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Chocolate reflection cake recipe - BBC Food
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2017-04-15
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A dazzling cake that's perfect for any celebration. The cake itself is easy to make, so you can put your efforts into the icing glaze.
Equipment: You will need 2 loose-bottomed cake tins, 20cm/8in wide.
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• None Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Line the base of two 20cm/8in loose-bottomed cake tins with baking paper and grease the sides with baking spread.
• None Sieve the cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the water and stir until you have a smooth paste. Add the remaining ingredients. Whisk together using an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy. Spoon into the two tins and level the tops.
• None Bake for 20–25 minutes, until well risen and coming away from the sides of the tins. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• None To make the icing, put the gelatine leaves in a shallow bowl of cold water for 5 minutes until soft.
• None Put the sugar, cocoa powder, cream and 125ml/4fl oz water into a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir until melted, then bring up to the boil and stir until smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.
• None Squeeze any liquid from the gelatine leaves and stir into the chocolate mixture until dissolved. Pour through a sieve into a bowl and leave to cool and thicken in the fridge for about an hour, until it reaches the consistency of thick mayonnaise.
• None Slice each cake in half horizonatally. Put one cake half on a wire rack and smooth a layer of whipped cream on top. Continue this process so you have four layers of cake and three layers of cream. Press the cakes down between each layer so the cream comes right to the edges and the cakes are level at the sides. Smooth around the edges with a palette knife so the excess cream very lightly covers the sides and gives a smooth edge.
• None Gently warm the apricot jam and brush lightly over the cake, covering the sides and top. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
• None Put about 100ml/3½fl oz of the icing in a heatproof bowl and gently melt over a pan of simmering water. Dip half of each strawberry in the melted icing. Put on baking paper to set.
• None Once the cake has finished cooling in the fridge, transfer to a wire cooling rack placed on a large baking tray to catch any excess glaze as you pour it over the cake. Pour the remaining icing over the cake and smooth over the top and sides. Be very careful doing this, you want a smooth shiny icing. Leave for an hour or so to set. Arrange the glazed strawberries around the bottom edge of the cake.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chocolate_reflection_23487?intc_type=promo&intc_location=news&intc_campaign=easterbaking&intc_linkname=bbcfood_fac_article1
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Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 Bournemouth - BBC Sport
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2017-04-15
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Tottenham continue their pursuit of Premier League leaders Chelsea with a dominant victory over Bournemouth.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Tottenham made it seven top-flight wins in succession for the first time since 1967 and continued their pursuit of leaders Chelsea with a dominant victory over Bournemouth.
The game was essentially won in a three-minute period in the first half in which Mousa Dembele fired Spurs ahead from close range following a corner before Son Heung-min doubled the lead with a darting run and neat finish.
Harry Kane, making his first start in a month, made sure of the three points with a low finish just minutes into the second half.
The strike makes the 23-year-old just the fourth player to score 20 Premier League goals in three consecutive seasons after Alan Shearer, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Thierry Henry.
Vincent Janssen capped off Spurs' afternoon by scoring just his second Premier League goal of the season in injury time, just minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Mauricio Pochettino's side are now four points behind Chelsea, who face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Bournemouth, who managed one shot on target, are now without a win in four matches and remain seven points above the bottom three with six games left to play.
With this win Tottenham surpassed the 70 points that gave them third place in 2015-16, during which they challenged for the Premier League trophy until their 36th fixture - a 2-2 draw at Chelsea.
The smart money remains on the Blues playing a more central role in extending Spurs' wait for a first title since 1961, especially if they win at United, but Pochettino's side are doing everything to capitalise on any potential slip-up.
This is a more mature, clinical and refined Tottenham side than 12 months ago, and this performance illustrated that perfectly.
From the start they pressed their opponents relentlessly and dominated possession before the goals came.
Dembele's was a simple but emphatic finish following Christian Eriksen's corner. Son showed speed and guile to score after receiving a pass from Kane, whose goal was the result of great tenacity in winning the ball from Simon Francis in the box.
The biggest cheer of the afternoon, though, was reserved for the contribution of Janssen, who followed up his own blocked shot to score his sixth goal in his 35th appearance of what has been a tough first season in English football.
Spurs have now scored the joint-most goals in the division, conceded the fewest and are hitting peak form at potentially just the right time.
They have also made White Hart Lane a fortress. This was their 12th victory in succession, making it their longest-ever winning streak on home soil in a single top-flight season.
Bournemouth looking over their shoulder
Bournemouth are now without a win in three, since last month's 2-0 win over Swansea which lifted them up to 11th.
This game was no barometer of their suitability for a possible relegation fight, simply because Tottenham were so good. But Eddie Howe's side were easily brushed aside, having now conceded three or more goals in 12 Premier League games.
They were second best in every department as Spurs bullied their defence, bossed midfield and denied Benik Afobe and Joshua King any sight of goal.
Their only shot on target came in the 74th minute, when Charlie Daniels' long-range effort gave Hugo Lloris the simplest of saves.
Their dismal afternoon was compounded when on-loan midfielder Jack Wilshere limped off injured following a tackle on Kane in his own box.
'The three points are very important to keep our dream.'
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino, speaking to BBC Sport: "I am proud of our players after that performance. We have to wait to see what happens.
"Harry Kane is a fantastic player - he is one of the best in England and it is fantastic he is fit again to help the team.
"Son is brilliant - he needed time to adapt his game but he is now fit and healthy and he is feeling really comfortable.
"I was happy for Vincent Janssen because I knew it was his only chance to score and it's important he feels the happiness when you score.
"At the end of the season when everyone is tired, we need everyone to have the right mental attitude and happiness helps. We now need everyone to rest and get ready for the next few games.
"The three points are very important to keep our dream."
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe, speaking to Sky Sports: "We know we need more. We've known all along.
"The danger is if everyone says, 'You're safe.' We've got to focus the players' minds that we're not."
Eriksen the league's top provider - the stats you need to know
• None Bournemouth posted a 31.31% possession figure in this game, their lowest ever in a Premier League game.
• None Spurs have scored the most (43) and conceded the fewest (eight) home goals in the Premier League this season.
• None Christian Eriksen now has more assists than any other player in the Premier League this season (12).
• None Son Heung-min has been directly involved in six goals in his past four Premier League games (five goals, one assist).
• None Harry Kane has provided five Premier League assists this season, his best-ever return in a top-flight campaign.
• None Vincent Janssen finally netted his first Premier League goal not to come from the penalty spot in his 24th appearance in the competition.
Tottenham await the result of Chelsea's game at Old Trafford and then face the Blues in the FA Cup semi-finals next weekend. They return to league action on Wednesday, 26 April at Crystal Palace.
Bournemouth have two big Premier League games to come this month - next Saturday's home game against Middlesbrough, followed seven days later by a trip to Sunderland.
• None Goal! Tottenham Hotspur 4, Bournemouth 0. Vincent Janssen (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal following a corner.
• None Attempt saved. Vincent Janssen (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Ben Davies with a cross.
• None Attempt blocked. Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Moussa Sissoko.
• None Attempt missed. Charlie Daniels (Bournemouth) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ryan Fraser.
• None Attempt blocked. Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Mousa Dembélé with a through ball.
• None Attempt missed. Joshua King (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Marc Pugh.
• None Attempt saved. Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jan Vertonghen. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39536679
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Southampton 0-3 Manchester City - BBC Sport
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2017-04-15
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Manchester City strengthen their hopes of a top-four Premier League finish as a slick second-half display sees off Southampton.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester City strengthened their hopes of a top-four Premier League finish as a slick second-half display saw off a subdued Southampton.
Injury-hit skipper Vincent Kompany headed David Silva's left-wing corner past keeper Fraser Forster's weak save for his first goal in 20 months.
Leroy Sane drilled in Kevin de Bruyne's pass after a quick counter, with Sergio Aguero's far-post header sealing it.
Pep Guardiola's side are third, seven points clear of fifth-placed Everton.
Mid-table Saints failed to create many chances against a City side well marshalled by Kompany, with Dusan Tadic shooting over before the break.
Claude Puel's side, who were attempting to win three successive league games for the first time under the Frenchman, remain in ninth place.
Follow all the post-match reaction from St Mary's
How would City's season have panned out had they had a fully fit Kompany playing regularly?
Many Blues fans would suggest their team would be much closer to leaders Chelsea - and, on the evidence of his performance against Southampton, it is hard to disagree.
City's talismanic captain has made just eight appearances in another campaign limited by niggling injuries, but returned at St Mary's with an imperious display.
While Kompany will grab the headlines for his goal, his work at the other end of the pitch - leadership, organisation and composure - is what the Blues have been lacking at times this season.
City's defensive resilience meant keeper Claudio Bravo - trusted again by Guardiola - barely had to make a save.
And it laid the platform for the visitors to cut Saints apart once Kompany, who marked his goal with an exuberant celebration, had made the breakthrough.
"I scored in front of the away fans and for me it was a great feeling," the Belgian said.
"I feel like I want to give so much but I am restrained at times. I keep positive and keep going no matter what."
Slick City looking good for top four?
Guardiola might have thought winning the Premier League during his first season in English football would be relatively straightforward after starting with seven successive wins.
Instead, the Spaniard goes into the top-flight run-in facing a tense wait to see if his team are good enough to finish in the top four.
If City play with this sort of defensive resilience, in conjunction with their already lethal attacking play, it will be hard to see either Everton or Manchester United overhauling them.
Once the visitors took a deserved lead, they looked resolute at the back and picked off Saints on the break with a clinical counter-attack to double their advantage.
De Bruyne led the charge as City broke quickly, expertly picking out Sane for the young German to drill low under Forster.
De Bruyne was also the architect for the third, clipping a right-wing cross to the far post for Aguero to secure City's first win in four away matches.
"This result is so important for our qualification for the Champions League," said Guardiola, whose side host neighbours United in their next league game.
"It will go to the last game for the Champions League. It will be so tough."
Southampton look almost certain to fall short of emulating last season's sixth-place finish as Puel's first campaign at the helm is petering out to a quiet conclusion.
Saints will need a remarkable finish to grab European qualification and, having already passed the 40-point mark deemed enough to avoid relegation, are well clear of the drop.
Their performance against City was indicative of a side with little to play for going into the final month of the season.
The home side only managed one effort on target, and Maya Yoshida's second-half header was easily stopped by Bravo.
"We simply did not play well enough, we were nervous with the ball," said Puel, who replaced Ronald Koeman last summer.
City's attentions are diverted away from the Champions League chase and onto the pursuit of silverware as they meet Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final next Sunday (15:00 BST).
Guardiola's side return to Premier League action when they host neighbours United on Thursday, 27 April (20:00).
Saints have a 10-day break before returning with a trip to leaders Chelsea on Tuesday, 25 April (19:45).
• None City have won 11 away games this season, more than they have in any other top-flight campaign.
• None Guardiola has made 100 changes to his Premier League starting line-ups this season, 15 more than any other manager.
• None Since his debut in August 2010, Silva has provided 64 Premier League assists - 13 more than any other player.
• None De Bruyne is the Premier League's leading assist maker this season, having set up 13 goals.
• None Sane has scored in three of his past four Premier League away games.
• None Aguero has scored in each of his past 12 Premier League appearances in the month of April
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola: "I missed Vincent Kompany a lot. He wins duels, he can find passes to help us, so hopefully he can be fit until the end of the season because he's important for us.
"With all the injured players, Gabriel Jesus, Ilkay Gundogan, we would have been stronger."
On whether City can catch the top two: "Tottenham are so strong. We saw again today that they are not going to drop points.
"Our performance away in that league was amazing this season. We dropped too many points at home.
"Look how strong Chelsea and Tottenham are at home. If you want to win the Premier League, you have to win at home to Middlesbrough and Southampton."
Southampton manager Claude Puel: "It's a disappointment because we can do better, we can create better opportunities.
"We did not have enough, we were not sufficient. It was not a good day for us, but congratulations to Manchester City."
• None Attempt blocked. Sofiane Boufal (Southampton) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Dusan Tadic.
• None Goal! Southampton 0, Manchester City 3. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) header from the left side of the six yard box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne with a cross.
• None Goal! Southampton 0, Manchester City 2. Leroy Sané (Manchester City) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne following a fast break.
• None Attempt blocked. Maya Yoshida (Southampton) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Dusan Tadic with a cross.
• None Attempt saved. Maya Yoshida (Southampton) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Dusan Tadic with a cross.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Delay in match Jesús Navas (Manchester City) because of an injury. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39536675
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What does all this bombing tell us about Trump? - BBC News
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2017-04-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Donald Trump has not only normalised American foreign policy, he has arguably made it more effective.
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US & Canada
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The mountains targeted are found in the Achin district of Nangarhar province
Donald Trump has not only normalised American foreign policy, he has arguably made it more effective.
With two high-profile, signal-sending bombing raids and a series of breathtaking policy reversals, President Trump has brought US foreign policy back in line with conventional thinking. But he has added to the equation a measure of force that gives Washington new clout.
When policy shifts so dramatically and with such little explanation, it can obviously shift again.
So we don't know how long the new positions will last. Nato could be back out of favour, Putin back in, simply with a couple of 140-character tweets.
But Donald Trump is a voracious consumer of cable television and the hunch is he will like the near-universal praise he's been getting on US talk shows this week.
There are clearly glaring inconsistencies in his new foreign policies - he bombs a Syrian air base because of the suffering of Syrian babies, but bans Syrian refugees from entering America.
There are pitfalls too. His switch on China appears largely based on a good rapport with Xi Jinping in Mar-a-Lago, but China still has interests which are not in sync with America's - its expansion in the South China Seas is just one.
But, as one Republican put it to me this week, Mr Trump has begun to know what he doesn't know. That's important. He has begun to understand that the world is more complicated than he thought.
You can laugh all you like at the sight of Mr Trump getting so publicly tutored on China, North Korea, the Export-Import bank and currency manipulation. Of course it was foolish to promise simple solutions to complex problems. But it's better to learn now how difficult those things are than never to learn at all.
His recent praise of Nato and rejection of Moscow immediately put this White House more in sync with European allies.
Europe has long believed that the real threat to global security comes from Russia, not China. That's not what millions of Mr Trump's voters believe. He will have to keep them in mind as he backs away from calling China a currency manipulator and slapping it with tariffs, as he had promised he would do in the campaign.
But the shifts do bring America back into the foreign policy mainstream.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. It felt like the sky was coming down, villagers told journalist Bilal Sarwary
The use of force, in Syria and Afghanistan, meanwhile, sends the message to America's adversaries that Mr Trump is not as war-averse as his predecessor.
The White House was delighted that Xi Jinping got to hear the news, over dessert in Mar-a-Lago, that the US had bombed Syria. They wanted him to get the message that there's a new sheriff in town - and ideally to pass that message on to their contacts in Pyongyang.
Those Tomahawks launched against the Shayrat air base didn't really do much to limit Syria's military capability, but they did send several effective signals to Syria and its friends.
First, using chemical weapons against civilians will have consequences. Second, this is a president who is prepared to use force fast and with no warning - Trump isn't paralysed by analysis which was the criticism of Barack Obama.
Third, and perhaps more critical, it gave Secretary of State Rex Tillerson a large stick to pack in his luggage for his trip to Moscow.
Mr Obama's secretary of state, John Kerry, negotiated over Syria for years with no leverage because the Russians knew his boss wouldn't sanction the use of force - not so anymore.
There was similar messaging printed on that massive bomb dropped on suspected Islamic State militants in Afghanistan this week. Dropping a big bomb is one thing, but you get a lot more attention when that bomb is rather gruesomely nicknamed "the mother of all bombs".
It wasn't just a bomb, it was the biggest conventional weapon ever used in combat. It was positively Trumpian.
That MOAB also sent signals. Mr Trump told his supporters during the campaign that his number one foreign policy priority was defeating so-called Islamic State. Some of those voters were not thrilled then that his first military intervention was in response to the suffering of Syrian children.
They are suspicious of America getting dragged into more Middle East conflicts that don't help US interests. Bombing IS was a reminder that Mr Trump is focused on what he calls America's number one national security challenge.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow
Ahead of the Easter weekend, with North Korea rumbling about a nuclear test, the Afghan strike may also have served as another reminder to Pyongyang that Mr Trump has big, bunker-busting weapons and will use them.
So, in two short weeks, and with a new and more professional team in the White House, Mr Trump has stabilised foreign policy. Allies will wait to see if the change lasts and who really speaks for the president. But for the moment there is a collective sigh of relief that American leadership may be back in more conventional hands.
Very soon, the focus will shift back to domestic policy and there Mr Trump has more of a challenge. He needs a legislative win fast. When Congress returns in a week, he will tackle health care, again, tax reform and he faces a government shutdown over America's debt limit. Failure on those will quickly shift the tone of the TV commentators.
A 300m (328yds) long network of tunnels and caves was destroyed
President Trump has no domestic equivalent of the confident, competent General H R McMaster, his new national security adviser.
The Republican party is divided and the conservative wing has already shown it is prepared to say no to the president. Democrats, having been berated on Twitter and on TV by Mr Trump, are now in no mood to abandon their angry liberal base and work with him.
Mr Trump has had a good couple of weeks. He has shown a capacity to learn and adapt as a result. He has begun to understand what he doesn't know and he has marginalised the more populist members of his team.
He wants successes. It is easier for him to get them on the world stage than at home - it would be ironic if America's isolationist president now decided to become a foreign policy president because that's where the wins are.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39602782
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Monkman. Goldman. Paxman: The University Challenge Final was something special
- BBC Three
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2017-04-15
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Check out this content on BBC Three.
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So there it is. Another year of plummy accents, eccentric knitwear and quick-fire trivia, over.
The final gong has sounded, the teams have clapped magnanimously at each other and the sheet of corrugated metal with twiddly lines on it has been handed over. But for many of us, this run of University Challenge did not end as we'd expected.
Paxman began with a slightly extended intro, outlining some of the numbers behind the show: hundreds of entrants, dozens of teams, thousands of questions. What his eyes normally communicate silently, his voice this time confirmed: It's been a long series.
After a couple of body-blows to Balliol, in which Paxman reminded them they'd already lost once to Wolfson in the quarters, it was on to the intros.
Yang. Chaudhri. The camera panned right and there he was, Eric Monkman, from Oakville, Canada - the wingtips of his baby blue collar poking out from beneath a striped blue/black crewneck. And like that, he was gone, turning to his left to introduce the wry, kind-eyed Paul Cosgrove, who you can tell enjoys his fleeting role in the major historical event that is #Monkmania.
On to Balliol. Potts. Lloyd. "And this is their captain..." Goldman. For many, tonight's pantomime villain. It's a thankless task, squaring off against Monkman. If you lose, you're the poor sap who ran up against Monkman in the 2016/17 final ("What was his name again? Nice young man, wore glasses?"). If you win, you dash the hopes of a nation.
Looks like this post is no longer available from its original source. It might've been taken down or had its privacy settings changed.
Then the quiz began. And for the first half or so it was a tussle for dominance. Balliol were first out of the blocks, answering the starter and all three bonuses for a perfect 25. But Monkman knows his operatic characters...
#UniversityChallenge
Question: What is it about #Monkman that makes him so irresistibly charming?
Answer: pic.twitter.com/YxB9GVFlyH — JOE (@JOE_co_uk) April 10, 2017
So Wolfson were soon back on track.
It carried on like this in a blistering display for much of the first half. James Joyce, chloroform, historical accords from map boundaries, famous duels. The teams tore through the Qs, with the two captains picking up most of the points - often before Paxman had finished reading from his card.
Around 10 minutes in, Wolfson were 20 ahead. But then something strange happened. Paxman got a few words into a question on the Iron Crown of Lombardy, and Monkman buzzed. But when the crash zoom had finished and his name had been called, you could tell he'd buzzed expecting the question to focus on something else, and he had to put his hands in the air and offer "It's housed... in Italy somewhere?"
Paxman was not impressed. "Yes, I'm afraid that is a completely useless answer," he scolded, and offered it up to Balliol, docking Wolfson five points.
"In Italy somewhere...I don't know, sorry" - exactly how I answered every question during my geography degree. I'm as clever as #Monkman 💪🏼 — Alice Kiernan (@kiernan_alice) April 10, 2017
A little later, a fiendish question left the entire studio silent. What is the total atomic number of the four elements that spell the word SNOB?
And then Monkman could be seen forbidding his players from buzzing.
Eventually Yang had a guess, and Monkman didn't look impressed.
From then, the contest felt somehow out of reach for Wolfson. They rallied a couple of times, edging ahead here and there, but in the latter third Balliol powered ahead, often answering correctly after Wolfson had buzzed in early and been wrong.
When the final final gong sounded, Balliol were a good 50 points ahead. Monkman's Wolfson team had lost.
But there was a twist in the tale, and a lovely coda to the series, when Paxman's disembodied voice explained that the final we'd just been watching had been filmed some time earlier. After establishing shots of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, we were suddenly in an oak-panelled interior, port glasses on the sideboard and the eight finalists mingling around none other than Professor Stephen Hawking.
After Professor Hawking congratulated the teams, and made a quip about bacteria, we were treated to perhaps the most touching moment of this series - our man Eric Monkman's broad, beaming smile as he took in the fact that he was in the presence of such a great mind.
We will miss you, Eric Monkman.
And finally, one more thank you: Thanks to these guys! What a great experience we shared. pic.twitter.com/RFucsRTSKV — Eric Monkman (@e_monkman) April 10, 2017
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/44c98162-4d3f-4ed1-a43f-affb085e061c?jujuhy&intc_type=promo&intc_location=news&intc_campaign=monkmania&intc_linkname=bbcthree_ent_article1
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Valtteri Bottas takes pole in Bahrain GP ahead of Lewis Hamilton - BBC Sport
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2017-04-15
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Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas took his first pole position, beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
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Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas took his first pole position by beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just 0.023 seconds at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Hamilton was ahead by 0.052secs after the first laps in the top-10 shootout but appeared to have a scrappy final lap, allowing Bottas to edge ahead.
It was Mercedes' first front-row lock-out of 2017, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel third, 0.478secs off the pace.
Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix is live on the BBC Sport website and radio 5 live.
Mercedes' advantage of nearly half a second was by far their biggest over Ferrari so far this season.
But an advantage in qualifying does not necessarily mean Mercedes' superiority will translate into the race on Sunday.
Mercedes have a qualifying engine mode that adds more extra power than their rivals, and Hamilton expects Ferrari to have an advantage on tyre usage in the heat.
For Bottas, who has replaced world champion Nico Rosberg following the German's retirement, it was his most convincing qualifying performance of the year, after trailing Hamilton by 0.2-0.3secs in the first two races.
Hamilton was quickest in the first two sessions and on their first runs in final qualifying, but was made to pay the price on his final lap for a slow middle sector, in which he lost 0.2secs, and then a mistake at the final corner, where he needed to correct a slide on entry.
How Bottas did it
It was an impressive performance by Bottas, especially after a dispiriting race in China last weekend where he spun behind the safety car and finished sixth.
The Finn appeared to adjust his approach to counter Hamilton's pace.
He had been quicker than Hamilton in the first two sectors of his first lap only for Hamilton to find extra pace in the third.
But, on his final lap, he took it easier in the first sector and then pushed harder in the next two and it made the difference.
What they said
Bottas, whose first pole came in his 82nd grand prix, said: "It took a few races but got it and hopefully it's the first of many.
"I just want to say a big thank you to the team. Both starting from the front row. We really focused on the evening conditions and got a lot of lap time out of the car.
"It's not an easy track to get anything right. It's quite technical. Easy to lock up and miss the apex. It is getting the lap together and it was a good enough balance for pole."
Hamilton said: "Big congratulations to Valtteri. He has been working so hard. Today he was just quicker, so hats off to him.
"The first lap was good. But it was so close. I was losing a bit of time in the first sector. The second lap was not as good. Just overall a little bit down. Overall, a great battle. That's how close qualifying should be. I'm generally happy with the job I did."
Vettel said: "I was generally very happy with how it went. We had some issues on Friday, just in terms of balance, Q2 was tight - just 0.05secs. I was very happy with my first lap but I was a bit down because 0.4secs was more than I expected. The last lap I tried a bit harder and it didn't work."
Ricciardo benefited from a poor performance by Raikkonen, struggling with his dreaded understeer, to pip the Finn by just 0.022secs and take the final spot on the second row.
The Australian also beat team-mate Max Verstappen, who was sixth, for the first time this season in qualifying - the Dutchman blaming Williams driver Felipe Massa for blocking him.
Massa was eighth, behind Renault's Nico Hulkenberg, with Haas driver Romain Grosjean and Hulkenberg's team-mate Jolyon Palmer 10th and in the top 10 for the first time this season, albeit 1.2secs off the German.
Fernando Alonso, who has been the centre of attention this weekend after Wednesday's news he will compete in the Indianapolis 500 instead of the Monaco Grand Prix, was 15th.
The Spaniard said he was on course for about 12th or 13th on the grid with a lap 0.5secs quicker than in first qualifying but suffered an engine failure towards the end of the lap.
Team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne was 0.3secs slower than the Spaniard and did not make it out of first qualifying. Vandoorne's weekend has been plagued by engine problems - he lost two MGU-Hs, the part of the hybrid system that recovers energy from the turbo, on Friday.
Both men are likely to suffer engine penalties later in the season as a result of Honda's reliability issues.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39609605
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Watch David Villa's incredible 50-yard goal for New York City FC - BBC Sport
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2017-04-15
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New York City striker David Villa scores an incredible 50-yard lob to help his side to a 2-0 victory over Philadelphia Union in the MLS.
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New York City striker David Villa scores an incredible 50-yard lob to help his side to a 2-0 victory over Philadelphia Union in the MLS.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39608537
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North Koreans celebrate leader amid tensions - BBC News
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2017-04-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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As Donald Trump weighs his options on North Korea, its citizens are preparing to sing and dance to the glory of the country's ruling family.
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Asia
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The North Korean capital is gearing up for celebrations
This week Pyongyang is a city in a frenzy of preparation.
At times the crowds of people thronging the sidewalks have turned the streets into a blaze of colour - the women, vivid explosions of rainbow hues in their traditional Korean dresses, and the men, although black or grey suited, carrying large artificial pink and red flowers.
These plastic, pom-pom like azaleas are used for waving in the ritualised adulation of their leader for which they are now so busy rehearsing.
Some sit in large groups waiting for instructions, others walk purposefully to or from the parade ground, chatting or laughing together along the streets of a capital city that is still largely devoid of traffic.
Antiquated army trucks with open tops trundle into town, in convoys dozens long, each packed with soldiers in uniform.
There's a relaxed, holiday feel: the female conscripts, separated in their own trucks, smiling and waving at passers-by, the male troops singing merrily in unison.
It gives this city the air of a giant film set for a war-time period costume drama.
But in the world's last truly totalitarian state, this is the reality.
Mass mobilisation is the defining essence of social and political life and there is no more important occasion for the expression of absolute fealty to the leader than The Day of the Sun.
Saturday marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of North Korea's long-dead founding president Kim Il-sung, although according to the country's constitution he remains formally in office.
The celebrations this year have taken on an added sense of symbolic meaning as they take place amid one of the periodic peaks in the tension that has so often defined the country's relationship with the outside world.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. People on the Pyongyang subway reveal how they feel about the country's nuclear tests
This isolated regime has shown a skilful knack of posting itself into the priority inbox of every US president who has come to office in recent years.
This time is no different, with an underground nuclear test shortly before the election, followed by a flurry of ballistic missile tests during the first few weeks of Mr Trump's presidency.
North Korea launched a missile into the Sea of Japan last week, according to South Korean reports
And like other presidents before him, Mr Trump appears to be exploring whether - instead of the failed diplomacy, debate and delay - a more direct, dramatic option might be available.
Whether he will, like others, finish his term having eventually decided that there is no realistic alternative remains to be seen.
But the fact that no US administration has yet been able to find a way to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions is a measure of the remarkable success of its game of brinkmanship with the outside world.
It is a classic study in military deterrence.
The regime's most powerful weapon has long been its conventional artillery.
Placed close to the border, it could cause significant damage and large loss of life in the South Korean capital within a matter of minutes.
For the government in Seoul it makes not just any offensive military option unthinkable, but complicates even defensive calculation.
In 2010, following an audacious and unprovoked torpedo attack on the South Korean warship the Cheonan - claiming the lives of 46 sailors and widely believed by the international community to have been carried out by the North - the South sat on its hands.
A few months later there was also no retaliation when North Korea shelled a South Korean island, hitting both military and civilian targets.
It is proof that the North has calculated all too well the costs of military engagement for its democratic, populous and economically vibrant neighbour.
The attack on the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan killed 46 South Korean sailors
Employing exactly the same logic, Pyongyang has been edging ever closer to possessing a deliverable nuclear arsenal with the aim of forcing its foes further afield into the same strategic bind.
The one thing that keeps the North Korean leadership awake at night is the thought of the B52 bombers stationed on the Pacific island of Guam.
And they have learned a very particular lesson from the US-led efforts to bring about regime change elsewhere in the world.
Iraq didn't have nuclear weapons and Libya had given its up.
Unless North Korea can be given the kind of guarantees that would make it feel secure enough - which seems unlikely in the short term - then any effort to negotiate away its nuclear programme is bound to fail.
So for now, the world is left with two stark choices.
Women dressed in traditional outfits attended the opening ceremony of a housing development on Thursday
Accept North Korea as a member of the nuclear-armed club, or try to force it to disarm, either through ever tougher sanctions or the incalculably risky option of military action.
As President Trump weighs these options, North Koreans are preparing to march, dance and sing to the glory of the country's ruling family this weekend.
And there is speculation that another nuclear test could be a matter of just days away.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39598699
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Bahrain Grand Prix: Sebastian Vettel sets pace in Bahrain practice - BBC Sport
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2017-04-15
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Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel ends fastest in second practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix, with Mercedes and Red Bull close behind.
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Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Coverage: Practice, qualifying and race on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra (second practice online only). Live text commentary, leaderboard and imagery on BBC Sport website and app.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was fastest in second practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix with the Mercedes and Red Bull teams close behind.
The German was only 0.041 seconds quicker than Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was third with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes behind him.
We have hopefully closed that gap a little bit
Vettel's session was interrupted when his car shut down out on the track as he began his race-simulation run.
But after managing to crawl back to the pits, Ferrari fixed the car and he was able to complete his work.
The four-time world champion said: "It was not the best day for us, we still need to improve the car. The car feels good. On one lap it was OK. Long run we might be quite a bit behind, but I am sure we can improve for tomorrow."
• None Relive all the action from the second practice session
It was the second technical problem for Ferrari, after Raikkonen broke down with a turbo overheating problem in the first session. The Finn needed a new internal combustion engine to be fitted as well ahead of the second session.
Hamilton's true pace was not seen - he had a messy session and set his lap when his tyres were older than his rivals'.
Hamilton aborted his first lap, was blocked by Renault's Nico Hulkenberg on the next and finally nailed a time on his third attempt, when the edge would have gone from the rubber.
He and Vettel are tied on points at the top of the championship after a win and a second place apiece in the first two races of the season in Australia and China.
The pattern of the season so far in qualifying has been Hamilton on pole by a small margin, with Vettel and Bottas second and third separated by thousandths of a second.
Conditions are very different in Bahrain compared to Melbourne and Shanghai and Hamilton is concerned that Ferrari will be faster in the desert as a result of what he expects to be their lighter demands on the tyres.
On the race-simulation runs, Hamilton appeared to have a small advantage over the other drivers on the super-soft tyres and the soft tyres - other than two very quick laps by Raikkonen on the softs right at the end of the session.
But Hamilton said he had been told Ferrari were quicker than Mercedes in race pace.
"I didn't get to finish my lap. I would hope I would be in amongst [the top three if I had]," he said.
"Ferrari's race pace is a couple of tenths faster than ours. We have to work out how we are going to close that gap.
"The car did not feel spectacular on the long run. There are some things we have to work on just with the tyres. But it could all be different on Sunday."
The stage seems set for a very close race between Mercedes and Ferrari, with Red Bull much closer on raw pace in the dry than they have been so far this season.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told BBC Sport the team had made some changes to the car and it had been "a positive day", especially for Ricciardo.
"We have hopefully closed that gap a little bit. Hopefully we can build on that through the weekend," he added.
Behind the big three, Hulkenberg was an impressive sixth fastest for Renault, ahead of Felipe Massa's Williams.
Hulkenberg's team-mate, Englishman Jolyon Palmer, was a second off the German in 13th place, just ahead of the McLaren of Fernando Alonso.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was only eighth fastest but on his qualifying simulation his floor was damaged by a small wing that had come off Bottas' Mercedes. The Dutchman looked relatively competitive on his race runs.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39601564
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Track Cycling World Championships: GB win silver in women's madison - BBC Sport
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2017-04-15
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Great Britain's Elinor Barker and Emily Nelson win silver in the inaugural women's World Championships madison.
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Great Britain's Elinor Barker and Emily Nelson win silver in the inaugural women's world championship madison after a fierce battle with Belgium's gold medallists Jolien D'Hoore and Lotte Kopecky.
Available to UK users only.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39608840
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World Championship 2017: Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Gary Wilson in first round - BBC Sport
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2017-04-15
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Ronnie O'Sullivan safely progresses to the second round of the World Championship by beating debutant Gary Wilson 10-7.
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Last updated on .From the section Snooker
Ronnie O'Sullivan reached the World Championship second round by beating Crucible debutant Gary Wilson 10-7.
The five-time champion went 5-1 up in Saturday's first session in Sheffield, including a 122 break, but former taxi driver Wilson then won three in a row.
On Sunday, O'Sullivan made 124, 83 and 74 to go 9-5 ahead, Wilson hitting back with 103 before succumbing.
O'Sullivan, who later launched an attack on World Snooker, celebrated by repeatedly punching the air.
"I have a responsibility to the fans who come to support me and they want to see me do well," he said, as he spoke to the media at the length for the first time since winning the Masters in January.
"It is important I keep focused, professional, keep myself out of trouble and do a job, it is about business.
"I love to play and it is extra special at the Crucible.
"The main thing is to be in the right frame of mind, the fans have supported me for 25 years, they will continue to support me but I feel loyalty towards them and they are the most important people in my career."
• None 'I won't be bullied or intimidated by World Snooker' - O'Sullivan
Former world number one O'Sullivan won the most recent of his five world titles in 2013.
This year, he is only third favourite behind Judd Trump and defending champion Mark Selby thanks to an inconsistent season in which he has reached four major finals but claimed just one title.
His victory at the Masters for a record seventh time was the last time he won consecutive matches in a tournament - a run of five events.
At Alexandra Palace, O'Sullivan spoke about "missing too many easy balls" and the problem was evident early on in Sheffield as he struggled to clinch frames when given an opportunity.
But the world number 12 improved significantly in the second session and next faces another former champion in Shaun Murphy or Chinese 17-year-old Yan Bingtao.
Wallsend player Wilson had shown his class in qualifying by making a maximum 147 break and seven further centuries.
The world number 59 did display his high-scoring ability with breaks of 103 and 100 and said he felt "comfortable" in his first appearance at the event.
He added: "In one way I am pleased. I did not give him it and he had to work for it.
"I felt if it got close, I had a chance of winning. It could have been closer earlier on and I was sat thinking it should be 8-8.
"You can't be too disappointed in your first time at the Crucible and I've shown what I am capable of."
In Sunday afternoon's other game, Kyren Wilson beat another Crucible first-timer, David Grace, 10-6.
Wilson - a beaten finalist in this season's Indian Open - stroked in 93 and 72 against the Yorkshireman, who performed well with breaks of 104 and 75.
And in the battle of the former champions, Peter Ebdon took the last two frames of Sunday's session - including the ninth on a re-spotted black - to trail Stuart Bingham 5-4.
In Sunday evening's two games Mark Allen took a 5-4 lead against Jimmy Robertson while Marco Fu fell 7-2 behind against Luca Brecel.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/39610178
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IAAF World Relays: Great Britain's 4x100m women's team withdraw - BBC Sport
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2017-04-15
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Great Britain's 4x100m women's relay team will not compete at the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas next week.
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Last updated on .From the section Athletics
Britain's 4x100m women's relay team will not compete at the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas next week.
British Athletics says the "precautionary decision" will allow the squad to recover from "minor" injuries before August's World Championships.
Olympic bronze medallists Daryll Neita and Desiree Henry have had hamstring and knee injuries respectively.
Fellow squad members Ashleigh Nelson and Imani Lansiquot have also had hamstring problems.
British Athletics performance director Neil Black said there was "no need to take any unnecessary risks" for the event, which takes place from 22-23 April.
He added: "All our decisions are made with a long-term view of having our top athletes fit and competing to win medals in front of a home crowd in London."
The top eight finishers in the 4x100m and 4x400m for both men and women in the Bahamas will earn automatic entry for the London 2017 World Championships.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/39609992
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South Sudan famine: How the UK delivers lifelines from the sky - BBC News
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2017-04-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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How the UK is tackling the complicated task of dropping much-needed sacks of food into South Sudan.
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Africa
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In the dusty, baking emptiness of Leer in South Sudan, bags of British food aid fall from the sky to relieve the hunger below.
It is here in the north of the country that the United Nations has declared a famine. It is here that the fighting between government and rebel forces has driven so many into hunger and homelessness. And it is here that UK aid is being carefully targeted from the air.
To watch these bags of cereal and pulses and food substitutes pour from the bellies of ageing Russian transport planes that have been hired by the aid agencies is to witness an absolute good. For without it, more people in this war-ravaged, hunger-stricken country in central Africa would starve to death.
I watched the Ilyushin planes lumber slowly into view alongside Priti Patel, the International Development Secretary, who had travelled many hours to see what impact the money she had authorised was having on the ground.
Despite the controversy over her £13bn aid budget, Ms Patel insisted that Britain's humanitarian spending gave it influence in the world.
UK International Development Secretary Priti Patel inspects aid sacks that have been dropped by plane
First the planes practise a low pass over the drop zone, marked by a large white cross. They make another wide circuit to let nearby villages know an aid delivery is on its way. And then, at around 300 metres above the ground, they begin to drop their cargoes.
Each plane can carry about 30 metric tonnes of aid, about 600 sacks. They make three passes, dropping 200 sacks each time. These are not parachute-born crates, just individual bags hurtling towards the ground. Like some dreadful game of pass-the-parcel, each sack is bagged seven times to stop it exploding on impact.
To watch this, to see the gleam of hope in the eyes of those waiting below, is a moving experience. For many of them, without this aid, they would be forced to live off what nuts, leaves and water lilies they can forage, none of which provides adequate nutrition.
"UK aid is providing a much-needed lifeline to people who have been persecuted, driven off their homes, forced to flee," Ms Patel told me. "The aid that we are providing right now is the difference between life and death."
Yet the problem is this. Each plane contains food enough for only 2,000 people a month. The cost of the planes is astronomic and there are only seven in the region that the World Food Programme can operate.
There is a scarcity of available food aid because there are so many other droughts in the region. Each drop has to be negotiated with local community leaders and armed groups, whose permission is needed to ensure that any fighting is put on hold. The hungry will come only if they feel safe.
Any food drop in a government-held area has to be matched by one in territory held by the rebels
The distribution centre on the ground - a temporary, pop-up affair - can exist only for a few days before the security risks become again too great.
Any food drop in a government-held area has to be matched by one in territory held by the rebels. The amount of aid has to be roughly equal in size to avoid accusations that the aid agencies are taking sides.
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In other words, this aid that falls from the sky may help people who are the hardest to reach in a severe humanitarian crisis. But it is expensive, complicated and, as aid workers repeatedly told me, not nearly enough.
There are three road corridors into South Sudan along which aid can travel by truck. And this can be more efficient. One truck alone can carry as much as a Russian transport plane.
Yet trucks have deal with checkpoints, fighting and simple banditry. And soon they will lose the roads when the rains come and render much of the country impassable. So there is, aid workers say, a race against time to build up aid dumps before the weather closes in.
Such is the reality of delivering British and other aid in the north. To the south, in the capital, Juba, the UK is funding much of South Sudan's only children's hospital - its medicines, its water tanks, its solar panels. Here doctors are seeing rising numbers of children with acute malnutrition. And inevitably they need more resources, above all more space.
Children in South Sudan are suffering from acute malnutrition
On the day we visited, in one ward alone, there were 43 children sharing 21 beds. I spoke to Rhoda, a 50-year-old woman who had brought in her granddaughter 10 days previously. Cecilia, only 18 months old, arrived severely malnourished. Her mother had died and Rhoda had no milk to feed her. But, she told me, Cecilia's fever and diarrhoea had abated after a few days of milk and porridge.
Further south, the problem is one of refugees. More than a million South Sudanese have fled the country to escape the fighting. We travelled to northern Uganda where on average 2,000 people are pouring over the border each day. Last week there was one 24-hour period when no fewer than 7,000 refugees came across.
Bidibidi refugee camp, across the border in Uganda, has quickly grown into the world's largest
Uganda - unusually - welcomes refugees and gives them a plot of land with shelter and access to services. Here millions of pounds of UK aid is being spent to provide some of the basic infrastructure. Yet here again the scale of the crisis outweighs the humanitarian response. Last August there was next to nothing at the main refugee settlement at Bidibidi. Now, it is the largest such settlement in the world, home to more than 270,000 people.
Clearly, the scale of the humanitarian challenge is huge and growing. But the aid agencies report that the United Nation emergency response for South Sudan is hugely underfunded, with some international donors showing reluctance to stump up the cash. So this is a crisis that many expect to get worse before it gets better.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39600613
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The rise of left-wing, anti-Trump fake news - BBC News
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2017-04-15
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Following the results of the US presidential race, has fake news from the left seen a surge in popularity?
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BBC Trending
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Since the US election presidential race, fact checking websites report what seems like an increase in anti-Trump, 'liberal fake news'.
The fact-checking site Snopes told BBC Trending radio that in the past week, for example, they have debunked many more anti-Republican party stories than pro-Republican ones.
One example of an incorrect story is the unflattering, digitally-manipulated image, which suggested that US President Donald Trump had diarrhoea during a recent golf outing.
It's hard to gather definitive data on the political bias in fake news stories, so the evidence for a rise in 'liberal fake news' is essentially anecdotal. But a recent study did effectively debunk the stereotype that fake news tends to be shared more by uneducated people or those with right-leaning politics, as compared to other groups.
"It [fake news] affects both the right and the left. It affects educated and uneducated. So the stereotypes of it being simply right-wing and simply uneducated are 100% not true," says Jeff Green, who is the CEO of Trade Desk, an internet advertising company that was recently commissioned by American TV channel CBS to investigate who is reading and sharing fake news online.
His company did this by initially putting out two fake news stories - one from the left which falsely stated police had raided a protestors camp at Standing Rock and burnt it down, and the other from a right-wing website about false claims there was a congressional plot to oust Donald Trump.
A left-wing fake story falsely claimed police had raided a protestors camp at Standing Rock and burnt it down
By using specialist software, the company's researchers then followed readers' online behaviour to get an idea of who and where they were.
"On the left if you're consuming fake news you're 34 times more likely than the general population to be a college graduate," says Green.
If you're on the right, he says, you're 18 times more likely than the general population to to be in the top 20 percent of income earners.
And the study revealed another disturbing trend: the more you consume fake news, the more likely you are to vote. It's "fascinating and frightening at the same time," says Green.
One of the reasons for the growth in liberal fake news is financial.
"Those people who generate this kind of fake news don't care about politics. They just care about generating clicks, and so sometimes they generate similar messages for the right and the left," says Filippo Menczer, a professor of Informatics and Computer Science at Indiana University who runs the fake news tracking site Hoaxy.
As for where the market for liberal fake news comes from, according to Claire Wardle, who is a research director at First Draft - a non-profit organisation which is looking for solutions around trust and truth in the digital age - the appetite stems from so-called confirmation bias.
"People like to share information that makes them feel good, " she says.
"Many people on the left right now are feeling overwhelmed and fearful and unsure of what's going to happen next. While they're scrolling through their information feeds at speed on small mobile phones their critical functions are not kicking in, and they're seeing information that makes them feel immediately connected with other people who think similarly to them. And without doing the usual checks that they would do, they're sharing and very quickly passing on similarly false and problematic content that we were seeing before the election."
"Check your sources," says Brooke Binkowski from fact-checking site Snopes
Brooke Binkowski, who is managing editor at Snopes website, warns newsreaders to stay aware of the emotions they feel when consuming content.
"If you are a newsreader or someone who likes reading news but you don't know immediately what may or may not be fake, ask yourself by reading the headline, what emotions do I feel? Am I really angry, scared, frustrated, do I want to share this to tell everybody what's going on? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then check your sources."
Correction 17 April 2017: A reference to Snopes finding that suggestions President Trump profited from the US missile strikes in Syria were false has been removed from this story. It found the claims unproven.
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.
NEXT STORY: US internet 'warriors' send racially charged symbols to France
The far-right online strategy in France is very different, Marine Le Pen's party says. WATCH: US internet 'warriors' send racially charged symbols to France
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-39592010
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Garth Crooks' team of the week: Mignolet, Kompany, Herrera, Barkley, Sane, Rashford - BBC Sport
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2017-04-16
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Which talented youngsters impressed Garth Crooks? And who is the Premier League's "most improved player"? It's Garth's Team of the Week.
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Manchester United did Chelsea's title rivals Tottenham a favour and kept up their own pursuit of the top four with a dominant win over the Premier League leaders.
Meanwhile, Manchester City strengthened their claim for Champions League qualification with a sublime second-half performance at Southampton.
No wonder players from those two clubs dominate my team of the week.
For the second consecutive week I have picked Simon Mignolet in my team. The Belgium international made a save that won the match against West Brom and prompted manager Jurgen Klopp to hug his players in sheer relief at a result that got him out of jail.
To be perfectly honest, Liverpool should have won this game comfortably. They dominated most elements of the match and should have scored at least one more, especially when Ben Foster became obsessed with joining the Albion attack in the final minutes as if he was going to somehow provide the equaliser.
Nevertheless it has been Mignolet who has proved to be Klopp's most valuable asset in the past couple of games.
Where has Jesus Navas' form suddenly come from? In the same way Victor Moses has found a new role starring as a wing-back, Navas seems to be doing equally well, but as a genuine full-back. Navas' pace has neutralised raids down City's right side, and in attack the Spaniard seems to have found a confidence to deliver decisive balls into areas I had never seen in his game before.
Pep Guardiola finding this position for Navas, not to mention invest his faith and time in the player, has proved to be quite an innovation.
It has given the team options and, with the introduction of a fit Vincent Kompany, managed to revolutionise City's back four.
How good was it to see Vincent Kompany back and among the goals? I have seldom met a player who is more impressive than the Manchester City captain.
When he scored his first goal for the club since his return from yet another injury, the delight of his team-mates and the travelling City fans was evident.
However, it was his defensive performance that was most impressive. I said a few weeks ago that if Kompany had been playing in City's game at Arsenal this month, Shkodran Mustafi would never have scored the Gunners' equalising header from a corner - such is the Belgian's all-round aerial power and general inspiration.
Arsenal got away without feeling the effects of Kompany's influence but Southampton did not. In fact, the Saints were blown away by City's performance, which was led by the Belgian defender. Great captain, great leader, great performance.
When a centre-back scores goals in three consecutive games you have to consider whether the defender is just going through a purple patch or has a genuine knack of scoring goals. I think with Phil Jagielka it's both.
The Everton defender is certainly going through a wonderful period of scoring goals and that is because he is good at it.
His goal in the win against Burnley was absolutely superb for two reasons. Firstly because, more often than not, he times his run to perfection and gets his head on the ball and, secondly, because of his desire.
The way Jagielka responded to the initial save by Burnley keeper Tom Heaton (goalline technology said it had gone in, by the way) was striker-like, while as a defender his ability to read situations at the back has stood him in good stead all his career. A top-class professional.
It's not often I start my comments by commending a referee but on this occasion I find myself compelled to congratulate Bobby Madley on a tremendous game at Old Trafford - and so should Marcos Rojo.
There is no doubt in my mind a less considerate official might have sent Rojo or Chelsea striker Diego Costa off. If either had received their marching orders for a little 'argy bargy' in the first half it would have destroyed what was a marvellous contest and first-class entertainment.
I must say Rojo won the battle of the warriors and, actually, it was fantastic to watch him and Costa battle it out - under the watchful eye of referee Madley, who orchestrated the affair beautifully.
This kid is going to be special. It has been a long time since I've seen a young lad look so promising. He is quick, direct, loves to take players on and scores goals. If you're a player with a bright future it doesn't get better than that.
