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Diner leaves £1,000 tip on £79 bill - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A happy customer at an Indian restaurant in County Armagh has surprised staff by leaving a £1,000 tip on a £79 bill. | Northern Ireland | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Luna Ekush, who owns the restaurant, said the tip was "incredibly generous"
A happy diner at an Indian restaurant in Portadown has surprised staff by leaving a £1,000 tip on a £79 bill.
Chef Babu, (Shabbir Satter) of the Indian Tree in the town, said he was called over "very discreetly" by the man, who wanted to remain anonymous.
The customer was one of a group of five who dined at the restaurant last Tuesday, the Portadown Times reports.
He said he wanted to add the huge service fee in recognition of the "excellent food".
Luna Ekush, who owns the restaurant, said the tip was "incredibly generous".
"It is a very simple thing to express gratitude, but this has had such a big impact. We are still in shock," she said.
"All the staff working that night will split the money as the customer said it was for everyone.
"I don't think anyone at the restaurant has ever received such a massive tip, I definitely have not.
"I want to thank Babu for his hard work, all credit for the food must go to him." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-38598004 | |
Ed Sheeran takes top two chart positions - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Ed Sheeran makes chart history with his comeback singles, smashing streaming records in the process. | Entertainment & Arts | Sheeran is due to release his third album, ÷, on 6 March
Ed Sheeran's new singles Shape of You and Castle On The Hill have entered the UK singles chart at number one and number two respectively.
The Official Charts Company says it is the first time in history an artist has taken the top two chart positions with brand new songs.
The singer said he was "incredibly chuffed" by the success.
"Both tracks mean a huge amount to me so it really is amazing to see them go to the top of the chart together."
Sheeran's comeback follows a "gap year" where he removed himself from social media, making space to write his third album, ÷ (Divide).
Fans were clearly hungry for new material, as the star set several streaming records over the course of the week.
Shape Of You's bouncy, uptempo pop was the bigger hit, notching up 13.4 million streams - smashing the record Drake set last summer, when One Dance was streamed 8.9 million in a single week.
Castle On The Hill, built around a chiming, U2-style guitar riff, also beat Drake's tally, with 11.07 million streams.
On Spotify, Sheeran also broke a global streaming record held by One Direction, whose single Drag Me Down racked up 4.76m streams in one day in August 2015.
Shape Of You was streamed 6.13 million times when it was released last Friday, increasing to 7.24 million streams on Monday.
The remarkable performance of his singles ends Clean Bandit's nine-week run at number one.
Their single, Rockabye, drops to number four, while Rag 'N' Bone Man's Human is at three.
There are also new entries for Sean Paul and Dua Lipa's No Lie at 28 and Snakehips' Don't Leave, featuring Danish singer MØ, at 33.
In the album chart, Little Mix held on to the top spot for a fifth week with their album Glory Days.
It is now the most successful album by a girl band since the Spice Girls' Spice spent 15 weeks at number one in 1996.
Meanwhile, David Bowie's Blackstar made a reappearance in the top 40, exactly a year after his death, while his Legacy compilation jumped from 18 to number five.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].
• None Ed Sheeran is back with two new songs
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38609564 | |
Snowy scenes on hills, roads and beaches - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | null | Snow has fallen across parts of the UK, as the Met Office warns of high winds, snow and ice on Friday. | null | Snow has fallen across parts of the UK, as the Met Office has warned of high winds, snow and ice on Friday. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38607021 | |
Was Buzzfeed right on Donald Trump dossier? - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Buzzfeed's decision to publish the Donald Trump dossier raises many questions about modern journalism. | Entertainment & Arts | Donald Trump has criticised the decision to publish the dossier
Was Buzzfeed right to publish the Trump dossier?
That comes down to editorial judgement, which is to news what eggs are to an omelette - the essential ingredient.
That said, I opened this post with a question which I will not answer - partly because I work for the BBC and it is not my place to pass judgement on other news organisations' editorial calls and partly because those editorial calls are subjective.
But as BBC media editor, and as a former editor of The Independent who had to make thousands of these calls, often against tight deadlines and under great pressure from the subjects of our stories, I want to explore some of the considerations that we editors have to make.
Hopefully that will illuminate the hugely controversial decision made this week by Buzzfeed.
Editorial judgement is ultimately a moral activity. It is an exercise in selection - which stories, facts, claims, pictures, words, ideas to publish, and which to leave out - that relies on several smaller judgements.
These include: the importance you attach to veracity; your own political persuasion; a sense of your audience's interest and - outside the BBC and unfortunately more common now the news business model is under such strain - a consideration of the commercial implications of publishing particular things.
The rectitude of all moral activity or actions - editorial judgement included - can be analysed along three criteria:
Let's look at Buzzfeed's decision to publish the dossier in terms of intentions and consequences.
Some people will argue that - whether you agree with it or not - there is a coherent case for putting information in the public domain even if you are not 100% certain it is true.
Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief, has spoken eloquently about how, in our digital era, publishers are no longer gatekeepers of information who demand to be trusted, arguing that Buzzfeed is simply a distributor.
His second argument is that because this publication was being circulated widely among government officials, it had tremendous news value and therefore it was in the public interest to put it in the public domain with plenty of caveats so readers could make up their own minds.
I know from personal experience that, if you are a digital publisher whose content is free, you mainly make money from advertising, which is related to traffic and which you are under immense pressure to generate.
This ultimately commercial imperative can - and does - influence the editorial judgement of many publishers.
But let us be charitable to Buzzfeed and say that commercial considerations did not influence this editorial decision.
Buzzfeed has a young audience and often publishes journalism associated with the political Left, unlike Trump whose most stable constituency is older voters on the Right.
It is reasonable to conclude that one reason Buzzfeed published this dossier about Mr Trump is that it calculated it could harm someone it does not like.
So Buzzfeed, having put traffic considerations aside, and being antithetical to some of the things Mr Trump stands for, calculated that the document, which had potentially huge implications for the incoming president, deserved to be seen in its entirety by readers who want access to information.
That covers the intentions, but what of the consequences?
Huge traffic for this article must have been one consequence. Another is that Buzzfeed, as a powerful international brand, is now clearly associated with a willingness to publish information it knows could be false.
Another consequence is of course that the information contained in the dossier, some of it untrue, much of it not corroborated, is now in the public domain we call cyberspace. Perhaps citizens across the globe are digesting it to better understand the incoming president.
Finally, life has been made harder for other news organisations, such as CNN, who Trump targeted in his remarkable press conference.
They have now been conflated with Buzzfeed under Trump's pernicious umbrella term "fake news".
Buzzfeed could reasonably say it is not its job to secure access to Mr Trump for CNN - and in any case the president-elect was not exactly friendly with the mainstream media before the dossier's publication.
It will be for editors and citizens everywhere to decide, in balancing Buzzfeed's intentions with the (largely foreseeable) consequences, whether it made a correct editorial judgement.
That in turn depends on your moral position - your commitment to truth and so on.
What really interests me is that Mr Smith is saying that the digital revolution has redefined journalism, creating publishers who are prepared to put lots of information into the public domain without verifying it.
Julian Assange's Wikileaks has put huge amounts of information into the public domain
There is a difference, however, between Wikileaks, who do that sort of thing, and what most journalists understand their role to be: corroborating information before making selections as to what should be published.
In a sense, Mr Smith's position is an argument against journalism, in that being gatekeepers who curate and edit the world is precisely what many hacks believe their role to be.
Just as traditional media included many different types of publisher - tabloids v broadsheets, for example - so new, digital media include those who exhaustively check their facts and proceed with caution and those who are prepared to publish unverified allegations because they think the public should know.
The BBC is in the former camp, as my colleague Paul Wood argued in his excellent blog.
We work very hard to verify claims before publishing them: so much so that there are always big stories we know about that we cannot use, because we haven't got sufficiently solid sourcing. Our political editor Laura Kuenssberg has talked about this - and I can certainly relate to it.
Together with Mr Trump, this controversy helps to illuminate how fast the media is changing - and how it affects all our lives. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38600531 | |
VW papers shed light on emissions scandal - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | VW has been fined $4.3bn by US authorities and agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges, so just what do documents released this week reveal about the emissions rigging scandal? | Business | US Attorney-General Loretta Lynch said VW denied and then lied in a bid to cover up its actions
"Volkswagen obfuscated, they denied, and they ultimately lied."
These were the words of the US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, as she set out how the German carmaker would be punished for attempting to hoodwink the US authorities over the emissions produced by its diesel cars.
It has been a tough week for Volkswagen.
It has been fined $4.3bn, agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges - and six executives are facing charges. One of them, Oliver Schmidt, has spent the past few days in a Miami jail. Others may yet find themselves in the firing line.
But because of this, we now have a very clear idea not only of what Volkswagen was doing wrong, and how it went about it, but also the measures that were taken to conceal that wrongdoing.
As part of its plea bargain with the US authorities Volkswagen signed up to an agreed "Statement of Facts". It draws heavily on the results of an investigation by the law firm Jones Day, commissioned by VW itself.
The FBI makes further detailed allegations in its criminal complaint against Oliver Schmidt. These have not yet been tested or admitted.
According to these documents, the seeds of the scandal were sown in 2006, when VW were designing a new diesel engine for the US market.
Supervisors in the engine department realised they had a problem. They could not design an engine that would meet tough emissions standards due to enter into force in 2007, and at the same time give customers the performance that they wanted.
Their solution was to ask their engineers to design engine management software which would turn on emissions controls when the car was being tested, and turn them off when it was being driven on the road.
This 'defeat device' software was able to recognise the standard testing procedure. It was based on a program developed by VW's subsidiary Audi, which engineers had specifically stated should "absolutely not be used" in the US.
Not everyone was happy about this, it seems. Engineers "raised objections to the propriety of the defeat device" in late 2006.
In response, a manager decided that production should continue, still using the device. He also "instructed those in attendance, in sum and substance, not to get caught".
A similar row broke out the following year, and again, the decision was taken to press on regardless.
Subsequently, the use of the defeat device appears to have become routine.
The Statement of Facts describes how the software was refined and improved over time.
A spate of breakdowns was blamed on the cars remaining in 'test' mode while being driven on the road. Supervisors worked with engineers to solve the problem, and "encouraged the further concealment of the software".
The engineers were also told to destroy documents relating to the issue.
The deception came to a head when, in 2014, the California Air Resources Board approached the company to find out why tests had shown that its cars were emitting up to 40 times the permissible amount of nitrogen oxides when driven on the road.
VW supervisors "determined not to disclose to US regulators that the tested vehicle models operated with a defeat device". Instead they "decided to pursue a strategy of concealing the defeat device… while appearing to cooperate".
The FBI claims in its criminal complaint against Mr Schmidt - who was a head of compliance at VW's US division from 2012 to 2015 - that the deception eventually went to the very top of the company.
Citing "co-operative witnesses" and allegedly corroborating documentation, it claims that the company's executive management in Wolfsburg were briefed on the issue in July 2015. Rather than tell its staff to come clean about the defeat device, it says, "VW executive management authorized its continued concealment".
There is, however, no mention of this meeting in the statement agreed by Volkswagen.
Ultimately, Volkswagen's wrongdoing was confirmed to the authorities by a single employee acting "in direct contravention of instructions from supervisors at VW". But the deception did not end there.
The Statement of Facts explains how VW staff were warned by an in-house lawyer that the authorities were about to circulate a so-called "hold notice", obliging them to retain and preserve documents under their control.
Engineers were told to "check their documents", which several of those present "understood to mean that they should delete their documents".
The message was repeated at a number of subsequent meetings, one of them attended by 30-40 people and ultimately thousands of documents were deleted.
When the scandal at Volkswagen first came to light, the company's former US chief executive, Michael Horn blamed "a couple of software engineers". It is now clear that many more people were involved, at least some of them in positions of authority, and deliberate attempts were made to cover up wrongdoing.
It is not hard, then, to see why the US authorities have taken such a tough line with the company. But some questions remain unanswered.
We still don't know for certain, for example, whether people at board level knew what was going on.
It's also unclear why the same software that was fitted illegally to 600,000 US vehicles was also present on millions of others sold around the world, including eight million in Europe.
VW continues to maintain that the systems didn't actually break European law - though it is in the process of repairing those vehicles all the same. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38603723 | |
100 Women: How South Korea stopped its parents aborting girls - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | South Korea has brought its gender gap back into balance, but have women gained real equality? | Asia | Daughters were traditionally valued less than sons in South Korea
For every 100 baby girls born in India, there are 111 baby boys. In China, the ratio is 100 to 115. One other country saw similar rates in 1990, but has since brought its population back into balance. How did South Korea do it? Yvette Tan reports.
"One daughter is equal to 10 sons," was the message desperately being promoted by the South Korean government.
It was some two decades ago and gender imbalance was at a high, reaching 116.5 boys for every 100 girls at its peak. The preference for sons goes back centuries in Korean tradition. They were seen to carry on the family line, provide financial support and take care of their parents in old age.
"There was the idea that daughters were not regarded as part of their own family after marriage," says Ms Park-Cha Okkyung, the executive director of the Korean Women's Associations United.
The government was looking for a solution - and fast.
In an effort to reduce the incidence of selective abortions, South Korea enacted a law in 1988 making it illegal for a doctor to reveal the gender of a foetus to expectant parents.
At the same time women were also becoming more educated, with many more starting to join the workforce, challenging the convention that it was the job of a man to provide for his family.
It worked, but it was not for one reason alone. Rather, a combination of these factors led to the eventual gender rebalancing.
South Korea was acknowledged as the "first Asian country to reverse the trend in rising sex ratios at birth", in a report by the World Bank.
In 2013, the ratio was down to 105.3, a number comparable to major Western nations such as Canada.
Monica Das Gupta, research professor in sociology at the University of Maryland who has studied gender disparity across Asia, says factors other than legislation are likely to be the most significant in accounting for this change.
A legal ban can "dampen things a bit", but she points out that "seven years after the law [was instituted] sex-selective abortions continued".
Rather she attributes the change to the "blistering pace" of urbanisation and industrialisation in South Korea.
While the country was predominantly a rural society there was great emphasis on male lineage and boys staying at home to inherit their fathers' land.
But in just a few decades a large part of the population has moved to living in apartment blocks with people they don't know and working in factories with people they don't know, and the system has become much more impersonal, Dr Das Gupta says.
China and India, though, still have a stark gender imbalance, despite India outlawing, and China regulating against, sex-selective testing and abortions. So why is that?
Dr Das Gupta believes that in China this may be because until last year, the rule that your household registration - known as the hukou system - remained in the village where you were from, regardless of the fact that you might work in the city, meant that there was still an emphasis on male lineage and land ownership, but that this should now start to shift.
But she also stressed that the change is not always linear. As people gain economic advantage they have better access to sex-selective testing and have fewer children, which actually then puts greater emphasis on their gender.
In India in 1961, there were 976 girls for every 1,000 boys under the age of seven. According to the latest census figures released in 2011, that figure had dropped to a dismal 914 and campaigners say the decline is largely due to the increased availability of antenatal sex screening, despite the fact that both the tests and sex-selective abortion have been outlawed since 1994. They say that in the past decade alone, 8 million female foetuses may have been aborted in the country.
But she argues that several factors in India are slowly having a trickle-down effect on attitudes to women including media representation of women functioning in the outside world, and legislative changes enforcing equal inheritance rules and requiring one-third of elected positions be reserved for women.
BBC 100 Women names 100 influential and inspirational women around the world every year. We create documentaries, features and interviews about their lives, giving more space for stories that put women at the centre.
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While South Korea may have rebalanced its population, this does not necessarily equate gender equality, Ms Okkyung argues.
"Even though Korea has a normal gender ratio balance, discrimination against women still continues," the 47-year-old says. "We need to pay more attention to the real situations that women face rather than just looking at the numbers."
Women in South Korea face one of the largest gender wage gaps amongst developed countries - at 36% in 2013. By comparison, New Zealand has a gap of some 5%.
"Nowadays women go to university at a higher rate than men in South Korea. However, the problem starts when women enter into the labour market," Ms Okkyung explains.
Women are still expected to manage both work and family in South Korea
"The glass ceiling is very solid and there is a low percentage of women at higher positions in offices."
One of the reasons it is harder for women to compete in the workplace is because they are expected to devote their time to both work and family.
"One example is that working mothers have a dilemma, as children in elementary schools come home early after lunch. Therefore, mothers who cannot see a sustainable future in the workplace tend to quit their jobs," says Ms Okkyung.
Dr Hyekung Lee was one of the few Korean women in her generation that did find workplace success.
"I have been very lucky that I was brought up in a very enlightened family. My family had three girls and two boys, and all were given the same support for education," says 68-year-old Dr Lee, who is the chairperson of the Korea Foundation for Women, the country's only non-profit organisation for women.
"But when I became a full-time faculty member in my university, I had to be the only woman professor in my department throughout my 30 years there."
Generally, attitudes towards women have improved as today's Korean men become more educated and exposed to global norms.
They also inevitably mix with women across all spheres of life, in workplaces, schools or social circles, something that perhaps was not so common decades ago.
Having children makes it hard for women to compete in the workplace, partly because of school hours for younger children
It is amongst the older generation that many still cling on to the preference for sons.
Emily [not her real name], 26, recalls that growing up as an only child, she was always treated equally by her grandparents - until her step-brothers were born.
"I only noticed the difference when my brothers came," she said. "Then I realised that they would never do stuff like the housework."
"My birthday is also one day before my father's so my grandparents didn't allow me to celebrate it because as they said: 'How dare a girl celebrate a birthday before her father?'"
How long will South Korea's women take to catch up?
"I think Korea is at that transitional phase that people are more aware now than previous generations, but it's still not quite equal compared to Western countries," she says.
"I've had friends tell me I can only keep my career if I stay single, and others tell me I've chased away men because I was too bossy on the dates and took the initiative."
She also notes that there is also a substantial difference in attitudes towards women in bigger cities and smaller towns.
"Cities like Busan are more traditional. I've had friends from Busan get a culture shock when they come to Seoul," she says. "In the capital, things are more progressive."
Yet she believes change will come.
"Women in Korea need to be aware that there is gender discrimination," says Emily, who is now studying in the Netherlands. "I didn't know until I left - I thought the way things were was just how they were."
"It's not until you expose yourself to other cultures that you start to question your own. I think things will change, but it will take a lot of time."
Additional reporting by the BBC's Geeta Pandey and Yuwen Wu. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38362474 | |
The business of free: How to boost your chance of getting a freebie - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Everyone loves getting something for free, but why do firms continue to give out freebies, what is in it for them, and who do they target? | Business | Propercorn gives out free popcorn at fashion and arts events in London
As the saying goes, "there is no such thing as a free lunch", but it may be easier to get one if you are young, fashionable and live in a capital city.
Attendees at last autumn's London Fashion Week didn't have to worry about their snacking needs.
Outside the main venue in Brewer Street, Soho, a team of workers from upmarket UK popcorn brand Propercorn were there every day to hand out free packets.
In total they gave away some 30,000 samples, in what was the 10th time in a row they have been generous at the biannual event.
For Propercorn the giveaway is part of a strategy that also sees it offer free packets at arts events in the UK capital, such as Late at the Tate Britain, when the art museum opens its doors at night and puts on a music concert.
It is a deliberate move by the company to target the so-called trendsetters and influencers, in the hope that they will speak positively about the product, giving it a word-of-mouth buzz.
Propercorn says it wants to be part of an "exciting cultural dialogue"
A Propercorn spokesman explains: "Positioning popcorn outside of traditional snack circles, and looking for inspiration at design, fashion, wellbeing and entrepreneurship events, helps us to remain fresh and part of this exciting cultural dialogue.
"It's less about immediate increase in sales, and more about getting our product in the hands of people who will excitedly and personally engage in our brand and story."
Everyone loves a freebie, but is it really free? Not even remotely, says Jean-Pierre Dube, professor of marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Instead, the cost of giving away free samples comes from a firm's marketing budget, which in turn comes from its overall earnings.
Lipton gave away free drinks at a number of breakfast events in London
Prof Dube says: "Giving things away is definitely a form of marketing.
"[For example], when you buy a ski vacation that comes with 'free lessons', the lessons are of course not free.
"The price of the package was set with the lessons taken into account."
He adds: "But what about literally giving things away? There is still no free.
"This is an investment the firm makes in anticipation of receiving the reward in the future. For example, [US cable TV firm] Comcast gave away free digital video recorders as a promotion a few years ago. This was just an investment in receiving the monthly cash flows from people's service subscriptions."
If you want to be handed a freebie on the street, it certainly helps to live in a country's capital or largest city.
Lipton said it wanted to create a "clearly different brand experience"
This is not simply because of the larger population, but because a country's main conurbation is more often the trendsetter for retail purchases.
So in the UK new products or new promotional campaigns are invariably launched in London, in the US it is New York, while in France it is Paris, and so on.
The hope is that the young and fashionable of the big city will try the item, like it, and then talk positively about it - preferably on social media in this day and age.
If all goes to plan this will kick start increased sales across the country as a whole.
Consumer goods giant Unilever went for this approach last year when it sought to increase UK sales of its Lipton Ice Tea brand.
Lipton's Daybreakers campaign saw it give out free drinks at a number of breakfast events across London that included DJ sets and live music. Venues included Old Street in fashionable east London, and the Sky Garden venue at the top of the 34-floor 20 Fenchurch Street building, otherwise known as the "walkie talkie".
A Lipton spokesman says: "In order for people to look at Lipton Ice Tea in a new way, we needed to offer consumers a meaningful and relevant reason to try it.
Innocent has targeted music festivals to give out free samples
"We therefore went down an early morning experimental road to cut through and create a clearly different brand experience."
UK drinks firm Innocent is also in the habit of first giving out free samples in London, such as when it launched its coconut water product in 2015. This saw it hand out free samples at a pop-up bar in the trendy Shoreditch area.
Innocent, which is majority owned by US giant Coca-Cola, has since gone on to offer free samples at UK music festivals Latitude and Wilderness, and at sporting events such as the Richmond marathon, in south west London. Last year it gave away more than 500,000 cartons.
James Peach, Innocent's coconut water brand manager, says: "For [free] sampling to be effective it's important to be targeting the right type of consumer at the moment they would most likely want to use the product, so they get the most out of the experience, and understand the product's benefits.
"Generally people drink coconut water to naturally re-hydrate or rejuvenate themselves after exercise or after excess [if they are hungover]. So we simply try to target those occasions as much as we can, to be there when people need it most."
While most consumers don't give freebies much thought, behavioural economist Enrico Trevisan says that from the perspective of the business there are three main types; "future selling", "cross selling" and "up-selling".
"In the future selling approach, firms give away a product for free, assuming that clients will like it and want to buy more in the future," he says.
The New York Times operates an up-selling free model
"With cross-selling, the company tries to gain new clients through an entrance product, with the intention of selling them additional products during their life cycle."
Mr Trevisan, who works for marketing consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners, says that an example of cross-selling is banks giving current accounts away for free in order to later sell the client loans, mortgages and overdrafts.
Finally, he says that up-selling is when a firm gives away a basic version of the product, but then charges the client for more advanced and complete versions. He cites the examples of online news websites that only offer a limited number of free articles.
However, Mr Trevisan cautions that while "giving something for free to potential users is not necessarily complicated, to convert them into paying customers is a very different story". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38570537 | |
Graham Taylor: Football to pay tribute to former England manager - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | Fans are being asked to pay tribute to former England manager Graham Taylor at this weekend's games, while greats remember his contribution to the sport. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Football is preparing to pay tribute to former England manager Graham Taylor at fixtures taking place this weekend.
Taylor, who enjoyed success with Watford, Wolves, Aston Villa and Lincoln City, died aged 72 on Thursday.
A minute's applause will be held before the weekend's English Football League matches.
Watford, whom he managed for 15 years over two spells, will commemorate Taylor before their game against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
• None Obituary: 'Perhaps now his work will get the credit it deserves'
• None 'I love you Graham, I'll miss you very much' - Sir Elton John pays tribute
• None Listen again to a 5 live special: Tributes to Graham Taylor
The EFL said it was also giving clubs the option of letting their players wear black armbands during this weekend's fixtures.
The Premier League will leave the decision of whether to pay tribute to individual clubs. Its executive chairman Richard Scudamore said Taylor's "insight, wit and self-deprecating humour" would be missed.
"You will struggle to find a more decent individual in football - one who cared passionately about all levels and aspects of the English game," he said.
Meanwhile, Watford supporters have been laying tributes to Taylor outside their stadium, where a stand is named after their former manager, chairman and, more recently, honorary vice-president.
As a club manager, Taylor led Watford from the Fourth Division to runners-up in the old First Division in five years, and to the 1984 FA Cup final.
He took Aston Villa to second in the First Division, returning to Watford and Villa after his spell in charge of the national side, and also managing Wolves.
Wolves meet Aston Villa in a Championship game at Molineux on Saturday.
Taylor became England boss in 1990 but resigned in 1993 after the team failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup.
He later became a respected pundit for BBC Sport.
He leaves behind his wife Rita and daughters Joanne and Karen.
In the aftermath of the news of Taylor's death, emotional tributes poured in from the football community.
BBC Radio 5 live hosted a tribute show in Taylor's honour, in which his colleagues and peers spoke about the effect he had on their lives.
Former England captain Alan Shearer, who was given his national team debut by Taylor, said he held him in the "highest, highest regard".
"The biggest and best compliment I can give him is he was genuine, honest, passionate and down to earth," he said.
"Most of all, he just absolutely loved his football. He was so genuine, so honest and his passion for the game was just immense."
Burnley manager Sean Dyche - whose first managerial position was at Watford, where Taylor offered him guidance, said he would be "forever in his debt".
"He had an extremely thick skin, and he showed that by defending me on the radio when I was a young manager as well. Things like that mean a lot," he said.
"To have that strength behind me when I was a young manager meant a lot."
John Murray, a football commentator for 5 live who worked with him during his time as a pundit and summariser, said that Taylor was "everything I had hoped before I met him".
"He was steeped in football - he was brilliant at being interested in other people and would always want to talk about football," he said.
"I'd describe him as one of the football managers of our time. His club career was outstanding."
Fans have been paying tribute to Taylor too, with thousands of people using social media to share their stories of the former England manager:
Robert Howard: I spent a train journey from Hemel Hempstead to Euston sitting talking to Graham. We spoke about football old and new. Kids, football and life in general. He was friendly, open and a very nice man. I am glad I met him.
Alan Jones: I refereed a youth team match between Portsmouth and Watford. On the same afternoon, Watford's first team were due to play Bournemouth, so they stopped at Eastleigh to watch the youth match on their way there. Graham came into the dressing room afterwards and thanked me for the game, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He looked at the towel around my waist and asked me to get a new one, as he did not like orange. He was a very charming and supportive ambassador for football. RIP.
Dave Revell: Met Graham Taylor at a charity day for Kit Aid. Had so much time for people and was always so nice. One of England's better managers.
Will Room: I remember seeing a clip of Taylor in the dugout during a match, and some fans behind him shouting out racial abuse to John Barnes and he went hell for leather against them - didn't hold back telling the fans to sit down and shut up basically. Back then it was probably normal for fans to think they could get away with stuff like that but Graham Taylor was definitely a decent man and respected everyone who played for him. Top bloke.
Taylor started out as a player and, after coming through the youth ranks with Scunthorpe, was a defender at Grimsby and Lincoln.
He became manager at Lincoln in 1972 aged 28, and led them to the old Fourth Division title in 1975-76 before joining Watford.
In his first spell as Hornets boss between 1977 and 1987, Taylor took the club to the top flight and they finished second to Liverpool in 1983.
He was appointed by Villa in 1987 and, after leading them to promotion into the top tier, took them to second in 1990.
His exploits led to his appointment as England manager, but he had a turbulent spell in charge of the national team as they failed to make it out of the group at Euro 92 and did not qualify for the World Cup in the United States two years later.
Taylor's return to club management came with a relatively brief stint at Wolves before he again took over at Watford, leading them to two promotions in as many years as he guided them back into English football's top flight.
He also returned to manage Villa in 2002 but retired a year later.
His association with Watford continued when he became chairman in 2009, a post he held for three years, and the club renamed their Rous Stand at Vicarage Road after Taylor in 2014.
"In this day and age, when a stand is named after somebody, it's for commercial reasons. I felt honoured," he told BBC Three Counties Radio at the time.
• Lincoln City (1972-77) - Youngest person to become an FA coach, at the age of 27. Won Fourth Division title in 1976.
• Watford (1977-1987) - Led team from Fourth Division to First Division in five years (W244, D124, L159)
• Aston Villa (1987-1990) - Took over when Villa had been relegated to Second Division. Took them back to top flight at his first attempt. Finished runners-up to Liverpool in his third season in charge (W65, D35, L42)
• England (1990-1993) - Failed to progress beyond group stage of Euro 92 or qualify for World Cup in 1994 (W18, D13, L7)
• Wolves (1994-1995) - Resigned after one full season in charge (W37, D27, L24)
• Watford (1996-2001) - Won Division Two title in 1998 and Division One play-off final in 1999 (W104, D80, L91) | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38602558 | |
Masters 2017: Ronnie O'Sullivan wants to win with the style of Lionel Messi - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | Reigning Masters champion Ronnie O'Sullivan says entertaining fans is more important than titles and he wants to be the Lionel Messi of snooker. | null | Last updated on .From the section Snooker
Reigning Masters champion Ronnie O'Sullivan says entertaining fans is more important than titles and he wants to be the Lionel Messi of snooker.
