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Australia v England: New Perth stadium not ready for third Ashes Test - BBC Sport
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2017-05-10
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Perth's new stadium will not be finished in time for the third Ashes Test between England and Australia, with the Waca set to host instead.
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Last updated on .From the section Cricket
Perth's new stadium will not be finished in time for the third Ashes Test between England and Australia, with the Waca set to host instead.
Cricket Australia confirmed delays to the new 60,000-capacity stadium will mean the match from 14-18 December will revert to the city's traditional venue.
The five-Test Ashes series starts in Brisbane on 23 November, with Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney also hosting.
"It's good now we have some certainty," said CA chief James Sutherland.
CA confirmed the change after meeting with the Western Australia government and Western Australian Cricket Association representatives.
"We knew that everything needed to come together but it was still disappointing," said Sutherland.
"We were really hoping that the Test match could be played at this magnificent new stadium."
The regional authorities hope the fifth one-day international between Australia and England on 28 January will take place at the new venue.
Sutherland added it was "probably unlikely" that any of the domestic T20 Big Bash League or Women's Big Bash League matches in the 2017-18 season would be played at the new stadium, with the Perth Scorchers franchise to host matches at the Waca.
England have not beaten Australia in Tests at the Waca ground since 1978.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/39867799
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Inter Milan: Antonio Conte linked with job after Stefano Pioli sacked - BBC Sport
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2017-05-10
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Inter Milan refuse to comment on reports they are planning to offer Chelsea boss Antonio Conte a deal to replace the sacked Stefano Pioli.
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Last updated on .From the section European Football
Inter Milan have refused to comment on reports they are planning to offer Chelsea boss Antonio Conte a deal to replace the sacked Stefano Pioli.
Reports in Italy say the Chinese-backed Serie A club are prepared to offer Conte £250,000 a week if he leaves Chelsea after one season.
Pioli was sacked on Tuesday after six months as head coach.
The 51-year-old replaced Frank de Boer in November, signing a contract until the end of June 2018.
Former Italy boss Conte, 47, also managed Inter's rivals Juventus from 2011 to 2014.
With three matches remaining, Inter are seventh in Serie A, three points adrift of AC Milan and the final qualifying spot for the Europa League, and are winless in seven league games.
Youth team coach Stefano Vecchi will take charge of the first team for the rest of the season.
Pioli was Inter's ninth manager since Jose Mourinho left in 2010.
A club statement read: "Inter thanks Stefano and his team for the dedication and hard work carried out at the club over the last six months in what has proven to be a difficult season.
"The club will begin planning now for the next season."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39865860
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General election 2017: The maps that reveal where this election could be won - BBC News
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2017-05-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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What exactly can we tell about where the party leaders have been out to win votes?
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Election 2017
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Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, campaigning in Kingston and Surbiton
The 2015 election result was a bit of a surprise. Pollsters got it wrong - and so did the media. Had we paid closer attention to where the Conservative Party was choosing to campaign, we might have spotted a gap between polling forecasts and Tory ambitions. We might have noticed David Cameron was fighting in the sort of seats that implied he thought a victory was coming.
This time, we hope to avoid that sort of mistake by paying closer attention to the campaigns. Here is Conservative leader Theresa May's journey since the prime minister called the snap general election on 18 April. As of Monday, she had taken trips all over the country, the purpose of which is to get her face on local TV and in local newspapers.
NOTE: The maps for Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn, Nicola Sturgeon and Tim Farron have been updated to include visits made up to 7 June, the final day of election campaigning. You can read further analysis on those visits here. We are waiting on more information surrounding Paul Nuttall's campaign.
Sorry, your browser cannot display this map
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, too, has been all over Great Britain. The two leaders have covered a lot of ground - but not quite the same sorts of places.
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To help you understand this pattern, below is a chart explaining the significance of where these two have been.
Theresa May has so far been visiting seats with a considerable Labour majority but where UKIP also did well in the 2015 elections
See how Mrs May is visiting seats which have some very big Labour majorities - look at Leeds East. But she is targeting Labour seats with big UKIP voter populations, where hoovering up the UKIP vote can do much of the work of taking the seat off Labour. In Dudley North, UKIP votes would be enough to take the seat on their own.
See also how Mrs May is largely not visiting the same sorts of places as Mr Corbyn. She is fighting in places which imply she wants a three-digit majority. The Labour Party either regards the "front line" as being nowhere near so gloomy for them or they are choosing not to deploy Mr Corbyn into their front line. If Labour were winning in Harlow, where Mr Corbyn went to campaign, it would probably be winning a majority.
What, then of the other leaders? Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has been clocking up the miles.
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The Lib Dems' strong pro-EU stance now distinguishes them from other UK-wide parties. So far, Mr Farron has only been to one seat that, according to academic estimates, voted Leave in the EU referendum - the Lib Dem-held Carshalton & Wallington. And 14 of the 20 places he's visited had Remain votes in excess of 60%.
The map shows he's hoping to take seats from both Labour and the SNP. The really big questions about the Lib Dems' future, however, are in their fight with the Tories.
Both Theresa May and Tim Farron have visited the marginal seat of Lewes in the early stage of this election campaign
In the Tory-Labour battleground, Mrs May and Mr Corbyn seemed to be fighting different elections. In the Tory-Lib Dem fight, both parties seem to think the election is going to be largely about Lib Dems taking seats back from the Tories. Both went to marginal Lewes, for example.
Mr Farron has paid a visit to Oxford West & Abingdon, for example, and Mrs May has been to shore up support in St Austell & Newquay. Both are current Tory seats taken from the Lib Dems.
But the Lib Dems' meagre resources will be spread thin at this election. It is not a by-election. The Tories are also polling well - and just look at the three seats above the dotted line. Those three seats - Norfolk North, Carshalton & Wallington and Southport - could all be taken by the Tories if they can win over UKIP voters. And the Tories have already started advertising in the Southport local press.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Newsnight Policy Editor Chris Cook talks through the Conservative and Labour battleground chart in more detail
The Scottish National Party has started its roadshow, too. The party won so many seats in 2015, there is no choice but for them to run a defensive election. We cannot see where leader Nicola Sturgeon is worried about quite yet. Let's come back to them.
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UKIP, meanwhile, has had a slow start. We will have to wait a bit more before we can say much more.
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The thing that jumps out at the moment is the scale of the Tories' ambitions against Labour. There are important questions about how campaigning works and how parties get their messages out, to which we will return during the campaign - along with updates to these maps and graphs.
Sorry, your browser cannot display this content.
Maps display winning parties from 2015 general election or most recent by-election. Estimated figures for the 2016 EU referendum are from Dr Chris Hanretty's academic study that remapped results from the EU referendum from local authority level to parliamentary constituency level. Leader visits displayed on the maps are accurate up to Monday 8 May, and include only visits related to the 2017 general election campaign. Maps built with Carto.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39874420
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WSL: Barcelona signing Toni Duggan scores 18-minute hat-trick for Man City - BBC Sport
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2017-05-10
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New Barcelona signing Toni Duggan scores an 18-minute hat-trick as Manchester City beat Bristol City 3-0 in the Women's Super League One Spring Series in May.
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New Barcelona signing Toni Duggan scores an 18-minute hat-trick as Manchester City beat Bristol City 3-0 in the Women's Super League One Spring Series in May.
Available to UK users only.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39871842
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Election latest: Reaction to CPS decision on 2015 cases - BBC News
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2017-05-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The CPS says there will not be charges over the Conservatives' 2015 election spending.
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Election 2017
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More than 12,000 people work at the university Image caption: More than 12,000 people work at the university
The University of Manchester's decision to cut 171 posts is due to "new government legislation and Brexit", a union has claimed.
The university says the move is necessary for it to be a world-leading institution.
But the University and College Union (UCU) said the university was in "a strong financial position".
Both academics and support staff jobs are at risk.
A university spokesman said cuts would be made in the biology, medicine, health, business and humanities departments.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/election-2017-39839907
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Paul Pogba: Man Utd signing of Juventus midfielder subject of Fifa inquiry - BBC Sport
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2017-05-10
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Paul Pogba's world-record transfer from Juventus to Manchester United last summer is the subject of a Fifa inquiry.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Paul Pogba's world-record transfer from Juventus to Manchester United last year is the subject of a Fifa inquiry.
Football's world governing body has written to the Premier League club "to seek clarification on the deal".
It is believed to concern who was involved in the £89.3m transfer, and how much money was paid to them.
A United spokesman said: "We do not comment on individual contracts. Fifa has had the documents since the transfer was concluded in August."
Pogba, 24, is in his second spell at Old Trafford, having left the club for Juventus for £1.5m in 2012.
The France midfielder first joined United from French side Le Havre in acrimonious circumstances in 2009.
He returned to the club last summer for a world-record fee of 105m euros.
United also agreed to pay Juventus 5m euros (£4.5m) in performance-related bonuses plus other costs, including 5m euros if Pogba signs a new contract.
When they confirmed the transfer, Juventus said the "economic effect" to their club was "about 72.6m euros".
A book published in Germany this week - The Football Leaks: The Dirty Business of Football - and reproduced in media reports, includes what it says is a breakdown of the Pogba fee and alleges his agent Mino Raiola earned £41m from the deal.
When contacted by the BBC, Raiola declined to comment and said the matter was in the hands of his lawyers.
Were there any more details?
According to reports taken from information in The Football Leaks:
• None Forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, another Raiola client, earns £367,640 a week - £19m a year - at Manchester United, making him the best-paid player in the Premier League.
• None Pogba's basic salary is £165,000 a week - £8.61m a year - but he has substantial incentives in a 41-page contract.
• None Raiola took a £23m slice of the transfer fee and will be paid five instalments totalling £16.39m from United over the course of Pogba's contract.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39865103
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Giro d'Italia: Luka Pibernik celebrates stage win a lap early - BBC Sport
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2017-05-10
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Slovenian cyclist Luka Pibernik celebrates a lap early on stage five of the Giro d'Italia, failing to realise there were another six kilometres of the course to go.
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Slovenian cyclist Luka Pibernik celebrates a lap early on stage five of the Giro d'Italia, failing to realise there were another six kilometres of the course to go.
READ MORE: Fernando Gaviria wins stage five after rival celebrates too early
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/39878886
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World Cup 2019: Jeremy Guscott on England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland's draws - BBC Sport
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2017-05-10
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England have a tough group, Scotland & Ireland will fight for Pool A supremacy, and Wales face ambitious Georgia - Jeremy Guscott on World Cup draw.
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I'm terribly excited for the 2019 World Cup in Japan - and having seen Wednesday's draw, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales should all be confident of reaching at least the quarter-finals.
England have the ability and mindset to emerge from what is a tough pool, Scotland's match with Ireland could decide top spot in their group, while Wales will expect to go through - although Georgia will be determined to pull off an upset.
The level of competition in the sport is getting closer and closer across the world - we saw that improvement in the Six Nations this year.
However, the quality of the Rugby Championship is a bit lower at the moment - New Zealand excepted - because South Africa are struggling and Australia have their problems.
So with the northern hemisphere sides being much closer to the southern hemisphere teams now, Japan 2019 could be when a team from the north regains the World Cup.
• None England face tough draw, Ireland and Scotland in same pool
• None 'There will be a lot of buzz in Japan'
It's old fashioned to call it a "Pool of Death", so let's just call it what it is - it's a group that nobody would want.
I can imagine all the coaches, even New Zealand's Steve Hansen, thinking, "I don't want that hard a group," but England head coach Eddie Jones, France's Guy Noves and their Argentina counterpart Daniel Hourcade have got it.
Argentina can be unpredictable - they will be strong but I'm not sure about their age profile. In years gone by it has tended to be quite high and they haven't got a lot of resources or strength in depth.
Understrength England face Argentina in two Tests in June but Jones' tourists are massive underdogs and I don't expect them to win as they will have 15 players away with the British and Irish Lions. With 15 of your best players out you should not be able to go to Argentina and beat a full-strength Pumas.
France have improved but they are typically not great away from home. However, they are traditionally good in World Cup tournaments so it's a tough one for England.
But Jones' team has got a different mindset to Stuart Lancaster's side, which went out in the pool stages in 2015. The current team have won a Grand Slam and a Six Nations Championship and many of them have won three consecutive Tests against Australia away from home. They have an identity as winners.
He says they have to be ready to beat anyone but you would prefer a comfortable route to the quarter-final. You want a good sweat and some competition but don't want to be beaten.
If I was playing I would have liked an easy group before what is going to be a hard quarter-final, whoever you play. Every side in the top eight can beat one another on the day.
'Scotland will believe they can beat Ireland'
Ireland and Scotland know each other so well. Scotland beat Ireland at Murrayfield in the Six Nations this year by scoring three tries so they will have no problem believing they can win that game.
But both sides will know they can get through to the quarter-finals, while Scotland saw off Japan when they played in 2015.
Japan could be a bit better at home than they were under Eddie Jones in England, when they stunned South Africa in the group stages. But we don't know much about their new boss Jamie Joseph and we know that Jones is a special coach.
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt is a master tactician but we don't know much about incoming Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend at international level.
Townsend will want to build on the side that won three home games in the Six Nations but improve on those poor away performances.
He'll have 20 games or so, including two more Six Nations tournaments, before the World Cup to get those poor performances out of the window and build a team strong enough to get through.
Georgia are a tough emerging side who have been banging on the door of the Six Nations for a while, wanting to be recognised.
They have an opportunity in the next two seasons to boost their team and build themselves so they can prove a point against Wales.
Wales should have been in their prime in 2015 but they were injury ravaged and conceded a soft try to lose the quarter-final to South Africa.
In 2011 they were a young squad that got to the semi-finals. In 2019 a lot of those key players will all be over 30 years old - not past their sell-by date, but the squad needs some new players coming through.
There are still some question marks over whether Warren Gatland wants to continue with Wales after the Lions tour, but he has a great record as a coach and if he's still there, his and the players' experience will see them through the group.
Australia were in a similar position to Wales in 2011 and 2015. Rugby union is facing difficult times in Australia so it will be interesting to see how they do in 2019.
They are always good in World Cups, whether they are coming in with poor or good form, but we'll see if they can still be successful with all the challenges they face domestically.
'All Blacks will ease through with South Africa in huge decline'
Holders New Zealand have got a nice work-out leading into a quarter-final.
Two-time champions South Africa are nowhere near the force they once were - they are in huge decline. There are over 350 South African players playing outside their country and I don't see them challenging unless a quick storm of talent starts appearing in the next two years.
Although Italy beat South Africa in November they won't spring a surprise in the World Cup - they were appalling in the Six Nations.
Head coach Conor O'Shea has the opportunity to improve but I'm not sure they have enough time. A lot of players learn by rote so that things eventually become automatic - that's difficult to do in a short space of time unless you have the natural talent.
But Sergio Parisse has been Italy's best player for over a decade now and they need someone new of his calibre to come through.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39870514
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England drawn with France and Argentina in 2019 World Cup pool - BBC Sport
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2017-05-10
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England are drawn with France and Argentina in a tough pool for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan plus Scotland and Ireland are in Pool A.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
England have been drawn with France and Argentina in a tough Pool C for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Scotland and Ireland are in Pool A, along with the hosts.
Wales will face Australia in a repeat of the 2015 tournament, at which both beat hosts England to qualify from the group stage. Georgia join them in Pool D.
Defending champions New Zealand will take on South Africa and Italy in Pool B.
The 2019 World Cup runs from 20 September to 2 November.
• None England have a group nobody wants - Guscott on home nations
"It's massively exciting, a unique country and unique culture," said England head coach Eddie Jones, who led Japan at the last World Cup.
England will face Argentina in two Tests in June - both of which will be broadcast live on the BBC - and Jones will use the series to "practise a little bit" against the Pumas.
Speaking of England's other pool opponent, the Australian added: "France have really improved over the past two years and are certainly a dangerous team."
England failed to advance from their "group of hell" in 2015, becoming the first hosts to exit before the knockout stage.
The 12 teams who automatically qualified by finishing in the top three of their groups at the last World Cup have been drawn.
The eight remaining teams have had their slots allocated and will be determined by the qualification process that ends in 2018.
England have also drawn the top North and South America qualifier (either USA or Canada), as well as the second-best Oceania qualifier, which will be one of Fiji, Samoa or Tonga.
England head coach Eddie Jones: "We want to win the World Cup in 2019, and to win it, we need to be ready to play and beat anyone.
"Our pool will be highly competitive and full of intensity, as a World Cup group should be. History shows you need to win seven games to win the tournament and we will greatly respect every team we play."
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend: "Obviously there's an excitement playing the host nation, and it probably guarantees a sell-out game in that fixture. I'm sure there will be a lot of buzz around Japan around the group we're involved in.
"Whether it's better for us or Ireland that we know each other so well, we will find out in a couple of years' time."
Ireland vice-captain Jamie Heaslip: "Getting to avoid South Africa, France and Wales is a big thing for us.
"We're happy with it, there are some tougher groups, but you've seen what Japan have done in the past 18 months and Scotland we've struggled with as well."
Wales head coach Warren Gatland: "We've got Australia and it looks like we could get Fiji again, so a couple of teams from 2015, but we're happy with the draw.
"It's going to be tough and competitive, but that's what you want."
World Rugby has confirmed the structure for the knockout stages of the 2015 tournament will remain in place in 2019. That means:
• None The winners of Pool B will face the runners-up in Pool A
• None The winners of Pool C will face the runners-up in Pool D
• None The winners of Pool D will face the runners up in Pool C
• None The winners of Pool A will face the runners-up in Pool B
Teams who played each other in the pool stages cannot meet again in the semi-finals.
So England and Wales could meet in the quarter-finals, with the winner potentially facing a semi-final against New Zealand.
The All Blacks could face either Ireland or Scotland in the quarter-finals.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39868565
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'Mesearch' - when study really is all about me - BBC News
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2017-05-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Can academics really base studies on their own experience? Or is this intellectual narcissism?
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Business
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Is the selfie culture coming into serious academic research? Or is it a valid way of using first-hand experience?
There are strong opinions about an increasingly popular international research method which has been dubbed "mesearch".
"Mesearch", which is properly known as autoethnography, is when a researcher uses their personal experiences to tackle academic questions.
Critics dismiss it as "unscientific", "academic narcissism" and "diary-writing for the over-educated".
They say it is a very modern phenomenon - a high-brow version of taking selfies, watching reality television and posting thoughts into the echo chambers of social media.
But it is being used in many fields like sociology, education and psychology, published by mainstream journals, and taught in universities in the United States.
The term autoethnography dates back to the 1970s, and an early study described a researcher's "unsuccessful self-treatment of a case of writer's block".
The fact the article was published suggests he managed to overcome the problem in the end.
While most qualitative researchers base their theories on in-depth interviews with a small number of people, an autoethnographer only uses his or her own experiences and feelings to understand a wider subject.
Autoethnographic articles are often written in the form of a story, rather than precise academic language.
There are claims that "mesearch" gives perspectives missing from conventional research
This is a break from the traditional scientific method which requires academics to be objective and detached from their subject, and base their theories on data and experiments that can be tested, verified and reproduced.
So it is not surprising that many academics are suspicious - even the name "mesearch" is used to undermine the method.
Vincent F Hendricks, professor of formal philosophy at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, says autoethnography fails to meet the standard criteria for science.
He says autoethnographic studies cannot claim to have "falsifiability, testability, representability, extrapolation, prediction, and other conditions securing reliable scientific enquiry".
Sceptical academics have taken to Twitter to expose what they regard as the most self-indulgent and unscientific examples of autoethnography.
Their latest targets include a researcher using her experience of learning how to do glassblowing to understand hand-eye coordination, and an academic describing how walking in the hills helped him to develop his sense of identity.
Another autoethnographer recently described how Donald Trump's presidential election victory left him unable to sleep.
All three were published in peer-reviewed journals.
More stories from the BBC's Global education series looking at education from an international perspective, and how to get in touch.
You can join the debate at the BBC's Family & Education News Facebook page.
Professor Carolyn Ellis of the University of South Florida, who is one of the world's leading autoethnographers, rejects the charges of "narcissism".
"It's narcissistic to leave out your own experience and to act all-knowing, as though you can stand apart, and that you are not subject to the same forces as those you write about," she says.
"It's narcissistic to think that "we" academics should write only about "them" and not subject ourselves to the same scrutiny.
She says autoethnography has given a voice to people from working class, ethnic minority and indigenous backgrounds "who would not have written otherwise in the more traditional social science prose".
Prof Ellis argues that an autoethnographic approach can give insights which would not be possible using traditional research methods.
For example, she has challenged theories about "minor bodily stigmas" by giving an honest and personal account of why she has always disliked her own lisp.
Does the idea of "mesearch" come out of a culture of social media and reality television?
She also says training in autoethnography can make someone a better teacher.
By sharing her stories with a class, she says it "creates a positive atmosphere in the course" which encourages students to open up about "the issues that really concern them and they care about".
Other advocates of the method say it allows people to share experiences in greater depth and analyse their meaning.
Dr Jill Bolte Taylor from Harvard University made first-hand observations about the workings of the brain and how it is rehabilitated while she recovered from a stroke.
She says that watching her brain deteriorate gave her "an understanding of the brain that academia could not teach me" - and wrote a book about it called My Stroke of Insight.
Could Sir Isaac Newton's revelation about gravity after an apple fell on his head, and Descartes' observation that "I think, therefore I am", be called examples of autoethnography?
"You'd have to ask them, but I'd have no problem calling these observations autoethnographic," says Prof Ellis.
The Journal of Loss and Trauma has now published almost 100 autoethnographic studies, and its editor Prof John Harvey says the technique can be useful for the in-depth study of traumatic events.
But he warns that autoethnographic studies often struggle to make the case that one person's story represents the likely experiences of a wider group.
Autoethnography's rise shows no sign of stopping - with more journals publishing studies and more universities offering courses in the method.
This means more work for the next generation of autoethnographers, and more work for the cynics who trawl journals for "self-indulgent" studies to mock on Twitter.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39856894
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Why Three Girls is one of TV's toughest watches - BBC News
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2017-05-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Maxine Peake says her drama about child sex abuse in Rochdale is a story that "needed to be told".
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Entertainment & Arts
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Maxine Peake as sexual health worker Sara Rowbotham in Three Girls
"It was a story that needed to be told," says Maxine Peake, emphatically.
"It's a story about a swathe of society that has been ignored and bullied."
The actress is referring to Three Girls, a new BBC One drama based on the true stories of victims of grooming and sexual abuse in Rochdale.
Peake plays Sara Rowbotham, the sexual health worker who realised the girls were being abused and reported it to the authorities - and was repeatedly ignored.
"The powers that be weren't encouraging her, they were shutting doors, they were telling her to be quiet, they weren't interested," says Peake, who met the real-life Sara in preparation for the role.
"Nobody seemed interested in helping these girls who were in desperate situations. These were really vulnerable young women - the lack of care for them I found mind-blowing."
As the title suggests, Three Girls focuses on the young victims who were groomed in Rochdale in the five years between 2008 and 2012, for which nine men were convicted and sentenced.
The judge at the time, Gerald Clifton, said the men - eight of Pakistani origin and one from Afghanistan - treated the girls "as though they were worthless and beyond respect".
He said: "One of the factors leading to that was the fact that they were not part of your community or religion.
"Some of you, when arrested, said it (the prosecution) was triggered by race. That is nonsense. What triggered this prosecution was your lust and greed."
The drama - which will be shown over three nights next week - has been made with the full co-operation of the victims and their families.
It comes as ITV soap Coronation Street also has a running storyline about child grooming involving 16-year-old Bethany Platt and a "boyfriend" in his mid-30s.
Three Girls isn't an easy watch, although it is never prurient or sensational.
Two episodes were shown at a press screening in London this week. The mood afterwards was subdued.
Holly (Molly Windsor) with her parents Jim (Paul Kaye) and Julie (Jill Halfpenny)
The first episode follows schoolgirl Holly (an astonishing performance from Molly Windsor), recently moved to Rochdale with her family, who is is keen to make friends and fit in.
It isn't long before she is hanging out with a group of girls at the back of a local kebab shop being given free food and endless bottles of vodka by older men.
And then the demands for sex begin.
One chilling line that sticks in the memory is when one victim describes how girls would be driven to a flat full of men who "passed us around like a ball".
Writer Nicole Taylor started work on the project in December 2013 by getting to know the victims and their families so she could understand what had happened in detail.
Lesley Sharp (right) plays detective Maggie Oliver who, with Sara Rowbotham, helps bring the case to court
Speaking after the screening, Peake says that telling the story in a drama helps engage a bigger audience.
"Sometimes people can be slightly cautious about documentaries, maybe, so it's getting into more homes.
"This is still going on," she adds. "It's not over, but steps have been made and things are getting better."
Executive producer Sue Hogg says she had become interested in making the drama after she heard an interview with one of the victims after the trial.
"She was only 19 then, and she was so dignified and so strong in that interview - and then you begin to ask the questions 'why was this allowed to go on for so long?' and 'why were the girls not listened to?'"
She hopes that the drama will help the public understand how grooming works and will help prevent future cases.
Peake says that, despite the harrowing subject matter, acting in the drama was a "positive experience".
"It wasn't a depressing set to be on - it felt full of hope," she says.
"Being part of this story, you felt you were doing something that had hope for the next generation of girls that hopefully will be protected from this.
"And the girls who have been through it, and are now young women, will be able to move on with their lives."
This story was first published on 9 May 2017.
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-39846999
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One Show: Theresa and Philip May talk bins and love - BBC News
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2017-05-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The prime minister and her husband make a rare TV appearance to discuss "boy jobs", "girl jobs", love - and politics.
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Election 2017
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Philip May: "I take the bins out"
Politicians always want to "connect" with hard-to-reach voters.
So Theresa May took to the One Show sofa to catch the tea-time TV audience alongside her husband Philip.
She looked apprehensive, but she needn't have worried.
Mr May was as careful to avoid gaffes as Mrs May always is.
He spent most of the interview turned towards her, nodding vigorously, and murmuring "mmh" in loyal agreement.
It's the same at home, he claims.
Asked whether she was a tough negotiator, he said: "Well, there's give and take in every marriage.
"I get to decide when I take the bins out. Not if I take them out."
His wife jumped in. "There's boy jobs and girls jobs, you see," she clarifies.
"I definitely do the bins," Mr May confirmed, before adding: "I do the traditional boy jobs, by and large."
Apart, of course, from what's traditionally been a "boy job" - being prime minister.
He revealed that his wife had first harboured an interest in being PM when she was in the Shadow Cabinet, which she joined in 1999.
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Although he'd spoken at the Conservative Party conference in his youth, it was Theresa who first embarked on the political career, while he worked in finance.
Mrs May revealed one difficult moment for the couple, who don't have children, when she was looking for a constituency - and a newspaper predicted she'd have trouble being selected as a Conservative candidate because of her new baby.
She said her mother-in-law had rung up hoping there was happy news.
"So she was disappointed," said Mrs May.
There were questions about the walking holidays, her childhood at the vicarage, and meeting for the first time.
They were introduced at an Oxford University student disco by a mutual friend, Benazir Bhutto, the future prime minister of Pakistan.
On first impressions: "I thought 'what a lovely girl' - it was love at first sight," according to Philip.
But there were few genuine revelations about the couple's private side.
Mrs May certainly looked rather relieved whenever the conversation veered towards politics.
Asked about the downside to being married to the prime minister, Mr May insisted it was a privilege, and would go no further than saying: "If you're the kind of man who expects his tea to be on the table at six o'clock every evening, you could be a disappointed man."
But he added gallantly that she was a very good cook.
And then, of course, there was a question about her love of fashion, and in particular shoes - with a close-up of her black loafers with diamante-studded heels.
Mrs May confirmed that she did, indeed, like buying shoes. But she promised there was a serious side to it - and recounted meeting a young woman in the lift in the House of Commons.
After admiring each other's shoes, the woman revealed that it was Mrs May's interest in shoes that had turned her on to politics. A future prime minister in the making, surely.
But fashion isn't just for women.
"And what's your shoe-equivalent?" Mr May was asked.
Looking hunted, he replied... "I quite like ties."
The One Show has invited Jeremy Corbyn onto the show too, as well as other leaders - though he hasn't yet said if he'll bring his wife along.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39865991
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Froome crash: How dangerous is cycling on the roads? - BBC News
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2017-05-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Tour-de-France winner Chris Froome says he was "rammed" by a car driver. How dangerous is cycling?
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England
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Tour de France winner Chris Froome escaped injury when he was "rammed on purpose" by a motorist while training in southern France. Other professional riders have recently been hurt or even killed. How dangerous are the open roads for cyclists?
About 100 cyclists die as a result of collisions or coming off their bikes on the roads in Great Britain each year. And more than 3,000 are seriously injured.
But the good news is the number of deaths has dropped.
There were 55 cyclist fatalities per billion miles cycled in 2005, which fell to 31 deaths per billion miles in 2015.
However, when the fatalities are combined with the overall number of serious injuries, the risk of life-changing injury is still higher than it was a decade ago.
The rate of cyclist deaths on the road varies from country to country.
In France, where Olympic bronze medallist Froome posted a picture of his mangled bike on Twitter, about four in every 100 road deaths are cyclists.
That is slightly lower than in the UK, where cyclists make up 6% of those killed, according to European Commission statistics.
Chris Froome carried on training after being knocked from his bike
Team Sky said the 31-year-old three-time Tour de France winner had returned to his home in Monaco to get a spare bicycle and had continued his training after the incident, which was being reported to the police.
In April, Wanty-Groupe Gobert rider Yoann Offredo posted pictures on social media of himself badly bloodied, saying he had been the victim of an assault while out riding with two friends in the Chevreuse Valley, south west of Paris.
Another professional rider was not so fortunate.
In April, Michele Scarponi, who won the 2011 Giro d'Italia, was killed when he was knocked off his bike by a van while training close to home in Italy.
Wanty-Groupe Gobert rider Yoann Offredo posted pictures of the aftermath of an attack
In Italy cyclists account for about 7% of all road deaths and the average across the European Union is about 8%.
The rate is especially high in countries where cycling is more popular. In the Netherlands, for example, cyclists account for almost a quarter of road deaths.
In Great Britain, cyclists are the second most at risk group of road users after motorcycle riders.
When the number of deaths and serious injuries is divided by the total number of miles travelled by all people using that form of transport, cyclists are far more at risk than car drivers.
In 2015, there were 43 more cyclists than car drivers killed or seriously hurt per billion miles travelled.
However, these figures do not take account of the health benefits of cycling. A study of commuters suggested there was a link between cycling to work and a reduced risk of cancer and heart disease.
The charity Cycling UK says cycling in Britain is a "relatively safe activity" but that "the behaviour and attitudes of some road users, sub-standard highway layout and motor traffic volume and speed all conspire to make cycling feel and look more dangerous than it actually is".
Campaign co-ordinator Sam Jones says: "Cycling is no more dangerous than walking or doing your gardening, but we do find the increased risk of injury is worrying and there are a number of things that can be done to address this."
The charity wants to see 20mph limits on narrow roads and a network of cycling routes.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39856219
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Short term negatives, long term positives - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Bank of England says 2017 may be the low point for wage growth and warns financial markets that they may be too dovish on likely interest rate rises.
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Business
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The Bank of England moved into caution mode today.
After two major upgrades to its growth forecasts since the referendum - in November and February - today saw a slight downward revision.
But it is not time to race for the lifeboats.
The Bank said business investment was stronger than expected and that growth next year and in 2019 was likely to be slightly higher than previously forecast - although still significantly below 2%.
A prediction, it said pointedly, "conditioned on the assumptions that the adjustment to the United Kingdom's new relationship with the European Union is smooth".
For this year there are some major negative trends.
Consumers have started to feel the effects of inflation and there has been a "slowing in real household spending growth".
Wage growth is also "notably weaker than expected" and is set to be below inflation this year - meaning that real incomes are falling.
The incomes squeeze - felt so widely after the financial crisis - is back.
Businesses are still nervous about the future - and what they may invest in salaries - and there is enough slack in the labour market to make inflationary wage demands difficult.
At the same time, the Bank upgraded its inflation forecast, saying it could now hit 2.8% as the effects of the fall in the value of sterling wash through an economy that imports 40% of its food and fuel.
But the Bank's take on the temperature of the economy is more than a one year analysis.
And over the three year forecast period, it is more bullish.
Sterling has strengthened this year after its precipitate fall following the Brexit vote.
The European - and indeed global - economy is stronger than expected, important for a trading nation like the UK.
Wage growth will strengthen, it says, as the employment market tightens.
Inflation risk will dissipate as the effects of sterling's decline falls out of the data.
This is a carefully worded Inflation Report, drafted, of course, in the middle of an election campaign.
It is cautious in the short term, with the Bank indicating privately that 2017, when it comes to that key issue of wage growth, could be "the worst of it".
There is a sting in the tail.
Earlier this year the markets judged that the chances of an interest rate rise were so low there was only likely to be one increase over the next three years.
Today the Bank was certainly more hawkish, saying that monetary policy "could need to be tightened by a somewhat greater extent" than markets believed.
That is not to say there is likely to be an interest rate hike any time soon.
But, if the Bank's more positive outlook towards the end of the three year forecast period comes to pass, the Monetary Policy Committee could move more rapidly towards interest rate rises than some expect.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39884012
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Offbeat moments on the campaign trail - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Images from around the UK as parties start to launch their election manifestos.
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In Pictures
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Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson had her hands full during a visit to the Shortbread House of Edinburgh's factory. Davidson told voters that the party's challenge is "to bring the SNP down to size, to show they can't take Scotland for granted".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-39882735
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How do you solve a problem like Somalia? - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Can the latest international conference help the troubled state?
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Africa
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Recent al-Shabab suicide bombings in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, have targeted the UN, hotels and military leaders
This Thursday, the great and the good will descend on London to discuss Somalia, a country that has topped the Fragile States Index for eight of the past 10 years.
The London Somalia Conference, co-chaired by the UK, Somalia and the United Nations, will be held in Lancaster House, a grand mansion in the exclusive district of St James's. Many of the delegates will stay in swish hotels nearby.
This is the third such London gathering since 2012, and there is an element of "cut and paste" to its agenda, which focuses on security, governance and the economy.
The official conference document emphasises how much progress has been made.
But its description of Somalia from the time of the first meeting still applies: "Chronically unstable and ungoverned", and threatened by Islamist militants, piracy and famine.
There has been some improvement.
Piracy, which at its height cost $7bn (£5.4bn) a year, is much diminished, although there has been a recent resurgence.
US drones, African Union troops, Western "security advisers" and Somali forces have pushed al-Shabab from most major towns, although the jihadists still control many areas and attack at will.
A recent electoral process resulted in a new and - for the time being - popular president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, nicknamed Farmajo, and more female and youth representation in parliament.
Somalia is in a "pre-famine" stage rather than the full-blown disaster of 2011, in which more than 250,000 people died.
But it is perhaps surprising that the current water shortage will not be a headline topic at the conference.
The country is in the grip of its worst drought in decades. Four successive rainy seasons have failed.
Even before you enter Burao Regional Hospital, in the self-declared Republic of Somaliland's drought-stricken Togdheer region, you hear the haunting, high-pitched wailing of malnourished children.
One boy, dressed in purple, stares blankly at the wall. "His brain is damaged due to a prolonged lack of adequate nutrition," says Dr Yusuf Ali, who returned home to Somalia from the UK two years ago. "He will never recover."
According to Unicef, the number of children who are or will be acutely malnourished in 2017 is up by 50% from the beginning of the year, to a total of 1.4 million, including 275,000 for whom the condition is or will be life-threatening.
Most are too sick to go to school or help herd animals, making the life of the country's many nomads even more precarious.
People are already dying from hunger and diseases that strike those weakened by lack of food.
Severely malnourished children are nine times more likely than healthy ones to die from illnesses such as measles and diarrhoea.
The World Health Organization says there were more than 25,000 cases of cholera in the first four months of 2017, with the number expected to more than double to 54,000 by June.
More than 500 people have already died from the disease.
It is not just humans who are suffering.
In Somaliland, officials say, 80% of livestock have died.
Livestock is the mainstay of the economy - the ports in Somaliland and nearby Djibouti export more live animals than anywhere else in the world, mainly to the Gulf.
Tens of thousands people fleeing drought and al-Shabab live in tents on the outskirts of Baidoa
In south-western Somalia, tens of thousands of drought-affected people have fled to Baidoa, clustering into flimsy, makeshift shelters on the outskirts of the city.
This area - known as the "triangle of death" - was the epicentre of the famines of 2011 and 1991.
"Al-Shabab is harvesting the boys and men we left behind on our parched land, offering them a few dollars and a meal," says one woman. "Against their will, our children and husbands have become the jihadists' new army."
"The biggest problem in dealing with this drought is insecurity," says Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, president of South West State, in his modest palace in Baidoa.
The city, which is protected by a ring of Ethiopian troops, is right in the heart of al-Shabab country. "The militants have closed all the roads so we cannot deliver help to those who need it most."
This brings home in the starkest of terms why security is top of the London Somalia Conference agenda.
As long as Somalia remains violent, with different parts of the country controlled by a multitude of often conflicting armed groups, it will be impossible to deliver emergency assistance, let alone long-term development.
Al-Shabab, which has links to al-Qaeda, is believed to have between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters
The recently created South West State is one of the regions making up the new federal Somalia.
Critics fear this will lead to balkanisation, and risks introducing another dimension to conflict, as the new states rub up against each other and start fighting. This has already happened in central Somalia, where last year there were deadly clashes between Puntland and Galmudug states.
The attitude of people in South West State shows how much of a gamble the federal system is.
"We have always been marginalised and looked down on by other Somalis," says a farmer, Fatima Issa.
"We do not want the federal troops here. They don't hunt down al-Shabab the way our local militias do. We should push for more autonomy, maybe even break away and declare independence like Somaliland did in 1991."
One aim of the London Somalia Conference is to push for more progress on the sharing of resources between the regions and the centre. This contentious issue has been debated since before the first London gathering in 2012.
South West State has a special friendship with Ethiopia, which is not on the best of terms with the new federal government. This highlights another possible problem - some foreign powers have started to sign bilateral agreements with regional states.
For instance, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is building a military base in Somaliland, a territory the federal government considers an integral part of Somalia. The UAE has also given military hardware to Jubaland State in southern Somalia.
Somalia's former special envoy to the US, Abukar Arman, has described the London Somalia Conference as a "predatory carnival", with foreign powers gathering to slice up Somalia for their own benefit.
The loss of two Black Hawk helicopters in Somalia in 1993 made the US wary of intervening in African crises
Some in Somalia see it as a waste of time.
"It is an expensive talking-shop," says Ahmed Mohamed, a rickshaw driver in the capital Mogadishu. "The politicians and diplomats are obsessed with the conference instead of taking action on the drought."
But lessons have been learned, and there is now a far more nuanced approach to Somalia than there was when the crisis began, in the late 1980s.
The US response to the Somali famine of 1991 was to send in nearly 30,000 troops. This ended in a humiliating withdrawal, following the shooting down of two US Black Hawk helicopters in 1993.
Now, much of the talk is of "Somali-owned" processes, although the shadows of a growing number of foreign powers can be seen lurking in the background.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39855735
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Lord Bird wants prevention unit for poverty - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Big Issue founder is in talks with Theresa May about a new approach to tackling poverty.
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Family & Education
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Lord Bird says successive governments have failed to tackle the roots of poverty
"Poverty is stitched into the system," says Lord Bird, the outspoken and larger-than-life Big Issue founder and campaigner on homelessness.
But he has plans to unpick it - and says he has been in talks with Theresa May about a new approach to tackling poverty if she is re-elected as prime minister.
"I'm expectant. I have great expectations," he says of his discussions with Mrs May about a new focus on preventing poverty before it takes root.
Lord Bird says Theresa May is talking to him about his focus on poverty prevention
They might seem like an unlikely pairing - Mrs May, the clergyman's daughter and John Bird, who learned to read in prison, but he says she has engaged with his ideas on prevention.
The cross-bench peer is proposing a "prevention department" or a "prevention unit", working across health, education, social services, police and prisons.
He says successive prime ministers have been "chummy" with him about ideas to tackle poverty but Mrs May seemed particularly interested in this shift towards a systematic strategy of prevention.
Lord Bird says he wants a fence at the top of the cliff, rather than ambulances picking up pieces at the bottom.
The billions spent on the rats' nest of consequences of poverty - in educational underachievement, bad health, poor employment, drink and drug abuse and the criminal justice system - would be better targeted at prevention.
And if Mrs May returns to Downing Street, he will be knocking on her door "to put her money where her mouth is".
He says he told her a couple of "home truths" - including that he was tired of being wheeled out by ministers who wanted to be associated with what the Big Issue has achieved for the homeless, while the big underlying problems remained unresolved.
The Big Issue, founded by Lord Bird, has helped homeless people to earn a living
He is scathing about decades of ministerial attempts to address poverty.
"Most of them are a bit like the alcoholic that won't admit that they're a drunk.
"They don't want to admit that they're overseeing a system which at the end of their time in office will still be a failure."
He accuses governments of coming up with gimmicky pilot projects that get a few headlines but never really scratch the surface.
"They show it to you and sign a piece of paper saying they want to end poverty. But they go on spending the money in the same old way."
He also argues strongly that poverty is not just about material deprivation - and that anti-poverty efforts need to be about raising aspirations and opening up opportunities.
"I know that the poor are materially better off than when I was a boy - but emotionally, psychologically and mentally, they're worse off."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wants investment in education and a higher living wage
He says those at the bottom of the heap have been hurt by an economy dominated by a "horrible mix of consumerism and the financial industry".
But he says the first step has to be addressing basic need.
"If you can't feed, you can't think.
"You've got this underlying situation where many, many families in this country are just about holding on.
"What we have to realise is that the lack of material security undermines everything else.
"So when people chastise the poor for not getting off their rears, it's often because with that material lack of independence all the other lights go out, the whole tree goes out."
"My mum and dad had enormous poverty - they were never going to raise their eyes above material poverty, because they'd been destroyed."
But he is angry at what he sees as a lack of ambition in poverty initiatives.
"They don't look on the poor as the same species as themselves.
"I also want to address the paucity of education, the social engagement. And that's when you fall out with the great and the good."
Tim Farron says the Liberal Democrats would end spending cuts in schools
He says there has been a misplaced fear of being seen as "elitist" or "paternalistic" - and that tackling poverty should be about opening up the worlds of art, history, politics and economics.
Schools should be teaching everyone about how financial markets operate, he says.
"Most capitalists don't even know how capitalism works these days," he says.
He accuses the social services system of being "vapid and ineffective".
"They're not stopping poverty. All they're doing is keeping the poor poor. Why is social security not called social opportunity?"
Whichever party wins the general election will face pressing questions about poverty, whether it's homelessness, food bank users or the out-of-sight struggles of those working but still not making ends meet.
Official figures this year showed that two-thirds of children living in poverty were now in working families, the highest levels on record.
Lord Bird, who made the journey from sleeping rough and washing up in the kitchens at the House of Lords to sitting as a peer on the red benches, will keep rattling the windows of whoever gets elected.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-39860602
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Accrington Stanley chairman Andy Holt stands by Premier League criticism - BBC Sport
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2017-05-11
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Accrington Stanley's Andy Holt refuses to back down despite what he considers a threat from the Premier League after his criticism of spending.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Accrington Stanley chairman Andy Holt has refused to back down despite what he considers a threat from the Premier League after his criticism of spending.
Holt had said Football League clubs were like "a starving peasant begging for scraps" from the top flight.
The Premier League responded: "We will be writing to Mr Holt to ask him if he wishes the Premier League to continue the support we currently provide for his and other clubs in the EFL."
Holt said other chairmen supported him.
On Tuesday, Holt accused the Premier League of "destroying" the game and tweeted: "Hang your heads in shame. @premierleague you're an absolute disgrace to English football."
He posted a series of messages on Twitter after the Daily Mail revealed reported figures of wages and agent fees paid by Manchester United.
A book published in Germany this week - The Football Leaks: The Dirty Business of Football - includes what it says is a breakdown of the fee for Paul Pogba's move to United last summer, and alleges his agent Mino Raiola earned £41m from the deal.
Raiola has declined to comment and said the matter was in the hands of his lawyers.
In an interview with BBC Sport on Wednesday, Holt said lower-league clubs needed more financial help.
"Football is in crisis. The lower league is really struggling, and I'm not the only chairman who feels like this," he said.
He accused the Premier League of "losing all sense of scale" in what he called a "threatening, dark" response to his original comments.
"What they're saying is not only are they not bothered about it, anybody who complains about it, we'll take your money away and shut you down," he said.
"Other EFL clubs share my views, not all of them. I'm not trying to lead a rabble, I'm expressing an opinion but I'm not alone."
What does the Premier League provide?
The Premier League says it intends to write to Holt and "to explain the many ways it has supported Accrington Stanley FC and all EFL clubs this season".
Holt said the club had an annual turnover of about £2.2m and any withdrawal of Premier League funding would threaten its future.
"They can do what they want," he added. "It would be a quarter of our revenue, and it would close Accrington down.
"I can't do anything about it. I don't like the agent's fee, I don't like the largesse of the Premier League and I won't like it in five years' time and I won't like it in 10 years' time. My opinion's the same, whatever they do."
The Premier League has provided £200m in "solidarity funding" to EFL clubs this season. Additional parachute payments to relegated clubs take its contribution to more than £400m.
It is understood the Premier League made a £430,000 payment to Accrington this season, in addition to a £340,000 grant towards its youth development programme
Accrington finished 13th in League Two this season with an average gate of 1,699 - the smallest in the Football League.
"I accept they do a bit for the community," said Holt. "I don't really have a problem with the Premier League, I have a problem with it being unsustainable."
