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Jeremy Corbyn on pay disparity within organisations - BBC News | 2017-01-10 | null | Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says he is looking at pay disparity within companies, but stopped short of confirming that he would cap the pay of top earners. | null | Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says he is looking at pay disparity within companies, but stopped short of confirming that he would cap the pay of top earners. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38567081 |
Is your child a cyberbully and if so, what should you do? - BBC News | 2017-01-10 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | What should you do if you find out your child has been bullying others online? | Technology | One in five teens claims to have been cyberbullied but few admit to being the bully
Parents worry about their children being bullied online, but what if it is your child who is doing the bullying?
That was the question posed by a BBC reader, following a report on how children struggle to cope online.
There is plenty of information about how to deal with cyberbullies, but far less about what to do if you find out that your own child is the source.
The BBC took advice from experts and a mother who found out her daughter had been cyberbullying her school friends.
Nicola Jenkins found out that her 12-year-old daughter was posting unpleasant comments online from her teacher
Few parents would want to admit that their child was a bully but Nicola Jenkins has gone on record with her story. You can watch her tell it here.
"Nobody thinks that their own child is saying unkind things to other children, do they? I let them go on all the social media sites and trusted the children to use it appropriately.
"Our form tutor phoned me up during school hours one day to tell me that there'd been some messages sent between my daughter and two other friends that weren't very nice. One of the children in particular was very upset about some of the things that had been said to her.
"Her friend's mum spoke to me about it and showed me the messages that had been sent. When I approached my daughter about it, she denied that there had been anything going on. It took a while to get it out of her, but I was angry with her once I actually found out that she had been sending these messages.
"I spoke to her teacher and to the other parents, and between us we spoke to the children to let them know that they can't be saying unkind things and to just make them aware that whatever they do is recorded and can be kept. And they all did learn a lesson from it.
"I removed all the social media websites from her so she wasn't able to access them for a while and then monitored her input and what she's been saying to people.
"But it did make me feel angry and quite ashamed that my daughter could be saying things like that to her friends, but she has grown up a bit since then and she's learnt her lesson.
"You want to trust your children, but they can get themselves into situations that they can't get out of.
"And as they get older, they look at different things. I know my son looks at totally different things to what my daughter does, so it's just being aware of what they are accessing and make sure that they are happy for you to look at what they are looking at as well."
There is plenty of advice for parents on coping with cyberbullying but less on what to do if your child is the bully
According to not-for-profit organisation Internet Matters, one in five 13-18 year olds claim to have experienced cyberbullying but there are few statistics on how many children are bullying.
Carolyn Bunting, general manager of Internet Matters, offers the following advice:
"First, sit down with them and try to establish the facts around the incident with an open mind. As parents, we can sometimes have a blind spot when it comes to the behaviour of our own children - so try not to be on the defensive. Talk about areas that may be causing them distress or anger and leading them to express these feelings online.
"Make clear the distinction between uploading and sharing content because it's funny or might get lots of 'likes', versus the potential to cause offence or hurt. Tell them: this is serious. It's vital they understand that bullying others online is unacceptable behaviour. As well as potentially losing friends, it could get them into trouble with their school or the police.
"If your child was cyberbullying in retaliation, you should tell them that two wrongs cannot make a right and it will only encourage further bullying behaviour. Stay calm when discussing it with your child and try to talk with other adults to work through any emotions you have about the situation.
"Taking away devices can be counterproductive. It could make the situation worse and encourage them to find other ways to get online. Instead, think about restricting access and take away some privileges if they don't stop the behaviour.
"As a role model, show your child that taking responsibility for your own actions is the right thing to do. Above all, help your child learn from what has happened. Think about what you could do differently as a parent or as a family and share your learning with other parents and carers."
Twitter's image has been tarnished by trolls
Many critics blame social media for not doing enough to deal with cyberbullying. Abuse is prolific on Twitter and it has pledged to do more, including improving tools that allow users to mute, block and report so-called trolls.
Sinead McSweeney, vice-president of public policy at Twitter, explained why the issue is close to her heart:
"As a mother of a seven-year-old boy, I've always tried to strike the right balance between promoting internet safety and encouraging the type of exploration, learning and creativity that the internet can unlock."
She offered the following advice:
"If you find that your child is participating in this type of behaviour, a good first step is to understand the nature of the type of material they're creating, who is the target, and try to ascertain their motivations.
"If the bullying is taking place on a social media platform, make sure to explain to them why the behaviour is inappropriate and harmful, and to supervise the deletion of the bullying content they have created. If it continues, it may be worth seeking additional advice from a teacher or trusted confidant."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38529437 |
Sydney International: Johanna Konta beats Daria Gavrilova to reach quarter-finals - BBC Sport | 2017-01-10 | null | British number one Johanna Konta reaches the Sydney International last eight with a 6-1 6-3 win over Daria Gavrilova. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
British number one Johanna Konta reached the last eight of the Sydney International with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Australian Daria Gavrilova.
The 25-year-old broke the world number 25 in the opening game and dropped only four points on serve in the first set.
The world number 10 wasted four match points on her own serve in the eighth game of the second set, but broke Gavrilova in the ninth to seal victory.
Konta will play Russian world number 26 Daria Kasatkina in the quarter-finals.
The 19-year-old beat world number one Angelique Kerber earlier. Third seed Dominika Cibulkova and fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova were also beaten on Tuesday.
Konta said: "It's such a strong tournament, such depth. I know going into every single match that it's going to be a tough one and I'm just going to have to, first and foremost, take care of things my end." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38567217 |
Chris Robshaw: Harlequins flanker out of England's Six Nations campaign - BBC Sport | 2017-01-10 | null | Harlequins flanker Chris Robshaw will miss England's 2017 Six Nations campaign with a shoulder injury. | null | Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Harlequins flanker Chris Robshaw will miss England's 2017 Six Nations campaign with a shoulder injury.
The 30-year-old will have an operation on Monday and is expected to be sidelined for three months.
Robshaw, who has won 55 caps, aggravated a problem with his left shoulder at Worcester on 1 January.
The back row captained the national side between January 2012 and January 2016, but was replaced as skipper after Eddie Jones became England head coach.
Jones led the side to a Grand Slam in 2016 but the Australian has a number of injury worries going into this year's tournament, which England begin against France at Twickenham on 4 February.
Saracens forwards Billy and Mako Vunipola have been ruled out with knee injuries, while Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi is out for the season with cruciate ligament damage.
Lock George Kruis is a doubt with a fractured cheekbone, and flanker James Haskell was concussed on his return from six months out with a foot injury.
Captain Dylan Hartley, who is suspended until 23 January, will need to prove his fitness before the competition starts.
After losing the captaincy following the World Cup, Chris Robshaw was a talisman for England on the blind-side flank in 2016 - playing in all but one of the 13 straight victories.
He was also repeatedly singled out for praise by head coach Eddie Jones for his outstanding performances.
However, while Robshaw's leadership and consistency will certainly be missed in the Six Nations, it may present Jones with the opportunity to move Maro Itoje from the second row into the back row, especially if locks Joe Launchbury and George Kruis can prove their fitness over the coming weeks. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38559130 |
Reality Check: Has inequality been getting worse? - BBC News | 2017-01-10 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Jeremy Corbyn says inequality has been getting worse, on the day official figures say the opposite. | Business | The claim: Levels of inequality in the UK have been getting worse.
Reality Check verdict: Official figures suggest that income distribution has become less unequal over the past decade.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday morning that he would be interested in a cap on earnings, because "we cannot go on creating worse levels of inequality".
Coincidentally, Tuesday morning also saw the release of the annual report on income inequality from the Office for National Statistics.
It said that there had been a gradual decline in income inequality over the past decade.
It is using the Gini Coefficient, which is a measure of inequality - in this case, a coefficient of zero would mean that all households had the same income while 100 would mean that one household had all the income.
These figures are for disposable income, which is what you get after you've added benefits and subtracted direct taxes such as income tax and council tax.
There are caveats around these figures - they are based on surveys, so there is a margin of error, and it is particularly difficult to get survey responses from people at the top of the income distribution.
But the official figures suggest that there was a considerable increase in inequality in the 1980s, relatively little change from the early 1990s to mid-2000s and then a gradual decline in the past decade, returning the UK to the same level of inequality as was seen in the mid-1980s.
So from these figures it would be wrong to conclude that inequality has been getting worse.
What could be missing from this analysis? The ONS looks at inequality across the whole population - there has also been much interest in comparing the richest 1% or 0.1% with the rest of the population.
The World Top Incomes Database (which you can see in figure 3 of this blog) suggests that since 1990 there has been relatively little change in the share of income taken by the richest 20% or 10% of the population.
The richest 1% and the richest 0.1% had seen their share of income rising steadily until the financial crisis, but it has fallen since then. So once again, inequality has not been growing.
The measures identified so far have been looking at income rather than wealth.
It is also possible to calculate Gini coefficients for wealth, although the latest official figures for it covered only up to the middle of 2014.
From 2006 to 2014, there was a small increase in overall wealth inequality, with property wealth having the biggest effect.
Housing costs are a particular issue - the Department for Work and Pensions calculates a Gini coefficient for income distribution that takes housing costs into account.
The difference it makes is that inequality increases in 2013-14, although it is still below pre-financial crisis levels.
None of this suggests that inequality does not exist in the UK or that it is not a problem or indeed that it is not worse than in other countries, but there is little evidence that it has been getting worse in the UK in the past decade.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38570809 |
Best Fifa Football Awards: Who did winner Cristiano Ronaldo vote for? - BBC Sport | 2017-01-10 | null | Cristiano Ronaldo won the title of best men's player in the inaugural Best Fifa Football Awards, but who did he - and others - vote for? | null | Last updated on .From the section European Football
Cristiano Ronaldo was named the world's best player at the inaugural Best Fifa Football Awards, beating old rival Lionel Messi to the title.
It caps another amazing 12 months for the Real Madrid and Portugal player, a Champions League,European Championship and Ballon d'Or winner in 2016.
But who did he vote for?
The voting data throws up some interesting - and sometimes surprising - results.
Take our quiz to see how well you can guess the voting patterns of the world football community.
• None See a rundown of how the votes were cast | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38564756 |
Barack Obama legacy: Did he improve US race relations? - BBC News | 2017-01-10 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Barack Obama sealed his racial legacy the moment he sealed victory in the 2008 election. | US & Canada | Barack Obama sealed his racial legacy the moment he sealed victory in the 2008 election - a black man would occupy a White House built by slaves, a history-defying as well as history-making achievement.
In 1961, the year of Obama's birth, there existed in the American South a system of racial apartheid that separated the races from the cradle to the grave.
In some states, his very conception - involving an African father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas - would have been a criminal offence.
When in the 1950s, a former TV executive by the name of E Frederic Morrow became the first black White House aide not to have a job description that included turning down beds, polishing shoes or serving drinks with a deferential bow, he was prohibited from ever being alone in the same room as a white woman.
Back then, as Morrow recounted in his memoir, Black Man in the White House, African-Americans were routinely stereotyped as sexual predators incapable of controlling their desires.
Little more than half a century later, a black man ran the White House - occupying the Oval Office, sitting at the head of the conference table in the Situation Room, relaxing with his beautiful young family in the Executive Mansion - a family that has brought such grace and glamour to America's sleepy capital that it is possible to speak of a Black Camelot.
President and first lady on the first day of his presidency
When Jack and Jackie Kennedy lived in the White House, that would have been unthinkable, even though the civil rights movement was starting to hammer more insistently at the walls of prejudice, and seeking legal and legislative redress for a malignant national condition described as the "American dilemma".
When demonstrators assembled in August 1963 to hear Martin Luther King deliver his I Have a Dream Speech at the Lincoln Memorial, few would have thought that a black man would one day take the oath of office at the other end of the National Mall.
Likewise, how many of the protesters bludgeoned by white policemen on Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma in 1965 would have dared to imagine that, 50 years later, they would cross that same bridge hand in hand with the country's first black president?
For veterans of the black struggle, those remarkable images of Obama marking the 50th anniversary of the Selma protest became instantly iconographic, a truly golden jubilee.
In legacy terms, his very presence in the White House is one of the great intangibles of his presidency. Just how many black Americans have been encouraged to surmount colour bars of their own? Just how many young African-Americans have altered the trajectory of their lives because of the example set by Obama?
And behaviourally, what an example it has been. Because of the lingering racism in American society, the Obamas doubtless knew they would have to reach a higher standard, and they have done so, seemingly, without breaking a sweat. In deportment and personal conduct, it is hard to recall a more impressive or well-rounded First Family.
The "when they go low, we go high" approach to racists who questioned his citizenship has made the Obamas look even more classy.
His family's dignity in the face of such ugliness recalls the poise of black sit-in protesters in the early 60s, who refused to relinquish their seats at segregated restaurants and lunch counters even as white thugs poured sugar and ketchup over their heads, and punched, kicked and spat at them.
Yet racial firsts, of the kind achieved by Barack Hussein Obama, can present a distorted view of history and convey a misleading sense of progress. They are, by their very nature, a singular achievement, a milestone indicative of black advance rather than a destination point.
Hollywood did not become colourblind the moment in 1964 that Sidney Poitier became the first black man to win best actor at the Academy Awards any more than discrimination ended in the justice system when Thurgood Marshall first donned the billowing robes of a Supreme Court jurist.
Years after Poitier's win, black acting success at the Oscars continued to elude many
America's racial problems have not melted away merely because Obama has spent eight years in the White House. Far from it.
Indeed, the insurmountable problem for Obama was that he reached the mountaintop on day one of his presidency.
Achieving anything on the racial front that surpassed becoming the country's first black president was always going to be daunting. Compounding that problem were the unrealistically high expectations surrounding his presidency.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Barack Obama: What would he have done differently?
His election triumph is 2008 was also misinterpreted as an act of national atonement for the original sin of slavery and the stain of segregation.
Yet Obama did not win the election because he was a black man. It was primarily because a country facing an economic crisis and embroiled in two unpopular wars was crying out for change.
Doubtless there have been substantive reforms. His two black attorneys general, Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch, have revitalised the work of the justice department's civil rights division, which was dormant during the Bush years.
The Affordable Healthcare Act, or Obamacare, as it was inevitably dubbed, cut the black uninsured rate by a third.
Partly in a bid to reverse the rate of black incarceration, he has commuted the sentences of hundreds of prisoners - 10 times the number of his five predecessors added together.
As well as calling for the closure of private prisons, he became the first president to visit a federal penitentiary. "There but for the grace of God," said a man who had smoked pot and dabbled with cocaine in his youth.
Janitor Fred Thomas shows off his Obama subway fare card in Washington in 2009
Early on, he used the bully pulpit of the presidency to assail black absentee fathers, and, more latterly, spoke out against police brutality. But that record of accomplishment looks rather meagre when compared to the drama of hearing "Hail to the Chief" accompany the arrival of a black man on the presidential stage.
Race relations have arguably become more polarised and tenser since 20 January 2009. Though smaller in scale and scope, the demonstrations sparked by police shootings of unarmed black men were reminiscent of the turbulence of the 1960s.
The toxic cloud from the tear gas unleashed in Ferguson and elsewhere cast a long and sometimes overwhelming shadow. Not since the LA riots in 1992 - the violent response to the beating of Rodney King and the later acquittal of the police officers filmed assaulting him - has the sense of black grievance and outrage been so raw.
Historians will surely be struck by what looks like an anomaly, that the Obama years gave rise to a movement called Black Lives Matter.
Public opinion surveys highlight this racial restlessness. Not long after he took office in 2009, a New York Times/CBS News poll suggested two-thirds of Americans regarded race relations as generally good. In the midst of last summer's racial turbulence, that poll found there had been a complete reversal. Now 69% of Americans assessed race relations to be mostly bad.
An oft-heard criticism of Obama is that he has failed to bring his great rhetorical skills to bear on the American dilemma, and prioritised the LGBT community's campaign for equality at the expense of the ongoing black struggle.
But while he was happy to cloak himself in the mantle of America's first black president, he did not set out to pursue a black presidency. He did not want his years in office to be defined by his skin colour.
The impact of Obama's presence in the White House on a black generation is impossible to calculate
As a candidate, he often left others to attach racial meaning to his candidacy, rather than doing so himself.
His famed race speech in the 2008 primary campaign, when his friendship with a fiery black preacher threatened to derail his candidacy, was as much about his white heritage as his black.
This remained true when he won election. Besides, there were pressing problems to deal with, not least rescuing the American economy in the midst of the Great Recession and extricating US forces from two long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Early on in his presidency, his efforts at racial mediation also seemed ham-fisted. The "beer summit" at the White House, when he brought together the black Harvard academic Henry Louis Gates and the white police officer who had arrested him on the porch of his own home in an affluent suburb of Boston, all seemed rather facile.
A clumsy photo-opportunity rather than a teachable moment. Obama, one sensed, wanted to speak out more forcefully - initially he said the Cambridge police "acted stupidly" - but his political cautiousness reined him in.
Seemingly, he did not want to come across to the public as a black man in the White House.
Rather in those early years, it was as if he was trying to position himself as a neutral arbiter in racial matters, though one sensed his preference was for not intervening at all.
As his presidency went on, however, it became more emphatically black. He spoke out more passionately and more intimately.
Telling reporters that his son would have looked like Trayvon Martin, the unarmed high school student shot dead in Florida by a neighbourhood watch coordinator, was a departure.
This new, more candid approach culminated in Charleston, South Carolina, when Obama delivered the eulogy at the funeral of Reverend Clementa Pinckney, the black preacher slain, along with eight other worshippers, by a white supremacist at a bible study class at the Emanuel American Methodist Episcopal church.
That afternoon he spoke, as he often does in front of mainly black audiences, with a cadence that almost ventriloquised the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr, and ended, electrifyingly, by singing Amazing Grace.
The acquittal of Martin's killer led to the creation of Black Lives Matter
That month he seemed to be at the height of his powers.
The Confederate flag, a symbol for many of black subordination, was about to brought down in the grounds of the South Carolina State Capitol because the Charleston gunman Dylann Roof had brandished it so provocatively.
Obamacare had withstood a Supreme Court challenge. On the morning that he flew to Charleston, the Supreme Court decreed same-sex marriage would be legal in every state. Progressivism seemed to have triumphed. Obama seemed to have vanquished many of his foes.
But that month Donald Trump had also announced his improbable bid for the White House, and the forces of conservatism were starting to rally behind an outspoken new figurehead, who sensed that nativism, xenophobia and fear of the other would be central to his electoral appeal.
That America's first black president will be followed by the untitled leader of the Birther movement, a candidate slow to disavow support from the Ku Klux Klan and happy to receive the backing of white nationalists, Donald Trump can easily be portrayed as a personal repudiation and also proof of racial regression.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
The truth, though, is more complicated.
Obama is ending his presidency with some of his highest personal approval ratings, and clearly believes he would have beaten Trump in a head-to-head contest. Moreover, although Trump won decisively in the electoral college, almost three million people more voted for Hillary Clinton nationwide.
In judging the mood of the country, the 2016 election hardly produced a clear-cut result that lends itself to neat analysis.
What Trump's election does look to have done, however, is end Obama's hopes of being a transformative president, not least because of the proposed rollback of his signature healthcare reform.
Truly transformative presidents, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, enact reforms, like social security, that become part of the nation's fabric rather than being ripped apart. If Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress get their way, Obamacare will be shredded.
Nor has he been transformative in the attitudinal sense. Indeed, Trump's victory, messy though it was, can easily be viewed partly as a "whitelash".
Much of his earliest and strongest support came from so-called white nationalists, who saw in his candidacy the chance to reassert white cultural and racial dominance. Some of the loudest cheers at his rallies came in response his anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim invectives.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Millennials worry about what's in store for the next generation of black Americans
Trump's message, from the moment he announced his candidacy to the final tweets of his insurgent campaign, was aimed primarily at white America.
The billionaire's victory also makes it harder to view Obama as a transitional president. Eight years ago, it was tempting to cast the country's first black president as the leader who would oversee a peaceable demographic shift from a still strongly Caucasian America - the last census showed that 62.6% of US citizens are white - to a more ethnically diffuse nation.
But the talk now is of walls, not human bridges.
Of course, the notion that Obama would usher in a post-racial America was always fanciful, and a claim wisely he steered clear of himself. For all his cries of "Yes we can," he was never that naïve.
A young visitor to the Oval Office asks Obama if his hair feels like his, in 2009
But the black writer Ta-Nehisi Coates makes a persuasive case that Obama has always been overly optimistic on race, in large part because he did not have a conventional black upbringing.
His formative years were spent in Hawaii, America's most racially integrated state, and the whites he encountered, namely his mother and grandparents, were doting and loving.
Obama was not the victim of discrimination in the same way as a black kid growing up in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, or even New York or Illinois. As a result, he may have underestimated the forces that would seek to paralyse his presidency and to impede racial advance more broadly.
The president has said repeatedly since election night that the result proves that history is not linear but rather takes a zig-zagging course.
Caught in the act, asleep in the White House
He is also fond of paraphrasing Martin Luther King's famed line that the arc of history bends towards justice. However, that curvature has veered off in a wholly unexpected direction.
Besides, even to talk of arcs of history at this moment of such national uncertainty seems inapt.
For as we enter the final days of the Obama presidency, the more accurate descriptor of race relations is a fault-line - the most angry fault-line in US politics and American life, and one that continues to rumble away, threatening small explosions at any time.
From Obama we expected seismic change of a more positive kind.
And although it was a presidency that began atop a mountain, it ended in something of a valley. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38536668 |
World Cup: Fifa to expand competition to 48 teams after vote - BBC Sport | 2017-01-10 | null | The World Cup finals will feature 48 teams from 2026 after football's governing body Fifa votes to expand the tournament from 32. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
The World Cup will be expanded to host 48 teams, up from 32, Fifa has decided.
An initial stage of 16 groups of three teams will precede a knockout stage for the remaining 32 when the change is made for the 2026 tournament.
The sport's world governing body voted unanimously in favour of the change at a meeting in Zurich on Tuesday.
The number of tournament matches will rise to 80, from 64, but the eventual winners will still play only seven games.
The tournament will be completed within 32 days - a measure to appease powerful European clubs, who objected to reform because of a crowded international schedule.
The changes mark the first World Cup expansion since 1998.
It will make a mockery of the qualification process for most confederations Campaign group New Fifa Now
Why expand? 'Football is more than just Europe and South America'
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has been behind the move, saying the World Cup has to be "more inclusive".
"We are in the 21st century and we have to shape the World Cup of the 21st century," he said at a news conference after the announcement.
"It is the future. Football is more than just Europe and South America, football is global.
"The football fever you have in a country that qualifies for the World Cup is the biggest promotional tool for football you can have.
"This football promotion, in many parts of the world where today they have no chance to play [at the World Cup], was at the top of our thoughts."
According to Fifa research, revenue is predicted to increase to £5.29bn for a 48-team tournament, giving a potential profit rise of £521m.
Campaign group New Fifa Now described the expansion as "a money grab and power grab".
But Infantino said: "It's not at all a money and power grab, it is the opposite, it's a football decision."
He added the decision was taken "based on sporting merit".
He says the decision on who will get the extra qualification slots has yet to be decided but "this will be looked at speedily".
"No guarantees have been made," he added. "The only sure thing is that everyone will have a bit more [representation] than they have."
He says there is no rush to decide what will be used to separate teams who finish on the same points and goal difference. Reports had suggested there could be a penalty shootout at the end of each drawn match.
But Infantino said: "This will be part of the regulations to be decided a few years before the event, it is nothing for now."
The Football Association said in a statement: "We will work with Uefa, Fifa and the other European associations to understand how the 48-team Fifa World Cup will work.
"The priority has to be consideration of the potential impact on fans, players, teams and leagues, and also recognition of the importance of sporting integrity and commercial viability.
"In terms of the allocation of places, we note that further discussions will follow across the confederations and would expect a proper consultation process to be carried out before any decision is made."
Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan welcomed the expansion, saying it was a a "positive step, particularly for the smaller nations".
Uefa, European football's governing body,said: "It was clear that all other confederations were overwhelmingly in favour of expanding the Fifa World Cup to 48 teams. As a result, Uefa decided to join in supporting the new format of the competition.
"Uefa is satisfied that it succeeded in postponing the final decision regarding the slot allocation of every confederation in the future format of the Fifa World Cup.
"We would also like to state that we are happy that the new proposed length and format of the tournament does not increase the burden on players. We will also ensure that clubs' interests will continue to be protected."
What the critics say: 'It will dilute the competitiveness'
The European Club Association (ECA), which represents the interests of clubs at European level, reiterated it was not in favour of an expansion. It said Fifa had made a political rather than sporting decision.
"We fail to see the merits to changing the format of 32 that has proven to be the perfect formula from all perspectives," it said in a statement.
"Questionable is also the urgency in reaching such an important decision, with nine years to go until it becomes applicable, without the proper involvement of stakeholders who will be impacted by this change.
"ECA will analyse in detail the impact and the consequences of the new format and will address the matter at the next meeting of its executive board, scheduled for the end of January."
New Fifa Now says the governing body needs to reform, said it would "dilute the competitiveness of the tournament".
"It will not help development of the game or provide improved competitive opportunities for lower-ranked nations," it added. "Instead, it will make a mockery of the qualification process for most confederations."
1 group of 4 and 3 groups of 3, with only top team progressing to semi-finals 3 groups of 4 and 1 group of 3, with top side progressing to final group of four 4 groups of 4, but only 2 games in each group, with top 2 sides through to quarter-finals 4 groups of 4, this time with 3 games. Top 2 sides through to quarter-finals 4 groups of 4 but now followed with 2 groups of 4, the 2 top sides competing the final 6 groups of 4 followed by 4 groups of 3, the winner of each qualifying for the semi-finals 6 groups of 4, top 2 sides and 4 best 3rd-placed teams qualifying for round of 16 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38565246 |
Why addicts take drugs in 'fix rooms' - BBC News | 2017-01-10 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Britain could soon see its first "fix room" for drug users. But who uses such places and how do they work? | Magazine | Angelea Let works as a prostitute to fund her drug addiction
Britain could soon see its first "fix room" for drug users - a safe space where addicts can take illegal narcotics under medical supervision. But who uses such places and how do they work?
On a cold and wet Thursday morning, there are already users inside Skyen, one of Copenhagen's fix rooms.
Angelea Let, 49, sits in one of the cubicles in the smoking room to take crack cocaine.
"I get a good feeling from my legs to my head, it has already taken away 50% of my pain," she says as she smokes.
Angelea told the Victoria Derbyshire programme she can spend around £600 a week on crack.
She is one of hundreds of users who visit Skyen each day. The irony of the situation is not hard to see.
The fix room has an area where people can inject themselves with drugs
While the hard drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, are illegal, in a fix room they can be taken under the watchful gaze of medical supervisors. The equipment they are given, including needles for injecting, is clean and supplied by the shelter.
Everything is laid on - bar the drugs, which users must bring with them.
Injecting rooms have been around for more than 30 years. Drug rooms exist officially in several European countries, including Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Spain, as well as in Canada and Australia.
There are six fix rooms in Denmark, and many others around Europe
And Britain could be next in line. Glasgow is planning to open the UK's first drugs consumption room and those behind it have been looking to countries like Denmark for inspiration.
Denmark opened its first fix room in 2012 and Skyen, which started three years ago, is one of six now running in the country. Funded by public money, it costs about £1m a year to run.
The set-up is organised and managed. There are two separate areas for people to take drugs - the injecting room, which seats up to nine people, and another room with eight seats, for those who want to smoke hard drugs.
But don't such facilities encourage illegal drug use?
"The situation in the area before we had the drug consumption room was that we had all the drug users sitting around in the streets, shooting drugs in public," says Christiansen. "After we opened this place, about 90% of the outdoor drugs use is gone.
"We have had hundreds of overdose situations, not a single one has been fatal.
Rasmus Koberg Christiansen says it is better to take people's drug use away from the streets
"Our purpose is harm reduction, however, if or when a user expresses a wish to stop or cut down on their drug use, we react immediately and help the person to make contact to a relevant facility."
Located in the heart of the Danish capital's red light district, Skyen is conveniently situated for Angelea, who volunteers in a soup kitchen by day and works as prostitute by night.
It was the effects of a car accident almost 20 years ago that led to her drug habit, she says.
"After I was in the accident, there was no feeling in my left leg and arm for about six years. I have the feeling back now, but I'm in constant pain."
To take the edge off, Angelea smokes mostly crack cocaine, and occasionally heroin.
She feels safe in the fix room, knowing that the staff and one of the nurses constantly on duty will watch over her. They are there to prevent people from dying from overdosing.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. 'Could you live my life for one week?'
There is a constant flow of people in an out of the Skyen rooms throughout the day. Some of them are new faces to the staff, but many are regular users and can come multiple times in a few hours.
Angelea is back later in the afternoon to smoke crack again.
"I'm here again because I'm in so much pain," she says as she rushes into the smoking room.
The drugs room stays open through the night, closing only for an hour each morning for cleaning.
It is not a treatment facility to get addicts off drugs, and many people will use it before going back to their difficult and sometimes dangerous lifestyles.
Late in the evening, only a few streets away, Angelea is out working, trying to find customers to pay for her next fix.
"I'm going to work, make some money and then smoke cocaine, then go back to work, make more money and smoke more cocaine again in the fix room. This is my lovely life," she says, laughing bitterly.
Another room in Skyen is set up for those who smoke hard drugs
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
The Victoria Derbyshire programme is broadcast on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38531307 |
Mental health care: 'The system is broken' - BBC News | 2017-01-10 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | People share their experiences of mental health problems and services. | Health | Theresa May has unveiled plans to do more to help those, particularly young people, with mental health conditions.
In her speech at the Charity Commission, the prime minister announced a number of pledges including training at every secondary school, training for employers and organisations, and the appointment of a mental health campaigner.
Here, people have been sharing their experiences of mental health services.
For the last three years, I have been saying exactly what the prime minister has announced today.
I lost my daughter Chloe Rose to suicide two and a half years ago - she was 19.
She was under the care of Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) but discharged at 16.
There is a gap in care from the age of 16 to 18. After 16, you're put into the adult mental health category.
But a young person in a dark place may miss an important appointment - who follows them up to see if they're OK?
I've carried out talks to police recruits and college students, and have done many charity events.
I ran a 100km [62-mile] ultramarathon in memory of my daughter - it was for the charity Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide, which is a great charity I use who support people going through suicide grief.
I'm currently serving in the Army as a sergeant, and I'm going through a transfer to become an Army welfare worker.
Also, I will soon be getting qualified as a adult and young persons' mental-health first-aid instructor and also a trainer in applied suicide-intervention skills training.
Being in the military, I'm well aware of the stigma and lack of resources that are not available to us and the community.
I run a social media page, Miles for Mental Health, to raise awareness of organisations as well as funds to help pay for people to do mental health first-aid courses.
I'm pushing for the courses to be brought into the curriculum in both primary and secondary schools, as well as in companies, communities, and the military.
I'm a firm believer that experience, education, research, intervention and preparation can potentially save a life.
