also employs men
Ana reckons she has had to repeat her version of events six times to the various legal and judicial authorities before the trial found her abuser guilty only of "harassment", for which he was sentenced to 20 days of community service.
A six-month restraining order was imposed on him but Ana says it still has not been confirmed by the court bureaucracy and is therefore not effective.
"Luckily, I always have this woman I can call. Had I known her before, I wouldn't have spent so many nights stuck in my house while this man was prowling outside."
All names in this article have been changed to protect identities.
• None Should a rapist be given a platform?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39283407
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'What's mum got to be depressed about?' - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A son reveals the reality of growing up with a depressed mum who is frequently hospitalised.
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Disability
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Bruce Turner's mum Tina was diagnosed with depression in 1990 and was hospitalised many times throughout his childhood. Now, at 20 years old, he still struggles to understand her condition.
If you met my mum you would think she was the life and soul of the party. She's confident, full of energy and charisma, but she lives with depression and when it hits she is none of those things.
In those times she becomes scared and fragile, sees the worst in situations, and her ability to love and show compassion is taken away. She'll shut herself off from the world and won't get out of bed or speak to anyone for weeks.
It strips her of emotion - so if someone knocked on the door and told her she had won the lottery or her children had died in a car crash, her reaction would be the same.
I've been surrounded by mental illness my entire life and, though I still live at home with my parents in Wilmslow near Manchester, I still can't get my head around it.
The first time mum's depression affected me was when I was about nine, but it was hidden quite well from me, my twin sister Millie and my younger brother, Jake.
Mum was admitted to hospital. Dad told us she was poorly but we didn't understand what was happening. He cried, which was a real shock, and when she returned he told us to be quiet around the house.
She looked and acted differently. Normally mum was very glamorous but she became a shadow of herself, she stayed in her bedroom and was always in night-wear. Mum has since told me it took all her willpower to even go to the toilet back then.
It was a shock to see her so vacant and she was scared of the people she loved the most. When her three children were laughing, it would send her into a panic and sleep became the only time the demons disappeared. She often hoped she wouldn't wake up.
As children we went to youth club every Friday. Mum would never take us because she wasn't "well" so we would always go with friends.
One Friday night, after she was discharged from hospital, she came to pick us up. It was amazing. I looked at her and thought she was back to normal again, but it was only the beginning of her recovery.
She says she dreaded doing the pick-up and it took a huge amount of courage that night.
As we grew up our grandparents kept family life as normal as possible. Millie now plays football for England and Bristol City WFC and my younger brother, Jake, 18, is a goalkeeper for Bolton Wanderers.
Despite everything, they never missed a training session. Mum has said if she thought her illness had affected us in any way it would have made her battle worse.
Mum has long periods of wellness but, when I was 16, the depression returned and I found it harder to cope with.
This time I knew what was coming but the more I understood, the more I worried, and I was fearful that other people wouldn't understand.
I put a brave face on at school and whenever anyone asked I would say mum was "fine" or cover the truth by saying she had a physical illness.
At that age I found it hard to understand the situation and I was angry. She was admitted to hospital again and again and there was something about not being able to see anything physically wrong with her that made me question whether it was really there at all.
I thought: "What has mum got to be depressed about? She lives in a nice house with a nice family and is financially stable." I didn't understand how "being sad" could be an illness and would make flippant remarks about how she should just "pull herself together".
The triggers for mum's depression are difficult to understand. She lost a few close family members which she thinks affected her, but she also says one major episode came after watching the film Ray, about the blind rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles. It sounds surprising that she could be affected by a film like this, but she said it broke her heart and tipped her over the edge.
The pain caused by depression within a family is tremendous, but it's brought us closer.
It has made me appreciate every opportunity I receive, although I also live with the constant worry of when or if she'll have another episode.
Mum, who's 49, is currently well and we hope it remains that way for as long as possible, but the dread of its return never goes away.
The rapid disappearance of the person you love can be painful and frustrating. It's the fact they are facing the darkest battle and there is nothing you can do.
I think the stigma surrounding mental health needs to be improved and it should be considered like any physical illness. Ignorance can't be acceptable for an illness where suicide could be the ultimate trauma.
If depression affects someone you should surround them with love, appreciate the struggle and be there for them. Send them a "get well soon" card to let them know you're thinking about them.
After 20 years of living alongside mum's battle, I still don't completely understand depression, but I'm getting there.
For more Disability News, follow on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to the weekly podcast.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/disability-38929093
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Is it safe to drink Fanta and Sprite in Nigeria? - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A recent court case in Nigeria highlights concerns that locally made drinks may be considered unsafe for human consumption.
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Africa
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A recent court case in Nigeria has highlighted concerns that locally made soft drinks may be considered unsafe for human consumption elsewhere, as Ijeoma Ndukwe explains.
There has been uproar in Nigeria after it emerged that the company that manufactures Fanta and Sprite, the Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC), has been ordered by a court to place warning labels on its products, stating that they are unsafe when consumed alongside vitamin C.
The drinks are said by critics to contain high levels of the preservative benzoic acid and the colouring sunset yellow.
The case has caused deepening concern in a country where Fanta, Sprite and Coca-Cola are probably the most widely consumed soft drinks.
Barbara Ukpabi owns a grill restaurant which serves local food in Oniru, Lagos. She says she might stop buying Fanta and Sprite for the restaurant and also has concerns about giving the drinks to her children.
"I was thinking of reducing how much I drink of it. I'll be thinking of drinking less of it or going to other substitutes like juice."
Although like many Nigerians, the habit is hard to break.
"I just had my lunch and I had Coke and water."
Security guard John Uloko didn't see the reports about the soft drinks in the newspapers but heard about it via WhatsApp and hasn't drunk any since.
The ruling was the result of a nine-year-long court battle initiated by Nigerian businessman Fijabi Adebo.
In 2007, Mr Adebo shipped Nigerian-made Fanta and Sprite to the UK to sell at his chain of shops in Manchester.
His shipment was confiscated by UK customs, originally because of concerns about the authenticity of the beverages.
But when the UK health authorities tested the products, they were declared unsafe for human consumption and destroyed.
Mr Adebo sued NBC, Coca-Cola's franchise owner in Nigeria, which had sold him the products.
They had refused to take financial responsibility for the incident.
He later extended the case to include the food standards agency Nafdac, on the grounds that it had allegedly not performed its duty.
Last month - nearly 10 years after he filed his case - a Lagos high court ruled against Nafdac and ordered the Nigerian Bottling Company to place written warnings on its Fanta and Sprite bottles.As NBC is appealing, the labels have not yet been added to the bottles.
Mr Adebo told the BBC: "Initially they were flexing their muscles, which dragged [out] the process. I went to court to compel Nafdac to do its duty.
The warnings have not yet appeared as the ruling is being challenged
"We shouldn't have a product that is considered substandard in Europe."
His viewpoint is echoed by many, angered that products considered unsafe for consumption in the UK are legal in Nigeria.
The case has prompted discussions about accepted standards in the country.
Although benzoic acid is widely used as an antibacterial and antifungal preservative in acidic foods and beverages to extend their shelf life, studies have shown that the chemical can cause health problems in certain circumstances.
A scientist based in Nigeria, who has dealings with Nafdac and asked to remain anonymous, says some human toxicity studies have shown that benzoic acid may react with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in soft drinks, forming benzene.
"While benzoic acid itself is relatively non-toxic, when benzene is formed in the presence of ascorbic acid in foods it is particularly dangerous, as benzene is widely known to be toxic and linked to many forms of cancer. These include leukaemia and other cancers of the blood," the scientist said.
The secretary-general of the Nigerian Medical Association says it is impossible to make a judgement about acceptable levels of benzoic acid without conducting a local study looking at health implications over a long period of time.
Soft drinks may need more preservative in hotter countries
Dr Yusuf Sununu Tanko says there are a number of examples where evaluations are different between countries because of differences in physical constitution, diet and environment.
"Each country has its own acceptable value of what is considered normal for what is fit for human consumption," he says.
Nigeria's health ministry published a statement in response to the public outcry, reassuring Nigerians that the drinks are safe for human consumption.
However, the ministry advises that medicines are taken with water to help "prevent unexpected drug-food interactions".
Although the government has not spoken of enforcement, it "encourages" all bottling companies to include advisory warnings on all relevant products.
The Nigerian Bottling Company has appealed against the court ruling. It says the levels of benzoic acid in its soft drinks are "well within the levels approved" by both the national regulator and Codex Alimentarius, an international food standards body.
The company also says the ingredient levels set by countries for their food and beverages are influenced by factors such as climate, with drinks in hotter countries needing higher levels of preservative.
It also says there was "no proven case of negligence" or finding that the company had breached its duty of care to consumers.
The government's Consumer Protection Council has formally requested documents from the Nigerian Bottling Company ahead of an independent inquiry.
With an appeal in motion and a government inquiry under way, this case is far from over.
• None Can Nigeria clean up its dirty air?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39340013
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How an obscure seed is helping to save the elephant - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A look at how the seed of a South American tree is increasingly being used as an alternative to ivory.
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Business
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The tagua seed reaches 9cm (3.5 inches) in length, and can be carved like ivory
Onno Heerma van Voss jokes that he never intended to be a conservationist, but he is helping to save the African elephant.
Numbers of elephants in the wild are still falling; it's estimated 100 of them are killed by poachers every day for their tusks to meet the continuing demand for ivory.
There are now only around 415,000 African elephants across the continent, down from as many as five million a century ago, according to global campaign group WWF (formerly known as the World Wide Fund for Nature).
While the worldwide sale of new ivory was outlawed in 1989, the animals are still being slaughtered to fuel an illegal trade led by continuing demand in China.
So what exactly is Mr Heerma van Voss, a 48-year-old Dutchman, doing to help protect the African elephant? He sells seeds.
Onno Heerma van Voss had never heard of tagua before he moved to Ecuador
Yes, you read that correctly, but these aren't any old seeds, they are instead rather special ones from South America called tagua.
They are the off-white coloured seeds of six species of palm trees. They can reach up to 9cm (3.5 inches) in length and when dried become very hard indeed. So hard in fact that they are also known as "vegetable ivory".
And like ivory, tagua can be polished and carved, and turned into ornate carvings or jewellery.
From his base in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, Mr Heerma van Voss's company Naya Nayon has been exporting tagua for 16 years, and he says that sales are booming.
Tagua has a very similar feel to ivory, but is a fraction of the price
He now sells to 70 countries, including China, Japan and Singapore, as tagua grows in popularity as an alternative to ivory.
And with China pledging to end its domestic trade in elephant tusks by the end of this year, Mr van Voss is hopeful that demand is going to jump even further.
Using tagua as a substitute for ivory is nothing new. Indeed exports to Europe began in the 19th Century in order to meet the demand for an ivory-like raw material. This was used to produce ornamental items such as buttons, chess pieces, and decorative handles for canes.
In fact, the scientific name for the six species of palm trees that produce tagua is Phytelephas, which means elephant plant, a nod to the ivory-like quality of the seeds.
The white flesh of the tagua seed becomes exceptionally hard once it dried
However, tagua fell into obscurity, so much so that Mr Heerma van Voss had never heard of it when he first visited Ecuador in 2000.
Very much liking the country he decided to stay and set up a business, launching Naya Nayon to make and export wooden furniture. Then a year later he had a phone call.
"In the beginning of 2001, a France-based British lady contacted me if I could supply hand carved tagua figurines," he says.
The seeds are harvested from six species of palm trees
"Anyhow, you listen to clients to make a company work. So I did it, and I started to like the tagua and slowly it took off.
"I always joke that I am a forced ecologist, but I actually really like this product."
Tagua seeds - which have a brown outer husk - can be dried in the air, or in an oven
Mr Heerma van Voss now sells $200,000 (£160,000) worth of tagua per year that he buys from farmers. He and his four members of staff dry and slice the seeds ready to be turned into jewellery, with France being his largest market.
The sliced tagua typically retails for $30 a kg, while the raw seeds sell for $6 a kg. By contrast, a kilogramme of ivory is worth as much as $1,100 in China.
While Mr Heerma van Voss is preparing for a big upturn in exports to China, tagua does face two hurdles in the country.
The seeds can be dyed into any colour required by a jeweller
Firstly, even the longest tagua seeds are much shorter than the average elephant tusk, which limits the size of the ornaments that can be made from the material. And secondly, it lacks ivory's exclusivity.
Hongxiang Huang, a Chinese journalist and anti-ivory campaigner, explains: "As people become wealthier they want to buy luxury items, and ivory is one of the many things that people desire. This is the situation in China."
For buyers wanting an alternative to elephant ivory that still comes from a mammal but is ethically sourced, the answer comes from under the frozen Siberian tundra in the north east of Russia.
It may sound bizarre, but the tusks from woolly mammoths that died tens of thousands of years ago are mined on a regular basis. While official figures are not available, an estimated 60 tonnes of mammoth ivory is harvested each year.
Mammoth tusks can be used as a substitute for elephant ivory
Mammoth ivory sold for an average $350 a kg in 2014, according to the charity Save the Elephants. This is about a third of the price of elephant ivory, but giant mammoth tusks in good condition can fetch far more.
John Frederick Walker, an expert on ivory, says: "Master carvers tend to prefer elephant ivory because fresh elephant ivory is easier to carve.
"But in fact, you can make wonderful things from mammoth ivory."
Yet with tagua far easier to get hold of than mammoth ivory, and considerably cheaper, it is the South American seeds that is increasingly being used by jewellers, and not the Siberian tusks.
Demand for tagua in China is expected to rise after the ivory ban comes into place
Marion Andron is co-owner of French jewellers Nodova, which sold more than 300,000 euros ($320,000; £256,000) of tagua jewellery last year.
Ms Andron, 27, travels to Ecuador twice a year to oversee the production of the tagua that is done by seven local women at a cooperative.
While Nodova's largest markets are France and the UK, it sells to stores across Asia and Ms Andron says that the forthcoming blanket ban on ivory sales in China offers a huge opportunity.
"I think tagua has helped diminish the demand for animal ivory, and I honestly don't think someone today can be ignorant about the slaughter of elephants with all the media coverage," she says.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39333386
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Lukas Podolski: England 'used to play like a rugby team' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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England used to be "like a rugby" team but have a brighter future because they "play more football now", says ex-Germany forward Lukas Podolski.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
England used to be "like a rugby" team but have a brighter future because they "play more football now", says former Germany forward Lukas Podolski.
Podolski, 31, retired from international duty after his stunning strike helped Germany beat England 1-0 in Wednesday's friendly in Dortmund.
Under boss Gareth Southgate, England used a three-man defence for the first time since a loss to Croatia in 2006.
"They have a good team, a good manager," said Podolski.
"Before it was a like a rugby style, now they have good guys, good characters - they were physical but they play more football now.
"When they go to a tournament they are always nervous, they always play too much under pressure [but] I will be watching England at the [2018] World Cup."
A 3-4-2-1 formation also saw Dele Alli impress in a more attacking role along with Adam Lallana, who said the 20-year-old Tottenham midfielder could be a "special" player for England in future.
"I love the way he goes about his business - no fear, he's brave," said Liverpool midfielder Lallana. "He is unique and a special talent.
"But people still need to be patient with him. He is still a young boy and performing how he does is way above his years - it's important we don't get carried away."
• None Listen: Why Spurs had to sign Alli - Pleat
Galatasaray striker Podolski was given a presentation, delivered a speech and received a standing ovation after being substituted on his 130th and final appearance for Germany.
"It's like a movie. Of course, it was the perfect end," said the former Arsenal player.
Podolski believes England captain Wayne Rooney deserves a similar send-off for his last international match.
Rooney, who is England's all-time record scorer with 53 goals in 119 caps, has previously stated his intention is to retire after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The 31-year-old Manchester United striker was left out of Southgate's squad for Wednesday's friendly and Sunday's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania as he recovers from a leg injury, coupled with a lack of recent playing time for his club.
"I don't know if it's traditional in England to give someone a farewell game, but when I am England boss or the president I will say: 'Wayne, next week you've got a game,'" said Podolski.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39373880
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Nicola Sturgeon sees 'sense of solidarity' with London after attack - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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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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Germany 1-0 England: 'Defeat - but a display laced with promise for England' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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Gareth Southgate's first game as permanent England boss ended in defeat by Germany - but it was a loss with honour, writes Phil McNulty.
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Gareth Southgate's first game as permanent England manager, following a four-game spell in interim charge, ended in defeat - but it was a loss with honour here in Germany.
The 46-year-old is charged with shaping the new era that was meant to be Sam Allardyce's province, but which ended after one World Cup qualifying win in Slovakia when the now Crystal Palace manager was caught in a newspaper sting.
Southgate ended his run in temporary charge undefeated, but this was the start of the serious business as he prepares his plans to take England to the World Cup in Russia next year.
So what can be taken from the 1-0 loss in Dortmund's magnificent Signal Iduna Park before Sunday's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley?
Southgate has cut an impressive figure in his early days as England manager, and certainly here in Germany. He was calm and measured throughout, firm in what he demanded in his pre-match media briefing in Essen and cautiously optimistic post-match in Dortmund.
His insistence England must "get off the island" in a football context struck a chord, and it is clear he wants to embrace tactical flexibility and the factors that have made so-called rivals so much more successful.
He experimented with a three-man defensive system England last used in defeat by Croatia in October 2006, a 2-0 loss that exposed the first cracks in the Steve McClaren regime.
Southgate chanced his arm in circumstances that suited experimentation - this was effectively a testimonial for Germany striker Lukas Podolski, who scored the winner on a night when he was lavishly feted before, during and after (seemingly endlessly) by the home fans.
And, while placing it in this context, it worked well enough and integrated the excellent Michael Keane to such an extent it certainly gave Southgate food for thought.
To add extra lustre to this new era of open, non-island thought from Southgate and the Football Association, it was announced before kick-off that a memorandum of understanding has been signed with the DFB, German football's governing body, to share ideas about coaching, youth development and administration.
It was signed by FA chairman Greg Clarke and chief executive Martin Glenn in Dortmund and will run for two years, with DFB president Reinhard Grindel saying: "Both parties have a tremendous amount of expertise and it only makes sense to connect and share this knowledge."
Cynics may suggest World Cup holders Germany's record of regular success, consistent excellence and history of developing world-class young players makes this potentially a very one-sided arrangement.
What is does mean is the FA and Southgate flew out of Germany with tangible evidence of the determination to embrace a wider culture and a performance that at least illustrated the new manager's willingness to carry it through.
And so he would, say those used to the years of under-achievement, unfulfilled promise and now the acceptance of England as a strictly second-tier football power following the embarrassment of defeat by Iceland in the last 16 at Euro 2016 that led to Roy Hodgson's resignation as manager.
The debacle of Allardyce's 67-day reign only increased the feeling that England, as a football nation, was born under a bad sign.
Southgate has to start somewhere and, even though this was his first defeat, he was well within his rights to suggest there were at least some shoots of recovery.
He proved he is prepared to extend his net beyond the established order with the selection of Burnley's Keane, who did so well in testing circumstances, and West Bromwich Albion's Jake Livermore, who may not have been as eye-catching but did himself no harm.
England's performance must be framed by the fact they were playing a second-string Germany who were effectively staging a testimonial for Podolski and rarely went through the gears - but it was still a display laced with promise.
Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli confirmed he has all the tools to be an international player while Liverpool's Adam Lallana demonstrated the energy and creation that now makes him an automatic choice for England.
Yes, England lost, but there was enough to suggest Southgate and his players deserved a break from negative reflection on this 90 minutes.
And the positives don't end there...
England were missing key players who will improve them, and give Southgate even further room for optimism.
Tottenham striker Harry Kane was a very obvious absentee from the squad to face Germany and Lithuania, perhaps more significantly than England's all-time record goalscorer Wayne Rooney, with the sense growing that the Manchester United man's international career is more or less over.
Kane, sidelined with an ankle injury, has 19 Premier League goals this season and, while he has had a dip in form at international level, the 23-year-old has the quality to be a centrepiece for Southgate for years to come.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson will add his growing authority to midfield when fit, while Tottenham's Danny Rose has matured at left-back.
Elsewhere, Manchester United teenager Marcus Rashford, who featured briefly in Dortmund, is a shining light for the future in attack while Southampton's James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond got a taste of the action on their debuts on Wednesday.
John Stones only emerged in the final seconds but most shrewd judges see the Manchester City defender, still only 22, as a fixture in England's defence for years to come.
Everton's Ross Barkley is in the form of his life at 23 after some big-stick cajoling from manager Ronald Koeman, and even 22-year-old Raheem Sterling's fiercest critics accept he is improving under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
It is the hope that has made life such a misery for England before - but Southgate was right to fly out of Dortmund in optimistic mood.
Will Rooney get the Podolski treatment?
Podolski scored his 49th goal for Germany, in his 130th and last appearance. This whole night was dedicated to this hugely popular and fun-loving 31-year-old.
He gave a speech before the game that delayed the kick-off as a mosaic was formed in his honour at one end of the ground and, after scoring the winner, he departed to a standing ovation and the music from Gladiator.
At the final whistle, he was joined by his Germany team-mates in a celebration of his career before embarking on a lap of honour that seemed to end when only stewards and those others in place to keep order were left.
Podolski's farewell was loud, long, heartfelt and a tribute to a player who served his country so well, including in Germany's World Cup win in 2014.
It was brilliantly stage-managed to pay full tribute - so will Rooney get something along similar lines from the FA and England?
His England career may yet be over. Who knows? But, if he comes back, can he expect the Podolski treatment?
After all, Manchester United's all-time record goalscorer has a better record than Podolski. He is also 31, and his 53 goals in 119 games for England mean he has eclipsed the great Sir Bobby Charlton for club and country.
Rooney, out injured, was restricted to sending a "good luck" message to his England colleagues, and he has been given no guarantees by Southgate either as player or captain.
Germany and the DFB gave Podolski the most spectacular send-off, and he left the field to a prolonged standing ovation.
But will Rooney get the same treatment, or even the chance to say goodbye, after an England career that stretches back to his debut against Australia aged just 17 years and 111 days?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39362656
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New Zealand will not face England after All Blacks v Barbarians game is confirmed - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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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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London attack: Students hit by car on Westminster visit - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Four students from a Lancashire university named as among those injured by car in Westminster attack.
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Lancashire
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Owen Lambert said he was "battered and bruised, but doing fine"
Four students from a Lancashire university were among the 40 people injured in the Westminster attack.
Edge Hill University students Owen Lambert and Travis Frain, were hit as a car drove along the pavement on Westminster Bridge as the attack began.
Mr Frain is having surgery to his leg, the university said.
University Pro Vice Chancellor Lynda Brady said of the remaining 12 students, three were back home and nine others were returning.
They were part of a group of 13 students - with a lecturer - on a visit to the Houses of Parliament.
Mr Lambert, 18, from Morecambe, is understood to have required stitches to a head wound. Two other students needed treatment for lesser injuries.
Quoted in the Lancaster Guardian, Mr Lambert said he was "battered and bruised, but doing fine".
He also thanked police and hospital staff "for helping me through this ordeal".
The students are studying at Edge Hill University on Ormskirk
Dr John Cater, vice chancellor of the university, told BBC North West Tonight the students were on the first day of a two-day visit to London. They had been inside the House of Commons watching Prime Minister's Questions two hours before the attack.
He added: "Our assumption is that they were either knocked over by other people or struck by the vehicle.
"Obviously all of them will be somewhat traumatised by what they have seen."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39361517
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Morse's Oxford: The city that inspired Colin Dexter - BBC News
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2017-03-23
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The death of Morse writer Colin Dexter is the final chapter in a lifelong love affair with the university city.
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Oxford
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Of the main players in the Inspector Morse stories by Colin Dexter, one remains - the city of Oxford. The character died in The Remorseful Day, published in 1999. John Thaw, the actor synonymous with the role of the curmudgeonly detective, died in 2002. And Dexter himself died earlier this week.
As the Lord Mayor of Oxford once said: "In his novels Colin Dexter has shown our city as having a distinct and separate identity from its famous university."
The "dreaming spires" and attendant well-to-do academics and eccentrics were important factors in the books, but so were the lanes round the city centre, the arterial Iffley and Cowley roads, the north Oxford suburbs of Jericho and Summertown, and the railway station.
Dexter himself was well aware of the city's allure for readers and viewers. When the first episode of the television series was broadcast in 1987, he said: "The huge value for me as a writer is that, even if people haven't been to Oxford, they would love to be in the city.
"I think if the story had been set in Rotherham or Rochdale no-one would be particularly interested to see the streets and side streets, but so many people outside Oxford are delighted to see the High Street, St Giles and the colleges."
John Thaw, who played Inspector Morse in the television adaptation, pictured with Colin Dexter in 1999
The Randolph Hotel featured prominently in both Dexter's and Morse's lives. Morse was often to be found pondering cases while enjoying a real ale or red wine there, while Dexter's favoured drink in later life - he gave up alcohol for medical reasons - was tonic water.
Staff at the hotel said the writer would often visit various rooms around the hotel to help him get details for a storyline.
"He continued to be a regular at the hotel bar and was so loved by staff, that we renamed the bar after his most famous character - Morse. He was very much part of this hotel and we will miss seeing him perched at the end of the bar or reading a book by the fireside, sipping his drink."
Famous haunts from the books and television series, such as the Ashmolean museum and the Bodleian library, have expressed sorrow at his death. But, perhaps more significantly, so have lesser-known Oxford institutions, demonstrating Dexter was very much a man of the people - and a man of the real city.
The writer shared his hero's affection for good beer, classical music and cryptic crossword puzzles, but by all accounts lacked his spiky nature.
Alcock's Butcher and Fishmonger in the Summertown area has a blackboard outside saying "Mr Dexter, you will be sadly missed".
Paul England from the shop said: "He was a lovely guy. Always used to see him early in the morning.
"He used to walk down and get his paper and then he always used to come in for a pork pie and a chat. He used to tell us some good stories and jokes, which I think we'll always remember. We just knew him as Mr Dexter who bought his pork pie from the butcher."
Colin Dexter was often to be found enjoying a drink at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford - as was Inspector Morse
Christiane Fagan fondly remembers him "sitting quietly in the The Dew Drop Inn in Summertown. Such a lovely man", while Carol Maling remembers chatting to him on a bench outside the old Radcliffe infirmary when he was waiting for his wife Dorothy to finish work.
"We used to share biscuits and chocolate," Ms Maling said.
Although he claimed to know very little about actual police procedure, Dexter was a welcome visitor at Oxford CID. Former police officer Dermot Norridge was a detective in the city between 1986 and 2003.
He said whenever he and his colleagues were investigating any incident related to one of the university colleges, they would say they were "having a Morse moment".
Mr Norridge claims the irascible character even had an influence on the sounds heard floating through the corridors of the police station: "There were certain offices where the radio was retuned to Radio 3 or Classic FM. The officers involved may well have been aware of classical music before Morse, but I'm completely convinced this listening to it was down to the influence of the programme.
"I met Colin a few times - he used to come with the crew to the station, and once he was invited to our annual dinner to give a talk. If I had to sum up my memory of him, it would be 'a complete gentleman'".
Sue Howlett remembers the author hopping on the bus from Summertown, and always saying hello, while Sue Parsons said she "used to know him years ago when he would to come in to order stationery from Colegroves in Turl Street. Such a lovely man always having a laugh and a joke".
Bob Price, the leader of Oxford Council, says the city will always feel the impact of Dexter's work: "The television programmes, and the way they were filmed, made a huge difference. They really drew people to Oxford."
In his 13th - and final - book Dexter says:
"Morse had never enrolled in the itchy-footed regiment of adventurous souls, feeling little temptation to explore the remoter corners even of his native land; and this principally because he could imagine few if any places closer to his heart than Oxford - the city which, though not his natural mother, had for so many years performed the duties of a loving foster-parent."
He said of that paragraph: "For 'Morse,' read me".
Colin Dexter is not the only author to have a strong link with a specific city. Here are a few more literary locations and their fictional dwellers
The The Inspector Rebus novels are mostly based in and around Edinburgh and take in such landmarks as Arthur's Seat and Holyrood Palace, as well as Rebus' flat.
The novels are characterised by the stark and dark depiction of a city characterised by corruption, poverty, and organised crime. Rebus bends the rules and ignores his superiors while battling his own personal issues. But he does solve the mysteries.
You can explore the key locations online.
Joyce once claimed of his book Ulysses that if Dublin "suddenly disappeared from the Earth, it could be reconstructed from my book".
Published in 1922, Ulysses focuses on the stream-of-consciousness wanderings through Dublin of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom. Ulysses has been summarised as: "Man goes for a walk around Dublin. Nothing happens." The novel is seen by many as one of the most influential works of the 20th Century.
The Assembly Rooms are the setting for many of the evening balls depicted in social satire Northanger Abbey and melancholic love story Persuasion, while the Pump Rooms were the place to mingle with during the day to give off a fashionable air of importance.
Milsom Street, Bond Street (now New Bond Street), George Street and Edgar Buildings are all mentioned in the books.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-39343923
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Germany 1-0 England - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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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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Formula 1: Harder, better, faster in 2017? The new season kicks off in Melbourne - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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With new rules and new-era cars, Formula 1 takes a step into the unknown as the 2017 season starts in Australia this weekend.
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Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
The wait is almost over.
One hundred and 17 days after the curtain came down on the 2016 campaign at Abu Dhabi, Formula 1 is back as the new season gets under way in Australia this weekend.
With new rules and new era cars, it is a step into the unknown. Mercedes might be the favourites once again, but they could well have a real fight on their hands this time.
• None Will changes make F1 better?
• None What to look out for in 2017
Where are we?
There will always be excitement about the start of a new season - the anticipation, the element of the unknown and the hope that this one will be even better than the last - but there is something about having Melbourne as the setting for the opener that makes it even more special.
With the city's shiny skyscrapers on one side and sailboats and surfers at St Kilda beach on the other, the Albert Park circuit offers a unique setting, winding its way around a glistening lake in idyllic parkland.
There's a real buzz about the place as fans turn out in big numbers, eager to see the new cars first hand, and that buzz extends to the paddock as team personnel and media meet up, often for the first time since the end of the previous season.
What are the main changes?
The cars are wider, more physically demanding to drive and much faster than last year, with lap times expected to drop by up to five seconds.
Bigger cars and extra downforce is, however, expected to make overtaking more difficult, with several drivers reporting after testing that it is difficult to follow another car closely.
More durable Pirelli tyres could also lead to more one-stop races.
• None McLaren are the most successful constructor in the history of the Australian Grand Prix. They have 11 wins and 26 podiums.
• None Their last podium was in 2014, when Kevin Magnussen finished second.
• None The Australian Grand Prix has been won from pole position on nine occasions. The lowest position a driver has won the race from is 11th - Northern Ireland's Eddie Irvine achieving that in 1999 for Ferrari.
• None The winner in Melbourne has gone on to win the drivers' championship 13 out of 21 times.
How to follow on the BBC
BBC Sport will have live coverage of all the season's races on BBC Radio 5 live, BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, plus live online commentary on the BBC Sport website and mobile app - including audience interaction, expert analysis, debate, voting, features, interviews and video content.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39356954
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Team Wiggins 'surprised' by Tour de Yorkshire omission - BBC Sport
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2017-03-23
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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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2017-03-23
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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.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
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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2017-03-23
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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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London attack: The path from violent crime to killer - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Westminster attacker Khalid Masood had a history of violence, but how typical is his past of those who go on to carry out acts of terror?
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UK
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Westminster attacker Khalid Masood had a history of violence, but how typical is his past of those who go on to carry out acts of terror?
Masood, 52, who has been claimed by so-called Islamic State as a "soldier of the Caliphate", had spent time in prison for offences including violent assaults and possession of offensive weapons.
In one instance, when in his mid-30s, Masood slashed a man's face with a knife following an argument in a pub, for which he served two years.
While this criminal past may contradict stereotypes of those involved in religious extremism, Masood is only the latest manifestation of a criminal-turned-jihadist.
Throughout Europe, there has been a pattern of criminals being drawn to violent jihad.
Those who travel to Syria as foreign fighters are typically already known to police for something other than extremism.
Khalid Masood had been jailed for violent crimes
In Germany, two-thirds of foreign fighters had criminal records and more than half of those from Belgium and the Netherlands had a similar background.
Among perpetrators of terrorist attacks, criminal pasts are also common.
Berlin Christmas market attacker Anis Amri had convictions for theft and violence, and had sold cocaine in the months before the attack.
Among the perpetrators of the November 2015 Paris attacks, a number had previous convictions for robberies and drug dealing.
This is no mere coincidence, as the extremist narrative often resonates with criminals.
At the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) in King's College London, we recently published a report analysing the criminal backgrounds of European jihadists and found their radicalisation is often linked to their criminality.
Indeed, jihadism is sometimes used to legitimise further crime against "non-believers", with some extremists stating that crime and violence is permissible when living in the West.
They also claim that jihadism offers redemption from previous sins, the search for which typically comes after a period of crisis in the perpetrators' lives.
That crisis is often prompted by criminality - such as being imprisoned - but it need not be.
Masood crashed his car into railings outside Parliament
However, it is striking that Masood does not fit the typical profile of a criminal-turned-jihadist, simply due to his age of 52.
Older jihadists are usually more involved in extremist support networks - as radicalisers and recruiters, rather than as attackers.
While Theresa May said Masood had been investigated in relation to concerns about violent extremism, he was considered a peripheral figure and was not part of current investigations into extremism.
In one crucial respect, however, Masood does fit the picture of the criminals-turned-jihadists that we have examined - he was familiar with violence.
If a terrorist has a criminal background, it is very often a violent one.
Stabbings, assaults, and violent behaviour are recurrent patterns amongst perpetrators of terrorist attacks with existing criminal records.
This violent group is disproportionately represented when compared with those convicted of non-violent crimes.
For Masood, this familiarity with personal violence may have made the "jump" into ideologically motivated violence that much smaller than it would otherwise have been.
Rajan Basra is a Research Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, in the Department of War Studies, at King's College London. Follow him @rajanbasra
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39380049
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Lewis Hamilton surprised by Mercedes speed in Melbourne - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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Lewis Hamilton says he is surprised how good his Mercedes felt during Friday practice at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
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Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton said he was surprised how good his Mercedes felt during Friday's practice at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton was 0.547 seconds clear of the field after a dominant performance and looks a strong favourite this weekend.
• None Driver battles, failing engines and moustaches - what to look out for in 2017
"I am on it and I plan to keep it that way, Hamilton said. "It is a wonderful feeling to have the car so strong coming into a new era."
