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A message of hope at Washington march - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | More than half a million people demand to be heard a day after Donald Trump is elected. | US & Canada | For such a divisive figure, Donald Trump managed to unify hundreds of thousands of Americans at the Women's March on Washington.
Moments after Mr Trump was sworn in as the 45th president on Friday, he delivered a thundering speech in which he promised to improve the lives of millions of Americans.
A day later, throngs of women, men and children streamed into the same area where he made that pledge, in order to take a stand for gender and racial equality.
Though Mr Trump's named was mentioned frequently, the march, which organisers estimate attracted more than half a million, was not only about the new US president.
Messages ranged from "Thank you for making me an activist Trump" to "We will not be silenced," but the common thread throughout the patchwork of signs was hope.
"It's about solidarity and visualising the resistance," said Jonathon Meier, who took a bus from New York.
"And I think it not only helps with the healing process, but it gives me hope for the next four years."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Washington DC is leading anti-Trump protests around the world.
A sea of activists, some clad in knitted, pink "pussy" hats and others draped in American flags, ambled about the National Mall, stopping to catch a glimpse of some of the high-profile speakers and singing along to songs like "This Little Light of Mine".
Peppered among the many protest signs were images of ovaries and female genitals, a nod to concerns over losing access to birth control and abortion care under a Trump administration.
Jellema Stewart, who travelled from Buffalo, New York, said she was marching for her grandmother, who died at age 38 during an illegal abortion in the 1950s.
"I'm here to make sure her voice is heard," she said. "I marched in 2004 for reproductive rights and it's now 2017 and we're still fighting for the same thing."
Ms Stewart also said she was energised by thousands at the rally, insisting that it sends a message to the new president.
"He gave racism a voice again," she said of Mr Trump. "So we have to be louder than the racism and discrimination that came out of this election and show him that we are definitely a force. To show him that we count and we will be watching."
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All eyes across the world seemed to be watching, not only the march in Washington, but the dozens of other sister marches that took place in more than 60 countries.
Aerial images showed thousands massing in so-called "solidarity marches" in the UK, Canada, and Australia as well as in US cities including New York, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles.
For demonstrator Chrystian Woods, the marches signalled that the US would not be defined by who was in White House.
"It's not about being anti-Trump," she explained.
"It's letting the world know that America is more than just that. America is love, inclusiveness and unity and that America is accepting people who are not like us."
"I believe deeply this country is for all of us," said Brooklyn resident Amy Briggs.
"I would have been very dejected yesterday if I wasn't able to be here and experience this solidarity," she said as a young female approached her to sign a rainbow flag.
The mood was festive among the peaceful protesters, but some were cautious about what comes after the pink hats come off.
Leigh Caputo, a Baltimore public school teacher, said she did not want people to think a march was the only solution.
"I'm hopeful that this [march] mobilises people because there's a lot of work to be done," said Ms Caputo.
In the months leading up to the event, the organisers faced intense scrutiny over claims that the name exploited past African-American movements and catered to white women.
Critics on Facebook told white women to "check their privilege", leading to heated discussions about racial divisions and what the march could achieve.
It is difficult to ignore the fact that 53% of white women did vote for Mr Trump while the female half of more than 90 million eligible voters did not cast a ballot at all. So what about the sea of white women at the march?
Lesley Mansfield, who travelled from Sante Fe, New Mexico, agreed that it was puzzling that so many women voted for Mr Trump.
"It's a reality we have to be aware of," she said. "But being here reminds us that there are people who think like we do - like the majority who voted for Hillary Clinton."
Those sobering statistics did not seem to loom over those in attendance on Saturday, and like the Trump supporters who stood in the same spot 24 hours earlier, they were full of hope for America's future. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38707986 | |
Jetpack firefighting system showcased in Dubai - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | null | A firefighting system involving a jet ski and water-powered jetpack has been showcased in Dubai. | null | This video can not be played
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38711494 | |
Obama leaves Democratic party a skeleton of its former self - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | With the end of their White House rule, Democrats are left hoping for a Tea Party-style insurgency | US & Canada | Following the inaugural ceremonies, Barack and Michelle Obama - private citizens once again - were whisked off by a military helicopter stationed behind the US Capitol.
They'll spend a few days on holiday at a California desert resort before, as Mr Obama tweeted from his personal account, getting "back to work".
And, for Democrats, there's a lot of hard work to be done. With Mr Obama's departure, the party is only just beginning its long journey in the political wilderness.
Democrats have lost Congress. They've been decimated in state legislatures. Their hoped-for liberal majority on the Supreme Court was blocked by intransigent Senate Republicans. And now the presidency is gone, as well.
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In the days ahead, the party that thought it had time and demographics on its side, that saw Mr Obama's coalition of young, ethnic and educated voters as a durable governing majority, will try to figure out what, exactly, went wrong.
Ironically enough, some liberals are looking at the Tea Party grass-roots conservative movement that emerged in the months after Mr Obama became president in 2009 as a model for their path back to power.
At the time, many on the left mocked the impromptu outbursts of conservative protest - which bedevilled Democratic politicians at constituent meetings - as ill-conceived, uninformed or ineffective. Now, they point to recent efforts to confront Republican legislators over attempts to repeal Mr Obama's healthcare reform as signs of life in a dispirited party.
Democrats face a tough challenge in the days ahead. They have to settle on a leader for their national committee - resolving an ideological battle between left-wing populists and those who preach continued Obama-style moderation and incrementalism.
They need to devise a strategy to win back Congress, complicated by the fact they have to defend 10 Senate seats in the 2018 mid-term congressional elections in states that Donald Trump won. And, before too long, candidates for the 2020 presidential nomination will begin jockeying for position.
More than anything else, however, they need to begin rebuilding their party on the local and state level. Mr Obama's successes glossed over a party that is bereft of young leaders working their way up through the ranks.
At the moment, the Democratic Party is a skeleton of its former self. Until they put some meat on its bones, memories of the 2008 hope that Obama ushered in - that they were a party of destiny - will seem to liberals like a cruel joke. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38696853 | |
European Rugby Champions Cup: Leicester Tigers 0-43 Glasgow Warriors - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | Glasgow score six tries to inflict a record European defeat on Leicester and reach their first Champions Cup quarter-final. | null | Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Glasgow roared into their first European Champions Cup quarter-final with a crushing six-try rout of a humiliated Leicester at Welford Road.
Warriors, just needing a win to secure a last-eight spot, had four tries and a bonus point in the bag by half-time.
Tommy Seymour stretched over before Glasgow earned a penalty try, Mark Bennett and Jonny Gray also crossing.
Ryan Wilson and Tim Swinson added further scores, the outstanding Finn Russell adding 13 points with the boot.
It was Leicester's record European defeat, surpassing their 38-0 defeat at Munster earlier in this season's group stage.
Rather than playing with the burden of pressure and expectation on their shoulders, Glasgow were carefree and thrilling. They grabbed the game by the throat and didn't let go.
From the opening minutes, when they went through 27 phases before Seymour finished brilliantly in the corner, their quality was not in a different league to Leicester's, but a different planet.
They came with bazookas and found that Leicester were packing peashooters. Wilson and Swinson were ridiculously good as ball-carriers and leaders but they had a heavy-duty cavalry with them.
The wit and variety in Glasgow's game was a joy. Leicester - missing some big names, it's true - were utterly humiliated in their own back yard. Their heroes of the past would have turned away from it all after barely 20 minutes of play.
Russell's boot had Glasgow 10-0 ahead by then. Mathew Tait was harshly binned soon after for a late shoulder on the splendid Lee Jones and while he was away, Glasgow accumulated a points mountain.
Leicester had no ball, not a lot of discipline and no way of surviving.
When Glasgow went for a try off a driven line-out, the Tigers collapsed it and a penalty try was given. Before Tait returned, Glasgow scored again. Another beauty.
It began in midfield when Gordon Reid and Swinson kept it alive in contact. Russell swept left where Glasgow had numbers, and Jones and Wilson put Bennett over in the corner.
Russell's conversion made it 24-0. The relentless barrage and total monopoly of the ball carried on and on.
Tait returned to the defensive line, but it made no difference. Clever footwork from Jones put Gray over for the bonus-point score. The conversion made it an eye-watering 31-0.
Within eight minutes of the start, Wilson got on the ball yet again from a clever line-out routine and blasted through what constituted Leicester defence. A brown paper bag would have offered more resistance.
Wilson finished what he started to bring it to 38-0. Swinson added another just after the tour - two huge performers on the day getting their reward.
The Leicester fans were vanishing now. This was mortification on an epic scale.
For Glasgow, it was lethal and historic. They had to front-up and they did. To a man, they were remorseless. A momentous day in Glasgow's story.
Glasgow head coach Gregor Townsend: "It's a great end to the chapter, from where Scottish rugby started in professional rugby and where it is today.
"Some 20 years ago, Glasgow were conceding 90 points, and 10 years ago there wasn't that much hope in the future of professional rugby with one of the (Scottish) teams closing down and the other two not doing well.
"Now, we've got a situation where we've had a huge number of fans down here and the team winning."
Leicester head coach Aaron Mauger told BBC Radio Leicester: "Glasgow played very well but they broke us down and sapped our energy.
"We just weren't good enough. There's nothing we can take out of the game as a real positive.
"It was clearly embarrassing for all involved and it's not a situation I've found myself in through my career, I've always been part of successful sides.
"It's not through a lack of effort or a lack of wanting to be better, but a lack of execution and collectively we need to be better."
Replacements: H Thacker (for T Youngs, 63), E Genge (for Bateman, 50), P Cilliers (for Cole, 67), D Barrow (for Fitzgerald, 62), W Evans (for McCaffrey, 75), S Harrison (for B Youngs, 50), G Worth, M Smith (for Betham, 65).
Replacements: P MacArthur (for Brown, 59), A Allan (for Reid, 64), D Rae (for Fagerson, 64), B Alainu'uese (for Swinson, 70), C Fusaro (for Strauss, 56), H Pyrgos (for Price, 56), N Grigg (for Dunbar, 64), P Murchie (for Hogg, 70).
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38656956 | |
Your pictures: My diet - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Each week, we publish a gallery of readers' pictures on a set theme. This week it is "My diet". | In Pictures | And finally Teddy Everett sent in an image titled Fruit ninja. The next theme is "Winter views" and the deadline for your entries is 24 January. If you would like to enter, send your pictures to [email protected]. Further details and terms can be found by following the link to "We set the theme; you take the pictures," at the bottom of the page. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-38676099 | |
Wayne Rooney: Record-breaking striker 'a true great' says Sir Bobby Charlton - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | Sir Bobby Charlton says Wayne Rooney is "a true great" after the striker broke his Manchester United all-time goalscoring record. | null | Sir Bobby Charlton says Wayne Rooney is "a true great for club and country" after the striker broke his Manchester United all-time goalscoring record.
Rooney's injury-time equaliser at Stoke on Saturday was his 250th for United, breaking Charlton's 44-year-old record.
"I would be lying to say that I'm not disappointed to have lost the record," Charlton, 79, told the United website.
"However, I can honestly say that I'm delighted for Wayne. He deserves his place in the history books."
He continued: "He is a true great for club and country, and it is fitting that he is now the highest goalscorer for both United and England.
"It has been great to watch him every week since his arrival at Old Trafford in 2004; he set the tone with a wonderful hat-trick on his debut and he has thrilled us all in the years since, going on to enjoy a hugely successful career.
"I was 35 when I retired. Wayne is only 31 and still going strong, so I don't think he's done by a long stretch yet. He continues to show that he can contribute goals, assists and performances whenever called upon. He will raise the bar even further before he calls it a day.
"Now he's the man to beat, and I can't see anybody doing that for a long, long time."
Sir Alex Ferguson, who managed United from 1986 to 2013 and brought Rooney to the club in August 2004 from Everton, told ManUtd.com: "I would like to say huge congratulations to Wayne on reaching this milestone.
"Wayne thoroughly deserves his place in the history books of this great club and I am sure that he will go on to score many more goals."
Current United boss Jose Mourinho said: "It is the record of the biggest club in England and one of the biggest in the world.
"Before him the record belonged to a legend of English football. Now Wayne becomes a legend of Manchester United."
Stoke boss Mark Hughes, who had two spells as a striker with United said: "It is an outstanding record and won't be surpassed. It has taken 40-odd years for Sir Bobby's record to be broken which shows how high a mark it was."
Rooney, 31, said he was honoured to break the record.
"I am very proud," he told Sky Sports. "It is not something I expected when I joined. I am proud and I hope there is more to come.
"The players who have played for this club have been world class. I am proud to play for this club and to be all-time goalscorer is a huge honour."
Asked about Charlton by Gary Lineker for the BBC's Match of the Day, Rooney added: "He's such an iconic figure, and has been for so long. When you sign for the club, you realise how important he is. To surpass him in goals is something I never thought I'd do. I have the utmost respect for him.
"He came and congratulated me in the dressing room so I know he's pleased in some way.
"I'm a team player but records are important. When you finish your career you can look back on it and it's something to tell your kids."
Manchester United and England team-mate Michael Carrick hailed Rooney's longevity and ability to bounce back from criticism.
"It is tough to play so many games and have that scrutiny on you constantly, and how he has dealt with that and answered back, and how he has shut people up when they have questioned him, he is still going strong and it is not easy to do," the midfielder told BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek.
"When he burst on to the scene he was so hungry and aggressive and explosive. He has calmed that down but he is quality in and around the box, to find that pass or that finish. He has done it all his career - 12-13 years - and to do it for so long is an incredible achievement and shows how good he is.
"I have seen more of Wayne than others like Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best. They are all icons and legends, not just for Manchester United but for football in general, and Wayne is right up there with the best of them. For him to get the record for club and country is an incredible achievement and something he should be proud of."
Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who had urged the media not to "kill" Rooney when he left as national boss in 2006, called him a great player.
"He's still a fantastic player. He's clever and can play in different positions. He can play as striker, second striker, winger, midfielder," said the Swede.
Current England boss Gareth Southgate told the Football Association official website: "When you look at whose record he has broken and the way Sir Bobby is revered in this country and by his club, it shows you what an achievement it is.
"To have scored that many goals you have got to have performed so consistently over such a long period of time, which is a mark of an outstanding player. Wayne has managed to achieve that." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38706332 | |
Ryan Mason: Hull midfielder fractures skull in clash of heads at Chelsea - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | Hull City midfielder Ryan Mason has surgery after fracturing his skull during Sunday's Premier League game at Chelsea. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Hull City midfielder Ryan Mason has had surgery after fracturing his skull during Sunday's game at Chelsea.
Mason, 25, clashed heads with Chelsea defender Gary Cahill 13 minutes into the Premier League match.
After eight minutes of treatment on the pitch, he wore an oxygen mask as he was carried off on a stretcher, and taken to St Mary's Hospital in London.
"Ryan is in a stable condition and expected to remain in hospital for the next few days," said a Hull statement.
"Everyone at the club would like to express their sincere thanks for the excellent and swift care given to Ryan by both the accident and emergency department and neurosurgery unit at St Mary's Hospital."
Hull added they would issue a further update on Monday.
The incident happened as Hull's record signing attempted to head the ball clear of his own box following a cross from Pedro from the right wing.
Mason got to the ball a split second before Cahill, who was already committed to his attempted header, and the pair collided.
Cahill, who continued playing, said: "I tried to get on the end of the cross. We smashed heads. I wish him all the very best."
Mason joined Hull from Tottenham last August for a club-record undisclosed fee.
He has scored one goal in 16 Premier League appearances for the Tigers.
Prior to his move, he made 53 top-flight appearances for Tottenham, and had loan spells at Yeovil, Doncaster, Millwall, Lorient and Swindon.
Hull lost Sunday's game 2-0 as goals from Diego Costa and Cahill gave Chelsea a victory that took them eight points clear at the top. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38713311 | |
The policemen who dressed as women to hide from IS - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | When Islamic State seized control of his hometown and began killing his police colleagues, Iraqi officer Abu Alawi resorted to unconventional measures to stay alive. | Magazine | When the so-called Islamic State group seized control of a town near Mosul and began killing police officers, some of them resorted to unconventional measures to stay alive, reports John Beck.
For more than two-and-a-half years it helped keep the middle-aged former police officer hidden from IS and safe from the bullets and knives that killed almost all his colleagues.
When the jihadists arrived in his hometown of Hammam al-Alil in mid-2014, as they swept across northern Iraq, the first things they did was to round up police and army officers.
They killed the higher-ranking men immediately, but eventually offered an amnesty of sorts to the rest. If they renounced the government in Baghdad and pledged to live under IS rules, then they'd go free.
Abu Alawi stayed in hiding. At first in his home or a bolthole dug in his garden. But IS searches became more stringent and he realised that he'd have to move further afield.
Ahmed, 22, from a pro-government militia, stands in a burnt-out building used by IS as a prison
The solution, he decided, was a niqab - the black, face-concealing veil that IS forces all women under its rule to wear. From then on, when a sympathetic friend would tip him off about impending searches, he'd shroud his moustachioed face and portly figure and move somewhere safer, disguised as a woman.
There was a thrill, he said, in "playing" with IS, but when he passed close by the black-clad militants it wasn't fun any more. Then he feared he'd share the fate of friends who'd donned the same disguise but been less lucky, or less convincing, and were arrested as a result.
"They were near to me so many times and I was so afraid," he said, miming a heart pounding in his chest. "All the time I was thinking I was going to be checked and discovered."
IS eventually left Hammam al-Alil, setting oil wells alight as it went
Hammam al-Alil is a former spa town, once famous for the therapeutic powers of its thermal springs. It's hard to imagine holidaymakers visiting now. I met Abu Alawi there as he waited for a Danish non-governmental organisation to distribute blankets and solar heaters on a cold and damp winter morning. Men and women split into separate queues and stood patiently between the muddy puddles.
After IS arrived, I was told, they gathered the former officers in the town's main square. Then they blindfolded them, loaded them on to trucks that drove a short way out of town, and shot or beheaded them.
Federal police took me to one mass grave, a police shooting range turned rubbish dump. The awful smell was the first sign of what had happened there.
Then came the clouds of flies and, lying amid the refuse, between discarded children's toys and food packaging, the badly decomposed remains of a man - his hands and legs bound and marked by signs of torture.
"Under here it's all bodies," our escort said, gesturing towards a series of narrow trenches covered with bulldozed earth and he cautioned that the area was probably still booby-trapped with improvised explosive devices. He estimated there were at least 350 people buried in the area.
Another man in the aid distribution queue, Abu Ali - younger, taller and thinner than Abu Alawi - produced his old police ID card.
He'd buried it in his garden while IS was here, and he too had survived the massacre, in part thanks to a niqab.
"All I did was hide, hide and wear the veil like this," he said, stooping over to minimise his stature.
His brother, a fellow officer, was executed, leaving behind a wife and seven children. And when they left Hammam al-Ali, IS took Abu Ali's father with them to Mosul as a human shield.
This was not a unique story. Everyone I spoke to in the town had lost someone, some entire families. One militia member in his early 20s said IS had killed his parents and murdered or captured seven of his brothers.
But a semblance of normal life has in some ways returned to the town.
At the dilapidated thermal baths near the banks of the Tigris, smiling children and soldiers played in the warm waters.
Others collected grey mineral-rich mud in bottles and touted its therapeutic qualities.
It may be the start of healing, but the scars of occupation by IS will last for some time yet.
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38663595 | |
Could tuition fees really cost £54,000? - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The headline cost of increased fees might be £9,250. But repaid with interest over 30 years it could be much higher. | Education & Family | The last time tuition fees were increased there were waves of student protests
How much will it cost to get a degree in England when tuition fees increase to £9,250 in the autumn?
If that seems high for a three-year degree, that's how much a think tank has calculated a student could have to pay back with interest.
And that wouldn't be the full size of the debt. There could be another £40,000 still outstanding when fee loans are written off after 30 years.
When fees start increasing from this autumn, it will mean borrowing about £28,600 for three years, with the amount then rising with inflation each year.
But while students have battled for years over the headline figure of £9,000 and now £9,250, the Intergenerational Foundation says they're missing the much bigger picture of what it will really cost in repayments.
And it's going to publish its findings in a report called The Packhorse Generation.
These extra costs start to rack up while a student is still at university, because interest is charged as soon as students start their courses, adding thousands to the debt before students have even graduated.
Students pay back fee loans from their earnings after graduation
Students start paying back their fee loans once they earn more than £21,000 per year - and the more they earn the more they pay each month, until the debt, plus interest, is cleared.
So this means total repayments can vary widely.
The think tank, which campaigns for fairness between generations, forecasts that:
A more likely scenario is that a graduate would start on a lower salary and gradually progress upwards.
And the think tank gives an example of someone starting out on £22,000 and then rising over the years to £41,000, with the projection that they would pay back about £31,000 and leave a further £69,000 unpaid.
These are not necessarily bad deals for students if it helps them into a good career.
But Estelle Clarke, a former City lawyer on the advisory board of the Intergenerational Foundation, argues that we're failing to understand the "stranglehold" of debt that we're building up for young people.
She also warns we should be looking nervously at the vast scale of write-offs in the current system.
Would the sell-off of student loans mean tougher terms?
At present the taxpayer picks up the tab for unpaid loans after 30 years, allowing graduates to walk away from tens of thousands of pounds of debt and interest charges.
"Taxpayers end up paying for this system twice over. Firstly, they will shoulder the burden of an economy deprived of cash as millions of graduates' incomes are diverted to loan repayments," says Ms Clarke.
"And secondly, they shoulder the burden of the non-repayment of most loans due to the extortionate ratcheting up of interest in spite of regular payments made."
But the government has long considered selling off more of the student loan book to the private financial sector.
Would a private operator, looking hungrily at monthly repayments from millions of graduates, want more favourable terms and a bigger slice of that unpaid debt?
Ms Clarke warns that there is not nearly enough protection for students against future changes to repayment arrangements to "extract even more cash from graduates' pockets".
"No other lending has so little protection," she says.
New York plans to offer free tuition to middle-income families
By international standards, the only real comparison for such levels of student borrowing is the United States.
But as England is increasing the cost of tuition, the US has been trying to reverse out of a spiral of higher fees and higher debt.
This month the governor of New York announced a plan to scrap tuition fees at state universities and colleges for families earning up to $125,000 (£102,000) per year, which would help 80% of households.
It reflected deep-seated middle class anxieties about student debt - especially for families not rich enough to afford the fees and not poor enough to get financial support.
This really can be a lifetime of debt, with warnings this month of aggressive tactics from lenders trying to recover student loans from pensioners, with the over-60s in the US still owing £55bn of student debt.
Under the Obama administration there had been growing efforts to tackle student debt.
But with the election of President Trump the future of student loans, now measured in the trillions, has become much less predictable.
The Department for Education argues that England's system is already extremely accessible, because there are no upfront costs for any students.
Instead the costs are backloaded to be paid after graduates are working.
And since graduates are likely to earn more, they can afford the cost of repayments, which in turn supports the next generation of students.
"The English system of student funding is sustainable, and has been recognised as such by the OECD," said a Department for Education spokeswoman.
"Critically, our system removes financial barriers for anyone hoping to study - with record numbers of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds going to university last year."
But this is something of a turning point - with fees and debts about to begin a long upward curve. And the Intergenerational Foundation's warnings cast a cold light on the scale of the escalating costs.
Will this be the next stage of a sophisticated, self-funding, open-access, affordable university system, or unwitting steps towards a financial sinkhole?
• None New York to scrap tuition fees for middle class | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-38651059 | |
Ten seconds to demolish 19 buildings - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | null | Five tonnes of explosives are used to demolish a series of tower blocks in Wuhan, China. | null | In just ten seconds, 19 buildings were demolished in Wuhan, China, in an operation using five tonnes of explosives. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38714059 | |
Australian Open 2017: Andy Murray suffers shock defeat by Mischa Zverev - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | Andy Murray's hopes of winning a first Australian Open title end with a shock defeat by world number 50 Mischa Zverev. | null | Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website; TV highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January.
Andy Murray's hopes of winning a first Australian Open title ended with a shock defeat by world number 50 Mischa Zverev of Germany in the fourth round.
Murray, the world number one, dropped serve eight times as Zverev won 7-5 5-7 6-2 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena.
It is the Briton's earliest defeat in Melbourne since 2009, and the lowest-ranked player he has lost to at a Grand Slam since the 2006 Australian Open.
Zverev goes on to face Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.
• Watch highlights of day seven on BBC Two from 17:15 GMT on Sunday.
"It was kind of easy to stay aggressive but it was tough to stay calm," said the German, who won in three hours and 33 minutes.
"I was expecting to maybe double fault in the last game but somehow I made it."
Zverev aggression too much for Murray
Murray had been hoping to go one better than five runner-up finishes in Melbourne, but he was unable to cope with the serve-and-volley skills of Zverev.
The 29-year-old German, a contemporary of Murray from junior days, was ranked outside the world's top 1,000 two years ago after a succession of injury problems.
He fought his way back up the rankings with an attacking style that he used to great effect against Murray, serve-volleying 119 times and winning 65 points at the net, while dismantling the Briton's second serve.
Murray ended the match with an impressive 71 winners to 28 unforced errors, but it was still not enough against an opponent constantly putting him under pressure.
The top seed began well, holding points to lead 4-1, but Zverev got the break back with a return winner and would not give the world number one a chance to settle from then on.
Zverev recovered another break in game nine and then moved ahead with a delicate drop volley before seeing out the set.
Murray roared in relief when he levelled at a set all with a rasping winner after again being pegged back twice, but from midway through the third set it was clear that Zverev was the man in command.
He reeled off five straight games to move two sets to one and a break up, and despite one desperately nervous smash into the net - managed to serve his way to victory.
The defeat is Murray's worst at a Grand Slam, in terms of the ranking of his opponent, since he lost to world number 51 Juan Ignacio Chela at Melbourne Park in 2006.
His chances of finally landing the third leg of the career Grand Slam looked to have been enhanced following the surprise defeat of six-time champion Novak Djokovic in the second round.