World number 13 O'Sullivan begins his quest for a record-breaking seventh Masters crown against China's Liang Wenbo in the first round on Sunday.
But the 41-year-old told BBC Sport: "I want to try to win playing an exciting, aggressive and attacking game.
"It is OK to win, but I want to win with style."
O'Sullivan said he wanted fans to be able to say he doesn't just win, but he "delivers entertainment as well".
"I think I have done that over the over the last five or six years," he added.
"I have put on some magnificent performances - performances I am very proud of.
"Sometimes people say you can't play like that and win. Well, Michael van Gerwen has proved you can, Lionel Messi proves you can, Tiger Woods does, Roger Federer does. I want to try to be one of them."
Victory for O'Sullivan at Alexandra Palace would move the 28-time ranking event winner clear of Stephen Hendry and see him retain the title he won by thrashing Barry Hawkins 10-1 in 2016.
"I still want to win tournaments - but for me it is about people coming to watch, people switching on their televisions wanting to see good entertainment," he said.
"It would be great to get another Masters, not because it's the seventh, but because it's the Masters. I don't think 'I've got to break the record', I just want to win another Masters.
"I want to win another Worlds and another Welsh and China Open. I just want to win more tournaments."
'I might not play again'
Although he dominated a one-sided final against Hawkins last season, O'Sullivan said a back injury meant he struggled and feared for his career.
"I slipped a disc and I couldn't get in the right position for my shots," he said. "Fortunately I overcame that a couple of weeks after the Masters and it is not a problem now.
"But it was really hard mentally. I was struggling because I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to play properly again because of my back.
"Winning the tournament is the main goal and that was a great box ticked, but my performance wasn't great. I have played a lot better and lost tournaments. I think I got a bit lucky in some ways."
This time around he is far happier with his fitness - and his form - after a difficult start to the season.
"The first two months of the season were difficult because I didn't really practise going into the season," the Essex man said. "I didn't really play for three months.
"I lost matches early on and it wasn't losing the matches that bothered me, it was how I was playing. I was struggling and getting to the last 16 was a good result."
O'Sullivan reached finals at the European Open final in Romania as well as the Champion of Champions event in Coventry, before losing a high-quality UK Championship final to world number one Mark Selby.
"From mid-November to mid-December I had a really good month where I was happy with my form and I was enjoying it," he said.
The invitation tournament is one of snooker's triple crown events and features the world's top 16 players competing for a top prize of £200,000.
"Sometimes it's the easiest one to win because you are playing against the best players," said O'Sullivan.
"You know what they will do and what they will bring to the table; you know their what their best game is like, what their worst game is like and what their middle game is like. You know everything about their games.
"The tougher matches are sometimes guys that you don't know; you don't know their strengths and weaknesses.
"With the Masters you know what you are getting involved in."
Sign up to My Sport to follow snooker news and reports on the BBC app. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/38608159 | |
US boot brand recalls shoe that leaves swastika imprints - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A Reddit post went viral after showing a shoe imprint that leaves behind the Nazi symbol. | US & Canada | A California shoe company has recalled a boot after a customer discovered the sole left tiny swastika prints behind.
The boot went viral after a Reddit user posted a picture showing the shoe's tread and its swastika imprints.
Conal International Trading Co, the City of Industry company that manufactures the boot, has since issued a public apology and pulled the shoe.
The company said it was "no way intentional" and an "obvious mistake" made by manufacturers in China.
"We will not be selling any of our boots with the misprint to anyone," the company said in a statement.
"We would never create a design to promote hate. We don't promote hate at our company."
The Reddit user's post has been viewed more than two million times, sending social media into a flurry.
"There was an angle I didn't get to see when ordering my new work boots," the Reddit user wrote.
"The soles don't look that much like swastikas, but the prints are unmistakable," a Reddit user wrote. "And whoever made the soles would have understood that."
Amazon, where the Polar Fox military combat boots were sold before the company pulled the listing, was inundated with reviews cracking Nazi jokes, calling the boot "heily recommended" and rating the pair a "nein out of 10".
Another Amazon user quipped: "Good for marching into Poland, but not so good for much else".
The listing was removed from Amazon on Thursday.
The boots also gained the attention of the popular neo-Nazi website, Daily Stormer, where they were called a "must have", the Washington Post reported.
German weekly magazine Stern also pointed out the boot's name, Polar Fox, shares a name with a World War Two military operation.
Polarfuchs, or Polar Fox, was an operation in which German and Finnish soldiers captured Salla, Finland from the Soviet Union. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38614276 | |
Nile Wilson: GB gymnast injured after 'freak accident' in training - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/BBCSport/ | British Olympic bronze medallist Nile Wilson could be out for several months after snapping ankle ligaments in training. | Gymnastics | "I will come back a better gymnast," says Nile Wilson
British Olympic bronze medallist Nile Wilson could be out for several months after snapping ankle ligaments in training. The 20-year-old, who won bronze on the high bar at Rio 2016, was injured during what he called a "basic" parallel bars routine on Wednesday. Wilson said the "freak accident" caused "very significant injury". "I'll get through this and come back stronger; the key is staying very positive," he wrote on Facebook. Despite not breaking any bones, the injury could force Wilson to miss the European Championships in April. He was part of Team GB's best ever Olympic gymnastics performance, the squad winning seven medals in Brazil. Earlier in 2016 he became the first Briton to win European high bar gold.
"Following a freak accident on Wednesday, a scan on my ankle has revealed a serious injury. "I am committed to getting back to full fitness as soon as I can. "I will come back a better gymnast and a better person. "The is day one of a different chapter on my journey and I will be reaching out to those facing similar challenges."
British Gymnastics men's head national coach Eddie van Hoof said it was a significant setback for Wilson in his early preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. "He will receive the best possible advice and support to assist in his recovery. Nile will now focus on the recovery period and we will adjust his programme accordingly," he said. British Gymnastics chief medical officer Dr Chris Tomlinson added: "Investigations have revealed no fracture but he does have a significant lateral ankle ligament injury. "He will be further assessed by the British Gymnastics medical team early next week to determine the next steps in his treatment."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/gymnastics/38618279 | |
Graham Taylor obituary: Ex-England boss a fount of knowledge and a true gentleman - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | Chief football writer Phil McNulty pays tribute to Graham Taylor after the former England manager's sudden death at the age of 72. | null | Graham Taylor will be remembered by many for his unfulfilling spell in charge of England - but by plenty more as an outstanding club manager at Watford and Aston Villa and one of the nicest, most genuine men in the game.
The reaction to Taylor's death on Thursday at the age of 72, and the affection expressed for him, was the true measure of his standing inside and outside football.
Born in Worksop in Nottinghamshire, Taylor was the son of a journalist and rose to prominence in the game as a manager after retiring as a player with Lincoln City in 1972. He became manager and coach at the club, winning the Fourth Division title with them before moving to Watford in 1977.
It was here, in tandem with his chairman Sir Elton John, that he produced arguably his finest work, taking the club from the Fourth Division to the top flight in the space of five exhilarating years.
• None Listen again to a 5 live special: Tributes to Graham Taylor
Taylor nurtured Watford legends such as Luther Blissett and John Barnes, remarkably finishing second behind Liverpool in their first season at that elite level and reaching the FA Cup final in 1984, where they lost 2-0 to Everton.
Not so long ago he joked with me, with his usual broad smile: "You know I have never watched any of that game from that day to this - but I don't need to see it again to know that second goal from Andy Gray was a bloody foul on our goalkeeper Steve Sherwood."
Taylor's unlikely partnership with the flamboyant rock star worked against the odds, the manager's down-to-earth approach dovetailing with his chairman's lavish lifestyle. They remained friends for life, as demonstrated by Sir Elton's heartfelt tribute.
On trips abroad when he worked as a BBC Sport pundit, Taylor would gladly tell stories of that partnership, always with a laugh and underlining the genuine affection they shared.
Taylor's brilliance inevitably attracted attention from elsewhere and, perhaps feeling he had achieved all he could at Vicarage Road, he left for Aston Villa in May 1987.
Villa were in reduced circumstances having been relegated to the second flight. Taylor soon put that right by winning promotion in his first season - and, not content with that, rebuilt the club with such success and shrewd management that he took them to second place behind Liverpool in 1990.
Taylor's methods were tried and trusted and yet he often received criticism for what his detractors perceived as "long ball" football. He, with much justification, pointed out his willingness to use wingers and flair players such as Barnes and the young Mo Johnston, whom he brought to England from Partick Thistle.
England inevitably looked in Taylor's direction after Sir Bobby Robson left following the 1990 World Cup in Italy, where his side lost to West Germany on penalties in the semi-final.
This was, without doubt, the darkest and most frustrating period of Taylor's career and is one of the reasons his other work has been so criminally underrated over the years.
Taylor took over at a tough time after the loss of England mainstays such as goalkeeper Peter Shilton and past captains such as Terry Butcher and Bryan Robson. He gave players like Alan Shearer and Martin Keown their first England caps - but he drew criticism for selecting players many simply felt were not international class, such as Carlton Palmer.
England reached Euro 92 in Sweden under Taylor but produced a series of disappointing performances, going out at the group stage after losing 2-1 to Sweden in Stockholm.
Taylor courted controversy and criticism in that decisive game by substituting England captain and main marksman Gary Lineker for Arsenal striker Alan Smith with a goal still needed - it never arrived and Lineker never played for England again. The manager was vilified and lampooned as a "turnip" in the Sun newspaper.
The campaign to qualify for the World Cup in the United States in 1994 also ended in failure, and was brutally chronicled in the fly-on-the-wall documentary 'The Impossible Job', which gave an intimate insight into the pressures Taylor was under.
Those struggles were illustrated starkly in the game that effectively sealed his fate, the 2-0 loss to the Netherlands in Rotterdam.
He may have operated at the highest level but he never talked down to supporters and was always interested in how they viewed the game
The tortured Taylor is seen on the sidelines pleading with officials after Ronald Koeman somehow escaped a red card for a foul on England's David Platt, only to be reprieved and score the brilliant free-kick that sent the Dutch on the way to victory.
He resigned the following month and stayed out of the game until returning at Wolves in March 1994. During his spell in charge he took them into the second-tier play-offs in 1994-95, where they lost to Bolton Wanderers.
Taylor left in November 1995 before returning to revisit old glories. Sir Elton John was back at the helm at Watford so it was no surprise when he turned to Taylor to come back to Vicarage Road as general manager in February 1996.
It was once more the perfect fit and he was back as manager a year later, winning the third-tier title in 1998 before putting Watford in the Premier League at the end of the following season after a play-off final victory over Bolton.
Watford, despite an early win at Liverpool, were relegated and the following season Taylor decided to retire - only to change his mind and make a comeback at Villa in February 2002. He retired for a second and final time after they struggled the following season.
It was the end of one chapter and the start of another as Taylor became a respected pundit on BBC Radio 5 live, a role he performed with total assurance and perception.
Taylor was part of the radio team that covered England. It was a sign of the esteem in which he was held by fans as well as players that whenever he encountered supporters abroad, he was treated with complete respect.
There was barely a reference from England followers to any of his struggles in charge of the national team. To them, Taylor was a true gentleman, to be given his due not just for his work but for his warm personality and willingness to discuss football matters with anyone he met.
He may have operated at the highest level but he never talked down to supporters and was always interested in how they viewed the game.
• None Archive: Media treated me like dirt after England - Taylor
• None Archive: Taylor told me to stick to cricket - Botham
As a BBC Sport colleague, Taylor was unfailingly co-operative and the consummate professional, willing to take a call at any time, even when he was meant to be spending time with his beloved wife Rita.
And as well as a fount of knowledge and a man with strong opinions, Taylor was also an endless source of entertainment and stories, just as happy to poke fun at himself as everyone else.
Graham Taylor was a top-class manager at club level and a true gentleman inside and outside of football. He will be greatly missed and perhaps now his work in management, viewed through the prism of this sad news, will finally get the credit it fully deserves. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38596836 | |
Johanna Konta beats Agnieszka Radwanska to win Sydney International - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | British number one Johanna Konta impressively wins the Sydney International by beating Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 6-2. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
British number one Johanna Konta won the Sydney International on Friday with an impressive 6-4 6-2 victory over Agnieszka Radwanska in Australia.
World number 10 Konta broke her Polish opponent in the third game and hit 18 winners to five in the first set.
The 25-year-old dominated world number three Radwanska with some stunning returns and powerful hitting, and she convincingly won the second set.
Konta finished the match off with an ace to claim her second WTA tour title.
And Britain could yet boast both the women's and men's champions in Sydney, with Dan Evans defeating Andrey Kuznetsov to reach his first ATP Tour final, while Jamie Murray is in the doubles final.
Konta, playing in the city of her birth, did not drop a set all week as she marched through a high-class field.
"I was born here, so this is a very special moment for me," Konta said. "I'm really happy."
"I'm really pleased with the amount of matches I've been able to play. I take it as a nice reward for all the hard work."
The Briton's display will also give her confidence going into the year's first Grand Slam when she starts her Australian Open challenge against Kirsten Flipkens next week.
She reached the semi-finals at Melbourne Park in 2016, losing to eventual winner Angelique Kerber.
Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide.
Konta had been beaten in both her previous matches against Radwanska, including the China Open final, and lost the first six points of the match.
But, from 0-30 down on her own serve in the second game, Konta quickly turned the match around and took her third break point in the third game of match to seize the initiative.
Her highlights in the first set included a second serve ace and some heavy hitting before a service game to love to wrap it up.
Konta twice broke Radwanska at the start of the second set to go 4-0 up and she finished off proceedings with her seventh ace to secure victory in one hour and 21 minutes.
"I can't remember playing someone like this on that level, that consistent for the whole match," Radwanska said. "I couldn't really say that I did something wrong. She was just playing amazing tennis and was aggressive from the first shot."
This was a breathtaking performance by Konta - she was very aggressive from the baseline and served superbly.
The 25-year-old has given plenty of notice of her talent over the past 18 months, but this was a display which marked her out as a potential winner of the Australian Open - although her draw is very tough and she has played nine matches on two continents in the first two weeks of the season.
Konta will equal her career high ranking of ninth on Monday and no player has accumulated more ranking points than she has so far this year. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38606939 | |
Dan Evans reaches maiden final in Sydney after beating Andrey Kuznetsov - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | Briton Dan Evans reaches his first ATP Tour final with a 6-2 3-6 6-3 win over Andrey Kuznetsov at the Sydney International. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Briton Dan Evans reached his first ATP Tour final with a 6-2 3-6 6-3 win over Andrey Kuznetsov in the semi-finals of the Sydney International in Australia.
Evans, 26, started strongly against the 25-year-old Russian and won the opening set in 30 minutes before being pegged back.
The world number 67 broke serve early in the decider and held on to beat a player ranked 19 places above him.
He will now face Luxembourg's Gilles Muller at 08:30 GMT on Saturday.
In the men's doubles, Britain's Jamie Murray and Brazilian partner Bruno Soares also secured a place in the final with a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) win over Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.
They will play Dutch duo Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middlekoop at 05:00 on Saturday.
Britain has already enjoyed success at the event with Johanna Konta winning the women's final after impressively beating Agnieszka Radwanska.
Evans, who is already guaranteed to climb to a new career-high ranking just outside the top 50, said: "It was a good match. I feel pretty tired to be honest but I might not get this opportunity in a final for a while.
"It's great that Jo won. Hopefully Jamie wins, and hopefully I do." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38607652 | |
Natarajan Chandrasekaran: Who is new Tata Group chairman? - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The BBC's Sameer Hashmi profiles the new chairman of India's $100bn Tata Group. | India | Mr Chandrasekaran is the first person outside India's affluent Parsi community to be appointed as chairman
India's Tata Group appointed Natarajan Chandrasekaran as its new chairman on Thursday, months after an acrimonious stand-off with its outgoing chairman Cyrus Mistry. The BBC's Sameer Hashmi profiles the new chief.
Chandra - as Mr Chandrasekaran is popularly called - is one of the best known faces of the Tata Group. The 53-year-old has been the chief executive of the high profile global IT service provider, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), since 2009.
But his journey with the Tata group began three decades ago. He joined the company in 1987 after obtaining a Master's degree in computer applications from the National Institute of Technology in Trichy in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Interestingly, Mr Chandrasekaran, who will become the seventh chairman of the Tata group - is the first person outside India's affluent Parsi community to be appointed to the post. The $100bn (£80bn) enterprise is controlled by a Parsi family and for many observers this decision marks a huge shift.
Apart from being an accomplished business leader, Mr Chandrasekaran is also known for being an avid runner. He has participated in marathons across the globe including in cities like Boston, Berlin, New York and Chicago, as well as back home in Mumbai.
"I love running. It's helped me become a better listener and also calms me down," he told the BBC a few years ago.
Running long races has also been the hallmark of his professional life. Mr Chandrasekaran has never worked anywhere but at TCS. As the firm grew through the 1990s and 2000s to become one of India's most prominent IT companies, he also rose through the ranks, heading various important projects and teams before becoming the chief executive in 2009.
"I spotted him way back in 1996, and knew that he had the potential," S Ramadorai, the former chief executive of TCS and his first boss, said in 2009.
And it was his performance over the last eight years, during which TCS expanded its global footprint and became India's most valuable company with a market capitalisation of nearly $70bn, that put him in a different league.
This period was marked by global turbulence because of the economic recession which severely hampered the growth of Indian IT firms. But despite the tough times, TCS kept reporting healthy profits - and eventually displaced Bangalore-based Infosys to become the bellwether for India's IT sector.
TCS is the jewel in the crown for the Tatas, contributing 10% of the group's total revenues and 40% of its profit.
His strong leadership skills and a proven track record were big factors that helped him during the selection process.
The fact that he is a Tata veteran, an "insider" who understands the dynamics and complexities of the group, also gave him an edge over other candidates in the race.
"He is a global business leader with boldness of vision and drive for results. Chandra personifies the value system of the Tatas," Abidali Z Neemuchwala, Chief Executive of Wipro Limited told the BBC.
But as Mr Chandrasekaran gets ready to take over the mantle from Ratan Tata, who was appointed interim chairman after Cyrus Mistry's ouster in October, he faces several challenges.
The bitter and very public feud between Mistry and the Tatas over the last couple of months has tarnished the conglomerate's brand image. Both sides have made serious but unverified allegations against one other and are now locked in a legal battle.
"The immediate priority for him will be to rebuild credibility. The second is building up transparency and governance besides everything else like strategy and building performance," said Kavil Ramachandran, the executive director at the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise, Indian School of Business.
Tata Steel operations in the UK have been a concern for the company
His other big task will be stabilising businesses that have been struggling.
Tata's empire ranges from cars and steel mills to aviation and salt. It has a presence in more than 100 countries. But firms like Tata Steel have suffered heavy losses in the UK, and at home Tata Motors is facing some stiff competition from foreign and local brands.
The Tata group relies hugely on a clutch of companies, including TCS - to bolster its overall profits.
Mr Chandrasekaran started running marathons when he was 43 to keep his fitness levels up. And given the mammoth challenge that lies ahead, he will need all his stamina and patience to succeed. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-38609021 | |
Graham Taylor: Gems from former England manager's brilliant career - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | Did I not know that? We pick some gems from Graham Taylor's brilliant career, following the former England manager's death at 72. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Taylor managed England between 1990 and 1993, but arguably his finest work was done at Watford The future England international he signed for a few pairs of shorts, the warmth, the generosity of spirit, the community values, the achievements. Tributes have been paid to former England boss Graham Taylor, who died on Thursday following a suspected heart attack at the age of 72. He was a respected pundit, a highly successful manager and "one of the nicest and most genuine men in football". And as these 10 stories show, he also had the capacity to surprise...
• None 'I love you Graham, I'll miss you very much' Sir Elton John's tribute
• None An outstanding manager and one of the nicest men in the game' | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38601781 | |
Brexit options: Hard, soft, grey and clean versions - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | null | Many have heard the 'hard' and 'soft' Brexit terms, but what about the 'grey' and 'clean' versions? | null | Many have heard the 'hard' and 'soft' Brexit terms, but what about the 'grey' and 'clean' versions?
Daily Politics reporter Adam Fleming looks at the terminology used in the debate over how the UK will leave the EU, and its future relations with Brussels institutions and our nearest neighbours.
More: Follow @daily_politics on Twitter and like us on Facebook and watch a recent clip and watch full programmes on iPlayer | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38611676 | |
Does Catholic praise for Mary Magdalene show progress towards women priests? - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Does increasing honour paid to Mary Magdalene in the Catholic Church show progress towards women priests? | UK | The emotional scene in John's Gospel in which Jesus calls to the grieving Mary Magdalene by name and she tries to touch him has inspired many artists. This is Titian's interpretation.
The gospels depict Mary Magdalene as one of Jesus' closest companions. Her emotional encounter with the risen Jesus and her supposed sinful past have fascinated Christians for centuries.
The latest of many films about her is released shortly. Its heroine, played by Rooney Mara, is billed as a young woman who joins "a radical new social movement" and "must confront the reality of Jesus' destiny and her own place within it".
There was amusement when cast members were pictured in ancient garb smoking on set.
Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Church has enhanced the saint's status. Last year her Saint's Day (22 July) was promoted to a Feast, equal to those of most of the male Disciples.
Explaining the decision, Archbishop Arthur Roche pointed out that she had long been known as "apostle to the apostles, as she announces to the apostles what they in turn will announce to all the world."
A bizarre tradition in depictions of Mary Magdalene shows her naked, but clothed with her long red hair. Terracotta by Andrea Della Robbia of about 1590
This refers to John 20:17, in which Jesus sends her to the disciples to tell them he would ascend to God - "apostolos" in Greek means "one who is sent".
The Vatican press office said that 22 July would be "a feast, like that of the other apostles." A special prayer for use at Mass on that day says Jesus honoured her with the task of an apostle (apostolatus officio),
This has coincided with what some believe are signs of a change in Rome's attitude on the possibility of women priests.
The announcement on Mary Magdalene, and the setting up of a commission to discuss the ordination of women as deacons - not priests, but able to preside at weddings, christenings and funerals is an indication to some of change.
Tina Beattie, Professor of Catholic Studies at the University of Roehampton, says: "I accept that it has to be slow, it has to be sensitively done... But my own feeling is that something is happening".
What was said about the feast day was encouraging, says Pippa Bonner of the campaign group Catholic Women's Ordination. "As soon as we spotted that we shared that news around - I think that's a very, very positive step."
Pope Francis met Sweden's female archbishop, Antje Jackelen. But on his journey home he said Catholic policy forbidding women priests had not changed.
In 1994 Pope John Paul II declared "that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful." Jesus had "called only men as his Apostles", The constant practice of the Church, he stressed, "has imitated Christ in choosing only men."
In November, while returning from a visit to Sweden where he worshipped with the country's female Lutheran archbishop, Antje Jackelen, Pope Francis was asked if his Church still ruled out women priests.
"Saint Pope John Paul II had the last clear word on this and it stands," he said.
Asked again if the ban was permanent, he responded: "If we read carefully the declaration by St. John Paul II, it is going in that direction."
Prof Beattie comments: "Whenever he's asked to give a reason he always references John Paul II... I'm not aware of him saying that under his own Papal authority."
Paloma Baeza played Mary Magdalene in The Passion, shown on BBC1 in 2008.
The idea that statements about Mary Magdalene and her "apostleship" contradict the rulings of John Paul II is discounted by many Catholic commentators.
"Many Catholics from the Anglican tradition will rejoice at her commemoration being raised to the dignity of a Feast, while thinking that the idea that this has any relevance to the closed question of women's ordination is entirely fanciful," says Fr Simon Chinery, spokesman for the Ordinariate set up by Pope Benedict as a home within the Catholic Church for Anglicans opposed to women bishops.
The idea of Mary Magdalene as a great sinner led to celebration of her as a great penitent, as in this haggard sculpture by Donatello (about 1455).
Austen Ivereigh, co-founder of the group Catholic Voices, says: "Declaring her day a Feast reflects a growing awareness that the role of women in the early Church was an important one, and needs to be recovered.
"But opening church leadership to women's unique gifts does not equate to opening the priesthood to women - at least that argument is not being made in any significant way in the Church at the moment,"
Arguments against women's ordination in the Church of England were ultimately unsuccessful.
But of course the Catholic Church is very different. In the CofE the argument over women's ordination went on for decades. But it was possible to say where it had got to by referring to the state of discussions in the General Synod. It could not have been stopped for good by a ruling like that of Pope John Paul.
Of all the hundreds of churches named after Mary Magdalene, the grandest is perhaps La Madeleine in Paris. Marochetti's statue on the high altar shows angels lifting her to heaven..
A change in doctrine can come as news to Catholics. And it can happen suddenly.
That was the case with Mary Magdalene herself. In the late 6th Century AD Pope Gregory I declared that she was also the woman in Luke 7:37 who "lived a sinful life", who washed Jesus's feet and dried them with her hair.
This fuelled the tradition that Mary Magdalene was not only a sinner (which Christianity says we all are) but a particularly colourful one, and inspired dozens of artistic portrayals of her ranging from ravaged penitent to borderline erotic.
But the revised Roman Calendar of 1969 simply declared that 22 July was indeed the day of Mary Magdalene, but she was not the woman in Luke 7:37. And that, after nearly 1,400 years. was that.
Is she, as the Anglican Rev Giles Fraser claims some see her, "the standard bearer for women's developing role in the Catholic church, and even... for women's ordination"?
The Church can hardly show it is moved by the late unofficial gospels - one of which talks of Jesus repeatedly kissing Mary Magdalene,; the recent crop of stories claiming she was actually married to Jesus; or the Rooney Mara film. And Pope Gregory's claims about her sinful life may be discredited. But all these things contribute to her prestige. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38528682 | |
Barack Obama legacy: The president and the tale of US jobs - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | How US job creation tells the story of outgoing US President Barack Obama's economic legacy. | Business | Economists and economics reporters do like their charts and graphs.
And if they were all forced to pick just one with which to tell the story of the Obama presidency, many would plump for the bar chart of "non-farm payrolls".
The non-farm payrolls report is simply the official measure of how many jobs the US economy has added (or lost) in the previous month.
The release of this job tally, which happens at the same time, on the same day (the first Friday) of every single month, is one of the constants in the working life of a Wall Street economist or reporter.
Many feel they measure out their lives with non-farm payroll reports.
But you can reasonably measure out the Obama presidency with them as well.
Take a look at the chart.
On it you can see that from the first such report after entering the White House, President Obama learned that the US economy had just shed 800,000 jobs in one month.
No other figure so clearly illustrates that Mr Obama started his presidency with an economy that wasn't just weak, it was on the verge of collapse.
A recession of a severity not seen since the 1930s was under way.
The most pressing question for the new president was what, if anything, could be done to stabilise the economy so that it could create jobs once more.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. ’Yes we did’: Obama on Iran, Cuba and healthcare achievements
The chart shows us what happened.
By early 2010 the monthly tally shows the US was adding jobs again
And albeit with further dips later that year, it has done so ever since.
The last non-farm payrolls report of the Obama era showed that in December 2016 the US economy added 156,000 jobs.
It was also the 75th consecutive month of job growth.
There has never been such a long period of job creation.
The official unemployment rate in the US is now 4.7%. For many economists that represents "full employment".
But the chart doesn't tell us WHY the job market bottomed out and started its long expansion.
For an explanation of that you might start with one word: Detroit
Detroit, or rather the US car industry with which the city is synonymous, was seemingly in its death throes in January 2009.
The recession and financial crisis had hit General Motors, Chrysler and Ford particularly hard.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. US "car tsar" Steve Rattner discusses President Obama's economic legacy with the BBC's Michelle Fleury
Already heavily indebted, by the turn of the Obama administration it looked like they would simply run out of cash and cease operations within weeks.
President Obama's decision to bail out General Motors and Chrysler with bridging loans and managed bankruptcies (Ford managed to turn itself around without government money) was deeply controversial.
But look again at the chart.
If the auto industry had in fact collapsed, we would probably need to spread something like a million more job losses across those bars for 2009-10.
Beyond the number of jobs directly or indirectly lost, it's hard to calculate the ultimate economic effects of a disintegration of the US auto industry.
But it seems safe to say that America would look very different indeed without the auto bailout.
There was also Mr Obama's stimulus package - or the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to give it its official name.
This was a package of government spending which Congress passed, at the new president's behest, within weeks of his taking office.
There have been 75 consecutive months of job growth in the US
It too met fierce criticism and its impact has long been disputed.
Still, more than one analysis has estimated that through 2010 it created or saved more than 2 million jobs.
Taking those away would also dramatically alter the non-farm payrolls chart.
At least it would for the beginning of Mr Obama's presidency.
But after the first two years of his administration the politics of job creation, like everything else, changed.
The Republican Party's capture of the House of Representatives in November 2010 deprived the president of most of his influence on the writing of new laws.
He lost his grasp of one of the main levers of economic control and never regained it.
The Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives in November 2010
That means that so much of the long period of job growth, from 2011 to the present, has unfolded with little input from the White House.
Of course the president always has large powers, whoever controls Congress, but they tend to be in the administration of business regulations and in trade relations.
Attributing the creation of jobs to those functions of government is even more speculative than attributing them to new laws.