However, Hamilton cautioned against writing off Ferrari so early.
The Italian team impressed in pre-season testing and the former world champion labelled them as favourites going into the weekend.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was second quickest and he did beat Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.009secs.
Hamilton said: "It feels amazing and that is surprising. I didn't know how it was going to be.
"The test was not spectacular so coming into today it was quite refreshing to have the car right where I needed it.
"I felt good in the car and I didn't even notice the cars being more physical, which is also a positive because I have trained so hard to be ready for this season.
"The Ferrari is obviously very strong and fast, they might not have the power turned up or whatever and we will see tomorrow, but it seems we are as strong, if not a bit stronger than them."
F1 has introduced new rules this season aimed at making the cars faster, more demanding and more dramatic.
The cars have met those targets but the competitive order appears not to have changed a great deal at this early stage.
• None Champs and chumps: Your (and our) season predictions
Asked whether the gap between himself and Hamilton was representative, Vettel said: "I hope not. Overall it has been OK. The car doesn't yet feel as good as it should and it can so I am confident we will find something overnight.
"We were very happy in testing and the times look good but it doesn't mean anything.
"I am not that happy overall. The balance is not yet where I want it to be. It is not bad but I think we can do better.
"We see where it takes us on Saturday when everyone shows what they can do. Today it is still difficult to say. We had a mixed day but the team is doing well and there are lot of things we can improve."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39377528
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Women's Champions League quarter-final: Fortuna Hjorring 0-1 Manchester City Women - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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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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North Korea: Who would dare to piggyback on Kim Jong-un? - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The BBC examines the unusual photo of Kim Jong-un giving a piggyback to a military officer.
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Asia
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The officer appeared to be overcome with emotion as he climbed onto his leader's back
North Korea's test of a rocket engine last weekend was accompanied by the usual state media propaganda - but one image of its leader celebrating stood out in particular. What is the likely explanation?
The engine test was claimed to be a success, a "new birth" for North Korea's rocket industry. Kim Jong-un was certainly happy.
In pictures released by state news agency KCNA, he was seen watching the missile from afar; grinning in a control centre; shaking hands with jubilant officers - then, giving an elderly man a piggyback.
Who would leap onto the back of a dictator such as this, and why?
Observers say the mysterious man is not a known figure in North Korean politics. He is thought to have played a key role in the engine test, and most likely interacted with Mr Kim previously.
North Korean observer Michael Madden says his uniform's insignias indicate he is a mid-level officer of the KPA Strategic Force, which is in charge of missile forces used for offensive attacks.
While the image was almost certainly stage-managed, "it wasn't completely machinated or fabricated", says Mr Madden, who is with the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
"It was more a signal of allowance and encouragement than something completely machinated by an image maker." North Korean propaganda films have in the past shown citizens being allowed to approach Mr Kim.
The main purpose of the picture would be to burnish Mr Kim's domestic image as a jovial man of the people.
While Mr Kim tries to project a "recalcitrant and uncompromising" image internationally, at home "it is a different story", notes Professor Jae-Cheon Lim, of the Korea University in Seoul.
"We know he is very strict with elites when they don't obey his orders. But in general towards the people his propaganda image is friendly and convivial."
In another photo released by KCNA, the same officer was seen embracing Kim
It stands in stark contrast to his predecessors, who sought to be feared more than loved. "Nobody would dare piggyback his father or even his grandfather," says Mr Madden.
"But this fits into the image [Kim] Jong-un has tried to cultivate - that he is more open, on an interpersonal basis, than his father.
"It conveys a certain sense of political confidence in his rule and leadership of the country. If he didn't feel secure, then he wouldn't allow these images to be disseminated - he would need to appear distant and cold."
Mr Kim was also photographed joking and laughing at the engine test site
The image also suggests that Mr Kim is, for now, in good health.
He was spotted limping and using a cane in 2014, leading to speculation that he had gout, and limping again as recently as late 2016.
Piggybacking after a win may be more commonly seen on football pitches rather than in North Korean propaganda pictures, but Mr Kim is known for taking a sports management approach to his weapons development programmes.
"When a test is conducted, civilian and military personnel [are told they] should regard it as a sports competition - they win some, and lose some," says Mr Madden.
"They won't 'win' or meet technical specifications all the time, and when they 'lose' they study their performance and what happened."
But for all its contrived spontaneity, it does not mean that Mr Kim is not genuinely happy in the photo.
Prof Lim points out that he had good reason to celebrate, with an apparently successful rocket engine test putting him one step closer towards his nuclear goals - and sealing his legacy.
"In the propaganda annals, his grandfather was the liberator of Korea through its anti-Japanese guerrilla war. His father succeeded in maintaining the regime even under economic poverty.
"But Kim Jong-un became leader quickly and has no significant achievements to point to so far.
"If North Korea becomes a nuclear state, it becomes his achievement."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39361984
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Lewis Hamilton dominates Australian Grand Prix practice - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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Lewis Hamilton puts in a scintillating performance to set the pace in second practice at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
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Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Britain's Lewis Hamilton put in a scintillating performance to set the pace in second practice at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
He was 0.547secs clear of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in second, who was just 0.009secs quicker than Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton's margin over Bottas will raise questions over whether it is car or driver that has the advantage.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was fifth, behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
• None Driver battles, failing engines and moustaches - what to look out for in 2017
• None F1 is sexy again, but will it be better?
This is Bottas' first race for the Mercedes team after replacing world champion Nico Rosberg, who retired at the end of last season, and on the evidence of the first running of the new season the Finn is struggling to get on terms with Hamilton. The three-time world champion was also fastest during the first practice session.
Ferrari impressed sufficiently in pre-season testing for Mercedes to believe that the Italian team were at least on their pace, if not slightly quicker.
That Ferrari speed has not so far been in evidence this weekend, and the red cars were if anything even further off the pace of Mercedes in the race-simulation runs on heavy fuel loads later in the session - Raikkonen was a second off Hamilton's pace.
However, the cars will not be seen in their ultimate quickest trim until qualifying on Saturday.
Red Bull expected to be the third quickest team this weekend, and that is the way it is panning out so far, with Ricciardo 0.5secs quicker than team-mate Max Verstappen, who lost what would have been his quickest lap with an nerve-wracking off-track moment at the 150mph swerves of Turns 11 and 12.
Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz headed the midfield runners in seventh place ahead of the Haas of Romain Grosjean and Renault's Nico Hulkenberg.
The German's team-mate Jolyon Palmer ended his session in the wall at Turn 16 after losing control on the way into the quick right-hander and smashing the car badly before coming to rest in the middle of the track and bringing the session to a temporary halt.
Fernando Alonso had a better day than many were expecting in the McLaren-Honda, setting 12th quickest time, albeit 2.4secs off the pace.
The Honda is still carrying reliability concerns as a result of a vibration, which appears to be the cause for a nasty grinding sound that can be heard from the car as the driver changes up through the gears.
Alonso was 0.6secs and five places ahead of his highly rated rookie team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne.
First and second practice - full results
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39376752
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EU 'not in hostile mood' as Brexit talks beckon, says Juncker - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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EU Commission President Juncker admits all is not well in the EU as UK prepares to trigger exit talks.
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Europe
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Jean-Claude Juncker: EU will negotiate in 'friendly and fair way'
"It's like musicians in their bow-ties playing on board the Titanic," remarked a friend of mine as I was talking to them about the EU's 60th anniversary celebrations in Rome.
A mild exaggeration, shall we say - but the image sticks in my mind.
Because as the leaders of the EU's 27 countries clink champagne glasses in plush, security-tight surroundings on Saturday - all is not well in the Europe outside their gates: youth unemployment persists (especially in the south), terror attacks, illegal migration, inequalities in the Eurozone, Brexit and a tide of anti-establishment populist nationalism across much of the bloc.
To name a few of the challenges. Not to mention "strongmen" Presidents Trump, Putin and Erdogan who all eye the EU with suspicion and some animosity.
"Yes," conceded European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker to me in an exclusive interview. "We are not in the best form and shape we could be in."
But, he insisted, the EU was still young, adding that what the bloc had achieved in six decades was remarkable - Europe is now a continent of stability and peace.
But that was the vision, the goal after World War Two, I countered.
Surely there's a need for a new vision? Something to capture the public imagination. To re-enchant the disenchanted?
The EU marks its birthday on Saturday, while the UK will trigger Article 50 on Wednesday
Mr Juncker recently published a White Paper on the future of the EU. where he explored five different scenarios - from increased union to paring pooled powers back to the common market only.
In between, he breathes life into the old idea of a "two-speed Europe" - where some countries share more sovereignty for example over defence or migration, while others opt out.
That proposal appears to be the most popular amongst politicians and civil servants, but to me it sounds like an open admission that there is, in fact, no common EU vision - with everyone doing different things at different times.
All this at a very sensitive moment - when one of the EU's biggest and most influential members, the UK, is about to walk out of the door.
And unity amongst the remaining 27 countries is key for Brussels - to prove to the outside world that the EU still stands strong.
Theresa May's absence at the 60th birthday bash on Saturday will be screamingly noticeable.
"Of course we will miss her," President Juncker told me.
"I am everything but in a hostile mood with Britain. Britain is part of Europe, and I hope to have a friendly relationship with the UK over the next decades."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Well, that of course will depend on what kind of future relationship the UK and EU can hammer out during Brexit negotiations.
I wondered how the EU would balance the competing desires to keep the UK close yet not give it too good a deal so as to avoid the risk of other EU countries walking away?
Mr Juncker admitted he did not want any more "exits": Nexit, Oexit, Dexit, Frexit or otherwise.
That would be the end, he said, if three, four or five more countries left. The EU would collapse.
But he doesn't believe that will happen.
The EU and the Commission, he said, would negotiate with the UK in a friendly way - fair but never naive.
Interesting choice of adverbs there. Echoed precisely in a speech delivered on Thursday by the EU's chief Brexit negotiator - Commission man Michel Barnier.
Now, does that refer to talk of the UK aiming to cosy up to individual EU countries (like the Baltic nations with promises of security co-operation) to cajole them into pressing for a good trade deal for Britain?
Or does it perhaps allude to the government rejecting the idea of an "exit bill" as part of the EU divorce?
It's an invoice that Mr Juncker insists must be paid.
"You cannot pretend you were never a member of the union," he practically spluttered.
"The British government and parliament took on certain commitments as EU members and they must be honoured. This isn't a punishment or sanctions against the UK."
Despite mutterings about the Commission drawing up a £50bn ($63bn) bill, Mr Juncker said the precise amount remained to be "scientifically calculated."
But one thing he insisted that could not be haggled over was the fate of the 4.5 million EU citizens living in the UK and British citizens currently living across the EU.
President Juncker said no-one had a right to eject them from their homes and jobs.
"This is not about bargaining," he insisted. "This is about respecting human dignity."
As they mark the EU's anniversary on Saturday, the bloc's remaining leaders will look with furrowed brows towards the future.
But they may well take heart in a new trend emerging.
While populist nationalist, anti-establishment candidates enjoy strong followings, at the same time unashamed Europhiles like the youthful leader of the Netherlands Green party, the French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron and the German candidate for Chancellor Martin Schulz resonate with the large sections of the public too.
But Mr Juncker and others I've spoken to in the lead-up to the EU's anniversary, like his Vice-President Frans Timmermans and Antonio Tajani, the new President of the European Parliamant, all believe this is no time for complacency.
In just a few days' time Britain will deliver a letter to Brussels, officially triggering the countdown to Brexit.
How will Mr Juncker feel that day, I asked.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39375966
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What Next tells us about shopkeepers' woes - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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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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Jenna Cook: The adopted girl claimed by 50 birth families - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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When Jenna Cook returned from the US to China to search for her birth family, more than 50 candidates came forward - but were any of them a match?
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Magazine
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Jenna Cook puts up a poster to try and find her birth family
When Jenna Cook went back to China at the age of 20 to search for her birth parents, she knew she was unlikely to succeed. What she didn't expect was that she would meet dozens of families who desperately hoped she was their lost child.
Near a busy bus station in the Chinese city of Wuhan, on 24 March 1992, someone left a baby to be found. It's quite likely that they watched and waited from a safe distance until the girl was spotted. She was picked up and taken to the Wuhan Children Welfare House, close by. There she was given a name, Xia Huasi, meaning "China's", and assigned a birth date chosen at random by the director of the home.
China's one-child policy meant that families faced heavy fines for having too many children. But it was also - and still is - illegal to give up unwanted children. There was no formal adoption process.
But just days later China passed a law allowing foreign nationals to adopt, and at the end of June an American primary school teacher, Margaret Cook, came to collect Xia Huasi. She renamed her Jenna and took her home to Massachusetts.
Jenna was one of the first wave of about 200 Chinese babies to go to American families. Many others followed - an estimated 80,000, mostly girls, have now gone to live in the US, and an additional 40,000 to the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.
Jenna always knew that she was adopted. "We would talk about adoption just like we would talk about what's for dinner. It never felt like something that was a big deal," she says.
Nevertheless, she sometimes wondered where she came from.
"Even just looking at your own belly button, you think to yourself: 'Oh, I used to be attached to another human being. That's the body I came from, but who is that? Does that person even really exist?' It all seems so abstract. It sometimes just feels like you appeared on the planet.
"Most people are just born into the families they're born into and they never think twice about it. Whereas for adopted people there is always this possibility of another life."
Jenna and her sister, who was also adopted from China, grew up in an area where very few people looked like them. Their mother, Margaret, did what she could to maintain a connection to her daughters' country of origin - the girls learned Mandarin at school and they socialised with other families like theirs.
When Jenna was a teenager she was one of four Chinese adoptees to feature in the acclaimed 2011 documentary, Somewhere Between. Director Linda Goldstein Knowlton had adopted a baby from China herself and wanted to document the lives of these young women - drawing the title from something Jenna said: "I don't think that I could ever consider myself fully Chinese or fully American - I'm always going to be sort of somewhere between."
The 15-year-old Jenna captured in the film is a hard-working, high-achieving A-grade student. She is successful and loved, but haunted by a nagging doubt. Why did her parents give her up? Had she done something wrong? It's partly what drives her to be a perfectionist. In a moving moment in the film, Jenna speaks at an event for prospective adoptive parents and breaks down when she is asked how she feels about the word "abandoned".
"There's definitely a part of me that wishes I'd never heard the word 'abandonment'," she says.
Over the course of the film, Jenna delves deeper into her past and ends up volunteering for summer work at the very Chinese orphanage that took her in as a baby.
Jenna Cook visits the orphanage where she stayed in 1992
Not all of the participants in Somewhere Between have a desire to return to China or find their birth families. In any case, adoptees are warned that attempts to trace birth families are unlikely to succeed. There is often very little information available, as birth families had to hide their identities for fear of punishment. And the records that existed in the 90s, when international adoption began, were badly kept. Add to this the sheer size and population of the country and it is a daunting task.
But miracles do happen. Haley, one of the four girls featured in Somewhere Between, goes back to the village where she was found. While putting up posters she is recognised by a woman who immediately runs to fetch her family. The next thing Haley knows, she is being hugged and kissed by a man who says he is her father. An emotional family reunion follows in which Haley meets her mother and sisters - surprisingly, she has more than one. Everyone looks shell-shocked by the experience.
In the West, adoptees searching for their birth parents can usually afford to take things slowly. But international adoptees don't have that luxury. They can probably only afford one such trip in their lives, says Bea Evans from the specialist company, Adoptive Family Travel. For more than 20 years she and her colleagues have taken internationally adopted children and their families to 18 countries including China, Guatemala, India and Korea (the Korean War led to the first wave of international adoptees in the US).
"Almost all international adoption has started in response to some kind of upheaval, whether it was political or financial or a policy like China's one-child policy," she says.
The company organises visits to orphanages - or social welfare institutes, as they are known in China - and occasionally assists with family searches and reunions. Evans says there is an increasing amount of "search and reunion" taking place in South Korea. Could this also take off in China? "I do wonder what will happen as more and more young [Chinese] women get to that age where they are saying: 'We want more information,'" she says.
The documentary maker Changfu Chang, who specialises in Chinese adoption stories, hears about successful searches almost every month. So how does he explain it? "Chinese society is a connected society, you do not really have many secrets," he says. "As long as you get into that particular village or neighbourhood or community others will help to provide that information."
But Jenna was found near Hongji long-distance bus station, where 12,000 travellers arrive in Wuhan from all over the countryside every day. This made the search particularly challenging.
A busy day at the bus station in Wuhan
When she was 20 and studying at Yale University, Jenna was given a grant to travel to China to begin her own search. It was partly an academic exercise - she hoped her experience could help some of her fellow 80,000 Chinese adoptees in the US. But of course it was also deeply personal, and she asked her adoptive mother, Margaret, to accompany her.
Jenna had printed flyers with pictures of herself at different ages and what little she knew about the circumstances in which she was found. She began handing them out to people in the streets of Wuhan, many of whom shared their own experiences. "Oh, I had a neighbour once who had a daughter in a similar situation," they told her. Or "I had a cousin who once gave up their child but I don't remember if it was in '92 or '93."
Jenna found this fascinating. "I was pretty amazed that people were even paying attention to me, because I felt like I'm just one story in a huge migration of children from China," she says. "I felt like I was just one raindrop in the puddle."
But people were interested in her story, and a week after she arrived an article about her search appeared in the local paper. It was short and tucked away on page five, but the headline tugged at the heartstrings: "Dad, Mom: I really hope that I can give you a hug. Thank you for bringing me into this world."
It had a huge impact. In the weeks following the publication of that article on 25 May 2012, Jenna's search went viral. Hundreds of messages started coming in via social media.
"Their reactions were really polarised," says Jenna. Some people said: "This is fantastic that you're searching and I hope that you're able to find your parents and that your dream comes true." Others would say things like: "This is such a big mistake, you're wasting your time and energy." And: "You're so ungrateful to your American family, you need to go back to America right away."
Among the tide of messages there were genuine responses from people who thought they might be Jenna's parents. She narrowed it down to 50 birth families, each of which had left a baby on the same street in Wuhan in March 1992.
The implications of this are vast, says Jenna. What about other streets in the same month? What about other months? What about other years? What about the families who chose not to come forward? When she spoke to people who had worked at the bus station at the time, they said babies had often been left there.
But as well as being shocked by the sheer numbers, Jenna was surprised they were willing to come forward. After all, it is against the law to abandon a child - and after the publication of the newspaper article Chinese television had started filming her search. "Here are these people who have technically committed a crime and they're willing to come forward on national television. It was just unthinkable," she says.
The article about Jenna in the Chutian Metropolis Daily
Jenna and her mother arranged to meet the 50 families they thought could be a match. Some mothers and fathers came alone, but others brought the entire family, including grandparents. What surprised Jenna was that, far from being one-child families, often they had more than one daughter. What tended to happen was that they would keep their first daughter, and try again for a son. With each child they would incur penalties. Eventually, after having several daughters, they would decide to give one up, in the hope of saving a place in their family for a son.
Jenna initially approached the meetings from an academic standpoint. She told herself she was there to collect stories. "If I had gone into every meeting thinking: 'Maybe this is the one,' I would have been totally exhausted by the end of the day," she says.
But she still had to steel herself. "Especially for the first few meetings I was really nervous," says Jenna. "I was really worried about what they would think of me. I was really worried that maybe I had done something wrong, and that was why they had abandoned me - I worried that they would be angry at me."
Jenna thinks this is because she had unconsciously absorbed some of the prejudices that surround the issue. "In the US there is this dominant narrative that the reason why Chinese parents abandon children is because they don't like girls, and maybe they don't even remember them," she says.
But she found this not to be the case at all. "They all remembered their babies forever - it was this experience that they really regret and that they would never forget."
One woman brought a piece of delicate red-and-blue cloth that she had carefully kept - it was the material she had made her baby's suit out of. "She had kept these scraps for 20 years like a memory of her daughter. And she always dreamed that when they would meet her daughter would have the clothes and she would have the scraps - kind of like a lock and key."
Sadly, Jenna did not recognise the material. "I just remember shaking my head, I had never seen it. And the poor mother just collapsed. She was so devastated."
Another man she met, a long-distance bus driver, had spent a lot of time searching for his daughter. Whenever his bus route took him into the city he would go back to the area where they had left their baby and ask for her. They had left her with a note so she would grow up knowing her name.
Each family approached Jenna as if she were their daughter. For a brief moment, they represented the other's missing part. One mother even began brushing Jenna's hair. Mostly, they wanted to know if she was OK - like people emerging from a disaster and wondering if the other side had also survived, says Jenna.
They would ask: "Is your adopted mother good to you or does she hurt you? Does she give you enough food to eat?" Jenna would reassure them that she was well looked-after. "They would just be so happy to know that I hadn't been suffering all this time."
In turn, she asked them: "Was it something about me that made you relinquish me long ago? If I had been more beautiful or if I had been more obedient and had cried less would that have changed your decision?" And they were able to reassure her. "The parents just remembered their baby girl in such a loving way," says Jenna.
But there was also the business of verification. Having established that the facts matched, they would look for a physical resemblance - things like height, or foot-shape or hand-shape. Sometimes they would want to check for birth marks. Then, if they felt that there were enough similarities, they would go ahead with a DNA sample. In the end, 37 families opted to do DNA.
Sadly, all of the tests came back negative. It was a real blow.
"I think another reason why it was hard seeing all of the negative DNA results come back was because I sure wished I could be the daughter to every one of those families," says Jenna.
"To be the person that could help relieve their suffering - who wouldn't want to be that person?"
Despite this, Jenna feels the experience has helped her.
"Before, there was always a small part of me that felt like there was something I could have done 20 years ago to have changed my fate and then I wouldn't have been relinquished by my family," she says. "But after meeting the birth parents I realised it was really out of my control."
As an academic, it has changed her outlook completely. "It's a totally different experience to read in a history textbook about the one-child policy and read that parents abandoned their children or committed infanticide," she says. "But to meet people who have really lived that experience, and to see their great regret, and their great love for this baby - it's just something that's indescribable."
Jenna spent last summer working in China, but is no longer actively searching.
"I would love to have the chance to reunite with my birth family someday," she says. "But I can't say that will happen."
Jenna Cook appeared on Outlook on the BBC World Service. Listen again to the interview on iPlayer or get the Outlook podcast
• None The father searching for his abducted son
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37024334
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Why Sangin's fall to the Taliban matters - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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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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Dele Alli: Tottenham midfielder given three-game ban - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli is banned for three European matches after being sent off against Gent in the Europa League in February.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli has been banned for three European matches after being sent off against Gent at Wembley in the Europa League in February.
Alli was dismissed for a challenge on Brecht Dejaegere in the 2-2 draw.
Should Spurs secure a top-three Premier League finish, Alli would miss half of their Champions League group campaign.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have been fined £4,300 after some of their fans ran onto the pitch during the 5-1 Champions League home defeat by Bayern Munich.
Uefa has also fined Bayern Munich £2,600 after their supporters delayed the tie at Arsenal's Emirates stadium by throwing rolls of paper onto the pitch in protest over ticket prices.
Saint-Etienne, meanwhile, have been fined £43,000 after their fans set off fireworks and threw objects during their Europa League encounter against Manchester United at Old Trafford last month.
Spurs, who went out of the Europa League against Gent, are second in the Premier League with 10 games to play.
Alli also missed the final three games of last season's Premier League after admitting a charge of violent conduct for punching West Brom's Claudio Yacob in the stomach.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39379134
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London attacks: How is security organised at other seats of power? - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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An attacker tried and failed to access Westminster - so what is security like in Paris, Berlin, Brussels and Washington DC?
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Europe
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The attack on the British parliament building was stopped quickly, and security forces locked down the area within minutes.
But the attacker still managed to enter Westminster and fatally wound an unarmed police officer, before he was shot.
Prime Minister Theresa May has said police are now reviewing security, "as is routine".
So what is security like in other national parliaments and seats of power, and how do other countries balance safety against accessibility?
Berlin's Reichstag has fences in front of the building where the main entrance is, but it is relatively accessible to the public and there are no fences on other sides. Admission to the building's glass dome on the rooftop is free, but you do need to register in advance.
There is even a rooftop restaurant - the only parliamentary building in the world with one, it claims - but it requires the names and dates of birth of guests 24 hours in advance, and you must bring your passport or ID with you.
Despite its open-plaza appearance, the building is encircled by low concrete blocks.
They provide no obstacle to pedestrians, but are a significant impediment to vehicles - and they dot the roadside all around the building, the park, and the German Chancellery nearby.
The Reichstag was famously set alight in an arson attack in 1933, for which a young Dutch communist was sentenced to death - something the Nazi party then used to vilify communist opponents, resulting in electoral gains.
A bridge linking buildings runs over a road in at the European Parliament
The Brussels headquarters of the European parliament is part of a large, modern complex - and so is significantly different from the historic buildings used by many countries.
It's also decentralised, with many of the plenary sessions taking place in France, and some administration work in Luxembourg. But it's the Brussels headquarters that is most iconic.
It is easily accessibly by road or on foot, protected by low steel bollards on the roadside.
Access to the buildings themselves requires a national ID card or passport, plus "airport-style security checks", but when parliament is in session, it's possible to slip in as an observer on the day without advance notice.
The nearby Maelbeek metro station was one of the targets of the 2016 Brussels attacks - but the EU buildings themselves were untouched.
It later emerged that one of the attackers had worked in the European parliament briefly during two summers.
The National Assembly faces the Place de la Concorde over a long straight bridge
The French National Assembly's grand front gates directly face a bridge of the river Seine, offering a straight-line view to the iconic Place de la Concorde.
But, like the German Reichstag, concrete bollards set in front of the gates prevent any high-speed ramming from that long straight road.
The Senate, meanwhile, meets in the Palais du Luxembourg. While one exterior wall by the roadside is solid stone, the remainder lies among public walkways in a park of the same name.
Tourists and locals alike can stroll up to a waist-high gate separating them from the building's many windowed doors - although the area is patrolled by heavily armed police.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. James Reynolds: "The government has suggested that that deployment to protect people is open-ended"
In contrast, the Elysee Palace, home to the French president, is a fortress of high walls, steel fencing, traffic restrictions, and armed patrols. It lies a short distance from the Champs-Elysees, one of the country's main tourist areas.
Groups wishing to visit either the National Assembly or the Senate need the sponsorship of a senator - but because of security measures in effect in France, individual visits are suspended for both.
More than 230 people have died in terror attacks in France since January 2015 - but none have targeted the Paris political strongholds.
The US Capitol building is guarded by heavily armed officers
There are two main centres of power in the centre of Washington DC: the Capitol building and the White House.
The grounds around the Capitol building are open to pedestrians, but vehicle traffic is cut off by traffic barriers - only allowing those with permission in.
The main entrance for visitors to the Capitol building is through a visitors' centre, where security is extremely tight - much like airport security. No liquids, food or pointed objects are allowed.
The guards throughout the area and at several important nearby buildings are very well armed.
A counter-sniper team member of the Secret Service on the White House roof, 2013
The White House is perhaps a more popular symbol of American power, and has a myriad of myths about its security - thanks in large part to Hollywood films.
It is enclosed on all sides by steel railings several feet high, which are in turn encircled by steel bollards and chains. The mansion itself is quite distant from most of the railings, giving Secret Service plenty of time to pick up any fence-jumpers caught by the constant close surveillance - although one man, carrying a knife, made it into the building in 2014.
The closest point from a public area to the mansion is on the North Lawn, a well-known viewpoint of the White House exterior. But security there is especially tight, with armed guards, and gatehouses which protect the entry points.
And then there's the Secret Service and high-tech defences - including sniper surveillance, radar technology on the rooftop, and, of course, the "bunker" of the emergency operations centre under the building.
Westminster lies by the water next to a public square, and is a popular tourist spot
The BBC's Home affairs correspondent, Dominic Casciani, has written about "the attack that security chiefs have been preparing for". Here's what he had to say about the UK parliament:
There is a ring of steel around the Palace of Westminster - but the attacker was able to enter into Parliament's grounds through the gates to New Palace Yard, which is below Big Ben.
The entrance is guarded by armed officers but, unlike other parts of Parliament, there is no elaborate chicane.
There will be inevitable questions about whether this entrance was appropriately protected - but given the rudimentary nature of this man's murderous plan, it would not have stopped him trying.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39364508
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Europa: Our best shot at finding alien life? - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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After years of planning, scientists are set now to send missions to explore the ocean world of Europa.
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Science & Environment
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After two decades of development and "heartbreak", scientists are on the verge of sending missions to explore the ocean world of Europa. Could this be our best shot at finding life elsewhere in the Solar System?
Orbiting the giant planet Jupiter is an icy world, just a little smaller than Earth's moon.
From a distance, Europa appears to be etched with a nexus of dark streaks, like the product of a toddler's chaotic scribbling.
Close up, these are revealed to be long linear cracks in the ice, many of which are filled with an unknown contaminant that scientists have dubbed the "brown gunk". Elsewhere, the surface is tortured and irregular, as if massive slabs of ice have drifted, spun and flipped over in slush.
Jupiter's immense gravity helps generate tidal forces that repeatedly stretch and relax the moon. But the stresses that created Europa's smashed up terrain are best explained by the ice shell floating on an ocean of liquid water.
"The fact that there's liquid water underneath the surface which we know from previous missions, in particular from the magnetometer observations made by the Galileo spacecraft as it flew past [in the 1990s], makes it one of the most exciting potential targets to look for life," says Prof Andrew Coates of UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey, UK.
Europa's dark, briny deep might extend 80-170km into the moon's interior, meaning it could be holding twice as much liquid water as there is in all of Earth's oceans. And while water is one vital prerequisite for life, Europa's ocean might have others - such as a source of chemical energy for microbes.
Artwork: Europa Clipper will make at least 45 flybys of the jovian moon during its primary mission
However, the ice shell that surrounds the ocean is thought to be tens of kilometres thick. On the face of it, this might make any notions of exploring Europa's watery depths seem like a far-off fantasy.
Luckily, scientists think there are a number of ways for the ocean to communicate with the surface. For example, the physical process of heat transfer known as convection may cause warm blobs of ice located deep within the shell to travel upwards to the surface. So studying the moon's outer face could provide clues to what's going on far beneath it.
Now, Nasa is priming two missions to explore this intriguing world. Both have been discussed here at the 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in Houston. The first is a flyby mission called Europa Clipper that would likely launch in 2022. The second is a lander mission that would follow a few years later.
"We're really trying to get at Europa's potential habitability, the ingredients for life: water, and whether there's chemical energy for life," he tells me. "We do that by trying to understand the ocean and the ice shell, the composition and the geology. And mixed into those is the level of current activity at Europa."
Clipper carries a payload of nine instruments, including a camera that will image most of the surface; spectrometers to understand its composition; ice-penetrating radar to map the ice shell in three dimensions and find water beneath the ice shell; and a magnetometer to characterise the ocean.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Prof Andrew Coates explains why Europa is a good place to look for life beyond Earth
However, since the Galileo spacecraft provided evidence for an ocean in the 1990s, we've learned that Europa isn't one of a kind.
"One of the most amazing and significant discoveries of the past decade or so in planetary exploration is that you can't swing a dead cat in the outer Solar System without hitting an ocean world," says Clipper's programme scientist Curt Niebur, from Nasa headquarters in Washington DC.
At Saturn's moon Enceladus, for example, ice from a subsurface ocean gushes into space through fissures at the south pole.
The saturnian satellite could also get a dedicated mission in the 2020s, but Dr Niebur believes Europa stands out: "Europa is much larger than Enceladus and has more of everything: more geological activity, more water, more space for that water, more heat, more raw ingredients and more stability in its environment."
In Europa's rocky interior, heat is probably generated by tidal forces and by the decay of radioactive isotopes. Scientists think the heating may drive volcanic vents on the seafloor - an important point in favour of the moon's habitability, since terrestrial vent systems support a wide array of life forms.
But there's something else that marks the moon out: its neighbourhood. Europa's orbital path takes it deep into Jupiter's powerful magnetic field, which traps and speeds up particles.
The resulting belts of intense radiation fry spacecraft electronics, limiting the durations of missions to months or even weeks. That said, this radiation also drives reactions on Europa's surface, yielding chemicals called oxidants. On Earth, biology exploits the chemical reactions between oxidants and compounds known as reductants to supply the energy needed for life.
Artwork (not to scale): Europa in cross-section, showing processes from the seafloor to the surface (Europa Lander Study 2016 Report)
However, the oxidants made on the surface are only useful to Europan microbes if they can get down into the ocean. Fortunately, the process of convection that pushes warm blobs of ice upwards might also drive surface material down. Once in the ocean, oxidants could react with reductants made by seawater interacting with the rocky ocean floor.
"You need both poles of the battery," explains Robert Pappalardo.
For scientists like Bob Pappalardo and Curt Niebur, the impending missions are the realisation of a two-decades-long dream. Since the first Europa mission concepts were drawn up in the late 1990s, one promising proposal after another has been thwarted.
During the noughties, the US and Europe even pooled resources on a mission that would have sent separate spacecraft to Europa and Jupiter's larger ice moon Ganymede. But the plan was cancelled amid budget cuts, with the European part evolving into the Juice mission.
"I don't think there's been a Europa mission over the past 18 years that I have not either had my fingers in or has not passed under my eye," says Curt Niebur.
"It's been a long road. The road to launch is always a rocky one, and it's always full of heartbreak. We've experienced that more than most on Europa."
Exploring Europa is costly - though no more so than other Nasa "flagship" missions such as Cassini or the Curiosity rover.
Four views of Europa's surface from the Galileo mission, clockwise from top left: (1) disrupted ice crust in the Conamara region; (2) crustal plates, which are thought to have broken apart and "rafted" into new positions; (3) reddish bands; (4) an impact structure about the size of Hawaii
There are inherent engineering challenges, such as operating within Jupiter's radiation belts. Spacecraft instruments need to be shielded with materials such as titanium metal but, says Dr Pappalardo, "you can only shield them so much because they have to be able to see Europa".
So to keep Clipper safe, Nasa is going to stray from the rulebook somewhat. "The assumption always was: Galileo flew past Europa, so the next mission has to be an orbiter. That's just how we do business," says Dr Niebur. But rather than orbit Europa, Clipper will instead reduce its exposure to mission-shortening radiation by orbiting Jupiter, and make at least 45 close flybys of the icy moon over three-and-a-half years.
"We realised we could avoid those technical challenges of orbiting Europa, make the mission much more achievable and still get the science we want if we fly past it a lot," says Clipper's programme scientist.