However, the wait for a first Australian Open title goes on and Murray will turn his attention to Britain's Davis Cup tie in Canada next month.
"He deserved to win because he played great when he was down, and also in the important moments," said Murray.
"I was kind of behind in the last couple of sets the whole way but I have had tough losses in the past and I have come back from them."
Andy will obviously be very disappointed but hopefully in a couple of days' time he can look back and realise what he's done over the last decade in Slams is absolutely phenomenal.
So as much as this one hurts, he's got an incredible record and he's got time now to go and prepare for the next one, the French Open and onwards.
Mischa Zverev played great. It was much talked about beforehand, he plays in a way that other players just aren't used to playing against - serve and volley all the time on the first serve, a lot of times on the second, hitting and coming in off returns. It just made it more difficult to get into the match because there's no rhythm.
I don't think this has any reflection whatsoever on how the rest of the year goes - they are here to play 18, 19 tournaments I think Andy plays on average per year - he's got all the Slams coming up, he's still world number one and in a very strong position.
One loss is not going to rock the boat too much or blow him off course. If anything it will motivate him to probably work harder - he's somebody who analyses these things, he likes to look into the reasons, what he could've done better, what went wrong and that's his mind, that's the way he works, that's why he's successful and he will use it along those lines to carry on.
He'll probably have another great year, he's in the driving seat. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38709479 | |
Week in pictures: 14-20 January 2017 - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A selection of the best news photographs from around the world, taken over the past week. | In Pictures | Ice skaters competed in the women's platoon during the first ice skating marathon on natural ice in Noordlaren, the Netherlands. Skating on natural ice in the Netherlands reportedly dates back into the 13th Century when it was a method to get fast and easily from one place to another on the frozen canals in the country. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-38688378 | |
Brexit: Berlin business leaders unimpressed with UK's message - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | An appeal over a post-Brexit trade deal was met with sniggers in Berlin, Damien McGuinness writes. | Business | Two British officials failed to win favour from German business leaders in Berlin
The distinguished audience members were too polite to heckle. But the eye rolling, frowns and audible tutting made it quite clear how the Brexiteers' message was going down with German business leaders.
Owen Paterson, a former minister and Conservative MP, and John Longworth, co-chair of Leave Means Leave, came to Berlin on Saturday with a clear mission - to persuade German business leaders to lobby Chancellor Angela Merkel to give Britain a good trade deal.
They should have been on safe territory.
The two men are confident, witty speakers with impressive business and free-trade credentials.
Mr Longworth is a former head of the British Chamber of Commerce. Mr Paterson's years spent trading in Germany meant he could open his address with a few remarks in German - which drew an appreciative round of applause - and a well-judged joke about multilingual trade.
But it turned out they had entered the lion's den.
The laughter from the audience quickly turned to sniggers as they heard the UK described as "a beacon of open, free trade around the world".
Westminster's decision to leave the world's largest free trade area does not look like that to Germany.
When Europe was blamed for spending cuts and a lack of British health care provision, there were audible mutters of irritation from the audience.
The occasional light-hearted attempts at EU-bashing - usually guaranteed to get a cheap laugh with some British audiences - was met with stony silence.
Brexiteers argue German manufacturers will want to still sell to UK customers
In another setting - at another time - this gathering of the elite of Germany's powerful business community would have lapped up the British wit.
Every ironic quip would ordinarily have had them rolling in the aisles. But British charm does not travel well these days.
Rattled by the economic havoc Brexit could unleash, Germans are not in the mood for gags.
Britain used to be seen by continentals as quirky and occasionally awkward - but reliably pragmatic on the economy.
However, since the Brexit vote, Europeans suspect endearing eccentricity has morphed into unpredictable irrationality. The UK has become the tipsy, tweedy uncle, who after too much Christmas sherry has tipped over into drunkenly abusive bore.
When the audience was asked how many of them welcomed Brexit, only one hand went up - and it turned out that belonged to a businessman who wanted more EU reform and was fed up with Britain slowing things down.
Brexiteer rhetoric over the past year has often focused on the size of Britain's market and how keen German manufacturers are to sell to British customers.
Many leave campaigners remain convinced that German business leaders will force Mrs Merkel to grant the UK a special free trade deal in order not to lose British trade.
But that's not what's happening.
Angela Merkel has said Britain will not be able to cherry-pick the best bits of the single market
Instead German firms are remarkably united in their support of the chancellor in her rejection of British "cherry-picking" - even if it means losing business in the short-term.
When you talk to German bosses they say their top priority is in fact the integrity of the single market, rather than hanging on to British customers.
That's because their supply chains span across the EU.
A German car might be designed in Germany, manufactured in Britain, with components made in various parts of eastern Europe, to be sold in France. This only works if there are no cross-border tariffs, paperwork or red tape.
German companies - more often family-owned and with deeper connections to their regional heartlands - tend to look at the wider picture, sometimes thinking more long-term.
They supported Mrs Merkel on sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, even though that meant a blow to trade. The financial hit was deemed less bad for business than worsening unrest in nearby Ukraine.
The same calculations are being made over Brexit.
Theresa May's speech on Brexit last week made front page news in Germany
This doesn't mean German business is thinking politically, and not economically. But rather, it indicates a wider attitude towards how business can thrive long-term.
German business leaders tell you that the British market may be important. But it is only one market, compared to 27 markets in the rest of the EU.
Leave campaigners also still underestimate the political and historical significance of the EU for Germany, where it is seen as the guarantor of peace after centuries of warfare.
It is tempting to see the clashes between Westminster and the EU27 as one big decades-long misunderstanding of what the EU is.
An idealistic peace-project versus a pragmatic free-trade zone. This makes it even more ironic that London may reject the free-trade area it spent so much time creating.
Germany was shocked and saddened by the UK's vote to leave the EU. But the decision was quickly accepted in Berlin.
"The Brits never really wanted to be members of the European Union anyway," is something you often hear these days.
Many Germans now want to just work out a solution that does the least amount of harm to the European economy. Hence the irritation in Germany when British politicians keep rehashing the pre-referendum debate.
"It was frustrating to hear the same old arguments from the referendum campaign," one business leader told me when I asked him what he had thought about Saturday's discussion.
Germany has moved on, he said. Maybe Britain should too.
The Brexiteers might not have persuaded their audience in Berlin. But if they return to London with a better idea of the mood in Germany's business community, then the trip may well have been worthwhile. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38707997 | |
Manchester City 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | Tottenham recover from two goals down to snatch a point from Manchester City, as Gabriel Jesus is denied a goal on his debut. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Son Heung-Min earned Tottenham a point in controversial circumstances as they came from two goals down to earn a draw at Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola's side, looking to bounce back from a 4-0 loss at Everton, had swept into that commanding advantage courtesy of two uncharacteristic errors from Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris.
France international Lloris headed an attempted clearance straight at Leroy Sane four minutes after half-time to allow the City attacker a simple finish, then dropped Raheem Sterling's routine cross straight at Kevin De Bruyne's feet five minutes later.
Spurs responded swiftly through Dele Alli's header before they were the beneficiaries of a decision that left Guardiola raging and paved the way for the visitors to scramble a point.
Referee Andre Marriner ignored Kyle Walker's push on Sterling as he raced into the area - and seconds later Son swept a low finish past City keeper Claudio Bravo with 13 minutes left.
City pressed for a winner but were frustrated once more when Brazilian teenager Gabriel Jesus, on as for his debut as a substitute for Sterling, saw an effort ruled out for offside.
The result means Man City remain fifth, three points off second-place Tottenham and nine away from leaders Chelsea, who play Hull City on Sunday.
City boss Guardiola will have few complaints about the manner of their performance but they were let down by the familiar failing of a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal.
City played with verve and intensity as they penned Spurs back, but Sergio Aguero was frustrated on several occasions by Lloris, Pablo Zabaleta shot inches wide, Sterling missed that vital opportunity after he was fouled. New boy Jesus also headed inches wide.
Guardiola's animated body language spoke of his frustration - but there was also fury at the key incident - Sterling was shoved by Walker in the area seconds before Spurs attacked for Son to equalise.
He had every right to be angry. City deserved victory and for all the justified criticism aimed in their direction, there was not too much wrong with this performance.
Manchester City's Bravo provided the pre-match narrative with his growing reputation as the goalkeeper who rarely makes a save - but it was the man regarded as one of Europe's finest who was almost the real villain of the piece here.
Bravo was again the goalkeeping bystander as he extended his miserable recent sequence, but Tottenham's Lloris suffered a rare nightmare display and takes responsibility for both City goals.
He should have done better than head a routine long ball against Sane for the opener, while his fumble that led to De Bruyne's second was the sort of work he would normally complete without a second thought.
Bravo was powerless for the Spurs goals - although today's two goals make it 16 from the last 24 attempts on target against him - but Lloris' misfortune was proof of how matches, and the the reputation of even the best goalkeepers, can be decided by the finest margins.
Lloris has saved Spurs on many occasions but today he was saved by his colleagues.
Mauricio Pochettino's side would not put this display anywhere near the top of any list of their best performances this season - but they may come to regard this as a priceless point earned without playing well.
Spurs were over-run for much of the game, unsettled in possession by the pressure applied by City, but showed resilience and determination to get a draw they barely deserved.
They were also grateful for City's generosity in front of goal as they wasted as succession of chances, and to referee Marriner for refusing what appeared to be a clear penalty when Walker shoved Sterling as he raced clear in what proved to be a decisive moment.
Spurs' travelling fans celebrated as if this was a victory at the final whistle. Some days you just take the point and get home - to be able to do that at the home of close rivals will make it taste even sweeter.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola told BBC Sport: "We played good, it was an outstanding performance but it's a pity what happened. All you can do is create and play better and better but it is the same for the whole season. We are upset, sad at what happened but I am so proud about what we did and the players don't deserve that again.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino told BBC Sport: "It was a tough game for both sides. It is true, they were better in the first half and maybe deserved more, it was lucky for us to be 0-0 but in the second half the game was more balanced. We conceded two and it was difficult to come back but they always believed, that is important. It's a massive point for us.
• None Manchester City failed to win a Premier League game they were two or more goals ahead in for the first time since December 2014 against Burnley.
• None Six of Son Heung-min's seven Premier League goals this season have been scored away from home.
• None Dele Alli has scored more Premier League goals this season (11 in 21 games) than he had in the whole of last season (10 in 33).
• None Hugo Lloris made two errors leading to goals in the match - the first goalkeeper to do so in a Premier League match since Joel Robles in May 2016.
Tottenham return to league action on 31 January against Sunderland, after their FA Cup fourth-round tie with Wycombe next Saturday.
Manchester City travel to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup on 28 January before meeting West Ham on 1 February.
• None Offside, Tottenham Hotspur. Moussa Sissoko tries a through ball, but Harry Kane is caught offside.
• None Offside, Manchester City. Leroy Sané tries a through ball, but Sergio Agüero is caught offside.
• None Victor Wanyama (Tottenham Hotspur) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt missed. Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City) header from the left side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Aleksandar Kolarov with a cross following a set piece situation.
• None Offside, Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne tries a through ball, but Gabriel Jesus is caught offside.
• None Attempt missed. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by David Silva.
• None Attempt missed. Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne with a cross. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38620041 | |
France's Socialists open battle for party's future - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | France picks its Socialist presidential nominee in a fight for the party's direction, even its survival. | Europe | Seven candidates are vying for the Socialist nomination, including one woman, Sylvia Pinel
France is choosing its left-wing presidential candidate this weekend, in what is seen as a crucial test for the direction - even the survival - of the governing Socialist Party.
Six men and one woman are competing for the nomination, with former Prime Minister Manuel Valls currently seen as the frontrunner. But will this contest go any way to uniting a Left bitterly divided by five years in power, and a president too unpopular to seek a second term?
With the tide out, the muddy inlet of Saint-Brieuc seems to sleep in the watery afternoon sun. Its shore deserted but for two Portuguese men picking their way along the sand, looking for worms.
The northern coast of Brittany has until recently been a staunch Socialist area
Above them, a small, green-topped lighthouse sits on the rocks, and basking in the wan sunlight at its foot is a local pensioner, Patrick Labbe.
"This is a left-wing stronghold," Patrick told me. "But that's less and less the case. The Socialist Party has been a disaster on social issues - just look around Saint-Brieuc and you'll see so much destitution."
Saint-Brieuc sits on the northern coast of Brittany; one of the most reliably Socialist regions in France, and a source of support for left-wing candidates seeking to win the first round of the primary contest on 22 January.
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But Patrick says attitudes are changing: "I voted for [President] Hollande, and like a lot of French I'm disappointed."
"The Socialist Party will struggle to pick itself up. There's a lot of abstention. People are turning to the extremes, in particular Marine Le Pen. Those who are really disappointed want a big change."
Sparking interest in this primary is seen as crucial to reviving the chances of France's governing party, and uniting a scattered field of candidates on the left.
As Patrick Labbe headed home on his bicycle, Manuel Valls was arriving at a local factory a few kilometres away, to drum up some support.
Peering into the cabs of armoured cars, as men in blue overalls applied the finishing seals, Mr Valls seemed as coolly polite as the atmosphere itself, the workers barely glancing up as their former prime minister passed by.
Manuel Valls (R) is currently favourite but Arnaud Montebourg (L) is seen as one of his two main challengers
Mr Valls is the favourite to win the left-wing nomination - seen as more authoritative and experienced, according to one poll, if a little remote.
But after serving as prime minister to France's least popular post-war president, and forcing through some of the government's most hated liberal reforms, his challenge has been to reinvent himself as a unifier of the Left.
Since launching his campaign, the former prime minister has reversed his position on key issues like labour rights, and the government's use of the constitution to bypass parliament.
One opinion poll suggested Benoit Hamon (R) could win the nomination if he went through to the run-off
Perhaps it's no surprise, given the strong competition from party rebel Arnaud Montebourg, who has been snapping at his heels for weeks. A former industry minister, who was sacked after refusing to support Mr Valls's liberal reforms, he's promised an end to austerity and more investment.
And in the past couple of days, hard-left candidate, Benoit Hamon, has surged from behind to challenge Mr Montebourg for a place in the primary run-off on 29 January. Among his core proposals are a monthly payment of €750 (£650; $800) to every French citizen, regardless of income; and the legalisation of cannabis.
A fourth Socialist party candidate and former education minister, Vincent Peillon, is trying to catch up with them with plans to revamp Europe, lower taxes on the poor and invest in green technology.
Three hopefuls from other left-wing parties are currently trailing well behind: Sylvia Pinel (Radical Party of the Left), Jean-Luc Bennahmias (Democratic Front) and Francois de Rugy (Ecology party).
Far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon (L) and Emmanuel Macron are both polling ahead of all the Socialist candidates
But the real competition could come from outside the primary itself, because two of the Left's most popular politicians aren't even taking part.
Jean-Luc Melenchon is running for the presidency on his own, far-left ticket, and could pose a real challenge to candidates like Mr Montebourg or Mr Hamon, should they win.
And then there's Emmanuel Macron, the renegade protege of President Hollande, who resigned from his ministerial post to launch a new political movement called En Marche, promising liberal values and a fresh approach to politics.
His growing appeal among young voters has surprised many sceptics who initially wrote him off as a "champagne bubble" that would quickly burst.
These days his presidential campaign attracts crowds in their thousands, where the leading primary candidates manage only hundreds.
Mr Macron classes his movement as "neither left nor right" but his centrist agenda is attracting many formerly Socialist voters.
The truth about this primary contest is that whoever wins the nomination could quickly find themselves face to face with the real battle for the Left.
Follow BBC News coverage on the French presidential election campaign here
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38676370 | |
Arsenal 2-1 Burnley - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | Alexis Sanchez's 98th-minute penalty sees Arsenal claim a thrilling victory over Burnley at Emirates Stadium, despite Granit Xhaka's red card. | null | Alexis Sanchez scored a 98th-minute penalty as 10-man Arsenal recovered from conceding in injury time to claim a thrilling win over Burnley at Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners' title chances appeared to have been derailed as substitute Francis Coquelin fouled Ashley Barnes in the 93rd minute and Andre Gray converted from the spot to level after Shkodran Mustafi's header had finally broken Burnley's resistance.
But, after Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was sent to the stands for protesting referee Jon Moss' decision, Ben Mee was then penalised for a high foot on Laurent Koscielny in the Burnley area, and Sanchez deceived Clarets keeper Tom Heaton with a Panenka-style penalty.
The hosts had dominated for most of the game until Granit Xhaka's second dismissal of the season for a reckless two-footed lunge on Steven Defour, from which Burnley profited, only for Sanchez to claim all three points in impudent fashion.
Arsenal's fifth consecutive league victory at home lifts them above Liverpool and Tottenham, who both dropped points on Saturday, but they remain eight points behind leaders Chelsea, who beat Hull 2-0 on Sunday.
The result also means Burnley's dismal away record this season continues, with Sean Dyche's side having collected only one point from a possible 30 on the road.
Heading into the seven minutes of added time, it appeared Arsenal had done enough to repel Burnley despite going down to 10 men, only for Coquelin to make a rash tackle on Barnes, with Moss showing no hesitation in awarding the penalty.
Wenger protested and was sent to the stands but it was a clear trip and Gray converted, despite Petr Cech getting a firm hand on his shot.
Burnley boss Dyche was similarly aggrieved moments later as Moss penalised Mee for a high foot on Koscielny, who appeared to be offside when the ball was flighted in to the back post, but once that was missed, a penalty was a fair result for the challenge.
Sanchez, who had earlier curled two efforts narrowly over either side of the interval, had one last moment of panache left, coolly chipping his effort straight down the middle as Heaton dived to his right, securing a vital win.
"It's a tough day for us in the end. To lose a game in that fashion, with an offside not given, is tough, particularly when you come to tough places like this," said Burnley boss Dyche.
"We know how tough this division is but you need officials to make the right decisions and that is the shame today. The officials have to be brave at places like this, I understand that, but you've got to think it has to be given."
An entertaining, if slightly routine, game had its complexion changed on 65 minutes when Xhaka's needless challenge on Defour saw him sent off by referee Moss after consultation with the linesman.
The 24-year-old's dismissal was his fifth in the league since the start of last season - more than any other player in Europe's top five divisions - and his second of this campaign, having also been sent off by Moss against Swansea in October.
His ninth red card in three seasons could have an adverse effect on Arsenal's title hopes with the midfielder now banned for the next four matches, including a crucial Premier League match at Chelsea on 4 February.
Prior to his reckless tackle, Xhaka displayed his impressive range of passing, releasing the likes of Mesut Ozil and Sanchez from deep and showing why he will be missed.
Xhaka's red also sparked an ill-disciplined end to the game for Arsenal, with Mustafi booked for dissent and Wenger also sent off for a futile protest against Burnley's penalty, for which he later apologised.
"I didn't see any penalty from outside but I should have shut up and I apologise, even if I was frustrated," said the Arsenal boss once tensions had cooled.
Sanchez's late winner provided a sickening end note for Dyche - who was taking charge of his 200th Burnley game - after he had appeared to get his tactics just right for long periods of the game.
Despite not electing to use a five-man midfield to try and match Arsenal, his side were disciplined in staying behind the ball to force the hosts into attempting increasingly elaborate ways of opening them up, while the pace of Gray kept Mustafi and Koscielny honest on the break.
The nature of Arsenal's opener will therefore irk Dyche, as Mustafi was easily able to free himself of the Burnley defence's attention to apply a simple finish to Ozil's corner, with no-one stationed on the back post.
With Arsenal down to 10 men, Dyche sent on Joey Barton and Sam Vokes and though Cech was rarely called into action, they applied enough pressure to induce a mistake as Gray scored the equaliser Burnley perhaps deserved.
Yet once again, they could not hold firm to secure a positive result on the road, falling to their ninth defeat in 10 away games this season.
The Clarets have secured 25 points at Turf Moor this year, just one less than Arsenal at the Emirates, but are bottom of the Premier League away table with a solitary point.
What the managers said
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: "We finally got the win but of course it was very difficult for us. We couldn't get the second goal, we played with 10 men and they played well as well. In the end we got the three points we wanted.
"Burnley are well organised, they make the game simple but efficient. We won there in the last second and we one again in the last second today.
"Every week and every game is an unbelievable fight for everybody."
Burnley boss Sean Dyche: "To be fair to Arsenal they still attempted to come at us, but then they retreated in numbers, so we got bodies forward and made them uncomfortable and it paid off in the end with a penalty that was a penalty.
"Then after that you're thinking their chance may be something like a corner or a set-piece and it's just unfortunate.
"My players are doing the right thing, clearing box and catching him offside, it is offside and it's not given."
Arsenal leave it late against Burnley again
• None Arsenal have scored a 90th-minute winner in both of their Premier League games against Burnley this season. The only other time this has happened in the competition was Manchester United against Manchester City in 2009-10.
• None Alexis Sanchez took his third ever Premier League penalty, but this was his first successful one.
• None Since the start of last season, Granit Xhaka has been shown more red cards than any other player in the big five European leagues (5).
• None Arsenal have conceded seven penalty goals this season - more than they have in any other Premier League campaign.
• None The last time there were two 90th-minute penalties scored in the same Premier League match was in April 2011 - Arsenal v Liverpool at the Emirates.
• None Arsenal are the only side to have won (31) more games than they've lost (26) when having a player sent off in the Premier League.
Arsenal travel to Southampton in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday (17:30 GMT), before hosting Watford in the Premier League on 31 January (19:45 GMT). Burnley host Bristol City in their FA Cup fourth round tie, also on Saturday (15:00 GMT), before facing Leicester at Turf Moor in the league three days later (19:45 GMT).
• None Goal! Arsenal 2, Burnley 1. Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.
• None Penalty conceded by Ben Mee (Burnley) after a foul in the penalty area.
• None Attempt saved. Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Aaron Ramsey.
• None Goal! Arsenal 1, Burnley 1. Andre Gray (Burnley) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.
• None Penalty conceded by Francis Coquelin (Arsenal) after a foul in the penalty area.
• None Attempt saved. Francis Coquelin (Arsenal) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
• None Attempt missed. Matthew Lowton (Burnley) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.
• None Attempt blocked. James Tarkowski (Burnley) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38626832 | |
Brazil prison riots: Can containers end gang violence? - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | null | Brazilian security forces hope shipping containers will separate warring gangs at a prison. | null | Brazilian security forces are hoping to end a week-long prison riot - by using shipping containers to separate rival gangs.
At least 26 people have died in the clashes in the northeastern city of Natal. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38710222 | |
Chapecoense: Brazilian team play first game since plane crash - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | null | Chapecoense football team has played its first match since the plane crash that killed most of its athletes. | null | Chapecoense football team has played its first match since the plane crash that killed most of its players.
Before the game’s start, the three players who survived the accident and families of the victims received medals and the Copa Sudamericana trophy.
The team was heading to Colombia to play in the first leg of the championship final when the accident happened. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38710231 | |
Abu Dhabi Championship: Tommy Fleetwood claims title for second Tour win - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | England's Tommy Fleetwood wins his second European Tour title with victory at the Abu Dhabi Championship. | null | Last updated on .From the section Golf
England's Tommy Fleetwood won the Abu Dhabi Championship to claim his second European Tour title.
Fleetwood, 26, was one shot behind overnight leader and countryman Tyrrell Hatton going into the final round and secured his success with a five-under-par round of 67 to finish on 17 under.
American Dustin Johnson made an eagle at the last to tie for second on 16 under with Spain's Pablo Larrazabal.
Hatton fell away badly, a 75 leaving him on 10 under.
Fleetwood's win was his first on the European Tour since the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in August 2013.
His closing round got off to a poor start when he bogeyed the third but he recovered with an eagle - chipping in at the 10th - and four birdies, including one at the 18th.
That final putt proved crucial with US Open champion Johnson later making an eagle on the same hole and Larrazabal a birdie as the pair, who both carded 68, finished one shot behind Fleetwood.
The victory continued the Southport golfer's recent good form after 10 top-20 finishes in his past 14 starts.
"I thought maybe the second win would come sooner to be honest," he told the European tour website. "It's been a massive comeback.
"I had a really hard time from July 2015 to July last year where I really struggled with my game. It's been an awkward curve.
"The only thing left was 'let's get a win' but, you know, if you keep knocking on the door it will come.
"The chip-in on 10, birdie on 11, changed everything. All of a sudden from nowhere and I was leading." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/38710973 | |
Danny Boyle: 'These stories belong here' - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | null | The stars of T2 Trainspotting have gathered in Edinburgh for the film's world premiere. | null | The stars of T2 Trainspotting have gathered in Edinburgh for the film's world premiere.
Original cast members Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Kelly Macdonald and Ewen Bremner spoke to the BBC about working on the Trainspotting sequel. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38712425 | |
Mild panic greets Trump digital transition - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | As Obama moves out the White House, he today also gives up key online real estate - a move already creating controversy. | Technology | President Trump's first tweet on the @POTUS account showed this image
Much is written about the Herculean effort to move one family out of the White House and a new family in within the space of just a few hours.
But in our modern age, the digital moving trucks must also roar into action, as prime presidential online real estate gets a makeover, and eight years of President Obama's social media chat is confined to the national archives.
Let’s start with WhiteHouse.gov, the official website for the President, which as of noon Friday, has a brand new look - and has already provoked mild panic.
Many noted that pages about climate change were swiftly deleted. So too were pages about LGBT rights and various science policies.
But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Pages about everything were deleted as what was essentially Obama’s homepage was replaced with Trump’s.
That means posts about any former policy positions no longer exist on the White House website if you follow the original links.
So while the web address pointing to the White House’s position on climate change no longer works, the same can be said about Obama’s pages relating to the economy. Unpredictable as he is, no-one is suggesting Donald Trump is about to describe “money” as a hoax.
That said, on the new whitehouse.gov, a search for “military” will yield 154 results. “Climate change”? None.
Nervous internet sleuths have found one reference to climate change, a promise to lift the "harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the US rules".
Make of that what you will. People on Twitter certainly are.