The new measures have received praise from some, but others think the government has not gone far enough
Mental health services have been in crisis for the last five years.
[In my job as a community psychiatric nurse,] we have no beds or resources.
My team has over 90 people on its caseload.
We struggle to cope with 45.
We take people on to avoid admission, but we have no beds to admit to.
This year, [after 40 years,] I have had enough, it's time for me to go, I cannot cope with the strain and pressure anymore.
The government do nothing, they lie and manipulate all the time.
Trust managers know what is happening but are unable to act.
I've had experience of both NHS and private mental health facilities recently, and the NHS is far worse at dealing with mental health issues.
I had quite a bad experience with a GP who was very dismissive of these issues, so I opted to go through a Live Well facility in my local area.
This was better for me, but still has a very light touch and [is] generic, without any effort or in my view ability to deal with mental health issues.
I'm in a position where I can afford private healthcare, however many are not, so I can only imagine how widespread this issue is.
I'm glad that there will, hopefully, now be a far greater focus on mental health, but there needs to be both words and action to tackle the problem.
My daughter had anorexia last year.
She suffers from self-esteem issues and the feeling of needing to be perfect.
She was diagnosed [at] the beginning of April, but the nearest appointment to see a Camhs worker was the middle of June, which I feared would have been too late for my daughter.
I took her to the GP again due to her deteriorating health, but he told me that I had to wait for the Camhs appointment.
At this point her weight was in the danger zone, down to five stone.
In the meantime, I tried manage it all myself, using all kinds of approaches to help my daughter.
When she was eventually seen by Camhs, she was so ill she was admitted to hospital.
She had to stay in a general hospital for two weeks before there was a bed available in a specialist hospital.
But the nearest bed was over 120 miles from home in Middlesbrough, as there is no provision in the whole of Cumbria.
She stayed in Middlesbrough for seven weeks - it affected her mental health further by being so far away from home, but in the end it was the best place for her.
When she was discharged, she needed to see a dietician, but the only one in Cumbria was off sick.
My daughter didn't see a dietician for six weeks.
My main issue is that GPs didn't understand the seriousness of this mental health disorder - the system is woefully inadequate. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38561016 |
Jeff Sessions: 'Southern racist caricature painful' - BBC News | 2017-01-10 | null | US attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions says US can 'never go back' to discrimination of past. | null | Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, has faced tough questioning about past allegations of racism during a confirmation hearing.
He dismissed the claims and in response to a Republican colleague who asked him how it felt to be labelled a "racist or bigot" insisted he would defend the rights of all Americans. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/38577627 |
Migrant crisis: Greece refugee camps hit by winter - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | An estimated 10,000 migrants in Greece are living in tents as temperatures plummet. | null | Video Journalist Howard Johnson has travelled to the Malakasa and Oinofyta refugee camps, around an hour outside Athens, to see how people were coping with the wintry weather. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/38578837 |
Sir Dave Brailsford: Team Sky boss defends methods at British Cycling - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford defends his "uncompromising" methods as an investigation into British Cycling is set to be published. | null | Last updated on .From the section Cycling
Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford has defended his training methods as an investigation into British Cycling is set to be published.
Former technical director Shane Sutton resigned in April over claims of discrimination, which he denies.
The findings of a review into an alleged bullying culture at British Cycling are to be published soon.
"I'm uncompromising in trying to achieve success," said Brailsford. "I don't think I treated people wrongly."
He added: "I don't think I was vindictive, I don't think I was biased, I don't think I was malicious."
Australian Sutton was found guilty of using sexist language towards cyclist Jess Varnish, but cleared of eight of the nine charges against him.
However, the nature of the allegations - and wider claims about the culture at British Cycling - prompted an independent inquiry led by British Rowing chairman Annamarie Phelps.
Brailsford became British Cycling performance director in 2003 and led Team GB to two cycling gold medals at the 2004 Olympics, improving that tally to eight in both 2008 and 2012.
"We started off as a British team who were second rate, nowhere in the world, with an attitude of gallant losers," said the 52-year-old. "We thought actually 'why can't we be the best in the world?'
"And I am uncompromising, I know that. Some people can cope with that environment, and some people can't.
"When I took over at British Cycling I tried to push hard. And there were some people I felt who shouldn't be there.
"So you get people who go. I'll never make any excuses about that."
In 2014 he left British Cycling to focus on Team Sky, having combined his role with both organisations after the road outfit formed in 2009.
Team Sky, who have won four of the past five Tours de France - one victory for Bradley Wiggins and three for Chris Froome - are currently the subject of a UK Anti-Doping investigation.
Brailsford has denied wrongdoing and there is no suggestion that he, Wiggins or Froome have done anything against the rules.
"When we set out with the Tour team and said we were going to try to win the Tour people laughed, they laughed at me," he said. "That was hard. Harder than now.
"And then when we didn't do very well, that was hard. Really hard. But then you believe in something, you keep working at it and you achieve it."
2004 Olympics: two gold medals, one silver, one bronze 2008 Olympics: eight gold, four silver, two bronze 2012 Olympics: eight gold, two silver, two bronze Team Sky: four Tour de France wins in five years | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/38589587 |
'Star Wars gibbon' is new primate species - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | A gibbon living in the tropical forests of China is a new species of primate, scientists say. | null | A gibbon living in the tropical forests of south west China is a new species of primate, scientists have said.
It has been named the Skywalker hoolock gibbon - partly because the Chinese characters of its scientific name - but also because the scientists are fans of Star Wars. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38590447 |
Could a national maximum wage work? - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Jeremy Corbyn’s call on Radio 4’s Today programme for a high earnings cap is not a unique position. Franklin D Roosevelt called for something similar. | Business | In 1942, Franklin D Roosevelt - not known as a Socialist radical, though he had his moments - proposed that anyone earning over $25,000 should be taxed at 100%.
Effectively, the President of the United States was calling for a high pay cap of, in today's money, just under $400,000 or £330,000.
Interviewed this morning on the Today programme, Jeremy Corbyn rekindled the debate on high pay, saying that a "cap" should be considered for the highest earners.
With legislation if necessary.
Franklin D Roosevelt - not known as a socialist radical
Given that a direct limit (making it "illegal" for example for anyone to earn over, say, £200,000) would be almost impossible to enforce in a global economy where income takes many forms - salary, investments, returns on assets - very high marginal rates of tax could be one way to control very high levels of pay.
Another could be by imposing limits on the pay ratio between higher and lower earners in a company - possibly a more politically palatable option.
The High Pay Centre, for example, supports considering this approach.
Their research reveals the ratio has increased substantially.
"The average pay of a FTSE 100 chief executive has rocketed from around £1m a year in the late 1990s - about 60 times the average UK worker - to closer to £5m today, more than 170 times," the organisation said in 2014.
Firms have been under fire over high rates of executive pay
In its submission to the review of corporate governance by the House of Commons business select committee in October, the centre said executive pay was "out of control".
It is only relatively recently that high marginal rates of tax have been dropped as a way of limiting "out of control" pay.
Although America's Congress couldn't quite stomach the wartime 100% super tax (the actor Ann Sheridan commented "I regret that I have only one salary to give to my country") by 1945 the marginal rate on incomes over $200,000 was 94%.
Post-war, very high rates of income tax on high earners were the norm and income inequality was far lower.
By the 1970s in the UK, the marginal rate on higher incomes was 84%, a figure that rose to 98% with the introduction of a surcharge on investment income.
Denis Healey, then the Labour chancellor, famously said he wanted to "squeeze the rich until the pips squeak" - a quote he subsequently denied.
The mood changed with economic stagnation, industrial strife and the arrival of mainstream monetarism and its political leaders - Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.
Strikers gather round a brazier at a picket line in London in 1979
They built an economic and political philosophy based on a belief that it wasn't the state's job to spend, in Thatcher's famous phrase, "other people's money" - it was better to allow people to retain the money they earned and spend it as they saw fit, even if it was an awful lot.
Lower levels of income tax were the result and economic growth strengthened for a period.
Income inequality also grew, maybe a price worth paying for the economic riches which, it was argued, were flowing around the country.
For many, especially since the financial crisis, the pendulum has swung back, away from lower taxes towards a more punitive approach to high incomes.
Mr Corbyn was speaking about a belief that some individuals at the top of the income scale now have far too much money to spend compared with the "just about managing" classes.
Theresa May has also made it clear that "fat cat pay" is on her radar.
The economics of high pay and whether it should be limited are based on a judgement between two competing interests.
The first is summed up by the Laffer Curve, popularised by the US economist Arthur Laffer, which argues that if income taxes are too high (or pay limits in any guise too strong) they reduce the incentive to work, which ultimately affects growth, national wealth and government income.
At its most basic, under the "Laffer rules" a 0% income tax rate would collect no revenue.
And a 100% income tax rate would also collect no revenue, as no one would bother working.
Ronald Reagan slashed the top rates of US income tax
It has been used from Reagan onwards as the economic underpinning for an argument that lower taxes support growth.
In the 1980s, US government revenues increased as taxes were cut, although that was as much to do with general strong levels of growth as it was to do with the tax cuts themselves.
The second, contrary, economic pressure, as countless studies from the World Bank and others have shown, is that countries with high levels of income inequality have lower levels of growth.
Tackling that inequality, by whatever method, incentivises people to work more effectively.
The problem is that lifting lower wages by increasing, for example, productivity levels, could be a more effective way of reducing the gap between low and high pay, although it would take many years of concerted effort to be successful.
Since the 1970s, the notion of a government inspired "incomes policy" has been - in the popularity stakes - right up there with multi-millionaire bankers at a meeting of Momentum, the organisation that supports Mr Corbyn's Labour leadership.
But, ever since the introduction of the minimum wage in the 1990s, the government has made it clear that the amount people are paid is not simply a matter for private businesses and the free market.
Mr Corbyn has said he wants to consider a national maximum wage.
Many might nod in agreement.
How to do it, though, and whether it is economically helpful for growth, is a very different matter. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38570434 |
Falling in love in wartime Iraq - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | When two Iraqi men fell in love during intense fighting in the city of Ramadi in 2003, it was the beginning of a long, long struggle to live together as a couple. | Magazine | US Army interpreter Nayyef Hrebid and Iraqi soldier Btoo Allami fell in love at the height of the Iraq War. It was the start of a dangerous 12-year struggle to live together as a couple.
In 2003, Nayyef Hrebid found himself in the midst of the Iraq war. The fine art graduate had signed up to be a translator for the US Army after he couldn't find a job.
"I was based in Ramadi, which was the worst place at that time. We would go out on patrols and people would be killed by IEDs [roadside bombs] and snipers. I was asking myself: 'Why am I here? Why am I doing this?'"
However, a chance encounter with a soldier in the Iraqi army changed everything.
"One day I was sitting outside and this guy came out of the shower block. I saw his hair was shiny and very black and he was smiling. I just thought, 'Oh my god, this guy is really cute.'
"I felt like something beautiful had happened in this very bad place."
Hrebid was secretly gay. He hadn't come out because same-sex relationships are taboo in Iraq and gay people are at risk of violent attacks.
"In Iraq being gay is seen as very wrong and brings shame on your family. You can even get killed for it so you have to be very careful," he says.
Hrebid worked as a translator for the US army
What Hrebid didn't realise was that the soldier, Btoo Allami, was also attracted to him.
"I had this strange feeling like I had been looking for him. My feelings grew over time and I knew I wanted to talk to him," Allami says.
They had a chance to get to know each other when they took part in a mission to clear insurgents from the city's general hospital.
"After patrols we would come back to the safe house and one day Btoo invited me over to eat food and talk with him and the other soldiers," Hrebid says.
"We talked night after night and my feelings for him grew. "
Three days after the dinner, Hrebid and Allami found an excuse to go outside to talk on their own. They sat in a dark parking lot, full of US Humvees.
"I felt very close to Nayyef and I felt it was time for me to say something," Allami says.
"So I told him about my feelings and that I loved him. And then he kissed me and left. It was an amazing night. I didn't eat for two days afterwards."
Btoo, pictured by a Humvee, was a sergeant in the Iraqi army
The relationship swiftly developed and they spent an increasing amount of time together at the camp.
"On missions I'd try to be close to him, when I should have been with the Americans. We would walk together and we took some pictures together," Hrebid says.
Their American and Iraqi colleagues soon noticed.
"I was telling my American captain about Btoo and he helped bring him over to stay with me at the American camp for a few nights," says Hrebid.
"But some of the other soldiers stopped talking to me after they found out I was gay. One of my translator friends from my home city ended up hitting me with a big stick, which broke my arm."
In 2007, Hrebid and Allami were both deployed to Diwaniyah in southern Iraq. They were lucky to be in the same city but still had to keep their relationship secret. But in 2009, Hrebid applied for asylum in America, as his long involvement with the US Army made it too dangerous to stay.
"I thought I could go and then it would be easy to apply for Btoo to come afterwards," Hrebid says.
"I knew if we stayed in Iraq we had no future. We were going to end up married to women and hiding our whole lives. But I had watched the TV series Queer As Folk and I realised there were gay communities on the other side of the world."
Hrebid was granted asylum and settled in Seattle. However, his attempts to get a visa for Allami to join him were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Allami's family had discovered he was gay and started putting pressure on him to marry a woman. With help from Hrebid's friend Michael Failla, a refugee activist, he escaped to Beirut.
"It wasn't an easy decision to make as I had a 25-year contract with the army," Allami says.
"Plus I was the only one supporting my family. But I knew I had to be with Nayyef."
Allami (left) and Hrebid knew they couldn't live openly as a gay couple in Iraq
Allami applied to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for resettlement but his tourist visa ran out before they resolved his case. As an illegal immigrant he had to steer clear of soldiers and checkpoints to avoid being sent back to Iraq.
"The waiting was hard," says Allami.
"I felt like I was stuck and not moving forward. But then I would speak to Nayyef and that always made me feel stronger."
They talked to each other on Skype every day.
"He would watch me cook breakfast and I would watch him cook dinner and we would talk as if we lived together," Hrebid says.
Although homosexuality is legal in Iraq, activists say many gay men, and some women, have died in targeted killings
In 2012, a BBC World Service investigation found that law enforcement agencies had been involved in systematic persecution of homosexuals
The Islamic State group killed dozens of gay men between 2015 and 2016 - many were thrown to their deaths from high-rise buildings
Allami was interviewed by the UNHCR several times, but his application was beset with problems and delays.
Again Michael Failla provided support, flying twice to Beirut to advocate on Allami's behalf.
"I call him my godfather," Allami says.
But while awaiting the UNHCR decision Allami got an interview at the Canadian Embassy in Lebanon. With Failla's help he was able to fly to Vancouver in September 2013.
The couple were now living just a tantalising 140 miles (225 km) apart across the border.
"I came across every weekend to see Btoo and any day I had off work," Hrebid says.
The couple got married in Canada in 2014 on Valentine's Day. Hrebid then applied for a US visa for Allami as his husband. In February 2015 they were invited for an interview with US immigration in Montreal.
"It was a long flight, six or seven hours, and it was freezing - like 27 below zero," says Hrebid.
"The officer asked us three or four questions and after about 10 minutes she told Btoo: 'You've been approved to live as an immigrant in the United States.'
"I had to ask her to repeat it again. I put my hand over my mouth to stop myself screaming. We went outside and I was just crying and shaking. I could not believe it was finally happening. We were going to live together in the place where we wanted to live."
In March 2015, Hrebid and Allami travelled from Vancouver to Seattle by bus. They decided to have another wedding ceremony in the US and tied the knot in Washington State.
"We did not celebrate the first one and we wanted to have a dream wedding," says Hrebid.
"It was the most happy day of my life."
Today they live together in an apartment in Seattle. Hrebid, who now works as a home decor department manager is a US citizen. Allami has a green card and is due to become a citizen next year. He works as a building supervisor.
Their story has been turned in to a documentary called Out of Iraq, which premiered at the LA Film Festival last year.
"We do not have to hide. I can hold his hand when we walk down the street," Hrebid says.
Allami agrees. "It's so different for us now," he says.
"Before we were so hopeless but now we feel like a family. It's a gay-friendly city. I'm living the dream. I'm free."
Pictures courtesy of World of Wonder Productions
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38506269 |
Turmoil inflames tensions at top of NHS - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Theresa May dismisses talk of an NHS crisis - but the head of the service in England is worried about the future. | Health | The NHS is facing unprecedented pressures. The future of health and social care in England is a major talking point around Westminster. And at this highly sensitive moment, signs of tension between Downing Street and the leadership of NHS England are emerging.
A story in The Times newspaper suggested that aides to the prime minister were briefing against Simon Stevens. The head of NHS England, it was reported, had been seen by Number 10 as "insufficiently enthusiastic and responsive" to the problems facing the service.
It was denied by both sides but it seems clear that the relationship is not as warm as it might be.
Mr Stevens worked closely with George Osborne, the former chancellor, in launching his five-year plan for the NHS and the funding which underpinned it.
He was often in Downing Street for talks with David Cameron. But things have not been the same since the arrival of Theresa May. It took a while for her to meet Mr Stevens and she does not have the same level of interest in health as her predecessor, predictably perhaps because of the time spent on the Brexit issue.
I understand there is a reasonable working relationship though nothing like what Mr Stevens was used to under the Cameron administration. Mrs May's watering down of the obesity strategy, which NHS leaders had developed over many months, did not help matters.
Now, though, there is a distinct chill. Just a couple of hours after Mrs May defended government policy against fierce Labour attacks in the Commons, the head of NHS England made it very clear he was not impressed with the funding provided by ministers.
There was nothing in what he told MPs on the Commons Public Accounts Committee which he had not said before. It was the timing and the way he said it.
Mr Stevens told the committee that "like probably every part of the public service we got less than what we asked for", directly contradicting suggestions by the prime minister and the health secretary that all the funding requested by the service up to 2020 had been promised. He went on to say that spending on the NHS in England per head of population would actually fall in 2018-19.
Tensions have been reported between Simon Stevens and Theresa May
Even as Mr Stevens was providing his sobering analysis of prospects for the NHS, Downing Street had a cutting response ready for reporters. At the time the five-year spending deal was announced, according to the prime minister's spokeswoman, the NHS chief executive had said "our case for the NHS has been heard and actively supported".
Under the coalition government's controversial health reforms in 2012, NHS England gained more autonomy. The idea was that health service leaders could operate with less political interference.
But the problem is that ministers still have to go to the dispatch box in the Commons to defend the performance of the NHS even though they have less control over it. The latest developments have underlined that for Mrs May.
It suits Mr Stevens to let it be known that he did not get the money he wanted for the NHS. It suits Downing Street to suggest that NHS England has changed its tune over a financial settlement which it initially welcomed.
This might not matter much in normal times but right now divisions at the top will do nothing to help the NHS cope with its harshest ever winter. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38583071 |
Jose Mourinho wants more from Man Utd fans against Liverpool - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Jose Mourinho urges Man Utd fans to create an atmosphere against Liverpool on Sunday, saying it will "not be a visit to the theatre". | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has told fans Sunday's Premier League match against fierce rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford will "not be a visit to the theatre", and instead invited them to "come and play with us".
United beat Hull City 2-0 in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final on Tuesday thanks to second-half goals from Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini.
However, Mourinho said everyone must improve against Liverpool.
"It's a special match for us," he said.
"If we play enthusiastic football the fans come to the pitch and play with us. When we don't play with great intensity it is normal that the fans are not so vocal.
"But we have absolutely amazing fans, fans who push us and get behind us.
"Everybody likes big games - players, managers, fans. Everyone loves big matches so let's go for that one on Sunday."
United host Liverpool (16:00 GMT) looking to extend their run of successive wins to 10 in all competitions.
Liverpool have lost just twice all season, their last defeat a 4-3 loss at Bournemouth on 4 December.
Jurgen Klopp's men are second in the Premier League, five points ahead of United in sixth and the same distance behind leaders Chelsea.
United were without 13-goal striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic against Hull because of illness, but Mourinho said the Swede should return on Sunday.
"Zlatan is ill so I think no problem for Sunday," he said. "I think he will be fine." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38578534 |
#100IndianTinderTales: artist illustrates experiences - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | Art project #100IndianTinderTales illustrates experiences of Indians on the dating app Tinder. | null | Mumbai-based Indu Harikumar's online art project #100IndianTinderTales crowd-sourced experiences of Indians on the dating app Tinder and turned them into illustrations. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38510984 |
Obituary: Clare Hollingworth - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Celebrated war correspondent who broke the news of Germany's invasion of Poland. | UK | Clare Hollingworth was the war correspondent who broke the news that German troops were poised to invade Poland at the start of World War Two.
She went on to report on conflicts across the world but it was that moment that defined her career.
She was by no means the first female war reporter, but her depth of technical, tactical and strategic insight set her apart.
And, even as she approached her 11th decade, she still kept her passport by her bed in case she should be called to another assignment.
Clare Hollingworth was born in Leicester on 10 October 1911 and spent most of her childhood on a farm. What should have been idyllic years were overshadowed by World War One.
"I remember the German bombers flying over the farm we lived in to bomb Loughborough," she reminisced. "And the next day we got Polly the pony and took the trap into Loughborough to see the damage they had done. "
She had set her heart on a writing career early on, much to the exasperation of her mother.
British authorities did not believe the German army had entered Poland
"She didn't believe anything journalists wrote and thought they were only fit for the tradesmen's entrance."
After school she attended a domestic science college in Leicester, which instilled in her a lifelong hatred of housework.
More interesting to her by far were the battlefield tours that her father arranged to sites as diverse as Naseby, Poitiers and Agincourt.
Eschewing the prospect of life as a country squire's wife, Hollingworth became a secretary at the League of Nations Union before studying at London University's School of Slavonic Studies and the University of Zagreb.
In 1936 she married a fellow League of Nations worker, Vandeleur Robinson, but soon found herself in Warsaw, distributing aid to refugees who had fled from the Sudetenland, the Czech territory occupied by the Nazis in 1938.
She had written the occasional article for the New Statesman and, on a brief visit to London in August 1939, she was signed up by the editor of the Daily Telegraph, Arthur Wilson, who was impressed by her experience in Poland.
In this period of heightened tension, the border between Poland and Germany was sealed to all but diplomatic vehicles. After borrowing a car from the British consul in Katowice and proudly displaying the union jack, she drove through the exclusion zone and into Germany.
She had a deep knowledge of military strategy
While driving back to Poland, having bought wine, torches and as much film as possible, she passed through a valley in which huge hessian screens had been erected.
As the wind blew one of the screens back, it revealed thousands of troops, together with tanks and artillery, all facing the Polish border.
Her report featured on the front page of the Daily Telegraph on 29 August, 1939. Less than a week after becoming a full-time journalist, she had scooped one of the biggest stories of the 20th Century.
Three days later, Hollingworth saw the German tanks rolling into Poland. But when she phoned the secretary at the British Embassy in Warsaw, he told her it could not be true as negotiations between Britain and Germany were still continuing.
"So I hung the telephone receiver out of the window," Hollingworth later recalled, "So he could listen to the Germans invading."
Working on her own, often behind enemy lines, with nothing more than a toothbrush and a typewriter, she witnessed the collapse of Poland before moving to Bucharest, where she realised that her marriage was over.
"I thought that for me - and in a different kind of way for him - my career was more important than trying to rush back home," she reflected later.
Her story about the spy Kim Philby was blocked by The Guardian
Hollingworth spent a busy war in Turkey, Greece and Cairo. When Montgomery - who could not stomach the idea of a woman reporting from the front - captured Tripoli in 1943, he ordered her to return to Cairo.
She decided to attach herself to Eisenhower's forces, then in Algiers.
Though diminutive and bespectacled, Hollingworth was as tough as nails. She learned how to fly and made a number of parachute jumps.
During the latter part of the war, she reported from Palestine, Iraq and Persia, where she interviewed the young Shah.
After the war, Hollingworth, by now working for the Observer and the Economist, married Geoffrey Hoare, the Times's Middle East correspondent.
The couple were just 300 yards from Jerusalem's King David Hotel when it was bombed in 1946, killing 91 people.
The attack left her with a hatred of the man behind the attack, the Irgun leader Menachem Begin, who eventually became prime minister of Israel and won the Nobel Peace Prize.
"I would not shake a hand with so much blood on it," she explained.
She celebrated her 100th birthday in her adopted home of Hong Kong
In 1963 Hollingworth was working for the Guardian in Beirut when Kim Philby, a correspondent for the Observer, disappeared.
She was convinced that he was the fabled "third man" in a British spy ring that already included Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean.
After some detective work, she discovered that Philby had left on a Soviet ship bound for Odessa and filed copy to that effect with the Guardian.
But this second huge scoop was spiked by the paper's editor, Alastair Hetherington, who feared a libel suit.
Three months later, the Guardian ran the story, tucked away on an inside page. The following day the Daily Express splashed it on the front page, prompting the government to admit that Philby had, indeed, defected to the Soviet Union.
Hollingworth reported on the Algerian crisis and the Vietnam War. She was one of the first journalists to predict that American military muscle would not prevail and that a stalemate was inevitable.
She made a special effort to speak to Vietnamese civilians, away from the watching eyes of the US PR people, to ensure she accurately captured the views of those who were suffering the most.
Hoare died in 1966, and Hollingworth, who had become the Telegraph's first Beijing correspondent in 1973, retired to Hong Kong in 1981.
She spent her final years in the former colony and was a daily fixture at the Foreign Correspondents' Club, venerated by her colleagues.
Although she lost her sight later in life, Clare Hollingworth, a true journalist's journalist, retained an acute interest in world affairs right to the end.
She was once asked where she would want to go if the phone rang with a new assignment.
"I would look through the papers," she said, "And say, 'Where's the most dangerous place to go?', because it always makes a good story." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13960347 |
Sydney International: Johanna Konta into semi-finals & Dan Evans reaches third round - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Britain's Johanna Konta reaches the Sydney International semi-finals and Dan Evans progresses to the third round. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
British number one Johanna Konta reached the Sydney International semi-finals, while men's number three Dan Evans also progressed on Wednesday.
World number 10 Konta triumphed 6-3 7-5 against Russian 19-year-old Daria Kasatkina, who beat world number one Angelique Kerber in the previous round.
The 25-year-old will face Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the last four.
Evans, 26, beat Spanish eighth seed Marcel Granollers 1-6 6-3 6-3 to reach the third round.
He will face the winner of the match between top seed Dominic Thiem of Austria and Portuguese qualifier Gastao Elias. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38580349 |
Star Wars' creator George Lucas to site new museum in Los Angeles - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | San Francisco loses out as George Lucas chooses Los Angeles for his Museum of Narrative Art. | Entertainment & Arts | The new museum will be built in LA's Exposition Park
Star Wars' creator George Lucas will build his Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles.
The project's organisers announced that after "extensive due diligence and deliberation" the city had been chosen over San Francisco.
The museum will cost over $1bn (£0.8bn) and be financed by Lucas himself.
It will exhibit art and memorabilia from the Star Wars franchise and other cinema classics, including The Wizard of Oz and Casablanca.
The museum will be located in Exposition Park, near other attractions including the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the California African American Museum and the California Science Center.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said his city was "the ideal place for making sure that it touches the widest possible audience".
"We went after it with everything we have," he added.
Lucas, 72, has amassed a collection of over 40,000 items
Originally, Lucas had planned to build the museum in Chicago, but he faced local community opposition and abandoned the proposal last year.
San Francisco had offered a site on Treasure Island, in the middle of San Francisco Bay, but failed to win over the project's organisers.
The new museum will sit near the University of Southern California, where George Lucas studied film in the 1970s.
As well as Star Wars items like Darth Vader's mask, the museum will show artworks chosen from the 40,000 items in Lucas' collection, including works by such artists as Norman Rockwell, Edgar Degas, Winslow Homer and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
Lucas made the first Star Wars film in 1977 and sold the franchise to Walt Disney in 2012 for $4bn. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38579311 |
Lord Coe set for select committee recall after Dave Bedford evidence - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Lord Coe, the head of world athletics, will be recalled to speak to the Culture, Media and Sport select committee. | null | Lord Coe, the head of world athletics, will be recalled by the Culture, Media and Sport select committee, after MPs heard evidence that "undermined" his comments to them in December 2015.
Coe told the committee he was unaware of specific cases of corruption before they became public in December 2014.
But former athlete Dave Bedford said he contacted Coe about Russian athlete Liliya Shobukhova in August that year.
Bedford added he spoke to Coe about a related matter on 21 November 2014.
Allegations of state-sponsored doping by Russian athletes, and cover-ups involving officials at the sport's world governing body the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were revealed in a documentary by German broadcaster ARD on 3 December 2014.
That is when Coe, who was elected IAAF president in August 2015, says he became aware of specific allegations.
Bedford, 67, said he was "very surprised and quite disappointed" to find the 60-year-old had not opened emails sent in August 2014, which provided details of alleged extortion from marathon runner Shobukhova, who was given a doping ban in 2014.
Coe, in his evidence to the committee, said he forwarded Bedford's emails to the IAAF's then-recently formed ethics board, without reading them or opening the attachments.
Damian Collins, chair of the select committee, said he wanted Coe to come back before the committee because Bedford's evidence "raised clear and important questions" about Coe's knowledge of the allegations, while Conservative MP Nigel Huddleston said the answers "undermined" the former Olympic champion's version of events.
In response, the IAAF said former London Marathon race director Bedford "offered nothing new" to the inquiry, and Coe has "no further information he can provide".
Collins then issued a further statement, saying Bedford's evidence "casts some doubt" on when Coe learned of specific allegations.
He added: "There are also questions about why Lord Coe didn't do more to make himself aware of the issues that were contained in the allegations that Bedford sent him."
However, Coe may not have to attend a further committee hearing. While select committees have the power to compel people to attend hearings and give evidence, MPs and members of the House of Lords - such as Lord Coe - are exempt.
Bedford agreed with the committee it was "strange" Coe had not opened his email attachments, and said he had no doubt the double Olympic champion knew about the Shobukhova case when they met in November 2014.
However the former 10,000m world record holder also defended Coe, describing him "as someone within the IAAF who I could trust".
When asked to explain why Coe did not follow up on the email, Bedford suggested he may have decided the "best way he could help the sport was to make sure he got elected as president", as otherwise there was "no future" for athletics.
"In my opinion, looking at all the other alternatives, Seb Coe is the only chance athletics has to get over this difficult period," added Bedford.
• December 2011: Bedford, then chairman of the IAAF road running committee, says he was asked by colleague Sean Wallace-Jones whether Liliya Shobukhova had been paid the $500,000 for winning the 2010-2011 World Marathon Majors, warning: "If you haven't, I wouldn't." The prize money had already been paid.
• December 2012: Shobukhova competes at the 2012 London Olympics and the Chicago Marathon before being signed by Bedford to run the 2013 London Marathon. Bedford then receives a call from Shobukhova's agent, Andrey Baranov, to say she is unable to compete because she is pregnant.
• February 2014: In a bar in Tokyo, Baranov tells Wallace-Jones he has seen evidence of extortion, with Shobukhova paying large sums of money to senior Russian athletics officials.
