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Nato says viral news outlet is part of "Kremlin misinformation machine" - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Critics, including NATO, say it's part of a campaign of Russian misinformation. But its UK editor says his outlet has been unfairly attacked by the West.
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BBC Trending
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In the world of viral news, it's a relative baby - but it's already become so controversial that a Nato spokesperson told BBC Trending that Sputnik is an agent of Russian misinformation.
Sputnik was set up in 2014 and puts out podcasts, radio shows and text stories which are shared thousands of times a day on Twitter and Facebook. It's recently been adding international bureaux, including a UK headquarters in Scotland.
But at the same time Sputnik has also been on the receiving end of criticism - by US intelligence agencies, the British defence secretary, and now by Nato, who says it is part of a "Kremlin misinformation machine."
"Outlets like Sputnik are part of a Kremlin propaganda machine which are trying to use information for political and military needs," Nato spokesperson Oana Lungescu told BBC Trending. "It is a way, not to convince people, but to confuse them, not to provide an alternative viewpoint, but to divide public opinions and to ultimately undermine our ability to understand what is going on and therefore take decisions if decisions need to be made."
"It's extremely unfair but we've been on the receiving end of other similar accusations in the past, without any substantive evidence being provided," says Nikolai Gorshkov, Sputnik's UK editor. "We prefer to leave those inclined towards this kind of conspiratorial thinking to it."
So what's the truth about Sputnik?
Many stories on Sputnik, whose motto is "Telling the Untold", are news items. Like other international broadcasters, it sees itself as a gift to the world to diversify the media diet - in this case, funded by the Russian government.
But Western officials and outside observers say that Sputnik follows an anti-West, pro-Russia, pro-Trump line in its selection of stories, in the way it frames them, and its choice of commentary. On Friday evening, for instance, Sputnik's top story was headlined "Americans 'Don't Buy' Media Criticism of Trump Following Years of Pro-Obama Bias".
A recent US intelligence report on alleged Russian interference in the American election described the editorial line of Sputnik and the TV station RT, which like Sputnik is funded by the Russian government-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya. "RT and Sputnik consistently cast President-elect Trump as the target of unfair coverage from traditional US media outlets that they claimed were subservient to a corrupt political establishment," the report said.
"The question of balance is really important - particularly if you're a public service broadcaster," says Ben Nimmo, a research fellow at the Atlantic Council, an international affairs think tank based in Washington DC. "Balance is where so much of the time I see Sputnik falling down. It will quote one side but it won't give an appropriate screen time, column inches or airtime to the other side and that's the big difference."
Nimmo and others suggest that Sputnik's UK base in Edinburgh - rather than London, where most international media companies set up shop - is an attempt to encourage Scottish independence and stoke up discontent towards the British government.
That's just not true, according to Sputnik themselves. Gorshkov says the reason for the Scottish base is more pragmatic. He cites the high cost of property prices in London and says he'd rather invest in journalists.
"We're not trying to influence Scottish thinking, because being based in Edinburgh, we do now realise how fiercely independently minded the Scots are," he says. "You can't influence a Scot."
Hear this story in full on the BBC World Service, or download our podcast
In addition to its news coverage, Sputnik's sharply opinionated blogs have also been the subject of criticism.
"If you look at the byline of people who write commentaries for Sputnik or RT, a lot of them are extremely obscure individuals connected to the far right or the far left, or so-called specialists or experts who nobody's heard of," says Lungescu, the Nato spokesperson. "You can always find somebody to say anything, but that doesn't make it journalism."
One of the bloggers heavily featured on the site, Angus Gallagher, specialises in pro-Russia, pro-Donald Trump pieces sharply critical of the West, with headlines such as "7 ways the EU-NATO Axis is Sabotaging Western Civilisation" and "Sacrificed for the EU-NATO Axis: Europe's Women Branded Whores and Liars". The latter article accuses Western think tanks of conspiring to play down reports of sex attacks by migrants, in an anti-Russian plot.
Ammon Cheskin, a professor in Central and Eastern European studies at Glasgow University, says the posts are typical of the "paranoid perspective" of commentators on the site.
"No one is quite sure who this individual is or if he actually exists," he says.
But Sputnik's UK editor Gorshkov told us that bloggers, including Gallagher, aren't members of staff, but rather are volunteers who use the Sputnik platform to write their opinion pieces. He says he's never met Gallagher and doesn't oversee the blogs section of the website. But he insisted that he is indeed a real person.
"He reflects the views of a good chunk of the audience," Gorshkov says. BBC Trending left Facebook messages left for Gallagher himself, but they went unanswered.
The Russian embassy in London denied the accusations that the Kremlin is behind a misinformation machine.
"In our view, the claims of perceived 'Russian misinformation campaign to undermine the West' are a way to avoid an open and reasoned debate of the issues raised in British and American societies," the embassy press office wrote in an email. "Obviously, sticking labels of 'fake news' and 'misinformation' testifies to the lack of [a] positive agenda."
Gorshkov says the criticisms against Sputnik have cascaded down from governments and think tanks because the establishment in Western countries feels threatened.
"They don't like the emergency of a mass media outlet which is giving more context, more background, more angles to stories. They probably think it's a threat to their view of the world," he says.
And he hopes that Sputnik will reach Westerners disaffected by the mainstream media.
"Are they all Russian stooges who voted for Brexit or for Trump? Are they all useful idiots? That's really preposterous," he says. "I think that's really an offence against them, all those millions."
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.
Next story: The alt-right's war on Netflix and Trump court memes
Why are some followers of the alt-right cancelling their Netflix accounts? READ MORE
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-38936812
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Newspaper headlines: End of Iraq abuse unit welcomed - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The end of the unit handling abuse claims against British troops in Iraq is welcomed in many papers.
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The Papers
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There is much rejoicing that the unit handling claims of abuse against British troops in Iraq is to be scrapped.
Three papers believe their campaigns against the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat) played important parts in its downfall.
"At last, an end to the witch-hunt," says the front-page headline in the Daily Mail.
The paper believes what it calls the "ruthless hounding of hundreds of innocent soldiers" has been "one of the most shameful chapters" in the annals of British justice.
It says the exercise has been a "nice little earner" for lawyers, agents, Iraqi civilians who received compensation and the Ihat investigators, while troops had their reputations "smeared".
The Mail describes a separate inquiry - into killings carried out by British soldiers during the Troubles in Northern Ireland - as "another, politically motivated witch-hunt".
The Sun condemns Ihat for "blackening the Army's name".
It features the testimony of a former sergeant who says he was "left to rot" while lawyers investigated him for shooting an Iraqi who had been threatening his colleagues with an assault rifle.
While the sergeant was cleared of unlawful killing, the ordeal left him with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Daily Telegraph also campaigned for Ihat to be shut down.
Its leader column congratulates the government for taking action, but insists that ministers still need to explain why they endorsed the "unfounded pursuit" through the courts of people serving Queen and country.
The paper believes the Iraq investigations amounted to an "abuse of process" which should have been abandoned much earlier.
The Guardian leads on court documents that suggest Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called for British arms sales to Saudi Arabia to continue, even after last October's bombing of a funeral in Yemen, which killed more than 140 people.
The letters were disclosed this week during a judicial review of the decision to continue licensing weapons exports to Saudi Arabia.
The case was brought by the Campaign Against Arms Trade.
The paper argues that since Saudi airstrikes have hit hospitals, schools and weddings in Yemen, they are at the very least "reckless" and in many cases "deliberate".
The Guardian concludes that arms sales to the kingdom are immoral and ministers should halt them immediately.
The Daily Express says there has been an angry reaction to reports that Brussels is preparing to hit the UK with a £49bn bill for leaving the EU.
The paper says that figure is too much - in fact, at least £49bn too much.
It argues that since the UK is one of only a handful of net contributors to the EU, "they should be paying us".
There is potentially bad news for great crested newts in the Financial Times, and it is down to - what else? - Brexit.
The paper says the amphibians are facing a less certain future once Britain leaves the EU.
It says it has been told by government sources that the EU habitats directive is to be repealed, as it gives "excessive" protection to great crested newts.
The FT cites the example of the newt colony that held up the building of a railway station in Derbyshire.
Despite attempts to catch and re-home the creatures, more just kept on turning up.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-38939506
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Kaziranga: The park that shoots people to protect rhinos - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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National park guards shoot suspected poachers dead. But has the war against poaching gone too far?
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India
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The authorities at a national park in India protect the wildlife by shooting suspected poachers dead. But has the war against poaching gone too far?
Kaziranga National Park is an incredible story of conservation success.
There were just a handful of Indian one-horned rhinoceros left when the park was set up a century ago in Assam, in India's far east. Now there are more than 2,400 - two-thirds of the entire world population.
This is where David Attenborough's team came to film for Planet Earth II. William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, came here last year.
But the way the park protects the animals is controversial. Its rangers have been given the kind of powers to shoot and kill normally only conferred on armed forces policing civil unrest.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Entire villages are being destroyed to make way for extended national parks
At one stage the park rangers were killing an average of two people every month - more than 20 people a year. Indeed, in 2015 more people were shot dead by park guards than rhinos were killed by poachers.
Innocent villagers, mostly tribal people, have been caught up in the conflict.
Rhinos need protection. Rhino horn can fetch very high prices in Vietnam and China where it is sold as a miracle cure for everything from cancer to erectile dysfunction. Street vendors charge as much as $6,000 for 100g - making it considerably more expensive than gold.
Indian rhinos have smaller horns than those of African rhinos, but reportedly they are marketed as being far more potent.
But how far should we go to protect these endangered animals?
I ask two guards what they were told to do if they encountered poachers in the park.
"The instruction is whenever you see the poachers or hunters, we should start our guns and hunt them," Avdesh explains without hesitation.
"Yah, yah. Fully ordered to shoot them. Whenever you see the poachers or any people during night-time we are ordered to shoot them."
Avdesh says he has shot at people twice in the four years he has been a guard, but has never killed anybody. He knows, however, there are unlikely to be any consequences for him if he did.
The government has granted the guards at Kaziranga extraordinary powers that give them considerable protection against prosecution if they shoot and kill people in the park.
Critics say guards like Avdesh and Jibeshwar are effectively being told to carry out "extrajudicial executions".
Getting figures for how many people are killed in the park is surprisingly difficult.
"We don't keep each and every account," says a senior official in India's Forest Department, which oversees the country's national parks.
Guards like Avdesh and Jibeshwar have considerable powers
The director of the park, Dr Satyendra Singh, is based at the park's impressive colonial-era headquarters.
He talks about the difficulties of tackling poachers in the park, explaining that the poaching gangs recruit local people to help them get into the park but that the actual "shooters" - the men who kill the rhinos - tend to come from neighbouring states.
He says the term "shoot-on-sight" does not accurately describe how he orders the forest rangers to deal with suspected poachers.
Our World: Killing for Conservation is broadcast at 21:30 GMT on Saturday 11 February on the BBC News Channel and this weekend on BBC World News
"First we warn them - who are you? But if they resort to firing we have to kill them. First we try to arrest them, so that we get the information, what are the linkages, who are others in the gang?"
Dr Singh reveals that just in the past three years, 50 poachers have been killed. He says it reflects how many people in the local community have been lured into the trade as rhino horn prices have risen. As many as 300 locals are involved in poaching, he believes.
For the people who live around Kaziranga the rising death toll has become a major issue.
Kaziranga is densely populated, like the rest of India. Many of the communities here are tribal groups that have lived in or alongside the forest for centuries, collecting firewood as well as herbs and other plants from it. They say increasing numbers of innocent villagers are being shot.
In one of the villages that borders the park live Kachu Kealing and his wife. Their son, Goanburah, was shot by forest guards in December 2013.
The only picture they have of him is a fuzzy reproduction of the young man's face.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Kaziranga National Park in India is home to rhinos, elephants and tigers
Goanburah had been looking after the family's two cows. His father believes they strayed into the park and his son - who had severe learning difficulties - went in to try and find them. It is an easy mistake to make. There are no fences or signs marking the edge of the park, it just merges seamlessly into the surrounding countryside and fields.
The park authorities say guards shot Goanburah inside the forest reserve when he did not respond to a warning.
"He could barely do up his own trousers or his shoes," his father says, "everyone knew him in the area because he was so disabled."
Kachu Kealing does not believe there is any action he can take now, especially given the unusual protection park guards have from prosecution. "I haven't filed a court case. I'm a poor man, I can't afford to take them on."