Also wiped clean was the White House's petition website. On Friday, by 4pm in DC, only two petitions were posted on the site. The first demanded the release of the President's tax returns. The other demanded he put his businesses in a blind trust. If either petition gets 100,000 signatures, the White House has to provide a response - at least, that was the rule the previous administration set itself.
Trump reportedly gave up his cell phone upon assuming the presidency
Speaking of which, it’s all change on Twitter too.
From today @POTUS - President of the United States - has been taken over by the Trump team. All previous tweets from Obama’s team - and Obama himself - have been deleted from that account, but archived under @POTUS44. The 44 relating of course to the fact Obama was the 44th US President.
The tweets were not, as a smattering of people blurted out, “deleted by Trump” once he had control of the account.
Twitter removed them - and that's because scrubbing the account of Obama’s tweets is a smart move for everyone involved. Had Twitter left the old tweets in place you’ll find yourself seeing people retweeting Obama’s words but with Trump’s identity attached, a recipe for misinformation disaster.
Trump’s first tweet on @POTUS posted a picture and a link to his inaugural address - the full text of which was posted on Facebook. Is Trump having a change of heart over his social network of choice?
Maybe. Facebook certainly offers the chance to speak more clearly at length, and, as the leader of the free world, it would be more useful to post to an audience of almost two billion rather than Twitter’s rather limited 300m.
We won’t know for sure until about 3am, DC time, tomorrow morning. Everyone will be surely waiting for those twilight hours to see if the President springs back into life posting his thoughts on his own personal account, @realDonaldTrump.
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38699809 | |
Eight ways President Donald Trump will make history - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | From his bank balance to his lack of pets - here's how Donald Trump is making presidential history. | US & Canada | Donald Trump has already pulled off a series of presidential "firsts"
Donald Trump is guaranteed to make history as the 45th president of the United States.
And whether you love or loathe him, it's a fact that the Republican will set a range of records as soon as he occupies the Oval Office.
From his age to his bank balance, via his notable lack of pets - here are just some of "The Donald's" historic "firsts".
Donald Trump celebrated his 70th birthday on 14 June, which makes him the oldest man in US history to assume the presidency. The previous record-holder, Ronald Reagan, was 69 when he took office in 1981.
Perhaps keen to allay fears about his senior status, the business mogul had his doctor prepare a gushing letter pledging that he would be "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency".
Right-wing Indian activists celebrate The Donald's 70th birthday in New Delhi
The average age of all 44 previous incoming presidents is a sprightly 55.
The youngest ever incumbent - Theodore Roosevelt - got the job aged 42 years and 322 days, after President William McKinley's assassination in 1901.
Mr Trump is the first billionaire president. Exact estimates of his personal wealth vary, with Forbes putting it at $3.7bn (£3bn) and the man himself claiming in a statement that it's "in excess of TEN BILLION DOLLARS".
Many of America's past presidents have also been extremely wealthy, of course. Recent estimates say George Washington's estate would be worth half a billion in today's dollars.
Donald Trump has said he will take only a dollar in salary - like former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger (L)
Before his 1963 assassination, JFK reportedly lived off a $10m trust fund thanks to the vast wealth of his father - investor and alleged bootlegger Joseph P Kennedy, Sr.
Mr Trump will be following in the footsteps of former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger by taking just a symbolic dollar as a salary.
When Mr Trump began unveiling his cabinet picks, the number with fat wallets quickly drew the scorn of Democrats.
"Donald Trump's administration: of, by and for the millionaires and billionaires," tweeted Vermont Senator and Democrat presidential contender Bernie Sanders.
For better or worse, this will be the wealthiest administration in modern American history.
According to the Washington Post, commerce secretary nominee Wilbur Ross is worth around $2.5bn on his own - roughly 10 times what George W Bush's first cabinet were worth in 2001, when the media branded them an assembly of millionaires.
Treasury appointee Steven Mnuchin quite literally bought a bank after 17 years at Goldman Sachs, and reports put his wealth at over $40m.
It has been estimated that the cabinet could be good for an eye-watering $35bn, all told. As Quartz pointed out, this is more than the annual gross domestic product of Bolivia.
Mr Trump's triumph is also significant because, until now, no-one has been elected president in more than 60 years without experience as a state governor or in Congress.
The last president with no political experience, Dwight Eisenhower, was Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in World War Two, before he was elected to office in 1953.
Some Trump voters saw his lack of political experience as a guarantee of authenticity
But as Mr Trump tells it, his lack of links to the Washington establishment is an asset not a flaw - and more than made up for by his experience as a deal-maker.
Mr Trump has named his son-in-law, real estate developer Jared Kushner, as a senior adviser - prompting cries of nepotism from opponents.
Some claim the appointment makes the 36-year-old the most powerful presidential son-in-law in US history.
He isn't the first to fit that profile, however.
President Woodrow Wilson's Treasury Secretary, William Gibbs McAdoo, was also married to his daughter, Eleanor.
First Daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner are set to wield considerable clout
That said, their case pre-dates America's 1967 anti-nepotism statute, and Mr McAdoo was already a cabinet secretary when he wed.
Ivanka Trump, Mr Trump's elder daughter and wife of Mr Kushner, is also being spoken of as the most influential "First Daughter" ever.
So much fuss has been made of what Donald Trump owns that you might have missed one glaring absence - a pet.
It looks likely that he'll be the first US President in over a century not to have an animal pal in the White House, after plans to have him adopt a goldendoodle dog reportedly fell through.
According to the Presidential Pet Museum, almost every commander-in-chief has had a pet, and some had a virtual menagerie.
John F Kennedy stands out for owning a veritable Noah's Ark - everything from a rabbit named Zsa Zsa to a canary called Robin - but the crown belongs to Calvin and Grace Coolidge (White House occupants from 1923-1929), who the museum says "quite literally had a zoo".
Barack Obama's Portuguese Water Dog, Bo, is among the more traditional pets to live at the White House
Their animal companions included at least a dozen dogs, a donkey named Ebenezer, and various creatures presented as gifts by foreign dignitaries - among them lion cubs, a wallaby, a pygmy hippo named Billy, and a black bear.
Donald Trump won the presidency on a pro-job platform, and has blamed free-trade policies for the collapse of the US manufacturing industry.
This is a rare stance for a US president, probably last seen in his fellow Republican Herbert Hoover in the 1930s.
In September 2015, Mr Trump told the Economist China is "killing us", and that millions of Americans are "tired of being ripped off".
He said that as president, he would consider a 12% import tax to make the Chinese "stop playing games".
During his election campaign, Mr Trump also threatened to rip up Nafta, the free trade agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico, which has been in place for 23 years.
The Republican has long been opposed to the TPP, which he views as a poor deal for the US
He also vowed that the US would quit the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, a 12-nation agreement, on his first day in the White House.
Former model Melania Trump is as trailblazing as her husband.
She will be the first presidential spouse from Slovenia, and the first non-native English speaker.
She is only the second FLOTUS born outside the US, though - the first being Louisa Adams, wife of the sixth US President, John Quincy Adams (1825-1829), who was born in London.
As Mr Trump has been married twice before, Melania will also be the first third wife to reside in the White House. The only other US president to have divorced was Ronald Reagan, who split from his first wife, actress Jane Wyman, long before leading the nation.
Melania speaks Slovenian, English, French, German, and Serbian, and may be the most competent linguist to hold the role of FLOTUS.
Melania Trump will be the first non-native English speaker to be FLOTUS
She is the first president's wife to have posed nude, for GQ magazine in 2000 among others.
Mr Trump is no stranger to men's magazines either. He appeared on the cover of Playboy in March 1990 with the tag-line: "Nice magazine, want to sell it?" | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38637123 | |
Us/Them play revisits Beslan school siege - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The Belgian creators of a play, Us/Them, which relives the Beslan killings through the eyes of two children, say recent attacks have brought the story closer to home. | Entertainment & Arts | The 2004 Beslan school siege is remembered for the deaths of more than 330 people including 186 children, after a Russian school was seized by Chechen rebels. But the Belgian creators of a play, Us/Them, which relives the atrocity through the eyes of two children, say recent attacks have brought the story closer to home.
The actress Gytha Parmentier has now played Us/Them in three languages.
When the play opened in 2014 she was speaking in her native Flemish. Later she had to translate into French the words of her character - a young girl who dies in the Beslan siege.
Now she's making the one-hour piece work in English opposite Roman Van Houtven, the only other member of cast.
Last year the play was a hit at the Edinburgh Festival and it has now arrived at London's National Theatre.
"Acting in English, Roman and I had to learn to move our mouths in a very different way," she said. "But acting in a different language gives a new juiciness to what's in the script."
That script is by Carly Wijs, who also directs. She recalls the spark for the play came when her eight year-old son mentioned news coverage he'd just seen of the terror attack at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi in 2013.
"Godfried had been watching the report on the children's news and I was struck by the way he described it. He spoke in a way which was almost aloof - at eight you're just becoming aware of things which are on your planet but not really of your own world of home and family.
"Then Bronks, which is a fantastic production company in Brussels, asked me for a theatre idea for children. So I thought I would break a taboo by writing about Beslan while borrowing Godfried's tone and his very objective manner."
In Belgium Wij/Zij has been listed as suitable for children of nine and above; in London the National Theatre pitches Us/Them for young people aged 12 and over.
The highly physical production is made for touring and the Dorfman stage at the National is almost bare apart from balloons and string.
The production avoids the off-putting cuteness which can trip up adult actors impersonating young children. The result is heart-breaking yet somehow heart-warming too.
The show may not strike theatregoers in advance as an obvious excursion for kids. But it's an unexpectedly charming hour in the theatre perfect for family viewing. However, the National has mainly programmed performances late in the evening which may be a bad call.
Wijs says her view of the events of 2004 was influenced by one TV documentary in particular.
"There was a beautiful BBC programme called Children of Beslan which was helpful: they spoke to many survivors. But our play isn't a documentary. It has to work for children who know nothing of Beslan and also for their parents who remember all that went on."
Parmentier says there are clear differences between how children and grown-ups react.
"Adults tend to laugh and cry in a different way: often the laughter is in relief when they think something horrible is about to happen on the stage and it doesn't.
"I think parents automatically work out a narrative arc in their minds but children are happy to switch their attention from one thing to another."
Wijs thinks for children almost the most horrifying thing is when the girl has to undress to her underwear because it's getting hot and stuffy in the school gymnasium.
"To them it's a nightmare but I suspect adults barely register the moment."
The play pre-dates last March's terror attacks in Brussels in which a total of 35 people died and hundreds were injured. Wijs lived in the Molenbeek district, a focus in the city of Islamist radicalisation.
"We haven't changed the play because of those bombings but if the Brussels attacks had come first I wonder if I could have created the play. I've just done another play in Brussels which is full of light and comedy - it's a reaction to the depressing times we live in.
But both women say they haven't ignored recent violence closer to home.
"In 2015 in Belgium we had a performance in Namur in (French-speaking) Wallonia, a few days after the Bataclan attack in Paris", says Parmentier.
"We and the theatre thought hard about whether we should cancel: would it be too hard to watch a play about so many people being killed? But instead the theatre arranged an audience discussion after the show and people were full of questions about what they had just seen. I think the play helped some of them process what had happened in Paris."
Us/Them is playing at the National Theatre until 18 February. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38695475 | |
Family of Brighton cancer vlogger Charlotte Eades finds unseen videos - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | null | The family of a teenager who died from a brain tumour has discovered dozens of previously unseen videos she made. | null | The family of a teenager who died from a brain tumour has discovered dozens of previously unseen videos she made.
Charlotte Eades, who died last February at the age of 19, was diagnosed with glioblastoma when she was 16.
On her YouTube channel the teenager from Brighton shared more than 100 inspirational videos about her battle with the disease.
You can see more on this story on Inside Out South East on BBC One at 19:30 GMT on Monday. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-38697237 | |
Chelsea 2-0 Hull City - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | Diego Costa scores on his return to the Chelsea team as they beat Hull to move eight points clear at the top of the Premier League. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Diego Costa scored on his return to the Chelsea team as they beat Hull City to move eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The Spain striker missed last weekend's 3-0 win over champions Leicester, citing a back injury after a disagreement with a fitness coach, amid reports of Chinese Super League interest.
But the Blues' top scorer - cheered throughout the game by home fans - returned against struggling Hull and had an early impact, sending an effort from 20 yards fizzing just wide after only 10 seconds.
He got the opening goal when he converted Victor Moses' low cross from eight yards out in the seventh minute of first-half injury time.
The long stoppage was a result of an injury to Hull midfielder Ryan Mason, who went to hospital after being carried off on a stretcher wearing an oxygen mask following a clash of heads with Chelsea defender Gary Cahill. Hull later announced he had fractured his skull.
The Tigers played well but lacked cutting edge without the injured Robert Snodgrass and Cahill sealed the win when he headed home Cesc Fabregas' free-kick.
Last weekend, Chelsea's position at the top of the Premier League was looking far from secure. The Blues were five points clear after their long winning run was ended by Tottenham and Costa's future at the club seemed in severe doubt.
Fast forward eight days and the Blues - with Costa back in the first team - are now eight points above second-placed Arsenal, the only other team in the top six to win this weekend.
Antonio Conte's side were far from spectacular against the Tigers. In fact, Costa - with six shots - was the only Chelsea player to have more than one effort.
But a 15th win in their past 16 league games - and a 13th Premier League clean sheet of the season - takes them one game closer to a sixth English top-flight title.
The omens look good for Chelsea. No team have ever failed to win the Premier League title after picking up 55 points or more in their opening 22 games.
• None Listen: 5 live Football Daily - 'If Chelsea beat Arsenal & Liverpool, title is theirs'
Hull City have shown signs of improvement after sacking manager Mike Phelan and replacing him with Marco Silva. After beating Bournemouth in his opening Premier League game, they gave Chelsea a real match for large periods.
Whether they stay up - they are two points adrift of safety - might rely on Silva's transfer actions in the next nine days.
They left out West Ham target Robert Snodgrass, who has scored or assisted 50% of their league goals this season - and Silva said just before the game it was "impossible for him to stay".
Despite a good performance, they lacked incision without the Scotland international. A majority of their nine shots came from distance, with centre-back Harry Maguire having four efforts.
At 1-0, they could have had a penalty when Marcos Alonso kicked the back of Abel Hernandez's foot, but nothing was awarded.
Three of Silva's signings, Omar Elabdellaoui, Evandro and Oumar Niasse, played but the Portuguese wants more new faces - and he needs them after selling midfielder Jake Livermore to West Brom for £10m and the loss of Mason to injury.
However, whether anyone can make up for the apparently imminent loss of Snodgrass - their only player to score more than three Premier League goals this season - remains to be seen.
Manager reaction - 'Not easy to play this type of game'
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte told BBC Sport: "This game was very difficult for us.
"It is not easy to play this type of game. I think our opponent played very good, had good organisation and made it difficult for us.
"We are in the second part of the season and every game is now very tough for us and also for the other teams.
"You can see today the difficulty all of the teams have."
Hull City manager Marco Silva: "It was not what we wanted from the game. We came here to compete, to take points. Chelsea are in a very good moment but we try.
"In some moments we controlled the game. Chelsea had more ball possession but our team tried and conceded in the last minute of the first half which was cheap. If we changed some things the result might have been different.
"It was a good performance but I want more."
• None Only Ryan Giggs (162) and Frank Lampard (102) have provided more Premier League assists than Cesc Fabregas (101, same as Wayne Rooney).
• None In his 100th Chelsea game, Diego Costa scored his 52nd goal for the club.
• None Costa's strike was the latest first-half goal in the Premier League since exact times have been recorded by Opta (2006-07 - 51:35).
• None The Spain striker has scored in all four of his Premier League games against Hull City.
• None This is the fourth time a team have had 55 or more points after 22 Premier League games - and Chelsea have now done so three times (also 2004-05 and 2005-06).
• None Hull have now gone 20 Premier League games without a clean sheet since beating Swansea 2-0 back in August.
• None The Blues have now won 1,002 Premier League points at home, becoming the third club to reach four figures in the competition (Manchester United 1,116 and Arsenal 1,019).
• None Antonio Conte has the same number of points from his first 22 Premier League games that Jose Mourinho had in his (55).
Chelsea host London neighbours Brentford in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday (15:00 GMT kick-off), and visit Liverpool - 10 points behind them - in the Premier League on 31 January (20:00).
Hull host Manchester United in the EFL Cup semi-final second leg on Thursday (19:45), having lost the first game 2-0. An FA Cup visit to Fulham follows on Sunday (12:30) and their next Premier League game is away to United on 1 February (20:00).
• None Attempt saved. Oumar Niasse (Hull City) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Sam Clucas.
• None Attempt saved. Diego Costa (Chelsea) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Cesc Fàbregas with a through ball.
• None Goal! Chelsea 2, Hull City 0. Gary Cahill (Chelsea) header from very close range to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Cesc Fàbregas with a cross following a set piece situation.
• None Evandro (Hull City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Offside, Hull City. Evandro tries a through ball, but Michael Dawson is caught offside. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38626732 | |
Diego Costa: Chelsea boss Antonio Conte says speculation is over - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | Chelsea boss Antonio Conte said he is happy to see the rumours about Diego Costa come to an end after the striker's goal against Hull. | null | Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said he was happy to see the rumours about Diego Costa come to an end after his goal in the 2-0 win over Hull City.
The Spain striker missed the 3-0 win at Leicester, citing a back injury after a disagreement with a coach, amid reports of Chinese Super League interest.
However, he scored the opener on Sunday as the Blues went eight points clear.
"I am pleased for him and for the fans and club. Today finished all types of speculation," Conte told BBC Sport.
• None Football Daily podcast: 'If Chelsea beat Liverpool and Arsenal, the title is theirs'
The Italian had been consistently questioned about Costa's future in the aftermath of the Leicester game and during the week. He repeatedly insisted the striker had told the club he could not train in the build-up to the Foxes game because of a back problem, and also denied any bid from a Chinese club.
"In this situation I told always the truth," Conte added. "I am happy for him and to finish this speculation. He played and played very well.
"A lot of people asked me about his form, his attitude, and I said I took the best decision for the team. I think I made the best decision after this performance."
Costa's celebration of his 15th Premier League goal of the season involved moving his hands to imitate speaking, which may have been aimed at the media for discussing the reasons for his absence.
Conte said: "Honestly, I was very happy to see his celebration because I was celebrating the goal on the bench. The most important thing was he scored."
Defender Gary Cahill, who scored the Blues' second goal, said: "He is delighted to come back. There has been a lot of talk.
"If he misses one game you are hearing about all the different stories. It gets a bit tiring and the best way to respond is to get a goal. We are delighted to have him back in the team." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38713413 | |
Bosnia's DNA quest to identify war dead - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A team of experts is using DNA technology to identify victims of the Bosnian war of the 1990s. | Europe | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The people trying to identify Bosnia's war missing
A mid-afternoon congregation of mourners waits outside the mortuary in Visoko, about half an hour's drive from Bosnia's capital, Sarajevo. A funeral parade is due to begin, and finally some families will be able to pay their last respects.
Inside the building, work continues on the remains of unidentified victims from Bosnia's conflict of the 1990s.
Eight thousand people reported missing have yet to be found - while the remains of 3,000 people exhumed from mass graves still have not been identified.
Somewhere between the two figures is the potential to bring solace to thousands of families.
Both the tiles and the workers' scrubs cast a green tint in the room, where a small group of specialists methodically set about their task. They sit at tables, sifting through evidence that could help identify the missing.
Investigators check existing DNA samples and collect new ones with the aim of identifying more victims
Bones are set out in neat rows, alongside personal items - tattered Yugoslav-era identity documents, wallets and coins. Some workers squat on the floor, cleaning dirt from fragments of clothing.
"We do a full anthropological re-examination of the case," says Dijana Sarzinski, who is managing the "No Name" project for the International Commission on Missing Persons.
As its title suggests, this is an effort to identify remains that have been kept, unclaimed, in mortuaries across Bosnia.
The remains of thousands of Bosnian war victims are yet to be identified
"We reassess previously taken DNA samples, determine whether new DNA samples need to be taken and review all the accompanying documentation. We're trying to find out any bit of information that could lead us to identity."
With the project more than two-thirds complete, the ICMP has so far identified 80 missing people.
"I'm really proud. The ratio may seem small, but those are 80 people that we helped bring home," says Ms Sarzinski.
Ms Sarzinski says the number of successes has been small but important
Smilja Mitrovic hopes the efforts will help her to identify and bury her son, Dragan.
He was a 19-year-old conscript in the Bosnian Serb army who was two days away from completing his military service when he disappeared in September 1995.
On a visit to the ICMP's Sarajevo headquarters, she explains that hers is more than simply a personal quest.
"The missing persons issue is an open and painful issue that Bosnia is struggling with," she says.
The next step will need to be approached with some considerable delicacy. It involves collecting blood samples from relatives of people who were identified visually, before the ICMP developed its world-leading DNA-testing technology.
If there is a positive match with the unidentified remains, it may mean the wrong body was buried all those years ago. But this would offer an opportunity to set matters right.
Families would be able to lay the correct remains to rest - and Bosnia might move a little closer towards reconciliation. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38444808 | |
Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Joe Perry to win record seventh Masters title - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | Ronnie O'Sullivan fights back to beat Joe Perry 10-7 and secure a record seventh Masters title. | null | Last updated on .From the section Snooker
Ronnie O'Sullivan won a record seventh Masters title by coming from behind to beat Joe Perry 10-7 in the final at London's Alexandra Palace.
Perry, in his first Triple Crown final at the age of 42, led 4-1 but missed a straightforward red for a 5-1 lead.
O'Sullivan won seven frames in a row to move 8-4 ahead before Perry, helped by breaks of 117 and 92, fought back.
But O'Sullivan, 41, sealed victory to defend his title and move ahead of Stephen Hendry's six Masters wins.
Victory means O'Sullivan claimed the newly named Paul Hunter trophy - in honour of the three-time champion who died of cancer aged 27 in 2006 - as well as the £200,000 winners' prize money.
It also ensured the world number 13 ended a run of three defeats in finals this season and defended the title he won last year by thrashing Barry Hawkins 10-1.
"Joe played a brilliant tournament, a really good match and he should've beaten me. I got lucky - I stole it," said O'Sullivan.
"Joe will come again and he is a tough competitor. I'm just relieved to have got over the line. The fans have been unbelievable and I really enjoyed this week."
On winning seven Masters titles, O'Sullivan added: "It is great to get some records, I still have the World Championship one to get.
"When I was younger I was just happy to win one, so to win seven, someone up there is looking after me."
'The Rocket' had to deal with a virus in his first-round final-frame victory over Liang Wenbo and needed to repair a broken cue tip in the semi-final against Marco Fu, which he said was the "best match he has ever won".
In the final, O'Sullivan seemed unsettled by noise coming from a backstage table early on, but pulled himself together to level the match 4-4 at the interval.
He claimed a 32-minute ninth frame to move into the lead for the first time, and then knocked in breaks of 85 and 68 to take control.
At 8-6 and with Perry fighting back, O'Sullivan made his first century of the match - a break of 112 - and 859th of his career.
The Englishman then held his nerve to win a 20-minute tactical frame and claim his 17th Triple Crown title.
Along with seven Masters - the first of which he won in 1995 - he has also claimed five World and five UK Championship crowns, and is now just one behind Hendry's record of 18.
'At 4-1 up I got a bit carried away'
Perry has only won one ranking title - the 2015 Players Championship - but seemed to take to the occasion well, with breaks of 72, 74 and 115 giving him a surprise lead.
But rattling the final red in the jaws of the pocket when presented with the opportunity to go 5-1 up seemed to dent his confidence.
Fair play to Ronnie, even when he is not at his best he is still amazing
Although he rallied by clawing back three frames late on, O'Sullivan's substantial advantage was too great to overturn.
"I've proved a lot, that there is still some life left in me and it has given me the belief to go on and win a big one," said Perry.
"At 4-1 up I got a bit carried away and it was not until I was 8-4 down I thought, 'I'm going for it'.
"It's given me the taste to go for more finals, it's a great feeling to be involved and you take snooker up for nights like this.
"Fair play to Ronnie, even when he is not at his best he is still amazing."
Three-time Masters champion Steve Davis: "To win seven Masters, he has made this event his own, and in such an entertaining way as well."
Former world champion John Parrott: "Ronnie's application and attitude has been spot on today. He was not at his best but was able to grind out the result."
Find out how to get into snooker, pool and billiards with our fully inclusive guide. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/38710379 | |
Andy Murray: Australian Open loss to Mischa Zverev is tough to take - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | World number one Andy Murray says his defeat by Mischa Zverev, ranked 50th, at the Australian Open is tough to take. | null | Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website; TV highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January.
Andy Murray says his shock defeat by world number 50 Mischa Zverev at the Australian Open is tough to take.
The German played aggressively to surprise Britain's world number one and register a 7-5 5-7 6-2 6-4 victory.
Murray, 29, has never won the title despite reaching the final five times, but was favourite to win after Novak Djokovic was knocked out on Thursday.
"It's a tough loss at one of the biggest events and one that I wanted to do better at," Murray told BBC Sport.
"I get a bit of time off now and try to learn from it and try to understand what I could have done a little bit better, and then come back and try again."
• None Venus eases through to last eight
It is the first time since 2009 that the Scot has not reached the quarter-finals in Melbourne.
Johanna Konta is now the only Briton left in the singles after Dan Evans' run was ended by France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday.
"Mischa plays with a game style that not many players play these days and he played it extremely well," said Murray.
"In the slams, with the best-of-five format, you have time to turn things around. There's also time to mess it up as well."
Zverev's attacking serve-and-volley style meant that Murray was under pressure throughout.
The Briton grew more frustrated as the match progressed, turning and shouting to his box as he tried to halt Zverev's progress.
"I was getting myself pumped up and at the end of the set I was trying to get a little more energy, show positive body language," he added.
"I don't think I was flat, it just wasn't to be today. He deserved to win. It's a tough one to lose."