Holt's views were supported by Darragh MacAnthony, chairman of League One side Peterborough United, who tweeted: "Andy is 100% correct in his comments & 99% of Football League owners would agree I'd think."
MacAnthony later told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: "Andy has gone to the extreme; I'm not disagreeing with what he's saying. He's a frustrated man. I wouldn't have said starving peasant, I would compare it to being like a family member.
"We're meant to all be part of one family, the Premier League and the Football League. It's a bit like the poor member of the family that every time they go for a handout they're made to feel guilty instead of being family where they help you out."
The Premier League has previously said it is the only top-flight league in world football which funds the fourth tier of its football pyramid.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39874533
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Comey sacking doesn't rise to Watergate levels - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Trump may have sacked Comey out of pique and spite, but he didn't act above the law.
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US & Canada
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The New York Times called for the president to leave office immediately, describing it as "the last great service" he could perform for the country.
The Washington Post demanded impeachment, followed by a Senate trial. Time magazine, deeming it necessary to publish its first-ever editorial, thundered: "The president should resign."
Outside the White House, protesters waved placards at passing motorists: "Honk for Impeachment." Even Washington's most influential columnist, Stewart Alsop, who was normally supportive of the president, called him an "ass." The president had lost his moral authority, argued his critics, and with it, his ability to govern. The country faced a constitutional crisis. The republic was imperilled.
Such was the feverish reaction to the events of 20 October, 1973, a date remembered in the national memory as the "Saturday Night Massacre" - a pivotal moment in the unfolding Watergate controversy.
With scandal engulfing the White House, Richard Nixon decided to fire Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor appointed to investigate "all offenses arising out of the 1972 election… involving the president, the White House staff or presidential appointments".
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Nixon's Attorney General, Elliot Richardson, and his Deputy Attorney General, William Ruckelshaus, resigned rather than carry out the president's order. Eventually, the Solicitor General Robert Bork, who was third in command at the justice department, was prepared to fire Cox.
The White House announced the news at 20:22 that Saturday evening.
On Wednesday, almost as quickly as the news that he had been sacked as head of the FBI reached James Comey in Los Angeles, these two dramatic episodes were being described as historically analogous.
The president had fired the lead figure in an investigation into alleged wrongdoing by members of his own team.
Roger Stone, a Trump associate who also worked in 1972 for the notorious Committee to Re-elect the President, told the New York Times: "Somewhere Dick Nixon is smiling."
The Nixon presidential library even trolled the White House on Twitter: "FUN FACT: President Nixon never fired the Director of the FBI #FBIDirector #notNixonian."
Democrats insinuated that Comey was fired for similar reasons to Cox, because he was closing in on the truth.
There were other resemblances, too. In the lead-up to the Saturday Night Massacre, the Nixon White House was still reeling from the resignation of the president's chief of staff, Bob Haldeman, a central figure in the Watergate scandal, just as the Trump administration continues to be buffeted by the swirl of controversy surrounding the forced departure of Gen Michael Flynn, his former National Security Adviser.
There's the suspicion now, as there was four decades ago, that an embattled White House has something to hide.
So is this truly a re-run of the events of 1973? Is the past repeating itself?
Even by the standards of the Nixon presidency, the autumn of 1973 was unusually chaotic.
Flynn before his departure from the White House
It saw the resignation of Vice-President Spiro Agnew because of fraud, tax evasion, bribery and extortion allegations.
The Middle East was in the grip of the Yom Kippur war, a conflict between US-backed Israel and Arab forces armed by the Soviets that threatened to blow-up into a broader conflagration between Washington and Moscow.
In Washington, Nixon was fighting a pitched battle with Archibald Cox and the courts.
Cox, a Harvard professor who had been appointed as special prosecutor in May that year, had issued a subpoena ordering the White House to hand over nine tapes of phone calls and West Wing conversations in connection with the Watergate break-in. Nixon's legal team argued the principle of executive privilege should apply, and the tapes should remain private.
On 12 October, however, the Court of Appeals in Washington upheld a lower court's ruling granting Cox's request. Rather than comply, Nixon decided to fire the special prosecutor, something his Attorney General Elliot Richardson had promised Congress would never happen.
A president stood in defiance of the courts, putting himself above the law of the land. It was a textbook constitutional crisis.
Donald Trump's sacking of his FBI director, while highly unusual and deeply controversial, is constitutionally permissible. No court orders have been flouted. The president, while breaking with the norm of allowing FBI directors to serve out their 10-year terms unimpeded, is not putting himself above the law.
Trump's motivations may also be different. Nixon sacked Cox through fear his criminality was about to exposed.
Within the FBI, agents believe that Trump sacked Comey primarily out of pique and spite because of his refusal to publicly exonerate Trump against allegations of collusion with the Kremlin, and also because Comey refused to back up Trump's unsubstantiated claims that Barack Obama ordered the wire-tapping of Trump Tower.
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Unlike the Saturday Night Massacre, the president is at one with the most high-ranking figures in the justice department rather than at odds with them. The president, the attorney general and the deputy attorney general together they made the case that Comey should go - not purportedly because of his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, but because of the former director's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
The politics is also very different. Back in 1973, the Democrats controlled both the Senate and House of Representatives. That put the investigative machinery of Congress in their hands. Senate hearings were already under way, and the Saturday Night Massacre gave them fresh impetus.
Nixon also faced an acid shower of criticism from Republicans on Capitol Hill and around the country. "Clearly we face a constitutional crisis," lamented the Republican governor of Michigan.
Literally Nixonian: Trump and Nixon Secretary of State Henry Kissinger talking in the Oval Office the day after Comey's firing
There have been Republican critics of Trump's decision to fire Comey. But so far they haven't been so vehement. Crucially, the Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell is resisting demands from the Democrats, and some in his own party, to back calls for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the 2016 election.
Politically, Donald Trump remains strong, because of the support of the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill and his grassroots supporters in the American heartland.
Nixon, by contrast, was politically weak. This became apparent only a few days later when the White House indicated it would hand over the tapes, which included a recording of the infamous conversation between the president and Haldeman, eighteen and half minutes of which were missing.
Nixon was also forced to appoint a new special prosecutor. And eventually, of course, the push for impeachment gathered unstoppable momentum, and he was forced to resign as president.
In 1973, Democrats were hollering impeachment. In 2017, the party's congressional leadership has not publicly uttered that explosive word.
What may be similar between now and then is the intemperate mood of the president. As demonstrated by his Twitter tirades, Donald Trump is lashing out publicly against his critics, much as Nixon did privately in his final months in office.
Senator Marco Rubio being interviewed by reporters about Comey firing
Politico is reporting that Trump shouted at the television over the Russian investigation, which again has echoes of Nixon's executive mansion tantrums.
Curiously, both presidents also saw Florida as a bolt-hole from the pressures of Washington, Nixon opting for Key Biscayne, Trump regularly visiting Mar-a-Lago - although a key difference is that Nixon medicated himself with alcohol, while Trump is famously teetotal.
But the Saturday Night Massacre and the Tuesday Night 'You're fired" are not directly comparable.
The sacking of Archibald Cox contributed heavily to Nixon's forced departure from the White House. It was widely seen as an impeachable offence.
The removal of James Comey, in and of itself, does not pose such an existential threat to the Trump administration.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39875134
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General election: Conservatives pledge above-inflation defence rises - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Conservatives commit to growing defence spending - after military figures say more needs to be done.
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Election 2017
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sir Michael Fallon tells Today the 'defence budget will grow every year'
The Conservatives would increase defence spending by 0.5% more than inflation every year if they win the election, Theresa May has said.
Mrs May said her party would also continue to meet the pledge to spend at least 2% of national income on defence.
But ex-Joint Forces Command chief Sir Richard Barrons said Britain's armed forces were "not good enough" to deal with emerging risks and terror threats.
And Labour accused the Conservatives of "hypocrisy on defence" spending.
The Conservatives' pledge came after Sir Richard and other senior military figures wrote an open letter to the prime minister calling for more funding for Britain's armed forces.
The signatories warned that the services were having to make "damaging savings" at a time when the likelihood of combat operations was increasing.
And Sir Richard added: "Our armed forces - and indeed, those of our Nato allies - are not big enough, resilient enough, good enough, don't have enough capability, to deal with the sorts of risks and threats that are emerging in the world as it's turning out today."
Conservative Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon replied to Sir Richard's complaint, telling BBC Radio 4's Today: "I don't think you'll find a single former service chief who doesn't want more spent on defence.
"He's passionate about defence and so am I, which is why the defence budget is growing and that's why we're investing now."
Sir Michael said the government was investing in two new aircraft carriers, purchased eight F35 aircraft, had started building new frigates, armoured vehicles for the army and maritime patrol aircraft for the RAF.
He said the UK was one of only four countries in the world building aircraft carriers and was currently building two of them.
"The first Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier will be out on sea trials in a few weeks time - so we're adding to our defence - and we're adding to the equipment our armed forces need and the budget will increase every single year," he said.
He said Royal Navy destroyers and frigates were in the Gulf protecting the American aircraft carrier that is "leading the fight against Daesh terrorism". "You certainly need aircraft carriers in an uncertain world," he said.
He also criticised Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, saying: "He's essentially a pacifist and would be a very dangerous leader, I think, of our country. If he was ever put in charge of our defences. If you've got armed forces, you've got to be prepared to use them."
But shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith said Labour was committed to the 2% target and added: "The Tories' hypocrisy on defence knows no bounds. Their cuts have left our forces more under-resourced and underpaid than at any time in the modern era.
"The severe cuts imposed on the defence budget since 2010 have seen the Army shrink to 78,000, its smallest size since the Napoleonic Wars and far short of the last Tory manifesto pledge to keep it above 82,000."
Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown, who is also a former Royal Marine, said: "This Conservative government has slashed funding on defence, cut our Royal Marines and left our troops on the front line without basic equipment."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39881494
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Agent fees: FA and Fifa want issue debated following Pogba deal allegations - BBC Sport
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2017-05-11
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Manchester United are within their rights to pay agents multi-million pound sums, says FA chairman Greg Clarke - but the FA and Fifa want a debate on the issue.
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Manchester United are within their rights to pay agents multi-million pound sums as part of transfers, FA chairman Greg Clarke has said - but the sport needs a debate about the issue.
Fifa boss Gianni Infantino has called for more transparency around transfers.
World football's governing body is looking into Paul Pogba's world-record transfer from Juventus to Manchester United.
It follows claims that Pogba's agent will earn £41m from the deal.
"If that's what they're [Manchester United] going to pay, that's what they're going to pay," Clarke told BBC Sport.
"They are accountable to their owners; they're accountable to their fans.
"How much should we pay for players? How much should go to agents as a commercial transaction?
"If football wants to change that and limit the amount of money that agents get we're going to have to sit down as a game, led by the professional game, the Premier League and the EFL and the clubs and talk about that.
"I just think picking on one transfer and demonising it is not that helpful. Knee-jerk reactions don't often yield good outcomes. What we want is some thought about how much money stays in the game so it can be invested in long-term productive things."
• None 5 live: Pat Nevin on the dark side of football agents
The money reportedly earnt by Pogba's agent this week prompted Accrington Stanley chairman Andy Holt to criticise Premier League clubs over the amount of money they spend, saying they were "destroying the game".
In an interview with BBC Sport, he added that their actions filter down to adversely affect clubs in the Football League, which he said was "like a starving peasant begging for scraps".
The Premier League responded to his comments, saying: "We will be writing to Mr Holt to ask him if he wishes the Premier League to continue the support we currently provide for his and other clubs in the EFL."
'Fifa has to look at transfer regulations'
Fifa has written to the Premier League club "to seek clarification on the deal" that took Pogba from Juventus to Manchester United in August 2016.
It is believed its inquiries centre on who was involved in the £89.3m transfer, and how much money was paid to them.
A book published in Germany this week - The Football Leaks: The Dirty Business of Football - and reproduced in media reports includes what it claims is a breakdown of the Pogba fee and alleges his agent Mino Raiola earned £41m from the deal.
When contacted by the BBC, Raiola declined to comment and said the matter was in the hands of his lawyers.
Addressing the Fifa congress in Bahrain on Thursday, Infantino said: "We have to look at transfer regulations, and everything that has to do with transfers, and increase transparency there as well - to discuss it with the players and with the clubs, to see how we can make all these transactions better.
"In the transfer window there is $3bn circulating around the world. It's a lot of money and we have to be transparent about these things."
'If they know you're not corruptible, you'll never get a player from them again'
Former Scotland international Pat Nevin appeared on BBC Radio 5 live sport on Wednesday and related an experience of his own from the time he was Motherwell chief executive to highlight the difficulties clubs can face with player agents.
"I was in a situation when I was chief executive at Motherwell and an agent came in and he was trying to give us a player, I think it was from Nigeria," said Nevin.
"I gave him the figure of what we were willing to pay for him - x per week, say £1,000 - and he said 'yeah, that plus my money will be whatever'.
"I told him we wouldn't pay him that - his player can pay it him. He ended up saying that if we gave [the player] £500 and him £500 then it is the same, £1,000. And I was thinking 'I hope you're never my agent'.
"He was immediately happy trashing the player and I'm thinking 'you absolute slimeball'.
"They don't say it in so many words but they give you a wink, a nod and a smile and if they know immediately you are not corruptible in that situation, you never hear from them again and you'll never get a player from them again."
One area of concern about transfers is the concept of third-party ownership (TPO) - when investors effectively own a share of a player.
It has been alleged Fifa's interest in the Pogba transfer could be related to this issue - although that is vehemently denied by Raiola.
Fifa banned TPO in 2015, saying it had "harmful effects" on the sport, but some agents are thought to have found ways to bypass the regulations.
These include buying shares in a club, and then taking a cut of any transfer fee that is subsequently received by the club for their player.
Sam Allardyce lost his job as England manager last year when newspaper allegations surfaced which claimed he had offered advice on how to get around TPO rules.
The Football Leaks: The Dirty Business of Football has highlighted other transfer deals which it has been claimed indicate potential TPO.
One example is Roberto Firmino's move to Liverpool from Hoffenheim in 2015 which, it is alleged, saw the German club receive just £5.8m of a £29m transfer.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39882054
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Why reducing sleep makes you hungry - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Dr Michael Mosley investigates the impact of not getting enough sleep.
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Health
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I am something of an insomniac and I know that when I don't get at least seven hours' sleep I become tired and irritable.
I've also noticed that a bad night's sleep affects my memory. The link between sleep and memory has been around for a long time and one plausible theory is that during deep sleep your brain moves short-term memories, collected that day, into long-term storage, freeing up space in your brain for more memories.
So if you don't get enough deep sleep those memories will be lost.
Whether this theory is right or not, getting a good night's sleep (rather than staying up late and cramming) is particularly important for students who are currently revising for exams.
But what really surprised me, while making the Truth about Sleep for BBC One, was discovering how much a bad night's sleep can affect blood sugar control and hunger, even in healthy volunteers.
To find out more we asked Dr Eleanor Scott, who works at the University of Leeds, to help us.
We recruited a group of healthy volunteers and, under her supervision, fitted them with activity monitors and continuous glucose monitors, so we could see what was happening to their blood sugar levels, every five minutes or so.
Then we asked our volunteers to sleep normally for two nights (so we had a baseline), have two nights where they went to bed three hours later than normal, followed by two nights where they could sleep as long as they liked.
Naturally enough, being an avid self-experimenter, I joined in. Staying awake when you really don't want to, and everyone else in your house has gone to bed, was not enjoyable.
I was also unpleasantly surprised by just how much my blood sugar levels rose on the days when I was sleep deprived, and how hungry that made me.
The same was true of my fellow volunteers. When we met to get our results from Dr Scott everyone complained about having the munchies.
As one volunteer put it, "I wanted lots of biscuits and I didn't just have one. I'd go for 10. I wrote it down on my diary - 10 custard creams"
"Is that unusual?" I asked him.
"Well that certainly unusual for breakfast!" he replied.
All of us, whether we had feasted on biscuits or managed to stick to our normal diet, saw marked increases in our blood sugar levels, to the point where some previously healthy individuals had levels you might expect to see in borderline type 2 diabetics. These problems resolved after a couple of good nights' sleep.
As Dr Scott pointed out, there is now a lot of evidence from big studies which suggests that people who sleep for less than seven hours a night are more likely to become obese and also develop type 2 diabetes.
Dr Scott said: "We know that when you are sleep-deprived this alters your appetite hormones, making you more likely to feel hungry and less likely to feel full. We also know that when people are sleep-deprived they often crave sweet foods, which could explain the custard cream cravings.
"Also, if you're awake when you're not meant to be, you produce more of the stress hormone, cortisol, and that can influence your glucose level, as well, the next day"
A recent meta-analysis, carried out by researchers at King's College London, found that sleep-deprived people consume, on average, an extra 385 kcal per day, which over time could certainly add up.
It's not just that your blood sugar levels soar and your hunger hormones go into overdrive when you are sleep-restricted.
Researchers have also found that areas of your brain associated with reward also become more active when you're tired. In other words you become more motivated to seek out food.
Getting enough sleep is particularly important, not just for adults but also for children.
In another recent study researchers took a small group of pre-school children, aged three-to-four, all regular afternoon nappers, and not only deprived them of their afternoon nap but also kept them up for about two hours past their normal bedtime.
The following day the children ate 20% more calories than usual, particularly more sugar and carbohydrates. They were then allowed to sleep as much as they wanted. The following day they still consumed 14 per cent more calories than normal.
All of which points to the importance of getting a good night's sleep.
A few weeks ago, we kicked off the BBC Sleep Challenge and 367 of you chose to test out options to help you sleep and report back.
This was not a proper scientific survey, because it was self-selecting, but it was revealing nonetheless.
Of those taking the Sleep Challenge, the most common complaint was waking up in the night (half), followed by difficulty falling asleep in first place (a quarter).
The most popular option was the controlled breathing technique which 146 people tried.
The results were fairly evenly spread, with around 50 people choosing to cut out alcohol; do morning exercise; take a warm bath or avoid social media at least an hour before bedtime.
The least popular option was eating two kiwi fruit before bed, which only attracted 27 people.
It was also the option that people who did it found the least effective - only a third said it helped, some said it made their sleep worse!
The other options produced surprisingly similar results, with around half of each group saying they had got benefit from doing the technique they'd chosen, while half did not.
It appears the techniques with the most science behind them were the most effective, but clearly nothing works for everyone.
So shop around and see what works for you. I now do most of them (I enjoy kiwi, just not every evening, and I prefer an evening shower to a bath).
I've also committed myself to eating more fibre, which was not on our original list because we thought the effect would be too slow to show up.
I'm not entirely sure which is the 'best' but the combination has certainly helped me get a better night's sleep.
Truth about Sleep, BBC One, 9pm Thursday 11 May
• None BBC iWonder - Are you getting enough sleep?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39798610
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Atletico Madrid 2-1 Real Madrid (agg 2-4) - BBC Sport
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2017-05-11
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Real Madrid hold off a spirited Atletico Madrid to set up a meeting with Juventus in next month's Champions League final in Cardiff.
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Last updated on .From the section European Football
Defending champions Real Madrid held off a spirited Atletico Madrid to set up a meeting with Juventus in next month's Champions League final in Cardiff.
Atletico, trailing 3-0 from the first leg, stormed into an early 2-0 lead on the night through Saul Niguez's header and Antoine Griezmann's cheeky penalty.
But Real grabbed a vital away goal when Isco poked in a rebound after Toni Kroos' fierce shot - following a brilliant run by Karim Benzema - was saved.
It checked Atletico's momentum and left them needing three more goals to reach a third Champions League final in four seasons.
Chances were scarcer for both teams after the break, although home substitute Kevin Gameiro missed two presentable chances to give Atletico a glimmer of hope.
Ultimately, the damage from the first leg was irreversible as Real beat their neighbours in the competition for the fourth successive season.
Zinedine Zidane's team, attempting to become the first team to win the Champions League twice in a row, will meet Juventus at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, 3 June.
Too little, too late for Atletico
Most people thought this tie was a foregone conclusion after Atletico were outclassed at the Bernabeu eight days ago.
Los Rojiblancos, who managed just one shot on target in a limp away performance, had other ideas.
Knowing they needed at least three goals to stand any chance of progressing, Diego Simeone's side tore out of the blocks in the opening 20 minutes.
Atletico hassled and harried the visitors, creating gaps in a panicky away defence.
Real keeper Keylor Navas had already saved from Koke inside the opening five minutes before the Atletico midfielder swung in a right-wing corner which Saul met at the near post to powerfully head in.
The visitors had not conceded twice inside the opening 20 minutes of a Champions League match since 2004 - but Griezmann ended that record after Fernando Torres was bundled over by Raphael Varane's clumsy tackle.
Griezmann missed a penalty against Real in last year's Champions League final, as well as two more spot-kicks in La Liga this season, but his Paneka-style chip sneaked past the diving Navas.
La Liga leaders Real looked flustered as the noise was ramped up by the home supporters.
However, they knew one away goal would completely change the complexion of a compelling match - and Isco's opportunist strike did exactly that.
While the chances of Atletico thrashing their illustrious neighbours appeared slim, there was a recent precedent to which Simeone and his players looked for inspiration.
Simeone's side, then the defending La Liga champions, inflicted Real's heaviest league defeat in over four years when they produced a scintillating 4-0 home win in February 2015.
Their fans hoped they could replicate that score and provide what they thought would be a fitting farewell to the Calderon as it hosted a Champions League game for the final time.
Atletico moved into the bowl-like stadium in 1966, but will leave this summer for a state-of-the-art 76,000-seat stadium on the eastern outskirts of the Spanish capital.
The Calderon, famed for its atmosphere, was a cauldron of noise as the home supporters urged their team on.
For many years, the stadium hosted Atletico sides - including the one relegated in 2000 - who struggled to emerge from their shadows of their illustrious neighbours.
So, despite Atletico changing the dynamic in recent years under Simeone, it was perhaps quite apt their final meeting with Real there ended in pride but, ultimately, disappointment.
Eleven-time winners Real Madrid have been crowned European champions more than any other club, so it is perhaps not surprising it is they who are one match away from becoming the first team to retain the Champions League.
Real's progress to their second successive final has been relatively smooth, though they did need two controversial goals to overcome quarter-final opponents Bayern Munich in extra time.
That victory was sealed by a hat-trick from Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who then put Zidane's side on the verge of the final with another treble against Atletico.
The three-goal cushion gave a margin of error to Real and, after a wobbly opening 20 minutes, they regained control of the semi-final after Isco's strike.
Another giant of the European game stands in their way.
Italian champions Juventus, who progressed with a 4-1 aggregate win over Monaco, are attempting to win their first Champions League title in 21 years.
The final will be a replay of the 1998 showpiece, when Real were crowned European champions for the seventh time - after a 32-year wait - thanks to Predrag Mijatovic's goal.
And it means a reunion for Madrid manager Zidane, who played in that final for the Italian side, with his former club.
"It has been a very important club for me in my career and I keep it as a club that has given me everything. It is going to be something special," said the Frenchman, who played for Juve between 1996 and 2001.
• None Read more: From despair to a 'masterclass' - how Juventus rose again
• None Real Madrid have reached the European Cup/Champions League final for a record 15th time, ahead of AC Milan (11)
• None Real have reached two successive finals for the first time since they won the trophy five times in a row between 1956 and 1960
• None The Spanish club need just one more goal to become the first team to score 500 in the Champions League
• None Real have won 11 of their 14 European Cup finals
• None Juventus have won the trophy twice, losing a record six finals
• None Both Real and Juventus join AC Milan on a record six final appearances in the Champions League
• None Atletico became the first team to be eliminated by the same opponents four times in a row
'Cardiff here we come!' - post-media reaction
"We are very happy, happy to reach the final again. It is all merited, especially for the players who have worked so far. It's deserved.
"We had difficulties at the beginning, we got two goals, but we did not have to worry. We knew we were going to have chances.
"We knew they would come out strong, with pressure. But after 25 minutes it changed completely. In the second part, we found our game."
Atletico Madrid captain Gabi: "The performance was the least we could do. I thought we were excellent in the first half. A moment of genius from Benzema took away from the dream but we never stopped fighting and I'm proud of everyone."
• None Attempt missed. Yannick Carrasco (Atlético de Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
• None Attempt saved. Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Yannick Carrasco.
• None Attempt blocked. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Lucas Vázquez.
• None Offside, Atlético de Madrid. Gabi tries a through ball, but Diego Godín is caught offside.
• None Attempt missed. Gabi (Atlético de Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Diego Godín.
• None Attempt missed. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) left footed shot from outside the box is too high.
• None Ángel Correa (Atlético de Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Lucas Vázquez (Real Madrid) 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/39851733
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Reality Check: Why does Labour want to control National Grid? - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Transporting gas and electricity around the country accounts for 29% of energy bills.
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Business
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The leaked version of the Labour Party manifesto commits to "take energy back into public ownership to deliver renewable energy, affordability for consumers, and democratic control".
Part of that would involve "central government control of the natural monopolies of the transmission and distribution grids".
Natural monopolies are businesses where there are no benefits to be had from competition.
They are usually areas where there is a lot of initial spending on infrastructure needed, such as train tracks or water pipes.
It does not mean there can only be one business serving the whole country, but it makes no sense to have companies competing to provide such services to consumers in a particular area.
It would be inefficient, for example, to have two taps in your sink offering water from different providers or two sockets in your wall with electricity from competing energy companies.
Being a natural monopoly gives businesses enormous market power, which means that they must be regulated.
Whether it is better to have such services provided by government or by private companies regulated by government is a matter of political opinion.
National Grid's main business is moving electricity and gas round the country. This is known as transmission. The very last leg of the journey into people's homes and businesses - known as distribution - is done by a number of different companies. National Grid does own a stake in Cadent Gas, a distribution firm, but most gas distribution and all electricity distribution is controlled by other firms.
The cost of transporting gas and electricity round the country accounts for 29% of the average dual-fuel (both gas and electricity) bill, according to Energy UK, up from 23% in 2010. But National Grid says its share of that - the transmission cost - is only 5% of the typical electricity bill, and 3% of a gas bill. The rest is distribution costs.
Owning the transmission and distribution network would give the government considerably more control as it attempted to deliver promises in the leaked manifesto to deliver renewable energy and affordability for consumers, including keeping the average dual fuel bill below £1,000 a year.
The leaked manifesto also pledges to ban fracking (the use of high pressure liquids to extract gas from rocks) and use carbon capture (stopping carbon dioxide from escaping with other waste gases) as it moves to cleaner fuels.
Control over the network might help with this, but the government via its regulator and planning decisions already has a big say over the future energy mix.
Just nationalising National Grid (which is worth about £38bn on the stock market at the moment) would not achieve what Labour is promising - it would give the government the company that owns the UK's electricity and gas transmission (it might also leave the government owning National Grid's energy business in the US).
The distribution part of the equation is a slew of other companies - for gas alone it would be SGN, Northern Gas Networks, Wales and West Utilities, as well as Cadent Gas.
But the leaked manifesto calls for control of these companies, which could possibly be achieved by buying stakes in these businesses rather than nationalising them.
BBC business editor Simon Jack says National Grid's UK business is estimated to be worth about £25bn.
"A chunky purchase but one that could quite easily financed in that it makes enough money to repay the interest on any money borrowed to buy it."
It's been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1995.
Its shareholders, including 880,000 small shareholders, would be very upset if they didn't get a good price from the government for their shares.
There are not many precedents for nationalisation of profitable companies in the UK - companies are usually nationalised when they are in financial difficulties - so it is not clear at this stage what the process would be.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39884416
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Andy Murray out in Madrid Open third round, beaten by Borna Coric - BBC Sport
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2017-05-11
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World number one Andy Murray is knocked out of the Madrid Open at the last-16 stage, beaten in straight sets by Borna Coric.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
World number one Andy Murray was knocked out of the Madrid Open as he lost in straight sets to Croat Borna Coric in the last 16.
Coric, 59th in the world rankings having secured his first ATP Tour title in Morocco last month, won 6-3 6-3.
The 20-year-old broke his British opponent three times in the opening set, and a further break in the second was enough to secure victory.
Coric will face 23-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals.
Murray, 29, looked frustrated as his testing clay-court season continued in the build-up to the French Open, which begins on 28 May.
The Scot lost in the last 16 of the Monte Carlo Masters on his return from an elbow injury last month, and was then beaten by Thiem in the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open.
"There were a lot of things that weren't particularly good," he told BBC Sport.
"I made a lot of unforced errors and I also didn't find any way to make it a more competitive match, so that's the most disappointing thing.
"Things can change fast but you need to find exactly what it is that is going wrong and how you're going to fix that and commit to it. And if I do that, I'm sure I can turn it round."
Coric lost in the second round of qualifying to Mikhail Kukushkin and only gained a place at the tournament as a 'lucky loser' because of an injury to Richard Gasquet.
This was his second victory over Murray, having also beaten him at the Dubai Championships in 2015.
In a scrappy opening set, Coric broke to lead 3-2 but a couple of forehand errors allowed Murray to break straight back.
Murray, twice a winner in Madrid, then lost his serve once more, Coric comfortably held and Murray was unable to hold his serve to stay in the set.
His frustration boiled over in the eighth game of the second set as Coric won a long rally to break, before serving out the match.
Murray will next play in Rome, where he is the defending champion.
This result will come as a shock to Murray's system.
He had seemingly been growing in confidence, and rediscovering his rhythm little by little as he made his way from Monte Carlo to Barcelona, but now has just one week in Rome to find the form and belief which would make him a genuine contender for the French Open.
His first serve, which has been hindered by an elbow injury, was not to blame against Coric, who played aggressively and fluently and took full advantage of Murray's error-strewn performance.
World number two Novak Djokovic reached the quarter-finals with a 6-4 7-5 defeat of Feliciano Lopez.
Defending champion Djokovic, who recently split with his coaching staff, had few problems against the 35-year-old Spaniard.
Rafael Nadal is also through to the last eight after extending his perfect record on clay this season to 12 matches without defeat with a 6-3 6-1 destruction of Nick Kyrgios.
Belgium's David Goffin secured his spot with victory over Milos Raonic 6-4 6-2, while Kei Nishikori saw off David Ferrer 6-4 6-3.
In the women's draw, Canadian Eugenie Bouchard's fine run came to an end with a 6-4 6-0 defeat by Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Bouchard had beaten Maria Sharapova and Angelique Kebver in previous rounds, but was outplayed by eighth seed Kuznetsova.
French 14th seed Kristina Mladenovic beat Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-4 6-4 to set up a semi-final against Kuznetsova, while Romania's third seed Simona Halep thrashed Coco Vandeweghe 6-1 6-1 and will face unseeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39889793
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Southampton 0-2 Arsenal - BBC Sport
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2017-05-11
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Arsenal stay in the hunt for a top-four finish as second-half goals from Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud earn victory at Southampton.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Arsenal kept alive their hopes of a top-four Premier League finish as second-half goals from Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud earned victory at Southampton.
After a dull first half, Sanchez produced a moment of magic to open the scoring when the Chilean wrong-footed two defenders in the box before calmly slotting home.
Substitute Giroud then made the win safe by nodding in from close range minutes after coming onto the pitch.
Mid-table Southampton rarely threatened. Their best chance came in the first half when Manolo Gabbiadini forced a fine save out of Petr Cech from close range, and they stay 10th.
The win means Arsenal move above Manchester United into fifth, three points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
An awful run of form from January until early April had seriously threatened to end Arsene Wenger's record of securing a top four finish in every season he has had at Arsenal.
However, four wins in their six games prior to the trip to St Mary's had given hope that the season would not peter out.
In what was a must-win game, Arsenal's players initially failed to rise to the challenge.
They were ponderous in possession and lacked bite in attack. Too often they played passes square just inside the Southampton half before gifting possession back to the hosts when they approached the final third.
But in Sanchez they possess a player capable of producing something from nothing and that is exactly what he did midway through the second half.
His goal, which came after he sold two Southampton players a dummy to give himself a clear shot on goal, visibly relaxed Arsenal and from then on they played with confidence and freedom, allowing them to open up the hosts for a second time when Giroud headed in Aaron Ramsey's cross.
The only negative for Arsenal was the loss of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to injury in the second half, although Wenger suggested it was not serious.
Sanchez has now scored 20 goals this season, making him only the fifth Arsenal player to reach that mark, after Ian Wright, Thierry Henry, Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie.
It was also his 14th away from home - more than another Premier League player has managed this campaign.
Victory not only moves Arsenal, who face Chelsea in the FA Cup final later this month, to within one win of Manchester City, but also four points behind Liverpool, who have played a game more.
In a season that has seen protests against Wenger and some fans calling for the Frenchman to leave, the possibility they could finish with FA Cup success and a place in the top four is a very real one.
Southampton boss Claude Puel's long-term future is reportedly uncertain, with the Frenchman yet to show signs of taking the club forward since replacing Ronald Koeman last summer.
Saints did reach the final of the League Cup but have been firmly ensconced in mid-table in the Premier League this season, a disappointment having finished sixth last year.
The Gunners brushed aside Southampton 5-0 in the FA Cup in January and the hosts never looked like gaining revenge in this fixture.
Once again, Southampton were weak in attack. They had two shots on target in this game and have now managed just 12 shots on target across their last six Premier League games.
With Saints struggling for goals and key players like defender Virgil van Dijk said to be attracting interest from other clubs, Puel - if he is still at the club - faces a challenging summer of improving the squad to get them moving in the right direction once again.
We stuck together - what they said
Southampton manager Claude Puel speaking to Match of the Day: "It's often the same against the big six. We cannot find a win. Every time we play good quality football with chances but without the clinical edge and it's harsh on the players.
"For me, we deserved at minimum a draw and maybe a win. For them, in one situation, they scored. It's difficult to accept."
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said: "We were focused and I felt that when we suffered we stuck together.
"We have another clean sheet and I know we can go forward and score goals. The whole team was dynamic, focused and showed a convincing desire to win the game."
• None Arsenal ended a run of five winless Premier League games at St Mary's, claiming their first win there since December 2003.
• None This is Sanchez's best ever league goal return in the top five European leagues, beating his previous best of 19 in 2013-14 with Barcelona.
• None The Gunners have won four of their past five Premier League games (L1) since adopting a three-man defence.
• None Southampton have had 29 shots in their last three Premier League games without scoring.
• None Olivier Giroud has six Premier League substitute goals this season - only Adam Le Fondre (eight in 2012-13) has more in a single campaign than the Frenchman.
• None Giroud's goal was his 100th in the top-flight of European football (33 in Ligue 1, 67 in the Premier League).
Southampton, who cannot finish higher than eighth, travel to already-relegated Middlesbrough on Saturday, 13 May (15:00 BST).
Arsenal, meanwhile, continue their bid to break into the top four with a trip to Stoke in Saturday's evening kick-of (17:30).
• None Attempt blocked. Manolo Gabbiadini (Southampton) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jay Rodriguez.
• None Attempt missed. Sofiane Boufal (Southampton) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Oriol Romeu.
• None Shane Long (Southampton) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Goal! Southampton 0, Arsenal 2. Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) header from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Aaron Ramsey with a headed pass.
• None Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt missed. Sofiane Boufal (Southampton) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39012178
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Labour's draft manifesto through a business lens - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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How radical is Labour's draft election manifesto really?
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Business
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Britain's railway track is already quasi-nationalised through Network Rail
So how radical is Labour's draft manifesto really?
On the face of it, it looks like the root and branch reversal of 40 years of government policy. But let's take a moment to see how radical, how do-able, these proposals really are from a business, rather than a public finance, perspective.
Let's start with the easy ones.
This actually happens from time to time anyway. The East Coast Main Line spent several years in public ownership after it was handed back to the government by National Express in 2009, before being privatised again in 2015.
It performed pretty well in public hands. It paid nearly a billion pounds in fees to the government and still managed to make a profit for the Treasury, while carrying more passengers and getting good passenger satisfaction scores. So there is some evidence that repeating that exercise each time a current rail franchise expires could work.
However, freezing rail fares, extending free wifi, ending driver-only operated trains and improving disabled access would freeze income while increasing costs. It might be harder to replicate the relative success of the East Coast Main Line experiment with these additional pressures.
The track is already quasi-nationalised through Network Rail, and the government pays a total of more than £3bn in subsidies to the industry each year.
Of all the privatisations since Thatcher, this is probably considered one of the least effective in financial terms for the government. The question is whether passengers' memories of British Rail are clear enough to make a comparison to their experience today.
This is hardly a surprise item given a version of it was in the last Labour manifesto, and the Conservatives have committed to do much the same. The same criticisms over deterring investment and encouraging the withdrawal of cheaper fares for switchers apply to both parties.
The setting up of publicly owned utilities in every region of the UK is a much more difficult exercise.
Although there is little detail, the government would essentially be starting from scratch in an industry that it hasn't been involved in for decades.
Quizzed this morning about how this would work, the policy chief talked of setting up regional co-operatives, but where they would spring from and how they would be managed is not clear.
The cost of transporting gas and electricity across cables and through pipes makes up nearly a quarter of consumers' energy bills. Some of that money goes to privately-owned National Grid, which last year made a profit of £3bn, although it no longer owns all of the UK gas transportation infrastructure. It also distributes gas and electricity in the United States and makes a much bigger profit margin here than it does there - a fact that has drawn heavy criticism from consumer groups.
Even if you agree that National Grid is charging the energy companies too much - to nationalise it you would presumably have to buy it back. Its current value is £38bn, but a lot of that is made up of its US business which presumably a Labour government wouldn't want to buy!
The UK business is estimated to be worth around £25bn. A chunky purchase, but one that could quite easily financed in that it makes enough money to repay the interest on any money borrowed to buy it.
A proposal to cap pay for top earners at 20 times that of the lowest paid in an organisation is a radical one, and a throwback to the 1970s in the sense that that was the last time pay differentials were anything near that multiple.
Currently the average FTSE 100 boss earns around 150 times the amount his or her lowest paid employee makes.
Even companies seen as progressive would fail this new test. The chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, Charlie Mayfield, made around 75 times as much as his partners on the shop floor.
There is widespread outrage over high pay - even among some shareholders of private companies - and we can expect some action on this issue in the Tory manifesto.
I will leave proposals on NHS funding, tuition fees etc and the impact on the public purse to my more knowledgeable colleagues.
The real essence of this leaked document is that coursing through it is a simple idea. When it comes to doing just about anything - GOVERNMENT KNOWS BEST. That is an age-old political decision between the old left and old right.
The Conservatives have moved left with their market interventions and attack on business excess. With this document - Labour have moved quite a long way further left.
Correction 19 May 2017: The reference to rail subsidies has been amended to clarify that the £3bn figure covers the whole rail industry and not just train operating companies.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39881891
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BBC cameraman's foot run over by Jeremy Corbyn car - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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He suffered two broken toes when the car, being driven by a police officer, ran over his foot.
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Election 2017
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The moment a BBC cameraman was 'run over by Corbyn car'
BBC cameraman Giles Wooltorton has been released from hospital after his foot was run over by a car carrying Jeremy Corbyn.
The incident happened as the Labour leader arrived at the Institution of Engineering and Technology in London for a party meeting to discuss the draft general election manifesto.
Mr Wooltorton was said to be in good spirits while waiting for an ambulance.
By the evening, he was on his way home with two broken toes and bruising.
Mr Corbyn was driven to the meeting by officers from the Metropolitan Police's royalty and specialist protection unit.
A Met Police spokesman said the incident had been referred to the directorate of professional standards, which is responsible for the conduct of officers in the force.
In a statement released shortly after the incident, the BBC said: "An experienced BBC cameraman has been injured while filming at the Labour Party manifesto meeting.
"He has been taken to hospital for assessment and treatment. At the moment the BBC are focusing on their duty of care, making sure that he is OK."
Police have interviewed witnesses and a senior Labour source said the party was "looking into" the incident.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39882969
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The day my child was killed by an elephant - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Conflict between humans and elephants is more intense in Sri Lanka than anywhere else in the world. When one man was attacked he came round to find his daughter dead beside him.
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Magazine
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Conflict between humans and elephants is more intense in Sri Lanka than anywhere else in the world - 70 people are killed every year and more than 250 elephants die. Clashes are particularly frequent in areas that were abandoned for long periods during the country's lengthy civil war.
Last June, six-year-old Sulojini and her father, Raja Thurai, were returning home from the river in the late afternoon sunshine. Suddenly, an elephant appeared from the bush and attacked.
"The elephant lifted us with its trunk and threw us on the ground," remembers Thurai. "I lost consciousness, and when I woke up, my daughter was already dead."
The incident happened close to the Thurai's village, Paavatkodichchinai in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province, near paddy fields and in an area dotted with fruit bushes.
"I've lost two of my children - a son during the war, and Sulojini to an elephant," he says.
Paavatkodichchinai is inhabited by Sri Lanka's Tamil minority, like many communities on the eastern part of the island.
During the civil war, the presence of Tamil Tiger rebels made the Eastern Province a target for government forces, and when fighting was intense, local people fled.
Raja Thurai and his family went to live in a refugee camp in 2007. When they returned after the war, which came to an end in 2009, elephants had encroached on their land. Now these huge mammals are a continual, terrifying presence - especially at night, when they roam around the village looking for food in fields and homes.
"We chase them away, but they come back again and again. Every night we have to stay awake - last night also, I didn't sleep," Thurai, says.
His family's home is one of many in the village that have suffered night attacks. The house, shaded by two large mango trees, still has part of a wall missing - destroyed by an elephant one night just before Sulojini was killed.
"It happened at 02:00," says Indrani, Raja Thurai's wife. "The elephant trumpeted and ran towards the house, hitting the roof and wall."
Indrani holding Sulojini's flip-flops - iron sheets patch the damaged wall of the family home
She says Sulojini was so frightened she developed a fever.
The couple do not have a picture of the daughter they lost, but they have kept the small, pink flip-flops she was wearing when she died.
Since then, the village has organised an informal neighbourhood watch scheme. Households have access to firecrackers to frighten the elephants away, but experts argue fireworks are not the answer.
"Communities get into a kind of arms race," says Dr Pruthu Fernando, a conservationist who has spent much of his professional life trying to mitigate human-elephant-conflict in Sri Lanka.
"If an elephant comes and tries to eat the crops, people shout at it. So the elephant is scared and goes away. Then the elephant realises people are only shouting, there's no harm to it. So next time people shout, the elephant still comes and raids."
Villagers work through a series of deterrents: first they throw rocks at the animals, next they begin to light fires. Finally, they use firecrackers.
"Some of those go off like a bomb," says Fernando. "But elephants soon realise they are only a lot of noise, so they still come and raid. Ultimately, people end up shooting the elephant. All of these things are confrontational."
Fernando has pioneered the use of electrified fencing, erected at particular times of the year.
Elephants are free to roam agricultural land during fallow periods, and farmers only put up the barriers when they plant their crops.
"The farmers take down the fence the day they harvest," he says.
Sri Lanka already has 3,500km of electrified fencing aimed at containing elephants, but much of it is in the wrong place.
Historically it has been used to mark boundaries - of private property and national parks. But eventually, elephants destroy it. Fencing has to be close to human activity to be effective, Fernando says.
"Fences work. If you maintain them well, elephants learn this is a no-go boundary. They're also non-confrontational, so that leads to the possibility of better co-existence."
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Some Sri Lankans do live in harmony with wild elephants.
The Rathugala Veddha community close to the Gal Oya National Park in south-eastern Sri Lanka - who trace their ancestry to some of the island's earliest inhabitants - chant, invoking God and the spirits, to protect them when they are in the forest. No-one can remember a time when anyone was injured - let alone killed - by an elephant.
"We can sense when an elephant is close-by - we can feel it," says Poramal Aththo. "We have that power in us."
It is possible he is describing the infrasound communication of elephants, and that villagers learned to sense this because they have been living in close proximity to the animals for so long.
Poramal Aththo says he could teach other Sri Lankans how to stay safe, but it is an art - not something that can be learned in a day.
On the other side of the human-elephant-conflict equation are babies like Leila. She was rescued after eating a hukka patta - a primitive gunpowder bomb disguised as a fruity treat. It blew up in her mouth, fracturing her jaw, and destroying half her tongue.
Leila is being treated at the Department of Wildlife Conservation's facility near the temple city of Polonnaruwa.
"The mortality rate of elephants eating hukka pattas is very high," says Dr Pinidiyage Manoj Akalanka, the vet on duty. "Most of them will die." Death by hukka patta is cruel - unable to eat, the animal starves to death.
In this district alone, they see around 40 cases a year. Leila was injured by bullets too - something Akalanka says is becoming more common as farmers become desperate to defend their crops from marauding animals.
But Leila is lucky - she has learnt to eat with half a tongue, and will eventually be released back into the wild.
After Sulojini was killed by an elephant in Paavatkodichchinai, electricity was finally installed in the village.
This makes possible a system of electrified fencing - although there is no sign the government or any other organisation will provide it any time soon.
The government does pay 500,000 rupees ($3,278) to the families of those killed by elephants. But there is no way to compensate a family for the loss of a little girl in pink flip-flops, who never returned home from her afternoon bathe.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39874289
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World Triathlon Series: Jonny Brownlee aims to put 2016 'hurt' behind him - BBC Sport
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2017-05-11
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Britain's Jonny Brownlee says he is "hungry" to put the "hurt" of last year's World Series finale behind him.
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Highlights: Watch on BBC Two on Sunday from 13:00-14:30 BST
Jonny Brownlee says he is "hungry" to put the "hurt" of last year's World Series finale behind him as he prepares for his first race of the 2017 event.
With 700m to go in the final race of 2016, the Briton was leading and on course to wrap up the world title.
Exhausted, he began to weave over the road, was overtaken and collapsed after brother Alistair helped him over the line to finish second in Mexico.