Kachu Kealing says his disabled son was only looking after the family's cows
Conservation efforts in India tend to focus on protecting a few emblematic species. The fight to preserve them is stacked high with patriotic sentiment. Rhinos and tigers have become potent national symbols.
Add to this the fact that Kaziranga is the region's principal tourist attraction - its 170,000 or more annual visitors spend good money here - and it is easy to see why the park feels political pressure to tackle its poaching problem head on.
In 2013, when the number of rhinos killed by poachers more than doubled to 27, local politicians demanded action. The then head of the park was happy to oblige.
MK Yadava wrote a report which detailed his strategy for tackling poaching in Kaziranga. He proposed there should be no unauthorised entry whatsoever. Anyone found within the park, he said, "must obey or be killed".
"Kill the unwanted," should be the guiding principle for the guards, he recommended.
He explained his belief that environmental crimes, including poaching, are more serious that murder. "They erode," he said, "the very root of existence of all civilizations on this earth silently."
And he backed up his tough words with action, putting this uncompromising doctrine into practice in the park.
The numbers of people killed rose dramatically. From 2013 to 2014 the number of alleged poachers shot dead in the park leapt from five to 22. In 2015 Kaziranga killed more people in the park than poachers killed rhinos - 23 people lost their lives compared to just 17 rhinos.
And, as the park's battle against poaching gathered in intensity, there were to be other casualties.
In July last year, seven-year-old Akash Orang was making his way home along the main track through the village, which borders the park.
His voice falters as he recounts what happened next. "I was coming back from the shop. The forest guards were shouting, 'Rhinoceros! Rhinoceros!'" He pauses. "Then they suddenly shot me."
The gunshot blasted away most of the calf muscle on his right leg. The injuries were so serious he had to be rushed to Assam's main hospital five hours away.
He was there for five months and had dozens of operations but, despite the hospital's efforts, Akash can still barely walk.
His father, Dilip Orang, bends down and removes the bandage from the boy's leg to display the wound. His leg appears to be stripped of its skin - the calf muscle is bunched into tight ball. It doesn't flex. "They took the muscle from here and grafted it here," he says. "But it hasn't worked very well. Just look at it."
Akash has not fully recovered and has to be carried to the shop by his brother
It is clear just how terrible his injuries are when Akash gets up to move out of the sun. He can barely limp the few feet into the shade. His older brother now has to carry him to the local shop.
"He has changed," Dilip says. "He used to be cheerful. He isn't any more. In the night he wakes up in pain and cries for his mother."
The park admits it made a terrible mistake. It paid all his medical expenses and gave the family almost 200,000 rupees ($3,000; £2,400) in compensation. Not much given the scale of Akash's injuries, says his father, who worries whether his son will ever make a living.
The crippling of Akash led to a huge outcry from villagers. It was the culmination of long-simmering disquiet over the mounting death toll in the park. Hundreds marched on the park headquarters.
In a house a short walk from the park HQ, human rights campaigner Pranab Doley, himself a member of a local tribe, pulls out a bag stuffed with paperwork. He has made a series of requests under India's Right to Information Act and says the replies show that many cases aren't followed up properly.
"In most cases you don't have things like the magisterial inquiry, the forensic report, the post mortem reports," he says, rifling through the stacks of paper.
The park says that it's not responsible for investigating the killings, and whatever action it does take follows the law. Even so, some of Mr Doley's documents reveal a surprising lack of information. He pulls out a table listing deaths in one of the park's four districts. It shows nine suspected poachers killed in one year, six of whom are recorded as unidentified.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have visited the park
And there are other indications that careful investigation is not a priority when it comes to wildlife crime in Assam. The park says that in the last three years just two people have been prosecuted for poaching - a striking contrast to the 50 people who were shot dead in the park in the same period.
The park justifies the number of deaths, saying the figures are so high because the heavily armed poaching gangs engage guards in deadly shoot-outs. However, the statistics indicate that these "encounters" are more one-sided than the park suggests. Once again, firm figures are hard to come by, but according to the reports we can find just one park guard has been killed by poachers in the past 20 years, compared with 106 people shot dead by guards over the same period.
Mr Doley argues the high number of deaths is because, at least in part, of the legal protection the park and its guards enjoy. "This kind of impunity is dangerous," he says. "It is creating animosity between the park and people living in the periphery of the park."
That animosity is deepened because so many of the local community are tribal people who claim they and their ancient way of life are - like the animals the park is trying to protect - also endangered.
Their cause has been taken up by Survival International, a London-based charity. It argues that the rights of tribal people around the park are being sacrificed in the name of wildlife protection.
"The park is being run with utmost brutality," says Sophie Grig, the lead campaigner. "There is no jury, there's no judge, there's no questioning. And the terrifying thing is that there are plans to roll [out] the shoot at sight policy across [the] whole of India."
Her strong language is testimony perhaps to the concern felt by activists like her that traditional communities might be sacrificed in the name of wildlife protection.
She says some of the biggest animal conservation charities in the world, including the World Wildlife Fund, have turned a blind eye to the activities of the park.
"WWF describes itself as a close partner of the Assam Forest Department," says Ms Grig. "They've been providing equipment and funds to the forest department. Survival has repeatedly asked them to speak out against this shoot-on-sight policy and extrajudicial executions which they have so far failed to do."
According to the WWF India website, it has funded combat and ambush training for Kaziranga's guards and has provided specialist equipment including night vision goggles for the park's anti-poaching effort.
"Nobody is comfortable with killing people," says Dr Dipankar Ghose, who helps run much of WWF's conservation programme in India. "What is needed is on the ground protection. The poaching has to stop."
The bulk of WWF's funding comes from individual donations. So how would the WWF's donors feel about the organisation's involvement with a park facing allegations of killing, maiming and torturing? Dr Ghose does not answer the question directly.
"Well, as I said, we are working towards it. We want the whole thing to reduce - we don't want poaching to happen, and the idea is to reduce it involving all our partners. It is not just the Kaziranga authorities but also the enforcement agencies, also the local people. So I think the main thing is to work with the local people."
The park is popular with both Indian and foreign visitors
And there are plenty of conservationists that accept that, in some circumstances, there must be a tough response to poachers. "No park would exist in India without having regular anti-poaching operations," says naturalist and writer Valmik Thapar. "Anti-poaching is an essential element of conservation."
"There are some that do it well. There are some that fail miserably… and they don't have any tigers. So there are some tiger reserves in India, that actually don't have any tigers at all because they have all been poached.
"In some exceptional cases you can use the gun against the gun, but in other places in India you need to use community intelligence, because the local community are the eyes and ears of the forest."
Three months after Akash was shot and villagers marched on park headquarters once again - this time to protest allegations of torture.
Mono Bora was sitting at a roadside cafe when he was picked up by forest guards. He claims he was punched in the face repeatedly as he was driven to park headquarters. Once inside the offices the questioning became even more violent.
"They gave me electric shocks here on my knees, and here on my elbows. And here on my groin too." Mr Bora describes how he was tied in a stress position to bamboo staves.
"They kept on hitting me," he says. The ordeal lasted for three hours until finally his assailants became convinced they had the wrong man.
Kaziranga confirmed it did bring Mono Bora in for questioning but categorically denies any harm came to him, adding that it "never uses electric shock during interrogation".
The chief of Mono Bora's village picked him up from the park headquarters. Biren Kotch says he did not believe Mr Bora had any involvement in poaching. "How can they justify torture?"
But it isn't just the anti-poaching effort that threatens local people. Big wild animals like tigers and rhinos need lots of space.
To accommodate them India is planning a massive expansion of its network of national of parks. It is great news for conservation, but the plans involve relocating 900 villages. More than 200,000 people will have to leave their homes, it is estimated.
Kaziranga will double in size and an eviction order has been issued. State police recently evicted two villages amid chaotic scenes in which stone-throwing villagers were beaten with batons and fired on by police. Two people - a father of two and a young female student - were killed.
Sophia Khatum’s husband was shot dead by police in the demonstration against the evictions
Diggers were brought in and the national park provided a team of elephants to help raze every home to the ground.
In the wreckage of the village critics might see more evidence of a brutal approach to conservation. The problem is the park's tactics appear to have worked. Since the crackdown in the park began in 2013 the numbers of rhinos poached has fallen back. Last year just 18 rhinos were killed.
But the important question is what the long term cost will be, says Pranab Doley, the tribal rights campaigner. He believes the park's behaviour betrays a misguided attitude to conservation. "That's what their policy and philosophy is - move the people out of here and create pure pristine forest."
He says the park is on a collision course with local tribal people. If it gets its way, he says, it will destroy the ancient culture of tribal people like him, but could also end up frustrating its own efforts to protect its animals.
"Without the people taking care of the forest, no forest department will be able to protect Kaziranga. It's the human shield which is protecting Kaziranga."
Of course, there's no arguing that endangered species must be protected and preserved, but the costs on the human community need to be taken into account too.
Our World: Killing for Conservation is at 21:30 GMT on Saturday 11 February on the BBC News Channel and this weekend on BBC World News
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-38909512
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Week in pictures: 4-10 February 2017 - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A selection of the best news photographs from around the world, taken over the past week.
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In Pictures
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Lady Gaga rocked the half-time show at the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston. Her first song of the night was a cover of an American folk song called This Land is My Land by Woody Guthrie.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-38929490
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Fed Cup: Great Britain beat Croatia to reach World Group II play-offs - BBC Sport
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2017-02-11
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Great Britain qualify for April's Fed Cup World Group II play-offs with a 2-1 victory over Croatia.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Great Britain qualified for the Fed Cup World Group II play-offs with a 2-1 victory over Croatia.
The tie was decided in the final doubles contest, with Johanna Konta and Heather Watson beating Ana Konjuh and Darija Jurak 4-6 6-4 6-3.
Earlier, British number two Watson beat Donna Vekic 6-2 6-4 to give GB the lead in Tallinn, Estonia.
But leading Briton Konta lost 6-4 6-3 to Konjuh in the following singles match as the tie went to a decider.
Captain Anne Keothavong said she was "absolutely ecstatic" with her team's victory.
"It's been a real emotional rollercoaster, but the way the girls performed today and throughout the whole week, I'm just so proud of them," she said.
"It was so tight, everyone was on the edge of their seats. But they fought their hearts out and played with so much passion. I'm so proud of them."
Konta and Watson were broken twice in the opening three games of their doubles match as they lost the first set 6-4.
There was cause for concern when Australian Open quarter-finalist Konta needed treatment on her ankle early in the second set. But the world number 10 overcame the problem as the British pair levelled.
The opening four games of the deciding set went against serve before Konta and Watson secured the decisive break en route to victory.
Keothavong's team will now play one of the four losers from the World Group II matches.
The first big selection decision of Keothavong's captaincy proved successful, as Konta and Watson recovered from a set down, and twice a break of serve down in the decider, to wrap up the tie.
Laura Robson and Jocelyn Rae were Britain's first-choice doubles pair in the group matches in Tallinn, but were asked to make way for the higher-ranked singles players.
Britain crave a first home Fed Cup tie for 24 years, but depending on what happens in other ties this weekend, could end up heading to Australia or Chinese Taipei in April.
Unlike the men's team competition, the Davis Cup, which has a World Group of 16 nations, the Fed Cup divides its top teams into two groups of eight - World Group I and World Group II.
The 91 nations outside the top tiers are divided into three regional zones and Britain have one chance per year to escape - a format that hugely frustrated former captain Judy Murray.
The Europe/Africa Group I event, in Estonia, was made up of 14 teams divided into groups, with Poland, Croatia, Britain and Serbia the seeded nations.
Four group winners progressed to the promotion play-offs, with Britain one of the two nations to qualify for World Group II play-offs in April - which could see them given a home Fed Cup tie for the first time since 1993. Poland and Serbia are competing for the other place.
GB fell at the same stage in 2012 and 2013 - away ties in Sweden and Argentina - under the captaincy of Judy Murray.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38942931
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Oates Vic Open: England's Melissa Reid takes two-shot lead - BBC Sport
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2017-02-11
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England's Melissa Reid cards a six-under-par 67 to take a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Vic Open in Australia.
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Last updated on .From the section Golf
England's Melissa Reid carded a six-under-par 67 to take a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Oates Vic Open in Victoria, Australia.
Reid, 29, sank five birdies and also eagled the fifth to move to 15 under overall after the third round.
United States' Angel Yin and Australia's Su-Hyun Oh are tied for second on 13 under.
England's Holly Clyburn shot a 72 to move to 11 under and compatriot Florentyna Parker is a stroke behind.
Find out how to get into golf with our special guide.