A clearly emotional Zverev, who is coached by his parents, paid tribute to his younger brother Alexander after he completed the win over Murray.
Alexander, 19, narrowly missed out on a place in the quarter-finals after a five-set contest with Rafael Nadal on Saturday.
"My brother inspires me all the time because he plays such great tennis and he challenges me to do better in myself," said Zverev, 29.
The German is the lowest-ranked player to beat Murray at a Grand Slam since Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela, then also ranked 50th, beat him at Melbourne in 2006.
He will go on to face Roger Federer, who he described as his idol, in the last eight.
"I was like in a little coma, just serving and volleying my way through it. There were a few points where I didn't know how I pulled it off but somehow I made it," Zverev added.
"It was kind of easy to stay aggressive but it was tough to stay calm. I was expecting to maybe double fault in the last but somehow I made it."
Andy will obviously be very disappointed but hopefully in a couple of days' time he can look back and realise what he's done over the last decade in Slams is absolutely phenomenal.
So as much as this one hurts, he's got an incredible record and he's got time now to go and prepare for the next one, the French Open and onwards.
Mischa Zverev played great. It was much talked about beforehand, he plays in a way that other players just aren't used to playing against - serve and volley all the time on the first serve, a lot of times on the second, hitting and coming in off returns. It just made it more difficult to get into the match because there's no rhythm.
I don't think this has any reflection whatsoever on how the rest of the year goes - they are here to play 18, 19 tournaments I think Andy plays on average per year - he's got all the Slams coming up, he's still world number one and in a very strong position.
One loss is not going to rock the boat too much or blow him off course. If anything it will motivate him to probably work harder - he's somebody who analyses these things, he likes to look into the reasons, what he could've done better, what went wrong and that's his mind, that's the way he works, that's why he's successful and he will use it along those lines to carry on.
He'll probably have another great year, he's in the driving seat. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38710107 | |
India v England: Ben Stokes stars at Eden Gardens - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | England hold on to win the third one-day international against India by five runs as Ben Stokes finds redemption at Eden Gardens. | null | Last updated on .From the section Cricket
England held on to win the third one-day international against India by five runs as Ben Stokes found redemption at Eden Gardens.
Stokes, hit for four successive sixes in Kolkata in the World T20 final loss, struck a 39-ball 57 in England's 321-8.
He removed key man Virat Kohli and ended a 104-run stand between Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya.
Jadhav remained with India needing 16 from the final over, but Chris Woakes had him caught for 90.
Not only did it give England a first international win on the tour after a 4-0 defeat in the Tests, but also just a fourth success in 26 ODIs in India.
India take the series 2-1, with the first of three Twenty20 internationals in Kanpur on Thursday.
Stokes' previous game in Kolkata ended with him slumped on the Eden Gardens turf after being clubbed for four maximums by West Indies' Carlos Brathwaite.
This return was a heroic one as he energised the end of England's innings with the bat and then took vital wickets with the ball.
England looked set to fall short of a competitive total at 246-6 after 43 overs, only for left-hander Stokes, using his feet and targeting the mid-on area, to blast a 34-ball half-century.
Master run-chaser Kohli was dropped at fine leg on 35 by Jake Ball and looked likely to make England pay before Stokes induced a wild drive and an edge behind.
And when India looked to have reversed the momentum, Stokes returned to bowl the 46th and 48th overs, conceding only seven runs, bowling Pandya and having Ravichandran Ashwin caught at mid-on.
In an incredible chase of 351 to win the first one-day international, right-hander Jadhav destroyed England with 120 from 76 balls.
Whereas then he was guided by captain Kohli, here he was forced to do the bulk of the work, first in the company of Pandya, who rode his luck for 56 in a century partnership that came in less than 14 overs.
Short of stature, Jadhav played cuts and pulls, and although wickets fell around him he looked on course to seal a remarkable victory as England's bowling got ragged, perhaps because of a dew-affected, slippery ball.
In the World T20 final, England were defending 19 off the final over. Here, Jadhav threatened to pull off something equally astounding:
• None 49.1 overs - Six - Full ball from Woakes, Jadhav goes deep in his crease and launches over extra cover.
• None 49.2 overs - Four - Similar delivery, similar stroke, this time a one-bounce four. Six needed from four balls.
• None 49.4 overs - Dot - Well bowled. Jadhav fails to squeeze out a yorker and calls for a change of bat.
• None 49.5 overs - Out - Full and wide from Woakes, Jadhav's brilliant knock is ended when he picks out Sam Billings on the off-side rope.
• None 50 overs - Dot - Woakes holds his nerve, Bhuvneshwar Kumar cannot hit the six that would have sealed an India whitewash.
On placid pitches in the the first two ODIs, England made scores of 350-7 and 366-8 only to lose both.
Here they were more comfortable on a surface that offered movement and bounce for the pace bowlers.
Still, a weakness of losing wickets at key moments and batsmen failing to convert good starts was repeated.
Jason Roy got into a tangle to be bowled by Ravindra Jadeja for 65, captain Eoin Morgan helped a long hop to short fine leg for 43 and Jonny Bairstow cut to point for 56 - both men victims of the excellent Pandya's 3-49.
Stokes' late hitting took England to a competitive score and their pace bowlers enjoyed the greater assistance to run through the India top order, even after David Willey was forced from the field with a shoulder injury.
Then came the charge of Jadhav and Pandya, but Stokes and Woakes, who earlier added 73 with the bat in only 40 balls, had the final say.
There wasn't any shame in losing those first two games. There was nothing in it for the England bowlers and they came up against some fantastic Indian batting.
Here, there was more in the pitch for England and they exploited it very well.
The Champions Trophy will have these kind of pitches and England look better suited when the ball does a little bit.
• None 2,090 runs is a new record for a three-match ODI series, beating the 1,892 scored between Asia XI and Africa XI in 2007.
• None The 7.00 runs scored per over is the second-highest for a series of any length, behind only the 7.15 of England's home series against New Zealand in 2015.
• None Jason Roy's 220 runs is the second-most by an England player in an away ODI series of three matches. Only Graham Gooch, 242 v Pakistan in 1987, has more.
• None England registered their first ODI win at Eden Gardens.
• None Ben Stokes struck a 34-ball half-century, the second-fastest for England against India. His record 33-ball knock came in the first ODI.
• None Virat Kohli reached 1,000 runs as India ODI captain in 17 innings, beating the record of 18 by South Africa's AB de Villiers.
'We deserved a win' - what they said
Man of the match Ben Stokes: "It was difficult when we came here last time. I put it down to good captaincy to get my overs out of the way before the last over!
"It was difficult at the start of my innings. The ball was doing a bit so I gave myself as much time as I could. Woakesy played a good part in that as well.
"It has been fantastic to be a part of the series. Thankfully we got a win."
England coach Trevor Bayliss: "We've been playing some good cricket, scoring a lot of runs and we felt we deserved a win.
"On this ground, I'm sure there were some memories. It sums up Ben Stokes that he was able to get over it and bowl very well."
England captain Eoin Morgan: "It has been hard work - a competitive series. It was tough for the bowlers. We were rewarded for our persistence and drive to get a result. We fought hard against a really good side."
India captain Virat Kohli: "It's been a series of a lot of positives. We almost got over the line today and we were getting excited to see two of our younger guys showing character lower down the order. I'm very pleased." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/38711556 | |
Wayne Rooney: Man Utd striker on 'great feeling' of breaking record - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | Wayne Rooney says it is a "great feeling" to break Sir Bobby Charlton's goalscoring record at Manchester United after scoring his 250th goal for the club against Stoke. | null | Wayne Rooney says it is a "great feeling" to break Sir Bobby Charlton's goalscoring record at Manchester United after scoring his 250th goal for the club against Stoke.
WATCH MORE: Goals from the Man Utd record-breaker | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38706003 | |
Australian Open 2017: Roger Federer sees off Kei Nishikori in five sets - BBC Sport | 2017-01-22 | null | Roger Federer continues his remarkable return from injury by beating Kei Nishikori in the Australian Open fourth round. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website; TV highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January.
Roger Federer continued his remarkable return from injury by seeing off Kei Nishikori in five sets to reach his 13th Australian Open quarter-final.
The 35-year-old beat fifth seed Nishikori 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-1 4-6 6-3 to keep alive his hopes of an 18th Grand Slam and fifth Australian Open title.
Federer, seeded 17th, is playing his first competitive event since Wimbledon six months ago following a knee injury.
He will play Mischa Zverev, conqueror of Andy Murray, in the last eight.
• None How to follow the Australian Open on the BBC
Third seed Stan Wawrinka beat Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) and goes on to face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Dan Evans 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-4 6-4.
After dropping his opening two service games, Federer found the range that had seen him hammer Tomas Berdych in the previous round, giving Nishikori a torrid time.
"It was a great match and a joy to be part of it," said Federer.
"I wasn't playing badly in the first set - it's a quick court and things happen fast. It was about staying calm at 4-0.
"I thought it can't get any worse from there. It was hard not to win that first set after all the effort but it paid off in the end. This is a huge win for me in my career."
• Watch highlights of day seven on BBC Two from 17:15 GMT on Sunday.
From 5-1 down, the Swiss roared back - almost taking the set before losing out in a tie-break - and clinching the second set with a solitary break.
The third disappeared in a flash as Federer took apart the Nishikori serve, winning every point on the Japanese player's second serve, and he went close to breaking through again early in the fourth set.
Nishikori, 27, held on under huge pressure and forced a decider but it was Federer who proved the stronger, racing into a 3-0 lead and closing it out - to the delight of most of those on Rod Laver Arena.
Federer played just seven events in 2016 after injuring his knee the day after his Australian Open semi-final and having arthroscopic knee surgery.
He dropped out of the world's top 10 for the first time in 734 weeks last November, and arrived in Melbourne ranked 17th - his lowest position since May 2001.
The Swiss is the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final since the 39-year-old Jimmy Connors at the 1991 US Open.
But the departure of first Djokovic and then Murray has thrown the draw wide open, with Federer, as well as the likes of Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal, in with a chance of adding to their Grand Slam tallies.
"I felt like if Rafa and myself can be healthy, yes, you can expect us in the quarter-finals," Federer added.
"That Novak and Andy are not, that is a big surprise. I never thought that Mischa Zverev and Denis Istomin would beat those two big guys.
"I guess it's good for tennis that a lot of guys believe stronger now that the top guys are beatable, are vulnerable, especially on a faster court. It happened completely in different circumstances.
"But two huge surprises. No doubt about that." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38710660 | |
Weird and wacky hot air balloons at Swiss festival - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | null | Chateau d'Oex in Switzerland is hosting its annual hot air balloon festival for the 39th time. | null | Chateau d'Oex in Switzerland is hosting its annual hot air balloon festival for the 39th time.
It has a longstanding connecting with ballooning - in 1999, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones took off from the Swiss city in the Breitling Orbiter to do the first tour of the world in a hot air balloon. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38711491 | |
Newspaper headlines: May's 'missile crisis' over Trident failure - BBC News | 2017-01-22 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Reaction to the reported failure of a Trident missile test is widely reported, while the prime minister's upcoming meeting with Donald Trump stays in the headlines. | The Papers | The revelation of a reported malfunction during the test firing of a Trident missile in June is widely covered in Monday's press.
The Daily Mail says it is likely the unarmed missile was made to crash harmlessly into the sea but the "fiasco" caused major panic in Downing Street.
Prime Minister Theresa May, reports the Times, will face intense pressure to answer charges of a cover-up after she refused to say whether she knew about the incident when questioned on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.
The Daily Mirror describes it as "May's Missile crisis", saying in a leading article the "official news blackout only fans suspicions this was a serious failure".
The Guardian, which leads with the story, says critics of Trident may now seize on the failure to argue that the debate about renewing the system should be reopened.
Several papers report international trade will be one of the big issues when Theresa May meets Donald Trump on Friday.
The Times thinks it is a historic chance to make the case for genuine free trade, and an advantageous deal with Britain.
The Daily Telegraph says Mrs May and Mr Trump will hold talks over a deal that slashes tariffs and makes it easier for hundreds of thousands of workers to move between the two countries.
Kevin Maguire of the Daily Mirror thinks Mrs May is "a fool" for flitting over to America "to be photographic cover for a divisive, lying, racist, sexual predator".
But Trevor Kavanagh of the Sun says the "world is a reality show... and Britain has woken up as one of the biggest stars".
He sees opportunities, and dangers, and has this advice: "Hold tight... We are in for the ride of our lives."
Elsewhere, Mrs May has penned an article for the i explaining her new industrial strategy.
She refers to seeking a brighter future after Brexit, and making Britain a country that works for everyone. And she invites "the industries of the future" to tell the government what they need in order to grow and prosper.
The lead story in the Sun refers to a Food Standards Agency warning of a link between burned starchy foods and cancer - that pizza, chips and toast "are killers".
The headline on the front of paper is stark: "You've had your chips."
But not everyone is willing to agree.
The Daily Express asks: "Do scientists actually want us to lead miserable lives?" Alcohol, then sugar, fat, and now crispy roast potatoes. "Why can't people be left to lead their own lives without others meddling?"
Few things, says the Daily Telegraph, bring families together on a cold winter's day like a Sunday roast. And the paper cannot be enthusiastic about boiled beef, with steamed vegetables but no Yorkshire pudding or wine.
A cartoon in the Daily Mail shows an insolent boy smoking. His concerned mother says: "And remember, if anyone offers you a crunchy roast potato at the party - you know what to say."
Meanwhile, the Guardian has reassurance for shoppers who have been unable to find lettuce, spinach, or courgettes on their supermarket shelves.
Vast amounts of rain in south-eastern Spain, then heavy snow, wiped out much of their crops. But now, the farmers of Murcia believe the worst is over, and normal production looks set to resume, it reports.
Finally, the Daily Express says advisors to Margaret Thatcher were alarmed 30 years ago when she was asked to test drive a new Rover saloon outside Downing Street.
Papers, made public from her archive, reveal their concern that, as the Daily Telegraph reports, she might crash in front of the cameras.
Those fears proved groundless - she was allowed a practice at Chequers first. But the Sun cannot resist summing up their worries in a headline: "The lady's not for three-point turning". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-38714029 | |
Britain's first beauty queen Ivy Close is back in the frame - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Ivy Close, Britain's first beauty queen, had a spectacular rise and fall. Now she's back in the limelight. | Entertainment & Arts | Sir Arthur Hacker's portrait of Ivy Close was on the front page of the Daily Mirror in 1908
Ivy Close won Britain's first national beauty contest, was a trailblazing actress and the matriarch of one of Britain's most illustrious showbusiness dynasties. She faded into obscurity - but her great-grandson, who created Downton Abbey, has put her back in the spotlight.
When 17-year-old Ivy Close charmed the country in the first nationwide beauty competition, the press swooned over her "exquisite loveliness".
Part of her prize - along with a new Rover motorcar - was to have her portrait exhibited at the Royal Academy in London.
That picture, showing Close with rosy cheeks and wispy curls, also took up the entire front page of the Daily Mirror - which had run the contest - on 4 May 1908.
Ivy Close beat 15,000 other entrants to win the Daily Mirror's beauty contest
"She's effectively the first British beauty queen," says her great-grandson Gareth Neame, a Bafta-winning TV producer who came up with the concept for Downton and made The Hollow Crown and Hotel Babylon.
"And there was then a competition between the winner in Britain and the winner in the US, and she ended up winning that one. So I often say she was effectively the first ever Miss World."
The portrait, by Sir Arthur Hacker, has now been restored thanks to a donation from Mr Neame and is hanging in the refurbished Ferens Art Gallery in Hull, which reopened on Friday to coincide with Hull becoming UK City of Culture.
It is a return to the limelight for one of Britain's first modern celebrities, whose career took the firework trajectory that has been followed by many celebrities over the decades since.
Born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, Close beat 15,000 other hopefuls to the beauty contest title, which was awarded by nine famous artists on the Daily Mirror's Beauty Adjudication Committee (yes, really).
She became an instant star and there was "an overwhelming rush for copies" of a special commemorative edition of the paper that featured Close in "a variety of charming poses".
The portrait now has a prominent spot in Hull's Ferens gallery
Just as she charmed the Beauty Adjudication Committee, Close also caught the eye of society photographer Elwin Neame, who had photographed the finalists.
Two years later, her picture filled the Daily Mirror front page again - this time in her wedding dress.
Inside, the paper reported how a large crowd had gathered outside the church where she had married Elwin Neame, and how she had been accompanied by a "best girl", as opposed to a best man.
In her film debut two years later, directed by her husband and filmed in their house, she played a model posing as figures from famous paintings.
She went on to star in a long list of films that decade and set up her own production company, which was not uncommon for a successful actress in the silent era.
Gareth Neame (right) with Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes and actress Elizabeth McGovern
"It's a well-trodden path, to have gone from being a model to an actress, and she went to America to be in the movies before Hollywood was even invented," Gareth Neame explains.
"She went to America in about 1917 and went to Jacksonville in Florida, which was one of the centres of film-making back then, and she was in a company of actors along with Oliver Hardy."
After that, Close's films included the 1923 French epic La Roue, of which Jean Cocteau said: "There is cinema before and after La Roue, as there is painting before and after Picasso."
Gareth Neame says: "I've got it on DVD so I'm able to watch my great-grandmother as a young woman as the lead in a silent movie. She was a reputable actress with some career."
But her life took a tragic turn the same year when Elwin Neame was killed in a motorcycle accident. "It must have been quite a tough life, having lost her husband so young," Gareth Neame says.
"My grandfather [Ronald] was at boarding school, but just one year in, at the age of 14, he had to be pulled out because there wasn't the money to pay the fees any more."
Gareth Neame is the son of Christopher Neame (left) and grandson of Ronald Neame (centre)
Meanwhile, with the arrival of talking movies, Close's acting roles were drying up. "Like the film The Artist, about the end of the silent film era, I think she was one of the people that fell foul of that.
"I'm not sure her accent quite fitted in with American audiences, and when talking pictures came in, that was really the end of her career."
She did pantomime and minor films, but had fallen off the radar by the end of the 1920s. If there was a Celebrity Big Brother in 1931, she would surely have done it.
Gareth Neame was a toddler when Close died in 1968. "I never knew the lady, but she was quite a big figure in the family by all accounts.
"Like a lot of people in showbusiness, as she got older she was probably slightly curmudgeonly and thought 'it's not the way that it used to be'.
"It must have been very interesting to have been this very beautiful young starlet and very famous, and then talking pictures come along and your career starts to fade."
Her career may have faded, but the family dynasty she and Elwin Neame launched is still going strong.
Ronald Neame went into the family business, and went on to direct The Poseidon Adventure and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (with an Oscar-winning turn by future Downton Abbey star Dame Maggie Smith) and co-write Brief Encounter.
Ronald's son Christopher Neame was a Bafta-nominated writer and producer, meaning Gareth is the fourth generation to have success in the TV and film industries.
His father and grandfather knew about the portrait of Ivy Close, but did not know where it had ended up after being shown at the Royal Academy.
An online art database, ArtUK, meant Gareth Neame could track it down easily. He got in touch with the Ferens curator, who told him it had not been exhibited for several years because it needed restoration - and pointed him in the direction of their Adopt A Painting scheme.
"It's very nice to be able to make a charitable gift for something that brings back a piece of art into public view, and because of my family association with it," he says.
But restoring the painting is not the only way he has kept her memory alive. "I put a little reference to her when we made Downton Abbey," he reveals.
"We had a scene where a couple of the servants went to the pictures and they were coming back from having seen a film that Ivy Close was in. It was a little in-joke for me."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38597069 | |
Yip Pin Xiu: Singapore's all-conquering Paralympian - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Three gold medals, two world records and one Lego figurine makes Yip Pin Xiu a woman to watch in 2017. | Asia | Three gold medals, two world records and one Lego figurine under her belt. But what's next for Singapore Paralympian Yip Pin Xiu? The BBC's Heather Chen profiles the young athlete, as part of a series on the Asian women likely to make the news in 2017.
Swimmer Joseph Schooling may have delivered Singapore its first-ever Olympic gold medal but Yip Pin Xiu remains the country's most decorated athlete. With her 2016 and 2008 wins in Rio and Beijing, Yip now has more gold medals to her name than any other Singaporean Olympian or Paralympian.
But setting her sights on too much and not having enough time is often a problem for the busy 24-year-old, who's just returned from Europe, where she spent Christmas with her boyfriend and family.
School has started and Yip is back home. The swimmer is currently studying for her degree in political science at the Singapore Management University, which recently set up a sports scholarship in her name.
It's evident that Yip's heart is still in the pool. She says she is "in a hurry" to graduate so she can resume full-time training and even though she is training up to five times a week, Yip wants to dedicate more hours to it.
"Training isn't as intensive for me now as it normally is in the lead-up to major games," she said.
But balancing commitments is no easy feat, let alone for a three-time Paralympic champion.
"Juggling school and training takes up a lot of my time. And the only travelling I'll be doing for the rest of the year will be for competitions, not holidays," she says.
But it's not impossible for her. "Since young, I've learnt to manage my time. It's difficult but I can do it."
The youngest of three children, Yip was born with muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder that slowly breaks down the muscles.
When she turned 11, she lost her ability to walk and had to rely on a wheelchair. By age 12, she ventured into the world of competitive swimming.
Yip also suffers from a nerve condition that affects her eyesight. But she remains infectiously optimistic about her life.
"Things are so good and I'm really happy," she said with a smile.
On that, she recalled her biggest highlight of 2016: winning at the Rio Paralympics.
"My teammates and I were overwhelmed. The recognition we received was a lot higher compared to what we ever had," she said.
"I will always remember how good it felt to return home to Singapore, to see all the support for Paralympians."
Yip is known in the sporting world for her signature back stroke swim
Rio may have been just the beginning for Yip Pin Xiu but there is still more to come. All eyes will be on her during her next major swim at the ASEAN Para Games scheduled to take place in September.
"My biggest competitor is myself and I want to be even better than that," Yip said.
She is also gearing for Tokyo 2020, which she says will be "a very exciting and vibrant event".
But does she have her sights set on a fourth gold? She had this to say:
"Committing myself to the next Paralympics can be scary and after three medals, I don't know what else could be better.
But there's a high possibility that I will go on for more years of training and competition. If I see a potential, I'll keep going."
'Paralympians need the same kind of support like any other athlete'
With those milestones some time away, can Yip count on the celebratory spirit and support of 2016?
"I wouldn't say that support for Paralympic athletes is dying down. Attention has diminished but that's only natural," she enthused.
"A lot of people still step forward to lend their support and offer their help and assistance."
Yip and her fellow Paralympian Theresa Goh were immortalised as Lego figurines
Yip has found tremendous support in her fellow Paralympian Theresa Goh, who herself has racked up world records and medals.
Beyond the headlines, both girls enjoy an endearing friendship often documented on their social media accounts. In 2016, toy maker Lego cemented the duo's star status with their very own figurines.
"We know we have a bond and we don't have to verbally remind each other of our support," she said.
"I can tell Theresa anything. It's nice having someone to talk to, who wouldn't judge you for anything and just listen."
Over the years, Yip has made various contributions to public debate in Singapore about the treatment and recognition of its disabled athletes.
"I want the world to know that being a disabled athlete is not that different from being an able-bodied one," she said.
"We put in the same number of hours and we need support like any other athlete. I would like people to look beyond the disability and see the individual instead."
She regularly takes time out from her busy schedule to lend her support to events that raise awareness of disabled sport.
"I want our community to go beyond their limits and not believe the negativity."
And water presents her with more challenges she wants to conquer in the coming year. Could scuba diving be on the cards for the world champion?
Will Singapore's champion swimmer soon take up a new water sport?
"I love swimming but strangely, I've never dived before. Diving is interesting and I wouldn't mind learning as I love nature and being in the water so it would be quite an experience."
But she has some concerns because in the water, Yip does not have the ability to kick her legs and so channels her strength into her arms.
"Divers propel themselves in the water using flippers so I don't know how I'd do it," she admitted.
"There are special programmes in Singapore that offer disabled people a chance to dive so I know it isn't impossible, I just need to find the time."
The coming year could see her shattering even more barriers. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38504257 | |
Stolen baby found 18 years on - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | null | A girl stolen as a newborn from a hospital in Florida has been found alive, 18 years on. | null | A girl stolen as a newborn from a hospital in Florida has been found alive, 18 years on.
The woman who raised Kamiyah Mobley has been charged with kidnapping. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38622076 | |
Newspaper headlines: PM calls for seven-day GPs and stolen baby found - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | 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 | |
Cromer Pier battered by North Sea coastal surge - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | null | Norfolk pier battered by North Sea during coastal surge | null | A Norfolk pier has been battered by waves as the North Sea surge hit the coast.
Cromer Pier felt the full force as choppy seas breached the sea wall, battering the structure.
Many parts of the eastern coastline were affected, but Friday night's surge was not as bad as expected after the wind changed direction. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-38622619 | |
US truck driver slides down icy road - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | null | A US truck driver slides his jack-knifed vehicle down an icy road after his brakes locked. | null | A US truck driver has been forced to slide his jack-knifed vehicle down an icy mountain road after his trailer's brakes locked.
California Highway Patrol officers closed the road and escorted the truck down, making it to a safe place 20 minutes later. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38622002 | |
Other colour-casting controversies - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | null | Sky has pulled a TV programme about Michael Jackson - it's not the first casting controversy. | null | Sky has said it will not air a TV programme about Michael Jackson after his daughter said she was "incredibly offended" by the portrayal of him, slated to be by Joseph Fiennes.
It's not the first casting controversy. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38618631 | |
HGV crash spills 12,000 litres of paint on M606 motorway - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Part of the motorway will need resurfacing after the paint spill across the carriageway. | Leeds & West Yorkshire | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
About 12,000 litres of paint have been spilt over a motorway following an HGV crash in Bradford.
The white paint pooled across the M606 southbound after 12 containers fell off the lorry on Friday night.
The motorway is shut from Staygate to the Euroway industrial estate while a clean-up operation gets under way.