Still, if presidents cannot write laws, their veto power means laws can hardly ever be passed without them.
It is a feature of the notorious political "gridlock" that has characterised much of the Obama era.
The president and the Republican Congress have been in a perpetual stand-off over so many issues at the heart of the economy.
The result is that many economic problems have gone unaddressed.
Yet it also means that politicians, and their insistence on change and reform, have been kept on the sidelines, leaving the economy to develop without them.
In the absence of major external shocks, perhaps the consistent job growth the US has enjoyed for more than six years should be attributed, not to the name and the politics of the president but to things more fundamental to the US and its brand of capitalism.
It seems appropriate that after the steep steps down, then up, in the first 18 months of the non-farm payrolls bar chart, what the Obama presidency looks like is then a consistent series of bars, representing steady if undramatic job growth, month after month after month. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38581768 | |
James DeGale v Badou Jack: Briton is ready to prove himself 'as one of world's best' - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | James DeGale plans to prove he is "one of the best fighters in the world" in his unification bout with Badou Jack on Saturday. | null | Last updated on .From the section Boxing
IBF super-middleweight champion James DeGale intends to prove he is "one of the best fighters in the world" in his unification bout with WBC champion Badou Jack in New York.
The Briton, 30, fights Sweden's Jack, 34, at around 03:30 GMT on Sunday.
DeGale weighed in 1.5lb (0.68kg) inside the 12-stone (76.2kg) limit, while Jack was 0.75lb (0.34kg) inside.
"This is the moment. I can't wait to return to the UK as a unified world champion," DeGale said.
He added: "This is a great fight for boxing and it's going to raise my appeal all over the world."
DeGale, who has won 23 of his 24 professional bouts, has admitted money is another motivation for victory.
"I've worked hard all my life," he told BBC Radio 5 live. "Now I've got myself in a position where I can financially secure me and my family.
"It's time to strike while the iron's hot, get in the big fights, earn my money and run."
The 2008 Olympic gold medallist added: "It's not just about the money but I'm a prizefighter.
"I've got all the accolades now, the only thing that's missing is the millions in the bank."
His opponent Jack, who has 20 wins, two draws and one defeat on his record, has million-dollar backing behind him as he is managed by Floyd Mayweather.
DeGale has prepared for the fight with a strength and conditioning coach - the first time he has used one.
"It's because I was getting fatigued in fights," he explained.
He also said he had dreamt of fighting in New York since he was a child, watching his hero, Britain's former world featherweight champion Naseem Hamed, against Kevin Kelley.
"At the age of 10, I was thinking, 'yes, that's going to be me'," he said. "I'm living the dream." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/38604206 | |
Trump news conference: 10 things we learned - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Donald Trump has held his first news conference in seven months, nine days before he takes office at the White House. What did we learn? | US & Canada | Donald Trump has held his first news conference in five months, with nine days to go before he takes the oath and assumes power at the White House.
While his fury at the allegations concerning his ties to Russia made the headlines, there was plenty more covered.
His sons, Donald and Eric, will run the Trump Organization, Mr Trump said in a long-awaited announcement concerning his business interests.
His lawyer Sheri Dillon also said:
She also turned to the constitution's "emoluments clause" which bans government officials from taking money from foreign governments. People have wondered if foreign officials staying at Trump hotels would mean he was in breach. She said no.
But she said he would donate foreign payments to the Treasury anyway.
However, the head of the Office of Government Ethics launched a scathing attack on the overall Trump plan, saying it does not go far enough to avoid potential conflicts of interest. Other ethics experts seem to agree.
The BBC's Anthony Zurcher: Mr Trump has spent his entire life building his business empire, and he seems reluctant to let it go entirely, ethical concerns notwithstanding. While he says he's stepping away from the business, his decision not to relinquish ownership and his only transfer management to his children will likely not satisfy many of his critics.
The president-elect suggested the US intelligence agencies are to blame for the unsubstantiated allegations that he paid for Russian prostitutes and fostered close relations between his campaign team and the Kremlin.
"I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out there... That's something that Nazi Germany would have done."
The top US spy, James Clapper, later hit back, saying the leak was not from the US intelligence community.
AZ: Wednesday was only the latest broadside Mr Trump has fired against a US intelligence community that he believes is trying to undermine the legitimacy of the presidency. His targets feel threatened as well, so this is far from the final exchange.
He went further than he has before in identifying Russia as the culprit behind hacks of Democratic Party emails, but still carried a caveat.
"As far as hacking, I think it's Russia. But we also get hacked by other countries and other people."
AZ: While Mr Trump was finally willing to acknowledge Russian involvement in 2016 election hacking, he still couched criticism in terms of a larger problem that involves other nations, like China. Mr Trump clearly feels much more comfortable criticising China than he does Vladimir Putin and Russia.
Mr Trump said he plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as soon as his health secretary pick is confirmed.
That could be the same week, the same day or even the same hour, he said.
But it's not clear whether the Republican party will be able to rally around a new plan.
AZ: While Mr Trump has set a tight timeline for repeal and replacement of Obamacare, it will be a heavy lift for a Congress that still is uncertain on what it should do - or the political fallout it could suffer for doing it.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Donald Trump said the information was 'fake'
The man who launched his presidential campaign with the condemnation of Mexican immigrants as criminals shows no signs of wavering in his plan to build wall on the southern border.
AZ: For Mr Trump, it's not a matter of if Mexico is going to pay for the border wall (not fence, he emphasised), it's when - and he predicts it will happen in less than a year.
"There will be a major border tax on these companies that are leaving and getting away with murder. And if our politicians had what it takes, they would have done this years ago. And you'd have millions more workers right now in the United States."
AZ: Now we know a bit more about how he will try to foot the bill for the wall - through a tax, which might be easier than asking the Mexican government to cough up a cheque.
Asked about filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court, he said he has a list of 20 and will put one of them up within his first two weeks.
"It will be a decision which I very strongly believe in. I think it's one of the reasons I got elected."
AZ: While the Supreme Court wasn't a top issue for many American voters, it was likely an important factor in keeping evangelical conservatives in Mr Trump's column. His pick will likely reward their faith.
"We have to get our drug industry coming back," he said.
We need to "create new bidding procedures for the drug industry, because they're getting away with murder," he added.
After the press conference, Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders expressed his full agreement.
"Pharma does get away with murder. Literally murder. People die because they can't get the prescription drugs they need."
AZ: Talking about using the power of government negotiation to reduce drug prices is a regular talking point for Democrats, but Mr Trump's interest in taking on big pharmaceutical companies probably comes as a bit of a shock to his Republican colleagues.
Mr Trump cracked a joke when he said he could not have done some of the more salacious things alleged in the intelligence dossier.
"Does anyone believe that story? I'm a germophobe, by the way."
It has long been part of media folklore that he is averse to physical contact and once passed hand-sanitiser to journalists.
AZ: Back when Mr Trump was giving regular press conferences, his answers were frequently peppered with quirky non-sequiturs or comments that would never come out of the mouth of a traditional politician. It seems like President Trump will stick to that script.
"I was in Russia years ago, with the Miss Universe contest, which did very well - Moscow, the Moscow area did very, very well.
"And I told many people, 'Be careful, because you don't wanna see yourself on television. Cameras all over the place.'"
AZ: While Mr Trump may have a soft spot for Vladimir Putin and Russia, comments like this aren't going to get him a post-election job on the Russian tourism board. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38588878 | |
Events in Gravesend mark Pocahontas' death 400 years ago - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | null | It is 400 years since Pocahontas, immortalized by a Disney Film, died. | null | The animated film Pocahontas, released in 1995, was inspired by a Native American woman who died 400 years ago. This week special events marking her extraordinary life have got under way - although the location might surprise you. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38607889 | |
Diego Costa: Chelsea striker is dropped after dispute over fitness with coach - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | Diego Costa is left out of the Chelsea squad for Saturday's Premier League game against Leicester following a dispute over his fitness. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Striker Diego Costa has been left out of the Chelsea squad to face Leicester on Saturday after a dispute with a coach over his fitness.
The Spain international has not trained for three days and has not travelled for the Premier League leaders' match with the champions (17:30 GMT).
The news comes amid reports he is the subject of an offer to move to China that would be worth £30m a year.
Costa, 28, has scored 14 goals and provided five assists this season.
It is understood Blues owner Roman Abramovich is not interested in releasing him from his contract, which expires in 2019, and would not entertain the idea of being forced to do so.
• None Podcast: Is Costa about to derail Chelsea's season?
Speaking in early January, Costa admitted he wanted to leave Chelsea last summer, but said he was now happy to stay.
Chelsea had been hopeful of agreeing a contract extension with the Brazil-born forward, but the dispute with fitness coach Julio Tous raises new doubts.
Costa joined the Blues for £32m in 2014, and was understood to be close to a return to former club Atletico Madrid after a difficult 2015-16 campaign.
"Did I want to go? Yes, yes, I was about to leave," he said earlier this month. "But not because of Chelsea.
"There was one thing I wanted to change for family reasons but it wasn't to be, and I continue to be happy here."
Shortly afterwards, manager Antonio Conte said he believed the striker was now "completely focused" on "fighting for this club and for his shirt".
He added: "When Diego decided to stay, I wasn't concerned. He is showing great patience in the right way, in every moment of the game."
Midfielders Jon Mikel Obi and Oscar recently left Chelsea for Chinese clubs - Tianjin TEDA and Shanghai SIPG respectively - while ex-Manchester City and United striker Carlos Tevez joined Shanghai Shenhua from Boca Juniors in a deal reportedly worth £310,000 a week.
'Costa has no affinity with England' - analysis
Why shouldn't Diego Costa go to China? There is no loyalty from clubs in football.
He's already defected from Brazil, his native country, to play for Spain and has no real affinity with England and the Premier League. I'm sure he likes London but he doesn't have any real affinity here.
Brazilians move around all the time; they will go wherever the money is.
This is how the Premier League started, paying huge money for foreign stars and now China is trying wrestle the Premier League away from England.
In general, how many England players have gone abroad in the past? We like our creature comforts. Brazilians are quite happy to up and leave.
Diego Costa has got no loyalty or affinity with England and the Premier League and you can't blame him - everybody would do the same thing.
Everything has been smooth sailing for Chelsea up to now. Imagine the faces of Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham. This is what they have been waiting for.
Another bid from the Chinese market seems to be rocking the boat of another top club. It's a huge problem.
When these situations arise, the players are probably thinking they'll go and do two years and then come back and play in the Premier League. Financially, they're not just supporting their immediate family, they are supporting their whole family… aunts, uncles and cousins.
I'd still give Chelsea a good chance of winning the title even if they lost him. With the lead they now have, I think they can cope if they replace him.
You don't want to keep players at your club who don't want to be there. Yes, Costa has been a huge part of Chelsea's success but he's not Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
Diego Costa is a problem for any defender. He is strong, quick and doesn't stop running. He sets the tone for all the other Chelsea players.
It's frightening the way the Chinese market is acting right now.
• None In Short - Costa 'wouldn't think twice about leaving for China' | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38617783 | |
Weather forecast: Icy conditions hit the UK - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | 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 | |
Nick Blackwell: Trainer Liam Wilkins has licence withdrawn after sparring session - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | Trainer Liam Wilkins has his licence withdrawn after overseeing a sparring session that left Nick Blackwell in hospital. | null | Last updated on .From the section Boxing
Trainer Liam Wilkins has had his licence withdrawn after overseeing the sparring session that left retired boxer Nick Blackwell in hospital.
Hasan Karkardi has been suspended for six months for sparring with Blackwell, who was left requiring surgery to reduce swelling on his brain.
The British Boxing Board of Control said Wilkins' conduct was "detrimental to the interests of boxing".
Blackwell, 26, retired after suffering a bleed on the skull in March.
He spent a week in an induced coma after losing his British middleweight title fight with Chris Eubank Jr.
Despite Blackwell not having a licence to fight, and despite him being advised not to return to the ring, he sparred with Karkardi, 29, on 22 November at a boxing club in Devizes, Wiltshire.
On Wednesday, a family member told BBC Sport Blackwell is still unable to walk, and a year away from making a full recovery. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/38617033 | |
Cyprus peace talks: Can Cypriots heal their divided island? - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | As peace talks between Cyprus' leaders progress, can people there forget the wounds of the past? | Europe | Abdullah Cangil, who was forced to emigrate from southern Cyprus to the north, says he is happy to hand back his house
Abdullah Cangil is a 66-year-old Turkish Cypriot, living in Morphou - a border town on the divided island of Cyprus.
His three-bedroom house is surrounded by orange and lemon trees. The chirping of birds can be heard all around the garden. He says he planted the trees here himself, as he reaches to one of them to grab a few mandarins to offer me.
Mr Cangil moved to this house in 1974, after Turkey invaded Cyprus in response to a coup aiming to unite the island with Greece. This was followed by a population exchange.
Around that time, 165,000 Greek Cypriots were displaced, while about 40,000 Turkish Cypriots were uprooted in total in inter-communal violence in the 1960s and the population transfer in 1975.
Abdullah Cangil was one of those who left his house behind. After 24 years in Paphos, a southern Cyprus town, he was forced to emigrate to the north.
"A Greek Cypriot family lives in our house in Paphos and we live in a Greek Cypriot family's house here," he says. "We all see each other, we became very good friends in time."
But what if he needs to hand his current home to its previous owners?
"I never felt attached to this house. I always knew one day I would need to leave it behind. It is its real owners' right to live here," he replies.
"The future of my grandsons, that is more important than a house. Peace is more important. I don't want my children to live the wars, the troubles that we have gone through. It is much more important to have peace than to move from one house to another."
Greek Cypriots from the town of Morphou stage a protest outside the presidential palace in Nicosia
Morphou, or Guzelyurt as it is called by Turkish Cypriots, is one of the thorny issues at the peace talks under way in the Swiss town of Geneva.
Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades has warned that there can be no deal without a full return of the town, while some on the Turkish Cypriot side say that is out of the question.
Although the talks in Geneva are labelled as the most intense effort in more than a decade to reunite the divided island of Cyprus, there is slow progress and the hopes for a breakthrough are already dimming.
But the two sides - for the very first time in the long history of Cyprus negotiations - have presented their respective maps of the future internal boundaries of a federated Cyprus.
The details of the maps are yet unclear, but it is expected that the territory under Turkish Cypriot control could shrink from its current 37% to just under 30%.
The fate of Morphou remains to be seen too, as emotions still run high on both sides of the island over the matters of territorial exchange and compensation for lost property.
But that is not the only hurdle in these negotiations. The foreign ministers of Greece, Turkey and Britain, guarantor powers of Cyprus's independence, are scheduled in Geneva on Thursday to discuss the security concerns within a possible deal - another challenging topic.
Turkey has about 35,000 troops in northern Cyprus. Greece and the Greek Cypriot government strongly contest their presence and demand all of them are pulled out - hardly a demand Turkey would be happy to meet.
In general, Turkish Cypriots, fearful of past experiences of being targeted by Greek Cypriot nationalists, also want Turkish guarantees to continue.
The wounds of the past are hard to heal in both communities and there is a mutual distrust of one another.
Bird droppings cover seats inside the old Nicosia airport, now located in the UN-controlled buffer zone that separates the north and south of Cyprus
One place that stands as a monument to that distrust and how to overcome it lies within the UN-controlled buffer zone that divides Cyprus along ethnic lies.
The Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) located here is a bi-communal body established in 1981 with the participation of the UN.
Its aim is to recover, identify and return the remains of the people who went missing during the atrocities mainly taking place in 1963-64 and 1974.
According to a list agreed by the leaders of Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities, 2,001 people have been identified as missing persons - though it is believed that the number could be much higher.
Around 500 of them are Turkish Cypriots and the rest Greek Cypriots - 1:3 being the exact proportion of the respective communities to each other.
The first missing person was exhumed in 2007 and since then about 750 people have been identified, their remains returned to their families.
Over a thousand sites have been dug until now, and excavations are still being carried out.
The remains of 25 people have been uncovered in the past few months alone
The Committee on Missing Persons aims to return the bones of the missing to their families
Rania Michail is in the team of anthropologists digging at a previously Orthodox cemetery in Morphou.
Since they started searching this place six months ago, they have managed to excavate 25 missing people's remains, she tells me - 12 soldiers, 12 old women and 1 person's general body parts.
"Sometimes it gets difficult emotionally. Especially if we find the remains of a child," Rania says.
"The first time that I saw remains five years ago, it was the most shocking moment of my life. I was really upset. That night I could not sleep. But then I got used to it. I have excavated over 100 bodies - women, soldiers, kids - both in the north and in the south of the island."
At the CMP's headquarters in the UN-controlled buffer zone, the anthropologists study the remains carefully, trying to reconstruct them and to identify those killed.
Skulls and bones are laid on top of tables along with whatever was found lying with the remains - a pair of socks, a piece of underwear, a lighter, or a picture of a loved one.
"What we do here is very important for achieving peace in Cyprus," says Uyum Vehit, an anthropologist.
"Almost every single family has missing persons. If they don't receive the remains, and if they don't have proper graves, they can't have a closure."
Kyriacos Solomi lost his younger brother, George, in the violence
At his home on the Greek side of the "Green Line" line in Nicosia, Kyriacos Solomi, 68, still waits for the remains of his younger brother, George, who was killed on the front line 42 years ago.
"He was a very peaceful man. He liked mixing with people, enjoying life, peaceful activities. He was a nice, healthy, good-looking young man, 24 years old," he says while trying to hold back the tears when he looks at his brother's picture in his hand.
"This is a very deep wound. It may close one day but a big scar will stay there forever."
Despite having lost his brother, Mr Solomi still believes in peace - but he doubts whether it can ever be reached in Cyprus.
"There is no other way to survive on this island. We fight for peace. I know the clock cannot go back, the lives will not come back.
"But I don't think peace will come here. Maybe in the next generations, if they can change the textbooks that spread hate instead of love.
"Listen to the TV, listen to the church: they are spreading hate. I don't think we can live peacefully with hatred on this island," he says.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. For more than 40 years Cyprus has been a divided island. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38593506 | |
Newspaper headlines: 'Snow chaos' and UK role in Trump scandal - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | 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 | |
Marks and Spencer: Good news finally? - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | 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 | |
Severe flood warnings mean ‘threat to life’, warns Environment Agency - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | null | The severe warnings in place along the east coast of England need to be taken seriously, the Environment Agency has warned. | null | The severe warnings in place along the east coast of England need to be taken seriously, the Environment Agency has warned.
The BBC spoke to Lisa Pinney from the Environment Agency, who has been assisting residents in Jaywick, Essex, affected by possible floods. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38610092 | |
Jeffrey Schlupp: Crystal Palace sign Leicester player for undisclosed fee - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | Crystal Palace sign Ghana international Jeffrey Schlupp from Premier League champions Leicester City for a fee believed to be £12m. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Sam Allardyce has made versatile Leicester player Jeffrey Schlupp his first signing as Crystal Palace boss.
The 24-year-old moves south for a reported £12m, and has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract.
The Ghana international made 24 Premier League appearances in 2015-16 as the Foxes won their first title.
But he has started only one league game this season and has not featured at all since the 5-0 Champions League defeat at Porto on 7 December.
Schlupp, who can play in defence, midfield or attack, was left out of Ghana's squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.
He began his career at Leicester - making 150 appearances for the club, scoring 15 goals - and had a loan spell at Brentford during 2010-11.
West Brom boss Tony Pulis had been interested in Schlupp, who joins a Palace side 17th in the Premier League.
The Eagles, one point above the relegation zone, visit West Ham on Saturday, a game Schlupp is available for.
Allardyce said: "He will bring strength and experience to the defence and will be a major asset for the club."
Sunderland manager David Moyes had earlier confirmed the club had rejected a bid from Palace for Netherlands defender Patrick van Aanholt. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38607724 | |
Hull tidal barrier lowered in sped-up video - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | null | A 45-minute video of the Hull tidal barrier going down, sped up to 45 seconds. | null | A 45-minute video of the barrier going down, sped up to 45 seconds. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38617337 | |
How bad have Southern rail services got? - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A long-running dispute over the role of conductors on the Southern rail network has resulted in a series of strikes. Just how bad have the operator's commuter services become? | UK | Commuters in south London and southern England have faced months of disruption on the Southern rail network amid a long-running strike over the role of conductors and the operation of driver-only trains.
The RMT union's members first walked out in April last year and were joined by members of Aslef, making the dispute the longest-running rail strike since the railways were privatised in 1996.
Further strikes had been planned for later this month, but most of the action has been called off following talks between the drivers' union Aslef and Govia Thameslink Railway, Southern's parent company.
But with customer satisfaction at a low of 69% - the bottom of the passenger satisfaction table - just how bad have things got for Southern's customers?
According to the official performance data published by Network Rail and the Office of Rail and Road, 29.5% of Southern's Mainline and Coast services were late (more than five minutes of the scheduled arrival time for commuter services) in the year to 7 January. That's almost three in every 10 services.
However, if the latest-available figures - from 11 December to 7 January - are taken in isolation, the percentage of late-running trains rises to 35.4%.
The national average for the same period was 12.6%
In fact, all lines run by Southern's parent company, Govia Thameslink Railway, were in the bottom six of the list for the latest period (Southern Metro, Great Northern, Gatwick Express, Southern Mainline and Coast and Thameslink), with between 21.3% and 35.4% of trains arriving late at their destinations.
*This is the Public Performance Measure (PPM) - the industry standard measure that monitors trains arriving within five minutes of scheduled arrival times for commuter services or 10 minutes for long-distance services. "Cancelled or significantly late" means cancelled trains or those arriving more than 30 minutes after a scheduled arrival time.
On Wednesday 11 January, the second strike day that week, Southern's own daily performance chart showed 60% of its Southern Mainline services were arriving late. That's six out of every 10 services.
Meanwhile, the top performer nationally during the latest four-week period of 11 December to 7 January, was London Overground - with only 2.9% of its London services late. Merseyrail Electrics Northern line also performed well, with just 2.9% late-running trains.
Looking further back over the last two years, Southern's Mainline and Coast performance has fluctuated, but delays have increased since the beginning of this year, according to the three official measures.
Using the Public Performance Measure (trains arriving late by more than five minutes), Southern's best performance since April 2014 was attained over the summer of that year - 10.3% of trains late. It has never attained that figure since.
Its worst period was between 29 May and 26 June last year, with 44.2% - almost half - of its services running late by more than five minutes. Some 68.6% (almost seven in 10) of trains were running more than 59 seconds late and 23.6% (almost a quarter) of services were cancelled or arriving more than 30 minutes late.
The latest National Rail Passenger Survey, released in Spring 2016, showed the lowest ratings for overall passenger satisfaction were given to Southern (69%) and Southeastern (69%), closely followed by Great Northern (74%), Thameslink (74%) and Abellio Greater Anglia (77%). Southern, Great Northern and Thameslink are all run by Govia Thameslink Railway.
Nationally, the highest ratings for overall satisfaction were achieved by Grand Central (96%), First Hull Trains (94%), Virgin Trains (92%), Chiltern Railways (91%) and Heathrow Express (91%).
Southern rail has promised to restore a "full train service" from Tuesday 24 January after talks with Aslef were described as constructive.
Three Aslef strike days - on the 24, 25, 26 January - have been cancelled as a result of the talks, however the RMT union's walkout on Monday 23 January is still set to go ahead.
Rail performance is measured in a number of ways. There are targets on punctuality, reliability, causes of delay, asset failures and disruption to the network from planned engineering work. Official statistics, published by the Office of Rail and Road, include the following indicators regarding punctuality and reliability:
The rail industry reports data on a periodic basis rather than the more recognised reporting cycles such as monthly or quarterly. A period is normally a 28-day, or four weekly period for business reporting purposes (Sunday to Saturday) and there are 13 periods in a financial year.
For more detailed information on the data, visit the Office of Rail and Road's performance report.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38249521 | |
Brian Fletcher: 'Unsung hero' who won Grand National three times dies aged 69 - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | 'Unsung hero' Brian Fletcher, who won the Grand National three times as a jockey, dies at the age of 69. | null | Last updated on .From the section Horse Racing
Ex-jockey Brian Fletcher, who won the Grand National three times, including twice on Red Rum, has died aged 69.
Fletcher's first Grand National success came when he steered Red Alligator to victory in 1968, a year after finishing third at Aintree on the same horse.
In 1973, he won the famous race on Red Rum, repeating the feat in 1974.
Red Rum became the most successful horse to run in the National, winning for a third time with Tommy Stack in 1977, the year Fletcher retired.
Fletcher also won the Scottish National in 1974, and finished as runner-up to Josh Gifford in the jockeys' title race.
Former champion jockey Peter Scudamore said Fletcher was an "unsung hero", without whom "National Hunt racing wouldn't be where it is today".
He added: "To win the Grand National three times is an incredible achievement. It's just a shame that after he finished in racing you didn't hear a lot about him." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/38604734 | |
Hoard of gold discovered in piano in Shropshire - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Experts think the hoard was "deliberately hidden" in the instrument more than 100 years ago. | Shropshire | The history and whereabouts of the piano between 1906-1983 is unknown
A "substantial" hoard of gold has been found hidden inside an old piano.
The discovery was made in Shropshire before Christmas when its new owners had it retuned and repaired.
Experts think the valuables might have been "deliberately hidden" in the instrument more than 100 years ago.
An inquest opened at Shrewsbury Coroner's Court earlier to determine whether the find can be classed as treasure, or whether an heir to the cache can be traced.
Peter Reavill, of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme, described the find as "a stunning assemblage of material".
Investigations so far have revealed the upright piano, made by Broadwood & Sons of London, was sold in 1906 to a music shop in Saffron Walden, Essex.
Its history is then unknown until 1983, when records show it was purchased by a family in the area, who later moved to Shropshire.
The current owners had recently been given the instrument and reported the find to Ludlow Museum Resource Centre.
Mr Reavill said: "The current owners... came to the museum and laid it all out on the table.
"I was like, 'whoa'. I'm an archaeologist and I'm used to dealing with treasure but I'm more used to medieval brooches.
"I have never seen anything like that."
No more details will be revealed about the gold while the search is on to find the potential owners.
Ian Richardson, treasure registrar at the British Museum, said: "The artefacts might be older but they were hidden in the last 100 years.
"Somebody put them in there and either died and didn't tell anyone or something else happened."
The inquest will resume in March.
Treasure must be substantially made of gold or silver
According to the Treasure Act 1996, treasure is defined as any object which is at least 300 years old when found and:
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-38598845 | |
Obituary: Lord Snowdon - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Talented photographer and campaigner for the disabled whose marriage to Princess Margaret captivated the media. | UK | Lord Snowdon was a talented film maker and photographer whose marriage to Princess Margaret fed the gossip columns for over a decade.
His career was punctuated by lurid tales of extra-marital affairs, alcohol and drugs, but throughout it all he maintained a close contact with the Royal Family.
His body of photographic work featured the cream of British society, although he was usually dismissive about his work.
He was most proud of the stunning aviary he helped design for London Zoo.
He was born Anthony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones on 7 March 1930, into a family of minor gentry.
His father, Ronald, was a barrister while his mother, society beauty Anne Messel, later became Countess of Rosse, following her divorce from his father.
In his teens, he contracted polio and had to lie flat on his back for a year. It left him with a permanent limp.
But visits by such luminaries as Noel Coward and Marlene Dietrich, arranged by his uncle, the theatre designer Oliver Messel, helped alleviate the boredom.
The start of what was to prove a stormy marriage
He was educated at Eton, where his passion for photography began. He went on to Jesus College, Cambridge, and was cox of the victorious eight in the 1950 Boat Race.
He never completed his course on architecture, and at 21 took up photography as a career, setting up a studio of his own in London.
It was his flair for taking less formal photographs that earned him the commission, in 1956, for the 21st birthday pictures of the Duke of Kent.
Later he was invited to Buckingham Palace to photograph the Prince of Wales and other members of the Royal Family, including Princess Margaret.
Unlike some photographers, he did not set out to create a rapport with his subjects.
"I don't want people to feel at ease," he once said. "You want a bit of an edge."
His engagement to Princess Margaret was announced in 1960.
At the time there had been no recent precedent for anyone so near to the throne marrying outside the ranks of royalty or the British peerage.
The wedding took place on 6 May 1960, and after a honeymoon tour of the Caribbean in the royal yacht Britannia, the young couple moved into Kensington Palace.
Early in 1961 Armstrong-Jones was raised to the peerage as Lord Snowdon, and he took his seat in the House of Lords a year later. A son, David, Viscount Linley, was born in 1961, and their daughter, Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, three years later.
In 1963 the Queen made him Constable of Caernarvon Castle, and as such he took a leading part in the arrangements for the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969.
He was scathing about the ceremonial surrounding the event, claiming that most of the procedures used were "completely bogus".
Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon went to Jamaica together in 1962, when the princess represented the Queen at the independence celebrations, and they made an official visit to the United States in 1964.
In the early years of their marriage, he and Princess Margaret were treated almost as Hollywood stars. The press relished incidents in which the Snowdons donned leather jackets and raced motorbikes along London's North Circular Road.
They consorted with celebrities of the day, and provided a marked contrast to the more conservative Queen and Prince Philip.
But the marriage quickly experienced the sort of difficulties that were destined to plague royal relationships over the following 20 years.