Veteran Laura Davies, who equalled the course record with a 65 in the opening round but followed it with a 76 to slip out of contention, is nine shots off the lead after a 73 in her third round.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/38942336
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CCTV captures moment slurry tank crashes through garden wall - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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CCTV shows the dramatic moment a slurry tank crashes through the garden wall of a house in County Antrim.
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CCTV shows the dramatic moment a slurry tank crashes through the garden wall of a house in County Antrim.
It missed the house itself, in Glenavy, by less than a metre.
The homeowner, who was in the property at the time, said he was just glad no-one had been hurt.
The Belfast Road was closed for a time while the car, tractor and slurry tank involved in the crash were removed.
Oil also had to be cleaned up - but the road has reopened.
The homeowner said he now wants a reinforced wall to protect his family home.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-38938615
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Hunt not in the mood to make excuses - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The health secretary appears to be crossing his fingers for more money in the Budget.
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Health
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The health secretary said he didn't want to make excuses about very long waiting times in A&E
My interview with the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt struck an interesting note after a day of bleak news from NHS England.
Official figures showed the worst performance in A&E units in December since records began in 2004.
The number of patients waiting on trolleys for more than four hours because beds were not free rose nearly 50% year on year.
Rather than hitting back with a raft of statistics on extra investment by the government, Jeremy Hunt acknowledged that progress had not always lived up to expectations.
Mr Hunt accepted the reality of the situation in some of England's hospitals, highlighted by images of patients waiting more than 13 hours for beds and a six-month delay discharging an elderly woman because of care shortcomings.
These were "unacceptable", he said, and "bad for the NHS".
He volunteered that "it's incredibly frustrating for me" and he "didn't want to make excuses".
This sounded like a health secretary who knew only too well that the NHS was under immense strain and there was no denying the real challenges facing staff and patients every day.
I repeatedly asked Mr Hunt what he was doing about it. He emphasised the government's long-term moves to get health and social care working together and the "big transformation programme" aiming to treat more people in their local community rather than in hospitals.
But on the pressures right now in hospitals, Mr Hunt had little new to say apart from noting that some were a lot better than others at managing the flow of patients.
So what can the government do? Ministers are now focused on social care, where successive spending cuts have made it harder to look after the frail elderly at home. Mr Hunt told me the government recognised there was a problem and it was being addressed.
All roads for a move on social care now lead to the Budget on 8 March. Rumours that the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, will announce a new financial package on social care have been rife in Whitehall.
The sudden scrapping of Surrey County Council's referendum on a 15% council tax rise fuelled suspicions that its leader had been quietly tipped off about an impending announcement on social care funding.
Intriguingly, when I asked the health secretary about what might happen in the Budget he said that was up to the prime minister and the chancellor. It sounded like a plea to Downing Street to come up with new money for social care.
Mr Hunt added, though, that a quick fix on its own was not enough and that a long-term answer was needed as well.
There is a danger in building up expectations which cannot be met on Budget Day.
But it feels like the health secretary and other ministers are resting their hopes on the chancellor. There is not much they can do about this winter's A&E pressures except to wait and hope.
Most worryingly for the health secretary is the knowledge that this was supposed to be the "year of plenty" for NHS England with a "frontloaded" financial settlement. Even with a relatively generous allocation for this year, the hospital system is in trouble.
Mr Hunt knows that funding in the next couple of years will tail off. He will hope that promised and planned efficiency savings start to materialise soon.
An intervention by his former adviser, the American health guru Don Berwick, has lent weight to calls for more funding for the NHS.
In a BBC interview, Mr Berwick, commenting on the government's current financial plans for health, said: "I have serious doubts whether you can have a healthcare which is universal, not rationed and responsive to needs at that target level - I am concerned."
He may also be alarmed that even with intense winter preparations in each area of England between local health and local care chiefs, some A&E units have struggled under the weight of patient numbers.
There were orders from on high for routine operations to be cancelled for four weeks but, even so, many hospitals had very few spare beds.
Understandably, Mr Hunt stressed that the NHS was not alone in experiencing pressures of rising patient numbers and that French and German hospitals were under strain this winter.
But he knows he will be judged only on the performance of the NHS. He will hope the chancellor has something to offer.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38921013
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Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 Birmingham City - BBC Sport
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2017-02-11
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Sheffield Wednesday beat Birmingham City 3-0 in the Championship to strengthen their place in the top six.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Jordan Rhodes and Sam Winnall's first goals for Sheffield Wednesday saw them boost their play-off hopes with a 3-0 victory over mid-table Birmingham City.
Rhodes met Ross Wallace's early free-kick to give the hosts the lead.
Birmingham then hit the woodwork three times as they searched for a leveller.
Winnall's close-range, diving header from an inch-perfect Jack Hunt cross put the game beyond the Blues' reach, before Adam Reach showed good pace and composure to add a late third goal.
The defeat was Gianfranco Zola's seventh in 12 games in all competitions in charge of Birmingham, who have now lost five of their past seven away games, while the in-form Owls have won five of their past six at home.
The hosts could have gone ahead as early as the second minute when Tomasz Kuszczak denied Sam Winnall from close range, before Rhodes rose to nod home Wallace's expert right-wing set-piece delivery soon afterwards.
But after a disjointed start, the visitors then settled into the game and struck the woodwork twice in quick succession, firstly when Wednesday's Sam Hutchinson inadvertently diverted Craig Gardner's cross onto his own post, before Blues right-back Emilio Nsue struck the other upright with a crisp half-volley.
After the break, Birmingham midfielder Maikel Kieftenbeld was fortunate to only receive a yellow card for a rash challenge on Morgan Fox, but Zola's side began to control possession and cause problems with Gardner's set-pieces.
The game's decisive twist then came when Gardner's fierce strike hit the crossbar moments before Winnall - against the run of play - got in between two Birmingham defenders to head in Hunt's outstanding cross for his fourth goal of this season against the Blues, having netted three times in two games against them for Barnsley before his January move to Hillsborough.
Birmingham, who were in seventh place and level on points with Wednesday when former manager Gary Rowett was surprisingly sacked on 14 December, are now 12 points below the Owls, who remain sixth.
"We know that was not perfect, but there are a lot of things that I like.
"Even in the first minute, we could have achieved a goal, and after that we had three or more clear chances.
"I think the score was very heavy to Birmingham, but I think with the opportunities that we created and the goals that we scored, I think we deserved to win this game."
"The second goal was a fantastic cross and a good piece of football. The disappointing bit for me was the beginning, the first 10 minutes.
"After that I saw only one team on the pitch. We played good football and created chances. But that is not enough. We have to be stronger and more hungry.
"We controlled the midfield and controlled the game so, other than the result, I thought it was one of the best performances, after the first few minutes.
"The bottom line is that we play good football but we don't score enough."
• None Attempt blocked. Greg Stewart (Birmingham City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Lukas Jutkiewicz.
• None Paul Robinson (Birmingham City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Goal! Sheffield Wednesday 3, Birmingham City 0. Adam Reach (Sheffield Wednesday) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Sam Winnall.
• None Attempt blocked. Nsue (Birmingham City) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Craig Gardner.
• None Attempt blocked. Che Adams (Birmingham City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
• None Attempt missed. Adam Reach (Sheffield Wednesday) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Almen Abdi.
• None Goal! Sheffield Wednesday 2, Birmingham City 0. Sam Winnall (Sheffield Wednesday) header from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jack Hunt with a cross.
• None Craig Gardner (Birmingham City) hits the bar with a right footed shot from outside the box. Assisted by Kerim Frei. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38850950
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Trump's America: Are things as bad as he says? - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Trump decries urban violence, terrorism and police shootings. Is his image of 'American carnage' fair?
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US & Canada
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. 'This American carnage stops right here,' Donald Trump said at his inauguration
During his presidential campaign, and since taking office, Donald Trump has repeatedly warned of the dangers facing the United States.
"I have learned a lot in the past two weeks," he told a meeting of police officers in Washington DC on Wednesday.
"Terrorism is a far greater threat than the people of our country understand. I'm going to take care of it."
His comments came as the legal battle continued over his travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority nations. Not putting the ban in place would mean the US "can never have the security and safety to which we are entitled", he said on Twitter.
On Wednesday, he also lamented inner-city violence, as well as the killing of police officers.
It is a vision of an America full of danger, with multiple threats on many fronts, encapsulated by the new president's inaugural address referencing "American carnage". But is it correct?
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. In July 2016, the BBC's More or Less programme investigated the unreliable numbers around police shootings in the USA.
"The number of officers shot and killed in the line of duty last year increased by 56% from the year before," President Trump said on Wednesday. And the statistic is accurate, unlike some others he has quoted in the past.
The number of officers shot and killed in the line of duty did indeed jump 56%, from 41 in 2015 to 64 last year - that's according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
It is a stark statistic. Starker still is the fact that 21 of those officers were killed in ambush-style shootings, a 163% increase on the previous year.
However, it would be incorrect to read from this that a wave of police shootings has swept the country. Eight of those killings were in two assaults in 10 days in July 2016, in Dallas, Texas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and occurred in the context of protests against police killings of African-Americans.
"Last year in Dallas, police officers were targeted for execution - think of this, whoever heard of this?" President Trump told the meeting of police officers.
But the targeting of police officers is not in itself a new phenomenon - it is only that 2016 had higher numbers than before. And statistics show that officers are still more likely to be shot dead responding to a domestic disturbance than any other incident.
In fact, if you look at the bigger picture, police deaths on duty have been dropping for some time.
The worst year for police deaths was 1930, when 307 died. More recently, there was a peak of 241 in 2001, largely due to the 11 September attacks.
But between 2011 and 2013, there was an almost 40% drop in police fatalities - from 177 to 109. The numbers have crept up again in the years since - up 10% in 2016 to 135 - but there is an overall pattern of decline, with the numbers now down to the levels of the 1950s.
Having said that, the likelihood of a police officer being shot dead is far higher than that of a member of the public being killed by the police.
Read more: How many police die every year?
"Right now, many communities in America are facing a public safety crisis," President Trump told police in Washington on Wednesday. "Murders in 2015 experienced their largest single-year increase in nearly half a century.
His statement is factually correct (though he has often, wrongly, said that the murder rate was the highest it has been in nearly half a century, and even attacked the press on Tuesday for not reporting this falsehood.)
There was a 10.8% jump in nationwide murder rates from 2014 to 2015, and that represents the biggest year-to-year increase since 1970-71, according to the fact-checking website Politifact.
But it is again important to look at the longer-term trend.
The number of reported murders and rapes across the country did indeed increase from 2014 to 2015, as did robberies.
But all are still below the levels they were at 10 years ago - and are respectively 13%, 6% and 34% lower than 20 years ago (even though the population of the US has increased by 55 million in that time).
The picture is more mixed in large cities, however.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. In September 2016, Donald Trump said some US inner cities were more dangerous than Afghanistan - the BBC's More or Less programme investigated his claim.
Last month, The Economist magazine, having obtained an early look at the 2016 FBI data for violence in 50 US cities, showed that there were four broad trends in play.
Murder rates are stable in 13 of the 50 cities, including Los Angeles and New York, which saw 11 days without a murder in 2015.
In 15 other cities, including Houston and Las Vegas, murder rates are low but increasing. In another nine, including Philadelphia and Detroit, they are high but stable. And in 13, including Indianapolis and Chicago, they are high and rising. (You can read The Economist's analysis here).
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Life and death on the lost streets of Chicago
In Chicago, murders rose sharply last year, with more than 760 last year compared with 473 the year before. Up to then, there had been a steady fall in the number of murders since a peak of the early 70s.
Mr Trump has repeatedly used the city as an example. "In Chicago, more than 4,000 people were shot last year alone and the rate so far this year has been even higher. What is going on in Chicago?" he said on Wednesday.
Last month, he even threatened to send federal agents into the city if the violence did not subside.
But again, worrying though recent increases in violence in some cities may be, it is critical to look at how those increases fit in to a longer-term trend.
Ames Grawert, of the Brennan Center for Justice, co-authored a report into crime rates in US cities, and spoke to the BBC's More or Less programme. "If you look at crime rates in American cities in the past 30 years, even with the recent uptick in murders in some cities, we are very far below where we used to be with murder rates in big cities like New York and Los Angeles."
Read more (from 2015): Why have cities' murder rates increased?
President Trump, when he announced the travel restrictions last month, said it was to "keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the US". The restrictions, now in legal limbo, affected citizens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen - the measures also blocked Syrian refugees from arriving in the US.