• March 2014: At the IAAF Copenhagen Half Marathon, Bedford meets Baranov and Wallace-Jones, and Baranov decides to make a formal complaint.
• April 2014: Baranov and Wallace-Jones sign a sworn deposition, which they send to the IAAF's new ethics board chairman, Michael Beloff, in the same month Shobukhova is given a two-year ban.
• 8 August 2014: After Coe tells Bedford during a phone call he has not heard about the Shobukhova case being dealt with by the IAAF ethics board, Bedford sends him an email with attachments relating to the issue. Coe says he forwarded the email on to the ethics commission without reading the attachments.
• 14 August 2014: Bedford texts Coe to ask if he has seen the previous email, but does not receive a reply.
• 24 September 2014: Bedford learns that now-banned ex-IAAF anti-doping director Gabriel Dolle is to leave the governing body, prompting him to text Coe: "I hear Dolle is leaving at the end of the week - pushed or walked? I hope this is not the start of a cover-up." He does not receive a reply.
• 21 November 2014: At the British Athletics Writers' Lunch in London, Bedford tries to get Coe to meet Baranov and Shobukhova's lawyer Mike Morgan. Coe says he needs to "seek guidance" before doing so. Bedford claims Coe was aware of the issue at this point but the two did not discuss the August email.
• 3 December 2014: German broadcaster ARD airs its documentary alleging state-sponsored Russian doping and cover-ups at the IAAF.
• 4 December 2014: Coe calls Bedford to say he has seen the ARD documentary and is still seeking advice regarding Morgan.
• 7 December 2014: Coe texts Bedford, saying the legal advice is not to talk to someone [Morgan] representing a litigant. Regarding the Shobukhova case, he says "the ethics committee know of this and more". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/38573893 |
Pretend you're in The Italian Job or get the bus? - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Renting a car from neighbours makes environmental and economic sense. Can tech take it mainstream? | Business | "Betty" the 1999 Paul Smith Mini Cooper adds some fun to private car hire
Handing over the keys is a tweed-wearing, bearded Tony Grant, who owns 10 such Minis with names like Poppy, Mildred and Lulu.
Self-styled "Head Gasket" at Small Car Big City, he is adding a new twist to the car hire and car-sharing business.
As part of the fun, there are fancy dress outfits in the boot to match The Italian Job film theme, along with a crowbar and a bar of (imitation) gold.
I booked Betty through recently launched car-sharing app Turo, which is aiming to bring an Airbnb vibe to the world of wheels.
While car-sharing firms, such as ZipCar which owns its own fleet, have been around for more than a decade, so-called peer-to-peer (P2P) car sharing - private owners renting out their cars - hasn't really taken off.
And yet, given that we use our cars just 5% of the time, as Andre Haddad, Turo's chief executive tells me, the business potential remains.
Small Car Big City founder Tony Grant and one of his beloved Minis
This is why Turo, and a handful of other recent start-ups like easyCar, Getaround, and Rentecarlo, are hoping to unlock all this unused capacity sitting idle in the street.
"ZipCar's fleets at their maximum reached 15,000 vehicles, so they were not able to reach massive scale," says Mr Haddad.
"They obviously built a very successful company, but globally, hourly car sharing reached, at its peak, less than 1% of the entire car rental market space," he adds.
For Turo, the minimum rental is a day, he says, and their average is four days. Other firms, like Getaround, which has a presence in 10 US cities, focus more on hourly rentals.
Mr Haddad, who describes himself as a car enthusiast, says Turo gives people the opportunity to try out interesting cars, from cute Minis to rugged off-roaders.
"It would be really fun to go out in a Jeep Wrangler if you're going up a mountain, but it doesn't really justify owning one," he says.
One practical challenge of P2P rental is getting the key to the customer if the car's owner isn't around.
Richard Laughton, chief executive of easyCar Club, which launched in 2014, says: "We provide owners with lockboxes they can attach somewhere outside their house, and send a one-use pin to the renter to take the key out, and put it back at the end."
Next year easyCar Club will try out unlocking cars by mobile app, he says.
EasyCar Club owners and renters are vetted by the company
Another challenge is overcoming the trust issue. After all, would you rent out your precious motor to a total stranger?
"I think one thing that will continually hold back the P2P model is the reluctance of people to put an asset on a shared platform," says Adam Stocker, a researcher at Berkeley University Transportation Sustainability Research Center in California.
"The fear that their vehicle gets trashed, misused, or breaks faster - but this is just human nature."
One early US car-sharing start-up, HiGear, shut down in 2012 following the theft of several members' cars.
So most P2P companies engage in detailed vetting of new members, and incorporate feedback and user ratings. Turo says it has developed machine learning tools to help with the screening process.
EasyCar believes telematics boxes could help track how renters have used - or abused - the car and act as a sort of onboard policeman.
EasyCar Club boss Richard Laughton does not own a car
And what if the renter crashes or damages your car?
"Insurance has been a really big challenge," admits Jacob Nielsen, co-founder of Rentecarlo, a P2P car-sharing firm founded by "three guys from Denmark" two-and-a-half years ago.
Admiral Insurance has worked with several P2P start-ups to develop a suitable product, says Mr Nielsen. The insurer even allows renters to earn up to five years' no-claims bonus while driving someone else's car, providing they drive more than 30 days in a year, he says.
Such innovations and technological improvements have enabled easyCar to "double bookings year-on-year", says Mr Laughton.
Other P2P car-sharing firms seem to be enjoying similar rates of growth, as younger people in particular embrace the concept of "mobility as a service" and eschew ownership.
So what does this mean for car manufacturers' traditional business models?
"I would say 2016 definitely was the year the major auto manufacturers woke up to the shared mobility space," says Mr Stocker.
In September, Ford bought Chariot, a San Francisco-based crowd-sourced shuttle service, and is even investing in a bike-sharing start-up called Motivate.
Manufacturers clearly understand that personal car ownership is becoming old hat.
General Motors tried to buy Uber rival Lyft this summer, but was rebuffed, despite both companies joining forces to develop driverless taxis.
Car sharing may worry public authorities less than house sharing.
Property-sharing giant Airbnb has recently come under fire from city authorities - in Amsterdam, for instance - over concerns that it increases city centre congestion and enables guests to avoid paying hotel tax.
But car-sharing companies like Turo and others could help decrease the overall number of cars on the road to start with as fewer people see the need to own their own vehicle.
But once driverless cars come in, authorities might worry they pose threat to public transport systems, some analysts believe.
"It would be very inexpensive to run electric driverless Uber taxis that go around cities and provide transport in a fluid way," says Philippe Houchois, an automotive sector analyst at equity research company Jefferies.
"If you get to a point where your cost-per-mile is less than £1," says Mr Houchois, "public transport would seem less attractive."
Paradoxically, we could then see a rise in car numbers on our roads, not a reduction. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38554004 |
'Puppy talk' - why do we use it and do dogs respond? - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Scientists decode "dog-directed speech" - and they find puppies respond but older dogs ignore it. | Science & Environment | We often speak to dogs and babies in a similar way
Scientists have decoded "dog-directed speech" for the first time, and they say puppies respond to it.
Puppies reacted positively and wanted to play when researchers in France played them a tape of phrases like, "Who's a good boy?''
However, the international team of researchers found that adult dogs ignored this kind of speech.
When we talk to dogs, we often speak slowly in a high-pitched voice, similar to the way we talk to young babies.
The researchers think this way of talking may be our natural way of trying to interact with non-speaking listeners.
Prof Nicolas Mathevon of the University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne in France said pet-directed speech is similar to the way we talk to young infants, which is known to engage their attention and promote language learning.
"We found that puppies are highly reactive to dog-directed speech, in the absence of any other cues, like visual cues," Prof Mathevon told BBC News.
"Conversely we found that with adult dogs, they do not react differentially between dog-directed speech and normal speech."
The scientists recorded people saying the sentence: "Hi! Hello cutie! Who's a good boy? Come here! Good boy! Yes! Come here sweetie pie! What a Good boy!" as if they were speaking to a pet.
This was played back through a loudspeaker to dogs of all ages and compared with normal speech.
The researchers also found that human speakers use dog-directed speech with dogs of all ages even though it is only useful in puppies.
We are primed to respond to baby faces
"Maybe this register of speech is used to engage interaction with a non-speaking [animal] rather than just a juvenile listener," said Prof Mathevon.
Dogs have lived close to humans for thousands of years, which is reflected in mutual understanding and empathy.
"Dogs have been selected by humans for centuries to interact with us," he added. "Maybe we have selected puppies that want to play or engage in interaction with us.
"And maybe older dogs do not react that way because they are just more choosy and they want only to react with a familiar person."
The experiment adds a new dimension to the idea that we talk differently to puppies because we are swayed by their cute ''baby-like'' appearance.
This theory - known as the baby schema - suggests we respond to the faces of baby animals in a similar way to those of human babies because we want to take care of them.
"One of the hypotheses was that we humans use this dog-directed speech because we are sensitive to the baby cues that come from the face of a small baby as we are sensitive to the faces of our babies," said Prof Mathevon.
"But actually our study demonstrates that we use pet-directed speech or infant-directed speech not only because of that but maybe we use this kind of speech pattern when we want to engage and interact with a non-speaking listener.
"Maybe this speaking strategy is used in any context when we feel that the listener may not fully master the language or has difficulty to understand us."
Dr David Reby, a psychologist at the University of Sussex, said the research could lead to better ways for humans to communicate with animals.
"There could be a practical use if we identify in the long term ways to speak to dogs that help and support their acquisition of new commands."
The research is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B- Biological Sciences.
• None Home - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B- Biological Sciences The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38561566 |
Did old-timers target Kardashian West's jewels in Paris? - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Seasoned criminals anxious for a last, lucrative haul may have robbed Kardashian West, police suspect. | Europe | One of the jewels stolen from Kim Kardashian West was a 20-carat diamond engagement ring worth an estimated €4m
Seasoned veterans of crime, some in their 60s and 70s, are among the suspects arrested for theft of €9m (£8m; $9.5m) of jewellery from Kim Kardashian West in Paris, according to French police. They were anxious for a last, lucrative haul, they believe.
One of those detained in Monday's round-up was Pierre B, a 72-year-old of Algerian descent picked up on the Cote d'Azur.
The suspects held in the Paris region included three men in their sixties and a couple aged 70, French reports say.
One of the men, aged 60 and detained in the eastern suburb of Vincennes, is described by French media as the suspected mastermind of the hotel robbery.
Three of the 17 initially detained have since been released - including Kardashian West's chauffeur during Paris Fashion Week, Michael Madar, 40.
But his brother, Gary Madar, is said to be still in custody.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Kim Kardashian West is seen talking about the robbery in a promotional clip from Keeping Up with the Kardashians
The older members of the group include several individuals from the Manouche (French Gypsy or Roma) community, police say. Some have long police records for armed robbery and counterfeiting. Other, younger members are suspected by police to have been involved in arranging for the jewels to be sold on.
According to one account, in L'Express magazine (in French), it is believed it was the "veterans" who carried out the actual robbery. Five men broke into the residence, holding a gun to Kardashian West's head before binding and gagging her in the bathroom.
Read more on the Paris robbery
Police are investigating whether the gang had inside information before the raid at an exclusive Paris hotel
The two witnesses to the robbery - Kardashian West herself as well the night-watchman - both told police that their aggressors were men "of a certain age", according to L'Express. CCTV footage on the street outside also provided crucial evidence.
"We would expect the people who carried out a job like this to be criminals with a certain degree of experience. They would need the connections to be able to dispose of the jewels once they had got their hands on them," one police source told the BBC.
The raids produced no trace of the stolen jewels, which include a diamond ring worth €4m, leading police to suspect they have already been broken up and sold. Some €300,000 in cash was found at different locations, as well as hand-guns and a pump-action shotgun.
Kim Kardashian West returned to New York to be reunited with her husband hours after the robbery
Police confirmed that the gang had been under surveillance for several weeks, after DNA traces left at the scene provided a match with a known former criminal. There were two traces: one on the plastic strap used to bind Kardashian's wrists, the other on a necklace dropped by one of the robbers on the pavement.
Throughout the inquiry there have been suspicions about whether the robbery was an insider job.
Police were intrigued at how the gang were captured on CCTV at the scene at 2.15am, minutes before Kardashian West arrived from a restaurant.
They believe the gang may have been tipped off that she was on her way, unaccompanied by her bodyguard, who that night was with her sister at a club. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38568405 |
Desmond, Montgomery and the Express - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | National newspapers could soon have new owners, as the media sector continues to contract. | Entertainment & Arts | I wrote on this blog in December that titles such as the Telegraph or Express might be for sale in 2017.
Overnight, it has been revealed that Trinity Mirror PLC has been in discussion with Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell about taking a minority interest in a new company which would - probably but not certainly - include the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star, Daily Star Sunday and their websites.
Trinity's interest in the Express titles goes back years. But there is a much bigger story going on here.
The man behind a deal to potentially take these titles off Richard Desmond is none other than David Montgomery, the former editor of the News of the World and Today who went on to become a major investor in media.
Over recent months, Montgomery has been trying to raise the necessary finances, speaking to several banks, as well as equity partners.
Montgomery is being advised by Lloyds, Bank of Canada, and the familiar figure of Jonnie Goodwin of Lepe Partners.
Before Christmas, he had raised £125m. This comprises £60m of debt finance, £10m from Montgomery, £30m from other equity backers - and £25m from Trinity Mirror.
Mark Kleinman of Sky News has reported that the investors Montgomery is speaking to include Towebrook Capital Partners. I have not been able to verify this yet myself.
Richard Desmond, who bought the Express titles in 2000, spoke to me about his intentions.
In May last year, Express Newspapers, which is part of Northern & Shell, announced it had tripled pre-tax profits in 2015 to £30.5m.
Desmond told me that with OK! Magazine doing well, and his printworks in Luton owning assets now worth "around £100m", Express Newspapers was making around £50m.
I asked Desmond if he was intent on selling to Montgomery and had received an offer.
"There's a lot of talk, nothing has happened. I haven't had an offer." Asked specifically if he wished to sell Express Newspapers, Desmond said: "Why would I? You tell me, why would I?"
But he swiftly added that he was "interested in everything".
Asked if he would demand a five-times multiple of profits for Express Newspapers, he said: "Why wouldn't I?"
Desmond hasn't seen Montgomery since his Christmas party. "My people have been speaking loads to his management."
His preference, as things stand, is to consolidate back-office staff rather than sell Express Newspapers - though he would, of course, entertain the latter option if he was offered a suitable price.
"If we can bring in a minority partner to share back-office staff, that could save tens of millions," he added.
He specifically referred to "IT, ad sales" in reference to these back-office operations.
Using what were clearly ballpark figures on a deal that hasn't yet transpired, about an entity not yet clearly defined, Desmond told me the savings for Trinity Mirror of a combined company could be around £30m, and for Desmond they could be around £60m.
"If Trinity then owned 20% of the new company, which should make £80m, that's £16m."
I should urge caution about these figures, because Desmond himself did: when I asked what exactly would make £80m, he was open that this was a generalisation about a possible future company.
Desmond is a brilliant deal-maker who sold Channel 5 to Viacom for £463m in 2014, having bought it in 2010 for just £103.5m.
By the way, Viacom has had an excellent two years with Channel 5, with ratings up, in the years since that sale.
He didn't give me the impression he is keen to get out of media in a hurry.
I asked David Montgomery if the above figures were accurate and indeed whether he was being advised by those I mention above.
At the time of writing he hadn't responded to my queries.
I asked a Trinity Mirror PLC spokesman whether the £25m figure was accurate.
I have spoken to multiple sources across the industry about the likelihood of a deal going through between Montgomery and Desmond. As things stand, it is very uncertain.
Desmond won't sell for a knockdown price: after all, he has stable profits.
And any consolidation of back-office operations depends on a huge range of specifics that are yet to be hammered out.
But as I have repeatedly said on this blog, there is a coming consolidation in the media sector, and indeed in over-supplied sub-sectors such as that of national newspapers in Britain.
By over-supplied I simply mean we have plenty for an island with our population.
Expect more on this soon. And I will publish Montgomery's response if and when I get it. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38574233 |
Mourners turn out for war veteran Reginald Watson - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | More than 200 people attended the funeral of a World War Two veteran who died with no surviving family. | null | More than 200 people attended the funeral of a World War Two veteran who died with no surviving family.
Reginald Watson, who served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps, died on 23 November aged 90.
The Reverend Mandy Bishop, of Ormesby St Margaret, Norfolk, made a social media plea for mourners after learning he faced a pauper's service.
She said she was "overwhelmed" by the response to details of the funeral, which she had posted on Facebook.
The service at St Margaret's Church heard Mr Watson was a "quiet, unassuming" man and "perfect gentleman" who had treasured his certificate of service book.
Mr Watson enlisted in Norwich in January 1945, aged 18. He was initially in the General Service Corps and then in the King's Royal Rifle Corps. He served until 1948.
The funeral saw Royal British Legion standard-bearers line the path from the hearse to the church. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-38576438 |
Polar bear cam to show bears' response to declining sea ice - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | A camera attached to the neck of a female polar bear shows two bears breaking through ice sheets to hunt for prey. | null | A camera attached to the neck of a female polar bear shows two bears breaking through ice sheets to hunt for prey.
The US Geological Survey hopes the camera will help researchers better understand how the animals are responding to declining sea ice levels. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38582653 |
'The NHS is at breaking point': Nurses share their experiences - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Nurses share their experiences of being overworked, understaffed and under huge pressure. | Health | Leading nurses say conditions in the National Health Service are the worst they have ever experienced. Below are a selection of the experiences of nurses and former nurses who got in touch to share their experience and the problems they say they face working within the NHS.
I have been a nurse for 30 years, but I am also currently due to undergo surgery, which has been cancelled three times since November 2016, so I feel I really see both sides of the impact of the cuts.
I feel the treatment the NHS is able to offer and the working conditions of staff have both gone markedly downhill since 2008, as the direct result of government cuts to both the services the NHS offers and the number of staff it employs.
I think the responsibility for the problems the NHS is currently facing rest firmly at the government's door.
Both medical and NHS trust staff are doing the best they can without the resources they desperately need.
The people I treat are often very ill by the time they reach me, as a result of huge cuts to other departments and services.
The NHS is at breaking point.
I'm 24 years old, and I've been a nurse for two years.
I should be at the start of a long and wonderful career, which was my dream for many years.
However, I am so overworked I can't continue.
I am a front-line nurse on a ward, and the other day I started work at 07:00 and left at 23:30, with only a total of 45 minutes break all day.
With an ageing nursing workforce, I'm really concerned, because if I can't do it as a 24-year-old, then I really worry about the nurses coming up for retirement.
I worked full-time for over a year at a hospital in Birmingham.
However, I recently left because the staffing compared to patient dependency (that means how poorly they are) was so bad it scared me enough to leave.
We frequently had one junior nurse in charge of the ward, and very often had one nurse take care of four high-dependency patients (patients that need one nurse between two of them).
We had to leave all admissions until the nightshift because there was no time in the day, which meant patients often being moved on to the ward as late as 03:00.
Basic nursing care was often missed due to the lack of staffing, and resources and training were almost always cancelled due to lack of staff on the ward.
And this was not a one-off, this was all the way through the hospital, all the time.
I have worked in a busy hospital in Plymouth for nearly 10 years.
I have watched and listened in despair at people haranguing the NHS and what we aren't doing, but the problem is not the hospitals.
The problem is bed-blocking because of a lack of other places for patients to go.
And that can only be addressed by the social services system.
We outsource all our social care to independent companies that ask enormous amounts for the elderly and disabled, and this is not realistic.
One of my patients some weeks ago, had been stuck on our ward for months because a suitable next step couldn't be found for him.
We need to empty our beds of people who need longer term social care, so we can treat those who are sick and then have somewhere for them to go on to after initial treatment.
We need more viable old-age homes, and more mental health facilities, because care in the community does not always work and people often simply end up back in hospital.
I was a nurse manager for many years, and I believe the root of the problem for the NHS is the year-on-year cost cutting forced on every single department by successive governments.
Whilst the government puts money into areas such as accident and emergency, it is constantly taken out again by the annual cost-cutting.
The prime minister has spoken about improving access to mental health services for young people.
When I started working in management, in Cumbria, 20 years ago, there were services for young people close to home.
There were also more beds for adult mental health patients, but annual cost-saving meant wards were closed and beds disappeared in West Cumbria, meaning that service users were admitted to Carlisle or further afield.
This meant a minimum of an 80-mile round trip for families in an area of the country where public transport is often very poor.
Maybe if the government stopped the annual cuts to budgets and bolstered the system with adequate funds, the NHS would have a chance of surviving and delivering the quality service that its staff want to deliver. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38586415 |
Rescue bid as 20 trapped on Australia rollercoaster - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | Thrill-seekers were left hanging for two hours on the Arkham Asylum ride in Queensland. | null | Thrill-seekers were left hanging for two hours on the Arkham Asylum ride in Queensland. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-38580646 |
Manchester United 2-0 Hull City - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Second-half goals from Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini give Manchester United a 2-0 first-leg win over Hull in the semi-final of the EFL Cup. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Jose Mourinho moved a step closer to a major trophy in his first season as Manchester United manager as goals from Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini secured a first-leg victory over Hull City in the semi-final of the EFL Cup.
A near full-strength United struggled to break down resilient Hull in a first half in which the hosts had just two shots on target - Mata forcing a good save out of goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic, who also tipped over Paul Pogba's long-range effort.
The visitors had chances of their own against a side who had won their eight previous games in all competitions, Robert Snodgrass causing problems from set-pieces.
However, Mata got the breakthrough just before the hour mark when he tapped in from Henrikh Mkhitaryan's knockdown.
Substitute Fellaini scored a second late on, heading in from Matteo Darmian's cross to put United in command heading into the second leg on 26 January.
The League Cup represents a genuine opportunity for Mourinho to claim a major trophy to add to the Community Shield collected last summer.
He has named strong sides throughout the competition and it was no different against Hull as several first-team regulars, including Wayne Rooney, Pogba and David de Gea, started.
With Hull bottom of the Premier League and struggling badly with injuries - they could only name six substitutes - a first Tigers victory in 65 years at Old Trafford seemed unlikely.
They were given odds of 20-1 to win before kick-off and their prospects looked even more bleak when midfielder Markus Henriksen went off injured inside 20 minutes.
But since new Portuguese boss Marco Silva - described by some as the new Mourinho - took charge last week the Tigers have looked much improved. They beat Swansea in the FA Cup at the weekend and more than held their own for long periods of the game against the Red Devils despite having to field a makeshift defence.
Fellaini's late goal means a turnaround in the second leg might be too big a challenge, but their overall performance will give their fans hope in the battle to stay in the Premier League.
Rooney moved level with Sir Bobby Charlton at the top of Manchester United's all-time scoring chart with his 249th goal for the club against Reading in the FA Cup on Saturday, meaning he had the chance to claim the outright record against Hull.
He came close to scoring goal number 250 inside the opening 10 minutes when Marcus Rashford scuffed a shot across goal, but Rooney was just beaten to the ball by Andrew Robertson.
The England forward should have got the landmark goal just after half-time when he was picked out by an excellent Pogba ball over the defence, but sent his shot wide of the far post.
His game came to an end just before the hour mark when he was replaced by Anthony Martial, but his departure without a goal means he now has the chance to grab the historic strike in what is arguably a more significant fixture for himself and United fans - the visit of Liverpool this weekend.
What they said:
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho: "Maybe I didn't prepare the team right. I didn't give them enough intensity, and we had to change that at half-time. Maybe I should pay more attention to the dynamic of the game.
"We have to improve for Sunday. Today our performance was enough to win, but Sunday we all have to improve."
More from Mourinho here.
Hull City manager Marco Silva: "There's only been four training sessions with me and with many, many things to change, I'm happy with the work my players did during this game."
• None Manchester United have won their past nine games in all competitions, their best run since an 11-game winning streak in February 2009.
• None Juan Mata has scored in three of his past four League Cup matches (two goals for Manchester United, one goal for Chelsea).
• None All three of Henrikh Mkhitaryan's assists for Manchester United have been in the EFL Cup.
• None Marouane Fellaini has scored his first League Cup goal since August 2013 (Everton v Stevenage).
• None The Red Devils have progressed from all three of their previous League Cup semi-finals having won the first leg (1983 v Arsenal, 1991 v Leeds, 1994 v Sheffield Wednesday).
• None United have won 12 and lost none of their past 13 matches against Hull City in all competitions (D1).
• None The Red Devils have lost only one of their past 26 home League Cup games against fellow top-flight sides (W24 D1), losing 2-1 against Chelsea in January 2005.
• None Hull have failed to score in each of their past four matches with United, losing three and drawing the other.
What the papers say
It's back to the Premier League for Manchester United as they take on Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool on Sunday (16:00 GMT) knowing a win could take them into the top five.
Hull, meanwhile, host Bournemouth as they look to move off the bottom of the table. The Tigers have not won in the league since 6 November.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Substitution, Hull City. James Weir replaces Josh Tymon because of an injury.
• None Delay in match Josh Tymon (Hull City) because of an injury.
• None Attempt saved. Anthony Martial (Manchester United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Antonio Valencia with a cross.
• None Goal! Manchester United 2, Hull City 0. Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United) header from the right side of the six yard box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Matteo Darmian with a cross.
• None Ryan Mason (Hull City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt missed. Shaun Maloney (Hull City) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38493198 |
Labour happier now over immigration? - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | How are Jeremy Corbyn's views on freedom of movement going down with activists and voters? | UK Politics | "Jeremy Corbyn hasn't changed his mind about anything in 40 years," goes the mocking refrain.
It sounds scornful, and it's meant to. It's also unfair. Just a little, anyway.
Today, it became abundantly clear that Labour's leader has not changed his mind on the value, as he sees it, of free movement of people between European states. It's become equally clear - behind the scenes - that a great many colleagues wish he would.
And not just his many ideological and political opponents. Some of Mr Corbyn's close and loyal supporters think so too.
As evidence accumulates of Labour's slide in the opinion polls (and yes, I know we don't swallow polling numbers without chewing anymore, but consistent double-digit Tory leads can't be discounted), so concern has grown about a liberal approach to EU migration widely judged to be costing Labour dearly on countless doorsteps.
John Trickett, Labour's national campaign co-ordinator and a strong Corbyn ally, is said to be concerned. How could he not be?
Those hoping, praying, for a shift are said to include some within Mr Corbyn's inner circle. It's also suggested that his staunchest, arguably most powerful ally, Unite trade union leader Len McCluskey, might welcome a line closer to the instincts of many voters.
"Voters", in this context, encompasses disillusioned Labour supporters, those who backed Brexit, and perhaps members of Unite who may not share their general secretary's enthusiasm for Mr Corbyn or, for that matter, Labour under any leader at all.
The overnight briefing promised a declaration that Mr Corbyn was not "wedded" to free movement of people in the EU "on principle". Some headlines promised a significant shift, even a "U-turn".
Yet this morning, as the party leader ran through a series of broadcast media interviews, and later when he delivered the much-trailed speech setting out his thinking on Brexit, it seemed somewhere along the line, Mr Corbyn may have missed a meeting.
"He messed it up," a senior shadow cabinet member told me, only he used a much stronger word than "messed".
The pressure will continue. "Jeremy moved on NATO, eventually, and we ended up with a no-score draw on nuclear weapons," added the shadow minister. "Jeremy can be budged. Sometimes. But it takes a hell of an effort and a lot of time."
He was right, of course. Mr Corbyn now accepts, however unenthusiastically, that NATO is a defence alliance Britain must back and not merely a hangover from the cold war.
He has put aside his dream of Labour returning to a policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament. He is still adamant that he would never order a nuclear strike, a flat contradiction to the principal of nuclear deterrence which Labour has yet to confront.
He has moved, nonetheless. His position, if not his thinking, has changed.
Now he talks of free movement as a possible component of an EU divorce settlement still to be negotiated. That's a long way from the thinking of shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer, who expressed sympathy, when I interviewed him on my Sunday morning 5 live programme, Pienaar's Politics, for the idea of limiting access to the UK jobs market to EU migrants who have a job guaranteed.
But it opened at least the possibility of further movement in future. Only a possibility, mind. The Labour leader is stubborn. Or a man of deep conviction. Take your choice.
The enthusiasts who elected and continue to sustain Mr Corbyn continue to be zealous and loyal. Supporters of free movement of people as a useful, as well as necessary element of the EU single market may welcome Mr Corbyn's reluctance to forsake them.
But a lot of Labour MPs have moved from bitter resentment to weary fatalism, hoping that, somehow, the mood among party members changes sufficiently to produce a change. Preferably a change of leader.
These include the senior Labour MP who told me privately today that his constituency - a northern stronghold with a majority of around 15,000 - now felt like a marginal seat, vulnerable to the overtures of UKIP.
Some allies of Mr Corbyn had grown resentful that the mainstream media appeared to have lost interest in reporting the doings of Labour, or analysing the party's policy development.
No-one can make the same complaint today. I'm not sure the party's position is any happier as a result. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38577329 |
India serial killings: Could 'house of horrors' accused be innocent? - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A new documentary explores whether one of two men accused of serial murders is innocent. | India | The murders were discovered after children went missing from Nithari
Ten years ago, India was gripped by serial murders in Noida, a wealthy suburb of the capital Delhi, where at least 19 children and women were raped and killed.
Businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, in whose house the murders took place, and his manservant, Surinder Koli, were arrested for the crimes. Koli has since been convicted and sentenced to death in some of the cases, while the trial continues in the others. The businessman has been freed on bail.
An explosive new documentary, The Karma Killings, which globally released on Tuesday on Netflix and other digital platforms, now argues that Mr Pandher may not be guilty.
Businessman Moninder Singh Pandher has always denied the allegations against him
Koli admitted to horrific crimes but later retracted his confession, saying he had been coerced
Indian-American filmmaker Ram Devineni, who spent more than three years investigating the Nithari crimes, was visiting relatives in India in December 2006 as the murders played out on news TV channels.
"I was reading the stories in the papers and magazines and watching it on TV, thinking this is too unbelievable. Every day, new revelations were being reported and each one stranger than the next," he told the BBC on the phone from New York.
Many children had gone missing from the nearby slums of Nithari over the past two years and their parents alleged that police had ignored their complaints.
After the first corpses were discovered, it was reported that several children from the slums had been lured to their deaths by Koli, who had invited them into the house, offering them sweets and chocolates. Angry mobs then attacked the police and overran the crime scene.
Moninder Singh Pandher was known for his fondness for alcohol and call girls
In his confession, Koli admitted to killing a call girl for refusing to have sex with him
In the initial days after his arrest, Koli admitted to his interrogators that he had raped children as young as three, had sex with the corpses of his victims and once cooked and tried to eat human organs in the belief that cannibalism cured impotency; although during the trial he retracted his confession, saying he had been tortured and coerced into making his statement.