He had a flair for informal photography
Snowdon's womanising was part of the reason for the break-up. A natural charmer, he had a string of relationships throughout his life and seemed incapable of remaining faithful.
One close friend was quoted in a biography of the earl as saying: "If it moves, he'll have it."
Margaret's own predilection for late-night partying, and the desire of both of them to be the centre of attention, also fuelled the breakdown.
By then, Snowdon had embarked on a varied professional career - acting as adviser to the Council of Industrial Design, and working for various publications, including the Sunday Times.
The aviary he helped design for London Zoo opened in 1964. It was regarded as cutting-edge in its use of new materials, providing the maximum amount of space for birds to fly.
He helped to make several television documentaries. The first, Don't Count the Candles, from 1968, was about old age and won seven international awards.
In 1975 he directed two programmes in BBC television's Explorers series, and in 1981 he presented two programmes on photography, Snowdon on Camera, for which he was nominated for a Bafta Award.
The aviary at London zoo was regarded as a triumph of design
It was during a debate on the mobility of people with physical disabilities that he had made his maiden speech in the Lords in April 1974.
In March 1976, it was finally announced that he and Princess Margaret would live apart.
When Margaret had a relationship with Roddy Llewellyn, Snowdon was able to play the part, though not very convincingly, of the cuckolded husband, and the divorce became final in 1978.
Snowdon always refused to speak about the marriage but he regularly saw the children and continued to photograph the Royal Family.
In December 1978, he was married again, to Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, a researcher on a BBC television series on which he was working. They had a daughter, Frances, the following July.
In June 1980 Snowdon started an award scheme for disabled students. The money for it came from the reproduction fees he had received over 20 years from his royal photographs.
The following year the Snowdon Council was formed, of which he was president. It comprised 12 members co-ordinating a dozen different bodies concerned with helping disabled people.
Also in 1981 a compromise was reached in his long-running row with Lord Aberconway, president of the Royal Horticultural Society, who had said that disabled visitors to the Chelsea Flower Show were not encouraged.
His subjects were often the rich and famous
It was agreed that guide dogs would be admitted, and a special garden was created for those with disabilities.
While married to Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, Snowdon had a long affair with journalist Ann Hills, who took her own life in 1996.
Two years later, at the age of 68, he fathered a son, Jasper, with 33-year-old Melanie Cable-Alexander, a journalist on Country Life.
This proved the final straw for Lucy, and the couple divorced.
By then Snowdon had lost his seat in the Lords, following Labour's clear-out of hereditary peers. Instead, he took a life peerage as Baron Armstrong-Jones to enable him to remain in the House.
Despite an increasing disability as a result of his childhood polio, Lord Snowdon travelled widely, doing work for the theatre and fashion houses as well as portraits and travelogues.
A friend once said of him, "It's impossible to imagine a gentler, more cultured man."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11483331 | |
Obama's Syria legacy: Measured diplomacy, strategic explosion - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | How did a man who took office espousing a new era of engagement with the world end up a spectator to this century's greatest humanitarian catastrophe? | US & Canada | How did a man who took office espousing a new era of engagement with the world end up a spectator to this century's greatest humanitarian catastrophe?
Barack Obama was not against using force to protect civilians. Yet he resisted, to the end, a military intervention to stem Syria's six-year civil war, even as it killed or displaced half the country's population, brutally documented in real time on social media.
Part of the answer to this vexing question has been clear from the beginning. President Obama was elected to end America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by a people tired of paying the cost in blood and treasure. He was extremely reluctant to get sucked into another messy Middle East conflict.
But when the siege and bombardment of cities like Aleppo placed the violence on the genocidal scale of atrocities set by Rwanda and Srebrenica, inaction by the US and its allies mocked the international community's vows of "never again".
Despite the pressing moral imperative, Obama remained convinced a military intervention would be a costly failure.
He believed there was no way the US could help win the war and keep the peace without a commitment of tens of thousands of troops. The battlefield was too complex: fragmented into dozens of armed groups and supported by competing regional and international powers.
A boy pushes a wheelchair along a damaged street in the east Aleppo neighborhood of al-Mashatiyeh, Syria
"It was going to be impossible to do this on the cheap," he said in his final press conference of 2016.
But that was not the conclusion of some senior military and cabinet officials, nor did they even propose a mass ground deployment, according to former defence secretary Chuck Hagel.
They argued that a more limited engagement could have effectively tilted the balance of power against President Bashar al-Assad. Among the options: arming the rebels and setting up a safe zone from where they could operate early in the conflict, or military strikes on the Syrian air force to push Assad to the negotiating table.
Instead, the Obama administration focused on providing humanitarian aid, and on promoting a ceasefire and political negotiations aimed at Assad's departure.
"There is no military solution" became the mantra in briefing rooms at the White House and state department, but spokespeople were unable to explain how a political solution was possible without military leverage.
"If there is to be any hope of a political settlement, a certain military and security context is required," former CIA Director David Petraeus told a Senate committee last year. "We and our partners need to facilitate it, and…have not done so."
Obama's caution was reinforced by lack of support for military intervention from key allies such as the UK and Germany. That influenced his decision to back away from his famous "red line" threat of force in response to Assad's use of chemical weapons.
It was also part of a larger pessimism about what the US could achieve in the Middle East, sealed by a Nato intervention in Libya that was carefully planned but still left the country in a mess.
"The liberal interventionists seem to have forgotten that it is no longer the 1990s," wrote two of Obama's former national security officials, Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson, in October last year. "Disastrous forays in Iraq and Libya have undermined any American willingness to put values before interests."
Indeed, to fully understand President Obama's reticence, it is important to also understand that despite his liberal instincts and his soaring rhetoric about a more peaceful global order, he was a foreign policy realist with a keen sense of the limits to American power.
Although he campaigned to restore US moral authority after the disaster of the Iraq War, he rejected what he saw as the moralising interventionism of the president he replaced, George W Bush.
Instead, his emphasis was on measured diplomacy and progressive multilateralism.
That included a willingness to engage with repressive regimes, rather than consign them to an "Axis of Evil" - giving them "the choice of an open door", he told the Nobel Peace Committee when accepting its prize at the end of his first year in office.
Above all, he was not willing to prevent humanitarian tragedies by expending American lives and military power unless he saw a direct security threat to the United States.
The agreement on Iran's nuclear deal is an example of this doctrine at its most effective.
Obama ably used diplomacy to force an issue around which there was a high degree of international consensus. He marshalled broad support for crippling sanctions, and then stretched out his hand to America's most enduring Middle East foe and negotiated an achievable deal - one that limited a threat rather than transformed a relationship.
Cuba also walked through that "open door", propelled by an economic crisis at home and drawn by a less hostile political climate in America, as did the junta in Myanmar.
Damascus did not. And Obama decided against trying to push it through.
US administrations have tended to bridge the gap between values and interests when the moral choice is also strategic. But Obama calculated early on that the Syrian civil war did not directly endanger America's national security.
Instead he focused US military might against the so-called Islamic State (IS), which he did eventually see as a threat to the homeland.
Again, he was able to organise an international coalition that has had considerable success in achieving a limited goal.
Rebel fighters stand with their weapons on a military vehicle as they head towards the northern Syrian town of al-Bab
Dividing his Syria policy in two, however, meant inevitable contradictions. The White House held that the only way to stop the spread of IS was to end the rule and brutality of the Assad regime. But America's absence from the civil conflict served to strengthen the Syrian president.
Obama did grudgingly approve some covert military aid to moderate Syrian rebels to diffuse the power of Islamist fighters. But it wasn't enough to shape them into a force that could defeat Assad.
So the vacuum was filled by the better-supplied Islamist groups, feeding into Assad's narrative that the world had to choose between him or terrorists.
The presence of Islamist rebels, along with the momentum of the anti-IS campaign, also began to colour views of the regime within the administration, according to a US official who worked closely with these issues.
"Everything was done through a counterterrorism lens," he says. "This is a bunch of people who wanted Assad to stay because they were terrified of political Islamists taking over."
Obama argued that the regime's supporters, Russia and Iran, had more at stake in Syria than the US and would be prepared to fight harder to defend it. So any American intervention would only escalate the conflict. It's the same calculation he made in his approach to Ukraine.
Russia did enter the war to reverse rebel gains in 2015, turning the tide. Its anti-aircraft weapons closed the door on even the remote chance of a US intervention. Its air force solidified Assad's grip on Syria's cities, culminating in the military victory over Aleppo and giving Moscow new leverage in the Middle East while sidelining the US.
Many in the American foreign policy establishment believe Obama erred in defining US interests too narrowly in Syria.
"Syria exploded in strategic ways," says Vali Nasr, who's written a book arguing that the president's policies have diminished America's leadership role in the world.
"It empowered Russia and Iran, produced ISIS, strengthened al-Qaeda and created the refugee crisis which became a strategic threat to Europe."
Obama's critics have also faulted him for a detached, analytical leadership style they say is unsuited to geopolitical jousting.
"He wasn't good at brinkmanship, it wasn't his inclination," says Ian Bremmer, president of the political risk firm Eurasia Group.
Secretary of State John Kerry talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in 2013
"I've always thought [George W] Bush was a leader who didn't like to think, and Obama a thinker who didn't like to lead."
Obama has taken the lead on combating what he sees as one of the biggest threats, climate change. And he hasn't hesitated from unilaterally ordering force when he felt America's security was at stake, as shown by his prolific use of drones against terrorist suspects.
But in Syria his administration left a perception of American weakness.
Stepping back from his red line on chemical weapons damaged US credibility, shaking the confidence of allies and, some argue, emboldening its adversaries.
"Some in the administration thought that the longer we continued to engage the Russians in a facade of ceasefire and political negotiations the more we were providing political cover to the regime and Russia and Iran as they continued to pursue a military victory," said the US official.
"It's hard to understand why the state department is going along with it," a European diplomat told me as the talks became about managing that victory. "It's supporting the Russian narrative."
Although Obama says he came to understand that very little is accomplished in international affairs without US leadership, he doesn't talk about it as a strategic asset, says Nasr.
That sets him apart from his predecessors who "believe US leadership is important for the world and important for America's hardnosed interests. Obama believes we can selectively lead where we have clear definable interests… but American leadership as a free-floating independent idea doesn't have value to him".
Despite the personality chasm between the cerebral lawyer exiting the White House and the reality TV star entering it, Barack Obama and Donald Trump are on the same page when it comes to non-interventionism.
In that sense, Trump's "America First" foreign policy is expected to be an extension of President Obama's.
But it would be a stripped-down version without Obama's attachment to international law and institutions or his moral commitment to universal rights, argues Max Boot, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
And although neither would seek foreign quarrels, Trump would be more disposed to "clobber anyone who messes with" the United States.
Would that make major powers such as China and Russia less likely to mess with America?
Boot suggests Trump's "menacing unpredictability" could be more effective than Obama's reasonable predictability in confrontations with Beijing. The President-elect's call with the Taiwanese president shows a penchant for brinkmanship that has certainly put China on alert.
Against these uncertain advantages, however, stand Trump's inexperience, his intemperate nature, and his hostility to some of the building blocks of US power, such as free trade in Asia.
Crucially, his uncritical support for Moscow, along with allegations that it has compromising information about him, have put America's Russia policy into uncharted territory.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Are Trump's nominees on the same page on Russia as their boss?
Some of the President-elect's key cabinet officials can be expected to try and temper his extreme impulses and outlier positions, while taking a more muscular approach than Obama.
In confirmation hearings, Trump's choices for secretary of state and defence advocated a conventional hard power policy, that included checking Russian moves on the geopolitical chess board.
But the nominee for top diplomat, Rex Tillerson, echoed Trump's hard line on China by proposing an unusually aggressive stance against Beijing, raising eyebrows and concerns amongst many lawmakers and diplomats.
History could very well judge Obama positively on Iran, Cuba and climate change. But the most important test of his foreign policy philosophy will be Syria, because it has been the crucible for the kind of realism he believes in.
He argues that he's saved the US from getting trapped in another disastrous Middle East war that would sap America's power. His critics charge he has diminished US power in a crucial region, and weakened American global leadership in the process.
The factor that shapes his legacy will be the same one that tests Trump: the extent to which either sustain, or reduce America's role in the world.
• None What President Obama said in his goodbye speech | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38297343 | |
Houses at number 13 'are £9,000 cheaper', says Zoopla - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Buyers willing to purchase properties at 'unlucky' number 13 can make big savings, a website finds. | Business | Property buyers willing to live at "unlucky" number 13 may be encouraged by paying £9,000 less than the cost of the average home, a website suggests.
Search portal Zoopla has calculated that homes with this number are typically £8,974 cheaper than the average UK property.
Its survey, released on Friday the 13th, found that nearly a third of owners asked would be less likely to buy number 13.
Number one is generally the priciest.
Number 100 tends to be the next most expensive property.
Lawrence Hall, spokesman for Zoopla, said: "While superstitions might weigh heavily on the minds of some, in a year with not one but two Friday 13ths - the second of which will be in October - there could be a real opportunity for those not suffering from triskaidekaphobia to secure a property bargain."
Nearly a quarter of those surveyed said they would not exchange or complete on, or even move into, a property on Friday the 13th.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38611142 | |
Newspaper headlines: PM calls for seven-day GPs and stolen baby found - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Theresa May's demand for GP surgeries to open seven days a week features on Saturday's front pages. | The Papers | Theresa May's plan to make GPs in England open their surgeries seven days a week features on several of Saturday's front pages.
The Daily Mail says the "personal intervention" by the prime minister comes as "thousands" of surgeries close early on weekday afternoons, "while others take a three-hour lunch break".
According to the Daily Telegraph, access to a major package of government funding will be "contingent" on GPs being able to demonstrate they are offering appointments when patients want them.
The Times warns that many GPs "are likely to be incensed" by the plan, after years of claiming there are too few of them to cope with an ageing population.
The Conservative chair of the Commons Health Select Committee has said the Tories "risk losing the trust of voters" on the NHS in an interview with the newspaper.
Dr Sarah Wollaston, who was a GP before entering parliament, says the system is "underfunded", and warns that "relentless" pressures on staff are contributing to what she describes as a "human crisis".
She denies that GPs are lazy, claiming she has never encountered one who plays golf during the day, and instead argues that the key to dealing with problems in the NHS is to increase funding for social care.
The Guardian reports that Michel Barnier is "backing away from his hardline approach" to Brexit
The lead story in the Guardian details how the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said he wants a "special" relationship with the City of London to continue to give EU countries easy access to the financial centre after Britain leaves.
The paper says it has seen unpublished minutes that hint at "unease" about the costs of Brexit on the rest of the EU, and give the "first signs" that Mr Barnier is "backing away from his hardline approach".
The European Commission has insisted the minutes "do not correctly reflect" what was said, but a source has described them to the Guardian as "more or less accurate".
Tristram Hunt's decision to quit as the Labour MP for Stoke Central is widely seen as bad news for Jeremy Corbyn in Saturday's newspapers.
The Daily Express claims Labour will need a "miracle" to retain the seat in a by-election.
For the Times, the resignation underlines Labour's "poor leadership and dearth of talent", while the Sun believes life is "too short" to spend a decade in "impotent opposition".
Only the Daily Mail is critical of Mr Hunt, arguing that his new job as director of the Victoria and Albert Museum means he joins "multitudes of like-thinking left-wing luvvies" running "almost every public body in the country".
Lord Snowdon features on several front pages following his death aged 86
Photographs of Lord Snowdon are printed on several front pages, including the Daily Express which claims the Queen has been "left saddened" by the death of her former brother-in-law at the age of 86.
The Daily Telegraph notes that he was seen as "one of the country's foremost photographers, but became known for his many affairs", a fact which prompts The Sun to describe him as "the romping rock'n'roll royal rebel".
The Daily Mirror highlights some of his "iconic" images, including photographs of David Bowie and Sir Richard Branson, and praises his portraits of the royal family for capturing "a more human side". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-38618639 | |
Donald Trump and brands: An uneasy relationship - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Donald Trump tweets support or disdain for certain companies: but what effect do his comments have? | US & Canada | L.L. Bean is known for its heavy boots (other boot makers are available)
In itself, it was nothing out of the ordinary: a morning tweet by Donald Trump thanking a supporter.
The subject of his thanks was one Linda Bean, who was praised for her "great support and courage" in the tweet on Thursday. But his post, like many before it, had wider repercussions.
Linda Bean is an heiress of the Maine-based catalogue business L.L. Bean - a company Mr Trump then encouraged his 19.7m Twitter followers to support.
The tweet poses all sorts of questions about whether it is correct for the most powerful man in the Western world to endorse certain brands over others.
But what is the broader effect of a brand being associated with Mr Trump - a man who, despite his election win, will enter the White House next Friday less popular than the man who leaves (at least according to one poll this week)?
Linda Bean was found by the Associated Press to have made a large donation to a pro-Trump PAC (political action committee), named Make Maine Great Again.
As a result, she and L.L. Bean have been targeted by anti-Trump groups, including one, #GrabYourWallet, that urges a boycott of companies associated with the billionaire and his family.
L.L.Bean was forced on the defensive earlier this week.
Its executive chairman, Shawn Gorman, wrote on Facebook that the company was "disappointed to learn that Grab Your Wallet is advocating a boycott against L.L.Bean solely because Linda Bean, who is only one of 50+ family members involved with the business, personally supported Donald Trump for President".
But despite the company's statement, the links to Mr Trump may not necessarily have been harmful: on the day of Mr Trump's tweet, the company's stock price ended the day higher, and Linda Bean told Fox Business there had been "a slight uptick" in business in recent days.
And the website for her own lobster restaurant crashed after Mr Trump linked to it (perhaps accidentally) in his tweet.
An F-35 fighter jet (other fighter jets are available)
In mid-December, a little more than a month after he won the election, Mr Trump took aim at the US defence giant Lockheed Martin.
Shares in the company fell after he tweeted that he would cut the cost of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter after taking office.
He wrote: "F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20."
The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons programme, costing about $400bn (£328bn), so it's no small fry.
The lobster restaurant in this particular relationship is Lockheed Martin's rival, Boeing.
After Mr Trump tweeted that he had asked Boeing to look into producing a cheaper alternative to the F-35, that company's shares jumped.
New Balance trainers being set alight (other trainers and fire-starting materials are available)
Days after the election, the footwear company's vice-president appeared to praise Mr Trump's trade plans in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Matt LeBretton said Barack Obama had "turned a deaf ear" to US business. "Frankly, with President-elect Trump, we feel things are going to move in the right direction," he said.
The company put out a statement saying it supported the trade positions of Democrat candidates too, but the damage was done - literally, in some cases, as New Balance shoe owners set fire to their footwear.
Mr Trump's son visited Yuengling's brewery in October (other beers and Trump children are available)
Back in the weeks before the election, the owner of the oldest brewery in the US (in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, no less) expressed his support for the Republican candidate, and his frustration at what he saw as high tax rates.
The outrage followed a similar path to that of New Balance, minus the fire-starting - online anger, the promise of a boycott of Yuengling beer, and one-star reviews on its Facebook page.
But it is not clear now just how seriously the calls for a boycott affected Yuengling. Their Facebook page, for example, is now awash with support.
And there's only one fact that matters - in Pennsylvania, the state where Yuengling is the most popular beer, Mr Trump ended up winning 48.2% of the vote, with Hillary Clinton on 47.5%.
That's a result that helped push him towards the White House, and he'll take charge next week. Although, as a teetotaller, he won't be celebrating with a Yuengling beer. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38607711 | |
Australian Open 2017: Andy Murray to play Ilya Marchenko in first round - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | British world number one Andy Murray will play Ilya Marchenko in the Australian Open first round, which gets under way on Monday. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Britain's world number one Andy Murray will play Ukraine's Ilya Marchenko in the Australian Open first round.
Murray was drawn in the same quarter as Roger Federer - meaning the pair could face each other in the last eight.
The 29-year-old Scot is chasing a fourth Grand Slam title and his first in Melbourne, where he has reached the final five times.
Konta's draw places her in the same quarter as Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova and American six-time champion Serena Williams.
Heather Watson and Naomi Broady will both face Australian opponents, with Watson playing Sam Stosur and Broady up against Daria Gavrilova.
Defending men's champion Novak Djokovic will be aiming for a record seventh Australian Open title with a first-round match against Fernando Verdasco.
Spaniard Verdasco knocked his compatriot Rafael Nadal out in the opening round last year, but lost to Serb Djokovic in their recent meeting at the Qatar Open despite having five match points during a second-set tie-break.
Nadal, seeded ninth, will play German Florian Mayer, before a possible quarter-final against Canadian Milos Raonic.
Britain's three other male participants see Kyle Edmund face Santiago Giraldo, Dan Evans play Facundo Bagnis while Aljaz Bedene was paired with Victor Estrella Burgos.
If Murray can safely find a way through his first week as a top seed at a Grand Slam, then he may have the chance to avenge last year's US Open quarter-final defeat by Kei Nishikori.
But Federer may have something to say about that. Now seeded 17, after six months out through injury, the 17-time Grand Slam champion is in Nishikori's section of the draw.
All the British men will face opening round opponents outside the world's top 50, but the women have a tougher draw.
Flipkens brings the experience of a Wimbledon semi-final into her match with Konta, while Watson and Broady must both face seeded Australians.
Sam Stosur has a very poor record in front of her home fans, however, which should give Watson cause for optimism.
In the women's draw, Williams is aiming for a record 23rd Grand Slam title.
Her first match will be against Swiss Belinda Bencic.
World number one Kerber is aiming for her third Grand Slam win following her maiden US Open title last year.
• None See the full women's draw here
Konta is in good form heading into the tournament. She beat world number three Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 6-2 to win the Sydney International on Friday. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38605497 | |
US snow: Oregon Zoo closes - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | null | A polar bear has fun after historic amounts of snow fell in Oregon this week, closing the state's zoo. | null | A polar bear has fun after historic amounts of snow fell in Oregon this week, closing the state's zoo. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38604185 | |
Is that fitness tracker you're using a waste of money? - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The market for fitness trackers seems to be booming, but are these gadgets actually effective? | Business | Keen cyclist Peter Dumbreck uses fitness trackers to improve his performance
Fitness-tracking devices have helped Peter Dumbreck beat his personal best times for cycling three days in a row.
The racing driver and keen cyclist uses a Garmin 810 Edge cycle computer, a heart rate monitor and a power meter.
"The power meter is embedded into my left crank arm and talks via Bluetooth to my Garmin device, as does my heart rate monitor," he says.
"I can see my power [the force his legs are generating], which is updated every three seconds, on my Garmin screen and through training and experience know how many watts I can maintain and for how long I can do it," he says.
Wearable and portable fitness trackers are certainly helping serious athletes like Peter to push themselves to the limit.
But what about the rest of us? Does knowing how many calories we're burning, how fast our hearts are beating, and how many steps we've taken really motivate us to do more exercise and eat more healthily?
In short, do they really work?
"They've made us all aware of how we treat our bodies, and they have even helped people diagnose things like diabetes and obesity," says Collette Johnson, head of marketing at design technology consultancy Plextek.
"But I feel they could go further."
Last year the University of Pittsburgh concluded that fitness trackers were "ineffective at sustaining weight loss".
The two-year study, conducted by the university's School of Education Department of Health and Physical Activity, involved 500 overweight volunteers. All were asked to diet and engage in more exercise, but only half were given a fitness tracker to help them.
Do fitness trackers make us more or less motivated?
The study found that the group wearing trackers lost 8lb (3.6kg), but the ones who didn't lost 13lb (5.9kg).
"Trackers are a reliable measurement of our activity, but we can't rely on them completely," says Andrew Lane, professor of sport psychology at the University of Wolverhampton.
"We can't expect just to buy one and that's it - some of the responsibility sits with us too. We still have to get off that sofa and complete those 10,000 steps a day."
Prof Lane believes that, if used inappropriately, they may even start to have a negative psychological effect.
"What if we start consistently not reaching goals set for us by them? Ultimately it would lead to us feeling demotivated - the opposite effect they are supposed to have."
Such concerns haven't stopped the market from booming - yet.
Leading wearable fitness tracker maker Fitbit reported 2015 revenues of £1.3bn, while researcher CSS Insight forecasts that the market will be worth £16bn by 2020.
And the fact that smartwatch sales declined sharply last year, according to market analysts IDC, has led many makers to reposition them primarily as fitness-tracking devices - another indication of where the business potential lies.
But is the problem with them that they are neither accurate nor sophisticated enough yet?
"As well as providing data for us, companies need to provide coaching with this data. They need to take responsibility for the results they're providing us," says Prof Lane.
Plextek's Collette Johnson thinks trackers need to give us more tailored advice
And Plextek's Ms Johnson thinks they need to understand more about the individual user.
"They need to recognise whether Sharon from Uxbridge really should be doing two hours of fitness a week, how that's going to impact upon her body, her joints, whether she's at risk of osteoporosis.
"Fitness trackers can be too generic, personalising them will motivate us more," she tells the BBC.
Apps, like the Slimming World app, may be better for achieving sustained weight loss, she argues, because they allow you to track your weight loss progress and give you incentives after it has recorded your exercise.
"There is no doubt the industry is booming, but for it to really see results it needs not only to give us results, but to make them as personalised and as accurate as possible."
So what tech innovations are making fitness tracking more effective?
Genetics and nutrition firm DNAFit advises on how we should be training and what we should be eating after testing our genes and applying its algorithm to the analysis.
You take a saliva swab and send it off to the company's lab. After 10 days a report tells you which exercises your body will respond to best and which foods you should be eating. The company says its technology platform has been peer reviewed and clinically tested.
Andrew Steele, DNAFit's head of product, shows how to take a saliva swab for DNA testing
Other companies such as FitnessGenes, Genetrainer and AnabolicGenes adopt similar approaches.
Jo Rooney, 35, a deputy headteacher, used the test to try to cure her stomach problems.
"My results came back quite quickly and told me that I was actually lactose intolerant and had a high sensitivity to gluten.
"This did mean quite a radical change to my diet, and a lot more forward planning, but within a week I felt a lot less bloated, lost weight and I'd stopped having stomach problems."
Body scanners and tech built into sports clothes are also giving us more detailed results.
For example, Fit3D uses scanners to assess the whole body to calculate body fat percentage, assess posture and give body shape scoring.
While last year, OMsignal launched OMbra, a smart sports bra that tracks heart rate, breathing and distance between steps, and shares this data with a smartphone app.
The OMbra is a wearable fitness tracker that's really wearable
Prof Lane believes that we're also going to start seeing biometric devices integrated not just into clothes and wearable devices, but directly on to our bodies as well.
For example, US tech firm Chaotic Moon Studios - now called Fjord - has created a prototype tech tattoo - a skin-mounted monitor that connects to your smartphone to monitor heart rate, blood pressure and even track movement via GPS.
Now we just need an injection of willpower. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38594037 | |
Alastair Cook: How did we get here? Why might he stay as England captain? - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | As he weighs up his options, the time taken by Alastair Cook to decide on his future as England captain could raise the chances of him staying on. | null | What seemed to be a certainty is now not so sure.
All of the noises, particularly from the man himself, pointed towards Alastair Cook ending his 59-Test reign as England captain.
But Thursday's news that Cook will be given as much time as he needs to decide on his future hints at a greater possibility he will remain in charge.
What might persuade him to stay? What might more Cook mean for the England side? And what happens if it goes wrong?
How did we get here?
Through a combination of Cook's words and demeanour on a thoroughly miserable winter tour of India.
Even before the start he admitted he was looking forward to not being captain, going on say he had "questions" over his future and he needed time to think about his position.
That Cook may be tired of the rigours of captaincy is no surprise, he is over four years into a job that no-one has managed to do for more than five since 1961.
And, during a gruelling schedule of seven back-to-back Tests in Bangladesh and India, he cut an increasingly gloomy figure, especially after England lost the final two matches by an innings despite posting first-innings totals in excess of 400.
"When you have presided over something so cataclysmic in sporting terms as that, then it is only natural that Cook may be thinking differently about his future as captain," said BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew after England lost the fifth Test in Chennai.
All of this suggested Cook would call time on his tenure in his regular post-series review with England director of cricket Andrew Strauss, his good friend and former opening partner.
That meeting takes place on Friday, but we now know Cook's future will not be decided.
Time may just heal all wounds.
Cook has been close to quitting before, only to be talked out of jumping ship by his wife Alice. It could be that a Christmas at home and discussions with his closest confidant have pushed the 32-year-old in the direction of staying.
"They really are a team," said Agnew of Cook and his wife. "The time he is taking means that Cook is making the right decision for him. He will be incredibly comfortable with what lies ahead."
The opener, England's record Test runscorer, is approaching this decision very much in the way he constructs an innings. Patiently, meticulously, playing a shot only when absolutely certain.
There was no throwing in the towel after the chaotic fifth Test loss or rushing into a meeting with Strauss at the earliest opportunity. Even now he has indicated he would like more time.
All of that suits the England management, who feel there is no rush for an answer on the captaincy with the next Test not until July.
England coach Trevor Bayliss said last month he would be "disappointed" if Cook did not remain as skipper.
It may be the longer he waits to give an answer, the more likely Cook is to stay on.
Why might he stay?
Cook has been on the brink before, most notably the summer of 2014. Whereas then he was pushed to the edge by a combination of patchy form and poor results, here he has voluntarily walked to the precipice.