It took a wonderful save from Fraser Forster to stop the Germany international from opening his account but the Southampton keeper was only delaying the inevitable.
The football played by Manchester City for their second goal was complete and utter bliss. From the moment Kevin de Bruyne (the king of the assists) won the ball in midfield, Sane was off like a hare, racing 40 yards to support De Bruyne, who provided him with the opportunity to score.
It takes guts, desire and fitness for a player to get into that position and offer alternatives for the man on the ball. That is what Sane now offers a Guardiola team who look better every time I see them. Pep is getting this team right.
It is not often a player finds himself on the front and back pages at the same time, but that is what Ross Barkley has had to cope with these past few days. However, the way the youngster has coped with some of society's excesses has been more than admirable.
Professional footballers dealing with the occasional confrontation from a member of the public, or a crass comment from a journalist who should know better, has been an occupational hazard for years. However, none of that seems to affect Barkley.
In fact, if his performance against Burnley was anything to go by, it seemed to energise the England international. His clearance off the line from a Michael Keane header was brilliant defending.
When his goal came - and it was his goal, and should not have been credited to Ben Mee for trying to do his job and block the shot - Barkley deserved it. Precisely why the experienced Mark Clattenburg had to caution the player for celebrating his goal with the fans, bearing in mind the week he's had, I don't know. It seemed grossly unfair.
Was Clattenburg so blithely unaware of the sheer thrill his goal and performance would have meant to Barkley under the circumstances? Well, for what it's worth, Barkley has shown himself to be a real professional, in the true sense of the word.
He is the sort player who looks like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, but Ander Herrera is capable of making life very difficult for his opponent.
When he was commissioned by manager Jose Mourinho to take care of Eden Hazard in the FA Cup tie at Stamford Bridge, it it ended very badly for Manchester United and in particular for Herrera, who was sent off. Not so at Old Trafford, where there were three massive points at stake.
Luck plays a part in most football matches and it could be argued Herrera had a large slice of it with the suspected handball that took the pace off an attempted Chelsea pass, allowing the Spaniard to produce a world-class through ball for Marcus Rashford to score.
His deflected second-half goal, which gave keeper Asmir Begovic no chance, was the final body blow for Chelsea - there was no way back for the Blues after that.
However, it was Herrera's dominance over Hazard that set the tone for United's victory. Not since Italy defender Claudio Gentile outwitted Brazil legend Zico at the 1982 World Cup have I seen a marker nullify a top-class player so completely.
Tottenham's win against Bournemouth was a walk in the park and it was Son Heung-min who led the Cherries by the nose. I must say the Lilywhites are playing some wonderful stuff at the moment but Bournemouth didn't help their cause one little bit.
There are a few players in the Tottenham set-up who have distinguished themselves this season but the most improved Premier League player in my opinion is Son. He was brilliant against Bournemouth and seldom lets Mauricio Pochettino down when called upon.
Another manager who had done a wonderful job is Bournemouth's Eddie Howe but he really must do something about his goals-against record. It doesn't help when your captain and arguably best defender cannot determine whether his team-mate had the last touch before letting the ball roll out for a corner. It was patently obvious the ball came off Harry Arter's boot. If Simon Francis thought he could kid referee Michael Oliver by letting the ball out of play then he made a big mistake.
But if that wasn't bad enough, Bournemouth had seven defenders marking five Tottenham attackers at the ensuing corner and the ease with which Mousa Dembele lost his markers to put Spurs in front was quite alarming.
From the moment Arnautovic hit the underside of the bar with a thunderous shot I knew he was in the mood to wreak havoc against Hull City. And so he did in a 3-1 win.
Arnautovic could have had a hat-trick but that did not matter because it was good to see one of the most gifted players in the league actually fancying it.
He seemed to be involved in everything Stoke did and when Xherdan Shaqiri is also on fire, watching the Potters is an absolute delight.
The ball from Arnautovic to Jonathan Walters, who eventually provided the cross for Peter Crouch to score, was simply wonderful.
I've seen lots of gifted players in the candy-red-and-white-striped shirt of Stoke over the years and Arnautovic must rank among the best of them. But sadly we just don't see enough of what he has to offer.
This lad absolutely ran Chelsea ragged. I have not seen a single player this season give David Luiz and the entire Chelsea defence such a run-around.
I have spoken before about how Manchester United must think long and hard about replacing Zlatan Ibrahimovic but I think after their game against Chelsea they don't have to be so concerned.
Rumours are rife about Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann, and others, joining the ranks at Old Trafford, and that makes sense. But United have a special talent on their hands in Rashford, and they must handle him with care.
To see this young man look so comfortable on one of the biggest stages in the world was one thing, but to see the United centre-forward destroy a world-class centre-back was something entirely different.
What is even better is that Rashford is English.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39617394
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Lewis Hamilton happy for 'exceptional' Valtteri Bottas after Bahrain pole - BBC Sport
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2017-04-16
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Lewis Hamilton was "genuinely happy" to see Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas score his first pole at the Bahrain GP.
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Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton said he was "genuinely happy" to see Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas score his first pole at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Finn, brought in by Mercedes this year as the replacement for retired world champion Nico Rosberg, beat Hamilton by just 0.023 seconds.
"He is a great guy and it is his first pole so he will be struggling to sleep tonight through excitement."
Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix is live on the BBC Sport website and radio 5 live.
Bottas' lap brought to an end Hamilton's run of six consecutive poles dating back to last year's US Grand Prix.
"I've had a decent run," Hamilton said. "I'm very happy with what I've had.
"I'm genuinely very happy for Valtteri. He has done a fantastic job, been inching away at it bit by bit. He did a better job today.
"It could be his first win, and if it's not he will get a win. He's an exceptional driver.
"The first sector was my weak point but the second and third were very good. It wasn't terrible. It was very close, only a quarter of a tenth so I can't be too angry."
Hamilton added: "There's going to be lots of ups and downs throughout the year but Valtteri's definitely keeping me on my toes. He's getting stronger and stronger.
"I know how special it is to have your first pole position. It is just amazing. You dream of it as a kid and I know that he will be enjoying it.
"But obviously I will try my hardest to win the race."
Bottas has bounced back from a difficult race in China last weekend, in which he spun while warming his tyres behind the safety car and finished sixth as Hamilton won.
"It's always nice to have a good result whether you've had a good or bad weekend before but for sure if you've had a bit of a struggle in the last race it's always nice to start the weekend in a good way," Bottas said.
"The race is what matters but it's good. I'd rather be on pole than anything less, so let's see.
"There is no point to start dreaming about anything."
Hamilton fears the pace of the Ferraris in the race, with Sebastian Vettel - who is leading the championship jointly with Hamilton - starting third.
"Ferrari, in their race pace, they are very quick," Hamilton said.
Vettel added: "It's a long race, tyre management will be crucial conditions will be a bit different and a lot of things can change around.
"We were a little bit further back than we hoped. We should have a good car in the race and take it from there."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39611115
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Why some Brits are opting for Belgian citizenship - BBC News
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2017-04-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Some of the 25,000 British people living in Belgium are applying for its nationality.
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Brexit
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Brussels is gripped with gossip about the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.
The rights of British citizens living there and elsewhere are still to be decided, but a handful of the 25,000 British people living in Belgium do not want to wait for the outcome and are applying for citizenship in their adopted home.
In her house in a smart Brussels suburb, British-born business consultant Glynis Whiting brandished her stiff, shiny, new Belgian passport.
"I went through customs in Germany with it recently and I thought: 'This is me stating that I am a slightly different person than I was,'" she told me.
A resident of Belgium for two decades, she applied for Belgian citizenship before the UK's referendum on membership of the EU.
She described it as her insurance policy.
"If the UK had voted to leave it would have been essential for me to stay in Europe with no worries," she explained.
"If the UK had voted to stay then it was a vote of confidence in my now home country."
The application for Belgian citizenship is made at a local level
It was relatively easy for Glynis to meet the conditions laid down by the Belgian government: five years of residence, proof of economic integration such as payments into the social security system, and the ability to speak one of the national languages of French, Dutch or German.
Her only mistake was failing to read the small-print on the application form, which specifies that copies of birth certificates must be less than three months old.
It all cost 200 euros (£170) plus a translator's fee.
Applications are made at the level of the commune, the branch of local government that plays a big part in any Belgian resident's official life.
Staff at the town hall in Ms Whiting's neighbourhood of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert were bemused but welcoming, she said.
The neighbouring district of Ixelles is assessing 50 applications from Brits and there have been another 300 requests for information.
Local councillor, Delphine Bourgeois, said interest has come in two distinct waves: immediately after the referendum, and the days before and after the delivery of Theresa May's letter that triggered the official start of the Brexit process.
Eleven cases are being processed in the suburb of Forest and 48 people have applied to the commune that covers the Brussels city centre.
This suggests there is a steady stream of British people adopting Belgian nationality, but not a stampede.
Just over a thousand UK citizens currently work for the EU Commission
Questions and rumours abound in the expat community, from which commune has the most relaxed attitude concerning paperwork to whether the police inspect bedrooms to check that couples are definitely married.
To help expats navigate the system, the British Brussels Community Association is planning a series of workshops.
But becoming Belgian is not an option for some of the UK nationals employed in the EU institutions, such as the bloc's executive arm, the European Commission.
Many of the Commission's 1023 British staff pay their tax directly into the EU budget which means they may not have contributed enough to the Belgian state coffers, for example.
Then there are the EU agencies' own regulations.
A letter from a British official, circulating among the European civil service trade unions, is calling on the EU Commission to clarify whether it will apply or ignore the paragraph of the staff handbook that specifies that only citizens of an EU member state can be employed by the organisation.
EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said all EU employees would be treated "as Europeans"
"With a snap of a finger, the commission could give certainty to British colleagues," said Michael Ashbrook of Solidarity, Independence, Democracy (SID), a trade union representing employees of EU institutions and agencies.
The European Commission President, Jean Claude Juncker, wrote to staff on the day after the referendum, saying that all employees would be treated "as Europeans" regardless of their nationality.
His spokesman said further details will emerge during the negotiation of the UK's departure.
The Brexit process gives hope to some British expats, such as Jason Phaetos, who runs the city's only Cornish pasty stall.
"I've asked a few people about how to get Belgian papers but [the EU and the UK] have got to come to some sort of arrangement so I'm not too worried about it at the moment," he told me.
And does he know of anyone who has left Belgium, fearful for the their future after the referendum?
"Only a couple. They supported Brexit. They moved back England with big smiles on their faces."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-uk-leaves-the-eu-39590751
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World Track Cycling Championships: Elinor Barker wins world points race gold - BBC Sport
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2017-04-16
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Elinor Barker wins Britain's second gold medal of the Track Cycling World Championships with victory in the women's points race.
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Elinor Barker won Great Britain's second gold of the Track Cycling World Championships in Hong Kong with victory in the women's 25km points race.
Barker, who has also won silver medals in the madison and scratch races at the championships, produced a stunning late burst to pip America's Sarah Hammer.
The 22-year-old gained two laps on the field to win with 59 points from Hammer (51) and Dutch rider Kirsten Wild (35).
The team have won five medals in total, with the other coming earlier in the week with Chris Latham's bronze in the men's scratch race, to finish fourth on the medal table - Australia led the way with three golds in their haul of 11.
It is a first individual title for Wales' Barker, who won team pursuit gold medals at both the 2013 and 2014 Worlds and the Rio Olympics in 2016.
"I'm incredibly happy," she told BBC Sport. "Until the last lap it was looking like another silver. I'm so happy it was a gold.
"Straight after the Olympics I told my coach I wanted to win the points races and I was backed.
She rode a near-perfect race, teaming up with Hammer, after winning the fourth of 10 intermediate sprints, to gain a lap midway through the 100-lap race that earned both riders 20 points and moved Barker to the top of the standings.
Barker then consistently picked up points in the following sprints that came every 10 laps to strengthen her position.
However, Hammer attacked with 29 laps of the race remaining and managed to gain another lap and pick up 20 points to put her on 51, with Barker on 39 and only 10 points available for the final sprint.
With around 15 laps remaining, Barker rode clear of the peloton in her quest to lap the field but the initial support she received from Wild waivered as the Dutch rider knew she had no chance of winning the title.
But Barker's aggression paid off as she raced around the velodrome and caught the bunch with six laps to go to pick up 20 points and lead on 59.
She still had to be watchful because a victory for Hammer in the final sprint could have been enough to win the title, but the American did not have the legs to contest it.
Meanwhile, Katy Marchant went out of the keirin in the first round repechage as Germany's nine-time world champion Kristina Vogel won her third title.
Senior academy rider Joe Truman set a personal best time of one minute, 01.429 seconds to finish 11th in the kilo. Francois Pervis of France won event for a fourth time.
France also won the men's madison with Britain's Mark Stewart and Ollie Wood one of three pairs withdrawn after losing three laps on the field in the 200-lap race.
"It means the world to her. She said eight months ago she wanted to go for the points race and they put the plan in place.
"She hadn't scored in the first three sprints but she won the fourth, looked behind her and saw she had a gap and that Hammer was going with her.
"El had obviosuly done her research and saw she had a good rider going with her. Hammer is renowned in the cycling world as having the ability to win lots of different races so it's great for El to beat her."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39613095
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World Championship 2017: Mark Selby beats Fergal O'Brien 10-2 in opener - BBC Sport
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2017-04-16
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Champion Mark Selby hammers Fergal O'Brien 10-2 on the opening day of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.
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Last updated on .From the section Snooker
Defending champion Mark Selby reached the second round of the World Championship by thrashing Fergal O'Brien 10-2 at the Crucible Theatre.
Leicester's Selby, who beat Ding Junhui in last year's final, looked on course for a whitewash by going 8-0 ahead.
Irishman O'Brien claimed the ninth and 11th to avoid becoming only the second player to exit without winning a frame, but Selby wrapped up the match.
He will face either Wales' Ryan Day or China's Xiao Guodong in the next round.
Selby has enjoyed a stellar season - claiming four ranking titles, including this month's China Open, though no player has followed that by winning the world title in the same season.
The world number one made top breaks of 92, 77 and 66 as he began his attempt to win his third title at the Sheffield venue, which is holding the event for a 40th year.
"I'm very happy to get through and happy with the scoreline but my performance could have been better," Selby said. "I was not killing enough frames off in the first visit and would have liked to have capitalised on them.
"I would like to win every tournament I play in. I am confident and I am playing well enough.
"Even if I don't play well, I have a never-say-die attitude and you have to scrape me off the table.
"I was gutted not to go 9-0 because I know the history that there has only been one whitewash here. I was devastated to go in after the first session at 8-1."
Having made light work of O'Brien, Selby has almost a week off, returning to action next Saturday.
Dubliner O'Brien came through qualifying by beating David Gilbert in a final-frame decider - the longest frame in snooker history, timed at two hours, three minutes and 41 seconds.
But he struggled badly in the first-round encounter, managing a high break of just 32, although he avoided the ignominy of joining Eddie Charlton - who lost 10-0 to John Parrott in 1992 - as the only players not to win a frame at the championship.
He has now lost six successive meetings against Selby, claiming just four frames in a run stretching back to 2006.
"When I won my first frame, it was good because the crowd were so supportive and willing me not to get the whitewash," said O'Brien.
In an all-Scottish tie, qualifier Stephen Maguire claimed eight frames in a row to trounce Anthony McGill 10-2.
Maguire, who has won five ranking titles, has fallen to 24th in the world but was in good scoring form, compiling breaks of 97, 66 and 60 to go through.
Meanwhile, five-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was pegged back to a 5-4 lead over debutant Gary Wilson.
Former taxi driver Wilson fell 5-1 behind but took the last three frames of the session, including the ninth having needed snookers.
On the other table, Kyren Wilson leads 5-4 against Crucible first-timer David Grace.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/39609089
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Can Donald Trump's Arab honeymoon last? - BBC News
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2017-04-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Donald Trump is riding high in much of the Arab world's eyes. So what is behind this and will it last?
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Middle East
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Mr Trump has been warm towards Egypt's president, after relations cooled under President Obama
They're calling him "Abu Ivanka al-Amriki" - "Father of Ivanka, the American".
From Cairo to Qatar, the US presidential candidate once derided as impulsive, an Islamophobe and a misogynist appears to have turned into the Arab world's most popular US president since George H W Bush led the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991.
Today, Donald Trump is riding high in much of the Arab world's eyes. So what is behind this and will it last?
Ask anyone in the Arab world what they think of former President Barack Obama and most will tell you that his eight years in office were a massive disappointment, at least as far as the Middle East is concerned.
It started with Mr Obama's 2009 Cairo speech, entitled "A New Beginning".
This was supposed to set America on a path to new and better relations with the Arab world. Expectations were raised to unrealistically high levels and disappointment swiftly ensued.
In his 2009 speech, Barack Obama imagined Muslim and Western democrats working together
The Arab world watched the Syrian war spiral out of control, a presidential "red line" get crossed with impunity when chemical weapons were fired at civilians outside Damascus, and no tangible progress made on a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal.
Worst of all, in Gulf Arab eyes, Mr Obama was seen as being soft on Iran, fuelling a suspicion that Washington was preparing to downgrade its Gulf Arab ties.
"People on the [Arab] street got sick and tired of Obama," says Mustafa Alani, director of the security and defence department at the Gulf Research Centre.
"During his time, we witnessed the rise of [so-called Islamic State], the entry of Russia into the region and the aggressive expansionism of Iran across the Middle East."
Donald Trump is already well known in the Gulf for his business interests, like this golf course in Dubai
Enter Mr Trump. A man who, as one of his first acts in office, tried to ban visitors from several Muslim-majority countries, none of which have ever attacked the United States.
No matter. This seems to have been largely overlooked in the gushing praise being heaped on the president for both talking tough and acting tough when it comes to Syria.
One hashtag doing the rounds on social media even reads "We love you Trump".
What people admire is what they see as his willingness to act on his convictions, in contrast to how Mr Obama was perceived by many in the region - perhaps unfairly - as weak, indecisive and not really interested in the Middle East.
The US missile attack on a Syrian airbase was broadly welcomed in the Arab world
Behind the scenes and in the corridors of power in several Arab capitals, there is enormous relief that a new team is in the White House.
On his recent visit to Washington, Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi was given a red carpet welcome, effusive praise from Mr Trump and little mention made of the mounting human rights abuses being committed by his government in the name of national security.
In Yemen, the Obama administration was so appalled by the civilian casualties caused by faulty targeting from Saudi-led air strikes that it rowed back on US military support for Riyadh's coalition battling the rebel Houthi movement.
The Trump administration has reversed this.
In Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, two countries about whose human rights record the Obama administration had concerns, the White House has strengthened ties.
Earlier this year, President Trump's newly appointed CIA Director, Mike Pompeo, was given a warm welcome in both countries' capitals.
And on Iran, where Egyptian, Jordanian and Gulf Arab rulers all feared that the Obama administration was turning a blind eye to what they saw as Iranian expansionism for the sake of the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, the Trump administration has reassured them with its hostile rhetoric towards Tehran.
Mr Trump's stance on Israeli settlements and Jerusalem though has angered Palestinians
But approval for President Trump is far from universal.
Writing in Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National in February, the president of the Arab American Institute, James Zogby, complained of what he called "ham-fisted anti-Muslim rhetoric and policies that have caused [IS], al-Qaeda and the Iranian leader to thank him".
What the Arab world wanted, he wrote, was a relationship with a US partner who would work with them to ensure regional stability.
Mr Alani told the BBC that while President Trump was certainly riding high on the back of the recent US missile strike on a Syrian air force base, there was still huge uncertainty in the region about his future intentions and what he expected from Arab leaders in return for US support.
"What will he demand from us in return? Will it be money? Will it be physical participation in military or other operations?" he asked.
"We can agree [with Washington] on joint aims for the region, but we may still have differences on how to get there."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39581911
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Chelsea will be nervous after Spurs' winning run - Frank Lampard - BBC Sport
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2017-04-16
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Tottenham's impressive form in pursuit of Chelsea will make the Premier League leaders nervous, according to Blues legend Frank Lampard.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Tottenham's impressive form in pursuit of Chelsea will make the Premier League leaders nervous, according to Stamford Bridge legend Frank Lampard.
Spurs beat Bournemouth for a seventh straight league win and moved to within four points of Chelsea before the Blues meet Manchester United on Sunday.
"Chelsea are very aware that Spurs are there and it'll be a tough game for them tomorrow," Lampard told BBC Sport.
"There will be some nervousness but so there should be."
Lampard was speaking to BBC Final Score and will be a part of the analysis team on Match of the Day on Saturday.
Tottenham were eventual champions Leicester's nearest rivals for much of last season, but fell away, collecting only two points from their final four games and ending below north London rivals Arsenal in third.
Speaking after Tottenham's 4-0 win over the Cherries, boss Mauricio Pochettino insisted his side had "improved a lot" since 12 months ago and were ready for the scrutiny and pressure of a close-fought title run-in.
"That was a very bad period at the end of last season," said the Argentine.
"We expended a lot of energy fighting against Leicester, against Chelsea, against the media.
"We fought against everyone. But now we are focusing on fighting our opponents when we play.
"From the beginning of the season that was our chance to improve our mentality, our belief, and I think you can see the group and the team have improved."
Chelsea will restore their advantage to seven points with only six games to play if they beat Manchester United and former manager Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39610038
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Ronnie O'Sullivan: I won't be bullied or intimidated by game's authorities - BBC Sport
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2017-04-16
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An emotional Ronnie O'Sullivan attacks snooker's authorities for "threatening" language and says he will not be "bullied".
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An emotional Ronnie O'Sullivan has attacked snooker authorities for using "threatening" language and said he will not be "bullied" by them.
The five-time world champion is angry at a disciplinary letter sent to him.
After beating Gary Wilson in the first round of the World Championship, O'Sullivan said: "I phoned [World Snooker chairman] Barry Hearn four weeks ago and told him I am done with you and your board.
"A friend told me to let the lawyers deal with it. I won't get involved anymore because I am not being bullied."
Since victory at the Masters in January, five-time world champion O'Sullivan has only replied to questions by the media with one or two-word answers, and has also sung an Oasis song in reply, and on another occasion responded as a 'robot' in protest at his perceived mistreatment by the sport's authorities.
If I did not have good lawyers, I would probably have walked away because I am too old to be dealing with things like that
That grievance seemingly dates to an incident during his record-breaking seventh Masters triumph at Alexandra Palace, when he publicly criticised a referee and swore at a photographer.
World Snooker, the commercial arm of the sport, referred O'Sullivan's comments to governing body the WPBSA, which ultimately took no action as it accepted his explanation of the incidents.
However, O'Sullivan was sent a letter by the WPBSA about his behaviour and warned he could face further sanctions including a fine. He responded by saying that repeated disciplinary action could cause him to reduce his playing time and media commitments, among other things.
In five events since then, O'Sullivan has failed to win consecutive matches.
Explaining his behaviour, the Englishman said: "I have no problems with the press. Sometimes I say things I should not say, I get myself into hot bother, and I get a letter through saying I need to respond in 14 days - a day before a tournament.
"It messed up my last three or four tournaments. I did not really win a match and it is not fair on the fans or those who invested in me.
"I phoned Barry Hearn four weeks ago and told him I am done with you and your board of people. A friend of mine told me to let the lawyers deal with it. I won't get involved anymore because I am not being bullied. I am not letting people do that to me ever again.
"I just want to play and have fun. I like Barry but I am not being intimidated or bullied anymore. The language can be quite threatening and intimidating in some of these letters. It is very unsettling.
"To go in with all that on my head, having to see lawyers and having to fight off something I feel I should not have to, they pushed me too far.
"If I did not have good lawyers, I would probably have walked away because I am too old to be dealing with things like that."
World Snooker said it was unwilling to comment.
"We had no idea whether Ronnie would show up and, when he did, he was visibly emotional. Given he has chosen not to engage with the media since the Masters other than through robot impressions and Oasis songs, I didn't feel there was any alternative but to challenge him.
I have heard Ronnie threaten to retire and talk of falling out of love with the game on so many occasions that you no longer bat an eyelid when he does so. But this felt different - his voice was cracking with emotion when he spoke of feeling bullied, intimidated and threatened by the governing body and its leader Barry Hearn. There were nerves among the press too. It felt like a very tense 10 minutes.
Whether you side with O'Sullivan on this or feel - like Hearn does - that his behaviour is becoming embarrassing, there was raw anger here at the guys who run this sport. While some fellow players feel O'Sullivan receives preferential treatment, he himself feels persecuted.
This was a powerful and reasoned explanation as to why he is so upset. If this had come sooner rather than a series of childish media conferences, O'Sullivan might have found far more sympathy. Yet it appears that in his war with World Snooker, his relationship with the media has become a casualty."
O'Sullivan, though, did not speak about his victory over Wilson, after which he celebrated enthusiastically by punching the air a number of times, hand-slapping a fan in the front row and blowing a kiss to the crowd.
'The Rocket' was 5-1 up in the match, before being pegged back in the first session, but a blistering second session with breaks of 124, 90, 83 and 74 saw him advance.
The 41-year-old goes in search of his sixth world crown, as he looks to equal Stephen Hendry's record of 18 'Triple Crown' event wins.
"I like to play for the fans, I get a kick out of it," he added. "It is about entertaining and put in good performances. That is the most important thing.
"I do not need to prove anything to anybody, I have won five worlds, seven Masters and five UK titles and I'm only one behind Hendry on the majors list. Another world title will not make a massive difference.
"I would love to win another world title but it is about working with people I enjoy working with and getting some satisfaction by playing with freedom."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/39616925
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Man Utd 2-0 Chelsea: A Jose Mourinho masterclass with a twist - BBC Sport
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2017-04-16
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Jose Mourinho did things differently when he masterminded Manchester United's win over Chelsea, says MOTD2 pundit Jermaine Jenas.
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I was not surprised to see Jose Mourinho get his tactics spot on for Manchester United's 2-0 win over Chelsea, but he did not do it the way I expected.
Mourinho has masterminded plenty of wins in big games down the years, but he usually does it with a defensive approach and by setting up with a team that, first and foremost, is very difficult to break down.
On Sunday, he flipped that model on its head. United played with two up front and with wing-backs who were high up the pitch - they were on the front foot and went at Chelsea from the start.
It meant United produced a brilliant attacking display as well as a convincing defensive one that was tactically aware of the different threats that Chelsea posed.
Man Utd did not give Chelsea an inch of space
Mourinho asked Ander Herrera to man-mark Eden Hazard and he did it brilliantly, but United's game-plan went much further than that.
They did not give Chelsea an inch of space anywhere on the pitch and did not allow them to get into any type of rhythm.
It started from the front, where Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard never stopped pestering the Blues defence, and Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini and Herrera seemed to win every meaningful battle in midfield.
When the ball did reach Blues striker Diego Costa, he always seemed to end up on the floor because Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo put him under so much pressure.
The Blues are unable to adapt
United started the game so well and at such a high tempo that it seemed to take the wind out of Chelsea's sails.
I've played in games like that where I was surprised at the way the opposition were set up or they came at us quicker than expected but, usually, it takes about 15 minutes to figure it out.
In that time you think 'well, we are all over the place at the moment but let's hang in here and we will get our rhythm back'. Eventually you can take control of the situation, even if you do go a goal down.
United just did not allow that to happen, because they were constantly in Chelsea's faces.
Stopping Hazard was only part of that. Yes, he slipped through the net a couple of times when United tried to man-mark him when they lost in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge in March.
This time he did not get any joy at all, but Chelsea's problems at Old Trafford this time were not just because Herrera did a much better job than Phil Jones managed in that match.
When N'Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic play together in the Blues midfield, as they did against United, I think there is a genuine issue with their attacking play.
Defenders know that if Kante and Matic are playing, the ball is not going over the top. Costa does not make the runs for starters, which tells you everything.
They are both phenomenal midfielders but they are not going to deliver that sort of pass - there is a reason why Chelsea look far more dangerous when Cesc Fabregas is in the team.
Fabregas came on in the last 10 minutes at Old Trafford, when Chelsea were crying out for him in the first half as they were very predictable in possession.
When Chelsea tried to find Costa, their passes seemed to be too slow and too obvious. He kept having to come short, with Rojo or Bailly staying close to him and knowing exactly what he was going to do.
There was no variation in their play and, crucially, they did not get the basics right either, which is very unlike them.
United seemed to win every knockdown, tackle, or second ball in midfield, all of which helped them keep all the momentum.
They ran out deserved winners and kept alive their hopes of a top-four finish.
In my eyes, Herrera's performance was so good it made him a Mourinho player for life.
Mourinho now knows that if he needs someone to do a man-marking job - something ugly - he has the type of player who is clever and disciplined enough, and also has the physicality to do it.
The United manager will also have a bit more trust in the ability of young players like Rashford and Lingard after seeing them perform so well in such a big game.
Their pace gave something United different up front compared to when Zlatan Ibrahimovic leads the line.
Ibrahimovic has been brilliant this season and I still think he will be the man Mourinho looks to for the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Anderlecht on Thursday.
But having to choose between him and Rashford, who looked so sharp, is a good problem for Mourinho to have at such a busy time of the season.
Chelsea still in pole position despite defeat
Chelsea's trip to Goodison Park is the most difficult of their six remaining fixtures - Everton are flying at home, where they have won seven league games in a row.
Going to West Brom will be tricky too, because I am pretty sure Baggies boss Tony Pulis will set up exactly the same way he did against Liverpool on Sunday.
Pulis basically played with six at the back - four centre-halves and wingers that drop in as full-backs, which is a nightmare to play against - Liverpool were quite lucky to get their winner.
So, the Blues could drop points at The Hawthorns too, but I think they will absolutely wipe the floor with the teams they play in their four home games.
When you go through Tottenham's run-in, it is much harder, and they basically have to win all of their games to have a chance of winning the title.
Spurs will have to do it the hard way if they are going to be champions, but they have got the quality and depth in their squad to do it.
With the way they are playing at home, they have given themselves a chance - now they need more slip-ups from Chelsea.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39617552
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Ross Barkley: Nothing fazes Everton midfielder, says captain Phil Jagielka - BBC Sport
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2017-04-16
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Everton's Ross Barkley has been unfazed by a difficult week involving two major off-field incidents, says captain Phil Jagielka.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Everton midfielder Ross Barkley was not affected by a difficult week that involved two major off-field incidents, said captain Phil Jagielka.
Barkley was punched in a Liverpool bar last Sunday, then insulted in the Sun by columnist Kelvin MacKenzie.
The England international, 23, responded with two important clearances and a key role in Everton's second goal as they beat Burnley 3-1 on Saturday.
"I've known him a long time and nothing fazes him," Jagielka told BBC Sport.
"These things can happen. We had an academy day a couple of days ago, and he was part of that. He's just a normal lad who wants to play football."
Everton manager Ronald Koeman was pleased with Barkley's performance against Burnley.
Koeman said: "The boy was really focused on the football side and not on all the stuff that came out after last Sunday.
"What happened we spoke about last Monday, and then you need to finish it and focus on the football side. Even in a really difficult situation, he did that, and it was really positive."
Barkley's Everton team-mate Leighton Baines added he had been impressed by the midfielder's composure at the end of "a busy week".
Baines told Everton's website: "He's got a great temperament. Nothing ever seems to get to him.
"He's a lad who has been talked about a lot from a young age. He just gets on with his job. I think he's really progressed this year, and that's been good to see."
Uncertainty surrounds the future of Barkley, who has yet to agree an extension to a contract that expires at the end of next season.
Koeman said after last weekend's 4-2 win over Leicester that the player would have to be sold if he did not sign a new deal.
However, both the manager and the club's fans showed their support for Barkley after his turbulent week, which began with what the player's lawyer called an "unprovoked attack" in a Liverpool bar.
There then followed MacKenzie's column in Friday's edition of the Sun, in which Barkley, whose grandfather was born in Nigeria, was compared to a "gorilla".
MacKenzie, who has since been suspended by the paper, also wrote that men with similar "pay packets" to Barkley in Liverpool were "drug dealers".
Everton have banned the Sun for the "appalling and indefensible" allegations, for which the newspaper has apologised.
Posters criticising the Sun were on show outside Goodison Park before Saturday's game. Inside the stadium, supporters displayed a banner featuring Barkley.
"I like him, but we're in danger of over-analysing our young English players because we want so much from them.
"He is getting to the stage now where he is a man and not a boy. He needs a consistent season. He needs to play at the level he showed today consistently. He's a bit phasey at times. For talent he's got it but I'd like to see him stay at Everton and improve."
"I think Ross Barkley handled today's pressure really well. He cleared the ball off the line at one point and generally succeeded in having an influence on the game.
"His manager Ronald Koeman will be impressed with how he's handled the off-the-field distractions this week."
"Ross Barkley is one of those players who needs to play on the edge, a bit like Wayne Rooney when he first started.
"Having an almost nasty side to his game is what he needs to make him that little bit better.
"He went out there today with a point to prove and he put in a good performance. He just needs to find that consistency to do that week in, week out."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39611207
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Why a Lagos slum is producing Nigeria's top football talent - BBC News
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2017-04-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Ajegunle, a Nigerian slum, has a reputation for crime but it's also produced some of Nigeria's top footballers.
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Africa
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Taribo West is just one of the many top footballers to come out of Ajegunle
Ajegunle is known for being one of Lagos' toughest, most dangerous slums, but it also has another reputation - for producing some of Nigeria's top footballers. So what's the secret to its unlikely success? BBC Africa's Stanley Kwenda has been finding out.
For a football-obsessed nation like Nigeria, talent can be found in every corner, but there's definitely something special about Ajegunle, or AJ City, as it's known by locals.
Since the early 1990s, Ajegunle has been churning out football talent. Famous names such as Taribo West, Odion Ighalo, Brown Ideye, Samson Siasia, Obafemi Martins, Taribo West and Jonathan Akpoborie all started here.
Life is not easy for many of the residents of this sprawling ghetto.
They have to contend with high crime rates, as well the absence of running water, grid-powered electricity or healthcare.
So what are the factors that contribute to Ajegunley's footballing pedigree? Diversity, for one.
"It's a community with so many people from different ethnicities," says Bennedict Ehenemba, a football scout for German clubs who is a native of Ajegunle.
"Ajegunle accommodates the Yorubas, the Igbos, the Hausas, the Itsekiris and all the other tribes in Nigeria.
"It's a raw talent hub of Nigeria," he tells me.
Young boys have to find safe spaces to play football in Ajegunle
Many success stories can be traced back to two local institutions - St Mary's Catholic Church and the Navy Barracks Camp.
They remain safe places for many young people to play the game.
Other open spaces are often claimed by so-called "Area Boys", unruly gangs who often demand a fee for people to play there.
Super Eagles striker Jonathan Akpoborie, who made his name in Germany's Bundesliga in the 1990s, also honed his skills here.
"This is actually the home of football in Nigeria," Akpoborie tells me, adding that the game is seen by many youngsters as a route to a better life.
"I don't want to downgrade the area by attributing the success of footballers to poverty but there's just nothing to do for the kids.
"They spend most of their time here playing football and in so doing they develop themselves and naturally become gifted footballers.
"In one national team there's always one player who originated from Ajegunle.
"It's exactly how I started - the grown-ups play first, we watch them play, then eventually we get in the field. They were inspirational to us."
Nigerian forward Jonathan Akpoborie made his name in Germany in the 1990s
The slum also has an established system of grassroots football, which encourages talented youngsters to play competitive football for local clubs at an early age.
This often gives them an edge over players at competing academies across the country.
Alfred Emuejeraye, who plies his trade in the Swiss lower leagues, also grew up in Ajegunle.
He believes the secret of the slum lies in its deep love of the game.
"The people here, the community are passionate about football, passionate about everything and are driven to succeed in whatever they do from musicians to taxi drivers... It's an all-round community," he tells me.
Odion Ighalo - formerly of Watford FC in the English Premier League but now playing for Chinese Super League outfit Changchun Yatai FC - is another Ajegunle native.
Now he lives in some of the world's biggest cities, but still remembers Ajegunle fondly.
"It was very tough growing up there. It's not like in Europe where you have everything provided.
"You have to look for money to buy football shoes, jerseys, transport and even water for to drink after training. If you can't afford the transport then you stay - and those who stay are great players," says Ighalo.
Odion Ighalo - a striker for Chinese club Changchun Yatai FC - grew up in Ajegunle
Bolarinwa Olajide is a sports reporter with Lagos-based radio station Wazobia. He saw many of these players emerge from Ajegunle over the years.
"We see the hopeless, those who know they have a talent but they can't exhibit it anywhere. They can't afford fees to join a football academy, so they go to Ajegunle because they know scouts come to watch them play, and it's a chance to show what they can do as footballers," he tells me.
Leicester City and Nigeria midfielder Wilfred Ndidi did not grow up in Ajegunle but played against boys from the slum during his time at an academy in Lagos.
He believes Ajegunle has produced good football players because the boys there "work hard, the lifestyle is difficult so they try to work very hard and come out with their best."
To keep the Ajegunle legacy going, some of the footballers are already giving back to the community with projects to nurture future talent.
Akpoborie is helping to identify future football talent, while Ighalo is building an orphanage in the heart of the slum.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39587899
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The thorny question of what pupils should learn in school - BBC News
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2017-04-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Lib Dem manifesto argues for creative subjects alongside academic subjects.
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Education & Family
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The Lib Dems want to stop primary school tests narrowing learning
Is there such a thing as a "curriculum for life" ?
That's what the Lib Dems want to offer for children in England.
If you have a child at school you'll know how much what they learn is already changing.
The end of primary school tests known as Sats have been made tougher, with more complex grammar and maths among the changes.
And if your household is going through the agony of GCSE revision, you'll know this is the first year of the new English and maths exams which are also designed to be more challenging.
There has been so much change that schools have been complaining they can barely keep up.
The unglamorous, but important issue of what children learn at school rarely features in election campaigns.
Yet subjects matter because it influences the choices your child can make about their future job, or what they want to study at college and university.
So it's striking that the Lib Dems have chosen to make the subjects taught in schools, the curriculum, a large part of their education election offer.
Their manifesto says this would mean a shorter list of core subjects all state funded schools would have to teach.
But they also want learning about money, and mental health to be included alongside age appropriate sex and relationship lessons.
It is only weeks since a change in the law to make sex and relationship education compulsory for all secondary schools in England, with primary schools teaching just about relationships.
There is a promise too to protect creative subjects like music, art and drama amid concerns that tightening budgets and a focus on results are squeezing them out.
Quite how they would be protected isn't clear, although the party is likely to argue that promising extra money will help.
So should politicians be deciding what your kids learn at school?
An interesting question as some recent Education Secretaries have had very definite views.
The Lib Dems are making a bid to take the politics of changing governments out of these decisions.
They want to set up what looks like a new quango - an Educational Standards Authority - which would bring in changes after consulting teachers.
But in the end, when there are issues in schools, just like in hospitals, the buck stops with politicians.
Voters tend to have little time for a senior politician trying to outsource the blame for any decisions.
So, as the Lib Dem manifesto delicately puts it - there would have to be some way of retaining "legitimate democratic accountability".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-39204674
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Ricky Burns loses WBA super-lightweight belt to Julius Indongo in Glasgow - BBC Sport
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2017-04-16
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Scotland's Ricky Burns fails to unify the super-lightweight division as IBF and IBO champion Julius Indongo takes Burns' WBA crown on points.
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Last updated on .From the section Boxing
Scotland's Ricky Burns failed to unify the super-lightweight division as his WBA title was taken by IBF and IBO champion Julius Indongo in Glasgow.
Indongo, unbeaten in 21 fights prior to this unification contest, forced his fellow 34-year-old on to the back foot for much of the fight.
Burns rallied in the fifth and sixth rounds but the tall southpaw emerged a worthy winner on points.
That was reflected in the judges' scoring - 120-108, 118-110, 116-112.
"The better man won on the night, no excuses," said Burns. And no-one could argue.
• None What next for beaten Burns?
This was Burns' third fight at the Hydro and 13th at world title level, while Indongo - "on a mission" from Namibia's president Hage Geingob - was fighting overseas for only the second time as a professional.
On his first, in December, he knocked out IBF champion Eduard Troyanovsky in Moscow.
It was clear from early in Saturday's fight that Indongo would try to use his greater height and reach to throw jabs at Burns' head, and he did this to good effect in the opening three minutes.
Burns has started slowly in recent fights before finding his rhythm, and the Namibian began much the livelier, bouncing around the centre of the ring against a hesitant home fighter.
Indeed, he looked to have won the first four rounds by dint of his greater work-rate and accuracy, though Burns was beginning to connect with his right.
With their man having 47 bouts under his belt to Indongo's 21, the home fans may have wondered if the tactic was to use his experience to let his opponent tire himself out.
Rounds five and six signalled an improvement in Burns' form, with his aggression rewarded as Indongo was forced backwards for the first time.
The lead Indongo had built was thanks to the accumulation of cleaner shots rather than anything that badly hurt the Coatbridge fighter in his 17th year as a professional.
And, though Burns was still strong in defence, by the time the ninth round had ended he must have realised he was trailing heavily on the scorecards.
His task in the remaining three rounds had to be to stop Indongo for the first time in his nine-year career.
That looked increasingly unlikely as he struggled to get inside to inflict damage. Too often he was over-stretching to land a meaningful shot, and when he did trouble Indongo his opponent snuffed out the attack with footwork and by holding on.
It leaves Burns' dreams of a further unification bout against Terence Crawford in Las Vegas in tatters, though it would be a surprise if he was considering retiring.
'He was better than we thought' - Burns
Ricky Burns: "He was so so awkward. He was a lot better than we thought he was going to be. He can hit as well.
"I'm going to have all the doubters saying I'm finished - but I'll come again.
"He started the rounds fast and the height and reach advantage meant he was out of my distance."
Julius Indongo: "I feel very proud. My home crowd are watching. It's for the whole of Africa. This is so great.
"I am very proud for opening my doors and now the world can see me."
"It was pretty one-dimensional from Ricky Burns, who was trying to jump in from long distance on a fighter who was bigger, with longer arms and a heavy puncher.
"Indongo was dominant, knew what he was about, kept swinging dangerous bombs and didn't let Burns in at all.
"In the last two rounds, when he had the match won, he still wanted to dominate, and like true champions, wanted to get rid of his challenger.
"He ticks all the right boxes. It is going to take a high-level operator to cope with him. I think Terence Crawford is that kind of guy."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/39611722
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Premiership: Bristol Rugby 21-36 Wasps - Bristol relegated to Championship - BBC Sport
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2017-04-16
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Bristol are relegated to the Championship with two games to go after a brave defeat by ruthless Premiership leaders Wasps.
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Bristol have been relegated to the Championship with two games left to play after a brave defeat by ruthless Premiership leaders Wasps.
Jason Woodward's try put them ahead but Josh Bassett, Tommy Taylor and Joe Simpson scored as Wasps went in ahead.
Christian Wade, Guy Thompson and Bassett went over for the visitors for a bonus point, which deflated Bristol.
The hosts rallied, Jack O'Connell and Nick Fenton-Wells touching down, but it could not stop them from going down.
Having finished top of the Championship in five seasons before finally winning promotion in the play-offs last year, Bristol will return to the second-tier at the first time of asking.
After Worcester's win over Bath on Saturday, Mark Tainton's Bristol needed two points from the game to prolong their relegation battle, but they lacked a clinical streak.
It leaves them 12 points adrift at the bottom of the table, with a maximum of 10 points on offer from their final two matches.
Wasps were far from at their best, on the back foot for much of the game, but have restored their five-point lead at the top and need one win from their last two to secure a home semi-final in the play-offs.
The Premiership's top try-scorer Wade, on his 100th appearance for Dai Young's side, did his England hopes no harm with his 16th score of the campaign.
Bristol were promoted to the top tier on 25 May after winning their two-legged play-off final, with the Premiership season starting just 100 days later.
Director of rugby Andy Robinson, a former England head coach, was sacked in November after his side lost their first 10 games of the campaign.
Tainton took interim charge and Bristol finally got their first league win against Worcester on Boxing Day, following it up with victory at Sale and a losing bonus point at Northampton, but it was a false dawn.
The scrapping of the Championship play-offs, meaning the team that finishes top will gain automatic promotion, may give Bristol more time to plan ahead next season if they are successful.
'Hopefully we can bounce back quickly'
Connacht boss Pat Lam will have the task of bringing Bristol back into the Premiership, having signed a three-year deal in December to become head coach from June.
Tainton will remain at the helm for their final two matches at Saracens and at home to Newcastle, and remains optimistic about the future of the club.
"Obviously it's disappointing to get relegated, but we've put a plan in place whether we were going to stay in the Premiership or get relegated," he said.
"We have the infrastructure at Ashton Gate to be a Premiership team - we're not going to be next year, but hopefully the supporters will still watch us in that league.
"Bristol more than most know what a difficult league it (the Championship) is, but hopefully we can bounce back very quickly."
"It was a similar story to a lot of games - we've created an awful lot, we've been in the opposition 22 many times but we've just not executed and got across the line.
"We give Wasps an opportunity and they score tries, it's as simple as that - that's the difference in the level we need to get to.
"We were down and beaten in the second half but we played right until the very end of the game - I expect that from them in the next two games."
"Obviously there are still things to work on, especially our starts - I thought our first 10 minutes, again, we made far too many mistakes and gave ourselves a bit of a hill to climb.
"We just had enough to do it but we make it hard for us really - there's room to improve in every area, but I'm pretty pleased and felt we looked in control for most of the game.
"It's up to us to nail it (a top-two finish) ourselves - we're not relying on other people."
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39569142
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Monkman. Goldman. Paxman: The University Challenge Final was something special
- BBC Three
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2017-04-16
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Check out this content on BBC Three.
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So there it is. Another year of plummy accents, eccentric knitwear and quick-fire trivia, over.
The final gong has sounded, the teams have clapped magnanimously at each other and the sheet of corrugated metal with twiddly lines on it has been handed over. But for many of us, this run of University Challenge did not end as we'd expected.
Paxman began with a slightly extended intro, outlining some of the numbers behind the show: hundreds of entrants, dozens of teams, thousands of questions. What his eyes normally communicate silently, his voice this time confirmed: It's been a long series.
After a couple of body-blows to Balliol, in which Paxman reminded them they'd already lost once to Wolfson in the quarters, it was on to the intros.
Yang. Chaudhri. The camera panned right and there he was, Eric Monkman, from Oakville, Canada - the wingtips of his baby blue collar poking out from beneath a striped blue/black crewneck. And like that, he was gone, turning to his left to introduce the wry, kind-eyed Paul Cosgrove, who you can tell enjoys his fleeting role in the major historical event that is #Monkmania.
On to Balliol. Potts. Lloyd. "And this is their captain..." Goldman. For many, tonight's pantomime villain. It's a thankless task, squaring off against Monkman. If you lose, you're the poor sap who ran up against Monkman in the 2016/17 final ("What was his name again? Nice young man, wore glasses?"). If you win, you dash the hopes of a nation.
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Then the quiz began. And for the first half or so it was a tussle for dominance. Balliol were first out of the blocks, answering the starter and all three bonuses for a perfect 25. But Monkman knows his operatic characters...
#UniversityChallenge
Question: What is it about #Monkman that makes him so irresistibly charming?
Answer: pic.twitter.com/YxB9GVFlyH — JOE (@JOE_co_uk) April 10, 2017
So Wolfson were soon back on track.
It carried on like this in a blistering display for much of the first half. James Joyce, chloroform, historical accords from map boundaries, famous duels. The teams tore through the Qs, with the two captains picking up most of the points - often before Paxman had finished reading from his card.
Around 10 minutes in, Wolfson were 20 ahead. But then something strange happened. Paxman got a few words into a question on the Iron Crown of Lombardy, and Monkman buzzed. But when the crash zoom had finished and his name had been called, you could tell he'd buzzed expecting the question to focus on something else, and he had to put his hands in the air and offer "It's housed... in Italy somewhere?"
Paxman was not impressed. "Yes, I'm afraid that is a completely useless answer," he scolded, and offered it up to Balliol, docking Wolfson five points.
"In Italy somewhere...I don't know, sorry" - exactly how I answered every question during my geography degree. I'm as clever as #Monkman 💪🏼 — Alice Kiernan (@kiernan_alice) April 10, 2017
A little later, a fiendish question left the entire studio silent. What is the total atomic number of the four elements that spell the word SNOB?
And then Monkman could be seen forbidding his players from buzzing.
Eventually Yang had a guess, and Monkman didn't look impressed.
From then, the contest felt somehow out of reach for Wolfson. They rallied a couple of times, edging ahead here and there, but in the latter third Balliol powered ahead, often answering correctly after Wolfson had buzzed in early and been wrong.