Mr Pandher denied all the charges against him from day one, but was vilified and portrayed as a monster by the press.
"With his beard and moustache, he looked like the perfect Bollywood villain. Then there were stories of his drinking, call girls coming to his house, his depression," says Devineni, adding that there was a sort of "an inverse racism" at play here. "Mr Pandher was a rich man, he was this privileged person and everyone wanted to bring him down."
After body parts and children's clothing were fished out of a sewer next to his house, the crime scene was dubbed India's "house of horrors".
The scene of the crimes in the Delhi suburb
But the parents of the victims believe that both Pandher and Koli are guilty
The two accused "looked" and fitted the "face of evil" and Devineni started off with the presumption that they were both guilty, but was persuaded by the evidence to change his mind.
Inspired by Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, he spent months in Nithari, visiting the crime scene and the courts, meeting the police, the lawyers, families of the victims and the accused, and the accused themselves, painstakingly recreating their stories and the crimes.
"I first met Koli and Pandher in October 2012 in the court in Ghaziabad where they were being tried and I was surprised by how easy the access was," Devineni says.
Clothes and body parts were fished out from a drain adjoining Moninder Singh Pandher's house
Filmmaker Ram Devineni says it took him weeks to persuade the mother of a victim to walk past the crime scene
The accused were brought to court every day and one day, the filmmaker walked up to Mr Pandher's lawyer and asked if he could talk to his client.
"While I was standing there talking to Pandher, Koli also joined in the conversation. We just stood there, talking about murders. It was surreal."
After that, he returned to the court daily, talking to the men accused of India's most horrific crimes in recent years, getting to know them and, in the process, getting close to them.
He describes his first encounter with Koli as "eerie and unsettling".
"He never denied committing any of the crimes, he always tried to put the blame on someone else. A doctor in their neighbourhood was involved in an organ scam so Koli suggested that he may have been behind the killings."
After his arrest, Moninder Singh Pandher spent seven years in jail
He has now been freed on bail
Koli was waiting to be executed and sought his help. "Our conversations were very laid back and casual. He talked a lot about his family, his wife and two children."
Devineni describes Koli as "really shrewd and cunning, one of the smartest people I've ever met".
"He's had little education, knows no English, but he does his own research. On his own, he has learnt India's complex legal system and how to stay on top of it."
His impression of Mr Pandher, on the other hand, was that of a "quiet and kind grandfather-type" of man. "He denied his involvement in the crimes and asked me to look at the evidence instead."
In his initial confessional statement, Koli did not say that Mr Pandher was a participant in the crimes, but in 2007, he changed his tack to implicate him. It is not known why he did that.
Devineni believes that Moninder Singh Pandher may be innocent
Many have questioned how Mr Pandher could not know what was going on in his own house.
Devineni says "Pandher had deep love and affection for Koli who covered for him in front of his wife when he saw call girls. Pandher trusted him and left the running of the house to him.
"I'm convinced that Koli committed all the murders on his own. Pandher is an innocent man."
The victims' families, however, are unlikely to find his argument convincing. Over the years, they have insisted that justice would only be done when Mr Pandher is hanged. And they are unlikely to change their minds.
"None of them really care about Koli," says Devineni. "Their whole focus is on Pandher. Koli is poor, like them. He's one of them. Pandher is rich and if he's let off, it's the big guy getting away with murder." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-38529255 |
Police officer released from handcuffs in Aberdeen - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A police officer had to be freed from handcuffs by firefighters when a training exercise in Aberdeen went wrong. | NE Scotland, Orkney & Shetland | A police officer had to be freed from handcuffs by firefighters when a training exercise in Aberdeen went wrong.
It happened during officer safety training on Saturday.
Police Scotland said there appeared to have been a "malfunction" with a set of handcuffs and fire service personnel were called in.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said boltcutters were used to free the officer.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Officer safety training is a vital skill for police officers and involves training with handcuffs and other equipment.
"On this occasion there appears to have been a malfunction with a set of handcuffs which our colleagues at the fire service were fortunately able to assist with.
"This type of situation is thankfully rare but as has been demonstrated procedures are in place to deal with such an occurrence."
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "On Saturday, firefighters attended at Mounthooly Way where they used boltcutters to free a police officer from a set of handcuffs that had malfunctioned."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-38571600 |
San Escobar: Polish foreign minister's slip invents a country - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Witold Waszczykowski mocked online after telling reporters about meeting with a made-up country. | US & Canada | Witold Waszczykowski (left) met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. There are no known pictures of his meeting with officials from San Escobar.
Do you know the way to San Escobar?
Probably not, it doesn't exist, but that didn't stop Poland's foreign minister claiming to have had a productive meeting with its officials this week.
Witold Waszczykowski told reporters he met with various nations for Poland's bid to join the UN security council, "such as Belize or San Escobar".
Mr Waszczykowski has been roundly mocked on Twitter, the one place San Escobar does now exist, flag and all.
He said that he had had meetings with officials from nearly 20 countries, including some Caribbean nations "for the first time in the history of our diplomacy. For example with countries such as Belize or San Escobar".
He put the slip down to tiredness. "Unfortunately after 22 hours in planes and several connecting flights you can make a slip of the tongue," he said.
He said he had in mind Saint Kitts and Nevis, a two-island Caribbean country known in Spanish as San Cristobal y Nieves.
Twitter users responded in customary style, creating an official account and a flag for the island nation.
One tweet said that San Escobar "fully supports Poland's candidacy to the Security Council".
Another designed some currency, but added: "It's funny until you realise your only allies left are Belarus, Hungary and an imaginary nation state." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38582447 |
World Cup: Gianni Infantino defends tournament expansion to 48 teams - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Fifa president Gianni Infantino defends the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams, saying the change is based on "sporting merit" not money. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has defended the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams, insisting the change was based on "sporting merit" and not to make money.
The sport's world governing body voted unanimously in favour of the change at a meeting in Zurich on Tuesday.
Campaign group New Fifa Now described the expansion as "a money grab and power grab".
But Infantino told the BBC: "It is the opposite, it's a football decision."
He added: "Every format has advantages in financial terms. We were in a comfortable situation to take a decision based on sporting merit."
An initial stage of 16 groups of three teams will precede a knockout stage for the remaining 32 with the change coming in for the 2026 tournament.
According to Fifa research, revenue is predicted to increase to £5.29bn for a 48-team tournament, giving a potential profit rise of £521m.
"This is a historic decision which marks the entrance of the World Cup into the 21st Century," added Infantino.
The Football Association has urged Fifa to consider the needs of fans, players, teams and leagues and asked for more information on how the tournament would work, with Infantino admitting much of the detail has yet to be worked out.
The European Club Association (ECA), which represents the interests of clubs at European level, reiterated it was against expansion. It said Fifa had made a political rather than a sporting decision.
New Fifa Now says the governing body needs to reform, and that the change would "dilute the competitiveness of the tournament".
Infantino, however, maintains the expansion will increase the quality of the teams in the competition.
"Costa Rica eliminated England and Italy in the last World Cup, a good solid team and there are many other teams who could make it to the World Cup," he said.
"I believe that the actual quality could rise, because many more countries will have the chance to qualify so they will invest in their elite football as well as grassroots."
Responding to criticism from European clubs, Infantino added: "The game has changed. Football has now become a truly global game. Everyone is happy about investment in Europe, but what about helping outside Europe? They need to be open.
"The key message from clubs I appreciate fully has always been don't touch the calendar, the dates of the World Cup or the burden for the players, and both these commissions fulfil them.
"We will play 32 days like now, we play maximum seven matches like now, 12 stadiums, like now, but give the chance for more countries to dream."
How it would work?
The number of tournament matches will rise to 80, from 64, but the eventual winners will still play only seven games.
The tournament will be completed within 32 days - a measure to appease powerful European clubs, who objected to reform because of a crowded international schedule.
The changes mark the first World Cup expansion since 1998.
Infantino said the decision on who will get the extra qualification slots has yet to be made but "this will be looked at speedily", adding: "The only sure thing is that everyone will have a bit more representation than they have."
The president said he believed the World Cup could emulate what he felt was a successful Euro 2016 tournament, where the number of teams taking part was similarly increased.
Qualifying for last year's tournament featured a record 53 nations, while the number of teams at the finals increased from 16 to 24.
"It was the most interesting in the history of the European Championship," said Infantino.
"All the other teams started to believe in their chance to qualify and play matches with a different mindset that they could qualify.
"We saw Wales, Iceland, Northern Ireland qualify, some for the first time, some for first time in many years. The Netherlands always qualify, but they didn't. Qualifying created a whole new dynamic and hopefully we will do the same." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38577001 |
BBC extends Queen's Club deal as Andy Murray commits to event for rest of career - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | The BBC will broadcast the Aegon Championships at Queen's until 2024 as Andy Murray commits to the event for the rest of his career. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
The BBC will continue to broadcast the Aegon Championships at The Queen's Club on TV, radio and online until 2024.
The news coincides with Andy Murray's decision to commit to playing at Queen's for the rest of his career.
"To know that Andy will play at The Queen's Club for the rest of his career and that the BBC will cover it every step of the way is a huge boost," said tournament director Stephen Farrow.
I'm really happy to know that I will play at Queen's for as long as my career lasts
Murray, 29, won at Queen's last year en route to becoming the world number one.
His victory in the 2016 final against Milos Raonic was watched by 3.7m on TV, with many more listening on Radio 5 live and following online on the BBC Sport website.
Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport, described the tournament as "one of the most cherished events in the tennis calendar".
"It's great that the BBC will continue to bring it to audiences across all platforms until 2024," she added.
"With a British tennis player as the current world number one, there's no better time for us to reinforce our commitment to the sport."
Murray's record fifth Queen's title was just one chapter in a stellar 2016 for the Briton.
He followed it up weeks later by claiming his second Wimbledon title, while his second Olympic gold medal followed later in the summer.
He secured the year-end world number one ranking with victory at the ATP World Tour Finals before being named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for a third time.
He was subsequently knighted in the the New Year Honours.
"I'm really happy to know that I will play at Queen's for as long as my career lasts," said Murray.
"My first ATP World Tour match-win came at Queen's in 2005, so for it to become by far the most successful tournament of my career is a great feeling.
"Looking at the names that have won the tournament four times, [they are] some of the best players ever. Winning it five times means a lot to me." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38588408 |
Newspaper headlines: Corbyn v the 'fat cats' and 'mother's cry' as girl found dead - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's relaunch makes most of the front pages, with others reporting the death of Katie Rough. | The Papers | "Corbyn's fat-cat attack" is the headline in the "i" newspaper - which is one of several to lead on his proposals for limiting the executive pay.
The Guardian believes pay ratios could gain acceptance, given time, and that the labour leader, Mr Corbyn should run with the idea. But the paper asks why, in a momentous week for the NHS, he chose to deviate from that subject.
Similarly, the Daily Mirror thinks the idea has flaws and has diverted attention from the NHS crisis - but says the leader of the opposition deserves credit for his willingness to contemplate radical answers to major problems.
The Financial Times believes many high earners would avoid any cap by setting themselves up as a company.
The main front page story in The Sun and the Daily Mail is the death of Katie Rough - the seven-year-old girl found seriously injured in a field in York.
Her headmistress tells the Mail that Katie was kind, thoughtful and hardworking, with a particular talent for creative writing.
The number of cars clamped for non-payment of road tax has more than doubled since paper tax discs were abolished, according to figures obtained by The Times.
The paper also claims that savings made by the new online system have been dwarfed by losses from non-payment, as the amount of money collected has fallen.
The DVLA disputes the figures, but the Times says the DVLA has "taken a wrong turning" and that paper tax discs worked and it may make sense to reinstate them.
The Daily Telegraph and The Times report that Bath could become the first city in Britain to charge visitors a "tourist tax".
Councillors say the levy on all those staying in a hotel, or a bed and breakfast, would help pay for local services, offsetting £37m in budget cuts they need to make. Venice, Paris and Berlin all charge hotel taxes.
The Times calculates that such a levy could raise millions of pounds for Bath - but says it would be likely to anger hoteliers.
The Telegraph and the Guardian both pay their own tributes to their legendary reporter, Clare Hollingworth, whose death was reported on Tuesday.
The Telegraph says that, as well as getting the "scoop of the century" - when she reported the outbreak of the Second World War - she helped more than 2,000 Jewish refugees flee Europe. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-38578436 |
Tomorrow's cities: What it feels like to fly a jetpack - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | How will we get to work in the future, and what is being done now to ease congestion in our cities? | Technology | Cities are at their calmest as dawn breaks, but it won't last for long
Over the next four weeks, BBC News will be offering a snapshot of the day in the life of a city - looking at how technology is transforming our urban landscapes, now and in the future.
We will look at how technology is improving the morning commute, what it is doing to make our working day better, how it will transform our evening's entertainment and what goes on at night in the smart cities that increasingly never sleep.
We start as urban dwellers around the world begin the day - with the morning commute. In the future, that may mean hailing a jetpack.
Some people dream of getting to work via a jetpack
"Jetpacks will be part of future cities," Peter Coker, vice-president of innovation at KuangChi Science, Martin Aircraft Company's major Chinese shareholder.
"I see it as being the Uber of the sky."
Martin Aircraft Company, based in New Zealand, already has a working prototype that can fly at 2,800ft (850m) at 45km/h (27mph) for 28 minutes.
And Mr Coker says commuters will be able to hail an unmanned jetpack via a smartphone app.
He admits there will be "regulatory hurdles" to overcome and, if the airways become packed with jetpacks, a need for "automatic collision avoidance".
But, according to Michael Read, who is one of only two test pilots who have actually flown the jetpack, it will be worth it.
"It's intuitive, free-flowing and most of all, fun," he says.
"Being able to be transported up into the sky in such an unconstrained way is truly a unique and enjoyable experience.
"Of the nearly 3,000 people we've had fly our simulators, almost every single one of them has left with a big smile on their faces.
"Given that the simulator is very close to reality, this gives us the biggest indication that it is as much fun as people imagined it would be.
Read more about how cities are using technology:
Congestion is one of the biggest problems facing cities, and with statistics projecting that close to 70% of the world's population will live in urban areas by 2050, it is something that they have to deal with.
There is little that technology can do to cut down on the number of people in cities, but it is increasingly being relied on to keep traffic moving.
And car-sharing schemes, such as ZipCar and UberPool, can cut the number of cars on the road.
In Glasgow, the government has spent £12m on an operation centre that monitors 500 cameras and can intervene at more than 800 traffic lights across the city.
And the system gives priority to late-running buses to persuade more people back on to public transport.
In Boston, the mayor's office has devoted a whole department to what it calls new urban mechanics, an innovative city lab aimed at improving engagement between citizens and government.
Among other projects, it is looking at how to make traffic lights smarter.
Real-time alterations to the red-and-green cycle can cut congestion time by up to 50% and make a city drive much more agreeable, says Prof Christos Cassandras, a smart cities expert from Boston University, who helped develop the system.
"We have all been in the situation where we keep getting stuck behind red light after red light, so imagine if we can control the traffic lights or even the car to alert drivers that if they accelerate a little bit they will make that green light," he says.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. How the public reacted to a driverless pod in Milton Keynes
Cars that can do just that are already being tested on the roads in Chinese cities, says Prof Cassandras.
Some cities, such as Stockholm, charge cars higher rates to travel at peak times in an effort to ease the rush hour.
In Copenhagen, half of all city residents get to and from work or school via bike, helping with the city's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2025.
Traffic jams have fascinated scientists for decades, and there is even a branch of maths - jamology - devoted to their study.
"We humans are terrible drivers, and we cannot keep our speed constant," Prof Cassandras says.
In Lyon, you can take a ride on a driverless bus
That problem could be eliminated with the advent of automated cars - and with most of the big manufacturers promising to have fleets on the road by 2020 or soon after, that is a looming reality.
But a University of Michigan study suggests 23% of Americans would not consider riding in a driverless cars, while 36% would be so anxious they would constantly watch the wheel.
In response, companies are making vehicles that look friendlier.
Semcon has a self-drive car that interacts with pedestrians by displaying a graphic that makes it look as if it is smiling, while cities such as Lyon are experimenting with cute-looking self-drive buses.
In Pittsburgh, Uber has launched a fleet of self-drive taxis.
And in Washington, Las Vegas and Florida, there are plans to run a 12-seat driverless bus fitted with IBM's artificial intelligence platform, Watson, so it can respond to conversational questions about journey times and even recommend local restaurants or historical sites.
So far it has had some limited trials.
"When people climb onboard and start interacting with Watson, they sure do crack a smile," says Matthew Lesh, head of mobility at manufacturer Local Motors.
There are several companies developing concept high-speed trains, including Hyperloop Technologies
Cities are at a crossroads when it comes to easing congestion - should they invest in expensive, hi-tech infrastructure schemes, such as China's straddling bus, or sit back and wait for the era of driverless cars to solve the problem?
No future transport system has captured the imagination or the headlines as much as the Hyperloop, conceived by Silicon Valley maverick Elon Musk as a super-fast transportation system consisting of low pressure tubes inside capsules.
But, increasingly, experts are questioning whether we need such grand futuristic schemes - and their objections are not about whether they are technologically feasible or even about the cost.
Head of MIT's Senseable Cities lab Carlo Ratti asks: "Do we really need a short trip in a small, dark tube?"
On a recent trip from London to Paris, he opted for a slower journey and did not regret one moment of it.
'I enjoyed very much spending two hours on the Eurostar," he says.
"I was online, the comfortable seat became my workplace during the trip, and I could enjoy the gorgeous English and French landscape all around.
"I thought that I had the most beautiful office in the entire world."
Boston is often cited as a city that has got citizen engagement right, thanks to the mayor's Office of Urban Mechanics
Potholes are the scourge of drivers and councils alike - but in Boston, the government, in conjunction with Boston University, has come up with a novel solution.
Street Bump is an app that utilises the iPhone's accelerometer to detect dips in the roads.
The data is analysed, and the algorithms are smart enough to distinguish between real potholes and other bumps, such as train tracks.
They can also prioritise potholes in most dire need of repair, and the information is sent to the relevant city department.
Some politicians say the fact it requires an iPhone means poorer neighbourhoods are less well served- but Prof Cassandras, who helped develop the app, denies this.
"In fact, a lot of the time, the app is run by municipal vehicles - police cars, buses - which are just as likely to be found in poorer neighbourhoods," he says. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37362808 |
How to nap successfully at work - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Why we should take a nap to help us stay alert at work, and why managers need to rethink their attitude to staff sleeping in the office. | Business | Our melatonin levels determine whether we're likely to nod off or not
It takes real chutzpah to have a bed in your office, and to openly sleep in it during work hours.
Back in the 1990s, Bhim Suwastoyo was a busy reporter for Agence France Presse in its Jakarta bureau in Indonesia.
And he became notorious within the company for sleeping underneath a cupboard behind his desk.
"Whenever somebody from the Hong Kong head office would visit, the first thing they would ask is: 'Show me your bed,'" he tells me for BBC World Service's Business Daily programme. "Such a good reputation!"
Bhim explains that this was particularly useful at the height of the 1997 Asian currency crisis, when the Indonesian rupiah lost half its value and the Suharto government collapsed.
He was working all hours covering breaking news. Mobile phones weren't used widely in Indonesia then, so he caught naps within earshot of his office phone whenever he had a quiet moment.
But he found that even on quiet days a half-hour's catnap helped. "It gives you more energy for the rest of the day. It's like starting anew in the morning," he says.
A sign of status? Two Tokyo commuters asleep on a train
And he's not the only one. In southern Europe the afternoon nap is of course institutionalised as the siesta and it's a similar story in China.
In Japan dozing in meetings is apparently a sign of status to show off how hard you work. Some bosses are even said to fake it in order to eavesdrop on indiscreet employees - and the employees fake indiscretions to humour them.
Your body operates according to circadian rhythms - the daily cycle of hormones that govern your body clock.
The main culprit is melatonin. When levels of this chemical are high, you doze off. But when you are exposed to sunlight, your melatonin levels drop and you perk up.
"Sleep serves as the brain's housekeeper, which helps to clear metabolic waste and toxins from the brain," explains somnolence academic Natalie Dautovich of the US National Sleep Foundation.
That is why we should all sleep a regular seven to nine hours every night.
How to survive at work: The Business Daily team explores life in the office
Click here for more programme highlights
We know this to be true, so why are most of us really bad at following this advice?
"The more sleep deprived we are, the less accurately we are able to judge the effects it has on our performance," says Dr Dautovich.
In other words, everyone else in the office can see we're exhausted but we can't, because we're exhausted.
Our colleagues may see that we're tired but we can't - because we're tired
And then there's the matter of mobile phones. I often lose an hour or two late in the evening, sitting up in bed reading my Twitter feed. Dr Dautovich says it's a really bad habit.
The problem is that phone screens emit much bluer light than your average light bulb, and that fake daylight tends to lower your melatonin levels and wake you up.
On top of that, your brain comes to associate your bedroom with your mobile, and by extension your office and social life. And that brings on other unhelpful biochemical responses such as the "stress" hormone, cortisol.
So we could all do with a bit more self-discipline - put that phone away and go to bed at a sensible hour.
But is there more to keeping your mental edge in the office than just getting a good night's sleep?
To find out, I visited an office where staying alert can be a matter of life or death.
Nats, the UK's national air traffic control service, has an entire department dedicated to this question.
It is understandable when you consider it is responsible for one of the busiest stretches of airspace in the world, over London.
"One thing we're very, very aware of is that a controller is more likely to have an incident either when they are very busy, or they're very quiet," says Neil May of Nats.
Nats maintains that optimal mental balance between boredom and overload by controlling the number of aircraft each employee manages.
I meet Neil at Nats' control room in Swanwick, a cavernous space reminiscent of an aircraft hangar that has been designed to minimise distraction.
It is lit 24/7 with fake daylight, and the only sound is the gentle hubbub of hundreds of controllers perched at screens speaking over headsets to the pilots scattered across the skies of southern England.
Staff work in teams of two, not just to check on each other but also because the social interaction helps keep their minds active.
And at least every two hours they are required to take a "30-minute responsibility free break", says Neil; a retreat to the cafe or a short nap perhaps.
Air traffic controllers are encouraged to take breaks and go for short naps
Nats has a proactive attitude towards sleep. Swanwick has a dormitory room where those on night duty are encouraged to get two hours' kip in the early hours.
"We want them to be at the very top of their game at 5-6am, when the arrivals are starting to come into Heathrow," says Neil.
It is an attitude that Dr Dautovich would admire. Like Bhim Suwastoyo and those at Nats, she too sings the praises of the afternoon snooze.
"We're still stuck in this perception of sleep as a luxury," she says, instead of seeing it as "a positive health behaviour with beneficial outcomes for productivity".
In other words, perhaps napping at work shouldn't be treated as a disciplinary offence. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38498488 |
Oxford academics warning of Brexit 'disaster' - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A "hard Brexit" would be the "biggest disaster" to have hit the UK's universities for many years, a university head told MPs. | Family & Education | MPs held the select committee hearing on Brexit at Oxford University
A "hard Brexit" would be the "biggest disaster" to have hit the UK's universities for many years, a university head told MPs.
Alistair Fitt, vice chancellor of Oxford Brookes, was giving evidence to the Education Select Committee, holding a special away-day session at the University of Oxford.
With the elegant panorama of Pembroke College behind them, the MPs wanted to find out what would be the impact of Brexit on the UK's university sector.
You would be hard-pressed to find any sector in the country more opposed to Brexit than higher education.
So it was probably no surprise that the MPs heard an unrelenting message that leaving the EU was a grim prospect for higher education and research.
University organisations, which usually put much effort and ingenuity into not really being for or against anything in public, took to open campaigning for a Remain vote.
Universities, bastions of liberal thinking, intensely international in their outlook and staffing, seemed culturally allergic to Brexit.
Cambridge University has seen a 14% drop in EU applications for this autumn
And the referendum result hangs over them like they've fought and lost a civil war.
Professor Catherine Barnard from the University of Cambridge told MPs that her own university had seen a 14% drop in applications this year from EU students.
The university had asked why potential students had turned down a chance to study at Cambridge - and she said among the reasons were fears over an "anti-immigrant sentiment" and uncertainty over the future of the UK's involvement in international research.
Prof Barnard warned that talented mathematicians at Cambridge from countries such as Hungary, Poland and Romania would take their sought-after skills elsewhere.
The committee of MPs heard warnings that in some elite research institutions in the UK, vital to the national infrastructure, as many as two thirds of the staff were EU nationals from outside the UK.
Would they hang around and see if they were still wanted after Brexit? Or would research rivals in Germany or China snap them up to the detriment of the UK economy?
Showing how seriously they take this, Oxford University has appointed its own head of Brexit strategy.
So you could say that at least Brexit has already created one extra job.
Universities are worried about losing EU students to international rivals
But this new postholder, Professor Alistair Buchan, saw leaving the EU as threatening to relegate the UK's universities behind their global competition.
Oxford has been ranked as the world's top university, but Prof Buchan said that in 1970s the UK's universities did not have that top status. This had been built through the EU years and growing networks of international partnerships.
He described Brexit for universities as the "Manchester United problem".
Why would any football team with international ambitions deliberately want to restrict its access both to better talent and to bigger markets?
There were warnings about the financial impact of losing European research funding.
The UK's universities are among the biggest winners from Horizon 2020 research network, bringing more than £2bn into the higher education sector.
The UK's universities are among the biggest beneficiaries of EU research funding
This is no small-bière, with some individual universities worrying about the loss of hundreds of millions.
If the UK is to stay ahead in research, Dr Anne Corbett of the LSE said the UK government had to be ready for some "serious funding".
Professor Stephanie Haywood, president of the Engineering Professors' Council, warned that losing access to EU students would make skills shortages in engineering even worse.
But could there be an upside in higher tuition fees?
If EU students are designated as overseas students after Brexit, UK universities could charge them much higher fees.
But such a tuition fee windfall depends on those students not staying at home or going somewhere else.
Prof Barnard raised the example of those talented eastern European mathematicians.
Would they really be able to pay £17,000 or so a year? Or would it mean that universities in the UK would have pay for scholarships rather than see them go elsewhere?
Committee chairman Neil Carmichael pushed his witnesses for more evidence and facts.
But what came back most often was even more questions. What's going to happen to the EU staff in UK universities? What will be the visa system for students?
What will happen to the intricate networks of European research? How much will the UK government be willing to cover for any lost income?
And of course, so far, these are unknowns being piled up on unknowables.
But as another European refugee scientist, Albert Einstein, once said: "If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-38587765 |
Manchester City charged by FA over anti-doping rules - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Manchester City are charged by the Football Association for failing to ensure anti-doping officials knew where players were for drugs testing. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester City have been charged by the Football Association for failing to ensure anti-doping officials knew where players were for drugs testing.
Clubs are required to provide accurate details of training sessions and player whereabouts so that they are available for testing at all times.
The club has allegedly failed to ensure its information was accurate on three occasions, leading to the FA charge.
City have until 19 January to respond to the charge.
It is understood the information was not updated following a change to training routines.
The FA operates a 'three strikes' policy for such breaches, for which the most likely punishment is a fine.
• None From the archive: When BBC Sport tried the 'whereabouts' drugs testing system
The FA operates a "three strikes" policy in relation to breaches of 'club whereabouts' information.
It is a rather complex system which covers, in Manchester City's case, first-team, Under-23s and Under-18s.
By 10:00 GMT on a Monday, clubs must have told the FA where their players are going to be for the remainder of that week.
The information includes training times, days off, travel, home addresses and hotels.
Should the information - training times or days off for instance - change during the week, the FA has to be notified.
UK anti-doping officials are then entitled to turn up, at random, to carry out tests.
If the player or players are not at the location they are supposed to be, this constitutes a breach.
The club are made aware of this and after three breaches, the FA will issue a charge. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38588913 |
Recruiting prawns to fight river parasite - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Making sure certain rivers are fully stocked with prawns could prove to be an important contribution to fighting schistosomiasis. | Science & Environment | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Making sure certain rivers are fully stocked with prawns could prove to be an important contribution to fighting schistosomiasis.
The parasitic worm disease is endemic in many parts of the tropics and sub-tropics. Africa is a hotspot.
But it has been shown that prawns will avidly eat the water snails that host the parasite, breaking the cycle of infection that includes people.
The impact was most eloquently demonstrated on the Senegal River.
There, the Diama Dam was built close to the estuary in 1986, blocking the ability of prawns to migrate up and down the water course, decimating their presence.
When scientists restocked the crustaceans upstream of the barrier in a controlled experiment, they saw a dramatic fall in schistosomiasis re-infection rates among the local population.
But the ecological consequences of dam construction are often complex and hard to unwrap, and the team could not therefore know for sure how applicable this approach might be to other areas.
So they did an analysis - to look at multiple dam systems worldwide to see how these mapped across decades-long records of schistosomiasis and the traditional habitat ranges of the large migratory prawn, Macrobrachium.
To be clear, no-one actually went out into the field to count prawns, but the results of the analysis were nonetheless compelling: damming was followed by greater increases in schistosomiasis in those areas where prawns had historically been present versus those zones not known to be big prawn habitats.
The inference being that the loss of the crustaceans was a major factor in the rise in infection.
“Where there were dams, schistosomiasis increased, but it increased more - at least double on average - where we expected these predators to be, traditionally - compared to those dammed watersheds where they have not been,” explained Dr Susanne Sokolow from Stanford University and UC Santa Barbara, US.
And her colleague, Prof Giulio De Leo, added: “We ended up finding that something like 280 million to 350 million people live in areas that are endemic for schistosomiasis and could potentially benefit from this type of intervention (prawn re-introduction).
“We are talking in fact about 40% of the 800 million people that are potentially at risk of schistosomiasis and this is because most of the people tend to concentrate in coastal areas where there is also historical presence of these migratory prawns that happen to be voracious predators of the snails that amplify schistosomiasis.”
Sokolow and De Leo gave details of their latest work at the recent American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.
The Diama Dam allowed for the expansion of agriculture along the Senegal River
They are now working with various groups in Africa (the Upstream Alliance) to try to develop sustainable means of maintaining prawns in affected rivers.
Praziquantel: A highly effective treatment but it does not stop re-infection
This includes prawn aquaculture farms. The crustaceans are corralled in netted areas close to the river bank to keep on top of the snails and then harvested for food. Schistosomiasis cannot be caught by eating the prawns, so it is a strategy that has economic as well as a health benefits.
The team is also examining the role other predators could play, such as catfish and ducks. Both will eat freshwater snails.
Another idea is to tackle the problem at source - the dam. It should be possible to retrofit barriers with some kind of prawn bypass, akin to the “ladders” that aid salmon in other parts of the world to get to their upstream spawning grounds.
The capital investment required at existing dams could be very large, however.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Giulio De Leo: "We want to identify other candidate sites around the world"
The native African prawn Macrobrachium vollenhovenii is the focus of attention and biotechnology (non GM) techniques are available that allow all-male progeny to be produced in aquaculture farms.