"Last year was a bit of a rollercoaster," he told the BBC.
"It hurt me going in to this year, because you don't get many chances to become world champion and I messed it up.
"It made me very hungry to come in to the 2017 season to try and achieve that but so far this year, luck's not been on my side."
Brownlee, who won Olympic silver behind his brother last year, has not competed at a major event since suffering in the hot and humid conditions in Cozumel in September.
He missed the first two races of this year's World Series - in Australia and United Arab Emirates - but is returning for the third in Yokohama, Japan, on Saturday.
BBC Weather forecasts a comfortable 18C for Yokohama on raceday, but Brownlee is hoping extra heat training will pay off in the future, if not in Japan.
"Heat is obviously something that, as a pasty Yorkshireman, I'm not too good at. I know it's a weakness and after Cozumel one of the first things I did was ask a doctor how to solve this," he said.
"In October-November I went down to train with the British Navy in Portsmouth. One of the big things they taught me was to spend more time in hot and humid conditions.
"I've converted my conservatory in to a kind of heat chamber. Mine gets up to about 37C so I can sweat away in there on a turbo trainer and get used to Yokohama.
"Hopefully it's going to make a big difference because one thing I told myself after Cozumel was I'd be stupid if I didn't get used to the heat, or at least try and do something about it."
'I've had my best races without Alistair'
Alistair, the elder of the Brownlee brothers, is focusing on long-distance triathlons this year and will not be competing in Japan.
Jonny believes he will benefit from his brother's absence.
"In the past I've really enjoyed not having Alistair there. I've had my best races without him," he said.
"It puts more emphasis on me and I race more aggressively. Instead of looking over my shoulder and waiting for him to make those moves, it's up to me.
"But also in training as well, I've been able to do what suits me. I've tried to get my own little group around me.
"Hopefully, it'll come good in the next couple of years."
However, the next race in the World Series after Japan will be in Leeds, where Brownlee could be joined by his brother.
In 2016, Alistair claimed victory with a dominant display in the pair's home city, with Jonny second.
"All I can do now is try and do my best in all the other races and hopefully win in Yokohama and win in Leeds," said Jonny.
"Some of my best races have been when I'm just returning from injury, so hopefully I can do it again."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/triathlon/39887253
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How Leftfield's Leftism redefined dance music - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Leftfield look back at the making of their seminal debut album, Leftism, which turns 22 this year.
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Entertainment & Arts
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When Leftfield released their debut album in 1995, it changed dance music forever.
Wilfully eclectic, Leftism never settled on a single genre, dabbling in tribal, trance, dub, house and ambient music.
The quality never dipped, proving that a long-form dance record - one that worked as a coherent suite of music rather than a collection of 12-inch singles - was possible.
It was among the first British albums to bring the club into the living room, alongside releases by The Chemical Brothers, Underworld and The Prodigy.
The duo behind Leftfield, Neil Barnes and Paul Daley, had started out in punk bands, and retained the ethos that "music that takes from other places but moves on".
To that end, they borrowed from Afrobeat, indie and punk itself - even cajoling former Sex Pistol John Lydon into singing the album's breakout single Open Up.
These days Barnes continues to record and perform as Leftfield (with Daley's blessing) and, starting on Thursday, he embarks on a UK tour in which Leftism will be played in full for the first time.
The project was initially planned for the record's 20th anniversary, but is only coming to fruition now, in its 22nd year.
Ahead of the tour dates, Barnes and Daley chatted to the BBC about the making of Leftism, its impact, and their ear-splitting live shows.
The artwork featured no photographs or logos, focusing instead on a loudspeaker
What do you remember about the making of Leftism?
Paul Daley: Lots of late nights on the computer, synths and samplers in the week and then I was off DJing at the weekends. It was all very fast moving and constantly evolving, much like the scene at the time.
Neil Barnes: A lot of stuff was done on the fly. We were just being creative in the studio. We weren't completely into indie, we weren't completely into techno. We'd get bored and think, 'We've done a [dance] track, now let's do something down-tempo, or a hip-hop track.'
Is that why it still sounds fresh today?
NB: I think the thing about the album is that it takes you on a journey through electronic music. There isn't one style. It's unusual in that, I think.
PD: I wanted the album to sound exotic, have its own identity and have its own place amongst everything else around at the time. That time was great for music in the UK and as time goes by the '90s, and what happened creatively, is only now coming into focus and I'm really chuffed what we did is considered as something special.
Leftism is frequently cited as a breakthrough, in that it showed dance music could work in an album format. Was that your intention?
PD: It had to be more than a collection of instrumental formula dance records but I didn't really know it worked until I was editing it together at the end. It was a calculated risk at the time but not really intentional. Happy accidents, and all that.
What's the most unusual instrument on the album?
NB: There's a berimbau at the start of Afro Left. It's probably the oldest instrument, aside from hitting a drum, in the world. It's a stringed instrument from Brazil, and they hit it with a pebble. I'll be bringing it on the tour with me.
The berimbau is instantly recognisable in the opening bars of Afro Left
John Lydon has called Open Up one of his favourite lyrics. Did you realise it was special at the time?
NB: I think it's one of the best songs he ever wrote. When he came in and did the vocal, we realised we had to get the rest of the backing track up to the standard of the lyric. His vocal performance was so incredible, we felt we needed to match it. We changed the bassline radically and added a lot more drums.
Your live shows got a reputation for being louder than Concorde. How bad was it?
NB: The speakers were so loud your eyeballs would vibrate.
Did you really make plaster fall off the roof of Brixton Academy?
NB: A whole bit of the ceiling came down, not just a few chunks. You could see it all over the dancefloor. I've seen worse, though. We once shook a metal grating off when we played a soundcheck in a university. It came down and hit the floor. If anyone had been near it, they'd have been dead. I was terrified.
And we brought a whole bar down in Amsterdam. When our sound man fired up the system, it all came down. Bottles, glasses, everything, flying off the wall. Who paid for it? I have no idea.
Neil Barnes says the Leftism tour is the band's most ambitious yet
What made you decide to revisit the album now?
NB: It just seems like a good time to say "bon voyage" to Leftism. I'm not really going to be playing these songs much more.
How hard has it been to recreate the record for the tour?
NB: It's an unbelievable job of forensic investigation. It's taken months. The album didn't go onto tape at the time, so we've gone back to the raw files to find stuff and build the sounds up so it sounds like the album.
Is the concert a faithful rendition of the album?
NB: It is, but all the tracks are expanded. Some of them are 12 minutes long now. Like Release The Pressure, I've incorporated the single [mix] into the album version, so you get a bit of Cheshire Cat's vocals. And there's no encore. 20th Century Poem was always going to be the closer.
Barnes will continue to record music as Leftfield, following 2015's Alternative Light Source album
Paul, do you miss playing live? Will you go to see the shows?
PD: I don't really miss anything as I find "missing" things can be negative. I have great memories and still get a buzz from DJing which, in my eyes, is and always has been a performance and artform.
People come up to me and shake my hand for what I did in Leftfield between 1989 and 2002 and that's enough for me.
Finally, what do you see as Leftism's legacy? Who are your direct descendants?
PD: Anyone who's thought, "I'm going to buy some decks, synths, samplers and make a record" since 1989.
Also anyone who has thought, "I can make a record in my bedroom today and play it in my DJ set at the weekend". That was the revolution that has had a massive impact on musical history and which we were part of and it just seems to roll on and get handed down to the next generation for them to put their own stamp on it.
By no means are Leftfield wholly responsible - but we were part of a forward-thinking global musical movement that exploded at the end of the 20th Century and turned pop culture on it's head.
Leftism 22 is out now on Sony. Leftfield tour the album around the UK for the rest of the month, starting in Bristol on Thursday 11, May.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39870759
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Andy Murray: Madrid Open exit concerns world number one - BBC Sport
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2017-05-11
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World number one Andy Murray is "concerned" following his defeat by Borna Coric at the Madrid Open but denies being low on confidence.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
World number one Andy Murray said he is 'concerned' following defeat by Borna Coric in last 16 of the Madrid Open, but denied being low on confidence.
Murray was beaten 6-3 6-3 by Coric, ranked 59th in the world, on Thursday.
The Briton has endured a tough season on clay, suffering a shock defeat in the last 16 of the Monte Carlo Masters last month and also losing in the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open.
"I definitely think I need to be concerned about today," Murray said.
"It's not always the worst thing losing a match, but it's sometimes the manner of how you lose the match which can be concerning or disappointing."
Coric, 20, only gained a place at the tournament after Richard Gasquet withdrew - becoming the first lucky loser to reach the quarter-finals in the Madrid tournament's 16-year history.
The Croat broke his Scottish opponent three times in the opening set, and a further break in the second was enough to secure victory in one hour and 25 minutes.
Top seed Murray hit 14 winners to his 28 unforced errors, but insisted his poor performance was not down to a lack of confidence.
"I was just making lots of mistakes early in the rallies and trying to end points very quickly at the beginning, and the errors just kept piling up." the 29-year-old told BBC Sport.
"I didn't feel that was down to confidence - I just wasn't focusing as well as I needed to on each point.
"I made a lot of unforced errors and I also didn't find any way to make it a more competitive match, so that's the most disappointing thing for me.
"You can lose matches sometimes, but the manner of today's loss was disappointing."
This result will come as a shock to Murray's system.
He had seemingly been growing in confidence, and rediscovering his rhythm little by little as he made his way from Monte Carlo to Barcelona, but now has just one week in Rome to find the form and belief which would make him a genuine contender for the French Open.
His first serve, which has been hindered by an elbow injury, was not to blame against Coric, who played aggressively and fluently and took full advantage of Murray's error-strewn performance.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39891424
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Ligue des champions: le Real Madrid en finale - BBC News Afrique
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2017-05-11
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Le Real Madrid rejoint la Juventus en finale de la Ligue des champions.
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Ligue des champions: le Real Madrid en finale
Le Real Madrid a validé son billet pour la finale de la Ligue des champions malgré sa courte défaite lors de la manche retour chez ses voisins de l'Atlético (2-1).
Avec leur succès à domicile (3-0), les (Merengue) ont tout de même tremblé en début de rencontre quand l'Atletico Madrid a réussi à marquer deux buts par Saul Niguez (12e) et Griezmann (16e). Les visiteurs ont réagi ensuite et réduit le score par Isco (42e).
En se qualifiant pour la finale de la Ligue des champions pour la deuxième année consécutive , le Real Madrid aura l'occasion d'imiter l'AC Milan, dernière équipe à avoir remporté la C1 deux années de suite. C'était en 1989 et 1990. Ils affronteront la Juventus le 3 juin à Cardiff en Ecosse. Leur troisième finale en quatre ans.
Si le Real Madrid a réduit le score face à l'Atletico Madrid, il le doit à Karim Benzema. Le long de la ligne de but, et dans un périmètre restreint, le Français a éliminé trois défenseurs avant de centrer pour Kroos dont la frappe repoussée est revenue dans les pieds d'Isco, le buteur.
Selon Cristiano Ronaldo, la différence d'expérience entre le Real et l'Atlético de Madrid a joué un rôle important dans la qualification des (Merengue) pour la finale de la Ligue des champions.
Pour Zinedine Zidane l'Atletico Madrid a eu la chance de marquer deux buts "mais nous savions qu'en marquant un seul nous l'achèverons".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/afrique/sports-39880533
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General election 2017: The maps that reveal where this election could be won - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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What exactly can we tell about where the party leaders have been out to win votes?
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Election 2017
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Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, campaigning in Kingston and Surbiton
The 2015 election result was a bit of a surprise. Pollsters got it wrong - and so did the media. Had we paid closer attention to where the Conservative Party was choosing to campaign, we might have spotted a gap between polling forecasts and Tory ambitions. We might have noticed David Cameron was fighting in the sort of seats that implied he thought a victory was coming.
This time, we hope to avoid that sort of mistake by paying closer attention to the campaigns. Here is Conservative leader Theresa May's journey since the prime minister called the snap general election on 18 April. As of Monday, she had taken trips all over the country, the purpose of which is to get her face on local TV and in local newspapers.
NOTE: The maps for Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn, Nicola Sturgeon and Tim Farron have been updated to include visits made up to 7 June, the final day of election campaigning. You can read further analysis on those visits here. We are waiting on more information surrounding Paul Nuttall's campaign.
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, too, has been all over Great Britain. The two leaders have covered a lot of ground - but not quite the same sorts of places.
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To help you understand this pattern, below is a chart explaining the significance of where these two have been.
Theresa May has so far been visiting seats with a considerable Labour majority but where UKIP also did well in the 2015 elections
See how Mrs May is visiting seats which have some very big Labour majorities - look at Leeds East. But she is targeting Labour seats with big UKIP voter populations, where hoovering up the UKIP vote can do much of the work of taking the seat off Labour. In Dudley North, UKIP votes would be enough to take the seat on their own.
See also how Mrs May is largely not visiting the same sorts of places as Mr Corbyn. She is fighting in places which imply she wants a three-digit majority. The Labour Party either regards the "front line" as being nowhere near so gloomy for them or they are choosing not to deploy Mr Corbyn into their front line. If Labour were winning in Harlow, where Mr Corbyn went to campaign, it would probably be winning a majority.
What, then of the other leaders? Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has been clocking up the miles.
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The Lib Dems' strong pro-EU stance now distinguishes them from other UK-wide parties. So far, Mr Farron has only been to one seat that, according to academic estimates, voted Leave in the EU referendum - the Lib Dem-held Carshalton & Wallington. And 14 of the 20 places he's visited had Remain votes in excess of 60%.
The map shows he's hoping to take seats from both Labour and the SNP. The really big questions about the Lib Dems' future, however, are in their fight with the Tories.
Both Theresa May and Tim Farron have visited the marginal seat of Lewes in the early stage of this election campaign
In the Tory-Labour battleground, Mrs May and Mr Corbyn seemed to be fighting different elections. In the Tory-Lib Dem fight, both parties seem to think the election is going to be largely about Lib Dems taking seats back from the Tories. Both went to marginal Lewes, for example.
Mr Farron has paid a visit to Oxford West & Abingdon, for example, and Mrs May has been to shore up support in St Austell & Newquay. Both are current Tory seats taken from the Lib Dems.
But the Lib Dems' meagre resources will be spread thin at this election. It is not a by-election. The Tories are also polling well - and just look at the three seats above the dotted line. Those three seats - Norfolk North, Carshalton & Wallington and Southport - could all be taken by the Tories if they can win over UKIP voters. And the Tories have already started advertising in the Southport local press.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Newsnight Policy Editor Chris Cook talks through the Conservative and Labour battleground chart in more detail
The Scottish National Party has started its roadshow, too. The party won so many seats in 2015, there is no choice but for them to run a defensive election. We cannot see where leader Nicola Sturgeon is worried about quite yet. Let's come back to them.
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UKIP, meanwhile, has had a slow start. We will have to wait a bit more before we can say much more.
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The thing that jumps out at the moment is the scale of the Tories' ambitions against Labour. There are important questions about how campaigning works and how parties get their messages out, to which we will return during the campaign - along with updates to these maps and graphs.
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Maps display winning parties from 2015 general election or most recent by-election. Estimated figures for the 2016 EU referendum are from Dr Chris Hanretty's academic study that remapped results from the EU referendum from local authority level to parliamentary constituency level. Leader visits displayed on the maps are accurate up to Monday 8 May, and include only visits related to the 2017 general election campaign. Maps built with Carto.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39874420
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Wayne Rooney: Man Utd forward 'most under-appreciated player in England' - BBC Sport
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2017-05-11
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Wayne Rooney is the most under-appreciated player in English football, says former Wales international Robbie Savage.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney is the most under-appreciated player in English football, says former Wales international Robbie Savage.
Rooney is the record goal-scorer for both United and England.
But the 31-year-old has started only 22 games this season and has hinted he may have to leave Old Trafford this summer in order to ensure first-team football.
"He gets hammered and yet he is Manchester United's and England's top scorer," Savage told BBC Radio 5 live.
"He is a professional, his work ethic is very good, you can see his temperament is still the same. When he gets a decision against him, he goes berserk. That is the same old Wayne Rooney.
"The bottom line is that age and not playing regular games is catching up with him. He is not the player he was. But he is the most under-appreciated footballer we have seen in English football."
Rooney has been at Manchester United for 13 years, since joining from Everton for £27m in August 2004.
He has won five Premier League titles, the Champions League, the FA Cup, three League Cups and the Club World Cup during his time at Old Trafford.
This season he surpassed Bobby Charlton to become United's outright leading scorer, with his tally currently standing at 252.
He has also broken Charlton's England scoring record and has 53 goals for his country from 119 caps.
On Wednesday, he spoke about his future, saying: "Would I like to stay? I've been at this club 13 years. Of course, I want to play football."
The forward continues to be linked with a move to China, while Everton and the United States have been suggested as other potential destinations.
United face Celta Vigo on Thursday in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final, holding a 1-0 lead over the Spanish side.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39880891
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Free drinking water - what are your rights? - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Most people are unaware of where and when they can claim free drinking water, a survey suggests.
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UK
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Water, water everywhere - but when can you drink it for free?
Most people do not know their rights to free drinking water from businesses and public buildings, a survey says.
The Keep Britain Tidy poll says only 25% of the public know when they can ask for water for free - while 71% feel awkward asking for water from venues if they are not a customer.
But even if they are buying something, more than a third feel awkward asking for their water bottle to be filled.
The poll for the charity and Brita UK saw 2,119 people surveyed by YouGov.
Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: "This report demonstrates that the British public want greater access to tap water when out and about."
So when can you ask for a free glass of water, and when can't you?
Some licensed premises might give you free water, but charge for the glass it comes in
All licensed premises in England and Wales are required by law to provide "free potable water" to their customers upon request. In Scotland a similar law applies, but specifies "tap water fit for drinking".
This means pubs, bars, nightclubs, cafes, restaurants, takeaway food and drink outlets, cinemas, theatres, and even village and community halls - so long as they are authorised to serve alcohol.
However, these premises can charge people for the use of a glass - or their service - when serving the "free" tap water.
There is no law regarding the provision of drinking water in licensed premises in Northern Ireland.
You may work up a sweat in a gym, but that doesn't mean you can get a drink of water for free
Unlicensed premises in the UK do not have to legally supply free drinking water.
So, provided they are unlicensed, this includes sports stadiums, leisure centres, swimming pools, health clubs, tourists attractions, theatres, cinemas and beauty salons.
Schools must provide free drinking water by law - but not in Northern Ireland
Schools are legally required to provide drinking water for pupils at all times in England, Scotland and Wales - but not Northern Ireland.
However, there is guidance from the Public Health Agency stating that children in Northern Ireland "must have easy access at all times to free, fresh, preferably chilled water".
All UK employers must provide free drinking water in the workplace for all their employees, at all times.
Many people are not confident about drinking from a public fountain
Of the people taking part in the poll, only 7% said they drink from water fountains or public taps - while 55% were concerned about the cleanliness of public water taps, fountains and dispensers.
Just 11% said they would pop into a cafe or restaurant to ask for tap water.
Keep Britain Tidy has issued recommendations aimed at improving the public's access to drinking water.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39881236
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General election 2017: Corbyn's plans emerge in leaked manifesto - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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In a draft of Labour's manifesto is a long, long list of plans - some new, some predictable, some rather more surprising.
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Election 2017
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Forty-five pages that reveal Jeremy Corbyn's plans to transform the country if he can persuade enough voters that he is the man to be PM, and his vision is the best way forward.
In a draft of Labour's manifesto, seen by the BBC, is a long, long list of plans, ideas - some new, some predictable, some rather more surprising.
Before going on, it's worth saying it is yet to be signed off as a final version - that's due to happen in a meeting tomorrow of Labour bigwigs.
But from what we have seen, which Labour senior figures acknowledge "is the real thing" subject to a few last minute tweaks, it is a rundown that will be manna from heaven for Jeremy Corbyn's supporters, contains ideas that poll well with swathes of voters, but could be a challenge to the concept of pleasing much of the traditional centre ground of "Middle England".
The draft manifesto promises to scrap tuition fees, to ban fracking, to bring back national pay bargaining in some industries and only to consider military action where all other options have "been exhausted".
It suggests bringing some energy "back into public ownership", with a strong emphasis on renewables and a promise to introduce an "immediate emergency price cap" to keep average bills below £1,000.
The draft manifesto has yet to be signed off
It promises to suspend arms sales immediately to Saudi Arabia, to cut the voting age to 16, to increase tax on the wealthiest 5%.
There are notable big contrasts with Conservative plans - no target on cutting immigration, a warning there will be "no false promises", and guarantees, rather than cutting welfare, that payments to some groups will see rises.
There could yet be changes to these ideas. Labour big cheeses will discuss and dissect the plans tomorrow. But it's clear as day that this will be an election where voters will not be able to say "they're all the same".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39879538
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General election 2017: Labour's draft manifesto unpicked - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Railways, education, social care and defence - BBC correspondents unpick Labour's pledges.
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Election 2017
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn did not attend the planned unveiling of the party's 2017 general election poster
A draft of Labour's general election manifesto has been leaked, including plans to nationalise parts of the energy industry and scrap tuition fees.
The BBC has seen a copy of the document, which is due to be formally signed off on Thursday.
BBC correspondents unpick the policy pledges set out in the draft manifesto.
Renationalising actually happens from time to time anyway. The East Coast Main Line spent several years in public ownership after it was handed back to the government by National Express in 2009, before being privatised again in 2015.
It performed pretty well in public hands. It paid nearly £1bn in fees to the government and still managed to make a profit for the Treasury, while carrying more passengers and getting good passenger satisfaction scores. So there is some evidence that repeating that exercise each time a current rail franchise expires could work.
Virgin Trains East Coast operates services between London, the north-east of England and Scotland
However, other pledges like freezing rail fares, extending free wi-fi, ending driver-only operated trains and improving disabled access would freeze income while increasing costs. It might be harder to replicate the relative success of the East Coast Main Line experiment with these additional pressures.
The track is already quasi-nationalised through Network Rail and the government pays subsidies to the train operating companies of more than £3bn a year.
Of all the privatisations since Mrs Thatcher's time, this is probably considered one of the least effective in financial terms for the government. The question is whether passengers' memories of British Rail are clear enough to make a comparison to their experience today.
The reference to price caps is hardly a surprise given a version of the policy was in the last Labour manifesto and the Conservative Party has committed to do much the same. The same criticisms over deterring investment and encouraging the withdrawal of cheaper prices for switchers apply to both parties.
The setting up of publicly-owned utilities in every region of the UK is a much more difficult exercise. Apart from three locally run public companies, the government would essentially be starting from scratch in an industry that it hasn't been involved in for decades.
The cost of transporting gas and electricity across cables and through pipes makes up nearly a quarter of consumers' energy bills
Quizzed on Thursday morning about how this would work, the policy chief talked of setting up regional co-operatives, but where they would spring from and how they would be managed is not clear.
The cost of transporting gas and electricity across cables and through pipes makes up nearly a quarter of consumers' energy bills. Most of that money goes to privately-owned National Grid, which last year made a profit of £3bn, although it no longer owns all of the UK gas transportation infrastructure.
It also distributes gas and electricity in the United States and makes a much bigger profit margin here than it does there - a fact that has drawn heavy criticism from consumer groups.
Even if you agree that National Grid is charging the energy companies too much, to nationalise it you would presumably have to buy it back. Its current value is £38bn, but a lot of that is made up of its US business which presumably a Labour government wouldn't want to buy!
The UK business is estimated to be worth about £25bn. A chunky purchase, but one that could quite easily be financed in that it makes enough money to repay the interest on any money borrowed to buy it.
Scrapping tuition fees is the biggest headline for education policy in Labour's leaked plans.
Instead of fees rising to £9,250 per year in the autumn, Jeremy Corbyn is proposing a complete handbrake turn in saying that university tuition should not cost students anything.
It's a bolder step than Labour's previous leader, who two years ago opted for a halfway house of cutting fees to £6,000 - and then was accused of pleasing no-one.
There are no details so far of how the cost would be covered, whether through general taxation or a targeted graduate tax. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, it would cost a ballpark figure of about £11bn per year to replace the cost of fees.
But once the write-off from unpaid loans is taken into account, the cost would be about £8bn per year.
And this is only England - because education funding is a devolved matter. There are no fees for Scottish students in Scotland and the IFS says scrapping the lower fees charged in Northern Ireland and Wales would cost a further £500m per year.
There have been precedents for getting rid of tuition fees in other countries.
Germany has phased out tuition fees - and New York State is making tuition free for families earning up to about £100,000 per year.
But with promises already announced for big spending increases for schools, the university challenge for Labour - its starter for No 10 - will be about funding.
Labour has already set out some of its NHS plans, including pay rises for staff in England above the current 1% pay cap.
Every one percentage point increase above that will cost £500m and Labour said that would be paid for by increases in corporation tax. Other parties argued Labour was already spending the corporation tax receipts several times over.
The draft manifesto includes a £6bn annual increase in NHS funding, though it is not clear when this would be achieved, or whether it includes the amount passed on to the devolved administrations. The funding will come, Labour says, from raising income tax for high earners.
The annual health budget in England is around £115bn, so on the face of it a £6bn increase is significant. But the Conservatives raised NHS spending by £3.8bn in the 2016-17 year and that was in effect eaten up dealing with increased patient demand rather than new service investments.
Labour wants to offer guarantees that NHS performance targets in England for A&E and routine surgery waiting times will be met. That may stretch the extra money the party wants to raise for the NHS.
At the moment the NHS is falling short, though the Conservative Party in government said it wanted to get back to the A&E target of 95% of patients being seen or treated within four hours by next year.
Running the service with the money available is one thing. Improving performance in the face of relentlessly rising patient demand is another.
It is not surprising to see social care mentioned in the manifesto - Labour has been promising something on the growing problems caring for the elderly and adults with disabilities for weeks.
Much of what is included in the manifesto - the end to care workers' 15-minute flying visits for example - have been mentioned while Labour has been in opposition.
The two headline pledges are an extra £8bn for the system over the lifetime of the next Parliament and the potential creation of a national care service. The extra money sounds a lot - last year councils spent just under £20bn on services, including care homes and home help.
But unlike with the NHS, the budget for social care is not decided by central government. It is up to local councils to decide how much to spend.
If they do not put in the same as they have been doing in previous years - and they argue that other cuts to sources of funding would make that difficult - the total amount spent may not necessarily go up.
Much more radical would be the creation of a national care service. Ever since the NHS was formed after the end of the World War Two, there has been a two-tier system.
The poorest get help towards the cost of care, while those with means are expected to meet the full cost themselves. Labour only promises to consult on a universal system - and it is not yet clear what the party has in mind exactly.
But there is a precedent. In 2010, at the end of the Gordon Brown government, Labour came up with a plan for a universal system that would require contributions from individuals - either through tax, an insurance scheme or from their own pocket.
One of Labour's most eye-catching promises is that it would scrap planned increases to the state pension age beyond the already-planned move to 66 in 2020.
That puts in question the move to 67 for people retiring from 2028 and later moves to 68 and, possibly, 69 and 70. The increases are designed to save the taxpayer billions of pounds.
Could some people be able to retire earlier than others in the future and still claim a full pension?
Jeremy Corbyn points out that people in physically demanding jobs - in the emergency services, construction, care and in prisons - should not be expected to work into their late 60s.
So Labour would commission a new review of pension ages to look at a flexible approach, taking into account different jobs and life expectancies. Could this result in some people being allowed to retire earlier than others and still being able to claim the full pension?
The former business leader John Cridland has only just completed a government-commissioned review of the state pension which recommended keeping the same pension age for everyone.
He said there was "no effective mechanism that has been tested that would be able to target those with lower life expectancy".
On how much pension will be paid, Labour had already committed itself to keeping the triple lock, the promise that the state pension will rise each year by inflation, average earnings or 2.5%, whichever is highest.
It could become a key point of difference in the campaign, given the speculation that the Conservatives might water down the guarantee by dropping the 2.5% element.
The main policies on benefits are much as expected.
Labour has been adamant for some time that it would stop job centres imposing benefit sanctions, scrap the under-occupancy charge - known as the bedroom tax - and reinstate housing benefit for 18 to 21-year-olds.
Labour's defence policy appears towards the back of the leaked manifesto - on page 42 of 45.
At first glance, it appears the most controversial subject for the party has been resolved. Labour has committed to renewing the Trident nuclear weapons system, despite Jeremy Corbyn's well-known opposition.
Labour may have backed Trident, but has pledged to carry out a wider defence review
His own concerns are reflected in a passage - in the particular draft version that the BBC has seen - stating that any prime minister should be "extremely cautious" about ever using weapons of "mass destruction". And the document sets out how Labour would work towards a world free of nuclear weapons.
There's also another potential caveat. Labour would carry out an immediate review of all defence policy if it wins the election. That won't please everyone in the military. The armed forces are still trying to fund and implement the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Like the Conservatives, Labour has committed to spending 2% of the national income, or GDP, on defence - a Nato target. Though, interestingly, that is the only mention of the alliance. More time is spent talking about working with the UN.
Labour reminds the electorate that it was the Conservatives - singly and in coalition with the Liberal Democrats - that have been responsible for the largest defence cuts in a generation. It promises to fully fund the armed forces in the future.
But there is still no specific pledge to protect numbers or on equipment. Instead the party's focus appears to be on retention and on improving the lives of service families and veterans with better housing.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39883084
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World Cup 2019: Jeremy Guscott on England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland's draws - BBC Sport
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2017-05-11
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England have a tough group, Scotland & Ireland will fight for Pool A supremacy, and Wales face ambitious Georgia - Jeremy Guscott on World Cup draw.
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I'm terribly excited for the 2019 World Cup in Japan - and having seen Wednesday's draw, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales should all be confident of reaching at least the quarter-finals.
England have the ability and mindset to emerge from what is a tough pool, Scotland's match with Ireland could decide top spot in their group, while Wales will expect to go through - although Georgia will be determined to pull off an upset.
The level of competition in the sport is getting closer and closer across the world - we saw that improvement in the Six Nations this year.
However, the quality of the Rugby Championship is a bit lower at the moment - New Zealand excepted - because South Africa are struggling and Australia have their problems.
So with the northern hemisphere sides being much closer to the southern hemisphere teams now, Japan 2019 could be when a team from the north regains the World Cup.
• None England face tough draw, Ireland and Scotland in same pool
• None 'There will be a lot of buzz in Japan'
It's old fashioned to call it a "Pool of Death", so let's just call it what it is - it's a group that nobody would want.
I can imagine all the coaches, even New Zealand's Steve Hansen, thinking, "I don't want that hard a group," but England head coach Eddie Jones, France's Guy Noves and their Argentina counterpart Daniel Hourcade have got it.
Argentina can be unpredictable - they will be strong but I'm not sure about their age profile. In years gone by it has tended to be quite high and they haven't got a lot of resources or strength in depth.
Understrength England face Argentina in two Tests in June but Jones' tourists are massive underdogs and I don't expect them to win as they will have 15 players away with the British and Irish Lions. With 15 of your best players out you should not be able to go to Argentina and beat a full-strength Pumas.
France have improved but they are typically not great away from home. However, they are traditionally good in World Cup tournaments so it's a tough one for England.
But Jones' team has got a different mindset to Stuart Lancaster's side, which went out in the pool stages in 2015. The current team have won a Grand Slam and a Six Nations Championship and many of them have won three consecutive Tests against Australia away from home. They have an identity as winners.
He says they have to be ready to beat anyone but you would prefer a comfortable route to the quarter-final. You want a good sweat and some competition but don't want to be beaten.
If I was playing I would have liked an easy group before what is going to be a hard quarter-final, whoever you play. Every side in the top eight can beat one another on the day.
'Scotland will believe they can beat Ireland'
Ireland and Scotland know each other so well. Scotland beat Ireland at Murrayfield in the Six Nations this year by scoring three tries so they will have no problem believing they can win that game.
But both sides will know they can get through to the quarter-finals, while Scotland saw off Japan when they played in 2015.
Japan could be a bit better at home than they were under Eddie Jones in England, when they stunned South Africa in the group stages. But we don't know much about their new boss Jamie Joseph and we know that Jones is a special coach.
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt is a master tactician but we don't know much about incoming Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend at international level.
Townsend will want to build on the side that won three home games in the Six Nations but improve on those poor away performances.
He'll have 20 games or so, including two more Six Nations tournaments, before the World Cup to get those poor performances out of the window and build a team strong enough to get through.
Georgia are a tough emerging side who have been banging on the door of the Six Nations for a while, wanting to be recognised.
They have an opportunity in the next two seasons to boost their team and build themselves so they can prove a point against Wales.
Wales should have been in their prime in 2015 but they were injury ravaged and conceded a soft try to lose the quarter-final to South Africa.
In 2011 they were a young squad that got to the semi-finals. In 2019 a lot of those key players will all be over 30 years old - not past their sell-by date, but the squad needs some new players coming through.
There are still some question marks over whether Warren Gatland wants to continue with Wales after the Lions tour, but he has a great record as a coach and if he's still there, his and the players' experience will see them through the group.
Australia were in a similar position to Wales in 2011 and 2015. Rugby union is facing difficult times in Australia so it will be interesting to see how they do in 2019.
They are always good in World Cups, whether they are coming in with poor or good form, but we'll see if they can still be successful with all the challenges they face domestically.
'All Blacks will ease through with South Africa in huge decline'
Holders New Zealand have got a nice work-out leading into a quarter-final.
Two-time champions South Africa are nowhere near the force they once were - they are in huge decline. There are over 350 South African players playing outside their country and I don't see them challenging unless a quick storm of talent starts appearing in the next two years.
Although Italy beat South Africa in November they won't spring a surprise in the World Cup - they were appalling in the Six Nations.
Head coach Conor O'Shea has the opportunity to improve but I'm not sure they have enough time. A lot of players learn by rote so that things eventually become automatic - that's difficult to do in a short space of time unless you have the natural talent.
But Sergio Parisse has been Italy's best player for over a decade now and they need someone new of his calibre to come through.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39870514
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Women's Euro 2017: England to face Denmark in final warm-up game - BBC Sport
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2017-05-11
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England Women will play Denmark in Copenhagen in their final match before this summer's European Championship.
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Last updated on .From the section Women's Football
England Women will play Denmark in their final match before this summer's Euro 2017 in the Netherlands.
Denmark, ranked 15th in the world, have also qualified for the tournament.
The two sides will meet at Copenhagen's Gladsaxe Stadium on Saturday, 1 July, at 18:00 BST.
"Denmark are a team who will have genuine ambitions of going a long way in the summer, so it will be a good challenge for us," England head coach Mark Sampson said.
England will meet up for their Euros training camp on 5 June and also play Switzerland in Biel on 10 June.
Their Euro 2017 opener against Scotland is in Utrecht on 19 July, followed by Spain in Breda on 23 July and Portugal in Tilburg on 27 July.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39882496
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Critics are 'Fifa-bashing' and spreading 'fake news' - Gianni Infantino - BBC Sport
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2017-05-11
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Critics of world football's governing body are spreading "fake news" and taking part in "Fifa bashing", says president Gianni Infantino.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Critics of world football's governing body are spreading "fake news" and taking part in "Fifa bashing", says president Gianni Infantino.
Fifa's decision this week not to reappoint ethics chiefs Hans-Joachim Eckert and Cornel Borbely means an end to the reform process, the pair said.
Infantino's predecessor Sepp Blatter is serving a six-year ban from football for ethics breaches.
"We took over the organisation at its deepest point," said Infantino.
"We are rebuilding Fifa's reputation after all that happened."
Infantino, 47, took over as Fifa president in January 2016 after the 81-year-old Blatter's 17-year reign ended in a corruption scandal.
Chief investigator Borbely and ethics adjudicator Eckert said "hundreds" of cases of alleged wrongdoing - some involving senior officials - were being looked into by Fifa's ethics committee before they were ousted.
In response to their claims, Fifa released a statement on Wednesday, saying it wanted to "better reflect the geographic and gender diversity that must be a part of an international organisation like Fifa".
"There are a lot of fake news and alternative facts about Fifa circulating," said Infantino, speaking before the Fifa congress in Bahrain.
"Fifa bashing has become a national sport in some countries. It was right but Fifa has changed now."
Last month, high-ranking Fifa official Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah resigned a day after denying claims linking him to a fraud case. He denies any wrongdoing.
Infantino said the "new Fifa" under his leadership was a "transparent organisation" that was not "fiddling around".
He added: "If there is anyone who still thinks that he can enrich himself and he can abuse football, I have one plea for them - leave football now. We don't want you."
The governing body made a commitment to reform in 2011 after corruption allegations, only for a deeper scandal to emerge in 2015 that saw arrests and a raid at a hotel in Zurich as well as a large-scale investigation by US authorities.
Blatter and former Uefa boss Michel Platini were both banned after the former Fifa boss was found to have made a £1.3m "disloyal payment" to the Frenchman. Both men deny any wrongdoing.
French prosecutors are also investigating the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and have questioned Blatter.
Infantino was critical of governance experts who had been "paid millions" by Fifa to help reform the organisation, and claimed they had "rubber-stamped a sick and wrong system".
He asked: "Where were all these self-proclaimed gurus and experts? They all miserably failed. We will not accept good governance lessons from any individuals who miserably failed to protect football."
The former Uefa general secretary also offered "a big thanks" to authorities who had prosecuted officials involved in football corruption, saying they could "count on" Fifa's help.
'Nothing has changed from Blatter days'
However, ex-Fifa presidential candidate Prince Ali of Jordan said he believes nothing has changed under Infantino.
"This is the kind of congress that we have seen before," he told BBC Sport.
"The system, the way business is conducted, it is the same. I don't see the refreshing change, the openness, the transparency that everybody talks about taking effect on the ground.
"I feel a sense of responsibility to speak up when I see that things are not going right or when things are blatantly wrong. We can't keep saying the same thing."
What else did Infantino address?
• None The need to boost women's football - he added that Fifa was looking at the creation of a 'world league' for the women's game, without giving further details
• None Fifa's finances - which he said were "extremely solid" after recent reports of major losses
• None A charity match to be held between an England Legends and a World Legends team at Wembley when London hosts the Fifa Best Awards on 23 October
The Fifa congress also voted overwhelmingly to fast-track the bidding process for the 2026 World Cup, which will be the first tournament expanded to feature 48 teams.
The winner will be announced in June 2018 at the governing body's annual meeting, which is due to take place in Moscow.
A joint submission from the US, Canada and Mexico remains the only declared bid, but a three-month window has now started for other nations to submit expressions of interest.
However, Europe and Asia are blocked under Fifa's rules from bidding because they will host the 2018 and 2022 editions of the tournament respectively.
Analysis - US, Mexico & Canada bid in pole position for 2026
Oceania lacks the interest and capability to host an expanded 48-team tournament and South America has already given its support to its northerly neighbours.
That leaves Africa. There are rumours of a potential bid by Morocco. However, that has not yet materialised and given the burden of having to stage 80 games it would be likely to require other adjoining countries to join them.
Such a bid would need huge infrastructure and stadium investment. Simply put, today's vote leaves US, Canada and Mexico in pole position to be awarded the tournament in one year's time.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39881256
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How does draft manifesto compare with Labour's 1983 one? - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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How does Labour's draft general election manifesto compare with the plans it set out in 1983?
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Election 2017
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Michael Foot and Jeremy Corbyn - Labour leaders from different eras
Labour's draft general election manifesto has been compared by some with the party's 1983 manifesto - how do the two documents measure up?
The 1983 manifesto was written at a time of economic turmoil, mass unemployment and Cold War tensions and is arguably more ambitious in its scope. It is certainly framed in more forceful language.
"Within days of taking office, Labour will begin to implement an emergency programme of action, to bring about a complete change of direction for Britain," it says.
"Our priority will be to create jobs and give a new urgency to the struggle for peace. In many cases we will be able to act immediately."
They are very different documents in many ways, written to reflect the concerns of their respective times.
Jeremy Corbyn's draft manifesto uses a more measured tone, talking about "delivering a fairer, more prosperous society for the many, not just the few".
There is no mention of socialism, in contrast to the nine mentions it gets in 1983.
But at the 2017 manifesto's heart is the same commitment to using government intervention and public money to boost industrial development and create jobs.
In 1983, Labour leader Michael Foot had a five year "emergency programme" to rebuild industry and end mass unemployment. In 2017, Jeremy Corbyn proposes a "a ten-year national investment plan to upgrade Britain's economy".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Labour propose massive public investment, withdrawal from the EEC and nuclear disarmament in their manifesto for the 1983 general election
Both manifestos propose higher taxes on the rich and a crack down on tax avoidance.
In 1983, Labour said: "We shall reform taxation so that the rich pay their full share and the tax burden on the lower paid is reduced."
In 2017, Labour says "only the highest 5% of earners will be asked to contribute more in tax to help fund our public services".
The 1983 manifesto goes further, proposing "a new annual tax on net personal wealth" to "ensure that the richest 100,000 of the population make a fair and proper contribution to tax revenue".
Both manifestos include plans for a National Investment Bank to boost industrial development and support research and development.
The 2017 version would allow the government to use public money to support long-term, higher-risk investment that the bank's are reluctant to touch.
The 1983 version of the National Investment Bank is more interventionist.
It proposes drawing up development plans with "all leading companies - national and multinational, public and private". Like the 2017 plan, it would provide access to credit, but a Labour government would have the power to "invest in individual companies, to purchase them outright or to assume temporary control".
The 1983 manifesto also includes a commitment to reintroducing exchange controls, scrapped by the Conservatives in 1979, to "counter currency speculation" and stop capital "flowing overseas".
In 1983, Labour was committed to scrapping Britain's nuclear weapons, saying "we are the only party that offers a non-nuclear defence policy."
In 2017, Labour says it supports "the renewal of the Trident submarine system".
But, in a possible nod to Jeremy Corbyn's longstanding opposition to nuclear weapons, it adds "any prime minister should be extremely cautious about ordering the use of weapons of mass destruction which would result in the indiscriminate killing of millions of innocent civilians".
Both manifestos stress the need for Britain to work for nuclear disarmament through international bodies.
Although the 2017 draft manifesto backs Britain's exit from the EU, following last year's referendum result, it is less Eurosceptic in tone than the 1983 document.
It praises the EU for protecting workers' rights and the environment and vows to fight to keep them in Brexit negotiations.
The 1983 manifesto says European Economic Community, as the EU was then known, "was never devised to suit us, and our experience as a member of it has made it more difficult for us to deal with our economic and industrial problems".
Labour promised to begin withdrawal from the EEC without a referendum if it won power.
The 1983 manifesto pledges to renationalise the industries privatised by the Thatcher government.
The 2017 manifesto includes plans to renationalise the Royal Mail and the railways - which were still state-owned in 1983 - and part-nationalise the energy industry. Labour would also "take control" of the National Grid if it won power.
The trade unions play a more central role in Labour's 1983 plans for the economy, reflecting the greater power they had at that time.
The 2017 manifesto includes plans to restore some of that power by repealing the 2016 Trade Union Act and bringing back collective pay bargaining to some sectors. A Ministry of Labour would be introduced to oversee increased unionisation across the workforce.
Both manifestos include plans to build more council houses and offer more protections to private renters.
They also include plans to help more people buy their own homes and crack down on leasehold abuses. Jeremy Corbyn would also halt the sale of social housing, in an echo of the 1983 manifesto's pledge to end council house sales.
In 1983, the party would have gone much further.
It proposed "a new Price Commission to investigate companies, monitor price increases and order price freezes and reductions. These controls will be closely linked to our industrial planning, through agreed development plans with the leading, price-setting firms".
It would "take full account of these measures in the national economic assessment, to be agreed each year with the trade unions".
Increased spending on the NHS is a key priority in both the 1983 and the 2017 manifestos.
In 1983, Labour pledged to "increase health service expenditure by 3% per annum in real terms".
In 2017, Labour is promising to spend an extra £6bn to be paid for tax increases on higher earners.
Labour's 2017 manifesto vows to "reverse" privatisation of the NHS. In 1983, the party promised to curb the expansion of private health care and "take into the NHS those parts of the profit-making private sector which can be put to good use".
"We will not allow the development of a two-tier health service, where the rich can jump the queue," the 1983 manifesto adds.
Both manifestos include a commitment to cut class sizes to below 30, although the 1983 manifesto pledges this for all schools, while the 2017 version says it will initially be for "all 5, 6, and 7 year olds", with the rest to follow "as resources allow".
Jeremy Corbyn is also pledging to introduce free school meals for all primary school children, paid for by removing the VAT exemption on private school fees.
The 1983 manifesto includes plans to charge VAT on private school fees and promises to "re-establish the school meals and milk services, cut back by the Tories".
It describes private schools as a "major obstacle to a free and fair education system" and promises to end their charitable status and "integrate" them into the local authority sector "where necessary".
It also rejects the "Tory proposals for student loans," a policy echoed in Jeremy Corbyn's pledge to scrap tuition fees and bring back maintenance grants for low-income students.
The 1983 manifesto also pledges to scrap corporal punishment - the beating of children with canes or straps - in schools. The Conservatives outlawed this in state schools three years later.
Net migration to the UK - the difference between the numbers coming to live in the country and those leaving - was 17,000 in 1983 - a fraction of what it is today.
In 1983, Labour said it accepted the need for immigration controls but vowed to scrap Conservative laws restricting the rights of Commonwealth citizens to remain in the UK and replace them with "a citizenship law that does not discriminate against either women or black and Asian Britons".
In 2017, Labour says it would scrap the Conservative target of reducing net migration to the "tens of thousands" and instead make a positive case for "controlled" migration to boost the economy.
It would bring in laws to stop companies undercutting wages with migrant workers or recruiting workers solely from abroad.