When the final final gong sounded, Balliol were a good 50 points ahead. Monkman's Wolfson team had lost.
But there was a twist in the tale, and a lovely coda to the series, when Paxman's disembodied voice explained that the final we'd just been watching had been filmed some time earlier. After establishing shots of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, we were suddenly in an oak-panelled interior, port glasses on the sideboard and the eight finalists mingling around none other than Professor Stephen Hawking.
After Professor Hawking congratulated the teams, and made a quip about bacteria, we were treated to perhaps the most touching moment of this series - our man Eric Monkman's broad, beaming smile as he took in the fact that he was in the presence of such a great mind.
We will miss you, Eric Monkman.
And finally, one more thank you: Thanks to these guys! What a great experience we shared. pic.twitter.com/RFucsRTSKV — Eric Monkman (@e_monkman) April 10, 2017
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/44c98162-4d3f-4ed1-a43f-affb085e061c?jujuhy&intc_type=promo&intc_location=news&intc_campaign=monkmania&intc_linkname=bbcthree_ent_article1
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Withnail and I: Cult classic turns 30 - BBC News
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2017-04-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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As British black comedy Withnail and I hits 30, star Richard E Grant looks back at its filming.
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England
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Charting the travails of two out-of-work actors in the dying days of the 1960s, British film comedy Withnail and I has staggered to its 30th birthday. Star Richard E Grant looks back at its filming and considers whether anyone else could have tackled the role that put him on the road to Hollywood. Chin chin!
Camden Town. Two sleep-deprived thespians wallow in filth, battling drug-induced paranoia, a worrying lack of booze and stalled careers.
What follows - an ill-fated jaunt "to the country" and run-ins with an assortment of misfits and malcontents - would marry with caustic dialogue to produce an oft-quoted classic.
Largely unnoticed on its release in April 1987, standout performances by Grant as the acid-tongued Withnail and Paul McGann as the more introspective I helped the film gradually gather a dedicated following.
No less memorable was its supporting cast of colourful characters, among them the love-struck Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths), drug-dealer Danny (Ralph Brown) and poacher Jake (Michael Elphick).
Initially created as a semi-autobiographical novel by Bruce Robinson more than a decade and a half earlier, the writer-turned-director would largely use his one-time flatmate Vivian MacKerrell as the inspiration for the scabrous Withnail, while I - identified as Marwood in the script - was a version of Robinson himself.
It was, as he has outlined, "a tale of English hopelessness" and threw a spotlight on his "appalling lifestyle" as he struggled to find work after leaving London's Central School of Speech and Drama.
"Wait till the morning and we'll go in together" - Marwood pleads with Withnail to abandon plans to tackle the fetid kitchen sink
With each set-piece so perfectly penned, the stale cigarette smoke and alcohol fumes almost seeped through the screen.
But while the story may have been loaded with laughs, Robinson demanded his dialogue was delivered with a straight face.
"Bruce was very exacting and did not brook any improvisation or word substitutions," says Grant, who himself had been without work for nine months and become increasingly beset by nagging doubts about his chosen career, having emigrated from Swaziland to Britain at the turn of the 80s.
"He was also adamant that as there were no jokes or punchlines, it had to be played with deadly seriousness.
"The script was so accurate in expressing the frustrations of being an out-of-work actor that as soon as Paul and I played everything 'for real', Bruce was very open and accommodating.
"That experience [of being unemployed] proved invaluable. Withnail is so staggeringly self-obsessed and entitled, which anyone who has been to drama school will be all too familiar with!"
Auditioning for the part would almost mirror the character's woes, as Grant competed against a gaggle of better-known names in a casting merry-go-round as dizzying as the concoction of drink and drugs downed throughout the film.
"I've been watching you" - poacher Jake warns the hapless pair
Daniel Day-Lewis had turned down the role and other leading contenders included Bill Nighy and Ed Tudor-Pole.
It was not much easier for McGann, with the role of Marwood offered to Michael Maloney.
Having stepped into his shoes, his strong Liverpudlian accent promptly saw him sacked before an equally swift reinstatement.
So what was it that Robinson eventually identified in the duo?
"Finding a contrasting pair of actors made the audition process protracted," Grant recalls, "as Bruce was very determined to secure two people who looked and sounded like Vivian and himself.
"Paul is incredibly handsome and had the quality of 'an innocent abroad', which Bruce was after."
While it may seem almost inconceivable for fans to imagine anyone else in the role of Withnail, Grant modestly disagrees.
"We want the finest wines available to humanity" - the drunkards offend the owner of the Penrith Tea Rooms
"I absolutely believe that all those illustrious names could have essayed the role, as it is so brilliantly well written.
"Bruce writes stage directions with the same exactitude as his dialogue - hugely entertaining, mordant, witty, and conveying the precise mood so that you simultaneously 'see' and 'feel' what the scene is about."
Indeed so expertly crafted was Robinson's dialogue, fans delight in reciting the characters' one-liners and stinging rebukes - and sometimes in the most unexpected of places.
"Oh, my boys" - Uncle Monty shows his affection at the cottage dinner table
"[Some years later] I was filming in the Australian outback beside a dirt road in the middle of nowhere," says Grant.
"The only car that drove past all day was a battered yellow 1959 Ford Anglia - my dreaded primary school maths teacher drove one - and the driver leant out of his window and yelled 'scrubbers!' at me - to the bewilderment of the film crew."
Shooting got under way in August 1986, but, like the pair's rain-lashed on-screen drive from London to the Lakes, the film's journey to the cinema screen was tortuous.
A modest million-pound budget would come from Beatles legend George Harrison's Handmade Films and a New York businessman.
Decamping to Cumbria's Wet Sleddale to begin work at isolated cottage "Crow Crag" (the real-life Sleddale Hall, near Shap), interference from its backers threatened to derail production, causing Robinson to issue a "back me or sack me" ultimatum.
For Grant, that period of time was difficult for an altogether more tragic reason as he and his wife, Joan, grieved the loss of their daughter Tiffany, born prematurely at seven months and pronounced dead within a few minutes.
"She is the size of a little bird," he recalled in his book With Nails: The Film Diaries of Richard E Grant.
"She is warm but dead. And perfect. Ten toes, ten fingers. Eyes, mouth, all. Broken. No breath.
"Our hearts are broken and will we ever cease weeping."
"I want something's flesh" - Withnail goes fishing for lunch
The film would have its own sense of sadness and loss as McGann's I packs his bags having landed the lead role in a Manchester-based play - leaving the desperate Withnail railing in despair with only a bottle of Uncle Monty's wine and the Regent's Park wolves for company.
Just as eloquently it would sum up the end of the 60s dream, replaced by commercialism and cynicism with the selling of "hippy wigs in Woolworths".
Although Withnail and I failed to make a commercial splash upon its release, McGann would establish a solid stage and screen career, while Grant had Hollywood hot-shots Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese all come calling.
He has hardly stopped working since.
It is, he admits, "some irony… playing an unemployed actor opened every subsequent career door I've walked through".
Robinson would have more mixed fortunes. Follow-up How to Get Ahead in Advertising, also starring Grant, was an altogether more patchy affair while Jennifer 8 and The Rum Diary also met with criticism.
Thirty years on, though, Withnail and I's popularity shows no sign of waning and a series of screenings are being staged by fans across the country throughout the coming months - with Sleddale Hall itself among the venues in July.
"Are you a sponge or a stone?" - Monty propositions Marwood
So just what does the now 59-year-old Grant believe lies at the heart of its enduring appeal, and does he ever feel trapped by the role which, for many, defines his career?
"The film is so accurate about Bruce's experience of being an unemployed actor at the end of the 60s, encompassing his breadline, booze and drugged desolation, and being friends with the coruscating and charismatic MacKerrell, that it is indelibly authentic.
"His portrayal of a symbiotic male friendship is the core of the story, and its disintegration is painful and poetic.
"If I had only been offered 'alcoholic actor' roles I might have something to complain about, but that never happened. Playing someone so extreme has meant I've been cast in roles that demand a certain level of intensity or mania, which I've hugely enjoyed.
"I'm genuinely amazed that a film made so long ago, which initially met with such a lukewarm response, has accrued the status and cult following it has done.
"For that, I am eternally grateful."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39117772
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Salvador: The city where children fend for themselves on the streets - BBC News
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2017-04-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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In 1937, Jorge Amado published Captains of the Sands, a novel about a gang of orphans living in Salvador, Brazil. Eighty years on, little has changed.
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Magazine
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Joao Vitor ended up on the streets aged 14
In 1937, Jorge Amado published Captains of the Sands, a novel about a gang of orphaned children living on the streets of Salvador, north-east Brazil. Eighty years on, little has changed - thousands of children and adolescents still roam the city and sleep rough. David Baker hears some of their stories.
Zeca (not his real name) isn't proud of his past. A tall, skinny, slightly shy black teenager, he mumbles and looks down at his feet when he speaks about the years he spent living on the streets of Salvador.
He's 17, though he has the weary, cracked voice of an old man who has seen too much of life, and he talks about his time in the city's drugs gangs with regret.
"I found many types of job [with the gangs]", he says, "trafficking, packing, stealing…" And then, after a long pause, he adds: "killing."
He won't be drawn on the details but he says gang life was a case of kill or be killed.
I have come to Salvador to meet people like Zeca because of a book published here 80 years ago that became a classic of Brazilian literature.
Jorge Amado's Captains of the Sands tells the story of a gang of orphaned children and adolescents living in an abandoned warehouse in Salvador's docks area who live by begging, stealing and hustling.
"Dressed in rags, dirty, half-starved, aggressive, cursing, and smoking cigarette butts, they were, in truth, the masters of the city," Amado wrote.
He wanted to show the freedom and fun these children could have looking after each other and having adventures through the city's streets.
But he also wanted to show the misery of their lives and to shame Brazil into doing something about the thousands of homeless children in the country that richer Brazilians at the time viewed as little more than pests.
That was then, but there are still gangs of children, like the Captains of the Sands, living on the city's streets.
I met Zeca in a government-run shelter that takes children and adolescents off Salvador's streets and helps them reintegrate into mainstream life.
Like him, many come from broken homes. And, almost the moment they arrive on the streets, they run the risk of being picked up by one of the many drugs gangs that run great swathes of this, Brazil's third-largest, city.
Brazil's Modern-day Captains of the Sands was broadcast on BBC World Service's Assignment programme. Listen again on iPlayer.
When Zeca talks of his own time with them his eyes develop a far-off look, as if something has died inside him.
"It was very violent," he says. "If you live on the streets you have to be evil."
Zeca's story is so shocking that it's easy to forget he is still just a child.
"When I was 10 I used cocaine and smoked weed," says Zeca.
"I used to snort a lot of cocaine. And one day there was no coke for me to snort so I went on to the streets and started smoking crack."
Immediately he discovered how violent life on Brazil's streets can be.
"I had a knife, a gun, all these sorts of things, to defend myself," he says.
"I could only sleep in the morning because during the night I had to stay awake. There were many dangers, someone could come and kill me."
NGOs working in the city reckon there are as many as 3,500 people under 25 living on Salvador's streets still.
And among them is a friendly, intelligent and curious young man I met one day in a square down by the city's docks - Joao Vitor.
Joao Vitor is 20, black and very much at ease with his life on the streets. He's thrilled to talk and clears some space on the foam mattress he sleeps on for me to sit down and join him.
He grew up, he says, being looked after by his grandmother and, from the age of eight, he helped her cook and sell acaraje, deep-fried dumplings that are a classic Salvador street food. But when he was 14, she fell ill and had to move back to the countryside and Joao Vito ended up on the streets.
It was tough, he says, "having to sleep in the streets, having to eat food that I didn't like, worrying about other people trying to attack you, but as time went by you get used to it".
And, he says, like the teenagers in Captains of the Sands, you quickly find yourself part of a gang who look out for each other.
"I've got nothing of value here," he says, showing me the few possessions he keeps next to his mattress. "The things I really value are my friends here. They are my family."
Joao Vitor has kept clear of the drugs gangs and he's pleased about that. "Drugs diminish you as a person," he says.
But he has certainly experienced violence. He has scars on his arm and the side of his neck from when someone attacked him with a machete. And he has seen police attack people sleeping in the streets.
There is also, he says, the problem of poor people on the streets attacking each other.
"You will see many zombies on crack," he says. "When they have money, they're happy because everyone is their friend. But when they have no money, if you touch them there will be a fight."
His experience, though, is very different from Zeca's. He says he prefers to deal with arguments through talking rather than a fight. And, when it comes to enjoying the freedom of Salvador's streets, he absolutely sees himself as like the children in Captains of the Sands.
"I am a Captain of the Sands," he says with a big smile. "Because look at the life we live, bro. The only part I'm not is when it comes to stealing. But it's true as far as living adventures, always exploring the day that we're living, for sure I am."
He picks up his stuff and says he's off soon to have a dip in the sea and to catch up with some other people he knows who live on the city's streets.
"There'll be other friends of mine there too. If I need anything they'll sort me out," he says. "This is what friendship is. It's a family."
Neither Joao Vitor nor Zeca are certain about what the future holds for them - though Zeca, in the shelter, has at least taken a first step in getting off the streets. Both boys say they take life one day at a time.
But, however their lives turn out, there are thousands of young people like them living on Salvador's streets today and the Brazilian state has very few resources (and, some would say, very little political will) to help them.
If he returned to his city today, Jorge Amado would still feel the need to shame his country into action.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39528473
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Ian Poulter fifth despite alligator attention as Jason Dufner leads at RBC Heritage - BBC Sport
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2017-04-16
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Ian Poulter moves within three shots of the lead at the RBC Heritage - after fending off the attentions of an alligator.
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Last updated on .From the section Golf
Ian Poulter moved to within three shots of the lead at the RBC Heritage in South Carolina - despite a close encounter with an alligator.
The Englishman shot a third-round 69 to move to 10 under, with American Jason Dufner leading the field on 13 under.
Poulter, 41, hit his tee shot into the water on the 10th hole and took a drop on the bank, only to spot an alligator in the shallows nearby.
His playing partner Webb Simpson's caddie eventually chased it away but Poulter would double bogey the hole and bogey the next, before a birdie on the 14th helped him remain in contention.
"I took a couple of dummy swings and he decided to come in and take a closer look," Poulter told Sky Sports.
"I wasn't very comfortable with that. It's a little unnerving. I didn't want to put my club in the water because I didn't want him to take it. One of the other caddies came in and was a bit more aggressive, and he went."
Asked if the incident had affected his play, Poulter said: "No, not at all. My game feels good and I feel confident going into tomorrow."
Poulter is playing on a major medical exemption after foot surgery last year and has this week and one more start to collect the prize money he needs to secure his playing status for the rest of the season.
Despite three bogeys on the front nine, Dufner's two eagles and five birdies helped him to a 65 and moved him to 13 under at Hilton Head.
Canada's Graham DeLaet is second after a 69, one ahead of Kevin Kisner and Simpson.
England's Tyrrell Hatton remains in contention after a three-under 68 saw him move to eight under, a shot behind Donald and five shots adrift of 2013 PGA Championship winner Dufner.
However, Scotland's Russell Knox fell behind as a one-over 72 saw him fall to a tie for 20th place, one shot in front of England's Andrew Johnston and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/39612039
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West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Liverpool - BBC Sport
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2017-04-16
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Roberto Firmino scores a winner for the second weekend running as Liverpool beat West Brom to go third in the Premier League.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Roberto Firmino scored a winner for the second weekend running as Liverpool beat West Brom to go third in the Premier League.
The Brazil striker headed in at the end of the first half after Lucas Leiva had glanced on James Milner's free-kick.
Milner volleyed over after half-time, and Simon Mignolet saved with his legs from Matt Phillips at the other end.
Late on, Alberto Moreno missed an empty goal from 40 yards after Albion keeper Ben Foster had gone up for a corner.
Despite that miss, Jurgen Klopp's side secured a fifth win in seven games, sending West Brom to a third straight defeat.
Klopp has spoken recently of the need for Liverpool to "win ugly" - having developed a habit of beating the Premier League's top teams and then slipping up against sides lower down.
Liverpool's manager was particularly wary of the threat that West Brom might pose from set-pieces, an area in which his team have been vulnerable defensively this season.
To counter that danger, Klopp used the fierce winds that hit Merseyside last Wednesday to his advantage - getting his players to face a barrage of high crosses and long throws in training that day.
The manager's reasoning was that if his players could deal with the ball in the air as it swirled about in the wind, they would be able to handle anything West Brom threw at them.
By and large, the preparation worked - with Liverpool also making sure not to give away too many set-pieces - although there was one hairy moment in the first half when Nacer Chadli miskicked with the goal at his mercy after Liverpool had failed to defend a free-kick.
What was particularly impressive about Liverpool, though, was their midfield domination, which restricted the home side to just a handful of efforts at goal.
Lucas, Georginio Wijnaldum and Emre Can were key to keeping West Brom at bay, and ensured a win that keeps Klopp's side well on course for next season's Champions League.
Before last weekend's trip to Stoke, Liverpool had not won a league game all season without Sadio Mane in the team.
Klopp needed that statistic to change after a knee injury sustained against Everton on 1 April ended the Senegalese striker's season early.
He found inspiration in the Potteries as goals from Philippe Coutinho and Firmino sealed a 2-1 victory, and the two Brazil internationals were involved in Liverpool's best attacking moments at The Hawthorns.
Firmino proved his value in terms of creating chances as well as getting the winner, providing a fine diagonal pass that Coutinho volleyed wide in the first half, and crossing for Milner to volley over when well placed in the second.
Liverpool could have won by a greater margin with better finishing - with Moreno guilty of the most glaring miss.
The full-back, on as a substitute, burst away in the closing seconds after keeper Foster was caught upfield for a corner. Instead of running the ball into the net, Moreno elected to shoot from long range, and missed the target.
West Brom remain on course to finish eighth, and equal their highest final league placing since 1981, but their season is in danger of petering out.
Of their past seven matches, Tony Pulis' side have lost five and failed to score in six, with a 3-1 win over Arsenal on 18 March providing their only win and goals during that run.
Albion under Pulis have made a habit of being well organised, and of digging out victories with a significantly smaller share of possession.
But they failed to cause Liverpool enough problems, managing just two shots on target all afternoon.
Hal Robson-Kanu hit the first tamely at Mignolet in the opening half, and the goalkeeper reacted well to save with his legs as Phillips ran clear with 10 minutes to go.
Even when they won a series of set-pieces in the closing moments, they could not make Liverpool pay.
Man of the match - Emre Can (Liverpool)
• None Roberto Firmino has now surpassed his Premier League goal tally from last season (10 in 2015-16, 11 in 2016-17).
• None Since the start of last season, Firmino has been directly involved in 34 Premier League goals (21 goals, 13 assists), more than any other Liverpool player.
• None Liverpool have won 66 points from 33 games this season; six points more than they picked up in the whole of 2015-16.
• None West Brom have failed to score in four consecutive Premier League games for the first time since April 2003.
• None Liverpool have scored in more league away games this season (14) than they did in 2015-16 (13).
• None Lucas has provided two assists in a Premier League season for the first time since 2009-10.
• None West Brom have lost three of their past four Premier League games at The Hawthorns, as many as they lost in their previous 14 combined.
• None Liverpool kept only their second ;eague clean sheet in 2017, in what was their 14th game of this calendar year.
'No set-pieces, no set-pieces, no set-pieces'
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: "It was a big win against a good, tall team. We played really well from the first second.
"We needed to adapt to what West Brom wanted to do. In all our plans, it was 'no set-pieces, no set-pieces, no set-pieces'."
On Liverpool's Champions League qualification chances: "It is the Premier League, Arsenal have three, four, five games in hand so we should not think about this. Today we could only get to 66 points, so it feels perfect.
"Next week we try at Anfield to get 69 points, and let's carry on. If we do what we have to do, we will be where we want to be."
West Brom manager Tony Pulis: "We are disappointed. I thought we did enough to get a point.
"The goal really knocked us. It took us 20 minutes, in which time they had some good opportunities.
"Chadli had a great chance at the back post, Matty Phillips should have scored one-on-one, Hal should have scored one-on-one - it wasn't all set-pieces.
"The difference between the top teams is the quality they have up front. The players have been fantastic this year, we have an opportunity to play some of the young players now too."
West Brom are at home to Leicester next Saturday (15:00 BST); Liverpool host Crystal Palace a day later at 16:30.
• None Attempt missed. Alberto Moreno (Liverpool) left footed shot from more than 35 yards is close, but misses to the right following a fast break.
• None Offside, West Bromwich Albion. Matt Phillips tries a through ball, but Salomón Rondón is caught offside.
• None Attempt missed. Darren Fletcher (West Bromwich Albion) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Chris Brunt with a cross.
• None Attempt saved. Matt Phillips (West Bromwich Albion) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Salomón Rondón.
• None Attempt missed. Emre Can (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
• None Attempt missed. Jake Livermore (West Bromwich Albion) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Darren Fletcher.
• None Attempt blocked. Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool) right footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the left is blocked. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39543147
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The election where no-one came to vote - BBC News
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2017-04-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Justin Rowlatt reports from Indian-administered Kashmir amid attempts to re-run disrupted ballots.
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India
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Protesters have been attacking polling centres in Indian-administered Kashmir
Eight people died and more than 100 were injured in Indian-administered Kashmir in a highly contentious by-election over the weekend. Separatist leaders called for voters to boycott the polls and protestors attacked more than 150 polling centres.
On Thursday India attempted to re-run the disrupted ballots. There was massive security in place.
But an election without voters is a very sad affair.
I arrived at one polling station five hours after it had opened. Not one ballot had been cast.
The eyes of seven bored election officers looked up expectantly as I walked in.
It was a sorry scene. The windows were broken but no-one had bothered to sweep up the puddles of broken glass on the floor.
On Sunday, protesters had stormed the building, pelting stones. The polling centres was forced to close, hence the ballot today.
I introduced myself and asked how things were going.
"We're hatching eggs here," laughed Ali Mohammad, one of the election officers. He meant they were sitting doing nothing.
Polling booths remained empty despite government efforts to conduct elections again
When I asked why it was so quiet, he conceded that India's efforts to ensure there was no disruption this time round might well have put some voters off.
Kashmir is one of the most militarised region in the world - there are more personnel per capita here than in Iraq or Syria. We'd driven through streets lined with heavily armed officers to get here - one for every three eligible voters.
"Area domination", the policeman in-charge called it, seemingly unconscious of how ominous his words sounded in a region many believe is on the brink of separatist revolt.
But back at the polling station, Mr Mohammad didn't think military muscle alone accounted for the lack of interest in the electoral process.
Will it get any busier, I asked? He shook his head. "We are ready for voters if they come, but it won't be busy here today," he told me, smiling gently.
Then he frowned, clearly unhappy with his fellow Kashmiris' lack of engagement. Mr Mohammad is a teacher by profession.
"The right to vote is important," he said after a pause, "it gives us the power to determine our own fate."
Kashmir is one of the most militarised places in the world
His words underscore just what an indictment of the mainstream Kashmiri parties the turnout on Sunday was when only 7% of the electorate bothered to vote.
Yes, separatists called for a boycott and yes, there were stone-throwing mobs at some polling stations, but if the electorate had been persuaded that politicians could deliver a brighter future, more would surely have made the effort to vote.
That was certainly the view of the group of young men I got talking to outside another of the polling centres that had been attacked.
When I asked how many of them had been part of the stone-throwing mob, they shuffled nervously. Then 13, 14, 15 hands went up: half the group.
The justification was all too familiar - "azadi" or freedom.
Kashmiris have long dreamt of creating an independent nation up here in the bright green valleys of the Himalayas. It's an ambition India has no intention of allowing.
In the 80s and 90s, a few thousand militants were at the vanguard of the independence struggle. There are far fewer now - perhaps 250 or so - but opposition to Indian rule appears to be becoming more widespread.
It is the reason the young men give for trying to disrupt the polls. "All politicians are the same and none of them will bring freedom, so why vote?" asked one.
Kashmiri people say their only option is to fight Indian rule in the state
But what is the alternative?
The answer these young men gave doesn't augur well for Kashmir - or for India. They said they wanted to fight.
"When you suffer atrocity after atrocity you lose all fear. We aren't scared of anything now," claimed Aijaz Amin, his long eyebrows fluttering nervously.
He said he had never been involved in violence but he used an ominous Urdu phrase. The direct translation is, "We have shrouds over our heads." It means they will do anything to get what we want, and it implies a fight to the death.
By late afternoon I had arrived at one of the most notorious villages in the constituency. Once again, no votes had been cast but, with a sickening inevitability, hundreds of young men came out to throw stones at the security forces.
The battle that followed had a ritual quality. These riots are repeated virtually every week here in Kashmir.
And it all ended promptly at 4pm, when the polls closed. The last officers fired off a volley of shotgun rounds into the crowd, before leaping into their armoured vehicles and driving rapidly away.
A couple of hours later the Kashmir Election Commission released the figures for the day's ballot.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-39598688
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World Championship 2017: Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Gary Wilson in first round - BBC Sport
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2017-04-16
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Ronnie O'Sullivan safely progresses to the second round of the World Championship by beating debutant Gary Wilson 10-7.
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Last updated on .From the section Snooker
Ronnie O'Sullivan reached the World Championship second round by beating Crucible debutant Gary Wilson 10-7.
The five-time champion went 5-1 up in Saturday's first session in Sheffield, including a 122 break, but former taxi driver Wilson then won three in a row.
On Sunday, O'Sullivan made 124, 83 and 74 to go 9-5 ahead, Wilson hitting back with 103 before succumbing.
O'Sullivan, who later launched an attack on World Snooker, celebrated by repeatedly punching the air.
"I have a responsibility to the fans who come to support me and they want to see me do well," he said, as he spoke to the media at the length for the first time since winning the Masters in January.
"It is important I keep focused, professional, keep myself out of trouble and do a job, it is about business.
"I love to play and it is extra special at the Crucible.
"The main thing is to be in the right frame of mind, the fans have supported me for 25 years, they will continue to support me but I feel loyalty towards them and they are the most important people in my career."
• None 'I won't be bullied or intimidated by World Snooker' - O'Sullivan
Former world number one O'Sullivan won the most recent of his five world titles in 2013.
This year, he is only third favourite behind Judd Trump and defending champion Mark Selby thanks to an inconsistent season in which he has reached four major finals but claimed just one title.
His victory at the Masters for a record seventh time was the last time he won consecutive matches in a tournament - a run of five events.
At Alexandra Palace, O'Sullivan spoke about "missing too many easy balls" and the problem was evident early on in Sheffield as he struggled to clinch frames when given an opportunity.
But the world number 12 improved significantly in the second session and next faces another former champion in Shaun Murphy or Chinese 17-year-old Yan Bingtao.
Wallsend player Wilson had shown his class in qualifying by making a maximum 147 break and seven further centuries.
The world number 59 did display his high-scoring ability with breaks of 103 and 100 and said he felt "comfortable" in his first appearance at the event.
He added: "In one way I am pleased. I did not give him it and he had to work for it.
"I felt if it got close, I had a chance of winning. It could have been closer earlier on and I was sat thinking it should be 8-8.
"You can't be too disappointed in your first time at the Crucible and I've shown what I am capable of."
In Sunday afternoon's other game, Kyren Wilson beat another Crucible first-timer, David Grace, 10-6.
Wilson - a beaten finalist in this season's Indian Open - stroked in 93 and 72 against the Yorkshireman, who performed well with breaks of 104 and 75.
And in the battle of the former champions, Peter Ebdon took the last two frames of Sunday's session - including the ninth on a re-spotted black - to trail Stuart Bingham 5-4.
In Sunday evening's two games Mark Allen took a 5-4 lead against Jimmy Robertson while Marco Fu fell 7-2 behind against Luca Brecel.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/39610178
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Can Toshiba escape fate of corporate Japan's zombie hordes? - BBC News
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2017-04-16
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Japanese conglomerate's future is in doubt after incurring billions in losses. So what's next?
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Business
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Another of Japan's corporate behemoths faces the prospect of biting the dust
Once a household name, Toshiba is now bleeding billions of dollars and frantically trying to reassure investors that it will not succumb to the kiss of death.
But it also faces another fate: becoming the most high-profile member of Japan's corporate living dead, also known as zombie firms.
Toshiba admitted this week that its survival is at risk and that the firm could be delisted from the Tokyo stock exchange, following a major accounting scandal and an ill-timed bet on nuclear power.
The 142-year-old company is poised to record Japan's biggest industrial loss after its investment in US nuclear unit Westinghouse turned toxic.
So what's next? Well, a lot hinges on Toshiba's ability to raise much-needed cash through the sale of its valuable memory chip unit.
Here are three possible scenarios.
Toshiba is already the "walking dead" financially, says Gerhard Fasol, chief executive of Eurotechnology Japan: "Action should have been taken 20 years ago".
Zombie companies are loosely defined as loss-making or insolvent entities that should be allowed to fail, but continue to operate because of lenient creditors.
Thousands exist in Japan and the issue is considered to be a reason why Japan's economy risks suffering from a third "lost decade".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Why is Toshiba on the ropes?
All Toshiba needs now is a bailout from the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) or the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation, two government-backed bodies that rescue ailing companies, for this to happen.
However, many investors are not fans of this option. They argue that zombie firms need to be killed off, so that "creative destruction" can take place.
Amir Anvarzadeh of BGC Partners said if the government gets involved, "then we suspect we will find Toshiba back on the brink again sometime in the the future."
Want more proof of zombies? Not a single publicly-listed Japanese firm went bust last year. In fact, overall bankruptcies have fallen for eight years in a row.
Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, touts those statistics as a sign of economic success, but being saved from going extinct is not necessarily a good thing.
Innovation and new firm creation remains incredibly low in Japan compared with other developed countries, according to OECD research.
Breaking up is hard to do. But Toshiba President Satoshi Tsunakawa has no other choice but to sell off some prized parts if he wants to keep the company afloat and alive.
Toshiba President Satoshi Tsunakawa (right) has a massive financial headache on his hands
Toshiba is in the process of auctioning off its semiconductor unit, which makes memory chips for smartphones, computers and other electronic devices.
It is the world's second-largest chip manufacturer behind Samsung, which is no mean feat, given how competitive the industry is.
Over the last two years, there has been an aggressive wave of consolidation. So when Toshiba's unit was put up for grabs, an array of interested bidders quickly assembled.
The chip unit is estimated to be worth between $9bn (£7.2bn) and $13bn. Taiwan's Foxconn, which assembles Apple's iPhones, has reportedly offered as much as $27bn.
Foxconn also bought Japan's Sharp last year. But things could easily change.
The chip sale is now said to be facing opposition from various stakeholders, including US firm Western Digital, which has a joint venture deal with Toshiba.
The Japanese government is also believed to be reluctant to allow the sale of another company with proprietary technologies to a Chinese or South Korean rival.
BGC Partners' Mr Anvarzadeh dismisses the latter. "Arguments that technology transfer ultimately trickle down to China sound dubious," he says, adding that Taiwan and Korea have more advanced chip technologies anyway.
If the chip sale falls through, more accounting irregularities emerge or the banks decide to call in their loans, then all bets are off.
Toshiba could be allowed to fail. But that would have serious ramifications and will see thousands of shareholders lose their savings. Then there is the issue of national pride.
Toshiba launched the world's first mass-market laptop in 1985 and became known for its consumer electronics products such as televisions, although it is worth stating those units are no longer at the heart of its business and some are loss-making.
In addition, the decline of Japan Inc, once renowned the world over for its game-changing companies, has been going on for a long time now.
After 142 years of existence, is Toshiba now toast?
Analysts pretty much all agree that Toshiba is in a difficult, complicated situation. But they differ on the probable course of action.
Eurotechnology's Mr Fasol is predicting a "politically brokered solution", in which a US firm and a Japanese government investment fund acquire the chip company.
But Mr Anvarzadeh believes Toshiba should be allowed to sell the unit to Foxconn, because it is willing to pay the highest price.
"Pride is very expensive. I don't think the government can afford to be proud with Toshiba on the brink," he said.
"We think the best case scenario is for the Japanese government to stay out of this bidding process and, for once, allow market forces to run their course."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39585758
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Garth Crooks' team of the week: Mignolet, Kompany, Herrera, Barkley, Sane, Rashford - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Which talented youngsters impressed Garth Crooks? And who is the Premier League's "most improved player"? It's Garth's Team of the Week.
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Manchester United did Chelsea's title rivals Tottenham a favour and kept up their own pursuit of the top four with a dominant win over the Premier League leaders.
Meanwhile, Manchester City strengthened their claim for Champions League qualification with a sublime second-half performance at Southampton.
No wonder players from those two clubs dominate my team of the week.
For the second consecutive week I have picked Simon Mignolet in my team. The Belgium international made a save that won the match against West Brom and prompted manager Jurgen Klopp to hug his players in sheer relief at a result that got him out of jail.
To be perfectly honest, Liverpool should have won this game comfortably. They dominated most elements of the match and should have scored at least one more, especially when Ben Foster became obsessed with joining the Albion attack in the final minutes as if he was going to somehow provide the equaliser.
Nevertheless it has been Mignolet who has proved to be Klopp's most valuable asset in the past couple of games.
Where has Jesus Navas' form suddenly come from? In the same way Victor Moses has found a new role starring as a wing-back, Navas seems to be doing equally well, but as a genuine full-back. Navas' pace has neutralised raids down City's right side, and in attack the Spaniard seems to have found a confidence to deliver decisive balls into areas I had never seen in his game before.
Pep Guardiola finding this position for Navas, not to mention invest his faith and time in the player, has proved to be quite an innovation.
It has given the team options and, with the introduction of a fit Vincent Kompany, managed to revolutionise City's back four.
How good was it to see Vincent Kompany back and among the goals? I have seldom met a player who is more impressive than the Manchester City captain.
When he scored his first goal for the club since his return from yet another injury, the delight of his team-mates and the travelling City fans was evident.
However, it was his defensive performance that was most impressive. I said a few weeks ago that if Kompany had been playing in City's game at Arsenal this month, Shkodran Mustafi would never have scored the Gunners' equalising header from a corner - such is the Belgian's all-round aerial power and general inspiration.
Arsenal got away without feeling the effects of Kompany's influence but Southampton did not. In fact, the Saints were blown away by City's performance, which was led by the Belgian defender. Great captain, great leader, great performance.
When a centre-back scores goals in three consecutive games you have to consider whether the defender is just going through a purple patch or has a genuine knack of scoring goals. I think with Phil Jagielka it's both.
The Everton defender is certainly going through a wonderful period of scoring goals and that is because he is good at it.
His goal in the win against Burnley was absolutely superb for two reasons. Firstly because, more often than not, he times his run to perfection and gets his head on the ball and, secondly, because of his desire.
The way Jagielka responded to the initial save by Burnley keeper Tom Heaton (goalline technology said it had gone in, by the way) was striker-like, while as a defender his ability to read situations at the back has stood him in good stead all his career. A top-class professional.
It's not often I start my comments by commending a referee but on this occasion I find myself compelled to congratulate Bobby Madley on a tremendous game at Old Trafford - and so should Marcos Rojo.
There is no doubt in my mind a less considerate official might have sent Rojo or Chelsea striker Diego Costa off. If either had received their marching orders for a little 'argy bargy' in the first half it would have destroyed what was a marvellous contest and first-class entertainment.
I must say Rojo won the battle of the warriors and, actually, it was fantastic to watch him and Costa battle it out - under the watchful eye of referee Madley, who orchestrated the affair beautifully.
This kid is going to be special. It has been a long time since I've seen a young lad look so promising. He is quick, direct, loves to take players on and scores goals. If you're a player with a bright future it doesn't get better than that.
It took a wonderful save from Fraser Forster to stop the Germany international from opening his account but the Southampton keeper was only delaying the inevitable.
The football played by Manchester City for their second goal was complete and utter bliss. From the moment Kevin de Bruyne (the king of the assists) won the ball in midfield, Sane was off like a hare, racing 40 yards to support De Bruyne, who provided him with the opportunity to score.
It takes guts, desire and fitness for a player to get into that position and offer alternatives for the man on the ball. That is what Sane now offers a Guardiola team who look better every time I see them. Pep is getting this team right.
It is not often a player finds himself on the front and back pages at the same time, but that is what Ross Barkley has had to cope with these past few days. However, the way the youngster has coped with some of society's excesses has been more than admirable.
Professional footballers dealing with the occasional confrontation from a member of the public, or a crass comment from a journalist who should know better, has been an occupational hazard for years. However, none of that seems to affect Barkley.
In fact, if his performance against Burnley was anything to go by, it seemed to energise the England international. His clearance off the line from a Michael Keane header was brilliant defending.
When his goal came - and it was his goal, and should not have been credited to Ben Mee for trying to do his job and block the shot - Barkley deserved it. Precisely why the experienced Mark Clattenburg had to caution the player for celebrating his goal with the fans, bearing in mind the week he's had, I don't know. It seemed grossly unfair.
Was Clattenburg so blithely unaware of the sheer thrill his goal and performance would have meant to Barkley under the circumstances? Well, for what it's worth, Barkley has shown himself to be a real professional, in the true sense of the word.
He is the sort player who looks like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, but Ander Herrera is capable of making life very difficult for his opponent.
When he was commissioned by manager Jose Mourinho to take care of Eden Hazard in the FA Cup tie at Stamford Bridge, it it ended very badly for Manchester United and in particular for Herrera, who was sent off. Not so at Old Trafford, where there were three massive points at stake.
Luck plays a part in most football matches and it could be argued Herrera had a large slice of it with the suspected handball that took the pace off an attempted Chelsea pass, allowing the Spaniard to produce a world-class through ball for Marcus Rashford to score.
His deflected second-half goal, which gave keeper Asmir Begovic no chance, was the final body blow for Chelsea - there was no way back for the Blues after that.
However, it was Herrera's dominance over Hazard that set the tone for United's victory. Not since Italy defender Claudio Gentile outwitted Brazil legend Zico at the 1982 World Cup have I seen a marker nullify a top-class player so completely.
Tottenham's win against Bournemouth was a walk in the park and it was Son Heung-min who led the Cherries by the nose. I must say the Lilywhites are playing some wonderful stuff at the moment but Bournemouth didn't help their cause one little bit.
There are a few players in the Tottenham set-up who have distinguished themselves this season but the most improved Premier League player in my opinion is Son. He was brilliant against Bournemouth and seldom lets Mauricio Pochettino down when called upon.
Another manager who had done a wonderful job is Bournemouth's Eddie Howe but he really must do something about his goals-against record. It doesn't help when your captain and arguably best defender cannot determine whether his team-mate had the last touch before letting the ball roll out for a corner. It was patently obvious the ball came off Harry Arter's boot. If Simon Francis thought he could kid referee Michael Oliver by letting the ball out of play then he made a big mistake.
But if that wasn't bad enough, Bournemouth had seven defenders marking five Tottenham attackers at the ensuing corner and the ease with which Mousa Dembele lost his markers to put Spurs in front was quite alarming.
From the moment Arnautovic hit the underside of the bar with a thunderous shot I knew he was in the mood to wreak havoc against Hull City. And so he did in a 3-1 win.
Arnautovic could have had a hat-trick but that did not matter because it was good to see one of the most gifted players in the league actually fancying it.
He seemed to be involved in everything Stoke did and when Xherdan Shaqiri is also on fire, watching the Potters is an absolute delight.
The ball from Arnautovic to Jonathan Walters, who eventually provided the cross for Peter Crouch to score, was simply wonderful.
I've seen lots of gifted players in the candy-red-and-white-striped shirt of Stoke over the years and Arnautovic must rank among the best of them. But sadly we just don't see enough of what he has to offer.
This lad absolutely ran Chelsea ragged. I have not seen a single player this season give David Luiz and the entire Chelsea defence such a run-around.
I have spoken before about how Manchester United must think long and hard about replacing Zlatan Ibrahimovic but I think after their game against Chelsea they don't have to be so concerned.
Rumours are rife about Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann, and others, joining the ranks at Old Trafford, and that makes sense. But United have a special talent on their hands in Rashford, and they must handle him with care.
To see this young man look so comfortable on one of the biggest stages in the world was one thing, but to see the United centre-forward destroy a world-class centre-back was something entirely different.
What is even better is that Rashford is English.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39617394
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John Terry: Chelsea captain to leave club at end of season - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Chelsea captain John Terry will leave at the end of the season after more than two decades at Stamford Bridge.
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Last updated on .From the section Chelsea
Chelsea captain John Terry will leave at the end of the season after more than two decades at Stamford Bridge.
The defender, 36, is the Blues' most decorated player, having won four Premier Leagues, five FA Cups and three League Cups. He also has Champions League and Europa League medals.
He has made 713 appearances since his debut in 1998 - 578 of them as captain.
"I feel I still have plenty to offer but understand that opportunities here will be limited for me," Terry said.
The centre-back, who has scored 66 goals for the club he joined as a 14-year-old, has made just four Premier League starts this season.
He is the club's third highest all-time appearance maker, behind Ron Harris and Peter Bonetti, and holds the club record for appearances as captain.
• None Analysis: Terry was leader and legend but also divisive
'I will always be a Blue'
Terry, who made his debut for Chelsea as a 17-year-old in a 1998 League Cup match, has gone on to score 40 Premier League goals over 19 years.
He has played almost all of his career at Chelsea, other than six loan appearances for Nottingham Forest in 2000.
"I will always be a Blue and am desperate to end my final season as a Chelsea player with more silverware," said Terry, whose team have a four-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
"I've always been conscious that I depart at the right time, in the right way, and I feel that the end of this season is the right time for the club and I."
Terry is one of just five defenders to have won the PFA Player of the Year award.
He retired from international football in 2012 after winning 78 England caps and signed a one-year contract extension with the Blues in May 2016.
"I'm eager to carry on playing and so will be looking to continue with a new challenge," Terry added.
"Words cannot describe the love I have for our club and our amazing fans. You mean the world to me and I will never forget the incredible journey we've been on."
Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said: "He will always be held in the highest regard by everybody at Stamford Bridge and we look forward to welcoming him back in the future."
Terry made his debut as a 17-year-old against Aston Villa in the League Cup in October 1998, and scored his first goal for the club in an FA Cup sixth-round tie against Gillingham in 2000.
However, the following year Terry was one of four Chelsea players fined two weeks' wages by the club following their behaviour at a hotel in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the United States.
He was integral to the Blues claiming both the Premier League title and the FA Cup in 2009-10, making more than 50 appearances as Chelsea became just the seventh club to do the double.
However, he was twice stripped of the England captaincy, before being banned for four matches and fined £220,000 for racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.
He also missed the 2012 Champions League final, in which the Blues beat Bayern Munich on penalties, through suspension.
Terry scored four goals in 35 league games as Chelsea claimed the Premier League in 2014-15, but has found his playing time limited under Antonio Conte.
'He set standards for everyone'
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39623727
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School budgets: Unions boosted by parents' concerns - BBC News
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2017-04-17
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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As teacher unions meet for their conferences, parents and delegates express concern over school budgets.
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Education & Family
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The NUT conference is being held in Cardiff
There is no more familiar cry from a teaching union conference than "Stop Education Cuts Now".
So often has it been heard from your typical tub-thumping delegate, that it has begun to sound a little like white noise.
But this year, as teacher delegates met in Manchester and Cardiff for their annual conferences, something had changed.
As more information has come to light about the state of school budgets, the message has resonated further.
So what was once only emblazoned on delegates' T-shirts, has become a topic of polite dinner table conversation in many family homes.
As Lewisham delegate Cleo Lewis put it with absolute clarity: "I've had enough. It's just too much. Nothing is going to change by sitting around discussing."
The reality of significant cost pressures, in England's schools - ranging between 8% and 12%, depending on whom you believe - not to mention £3bn in efficiency savings, has penetrated parents' collective consciousness.
This is in part due to the NUT/ATL school cuts website and the attention the local press have given it, say the unions.
With web hits topping 400,000 and citations in more than 500 regional news stories, it has undoubtedly spread its message.
The interactive website provides an estimate of how much each school stands to lose as a result of budget shortfalls and the new schools funding formula.
Then it converts the figures into possible equivalent losses in teachers and support staff.
It has prompted even the most measured of parents to burst into the playground and tell their friends: "Apparently we're going to lose three teachers."
As a result parents, pushy and otherwise, have begun to mobilise alongside their children's teachers against what they see as unfair and unsustainable cuts.
When quizzed by journalists on whether teachers would strike over the cuts, general secretary of the NUT, Kevin Courtney, appeared to suggest it would not be necessary.
"There's nothing unethical about striking against these cuts. There will be demands for that sort of action that come up in all sorts of places," he said.
"But what we are seeing is huge numbers of parental meetings, with hundreds of parents. These are significant mobilisations of people."
The biggest, for as long as he could remember, he said.
And crucially, they are people not normally given to manning the barricades with placards and copies of the Socialist Worker stuffed in back pockets.
Instead, they are people from ordinary hard-working families, to coin a phrase.
Families, who may be starting to resent padding-out suffering school budgets.
Take the Fair Funding for All Schools founder Jo Yurky, who addressed the NUT conference in Cardiff this weekend.
The NUT has threatened strike action over funding cuts in England's schools
The mother-of-two, and former Parliamentary ombudsman, confided that she was terrified of addressing delegates.
"I find it all a bit uncomfortable, public speaking," she told journalists, just minutes after making a rousing speech to the union.
Her self-consciousness took nothing away from her message. In fact, it only added to it.
But it was the content of her speech, and who she represents, that gives a new power to what the NUT and other teaching unions have been saying for some time.
She described how schools have been asking parents to set up direct debits to plug huge deficits, sometimes amounting to several hundred thousand pounds.
The claim rings true with parents who've had those begging letters home from head teachers explaining what difficult times their children's schools are facing.
It provides a mirror image of the message head teachers have been setting out in open letters to their local papers, MPs and the education secretary over the last few months.
As Ms Yurky puts it, when head teachers speak, parents listen.
She expresses extreme frustration at the Department for Education's unwillingness to admit there is a problem, through its reiteration that school funding is at its highest ever level.
The DfE, however, is keen to show it is listening too.
It says: "We recognise that schools are facing cost pressures, and we will continue to provide support to help them use their funding in the most cost effective ways, so that every pound of the investment we make in education has the greatest impact."
But the parent campaigner goes on to say confidently; "When parents speak politicians listen."
It is not clear yet whether Education Secretary Justine Greening will find some hidden resources in the education budget to alleviate the deepening cash problems ahead.
Or whether she will turn to the chancellor and ask him for extra money ahead of the autumn statement.
But what the NUT, and other teaching unions, say is certain is that their message is being heard far beyond the packed conference hall.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-39618019
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When did you last download a podcast? - BBC News
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2017-04-17
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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S-Town and Serial might be hits, but will listening to podcasts ever be more than a niche pursuit?
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Entertainment & Arts
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Around 9% of adults in the UK say they download podcasts
S-Town, the gripping saga about life and death in Alabama, is the latest podcast to have notched up impressive listening figures. But podcasts on the whole still don't seem to be breaking through to the mainstream.
Have you ever downloaded a podcast? And, if so, did you actually listen to it?
Podcasts have long been seen as the future of radio, a great way to pass the time on a long commute or catch up on a radio show you've missed.
They've been growing in popularity since the early noughties, when Apple's iPod first hit the market ("podcast" is a cross between the words "iPod" and "broadcast").
But, 15 years on, they remain a relatively niche pursuit.
"I don't know whether podcasting is a mainstream proposition," says Matt Hill, co-founder of the British Podcast Awards.
"Its core strength at the moment is in narrowcasting. It creates audio content for niche groups of people, but it does so really effectively."
Podcasts have been growing in popularity over the last decade or so
According to Rajar, the body that monitors radio listening, 9% of adults in the UK say they download podcasts per week - around 4.7 million people.
Which is a fair few - but not much compared with the 90% (or 48.7 million adults) who listen to live radio every week.
Kate Chisholm, radio critic for The Spectator, says: "Podcasting is arguably something for metropolitan people, maybe in their 20s and 30s.
"I don't think it's something that particularly seeps out to the mainstream. On one level I would say that's changing, but then how many people who live on my street would be downloading podcasts? I'm not sure it would be very many.
"They'd listen to Classic FM or Radio 2... but a lot of people look at me blankly when I mention Serial."
Serial, of course, is the biggest podcast success story to date - its makers say it has had more than 250 million downloads.
That certainly sounds like an impressive figure - albeit perhaps not as much as it might first seem.
It doesn't mean 250 million different people have downloaded Serial, but rather that its 26 episodes have been downloaded a total of 250 million times.