Using only males is preferable on a few counts. They grow fast and big and consume more snails, but being male they do not need to migrate in the same way as females, which require a saline estuary for spawning - so the dam becomes less of an issue.
But prawns are not a “silver bullet”, cautions Dr Sokolow. A suite of solutions will ultimately be necessary.
“There’s a drug treatment that works very well - praziquantel. It clears the worms out of people and is 98-99% effective. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have lasting effects, so people the very next day - people living in poverty, especially, where there isn’t clean and safe water to access - are back out in the rivers and streams getting re-infected," she told BBC News.
“Clearly, there are other factors in play, such as the building up of agricultural systems that follow the construction of the dams. That increases population densities and potentially puts agrochemicals in the river that influences the system. But when you add in the loss of the prawns, the situation becomes worse; and it suggests that this tool of restoring prawns could be a big factor in helping to reduce and mitigate the impact of dams on schistosomiasis.”
It may not be just prawns - ducks and catfish may be useful tools, also | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38571937 |
One million people watch 500ft snooker trick shot - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | More than one million people have watched a snooker trick shot set up across a bar in Bristol, after it was shared on social media. | null | More than one million people have watched a snooker trick shot set up across a bar in Bristol.
Allstar Sports Bar shot the video as their late Christmas trick shot and it's since gone viral online.
The 500ft (152m) putt took about 11 hours to set up and was filmed by general manager Shane O'Hara and bar assistant Tom Woolman.
[Note: This video has no sound]
BBC Sport's live coverage of the 2017 Masters starts on Sunday. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-38573364 |
Maria Balshaw is NOT the new director of Tate… yet - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Despite media reports - we don't yet know who'll replace Nicholas Serota at the Tate. | Entertainment & Arts | Is Maria Balshaw the new director of the Tate? No.
It is possible, although extremely unlikely, that the prime minster will choose not to ratify what is reported to be the recommendation being put before her by the Tate's trustees.
We are in that hiatus period you get in football games when a manager is making a substitution. The sub (whose name has already been given to the ref) is warmed up and ready to enter the fray; the player being replaced is anxiously looking towards the touchline; the exchange is inevitable - but nothing can happen until the referee has given it the nod.
Keep stretching, Maria. The prime minister is waiting for a break in play.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38583773 |
Drone captures drifting ice on Danube river in Budapest - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | A drone captures the beauty of broken ice being carried on the Danube river in Budapest, Hungary. | null | A drone captures the beauty of broken ice being carried on the Danube river in Budapest, Hungary. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38590449 |
Sleep tips: Avoid afternoon coffee, over-50s advised - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | People over 50 are being advised to avoid caffeine after lunchtime to get a good night's sleep. | Health | People over 50 are being advised to avoid caffeine after lunchtime to get a good night's sleep.
A report for the charity Age UK says sleeping soundly gets harder as we age but getting enough rest is important to keep mentally sharp.
It recommends older people get seven to eight hours of sleep a night and gives tips on how to achieve this.
As well as avoiding tea and coffee, older people should keep daytime naps to shorter than half an hour.
The report was written by the Global Council on Brain Health report - a panel of experts convened by Age UK and the American Association of Retired Persons.
As we age, our sleep patterns change, so we become more vulnerable to waking during the night and earlier in the morning.
This is important because, in the long term, poor sleep increases the risk of heart disease, obesity and diabetes, say the report authors.
James Goodwin from Age UK said: "Sleeping is something we all tend to take for granted, but we really have to wise up to the fact that getting the right amount of good sleep is crucial as we age, helping to protect us from all kinds of problems that can affect our brains as well as our bodies.
"The message is that in order to stay mentally sharp in later life - something we all care passionately about - take care of your sleep."
For those struggling with their sleep, the report says:
Chris Stemman, from the British Coffee Association, said: "Caffeine is a stimulant and the speed at which it is metabolised in the body varies from person to person.
"If you do enjoy coffee in the afternoon but find it does affect your sleep you could also switch to decaffeinated coffee, which is another solution to consider."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38573835 |
Couple who faced racism celebrate 73rd wedding anniversary - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | A couple who met at a factory making Lancaster bombers in World War Two celebrate their 73rd wedding anniversary. | null | A couple who met at a factory making Lancaster bombers in World War Two are celebrating their 73rd wedding anniversary.
Trudy, 97, and Barclay Patoir, 96, who was an apprentice engineer in British Guiana, met when he was put to work at a factory in Speke, Merseyside.
Trudy was his assistant on the production line.
Despite opposition to the union, they married and moved to a new house on an estate in Wythenshawe, Manchester, where they have been ever since.
They have two daughters, three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-38578206 |
Sir Dave Brailsford: Team Sky can be trusted despite 'regrettable' doping questions - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Sir Dave Brailsford says Team Sky can be trusted "100%", despite "regrettable" questions over Sir Bradley Wiggins' medical records. | null | Last updated on .From the section Cycling
Sir Dave Brailsford says Team Sky can be trusted "100%", despite "regrettable" questions over Sir Bradley Wiggins' medical records.
Wiggins and Team Sky boss Brailsford have come under scrutiny since information on the rider's authorised use of banned drugs to treat a medical condition were released by hackers.
There are also questions over a medical package he received in 2011.
"Can people believe in Team Sky? 100%," Brailsford told the BBC.
UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) has been investigating allegations of doping in cycling after it emerged a mystery medical package was delivered to a Team Sky doctor for Wiggins on the final day of the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine, which the Briton won.
Brailsford, the former performance director of British Cycling, last month told a parliamentary select committee he understood the package contained a legal decongestant, Fluimucil.
Ukad chairman David Kenworthy last week told BBC Sport he found the evidence of Brailsford and British Cycling president Bob Howden "extraordinary", saying the answers to the select committee on the content of the medical package were "very disappointing".
But when this was put to Brailsford, he answered: "The only extraordinary thing I could see was that he [Kenworthy] actually commented on the whole process himself.
"There is an open investigation that is still ongoing."
Wiggins, 36, announced his retirement from cycling last month. Britain's most decorated Olympian's use of therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) came to light after his confidential medical information was leaked by hackers 'Fancy Bears'.
TUEs allow the use of otherwise banned substances if athletes have a genuine medical need, and Wiggins, who has asthma, said he took them to "put himself back on a level playing field".
There is no suggestion Wiggins, British Cycling or Team Sky have broken any rules.
"It is regrettable," added Brailsford. "But equally the test of time is the key thing, and over time we will continue to perform at the highest level, continue to do it the right way, continue to give people a reason to get behind us and feel proud of our achievements.
"The judgement of what happened in the past will be made in the appropriate time, but for me we have done it the right way, and we'll continue to do it the right way.
He added: "I'm proud in what I've done, I've been doing this a long time, and I've been doing it for 20 years. I'm very much focused on the season ahead." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/38570591 |
Southern rail strike: 'My three-and-a-half hour commute' - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | Commuter Alison Braganza's journey from Three Bridges to central London normally takes 45 minutes but today's Southern Rail strike made it a lot, lot longer. | null | Commuter Alison Braganza's journey from Three Bridges to central London normally takes 45 minutes. Today's Southern Rail strike made it a lot, lot longer. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38567080 |
My nightmare on the pill - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Millions of women have no problem with the pill but some find it shatters their mental health. Here The Debrief's Vicky Spratt describes years of depression, anxiety and panic. | Magazine | Millions of women rely on the contraceptive pill and many are happy with it - but some find it has a devastating effect on their mental health. Here Vicky Spratt, deputy editor of The Debrief, describes years of depression, anxiety and panic as she tried one version of the pill after another.
I sat in the GP's office with my mum and told her that I'd been having my period for three weeks. She told me that the contraceptive pill might help. She warned that it wouldn't protect me from sexually transmitted infections and told me that if I had unprotected sex I could get cervical cancer, so I'd best use it wisely. She had to say that, though I was 14 and sex was very much not on the agenda.
My prescription was printed in reception. And then, a three-month supply of the combined pill was mine. Picking up the green foil-covered packets full of tiny yellow pills felt like a rite of passage - I was a woman now. In the plastic pockets was the sugar-coated distillation of feminism, of women's liberation, of medical innovation.
This is where it all began, 14 years ago. I then played what I call pill roulette for more than a decade, trying different brands with varying degrees of success and disaster. It was around this time that I also developed anxiety, depression and serious mood swings which, on and off, have affected me throughout my adult life.
Relationships have ended and I had to take a year out from university - I thought that was just "who I was", a person ill-equipped for life, lacking self-confidence and unhappy. It wouldn't be until my early 20s, after graduating from university - when my mental health problems and behaviour could no longer be dismissed as those of a "moody teenager" - that I would seriously question whether it was linked to my use of the pill.
One day in the early hours, sitting at my laptop, unable to sleep because of a panic attack which had lasted overnight, I began to Google. I had started taking a new pill, a progestogen-only pill (POP) which had been prescribed because I was suffering from migraines, and the combined pill is not safe for people who suffer from migraines with aura.
I tapped the name of the pill + depression/anxiety into the search engine and the internet did the rest. There it was: forum threads and blog posts from people who were experiencing the same symptoms as me.
At this point I had already seen my GP several times, following the sudden onset of debilitating panic attacks, which I had never experienced before. At no point had my contraceptive pill come up in conversation, despite the fact that the attacks had started when I switched to the new contraceptive. Instead, I was prescribed a high dose of beta blockers, used to treat anxiety, and it was recommended that I should undergo cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
I lived like this for somewhere between six and eight months - I can't tell you exactly because that year of my life is a blur, recorded by my mind in fast-forward because of the constant sense of urgency and impending doom that coursed through my veins.
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The Debrief carried out an investigation, surveying 1,022 readers, aged 18-30
I wish, wholeheartedly, that I could look back on this and laugh. That's how all good stories end, isn't it? But there was then, and is now, nothing funny about what I went through. It was terrifying. I was scared. I didn't recognise myself, I didn't like myself and I couldn't live my life. I didn't know what to do, who to turn to or whether it would ever end. I was not only anxious but lethargic, I felt completely useless. I blamed myself.
At the time, convinced that I had lost my mind and feeling as though I was having an out-of-body experience, I explained to my GP that "I felt like someone else", as though my brain "had gone off and gone mouldy".
"Do you think this could have anything to do with my new pill?" I asked. I remember the look on her face, an attempt to look blank which barely concealed a desire to tell me I was ridiculous. I explained to her that I had felt awful on every single one of the six or seven pills I'd taken up until that point, with the exception of one high-oestrogen combined pill which made me feel like superwoman for a year, before it was taken away from me (partly because of the migraines and partly because of an increased risk of thrombosis with continued use).
She told me, categorically, that my new pill was not the problem.
But, disobeying both her and my therapist, I stopped taking the progestogen-only pill.
I can only describe what happened next as the gradual and creeping return of my sense of self. After three or four weeks I also stopped taking the beta blockers. To this day, I still carry them with me. They're in every handbag I own, a safety net should I fall off the enormous cliff of my own mind again. In three-and-a-half years I have never had to take them.
My problems didn't disappear overnight, of course, but I did stop having panic attacks. I haven't had one since. I feel low from time to time, anxious and stressed but it's nowhere near on the same scale as what I experienced while taking the progestogen-only pill. I felt joy again, my libido returned and I stopped feeling terrified of absolutely everything and everyone.
A year after the panic attacks subsided I sat on a faraway beach, after taking a solo long-haul flight halfway round the world. This would have been unthinkable the previous year. As I sat there, underneath a tropical electrical storm, I cried with relief. Relief that I was myself again, relief that I had control of my own mind once more and relief that I hadn't been wrong, that I knew myself better than doctors had made me feel I did.
Now 28, I no longer use hormonal contraception and with the exception of mild mood swings in the 48 hours before my period I am, touch wood, free of anxiety, depression and panic attacks.
In the years that have passed since I lost myself on the progestogen-only pill and found myself again on a South Asian beach, this issue has been gradually receiving more and more attention. Holly Grigg Spall's book, Sweetening The Pill, published in 2013, put the effects of hormonal contraception on women's mental health firmly on the agenda.
Since then a study, overseen by Prof Ojvind Lidegaard at the University of Copenhagen, found that women taking the pill - either the combined pill or the progestogen-only pill - were more likely to be prescribed an antidepressant than those not on hormonal contraception. The difference was particularly noticeable for young women aged between 15 and 19 on the combined pill.
Lidegaard was able to conduct this research because he had access to medical records for more than a million Danish women aged 15-34.
Following the publication of Prof Lidegaard's study I sent a freedom of information request to the NHS, in my capacity as a journalist at The Debrief. I knew, from the number of our readers who write to us on a near-daily basis about this issue, that significant numbers of women were suffering. I asked the NHS whether they knew how many women were taking antidepressants or beta blockers concurrently. They told me that their systems do not yet allow them to collect this data.
Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, says: "There is an established link between hormones and mood, both positive and negative, but for the vast majority of women, the benefits of reliable contraception and regulation of their menstrual cycle outweigh any side effects, and many women report that taking hormones actually boosts their mood.
"If a woman believes her contraception might be adversely affecting her mood, she should discuss it with a healthcare professional at her next routine appointment."
See also: How risky is the contraceptive pill?
Depression is listed as a known but rare side effect of the hormonal contraceptive pill, it's there in the small but hefty leaflet you get in the packet. The NHS website lists "mood swings" and "mood changes" but not explicitly depression, anxiety or panic attacks.
We shouldn't throw our pill packets away but neither should we accept negative side effects which impinge on our day-to-day lives. We can't make informed choices without information. We need better research into how hormonal contraception can affect women's mental health, better ways of monitoring reactions in patients, more awareness and support for those who do experience serious side effects. No woman should feel dismissed or ignored.
Vicky Spratt is deputy editor of The Debrief, a website for women in their 20s. Its investigation, Mad About The Pill, launched on Wednesday.
Listen to the discussion on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour
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• None BBC iWonder - How has the Pill changed your life- | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38575745 |
Trump refuses to answer reporter's question on Russia - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | Donald Trump refuses to answer a CNN reporter's question after the network reported on Trump dossier. | null | During Tuesday's press conference, President-Elect Donald Trump refused to answer a CNN reporter's question, declaring the organisation "terrible" and "fake news".
Yesterday, CNN reported that intelligence agencies briefed Mr Trump and President Obama on allegations that Russian operatives had gathered "compromising personal and financial information" against Mr Trump, | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38575592 |
Austria teenager builds his own mini ski resort - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | A 17-year-old model maker from Austria demonstrates his very own miniature ski village. | null | This video can not be played
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38590450 |
Tearful Barack Obama pays tribute to Michelle - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | President Barack Obama has paid tribute to his wife and daughters in his farewell speech in Chicago. | null | President Barack Obama has paid tribute to his wife and daughters in his farewell speech in Chicago.
The country's first black president, now 55, was first elected in 2008 and will be replaced by Donald Trump, who will be sworn into office on 20 January. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38582651 |
Jim Furyk named as United States Ryder Cup captain for 2018 - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Jim Furyk is named as the United States captain for the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in Paris. | null | Last updated on .From the section Golf
Jim Furyk has been named as the United States captain for the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in Paris.
The 46-year-old's vice-captain will be Davis Love, a losing captain in 2012 but victorious in 2016 when the US beat Europe 17-11 to regain the trophy.
Furyk was on the winning side twice in nine Ryder Cup appearances as a player.
"I get chills thinking about all the events I've been lucky enough to take part in. To be sitting here as the 2018 captain is such an honour," he said.
Denmark's Thomas Bjorn was named as Europe captain last month.
The United States are the defending champions after winning at Hazeltine last year, their first success since 2008.
Furyk, the 2003 US Open champion, played in every Ryder Cup from 1997 to 2014 and was one of Love's assistants for October's triumph.
He added: "This is such an honour. I'm actually a little overwhelmed. It's no secret, it's been my favourite event my entire career. In my opinion the Ryder Cup embodies everything that is special about golf."
The 2018 Ryder Cup will take place at Le Golf National in the French capital from 28-30 September. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/38589334 |
Chelsea Football Club stadium plans given approval by council - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Chelsea Football Club have been given permission by the local council to build a new £500m 60,000-seat stadium. | London | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Chelsea Football Club have been given permission by the local council to build a new £500m 60,000-seat stadium.
Hammersmith and Fulham council's planning committee have backed plans to demolish the current 41,600-capacity Stamford Bridge stadium.
The plans include a walkway from the nearby District Line station.
"We are grateful that planning permission was granted for the redevelopment of our historic home," Chelsea said in a statement.
"The committee decision does not mean that work can begin on site. This is just the latest step, although a significant one, that we have to take before we can commence work, including obtaining various other permissions."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan will have the final say on whether Chelsea can build their new stadium.
The new stadium has been designed by architects Herzog and de Meuron, who were also responsible for the "Birds Nest" Olympic stadium in Beijing.
The proposals could mean owner Roman Abramovich has to find a temporary home for the current Premier League leaders for up to three years, with both Twickenham Stadium and Wembley Stadium being looked at as possible options.
An artist's impression of the proposed new Stamford Bridge stadium
Chelsea might, however, struggle to use Wembley as north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur will occupy the national stadium for at least the 2017-18 football season as work finishes on Spurs' own new 61,000-capacity stadium.
Chelsea could stay at Stamford Bridge while the work takes place but this is thought to be the most expensive option.
The plans showing the outline of the new Chelsea stadium at Stamford Bridge including a new walkway to the ground from Fulham Broadway Tube station
Mr Abramovich has wanted to increase capacity at Chelsea on match days for a number of years.
He previously attempted to buy Battersea Power Station with a view to redeveloping the site into a new stadium, ultimately losing out to property developers who are currently building luxury apartments at the site.
Ten years ago Arsenal built the 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium, last summer West Ham moved to the 57,000-capacity Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, and Spurs are currently redeveloping their White Hart Lane ground.
The current 41,663-capacity Stamford Bridge is the seventh biggest stadium used by a Premier League team, well behind Manchester United's 76,000-seater stadium at Old Trafford.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-38572335 |
Wales Rugby: Alun Wyn Jones set to take over from Sam Warburton - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Alun Wyn Jones is set to take over from Sam Warburton as Wales captain, with the flanker having filled the role for the past six years. | null | Last updated on .From the section Welsh Rugby
Sam Warburton's six-year spell as Wales captain is to come to an end.
Ospreys lock Alun Wyn Jones, 31, is set to be named as his successor on 17 January when interim coach Rob Howley announces his Six Nations squad.
The Cardiff Blues flanker, 28, first captained Wales in 2011 and led the British and Irish Lions to a 2-1 series win in Australia in 2013.
Jones took over from him for the final Lions Test and has also captained Wales five times.
Warburton became the youngest player to skipper Wales at a World Cup when he led them to the semi-finals in 2011.
He then captained them to a Six Nations Grand Slam in 2012 before winning the Championship the following year. Warburton was also skipper for the 2015 World Cup as Wales beat hosts England at Twickenham on their way to the quarter-finals.
He missed two of Wales' four autumn internationals in November through injury, and played under Gethin Jenkins for the Argentina game.
But veteran prop Jenkins and previous captain Dan Lydiate are currently on the long-term injury list.
Cardiff Blues head coach Danny Wilson is backing Warburton's form in the fight for Six Nations places, after a run of injury-free games while also standing in for Jenkins as regional captain.
"From a Blues' viewpoint he's captained the team and played well," said Wilson.
"It's been great for Sam to have a run of games leading into the Six Nations which recently he hasn't had because of injuries.
"His work off-the-ball and his work-rate generally has been through the roof and his defensive moments have still been great.
"I know he wanted to go into the Six Nations off the back of some good form and he's starting to build that."
Former Wales captain Gareth Llewellyn believes Warburton will still play an important role in the squad whether or not he is captain.
"If Sam Warburton is fit and firing on all cylinders that's a good thing, he's still going to be there as a senior player, supporting whoever takes over," he told BBC Radio Wales.
"In fairness to Sam, I don't think he's ever thought he is an automatic choice, like any captain, you've got to earn your spot first."
Llewellyn also believes any change would hit Warburton's chances of leading the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, after being tour captain in the 2013 series win in Australia.
Jones, 31, took over the captaincy for the deciding Test when Warburton was injured.
"I guess it potentially writes off any Lions captaincy chances though not totally. He needs to get picked to play for Wales, then he needs to play well enough for Wales to get picked for the Lions," said Llewellyn.
Sam Warburton was himself unsure he was the right man for the job when he was first appointed captain for the 2011 World Cup at the age of 22, but he has led Wales with distinction for six years since.
His international career is far from over, but with competition for back-row places becoming increasingly fierce he might feel the distraction of the captaincy is one he could do without.
He's the consummate team man, and if the skipper's armband is given to Alun Wyn Jones, you can expect Warburton to give his successor his full support. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38583200 |
Lionel Messi: Barcelona chiefs says 'common sense' needed in contract talks - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Barcelona will have to increase revenues before they can offer Lionel Messi an improved contract, their chief executive says. | null | Last updated on .From the section European Football
Barcelona's ability to offer Lionel Messi an improved contract will rest on their capacity to raise revenue from sponsorship deals and player sales, chief executive Oscar Grau says.
Messi's contract expires in 2018 and he is expected to command a new deal on a par with the reported £21m a year earned by Luis Suarez and Neymar.
But La Liga's salary cap means Barca must exercise common sense, Grau said.
"We want the best players but perhaps we have to prioritise," he added.
La Liga agrees budgetary limits with each club at the start of every season, which prevents boards from spending more than 70% of their budget on wages.
The big-money contracts awarded to Messi's fellow forwards Suarez and Neymar, which run until 2021, eat into a significant part of their wage budget, which must also absorb an average player salary of £5.6m - the highest in La Liga.
Messi, 29, reportedly earns about £19m and Grau admitted any increase had to be considered with a "cool head".
"We have to make the numbers add up," he added. "One option is to increase our revenues, as our economic strategy forecasts.
"The club wants the best player in the world to stay at Barca. I would like to ease the concerns of club members and supporters but we have to use common sense." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38588145 |
Grieving Plymouth fan thanks Liverpool staff as son dies during game - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A Plymouth Argyle fan who was told his son had died during Sunday's FA Cup clash with Liverpool thanks police and staff who eased his distress. | Devon | Kevin May hopes fans will join in a tribute of applause on the 25th minute of the replay
A Plymouth Argyle fan who was told his son had died unexpectedly during Sunday's FA Cup match with Liverpool has thanked police and staff who eased his distress.
Kevin May, 53, from Plymouth, was texted by daughter Stacey during the game that his son Daniel, 25, had died.
Daniel was quadriplegic, blind and had cerebral palsy since an operation aged six months.
Distraught dad Mr May was taken to a quiet room away from the crowd.
The first call was from eldest son Terry that Daniel, who lived in Surrey with his mother, was in intensive care at Royal Surrey County Hospital, in Guildford.
"The news was totally unexpected, Daniel was severely epileptic and there was always a risk, but it was a bolt out of the blue", he said.
He tried to tell a policeman at the turns Liverpool's Anfield ground "but the words didn't come out".
The policeman, he only knows as Graham, led Mr May into the club where a member of staff made him tea and "let me rabbit on and on about my son and just listened to me".
A policeman guided Mr May out of the crowd after he heard the shock news
Referring to the two men as his "guardian angels", he said: "I calmed down with the help of these two big Scousers I'd only known for half an hour, but they were great."
He was shown to his seat when he got a text from Stacey, saying: "He's gone." Daniel had died of a heart attack.
Looking for somewhere to escape the crowd, a policeman guided him to the police office where he "crumpled in a heap on a table with my head in my arms".
There Graham and an Anfield employee both put their arms around him "in a show of pure human kindness, a credit to Scousers and Liverpool FC as well as Liverpool police".
Daniel was airlifted to hospital in Guildford on Sunday
Mr May recounted his experience on Facebook to offer his "sincerest thanks to them both for the care and the kind words they afforded me at my time of need".
He said he was "absolutely blown away", by the response to his post and has since managed to speak to Graham and thank him personally.
"We spoke for about 40 minutes, it felt like I had known him all my life."
He hopes that fans will join in a tribute of applause on the 25th minute of the third round replay on Wednesday.
"The fact that people are thinking about Daniel is such an uplift," he said.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-38588927 |
Trump's 'soft sensuality' inauguration - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | The chairman of the Trump's inaugural committee gives a taste of what's in store for the big day. | null | The chairman of President-elect Trump's inaugural committee, Tom Barrack, gave reporters a taste of what's in store for the big day. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38578885 |
Carney warns EU on risks of Brexit - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The governor of the Bank of England has moved the debate away from the risk of Brexit to the UK – arguing the rest of the EU is facing a greater threat to financial stability. | Business | Mark Carney has put his finger on one of the biggest debates developing in the City at the moment.
Brexit may hold risks for Britain - the economy and the supremacy of London as Europe's financial capital being two of them.
But the rest of the European Union also faces risks.
And, according to the governor, those risks are greater for the continent.
To be clear, Mr Carney was talking about financial stability, not economic growth - although of course the two are closely intertwined.
If financial stability is compromised, or liquidity conditions deteriorate, then economic growth is likely to be adversely affected.
In his evidence to the Treasury Select Committee, Mr Carney made three major points.
First, the UK's financial services sector provides 75% of foreign exchange trading for the EU, 75% of all hedging products (which help businesses insure against risk when making investments or buying products) and supports half of all lending.
As he said in November, the UK is Europe's "investment banker".
A sharp break in that liquidity and capacity support could be detrimental to financial stability in the EU.
Alex Brazier, the executive director for financial stability at the Bank, said that the UK exports £26bn of financial services to the EU, and imports just £3bn.
Which, he said, makes the point.
Second, as far as the UK is concerned, Brexit is no longer the biggest risk to financial stability.
Now, that may be leapt on by the Bank's critics - the governor has changed his tune, it could be said, given that before the referendum Brexit was seen as the biggest risk.
Mr Carney said the UK economy is performing better than expected
But Mr Carney made it clear - the mitigating actions the Bank has taken since the referendum (a cut in interest rates and more financial support for banks and businesses) have, according to the governor, worked.
Better economic news than many predicted has also maintained confidence - and the governor suggested that the Bank was now looking at upgrading the UK economic forecasts for 2017.
Third, transitional arrangements would be a positive help to smoothing the process of Brexit, avoiding what has been described as a "cliff edge" exit which may occur at the end of the two year Article 50 process.
Many in the City believe that given the complexities of the financial relationships between London and the rest of Europe, two years will simply not be enough time to build new regulatory and financial structures.
A period of "adaption" will be necessary.
Mr Carney's comments are likely to be welcomed in Number 10 and the Treasury.
The government believes that, whatever the present noises about the toughness of the EU position on Brexit flexibility, the role London plays in supporting the rest of the EU economy will be an important part of the negotiations.
Business leaders across the EU will want to maintain full access to UK's deep financial markets and widespread expertise.
And that will help Theresa May's push for the "closest trading relationship" with the EU, even if Britain does leave the single market as it is presently constituted.
Some believe this a forlorn hope, suggesting that political positions in the EU are hardening, not softening, towards the UK.
But, the more the warnings come from people like Mr Carney that Europe might just need the UK's financial muscle, the stronger Mrs May's negotiating hand will be. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38582690 |
Marouane Fellaini: Man Utd boss Mourinho triggers midfielder's contract extension - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Manchester United trigger a clause in Marouane Fellaini's contract that will keep him at the club until 2018. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester United have triggered a clause in Marouane Fellaini's contract that will keep him at Old Trafford until 2018.
Fellaini signed a four-year deal with the option of a further year when he joined from Everton for £27.5m in 2013.
United boss Jose Mourinho has activated the option despite uncertainty over the 29-year-old midfielder's future.
Fellaini was booed by his own fans last month but scored in the EFL Cup semi-final win against Hull on Tuesday.
The Belgium international ran to Mourinho to celebrate his goal in what seemed to be a show of recognition for the faith shown in him after a difficult period, which included giving away a costly penalty at Everton on 4 December.
Speaking after Tuesday's victory, Mourinho said: "He has a very strong mentality and has coped well.
"He knows he is a very important player for me." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38590948 |
How schools promote pupils' mental wellbeing - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Schools have long been are at the front line when it comes to identifying and helping children with mental heath problems. | Education & Family | Teachers are often the first to notice changes in the wellbeing of their pupils, say heads
Schools have long been are at the front line when it comes to identifying and helping children with mental heath problems.
But some heads wonder how much longer they can continue to provide in-school counselling and mentoring as budgets flatline and costs rise.
At Whalley Range High School in inner-city Manchester, students' mental wellbeing is a priority.
"There is a lot of stress," executive head teacher, Patsy Kane, told the BBC.
There is a waiting list for the school's counselling service, funded from its general budget, and two specially trained support staff run a child protection service.
Teaching staff were "vigilant", keeping an eye out for pupils showing raised levels of stress and anger, said Ms Kane.
Each year group at the 1,500 strong girls' secondary has its own pastoral manager whose duties include ongoing assessment of pupils' mental health.
There is also a school nurse and a school counsellor available four or five days each week, all paid for from the school's overall budget.
The academy trust that runs Whalley Range also includes Levenshulme High School for girls and East Manchester Academy, which is mixed.
They serve some of the most deprived and culturally diverse wards in the city and all have a strong focus on pupils' mental health.
The real difficulties come when pupils' problems go beyond the capacity of the professionals in the school, according to Ms Kane.
"Local services are just overwhelmed," she said.
"These are very challenging times."
Ms Kane said the schools often had to advise parents to take children with suicidal thoughts straight to accident and emergency "as this can be the only way to get support quickly".
And one pupil "in extreme need" had been sent to a hospital in the north-east of England "hundreds of miles away as there was not a single adolescent mental health bed available in this region".
"If there isn't a bed, a child's life could be at risk," she said
But being treated so far from home was even more disorientating for distressed teenagers.
Demand for in-school counselling was growing and pupils were offered the service "for as long as they need it," said Ms Kane.
But changes to the way school budgets were calculated in England meant that many inner city schools, including in Manchester, faced cuts.
"I don't know how much longer we are going to be able to protect counselling," she said.
Under government plans, announced on Monday, all secondary schools will be offered mental-health first-aid training.
The plans also include a pledge that by 2021 no child will be sent away from their local area for treatment.
But with budget pressure on existing services already apparent, head teachers' leaders are anxious to know how the plans will be funded.
"This is a highly complex area," said Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, which represents secondary heads.
"Many schools already provide their own support on site, and do a very good job despite limited resources, but they often face serious difficulties in referring young people to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
"There is simply not enough provision - and families face excessively long waiting times," said Mr Trobe.
According to the National Association of Head Teachers, about three-quarters of schools already lack the funds to provide good enough mental health care for pupils.
"Rising demand, growing complexity and tight budgets are getting in the way of helping the children who need it most," said NAHT general secretary Russell Hobby.
"Moves to make schools more accountable for the mental health of their pupils must first be accompanied by sufficient school funding and training for staff and should focus only on those areas where schools can act, including promotion of good mental health, identification and signposting or referrals to the appropriate services," he added.
For Ms Kane, the emphasis is on making the schools she runs "safe and welcoming places".