West Yorkshire Police said it was trying to establish what caused the crash. Highways England said the road needed to be resurfaced.
The white paint has pooled across the carriageway after 12 containers fell off the lorry
The paint was said to be hazardous and motorists were advised to find alternative routes
Nigel Fawcett-Jones, from the force, said: "One of the challenges is that it's hazardous to the environment and they can't just flush it down the drain.
"So they are trying their best to find a method to get it off the carriageway and dispose of it in a safe and appropriate manner."
Motorists have been urged to avoid the area.
• None The strangest spillages on our roads
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-38621659 | |
Leicester City 0-3 Chelsea - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | Marcos Alonso scores twice as Chelsea beat Leicester to move seven points clear at the top of the Premier League. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Marcos Alonso scored twice as Chelsea beat Leicester to move seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, despite Diego Costa's absence.
The Blues were without their top scorer after a training ground dispute over his fitness, amid reports he has been offered a lucrative move to China.
That saga did not affect them at the King Power Stadium, however, with Eden Hazard setting up Alonso to fire home after only six minutes.
The Spanish wing-back added his second early in the second half when his shot from the edge of the area was deflected in.
Pedro made sure of the points with a deft header from Willian's cross.
Leicester, lining up in a new-look 3-5-2 formation, struggled to find a way back into the game.
Ahmed Musa had tested Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois before his side fell behind, but the defending champions did not manage another shot on target.
Chelsea show they can win without Costa
Before kick-off, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte had played down any row involving Costa, claiming he was not in his squad because of a back injury.
Whatever the truth behind Costa's absence, the Blues showed again that they can win without the Spain striker, who has scored 14 goals and provided five assists for them this season.
Chelsea initially had to work harder for the points than they did when Costa was suspended in their 3-0 victory over Bournemouth on 26 December - the only other league game he has missed in 2016-17.
Again they used Hazard to lead the line rather than turn to £33m summer signing Michy Batshuayi, who was left on the bench and still awaits his first league start.
Alonso, rather than Hazard, will get the headlines on this occasion, but Chelsea's dominant performance was further evidence it will be hard to dislodge them from top spot.
This was Chelsea's 12th clean sheet in 21 games and, even without Costa's belligerent presence up front, they remain difficult to break down and dangerous when they come forward.
Conte's side had seen their 13-game winning streak ended by Tottenham in their previous Premier League game, but that remains their only defeat since the end of September.
Spurs' emphatic win over West Brom earlier on Saturday had reduced the Blues' lead to four points, but if Chelsea are feeling any pressure in the title race they did not show it here.
Their form is becoming ominous for the chasing pack, and Liverpool - their nearest rivals before the weekend - can ill afford to lose any more ground when they face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Foxes manager Claudio Ranieri, named Fifa's coach of the year this week, attempted to match Chelsea's formation by playing with wing-backs of his own - but his experiment did not pay off.
Albrighton and Ben Chilwell failed to make the same impact as their opposite numbers, Alonso and Victor Moses, and the Foxes struggled to create chances.
England striker Jamie Vardy was back from suspension to lead their attack, but he made little impression apart from playing one dangerous cross and did not manage a single shot.
Leicester are still six points above the relegation zone despite this defeat but, with Riyad Mahrez, Islam Slimani and Daniel Amarty away at the Africa Cup of Nations, Ranieri must find a better blend with the players still at his disposal.
Chelsea host struggling Hull on Sunday, 22 January (16:30 GMT kick-off). Leicester travel to Southampton for a 12:00 kick-off on the same day, hoping for their first away win of a disappointing domestic season.
Chelsea make another fast start - the stats you need
• None Chelsea have scored five goals in the opening 10 minutes of Premier League matches so far this season - a division high.
• None The Blues have already picked up more points this season (52) than they managed in the whole of 2015-16 (50).
• None The Foxes' two defeats in their past three home league games is as many as they lost in their previous 30.
• None This was Leicester's heaviest Premier League home defeat since September 2015 (2-5 v Arsenal).
• None Pedro has been directly involved in more Premier League goals this season than the whole of last season (10 - five goals, five assists).
• None Attempt missed. Christian Fuchs (Leicester City) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Daniel Drinkwater.
• None Attempt saved. Christian Fuchs (Leicester City) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Ben Chilwell with a headed pass.
• None Attempt missed. Demarai Gray (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.
• None Attempt missed. Ben Chilwell (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Daniel Drinkwater.
• None Demarai Gray (Leicester City) wins a free kick on the right wing. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38539716 | |
Newspaper headlines: Theresa May's Brexit battle plan - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Theresa May's Brexit plan "could see the UK quit the EU single market" claim many of the front pages. | The Papers | Theresa May's Brexit plan "could see the UK quit the EU single market", according to many of Sunday's front pages.
"May's big gamble on a clean Brexit," is the main headline in the Sunday Telegraph, which reports the content of the prime minister's much-anticipated speech this week is being "closely guarded" by Number 10.
But citing "numerous government sources", the paper says the prime minister is expected to indicate she is prepared to take Britain out of the single market and the customs union.
"She's gone for the full works," a source tells the Sunday Telegraph. "People will know that when she said 'Brexit means Brexit', she really meant it."
The Sunday Times believes Mrs May will try to reassure voters who backed the Remain side, by suggesting that she could strike a transitional deal on Brexit, avoiding "a cliff-edge" for British business.
The Sunday People highlights what it says will be an appeal to everyone to unite behind Mrs May's vision for leaving the EU.
"The victors in the EU referendum have a responsibility to act magnanimously," the paper quotes pre-released extracts from the speech as saying. "The losers have a responsibility to respect the result."
The NHS winter crisis features in some of Sunday's newspapers
The winter crisis in the NHS receives further coverage with the Observer reporting that "a large number of hospitals across the UK" have been cancelling some cancer operations since the start of this year.
The Mail on Sunday leads with the results of a Survation poll, which found that more than three-quarters of 12,000 people surveyed believed money from the foreign aid budget should be diverted to the NHS.
The Sunday Times leads with a suggestion that Donald Trump is planning to hold a summit with Vladimir Putin, within weeks of becoming US President.
It says he hopes to emulate Ronald Reagan's Cold-War deal-making with Mikhail Gorbachev.
On its front page, the Observer carries a claim by the former Foreign Office minister, Chris Bryant, who says he's "certain" Russia is targeting senior British politicians, to try to find out potentially compromising details about their private lives.
On the letters page of the Sunday Telegraph, 50 Conservative MPs urge the government to bring in tougher strike laws. They want walkouts on "critical public infrastructure", such as train and bus services, to be banned unless a judge decides the action is proportionate.
The Sun on Sunday reports that the rail company Southern is preparing to recruit 200 part-time drivers to keep trains running during strikes.
First it was "trousergate", in which Theresa May's "high-end" wardrobe choices caused a storm, now she is to grace the pages of the world's most influential fashion bible. This is according to the Mail on Sunday, which reveals that the prime minister has posed for the renowned photographer, Annie Leibovitz, in a fashion shoot for American Vogue.
The Sun on Sunday says the aim is to make the Theresa May appear "more personable" to British voters.
But the Mail on Sunday takes a different view and says it is part of a Downing Street strategy to cosy up to the new administration in the White House, after being "wrong-footed" by the presidential election result.
"Theresa knows she needs to raise her profile in the US," a source tells the paper. "The Vogue shoot will form a central part of Operation Trump." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-38626281 | |
Football Focus - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | Dan Walker and guests look ahead to the weekend's football action, which includes a clash between Liverpool and Man City. | null | Dan Walker and guests look ahead to the weekend's football action, which includes a clash between Liverpool and Man City.
This is a live BBC One stream, due to start at 11:30 GMT
Available to UK users only. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/19362047 | |
Mastermind: Wales rugby legend Adam Jones appears on BBC quiz show - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | Watch Wales rugby legend Adam Jones take his place in the famous black chair as he appears on the classic BBC quiz show, Mastermind. | null | Watch Wales rugby legend Adam Jones take his place in the famous black chair as he appears on the classic BBC quiz show, Mastermind. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38625711 | |
'Why I dropped the case against the man who groped me' - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | One woman's story of why confronting India's 'Eve teasers' is not always straightforward. | BBC Trending | Samya Gupta, a 21-year-old law student from the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, was napping on a seat near the back of a bus when she felt something on her breasts.
It was the hands of a man sitting in the row behind her.
"The moment I realised (what was happening), I stood up from my seat, yelled and asked for his ID proof," Gupta wrote in a widely-shared Facebook post.
She went on to detail how she not only confronted her alleged molester, but got the bus to take a detour so he could be taken into police custody.
Gupta ended her account with a series of hashtags including #TooHorrifiedToLetItGo. But the social media users who have expressed admiration for Gupta's stand, may be disappointed by what has happened since.
In her post Gupta wrote that when she challenged the man, who she says was in his 40s, he apologised. There were around 30 other passengers on the bus and they reportedly vocalised their support for Gupta. But they also advised her to not pursue the matter, she said.
"My co-passengers asked me to accept it, and let it go," Gupta wrote, "But I decided otherwise. I decided to not let it go. I decided to not let an audacious eve-teaser to go free merely by apologising."
In her post she said that she chose to speak up because she didn't want the alleged aggressor to feel confident enough in the future to escalate his behaviour to a more violent assault - "to convert into a rapist".
"Eve teasing" is a common term used in some South Asian countries to refer to a wide variety of behaviour including molestation. According to Sameera Khan, the co-author of 'Why Loiter? Women & Risk on Mumbai Streets' it includes "flashing or any verbal/physical sexual street harassment that falls short of rape."
"It's an archaic term," says Khan, "The 'Eve' part comes from the Old Testament and describing harassment as 'teasing' makes it sound almost like a mild romantic overture that should be tolerated - which of course it should not."
Gupta told BBC Trending that she persuaded the bus driver to divert the bus to the nearest local police station. The passengers, who had surrounded the man who had allegedly been groping Gupta, then escorted them both into the building. There Gupta filed a harassment complaint against the man whose name has not emerged in the media and was not named in Gupta's post.
"The process of filing a complaint was lengthy and laborious," Gupta added.
She says that she was informed she would have to provide her statement in Hindi, a language she says she doesn't know to write well.
"This made me wonder what happens to illiterate women in India who muster up the courage to go to the police," she told Trending, "I'm a law student and even I found the process tedious and challenging."
Gupta wrote in her Facebook post that her problems didn't end when she left the police station. She claimed that when she took another bus several acquaintances of the alleged harasser approached her and told her to drop her complaint. She added that they questioned her character, accusing her of "goofing around with various guys every now and then, therefore my allegations have no sense of veracity".
A court date was set for a hearing for the harassment charge. But before it arrived Gupta withdrew her charge.
Speaking to Trending, she cited a couple of reasons for dropping the case.
One, she said, was due to "complacency with paperwork" which she claimed resulted in her mobile number becoming available to man's family. As a result, Gupta told Trending, she received calls pressuring her to drop the case because the accused man was a father of two.
Similarly, she said, her own family also advised her to drop the case.
"They felt Eve teasing wasn't serious enough an incident to merit going through with a court trial," Gupta told Trending.
She added: "I am a student and I don't earn my own money. I come a family with no background with the law. Going to the police station was a big deal for them. I dropped the charge because it seemed like too much pressure on my family."
Local police have defended the handling of the case. Inspector Shiv Mangal Singh told BBC Trending that officers had followed protocol.
"Then the girl, Samya Gupta and her father, came to the police station and told us to drop the case. In terms of the accuser's family getting her phone number, that didn't happen at our end, it may be an administration issue with the lawyers. Similarly, they were people available to translate and write the document in Hindi for her."
Inspector Singh said that even after the case had been dropped, the man still spent several more days in custody, because the statute under which he was arrested requires suspects to remain in custody for 14 days without the prospect of bail.
He added: "We take Eve-teasing seriously and have set up a Whatsapp number where women can send complaints about Eve-teasing."
Eve-teasing, is not specifically classified as an offence specific in Indian law. However sections of the Indian Penal code are said to cover offences comprising sexually intimidating behaviour. This includes Section 354 which is defined as "assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty" and Section 509 which allows for up to three years imprisonment for on "word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman."
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-38584835 | |
Faraday Future's cash flow woe - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Faraday Future, the car company hoping to out-do Tesla, responds to reports its finances are dire. | Technology | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Faraday Future, the company hoping to beat Tesla in the electric car game, had to halt building its factory in order to afford its glitzy CES press event, the firm told the BBC.
The company broke ground on its enormous plant in the Nevada desert in April last year - but work halted in October amid reports the company was in dire financial straits.
Speaking on the record for the first time about the firm’s money woes, Faraday Future’s senior vice president of research and design, Nick Sampson, acknowledged the company was facing "challenges".
"Clearly something like [CES] requires funding and some resources," Mr Sampson told me.
"We are resource-limited at times. [It's] just a matter of keeping the cash flow balance between the different projects we’re trying to do."
No date has been set for work on the site to recommence.
"Things like [CES] have to take priority at this point in time. We’ll be starting again [on the factory] very shortly," he said.
The company was spinning several financial plates, he argued.
"The challenge of building a new company is that it’s not just doing the engineering and R&D work, we’ve got manufacturing to keep aligned, we’ve also got the whole sales and marketing, branding and imaging.
"It’s a matter of keeping the whole programme aligned."
Faraday Future’s launch was arguably the most extravagant press event at this year’s CES, taking place in a huge venue away from the famous Las Vegas strip. It was attended by the mayor of North Las Vegas, John Lee.
The $1bn plant is being subsidised by around $320m of taxpayer’s money, a deal which has attracted intense criticism, though Mr Lee has insisted the public will not be left out of pocket should Faraday Future pull out of the project.
Faraday Future's contractor, AECOM, has stopped work on the factory but said it is still committed to the project
Little is known about the finances of Faraday Future, other than that its biggest backer is the founder and chief executive of China’s LeEco - a company also embroiled in legal difficulties owing to what suppliers claim are unpaid bills.
Another problem facing Faraday Future, as well as the stalled factory construction, is that several suppliers have begun taking legal action against the firm. Futuris, a company which specialises in luxury car interiors, is suing the firm for breach of contract, demanding immediate payment of more than $10m.
According to a recent report published by Buzzfeed, Faraday Future owes more than $300m.
"We’ve gone from nothing to where we are today in just over two years," he said.
"Matching the speed of development and building with the inflow of cash doesn’t always match.
"Many companies have had this - Apple and Steve Jobs didn’t always have it easy in its early days. That’s one of the hurdles that we have to get over."
That kind of comparison - to technology pioneers - is something Faraday Future does often.
An impression of how Faraday Future wants its factory to eventually look
During its CES presentation, it brought up a timeline of milestones including the invention of the lightbulb and the creation of the world wide web. Faraday Future placed itself at the end of this timeline.
"That to me was stepping too far," remarked Tim Stevens, editor at large of motoring news site Roadshow.
If the company does manage to put its first vehicle into production, Mr Stevens said he still had reason to be cautious.
"I’m expecting this car to be in the range of $150,000, maybe $200,000. Far more expensive even than a Tesla Model X.
"That’s a big ask - if they are talking a low-number, high-margin car, they’ve still got to have a production down pat, and the reliability down pat too. Those are things it's taken Tesla a long time to figure out."
Where Faraday Future doesn’t appear to be struggling is with the car itself. The FF91, shown off for the first time at CES, goes like a rocket - 0-60mph (97km/h) in an alleged 2.39 seconds. Faster, it said, than a Tesla Model S (though Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, disputes the claim).
A test drive also demonstrated the car’s ability to park itself completely autonomously. The company hopes drivers will one day be able to leave their car at the side of the road and ask it to drive off and park using a mobile app - like a robot valet.
The FF91 impressed car buffs - the company has promised it will be ready by 2018
However, the technology won’t be a part of daily life any time soon. It will be valet parking "approved by Faraday Future", a test driver told me - a process that will mean adoption across the world will likely be painstakingly slow.
But when it comes to hurdles to leap over, autonomous parking is well down the priority list.
Right now, Faraday Future is a company seemingly operating on a thread.
It is right to acknowledge that getting into the car industry as a brand new player is extremely difficult - which is why so few companies attempt it, and even fewer succeed.
Even behemoths like Apple and Google owner Alphabet have turned their focus more to providing software for established car makers, rather than begin manufacturing themselves.
At CES 2016, when Faraday Future launched a concept car so outlandish it instantly became known as the Batmobile, the company insisted it would defy its critics by 2017.
Has it done that? Partly - there is a car, and it’s rapid.
But building on that achievement and turning it into a mass-produced vehicle and a viable business? By next year?
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38621065 | |
US troops welcomed by Poland - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | null | A deployment of 3,000 US soldiers is welcomed by Poland's prime minister and local residents. | null | A deployment of 3,000 US soldiers has been welcomed by Poland's prime minister and local residents.
The move was a response to concerns over a more aggressive Russia, but Moscow said the troops would destabilise Europe. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38624809 | |
Manchester United v Liverpool: Jose Mourinho & Jurgen Klopp preview the game - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp look ahead to Manchester United against Liverpool, with Klopp expecting a "real fight". | null | Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp look ahead to Manchester United's Premier League match against Liverpool this weekend, with Klopp expecting a "real fight". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38610019 | |
Osi Umenyiora's NFL prediction excuse - 'The Russians hacked my brain' - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | BBC's NFL pundit Osi Umenyiora comes up with a novel excuse on why he got his NFL Wild Card Weekend predictions so wrong. | null | BBC's NFL pundit Osi Umenyiora comes up with a novel excuse on why he got his NFL Wild Card Weekend predictions so wrong. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/american-football/38623211 | |
Masters 2017: Ronnie O'Sullivan wants to win with the style of Lionel Messi - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | 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 | |
Jeremy Bowen: A walk through Aleppo - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen shares his images - and thoughts - from a journey through ruins of Syria's Aleppo. | Middle East | The BBC's Jeremy Bowen walked through the streets of Aleppo from the Umayyad Mosque to city's 13th century Citadel. He said: "Before the war it was a favourite outing for Aleppo's people and their many visitors. On a cold day in winter, in the sixth year of the war, it was bleak and sad." These images were originally posted by Jeremy on Twitter @BowenBBC | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38624237 | |
Conversations with a hacker: What Guccifer 2.0 told me - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Who is behind the persona that US spy chiefs say is at the heart of the Russian hacking allegations? | BBC Trending | US intelligence agencies dispute that Guccifer 2.0 is just one individual
Who or what is Guccifer 2.0? US intelligence agencies believe the mysterious hacker persona was central to efforts to interfere with last year's American election and responsible for distributing hacked documents that embarrassed the Democratic Party. But now Guccifer 2.0 has broken a two-month silence to deny any connection to Russia. In the run up to Donald Trump's victory, BBC Trending's Mike Wendling struck up an online dialogue with Guccifer 2.0 to try to probe the hacker's motives.
It turned out that talking to one of the world's most notorious hackers was easier than you might think. Just send him a tweet.
In the summer of 2016 the hacker, going by the name Guccifer 2.0, leaked a trove of documents from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to Wikileaks, which then made the material public.
The revelations were embarrassing for the Democrats and the Hillary Clinton campaign, and resulted in the resignation of party chair Debbie Wasserman-Shultz.
Although Guccifer 2.0 took his name from a Romanian hacker - the original Guccifer hacked emails belonging to American and Romanian officials, and is currently in prison - suspicion immediately fell on Russia.
Metadata attached to the leaked documents was in Russian not Romanian. Analysts determined that Guccifer 2.0 had used a Russian server. A host of security experts traced the leak to Russian intelligence.
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, a journalist with Vice's Motherboard, chatted with the hacker in Romanian in the days after the DNC hack. The problem was, Guccifer didn't seem to speak the language very well.
"He did answer some questions in Romanian," but the answers were very basic, Franceschi-Bicchierai told BBC Trending.
"I showed those answers to people who did speak Romanian and they all agreed he wasn't a Romanian speaker," Franceschi-Bicchierai says. "We later put the conversation to linguists and not everyone agreed that he was a Russian speaker but he was definitely not a native Romanian speaker."
Listen to more on this story on BBC Trending radio on the BBC World Service.
During our exchanges in October - and until the present day - Guccifer 2.0 continued to deny having anything to do with Russia.
He also claimed to have more incriminating documents on Hillary Clinton - documents which he urged me to publish.
The information was sent to me via encrypted email. But despite the cloak-and-dagger presentation, the material was ultimately disappointing - a mishmash of old stories, publically available documents which were rather dull, and others which were obvious forgeries.
I asked him about his motivations. He said he believed that people have the right to know what's going on in the election process.
Trying to get friendly journalists to write sympathetic stories is a common tactic of Russia's online intelligence operations, says Lee Foster of FireEye, one of the big computer security firms which has been looking into the Guccifer 2.0 hacks.
"This is actually something that we've coined 'direct advocacy'," Foster says. "These false hactivists reach out to journalists but also other individuals, security blogs, and so on to get them to publicise the activity that they've been engaged in and sometimes even to spin particular narratives around those leaks as well."
Foster says he's highly confident that the Russian authorities are behind the Guccifer persona. For its part, Moscow denies being behind the leaks, and Julian Assange of Wikileaks says Russia wasn't the source of the leaked DNC emails.
After that, he stopped responding to my messages.
In the run-up to the US election in November, Guccifer warned that the Democrats would attempt to rig the vote. But after Donald Trump's victory, he went silent.
Last week US intelligence chiefs released a declassified version of a report which has been presented to President Obama and President-Elect Trump.
One of the report's key judgements read: "We assess with high confidence that Russian military intelligence (General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate or GRU) used the Guccifer 2.0 persona and DCLeaks.com to release US victim data obtained in cyber operations publicly and in exclusives to media outlets and relayed material to WikiLeaks."
It added: "Guccifer 2.0, who claimed to be an independent Romanian hacker, made multiple contradictory statements and false claims about his likely Russian identity throughout the election. Press reporting suggests more than one person claiming to be Guccifer 2.0 interacted with journalists."
So could there be several people involved in operating the Guccifer 2.0 persona? Lee Foster from FireEye believes so.
"It may be one person who actually looks after the twitter account or it may be part of a team," he told Trending. "But what we certainly can say based on the scale of the activity that we're seeing - that encompasses everything from this initial breach all the way through to the creation of these fake personas to push the information through to the trolling activity trying to push narratives around these leaks - this is not a one person effort. There's quite clearly a concerted and very well resourced and frankly sophisticated operation that is making all of this stuff come together."
Late on Thursday, Guccifer broke his two-month silence to respond to the US intelligence agencies report. "Here I am again, my friends!" he announced on his blog.
"I'd like to make it clear enough that these accusations are unfounded," the hacker wrote. "I have totally no relation to the Russian government. I'd like to tell you once again I was acting in accordance with my personal political views and beliefs."
Several observers noted that Guccifer's English had markedly improved.
Donald Trump has promised a full report on hacking within 90 days of taking office.
Lee Foster from FireEye says we shouldn't get too hung up on the Guccifer 2.0 brand.
"What doesn't really matter here is the personas themselves. What matters is to what extent does type of activity continue and potentially expand as well. We're already on the trolling side seeing a redirection towards European elections coming up, particularly France and Germany in 2017," he says.
After the report, and his blog re-emergence, I tried once more to contact Guccifer 2.0 on Twitter.
Next story: 'Why I dropped the case against the man who groped me'
Samya Gupta, a 21-year-old law student from the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, was napping on a seat near the back of a bus when she felt something on her breasts. 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-38610402 | |
US boot brand recalls shoe that leaves swastika imprints - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | 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 | |
Can Paris summit save fading two-state solution? - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A major Middle East summit in Paris aims to rescue the two-state solution, but risks setting it further back, says Yolande Knell. | Middle East | The fate of Jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues between the two sides
For many, the holy city of Jerusalem is meant to be a shared capital for Israel and the Palestinians - two peoples in two nations, living peacefully, side-by-side.
At least that is the dream of the so-called "two-state solution" to end a decades-old conflict.
The idea has been set out in UN resolutions going back to the mid-'70s, driving diplomatic efforts that culminated in the breakthrough 1993 Oslo Accords.
But after many rounds of failed peace talks, it looks increasingly in jeopardy.
A summit taking place in Paris on Sunday is expected to try to signal to Israel and the next US president that establishing a Palestinian state is the only path to peace.
Palestinians say Israel must freeze settlement activity before talks can resume
France will host more than 70 countries and world powers for the conference, but there will be no Israelis or Palestinians present.
Well-informed sources confirm reports of a draft statement asking both sides "to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution".
It will also affirm that the international community "will not recognise" changes to Israel's pre-1967 lines unless they are agreed with the Palestinians.
It will make clear "a negotiated solution" is "the only way to achieve enduring peace".
The Palestinians welcome the French initiative but it is rejected by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"It's a rigged conference, rigged by the Palestinians with French auspices to adopt additional anti-Israeli stances," he said this week. "This pushes peace backwards."
The conference follows last month's UN Security Council resolution which called on Israel to stop settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel says many international forums are historically biased against it
Over 600,000 Israelis live in these areas which were captured in the 1967 Middle East war. They are seen as illegal under international law, but Israel disagrees.
This week, US President Barack Obama returned to the subject of settlements in an interview with Israel's Channel Two.
"The facts on the ground are making it almost impossible - at least very difficult, and if this trend line continues, impossible - to create a contiguous, functioning, Palestinian state," he said.
"If that's the case, then what you're embracing is a vision of Greater Israel in which an occupation continues indefinitely."
The timing of the talks in Paris - just days before Donald Trump moves into the White House - appear very deliberate.
He has not yet spelt out his vision for the Middle East but has shown strong backing for the Israeli far-right.
He has nominated a lawyer, David Friedman, who is an outspoken critic of the two-state solution and supporter of settlements, to be his ambassador to Israel.
Mr Trump has also promised to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Palestinians say relocating the US embassy to Jerusalem will kill prospects for peace
Like other countries, the US currently keeps its embassy in Tel Aviv, as it does not recognise Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem.