The strength of sunlight near Europa is about a 30th of what it is at Earth. But Nasa decided it could power Clipper with solar panels rather than the radioactive generators some other outer planet missions have used. "All those years of study forced us to burn away our pre-conceptions and get us to really focus on reality, not on our wish-list... to focus on the best science," says Curt Niebur.
In 2011, a National Research Council report re-stated the importance of exploring the icy moon. Even so, Nasa remained wary because of the cost.
Artwork: Nasa's Europa lander could determine whether there was or is life on the jovian moon
But the support on Capitol Hill has been pivotal. A Europa venture has bipartisan backing, and in Republican Congressman John Culberson - the chair of the particular House Appropriations Subcommittee with jurisdiction over Nasa's budget - the mission has had a unique champion.
The 60-year-old Texan lawmaker has been entranced by Europa ever since observing it through the Celestron 8 telescope he bought himself as a high school graduation present. Over the last four years, the subcommittee he chairs has channelled money to scientists working on Europa, even when the space agency's chief wasn't asking for it.
Generous investment means that much more of the technical work has been completed on Clipper than is normal for a mission at its stage (phase B) in the Nasa project cycle. The lander is at an earlier stage of development, called pre-phase A, but a report on the mission's science value was discussed at a workshop here at the LPSC.
The lander has received no funding in the President's 2018 budget request for Nasa. But Dr Jim Green, director of planetary science at the agency, tells me: "That mission in particular is tremendously exciting, because it tells us the science we have to do from the surface of a moon that's really hard to get to.
"We still have quite the process to go through, do the due diligence, understanding the kind of measurements we need to make. Then we'll work with the administration in the future at the right time to see if, budgetarily, we can move forward with it."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Dr Geraint Jones explains how to punch through the hard icy surface of Europa
Some innovative Europa lander concepts have been proposed over the last two decades, reflecting the scientific bounty to be had by touching down. Dr Geraint Jones of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory has worked on one concept called a penetrator.
"They haven't been flown in space before, but it's a really promising technology," he explains. A projectile deployed from a satellite hits the surface "really hard, at about 300m/second, about 700 miles an hour", exposing pristine ice for analysis by onboard instruments, which could be designed to withstand the impact.
By contrast, Nasa's forthcoming lander would put down softly with the help of the Sky Crane technology used to drop the Curiosity rover safely on Mars in 2012. During the touchdown, it will use an autonomous landing system to detect and avoid surface hazards in real time.
Clipper will provide the reconnaissance for a landing site. "I like to think of it as finding that right oasis, where there might be water close to the surface. Maybe it's warm and maybe it has organic materials," says Bob Pappalardo.
The landing craft would be equipped with a sensitive instrument payload and a counter-rotating saw to help get at fresher samples below the radiation-processed surface ice.
"The lander is all about hitting the freshest, most pristine sample possible. One way to do that is to dig deep, another way is going to where there is some kind of eruption on the surface - like a plume - that's dropping very fresh material onto the surface," says Curt Niebur.
Artwork: The Hubble telescope has seen possible evidence of geysers on Europa
Life teems around hydrothermal vents on Earth; but what's going on in the depths of Europa's ocean?
In recent years, the Hubble telescope has made tentative observations of plumes of water-ice erupting from beneath Europa, much as they do on Enceladus. But there's no point in the lander going to the site of a decades-old eruption; it would need to visit the location of a much more recent plume.
So scientists need to understand what's controlling these geysers: for example, Clipper will determine whether the plumes are correlated with any hot spots on the surface. The lander's arm could even reach out to sample the mysterious "brown gunk" which might, according to one idea, represent radiation-baked sea salt.
Earth's seas are teeming with life, so it can be hard for us to contemplate the prospect of a sterile, 100km-plus deep ocean on Europa. But the scientific threshold for detecting life is set very high. So will we be able to recognise alien life if it's there?
"The goal of the lander mission is not simply to detect life [to our satisfaction], but to convince everyone else that we have done so," Dr Niebur explains. "It does no good for us to invest in this mission if all we create is scientific controversy."
Thus, the lander's science definition team came up with two ways to address this. First, any detection of life has to be based on multiple, independent lines of evidence from direct measurements.
"There's no silver bullet; you don't do one measurement and say: 'aha, eureka we've found it'. You look at the sum total," says Dr Niebur. Second, the scientists have come up with a framework to interpret those results, some of which might be positive, while others negative: "It creates a decision tree that marches through all the different variables. Following all these different paths, the end result is: yes, we've found life, or no we haven't," he says.
At the lander workshop here at the LPSC, Nasa's Kevin Hand described the process as "biosignature bingo". Now, the team will have to see if the scientific community is persuaded.
Curt Niebur explains: "I want to have that discussion now, today, years before we launch so that we can all be focused on analysing the data once we land."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38925601
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Claressa Shields: From poverty & abuse to boxing greatness - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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From a childhood of hunger and abuse to double Olympic champion, Claressa Shields has been fighting all her life.
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Claressa Shields said she knew when she was 15 years old that she was going to be the best female boxer in the world.
Two years later, when the American won middleweight gold at London 2012, she proved it.
At Rio 2016, she became the first American boxer to successfully defend an Olympic title and achieved another milestone this month when she was the first woman to headline a boxing show on a premium network in the United States.
As part of the BBC's State of Sport week, she told Ade Adedoyin that boxing saved her life.
I was born in Flint, Michigan in 1995, but I didn't start talking until I was five.
By then, my father had been in prison for three years for dealing drugs. I wouldn't meet him again for another four.
I'm not going to say my mum didn't care for us, but she left us to fend for ourselves. She abused alcohol and didn't know how to control it.
There were times my little sister and I would walk around looking for mum for days on end.
I'd have to go out and get food and whatever food we got I would always give to my younger siblings. If there were two packs of ramen noodles, my little sister ate one, my little brother ate one and I didn't eat.
We would sleep on the couch or the floor - and more than likely my sister or my brother was on the couch, so I would be on the floor.
Growing up and going without instilled an independence in me. I learned if anyone's going to take care of you, it's going to be you. You don't get upset about things, you just get used to it.
But you learn ways around it. You learn how to do little jobs for money - walking to the store for people and grabbing their groceries will get you about two dollars.
It was at this time, though, that I was raped. It happened every day for about six months by a person known to the family.
My aunt had never seen me cry. I was always a good, quiet child - but she saw fear in my eyes.
I couldn't speak well as a child - I had a speech impediment - so when she asked me what had happened, I wasn't able to say it. She gave me a doll and I was able to show her everything he had done to me.
I was kind of terrified of men for a while and my anger was really bad.
I was really quiet, smart and very skinny, but I got bullied when I was seven or eight. People would copy my work and make fun of me all the time because of my stutter.
One day I was at my desk and a girl walked past, said something and pulled my hair. I didn't do anything, just put my head down - but then this girl walked past and pulled my hair again. So I got up and I punched her. The feeling was one of relief.
I was kicked out for a couple of days, but when I came back to school nobody messed with me. So from that day, anybody who messed with me, I fought them.
My dad had been out of prison a couple of years by then and getting to know him definitely helped me understand things about myself.
I didn't know why I was easily angered before, but his temper is way worse than mine. In the same way, I didn't know why I laughed so loud, but he laughed just as hard as me.
One day we were in the city and he was very stressed out. He had been in prison for so many years and was trying to change his life, but wasn't getting any jobs or opportunities.
"If I stuck to what I was passionate about, I wouldn't be in this situation," he said.
"What were you passionate about?" I asked.
"Boxing," he replied. "They used to call me cannonball because my fist was hard and I was fast as lightning."
He said he thought some of my cousins would take up the sport, but none did.
He mentioned that of Muhammad Ali's nine children only his daughter Leila Ali took up boxing - and when he said that I thought he was asking me to take after him, so I headed to the gym at Berston Field House in Flint.
After about three days down there my coach Jason said my parents had to sign me up.
My dad said: "No! Boxing is a man's sport and you're too pretty to box."
"What the hell are you talking about?" I said. "I'm not going to be a model. I'm not going to be a singer. I'm going to be some type of athlete - and I want to be a boxer."
A few days later, I went to his house and it was like an intervention. Him, his wife and her three kids were sitting at this table in the dining room and they all voted on if I should box or not.
Everybody else said yeah, he said no. That was my first victory. I beat my dad, majority decision.
He said that once he signed me up and paid my $60 membership, I couldn't quit boxing for a year.
My dad will tell you today that was the best $60 he ever spent.
Six years later, I was going to London 2012.
I was a 25-1 shot and they are not good odds. I heard some commentators say that, at 17, I would be lucky to get a bronze medal.
I watched the Russian Nadezda Torlopova win her semi-final and thought there is no way she can beat me. They always say the Russians are strong, though, and I felt like the female Rocky.
When the announcer said "the winner, from the United States" I just remember being calm.
I felt vindicated. I had told people and I had shown people.
I held in how much I wanted to celebrate 2012 for four years. I didn't go to the club or celebrate with friends. I was back in the gym three months later.
Before Rio 2016, I kept hearing that no American boxer had ever defended an Olympic title.
Not Joe Frazier, not George Foreman not Pernell Whitaker, not Oscar de la Hoya, not Leon Spinks - but I would say: "Well, I ain't them."
Reporters would comment on how confident I was, but if you believe in yourself and work hard, how can you not be confident?
I worked harder than anyone around me, and I worked alone a lot. I didn't care about accolades or people saying you're working really hard. I did it for myself.
I knew I had checked my boxes. All of them. I knew I had it in the bag, it was just about going out there and doing it, those last little 10 steps.
I made the final fight look so easy. I was so calm and so dominant all fight.
When they announced the result, I grabbed the flag and just ran around screaming. My mind kind of left my body.
After all the things I had been through in my life, I just looked out on where I was. I was able to make it. It didn't stop me.
The last time I saw the man who raped me was when I was 16.
He was walking his dog. He looked at me and I looked at him.
Thank God he did have the dog. If he didn't I would have beaten him up and would have probably been in jail before I got a chance to go to the Olympics.
But you can't let something someone did to you - something that made you feel so worthless - stop your life.
I'm not going to let a man that evil and foul have control over me. I'm not going to let him be the decision-maker.
I could have made bad choices in life, but I was still in school, still boxing and still winning.
It didn't stop me from being great.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/39279259
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Islamic State leaves trail of destruction in Syria's Palmyra - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Lyse Doucet goes to the Syrian city of Palmyra to see buildings and people shattered by IS militants.
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Middle East
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Fariha remembers the exact moment when Islamic State fighters shattered her life in Palmyra.
"It was a quarter to five in the morning. We were asleep and heard a knock on the door," she tells me as we sit on thin, grey mattresses in an abandoned school in Homs, 160km (99 miles) from her home.
This makeshift shelter, in the ruins of a Homs neighbourhood, is a refuge for her and five children, as well as 29 other families, who fled the brutal rule of so-called Islamic State (IS).
"They shouted at me to cover myself then entered my house, weapons in hand, and took away my husband and niece," she recalls as her little ones huddle close, listening, wide-eyed and silent.
Her 15-year-old nephew and her brother-in-law were also taken at that fateful time when IS first stormed Palmyra in 2015. They had their throats cut.
"They killed a lot of young men," Fariha adds, in her softly-spoken story of unspeakable savagery.
As IS loses ground in northern Syria, more and more gruesome accounts are emerging of their catalogue of crimes.
IS militants have destroyed large parts of the historic site
Damage to the Roman-era theatre is clear to see
Families like Fariha's suffered twice over when IS lost, and then recaptured, the Roman ruins of Palmyra and the adjacent city.
Now, after a second occupation, lasting only three months, the area was seized a few weeks ago by Syrian forces, bolstered by the blistering firepower of their Russian and Iranian allies.
Palmyra's deserted buildings now yield evidence of its dark chapter.
In the blackened basement of one villa, Syrian soldiers show us what they describe as a makeshift court room.
Mounds of blue files strewn across the floor are a measure of IS's scales of justice.
On one file after another, there's the same small word scribbled in Arabic: "qatl" - executed.
It was the fate of a woman named Farizha for "spreading corruption on earth".
Marwan met the same end for "turning from Islam".
Two men, both named Ahmed, were sentenced to be "thrown off the top of a building". No reason is listed on their joint file.
A sheet of paper taped outside the door, stamped with an IS seal of authority, notifies "everyone who lives in this state that they must enrol in a course to learn about Sharia law".
"Everyone who doesn't will be punished."
IS rule is over here. But with homes destroyed, and without electricity or water, Palmyra still isn't a place fit to live in, or safe to return to.
Now both ancient and modern Palmyra are ruins.
The modern part of Palmyra is also in ruins
What was once a vibrant community of 75,000 is now an eerie ghost town. Charred buildings peppered with bullet marks and gaping holes scar every street.
People fled not just IS persecution but an urban battlefield including ferocious bombardment by Syrian and Russian warplanes, which flattened multi-storey buildings into stacks of concrete pancakes.
Palmyra's pain did not start or end with IS occupation. Its prison, known by the city's Arabic name Tadmur, was a symbol of torture and summary executions long before Syria's uprising began six years ago.
Syrian soldiers now go house-to-house searching for explosives and booby traps. Russian troops, camped on the outskirts of the city, are helping to demine the area.
The site of the ancient Roman city nearby stands as a stark tribute to Palmyra's survival.
Despite the destruction of iconic structures such as the 2,000-year-old Arch of Triumph, Palmyra's elegant colonnaded street and striking symmetrical designs are still breathtaking.
The legacy of IS in Palmyra casts a long shadow
IS's return had bestowed a second chance to destroy more precious world heritage, but much of these monumental ruins still stand.
The circular Roman theatre was their prime target in January. Its imposing centrepiece, a carved facade, was smashed, leaving a jumble of jagged stone boulders on its ancient stage.
"This was their revenge for the concerts staged here by Russia's Red Army Orchestra as well as Syrian orchestras," explains a government official, who accompanies us to the site.
A dusty pile of glass candle holders wrapped in netting, and red plastic roses caked with dirt, are still tucked in some corners - mementos of the triumphal events in May 2016 when IS was defeated here the first time.
There is still evidence of the celebrations after the first defeat of IS
"Recapturing Palmyra the second time was relatively easy," says Syrian officer Colonel Malik who fought in both rounds. "The battles were more ferocious the first time."
Palmyra last fell into IS hands in December as the Syrian military was distracted by the last stages of the brutal battle for Aleppo and IS's ranks were reinforced by fighters fleeing frontlines in Mosul, crossing the border from neighbouring Iraq.
"I don't think we face the threat of losing Palmyra again," Colonel Malik tells me confidently as we stand outside the walls of the grand theatre.
"We've retaken the military airport nearby and the mountains, a space of nearly 70 sq km in less than a month, which proves IS is weakening now."
But harder battles, including an assault on IS's self-declared capital in Raqqa, still lie ahead.
Confronting IS in their Syrian lair, closer to the Turkish and Iraqi borders, takes the fight onto messier and potentially dangerous political turf.
Hundreds of American special forces, backed up artillery and airpower, recently moved into this theatre of war to bolster an array of Syrian Kurdish forces, as well as Arab fighters.
Turkish troops are already on the battlefield, playing key roles over the past year in attacks on other IS-held towns.
All these commands face a common enemy, but also deep seated rivalries and shifting alliances.
The new US administration is still weighing how to balance a vital relationship with Turkey's President Erdogan while still making use of valuable Syrian Kurdish fighters Turkey sees as its enemy.
Turkey moved closer to Russia over the past year, but they're still on opposite sides of this war with Ankara insisting President Assad's continuing rule is what's fuelling this conflict.
The biggest question is whether President Trump's team, for whom fighting IS is the main goal, will now co-ordinate with Russia, which would end up strengthening President Assad's axis including Iran.
"The Syrian government's decision is to take back every inch of Syrian soil," insists Col Malik.
"Those criminals who infiltrated our country were supported by foreign countries like the US and the UK," he says, repeating the government's refrain that all rebel groups are creations of Western and Arab states. "They're supporting, not fighting IS."
The same accusation is levelled against President Bashar al-Assad by the Syrian opposition and its allies who charge him with turning a blind eye to IS's advance to bolster his narrative that this is a global war against terrorism, not a fight for political change.
The days of IS occupation may be counted, but its legacy casts a long shadow over a punishing war whose end is still nowhere in sight.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39377084
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Republic of Ireland 0-0 Wales - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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Neil Taylor is sent off as 10-man Wales hold Republic of Ireland to a goalless draw, with the hosts losing Seamus Coleman to a broken leg.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Wales' hopes of World Cup qualification look increasingly remote following a goalless draw against the Republic of Ireland, whose captain Seamus Coleman suffered a broken leg after a wild tackle that led to Neil Taylor being sent off.
The hosts seemed content to play for a draw as their deep-lying and stubborn defence shackled Wales - and the visitors' lack of creativity and incision contributed to an underwhelming encounter.
Gareth Bale twice went close for Wales, but their task became a daunting one after 69 minutes as Taylor was shown a straight red card for his lunge on Coleman, who was carried off on a stretcher and taken to hospital.
That incident lit the fuse for a tempestuous atmosphere that appeared to inspire the Republic, but despite their push for a late winner, Martin O'Neill's side had to settle for a point and second place in Group D.
They lost top spot after Serbia's victory in Georgia earlier on Friday but remain four points ahead of Wales.
For Chris Coleman's side, a fourth successive draw of the campaign is another setback in their stuttering bid to qualify for next year's World Cup in Russia.
Wales boss Coleman had been careful to avoid using the phrase "must win" for this fixture but, with the Republic four points in front, the visitors could ill afford anything other than three points from Dublin.
Rather than emphasise the importance of this result, Coleman had said he and his side were driven by a "desperation" to replicate last summer's run to the Euro 2016 semi-finals, a hunger to qualify for a second successive major tournament after an absence of 58 years.
The enormity of the occasion made for a tense and disjointed start to the match, with all 11 home players regularly in their own half as they sought to contain their opponents.
Wales' inability to unlock the dogged defence before them was a familiar failing, as they had struggled similarly in their home draws with Georgia and Serbia, as well as their last-16 triumph over Northern Ireland at the European Championship.
Bale and Aaron Ramsey, usually their most potent attacking weapons, looked off the pace having both returned from injury relatively recently.
Bale sprung into action early in the second half with a dipping free-kick straight at keeper Darren Randolph and a swerving shot that went narrowly wide - but his frustrating evening was capped by a yellow card, meaning he will be suspended for June's trip to Serbia.
The match was played with a ferocity most would expect from relatively local rivals and two teams comprised of several Premier League club-mates.
But the physicality spilled over after 69 minutes. With the ball running loose, Wales left-back Taylor lunged recklessly at Coleman, who was clearly in great pain as he was taken off the field on a stretcher.
Roared on by a vociferous home crowd, the Republic sought to exploit their one-man advantage with a frantic late push forward - but they were thwarted by some stubborn Wales defending.
The hosts were also arguably paying for their earlier pragmatism and unwillingness to attack.
Where as Wales had some catching up to do with their group rivals, the Republic could afford to sit back and wait for their opportunity to pounce - even though they had been overtaken at the top of the table following Serbia's victory.
With a home encounter against the group leaders to come later in the campaign, O'Neill's side seemed to consider this fixture a chance to consolidate, rather than significantly improve, their position.
• None Listen: Taylor's tackle on Coleman 'out of character'
• None Attempt saved. Jeff Hendrick (Republic of Ireland) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
• None Attempt blocked. Shane Long (Republic of Ireland) header from the right side of the six yard box is blocked. Assisted by Aiden McGeady with a cross.
• None Aiden McGeady (Republic of Ireland) is shown the yellow card.
• None Attempt missed. Gareth Bale (Wales) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Aaron Ramsey with a cross following a corner.
• None Attempt missed. Aiden McGeady (Republic of Ireland) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by James McClean.
• None Attempt missed. Gareth Bale (Wales) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Sam Vokes.
• None James McClean (Republic of Ireland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
• None Chris Gunter (Wales) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt missed. Shane Long (Republic of Ireland) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Glenn Whelan with a cross. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39300143
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What might F1's new owners do to rev up the sport? - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Theo Leggett examines what changes new owners Liberty Media might bring in to re-energise Formula 1.
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Business
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Game faces on: The drivers are gearing up for the new season
Much has changed in Formula 1 since Lewis Hamilton took the chequered flag at last year's season finale in Abu Dhabi.
The reigning world champion, Nico Rosberg, has walked off into the sunset. The cars have evolved, with new rules allowing them to become bigger, faster and more aggressive-looking.
But the most significant transformation has taken place behind the scenes.
Formula 1 is under new ownership. Control has passed from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners to the US group Liberty Media.
As a result, former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, the man who is credited with turning F1 into one of the world's most lucrative sports, has finally stepped down at the age of 86.
The new chief executive is Chase Carey, a veteran of the US media industry and a former associate of Rupert Murdoch. He has already suggested that F1 "needs a fresh start".
So what might actually be changed?
In commercial terms, Formula 1 is a curious beast. It is certainly lucrative. In 2015, its revenues reached $1.7bn, according to motorsport analysts Formula Money. Yet teams towards the back of the grid often struggle to make ends meet.
Ferrari is well-funded under the current system
Earlier this year, the Manor team finally closed down after several years of financial problems. Its collapse followed those of HRT and Caterham, who folded in 2012 and 2014 respectively.
And even as revenues have been rising, TV audiences have been falling.
The sport claimed 400 million viewers in 2016, down from a peak of 600 million in 2008. That may be partly due to a shift towards pay-TV in major markets such as the UK, Italy, France and Spain.
Formula 1 is an expensive business: even the smallest teams employ about 200 people, and it costs at least $100m just to get on to the starting grid. Remaining there, however, is the biggest challenge.
Small squads that don't win races and that don't get much television airtime often struggle to raise the sponsorship they need.
And although roughly half of F1's revenues are distributed among the teams, they are not divided equally.
Part of this is merit-based. The higher you finish in the World Championship, the more money you get. But some teams get extra bonuses, irrespective of how well they perform.
Smaller teams like Sauber want to see F1 revenues distributed more evenly amongst the teams
Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes and Williams all get extra funding. And Ferrari gets more than $60m simply for turning up, because of its place in the sport's heritage.
The smaller teams think this is deeply unfair and argue that because in F1, success is heavily linked to financial resources, it distorts the competition. In 2015, the Sauber and Force India teams lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission.
Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn says she hopes matters will change under Liberty Media.
Talks so far, she says, have been "very encouraging". Although altering the way payments are made would inevitably mean some of the larger teams getting less, she thinks they will co-operate.
"Why shouldn't it happen?" she says. "The big teams know that the show has to be a healthy show.
"If viewing figures continue to go down and we don't have that 'aha effect', sponsorship will go down and they will suffer equally, probably more, because they need more money to keep their operations going."
Graeme Lowdon, a motor racing entrepreneur who helped to found the Manor team, agrees that a more level playing field is needed,
"What people want to see in F1 is a sport where skill is rewarded," he says.
"The sports that have grown in the past few years are the ones that are focused on parity, such as the NFL."
Nico Rosberg retired days after winning his first F1 world title
Another area where change may be needed is in how F1 reaches out to its fanbase.
In recent years, the sport has focused on maximising its revenues, but despite expanding into new markets, it has arguably failed to attract a new generation of enthusiasts.
Races have been held in countries with little or no F1 heritage or established audiences, but where governments have proved willing to pay ever-higher sanctioning fees in exchange for the glamour associated with hosting a grand prix.
At the same time, fewer events have been held in the sport's European heartlands, where organisers are less willing to pay more than $30m for the privilege.
Liberty Media appears keen to reverse that trend and introduce new races in the United States, in an effort to broaden the sport's appeal.
Chase Carey has taken over at the helm of Formula 1
That could mean getting rid of lucrative but controversial events like the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which Liberty Media's chief executive Greg Maffei recently said "does nothing to build the long-term brand and health of the business".
However, according to Formula Money's Christian Sylt, that strategy may not work if F1 wants to keep its revenues at their current level.
"I do not believe there is a 'big ticket' alternative revenue stream to race hosting fees", he says.
But perhaps the biggest challenge of all is to bring in a new generation of enthusiasts.
"We need to do something to connect with younger fans," says Sauber's Monisha Kaltenborn. "You know, we don't want people who are just 40-something watching the sport. We have to go into digital media and social media far more.
"That's not a question about instantly making money, but it's about positioning yourself towards young people, so that tomorrow they'll come and watch a race."
Can F1 under Liberty Media succeed in attracting younger fans?
Former Jordan team commercial manager Ian Phillips puts it even more bluntly. "At the moment Formula 1, it hurts me to say it, is just not that exciting," he says.
The problem, he thinks, is cost. Champions Mercedes spend upwards of $400m a year on their cars, and other teams simply can't compete. So the racing becomes boring.
"I have a 13-year-old son who just watches the first lap, then he goes away," he says.
So wealthy F1 may be - but if it can't attract the kids, it may well find itself overtaken by other, more appealing sports before long.
You can hear more on this story on Business Daily: Financing Formula 1
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39371460
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British Swimming: Bullying claims by Paralympians are investigated - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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British Swimming is conducting an investigation after multiple bullying claims by Paralympians about a coach, the BBC learns.
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Last updated on .From the section Disability Sport
British Swimming is conducting an investigation after multiple bullying claims were made by Paralympians about a coach, the BBC has learned.
The sport's governing body began an internal review after several Para-swimmers made complaints.
The complainants are understood to include Rio 2016 medallists.
Swimming was ParalympicsGB's most successful sport in Rio, winning 47 medals - 16 golds of 152 available - and setting eight world records.
But it has now emerged the team, which is based at the Manchester Aquatics Centre, has been embroiled in a bullying controversy for the past two months.
British Swimming has appointed investigators to look into the allegations.
UK Sport said it was aware of the internal review and "disappointed" to hear the claims.
A parent of one of the complainants told the BBC that swimmers were "belittled and criticised".
"We were told elite sport was not about the welfare of athletes but the pursuit of medals. There was a culture of fear," the parent said.
In a statement, British Swimming told the BBC: "Whilst some athletes have expressed some concerns, we have immediately undertaken an independent fact-finding investigation into these.
"The investigation remains ongoing and, until it is completed, we do not propose to make any further comment."
UK Sport said: "While we are disappointed to hear of these allegations, we are reassured that athletes feel able to challenge any behaviour that they are uncomfortable with and that British Swimming are investigating.
"As part of our action plan following the independent review into British Cycling, we will be looking at sharing learnings and best practice across the entire high performance system to ensure we continue to support our best athletes to reach their full potential within a positive performance culture of the upmost integrity and ethical standards."
A British Paralympic Association statement added: "We understand that some athletes have raised concerns with British Swimming, their national governing body. Athlete welfare is of the utmost importance, therefore it is quite right that British Swimming have undertaken an independent fact-finding investigation into the matter, which remains ongoing."
The revelations come amid mounting concern over the culture of high-performance programmes at British sports, and whether medal success has come at the expense of athlete welfare.
Team GB and ParalympicsGB both came second in their respective medal tables in Rio.
British Cycling apologised last month for various "failings" after an independent investigation into allegations of bullying and sexism.
A leaked draft version of the report, due for publication, found there was "a culture of fear" in the national velodrome, and "cracks in terms of the climate and culture… were ignored in pursuit of medal success".
Several former riders and staff have complained about the way they were treated, with track cyclist Jess Varnish saying she was "thrown under the bus" and the victim of a "cover-up".
Former technical director Shane Sutton has always denied any wrongdoing.
British Cycling has introduced an action plan of reforms dedicated to improving training, governance and welfare.
Last year, British Rowing coach Paul Thompson was cleared of bullying following an investigation.
Former GB rower Emily Taylor had claimed Thompson was "a massive bully". A review concluded more care needed to be taken of athletes' wellbeing and the culture at British Rowing was "hard and unrelenting".
Meanwhile, in 2016 the government asked former Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson to conduct a comprehensive 'duty of care review'.
Publication of her report is imminent. It is expected to recommend significant reforms designed to improve the way athletes are treated by governing bodies.
Last month, UK Sport chief executive Liz Nicholl told BBC Sport there is "no excuse for not putting athletes first... there probably hasn't been enough attention in sport about how they do things.
"There's a lot of focus on operational delivery, probably not enough on leadership management and communication."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/disability-sport/39368319
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Lewis Hamilton fastest in first F1 practice in Australia - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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Lewis Hamilton leads a Mercedes one-two in first practice as a new era of Formula 1 started in familiar fashion at the Australian GP.
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Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two in first practice as a new era of Formula 1 started in familiar fashion at the Australian Grand Prix.
The talk before the weekend in Melbourne had been about the step forward made by Ferrari over the winter but their fastest driver Kimi Raikkonen was down in fifth.
Hamilton was using faster tyres when he set his fastest time, but the Mercedes appeared quicker on the same tyres, too.
Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas was second ahead of the two Red Bulls.
Local hero Daniel Ricciardo, who has had a busy week crammed with promotional appearances, was third fastest, 0.36 seconds quicker than team-mate Max Verstappen.
Bottas, in his first appearance for the Mercedes team, was a chastening 0.583secs behind Hamilton.
The Ferraris, with Sebastian Vettel one place and 0.092secs behind Raikkonen, were more than a second slower than the Mercedes.
Raikkonen and Vettel used the super-soft tyre to set their fastest lap while Mercedes were on the ultra-soft.
But the Mercedes also set a faster time than Ferrari's best when using the super-soft - Bottas was 0.23secs quicker than Raikkonen's best.
Red Bull entered the weekend expecting to be the third quickest team and talking up the progress Ferrari had made over the winter but, on the same tyre as Ferrari, Ricciardo was 0.486secs quicker than Raikkonen.
McLaren-Honda had a better time of it than in their dire pre-season testing programme, which was beset by reliability problems, but even so two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was 14th fastest and 2.896secs off the pace, also using the super-soft tyre.
His team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne was 20th and last after a problem-affected session.
Britain's Jolyon Palmer also had a troubled 90 minutes, 19th fastest and needing to end his session early because of a transmission problem.
First and second practice - full results
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39376370
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Ben Gibson: Middlesbrough defender gets England call-up - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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Middlesbrough defender Ben Gibson is called up to the England squad for the first time after an injury to Manchester United's Chris Smalling.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Date:Venue:Kick-off:Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 live or follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website.
Middlesbrough defender Ben Gibson has been called up to the England squad for the first time.
The 24-year-old will join up with Gareth Southgate's squad for Sunday's 2018 World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley.
The centre-back has been drafted in following an injury to Chris Smalling.
The Manchester United player has returned to Old Trafford while Chelsea's Gary Cahill, who is suspended for the game, has also left the camp.
Gibson will join the squad on Friday afternoon and take part in a training session on Saturday.
Tottenham midfielder Eric Dier said Gibson is already well known by many in the England squad.
"He's a very good player getting a lot of praise for how he's playing this season," said Dier.
"A lot of people have played with him in younger age groups so it'll be quite easy for him. I'm sure he'll be just fine."
England were beaten 1-0 by Germany in a friendly in Dortmund on Wednesday in Southgate's first game as permanent England manager.
They go into Sunday's game unbeaten in qualifying and are top of Group F on 10 points.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39382626
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'I put toast and cake back on the hospital menu' - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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How one man revamped the menus and made food appetising again at Kingston Hospital.
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Health
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Serving cakes to patients in the afternoons was a welcome move at Kingston Hospital
Patients at Kingston Hospital, in south-west London, used to say the food was a major disappointment.
When patients were asked for feedback, the poor quality of hospital meals was mentioned more often than anything else.
So Duncan Burton decided to do something about it - starting with the breakfasts.
Out went the limp bread and plain cereals and in came scrambled eggs, toast, porridge and fruit during the week, with sausages and bacon on offer at the weekends.
Despite the challenges of providing toasters around the hospital and not setting off fire alarms during the toasting process, he knew the extra hassle would be worth it.
"You can't have breakfast without toast," he says. "It's more reflective of what people have in their own home."
Mr Burton, who is director of nursing and patient experience at the acute hospital, where there are about 520 beds, knew that good nutrition and appetising food was fundamental to patients' healing and recovery.
He also knew it had an impact on general wellbeing.
With a high proportion of elderly in-patients, including many with dementia, Duncan and his team started reworking the menu with them in mind.
They were helped in their task by dieticians, caterers and patients themselves - but perhaps the most useful input came from hospital volunteers who sit with patients and help feed them.
Finger food is an alternative to hot meals for any adult patients who want it
They suggested finger food for those who wanted to eat only small amounts and for dementia patients because it was easier for them to eat.
So instead of being faced with an off-putting plate of non-descript meat, veg and mash, they are now given small bite-sized items such as small sandwiches, grapes, cucumber sticks and quiche slices.
That way, patients can eat a little and often, grazing throughout the day.
Rather than being offered an orange or an apple, which can be awkward to get into, they are given apple slices or a soft satsuma.
There are also new light meal options including homemade soups, omelettes, sandwiches and salads.
And there's a recognition that patients may not want to eat only healthy food.
"You're not going to change people's eating habits when they are not feeling well," Mr Burton says.
"If you can get them to eat a piece of cake, then fine... at least it is some nutrition."
And the introduction of freshly baked cakes served to patients in the afternoon has been a triumph, particularly when the aroma reaches patients before the cakes do.
As well as finger food, Kingston Hospital has brought in food packs for people who are discharged and live on their own.
These packs contain milk, bread, butter and tea-bags - the basics that can help vulnerable and elderly people through the first day or so back at home.
Duncan Burton helped to bring in a new-look menu for adults and children
In maternity wards, a plate of hot food is on offer 24 hours a day "because babies arrive at all times of the day and night".
The menu for children was revamped too, with the help of local school children and paediatric patients.
Children are now offered a finger box of crackers, cheese, fruit, sandwiches, cucumber sticks and biscuits or a hot meal option from a choice of meatballs, tuna pasta bake, fish fingers and vegetable curry.
There are still challenges however - providing more healthy food for more than 3,000 staff and contractors who work at the hospital is next on the list.
The menu changes, which were first discussed in 2014, were achieved without any extra funding for food, but the meals are brought in and "regenerated" on site rather than being cooked freshly in hospital kitchens.
And that's down to space - or the lack of it, Duncan Burton says.
"Some trusts do have that space, but it's not something we can do.
"Instead, catering staff are on site and are able to heat food up and serve it. Some fresh food is still made on site."
Kingston is not the only hospital in that position.
In a recent report from the Campaign for Better Hospital Food, which surveyed 30 London hospitals, only 30% cooked all food freshly on site.
The campaign group also said half of hospitals surveyed were failing to meet basic food standards set down by the NHS.