Counselling and other forms of psychological support were more important than ever as changes to the exam system "are creating more stress", she said.
"There is a lot of memorising required and less course work."
The school holds assemblies for candidates, on how to revise and relax, and mindfulness training.
And there are lessons in small groups for some of the more vulnerable pupils.
There is also an emphasis on sport, and the school encourages volunteering.
"You feel better if you help someone else," said Ms Kane.
"We want students to learn strategies for life. It's not just about protecting them." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-38571628 |
Kelly Smith: Arsenal Ladies & England legend retires from professional football - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | England's record goalscorer Kelly Smith retires from football after a hugely successful career spanning three decades. | null | Last updated on .From the section Women's Football
England's record goalscorer and Arsenal forward Kelly Smith has retired from football at the age of 38.
Smith, who scored 46 goals for her country, became England's first female professional footballer when she joined American side New Jersey in 1999.
The striker earned 117 England caps, played in six major tournaments and represented Team GB at the 2012 London Olympics.
Smith won five FA Cups with Arsenal, scoring six goals in those five finals.
"It just feels the time is right now," she told BBC Sport. "I think I've had a very good career at both international and club level, I've travelled the world and, at the age of 38, the body is telling me it needs to stop.
"I don't have any regrets, I've loved every minute of it. Every time I put that England shirt on, I felt a lot of emotion playing for my country.
"The game is in a magnificent place at the moment and it's good to step away at the right time."
Smith, who ended her international career in 2015, played in two World Cups and four European Championships, scoring a goal in the final of Euro 2009.
• None READ MORE: 'The David Beckham of women's football'
Awarded an MBE for services to football in 2008, Smith's career saw her win numerous accolades and individual honours, including being named the FA Women's Players' Player of the Year in 2006 and 2007.
She came third in Fifa Women's World Player of the Year in 2009 - one of four occasions she finished in the top five for the award.
While playing for Arsenal, Smith has won the 2006-07 Uefa Cup - the only British team to have won what is now the Champions League - and five FA Cups, plus played a part in numerous league titles.
"Kelly Smith is the best women's player England has ever produced, and one of the foremost players in the history of the women's game," said BBC Match of the Day commentator Jonathan Pearce, who extensively covers the women's game.
"In terms of technique, when she was in her pomp, she was way above anything else coming out of the UK at that time. She had power, strength, a lovely eye for a pass, finishing of course and was so dynamic in the penalty area.
"She was a leader because of the way she played, that she demanded respect from her opponents and team-mates. She was the first England women's football superstar.
"You have only got to hear the top names in the global game talking about her to know how good she was."
Earlier in her life while struggling with alcohol addiction, Smith said she had suicidal thoughts.
But she overcame those challenges and a number of serious injuries to flourish towards the end of her playing career, being shortlisted for the 2015 Women's PFA Player's Player of the Year award aged 36.
"I'm now 38, I'm a lot more experienced and I don't use alcohol to get me out of those situations now," she added.
"I'm in a good place, in a good relationship and I'm really happy. I'm really comfortable with my decision to walk away from playing and it's not a tough one for me.
"Perhaps if it wasn't all my injuries I could've achieved a lot more, who knows? But I can't say I have any regrets."
Smith, who also played in the US for Seton Hall Pirates, Philadelphia Charge and Boston Breakers, took up a player-coach role at Arsenal in 2013.
She has spent the past two full seasons as assistant to manager Pedro Martinez Losa at the Gunners.
"I want to see where my coaching career goes," she said. "I'd love to see how far I can develop as a coach.
"There are goals to manage Arsenal, the club I love, and even England - and who knows?
"But I'm at the bottom of the ladder at the moment so I'm just really looking forward to seeing how I develop."
Players from around the world are expected to take part in a match to celebrate Smith's career, set to be held at Arsenal Ladies' home ground in Borehamwood on 19 February.
'England were lucky to have her'
"Kelly is one of the best players in the world and someone who inspired me throughout my career. Without doubt, women's football wouldn't be where it is today without her contribution.
"England were very lucky to have her and I was extremely proud to play alongside her."
"She will be remembered as one of the greatest players to have played the game.
"The many thousands of young people who took up the game after being inspired by Kelly will never forget the inspiration and joy she brought just from watching her play.
"It will absolutely be a loss to the game on the field. I hope she will now go on to enjoy a wonderful career off the field."
"Kelly, to me, is a player that changed any game. Whether she started or came off the bench, you knew that a goal was coming.
"She is a great talent and a great inspiration, especially for young players. She takes the time out to encourage young players and it is a shame she is retiring, but I am sure she will go on to play an important role in the continued development of women's football." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38542111 |
Joe Marler: England and Harlequins prop a doubt for early Six Nations games - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | England prop Joe Marler fractures his lower leg and is set to miss the start of the Six Nations in February. | null | Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
England prop Joe Marler is set to miss the start of the Six Nations in February after sustaining a fracture to his lower leg playing for Harlequins.
The loose-head, 26, is expected to be out for four to five weeks, and is set to miss England's opener against France on 4 February.
Marler has made 46 Test appearances for England since his debut in 2012.
He adds to a lengthy injury list for coach Eddie Jones, which includes fellow Quins man Chris Robshaw.
• None Haskell out but Launchbury set to return
Jones led the side to a Grand Slam in 2016 but the Australian has a number of injury worries going into this year's tournament:
• None 27 November: Saracens number eight Billy Vunipola (knee) ruled out for three months.
• None 24 December: Saracens prop Mako Vunipola (knee) ruled out for four to 12 weeks. Lock George Kruis fractures his cheekbone, but is likely to be fit for the France game.
• None 4 January: Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi (knee) ruled out for at least six months.
• None 8 January: Wasps flanker James Haskell concussed 35 seconds into his return from a toe injury - will miss Saturday's game with Toulouse.
• None 9 January: Harlequins flanker Chris Robshaw (shoulder) ruled out for three months.
Captain Dylan Hartley, who is suspended until 23 January, will also need to prove his fitness before the competition starts.
After barely having to deal with an injury at the start of his time in charge, England boss Eddie Jones is now experiencing what many of his predecessors did, with Marler the latest in a long line of setbacks.
With Mako Vunipola also out, England have lost two outstanding loose-heads, and the back-up is inexperienced. Matt Mullan heads the queue from Nathan Catt and the impressive Leicester tyro Ellis Genge.
Jones has the resources to cope with any injury crisis, but will desperately hoping the likes of Joe Launchbury, George Kruis, James Haskell - as well as captain Dylan Hartley - can prove their match fitness ahead of the tournament opener against France. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38583061 |
Politicians, the public and the media: 30 years of change - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | John Humphrys examines how the relationship between politicians and voters has changed over the last 30 years. | UK Politics | As he reaches 30 years of presenting BBC Radio 4's Today programme, John Humphrys examines how the relationship between politicians and voters has changed.
Margaret Thatcher was my first interview with a prime minister on Today: a truly scary prospect for the new boy, if only because you could never be quite sure what she might say.
I wanted to try to get some insight into what informed her politics and asked her about what she, as a practising Christian, saw as the essence of her faith. She surprised me by saying: "Choice."
She added: "How can you express unselfish love if you have no choice? The fundamental choice is the right to choose between good and evil. And the fundamental reason for being on this Earth is so to improve your character that you are fit for the next world."
Margaret Thatcher once phoned into the Today programme from the kitchen of No 10 to react to an interview
I try - and fail - to imagine getting into a discussion with a modern party leader a few days before a general election and talking theology.
Mrs Thatcher was - insofar as any politician has ever been - unspun.
Of course she had a press secretary. What she didn't have was a vast team of spin doctors who monitor - even sometimes dictate - ministers' every move and every word.
One morning she actually phoned into the programme from the kitchen at No 10 to react to an interview I had just done. Years later her press secretary, Bernard Ingham, told me the first he knew of his boss being interviewed was when he heard it as he was driving to work.
New Labour meant a new approach to the media
"I nearly drove off the bloody road!" he told me. Again, unimaginable today.
Mrs Thatcher never complained about the treatment she got at the hands of us lot.
Things started changing when John Major came to power and I had what I thought was a friendly but combative chat with the then Chancellor, Ken Clarke.
Well maybe not too friendly. A few weeks later, the Cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken made a speech attacking me for having poisoned the well of democratic debate.
He claimed I had interrupted Mr Clarke 32 times in that one interview and ministers should stop exposing themselves to that sort of treatment.
Not that it bothered Mr Clarke. He later said: "My reaction when interrupted by Humphrys was to interrupt his questions if he was going to interrupt my answers."
Everything changed when New Labour arrived on the scene led by a fresh-faced young Tony Blair. New Labour: new approach to the media.
Downing Street threatened to withdraw co-operation from the Today programme after an interview with Harriet Harman
And it worked, at the start. When Mr Blair got into big trouble over sleaze allegations he invited me down to Chequers to talk to him for the On The Record programme.
"I think most people who have dealt with me think I'm a pretty straight sort of guy and I am," he told me.
A month later, there was trouble on a different front. An admittedly lively exchange with Harriet Harman, who was the social security secretary at the time, produced a response from Downing Street the like of which the programme had never generated before.
It was a letter threatening to withdraw co-operation from Today unless something was done about what they called the "John Humphrys problem".
That letter foreshadowed a more confrontational relationship between Downing Street and journalists, especially in the BBC, over the years to come.
In 2003, we invaded Iraq because, we were told by Tony Blair, Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. He didn't.
Three months later I did a perfectly unremarkable early morning three-minute interview with a correspondent. I've done thousands of them over the last 30 years.
Alastair Campbell changed the relationship between politicians and the media during the early years of Blair's leadership
Did I say unremarkable? It nearly brought down the BBC. Andrew Gilligan had been told by a reliable source that the dossier warning us of the threat from Saddam had been deliberately sexed up.
That claim was ultimately to lead to the suicide of the source, Dr David Kelly, the destruction of Tony Blair's reputation and the resignation of the two most senior men in the BBC: the director general and the chairman.
Orchestrating the government's defence was the No 10 spin doctor, Alastair Campbell, easily the most powerful man ever to hold that role.
Some years later I spoke to Campbell about the effect he'd had on the relationship between politicians and media during the early years of Blair's leadership.
"I was always of the view, when Tony asked me to work for him, that we had to change the terms of the trade, that the press had been frankly setting the political agenda… and in a way which in my mind was detrimental to the interests of the Labour Party," he said.
"So we did make changes and some of those changes were absolutely necessary and I would defend them to the hilt.
David Cameron appealed directly to the public rather than inheriting the Blair spin machine
"I think at times we probably went over the top. I think sometimes we were too aggressive and sometimes when we got into government for the first couple of years we maybe took some of the techniques of opposition into government."
Then we come to David Cameron.
He may have been the heir to Blair, but he did not inherit the Blair spin machine.
Or rather he believed that if he appealed directly to the people they would listen to what he had to say and respect his wisdom.
Theresa May has been attacked for keeping her true thoughts to herself
In the end that was to bring him down with the EU referendum result.
So now, another "new dawn", another prime minister, another approach to getting the message across.
Theresa May told us she won't give a running commentary on Brexit. Nor has there been.
On the contrary, this is a prime minister who's been attacked for keeping her true thoughts to herself - so far at least.
That may change in the coming days when we find out what she really means when she tells us Brexit means Brexit. But still, hard to imagine her doing a Thatcher and discussing theology at 08:10 on the Today programme. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38570887 |
Kazuyoshi Miura: Yokohama striker signs contract to play into his 50s - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Japanese striker Kazuyoshi Miura will take his professional career into his 50s after signing a new contract with Yokohama FC. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Japanese striker Kazuyoshi Miura will take his professional football career into his 50s after signing a new contract with second-tier Yokohama FC.
Miura, who retired from international football 17 years ago, is the oldest scorer in the history of the domestic league after netting at the age of 49 last season.
He turns 50 on 26 February, about the time the 2017 campaign begins.
Miura, who has played in Europe, scored 55 goals in 89 caps for Japan.
He started his career in Brazil with Santos, making his professional debut in 1986, and had brief spells with Genoa and Dinamo Zagreb in the 1990s.
The forward joined Yokohama in 2005, at the age of 38. He was the oldest player in the top flight before his move from Vissel Kobe.
"I hope to keep fighting with all my might together with people involved with the club, my team-mates and supporters who have always given me support," said Miura, as he enters his 32nd season in professional football with a one-year contract. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38586035 |
Why Brexit is still undefined - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Why the UK government is still weighing up its negotiating strategy for leaving the EU. | UK Politics | It is a curious moment in British politics. The government is facing the most important negotiations in over 50 years. The outcome will shape the future of the UK economy - but you would not necessarily know it.
The consumers - the voters - appear to be shrugging off the uncertainties, the unknowns and the warnings of future risks.
Many economists had predicted that a vote to leave the EU would tip Britain into recession. Instead, after six months, the UK is on track to be the fastest growing economy in the G7. Orders in the manufacturing sector are expanding at the fastest rate in 25 years.
Consumers are acting "almost as though the referendum had not taken place" asserts Andy Haldane, the Chief Economist at the Bank of England.
The economic forecasters are on the defensive or taking a turn in the confessional, admitting that the forecasting profession "is to some extent in crisis". It is a reminder of what I was once told - that economics is not a science but the politics of money.
There have been times in the past when politicians have urged voters to go out and spend, almost as if shopping was a patriotic duty. In recent months, the British consumer has needed no urging.
There has been a surge in UK retail sales
Warnings have been defied. Financed by a surge in borrowing, spending is accelerating. Confidence is high, buoyed by real income growth, the housing market outside London, low unemployment and a soaring stock market. Our European neighbours are a little open-mouthed at the way the script is unfolding.
But many of the same economists and forecasters who had warned against Brexit still believe a reckoning is coming. The rising costs of imports because of a weakened pound and increased fuel prices will combine to force some retailers to raise their prices. Higher inflation will test consumer appetites.
The robust economy has bought the government political space. It is not at the moment under pressure and does not yet need to show its hand but, slowly, a narrative is emerging that carries risks for Theresa May and her tightly-wound circle; that they are hobbled by indecision.
Perhaps, not surprisingly, you hear it said in the European Commission that the government neither has a strategy for the negotiations ahead nor does it know what it wants.
That is seeping into the conversations in Westminster and was boosted by the charge from Sir Ivan Rogers, the former UK Ambassador to the EU, of "muddled thinking" in the government.
Sir Ivan Rogers has warned about "muddled thinking" over Brexit
It is a narrative rejected by Mrs May and, to be fair to No 10, there are no easy choices. It is as complex a negotiation as any government has faced. Inevitably some people will be disappointed.
Brussels thinks the UK has made its choice. The PM has said the UK will insist on controlling EU immigration and on leaving the jurisdiction of the European courts. To those sitting in the halls of the EU that means Britain is set on leaving the single market because access to the internal market depends on accepting freedom of movement.
Theresa May has repeatedly rejected the idea that what the UK wants is a binary decision. She certainly believes that the government has to reassert control over EU migration and that is close to being a red line.
But ministers believe that does not preclude a deal, whereby access to the single market is negotiated for certain industries or where some elements of freedom of movement are accepted, while negotiating for the right to apply a brake if the system is under pressure.
Angela Merkel has said there will be "no cherry picking" by the UK over its Brexit deal
The official EU line is the one echoed by Angela Merkel who insists there will be "no cherry picking". So far, the 27 other members of the EU have been remarkably united behind that response.
The government, however, believes that once the negotiations start there will be greater flexibility to be exploited.
Downing Street knows that almost any deal has the capacity to stir up divisions, not least within the PM's own party. The differences will not easily be reconciled.
Many of the Brexiteers want to leave the single market and the customs union as quickly as possible, precisely because of the conditions attached to belonging to it.
However, a sizeable part of the Conservative Party, the City and the business community believes that leaving the single market would be reckless, risking serious damage to the UK economy.
Some time after the end of March, when Article 50 is triggered, the negotiations will begin. The initial focus will be on the terms of the divorce. Early on, the UK will face the bill to settle outstanding obligations, like contributions to the EU budget and towards EU pensions. In Brussels they put the price tag somewhere between 55 and 60 billion euros. That one item alone has the potential to sour negotiations.
In the two years to settle the divorce there will almost certainly be no time to agree a trade deal. That is why both the EU and some UK ministers are calling for a transitional arrangement.
Negotiating new trade agreements will be a key part of a successful Brexit
This will be a much more dangerous period for the government. Inward investment may weaken, businesses may postpone expenditure and some companies may decide to move part of their operations to a EU capital, while consumers may lose their confidence.
The challenge for the government will be to keep the voters believing that an agreement is achievable which protects the economy.
The greatest risk for the prime minister is that her opening bid is dismissed out of hand or that it becomes apparent that a compromise is beyond reach. There are well-known figures in the European Commission who do not disguise their determination to see the UK hurt.
That was Sir Ivan Rogers's concern, that the UK could slide into a "disorderly break" with nothing to show for all the talking, leaving the UK trading under World Trade Organization rules with common tariffs.
Within 10 weeks Mrs May will have to shed her instinctive caution, define her goals and become the great persuader both in Europe and at home.
At some stage she will face the maxim "to lead is to choose".
• None What are the Brexit options? | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38558056 |
Jeff Sessions: What he revealed about Trump's priorities - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Senator Jeff Sessions gave policy clues on law and order, immigration and civil rights under Trump. | US & Canada | During Jeff Session's first day of confirmation hearings, Democrats did not provoke any blockbuster revelations that would bring his attorney general hopes crashing down in flames.
Senators on both sides of the aisle, however, were able to draw Mr Trump's nominee out on a wide range of issues, revealing how he would go about running the Justice Department and what his priorities would be.
Here's a look at some of the more significant topics of discussion.
Last year Senator Jeff Sessions said that the FBI should have been more aggressive in investigating Democrat Hillary Clinton's use of a private email system and possible corruption in the her family's charitable foundation.
On Tuesday morning he said that because such previous comments could call into question his impartiality, he would recuse himself from any future Justice Department investigations into the former Democratic presidential nominee.
He also downplayed concerns, aired during the presidential campaign, that Mr Trump might be prone to use the powers of the presidency to punish political foes.
When California Senator Diane Feinstein asked Mr Sessions about his past opposition to the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalising abortion across the US, the nominee stood by his view that the case was a colossal mistake.
He noted, however, that the decision was the "law of the land" and that he will "respect and follow it" - a line he also used regarding the recent court decision to legalise same-sex marriage.
Mr Sessions later said that he would enforce laws guaranteeing access to abortion clinics and prohibiting protesters from disrupting their operation.
Abortion opponents have been focused less on overturning the Roe decision in recent years, however, instead opting for limiting when and where women can obtain abortions. On that topic, Mr Sessions was much more opaque.
Mr Sessions, when asked about Mr Trump's past support for temporarily closing the US border to all Muslims, said neither he nor the president-elect currently backed such a policy.
Instead, he said, the incoming administration's plan was to subject individuals from countries with ties to terrorism to "strong vetting". He did concede, however, that a new arrival's religion could be taken into consideration by US immigration officials
"Sometimes, at least not in a majority, many people do have religious views that are inimical to the public safety of the United States," he said.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Jeff Sessions said caricature of him as a 'Southern racist was painful'
Mr Sessions has been an advocate for voter ID laws in the past - measures that have, at times, run afoul of the federal Voting Rights Act.
When asked about a recent decision by a Texas court to strike down their strict law, the Alabama senator professed a lack of knowledge of details.
"I have publicly said I think voter ID laws properly drafted are ok," Mr Sessions said. "But as attorney general it will be my duty to study the facts and in more depth, to analyse the law, but fundamentally that can be decided by Congress, and the courts, as they interpret the existing law."
He was more forthcoming when asked about the portion of the Voting Rights Act ruled unconstitutional in 2013 by the US Supreme Court that required a number of states, mostly in the South, to receive federal clearance before taking actions affecting voting rights. He called it "intrusive".
The practice of waterboarding detainees, according to Mr Sessions on Tuesday, is "absolutely improper and illegal".
That represents a bit of a departure for the Alabama senator, who voted against the 2015 law making it illegal, and runs contrary to Mr Trump's campaign position that he backed measures "a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding".
As for the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the attorney general nominee was on the same page as the president-elect.
"It's a safe place to keep prisoners," he said. "I believe it should be utilised in that fashion and have opposed the closing of it."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A Democratic critic says there's no evidence Sessions will be 'fair and humane' on immigration
Over the course of the more than six hours of testimony on Tuesday, Mr Sessions was asked about how vigorously he'd pursue a variety of Justice Department priorities. He wouldn't rule out increased enforcement of federal drug laws in states that have decriminalised marijuana and suggested he might restart a task-force charged with prosecuting violations of anti-obscenity laws.
Mr Sessions also made clear that he did not support the "prosecutorial discretion" that the Obama administration used to suspend the deportation of some groups of undocumented migrants, such as those who entered the US as children.
While he didn't directly call for reversing Barack Obama's executive orders on immigration, he said it was of "very questionable" constitutionality and that his Justice Department wouldn't object to reversing it. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38577629 |
Southampton 1-0 Liverpool - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Nathan Redmond's first-half goal gives Southampton a narrow advantage in their EFL Cup semi-final with Liverpool. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Southampton hold a slender advantage in the EFL Cup semi-final after a fully deserved first-leg victory over Liverpool at St Mary's.
Nathan Redmond's cool finish from Jay Rodriguez's pass gave Saints a crucial lead to take to Anfield on 25 January - but Southampton can count themselves unlucky not to be in complete control of this battle for a place at Wembley.
Liverpool's much-criticised goalkeeper Loris Karius was one of very few in Jurgen Klopp's side to distinguish himself amid a shocking performance, making two fine first-half saves from goalscorer Redmond.
Karius's one-handed save from Redmond right on half-time was vital but he was helpless late on as the same player threatened once more, Liverpool enjoying more good fortune as his effort came back off the bar.
• None 'We should have lost 3-0 - Klopp'
Saints satisfied - but is there disappointment too?
Southampton's recent form has been indifferent but manager Claude Puel will have been delighted with their display at St Mary's.
After a brief early spell of Liverpool pressure, when Roberto Firmino tested Fraser Forster, Southampton were completely untroubled throughout an impressive performance.
Saints were sharp in the tackle, more assured in possession and a continual threat through Redmond and the industrious Rodriguez.
They will be left, however, with a tinge of regret despite an excellent, fully merited result that gives them real reason for optimism for the second leg at Anfield.
Karius and the woodwork kept them at bay and they had many other opportunities to produce a scoreline reflecting their superiority.
Southampton could have slammed the door on Liverpool - instead it remains ajar.
Karius has had to undergo a severe examination of his goalkeeping credentials and endure heavy public criticism in the early months of his Liverpool career.
Klopp placed great faith in the 23-year-old German, signed from his former club Mainz in a £4.75m deal this summer - eventually choosing him ahead of established first-choice Simon Mignolet.
The decision backfired and he was forced to drop Karius after two poor, error-strewn performances in the 4-3 loss at Bournemouth and the 2-2 home draw with West Ham.
Klopp has never lost belief, however, choosing Karius as his cup keeper - and he was rewarded here with an outstanding display, especially with two excellent saves from Redmond.
He is responsible for Liverpool still being in this tie after a shocking display.
What the managers said
"Liverpool had just the one chance all game. We were unlucky at the end because we know Liverpool away in the second leg will be very difficult.
"This competition is exciting, now it is important to keep the good concentration for the Premier League.
"We lost three games so it is important to have a good reaction."
"We needed Loris Karius to save our lives two or three times.
"The best thing for us is the result. We know that we can play better at Anfield - nothing is decided.
"We cannot be happy with the performance, Southampton cannot be happy with the result. It could and should have been 2-0, 3-0."
Puel in the black against Reds - the key stats
• None After losing four of their previous five matches against Liverpool (D1), Southampton are now unbeaten in their past three versus the Reds (W2 D1).
• None Claude Puel is unbeaten in four clashes with Liverpool as manager (W2 D2).
• None Liverpool have managed only two shots on target in both of their meetings with Southampton this season - only against Man City (one) have they registered fewer in a match this term.
• None Jay Rodriguez provided his first assist in all competitions for Southampton since January 2014 against Arsenal.
• None Southampton have kept more clean sheets than any other team in the EFL Cup this season (four).
You can make a strong case for Southampton winning 2-0 or even 3-0. Everyone here is happy but this is an opportunity missed.
If Southampton don't go through they will be kicking themselves.
• None Attempt missed. Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by James Milner.
• None Attempt missed. Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool) left footed shot from outside the box is too high.
• None Nathan Redmond (Southampton) hits the bar with a right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right.
• None Jay Rodriguez (Southampton) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt missed. Jay Rodriguez (Southampton) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Nathan Redmond.
• None Attempt missed. Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Nathaniel Clyne.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Substitution, Southampton. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg replaces Jordy Clasie because of an injury. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38504049 |
Trump 'compromising' claims: How and why did we get here? - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Paul Wood examines the background and fallout concerning the allegations about the president-elect. | US & Canada | The allegations against Donald Trump in the documents read like something from a bad film
Donald Trump has described as "fake news" allegations published in some media that his election team colluded with Russia - and that Russia held compromising material about his private life. The BBC's Paul Wood saw the allegations before the election, and reports on the fallout now they have come to light.
The significance of these allegations is that, if true, the president-elect of the United States would be vulnerable to blackmail by the Russians.
I understand the CIA believes it is credible that the Kremlin has such kompromat - or compromising material - on the next US commander in chief. At the same time a joint taskforce, which includes the CIA and the FBI, has been investigating allegations that the Russians may have sent money to Mr Trump's organisation or his election campaign.
Claims about a Russian blackmail tape were made in one of a series of reports written by a former British intelligence agent, understood to be Christopher Steele.
As a member of MI6, he had been posted to the UK's embassy in Moscow and now runs a consultancy giving advice on doing business in Russia. He spoke to a number of his old contacts in the FSB, the successor to the KGB, paying some of them for information.
They told him that Mr Trump had been filmed with a group of prostitutes in the presidential suite of Moscow's Ritz-Carlton hotel. I know this because the Washington political research company that commissioned his report showed it to me during the final week of the election campaign.
The BBC decided not to use it then, for the very good reason that without seeing the tape - if it exists - we could not know if the claims were true. The detail of the allegations were certainly lurid. The entire series of reports has now been posted by BuzzFeed.
Mr Trump's supporters say this is a politically motivated attack.
The president-elect himself, outraged, tweeted this morning: "Are we living in Nazi Germany?"
Later, at his much-awaited news conference, he was unrestrained.
"A thing like that should have never been written," he said, "and certainly should never have been released."
He said the memo was written by "sick people [who] put that crap together".
The opposition research firm that commissioned the report had worked first for an anti-Trump superpac - political action committee - during the Republican primaries.
Then during the general election, it was funded by an anonymous Democratic Party supporter. But these are not political hacks - their usual line of work is country analysis and commercial risk assessment, similar to the former MI6 agent's consultancy. He, apparently, gave his dossier to the FBI against the firm's advice.
Mr Trump was in Moscow in 2013 for the Miss Universe pageant (pictured)
And the former MI6 agent is not the only source for the claim about Russian kompromat on the president-elect. Back in August, a retired spy told me he had been informed of its existence by "the head of an East European intelligence agency".
Later, I used an intermediary to pass some questions to active duty CIA officers dealing with the case file - they would not speak to me directly. I got a message back that there was "more than one tape", "audio and video", on "more than one date", in "more than one place" - in the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow and also in St Petersburg - and that the material was "of a sexual nature".
The claims of Russian kompromat on Mr Trump were "credible", the CIA believed. That is why - according to the New York Times and Washington Post - these claims ended up on President Barack Obama's desk last week, a briefing document also given to Congressional leaders and to Mr Trump himself.
Mr Trump did visit Moscow in November 2013, the date the main tape is supposed to have been made. There is TV footage of him at the Miss Universe contest. Any visitor to a grand hotel in Moscow would be wise to assume that their room comes equipped with hidden cameras and microphones as well as a mini-bar.
At his news conference, Mr Trump said he warned his staff when they travelled: "Be very careful, because in your hotel rooms and no matter where you go you're going to probably have cameras." So the Russian security services have made obtaining kompromat an art form.
Even President Vladimir Putin says there is "kompromat" on him - though perhaps he is joking
One Russian specialist told me that Vladimir Putin himself sometimes says there is kompromat on him - though perhaps he is joking. The specialist went on to tell me that FSB officers are prone to boasting about having tapes on public figures, and to be careful of any statements they might make.
A former CIA officer told me he had spoken by phone to a serving FSB officer who talked about the tapes. He concluded: "It's hokey as hell."
Mr Trump and his supporters are right to point out that these are unsubstantiated allegations.
But it is not just sex, it is money too. The former MI6 agent's report detailed alleged attempts by the Kremlin to offer Mr Trump lucrative "sweetheart deals" in Russia that would buy his loyalty.
Mr Trump turned these down, and indeed has done little real business in Russia. But a joint intelligence and law enforcement taskforce has been looking at allegations that the Kremlin paid money to his campaign through his associates.
On 15 October, the US secret intelligence court issued a warrant to investigate two Russian banks. This news was given to me by several sources and corroborated by someone I will identify only as a senior member of the US intelligence community. He would never volunteer anything - giving up classified information would be illegal - but he would confirm or deny what I had heard from other sources.
Mr Trump says Moscow has "never tried to use leverage on me"
"I'm going to write a story that says…" I would say. "I don't have a problem with that," he would reply, if my information was accurate. He confirmed the sequence of events below.
Last April, the CIA director was shown intelligence that worried him. It was - allegedly - a tape recording of a conversation about money from the Kremlin going into the US presidential campaign.
It was passed to the US by an intelligence agency of one of the Baltic States. The CIA cannot act domestically against American citizens so a joint counter-intelligence taskforce was created.
The taskforce included six agencies or departments of government. Dealing with the domestic, US, side of the inquiry, were the FBI, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Justice. For the foreign and intelligence aspects of the investigation, there were another three agencies: the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Security Agency, responsible for electronic spying.
Lawyers from the National Security Division in the Department of Justice then drew up an application. They took it to the secret US court that deals with intelligence, the Fisa court, named after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. They wanted permission to intercept the electronic records from two Russian banks.
Their first application, in June, was rejected outright by the judge. They returned with a more narrowly drawn order in July and were rejected again. Finally, before a new judge, the order was granted, on 15 October, three weeks before election day.
Harry Reid, the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, pictured, accused the FBI of holding back information
Neither Mr Trump nor his associates are named in the Fisa order, which would only cover foreign citizens or foreign entities - in this case the Russian banks. But ultimately, the investigation is looking for transfers of money from Russia to the United States, each one, if proved, a felony offence.
A lawyer- outside the Department of Justice but familiar with the case - told me that three of Mr Trump's associates were the subject of the inquiry. "But it's clear this is about Trump," he said.
I spoke to all three of those identified by this source. All of them emphatically denied any wrongdoing. "Hogwash," said one. "Bullshit," said another. Of the two Russian banks, one denied any wrongdoing, while the other did not respond to a request for comment.