"This is very dangerous what President-elect Trump wants to do," Palestinian official, Mohammed Shtayyeh tells me. "It is American recognition that Jerusalem is part of the State of Israel."
"We would consider this American move as an end to the peace process, an end to the two states and really putting the whole region into chaos."
A poll conducted last year suggests that a slight majority of Palestinians - 51% - and Israelis - 59% - still support the two-state solution. However there is high mutual mistrust.
In recent days, Israeli officials have urged world leaders to refocus their attention on ways to tackle terrorism following a truck ramming by a Palestinian that killed four young soldiers in Jerusalem.
They argue that the very Palestinian leaders with whom they are supposed to be seeking peace have incited an upsurge in attacks, mostly stabbings, since October 2015.
Some 40 Israelis have been killed and more than 230 Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli security forces. Israel says most of those Palestinians were involved in attacks. Others were killed in clashes with troops.
Palestinian leaders blame the violence on a younger generation's anger at the failure of talks to end Israel's occupation and deliver on promises of an independent state. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38608995 | |
How Antarctic bases went from wooden huts to sci-fi chic - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | For decades Antarctica hosted only the simplest huts as human shelters - but architecture in the coldest, driest, windiest continent is getting snazzier. | Magazine | How do you build in the most isolated place on Earth? For decades Antarctica - the only continent with no indigenous population - hosted only the simplest huts as human shelters. But, as Matthew Teller finds out, architecture in the coldest, driest, windiest reaches of our planet is getting snazzier.
It's an eye-popping, futuristic design - a dark, sleek building, low and long, that is destined to be a temporary waterfront home for up to 65 people at a time.
The price tag is a hefty $100m (£80m). And while a Chinese company is building it, it's not in China, and almost no-one will ever see it.
After the original burned down in 2012, the Brazilian navy launched an architectural competition for a replacement design - won by a local firm - and then awarded the building tender to a Chinese defence and engineering contractor, CEIEC. It's due to be completed in 2018.
The upper block will contain cabins, dining and living space; the lower block will house laboratories and operational areas
Located on a small island just off the coast of Antarctica, it lies almost 1,000km (600 miles) south of the tip of South America. No scheduled air routes come close and it's way off any shipping lanes.
And even if you could reach it yourself, like all Antarctic research stations Comandante Ferraz will be closed to the public. Virtually nobody other than the crews posted there will ever see it in the flesh. So why, you may ask, spend so much on architectural style? Wouldn't a dull but functional building do just as well?
Brazil is not alone in paying for eye-catching design, though.
In 2013, India unveiled its Bharati station, with a similar modernist design.
Designed by bof arkitekten, Bharati overlooks the sea and is used to study polar marine life
It was made from 134 prefabricated shipping containers, for ease of transport and construction, but you would never guess it from the outside.
And the following year, South Korea opened its Jang Bogo station - a grand, triple-winged module lifted on steel-reinforced blocks, capable of supporting a crew of 60.
Jang Bogo's aerodynamic triple-arm design is said to provide resistance to the elements
What is the explanation for this architectural flamboyance?
"Antarctic stations have become the equivalent of embassies on the ice," says Prof Anne-Marie Brady, editor-in-chief of the Polar Journal and author of China as a Polar Great Power.
"They are showcases for a nation's interests in Antarctica - status symbols."
Those interests could be purely scientific. But a moratorium on mineral prospecting becomes easier to review in just over 40 years' time, and every Antarctic player also wants to be ready to take advantage, should anything change.
Planting a dramatic building on the ice has become the modern equivalent of explorers of old planting a flag.
It wasn't always like this.
In March 1903, the 33 men of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition landed on the outlying South Orkney Islands and built a dry-stone shack.
Expedition leader William Bruce grandly named it Omond House, after the Edinburgh meteorologist, Robert Traill Omond. It was Antarctica's first permanent building, and is maintained today by the Argentine government as part of its Orcadas base.
For years afterwards, throughout the heroic age of polar exploration headed by Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton and Mawson, nothing much fancier than wooden huts went up on the white continent.
US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Shackleton's hut in November
Then came a - relative - building boom, spurred by the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-58, a global project for co-operation in science. The 1959 Antarctic Treaty, which resulted from the IGY, suspended all territorial claims, but that led many countries to set about consolidating their presence in other ways, such as construction.
The treaty's clause giving countries conducting "substantial research activity" in Antarctica a vote in meetings to determine the continent's future was another incentive to maintain a physical presence.
The US's sprawling McMurdo research station dates from this period. Powered from 1962 to 1972 by a nuclear reactor, it is the biggest settlement on the continent, housing a summer population of about 1,200.
The McMurdo station has a harbour, landing strips on sea ice and shelf ice, and a helicopter pad
The McMurdo coffee house serves hot drinks to workers and is attached to a small cinema - the chapel of the snows, a non-denominational Christian church, is nearby
For years, though, what with the huge technical and logistical difficulties in building anything in Antarctica, architectural glamour stayed off the list of priorities.
The UK's Halley station was just "a few wooden huts inside giant steel tubes" when meteorologist Peter Gibbs arrived in 1980. It lay buried beneath 15m (50ft) of snow.
"It was like living in a submarine, clambering up and down ladders to get in and out," Gibbs remembers.
Built in 1973, Halley III was abandoned in 1983 because of access and ventilation problems
Antarctica as a whole has so little precipitation it is classified as a desert, but snow does fall near the coasts, and in the interior low temperatures mean fallen snow accumulates faster than it can melt. Polar winds blow this snow around the continent, so that any object standing proud of the flat surface quickly gains a downwind "tail" of blown snow. Snow accumulation can swamp and crush buildings with ease.
The first Halley station, built in 1956, was abandoned 12 years later, when it too had become "like a submarine", as Gibbs puts it.
The version he worked in, Halley III, was built in 1973 and lasted only 10 years. Until Halley VI arrived in 2013, all were defeated by snow accumulation, and by the moving ice shelf on which they stood. At Halley's location the ice slides around 1.5m (5ft) a day towards the sea, but to maintain accuracy the station's scientific measurements have to be made at the same place year by year.
Designed by Hugh Broughton Architects and Aecom, Halley VI's red module contains the communal areas
Halley VI, however, is Antarctica's first relocatable research station. Its eight connected pods - like giant, colourful train carriages, which can be isolated to limit the spread of fire - sit on hydraulic legs mounted on huge, 8m-long skis. This means that the pods can be detached from each other, dragged by bulldozers to a new location, and the whole station reassembled.
That design is being put to good use, as Halley is currently being moved to avoid a chasm that is opening up in the ice nearby.
And Halley VI is both glamorous and comfortable.
Unlike earlier Halley stations, each bedroom now has a window to the outside
Its bijou bedrooms feel like a classy budget hotel. Interiors are fitted in vivid reds, blues and greens to compensate for the lack of colour outside. Halley's pool table and sofas sit beneath the only double-height internal space in Antarctica, stylishly lit - outside the months of winter darkness, anyway - by tall, semi-opaque windows. Beside the drinks bar climbs a spiral staircase, clad in aromatic Lebanese cedar veneer, chosen to stimulate an often-overlooked sense in the almost completely smell-free Antarctic environment.
"All the newest bases look good as well as do the science - it's a reflection of the priorities of our era," says Anne-Marie Brady.
South Africa was one of the first countries to solve the problem of snow accumulation with its SANAE IV base, which opened in 1997. It was designed with stilt-like legs, which let snow blow under the building.
Germany applied the same concept to its Neumayer III base, which opened in 2009, with an extra refinement. Sixteen hydraulic pillars allow the entire two-storey structure to be raised every year by around a metre. The foot of each pillar is then lifted and replaced on a new firm base of packed snow.
Neumayer III always stands 6m above the ice - up to 50 people live there during the summer and nine in the winter
Like the UK's Halley base, Concordia, an Italian and French research facility is used by the European Space Agency to study the physical and psychological effects of isolation - the nearest people are stationed 600 km (370 miles) away
Another element of Antarctic architecture that has become critical is energy efficiency. Most stations run on polar diesel, which is expensive, polluting and difficult to transport. Belgium's Princess Elisabeth station, an aerodynamic pod raised on steel legs, is the first with zero emissions.
Since its inauguration in 2009 it has run entirely on solar and wind energy, and - even here - has no heating. The station's layered design means interior temperatures are maintained from waste heat generated by electrical systems and human activity, and dense wall insulation reduces heat loss to almost zero.
The Princess Elisabeth station has nine wind turbines
Photovoltaic solar panels also provide electricity, while thermal solar panels melt snow and heat water for bathrooms and kitchens
If the Princess Elisabeth station looks like something out of a Bond movie, China's latest Antarctic station Taishan - its fourth - has been likened to a flying saucer. It was rush-built in 45 days in 2013-14, and is intended to last only a few years.
A model of the Taishan research centre - China's fourth in Antarctica
"China will probably start building a fifth station this year," says Anne-Marie Brady.
Like all the rest, few people will ever see it.
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38574003 | |
The NHS is making people sick, GP tells BBC - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | null | Doctors tell of their "guilt" and "distress" over the care they can provide amid pressures on the NHS. | null | Doctors have told BBC Newsnight that the NHS "is making people sick".
It comes after the prime minister said she wanted to help reduce pressures on hospitals by extending GP surgeries' hours. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38622003 | |
Trudeau reaffirms support for immigration and Canadian Muslims - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | null | Speaking about the difference between US and Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau strongly reaffirms his support for feminism, immigration and Muslim nationals. | null | Speaking about the differences between US and Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has emphatically reaffirmed his support for feminism, immigration and Muslim nationals. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38616652 | |
Will Catalonia try to secede from Spain this year? - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Independence-minded Catalans play a game of political chicken with Spanish authorities. | Europe | If the stand-off between the Spanish state and the north-eastern region of Catalonia has been intense for the past five years, 2017 looks set to be explosive.
Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont set the tone in a New Year message, saying a planned referendum would go ahead by September. That would defy the Spanish government's warning that any vote organised by Catalonia's regional authorities would be illegal.
"If 50% plus one vote 'yes', we will declare independence without hesitation," he said.
Tensions between supporters of independence and Spanish authorities are likely to rise when three senior Catalan ex-officials, including former president Artur Mas, go on trial accused of criminal disobedience for organising a wildcat poll in November 2014.
Spain's conservative prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, says he is willing to negotiate possible alterations to the relationship between the national and Catalan administrations, but will not discuss changes to Spain's constitution.
Artur Mas has spearheaded the Catalan campaign for independence
So Madrid says there will be no referendum. Barcelona insists there will be a vote and it will be binding.
"If we have 50% turnout and a majority in favour of independence, this will be legitimate. Then Madrid will have to ask itself if it is going to impose its laws by force, if the Catalan people choose their future peacefully and democratically," says Joan Maria Pique, the Catalan government's director of international communications.
The image of tanks rolling north across the Ebro river belongs to Spain's tragic civil war of the 1930s. But how would Madrid react if Catalonia made a unilateral declaration of independence?
When Spain's defence minister until last November, Pedro Morenes, was asked what the army would do in such a scenario, he avoided giving a direct answer: "If everyone does what they are legally bound to do, that situation will not be necessary."
Like other regions in Spain, Catalonia already has the power to run its educational and healthcare systems, as well as limited freedoms in the area of taxation. But Spanish constitutional experts offer little encouragement to supporters of independence for Catalonia.
"If the Catalan government does not negotiate the calling of a referendum with the state, it is not legally possible, because this power is held by the central state," explains Javier Garcia Roca, professor of constitutional law at Madrid's Complutense University.
Spain's constitutional court agrees. It outlawed the unofficial vote held in November 2014, and that ruling led to former Catalan President Mas and two of his ministers facing trial this year. If found guilty, Mr Mas could be barred from public office for a decade.
Surveys suggest a referendum vote on secession would be close
Many Catalan towns and villages have gone ahead and declared independence in a symbolic but defiant fashion.
A picturesque Costa Brava fishing village, El Port de la Selva, declared itself "morally excluded" from Spain's constitutional order in July 2010. Earlier Spain's top court had ruled that large chunks of the Catalan autonomy statute, approved by both the Spanish and Catalan parliaments, were unconstitutional.
The number of rebel municipalities has gone on growing.
One estimate from a pro-sovereignty association suggests 787 of the region's 947 town and city halls have declared support for "decoupling from the Spanish state".
Several local politicians and hundreds of councils are being investigated for offences deriving from symbolic disobedience of Spanish laws.
The constitutional court has also quashed several attempts by the Catalan parliament to vote into existence "instruments of state" for a future independent country, including a tax agency and a social security department that would form the basis of a new welfare system.
It has also annulled laws against fracking, gender inequality and banks which keep empty homes on their books. In 2010 the court sparked outrage by removing the preferential status of the Catalan language and quashing another dozen articles.
Catalan spokesman Joan Maria Pique accuses the Spanish government of "exercising juridical violence by violating the independence of the courts".
"The constitution lays down the principle of unity of the state and nation, which are described as 'indivisible'," argues Prof Garcia Roca. "It is a rigid document and the possibilities for imagination and constitutional engineering are therefore not the same for Catalonia as for Scotland."
Solar panels at a Barcelona cemetery: It is one of the most developed regions in Spain
And yet much of Catalonia believes that it has already triggered what pro-independence circles describe as "decoupling" from the Spanish state, backed by a majority of the Catalan parliament and the region's local councils.
A recent poll published by Barcelona-based newspaper El Periodico, not seen as backing independence, suggested that 85% of Catalans wanted a referendum, which all surveys predict would be extremely tight.
So while the Madrid government insists any vote will have no validity, the game of political chicken goes on.
Court orders have been served on councillors in Catalonia who refuse to acknowledge Spanish national holidays, remove flags or bow to other constitutional requirements, or who burn images of Spain's King Felipe.
Meanwhile, the tension continues to rise. Something will have to give.
11 September 2012: Barcelona's police estimate at 1.5 million the number of people attending the Diada march for independence
20 September 2012: Prime Minister Rajoy rebuffs Catalonia bid to cease being net contributor to the Spanish state
9 November 2014: Catalan authorities hold consultation on secession - more than 80% vote in favour, but turnout is only 40%
27 September 2015: In regional elections presented as independence plebiscite, pro-sovereignty forces win majority of seats with 48% of popular vote | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38582121 | |
10 things we didn't know last week - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Holding your baby on your left side may help you bond, and more news nuggets. | Magazine | 1. Holding your baby on your left side might help you bond.
2. You can't block Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook.
3. In 2022, you'll be able to look to the sky and watch two stars colliding 1,800 years ago.
4. For some years before he died, David Bowie had been working on a musical about aliens, mariachi bands and an imaginary collection of unreleased Bob Dylan songs.
5. White rhinos return to the same communal spot to poo - allowing them to pick up information about each other from the dung.
6. All electric trains in the Netherlands are powered entirely by wind energy.
7. About 70,000 retired Britons use Spain's health system, while only 81 Spanish pensioners are registered as covered by the NHS.
8. A Trump-branded apartment block in New Jersey was marketed to Chinese investors with the theme from The Sopranos.
9. Fund managers from poor backgrounds deliver better investment returns than those born rich.
10. Local anaesthetic has no effect on some people - and no-one knows why.
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-38594859 | |
Manchester United v Liverpool: Jose Mourinho answers reporter's phone - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | Man Utd manager Jose Mourinho answers a reporter's phone in the middle of his news conference previewing Sunday's match against Liverpool. | null | Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho answers a reporter's phone in the middle of his news conference previewing Sunday's match against Liverpool. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38609575 | |
Aston Martin DB4 GT production to resume at Newport Pagnell - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | null | Production of the iconic model is to begin again after a decade-long gap. | null | Production of the Aston Martin DB4 GT is to resume at Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, after a decade-long gap.
BBC reporter Mike Cartwright went along to see the plant. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-38618338 | |
Dakar Rally: Sam Sunderland becomes first British rider to win famous race - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/BBCSport/ | Sam Sunderland becomes the first British rider to win the Dakar Rally with victory in the motorbikes classification. | Motorsport | Sam Sunderland became the first British competitor to win the Dakar Rally when he took victory in the motorbikes classification on Saturday.
The 27-year-old, from Dorset, came home 32 minutes ahead of nearest competitor Matthias Walkner of Austria after the final stage in Argentina.
The KTM rider, who is based in Dubai, took the lead after stage five of 12.
The 38th edition of the rally began in Asuncion, Paraguay and ran through Bolivia and Argentina.
In 2014, Sunderland became the first British rider to win a stage of Dakar since John Deacon in 1998.
This was his third attempt at winning the rally, having been forced to retire in 2012 and 2014 with mechanical problems. The 2016 winner, Toby Price of Australia, pulled out of this year's race during the fourth stage.
"When I crossed the line I felt all the emotion hit me. The weight on my shoulders of the race over the last week, leading the rally, has been really heavy," said Sunderland.
"It's been difficult, especially in some of the moments with navigation mistakes or when things get stressful, to stay calm. But we're here, we did it, and I couldn't be any happier.''
Sunderland secured victory after safely navigating the final special stage, a 40-mile race into the Argentine town of Rio Cuarto.
It is the 16th year in a row that KTM have won the motorbike title.
French driver Stephane Peterhansel held off the challenge of compatriot Sebastien Loeb to win his seventh cars title. He has also won the bikes title six times. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/motorsport/38622085 | |
Quiz of the week's news - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | 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 | |
Ed Sheeran takes top two chart positions - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | 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.
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• 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 | |
Australian Open: Andy Murray spurred on by world number one status - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | Britain's Andy Murray says he needs to continue to improve if he is to remain world number one. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Coverage: Live commentary every day on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra plus TV highlights on BBC Two from 21 January; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website. Play begins at 00:00 GMT
Britain's Andy Murray says he needs to continue to improve if he is to remain world number one.
The 29-year-old Wimbledon champion replaced Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings at the end of 2016.
Murray returns to Grand Slam action at the Australian Open in Melbourne next week, where he has been runner-up on five occasions.
"The reality is, in sport, that things obviously keep moving on, the game will get better," the Scot said.
"I'll obviously get older, the young guys will continue to improve, and also Novak, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Rafa Nadal and all the guys at the top are still going to be wanting to get there.
"I need to continue to improve. I for sure need to keep working hard.''
Murray's first-round match against unseeded Ukrainain Illya Marchenko is scheduled third on Monday on Rod Laver Arena, following Simona Halep v Shelby Rogers and Kateryna Kozlova v Venus Williams.
Murray's successful 2016 - in which he also became Wimbledon champion for the second time and defended his Olympic title - ended with him being awarded a knighthood in the Queen's New Year Honours list.
But he says he has not been treated any differently by his fellow competitors.
"It kind of happened for me right at the end of the year, so I haven't been on the Tour much as the number one player," said Murray.
"So I haven't noticed it yet. I don't know if that will come over time, if I'm able to stay there or not."
Murray was also asked about Michael Downey's resignation as chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association after only three years in the role.
He said it was "disappointing" and another example of short-term thinking at the top of British tennis.
"I think for a system that - maybe everyone would say - has not really worked for quite a long time, for change to happen you need someone, or a team, in there that's going to be in it for the long haul and not just a few years," he added.
'I'm clearly the underdog,' says Federer
Despite winning 17 Grand Slam titles, including four in Australia, Roger Federer said he was "clearly an underdog" in Melbourne.
"Yeah, why not for a change? I mean, I prefer to be the favourite. Underdog is OK," said Federer, who could meet Murray in the quarter-finals should they both progress.
The 35-year-old, who is returning from a six-month knee injury lay-off, is seeded 17th and will play veteran Austrian Jurgen Melzer, 35, who came through qualifying.
Federer v Melzer is the final match of day one on Rod Laver Arena.
Second seed Djokovic starts the defence of his Australian Open title against former world number seven Fernando Verdasco of Spain, but will do so without the guidance of former coach Boris Becker, with whom he split late last year.
Djokovic, 29, would not be drawn on comments made by the German, in which he said the Serb had dropped his intensity in training which had contributed to a loss of form.
"We've had amazing success. It's all I can say. I don't want to go back and comment on anything," said Djokovic, who is looking for record seventh Australian Open crown.
"I kept a very friendly relationship with Boris. We just went separate ways." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38621679 | |
Hull tidal barrier lowered in sped-up video - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | 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 | |
Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 West Bromwich Albion - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | Harry Kane hits a hat-trick as Tottenham beat West Brom in dominant fashion to move second in the Premier League. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Harry Kane struck a hat-trick as Tottenham moved second in the Premier League table with a display of total dominance against West Brom at White Hart Lane.
Spurs equalled their club record of six straight Premier League wins with ease as they set about dismantling their visitors, amassing 10 shots and 78% possession by half-time.
Kane smartly lifted Christian Eriksen's neat through ball in off the upright, before Eriksen's own effort went in via Gareth McAuley.
England striker Kane - who became a father this week - was a continued threat and he turned in Kyle Walker's low cross, before completing his treble with a low finish across Ben Foster.
There was one black mark for Spurs in the form of an injury to Jan Vertonghen, which boss Mauricio Pochettino said "looks bad".
But his side are now showing real momentum and they simply outclassed Tony Pulis' Baggies, who stay eighth.
Mauricio Pochettino's nine changes from the FA Cup win at Aston Villa returned Spurs to the line-up that beat league leaders Chelsea just under two weeks ago.
Understandable, then, that his side bristled with energy and confidence. Eriksen and Dele Alli bounced around in midfield; Kyle Walker and Danny Rose constantly stayed advanced from full-back.
The high positions Walker and Rose took up saw West Brom's wide men Nacer Chadli and Matt Phillips pinned back, ensuring the away side could not escape in the early exchanges.
It broke the Baggies, who should have been more than two down at the break with Kane only finding the net once from seven first-half shots. The England striker was brilliantly denied on three occasions by Foster - who made eight saves in all.
Even against a side set up to frustrate them, Pochettino's men never looked like they would be short of answers as they scored four goals for the third time in four league games.
There will be concern, however, over the injury to Vertonghen. He looked distraught after rolling his ankle in the second half and would appear a major doubt to face Manchester City next week.
"The week has been a whirlwind having a little daughter - to finish it off like this is the best way possible," said Kane afterwards.
The 23-year-old called Tottenham's collective display "outstanding", and his own efforts were just that.
But Kane's life is certainly made easier by the creative work on the flanks of Walker and Rose, and the guile and endless support running from Alli and Eriksen.
Eriksen's impact can tend to be slightly overlooked, given the the focus on England internationals Kane and Alli, but the Dane has now created 59 chances this season - 29 more than his next most prolific team-mate.
Kane was clearly in the mood to make use of this impressive support, and might easily have scored more than three - he ended the day with 11 shots.
But there is no doubting that his ability to make space in the box offers those around him a perfect target, and he now has 62 Premier League goals - reaching 60 faster than any Spurs player has done before.
Pulis admitted his side simply "weren't on it" at White Hart Lane and referenced the gap in class and points between seventh place in the Premier League and the top six.
The harsh truth is Kane alone bettered the entire West Brom team for touches in the opposition area.
"We need to improve and we are trying very, very hard behind the scenes to do that," said Pulis afterwards.
January signings seem inevitable then, not that there is need for panic with such a solid top-half position.
Pulis stressed that striker Saido Berahino - linked with Stoke - does not need to be sold in order for him to recruit. But expect the Baggies to make signings, with left-back perhaps one area of concern as once again Chris Brunt was forced to fill in at White Hart Lane.
Penalty-box Harry - The stats you need
• None Kane has now scored 94% of his Premier League goals for Tottenham inside the box (58 of 62).
• None The defeat for West Brom marks their joint-heaviest Premier League defeat under Tony Pulis (along with 4-0 v Manchester City in October 2016).
• None The Baggies conceded more than twice in a Premier League away game for the first time since 16 January last year - 364 days ago (3-0 v Southampton).
• None The past 10 Premier League goals scored by Tottenham players have been netted by Harry Kane or Dele Alli (five each).
• None No player has scored more Premier League hat-tricks for Tottenham than Harry Kane (three, level with Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe).
• None Only Kevin de Bruyne (nine) has provided more assists than Christian Eriksen in the Premier League this season.
'The biggest gap to seventh' - What the managers said
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino: "It was a great performance. We are showing a good maturity. The team learned a lot from last season and we [have] very good momentum. If you want to fight and challenge for big things we need to follow performances like Chelsea with this one."
West Brom manager Tony Pulis: "We just weren't on it. Spurs were very good. You have to be on it against these teams. We were miles off it and it's disappointing. They have real quality. The top six in the Premier League this year, it could be the biggest gap ever to seventh, that's how far ahead of the rest of us they are."
Tottenham travel to Manchester City in a key game at the top of the table for the day's late kick-off on Saturday. West Brom host Sunderland at 15:00 GMT.
• None Goal! Tottenham Hotspur 4, West Bromwich Albion 0. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Dele Alli.
• None Goal! Tottenham Hotspur 3, West Bromwich Albion 0. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Kyle Walker.
• None Attempt blocked. Hal Robson-Kanu (West Bromwich Albion) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38539373 | |
Swansea City 0-4 Arsenal - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | Arsenal return to the top four with victory at Swansea, consigning Paul Clement to defeat in his first Premier League game in charge. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Arsenal returned to the top four with a handsome victory at Swansea City, consigning Paul Clement to a demoralising defeat in his first Premier League game in charge of the hosts.
Having initially been frustrated by their opponents, the Gunners led at half-time thanks to Olivier Giroud's powerful, close-range finish.
Alex Iwobi's strike looped in via a big deflection off Jack Cork to double their advantage, and Kyle Naughton scored a second Swansea own goal when he turned another Iwobi shot into his own net.
Alexis Sanchez completed the rout to lift Arsenal up to third in the table, while Hull's win over Bournemouth means Swansea return to the bottom of the table.
Despite some encouraging signs early in the game, this was a stark reminder to former Bayern Munich assistant manager Clement of the enormous task he faces to steer the Swans to safety.
By contrast, the ruthless nature of Arsenal's display - particularly in an extremely one-sided second half - will surely give Arsene Wenger renewed hope of mounting a serious title challenge.