Back then, Cook repeatedly reiterated he would not quit and that it would be for someone else to take the job away from him - that sense of duty may not yet have been eroded away.
"He's stubborn and mentally very tough," said former England captain Michael Vaughan. "He's been through this sort of spell two or three times in his captaincy and carried on."
He also retains, publically at least, the support of the England management and staff. Not only has Bayliss spoken out in support of the skipper, but so too have assistant coach Paul Farbrace, all-rounder Ben Stokes, wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow and opener Haseeb Hameed.
More importantly, there is a huge, Ashes-shaped temptation on the horizon.
Cook, so bruised by the 5-0 whitewash he presided over in 2013-14, may not be able to resist the chance for revenge on an Australia side England should be mildly optimistic about facing.
Would staying on be a good idea?
There is a school of thought that a captain is halfway out of the door the moment he considers quitting. Vaughan says even 1% of doubt is enough for a skipper to stand aside.
Cook, having come close to resigning before, flies in the face of this theory.
That doesn't necessarily mean he would be right to remain, especially when he has just overseen eight defeats in 2016, the joint-highest for England in a calendar year.
The main case for Cook staying in charge centres around continuity at the beginning of an Ashes year, and that a near seven-month break from Test cricket should provide a refreshed outlook on the job.
There is also a paucity of options to replace Cook, with some feeling captain-in-waiting Joe Root, England's best batsman, should not yet be burdened with the responsibility of captaincy.
"Root is the outstanding candidate, but you wouldn't want it to be a case of making your best player captain, only for it to backfire on you later," said former England off-spinner Graeme Swann.
"I'm still not convinced Root is the right man for the job. I want him to concentrate on being the best player we have ever had, rather than having his talent curbed by the pressures of captaincy.
"He has tried to be more sensible later, but part of his cheeky chappy persona makes him the player he is, and I don't want to see that taken away."
What could go wrong?
If Cook does remain, England will want him to commit to leading them down under, rather than dropping an inexperienced new captain into the job for the toughest and most high-profile of tours.
For that to happen, both his own form and the results of the England team must be solid throughout the home summer to prevent the issue of the captaincy rearing its head once again.
It is not difficult to imagine a scenario where England start badly in the series against South Africa, Cook struggles for runs, and pressure is heaped upon the captain. After all, the past three visits by the Proteas have resulted in an England skipper resigning.
"If we are to have a new captain, he needs all seven home Tests this summer to get his feet under the table," said former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott.
"We don't want Alastair giving it up after three or four Tests, before the biggest series of all.
"If it is going to be Root - which it will be - he needs seven Test matches to put his stamp on it. Players need to get with his style."
What happens next?
In recent times, the England and Wales Cricket Board hasn't always been airtight. Information has leaked like a broken tap.
This, though, is likely to be different. Cook is a fiercely private man. Few other than his wife and Strauss may really know what his intention is.
Whatever his decision, the story does not end there. If he stays, he will be under the microscope. If he goes, the heat shifts to Root.
The consequences will not fully be revealed until 8 January 2018, the Sydney Cricket Ground and the end of the Ashes. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/38597814 | |
The art of Obama: A painting a day - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | 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 | |
To see finally the face of Peggy - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Scientists studying the splendour of Saturn’s rings hope soon to get a resolved picture of an embedded object they know exists but cannot quite see. | Science & Environment | When first identified Peggy was picked up as a long, bright smudge at the edge of Saturn's A-ring
Scientists studying the splendour of Saturn's rings are hoping soon to get a resolved picture of an embedded object they know exists but cannot quite see.
The moonlet is named after London researcher Carl Murray's mother-in-law, and was first noticed in 2013. Its effect on surrounding ice and dust particles has been tracked ever since.
But no direct image of Peggy's form has yet been obtained, and time is now short.
The Cassini spacecraft's mission at Saturn is edging to a close and its dramatic end-of-life disposal.
In September, the probe will be driven to destruction in the atmosphere of the giant planet, at which point the constant stream of pictures and other data it has returned these past 13 years will come to an abrupt end.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Carl Murray: "It's like an old friend to us, and so as you say goodbye you'd like to get a picture"
Carl Murray and his team at Queen Mary University of London know therefore they have only a few months left to get the definitive image.
Fortunately, Cassini will spend its remaining time flying close in to the planet and the moonlet's place in the so called A-ring.
The best ever chance to see the face of Peggy is now at hand.
And such is the fondness for this little object, the probe will even be commanded to take one last picture just before the big plunge.
"Peggy is such an interesting object, and for people who work on the mission and even with the public - it's captured their imagination. It's like an old friend to us, and so as you say goodbye you'd like to get a picture. Peggy will be one of the last targets for Cassini," Prof Murray told BBC News.
Theory suggests some of Saturn's bigger moons could even have been made in the rings
The study of objects like Peggy goes to the core objectives of the multi-billion-dollar international space mission.
The wide band of ice and dust that surrounds Saturn is a version in miniature of the kind of discs we see circling far-off new stars.
It is in those discs that planets form, and so seeing the processes and behaviours that give rise to objects like Peggy delivers an insight into how new worlds come into being. It is a model even for how our own Solar System was created.
"Peggy is evolving. It's orbit is changing with time," explained Prof Murray. "Sometimes it moves out, sometimes it moves in, by just a few kilometres. And this is what we think happens with proto-planets in those astrophysical discs. They interact with other proto-planets and the material in the disc, and they migrate; they move. We see that when we look at exoplanets around other stars: some can’t possibly have formed in the places we detect them now; they must have migrated at some point."
Peggy was discovered by accident. Prof Murray was using Cassini to try to image Prometheus - a bigger, very obvious moon connected with the F-ring.
The gravitational influence of objects within the rings can produce propeller-like features
He got that no problem, but his eye was drawn to a 2,000km-long smudge in the background.
That was 15 April 2013 (his mother-in-law's birthday). And a subsequent trawl through the Cassini archive revealed that a disturbance in the A-ring was actually evident from a year before.
Peggy is certainly smaller than 5km across. So to produce that showy smudge, it must have been involved in a collision that kicked up a cloud of ice and dust.
Follow-up observations have monitored the ongoing disturbance. If moonlets are big enough they can clear a gap in Saturn’s rings. But tiny objects like Peggy merely produce small bumps in the surrounding band of particles, or a sort of wavy pattern that looks akin to a propeller.
This indirect evidence of the presence of a moonlet is all Cassini can achieve when the target is so small and the onboard camera is producing a best resolution of about 5km per pixel. But in the next few months, the orbits the spacecraft will fly around Saturn should bring the resolution down to one or two km per pixel.
This might be enough to picture Peggy directly, and to confirm an intriguing possibility… that Peggy has recently become two objects.
"When Cassini came out of its ring plane orbit in early 2016, we went back to look where Peggy should be; and we found Peggy and we've been tracking it ever since.
"But a few degrees behind we could also see another object, even fainter in the sense that it had an even smaller (disturbance) signature. And when we tracked back the paths of both objects, we realised that in early 2015 they would have met.
"So, probably, Peggy 'B', as we call it, came from a collision of the sort that causes Peggy to change its orbit, but rather than a simple encounter that deflected the orbit slightly, this was more serious."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Linda Spilker: "Cassini is one of the great space missions of all time"
Prof Murray gave an update on Peggy at the recent Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union. At that same conference, Dr Linda Spilker, the Nasa project scientist on the Cassini mission, outlined the end-stage activities of the probe, culminating in its disposal on 15 September.
She said the same close-in manoeuvres that hopefully will enable Carl Murray to get his resolved pictures should also finally help to determine a key property of Saturn's rings - their mass.
"The mass of the rings is uncertain by 100%," Dr Spilker told BBC News.
"If they're more massive, maybe they're really old - as old as Saturn. If they're less massive, maybe they're really young, maybe only a mere 100 million years old."
Age is important to this idea that rings, or discs, are the medium in which objects form. Some of Saturn's moons, even a number of its bigger ones, likely emerged by accumulating the material around them and displaying, certainly in the early phases of growth, the sorts of behaviours now seen in Peggy.
But making moons takes time and if the largest of Saturn's satellites came out of this same process, it demands the present ring system to be very old indeed.
Want to hear more about Cassini and its discoveries at Saturn? Listen to this week's The Life Scientific, which featured Imperial College London's Prof Michele Dougherty, the principal investigator on the spacecraft's magnetometer instrument. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38599645 | |
Quiz of the week's news - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A weekly quiz of the news, 7 days 7 questions. | Magazine | It's the weekly news quiz - have you been paying attention to what's been going on in the world over the past seven days?
If you missed last week's 7 days quiz, try it here
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38599215 | |
Retail winners and losers this Christmas - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | How merry a Christmas was it for the retail sector and where was the festive cheer felt the most? | Business | Now the leftovers are all curry and the tree is at the tip, it's time to digest the news from the retail sector over just how merry a Christmas it really was.
And it seems that just like Mr Scrooge, UK shoppers were persuaded to open their purses just a little wider this year.
So if you're one of those who splashed out on gin, indulged in a new jumper and pulled out all the stops for your festive feast, you are in good company.
But how and where was the festive cheer felt most? Here's our look at where the glass is half full and where half empty as we head into 2017.
It's not likely to be a dry January if you're running one of the UK's supermarkets. They have good news to toast this week.
Tesco and Morrisons, which have both had a difficult few years, have reported stronger sales. Tesco said fresh food had been "particularly popular, outperforming the market", adding that there had been a 24% increase in party food sales over Christmas, while Morrisons reported its strongest Christmas sales for seven years.
Even Sainsbury's, which saw a meagre 0.1% overall rise in sales, managed to beat analyst expectations of a 0.8% fall.
Discounters Lidl and Aldi don't report their figures in quite the same way - they do not give like-for-like sales, which strip out the effect of new store openings and are therefore a better comparison - but both reported double-digit increases in Christmas sales, reflecting brisk business.
It looks like we collectively loosened our belts at just the right time for the big food retailers. "I guess the biggest impression so far is that food retailers did better than non-food in December," says independent retail analyst Nick Bubb.
According to Kantar Worldpanel we spent almost half a billion pounds more in the final 12 weeks of 2016 compared with the year before (so no wonder we're still ploughing through the chocolate biscuits and checking out stilton soup recipes).
But putting it into context, a lot of the good results now are set against a backdrop of pretty weak performances the previous year.
If you look at the grocery sector in 2015, Tesco and Morrisons were both implementing turnaround plans, while Sainsbury's and Asda also faced sales challenges.
"Overall, food had an ok end of the year and traded ok over the course of the year but that was against very low comparitors," says Paul Martin, UK head of retail at KPMG.
It wasn't just the food stores that have given the market cause for cheer.
High Street stalwart Marks and Spencer finally shrugged off a decline in clothing sales
Early in the month Next had everyone spooked as it reported a drop in sales in the run-up to Christmas, but plenty of other clothing retailers have reported strong results.
M&S surprised the market with sales in its clothing and homeware division up 2.3% - well above expectations for about 0.5% - while John Lewis, Debenhams, Ted Baker and online retailers Boohoo.com and Asos also reported sales growth.
Strong festive periods were also seen at Primark, JD Sports and Superdry owner Supergroup, which saw like-for-like sales up 15% over the Christmas period.
Next said it was preparing for "tougher times" in the year ahead
"The biggest loser is obviously Next so far. They've had a bit of a shocker," says Patrick O'Brien from Verdict Retail. Next saw sales of full-price items fall 0.4% and warned of a "challenging" 2017.
"Next [used to be] way ahead of the others with its online operation. But competitors have now caught up with that in terms of online and collection, with really high growth in online specialists like Boohoo," he says.
But apart from that the really surprising thing is how few bad results there have been. Partly that is because they started from a low base after the poor sales of 2015, and partly because British consumers simply held their nerve.
"Consumers have understood that prices are going up and it's been a good time to buy," says Mr O'Brien.
Paul Martin, head of UK retail at KPMG, adds: "The British defied the mood music out there and wanted to go out and treat themselves and celebrate Christmas. That's the most surprising thing in a world where negative news is easier to come by than positive."
John Lewis has warned of a "challenging" outlook and said that its staff bonus will be "significantly lower" this year
But if 2016 ended on a positive note, Paul Martin says retail is moving into a "perfect storm" in 2017.
He warns that around April to July the hedging positions retailers took against currency fluctuations will begin to run out and the full force of the pound's devaluation since the Brexit vote will start to be felt through higher prices for imported goods.
Multinationals will flex their muscles a little more over pricing imported goods for the UK market. And costs will be rising as business rates are revalued and the minimum wage rises.
Inevitably, he says, retailers will have to look at what kind of price rises their customers can bear. "We think it will be 5% to 8%. But that can vary substantially across sectors - you will find some cases where it will be 50%," he warns.
In addition to Next, other retailers including John Lewis and Sainsbury's have warned about the uncertain impact of a weaker pound.
While others have warned of price hikes, Ted Baker has said it will not raise prices this year
The boss of fashion chain Ted Baker has vowed, however, that "there won't be any price increases this year".
Chief executive Ray Kelvin told the Press Association: "We were hedged for two years and we have one year left on that. We're a public company, we don't gamble with things like this, plus we also have a big dollar income."
The consensus though, is that consumer spending will be squeezed this year, and Rachel Lund, head of retail insight and analytics at the British Retail Consortium, says that will make it harder for retailers to generate growth.
She also points to the uncertainty around what trading relationship the UK will have with the rest of the world once it leaves the EU.
"An announcement about that that doesn't seem favourable could have an impact on confidence," she says. But she adds that the mood among retailers is "not one of doom and gloom, it's caution". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38595323 | |
Trump 'compromising' claims: How and why did we get here? - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | 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 | |
Gambia's President-elect offers Yahya Jammeh 'direct talks' - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | null | Gambia's President-elect, Adama Barrow, urges the incumbent, Yahya Jammeh, to engage in direct talks. | null | The winner of Gambia's presidential election, Adama Barrow, has called on the incumbent, Yahya Jammeh, to engage in direct talks to resolve the country's political crisis.
He made the call in a BBC Newsday interview, one week ahead of his inauguration ceremony.
Newsday's Julian Keane began by asking him whether he believed the event would go ahead on 19 January. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-38606595 | |
Can music festivals save Australia's failing towns? - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | How Elvis, ABBA and Bob Marley are helping revive the fortunes of small outback towns in Australia. | Australia | Parkes' Elvis parade has grown from modest beginnings in 1993
They are unlikely saviours but Elvis Presley, ABBA and Bob Marley are helping to revive the fortunes of small outback towns in Australia.
Their enduring music, fashion and legend have spawned festivals that are reversing the demoralising effects of drought and economic decline.
The most glittering takes place this week in Parkes, a farming community 350km (217 miles) west of Sydney, named after Sir Henry Parkes, one of the founding fathers of modern Australia, who was born half a world away in Coventry.
Parkes is being transformed by more than 20,000 Elvis loyalists in a motley collection of flared jumpsuits, a galaxy of sequins, jet-black wigs and sideburns, along with cockpit aviator sunglasses.
There is a legion of buskers, look-a-like contests, a street parade, displays of Elvis artefacts and an Elvis-themed Gospel Service, which has become so popular it has outgrown its previous home in a supermarket car park and now takes place in a local park.
The headline acts are international tribute artists Pete Storm from the UK and the American entertainer Jake Rowley.
Parkes Mayor Ken Keith says everyone in the town embraces the festival
The real King - who would have celebrated his 82nd birthday last week- may never have travelled to Australia, but 40 years after his death, his appeal remains as magnetic as ever.
"I remember when he died the world just went crazy. It was a pretty devastating time," said Sheridan Woodcroft from Melbourne, as she boarded the Elvis Express, a special train service from Sydney to Parkes. "He just had the X-factor. He was so charismatic, he was gorgeous."
Australia's biggest Elvis festival was borne out of economic necessity.
Back in the early 1990s, mid-summer trade in baking-hot Parkes was sluggish but Bob Steel, 75, and his wife Anne, owners of the Gracelands restaurant, had a plan.
"It was a pretty slack time. I went to a hoteliers' meeting and they were all having their grizzle about quiet times. I said, well, Elvis's birthday is in January and we could have a birthday party," Mr Steel told the BBC.
Parkes' Elvis festival now generates about A$13m (US$9.6m) each year
And they did. In January 1993, 190 people attended the inaugural event in the Steels' restaurant.
From simple beginnings, the festival now generates about A$13m (US$9.7m, £7.9m) each year.
"It's a tremendous economic benefit and it has really revived a town that was struggling. [Parkes] is now a place that people have heard about, they stop there when they are travelling through," said John Connell from the University of Sydney, who has written a book about the festival.
His co-author Chris Gibson, a professor of geography at the University of Wollongong, explained that they had researched how various carnivals - from those celebrating scones and pumpkins to music and art - can benefit small country towns in Australia.
Academics Chris Gibson (l) and John Connell (r) say music festivals can reinvent fading towns
"There's a spirit of quirky eclecticism and larrikin [boisterous or maverick] humour in country Australia that comes out at these sorts of festivals. They can reinvent the story of a place, really," said Professor Gibson, dressed in a purple Elvis costume at Sydney's Central Station.
"Although there are still jobs in agriculture, it is a fading industry, whereas the future is really about tourism, music, creativity and culture," he added.
Kandos, in the Mudgee winemaking district of New South Wales, hosts a Bob Marley festival, while since 2012 fans of ABBA have headed to the town of Trundle for its annual homage to Sweden's finest.
Elvis tribute singer John Collins says Parkes' Elvis festival is on many people's bucket list
Elsewhere the tasty Food (Food of Orange District) jamboree draws large crowds, while the Tamworth Country Music Festival is arguably one of Australia's premier music events.
So is Parkes worried it could lose its lustre because of the competition in other parts of New South Wales and beyond?
Ken Keith, who is his ninth year as mayor and probably the only public official in Australia who turns up for work in a blue jumpsuit, is not concerned.
"Why other people haven't been able to replicate it or steal the concept from us is just the friendly nature of the town, where people are made to feel welcome," he explained.
This week Parkes is turning on not only a warm reception, but one that is roasting hot, with temperatures expected to climb to the high 30s Celsius.
Simone Collison (far r) and friends joined fellow fans for the Elvis express train from Sydney
Also celebrating a quarter of a century as an Elvis tribute singer is John Collins, who, as a marriage celebrant, officiates at Elvis-themed weddings all over Australia.
"The Parkes Elvis festival is something everyone has to put on their bucket list. You've got to go at least once. One of the entertainers last year nearly cried when he had to go home. He didn't want it to finish," he said.
As the Elvis Express prepared to roll out of Sydney - on what is quite likely to be Australia's most high-spirited rail journey - Simone Collison from Menangle had gathered with her friends for the trip.
They all wore matching black and white spotted outfits with pink tops and sunglasses. Asked why a singer who died so long ago still had so many devoted fans, she said simply: "Everyone still loves him. That will never die."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-38595133 | |
Dog stuck on cliff ledge in Provo, Utah - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | null | Rescuers tried to help a dog that was stuck on a ledge on a 60ft cliff in Provo, Utah. | null | Rescuers tried to help a dog that was stuck on a ledge on a 60ft cliff in Provo, Utah. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38600230 | |
Bradford: RFL agrees deal for new club in city after Bradford Bulls liquidated - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | The Rugby Football League agrees a deal that will see a new club set up in Bradford for the start of the 2017 season. | null | Last updated on .From the section Rugby League
The Rugby Football League has agreed a deal that will see a new club set up in Bradford for the start of the season.
The old Bradford Bulls was liquidated earlier this month after its latest spell in administration, after years of financial problems.
Four bids to revive the club were received by the game's governing body.
The identity of the winning consortium is not expected to be revealed until next week, but it is believed to be headed by Andrew Chalmers.
He is a former chairman of New Zealand Rugby League and used to be a director at Salford Red Devils.
Former Wigan and New Zealand coach Graham Lowe is also believed to be involved.
The group came close to taking the Bulls out of administration during the Christmas period, when a bid they made was rubber-stamped by the RFL, only to be rejected by the administrator.
Chalmers registered the name Bradford Bulls 2017 at Companies House on Friday, and is now expected to meet with the former Bradford Bulls players.
RFL director of operations and legal, Karen Moorhouse, said: "The RFL is confident that the consortium selected to run a new club in Bradford will provide an exciting and stable future for rugby league in the city."
Earlier this week, a proposed pre-season friendly for a Bradford Select XIII due to take place on Sunday was called off because they do not have enough players.
The new club will remain in the Kingstone Press Championship, but will start the new season with a 12-point deficit.
They will also continue playing at Odsal Stadium, the lease for which is owned by the RFL.
• None 'Rugby league's rock and roll club must be restored' | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/38616454 | |
Seaside towns 'battered' by tidal surge - BBC News | 2017-01-13 | null | People along England's east coast have been bracing themselves for a storm surge. | null | People along England's east coast have been bracing themselves for a storm surge and the possibility of severe flooding.
The Environment Agency has issued 17 warnings of danger to life. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38616790 | |
Graham Taylor: Ex-England, Watford & Aston Villa manager dies aged 72 - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | Former England manager Graham Taylor has died at the age of 72. | null | Former England manager Graham Taylor has died at the age of 72. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38597194 | |
Graham Taylor: John Murray remembers 'warm, generous' former colleague - BBC Sport | 2017-01-13 | null | BBC Radio 5 live's John Murray, who worked with Graham Taylor for many years, fondly remembers the former England boss. | null | BBC Radio 5 live football correspondent John Murray worked with Graham Taylor for many years. Here he fondly recalls what life was like on the road with the former England manager.
Graham Taylor and I sat next to one another in commentary boxes here, there and everywhere.
The first time we were squeezed together in one was for a not-terribly-high-profile match on a Friday night at Brentford. I can still see him bounding up the steps at Griffin Park, wearing a black and white checked jacket, cheerily acknowledging people as he came.
And I remember thinking afterwards that Graham Taylor was everything I hoped he would be. He was good fun, charming, engaging, and he had lots to say about the players, the match and all matters surrounding it. And, off air, he wanted to know all about me.
When I got to know him better, he would always be great company post-match, often late into the evening. I have never actually met his wife, Rita, his children, or his grandchildren, but I feel as though I have because Graham would tell you exactly what was going on in their lives.
He loved all sports, particularly athletics and cricket - Graham actually followed England on tour to South Africa. And, believe it or not, he enjoyed the music of both Vera Lynn and Adele, whose albums he bought.
As a match summariser, I knew that if the game wasn't very good and nothing was happening, Graham was someone you could go off at tangents with, because he had such a wide field of interests. During one such commentary, I remember us discussing how he used to take an annual holiday in Caister-on-Sea, and the merits of that Norfolk seaside town.
But don't go thinking he was a pushover. There was a steely core to Graham Taylor that all winners have, and he always struck me as one of life's natural leaders - I'm convinced that was one of the secrets behind the many successes he had.
Once, when we had lost our ticket in an underground car park in Innsbruck, he very nearly persuaded me to tailgate a car through the barrier. He was extremely disappointed that I pulled up short of causing untold damage!
• None Ian Botham: Graham Taylor told me to stick to cricket
• None Archive: Graham Taylor on 'View from the Boundary'
• None Taylor was 'a pal as well as a manager' - Dion Dublin
When I turned up at the airport to fly to Euro 2008, Graham appeared with one foot in a plastic boot. He'd injured it somehow, but rather than withdraw from our broadcast team so close to the finals - which he had been advised to do - he travelled all around Austria and Switzerland in some discomfort but without a word of complaint.
Being under scrutiny as a football manager for most of his life, he could click a switch and go into serious mode at a moment's notice, and what he said carried a real authority.
We were both part of the commentary team in Montenegro for a European Championship qualifier when Wayne Rooney was sent off for kicking out at an opponent.
The next morning we were reporting on it into the Breakfast programme, and though Graham was bleary eyed when he arrived in the room, he sat down, clicked into action, and made perfect sense. I recall thinking that had he still been England manager, he would have answered the questions in exactly the same way.
The way things ended for him with England, and the criticism that came with that, clearly stayed with him. He would often reference it himself and was, sometimes I felt, almost too willing to talk about it.
We would always try to guide Graham away from large gatherings of England fans because of the greater possibility of someone saying something out of turn in those circumstances. On the occasions that did happen, Graham would go and talk to them, and they would inevitably be left feeling rather foolish. Later, though, there would often be a quiet word to you which revealed the hurt was still there.
But it says a great deal about the man that it is for his warm, generous, human qualities that I will remember him best.
Yes, Graham Taylor was everything I hoped he would be. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38599166 | |
FA Cup: West Ham 0-5 Manchester City highlights - BBC Sport | 2017-01-07 | null | Pep Guardiola's first taste of the FA Cup ends triumphantly as Manchester City thrash Premier League rivals West Ham 5-0 in the FA Cup third round at London Stadium. | null | Pep Guardiola's first taste of the FA Cup ends triumphantly as Manchester City thrash Premier League rivals West Ham 5-0 in the FA Cup third round at London Stadium. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38536413 | |
Terminally-ill man seeks law change over assisted suicide - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | null | Motor neurone disease patient Noel Conway wants a review of the law so he can end his life when his condition deteriorates. | null | Motor neurone disease patient Noel Conway is seeking a review of the law on assisted suicide. The terminally-ill man wants to have medical assistance to end his life when his condition deteriorates to a point that he feels is insufferable. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38532004 | |
Trump v Spies: A very public row which could damage both - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | US leaders and its spies have fallen out before, writes Gordon Corera - just never this publicly. | US & Canada | Donald Trump and US spies have disagreed openly on hacking during the US election
It is not unprecedented for political leaders to fall-out with spies. But a row has never before played out so publicly - with rival pronouncements over Twitter and in front of Congress.
Two competing forces are clashing. First, the intelligence community's credibility, which has been called into question by President-elect Donald Trump.
And second, the legitimacy of Mr Trump's presidency, called into question by the intelligence community's conclusion that the Kremlin sought to support his election.
Neither side is likely to back off and both may come out damaged.
Relations between political leaders and intelligence officials have always had their ups and downs.
In the late 1970s, after a series of Congressional committees raised fears of the CIA having got out of control, President Carter brought in a new director, Stansfield Turner, who cleared out the agency of many of its staff leading to much unhappiness.
CIA Director James Woolsey did not so much have a bad relationship as no relationship at all with Bill Clinton, to the extent that when a small aircraft crashed on the White House lawn, the joke was that it was Mr Woolsey trying to get a meeting with the president.
Under George W Bush, there was real tension, especially in the aftermath of the intelligence community's failure over Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and on briefings about the future of Iraq.
President Bush appointed Republican Congressman Porter Goss to try and align the agency more closely with the White House.
But the result was a disastrous falling out between Mr Goss's senior staff and top officials at the CIA. Goss only lasted a year.
It is a precedent that incoming CIA Director - another Republic Congressman, Mike Pompeo - will only be too aware of as he prepares to take the helm.
One thing that has been notable is that since his nomination he has offered very little public comment.
On the whole, those close to the CIA have suggested officials there are less worried by his nomination than that of other officials like incoming National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
He is reported to have a degree of animosity towards the CIA and the Directorate of National Intelligence (which plays an over-arching role) after his stint running the Defence Intelligence Agency.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. CIA director John Brennan tells the BBC what global threats Donald Trump will face as US president
There are reports that the Trump team may also push through reforms of the intelligence community - which might be seen by some insiders as a veiled threat.
This could aim to reduce the role of Director of National Intelligence and could also push the CIA towards a different operational stance.
The CIA has just undergone a major re-organisation under John Brennan.
In an interview in November, Mr Brennan told me he would be highlighting to his successor the importance of modernisation and also ensuring the most diverse possible workforce.
He also confessed that while he was hopeful he would get the chance to advise the incoming team on how to best employ the range of covert capabilities that the CIA has its disposal - which include drone strikes - he did not know how far the new team would take that advice on board.
Staff at the agencies will be wondering what policies they will be expected to carry out.
Donald Trump talked of a return to waterboarding during the campaign.
The legacy of the use of such techniques during the Bush years continues to be highly sensitive within the agency with battles in the Obama administration over how far to distance itself from the agency's past.
The NSA, which has also undergone a bruising internal reform process, may also be worried.
After the trauma of the Snowden revelations and the subsequent emphasis on not being a 'rogue agency', and on compliance, there may now be concerns over whether a new president may deploy its powerful capabilities in a way which might, if it became public, be highly controversial.
The CIA under President Barack Obama has tried to distance itself from its less salubrious past
The intelligence community has historically gone through cycles in which first a president pushes for controversial covert action, be it assassination plots, domestic intelligence collection or waterboarding.
But then after it is revealed, there is a swing of the pendulum the other way by a new administration, often leaving officers feeling exposed for past actions.
They may be wondering whether the pendulum is about to swing again. But in the Trump era they also may be wondering whether something different is about to happen.
When weapons of mass destruction were not found in Iraq, spies and politicians in London and Washington engaged in an uneasy truce.
Both sides realised they had been complicit in the presentation of intelligence to the public which proved wrong and that if they turned on each other in a blame game, it would be bloody, vicious and self-destructive.
Mr Trump plays by different rules to previous US leaders
But in this current stand-off, the situation is different, not least because we are at a moment of transition and the current intelligence officials are on their way out and may feel they have little to lose by speaking out.
Donald Trump also plays by different rules.
But the result is that if a public spat continues and even escalates, both the intelligence community and the incoming political leadership could emerge damaged.