So how big a problem is terrorism in the US? First of all, Mr Trump, like other presidents before him, measures the danger of terrorism to the US according to what could happen, rather than what has happened. His comment "I have learned a lot in the past two weeks" indicated he had specific information on the threat to the US.
And secondly, it all depends on what your definition of what terrorism is (more on that later on).
Read more: Trump says terror attacks 'under-reported': Is that true?
One study, by the libertarian Cato Institute, details 3,432 murders committed on US soil between 1975 and late 2015 that it says can be classified as terrorist attacks. Of those, 88% were committed by foreign-born terrorists who entered the country (the 2,977 deaths in the 11 September attacks make up a large chunk of these fatalities).
But does this mean Americans should be worried about being caught up in a terror attack caused by a foreign-born national? Take a look at the numbers the Cato Institute came up with to provide context:
The report's author, Alex Nowrasteh, concluded the number of Americans killed in a terror attack by someone from one of the seven countries on Mr Trump's list, between 1975 and 2015, was zero.
(He does point out that six Iranians, six Sudanese, two Somalis, two Iraqis, and one Yemeni were convicted of attempting or carrying out terrorist attacks on US soil in that time).
Only three deaths were attributed to refugees in the 40 years spanned by the report - and those were caused by three Cuban terrorists in the 1970s.
For some perspective, here are some other causes of death in the US in 2015 alone:
Far more dangerous than terrorism to Americans are painkillers.
The leading cause of accidental death in the United States is now overdoses from painkillers - opioid medicines kill 60 people a day, or 22,000 a year, according to the National Safety Council.
But it is impossible to discuss the threat from terrorism without looking at how the US defines terrorism itself - and therein lies the problem. Even the FBI says there is "no single, universally accepted, definition of terrorism". The State Department defines terrorism as "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents".
In that case, there is an argument that shootings should be defined as terrorism: those such as the racially-motivated killing of nine black worshippers in South Carolina by a self-avowed white supremacist, the murder of 26 people including children in Newtown, Connecticut, and the murder of 12 people in a Colorado cinema.
If the number of people killed in shootings in the US were considered terrorism - at least 15,055 people were shot dead last year, according to the Gun Violence Archive - then the likelihood of an American being killed in an act of terrorism would increase substantially.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38911708
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Cyber security lessons offered to schools in England - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Schools will help find teenagers who could plug a skills shortage and be the experts of the future.
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Education & Family
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Schoolchildren in England will be offered lessons in cyber security in a bid to find the experts of the future to defend the UK from attacks.
It is hoped 5,700 pupils aged 14 and over will spend up to four hours a week on the subject in a five-year pilot.
Classroom and online teaching, "real-world challenges" and work experience will be made available from September.
A Commons committee last week warned that a skills shortage was undermining confidence in the UK's cyber defences.
The risk that criminals or foreign powers might hack into critical UK computer systems is now ranked as one of the top four threats to national security.
Russia in particular is suspected of planning sustained attacks on Western targets.
Cyber security is a fast-growing industry, employing 58,000 experts, the government says, but the Public Accounts Committee has warned it is proving difficult to recruit people with the right skills.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is providing £20m for the lessons, which will be designed to fit around pupils' current courses and exams.
Digital and Culture Minister Matt Hancock said: "This forward-thinking programme will see thousands of the best and brightest young minds given the opportunity to learn cutting-edge cyber security skills alongside their secondary school studies.
"We are determined to prepare Britain for the challenges it faces now and in the future and these extra-curricular clubs will help identify and inspire future talent."
The government is already providing university funding and work placements for promising students.
An apprenticeship scheme has also begun to support key employers to train and recruit young people aged 16 or over who have a "natural flair for problem-solving" and are "passionate about technology".
Steve Elder, 20, who is a cyber security apprentice with BT, told BBC Radio 5 Live that educating young people about the risks and vulnerabilities of the cyber security world would help the UK prepare for the future.
He added: "Getting young people involved and getting them taught from a young age will allow them - even in their home environment - to protect themselves, before it has to come to people at a specialist level."
Mr Hancock told the BBC he wanted to ensure the UK "had the pipeline of talent" it would need.
Cyber security expert Brian Lord, a former deputy director at GCHQ, told BBC Breakfast that the scheme was an "essential initiative" to recruit more people into the profession.
He added: "There is perception that cyber security is all about techno geeks who have long hair, glasses, wear heavy metal t-shirts and drink red bull.
"There are those, and they do an extraordinarily good job. But there is a whole range of other activities... that can appeal to a wide cross section of children, graduates and apprentices, and at the moment they don't know what [is on] offer.
"The more exposure [children] can get [the more it will] prepare them for a future career and, as that generation needs to understand how to be safe online, you get a double benefit."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-38938519
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Trump travel ban: What did we learn from the ruling? - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Anthony Zurcher explains three things we learned (and two we didn't) from the court ruling.
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US & Canada
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Demonstrators spell out "No Muslim Ban" at a protest in Boston
Federal circuit courts usually toil in anonymity. They are a legal rest stop for landmark cases on the way to the Supreme Court.
But this week it was different. All eyes were on three judges of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, who, for a brief moment, had the fate of Donald Trump's immigration order in their hands.
They were considering whether to sustain a temporary injunction preventing implementation of Mr Trump's sweeping travel ban on seven predominantly Muslim nations.
On Thursday night they gave their ruling. Mr Trump's order stayed on ice.
Here are three things we learned from the ruling - and two questions that remain unanswered.
1. The immigration ban is going nowhere fast
The Ninth Circuit was the Trump administration's best chance to get the president's immigration order up and running again quickly.
The three judges could have re-instated the order and closed the borders as early as Thursday night.
Instead, the order remains in limbo and it's likely to take time to resolve. The Supreme Court could hear an appeal, but the chances of more than four justices agreeing to reverse the Ninth Circuit ruling seem slim.
Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer or Elena Kagan going to side with Mr Trump? Not likely.
If this goes back down to the district court in Seattle, where it began, the gears of justice will grind even more slowly. A trial on the merits - which is slated to happen next, pending Supreme Court action - is a slow process. Briefs need to be filed. Evidence has to be submitted. Oral arguments will be scheduled. These things can take months or even years.
That's a painful lesson Barack Obama learned in 2015, when a district court judge blocked implementation of some of his immigration reforms and the Supreme Court didn't hear the case for more than a year.
2. The case will be no slam-dunk for Trump
This may seem obvious now, but on Thursday the president was fairly certain that his case was open-and-shut when he read what he viewed as the governing immigration statute to a gathering of law enforcement officers.
"You can be a lawyer, or you don't have to be a lawyer; if you were a good student in high school or a bad student in high school, you can understand this," he said. "And it's really incredible to me that we have a court case that's going on so long."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Bob Ferguson: Travel ban was adopted with "little thought, little planning, little oversight"
Some conservatives, as well, wrote that the governing laws were clear that the president has broad powers when dealing with immigration issues.
"For all except the most partisan, it is likely impossible to read the Washington state lawsuit... and not come away with the conclusion that the Trump order is on sound legal and constitutional ground."
In the end, however, the three justices - two appointed by Democrats and one nominated by Republican George W Bush - saw things differently. While they acknowledged the president's authority on immigration matters, they said the statute Mr Trump cited was not the final word on the matter.
"Although our jurisprudence has long counselled deference to the political branches on matters of immigration and national security, neither the Supreme Court nor our court has ever held that courts lack the authority to review executive action in those arenas for compliance with the Constitution," the judges wrote.
In other words, federal immigration law may have been on Mr Trump's side, but the Constitution wasn't.
At the heart of the Ninth Circuit's decision to uphold the injunction against Mr Trump's order was that it violated the constitutional due process rights of all persons in the US, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status. And time and time again the judges pointed to how the order was initially implemented as reason for keeping it on hold.
They wrote that permanent residents and lawful visa holders were not given "constitutionally sufficient notice and an opportunity to respond". While they noted that the Trump administration had since interpreted the order as allowing all permanent residents into the US, they were unconvinced that this new interpretation would be uniformly followed or safe from reversal.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
They said that the travel ban caused considerable harm, including the separation of families, stranding of US residents abroad and prevention of students and employees from travelling to American universities.
A more measured, orchestrated rollout of the immigration order may have avoided these complications, weakening the case against it.
Mr Trump said on Wednesday that speed was necessary in implementing the ban because otherwise a "whole pile of bad people, perhaps with very evil intentions" would enter the country before border restrictions tightened.
Here, however, haste may have killed his legal case.
Shortly after the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion, Nevada Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto released a statement saying that the court "reaffirms that President Trump's hateful and divisive executive order amounts to religious discrimination against Muslims".
While the decision was certainly a blow for the Trump administration, the judges were notably restrained in discussing the religious issue.
"The states' claims raise serious allegations and present significant constitutional questions," the judges wrote. Then they said they wouldn't consider the question further, since they had already decided the case on due process grounds.
They did offer one clue as to how they might eventually rule, however. The Trump administration had insisted that the order must be judged on its own, without taking into consideration past remarks made by Mr Trump and his supporters touting a "Muslim ban". The judges disagreed.
"It is well established that evidence of purpose beyond the face of the challenged law may be considered in evaluating Establishment and Equal Protection Clause claims."
In other words, when it comes time to consider whether the order amounted to a de facto Muslim ban, everything is on the table - Trump tweets, Rudy Giuliani diatribes and all.
Now that the Ninth Circuit has rendered its decision, the ball is firmly in the Trump administration's court. They could appeal to the US Supreme Court, where the eight justices - four liberal, four conservative - can consider as much, or as little, of the ruling as they see fit.
Mr Trump certainly seemed to hint that this was the next step, tweeting: "SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!" shortly after the ruling.
The administration could also decide to let the circuit court's decision stand and fight out the case in a full trial back in the Seattle district court. This would buy the president time to get his Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, confirmed by the Republican-held Senate. Then, when the case eventually made its way to the high court, his chances of victory could be markedly improved.
Whatever happens, it's clear that this case will be a political football. The fight will be personal, and it will be ugly.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38927778
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10 things we didn't know last week - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Dogs mirror their owners' personalities and more news nuggets.
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Magazine
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Qatar is spending $500m (£400m) a week on building projects for the 2022 World Cup.
One British man survived eight different concentration camps during the Holocaust.
Minecraft is being used to pitch business ideas to big companies.
There are hundreds of ancient earthworks in the Amazon rainforest resembling Stonehenge
Fish-scale geckos rip off their scales and skin to escape from predators.
Filipinos make up about a third of all cruise ship workers.
Humanity is yet to run out of a single fossil fuel.
Lungfish usually live for more than 100 years.
Seen a thing? Tell the Magazine on Twitter using the hashtag #thingididntknowlastweek
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38907603
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New Zealand whales: Frantic bid to save stranded mammals - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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The mass stranding of whales on a remote beach in New Zealand has taken a turn for the worse as 240 more arrived.
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The mass stranding of whales on a remote beach in New Zealand has taken a turn for the worse as 240 more arrived.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38945011
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Six Nations: Martyn Williams meets Sam Warburton - BBC Sport
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2017-02-11
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Former Wales flanker Martyn Williams heads to the woods to catch up with Sam Warburton to talk about dogs, fatherhood, captaincy and his future plans amongst other things.
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Former Wales flanker Martyn Williams heads to the woods to catch up with Sam Warburton to talk about dogs, fatherhood, captaincy and his future plans amongst other things.
Watch Wales v England live on BBC One, the BBC Sport app and this website from 16:15 GMT on Saturday, 11 February.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38938037
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The female soldiers serving in Israel's army - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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The BBC speaks to women in the Israeli army - one of the few in the world to conscript females.
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In most western armies women are taking a more and more prominent place on the front line, and in Israel, there are already mixed gender infantry battalions.
The BBC travelled to a training base in southern Israel and spoke to some of the soldiers being recruited.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38939834
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Six Nations 2017 highlights: Italy 10-63 Ireland - BBC Sport
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2017-02-11
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Hat-tricks from CJ Stander and Craig Gilroy help Ireland to a 63-10 victory over Italy in the Six Nations.
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Hat-tricks from CJ Stander and Craig Gilroy help Ireland to a 63-10 victory over Italy in the Six Nations.
Available to UK users only.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38945292
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Kellyanne Conway criticised for Ivanka Trump product promotion - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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President Donald Trump's senior aide Kellyanne Conway is being criticised for promoting Ivanka Trump's products live on air from the White House press briefing room.
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President Donald Trump's senior aide Kellyanne Conway is under fire for promoting Ivanka Trump's products live on air from the White House press briefing room.