Plus, the RAJAR figures show only about two thirds of downloaded podcasts are actually listened to.
"Serial made 2015 the year of the podcast," says Julia Furlan, podcast producer for BuzzFeed.
"Everybody was saying at that time that podcasting had finally made it, but it's still hard for a lot of people to find and download a podcast, hard to share it, it's still something we're figuring out as medium."
But, she says: "Since Serial, you do see different names on the top 10 podcast chart, you see larger media companies and brands investing significant money in making new content.
"And I do think those are indicators that there is growth, that Serial did something really big."
S-Town, released in March and made by the team behind Serial, is the latest podcast to hit the headlines.
The term "podcast" comes from "iPod" and "broadcast"
The documentary begins with a suspected murder in Woodstock, Alabama, and unfolds around its central character - an eccentric local named John B McLemore.
It was downloaded 16 million times in its first week - although again that number is spread across seven episodes, which were all made available at once.
Other recent podcast success stories include Russell Brand's new show on Radio X - which marked his return to radio after an eight-year absence.
The high listening figures of the few breakthrough hits are what make podcasts a very attractive prospect to advertisers.
Hill says: "Even though the audiences are quite small, those shows do very well with advertisers because those listeners are interested in one specific area - it's exactly who they want to market to.
"Podcasting is starting to educate advertisers that there is an upmarket audience that would be interested in intelligent speech programming and would be happy to hear advertising alongside it."
Russell Brand's first podcast after his return to radio this month was hugely popular
Many of these advertisers offer podcast listeners discount codes, because then they can monitor where their new customers are coming from.
Which means many podcasts are effectively working on commission - and only become financially viable if companies can see a demonstrable boost in customers.
But few podcasts become popular enough to attract advertisers at all. There are just so many of them around - with no quality control.
"I think podcasts are very different from mainstream broadcasting, it's like the difference between blogging and print," says Chisholm.
"Like blogs, the quality of podcasts is variable. There's a big difference between people who blog and people who actually get published."
Advertising is becoming more common on podcasts
Part of the problem facing podcasts is that, in general, audio doesn't tend to go viral.
Have a scroll down your Facebook feed, and the chances are there will be several videos of dogs, cats, babies, pranks, fails and Kermit the Frog memes.
"The internet is a place that you take in with your eyes, it's a visual medium," Furlan says.
"I also think that downloading a podcast is quite hard, people think, 'Oh, I'm subscribed to this, what does that mean? How long is a season?' All of these things are unhelpful for the industry at large."
Desert Island Discs is one of the BBC's most popular podcasts
With such a slow rate of growth, podcasts may become the minidisc of the radio industry - sold as the future but eventually becoming redundant. Or they may just take time to become established.
"Every year the listening figures creep up, but they haven't done a Netflix and exploded, it's slow burn," Hill says.
"But the thing about a slow burn is it's not a flash in the pan - those are the things that stick around."
Furlan goes further: "I think absolutely podcasts will break through in the years to come.
"If you take into account how everybody has a smartphone now, smart cars are on their way, the more technology opens up, the more we are going to see podcasts in our daily lives."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39477851
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Turkey referendum: The numbers that tell the story - BBC News
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2017-04-17
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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After all the votes are counted, the controversial result is in. Here's the number.
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Europe
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Turkey has finished counting the votes in a crucial referendum - one which grants sweeping new powers to its controversial President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Although opponents have questioned the result, the head of the country's electoral body says it is valid.
Here's what the numbers say about the vote.
The overall result is a narrow victory for Mr Erdogan - one small enough to be disputed by his opponents. But turnout for the divisive vote was high - 85%.
And while a 51% victory may not seem like much, Turkey's large population means the Yes vote's margin is actually 1,124,091 votes.
Turnout was also very high - reported at 85% by the country's Anadolu news agency.
Opponents have been questioning the inclusion of more than one million unstamped ballot papers as valid - and await the verdict of international observers.
During the campaign, much was made of the impact Turks living abroad, especially in Germany, might have on this crucial vote - particularly after a diplomatic spat erupted over campaigning on foreign soil.
In the end, though, just under 50% of the estimated 1.4 million Turks who could vote from Germany did so - and those who did were firmly in favour of granting Mr Erdogan his new powers.
Several other countries also voted Yes, including:
Most countries which returned a No vote had a relatively small number of voters - though Switzerland's 50,374 Turks firmly voted against (61.92%).
The president of Germany's Turkish community expressed concern about the level of support for the Yes vote, saying they had to "find ways of better reaching people who live in freedom in Germany and yet want autocracy for people in Turkey."
The vote may have been close, but the districts containing the country's three largest cities all voted against the president.
In Istanbul, the largest city, and the capital, Ankara, the vote was very close. But in Izmir, the third-largest city, the margin was a much higher 68.8% No.
But those results could not overpower Mr Erdogan's central Anatolian heartland. Many regions of the country's interior voted Yes, with the share often topping 70% in favour.
Along the Aegean and in southeast Anatolia - which is home to many Kurds - most districts voted the other way, with up to 70% voting No.
As the count progressed, Mr Erdogan's lead narrowed, but he retained enough - if only by a small percentage - to declare victory.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39619354
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John Terry: Chelsea's greatest captain prepares to leave Stamford Bridge - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Chief football writer Phil McNulty takes a look at the highs and lows of John Terry's 22-year Chelsea career.
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John Terry will bring the curtain down on his Chelsea career and a golden Stamford Bridge era when he leaves the club after 22 years at the end of this season.
Chelsea and Terry announced the mutual decision in low-key fashion after a campaign in which the 36-year-old club captain has been reduced to the ranks, barely figuring as manager Antonio Conte has led them to the top of the Premier League table.
Terry may have been marginalised by injuries, advancing years and the progress of others in the new Chelsea age - but he still stands as the symbol of the years of success stretching back to the appointment of Jose Mourinho in 2004 and the club's first title in 50 years, claimed in the manager's first season.
So, as Barking-born Terry prepares to say farewell to his beloved Stamford Bridge, how will a player and personality who has polarised opinion be remembered?
• None Terry clearly cut out to be a manager - Nevin
The banner that is still draped from Stamford Bridge's Matthew Harding Stand finds few dissenters among Chelsea's fans as it is emblazoned with the message: "JT. Captain. Leader. Legend."
Those words are now part of Chelsea's vocabulary and were referenced in the club statement announcing his departure. They were a tribute throughout Terry's career and will be his epitaph when he has left.
Terry may have been a divisive figure outside Stamford Bridge but inside he is regarded as the warrior who led Chelsea into battle, one of the most significant figures in the club's history and a towering player who can take his place among the greats.
When Roman Abramovich arrived at Chelsea to change the face of the Premier League in 2003, it was Terry who remained firmly at the helm as a succession of managers - many hugely successful such as Mourinho and the double-winning Carlo Ancelotti - came and went. And in Mourinho's case went, came back and then went again.
The statistics - whether he found favour or not - are testament to his talent and undisputed evidence of what he has meant to Chelsea.
Terry has made 713 appearances for Chelsea since his debut as a late substitute in a League Cup tie with Aston Villa on 28 October 1998. He is third in the all-time appearance list behind Ron Harris and Peter Bonetti, scoring 66 goals and captaining Chelsea a record 578 times.
He has had a silver-lined career which included four Premier League titles, five FA Cups and three League Cups - including that domestic "Double" under Ancelotti in 2010.
Terry was also gifted the Champions League and Europe League in the roll of honour delivered with his abdication statement although he never played against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in 2012 and against Benfica in the Europa League final a year later, events which encompass the darker side of his career.
Terry is worshipped by supporters who regard him as their representative on the pitch. He is man who plays as they would given the chance - and the fact that he was among the most outstanding central defenders of his generation only added to his lustre.
He was the manager's voice on the pitch and had a sure touch with fans off it, often rounding off his captain's programme notes with the rallying cry: "Come On The Chels!"
Terry was the great organiser, leader and talisman as Chelsea battled for domestic supremacy with Manchester United and Arsenal and European glory alongside the superpowers at home and abroad.
This has been a low-profile farewell campaign, with Terry barely seen after an early-season injury and a shift in tactical emphasis from manager Conte to employing a three-man defensive system of David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta, flanked by Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso.
Terry has only played five league games, with four starts, three FA Cup games and two EFL Cup games this season, last starting in the FA Cup at Wolves on 18 February - a grand total of 718 minutes.
Whether he gets the chance of a grand farewell will depend on Chelsea's fortunes between now and the end of the season as they protect a slender four-point gap from Tottenham at the top of the Premier League table.
If the finale goes to Chelsea's plan, then the last game of the season, at home to Sunderland on Sunday, 21 May, is likely to be an occasion high on emotion.
It is certainly a cleaner, more dignified break than it threatened to be when he announced in January 2016 after an FA Cup fourth-round win at MK Dons that he had not been offered a new deal and it was "not going to be a fairytale ending" - an announcement which appeared to come as a surprise to Chelsea.
Fences were mended, a new one-year contract agreed, and while this may not be a fairytale, it is a parting that is amicable, mutual and leaves the door wide open for Terry's return to Stamford Bridge.
Those outside the club often used words other than "Captain. Leader. Legend" to describe Terry but even those who never warmed to him would surely admit to a grudging respect for his ability, success, drive and longevity.
The words of his contemporaries provide the biggest tribute with Jamie Carragher - on opposing sides to Terry in numerous battles against Liverpool - calling him "the best centre-back we've seen in the Premier League era".
Even as Terry sat on the bench during Chelsea's 2-0 loss to Manchester United on Sunday, Old Trafford was reminding him in colourful terms of arguably the lowest moment of a career that was a story of contrasts.
For all the glory, there was a thread of disappointment and controversy running throughout his time with Chelsea and England that led to him being a personality who split opinion.
United's fans were gleefully recalling the moment that reduced Terry to tears after the Champions League loss on penalties to Sir Alex Ferguson's side in May 2008, when he stepped forward in the Moscow downpour to take what would have been the winning spot-kick, only to slip and hit the post in a moment that will haunt him forever as Chelsea went on to lose.
Terry was even denied redemption when Chelsea finally claimed their holy grail by beating Bayern Munich in their own Allianz Arena four years later under interim manager Roberto di Matteo. Terry missed the final through suspension after he was sent off in the semi-final second leg in Barcelona. He put his kit on for the celebratory photographs but was not part of the winning team and gave the impression of someone with his nose pressed up against the window looking in on the glory.
And when Chelsea beat Benfica in Amsterdam to win the 2013 Europa League, Terry was out injured. This trophy was won under another interim manager, Rafael Benitez, who had a fractious relationship with his captain.
He was also in the headlines off the field during his Chelsea career, most notably in September 2012 when he was banned for four games and fined £220,000 after a Football Association regulatory commission found him guilty of racially abusing then Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a game at Loftus Road on 23 October 2011.
It was an incident that had an impact on Terry's England career, which he ended with a self-imposed retirement after 78 caps. He had been cleared of abusing Ferdinand at Westminster Magistrates Court in July and felt the FA's decision to pursue a disciplinary hearing made his position "untenable".
Terry had been stripped of the captaincy by the FA over the matter in the previous February, a decision which was the catalyst for the resignation of England manager Fabio Capello, who was critical of the move.
The Italian was a staunch admirer of Terry, even restoring him to the England captaincy 13 months after removing him from the role in February 2010 after allegations the defender had a relationship with the ex-girlfriend of former England and Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge - an allegation Terry denied.
There are gaps in the CV. There are controversies that will always be linked to his name. What is beyond dispute is his status as Chelsea's greatest and most successful captain.
The end of an era
Terry's departure breaks the last link in the chain of Chelsea's great generation, the last member of the spine of the teams that brought the club such success since the Millennium.
He was the last of the big beasts from a Chelsea's dressing room almost over-crowded with huge characters, one which occasionally had to answer to accusations it wielded too much power, especially when managers such as Andre Villas-Boas and even the all-conquering Mourinho were sacked, twice in the latter's case.
Terry was a pivotal figure surrounded by the likes of goalkeeper Petr Cech, full-back Ashley Cole, England colleague Frank Lampard and the great striker Didier Drogba, all Stamford Bridge giants.
It is now time for Chelsea's new breed to take the club forward without the player and personality who has been a pillar of their success.
Where next for Terry?
Clubs around the globe will have been alerted by Terry's declaration that he intends to continue his playing career.
It is hard, rather like Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher at Liverpool, to see Terry pulling on the shirt of a Premier League club other than Chelsea - but Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has been interested in him before and may try again.
West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis is another who will have noted Terry's decision with interest, although it remains to be seen whether the interest is reciprocated.
There are the more obvious potential destinations for Terry such as Major League Soccer in the United States, which was a stop-off before retirement for former Chelsea and England team-mate Lampard at New York City FC and Gerrard at LA Galaxy - where another ex-colleague Ashley Cole currently plays.
Does Terry, however, have the current status to make him attractive to an MLS team at his age and with barely a game to his name in 12 months?
China is an obvious and lucrative option. Terry has been linked with a move to Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao, who are coached by former Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Chelsea to China is already a well-worn route with Ramires at Jiangsu Suning, Oscar at Shanghai SIPG and Jon Obi Mikel at Tianjin TEDA.
An opportunity in Qatar may also be offered - and Terry is unlikely to be short of options for his final move.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39625333
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Man Utd 2-0 Chelsea: A Jose Mourinho masterclass with a twist - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Jose Mourinho did things differently when he masterminded Manchester United's win over Chelsea, says MOTD2 pundit Jermaine Jenas.
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I was not surprised to see Jose Mourinho get his tactics spot on for Manchester United's 2-0 win over Chelsea, but he did not do it the way I expected.
Mourinho has masterminded plenty of wins in big games down the years, but he usually does it with a defensive approach and by setting up with a team that, first and foremost, is very difficult to break down.
On Sunday, he flipped that model on its head. United played with two up front and with wing-backs who were high up the pitch - they were on the front foot and went at Chelsea from the start.
It meant United produced a brilliant attacking display as well as a convincing defensive one that was tactically aware of the different threats that Chelsea posed.
Man Utd did not give Chelsea an inch of space
Mourinho asked Ander Herrera to man-mark Eden Hazard and he did it brilliantly, but United's game-plan went much further than that.
They did not give Chelsea an inch of space anywhere on the pitch and did not allow them to get into any type of rhythm.
It started from the front, where Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard never stopped pestering the Blues defence, and Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini and Herrera seemed to win every meaningful battle in midfield.
When the ball did reach Blues striker Diego Costa, he always seemed to end up on the floor because Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo put him under so much pressure.
The Blues are unable to adapt
United started the game so well and at such a high tempo that it seemed to take the wind out of Chelsea's sails.
I've played in games like that where I was surprised at the way the opposition were set up or they came at us quicker than expected but, usually, it takes about 15 minutes to figure it out.
In that time you think 'well, we are all over the place at the moment but let's hang in here and we will get our rhythm back'. Eventually you can take control of the situation, even if you do go a goal down.
United just did not allow that to happen, because they were constantly in Chelsea's faces.
Stopping Hazard was only part of that. Yes, he slipped through the net a couple of times when United tried to man-mark him when they lost in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge in March.
This time he did not get any joy at all, but Chelsea's problems at Old Trafford this time were not just because Herrera did a much better job than Phil Jones managed in that match.
When N'Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic play together in the Blues midfield, as they did against United, I think there is a genuine issue with their attacking play.
Defenders know that if Kante and Matic are playing, the ball is not going over the top. Costa does not make the runs for starters, which tells you everything.
They are both phenomenal midfielders but they are not going to deliver that sort of pass - there is a reason why Chelsea look far more dangerous when Cesc Fabregas is in the team.
Fabregas came on in the last 10 minutes at Old Trafford, when Chelsea were crying out for him in the first half as they were very predictable in possession.
When Chelsea tried to find Costa, their passes seemed to be too slow and too obvious. He kept having to come short, with Rojo or Bailly staying close to him and knowing exactly what he was going to do.
There was no variation in their play and, crucially, they did not get the basics right either, which is very unlike them.
United seemed to win every knockdown, tackle, or second ball in midfield, all of which helped them keep all the momentum.
They ran out deserved winners and kept alive their hopes of a top-four finish.
In my eyes, Herrera's performance was so good it made him a Mourinho player for life.
Mourinho now knows that if he needs someone to do a man-marking job - something ugly - he has the type of player who is clever and disciplined enough, and also has the physicality to do it.
The United manager will also have a bit more trust in the ability of young players like Rashford and Lingard after seeing them perform so well in such a big game.
Their pace gave something United different up front compared to when Zlatan Ibrahimovic leads the line.
Ibrahimovic has been brilliant this season and I still think he will be the man Mourinho looks to for the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Anderlecht on Thursday.
But having to choose between him and Rashford, who looked so sharp, is a good problem for Mourinho to have at such a busy time of the season.
Chelsea still in pole position despite defeat
Chelsea's trip to Goodison Park is the most difficult of their six remaining fixtures - Everton are flying at home, where they have won seven league games in a row.
Going to West Brom will be tricky too, because I am pretty sure Baggies boss Tony Pulis will set up exactly the same way he did against Liverpool on Sunday.
Pulis basically played with six at the back - four centre-halves and wingers that drop in as full-backs, which is a nightmare to play against - Liverpool were quite lucky to get their winner.
So, the Blues could drop points at The Hawthorns too, but I think they will absolutely wipe the floor with the teams they play in their four home games.
When you go through Tottenham's run-in, it is much harder, and they basically have to win all of their games to have a chance of winning the title.
Spurs will have to do it the hard way if they are going to be champions, but they have got the quality and depth in their squad to do it.
With the way they are playing at home, they have given themselves a chance - now they need more slip-ups from Chelsea.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39617552
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World Championship 2017: Stuart Bingham beats Peter Ebdon in first round - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Stuart Bingham moves into the second round of the World Championship by beating fellow former champion Peter Ebdon.
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Last updated on .From the section Snooker
By Owen Phillips BBC Sport at the Crucible
Stuart Bingham moved into the second round of the World Championship with a 10-5 victory over fellow former Crucible winner Peter Ebdon.
Bingham, champion in 2015, was pegged back to 5-4 overnight as the 2002 winner took the final two frames of the opening session.
But the world number three quickly extended his lead to 8-4 and closed out victory after Ebdon got back to 8-5.
"It didn't feel like a 10-5 win," said Bingham.
"I'm over the moon to get through - he's a great player and a great competitor.
"My percentages weren't great and I will have to improve against Kyren Wilson in the next round."
In an all-China battle on table one, Ding Junhui - runner-up last year - was in majestic form on his way to a 7-2 lead over Zhou Yuelong.
World number four Ding scored three centuries, including a 136 - the tournament's highest break so far, to take control going into Tuesday afternoon's concluding session.
Monday's afternoon session sees England's Shaun Murphy resume with a 6-3 lead against Yan Bingtao of China, while four-time champion John Higgins of Scotland begins against English qualifier Martin Gould.
Hong Kong's Marco Fu, the world number eight, looks to overturn a 7-2 deficit against Belgian qualifier Luca Brecel when they play to a conclusion in the evening session.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/39619893
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British and Irish Lions: Jonathan Joseph & Joe Launchbury set to miss out - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Lock Joe Launchbury and centre Jonathan Joseph are set to lead a list of shock English exclusions from the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.
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Lock Joe Launchbury and centre Jonathan Joseph are set to lead a list of shock English exclusions from the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.
Both men, who starred in England's Six Nations triumph, face being left out of Warren Gatland's squad, which will be named at 12:00 BST on Wednesday.
About 14 Englishmen are expected to be in the 37-39-man party, including prop Kyle Sinckler and centre Ben Te'o.
But England captain Dylan Hartley's chances are rated as 50-50.
Other stalwarts of Eddie Jones' side, such as flankers James Haskell and Chris Robshaw, and fly-half George Ford, are also thought to be unlikely to force their way into Gatland's plans at this stage.
Despite finishing fifth in the Six Nations, Wales are still set for a strong contingent of up to 11 players, with the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, prospective captain Sam Warburton, Taulupe Faletau, Rhys Webb, Jonathan Davies and George North among those highly likely to be included.
Conversely, winning three of their five matches in the Championship seems unlikely to have helped Scotland's representatives, with full-back Stuart Hogg the only selection certainty.
The coaches will meet for a final selection meeting on Tuesday, with Lions sources insisting nothing is yet set in stone.
Wasps forward Launchbury, 26, was short-listed for Six Nations player of the tournament, but faces fierce competition in the second row.
Jones and England's Maro Itoje are certainties to make the touring party, but Launchbury is believed to have slipped behind compatriots George Kruis and Courtney Lawes in the pecking order. Gatland is also understood to be keen on Ireland's Donnacha Ryan.
Ryan's fellow Irishman Iain Henderson also excelled when Ireland beat England in Dublin on the final weekend of the Six Nations.
• None Robinson, Guscott, Bentley - six Lions wildcard picks to whet the appetite
Joseph has been tipped by many pundits to start the Test series at outside centre, but Gatland's preference for size in midfield could see the likes of Te'o and Davies preferred.
Meanwhile, despite captaining England to consecutive Six Nations titles, Hartley is struggling to force his way into the squad as one of the three hookers, with Ireland's Rory Best and Wales' Ken Owens vying for places along with England second-choice Jamie George.
The tour begins on 3 June and features a 10-game schedule, culminating in a three-Test series against the All Blacks.
The Lions will be looking for a second series win in New Zealand, with their only triumph to date a 2-1 victory in 1971.
• Listen to a Lions squad announcement special on Radio 5 live from 19:00 BST on Wednesday
Gatland and his assistants are meeting on Tuesday and there is a chance things can change, but I do think it is a case of dotting the i's and crossing the t's.
What I am hearing is there are some pretty high-profile players who will miss out. As well as Launchbury, who has really fallen victim to the fierce competition in the second row, and Joseph, I think England captain Hartley is odds-against making it. But if one of the selectors puts their neck on the line for him in that meeting then that can change.
Every time it looks like a big name is missing out, you look at the options coming in. There will be a lot of uproar and unrest in many quarters, nothing splits opinion like a Lions squad announcement. Scotland fans could be up in arms, as they may only have a maximum of four players in this trip and they finished higher than Wales in the Six Nations, who may have 11 players.
This year not as many players are inked in from the start, but up to 70 players have a strong case.
The Lions will play all five of New Zealand's Super Rugby sides, the Maori All Blacks, plus three Tests in Auckland and Wellington.
Former All Blacks coach Graham Henry has questioned the "demanding" schedule, saying it is potentially "suicidal".
"There is huge pressure on the Lions," Henry told ESPN. "They are playing New Zealand Maori, they are playing the five franchised teams - and those five franchised teams have nothing to lose, no pressure on them at all, so they will fire everything at the Lions and take them on.
"Hopefully they [the Lions] have the ability to overcome that. But really when you tour, you need to ensure some momentum is created by results and you just wonder how they are going to go into the Test series with that itinerary."
BBC rugby reporter Chris Jones and former England international Ugo Monye picked their Lions squad on 5 live's Rugby Union weekly. You can download the podcast here.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39624348
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Newspaper headlines: Praise for Prince Harry and fears over Turkey - BBC News
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2017-04-17
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Reaction to Prince Harry's interview about his mental health makes the front pages, alongside fighting talk from North Korea and the US.
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The Papers
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Prince Harry is on the front page of the Daily Telegraph for the second day running following his revelations about his struggle to come to terms with the death of his mother.
It reports that ministers are examining plans to station NHS mental health workers in secondary schools full time in an effort to tackle what it calls a rising tide of depression and anxiety.
According to the Telegraph, the idea is part of a green paper on young people and mental health to be published later this year. "Pupils to learn Harry's lessons", says the headline.
The Sun's former royal editor, Duncan Larcombe, writes that he witnessed Prince Harry's inner turmoil when the prince tried to have him ejected from a party in 2008.
Mr Larcombe says the confrontation took place shortly after the inquest into Princess Diana's death, and the prince calmed down after venting his feelings.
The Daily Mirror welcomes the younger royals' championing of mental health but adds: "Imagine the impact if this influential group spoke out against cuts..."
Donald Trump provides the image of the day - appearing on a number of front pages alongside a wide-eyed Easter Bunny at a White House children's party.
The US President was joined by the Easter bunny at the 139th White House Easter Egg Roll
The Times focuses on the Turkish referendum, reporting that European diplomats are increasingly concerned that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will renege on the agreement to stem migration to the continent.
They are said to fear that Mr Erdogan will consolidate his new executive powers by picking political battles with the EU.
The Times cartoon depicts the Turkish leader as a sultan on a golden throne, declaring "This is a great day for Turkish democracy... I hereby declare it illegal to say otherwise!"
According to The Guardian, the Turkish referendum is seen by some European leaders as marking the end of the country's long attempt to join the EU.
The paper comments that Turkey's turn to autocracy is now all but complete, and it calls on Europe to offer support to the country's democrats.
In his column in the Telegraph, former Foreign Secretary William Hague blames the EU's reluctance to admit Turkey for driving it towards autocracy. He argues that Britain should not turn its back on a vital ally now.
The Guardian carries a report from the base of so-called Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan where the Americans dropped the weapon known as the "mother of all bombs" last week.
It says that residents have begun returning to the village close to the blast site, two years after they fled the fighting.
On a tour of the area, Afghan commandos point to worn-out shoes that they say belonged to IS fighters killed in the explosion.
The Times reports that after 250 years, the quest to find a living specimen of a giant shipworm is over.
Only fossils of the mystery mollusc have been found before, but now a live one has been fished out of a muddy lagoon in the Philippines. It's no oil painting, though.
The Guardian describes it as "three feet long and glistening black with a pink, fleshy appendage", and looking like "the entrails of an alien from a bad horror film".
Biologists are thrilled, however. One tells the Guardian: "It might well be monstrous but that doesn't mean it isn't marvellous."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-39625429
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Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Wigan Athletic - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Championship leaders Brighton are promoted to the Premier League after they beat Wigan and Huddersfield draw at Derby.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Championship leaders Brighton were promoted to the Premier League after they beat relegation-threatened Wigan, and Huddersfield then drew at Derby.
Brighton had to wait on the result of the 17:00 BST kick-off at Pride Park, before their return to the top flight after 34 years was confirmed.
Glenn Murray's crisp strike from the edge of the area put Albion ahead.
Solly March slotted in a second after the break, before Nick Powell's header made it a nervy final five minutes.
Brighton can now start preparing for life in the top division again following their relegation in 1982-83 and subsequent journey down and back up the leagues.
A Huddersfield win would have meant the Seagulls needed one more point to mathematically guarantee promotion, but their goal difference was already far superior to the Terriers.
Brighton need three more points to clinch the Championship title and will be crowned champions if they win at Norwich on Friday.
Wigan put up a spirited defensive display at the Amex Stadium, but offered little going forward until Powell's goal, and now face the prospect of an immediate return to League One.
They are five points from safety with three to play, including games against play-off chasing Reading and Leeds.
Why are the Seagulls soaring?
Brighton missed out on automatic promotion on the final day last season, when a draw at Middlesbrough saw Boro go up with Burnley and Albion finish third on goal difference.
They then lost in the play-off semi-finals to Sheffield Wednesday.
But Chris Hughton's side have bounced back superbly this campaign, winning 28 of their 43 matches, including all five games in April so far and bettering last year's total of 89 points already.
• Attacking threat - Murray (22), Anthony Knockaert (15), Sam Baldock (11) and Tomer Hemed (11) have scored 59 of their 73 goals this season.
• Home form - The Seagulls have picked up the most Championship points at home with 54, and won 17 of their 22 games there.
• Unbeaten run - Brighton did not lose in October, November and December, winning 11 of their 15 games during that spell.
• Tight defence - They have conceded the fewest goals in the Championship (36) with 21 clean sheets.
They could have beaten Wigan by an even bigger margin, but Murray saw his header ruled out and the Championship's Player of the Year, Knockaert, had a goal chalked out for offside and a strike cleared off the line.
Brighton's promotion party comes almost 20 years to the day since they were less than 30 minutes from dropping out of the Football League.
Trailing Hereford 1-0 on the final day of the 1996-97 season and needing a draw to survive, substitute Robbie Reinelt popped up in the 62nd minute to score an equaliser, Brighton held on and Hereford went down instead.
Steve Gritt, who had taken charge five months earlier with Brighton 11 points adrift at the bottom of the fourth tier, said afterwards: "It's not something I really want to go through again." They never have.
However, the club was still in turmoil off the pitch in 1997. They had to sell the Goldstone Ground to pay off some of their debts, spent two seasons 70 miles away at Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium, and then moved into the Withdean Stadium in 1999 - a council-owned athletics track on the suburbs of Brighton.
Chairman Tony Bloom's arrival eight years ago paved the way for their new permanent home and the success that followed, but it could have all been so different had they dropped into non-league.
Of the 71 promoted teams to play in the Premier League, 31 have been immediately relegated. But Brighton fans may want to put a positive spin on it - more than half of them stay up. The average finishing position is 15th.
Only twice have all three promoted teams stayed up - 2001-02 and 2011-12 - and only once have they all gone down - 1997-98.
In recent years there has been an upturn in fortune for promoted sides. Since 2008-09, there has been only one season in which two of the three promoted clubs have gone straight back down (2014-15). In the five seasons prior to that, it happened four times (2003-04, 2004-05, 2006-07 and 2007-08).
In their current squad, excluding loan players, only six boast previous Premier League experience - Murray, Knockaert, David Stockdale, Steve Sidwell, Shane Duffy and Liam Rosenior.
But Hughton, who has won 63 of his 123 games in charge on the south coast, has managed in the top flight with Newcastle and Norwich.
They are also in for a bumper payday, with promotion to the Premier League worth an estimated £170m.
Brighton manager Hughton told BBC Radio 5 live his players were up for the challenge of promotion straight away, despite the heartbreak of 2015-16:
"It had something to do with how the season ended last season, but I think it was more the fact that the players enjoyed being up that end of the table, competing, getting into the play-offs.
"I think it was a conscious decision that they wanted that again, and the signs were there early in the season.
"We recruited well early in the season, in the summer, but it was a real steely determination from the group of players that wanted to do it again."
• None Attempt blocked. Nick Powell (Wigan Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Attempt blocked. Ryan Colclough (Wigan Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Sam Morsy.
• None Offside, Wigan Athletic. Sam Morsy tries a through ball, but Dan Burn is caught offside.
• None Attempt blocked. Chuba Akpom (Brighton and Hove Albion) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jamie Murphy.
• None Attempt blocked. Max Power (Wigan Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by David Perkins.
• None Goal! Brighton and Hove Albion 2, Wigan Athletic 1. Nick Powell (Wigan Athletic) header from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jamie Hanson with a cross.
• None Offside, Brighton and Hove Albion. Tomer Hemed tries a through ball, but Anthony Knockaert is caught offside.
• None Attempt missed. Gaëtan Bong (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Jamie Murphy.
• None Attempt blocked. Glenn Murray (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jamie Murphy. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39549523
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The man who catches marathon cheats - from his home - BBC News
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2017-04-17
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A business analyst in the US sifts through data and photos to identify running cheats.
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US & Canada
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Boston Marathon runners start their 26.2 mile journey in 2016 - Derek Murphy is looking for cheaters among them
For months, a runner named Cindy posted motivational photos on Instagram and Facebook, chronicling the miles she put in to prepare for the New York Marathon.
When the big day came, she posted about the gear, the energy gels, and the coconut waters that would sustain her through the 26.2 miles (42.1km)
Cindy ran the race of her life, finishing the New York Marathon in just 3 hours 17 minutes and 29 seconds - a lot faster than her pace in previous half-marathon finishes, which each took a little over two hours.
"Ran my heart out today and left everything on the course. All the training paid off and qualified for the Boston Marathon!" she posted on Instagram, along with a post-race selfie and a photo with the finisher's medal.
But Cindy's incredible marathon time seemed just a little too incredible to a man sitting at his computer nearly 640 miles away.
Derek Murphy, a former marathoner and business analyst who lives outside Cincinnati, has made a name for himself exposing marathon cheats on his blog, Marathon Investigation.
During his racing days, he frequented online message boards about big races, which occasionally featured a high-profile cheating scandal.
"There was so much tension from those specific cases, I just wondered how many other people cheated," he said.
Murphy is a former runner himself
Murphy's investigative process has evolved since he first started looking at race results.
He has gone from looking at missed split times in public race results to peering into other clues like suspiciously fast race times, starting line and finish line photos, and bystander video footage recorded at races.
When Murphy heard about Cindy's speedy personal record, he started scrolling through the New York race photos looking for evidence that she had honestly run her improbably fast race.
He didn't find any photos of the petite brunette running on the course. However, he did find a photo of a tall, athletically-built man running with Cindy's bib pinned to his shirt.
After Murphy sent the photos and Cindy's former half-marathon times to the New York Marathon organisers and published a story on his blog, Cindy was disqualified.
She is one of about 30 runners identified by Murphy who sought entry into the 2017 Boston Marathon using fabricated times.
At least 15 of those runners were disqualified from showing up at the starting line in Hopkinton near Boston when the starting gun goes off on Monday.
Some of the remaining 15 might get to run the race, but their results will be closely scrutinised. Murphy expects to identify many more people who cheated to get to Boston after the race is completed.
Only the fastest amateur and elite runners can earn a spot in the iconic Boston Marathon.
Men under 35 need a finish better than three hours and five minutes in an earlier marathon to earn a spot. Women under 35 have 30 extra minutes.
While around 30,000 people are fast enough to run the marathon each year, more than 4,500 qualified runners were turned away in 2016 because too many people registered for the race.
"The integrity of the sport is enormously important to us, and to the athletes who run in our races," said a spokesperson for the Boston Athletic Association in an email statement.
"When it comes to qualifying for Boston, we rely on the race organisers and timing systems they employ to produce accurate results, and we also rely on the honesty and integrity of 99.99% of competitors who compete fairly in pursuit of their personal records."
Murphy said he thinks the actual number of cheaters is probably higher than the 0.01% cited by Marathon officials - which would be just three people - but he thinks it is still a small percentage.
Finding those rare cheats can be tough.
"There's no governing body for marathons per se to look at results," Murphy said. "Most of the time race timers and directors definitely do care, but there's a lack of resources."
Cheating in a marathon can come in many forms. Some cut a few miles out of their qualifying race. Others give their racing bib to someone a bit faster. In rare cases, people pay to have their results altered.
Most races have methods in place to detect the most obvious examples of cheating. The race bibs have tracking devices that log a runner's split time at mats placed strategically throughout the course.
Sometimes missed mats and unbelievably quick splits will alert race officials to the foul play. But cheaters often slip across the finish line and into race results unnoticed by race timers. Some of these people claim amazing times - good enough to get into Boston.
Mr Murphy has caught cheats by looking at the distances displayed on GPS watches in finish line photos and by matching finish times with time stamps on video recordings of races.
When a runner whose qualifying time places them in an early corral position at the Boston Marathon but finishes in the back of the pack, Mr Murphy marks their race result as a priority for investigation. Often, if someone's Boston time is much slower than their qualifying time they may have cheated in an earlier race.
Instead of looking back at runners after the Boston Marathon happens as he has in the past, this year Murphy tried to find people who cheated to qualify before race day. He hopes that more honest runners with qualifying times near the cut-off will be able to run the race because of his analysis.
Not everyone agrees with Mr Murphy's methods. On the Marathon Investigation Facebook page, sandwiched between encouraging comments, the occasional criticism pops up, taking the blog to task for going after amateur runners and giving them too much attention.
Crews install the decal marking the finish line on Boylston Street
Women's Running magazine published a critical opinion piece arguing that novice runners who cheat should not make the news.
Mr Murphy isn't always in the business of getting people disqualified from races. Sometimes, he does just the opposite.
Last year, Ryan Lee ran the London Marathon in just over four hours and 13 minutes, but after he finished a race official contacted him to tell him that he was disqualified for missing a timing mat. The race organisers thought he had cut the course.
One missed mat doesn't always mean someone cut a course - sometimes the mats don't cover the entire width of the course and a runner might accidentally run around it. But Mr Lee's time also seemed to be too fast - he appeared to catch up to runners who had started more than 15 minutes before him, very early in the race.
"It really was draining," Mr Lee said. "I raised quite a bit of money for my chosen charity and I put 110% into the actual marathon. To be then called a cheat after that really does make you feel distraught."
Mr Lee and his mother, Elizabeth Lee, set out to try and prove that he had run the entire race. They tracked down photos of Mr Lee on different points on the course and sought out other runners who had seen him race. But finding sufficient evidence to convince the race director that Mr Lee was innocent was difficult.
"I thought I would never be able to prove that I never did cheat," Mr Lee said.
Mr Murphy heard about Mr Lee's case and began to look at the evidence - video footage of the race, photos, and Mr Lee's split times - and he noticed that Mr Lee appeared with runners who had a start time about 15 minutes before the London Marathon claimed he had started racing.
Crucially, Mr Lee was photographed beside those other runners before race officials said he had crossed the starting line.
Mr Murphy used these photos to prove that Mr Lee had actually started the race much earlier, and ultimately run a race about 15 minutes slower than the London Marathon had recorded.
Derek Murphy - with his own proof of finishing a marathon
Even with the missed mat at the 10km mark, Mr Lee's results made sense if his start time had been recorded incorrectly. When the race was presented with all of the evidence, they reinstated Mr Lee's official race times.
Proving foul play on the race course often requires more than just number crunching. Mr Murphy said that Mr Lee's case is a great example of why he looks at more than just race times.
"I was able to vindicate somebody, but if I had just looked at the data, I would have thought he cheated," Mr Murphy said.
Mr Lee still runs, in part because his racing record was cleared. He is planning to run the 2017 London Marathon later this month.
"I would love the do the marathon in America and meet Derek to say thank you for all the help." Mr Lee said.
"Without the help, I would still be known as a cheat."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39584495
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Premiership: Bristol Rugby 21-36 Wasps - Bristol relegated to Championship - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Bristol are relegated to the Championship with two games to go after a brave defeat by ruthless Premiership leaders Wasps.
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Bristol have been relegated to the Championship with two games left to play after a brave defeat by ruthless Premiership leaders Wasps.
Jason Woodward's try put them ahead but Josh Bassett, Tommy Taylor and Joe Simpson scored as Wasps went in ahead.
Christian Wade, Guy Thompson and Bassett went over for the visitors for a bonus point, which deflated Bristol.
The hosts rallied, Jack O'Connell and Nick Fenton-Wells touching down, but it could not stop them from going down.
Having finished top of the Championship in five seasons before finally winning promotion in the play-offs last year, Bristol will return to the second-tier at the first time of asking.
After Worcester's win over Bath on Saturday, Mark Tainton's Bristol needed two points from the game to prolong their relegation battle, but they lacked a clinical streak.
It leaves them 12 points adrift at the bottom of the table, with a maximum of 10 points on offer from their final two matches.
Wasps were far from at their best, on the back foot for much of the game, but have restored their five-point lead at the top and need one win from their last two to secure a home semi-final in the play-offs.
The Premiership's top try-scorer Wade, on his 100th appearance for Dai Young's side, did his England hopes no harm with his 16th score of the campaign.
Bristol were promoted to the top tier on 25 May after winning their two-legged play-off final, with the Premiership season starting just 100 days later.
Director of rugby Andy Robinson, a former England head coach, was sacked in November after his side lost their first 10 games of the campaign.
Tainton took interim charge and Bristol finally got their first league win against Worcester on Boxing Day, following it up with victory at Sale and a losing bonus point at Northampton, but it was a false dawn.
The scrapping of the Championship play-offs, meaning the team that finishes top will gain automatic promotion, may give Bristol more time to plan ahead next season if they are successful.
'Hopefully we can bounce back quickly'
Connacht boss Pat Lam will have the task of bringing Bristol back into the Premiership, having signed a three-year deal in December to become head coach from June.
Tainton will remain at the helm for their final two matches at Saracens and at home to Newcastle, and remains optimistic about the future of the club.
"Obviously it's disappointing to get relegated, but we've put a plan in place whether we were going to stay in the Premiership or get relegated," he said.
"We have the infrastructure at Ashton Gate to be a Premiership team - we're not going to be next year, but hopefully the supporters will still watch us in that league.
"Bristol more than most know what a difficult league it (the Championship) is, but hopefully we can bounce back very quickly."
"It was a similar story to a lot of games - we've created an awful lot, we've been in the opposition 22 many times but we've just not executed and got across the line.
"We give Wasps an opportunity and they score tries, it's as simple as that - that's the difference in the level we need to get to.
"We were down and beaten in the second half but we played right until the very end of the game - I expect that from them in the next two games."
"Obviously there are still things to work on, especially our starts - I thought our first 10 minutes, again, we made far too many mistakes and gave ourselves a bit of a hill to climb.
"We just had enough to do it but we make it hard for us really - there's room to improve in every area, but I'm pretty pleased and felt we looked in control for most of the game.
"It's up to us to nail it (a top-two finish) ourselves - we're not relying on other people."
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39569142
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World Championship 2017: Marco Fu completes comeback against Luca Brecel - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Marco Fu recovers from 7-2 down to beat Luca Brecel 10-9 and earn a place in the World Championship second round at the Crucible.
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Last updated on .From the section Snooker
Marco Fu completed an astonishing comeback as he recovered from 7-2 down to beat Luca Brecel 10-9 and reach the second round of the World Championship.
The world number eight won six out of seven frames at the start of the second session to level at 8-8.
And although Belgian qualifier Brecel scored a classy 78 in the 17th frame, Fu kept his nerve to win in a thrilling match at the Crucible in Sheffield.
He fended off Chinese teenager Yan Bingtao's comeback to earn a 10-8 first-round victory at the Crucible.
There were also wins for 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham and Northern Ireland's Mark Allen.
World number five Murphy took the first frame against world number 63 Yan to extend his overnight lead to 7-3.
The 17-year-old qualifier then played with a style belying his age to fight back from 9-5 down against his increasingly flustered opponent.
Englishman Murphy, who won the title as a qualifier in 2005, took advantage of an outrageous fluked red in frame 18 to progress.
Yan would have become the youngest player to win a World Championship match at the Crucible if he had overcome Murphy. The record is held by seven-time champion Stephen Hendry, who was 18 when he beat Willie Thorne in the 1987 first round.
Murphy, who faces Ronnie O'Sullivan in round two, was mightily relieved not to be on the wrong end of a piece of Crucible history.
"I played well but at 9-5 up he opened his shoulders and I was bang up against it at the end," the 34-year-old said.
"This place does funny things to you and I had a bit of Lady Luck. But I can't praise him enough. He has a bit of swagger about him."
In an all-China battle, Ding Junhui - runner-up to Mark Selby last year - was in majestic form on his way to a 7-2 lead over Zhou Yuelong.
World number four Ding scored three centuries, including a 136 - the tournament's highest break so far - to take control going into Tuesday afternoon's concluding session.
Elsewhere, four-time champion John Higgins of Scotland was ruthless as he raced into a 5-0 lead before taking a 7-2 advantage over English qualifier Martin Gould.
Bingham earlier went through with an unconvincing 10-5 victory over another former Crucible winner Ebdon.
The world number three was pegged back to 5-4 overnight as the 2002 champion took the final two frames of the opening session.
But Bingham quickly extended his lead to 8-4 and closed out victory after Ebdon got back to 8-5.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/39624692
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'Mercedes face pressure to back Lewis Hamilton after Bahrain Grand Prix' - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Mercedes risk internal discord by backing Lewis Hamilton over Valtteri Bottas, but with Ferrari in this form they have no choice, writes Andrew Benson.
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In the wake of Sebastian Vettel's victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix, Mercedes are facing a decision they hoped they would never have to make.
The manner of Vettel's win, the second in three races so far this season for the Ferrari man, could force them into picking a number one driver, and asking the other to play back-up to his title bid.
That is what eventually happened in Bahrain, when Mercedes finally - just before half-distance - grasped the nettle and ordered Valtteri Bottas to move over and let Lewis Hamilton by.
By then, it was too little too late. Vettel had a six-second lead and, despite a valiant charge by Hamilton after a late pit stop, the German won by about the same margin.
Afterwards, the mood at Mercedes matched the night skies on the Arabian peninsula, and team boss Toto Wolff was already grappling with his conundrum.
How long before you have to choose one driver to back for the title, he was asked?
"We don't like that," he said. "At all. It is not what we have done the past couple of years. But the situation is different now. So it needs a proper analysis what it means and where we are.
"We'd like to give each of them equal opportunity at the start of the race. We owe it to them. Then you see what we did in the race. We made the call. We made the call twice."
Just as in Australia at the first race of the season, Vettel and Ferrari's victory was based on aggressive strategic thinking and good use of tyres.
The German, third on the grid, jumped Hamilton off the line - as he was always likely to do from the cleaner side of the grid - and slotted into second place behind Bottas.
The Finn had taken his first pole position on Saturday. He overhauled Hamilton after what Mercedes said was a rear-end snap in Turn 10 on Hamilton's final lap, but which Hamilton said after the race was largely because the DRS overtaking aid, which boosts straight-line speed, did not engage between Turns 10 and 11.
Bottas lacked pace in the race. Mercedes said that in the first stint he was hamstrung by high tyre pressures caused by a generator failure on the grid which prevented the team from bleeding out enough air. The result was a five-car queue, comprising Vettel, Hamilton and the two Red Bulls.
With Vettel stuck, but sensing he had a very quick race car, Ferrari took the initiative, pitting him early on lap 10. There was no point Mercedes following him in - they knew whoever they pitted would come out behind.
A safety car three laps later gave Vettel what he said was "a heart stop" that he might lose a potential advantage gained in this way for the second week in succession, just as he had in China.
But a slow stop for Bottas, caused by problems with pit equipment, ensured Vettel retained the lead - and Hamilton delivered his own race another blow by driving too slowly on the way into the pits, trying to give the team time to service Bottas and also prevent Daniel Ricciardo from jumping him. It earned him a five-second penalty. Without it, the end of the race would have been much closer.
With Vettel now in the lead, and Hamilton stuck behind Bottas, who was still slow despite corrected tyre pressures, the Ferrari began to edge ahead - 1.2secs at the restart, then 1.6, 2.1, 2.3, 2.7, 2.9, 3.5, 4.1, 4.9 etc. Only when Vettel had an advantage of more than six seconds did Mercedes finally make the call for the drivers to swap positions.
Immediately, Hamilton came back at Vettel, closing to within 4.3secs within five laps before the Ferrari made its second and final pit stop. Mercedes' only hope was to leave Hamilton as late as possible before his final stop. But 19 seconds in 15 laps was always going to be too big a margin to close down.
What will Mercedes do?
Wolff said he didn't think Mercedes lacked race pace, but there was a suspicion within the team that Ferrari had the edge in Bahrain.
Even so, they might have been able to fend them off without all the various things that went wrong, whether it be failed equipment or questionable decisions Mercedes will analyse in the coming days.
Arguing over what might have been is one thing, but there is a more fundamental point at play - which is the margins are too tight this season for mistakes to be made.
Over the previous three years, Mercedes have been dominant enough to be able to allow their drivers to fight with minimal interference. Only in very rare cases - such as when Nico Rosberg's lack of pace in the wet was harming the team's chances of victory with Hamilton in Monaco last year - have they asked one driver to give way.
This year, it already looks as if they do not have that luxury. And while Wolff is not yet saying they will have to bite the bullet and back one driver - which surely will be Hamilton, given his seniority, greater experience and better start to the season - he is at least accepting it needs to be thought about.
Mercedes did not act sooner in Bahrain, Wolff said, because it was relatively early in a race so early in the season and was "a tough call". But he was, he added, going away to think about it.
"I don't want to pre-empt what the consequence will be or if there will be a consequence and what it will mean for the championship," Wolff said. "It is a question Ferrari needs to ask themselves as well."
McLaren had a double PR coup in the week running up to the race, with the announcement on Wednesday that Fernando Alonso would race in the Indianapolis 500, followed by confirmation Jenson Button would replace him at the Monaco Grand Prix.
It did not take long for reality to burst back front of frame, though.
After a dismal pre-season testing programme, engine partner Honda largely kept reliability under control in the first two races, albeit at the expense of performance, even if Alonso could finish neither despite strong drives into points positions.
But the inherent fragility of an engine that is said to be about 120bhp off the best was exposed in the heat of Bahrain, with Honda suffering through practice and qualifying no less than three failures of the MGU-H - the part of the hybrid system that recovers energy from the turbo.
Two of these afflicted Stoffel Vandoorne; one Alonso. But while Vandoorne's were in practice, Alonso's exploded on his first flying lap in second qualifying.