And the only people who will be smiling will be America's adversaries | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38534773 | |
FA Cup third-round predictions - Lawro vs the YouTubers on every tie - BBC Sport | 2017-01-07 | null | BBC Sport football expert Mark Lawrenson and YouTubers Reev, Blue Moon Rising TV and Spurred On predict the outcome of all 32 FA Cup third-round ties. | null | The FA Cup third round is famous for shocks and surprises - but who will provide them this year?
BBC Sport's football expert Mark Lawrenson has taken a look at all 32 of this weekend's ties and given his verdict on who will make it into round four.
This week Lawro is up against a trio of YouTubers - Manchester City fan Alex from Blue Moon Rising TV, Tottenham supporter Barnaby from Spurred On and Arsenal fan Reev.
Alex and Barnaby have both got involved in BBC Sport's No Guts, No Glory campaign to share their tales of the magic of the FA Cup while Reev will be behind the scenes of the BBC's coverage of West Ham v Man City on Friday, and posting material on his social media platforms telling his story of the FA Cup on behalf of the Football Association.
All kick-offs 15:00 GMT unless otherwise stated.
Gap = how many league positions separate each team
This will be a great trip for Plymouth fans and will earn some money for the club too, but I cannot see them causing Liverpool many problems at Anfield.
Liverpool will make a lot of changes and I am expecting to see quite a few young players start for them, but Reds boss Jurgen Klopp will put some experience in there too. Argyle are going well at the top of League Two and he will know he cannot take too many chances.
Liverpool obviously do not want a defeat but they will want to avoid a replay too because that would mean another road trip in what is already an extremely busy month for his side because of both legs of their EFL Cup semi-final.
* Away team to win at home in the replay
Crystal Palace boss Sam Allardyce will shuffle his team and use some fringe players but he will not want the indignity of being beaten at his former club Bolton, where he did so well between 1999 and 2007.
Wanderers are playing really well but they have got other things on their mind - they are second in League One and promotion is their priority.
Bournemouth will be too strong for Millwall and I am expecting Chelsea versus Peterborough to be pretty one sided in favour of the Premier League leaders.
* Away team to win at home in the replay
Reading are third in the Championship and flying. They have showed real resolve at times too, like they did when they came from 2-0 down to beat Bristol City last time out.
It will be interesting to see how Royals boss Jaap Stam's return to Old Trafford goes but, even if Manchester United pick some of their fringe players, I would expect the holders to go through.
Stoke and Tottenham should also make pretty comfortable progress but I can see Norwich, Burton and Sheffield Wednesday causing some upsets.
Norwich boss Alex Neil had been under serious pressure but his side beat Derby last time out and he could go from zero to hero if they beat Southampton.
Burton are struggling in the Championship but they fight all the way and I can see them getting past Watford via a replay, as one of my shocks.
I have not been convinced by Middlesbrough at home and Sheffield Wednesday are an attacking team who will cause them plenty of problems.
As for Preston against Arsenal, can I just pick my own team to win? I would just be happy if we give the Gunners a good game and got a replay. I think we will, because we are extremely competitive.
* Away team to win at home in the replay
I have no idea what kind of teams Manchester City and West Ham will put out but, if both managers field weakened line-ups, I would fancy City to get through. It is the same with Everton against Leicester.
Sunderland will be weakened for a different reason, because they have a shortage of fit players but I can see Burnley resting a few, so the Black Cats might just squeak through.
After their recent change of managers, it is a different situation for Hull and Swansea, who will both see the importance of winning their tie.
It will be Tigers boss Marco Silva's first game in charge while Paul Clement will want to build on Swansea's excellent win over Crystal Palace.
* Away team to win at home in the replay
Eastleigh had a cracking win over Swindon in round one but, since then, Ronnie Moore has left and Martin Allen has taken charge.
I don't see Allen helping them cause another upset because his old side Brentford play some nice football and score some good goals on their day.
Ipswich have not won back-to-back games all season and are not having a great time of things but Mick McCarthy's side never give up the ghost. It might be difficult for them against Lincoln, the National League leaders, but I still think they will get through.
* Away team to win at home in the replay
Brighton are top of the Championship and promotion is the priority for them but I still think they will have too much for MK Dons.
I don't see Huddersfield or Bristol City having too many problems either, but Rotherham are rock bottom of the Championship and Oxford will fancy their chances.
* Away team to win at home in the replay
Birmingham have taken only one point from four league games since Gianfranco Zola took over as manager and I think their poor form will continue against Newcastle in the pick of the all-Championship ties.
* Away team to win at home in the replay
Sign up for the 2017 FA People's Cup and take your chance to win tickets to the FA Cup final in May and achieve national five-a-side glory.
I am at Holker Street with Football Focus on Saturday (at 12:00 GMT on BBC One and the BBC Sport website) before Barrow take on Rochdale.
I just wonder if this game comes at the wrong time for Barrow, who had not lost for 23 games since August until they were battered by Gateshead on New Year's Eve, but maybe they had one eye on this tie.
There will be a fantastic atmosphere because the game is a 4,400 sell-out - Barrow's biggest crowd in 27 years - to see them try to get to the fourth round for the first time in their 116-year history.
It will not be easy for them, because Rochdale are going well at the top end of League One so even a draw would be a fantastic result for the National League side.
That would also mean Barrow earn more money from the replay, something I like to see the little clubs get out of the FA Cup.
Sutton and AFC Wimbledon are only five miles apart and, as well as it being a derby, Sutton play on a 3G pitch which will be a bit different for the League One side too.
But, having seen them in their amazing comeback to beat Curzon Ashton in round two, I am backing Wimbledon. They have got some very quick attackers and I think they will have too much for Sutton.
* Away team to win at home in the replay
Stourbridge are the lowest ranked team left in the competition, are unbeaten since October and are in the third round for the first time in their 141-year history.
The Evo-Stik Northern Premier Division side have had a great run but, sadly for them, I think it will end here against a Wycombe side who are in decent form themselves, and have won 10 out of their last 11 games in all competitions.
At least one League Two team will be in round four which is a good thing.
Accrington lost narrowly when they went to Kenilworth Road in November but their form has slumped in the last few weeks.
The pressure will be off Stanley on Saturday, however, and I have a feeling they will nick a win, leaving Luton to focus on trying to get promoted.
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
Last time out, Lawro got six correct results, including one perfect score from 10 Premier League games, giving him a total of 90 points.
That was enough to beat comedian Arron Crascall, who managed four correct results with one perfect score for 70 points.
We are also keeping a record of the totals for Lawro and his guests (below), and showing a table of how the Premier League would look if all of Lawro's predictions were correct. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38509635 | |
How Japan has almost eradicated gun crime - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Japan has one of the lowest rates of gun crime in the world, and the rules around ownership are very strict. | Magazine | Shotguns and air rifles are the only firearms you can legally buy in Japan
Japan has one of the lowest rates of gun crime in the world. In 2014 there were just six gun deaths, compared to 33,599 in the US.
If you want to buy a gun in Japan you need patience and determination. You have to attend an all-day class, take a written exam and pass a shooting-range test with a mark of at least 95%.
There are also mental health and drugs tests. Your criminal record is checked and police look for links to extremist groups. Then they check your relatives too - and even your work colleagues. And as well as having the power to deny gun licences, police also have sweeping powers to search and seize weapons.
That's not all. Handguns are banned outright. Only shotguns and air rifles are allowed.
The law restricts the number of gun shops. In most of Japan's 40 or so prefectures there can be no more than three, and you can only buy fresh cartridges by returning the spent cartridges you bought on your last visit.
A photo posed by models - even Japanese gangsters rarely use guns these days
Police must be notified where the gun and the ammunition are stored - and they must be stored separately under lock and key. Police will also inspect guns once a year. And after three years your licence runs out, at which point you have to attend the course and pass the tests again.
This helps explain why mass shootings in Japan are extremely rare. When mass killings occur, the killer most often wields a knife.
In a world where a lot is going wrong there is also a lot going right. So what if you could build a country with policies that actually worked, by homing in ideas around the world that have been truly successful?
The current gun control law was introduced in 1958, but the idea behind the policy dates back centuries.
"Ever since guns entered the country, Japan has always had strict gun laws," says Iain Overton, executive director of Action on Armed Violence and the author of Gun Baby Gun.
"They are the first nation to impose gun laws in the whole world and I think it laid down a bedrock saying that guns really don't play a part in civilian society."
People were being rewarded for giving up firearms as far back as 1685, a policy Overton describes as "perhaps the first ever gun buyback initiative".
"The moment you have guns in society, you will have gun violence but I think it's about the quantity," says Overton. "If you have very few guns in society, you will almost inevitably have low levels of violence."
Japanese police officers rarely use guns and put much greater emphasis on martial arts - all are expected to become a black belt in judo. They spend more time practising kendo (fighting with bamboo swords) than learning how to use firearms.
"The response to violence is never violence, it's always to de-escalate it. Only six shots were fired by Japanese police nationwide [in 2015]," says journalist Anthony Berteaux. "What most Japanese police will do is get huge futons and essentially roll up a person who is being violent or drunk into a little burrito and carry them back to the station to calm them down."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Japanese police practise martial arts every week and avoid using weapons whenever they can
Overton contrasts this with the American model, which he says has been "to militarise the police".
"If you have too many police pulling out guns at the first instance of crime, you lead to a miniature arms race between police and criminals," he says.
To underline the taboo attached to inappropriate use of weapons, an officer who used his gun to kill himself was charged posthumously with a criminal offence. He carried out the act while on duty - policemen never carry weapons off-duty, leaving them at the station when they finish their shift.
The care police take with firearms is mirrored in the self-defence forces.
Journalist Jake Adelstein once attended a shooting practice, which ended with the gathering up of the bullet casings - and there was great concern when one turned out to be missing.
"One bullet shell was unaccounted for - one shell had fallen behind one of the targets - and nobody was allowed to leave the facilities until they found the shell," he says.
There is no clamour in Japan for gun regulations to be relaxed, says Berteaux. "A lot of it stems from this post-war sentiment of pacifism that the war was horrible and we can never have that again," he explains.
There are a limited number of longstanding rifle owners in Japan - when they die their heirs must hand the rifles in
"People assume that peace is always going to exist and when you have a culture like that you don't really feel the need to arm yourself or have an object that disrupts that peace."
In fact, moves to expand the role of Japan's self-defence forces in foreign peacekeeping operations have caused concern in some quarters.
"It is unknown territory," says political science professor Koichi Nakano. "Maybe the government will try to normalise occasional death in the self-defence force and perhaps even try to glorify the exercise of weapons?"
According to Iain Overton, the "almost taboo level of rejection" of guns in Japan means that the country is "edging towards a perfect place" - though he points out that Iceland also achieves a very low rate of gun crime, despite a much higher level of gun ownership.
Henrietta Moore of the Institute for Global Prosperity at University College London applauds the Japanese for not viewing gun ownership as "a civil liberty", and rejecting the idea of firearms as "something you use to defend your property against others".
But for Japanese gangsters the tight gun control laws are a problem. Yakuza gun crime has sharply declined in the last 15 years, but those who continue to carry firearms have to find ingenious ways of smuggling them into the country.
"The criminals pack the guns inside of a tuna so it looks like a frozen tuna," says retired police officer Tahei Ogawa. "But we have discovered cases where they have actually hidden a gun inside."
Join the conversation - find the BBC World Service on Facebook and Twitter. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38365729 | |
CES 2017: Ford sticks to self-driving cars by 2021 pledge - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | null | Ford insists it will have a fully autonomous car, without a steering wheel, on the road by 2021, despite others' doubts. | null | Ford insists it will have fully autonomous cars, without steering wheels or brake pedals, on the roads by 2021.
The firm plans to use them within an Uber-like ride-sharing service at first before considering putting them on sale.
But rival car-makers have suggested that deadline is too ambitious, as Rory Cellan Jones reports from the CES tech show in Las Vegas.
Follow all our CES coverage at bbc.co.uk/ces2017 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38538281 | |
Ed Sheeran lyric 'driving at 90' prompts Suffolk Police plea - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A new song by Ed Sheeran which features the lyrics "driving at 90" prompts police to say, "please slow down". | Suffolk | Ed Sheeran describes "driving at 90" in his new song Castle on the Hill
A new song by Ed Sheeran which features the lyrics "driving at 90" has prompted a safety warning by police.
Castle on the Hill, released on Friday, has been described as a "love song for Suffolk".
In addition to describing the Framlingham area where he grew up, Sheeran sings "driving at 90 down those country lanes".
Sgt Chris Harris, from Norfolk and Suffolk Roads Policing, responded by tweeting "please slow down".
The new singles are the first to be released since he announced in December 2015 that he would be taking a break from music "to travel the world".
They are taken from his forthcoming album, which is called ÷ (Divide).
Police respond to Sheeran's new song by urging drivers to slow down
On the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Sheeran said he wrote Shape of You with the singer Rihanna in mind.
While in his homage to growing up in Suffolk, Castle on the Hill, he says he "can't wait to go home".
Sgt Harris said: "Know you want to go home but please slow down on Suffolk roads."
And warned to "drive to arrive".
Sheeran is not the first singer to reference excessive speed in his lyrics.
In Crosstown Traffic, Jimi Hendrix sang "ninety miles an hour, girl, is the speed I drive".
The BBC has approached Sheeran's representatives for a comment.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-38532571 | |
Premiership: Newcastle Falcons 24-22 Bath - BBC Sport | 2017-01-07 | null | Newcastle produce a superb late comeback to stun Bath and condemn the visitors to their third straight Premiership loss. | null | Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Newcastle produced a superb late comeback at Kingston Park to stun Bath and condemn the visitors to their third straight Premiership defeat.
The Falcons trailed 22-10 in the final 10 minutes, but forwards Mark Wilson and Ben Harris both bundled over after relentless pressure.
Second-half tries from George Ford and two from Semesa Rokoduguni built a lead for Bath before the late drama.
The much-improved Falcons have now won six Premiership matches this season, one more than the whole of last campaign, and move up to sixth, while Bath stay fourth.
Bath looked edgy once again following back-to-back league defeats against fellow play-off chasers Exeter and leaders Wasps.
A torrid first half started with Fiji wing Goneva being given too much space to race in under the posts, followed by England fly-half Ford missing two relatively simple penalties.
Ford, who failed to land another crucial penalty and conversion after the break, did start a clinical first 20 minutes of the second half when he strolled in to score as Bath were camped in front of the try-line.
Wing Rokoduguni produced two pieces of individual brilliance to help stretch Bath's lead to 12 points - first dotting down while being tackled by Goneva and then showing his pace after latching onto the returning Anthony Watson's pass.
But the visitors could not hold onto the advantage as big flanker Wilson was pushed over and replacement prop Harris touched down in almost identical circumstances, with Joel Hodgson coolly converting both.
Newcastle director of rugby Dean Richards: "The boys had belief and really stuck at it.
"We went 12 points down and just went for it. They showed a lot of courage to do that and come back against a side like Bath.
"The crowd were outstanding, especially that last five minutes, the players came in afterwards and said the crowd carried them through."
Bath director of rugby Todd Blackadder: "I'm very disappointed that we couldn't close out the game.
"We had a terrible first half. We were lucky we came away with anything at half-time.
"We didn't do the basics very well under pressure and that's not acceptable. The last two games we've had control and let it slip and it's just not good enough."
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38500627 | |
CES 2017: AmpMe app offers free alternative to wireless speakers - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | null | A free app synchs smartphones so they play music in unison, creating a free alternative to expensive wireless sound systems. | null | A start-up is promoting a free app that syncs smartphones so they play music in unison, at the CES tech show.
AmpMe is being pitched as a free alternative to Sonos and other brands of wireless speakers.
Chris Foxx tied out the tech in Las Vegas.
Follow all our CES coverage at bbc.co.uk/ces2017 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38526187 | |
The woman who looks after celebrities' skin - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Su-Man Hsu runs a skincare company, but she started life in a mud hut in Taiwan. How did she make her journey from there to facialist to Hollywood celebrities? | Business | Can you imagine telling an Oscar-winning actress that her face was sagging? It sounds like the stuff of a peculiar dream.
But that's precisely what London-based facialist Su-Man Hsu did. And the actress? None other than Juliette Binoche, star of films such as Chocolat, The English Patient and The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
Su-Man describes the French actress's arrival for her appointment for a facial treatment like this: "She came... and I said, 'What's happened to you? Stagnating body, sagging, sagging.'"
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Ms Binoche didn't speak to Su-Man for the whole of the session. "I thought, 'OK then, it's got to be something I said, I'll just move on and forget about it,'" Su-Man recalls.
But the story doesn't end there. A year later her phone rang and on the other end was Juliette Binoche, in London for work, asking Su-Man to come and see her.
Glowing - but Juliette Binoche and Su-Man Hsu had a sticky start to their relationship
Su-Man recalls that Ms Binoche reminded her of what she'd said and quite how badly it had gone down.
"I said, 'Why did you call me then?' She said because she tried it in France, she tried everywhere and no-one [was] like me. And from then on we became best friends, we're still in contact with each other and I became her facialist."
It was a turning point for Su-Man. She says that on the strength of Ms Binoche's recommendations her business took off. Other celebrity fans include the actresses Anne Hathaway and Freida Pinto.
It's a good story to dine out on, but actually it's just one stop on a journey where, in Su-Man's words, "everything's just emerged. A beautiful accident."
Su-Man's parents didn't speak to her for almost two weeks when she said she wanted to pursue a career as a dancer
Su-Man was born in Taiwan and lived in a tiny village until she was 14, in what she describes as a mud hut. "Outside's raining, inside's raining, and you need to put all the pots and pans [out], otherwise you'd just slip away. And in the summer you sometimes see little baby mice fall from the ceiling," she says.
They had four neighbours and after that there was nothing between them and the next village except rice fields. The family had no car but would use a cart drawn by oxen to get around.
Su-Man was the youngest of 10 siblings and her illiterate parents struggled to support the family. On days when there was no rice to eat, everyone - including the animals - would eat porridge.
Or, she says, they would shoot the swallows living in the roof with a slingshot, and then barbecue them.
Su-Man's route away from her parents' smallholding was to become a dancer - despite her mother and father's opposition to it as a career. She worked in Germany, where she met her British-Pakistani husband, and then in Brussels.
Su-Man was the rehearsal director for Akram Khan's dancers at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012
When the couple came to live in the UK, Su-Man performed her final dance in the King and I at the London Palladium, and then embarked on her second career looking after people's faces.
She didn't, however, say farewell to dancing completely. One of the highlights was still to come - she was rehearsal director for dancer Akram Khan's ensemble at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.
Su-Man was already well-versed in Shiatsu massage techniques, having used them to help her recuperate after an accident at the age of 20. So when she came to set up Su-Man Skincare she developed treatments that combined massage with her own serums and toning products. To start with she made those in her kitchen and tried them out on herself and her clients.
When clients began to ask her whether they could buy the products, she took the plunge and ordered 5,000 jars (the minimum order) to sell them in.
Su-Man explains that her technique combines nature and science and is a mix of Eastern skincare, based on prevention of problems, and Western science, which corrects them.
If you spend just five minutes extra on your face, she promises, it will repay you by looking younger and happier.
The power of touch: Su-Man Hsu at work
With this belief in natural methods for skincare, she has no time for customers who go down the artificial route offered by Botox. Her message to those who are tempted is unequivocal: "You go there, don't come back to me."
And with a dancer's view of the world, she adds: "The body is designed to be moved, it's not designed to sit there like a wall. If you can't see your expression when you speak, it's almost like you wipe out your history.
"You don't want people to know who you are, what's your future, where you come from. That saddens me."
Although Su-Man's business includes Hollywood stars amongst its clientele, she is keen to stress her belief in not forgetting how and where you started. Her products, she says, are rooted in her background. She takes her cue from the way her mother looked after them as children, using whatever was to hand.
Su-Man has travelled a long way from her first home, but says it's crucial to remember your roots
"We used rice water on our face, and used flour mixed with egg, things like that, as a mask, or even hair shampoo. We would collect roots from the mountain and we would chop it and put it in the water to wash our body.
"We used the leftover green tea to splash on our face to soothe it because we were exposed to such intense sun, and discarded water melon, rubbing our face, exfoliating, all that stuff."
And just to make sure that she keeps all that in mind, almost every day while she meditates Su-Man listens to a track which plays her the sounds of her village at night.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38368726 | |
Qatar Open: Sir Andy Murray to face Novak Djokovic in final - BBC Sport | 2017-01-07 | null | Sir Andy Murray is to meet Novak Djokovic in the Qatar Open final after the world number one beat Tomas Berdych in the semis. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Sir Andy Murray will face defending champion Novak Djokovic in the Qatar Open final on Saturday after beating third seed Tomas Berdych in the semis.
Murray won 6-3 6-4 against Czech Berdych, who needed treatment on an ankle injury after the first set.
It will be the 19th ATP final meeting between Murray and the man he replaced as world number one in November.
Second seed Djokovic survived five match points on his way to beating Fernando Verdasco in his semi-final.
Murray, who won the tournament in 2008 and 2009, has now recorded 28 consecutive victories in ATP Tour matches.
"I want to try and keep it going - I feel a little bit like this year's a fresh start," he told Eurosport.
"It's been the perfect week to get ready for the Australian Open."
Earlier, Serb Djokovic made only one unforced error in the decider to win 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 after Spaniard Verdasco, ranked 42nd in the world, controlled the first two sets.
"It's definitely one of the most exciting matches I have played," Djokovic said. "I haven't saved five match points many times. He should have finished it off."
You can follow live coverage of the Qatar Open final in Doha between Murray and Djokovic on the BBC Sport website from 15:00 GMT. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38535586 | |
Wayne Rooney equals Sir Bobby Charlton's Manchester United scoring record - BBC Sport | 2017-01-07 | null | Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney moves level with Sir Bobby Charlton as the club's all-time leading scorer. | null | Wayne Rooney has moved level with Sir Bobby Charlton as Manchester United's all-time leading goalscorer.
The 31-year-old's FA Cup strike against Reading took him to 249 in 543 games, reaching the landmark 215 matches and four seasons quicker than Charlton.
The record had stood since 1973 but Rooney now seems certain to beat it.
"This club is a huge part of my life and I'm honoured to be up there alongside Sir Bobby," said Rooney following the 4-0 win.
"It's a proud moment. To do it at a massive club like Manchester United, I'm hugely honoured."
Manager Jose Mourinho added: "A more special day will arrive. It was great but I want one more goal! He is an amazing guy in the group and we all want him to do it. To have Wayne as the top scorer in a club like this is magnificent for him."
In 2015, Rooney surpassed World Cup winner Charlton's England scoring record of 49 goals and has since taken his tally to 53.
The United landmark comes during a season in which the England captain has been left out of the starting line-up for both club and country, his record-equalling goal being just his fourth of the campaign.
'There was a warmth around the stadium'
As Old Trafford celebrated the occasion, the stadium announcer made sure he remembered the 'other' player: 'Manchester United's goalscorer, and equalling Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 249...'
Up in the directors' box, blinking through his glasses under a dark, brimmed hat, Charlton looked down. Wife Norma sat alongside, applauding generously.
At 79, Charlton was not on his feet like others around him as the ball lobbed in off Rooney's right knee. But close by, Sir Alex Ferguson, who paid £27m to buy the then 18-year-old striker from Everton in 2004, was up and applauding.
The genuine enthusiasm and warmth around the stadium as Rooney celebrated the landmark was an acknowledgement of what he has achieved.
How has Rooney done it?
The signs were there from the very start that Rooney's could be a stellar Old Trafford career.
In his first game following a £27m move from Everton in 2004, he scored a hat-trick against Fenerbahce in a 6-2 Champions League win.
He has not looked back since, reaching double figures in every season at the club, including a career-high 34 in all competitions in 2009-10 and 2011-12.
Rooney and Charlton are ahead of some of the finest players that Manchester United and British football has known.
Charlton, who came up through the United youth system, spent 17 years at Old Trafford before finishing his career with spells at Preston and Irish side Waterford United.
And despite his consistency over such a long period, he never managed to hit the 30-goal mark in a single season, coming closest when he struck 29 times during his third season at Old Trafford.
Despite Rooney's scoring bursts, his goals have not come at the fastest rate. Tommy Taylor, who was a two-time title winner with United in the 1950s, holds that honour, just ahead of former Netherlands international Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Rooney's ratio of 0.459 goals per game puts him eighth on the list, while Charlton (0.328) does not even make the top 10.
Where does Rooney rank in list of Man Utd greats?
Rooney has secured his place in Manchester United history and Old Trafford's hall of greats with his record-equalling goalscoring feats.
However, he will have to resign himself to never being held in the same esteem, and place of legend, as the likes of Charlton, George Best and Denis Law.
Indeed, despite his lofty place in United's record books, the 31-year-old will never be revered by United's supporters in the same manner as the maverick Old Trafford catalyst Eric Cantona, the great leaders Roy Keane and Bryan Robson, and brilliant home-grown products such as Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville.
This may seem brutally unfair given his contribution to United's successes, but there are several factors at work when his place in the club's historical affections is measured.
Rooney was an expensive import from Merseyside, while Charlton, who survived the 1958 Munich air disaster, led United to their first European Cup in 1968 and stands alongside his great mentor Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson as an iconic Old Trafford figure.
Best and Law came alongside Charlton as United's 'Holy Trinity' as the club emerged from the tragedy of Munich, while Cantona was the great transformer in the early 90s and the likes of Robson and Keane were world-class players and warriors.
Rooney's chequered history with the club and its fans will also have an impact on his legacy when his contribution to United - a truly great one when judged solely in a football context - is reflected upon.
In many eyes, Rooney will never quite be forgiven for the episode in October 2010 when he decided he wanted to leave, then further strained his relationship with club and fans by issuing a statement which effectively said United lacked ambition and questioned the quality of his team-mates.
This was resolved within days when he signed a new five-year-contract, but the memory has lingered for many. There was another disagreement late in the 2012-13 season as Ferguson prepared for retirement and made it clear Rooney again wanted to leave - a claim that led to the player being jeered by some fans as he collected his title winner's medal at Old Trafford.
Fans and those who record history and legends take these matters into account.
What must also be remembered is that Rooney has had a stellar United career littered with trophies, brilliance and game-changing moments. He fully deserves to be remembered as one of the greats of Old Trafford.
There will, however, be many more remembered before him. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38097719 | |
3D printouts used to rebuild bike crash victim's face - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A man who lost part of his face in a cycling accident has his jaw rebuilt with the help of a 3D printer. | Essex | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. George Boden has had his jaw rebuilt thanks to a 3D printer after a horrific bike accident
A man who lost part of his face in a cycling accident has had his jaw rebuilt with the help of a 3D printer.
George Boden, from High Easter, near Chelmsford, Essex, was riding his bike in 2011 when he crashed face-first.
Surgeons took bone from his shoulder and a titanium plate to make a new jaw, but he was left with no bottom teeth and a mouth the size of a walnut.
But 3D printed models were used to plan more surgery to refine his jaw and create new teeth.
Mr Boden said: "I was out for a training spin, looked at my watch and the next minute I'd slammed into a piece of machinery around the corner.
"It's not a good idea to hit something with your chin at 30mph [48kmph], which is exactly what I did. It ripped the whole of my jaw off."
Maxillofacial surgeon Iain Hutchison rebuilt Mr Boden's face with the help of the 3D printout
Doctors covered his rebuilt jaw with a skin flap, but then decided to input his CT scan into a 3D printer to produce a more finely detailed model of his jaw.
His surgeon Iain Hutchison said: "We use it to plan the operation. We use it to design exactly what we are going to take."
The model was also used to make bespoke teeth implants to perfectly fit his new jaw, while another device was also printed to stretch his mouth.
Mr Boden said the technology gave him hope when he most needed it.
"I've found two things," he said. "First of all if you know you are going to get a solution you can keep going and secondly, red wine helps enormously." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-38543516 | |
Newspaper headlines: Ethiopia's 'Spice Girls' cash and NHS 'winter crisis' - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Some front pages focus on winter pressure on the NHS, while the Daily Mail leads on an Ethiopian pop group's UK funding being axed. | The Papers | International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced a review of the girl band's funding last month
A group described as Ethiopia's version of the Spice Girls receives front page billing in the Daily Mail - not for its latest chart-topping single, but for a decision to pull the plug on its funding from Britain's foreign aid budget.
The paper says the move by ministers is a victory for its campaign to highlight waste in the foreign aid budget at a time when social care is in crisis.
Last month, it reported that the five-piece band, Yegna, had been given a £5.2m grant as part of a three year programme aimed at empowering women in Ethiopia.
The paper has the headline: "Aid: NOW they're listening".
A number of papers lead with the pressures facing the health service in England. The Guardian highlights the warning by the British Red Cross that the NHS is facing a "humanitarian crisis" as hospitals and ambulance services struggle to keep up with rising demands.
The headline in the i is: "No room at A&E". It says overflowing casualty departments shut their doors to patients more than 140 times last month, a 68% rise on the same period the previous year.
The Daily Telegraph says NHS hospitals have been accused of trying to "spin their way out" of the growing winter crisis after a leaked memo revealed that managers were being instructed to play down the scale of the problem.
The paper has seen an NHS memo telling health officials the "most important thing" is to avoid language such as "black alert" - the phrase used to denote the most serious level of emergency.