The internet may have been a distant dream in 1983, but then, just as now, broadband was a major preoccupation for Labour politicians, it seems.
The 1983 manifesto envisages a "national, broadband network" to carry a "wide range of new telecommunications services" and "greater variety in the provision of television".
But, it adds, this important new system must be "under firm public control", with the job of building it handed exclusively to "publicly-owned British Telecommunications".
Thirty four years later, the Labour manifesto includes a whole raft of broadband promises, including "universal superfast broadband availability by 2022", although there are no plans to renationalise BT to deliver it.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39872189
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Ross Barkley: Everton midfielder has until next weekend to sign new deal - BBC Sport
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2017-05-11
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Everton midfielder Ross Barkley has until next weekend to sign a new contract or he will be sold, says manager Ronald Koeman.
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Everton midfielder Ross Barkley has until the end of the Premier League season next weekend to sign a new contract or he will be sold, says manager Ronald Koeman.
Koeman last month warned the England international, 23, that with a year left on his deal he could be sold.
Everton face Watford on Friday before finishing their Premier League campaign at Arsenal on Sunday, 21 May.
"Either he accepts the contract or we sell the player," said Koeman.
"But if you need so much time then you have doubts - I like to work with players who like to stay."
The Dutchman said the Everton board had tried "for a long time" to get Barkley to sign and were already looking at replacements in attacking positions.
He added: "We don't wait till August - next weekend we need an answer."
Barkley has scored four goals and provided eight assists in 34 Premier League appearances this season.
Koeman has used tough love to get the best out of Barkley this season - from public criticism, removal at half-time at Sunderland, praise for improvement but then back to dropping him at Swansea City last weekend. The latest message was just tough - no love involved.
Ruthless and pragmatic, the Everton boss delivered the ultimatum with the air of a man who would not lose a single second of sleep should he have to sell Barkley, making it clear he questions his long-term commitment because of his apparent reluctance to sign a new deal.
Barkley now faces a dilemma. The boyhood Everton fan seems to believe the grass might be greener elsewhere, perhaps for Champions League football at Tottenham. But would Barkley even get in a Spurs team that already has Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen? Could he risk being a bench-warmer with a World Cup looming and England looking certain to qualify?
For Koeman's part, this unsentimental and single-minded individual clearly believes Barkley has had long enough to decide if he wants to stay at Everton and if he wishes to leave seems perfectly content to show him the door.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39886112
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Nine-month stretch: The rise of prenatal exercise classes - BBC News
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2017-05-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A look at the growing popularity around the world of exercise classes for pregnant women.
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Business
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In Singapore, it's very rare to see pregnant women taking part in rigorous activity outdoors
As a growing number of pregnant women are joining prenatal exercises classes, the BBC's Sarah Porter - 34 weeks into her pregnancy - attends a boot camp in Singapore.
It's 8.45am on a Saturday and Singapore's Botanic Gardens are alive with people and activity.
Local walking groups chat furiously in Mandarin, while gaggles of women push prams, coffees in hand. No-one seems particularly deterred by the rising heat.
I'm here to join a brand new exercise group called Mom In Balance. It's a franchise business founded in the Netherlands that specialises in outdoor exercise programmes for pregnant women and new mothers.
As I sit and wait for others to arrive, a group of five or six women run by me, overtaking everyone in sight. They are being led by a tall blonde woman wearing a t-shirt that says Mom in Balance. I start to panic a little.
I've done a reasonable amount of exercise throughout my pregnancy, including some swimming and a (very little) bit of running. But there is absolutely no way I'll be able to keep up with the group I've just seen sprint past.
Jantien from Mom In Balance puts Sarah Porter through her paces
Thankfully, a heavily pregnant woman decked out in running gear comes and sits next to me. I'm at the right spot, she tells me, at the right time. The 8am class I've just seen run past is for mothers getting back into shape soon after childbirth.
The tall blonde instructor returns to take the 9am class - a group which is now made up of three or four quite visibly pregnant women, together with some others.
As we set off on our warm-up, we are already dripping with sweat. As it is far from usual to see groups of pregnant women exercising outside in Singapore, passers-by stop and stare.
"Don't worry, we're famous here," one woman says to me. "Some people even stop to take photos of us."
Despite well-documented studies that show the benefits of exercise during all stages of pregnancy, globally the prenatal exercise industry is relatively new.
In fact, while a mass of data is readily available on the $542bn (£418bn) world fitness industry, it is very difficult to find any about prenatal classes.
For example, the Global Wellness Institute (GWI) reports extensively on the fitness industry, but has no statistics whatsoever on the prenatal sector. Nor could they find any for me, from any country.
Mom In Balance's Back in Shape classes for new mothers are more vigorous
However, GWI's director of research Beth McGroarty, says the sector is definitely now expanding strongly.
"Programmes are being added at existing fitness centres and there are more prenatal yoga, Pilates and other gentle workouts available," she says.
"And given the powerful growth in prenatal fitness programmes, one can assume there will be research on this market in the future."
Founded in 2006, Mom in Balance now has franchises in 11 countries, including the US, Japan and Germany, as it tries to meet increasing demand from mums-to-be.
Others look on as Mom in Balance member Emma, 38 weeks pregnant, warms up
While the bulk of its 7,000 members are in the Netherlands, founder Esther van Diepen, is aiming to see that figure hit at least 10,000 by the end of this year, as it continues to expand around the world.
Here in Singapore, the franchise is just four months old, with 75 active members. Jantien Kroese-van den Berg, a fitness instructor and the country's new Mom in Balance franchise owner, hopes to double those numbers by the end of the year.
At 150 Singapore dollars ($108; £83) per month for a variety of classes, Jantien says she is expecting to rely more heavily on Singapore's expat community than its locals for the initial growth in numbers.
Word of mouth, she hopes, will then see more Singaporeans joining, despite some cultural opposition to pregnant women doing exercises.
In Singapore, where the population is about 75% ethnic Chinese, together with minorities including Indians and Malays, it's very rare to see pregnant women en masse taking part in rigorous activity outdoors. Prenatal yoga and Pilates is popular, but not more vigorous exercise.
Jantien says: "There is sometimes a general feeling that you should do nothing because that might be better to hold on to your pregnancy.
Jantien wants to grow her Singapore membership numbers to 150 by the end of the year
"The Asian-born ladies in my classes - they all have to defend themselves to their families, even to their friends."
A 2015 research paper that analyses the differences in beliefs, attitudes and intentions towards prenatal exercise between women in China and Australia explains a little of what's behind this.
"In traditional Chinese culture, pregnancy is considered a vulnerable period that requires rest and recuperation, with many antenatal taboos, some of which may contrast with international guidelines on exercise in pregnancy," the report says.
"Two relevant taboos intended to avoid spontaneous miscarriage include 'not walking too fast' and 'not walking too often', which have been reported to be adhered to by the majority of Chinese women," it continues.
But Mom in Balance member Richa Nair, a Singaporean Indian, explains it's not only a traditional Chinese belief that prenatal exercise can be dangerous.
"My friends sounded a bit shocked when I described the exercises we do, but soon that turned to admiration," she says.
"With regards to my family, they are mostly horrified and believe this is a time to relax and slow down the pace of life. Their eyebrows shot into their foreheads when I told them about my prenatal exercising."
Dr Ann Tan, a leading obstetrician and gynaecologist in Singapore, says attitudes towards prenatal exercise are definitely changing, though perhaps more slowly in parts of Asia.
Like most medical professionals, though, she is guarded with her advice.
"Usually I don't like any high impact in the first trimester. I like walking, you can swim too. But no high impact stuff," she says.
"The second and third trimester depends very much on the lady herself. If she's perfectly well and she's been active all her life, then she can actually resume some of her exercise, but tail it down to about 60%."
Singapore-based personal trainer Aaron Rolley, the boss of International Fitness Consultants, has worked with pregnant women for about 20 years.
A personal training session with Aaron Rolley doesn't attract quite as much as attention as the Mom in Balance groups
Charging 100 Singapore dollars for a one-on-one session, he has built a reputation as a leader in his field.
"Training during pregnancy is not about losing fat or going for a personal best," says Aaron.
"The workout for each mother will look very different, some will just stretch, foam roll and mobilise, while others will be doing chin ups and push ups. It depends on the individual and their training history."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39715679
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US Open qualifying: Golfer scores 127 at event in Alabama - BBC Sport
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2017-05-11
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An American golfer fails to score a single par and manages just two bogeys as he scores 127 in US Open local qualifying.
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Last updated on .From the section Golf
Next time you're hacking your way around the golf course, summon the spirit of the player who not only failed to card a single par but only managed two bogeys on his way to an eye-watering 127 in US Open local qualifying - finishing 55 shots over par.
On the 10th hole at Silver Lakes in Glencoe, Alabama, Clifton McDonald began badly with a double bogey seven.
Things got significantly worse, and he was 14 over par after six holes by the time he stepped on to the 16th tee. Fourteen furious swipes later, he had completed the par five.
Most people would have walked off. But not Clifton.
He forged on regardless to make what the Alabama Golf Association says is without doubt "the highest score we've had in any qualifying event".
"The guy was really nice. It's just you could tell he was in over his head," executive director Andy Priest told BBC Sport.
"It was a beautiful sunny day, it wasn't breezy at all. It's just a tough golf course.
"The feedback we got from other players was that it was firm and fast. Honestly it's good qualifying for the Open at Erin Hills.
"We got his scorecard and he confirmed what he had shot, but we didn't speak to him for very long. You could tell he had had a long day.
"But it I will say one thing, the gentleman played it out."
Lee McCoy, who finished second on Wednesday to take one of five qualifying spots, tweeted the picture above, adding: "The scorecard of the guy that played in front of me at US Open qualifying today. Shot 68 on his front 9 and decided to finish #NeverGiveUp."
McDonald was, perhaps not surprisingly, bottom of the pack in 67th.
This year's US Open takes place between 15-18 June in Erin Hills, Wisconsin.
About half of the field is made up of players who are exempt from qualifying - such as the defending champion, Dustin Johnson.
But any professional golfer, or an amateur with a handicap of 1.4 or lower, is eligible to enter local qualifying, which is played at 114 courses around the US and Canada.
Those who are successful advance to sectional qualifying, which takes place at 10 sites in the US as well as in Japan and at Walton Heath in Surrey.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/39892101
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Short term negatives, long term positives - BBC News
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2017-05-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Bank of England says 2017 may be the low point for wage growth and warns financial markets that they may be too dovish on likely interest rate rises.
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Business
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The Bank of England moved into caution mode today.
After two major upgrades to its growth forecasts since the referendum - in November and February - today saw a slight downward revision.
But it is not time to race for the lifeboats.
The Bank said business investment was stronger than expected and that growth next year and in 2019 was likely to be slightly higher than previously forecast - although still significantly below 2%.
A prediction, it said pointedly, "conditioned on the assumptions that the adjustment to the United Kingdom's new relationship with the European Union is smooth".
For this year there are some major negative trends.
Consumers have started to feel the effects of inflation and there has been a "slowing in real household spending growth".
Wage growth is also "notably weaker than expected" and is set to be below inflation this year - meaning that real incomes are falling.
The incomes squeeze - felt so widely after the financial crisis - is back.
Businesses are still nervous about the future - and what they may invest in salaries - and there is enough slack in the labour market to make inflationary wage demands difficult.
At the same time, the Bank upgraded its inflation forecast, saying it could now hit 2.8% as the effects of the fall in the value of sterling wash through an economy that imports 40% of its food and fuel.
But the Bank's take on the temperature of the economy is more than a one year analysis.
And over the three year forecast period, it is more bullish.
Sterling has strengthened this year after its precipitate fall following the Brexit vote.
The European - and indeed global - economy is stronger than expected, important for a trading nation like the UK.
Wage growth will strengthen, it says, as the employment market tightens.
Inflation risk will dissipate as the effects of sterling's decline falls out of the data.
This is a carefully worded Inflation Report, drafted, of course, in the middle of an election campaign.
It is cautious in the short term, with the Bank indicating privately that 2017, when it comes to that key issue of wage growth, could be "the worst of it".
There is a sting in the tail.
Earlier this year the markets judged that the chances of an interest rate rise were so low there was only likely to be one increase over the next three years.
Today the Bank was certainly more hawkish, saying that monetary policy "could need to be tightened by a somewhat greater extent" than markets believed.
That is not to say there is likely to be an interest rate hike any time soon.
But, if the Bank's more positive outlook towards the end of the three year forecast period comes to pass, the Monetary Policy Committee could move more rapidly towards interest rate rises than some expect.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39884012
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Chelsea are Premier League champions: How did Antonio Conte do it? - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Antonio Conte's rejuvenation of Chelsea is considered a miracle by some at Stamford Bridge - so what makes the Italian so impressive?
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Antonio Conte's transformation of Chelsea from fallen champions to Premier League title winners inside 12 months was completed with victory at West Bromwich Albion - a remarkable success story in his first season at Stamford Bridge.
The 47-year-old inherited a squad that had declined from domestic superpower to mid-table mediocrity amid acrimony and the sacking of title-winning manager Jose Mourinho. But he has shown the personality, tactical brilliance and sure touch to put them back at the top of the English game.
So how has the charismatic Italian achieved what many inside Stamford Bridge regard as a miraculous rejuvenation of fortunes to return the Premier League crown to Chelsea?
The scene is a side room in an Austrian hotel on 16 July 2016.
Chelsea's players are coming down from their rooms for a pre-match meal before a friendly against Rapid Vienna, as the Conte reign officially gets under way.
In the past, tables would have been laden with chicken, pasta, pizza, sandwiches, scrambled egg and salad - this time Chelsea's squad set eyes on a selection of seeds, nuts and dried fruit.
Some players, bemused, turn on their heels and leave, assuming they have wandered into the wrong room rather than a new era. They soon return.
Conte, as he has done since day one at Stamford Bridge, outlines in detail and from personal experience why this is happening. He explains how long some food might take to digest, running the risk of players perhaps carrying an extra half a kilo into games.
The message was swiftly embraced as players felt fitter, healthier and better equipped for the season ahead.
As Chelsea decamped to Los Angeles to continue preparations for the new season, Conte's trademark attention to detail was becoming even more obvious, as the Italian put on tough double sessions, sometimes in 30-degree heat.
He proved a hard tactical taskmaster, as opposed to running players into the ground. Conte loves the role of head coach rather than manager.
Unlike Mourinho, it was Conte who put out the cones - measuring exact distances - and the emphasis was on drill after drill. It was repetition until Chelsea's players knew exactly what was expected, even using shadow sessions of 11 players against none.
Video analysis was, and continues to be, exhaustive as Conte goes through every aspect of Chelsea's training, preparation and games in minute, meticulous detail.
Some days Conte was left frustrated that the message was not quite getting across, but on others the signs were there that any initial reservations his players had, inevitable when a new manager arrives, were disappearing.
The foundations and building blocks were being put in place for a season of Premier League title-winning success.
• None Quiz: The big goals, the big players - how Chelsea won the title
• None How well do you know Chelsea's champions?
When Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo spoke of "palpable discord between manager and players" following the sacking of Mourinho just seven months after winning the title, it underlined the scale of the task that would await his full-time successor.
The trusted Guus Hiddink returned for a second spell in interim charge as a sticking plaster over the wounds, but at season's end a squad used to success looked broken and lacking in unity as it finished in 10th place.
Conte was seen by Chelsea's decision-makers - Emenalo, highly influential director Marina Granovskaia and, of course, owner Roman Abramovich - as a man with a pedigree of success - having won three Scudetto in Italy with Juventus - and the personality to organise and galvanise.
It was an impression he confirmed when, after his appointment at Chelsea had been announced, he took what most regarded as an ordinary Italy team to the last eight of Euro 2016, losing on penalties to Germany after outstanding wins over Belgium and Spain.
Conte, even before Euro 2016, had taken time out from his Italy duties to visit Chelsea's Cobham training base to introduce himself to his future charges.
He arrived on one occasion while Hiddink was conducting a training session, but insisted on showing full respect to the veteran Dutch coach, waiting around a corner out of sight until he finished the final 30 minutes' work before introducing himself to the players.
Conte was assuming a role that the long list of his predecessors proves is highly demanding, but he has forged a close and productive working relationship with Chelsea's hierarchy.
He is in daily contact with Emenalo and speaks regularly to Granovskaia, who is in charge of transfers and heavily involved throughout the club, as well as with Abramovich when the opportunity and occasion arises, as when the Russian billionaire flew in to attend Chelsea's FA Youth Cup final win against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
Abramovich may have many other demands on his time but still has a major input and involvement in every significant decision taken at the club.
Conte is sure to want to refresh and improve his title-winning squad for the added demands of Champions League football next season, so Chelsea's tried and trusted acquisition strategy will be at his full disposal.
Gone are the days when the likes of Andriy Shevchenko would arrived gift-wrapped (and in Mourinho's case unappreciated) for a manager.
The current system, with Emenalo's scouting network at its hub, involves the manager being presented with a list of long-term club targets, to which he can add his own and even set aside those names he does not require.
When Conte makes his moves at the end of the season, with Everton striker Romelu Lukaku heavily linked with a return, they will not be spur-of-the-moment transactions. He will have been a key figure in the drawing up of potential signings.
Conte has silenced the sound of palpable discord and it has been a harmonious Chelsea, on and off the pitch, that has secured a richly deserved Premier League title.
Italy's over-achievement at Euro 2016 was compelling evidence of how close bonds within a camp can produce results beyond expectation.
It is something Conte has brought to Chelsea and placed at the heart of his approach and success.
Conte organised a pre-season barbecue for players, staff and families at Cobham. Marquees were erected and a five-a-side pitch set out for the children. It set the tone for the season, with striker Diego Costa spoiling his villainous public image by happily joining in with the youngsters for 40 minutes, during which he was even taken out by a tackle.
When pre-season got under way in Austria and LA, Chelsea's support staff were surprised to be singled out for warm handshakes and words every day from a manager intent on providing unity at a club that has had its share of instability, often actually generating renewed success, over the years.
At the staff Christmas party, the tradition is for the manager to record a message to be played at the event.
Conte duly obliged, but then asked if he could also attend the event for about 500 people at the Under The Bridge music venue at Stamford Bridge, staying for more than two hours, spending time mingling with guests and happily posing for pictures and selfies.
He spent a similar amount of time at a trampoline party organised for players' children around the festive period - while staff at Cobham also saw evidence of his personal touch last Christmas.
Conte ensured staff received wine and Prosecco, with every bottle personally addressed to the individual as thanks, and accompanied by a card with the words of Hannibal as he prepared to cross the Alps by elephant: "We shall either find a way or make one."
Conte's seasonal goodwill even extended to the media, with a group invited to a local pub and bought drinks after a pre-match news conference in the build-up to the Boxing Day game with Bournemouth.
The irony is the manager intent on developing the Chelsea "family" has had to cope for long spells without wife Elisabetta and nine-year-old daughter Vittoria, who have remained in Italy but will soon join him in London.
Every month, players and staff will go out together for a meal - but Chelsea's players also know when to keep their distance.
Former Chelsea and Scotland winger Pat Nevin witnessed a moment that underlined how Conte, while always available to any player, is not to be trifled with.
He told BBC Sport: "The fun guys at the training ground, the daft ones, David Luiz and Diego Costa, are always having a laugh.
"Costa was sneaking up behind people and throwing big buckets of iced water over them. He was running up behind Antonio and he was going to do the ice bucket over the top and, even though you know Antonio is a good laugh and he was having a joke, he got all the way up then chickened out.
"The players kind of think you're one of them but they're not quite sure. As a manager you've nailed it then - and Conte has nailed it."
Nevin added: "I have also spent a couple of hours with him and interviewed him. We spoke before, just chatting, but he is the classic mix in that he can be great fun but then you see the steely eyes and think you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him.
"You judge a manager by whether he gets the most out of his players. If you are managing a company, a newspaper, a shop or a football team, your job is to get the best out of your staff. He has done that."
Conte's success has meant the potentially thorny issue of captain John Terry's absence from the team and subsequent departure has become an amicable and dignified parting - while a reported training-ground row with Costa in January was handled with the striker left out of the 3-0 win at Leicester City before returning with a goal as Hull City were beaten 2-0.
He is close to his players but also prepared to draw the line. As the card in the Christmas present promised, he has found his way at Chelsea.
Conte's attention to detail and determination to create the perfect environment at Cobham has produced what he wants most in football - success.
Italian journalist Stefano Boldrini, London correspondent for Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport, told BBC Sport: "Conte is a person who lives football every hour, every minute of the day.
"He is always focused on his work, not only on the training ground or in his office. When he is at his house in Chelsea he watches football, speaks with his staff. His mind is always on his work.
"It was the same in Italy but this is a new experience. He has had to fight against Jose Mourinho's Manchester United, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, Arsenal of Arsene Wenger, Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham.
"He likes the sea and he likes good restaurants but his life is about good football. He is enjoying life in England but Conte does not go into London a lot. His life is Cobham and his house. He is very focused on his work.
"He is a very reserved person. For him it was not easy because in one year he has had to learn English, to learn about English football. I don't know about the future but he is really focused on his work now."
Conte's affection for aspects of English football was demonstrated when he applauded the Middlesbrough fans who continued to support their team even though they were relegated with defeat at Chelsea.
Boldrini says: "I know he is a passionate man but it was fantastic when he went to the Middlesbrough fans to applaud them. It was class behaviour and this is Antonio Conte.
"He loves England. He was celebrating the civilisation of English football with what happened with the Boro fans. It was honest."
The idea of Conte as a reserved figure is at odds with the manic touchline celebrations that saw him swinging from a dugout after Gary Cahill's later winner at Stoke City, and ripping an expensive pair of trousers and injuring his leg in one outpouring of joy earlier this season.
Conte, it is believed, finds it awkward to watch those moments back, but it is an insight into the pleasure Chelsea's progress under his tutelage has brought him.
The transformation in Chelsea's season started to unfold in the corridors at Emirates Stadium after a humbling 3-0 loss to Arsenal on 24 September left Conte's side in eighth place, eight points behind leaders Manchester City.
Conte was emotional and downcast as he conducted post-match media duties, but he was cold enough to deliver the clearest of messages: "We must reflect a lot. From the first minute, we have had a bad attitude.
"We are now a great team only on paper not on the pitch. We must show we are a great team on the pitch not on paper."
The loss followed a home defeat by Liverpool in their previous league game that even had some bookmakers suggesting Conte might be an early winner of the managerial sack race.
There was no panic behind the scenes. The club's power-brokers had full faith in their manager and he justified their confidence with a tactical switch that turned Chelsea from a team with doubts about its top-six credentials into an all-conquering force en route to the title.
Chelsea already had future double player of the year N'Golo Kante as a brilliant midfield bedrock after his £30m move from Premier League champions Leicester City - but Conte pulled off a strategic coup that was even more audacious.
Conte reverted to a three-man central-defensive system for the subsequent 2-0 win at Hull City. It was the first of 13 successive league wins. Chelsea's quality had moved from paper to pitch.
New signing Marcos Alonso and the returning Luiz were key figures. Cesar Azpilicueta was part of the central triumvirate but Conte's finest moment may even have come in his reinvention of Victor Moses as a right wing-back of high calibre.
Moses had almost become an itinerant footballer, lost and unloved at Chelsea after being signed by Roberto di Matteo from Wigan Athletic for £9m in August 2012.
He arrived on the same day as Azpilicueta signed from Marseille - but their courses could not have been more different as the 26-year-old spent unspectacular loan spells at Liverpool, Stoke City and West Ham United before Conte spotted something no-one else had uncovered.
Moses made 59 league appearances in those three loan seasons, scoring five goals, and had only made 23 appearances with 12 starts for Chelsea before this season, during which he has played 38 times.
Nevin said: "You see he is going 3-4-3 and you know who the wide man in the four is. It is Cesar Azpilicueta - only it isn't. It's Victor Moses.
"I love it and it impresses me so much when managers do things you don't expect. It is also about the player who plays alongside him.
"Moses was often alongside the manager, who was shouting and telling him almost inch by inch where to be, and he also has Azpilicueta beside him who is as good as there is in the business at closing down, getting close to people and not letting crosses in."
And for Boldrini, it is a prime example of Conte's acumen. He says: "He has been very important for Moses because he hadn't made an impact at Chelsea until Conte came.
"Conte discovered what Moses could do in pre-season and it was a success for Conte because he saw something other managers didn't see."
He added: "He speaks with every player. Conte has a very good relationship with Cesc Fabregas, who has not played all the time, and he also has a very good relationship with Diego Costa. He has spoken to him a lot of times about his behaviour, to be more focused on the game and not his opponent."
The tactical change was seen as Conte returning to old instincts, but Nevin disagrees: "Looking historically at what he'd done before to what he does now, he's not a 3-4-3 man. 100% not.
"That worked because he needed to try something else. I'd seen Juventus a lot. I think most people thought they were a 3-5-2, or a version of that, and sometimes a 3-4-3 as well.
"I looked because I wanted to prove to myself how often he played Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci together and quite often it was four at the back but very adaptable. If he needed it, he could utilise it.
"At heart he wants to play two centre-forwards but when Andrea Pirlo came in at Juve he couldn't play a 4-4-2. You can't do that with Fabregas either because you need two in there like Kante and Nemanja Matic, who can do all the dogged work as well.
"What has interested me is that when he changed to a 3-4-3, which I thought was really quite out there as I didn't see it coming, it worked. I then thought he would change that quite quickly - he didn't."
Nevin has an ominous warning for Chelsea's rivals, saying: "I actually think you have only seen 20% of his tactical nous. I think you have seen something that has scratched the surface so far."
Has his success surprised his countrymen in Italy?
"Maybe we didn't think he would win in his first year but we were sure he would be a success," says Boldrini. "We knew of his focus and passion and had faith.
"In Italy, the pressure is outside the pitch. In England, the pressure is on the pitch because you play against Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Everton, Liverpool - the pressure is the football and this is the pressure he enjoys and is the big difference between Italy and England."
What next for Conte and Chelsea?
Chelsea must cope with the added demands of the Champions League next season - and history shows this is not a club or an owner that enters Europe's elite competition to make up the numbers.
Conte has won the title with a relatively small squad. He has used 23 players this season so far, equal lowest with Liverpool, Spurs and West Bromwich Albion. Chelsea used 30 players when they won titles in 2004-05 and 2009-10, and 25 in 2005-06 and 2014-15.
Conte lost the likes of Branislav Ivanovic, Oscar and Jon Mikel Obi but their absences were compensated for.
There has already been speculation about departures this summer. Costa has been linked with a lucrative move to China, and there has been speculation surrounding the future of Fabregas after a season in which he has excelled when called upon but, at 30, could seek more regular football.
Lukaku's links with Chelsea, where he may feel he has unfinished business after being sold to Everton for £28m in 2014, continue, while Real Madrid's Alvaro Morata could be another attacking target. Chelsea will also be in the market for a central defender following Terry's departure, with names such as Southampton's Virgil van Dijk and Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly on the radar.
If Fabregas leaves, Chelsea will surely be in the market for a midfielder, and Tiemoue Bakayoko's excellence as Monaco reached the Champions League semi-final has drawn attention from a host of Europe's top clubs.
The FA Youth Cup was won by Chelsea for a fourth successive season - and fifth time in six - by beating Manchester City, but it remains to be seen if any make the leap to serious senior duty.
Nevin is convinced it will be a busy summer for Chelsea, saying: "I think there is a lot to do. There is no way you will get into the latter reaches of the Champions League and the Premier League with the current squad unless some of the kids step up unbelievably and that's a massive jump, too big.
"Will you keep everybody that's here? Antonio's probably got his eye on four or five and if he gets them there is no reason why he will not continue to be successful."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39885837
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Chelsea are Premier League champions: Antonio Conte targets Double - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Chelsea need to win the FA Cup to turn a "great season" into a "fantastic" one after clinching the title, says manager Antonio Conte.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Chelsea need to win the FA Cup to turn a "great season" into a "fantastic" one after clinching the Premier League title, says manager Antonio Conte.
The Blues became champions of England for a sixth time - with two games to spare - thanks to Michy Batshuayi's late goal in a 1-0 win at West Brom.
Conte's side face Arsenal in the FA Cup final on 27 May.
"For me to win in my first season in England, I am really proud of the achievement," he told BBC Sport.
"My players showed me great professionalism, commitment, work-rate and will to try to win this league.
"We have two games to celebrate, then we try to make this season from great to fantastic."
• None How well do you know Chelsea's champions?
Conte, who took charge at Chelsea after leaving Italy at the end of Euro 2016, says switching to a three-man defence in the wake of a 3-0 defeat by Arsenal in September was pivotal to the Blues' season.
Chelsea were eighth, eight points behind leaders Manchester City after that loss at Emirates Stadium. A 13-match winning streak followed, and they are now 10 points clear of their nearest challengers with two games remaining.
"It was very frustrating for me because at the end of the Arsenal game I didn't see anything from my work or my ideas on football," said Conte.
"But in this moment I found the strength to change and take responsibility and find a system for the players.
"It was a key moment in the season because every single player found in this system the best for him.
"When you arrive after a bad season and the team has arrived at 10th in the league it means there are a lot of problems.
"To find the right solution quickly isn't easy and for this I want to thank my players because they trusted in the new work, my philosophy, video analysis to see mistakes and they showed the right attitude and behaviour."
Conte apologised after arriving late to his post-match news conference, explaining his players had showered him with beer and champagne and that "my suit is a disaster".
He revealed he had cut his lip as he celebrated Batshuayi's winner, but that it was not the first time he had been injured as a result of his joyful exuberance.
"In these moments, anything can happen," he said.
"I hurt my lip during the Euros as well and they had to put a stitch in it after we scored against Belgium.
"Simone Zaza gave me a header - I don't think it was on purpose. I'm not sure if this was a header or a punch but I am ready to repeat this."
The conference came to an abrupt end when players Diego Costa, John Terry and David Luiz arrived and, impatient to start their celebrations, ushered him away.
Captain Gary Cahill said the players always believed they could mount a title charge despite finishing 10th last season, 31 points adrift of champions Leicester.
"We felt confident in the dressing room all season," he said.
"We deserved it over the season. We worked very hard and have been the better team.
"It is fantastic to wrap it up with a couple of games to go. It is very difficult in this league."
Fellow defender David Luiz says the chance to land his first Premier League title was one of the reasons he returned to the club from Paris St-Germain in a £34m move in August.
"When I decided to come back here I dreamed to win the Premier League. I am very happy because my dream came true," he said.
"Conte works with passion every day. He deserves it because he is working hard every day."
The Chelsea boss' influence on his side was also acknowledged by West Brom counterpart Tony Pulis.
"They're worthy champions," he said. "They had a poor start, and Conte had to change things.
"He's made it his team. Italian teams are tactically organised and well run.
"He changed their shape and they've been superb from that moment onwards."
BBC analyst and former Tottenham and Newcastle midfielder Jermaine Jenas believes Conte deserves the credit for turning the club around, highlighting his conversion of Victor Moses from a fringe midfielder to first-choice wing-back.
"They lost their way last season, they were unrecognisable. He has come in and reinvigorated them," Jenas said.
"What I like about Conte is he gave Moses a chance and trusted him. He has made him a better player and a Premier League champion."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39905241
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Harry Redknapp signs one-year deal to stay on as Birmingham City manager - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Harry Redknapp signs a one-year contract to stay as Birmingham City manager after they retain their Championship place.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Harry Redknapp has signed a one-year contract to continue as Birmingham City manager next season.
The 70-year-old former West Ham and Tottenham boss replaced Gianfranco Zola at St Andrew's for the final three Championship games of 2016-17.
Redknapp guided the side to survival, winning two out the three, as they avoided relegation to League One by two points, with Blackburn going down.
His backroom team will be announced "in due course".
Initially, Redknapp joined Blues on a short-term contract and revealed he would not be paid if he was unable to keep Birmingham in the second tier.
His first match in charge of Blues, and his first as a manager in English football since leaving QPR in February 2015, was a 1-0 defeat by local rivals Aston Villa - a result which left his team just one place above the relegation zone.
But successive wins to end the season over Huddersfield Town, where they played for more than an hour with 10 men, and Bristol City on the final day were enough to secure their Championship status.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39895517
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Jose Mourinho: Man Utd season successful even without Europa League - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Manchester United's season will still be a success even if they lose the Europa League final, says manager Jose Mourinho.
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Manchester United's season will be a success even if they lose the Europa League final, says boss Jose Mourinho.
But Mourinho accepts it would "make sense" for the season to be viewed as a failure if United, who edged out Celta Vigo to reach the final, lose to Ajax.
Mourinho, 54, became the first manager in United history to win a major trophy in his first season when he claimed the EFL Cup in February.
"We did things nobody did in this club in the first season," said Mourinho.
The Portuguese guided his team to a record 25-game unbeaten run in the Premier League before it was ended by Arsenal on Sunday to dent their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
Mourinho believes his side, currently sixth in the Premier League, will not now finish in the top four so must win the Europa League to reach next season's Champions League.
When asked if the result of the 24 May final in Stockholm would determine whether United's season was a success or failure, he said the media "have the right to say it and it makes sense to say it, but I don't feel like that".
"We have these things, but [the media] are always looking at these kind of capital letters, big headlines," added the former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager.
"I probably work, this season, harder than ever. When I analyse, I don't think [losing the final would be failure], but if I was in your chair, maybe."
Sergio Romero is set to start for United in the Europa League final, with Mourinho saying there was "no dilemma" in sticking with the Argentina goalkeeper in favour of regular first-choice David de Gea.
Spain's De Gea, 26, played three games during the group stages but Romero, 30, has started each Europa League tie since the last-32 stage.
"I never saw in all my career two goalkeepers to be so friendly because it is a position when you always have a little bit of rivalry, especially if you are both the same kind of level," said Mourinho.
"I think it is fair Sergio is going to play the final and David accepts, because he has already played Europa League matches and if we win the trophy, David wins the trophy."
Centre-back Eric Bailly will miss the final after being sent off late on against Celta Vigo, with Mourinho anticipating Uefa rules will not "allow any chance of an appeal".
He added that Bailly, 23, will now play in United's three remaining Premier League fixtures to "give rest to some of the others", with the final match at home against Crystal Palace three days before the Europa League final.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39894331
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Lewis Hamilton top in Spanish Grand Prix practice with upgraded Mercedes - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas secure a Mercedes one-two in second practice at the Spanish GP, comfortably clear of the Ferraris.
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Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas secured a Mercedes one-two in second practice at the Spanish Grand Prix, comfortably clear of the Ferraris.
Hamilton was 0.09 seconds quicker than his team-mate but 0.310secs clear of the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, who was 0.118secs ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were next, looking as if they have closed the gap to the top cars.
The top six were covered by less than 0.8secs, closer than so far this year.
• None Predict your top three for qualifying
Mercedes also appeared to have an advantage during the race-simulation runs later in the session, lapping consistently quicker than the Ferraris throughout the long runs.
The Ferraris did seem to be able to lap as quickly as the Mercedes in race trim on occasional laps but could not keep the pace up.
All the teams have brought major aerodynamic upgrades to this race, but the one on the Mercedes is the most visually dramatic, with a new narrower nose and a number of other major changes. So far it appears to be having a significant effect.
Red Bull hoped their upgrade for this race would bring them closer to Mercedes and Ferrari and that, too, appears to be the case. Verstappen was just 0.6secs off the pace, with team-mate Ricciardo 0.1secs further adrift.
At the back of the field, it was a dismal day for home hero Fernando Alonso.
His McLaren-Honda broke down with a major engine failure on his first lap out of the pits in the first session, and he returned to his hotel to play tennis before that session was over.
Alonso was back at the track for the second session, but had to wait for nearly half an hour before he could get out on track while an engine change was completed.
When he did get out, he said the engine still felt down on power and he was slowest of all, 0.5secs slower than his nearest rival, and 1.4secs off the pace of team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne.
During first practice, Honda blamed the failure on an oil leak. Alonso said later: "The oil was coming out of a hole in the engine."
Alonso has failed to finish a race so far this season because of reliability problems, and he added: "It is not my career, my ability, my image. It is their career, their ability their money and their image, so I try to support the team and drive as fast as I can, but the problem is not entirely mine, it is much bigger for them."
Asked why he had left the track, he said he was trying to make up for training time lost because of his commuting back and forth to America to prepare for the Indy 500 after this race.
Hamilton said after the session: "First practice was very, very good but in second practice the track changed and shifted quite a lot, so it was slippery and quite a lot slower for everyone - especially with the gusts of wind.
"It was massively challenging, but still fun nonetheless. The team has done an amazing job with the upgrades and the car is working just as we expected. It's been a much better start to the weekend for me than in Sochi, so I'm very happy."
Vettel said: "I'm not happy. Struggling a bit to find the rhythm, with the conditions, probably more myself than the car.
"I didn't get everything together but I can feel the car is quick so that's good. I am not worried. I am just not happy with how the day went. I wasn't always feeling as if I was captain on board.
"Sometimes somebody else was steering my ship but I hope tomorrow whoever that was will disappear."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39897407
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British Basketball League's plays of the season - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Watch the top 10 BBL plays of this season before Sunday's play-off finals between Leicester and Newcastle's men, and Sevenoaks and Nottingham's women.
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Watch the top 10 BBL plays of this season before Sunday's play-off finals between Leicester and Newcastle's men, and Sevenoaks and Nottingham's women.#
Available to UK users only.
Watch the play-offs: Sevenoaks Suns v Nottingham Wildcats (13:00 BST), Leicester Riders v Newcastle Eagles (16:00 BST) on BBC Red Button and online on Sunday, 14 May.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/basketball/39903138
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Tottenham's White Hart Lane farewell: Saying goodbye to your old ground... - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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The logic of Tottenham's move is inescapable, but there will still be sadness as they leave White Hart Lane, writes Tom Fordyce.
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You don't forget your first visit to your team's home stadium: how green the pitch looks, how big the stands seem, how tall everyone in front of you is. The noise, the suddenness of it. The speed of the football, the soft touch of the star names, the swearing.
And you don't forget your last, all those seasons of hope and frustration later, when your club upgrades to something altogether cleaner and smarter and more comfortable, and it is time to say goodbye to it all - cramped concourses, tight seating, reeking toilets and the cheap temporary fixes, all of it held together by old memories and faded promises, a shared past that binds you to friends and strangers alike.
You know when it is time to move on. Stadiums age just like the players and tactics they house. Stairs are too steep, sight-lines compromised. Stands that once felt huge and light and imposing begin to feel weary and archaic.
When Spurs play their final match at White Hart Lane on Sunday, the logic of their move to a 61,559-seat grand design built across much of the same site will be inescapable. So too will the sadness for an old home shortly to be reduced to rubble.
Football grounds should feel prosaic. The cheaper part of town, steel and grey concrete, painted wood and moulded plastic. A space that is empty and unused most days of the year.
And then, for a few hours every couple of weeks, like nowhere else you ever go - shouting like you can't shout anywhere else, feeling both totally immersed yet horribly powerless, singing in unison with people whose names you will never know.
Spurs have been at White Hart Lane for 118 years. Much of the ground, which now holds 36,240 fans, is unrecognisable to that history. The Shelf is long gone, the Paxton Road end transformed, even the new West Stand that once seemed so vast and modern in the 1980s, as you came in on the train or along the High Road, now a little tired and outdated.
Supporters can still look out at that rectangle of grass and know that was the stage where so many unforgettable moments played out. They can picture where, before their time, the great players ran and great goals were scored in glory games.
That pitch is the living connection to it all: where the league titles of 1951 and 1961 were finally won, both against Sheffield Wednesday; the left wing where Gareth Bale tortured Inter Milan's Maicon in November 2010; the goalmouth where Tony Parks saved a penalty from Anderlecht's Arnor Gudjohnsen to win the Uefa Cup final in 1984. The penalty boxes where Steve Perryman scored twice against AC Milan in the semi-final of the 1972 Uefa Cup; the little patch where Terry Dyson played a one-two with Danny Blanchflower before lashing in his third goal against Arsenal in August 1961.
There are the hauntings, too - Arsenal's 5-0 win at Christmas 1978, Manchester United scoring five in one half past Neil Sullivan as Spurs surrendered a 3-0 half-time lead in September 2001, being 3-0 up against a 10-man Manchester City in the FA Cup in 2004 and somehow losing 4-3.
And there are the sacred ghosts to go with them: the artists like John White, Cliff Jones and Jimmy Greaves, the entertainers like Chris Waddle, Paul Gascoigne and Jurgen Klinsmann, the tough nuts like Ted Ditchburn, Dave Mackay and Graham Roberts.
"Every supporter will tell you this about their own ground, but it's the memories you build up from when you're a kid," says Dave Bricknell, who has had season tickets on the Shelf, Paxton Road and now Park Lane over the past 40 years, and who as a coach up the road in Chingford 18 years ago picked a six-year-old kid called Harry Kane for the youth team he ran, Ridgeway Rovers.
"My first game was a home match against Millwall, League Cup, 1972. A night game, loud. My mate's dad picked me up. He'd built his son a little box so he could stand at the front and see. In the corner you had the bloke at half-time manually putting the scores on from the other matches.
"It's those memories, and it's the things you do now - parking at the same place, walking the same way. A lot of people have moved away from Tottenham, and the only time they come back now is for the game.
"It's the part when you walk into the ground, you've got all the terrace above you, and you look forward and the ground opens up around you. To me, that is it. That is the best part of the game, because it takes you back to your childhood.
"Over the years there have been some really bad games. Games when you think, why do I keep coming over here? But you do go back. And every supporter of every club will tell you the same thing. We all think our home ground is special."
Spurs will make Wembley their temporary home next season, before moving in to their new stadium - which is expected to set them back £750m.
They have left their house move late compared to their neighbours. Arsenal departed Highbury's marble halls and Art Deco facades in 2006, West Ham the partisan, claustrophobic Upton Park a year ago. Of the football stadia in London also designed by the great football architect Archibald Leitch, only Fulham's Craven Cottage remains recognisable.
It was Leitch's East Stand that sheltered arguably the most iconic single element of White Hart Lane, the long stretch of terrace down the side of the pitch known as the Shelf. As the North Bank defined Highbury, as the old terraced Kop did Anfield, the Gallowgate End St James's Park and the Holte End Villa Park, the Shelf was what set the ground apart: its tribal heart, its noisy soul.
"People won't believe it, but in that 1984 season I went to White Hart Lane most midweeks," says former Chelsea, Everton and Scotland winger Pat Nevin.
"I was actually Chelsea's player of the year at the time, but I was standing on the Shelf, watching Spurs. If you've got Ossie Ardiles, if you've got Glenn Hoddle, if you've got the likes of Micky Hazard - they were brilliant players in that team, and I was really keen to watch those players and learn what I could.
"White Hart Lane was a brilliant place to play, because the supporters were so close to you. The atmosphere was always great. It's a small pitch, but because Spurs were almost always an attacking side, it was almost like an elongated five-a-side game. I loved playing at that ground."
For Tottenham's own guard the memories are more vivid still.
"When I was there you would regularly get 60,000 for a match," former club captain Alan Mullery told BBC Sport. "When we won the Uefa Cup in 1972, beating Wolves, the last match I ever played, and I scored the winning goal. I remember every minute of it."
Thirteen years later, Spurs would win the same tournament on the same pitch, 21-year-old Parks' two penalty saves in the shootout and all.
"We went out to an old building on the High Road that had a balcony, and the whole of the High Road was full of thousands of Spurs fans," remembers Gary Mabbutt, early, that night, in a Spurs career that would see him captain the club for more than a decade. "118 years of tradition and history, all embedded in White Hart Lane."
"It's an old cliche, but it's a proper football ground," says Dave Bricknell. "You're packed in. You're right next to the players, you're getting noise from most sides.
"The new stadium is eating the old stadium. It's like playing Pac-Man on a grand scale. You can see three new stands going up, and it looks fantastic.
"It will be bigger, and it will be better, and hopefully we can keep the team together and move on to the next level. You've got to look forward, haven't you?"
You do. But you can also look back, one final time. And when you do, no matter which ground you are saying farewell to, the days and nights that meant so much come alive one more time, as they have this past week for Bricknell.
"Parksey saving those penalties, Roberts stealing in to equalise. The noise!
"Harry scoring against Arsenal last year, fantastic. What a goal… But the other week against Arsenal was pretty special too - beating them 2-0, making sure we stayed above them.
"That 5-3 defeat by United - it was my son's birthday. One of his first games. The City loss was worse. It was Man Utd in the next round, so at half-time we were all looking at booking flights up to Manchester. Liam Brady smashing one into the top corner in that 5-0 in '78…
"Beating Arsenal 5-0 and Mark Falco scoring a volley from the edge of the box with his right foot, Terry Gibson crossing it, Chris Hughton scoring another belter in that match… beating Feyenoord 4-2 under the lights, with Cruyff in their team and saying before the match that Hoddle wasn't all that good and he was going to show it, and Hoddle absolutely destroying them…
"It's been special. And Sunday will be a very special goodbye."
Home from home: The top-flight teams who moved
West Ham said goodbye to Upton Park at the end of the 2015-16 season...
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39891527
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Lewis Hamilton fastest in Spain as Fernando Alonso breaks down - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Lewis Hamilton sets the pace in first practice at the Spanish Grand Prix, as Fernando Alonso leaves the circuit after breaking down.
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Lewis Hamilton set the pace as Mercedes impressed in first practice at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Hamilton was 0.029 seconds quicker than team-mate Valtteri Bottas, and a second clear of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel in third and fourth.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fifth, just 0.250secs behind Raikkonen.
McLaren-Honda's dismal season of unreliability continued, with Fernando Alonso sent into a spin by a major engine failure on his first lap.