But in this south-west London hospital, patient feedback shows little criticism of the food any more and there is evidence of a reduction in patients with pressure sores and ulcers - a sign that they are eating better and recovering more quickly.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39353379
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David Haye told to explain pre-Tony Bellew fight behaviour - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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David Haye is called before boxing authorities to explain his behaviour in the build-up to his bout with Tony Bellew.
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Last updated on .From the section Boxing
David Haye has been called before boxing authorities to explain his behaviour in the build-up to his heavyweight bout with Tony Bellew.
Haye graphically described injuries he hoped to inflict on Bellew in the run-up to last month's stoppage defeat.
The former world heavyweight champion must appear before the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) on 12 April.
The BBBofC believes Bellew's behaviour improved after both fighters were warned days before the bout.
"Mr Haye was told to behave himself but the board have called him," the board's general secretary Robert Smith told BBC Sport.
"He will now be given the opportunity to come and explain his behaviour."
The BBBofC condemned the actions of both fighters during a fight week which included a boisterous news conference in Liverpool and a media event in London.
• None Bellew v Haye - in their own words
According to records on the BBBofC website, Haye, 36, made a donation and apologised for his behaviour to the Southern Area Council at a meeting three days before the bout.
Bellew, 34, was handed a four-month suspended suspension by the board in December as a result of his ringside behaviour when he called Haye out following victory over BJ Flores in October.
Further misdemeanours could have seen his licence withdrawn before the meeting with Haye.
After his 11th-round stoppage win, an emotional Bellew told reporters: "What we have done for boxing tonight is put it on a pedestal.
"Two men fought their hearts out. The board can't say nothing to me and if they do, I will go and get a licence somewhere else."
Haye said after the fight that he expected to be fined for his pre-fight comments.
The ex-WBA heavyweight champion has said he intends on returning to the ring after recovering from Achilles surgery.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/39375355
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State of Sport: British athlete care must improve - Tanni Grey-Thompson - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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British Olympic and Paralympic sport must improve its record on athlete welfare, says Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.
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Last updated on .From the section Sport
British Olympic and Paralympic sport must improve its athletes' welfare, says Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.
The 11-time Paralympic gold medallist has authored a forthcoming report into the subject, which has been brought into sharp focus by recent claims.
British Swimming is the latest body to investigate claims of "bullying", while several ex-riders have spoken of a "culture of fear" at British Cycling.
"We must prove we can win medals with a duty of care," Grey-Thompson said.
• None State of Sport - catch up on a week of in-depth journalism from the BBC
Speaking at a debate organised by the BBC as part of its State of Sport coverage, she added: "We've proved we can win medals. I don't think having a duty of care diminishes our chances of winning.
"We can't make it all warm and cuddly - because that is not what elite sport is. But it is about getting the best talent and not leaving athletes broken at the end of it."
Grey-Thompson's report - due for publication "imminently", she said - was commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
"There are some really good sports out there; there are sports that need to do much more," she added.
"My report doesn't mention a sport in particular, it doesn't mention a particular person in it. It's about the principles of how sport should be as we go forward."
On Thursday, Wendy Houvenaghel became the latest high-profile cyclist to come forward with criticisms of British Cycling's World Class programme - following Jess Varnish, Nicole Cooke and Emma Pooley.
Houvenaghel said a "medal at any cost" approach created a "culture of fear" at the organisation, which she accused of "ageism" and having "zero regard" for her welfare.
Later on Thursday, BBC sports editor Dan Roan exclusively reported on British Swimming's investigation into multiple bullying claims made by Paralympians about a coach.
Swimming was Britain's most successful sport at the Rio Paralympics. The British team won 47 medals - 16 golds of 152 available - and set eight world records.
Also speaking at Friday's debate, UK Sport chief executive Liz Nichol described the athletes' testimonies as "a wake-up call for sport".
"We have to be much more aware of responsibilities, beyond the responsibility of helping athletes achieve what they all aspire to," she said
"It's clear it can be better, and it will be better. This is a big step-up for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics cycle."
UK Sport is the funding body for Olympic and Paralympic sports in Britain.
When Nichol was asked whether linking funding to medal targets might have a negative effect on athlete welfare, she replied: "We don't reward success, we invest in potential.
Speaking about British Cycling's 39-point action plan response to failures identified in a leaked draft report into its World Class Programme, Nichol added: "This is something that is very significant.
"Every sport can learn from it and every sport should be looking at the cycling plan and checking to see if they are doing things properly.
"Yes it is uncomfortable, but it is right that athletes are speaking out. And it is right that we all acknowledge that something has got to change - and it will change - over this next cycle."
'It's not an issue of welfare or medals'
Helen Richardson-Walsh, who starred as Great Britain won Olympic hockey gold in Rio, said she had seen "big changes" in athlete welfare over her career.
"Gone are the days where you would get shouted at on the sideline at international level. I don't think that's acceptable in society any more and it is kind of being phased out in sport," the 35-year-old said.
"What we developed as a team in the last two Olympic cycles was so far removed from that old fashioned in your face coaching and we were more successful.
"You don't need to go down that route to win. It's not an issue of welfare or medals."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/39387363
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'What's mum got to be depressed about?' - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A son reveals the reality of growing up with a depressed mum who is frequently hospitalised.
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Disability
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Bruce Turner's mum Tina was diagnosed with depression in 1990 and was hospitalised many times throughout his childhood. Now, at 20 years old, he still struggles to understand her condition.
If you met my mum you would think she was the life and soul of the party. She's confident, full of energy and charisma, but she lives with depression and when it hits she is none of those things.
In those times she becomes scared and fragile, sees the worst in situations, and her ability to love and show compassion is taken away. She'll shut herself off from the world and won't get out of bed or speak to anyone for weeks.
It strips her of emotion - so if someone knocked on the door and told her she had won the lottery or her children had died in a car crash, her reaction would be the same.
I've been surrounded by mental illness my entire life and, though I still live at home with my parents in Wilmslow near Manchester, I still can't get my head around it.
The first time mum's depression affected me was when I was about nine, but it was hidden quite well from me, my twin sister Millie and my younger brother, Jake.
Mum was admitted to hospital. Dad told us she was poorly but we didn't understand what was happening. He cried, which was a real shock, and when she returned he told us to be quiet around the house.
She looked and acted differently. Normally mum was very glamorous but she became a shadow of herself, she stayed in her bedroom and was always in night-wear. Mum has since told me it took all her willpower to even go to the toilet back then.
It was a shock to see her so vacant and she was scared of the people she loved the most. When her three children were laughing, it would send her into a panic and sleep became the only time the demons disappeared. She often hoped she wouldn't wake up.
As children we went to youth club every Friday. Mum would never take us because she wasn't "well" so we would always go with friends.
One Friday night, after she was discharged from hospital, she came to pick us up. It was amazing. I looked at her and thought she was back to normal again, but it was only the beginning of her recovery.
She says she dreaded doing the pick-up and it took a huge amount of courage that night.
As we grew up our grandparents kept family life as normal as possible. Millie now plays football for England and Bristol City WFC and my younger brother, Jake, 18, is a goalkeeper for Bolton Wanderers.
Despite everything, they never missed a training session. Mum has said if she thought her illness had affected us in any way it would have made her battle worse.
Mum has long periods of wellness but, when I was 16, the depression returned and I found it harder to cope with.
This time I knew what was coming but the more I understood, the more I worried, and I was fearful that other people wouldn't understand.
I put a brave face on at school and whenever anyone asked I would say mum was "fine" or cover the truth by saying she had a physical illness.
At that age I found it hard to understand the situation and I was angry. She was admitted to hospital again and again and there was something about not being able to see anything physically wrong with her that made me question whether it was really there at all.
I thought: "What has mum got to be depressed about? She lives in a nice house with a nice family and is financially stable." I didn't understand how "being sad" could be an illness and would make flippant remarks about how she should just "pull herself together".
The triggers for mum's depression are difficult to understand. She lost a few close family members which she thinks affected her, but she also says one major episode came after watching the film Ray, about the blind rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles. It sounds surprising that she could be affected by a film like this, but she said it broke her heart and tipped her over the edge.
The pain caused by depression within a family is tremendous, but it's brought us closer.
It has made me appreciate every opportunity I receive, although I also live with the constant worry of when or if she'll have another episode.
Mum, who's 49, is currently well and we hope it remains that way for as long as possible, but the dread of its return never goes away.
The rapid disappearance of the person you love can be painful and frustrating. It's the fact they are facing the darkest battle and there is nothing you can do.
I think the stigma surrounding mental health needs to be improved and it should be considered like any physical illness. Ignorance can't be acceptable for an illness where suicide could be the ultimate trauma.
If depression affects someone you should surround them with love, appreciate the struggle and be there for them. Send them a "get well soon" card to let them know you're thinking about them.
After 20 years of living alongside mum's battle, I still don't completely understand depression, but I'm getting there.
For more Disability News, follow on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to the weekly podcast.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/disability-38929093
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Tales of deportation in Trump's America: Week Two - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A look at the men and women affected by President Trump's deportation strategy.
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US & Canada
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A rally for two young people detained by immigration officials in Vermont
The Trump Administration's immigration enforcement priorities have revived deportation orders ignored during the Obama Administration.
On Monday, Mr Trump criticized local law enforcement agencies for refusing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) to detain and deport people living in the US illegally.
The administration started publishing a weekly "Declined Detainer Outcome Report", which calls out local agencies that ignored orders to detain undocumented immigrants arrested for unrelated crimes. The report names the immigrants in question and lists "crimes associated with those released individuals."
Despite promising to focus on violent criminals and gang members, President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration and his executive memo to the Department of Homeland Security empowers Ice to deport virtually anyone living in the US without documentation.
Only one clear exception exists, for people with active Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) status.
Here's a look at some of the most recent immigration cases across the US.
Beristain, in blue, has been in the us for 19 years
In 1998, Mr Beristain came to the US to visit an aunt and decided to stay.
In 2000, he and his wife, a naturalised US citizen originally from Greece, accidentally crossed the Canadian border while sightseeing at Niagara Falls. When they crossed back into the US, border patrol agents detained Mr Beristain.
A judge initially issued an order mandating that Mr Beristain voluntarily return to Mexico. When Beristain declined to leave, the order reverted to a final order.
Instead Mr Beristain's lawyer convinced Ice agents to grant him leniency due to his family ties in the US and lack of criminal records.
The agents helped Mr Beristain obtain a driver's licence, a work permit and a legal Social Security Number, and Mr Beristain went to work in the restaurant business. He is now co-owner of Eddie's Steak Shed in Granger, Indiana.
Mr Beristain had to check in with Ice agents every year. This February, agents at the Indianapolis Ice office took him into custody.
"Trump says we're deporting bad hombres. Roberto is the farthest thing from a bad guy," said Jason Flora, who served as Mr Beristain's attorney until Saturday. "You ask 100 people to paint a picture of a bad guy, not one would draw something remotely resembling Roberto."
His wife supported Mr Trump because of his immigration programmes, and thought her husband - a businessman and father - would be spared.
"We don't want to have cartels here, you don't want to have drugs in your high schools, you don't want killers next to you," Helen Beristain told Indiana Public Media earlier this year.
"You want to feel safe when you leave your house. I truly believe that. And this is why I voted for Mr Trump."
Because of the deportation order from 2000, Mr Beristain could be deported as early as Friday without a hearing before an immigration court.
Police arrested Henry Sanchez-Milian and another undocumented teenager, Jose O Montano, 17, on charges of sexual assault after they allegedly trapped a fellow Rockville High School student in a school bathroom and raped her.
Mr Montano is being charged as an adult.
Mr Sanchez-Milian has lived in the US for only eight months, after fleeing Guatemala. He had been awaiting a hearing with an immigration judge.
Because he is considered a serious flight risk, he will likely remain in jail until a he's brought before a criminal court, said Montgomery County Assistant States Attorney Rebecca MacVittie.
When an undocumented individual is convicted of a serious crime, standard procedure is to allow them to serve their prison sentence in the US and then transfer them to Ice custody to initiate the deportation process.
It is unclear whether Mr Sanchez-Milian will be deported before a trial. Ice has issued an order for local law enforcement to keep him in custody.
The case has been referenced by members of Mr Trump's administration as reason for Mr Trump's "crackdown" on immigration.
Earlier this month, Mr Martinez-Morales was pulled over for a broken tail light, at which point officers identified him as an undocumented immigrant.
He had lived in the US for nearly 20 years. He married a US citizen and has four American-born children under the age of 12.
In 2004, Mr Martinez-Morales returned to Mexico to see family. Upon his return, he was arrested for crossing illegally at the Texas border, which set in motion his deportation order. Mr Martinez-Morales returned to the Houston area, and lived there without incident until this month.
The Obama Administration's immigration priorities that allowed people living in the US illegally with no criminal record to stay in the US, even if they had a deportation order that predated 1 January 2014. Under the Trump administration, individual with a deportation order is a priority for removal.
"There has been a total change with this new administration," says Raed Gonzalez, Mr Martinze-Morales' attorney. "This is a sharp shift in policy."
Mr Martinez-Morales was deported one week after his detention.
Mr Carrillo, Mr Balcazar and Ms Rodriguez are activists who belong to a Vermont-based immigration rights advocacy group called Migrant Justice.
Ice agents arrested Mr Carrillo-Sanchez on Wednesday, as he was arriving to a court hearing for a misdemeanour charge at the Chittenden County courthouse.
Two days later, Ice officials stopped a car that Mr Balcazar was driving, with Ms Rodriguez in the passenger seat, as they were leaving the Migrant Justice office. Both were detained by immigration officials, according to the organisation.
Alex Carrillo (left) with daughter and wife at a rally to free Victor Diazz
Members of Migrant Justice said that they view their detention as a sign that immigration officials are targeting activists and community leaders.
Migrant Justice members have had run-ins with Ice in the past. Two other members, Victor Diaz and Miguel Alcudia, were detained last year, but were both released and had their deportation proceedings halted after public outcry.
Mr Carrillo-Sanchez and Mr Balcazar both immigrated to the US from Mexico. Ms Rodriguez is from Peru.
Border Patrol agents from the Casa Grande Station in Arizona arrested Aaron Sarmiento-Sanchez for entering the US illegally.
He had previously been deported in April 2013.
When officers ran a background check on Mr Sarmiento-Sanchez, they found a 2006 conviction in Salinas, California, for "lewd or lascivious acts with a child". Mr Sarmiento-Sanchez was sentenced to six years in prison for that crime.
Mr Sarmiento-Sanchez faces federal charges for re-entering the country illegally and will remain in detention until a judge rules on those criminal charges.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39371204
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How an obscure seed is helping to save the elephant - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A look at how the seed of a South American tree is increasingly being used as an alternative to ivory.
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Business
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The tagua seed reaches 9cm (3.5 inches) in length, and can be carved like ivory
Onno Heerma van Voss jokes that he never intended to be a conservationist, but he is helping to save the African elephant.
Numbers of elephants in the wild are still falling; it's estimated 100 of them are killed by poachers every day for their tusks to meet the continuing demand for ivory.
There are now only around 415,000 African elephants across the continent, down from as many as five million a century ago, according to global campaign group WWF (formerly known as the World Wide Fund for Nature).
While the worldwide sale of new ivory was outlawed in 1989, the animals are still being slaughtered to fuel an illegal trade led by continuing demand in China.
So what exactly is Mr Heerma van Voss, a 48-year-old Dutchman, doing to help protect the African elephant? He sells seeds.
Onno Heerma van Voss had never heard of tagua before he moved to Ecuador
Yes, you read that correctly, but these aren't any old seeds, they are instead rather special ones from South America called tagua.
They are the off-white coloured seeds of six species of palm trees. They can reach up to 9cm (3.5 inches) in length and when dried become very hard indeed. So hard in fact that they are also known as "vegetable ivory".
And like ivory, tagua can be polished and carved, and turned into ornate carvings or jewellery.
From his base in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, Mr Heerma van Voss's company Naya Nayon has been exporting tagua for 16 years, and he says that sales are booming.
Tagua has a very similar feel to ivory, but is a fraction of the price
He now sells to 70 countries, including China, Japan and Singapore, as tagua grows in popularity as an alternative to ivory.
And with China pledging to end its domestic trade in elephant tusks by the end of this year, Mr van Voss is hopeful that demand is going to jump even further.
Using tagua as a substitute for ivory is nothing new. Indeed exports to Europe began in the 19th Century in order to meet the demand for an ivory-like raw material. This was used to produce ornamental items such as buttons, chess pieces, and decorative handles for canes.
In fact, the scientific name for the six species of palm trees that produce tagua is Phytelephas, which means elephant plant, a nod to the ivory-like quality of the seeds.
The white flesh of the tagua seed becomes exceptionally hard once it dried
However, tagua fell into obscurity, so much so that Mr Heerma van Voss had never heard of it when he first visited Ecuador in 2000.
Very much liking the country he decided to stay and set up a business, launching Naya Nayon to make and export wooden furniture. Then a year later he had a phone call.
"In the beginning of 2001, a France-based British lady contacted me if I could supply hand carved tagua figurines," he says.
The seeds are harvested from six species of palm trees
"Anyhow, you listen to clients to make a company work. So I did it, and I started to like the tagua and slowly it took off.
"I always joke that I am a forced ecologist, but I actually really like this product."
Tagua seeds - which have a brown outer husk - can be dried in the air, or in an oven
Mr Heerma van Voss now sells $200,000 (£160,000) worth of tagua per year that he buys from farmers. He and his four members of staff dry and slice the seeds ready to be turned into jewellery, with France being his largest market.
The sliced tagua typically retails for $30 a kg, while the raw seeds sell for $6 a kg. By contrast, a kilogramme of ivory is worth as much as $1,100 in China.
While Mr Heerma van Voss is preparing for a big upturn in exports to China, tagua does face two hurdles in the country.
The seeds can be dyed into any colour required by a jeweller
Firstly, even the longest tagua seeds are much shorter than the average elephant tusk, which limits the size of the ornaments that can be made from the material. And secondly, it lacks ivory's exclusivity.
Hongxiang Huang, a Chinese journalist and anti-ivory campaigner, explains: "As people become wealthier they want to buy luxury items, and ivory is one of the many things that people desire. This is the situation in China."
For buyers wanting an alternative to elephant ivory that still comes from a mammal but is ethically sourced, the answer comes from under the frozen Siberian tundra in the north east of Russia.
It may sound bizarre, but the tusks from woolly mammoths that died tens of thousands of years ago are mined on a regular basis. While official figures are not available, an estimated 60 tonnes of mammoth ivory is harvested each year.
Mammoth tusks can be used as a substitute for elephant ivory
Mammoth ivory sold for an average $350 a kg in 2014, according to the charity Save the Elephants. This is about a third of the price of elephant ivory, but giant mammoth tusks in good condition can fetch far more.
John Frederick Walker, an expert on ivory, says: "Master carvers tend to prefer elephant ivory because fresh elephant ivory is easier to carve.
"But in fact, you can make wonderful things from mammoth ivory."
Yet with tagua far easier to get hold of than mammoth ivory, and considerably cheaper, it is the South American seeds that is increasingly being used by jewellers, and not the Siberian tusks.
Demand for tagua in China is expected to rise after the ivory ban comes into place
Marion Andron is co-owner of French jewellers Nodova, which sold more than 300,000 euros ($320,000; £256,000) of tagua jewellery last year.
Ms Andron, 27, travels to Ecuador twice a year to oversee the production of the tagua that is done by seven local women at a cooperative.
While Nodova's largest markets are France and the UK, it sells to stores across Asia and Ms Andron says that the forthcoming blanket ban on ivory sales in China offers a huge opportunity.
"I think tagua has helped diminish the demand for animal ivory, and I honestly don't think someone today can be ignorant about the slaughter of elephants with all the media coverage," she says.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39333386
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Lukas Podolski: England 'used to play like a rugby team' - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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England used to be "like a rugby" team but have a brighter future because they "play more football now", says ex-Germany forward Lukas Podolski.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
England used to be "like a rugby" team but have a brighter future because they "play more football now", says former Germany forward Lukas Podolski.
Podolski, 31, retired from international duty after his stunning strike helped Germany beat England 1-0 in Wednesday's friendly in Dortmund.
Under boss Gareth Southgate, England used a three-man defence for the first time since a loss to Croatia in 2006.
"They have a good team, a good manager," said Podolski.
"Before it was a like a rugby style, now they have good guys, good characters - they were physical but they play more football now.
"When they go to a tournament they are always nervous, they always play too much under pressure [but] I will be watching England at the [2018] World Cup."
A 3-4-2-1 formation also saw Dele Alli impress in a more attacking role along with Adam Lallana, who said the 20-year-old Tottenham midfielder could be a "special" player for England in future.
"I love the way he goes about his business - no fear, he's brave," said Liverpool midfielder Lallana. "He is unique and a special talent.
"But people still need to be patient with him. He is still a young boy and performing how he does is way above his years - it's important we don't get carried away."
• None Listen: Why Spurs had to sign Alli - Pleat
Galatasaray striker Podolski was given a presentation, delivered a speech and received a standing ovation after being substituted on his 130th and final appearance for Germany.
"It's like a movie. Of course, it was the perfect end," said the former Arsenal player.
Podolski believes England captain Wayne Rooney deserves a similar send-off for his last international match.
Rooney, who is England's all-time record scorer with 53 goals in 119 caps, has previously stated his intention is to retire after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The 31-year-old Manchester United striker was left out of Southgate's squad for Wednesday's friendly and Sunday's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania as he recovers from a leg injury, coupled with a lack of recent playing time for his club.
"I don't know if it's traditional in England to give someone a farewell game, but when I am England boss or the president I will say: 'Wayne, next week you've got a game,'" said Podolski.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39373880
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Chris Coleman: Wales manager 'desperate' to reach World Cup in Russia - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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Chris Coleman says he and his Wales side will be driven by "desperation" when they face the Republic of Ireland on Friday.
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Coverage: Live on S4C, live commentary on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, plus live text commentary
It is considered a virtue in football not to look back - players and managers are often reluctant to reflect on achievements or to dwell on the past.
Sometimes, however, it is essential.
Chris Coleman says he and his Wales side will be driven by "desperation" when they face the Republic of Ireland on Friday - a desperation to succeed but, more specifically, a desperation to repeat the success of their recent past.
Absent from major tournaments for 58 years, qualifying for Euro 2016 - and then reaching the semi-finals - gave Wales a taste of what they had craved for generations.
And as they prepare for Friday's crucial World Cup qualifier in Dublin with their hopes of getting to next year's competition in Russia in the balance, it is a taste they are desperate to sample again.
For Coleman, that feeling is particularly acute, as he has said this will be his final campaign in charge.
He cannot bear to think about a future when he will no longer lead his country and, for him to step aside satisfied with his legacy, he must replicate the sensation he felt in France last summer.
"I do think about Russia. Just because we went to France, it doesn't mean Russia is less important," he said.
"If you see the film [Don't Take Me Home, the Wales Euro 2016 documentary], it gives you a taste for it again. You want to be back in that environment so I'm desperate to do it again. Desperate. It's the only word I can use.
"I'm desperate to go back, be in the middle of that type of pressure. I can't describe to you how that felt. I absolutely want that again. I do. That's all I think about."
Coleman and his players have openly admitted how difficult they found the aftermath of Euro 2016, plunged into an emotional comedown after the searing highs of France.
They re-watched goals and games, text messaged each other occasionally - all to try and reproduce the magic of that summer.
That is the aim of this World Cup qualifying campaign but, with four points separating Group D leaders Ireland and third-placed Wales, Coleman's men travel to Dublin in need of victory.
Coleman has previously said he would consider his position if Wales were out of contention after five games.
With four matches gone, however, he is putting that discussion to one side.
"I think until it's mathematically impossible, I'll always, and we've always, got to look at it and go: 'We've got a chance'," the 46-year-old adds.
"So unless we can't finish top and we can't finish second, if that happens, then I'll see how I feel and Wales will see how they feel, I imagine, because it is my last campaign."
Wales' match against the Republic of Ireland has the ingredients of a titanic battle - a big and noisy crowd, two teams familiar with each other from countless Premier League skirmishes, and the significance of precious qualifying points to play for.
There are echoes of Wales' Euro 2016 group meeting with England - their only defeat in France before losing to Portugal in the semi-finals - and Coleman hopes his team will have learned from their mistakes in Lens.
"We went 1-0 up and then we wished our life away, rather than just enjoying those moments," he explains.
"It's the same for the Republic of Ireland - 50,000 people in the Aviva Stadium, they're top, everyone is billing it as a must-win game for us. But the game will come and go. It only lasts 90 minutes.
"The build-up beforehand goes on a lot longer than the game itself. I think you forget sometimes when you're in it that you've got to enjoy it, the players have got to enjoy it on the pitch, and they'll do that if they do what they're good at.
"We can't miss the game - we did that I think against England. We were disappointed after the England game because it was a British derby and there was so much surrounding it, and we got sucked into that."
Coleman admits he was crestfallen after the England game, so much so, he broke one of his own rules.
"It was a dry camp, we were together seven weeks. No alcohol - staff or players. But I had a double whiskey by myself, a sneaky one out on the balcony," he confides.
"As a manager you have to look at yourself and I thought I was preaching all the time, don't get sucked into this game to England.
"So I was devastated, not because it was England, but we are at a tournament, it is the second game, we had a point in the bag and with four points we were going through really. But we let it slip.
Coleman hopes it will be a different story this time.
"It's all about us, not worrying about ifs and buts and what happens if we don't do this," he says.
"It's all about preparation, sticking to our game plan - if the players stick to that and we lose it's my fault. Nine times out of 10 our boys have produced.
"We've just got to go into this game not worrying about the outcome. Enjoy it. Meet it. Let's have a right go. It's going to be a great atmosphere."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39373985
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James Ridley: Lookslikerainted jockey banned after Newbury finish line blunder - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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An amateur jockey who slowed down and lost his lead in the final stages of a race is banned for 28 days.
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Last updated on .From the section Horse Racing
An amateur jockey who slowed down and lost his lead in the final stages of a race has been banned for 28 days.
James Ridley, riding Lookslikerainted, appeared to mistakenly think he had already crossed the finish line, allowing two horses to pass.
The Hunters' Chase at Newbury was eventually won by Triangular, closely followed by Ballytober.
Lookslikerainted, a 33-1 outsider trained by Martin Wilesmith, finished in third.
At the resulting inquiry, Ridley said the half-furlong pole caused the problem. Stewards ruled he was guilty of failing to ride out on a horse that would have finished first.
"Obviously I'm a little upset but compared to what happened in Westminster the other day it is absolutely nothing," Wilesmith said, after the attack in central London on Wednesday in which four people were killed and 50 people injured by Khalid Masood, who also died.
"I'm thrilled with the horse and just looking forward to when we can run him again now. We'll just look forwards. James has apologised."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/39386068
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Morse's Oxford: The city that inspired Colin Dexter - BBC News
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2017-03-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The death of Morse writer Colin Dexter is the final chapter in a lifelong love affair with the university city.
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Oxford
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Of the main players in the Inspector Morse stories by Colin Dexter, one remains - the city of Oxford. The character died in The Remorseful Day, published in 1999. John Thaw, the actor synonymous with the role of the curmudgeonly detective, died in 2002. And Dexter himself died earlier this week.
As the Lord Mayor of Oxford once said: "In his novels Colin Dexter has shown our city as having a distinct and separate identity from its famous university."
The "dreaming spires" and attendant well-to-do academics and eccentrics were important factors in the books, but so were the lanes round the city centre, the arterial Iffley and Cowley roads, the north Oxford suburbs of Jericho and Summertown, and the railway station.
Dexter himself was well aware of the city's allure for readers and viewers. When the first episode of the television series was broadcast in 1987, he said: "The huge value for me as a writer is that, even if people haven't been to Oxford, they would love to be in the city.
"I think if the story had been set in Rotherham or Rochdale no-one would be particularly interested to see the streets and side streets, but so many people outside Oxford are delighted to see the High Street, St Giles and the colleges."
John Thaw, who played Inspector Morse in the television adaptation, pictured with Colin Dexter in 1999
The Randolph Hotel featured prominently in both Dexter's and Morse's lives. Morse was often to be found pondering cases while enjoying a real ale or red wine there, while Dexter's favoured drink in later life - he gave up alcohol for medical reasons - was tonic water.
Staff at the hotel said the writer would often visit various rooms around the hotel to help him get details for a storyline.
"He continued to be a regular at the hotel bar and was so loved by staff, that we renamed the bar after his most famous character - Morse. He was very much part of this hotel and we will miss seeing him perched at the end of the bar or reading a book by the fireside, sipping his drink."
Famous haunts from the books and television series, such as the Ashmolean museum and the Bodleian library, have expressed sorrow at his death. But, perhaps more significantly, so have lesser-known Oxford institutions, demonstrating Dexter was very much a man of the people - and a man of the real city.
The writer shared his hero's affection for good beer, classical music and cryptic crossword puzzles, but by all accounts lacked his spiky nature.
Alcock's Butcher and Fishmonger in the Summertown area has a blackboard outside saying "Mr Dexter, you will be sadly missed".
Paul England from the shop said: "He was a lovely guy. Always used to see him early in the morning.
"He used to walk down and get his paper and then he always used to come in for a pork pie and a chat. He used to tell us some good stories and jokes, which I think we'll always remember. We just knew him as Mr Dexter who bought his pork pie from the butcher."
Colin Dexter was often to be found enjoying a drink at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford - as was Inspector Morse
Christiane Fagan fondly remembers him "sitting quietly in the The Dew Drop Inn in Summertown. Such a lovely man", while Carol Maling remembers chatting to him on a bench outside the old Radcliffe infirmary when he was waiting for his wife Dorothy to finish work.
"We used to share biscuits and chocolate," Ms Maling said.
Although he claimed to know very little about actual police procedure, Dexter was a welcome visitor at Oxford CID. Former police officer Dermot Norridge was a detective in the city between 1986 and 2003.
He said whenever he and his colleagues were investigating any incident related to one of the university colleges, they would say they were "having a Morse moment".
Mr Norridge claims the irascible character even had an influence on the sounds heard floating through the corridors of the police station: "There were certain offices where the radio was retuned to Radio 3 or Classic FM. The officers involved may well have been aware of classical music before Morse, but I'm completely convinced this listening to it was down to the influence of the programme.
"I met Colin a few times - he used to come with the crew to the station, and once he was invited to our annual dinner to give a talk. If I had to sum up my memory of him, it would be 'a complete gentleman'".
Sue Howlett remembers the author hopping on the bus from Summertown, and always saying hello, while Sue Parsons said she "used to know him years ago when he would to come in to order stationery from Colegroves in Turl Street. Such a lovely man always having a laugh and a joke".
Bob Price, the leader of Oxford Council, says the city will always feel the impact of Dexter's work: "The television programmes, and the way they were filmed, made a huge difference. They really drew people to Oxford."
In his 13th - and final - book Dexter says:
"Morse had never enrolled in the itchy-footed regiment of adventurous souls, feeling little temptation to explore the remoter corners even of his native land; and this principally because he could imagine few if any places closer to his heart than Oxford - the city which, though not his natural mother, had for so many years performed the duties of a loving foster-parent."
He said of that paragraph: "For 'Morse,' read me".
Colin Dexter is not the only author to have a strong link with a specific city. Here are a few more literary locations and their fictional dwellers
The The Inspector Rebus novels are mostly based in and around Edinburgh and take in such landmarks as Arthur's Seat and Holyrood Palace, as well as Rebus' flat.
The novels are characterised by the stark and dark depiction of a city characterised by corruption, poverty, and organised crime. Rebus bends the rules and ignores his superiors while battling his own personal issues. But he does solve the mysteries.
You can explore the key locations online.
Joyce once claimed of his book Ulysses that if Dublin "suddenly disappeared from the Earth, it could be reconstructed from my book".
Published in 1922, Ulysses focuses on the stream-of-consciousness wanderings through Dublin of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom. Ulysses has been summarised as: "Man goes for a walk around Dublin. Nothing happens." The novel is seen by many as one of the most influential works of the 20th Century.
The Assembly Rooms are the setting for many of the evening balls depicted in social satire Northanger Abbey and melancholic love story Persuasion, while the Pump Rooms were the place to mingle with during the day to give off a fashionable air of importance.
Milsom Street, Bond Street (now New Bond Street), George Street and Edgar Buildings are all mentioned in the books.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-39343923
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Formula 1: Harder, better, faster in 2017? The new season kicks off in Melbourne - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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With new rules and new-era cars, Formula 1 takes a step into the unknown as the 2017 season starts in Australia this weekend.
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Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
The wait is almost over.
One hundred and 17 days after the curtain came down on the 2016 campaign at Abu Dhabi, Formula 1 is back as the new season gets under way in Australia this weekend.
With new rules and new era cars, it is a step into the unknown. Mercedes might be the favourites once again, but they could well have a real fight on their hands this time.
• None Will changes make F1 better?
• None What to look out for in 2017
Where are we?
There will always be excitement about the start of a new season - the anticipation, the element of the unknown and the hope that this one will be even better than the last - but there is something about having Melbourne as the setting for the opener that makes it even more special.
With the city's shiny skyscrapers on one side and sailboats and surfers at St Kilda beach on the other, the Albert Park circuit offers a unique setting, winding its way around a glistening lake in idyllic parkland.
There's a real buzz about the place as fans turn out in big numbers, eager to see the new cars first hand, and that buzz extends to the paddock as team personnel and media meet up, often for the first time since the end of the previous season.
What are the main changes?
The cars are wider, more physically demanding to drive and much faster than last year, with lap times expected to drop by up to five seconds.
Bigger cars and extra downforce is, however, expected to make overtaking more difficult, with several drivers reporting after testing that it is difficult to follow another car closely.
More durable Pirelli tyres could also lead to more one-stop races.
• None McLaren are the most successful constructor in the history of the Australian Grand Prix. They have 11 wins and 26 podiums.
• None Their last podium was in 2014, when Kevin Magnussen finished second.
• None The Australian Grand Prix has been won from pole position on nine occasions. The lowest position a driver has won the race from is 11th - Northern Ireland's Eddie Irvine achieving that in 1999 for Ferrari.
• None The winner in Melbourne has gone on to win the drivers' championship 13 out of 21 times.
How to follow on the BBC
BBC Sport will have live coverage of all the season's races on BBC Radio 5 live, BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, plus live online commentary on the BBC Sport website and mobile app - including audience interaction, expert analysis, debate, voting, features, interviews and video content.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39356954
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Seamus Coleman suffers broken leg in Republic of Ireland draw - BBC Sport
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2017-03-24
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Republic of Ireland skipper Seamus Coleman suffers a broken leg in his side's goalless draw with Wales at the Aviva Stadium.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Republic of Ireland skipper Seamus Coleman suffered a broken leg during his side's goalless draw with Wales at the Aviva Stadium.