Several leader writers and commentators take time to reflect on the Brexit negotiations ahead following the resignation of Britain's ambassador to the EU, Sir Ivan Rogers.
Sir Ivan resigned from his post on Tuesday
The Guardian says the new ambassador Sir Tim Barrow faces the daunting task of stopping a tumble towards a disorderly exit.
Where once the choice seemed to be between hard and soft Brexit, the new worry is of a "train crash" Brexit - a scenario in which incompatible negotiating demands from Downing Street and the other 27 countries results in Britain walking away without a deal.
The Sun urges Britain to enter the negotiations without fearing what it calls the consequences of EU pig-headedness and be prepared to walk away rather than sign a bad deal in haste.
The Telegraph acknowledges the talks will be a painstaking, detailed task. In the Mail's view, however, Britain has an extremely strong hand as Europe's best market.
The Express vents its anger at the Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, for suggesting that a soft Brexit could remove the prospect of Scottish independence for the time being. It says a Brexit without winning back control of our borders, laws, taxes and trading relationships would be a "fake" Brexit.
The Financial Times says Theresa May has had a difficult start to the New Year, with the resignation of Sir Ivan and tensions in government over her management style.
The Prime Minister gets a mixed review from Saturday's newspapers
The threat by the Conservative Party donor, Sir Andrew Cook, to withdraw financial support if Mrs May pulls Britain out of the EU's single market, is the main story for the Times.
The paper says sections of the business world are pressing ministers to pursue a "soft Brexit", allowing Britain to have access to the single market in return for some form of payment and a compromise over free movement.
The Mail takes aim at the Economist for what it calls a sneering hatchet-job in this week's issue, in which it accused the Prime Minister of indecision and muddle. The newspaper urges her to ignore the carping and get on with the job.
With a 17 point lead in the polls, it says, she has the country firmly on her side, and the prize is huge.
That prize, the Telegraph agrees, is going down in history as one of our great prime ministers if she can pull off a successful Brexit and begin to rebuild the UK's domestic institutions.
The Guardian pays tribute to Michelle Obama, following her final speech yesterday as America's First Lady before President Obama leaves office. It describes her as the most inspirational First Lady since Eleanor Roosevelt.
Like Mrs Roosevelt, she has proved to be not an old-fashioned helpmeet nor an ornament, but a powerful advocate of equality in her own right, the paper says.
It recalls that Mrs Obama was born into a black working-class family that encouraged and expected her to excel, amid the deep racism of 1960s Chicago. Those experiences, it says, have given her both a deep sense of what is wrong with America and of what people are capable of achieving.
The Express leads with research suggesting that an hour's snooze after lunch is good for your health. American scientists believe it can prevent your brain from ageing and help you perform better in memory tests.
Siestas are good for you, but they cannot be any longer than 60 minutes, according to researchers
They examined 3,000 adults over the age of 65 and found that those who slept in the afternoon were better able to solve simple maths problems and memorise words - and those who didn't, performed badly.
But the paper warns that the nap has to be for 60 minutes. A longer or shorter siesta won't have the same effect.
Finally, forget about camping, or glamping. The Times reports that more and more people are choosing to spend their weekend breaks "champing" - camping in churches.
Apparently, the trend grew four-fold last year and the Churches Conservation Trust, which runs the scheme, is raising the number of churches taking part from seven to 12.
The experience is basic, the paper warns, with no central heating, no showers, and no curtains. But prices start from £19 a night.
A spokeswoman tells the paper: "We didn't want people to see our churches as museum pieces. Instead, we wanted them to be living, vibrant places." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-38538630 | |
Syria conflict: Car bomb kills dozens in Azaz - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | null | At least 43 people have been killed in a car bomb blast in the rebel-held Syrian town of Azaz, near the Turkish border. | null | At least 43 people have been killed in a car bomb blast in the rebel-held Syrian town of Azaz, near the Turkish border.
The explosion occurred outside a courthouse in the town, just 7km (four miles) from the Turkish frontier. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38541465 | |
Florida airport shooting: Shouts of 'run, run' - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | null | Passengers describe what they saw and heard during a shooting at Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida. | null | Travellers have been stranded at Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida after a gunman opened fire earlier on Friday, killing five people.
The suspect has been identified by police as 26-year-old Esteban Santiago, an Iraq war veteran.
Some airport passengers described what they saw and heard. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38541460 | |
US torture victim's family thanks police - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | null | The family of a man in Chicago whose torture was broadcast on Facebook thanks community and police. | null | The family of a man whose torture was broadcast on Facebook have thanked the community and local police for their response.
They have asked for privacy from the public as they "cope and heal".
Four people have been charged with hate crimes in relation to the Chicago assault, that police say lasted two days. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38535446 | |
CES 2017: China vows to innovate not imitate - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | At CES in Las Vegas, China is shedding its reputation as the counterfeiting capital of the world. | Technology | LeEco sounds French to some - but the firm is a home-grown Chinese venture
China's disregard for intellectual property, and a turn-a-blind-eye culture when it comes to blatant counterfeiting, is notorious - the butt of many jokes.
And it’s been fair. In China they don't just counterfeit devices, they counterfeit entire shops - a knock-off Apple store was closed down in 2015.
Instances like this play into the West’s view of China as the world’s shameless imitator. A place where great ideas from the US and Europe go off to be assembled as cheaply as possible.
It's time to update that view.
At CES, the US's biggest trade show, Chinese companies could be found competing not only on price, but on fantastic ideas and design.
As China's consumers have matured - and by that I mean, got a lot richer - so too has its technology industry.
Like many a British popstar, China is intent on breaking America. But the question is whether Chinese firms can earn greater trust from Western consumers.
Occupying a sizable booth in CES's North Hall is LeEco. It's pronounced "Luh" and "eco" as in ecosystem.
On display here is a concept Tesla-like sportscar, some Smart bikes with Google's Android software built in, and a 12in (30cm) TV. The point: they do a lot.
Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting, chief executive of LeEco, has been at CES this year
LeEco was for a while known as the Netflix of China, a company that streamed content and eventually started making its own original material. Now it's branching out quickly into hardware - and started selling devices in the US at the tail end of last year.
"People assume LeEco… they think it sounds French,” says Kenny Mathers, from LeEco's marketing team.
"Our name means joyful ecosystem. When consumers get to pick up our products they’re delighted with build quality and design."
Sounding French is a good thing for a Chinese company, Mathers acknowledged, as it removes a trust barrier for people used to words like Apple rather than, say, Xiaomi. That said, I’ve heard at least five different pronunciations of LeEco this week.
Looking around the booth I spotted what looked very much like a GoPro camera, and I put it to Mathers that even here we're still seeing a disregard for Western intellectual property.
"I wouldn’t say that," he said.
"I would say that there’s a lot of innovation in our products. We've had a huge number of innovations in our phone line - we were the first company to remove the audio jack."
He is of course referencing Apple’s controversial decision to remove the headphone socket from its latest iPhone - though I’m not sure that’s been a particularly popular move by either company.
LeEco won't be drawn on reports of its money woes - back in China it’s reported that Haosheng Electronics, one of LeEco’s suppliers, is taking legal action over unpaid bills. LeEco has denied reports it has failed to meet its financial obligations.
According to the latest figures from research firm Gartner, sitting third in the global smartphone sales race - behind Samsung and Apple - is Huawei.
Already the biggest supplier of telecoms infrastructure in Europe, Huawei was one of the early entrants into Western markets - though in the US it was coy. The company made Google's Nexus 6P, released in 2015, but until now hadn't undertaken any serious attempts at pushing its own brand.
Huawei unveiled its Mate 9 phablet at the Las Vegas tech show
The new Mate 9, a so-called phablet, is the company's first high-end device to be launched in the US. One stand-out feature is a built-in voice assistant.
Curiously, while the company makes its own AI assistant, it has opted to integrate Amazon’s Alexa into this device instead. I wondered if it was because US users might not trust a Chinese firm with such broad data gathering. But Richard Yu, Huawei's chief executive (for the consumer side of things), gave a simpler explanation.
"Amazon Alexa is the best in this country,” he told me.
"We want to bring to the consumer the best services. In the China market we have our own - we have no intention to do this [in the US] in the short term."
Last year, Huawei had an unexpected gift: Samsung’s devices kept on catching on fire.
"Their problem has given Huawei more opportunity to be in the market," Mr Yu said, though he felt the Mate 9 would have given Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 a run for its money even without the problems.
He said China deserved its reputation as an imitator in years past, but was quickly shaking off that image.
"Chinese vendors are getting stronger and stronger on innovation.
"It's not like 10, 20 years ago where many in China would learn [from the West]. There is more original innovation from China now.
One Chinese telecoms firm, ZTE, impressed CES crowds with a spot of American basketball - on stilts
"Thirty years ago China was a very poor country. Like North Korea. Very poor. Nothing.
"Within 30 years everywhere in China is changing, growing. In Huawei we have huge investment in innovation."
This year he said he expected the company to spend $10bn (£8.1bn) on research and development - roughly in line with Apple.
But spend isn't everything. No amount of money can buy a Steve Jobs or a Jony Ive. And the cultural boundaries are proving both frustrating and fascinating - what is a massive hit in China can fall desperately flat elsewhere.
But while American firms have struggled to make headway in China, Chinese firms are accelerating into the West. With high specifications and low prices, you shouldn't bet against them. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38541208 | |
Om Puri: The actor who never got his due - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Film writer Aseem Chhabra on how Indian film actor Om Puri never got the recognition he deserved. | India | Om Puri was known for his gritty performances
One of India's finest actors, Om Puri, died in Mumbai on Friday, aged 66. Film writer Aseem Chhabra believes he never got the recognition he deserved.
In one scene he spoke in a delightful Punjabi accented English and cautiously suggested to Charlie Wilson, a Congressman from Texas played by Tom Hanks, that covert aid to the mujahideen, fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, should pass through the hands of the Pakistani government.
I wanted to write something on this terrific actor, one of the few from India who straddled so many film spaces - from Bollywood to Indian art house indies, British Asian immigrant stories and big Hollywood productions.
But the publicists for the film and even the studio Universal Pictures informed me that they had no images of Puri.
Sadly this amazing actor had left no impression on the publicists who were mostly focused on promoting Hanks and his co-star Julia Roberts.
Puri acted in over 300 film projects in India and abroad, and yet he did not get the kind of recognition that he surely deserved.
He won two National Awards in India in the acting category (Arohan, 1982 and Ardh Satya, 1983), and was recognised at a number of film festivals, including a lifetime achievement medal at the prestigious Telluride Film Festival.
Director Roland Joffé cast Puri in a supporting role in City of Joy
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Om Puri found international fame for his roles in films such as East is East
He was even nominated for a Bafta film award in 2000 for playing the lead in Ayub Khan Din's autobiographical British film East is East.
But unfortunately in the last decade or so Puri, the actor, was largely forgotten in the West and even in India.
He did play one last big role in the West - that of an Indian chef in a remote French town in The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014), opposite a feisty Helen Mirren.
It was a rare moment when Puri was suddenly, albeit briefly, the focus of a film produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey.
While promoting that film, Puri told me that Hindi cinema mostly concentrated on younger, good-looking actors. And the industry had relegated him to roles of the father of a lead actor or a police officer. He was rarely offered meaty roles, he complained.
He was always hungry for more challenging work and recognition.
In another interview while promoting East is East (1999), Puri told me that his big regret was that he would never get the kind of roles given to Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro.
But Om Puri was as great an actor as Hoffman and De Niro.
In fact, one can say he was even better, given the number of films he acted in and the range of his performances.
Puri (left extreme)'s comic timing was perfect in Jaane Bhi Do Yaro
Puri was one of the most versatile Indian actors
His comic timing was perfect and we can see that in the cult classic indie Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) and later on in Vishal Bhardwaj's Maqbool - a modern-day take on Macbeth, where Puri played one of the witches, along with his colleague and friend Naseeruddin Shah.
Also in the same time period he played a sleazy photographer in Shyam Benegal's Mandi (1983).
He was the voice of an angry, frustrated cop in Ardh Satya (1983), but was equally charming and seductive with his co-star, the late Smita Patil. And in Aakrosh (1980) he was the oppressed peasant who barely uttered a word.
Puri became one of the first Indian actors of his generation to crossover to the West with his work in British films - East is East, its less successful sequel West is West (2010), the rarely seen Brothers in Trouble (1995), the Hanif Kureishi scripted My Son the Fanatic (1997), and the mini-series White Teeth (2002), based on Zadie Smith's bestseller novel.
That was a time when nearly every Indian or Pakistani role in a British production was offered to Puri.
Hollywood came calling as well.
Mike Nichols also cast him in an important role in Wolf (1994) where Puri shared screen time with Jack Nicholson. And earlier Roland Joffé cast him in a supporting role in City of Joy (1992).
Om Puri acted in the TV series Jewel in the Crown
In 1994, Ismail Merchant cast Puri as a hapless college professor who sets out to interview an ageing and overweight Urdu poet (Shashi Kapoor) in In Custody, based on Anita Desai's Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel.
Puri was perfect in the film, displaying his frustration as he observed the decline of Urdu language and poetry.
But it is the sad reality of the film business, that talented men and women find it harder to get juicy roles as they get older. And Puri had to face that fact.
Om Puri died too soon. But he has left a huge body of work reflecting his four decades as a film actor. He should get the most attention that a master actor of his stature deserves. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-38527144 | |
Quiz of the week's news - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The BBC's weekly quiz of the news, 7 days 7 questions. | Magazine | It's the weekly news quiz - have you been paying attention to what's been going on in the world over the past seven days?
If you missed this week's quiz on famous resignations, try it here
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38522106 | |
China's Great Wall filmed by drone - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | null | How drone photography shed new light on the Great Wall of China for one British obsessive. | null | British geographer, conservationist and author William Lindesay has had a lifelong obsession with the Great Wall of China.
Three decades ago, he left his home on Merseyside to live near the wall so he might better be able to study it.
In 2016 he and his family travelled 15,000km (9,320 miles) around the wall network, filming it from the air with a drone.
Mr Lindesay and his sons, Jim and Thomas, spoke to the BBC about their epic journey and how they shot it.
Read their full story here: One man's mission to walk Great Wall
Footage by James and Thomas Lindesay at Depictograph. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-38325450 | |
Tattingstone suitcase murder: Police appeal over Bernard Oliver death - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | null | A 17-year-old boy whose dismembered body parts were found in suitcases disappeared 50 years ago. | null | The murder of a 17-year-old boy whose dismembered body parts were found in suitcases in 1967 continues to be reviewed by cold case detectives, police said.
The body of Bernard Oliver, from Muswell Hill, north London, was found dumped on farmland in Tattingstone, near Ipswich.
He went missing on 6 January 1967 and was found 10 days later. No one has ever been charged over the murder.
Det Ch Insp Caroline Millar, of Suffolk Police, said: ""Using advances in forensic science such as DNA familial profiling and the experience of current and retired senior detectives, the team are looking for any development that could help with the investigation into the murder of Bernard Oliver, including new information from the public.
"Even with the passage of 50 years, it is never too late for people to come forward with any information they think may help this inquiry." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-38527821 | |
FA Cup third-round: Reports and previews - BBC Sport | 2017-01-07 | null | Reports and team news for all the weekend's FA Cup third-round matches. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38531996 | |
FA Cup: Bournemouth, Stoke & West Brom beaten by lower league sides - BBC Sport | 2017-01-07 | null | Premier League sides Bournemouth, Stoke City and West Brom are knocked out of the FA Cup by lower league opposition in the third round. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Premier League sides Bournemouth, Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion were knocked out of the FA Cup by lower league opposition in the third round.
A much-changed Bournemouth were beaten 3-0 by League One Millwall, while Stoke lost 2-0 at home to Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Everton were beaten by Leicester and Hull knocked out Swansea in two all-Premier League ties.
Sign up for the 2017 FA People's Cup and take your chance to win tickets to the FA Cup final and achieve national five-a-side glory.
Two non-league sides will be in Monday's fourth-round draw after securing replays.
National League leaders Lincoln City came close to causing an FA Cup upset as two goals from former Derby striker Theo Robinson saw them 2-1 up at Ipswich before Tom Lawrence equalised late on.
Lincoln's league rivals Sutton also earned a replay as they draw 0-0 at home to League One AFC Wimbledon.
FA Cup holders Manchester United beat Reading 4-0 in the early game to progress, while 2013-15 and 2014-15 winners Arsenal came from behind to win 2-1 at Preston in the late game.
They were joined in the fourth round by Premier League champions Leicester, who won 2-1 at Everton thanks to an Ahmed Musa double.
• None Watch all of the latest FA Cup highlights and reaction here
New Hull City head coach Marco Silva watched his side beat Swansea 2-0, a result which meant defeat for Swans boss Paul Clement in his first official match in charge.
Brentford came out on top of Saturday's highest-scoring game as the Championship outfit beat non-league Eastleigh 5-1.
Some empty seats, but non-league fans travel in numbers
A number of games featuring Premier League sides had low attendances as the top-tier clubs entered the competition.
A crowd of 6,608 watched Hull City versus Swansea at the KCOM Stadium, with 210 supporters making the trip from Wales.
At Norwich, who average 26,000 in the Championship, just over 12,000 watched the draw with Premier League side Southampton.
And Sunderland, usually watched by more than 40,000 fans at the Stadium of Light, drew a crowd of just 17,632 for the 0-0 draw against Burnley.
However, non-league fans eager to witness an FA Cup upset travelled in big numbers to games.
Seventh-tier Stourbridge went into the third round as the lowest-ranked side left in competition and took more than 2,000 supporters to Wycombe, where an Adebayo Akinfenwa late winner sent the League Two side through.
"The FA Cup win will make a difference," said Stourbridge manager Gary Hackett. "Financially, it will put the club in a very strong position, and I think people will remember this day for a long, long time - albeit in defeat."
Eastleigh, meanwhile, had more than 1,500 supporters at Brentford - just 500 fewer than the National League side averages for home games.
When is the draw for the FA Cup fourth round?
The draw for the FA Cup fourth round takes place on Monday, 9 January at 19:10 GMT.
It will be live on BBC Two and there will also be live text commentary on the BBC Sport website plus BBC Radio 5 live coverage.
The fourth-round ties will take place on the weekend beginning 28 January. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38544536 | |
CES 2017: Razer gaming laptop has not one but three screens - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Gaming PC maker Razer unveils a concept laptop with three screens at the CES tech show in Las Vegas. | Technology | Razer claims its three-screened concept laptop is a world first
Gaming PC maker Razer has unveiled a concept laptop with three 4K screens at the CES tech show in Las Vegas.
The firm claims Project Valerie is the world's first portable laptop of its kind.
Two additional screens slide out from the central display via an automatic mechanism.
One analyst praised the design, noting that gamers were increasingly splashing out on high-end laptops.
All three screens are 17in (43cm) in size.
When folded up and closed, the laptop is 1.5in thick. Razer said this was comparable to many standard gaming laptops, which tend to be chunkier than home and office devices.
"We thought, 'This is crazy, can we do this?'," a company spokesman told the BBC.
"The answer was: 'Yeah, we are crazy enough, we can do it'."
Project Valerie is still a prototype and Razer has not yet published a possible release date or price.
Project Valerie has special hinges that automatically deploy its two additional screens
Gamers commonly used more than one monitor these days, said gaming analyst Jonathan Wagstaff at Context.
"Although it is unusual, it doesn't surprise me," he told the BBC.
"It is something people will buy - I think it will sell."
He added that increasing numbers of gamers - particularly those who travel to e-sports tournaments - are in the market for portable computers with high specs.
But Mr Wagstaff added that industry data he had reviewed suggested widening interest in such machines from architectural and graphic design firms, as well.
"That is interesting, that is traditionally the territory of Apple's products," he said.
Project Valerie was just one of several gaming laptops shown off at CES.
Consumer electronics giant Samsung also launched its first gaming laptop - called Samsung Notebook Odyssey - in 17in and 15in models.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38526705 | |
'Winter from hell' has arrived - doctor's NHS crisis warning - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | null | Dr Mark Holland says predictions of "a winter from hell" in England's NHS hospitals are coming true. | null | There is a "humanitarian crisis" in NHS hospitals in England, the British Red Cross has said.
The charity said volunteers and staff had been helping patients get home from hospital and called for more government money to stabilise the situation.
Dr Mark Holland, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said the description "humanitarian crisis" had some truth in it. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38541462 | |
Mystery over thank you letter's intended receivers - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A woman who received a mysterious thank you letter is trying to unite it with the intended receivers. | London | The erroneously-delivered envelope had a picture of kittens on it
A woman who has received a mysterious thank you letter for the third year in a row is trying to unite it with the intended receivers.
Jessica Wren, 46, from Camden, in London, found the hand-written letter on her doorstep earlier this week.
It is decorated with dolphin stickers and a cut-out image of kittens, addressed inside to Alex, Irene and Anya, signed by a child called Tabby.
Psychologist Mrs Wren said she is keen to get the letter to the right people.
"There's no surname for these people or for the girl who is writing these letters, but this time she has gone to the trouble of decorating the paper with finger painting too, so I really want it to reach the people it's meant for," Mrs Wren said.
Tabby writes: "To Alex, Irene and Anya, Happy New Year!
"Thank you very much for the lovely Frozen nightdress you gave me for Christmas - it's my first ever nightdress as I usually wear Pyjamas and I Love it!
Mrs Wren, who has lived in the same house in Mansfield Road for 10 years, has no idea who Alex, Irene or Anya might be and without a surname Google searches have turned nothing up.
She has resorted to posting a message on Facebook with the help of her children Eliza, 17 and Tash, 15.
Mrs Wren said: "It could be a godparent or maybe a relation and the sad thing is the receiver has no idea the child is writing to them, because they have the wrong address." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38535066 | |
FA Cup: Ali Al-Habsi's mistake gifts Marcus Rashford goal - BBC Sport | 2017-01-07 | null | Reading goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi makes a horrible mistake to gift Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford a second goal during the Red Devils' 4-0 FA Cup third-round win at Old Trafford. | null | Reading goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi makes a horrible mistake to gift Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford a second goal during the Red Devils' 4-0 FA Cup third-round win at Old Trafford.
Available to UK users only. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38542870 | |
Doping: Cycling chiefs criticised by anti-doping chief over evidence to parliament - BBC Sport | 2017-01-07 | null | The chairman of UK Anti-Doping criticises senior cycling officials over their evidence to a parliamentary committee hearing. | null | Evidence given by cycling chiefs including Sir Dave Brailsford to a parliamentary select committee has been described as "extraordinary" by the chairman of UK Anti-Doping (Ukad).
David Kenworthy told the BBC that the answers presented by figures within British Cycling and Team Sky to the Commons' Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on anti-doping - specifically about a mystery medical package delivered to Sir Bradley Wiggins - were "very disappointing".
Kenworthy, who is stepping down from his Ukad role soon, also says Russia should be banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics after a report into state-sponsored doping in the country.
He said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had made "a complete muck-up" by not suspending the entire Russian team from the Rio Games last summer.
Ukad has been investigating allegations of wrongdoing in cycling after it emerged that 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.
In December, team boss Brailsford told MPs on the select committee he had been informed by former Team Sky medic Dr Richard Freeman that the package contained a legal decongestant called Fluimucil.
British Cycling president Bob Howden had told MPs he did not know the identity of the package, delivered by Simon Cope - a coach then employed by the governing body - but that documentary evidence of the medication would be supplied.
Brailsford also suggested that Wiggins' medical records had been provided to Ukad, verifying his explanation.
However, Kenworthy - who has been chairman of Ukad since its establishment in 2009 - said: "There's still no definite answer from anyone who was involved. I still don't know what was in there; I'm no nearer finding out than you are.
"People could remember a package that was delivered to France, they can remember who asked for it, they can remember the route it took, who delivered it, the times it arrived. The select committee has got expense sheets and travel documents.
"So everybody can remember this from five years ago, but no-one can remember what was in the package. That strikes me as being extraordinary. It is very disappointing."
When asked about Brailsford's Fluimucil explanation, Kenworthy said: "Well that's what Dave Brailsford came out with at the hearing. But actually, if you recall, he didn't say: 'I know that's what it was'. He said: 'I have been told that's what it was'.
Cope has previously said he did not know what was in the Jiffy bag he was asked to deliver to France.
When asked if British Cycling should have kept records of medication taken abroad by one of its coaches, Kenworthy said: "One would think so, one would hope so.
"Here's an individual [Cope] who's carrying a package containing medicine across international boundaries, and he's no idea what's in them.
"One could say he could be putting himself at risk if they are drugs which one could not properly transport. Someone should be inquisitive enough to say: 'Well what is it I'm actually taking?'"
Kenworthy's comments are likely to increase pressure on Brailsford, who has faced intense scrutiny since his appearance before the select committee, with critics questioning why Team Sky had an innocuous decongestant delivered all the way from their Manchester headquarters to France, when it could have been easily sourced locally.
Brailsford has admitted "badly" handling the crisis after providing initial explanations for the delivery to the Daily Mail that later turned out to be wrong.
Committee chairman Damian Collins MP has said witnesses may be recalled, along with new ones.
"We're not giving up on this, and we'll dig and delve and find out what was in that package," warned Kenworthy.
British Cycling say they cannot comment while a UK Anti-Doping investigation is ongoing.
However, Team Sky said: "As we have said from the start, we are confident that there has been no wrongdoing. We are continuing to co-operate fully with Ukad and we look forward to the conclusion of the investigation."
Wiggins - Britain's most decorated Olympian - has been under scrutiny after he was granted a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) to take powerful anti-inflammatory drug triamcinolone before the 2011 Tour de France, his 2012 Tour win and the 2013 Giro d'Italia.
His use of the corticosteroid, revealed by Russian computer hackers, had been approved by British authorities and cycling's world governing body, the UCI. There is no suggestion that either he, British Cycling or Team Sky have broken any rules.
Wiggins announced his retirement last month, and Kenworthy said: "One of the tragedies of all this is you've got probably one of the greatest cyclists that the UK has produced, who's just coming to his retirement, and all the talk is not about the successes that he's had, but about this package.
"It just undermines yet again the joy of sport."
'More extraordinary than a James Bond novel'
Kenworthy also waded into the debate surrounding the recent Russian doping scandal, saying he was "absolutely horrified" by last month's damning Wada independent report by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren into state-sponsored cheating.
The report alleged that more than 1,000 Russians benefited from a doping cover-up between 2011 and 2015, and that the London Olympics were "corrupted on an unprecedented scale".
Following an initial report last summer, the IOC refused demands to suspend Russia from the Rio Olympics, but when asked whether the country should now be banned from the next Winter Olympics in 2018, Kenworthy said: "Yes, I think they should. I think they should have been banned from the Olympics in the summer.
"The International Paralympic Committee in my view got it right - they banned Russia. I think the IOC made a complete muck-up of it.
"There was too much politicking going on, that was the problem. People were probably trying to protect vested interests. It's so important that we get this right because we are in danger of losing the confidence of spectators. If they stop going what's the point of having sport. I was lukewarm [about Rio] because I'd seen the Russian thing.
"It was just extraordinary what was done. It's more extraordinary than a James Bond novel, and it just debases all of sport.
"We're still getting denials of any wrongdoing and strange statements about whether it was state-sponsored or not - what we now need to do is get Russia back in the fold, and that is taking some considerable time and effort." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/38535591 | |
Preston v Arsenal: Calum Robinson goal gives Preston surprise lead - BBC Sport | 2017-01-07 | null | Great skill from Aidan McGeady in midfield helps to set up Callum Robinson for a simple side-foot finish as Preston take a deserved 1-0 lead at home to Arsenal in the FA Cup 3rd Round. | null | Great skill from Aidan McGeady in midfield helps to set up Callum Robinson for a simple side-foot finish as Preston take a deserved 1-0 lead at home to Arsenal in the FA Cup 3rd Round.
Listen to live commentary of Preston v Arsenal on BBC Radio 5 live and the BBC Sport website & app
Available to UK users only. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38544838 | |
Brazil prison riots: What's the cause? - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A spike in violence violence in Brazil's prisons has cast a spotlight on failures its penal system. | Latin America & Caribbean | A spate of violence in Brazil's prisons has cast a spotlight on a system which appears to be near a state of collapse.
Almost 100 inmates lost their lives in the first week of January alone - brutally murdered, the guards apparently unable to stop the bloodshed.
But how has it come to this?
A crackdown on violent and drug-related offences in recent years has seen Brazil's prison population soar since the turn of the century.
The prison in Roraima state where 33 inmates were killed on 6 January held 1,400 inmates when a deadly riot started. That is double its capacity.
Overcrowding makes it hard for prison authorities to keep rival factions separate. It also raises tensions inside the cells, with inmates competing for limited resources such as mattresses and food.
In the relatively wealthy state of Sao Paulo, a single guard oversees 300 to 400 prisoners in some prisons, Camila Dias, a sociologist at the Federal University of ABC in Sao Paulo and expert on Brazil's prison system, told Reuters.
That means it is relatively easy for prisoners - and gangs - to take control of the facilities. As a result, "when the prisoners want to have an uprising, they have an uprising," Ms Dias said.
Killings are already common within the walls of Brazil's prisons - 372 inmates lost their lives in this way in 2016, according to Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper - but this recent surge has been linked to the breakdown in a two-decade truce of sorts between the country's two most powerful gangs.