• None Predict your top three for qualifying
Alonso spun to a halt in a cloud of smoke with oil pouring from underneath the engine after it failed coming out of Turn Two on his first lap. The Spaniard then left the track to go back to his hotel. Honda blamed the failure on "an oil leak" and said Alonso would be back out with a new power-unit in second practice.
Alonso posted a tweet saying: "Keeping the body active," accompanied by an emoji with a halo and a photograph of himself with his trainer playing tennis.
Honda have a small upgrade on the engine for this weekend but said the one he was using had previously run in Australia and China and in Bahrain until qualifying.
In lovely spring sunshine and under a beautiful blue sky north of Barcelona, the teams spent the session evaluating the upgrades they have brought to this race.
All the teams have new aerodynamic parts, as is traditional at this first European race of the season, and the most striking are on the Mercedes.
The silver cars have a narrower nose, under which is fitted a unique new snow-plough style aerodynamic shaping device, as well as new parts all the way along the side of the car.
So far, they appear to be working well, and Hamilton and Bottas traded times throughout the session, rarely separated by more than a few hundredths of a second.
Hamilton arrived in Spain determined to make amends for a poor weekend two weeks ago in Russia, where he finished fourth and Bottas won.
Bottas, by contrast, has made it clear that his focus has shifted to trying to win every race after an up-and-down start to the season in which he has been alternately impressive - with his first win in Russia and first pole in Bahrain - and not, such as when he spun behind the safety car during the Chinese Grand Prix.
The two men are separated by 10 points in the championship, with Hamilton ahead and 13 points behind Vettel.
Ferrari also have a series of aerodynamic changes on their car, as do Red Bull, who are hopeful their upgrade will clos the one-second gap that has separated them from the front-runners so far this season.
It is too early to make any conclusions about relative pace, not least because Vettel's session was disrupted by a gearbox problem on the pit straight.
He managed to pull of into the pit lane exit, from where the car was recovered and the Ferrari mechanics were able to repair the car and send him out again to set his fastest time.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39894892
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US Open qualifying: Golfer scores 127 at event in Alabama - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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An American golfer fails to score a single par and manages just two bogeys as he scores 127 in US Open local qualifying.
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Last updated on .From the section Golf
Next time you're hacking your way around the golf course, summon the spirit of the player who not only failed to card a single par but only managed two bogeys on his way to an eye-watering 127 in US Open local qualifying - finishing 55 shots over par.
On the 10th hole at Silver Lakes in Glencoe, Alabama, Clifton McDonald began badly with a double bogey seven.
Things got significantly worse, and he was 14 over par after six holes by the time he stepped on to the 16th tee. Fourteen furious swipes later, he had completed the par five.
Most people would have walked off. But not Clifton.
He forged on regardless to make what the Alabama Golf Association says is without doubt "the highest score we've had in any qualifying event".
"The guy was really nice. It's just you could tell he was in over his head," executive director Andy Priest told BBC Sport.
"It was a beautiful sunny day, it wasn't breezy at all. It's just a tough golf course.
"The feedback we got from other players was that it was firm and fast. Honestly it's good qualifying for the Open at Erin Hills.
"We got his scorecard and he confirmed what he had shot, but we didn't speak to him for very long. You could tell he had had a long day.
"But it I will say one thing, the gentleman played it out."
Lee McCoy, who finished second on Wednesday to take one of five qualifying spots, tweeted the picture above, adding: "The scorecard of the guy that played in front of me at US Open qualifying today. Shot 68 on his front 9 and decided to finish #NeverGiveUp."
McDonald was, perhaps not surprisingly, bottom of the pack in 67th.
This year's US Open takes place between 15-18 June in Erin Hills, Wisconsin.
About half of the field is made up of players who are exempt from qualifying - such as the defending champion, Dustin Johnson.
But any professional golfer, or an amateur with a handicap of 1.4 or lower, is eligible to enter local qualifying, which is played at 114 courses around the US and Canada.
Those who are successful advance to sectional qualifying, which takes place at 10 sites in the US as well as in Japan and at Walton Heath in Surrey.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/39892101
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Aberdeen 1-3 Celtic - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Three goals in the opening 11 minutes help Celtic to victory over Aberdeen as the champions close in on an unbeaten league season.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Champions Celtic scored three times in a blistering opening 11 minutes to overcome Aberdeen at Pittodrie and move to within two games of completing an unbeaten Scottish Premiership season.
Dedryck Boyata headed Celtic in front in three minutes, with Stuart Armstrong doubling the lead five minutes later.
Leigh Griffiths fired in a third, before Jonny Hayes gave the Dons hope with a curling shot within 60 seconds.
But the hosts could not to stop Celtic taking their points tally to 100.
Derek McInnes' side may look back ruefully at referee Steven McLean's decision not to award them a penalty when Craig Gordon collided with Graeme Shinnie.
But they will likely also reflect on their slow start to a fantastic contest, with Celtic apparently out of sight within 11 minutes.
Patrick Roberts signalled an early warning when he escaped and tested Joe Lewis, but that was not heeded and Griffiths' deep corner was headed in by an unchallenged Boyata.
Wonderful Griffiths skill created the second, the striker escaping on the right and feeding Callum McGregor. His shot was blocked by Shay Logan, but Armstrong was on hand to slam in a composed finish.
It quickly got even worse for Aberdeen. Griffiths turned, fired powerfully from distance and found the net, although Lewis should have done better than help the ball into his top-right corner.
It was a devastating start from the champions and the game looked finished. Aberdeen boss McInnes must have feared his side were on course for a damaging hammering in the run up to their meeting with Celtic in the Scottish Cup final.
But the Dons showed remarkable strength and ability to claw their way back in. Hayes was the inspiration for a revival when he turned and fired a wonderful left foot shot over Gordon and into the net.
Jayden Stockley should have netted a second moments later but his header slid marginally wide.
Aberdeen pressed on with confidence and Niall McGinn could only hit straight at Gordon from a great position. It could have been 3-3, or 5-3, with both sides looking likely to score again.
Shinnie claimed for a penalty when he nicked the ball before Gordon took him out but referee McLean said no, much to Aberdeen's fury. It looked a spot-kick and could have made such a difference.
It was mainly Aberdeen pushing forward in the second period. Kenny McLean should have hit the target when he broke into the box but fired off-target, as did McGinn shortly after.
With the home side unable to turn pressure into goals, Nir Bitton's introduction for Celtic seemed to take the sting out of the game in the latter stages.
Both teams have much to ponder before coming together again at Hampden Park; positives and negatives.
Aberdeen looked all over the place defensively in the early stages, but responded strongly and caused Celtic problems. From that, they will take great belief.
Celtic manager Rodgers will be disappointed at how things panned out after that clinical opening period.
His side failed to control long periods of the contest and had to absorb a lot of pressure, which they did, but more than was comfortable.
However, the champions did demonstrate that when they fire, they are pretty much unstoppable.
• None Attempt saved. James Forrest (Celtic) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Delay in match James Forrest (Celtic) because of an injury.
• None Shaleum Logan (Aberdeen) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt saved. James Forrest (Celtic) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Delay in match Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) 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/39813773
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Reality Check: Why does Labour want to control National Grid? - BBC News
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2017-05-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Transporting gas and electricity around the country accounts for 29% of energy bills.
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Business
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The leaked version of the Labour Party manifesto commits to "take energy back into public ownership to deliver renewable energy, affordability for consumers, and democratic control".
Part of that would involve "central government control of the natural monopolies of the transmission and distribution grids".
Natural monopolies are businesses where there are no benefits to be had from competition.
They are usually areas where there is a lot of initial spending on infrastructure needed, such as train tracks or water pipes.
It does not mean there can only be one business serving the whole country, but it makes no sense to have companies competing to provide such services to consumers in a particular area.
It would be inefficient, for example, to have two taps in your sink offering water from different providers or two sockets in your wall with electricity from competing energy companies.
Being a natural monopoly gives businesses enormous market power, which means that they must be regulated.
Whether it is better to have such services provided by government or by private companies regulated by government is a matter of political opinion.
National Grid's main business is moving electricity and gas round the country. This is known as transmission. The very last leg of the journey into people's homes and businesses - known as distribution - is done by a number of different companies. National Grid does own a stake in Cadent Gas, a distribution firm, but most gas distribution and all electricity distribution is controlled by other firms.
The cost of transporting gas and electricity round the country accounts for 29% of the average dual-fuel (both gas and electricity) bill, according to Energy UK, up from 23% in 2010. But National Grid says its share of that - the transmission cost - is only 5% of the typical electricity bill, and 3% of a gas bill. The rest is distribution costs.
Owning the transmission and distribution network would give the government considerably more control as it attempted to deliver promises in the leaked manifesto to deliver renewable energy and affordability for consumers, including keeping the average dual fuel bill below £1,000 a year.
The leaked manifesto also pledges to ban fracking (the use of high pressure liquids to extract gas from rocks) and use carbon capture (stopping carbon dioxide from escaping with other waste gases) as it moves to cleaner fuels.
Control over the network might help with this, but the government via its regulator and planning decisions already has a big say over the future energy mix.
Just nationalising National Grid (which is worth about £38bn on the stock market at the moment) would not achieve what Labour is promising - it would give the government the company that owns the UK's electricity and gas transmission (it might also leave the government owning National Grid's energy business in the US).
The distribution part of the equation is a slew of other companies - for gas alone it would be SGN, Northern Gas Networks, Wales and West Utilities, as well as Cadent Gas.
But the leaked manifesto calls for control of these companies, which could possibly be achieved by buying stakes in these businesses rather than nationalising them.
BBC business editor Simon Jack says National Grid's UK business is estimated to be worth about £25bn.
"A chunky purchase but one that could quite easily financed in that it makes enough money to repay the interest on any money borrowed to buy it."
It's been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1995.
Its shareholders, including 880,000 small shareholders, would be very upset if they didn't get a good price from the government for their shares.
There are not many precedents for nationalisation of profitable companies in the UK - companies are usually nationalised when they are in financial difficulties - so it is not clear at this stage what the process would be.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39884416
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The day my child was killed by an elephant - BBC News
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2017-05-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Conflict between humans and elephants is more intense in Sri Lanka than anywhere else in the world. When one man was attacked he came round to find his daughter dead beside him.
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Magazine
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Conflict between humans and elephants is more intense in Sri Lanka than anywhere else in the world - 70 people are killed every year and more than 250 elephants die. Clashes are particularly frequent in areas that were abandoned for long periods during the country's lengthy civil war.
Last June, six-year-old Sulojini and her father, Raja Thurai, were returning home from the river in the late afternoon sunshine. Suddenly, an elephant appeared from the bush and attacked.
"The elephant lifted us with its trunk and threw us on the ground," remembers Thurai. "I lost consciousness, and when I woke up, my daughter was already dead."
The incident happened close to the Thurai's village, Paavatkodichchinai in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province, near paddy fields and in an area dotted with fruit bushes.
"I've lost two of my children - a son during the war, and Sulojini to an elephant," he says.
Paavatkodichchinai is inhabited by Sri Lanka's Tamil minority, like many communities on the eastern part of the island.
During the civil war, the presence of Tamil Tiger rebels made the Eastern Province a target for government forces, and when fighting was intense, local people fled.
Raja Thurai and his family went to live in a refugee camp in 2007. When they returned after the war, which came to an end in 2009, elephants had encroached on their land. Now these huge mammals are a continual, terrifying presence - especially at night, when they roam around the village looking for food in fields and homes.
"We chase them away, but they come back again and again. Every night we have to stay awake - last night also, I didn't sleep," Thurai, says.
His family's home is one of many in the village that have suffered night attacks. The house, shaded by two large mango trees, still has part of a wall missing - destroyed by an elephant one night just before Sulojini was killed.
"It happened at 02:00," says Indrani, Raja Thurai's wife. "The elephant trumpeted and ran towards the house, hitting the roof and wall."
Indrani holding Sulojini's flip-flops - iron sheets patch the damaged wall of the family home
She says Sulojini was so frightened she developed a fever.
The couple do not have a picture of the daughter they lost, but they have kept the small, pink flip-flops she was wearing when she died.
Since then, the village has organised an informal neighbourhood watch scheme. Households have access to firecrackers to frighten the elephants away, but experts argue fireworks are not the answer.
"Communities get into a kind of arms race," says Dr Pruthu Fernando, a conservationist who has spent much of his professional life trying to mitigate human-elephant-conflict in Sri Lanka.
"If an elephant comes and tries to eat the crops, people shout at it. So the elephant is scared and goes away. Then the elephant realises people are only shouting, there's no harm to it. So next time people shout, the elephant still comes and raids."
Villagers work through a series of deterrents: first they throw rocks at the animals, next they begin to light fires. Finally, they use firecrackers.
"Some of those go off like a bomb," says Fernando. "But elephants soon realise they are only a lot of noise, so they still come and raid. Ultimately, people end up shooting the elephant. All of these things are confrontational."
Fernando has pioneered the use of electrified fencing, erected at particular times of the year.
Elephants are free to roam agricultural land during fallow periods, and farmers only put up the barriers when they plant their crops.
"The farmers take down the fence the day they harvest," he says.
Sri Lanka already has 3,500km of electrified fencing aimed at containing elephants, but much of it is in the wrong place.
Historically it has been used to mark boundaries - of private property and national parks. But eventually, elephants destroy it. Fencing has to be close to human activity to be effective, Fernando says.
"Fences work. If you maintain them well, elephants learn this is a no-go boundary. They're also non-confrontational, so that leads to the possibility of better co-existence."
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Some Sri Lankans do live in harmony with wild elephants.
The Rathugala Veddha community close to the Gal Oya National Park in south-eastern Sri Lanka - who trace their ancestry to some of the island's earliest inhabitants - chant, invoking God and the spirits, to protect them when they are in the forest. No-one can remember a time when anyone was injured - let alone killed - by an elephant.
"We can sense when an elephant is close-by - we can feel it," says Poramal Aththo. "We have that power in us."
It is possible he is describing the infrasound communication of elephants, and that villagers learned to sense this because they have been living in close proximity to the animals for so long.
Poramal Aththo says he could teach other Sri Lankans how to stay safe, but it is an art - not something that can be learned in a day.
On the other side of the human-elephant-conflict equation are babies like Leila. She was rescued after eating a hukka patta - a primitive gunpowder bomb disguised as a fruity treat. It blew up in her mouth, fracturing her jaw, and destroying half her tongue.
Leila is being treated at the Department of Wildlife Conservation's facility near the temple city of Polonnaruwa.
"The mortality rate of elephants eating hukka pattas is very high," says Dr Pinidiyage Manoj Akalanka, the vet on duty. "Most of them will die." Death by hukka patta is cruel - unable to eat, the animal starves to death.
In this district alone, they see around 40 cases a year. Leila was injured by bullets too - something Akalanka says is becoming more common as farmers become desperate to defend their crops from marauding animals.
But Leila is lucky - she has learnt to eat with half a tongue, and will eventually be released back into the wild.
After Sulojini was killed by an elephant in Paavatkodichchinai, electricity was finally installed in the village.
This makes possible a system of electrified fencing - although there is no sign the government or any other organisation will provide it any time soon.
The government does pay 500,000 rupees ($3,278) to the families of those killed by elephants. But there is no way to compensate a family for the loss of a little girl in pink flip-flops, who never returned home from her afternoon bathe.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39874289
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West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Chelsea - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Chelsea are crowned Premier League champions as Michy Batshuayi's late goal gives them the win they needed to secure the title at West Brom.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Chelsea were crowned Premier League champions as Michy Batshuayi's late goal gave them the victory they required to secure the title at West Brom.
It looked as though Antonio Conte's side might be forced to delay their celebrations as they were frustrated for long periods by the resilience and organisation of their hosts.
But the mood changed and the title was won with eight minutes left as substitute Batshuayi, who had previously endured a season of struggle after his £33m move from Marseille, ended a scrappy passage of play by steering a finish high past Ben Foster.
The final whistle sparked wild celebrations among Chelsea's fans, and manager Conte was tossed high into the air by his squad.
The Italian can now set his sights on emulating compatriot Carlo Ancelotti's 2010 feat of winning the league and domestic Double as the Blues prepare for an FA Cup final against Arsenal at Wembley on 27 May.
Chelsea's celebrations were fully deserved - the culmination of a superb season's work by Conte and his squad.
They had to work hard for victory against a West Brom side that demonstrated all the qualities that have made this such a satisfactory season for them but, as so often, Chelsea got the job done.
The Blues' main attacking threats struggled to find a spark, with Eden Hazard's frustration summed up with one long-range shot that went out for a corner, but Conte's side found a way to win, illustrating once again why they are worthy champions.
The losses at home to Liverpool and at Arsenal in September that hinted at early struggles seemed an age away, as did the surprise defeat by struggling Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge, and the setback at Manchester United.
Chelsea, even when not at their best, proved themselves the strongest and most complete side in the Premier League - and they proved it again on a night they were tested.
Conte's magic touch does it again
Conte's fingerprints are all over this title triumph - and his sure touch was on show again to fashion the victory they needed to get over the line with two games to spare.
The Italian knew his side needed a catalyst to break down West Brom, and it came with the introduction of Batshuayi and Willian for Hazard and Pedro with 15 minutes left.
Conte's masterstroke should have come as no surprise given the manner in which he has marshalled his forces, particularly the crucial switch to a three-man defence in September that turned Chelsea's season around and started a run of 13 straight league wins that led to the title.
No praise is too high for the 47-year-old, who took over a squad that looked broken after ending last season in 10th place and with the shadow of Jose Mourinho's sacking still hanging over the club.
This was his ultimate reward.
Batshuayi comes out of the shadows
Batshuayi has been a misfit for much of this season, but whatever the future holds for the 23-year-old Belgian, he will always have a goal that won the title to his name.
Before this game, he had only figured only 24 times, played for 579 minutes and scored five goals - his sixth makes its mark in Chelsea history.
• None How well do you know Chelsea's champions?
• None Chelsea won their sixth top-flight title and fifth in the Premier League era. Only Manchester United (13) have won more Premier League titles.
• None Chelsea are the first club to win the English top-flight title on a Friday since Arsenal at Anfield in 1989.
• None Conte is the fourth Italian manager to win the English top-flight title after Ancelotti, Roberto Mancini and Claudio Ranieri.
• None Chelsea scored with their 23rd shot of the match at West Brom.
• None A Belgian player has scored the title-deciding goal in each of the past three Premier League seasons (Batshuayi v West Brom in 2016-17, Eden Hazard v Tottenham in 2015-16 and v Crystal Palace in 2014-15).
Chelsea still have two games to play in their title-winning season. They host Watford on Monday (20:00 BST) before receiving the trophy in their final game against relegated Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, 21 May (15:00 BST). They then have the FA Cup final on 27 May.
West Brom travel to Manchester City on Tuesday, 16 May before finishing their season at Swansea the following Sunday (15:00 BST).
• None Offside, West Bromwich Albion. Darren Fletcher tries a through ball, but Salomón Rondón is caught offside.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Goal! West Bromwich Albion 0, Chelsea 1. Michy Batshuayi (Chelsea) left footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by César Azpilicueta.
• None Attempt missed. Gary Cahill (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Marcos Alonso with a headed pass.
• None Attempt missed. Nyom (West Bromwich Albion) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left following a set piece situation. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39813798
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European Challenge Cup final: Gloucester 17-25 Stade Francais - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Stade Francais come from 10-0 down to deservedly beat Gloucester and win the European Challenge Cup final at Murrayfield.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Top 14 side Stade Francais came from 10-0 down to beat Gloucester and win the European Challenge Cup.
England wing Jonny May's try put Gloucester, who needed to win to keep their Champions Cup qualification hopes alive, ahead at a rainy Murrayfield.
Italy captain Sergio Parisse then crossed to make it 10-10 at the break.
Jonathan Danty and Geoffrey Doumayrou touched down as the French team dominated after half-time, before Ross Moriarty scored a late consolation.
Stade Francais had reached European finals four times without success prior to Friday's Edinburgh showpiece, but were deserved victors against an error-strewn Gloucester side.
The result also means the Cherry and Whites miss out on the chance to compete for a spot in next season's Champions Cup.
The 20th and final place for the 2017-18 competition is to be decided by a series of play-off matches, with Northampton set to be replaced in the semi-finals had Gloucester won the Challenge Cup.
But the Saints, who finished seventh in the Premiership, will now play Connacht next Saturday, with a play-off final to follow against either Stade Francais or Cardiff Blues.
Defeat for the Cherry and Whites at Murrayfield also means Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw's Gloucester career ends in disappointment, with the 31-year-old scrum-half due to join Clermont Auvergne in the summer.
Laidlaw, who moved to Kingsholm in 2014, was not introduced until the second half having spent the past two months on the sidelines with ankle ligament damage - but could make little impact with the Gloucester pack often demolished at scrum time.
The English side had done well to negotiate a tricky 10-minute spell before the break with Willi Heinz in the sin bin, but came up well short against an impressive and powerful Stade Francais unit in the second period.
Doumayrou's try was the highlight of the final, dancing through three Gloucester tacklers to confirm his team's superiority and set up an historic victory for a club who finished seventh in the Top 14 this year.
'It's been a disappointing season - but we're not far away'
"I'm obviously very disappointed," Gloucester director of rugby David Humphreys told BBC Radio 5 live. "But it's most disappointing that we didn't really test Stade Francais in the way that we planned.
"Credit to them, they negated everything we did. We couldn't win the ball, we couldn't hold the ball and because of that they won comfortably.
"We gave away penalty after penalty at the set-piece and to compete against the top teams you can't do that.
"We haven't hidden behind the fact it's been a disappointing season. We know we're not far away, we've shown that with our performances."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39857187
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World Triathlon Series: Jonny Brownlee aims to put 2016 'hurt' behind him - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Britain's Jonny Brownlee says he is "hungry" to put the "hurt" of last year's World Series finale behind him.
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Highlights: Watch on BBC Two on Sunday from 13:00-14:30 BST
Jonny Brownlee says he is "hungry" to put the "hurt" of last year's World Series finale behind him as he prepares for his first race of the 2017 event.
With 700m to go in the final race of 2016, the Briton was leading and on course to wrap up the world title.
Exhausted, he began to weave over the road, was overtaken and collapsed after brother Alistair helped him over the line to finish second in Mexico.
"Last year was a bit of a rollercoaster," he told the BBC.
"It hurt me going in to this year, because you don't get many chances to become world champion and I messed it up.
"It made me very hungry to come in to the 2017 season to try and achieve that but so far this year, luck's not been on my side."
Brownlee, who won Olympic silver behind his brother last year, has not competed at a major event since suffering in the hot and humid conditions in Cozumel in September.
He missed the first two races of this year's World Series - in Australia and United Arab Emirates - but is returning for the third in Yokohama, Japan, on Saturday.
BBC Weather forecasts a comfortable 18C for Yokohama on raceday, but Brownlee is hoping extra heat training will pay off in the future, if not in Japan.
"Heat is obviously something that, as a pasty Yorkshireman, I'm not too good at. I know it's a weakness and after Cozumel one of the first things I did was ask a doctor how to solve this," he said.
"In October-November I went down to train with the British Navy in Portsmouth. One of the big things they taught me was to spend more time in hot and humid conditions.
"I've converted my conservatory in to a kind of heat chamber. Mine gets up to about 37C so I can sweat away in there on a turbo trainer and get used to Yokohama.
"Hopefully it's going to make a big difference because one thing I told myself after Cozumel was I'd be stupid if I didn't get used to the heat, or at least try and do something about it."
'I've had my best races without Alistair'
Alistair, the elder of the Brownlee brothers, is focusing on long-distance triathlons this year and will not be competing in Japan.
Jonny believes he will benefit from his brother's absence.
"In the past I've really enjoyed not having Alistair there. I've had my best races without him," he said.
"It puts more emphasis on me and I race more aggressively. Instead of looking over my shoulder and waiting for him to make those moves, it's up to me.
"But also in training as well, I've been able to do what suits me. I've tried to get my own little group around me.
"Hopefully, it'll come good in the next couple of years."
However, the next race in the World Series after Japan will be in Leeds, where Brownlee could be joined by his brother.
In 2016, Alistair claimed victory with a dominant display in the pair's home city, with Jonny second.
"All I can do now is try and do my best in all the other races and hopefully win in Yokohama and win in Leeds," said Jonny.
"Some of my best races have been when I'm just returning from injury, so hopefully I can do it again."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/triathlon/39887253
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Andy Murray: Madrid Open exit concerns world number one - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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World number one Andy Murray is "concerned" following his defeat by Borna Coric at the Madrid Open but denies being low on confidence.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
World number one Andy Murray said he is 'concerned' following defeat by Borna Coric in last 16 of the Madrid Open, but denied being low on confidence.
Murray was beaten 6-3 6-3 by Coric, ranked 59th in the world, on Thursday.
The Briton has endured a tough season on clay, suffering a shock defeat in the last 16 of the Monte Carlo Masters last month and also losing in the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open.
"I definitely think I need to be concerned about today," Murray said.
"It's not always the worst thing losing a match, but it's sometimes the manner of how you lose the match which can be concerning or disappointing."
Coric, 20, only gained a place at the tournament after Richard Gasquet withdrew - becoming the first lucky loser to reach the quarter-finals in the Madrid tournament's 16-year history.
The Croat broke his Scottish opponent three times in the opening set, and a further break in the second was enough to secure victory in one hour and 25 minutes.
Top seed Murray hit 14 winners to his 28 unforced errors, but insisted his poor performance was not down to a lack of confidence.
"I was just making lots of mistakes early in the rallies and trying to end points very quickly at the beginning, and the errors just kept piling up." the 29-year-old told BBC Sport.
"I didn't feel that was down to confidence - I just wasn't focusing as well as I needed to on each point.
"I made a lot of unforced errors and I also didn't find any way to make it a more competitive match, so that's the most disappointing thing for me.
"You can lose matches sometimes, but the manner of today's loss was disappointing."
This result will come as a shock to Murray's system.
He had seemingly been growing in confidence, and rediscovering his rhythm little by little as he made his way from Monte Carlo to Barcelona, but now has just one week in Rome to find the form and belief which would make him a genuine contender for the French Open.
His first serve, which has been hindered by an elbow injury, was not to blame against Coric, who played aggressively and fluently and took full advantage of Murray's error-strewn performance.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/39891424
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Iran election: Could women decide the next president? - BBC News
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2017-05-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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In Iran, women form nearly half the electorate, so presidential candidates are vying for their vote.
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Middle East
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Women form nearly half the electorate in Iran
When Iranians go to the polls to choose a new president next Friday, all the names on the ballot paper will be male. In the nearly four-decade history of the Islamic Republic, no woman has been allowed to stand for the top office.
But it's certainly not for want of trying.
This year, 137 women put their names forward. Most famous by far is Azam Taleghani, a 72-year old former MP and daughter of a well-known ayatollah.
She has registered to stand in most presidential elections since 1997, determined to challenge the archaic and ambiguous wording of the Iranian constitution which has traditionally been interpreted as meaning only men can become president.
Ms Taleghani argues that the criteria can apply to both men and women and that, as an experienced politician, she is eminently qualified.
But the electoral supervisory body, the Guardian Council, disagrees and has disqualified her at every attempt.
This March, now frail and walking with the help of a frame, Ms Taleghani once again determinedly made her way up the stone steps of the interior ministry to register. And once again she failed to qualify.
Even though they are not allowed to stand, women comprise just under half the electorate, so their vote is important and presidential candidates usually make an effort to reach out to them.
Early on in the campaign the incumbent, President Hassan Rouhani, posted a photo of himself on social media which caused a flurry of comment.
He was out on a weekend walk in the mountains standing next to two young female hikers, both of whose hijab is far from what would be considered proper by the hardliners.
It was a clear message to young, modern female voters, that he was the candidate who was not overly bothered about the country's restrictive dress code and other curbs on social freedom.
Mr Rouhani's campaign video makes a point of praising Iranian women's achievements in the worlds of both work and sport, and offering his support.
He is also the only candidate so far to have held a rally specifically for female voters.
He was given a rapturous welcome by thousands of young women gathered at Tehran's Shiroudi stadium this week.
Many were wearing purple headscarves - the colour of his campaign - and many held placards demanding more rights and freedoms.
Women are poorly represented in politics and government in Iran
Well-known MP Parvaneh Salahshouri was cheered when she told the crowd that the morality police should leave women alone and focus on fighting corruption instead.
Flanked by female MPs, Mr Rouhani took to the stage and indirectly rebuked his hardline rival Ebrahim Raisi over the conservatives' view that women's employment is less important than their role as wives and mothers.
"Aren't you the one trying to stop women from going out to work?" he asked. "If you really believe in female employment then why haven't you done anything about it?"
As an ultra-conservative, Mr Raisi clearly has a harder job appealing to young, modern-minded female voters.
But that hasn't stopped him from trying. On the campaign trail he makes frequent mention of his wife - who has a PhD and is a university professor.
"I don't mind eating a cold dinner when my wife has to work late," he told a journalist recently.
Mr Raisi's critics are sceptical about his sudden interest in women's rights.
A photograph of a recent campaign rally in which his supporters are clearly segregated by gender, has prompted much mockery from moderates.
Hardline candidate Ebrahim Raisi has also been courting the female vote
Many suspect Mr Raisi's real views are actually closer to those of the man he's widely tipped to succeed Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Mr Khamenei is famous for dismissing gender equality as a "failed Western idea", and stressing the importance of Iranian women's role in the home and family.
The other key candidate in this race, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, is also using social media to reach out to women.
He recently posted a photo of himself surrounded by young ethnic Kurds, including girls wearing colourful headscarves with their hair clearly visible.
But on social media he has been constantly reminded of his past proposals to segregate men and women in the workplace in Tehran. And President Rouhani has made several swipes at him for the same reason.
Alongside the presidential poll, voters will also be electing new local councils and here women are involved and having more impact.
Record numbers of women won seats in local elections four years ago, and many are hoping to repeat that achievement this time round.
Overall representation by women both in local councils and in parliament is still low - Iran ranks 177 out of 193 on the United Nation's 2017 Women in Politics report.
But the involvement of women on local councils has made an impact and it is here that they are clearly able to make a difference.
Back on the campaign trail in Tehran women voters are listening hard to the pledges now being made to them by the candidates.
Many are wondering whether the rhetoric will translate into policies that will really address the many pressures of their everyday lives.
Veteran would-be presidential candidate Azam Taleghani has been taking part in an election meeting at Amir Kabir university.
She pledged to continue her campaign for women to be allowed to stand for president, but said that this time round she would be casting her vote for President Rouhani.
"Maybe we will never have a female president," she told students, "But it doesn't mean the right to stand should be taken away from us."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39885095
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Staying out of spotlight, Trump prepared an ousting - BBC News
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2017-05-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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US President Donald Trump stayed out of the public eye before a startling announcement - the firing of the FBI director.
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US & Canada
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How US President Donald Trump spent his time before the firing of the FBI director - quietly and away from the public - sheds light on his decision-making.
In the days leading up to the president's momentous decision to fire FBI director James Comey, President Trump spent his time with members of his family and close aides.
The group didn't include his high-profile senior advisors, revealing the way that he was tightening the circle of trust before the bombshell announcement.
Earlier this month Comey spoke with Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, about the investigation into Russia's attempts to interfere in the November election. Comey made it clear that he was working hard on the investigation and had no plans to drop the matter or go easy on the president.
Comey also spoke with lawmakers about the bureau's investigation into the Russians, and about its investigation into the emails of Hillary Clinton. On 3 May he told members of Congress that he felt he'd approached both investigations in an impartial manner.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What do Trump supporters think about Comey's firing?
This did not sit well with the president, who was hoping that the investigation into his past ties with Russia would be dropped. Trump had expected Comey to make a public statement saying there was no investigation of him. He'd made sure Comey knew he was hoping for that statement, but Comey had refused to do it. That had gnawed away at Trump over recent weeks.
Trump became even more wary when Comey testified before Congress on 3 May. The president, as White House officials explained later, was inclined to remove him from his post.
In a termination letter written to the FBI director, the president laid out his complaint and explained the rationale for his firing: "While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgement of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau."
Five days earlier - the day after Comey spoke with members of Congress - the president left on a trip to New York and then headed to New Jersey. For three days - from Thursday night until Sunday - the president was not seen by the public. He was staying at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, not far from New York City.
Trump appeared before the press on Sunday 7 May, after three days out of the spotlight.
While the president was spending time at his club, other members of the press pool and I - a small group of reporters who are responsible for tracking the president's activities on a daily basis - were waiting around in a hotel in nearby Branchburg. We weren't allowed to visit the resort. Instead White House officials would occasionally stop by the hotel and tell us that the president was having meetings - but wouldn't tell us with whom or what about.
Presidents - like everybody else - like to have down time and relax. They're also free to work wherever they want. But it was unusual for a president to disappear from the public for this long and without a more detailed explanation from his aides about his activities. As it turned out, he was thinking about the FBI director - and the possibility of his ouster.
On Sunday evening Trump rode in a motorcade through New Jersey, driving past red barns and horse pastures, but he was in a dark vehicle and couldn't be seen. Then he got on Air Force One to fly from New Jersey to Washington. That's when members of the press saw him for the first time since Thursday.
He and his daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner were seated in a cabin in the front of the aeroplane. KT McFarland, the deputy national security adviser, was on the flight. Stephen Miller, wearing a navy jacket and a white shirt with no tie, paced around the cabin.
I didn't see HR McMaster, the national security adviser, or Stephen Bannon, the chief White House strategist. I was surprised because on most of the trips I'd gone on with the president, I'd seen Bannon on the aeroplane.
That evening I was sitting in the back of the aeroplane with the other reporters, and someone told me that Trump waved at us. During the short flight, the people in the front of the cabin were laughing and joking around.
Reporters and staff wait on the tarmac at Join Base Andrews on Sunday
Then the aeroplane landed - and something seemed wrong. Kushner and his family came downstairs and headed towards a dark sedan, but the president didn't.
Members of the travelling press pool wait until the president gets off the plane and gets on his helicopter, Marine One, before they leave the tarmac - and so I stood there.
It was cold and blustery, and I spent a long time looking at the windows of the aeroplane and trying to figure out what was going on. We were there for so long that even the Secret Service agents started to look bored. One of them yawned.
I asked White House aides about the delay, and they told me the president was in a meeting. "He didn't want to break it off," one of the aides told me later.
While we waited on the tarmac, an aide carried two or three golf clubs down the stairs, holding them close to his side so they'd be less visible. (Still they clanked together as he walked down the stairs - it's hard to hide golf clubs.)
At one point Kushner went back up the stairs of the plane. Every family has a mediator, someone who calms everyone else down, and he seems to play that role. After a while he came down the stairs again.
"Everything's OK," Kushner told me, talking about the president and his reasons for staying the plane. "He was just working on something."
Finally - after 45 minutes - Trump came out. He wasn't wearing a tie, and his hair looked messy. He gripped the handrail and walked down the stairs and headed for Marine Force One and back to the White House.
I'm still not sure whom the president was meeting with on the plane or why the meeting was so important that it couldn't be interrupted when the plane landed. McFarland wasn't in the meeting - at least I don't think she was. I could see her walking past the windows of the plane. White House officials haven't provided me with more of an explanation for what was happening on the plane.
One thing seemed clear, though: the president was preparing for the important announcement about the FBI director in a safe, cloistered environment, an atmosphere in which he was unlikely to be challenged in a dramatic way.
That changed, of course, on Tuesday when Comey was sacked, and people outside the president's circle found out about the president's plans. The relaxed, contemplative world that he'd created had come to an end.
Unlike previous presidents, he does not seem to have an established system either for his decision-making or for the rollout of major announcements. Trump may have thought long and hard about the termination of Comey, but analysts said that he didn't lay the groundwork for what would happen next.
"You'd think if you're going to fire someone, you'd have a successor lined up," said David Greenberg, the author of Nixon's Shadow: The History of an Image.
Right now the search is on for a new FBI director: stay tuned.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39875139
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China's big push for its global trade narrative - BBC News
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2017-05-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Beijing says its global trade ambitions are good for everyone, but it'll have some convincing to do.
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China
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China's President Xi Jinping intends to tell you a story.
But first he's going to try it out on the world's political leaders. Not those of the United States, Japan, India or much of the European Union. They've declined the invitation.
But this weekend Mr Xi is gathering all the presidents and prime ministers he can muster in Beijing, hoping to inspire them with a vision about China as a force for good in the world.
Xi Jinping came to power five years ago with a determination that China should stop hiding its light under a bushel. Instead of creeping up timidly on the world order, he felt it should walk tall as a mighty and ancient civilisation which had gone from marginal economic player to the world's biggest trading nation in less than four decades.
"The relationship between China and the rest of the world is undergoing historic changes. Tell China stories well," he urged the nation's media, diplomats and think tanks, adding that they must present China as a builder of world peace and contributor to global development.
This weekend he himself takes the stage as storyteller in chief at Beijing's Belt and Road Forum. It helps that there is currently no competing global narrative from the United States or the European Union, as President Trump turns inward to "Make America Great Again" and the EU struggles with Brexit and a slew of other challenges.
China's underlying narrative is well known to all Mr Xi's guests. Economic transformation and breakneck growth have returned it to its traditional position at the centre of the East Asian economy.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What China's One Belt, One Road really means
And now Mr Xi wants to use Chinese money and construction might to rebuild much of Eurasia's infrastructure of ports, roads and rails and put China at its heart. A giant exercise in joining the dots whose buzzword is connectivity.
Critics in Washington, Tokyo and New Delhi observe that some of the biggest belt and road projects seem to be for strategically significant assets. Like the oil and gas pipelines across Central Asia, and the Indian Ocean ports in Pakistan and Sri Lanka which might serve military as well as commercial uses.
Many observers see an obvious geopolitical agenda to the belt and road initiative, but in a suspicious and prickly neighbourhood China firmly denies it. To make the plan less threatening, it frames it as a revival of the ancient Silk Road whose camel caravans carried Chinese goods west across Asia more than 1,000 years ago.
China seeks to boost its connection with global markets
The aim is a soft-power message of a China which is mighty but peaceful, delivering what it can to the world in exchanges of mutual benefit. But the belt and road is much more ambitious than a camel caravan.
By land and by sea, through transport networks, telecoms, energy pipelines and industrial hubs, it promises to integrate more than 60 countries and 60% of the world's population.
And for domestic Chinese audiences, the story of the belt and road is told with a different emphasis, focusing less on the wins for foreigners and more on opportunities for China's impoverished west and assisting China's push up the value chain into industries like high speed rail and nuclear power.
There's even a narrative aimed at foreign children. Mr Xi may be the headline act on stage this weekend but in the scramble to offer the warm up, the state-owned China Daily newspaper is running online videos of an American father telling his daughter bedtime stories about the belt and road as "China's idea which belongs to the world".
The video insists that it's a win-win project
And in a catchy music video, ukulele strumming multi-ethnic children surrounded by cut-out camels sing the praises of the belt and road.
"We're paving new roads, building more ports, finding new options with friends of all sorts, It's a culture exchange, we trade in our wealth, we connect with our hearts, it strengthens our health," it goes.
Mr Xi has been telling the belt and road story for four years now. Why gather the world's decision makers in Beijing for a grand rendition now?
One short answer is that he needs to drum up growth. China's domestic economy is slowing and exporting Chinese construction capacity to the belt and road would help boost the domestic economy in the short and medium term.
If even some of the infrastructure projects succeed, they might in turn contribute to growth in the long term by spurring demand from China's neighbours.
But a more personal reason for the timing is Mr Xi's own political cycle. In the one-party state, being Communist Party leader is more important than being president and this year China will hold a vital Party Congress.
Hosting the world this weekend burnishes Xi Jinping's aura of invincibility by reminding his party and public that he is increasing China's clout on the international stage.
President Xi is happy to step in as the US becomes more isolationist
A third reason for the timing is the international picture. Many of America's friends and allies in the region were dismayed by Mr Trump's decision to walk away from the TPP trade agreement, an agreement which his predecessor had said was vital to the US setting the rules of the road in Asia rather than letting China set them.
Mr Xi's new push for the belt and road initiative is the same kind of canny political opportunism that spurred his defence of globalisation at the Davos forum in January.
So China's president has been lucky in his timing and bold in seizing the stage. And it will certainly look to his guests as if he usually gets what he wants. No country puts on a grand spectacle of purpose and progress quite like China does.
This weekend Beijing's sky will be blue. Smog, traffic snarl and ghost towns littered with white elephant infrastructure will be safely far from view.
This is the show and tell of Xi Jinping's story… China the can-do master builder inspiring awe in all beholders and giving hope that what China has achieved at home it might replicate elsewhere.
But the truth is that Mr Xi's will works as an organising principle only for some of the people some of the time, and usually only for a very small number of highly specific objectives. Even in Beijing, the sky is not always blue, the traffic is often snarled and resources are often misallocated.
How much more is this true beyond the glittering capital. China is an economy with a perilous debt overhang precisely because its investors are just as fallible as those of other countries.
Yes, on the right project and for the right price, Chinese money and Chinese master builders can work infrastructure wonders. But that was always the case. The belt and road is an important initiative, but one of indeterminate boundaries, duration and outcome.
Mr Xi's guests should not make the mistake of thinking all Chinese players will do his bidding and all bedtime stories will come true.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-39880163
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Free drinking water - what are your rights? - BBC News
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2017-05-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Most people are unaware of where and when they can claim free drinking water, a survey suggests.
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UK
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Water, water everywhere - but when can you drink it for free?
Most people do not know their rights to free drinking water from businesses and public buildings, a survey says.
The Keep Britain Tidy poll says only 25% of the public know when they can ask for water for free - while 71% feel awkward asking for water from venues if they are not a customer.
But even if they are buying something, more than a third feel awkward asking for their water bottle to be filled.
The poll for the charity and Brita UK saw 2,119 people surveyed by YouGov.
Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: "This report demonstrates that the British public want greater access to tap water when out and about."
So when can you ask for a free glass of water, and when can't you?
Some licensed premises might give you free water, but charge for the glass it comes in
All licensed premises in England and Wales are required by law to provide "free potable water" to their customers upon request. In Scotland a similar law applies, but specifies "tap water fit for drinking".
This means pubs, bars, nightclubs, cafes, restaurants, takeaway food and drink outlets, cinemas, theatres, and even village and community halls - so long as they are authorised to serve alcohol.
However, these premises can charge people for the use of a glass - or their service - when serving the "free" tap water.
There is no law regarding the provision of drinking water in licensed premises in Northern Ireland.
You may work up a sweat in a gym, but that doesn't mean you can get a drink of water for free
Unlicensed premises in the UK do not have to legally supply free drinking water.
So, provided they are unlicensed, this includes sports stadiums, leisure centres, swimming pools, health clubs, tourists attractions, theatres, cinemas and beauty salons.
Schools must provide free drinking water by law - but not in Northern Ireland
Schools are legally required to provide drinking water for pupils at all times in England, Scotland and Wales - but not Northern Ireland.
However, there is guidance from the Public Health Agency stating that children in Northern Ireland "must have easy access at all times to free, fresh, preferably chilled water".
All UK employers must provide free drinking water in the workplace for all their employees, at all times.
Many people are not confident about drinking from a public fountain
Of the people taking part in the poll, only 7% said they drink from water fountains or public taps - while 55% were concerned about the cleanliness of public water taps, fountains and dispensers.
Just 11% said they would pop into a cafe or restaurant to ask for tap water.
Keep Britain Tidy has issued recommendations aimed at improving the public's access to drinking water.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39881236
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Jose Mourinho: Man Utd boss targets 'perfect' end to season in Europa League - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Winning the Europa League would be the "perfect" end to Manchester United's season, says Jose Mourinho after his side see off Celta Vigo to reach the final.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Winning the Europa League to qualify for the Champions League would be the "perfect" end to Manchester United's season, says manager Jose Mourinho.
The Red Devils survived a late scare against Spanish side Celta Vigo to join Ajax in the 24 May final in Stockholm.
Mourinho fears Ajax, who finish the Dutch season on Sunday, will be better prepared after a 12-day break.
"This season has been so difficult, so if we manage to win the Europa League it will be amazing," he said.
"It means a chance to win a trophy and the opportunity to be back in the Champions League."
Leading 1-0 from the first leg, United took control of the tie as Marouane Fellaini headed home Marcus Rashford's cross.
Celta, needing two goals, levelled on the night through Facundo Roncaglia to set up a tense final few minutes.
And Celta striker John Guidetti scuffed a golden chance to put the visitors through to their first major European final with the final kick of the game.
Mourinho has prioritised winning Europe's secondary club competition, which guarantees a place in next season's Champions League, in his debut season at Old Trafford.
United have three Premier League games left before they can fully focus on their seventh European final.
The Red Devils, who are sixth and four points adrift of Manchester City in fourth, visit second-placed Tottenham on Sunday.
Mourinho's side also face a trip to Southampton before rounding off their campaign with a home game against Crystal Palace.
The Eagles, who could still be fighting for their top-flight survival, visit Old Trafford three days before the Europa League final.
"Ajax's league finishes Sunday," said Mourinho. "They have 12 days to prepare. We have three games and three days.
"Hopefully Palace have nothing to play for because I will make a lot of changes."
Celta coach Eduardo Berizzo bemoaned the fact United scored with what he said was their "one chance".
"We performed much better than United did at our place," he said. "We possibly deserved to get through.
"Given the huge gap on all levels between the clubs, we managed to bridge that gap.
"I want my team to play the way I live life. We express ourselves through attacking football. I think our opponents wanted to break up our fluidity."
'Off the cuff has gone' - analysis
Former England international Chris Waddle, who was at Old Trafford for BBC Radio 5 live:
"Manchester United have always been known as entertainers, but I think they showed against Celta Vigo what they are now, which is a well-disciplined and well-organised team - the bit of them that was off the cuff has gone.