Unsurprisingly, McLaren's Saturday evening news conference was a depressing place to be.
An unusually short six minutes of awkward questions and answers elicited little information other than that Honda does not know the cause of the MGU-H failures, although F1 boss Yusuke Hasegawa said it was "possibly" related to the circuit and conditions.
All three MGU-Hs are destroyed - and each driver has only four for the season before taking a grid penalty. It took a bit of digging afterwards to discover the failure on Alonso's car also trashed his internal combustion engine. Vandoorne suffered another MGU-H failure - the fourth of the weekend - before the race and could not start.
Back in the McLaren news conference on Saturday, someone asked Alonso whether the driveability of the Honda engine was at least any good. It produced a withering response: "I don't care too much about the driveability if I can't finish a race or a lap in qualifying now."
The news conference was brought to an end shortly after that.
Straight afterwards, Hasegawa went to see Alonso. It was a mistake. Alonso directed him into an office and, still visible through the darkened windows, proceeded to have a largely one-sided, animated conversation.
The Spaniard was very obviously making his feelings clear, albeit in a more controlled fashion than might have been expected in the circumstances.
"I see you had a bit of a chat with Hasegawa-san," I said to him afterwards. "Yes," Alonso replied. "Always calm. You know me."
Calm he may be on the outside, but the frustration of driving an uncompetitive car for the third consecutive season is burning inside.
It boiled over in the race, in which he battled for all he was worth for 11th place with Jolyon Palmer's Renault and Daniil Kvyat's Toro Rosso.
Alonso said over the radio he had "never raced an engine with less power" - clearly a message for Honda. After observing that Esteban Ocon's Force India had made up 300 metres on him on one straight, he was asked by engineer Mark Temple for his thoughts on a change of strategy. His reply? "Do what you want, man."
This was not Alonso saying he didn't care. Quite the opposite. He cares very much. As everyone knows, his rightful place is battling at the front. This unsatisfied rage to win is at least partly behind his decision to race at Indy.
Alonso's McLaren contract runs out at the end of this season and racing director Eric Boullier effectively admitted in Bahrain that the Indy programme - and perhaps a future shot at Le Mans - is an attempt to make staying more attractive.
As for Alonso, he said that, much as he wants to win the so-called 'triple crown', further success in F1 is his main priority. He wants a competitive car next year.
How he will get one is unclear. The chances of him going to Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull are minimal, which leaves a choice of either staying at McLaren or moving to the fast-improving Renault team.
McLaren have explored the idea of switching to Mercedes customer engines, as BBC Sport revealed last month, but senior sources say the prospect of that happening have now evaporated.
McLaren's official position has always been they are committed to Honda; Honda's is it is "100% committed to our future in Formula 1".
New parts will be tried at this week's test in Bahrain. An engine with an upgrade - albeit a small one - is due at the Spanish Grand Prix next month.
But if they are going to convince Alonso to stay, Honda needs to find more than small improvements. And it needs to find them fast.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39616983
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Manchester United 2-0 Chelsea - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Manchester United do Chelsea's title rivals Spurs a favour and keep up their own pursuit of the top four with a dominant win over the leaders.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Chelsea's lead at the top of the Premier League now stands at only four points and the title race is wide open again after they were well beaten by a resurgent Manchester United at Old Trafford.
United manager Jose Mourinho has suffered this season against the club where he was a three-time champion, losing 4-0 in the league at Chelsea and also going out of the FA Cup quarter-final at Stamford Bridge.
The Portuguese was not to be denied this time as Marcus Rashford, paired with Jesse Lingard up front while a jaded Zlatan Ibrahimovic was rested, finished coolly after seven minutes and Ander Herrera - detailed to do a brilliant man-marking job on Eden Hazard - saw his shot deflected in off Kurt Zouma four minutes after the break.
Zouma was a late replacement for Marcos Alonso, who pulled out in the warm-up, but Chelsea can offer no excuses here as they were second best throughout. Tottenham now trail them by four points with six games to go and have the superior goal difference.
• None Listen: Spurs fan on 606 - "If we had Rashford we would win the league"
Chelsea looked to be strolling to the title just a few weeks ago - but a sudden stumble, including the home defeat by struggling Crystal Palace, and an irresistible surge from Spurs have brought renewed edge to the run-in.
Conte will feel his side did not enjoy the best of luck here, with keeper Thibaut Courtois ruled out with a training injury, Alonso withdrawn after the warm-up and referee Bobby Madley missing what appeared to be a clear handball from Herrera as he intercepted Nemanja Matic's pass before sending Rashford clear for the opener.
The Blues are still in a strong position but they are now feeling the hot breath of Spurs on their neck after Pochettino's team made it seven successive league wins for the first time since 1967 with a 4-0 home win over Bournemouth on Saturday.
So Spurs have momentum - but Chelsea still have a four-point lead, which counts for a lot with only six games left.
The Blues' run-in also looks a little kinder, with home games against Southampton, Middlesbrough, Watford and Sunderland - but a real test to come at Everton.
The pressure, however, is now applied and there may be twists left in this race. Spurs will feel renewed hope.
Mourinho's starting line-up raised eyebrows, with Ibrahimovic on the bench and Anthony Martial nowhere to be seen - but the end result, and the manner of United's victory, demonstrated just how brilliantly he had set up his team.
With Ibrahimovic out, the pace and movement of Rashford and Lingard offered the sort of threat that troubled Chelsea instantly. Rashford had missed one good chance before coolly directing a finish past Begovic early on.
The real masterstroke, however, was his decision to deploy Herrera as Hazard's shadow throughout. The Belgian, who Conte felt was a deliberate target for physical punishment in the recent FA Cup quarter-final, was totally snuffed out by Herrera, who covered his every move and forced him to the margins on a miserable afternoon for Chelsea.
And, to make Mourinho's day complete, it was Herrera who escaped Hazard's attentions to find space in the area and send that deflected shot high into the net at the Stretford End for the home side's crucial second goal.
This was a bitterly disappointing display by Conte's side but it was only their fifth league defeat of the season.
Too many of their big players failed to make an impact, with Hazard nullified and striker Diego Costa falling back into bad old ways, seemingly more intent on conducting a running battle with Marcos Rojo and Eric Bailly than pose a threat.
Chelsea will also feel they got the rough end of the refereeing decisions, but in the end United were dominant
Conte will be disappointed but his side are still title favourites, with that slender lead but also a favourable remaining programme.
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho, speaking to Match of the Day: "It was the same plan that was working with 11 players in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge. They are the best counter-attacking team in the country and we controlled them very well.
"I'm really happy with the boys. I'm happy - it's not because it's Chelsea, it's because we need these three points.
"I don't feel extra joy at beating Chelsea - we beat the leader. It doesn't matter if the leader is Chelsea or another - we beat them convincingly. Nobody can doubt our credit to win the game."
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, speaking to Match of the Day: "Manchester United deserved to win because they showed more desire, more motivation, more ambition to win this game.
"It is simple. The fault is mine, because this type of situation the fault is the coach. I wasn't able to transfer the right concentration, the right motivation.
"This league is not closed. Tottenham are on great form and playing with great enthusiasm, but we are playing a great season and we must try to reach this target.
"We started as underdogs and it won't be easy."
• None Jose Mourinho has now recorded at least one league victory against all 34 Premier League clubs he has faced as a manager.
• None Ander Herrera scored and provided an assist in the same Premier League game for the first time since October 2015 versus Everton.
• None Rashford's goal was the earliest Chelsea had conceded in the Premier League since December 2013 (Skrtel, third minute for Liverpool).
• None Chelsea have gone 10 Premier League games without keeping a clean sheet for the first time since December 1996 (13 games).
• None Manchester United's Premier League unbeaten run now stands at 22 matches (W12 D10), the longest within a single season by a team since United themselves in 2010-11 (24).
• None Before this defeat, Chelsea had gone nine Premier League games unbeaten against Manchester United (W4 D4), last losing to them in October 2012.
• None Chelsea also failed to have a shot on target in a Premier League match for the first time since September 2007, which was also versus Manchester United at Old Trafford.
United host Anderlecht in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday, with the tie currently at 1-1. They then return to Premier League action at Burnley next Sunday.
Chelsea's next game is against their title rivals Tottenham, not in the Premier League but the FA Cup semi-finals, next Saturday. Their next league game is the following Tuesday, at home to Southampton.
• None Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Offside, Chelsea. Eden Hazard tries a through ball, but Diego Costa is caught offside.
• None Attempt missed. Ashley Young (Manchester United) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Ander Herrera.
• None Attempt missed. Pedro (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right following a corner. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39543146
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Are anti-bacterial hand gels worth it? - BBC Three
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2017-04-17
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If you worry about germs on the train, in the office or at the gym, you might resort to covering your hands in gel to put your mind at rest. But could they be less effective than we think?
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If you worry about germs on the train, in the office or at the gym, you might resort to covering your hands in gel to put your mind at rest. But could they be less effective than we think?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/383ea168-f3e7-45ac-b4d3-ffaa2c7938a0?intc_type=promo&intc_location=news&intc_campaign=handgel&intc_linkname=bbcthree_fac_vidclip1
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Highlights: Ross County 2-2 Celtic - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Tempers flare and controversy reigns in Dingwall as champions Celtic are held by Ross County. (UK only)
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Tempers flare and controversy reigns in Dingwall as champions Celtic are held by Ross County. Commentary from Liam McLeod.
Available to UK users only.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39616654
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Antonio Conte: Chelsea manager takes blame for loss to Manchester United - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Chelsea boss Antonio Conte takes responsibility for failing to motivate his side in Sunday's defeat by Manchester United.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte said he took responsibility for failing to motivate his side in Sunday's defeat by Manchester United.
The Blues lost 2-0 at Old Trafford and are now just four points ahead of Tottenham at the top of the table, having led by 10 points in March.
"We didn't play a good game and United deserved to win the game," said Conte.
"They showed more desire, more ambition, more motivation. In this case the fault is of the coach."
The Italian added he had not been able to "transfer the right concentration, desire, ambition to win this game".
• None Listen: Spurs fan on 606 - "If we had Rashford we would win the league"
Spurs have put themselves into title contention with a run of seven successive league wins, while Chelsea have had two losses in their past four games.
The teams meet at Wembley on Saturday (17:15 BST) in the first of the weekend's FA Cup semi-finals.
"I have concern because we have to work together and find quickly the right ambition to win this title," said Conte.
"If someone thinks it's normal for Chelsea to win the title, we started as underdogs after 10th place last season.
"Tottenham is in good form and playing with enthusiasm. We must find the same."
Chelsea's preparation to face Jose Mourinho's side was disrupted when goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois injured his ankle during the week.
The Blues also lost full-back Marcos Alonso just minutes before kick-off because of illness.
Conte was asked about reports Belgium international Courtois was injured while playing basketball at a promotional event.
"After a defeat it is not right to go into this situation," said the Italian.
"Courtois had an injury during the middle of the week and for this reason he wasn't available but I think it is right to focus on the game and not to find excuses."
Antonio Conte has not had to deal with defeat often in an outstanding first season as Chelsea manager - and none carrying the significance of the loss at Manchester United.
Chelsea's lead over Tottenham has been reduced to four points after this reverse so Conte's response to a setback that has thrown the Premier League title wide open was always going to be intriguing.
Conte's reaction was to deflect all criticism away from his players and take sole responsibility himself.
Time will tell if Conte's approach was correct but it felt the right move. He was downcast but remained calm and his players will surely appreciate and respect his willingness to take sole responsibility by moving front and centre to shield them from the measured criticism that would have been deserved after this rare lapse.
If Conte was frustrated, he hid it well as he spoke of six cup finals awaiting Chelsea in the closing weeks while also underlining how far they have progressed from the struggles of last season and indeed the early weeks of this campaign.
Conte wisely felt his players have given him more than enough this season to allow him to shoulder the burden of the Old Trafford loss and perhaps put them even more in the mood to repay his faith in next Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham at Wembley, as well as Chelsea's next Premier League game at home to Southampton the following Tuesday.
The Italian has barely put a foot wrong since setting Chelsea on course for the top of the Premier League after a home loss to Liverpool and a 3-0 beating at Arsenal in September - and he showed plenty of confidence in a squad that still remains title favourites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39617089
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West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Liverpool - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Roberto Firmino scores a winner for the second weekend running as Liverpool beat West Brom to go third in the Premier League.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Roberto Firmino scored a winner for the second weekend running as Liverpool beat West Brom to go third in the Premier League.
The Brazil striker headed in at the end of the first half after Lucas Leiva had glanced on James Milner's free-kick.
Milner volleyed over after half-time, and Simon Mignolet saved with his legs from Matt Phillips at the other end.
Late on, Alberto Moreno missed an empty goal from 40 yards after Albion keeper Ben Foster had gone up for a corner.
Despite that miss, Jurgen Klopp's side secured a fifth win in seven games, sending West Brom to a third straight defeat.
Klopp has spoken recently of the need for Liverpool to "win ugly" - having developed a habit of beating the Premier League's top teams and then slipping up against sides lower down.
Liverpool's manager was particularly wary of the threat that West Brom might pose from set-pieces, an area in which his team have been vulnerable defensively this season.
To counter that danger, Klopp used the fierce winds that hit Merseyside last Wednesday to his advantage - getting his players to face a barrage of high crosses and long throws in training that day.
The manager's reasoning was that if his players could deal with the ball in the air as it swirled about in the wind, they would be able to handle anything West Brom threw at them.
By and large, the preparation worked - with Liverpool also making sure not to give away too many set-pieces - although there was one hairy moment in the first half when Nacer Chadli miskicked with the goal at his mercy after Liverpool had failed to defend a free-kick.
What was particularly impressive about Liverpool, though, was their midfield domination, which restricted the home side to just a handful of efforts at goal.
Lucas, Georginio Wijnaldum and Emre Can were key to keeping West Brom at bay, and ensured a win that keeps Klopp's side well on course for next season's Champions League.
Before last weekend's trip to Stoke, Liverpool had not won a league game all season without Sadio Mane in the team.
Klopp needed that statistic to change after a knee injury sustained against Everton on 1 April ended the Senegalese striker's season early.
He found inspiration in the Potteries as goals from Philippe Coutinho and Firmino sealed a 2-1 victory, and the two Brazil internationals were involved in Liverpool's best attacking moments at The Hawthorns.
Firmino proved his value in terms of creating chances as well as getting the winner, providing a fine diagonal pass that Coutinho volleyed wide in the first half, and crossing for Milner to volley over when well placed in the second.
Liverpool could have won by a greater margin with better finishing - with Moreno guilty of the most glaring miss.
The full-back, on as a substitute, burst away in the closing seconds after keeper Foster was caught upfield for a corner. Instead of running the ball into the net, Moreno elected to shoot from long range, and missed the target.
West Brom remain on course to finish eighth, and equal their highest final league placing since 1981, but their season is in danger of petering out.
Of their past seven matches, Tony Pulis' side have lost five and failed to score in six, with a 3-1 win over Arsenal on 18 March providing their only win and goals during that run.
Albion under Pulis have made a habit of being well organised, and of digging out victories with a significantly smaller share of possession.
But they failed to cause Liverpool enough problems, managing just two shots on target all afternoon.
Hal Robson-Kanu hit the first tamely at Mignolet in the opening half, and the goalkeeper reacted well to save with his legs as Phillips ran clear with 10 minutes to go.
Even when they won a series of set-pieces in the closing moments, they could not make Liverpool pay.
Man of the match - Emre Can (Liverpool)
• None Roberto Firmino has now surpassed his Premier League goal tally from last season (10 in 2015-16, 11 in 2016-17).
• None Since the start of last season, Firmino has been directly involved in 34 Premier League goals (21 goals, 13 assists), more than any other Liverpool player.
• None Liverpool have won 66 points from 33 games this season; six points more than they picked up in the whole of 2015-16.
• None West Brom have failed to score in four consecutive Premier League games for the first time since April 2003.
• None Liverpool have scored in more league away games this season (14) than they did in 2015-16 (13).
• None Lucas has provided two assists in a Premier League season for the first time since 2009-10.
• None West Brom have lost three of their past four Premier League games at The Hawthorns, as many as they lost in their previous 14 combined.
• None Liverpool kept only their second ;eague clean sheet in 2017, in what was their 14th game of this calendar year.
'No set-pieces, no set-pieces, no set-pieces'
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: "It was a big win against a good, tall team. We played really well from the first second.
"We needed to adapt to what West Brom wanted to do. In all our plans, it was 'no set-pieces, no set-pieces, no set-pieces'."
On Liverpool's Champions League qualification chances: "It is the Premier League, Arsenal have three, four, five games in hand so we should not think about this. Today we could only get to 66 points, so it feels perfect.
"Next week we try at Anfield to get 69 points, and let's carry on. If we do what we have to do, we will be where we want to be."
West Brom manager Tony Pulis: "We are disappointed. I thought we did enough to get a point.
"The goal really knocked us. It took us 20 minutes, in which time they had some good opportunities.
"Chadli had a great chance at the back post, Matty Phillips should have scored one-on-one, Hal should have scored one-on-one - it wasn't all set-pieces.
"The difference between the top teams is the quality they have up front. The players have been fantastic this year, we have an opportunity to play some of the young players now too."
West Brom are at home to Leicester next Saturday (15:00 BST); Liverpool host Crystal Palace a day later at 16:30.
• None Attempt missed. Alberto Moreno (Liverpool) left footed shot from more than 35 yards is close, but misses to the right following a fast break.
• None Offside, West Bromwich Albion. Matt Phillips tries a through ball, but Salomón Rondón is caught offside.
• None Attempt missed. Darren Fletcher (West Bromwich Albion) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Chris Brunt with a cross.
• None Attempt saved. Matt Phillips (West Bromwich Albion) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Salomón Rondón.
• None Attempt missed. Emre Can (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
• None Attempt missed. Jake Livermore (West Bromwich Albion) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Darren Fletcher.
• None Attempt blocked. Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool) right footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the left is blocked. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39543147
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Gianfranco Zola: Birmingham City manager resigns after four months - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Gianfranco Zola resigns as Birmingham City manager following Monday's home defeat by fellow strugglers Burton Albion.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Gianfranco Zola has resigned as Birmingham City manager following Monday's home defeat by fellow Championship strugglers Burton Albion.
The 50-year-old Italian was in charge for just four months, during which time the team won only twice in 24 games.
Their 2-0 loss to Burton left them 20th in the Championship table, just three points above the relegation places with three games remaining.
"I sacked myself. I decided to give in my resignation," said Zola.
"I am sorry because I came to Birmingham with huge expectations. Unfortunately, the results have not been good and I take full responsibility.
"It is not that I like quitting, but Birmingham deserves better. If I feel I cannot help the players, why stay? If I cannot help the team, it is better I leave and let someone else do that.
"I feel very bad and very sorry. We worked with a lot of meaning, but unfortunately it didn't produce the results. It is all very disappointing."
The swapping of Rowett for Zola
When predecessor Gary Rowett was sacked in December, Blues were seventh and only out of the play-off places only on goal difference.
Club director Panos Pavlakis explained their decision to dispense with Rowett, now in charge at Derby County, by saying that Zola's "pedigree" matched their ambition to "move in a new direction".
But the change of manager baffled many supporters - and results on the pitch have done nothing to win them over.
Chinese-owned Birmingham issued a statement on 10 April giving Zola their full backing following a 2-1 defeat by Rowett's Rams.
But the loss to Burton, another of Rowett's old clubs, leaves Blues without a win in nine games since beating local rivals Wolves at Molineux in February - and Blues have picked up just 16 points out of a possible 66 in Zola's time in charge.
Blues' next game is at local rivals Aston Villa on Sunday (12:00 BST).
If 22nd-placed Blackburn, who are at Wolves, and 21st-placed Nottingham Forest, who are at home to Reading, were both to win their respective games on Saturday, Blues would start the game at Villa Park in the bottom three.
It is the second time former Chelsea and Italy striker Zola has resigned as manager of an English club, having quit Watford in 2013 after five successive home defeats. He also spent two years in charge of West Ham United.
"Gianfranco Zola's ill-fated tenure at St Andrew's arguably could have been cut short sooner than it was. By his own admission, he felt he could not help the players any more.
"In a dignified media conference after his resignation had been announced, Zola noted that he had felt pressure from the very outset, given the success the club had under his predecessor Gary Rowett.
"Results are king in football, and two wins in 22 league games was unacceptable. Zola may have lacked fortune while he was in charge at Blues, but not so much as to justify such a paltry return.
"The Easter performances against Rotherham and Burton were limp, listless and damning. Birmingham's flirtation with relegation is very real indeed."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39624187
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Netflix looks beyond US as competition mounts - BBC News
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2017-04-17
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The streaming service is close to having 100 million subscribers, but can Netflix keep growing?
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Business
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Claire Foy has won awards for her portrayal of the Queen in the Netflix drama The Crown
Netflix has come a long way since it started as a mail-order DVD rental service. It has largely been responsible for dragging television into the online world and its dozens of original productions such as House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black have helped it win a huge global audience.
Last year its programming became available in another 130 countries, bringing the total to more than 190.
But Netflix faces increasing competition from online rivals such as Amazon and Hulu, while television networks start to launch their own streaming services and make new shows available in binge-ready box sets.
Sky Atlantic, for example, has made all six episodes of the new drama Guerrilla - starring Idris Elba, Freida Pinto and Babou Ceesay - available to stream, meaning viewers will not have to wait a week for their next fix.
Freida Pinto and Babou Ceesay in the Sky Atlantic drama Guerrilla
Growth of US subscriptions, which account for almost 60% of Netflix's revenue, has also slowed.
Analysts and investors will closely watch its subscriber growth when results for the most recent quarter are released later on Monday.
The company, whose shares have jumped almost 30% in the past 12 months to just over $140, is expected to report revenues of $2.5bn, with the subscriber total tantalisingly close to the 100 million mark.
But some question how long Netflix can continue adding customers at the same pace.
How will international expansion hold up?
Netflix had more than 44 million international subscribers at the end of 2016, nearly 50% higher than the year before, as well as 49 million in the US.
It expects to add another 4 million to the international total this quarter.
Formerly sceptical analysts are increasingly confident that the firm can deliver. A consumer survey conducted for Jefferies bank in Germany and India turned up the surprising finding that services such as Netflix and Amazon are more appealing than local streaming options, despite potential language barriers.
The survey also suggested that Netflix's pricing could hold up, even in a wider variety of markets.
However, the company has warned that growth could be hurt if the dollar climbs much higher.
Who is watching its shows?
Netflix started making its own shows in 2013, with House of Cards one of its first big hits and Stranger Things more recently. The company plans to spend more on original content this year and reduce outlays on licensed material such as movies.
Awards and critical acclaim for dramas such as The Crown have helped attract viewers. Yet analysts at Jefferies fear that cutting back on other content such as films could reduce Netflix's overall appeal.
Will it be affected by the Hollywood writers dispute?
Netflix casts a long shadow on the negotiations that started in March between the Writers Guild of America and production companies and studios over what writers are paid. The existing agreement expires on 1 May and a strike could be on the cards.
One of the main sticking points concerns residual payments for streamed shows and writers for some Netflix productions are covered by the agreement.
The growth of online television has also contributed to the rise of shorter series than on broadcast networks, which has meant lower fees for writers.
Netflix stands to benefit from any disruption to major broadcasters. It also has flexibility to withstand a work stoppage, since it's not bound by the traditional TV calendar.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39621446
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Leather & lather: The Cut-throat Racer - BBC News
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2017-04-17
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Meet female barber Sophie Collins who is challenging the male-dominated world of cut-throat shaving
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Wales
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
It looks like a barber's shop should. The scissors, the combs, the clippers and mirrors. Shelves of hair 'product' and jars of 'barbicide' disinfectant.
There's a theme going on too - it screams motorcycles. From the leather jacket hanging on the wall, to oil and tyre paraphernalia, and biking photos.
It's where men can come to relax. For a haircut, a beard trim, or even a full wet cut-throat razor shave.
Welcome to the world of Sophie Collins: 'The Cut-throat Racer'
She is a 25-year-old former hairdresser, who has swapped tints, blue-rinses and shampoo-and-sets in a small rural village in north Wales for the male-dominated world of barbering.
It is four years since she set up shop in the quiet, picturesque Gwynedd village of Llanbedr - a place whose claims to fame are a campsite on the coast boasting it is the biggest in Europe, and an ex-Raf airfield that wants to become an international space port.
But this spring, it is Sophie making the headlines in the village, in north Wales - and beyond.
She has just been named the best cut-throat shaver in Wales - the first woman to take the title.
It also means she'll become the very first female barber to make it to the UK finals of the competition, held in May in a boxing ring in Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre.
"I've always wanted to do it - be a barber," said Sophie.
"I was inspired by an old friend. A gentleman I trained with, he actually taught me how to shave.
"I thought, you know, when I took on my own place, I wanted to be like the other barbers - show myself off, show the shop - enter competitions - not thinking I'd get as far as have.
Perhaps she is being modest. She is no stranger to competing in traditionally male arenas.
Outside of the barber shop, you are just as likely to find her donning racing leathers and taking her motorbike out on the track.
She is spending the Easter weekend in a track competition where she will be up against her own father, who passed on his passion for speed and bikes to her.
"He's faster than me though," she laughed.
At the race meets up and down the country, Sophie is also known to set-up her own mobile barber's shop, offering hardened bikers and race enthusiasts a trim or shave.
It is where she picked-up her nickname: The Cut-throat Racer.
And now she hopes her success can be an inspiration to other women who want to get into the industry.
"It's actually making the women out there think: 'You know what - I've always wanted to do it'.
"Maybe seeing myself win something like that, maybe it will encourage them to actually do it themselves - and not have to worry about being a woman taking part in a competition alongside men.
"Yes - it is daunting - but you're just as good as them, and that's how I felt on the day."
But does the swaggering confidence translate back to the barber shop floor?
"When they come in and I get the razor out to shave their neck, they panic," confesses Sophie.
"They tend to have a gulp and grit their teeth, and I'm trying to tell them: '"Relax - it's supposed to be relaxing for you.
With a smile and a sly wink, she adds: "A lot of them do get nervous.
"A woman with a razor? No - really?"
Yes really, a woman with a razor who is on a mission to become one of the best cut-throat shavers in Britain.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-39593694
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Lewis Hamilton wants Mercedes pace improvement after Bahrain - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Lewis Hamilton says his Mercedes team need to improve if they are to beat Ferrari in their fight for the F1 title.
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Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton said his Mercedes team need to improve if they are to beat Ferrari in their developing fight for the Formula 1 title.
Hamilton was beaten into second place in the Bahrain Grand Prix as Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel took his second win in three races this season.
He said: "They are strong in race trim and we particularly struggle with the rear end. It's difficult to explain.
"They did a great job and we have to make improvements."
Hamilton is seven points behind Vettel after winning in China and securing two second places behind the German.
The three-time world champion added: "It is all small, fine percentages that will make the difference between winning and coming second."
Hamilton apologised to Mercedes for damaging his chances by earning a five-second penalty for deliberately slowing Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo as they pitted for fresh tyres under a safety car early in the race.
But he said he was not sure whether it cost him victory in a race he lost by 6.6 seconds, and in which Vettel said he was measuring his pace once he was in front.
"Possibly I would have been in a better position," Hamilton said, "but that's all ifs and buts."
The Englishman, 32, will get his next chance to overhaul Vettel at the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi later this month.
"I feel pain in my heart (when I don't win) and people will be like 'hey, you finished second, you should be happy', but that's not why we exist," said Hamilton.
"If anyone ever thinks that a driver, or I, should feel happy with second, I don't know what to say. That's not why we exist."
He added: "The disappointment is there and losing points for a team, when you could have won the race, is definitely painful, but I gave it everything I could.
"Ferrari did a great job, but we are going to push hard together - re-gather as a team - and come back fighting."
Vettel refused to be drawn into talk about a title challenge.
"I am not really looking at the championship," the four-time champion said.
"I am really enjoying the car. I was a bit down after qualifying because the gap to Mercedes was so big and we could have been a bit closer.
"But something inside me told me we had a good car and we can do well, so right from the first lap I felt the car was there and the Easter hunt was on.
"They were hiding some eggs but it looks as though we found them today."
Ferrari have bounced back this season from a winless 2016 to have arguably the fastest race car this season following a major change in regulations.
But they have missed out on pole position in all three races. In Bahrain, Hamilton and team-mate Valtteri Bottas gave Mercedes their first front-row lock-out of the season, with the Finn ahead on his first career pole position.
When it was suggested to him Ferrari had an advantage over Mercedes at this stage of the season, Vettel said: "Maybe at the moment but we still have lots of work ahead of us.
"The car is very good in the race but not quick enough to match them in qualifying.
"There is a lot of homework ahead of us but these kind of results certainly help. The people are very happy, they're passionate and full of energy to keep working harder."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39617339
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Luke Robinson & Kevin Brown on concussion fears and safety in rugby league - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Luke Robinson and Kevin Brown have had repeated concussions, but both tell Radio 5 live the game is getting to grips with the issue.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby League
It should have been a day he would never forget - playing for Wigan in the 2004 Challenge Cup final against the old enemy St Helens. Instead, after two knockout blows, Kevin Brown was wandering alone, dazed and confused, around the streets of Cardiff.
It was the greatest moment of his life - but, after a clash of heads, Luke Robinson - then at Huddersfield Giants - lost all memory that his wife had given birth only three days earlier.
Two isolated incidents for former half-back partners who tell this week's BBC Radio 5 live podcast they fear what the future could hold for them after repeated concussions in their careers.
But both insist the game is getting to grips with head injury protocol, making it much safer for players now beginning their careers.
Robinson, who retired from playing 14 months ago, says he was knocked out at least 30 times playing rugby league.
He says: "The dangers are incredible and it's worrying. My wife is extremely worried about me in the future.
"If you go on YouTube, you can see one concussion. I clash heads with James Graham. My wife had given birth on the Tuesday, I was playing the game on the Friday."
For the rest of the match, Robinson chased after team-mate Danny Brough, asking him if he was a dad.
"It was only when I got home and my wife was there with our first born, Leo, that it all came flooding back that I had a kid," he adds.
"In another game, I got a hit to the head. Five or six hours later I got home, I felt fine. But I rang for a taxi to go to my friend's birthday and I couldn't remember where I lived.
"I had to go to my study and get a bank statement out, and it was only then that I remembered."
• None Concussion in sport: 'They said if I carried on, I might die'
Brown, now 32 and playing for Warrington, missed the Easter fixtures after being concussed twice in three previous games.
But that protocol of being forced to sit out matches is only a recent development.
"In the 2004 Challenge Cup final, I played in the centre against St Helens. I don't remember the game," says Brown, who played on despite being knocked out twice.
"After the game, I had no idea what was going on. I missed the bus and I was walking round Cardiff with my tracksuit on.
"My team-mate Martin Aspinwall found me and took me back to the hotel because I was delirious and I didn't know where I was. But after those two concussions, I played again the week later. I only know I played a week later because I broke my leg at Wakefield.
"There was obviously nothing in place to protect you from getting a further head injury a week later, which they're saying now is the most dangerous."
Both players believe the protocols now in place will protect players.
"I was forever getting knocked out and telling the physio I was fine," says Robinson, 32.
"But now it's out of the players' hands. They're escorted down to the dressing rooms and a head test is done."
Brown adds: "Getting concussed isn't dangerous, it's getting concussed again while your brain is a little bit swollen that can really affect you.
"That's been take away a lot now with the cogsport tests and the protocol. You're not allowed to play on a six-day turnaround if you have had a concussion.
"Also, I've been knocked out six or seven times when I've passed the ball and been shoulder-charged. The game stopped that tackle and started banning people, so people stopped doing it.
"It's good that rugby league took the stance and is looking after the players."
Despite his concerns about the future, Brown says he wouldn't have swapped his career in rugby league.
"The life I've had playing rugby has been unbelievable," he says. "The opportunities it's given me, the enjoyment it's given me, far outweighs the negatives of the head knocks.
"Touch wood, I don't have any side-effects when it's finished."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/39620385
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Sebastian Vettel beats Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain thriller - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel wins a hectic Bahrain Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton's hopes were hit by a penalty for gamesmanship.
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Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel won a hectic and thrilling Bahrain Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton's hopes were hit by a penalty for gamesmanship.
Mercedes' Hamilton was penalised five seconds for driving slowly on pit entry to hold up Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.
Serving it at his second and final pit stop, Hamilton rejoined in third place.
Team-mate Valtteri Bottas was ordered to let Hamilton by so he could chase Vettel, but 12 seconds in nine laps was too big a task and he took second.
Vettel's win gives him a seven-point lead over Hamilton in the championship.
It was not completely clear who had the quickest car - Ferrari argued it was them; Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said Hamilton was the fastest. And the world champions may well feel this was a race that got away from them.
But the best race of the season, in which all three so far have been good, underlined one key fact - Ferrari are absolutely competitive and they and Mercedes are in a titanic struggle for the championship.
Hamilton and Vettel look like the men who will fight it - Bottas is not yet on Hamilton's level and Kimi Raikkonen was again relatively anonymous, a poor start leaving him a long way behind but recovering to take fourth place ahead of Ricciardo.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen may well have been in the fight, too, but crashed out after 11 laps with brake failure.
It turned on two key moments - an aggressive early pit stop by Ferrari for Vettel; and Hamilton's decision to slow on the way into the pits when the safety car was sent out following a collision between Williams driver Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz.
But other issues played a part, too - Hamilton should probably have taken pole but made a mistake at Turn 10 on his final qualifying lap, allowing Bottas to do so for the first time in his career.
And Mercedes, in a very difficult position in only the third race of the year, waited until just short of half-distance to order the slower Bottas to let Hamilton by for the first time.
The combination of those two things left Hamilton with too much to do on a frustrating afternoon on which he and Mercedes were arguably the fastest combination but victory slipped through their fingers.
The race that kept everyone guessing
Hamilton's decision to slow in front of Ricciardo on the way into the pits on lap 13 was made because he was behind Bottas, who was also coming in, and he wanted to give himself time to have his tyres changed straight after his team-mate and not lose a place to the Australian.
He apologised to the team afterwards for his actions, which he said might have cost him victory.
A slow pit stop for Bottas made matters even worse for Mercedes.
Ferrari's aggressive strategy was triggered when Bottas converted his first career pole, in his third race for Mercedes, into a first-lap lead but did not have the pace to get away from his pursuers.
Team boss Wolff said Bottas had too-high tyre pressures as a result of a problem on the grid.
The Finn found himself leading a five-car train, comprised of Vettel, Hamilton and the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo.
Unable to pass, but clearly being held up, Ferrari chose a very early first pit stop for Vettel on lap 10, switching onto a second set of the super-soft tyres. Verstappen followed him in a lap later but suffered brake failure at the last corner immediately afterwards.
Hamilton closed in on Bottas, only for the safety car to be introduced on lap 13 after the crash at the first corner.
All the remaining front runners pitted - Hamilton earning his penalty - and Bottas fitted the super-softs and Hamilton the more durable softs.
At the re-start four laps later, Vettel led Bottas and Hamilton and the Ferrari started to pull away, and as he built a lead of more than four seconds by lap 25, Mercedes finally ordered Bottas to let Hamilton through into second place.
Hamilton closed his deficit to Vettel from 6.3 seconds on lap 27 to 4.3 on 32, and the Ferrari pitted for the final time a lap later, rejoining 17 seconds behind on soft tyres Hamilton but immediately setting fastest laps.
Hamilton served his penalty at his final pit stop on lap 41, fitting another set of soft tyres and rejoining 18 seconds behind the leader, and now it was the Englishman's turn to set fastest laps.
Bottas moved out of the way into Turn 13 on lap 47, leaving Hamilton with 12 seconds to close in 10 laps. It was too much.
A gripping race was enlivened by battles throughout the field, one of the most intense of which was between Renault's Jolyon Palmer, Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat and McLaren's Fernando Alonso.
They swapped positions for many laps, racing furiously, but Alonso's frustration at battling with his down-on-power Honda engine grew throughout.
He said he had "never raced with less power in my life" and later, after losing out to Kvyat but finally moving clear of Palmer, he found Esteban Ocon's Mercedes-powered Force India coming up behind him and blasting past on the straight.
"He was, what, 300 metres behind us on the straight?" Alonso said to his engineer Mark Temple. "We're considering Plan B," Temple said. "How are the tyres?" Alonso replied: "Do what you want, man."
Alonso eventually retired with an engine problem, the latest in a series for Honda in a weekend in which they have lost four MGU-Hs, one of them on team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne's car before the race even started.
What they said
Vettel: "It was a really great day. It was the last half of the out lap when all the fireworks were going off I was like: 'I love what I do'.
"It was a great team effort today and I felt like we are quick. I tried to put Valtteri under pressure. But the early pit stop worked."
Hamilton: "Congratulations to Seb. The pitlane was my fault and apologies to the team. I tried my hardest to catch up. We will push hard together, keep fighting.
"Losing points for the team is definitely painful but it is what it is. I am getting old!"
What happens next?
Drivers have a two-week break before the Russian Grand Prix around the Olympic Park in Sochi on 28-30 April. Hamilton has won twice there. Vettel, on the other hand, crashed last year after being hit twice by Daniil Kvyat.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39615516
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Middlesbrough 1-2 Arsenal - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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Arsenal keep alive their hopes of finishing in the top four of the Premier League with a narrow victory at second-bottom Middlesbrough.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Arsenal kept alive their hopes of finishing in the top four of the Premier League with a narrow victory at second-bottom Middlesbrough.
A dull opening was brought to life when Alexis Sanchez's superb free-kick gave Arsenal the lead just before the break.
Middlesbrough responded soon after the restart when Alvaro Negredo volleyed in Stewart Downing's pinpoint cross.
However, Mesut Ozil secured the much-needed three points for Arsenal with a first-time strike at the near post.
The win - only Arsenal's third in their past nine league games - moves the Gunners up to sixth, seven points behind fourth-place Manchester City and with a game in hand.
Middlesbrough remain deep in relegation trouble, six points from safety.
The Gunners have not lost five successive away games in the league since 1984 and manager Arsene Wenger took significant measures to avoid that happening against Boro by playing a three-man defence for the first time since 1997.
Rob Holding, Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel were the centre-backs at the Riverside Stadium but struggled with the change in system as Middlesbrough looked lively in the early stages but lacked the quality in the final third to exploit the gaps in Arsenal's defence.
"Yes, it is the first time in 20 years. That shows you that even at my age, you can change," Wenger said after the game when explaining his tactical switch.
"I felt it added a bit more stability on the long balls. We faced a direct game and we have been punished a bit on that. It gave the opponents more of the ball but against Crystal Palace we had 70% possession but lost."
Middlesbrough have scored the fewest amount of Premier League goals at home all season - just 12 prior to Arsenal's visit - and with the quality of Sanchez and Ozil in attack the visitors were always capable of snatching a lead. That proved to be the case when they scored from only their second shot on target just before the break, Sanchez expertly steering a free-kick over a packed wall and into the far corner.
Arsenal's lack of experience playing 3-4-3 was evident early in the second half when Downing charged away down an exposed right flank on the counter before providing the perfect ball for Negredo to poke in his ninth of the season.
The game opened up after that but Ozil's goal midway through the second half ensured Arsenal escaped with the points. It was a welcome win for under-pressure Wenger but not quite the sign of a return to form. Holding, Koscielny and Gabriel failed to make a single tackle in the first 60 minutes and stronger sides than Middlesbrough will not be as forgiving.
Sanchez has cut a frustrated figure at times this season, with reports suggesting he is keen to leave the Gunners in the summer.
However, his celebrations after Arsenal's goals on Monday did not look like those of an unhappy player.
He hugged and high-fived his team-mates and was seen smiling broadly at the final whistle, celebrating with the fans.
It is unlikely to be enough to convince Arsenal fans he will stay at the club, but it will no doubt have been pleasing for Wenger.
Is there hope for Middlesbrough?
Middlesbrough are the only side in English league football not to have won a league game during 2017 and that awful run of form has put them perilously close to an immediate return to the Championship.
Performances have improved since Steve Agnew replaced Aitor Karanka on a caretaker basis last month and this display was perhaps their best so far under the Englishman.
But wins are needed and needed quickly. Five wins and a draw from their final six games would take them to 40 points - generally perceived as the minimum to avoid relegation - but with games against Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool still to come they need to significantly improve in the final third to have a chance of pulling off an unlikely escape.
What they said
Middlesbrough caretaker boss Steve Agnew: "We are bitterly disappointed with the result but the players gave everything they had. We couldn't ask more of them.
"We played on the front foot, put them under pressure. I felt we might get the second goal after Negredo scored.
"The ball just wouldn't drop in the box for us. We put them under tremendous pressure."
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger: "We responded well. I think it was not perfect but the commitment and focus was there. At 1-1 we found a response and managed to win.
"It was a big test, Middlesbrough gave everything. It's one of their last chances to stay in the league.
"It [the top four] is mathematically still alive. We knew we needed to win. Now we have a little break with the FA Cup and then we come back again to the league.
"We have to win every game to have a chance to get in the top four, starting tonight. I think it will make the team a bit more serene."
• None Arsenal picked up only their second win in their past nine away league games (D1 L6), though both victories came against teams currently in the relegation zone (Swansea were beaten 4-0 on 14 January).
• None Alexis Sanchez has scored more away goals in the Premier League this season than any other player (13).
• None Indeed, only Emmanuel Adebayor (14 in 2007-08) has scored more away goals in a single Premier League campaign for Arsenal than Sanchez this season.
• None Middlesbrough are winless in 15 league games - their longest such run in the division.
• None Only Thierry Henry (12) has scored more direct free-kick goals in the Premier League for Arsenal than Sanchez (five, level with Robin van Persie).
• None Mesut Ozil has scored in two of his past three league games for Arsenal, the same number he'd scored in in his previous 16.
• None Ozil also made four tackles, his joint-most in a Premier League game (last doing so against Man City in December 2015).
• None Arsenal's opener was their 3,000th away goal in English league football (now 3,001) - the second side to reach that figure (Manchester United, 3226).
Middlesbrough continue their search for a first league win of the year on Saturday when they travel to Bournemouth (15:00 BST). Arsenal, meanwhile, now switch their focus to the FA Cup. They face Manchester City in the semi-final on Sunday (15:00).
• None Attempt missed. Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Aaron Ramsey.
• None Attempt missed. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Granit Xhaka following a fast break.
• None Attempt saved. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Héctor Bellerín.
• None Attempt saved. Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from very close range is saved in the centre of the goal.
• None Offside, Middlesbrough. Daniel Ayala tries a through ball, but Rudy Gestede is caught offside.
• None Attempt saved. Daniel Ayala (Middlesbrough) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Adam Clayton with a cross.
• None Rudy Gestede (Middlesbrough) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt missed. Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses the top left corner. Assisted by Alexis Sánchez.
• None Attempt saved. Álvaro Negredo (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Rudy Gestede.
• None Adama Traoré (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick on the right wing. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39550227
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World Championship 2017: Ronnie O'Sullivan claims 'unfounded' - Barry Hearn - BBC Sport
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2017-04-17
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World Snooker chief Barry Hearn says accusations directed at him by Ronnie O'Sullivan are "unfounded" and being taken "very seriously".
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Last updated on .From the section Snooker
World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn says accusations directed at him by Ronnie O'Sullivan are "unfounded" and being taken "very seriously".
The five-time world champion, 41, reacted to a disciplinary letter he received in January by claiming the body used "threatening" language, and adding he would not be "bullied".
He was speaking after beating Gary Wilson 10-7 at the World Championship.
The WPBSA, the sport's governing body, says it will take no action.
What did O'Sullivan say?
In an emotional post-match interview on Sunday, O'Sullivan told BBC Radio 5 live: "I phoned Barry Hearn four weeks ago and told him I am done with you and your board.
"A friend told me to let the lawyers deal with it. I won't get involved anymore because I am not being bullied."
O'Sullivan was warned about his behaviour in a letter from the WPBSA after he publicly criticised a referee and swore at a photographer during January's Masters.
He has since replied to questions from the media with one or two-word answers, has sung an Oasis song in reply, and on another occasion responded as a 'robot' in protest at his perceived mistreatment by the sport's authorities.
In a statement published on Monday, Hearn said the WPBSA was "exclusively responsible for all disciplinary matters" and he had "no involvement whatsoever".
Hearn, chairman of the commercial arm of the sport, said: "I take any accusation of 'bullying and intimidation' by me or World Snooker very seriously.
"Unfounded accusations such as these are damaging to World Snooker's global reputation, as well as my own, and we will take whatever action is required to protect this reputation from such inaccurate comments."
He said he hoped all parties could "move on" and focus on the "brilliant entertainment" at the World Championship.
What did the WPBSA say?
WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson told the BBC: "In terms of bullying and intimidation - we don't accept that at all.
"I'm more than happy to sit down with Ronnie and discuss the issues."
After beating Wilson, O'Sullivan will play Shaun Murphy or teenager Yan Bingtao in round two at the Crucible Theatre.
Sign up to My Sport to follow snooker news and reports on the BBC app.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/39619481
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How might Donald Trump do a deal with North Korea? - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The US president has a range of options regarding the secretive state.
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Asia
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The world has been consumed by the fear of war in Korea over the past week - everywhere, it seems, except Korea. The BBC's correspondent in the South Korean capital says there is a disconnect between the hyped-up atmosphere and the reality on the ground.
I get emails from people in Europe asking me whether nuclear war is about to start - and then I look out of the window, in Seoul, and see a market where people amble gently between the stalls, sampling street food.
Around the world, headlines scream "danger" - but at what would be the epicentre of any war, there's not the slightest sign of fear.
While tension mounts far away, street dancers in Seoul accost passers-by with pamphlets advertising a concert.
Who's right? The headline writers or the putative war victims? Has the world suddenly got much more dangerous?
In one way, it obviously has.
North Korea is closer to possessing effective nuclear warheads and missiles, simply because it's had longer to sort out the problems.
North Korea tests missiles every one or two weeks to learn from their mistakes.
Speaking at the DMZ, US Vice-President Mike Pence said the "era of strategic patience is over"
But the expert view is that North Korea does not have the capability to strike the United States.
It is making progress, but it isn't there yet. A day after the fearsome display of missiles in Pyongyang, North Korea launched a dud - another one.
The other new element is President Trump himself. He's been sending different messages, which require a little analysis.
Under President Obama, the policy was called "strategic patience" - squeeze North Korea with sanctions, persuade others to do the same, particularly China, and sit it out.
At the demilitarized zone (DMZ) this week, Vice-President Mike Pence said the "era of strategic patience is over".
But is it? Or does it continue under another name?
The military option - an attack on North Korean nuclear installations - was considered by previous presidents and ruled out because half the population of South Korea lives in the greater Seoul area, which is within easy range of North Korean artillery. That remains true.
Decapitation - the assassination of Kim Jong-un - has also not happened for a variety of reasons: success couldn't be guaranteed, and it isn't clear what orders the military might have to retaliate against South Korea if the north's "supreme leader" were attacked. That hasn't changed.
Kim Jong-Un has defied international pressure to abandon his nuclear weapons programme
Whether the policy really has changed depends on whether President Trump has a different attitude to risk and the potential cost of war, perhaps a war that would suck in China.
The United States had information the regime was about to move fuel rods from its reactor at Yongbyon, to the north of Pyongyang, to a reprocessing centre (the first step in making a nuclear bomb).
Plans were made to send fighters and cruise missiles to attack, but the order was never given.
But it was a plan that scared the North Koreans and enabled a deal to be done.
The US provided fuel to a fuel-starved economy, and North Korea agreed to freeze its programme (though it then cheated and the deal fell apart in 2002).
Today, Mr Perry believes the opportunity for what he calls "creative diplomacy" is there, particularly because China may be more helpful than it was during the Clinton presidency.
North Korea has to believe that the United States might attack and that, on this reasoning, makes President Trump's unpredictability an asset.
The recent parade in Pyongyang featured what appeared to be a new class of land-based ballistic missile
In recent days, the administration has downplayed the idea of attacking North Korea.
National security adviser Lt Gen HR McMaster said on Sunday: "All our options are on the table."
But, crucially, he added: "It's time for us to undertake all actions we can, short of a military option, to try to resolve this peacefully."
There is a pessimistic view and an optimistic view.
The bleak view is that President Trump is way out of his depth and acts impulsively.
On this reading, we are in great danger.
Sir Max Hastings, the author of an acclaimed history of the Korean War, has written: "As ever with this president, it is impossible to judge whether he means what he says, or even understands the significance of his words."
He cited a scenario that in his view echoed the way the world stumbled into war in 1914, through the "dysfunctional personality" of a leader.