The Everton defender, 28, was given oxygen before being carried off following the challenge with Neil Taylor, who was sent off.
The incident happened midway through the second half of the World Cup qualifier on Friday night.
• None Listen: Taylor's tackle on Coleman 'out of character'
• None 'All our thoughts are with Seamus' - Wales boss Coleman
"Seamus has gone to hospital, it's been confirmed by a doctor that he has broken his leg," added O'Neill.
"Obviously, it's a real blow to him. He's having the season of a lifetime at club level. He's a big player for us, a great captain and a great character.
"It's a big loss to Everton, a big loss to us. But he'll fight back I hope. It puts things in perspective."
Wales manager Chris Coleman said defender Taylor was "despondent" following the game.
"First and foremost, the most important thing is Seamus Coleman," he said. "We are told that it is not so good, which we are sorry for.
"Neil Taylor is not really that type of player, but it's a tough one for Seamus. Our thoughts are with him. I have not seen it again."
Everton return to Premier League action with the Merseyside derby against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, 1 April.
Everton midfielder James McCarthy was scheduled to start for the Republic, but was withdrawn from the team-sheet before kick-off because of a hamstring injury.
"He thought he was going to be OK with the couple of days training he had done," added O'Neill. "He was feeling it and I just didn't want to take any chances."
The draw in Dublin meant the Republic missed out on returning to the top of Group D, after Serbia beat Georgia earlier on Friday, with Wales four points behind in third.
Gareth Bale twice went close for Wales from long range, but the visitors had to withstand a spell of heavy pressure following Taylor's sending off.
Wales will also be without Real Madrid forward Bale when they visit Serbia on 11 June after he was booked for a foul on John O'Shea.
The Republic's next Group D qualifier is at home to Austria, also on 11 June.
'Get well soon, Seamus'
Coleman's Everton team-mate Ramiro Funes Mori: Devastated of what happened. Hope you have a speedy recovery my friend, best wishes for you. You will come back even stronger!!! SeamusColeman.
Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin: Get well soon @seamiecoleman23!! #RightBackUnit
Irish 20-time champion jockey AP McCoy: Gutted for Seamus Coleman. Hopefully he'll have speedy recovery
Actor and television presenter James Corden: Stay strong Seamus Coleman. Every true football fan wishes you a strong recovery x
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39388290
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London attack: The path from violent crime to killer - BBC News
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2017-03-25
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Westminster attacker Khalid Masood had a history of violence, but how typical is his past of those who go on to carry out acts of terror?
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UK
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Westminster attacker Khalid Masood had a history of violence, but how typical is his past of those who go on to carry out acts of terror?
Masood, 52, who has been claimed by so-called Islamic State as a "soldier of the Caliphate", had spent time in prison for offences including violent assaults and possession of offensive weapons.
In one instance, when in his mid-30s, Masood slashed a man's face with a knife following an argument in a pub, for which he served two years.
While this criminal past may contradict stereotypes of those involved in religious extremism, Masood is only the latest manifestation of a criminal-turned-jihadist.
Throughout Europe, there has been a pattern of criminals being drawn to violent jihad.
Those who travel to Syria as foreign fighters are typically already known to police for something other than extremism.
Khalid Masood had been jailed for violent crimes
In Germany, two-thirds of foreign fighters had criminal records and more than half of those from Belgium and the Netherlands had a similar background.
Among perpetrators of terrorist attacks, criminal pasts are also common.
Berlin Christmas market attacker Anis Amri had convictions for theft and violence, and had sold cocaine in the months before the attack.
Among the perpetrators of the November 2015 Paris attacks, a number had previous convictions for robberies and drug dealing.
This is no mere coincidence, as the extremist narrative often resonates with criminals.
At the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) in King's College London, we recently published a report analysing the criminal backgrounds of European jihadists and found their radicalisation is often linked to their criminality.
Indeed, jihadism is sometimes used to legitimise further crime against "non-believers", with some extremists stating that crime and violence is permissible when living in the West.
They also claim that jihadism offers redemption from previous sins, the search for which typically comes after a period of crisis in the perpetrators' lives.
That crisis is often prompted by criminality - such as being imprisoned - but it need not be.
Masood crashed his car into railings outside Parliament
However, it is striking that Masood does not fit the typical profile of a criminal-turned-jihadist, simply due to his age of 52.
Older jihadists are usually more involved in extremist support networks - as radicalisers and recruiters, rather than as attackers.
While Theresa May said Masood had been investigated in relation to concerns about violent extremism, he was considered a peripheral figure and was not part of current investigations into extremism.
In one crucial respect, however, Masood does fit the picture of the criminals-turned-jihadists that we have examined - he was familiar with violence.
If a terrorist has a criminal background, it is very often a violent one.
Stabbings, assaults, and violent behaviour are recurrent patterns amongst perpetrators of terrorist attacks with existing criminal records.
This violent group is disproportionately represented when compared with those convicted of non-violent crimes.
For Masood, this familiarity with personal violence may have made the "jump" into ideologically motivated violence that much smaller than it would otherwise have been.
Rajan Basra is a Research Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, in the Department of War Studies, at King's College London. Follow him @rajanbasra
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39380049
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England 2-0 Lithuania - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Jermain Defoe scores his first international goal since 2013 as England edge closer to World Cup 2018 qualification with victory over Lithuania.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Jermain Defoe scored in his first international appearance since 2013 as England took another comfortable step in their qualifying campaign for next year's World Cup with victory over Lithuania.
Gareth Southgate's first game at Wembley since succeeding Sam Allardyce on a permanent basis provided few alarms as England remain firmly in control at the top of Group F.
Sunderland striker Defoe, 34, justified his call-up with a typically clinical finish after 21 minutes and a lively performance that suggested he still has a part to play under this manager.
And when Southgate needed someone to break Lithuania's stubborn resistance after the break, substitute Jamie Vardy obliged from close-range in the 66th minute, converting a subtle touch from Liverpool's Adam Lallana inside the area.
Before kick-off there was a minute's silence inside the stadium for the victims of last week's London attack. There was also a tribute paid to former England manager Graham Taylor, who died in January.
• None Quiz: Can you name England's oldest goalscorers?
• None What is Southgate's best England XI? Pick your own side
Eyebrows were raised in some quarters when Southgate recalled Defoe to the squad having last represented his country against Chile at Wembley in November 2013.
Defoe's inclusion, however, represented perfect sense with a record of 14 Premier League goals and two assists in a Sunderland side propping up the table and England's main striker Harry Kane out injured.
And so it proved as he pounced in trademark fashion for his first England goal in four years and four days since scoring in an easy win against San Marino, clipping a clinical finish high beyond Lithuania keeper Ernestas Setkus after 21 minutes from Raheem Sterling's delivery.
Defoe had already brought one crucial block from the keeper earlier as he stole in on Lallana's pass. He looks like a player full of hunger who has lost none of his predatory, goalscoring instincts.
England will face stubborn opposition again before this World Cup qualifying campaign is over and a poacher like Defoe may well come in very handy for Southgate as he plots his route to Russia next summer.
England's friendly against Germany in Dortmund on Wednesday was effectively a testimonial for veteran striker Lukas Podolski on his international farewell - with an atmosphere to match in the normally thunderous Signal Iduna Park.
Wembley was also on the subdued side because World Cup Qualifying Group F is a hard-sell in terms of excitement for England's fans, who understandably expect Southgate's side to dismiss opposition such as Lithuania with the minimum of fuss.
England fulfilled those requirements comfortably in the face of stubborn opponents who sat back and invited them on in the early phases, then seemed intent on damage limitation and no more as any hope of getting a return from this qualifier evaporated.
There may be more of the same in the remaining home qualifiers against Slovakia and Slovenia but England, once again, are getting the job done as they move closer to reaching the World Cup.
The old lingering fear remains that the real measure of how far England are progressing under Southgate will come at a major tournaments, where their limitations have been exposed regularly.
Southgate can be satisfied from what he has got from England's international double header, with a creditable performance in defeat against World Cup holders Germany and victory here against Lithuania.
If he has a complaint, it could be that England need to be more ruthless in front of goal, paying for wasted opportunities in Dortmund and also missing chances to make this a more convincing margin of victory.
England will not find this failing too expensive in a friendly or against mediocre opposition - but it could cost them if the flaws are on show against higher-class in a competitive environment.
It is why Defoe's marksmanship is currently required and why the return of a fit and in-form Harry Kane will be so welcome.
"I thought it was one of those afternoons where it's job done.
"I am not going to eulogise over the performance, but the overall week I think has been really positive in setting the tone of how we want to work.
"The players have got a good feel about them, a spirit and they see the direction we want to head. For sure, we'll play better than we did today."
"I am very proud of my team because we have been tested by a tremendously strong team - probably the strongest team we have faced until now.
"We will take a lot of positives from this loss, to see what targets can be set because what we witnessed today in the first half was unbelievable how skilful all those attacking players are and what amount of pressure we were put under."
• None England are the only team to have kept a clean sheet in each 2018 World Cup qualification game so far.
• None Vardy's goal was his first touch of the match.
• None Lallana has been directly involved in four goals in his last five England appearances (three goals; one assist).
• None Defoe is the 22nd player to reach the 20 goal landmark for England.
England next qualifier is against Scotland at Hampden Park on Saturday, 10 June.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Delay in match Arturas Zulpa (Lithuania) because of an injury.
• None Attempt missed. Ryan Bertrand (England) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Marcus Rashford.
• None Attempt saved. Marcus Rashford (England) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Dele Alli.
• None Attempt missed. Dele Alli (England) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Marcus Rashford with a cross.
• None Attempt saved. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (England) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
• None Attempt blocked. Dele Alli (England) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Marcus Rashford.
• None Attempt missed. Eric Dier (England) header from very close range is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Marcus Rashford with a cross following a corner.
• None Attempt blocked. Dele Alli (England) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Marcus Rashford.
• None Attempt missed. Jamie Vardy (England) left footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Marcus Rashford with a through ball. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39302168
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Lewis Hamilton surprised by Mercedes speed in Melbourne - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Lewis Hamilton says he is surprised how good his Mercedes felt during Friday practice at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
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Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton said he was surprised how good his Mercedes felt during Friday's practice at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton was 0.547 seconds clear of the field after a dominant performance and looks a strong favourite this weekend.
• None Driver battles, failing engines and moustaches - what to look out for in 2017
"I am on it and I plan to keep it that way, Hamilton said. "It is a wonderful feeling to have the car so strong coming into a new era."
However, Hamilton cautioned against writing off Ferrari so early.
The Italian team impressed in pre-season testing and the former world champion labelled them as favourites going into the weekend.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was second quickest and he did beat Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.009secs.
Hamilton said: "It feels amazing and that is surprising. I didn't know how it was going to be.
"The test was not spectacular so coming into today it was quite refreshing to have the car right where I needed it.
"I felt good in the car and I didn't even notice the cars being more physical, which is also a positive because I have trained so hard to be ready for this season.
"The Ferrari is obviously very strong and fast, they might not have the power turned up or whatever and we will see tomorrow, but it seems we are as strong, if not a bit stronger than them."
F1 has introduced new rules this season aimed at making the cars faster, more demanding and more dramatic.
The cars have met those targets but the competitive order appears not to have changed a great deal at this early stage.
• None Champs and chumps: Your (and our) season predictions
Asked whether the gap between himself and Hamilton was representative, Vettel said: "I hope not. Overall it has been OK. The car doesn't yet feel as good as it should and it can so I am confident we will find something overnight.
"We were very happy in testing and the times look good but it doesn't mean anything.
"I am not that happy overall. The balance is not yet where I want it to be. It is not bad but I think we can do better.
"We see where it takes us on Saturday when everyone shows what they can do. Today it is still difficult to say. We had a mixed day but the team is doing well and there are lot of things we can improve."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39377528
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Anthony Crolla v Jorge Linares: Joe Gallagher on tears, 16-hour days and a lost marriage - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Meticulous methods, 16-hour days and a finished marriage - this is the story of the trainer behind Anthony Crolla's bid to regain his world title.
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Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 live and follow text updates on the BBC Sport website & app.
A fighter wins. As his trainer hoists him, those watching see a picture of glory. They do not see the tears.
They do not see the marriage lost to the sport, the deaths of father-figure mentors, the voluntary work, the 16-hour days and decades of relentless commitment.
Trainer Joe Gallagher's deep love for his sport and fighters is undeniable. But it becomes clear the success of Gallagher's Gym is built on an all-consuming desire to prove people wrong. The mantra is clear in this Bolton-based sweatbox: Us versus the doubters.
Days before Anthony Crolla bids to regain his WBA lightweight crown from Jorge Linares, BBC Sport sits in on his last big workout. The gym is once again on the world stage, the way Gallagher dreamed it, through years of toil.
Gallagher has his laptop on a makeshift desk next to the ring. He has four YouTube tabs open as he runs the rule over video footage of opponents.
Former world-title challenger Pat Barrett arrives with nephew Zelfa, who will spar with Crolla. "Joe, your gym is like Barbados," he says. The heat generated from an industrial-sized blower is searing, a ploy to ready fighters for conditions under show lights on fight night.
The detail has delivered world titles to the gym through Crolla, Liam Smith and Scott Quigg - now trained by Freddie Roach in the USA. A dozen British titles have passed through Gallagher's Gym, along with three European belts.
Gallagher - the first Britain-born coach to win Ring Magazine's Trainer of the Year award in 2015 - is careful in who he allows to train here. Egos or the work-shy could upset what he calls a "solid unit" of 11 fighters under him.
"I am a sucker for people telling me about a fighter and saying, 'he can't do anything,'" says Gallagher. "I have to have an affinity with them to bring someone in.
"When Anthony came to me, people said: 'He won't do anything. He's too nice, can't punch. He might win an English title.' I thought: Really? I'll show you."
Gallagher admires Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and those accustomed to creating a siege mentality. He believes his love of such a stance stems from his roots on the colossal council estate in Wythenshawe, south Manchester.
He takes me to his stats board, almost hidden on walls carpeted in fight posters and next to highlighted rankings which show his fighters alongside the world's best.
On the whiteboard, every result of his pro-coaching career from 2001 is listed. There have been 272 fights, 25 defeats and 43 titles won.
We revisit the battle mantra. "When people are putting me down or having a go, I look at that and think: 'That's not bad is it?'" says Gallagher, 48. "I like that mentality - everyone hates us, I don't care. When people say my fighters are finished, I just think: 'We'll see.'"
'The ex-wife thought I was off my head'
Crolla enters, bouncing, shadow boxing, loosening up. Inside the Gloves Community Centre - where this gym is based - the handful of people present stare as the 30-year-old stretches. But there's a warning during his sparring session.
"Be smart with your feet, Anthony," Gallagher bellows. "Don't admire your work, whatever you do. Linares can land it back."
The sweat runs from under Crolla's head guard. He trains late to replicate his expected fight time. Gallagher is in his 14th hour of the day in the gym as he fits in the individual sessions needed for fighters peaking at different times.
This is a man who made his own fight debut as a 5st 12lbs 11-year-old, who later ploughed eight years into amateur coaching before guiding pros, and who risked missing the birth of the first of his two children in 1997 so as not to leave a young fighter on his own for a boys' club final.
Through such commitment, something must give? Indeed, the road to sold-out Manchester Arena bouts claimed a marriage.
"There's boxing for you," he says. "I missed so many kids events and parents' evenings by taking people sparring. I didn't blame my ex-wife. I was besotted with boxing.
"When I got two European champions, I thought: I'm packing work in. I had a good job, healthcare and pension. The ex-wife thought I was off my head and called it a hobby."
Gallagher, now with another partner, says his children get "plenty of daddy time" and, through a deep laugh, adds: "I am trying harder to switch off. It's just so hard to get away from boxing. It's not a job, it's a lifestyle."
Sparring ends. Crolla's shirt and hair are stuck to him, his shoulders lifting and dropping with each deep breath.
"Do a bag, Anthony," says Gallagher. "Three rounds." Crolla grunts and mumbles respectfully: "You're a bad man. A bad, bad man."
Gallagher knows his demands are hard but having started out laying roadside kerbs alongside his dad on Sir Matt Busby Way, he knows this life is a dream.
Those in the gym - such as undefeated fighter and ex-Manchester City footballer Marcus Morrison - tell me they draw confidence from the fact Gallagher is hooked on the sport. Some believe he is "obsessed" but attention to detail adds gravitas to his fight strategies.
"Some trainers in the past have had wins and gone out for a month," says an animated Gallagher. "I can't, I'm not like that. Plus, the moment belongs to the fighter.
"When Callum Smith won the European title on a Saturday, I phoned Anthony the next day and said: 'You need to be in the gym.' He said: 'What for? I'm not due in.' I said: 'Now you are, you're in.' It was just to show him that I've not forgotten him."
Rarely does Gallagher stop to enjoy the moment. He was hurt by losing three world titles in 2016 - Crolla against Linares, Liam Smith's loss to Canelo Alvarez and Scott Quigg's defeat by Carl Frampton.
Some in the stable, such as Hosea Burton, 28, have worked under Gallagher since the age of 11, so when defeat arrives, the emotional trauma stings more than placing a dreaded 'L' on the stat board.
With Crolla sitting two feet away, Gallagher looks to the ground and shrugs: "Crolla's caught me crying in the changing rooms. That's how it is. You take it personally.
"You want the best for them and when you know they've put everything in, you just think: 'Why not? This kid deserves this.'
"Last year, the hardest loss came last. Hosea Burton lost with a minute of a fight to go.
"Afterwards, I was wrapping Callum Smith's hands and Hosea comes over crying his eyes out saying 'sorry' to me. I couldn't stop and hug him as we had to go to the ring. When I got back to the changing room, he'd been taken to hospital. My head was all over the place.
"You get down, a bit depressed. But eventually you have to just take the losses the way you take the wins. I'm now 'foot to the pedal' with all of them. There are more rewards for the fighters in this gym."
Crolla has pummelled the bag, yelping with each heavy shot. He's sent for two rounds on the speed bag before ending his session with chin-ups, stretching and abdominal work.
"When I won the Ring Magazine trainer award, I used to ring him and say: 'How did we do this? How have I won this? And how are you a world champion?'
"I want to prove what we've done wasn't a fluke. I want to win that training award again.
"I want my stable to all retire happy and all of them to have a house. I don't want them to be a slave to a mortgage. That's a success story.
"I've insisted that this current crop of fighters, when it's over for them, it's over for me. People say: 'You are kidding yourself.'"
I tell him that I think he is. He laughs.
Crolla prepares to depart, shaking hands with everyone in the room, as every other fighter has, before leaving.
There's a warmth to this title factory and it seems key to all that it is.
Gallagher will be last out, having been first in.
Bout 273 draws closer, and perhaps world title number four.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/39333476
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Lewis Hamilton: Hard-to-manage Mercedes driver ready to win fourth title - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Lewis Hamilton may be harder to manage than most drivers, but his restless, superstar lifestyle helps him stave off the boredom - and enables him to win.
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Lewis Hamilton has one main target this year - to win back the Formula 1 title he felt was unfairly stolen from him in 2016.
Not unjustifiably, in Hamilton's view his former team-mate Nico Rosberg managed to win the championship only because of a reliability record at Mercedes skewed in his favour. As such, in Hamilton's mind, he might have lost, but he was not beaten.
Rosberg has gone this year, replaced by the former Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, but that is a detail that does not change Hamilton's primary focus.
• None Driver battles, failing engines and moustaches - what to look out for in 2017
"I definitely don't want to finish second," the three-time champion says. "Every year you generally set the same goals but you might add more. All drivers want to win but not everyone has the ability or the opportunity.
"I am looking for that fourth world championship. It's there for the taking again. I am up against another great driver in Valtteri and hopefully Red Bull and Ferrari will be up there as well."
Losing out to Rosberg in 2016 clearly hurt. And, unsurprisingly perhaps, Hamilton has been distinctly prickly when asked about how he was affected by it.
"Nowhere near as much as you think," he said at the launch of the Mercedes car. "It doesn't change my life. You just move onwards and hopefully upwards." And that was your lot.
Hamilton turned 32 in February, is heading into his 11th season in F1, and has described himself as "the same old" Lewis this year. But Mercedes people detect a subtle shift.
Rosberg's decision to retire was always going to shift the dynamic in the team.
He and Hamilton were the same age and their rivalry went back to their teens, when they were karting contemporaries, team-mates and friends.
The friendship died, killed by the intensity of being each other's only rival for the biggest prize in motorsport. But there was always an inherent balance between the two.
Hamilton's talent and fundamental superiority on the track meant he was always the dominant figure in the team. But the German had been at Mercedes for three years longer and, a much less demanding character, had a more stable relationship with the team and the company.
He was Mr Corporate and Dependable, whereas Hamilton, for all his greater status and appeal, was harder to manage.
In one sense, little will change with Bottas' arrival. Hamilton is who he is, and he will be just as determined to win again. He will remain the superstar in the team; the low-wattage Bottas likely an even more hassle-free employee than Rosberg was. The two will have equal status and they will compete for wins in the same way as Rosberg and Hamilton did.
Hamilton has made clear some things will not change for him personally. The restless lifestyle, the frequent trips to New York and Los Angeles to pursue his wider interests are still very much on the agenda.
"Self-motivation is difficult for the human race to find each year and each day," Hamilton says. "I am very lucky I have fans, family and friends who motivate me to grow and be better every day. I will always do the things I do and explore the world and meet new people and new cultures."
Some in F1 see this as a negative, as a reflection that Hamilton is not fully focused on the job in hand if he is flying back and forwards across the Atlantic so often. For Hamilton, it is a way of keeping boredom at bay and using a creative outlet to stimulate him and keep him centred.
In another way, though, there has been a reset for Hamilton this year.
The baggage and residual complications of Hamilton's rivalry with Rosberg have gone and been replaced with a more fundamentally straightforward team-mate relationship. And removing that tension has simplified matters within Mercedes.
Inevitably, Mercedes will lean on Hamilton more - because of his record, his length of time with the team, and because Bottas is inevitably still learning the ropes and does not yet carry the gravitas that repeated success brings.
That gives Hamilton an opportunity to strengthen his position, which he is already doing by exploiting the influence and motivational possibilities his status gives him.
Hamilton, it is said, has if anything been working harder and better than ever during preparations for the season - and so far has stepped up to the leadership opportunity that Rosberg's departure presents.
There were plenty of frictions between driver and team last year - Hamilton's controversial comments about engine failures; his behaviour at the Japanese Grand Prix when he walked out of a news conference; the team's attempt to interfere in his battle with Rosberg at the final race of the season.
But these were sorted out in a clear-the-air meeting in the kitchen at team boss Toto Wolff's pristine Oxford home before Christmas.
The result of all these factors, insiders say, is that they are seeing a more mature and reflective Hamilton so far this year.
Wolff said at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday: "There was a point towards the end of the year where we sat down and it felt like a reset of the relationship and so many things came out which needed to be discussed. And since then I have perceived him as being in a really good place. He is happy, he is motivated and I have seen the strongest Lewis that I have seen so far consistently over the weekend."
How the pressures of the on-track battle affect all this will be clear only as the season unfolds.
A point to prove, even now
Pre-season testing had suggested Mercedes would face some genuine opposition from Ferrari this season, and the opening grand prix weekend in Australia has confirmed it.
Hamilton took pole, and looked superb all weekend, but this is a track on which he has usually excelled and Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari was only 0.268 seconds behind him.
And the 32-year-old is now expecting a close fight with Ferrari, not just in Melbourne on Sunday, but over the whole season.
"They are obviously very close and that is great for the fans," Hamilton said. "I wouldn't say there is relief. I truly believe in all the work they have done but in testing I really couldn't have done the lap he had done.
"But coming here I felt even if we were behind, it doesn't matter because I have the strongest team. The fact we have come here and we are still ahead is a beautiful thing but they are very close I have to keep applying the pressure and that is what I am here to do."
The fact Bottas was within 0.3secs of him in his first qualifying session with Mercedes will have made Hamilton sit up and take notice - he praised the Finn for doing a "great job" afterwards. And the prospect of a battle with Vettel is just another reason for Hamilton to be on top of his game this year.
It is no secret that Hamilton regards McLaren's Fernando Alonso as his only true rival out on track in terms of outright ability - each has expressed their admiration for the other's talent often enough - and the fact Vettel has won more titles than them burns both Hamilton and the Spaniard.
This season is Hamilton's chance to put the record straight, equal Vettel's tally of four titles and beat him in a straight fight doing it.
"Ferrari have done such a great job so we have to stay on our toes," Hamilton said. "I am down for the battle with anyone. He is a four-time world champion so of course I want to be racing with him because if I finish ahead it makes me look good, it makes me look better."
It was a theme Hamilton had already addressed over the winter.
"I've never wished to go out and dominate," he says. "Of course I want to have a car I can fight for a title with, but for the fans it's best when there's multiple teams fighting."
For the first time since the start of Mercedes' domination in 2014, it looks like Hamilton will get his wish.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39274325
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British Open squash: Laura Massaro, Sarah-Jane Perry & Nick Matthew into finals - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Laura Massaro, Sarah-Jane Perry and Nick Matthew all win to give England three of the four finalists at the British Open.
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Last updated on .From the section Squash
Laura Massaro, Sarah-Jane Perry and Nick Matthew produced superb performances to give England three of the four finalists at the British Open.
Massaro will take on Perry in the first all-English women's final since 1991 after beating top seed Nour El Sherbini of Egypt 5-11 7-11 11-5 11-3 11-6.
He will face Frenchman Gregory Gaultier in Sunday's final in Hull after the third seed led 11-9 when Egypt's Ramy Ashour retired.
Fifth seed and 2013 winner Massaro looked to be heading out when she trailed reigning champion El Sherbini by two games.
However, the 33-year-old from Chorley fought back to win in 63 minutes - reversing last year's World final, when she lost to the same opponent from two games up.
"I'm just proud of myself that I lived to see another day," she told PSA World Tour. "I'm really pleased, a chance to play again at home. I love coming here. A British Open final is where you want to be."
Perry, seeded seventh, was playing in her first British Open semi-final but led from the front against eight-time world champion David.
"I'm really proud of the way I fought, even when it was really tight, and I'll just be trying to do the same again tomorrow," said the 26-year-old from Birmingham.
"There's no pressure on me. I'm not just here to make up the numbers, I'm here to try and win these tournaments."
Matthew, from Sheffield, is closing in on a fourth world title after a brilliant win over Elshorbagy, who had been hoping to claim his third successive British Open.
"I was trying not to let the adrenaline get to me, I could feel my heart beating through my head knowing the crowd were cheering," said the 36-year-old.
"I felt him wavering at the end which gave me belief."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/squash/39394647
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EU 'not in hostile mood' as Brexit talks beckon, says Juncker - BBC News
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2017-03-25
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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EU Commission President Juncker admits all is not well in the EU as UK prepares to trigger exit talks.
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Europe
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Jean-Claude Juncker: EU will negotiate in 'friendly and fair way'
"It's like musicians in their bow-ties playing on board the Titanic," remarked a friend of mine as I was talking to them about the EU's 60th anniversary celebrations in Rome.
A mild exaggeration, shall we say - but the image sticks in my mind.
Because as the leaders of the EU's 27 countries clink champagne glasses in plush, security-tight surroundings on Saturday - all is not well in the Europe outside their gates: youth unemployment persists (especially in the south), terror attacks, illegal migration, inequalities in the Eurozone, Brexit and a tide of anti-establishment populist nationalism across much of the bloc.
To name a few of the challenges. Not to mention "strongmen" Presidents Trump, Putin and Erdogan who all eye the EU with suspicion and some animosity.
"Yes," conceded European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker to me in an exclusive interview. "We are not in the best form and shape we could be in."
But, he insisted, the EU was still young, adding that what the bloc had achieved in six decades was remarkable - Europe is now a continent of stability and peace.
But that was the vision, the goal after World War Two, I countered.
Surely there's a need for a new vision? Something to capture the public imagination. To re-enchant the disenchanted?
The EU marks its birthday on Saturday, while the UK will trigger Article 50 on Wednesday
Mr Juncker recently published a White Paper on the future of the EU. where he explored five different scenarios - from increased union to paring pooled powers back to the common market only.
In between, he breathes life into the old idea of a "two-speed Europe" - where some countries share more sovereignty for example over defence or migration, while others opt out.
That proposal appears to be the most popular amongst politicians and civil servants, but to me it sounds like an open admission that there is, in fact, no common EU vision - with everyone doing different things at different times.
All this at a very sensitive moment - when one of the EU's biggest and most influential members, the UK, is about to walk out of the door.
And unity amongst the remaining 27 countries is key for Brussels - to prove to the outside world that the EU still stands strong.
Theresa May's absence at the 60th birthday bash on Saturday will be screamingly noticeable.
"Of course we will miss her," President Juncker told me.
"I am everything but in a hostile mood with Britain. Britain is part of Europe, and I hope to have a friendly relationship with the UK over the next decades."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Well, that of course will depend on what kind of future relationship the UK and EU can hammer out during Brexit negotiations.
I wondered how the EU would balance the competing desires to keep the UK close yet not give it too good a deal so as to avoid the risk of other EU countries walking away?
Mr Juncker admitted he did not want any more "exits": Nexit, Oexit, Dexit, Frexit or otherwise.
That would be the end, he said, if three, four or five more countries left. The EU would collapse.
But he doesn't believe that will happen.
The EU and the Commission, he said, would negotiate with the UK in a friendly way - fair but never naive.
Interesting choice of adverbs there. Echoed precisely in a speech delivered on Thursday by the EU's chief Brexit negotiator - Commission man Michel Barnier.
Now, does that refer to talk of the UK aiming to cosy up to individual EU countries (like the Baltic nations with promises of security co-operation) to cajole them into pressing for a good trade deal for Britain?
Or does it perhaps allude to the government rejecting the idea of an "exit bill" as part of the EU divorce?
It's an invoice that Mr Juncker insists must be paid.
"You cannot pretend you were never a member of the union," he practically spluttered.
"The British government and parliament took on certain commitments as EU members and they must be honoured. This isn't a punishment or sanctions against the UK."
Despite mutterings about the Commission drawing up a £50bn ($63bn) bill, Mr Juncker said the precise amount remained to be "scientifically calculated."
But one thing he insisted that could not be haggled over was the fate of the 4.5 million EU citizens living in the UK and British citizens currently living across the EU.
President Juncker said no-one had a right to eject them from their homes and jobs.
"This is not about bargaining," he insisted. "This is about respecting human dignity."
As they mark the EU's anniversary on Saturday, the bloc's remaining leaders will look with furrowed brows towards the future.
But they may well take heart in a new trend emerging.
While populist nationalist, anti-establishment candidates enjoy strong followings, at the same time unashamed Europhiles like the youthful leader of the Netherlands Green party, the French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron and the German candidate for Chancellor Martin Schulz resonate with the large sections of the public too.
But Mr Juncker and others I've spoken to in the lead-up to the EU's anniversary, like his Vice-President Frans Timmermans and Antonio Tajani, the new President of the European Parliamant, all believe this is no time for complacency.
In just a few days' time Britain will deliver a letter to Brussels, officially triggering the countdown to Brexit.
How will Mr Juncker feel that day, I asked.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39375966
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North Korea: Who would dare to piggyback on Kim Jong-un? - BBC News
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2017-03-25
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The BBC examines the unusual photo of Kim Jong-un giving a piggyback to a military officer.
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Asia
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The officer appeared to be overcome with emotion as he climbed onto his leader's back
North Korea's test of a rocket engine last weekend was accompanied by the usual state media propaganda - but one image of its leader celebrating stood out in particular. What is the likely explanation?
The engine test was claimed to be a success, a "new birth" for North Korea's rocket industry. Kim Jong-un was certainly happy.
In pictures released by state news agency KCNA, he was seen watching the missile from afar; grinning in a control centre; shaking hands with jubilant officers - then, giving an elderly man a piggyback.
Who would leap onto the back of a dictator such as this, and why?
Observers say the mysterious man is not a known figure in North Korean politics. He is thought to have played a key role in the engine test, and most likely interacted with Mr Kim previously.
North Korean observer Michael Madden says his uniform's insignias indicate he is a mid-level officer of the KPA Strategic Force, which is in charge of missile forces used for offensive attacks.
While the image was almost certainly stage-managed, "it wasn't completely machinated or fabricated", says Mr Madden, who is with the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
"It was more a signal of allowance and encouragement than something completely machinated by an image maker." North Korean propaganda films have in the past shown citizens being allowed to approach Mr Kim.
The main purpose of the picture would be to burnish Mr Kim's domestic image as a jovial man of the people.
While Mr Kim tries to project a "recalcitrant and uncompromising" image internationally, at home "it is a different story", notes Professor Jae-Cheon Lim, of the Korea University in Seoul.
"We know he is very strict with elites when they don't obey his orders. But in general towards the people his propaganda image is friendly and convivial."
In another photo released by KCNA, the same officer was seen embracing Kim
It stands in stark contrast to his predecessors, who sought to be feared more than loved. "Nobody would dare piggyback his father or even his grandfather," says Mr Madden.
"But this fits into the image [Kim] Jong-un has tried to cultivate - that he is more open, on an interpersonal basis, than his father.
"It conveys a certain sense of political confidence in his rule and leadership of the country. If he didn't feel secure, then he wouldn't allow these images to be disseminated - he would need to appear distant and cold."
Mr Kim was also photographed joking and laughing at the engine test site
The image also suggests that Mr Kim is, for now, in good health.
He was spotted limping and using a cane in 2014, leading to speculation that he had gout, and limping again as recently as late 2016.
Piggybacking after a win may be more commonly seen on football pitches rather than in North Korean propaganda pictures, but Mr Kim is known for taking a sports management approach to his weapons development programmes.
"When a test is conducted, civilian and military personnel [are told they] should regard it as a sports competition - they win some, and lose some," says Mr Madden.
"They won't 'win' or meet technical specifications all the time, and when they 'lose' they study their performance and what happened."
But for all its contrived spontaneity, it does not mean that Mr Kim is not genuinely happy in the photo.
Prof Lim points out that he had good reason to celebrate, with an apparently successful rocket engine test putting him one step closer towards his nuclear goals - and sealing his legacy.
"In the propaganda annals, his grandfather was the liberator of Korea through its anti-Japanese guerrilla war. His father succeeded in maintaining the regime even under economic poverty.