"United were set up defensively and playing on the counter-attack, and doing that they are never going to score a lot goals. You can see why they have struggled to beat teams at Old Trafford this season.
"Yes, results and trophies are what matters to Jose Mourinho, and his side have won the tie and are into the Europa League final, but the way they did it was not very entertaining.
"Trophies are brilliant to lift and they go in the cabinet and add to a club's history. You can look at them and say a team were winners but they do not tell you how well, or how badly, they played to do it.
"In the final they will be playing against an Ajax team who play the way Ajax have always played - entertaining, attack-minded and looking to get on the front foot.
"United won't do that. They will have the same game plan as they did against Celta Vigo - Mourinho is going to set up his side in an identical way and he will not take any risks."
Led by Bobby Charlton and George Best, Matt Busby's side became the first English team to win the European Cup with a 4-1 win over Benfica at Wembley.
Two goals from Mark Hughes, now Stoke manager, gave United a 2-1 win over Barcelona in Rotterdam. Ronald Koeman, now manager of Everton, scored for Barca.
Perhaps United's most famous success. Trailing Bayern Munich in the Nou Camp heading into stoppage time, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored following David Beckham corners to complete an incredible turnaround and seal an unprecedented Treble.
An all-English affair in late-night Moscow. Cristiano Ronaldo and Frank Lampard exchanged goals to take the tie to penalties and, after Ronaldo missed, John Terry had the chance to win it for Chelsea. However, he slipped, missed, and Edwin van der Sar then saved from Nicolas Anelka.
Ronaldo's final game for United ended in defeat as Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi scored to give Pep Guardiola's Barcelona victory in Rome.
A repeat performance from Guardiola's Barcelona as United were outclassed at Wembley. Lionel Messi, Pedro and David Villa scored and Sir Alex Ferguson described Barca as the best team he had ever faced.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39892410
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Manchester United 1-1 Celta Vigo (2-1 agg) - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Manchester United survive a huge late scare to edge past Celta Vigo and set up a Europa League final against Dutch giants Ajax.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester United survived a huge late scare to edge past Spanish visitors Celta Vigo and set up a Europa League final against Dutch giants Ajax.
Leading 1-0 from the first leg, United took control as Marouane Fellaini headed home Marcus Rashford's cross.
But Celta, needing two goals, levelled on the night through Facundo Roncaglia to set up a tense final few minutes.
United's Eric Bailly and Roncaglia were sent off after a mass brawl, and the hosts hung on to reach the final.
Indeed they could only celebrate after Celta striker John Guidetti scuffed a golden chance to put the visitors through to their first major European final with the final kick of the game.
The aggregate victory took the Red Devils a step closer to their first Europa League triumph and a return to the Champions League.
They will meet Ajax, who beat Lyon in the other semi-final, in Stockholm on 24 May.
• None 'As long as he isn't sitting next to me' Spanish commentator v 5 live Sport
Functional not flashy - but in the final
United had never lost a two-legged European tie after winning the first leg away from home, and knew they would reach the final by keeping a clean sheet at an expectant Old Trafford.
The hosts looked nervy as Celta made an attacking start, before Fellaini settled the tension by converting his side's first effort on target.
The Belgium midfielder sneaked in at the far post to powerfully head in Rashford's clipped left-wing cross.
Jose Mourinho's side created few other chances as they aimed to frustrate the visitors with an organised and largely defensive approach.
Although Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Rashford and Fellaini all drew saves from Celta keeper Sergio Alvarez after the break, it was a functional - not flashy - performance.
Celta, who had lost their previous five matches and are 12th in La Liga, had more possession than the home side, and forced United keeper Sergio Romero into instinctive saves at the start of each half.
They then ignited the tie with Roncaglia's glancing header following a corner.
The away goal, which left them needing one more to eliminate United, increased the tension inside Old Trafford, leading to a scuffle involving almost all 22 players on the field.
Bailly was sent off for a swipe at former Manchester City striker Guidetti, with Roncaglia dismissed for retaliating.
With six minutes of added time, there was still opportunity for Celta to create one final chance - but Guidetti blew it.
While United's players greeted the final whistle with a mixture of relief and jubilation, the visitors slumped to the turf with Guidetti in tears.
"You cannot win a semi-final easily, or be calm. We are in the final, that's what counts," said United midfielder Ander Herrera.
Winning the Europa League has become Mourinho's priority as he looks to secure a return to the Champions League in his debut season at Old Trafford.
And the campaign will be deemed a disappointing one if his team lose to Ajax, who edged out Lyon 5-4 on aggregate.
Expectations were high that Mourinho's arrival would bring an end to the malaise that has surrounded the Red Devils since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement.
United have finished seventh, fourth and fifth in the three Premier League seasons since the Scot's departure - and Mourinho arrived with loftier ambitions than simply scraping into the top four.
Ten months later, the Portuguese has been forced to drastically reassess his ambitions.
He appears to have conceded defeat in the top-four race, with his team sixth, four points adrift of Manchester City going into their final three matches.
With the return leg against Celta at the forefront of his mind, Mourinho made eight changes for Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Arsenal - a clear admission he felt winning the Europa League was more attainable than breaking into the top four.
However, his decision will only be justified if they are successful in beating Ajax and claiming their sixth European trophy.
The missing piece in the jigsaw
The Red Devils have won 65 trophies in their illustrious 115-year history, a figure including 20 English league titles and three European Cup/Champions League victories.
However, there is one piece of silverware missing from the Old Trafford trophy room.
In recent seasons winning the Europa League may have been considered an unwanted honour. Now it is considered a must-win as the club looks to complete a clean sweep of the major competitions at home and abroad.
"They are not the most technical Man Utd team I've ever seen. Mourinho is very good at setting a team up but it is not entertaining.
"United have always been entertainers and even if they win the Europa League, people will say: 'Yes they won it, but it wasn't entertaining.'
"The goal for Celta came from United's lack of concentration and it became a little bit "panic stations" for the rest of the match.
"Ajax are a young team - they could easily freeze in that final."
"We were the best team in the first leg but we never kill, we never score goals related to the chances we have. It was an open game at home, all the pressure on our side.
"They were completely free of responsibility and gave us a very hard match. We suffered until the end and it was open until the last second. The boys gave everything they had. I'm really pleased for them.
"After 14 matches, we are in the final. If we win the Europa League, I am more than happy. It would be amazing."
Before they can fully focus on the Europa League final, United have three more Premier League matches to think about.
They go to second-placed Tottenham on Sunday (16:30 BST), before games against Southampton and Crystal Palace.
• None Offside, Manchester United. Antonio Valencia tries a through ball, but Marouane Fellaini is caught offside.
• None Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Gustavo Cabral (Celta de Vigo) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Facundo Roncaglia (Celta de Vigo) is shown the red card for violent conduct. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39877812
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Players Championship: Sergio Garcia hits hole-in-one as Adam Scott blows chance to lead - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Masters winner Sergio Garcia hit a hole-in-one as Adam Scott blew the chance to take a first-round lead at the Players Championship at Sawgrass.
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Last updated on .From the section Golf
-5 -4 JB Holmes (US), A Noren (Swe), C Reavie (US), J Rahm (Spa)
Masters winner Sergio Garcia hit a hole-in-one on the iconic 17th hole as Adam Scott blew the chance to take a first-round lead at the Players Championship at Sawgrass in Florida.
Garcia, playing his first tournament since Masters victory last month, recovered from a poor start to card a one-over round of 73.
World number 11 Scott dropped four shots in the last two holes.
The 2013 Masters champion was on six under through 16 holes but hit a five on the par-three 17th and a six on the par-four 18th to shoot a two-under 70.
England's Lee Westwood shot a bogey-free round of 70 to reach two under, with compatriot Paul Casey and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell a stroke further back.
Scott's fellow Australian Jason Day, the world number three, is two under, a shot ahead of a group including world number one Dustin Johnson and Bernhard Langer, who at 59 is the oldest player in the tournament.
Rory McIlroy is one over, while Luke Donald and Masters runner-up Justin Rose both opened with a two-over 74.
Garcia started with three bogeys and a double bogey in the first six holes but three birdies in total and the ace on 17 helped him recover to stay in contention.
The Spaniard is just the the eighth player to make a hole-in-one on the 17th at Sawgrass in Players Championship history.
"It was nice to see it bounce and kind of spin back into the hole, maybe because I needed it after the start I had," said Garcia.
"I wasn't quite in the tournament because of everything that's been going on after the Masters win and media and people congratulating you left, right and centre - I was a little bit up in the clouds, and when I woke up, I was four over after six."
American Johnson narrowly missed out on winning his fourth straight tournament at the Wells Fargo Championship last week, finishing second on his return from the back injury that saw him pull out of the Masters on the first tee.
He started with a bogey at Sawgrass, hitting three in total, but two birdies and an eagle on the par-five 16th saw him move to four shots behind the leader.
"I could never really get any momentum - I hit some good shots, then I would lip-out the putt," said Johnson.
Co-leader McGirt hit three birdies on the front nine and eagled both of the par five holes on the back nine to offset two bogeys.
It is the fifth time the 37-year-old American, who won the 2016 Memorial Tournament, has held the lead or a share of the lead after 18 holes but is yet to convert an opening-round lead into victory.
Players can go through spells when they cannot avoid being centre of attention.
It seems this is the case for Masters winner Sergio Garcia, who repaired a stumbling start with a hole-in-one on probably the most iconic par three on the PGA Tour.
That capped an odd opening day in which a string of big names - Jason Day, Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler included - handed back promising starts.
Sawgrass represents an exacting test with no margin for error and that remains the case following the latest renovations to the layout.
Rory McIlroy has been troubled with a back problem that hampered his preparations and he will need to shed rust rapidly to have any chance of contending over the weekend.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/39892487
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Reality Check: Who loves the UK at Eurovision? - BBC News
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2017-05-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Everyone thinks Ireland are the UK's best friends at Eurovision. Are they right?
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Entertainment & Arts
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It's Eurovision time again, which means it's time to take the voting very personally indeed.
Who is rejecting the UK's tunes and who is telling us we're not alone?
Downloading the voting from fan site eschome.net you can find out how many points all other countries have given the UK at Eurovision since it started in 1957.
A continuous data set is tricky because of rule changes over the years, especially last year when telephone votes were separated from jury votes, increasing the number of votes available.
Also, not all of the countries that participated in the early days have survived to the end.
But some steps may be taken to check the facts on the site, for example, it gives the total number of votes received by the UK as 3,911, which is confirmed by the official Eurovision site.
Nonetheless, by dividing the number of points given to the UK by the number of times a country has participated we can find out who our real friends are.
We're excluding countries that have participated fewer than five times, although Morocco deserves a special mention having only appeared once in 1980, when it gave the UK and the song Love Enough for Two a creditable eight points.
That's even better than honorary Europeans Australia, who gave the UK eight points in one of the two years it has participated.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Lucie Jones performs Never Give Up On You, the UK's entry for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.
So, excluding the occasional contestants, our best friends are Luxembourg, which has averaged a touch under five points per contest.
Luxembourg was one of the original participants in Eurovision but has not taken part since 1993. Sadly the love was not reciprocated, with the UK giving Luxembourg only an average of 2.5 points per contest.
Luxembourg is closely followed by Malta and then Ireland, which is widely seen as our best Eurovision friend because it has given the UK the most points overall in the history of the competition. The UK has given Ireland an average of almost 5.5 points in finals.
Completing the top 10 in order are: Austria, Israel, Switzerland, Turkey, Portugal, Yugoslavia (which competed 27 times before it was broken up) and Monaco.
At the bottom end, the country that has snubbed the UK the most consistently is Montenegro, which has failed to give the UK a single point in the eight times it has participated.
The other countries averaging less than one point per contest are Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, this year's hosts Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Clearly, those countries that have been withholding their love from the UK are relative newcomers to the competition, with all of them having competed fewer than 15 times.
Among the seven countries that participated in the first contest, the least love has been shown by the Netherlands, which is halfway down the list, having given the UK an average of 2.7 points per contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest final will be broadcast on BBC One on Saturday from 20:00 BST.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39899190
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Ross Barkley: Everton midfielder has until next weekend to sign new deal - BBC Sport
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2017-05-12
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Everton midfielder Ross Barkley has until next weekend to sign a new contract or he will be sold, says manager Ronald Koeman.
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Everton midfielder Ross Barkley has until the end of the Premier League season next weekend to sign a new contract or he will be sold, says manager Ronald Koeman.
Koeman last month warned the England international, 23, that with a year left on his deal he could be sold.
Everton face Watford on Friday before finishing their Premier League campaign at Arsenal on Sunday, 21 May.
"Either he accepts the contract or we sell the player," said Koeman.
"But if you need so much time then you have doubts - I like to work with players who like to stay."
The Dutchman said the Everton board had tried "for a long time" to get Barkley to sign and were already looking at replacements in attacking positions.
He added: "We don't wait till August - next weekend we need an answer."
Barkley has scored four goals and provided eight assists in 34 Premier League appearances this season.
Koeman has used tough love to get the best out of Barkley this season - from public criticism, removal at half-time at Sunderland, praise for improvement but then back to dropping him at Swansea City last weekend. The latest message was just tough - no love involved.
Ruthless and pragmatic, the Everton boss delivered the ultimatum with the air of a man who would not lose a single second of sleep should he have to sell Barkley, making it clear he questions his long-term commitment because of his apparent reluctance to sign a new deal.
Barkley now faces a dilemma. The boyhood Everton fan seems to believe the grass might be greener elsewhere, perhaps for Champions League football at Tottenham. But would Barkley even get in a Spurs team that already has Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen? Could he risk being a bench-warmer with a World Cup looming and England looking certain to qualify?
For Koeman's part, this unsentimental and single-minded individual clearly believes Barkley has had long enough to decide if he wants to stay at Everton and if he wishes to leave seems perfectly content to show him the door.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39886112
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How do you go about crowdfunding for someone you have never met? - BBC News
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2017-05-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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How and why would someone raise money for a person they have never met?
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England
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Shane Yerrell: The crowdfunding superhero who raises money for strangers
The meteoric rise of crowdfunding has revolutionised how easy it is to help out those in need. Often fundraising is done by friends or family, but an increasing number of people are setting up pages for complete strangers whose stories tug at their heartstrings. So how do you go about changing the life of someone you've never met?
Shane Yerrell is a man on a mission. The victim of a knife attack a decade ago, he decided to turn his hand to helping others, and has raised more than £20,000 for a number of causes since 2011.
He has climbed a mountain, shaved his head, walked from London to Brighton - and he has set up crowdfunding pages for people who he does not know, and might never meet.
"If I won the lottery, I'd be the first millionaire to become skint," said Mr Yerrell, 33, from Waltham Abbey, Essex, who works with adults who have learning disabilities.
"When I read stories in the news, I get a bit more affected by them than most people do. I get really annoyed to the point where I want to make a stand and help them there and then.
"You don't have to know someone to want to help them."
Shane Yerrell decided to help Liam Bradshaw after hearing about the car crash he was involved in
One of the people Mr Yerrell has crowdfunded for is 21-year-old Liam Bradshaw, from Enfield, who was involved in a catastrophic car crash in which his three friends died in 2012.
"I was left with 17 fractures to the face, broken collarbones, a nose job and a titanium forehead. I was in hospital for eight and a half months," Mr Bradshaw recalls.
When Mr Yerrell heard in the news about what had happened, he approached Mr Bradshaw's family and asked if he could help to raise money for his recovery, through a fundraising page and by climbing Mount Toubkal in Morocco.
"Shane came along towards the end of my hospital life. The guy has the kindest heart - he went out of his way to help a stranger so that stranger could live his life again," Mr Bradshaw said.
"I'm so glad it happened, because if I hadn't had the accident, I wouldn't have met someone with such a good heart," he added.
"From what Shane did for me, I've then come out of hospital to go and coach disabled children for Tottenham Hotspur.
"We've gone beyond friends now - he's more like family."
Liam Bradshaw said he had been inspired by the actions of a stranger - Shane Yerrell - who had raised money for him after his accident
Bridey Watson set up a crowdfunding page to help a complete stranger after money was raised to help her through her illness
Bridey Watson, 35, from Bristol, was on the receiving end of crowdfunding a few years ago, after contracting babesiosis, a malaria-like parasitic disease developed from a tick bite.
"I was bed and wheelchair-bound, having seizures every day," she recalls.
"When the doctors finally worked out what was wrong, my friends and family set up a crowdfunding page for me to go to Germany and the US for treatment, where tick-borne diseases are better understood and treated.
"The crowdfunding other people did for me enabled me to regain my health and rebuild my life."
Ms Watson is still recovering from the effects of babesiosis, but was inspired to help someone else in need following her own experience.
She said she was horrified by an assault on 17-year-old asylum seeker Kurdish-Iranian Reker Ahmed, who was chased and subjected to a "brutal attack" in Croydon at the end of March.
"He's finally thinking he's reached a place of sanctuary, only to be attacked - I could picture the terribleness of what he'd been through," she said.
"From my own experience, I knew the messages people left were as important as the physical health money can bring. And that's what I wanted to do for the guy who was attacked."
Ms Waton's page to help an attacked asylum seeker smashed its target
The psychology behind setting up a crowdfunding page for a stranger can be split into three categories, says philanthropic psychologist Jen Shang.
"Typically, people help strangers to make themselves feel good, to make others feel good, or both," she said.
"Some people don't want to get up close and personal with the people they help - they want to keep it all at arm's length and have a simple, easy and warm way of helping.
"Others prefer to have direct contact with the people they're helping, and crowdfunding sites offer a channel where that sort of connection is possible."
Ms Shang, who works as research director at the University of Plymouth's Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy, said although the percentage of people donating money to charity or other causes "has not changed in the UK or the US for decades," new methods of giving were constantly being invented, with crowdfunding "the new kid on the block".
"For people like Mr Yerrell, crowdfunding might be the most 'sustainable' way of giving - the way that sustains the knowledge and feeling you're caring about others.
"Psychologists say as long as you're a human, you want to care about others."
The Parker family - Harry, Glen, Danielle and Mia - have experienced the kindness of strangers
For the Parker family, who live in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, a stranger's help could not have come at a better time.
They were trying to raise £75,000 for specialised surgery to help seven-year-old Harry, who has cerebral palsy, to be able to walk.
Mr Yerrell was introduced to them by a friend, but had not met the family before that, and ended up helping to hit the fundraising target.
"It's unbelievable - the amount of people he's helped. We weren't the first and I know we won't be the last," Harry's dad Glen said.
"As soon as I met him, I knew he was genuine. It's a life changer for Harry and us as a family. People like him don't come along every day."
Harry's mum Danielle said Mr Yerrell - whose work has been recognised with a British Citizen Award and a Pride of Essex Award - had become "a big part" of the family's life.
"Not only has he helped us, he's a genuinely nice person. Sometimes you need someone like him in your life to make you think everything will be alright, especially when you're going through a tough time."
Mr Yerrell has founded a community interest company, Through the Fight, with the aim of gaining charity status in the coming year.
He will also be taking some time for himself, he said, because "you don't want to make people sick of it".
"I want to have time to do NVQ at work," he said. "But if something was to happen to someone I knew, I'd be there first person to try to help.
"I put everything into my fundraising. It's not just setting up the pages - you have to contact the person of their family, put your own money into it, promote it.
"I'm not well off, but that money could go down the pub or on silly things. I will always want to help and make a difference, but you need a bit of reality too."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39642967
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Chelsea are Premier League champions: How did Antonio Conte do it? - BBC Sport
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2017-05-13
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Antonio Conte's rejuvenation of Chelsea is considered a miracle by some at Stamford Bridge - so what makes the Italian so impressive?
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Antonio Conte's transformation of Chelsea from fallen champions to Premier League title winners inside 12 months was completed with victory at West Bromwich Albion - a remarkable success story in his first season at Stamford Bridge.
The 47-year-old inherited a squad that had declined from domestic superpower to mid-table mediocrity amid acrimony and the sacking of title-winning manager Jose Mourinho. But he has shown the personality, tactical brilliance and sure touch to put them back at the top of the English game.
So how has the charismatic Italian achieved what many inside Stamford Bridge regard as a miraculous rejuvenation of fortunes to return the Premier League crown to Chelsea?
The scene is a side room in an Austrian hotel on 16 July 2016.
Chelsea's players are coming down from their rooms for a pre-match meal before a friendly against Rapid Vienna, as the Conte reign officially gets under way.
In the past, tables would have been laden with chicken, pasta, pizza, sandwiches, scrambled egg and salad - this time Chelsea's squad set eyes on a selection of seeds, nuts and dried fruit.
Some players, bemused, turn on their heels and leave, assuming they have wandered into the wrong room rather than a new era. They soon return.
Conte, as he has done since day one at Stamford Bridge, outlines in detail and from personal experience why this is happening. He explains how long some food might take to digest, running the risk of players perhaps carrying an extra half a kilo into games.
The message was swiftly embraced as players felt fitter, healthier and better equipped for the season ahead.
As Chelsea decamped to Los Angeles to continue preparations for the new season, Conte's trademark attention to detail was becoming even more obvious, as the Italian put on tough double sessions, sometimes in 30-degree heat.
He proved a hard tactical taskmaster, as opposed to running players into the ground. Conte loves the role of head coach rather than manager.
Unlike Mourinho, it was Conte who put out the cones - measuring exact distances - and the emphasis was on drill after drill. It was repetition until Chelsea's players knew exactly what was expected, even using shadow sessions of 11 players against none.
Video analysis was, and continues to be, exhaustive as Conte goes through every aspect of Chelsea's training, preparation and games in minute, meticulous detail.
Some days Conte was left frustrated that the message was not quite getting across, but on others the signs were there that any initial reservations his players had, inevitable when a new manager arrives, were disappearing.
The foundations and building blocks were being put in place for a season of Premier League title-winning success.
• None Quiz: The big goals, the big players - how Chelsea won the title
• None How well do you know Chelsea's champions?
When Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo spoke of "palpable discord between manager and players" following the sacking of Mourinho just seven months after winning the title, it underlined the scale of the task that would await his full-time successor.
The trusted Guus Hiddink returned for a second spell in interim charge as a sticking plaster over the wounds, but at season's end a squad used to success looked broken and lacking in unity as it finished in 10th place.
Conte was seen by Chelsea's decision-makers - Emenalo, highly influential director Marina Granovskaia and, of course, owner Roman Abramovich - as a man with a pedigree of success - having won three Scudetto in Italy with Juventus - and the personality to organise and galvanise.
It was an impression he confirmed when, after his appointment at Chelsea had been announced, he took what most regarded as an ordinary Italy team to the last eight of Euro 2016, losing on penalties to Germany after outstanding wins over Belgium and Spain.
Conte, even before Euro 2016, had taken time out from his Italy duties to visit Chelsea's Cobham training base to introduce himself to his future charges.
He arrived on one occasion while Hiddink was conducting a training session, but insisted on showing full respect to the veteran Dutch coach, waiting around a corner out of sight until he finished the final 30 minutes' work before introducing himself to the players.
Conte was assuming a role that the long list of his predecessors proves is highly demanding, but he has forged a close and productive working relationship with Chelsea's hierarchy.
He is in daily contact with Emenalo and speaks regularly to Granovskaia, who is in charge of transfers and heavily involved throughout the club, as well as with Abramovich when the opportunity and occasion arises, as when the Russian billionaire flew in to attend Chelsea's FA Youth Cup final win against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
Abramovich may have many other demands on his time but still has a major input and involvement in every significant decision taken at the club.
Conte is sure to want to refresh and improve his title-winning squad for the added demands of Champions League football next season, so Chelsea's tried and trusted acquisition strategy will be at his full disposal.
Gone are the days when the likes of Andriy Shevchenko would arrived gift-wrapped (and in Mourinho's case unappreciated) for a manager.
The current system, with Emenalo's scouting network at its hub, involves the manager being presented with a list of long-term club targets, to which he can add his own and even set aside those names he does not require.
When Conte makes his moves at the end of the season, with Everton striker Romelu Lukaku heavily linked with a return, they will not be spur-of-the-moment transactions. He will have been a key figure in the drawing up of potential signings.
Conte has silenced the sound of palpable discord and it has been a harmonious Chelsea, on and off the pitch, that has secured a richly deserved Premier League title.
Italy's over-achievement at Euro 2016 was compelling evidence of how close bonds within a camp can produce results beyond expectation.
It is something Conte has brought to Chelsea and placed at the heart of his approach and success.
Conte organised a pre-season barbecue for players, staff and families at Cobham. Marquees were erected and a five-a-side pitch set out for the children. It set the tone for the season, with striker Diego Costa spoiling his villainous public image by happily joining in with the youngsters for 40 minutes, during which he was even taken out by a tackle.
When pre-season got under way in Austria and LA, Chelsea's support staff were surprised to be singled out for warm handshakes and words every day from a manager intent on providing unity at a club that has had its share of instability, often actually generating renewed success, over the years.
At the staff Christmas party, the tradition is for the manager to record a message to be played at the event.
Conte duly obliged, but then asked if he could also attend the event for about 500 people at the Under The Bridge music venue at Stamford Bridge, staying for more than two hours, spending time mingling with guests and happily posing for pictures and selfies.
He spent a similar amount of time at a trampoline party organised for players' children around the festive period - while staff at Cobham also saw evidence of his personal touch last Christmas.
Conte ensured staff received wine and Prosecco, with every bottle personally addressed to the individual as thanks, and accompanied by a card with the words of Hannibal as he prepared to cross the Alps by elephant: "We shall either find a way or make one."
Conte's seasonal goodwill even extended to the media, with a group invited to a local pub and bought drinks after a pre-match news conference in the build-up to the Boxing Day game with Bournemouth.
The irony is the manager intent on developing the Chelsea "family" has had to cope for long spells without wife Elisabetta and nine-year-old daughter Vittoria, who have remained in Italy but will soon join him in London.
Every month, players and staff will go out together for a meal - but Chelsea's players also know when to keep their distance.
Former Chelsea and Scotland winger Pat Nevin witnessed a moment that underlined how Conte, while always available to any player, is not to be trifled with.
He told BBC Sport: "The fun guys at the training ground, the daft ones, David Luiz and Diego Costa, are always having a laugh.
"Costa was sneaking up behind people and throwing big buckets of iced water over them. He was running up behind Antonio and he was going to do the ice bucket over the top and, even though you know Antonio is a good laugh and he was having a joke, he got all the way up then chickened out.
"The players kind of think you're one of them but they're not quite sure. As a manager you've nailed it then - and Conte has nailed it."
Nevin added: "I have also spent a couple of hours with him and interviewed him. We spoke before, just chatting, but he is the classic mix in that he can be great fun but then you see the steely eyes and think you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him.
"You judge a manager by whether he gets the most out of his players. If you are managing a company, a newspaper, a shop or a football team, your job is to get the best out of your staff. He has done that."
Conte's success has meant the potentially thorny issue of captain John Terry's absence from the team and subsequent departure has become an amicable and dignified parting - while a reported training-ground row with Costa in January was handled with the striker left out of the 3-0 win at Leicester City before returning with a goal as Hull City were beaten 2-0.
He is close to his players but also prepared to draw the line. As the card in the Christmas present promised, he has found his way at Chelsea.
Conte's attention to detail and determination to create the perfect environment at Cobham has produced what he wants most in football - success.
Italian journalist Stefano Boldrini, London correspondent for Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport, told BBC Sport: "Conte is a person who lives football every hour, every minute of the day.
"He is always focused on his work, not only on the training ground or in his office. When he is at his house in Chelsea he watches football, speaks with his staff. His mind is always on his work.
"It was the same in Italy but this is a new experience. He has had to fight against Jose Mourinho's Manchester United, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, Arsenal of Arsene Wenger, Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham.
"He likes the sea and he likes good restaurants but his life is about good football. He is enjoying life in England but Conte does not go into London a lot. His life is Cobham and his house. He is very focused on his work.
"He is a very reserved person. For him it was not easy because in one year he has had to learn English, to learn about English football. I don't know about the future but he is really focused on his work now."
Conte's affection for aspects of English football was demonstrated when he applauded the Middlesbrough fans who continued to support their team even though they were relegated with defeat at Chelsea.
Boldrini says: "I know he is a passionate man but it was fantastic when he went to the Middlesbrough fans to applaud them. It was class behaviour and this is Antonio Conte.
"He loves England. He was celebrating the civilisation of English football with what happened with the Boro fans. It was honest."
The idea of Conte as a reserved figure is at odds with the manic touchline celebrations that saw him swinging from a dugout after Gary Cahill's later winner at Stoke City, and ripping an expensive pair of trousers and injuring his leg in one outpouring of joy earlier this season.
Conte, it is believed, finds it awkward to watch those moments back, but it is an insight into the pleasure Chelsea's progress under his tutelage has brought him.
The transformation in Chelsea's season started to unfold in the corridors at Emirates Stadium after a humbling 3-0 loss to Arsenal on 24 September left Conte's side in eighth place, eight points behind leaders Manchester City.
Conte was emotional and downcast as he conducted post-match media duties, but he was cold enough to deliver the clearest of messages: "We must reflect a lot. From the first minute, we have had a bad attitude.
"We are now a great team only on paper not on the pitch. We must show we are a great team on the pitch not on paper."
The loss followed a home defeat by Liverpool in their previous league game that even had some bookmakers suggesting Conte might be an early winner of the managerial sack race.
There was no panic behind the scenes. The club's power-brokers had full faith in their manager and he justified their confidence with a tactical switch that turned Chelsea from a team with doubts about its top-six credentials into an all-conquering force en route to the title.
Chelsea already had future double player of the year N'Golo Kante as a brilliant midfield bedrock after his £30m move from Premier League champions Leicester City - but Conte pulled off a strategic coup that was even more audacious.
Conte reverted to a three-man central-defensive system for the subsequent 2-0 win at Hull City. It was the first of 13 successive league wins. Chelsea's quality had moved from paper to pitch.
New signing Marcos Alonso and the returning Luiz were key figures. Cesar Azpilicueta was part of the central triumvirate but Conte's finest moment may even have come in his reinvention of Victor Moses as a right wing-back of high calibre.
Moses had almost become an itinerant footballer, lost and unloved at Chelsea after being signed by Roberto di Matteo from Wigan Athletic for £9m in August 2012.
He arrived on the same day as Azpilicueta signed from Marseille - but their courses could not have been more different as the 26-year-old spent unspectacular loan spells at Liverpool, Stoke City and West Ham United before Conte spotted something no-one else had uncovered.
Moses made 59 league appearances in those three loan seasons, scoring five goals, and had only made 23 appearances with 12 starts for Chelsea before this season, during which he has played 38 times.
Nevin said: "You see he is going 3-4-3 and you know who the wide man in the four is. It is Cesar Azpilicueta - only it isn't. It's Victor Moses.
"I love it and it impresses me so much when managers do things you don't expect. It is also about the player who plays alongside him.
"Moses was often alongside the manager, who was shouting and telling him almost inch by inch where to be, and he also has Azpilicueta beside him who is as good as there is in the business at closing down, getting close to people and not letting crosses in."
And for Boldrini, it is a prime example of Conte's acumen. He says: "He has been very important for Moses because he hadn't made an impact at Chelsea until Conte came.
"Conte discovered what Moses could do in pre-season and it was a success for Conte because he saw something other managers didn't see."
He added: "He speaks with every player. Conte has a very good relationship with Cesc Fabregas, who has not played all the time, and he also has a very good relationship with Diego Costa. He has spoken to him a lot of times about his behaviour, to be more focused on the game and not his opponent."
The tactical change was seen as Conte returning to old instincts, but Nevin disagrees: "Looking historically at what he'd done before to what he does now, he's not a 3-4-3 man. 100% not.
"That worked because he needed to try something else. I'd seen Juventus a lot. I think most people thought they were a 3-5-2, or a version of that, and sometimes a 3-4-3 as well.
"I looked because I wanted to prove to myself how often he played Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci together and quite often it was four at the back but very adaptable. If he needed it, he could utilise it.
"At heart he wants to play two centre-forwards but when Andrea Pirlo came in at Juve he couldn't play a 4-4-2. You can't do that with Fabregas either because you need two in there like Kante and Nemanja Matic, who can do all the dogged work as well.
"What has interested me is that when he changed to a 3-4-3, which I thought was really quite out there as I didn't see it coming, it worked. I then thought he would change that quite quickly - he didn't."
Nevin has an ominous warning for Chelsea's rivals, saying: "I actually think you have only seen 20% of his tactical nous. I think you have seen something that has scratched the surface so far."
Has his success surprised his countrymen in Italy?
"Maybe we didn't think he would win in his first year but we were sure he would be a success," says Boldrini. "We knew of his focus and passion and had faith.
"In Italy, the pressure is outside the pitch. In England, the pressure is on the pitch because you play against Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Everton, Liverpool - the pressure is the football and this is the pressure he enjoys and is the big difference between Italy and England."
What next for Conte and Chelsea?
Chelsea must cope with the added demands of the Champions League next season - and history shows this is not a club or an owner that enters Europe's elite competition to make up the numbers.
Conte has won the title with a relatively small squad. He has used 23 players this season so far, equal lowest with Liverpool, Spurs and West Bromwich Albion. Chelsea used 30 players when they won titles in 2004-05 and 2009-10, and 25 in 2005-06 and 2014-15.
Conte lost the likes of Branislav Ivanovic, Oscar and Jon Mikel Obi but their absences were compensated for.
There has already been speculation about departures this summer. Costa has been linked with a lucrative move to China, and there has been speculation surrounding the future of Fabregas after a season in which he has excelled when called upon but, at 30, could seek more regular football.
Lukaku's links with Chelsea, where he may feel he has unfinished business after being sold to Everton for £28m in 2014, continue, while Real Madrid's Alvaro Morata could be another attacking target. Chelsea will also be in the market for a central defender following Terry's departure, with names such as Southampton's Virgil van Dijk and Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly on the radar.
If Fabregas leaves, Chelsea will surely be in the market for a midfielder, and Tiemoue Bakayoko's excellence as Monaco reached the Champions League semi-final has drawn attention from a host of Europe's top clubs.
The FA Youth Cup was won by Chelsea for a fourth successive season - and fifth time in six - by beating Manchester City, but it remains to be seen if any make the leap to serious senior duty.
Nevin is convinced it will be a busy summer for Chelsea, saying: "I think there is a lot to do. There is no way you will get into the latter reaches of the Champions League and the Premier League with the current squad unless some of the kids step up unbelievably and that's a massive jump, too big.
"Will you keep everybody that's here? Antonio's probably got his eye on four or five and if he gets them there is no reason why he will not continue to be successful."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39885837
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Chelsea are Premier League champions: Antonio Conte targets Double - BBC Sport
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2017-05-13
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Chelsea need to win the FA Cup to turn a "great season" into a "fantastic" one after clinching the title, says manager Antonio Conte.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Chelsea need to win the FA Cup to turn a "great season" into a "fantastic" one after clinching the Premier League title, says manager Antonio Conte.
The Blues became champions of England for a sixth time - with two games to spare - thanks to Michy Batshuayi's late goal in a 1-0 win at West Brom.
Conte's side face Arsenal in the FA Cup final on 27 May.
"For me to win in my first season in England, I am really proud of the achievement," he told BBC Sport.
"My players showed me great professionalism, commitment, work-rate and will to try to win this league.
"We have two games to celebrate, then we try to make this season from great to fantastic."
• None How well do you know Chelsea's champions?
Conte, who took charge at Chelsea after leaving Italy at the end of Euro 2016, says switching to a three-man defence in the wake of a 3-0 defeat by Arsenal in September was pivotal to the Blues' season.
Chelsea were eighth, eight points behind leaders Manchester City after that loss at Emirates Stadium. A 13-match winning streak followed, and they are now 10 points clear of their nearest challengers with two games remaining.
"It was very frustrating for me because at the end of the Arsenal game I didn't see anything from my work or my ideas on football," said Conte.
"But in this moment I found the strength to change and take responsibility and find a system for the players.
"It was a key moment in the season because every single player found in this system the best for him.
"When you arrive after a bad season and the team has arrived at 10th in the league it means there are a lot of problems.
"To find the right solution quickly isn't easy and for this I want to thank my players because they trusted in the new work, my philosophy, video analysis to see mistakes and they showed the right attitude and behaviour."
Conte apologised after arriving late to his post-match news conference, explaining his players had showered him with beer and champagne and that "my suit is a disaster".
He revealed he had cut his lip as he celebrated Batshuayi's winner, but that it was not the first time he had been injured as a result of his joyful exuberance.
"In these moments, anything can happen," he said.
"I hurt my lip during the Euros as well and they had to put a stitch in it after we scored against Belgium.
"Simone Zaza gave me a header - I don't think it was on purpose. I'm not sure if this was a header or a punch but I am ready to repeat this."
The conference came to an abrupt end when players Diego Costa, John Terry and David Luiz arrived and, impatient to start their celebrations, ushered him away.
Captain Gary Cahill said the players always believed they could mount a title charge despite finishing 10th last season, 31 points adrift of champions Leicester.
"We felt confident in the dressing room all season," he said.
"We deserved it over the season. We worked very hard and have been the better team.
"It is fantastic to wrap it up with a couple of games to go. It is very difficult in this league."
Fellow defender David Luiz says the chance to land his first Premier League title was one of the reasons he returned to the club from Paris St-Germain in a £34m move in August.
"When I decided to come back here I dreamed to win the Premier League. I am very happy because my dream came true," he said.
"Conte works with passion every day. He deserves it because he is working hard every day."
The Chelsea boss' influence on his side was also acknowledged by West Brom counterpart Tony Pulis.
"They're worthy champions," he said. "They had a poor start, and Conte had to change things.
"He's made it his team. Italian teams are tactically organised and well run.
"He changed their shape and they've been superb from that moment onwards."
BBC analyst and former Tottenham and Newcastle midfielder Jermaine Jenas believes Conte deserves the credit for turning the club around, highlighting his conversion of Victor Moses from a fringe midfielder to first-choice wing-back.
"They lost their way last season, they were unrecognisable. He has come in and reinvigorated them," Jenas said.
"What I like about Conte is he gave Moses a chance and trusted him. He has made him a better player and a Premier League champion."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39905241
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Jonny Brownlee carries bike after crash at Yokohama World Series triathlon - BBC Sport
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2017-05-13
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Jonny Brownlee crashes during the bike phase of his first triathlon since collapsing at last year's World Series finale.
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Last updated on .From the section Triathlon
Britain's Jonny Brownlee crashed during the bike phase of his first triathlon since collapsing at last year's World Series finale.
Brownlee, who had to be carried over the line by brother Alistair in Mexico, was returning to action in Japan.
He carried his damaged bike a mile to the next transition in Yokohama to take part in the run and finished 42nd.
Spain's Mario Mola won the event, with Bermuda's Flora Duffy earlier winning the women's event.
"My first reaction was to get back on the bike, get back riding," said Brownlee.
"But then I got to my bike and the handlebars were pointing in the wrong direction and I couldn't move it.
"I still wanted to run - I had not come all the way to Japan not to finish."
Gordon Benson and Tom Bishop were the highest-placed British finishers in the men's race in 10th and 11th respectively.
The 2017 series is led by defending champion Mola from fellow Spaniard Fernando Alarza, who was also second to Mola in Japan.
Sophie Coldwell was the fastest Briton in the women's race as she came home fourth, one place ahead of compatriot Vicky Holland. Non Stanford, Jessica Learmonth and Lucy Hall were seventh, eighth and 11th respectively.
Stanford and Learmonth also crashed in the wet conditions but, unlike Brownlee, were able to remount.
In the Para-triathlon races, Britain won three gold medals, two silvers and two bronzes.
Andy Lewis was first in the PTS2 category, and Dave Ellis and his guide Jack Peasgood won the men's visually impaired race, while Alison Patrick and her guide Nicole Walters finished top of the standings in the women's equivalent.
Brownlee, an Olympic silver medallist at Rio 2016 and a bronze medallist at London 2012, had missed the first two races of this year's World Series - in Australia and the United Arab Emirates.
In wet conditions in Yokohama he veered into the railings on his bike when trying to avoid a rider who had fallen in front of him.
Rather than concede his race was over, Brownlee ran barefoot for the final half-lap of the cycling discipline - about a mile - carrying his bike.
The 27-year-old eventually finished six minutes 56 seconds behind the winner.
"It was going quite well - the swim went really well," he said.
"On that course you want to stay high up in the field to avoid crashes. I was sitting in fourth to avoid crashes, but then an athlete just crashed in front of me.
"I was very, very lucky not to break anything in the crash. I've watched the video back and I could easily have two broken collarbones.
"I'm just disappointed - I come to races to race and I didn't get a chance."
The next race in the series takes place in Leeds, when Yorkshire-born Jonny could be joined by brother Alistair, who is focusing on long-distance triathlons this year.
You can watch highlights of the races on BBC Two from 13:00 BST on Sunday, 14 May.
Brendan Purcell, British Triathlon performance director, added: "The rain caught us by surprise. We were expecting rain, but it got heavier and heavier.
"When the guy went down in front of Jonny, he had nowhere to go. The bike couldn't be fixed, but he wanted to do a run as he feels he's in good form.
"I come away reflecting on the positives from the swim in particular, there were a lot of good performances. No-one had the perfect race, maybe apart from Sophie, but they delivered a set of solid results."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/triathlon/39906299
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Kimi Raikkonen heads final Spanish Grand Prix practice - BBC Sport
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2017-05-13
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Kimi Raikkonen heads a Ferrari one-two in final practice at the Spanish Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton third quickest for Mercedes.
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Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Kimi Raikkonen headed a Ferrari one-two in final practice at the Spanish Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton third quickest for Mercedes.
Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel 0.242 seconds slower than Raikkonen, turned the tables on Mercedes after Hamilton set the pace in both Friday sessions.
Hamilton was 0.381 seconds slower than Raikkonen, with Bottas a further 0.273secs off after engine problems.
The Finn missed three-quarters of the session as Mercedes changed his engine.
The team discovered a water leak in the new engine that had been allocated for Bottas this weekend and needed to replace it with the one he used in the first four races. Bottas got out at the end of the session for one run.
Vettel also ran into engine problems at the end of the session - the German, who is leading the championship by 13 points, stopped in the pit lane when heading out for a final run and had to be pushed back to the garage.
Ferrari said there was "no real engine issue, but we are replacing some parts precautionally" before qualifying, which starts at 13:00 BST.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fifth quickest from team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, the Dutchman who won this race last year just 0.157secs off Bottas and 0.654secs slower than Raikkonen, apparently confirming that the team have made a significant step towards the pace with an upgrade for this race.
• None Predict your top three for qualifying
But Mercedes have the most dramatic-looking modifications, with a series of new aerodynamic parts in the front half of the car.
The silver cars dominated Friday running, fastest on both one lap and with an even more of an advantage on the long runs, on which teams simulate race pace.
Renault's Nico Hulkenberg took seventh, 0.645secs off the Red Bulls and ahead of Williams' Felipe Massa, Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz and McLaren's Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard was just 1.879secs off the pace, a much better start to the day for McLaren and engine partner Honda than on Friday, when Alonso suffered a massive engine failure on his very first lap out of the pits.
Afterwards, the Spaniard brushed off an attempt by Honda F1 boss Yusuke Hasegawa to talk to him, as his frustrations with Honda's under-performance mount.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39907064
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Eurovision Song Contest: Anything can happen, says UK's Lucie Jones - BBC News
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2017-05-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The bookies say the UK can't possibly win - but the former X Factor singer still hopes for an upset.
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Entertainment & Arts
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. UK Eurovision artist Lucie Jones shares her predictions for this year
The bookies say the UK can't possibly win Eurovision this year. But singer Lucie Jones still believes there's a chance of an upset.
"Never tell me the odds!" says Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back after C-3PO tells him his chances of successfully navigating an asteroid field are 3,720 to 1.
It's a sentiment Lucie Jones would no doubt agree with, having been confronted daily with people telling her how unlikely she is to win Eurovision this year.
"People tell me the odds every day but I don't pay them any attention," insists the Cardiff-born singer, who'll be representing the UK on Saturday with Never Give Up on You.
"You can't believe the odds; anything can happen with these shows. I was favourite to win The X Factor [in 2009] and I got kicked out in favour of Jedward!"
Yet the experience was a beneficial one, eventually leading to her being asked to sing at Eurovision just like the bequiffed Irish twins were in 2011 and 2012.
From Albania and Cyprus to Romania and Sweden, this year's crop of hopefuls all seem to have at least one TV talent show under their belts.
Lucie Jones will perform Never Give Up on You
Do programmes like Pop Idol, The Voice and The X Factor act as a breeding ground for future Eurovision stars? Pretty much, believes Jones.
"There are so many of these shows now that everyone who wants to be a singer sees them as a platform," the 26-year-old tells the BBC.
"People try and use them as a springboard to go on to the next thing, which is exactly what happened to me."
But back to those odds. At the time of writing, the shortest odds you could find for a Lucie triumph were 20/1.
Italy, by contrast, were 11/10 favourite with most bookmakers, followed by Portugal at 7/4.
All evidence points to another year of Eurovision disappointment for the UK, who haven't won the competition now for 20 years.
Yet the odds for a top five finish - no small achievement considering the UK's recent record - are considerably shorter.
Ask anyone at the massive Eurovision venue in Kiev and they have Lucie pegged as a plucky runner-up to this year's heavy hitters.
As far as Jones is concerned, though, she's in it to win it.
"You have to be," she declares. "You have to come to these things hoping for the best but prepared for the worst.
"I'm here to do my best and give it absolutely everything, and as long as the UK is proud of what we've done here I'll be happy."