The nightmare scenario now would be: "The United States delivers an ultimatum to North Korea, insisting it renounces its nuclear weapons.
"The half-crazed regime in the capital, Pyongyang, refuses.
"US aircraft and missiles strike at Kim Jong-Un's nuclear facilities.
"North Korea's neighbour and ally, China, responds by hitting carriers of the US Seventh Fleet in the Pacific.
But there is a more peaceful scenario, suggested by some experts in South Korea.
Prof John Delury, of Yonsei University, in Seoul, says: "The smart play for Mr Trump would be to return to those five wise words he said about Mr Kim on the campaign trail, 'I would speak to him.'
"The United States should swiftly negotiate a bilateral deal that freezes Mr Kim's nuclear and missile programme."
Under this scenario, money - a lot of money - would be given to North Korea in order to improve its economy.
There would probably have to be a guarantee that the regime wouldn't be toppled.
In this case, Kim Jong-un would have to be ready to negotiate (a huge if) and some trust would have to be put in him not to cheat and not to keep demanding more (another big if).
Which way will Trump jump?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39632152
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School budgets: Unions boosted by parents' concerns - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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As teacher unions meet for their conferences, parents and delegates express concern over school budgets.
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Education & Family
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The NUT conference is being held in Cardiff
There is no more familiar cry from a teaching union conference than "Stop Education Cuts Now".
So often has it been heard from your typical tub-thumping delegate, that it has begun to sound a little like white noise.
But this year, as teacher delegates met in Manchester and Cardiff for their annual conferences, something had changed.
As more information has come to light about the state of school budgets, the message has resonated further.
So what was once only emblazoned on delegates' T-shirts, has become a topic of polite dinner table conversation in many family homes.
As Lewisham delegate Cleo Lewis put it with absolute clarity: "I've had enough. It's just too much. Nothing is going to change by sitting around discussing."
The reality of significant cost pressures, in England's schools - ranging between 8% and 12%, depending on whom you believe - not to mention £3bn in efficiency savings, has penetrated parents' collective consciousness.
This is in part due to the NUT/ATL school cuts website and the attention the local press have given it, say the unions.
With web hits topping 400,000 and citations in more than 500 regional news stories, it has undoubtedly spread its message.
The interactive website provides an estimate of how much each school stands to lose as a result of budget shortfalls and the new schools funding formula.
Then it converts the figures into possible equivalent losses in teachers and support staff.
It has prompted even the most measured of parents to burst into the playground and tell their friends: "Apparently we're going to lose three teachers."
As a result parents, pushy and otherwise, have begun to mobilise alongside their children's teachers against what they see as unfair and unsustainable cuts.
When quizzed by journalists on whether teachers would strike over the cuts, general secretary of the NUT, Kevin Courtney, appeared to suggest it would not be necessary.
"There's nothing unethical about striking against these cuts. There will be demands for that sort of action that come up in all sorts of places," he said.
"But what we are seeing is huge numbers of parental meetings, with hundreds of parents. These are significant mobilisations of people."
The biggest, for as long as he could remember, he said.
And crucially, they are people not normally given to manning the barricades with placards and copies of the Socialist Worker stuffed in back pockets.
Instead, they are people from ordinary hard-working families, to coin a phrase.
Families, who may be starting to resent padding-out suffering school budgets.
Take the Fair Funding for All Schools founder Jo Yurky, who addressed the NUT conference in Cardiff this weekend.
The NUT has threatened strike action over funding cuts in England's schools
The mother-of-two, and former Parliamentary ombudsman, confided that she was terrified of addressing delegates.
"I find it all a bit uncomfortable, public speaking," she told journalists, just minutes after making a rousing speech to the union.
Her self-consciousness took nothing away from her message. In fact, it only added to it.
But it was the content of her speech, and who she represents, that gives a new power to what the NUT and other teaching unions have been saying for some time.
She described how schools have been asking parents to set up direct debits to plug huge deficits, sometimes amounting to several hundred thousand pounds.
The claim rings true with parents who've had those begging letters home from head teachers explaining what difficult times their children's schools are facing.
It provides a mirror image of the message head teachers have been setting out in open letters to their local papers, MPs and the education secretary over the last few months.
As Ms Yurky puts it, when head teachers speak, parents listen.
She expresses extreme frustration at the Department for Education's unwillingness to admit there is a problem, through its reiteration that school funding is at its highest ever level.
The DfE, however, is keen to show it is listening too.
It says: "We recognise that schools are facing cost pressures, and we will continue to provide support to help them use their funding in the most cost effective ways, so that every pound of the investment we make in education has the greatest impact."
But the parent campaigner goes on to say confidently; "When parents speak politicians listen."
It is not clear yet whether Education Secretary Justine Greening will find some hidden resources in the education budget to alleviate the deepening cash problems ahead.
Or whether she will turn to the chancellor and ask him for extra money ahead of the autumn statement.
But what the NUT, and other teaching unions, say is certain is that their message is being heard far beyond the packed conference hall.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-39618019
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Could digital detectives solve an ancient puzzle? - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Thousands of people trying to solve an age-old question about joint pain and the weather.
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Magazine
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For more than two thousand years people have believed that joint pain could be triggered by bad weather, but the link has never been proven.
Now, by harnessing the power of thousands of volunteers, doctors hope to unravel the mystery. And the new technique could offer countless solutions to a whole host of ailments.
"I'm always in pain, 24/7," says Becky Mason, sitting at home on her sofa in Alsager near Manchester.
Like millions of people around the world she suffers from pains in her muscles and stiffness in her joints.
"I know, if it's going to be a very damp cold day, it's likely that my pain is going to be worse."
She has discussed it with her GP and has always wondered if there really is a link between her pain and the weather.
Becky isn't alone. The link between joint pain and bad weather has long been suspected by patients and medical professionals alike and the theory dates back at least to Roman times and possible earlier.
"Is it an old wives tale? Am I imagining it?" she asks.
It's a question she finally hopes to answer, not by visiting a hospital or undergoing tests, but simply by using her smartphone.
Each day she enters information about how she feels into an app on her phone, the phone's GPS pinpoints her location, pulls the latest weather information from the internet, and fires a package of data to a team of researchers.
On its own Becky's data is of limited interest, but she isn't acting alone. More than 13,000 volunteers have signed up for the same study, sending vast quantities of information into a database - more than four million data points so far.
Volunteers using the 'Cloudy with a chance of pain app', developed by data capture firm umotif
The app, called "Cloudy with a Chance of Pain" is part of a research project being run by Will Dixon. He is a consultant rheumatologist at Salford Royal Hospital and has spent years researching joint pain.
"At almost every clinic I run, one or more patients will tell me that their joint pains are better or worse because of the weather" he says, but until now he has never had the means of collecting enough data to find a conclusive answer.
Which is perhaps a good point to explain Will Dixon's other job title - Professor of Digital Epidemiology.
Traditional epidemiologists study health and disease in particular populations. Usually it means collecting data in person - asking patients to visit you, or heading out into the field. 'Shoe leather epidemiology', it is sometimes called.
But digital epidemiology allows patients to send detailed information over the internet - which means they can do it more regularly, and of course you can get many more people to take part, thousands more; numbers that would be unthinkable using the old methods.
By combing through that data, Professor Dixon hopes it will be possible to find correlations and clues that would have been hidden to doctors just a decade ago. His team will analyse the data over the coming year, and hope to find a definitive answer to the question.
World Hacks is a new BBC team looking at global problems.
We meet the people fixing the world.
The technique isn't just limited to arthritis research.
Another study underway in the US has recruited more than 20,000 participants using an app that asks them to say "ahhhhhhh" into their phone.
Named mPower, and built using technology developed by British academic Max Little, the project hopes to find out more about the onset and progression of Parkinson's disease. If the "ahhhhhhh" sound is smooth and unbroken, it has likely come from a healthy patient. But if it breaks and wavers, it could suggest that the patient may have Parkinson's.
By monitoring the precise pattern and pitch of the noise, it may even be possible to determine how advanced the disease has become, or how strongly its symptoms are being felt at a given moment. Using that information, it could allow patients to take much more specific doses of a drug to help manage the disease. The software is even being used in a clinical trial for a new drug.
And again, it is the accumulation of vast amounts of data, volunteered by thousands of participants, that is making the study possible.
Another app, soon to be launched, will allow users to photograph their plate of food, and use artificial intelligence to work out what's on the plate. The technology could help people determine the nutritional content of their meal, and allow public health bodies to track how well any particular population is eating.
It is being developed by Marcel Salathe, also a Professor of Digital Epidemiology and founder of what is likely the world's first lab dedicated to the field of study.
Marcel Salathe is a professor of digital epidemiology at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
He thinks the discipline could have particular benefits in parts of the world where basic medical infrastructure is lacking, but lots of people have smart-phones. Digital epidemiology could become the reporting network through which sickness outbreaks are initially detected, he says.
But vast amounts of data don't come without their own unique set of difficulties, he warns.
"The data can be extremely noisy," he explains. "Dealing with very large data sets and finding a needle in the haystack is very challenging from a technical perspective."
Perhaps the most interesting part of this new technique is the motivation of the people donating their data.
'Cloudy with a Chance of Pain' may never reap rewards for Becky herself, yet she seems quite happy to spend her time putting her data into a smartphone app and then sending this off to a remote location.
"When you're in pain all the time, it's easy to get low," she says "I'm at home and I can't work which makes me feel useless. But [with this app] I can still be helpful, and that's so powerful in my tiny little world, it helps me in a massive way."
Listen to BBC World Hacks on the World Service or listen back on the iPlayer.
• None Why addicts take drugs in 'fix rooms'
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39555462
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When did you last download a podcast? - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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S-Town and Serial might be hits, but will listening to podcasts ever be more than a niche pursuit?
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Entertainment & Arts
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Around 9% of adults in the UK say they download podcasts
S-Town, the gripping saga about life and death in Alabama, is the latest podcast to have notched up impressive listening figures. But podcasts on the whole still don't seem to be breaking through to the mainstream.
Have you ever downloaded a podcast? And, if so, did you actually listen to it?
Podcasts have long been seen as the future of radio, a great way to pass the time on a long commute or catch up on a radio show you've missed.
They've been growing in popularity since the early noughties, when Apple's iPod first hit the market ("podcast" is a cross between the words "iPod" and "broadcast").
But, 15 years on, they remain a relatively niche pursuit.
"I don't know whether podcasting is a mainstream proposition," says Matt Hill, co-founder of the British Podcast Awards.
"Its core strength at the moment is in narrowcasting. It creates audio content for niche groups of people, but it does so really effectively."
Podcasts have been growing in popularity over the last decade or so
According to Rajar, the body that monitors radio listening, 9% of adults in the UK say they download podcasts per week - around 4.7 million people.
Which is a fair few - but not much compared with the 90% (or 48.7 million adults) who listen to live radio every week.
Kate Chisholm, radio critic for The Spectator, says: "Podcasting is arguably something for metropolitan people, maybe in their 20s and 30s.
"I don't think it's something that particularly seeps out to the mainstream. On one level I would say that's changing, but then how many people who live on my street would be downloading podcasts? I'm not sure it would be very many.
"They'd listen to Classic FM or Radio 2... but a lot of people look at me blankly when I mention Serial."
Serial, of course, is the biggest podcast success story to date - its makers say it has had more than 250 million downloads.
That certainly sounds like an impressive figure - albeit perhaps not as much as it might first seem.
It doesn't mean 250 million different people have downloaded Serial, but rather that its 26 episodes have been downloaded a total of 250 million times.
Plus, the RAJAR figures show only about two thirds of downloaded podcasts are actually listened to.
"Serial made 2015 the year of the podcast," says Julia Furlan, podcast producer for BuzzFeed.
"Everybody was saying at that time that podcasting had finally made it, but it's still hard for a lot of people to find and download a podcast, hard to share it, it's still something we're figuring out as medium."
But, she says: "Since Serial, you do see different names on the top 10 podcast chart, you see larger media companies and brands investing significant money in making new content.
"And I do think those are indicators that there is growth, that Serial did something really big."
S-Town, released in March and made by the team behind Serial, is the latest podcast to hit the headlines.
The term "podcast" comes from "iPod" and "broadcast"
The documentary begins with a suspected murder in Woodstock, Alabama, and unfolds around its central character - an eccentric local named John B McLemore.
It was downloaded 16 million times in its first week - although again that number is spread across seven episodes, which were all made available at once.
Other recent podcast success stories include Russell Brand's new show on Radio X - which marked his return to radio after an eight-year absence.
The high listening figures of the few breakthrough hits are what make podcasts a very attractive prospect to advertisers.
Hill says: "Even though the audiences are quite small, those shows do very well with advertisers because those listeners are interested in one specific area - it's exactly who they want to market to.
"Podcasting is starting to educate advertisers that there is an upmarket audience that would be interested in intelligent speech programming and would be happy to hear advertising alongside it."
Russell Brand's first podcast after his return to radio this month was hugely popular
Many of these advertisers offer podcast listeners discount codes, because then they can monitor where their new customers are coming from.
Which means many podcasts are effectively working on commission - and only become financially viable if companies can see a demonstrable boost in customers.
But few podcasts become popular enough to attract advertisers at all. There are just so many of them around - with no quality control.
"I think podcasts are very different from mainstream broadcasting, it's like the difference between blogging and print," says Chisholm.
"Like blogs, the quality of podcasts is variable. There's a big difference between people who blog and people who actually get published."
Advertising is becoming more common on podcasts
Part of the problem facing podcasts is that, in general, audio doesn't tend to go viral.
Have a scroll down your Facebook feed, and the chances are there will be several videos of dogs, cats, babies, pranks, fails and Kermit the Frog memes.
"The internet is a place that you take in with your eyes, it's a visual medium," Furlan says.
"I also think that downloading a podcast is quite hard, people think, 'Oh, I'm subscribed to this, what does that mean? How long is a season?' All of these things are unhelpful for the industry at large."
Desert Island Discs is one of the BBC's most popular podcasts
With such a slow rate of growth, podcasts may become the minidisc of the radio industry - sold as the future but eventually becoming redundant. Or they may just take time to become established.
"Every year the listening figures creep up, but they haven't done a Netflix and exploded, it's slow burn," Hill says.
"But the thing about a slow burn is it's not a flash in the pan - those are the things that stick around."
Furlan goes further: "I think absolutely podcasts will break through in the years to come.
"If you take into account how everybody has a smartphone now, smart cars are on their way, the more technology opens up, the more we are going to see podcasts in our daily lives."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39477851
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Turkey referendum: The numbers that tell the story - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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After all the votes are counted, the controversial result is in. Here's the number.
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Europe
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Turkey has finished counting the votes in a crucial referendum - one which grants sweeping new powers to its controversial President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Although opponents have questioned the result, the head of the country's electoral body says it is valid.
Here's what the numbers say about the vote.
The overall result is a narrow victory for Mr Erdogan - one small enough to be disputed by his opponents. But turnout for the divisive vote was high - 85%.
And while a 51% victory may not seem like much, Turkey's large population means the Yes vote's margin is actually 1,124,091 votes.
Turnout was also very high - reported at 85% by the country's Anadolu news agency.
Opponents have been questioning the inclusion of more than one million unstamped ballot papers as valid - and await the verdict of international observers.
During the campaign, much was made of the impact Turks living abroad, especially in Germany, might have on this crucial vote - particularly after a diplomatic spat erupted over campaigning on foreign soil.
In the end, though, just under 50% of the estimated 1.4 million Turks who could vote from Germany did so - and those who did were firmly in favour of granting Mr Erdogan his new powers.
Several other countries also voted Yes, including:
Most countries which returned a No vote had a relatively small number of voters - though Switzerland's 50,374 Turks firmly voted against (61.92%).
The president of Germany's Turkish community expressed concern about the level of support for the Yes vote, saying they had to "find ways of better reaching people who live in freedom in Germany and yet want autocracy for people in Turkey."
The vote may have been close, but the districts containing the country's three largest cities all voted against the president.
In Istanbul, the largest city, and the capital, Ankara, the vote was very close. But in Izmir, the third-largest city, the margin was a much higher 68.8% No.
But those results could not overpower Mr Erdogan's central Anatolian heartland. Many regions of the country's interior voted Yes, with the share often topping 70% in favour.
Along the Aegean and in southeast Anatolia - which is home to many Kurds - most districts voted the other way, with up to 70% voting No.
As the count progressed, Mr Erdogan's lead narrowed, but he retained enough - if only by a small percentage - to declare victory.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39619354
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Birmingham City: Harry Redknapp says four points enough to stay in Championship - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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Victory and a draw will be enough for Birmingham City to maintain their Championship status, says new manager Harry Redknapp.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Four points will be enough for Birmingham City to maintain their Championship status, says new manager Harry Redknapp.
The 70-year-old was appointed on Tuesday, with Blues 20th and three points above the relegation zone.
Their final three matches are trips to Aston Villa and Bristol City plus a home match against play-off hopefuls Huddersfield Town.
"We need a win and a point," Redknapp told BBC Radio 5 live.
"Gary [Rowett, former manager] did well when he was here with the same sort of group. He got the best out of them.
"Four points would do it. Easier said than done, but we will give it our best."
Redknapp, appointed 16 hours after Gianfranco Zola resigned on Monday, has secured four points from his first three games in charge three times in his career.
Should Blackburn and Nottingham Forest both win on Saturday, Birmingham would slip into the bottom three before Redknapp's first match in charge, which is a trip to local rivals Villa on Sunday.
'The players have obviously not performed'
Blues, who were seventh in December when Rowett was sacked, went on to win just two of their 24 matches during Zola's four-month tenure.
Redknapp has not held a permanent managerial position since leaving Queens Park Rangers in 2015, but has had stints as interim manager at Jordan and adviser to Derby County last season.
"The players have put in the club in the position they're in - you can blame who you like, they've obviously not performed," said the ex-Portsmouth, West Ham and Tottenham boss.
"They've got to take responsibility. They're the only ones who can get us out of it. You can only do so much from the touchline."
Redknapp, who will be assisted by former Bristol City manager Steve Cotterill and ex-Bournemouth boss Paul Groves, has only been appointed until the end of the season.
"If I can keep them up, next year would be something I'd really fancy," he added.
First team coaches Pierluigi Casiraghi and Gabriele Cioffi, fitness coach Andrea Caronti and video analyst Sebastiano Porcu, all part of Zola's backroom team, have followed the Italian out of St Andrew's while goalkeeper coach Kevin Hitchcock will retain his role at the club.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39633894
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John Terry: Chelsea's greatest captain prepares to leave Stamford Bridge - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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Chief football writer Phil McNulty takes a look at the highs and lows of John Terry's 22-year Chelsea career.
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John Terry will bring the curtain down on his Chelsea career and a golden Stamford Bridge era when he leaves the club after 22 years at the end of this season.
Chelsea and Terry announced the mutual decision in low-key fashion after a campaign in which the 36-year-old club captain has been reduced to the ranks, barely figuring as manager Antonio Conte has led them to the top of the Premier League table.
Terry may have been marginalised by injuries, advancing years and the progress of others in the new Chelsea age - but he still stands as the symbol of the years of success stretching back to the appointment of Jose Mourinho in 2004 and the club's first title in 50 years, claimed in the manager's first season.
So, as Barking-born Terry prepares to say farewell to his beloved Stamford Bridge, how will a player and personality who has polarised opinion be remembered?
• None Terry clearly cut out to be a manager - Nevin
The banner that is still draped from Stamford Bridge's Matthew Harding Stand finds few dissenters among Chelsea's fans as it is emblazoned with the message: "JT. Captain. Leader. Legend."
Those words are now part of Chelsea's vocabulary and were referenced in the club statement announcing his departure. They were a tribute throughout Terry's career and will be his epitaph when he has left.
Terry may have been a divisive figure outside Stamford Bridge but inside he is regarded as the warrior who led Chelsea into battle, one of the most significant figures in the club's history and a towering player who can take his place among the greats.
When Roman Abramovich arrived at Chelsea to change the face of the Premier League in 2003, it was Terry who remained firmly at the helm as a succession of managers - many hugely successful such as Mourinho and the double-winning Carlo Ancelotti - came and went. And in Mourinho's case went, came back and then went again.
The statistics - whether he found favour or not - are testament to his talent and undisputed evidence of what he has meant to Chelsea.
Terry has made 713 appearances for Chelsea since his debut as a late substitute in a League Cup tie with Aston Villa on 28 October 1998. He is third in the all-time appearance list behind Ron Harris and Peter Bonetti, scoring 66 goals and captaining Chelsea a record 578 times.
He has had a silver-lined career which included four Premier League titles, five FA Cups and three League Cups - including that domestic "Double" under Ancelotti in 2010.
Terry was also gifted the Champions League and Europe League in the roll of honour delivered with his abdication statement although he never played against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in 2012 and against Benfica in the Europa League final a year later, events which encompass the darker side of his career.
Terry is worshipped by supporters who regard him as their representative on the pitch. He is man who plays as they would given the chance - and the fact that he was among the most outstanding central defenders of his generation only added to his lustre.
He was the manager's voice on the pitch and had a sure touch with fans off it, often rounding off his captain's programme notes with the rallying cry: "Come On The Chels!"
Terry was the great organiser, leader and talisman as Chelsea battled for domestic supremacy with Manchester United and Arsenal and European glory alongside the superpowers at home and abroad.
This has been a low-profile farewell campaign, with Terry barely seen after an early-season injury and a shift in tactical emphasis from manager Conte to employing a three-man defensive system of David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta, flanked by Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso.
Terry has only played five league games, with four starts, three FA Cup games and two EFL Cup games this season, last starting in the FA Cup at Wolves on 18 February - a grand total of 718 minutes.
Whether he gets the chance of a grand farewell will depend on Chelsea's fortunes between now and the end of the season as they protect a slender four-point gap from Tottenham at the top of the Premier League table.
If the finale goes to Chelsea's plan, then the last game of the season, at home to Sunderland on Sunday, 21 May, is likely to be an occasion high on emotion.
It is certainly a cleaner, more dignified break than it threatened to be when he announced in January 2016 after an FA Cup fourth-round win at MK Dons that he had not been offered a new deal and it was "not going to be a fairytale ending" - an announcement which appeared to come as a surprise to Chelsea.
Fences were mended, a new one-year contract agreed, and while this may not be a fairytale, it is a parting that is amicable, mutual and leaves the door wide open for Terry's return to Stamford Bridge.
Those outside the club often used words other than "Captain. Leader. Legend" to describe Terry but even those who never warmed to him would surely admit to a grudging respect for his ability, success, drive and longevity.
The words of his contemporaries provide the biggest tribute with Jamie Carragher - on opposing sides to Terry in numerous battles against Liverpool - calling him "the best centre-back we've seen in the Premier League era".
Even as Terry sat on the bench during Chelsea's 2-0 loss to Manchester United on Sunday, Old Trafford was reminding him in colourful terms of arguably the lowest moment of a career that was a story of contrasts.
For all the glory, there was a thread of disappointment and controversy running throughout his time with Chelsea and England that led to him being a personality who split opinion.
United's fans were gleefully recalling the moment that reduced Terry to tears after the Champions League loss on penalties to Sir Alex Ferguson's side in May 2008, when he stepped forward in the Moscow downpour to take what would have been the winning spot-kick, only to slip and hit the post in a moment that will haunt him forever as Chelsea went on to lose.
Terry was even denied redemption when Chelsea finally claimed their holy grail by beating Bayern Munich in their own Allianz Arena four years later under interim manager Roberto di Matteo. Terry missed the final through suspension after he was sent off in the semi-final second leg in Barcelona. He put his kit on for the celebratory photographs but was not part of the winning team and gave the impression of someone with his nose pressed up against the window looking in on the glory.
And when Chelsea beat Benfica in Amsterdam to win the 2013 Europa League, Terry was out injured. This trophy was won under another interim manager, Rafael Benitez, who had a fractious relationship with his captain.
He was also in the headlines off the field during his Chelsea career, most notably in September 2012 when he was banned for four games and fined £220,000 after a Football Association regulatory commission found him guilty of racially abusing then Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a game at Loftus Road on 23 October 2011.
It was an incident that had an impact on Terry's England career, which he ended with a self-imposed retirement after 78 caps. He had been cleared of abusing Ferdinand at Westminster Magistrates Court in July and felt the FA's decision to pursue a disciplinary hearing made his position "untenable".
Terry had been stripped of the captaincy by the FA over the matter in the previous February, a decision which was the catalyst for the resignation of England manager Fabio Capello, who was critical of the move.
The Italian was a staunch admirer of Terry, even restoring him to the England captaincy 13 months after removing him from the role in February 2010 after allegations the defender had a relationship with the ex-girlfriend of former England and Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge - an allegation Terry denied.
There are gaps in the CV. There are controversies that will always be linked to his name. What is beyond dispute is his status as Chelsea's greatest and most successful captain.
The end of an era
Terry's departure breaks the last link in the chain of Chelsea's great generation, the last member of the spine of the teams that brought the club such success since the Millennium.
He was the last of the big beasts from a Chelsea's dressing room almost over-crowded with huge characters, one which occasionally had to answer to accusations it wielded too much power, especially when managers such as Andre Villas-Boas and even the all-conquering Mourinho were sacked, twice in the latter's case.
Terry was a pivotal figure surrounded by the likes of goalkeeper Petr Cech, full-back Ashley Cole, England colleague Frank Lampard and the great striker Didier Drogba, all Stamford Bridge giants.
It is now time for Chelsea's new breed to take the club forward without the player and personality who has been a pillar of their success.
Where next for Terry?
Clubs around the globe will have been alerted by Terry's declaration that he intends to continue his playing career.
It is hard, rather like Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher at Liverpool, to see Terry pulling on the shirt of a Premier League club other than Chelsea - but Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has been interested in him before and may try again.
West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis is another who will have noted Terry's decision with interest, although it remains to be seen whether the interest is reciprocated.
There are the more obvious potential destinations for Terry such as Major League Soccer in the United States, which was a stop-off before retirement for former Chelsea and England team-mate Lampard at New York City FC and Gerrard at LA Galaxy - where another ex-colleague Ashley Cole currently plays.
Does Terry, however, have the current status to make him attractive to an MLS team at his age and with barely a game to his name in 12 months?
China is an obvious and lucrative option. Terry has been linked with a move to Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao, who are coached by former Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Chelsea to China is already a well-worn route with Ramires at Jiangsu Suning, Oscar at Shanghai SIPG and Jon Obi Mikel at Tianjin TEDA.
An opportunity in Qatar may also be offered - and Terry is unlikely to be short of options for his final move.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39625333
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Profile: Theresa May - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A profile of Conservative Party leader Theresa May, who has just called a general election.
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UK Politics
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A look at the life and times of the UK's Prime Minister, Theresa May, who has decided to call a general election for 8 June.
Theresa May is Britain's second female prime minister but, unlike her predecessor Margaret Thatcher, she came to power without an election.
She took over as leader of the governing Conservative Party last July following the resignation of David Cameron, who had gambled everything on Britain voting to stay in the European Union.
Like Mr Cameron, Mrs May had been against Brexit but she cleverly managed to keep the Eurosceptics in her party on side during the referendum campaign by keeping a low profile.
She reaped her reward by emerging as the unchallenged successor to Mr Cameron - portraying herself as a steady, reliable pair of hands who would deliver the will of the people and take Britain out of the EU in as orderly a fashion as possible.
The plan was for there to be no election until 2020, but as the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg explains, the political logic for going to the country earlier became inescapable.
With a commanding lead in the opinion polls, the bigger gamble might well have been to wait another three years and risk Brexit negotiations turning sour or the opposition Labour Party recovering ground.
Theresa May, back row, right, in the 1999 shadow cabinet
The 60-year-old former home secretary has a reputation for a steady, unshowy approach to politics, although she was known in her early days at Westminster for her exotic taste in footwear and a fondness for high fashion (she named a lifetime subscription to Vogue as the luxury item she would take to a desert island).
She battled her way through the Westminster boy's club as one of a handful of women on the Conservative benches - she would later be joined by more female colleagues thanks, in part, to her own efforts as party chairman to get women candidates into winnable seats.
She developed a reputation as a tough, critics would say inflexible, operator, who was not afraid of delivering unpalatable home truths.
Some in the Conservative Party have never forgiven her for a 2002 conference speech in which she told members that "you know what some people call us - the nasty party".
Her lectures to Police Federation conferences as home secretary about the need for reform and to tackle corruption added to this steely reputation.
She was always ambitious but her rise through the ranks was steady, rather than meteoric.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Theresa May: We need proven leadership to negotiate the best deal
The daughter of a Church of England vicar, Hubert, who died from injuries sustained in a car crash when she was only 25, Theresa May's middle class background has more in keeping with the last female occupant of Downing Street, Margaret Thatcher, than her immediate predecessor.
Theresa May married her husband Philip in 1980
Born in Sussex but raised largely in Oxfordshire, Mrs May - both of whose grandmothers are reported to have been in domestic service - attended a state primary, an independent convent school and then a grammar school in the village of Wheatley, which became the Wheatley Park Comprehensive School during her time there.
The young Theresa Brasier, as she was then, threw herself into village life, taking part in a pantomime that was produced by her father and working in the bakery on Saturdays to earn pocket money.
Friends recall a tall, fashion-conscious young woman who from an early age spoke of her ambition to be the first woman prime minister.
The young Theresa Brasier at a function in the village hall
Like Margaret Thatcher, she went to Oxford University to study and, like so many others of her generation, found that her personal and political lives soon became closely intertwined.
In 1976, in her third year, she met her husband Philip, who was president of the Oxford Union, a well-known breeding ground for future political leaders.
The story has it that they were introduced at a Conservative Association disco by the subsequent Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto. They married in 1980.
Her university friend Pat Frankland, speaking in 2011 on a BBC Radio 4 profile of the then home secretary, said: "I cannot remember a time when she did not have political ambitions.
"I well remember, at the time, that she did want to become the first woman prime minister and she was quite irritated when Margaret Thatcher got there first."
Theresa May is seen here as a child with her parents Hubert and Zaidee
There are no tales of drunken student revelry, but Pat Frankland and other friends say May was not the austere figure she would later come to be seen as, saying she had a sense of fun and a full social life.
After graduating with a degree in Geography, May went to work in the City, initially starting work at the Bank of England and later rising to become head of the European Affairs Unit of the Association for Payment Clearing Services.
But it was already clear that she saw her future in politics. She was elected as a local councillor in Merton, south London, and served her ward for a decade, rising to become deputy leader. However, she was soon setting her sights even higher.
Mrs May, who has become a confidante as well as role model for aspiring female MPs - told prospective candidates before the 2015 election that "there is always a seat out there with your name on it".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A look at Theresa May's journey to the top job
In her case - like that of Margaret Thatcher - it took a bit of time for her to find hers. She first dipped her toe in the water in 1992, where she stood in the safe Labour seat of North West Durham, coming a distant second to Hilary Armstrong, who went on to become Labour's chief whip in the Blair government. Her fellow candidates in that contest also included a very youthful Tim Farron, who is now Lib Dem leader.
Two years later, she stood in Barking, east London, in a by-election where - with the Conservative government at the height of its unpopularity - she got fewer than 2,000 votes and saw her vote share dip more than 20%. But her luck was about to change.
The Conservatives' electoral fortunes may have hit a nadir in 1997, when Tony Blair came to power in a Labour landslide, but there was a silver lining for the party and for the aspiring politician when she won the seat of Maidenhead in Berkshire. It's a seat she has held ever since.
Mrs May first stood for Parliament in 1992 in North West Durham
Theresa May has described her husband Philip as her rock
Theresa May bumps into rock star Alice Cooper outside a BBC studio in 2010
An early advocate of Conservative "modernisation" in the wilderness years that followed, Mrs May quickly joined the shadow cabinet in 1999 under William Hague as shadow education secretary and in 2002 she became the party's first female chairman under Iain Duncan Smith.
She then held a range of senior posts under Michael Howard but was conspicuously not part of the "Notting Hill set" which grabbed control of the party after its third successive defeat in 2005 and laid David Cameron and George Osborne's path to power.
This was perhaps reflected in the fact that she was initially given the rather underwhelming job of shadow leader of the House of Commons. But she gradually raised her standing and by 2009 had become shadow work and pensions secretary.
Nevertheless, her promotion to the job of home secretary when the Conservatives joined with the Lib Dems to form the first coalition government in 70 years was still something of a surprise - given that Chris Grayling had been shadowing the brief in opposition.
While the Home Office turned out to be the political graveyard of many a secretary of state in previous decades, Mrs May refused to let this happen - mastering her brief with what was said to be a microscopic attention to detail and no little willingness to enter into battles with fellow ministers when she thought it necessary.
Theresa May initially fell down the pecking order under David Cameron but worked her way back up
While some in Downing Street worried that the Home Office was becoming her own personal fiefdom, she engendered loyalty among her ministers and was regarded as "unmovable" as her tough-talking style met with public approval even when the department's record did not always seem so strong.
In his memoir of his time in office, former Lib Dem minister David Laws says: "She would frequently clash with George Osborne over immigration. She rarely got on anything but badly with Michael Gove. She and Cameron seemed to view each other with mutual suspicion.
"I first met her in 2010. I was sitting in my Treasury office, overlooking St James's Park, me in one armchair and the home secretary in the other, with no officials present. She looked nervous.
"I felt she was surprised to find herself as home secretary. Frankly, I didn't expect her to last more than a couple of years."
Despite her liberal instincts in some policy areas, she frequently clashed with the then deputy prime minister and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, particularly over her plan to increase internet surveillance to combat terrorism, dubbed the "Snooper's Charter" by the Lib Dems.
After one "difficult" meeting with Mr Clegg, he reportedly told David Laws: "You know, I've grown to rather like Theresa May... 'She's a bit of an Ice Maiden and has no small talk whatsoever - none. I have quite difficult meetings with her. Cameron once said, 'She's exactly like that with me too!'
"She is instinctively secretive and very rigid, but you can be tough with her and she'll go away and think it all through again."
Mrs May has confronted what she sees as vested interests in the police
The new prime minister is a self-declared feminist
On the plus side crime levels fell, the UK avoided a mass terrorist attack and in 2013, she successfully deported radical cleric Abu Qatada - something she lists as one of her proudest achievements, along with preventing the extradition to America of computer hacker Gary McKinnon.
She was not afraid to take on vested interests, stunning the annual conference of the Police Federation in 2014 by telling them corruption problems were not just limited to "a few bad apples" and threatening to end the federation's automatic right to enrol officers as its members.
However, the Passport Office suffered a near meltdown while she faced constant criticism over the government's failure to meet its promise to get net migration down to below 100,000 a year.
Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who went up against her in the Commons as shadow home secretary, told The Guardian: "I respect her style - it is steady and serious. She is authoritative in parliament - superficial attacks on her bounce off.
"The flip side is that she is not fleet of foot when crises build, she digs in her heels (remember the Passport Agency crisis in 2014 when the backlog caused hundreds to miss their holidays, and the Border Force crisis in 2011 when border checks were axed).
"And she hides when things go wrong. No interviews, no quotes, nothing to reassure people or to remind people she even exists. It's helped her survive as home secretary - but if you are prime minister, eventually the buck has to stop."
There was a bitter public row with cabinet colleague Michael Gove over the best way to combat Islamist extremism, which ended with Mr Gove having to apologise to the prime minister and Mrs May having to sack a long-serving special adviser - a turf war which is said to have led to a diminution in her admiration for the prime minister.
Former Conservative chancellor Ken Clarke also had run-ins with her and was recorded on camera ahead of an interview last week saying that Mrs May was good at her job but a "bloody difficult woman" - before adding as an aside, a bit like Mrs Thatcher. A reference to be Conservative leader can hardly come better than that.
Mrs May has never been one of the most clubbable of politicians and is someone who prefers not having to tour the tea rooms of the House of Commons - where tittle-tattle is freely exchanged.
She has rarely opened up about her private life although she revealed in 2013 that she had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and would require insulin injections twice a day for the rest of her life - something she says she had come to terms with and which would not affect her career.
Mrs May's taste in footwear has kept photographers interested for more than a decade
Generally thought to be in the mainstream of Conservative thinking on most economic and law and order issues, she has also challenged convention by attacking police stop and search powers and calling for a probe into the application of Sharia Law in British communities.
She also expressed a personal desire to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights but later said she would not pursue this as PM due to a lack of parliamentary support - an example of what many believe will be pragmatism in office.
Her social attitudes are slightly harder to pin down. She backed same sex marriage. She expressed a personal view in 2012 that the legal limit on abortion should be lowered from 24 to 20 weeks. Along with most Conservative MPs she voted against an outright ban on foxhunting.
What is undisputable is that at 59, Mrs May was the oldest leader to enter Downing Street since James Callaghan in 1976 and is the first prime minister since Ted Heath who does not have children.
Mrs May has worked closely with David Cameron and will now succeed him
Mrs May has been the most senior female Cabinet minister for the past six years
One of Westminster's shrewdest as well as toughest operators, Mrs May's decision to campaign for the UK to remain in the EU but to do so in an understated way and to frame her argument in relatively narrow security terms reaped dividends after the divisive campaign.
During what turned out to be a short-lived leadership campaign, Mrs May played strongly on her weight of experience, judgement and reliability in a time of crisis.
The first months of Mrs May's time in Downing Street have been dominated by the process of divorcing the UK from the EU - but there have been signs that she won't be content with the "safe pair of hands" tag that is often attached to her.
Brexit, she has said, won't be allowed purely to define her time in office and she has promised a radical programme of social reform, underpinned by values of One Nation Toryism, to promote social mobility and opportunity for the more disadvantaged in society.
Policies such as new grammar schools or more selection have been put forward - but with a slender parliamentary majority of 17 her government had little breathing room on bringing forward tightly contested legislation.
So, despite promising not to hold a general election before she had to, in 2020, she has now decided to seek a mandate for her own particular brand of Conservatism to, as she put it, to "guarantee certainty and security for the years ahead".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39630534
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Brighton & Hove Albion: From the brink of disaster to the Premier League - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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Nearly 20 years since they almost dropped out of the Football League, BBC Sport looks at how Brighton have been reborn.
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The story of a team rising from the bottom tier of England's Football League to the top is an increasingly familiar one, with Hull, Swansea and Bournemouth among the most recent examples.
But few of those tales have been more remarkable than that of Brighton & Hove Albion, whose promotion to the top flight was confirmed with victory over Wigan on Monday.
BBC Sport speaks to pundits, players and manager Chris Hughton about the Premier League newcomers who, just 20 years ago, were battling to stay in the Football League.
It took until the very last day of the 1996-97 season before Brighton could breathe easy, as a 1-1 draw with Hereford secured their league status.
Despite the result, Brighton's former owners went ahead with the sale of their old Goldstone Ground, leaving the club to share Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium for two seasons.
The club then moved back to Brighton, playing at the Withdean Stadium - a site not originally built for football - before finally switching to their current Amex Stadium home in 2011 under the ownership of Tony Bloom.
"What happened on Monday is just the sensational fulfilment of so many people's dreams," said BBC pundit Mark Clemmit.
"The one name I keep thinking about is Dick Knight, who sort of galvanised everybody in 1997, because don't forget not only did they nearly go out of the league, but they lost their stadium then as well.
"The owners at the time kind of pulled it from under the club, and have never ever been forgiven by the supporters.
"It was Dick Knight who picked it up by the bootstraps, plus several others that accompanied him - but he was the majority shareholder."
Brighton had looked destined to complete their journey from bottom to top 12 months ago, but a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough on the final day of the regular season meant they missed out on goal difference.
Further disappointment was to follow, as their hopes of reaching the Premier League were dashed with a 3-1 aggregate loss to Sheffield Wednesday in the play-off semi-finals.
It was not an unfamiliar feeling for Seagulls fans, who had suffered defeat at the same stage in both 2013 and 2014.
"I'm incredibly proud of the way they've bounced back - but there are no surprises," Hughton, 58, told BBC Sussex. "We've got a group of lads that are capable of doing it, but being capable of doing it and doing it are two different things.
"They've been good all season. They've bounced back, they've shown a really good determination and a real desire to want to win as many games as possible."
Brighton captain Bruno added: "It's been five years now for me and it's been hard because we were really close to getting promoted for three seasons.
"Last season was tough for us and we were really close - but this season we've been outstanding."
Hughton is no stranger to the Premier League, having guided Newcastle to Championship promotion in 2010, then led Norwich to an 11th-place finish in the top flight in the 2012-13 season.
The former Republic of Ireland defender has turned Brighton into one of the defensively strongest sides in the Championship since taking over in December 2014, keeping 47 clean sheets in 111 league games in charge.
"When you look at where Chris has been, he's done really well everywhere he's gone," said former Republic team-mate pundit Mark Lawrenson, now a BBC pundit.
"Because he's quiet, people sort of assume that he's a nice bloke and that people can ride roughshod over him - but you can't.
"There's a real steely determination in there and I think as he's gone from job to job he's embraced the way football's changed."
Hughton's success comes despite only taking his first managerial role in 2009, when he replaced Alan Shearer as Newcastle boss.
"I think a lot of people, for a long time, had him marked down as an assistant or a coach," added Clemmit.
"He's already won one title with Newcastle United, he's got another team promoted, and then in his other two full seasons in the Championship he took Birmingham to the play-offs and he took Brighton to the play-offs.
"Even during the celebrations yesterday, you could see he was containing it. He was modest enough not to get involved in the players' celebrations, one eye on getting the title over the line.
"There'd be some justice as well in that, wouldn't there? Norwich, one of the teams that dismissed him, that didn't see the merits of letting him have a proper long-term go, is where he could secure the title on Friday."
The bond Hughton has helped to create at Brighton this year has been tested by adversity off the field.
In November, French winger Anthony Knockaert's father died, prompting at least 10 of his team-mates and Hughton to travel to France to offer support at the funeral.
The 25-year-old has responded in sterling fashion on the field, contributing 15 goals on his way to being crowned Championship Player of the Year.
"It has been the best thing I have seen in football, to come all the way from England to the funeral," he said in December.
"It means a lot for me and my family and I will never forget it."
Brighton have also dealt with the absence of defender Connor Goldson, who had heart surgery after routine cardiac screening discovered a defect in December.
"Obviously there have been things the whole season that have brought us even closer together, but we're a close group anyway no matter what happens," the 24-year-old told BBC Sussex.
"That's why we're always here for each other. Obviously things happen in life, and what happened with Anthony's dad was a sad moment for him.
"With me this year, obviously I wasn't needed, but we all pulled together, we're all a team.
"We're all a team of friends and that's what gets us to where we are."
'They're a club that will push on'
While securing the Championship title with victory at Carrow Road on Friday is the immediate aim, Hughton and Bloom can now start preparing for life in the top tier.
While some teams might look to splash the cash in pursuit of Premier League survival, Hughton appears to favour a more cautious approach.
"The only way to do it is to recruit sensibly, to not put the club in a position where you're going well above your means," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
"There is a huge gap between what you need to pay for players in the Championship and the fees that are demanded for Premier League players.
"What we've got to do is to try to make sure that we get that balance right."
Now, only four months from starting their Premier League campaign, 20 years on from being on the brink of disaster, where do the club go from here?
"The great thing for them is that because of the new training ground, and because of the actual ground, they are ready and set up for the Premier League," said Lawrenson, a former Brighton player.
"So if they can just survive, in inverted commas, that first season in the Premier League, I do think they're a club that will push on from there."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39625659
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Britain's 'big bang' in Heligoland, 70 years on - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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Remembering one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, on the German island of Heligoland.
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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. Heligoland: When Britain blew up an island
Brexit may have triggered a political earthquake in Europe, but 70 years ago the UK sent real shockwaves across the seas with the largest non-nuclear explosion of that era.
As one of the four victorious allied powers after World War Two, Britain was governing a large area of occupied Germany.
The British sector included the tiny island of Heligoland, which had long been a source of diplomatic tension between the two countries.
So, when in 1947 the British needed a safe place to dispose of thousands of tonnes of unexploded ammunition, Heligoland must have seemed an obvious choice.
The code-name for the plan combined the British flair for understatement with the military taste for the literal-minded; it was to be called Operation Big Bang.
The Heligoland Big Bang was the largest non-nuclear detonation to date
Heligoland had been a German naval fortress, and historian Jan Rüger, author of Heligoland: Britain, Germany, and the Struggle for the North Sea, says Operation Big Bang was designed by the British to make a big point.
"They're very clear that there's a symbolic side to this [operation] and that is the German tradition of militarism," he explains.
"There's a sense that Prussian militarism and its threat to Britain has to end and that's very much how Operation Big Bang is received in Britain."
The operation was carefully stage-managed - the old black and white pictures even include a close-up of a Royal Navy officer's finger triggering the blast. Aerial footage shows the entire horizon erupting in a huge grey curtain of mud, sand and rock.
For the Royal Navy and the British Army of Occupation it was mission accomplished.
Heligoland was evacuated during World War Two
For the people of Heligoland it felt very different.
Europe in 1946 and 1947 was in chaos, with millions of displaced and dispossessed families drifting between camps or sheltering in ruined buildings.
The island had been evacuated during the war and many Heligolanders were living in exile in the coastal city of Cuxhaven about 60km (37 miles) to the south.
Olaf Ohlsen, who was 11 years old in 1947, gathered with the rest of the exiled population on the cliffs to listen for the sound of the explosion.
Few people in history can have lived through such a moment, standing at the edge of sea knowing that they would hear but not see an explosion that they knew would destroy their homes.
Heligolander Olaf Ohlsen was 11 years old when the detonation took place
Olaf says everyone knew that the explosion would be shattering.
"Even in Hamburg, which is more than 150 km (93 miles) from the island," he told me, "a schoolteacher kept a document which said the British had warned everyone to leave doors and windows open to help the buildings withstand the blast."
Olaf's father was among the pessimists who believed that Britain's real intention was to blow up the island behind a literal smokescreen created by the destruction of the captured ammunition.
He still recalls the first time his father brought news of what had happened after the blast, shouting with excitement: "Heligoland is still here, it's still here."
In the middle of the 20th Century Heligoland still mattered to its people, fiercely independent speakers of a Friesian dialect who are neither British nor German.
Heligoland was a German military base in both world wars
But it had lost the strategic importance that made it a crucial bone of contention between the great powers of Europe a hundred years earlier.
Britain occupied Heligoland in the Napoleonic period as part of its complex manoeuvrings to deny the French leader the support of the navies of Scandinavia as he took over huge parts of Europe.
Thus the British found themselves with a handy naval base that guarded the entrance to the port of Hamburg and allowed it to slip secret agents freely into Napoleonic Europe. By the time they gifted it to the Kaiser in 1890, though, its usefulness appeared to be at an end.
Detlev Rickmers, a local hotel owner whose family have been Heligolanders for 500 years, says that even though it's more than a century since the link was broken, a sense of Britishness ran through the population for a long time after 1890.
"Of course there was a British governor, there was a sense of being British," he says. "There were connections to Britain. My grandfather told me that he always remembered the excitement of the days when the salesman would call from Huntley and Palmer."
In the wake of the Big Bang, of course, things are very different.
70 years on, the crater from the explosion is still a feature of the island
The British bombing operation acted as a kind of catalyst for a new form of post-war German nationalism. There were campaigns for the island to be returned to German sovereignty and for a rebuilding programme to allow the Heligolanders to go home.
Historian Jan Rüger says that perhaps for the last time Operation Big Bang had made Heligoland part of a larger historical argument.
"As always in history there's a paradoxical side to these events," he says. "In this case it lies in the way that all over Germany this is seen as a moment that victimises the Germans and allows them to see themselves as victims after a war in which the rest of Europe has been the victim of German aggression."
The British bombing left Heligoland's landscape pock-marked and cratered. But the island endured: a stubborn lump of rock in the North Sea.
And while most visitors are drawn these days by the lure of duty-free shopping, Heligoland has a fascinating story to tell to anyone who'll listen.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39590752
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Malala Yousafzai's mother: Out of the shadows - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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Toor Pekai Yousafzai opens up about how her life changed when her daughter was shot by the Taliban.
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World
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Malala Yousafzai's mother Toor Pekai Yousafzai is rarely in the public eye
Over the past five years, Malala Yousafzai has become one of the world's most famous young women - the schoolgirl shot in Pakistan who built a new life in Birmingham after surgery, then campaigned for education for all girls, won the Nobel Peace Prize and inspired the world with her life story.
Now her mother, Toor Pekai Yousafzai, has spoken to the BBC for the first time to explain how her own life has changed in the past five years.
"It was very hard when I left everyone behind," says Toor Pekai. "We didn't expect to live in a foreign country.