"But Kim Jong-un became leader quickly and has no significant achievements to point to so far.
"If North Korea becomes a nuclear state, it becomes his achievement."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39361984
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Jenna Cook: The adopted girl claimed by 50 birth families - BBC News
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2017-03-25
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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When Jenna Cook returned from the US to China to search for her birth family, more than 50 candidates came forward - but were any of them a match?
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Magazine
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Jenna Cook puts up a poster to try and find her birth family
When Jenna Cook went back to China at the age of 20 to search for her birth parents, she knew she was unlikely to succeed. What she didn't expect was that she would meet dozens of families who desperately hoped she was their lost child.
Near a busy bus station in the Chinese city of Wuhan, on 24 March 1992, someone left a baby to be found. It's quite likely that they watched and waited from a safe distance until the girl was spotted. She was picked up and taken to the Wuhan Children Welfare House, close by. There she was given a name, Xia Huasi, meaning "China's", and assigned a birth date chosen at random by the director of the home.
China's one-child policy meant that families faced heavy fines for having too many children. But it was also - and still is - illegal to give up unwanted children. There was no formal adoption process.
But just days later China passed a law allowing foreign nationals to adopt, and at the end of June an American primary school teacher, Margaret Cook, came to collect Xia Huasi. She renamed her Jenna and took her home to Massachusetts.
Jenna was one of the first wave of about 200 Chinese babies to go to American families. Many others followed - an estimated 80,000, mostly girls, have now gone to live in the US, and an additional 40,000 to the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.
Jenna always knew that she was adopted. "We would talk about adoption just like we would talk about what's for dinner. It never felt like something that was a big deal," she says.
Nevertheless, she sometimes wondered where she came from.
"Even just looking at your own belly button, you think to yourself: 'Oh, I used to be attached to another human being. That's the body I came from, but who is that? Does that person even really exist?' It all seems so abstract. It sometimes just feels like you appeared on the planet.
"Most people are just born into the families they're born into and they never think twice about it. Whereas for adopted people there is always this possibility of another life."
Jenna and her sister, who was also adopted from China, grew up in an area where very few people looked like them. Their mother, Margaret, did what she could to maintain a connection to her daughters' country of origin - the girls learned Mandarin at school and they socialised with other families like theirs.
When Jenna was a teenager she was one of four Chinese adoptees to feature in the acclaimed 2011 documentary, Somewhere Between. Director Linda Goldstein Knowlton had adopted a baby from China herself and wanted to document the lives of these young women - drawing the title from something Jenna said: "I don't think that I could ever consider myself fully Chinese or fully American - I'm always going to be sort of somewhere between."
The 15-year-old Jenna captured in the film is a hard-working, high-achieving A-grade student. She is successful and loved, but haunted by a nagging doubt. Why did her parents give her up? Had she done something wrong? It's partly what drives her to be a perfectionist. In a moving moment in the film, Jenna speaks at an event for prospective adoptive parents and breaks down when she is asked how she feels about the word "abandoned".
"There's definitely a part of me that wishes I'd never heard the word 'abandonment'," she says.
Over the course of the film, Jenna delves deeper into her past and ends up volunteering for summer work at the very Chinese orphanage that took her in as a baby.
Jenna Cook visits the orphanage where she stayed in 1992
Not all of the participants in Somewhere Between have a desire to return to China or find their birth families. In any case, adoptees are warned that attempts to trace birth families are unlikely to succeed. There is often very little information available, as birth families had to hide their identities for fear of punishment. And the records that existed in the 90s, when international adoption began, were badly kept. Add to this the sheer size and population of the country and it is a daunting task.
But miracles do happen. Haley, one of the four girls featured in Somewhere Between, goes back to the village where she was found. While putting up posters she is recognised by a woman who immediately runs to fetch her family. The next thing Haley knows, she is being hugged and kissed by a man who says he is her father. An emotional family reunion follows in which Haley meets her mother and sisters - surprisingly, she has more than one. Everyone looks shell-shocked by the experience.
In the West, adoptees searching for their birth parents can usually afford to take things slowly. But international adoptees don't have that luxury. They can probably only afford one such trip in their lives, says Bea Evans from the specialist company, Adoptive Family Travel. For more than 20 years she and her colleagues have taken internationally adopted children and their families to 18 countries including China, Guatemala, India and Korea (the Korean War led to the first wave of international adoptees in the US).
"Almost all international adoption has started in response to some kind of upheaval, whether it was political or financial or a policy like China's one-child policy," she says.
The company organises visits to orphanages - or social welfare institutes, as they are known in China - and occasionally assists with family searches and reunions. Evans says there is an increasing amount of "search and reunion" taking place in South Korea. Could this also take off in China? "I do wonder what will happen as more and more young [Chinese] women get to that age where they are saying: 'We want more information,'" she says.
The documentary maker Changfu Chang, who specialises in Chinese adoption stories, hears about successful searches almost every month. So how does he explain it? "Chinese society is a connected society, you do not really have many secrets," he says. "As long as you get into that particular village or neighbourhood or community others will help to provide that information."
But Jenna was found near Hongji long-distance bus station, where 12,000 travellers arrive in Wuhan from all over the countryside every day. This made the search particularly challenging.
A busy day at the bus station in Wuhan
When she was 20 and studying at Yale University, Jenna was given a grant to travel to China to begin her own search. It was partly an academic exercise - she hoped her experience could help some of her fellow 80,000 Chinese adoptees in the US. But of course it was also deeply personal, and she asked her adoptive mother, Margaret, to accompany her.
Jenna had printed flyers with pictures of herself at different ages and what little she knew about the circumstances in which she was found. She began handing them out to people in the streets of Wuhan, many of whom shared their own experiences. "Oh, I had a neighbour once who had a daughter in a similar situation," they told her. Or "I had a cousin who once gave up their child but I don't remember if it was in '92 or '93."
Jenna found this fascinating. "I was pretty amazed that people were even paying attention to me, because I felt like I'm just one story in a huge migration of children from China," she says. "I felt like I was just one raindrop in the puddle."
But people were interested in her story, and a week after she arrived an article about her search appeared in the local paper. It was short and tucked away on page five, but the headline tugged at the heartstrings: "Dad, Mom: I really hope that I can give you a hug. Thank you for bringing me into this world."
It had a huge impact. In the weeks following the publication of that article on 25 May 2012, Jenna's search went viral. Hundreds of messages started coming in via social media.
"Their reactions were really polarised," says Jenna. Some people said: "This is fantastic that you're searching and I hope that you're able to find your parents and that your dream comes true." Others would say things like: "This is such a big mistake, you're wasting your time and energy." And: "You're so ungrateful to your American family, you need to go back to America right away."
Among the tide of messages there were genuine responses from people who thought they might be Jenna's parents. She narrowed it down to 50 birth families, each of which had left a baby on the same street in Wuhan in March 1992.
The implications of this are vast, says Jenna. What about other streets in the same month? What about other months? What about other years? What about the families who chose not to come forward? When she spoke to people who had worked at the bus station at the time, they said babies had often been left there.
But as well as being shocked by the sheer numbers, Jenna was surprised they were willing to come forward. After all, it is against the law to abandon a child - and after the publication of the newspaper article Chinese television had started filming her search. "Here are these people who have technically committed a crime and they're willing to come forward on national television. It was just unthinkable," she says.
The article about Jenna in the Chutian Metropolis Daily
Jenna and her mother arranged to meet the 50 families they thought could be a match. Some mothers and fathers came alone, but others brought the entire family, including grandparents. What surprised Jenna was that, far from being one-child families, often they had more than one daughter. What tended to happen was that they would keep their first daughter, and try again for a son. With each child they would incur penalties. Eventually, after having several daughters, they would decide to give one up, in the hope of saving a place in their family for a son.
Jenna initially approached the meetings from an academic standpoint. She told herself she was there to collect stories. "If I had gone into every meeting thinking: 'Maybe this is the one,' I would have been totally exhausted by the end of the day," she says.
But she still had to steel herself. "Especially for the first few meetings I was really nervous," says Jenna. "I was really worried about what they would think of me. I was really worried that maybe I had done something wrong, and that was why they had abandoned me - I worried that they would be angry at me."
Jenna thinks this is because she had unconsciously absorbed some of the prejudices that surround the issue. "In the US there is this dominant narrative that the reason why Chinese parents abandon children is because they don't like girls, and maybe they don't even remember them," she says.
But she found this not to be the case at all. "They all remembered their babies forever - it was this experience that they really regret and that they would never forget."
One woman brought a piece of delicate red-and-blue cloth that she had carefully kept - it was the material she had made her baby's suit out of. "She had kept these scraps for 20 years like a memory of her daughter. And she always dreamed that when they would meet her daughter would have the clothes and she would have the scraps - kind of like a lock and key."
Sadly, Jenna did not recognise the material. "I just remember shaking my head, I had never seen it. And the poor mother just collapsed. She was so devastated."
Another man she met, a long-distance bus driver, had spent a lot of time searching for his daughter. Whenever his bus route took him into the city he would go back to the area where they had left their baby and ask for her. They had left her with a note so she would grow up knowing her name.
Each family approached Jenna as if she were their daughter. For a brief moment, they represented the other's missing part. One mother even began brushing Jenna's hair. Mostly, they wanted to know if she was OK - like people emerging from a disaster and wondering if the other side had also survived, says Jenna.
They would ask: "Is your adopted mother good to you or does she hurt you? Does she give you enough food to eat?" Jenna would reassure them that she was well looked-after. "They would just be so happy to know that I hadn't been suffering all this time."
In turn, she asked them: "Was it something about me that made you relinquish me long ago? If I had been more beautiful or if I had been more obedient and had cried less would that have changed your decision?" And they were able to reassure her. "The parents just remembered their baby girl in such a loving way," says Jenna.
But there was also the business of verification. Having established that the facts matched, they would look for a physical resemblance - things like height, or foot-shape or hand-shape. Sometimes they would want to check for birth marks. Then, if they felt that there were enough similarities, they would go ahead with a DNA sample. In the end, 37 families opted to do DNA.
Sadly, all of the tests came back negative. It was a real blow.
"I think another reason why it was hard seeing all of the negative DNA results come back was because I sure wished I could be the daughter to every one of those families," says Jenna.
"To be the person that could help relieve their suffering - who wouldn't want to be that person?"
Despite this, Jenna feels the experience has helped her.
"Before, there was always a small part of me that felt like there was something I could have done 20 years ago to have changed my fate and then I wouldn't have been relinquished by my family," she says. "But after meeting the birth parents I realised it was really out of my control."
As an academic, it has changed her outlook completely. "It's a totally different experience to read in a history textbook about the one-child policy and read that parents abandoned their children or committed infanticide," she says. "But to meet people who have really lived that experience, and to see their great regret, and their great love for this baby - it's just something that's indescribable."
Jenna spent last summer working in China, but is no longer actively searching.
"I would love to have the chance to reunite with my birth family someday," she says. "But I can't say that will happen."
Jenna Cook appeared on Outlook on the BBC World Service. Listen again to the interview on iPlayer or get the Outlook podcast
• None The father searching for his abducted son
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37024334
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Seamus Coleman: Republic and Everton star has surgery after double leg break - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Republic of Ireland skipper Seamus Coleman has surgery following his horrific double leg fracture in Friday's goalless draw against Wales.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Republic of Ireland skipper Seamus Coleman has had surgery following a horrific leg break in Friday's goalless draw against Wales.
The Everton full-back, 28, suffered tibia and fibula fractures in his right leg following a bad challenge from Neil Taylor, who was given a red card.
"Seamus suffered a serious leg injury and has undergone surgery," said Republic manager Martin O'Neill.
Coleman was given oxygen before being carried off at the Aviva Stadium.
The Donegal man was taken straight to St Vincent's University Hospital immediately after the incident and had surgery on Saturday morning.
• None Listen: Taylor's tackle on Coleman 'out of character'
• None 'All our thoughts are with Seamus' - Wales boss Coleman
• None Listen: Tackle on Coleman was 'shocking and reckless' - Hartson
"Captain Seamus Coleman, who went off injured during the game, underwent surgery on Saturday morning after fracturing his right tibia and fibula, under the care of the FAI's orthopaedic surgeon, Professor John O'Byrne and Mr Gary O'Toole, consultant orthopaedic surgeon," said a Football Association of Ireland statement.
Mr O'Toole is well known in Irish sporting circles as a former Olympic swimmer.
Coleman's serious leg break happened midway through the second half of the World Cup qualifier.
"He has had an exceptional season with both club and country, and he will be a big loss," added Republic boss O'Neill.
"But Seamus is so mentally strong that when he has fully recovered he will be as brilliant as before."
Wales manager Chris Coleman said defender Taylor was "despondent" following the game.
"First and foremost, the most important thing is Seamus Coleman," he said. "We are told that it is not so good, which we are sorry for.
"Neil Taylor is not really that type of player, but it's a tough one for Seamus. Our thoughts are with him. I have not seen it again."
Everton return to Premier League action with the Merseyside derby against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, 1 April.
Everton midfielder James McCarthy was scheduled to start for the Republic, but was withdrawn from the team-sheet before kick-off because of a hamstring injury.
McCarthy has been released from the Republic squad for Tuesday's friendly with Iceland along with John O'Shea, Glenn Whelan and Jonathan Walters.
O'Shea needed stitches in a leg wound after being injured in a sliding challenge from Gareth Bale, which resulted in the Real Madrid star receiving a booking which will rule him out of Wales' next qualifier in Serbia on 11 June.
The draw in Dublin meant the Republic missed out on returning to the top of Group D, after Serbia beat Georgia earlier on Friday, with Wales four points behind in third.
The Republic's next Group D qualifier is at home to Austria, also on 11 June.
'Get well soon, Seamus'
Coleman's Everton team-mate Ramiro Funes Mori: Devastated of what happened. Hope you have a speedy recovery my friend, best wishes for you. You will come back even stronger!!! SeamusColeman.
Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin: Get well soon @seamiecoleman23!! #RightBackUnit
Irish 20-time champion jockey AP McCoy: Gutted for Seamus Coleman. Hopefully he'll have speedy recovery
Actor and television presenter James Corden: Stay strong Seamus Coleman. Every true football fan wishes you a strong recovery x
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39393010
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Katie Taylor beats Milena Koleva on points for fourth professional win - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Katie Taylor continues her push towards a world title shot by beating ex-IBF super-featherweight challenger Milena Koleva on points.
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Last updated on .From the section Boxing
Katie Taylor continued her progress towards a world title shot by beating Milena Koleva on points in an eight-round super-featherweight contest.
The Irishwoman saw off the ex-IBF super-featherweight challenger in Manchester to remain unbeaten in the professional ranks after four fights.
Taylor, 30, had Bulgarian Koleva on the canvas in the seventh round.
"I definitely needed the eight rounds and it was a great contest against a very strong opponent," said Taylor.
The Bray boxer had won two of her first three professional fights inside the distance and always looked in control against Koleva on Saturday night.
The fight was on the undercard of Anthony Crolla's world lightweight title rematch against Jorge Linares.
Taylor's last victory was on 4 March, when she stopped Italian Monica Gentili.
Taylor's promoter Eddie Hearn is hopeful of landing a world title fight by the end of the year.
The London 2012 Olympic champion won six European titles and five world crowns during a distinguished amateur career, before turning professional in October.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/39396038
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Islamic State leaves trail of destruction in Syria's Palmyra - BBC News
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2017-03-25
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Lyse Doucet goes to the Syrian city of Palmyra to see buildings and people shattered by IS militants.
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Middle East
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Fariha remembers the exact moment when Islamic State fighters shattered her life in Palmyra.
"It was a quarter to five in the morning. We were asleep and heard a knock on the door," she tells me as we sit on thin, grey mattresses in an abandoned school in Homs, 160km (99 miles) from her home.
This makeshift shelter, in the ruins of a Homs neighbourhood, is a refuge for her and five children, as well as 29 other families, who fled the brutal rule of so-called Islamic State (IS).
"They shouted at me to cover myself then entered my house, weapons in hand, and took away my husband and niece," she recalls as her little ones huddle close, listening, wide-eyed and silent.
Her 15-year-old nephew and her brother-in-law were also taken at that fateful time when IS first stormed Palmyra in 2015. They had their throats cut.
"They killed a lot of young men," Fariha adds, in her softly-spoken story of unspeakable savagery.
As IS loses ground in northern Syria, more and more gruesome accounts are emerging of their catalogue of crimes.
IS militants have destroyed large parts of the historic site
Damage to the Roman-era theatre is clear to see
Families like Fariha's suffered twice over when IS lost, and then recaptured, the Roman ruins of Palmyra and the adjacent city.
Now, after a second occupation, lasting only three months, the area was seized a few weeks ago by Syrian forces, bolstered by the blistering firepower of their Russian and Iranian allies.
Palmyra's deserted buildings now yield evidence of its dark chapter.
In the blackened basement of one villa, Syrian soldiers show us what they describe as a makeshift court room.
Mounds of blue files strewn across the floor are a measure of IS's scales of justice.
On one file after another, there's the same small word scribbled in Arabic: "qatl" - executed.
It was the fate of a woman named Farizha for "spreading corruption on earth".
Marwan met the same end for "turning from Islam".
Two men, both named Ahmed, were sentenced to be "thrown off the top of a building". No reason is listed on their joint file.
A sheet of paper taped outside the door, stamped with an IS seal of authority, notifies "everyone who lives in this state that they must enrol in a course to learn about Sharia law".
"Everyone who doesn't will be punished."
IS rule is over here. But with homes destroyed, and without electricity or water, Palmyra still isn't a place fit to live in, or safe to return to.
Now both ancient and modern Palmyra are ruins.
The modern part of Palmyra is also in ruins
What was once a vibrant community of 75,000 is now an eerie ghost town. Charred buildings peppered with bullet marks and gaping holes scar every street.
People fled not just IS persecution but an urban battlefield including ferocious bombardment by Syrian and Russian warplanes, which flattened multi-storey buildings into stacks of concrete pancakes.
Palmyra's pain did not start or end with IS occupation. Its prison, known by the city's Arabic name Tadmur, was a symbol of torture and summary executions long before Syria's uprising began six years ago.
Syrian soldiers now go house-to-house searching for explosives and booby traps. Russian troops, camped on the outskirts of the city, are helping to demine the area.
The site of the ancient Roman city nearby stands as a stark tribute to Palmyra's survival.
Despite the destruction of iconic structures such as the 2,000-year-old Arch of Triumph, Palmyra's elegant colonnaded street and striking symmetrical designs are still breathtaking.
The legacy of IS in Palmyra casts a long shadow
IS's return had bestowed a second chance to destroy more precious world heritage, but much of these monumental ruins still stand.
The circular Roman theatre was their prime target in January. Its imposing centrepiece, a carved facade, was smashed, leaving a jumble of jagged stone boulders on its ancient stage.
"This was their revenge for the concerts staged here by Russia's Red Army Orchestra as well as Syrian orchestras," explains a government official, who accompanies us to the site.
A dusty pile of glass candle holders wrapped in netting, and red plastic roses caked with dirt, are still tucked in some corners - mementos of the triumphal events in May 2016 when IS was defeated here the first time.
There is still evidence of the celebrations after the first defeat of IS
"Recapturing Palmyra the second time was relatively easy," says Syrian officer Colonel Malik who fought in both rounds. "The battles were more ferocious the first time."
Palmyra last fell into IS hands in December as the Syrian military was distracted by the last stages of the brutal battle for Aleppo and IS's ranks were reinforced by fighters fleeing frontlines in Mosul, crossing the border from neighbouring Iraq.
"I don't think we face the threat of losing Palmyra again," Colonel Malik tells me confidently as we stand outside the walls of the grand theatre.
"We've retaken the military airport nearby and the mountains, a space of nearly 70 sq km in less than a month, which proves IS is weakening now."
But harder battles, including an assault on IS's self-declared capital in Raqqa, still lie ahead.
Confronting IS in their Syrian lair, closer to the Turkish and Iraqi borders, takes the fight onto messier and potentially dangerous political turf.
Hundreds of American special forces, backed up artillery and airpower, recently moved into this theatre of war to bolster an array of Syrian Kurdish forces, as well as Arab fighters.
Turkish troops are already on the battlefield, playing key roles over the past year in attacks on other IS-held towns.
All these commands face a common enemy, but also deep seated rivalries and shifting alliances.
The new US administration is still weighing how to balance a vital relationship with Turkey's President Erdogan while still making use of valuable Syrian Kurdish fighters Turkey sees as its enemy.
Turkey moved closer to Russia over the past year, but they're still on opposite sides of this war with Ankara insisting President Assad's continuing rule is what's fuelling this conflict.
The biggest question is whether President Trump's team, for whom fighting IS is the main goal, will now co-ordinate with Russia, which would end up strengthening President Assad's axis including Iran.
"The Syrian government's decision is to take back every inch of Syrian soil," insists Col Malik.
"Those criminals who infiltrated our country were supported by foreign countries like the US and the UK," he says, repeating the government's refrain that all rebel groups are creations of Western and Arab states. "They're supporting, not fighting IS."
The same accusation is levelled against President Bashar al-Assad by the Syrian opposition and its allies who charge him with turning a blind eye to IS's advance to bolster his narrative that this is a global war against terrorism, not a fight for political change.
The days of IS occupation may be counted, but its legacy casts a long shadow over a punishing war whose end is still nowhere in sight.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39377084
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Bradley Wiggins: Ex-team Sky rider says mystery package controversy is horrible - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Sir Bradley Wiggins says he will "shock a few people" when he has his say on an investigation into a "mystery package" delivered for him in 2011.
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Last updated on .From the section Cycling
Sir Bradley Wiggins says he will "shock a few people" when he has his say on an investigation into a "mystery package" delivered for him in 2011.
Wiggins, 36, said controversy over the package delivered while he was riding for Team Sky had been "horrible".
UK Anti-Doping is investigating doping claims but there is no suggestion either Wiggins or Team Sky broke rules.
"It's the worst thing to be accused of when you're a man of my integrity," Wiggins told Sky Sports' Soccer AM.
"It's been horrible. But fortunately there's an investigation and I obviously can't say too much because that investigation will run its course and then I'll have my say.
"There's a lot to say, and it's going to shock a few people."
Team Sky have admitted "mistakes were made" over the delivery of the package at the Criterium du Dauphine but deny breaking anti-doping rules.
However they have been unable to provide records to back up the claim by team boss Sir Dave Brailsford that Wiggins was given a legal decongestant.
The original allegation made to Ukad was that the package delivered by then-British Cycling coach Simon Cope to ex-Team Sky medic Dr Richard Freeman in 2011 contained anti-inflammatory drug triamcinolone.
Britain's most decorated Olympian, an asthma sufferer, was granted a TUE to take triamcinolone before the 2011 Tour de France, his 2012 Tour win and the 2013 Giro d'Italia.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS) has sought answers relating to the package and also Wiggins' use of therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs). MPs have also criticised the team's record-keeping.
Team Sky have said they are "confident" no wrongdoing will be found when the inquiry is concluded.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39391760
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Republic of Ireland 0-0 Wales - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Neil Taylor is sent off as 10-man Wales hold Republic of Ireland to a goalless draw, with the hosts losing Seamus Coleman to a broken leg.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Wales' hopes of World Cup qualification look increasingly remote following a goalless draw against the Republic of Ireland, whose captain Seamus Coleman suffered a broken leg after a wild tackle that led to Neil Taylor being sent off.
The hosts seemed content to play for a draw as their deep-lying and stubborn defence shackled Wales - and the visitors' lack of creativity and incision contributed to an underwhelming encounter.
Gareth Bale twice went close for Wales, but their task became a daunting one after 69 minutes as Taylor was shown a straight red card for his lunge on Coleman, who was carried off on a stretcher and taken to hospital.
That incident lit the fuse for a tempestuous atmosphere that appeared to inspire the Republic, but despite their push for a late winner, Martin O'Neill's side had to settle for a point and second place in Group D.
They lost top spot after Serbia's victory in Georgia earlier on Friday but remain four points ahead of Wales.
For Chris Coleman's side, a fourth successive draw of the campaign is another setback in their stuttering bid to qualify for next year's World Cup in Russia.
Wales boss Coleman had been careful to avoid using the phrase "must win" for this fixture but, with the Republic four points in front, the visitors could ill afford anything other than three points from Dublin.
Rather than emphasise the importance of this result, Coleman had said he and his side were driven by a "desperation" to replicate last summer's run to the Euro 2016 semi-finals, a hunger to qualify for a second successive major tournament after an absence of 58 years.
The enormity of the occasion made for a tense and disjointed start to the match, with all 11 home players regularly in their own half as they sought to contain their opponents.
Wales' inability to unlock the dogged defence before them was a familiar failing, as they had struggled similarly in their home draws with Georgia and Serbia, as well as their last-16 triumph over Northern Ireland at the European Championship.
Bale and Aaron Ramsey, usually their most potent attacking weapons, looked off the pace having both returned from injury relatively recently.
Bale sprung into action early in the second half with a dipping free-kick straight at keeper Darren Randolph and a swerving shot that went narrowly wide - but his frustrating evening was capped by a yellow card, meaning he will be suspended for June's trip to Serbia.
The match was played with a ferocity most would expect from relatively local rivals and two teams comprised of several Premier League club-mates.
But the physicality spilled over after 69 minutes. With the ball running loose, Wales left-back Taylor lunged recklessly at Coleman, who was clearly in great pain as he was taken off the field on a stretcher.
Roared on by a vociferous home crowd, the Republic sought to exploit their one-man advantage with a frantic late push forward - but they were thwarted by some stubborn Wales defending.
The hosts were also arguably paying for their earlier pragmatism and unwillingness to attack.
Where as Wales had some catching up to do with their group rivals, the Republic could afford to sit back and wait for their opportunity to pounce - even though they had been overtaken at the top of the table following Serbia's victory.
With a home encounter against the group leaders to come later in the campaign, O'Neill's side seemed to consider this fixture a chance to consolidate, rather than significantly improve, their position.
• None Listen: Taylor's tackle on Coleman 'out of character'
• None Attempt saved. Jeff Hendrick (Republic of Ireland) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
• None Attempt blocked. Shane Long (Republic of Ireland) header from the right side of the six yard box is blocked. Assisted by Aiden McGeady with a cross.
• None Aiden McGeady (Republic of Ireland) is shown the yellow card.
• None Attempt missed. Gareth Bale (Wales) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Aaron Ramsey with a cross following a corner.
• None Attempt missed. Aiden McGeady (Republic of Ireland) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by James McClean.
• None Attempt missed. Gareth Bale (Wales) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Sam Vokes.
• None James McClean (Republic of Ireland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
• None Chris Gunter (Wales) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt missed. Shane Long (Republic of Ireland) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Glenn Whelan with a cross. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39300143
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Lewis Hamilton on Australian Grand Prix pole position - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Lewis Hamilton wins a tight battle for pole position between Mercedes and Ferrari at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
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Lewis Hamilton won a tight battle for pole position between Mercedes and Ferrari at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Briton Hamilton took pole position by 0.268 seconds as Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel joined him on the front row.
The German pipped Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas by just 0.025secs as the new era of faster, more demanding cars got off to a promising start.
The Australian Grand Prix is live on BBC Radio 5 live and the BBC Sport website on Sunday - Australian Grand Prix coverage details.
The tightness of the battle in qualifying between Mercedes and Ferrari is what was expected after pre-season testing but an impressive performance by Mercedes on Friday led to fears the world champions may dominate again.
But Ferrari were in much better shape on Saturday and gave every sign they will be able to push Mercedes hard this season, as testing had promised.
• None Driver battles, failing engines and moustaches - what to look out for in 2017
• None F1 is sexy again, but will it be better?
Vettel was fastest in final practice and the red cars were in the mix from the start of qualifying.
A slightly scruffy final lap from Bottas might have stopped him joining his team-mate on the front row but even so the margins were slight and a fair bit of Hamilton's advantage may well have been in the driver on a circuit on which the three-time champion has always excelled.
Bottas, though, was impressive in his debut for Mercedes, qualifying closer to Hamilton than his former team-mate Nico Rosberg did at this race last year.
In truth, pole position always looked like it was Hamilton's to lose from the moment he took to the track in Friday's first practice.
Seemingly intent on laying down a marker for Bottas, Hamilton was flying from the start, the car dancing through the tricky chicanes around the demanding Albert Park track.
He ended the day half a second clear of the field, with Bottas and Vettel again separated by tiny fractions, and although Hamilton's margin was reduced in qualifying, the fundamental pattern remained.
The 32-year-old still has much to do, however. There are new rules governing starts this year which have put control much more back in the drivers' hands and have therefore increased the possibility of errors.
And it will be a demanding race in pretty much the fastest cars ever raced in F1, following rule changes over the winter, and on tyres on which the drivers can push flat out for the entire race for pretty much the first time in six years.
Hamilton said: "It has been a fantastic weekend so far and it is quite amazing to be here for the 11th time. It feels like it was only yesterday I came and had my first race here in 2007.
"Such a great journey, and I am incredibly proud of my team. This rule change has been huge, a massive challenge for everyone and to be up here is fantastic.
"Valtteri did a great job in his first qualifying session for the team. It is close between us all and it is going to be a tight race this year, I think."
Vettel added: "I think we have a good car, things are working well as a team, things are improving. We had a mixed day yesterday but the confidence in the car was there from testing.
"I was not entirely happy with my lap but I think Lewis did a very good lap and I don't think pole was up for grabs but we can do something in the race."
Outside the big three teams, Romain Grosjean put in a highly impressive performance to be sixth in the Haas.
McLaren and engine partner Honda salvaged something in the context of a dire, reliability-hit testing programme to qualify a respectable 13th with Fernando Alonso.
There was a highly impressive performance by Sauber's Antonio Giovinazzi, who was drafted in at the last minute in the morning after regular driver Pascal Wehrlein pulled out citing a lack of fitness.
Giovinazzi, who stood in for Wehrlein in the first pre-season test as the German recovered from a back injury sustained in the winter, was quicker than team-mate Marcus Ericsson after the first runs and was less than 0.2secs adrift in the end, despite aborting his final lap because of a mistake at the penultimate corner.
Giovinazzi, who is Ferrari's third driver, said: "I am so happy. It is a dream come true for me."
Briton Jolyon Palmer had a torrid time, qualifying last after a weekend disrupted by problems, 3.3 seconds behind team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in first qualifying.
He said: "Horrendous. I am a second off what I did on my second lap of the weekend, and that was on a soft tyre with traffic. The pace right now is a disaster."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39391284
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Dundee United 2-1 St Mirren - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Dundee United claim victory over St Mirren in the Irn Bru Cup final at Fir Park, with Thomas Mikkelsen heading the winner.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Dundee United lifted the Scottish Challenge Cup after overcoming St Mirren at Fir Park.
Goals in either half from Tony Andreu - a sensational volley - and Thomas Mikkelsen eclipsed Rory Loy's strike.
The Buddies had created the better first-half chances and also had spells of dominance in the second period.
It was the Tannadice club's first victory in the tournament, which features clubs from the Championship, League One and League Two.
And this year's competition also included Premiership colt teams and sides from Northern Ireland and Wales.
Chance after chance fell St Mirren's way in the Lanarkshire sunshine on a pristine pitch in front of 8,089 spectators.
Loy hit the post, Lewis Morgan produced a wonderful breakaway from the United centre-halves, drew Cammy Bell and then shot across goal and Gary MacKenzie sent a header past the post when he was totally unmarked.
United had hardly threatened Billy O'Brien until Andreu produced a diamond of a goal which flew past the Paisley goalkeeper, a first-time curling volley with the outside of his boot.
It was a goal worthy of winning a cup, but it actually only gave United the lead for seconds.
From the restart, Jack Ross' side went up the park and Gary Irvine cut back for Loy to equalise.
Tangerines manager Ray McKinnon's fury at his team's inability to stay switched on was clear, but there was no doubt that St Mirren, still anchored at the bottom of the Championship, had been the better team.
Nick van der Velden was replaced with less than an hour gone by Mikkelsen and his introduction would change the game.
Simon Murray whipped in a cross from the left and the substitute met it with a powerful header beyond O'Brien.
It was against the run of play, but goals win cups and Mikkelsen's effort had the scent of glory all over it.
The quality of the game was never the same in the second half, but that seemed to suit McKinnon and his team simply saw out the last minutes, nursing their lead over the finishing line.
They will now hope to follow their cup triumph with promotion to the Premiership, with the Tangerines currently in the play-off positions.
Dundee United manager Ray McKinnon told BBC Alba: "I'm absolutely delighted. It was a tough game and a lot of pressure on us, but I thought the guys delivered.
"There has been a bit of criticism our way, probably self-inflicted.
"We have got ourselves caught in battles and the message today was to get the ball down and play - and I think they did that.
"A lot of credit must go to St Mirren - they made it very difficult for us.
"But we have won a cup, we have had the experience of dealing with the final and the pressure that goes with it.
"So that will be good for me and the players for the rest of the season. They should take a lot of confidence from this."
St Mirren manager Jack Ross told BBC Alba: "It was a very evenly contested, competitive match and I thought we had the better opportunities.
"But congratulations to Dundee United, it is about taking your chances on the day.
"I can't fault my players - the effort was terrific. We continued to play in the manner we have done and the level of performance was very much at what it has been.
"Despite our league position, this is a good group and we will use this to continue to move forward.
"We have a real focus about us and they know their performance level deserved more."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39345283
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Premiership: Northampton Saints 31-36 Leicester Tigers - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Leicester take a big stride towards the play-offs with a breathless derby victory over top-four rivals Northampton.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Leicester took a big stride towards the Premiership play-offs with a breathless East Midlands derby victory over top-four rivals Northampton in Aaron Mauger's last match in charge.
Nafi Tuitavake's early score for Saints set the tone for a thrilling game.
Adam Thompstone replied, but France's Louis Picamoles scored one try and made another to earn Saints a 22-16 lead.
A breakaway Ben Youngs try and Lachlan McCaffrey's score edged Tigers ahead and Owen Williams' boot sealed victory.
Replacement Williams slotted a tricky conversion and two tough penalties to earn a win which takes Tigers up to fourth, three points ahead of Bath and six clear of their fierce rivals Saints, who drop to seventh.
Both sides welcomed back their Six Nations stars and their quality shone through on a glorious day at Franklin's Gardens which served as a fitting farewell to Mauger, who was this week overlooked for the head coach role.
The glaring sun - and a swirling wind - played a huge part in the game's opening score, with Tuitavake touching down under the posts after Tigers full-back Telusa Veainu make a terrible mess of Stephen Myler's towering kick.