Her comments followed a tweet by the president which criticised retailer Nordstrom for dropping the US first daughter's clothing line.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38927665
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Should I worry about arsenic in my rice? - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Does rice really contain harmful quantities of arsenic? Dr Michael Mosley of Trust Me, I'm A Doctor investigates.
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Health
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Does rice really contain harmful quantities of arsenic? Dr Michael Mosley of Trust Me, I'm A Doctor investigates.
Many of us are regular consumers of rice - UK consumption is on the rise, and in 2015 we ate 150m kg of the stuff. But there have been reports about rice containing inorganic arsenic - a known poison - so should we be worried?
Arsenic occurs naturally in soil, and inorganic arsenic is classified as a category one carcinogen by the EU, meaning that it's known to cause cancer in humans.
Click here for detailed information about arsenic levels in rice and what experts say is safe to eat .
Trust Me, I'm A Doctor is on BBC Two on Wednesdays at 20:00 GMT - catch up on BBC iPlayer
The consequences of arsenic poisoning have been seen most dramatically in Bangladesh, where populations have been exposed to contaminated drinking water.
The result has been described as a "slow burning epidemic" of cancers, heart disease and developmental problems.
Because arsenic exists in soil, small amounts can get into food, though in general these levels are so low that they're not a cause for concern.
Rice is grown under flooded conditions, which contributes to arsenic content
Rice however, is different from other crops, because it's grown under flooded conditions. This makes the arsenic locked in the soil more readily available, meaning that more can be absorbed into the rice grains.
This is why rice contains about 10-20 times more arsenic than other cereal crops. But are these levels high enough to do us any real harm?
"The only thing I can really equate it to is smoking," says Prof Andy Meharg of Queen's University Belfast, who has been studying arsenic for decades. "If you take one or two cigarettes per day, your risks are going to be a lot less than if you're smoking 30 or 40 cigarettes a day. It's dose-dependent - the more you eat, the higher your risk is."
He believes that the current legislation isn't strict enough, and that more needs to be done to protect those who eat a lot of rice.
Eating a couple of portions of rice a week isn't putting an adult like me at high risk, but Prof Meharg is concerned about children and babies.
"We know that low levels of arsenic impact immune development, they impact growth development, they impact IQ development," he says.
Because of this, the legislation is stricter around products specifically marketed at children - but many other rice products that they may also eat, such as puffed rice cereals, can contain adult levels of arsenic.
It sounds quite scary, even if you don't eat lots of rice, but there's an easy solution - a way to cook rice that dramatically reduces the arsenic content.
Now, some ways of cooking rice reduce arsenic levels more than others. We carried out some tests with Prof Meharg and found the best technique is to soak the rice overnight before cooking it in a 5:1 water-to-rice ratio.
That cuts arsenic levels by 80%, compared to the common approach of using two parts water to one part rice and letting all the water soak in. Using lots of water - the 5:1 ratio - without pre-soaking also reduced arsenic levels, but not by as much as the pre-soaking levels.
So, while I would now think twice about feeding young children too much rice or rice products, I'm not going to stop eating rice myself. I will, however, be cooking it in more water and, when I remember, leave it to soak overnight.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38910848
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Six Nations: Italy 10-63 Ireland - BBC Sport
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2017-02-11
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CJ Stander and Craig Gilroy hat-tricks help Ireland regroup from their Scotland defeat to earn a nine-try win over outclassed Italy.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Hat-tricks from CJ Stander and Craig Gilroy helped Ireland regroup from their Scotland defeat to earn a nine-try Six Nations win over Italy in Rome.
Scrum domination helped the Irish take immediate control with the bonus point secured by the 35th minute as Stander and Keith Earls both notched two tries.
Italy scored a first-half penalty try but for the most part were outclassed.
After Stander completed his hat-trick on 46, replacement Gilroy repeated the feat with Garry Ringrose also scoring.
South African-born Stander's third try meant he became the first Ireland player to score a Six Nations hat-trick since Brian O'Driscoll achieved the feat against Scotland in 2002.
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Ulster wing Gilroy then got in on the hat-trick act as he notched his three scores in an 11-minute period in the closing stages at the Stadio Olimpico.
Ireland's victory was their biggest ever Six Nations win as the margin exceeded the 60-13 win over the Azzurri in 2000.
Joe Schmidt's side achieved the victory despite being without skipper Rory Best who had to be replaced by debutant Niall Scannell because of a stomach upset.
Conor O'Shea's Italy side contained Wales for over an hour in Rome last weekend before eventually succumbing 33-7 as Ireland's dreadful start at Murrayfield contributed massively to their defeat by the Scots.
However, it was a very different story a week on as Ireland came out fired up and the Italians had no answer.
A huge early shove by Cian Healy to force an early penalty off an Italian scrum set the tone as Ireland immediately attacked the opposition line.
Sensing their superiority, Ireland opted for scrums off a series of penalties and the Italian dam inevitably burst in the 12th minute as Jackson's impressive long pass set up a simple finish for Munster wing Earls.
The Munster man's try meant that he joined Denis Hickie and Hugo McNeill in becoming the only Irish players to score tries in four successive internationals.
With Earls' Munster team-mate Simon Zebo's dancing feet making him an even bigger threat on the opposite wing, the Irish continued to attack in waves.
Zebo showed impressive passing skills to set up Stander's first try on 18 minutes and another change from the left winger laid the foundations for Earls' second try eight minutes later.
While Sergio Parisse's line-out drive saw referee Glen Jackson award a penalty try in the 32nd minute, as Ireland lock Donnacha Ryan was sin-binned, it was a brief respite for the home side with Stander securing the first ever Six Nations winning bonus point five minutes before half-time.
Ireland finish with a flourish after brief lull
The second half was largely a tale of two hat-tricks as Stander completed his haul on 46 minutes by running unhindered from just outside Italy's 22, before replacement Gilroy's late salvo.
With Gilroy among several Irish replacements in the third quartet, the visitors' play became disjointed for a time although the Italians were not good enough to profit.
A dreadful Giovanbattista Venditti clearance was punished by Gilroy charging in from distance in the 69th minute for his third international try.
With Italian resolve long gone, Ringrose then sped right through the middle to score under the posts before Gilroy ran in two more touchdowns to complete his first international hat-trick.
CJ Stander was the standout performer in a dominant display from the Ireland back row and his carrying was immense as he notched Ireland's first Six Nations hat-trick in 15 years.
His performance came after criticism of Ireland's back-row display at Murrayfield.
What does the coach think?
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt: "We showed we can start well and that gives a platform to build on.
"We know how good they can be. It was probably a bit of confidence to go out and do it.
"There were a few guys making Six Nations and Test debuts so it's good for them to get those performances under the belt."
"It's an open championship and people will be excited."
Replacements: Gega for Ghiradini (47), Panico for Lovotti (64), Chistolini for Cittadini (41), Biagi for van Schalkwyk (47), Steyn for Favaro (57), Bronzini for Gori (61), Allan for Canna (71), Campagnaro for Benvenuti (49).
Replacements: Tracy for Scannell (63), McGrath for Healy (51), J Ryan for Furlong (54), Dillane for Toner (60), Van der Flier for O'Brien (69), Marmion for Murray (69), Keatley for Zebo (75), Gilroy for Henshaw (48).
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38911558
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Victorian pioneer Marianne North 'most prolific female artist' - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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A largely forgotten Victorian botanical artist has emerged as the most prolific female for works in the UK's oil painting collection.
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A largely forgotten Victorian has emerged as the female artist with the largest number of works in the UK's oil painting collection.
Marianne North travelled the world in the late 19th Century to produce hundreds of botanical works - her position was revealed in analysis of Art UK's digital archive.
Miss North has a gallery, which she designed herself, devoted to her works at Kew Gardens in London.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/38921858
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Trump travel ban: President considering 'brand new order' - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One that a new executive order could be issued as early as Monday or Tuesday.
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Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One that a new executive order could be issued as early as Monday or Tuesday.
It comes after an appeals court in San Francisco upheld a court ruling to suspend his original order that barred entry by citizens from seven mainly Muslim countries.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38942277
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Missing Harry Potter painting prompts Parcelforce apology - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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A nationwide depot search was carried out but the painting was never found.
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Norfolk
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The Harry Potter painting took artist Hannah Weston "several days over the course of two months" to complete
A 4ft-high painting of Harry Potter worth £700 has "vanished" in the post - leaving its creator short of a few Galleons.
Hannah Weston, 26, said it took her several days to complete the 4ft by 3ft (1.2m by 0.9m) homage to the boy wizard.
But the painting never made it to the Parcelforce depot near her Norwich home.
The firm said it was "unable to locate" it and offered £125 in compensation.
Tattoo artist Ms Weston, 26, said the situation was "incredibly disheartening".
"I poured days of my time, energy and passion into that huge painting," Ms Weston told the BBC.
"I painted Harry out of pure adoration for stories that have brought me joy and I hope that it ends up in the hands of someone who truly appreciates it."
She sold the painting to a woman who planned to give it to her daughter, who was "obsessed with the Harry Potter books", as a birthday present.
Parcelforce came to pick up the parcel from Ms Weston's home, but when the buyer called to say she had not received the painting, the artist found out it had never arrived at the depot.
A nationwide depot search was carried out but the painting was never found.
"The compensation I was offered - £125 - was ridiculous given that it wasn't an error or damage," Ms Weston said.
"The claims process was near impossible and I ended up having to borrow money to cover everything."
Ms Weston said she had not reported the incident to police as she had been told a missing parcel was not counted as a stolen item.
In a statement, a Parcelforce spokeswoman apologised to Ms Weston "that she has not received the service she expected and deserved from Parcelforce".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-38854374
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Does by-election pain await Labour in its heartlands? - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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UKIP and nuclear power should be making Labour nervous in Stoke and Copeland, says John Pienaar.
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UK Politics
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Two parliamentary by-elections, two weeks away.
Is Labour a sitting duck in its own heartland territory?
A quick road-trip to the West Midlands and the Lake District was enough to conclude that Labour can look forward to a sweaty, and quite possibly a painful night on 23 February.
Both seats would normally be considered "safe" for Labour.
But "normal" now seems a long time ago. Stoke voted 70% to 30% to leave the EU. In Copeland the margin was 60% to 40%. That would be enough to give Remain-supporting Labour sleepless nights.
But add to that the fact that, in 2015, UKIP came second in Stoke - 5,000 odd votes behind Labour.
Throw in Labour's long term deficit in the polls, which suggests former Labour voters have turned away from Jeremy Corbyn.
Then, chat to people in Hanley town centre - in the Stoke-on-Trent Central constituency - before travelling north and doing the same in Whitehaven, the large coastal town in the sprawling, and beautiful, Copeland constituency in the Lake District.
If you don't hear enough cause for Labour to fear losing one or both of these seats, you're not listening.
In Copeland, the biggest employer by far is the Sellafield nuclear power plant.
In Whitehaven, where Sellafield has a large office block, Jeremy Corbyn's past opposition to nuclear power - which has since softened - comes up in almost every conversation.
The local grocer - whose family have run Kinsella's since the turn of the last century - told me customer after customer was switching allegiance away from Labour for that reason.
Could UKIP leader Paul Nuttall win the party's second seat?
That, and the doubts about Mr Corbyn's fitness to lead which have handed him a quite dismal personal rating of minus 40.
That's 46 points behind Theresa May who was the only national leader with a positive rating in the survey conducted by Yougov last week.
In Stoke, the UK Independence Party's new leader, Paul Nuttall, is standing as a candidate. UKIP has a great deal invested in this fight.
It's not clear whether the perception of an outsider parachuting into the seat - a charismatic Scouser seizing his chance in an area with a strong identity of its own - will count against Mr Nuttall and his party.
If UKIP fails it will hurt, and suggests the party lost its way when it lost Nigel Farage as leader.
So Labour will throw everything into both campaigns. Jeremy Corbyn's visited both, and will visit again.
Victory in both seats will buy time and space to try to regain ground, to try to recover from the visible splits which opened up so glaringly during debate and voting on the bill to begin Brexit.
But if Labour loses in either or both seats - each of which has been held by the party since 1935 - it means talk of existential crisis for the party.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38935789
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Why did Turkey hold a referendum? - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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The BBC's Mark Lowen explains why a draft new constitution for Turkey had such fierce opposition.
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Europe
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The changes give sweeping new to powers Mr Erdogan
A new draft constitution that significantly increases the powers of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been approved by voters in a referendum. Here, the BBC's Turkey correspondent, Mark Lowen, explains why this was such a bitterly-contested process.