All in all, taking part in Eurovision this year has been "the most insane rollercoaster experience" and one she will look back on "with utter joy and pride".
It's also one that has given her plenty of memorable moments - among them a smooch with the dancing gorilla who appears alongside Italy's Francesco Gabbani.
"That was on my bucket list," laughs Jones, who now considers many of her fellow competitors "really good friends".
"We're like-minded people having an amazing time and loving what we're doing," she continues. "There's just some amazing personalities to be around."
Han Solo, by the way, made it out of that asteroid field...
The Eurovision Song Contest final will be shown on BBC One on Saturday from 20:00 BST.
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-39883575
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Women's FA Cup final: Birmingham City 1-4 Manchester City - BBC Sport
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2017-05-13
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Carli Lloyd is among the scorers as Manchester City cruise past Birmingham to win the Women's FA Cup for the first time.
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Last updated on .From the section Women's Football
World Player of the Year Carli Lloyd was among the scorers as Manchester City cruised past Birmingham to win the Women's FA Cup for the first time.
Lucy Bronze headed the opener following a free-kick and crossed for Izzy Christiansen to crash home the second.
Lloyd's header capped a fine 14-minute spell to make it 3-0 by the break.
Charlie Wellings' goal gave Birmingham brief hope, but Jill Scott's fierce shot sealed City's victory in front of a competition-record crowd at Wembley.
The 2016 Women's Super League champions are now in possession of all three main domestic honours - the first team to do so since Arsenal Ladies in 2011.
Birmingham had knocked out holders Arsenal and 2015 champions Chelsea to make the final, but the 2012 winners never looked like repeating that feat on their first trip to Wembley in front of 35,271 fans.
Four domestic honours in nine months?
Before 2014, Manchester City Women had never lifted a major trophy - but they are now closing in on a potential clean sweep of all four domestic honours in the space of nine months.
Having won the WSL and Continental Cup last year, they will hope to add the WSL Spring Series to their Women's FA Cup success.
Manchester City, who also reached the Champions League semi-finals in May, had never even played in the top flight when Birmingham won the FA Cup in 2012.
City's relentlessly aggressive pressing game and dominant defence laid the foundation for a ruthless victory which was as good as sealed by the interval.
Birmingham's inability to retain possession under persistent pressure led to them conceding territory and numerous free-kicks and corners, where City's set-piece superiority twice told in a one-sided first half.
Moments after a near-post corner almost brought an opening goal for Megan Campbell with a neat flicked effort, Bronze darted in to convert Campbell's inviting inswinging free-kick for a 1-0 lead.
Bronze then bustled Paige Williams out of possession and picked out Christiansen with a delightful cross.
City's preference to stretch play and attack down the flanks had meant that, despite being 2-0 up, Lloyd was a peripheral figure for the opening 30 minutes.
She had shown glimpses of her technical ability and vision but made her quality count when she rose above flapping Blues keeper Ann-Katrin Berger to head home another Campbell cross following a short corner.
City stayed in control despite facing an improved Blues side after the break, with the lively Nikita Parris having a shot tipped wide and Steph Houghton sending a header off target.
Birmingham were rewarded for their efforts through Wellings' curled effort, but Scott showed some nifty footwork to fire in a fourth goal after good work by substitute Toni Duggan.
'It's what dreams are made of'
Manchester City captain Houghton, who will also lead England at Euro 2017 this summer, described the FA Cup as "the one we were missing" after their final triumph.
"Credit to all the girls and all the staff, we've worked so hard," she told BBC Radio 5 live. "We've had a tireless schedule, but we were the best team on the day.
"The aim was to win as many trophies with this team as I could. To be captain of this club is unbelievable - but to win the FA Cup at Wembley, it's what dreams are made of."
• None Attempt missed. Georgia Stanway (Manchester City Women) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Carli Lloyd.
• None Attempt saved. Stephanie Houghton (Manchester City Women) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
• None Aoife Mannion (Birmingham City Ladies) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Offside, Manchester City Women. Carli Lloyd tries a through ball, but Toni Duggan is caught offside.
• None Jessica Carter (Birmingham City Ladies) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt blocked. Charlie Wellings (Birmingham City Ladies) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Lucy Bronze (Manchester City Women) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt missed. Ellen White (Birmingham City Ladies) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Jessica Carter with a cross. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39848931
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The rise of the tweenage vlogger - BBC News
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2017-05-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Nikki Lilly is one of an army of children taking YouTube by storm, but she is not your average vlogger.
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Technology
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Nikki Lilly found a new hobby as a YouTuber when a medical condition caused her to give up swimming and dance
Nikki Christou, 12, known in the vlogging world as Nikki Lilly, makes YouTube videos about baking, make-up and a rare medical condition known as arterial venous malformation (AVM), something she was diagnosed with when she was six.
Her condition has resulted in a severe facial disfigurement and the constant risk of life-threatening nosebleeds.
She doesn't get many "haters" on her channel but admits that when she began vlogging, the cruel comments did upset her.
"It definitely got to me at first, and I may have shed a few tears - but, as I've grown as a vlogger, I've learnt that the comments from the haters are basically all the same.
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"They may say things like, 'You are ugly,' but really they don't like themselves and they have nothing better to do."
Nikki currently has more than 200,000 subscribers to her channel and hopes to break the million mark at some point.
Making videos started as a hobby, a natural follow-on from the role-playing games she already loved.
When she began posting them to YouTube in 2013, she became part of a new generation of tweenagers - children from eight to 13 - who run their own channels.
She advises any newbies to "make sure they always show what they have made to their parents".
At first, Nikki's parents, worried by the reaction she might receive, insisted that the comments section was turned off.
But her mother says that once they saw how much it meant to Nikki and how much she craved feedback, they changed their minds.
Many young girls are blogging about beauty and most of them are "pretty and thin", according to one academic
Shauna Pomerantz, associate professor at the department of child and youth studies at Brock University in Ontario, Canada, says Nikki is a great role model for young girls.
"She is the champion of the not-perfect girl, and she is absolutely inspirational to watch," she told the BBC.
"I can see why people love her - she is a hero to anyone who feels like an outsider."
Across the pond, 13-year-old American dancer and singer JoJo Siwa vlogs about much the same thing as Nikki Lilly, although, with more than three million followers, she is better established.
There are, says Prof Pomerantz, thousands of similar girls on YouTube and they are "mostly white, upper-class, pretty and thin".
Prof Pomerantz's own nine-year-old daughter is a mega-fan of JoJo's, and while her daughter doesn't know why she likes her so much, her mother thinks there are two main reasons.
"Firstly, this is a world where no adults are visible and it is fantastic for children to see a world where kids are in charge."
Zoe Sugg - who now writes books as well as vlogging - has become the godmother of the beauty vlog, with 11 million subscribers
The second reason is likely to be the normalcy of the videos.
"This stuff is really very mundane," Prof Pomerantz says.
"Any adult watching would be bored within seconds.
"These vloggers invite their fans on closet tours, show them how to do a high ponytail, show them their underwear."
And this means children can relate to these "stars" in ways a previous generation could not, says Prof Pomerantz.
Gone are the days when celebrities were one step removed, in the pages of a glossy magazine or on the set of a TV programme - now children are quite literally invited to look around their bedrooms.
Nikki Lilly is a huge fan of Zoella, who, at the grand old age of 27, is a veteran of the beauty vlog.
She says she loves her because "she is like a chatty girl next door".
But Zoella, like other celebrity vloggers, has another secret to her success, a willingness to share her vulnerability with her fans - in her case, crippling anxiety.
Are young people becoming too image conscious because of social media?
Much has been written about how the YouTube generation are growing up with no privacy - willing to share on social media every detail of their lives, but Prof Pomerantz is not overly concerned.
"While their mothers may have kept a diary under lock and key, now there is a different way of sharing secrets and young people are happy to tell the world," she says.
"In some ways, this is a form of empowerment.
"Young people are more likely to be open and honest."
Journalist Zoe Williams worries, though, that YouTube could be spawning a generation of egotists.
Writing about Zoella in the Guardian newspaper, she says: "Her delight in the inconsequential is perversely infectious; there is something rather relaxing about the company of a person who will say out loud anything that pops into their head."
But, she adds: "The depth of her fascination with herself is also rather alienating."
There is no shortage of children desperate to mimic their YouTube heroes and start their own vlogs - but, for the vast majority, stardom is unlikely to follow.
Amanda Lenhart, a senior research scientist at the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, says for those who do not get many followers, it is simply a valuable life lesson.
"It is not pleasant, but is it any different from wanting to be a professional football player and finding you are not good enough? It is part of growing up," she says.
Justin Escalona, 20, who started a YouTube channel with his friends when he was 11, has some advice for children wanting to do the same.
"I think having an outlet for young kids to express their creativity is a positive thing," he says.
"Just don't put stupid or inappropriate stuff online and don't worry about getting views."
Now a film student, his vlogs have morphed into slick, cinematic affairs, but he advises children against feeling the need to always be "camera-ready".
"Just be genuine," he says.
"If you're faking the best version of yourself, it will show over time.
"If you're sharing your genuine high points, along with maybe your not-so-high points, people will respect and like you for being real."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39641264
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Aberdeen 1-3 Celtic - BBC Sport
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2017-05-13
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Three goals in the opening 11 minutes help Celtic to victory over Aberdeen as the champions close in on an unbeaten league season.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Champions Celtic scored three times in a blistering opening 11 minutes to overcome Aberdeen at Pittodrie and move to within two games of completing an unbeaten Scottish Premiership season.
Dedryck Boyata headed Celtic in front in three minutes, with Stuart Armstrong doubling the lead five minutes later.
Leigh Griffiths fired in a third, before Jonny Hayes gave the Dons hope with a curling shot within 60 seconds.
But the hosts could not to stop Celtic taking their points tally to 100.
Derek McInnes' side may look back ruefully at referee Steven McLean's decision not to award them a penalty when Craig Gordon collided with Graeme Shinnie.
But they will likely also reflect on their slow start to a fantastic contest, with Celtic apparently out of sight within 11 minutes.
Patrick Roberts signalled an early warning when he escaped and tested Joe Lewis, but that was not heeded and Griffiths' deep corner was headed in by an unchallenged Boyata.
Wonderful Griffiths skill created the second, the striker escaping on the right and feeding Callum McGregor. His shot was blocked by Shay Logan, but Armstrong was on hand to slam in a composed finish.
It quickly got even worse for Aberdeen. Griffiths turned, fired powerfully from distance and found the net, although Lewis should have done better than help the ball into his top-right corner.
It was a devastating start from the champions and the game looked finished. Aberdeen boss McInnes must have feared his side were on course for a damaging hammering in the run up to their meeting with Celtic in the Scottish Cup final.
But the Dons showed remarkable strength and ability to claw their way back in. Hayes was the inspiration for a revival when he turned and fired a wonderful left foot shot over Gordon and into the net.
Jayden Stockley should have netted a second moments later but his header slid marginally wide.
Aberdeen pressed on with confidence and Niall McGinn could only hit straight at Gordon from a great position. It could have been 3-3, or 5-3, with both sides looking likely to score again.
Shinnie claimed for a penalty when he nicked the ball before Gordon took him out but referee McLean said no, much to Aberdeen's fury. It looked a spot-kick and could have made such a difference.
It was mainly Aberdeen pushing forward in the second period. Kenny McLean should have hit the target when he broke into the box but fired off-target, as did McGinn shortly after.
With the home side unable to turn pressure into goals, Nir Bitton's introduction for Celtic seemed to take the sting out of the game in the latter stages.
Both teams have much to ponder before coming together again at Hampden Park; positives and negatives.
Aberdeen looked all over the place defensively in the early stages, but responded strongly and caused Celtic problems. From that, they will take great belief.
Celtic manager Rodgers will be disappointed at how things panned out after that clinical opening period.
His side failed to control long periods of the contest and had to absorb a lot of pressure, which they did, but more than was comfortable.
However, the champions did demonstrate that when they fire, they are pretty much unstoppable.
• None Attempt saved. James Forrest (Celtic) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Delay in match James Forrest (Celtic) because of an injury.
• None Shaleum Logan (Aberdeen) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt saved. James Forrest (Celtic) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Delay in match Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) 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/39813773
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Manchester City 2-1 Leicester City - BBC Sport
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2017-05-13
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Manchester City hold on to beat Leicester and move back into third as Riyad Mahrez's late penalty is disallowed for the Foxes.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester City held on to beat Leicester City and move back into third place after referee Bobby Madley disallowed Riyad Mahrez's late penalty for the Foxes.
Mahrez, who had been brought down by Gael Clichy, had the chance to make it 2-2 but slipped as he took his spot-kick and touched the ball with his right foot as well as his left as he sent it into the net.
Madley immediately ruled the goal out for a double-touch and awarded the home side a free-kick, to the relief of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and his players.
The hosts had dominated the first half at the Etihad Stadium, and looked like they were cruising to victory when they went 2-0 up.
• None Relive the game from the Etihad Stadium
There was controversy over the home side's first goal, which came when David Silva turned in Leroy Sane's shot, with Leicester claiming unsuccessfully that Raheem Sterling was offside as he tried and failed to help it over the line.
Gabriel Jesus made it 2-0 with a penalty that was a far easier decision for Madley, after Yohan Benalouane sent Sane sprawling.
Manchester City appeared to be in complete control but the mood changed when Leicester's Shinji Okazaki met Marc Albrighton's cross with a superb acrobatic finish.
Guardiola's side were far less fluent after the break while Leicester's increased attacking threat ensured a tense finish that almost brought them a point as a reward.
What is the rule for taking a penalty?
The player taking the penalty kick must kick the ball forward. He must not play the ball again until it has touched another player.
Top four within touching distance for City
Manchester City have now played the same amount of games as Liverpool, who need to win at West Ham on Sunday to go back above them.
Below them, any slip-ups by Arsenal at Stoke on Saturday evening or Manchester United at Tottenham on Sunday will mean Manchester City can make sure of a top-four finish, and Champions League football, by beating West Brom on Tuesday.
Leicester, who ensured top-flight survival with last week's win over Watford, can finish no higher than eighth.
The only tangible prize for last season's champions is Craig Shakespeare's long-term future as their manager, but they did not lack motivation against a side that stumbled over the line to collect three vital points on Saturday.
The atmosphere at the Etihad was undeniably edgy in the second half, even before Mahrez's slip let the home side off the hook.
Manchester City have lost only one league game on their own territory all season, but have drawn seven times and as Leicester threw players forward in the closing minutes in search of an equaliser, they were in real danger of being pegged back yet again.
Leicester do not get the draw they deserve
Mahrez's penalty slip was a bizarre denouement in a game where Leicester showed why they have caused Manchester City so many problems recently.
The Foxes thumped Guardiola's side 4-2 in December and also beat City at the Etihad Stadium last season with a landmark win on their way to the title.
Initially, Shakespeare's side were subdued and offered little more than the threat of Jamie Vardy's pace on the break, something they seldom managed to utilise.
But after Okazaki's spectacular strike brought them back into the game, Leicester sensed the anxiety of their hosts in the second half, pushed forward and put City under serious pressure.
After Albrighton miscued at the near post from a Vardy pull-back, Leicester did not have a clear-cut chance other than Mahrez's unfortunate spot-kick, but City keeper Willy Caballero and his defence had to deal with countless balls pumped into his area.
As BBC Radio 5 live pundit Chris Waddle said, the visitors probably deserved a draw in the end, but they leave Manchester empty handed this time.
The German winger saw far less of the ball after the break but he was a huge threat down the left when his side were on top, setting up their first goal and winning the penalty that led to their second.
'We have amazing human beings' - what the managers said
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola speaking to BBC Sport: "I must congratulate Chelsea on being champions, the last champion was Leicester - the last two or three months with their results they would be in the Champions League positions. That's why I have a lot of value in this victory.
"I am was so happy with the guys in the club, I feel a lot of support from everybody. The human beings we have are amazing. We have the regret of not fighting for the title until the end - but we will improve."
Leicester City boss Craig Shakespeare, speaking to BBC Sport: "We threw everything at Manchester City in the second half - you saw from the players the spirit they showed.
On his future: "I've stated my contract is until the end of the season. There is only two games left. Everyone will find out soon."
On Leicester's failed penalty: "I didn't see it at the time. It's a freak thing you don't see often."
Manchester City have their final home game of the season against West Brom on Tuesday (20:00 BST), before ending their campaign at Watford on Sunday, 21 May (15:00).
Leicester finish with two games at the King Power Stadium - Tottenham are the visitors on Thursday (19:45), then Bournemouth on the final day (15:00).
• None David Silva has scored in back-to-back Premier League games for the first time since December 2014.
• None Gabriel Jesus has been directly involved in seven goals in six Premier League starts [scoring five and assisting two].
• None The Brazilian has scored five times from seven shots on target in the Premier League for City.
• None Shinji Okazaki ended a run of 23 games in all competitions without scoring for Leicester.
• None No player has failed to score more penalties in the Premier League this season than Riyad Mahrez and Christian Benteke (two each).
• None Only referee Michael Oliver (15) has awarded more penalties in the Premier League this season than Bobby Madley (12).
• None Manchester City have lost just one of their past 15 Premier League games [won eight, drawn six].
• None Pep Guardiola named an unchanged line-up in a Premier League game for the first time.
• None Leicester have won one of 21 Premier League games this season in which they've conceded the first goal [drawn three, lost 17].
• None Attempt blocked. Leroy Sané (Manchester City) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
• None Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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• None Delay in match Nicolás Otamendi (Manchester City) because of an injury.
• None Attempt blocked. Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Attempt blocked. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is blocked. Assisted by Danny Simpson.
• None Attempt missed. Vincent Kompany (Manchester City) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by David Silva with a cross following a corner. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39827546
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Chinese lawyer 'wore torture device for a month' - BBC News
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2017-05-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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His wife claims Li Heping was force fed with drugs, shackled and beaten.
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China blog
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A picture of Mr Li from 2012 and one taken after his release
It's a form of restraint that would be more in keeping with the practices of a medieval dungeon than a modern, civilised state.
But the device - leg and hand shackles linked by a short chain - is a well-documented part of the toolkit that the Chinese police use to break the will of their detainees.
And it is one that they allegedly forced one of this country's most prominent human rights lawyers to wear, for a full month.
Li Heping was finally released from detention on Tuesday and his wife Wang Qiaoling has now had time to learn about the treatment he endured over his almost two-year-long incarceration.
"In May 2016 in the Tianjin Number One Detention Centre, he was put in handcuffs and shackles with an iron chain linking the two together," she tells me.
"It meant that he could not stand up straight, he could only stoop, even during sleeping. He wore that instrument of torture 24/7 for one month."
She adds: "They wanted him to confess."
In one sense, Mr Li was lucky.
A 2015 investigation by Human Rights Watch into the use of torture by the Chinese police revealed the case of a man who was forced to wear this type of device for eight years.
In 2014 an Amnesty International report documented the supply and manufacture of torture equipment by Chinese companies, including the combined hand and leg cuffs.
Torture devices like the one allegedly used on Li Heping are readily available online
"The use of these devices causes unnecessary discomfort and can easily result in injuries," William Nee, China Researcher at Amnesty International, tells me.
"Such devices place unwarranted restrictions on the movement of detainees and serve no legitimate law enforcement purpose that cannot be achieved by the use of handcuffs alone."
Li Heping is one of a group of human rights lawyers who were detained in July 2015, in a crackdown since referred to by critics as China's "war on law."
Of course, threats, intimidation and violence have always been part of the risks for any lawyer daring to take on the might of the Communist Party in its own courts.
But President Xi Jinping has made it clear that he sees the ideal of constitutional rights, guaranteed by independent courts, as a threat to national security.
So his so-called "war on law" sends a clear message.
President Xi Jinping sees the constitutional rights guaranteed by independent courts as a threat to national security
For those like Mr Li, representing the victims of China's illegal land grabs, religious persecution or political repression, the threat is not just from corrupt local officials or powerful businessmen, but from the state itself.
The before and after photos offer a visual clue to his time in detention.
One taken in 2012 shows an assured, cheery lawyer.
The one taken on his release shows him noticeably thinner and looking older than his years.
Wang Qiaoling tells me she barely recognised him.
And she tells me about the other forms of ill-treatment that her husband has described to her since his release.
"He was forced to take medicine. They stuffed the pills into his mouth as he refused to take them voluntarily," she says.
"The police told him that they were for high blood pressure, but my husband doesn't suffer from that.
"After taking the pills he felt pain in his muscles and his vision was blurred."
"He was beaten. He endured gruelling questioning while being denied sleep for days on end," she goes on.
"And he was forced to stand to attention for 15 hours a day, without moving."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Wang Qiaoling has not heard from her husband Li Heping since he was taken away two months ago
Amnesty International's William Nee tells me that each of these methods of ill-treatment could be considered torture by themselves.
"Cumulatively, they would demonstrate a clear intent by the authorities to inflict physical and mental torture with the goal of getting Li Heping to confess," he says.
"Since China is a party to the Convention against Torture, these serious allegations should prompt the Chinese authorities to immediately launch a prompt, effective and impartial investigation to assess whether this torture took place."
Despite the prolonged and extreme nature of the alleged torture, Ms Wang tells me her husband never did confess.
"He was worried that he might be tortured to death in the detention centre and he wouldn't make it to meet his family again, so he reached an agreement with the authorities that the trial would be held in secret.
"He would be given a suspended sentence but he never admitted guilt or confessed that he had subverted state power."
At that secret trial, the details of which were released by China's state-controlled media afterwards, the court ruled that Mr Li had "repeatedly used the internet and foreign media interviews to discredit and attack state power and the legal system".
As a result of his conviction, he is now unable to practise law and has also signed an agreement that he will not carry out any further media interviews.
But his wife, despite constant intimidation, refuses to be similarly constrained.
Plain-clothes policemen still surround the family home and she was followed to our agreed interview location.
And while her account is impossible to independently verify, it tallies with that of other lawyers caught up in the crackdown, including Xie Yang, whose court case was heard this week.
He had previously alleged similar abuses during his interrogations - including shackling, beatings and being made to remain in the same position for hours on end - although the court claims he retracted these allegations during his trial.
We called the Tianjin Number One detention centre to ask about the allegations that Li Heping was tortured there.
"We don't do any interviews," came the reply. "If you want to do an interview, please go through the legal and proper channels."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-china-blog-39893359
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European Champions Cup: Saracens beat Clermont 28-17 to retain European title - BBC Sport
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2017-05-13
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Saracens become back-to-back champions of Europe as they beat Clermont Auvergne in a pulsating Champions Cup final at Murrayfield.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Saracens became back-to-back champions of Europe as they beat Clermont Auvergne in a pulsating Champions Cup final at Murrayfield.
Tries from Chris Ashton and George Kruis helped the English champions into a 12-0 lead, but Clermont hit back through Remi Lamerat's converted try.
After Owen Farrell edged Sarries eight points clear, a dazzling Nick Abendanon try saw Clermont edge within a point.
But Alex Goode's try and Farrell's boot ensured Saracens retained their crown.
When they raced into that early 12-0 lead it looked as though Saracens, playing a pacy all-court game, were going to blow Clermont away.
But the French side managed to claw their way back into the contest by taking on Saracens at the breakdown and they gave the Londoners a real fright before the power and class of the champions saw them home.
Saracens' rise to the top of the European game was built on ferocious defence, relentless focus and a ruthless desire to win.
It was not always pretty but over the past year they have added another - attacking - gear to their game and that was fully in evidence as they dominated the opening quarter.
Ashton's opener was sublime - the winger racing on to fellow England discard Goode's precise grubber kick to become the leading all-time try scorer in the Champions Cup with 37.
Kruis then bullied his way over after Goode's slicing break had taken Sarries within a couple of yards.
But missed chances meant they were not out of sight, and from their first attack Clermont cut the gap to five points.
Aurelien Rougerie - the 36-year-old centre who joined the side from the Massif Central as a boy - was cut down just short by Ashton, but Lamerat was on hand for a converted score.
The French side are the nearly men of European rugby, having won only one of the 14 top-tier French and European finals they had been in previously.
Determined not to add to that record they decided to throw bodies into the ruck and they succeeded in halting Saracens' momentum.
For a long time, it just offered the chance for the champions to show their defensive class, but a try of the season contender saw Clermont right back in it.
Scott Spedding started it from his own line, Fritz Lee and Peceli Yato took it on at pace and Abendanon cruised over for a converted score.
With just a point in it and the momentum apparently in Clermont's favour, lesser sides might have folded, but Saracens pride themselves on their mental strength as much as anything and they took a vice-like grip on the game.
In desperation, Clermont began to concede penalties and Farrell kept the scoreboard ticking over for Saracens.
They needed a try to finish the Frenchmen off and twice came agonisingly close, but Camille Lopez got a hand to one try-scoring pass - not a deliberate knock-on, ruled referee Nigel Owens - and Billy Vunipola was bundled into touch a yard from the line.
But Clermont finally cracked and Goode got the try his performance deserved as he glided through a gap to confirm that Saracens are the best club side in Europe.
What next for Saracens?
The Londoners' ongoing quest for global domination continues with a trip to Exeter in the first of next Saturday's Premiership semi-finals.
A sticky patch during the Six Nations when they were missing their England contingent means the reigning English champions must hit the road for their semi-final, but their recent form suggests they are back to their very best and they will fear no-one as they target a 'double double'.
'Record is just the icing on the cake'
"We've worked so hard for the past five or six years. It's such a pleasure to be with this group. It's so hard to play in these finals so to win two is a pleasure.
"To become top try-scorer is just the icing on the cake."
What did World Cup-winner Matt Dawson make of it?
"Saracens just have an incredible ability to repeat their skills under fatigue and pressure.
"For example there was nothing complex about their final try. But all of a sudden, when they needed to strike, it was the famous Farrell screen that set up Alex Goode."
Replacements: Fernandez for Spedding (70), Penaud for Rougerie (53), Radosavljevic for Parra (74), Falgoux for Chaume (53), Ulugia for Kayser (66), Jarvis for Zirakashvili (76), Jedrasiak for Vahaamahina (45), Lapandry for Yato (60).
Replacements: Spencer for Wigglesworth (78), Lamositele for M Vunipola (76), Brits for George (50), Du Plessis for Koch (78), Hamilton for Itoje (78), S Burger for Wray (60), Taylor for Barritt (54).
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39857333
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European Challenge Cup final: Gloucester 17-25 Stade Francais - BBC Sport
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2017-05-13
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Stade Francais come from 10-0 down to deservedly beat Gloucester and win the European Challenge Cup final at Murrayfield.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Top 14 side Stade Francais came from 10-0 down to beat Gloucester and win the European Challenge Cup.
England wing Jonny May's try put Gloucester, who needed to win to keep their Champions Cup qualification hopes alive, ahead at a rainy Murrayfield.
Italy captain Sergio Parisse then crossed to make it 10-10 at the break.
Jonathan Danty and Geoffrey Doumayrou touched down as the French team dominated after half-time, before Ross Moriarty scored a late consolation.
Stade Francais had reached European finals four times without success prior to Friday's Edinburgh showpiece, but were deserved victors against an error-strewn Gloucester side.
The result also means the Cherry and Whites miss out on the chance to compete for a spot in next season's Champions Cup.
The 20th and final place for the 2017-18 competition is to be decided by a series of play-off matches, with Northampton set to be replaced in the semi-finals had Gloucester won the Challenge Cup.
But the Saints, who finished seventh in the Premiership, will now play Connacht next Saturday, with a play-off final to follow against either Stade Francais or Cardiff Blues.
Defeat for the Cherry and Whites at Murrayfield also means Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw's Gloucester career ends in disappointment, with the 31-year-old scrum-half due to join Clermont Auvergne in the summer.
Laidlaw, who moved to Kingsholm in 2014, was not introduced until the second half having spent the past two months on the sidelines with ankle ligament damage - but could make little impact with the Gloucester pack often demolished at scrum time.
The English side had done well to negotiate a tricky 10-minute spell before the break with Willi Heinz in the sin bin, but came up well short against an impressive and powerful Stade Francais unit in the second period.
Doumayrou's try was the highlight of the final, dancing through three Gloucester tacklers to confirm his team's superiority and set up an historic victory for a club who finished seventh in the Top 14 this year.
'It's been a disappointing season - but we're not far away'
"I'm obviously very disappointed," Gloucester director of rugby David Humphreys told BBC Radio 5 live. "But it's most disappointing that we didn't really test Stade Francais in the way that we planned.
"Credit to them, they negated everything we did. We couldn't win the ball, we couldn't hold the ball and because of that they won comfortably.
"We gave away penalty after penalty at the set-piece and to compete against the top teams you can't do that.
"We haven't hidden behind the fact it's been a disappointing season. We know we're not far away, we've shown that with our performances."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39857187
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Iran election: Could women decide the next president? - BBC News
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2017-05-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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In Iran, women form nearly half the electorate, so presidential candidates are vying for their vote.
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Middle East
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Women form nearly half the electorate in Iran
When Iranians go to the polls to choose a new president next Friday, all the names on the ballot paper will be male. In the nearly four-decade history of the Islamic Republic, no woman has been allowed to stand for the top office.
But it's certainly not for want of trying.
This year, 137 women put their names forward. Most famous by far is Azam Taleghani, a 72-year old former MP and daughter of a well-known ayatollah.
She has registered to stand in most presidential elections since 1997, determined to challenge the archaic and ambiguous wording of the Iranian constitution which has traditionally been interpreted as meaning only men can become president.
Ms Taleghani argues that the criteria can apply to both men and women and that, as an experienced politician, she is eminently qualified.
But the electoral supervisory body, the Guardian Council, disagrees and has disqualified her at every attempt.
This March, now frail and walking with the help of a frame, Ms Taleghani once again determinedly made her way up the stone steps of the interior ministry to register. And once again she failed to qualify.
Even though they are not allowed to stand, women comprise just under half the electorate, so their vote is important and presidential candidates usually make an effort to reach out to them.
Early on in the campaign the incumbent, President Hassan Rouhani, posted a photo of himself on social media which caused a flurry of comment.
He was out on a weekend walk in the mountains standing next to two young female hikers, both of whose hijab is far from what would be considered proper by the hardliners.
It was a clear message to young, modern female voters, that he was the candidate who was not overly bothered about the country's restrictive dress code and other curbs on social freedom.
Mr Rouhani's campaign video makes a point of praising Iranian women's achievements in the worlds of both work and sport, and offering his support.
He is also the only candidate so far to have held a rally specifically for female voters.
He was given a rapturous welcome by thousands of young women gathered at Tehran's Shiroudi stadium this week.
Many were wearing purple headscarves - the colour of his campaign - and many held placards demanding more rights and freedoms.
Women are poorly represented in politics and government in Iran
Well-known MP Parvaneh Salahshouri was cheered when she told the crowd that the morality police should leave women alone and focus on fighting corruption instead.
Flanked by female MPs, Mr Rouhani took to the stage and indirectly rebuked his hardline rival Ebrahim Raisi over the conservatives' view that women's employment is less important than their role as wives and mothers.
"Aren't you the one trying to stop women from going out to work?" he asked. "If you really believe in female employment then why haven't you done anything about it?"
As an ultra-conservative, Mr Raisi clearly has a harder job appealing to young, modern-minded female voters.
But that hasn't stopped him from trying. On the campaign trail he makes frequent mention of his wife - who has a PhD and is a university professor.
"I don't mind eating a cold dinner when my wife has to work late," he told a journalist recently.
Mr Raisi's critics are sceptical about his sudden interest in women's rights.
A photograph of a recent campaign rally in which his supporters are clearly segregated by gender, has prompted much mockery from moderates.
Hardline candidate Ebrahim Raisi has also been courting the female vote
Many suspect Mr Raisi's real views are actually closer to those of the man he's widely tipped to succeed Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Mr Khamenei is famous for dismissing gender equality as a "failed Western idea", and stressing the importance of Iranian women's role in the home and family.
The other key candidate in this race, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, is also using social media to reach out to women.
He recently posted a photo of himself surrounded by young ethnic Kurds, including girls wearing colourful headscarves with their hair clearly visible.
But on social media he has been constantly reminded of his past proposals to segregate men and women in the workplace in Tehran. And President Rouhani has made several swipes at him for the same reason.
Alongside the presidential poll, voters will also be electing new local councils and here women are involved and having more impact.
Record numbers of women won seats in local elections four years ago, and many are hoping to repeat that achievement this time round.
Overall representation by women both in local councils and in parliament is still low - Iran ranks 177 out of 193 on the United Nation's 2017 Women in Politics report.
But the involvement of women on local councils has made an impact and it is here that they are clearly able to make a difference.
Back on the campaign trail in Tehran women voters are listening hard to the pledges now being made to them by the candidates.
Many are wondering whether the rhetoric will translate into policies that will really address the many pressures of their everyday lives.
Veteran would-be presidential candidate Azam Taleghani has been taking part in an election meeting at Amir Kabir university.
She pledged to continue her campaign for women to be allowed to stand for president, but said that this time round she would be casting her vote for President Rouhani.
"Maybe we will never have a female president," she told students, "But it doesn't mean the right to stand should be taken away from us."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39885095
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Staying out of spotlight, Trump prepared an ousting - BBC News
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2017-05-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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US President Donald Trump stayed out of the public eye before a startling announcement - the firing of the FBI director.
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US & Canada
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How US President Donald Trump spent his time before the firing of the FBI director - quietly and away from the public - sheds light on his decision-making.
In the days leading up to the president's momentous decision to fire FBI director James Comey, President Trump spent his time with members of his family and close aides.
The group didn't include his high-profile senior advisors, revealing the way that he was tightening the circle of trust before the bombshell announcement.
Earlier this month Comey spoke with Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, about the investigation into Russia's attempts to interfere in the November election. Comey made it clear that he was working hard on the investigation and had no plans to drop the matter or go easy on the president.
Comey also spoke with lawmakers about the bureau's investigation into the Russians, and about its investigation into the emails of Hillary Clinton. On 3 May he told members of Congress that he felt he'd approached both investigations in an impartial manner.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What do Trump supporters think about Comey's firing?
This did not sit well with the president, who was hoping that the investigation into his past ties with Russia would be dropped. Trump had expected Comey to make a public statement saying there was no investigation of him. He'd made sure Comey knew he was hoping for that statement, but Comey had refused to do it. That had gnawed away at Trump over recent weeks.
Trump became even more wary when Comey testified before Congress on 3 May. The president, as White House officials explained later, was inclined to remove him from his post.
In a termination letter written to the FBI director, the president laid out his complaint and explained the rationale for his firing: "While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgement of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau."
Five days earlier - the day after Comey spoke with members of Congress - the president left on a trip to New York and then headed to New Jersey. For three days - from Thursday night until Sunday - the president was not seen by the public. He was staying at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, not far from New York City.
Trump appeared before the press on Sunday 7 May, after three days out of the spotlight.
While the president was spending time at his club, other members of the press pool and I - a small group of reporters who are responsible for tracking the president's activities on a daily basis - were waiting around in a hotel in nearby Branchburg. We weren't allowed to visit the resort. Instead White House officials would occasionally stop by the hotel and tell us that the president was having meetings - but wouldn't tell us with whom or what about.
Presidents - like everybody else - like to have down time and relax. They're also free to work wherever they want. But it was unusual for a president to disappear from the public for this long and without a more detailed explanation from his aides about his activities. As it turned out, he was thinking about the FBI director - and the possibility of his ouster.
On Sunday evening Trump rode in a motorcade through New Jersey, driving past red barns and horse pastures, but he was in a dark vehicle and couldn't be seen. Then he got on Air Force One to fly from New Jersey to Washington. That's when members of the press saw him for the first time since Thursday.
He and his daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner were seated in a cabin in the front of the aeroplane. KT McFarland, the deputy national security adviser, was on the flight. Stephen Miller, wearing a navy jacket and a white shirt with no tie, paced around the cabin.
I didn't see HR McMaster, the national security adviser, or Stephen Bannon, the chief White House strategist. I was surprised because on most of the trips I'd gone on with the president, I'd seen Bannon on the aeroplane.
That evening I was sitting in the back of the aeroplane with the other reporters, and someone told me that Trump waved at us. During the short flight, the people in the front of the cabin were laughing and joking around.
Reporters and staff wait on the tarmac at Join Base Andrews on Sunday
Then the aeroplane landed - and something seemed wrong. Kushner and his family came downstairs and headed towards a dark sedan, but the president didn't.
Members of the travelling press pool wait until the president gets off the plane and gets on his helicopter, Marine One, before they leave the tarmac - and so I stood there.
It was cold and blustery, and I spent a long time looking at the windows of the aeroplane and trying to figure out what was going on. We were there for so long that even the Secret Service agents started to look bored. One of them yawned.
I asked White House aides about the delay, and they told me the president was in a meeting. "He didn't want to break it off," one of the aides told me later.
While we waited on the tarmac, an aide carried two or three golf clubs down the stairs, holding them close to his side so they'd be less visible. (Still they clanked together as he walked down the stairs - it's hard to hide golf clubs.)
At one point Kushner went back up the stairs of the plane. Every family has a mediator, someone who calms everyone else down, and he seems to play that role. After a while he came down the stairs again.
"Everything's OK," Kushner told me, talking about the president and his reasons for staying the plane. "He was just working on something."
Finally - after 45 minutes - Trump came out. He wasn't wearing a tie, and his hair looked messy. He gripped the handrail and walked down the stairs and headed for Marine Force One and back to the White House.
I'm still not sure whom the president was meeting with on the plane or why the meeting was so important that it couldn't be interrupted when the plane landed. McFarland wasn't in the meeting - at least I don't think she was. I could see her walking past the windows of the plane. White House officials haven't provided me with more of an explanation for what was happening on the plane.
One thing seemed clear, though: the president was preparing for the important announcement about the FBI director in a safe, cloistered environment, an atmosphere in which he was unlikely to be challenged in a dramatic way.
That changed, of course, on Tuesday when Comey was sacked, and people outside the president's circle found out about the president's plans. The relaxed, contemplative world that he'd created had come to an end.
Unlike previous presidents, he does not seem to have an established system either for his decision-making or for the rollout of major announcements. Trump may have thought long and hard about the termination of Comey, but analysts said that he didn't lay the groundwork for what would happen next.
"You'd think if you're going to fire someone, you'd have a successor lined up," said David Greenberg, the author of Nixon's Shadow: The History of an Image.
Right now the search is on for a new FBI director: stay tuned.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39875139
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Is my baby too big, or just big? - BBC News
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2017-05-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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How big can a baby get and still be considered normal, asks Jordan Dunbar.
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Magazine
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When Tom and Elizabeth Flight were told their seven-month-old baby Arlo was in the 90th percentile for height, the 97th percentile for weight and the 99th for head circumference, they began to worry. How big can a baby get and still be considered normal, asks Jordan Dunbar.
"I'm worried he's one of the biggest babies in America," says his father Tom, a 6' 3" (191cm) Brit who moved to Texas to marry Elizabeth.
At birth, Arlo weighed seven-and-a-half pounds, but he grew rapidly over the next six months on a diet of breast milk alone.
For the last month he has been getting formula milk as well from time to time, and he's now more than three times his birth weight - 24lb (11kg). And 30in (76cm) tall.
The percentile figures come from a growth chart produced by America's Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Every five years the CDC measures hundreds of thousands of babies, children and young adults up to the age of 20, and the resulting charts allow doctors to assess what percentage of children of a given age group are taller or heavier than the patient in front of them.
"If you line up 100 babies of Arlo's age, from the shortest to the longest. Arlo would be 97," says Dr Joe Hagan from the American Academy of Pediatrics, explaining what it means to be in the 97th percentile.
"If you count head circumference he'd be 99."
So only one in 100 American babies aged seven months has a bigger head circumference than Arlo. Does this matter?
Hagan is completely relaxed about it. Head circumference helps doctors to judge whether a baby's brain is developing normally, he says, but the key thing is that the head is in proportion with the rest of the body, and Arlo's is.
"I would expect at Arlo's weight and height that his head circumference would be in the 99th percentile," says Hagan.
The charts produced by the CDC in the US are based on the measurements of real-life Americans. But over time, American children have been getting bigger, and an increasing number of American children are overweight.
By contrast the World Health Organization (WHO) has attempted to chart "optimal growth" for a child.
To do this, it measured growing children in six countries: Brazil, Ghana, India, Norway, Oman and the US. But not just any children. They had to be breast-fed from birth, and vaccinated early in life. Babies whose mothers had smoked during pregnancy were not counted.
Dr Mercedes De Onis, who helped to gather the data, says the WHO's work shows babies develop at a similar rate all over the world, "provided they are given proper care".
The WHO charts "describe healthy growth in optimal conditions and are therefore growth standards rather than growth references", says US paediatrician Joe Hagan.
He points out that in the US the CDC is now recommending that the WHO charts should be taken as the standard for children in the US between zero and two years old.
What about Arlo's weight? Is that a problem?
Once again, Hagan draws attention to Arlo's height. The key thing to look at is his body mass index, or BMI - his weight in relation to his height.
"So here's a guy who's tall, he's long. And longer children weigh more," says Hagan.
"Arlo probably has a BMI that is in the mid-80s to low 90s which would be considered overweight."
Overweight, but not obese. What's more, Hagan expects that as Arlo makes the transition from milk to solids, and starts moving more, he will even out a little.
So is there any cause for concern?
"No, not like this. Because I'm looking at Arlo's dad who's tall and Arlo's mom, who's probably tall, and I'm thinking: 'Gee, this is OK growth for Arlo.'"
Arlo is one of the biggest babies of his age in the US, and as American babies are bigger than the world average, it's also true to say he is one of the biggest in the world.
But it seems that's fine.
"I spend a lot of my time in my day-to-day work as a paediatrician telling parents you really don't need to worry about this and about that," Hagan says.
Parents often compare the size of their child to others, he says, and very often it's his task to reassure them that even if their child is bigger or smaller, there is a "wide range of normal".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39896751
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Stoke City 1-4 Arsenal - BBC Sport
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2017-05-13
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Champions League-chasing Arsenal move within a point of fourth-placed Liverpool with a comfortable Premier League victory over Stoke.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Champions League-chasing Arsenal moved within a point of fourth-placed Liverpool with a comfortable Premier League victory over Stoke.
Despite collecting the three points, manager Arsene Wenger faced further protests from his own supporters during the game, as they flew a plane over the Bet365 Stadium and held banners inside the ground calling for him to leave the club.
But the Frenchman ended the game by receiving warm applause from the club's travelling fans as he made his way down the tunnel at the final whistle.
The Gunners had not won on their previous six visits to the venue, but took the lead with a well-crafted move as Hector Bellerin picked out Olivier Giroud for a tap-in before Alexis Sanchez combined with Mesut Ozil, who coolly tucked home in the second period.
Until their opening goal it had been a poor spectacle, with Nacho Monreal heading against the post and Sanchez dragging an effort into the side-netting from a promising position.
Stoke controversially restored hope as Peter Crouch converted Marko Arnautovic's cross with his hand, but Sanchez drilled in a low finish and Giroud slid in a fourth for the away side.
Both Arsenal and Liverpool have two games remaining and are level on goal difference with the Gunners ahead by one on goals scored.
Jurgen Klopp's men travel to West Ham on Sunday (kick-off 14:15 BST) and play Middlesbrough on the last day of the season, while the north London club host Sunderland on Tuesday and Everton in their final league match next weekend.
Wenger's season has been blighted by protests demanding he end his long association with the club, repeated questions over whether he will sign an extension to his contract, which runs out at the end of the season, and uncertainty over the futures of key players Sanchez and Ozil.
But he will be pleased with the way his players have responded with the campaign coming to a close, taking five wins from their past six league games - the only blemish a weak display in their defeat by Tottenham.
He was even afforded a standing ovation at full-time and will be particularly satisfied at triumphing at a venue where his side have struggled in the past, claiming their first win there since 2010.
Wenger jumped off his seat and jigged in delight at Sanchez's goal, which gave his team a cushion.
The Chilean, who has been linked with a move away, hobbled off with a leg injury after scoring and fans will be hoping it is not the last time they see him in an Arsenal shirt.
A season that promised so little at one stage could actually turn into a celebratory one. Their late charge sees them maintain optimism of extending their Champions League participation to 22 consecutive seasons, and they have an FA Cup final against newly crowned Premier League champions Chelsea to look forward to.
Stoke's season is petering out with a whimper - they have won just one of their past 10 league games.
This loss means they will finish in the bottom half for the first time since 2012-13 - their worst season in the Premier League as they finished 13th with 42 points.
Although the Potters are in the same position at the moment, they have one fewer point and will be hoping to win their last game of the season at Southampton to end on a high.
Even after pulling a goal back against Arsenal - which should not have stood after Crouch's handball - Stoke did not look like getting anything out of the game with Mame Biram Diouf summing up their performance by nodding wide from just three yards out.
One goal and one assist, Sanchez is getting back to his best at the right time for Arsenal but handed the Gunners an injury scare by hobbling off shortly after his goal.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger: "We had a difficult week but we have won convincingly so the focus is there, the fighting spirit is there and we're pleased to win. I believe when the team plays well we have the right individual talent to win.
"When they scored the 'hand-goal' they came back but when you go to places like Stoke you need at some stage to suffer and stick together and that is what we did."
Stoke boss Mark Hughes: "We had to chase to the game and we have been picked off going the opposite way. Playing for five minutes isn't enough. We needed to ask more questions.
"We are disappointed as it is always our aim [to finish in the top half of the table]. This is the first time we have missed out. We go against Southampton next week to get points on the board. In the summer we will assess things and maybe change things around."
• None Stoke have shipped 24 goals at home this season - their joint-highest in a single Premier League campaign (same as 2015-16).