A lack of guards means prisoners can take control, experts say. Pictured: A riot in 2014
Up until recently, the Sao Paulo-based First Capital Command (PCC) drug gang and Rio de Janeiro's Red Command had a working relationship, supposedly to ensure the flow of marijuana, cocaine and guns over Brazil's porous borders and into its cities.
But recently they have fallen out - although the exact reasons why remain unclear.
And following the government crackdown on criminal gangs, there are thousands of members of both gangs locked up inside Brazilian prisons.
Rafael Alcadipani, a public security expert at the Getulio Vargas Foundation think tank in Sao Paulo, told Reuters it means any feud between the two sides on the streets will almost certainly spill over into the largely "self-regulated" jails.
"We see that as soon as we have a gang war, these killings are inevitably going to happen because the state has no control over the prisons," he said.
The army patrols outside a prison in northern Brazil where more than 30 inmates died
Following the deadly riots in Amazonas, state governor Jose Melo asked the federal government for equipment such as scanners, electronic tags and devices which block mobile phone signals inside prisons.
His request illustrates the lack of basic equipment in prisons which house large numbers of prisoners.
He also said that the state police force was struggling to cope and requested that federal forces be sent.
Poorly-trained and badly-paid prison guards often face inmates who not only outnumber them but who also feel they have little to lose as they face long sentences already.
Following the 1 January riot, which left 56 inmates dead in a prison in Manaus, the Brazilian government announced a plan to modernise the prison system.
But with Brazil going through its worst recession in two decades and a 20-year cap on public spending in place, it is hard to see how the government plans to fund it. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38534769 | |
10 things we didn't know last week - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Emails are more likely to contain grammatical mistakes when sent on Mondays, and more news nuggets. | Magazine | 1. Emails you send on Mondays contain more grammatical mistakes than those sent on other days.
2. The Queen of Sweden thinks her palace is haunted by ghosts.
3. You can use a display computer in an Apple store all day and no-one will ever ask you to leave.
4. Gary Lineker and Jonathan Agnew regularly receive soiled loo paper in the post.
5. It's possible to travel by train all the way from Yiwu in eastern China to Barking in east London.
6. The British government thinks people have £433m of pound coins stashed away in their homes.
7. In the US, at least one person a week is shot by a toddler.
8. Only one member of the US Congress identifies as unaffiliated with any religion.
9. There are 79 organs in the human body, one more than previously thought.
10. The most popular condiment eaten with chips in Australia is chicken salt. Which contains no chicken.
Seen a thing? Tell the Magazine on Twitter using the hashtag #thingididntknowlastweek
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38517967 | |
European Champions Cup: Racing 92 7-32 Munster - BBC Sport | 2017-01-07 | null | Munster honour the memory of Anthony Foley with a bonus-point victory over Racing 92 in their rearranged European Champions Cup tie. | null | Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Munster scored four tries to thrash Racing 92 in the European Champions Cup tie rearranged after the death of their head coach Anthony Foley in October.
Simon Zebo, CJ Stander and Andrew Conway all touched down as the visitors led 25-0 at the break in Paris.
Niall Scannell dived over to secure the bonus point before Matthieu Voisin scored a consolation try for the much-changed French champions.
Victory moves Munster top of Pool 1, three points clear of Glasgow Warriors.
The Irish side have now won nine out of 10 competitive games since the sudden death of Foley at their team hotel prior to the original date of this fixture.
They face Pro12 rivals Glasgow at Scotstoun next Saturday before the return leg in Limerick on 21 January against last year's runners-up Racing, who are still without a point in this season's competition.
The significance of the match was marked at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir with the home side - led by former Munster fly-half and current Racing coach Ronan O'Gara - wearing red shirts with Foley's name and the number eight on the back for their pre-game warm-up.
The Racing fans also raised a banner of Foley's nickname 'Axel', while there were 30 seconds of applause prior to kick-off.
Fittingly in honour of back-row forward Foley, Munster's pack dominated both the scrum and the line-out from the start, with number eight Stander scoring a remarkable try to cap a man-of-the-match performance.
After charging down Benjamin Dambielle's attempted clearance for Rory Scannell to gather, Stander rejoined the line to hand-off Racing flanker Chris Masoe on the 22 and maintain his momentum over the try line despite the attentions of two defenders.
A fine showing from the Munster pack continued after the break, as hooker Niall Scannell touched down from the back of a rolling maul for the bonus-point try.
Both sides made extensive changes for this tie but with perhaps differing aims - Racing moving fly-half Dan Carter to the bench and resting several stars, while Munster were able to recall wing Zebo and scrum-half Conor Murray,
Building on the control exerted by their pack, the Ireland international pair routinely threatened with ball in hand as Murray's miss-pass set Zebo free to score his 50th try for Munster and their 400th in European competition.
Murray was also involved for his side's third try on the brink of half-time, running down the blind side of a maul and putting in a grubber kick to the corner for Conway to collect and finish.
The only blemish on Munster's performance came when Murray and Zebo failed to field substitute Carter's grubber kick, with Racing full-back Juan Imhoff able to kick ahead and Voisin gathering to score.
Yet the visitors eased through the final stages to set up a potential Pool-deciding clash with Glasgow next weekend.
Replacements: Chavancy for Laulala (57), Carter for Thomas (57), Brugnaut for Vartanov (51), Lacombe for Chat (51), Gomes Sa for Ducalcon (51), Williams for Van Der Merwe (62), Fa'aso'o for Masoe (57).
Replacements: Saili for Taute (56), Earls for R. O'Mahony (56), Archer for Murray (66), Kilcoyne for Cronin (56), Marshall for N. Scannell (62), Williams for J. Ryan (66), Foley for D. Ryan (74), O'Donoghue for O'Donnell (48). | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38531902 | |
The Bank's 'Michael Fish' moment - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | As the Bank of England's chief economist admits economists were wrong ahead of the financial crisis and post the Brexit vote - he says it's time for a better understanding of what economic data are telling us. | Business | BBC weather presenter Michael Fish reading the signs available to him
"The only function of economic forecasting," JK Galbraith once said, "is to make astrology look respectable."
With disarming honesty, the Bank of England's chief economist, Andrew Haldane, has admitted that criticisms that economic forecasts had been wrong before the financial crisis and wrong about the immediate impact of a Brexit vote were a "fair cop".
The profession, he said, was facing a crisis of confidence.
Mr Haldane went on to describe the failure to understand the impact of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 as the profession's "Michael Fish moment" - when the weather forecaster suggested in 1987 there wasn't a hurricane on the way before record high winds devastated large parts of the south east of England.
To be clear, Mr Haldane was talking about economists as a whole - not just the Bank - and said he still fundamentally agreed with the Bank's central forecast - made last November - that 2017 and 2018 could see a "material" slowdown in economic activity and a significant rise in inflation.
The Bank was right to suggest that sterling would fall in value following a Brexit vote.
But, consumer confidence has held up far more robustly than expected and, yet again, it is clear that while economic models can make reasoned judgements about the future, those judgements can prove erroneous.
Particularly when they attempt to account for "shock" events - the financial crisis (when forecasts undercooked the effects) or the vote to leave the European Union (when models over-cooked the short term effects and failed to account for "dynamic" policy responses such as the Bank itself cutting interest rates to new record lows).
Mr Haldane said that economists could learn from meteorologists, who now use much more data to understand how weather patterns develop.
Meteorology is, of course, a science.
Economics is a study, ultimately, of human behaviour - what millions, billions, of people may or may not do, given a certain set of circumstances.
Making judgements on that is always going to be a tricky, imprecise business. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38528544 | |
What marks does Obama's presidency deserve? - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | 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 | |
Ant and Dec board game makers apologise over errors - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway board game is found to have multiple errors. | Entertainment & Arts | Ant & Dec have hosted Saturday Night Takeaway on ITV since 2002
The makers of Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway board game have apologised after it was found to have several errors.
The game features cards with a series of quiz questions, but some of the answers given are incorrect.
One answer claims the moon is 225 miles away from the earth - instead of about 238,900 miles.
Manufacturers Paul Lamond Games said they "unreservedly apologise" and added replacement cards would be issued.
It is understood at least six of the 50 answers in one round of the game - which costs £19.99 - are incorrect.
One answer placed Stonehenge in Somerset instead of Wiltshire and a maths question suggested two cubed was bigger than three squared.
It also said Albert Einstein died in 1949 instead of 1955 and gave the number of Coronation Street episodes to date as 8,000, when the actual figure is more than 9,000.
One customer who bought the game told The Sun: "I couldn't believe it, the answers are so ridiculous... [but] the kids won't accept the game could possibly be wrong."
A representative for Paul Lamond Games told the BBC: "We have been made aware of some mistakes with the answers to the questions within the first production run of this game."
"These have now been corrected and we would like to unreservedly apologise for these errors.
"Any affected customer can email us stating their name and full address and we will send out a replacement set of corrected cards free of charge."
The company's email address is available on their official website.
Ant & Dec - whose full names are Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly - have hosted Saturday Night Takeaway on ITV since 2002, although the show took a four-year break from 2009.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38529009 | |
CES 2017: VR flight kit turns slobs into Superman - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | null | A virtual reality contraption aims to give gamers a full-body workout while simulating the sensation of flying. | null | But a start-up has created a virtual reality contraption that simulates flight while giving players a tough workout.
Chris Foxx met the firm's co-founder at the CES tech show in Las Vegas.
Follow all our CES coverage at bbc.co.uk/ces2017 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38541530 | |
Running towards Paralympic dream with NHS blade - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | null | Ben is one of the first children to be fitted by the NHS with a false leg especially designed for sport. | null | Ben is one of the first children to be fitted by the NHS with a false leg especially designed for sport.
He was born with a condition known as fibular hemimelia – giving him a foot with only three toes, and leg that failed to develop. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38538659 | |
Wayne Rooney: Man Utd captain honoured to match Sir Bobby Charlton goals record - BBC Sport | 2017-01-07 | null | Wayne Rooney targets home games against Hull and Liverpool after matching Sir Bobby's Charlton's Manchester United scoring record. | null | Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney says he is "honoured" to be level with Sir Bobby Charlton as the club's all-time leading goalscorer - but wants to break the record soon.
His FA Cup strike against Reading took Rooney, 31, to 249 goals in 543 games, reaching the landmark 215 matches and four seasons quicker than Charlton.
"It's a proud moment," he said.
"We've got two home games coming up this week so hopefully I can get the next one in one of those."
United play Hull City in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final on Tuesday (20:00 GMT kick-off), before taking on Liverpool in the Premier League at 16:00 on 15 January.
"This club is a huge part of my life and I'm honoured to be up there alongside Sir Bobby," said Rooney after Saturday's 4-0 win over the Royals at Old Trafford.
• None Listen: Rooney was always going to break records - Moyes
'He was always going to break records'
United manager Jose Mourinho said: "A more special day will arrive. It was great but I want one more goal. He is an amazing guy in the group and we all want him to do it. To have Wayne as the top scorer in a club like this is magnificent for him."
Reading boss Jaap Stam, who played 127 times for United, added: "Wayne has been a great player from the beginning. He is a player who works very hard for the team and you could see that in the game. With the quality he has as an individual and the quality players he is playing with, it makes him an outstanding player.
"It is not surprising he has scored this many goals. Even when they are 4-0 up, he is still sprinting and running for the ball."
In 2015, Rooney surpassed World Cup winner Charlton's England scoring record of 49 goals and has since taken his international tally to 53.
The United landmark comes during a season in which the England captain has been left out of the starting line-up for both club and country, his record-equalling goal being just his fourth of the campaign.
Former United manager David Moyes, now at Sunderland, added: "First of all it's congratulations. To even get mentioned in the same breath as Sir Bobby Charlton, who for so many people is a great for what he did with England and Manchester United, is an achievement.
"You have to give Wayne Rooney credit for the limelight he has had to work under and the pressure people continually put on him.
"He has had a great career. It comes to an end at some time in football and sometimes you drop off a little bit but Wayne was always going to break the records in my eyes. The times I have worked with him he was always very good. A great player, a great trainer and someone who always wanted to go about his business well."
How has Rooney done it?
The signs were there from the very start that Rooney's could be a stellar Old Trafford career.
In his first game following a £27m move from Everton in 2004, he scored a hat-trick against Fenerbahce in a 6-2 Champions League win.
He has not looked back since, reaching double figures in every season at the club, including a career-high 34 in all competitions in 2009-10 and 2011-12.
Rooney and Charlton are ahead of some of the finest players that Manchester United and British football has known.
Charlton, who came up through the United youth system, spent 17 years at Old Trafford before finishing his career with spells at Preston and Irish side Waterford United.
And despite his consistency over such a long period, he never managed to hit the 30-goal mark in a single season, coming closest when he struck 29 times during his third season at Old Trafford.
Despite Rooney's scoring bursts, his goals have not come at the fastest rate. Tommy Taylor, who was a two-time title winner with United in the 1950s, holds that honour, just ahead of former Netherlands international Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Rooney's ratio of 0.459 goals per game puts him eighth on the list, while Charlton (0.328) does not even make the top 10.
Where does Rooney rank in list of Man Utd greats?
Rooney has secured his place in Manchester United history and Old Trafford's hall of greats with his record-equalling goalscoring feats.
However, he will have to resign himself to never being held in the same esteem, and place of legend, as the likes of Charlton, George Best and Denis Law.
Indeed, despite his lofty place in United's record books, the 31-year-old will never be revered by United's supporters in the same manner as the maverick Old Trafford catalyst Eric Cantona, the great leaders Roy Keane and Bryan Robson, and brilliant home-grown products such as Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville.
This may seem brutally unfair given his contribution to United's successes, but there are several factors at work when his place in the club's historical affections is measured.
Rooney was an expensive import from Merseyside, while Charlton, who survived the 1958 Munich air disaster, led United to their first European Cup in 1968 and stands alongside his great mentor Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson as an iconic Old Trafford figure.
Best and Law came alongside Charlton as United's 'Holy Trinity' as the club emerged from the tragedy of Munich, while Cantona was the great transformer in the early 90s and the likes of Robson and Keane were world-class players and warriors.
Rooney's chequered history with the club and its fans will also have an impact on his legacy when his contribution to United - a truly great one when judged solely in a football context - is reflected upon.
In many eyes, Rooney will never quite be forgiven for the episode in October 2010 when he decided he wanted to leave, then further strained his relationship with club and fans by issuing a statement which effectively said United lacked ambition and questioned the quality of his team-mates.
This was resolved within days when he signed a new five-year-contract, but the memory has lingered for many. There was another disagreement late in the 2012-13 season as Ferguson prepared for retirement and made it clear Rooney again wanted to leave - a claim that led to the player being jeered by some fans as he collected his title winner's medal at Old Trafford.
Fans and those who record history and legends take these matters into account.
What must also be remembered is that Rooney has had a stellar United career littered with trophies, brilliance and game-changing moments. He fully deserves to be remembered as one of the greats of Old Trafford.
There will, however, be many more remembered before him. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38543968 | |
Productivity gap yawns across the UK - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | There are mammoth variations in the rate of productivity across the UK - the Office for National Statistics is trying to understand why. | Business | Tower Hamlets - which includes Canary Wharf - is the most productive part of the UK
Productivity, or more precisely the lack of productivity, is one of the great puzzles of the British economy at the moment.
Productivity growth since the credit crunch has been dreadful and that matters, because unless we make more and work more efficiently we cannot pay ourselves more.
In an attempt to understand what is going wrong, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is bringing all its productivity statistics together and conducting new research. It throws up some interesting details and possible explanations about what is going wrong.
Output per hour worked increased by 0.4% in the three months to September last year, that is an improvement but according to (ONS) economist Richard Heys: "It is still weak compared to that experienced in the recent past."
Part of the reason for low productivity lies in Britain's regions. While London and south-eastern England have productivity well above the national average and equal to the levels seen in rival economies like France and Germany, the rest of the country lags behind.
Tower Hamlets, which includes the financial district of Canary Wharf, is the most productive part of the country, a huge 79% more productive than average.
Powys in central Wales is the least productive and, overall, Wales and Northern Ireland have productivity levels 19% below the national average.
The only towns in the country that have above average productivity are London, Aberdeen (centre of the off-shore oil industry) and Bristol (a high tech and aviation industry hub).
The Bristol area is one of the most productive in the country
The least productive city is Sheffield, once home to a huge steel industry but now lagging well behind; Sheffield is 19% less productive than the national average.
This part of the productivity puzzle is perhaps the best understood. The most productive industry is finance and that is concentrated in London, while many regions suffer from poor infrastructure and communications and have never recovered from the loss of major parts of their economy in previous decades: mining, heavy engineering, ship building and many more.
Perhaps more interesting, is new research by the ONS into the efficiency of family-owned and run manufacturing firms.
That found well-structured management practices were better among larger businesses, multinationals and family-owned businesses that were not managed by members of the owning families. To put it bluntly the management of family-run firms (which make up more than half of all manufacturing companies) is awful.
Even a small improvement in management would see a huge boost in productivity in such businesses.
At first sight this might seem strange, but there is a fairly obvious explanation.
What are the odds that the best-qualified and most competent person in the world to run a business just happens to be the son or daughter of the current boss?
As one economist has put it, this is like selecting the children of previous gold medallists to be members of the country's next Olympic team, rather than picking the best athletes.
There is also the issue of how such companies will attract top staff if they know nepotism means they will never make it to the top, which helps explain why the handling of promotions was one of the issues most associated with productivity.
Solving the productivity gap in the UK will not be an easy job, certainly better regional policies would help, but just convincing family- run firms to appoint competent outsiders to run their business would also have a huge effect. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38528549 | |
Week in pictures: 31 December 2016 - 6 January 2017 - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A selection of the best news photographs from around the world, taken over the past week. | In Pictures | A man prepares graves for inmates who died during a prison riot in the city of Manaus in Brazil. The 17-hour uprising was the deadliest in Brazil in years and resulted in the deaths of 56 inmates. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-38517449 | |
Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi writes choral music for Birmingham Cathedral - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Black Sabbath founder Tony Iommi swaps his heavy metal roots for an ecclesiastical project by writing and producing a piece of choral music. | Birmingham & Black Country | Dean Ogle said Tony Iommi's song was a "wonderful gift" for the cathedral
Black Sabbath founder Tony Iommi has swapped his heavy metal roots for an ecclesiastical project by writing and producing a piece of choral music.
The five-minute acoustic arrangement for Birmingham Cathedral was a huge departure for the musician once accused of being a Satanist.
The 68-year-old said the song, How Good It Is, was to give something back to the city he hails from.
He said the track was "just a little bit different to Sabbath".
The project was born out of his friendship with the Dean of Birmingham, the Very Reverend Catherine Ogle, which developed when he was battling cancer in 2012.
The lyrics for the piece were inspired by Psalm 133 which talks about people living together in unity which "is what Birmingham is all about", Dean Ogle said.
Tony Iommi (l), Ozzy Osbourne (centre) and Geezer Butler (r) formed their first band in 1968
"Tony and I were introduced by a mutual friend and we discussed a possible music collaboration sometime in the future," she said.
"Then, when Tony was unwell, we got to know one another better when I began to pray for him and kept in touch with Tony and his wife about his health.
"This is a most wonderful gift Tony offered to the cathedral."
Iommi, whose band's front-man is well-known hell-raiser Ozzy Osbourne, said the group, whose reputation is for being pioneers in heavy metal, have previously done instrumental work with orchestras which was something he enjoyed.
"This is a completely new piece of music and I'm really pleased with it."
As for their famed links with the occult, Iommi admitted in a BBC interview in 2013 that the group had "dabbled" in their younger days, but felt it was really an image invented by their record label when a picture of an upside down cross was used on their first album.
Tony Iommi plays his guitar with the choir
"People used to think we were Satanists but we weren't," he said.
"The songs were the opposite and all about the dangers of Black Magic and Satanism.
"The closest we came was Black Magic chocolates."
The new song was played to the public in the cathedral on Thursday which garnered a "beautiful" reaction, Dean Ogle said.
"We're so pleased with what people have been saying.
"We're particularly touched by Tony's fans who have got in touch to say how much they like it - some are quite surprised but 'beautiful' is a word that keeps coming up.
"Who knows if there will be more collaborations?"
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-38541889 | |
The straight A student who dropped out of university - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A promising student has gone viral with a Facebook post that dismisses higher education as "a scam". | BBC Trending | Billy Willson received a 4.0 grade point average, the equivalent to straight As, for his first semester at Kansas State University. He decided that it would also be his last.
In a strongly worded Facebook post, Willson uploaded a photograph of himself standing outside the university's sign, holding his middle finger up to it. In the accompanying text he wrote:
"YOU ARE BEING SCAMMED. You may not see it today or tomorrow, but you will see it some day," he wrote.
"You are being put thousands into debt to learn things you will never even use. Wasting 4 years of your life to be stuck at a paycheck that grows slower than the rate of inflation. Paying $200 for a $6 textbook."
Billy and his girlfriend Brittany Quinn at a Kansas State University football game
His post, which has been shared more than 10,000 times in little more than a fortnight and has provoked a vigorous debate in the comments, appears to have struck a chord with other young adults who are wondering if pursuing higher education is worth the time and money.
Willson, who was on an Architectural Engineering undergraduate course told BBC Trending that the "cost of inflation is relatively small compared to the cost of college over the last 30 or so years. I mean, it really is ridiculous how the cost of college has gone up."
He's backed up by data. According to the US Department of Education the average annual increase in college tuition in the United States, between 1980-2014, grew by nearly 260% compared to the nearly 120% increase in all consumer items.
In 1980, the average cost of tuition, room and board, and fees for a four-year course was over $9,000. That cost now is more than $23,000 for state colleges. If you want to go private it's more than $30,000.
A similar hike in tuition fees has also been seen in England. In 2012, the government backed initiatives from some universities to charge more than the £9,000 tuition fee limit.
In the post Willson also cited higher education debt as a reason to leave university and enter the work place. Students in the United States are estimated to be in around over $1.2 trillion of loan debt with 7 million borrowers in default.
Willson says that when he first told his parents that he was leaving university, they were "very upset" but are now supportive of his decision. So were dozens of others of people who commented on Facebook.
Trey Foshee wrote: "Years and money wasted. Very much agree. I have two degrees that I would sell back right now if they'd let me."
Others, like Blair Brown, agreed with Willson also pointed out that some professions do require a university degree.
"Being an engineer, scientist, or computer technician could be learned rather quickly through apprenticeships, independent study, and hands-on experience. Human nature is to learn by doing, not learning to do. As for more professional careers such as medical doctors and lawyers, university study is admittedly necessary," Brown commented.
Not everyone was supportive however, a comment on The Collegian, Kansas State's student newspaper accused Willson of adding to stereotypes about his generation:
"First of all, thanks for continuing to destroy the millennial reputation with your entitled, everything-should-be-easy, get-me-rich-fast mentality... You have completely just destroyed your reputation. When you fall hard and fast...you are going to need a real, big kid job and guess what? Something called Google exists and even my grandma can dig up dirt on you."
Willson, who told Trending that he is currently employed for a trade show sales team and his employers did Google him and they saw the funny side. He adds that he hopes enough work experience will allow him to be employed by an architectural engineering team in the future.
He doesn't think university will play any part in that future.
"They would have to make a massive change to the system before I would consider that and I don't think they'll do that while I'm still young enough to want to go"
A shocking, graphic video showing torture and racial abuse led far-right activists to link the perpetrators to the Black Lives Matter movement. READ MORE
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-38512064 | |
Covering Turkey's terror: 'Each time it hits hard' - BBC News | 2017-01-07 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The BBC's Mark Lowen reflects on the 18 months of terror attacks in Turkey. | Europe | Ulas Arik, centre, buried his father on New Year's Day, hours after the attack
Just 12 hours had passed, but for Ulas Arik it was beginning to sink in. His father Ayhan, a driver, had taken foreign tourists to Istanbul's Reina nightclub to see in the New Year.
As the party continued inside, Ayhan waited at the door, drinking tea with a policeman. When the gunman struck, Ayhan was shot in the head. He died instantly.
In the biting wind of New Year's Day, we stood in an Istanbul mosque watching Ulas and his family bid farewell to his father. The young boy, perhaps 14 years old, stood beside the coffin, which was draped in a Turkish flag. And he wept. He touched the flag - the red that once symbolised the blood of martyrs fighting for Turkey. Then he slumped onto the coffin, broken-hearted.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The BBC's Mark Lowen was one of the first journalists allowed into the nightclub site
Standing there among the journalists and mourners, I reflected on how often this scene had been repeated in the past year, on how many funerals I'd watched as terror has gripped Turkey, and about how we, as journalists, intrude upon personal grief.
Our route here is now a tragically well-worn path: the morgue, the homes of relatives, the funeral. And yet each time it hits hard.
There was something particularly emotional about watching Ulas at the funeral that day and meeting those who had witnessed the massacre in the Reina nightclub.
Like Tuvana Tugsavul, who worked there and who ran into the bathroom to escape the attack. Her eyes ringed with fatigue, she told me how the power was suddenly cut and she thought the gunman would blow himself up.
"I sent messages to my friends saying 'this is the end… I love you… goodbye.'"
Tuvana survived the attack, hiding in one of the club's bathrooms
And then there was the poignancy of the words of Sezen Arseven, whose partner Mustafa was killed: "I lost my other half", she wrote, "my partner, my love".
All this grief adds up to a national trauma. Twenty-eight attacks in a year and a half have killed more than 500 people. After each one, the government says "Turkey will defeat terrorism". Politicians must say such things, but the words lose meaning when the attacks keep happening.
There is a certain defiance here: after the twin bombings at Besiktas football stadium in Istanbul last month, crowds gathered at the site for days, one woman telling me "the terrorists want us to stay inside, not to go out and enjoy ourselves - but then they would win".
But there is also, of course, deepening fear: that a city to which Arab tourists came to enjoy themselves on New Year's Eve was consumed by horror; police and soldiers wonder if they'll be blown up on patrol; that Turkey has gone from being a stable corner of the Middle East to yet another troubled hotspot.
One friend tells me she wouldn't take the metro in Istanbul anymore, another that he would avoid public gatherings and concerts. Three years ago, Istanbul topped lists of the world's must-visit cities. Now tourism is plummeting and businesses are closing down.
No matter that this is a huge country and the likelihood of an attack on its golden beaches is minimal - tourism works through image, and Turkey's has been blackened.
If only this nation could come together in times of tragedy, it might help ease the pain. But Turkey is torn by anger and division.
The damage seen a a local cafe after a 5 January car bomb in Izmir, which killed two people
In the run-up to the Reina attack, Islamist newspapers condemned Christmas and New Year celebrations as an affront to Muslim values, some showing a Santa Claus figure being punched.
Daring to criticise the government's policies is like poking a wasps' nest, unleashing vitriol on social media the likes of which I've never seen. Supporters of President Erdogan insist the west has abandoned Turkey to fight terrorism alone; pro-government newspapers churn out conspiracy theories that the CIA is behind the attacks.
One front page superimposed Barack Obama's face onto that of the nightclub killer. A famous fashion designer and outspoken critic of the government was deported from northern Cyprus this week for tweets deemed to insult Turkey. As he landed in Turkey, he was set upon by an organised mob on the runway, who had conveniently been informed of his flight details through a state news agency report. He has now been arrested while the thugs roam free.
Gloom has descended onto this beautiful and fascinating country - and nobody knows how or when it will lift.
People do still go about their daily lives. But when my phone beeps with an alert, I always wonder if it's another attack. There is a lovely Turkish expression that is normally used to mean "get well soon".
But these days it is on everyone's lips, urging their country to get through this time: geçmiş olsun - "may it pass". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38535906 | |
Pro12: Ospreys 29-7 Connacht - BBC Sport | 2017-01-07 | null | Ospreys climb to the top of the Pro12 with a convincing bonus-point win over reigning champions Connacht. | null | Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Ospreys climbed to the top of the Pro12 with a convincing bonus-point win over reigning champions Connacht.
The hosts made a flying start, with Dan Baker and Olly Cracknell scoring excellent team tries to give them a commanding 14-0 half-time lead.
Prop Nicky Smith powered over for a third try, before Sean O'Brien earned Connacht a late consolation score.
Even with fly-half Sam Davies in the sin-bin, Ospreys sealed the bonus point with Ashley Beck's last-minute try.
That gave Steve Tandy's men a Pro12 double over Connacht for the season, and added a final gloss to their eighth successive victory in all competitions.
Starting the game in third place and two points behind leaders Munster, Ospreys blew Connacht away with a high-octane first quarter.
The home side attacked with purpose and pace, fly-half Davies setting the tempo and the forwards carrying powerfully.
It was that combination which paved the way for the opening score, as Davies' perfectly-timed flat pass allowed flanker Cracknell to gallop deep into Connacht's half.
Ospreys maintained that momentum with a slick sequence of phases, and number eight Baker was on hand to plunge over from close range.
They had a second try with just 15 minutes gone, with Cracknell picking another fine angle and accelerating clear to touch down.
After encountering a little more Connacht resistance in the second half, Ospreys scored their third try as Smith wrestled his way over.
They were already 24-0 up when Davies was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on John Cooney, rendering O'Brien's score from a turnover a mere consolation for the visitors.
Ospreys' confounded their numerical disadvantage to score their bonus point-securing fourth try with the final play of the game, as Beck squeezed over in the corner. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38530789 |