"When other people leave their country they accept everything that comes their way and they're ready for it, but we couldn't prepare.
"We had to suddenly leave Pakistan. The attack changed everything. We had to focus on Malala's life."
Very few readers will recognise Toor Pekai from her picture. Whenever Malala attends a high-profile function to promote her cause, she is invariably accompanied by her father Ziauddin, who has often been interviewed about his daughter's many successes.
Meanwhile, Malala's mother has played her own low-profile, but important, role at home with the rest of the family in Birmingham.
Toor Pekai explains: "When Malala was being treated in hospital we were very busy looking after her. Then she wrote a book and we were busy with that too, so that's why I wasn't in the public eye.
"But now I'm trying to help other people get an education, so from now on I want to be more involved in these kinds of things. But if these interviews were in my own language it would be easier!"
And it is clear that Toor Pekai has her own compelling story to tell about the events that brought Malala across the world. She still gets visibly upset as she remembers watching Malala fighting for her life in hospital.
Her hands twist together and she cries but her smile comes back quickly when she thinks about her daughter's life now, the success she has already had and what the future holds. Every year of Malala's life is a bonus for Toor Pekai.
"Last year I wrote in her birthday card 'you are my four year old daughter' because I now keep count of the years since the attack. It's like she is reborn from that point."
Malala is a high-profile figure around the world, but just a teenage daughter at home
Toor Pekai's life is now rooted here in the UK, looking after Malala and her two sons. Despite Malala winning a Nobel Peace Prize and mixing with world leaders she still has to tell her to clean her room and look after herself.
In fact, when she describes her day-to-day relationship with her daughter, it sounds like just any other mother dealing with a millennial teenager.
"She doesn't eat very well and doesn't drink enough water. She doesn't go to sleep on time and studies until midnight. We tell her to eat fruit and do her prayers, and she tells her brothers, but she doesn't."
Although Toor Pekai did not get an education herself in Pakistan, she now attends English classes in Birmingham and has built a network of friends through that.
"Some of them are from Swat and I knew them from back there already. Recently another friend of mine came from Peshawar.
"There aren't any people from Pakistan in my English class but there are people from Iraq, Iran and one from Afghanistan. We have parties and I cook rice, chicken and fish, and they like my food."
Learning English in the UK has given the 45-year-old some independence.
"At first I struggled to understand when people spoke to me in English, and I even had difficulty with words like 'yes' and 'no' but I'm improving and want to keep going. It makes life easier with travelling and going to the doctors."
Malala, who is now 19, is due to go to university in the autumn to study politics, philosophy and economics. There is a solid offer on the table.
"We're very happy for her. On the day she got her offer we cried but every moment of her life makes us happy," she said.
But tears come again at the prospect of her baby flying the nest.
"I'm worried about what she'll eat and how she'll cook for herself. It's difficult but I have to accept it. I'll miss her a lot and home will be empty without her. Malala is not just my daughter but my friend as well."
You can hear the full interview on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour from 10:00 BST on Tuesday
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-39550681
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British and Irish Lions: Jonathan Joseph & Joe Launchbury set to miss out - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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Lock Joe Launchbury and centre Jonathan Joseph are set to lead a list of shock English exclusions from the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.
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Lock Joe Launchbury and centre Jonathan Joseph are set to lead a list of shock English exclusions from the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.
Both men, who starred in England's Six Nations triumph, face being left out of Warren Gatland's squad, which will be named at 12:00 BST on Wednesday.
About 14 Englishmen are expected to be in the 37-39-man party, including prop Kyle Sinckler and centre Ben Te'o.
But England captain Dylan Hartley's chances are rated as 50-50.
Other stalwarts of Eddie Jones' side, such as flankers James Haskell and Chris Robshaw, and fly-half George Ford, are also thought to be unlikely to force their way into Gatland's plans at this stage.
Despite finishing fifth in the Six Nations, Wales are still set for a strong contingent of up to 11 players, with the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, prospective captain Sam Warburton, Taulupe Faletau, Rhys Webb, Jonathan Davies and George North among those highly likely to be included.
Conversely, winning three of their five matches in the Championship seems unlikely to have helped Scotland's representatives, with full-back Stuart Hogg the only selection certainty.
The coaches will meet for a final selection meeting on Tuesday, with Lions sources insisting nothing is yet set in stone.
Wasps forward Launchbury, 26, was short-listed for Six Nations player of the tournament, but faces fierce competition in the second row.
Jones and England's Maro Itoje are certainties to make the touring party, but Launchbury is believed to have slipped behind compatriots George Kruis and Courtney Lawes in the pecking order. Gatland is also understood to be keen on Ireland's Donnacha Ryan.
Ryan's fellow Irishman Iain Henderson also excelled when Ireland beat England in Dublin on the final weekend of the Six Nations.
• None Robinson, Guscott, Bentley - six Lions wildcard picks to whet the appetite
Joseph has been tipped by many pundits to start the Test series at outside centre, but Gatland's preference for size in midfield could see the likes of Te'o and Davies preferred.
Meanwhile, despite captaining England to consecutive Six Nations titles, Hartley is struggling to force his way into the squad as one of the three hookers, with Ireland's Rory Best and Wales' Ken Owens vying for places along with England second-choice Jamie George.
The tour begins on 3 June and features a 10-game schedule, culminating in a three-Test series against the All Blacks.
The Lions will be looking for a second series win in New Zealand, with their only triumph to date a 2-1 victory in 1971.
• Listen to a Lions squad announcement special on Radio 5 live from 19:00 BST on Wednesday
Gatland and his assistants are meeting on Tuesday and there is a chance things can change, but I do think it is a case of dotting the i's and crossing the t's.
What I am hearing is there are some pretty high-profile players who will miss out. As well as Launchbury, who has really fallen victim to the fierce competition in the second row, and Joseph, I think England captain Hartley is odds-against making it. But if one of the selectors puts their neck on the line for him in that meeting then that can change.
Every time it looks like a big name is missing out, you look at the options coming in. There will be a lot of uproar and unrest in many quarters, nothing splits opinion like a Lions squad announcement. Scotland fans could be up in arms, as they may only have a maximum of four players in this trip and they finished higher than Wales in the Six Nations, who may have 11 players.
This year not as many players are inked in from the start, but up to 70 players have a strong case.
The Lions will play all five of New Zealand's Super Rugby sides, the Maori All Blacks, plus three Tests in Auckland and Wellington.
Former All Blacks coach Graham Henry has questioned the "demanding" schedule, saying it is potentially "suicidal".
"There is huge pressure on the Lions," Henry told ESPN. "They are playing New Zealand Maori, they are playing the five franchised teams - and those five franchised teams have nothing to lose, no pressure on them at all, so they will fire everything at the Lions and take them on.
"Hopefully they [the Lions] have the ability to overcome that. But really when you tour, you need to ensure some momentum is created by results and you just wonder how they are going to go into the Test series with that itinerary."
BBC rugby reporter Chris Jones and former England international Ugo Monye picked their Lions squad on 5 live's Rugby Union weekly. You can download the podcast here.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39624348
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Real Madrid 4-2 Bayern Munich (agg 6-3) - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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Cristiano Ronaldo scores a hat-trick as Real Madrid beat Bayern Munich in a thrilling game to reach the Champions League semi-finals.
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Last updated on .From the section European Football
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to take his Champions League tally to 100 goals as holders Real Madrid controversially overcame Bayern Munich in extra time to reach the semi-finals.
Bayern Munich midfielder Arturo Vidal's harsh 84th-minute dismissal was the first pivotal moment of a thrilling game, and Ronaldo was clearly standing in an offside position to score Madrid's second in extra time.
Needing at least two goals to progress, Bayern had led when Robert Lewandowski confidently drilled in a penalty.
Madrid struggled to find rhythm at a nervy Bernabeu before Ronaldo headed in Casemiro's precise cross.
Bayern responded just 36 seconds later as Sergio Ramos' own goal forced extra time, but then crumbled after Ronaldo fired in Madrid's second.
The Portugal captain tapped in the third - his 100th Champions League goal - after Marcelo's marauding run, with Marco Asensio sealing victory by shooting into the bottom corner.
Madrid will discover their semi-final opponents when the draw is made on Friday.
Neighbours Atletico progressed after edging past Leicester City, while the other two ties - Barcelona against Juventus, and Monaco against Borussia Dortmund - conclude on Wednesday.
• None Referee was not up to task - Ancelotti
Anticipation was high when two of Europe's biggest and most successful clubs were drawn together - and an enthralling tie did not disappoint.
However, it was somewhat tinged by Madrid benefiting from two debatable decisions by Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai and his officials.
Chile midfielder Vidal, already booked for an early foul on the edge of the Bayern area, was shown a second yellow card for what appeared to be a clean sliding tackle on Madrid substitute Asensio.
And then Ronaldo was standing at least a yard offside when he met Ramos' pass and spun to fire Madrid 4-3 ahead on aggregate.
"In a quarter-final you have to put a better referee, or it is the moment to introduce video refereeing, which is what Uefa are trying, because there are too many errors," Bayern manager Carlo Ancelotti said.
Nothing separated the two teams over 180 engaging minutes in Munich and Madrid, only for the German champions to finally run out of steam as they battled a numerical disadvantage.
Bayern also played the final 30 minutes at the Allianz Arena last week with 10 men after Javi Martinez's dismissal.
Ancelotti's side remained resolute in the first period of extra time - until the tiring visitors unravelled after Ronaldo put the Spanish league leaders ahead.
History-seeking Madrid get the rub of the green
Madrid are aiming to become the first club to retain the Champions League and moved a step closer by eventually seeing off Bayern.
For long periods, Madrid were edgy defensively and uncertain going forward - with Ronaldo guilty of wasting a number of chances in normal time.
Bayern knew they would have to become only the third side to overturn a first-leg home defeat in a Champions League tie to reach their sixth successive semi-final.
Fewer places are harder to achieve that than the home of the 11-time European champions.
Although only one away team had managed to leave the Bernabeu with victory in Madrid's previous 33 home matches in all competitions, Bayern looked confident and organised as they quietened the home crowd.
Bayern top scorer Lewandowski, who missed the first leg with a shoulder injury, fired them ahead with a coolly taken penalty before Ramos' bizarre own goal - the ball ricocheting off his right foot and spinning inside the near post - forced extra time.
But Madrid eventually wrestled control of the tie thanks to their numerical advantage and the decisions of the officials.
Sheer relief greeted the final two Madrid goals as their jubilant players wildly celebrated reaching a record seventh successive semi-final in Europe's premier club competition.
"I don't get involved if decisions are right or wrong," said Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane.
"Everyone has their own opinions, some might say it was not a second yellow card for Vidal, some might say it is.
"Cristiano's goal might have been offside but it doesn't change anything."
'Ronaldo is always there for us' - post-match reaction
On some home supporters whistling at Cristiano Ronaldo during the game: "Cristiano has shown that in the key moments he is there, he makes the difference. When he has to be, he is there.
"It is unique and we are happy for him and for the team.
"Maybe after today they do not whistle anymore, but this is Madrid and that things happen from time to time, and he knows it. He has to be calm.
"The public will always thank Cristiano for everything he has done."
• None Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick made him the first player to reach 100 Champions League goals
• None On the same night, Real's neighbours Atletico reached the same tally as a club
• None Madrid have qualified for the Champions League semi-finals for the seventh consecutive season - the longest streak in competition history
• None Bayern lost both legs of a Champions League knockout tie for the first time since April 2014, which was also against Real Madrid in a 5-0 semi-final aggregate defeat
• None Ronaldo has scored nine times against Bayern in the Champions League - only Barcelona's Lionel Messi has scored as many against a single opponent (against Arsenal)
• None Lewandowski has netted six goals against Real Madrid in the Champions League, the most of any opposition player
• None The Poland striker converted his sixth penalty in the Champions League, maintaining his 100% record from the spot in the competition (excl. shootouts)
• None Arturo Vidal's red card was the 19th shown to a Bayern Munich player in the Champions League - only Juventus (22) have had more in the competition
• None The average age of Bayern's starting line-up in this game was 30 years and 116 days, making it their oldest in Champions League history
Both teams go back to domestic league action hoping to move a step closer to their respective titles.
Madrid have the small matter of El Clasico to focus on. Zidane's team can move six points clear at the top of La Liga by beating arch-rivals Barcelona.
The sides meet on Sunday at the Bernabeu (19:45 BST), with live text commentary on the BBC Sport website.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern, who are eight points clear with five games left, will hope to bounce back from this defeat when they host Mainz on Saturday.
• None Attempt missed. Casemiro (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the right side of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Marcelo.
• None Attempt missed. Mats Hummels (FC Bayern München) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Arjen Robben with a cross following a set piece situation.
• None Arjen Robben (FC Bayern München) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Goal! Real Madrid 4, FC Bayern München 2. Marco Asensio (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner following a fast break.
• None Goal! Real Madrid 3, FC Bayern München 2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Marcelo.
• None Attempt missed. Casemiro (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Lucas Vázquez.
• None Goal! Real Madrid 2, FC Bayern München 2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Sergio Ramos.
• None Offside, Real Madrid. Lucas Vázquez tries a through ball, but Cristiano Ronaldo is caught offside. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39611654
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Face-to-face with top North Korean diplomat - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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After a giant military parade over the weekend, the message from Pyongyang is clear.
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Asia
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The BBC’s John Sudworth asks North Korea’s vice-foreign minister what message he has for Donald Trump
Two days ago, I stood on the edge of Kim Il-sung Square in the centre of Pyongyang and watched, with a mixture of awe and unease, as North Korea's giant military parade passed by.
Back in that same location today, the vast space of the square was almost empty except for a few government workers on foot and the odd car - which pretty much sums up the traffic situation, or lack of it, in this isolated, sanction-hit city.
My government minders ushered me up the steps of the foreign ministry and I soon found myself sitting face to face with Vice-Foreign Minister Han Song-ryol.
Were some of the weapons on display in the parade, as many analysts have speculated, new intercontinental ballistic missiles? I asked him.
"The respected Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in his historic new year address this year said that we are at the final stage of preparations to launch an ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile)," he replied.
"I'm no military expert," he went on, "but I hope that there was an ICBM among the missiles shown at the parade."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The BBC's John Sudworth, in Pyongyang, explains what may happen next
North Korea needs such weapons, he said, "in order to protect our government and system from threat and provocation from the United States".
And in a direct riposte to US President Donald Trump and his assertion that North Korea will not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, Mr Han added this.
"According to our own schedule we'll be conducting more tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis."
North Korea has long been seen to use provocation and brinkmanship to raise tension for its own strategic advantage.
It is then able to win diplomatic and economic concessions through negotiations to defuse the crisis, only later to go on to renege on its disarmament commitments.
As the cycle begins again, at each stage, it moves a step closer to its goal of becoming a fully-fledged nuclear power.
But while the current state of technological advancement of North Korea's weapons programme matters deeply to the outside world, in particular its near neighbours, the hostile rhetoric is rarely something to take at face value.
Read between the lines and, mostly, it is always conditional, peppered with ifs and buts, as it was today.
"If the US goes on with their reckless option of using military means then that would mean from that very day, an all out war," Mr Han told me.
The interview does though give a hint of the new worrying unpredictability at play.
Donald Trump's recent ordering of the airstrike on a Syrian airbase has clearly rattled Pyongyang and the threat now is not simply of retaliation to an attack, but even, Mr Han suggests, to the planning of one.
"If the USA encroaches upon our sovereignty then it will provoke our immediate counter reaction and if it is planning a military attack against us, we will react with a nuclear pre-emptive strike by our own style and method."
Experts say an all-out war is very unlikely
However, despite the posturing on both sides, the risks, most observers agree, are still limited.
For the US and its allies, war carries incalculable risks and although Washington insists that all options are on the table, it now appears to be signalling that diplomacy and toughened sanctions are the most likely way forward.
It is as yet unclear how, having failed before, those things will force this most totalitarian of states to give up its nuclear weapons.
As Vice-Foreign Minister Han made clear to me, North Korea has learned the lessons from recent history, in particular the US-led attempts at regime change in Iraq and Libya.
"If the balance of power is not there, then the outbreak of war is imminent and unavoidable."
"If one side has nukes and the other side doesn't, and they're on bad terms, war will inevitably break out," he said.
"This is the lesson shown by the reality of the countries in the Middle East, including Libya and Syria where people are suffering from great misfortune."
The vice-foreign minister said North Korean people are guaranteed their human rights
Within the city limits of Pyongyang, foreign journalists get to see very little of ordinary life on these carefully choreographed and highly controlled media tours.
Even further beyond reach, good evidence shows, lie the vast political prisons in which all dissent and opposition to the system, however mild, is crushed.
Rather than building nuclear weapons, I ask Mr Han, wouldn't North Korea be better improving life for its own people, perhaps starting with abolishing those gulags?
"We do not tolerate any others criticising our style of socialism and we believe in the choice we have made," Mr Han replies.
"The masses are the centre of our state and their security and human rights are guaranteed."
"As for the so called political prison camps you have just mentioned," he went on, "it is something that our enemies have fabricated and it has been disseminated by their followers in order to demonise our country".
Militarised and isolated, North Korea has the right to follow its own path and, Mr Han apparently believes, no one will be able to stop it.
So far, he has been proven right.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39626011
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Newspaper headlines: Praise for Prince Harry and fears over Turkey - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Reaction to Prince Harry's interview about his mental health makes the front pages, alongside fighting talk from North Korea and the US.
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The Papers
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Prince Harry is on the front page of the Daily Telegraph for the second day running following his revelations about his struggle to come to terms with the death of his mother.
It reports that ministers are examining plans to station NHS mental health workers in secondary schools full time in an effort to tackle what it calls a rising tide of depression and anxiety.
According to the Telegraph, the idea is part of a green paper on young people and mental health to be published later this year. "Pupils to learn Harry's lessons", says the headline.
The Sun's former royal editor, Duncan Larcombe, writes that he witnessed Prince Harry's inner turmoil when the prince tried to have him ejected from a party in 2008.
Mr Larcombe says the confrontation took place shortly after the inquest into Princess Diana's death, and the prince calmed down after venting his feelings.
The Daily Mirror welcomes the younger royals' championing of mental health but adds: "Imagine the impact if this influential group spoke out against cuts..."
Donald Trump provides the image of the day - appearing on a number of front pages alongside a wide-eyed Easter Bunny at a White House children's party.
The US President was joined by the Easter bunny at the 139th White House Easter Egg Roll
The Times focuses on the Turkish referendum, reporting that European diplomats are increasingly concerned that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will renege on the agreement to stem migration to the continent.
They are said to fear that Mr Erdogan will consolidate his new executive powers by picking political battles with the EU.
The Times cartoon depicts the Turkish leader as a sultan on a golden throne, declaring "This is a great day for Turkish democracy... I hereby declare it illegal to say otherwise!"
According to The Guardian, the Turkish referendum is seen by some European leaders as marking the end of the country's long attempt to join the EU.
The paper comments that Turkey's turn to autocracy is now all but complete, and it calls on Europe to offer support to the country's democrats.
In his column in the Telegraph, former Foreign Secretary William Hague blames the EU's reluctance to admit Turkey for driving it towards autocracy. He argues that Britain should not turn its back on a vital ally now.
The Guardian carries a report from the base of so-called Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan where the Americans dropped the weapon known as the "mother of all bombs" last week.
It says that residents have begun returning to the village close to the blast site, two years after they fled the fighting.
On a tour of the area, Afghan commandos point to worn-out shoes that they say belonged to IS fighters killed in the explosion.
The Times reports that after 250 years, the quest to find a living specimen of a giant shipworm is over.
Only fossils of the mystery mollusc have been found before, but now a live one has been fished out of a muddy lagoon in the Philippines. It's no oil painting, though.
The Guardian describes it as "three feet long and glistening black with a pink, fleshy appendage", and looking like "the entrails of an alien from a bad horror film".
Biologists are thrilled, however. One tells the Guardian: "It might well be monstrous but that doesn't mean it isn't marvellous."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-39625429
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The man who catches marathon cheats - from his home - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A business analyst in the US sifts through data and photos to identify running cheats.
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US & Canada
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Boston Marathon runners start their 26.2 mile journey in 2016 - Derek Murphy is looking for cheaters among them
For months, a runner named Cindy posted motivational photos on Instagram and Facebook, chronicling the miles she put in to prepare for the New York Marathon.
When the big day came, she posted about the gear, the energy gels, and the coconut waters that would sustain her through the 26.2 miles (42.1km)
Cindy ran the race of her life, finishing the New York Marathon in just 3 hours 17 minutes and 29 seconds - a lot faster than her pace in previous half-marathon finishes, which each took a little over two hours.
"Ran my heart out today and left everything on the course. All the training paid off and qualified for the Boston Marathon!" she posted on Instagram, along with a post-race selfie and a photo with the finisher's medal.
But Cindy's incredible marathon time seemed just a little too incredible to a man sitting at his computer nearly 640 miles away.
Derek Murphy, a former marathoner and business analyst who lives outside Cincinnati, has made a name for himself exposing marathon cheats on his blog, Marathon Investigation.
During his racing days, he frequented online message boards about big races, which occasionally featured a high-profile cheating scandal.
"There was so much tension from those specific cases, I just wondered how many other people cheated," he said.
Murphy is a former runner himself
Murphy's investigative process has evolved since he first started looking at race results.
He has gone from looking at missed split times in public race results to peering into other clues like suspiciously fast race times, starting line and finish line photos, and bystander video footage recorded at races.
When Murphy heard about Cindy's speedy personal record, he started scrolling through the New York race photos looking for evidence that she had honestly run her improbably fast race.
He didn't find any photos of the petite brunette running on the course. However, he did find a photo of a tall, athletically-built man running with Cindy's bib pinned to his shirt.
After Murphy sent the photos and Cindy's former half-marathon times to the New York Marathon organisers and published a story on his blog, Cindy was disqualified.
She is one of about 30 runners identified by Murphy who sought entry into the 2017 Boston Marathon using fabricated times.
At least 15 of those runners were disqualified from showing up at the starting line in Hopkinton near Boston when the starting gun goes off on Monday.
Some of the remaining 15 might get to run the race, but their results will be closely scrutinised. Murphy expects to identify many more people who cheated to get to Boston after the race is completed.
Only the fastest amateur and elite runners can earn a spot in the iconic Boston Marathon.
Men under 35 need a finish better than three hours and five minutes in an earlier marathon to earn a spot. Women under 35 have 30 extra minutes.
While around 30,000 people are fast enough to run the marathon each year, more than 4,500 qualified runners were turned away in 2016 because too many people registered for the race.
"The integrity of the sport is enormously important to us, and to the athletes who run in our races," said a spokesperson for the Boston Athletic Association in an email statement.
"When it comes to qualifying for Boston, we rely on the race organisers and timing systems they employ to produce accurate results, and we also rely on the honesty and integrity of 99.99% of competitors who compete fairly in pursuit of their personal records."
Murphy said he thinks the actual number of cheaters is probably higher than the 0.01% cited by Marathon officials - which would be just three people - but he thinks it is still a small percentage.
Finding those rare cheats can be tough.
"There's no governing body for marathons per se to look at results," Murphy said. "Most of the time race timers and directors definitely do care, but there's a lack of resources."
Cheating in a marathon can come in many forms. Some cut a few miles out of their qualifying race. Others give their racing bib to someone a bit faster. In rare cases, people pay to have their results altered.
Most races have methods in place to detect the most obvious examples of cheating. The race bibs have tracking devices that log a runner's split time at mats placed strategically throughout the course.
Sometimes missed mats and unbelievably quick splits will alert race officials to the foul play. But cheaters often slip across the finish line and into race results unnoticed by race timers. Some of these people claim amazing times - good enough to get into Boston.
Mr Murphy has caught cheats by looking at the distances displayed on GPS watches in finish line photos and by matching finish times with time stamps on video recordings of races.
When a runner whose qualifying time places them in an early corral position at the Boston Marathon but finishes in the back of the pack, Mr Murphy marks their race result as a priority for investigation. Often, if someone's Boston time is much slower than their qualifying time they may have cheated in an earlier race.
Instead of looking back at runners after the Boston Marathon happens as he has in the past, this year Murphy tried to find people who cheated to qualify before race day. He hopes that more honest runners with qualifying times near the cut-off will be able to run the race because of his analysis.
Not everyone agrees with Mr Murphy's methods. On the Marathon Investigation Facebook page, sandwiched between encouraging comments, the occasional criticism pops up, taking the blog to task for going after amateur runners and giving them too much attention.
Crews install the decal marking the finish line on Boylston Street
Women's Running magazine published a critical opinion piece arguing that novice runners who cheat should not make the news.
Mr Murphy isn't always in the business of getting people disqualified from races. Sometimes, he does just the opposite.
Last year, Ryan Lee ran the London Marathon in just over four hours and 13 minutes, but after he finished a race official contacted him to tell him that he was disqualified for missing a timing mat. The race organisers thought he had cut the course.
One missed mat doesn't always mean someone cut a course - sometimes the mats don't cover the entire width of the course and a runner might accidentally run around it. But Mr Lee's time also seemed to be too fast - he appeared to catch up to runners who had started more than 15 minutes before him, very early in the race.
"It really was draining," Mr Lee said. "I raised quite a bit of money for my chosen charity and I put 110% into the actual marathon. To be then called a cheat after that really does make you feel distraught."
Mr Lee and his mother, Elizabeth Lee, set out to try and prove that he had run the entire race. They tracked down photos of Mr Lee on different points on the course and sought out other runners who had seen him race. But finding sufficient evidence to convince the race director that Mr Lee was innocent was difficult.
"I thought I would never be able to prove that I never did cheat," Mr Lee said.
Mr Murphy heard about Mr Lee's case and began to look at the evidence - video footage of the race, photos, and Mr Lee's split times - and he noticed that Mr Lee appeared with runners who had a start time about 15 minutes before the London Marathon claimed he had started racing.
Crucially, Mr Lee was photographed beside those other runners before race officials said he had crossed the starting line.
Mr Murphy used these photos to prove that Mr Lee had actually started the race much earlier, and ultimately run a race about 15 minutes slower than the London Marathon had recorded.
Derek Murphy - with his own proof of finishing a marathon
Even with the missed mat at the 10km mark, Mr Lee's results made sense if his start time had been recorded incorrectly. When the race was presented with all of the evidence, they reinstated Mr Lee's official race times.
Proving foul play on the race course often requires more than just number crunching. Mr Murphy said that Mr Lee's case is a great example of why he looks at more than just race times.
"I was able to vindicate somebody, but if I had just looked at the data, I would have thought he cheated," Mr Murphy said.
Mr Lee still runs, in part because his racing record was cleared. He is planning to run the 2017 London Marathon later this month.
"I would love the do the marathon in America and meet Derek to say thank you for all the help." Mr Lee said.
"Without the help, I would still be known as a cheat."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39584495
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British & Irish Lions: Dylan Hartley set to miss out, Jamie Roberts in line for inclusion - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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England captain Dylan Hartley is set to miss out on selection for the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
on BBC Radio 5 live and online from 19:00 BST on Wednesday
England captain Dylan Hartley is set to miss out on selection for the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.
Despite leading England to back-to-back Six Nations titles, Hartley is expected to be overlooked for one of the three hooker spots for this summer.
Wales' Sam Warburton is set to be confirmed as Lions captain for the second time, while Welsh centre Jamie Roberts is set to be a shock inclusion.
Lions coach Warren Gatland will name his squad at 12:00 BST on Wednesday.
Gatland and his coaches met for a final selection meeting on Tuesday, and about 40 players are now expected to be named.
If his omission is confirmed, Hartley will become the third England captain in succession to miss out on Lions selection, after Steve Borthwick in 2009 and Chris Robshaw in 2013.
The 31-year-old was picked for the tour of Australia four years ago, but was suspended before the series after swearing at an official.
Hartley's compatriot Jamie George, Ireland's Rory Best, and Wales' Ken Owens are expected to fill the three hooker berths.
Despite finishing fifth in the Six Nations, Wales are understood to have more than 10 players in the squad, with hard-running centre Roberts, 30, a surprise late addition having started on the bench in all five matches in this year's Six Nations.
However, Scotland's representation is likely to be limited to full-back Stuart Hogg, and one of Tommy Seymour or Sean Maitland on the wing.
Northampton hooker Hartley, whose chances were rated at 50-50 on Monday, would become the latest in a list of shock English exclusions.
Fellow Six Nations winners Joe Launchbury, James Haskell, George Ford, Jonathan Joseph and Mike Brown are also in danger of missing out.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39636962
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World Championship 2017: Marco Fu completes comeback against Luca Brecel - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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Marco Fu recovers from 7-2 down to beat Luca Brecel 10-9 and earn a place in the World Championship second round at the Crucible.
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Last updated on .From the section Snooker
Marco Fu completed an astonishing comeback as he recovered from 7-2 down to beat Luca Brecel 10-9 and reach the second round of the World Championship.
The world number eight won six out of seven frames at the start of the second session to level at 8-8.
And although Belgian qualifier Brecel scored a classy 78 in the 17th frame, Fu kept his nerve to win in a thrilling match at the Crucible in Sheffield.
He fended off Chinese teenager Yan Bingtao's comeback to earn a 10-8 first-round victory at the Crucible.
There were also wins for 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham and Northern Ireland's Mark Allen.
World number five Murphy took the first frame against world number 63 Yan to extend his overnight lead to 7-3.
The 17-year-old qualifier then played with a style belying his age to fight back from 9-5 down against his increasingly flustered opponent.
Englishman Murphy, who won the title as a qualifier in 2005, took advantage of an outrageous fluked red in frame 18 to progress.
Yan would have become the youngest player to win a World Championship match at the Crucible if he had overcome Murphy. The record is held by seven-time champion Stephen Hendry, who was 18 when he beat Willie Thorne in the 1987 first round.
Murphy, who faces Ronnie O'Sullivan in round two, was mightily relieved not to be on the wrong end of a piece of Crucible history.
"I played well but at 9-5 up he opened his shoulders and I was bang up against it at the end," the 34-year-old said.
"This place does funny things to you and I had a bit of Lady Luck. But I can't praise him enough. He has a bit of swagger about him."
In an all-China battle, Ding Junhui - runner-up to Mark Selby last year - was in majestic form on his way to a 7-2 lead over Zhou Yuelong.
World number four Ding scored three centuries, including a 136 - the tournament's highest break so far - to take control going into Tuesday afternoon's concluding session.
Elsewhere, four-time champion John Higgins of Scotland was ruthless as he raced into a 5-0 lead before taking a 7-2 advantage over English qualifier Martin Gould.
Bingham earlier went through with an unconvincing 10-5 victory over another former Crucible winner Ebdon.
The world number three was pegged back to 5-4 overnight as the 2002 champion took the final two frames of the opening session.
But Bingham quickly extended his lead to 8-4 and closed out victory after Ebdon got back to 8-5.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/39624692
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World Championship 2017: Ronnie O'Sullivan claims wrong - Shaun Murphy - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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Five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is "completely wrong" to accuse snooker bosses of bullying, says Shaun Murphy.
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Five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is "completely wrong" to accuse snooker bosses of bullying, says world number five Shaun Murphy.
O'Sullivan made the claims against World Snooker on Sunday, accusing the body of using "threatening language".
Murphy, who will face O'Sullivan in the World Championship second round on Thursday, said he cannot live in a "world without consequences".
Four-time world champion John Higgins said he felt sympathy for O'Sullivan.
The Scot, who beat Martin Gould on Tuesday to reach the second round at the Crucible, told BBC Radio 5 live: "If I am led to believe what I have heard about how he was reprimanded, it is out of order."
O'Sullivan, 41, publicly criticised a referee and swore at a photographer after his Masters win in January, which led to World Snooker referring his comments to snooker's governing body, the WPBSA.
The WPBSA took no action but O'Sullivan was sent a letter by the organisation about his behaviour and warned he could face further sanctions, including a fine.
"To claim he has been bullied is, in my opinion, quite inaccurate," said Murphy.
"The players' contract is clear for all to see. He can say whatever he wants. No-one has muffled him. But you can't live in a world where there are no consequences; no-one lives in that world."
Speaking earlier on Monday, World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn said O'Sullivan's allegations were "unfounded".
"Ronnie can say whatever he wants about whatever he wants, but he can't get away with everything he says and he isn't right about everything he says either," Murphy said.
"In my own personal opinion, I think he is completely wrong."
Murphy, the 2005 champion, survived a fine comeback from 17-year-old Chinese qualifier Yan Bingtao to win 10-8 and set up a mouth-watering match with O'Sullivan
The Englishman said he was "sure" the off-table controversy would be a distraction for his opponent.
"It's very hard to talk about lawyers and threatening the chairman and being embroiled in all of that - and focus on the snooker," he added.
"I certainly couldn't do it. I don't know how he does it, but he seems to like it; he always seems to do it. He seems to court it, like he enjoys it - so let him carry on with it with it."
Higgins said Hearn was doing "great things" with snooker but added some things in the players' contracts were "a bit over the top".
The 41-year-old said: "Ronnie does not normally come in here and be that passionate about something. I think he has a case. There are a few things in these players' contracts that lawyers would laugh at.
"We sign the contracts at the beginning of the year... it would need the top 16 or 32 players to say something. But we will never get that.
"Some players think it is OK or don't want to rock the boat. Why would we? It's a great product and Barry Hearn is doing great things but there are some points in it that are a bit over the top.
"I have a degree of sympathy for him [O'Sullivan]. He has a lot to take on his shoulders because he is the biggest name."
Read more: Higgins beats Gould to reach round two
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/39625549
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Can Tesla live up to its value? - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Silicon Valley's visionary-in-chief Elon Musk rides high on big promises and cultish support.
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Technology
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Much of Tesla's value can be attributed to the fanatical support of Elon Musk
Some of my finest swearing takes place while driving, or rather crawling, along the 880 - a congested, polluted, almost-always-jammed monstrosity of a freeway that slithers past Tesla’s car-making plant in Fremont, California.
Each time I’m unfortunate enough to find myself on this stretch, I’m struck by the symbolism: a road thick with fumes, overlooked by a factory working overtime to change that.
From that vantage point it’s pretty hard not to root for Elon Musk’s company, or at the very least his vision for a cleaner, more sustainable energy industry.
“Can you name any other car company, in the history of mankind, that has gotten to where Tesla has in 10 years?” asks Bob, a Tesla fan I meet after he pulled into the factory to charge his beloved car.
I can’t, of course. Tesla's rise has been astronomical, bordering on absurd. Earlier this month, Tesla (albeit briefly) became the most valuable car company in the US, overtaking both Ford and General Motors. Two companies that, as well as being around for decades before Mr Musk was even born, sell vastly more cars than Tesla - and make far more money doing it.
But that doesn't matter to investors, who have been falling over themselves to buy up Tesla’s stock, pushing it to a valuation of around $50bn - more than double what it should be, according to some.
“The market’s giving them credit now for something they may or may not become,” said Brian Johnson, an automotive analyst at investment bank Barclays Capital.
Tesla Motors wasn’t founded by Elon Musk, but it for sure wouldn’t have survived without him.
He doesn’t do many interviews, and declined to speak to me for this article. But that’s OK - because much like this country’s current president, Mr Musk does much of his thinking aloud, on Twitter. He uses it to speak directly to his fans, bypassing the necessity of using the press to get his message out. Often, I’m told, without warning his long-suffering communications team in advance.
“Stormy weather in Shortville…” was one such tweet sent, gleefully, on 4 April as Tesla’s stock was riding high.
He was having a risky dig at all those investors who sold off Tesla stock at the high price on the assumption they could buy it back again when the price dropped - skimming off the profit.
It’s a tweet that might come back to bite him, predicted Mr Johnson, who draws parallels with that iconic scene in the Matrix, where lead character Neo is given a choice of a red pill - and discover reality - or a blue pill, meaning blissful ignorance of the truth.
Tesla is not currently capable of making cars quickly enough to handle demand
“Investors are very happy to take the blue pill right now,” Mr Johnson said.
“Especially when the stock has been going up like it has.
"A red pill view would lead you to a more conservative view of the valuation and not wanting to chase this rally too far.”
He believes blue-pillers see Tesla’s headstart in battery manufacture, autonomy and other energy-related side projects as giving the company an unbeatable, perhaps even monopolistic advantage. But it’s far from certain.
"Tesla may be one of the finalists,” Mr Johnson said. "But not the only one. You’re not talking about an industry structure that becomes iPhone-like.
Just over a year ago, I stood and watched as Mr Musk took to a stage in Los Angeles and unveiled the Model 3, his most important product yet. His loyal fans whooped and hollered.
Unlike the cars that came before it, the Model 3 was meant for people with slightly more modest incomes - $35,000, minus the incentives offered to people buying green vehicles.
As well as cars, Tesla now has plans to produce an electric articulated lorry
That night, he invited pre-orders - and he got them by the hundreds of thousands. Problem is, he doesn’t yet have a factory capable of building them quickly enough.
Last year Tesla made 80,000 cars. General Motors made 10 million. Mr Musk has invested massively in streamlining and innovating the Tesla production line in Fremont, but it’s a huge task.
“We have to see the proof that they can make the car, that it comes in at the price they promised, and that they can make a lot of them,” said Ashlee Vance, a Silicon Valley-based journalist and author of Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future.
“Tesla has not done a good job of making lots of cars,” he added.
"If they are not able to get the Model 3 out quickly and then keep the factory coming along it becomes this huge cost sink for Tesla.”
Mr Musk is used to people telling him his ambitions are too great, or that his promises are recklessly optimistic.
But over the years, since his fortune-making days as co-founder of PayPal, Mr Musk has developed an incredible ability to deflect missed targets with even bigger ones.
As investors wait on Tesla to deliver on those Model 3s, for example, Mr Musk is busy tweeting about his planned September unveiling of a electric powered articulated lorry. And a pick-up truck.
His Gigafactory - the largest factory floor in the world - is just getting operational, and already he is talking about building two or three more. Or perhaps even 100.
What Mr Musk has created is a sense of excitement that has followers locked in admiration, and investors gripped by FOMO - the Fear Of Missing Out. What if Tesla becomes the next Apple, the next Amazon. What if it’s even bigger than that?
Whatever your assessment of the valuation, there’s no questioning that the Cult of Elon is stronger than ever - and it adds billions to Tesla’s value.
“This is almost all about the personality,” added Mr Vance. "If you put almost any other executive in charge of this company there’s no way it has the same glow around it.
"Now that he’s hit his stride, more people have become believers in this guy. It’s almost impossible to separate the personality from the company.”
You can reach Dave securely through encrypted messaging app Signal on: +1 (628) 400-7370
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39626361
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Birmingham City: Harry Redknapp named manager after Gianfranco Zola's resignation - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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Birmingham City appoint Harry Redknapp as their new manager following the resignation of Gianfranco Zola.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Birmingham City have appointed Harry Redknapp as their new manager.
The ex-West Ham, Tottenham and QPR boss succeeds Gianfranco Zola, who resigned on Monday after a 2-0 defeat by fellow Championship strugglers Burton Albion.
Blues are 20th in the table, three points above the relegation zone with three games left, and travel to local rivals Aston Villa on Sunday.
"Birmingham are a proper football club but they are in a precarious position," Redknapp, 70, told Talksport.
Redknapp's appointment was announced just 16 hours after Zola's departure, and he says he will initially take charge until the end of the season.
He took charge of Jordan for two World Cup qualifiers last year, and worked as an adviser to Derby County last season, but has not managed in England since leaving QPR in February 2015.
An FA Cup winner with Portsmouth in 2008, he led Tottenham to the Champions League quarter-finals during a four-year spell at White Hart Lane.
In 2016, he was made a director at Wimborne Town and a football consultant for Australian side Central Coast Mariners.
'I'm not going to turn them into Real Madrid'
Redknapp will be assisted by former Bristol City boss Steve Cotterill, who previously worked with him at QPR.
"I got a phone call last night at 7pm from the people at Birmingham," he said.
"I drove to London and had a 10-15-minute meeting with them and said: 'I'll come and do it.'
"My wife said to me 'are you mad or what?' but I get fed up sitting around doing nothing."
Blues could be in the relegation zone by the time Redknapp takes charge of his first match, at Villa Park.
Should Blackburn and Nottingham Forest both win on Saturday, Birmingham would slip into the bottom three.
After facing Villa, Blues host promotion-chasing Huddersfield Town before visiting Bristol City on the final day of the regular season.
"It's a real challenge," said Redknapp. "I'll live up there until the end of the season, and if I keep them up I'll sit down and talk about next season.
"It's not really a risk. They have won two out 22. I haven't got a magic wand. I'm not going to turn them into Real Madrid. We need a win."
When Gary Rowett was sacked in December, Blues were seventh in the table, outside the play-off places only on goal difference, but two wins in 24 matches during Zola's four-month tenure have plunged them into trouble.
Speaking when Zola was appointed, director Panos Pavlakis said the Italian's "pedigree" matched their ambition to "move in a new direction".
But, after Monday's defeat by Burton, Zola said: "I sacked myself.
"I am sorry because I came to Birmingham with huge expectations. It is not that I like quitting, but Birmingham deserves better."
First team coaches Pierluigi Casiraghi and Gabriele Cioffi, fitness coach Andrea Caronti and video analyst Sebastiano Porcu, all part of Zola's backroom team, have followed the Italian out of St Andrew's, but goalkeeper coach Kevin Hitchcock retains his role at the club.
Redknapp's appointment marks the return of one of football's most colourful characters. Here are some of his memorable off-field moments:
'I'm no wheeler dealer': Despite his reputation for being busy in the transfer market and giving interviews through his car window on deadline day, Redknapp reacted furiously when called a "wheeler dealer" in a 2010 interview.
Drenched by Spurs squad: Soaked by his players with an ice bucket during a live TV interview as they celebrated qualifying for the Champions League.
Fury at Bent miss: After Darren Bent headed wide from six yards as Spurs drew 1-1 with Portsmouth, he said: "My missus could have scored that one."
Hit in training: Launched a foul-mouthed tirade after being hit by a ball while speaking to a reporter at Portsmouth's training ground.
Brought a fan on to play: Sent a supporter on to replace Lee Chapman in a pre-season friendly for West Ham against Oxford City.
Sticks up for Frank Lampard: Under criticism at a West Ham fans' forum for picking Lampard, his nephew, Redknapp predicted: "He will go right to the very top." The midfielder went on to win 106 England caps and 11 major trophies with Chelsea.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39628280
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'I ignored my mum's death, just like Prince Harry' - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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As Prince Harry speaks about Princess Diana's death, our readers tell their stories of losing a parent.
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UK
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Prince Harry has revealed he sought counselling after coming close to a "complete breakdown" while struggling to deal with the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
His revelation has led others to share their experiences of how they coped with losing a parent at a young age.
Here they tell their stories.
Kathryn Watson, 33, from Newcastle, lost her mum, Heather, to lymphoma cancer when she was 19.
Kathryn (right) struggled with anger after her mum, Heather (left), died from cancer
"My mum was ill for about 18 months and it was really quite sudden. She went from being an outgoing person to simply not being there.
"I dealt with her death badly. I went straight into doing the logistical stuff and, because of my age, there was a lot of pressure from people for it not to affect my life.
"I found I lost quite a few friends because they didn't know how to cope with me. I was so busy trying to be 'normal', you don't know how to talk to people.
"When I read Prince Harry's story I thought that's exactly how I felt. You just keep going and everybody else forgets about it.
"Over the years I completely ignored my mum's death. Life gets back to normal and no-one talks about it.
Kathryn says counselling helped her deal with the grief of losing her mum
"What really spoke to me was Prince Harry talking about his anger. I felt that a lot. I turned to the gym and exercise and running.
"What also really touched me was that the age at which we dealt with it was the same.
"When I got to 28 and 29 I thought 'I can't keep going on with this'. It's the realisation it's not going to fade.
"Now, I'm able to open up and work through my grief. I think it is a maturity thing.
"Counselling has brought me to a good place. It's about finding the right counsellor for you - it's so important.
"I feel relieved and a lot calmer. I still have bad days but I now know if I'm going into one it will pass and I know who to contact and who to talk to.
"It doesn't seem so overwhelming or daunting now."
Andy Savage, 37, from Nantwich, Cheshire, was 12 when his mum, Diane, died from a blood clot in her lung.
Andy, pictured with his mum, Diane, says he is not the person he would have been if she had stayed alive
"It was completely out of the blue. I was 12 at the time, my younger brother was nine and my sister was six. They were taken into care, our family was split up.
"We had been the typical little family back then. My dad couldn't cope afterwards, his grief was as big as ours.
"You lose several things when you lose your mum. You lose someone very close to you but you also lose the person who takes care of you. There's a mixture of emotions.
"I can't think of anything that decimates someone's life more as a kid than taking their mum away from them.
"There was a lot of anger for me personally. It messes up your life in a lot of different ways. I dropped out of school, didn't really get an education and didn't look after myself too well.
Andy, pictured with step-daughter Emily, says that, like Prince Harry, he had a chaotic period after losing his mum
"It's only looking back now, that I realise it was linked to my mum's death. I know I'm not the person I would've been if she had stayed alive.
"Like Prince Harry, I had that chaotic period. I went off the rails in my late teens because I didn't have any guidance, I did what I wanted to do. I burnt myself out quite quickly.
"I think it's vital you find something in life that's your passion, whether it's sport or a hobby - something to give your life meaning.
"I was lucky that social services were there and they provided counselling sessions. For me it was massively beneficial, but not everyone's a talker.
"As Harry said, venting at someone, letting it all out has got to be a good thing. It helps you make sense of what's happened."
Susan Steel, 55, from Hull, lost her dad, Gerry, who suffered from hypercholesterolemia, at the age of 12.
Susan's dad Gerry - pictured with her at the beach in 1963 - died at the family home after a long illness
"My dad had been unwell for quite some time. On the day he died he'd come out of hospital and I remember coming out of school and seeing him in the passenger seat.
"For the first time I thought that's not my dad. He was shrivelling away.
"That evening my mum was in the kitchen and me and my sister were watching the 9 O'Clock news with my dad.
"We heard a clatter and the table turned over and we turned around and his eyes were rolling. I charged out screaming, I knew what had happened. I never saw him again.
"Now I can't really remember him. I think a lot of it you block out.
"I saw a child psychiatrist at the time because I wouldn't go to school. I had separation anxiety from my mum. I didn't understand it at the time.
"I couldn't concentrate at school and I didn't do very well in my A-levels. I couldn't eat either and lost loads of weight.
Susan, pictured with her husband Martin, sought counselling for panic attacks in her adult life
"It did affect everything but I didn't really realise at the time it might be related to losing my dad.
"I avoided relationships and when I met my husband I started to have panic attacks and that's when I started to see a counsellor. That's when I understood it.
"I had a mistrust of men, I feared my husband would leave me.
"I had a really good GP who recognised it was connected to my dad and sent me to a counsellor.
"You do bottle it up. You don't go there. Counselling is not an easy option, it's very painful.
"But I remember coming home and I would feel really free. It really did help, without a shadow of a doubt."
National charity Cruse Bereavement Care offers advice and support on dealing with the death of a loved one. For more information visit www.cruse.org.uk.
A new website has also been set up to signpost the bereaved to available support. Visit www.ataloss.org for more information.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39622611
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Leather & lather: The Cut-throat Racer - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Meet female barber Sophie Collins who is challenging the male-dominated world of cut-throat shaving
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Wales
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
It looks like a barber's shop should. The scissors, the combs, the clippers and mirrors. Shelves of hair 'product' and jars of 'barbicide' disinfectant.
There's a theme going on too - it screams motorcycles. From the leather jacket hanging on the wall, to oil and tyre paraphernalia, and biking photos.
It's where men can come to relax. For a haircut, a beard trim, or even a full wet cut-throat razor shave.
Welcome to the world of Sophie Collins: 'The Cut-throat Racer'
She is a 25-year-old former hairdresser, who has swapped tints, blue-rinses and shampoo-and-sets in a small rural village in north Wales for the male-dominated world of barbering.
It is four years since she set up shop in the quiet, picturesque Gwynedd village of Llanbedr - a place whose claims to fame are a campsite on the coast boasting it is the biggest in Europe, and an ex-Raf airfield that wants to become an international space port.
But this spring, it is Sophie making the headlines in the village, in north Wales - and beyond.
She has just been named the best cut-throat shaver in Wales - the first woman to take the title.
It also means she'll become the very first female barber to make it to the UK finals of the competition, held in May in a boxing ring in Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre.
"I've always wanted to do it - be a barber," said Sophie.
"I was inspired by an old friend. A gentleman I trained with, he actually taught me how to shave.