Thompstone's swift response from a cute Ben Youngs pass as Tigers played through the phases levelled matters, but then Picamoles took centre stage.
The huge Frenchman showed great awareness and good speed on the right to combine with Ahsee Tuala, who went over, and Picamoles then added a third home try following a Freddie Burns penalty.
The boot of Burns helped keep Tigers in touch at the interval and the visitors led for the first time when impressive England scrum-half Ben Youngs scampered away on the left to score from distance.
Despite their dominance in the scrum, Leicester struggled to deal with the strength and quick running of the Saints backline - notably from Wales wing George North.
But Ben Youngs' burst and McCaffrey's twist and score after another incisive break put the visitors in front and Welshman Williams showed typical nerve to kick Tigers to victory late on despite the sin-binning of Mike Williams.
Leicester Tigers assistant coach Geordan Murphy: "It's obviously an emotional day for Mauge and I thought he handled it really well.
"We came together as a side on Monday and talked about it. He said the board had made the decision and it was going to go a different way.
"He didn't want the decision to affect the performance in the week and he did a great job in setting the team up to come to Franklin's Gardens.
"It's tough to come here and get a win because I don't remember when the East Midlands derby hasn't been a one-score game. They are generally pretty tight games and the boys wanted to give Mauge a good send-off today. I think they did that."
Northampton Saints boss Jim Mallinder: "It could have gone either way. We made a very promising start, there were a few key moments in that game where, as we watch it back, we'll think 'what if?'.
"Particularly at the end of the first half, we had a very good overlap and should have scored that.
"There were a few other interesting incidents, but it was a close game, either side could have won it and unfortunately we didn't win it today."
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39342448
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Seamus Coleman's broken leg: Hartson 'can't defend' Neil Taylor tackle - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Former Wales striker John Hartson says he "can't defend" the tackle by Wales' Neil Taylor which broke the leg of the Republic of Ireland defender Seamus Coleman.
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Former Wales striker John Hartson says he "can't defend" the tackle by Wales' Neil Taylor which broke the leg of the Republic of Ireland defender Seamus Coleman.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39393813
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State of Sport: British athlete care must improve - Tanni Grey-Thompson - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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British Olympic and Paralympic sport must improve its record on athlete welfare, says Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.
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Last updated on .From the section Sport
British Olympic and Paralympic sport must improve its athletes' welfare, says Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.
The 11-time Paralympic gold medallist has authored a forthcoming report into the subject, which has been brought into sharp focus by recent claims.
British Swimming is the latest body to investigate claims of "bullying", while several ex-riders have spoken of a "culture of fear" at British Cycling.
"We must prove we can win medals with a duty of care," Grey-Thompson said.
• None State of Sport - catch up on a week of in-depth journalism from the BBC
Speaking at a debate organised by the BBC as part of its State of Sport coverage, she added: "We've proved we can win medals. I don't think having a duty of care diminishes our chances of winning.
"We can't make it all warm and cuddly - because that is not what elite sport is. But it is about getting the best talent and not leaving athletes broken at the end of it."
Grey-Thompson's report - due for publication "imminently", she said - was commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
"There are some really good sports out there; there are sports that need to do much more," she added.
"My report doesn't mention a sport in particular, it doesn't mention a particular person in it. It's about the principles of how sport should be as we go forward."
On Thursday, Wendy Houvenaghel became the latest high-profile cyclist to come forward with criticisms of British Cycling's World Class programme - following Jess Varnish, Nicole Cooke and Emma Pooley.
Houvenaghel said a "medal at any cost" approach created a "culture of fear" at the organisation, which she accused of "ageism" and having "zero regard" for her welfare.
Later on Thursday, BBC sports editor Dan Roan exclusively reported on British Swimming's investigation into multiple bullying claims made by Paralympians about a coach.
Swimming was Britain's most successful sport at the Rio Paralympics. The British team won 47 medals - 16 golds of 152 available - and set eight world records.
Also speaking at Friday's debate, UK Sport chief executive Liz Nichol described the athletes' testimonies as "a wake-up call for sport".
"We have to be much more aware of responsibilities, beyond the responsibility of helping athletes achieve what they all aspire to," she said
"It's clear it can be better, and it will be better. This is a big step-up for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics cycle."
UK Sport is the funding body for Olympic and Paralympic sports in Britain.
When Nichol was asked whether linking funding to medal targets might have a negative effect on athlete welfare, she replied: "We don't reward success, we invest in potential.
Speaking about British Cycling's 39-point action plan response to failures identified in a leaked draft report into its World Class Programme, Nichol added: "This is something that is very significant.
"Every sport can learn from it and every sport should be looking at the cycling plan and checking to see if they are doing things properly.
"Yes it is uncomfortable, but it is right that athletes are speaking out. And it is right that we all acknowledge that something has got to change - and it will change - over this next cycle."
'It's not an issue of welfare or medals'
Helen Richardson-Walsh, who starred as Great Britain won Olympic hockey gold in Rio, said she had seen "big changes" in athlete welfare over her career.
"Gone are the days where you would get shouted at on the sideline at international level. I don't think that's acceptable in society any more and it is kind of being phased out in sport," the 35-year-old said.
"What we developed as a team in the last two Olympic cycles was so far removed from that old fashioned in your face coaching and we were more successful.
"You don't need to go down that route to win. It's not an issue of welfare or medals."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/39387363
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Do baby boxes really save lives? - BBC News
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2017-03-25
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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What evidence is there that Finland's famous baby boxes actually reduce infant mortality rates?
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Magazine
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It's been claimed that Finland's baby boxes, given to every newborn in the country, help reduce cot deaths. But what evidence is there that they lower infant mortality rates, asks Elizabeth Cassin.
In June 2013, the BBC News website published an article entitled Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes. It's been viewed over 13 million times and sparked global interest in the idea.
The article explained Finland's 75-year-old policy of giving every pregnant mother a cardboard box filled with baby products, such as clothes, sleeping bag, nappies, bedding and a mattress, and how the box itself could be used as a bed.
One reason it attracted such attention is that Finland has one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world - two deaths per 1,000 live births, compared with a global rate of 32 in 1,000, according to the UN.
Over the past three years, companies selling the boxes have popped up in the US, Finland and the UK.
And they're incredibly popular not just with individuals but - more significantly - with governments. The promise of lower infant mortality rates is something to aim for.
But if you stop and think about it for a minute, this is a bold claim. How does getting a baby to sleep in a box and a few baby items bring down infant mortality rates?
In theory, the boxes offer a safe sleep space for babies.
There are lots of reasons why babies die, from health problems to accidents. But there's one in particular that these boxes have been thought to help reduce - sudden infant death syndrome (Sids), also referred to as "cot death", is the unexpected and unexplained death of an apparently healthy baby.
Although it's difficult to always understand what causes these deaths, there are environmental factors that increase the risk - including being around tobacco smoke, getting tangled in bedding, or sleeping alongside parents - especially if parents have been drinking.
In the early 90s, many Western countries introduced Back to Sleep campaigns, when it was discovered that babies who sleep on their tummies are more vulnerable to Sids. This led to the last significant reduction in countries like the US and UK.
"Since we had the dramatic decline of Sids in the 90s, we're now in a situation where the remaining Sids is much harder to try to alleviate," says Prof Helen Ball, director of the Parent-Infant Sleep Lab in the UK. "And so people are looking for new interventions, new changes to social care practices that might specifically help some of the more vulnerable families."
Putting a baby in a box, and keeping the box near a parent, could prevent some of the hazardous scenarios.
But it's important to understand that nearly all countries have seen a dramatic reduction in infant mortality over the last century. In 1900, about 15% of babies in Europe would have died in their first year. Now it's less than 0.4%.
And Finnish academics and health professionals have been keen to point out that there is some misunderstanding about the box scheme.
To understand how policy changed in Finland, we need to go back to 1938.
Although infant mortality rates had been falling across Europe, Finland's rate was higher than their Nordic neighbours. The government decided to offer baby boxes to low-income women.
But the women didn't just get a box. The boxes were introduced "at the same time that the pre-natal care was started", says Prof Mika Gissler, a statistician at the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland.
Women had to attend clinics early on in their pregnancy to qualify for the maternity package. Their health could then be monitored throughout and after the pregnancy.
Legislation in 1944 made it a legal obligation for municipalities to provide maternity and child health clinics. That year, only 31% of pregnant mothers had received prenatal care. The figure jumped to 86% the following year.
In 1949, the care package, including the baby boxes, was offered to all women.
"Then there was a big change from home birth to hospital birth," says Gissler. "We had the national health insurance system introduced very late in the 60s."
One of Gissler's colleagues, Prof Tuovi Hakulinen, says that to her knowledge, there is no direct link between the baby box and infant mortality rates.
A combination of factors are behind better infant health in Finland
And that if you look at the decline in infant mortality, the thing that's driving it more than anything else is a combination of advancement in medicine, vaccinations, nutrition, hygiene and increased prosperity.
Finland has reliable Sids data for the past three decades - and the rate is low. But the significant reduction in deaths has been in congenital anomalies and other diseases.
And yet one of the leading baby box companies sells its products as an essential gift for new parents, claiming studies have proven the link.
I asked the company if I could see these studies, but they said that studies showing positive results had not been published yet. Experts say that there are no studies showing the efficacy of baby boxes.
Countries across the world have been trialling variations on the Finnish box, including Canada, Ireland, and Scotland - with many tying in additional education for parents.
And while looking at the possibilities the baby box is interesting, there are bigger factors at play.
One country where the baby box idea has received a lot of attention is the United States - because they are struggling with poor infant mortality rates - six per 1,000 births, which makes them comparable to Poland and Hungary, below the level you'd expect based on their income.
Prof Emily Oster, an economist at Brown University, compared data from the US with various European countries, primarily Finland and Austria.
She says the US does fairly well in the first month of life - but from a month to a year, "you can see the mortality rate in the US kind of accelerating away from the other countries in that period".
When looking at women with a college degree - a marker for relatively high income - infant mortality rates were low and similar to the same groups in Finland and Austria.
"What we see is that well-off women in Finland, well off women in the US, are very, very similar," she says. "The difference is well-off women in Finland and less-educated women in Finland have very similar infant mortality profiles. Whereas that is not true in the US."
Finland's scheme has been copied in other countries, such as Mexico
But it's not clear from their research what specifically causes these deaths - because there are many things which make the US different, such as their health system. Also, most countries in Europe have a pretty robust home visiting programme after birth. That's not something that has uniformly been true in the US.
"What often comes along with the boxes is some additional contact with somebody," says Oster. "It may be the healthcare assistant, a nurse, a social worker.
"The box alone doesn't seem likely to matter."
The baby boxes are hugely popular in Finland, but they are emblematic of a wider health care system.
Governments and individuals should not see the box as solely effective, without improving care and education for parents also.
After all, there are countries with the same infant mortality rate as Finland, such as Iceland, Estonia and Japan, that do not have baby box schemes.
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39366596
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Tales of deportation in Trump's America: Week Two - BBC News
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2017-03-25
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A look at the men and women affected by President Trump's deportation strategy.
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US & Canada
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A rally for two young people detained by immigration officials in Vermont
The Trump Administration's immigration enforcement priorities have revived deportation orders ignored during the Obama Administration.
On Monday, Mr Trump criticized local law enforcement agencies for refusing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) to detain and deport people living in the US illegally.
The administration started publishing a weekly "Declined Detainer Outcome Report", which calls out local agencies that ignored orders to detain undocumented immigrants arrested for unrelated crimes. The report names the immigrants in question and lists "crimes associated with those released individuals."
Despite promising to focus on violent criminals and gang members, President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration and his executive memo to the Department of Homeland Security empowers Ice to deport virtually anyone living in the US without documentation.
Only one clear exception exists, for people with active Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) status.
Here's a look at some of the most recent immigration cases across the US.
Beristain, in blue, has been in the us for 19 years
In 1998, Mr Beristain came to the US to visit an aunt and decided to stay.
In 2000, he and his wife, a naturalised US citizen originally from Greece, accidentally crossed the Canadian border while sightseeing at Niagara Falls. When they crossed back into the US, border patrol agents detained Mr Beristain.
A judge initially issued an order mandating that Mr Beristain voluntarily return to Mexico. When Beristain declined to leave, the order reverted to a final order.
Instead Mr Beristain's lawyer convinced Ice agents to grant him leniency due to his family ties in the US and lack of criminal records.
The agents helped Mr Beristain obtain a driver's licence, a work permit and a legal Social Security Number, and Mr Beristain went to work in the restaurant business. He is now co-owner of Eddie's Steak Shed in Granger, Indiana.
Mr Beristain had to check in with Ice agents every year. This February, agents at the Indianapolis Ice office took him into custody.
"Trump says we're deporting bad hombres. Roberto is the farthest thing from a bad guy," said Jason Flora, who served as Mr Beristain's attorney until Saturday. "You ask 100 people to paint a picture of a bad guy, not one would draw something remotely resembling Roberto."
His wife supported Mr Trump because of his immigration programmes, and thought her husband - a businessman and father - would be spared.
"We don't want to have cartels here, you don't want to have drugs in your high schools, you don't want killers next to you," Helen Beristain told Indiana Public Media earlier this year.
"You want to feel safe when you leave your house. I truly believe that. And this is why I voted for Mr Trump."
Because of the deportation order from 2000, Mr Beristain could be deported as early as Friday without a hearing before an immigration court.
Police arrested Henry Sanchez-Milian and another undocumented teenager, Jose O Montano, 17, on charges of sexual assault after they allegedly trapped a fellow Rockville High School student in a school bathroom and raped her.
Mr Montano is being charged as an adult.
Mr Sanchez-Milian has lived in the US for only eight months, after fleeing Guatemala. He had been awaiting a hearing with an immigration judge.
Because he is considered a serious flight risk, he will likely remain in jail until a he's brought before a criminal court, said Montgomery County Assistant States Attorney Rebecca MacVittie.
When an undocumented individual is convicted of a serious crime, standard procedure is to allow them to serve their prison sentence in the US and then transfer them to Ice custody to initiate the deportation process.
It is unclear whether Mr Sanchez-Milian will be deported before a trial. Ice has issued an order for local law enforcement to keep him in custody.
The case has been referenced by members of Mr Trump's administration as reason for Mr Trump's "crackdown" on immigration.
Earlier this month, Mr Martinez-Morales was pulled over for a broken tail light, at which point officers identified him as an undocumented immigrant.
He had lived in the US for nearly 20 years. He married a US citizen and has four American-born children under the age of 12.
In 2004, Mr Martinez-Morales returned to Mexico to see family. Upon his return, he was arrested for crossing illegally at the Texas border, which set in motion his deportation order. Mr Martinez-Morales returned to the Houston area, and lived there without incident until this month.
The Obama Administration's immigration priorities that allowed people living in the US illegally with no criminal record to stay in the US, even if they had a deportation order that predated 1 January 2014. Under the Trump administration, individual with a deportation order is a priority for removal.
"There has been a total change with this new administration," says Raed Gonzalez, Mr Martinze-Morales' attorney. "This is a sharp shift in policy."
Mr Martinez-Morales was deported one week after his detention.
Mr Carrillo, Mr Balcazar and Ms Rodriguez are activists who belong to a Vermont-based immigration rights advocacy group called Migrant Justice.
Ice agents arrested Mr Carrillo-Sanchez on Wednesday, as he was arriving to a court hearing for a misdemeanour charge at the Chittenden County courthouse.
Two days later, Ice officials stopped a car that Mr Balcazar was driving, with Ms Rodriguez in the passenger seat, as they were leaving the Migrant Justice office. Both were detained by immigration officials, according to the organisation.
Alex Carrillo (left) with daughter and wife at a rally to free Victor Diazz
Members of Migrant Justice said that they view their detention as a sign that immigration officials are targeting activists and community leaders.
Migrant Justice members have had run-ins with Ice in the past. Two other members, Victor Diaz and Miguel Alcudia, were detained last year, but were both released and had their deportation proceedings halted after public outcry.
Mr Carrillo-Sanchez and Mr Balcazar both immigrated to the US from Mexico. Ms Rodriguez is from Peru.
Border Patrol agents from the Casa Grande Station in Arizona arrested Aaron Sarmiento-Sanchez for entering the US illegally.
He had previously been deported in April 2013.
When officers ran a background check on Mr Sarmiento-Sanchez, they found a 2006 conviction in Salinas, California, for "lewd or lascivious acts with a child". Mr Sarmiento-Sanchez was sentenced to six years in prison for that crime.
Mr Sarmiento-Sanchez faces federal charges for re-entering the country illegally and will remain in detention until a judge rules on those criminal charges.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39371204
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Anthony Crolla v Jorge Linares: Manchester fighter suffers defeat in rematch - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Anthony Crolla fails in his bid to regain the WBA lightweight title as Jorge Linares retains the belt in Manchester.
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Anthony Crolla was outclassed in his bid to regain the WBA lightweight title as talented Venezuelan Jorge Linares produced a superb display at Manchester Arena.
Crolla - unanimously outpointed when the pair met in September - was rarely able to get close enough to his opponent to cause damage and was dropped by a stinging Linares uppercut in the seventh round.
Though he responded admirably, roared on by around 15,000 in the arena, Crolla always looked at the mercy of Linares' variety of shots and even when pockets of promise arrived for the home fighter, he often quickly faced blows in return.
The pair embraced on the bell, Crolla sporting a look of frustration as his opponent's hand was raised with the scores 118-109 on all three scorecards.
• None Listen to the fight again here (from 06:00 BST on Sunday)
The hope was this boxing cauldron could witness a Manchester fighter memorably upset the odds some 12 years after Ricky Hatton stunned Kostya Tszyu here on a night those present still talk glowingly about.
The reality was that Linares' combination of pedigree, experience and will to trade with ferocity if needed, proved too much.
A world champion by 21, Linares has held world crowns in three weight divisions. The 31-year-old's 14 years as a professional showed as he picked his shots with guile, the uppercut finding its target on several occasions as his upper-body movement consistently opened up the shot.
Crolla, who admitted he "lost to the better man", deserves credit. His career has been a rollercoaster from the moment he suffered a fractured skull and broken ankle when trying to apprehend burglars in 2014. A draw and victory against Darleys Perez saw him claim a world title within a year, only for Linares to take it in what was Crolla's second defence.
The rematch was never the same contest. Though those in attendance sang passionately for their fighter - a heavy underdog - they could not shake a man who looked ice cool and has now contested 41 of his 45 fights outside of Venezuela.
He will now seek a Las Vegas payday against WBC champion Mikey Garcia, while Crolla will likely need to rebuild domestically if he is to come again at world level.
How the fight played out
As Tony Bellew screamed "show no respect Ant, make it ugly" from ringside, Crolla embarked on a workmanlike opening two rounds. His guard was constantly high, Linares by comparison confident to lower his own when not at close range.
It meant Crolla was unable to get up close to his opponent as Linares' free hands were piston-like to keep his man at distance. His shots were blisteringly quick, a two-shot combination ending with a right uppercut in the third.
Crolla gutsily stepped forward to close ring space - a feat he claims he let slip late in the pairs' first meeting - and he finally smothered Linares in the fourth, landing two uppercuts at short range. But Linares snapped the home fighter's head back with a sublime uppercut of his own in six, dipping his body to the left before launching the shot with thrust.
It drew a collective grimace from the crowd. Linares - at times tip-toeing with grace and constantly exuding confidence - dropped his man with the same shot in seven. Crolla rose and pumped his hands in defiance as the crowd tried to lift him but as both men walked to their corners, Linares sported a grin of satisfaction.
Now cut above his left eye, Crolla responded with the grit which has endeared him to so many in recent years. A left hook to the jaw and later the body landed in the 10th but he was never able to find a pace or land the shots which could fluster an opponent of such class.
'I am so sorry, Manchester' - what they said
"Manchester, I am so sorry I couldn't do it for you. Your support means so much to me. He caught me but before that I thought I could get to him. I got beaten by the better man - no excuses.
"I am 30 years old, I am going to rest, but I believe I can go again."
In an interview with BBC Radio 5 live, Crolla added: "I could just not pin him down. I was pleading with Joe (Gallagher) to let me go on (for the last round), and you still believe you can land a shot.
"I'm gutted I couldn't do it in front of these fans."
Crolla's trainer Joe Gallagher told BBC Radio 5 live why he wanted to take Crolla out of the fight after the 11th round.
Gallagher said: "I thought we were not going to win this, but Anthony pleaded and said 'let me go on'. He wanted to go out on his shield.
"Linares was very good and everyone could see what a great world champion he is. You have seen one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world."
Promoter Eddie Hearn told BBC Radio 5 live: "I thought after the first fight Jorge Linares would not perform a career-best performance and he did. He was absolutely brilliant.
"It is so hard when Anthony Crolla comes up to you and says 'I'm so sorry'. You lost on points to one of the best pound for pound fighters.
"We will choose an easier world title. Anthony Crolla will be back 100%, he is an ultimate professional and a credit to himself."
Crolla has the heart of a lion. He tried his best to fight him, box him, out-think him, but Linares had too much skill, too much movement.
There is nothing worse than when you miss the shots and then get hit. It is demoralising. He didn't look hurt in there, but he was out-skilled and out-boxed.
The crowd cannot perform miracles and Linares was a magician in there. When you lose to a man like that, there is no shame for Crolla.
Linares was simply too good and too classy for the game and the brave Anthony Crolla.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/39395519
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Australian GP: Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel fastest in final practice - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel heads the Mercedes in final practice for the Australian Grand Prix.
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Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel headed the Mercedes in final practice at the Australian Grand Prix.
The four-time champion was 0.479 seconds clear of Valtteri Bottas as Ferrari finally appeared to show the pace that had impressed pre-season.
Lewis Hamilton was third, 0.011secs behind his team-mate.
• None Driver battles, failing engines and moustaches - what to look out for in 2017
• None F1 is sexy again, but will it be better?
It was far from a definitive read on performance, however, as a crash for Williams driver Lance Stroll ended the session 10 minutes early.
The Canadian rookie lost control at Turn Nine, badly damaging the car and bringing out the red flag.
It meant Mercedes, who were comfortably quicker than Ferrari in Friday practice, did not have time to go out and do a final pre-qualifying simulation run.
Hamilton and Mercedes expressed surprise at their advantage over Ferrari on the first day of running of the new season, having been convinced by their rival's pace in testing that they faced a major challenge in 2017.
Instead, Hamilton was quickest by half a second and was a second clear of the Ferraris on average on his race simulation run.
Vettel had complained of a poor balance on Friday but the Ferrari looked hooked up throughout a much stronger performance on Saturday.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was fourth quickest, 0.608secs behind Vettel. The red flag meant the two Ferrari drivers were out of the cars being introduced to movie star Nicole Kidman as the session came to a close.
The premature ending means qualifying at 06:00 GMT is even more intriguing than it always is at the start of the season, because there has been so little chance to judge the relative pace of the cars.
Nico Hulkenberg was an impressive fifth in the Renault, ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, whose team have struggled with car behaviour throughout the weekend.
Ricciardo's team-mate Max Verstappen was down in 12th place, complaining of poor balance.
There was a new driver in the Sauber, after Pascal Wehrlein pulled out saying he felt he lacked the fitness to perform at his best in the race.
The German was replaced by Ferrari third driver Antonio Giovinazzi, who was 20th and last and just over a second slower than team-mate Marcus Ericsson.
The McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne were 14th and 15th as they embark on what they have admitted will be a difficult season because of the poor performance of their Honda engine.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39391181
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James Ridley: Lookslikerainted jockey banned after Newbury finish line blunder - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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An amateur jockey who slowed down and lost his lead in the final stages of a race is banned for 28 days.
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Last updated on .From the section Horse Racing
An amateur jockey who slowed down and lost his lead in the final stages of a race has been banned for 28 days.
James Ridley, riding Lookslikerainted, appeared to mistakenly think he had already crossed the finish line, allowing two horses to pass.
The Hunters' Chase at Newbury was eventually won by Triangular, closely followed by Ballytober.
Lookslikerainted, a 33-1 outsider trained by Martin Wilesmith, finished in third.
At the resulting inquiry, Ridley said the half-furlong pole caused the problem. Stewards ruled he was guilty of failing to ride out on a horse that would have finished first.
"Obviously I'm a little upset but compared to what happened in Westminster the other day it is absolutely nothing," Wilesmith said, after the attack in central London on Wednesday in which four people were killed and 50 people injured by Khalid Masood, who also died.
"I'm thrilled with the horse and just looking forward to when we can run him again now. We'll just look forwards. James has apologised."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/39386068
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James Ridley: Lookslikerainted jockey banned after finish-line blunder - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Amateur jockey James Ridley, who slowed down and lost his lead because he thought he had crossed the finish line, is banned for 28 days.
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Amateur jockey James Ridley, riding Lookslikerainted, slows down and loses his lead in the final stages of the Hunters' Chase at Newbury after mistakenly thinking he had already crossed the finish line, allowing two horses to pass.
He has now been banned for 28 days.
Available to UK users only.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/39387519
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Seamus Coleman suffers broken leg in Republic of Ireland draw - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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Republic of Ireland skipper Seamus Coleman suffers a broken leg in his side's goalless draw with Wales at the Aviva Stadium.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Republic of Ireland skipper Seamus Coleman suffered a broken leg during his side's goalless draw with Wales at the Aviva Stadium.
The Everton defender, 28, was given oxygen before being carried off following the challenge with Neil Taylor, who was sent off.
The incident happened midway through the second half of the World Cup qualifier on Friday night.
• None Listen: Taylor's tackle on Coleman 'out of character'
• None 'All our thoughts are with Seamus' - Wales boss Coleman
"Seamus has gone to hospital, it's been confirmed by a doctor that he has broken his leg," added O'Neill.
"Obviously, it's a real blow to him. He's having the season of a lifetime at club level. He's a big player for us, a great captain and a great character.
"It's a big loss to Everton, a big loss to us. But he'll fight back I hope. It puts things in perspective."
Wales manager Chris Coleman said defender Taylor was "despondent" following the game.
"First and foremost, the most important thing is Seamus Coleman," he said. "We are told that it is not so good, which we are sorry for.
"Neil Taylor is not really that type of player, but it's a tough one for Seamus. Our thoughts are with him. I have not seen it again."
Everton return to Premier League action with the Merseyside derby against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, 1 April.
Everton midfielder James McCarthy was scheduled to start for the Republic, but was withdrawn from the team-sheet before kick-off because of a hamstring injury.
"He thought he was going to be OK with the couple of days training he had done," added O'Neill. "He was feeling it and I just didn't want to take any chances."
The draw in Dublin meant the Republic missed out on returning to the top of Group D, after Serbia beat Georgia earlier on Friday, with Wales four points behind in third.
Gareth Bale twice went close for Wales from long range, but the visitors had to withstand a spell of heavy pressure following Taylor's sending off.
Wales will also be without Real Madrid forward Bale when they visit Serbia on 11 June after he was booked for a foul on John O'Shea.
The Republic's next Group D qualifier is at home to Austria, also on 11 June.
'Get well soon, Seamus'
Coleman's Everton team-mate Ramiro Funes Mori: Devastated of what happened. Hope you have a speedy recovery my friend, best wishes for you. You will come back even stronger!!! SeamusColeman.
Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin: Get well soon @seamiecoleman23!! #RightBackUnit
Irish 20-time champion jockey AP McCoy: Gutted for Seamus Coleman. Hopefully he'll have speedy recovery
Actor and television presenter James Corden: Stay strong Seamus Coleman. Every true football fan wishes you a strong recovery x
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39388290
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Miami Open: Johanna Konta survives scare to reach third round - BBC Sport
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2017-03-25
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British number one Johanna Konta battles past Aliaksandra Sasnovich in three sets in the second round of the Miami Open.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
British number one Johanna Konta battled her way past Aliaksandra Sasnovich in three sets in the second round of the Miami Open.
Konta won the first set but, despite being 4-2 up in the second, lost it on a tie-break before coming through 6-2 6-7 (7-5) 6-4 against the Belarussian.
The match lasted two hours 40 minutes and was interrupted by two rain breaks.
"I'm definitely satisfied with how I came back in the third set and just competed," Konta, 25, said.
"It was very difficult conditions - not just the wind, but also the rain, quite a little bit of stop and start.
"It was about managing your expectations for any sort of level for the match but also any sort of frustrations that would arise because of the conditions.
"She played quite well, and I really had to fight hard and work for it in the end."
Konta, ranked 11th in the world, will now play France's Pauline Parmentier, the world number 57.
Fifth seed Rafael Nadal beat Israel's Dudi Sela 6-3 6-4 in the men's draw.
The 30-year-old Spaniard broke his opponent in the fourth game in their second-round match before going on to claim the first set in 35 minutes.
Nadal saved two break points at 3-2 down in the second set and then broke Sela in the next game.
Nadal has reached the final in Miami four times but has yet to win the tournament.
There was little trouble for the other top seeds in action on Friday.
Second seed Kei Nishikori of Japan comfortably overcame South Africa's Kevin Anderson 6-4 6-3, while Canadian third seed Milos Raonic beat Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-3 7-5.
There was a surprise when Russia's Elena Vesnina, fresh from her victory at Indian Wells, suffered a 3-6 6-4 7-5 defeat by world number 594 Ajla Tomljanovic, the wildcard from Croatia.
Romanian third seed Simona Halep was pushed to three sets by 19-year-old Japanese player Naomi Osaka before advancing 6-4 2-6 6-3.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39387411
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England 2-0 Lithuania - BBC Sport
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2017-03-26
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Jermain Defoe scores his first international goal since 2013 as England edge closer to World Cup 2018 qualification with victory over Lithuania.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Jermain Defoe scored in his first international appearance since 2013 as England took another comfortable step in their qualifying campaign for next year's World Cup with victory over Lithuania.
Gareth Southgate's first game at Wembley since succeeding Sam Allardyce on a permanent basis provided few alarms as England remain firmly in control at the top of Group F.
Sunderland striker Defoe, 34, justified his call-up with a typically clinical finish after 21 minutes and a lively performance that suggested he still has a part to play under this manager.
And when Southgate needed someone to break Lithuania's stubborn resistance after the break, substitute Jamie Vardy obliged from close-range in the 66th minute, converting a subtle touch from Liverpool's Adam Lallana inside the area.
Before kick-off there was a minute's silence inside the stadium for the victims of last week's London attack. There was also a tribute paid to former England manager Graham Taylor, who died in January.
• None Quiz: Can you name England's oldest goalscorers?
• None What is Southgate's best England XI? Pick your own side
Eyebrows were raised in some quarters when Southgate recalled Defoe to the squad having last represented his country against Chile at Wembley in November 2013.
Defoe's inclusion, however, represented perfect sense with a record of 14 Premier League goals and two assists in a Sunderland side propping up the table and England's main striker Harry Kane out injured.
And so it proved as he pounced in trademark fashion for his first England goal in four years and four days since scoring in an easy win against San Marino, clipping a clinical finish high beyond Lithuania keeper Ernestas Setkus after 21 minutes from Raheem Sterling's delivery.
Defoe had already brought one crucial block from the keeper earlier as he stole in on Lallana's pass. He looks like a player full of hunger who has lost none of his predatory, goalscoring instincts.
England will face stubborn opposition again before this World Cup qualifying campaign is over and a poacher like Defoe may well come in very handy for Southgate as he plots his route to Russia next summer.
England's friendly against Germany in Dortmund on Wednesday was effectively a testimonial for veteran striker Lukas Podolski on his international farewell - with an atmosphere to match in the normally thunderous Signal Iduna Park.
Wembley was also on the subdued side because World Cup Qualifying Group F is a hard-sell in terms of excitement for England's fans, who understandably expect Southgate's side to dismiss opposition such as Lithuania with the minimum of fuss.
England fulfilled those requirements comfortably in the face of stubborn opponents who sat back and invited them on in the early phases, then seemed intent on damage limitation and no more as any hope of getting a return from this qualifier evaporated.
There may be more of the same in the remaining home qualifiers against Slovakia and Slovenia but England, once again, are getting the job done as they move closer to reaching the World Cup.
The old lingering fear remains that the real measure of how far England are progressing under Southgate will come at a major tournaments, where their limitations have been exposed regularly.
Southgate can be satisfied from what he has got from England's international double header, with a creditable performance in defeat against World Cup holders Germany and victory here against Lithuania.
If he has a complaint, it could be that England need to be more ruthless in front of goal, paying for wasted opportunities in Dortmund and also missing chances to make this a more convincing margin of victory.
England will not find this failing too expensive in a friendly or against mediocre opposition - but it could cost them if the flaws are on show against higher-class in a competitive environment.
It is why Defoe's marksmanship is currently required and why the return of a fit and in-form Harry Kane will be so welcome.
"I thought it was one of those afternoons where it's job done.
"I am not going to eulogise over the performance, but the overall week I think has been really positive in setting the tone of how we want to work.
"The players have got a good feel about them, a spirit and they see the direction we want to head. For sure, we'll play better than we did today."
"I am very proud of my team because we have been tested by a tremendously strong team - probably the strongest team we have faced until now.
"We will take a lot of positives from this loss, to see what targets can be set because what we witnessed today in the first half was unbelievable how skilful all those attacking players are and what amount of pressure we were put under."
• None England are the only team to have kept a clean sheet in each 2018 World Cup qualification game so far.
• None Vardy's goal was his first touch of the match.
• None Lallana has been directly involved in four goals in his last five England appearances (three goals; one assist).
• None Defoe is the 22nd player to reach the 20 goal landmark for England.
England next qualifier is against Scotland at Hampden Park on Saturday, 10 June.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Delay in match Arturas Zulpa (Lithuania) because of an injury.
• None Attempt missed. Ryan Bertrand (England) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Marcus Rashford.
• None Attempt saved. Marcus Rashford (England) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Dele Alli.
• None Attempt missed. Dele Alli (England) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Marcus Rashford with a cross.
• None Attempt saved. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (England) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
• None Attempt blocked. Dele Alli (England) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Marcus Rashford.
• None Attempt missed. Eric Dier (England) header from very close range is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Marcus Rashford with a cross following a corner.
• None Attempt blocked. Dele Alli (England) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Marcus Rashford.
• None Attempt missed. Jamie Vardy (England) left footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Marcus Rashford with a through ball. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39302168
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Paul Scholes: England need an identity under Gareth Southgate - BBC Sport
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2017-03-26
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England boss Gareth Southgate must establish an identity for the national side, says former international midfielder Paul Scholes.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Date:Venue:Kick-off: Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 live or follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website.
England boss Gareth Southgate must establish an identity for the national side, says Paul Scholes.