The investigation was active going into the election. During that period, the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Harry Reid, wrote to the director of the FBI, accusing him of holding back "explosive information" about Mr Trump.
Mr Reid sent his letter after getting an intelligence briefing, along with other senior figures in Congress. Only eight people were present: the chairs and ranking minority members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, and the leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties in Congress, the "gang of eight" as they are sometimes called. Normally, senior staff attend "gang of eight" intelligence briefings, but not this time. The Congressional leaders were not even allowed to take notes.
In the letter to the FBI director, James Comey, Mr Reid said: "In my communications with you and other top officials in the national security community, it has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and co-ordination between Donald Trump, his top advisers, and the Russian government - a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States, which Mr Trump praises at every opportunity.
"The public has a right to know this information. I wrote to you months ago calling for this information to be released to the public. There is no danger to American interests from releasing it. And yet, you continue to resist calls to inform the public of this critical information."
The CIA, FBI, Justice and Treasury all refused to comment when I approached them after hearing about the Fisa warrant.
It is not clear what will happen to the inter-agency investigation under President Trump - or even if the taskforce is continuing its work now. The Russians have denied any attempt to influence the president-elect - with either money or a blackmail tape.
Hillary Clinton referred to Mr Trump as Mr Putin's "puppet" during the debates
If a tape exists, the Russians would hardly give it up, though some hope to encourage a disloyal FSB officer who might want to make some serious money. Before the election, Larry Flynt, publisher of the pornographic magazine Hustler, put up a million dollars for incriminating tape of Mr Trump. Penthouse has now followed with its own offer of a million dollars for the Ritz-Carlton tape (if it exists).
It is an extraordinary situation, 10 days before Mr Trump is sworn into office, but it was foreshadowed during the campaign.
During the final presidential debate, Hillary Clinton called Donald Trump a "puppet" of Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin. "No puppet. No puppet," Mr Trump interjected, talking over Mrs Clinton. "You're the puppet. No, you're the puppet."
In a New York Times op-ed in August, the former director of the CIA, Michael Morell, wrote: "In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr Putin had recruited Mr Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation."
Agent; puppet - both terms imply some measure of influence or control by Moscow.
Michael Hayden, former head of both the CIA and the NSA, simply called Mr Trump a "polezni durak" - a useful fool.
The background to those statements was information held - at the time - within the intelligence community. Now all Americans have heard the claims. Little more than a week before his inauguration, they will have to decide if their president-elect really was being blackmailed by Moscow.
Clarification: 11 January - This article was amended to make clear that the opposition research firm which commissioned the report had first worked for an anti-Trump political action committee. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38589427 |
Namesake 'bromance' in Australia delights the internet - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | How two men made global news by meeting up in Australia because they share the same name. | Australia | The two men arranged to meet because they had the same name
Their whirlwind friendship began on Facebook, grew over beer, progressed to a New Year's Eve kiss - then went right around the world.
It started when Sam Mitchell, a 19-year-old plasterer in Australia, contacted a 22-year-old British backpacker on social media because he shared his exact name.
"You may be wondering why I have sent you a friend request. I had to because we share the same name. Middle name as well. Good day sir," he wrote.
The reply came quickly: "Yeah, and what is stranger is that I've just moved from the UK to Australia."
Four hours later, the Australian and his friends pooled their money to buy the London man a ticket from Victoria to Tasmania for the following morning, New Year's Eve.
"The idea of flying him down got tossed about," Australian Sam told the BBC. "The more beers we had, the better the idea became."
After collecting their new friend from Launceston Airport, the group staged what they called the "Sam Mitchell Olympics".
This involved a sack race using laundry buckets, a taste-testing game and beer pong.
The British traveller documented his journey to Launceston
The new friends staged what they called the "Sam Mitchell Olympics"
Later at a bar, the Sams celebrated 2017 with a kiss.
"It was strictly platonic, but it was very nice for me knowing that he had chosen to kiss me at midnight, instead of his girlfriend who he has been with for four years," British Sam said.
The story of their unlikely meeting and ensuing fun has made news around the world.
"The games. The drinks. The mateship. The pash," said pop culture website Pedestrian. "Ladies and gentlemen, 2017 is still young, but we don't reckon the internet will get any better than this over the next 12 months."
"One day you'll get to experience the pure joy of meeting someone with the exact same name as you," wrote Mashable. It was an "extremely cute bromance", said news.com.au.
The London man later returned to Melbourne
Lifestyle website Techly mused: "The Man From Snowy River, the expedition of Burke and Wills and the tale of Ned Kelly are all iconic Australian stories, but now we've finally got one for the digital age."
British Sam told the BBC: "It seems to be a story that everyone is really enjoying amongst all the bad news over the past year."
The friends parted ways but have vowed to remain in touch.
"We joked about - by next New Year's (Eve) - having a bunch of Sam Mitchells from all over the world representing their countries and having an actual 'Sam Mitchell Olympics'," British Sam said.
"We'll definitely have a drink and a few laughs at some point." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-38566161 |
US President Barack Obama farewell speech in Chicago - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | Barack Obama outlined his achievements and paid tribute to his family as he neared the end of his second term. | null | President Barack Obama outlined his achievements in his farewell speech in Chicago.
The country's first black president, now 55, was first elected in 2008 on a message of hope and change.
His successor, Donald Trump, has vowed to undo some of Mr Obama's signature policies after he is sworn into office on 20 January. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38580546 |
'Star Wars gibbon' is new primate species - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Scientists have found a new species of gibbon living in the tropical forests of south west China. | Science & Environment | The gibbons live high up in the canopies of the tropical rainforests of China
A gibbon living in the tropical forests of south west China is a new species of primate, scientists have concluded.
The animal has been studied for some time, but new research confirms it is different from all other gibbons.
It has been named the Skywalker hoolock gibbon - partly because the Chinese characters of its scientific name mean "Heaven's movement" but also because the scientists are fans of Star Wars.
The study is published in the American Journal of Primatology.
Dr Sam Turvey, from the Zoological Society of London, who was part of the team studying the apes, told BBC News: "In this area, so many species have declined or gone extinct because of habitat loss, hunting and general human overpopulation.
"So it's an absolute privilege to see something as special and as rare as a gibbon in a canopy in a Chinese rainforest, and especially when it turns out that the gibbons are actually a new species previously unrecognised by science."
The researchers began to suspect the Yunnan Province gibbons were different
Hoolock gibbons are found in Bangladesh, India, China and Myanmar. They spend most of their time living in the treetops, swinging through the forests with their forelimbs, rarely spending any time on the ground.
But the research team - led by Fan Peng-Fei from Sun Yat-sen University in China - started to suspect that the animals they were studying in China's Yunnan Province were unusual.
All hoolock gibbons have white eyebrows and some have white beards - but the Chinese primates' markings differed in appearance.
Their songs, which they use to bond with other gibbons and to mark out their territory, also had an unusual ring.
So the team carried out a full physical and genetic comparison with other gibbons, which confirmed that the primates were indeed a different species.
They have been given the scientific name of Hoolock tianxing - but their common name is now the Skywalker hoolock gibbon, thanks to the scientists' taste in films.
The animals are now known as Skywalker hoolock gibbons
Dr Turvey said the team had been studying the animals in the Gaoligongshan nature reserve, but it was not easy.
"It's difficult to get into the reserve. You have to hike up to above 2,500m to find the gibbons. That's where the good quality forest usually starts - everywhere below there has been logged.
"Then you have to wake up really early in the morning and you listen out for the haunting song of the gibbons, which carries in the forest canopy.
"And when you hear it, you rush through the mud and the mist, and run for hundreds of metres to try and catch up with these gibbons."
The researchers estimate that there are about 200 of the Skywalker gibbons living in China - and also some living in neighbouring Myanmar, although the population size there is currently unknown.
The team warns that the primates are at risk of extinction.
"The low number of surviving animals and the threat they face from habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and hunting means we think they should be classified as an endangered species," said Dr Turvey.
In response to the news, actor Mark Hamill - the original Luke Skywalker - said on Twitter that he was so proud to have a new jungle Jedi named after his character.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38576819 |
Reality Check: Has inequality been getting worse? - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Jeremy Corbyn says inequality has been getting worse, on the day official figures say the opposite. | Business | The claim: Levels of inequality in the UK have been getting worse.
Reality Check verdict: Official figures suggest that income distribution has become less unequal over the past decade.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday morning that he would be interested in a cap on earnings, because "we cannot go on creating worse levels of inequality".
Coincidentally, Tuesday morning also saw the release of the annual report on income inequality from the Office for National Statistics.
It said that there had been a gradual decline in income inequality over the past decade.
It is using the Gini Coefficient, which is a measure of inequality - in this case, a coefficient of zero would mean that all households had the same income while 100 would mean that one household had all the income.
These figures are for disposable income, which is what you get after you've added benefits and subtracted direct taxes such as income tax and council tax.
There are caveats around these figures - they are based on surveys, so there is a margin of error, and it is particularly difficult to get survey responses from people at the top of the income distribution.
But the official figures suggest that there was a considerable increase in inequality in the 1980s, relatively little change from the early 1990s to mid-2000s and then a gradual decline in the past decade, returning the UK to the same level of inequality as was seen in the mid-1980s.
So from these figures it would be wrong to conclude that inequality has been getting worse.
What could be missing from this analysis? The ONS looks at inequality across the whole population - there has also been much interest in comparing the richest 1% or 0.1% with the rest of the population.
The World Top Incomes Database (which you can see in figure 3 of this blog) suggests that since 1990 there has been relatively little change in the share of income taken by the richest 20% or 10% of the population.
The richest 1% and the richest 0.1% had seen their share of income rising steadily until the financial crisis, but it has fallen since then. So once again, inequality has not been growing.
The measures identified so far have been looking at income rather than wealth.
It is also possible to calculate Gini coefficients for wealth, although the latest official figures for it covered only up to the middle of 2014.
From 2006 to 2014, there was a small increase in overall wealth inequality, with property wealth having the biggest effect.
Housing costs are a particular issue - the Department for Work and Pensions calculates a Gini coefficient for income distribution that takes housing costs into account.
The difference it makes is that inequality increases in 2013-14, although it is still below pre-financial crisis levels.
None of this suggests that inequality does not exist in the UK or that it is not a problem or indeed that it is not worse than in other countries, but there is little evidence that it has been getting worse in the UK in the past decade.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38570809 |
Amateur sailor Gavin Reid recognised for yacht rescue - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | An amateur sailor beats an Olympic medallist to the 'yachtsman of the year' award after rescuing five crew from a stricken vessel. | null | An amateur sailor has beaten an Olympic medallist to the 'yachtsman of the year' award after rescuing five crew from a stricken vessel.
Gavin Reid, who grew up in Scotland, swam to the aid of another yacht in the south Pacific Ocean.
The 28 year old had been taking part in the Clipper 2015-16 Round the World Yacht Race when he responded to the SOS call.
One man had been trapped on the mast for nine hours and was only freed after Gavin spent two hours untangling the lines.
The Yachting Journalists' Association has recognised the feat and named him 'yachtsman of the year', ahead of Olympian Giles Scott. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-38577637 |
Barack Obama legacy: Did he improve US race relations? - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Barack Obama sealed his racial legacy the moment he sealed victory in the 2008 election. | US & Canada | Barack Obama sealed his racial legacy the moment he sealed victory in the 2008 election - a black man would occupy a White House built by slaves, a history-defying as well as history-making achievement.
In 1961, the year of Obama's birth, there existed in the American South a system of racial apartheid that separated the races from the cradle to the grave.
In some states, his very conception - involving an African father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas - would have been a criminal offence.
When in the 1950s, a former TV executive by the name of E Frederic Morrow became the first black White House aide not to have a job description that included turning down beds, polishing shoes or serving drinks with a deferential bow, he was prohibited from ever being alone in the same room as a white woman.
Back then, as Morrow recounted in his memoir, Black Man in the White House, African-Americans were routinely stereotyped as sexual predators incapable of controlling their desires.
Little more than half a century later, a black man ran the White House - occupying the Oval Office, sitting at the head of the conference table in the Situation Room, relaxing with his beautiful young family in the Executive Mansion - a family that has brought such grace and glamour to America's sleepy capital that it is possible to speak of a Black Camelot.
President and first lady on the first day of his presidency
When Jack and Jackie Kennedy lived in the White House, that would have been unthinkable, even though the civil rights movement was starting to hammer more insistently at the walls of prejudice, and seeking legal and legislative redress for a malignant national condition described as the "American dilemma".
When demonstrators assembled in August 1963 to hear Martin Luther King deliver his I Have a Dream Speech at the Lincoln Memorial, few would have thought that a black man would one day take the oath of office at the other end of the National Mall.
Likewise, how many of the protesters bludgeoned by white policemen on Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma in 1965 would have dared to imagine that, 50 years later, they would cross that same bridge hand in hand with the country's first black president?
For veterans of the black struggle, those remarkable images of Obama marking the 50th anniversary of the Selma protest became instantly iconographic, a truly golden jubilee.
In legacy terms, his very presence in the White House is one of the great intangibles of his presidency. Just how many black Americans have been encouraged to surmount colour bars of their own? Just how many young African-Americans have altered the trajectory of their lives because of the example set by Obama?
And behaviourally, what an example it has been. Because of the lingering racism in American society, the Obamas doubtless knew they would have to reach a higher standard, and they have done so, seemingly, without breaking a sweat. In deportment and personal conduct, it is hard to recall a more impressive or well-rounded First Family.
The "when they go low, we go high" approach to racists who questioned his citizenship has made the Obamas look even more classy.
His family's dignity in the face of such ugliness recalls the poise of black sit-in protesters in the early 60s, who refused to relinquish their seats at segregated restaurants and lunch counters even as white thugs poured sugar and ketchup over their heads, and punched, kicked and spat at them.
Yet racial firsts, of the kind achieved by Barack Hussein Obama, can present a distorted view of history and convey a misleading sense of progress. They are, by their very nature, a singular achievement, a milestone indicative of black advance rather than a destination point.
Hollywood did not become colourblind the moment in 1964 that Sidney Poitier became the first black man to win best actor at the Academy Awards any more than discrimination ended in the justice system when Thurgood Marshall first donned the billowing robes of a Supreme Court jurist.
Years after Poitier's win, black acting success at the Oscars continued to elude many
America's racial problems have not melted away merely because Obama has spent eight years in the White House. Far from it.
Indeed, the insurmountable problem for Obama was that he reached the mountaintop on day one of his presidency.
Achieving anything on the racial front that surpassed becoming the country's first black president was always going to be daunting. Compounding that problem were the unrealistically high expectations surrounding his presidency.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Barack Obama: What would he have done differently?
His election triumph is 2008 was also misinterpreted as an act of national atonement for the original sin of slavery and the stain of segregation.
Yet Obama did not win the election because he was a black man. It was primarily because a country facing an economic crisis and embroiled in two unpopular wars was crying out for change.
Doubtless there have been substantive reforms. His two black attorneys general, Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch, have revitalised the work of the justice department's civil rights division, which was dormant during the Bush years.
The Affordable Healthcare Act, or Obamacare, as it was inevitably dubbed, cut the black uninsured rate by a third.
Partly in a bid to reverse the rate of black incarceration, he has commuted the sentences of hundreds of prisoners - 10 times the number of his five predecessors added together.
As well as calling for the closure of private prisons, he became the first president to visit a federal penitentiary. "There but for the grace of God," said a man who had smoked pot and dabbled with cocaine in his youth.
Janitor Fred Thomas shows off his Obama subway fare card in Washington in 2009
Early on, he used the bully pulpit of the presidency to assail black absentee fathers, and, more latterly, spoke out against police brutality. But that record of accomplishment looks rather meagre when compared to the drama of hearing "Hail to the Chief" accompany the arrival of a black man on the presidential stage.
Race relations have arguably become more polarised and tenser since 20 January 2009. Though smaller in scale and scope, the demonstrations sparked by police shootings of unarmed black men were reminiscent of the turbulence of the 1960s.
The toxic cloud from the tear gas unleashed in Ferguson and elsewhere cast a long and sometimes overwhelming shadow. Not since the LA riots in 1992 - the violent response to the beating of Rodney King and the later acquittal of the police officers filmed assaulting him - has the sense of black grievance and outrage been so raw.
Historians will surely be struck by what looks like an anomaly, that the Obama years gave rise to a movement called Black Lives Matter.
Public opinion surveys highlight this racial restlessness. Not long after he took office in 2009, a New York Times/CBS News poll suggested two-thirds of Americans regarded race relations as generally good. In the midst of last summer's racial turbulence, that poll found there had been a complete reversal. Now 69% of Americans assessed race relations to be mostly bad.
An oft-heard criticism of Obama is that he has failed to bring his great rhetorical skills to bear on the American dilemma, and prioritised the LGBT community's campaign for equality at the expense of the ongoing black struggle.
But while he was happy to cloak himself in the mantle of America's first black president, he did not set out to pursue a black presidency. He did not want his years in office to be defined by his skin colour.
The impact of Obama's presence in the White House on a black generation is impossible to calculate
As a candidate, he often left others to attach racial meaning to his candidacy, rather than doing so himself.
His famed race speech in the 2008 primary campaign, when his friendship with a fiery black preacher threatened to derail his candidacy, was as much about his white heritage as his black.
This remained true when he won election. Besides, there were pressing problems to deal with, not least rescuing the American economy in the midst of the Great Recession and extricating US forces from two long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Early on in his presidency, his efforts at racial mediation also seemed ham-fisted. The "beer summit" at the White House, when he brought together the black Harvard academic Henry Louis Gates and the white police officer who had arrested him on the porch of his own home in an affluent suburb of Boston, all seemed rather facile.
A clumsy photo-opportunity rather than a teachable moment. Obama, one sensed, wanted to speak out more forcefully - initially he said the Cambridge police "acted stupidly" - but his political cautiousness reined him in.
Seemingly, he did not want to come across to the public as a black man in the White House.
Rather in those early years, it was as if he was trying to position himself as a neutral arbiter in racial matters, though one sensed his preference was for not intervening at all.
As his presidency went on, however, it became more emphatically black. He spoke out more passionately and more intimately.
Telling reporters that his son would have looked like Trayvon Martin, the unarmed high school student shot dead in Florida by a neighbourhood watch coordinator, was a departure.
This new, more candid approach culminated in Charleston, South Carolina, when Obama delivered the eulogy at the funeral of Reverend Clementa Pinckney, the black preacher slain, along with eight other worshippers, by a white supremacist at a bible study class at the Emanuel American Methodist Episcopal church.
That afternoon he spoke, as he often does in front of mainly black audiences, with a cadence that almost ventriloquised the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr, and ended, electrifyingly, by singing Amazing Grace.
The acquittal of Martin's killer led to the creation of Black Lives Matter
That month he seemed to be at the height of his powers.
The Confederate flag, a symbol for many of black subordination, was about to brought down in the grounds of the South Carolina State Capitol because the Charleston gunman Dylann Roof had brandished it so provocatively.
Obamacare had withstood a Supreme Court challenge. On the morning that he flew to Charleston, the Supreme Court decreed same-sex marriage would be legal in every state. Progressivism seemed to have triumphed. Obama seemed to have vanquished many of his foes.
But that month Donald Trump had also announced his improbable bid for the White House, and the forces of conservatism were starting to rally behind an outspoken new figurehead, who sensed that nativism, xenophobia and fear of the other would be central to his electoral appeal.
That America's first black president will be followed by the untitled leader of the Birther movement, a candidate slow to disavow support from the Ku Klux Klan and happy to receive the backing of white nationalists, Donald Trump can easily be portrayed as a personal repudiation and also proof of racial regression.
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The truth, though, is more complicated.
Obama is ending his presidency with some of his highest personal approval ratings, and clearly believes he would have beaten Trump in a head-to-head contest. Moreover, although Trump won decisively in the electoral college, almost three million people more voted for Hillary Clinton nationwide.
In judging the mood of the country, the 2016 election hardly produced a clear-cut result that lends itself to neat analysis.
What Trump's election does look to have done, however, is end Obama's hopes of being a transformative president, not least because of the proposed rollback of his signature healthcare reform.
Truly transformative presidents, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, enact reforms, like social security, that become part of the nation's fabric rather than being ripped apart. If Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress get their way, Obamacare will be shredded.
Nor has he been transformative in the attitudinal sense. Indeed, Trump's victory, messy though it was, can easily be viewed partly as a "whitelash".
Much of his earliest and strongest support came from so-called white nationalists, who saw in his candidacy the chance to reassert white cultural and racial dominance. Some of the loudest cheers at his rallies came in response his anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim invectives.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Millennials worry about what's in store for the next generation of black Americans
Trump's message, from the moment he announced his candidacy to the final tweets of his insurgent campaign, was aimed primarily at white America.
The billionaire's victory also makes it harder to view Obama as a transitional president. Eight years ago, it was tempting to cast the country's first black president as the leader who would oversee a peaceable demographic shift from a still strongly Caucasian America - the last census showed that 62.6% of US citizens are white - to a more ethnically diffuse nation.
But the talk now is of walls, not human bridges.
Of course, the notion that Obama would usher in a post-racial America was always fanciful, and a claim wisely he steered clear of himself. For all his cries of "Yes we can," he was never that naïve.
A young visitor to the Oval Office asks Obama if his hair feels like his, in 2009
But the black writer Ta-Nehisi Coates makes a persuasive case that Obama has always been overly optimistic on race, in large part because he did not have a conventional black upbringing.
His formative years were spent in Hawaii, America's most racially integrated state, and the whites he encountered, namely his mother and grandparents, were doting and loving.
Obama was not the victim of discrimination in the same way as a black kid growing up in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, or even New York or Illinois. As a result, he may have underestimated the forces that would seek to paralyse his presidency and to impede racial advance more broadly.
The president has said repeatedly since election night that the result proves that history is not linear but rather takes a zig-zagging course.
Caught in the act, asleep in the White House
He is also fond of paraphrasing Martin Luther King's famed line that the arc of history bends towards justice. However, that curvature has veered off in a wholly unexpected direction.
Besides, even to talk of arcs of history at this moment of such national uncertainty seems inapt.
For as we enter the final days of the Obama presidency, the more accurate descriptor of race relations is a fault-line - the most angry fault-line in US politics and American life, and one that continues to rumble away, threatening small explosions at any time.
From Obama we expected seismic change of a more positive kind.
And although it was a presidency that began atop a mountain, it ended in something of a valley. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38536668 |
Sarah Storey says UCI was warned short Worlds notice would damage attendance - BBC Sport | 2017-01-11 | null | Cycling chiefs were warned that giving athletes seven weeks' notice before the Para-Cycling Track Worlds could affect attendance, says Sarah Storey. | null | Last updated on .From the section Disability Sport
Cycling chiefs were warned that giving seven weeks' notice for the Para-Cycling Track World Championships could affect attendance, British Paralympic champion Sarah Storey has revealed.
Governing body the UCI announced on Monday the event will take place in Los Angeles from 2-5 March.
"All these things were posted to the UCI to advise them, but they decided to still go ahead," she said.
"Some people may not even get a visa if they have the finance to travel. Some athletes work full-time and they need this time to re-bank favours with the boss."
The 14-time Paralympic gold medallist added she had "been pressing for a decision for a number of weeks".
Her fellow Paralympic champion Jody Cundy had earlier described the decision as a "joke".
"The frustrations being aired are quite right," said Storey. "It is just a shame."
There were no major track championships scheduled for 2017 prior to the announcement.
"There is no current structure," Storey said. "The whole of track cycling needs to be put on the map to allow track specialists to race.
"I've been on the commission for three years and every year, every meeting I ask when we are going to have track World Cups. When are we going to have a proper structure?
"My questions have gone unanswered."
In announcing the date for the event on Monday, UCI president Brian Cookson said the organisation was "conscious" some athletes are yet to return to full-intensity training.
"We believe that holding these UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships for the first time ever in a post-Paralympic season signifies notable progress and will enable our athletes to benefit from an enriched calendar as the discipline continues to develop," he added. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/disability-sport/38578751 |
Robbie Williams tickets sold at higher prices - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | Gig tickets are being put directly onto resale ticketing websites at higher prices by Robbie Williams's management team, the Victoria Derbyshire programme has found. | null | Concert tickets are being put directly onto resale ticketing websites at higher prices by Robbie Williams's management team, the Victoria Derbyshire programme has found.
Ie:music put tickets for Williams's 2017 tour on the Get Me In and Seatwave websites - in one case for £65 more, before fees, than a similar ticket on Ticketmaster.
These are official tickets and not resale ones. Ie:music has not responded to requests for a comment.
The Victoria Derbyshire programme is broadcast on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38576749 |
What marks does Obama's presidency deserve? - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | What is the Obama administration's legacy and will it survive Donald Trump? | US & Canada | It's almost time to close the book on Barack Obama's eight years as president. Before he relocates to Washington's posh Kalorama neighbourhood, however, here's a take on what he tried to do - and how well he did it.
Although there are letter grades attached to each section, these assessments are not a reflection of the wisdom of his actions, only in how well he was able to advance his agenda over the course of his presidency.
While a liberal might give his environmental policy high marks, a conservative would likely flunk him. What can't be argued, however, is that he accomplished a considerable amount during his eight years.
Going unmeasured are a number of Mr Obama's intangible or indirect accomplishments.
While the White House sported rainbow-colouring the night after gay marriage became legal nationwide, that was the result of a Supreme Court decision not presidential action. And while Mr Obama often spoke movingly about race relations in the US, particularly after the shooting at a black church in South Carolina, there was little in the way of policy elements accompanying his words.
Mr Obama does have an ample record to judge, however. Here's a look at eight key areas - along with consideration of their "Trump-ability" - how easy it will be for incoming president Donald Trump to undo what Mr Obama has accomplished.
Tell Anthony on Twitter @awzurcher how you would grade Barack Obama's presidency.
Comprehensive healthcare reform had been the Democratic Party's holy grail for decades, always seemingly just out of reach. Under Mr Obama, they finally claimed the prize.
Due to an electoral setback in the Senate before the bill's final passage, however, the massive piece of legislation was a half-baked cake, making implementation a challenge. The federal healthcare insurance marketplace website, essentially unusable for months after launch, was a very visible, politically devastating mistake.
To the surprise of Democrats, many Republican-controlled states opted not to expand Medicaid healthcare coverage for the poor. More recently, insurance premiums for exchange-based policies will increase markedly in some US states - which will be a financial blow to less affluent Americans not covered by government subsidies.
Much of the law operated as intended, however. The percentage of Americans without insurance dropped from 15.7% in 2011 to to 9.1% in 2015. More than 8.8 million Americans have signed up for coverage through the federal exchange in the current enrolment period - a record high. Insurers can't deny individuals coverage for their pre-existing medical conditions, and there are no lifetime dollar caps on coverage.
Despite its shortcomings, passage of the Affordable Care Act, in the words of Vice-President Joe Biden, was a big expletive-ing deal.
Trump-ability: Republicans have been trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act from the moment Mr Obama signed it into law. Mr Trump regularly condemned the programme as a failure. Now, Republicans are setting the wheels in motion to tear up the reforms "root and branch", in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's words.
Republicans will be able to shred the programme even with their slim majority in the Senate thanks to presidential authority and legislative manoeuvres.
Enacting a replacement plan, however, will be more difficult. At the moment, they seem determined to jump off the repeal bridge without figuring out exactly where they will land, but Mr Trump has cautioned his congressional colleagues to be careful with how they go about the task.
Mr Obama's administration helped negotiate the Paris climate agreement, in which the US joined 185 countries in pledging to cut greenhouse gas emissions. It enacted a host of new regulations governing pollution from coal-fired power plants and limiting coal mining and oil and gas drilling both on federal lands and in coastal waters. Mr Obama also used his executive authority to designate 548 million acres of territory as protected habitat - more than any prior president.
The past eight years weren't without missed opportunities, however. Early in his administration, when Democrats had large majorities in Congress, the House of Representatives passed a stringent cap-and-trade programme for controlling carbon emissions. The Senate focused on financial and healthcare reform first, however, and the Democratic majority was gone before they could take action.
That may be as close as Democrats come to any sort of comprehensive environmental legislation for a great many years.
Trump-ability: US participation in the Paris accord is still uncertain given that the president-elect promised to abandon it. While the withdrawal procedure is supposed to take four years, Mr Trump's team is reportedly searching for ways to speed up the process.
Other Obama-era executive accomplishments, however, will be more difficult to roll back. Proposed regulatory changes will require an extended approval process and are sure to face a flurry of lawsuits from environmental groups. Congress could speed things up, but Democrats in the Senate have enough votes to block their efforts if they stick together.
Mr Obama made completion of two major trade agreements - the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership - the cornerstone of his second term in office.
The TPP is destined for the dustbin without even consideration by the US Congress, thanks to a coalition of opposition from Democratic left and the economic nationalists who are sweeping to power with Mr Trump.
The TTIP, which is still in negotiation and attempts to reduce trade barriers between the US and the EU, is being abandoned by politicians on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Obama administration did successfully implement free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea, but they are dwarfed by the size and scope of the now-doomed regional deals.
Trump-ability: Mr Trump can and will give a death blow to any hopes Mr Obama may have had of cementing a lasting trade legacy through the TPP and TTIP. More than that, the new president is poised to roll back the trade legacies of previous presidents, as he's pledged to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement - which was concluded under President Bill Clinton - or perhaps even withdraw from the deal entirely.
His promises to enact draconian import tariffs on some foreign goods would also run counter to US commitments to the World Trade Organization, which could undermine the entire foundation of the current global trade regime.
When Mr Obama took office, the US economy was in freefall. Unemployment had spiked to double digits, housing prices had collapsed and the financial industry teetered on the brink of collapse.
The picture eight years later is one of stability and modest growth, although critics will argue that things could be better (and blue-collar Trump voters in the industrial states seemed to agree).
Policy-wise, Mr Obama pushed through a major stimulus package and financial reform legislation early in his first term. His administration oversaw a support structure that saved General Motors from a bankruptcy that would have devastated the US auto industry.
The Home Affordable Refinance Program, run by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, allowed several million US homeowners to avoid foreclosure and refinance high-interest mortgages.
The president negotiated an agreement that rolled back many of the George W Bush era tax cuts in exchange for across-the-board spending freezes. He frequently called for a raise in the federal minimum wage, but he was unable to generate any support for such actions in the Republican-controlled Congress.
Although the stock market is reaching new highs, 2015 household income is still below what it was in 2007. Considering where his presidency started, however, the current state of economic health is perhaps the president's most noteworthy legacy.
Trump-ability: Republicans cutting taxes when they hold power is as certain as the sun rising in the east. Tax-reform, which will likely include a return to Bush-era rates along with even more substantive changes, appear all but certain for passage. Mr Obama's financial reform legislation also could be poised for weakening, as it was frequently the target of Mr Trump's anti-regulation ire.
Although conservatives liked to criticise Mr Obama's efforts to bolster US companies as "picking winners and losers", early evidence (Carrier, Ford Motors, etc) indicates that's one tradition Mr Trump appears likely to continue, albeit with a sharper edge for businesses that don't comply to his wishes.