"I thought, you know, when I took on my own place, I wanted to be like the other barbers - show myself off, show the shop - enter competitions - not thinking I'd get as far as have.
Perhaps she is being modest. She is no stranger to competing in traditionally male arenas.
Outside of the barber shop, you are just as likely to find her donning racing leathers and taking her motorbike out on the track.
She is spending the Easter weekend in a track competition where she will be up against her own father, who passed on his passion for speed and bikes to her.
"He's faster than me though," she laughed.
At the race meets up and down the country, Sophie is also known to set-up her own mobile barber's shop, offering hardened bikers and race enthusiasts a trim or shave.
It is where she picked-up her nickname: The Cut-throat Racer.
And now she hopes her success can be an inspiration to other women who want to get into the industry.
"It's actually making the women out there think: 'You know what - I've always wanted to do it'.
"Maybe seeing myself win something like that, maybe it will encourage them to actually do it themselves - and not have to worry about being a woman taking part in a competition alongside men.
"Yes - it is daunting - but you're just as good as them, and that's how I felt on the day."
But does the swaggering confidence translate back to the barber shop floor?
"When they come in and I get the razor out to shave their neck, they panic," confesses Sophie.
"They tend to have a gulp and grit their teeth, and I'm trying to tell them: '"Relax - it's supposed to be relaxing for you.
With a smile and a sly wink, she adds: "A lot of them do get nervous.
"A woman with a razor? No - really?"
Yes really, a woman with a razor who is on a mission to become one of the best cut-throat shavers in Britain.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-39593694
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On the ground with Iraqi forces in battle for Mosul - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The BBC's correspondent Jonathan Beale witnesses fierce close-quarter fighting in the city.
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Middle East
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The US-led coalition appears confident that fighters of the so-called Islamic State (IS) will be defeated in Mosul. But the battle for Iraq's second largest city has already been going on for six months and the Iraqi forces have only just reached the edges of the old city.
Optimism has been tempered by the slow progress of what has become a brutal fight for every street. In the words of the US coalition spokesman Col John Dorrian "the fight's been very, very slow and very, very hard… its gut-busting".
We joined the Iraqi forces about to launch yet another assault to take more territory. Over the past few weeks, the initial advance has slowed to a crawl with the front lines relatively static. They want to break the deadlock. This is the story of just one battle.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The BBC's Jonathan Beale and cameraman Barnaby Mitchell are embedded with Iraqi troops
They mass under the cover of darkness. The same Iraq units who've been fighting here for months. The troops both battle hardened and battle weary. It's supposed to be a surprise dawn attack. But IS will be lying in wait. As we move forward on foot we soon come under fire.
We follow one of the Iraqi commanders, Maj Mohammed, as he sets up a makeshift headquarters in an abandoned house that's already seen heavy fighting. There's IS graffiti on the walls.
As his troops advance there is a sudden, panicked call on the radio. It's his first casualties. They've walked into a booby-trapped building: several men have been injured and they're calling for help.
The battle to drive IS fighters out of Mosul has been going on for six months
There's no let-up in the fighting as dawn breaks amid the heavy thud of machine guns firing on both sides.
We hear coalition aircraft overhead. Then a whoosh and a thud, followed by an explosion. One of the IS heavy machine guns has been silenced by a coalition airstrike.
There are several more over the next few hours - uncomfortably close. An Iraqi soldier smiles and points as a bomb travels at speed towards another IS-held building nearby.
In the distance we can now see the black flag of IS flying. And nearer, the buildings and the holes in the wall from where they're firing.
There's another whoosh, thud and boom and then a plume of smoke from an air strike. We're told to stay inside because the Iraqi forces have heard a small IS drone. They're often armed with grenades.
Five hours later, the battle is still raging over the same few streets. An Iraqi armoured bulldozer tries to clear a path through the wrecked cars and rubble to help the advance. But the driver is targeted by an IS rocket-propelled grenade. There's a frantic effort to free him from the cabin. His comrades eventually succeed but he's lost limbs and is bleeding profusely.
The Iraqi forces have to contend with booby traps and air attacks from IS drones
No-one can question the bravery of the Iraqi forces, but you can see the losses and the expectations of victory weighing heavily on their shoulders.
We ask to leave when IS begin to mortar the Iraqi positions. The impact sends brick and concrete flying through the air. The building we are taking shelter in shudders and then there's a cloud of debris. Someone shouts "Gas!" but thankfully it's not.
We leave in the same Humvee we first arrived in. The seats are now stained in blood from ferrying the wounded. By the end of the day, the Iraqi forces have taken a few more streets.
But this is unforgiving, urban warfare and for the Iraqi forces there is still a mountain to climb.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39633129
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European Judo Championships: Kelly Edwards targets medal after 'scary' 2016 - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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Just months after multiple concussions meant could not use her phone or feed her cat, Kelly Edwards is targeting European glory.
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Last updated on .From the section Judo
Coverage: Reports and reaction on the BBC Sport website
Forgoing a social life, giving up alcohol, and brutally battering your body - success does not come without sacrifice.
But how many athletes would actually dice with death in the pursuit of perfection and to achieve the ultimate dream of Olympic gold?
For British judoka Kelly Edwards, who had multiple concussions in the eight months before Rio 2016, the advice from neurological specialists was clear.
"They said if I carried on, I might die - it was that serious," she told BBC Sport.
"Even then I was insisting - 'but it's the Olympics' - it was everything I'd thought about for four years and never considered not being there."
What should have been a reality check was briefly considered 'just another challenge' before Edwards reluctantly accepted a break - meaning she would miss Rio - was not only recommended but required.
"It was devastating to miss the Olympics, but if I'd carried on and tried to get there then in the worst-case scenario, I may not be here now, or be unable to continue with a 'normal' life," said the 26-year-old.
'It felt like my head was full of cotton wool'
Edwards' struggle to accept the decision was in part down to her passion for judo, but also the confusion around exactly how the problem had arisen.
She took a minor hit to the head at an event in Mongolia in July 2015, and another in Uzbekistan three months later.
Dismissing her "slow and sluggish" behaviour as jet-lag, she went on to compete in Portugal later in October - before her headaches worsened.
"It was strange because I didn't feel like I had taken any big knocks," she said.
"It was only when my team started looking back at video footage that we realised where the concussions may have happened."
She improved after resting, before an awkward landing in a competition at the end of 2015 saw the problems return.
"It felt like my head was full of cotton wool," she said.
The "fogginess" in her mind cleared during a six-week break over Christmas, and in late January last year she was back hunting for an Olympic place.
• None Concussion in sport - the rugby player who couldn't remember his child being born
'I could not even feed my cat'
The 2014 Commonwealth silver medallist came through a competition in Cuba unscathed, but a 'minor' knock at the prestigious Paris Grand Slam in February 2016 prompted the symptoms to return - with a vengeance.
"The hit felt like nothing, but the impact was so debilitating," she said.
Edwards was immediately managed using the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool, also known as Scat 3. It includes six elements, with athletes only allowed to progress to the next phase once symptoms have ceased.
She was initially ordered to rest completely and not use technology.
"It impacted every part of my life," she said. "I couldn't make my own meals, and when I'd lean over to feed my cat I was getting dizzy and falling over.
"I was sleeping for 16-17 hours a day and was still tired. Technology was a complete no-go - I couldn't look at my iPad, computer screen or TV for weeks."
I was angry, at times really, really scared... I couldn't get my head around why it was happening
Despite the precautions, her condition did not improve, and in the second phase of her recovery even going for walks and using her mobile were ruled out.
She said: "I didn't think sending a few texts to friends and family was a problem, but I was showing no improvement and had to try something different."
In those few hours she was awake, Edwards felt in a 'dream-like' state, where nothing was real.
"I didn't feel in control of the situation - I was angry, at times really, really scared, and I couldn't get my head around why it was happening," she said.
"It wasn't like a knee or shoulder problem where you're told: 'It'll be four-six weeks of recovery and this is the plan.' It was this invisible injury."
Despite an increase in media coverage and heightened concerns about the long-term impact of repeated concussions on the brain - driven by research into dead American footballers and boxers - very little is known about the mechanics of the condition.
In the UK, rugby union is leading the way with a new Pitch-Side Concussion Assessment (PSCA) system which aims to detect concussions early and prevent players from returning to action too soon.
However, forms of diagnosis and treatment are still very much in their infancy.
"The brain is so complex and I think that's why there's not a lot of information out there," said Edwards.
"I didn't get a lot of answers about why I suffered repeated concussions and was hearing lots of 'we don't know' which I found bizarre and really frustrating.
"Hopefully what I've been through will in some way help others."
Edwards' condition had improved considerably by the time the Rio Olympics began - in April she had resumed running drills, and by July she had returned to full contact work.
But that made watching from home all the more difficult.
"Four years earlier, I'd been in London and had the whole arena chanting my name as I came out to compete," she said.
"It was really hard not being part of an amazing Games for Team GB."
Seeing team-mate Sally Conway claim bronze helped reignite the desire to win medals again, and piece by piece she rebuilt her career.
"I was struggling doing forward and backward rolls, handstands and cartwheels - all things that used to be so easy," said Edwards, who as a child did gymnastics training five times a week.
"When I started doing judo again, if I got thrown or hit on the head I would stop and check I was OK as I was really nervous."
Her confidence grew, though, and she embarked on a run of career-best form, winning medals in all six events at the end of 2016 including first Grand Slam and Grand Prix honours.
"I'm a fighter, I'm a warrior, and if you can overcome the challenges then you'll be stronger than you were before," she said.
"The experience and how bad it was has given me a new lease of life and my mindset is totally different."
This week, Edwards will look to prove just how far she has come by challenging for a medal at the European Championships in Poland - her first major international since the 2015 World Championships.
Further concussions are possible, and there are no guarantees serious symptoms will not emerge again in the future.
Dr Keith Barrow, British Judo's chief medical officer, said it was unclear whether Edwards had had three or four concussions.
He added: "It was hard to tell her she had to stop pushing for the Olympics as she's an honest athlete who had worked so hard to get to Rio, but we had a duty of care.
"Concussions have been linked to mental illness and dementia so we had to think about her life outside of sport as well."
Despite the risks, Edwards is not ready to give up on her dreams.
"There's so much I still want - like being Olympic, world and European champion - but to simplify, it's about being the best I can possibly be," she said.
"I hope taking that break has put any long-term risk of [brain] damage at bay, but what fuels my life is judo and in sport there is always risk.
"Some people may find that hard to understand," she said with a smile. "Us athletes are a crazy bunch!"
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/judo/39554932
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How a family's dogs were saved from a fiery death - BBC News
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2017-04-18
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Home security technology linked to smartphones is helping to keep people and property safe.
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Business
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Lisbonne and Hawaii were saved from a house fire thanks to home security tech
Christophe Deschamps was watching a basketball game with his wife and three children when he received an alert on his smartphone.
The home security system told him something was wrong, so he quickly accessed the video feed on his phone.
"I could see smoke," he says. Their home, in the Wallonia region of southern Belgium, was on fire.
The family's thoughts immediately turned to their two Bernese Mountain dogs - Lisbonne and Hawaii - locked in the garage. A terrible family tragedy was threatening to unfold.
The video images now showed the smoke getting thicker and brightness coming from flames off-camera.
The fire alarm had already alerted the firefighters, so the Deschamps family rushed home as quickly as they could.
"It was more important for us to save the dogs than the house," says Christophe. "My wife was crying and panicking, thinking the dogs could die."
The security camera recorded the progress of the fire in the Deschamps' home
Fortunately, Lisbonne and Hawaii were saved with just 20cm of air left to breathe above the floor of the smoke-filled garage. But the fire damage to the house took six months to repair.
The dogs' lucky escape was due to the indoor security camera Christophe had installed.
The smart camera, made by Netatmo, sends alerts when it hears an alarm - whether smoke, carbon monoxide or security - and automatically starts recording.
It is also one of the first smart home cameras featuring face recognition technology capable of distinguishing between people it knows and strangers.
Parents working late can receive alerts when their kids arrive home, for example, and will receive an "unknown face seen" alert if someone breaks in.
The French company says evidence collected by its smart cameras has led to the successful prosecution of burglars.
The connected home security market is expanding fast, with companies such as Withings, Nest, D-Link, Netgear, Philips, Panasonic - not to mention the tech behemoths Apple, Amazon and Samsung - all offering an expanding array of internet-connected smart gadgets, from thermostats to motion-sensitive cameras with infrared and audio capability.
"We put the connected home security market at 95.4 million unit sales in 2016," says Francesco Radicati, a technology specialist at consultancy Ovum.
"Service providers, such as Qivicon, AT&T Digital Life, and Vivint Smart Home, are selling device multi-packs including multiple sensors, and these are proving very popular.
"We estimate the market will grow to 744 million devices sold in 2021."
Innovations are coming on to the market thick and fast.
For example, connected light bulb firm LIFX has produced a version that can beam infrared light outdoors, enabling a compatible security camera, such as the Nest Cam Outdoor, to see better in the dark.
The key innovation, however, has been the integration of the smartphone into such connected networks, giving users remote control wherever they have an internet connection.
But aren't all these security cameras intrusive and even a little voyeuristic?
Netatmo has addressed this issue by making its Welcome camera programmable, so you can disable recording for individuals you specify. And most camera systems can be disabled remotely.
It isn't just our homes that technology is helping keep safe.
Cars are also a common target for thieves. This is why Matej Persolja, 33, founded CarLock, a company based in Nova Gorica, Slovenia, and San Francisco in the US.
CarLock's system plugs into a vehicle's onboard diagnostics port and sends an alarm to your phone if your vehicle is moved, the engine starts, it detects unusual vibration, or if the gadget is disconnected.
Mr Persolja started the business after thinking his car had been stolen. It turned out his car had only been moved to make way for construction work taking place in the area.
"Before I learned that, I was almost certain my car had been stolen and I still remember that awful feeling," he says.
The CarLock system enables owners to track the location of their car if it has been stolen and also acts like a telematics box recording driving behaviour and the general health of the engine.
And there are a growing number of remote control apps for cars on the market.
Viper's SmartStart app - currently only available in the US and Canada - enables you to start your car, lock and unlock it, and track its movements remotely using your smartphone.
Remote starting is useful for de-icing your car in the mornings while you get ready for work and have breakfast. Even if someone sees the car running and a thief smashes a window to steal it, the physical key is still needed to drive the car off.
You can also keep an eye on your kids' driving habits and receive an alert if they take the car beyond a geographical point that you specify.
Ford is even integrating Amazon's Alexa voice-activated software into its cars, enabling drivers to remotely start their cars with a voice command and personal identification number.
Of course, the elephant in the room with all these connected security products is the risk of being hacked. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre recently demonstrated how a connected doll could be hacked and used to open remote control door locks.
And poorly secured security cameras have been hijacked to carry out web attacks.
How to protect your smart home and all its internet-connected devices will be the subject of a future Technology of Business feature.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39579320
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Luke Robinson & Kevin Brown on concussion fears and safety in rugby league - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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Luke Robinson and Kevin Brown have had repeated concussions, but both tell Radio 5 live the game is getting to grips with the issue.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby League
It should have been a day he would never forget - playing for Wigan in the 2004 Challenge Cup final against the old enemy St Helens. Instead, after two knockout blows, Kevin Brown was wandering alone, dazed and confused, around the streets of Cardiff.
It was the greatest moment of his life - but, after a clash of heads, Luke Robinson - then at Huddersfield Giants - lost all memory that his wife had given birth only three days earlier.
Two isolated incidents for former half-back partners who tell this week's BBC Radio 5 live podcast they fear what the future could hold for them after repeated concussions in their careers.
But both insist the game is getting to grips with head injury protocol, making it much safer for players now beginning their careers.
Robinson, who retired from playing 14 months ago, says he was knocked out at least 30 times playing rugby league.
He says: "The dangers are incredible and it's worrying. My wife is extremely worried about me in the future.
"If you go on YouTube, you can see one concussion. I clash heads with James Graham. My wife had given birth on the Tuesday, I was playing the game on the Friday."
For the rest of the match, Robinson chased after team-mate Danny Brough, asking him if he was a dad.
"It was only when I got home and my wife was there with our first born, Leo, that it all came flooding back that I had a kid," he adds.
"In another game, I got a hit to the head. Five or six hours later I got home, I felt fine. But I rang for a taxi to go to my friend's birthday and I couldn't remember where I lived.
"I had to go to my study and get a bank statement out, and it was only then that I remembered."
• None Concussion in sport: 'They said if I carried on, I might die'
Brown, now 32 and playing for Warrington, missed the Easter fixtures after being concussed twice in three previous games.
But that protocol of being forced to sit out matches is only a recent development.
"In the 2004 Challenge Cup final, I played in the centre against St Helens. I don't remember the game," says Brown, who played on despite being knocked out twice.
"After the game, I had no idea what was going on. I missed the bus and I was walking round Cardiff with my tracksuit on.
"My team-mate Martin Aspinwall found me and took me back to the hotel because I was delirious and I didn't know where I was. But after those two concussions, I played again the week later. I only know I played a week later because I broke my leg at Wakefield.
"There was obviously nothing in place to protect you from getting a further head injury a week later, which they're saying now is the most dangerous."
Both players believe the protocols now in place will protect players.
"I was forever getting knocked out and telling the physio I was fine," says Robinson, 32.
"But now it's out of the players' hands. They're escorted down to the dressing rooms and a head test is done."
Brown adds: "Getting concussed isn't dangerous, it's getting concussed again while your brain is a little bit swollen that can really affect you.
"That's been take away a lot now with the cogsport tests and the protocol. You're not allowed to play on a six-day turnaround if you have had a concussion.
"Also, I've been knocked out six or seven times when I've passed the ball and been shoulder-charged. The game stopped that tackle and started banning people, so people stopped doing it.
"It's good that rugby league took the stance and is looking after the players."
Despite his concerns about the future, Brown says he wouldn't have swapped his career in rugby league.
"The life I've had playing rugby has been unbelievable," he says. "The opportunities it's given me, the enjoyment it's given me, far outweighs the negatives of the head knocks.
"Touch wood, I don't have any side-effects when it's finished."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/39620385
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British Championships: Adam Peaty wins swimming gold after Rio success - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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Olympic swimming champion Adam Peaty books his place at the 2017 World Championships with victory at the British Championships.
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Last updated on .From the section Swimming
Coverage: Watch live on the BBC Sport website, Connected TVs and app. Race highlights and reports on the BBC Sport website.
Olympic champion Adam Peaty booked his place at the 2017 World Championships with victory at the British Championships in Sheffield.
Peaty, 22, who became Britain's first male Olympic swimming champion for 28 years in Rio, took the British 100m breaststroke title in 57.79 seconds.
"This is what I race for, to win and I'm pleased with that time," he told BBC Sport.
Peaty gave away his British gold medal to a young fan in the crowd.
"Hopefully that lad will look at the medal and it will make him think, 'If I train harder, I can be out there too' and then he'll be here competing one day," said the Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion.
Ross Murdoch should also be at the Budapest World Championships in July after finishing second in one minute flat.
In addition to Peaty and Murdoch, Rio Olympians James Guy and Stephen Milne (400m freestyle), Hannah Miley and Aimee Willmott (400m individual medley) all recorded times which will put them in contention for selection for the Worlds.
Peaty says he now wants to chase "legendary" status and lower the world record of 57.13 he set at the Rio Olympics.
"Me and my coach [Mel Marshall] have set this target, it's called 'project 56' and that's the aim, to keep going quicker and winning every race."
Find out how to get into swimming with our fully inclusive guide.
Guy - who missed out on individual honours at Rio 2016, but won two silver medals as part of the men's relay teams - took the men's 400m freestyle title.
Fellow Olympians Chris Walker-Hebborn (50m backstroke) and Hannah Miley (400m individual medley) retained their respective crowns, while 17-year-old Imogen Clark claimed her first GB title with victory in the 50m breaststroke in a British record of 30.21 secs.
Defending 200m freestyle champion Jazz Carlin was a surprise third in an event won by Ellie Faulkner in a personal best time of one minute 57.88 secs.
Welsh swimmer Carlin - who won Rio Olympic silver medals in the 400m and 800m freestyle events - will return for the 800m competition on Wednesday.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/swimming/39636925
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Leicester City 1-1 Atlético Madrid - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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Leicester's superb debut Champions League campaign comes to an end as Atletico Madrid claim a draw at the King Power Stadium.
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Last updated on .From the section European Football
Leicester City's Champions League adventure ended in disappointment at the quarter-final stage despite a spirited second-leg display against Atletico Madrid.
The Foxes dominated for much of the game at the King Power Stadium, creating numerous chances throughout, but were left with too much to do after Saul Niguez's 26th-minute header added to Atletico's one-goal advantage from the first leg in Madrid.
Needing three second half goals, Leicester responded with splendid defiance and equalised on the night when Jamie Vardy scored at the far post just after the hour.
They kept battling until the end as Atletico survived several scrambles, but the La Liga superpower held on and the Premier League's interest in the tournament ended.
The Foxes go down fighting
Leicester City have gained huge credit and credibility in making their way to the last eight of the Champions League as England's last surviving representatives.
And even in defeat over two legs to this battle-hardened Atletico Madrid side - twice losing finalists in recent seasons - the Foxes can be proud of another monumental effort that just came up short.
Craig Shakespeare's side were second best as Atletico looked a cut above for the first 45 minutes to lead through Niguez's header, which left Leicester needing those three goals against a miserly defence.
The hosts could have been forgiven for throwing in the towel but instead came out fighting, invigorated by Shakespeare's positive half-time changes. He sent on Ben Chilwell and Leonardo Ulloa for Shinji Okazaki and defender Yohan Benalouane, flooding Vardy with greater support.
Vardy's goal was no more than they deserved and for a time they had Atletico rocking, giving the King Power Stadium belief that another miracle was on the cards. They almost added a second in goalmouth scrambles, especially when Stefan Savic blocked Vardy's goal-bound shot.
In the final reckoning, the lack of an away goal and a controversial first-leg penalty scored by Antoine Griezmann left them with a hurdle that was just too tough to surmount.
There was disappointment inside the King Power Stadium at the final whistle but it was masked by a fully deserved standing ovation for Leicester's players.
When last season's Premier League champions started their Champions League journey, many believed reaching the knockout phase would represent success - so once again they defied the odds.
Atletico Madrid are a side built in the image and likeness of their manager Diego Simeone - talented, uncompromising and streetwise.
And in the end it was that combination of qualities that made it just too tough for Leicester City to take their journey a step further into the last four.
Atletico showed their quality in the first half to score that crucial away goal, then demonstrated the resilience that has taken them to two Champions League finals in 2014 and 2016 [both lost to arch-rivals Real Madrid].
It needed a mixture of defiance and desperation but in the end it was enough to send them into another Champions League semi-final.
The King Power rises to the occasion
This may be the last Champions League night at the King Power for some time - and if it is, Leicester City made sure it left plenty to remember them by.
The pre-match ceremonials were raucous and spectacular, with pyrotechnics, dry ice and fireworks whipping the home fans into a noisy frenzy.
Atletico were unmoved by the atmosphere early on but certainly felt its force as they were penned back in the second period.
The King Power has proved to be the perfect environment for Leicester City's Champions League adventure - and so it proved once more here.
Leicester manager Craig Shakespeare, speaking to BT Sport: "In the first half we played really well but the goal changes the game plan - we knew we had to score three - so I had to make the change.
"There's no discredit to lose to a team of that calibre.
"In terms of effort, commitment, application - as a group we were tremendous.
"The momentum was with us when Jamie [Vardy] scored but it just wasn't to be.
"I think the whole club, the supporters, owners and players, can be immensely proud of what they've achieved.
"I've just said to the players 'you should want more of this'."
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone: "I'm full of emotion and pride at the performance of my team.
"I also have to say, what a great performance from our opponents. It was almost a pleasure to compete against them."
• None Only Edinson Cavani (four) and Robert Lewandowski (four) have scored more away goals than Saul Niguez (three) in the Champions League this season.
• None Saul's goal was the 100th Atletico Madrid had scored in the Champions League, in their 68th match in the competition.
• None Filipe Luis has provided back-to-back assists in all competitions for Atletico for the first time since October 2013.
• None Jamie Vardy is the first English player to score in a Champions League quarter-final since Frank Lampard in 2012.
• None Both of Vardy's Champions League goals have come in the knockout stage of the competition.
• None The Foxes had 16 shots in the second half of this match, while Atletico had two.
• None Leicester exit the Champions League unbeaten at home in their first campaign (W4 D1).
Leicester return to Premier League action with an away game at Arsenal on Wednesday, 26 April, followed three days later with another away game at West Brom.
Atletico Madrid are also away from home in their next match - a trip to Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday (19:45 BST).
• None Attempt missed. Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid) right footed shot from more than 40 yards on the right wing misses to the left. Assisted by Stefan Savic following a fast break.
• None Attempt saved. Marc Albrighton (Leicester City) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Ben Chilwell.
• None Attempt missed. Ben Chilwell (Leicester City) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right following a corner.
• None Ángel Correa (Atlético de Madrid) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt saved. Ángel Correa (Atlético de Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Koke.
• None Attempt blocked. Daniel Drinkwater (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Wilfred Ndidi.
• None Substitution, Leicester City. Daniel Amartey replaces Wes Morgan because of an injury.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Delay in match Wes Morgan (Leicester City) because of an injury.
• None Attempt saved. Leonardo Ulloa (Leicester City) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39611647
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Middlesbrough 1-2 Arsenal - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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Arsenal keep alive their hopes of finishing in the top four of the Premier League with a narrow victory at second-bottom Middlesbrough.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Arsenal kept alive their hopes of finishing in the top four of the Premier League with a narrow victory at second-bottom Middlesbrough.
A dull opening was brought to life when Alexis Sanchez's superb free-kick gave Arsenal the lead just before the break.
Middlesbrough responded soon after the restart when Alvaro Negredo volleyed in Stewart Downing's pinpoint cross.
However, Mesut Ozil secured the much-needed three points for Arsenal with a first-time strike at the near post.
The win - only Arsenal's third in their past nine league games - moves the Gunners up to sixth, seven points behind fourth-place Manchester City and with a game in hand.
Middlesbrough remain deep in relegation trouble, six points from safety.
The Gunners have not lost five successive away games in the league since 1984 and manager Arsene Wenger took significant measures to avoid that happening against Boro by playing a three-man defence for the first time since 1997.
Rob Holding, Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel were the centre-backs at the Riverside Stadium but struggled with the change in system as Middlesbrough looked lively in the early stages but lacked the quality in the final third to exploit the gaps in Arsenal's defence.
"Yes, it is the first time in 20 years. That shows you that even at my age, you can change," Wenger said after the game when explaining his tactical switch.
"I felt it added a bit more stability on the long balls. We faced a direct game and we have been punished a bit on that. It gave the opponents more of the ball but against Crystal Palace we had 70% possession but lost."
Middlesbrough have scored the fewest amount of Premier League goals at home all season - just 12 prior to Arsenal's visit - and with the quality of Sanchez and Ozil in attack the visitors were always capable of snatching a lead. That proved to be the case when they scored from only their second shot on target just before the break, Sanchez expertly steering a free-kick over a packed wall and into the far corner.
Arsenal's lack of experience playing 3-4-3 was evident early in the second half when Downing charged away down an exposed right flank on the counter before providing the perfect ball for Negredo to poke in his ninth of the season.
The game opened up after that but Ozil's goal midway through the second half ensured Arsenal escaped with the points. It was a welcome win for under-pressure Wenger but not quite the sign of a return to form. Holding, Koscielny and Gabriel failed to make a single tackle in the first 60 minutes and stronger sides than Middlesbrough will not be as forgiving.
Sanchez has cut a frustrated figure at times this season, with reports suggesting he is keen to leave the Gunners in the summer.
However, his celebrations after Arsenal's goals on Monday did not look like those of an unhappy player.
He hugged and high-fived his team-mates and was seen smiling broadly at the final whistle, celebrating with the fans.
It is unlikely to be enough to convince Arsenal fans he will stay at the club, but it will no doubt have been pleasing for Wenger.
Is there hope for Middlesbrough?
Middlesbrough are the only side in English league football not to have won a league game during 2017 and that awful run of form has put them perilously close to an immediate return to the Championship.
Performances have improved since Steve Agnew replaced Aitor Karanka on a caretaker basis last month and this display was perhaps their best so far under the Englishman.
But wins are needed and needed quickly. Five wins and a draw from their final six games would take them to 40 points - generally perceived as the minimum to avoid relegation - but with games against Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool still to come they need to significantly improve in the final third to have a chance of pulling off an unlikely escape.
What they said
Middlesbrough caretaker boss Steve Agnew: "We are bitterly disappointed with the result but the players gave everything they had. We couldn't ask more of them.
"We played on the front foot, put them under pressure. I felt we might get the second goal after Negredo scored.
"The ball just wouldn't drop in the box for us. We put them under tremendous pressure."
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger: "We responded well. I think it was not perfect but the commitment and focus was there. At 1-1 we found a response and managed to win.
"It was a big test, Middlesbrough gave everything. It's one of their last chances to stay in the league.
"It [the top four] is mathematically still alive. We knew we needed to win. Now we have a little break with the FA Cup and then we come back again to the league.
"We have to win every game to have a chance to get in the top four, starting tonight. I think it will make the team a bit more serene."
• None Arsenal picked up only their second win in their past nine away league games (D1 L6), though both victories came against teams currently in the relegation zone (Swansea were beaten 4-0 on 14 January).
• None Alexis Sanchez has scored more away goals in the Premier League this season than any other player (13).
• None Indeed, only Emmanuel Adebayor (14 in 2007-08) has scored more away goals in a single Premier League campaign for Arsenal than Sanchez this season.
• None Middlesbrough are winless in 15 league games - their longest such run in the division.
• None Only Thierry Henry (12) has scored more direct free-kick goals in the Premier League for Arsenal than Sanchez (five, level with Robin van Persie).
• None Mesut Ozil has scored in two of his past three league games for Arsenal, the same number he'd scored in in his previous 16.
• None Ozil also made four tackles, his joint-most in a Premier League game (last doing so against Man City in December 2015).
• None Arsenal's opener was their 3,000th away goal in English league football (now 3,001) - the second side to reach that figure (Manchester United, 3226).
Middlesbrough continue their search for a first league win of the year on Saturday when they travel to Bournemouth (15:00 BST). Arsenal, meanwhile, now switch their focus to the FA Cup. They face Manchester City in the semi-final on Sunday (15:00).
• None Attempt missed. Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Aaron Ramsey.
• None Attempt missed. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Granit Xhaka following a fast break.
• None Attempt saved. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Héctor Bellerín.
• None Attempt saved. Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from very close range is saved in the centre of the goal.
• None Offside, Middlesbrough. Daniel Ayala tries a through ball, but Rudy Gestede is caught offside.
• None Attempt saved. Daniel Ayala (Middlesbrough) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Adam Clayton with a cross.
• None Rudy Gestede (Middlesbrough) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt missed. Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses the top left corner. Assisted by Alexis Sánchez.
• None Attempt saved. Álvaro Negredo (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Rudy Gestede.
• None Adama Traoré (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick on the right wing. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39550227
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Mo Farah: Doctor to face MPs over administering controversial supplement - BBC Sport
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2017-04-18
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A doctor who administered a controversial treatment to Mo Farah is set to give evidence on Wednesday to MPs.
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Last updated on .From the section Athletics
The doctor who treated Mo Farah with a controversial infusion is set to give evidence to MPs on Wednesday.
The infusion of the legal supplement L-carnitine, given to Farah before the 2014 London Marathon, is being looked at by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) to determine whether rules were broken.
Dr Robin Chakraverty carried out the treatment on the instruction of Farah's American coach Alberto Salazar.
He will appear before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee at 14:30 BST.
Chakraverty, formerly chief medical medical officer for UK Athletics (UKA), now works with the England men's football team.
MPs are also expected to hear from UKA head of endurance Barry Fudge as part of their ongoing investigation into doping in sport.
Fudge has worked closely with Farah and Dr John Rogers, a former medic for the British athletics team who reportedly raised concerns about Salazar's methods.
Rogers and UKA chairman Ed Warner, plus UK Sport chief executive Liz Nicholls, are also due before the committee.
Salazar has been under investigation by Usada and UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) since 2015, following claims of doping and unethical practices made in a BBC Panorama programme.
In March 2017, the BBC reported that UKA staff may not have properly recorded the infusion of L-carnitine - a naturally occurring amino acid often prescribed as a supplement for heart and muscle disorders.
The BBC understands that staff failed to centrally log key data into the UKA system, and investigators have therefore been unable to establish beyond doubt what the infusion levels were.
A spokesperson for Farah said his infusion was "well below" the 50 millilitre limit permitted under the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) code.
An interim Usada report centres on claims a number of athletes at Salazar's Nike Oregon Project were given infusions of L-carnitine - some of which were "almost certainly" more than 50ml and therefore doping violations.
Salazar and Farah, Olympic champion in both the 5,000m and 10,000m in 2012 and 2016, have strongly denied breaking any rules.
Farah was given the infusion during preparations before his full London Marathon debut in 2014, in which he finished eighth.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/39633954
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Do snap elections actually deliver bigger majorities? - BBC News
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2017-04-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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What does history say about Theresa May's chances of wining a bigger majority?
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UK Politics
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Few other post-war prime ministers have called a snap election
A snap general election has been announced by UK Prime Minister Theresa May, to "guarantee certainty and security". But what does history say about her chances of winning a greater majority?
Since World War Two, there are really only two other examples of a prime minister going to the country within a year or two of the previous contest.
However, there have also been a few occasions which have seen prime ministers who - like Theresa May - made it to Downing Street without winning an election themselves going to the country for a "personal mandate".
Since 2011, parliamentary terms have been fixed at five years and, even before this, elections were generally only called by prime ministers every four or five years.
In March 1966 however, Labour's Harold Wilson went to the country just under 18 months after winning in October 1964.
Harold Wilson called two snap elections to try to win a strong majority
His decision was hardly a surprise. The 1964 election had seen Labour replace the Tories after 13 years, but with only the narrowest of majorities - just four MPs.
An avid reader of opinion polls and an acute interpreter of local and by-election results, Wilson timed his strike to perfection.
He bagged a majority of nearly 100, albeit one he managed to squander by 1970, when Labour was beaten by the Tories under Ted Heath - the prime minister who took the UK into Europe.
By February 1974, however, Wilson was back in Downing Street - and things were even trickier than they had been 10 years previously.
Rather than a tiny parliamentary majority, Labour had no majority at all.
Wilson was obliged to form a minority administration and hope that it could last long enough for him to convince the country that he really was the man for the job again.
Wilson waited just nine months before making that appeal.
The result was far from what he'd hoped for - a painfully small three-seat majority which eventually evaporated completely, leaving the government reliant on a pact with the Liberal Party.
So, early elections don't always deliver everything the prime minister who calls them might wish for.
But what about contests called by incumbents who have taken over at Number 10 without first winning a general election as party leader?
John Major was among prime ministers who went on to win a "personal mandate"
Well, here, the outlook is much brighter for those who call the election.
Winston Churchill, after suffering at least one serious stroke that was hidden from the public, finally gave way to his successor Anthony Eden in April 1955.
Eden wasted no time by calling an election in May - a contest which saw him increase his party's majority from 17 to a very respectable 60.
At just under 50%, the Tories' share of the vote was the highest ever achieved in the post-war period.
It wasn't enough, however, to see Eden through the Suez crisis, which led to his resignation and replacement in January 1957 by the wily Harold Macmillan.
"Supermac", true to form, bided his time before seeking his own personal mandate and was rewarded in October 1959 with a 100-seat majority.
The third Tory prime minister who initially got the top job by virtue of his support in the party rather than in the country was John Major.
He waited 16 months after replacing Margaret Thatcher before calling an election in 1992, but while his victory left the Conservatives with a much reduced majority, he had avoided what two years previously looked like certain defeat.
History, then, appears to be on Theresa May's side. But, given the unpredictability of the current political climate, the outcome is far from guaranteed.
Tim Bale is professor of politics at the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London. Follow him @ProfTimBale.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39634650
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Mo Farah: Doctor says L-carnitine injection not recorded correctly - BBC Sport
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2017-04-19
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The doctor who gave Mo Farah a controversial supplement tells MPs that he failed to correctly document the treatment.
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Last updated on .From the section Athletics
The doctor who gave double Olympic champion Mo Farah a controversial supplement has told MPs that he failed to properly document the treatment.
Dr Robin Chakraverty said the amount of L-carnitine was well within World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) limits.
Dr Chakraverty said the substance was given to help the Briton's performance.
He said he gave 13.5 millilitres of the legal supplement, below the maximum allowed of 50ml within six hours, by injection and not via drip.
Ed Warner, the UK Athletics (UKA) chairman, told MPs that not recording injections was "inexcusable" although Dr Chakraverty said record keeping had since improved.
The use of the substance, given to Farah in 2014, is being looked at by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) - which has called it an infusion - to determine whether rules were broken.
The injection was made in consultation with Farah's American coach Alberto Salazar.
Salazar and Farah, Olympic champion in both the 5,000m and 10,000m in 2012 and 2016, have strongly denied breaking any rules.
Dr Chakraverty, formerly UKA's chief medical officer, now works with the England men's football team,
He told the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on Wednesday there had been staffing cuts at UKA and he had been responsible for the healthcare of 140 athletes in an "immensely busy" job.
"Where we have had lapses is when you're on the road, when you're travelling, and that is probably the unique thing about this role. Not all our athletes train in one area," he said.
"When you are constantly on call for athletes you travel to those athletes. If you don't record it straight away - which I didn't in this case - then it can get forgotten because you have all these other things. That is just the scenario. It is not an excuse."
In March, the BBC reported that UKA staff may not have properly recorded the use of L-carnitine - a naturally occurring amino acid often prescribed as a supplement for heart and muscle disorders.
Warner said it was "disappointing" the injection had not been recorded at the time by the doctor.
"That has formed part of Dr Chakraverty's annual appraisal processes. That was something which was clearly marked out by Dr Chakraverty and his line manager as in need of improvement. He won't be proud of that fact but won't shy away from the fact it's there," he said.
Farah was given the injection during preparations before his full London Marathon debut in 2014, in which he finished eighth.
Salazar has been under investigation by Usada and UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) since 2015, following claims of doping and unethical practices made in a BBC Panorama programme.
'Don't tar us with the same brush'- Warner
At a meeting of the committee earlier this year, a doctor who received a 'mystery package' for cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins in 2011 said he had no record of his medical treatment at the time.
Ex-Team Sky medic Dr Richard Freeman had a laptop containing medical records stolen in 2014, the committee was told in March.
Team Sky and British Cycling's record-keeping was questioned at the earlier hearing and when it was raised again on Wednesday, Warner replied: "Please don't tar us with the same brush".
He said UKA was keen to centralise its records and now handles all of Farah's medical care.
"There was a period of a few months in which we allowed Mo to go to Oregon and be treated by a local GP over in America, and we were observing his medical care from afar," said Warner.
"A decision was taken that we had to make sure we were in control of all medical interventions where Mo was concerned. That should always be the case for funded athletes."
An interim Usada report centres on claims a number of athletes at Salazar's Nike Oregon Project were given L-carnitine - some of which were "almost certainly" more than 50ml and therefore doping violations.
Another former UKA doctor, Dr John Rogers, visited a training camp held in France in 2011.
He reported back some concerns about the side-effects of some of the supplements Farah was taking, but stressed there were no worries that anything illegal may have been taking place.
Farah was receiving supplements to help prevent stress fractures and for iron and vitamin D deficiencies.
Dr Rogers told the committee Salazar's knowledge of sports medicine and science at the time was more advanced than any coach he had worked with.
"We had several conversations here and he was very open and transparent about the sports medicine practices he was using," he said.
"There was no concern there were any Wada rules being broken.
"There were some medical concerns around possible side-effects from some of the strategies they were using and it was important I shared that in terms of the continuity of care."
Committee chairman Damian Collins MP said at the start of the hearing that the MPs' final report into anti-doping would now not be published until after the General Election on June 8.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/39627807
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Lions squad: Sam Warburton reminds me of Anthony Foley - Paul O'Connell - BBC Sport
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2017-04-19
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Lions captain Sam Warburton is not the most vocal of leaders but when he speaks "you can hear a pin drop", says Paul O'Connell.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
on BBC Radio 5 live and online from 19:00 BST on Wednesday
Lions captain Sam Warburton is not the most vocal of leaders but when he speaks "you can hear a pin drop", says predecessor Paul O'Connell.
Warren Gatland announces his squad to tour New Zealand on Wednesday at 12:00 BST, with 2013 captain Warburton once again leading the tourists.
O'Connell, Lions captain in 2009, said Warburton reminds him of late Munster captain and coach Anthony Foley.
"Foley was a similar character. He didn't speak a lot," said O'Connell.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live before Warburton's appointment had been confirmed, former Ireland captain O'Connell added: "Foley was one of my first captains in Munster.
"Very often there was plenty of other people chatting and barking and staying on top of people, but when he picked his moment to speak everyone listened.
"It was probably the same in 2013 in Australia - Sam didn't say a lot.
"Myself and a few others were chirping at people and staying on top of people a little bit, but when Sam elected to speak you could hear a pin drop."
Warburton, 28, will join Martin Johnson as a two-time Lions captain when head coach Gatland reveals his full squad at midday on Wednesday.
Ireland international Foley became Munster's head coach in 2014, but died suddenly in Paris in October at the age of 42.
Warburton was appointed Wales captain in 2011, but was replaced by Alun Wyn Jones for the 2017 Six Nations as Wales finished fifth.
Wales head coach Rob Howley, deputising for Warren Gatland, said he wanted Warburton to concentrate on his individual game.
"I thought Alun Wyn Jones would end up doing it [captaining the Lions]. Early on Sam hadn't played a lot of rugby," added O'Connell.
"Because of the way he stepped aside from the Welsh captaincy, I thought he just wanted to focus on himself and get back playing as well as he could.
"But he just got better and better throughout the Six Nations and it just made sense by the end. He will be a fantastic captain."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39634930
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How might Donald Trump do a deal with North Korea? - BBC News
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2017-04-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The US president has a range of options regarding the secretive state.
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Asia
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The world has been consumed by the fear of war in Korea over the past week - everywhere, it seems, except Korea. The BBC's correspondent in the South Korean capital says there is a disconnect between the hyped-up atmosphere and the reality on the ground.
I get emails from people in Europe asking me whether nuclear war is about to start - and then I look out of the window, in Seoul, and see a market where people amble gently between the stalls, sampling street food.
Around the world, headlines scream "danger" - but at what would be the epicentre of any war, there's not the slightest sign of fear.
While tension mounts far away, street dancers in Seoul accost passers-by with pamphlets advertising a concert.
Who's right? The headline writers or the putative war victims? Has the world suddenly got much more dangerous?
In one way, it obviously has.
North Korea is closer to possessing effective nuclear warheads and missiles, simply because it's had longer to sort out the problems.
North Korea tests missiles every one or two weeks to learn from their mistakes.
Speaking at the DMZ, US Vice-President Mike Pence said the "era of strategic patience is over"
But the expert view is that North Korea does not have the capability to strike the United States.
It is making progress, but it isn't there yet. A day after the fearsome display of missiles in Pyongyang, North Korea launched a dud - another one.
The other new element is President Trump himself. He's been sending different messages, which require a little analysis.
Under President Obama, the policy was called "strategic patience" - squeeze North Korea with sanctions, persuade others to do the same, particularly China, and sit it out.
At the demilitarized zone (DMZ) this week, Vice-President Mike Pence said the "era of strategic patience is over".
But is it? Or does it continue under another name?
The military option - an attack on North Korean nuclear installations - was considered by previous presidents and ruled out because half the population of South Korea lives in the greater Seoul area, which is within easy range of North Korean artillery. That remains true.
Decapitation - the assassination of Kim Jong-un - has also not happened for a variety of reasons: success couldn't be guaranteed, and it isn't clear what orders the military might have to retaliate against South Korea if the north's "supreme leader" were attacked. That hasn't changed.
Kim Jong-Un has defied international pressure to abandon his nuclear weapons programme
Whether the policy really has changed depends on whether President Trump has a different attitude to risk and the potential cost of war, perhaps a war that would suck in China.
The United States had information the regime was about to move fuel rods from its reactor at Yongbyon, to the north of Pyongyang, to a reprocessing centre (the first step in making a nuclear bomb).
Plans were made to send fighters and cruise missiles to attack, but the order was never given.
But it was a plan that scared the North Koreans and enabled a deal to be done.
The US provided fuel to a fuel-starved economy, and North Korea agreed to freeze its programme (though it then cheated and the deal fell apart in 2002).
Today, Mr Perry believes the opportunity for what he calls "creative diplomacy" is there, particularly because China may be more helpful than it was during the Clinton presidency.
North Korea has to believe that the United States might attack and that, on this reasoning, makes President Trump's unpredictability an asset.
The recent parade in Pyongyang featured what appeared to be a new class of land-based ballistic missile
In recent days, the administration has downplayed the idea of attacking North Korea.
National security adviser Lt Gen HR McMaster said on Sunday: "All our options are on the table."
But, crucially, he added: "It's time for us to undertake all actions we can, short of a military option, to try to resolve this peacefully."
There is a pessimistic view and an optimistic view.
The bleak view is that President Trump is way out of his depth and acts impulsively.
On this reading, we are in great danger.
Sir Max Hastings, the author of an acclaimed history of the Korean War, has written: "As ever with this president, it is impossible to judge whether he means what he says, or even understands the significance of his words."
He cited a scenario that in his view echoed the way the world stumbled into war in 1914, through the "dysfunctional personality" of a leader.
The nightmare scenario now would be: "The United States delivers an ultimatum to North Korea, insisting it renounces its nuclear weapons.
"The half-crazed regime in the capital, Pyongyang, refuses.
"US aircraft and missiles strike at Kim Jong-Un's nuclear facilities.
"North Korea's neighbour and ally, China, responds by hitting carriers of the US Seventh Fleet in the Pacific.
But there is a more peaceful scenario, suggested by some experts in South Korea.
Prof John Delury, of Yonsei University, in Seoul, says: "The smart play for Mr Trump would be to return to those five wise words he said about Mr Kim on the campaign trail, 'I would speak to him.'
"The United States should swiftly negotiate a bilateral deal that freezes Mr Kim's nuclear and missile programme."
Under this scenario, money - a lot of money - would be given to North Korea in order to improve its economy.
There would probably have to be a guarantee that the regime wouldn't be toppled.
In this case, Kim Jong-un would have to be ready to negotiate (a huge if) and some trust would have to be put in him not to cheat and not to keep demanding more (another big if).
Which way will Trump jump?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39632152
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British Championships: Adam Peaty wins second gold medal in 50m breaststroke - BBC Sport
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2017-04-19
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Adam Peaty wins the 50m breaststroke, his second gold, at the British Swimming Championships - nearly breaking his own world record.
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Last updated on .From the section Swimming
Coverage: Watch live on the BBC Sport website, Connected TVs and app. Race highlights and reports on the BBC Sport website
Olympic champion Adam Peaty narrowly missed out on breaking his own world record as he claimed the 50m breaststroke title at the British Swimming Championships in Sheffield.
England's Peaty, who claimed the 100m on day one, finished six hundredths of a second outside his record in a "very frustrating" time of 26.48 seconds.
But the 22-year-old, who has already booked his place at July's World Championships in Budapest, now believes he could go below the 26-second mark this summer.
Having given his 100m gold medal away to a fan in the crowd, Peaty said he was saving his 50m medal for his grandmother.
Jocelyn Ulyett, 21, broke the British record en route to a surprise victory in the 200m breaststroke, beating Olympians Chloe Tutton and Molly Renshaw and describing her performance as "crazy".
Her time of two minutes 22.08 seconds helped her become only the second British swimmer to gain an automatic World qualifying time.
Double Olympic silver medallist Jazz Carlin was over 10 seconds outside the automatic time as she won the 800m freestyle in eight minutes 30.56 seconds.
The Welsh swimmer, who also failed to make the consideration time, will get another chance to qualify in Saturday's 400m.
James Guy, who won 200m freestyle gold at the World Championships in 2015, produced a huge personal best to win the 200m butterfly in one minute 55.91 seconds and gain a consideration time for the Worlds.
Georgia Davies also set a consideration time in the 100m backstroke, winning in 59.34secs.
In Wednesday's other finals, Chris Walker-Hebborn won the men's 100m backstroke in 54.24secs, while Charlotte Atkinson claimed the 50m butterfly in 26.81secs, but both were outside the consideration times.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/swimming/39649232
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