In one brawl, a government MP alleged an opponent bit into his leg. In another, a plant pot was hurled across parliament. A microphone was stolen and used as a weapon. An independent MP handcuffed herself to a lectern, sparking another scuffle. The parliamentary debate on changing Turkey's constitution wasn't a mild affair.
On the surface, it might seem a proposal that would enjoy cross-party consensus: modernising Turkey's constitution that was drawn up at the behest of the once-omnipotent military after the coup of 1980.
But instead it's arguably the most controversial political change in a generation, giving sweeping powers to the country's powerful but divisive President Erdogan.
The plan turns Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential republic. Among the numerous changes:
The government - and, principally, President Erdogan - argue that the reforms streamline decision-making and avoid the unwieldy parliamentary coalitions that have hamstrung Turkey in the past.
Since the president is no longer chosen by parliament but now elected directly by the people, goes the argument, he or she should not have to contend with another elected leader (the prime minister) to enact laws.
The current system, they say, is holding back Turkey's progress. They even argue that the change could somehow end the extremist attacks that have killed more than 500 people in the past 18 months.
Hundreds of people have been killed in attacks in Turkey in the past 18 months
A presidential system is all very well in a country with proper checks and balances like the United States, retort critics, where an independent judiciary has shown itself willing to stand up to Donald Trump and a rigorous free press calls him out on contentious policies.
But in Turkey, where judicial independence has plummeted and which now ranks 151 of 180 countries in the press freedom index of the watchdog Reporters Without Borders, an all-powerful president would spell the death knell of democracy, they say.
Mr Erdogan's opponents already decry his slide to authoritarianism, presiding over the world's biggest jailer of journalists and a country where some 140,000 people have been arrested, dismissed or suspended since the failed coup last year.
Granting him virtually unfettered powers, said the main opposition CHP, would "entrench dictatorship".
Since the failed coup 140,000 people have been arrested, dismissed or suspended from their jobs
Ahmet Kasim Han, a political scientist from Kadir Has University, said before the vote: "It doesn't look as bad as the opposition paints it and it's definitely not as benevolent as the government depicts it.
"The real weakness is that in its hurry to pass the reform, the government hasn't really explained the 2,000 laws that would change. So it doesn't look bright, especially with this government's track record."
How did the referendum come to happen? The governing AK Party had to rely on parliamentary votes from the far-right MHP to lead the country to a referendum.
Opposition to the reform was led by the centre-left CHP and the pro-Kurdish HDP parties, the latter of which had been portrayed by the government as linked to terrorism. Several of its MPs and the party leaders are now in prison.
Devlet Bahceli, leader of the far right MHP, now supports the proposed constitutional changes
AKP and MHP voters who opposed the reform might have felt pressured into voting in favour, so as not to be tarnished as supporting "terrorists", especially since the referendum took place under the state of emergency imposed after the attempted coup.
"Holding the vote under this state of emergency makes it susceptible to allegations that people don't feel free to say no," says Dr Kasim Han. "It casts a shadow over the outcome."
With the detail of the constitutional reform impenetrable to many, the referendum became focused around Mr Erdogan himself: a president who elicits utmost reverence from one side of the country and intense hatred from the other.
The result will now determine the political fate of this deeply troubled but hugely important country.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38883556
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Germany warns the City over Brexit risk - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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A Bundesbank executive says London is likely to stop being the “gateway to Europe” and warns the UK against a post-Brexit “regulatory race to the bottom”.
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Business
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One of Germany's most senior banking regulators has warned London that it is likely to lose its role as "the gateway to Europe" for vital financial services.
Dr Andreas Dombret, executive board member for the German central bank, the Bundesbank, said that even if banking rules were "equivalent" between the UK and the rest of the European Union, that was "miles away from access to the single market".
Mr Dombret's comments were made at a private meeting of German businesses and banks organised by Boston Consulting Group in Frankfurt earlier this week.
They give a clear - and rare - insight into Germany's approach as Britain starts the process of leaving the European Union.
And that approach is hawkish.
"The current model of using London as a gateway to Europe is likely to end," Mr Dombret said at the closed-door event.
Mr Dombret made it clear that he did not support a "confrontational approach" to future relations between the UK's substantial financial services sector and the EU.
But he argued there was "intense uncertainty" about how the Brexit negotiations would progress and significant hurdles to overcome.
The Bundesbank executive, who is responsible for banking and financial supervision, said he was concerned that the trend towards internationally agreed standards was under pressure.
And that Britain might try to become the "Singapore of Europe" following Brexit, by cutting taxes and relaxing financial regulations to encourage banks and businesses to invest in the UK.
"Brexit fits into a certain trend we are seeing towards renationalisation," he said.
"I strongly believe that this negatively affects the well-being of us all.
"We should therefore invest all our efforts in containing these trends.
"This holds for the private sector as well as for supervisors and policymakers in the EU and the UK.
"Some voices are calling for deregulation after Brexit," he continued.
"One such example is the 'financial centre strategy' that is being discussed as a fallback option for the City of London.
"Parts of this recipe are low corporate taxes and loose financial regulation.
"We should not forget that strictly supervised and well-capitalised financial systems are the most successful ones in the long run.
"The EU will not engage in a regulatory race to the bottom."
At present, London operates as the financial services capital for the EU.
More than a third of all wholesale banking between larger businesses, governments and pension funds takes place in Britain.
Nearly 80% of all foreign exchange transactions in the EU are carried out in the UK.
The business is valued in trillions of pounds, with billions of pounds being traded every day to insure companies, for example, against interest rate changes, currency fluctuations and inflation risk.
If there were significant changes to the present free-trading relationship between Britain and the EU, that could have a major impact on the value of the financial services to the UK and on the one million people employed in the sector.
Mr Dombret said it would also have an impact on German businesses which use London as a source of funding.
Some banks are hoping that, with the government looking to fully leave the single market, an "equivalence regime" can be agreed where the UK and the EU recognise each other's regulatory standards.
That would allow cross-border transactions to continue with few regulatory hurdles.
But Mr Dombret said that equivalence had "major drawbacks" and was not an "ideal substitute".
"I am very sceptical about whether equivalence decisions offer a sound footing for banks' long-term location decisions," he said.
"Equivalence is miles away from single market access.
"Equivalence decisions are reversible, so banks would be forced to adjust to a new environment in the event that supervisory frameworks are no longer deemed equivalent.
"These lead to the overall conclusion that equivalence decisions are no ideal substitute for passporting [which allows banks in one EU country to operate in another as part of the single market]."
Whatever the arrangements, Mr Dombret said that a "transition period" would ease the pressure of change and reduce what he described as the "earnings risk".
"Let me say that I expect London to remain an important financial centre," Mr Dombret told the audience.
"Nevertheless, I also expect many UK-based market participants to move at least some business units to the EU in order to hedge against all possible outcomes of the negotiations."
One of the biggest EU-focused businesses in the UK is euro-denominated clearing - insurance products called derivatives, which allow companies to protect themselves from movements in currencies, interest rates and inflation.
Three-quarters of the multi-trillion-pounds-a-day market is executed in London and a recent report from the accountancy firm EY estimated that nearly 83,000 jobs could be lost in Britain over the next seven years if clearing has to move to an EU member state following Brexit.
Mr Dombret said it was difficult to see how euro-clearing could remain in London, as it depended on the "acceptance of the European Court of Justice" as the arbiter of the thousands of legal contracts signed between counter-parties, many of which last for years.
Britain has made it clear that it does not want to be bound by ECJ judgements once it has left the EU.
"I see strong arguments for having the bulk of the clearing business inside the euro area," Mr Dombret said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38925440
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Six Nations 2017: Wales-England is highlight of second weekend - BBC Sport
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2017-02-11
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Wales host champions England in the highlight of the second weekend of the Six Nations as Ireland travel to Italy and France host Scotland.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Six Nations 2017 on the BBC Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online, with live text commentary and scores from every game on the BBC Sport website and app (
Wales welcome England to Cardiff in the Six Nations on Saturday with visiting coach Eddie Jones warning his team to expect all manner of "shenanigans" from the hosts.
In Saturday's earlier game Ireland travel to Italy determined to bounce back after their opening defeat by Scotland, while on Sunday Vern Cotter's buoyant Scots travel to Paris, where they have not won since 1999.
But the undoubted highlight of the weekend is the 130th edition of Wales and England, a fixture that was first played in 1881.
Wales v England, Sat 11 Feb, 16:50 GMT - live on BBC One, connected TV and online France v Scotland, Sun 12 Feb, 15:00 GMT - live on BBC One, connected TV and online
"You go to the hotel and unless you take steps, players get rung incessantly through the night. Those things happen," Jones said.
"You go to the ground and the traffic controller drives slower than the traffic's going to make sure you're late.
"You get to the ground and there's something wrong with your dressing room - there's lights off or the heater's switched off.
"You can't check because they traditionally tell you one thing and something else happens. It happens regularly in South Africa and it happens regularly in Wales."
Even before Jones aired his concerns the occasion was always likely to be a high-octane affair as, given their long-standing history and neighbourly rivalry, Wales playing England in Cardiff is among the most emotive occasions in world sport.
• None Wales v England is make or break for Howley
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Wales' assistant coach Robin McBryde believes that the fierce rivalry is an inevitable consequence of the shared history and proximity of the two nations.
"We are neighbours, aren't we? I have got two English brothers-in-law," he said
"It is that English-Welsh rivalry, and wanting to get the better of your neighbour. It's as simple as that."
England have 60 victories to Wales' 57 in the teams' 129 matches with nine draws. However, Wales have a 60% winning record against England in Cardiff.
Jones, whose side have won a national record 15 Tests in a row, has been merrily making mischief since the narrow opening win over France last weekend, suggesting earlier this week that the Welsh are "a cunning lot".
Saturday's match is the sort of occasion which prompts week-long debates about whether the roof on the Principality Stadium will be open or closed.
Wales wanted it closed, to ramp up the noise inside the 72,000-capacity stadium which is renowned for its vertiginous stands and electric atmosphere.
England, as the away side, had the final say under Six Nations rules and - having said he was not bothered one way or the other earlier in the week - Jones has opted for it to be left open.
While the Australian has been stoking the flames, the hosts have been more circumspect - although Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards was moved to compare Jones to legendary former Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough.
And despite his barbs the England head coach has not been short of compliments, praising the Principality Stadium's "amazing atmosphere".
He added: "How could you not want to play rugby there?
"It is one of the greatest rugby countries in the world, so to play Wales in Cardiff with that sort of atmosphere is one of the great delights of rugby."
Wales have injury worries about winger George North - who is chasing a new record of scoring a try in six championship games in a row - and fly-half Dan Biggar and both will have fitness tests on matchday.
But there is some good news for them, with world class number eight Taulupe Faletau back in action, although he only makes it as far as the bench after injury.
England have made two changes from the team that edged past France, with winger Jack Nowell recalled and back rower Jack Clifford handed just his second England start as Jones searches for more ball carrying options.
Scotland looking for first Paris win of the millennium
Scotland have lost nine successive games on French soil since they won 36-22 at the Stade de France in 1999 on the final weekend of their triumph in the last Five Nations championship.
How their forwards match up against a formidably physical French pack could be key to halting that losing run.
Scotland flanker Hamish Watson, who weighs in at a relatively lightweight 15st 12lb, says he is confident that he and his team-mates can meet the challenge.
"They are a big pack and will pose us a different threat to Ireland, We know they are going to scrum well and have been concentrating on that," he said.
"But it's nothing we can't deal with, so I think it will go well."
France coach Guy Noves believes that counterpart Vern Cotter's work is bearing fruit as he approaches the end of his stint with Scotland. Gregor Townsend will take over in June.
"We will mainly adapt to the Scottish rugby that you have seen evolve for four years - a game based on commitment, speed, aggression, with players who have gained confidence in a highly organised collective," he said.
Scotland have made one change with the starting line-up that beat Ireland with John Barclay coming in at blind-side flanker to replace Ryan Wilson, who is out with an elbow infection.
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt will make sure his side are at Rome's Stadio Olimpico in plenty of time for the weekend's opening fixture as he feels that their late arrival at Murrayfield last week contributed to their lacklustre start to the match.
Ireland, whose team bus turned up about 15 minutes late after its police escort reportedly guided it away from an agreed route, conceded three tries in the first half hour to trail by 16 points.
"I don't think it was apathy, there was a bit of anxiety at not having had the full period to warm up," said Schmidt.
"Players get anxious, they get very routine-based and I do think it's a challenge for a professional player that they can be adaptable in different circumstances, so they can still start well and cope."