• None Reaction from all of Saturday's Premier League matches
The Gunners' bid for a first title since 2004 had stuttered lately, largely due to an away record of one point from their past three Premier League matches on the road.
Although they started slowly against the high-pressing Swans, the visitors settled thanks to a goal from an increasingly reliable source.
Giroud started this game with 12 goals from his past 17 shots on target, and the France striker was clinical with his first effort on this occasion, seizing on Mesut Ozil's blocked header and firing the ball into the roof of the net from six yards.
Arsenal took control from that point and a period of concerted pressure early in the second half saw the floodgates open.
There was an element of luck about the second and third goals, but they were no more than the Gunners deserved for their dominance of possession and inventive use of it around the Swansea penalty area.
The irrepressible Sanchez finally got in on the act after 73 minutes, volleying in from close range to score his 21st goal in 32 Premier League appearances.
There was a certain symmetry to Clement's first league game in charge, coming as it did against an Arsenal side who had beaten Swansea 3-2 at the start of his predecessor Bob Bradley's short tenure.
One of Clement's priorities is to improve the Swans' defence - the most porous in the top flight - and the way his players shackled Arsenal early on with their high pressing was encouraging.
But after falling behind, the home side simply collapsed.
They were slack in their marking and slow to react to the Gunners' movement, summed up by the space in which Sanchez found himself in the Swansea box when he scored the fourth.
Swansea find themselves back at the bottom of the table and with a tough run of fixtures to come - Liverpool and Manchester City are two of their next three opponents.
The threat of relegation is as startling a reality as ever.
'They had problems containing us'
Swansea boss Paul Clement: "It is very disappointing. The first half we were in the game and looked solid defensively, even though we did not do enough offensively. We got caught on the counter for the first goal.
"We had a big claim for a penalty. Looking back on it, it is a penalty. In the second half, we started poorly and then it was an uphill struggle after the first own goal. Arsenal showed how much quality they have offensively."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: "The first half was very intense physically, they gave a lot in the first half and then our pace took over. They had problems containing us.
"In the second half, you could see we could create chances. Our transition and accuracy of passing was very good. We were fortunate with the goals, but the chances were there."
Ex-England midfielder Danny Murphy: "Arsenal have missed Mesut Ozil for a few games but he made a big difference against Swansea. Ozil was exceptional in crucial areas of the pitch.
"He makes the right decisions nine times out of 10. Ozil gives that extra quality and class in final third. Arsenal are a better team when he is in it. Alexis Sanchez and Ozil together make Arsenal an exceptional and dangerous team.
"Paul Clement will be on training pitch as long as he can. He is a workaholic. He will be quite savvy in the transfer market. He will improve Swansea but whether it will be enough, we'll have to wait and see."
Ex-Arsenal striker Ian Wright on Swansea's penalty appeal: "Swans boss Paul Clement said he thought it was a penalty. I didn't think it was. Ki Sung-yueng was searching for the (Laurent Koscielny's) foot and I think he kicks the foot. Those have been given."
On Sanchez's reaction to being taken off: "He is disappointed. He doesn't want to be taken off. He's so integral to Arsenal. If Sanchez is not there, there is massive problem."
It does not get any easier for Swansea as they travel to Liverpool next Saturday (kick-off 12:30 GMT), while Arsenal host Burnley on Sunday, 22 January (kick-off 14:15).
Sanchez central to Arsenal - stats of the day
• None Arsenal have scored 27 goals away from home in the Premier League this season, at least five more than any other side.
• None The Gunners have scored four or more goals in four away Premier League games this season, their most in a single campaign since 2002-03.
• None Giroud has scored in each of his past nine starts, netting 11 goals in total.
• None Sanchez has been involved in more goals (21) than any other Premier League player this season (14 goals, seven assists).
• None Swansea became the first team to score two own goals in a Premier League match since QPR against Liverpool in October 2014.
• None The Swans have conceded four or more goals in three of their past five Premier League home games, having only let in four or more in three of their previous 62 league games at the Liberty Stadium.
• None Attempt missed. Borja Bastón (Swansea City) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Oliver McBurnie with a cross.
• None Delay over. They are ready to continue.
• None Delay in match Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal) because of an injury.
• None Attempt blocked. Wayne Routledge (Swansea City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Oliver McBurnie.
• None Attempt saved. Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Aaron Ramsey.
• None Attempt blocked. Alex Iwobi (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
• None Attempt saved. Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Borja Bastón.
• None Offside, Swansea City. Oliver McBurnie tries a through ball, but Borja Bastón is caught offside.
• None Attempt saved. Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
• None Leroy Fer (Swansea City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38539469 | |
SpaceX rocket successfully lifts off - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | null | SpaceX successfully launches a rocket, its first mission since an explosion in September. | null | The SpaceX company has successfully launched a rocket, its first mission since one of its vehicles exploded in September.
The unmanned Falcon 9 rocket took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the California coast. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38624812 | |
Barack Obama legacy: The president and the tale of US jobs - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | 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 | |
Is it OK to watch porn in public? - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | How would you feel if the person sitting next to you on the bus was watching porn - and what would you do about it? | Magazine | It's no secret that lots of people watch pornography on the internet. It's usually something done behind closed doors - but how would you feel about someone watching porn in public? The BBC's Siobhann Tighe describes a troubling experience on a London bus.
It had been a long day at work. I got on the bus at 7.30 in the evening and it was cold and drizzly. All the passengers were wrapped up in thick coats, hoods and hats.
Inside, the bus was softly lit and I was expecting to zone out on my way back home: just let the day go and switch off.
I sat on the lower deck beside a complete stranger and didn't give it a second thought. I was just relieved to get a seat. As we meandered through the London traffic, my gaze was drawn to my neighbour's phone. I wasn't being nosy but in the dim light of the bus, the brightness of his mobile caught my attention even though he was slanting it slightly away from me.
Although I didn't mean to or want to, I found myself looking over towards his mobile a few times and then it suddenly occurred to me what was going on. The man beside me was watching porn.
Once I realised, although I genuinely didn't mean to, my eyes kept on being pulled back to it. I couldn't quite believe it. First he was watching animated porn, with the two naked characters in lurid colours repeating their movements over and over again. Then he started watching a film, which seemed to begin in a petrol station with a large woman in a low-cut yellow top and blonde hair peering into the driver's window.
I didn't hear any sound, apart from a brief few seconds when my fellow passenger pulled the headphone jack out of his mobile, and then reinserted it.
The man didn't seem to notice my glances towards his phone, maybe because his hood was hampering his peripheral vision. He seemed oblivious to me and others around him, who admittedly wouldn't have been able to see what I saw.
We eventually arrived at his bus stop and because he had the window seat and I had the aisle, he made a motion that he needed to get out, and he muttered a "thank you" as he squeezed past me. I watched him get off and walk down the street.
I felt uncomfortable and annoyed, but I didn't do anything about it. I didn't say anything to him and neither did he pick up on any of my glances or quizzical looks. His eyes didn't meet mine so I couldn't even communicate my feelings non-verbally and it didn't occur to me to tell the driver. Even if I wanted to, it would have been difficult to get to the front of the bus because it was packed.
But when I got off, questions flooded into my mind about what I had just experienced. What if a child saw that? Are there any laws about looking at porn in public spaces? If there are laws, how easy are they to enforce? Why did this passenger feel public transport was an appropriate place to watch porn, and should I be worried from a safety point of view?
As a journalist, I also looked at it from his point of view, even though he made me feel uncomfortable. I asked myself: is he within his rights to look at porn on his private device wherever he is? Do civil liberties in our society grant him that freedom?
But in my heart, I was offended.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. From disgust to it's ok, Woman's Hour took to the streets to find out what you think of it.
When I mentioned it to friends, everyone seemed to have a story of their own, or an opinion.
"It happened to me when I was with my son having a coffee at a Swiss airport," one said. "Two Italian guys were sitting next to me. I said something because I felt safe and I sensed there'd be support if an argument ensued." It worked, and they politely switched the laptop off.
It certainly got everyone talking, but like me, no-one was sure where the law stood.
According to Prof Clare McGlynn from Durham University who specialises in the law around porn, there's little to stop someone viewing pornographic material in public - on public transport, in a library, in a park or a cafe, for example.
"It's like reading a book," she says. "They are viewing lawful material which is freely available, and restricting people's access to it presents other challenges."
In Prof McGlynn's view, the law would only prevent it if the porn viewer is harassing someone or causing a disturbance.
So, what do you do? Prof McGlynn describes it as a dilemma.
"It's like someone shouting at you, calling to you to 'Cheer up, love!'" says Prof McGlynn. "Do you confront it, or do you put your head down and walk along?"
But when I contacted Transport for London, they appeared to take the case very seriously.
"If someone has made you feel uncomfortable, for example by viewing pornographic material, please tell the police or a member of our staff," I was told.
A member of staff said passengers should report incidents like to this to the bus driver, who would tell the control centre, and the information would then be passed to the police for them to investigate.
In Prof McGlynn's view, there is not much the police could do. On the other hand, James Turner QC contacted the BBC to say that there is a law - the Indecent Displays (Control) Act - which might form the basis for a prosecution.
Five years ago, in the US, the executive director of a group called Morality in the Media had an experience similar to mine on an aeroplane. As a result, the group - now called the National Center On Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) - campaigned to get the major US airlines to stop passengers watching porn.
"All of them except for one agreed to improve their policies to prohibit passengers from viewing this material during flights and agreed to better train their flight attendants on what to do," Haley Halverson of NCOSE told me.
Buses don't have flight attendants, though. Nor do trains. And even if police wanted to investigate incidents of porn-watching on public transport, passengers can get off whenever they like.
How would officers catch them and question them then?
Siobhann Tighe and Prof Clare McGlynn spoke to Jenni Murray on Woman's Hour, on BBC Radio 4. Listen to the discussion here.
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38611265 | |
Nottingham Forest sack manager Philippe Montanier - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | Championship side Nottingham Forest, who had a takeover fall though, sack manager Philippe Montanier. | null | Struggling Championship side Nottingham Forest have sacked manager Philippe Montanier after less than seven months in charge.
The 52-year-old leaves after the proposed sale of the club from Fawaz Al Hasawi to a United States-based consortium collapsed on Friday.
Forest are three points above the relegation zone in 20th after Saturday's goalless draw at Birmingham.
The Reds have taken just two points from a possible 21 since 11 December.
Frenchman Montanier, who took over at the City Ground in June, having left his job as boss of Rennes in January 2016, is the seventh permanent manager to depart the City Ground since the Al Hasawi family's takeover in July 2012.
His exit comes three months after Forest's director of football Pedro Pereira left his role at the club - a post the Portuguese held for four months.
Montanier's position had been under scrutiny for a number of weeks with the prospective takeover of the two-time former European Cup holders seemingly nearing a conclusion and expected to prompt changes.
The collapse of the takeover and the Reds' first point away from home for six weeks, ending a five-game losing run in all competitions, was not enough to save his job.
The goalless draw at St Andrew's was just the second clean sheet in 30 matches in all competitions this season, as the Reds have the worst defensive record of any Championship club apart from bottom side Rotherham.
However, only five teams, including the league's top two sides, have scored more goals in 25 league games this term.
Montanier, who previously managed Real Sociedad, Boulogne and Valenciennes, was unable to strengthen his squad in January with the Championship club only coming out of their transfer embargo on Friday, following a delay in submitting audited accounts.
Captain Henri Lansbury has also been absent from the side recently through injury and while there is uncertainly about his future, with Derby County, Aston Villa and Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic having all been linked with a move for the midfielder.
Following Saturday's draw at Birmingham, in what was his last news conference as boss, Montanier remained focused on trying to build the squad, while admitting he was also under pressure.
"The role of the head coach or manager is always in danger. It is part of my job," he said.
"I have told the owners that the most important thing is the team and the club, not my position. I am not selfish, I am always focused on the team.
"We now have to plan quickly to strengthen the squad. Decisions have to be taken now, instead of two or three days before the deadline.
"It is difficult because we do not have any money but I need to know exactly what I can plan and decide. I have targets but I do not know my budget. I need to have a meeting with the chairman for some advice on what we can do together."
Gary Brazil, Forest's academy manager, has been put in temporary charge while the East Midlands club looks for a new boss.
Forest are fourth from bottom, he hasn't been great, there have been too many defeats and too many goals against - it hasn't been a good season.
This team today against Birmingham got a decent point, but would you bank on it saving Forest? You probably wouldn't and it is a squad that isn't particularly united.
It has been a mish-mash of a season so far.
Next week it's at home to Bristol City, who have lost again today and are on a real downward curve at the moment. It is a real winnable game, but likewise they will be thinking 'we need a result and where better to go is Forest who can't win a game?' It is a huge game for both clubs - next week is vital. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38585962 | |
Women's March on Washington: The 'pussyhats' explained - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | null | A group of LA knitters is helping prepare for a demonstration in Washington next week, triggered by language used in the US election campaign. | null | A group of LA knitters is helping prepare for a demonstration in Washington next week, triggered by language used in the US election campaign. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38625901 | |
VW papers shed light on emissions scandal - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | 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 | |
Can music festivals save Australia's failing towns? - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | 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 | |
Diego Costa: Chelsea striker is dropped after dispute over fitness with coach - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | 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 | |
Obituary: Lord Snowdon - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | 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 | |
Seaside towns 'battered' by tidal surge - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | 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 | |
Nick Blackwell: Trainer Liam Wilkins has licence withdrawn after sparring session - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | 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 | |
Lawro's Premier League predictions v UFC star Michael Bisping - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | BBC football expert Mark Lawrenson takes on UFC star Michael Bisping in this weekend's Premier League fixtures. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
BBC Sport's football expert Mark Lawrenson will be making a prediction for all 380 Premier League games this season against a variety of guests.
Lawro's opponent for this week's Premier League fixtures is UFC star Michael Bisping.
Englishman Bisping, who is also starring in new action film xXx: Return of Xander Cage, is a Manchester United fan - and unsurprisingly backs them to beat old foes Liverpool.
You can make your Premier League predictions now, compare them with those of Lawro and other fans, and try to take your team to the top of the leaderboard by playing the BBC Sport Predictor game.
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
On FA Cup third-round weekend, Lawro got nine correct results, including three perfect scores from the 32 ties for a total of 180 points.
He was 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 came out on top, with 14 correct predictions, including three perfect scores.
Those scores do not count towards Lawro's total for the season from Premier League fixtures or appear on the guest leaderboard.
All kick-offs 15:00 GMT unless otherwise stated. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38555870 | |
Rare Trump whisky sold for £6,000 at auction - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A rare bottle of whisky signed by US president elect Donald Trump sells for £6,000 at an auction in Glasgow. | Scotland | A rare bottle of whisky signed by US president elect Donald Trump has sold for £6,000 at auction in Glasgow.
The 26-year-old GlenDronach single malt whisky was bottled in 2012 to mark the opening of Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire.
A Canadian bidder paid more than twice the estimated price to secure the bottle at the auction of rare whiskies.
A bottle of 52-year-old Macallan 1950 fetched £10,000, while a bottle of the Black Bowmore went for £5,200.
Laurie Black, whisky expert at McTear's auctioneers, said: "There was a huge amount of interest in the bottle and we were delighted with the final price, which was several times more than previous Trump bottles have sold for.
"The GlenDronach is a stunning whisky in its own right, however, the Trump connection gave this particular bottle a presidential boost."
• None Trump whisky going under the hammer | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-38616674 | |
Sydney International: Dan Evans loses singles final and Jamie Murray beaten in doubles - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | Dan Evans loses his first ATP Tour final as fellow Briton Jamie Murray and partner Bruno Soares are beaten in the doubles in Sydney. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Dan Evans lost in his first ATP Tour final, while fellow Briton Jamie Murray and partner Bruno Soares were beaten in the doubles in Sydney.
Evans, 26, led 4-2 in the first-set tie-break but eventually lost 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 against Luxembourg's Gilles Muller.
However, he is already guaranteed to climb to a new career-high ranking just outside the top 50.
Murray and Brazilian Soares were beaten 6-3 7-5 by Dutch duo Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop.
World number 34 Muller was the highest-ranked player on the tour to have never won a singles title, and the 33-year-old was visibly emotional after beating Evans and ending his 16-year wait for a trophy.
"It just means so much to win for the first time in front of my boys and my wife," he said. "It's been a great ride so far. What a night."
Elsewhere, American world number 23 Jack Sock won the Auckland Classic with a 6-3 5-7 6-3 victory over Portugal's Joao Sousa.
Sock's success comes after he was forced to retire because of illness in last year's final against Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut.
Belgian qualifier Elise Mertens beat Romanian third seed Monica Niculescu to win the Hobart International for her first WTA title.
The 21-year-old, ranked 127 in the world, lost nine of her first 10 points before taking control to beat world number 40 Niculescu 6-3 6-1.
The first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open in Melbourne, begins on Monday. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38621421 | |
Diego Costa: Chelsea boss Antonio Conte unsure when striker will return - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | Chelsea boss Antonio Conte says he is unsure when Diego Costa will return from injury after he was left out of the squad that beat Leicester. | null | Chelsea manager Antonio Conte says he is unsure when Diego Costa will return from injury after leaving him out for Saturday's 3-0 win at Leicester.
Costa had a dispute with a coach over his fitness and Conte said the 28-year-old Spain striker complained of a back problem on Tuesday.
There were also reports he is the subject of an offer to move to China.
"I don't know how long it will take, I don't have his pain," said Conte. "We'll see about this next week."
Costa has been integral to the Premier League leaders this season, having scored 14 goals and provided five assists.
BBC Match of the Day pundit Ian Wright said: "For Costa to come out at this stage when they need him so much feels very strange. He's scored 14 goals this season - you need someone like that in this team. It seems like it's derailed what's going on."
When asked if a move to China would surprise him, Wright said: "Absolutely not. Costa doesn't seem like the sort of person who cares what people think. Whatever happens - if it's his back it's very hard to detect - something has turned him."
Italian Conte, 47, was repeatedly questioned about the rumours surrounding the player after watching his side move seven points clear at the top of the table.
Asked whether Costa has a future at Stamford Bridge, he said: "I can't be concerned about this because today my players produced a great performance and showed spirit. I can't be concerned with nothing."
The former Juventus and Italy boss was then asked once more whether the Brazil-born forward would feature again for the Blues and responded with: "Why not?"
He added: "There are lot of 'if' questions - I don't like to answer these types of questions."
On reports of interest from China, Conte told BBC Sport: "I don't know and the club doesn't know anything about the reports of Costa to China. The truth is what I told you before."
Left-back Marcos Alonso, who scored twice against Leicester, said: "You guys [journalists] made up the story. Diego wasn't feeling well because of his back. He's very happy and will have a great season at Chelsea."
Analysis: 'If you get £60m, then let him go'
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.
• None Hear more from Mills on BBC Radio 5 live
Well done Conte. If you get £60m, then let him go.
He's at his peak, the team is built around him totally. He is a top, top player, but if he wants to go to China and be bored 18 hours a day, good luck to him. If he went - and I don't think he will - they don't win the league.
Conte is reasserting himself. Costa has football utopia at the moment - top of the league, top of the scoring charts, what is wrong in his life? He will come back quietly with an apology.
I don't think it will derail Chelsea. He is a quality player who they can't do without, People tell me he goes off on one like this, but he will see sense.
It is a very difficult dressing room at Chelsea and the manager has done very well this season. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38625228 | |
Police bodycam captures hammer attack - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | null | A man has been sentenced to life in prison for a hammer attack on police in Crawley, captured on bodycam. | null | A man has been sentenced to life in prison for a hammer attack on two police officers in Crawley, captured on bodycam.
Two tasers failed to contain Jamshid Piruz, 34, who was hiding in a bin area. One of the officers received minor injuries to his neck. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38621999 | |
Russia and the art of 'kompromat' - BBC News | 2017-01-14 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Russia denies collecting scandalous material on the US president-elect - but what is 'kompromat'? | Europe | Mr Trump scorned as "fake news" claims that Russia holds compromising material about his private life
Every Russian knows what "kompromat" means. Now, thanks to a graphic section of the unverified intelligence dossier on Donald Trump, the rest of the world does, too.
Since the allegations were made public, the US president-elect has denied claims that he cavorted in Russia with prostitutes - and Russian officials have denied claims that they filmed it.
This week, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin told me that "the Kremlin does not collect kompromat".
But someone in Russia clearly does. And the sensational results periodically surface, either via the compliant state media or via the internet.
Last spring was a case in point.
A state-controlled TV channel, NTV, ran footage of former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov in bed with his personal assistant, Natalia Pelevina. Not only was the material cringe-worthily intimate, it also revealed the couple bad-mouthing other members of Russia's notoriously divided opposition.
The tape helped divide them even further.
"It was shot inside a private apartment by the [Russian security service] FSB, there is no doubt about it," Ms Pelevina told the BBC, referring to what happened as an "obvious smear campaign".
Grainy video footage showed Mr Kasyanov with his personal assistant in a bedroom
There is no evidence that America's president-elect was ever caught in a similar way. But Ms Pelevina argues that her own experience suggests that such an idea is not implausible.
"I would not rule out that the Russian FSB has something against Donald Trump. Because they collect those materials not just against enemies; they collect against so-called friends. Just in case it will come in handy one day," she said.
Some argue that the FSB had no reason to ensnare Mr Trump before his presidential ambitions were public.
"What would have been the point?" Frederick Forsyth, a spy author who worked for MI6 for 20 years, asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday.
"I don't think there's any indication that the man who was host of the game show Apprentice and builder of hotels was ever going to be anything important in the political world," he said.
But a former Russian intelligence agent dismissed that logic.
"Donald Trump was never just anyone. He was always a well-known businessman, not just a tourist," the former operative, who asked not to be named, pointed out.
"You call it 'kompromat', but it's just information. Everyone does it. You British gathered it on [Mikhail] Gorbachev, we gathered it on [Margaret] Thatcher. So theoretically, yes, it's possible," he said.
If Russian agents did gather such information, he said, then it would be no surprise that it got out.
"You can't be surprised by anything anymore, after Edward Snowden and after Wikileaks," the ex-agent said.
That is one reason why many Russians are unfazed by the allegations. Another is that they have seen it all before.
The most notorious victim of kompromat was Yury Skuratov. The then-prosecutor general was investigating claims of corruption in the Kremlin in the late 1990s when Russian TV aired a video entitled Three in a Bed.
The grainy footage, which ended his career, showed a man resembling Mr Skuratov in bed with two women. The tape's authenticity was confirmed publicly by none other than Mr Putin, then head of the FSB.
Prosecutor General Skuratov was sacked in 2000 after a video appeared to show him with prostitutes
Then there was Mumu. In 2010, the part-time model befriended opposition activists and journalists and lured them back to her flat. Their sexual activities and drug-taking were all captured on hidden cameras. The films were then posted on the internet.
And the technique has been turned on foreign targets, too.
The British deputy consul-general in Yekaterinburg was forced to step down in 2009 after footage allegedly showing his own sexual encounter with two prostitutes was made public.
The UK Foreign Office declined to comment at the time, only stating that it expected "high levels of personal and professional integrity" from its staff.
The list goes on and the FSB is always cited as the prime suspect.
The big difference with the claims of kompromat against Mr Trump is, of course, that his alleged video tape has not been made public. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38613979 | |
European Champions Cup: Racing 92 34-3 Leicester - BBC Sport | 2017-01-14 | null | Leicester's hopes of reaching the Champions Cup quarter-finals end with an error-strewn loss at Racing 92. | null | Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Leicester's hopes of reaching the Champions Cup quarter-finals ended with an error-strewn loss at Racing 92.
Racing, the 2016 runners-up, had been winless in this year's campaign but led through tries from Xavier Chauveau, Marc Andreu and Gerbrandt Grobler.
A penalty try and Andreu's second after the break, along with nine points from the boot of Dan Carter, consigned the Tigers to a fourth consecutive defeat.
Leicester's European season will conclude against Glasgow on Saturday.
The Scottish club could still progress from Pool 1 should they win at Welford Road, with Munster already assured of their place in the last eight.
Aaron Mauger has now lost both of his games in charge of Tigers since becoming interim director of rugby following Richard Cockerill's sacking.
And there were few positives to take from a careless performance against a team that are struggling in the bottom half of the French league.
Chauveau set Racing on their way with a finish after the hosts' pack had pinned Leicester on their own line and Andreu ran in under the posts when he picked up Matt Smith's stray pass.
Freddie Burns' penalty gave Tigers their only points of the match but the visitors' night was summed up when Mathew Tait fumbled Carter's missed penalty and knocked on behind his own posts - handing Racing a penalty scrum that allowed Grobler to sneak over.
Tigers continued to wither under the power of the Parisian club's pack and Will Evans conceded a penalty try when he tackled a driving maul - the flanker was sin-binned for his contribution.
With Racing losing Antonie Claassen to a yellow card, Dan Cole thought he had scored for Leicester, but the television match official was unable to determine if the ball had been touched down.
And the Premiership side's misery was compounded late on when Andreu finished a slick move in the corner.
Leicester director of rugby Aaron Mauger: "It was frustrating and disappointing. We just didn't front up.
"Everything we talked about in the week in terms of preparation we just didn't do.
"We talked about winning the collisions and getting quick ball but I thought Racing were very good in that area. We weren't very good there and in defence we let them open up channels.
"With guys like Dan Carter in the team, they're too good."
Replacements: Afatia for Ben Arous (62), Chat for Lacombe (56), Tameifuna for Ducalcon (62), Williams for Van Der Merwe (54), Missoup for Fa'aso'o (71).
Replacements: Roberts for Smith (62), Kitto for Burns (72), Harrison for B. Youngs (72), Bateman for Genge (77), Cilliers for Cole (66), Fitzgerald for Slater (41), Hamilton for Evans (55).
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38577186 | |
Why Brexit is still undefined - BBC News | 2017-01-10 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Why the UK government is still weighing up its negotiating strategy for leaving the EU. | UK Politics | It is a curious moment in British politics. The government is facing the most important negotiations in over 50 years. The outcome will shape the future of the UK economy - but you would not necessarily know it.