Southgate effectively used a three-man defence in the 1-0 friendly loss in Germany on Wednesday.
It is the same system used to good effect by Premier League leaders Chelsea and Italian champions Juventus.
"If he [Southgate] feels that's the right way to go, I think it's a really good way of playing," former England player Scholes told BBC's Sportsweek.
"Over the past few years we seem to copy whoever is doing well, whether it's Spain or Germany. There was a spell when academies were copying what even Belgium were trying to do.
"I think it's about time now that Gareth and his staff brought an identity to English football and the national team that we can be proud of.
"It's going to be difficult and it will take a little bit of time, but if he's playing this way and England are being successful then that's what it's all about."
England's defeat in Germany was their first in four games under Southgate, who was made permanent boss last November after having taken over on a temporary basis following the departure of Sam Allardyce.
Southgate, who represented England as a player, was previously manager of the under-21 side, after having led Middlesbrough from 2006 to 2009.
"I really liked Gareth when I played with him," said Scholes. "He was good with the young lads... he's been successful with England which not many players have been, getting to the semi-finals of Euro 96."
Scholes said that Southgate maybe hadn't fully "earned his stripes" at domestic club or European level, but added: "We've been down the route of so-called super coaches who haven't worked.
"Now we've got a passionate man in charge, he likes to play young players which is good," added the ex-Manchester United midfielder. "Hopefully the future is bright under him."
'Rooney still has a part to play'
In Germany, England were without captain Wayne Rooney, who will also be missing for the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Lithuania on Sunday as he recovers from a leg injury.
The 31-year-old has struggled to claim a starting place for Manchester United this season but former team-mate Scholes still feels he has "a part to play" for both club and country.
"He's got great experience and he can pass knowledge on to young players," said Scholes.
Rooney has been linked with a return to his first club Everton this summer, but Scholes believes staying and reclaiming his place in the United side would aid his England chances.
"I don't want him to go to another English club, I hope he gets back in the United team," he added. "If he gets back in the United team then he is straight back into the England side."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39397071
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Lewis Hamilton: Hard-to-manage Mercedes driver ready to win fourth title - BBC Sport
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2017-03-26
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Lewis Hamilton may be harder to manage than most drivers, but his restless, superstar lifestyle helps him stave off the boredom - and enables him to win.
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Lewis Hamilton has one main target this year - to win back the Formula 1 title he felt was unfairly stolen from him in 2016.
Not unjustifiably, in Hamilton's view his former team-mate Nico Rosberg managed to win the championship only because of a reliability record at Mercedes skewed in his favour. As such, in Hamilton's mind, he might have lost, but he was not beaten.
Rosberg has gone this year, replaced by the former Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, but that is a detail that does not change Hamilton's primary focus.
• None Driver battles, failing engines and moustaches - what to look out for in 2017
"I definitely don't want to finish second," the three-time champion says. "Every year you generally set the same goals but you might add more. All drivers want to win but not everyone has the ability or the opportunity.
"I am looking for that fourth world championship. It's there for the taking again. I am up against another great driver in Valtteri and hopefully Red Bull and Ferrari will be up there as well."
Losing out to Rosberg in 2016 clearly hurt. And, unsurprisingly perhaps, Hamilton has been distinctly prickly when asked about how he was affected by it.
"Nowhere near as much as you think," he said at the launch of the Mercedes car. "It doesn't change my life. You just move onwards and hopefully upwards." And that was your lot.
Hamilton turned 32 in February, is heading into his 11th season in F1, and has described himself as "the same old" Lewis this year. But Mercedes people detect a subtle shift.
Rosberg's decision to retire was always going to shift the dynamic in the team.
He and Hamilton were the same age and their rivalry went back to their teens, when they were karting contemporaries, team-mates and friends.
The friendship died, killed by the intensity of being each other's only rival for the biggest prize in motorsport. But there was always an inherent balance between the two.
Hamilton's talent and fundamental superiority on the track meant he was always the dominant figure in the team. But the German had been at Mercedes for three years longer and, a much less demanding character, had a more stable relationship with the team and the company.
He was Mr Corporate and Dependable, whereas Hamilton, for all his greater status and appeal, was harder to manage.
In one sense, little will change with Bottas' arrival. Hamilton is who he is, and he will be just as determined to win again. He will remain the superstar in the team; the low-wattage Bottas likely an even more hassle-free employee than Rosberg was. The two will have equal status and they will compete for wins in the same way as Rosberg and Hamilton did.
Hamilton has made clear some things will not change for him personally. The restless lifestyle, the frequent trips to New York and Los Angeles to pursue his wider interests are still very much on the agenda.
"Self-motivation is difficult for the human race to find each year and each day," Hamilton says. "I am very lucky I have fans, family and friends who motivate me to grow and be better every day. I will always do the things I do and explore the world and meet new people and new cultures."
Some in F1 see this as a negative, as a reflection that Hamilton is not fully focused on the job in hand if he is flying back and forwards across the Atlantic so often. For Hamilton, it is a way of keeping boredom at bay and using a creative outlet to stimulate him and keep him centred.
In another way, though, there has been a reset for Hamilton this year.
The baggage and residual complications of Hamilton's rivalry with Rosberg have gone and been replaced with a more fundamentally straightforward team-mate relationship. And removing that tension has simplified matters within Mercedes.
Inevitably, Mercedes will lean on Hamilton more - because of his record, his length of time with the team, and because Bottas is inevitably still learning the ropes and does not yet carry the gravitas that repeated success brings.
That gives Hamilton an opportunity to strengthen his position, which he is already doing by exploiting the influence and motivational possibilities his status gives him.
Hamilton, it is said, has if anything been working harder and better than ever during preparations for the season - and so far has stepped up to the leadership opportunity that Rosberg's departure presents.
There were plenty of frictions between driver and team last year - Hamilton's controversial comments about engine failures; his behaviour at the Japanese Grand Prix when he walked out of a news conference; the team's attempt to interfere in his battle with Rosberg at the final race of the season.
But these were sorted out in a clear-the-air meeting in the kitchen at team boss Toto Wolff's pristine Oxford home before Christmas.
The result of all these factors, insiders say, is that they are seeing a more mature and reflective Hamilton so far this year.
Wolff said at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday: "There was a point towards the end of the year where we sat down and it felt like a reset of the relationship and so many things came out which needed to be discussed. And since then I have perceived him as being in a really good place. He is happy, he is motivated and I have seen the strongest Lewis that I have seen so far consistently over the weekend."
How the pressures of the on-track battle affect all this will be clear only as the season unfolds.
A point to prove, even now
Pre-season testing had suggested Mercedes would face some genuine opposition from Ferrari this season, and the opening grand prix weekend in Australia has confirmed it.
Hamilton took pole, and looked superb all weekend, but this is a track on which he has usually excelled and Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari was only 0.268 seconds behind him.
And the 32-year-old is now expecting a close fight with Ferrari, not just in Melbourne on Sunday, but over the whole season.
"They are obviously very close and that is great for the fans," Hamilton said. "I wouldn't say there is relief. I truly believe in all the work they have done but in testing I really couldn't have done the lap he had done.
"But coming here I felt even if we were behind, it doesn't matter because I have the strongest team. The fact we have come here and we are still ahead is a beautiful thing but they are very close I have to keep applying the pressure and that is what I am here to do."
The fact Bottas was within 0.3secs of him in his first qualifying session with Mercedes will have made Hamilton sit up and take notice - he praised the Finn for doing a "great job" afterwards. And the prospect of a battle with Vettel is just another reason for Hamilton to be on top of his game this year.
It is no secret that Hamilton regards McLaren's Fernando Alonso as his only true rival out on track in terms of outright ability - each has expressed their admiration for the other's talent often enough - and the fact Vettel has won more titles than them burns both Hamilton and the Spaniard.
This season is Hamilton's chance to put the record straight, equal Vettel's tally of four titles and beat him in a straight fight doing it.
"Ferrari have done such a great job so we have to stay on our toes," Hamilton said. "I am down for the battle with anyone. He is a four-time world champion so of course I want to be racing with him because if I finish ahead it makes me look good, it makes me look better."
It was a theme Hamilton had already addressed over the winter.
"I've never wished to go out and dominate," he says. "Of course I want to have a car I can fight for a title with, but for the fans it's best when there's multiple teams fighting."
For the first time since the start of Mercedes' domination in 2014, it looks like Hamilton will get his wish.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39274325
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Lewis Hamilton believes he can beat Sebastian Vettel to world title - BBC Sport
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2017-03-26
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Lewis Hamilton says he is confident he can beat Sebastian Vettel to the world title this year despite defeat at the Australian Grand Prix.
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Britain's Lewis Hamilton says he is confident he can beat Sebastian Vettel to the world title this year despite defeat at the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton finished second to the German in the season opener in Melbourne after losing the lead following pressure from the Ferrari driver's superior pace.
Hamilton said: "It is going to be a close race. I truly believe we can beat them. It's great to see Ferrari there.
"It's good we had this close battle. I'm looking forward to the next."
Hamilton led from pole position but struggled for pace in the opening laps and after an early pit stop was held up by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, allowing Vettel to get ahead.
Hamilton said: "I wouldn't say I'm happy. But all things in perspective. To see where we have come from, with massive rule changes and to come here and be battling so close for a win and missing out marginally, there are a lot of things to be proud of.
"We could have won the race but I gave it everything I could and you can't do more. Take the strength of the weekend."
Vettel said of his title chances: "There is a long, long way ahead. We have a lot to prove still but for now we are just happy.
"It is March now. I know people start to get excited but it is our job to work and I am much happier if we are working now and not talking."
Hamilton said he was looking forward to a close battle with Vettel throughout the year.
"This year we have the best drivers at the front," said Hamilton. "Of course it would be great to have Fernando [Alonso of McLaren] up there but it doesn't look like it is going to happen any time soon.
"But Sebastian has four titles and he will continue for many years to come. I am really grateful to have that fight with him. It's great."
Hamilton defended Mercedes' decision to bring him in for a pit stop earlier than Vettel.
"My strategy was to stop on lap 19 and I think I stopped on lap 18. I had nothing left in my tyres.
"I was catching some back markers and the car started to slide around a lot and the gap was reducing behind me and I was like, 'Guys I have to come in now or I'm probably going to get overtaken on track.'
"I pitted not knowing the gap between the other cars. I came out behind some other cars which I couldn't get by. I said to the team I had to come in because the tyres were dead."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39398139
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Just google it: The student project that changed the world - BBC News
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2017-03-26
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Is Google's position as the world's leading search engine now unassailable?
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Business
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"Dad, what happens when you die?" "I don't know, son. Nobody knows for sure." "Why don't you ask Google?"
Of course, Google isn't clever enough to tell us whether there is life after death, but the word "google" does crop up in conversation more often than either "clever" or "death", according to researchers at the UK's University of Lancaster.
It took just two decades for Google to reach this cultural ubiquity, from its humble beginnings as a student project at Stanford University in California.
It is hard to remember just how bad search technology was before Google. In 1998, for example, if you typed "cars" into Lycos - then a leading search engine - you would get a results page filled with porn websites.
Why? Owners of porn websites inserted many mentions of popular search terms such as "cars" in tiny text or in white on a white background.
The Lycos algorithm saw many mentions of "cars", and concluded the page would be interesting to someone searching for "cars". In the Google era, this seems almost laughably simplistic.
But Google's founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were not, initially, interested in designing a better way to search.
Sergey Brin (L) and Larry Page (R) were trying to map the credibility of academic papers when they devised Google
Their Stanford project had a more scholarly motivation.
In academia, how often a published paper is cited is a measure of its credibility, and if it is cited by papers that themselves are cited many times, that bestows even more credibility.
Mr Page and Mr Brin realised that if they could find a way to analyse all the links on the nascent world wide web, they could rank the credibility of each web page in any given subject.
To do this, they first had to download the entire internet.
This caused some consternation. It gobbled up nearly half of Stanford's bandwidth. Irate webmasters showered the university with complaints that Google's crawler was overloading their servers.
But as Mr Page and Mr Brin refined their algorithm, it became clear they had discovered a vastly better way to search the web.
Porn websites with tiny text saying "cars cars cars" don't get many links from other websites that discuss cars. If you searched Google for "cars", its analysis would be likely to yield results about… cars.
Mr Page and Mr Brin quickly attracted investors, and Google went from student project to private company. It is now among the world's biggest, bringing in profits by the tens of billions.
But for the first few years, Mr Page and Mr Brin burned through money without knowing how or if they would make it back. They were not alone.
During the dotcom boom, shares in loss-making internet companies traded at absurd prices, in anticipation that they would eventually figure out viable business models.
Google found its model in 2001: pay-per-click advertising. Advertisers pay Google when someone clicks through to their website, having searched for specified terms. Google displays the highest-bidders' ads alongside its "organic" search results.
From an advertiser's perspective, the appeal is clear: you pay only when you reach people who have demonstrated an interest in your offering.
It is much more efficient than paying to advertise in a newspaper.
Newspapers have seen a significant decline in display advertising
Even if its readership matches your target demographic, inevitably most people who see your newspaper advert won't be interested in what you are selling.
No wonder newspaper advertising revenue has fallen off a cliff.
The media's scramble for new business models is one obvious economic impact of Google search.
But the invention of functional search technology has created value in many ways. A few years ago, McKinsey tried to list the most important.
One is timesaving. Studies suggest that googling is about three times as quick as finding information in a library, even discounting the time spent getting there.
Likewise, finding a business online is about three times faster than using a printed directory such as the Yellow Pages.
Traditional directories such as the Yellow Pages have struggled to compete with online search tools
McKinsey put the productivity gains of this into the hundreds of billions.
Another benefit is price transparency - economist jargon for being able to stand in a shop, take out your phone, google a product you're thinking of buying and seeing if it's available more cheaply elsewhere, then using that knowledge to haggle - annoying for the shop, helpful for the customer.
Then there are "long tail" effects. In physical shops, it makes no sense to display aisle after aisle of obscure products that will be bought only rarely - they focus on a limited range of bestsellers instead.
But a decent search facility makes it easy to find a needle in the product haystack, and that has enabled the rise of online shops offering more variety.
Customers with specific desires are more likely to find exactly what they want, rather than settling for the nearest thing available in the local supermarket. And entrepreneurs can launch niche products, more confident they will find a market.
This all sounds like excellent news for consumers and businesses.
50 Things That Made the Modern Economy highlights the inventions, ideas and innovations that have helped create the economic world.
Google dominates the search market, handling close to 90% of searches worldwide. Many businesses rely on ranking highly in its organic search results.
And Google constantly tweaks the algorithm that decides them.
Google gives general advice about how to do well, but it is not transparent about how it ranks results - not least because that would give away the information necessary to game the system. We would be back to searching for cars and getting porn.
Google explains how its search works in principle but guards the details of its all-important algorithms
You don't have to look far online (thanks, Google) to find business owners and search strategy consultants gnashing their teeth over the company's power to make or break them.
If Google thinks you are employing tactics it considers unacceptable, it will downgrade you.
One blogger complains that Google is "judge, jury and executioner".
"You get penalised on suspicion of breaking the rules, [and] you don't even know what the rules are," they say.
Trying to figure out how to please Google's algorithm is rather like trying to appease an omnipotent, capricious and ultimately unknowable god.
You may say as long as Google's top results are useful to searchers, it's tough luck on those who rank lower - and if those results stop being useful, then some other pair of students at Stanford will spot the gap in the market and dream up a better way. Right?
Maybe - or maybe not. Search was a competitive business in the late 1990s. But now, it may be a natural monopoly - in other words, an industry that is extremely hard for a second entrant to succeed in.
The reason? Among the best ways to improve the usefulness of search results is to analyse which links were ultimately clicked by people who previously performed the same search, as well as what the user has searched for before.
Google has far more of that data than anyone else. That suggests the company may continue to shape our access to knowledge for generations to come.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39129619
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Mary Berry's orange cake recipe - BBC Food
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2017-03-26
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Mary Berry's orange cake is super-easy to make and very light and fluffy. The perfect Mother's Day or birthday cake for someone with a zest for life!
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• None Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Lightly butter two loose-bottomed 20cm/8in sandwich tins and line the bases with baking paper.
• None Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and orange zest in a large mixing bowl and beat for 2 minutes, or until just blended. (An electric mixer is best for this, but you can beat by hand using a wooden spoon).
• None Divide the mixture evenly between the tins. Level the surface using a spatula or the back of a spoon.
• None Bake for 25 minutes, or until well risen and golden. The tops of the cakes should spring back when pressed lightly with a finger. Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then run a small palette knife or rounded butter knife around the edge of the tins and carefully turn the cakes out onto a wire rack. Peel off the paper and leave to cool completely.
• None Choose the cake with the best top, then put the other cake top-down onto a serving plate.
• None Beat together the filling ingredients and spread on one side of the cake, put the other cake on top (top upwards) and spread the rest of the orange cream on top. Decorate with spiralled orange zests.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/definitiveorangecake_72228?intc_type=promo&intc_location=news&intc_campaign=mothersdaycake&intc_linkname=bbcfood_fac_article1
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Bradley Wiggins: Ex-team Sky rider says mystery package controversy is horrible - BBC Sport
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2017-03-26
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Sir Bradley Wiggins says he will "shock a few people" when he has his say on an investigation into a "mystery package" delivered for him in 2011.
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Last updated on .From the section Cycling
Sir Bradley Wiggins says he will "shock a few people" when he has his say on an investigation into a "mystery package" delivered for him in 2011.
Wiggins, 36, said controversy over the package delivered while he was riding for Team Sky had been "horrible".
UK Anti-Doping is investigating doping claims but there is no suggestion either Wiggins or Team Sky broke rules.
"It's the worst thing to be accused of when you're a man of my integrity," Wiggins told Sky Sports' Soccer AM.
"It's been horrible. But fortunately there's an investigation and I obviously can't say too much because that investigation will run its course and then I'll have my say.
"There's a lot to say, and it's going to shock a few people."
Team Sky have admitted "mistakes were made" over the delivery of the package at the Criterium du Dauphine but deny breaking anti-doping rules.
However they have been unable to provide records to back up the claim by team boss Sir Dave Brailsford that Wiggins was given a legal decongestant.
The original allegation made to Ukad was that the package delivered by then-British Cycling coach Simon Cope to ex-Team Sky medic Dr Richard Freeman in 2011 contained anti-inflammatory drug triamcinolone.
Britain's most decorated Olympian, an asthma sufferer, was granted a TUE to take triamcinolone before the 2011 Tour de France, his 2012 Tour win and the 2013 Giro d'Italia.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS) has sought answers relating to the package and also Wiggins' use of therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs). MPs have also criticised the team's record-keeping.
Team Sky have said they are "confident" no wrongdoing will be found when the inquiry is concluded.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39391760
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England v Lithuania: Should Jermain Defoe start at Wembley? - BBC Sport
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2017-03-26
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Dan Walker is joined by Andy Cole and John Hartson to preview Sunday's internationals, including England v Lithuania, Northern Ireland v Norway, and Scotland v Slovenia.
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Dan Walker is joined by Andy Cole and John Hartson to preview Sunday's international matches, including England v Lithuania, Northern Ireland v Norway, and Scotland v Slovenia.
WORLD CUP QUALIFYING COVERAGE: BBC Radio 5 live and live text commentary on the BBC Sport website.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39393815
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Article 50: Is Whitehall ready for Brexit? - BBC News
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2017-03-26
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The UK's civil service could be facing its greatest challenge for a generation.
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Brexit
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If you walk down Whitehall in central London, you cannot escape reminders of wars fought and empires run from this small district on the north bank of the Thames. There are memorials to the fallen, statues of field marshals and even a Turkish cannon captured in some long-forgotten conflict.
Yet the civil service that once gloried in its global administrative stretch is now the smallest it has been since World War Two. And with the government launching the British state on its greatest administrative, economic and legal reform since it committed the nation to total war in 1939, there is a simple question: is Whitehall up for Brexit?
"It's been a scramble but the ducks are in a row," one Cabinet minister told me confidently.
For the scale of the challenge is immense.
Thousands of civil servants to be mobilised and retasked, thousands of laws and regulations to be rewritten or rejected and thousands of people trained and employed to do the many things currently carried out by the European Union.
This endeavour is not only about the two years of initial negotiations with 27 EU member states that will shortly begin, it is also about the mammoth preparations the UK must make for leaving the EU whatever the outcome of the negotiations.
"The challenge of Brexit has few, if any, parallels in its complexity," says Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet Secretary. "Its full implications and impact on the political, economic and social life of the country... will probably only become clear from the perspective of future decades."
Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet Secretary, believes Brexit has "few, if any, parallels in its complexity"
Perhaps the greatest challenge the civil service has faced was its utter lack of preparation for the British people voting out in the referendum last June. They were expressly forbidden from drawing up any plans by David Cameron's administration and have been playing catch up ever since.
Ministers say the civil service has responded well, creating two new government departments from a standing start. The Department for Exiting the EU (DExEU) has something north of 320 staff, the Department for International Trade, several thousand.
Both departments, along with the Foreign Office, have been given an extra £400m by the Treasury over the next four years to pay for their work on Brexit. There were some initial turf wars but officials now say there is greater singularity of purpose.
Much work has been done analysing options, quantifying markets and assessing laws. Huge volumes of paper have been landing on DExEU desks looking at the impact of Brexit on every aspect of the economy.
The aim is to allow David Davis, the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, to draw up an a la carte menu for the prime minister, setting out potential options and costs so that she can navigate the negotiations ahead.
For there is no doubt that these will be Theresa May's negotiations. The main negotiating team will include Mr Davis, his permanent secretary, Olly Robbins, and Sir Tim Barrow, the UK permanent representative to the EU.
Below them will be civil servants from all affected government departments, summoned in to work on specific "chapters" of the negotiations, on everything from fish to agriculture to financial services. They will be the team dealing with the European Commission negotiators on an almost daily basis.
Yet above them will be Mrs May who will have to drive the talks and make the big calls. But such is the size of the task that even the prime minister will struggle to retain her usual iron grip.
One minister told me: "This is the first big test to see if she can delegate. This is so big that No 10 cannot control it, they cannot be on top of all the detail."
Theresa May has made it clear that she will drive the UK's Brexit negotiations
Not all are so sanguine about the preparedness of Whitehall. The National Audit Office says in a new report that, while 1,000 new roles have been created in the civil service to deal with Brexit, a third remain unfilled and most of the new appointees have simply been transferred from other parts of government.
And the Institute for Government warns that departments such as the Home Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are underfunded, cannot afford more staff and will be forced to drop non-Brexit work.
Other insiders warn that, although much work has been done setting out options, less thought has been devoted to how the negotiations will progress themselves and how the government should organise itself. Officials talk of not knowing precisely for what they are preparing because Downing Street refuses to reveal its negotiating plans.
The process, inevitably, will begin with negotiations about the negotiations. Who will talk to whom, about what and in what order? The UK government wants to discuss its divorce from the EU at the same time as its future trade relationship. The EU says the two issues must remain separate.
Unstitching the UK from EU laws will be an intricate process
Then will come the exit agreement itself. Much will be visceral and hard-fought. Protecting the rights of EU nationals in the UK and vice versa sounds easy as both sides say they want this to be resolved early on and want to keep the status quo. But the hugely complex detail will be hard to agree.
Yet sorting that out might be easy compared to agreeing how much money, if any, the UK will owe the EU when it leaves. The government says nothing, the EU is hinting at £50bn. And all this is before any negotiations about any future trade arrangement between the UK and the EU and any transitional process that may be needed.
While this will generate a huge amount of work for some in the civil service, many other officials will be focused instead on preparing the UK for leaving the EU come what may.
Much of this will focus on Westminster. There is the Great Repeal Bill to be written and passed through Parliament to ensure that all EU law is transferred automatically into UK law the moment we leave. The aim is to ensure there is no legal chaos and to allow Parliament all the time it needs gradually to unstitch the UK from four decades of EU legislation.
This will be a massive piece of legislative work that will require officials to re-examine huge swathes of UK law. They will have to decide which bits of EU law to return to Westminster and which bits are devolved, a tricky issue in light of Holyrood's demand for a second independence referendum. The Institute for Government warns there might be a need for further 15 separate Brexit Bills.
The UK will have to forge a new trade relationship with both the EU and the WTO
In the short term, there are a huge number of separate parliamentary inquiries into Brexit - 55 in all - being carried out by various committees of MPs and peers. Ministers have to reply to each one within 60 days and officials are struggling to meet that deadline.
Then there is the process of the UK re-establishing its status at the World Trade Organization (WTO), something that will be needed even if we get a new trade deal with the EU.
The government hopes to transfer its current EU tariff rates into a new UK-specific schedule of trade commitments. But such a "copy and paste" arrangement will be complicated and will almost certainly face challenge from other WTO members. UK diplomats in Geneva, where the WTO is based, have a hard job of reassurance ahead of them.
And then there is also the process of creating new organisations that will fill the gaps in our national life left as the EU tide ebbs from our shores. Officials will need to set up new customs and immigration systems, neither of which will be simple or easy.
So, as the phoney war ends with the triggering of Article 50, Whitehall is facing perhaps its greatest challenge in a generation.
• None Brexit triggered: What happens now?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-uk-leaves-the-eu-39261204
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The man who quit heroin and became a fruit juice millionaire - BBC News
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2017-03-26
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Khalil Rafati beat his heroin and crack cocaine addiction and went on to become a health food millionaire.
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Business
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Khalil Rafati's life had been destroyed by drug addiction
As Khalil Rafati overdosed on heroin for the ninth time the paramedics frantically tried to save his life.
A drug addict who slept rough on the streets of Los Angeles, he eventually regained consciousness after the medical team used a defibrillator to give him an electric shock.
This was back in 2003, when Khalil was 33 years old. Also addicted to crack cocaine, he weighed just 109lb (49kg), and his skin was covered in ulcers.
"I was arrested more times than I can remember [for drug offences]," says Khalil. "I was completely messed up... I was always in so much pain that I couldn't sleep."
While Khalil had tried and failed to get clean before, he says that after his ninth overdose he finally realised that he had to change his life in order to save it. So he spent four months in a rehab centre - and has been drug-free ever since.
Throwing himself into healthy living, Khalil has been so successful in rebuilding his life that today he is the millionaire founder and owner of fashionable Californian health food business Sunlife Organics.
Khalil has transformed himself since 2003
With annual sales of more than $6m (£4.8m) from its six outlets - which combine juice bars and cafes, and also sell the firm's clothing line - and via its website, the company is preparing to expand to 16 other US states and into Japan.
Now aged 46 and accustomed to travelling by private jet, he's come a long way since his days of sleeping on the streets.
In fact, Khalil's life story could be the plot of a Hollywood movie.
Born in Ohio in the US Midwest, he is the son of a Polish Jewish mother and a Muslim father.
A troubled childhood saw him leave school without any qualifications, and get arrested for vandalism and shoplifting.
In 1992, aged 21, he moved to Los Angeles with dreams of becoming a movie star.
The business sells a range of fruit and vegetable juices
While the acting career never really took off, he started playing in local bands, and made a good living cleaning cars for Hollywood stars including Elizabeth Taylor and Jeff Bridges, and Guns N' Roses lead guitarist Slash.
However, he soon slid into drug addiction, and his life spiralled out of control. Eventually he was sleeping in cardboard boxes beside other junkies, and dealing drugs to help fund his own habit.
Then after that fateful ninth overdose Khalil's life completely changed for the better. After successfully quitting drugs he kept himself busy by juggling several jobs.
In addition to working at two rehab centres in Malibu he washed cars, walked dogs and did gardening work.
The company is due to expand to 16 other US states and into Japan
"I was able to save money," he says. "I worked hard, seven days a week, 16 hours a day."
Khalil also started to become obsessed with making his own vegetable and fruit juices after he met an old friend from Ohio.
"He was a little bit like a hippie, and started teaching me about vitamins, organic food, super food," says Khalil. "At that moment I was looking for anything that would make me feel better."
In 2007 Khalil rented a house and opened his own rehab centre, Riviera Recovery, for clients who would pay $10,000 a month to stay at the facility.
Khalil now treats himself to travelling by private jet
For these residents, Khalil would make exotic juice blends such as one he called Wolverine - a mix of banana, maca powder, royal jelly and pollen.
Eventually the reputation of these drinks spread beyond the building, with people calling in to buy them.
His old self was often arrested
Realising that there was enough demand to set up a separate business, in 2011 Khalil launched Sunlife Organics, together with his best friend and then-girlfriend.
Funding the business from savings, the first branch opened in Malibu. Khalil says it was an instant success, with sales of $1m in its first year.
Today the business employs more than 200 people across its six outlets. In addition to juices, it now sells a range of food and clothes, such as t-shirts and hoodies.
Rob Nazara, an analyst at Deutsche Bank in New York, says Khalil's story shows real strength of character. "No matter what the educational or professional background someone may have, the success of an entrepreneur is driven by grit, determination and ambition," he says.
Besides Sunlife Organics, Khalil still runs Riviera Recovery and owns a yoga studio in Malibu. He also made time to write his autobiography, I Forgot To Die, which was released in 2015.
"I don't consider myself super intelligent," says Khalil. "But I have a hunger for life, and put all of myself into something when I decide to do it."
Follow The Boss series editor Will Smale on Twitter @WillSmale1
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39339036
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Puerto Rico Open: Andrew Johnston in contention with 66 - BBC Sport
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2017-03-26
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England's Andrew Johnston moves two shots off the lead at the Puerto Rico Open after a six-under-par third round of 66.
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Last updated on .From the section Golf
Johnston is ranked number 100 in the world England's Andrew Johnston moved two shots off the lead at the Puerto Rico Open after a six-under-par third round of 66. The 28-year-old carded six birdies and did not drop a shot as he moved to 13 under at Coco Beach. American Chris Stroud leads on 15 under in a field that sees the top 25 players separated by just five strokes. Johnston, ranked 100 in the world, has one victory on the European Tour but is yet to win a PGA Tour title.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/39397137
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Cherry Healey: 'How being a single mum shattered my prejudices' - BBC News
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2017-03-26
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Single mothers have often been stigmatised and denounced. Cherry Healey explains why she's proud to be one.
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Magazine
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Single mothers have often been stigmatised and denounced. Cherry Healey explains why she's proud to be one.
I'm a single mum. I'm glad I live in an age and a place where it's OK to admit that.
We have moved on so much, so fast. Once, Margaret Thatcher deemed a single parent family so bad for a child that she felt it was better for the mother and child to be removed and placed within a religious group.
When I first heard that, I felt such unbelievable pain and heartbreak for all those young mothers that were pressured into following this advice.
And it would have had many ripples of pain for the family as a whole.
The judgement of others is a powerful thing and people will do unfathomable things to avoid bringing shame onto themselves and their families.
And this is the judgement that I want to see gone. Completely.
Yes we have progressed - but even today there is such an insipid, damaging view of single parents that we need to keep revisiting it until single parents feel free of useless, ignorant judgement - and instead receive respect as parents and support if they, and therefore their child, needs it.
Sadly, even in 2017 I felt the cold wind of judgement when I became a single parent. It's hard to know whether the judgement I felt comes from society or whether it comes from myself. I think it is a bit of both.
I hate to admit this, but I had a negative view of single mums before I became one. As I grew up I heard, read and watched society's depiction of The Single Mum, and it certainly wasn't positive.
Comedy sketches depicting single mums smoking cigarettes and drinking cider in the park while neglecting their babies, endless newspaper stories about single mothers on benefits draining the system, statements from politicians about the connection between "Broken Britain" and one-parent families - all fed my prejudice gremlin until one day, I too was a dreaded single mum. And I began to question everything I'd ever consumed about this subject.
I was happy to discover that I was the same person. I was a good parent as a married woman and I was a good parent as single mother.
Money was tighter but my ability to maintain order at home, get homework done on time and love my children had not changed.
Separating and re-establishing my life was difficult but I felt so hugely grateful that at least I was able to pay the bills thanks to my job - and it made me realise that there is so much stigma attached to being a single mother. At exactly the time when the single parent needs support and help, they are stigmatised and judged.
It also made me realise that for many of us there is a strong, not very flattering stereotype of The Single Mum. And so I wanted to break free from that and give a voice to some single parents that haven't been heard before.
And I'm glad to say that any prejudice, both conscious and subconscious, was gradually eroded.
I spoke to Kirsty, a single mother with a terminal illness, who smashes the traditionalist's argument that it's better to stay in an unhealthy marriage, regardless of the circumstances. Even though she was suffering and weak from cancer, she did not regret leaving her relationship and was happy that her daughter's environment was at least peaceful.
She acknowledges that it was hard caring for her daughter alone: "I definitely still have guilt over it. There are times at bedtime when she'll cry for her daddy."
But she still feels it was the right decision. She is now able to co-parent with her partner in a more harmonious way. Her message that together is not always best for the child, even in such a challenging situation, was powerful.
I also spoke to Meena, whose story moved me profoundly.
Knowing that she would be disowned by her family, Meena made the decision to leave her husband as the environment had become so toxic that social services had been involved.
"I come from an Asian background so divorce or separation - that's a no-no," she tells me.
"I was expected to remain in the marriage and make it work and just put up with it," she says.
"If I go to a family function I get looked at like a demon with two horns."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Chris Hart: 'They were all shocked when I said I was keeping the baby'
I was given, and desperately needed, a huge amount of emotional and logistical support from my family during my separation, and it's hard to image the impact the removal of that would have had on my mental state and therefore the indirect impact on my children.
Without financial, emotional or logistical support, Meena began a new life with her child, with the help of her flexible work shifts as a train driver.
The resilience was startling but the grace was profound. Even after being rejected by her family, at exactly the moment she and her daughter needed care, she was still working towards a reconciliation for the sake of her daughter's future.
When I think about the negative single-mother narrative in the 90s and subsequent reduction of support, and increase in single-mother stigma, it made me feel extremely angry that as a society we leave incredible mothers like Meena fighting against such a huge tide.
And for others, the term single parent felt like a strange fit. Rupa (not her real name), an accident and emergency consultant, had decided to go it alone and conceive via a sperm donor. There was nothing "broken" about it, a term often placed on to a single parent. It had been carefully considered and planned for.
Rupa recalls: "We met once before the first insemination, and then the next time he came round and donated, and then showed himself out while I was just chilling out in my own bedroom, playing music, and you know he left me a little pot on the stairs and showed himself out."
I spent the morning in her house watching her beautiful, happy daughter play and cuddle her mother.
Again, I struggled to understand why anyone would assume single mothers can't offer as much love and security to a child as a two-parent family.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39358725
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