Schmidt has kept faith with fly-half Paddy Jackson at 10 with Johnny Sexton still returning to fitness after a calf injury picked up playing for Leinster in January.
Italy, led by former Ireland international Conor O'Shea, have beaten Ireland four times in 26 meetings, with their latest success coming in 2013.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38926153
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Women's Six Nations: Wales Women 0-63 England Women - BBC Sport
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2017-02-11
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England thrashed Wales at Cardiff Arms Park to continue their unbeaten start to the Six Nations.
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Last updated on .From the section Welsh Rugby
England women hammered Wales at Cardiff Arms Park, running in 11 tries in a 63-0 victory.
The visitors scored most of their tries through the back three with wing Lydia Thompson running in a hat-trick.
Fellow wing Amy Wilson Hardy and full-back Danielle Waterman crossed twice apiece in a dominant display.
Amy Cokayne, Natasha Hunt, Kate McLean and Sarah Hunter all touched down with Emily Scarratt converting four tries, with Wales unable to find a reply.
England's confident all-round display will make them Six Nations favourites and World Cup contenders.
The Red Roses, who unlike the hosts are professional, got the scoreboard moving inside three minutes when wing Wilson Hardy was worked clear with an overlap, and they continued to get outside the Welsh defence regularly.
The bonus point took just 22 minutes to arrive, and Wales scarcely had their hands on the ball in the first-half with Scarratt's goal-kicking extending the lead to 38-0 by the interval.
Waterman, Thompson and Wilson Hardy continued to run riot in their third quarter.
Wales managed more possession and territory as the game broke up in the final quarter with all the replacements coming on, but Thompson's third in the 67th minute was the last score as Wales were unable to breach a sturdy English defence.
England fly-half McLean, who finished the game at full-back, was player of the match for her controlling performance.
England next host Italy at the Stoop Memorial Ground on Saturday 25 February, while Wales face Scotland in Cumbernauld the previous night.
England beat France 26-13 in their opening contest after trailing 13-0.
Wales beat Italy 20-8 in their opening game of the tournament in Jesi on 4 February.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38904859
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Six Nations - Wales v England: Rob Howley delighted - until last five minutes - BBC Sport
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2017-02-11
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Coach Rob Howley was "proud and delighted" of Wales' display until the last five minutes in which England sealed victory in Cardiff.
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Last updated on .From the section Welsh Rugby
Coverage: Live on BBC One Wales, S4C, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, plus live text commentary
Coach Rob Howley said he was "proud and delighted" about Wales' performance against England - until the visitors grabbed victory in the closing stages.
The hosts led until wing Elliot Daly finished off a counter-attack, after Jonathan Davies failed to find touch with a clearance kick, and Owen Farrell converted to seal a 21-16 victory.
"In the last five minutes we lacked a bit of composure," said Howley.
"Unfortunately, England know how to win. They've got a lot of confidence."
Defeat was Wales' second during Howley's second stint as stand-in for British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland.
They lost heavily to Australia in November and were criticised for their style of play in wins over Argentina, Japan and South Africa.
Howley's men opened their Six Nations campaign with a 33-7 victory over Italy in Rome, and produced a vastly improved display in defeat by England.
"I'm proud and delighted with the performance... up to about 75 minutes," said Howley.
'You have to applaud England'
Daly dived over under pressure from Alex Cuthbert, who was promoted into the team in the build-up to the match when George North failed to recover from a dead leg.
Northampton Saints player North says he will be fit to face Scotland in round three on Saturday, 25 February.
Howley added: "I felt England were getting on top in the last 10 to 15 minutes and they took their chance.
"You have to applaud them for that.
"International rugby is about taking your chances and keeping discipline."
Howley said fly-half Dan Biggar's display was one of the highlights for Wales.
"Dan Biggar delivers that level of performance whether it's in training or in a Test match," he said.
"He's one of the key players in the unit and he's matured to become a class player."
• None Never miss a Six Nations story - sign up for our rugby news alerts
Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones said: "Hopefully we answered some of the critics.
"We had a great first half. Yes we are disappointed, but the performance was there for 76 minutes. We will take huge belief from this."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38945183
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NHS Health Check: What's causing hospital delays? - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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The NHS is under unprecedented pressure. But how do patients flow round the system and what happens to hospitals when they cannot cope?
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The NHS is under unprecedented pressure. Demand is rising and hospitals, in particular, are struggling to cope.
But how exactly do patients flow round the system and what happens to hospitals when they cannot cope?
The BBC has produced an animated video to help you understand more about the health service and the strain it is under.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38863681
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Has Facebook slipped up with VR? - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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It's been a brutal few weeks for Facebook's virtual reality ambitions - Mark Zuckerberg may have made a rare miscalculation.
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Technology
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HTC Vive has been outselling the Oculus Rift
I first tried the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset in the corner of a drab conference room in Las Vegas. I was convinced within seconds - despite feeling a little dizzy - that the device, held together by duct tape and hope, was destined for big things.
A year or so later, I met the same company, Oculus VR, in a (slightly) fancier room at the E3 gaming event in Los Angeles. "Hold this," I said, abruptly thrusting an audio cable into the hands of a young man who I thought was helping out - but was in fact the company's chief executive, Palmer Luckey. Again, I was blown away by the technology.
The next time I'd meet Luckey he'd be many, many millions of dollars richer, and Oculus would be a Facebook-owned company. But despite that very real marker of success, our topic of conversation each time we met remained the same: How are you going to convince people it's worth it? And isn't it going to be way too expensive?
"It isn't," he said the last time I asked him - but he's wrong.
At around $600 (plus a powerful PC) to get started, it is too expensive.
But money isn't the problem. The price of the technology will come down, and I'm still convinced virtual reality can be a success - but will it be Facebook's success? The company's strategy in this blossoming market is under question.
This week we learned that demo stations set up in Best Buy - the huge US technology retail chain - are being rolled back due to poor foot traffic.
Facebook has described the move as a "seasonal" change, but suffice it to say, if they were shifting units they'd still be there. Instead, 200 of the 500 stations across the US are being shut down.
It's a potentially troubling moment for the company. Those who back virtual reality - myself included - always subscribed to the view that the key to selling them would be to get people to try it out. Once you've been in VR, we all assumed, you'd be hooked, and your wallet would follow soon after.
Google's Daydream VR system could be a threat to Facebook's budget VR success
But that doesn't seem to have been the case. For whatever reason, too few people were bothering to even try the demo, let alone buy the product. There are a few theories for this, but the most likely, in my mind, was suggested by NPR's Molly Wood. The problem, she observed recently, might be the "pink-eye factor”.
She said: "It could be as simple as - and I have said this a million times - not wanting to go into a store and put something on your face that has been on a bunch of other people's faces."
But that wouldn't explain why the Oculus Rift is apparently performing poorly against its closest rival.
At the high-end of the virtual reality market, Oculus is up against HTC's Vive, an extremely capable device which has the involvement of Valve, the revered games publisher.
Unofficial data (which I'm using as the companies themselves haven't shared sales figures with us) suggest that the Vive, despite being more expensive, is trouncing Oculus. Games research firm SuperData estimated that 420,000 Vive headsets were sold in 2016, compared to 250,000 sales for the Oculus Rift.
The lower end of the market is far more positive for Facebook. The Samsung Gear VR runs the Oculus VR experience, and that is by far and away the most popular device for VR on the market today, according to SuperData. But the hardware is all Samsung's and, for the most part, the headset itself (a simple plastic frame with lenses) has been given away with many smartphones.
The hope that the Gear VR might act as a kind of gateway drug into pricier VR experiences has yet to come to fruition.
Or maybe it has, just not for Oculus: the middle ground in VR is Sony's PlayStation VR, $399 and works with the PlayStation 4. It's more powerful than the Gear VR, but less powerful than the high-end headsets. But here's where Facebook should be worried - it seems to be good enough for most gamers.
And it's "good enough" that makes Facebook's strategy all the more precarious. Who is the Oculus Rift for, exactly? Super serious gamers are gravitating to the HTC Vive. Moderately serious gamers are happy with PlayStation VR. And at the budget end, the Gear VR, while popular now, faces a clear and present threat from Daydream, Google's new VR ecosystem which is far more open.
While Gear VR insists you have a Samsung smartphone, Daydream is designed to eventually work with any sufficiently powerful Android device (and it wouldn't be too tricky to make it work with Apple's iOS, either).
This compatibility comes at a price, mind - the Daydream View headset is far less comfortable, in my experience, than the Gear VR. But it's comfortable enough, and the little handheld controller provides a far more intuitive way of navigating the VR world than tapping blindly at the side of your head, a la Gear VR.
So what are the next steps if Facebook is to get on top of this? I'd ask Palmer Luckey, but he's hard to reach at the moment - hidden away from public view after controversy surrounding his support of Donald Trump which involved funding a hateful trolling group.
He still works at the company, but Facebook and Oculus have repeatedly refused to tell me what his job actually is. (Palmer, if you're reading... my Twitter direct messages are open!)
The only public appearance he has made since that debacle has been to turn up in court where Facebook (unsuccessfully) defended against claims Oculus illegally used intellectual property belonging to games publisher Zenimax in the early days. A $500m bill for damages awaits, unless Facebook can win on appeal.
In a recent earnings call, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is still incredibly enthusiastic about VR and what it means for his network's future, called for patience from his investors. "It's not going to be really profitable for a while," he said.
He's never claimed otherwise, it has to be said. VR appears on Facebook's 10-year strategy, a slow burner with potentially big rewards.
But falling behind now would be a serious blow, which is why Zuckerberg has brought in Hugo Barra, a man most recently at Chinese firm Xiaomi, but before that, a major name at Google. He'll be in charge of Facebook's efforts in virtual reality from here on in.
In Barra, Oculus gains both a visionary and a safe pair of hands. He having worked on Android, today's most popular smartphone platform.
At Xiaomi, his role was to help the company expand globally - and while the company didn't, as some had expected, break into the US under Barra's watch, it did cement a reputation as making good quality devices.
He hasn't started his new role at Facebook just yet - he'll be at the company in a month or so, apparently excited to be back in California after a few years away.
When he starts his first day - I feel those two questions I've been asking Palmer Luckey still stand: Isn't it still too expensive? And more importantly - how are you going to convince people it's worth it?
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38941256
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War photographer Ron Haviv: 'I won't die for a photo' - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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Photojournalist Ron Haviv is making a documentary about the stories of two of his photographs.
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Ron Haviv started his career as a photojournalist in 1989 in Panama and there he took a photo showing the country's future vice-president being beaten by a paramilitary.
US President George Bush used it to justify the US invasion.
After Panama he went to Bosnia, where in 1992, he took another iconic photograph, which shows Serbian paramilitary soldiers kicking the bodies of civilians they had just killed. That photograph was used to indict their leaders for war crimes.
A quarter of a century later, Ron is working on a documentary about the lives that these two photographs took once they left his camera.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38934111
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What is the 'gig' economy? - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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What is the so-called "gig" economy, a phrase increasingly associated with employment disputes?
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Business
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A tribunal found courier Maggie Dewhurst should be classed as a worker
What is the so-called "gig" economy, a phrase increasingly in use, and seemingly so in connection with employment disputes?
According to one definition, it is "a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work, as opposed to permanent jobs".
And - taking opposing partisan viewpoints - it is either a working environment that offers flexibility with regard to employment hours, or... it is a form of exploitation with very little workplace protection.
The latest attempt to bring a degree of legal clarity to the employment status of people in the gig economy has been playing out in the Court of Appeal.
A London firm, Pimlico Plumbers, on Friday lost its appeal against a previous ruling that said one of its long-serving plumbers was a worker - entitled to basic rights, including holiday pay - rather than an independent contractor.
Like other cases of a similar nature, such as those involving Uber and Deliveroo, the outcome will now be closely scrutinised for what it means regarding the workplace rights of the millions of people employed in the gig economy in the UK.
In the gig economy, instead of a regular wage, workers get paid for the "gigs" they do, such as a food delivery or a car journey.
In the UK it's estimated that five million people are employed in this type of capacity.
Proponents of the gig economy claim that people can benefit from flexible hours, with control over how much time they can work as they juggle other priorities in their lives.
Workers in the gig economy may be delivering meals
In addition, the flexible nature often offers benefits to employers, as they only pay when the work is available, and don't incur staff costs when the demand is not there.
Meanwhile, workers in the gig economy are classed as independent contractors.
That means they have no protection against unfair dismissal, no right to redundancy payments, and no right to receive the national minimum wage, paid holiday or sickness pay.
It is these aspects that are proving contentious.