Mr Obama will leave the White House with two prominent feathers in his foreign policy cap - the Iran nuclear deal and normalised relations with Cuba. Say what you will about the merits of the accomplishments (and many have), they represent a notable thawing in relations between the US and two long-time antagonists.
He also oversaw the drawdown of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan - fulfilling a key campaign promise.
Elsewhere, however, the president's international policy has been characterised by strained relations and festering problems. His planned "reset" of US-Russian relations upon taking office was followed by the nation's Ukrainian intervention and allegations of meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.
The Arab Spring uprisings that began in 2010 spread unrest throughout the Middle East, culminating in a Syrian Civil War that facilitated the rise of the so-called Islamic State and a devastating refugee crisis that has roiled European politics.
North Korea continues to develop its nuclear weapons programme seemingly undeterred, and Mr Obama's plans for an "Asian pivot" in US foreign policy have done little to keep Chinese regional ambitions in check.
Responsibility for this global unrest can't all be laid at Mr Obama's feet, of course, but it's a mark on his permanent record nonetheless.
Trump-ability: Mr Trump has criticised the Iranian nuclear deal, although unlike some other Republicans he hasn't vowed to abandon it entirely. He may find renegotiating the multi-party agreement more difficult than he might think. As for Cuba, he has the executive authority to roll back all of Mr Obama's diplomatic overtures to the communist island, including relaxed sanctions and travel restrictions - although he's kept his options open so far.
The president-elect also seems more likely to favour closer relations to Israel and a renewed attempt at improving relations with Russia (a re-reset). In Syria, he has criticised Mr Obama's actions but hasn't advocated a coherent counter-policy, so there's no telling how - or if - he'll change course.
One thing is for certain, however. At least rhetorically the Trump administration will be a marked departure from Mr Obama's internationalist foreign policy, which leaned heavily on co-operation and co-ordination with allies.
The long-term trend of declining crime rates continued over the past eight years, although a number of large cities have seen a recent uptick in their murder rates. While public safety was a 2016 campaign issue, much of Mr Obama's efforts while president were directed at criminal justice reform.
In 2010 he signed a law that brought the mandatory minimum prison time for crack cocaine possession - which disproportionately involves black drug offenders - more in line with powder cocaine sentences.
In January 2016, Mr Obama took a series of executive actions to limit the use of solitary confinement in federal prisons and provide greater treatment for inmates with mental health issues. He has also used his presidential power to commute the sentences of more than 1,000 non-violent drug offenders and supported a Justice Department policy that resulted in the early release of about 6,000 individuals.
Although Mr Obama has backed bipartisan sentencing reform legislation in Congress, the 2016 presidential election - and Mr Trump's tough-on-crime rhetoric - has been attributed with frustrating those efforts.
Gun control wasn't a top priority for Mr Obama when he took office, but in the early months of his second term - after the 2012 mass shooting of schoolchildren in Newtown, Connecticut - Mr Obama made a strong push for greater restrictions on some types of military-style semi-automatic rifles and more thorough background checks for firearm purchases.
Those efforts ran head-on into the National Rifle Association's formidable lobbying power, however, and aside from a few executive actions, no new policies were enacted. In 2015, Mr Obama told the BBC that his failure in this area was his greatest frustration as president.
Trump-ability: Given that Mr Trump regularly painted a bleak picture of crime levels in the US, lamented that law enforcement was too constrained by "political correctness" and opined that prison inmates were being treated too well, it's safe to say he will pursue a decidedly different course on public safety than Mr Obama.
Sentencing reform - in limbo for the past year - will be an exceedingly low priority for Republicans in Congress now, and Mr Obama's gun-control executive actions are likely to face the chopping block.
There was a point, shortly after Mr Obama's re-election in 2012, where comprehensive immigration reform seemed inevitable.
The president and his fellow Democrats were in favour, and rattled Republicans saw granting permanent residency to some undocumented workers and streamlining the US immigration system as a means to curry favour with the growing bloc of Hispanic voters.
A grass-roots revolt within the Republican Party derailed those plans, prompting Mr Obama to take a series of executive actions providing normalised status to undocumented immigrants who entered the US as children and the immigrant families of US citizens and permanent residents. (The latter policy has since been suspended during a protracted legal battle over its constitutionality.)
While these efforts attracted widespread praise from pro-immigration activists and Hispanic groups, the Obama administration's policy of increasing removal of other undocumented immigrants has prompted some to call him the "deporter in chief".
From 2009 to 2015, the Obama administration deported more than 2.5 million people - most of whom had been convicted of some form of criminal offence or were recent arrivals.
Trump-ability: Mr Trump may very well drop the US defence of the portion of Mr Obama's immigration action that's currently under legal challenge. He could also unilaterally resume deportation of others given normalised status by Mr Obama's executive efforts, although that will be more controversial.
The president-elect has pledged to deport more than three million undocumented immigrants currently living in the US - including visitors who have overstayed their visas - although given Mr Obama's track record it may be a difference of extent, not substance.
At one point, Mr Trump was pledging to remove everyone not lawfully in the US - more than 11 million by most estimates - which would be a marked departure not just from Mr Obama's policies but those of every modern US president.
Whatever his other successes during his time in office, Mr Obama's presidency was a beating for the Democratic Party.
In 2009, when Mr Obama was swept to power, Democrats had large majorities in the US Congress and control of 29 of 50 governorships. Since then, he has seen his party's power steadily erode. The House of Representatives has been in Republican hands since 2010; the Senate since 2014. Democrats control the governor's mansion in only 16 states.
The situation is even more dire in state legislatures - the proving grounds for young politicians with national ambitions. Republicans hold sway in 32 legislatures, while Democrats have majorities in only 12 (the rest are divided).
If the party doesn't make inroads in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Florida and Wisconsin by 2020, those legislatures will draw congressional district maps that make recapturing the House of Representatives a tall task for Democrats for another decade.
Mr Obama's political constituency - young voters and minorities - proved enough to win him the presidency twice, but it was a fragile coalition that could not be counted on in mid-term congressional and legislative elections or, for that matter, by Hillary Clinton last year.
While Mr Obama can boast considerable accomplishments over his eight years in office, if his party can't regain its footing after a string of devastating electoral setbacks, he won't have any legacy worth writing about before too long.
Trump-ability: Barring a major political realignment in the liberal fortress of California, things can't get much worse for Democrats at the state level. In Congress, however, Mr Trump has a decent shot at expanding the Republican Senate majority in 2018, given that Democrats have to defend 10 seats in states that Mr Trump won last year.
There's always the chance that Republicans could overreach in their efforts to enact their agenda. An economic decline or foreign policy fiasco could tank Mr Trump's approval rating and make winners of even unlikely Democrats.
The durability of Mr Trump's own political coalition of disaffected working-class whites, evangelicals and other traditional Republican voters is still an open question as well. While Republicans may feel the future belongs to them, when Mr Trump's time in the Oval Office comes to an end, there's no telling what kind of grades will his legacy receive. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38525529 |
Nepotism quiz: Who had relatives in high places? - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | How much do you know about famous cases of nepotism? | Magazine | US Democrats say that President-elect Trump's plans to employ his son-in-law as a special adviser may be in breach of anti-nepotism laws.
History is littered with examples of people giving out - and just being accused of giving out - jobs to their nearest and dearest. Take our quiz to test your knowledge of nepotism:
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38562679 |
Jeff Sessions: 'Southern racist caricature painful' - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | null | US attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions says US can 'never go back' to discrimination of past. | null | Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, has faced tough questioning about past allegations of racism during a confirmation hearing.
He dismissed the claims and in response to a Republican colleague who asked him how it felt to be labelled a "racist or bigot" insisted he would defend the rights of all Americans. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/38577627 |
World media: 'We will miss Obama' - BBC News | 2017-01-11 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Barack Obama's speech prompts assessment of his hits and misses by international commentators. | World | Barack Obama's farewell speech evokes wistful regret about his imminent departure amongst some commentators in the world's media - but others offer an at times harsh assessment of his record.
"Barack Obama lifts America one last time," says the website of the UK's Guardian, and its reporter admits that she, and many in the audience were "in tears".
"A fiery plea for democracy" is German public broadcaster ARD's assessment of the speech.
The UK's Daily Telegraph highlights Mr Obama's "urgent and fearful warning" about the state of American democracy.
But the paper offers criticism of his legacy in terms of the UK, with a commentary declaring his departure an opportunity for "Britain and America to rebuild the special relationship" under Donald Trump.
"A catastrophe unfortunately. Why he will still be missed." - Germany's Die Welt
A commentator in Germany's Die Welt finds Mr Obama's political achievements meagre and his foreign policy record even "catastrophic", accusing him of being too timid on Iran, Russia and Syria.
But "we will still miss Barack Obama", he adds - for his style, sense of humour and as a symbol of the hope that the US might still pull itself out of the "moral swamp of racism".
India's Hindustan Times strikes a similar note, but is more critical, especially on Mr Obama's perceived policy failings over Pakistan, Iran and Cuba.
"We will miss Obama for a while," it concedes. "But his misses, and their consequences, will be with us for a long, long time."
A commentator in the English-language Saudi paper Arab News says Mr Obama leaves a world "bitterly divided", and adds that his "untidy withdrawal" from the Middle East and lack of decisiveness on Syria strengthened Iran and frustrated the US's allies in the region.
"It is fair to say that the world, and much of the US, is disappointed with Obama," he concludes.
Spain's La Razon sees in Mr Obama a "man trampled by reality", whose initial idealism was replaced by the need to take the "same decisions that he rejected in his predecessors".
The harshest and most unequivocal criticism of Mr Obama's legacy comes from Russia's pro-Kremlin media.
"Obama will be remembered first of all for a complete failure in foreign policy, in particular the Middle East," says a report on Channel One TV.
Recalling Mr Obama's original "Yes, we can" campaign slogan, state news channel Rossiya 24 sneers that "in the end it looks more like 'he did what he could'".
The channel's US correspondent says Mr Obama's pledge to make the handover of power as smooth as possible "sounds like a cruel joke" in light of the "organised bullying" of Donald Trump.
Barack Obama was joined on stage by his family in Chicago
The Kremlin has previously described accusations that it intervened in the US election on Mr Trump's behalf as a "witch-hunt".
A more nuanced take comes from China, which has already publicly clashed with Donald Trump.
Official Chinese broadcaster CCTV quotes a poll that suggests most Americans feel that Obama "tried but failed" to keep his campaign promises.
But at least US relations with Beijing have been "stable" during the past year, the broadcaster says.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-38581599 |
India v England: Tourists lose warm-up match in Mumbai - BBC Sport | 2017-01-12 | null | England are heavily beaten by India A in their second and final warm-up match before the one-day international series begins on Sunday. | null | Last updated on .From the section Cricket
England were heavily beaten by India A in their second and final warm-up match before the one-day international series begins on Sunday.
After Jonny Bairstow made 64 and Alex Hales 51, the tourists slipped from 116-1 to 211-9 - both Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler were out first ball.
They needed last-wicket pair Adil Rashid and David Willey to reach 282.
India A coasted in the chase, Ajinkya Rahane's 91 getting them home with more than 10 overs to spare.
• None Stay or go? The decision facing Alastair Cook
This setback comes after England beat a different India A line-up by three wickets on Tuesday.
It also throws up further questions over the top-order batting.
The regular top four would comprise Hales, Jason Roy - who was unlucky to be bowled when a part of his helmet fell on to the bails - Joe Root and Morgan.
Root has not played in the warm-ups after arriving late because of the birth of his son, while captain Morgan, returning to the side after missing the tour of Bangladesh over security fears, has made only three runs in two innings.
Meanwhile, Sam Billings made 93 in the first match and Bairstow pressed his claim here.
Morgan is not the only man short of form. Moeen Ali has made just one run in his two innings and was the third of three wickets to fall in the space of eight balls.
Rashid, who shared 71 for the 10th wicket with Willey, served up a succession of short balls in seven overs of leg spin that went for 51 - and not one of England's bowlers managed an economy rate of under six.
The manner of captain Eoin Morgan and vice-captain Jos Buttler's dismissals epitomised this latest England middle-order collapse in India.
Both were caught and bowled, first ball, prodding easy catches back to the bowler, misjudging the pace of the wicket.
England will be much more pleased with their top order, however. Not only did Hales and Bairstow both reach half-centuries, but Jason Roy was looking in fine form before his unfortunate dismissal. He stood his ground for what seemed an age, unable to quite work out how the bails had been dislodged.
We're often told of how deep England bat, and this was proved by a carefree 70-run partnership between Rashid and Willey, who helped make the target more respectable. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/38597815 |
Nepotism quiz: Who had relatives in high places? - BBC News | 2017-01-12 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | How much do you know about famous cases of nepotism? | Magazine | US Democrats say that President-elect Trump's plans to employ his son-in-law as a special adviser may be in breach of anti-nepotism laws.
History is littered with examples of people giving out - and just being accused of giving out - jobs to their nearest and dearest. Take our quiz to test your knowledge of nepotism:
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38562679 |
Turmoil inflames tensions at top of NHS - BBC News | 2017-01-12 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Theresa May dismisses talk of an NHS crisis - but the head of the service in England is worried about the future. | Health | The NHS is facing unprecedented pressures. The future of health and social care in England is a major talking point around Westminster. And at this highly sensitive moment, signs of tension between Downing Street and the leadership of NHS England are emerging.
A story in The Times newspaper suggested that aides to the prime minister were briefing against Simon Stevens. The head of NHS England, it was reported, had been seen by Number 10 as "insufficiently enthusiastic and responsive" to the problems facing the service.
It was denied by both sides but it seems clear that the relationship is not as warm as it might be.
Mr Stevens worked closely with George Osborne, the former chancellor, in launching his five-year plan for the NHS and the funding which underpinned it.
He was often in Downing Street for talks with David Cameron. But things have not been the same since the arrival of Theresa May. It took a while for her to meet Mr Stevens and she does not have the same level of interest in health as her predecessor, predictably perhaps because of the time spent on the Brexit issue.
I understand there is a reasonable working relationship though nothing like what Mr Stevens was used to under the Cameron administration. Mrs May's watering down of the obesity strategy, which NHS leaders had developed over many months, did not help matters.
Now, though, there is a distinct chill. Just a couple of hours after Mrs May defended government policy against fierce Labour attacks in the Commons, the head of NHS England made it very clear he was not impressed with the funding provided by ministers.
There was nothing in what he told MPs on the Commons Public Accounts Committee which he had not said before. It was the timing and the way he said it.
Mr Stevens told the committee that "like probably every part of the public service we got less than what we asked for", directly contradicting suggestions by the prime minister and the health secretary that all the funding requested by the service up to 2020 had been promised. He went on to say that spending on the NHS in England per head of population would actually fall in 2018-19.
Tensions have been reported between Simon Stevens and Theresa May
Even as Mr Stevens was providing his sobering analysis of prospects for the NHS, Downing Street had a cutting response ready for reporters. At the time the five-year spending deal was announced, according to the prime minister's spokeswoman, the NHS chief executive had said "our case for the NHS has been heard and actively supported".
Under the coalition government's controversial health reforms in 2012, NHS England gained more autonomy. The idea was that health service leaders could operate with less political interference.
But the problem is that ministers still have to go to the dispatch box in the Commons to defend the performance of the NHS even though they have less control over it. The latest developments have underlined that for Mrs May.
It suits Mr Stevens to let it be known that he did not get the money he wanted for the NHS. It suits Downing Street to suggest that NHS England has changed its tune over a financial settlement which it initially welcomed.
This might not matter much in normal times but right now divisions at the top will do nothing to help the NHS cope with its harshest ever winter. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38583071 |
Weather forecast: Icy conditions hit the UK - BBC News | 2017-01-12 | null | Snow, ice and high winds have affected much of the UK, causing travel problems and schools closures in some areas. | null | Snow, ice and high winds have affected much of the UK, causing travel problems and schools closures in some areas.
Louise Lear forecasts the conditions for the next 72 hours. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38592912 |
Southampton 1-0 Liverpool - BBC Sport | 2017-01-12 | null | Nathan Redmond's first-half goal gives Southampton a narrow advantage in their EFL Cup semi-final with Liverpool. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Southampton hold a slender advantage in the EFL Cup semi-final after a fully deserved first-leg victory over Liverpool at St Mary's.
Nathan Redmond's cool finish from Jay Rodriguez's pass gave Saints a crucial lead to take to Anfield on 25 January - but Southampton can count themselves unlucky not to be in complete control of this battle for a place at Wembley.
Liverpool's much-criticised goalkeeper Loris Karius was one of very few in Jurgen Klopp's side to distinguish himself amid a shocking performance, making two fine first-half saves from goalscorer Redmond.
Karius's one-handed save from Redmond right on half-time was vital but he was helpless late on as the same player threatened once more, Liverpool enjoying more good fortune as his effort came back off the bar.
• None 'We should have lost 3-0 - Klopp'
Saints satisfied - but is there disappointment too?
Southampton's recent form has been indifferent but manager Claude Puel will have been delighted with their display at St Mary's.
After a brief early spell of Liverpool pressure, when Roberto Firmino tested Fraser Forster, Southampton were completely untroubled throughout an impressive performance.
Saints were sharp in the tackle, more assured in possession and a continual threat through Redmond and the industrious Rodriguez.
They will be left, however, with a tinge of regret despite an excellent, fully merited result that gives them real reason for optimism for the second leg at Anfield.
Karius and the woodwork kept them at bay and they had many other opportunities to produce a scoreline reflecting their superiority.
Southampton could have slammed the door on Liverpool - instead it remains ajar.
Karius has had to undergo a severe examination of his goalkeeping credentials and endure heavy public criticism in the early months of his Liverpool career.
Klopp placed great faith in the 23-year-old German, signed from his former club Mainz in a £4.75m deal this summer - eventually choosing him ahead of established first-choice Simon Mignolet.
The decision backfired and he was forced to drop Karius after two poor, error-strewn performances in the 4-3 loss at Bournemouth and the 2-2 home draw with West Ham.
Klopp has never lost belief, however, choosing Karius as his cup keeper - and he was rewarded here with an outstanding display, especially with two excellent saves from Redmond.
He is responsible for Liverpool still being in this tie after a shocking display.
What the managers said
"Liverpool had just the one chance all game. We were unlucky at the end because we know Liverpool away in the second leg will be very difficult.
"This competition is exciting, now it is important to keep the good concentration for the Premier League.
"We lost three games so it is important to have a good reaction."
"We needed Loris Karius to save our lives two or three times.
"The best thing for us is the result. We know that we can play better at Anfield - nothing is decided.
"We cannot be happy with the performance, Southampton cannot be happy with the result. It could and should have been 2-0, 3-0."
Puel in the black against Reds - the key stats
• None After losing four of their previous five matches against Liverpool (D1), Southampton are now unbeaten in their past three versus the Reds (W2 D1).
• None Claude Puel is unbeaten in four clashes with Liverpool as manager (W2 D2).
• None Liverpool have managed only two shots on target in both of their meetings with Southampton this season - only against Man City (one) have they registered fewer in a match this term.
• None Jay Rodriguez provided his first assist in all competitions for Southampton since January 2014 against Arsenal.
• None Southampton have kept more clean sheets than any other team in the EFL Cup this season (four).
You can make a strong case for Southampton winning 2-0 or even 3-0. Everyone here is happy but this is an opportunity missed.
If Southampton don't go through they will be kicking themselves.
• None Attempt missed. Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by James Milner.
• None Attempt missed. Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool) left footed shot from outside the box is too high.
• None Nathan Redmond (Southampton) hits the bar with a right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right.
• None Jay Rodriguez (Southampton) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt missed. Jay Rodriguez (Southampton) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Nathan Redmond.
• None Attempt missed. Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Nathaniel Clyne.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Substitution, Southampton. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg replaces Jordy Clasie because of an injury. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38504049 |
Tearful Barack Obama pays tribute to Michelle - BBC News | 2017-01-12 | null | President Barack Obama has paid tribute to his wife and daughters in his farewell speech in Chicago. | null | President Barack Obama has paid tribute to his wife and daughters in his farewell speech in Chicago.
The country's first black president, now 55, was first elected in 2008 and will be replaced by Donald Trump, who will be sworn into office on 20 January. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38582651 |
Graham Taylor: Alan Shearer pays tribute to former England boss - BBC Sport | 2017-01-12 | null | Former England captain Alan Shearer pays tribute to Graham Taylor who gave the former Southampton, Blackburn and Newcastle forward his Three Lions debut. | null | Former England captain Alan Shearer pays tribute to Graham Taylor who gave the former Southampton, Blackburn and Newcastle forward his Three Lions debut. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38602853 |
Marks and Spencer: Good news finally? - BBC News | 2017-01-12 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | After years of decline, Marks and Spencer has reported rising clothing sales. Has M&S cracked it? | Business | Marks and Spencer has turned out to be this year's surprise Christmas package.
In a festive season where most of our big retailers did better than expected, M&S stood out, finally shrugging off its clothing sales hoodoo.
Clothing sales have been in decline - and often sharp decline - for the past five years, with the exception of one positive quarter two years ago.
Over Christmas, however, like-for-like sales were up 2.3%, although the company was quick to point out that 1.5% of that was down to how Christmas fell, which meant there were five extra trading days compared to the relevant period a year earlier.
Even so, a 0.8% increase is not to be sneezed at, and is evidence perhaps that the back-to-basics reforms of chief executive Steve Rowe, which include hundreds of job losses at head office and the closure of most of the international stores, is having some effect.
One good quarter doesn't make a revival, but a halt to the seemingly inexorable decline will give shareholders encouragement.
Retail analysts say Mr Rowe's formula - a concentration on the basics - is a welcome contrast to the recent past, where management introduced eye-catching fashion and made mis-steps online.
The real test will be at the next quarterly update, where the calendar is against Mr Rowe - just as he benefited at Christmas, he misses out next time.
If he can turn in another positive number on clothing, there will be substance to the M&S revival.
Elsewhere, there was good news tempered with caution about the coming year.
This was best expressed at the John Lewis Partnership, which reported like for like sales growth of just under 3% at both the department store chain and the grocery business, Waitrose.
Profits for the full year are likely to be up, but Sir Charlie Mayfield, the partnership's chairman, took the unusual step of warning staff their bonuses would be smaller than last year.
The culprits? The pressure caused by a weaker pound and the need to invest heavily in new products. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38598206 |
The art of Obama: A painting a day - BBC News | 2017-01-12 | null | Rob Pruitt has painted a single image for every day of Obama’s time in office. That’s nearly three thousand paintings. | null | As the presidency of Barack Obama draws to a close, so too does the work of an artist who has followed the US leader's daily life for eight years.
Rob Pruitt has painted a single image for every day of Mr Obama’s time in office. That’s nearly 3,000 paintings.
Every one of those works is now on display at the Gavin Brown gallery in New York, where the BBC caught up with Pruitt. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38575586 |
Newspaper headlines: 'Snow chaos' and UK role in Trump scandal - BBC News | 2017-01-12 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Snowy scenes feature on most of the front pages, some of which also focus on UK links to the controversial Trump dossier. | The Papers | Christopher Steele is believed to have left his home this week
Many of the papers lead on the former MI6 officer named as the man who compiled the damaging dossier on Donald Trump leaked earlier this week.
According to the Telegraph, Britain has been dragged into the row over the dossier after it was claimed that the government gave the FBI permission to speak to Christopher Steele. It says Britain now finds itself caught in the crossfire of accusations between Russia and the US.
The Mail says Russia's relations with Britain have gone into the deep freeze as Moscow blamed MI6 for the dossier. The paper quotes a tweet from the Russian embassy in London suggesting Mr Steele was still working for MI6 and "briefing both ways" against Mr Trump and Moscow.
The Mirror's front page has a picture of a two-year-old boy lying on two chairs put together as a makeshift bed at a hospital in Hastings in East Sussex due to a lack of proper beds.
It says Jack Harwood - who had suspected meningitis - waited for five hours in A&E with his mother, as staff struggled to cope with the volume of patients. His case was put to Theresa May by the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.
The boy was eventually sent home after his temperature was brought down and his relieved parents were told he didn't have meningitis.
The new King of Rwanda has been proclaimed - and he lives in a terrace house on an estate in Greater Manchester.
The Guardian says it's not a typical royal residence - but the Rwandan royal family has been exiled since 1961.
The Daily Mail says Emmanuel Bushayija is thought to be the first Briton to accede as a king since George the Sixth inherited the throne following the abdication crisis in 1936. It seems Mr Bushayija has been keeping a low profile since his elevation, but neighbours tell the paper he's a lovely man and it's a great honour to live next to him.
Twenty-five years ago, the Sun portrayed Graham Taylor - then England football manager - as a turnip after the national team were knocked out during the group stages of Euro 92.
Following his death - announced yesterday - it pays tribute to him in its leader column. While it acknowledges his failings as manager, it highlights his successes at club level, describing him as a genius. He had a magnificent football brain and made a fine radio pundit, it adds. Above all - it goes on - he was just a thoroughly decent bloke.
Finally, you could save yourself as much as nine thousand pounds on a house purchase - if you don't mind living at number 13. Research by the property website, Zoopla - released to coincide with today's date, Friday the 13th - found that nearly a third of homebuyers are less likely to buy a property with this number.
But - the Mail reports - those who are not put off by it will find a house with this number typically cheaper than the average UK property. On the other hand, the most expensive door number tends to be number one - and Number 100 the next most expensive. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-38605214 |
Michael Downey: Lawn Tennis Association chief executive resigns - BBC Sport | 2017-01-12 | null | Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Michael Downey resigns to return to his homeland and take up a similar position at Tennis Canada. | null | Britain's top tennis executive has resigned to take up a similar position in his homeland at Tennis Canada.
Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Michael Downey will serve a six-month notice period that will see him remain in place until after Wimbledon.
"I've been honoured to have led the LTA over the last three years," he said.
"I am hugely proud of the foundations the team at the LTA have laid in order to turn participation in Britain's beloved sport around. "
He added: "It's an exciting time for tennis in this country and I look forward to the next six months, maintaining the momentum we've built in our continued mission to get more people playing tennis, more often."
Three and a half years in a role such as this is often not long enough to leave much of a mark, but after an uncertain start, Michael Downey has left his imprint on British tennis.
The performance department was allowed to remain in a state of flux for far too long, but with Simon Timson now at the helm, the LTA has a man who in the same role at UK Sport oversaw Britain's stunningly successful Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games.
There has been a rise in the number of people playing tennis under Downey's watch and he certainly brought a phenomenal work ethic with him. Given the salary on offer and a potentially bright future for the sport, there is sure to be a lot of interest in succeeding him. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38601762 |
Driving to Greece's snowed-in migrant camps - BBC News | 2017-01-12 | null | The BBC's Howard Johnson made a video diary of his journey to migrant camps in northern Greece. | null | As a cold snap continues to affect Greece, thousands of homeless refugees and migrants remain at risk of exposure to the bad weather.
Despite treacherous conditions our reporter Howard Johnson attempted to drive to Thessaloniki in northern Greece where some refugee camps have been inundated with snow. Here’s a video diary of his journey. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38592039 |
BBC iPlayer - BBC News | 2017-01-12 | null | null | null | JavaScript seems to be disabled. Please enable JavaScript to take full advantage of iPlayer. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10318089 |
Chelsea Football Club stadium plans given approval by council - BBC News | 2017-01-12 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Chelsea Football Club have been given permission by the local council to build a new £500m 60,000-seat stadium. | London | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Chelsea Football Club have been given permission by the local council to build a new £500m 60,000-seat stadium.
Hammersmith and Fulham council's planning committee have backed plans to demolish the current 41,600-capacity Stamford Bridge stadium.
The plans include a walkway from the nearby District Line station.
"We are grateful that planning permission was granted for the redevelopment of our historic home," Chelsea said in a statement.
"The committee decision does not mean that work can begin on site. This is just the latest step, although a significant one, that we have to take before we can commence work, including obtaining various other permissions."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan will have the final say on whether Chelsea can build their new stadium.
The new stadium has been designed by architects Herzog and de Meuron, who were also responsible for the "Birds Nest" Olympic stadium in Beijing.
The proposals could mean owner Roman Abramovich has to find a temporary home for the current Premier League leaders for up to three years, with both Twickenham Stadium and Wembley Stadium being looked at as possible options.
An artist's impression of the proposed new Stamford Bridge stadium
Chelsea might, however, struggle to use Wembley as north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur will occupy the national stadium for at least the 2017-18 football season as work finishes on Spurs' own new 61,000-capacity stadium.
Chelsea could stay at Stamford Bridge while the work takes place but this is thought to be the most expensive option.
The plans showing the outline of the new Chelsea stadium at Stamford Bridge including a new walkway to the ground from Fulham Broadway Tube station
Mr Abramovich has wanted to increase capacity at Chelsea on match days for a number of years.
He previously attempted to buy Battersea Power Station with a view to redeveloping the site into a new stadium, ultimately losing out to property developers who are currently building luxury apartments at the site.
Ten years ago Arsenal built the 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium, last summer West Ham moved to the 57,000-capacity Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, and Spurs are currently redeveloping their White Hart Lane ground.
The current 41,663-capacity Stamford Bridge is the seventh biggest stadium used by a Premier League team, well behind Manchester United's 76,000-seater stadium at Old Trafford.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-38572335 |
Obama surprises emotional Biden with Medal of Freedom - BBC News | 2017-01-12 | null | Barack Obama awards highest civilian honour to Vice-President Biden in emotional farewell surprise. | null | The medal was awarded with distinction, only the fourth time that's happened. The Vice-President was visibly moved and teared up during the citation. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38601100 |
San Escobar: Polish foreign minister's slip invents a country - BBC News | 2017-01-12 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Witold Waszczykowski mocked online after telling reporters about meeting with a made-up country. | US & Canada | Witold Waszczykowski (left) met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. There are no known pictures of his meeting with officials from San Escobar.
Do you know the way to San Escobar?
Probably not, it doesn't exist, but that didn't stop Poland's foreign minister claiming to have had a productive meeting with its officials this week.
Witold Waszczykowski told reporters he met with various nations for Poland's bid to join the UN security council, "such as Belize or San Escobar".
Mr Waszczykowski has been roundly mocked on Twitter, the one place San Escobar does now exist, flag and all.
He said that he had had meetings with officials from nearly 20 countries, including some Caribbean nations "for the first time in the history of our diplomacy. For example with countries such as Belize or San Escobar".
He put the slip down to tiredness. "Unfortunately after 22 hours in planes and several connecting flights you can make a slip of the tongue," he said.
He said he had in mind Saint Kitts and Nevis, a two-island Caribbean country known in Spanish as San Cristobal y Nieves.
Twitter users responded in customary style, creating an official account and a flag for the island nation.
One tweet said that San Escobar "fully supports Poland's candidacy to the Security Council".
Another designed some currency, but added: "It's funny until you realise your only allies left are Belarus, Hungary and an imaginary nation state." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38582447 |