The consumers - the voters - appear to be shrugging off the uncertainties, the unknowns and the warnings of future risks.
Many economists had predicted that a vote to leave the EU would tip Britain into recession. Instead, after six months, the UK is on track to be the fastest growing economy in the G7. Orders in the manufacturing sector are expanding at the fastest rate in 25 years.
Consumers are acting "almost as though the referendum had not taken place" asserts Andy Haldane, the Chief Economist at the Bank of England.
The economic forecasters are on the defensive or taking a turn in the confessional, admitting that the forecasting profession "is to some extent in crisis". It is a reminder of what I was once told - that economics is not a science but the politics of money.
There have been times in the past when politicians have urged voters to go out and spend, almost as if shopping was a patriotic duty. In recent months, the British consumer has needed no urging.
There has been a surge in UK retail sales
Warnings have been defied. Financed by a surge in borrowing, spending is accelerating. Confidence is high, buoyed by real income growth, the housing market outside London, low unemployment and a soaring stock market. Our European neighbours are a little open-mouthed at the way the script is unfolding.
But many of the same economists and forecasters who had warned against Brexit still believe a reckoning is coming. The rising costs of imports because of a weakened pound and increased fuel prices will combine to force some retailers to raise their prices. Higher inflation will test consumer appetites.
The robust economy has bought the government political space. It is not at the moment under pressure and does not yet need to show its hand but, slowly, a narrative is emerging that carries risks for Theresa May and her tightly-wound circle; that they are hobbled by indecision.
Perhaps, not surprisingly, you hear it said in the European Commission that the government neither has a strategy for the negotiations ahead nor does it know what it wants.
That is seeping into the conversations in Westminster and was boosted by the charge from Sir Ivan Rogers, the former UK Ambassador to the EU, of "muddled thinking" in the government.
Sir Ivan Rogers has warned about "muddled thinking" over Brexit
It is a narrative rejected by Mrs May and, to be fair to No 10, there are no easy choices. It is as complex a negotiation as any government has faced. Inevitably some people will be disappointed.
Brussels thinks the UK has made its choice. The PM has said the UK will insist on controlling EU immigration and on leaving the jurisdiction of the European courts. To those sitting in the halls of the EU that means Britain is set on leaving the single market because access to the internal market depends on accepting freedom of movement.
Theresa May has repeatedly rejected the idea that what the UK wants is a binary decision. She certainly believes that the government has to reassert control over EU migration and that is close to being a red line.
But ministers believe that does not preclude a deal, whereby access to the single market is negotiated for certain industries or where some elements of freedom of movement are accepted, while negotiating for the right to apply a brake if the system is under pressure.
Angela Merkel has said there will be "no cherry picking" by the UK over its Brexit deal
The official EU line is the one echoed by Angela Merkel who insists there will be "no cherry picking". So far, the 27 other members of the EU have been remarkably united behind that response.
The government, however, believes that once the negotiations start there will be greater flexibility to be exploited.
Downing Street knows that almost any deal has the capacity to stir up divisions, not least within the PM's own party. The differences will not easily be reconciled.
Many of the Brexiteers want to leave the single market and the customs union as quickly as possible, precisely because of the conditions attached to belonging to it.
However, a sizeable part of the Conservative Party, the City and the business community believes that leaving the single market would be reckless, risking serious damage to the UK economy.
Some time after the end of March, when Article 50 is triggered, the negotiations will begin. The initial focus will be on the terms of the divorce. Early on, the UK will face the bill to settle outstanding obligations, like contributions to the EU budget and towards EU pensions. In Brussels they put the price tag somewhere between 55 and 60 billion euros. That one item alone has the potential to sour negotiations.
In the two years to settle the divorce there will almost certainly be no time to agree a trade deal. That is why both the EU and some UK ministers are calling for a transitional arrangement.
Negotiating new trade agreements will be a key part of a successful Brexit
This will be a much more dangerous period for the government. Inward investment may weaken, businesses may postpone expenditure and some companies may decide to move part of their operations to a EU capital, while consumers may lose their confidence.
The challenge for the government will be to keep the voters believing that an agreement is achievable which protects the economy.
The greatest risk for the prime minister is that her opening bid is dismissed out of hand or that it becomes apparent that a compromise is beyond reach. There are well-known figures in the European Commission who do not disguise their determination to see the UK hurt.
That was Sir Ivan Rogers's concern, that the UK could slide into a "disorderly break" with nothing to show for all the talking, leaving the UK trading under World Trade Organization rules with common tariffs.
Within 10 weeks Mrs May will have to shed her instinctive caution, define her goals and become the great persuader both in Europe and at home.
At some stage she will face the maxim "to lead is to choose".
• None What are the Brexit options? | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38558056 | |
Society and the Conservative Party - BBC News | 2017-01-10 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A look at how Conservative leaders have attempted to define what society should, and should not, be. | UK Politics | Theresa May has set out her vision for a "shared society" in which the state has a role in helping people who are struggling to get by. It marks the latest attempt by a Conservative leader to spell out what society should, or should not, be.
Margaret Thatcher's remark about society was one of her most famous
In a 1987 interview with Woman's Own magazine, Margaret Thatcher said there was "no such thing as society", and that line went on to become one of her most famous.
It has been much debated over the years, with critics seeing it as evidence of a heartless approach where needy individuals are left to fend for themselves.
But Thatcher's supporters complain the quote is taken out of context, and in her memoirs the former PM said it had been "distorted beyond recognition".
More recently, polling has found that while a strong majority of people disagreed with the "no such thing" line in isolation, most agreed with the longer version.
Here it is: "I think we've been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it's the government's job to cope with it... They're casting their problem on society.
"And, you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families, and no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first.
"It's our duty to look after ourselves and then, also, to look after our neighbour. People have got the entitlements too much in mind, without the obligations. There's no such thing as entitlement, unless someone has first met an obligation."
Thatcher's successor, John Major, entered Downing Street in 1990 promising to create a "classless society", which he described as a "a tapestry of talents in which everyone from child to adult respects achievement".
He was still talking about it in his party conference speech the following year: "I spoke of a classless society. I don't shrink from that phrase.
"I don't mean a society in which everyone is the same, or thinks the same, or earns the same. But a tapestry of talents in which everyone from child to adult respects achievement; where every promotion, every certificate is respected; and each person's contribution is valued. And where the greatest respect is reserved for the law."
Next up was William Hague, who called for a "responsible society", and said Thatcher's famous line had been wilfully misinterpreted and used against the Conservatives.
"A strong society rests on responsible individuals and families. They need to be able to turn to straightforward, reliable help when times are bad," the Tories' 2001 manifesto said.
"But that should not become dependence on the state when times are good."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. David Cameron: "I think we're onto a really big idea, a really exciting future for our country"
"There is such a thing as society; it's just not the same thing as the state," declared David Cameron in his 2005 victory speech after becoming Conservative leader.
Five years later, the idea of a Big Society was a key strand of the Conservatives' 2010 general election manifesto.
It involved allowing voluntary groups and charities to run public services, encouraging people to do more volunteering and giving local groups more power to take decisions affecting their area.
After becoming PM, Cameron described building the Big Society as his "great passion", hoping "people power" would help keep pubs and museums open and mean more residents getting involved with their communities.
But there were reports Conservative candidates found it a hard concept to explain on the doorstep, and the Tories' political opponents said it was simply a way of hiding cuts to local services as the new government reduced public spending.
Mentions of the Big Society became less prominent over the course of the Parliament, and the theme featured little in the 2015 general election campaign.
Having quit frontline politics after the 2016 EU referendum, Mr Cameron now works with the National Citizen Service, describing the organisation as "the Big Society in action".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Prime Minister Theresa May said she wanted to "build a better Britain"
In what has been seen as a break from David Cameron's championing of voluntary work, Theresa May has stressed the role of the state in creating "a society that works for everyone".
The so-called shared society, she says, "doesn't just value our individual rights but focuses rather more on the responsibilities we have to one another" and respects "the bonds of family, community, citizenship and strong institutions that we share as a union of people and nations".
In a speech setting out her vision, she said there was "more to life than individualism and self-interest".
"We form families, communities, towns, cities, counties and nations. And we embrace the responsibilities those institutions imply.
"And government has a clear role to play to support this conception of society." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38553797 | |
Team Sky & Bradley Wiggins TUE controversy regrettable - Sir Dave Brailsford - BBC Sport | 2017-01-10 | null | Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford says the controversy surrounding Sir Bradley Wiggins and a medical package delivered to him in France is regrettable. | null | Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford says the controversy surrounding Sir Bradley Wiggins and a medical package delivered to him in France is regrettable, and refuses to say whether he believes he still has the backing of three-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome.
READ MORE: Cycling chiefs criticised by anti-doping chief over evidence to parliament | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/38573615 | |
Best Fifa Football Awards: Who did winner Cristiano Ronaldo vote for? - BBC Sport | 2017-01-10 | null | Cristiano Ronaldo won the title of best men's player in the inaugural Best Fifa Football Awards, but who did he - and others - vote for? | null | Last updated on .From the section European Football
Cristiano Ronaldo was named the world's best player at the inaugural Best Fifa Football Awards, beating old rival Lionel Messi to the title.
It caps another amazing 12 months for the Real Madrid and Portugal player, a Champions League,European Championship and Ballon d'Or winner in 2016.
But who did he vote for?
The voting data throws up some interesting - and sometimes surprising - results.
Take our quiz to see how well you can guess the voting patterns of the world football community.
• None See a rundown of how the votes were cast | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38564756 | |
The shared society - more than a slogan? - BBC News | 2017-01-10 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Theresa May believes life isn't very fair for millions of people. But can the PM's words be translated into action given the other challenges she faces? | UK Politics | When she began her leadership campaign to move into No 10, in an uncharacteristically brash statement, the then home secretary stood up and said: "I'm Theresa May and I'm the best person to be prime minister."
But in the six months since she did take charge, far, far faster than she had anticipated, politics has been dominated by the questions the prime minister doesn't want to answer yet - on how she plans to negotiate our EU exit.
And without very much evidence of a bold vision on that front in recent weeks, charges that her government is directionless, drifting, have started to gain currency.
That's why her first big speech of the year, the start of what aides describe as a "lot more activity", matters, as the prime minister seeks to try to explain to the public why she believes she is the best person to be prime minister.
After her speech on the steps of Downing Street, and the Tory party conference in October, and under the glittering chandeliers of the Mansion House before Christmas, today was one of what's still only a handful of opportunities she has taken to sketch her own image as the occupant of Downing Street.
If you were hoping for radical departures from the PM, you'd have been disappointed.
In fact it was striking how familiar today's speech was to those previous few - whole sections were more or less identical, with another strong restatement of her belief that for millions of people, life just doesn't feel very fair.
She is not a politician trying to sell a cheery vision, not a politician claiming that nirvana is around the corner. She mentioned the word injustice 17 times, what she described as "everyday" injustice that breeds resentment between young and old, London and the rest of the country, rich and poor.
Listening to her on all of those big occasions, despite having been at the top table of the government for six years, you sense that Theresa May fundamentally thinks that there is quite a lot that is wrong with Britain.
But alongside what feels by now, a familiar and rather downbeat analysis of the state we are in, for the first time came what the prime minister wants us to see as her solution to all that.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Theresa May warns about rise of 'fringe' politics
Not the Big Society of David Cameron, nor even Margaret Thatcher's much misquoted statement, "there is no such thing as society - there are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first".
But for Theresa May it is a "shared society", where we all have responsibilities to each other, and an "active" government has a responsibility to step in to help, not just the poorest, but the millions in the middle too.
After a while, every political leader finds themselves in need of a slogan, and it's certainly not the worst that's ever been dreamed up.
She wants you to see her and her party as the sensible middle, on the side of ordinary families, not veering away from the centre ground. It's about as clear an appeal to Middle England, where elections are traditionally won, as you can find. But while she gave today the skeleton of a philosophy, there was not a fully fleshed-out body of policy to accompany it.
And even before the speech was given, the policy that she did talk more about crashed into the common problem of reality versus political rhetoric. Theresa May's desire to make sure that people who need help with their mental health, particularly children, get what they need as soon as possible, and that society sheds the stigma around it, seems genuinely felt.
But she is not the first Conservative politician to have made such a promise. Her predecessor made a similar big one exactly a year ago.
And more importantly perhaps, there is deep scepticism from opposition politicians and those who work in the sector, that the system can work properly without a significant amount of extra cash.
What's happening on the ground was described to me as a "car crash" today by someone in the sector. However many times the prime minister says she wants to make sure mental health is treated just a seriously as physical health, the pressures on funding right across the NHS do matter.
Today's measures are also about where money is being allocated, not opening up the taxpayer's chequebook to top up health budgets.
But that's not the only political problem that Theresa May's vision of a "shared society" will face. Prime ministers are always defined by what they choose to pursue but also by what they can't control.
In managing our departure from the EU, she faces the biggest challenge any leader has had in decades. Preventing her government from becoming consumed by that will take more than a series of speeches and a new slogan. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38555929 | |
Sydney International: Johanna Konta beats Daria Gavrilova to reach quarter-finals - BBC Sport | 2017-01-10 | null | British number one Johanna Konta reaches the Sydney International last eight with a 6-1 6-3 win over Daria Gavrilova. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
British number one Johanna Konta reached the last eight of the Sydney International with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Australian Daria Gavrilova.
The 25-year-old broke the world number 25 in the opening game and dropped only four points on serve in the first set.
The world number 10 wasted four match points on her own serve in the eighth game of the second set, but broke Gavrilova in the ninth to seal victory.
Konta will play Russian world number 26 Daria Kasatkina in the quarter-finals.
The 19-year-old beat world number one Angelique Kerber earlier. Third seed Dominika Cibulkova and fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova were also beaten on Tuesday.
Konta said: "It's such a strong tournament, such depth. I know going into every single match that it's going to be a tough one and I'm just going to have to, first and foremost, take care of things my end." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38567217 | |
Pioneer Cabin Tree in California felled by storms - BBC News | 2017-01-10 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Storms in California fell a popular tree with a hole cut in the trunk that cars could drive through. | US & Canada | The giant sequoia, which was carved into a living tunnel over a century ago, has fallen
Storms in California have toppled one of America's most famous trees - the Pioneer Cabin Tree.
The giant sequoia was known for having a hole cut through its trunk - big enough for a car to drive through.
The tree, estimated to be more than 1,000-years-old, was felled by the strongest storm to have hit the area in more than a decade.
California and Nevada have been hit by unusually high rainfall levels, leading to flooding and falling trees.
The Calaveras Big Trees Association first reported that the drive-through Pioneer Cabin Tree - carved 137 years ago - was no more.
The storm was "just too much for it", the group wrote in a Facebook post that has drawn nearly 2,000 comments.
"Many memories were created under this tree," one read. "They will remain good memories."
Others pointed out that the tree might have survived for longer if a tunnel had not been carved into it.
"You can't cut a hole in a tree like this and expect it to live," said one comment.
"This hole always bothered me so much. Why not just drive around it?"
Park volunteer Jim Allday said the sequoia, also known as the Tunnel Tree, shattered as it hit the ground.
"We lost an old friend today," he wrote in a social media post.
Giant sequoia are closely related to the redwood tree, which is considered the tallest tree species on earth, reaching 250ft (76 metres).
They can only grow naturally in the groves of California's Sierra Nevada mountains.
The tree fell as parts of California and Nevada were drenched by a seasonal weather system known as the Pineapple Express.
Not to be confused with the Seth Rogen movie of the same name, the Pineapple Express is an "atmospheric river" that extends across the Pacific from Hawaii to the US West Coast, meteorologists say.
"This is a serious flood situation," the National Weather Service said in a special flood statement late Sunday night after the Russian River in California and the Truckee River in Nevada burst their banks.
Hundreds of people have been forced to flee their homes in Northern California and Nevada as water levels rise, and avalanches and mudslides close roads. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38561877 | |
Morgan Schneiderlin: Man Utd and Everton agree £22m fee for midfielder - BBC Sport | 2017-01-10 | null | Manchester United agree to sell France midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin to Everton for £22m. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester United have agreed to sell midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin to Everton for £22m.
France international Schneiderlin, 27, was signed for United by Louis van Gaal for £25m from Southampton in July 2015.
He has played 47 times for the club but has only featured eight times under Jose Mourinho this season, including three Premier League appearances.
Everton, meanwhile, have agreed to loan striker Oumar Niasse, 26, to Hull, with personal terms still to be agreed.
The Senegal international signed for £13.5m from Lokomotiv Moscow in February 2016 but has played only seven times for the Toffees.
Following United's 2-0 win against Hull on Tuesday, Mourinho said: "Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward informed me that the situation is close. Morgan is more than probably going to Everton.
"I am sad and happy, sad because I like him and he could be an option for us, happy because this is what he wants, to play every game and be important in the team."
• None Listen: 'Man Utd want a defender - but not Lindelof'
Manager Ronald Koeman demanded the club make January signings in the wake of their FA Cup third-round exit to Leicester.
They have already signed 19-year-old forward Ademola Lookman from Charlton for £11m.
If Schneiderlin, who was also a target for West Brom, moves to Goodison Park he will work with Koeman for a second time, having spent two years under the Dutchman at Southampton.
Koeman still retains a strong interest in another United player, his countryman Memphis Depay, who is also an Old Trafford outcast.
Everton may face competition from abroad for the 22-year-old, who joined United from PSV for £25m in May 2015.
Morgan Schneiderlin has struggled to adapt and stamp his personality on anything at Old Trafford. But he gets across the ground well, he can tackle and he gets up and down the pitch.
At his best he's a typical Premier League central midfield player. Everton are buying someone who you know has been able to produce the goods in the Premier League from his time at Southampton. He's not a gamble. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38577591 | |
Brazil: Clash of cultures over Amazon dams - BBC News | 2017-01-10 | null | Indigenous groups and river dwellers are battling the government and big corporations over the huge dams being built to meet Brazil's energy needs. | null | Indigenous groups and river dwellers are battling the government and big corporations over the huge dams being built to meet Brazil's energy needs.
The Belo Monte hydroelectric dam is the world's fourth largest dam, capable of generating 11,000 MW of energy, and more are planned. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38565028 | |
United Kingdom first to recognise parkour as official sport - BBC Sport | 2017-01-10 | null | Parkour, also known as freerunning, is officially recognised as a sport in the United Kingdom. | null | Last updated on .From the section Sport
The United Kingdom has become the first country to officially recognise parkour as a sport.
The practice, also known as freerunning, has had its application to be recognised approved by the home country sports councils.
Governing body Parkour UK says participants can "take part whenever and wherever they want".
Minister for Sport Tracey Crouch described it as a "fun, creative and innovative option".
"I want people to get out there and find the sport and physical activity that appeals to them," she added.
"I am pleased that it has been recognised as a sport, giving it the platform for further growth in this country.
"The sport promotes movement and using the great outdoors as a space to get active in and I encourage people to don their trainers and give it a go."
According to Parkour UK, the discipline was founded in France in the 1980s by a group of nine men and named l'art du deplacement.
The governing body describes it as a physical discipline in which participants "move freely over and through any terrain using only the abilities of the body".
Parkour UK says it "encourages self-improvement on all levels, revealing one's physical and mental limits while simultaneously offering ways to overcome them".
The term "freerunning" was introduced to communicate the sport to an English-speaking audience.
Sebastien Foucan, president of Parkour UK, is most recognisable from his role as Mollaka in the opening scene of James Bond's Casino Royale, where he is chased through a building site by Daniel Craig.
Foucan, who has also appeared music videos for Madonna and stared on Channel 4 documentary Jump London, called the decision a "groundbreaking moment for a discipline which started off as child's play and continues as child's play - for all ages".
"We celebrate activity and playfulness whilst constantly challenging our mental and physical limits. It is more than just jumping, it is a health driven way of life," he added.
Parkour UK chief executive Eugene Minogue said the sport is now in a vast majority of primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, with the UK also boasting 50 Parkour Parks.
He added: "All this in just over seven years , an amazing achievement and testament to the unique and diverse parkour/freerunning community in the UK, which is world leading."
However, parkour has faced some criticism for "potentially jeopardising lives" and encouraging "trespassing".
The UK's freerunning community said it was left "scarred" after the death of prominent freerunner Nye Newman on New Year's Day.
The 17-year-old's parkour group, Brewman, says he died in an accident on the Paris Metro, but denied he was train surfing at the time.
How does a sport become recognised?
The Council of Europe defines 'sport' as any form of physical activity, casual or organised, aimed at "expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being, forming social relationships or obtaining results in competition at all levels".
Sport England, UK Sport, Sport Northern Ireland, Sport Scotland and Sport Wales refer to this charter when they determine what they officially recognise as a sport.
The national governing body of any activity wishing to become an official sport must apply to the home country sports councils.
Sport England says: "Sports council recognition of a national governing body is not a guarantee of funding and neither does it mean we have approved or accredited the quality of its programmes." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/38567616 | |
Reality Check: Was 27 December the busiest NHS day? - BBC News | 2017-01-10 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says 27 December was the busiest day in NHS history. Is he right? | Health | The claim: Tuesday 27 December was the busiest day in the history of the National Health Service.
Reality Check verdict: In relation to attendance at type-one accident and emergency departments (the general A&E departments at big hospitals), Mr Hunt is correct. That's a reasonable measure of how busy the NHS is, but other measures suggest different days were busier.
Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt made the claim on BBC Radio 4's Today programme as he thanked staff for their work over Christmas.
NHS England publishes daily statistics during the winter for several metrics to do with NHS services, so we can look into whether it is the case.
We can assume he was talking about the NHS in England only, because health is devolved, so he is not in charge of the NHS in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
The number of people attending accident and emergency departments is an important indicator of demand for hospital services.
On 27 December, there were 60,215 attendances at A&E departments.
That is a high level, but it's not the highest for the month, which was set at 60,692 on 5 December.
But it turns out that Mr Hunt was talking about only type-one A&E departments, which is what most people would think of as an A&E department.
Type-two are specialist units, such as Moorfields Eye Unit, while type-three are GP-led walk-in centres.
There were 46,315 attendances at type-one A&E departments, which is the highest of the month. Comparisons with previous years are difficult due to changes in coverage and figures not being broken down in the same way.
Another important measure is the number of emergency admissions, which was 13,715 on 27 December.
That is a high figure, but the number was higher on each of the following three days - it was 14,649 on 28 December.
Looking at the proportion of beds occupied: on 27 December, 90.5% of the total number of available beds were occupied.
That's actually quite low by the standards of last month - there were higher figures on 24 days in December.
NHS England says that the week ending 1 January 2017 was the busiest week for the NHS 111 24-hour non-emergency service since it began in August 2010, but we do not get that figure broken down by day so cannot say whether the Tuesday was the busiest day.
We also do not have daily figures for how busy other parts of the NHS were, such as GPs.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38561247 | |
World Cup: Gianni Infantino defends tournament expansion to 48 teams - BBC Sport | 2017-01-10 | null | Fifa president Gianni Infantino defends the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams, saying the change is based on "sporting merit" not money. | null | Last updated on .From the section Football
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has defended the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams, insisting the change was based on "sporting merit" and not to make money.
The sport's world governing body voted unanimously in favour of the change at a meeting in Zurich on Tuesday.
Campaign group New Fifa Now described the expansion as "a money grab and power grab".
But Infantino told the BBC: "It is the opposite, it's a football decision."
He added: "Every format has advantages in financial terms. We were in a comfortable situation to take a decision based on sporting merit."
An initial stage of 16 groups of three teams will precede a knockout stage for the remaining 32 with the change coming in for the 2026 tournament.
According to Fifa research, revenue is predicted to increase to £5.29bn for a 48-team tournament, giving a potential profit rise of £521m.
"This is a historic decision which marks the entrance of the World Cup into the 21st Century," added Infantino.
The Football Association has urged Fifa to consider the needs of fans, players, teams and leagues and asked for more information on how the tournament would work, with Infantino admitting much of the detail has yet to be worked out.
The European Club Association (ECA), which represents the interests of clubs at European level, reiterated it was against expansion. It said Fifa had made a political rather than a sporting decision.
New Fifa Now says the governing body needs to reform, and that the change would "dilute the competitiveness of the tournament".
Infantino, however, maintains the expansion will increase the quality of the teams in the competition.
"Costa Rica eliminated England and Italy in the last World Cup, a good solid team and there are many other teams who could make it to the World Cup," he said.
"I believe that the actual quality could rise, because many more countries will have the chance to qualify so they will invest in their elite football as well as grassroots."
Responding to criticism from European clubs, Infantino added: "The game has changed. Football has now become a truly global game. Everyone is happy about investment in Europe, but what about helping outside Europe? They need to be open.
"The key message from clubs I appreciate fully has always been don't touch the calendar, the dates of the World Cup or the burden for the players, and both these commissions fulfil them.
"We will play 32 days like now, we play maximum seven matches like now, 12 stadiums, like now, but give the chance for more countries to dream."
How it would work?
The number of tournament matches will rise to 80, from 64, but the eventual winners will still play only seven games.
The tournament will be completed within 32 days - a measure to appease powerful European clubs, who objected to reform because of a crowded international schedule.
The changes mark the first World Cup expansion since 1998.
Infantino said the decision on who will get the extra qualification slots has yet to be made but "this will be looked at speedily", adding: "The only sure thing is that everyone will have a bit more representation than they have."
The president said he believed the World Cup could emulate what he felt was a successful Euro 2016 tournament, where the number of teams taking part was similarly increased.
Qualifying for last year's tournament featured a record 53 nations, while the number of teams at the finals increased from 16 to 24.
"It was the most interesting in the history of the European Championship," said Infantino.
"All the other teams started to believe in their chance to qualify and play matches with a different mindset that they could qualify.
"We saw Wales, Iceland, Northern Ireland qualify, some for the first time, some for first time in many years. The Netherlands always qualify, but they didn't. Qualifying created a whole new dynamic and hopefully we will do the same." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38577001 |