• None Arsenal have scored 4+ goals in five away league games this season. It's their most in a season since 1936-37 (also five).
• None Sanchez became the eighth player to score 50 Premier League goals for Arsenal, with only Thierry Henry (83 games) and Ian Wright (87) reaching the milestone faster than the Chilean (101).
• None Sanchez is also the first player to record double figures for both goals (21) and assists (10) in the Premier League this season.
• None The South American also scored his 15th away goal in the Premier League this season - only Kevin Phillips (16 in 1999-00) has scored more in a single campaign.
• None Peter Crouch scored his ninth Premier League goal against Arsenal - more than he has against any other opponent in the competition.
• None Only Wayne Rooney (11) and Robbie Fowler (10) have scored more against the Gunners in the competition.
• None Since the start of last season, only Ozil (31) and Sanchez (25) have recorded more assists for Arsenal in all competitions than Hector Bellerin (13), with the Spaniard picking up two today.
• None Attempt blocked. Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Saido Berahino.
• None Peter Crouch (Stoke City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt blocked. Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Glenn Whelan.
• None Attempt saved. Geoff Cameron (Stoke City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
• None Substitution, Stoke City. Ramadan Sobhi replaces Marko Arnautovic because of an injury.
• None Goal! Stoke City 1, Arsenal 4. Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) left footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Aaron Ramsey.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Delay in match Marko Arnautovic (Stoke City) because of an injury.
• None Rob Holding (Arsenal) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt saved. Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Olivier Giroud. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39827551
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How a dying man and his son could forge a Lego legacy - BBC News
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2017-05-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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How a skin cancer sufferer and his son embarked on a poignant campaign from their Sydney home.
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Australia
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Damien MacRae and his son, Aiden, have made their toys sun-smart
As he endured radiotherapy, Damien MacRae found playing Lego with his seven-year-old son, Aiden, was one way to block out the pain.
The pair built spaceships, pirate galleons and fortresses in their Sydney home following the discovery of melanoma on Mr MacRae's ear three years ago.
But in the piles of interlocking plastic bricks, Aiden could not find pieces to create an Australian beach. His father soon realised none existed.
So the two decided to conceive their own, in what would become a very personal mission.
Cancer has since spread to Mr MacRae's lungs and brain. Last month in a Facebook message, he told friends that his brain tumours had multiplied.
"Unfortunately, my doctors say that I have 6-10 weeks left to live. Six months would be a miracle," he wrote in the post on 14 April.
"Obviously this has made me focus on spending as much time as I can with family and friends."
Mr MacRae asked for help in realising his "one dying wish": to get Lego to consider making Surf Lego Rescue, the idea invented on Aiden's bedroom floor.
First they would need 10,000 votes on a Lego concepts website.
"I think everyone gets why this project has become so important to me and Aiden," Mr MacRae told his friends.
The total was reached within days, meaning the project will be considered. Mr MacRae said he had never seen his son more excited.
"To see him dancing and smiling because of this, I've never been prouder," he told the BBC.
"It's the happiest I've seen him in a long time."
The father and son had spent hours talking about their ideas, taking inspiration from Australia's iconic Surf Life Saving volunteer group. They ordered custom-made toys from a company in London.
"The Lego universe doesn't have much that reflects Australian culture," Mr MacRae said.
"There is a Sydney Opera House toy set but not much else."
Their collection captures a sense of fun at the beach, but it also highlights the dangers of sun exposure.
The lifeguard characters are named after celebrities who had skin cancer scares, such as Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. All wear sunscreen and hats.
One of the leading causes of melanoma is a history of sunburn, especially in childhood
The colours of the toys pay tribute to Australia's volunteer lifeguards
The set also includes surfers, a lifeboat, a jet ski, a quad bike, seagulls, a jellyfish and a shark-patrolling drone.
"I'm not a Lego designer at all," Mr MacRae laughed. "I'm a 42-year-old intellectual property lawyer."
The Danish company will decide soon if it will produce the set. If it does, it is likely to take at least 10 months before sale.
"What a fantastic project, depicting an action-packed day at the beach, full of thoughtful and playable details," a Lego spokeswoman said.
Australia's Financial Review newspaper reported that Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, whose family owns Lego, had been personally moved by the campaign.
Aiden's favourite figure has been given his name
Since 2010, 19 projects from the Lego Ideas platform have been made - such as Women of Nasa.
"They've been really generous with their kind words and indicated they will take my illness into consideration when they're doing the review," Mr MacRae said.
But Mr MacRae knows that time is running out.
"Getting to 10,000 votes was my goal," he said. "And the possibility that I could leave a legacy for Aiden."
"To know that he can take ideas that he's come up with, on the bedroom floor, and take it out to the world."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-39728707
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Reality Check: Who loves the UK at Eurovision? - BBC News
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2017-05-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Everyone thinks Ireland are the UK's best friends at Eurovision. Are they right?
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Entertainment & Arts
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It's Eurovision time again, which means it's time to take the voting very personally indeed.
Who is rejecting the UK's tunes and who is telling us we're not alone?
Downloading the voting from fan site eschome.net you can find out how many points all other countries have given the UK at Eurovision since it started in 1957.
A continuous data set is tricky because of rule changes over the years, especially last year when telephone votes were separated from jury votes, increasing the number of votes available.
Also, not all of the countries that participated in the early days have survived to the end.
But some steps may be taken to check the facts on the site, for example, it gives the total number of votes received by the UK as 3,911, which is confirmed by the official Eurovision site.
Nonetheless, by dividing the number of points given to the UK by the number of times a country has participated we can find out who our real friends are.
We're excluding countries that have participated fewer than five times, although Morocco deserves a special mention having only appeared once in 1980, when it gave the UK and the song Love Enough for Two a creditable eight points.
That's even better than honorary Europeans Australia, who gave the UK eight points in one of the two years it has participated.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Lucie Jones performs Never Give Up On You, the UK's entry for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.
So, excluding the occasional contestants, our best friends are Luxembourg, which has averaged a touch under five points per contest.
Luxembourg was one of the original participants in Eurovision but has not taken part since 1993. Sadly the love was not reciprocated, with the UK giving Luxembourg only an average of 2.5 points per contest.
Luxembourg is closely followed by Malta and then Ireland, which is widely seen as our best Eurovision friend because it has given the UK the most points overall in the history of the competition. The UK has given Ireland an average of almost 5.5 points in finals.
Completing the top 10 in order are: Austria, Israel, Switzerland, Turkey, Portugal, Yugoslavia (which competed 27 times before it was broken up) and Monaco.
At the bottom end, the country that has snubbed the UK the most consistently is Montenegro, which has failed to give the UK a single point in the eight times it has participated.
The other countries averaging less than one point per contest are Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, this year's hosts Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Clearly, those countries that have been withholding their love from the UK are relative newcomers to the competition, with all of them having competed fewer than 15 times.
Among the seven countries that participated in the first contest, the least love has been shown by the Netherlands, which is halfway down the list, having given the UK an average of 2.7 points per contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest final will be broadcast on BBC One on Saturday from 20:00 BST.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39899190
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Lewis Hamilton on pole position in Spain ahead of Sebastian Vettel - BBC Sport
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2017-05-13
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Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton edges out Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to take pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix.
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Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton edged out Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to take pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Hamilton failed to improve on his final run, but his first lap was good enough to beat Vettel by 0.051 seconds.
A mistake by the German in the final corner could have been crucial as Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas took third ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
Home hero Fernando Alonso produced an exceptional effort to take seventh place for McLaren-Honda.
Sunday's race is live on 5 live sports extra and the BBC Sport website - with coverage from 11:30 BST.
Hamilton's superb effort was exactly what he needed after a difficult weekend last time out in Russia, where he finished fourth.
He set the pace in final qualifying with a one minute 19.149 seconds lap, and was just 0.025secs slower on his second run.
That gave Vettel a chance, but he locked up into the last chicane and missed out by just 0.051secs.
Hamilton's pole also owed a lot to a major upgrade the team brought to the race, with a narrower nose cone and major aerodynamic changes around the front of the car.
It was the team's first big upgrade of the season and seemed to have cancelled out two upgrades Ferrari brought to Russia and this race, which were smaller individually but seem to have been worth about the same amount overall.
Vettel rewarded for going with his gut
Vettel still had reason to be thankful - after a last-minute engine change before qualifying, he was told to stop the car on track by his engineer on his first lap of qualifying.
Vettel questioned the decision, asking: "Are you sure?" He was told to try to bring the car back to the pits. But a change of engine settings got the car running properly and Vettel was able to continue.
Bottas was just 0.224secs behind Hamilton despite missing three-quarters of final practice in the morning because of an engine change, edging out Raikkonen by 0.066secs.
Red Bull were fifth and sixth, with Max Verstappen beating team-mate Daniel Ricciardo by nearly half a second and providing evidence that an aerodynamic upgrade had closed the gap to the top two teams.
Verstappen was just 0.557secs off pole position - about half the deficit Red Bull have had over the first four races of the season.
But their progress was overshadowed by Alonso's superlative effort in beating both Force Indias and Felipe Massa's Williams, cars with a Mercedes engine that has at least 100bhp more than McLaren's Honda.
His performance suggests McLaren might be strong at Monaco, which raises doubts about the wisdom of their best asset missing the race and being replaced by Jenson Button, whose motivation to return to F1 after his retirement is being questioned by sources close to the team and driver.
However, Alonso said he had "zero regrets" about missing Monaco.
Alonso said: "Zero regrets. I will race the Indy 500, one of the best or the biggest race in the world.
"There are six cars - two Mercedes, two Ferraris, two Red Bulls - that will be unbeatable for the next couple of races. So to fight for P7 in Monaco? No thanks."
Jolyon Palmer - the other British driver on the grid - qualified 17th, knocked out in the first session in which he was just under 0.4secs slower than team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, who is 13th on the grid.
"Yesterday felt good," Palmer said. "Today I have struggled. I don't really know why. I just didn't have the pace at all."
What they said
Hamilton: "First Q3 lap was very, very good. The last lap was not quite as good. I was up by 0.2secs I think, but I didn't finish it that way.
"I didn't make a mistake, but it is very gusty out there and sometimes you brake in the same place and the car stops really well or locks up and I braked and the car really stopped [too quickly]. But it was enough to keep me ahead."
Asked whether his mistake was the difference, Vettel said: "I'm afraid it was, yeah. Always the last chicane is a tricky one for me. The second run was really good up to that final chicane."
Alonso, who is missing the next race in Monaco to race in the Indianapolis 500, said: "Maybe running the ovals I learned how to go quick in the straights. It was a good qualifying for us and P7 is a gift.
"Today was a beautiful day, a beautiful qualifying in which we were finding tenth after tenth. Then surprisingly we made it into Q3, and we had another very good lap.
"The important thing is tomorrow, to try to get a few points."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39908130
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Isdal Woman: The mystery death haunting Norway for 46 years - BBC News
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2017-05-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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How a Nordic mystery death led to a trail of coded messages, disguises, and fake identities.
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Europe
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It's a mystery that has intrigued Norway for nearly 50 years.
In November 1970, the badly burnt body of a woman was found in a remote spot in Norway's Isdalen valley.
Someone had cut the labels off her clothes, and scraped distinctive marks off her belongings - as if to stop her from being identified.
And as police started investigating her death, they uncovered a trail of coded messages, disguises, and fake identities - but never cracked the case.
Forty-six years later, Norwegian police and NRK journalists have decided to reopen the investigation.
This is the story of the Isdal Woman - and the perplexing trail of clues she left behind.
WARNING: This article contains one graphic image
Clue one: The body in 'Death Valley'
Isdalen Valley is a short drive from the west-coast city of Bergen
On the morning of 29 November 1970, a man and his two young daughters see a body in Isdalen Valley.
The corpse is sprawled across some rocks - with its arms extended in a "boxer" position, typical of bodies that have been burnt.
Isdalen is known to some locals as "Death Valley" - it was a site where people committed suicide in medieval times, and, in the 1960s, some hikers had fallen to their deaths while trekking in the fog.
But the woman does not appear to be a normal hiker.
"It was out of the way - it was an unusual place to walk," Carl Halvor Aas, a police lawyer who was one of the first officers to be called to the scene, recounts to the BBC.
"The body was burned all over the front," including "the face and most of her hair", he says - but strangely it was not burnt on the back.
"It looked like she had thrown herself back" from a fire, he says, adding that she was so badly burnt they could not imagine what she originally looked like.
This is believed to be the spot where the Isdal Woman was found
The scene is cold by the time Carl arrived, so he cannot tell how long the body has been there for.
And how did the woman end up on fire?
Police find a number of objects at the scene, including jewellery, a watch, a broken umbrella and some bottles.
But it is the positioning of the objects that leaves the strongest impression on Tormod Bønes, one of the forensic investigators.
The woman is not wearing the watch or her jewellery - instead, they have been placed beside her.
"The placement and location of the objects surrounding the body was strange - it looked like there had been some kind of ceremony," he says.
Police also find the remains of a pair of rubber boots and nylon stockings.
"She had been wearing a lot of clothes - of synthetic materials - and all the clothes had been heavily burned," says Tormod.
Adding to the mystery is the fact that the production labels have been cut off her clothes and rubbed off the bottles at the scene.
Police find nothing at the scene to indicate who the woman was.
The remains of an item of clothing and an umbrella found at the scene
Police found items of clothing, drinking bottles, the remains of nylon stockings and pieces of jewellery at the scene
Police issue an appeal for eyewitnesses. They say the woman was about 164cm (5ft 4.5 inches) tall, with "long brownish-black hair", a small round face, brown eyes, and small ears. She appeared to be aged between 25 and 40 years, and wore her hair "in a ponytail tied with a blue and white print ribbon" at the time of death.
Without a name, the woman becomes known as the Isdal Woman.
An artist's impression of the Isdal Woman, distributed by police
The story is big news in Bergen - a peaceful town with a low crime rate.
They find two suitcases at Bergen railway station's left luggage department.
One of the suitcases contains prescription-free glasses - and a fingerprint on one of the pairs matches the woman's.
The suitcases also contain:
Initially, police "were very optimistic because they thought the suitcases would help them identify the body," says Tormod.
But soon, they realise that "all the labels that could have identified the woman, her clothes or belongings, had been removed".
Even the prescription sticker on the eczema cream, which would have shown the name of the doctor and the patient, has been scraped off.
Police try hard to trace the woman's belongings. They even contact several major department stores abroad, including Galeries Lafayette in Paris, to see if the stores recognise any of packaging on the woman's make up.
None of the department stores can find a match.
There is also a mysterious coded note in the case - which police will not crack until a while later (see clue five).
There is one important piece of evidence in the suitcase - a plastic bag from Oscar Rørtvedt's Footwear Store - a shoe shop in Stavanger.
The owner's son, Rolf Rørtvedt, remembers selling a pair of rubber boots to "a very well dressed, nice-looking woman with dark hair".
The boots he sold her appear to match the boots found on the body in the Isdalen valley. Police believe that the umbrella found near the body was also bought from the store.
The boots sold at Oscar Rørtvedt's Footwear Store were similar to the pair found at the Isdalen Valley
Rolf says the woman had made an impression on him because she "took a long time" choosing her boots - much longer than the average customer.
She spoke English, with an accent, and had "a calm and quiet expression", he tells the BBC.
He also recalls a strong smell emanating from the woman - which, later, he thinks may have been garlic.
Using his description, police are able to trace the woman to St Svithun hotel nearby - where she checked in as Fenella Lorch.
The problem? Fenella Lorch wasn't her real name.
It emerges that the woman had stayed in several hotels in Norway - using different aliases. And since most hotels required guests to show a passport and fill in a check-in form, this means she would have had several fake passports.
On this form, the woman claimed she had arrived from London
Police find the woman had stayed in the following hotels, under these names:
Police matched the different forms together by conducting handwriting analysis
This headline reads: "The woman in Isdalen had at least six different aliases"
The woman left a strong impression on Alvhild Rangnes, who was a 21-year-old waitress at Hotel Neptun at the time.
"My first impression of her was one of elegance and self-assuredness," she tells the BBC.
"She looked so fashionable - I wished to be able to mimic her style. In fact, I remember her winking at me… from my perspective it felt as though she thought I had been staring a bit too much at her."
"On one occasion while I was serving her, she was in the dining hall, sitting right next to - but not interacting with - two German navy personnel, one of which was an officer."
The woman's final stay was in the Hotel Hordaheimen
Police question several hotel staff who met the Isdal Woman - including Alvhild.
They learn that, in addition to speaking English, the woman also used some German phrases.
They also learn that the woman often requested a change of room - on one occasion, she asked to change rooms three times.
By now, there are several rumours that the woman was a spy. There weren't too many foreign tourists in Bergen then - and the fact the woman seemed wealthy, and well-travelled, sparked a lot of speculation.
"This was during the Cold War, and there were definitely a lot of spies in Norway, including Russian spies," says Gunnar Staalesen, a Bergen-based crime author who was a university student at the time.
There were also Israeli agents operating in Norway - as shown three years later, when Mossad agents killed a man in Lillehammer they had mistaken for a terrorist, he adds.
This headline reads: "Rumours say the woman was a secret agent"
Norwegian intelligence services are investigating too - but will not admit it until decades later.
According to NRK, security services were interested in reports that the woman had been seen observing the military test out new rockets in western Norway - but there weren't any clear conclusions from their investigation reports.
Police eventually crack some of the coded note - but it doesn't provide any evidence that she's a spy.
Instead, it appears to be a record of the places the woman visited. For example, O22 O28 P are dates (22-28 October) she was in Paris, O29PS is the day she travelled from Paris to Stavanger, O29S matches the date she arrived in Stavanger (29 October), and O30BN5 matches her stay in Bergen from 30 October to 5 November.
Police send a description of the woman, and sketches of what she may have looked like, to several police forces abroad. But none of them say they can identify the woman.
Meanwhile, investigators complete an examination of the woman's body.
They find an unexplained bruise on the right side of her neck, that could have been the result of a blow or a fall. There are no signs that the woman had been ill.
The autopsy also finds that the woman had never been pregnant or had a child.
One of the forensic cards summarising the autopsy findings. The woman's name, position, address, date of birth and death are all listed as "unknown".
Her death is likely to have been a painful one.
"There were smoke particles in her lungs… which shows that the woman was alive while she was burning," Tormod says.
He found a trace of petrol in the ground below the woman's body, which means "we can state with certainty that petrol had been used" to set her alight.
She had a high concentration of carbon monoxide in her blood.
Experts also establish that there were about 50-70 sleeping pills, from a foreign brand called Fenemal, in her stomach - although they had not been fully absorbed into her bloodstream before she died.
The autopsy concludes the woman died from a combination of carbon monoxide poisoning, and ingesting a large number of sleeping pills.
The cause of death is announced to be a probable suicide - a view supported by Bergen's chief of police.
But many people find this hard to believe.
"We talked about it in the police, but as far as I remember very few thought it was suicide," Carl Halvor Aas says.
Both the remote spot where her body was found - and the method of suicide, by fire, strike him as strange.
"I do not believe it was suicide" - Carl Halvor Aas
Without any further leads, the case is closed, and the woman is buried in February 1971.
Police think the woman may be Catholic, and organise a Catholic funeral for her.
According to a police report of the funeral, the coffin was decorated with lilacs and tulips, and the priest conducted a simple ceremony for "the unknown woman, who was put to the grave in a foreign country without any family present".
The funeral was attended by police officers
Police still hope to find the woman's family - she is buried in a zinc coffin that won't decompose - and keep an album of photos from the funeral for her relatives.
Harald Osland was one of the investigators reluctant to let the case go.
"My father could never put this case away," his son, Tore, says. "He never could accept that they had to close down the case."
The unmarked grave where the Isdal Woman's body is buried. The site is marked with a small wreath and candle
His father kept several of the police documents, and Tore eventually wrote a book about the Isdal case.
Over the years, the case has also inspired several crime writers and illustrators.
"What intrigues people is that it is an unsolved mystery - it is almost like following a crime novel," says Gunnar Staalesen.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Norwegian crime writers explain the appeal of the Isdal Woman case
Then, in 2016, the possibility of solving the case rears its head again.
The Isdal Woman had distinctive teeth - 14 of them were filled - and she had several gold crowns. This was especially unusual for someone in her age range - and is not the type of dental work seen in Norway.
Gisle Bang, a professor of dentistry, keeps the woman's jaw, in the hope that other experts will recognise the dental work.
After his death, everyone assumes the jaw has been destroyed.
Forensic doctor Inge Morild, who inherited the Isdal Woman files, says he was told the jaw had been "thrown away because it was smelling".
But after investigative journalists at NRK make queries about the Isdal Woman, Prof Morild finds the jaw - deep in a cellar in Haukeland University Hospital's forensic archives.
The find gives Norwegian police the opportunity to re-open the case, and use the latest forensic techniques to try and identify the woman.
Prof Gisle Bang had sent reports to international dental experts
The Norwegian Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos) and University of Bergen start conducting isotope analysis on her teeth - looking at the chemical "signature" left by the elements that made up her teeth as they were being formed.
It's the first time Norwegian police have conducted isotope analysis on teeth - but they hope the findings will help them pinpoint the region where the woman lived.
DNA analysis is now one of the key tools police use in forensic analysis and identification cases.
But it turns out several tissue samples from the woman's organs, including from her lungs, heart, adrenal gland and ovaries, have been stored at Haukeland University Hospital.
Prof Morild says it "has been a custom in most of Norway" to keep tissue samples from post mortem examinations. The samples are "useful for repeat examinations, and as a source of DNA".
Tissue samples from the organs are preserved in paraffin blocks
Prof Inge Morild looks through tissue samples belonging to the Isdal Woman
NRK and local police agree to send the samples off for DNA analysis.
Nils Jarle Gjøvåg, head of forensics at West Police District, says it's important to pursue the woman's identity because "somewhere in the world, there may be some relatives wondering where she went".
"We try to identify every unknown body, so that relatives can have an answer."
While they wait for DNA results, NRK publish a documentary into the investigation - and receive more than 150 tip offs from people interested in the case.
"In Norway, this case is a big enigma for people… there's a lot of people who want some sort of closure in the case," says journalist Ståle Hansen.
NRK's investigative team (from left to right): Marit Higraff, Eirin Aardal, Øyvind Bye Skille and Ståle Hansen
After months of work, scientists have an extended DNA profile of the woman. The latest results, published on Friday, show the woman was of European descent - making the theory that the woman was an agent from Israel much less likely.
Norwegian police are set to issue an Interpol black notice - which seeks information on unidentified bodies - with the new information.
European police forces will be asked to check their DNA databases to see if they find a match.
"If someone in her close family is in a DNA registry somewhere, we will get a hit," says Ståle Hansen. "That would be really exciting."
The Isdal Woman case has been unsolved for the last 46 years. But now, modern science has reopened the possibility of this elusive Nordic mystery being solved.
Readers who recognise the Isdal Woman or want to share tips about the case of the Isdal Woman can contact the NRK investigative team via their website.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39369429
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Nicola Adams stops Maryan Salazar in third round of Leeds homecoming - BBC Sport
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2017-05-13
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Britain's double Olympic gold medallist Nicola Adams stops Mexico's Maryan Salazar in the third round in her home city of Leeds.
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Last updated on .From the section Boxing
Britain's double Olympic gold medallist Nicola Adams stopped Mexican teenager Maryan Salazar in the third round in her home city of Leeds.
The 34-year-old pinned her opponent in the corner and the referee stepped in to confirm her second professional victory in the flyweight contest.
"There is nothing like the support of my home crowd," said Adams.
It was her first win by stoppage having beaten Argentina's Virginia Carcamo on points on her professional debut.
The contest against Salazar was fought over three-minute rounds rather than the usual two minutes for women.
Find out how to get into boxing with our special guide.
Adams had said before the fight the extra minute in each round would give her a chance to "take out" her 18-year-old opponent.
She said afterwards: "I was not even thinking about the stoppage, but with the three-minute rounds I knew I could.
"I was able to settle more, I could see where I was throwing the punches and landing the power shots."
Adams was firmly in control, busting her opponent's lip in the opening round, following it up with a flurry of punches with Salazar on the ropes in the next and finishing it off in the third.
Her trainer, Jason Spencer, said she will soon be ready for a world title fight.
Adams added: "I loved every minute of it. The crowd were pumping me up. The more they were cheering, the more I was throwing."
Headlining the Leeds card, home favourite Josh Warrington defended his WBC international featherweight title with a majority decision over the experienced Kiko Martinez.
Warrington, 26, beat the Spaniard with scores of 116-112 from two judges, with the third scoring it a 114-114 draw.
He is now unbeaten in 25 fights and moves closer to a fight against Wales' IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby.
On the undercard, Durham's Thomas Patrick Ward caused somewhat of an upset by beating Liverpool's James 'Jazza' Dickens via a technical decision to win the British bantamweight belt.
Get all the latest boxing news sent straight to your device with notifications in the BBC Sport app. Find out more here.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/39911010
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Crystal Palace 4-0 Hull City - BBC Sport
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2017-05-14
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Hull City will play in the Championship next season after a thumping 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace sends them down.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Hull City were relegated from the Premier League with one game to go after a heavy defeat at Crystal Palace, a result which secures top-flight survival for Sam Allardyce's team.
Marco Silva's side went behind after a shocking error just two minutes and 11 seconds into a game they needed to win to give themselves a fighting chance of survival.
Italy defender Andrea Ranocchia missed a simple clearance, allowing Wilfried Zaha to run clear and slot beyond goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic.
Christian Benteke's header doubled Palace's lead while late goals from Luka Milivojevic, from the penalty spot, and substitute Patrick van Aanholt, completed Hull's misery.
The Tigers, who failed to register a shot on target on Sunday, will join Sunderland and Middlesbrough in the Championship next season.
This result also means Swansea City, who were bottom of the table and four points from safety at the start of 2017, stay up.
• None Reaction from Selhurst Park and the rest of Sunday's Premier League games
Where did it go wrong for Hull?
Hull are back in the second tier one year after winning promotion at Wembley by beating Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship play-off final.
Their plans following a Premier League return seemed to be in disarray when manger Steve Bruce left in July following a breakdown in his relationship with vice-chairman Ehab Allam.
Mike Phelan was appointed caretaker for the start of the campaign and the former Manchester United assistant steered the Tigers to back-to-back wins. He was named manager of the month for August.
However, the season quickly unravelled with Hull winning just one of the next 18 league games before Phelan was sacked on 3 January.
The Tigers were also rocked by the loss of £10m midfield summer signing Ryan Mason to a fractured skull after clashing heads with Chelsea's Gary Cahill.
Then Robert Snodgrass, who remains the club's leading league scorer this season with seven goals, joined West Ham for £10.2m.
Silva took over with the club rooted to the foot of the table and despite six wins in eight home games, the Portuguese failed to mastermind an away win in nine attempts.
Palace turn on the style to confirm survival
Three straight defeats had left Palace's top-flight place up in the air, but there was never any doubt about the outcome of this game once Zaha pounced on Ranocchia's mistake to score Palace's quickest league goal for three years.
The on-loan defender from Inter Milan completely missed a straightforward clearance and Zaha kept his composure to net his seventh in the league this season.
Palace then built on their lead when Benteke rose inside the six-yard area to power Jason Puncheon's header into the net.
The visitors were denied a penalty when Puncheon appeared to handle inside his own penalty area before two late goals sealed Hull's fate.
But Referee Martin Atkinson did point to the spot when Michael Dawson marked his return by sending Jeffrey Schlupp sprawling inside the area which allowed Milivojevic to make it 3-0.
Hull, who have the league's worst defence, were completely overrun and it went from bad to worse for the visitors, with Van Aanholt finding the net after latching onto James McArthur's pass.
'We failed in our target' - manager reaction
Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce: "It's always a relief. The nervous tension was around the building today.
"For us to apply ourselves as we did, almost perfectly, was excellent. It's four goals, a clean sheet and we were able to enjoy the last 15 minutes.
"It was a class performance. We completely nullified Hull's possession."
Hull City boss Marco Silva: "Today we came here to play one final and we started in a bad way. It gave Palace what they wanted for the match. They knew what was in it for them.
"We tried but conceded again and it finished the game. We tried to make changes at half-time for a small reaction. Possession is not enough. You have to take the right decisions. At this level it makes a difference.
"When the club came to me, we knew we were taking on a big risk. But we had one target, to stay in the Premier League. We did our best to improve the boys in the team and that was our job."
Hull City captain Michael Dawson: "It is very hard. The season has been a long, hard slog and it is a sad day.
"You work hard all year and then you get relegated, you have to pick yourselves up and we know what to do in the Championship.
"Marco Silva has done a fantastic job since he came in. He has done remarkably well to give us half a chance but we just came up short."
• None Hull will finish the season with a league-low six away points.
• None The Tigers are the 33rd side to be relegated from the Premier League the season after gaining promotion to the top flight.
• None Hull have conceded a league-high 14 goals from corners this season.
• None Tigers defender Curtis Davies is the 13th player to feature in four-plus Premier League relegation campaigns.
• None Hull have conceded 13 penalties this season, more than any other side in a single Premier League campaign.
• None This is Crystal Palace's joint-biggest winning margin in Premier League history (also 5-1 v Newcastle in November 2015).
Palace will be able to travel to Manchester United on the 21 May (15:00 BST) knowing they will be playing in the Premier League next season. At the same time, Hull bring the curtain down on a poor season at home to Tottenham.
• None Attempt missed. Jason Puncheon (Crystal Palace) left footed shot from outside the box is too high from a direct free kick.
• None Sam Clucas (Hull City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt missed. Jason Puncheon (Crystal Palace) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Patrick van Aanholt.
• None Patrick van Aanholt (Crystal Palace) is shown the yellow card for excessive celebration.
• None Goal! Crystal Palace 4, Hull City 0. Patrick van Aanholt (Crystal Palace) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by James McArthur with a through ball.
• None Offside, Crystal Palace. Wilfried Zaha tries a through ball, but Christian Benteke is caught offside.
• None Curtis Davies (Hull City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Goal! Crystal Palace 3, Hull City 0. Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
• None Michael Dawson (Hull City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39833968
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Tottenham Hotspur: Premier League stars of White Hart Lane - BBC Sport
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2017-05-14
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BBC Sport looks back at some of the great goals scored at White Hart Lane by Tottenham legends during the Premier League era.
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BBC Sport looks back at some of the great goals scored at White Hart Lane by Tottenham legends during the Premier League era.
Available to UK Users only
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39911232
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How do you go about crowdfunding for someone you have never met? - BBC News
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2017-05-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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How and why would someone raise money for a person they have never met?
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England
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Shane Yerrell: The crowdfunding superhero who raises money for strangers
The meteoric rise of crowdfunding has revolutionised how easy it is to help out those in need. Often fundraising is done by friends or family, but an increasing number of people are setting up pages for complete strangers whose stories tug at their heartstrings. So how do you go about changing the life of someone you've never met?
Shane Yerrell is a man on a mission. The victim of a knife attack a decade ago, he decided to turn his hand to helping others, and has raised more than £20,000 for a number of causes since 2011.
He has climbed a mountain, shaved his head, walked from London to Brighton - and he has set up crowdfunding pages for people who he does not know, and might never meet.
"If I won the lottery, I'd be the first millionaire to become skint," said Mr Yerrell, 33, from Waltham Abbey, Essex, who works with adults who have learning disabilities.
"When I read stories in the news, I get a bit more affected by them than most people do. I get really annoyed to the point where I want to make a stand and help them there and then.
"You don't have to know someone to want to help them."
Shane Yerrell decided to help Liam Bradshaw after hearing about the car crash he was involved in
One of the people Mr Yerrell has crowdfunded for is 21-year-old Liam Bradshaw, from Enfield, who was involved in a catastrophic car crash in which his three friends died in 2012.
"I was left with 17 fractures to the face, broken collarbones, a nose job and a titanium forehead. I was in hospital for eight and a half months," Mr Bradshaw recalls.
When Mr Yerrell heard in the news about what had happened, he approached Mr Bradshaw's family and asked if he could help to raise money for his recovery, through a fundraising page and by climbing Mount Toubkal in Morocco.
"Shane came along towards the end of my hospital life. The guy has the kindest heart - he went out of his way to help a stranger so that stranger could live his life again," Mr Bradshaw said.
"I'm so glad it happened, because if I hadn't had the accident, I wouldn't have met someone with such a good heart," he added.
"From what Shane did for me, I've then come out of hospital to go and coach disabled children for Tottenham Hotspur.
"We've gone beyond friends now - he's more like family."
Liam Bradshaw said he had been inspired by the actions of a stranger - Shane Yerrell - who had raised money for him after his accident
Bridey Watson set up a crowdfunding page to help a complete stranger after money was raised to help her through her illness
Bridey Watson, 35, from Bristol, was on the receiving end of crowdfunding a few years ago, after contracting babesiosis, a malaria-like parasitic disease developed from a tick bite.
"I was bed and wheelchair-bound, having seizures every day," she recalls.
"When the doctors finally worked out what was wrong, my friends and family set up a crowdfunding page for me to go to Germany and the US for treatment, where tick-borne diseases are better understood and treated.
"The crowdfunding other people did for me enabled me to regain my health and rebuild my life."
Ms Watson is still recovering from the effects of babesiosis, but was inspired to help someone else in need following her own experience.
She said she was horrified by an assault on 17-year-old asylum seeker Kurdish-Iranian Reker Ahmed, who was chased and subjected to a "brutal attack" in Croydon at the end of March.
"He's finally thinking he's reached a place of sanctuary, only to be attacked - I could picture the terribleness of what he'd been through," she said.
"From my own experience, I knew the messages people left were as important as the physical health money can bring. And that's what I wanted to do for the guy who was attacked."
Ms Waton's page to help an attacked asylum seeker smashed its target
The psychology behind setting up a crowdfunding page for a stranger can be split into three categories, says philanthropic psychologist Jen Shang.
"Typically, people help strangers to make themselves feel good, to make others feel good, or both," she said.
"Some people don't want to get up close and personal with the people they help - they want to keep it all at arm's length and have a simple, easy and warm way of helping.
"Others prefer to have direct contact with the people they're helping, and crowdfunding sites offer a channel where that sort of connection is possible."
Ms Shang, who works as research director at the University of Plymouth's Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy, said although the percentage of people donating money to charity or other causes "has not changed in the UK or the US for decades," new methods of giving were constantly being invented, with crowdfunding "the new kid on the block".
"For people like Mr Yerrell, crowdfunding might be the most 'sustainable' way of giving - the way that sustains the knowledge and feeling you're caring about others.
"Psychologists say as long as you're a human, you want to care about others."
The Parker family - Harry, Glen, Danielle and Mia - have experienced the kindness of strangers
For the Parker family, who live in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, a stranger's help could not have come at a better time.
They were trying to raise £75,000 for specialised surgery to help seven-year-old Harry, who has cerebral palsy, to be able to walk.
Mr Yerrell was introduced to them by a friend, but had not met the family before that, and ended up helping to hit the fundraising target.
"It's unbelievable - the amount of people he's helped. We weren't the first and I know we won't be the last," Harry's dad Glen said.
"As soon as I met him, I knew he was genuine. It's a life changer for Harry and us as a family. People like him don't come along every day."
Harry's mum Danielle said Mr Yerrell - whose work has been recognised with a British Citizen Award and a Pride of Essex Award - had become "a big part" of the family's life.
"Not only has he helped us, he's a genuinely nice person. Sometimes you need someone like him in your life to make you think everything will be alright, especially when you're going through a tough time."
Mr Yerrell has founded a community interest company, Through the Fight, with the aim of gaining charity status in the coming year.
He will also be taking some time for himself, he said, because "you don't want to make people sick of it".
"I want to have time to do NVQ at work," he said. "But if something was to happen to someone I knew, I'd be there first person to try to help.
"I put everything into my fundraising. It's not just setting up the pages - you have to contact the person of their family, put your own money into it, promote it.
"I'm not well off, but that money could go down the pub or on silly things. I will always want to help and make a difference, but you need a bit of reality too."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39642967
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Matt Wallace: World number 242 wins Portugal Open for first European Tour title - BBC Sport
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2017-05-14
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England's Matt Wallace maintained his lead throughout to win the Portugal Open and his first European Tour title.
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Last updated on .From the section Golf
England's Matt Wallace led from start to finish to win the Portugal Open, his first European Tour title.
Wallace, 27, the world number 242, shot a final round 69 at the Morgado Golf Resort to finish three shots clear of American Julian Suri.
He finished on 21-under-par and becomes only the second player on the tour this season to win from start to finish.
It was Wallace's fourth European Tour event, having made the step up from the Alps Tour last year.
"It's the best feeling ever," he said after lifting the trophy. "It's always been a dream to win on the European Tour.
"Those first two days were really easy, that third day was the hardest day of my life and today was tough but it's so satisfying and I'm really happy."
Wallace shot 17 birdies on the first 36 holes and a level-par round on day three left him with a three-shot lead over German Sebastian Heisele going into the final day.
Wallace held off a surge from Suri on Sunday and becomes just the second winner since 2013 to card three bogey-free rounds on his way to victory.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/39916515
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Australian cricketers could strike over contract dispute - BBC Sport
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2017-05-14
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Australian cricketers are "prepared to strike" if a contract dispute is not resolved, which could have an impact on the Ashes.
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Last updated on .From the section Cricket
Australian cricketers are "prepared to strike" if a contract dispute is not resolved, which could have an impact on the Ashes at the end of the year.
In March, Cricket Australia proposed salary increases for men and women, but this would mean players no longer receive a percentage of CA's revenue.
The offer was rejected and CA said it would not pay players after 30 June.
Ex-Australia captain Mark Taylor said the Australian Cricketers' Association "aren't negotiating at all".
Taylor, who is also a CA board member, told a sports chat show on Nine Network on Sunday: "I have had players say to me in January that we could well be on strike in July."
A letter from CA chief executive James Sutherland to the players' association said 2016-17 contracts would not be renewed without a new agreement.
But the ACA said the proposal was "a win for cricket administrators but a loss for cricket".
ACA chief executive Alistair Nicholson added: "The point lost on CA is that the players will not respond to threats."
Several Test players responded on Twitter, using the #fairshare hashtag.
Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins tweeted on social media in response to the email: "Players are staying strong #fairshare".
If the dispute is not resolved, there would be uncertainty over what team Australia could field after 30 June, with a two-Test series scheduled in August in Bangladesh before a home Ashes showdown with England, which runs from 23 November 2017 to 8 January 2018.
In a letter sent by CA to the ACA, chief executive James Sutherland said "players with contracts expiring in 2016-17 will not have contracts for 2017-18" unless the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) negotiates a new MoU (Memorandum of Understanding)".
The current MoU will expire midway through the women's World Cup, which starts in England and Wales on 24 June.
"The Australian women's World Cup squad will be paid in advance of the June-July World Cup and will be employed until the end of the event," Sutherland said.
CA declined to comment further when contacted by Reuters.
"There is incoherence and aggression in what we have experienced at the negotiating table from CA," Nicholson said in a statement on Sunday.
"However, despite these threats, the players affirm their offer to participate in independent mediation.
"Quite simply, one side entered these negotiations in good faith with an intent to provide a win-win result, and the other is trying to remove player unity and drive a wedge in Australian cricket."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/39912591
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Women's FA Cup final: Birmingham City 1-4 Manchester City - BBC Sport
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2017-05-14
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Carli Lloyd is among the scorers as Manchester City cruise past Birmingham to win the Women's FA Cup for the first time.
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Last updated on .From the section Women's Football
World Player of the Year Carli Lloyd was among the scorers as Manchester City cruised past Birmingham to win the Women's FA Cup for the first time.
Lucy Bronze headed the opener following a free-kick and crossed for Izzy Christiansen to crash home the second.
Lloyd's header capped a fine 14-minute spell to make it 3-0 by the break.
Charlie Wellings' goal gave Birmingham brief hope, but Jill Scott's fierce shot sealed City's victory in front of a competition-record crowd at Wembley.
The 2016 Women's Super League champions are now in possession of all three main domestic honours - the first team to do so since Arsenal Ladies in 2011.
Birmingham had knocked out holders Arsenal and 2015 champions Chelsea to make the final, but the 2012 winners never looked like repeating that feat on their first trip to Wembley in front of 35,271 fans.
Four domestic honours in nine months?
Before 2014, Manchester City Women had never lifted a major trophy - but they are now closing in on a potential clean sweep of all four domestic honours in the space of nine months.
Having won the WSL and Continental Cup last year, they will hope to add the WSL Spring Series to their Women's FA Cup success.
Manchester City, who also reached the Champions League semi-finals in May, had never even played in the top flight when Birmingham won the FA Cup in 2012.
City's relentlessly aggressive pressing game and dominant defence laid the foundation for a ruthless victory which was as good as sealed by the interval.
Birmingham's inability to retain possession under persistent pressure led to them conceding territory and numerous free-kicks and corners, where City's set-piece superiority twice told in a one-sided first half.
Moments after a near-post corner almost brought an opening goal for Megan Campbell with a neat flicked effort, Bronze darted in to convert Campbell's inviting inswinging free-kick for a 1-0 lead.
Bronze then bustled Paige Williams out of possession and picked out Christiansen with a delightful cross.
City's preference to stretch play and attack down the flanks had meant that, despite being 2-0 up, Lloyd was a peripheral figure for the opening 30 minutes.
She had shown glimpses of her technical ability and vision but made her quality count when she rose above flapping Blues keeper Ann-Katrin Berger to head home another Campbell cross following a short corner.
City stayed in control despite facing an improved Blues side after the break, with the lively Nikita Parris having a shot tipped wide and Steph Houghton sending a header off target.
Birmingham were rewarded for their efforts through Wellings' curled effort, but Scott showed some nifty footwork to fire in a fourth goal after good work by substitute Toni Duggan.
'It's what dreams are made of'
Manchester City captain Houghton, who will also lead England at Euro 2017 this summer, described the FA Cup as "the one we were missing" after their final triumph.
"Credit to all the girls and all the staff, we've worked so hard," she told BBC Radio 5 live. "We've had a tireless schedule, but we were the best team on the day.
"The aim was to win as many trophies with this team as I could. To be captain of this club is unbelievable - but to win the FA Cup at Wembley, it's what dreams are made of."
• None Attempt missed. Georgia Stanway (Manchester City Women) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Carli Lloyd.
• None Attempt saved. Stephanie Houghton (Manchester City Women) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
• None Aoife Mannion (Birmingham City Ladies) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Offside, Manchester City Women. Carli Lloyd tries a through ball, but Toni Duggan is caught offside.
• None Jessica Carter (Birmingham City Ladies) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt blocked. Charlie Wellings (Birmingham City Ladies) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Lucy Bronze (Manchester City Women) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt missed. Ellen White (Birmingham City Ladies) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Jessica Carter with a cross. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39848931
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Antonio Conte: Chelsea boss says team can improve and he can keep best players - BBC Sport
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2017-05-14
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Chelsea can keep improving after winning the Premier League and will try to retain their best players, says boss Antonio Conte.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Chelsea can keep improving after winning the Premier League title and will try to retain their best players, says manager Antonio Conte.
The Blues became champions of England for a sixth time with a 1-0 victory over West Brom on Friday.
Conte, 47, has been linked with the vacant Inter Milan job, while there is speculation over the future of striker Diego Costa and playmaker Eden Hazard.
"If you can continue with these players you can improve a lot," said Conte.
The former Juventus and Italy boss led Chelsea, who finished 10th last year, to the title in his first season in charge.
Reports in Italy suggest Chinese-backed Serie A club Inter are prepared to offer Conte £250,000 a week if he leaves Stamford Bridge one season into a three-year deal.
The Italian said he and his squad had only "started to do our work".
"Now they know my idea, I know them, the characteristics of my players, and we can improve," he added.
Belgium international Hazard, 26, has been linked with Real Madrid, while Spain forward Costa, 28, was left out of a game at Leicester in January after a disagreement with a fitness coach, amid widespread reports of interest from Chinese clubs.
"The club want to fight to win every competition - we have the same ambition," said Conte.
"For this reason we try to keep the best players."
Chelsea have two Premier League fixtures remaining - against Watford and Sunderland - before facing Arsenal in the FA Cup final at Wembley on 27 May.
Guus Hiddink took interim charge of Chelsea last season, with the club 16th in the Premier League and one point above the relegation zone following the departure of manger Jose Mourinho.
The Dutchman, who led the side to a 10th-place finish, met with Conte at the end of that season.
Hiddink described the Italian as "a man who had already achieved a lot before he came to Chelsea" and that winning the title was a "confirmation of his attitude, professionalism and energy".
On speculation linking Conte with a move to Italy, Hiddink told BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek: "There are always rumours coming up but I think the club is very stable. It is a huge club to work for, perfect circumstances and very ambitious people everywhere.
"It's more rumour than reality."
Former England and Arsenal striker Ian Wright: "The way he has got players playing, Victor Moses, Willian etc is incredible - he's kept the whole squad happy.
"There's been no red cards, discipline has been very good, and the amount of consistency through not changing players so often has kept the players together.
"Conte has also got that assured calmness - not so much on the pitch but behind the scenes."
Former England and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer: "Antonio Conte's passion and enthusiasm has filtered down to all his players all season.
"The big change was the shift in the system after they lost to Liverpool and were beaten 3-0 by Arsenal at the Emirates. They were playing four at the back and it wasn't working at all so he had to do something.
"They went to a back three, changed a couple of players, and then won 13 games on the spin, which was an incredible turnaround for a team that had struggled.
"They've certainly benefited without being in Europe by making only 38 line-up changes, the fewest in the league, so they've used that to their advantage.
"There is a case for mentioning all their players but I've got to pick out Cesar Azpilicueta, who has played every minute of every league game and turned in an eight or nine out of 10 performance every time."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39910488
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