In the past few months two tribunal hearings have gone against employers looking to classify staff as independent contractors.
Last October Uber drivers in the UK won the right to be classed as workers rather than independent contractors.
The ruling by a London employment tribunal meant drivers for the ride-hailing app would be entitled to holiday pay, paid rest breaks and the national minimum wage.
Uber is appealing against the tribunal finding against it
The GMB union described the decision as a "monumental victory" for some 40,000 drivers in England and Wales. In December, Uber launched an appeal against the ruling that it had acted unlawfully.
And in January this year, a tribunal found that Maggie Dewhurst, a courier with logistics firm City Sprint, should be classed as a worker rather than independent contractor, entitling her to basic rights.
And, also towards the end of last year, a group of food takeaway couriers working for Deliveroo said they were taking legal steps in the UK to gain union recognition and workers' rights.
One difference worth noting is that workers in the gig economy differ slightly from those on zero-hours contracts.
Those are the - also controversial - arrangements used by companies such as Sports Direct, JD Wetherspoons and Cineworld.
Like workers in the gig economy, zero-hours contractors - or casual contractors - don't get guaranteed hours or much job security from their employer.
Chancellor Philip Hammond is looking for effective ways to tax workers
But people on zero-hours contracts are seen as employees in some sense, as they are entitled to holiday pay. But, like those in the gig economy, they are not entitled to sick pay.
Meanwhile, the Department for Business is holding an inquiry into a range of working practices - including the gig economy.
The department says it wants to ensure its employment rules are up to date to reflect "new ways of working".
The status of gig economy workers is of importance to the government, as last November's Autumn Statement showed for the first time how it is cutting into the government's tax take.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated that in 2020-21 it will cost the Treasury £3.5bn.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said then he would look to find more effective ways to tax workers in the UK's current shifting labour environment.
For more on the gig economy listen to In The Balance: Precarious Future on BBC World Service at 09:30 GMT on Saturday, 11 February.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38930048
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Russian choir celebrates Diplomats' Day in song - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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It was Diplomats' Day in Russia on Friday and the country's Diplomacy For Peace choir, made up of newly qualified diplomats, has been singing the praises of their diplomacy.
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It was Diplomats' Day in Russia on Friday and the country's Diplomacy For Peace choir, made up of newly qualified diplomats, has been singing the praises of their diplomacy.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38939955
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How I overcame anorexia and bulimia - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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How I overcame anorexia and what to look for if you're worried someone you know has an eating disorder
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Rebecca was anorexic and bulimic for 12 years.
She explains what helped her and what didn't, as well as some of the signs people can look for if they're worried someone they know may have an eating disorder.
Rebecca's story was featured on Trust Me I'm A Doctor on BBC Two - @BBCTrustMe on Twitter
Join the conversation - find BBC Stories on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38933469
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Highlights: Celtic 6-0 Inverness CT, Scottish Cup - BBC Sport
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2017-02-11
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Moussa Dembele scores a hat-trick as Celtic thump Inverness CT to reach the Scottish Cup quarter-finals (UK only).
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Moussa Dembele scores a hat-trick as Celtic thump Inverness CT to reach the Scottish Cup quarter-finals. Commentary from Liam McLeod and Steven Thompson.
Available to UK users only.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/scotland/38946025
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Six Nations 2017: Dylan Hartley on Cardiff's unbelievable atmosphere - BBC Sport
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2017-02-11
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England captain Dylan Hartley says Cardiff is one of the "rugby capitals of the world" as his side prepare to play Wales in the Six Nations.
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England captain Dylan Hartley says Cardiff is one of the "rugby capitals of the world" as his side prepare to play Wales in the Six Nations.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38938030
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Vintage spy gadgets go under hammer - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The collection includes a dagger disguised as a pen and a watch with a hidden microphone.
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Kent
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The watch has a tiny, hidden microphone for a spy to secretly record conversations
A vintage collection of secret service gadgets including a dagger disguised as a pen and a watch with a hidden microphone are to go on sale.
The items - designed for British spies and troops caught behind enemy lines - date from World War Two onwards.
The anonymous seller claims he was never a spy himself, simply a historian with a passion for anything from WW2.
The objects are expected to fetch a total of thousands of pounds when they are sold at auction in Kent on Tuesday.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This fountain pen concealed a dagger and could be worth up to £500
The James Bond-style collection of sinister yet ingenious items includes a badge which unscrews to reveal a compass, which is expected to fetch up to £120.
There is also a key with a secret compartment for hiding things such as cyanide pills, which could be worth up to £200.
Matthew Tredwin of C&T Auctioneers said: "Most people that buy this stuff are historians who want to keep the story of these people alive."
The vendor said he would be "over the moon if they fetched the estimates placed on them".
But he added: "Money is not the concern. I would like to think they will go to a collector who will cherish them as much as I have over the years."
"I have had the pleasure of owning them and feel it is time that another collector or museum has the opportunity," he added.
The collection includes a button with a compass inside and a key with a secret compartment
• None Spy gadgets up for auction. Video, 00:00:43Spy gadgets up for auction
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-38943163
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Six Nations: Wales 16-21 England - BBC Sport
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2017-02-11
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Wales are unable to prevent England extending their winning run to 16 games in a row as the visitors win a Six Nations thriller in Cardiff.
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England broke Welsh hearts with a late try from Elliot Daly snatching an unlikely victory in Cardiff and stretching their winning run to 16 matches.
Liam Williams' slicing first-half try and 11 points from the boot of Leigh Halfpenny looked to have sealed a merited home triumph, the Principality Stadium awash in song and celebration.
Defending Six Nations champions England had led through Ben Youngs' early try but were then bullied for much of a pulsating contest, their callow back row outmuscled and their attack imprecise.
But Owen Farrell's penalties kept them within two points and with time running out his long flat pass put Daly away down the left to escape Alex Cuthbert's despairing tackle and dive over in the corner.
It was a poor clearing kick from Jonathan Davies that gifted England that final chance, and Wales will be left ruing that lapse, just as the visiting supporters celebrated it with glee.
With home matches against Italy and Scotland to come Jones's men have a realistic shot at setting up another Grand Slam tilt, disappointing though they were for much of this contest.
Wales were better in most of the key areas, their back row of Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric and Ross Moriarty exposing England's comparative lack of experience.
Dan Biggar out-shone his opposite number George Ford, as impressive with ball in hand as he was with his kicking game, and picked off an interception deep into the match that appeared to have been pivotal.
Yet again it was England's bench that saved them, although the men Jones has called his finishers were more rescue squad on this freezing Cardiff night.
Just as those replacements had changed the face of the narrow win over France at Twickenham a week ago, so they wrestled late control of a game that Wales had in their grasp.
Wales left points on the pitch in the first half, twice spurning kickable penalties, once to take a five-metre scrum which England then won, shortly afterwards kicking for the corner when the impeccable Halfpenny would surely have bagged the three points.
Skipper Alun Wyn Jones then knocked on with only the comparatively diminutive Youngs in front of him and with an overlap left, and in a game as tight as this it will be one more regret on a night of what ifs and should have beens.
The streak goes on - just
England's opening try had spoken of initial superior precision and control, the men in white going through 26 phases before Youngs burrowed over.
Only Farrell's missed conversion and Daly's penalty miss from long range kept them from enjoying a more comfortable lead.
That superiority was short-lived. Williams cut a sweet inside line off Rhys Webb's pass, England's defence suckered by decoy runners.
And sustained Welsh pressure in the second half really should have brought reward, Jones so concerned he replaced his skipper Dylan Hartley on 46 minutes and threw on James Haskell shortly afterwards.
England still could not find their rhythm, Mike Brown wasting one attack by kicking the ball out on the full under little pressure, Jonathan Joseph ending another with a pass sent straight into touch.
But as Hymns and Arias rang out around the steep stands, Ford fielded Davies' kick 30 metres out, Farrell spotted Daly outside him and the winger accelerated past the unhappy Cuthbert to keep Jones's record-breaking streak alive.
Joe Launchbury's 20 tackles helped keep England alive, but Dan Biggar's best game for Wales since the 2015 World Cup should have ended with greater reward.
Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones speaking on BBC Radio 5 live: "Hopefully we answered some of the critics. We had a great first half. Yes we are disappointed, but the performance was there for 76 minutes. We will take huge belief from this."
England head coach Eddie Jones speaking on BBC Radio 5 live: "I think we have used all of our get out of jail cards. I never think we are going to lose, but we don't want all our games to be that tight."
What did the pundits make of it?
Ex-Wales fly-half Jonathan Davies on BBC One: "I felt that England looked far more threatening with ball in hand. When the opportunity came, they took it. They were so clinical in the opportunities they had."
Ex-England hooker Brian Moore on BBC One: "It shows again that if you do not put this England side away when you are on top they will make you pay. They were outplayed for long periods but when it came down to taking the opportunity from a poor Welsh kick, they found a way to win."
Replacements: Roberts for S Williams (71), G Davies for Webb (65), Smith for Evans (53), Baldwin for Owens (60), Lee for Francis (53), Hill for Tipuric (78), Faletau for Moriarty (53).
Replacements: May for Nowell (71), Te'o for Joseph (65), Care for Youngs (65), Mullan for Marler (71), George for Hartley (46), Sinckler for Cole (71), Haskell for Clifford (49).
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38920444
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Spy gadgets up for auction - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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A collection of items used by British spies during the Second World War is going up for auction.
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A collection of items used by British spies during the Second World War is going up for auction.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38942633
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Rangers: Mark Warburton replaced as manager ahead of Scottish Cup tie - BBC Sport
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2017-02-11
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Rangers say they have replaced Mark Warburton as manager after his resignation, but the Englishman says he has not stood down at Ibrox.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Rangers have replaced Mark Warburton as manager with under-20 coach Graeme Murty before Sunday's Scottish Cup tie with Greenock Morton.
The Scottish Premiership club say they have accepted the resignations of Warburton, assistant David Weir and head of recruitment, Frank McParland.
But Warburton, who took charge in 2015, told BBC Scotland he has not stood down and was unaware of the statement.
And the 54-year-old Englishman is consulting his legal team.
The BBC has learned that Warburton had contact with Nottingham Forest around 10 days ago and was high on the English Championship club's list of possible managers.
However, he was not offered the job and they decided to retain their interim team of Gary Brazil and Jack Lester until the end of the season.
Warburton, who had a contract at Ibrox until 2018, had taken Rangers' training on Friday as normal before Sunday's fifth-round tie.
He had earlier in the morning defended McParland's record of signings after media criticism of the Glasgow club's recruitment.
"At a meeting with the management team's representative earlier this week, the club were advised that Mr Warburton, Mr Weir and Mr McParland wished to resign their positions and leave the club on condition that Rangers agreed to waive its rights to substantial compensation," said Rangers' statement.
Although born in England, Graeme Murty qualified to play for Scotland and won four caps between 2004 and 2007 The 42-year-old played for York, Reading, Charlton Athletic and Southampton in a career lasting 17 years and 437 games He won the Football League Championship with Reading in 2005/06. He has coached at Southampton and Norwich City, both at youth level
"Rangers' agreement to waive compensation would assist the management team to join another club.
"This compensation amount was agreed when Rangers significantly improved Mr Warburton and Mr Weir's financial arrangements before the start of this season.
"The board urgently convened to consider the offer made on behalf of the management team and its ramifications and agreed to accept it and release the trio from the burden of compensation, despite the potential financial cost to the club."
Rangers claim that Warburton's representative attempted to alter the the terms.
"A further board meeting was held this afternoon to discuss this and it was decided not to agree to this additional request but to hold with the original agreement," he said.
"Mr Warburton, Mr Weir, and Mr McParland have therefore been notified in writing that their notices of termination have been accepted."
Rangers lie third in the Scottish top flight, but they are a distant 27 points behind city rivals and reigning champions Celtic and their statement went on to suggest that the management team have not reached the targets set.
"The board is very appreciative of the good work previously done by the management team but believes it had no alternative," it added.
"Our club must come first and absolute commitment is essential.
"It is important that Rangers has a football management team that wants to be at the club and that the board believes can take the club forward to meet our stated ambition to return to being the number one club in Scotland.
"We are clearly short of where we expected to be at this time."
Relations between Mark Warburton and the Rangers board have been strained for some time. The manner of the departure could never have been predicted, but the departure itself had been coming. Recent results have been poor, but the former Brentford boss was unhappy with the financial backing he received from owner Dave King - a man who he hasn't spoken to in person, on a one to one basis, for months. For his part, King had grown disillusioned by Warburton's signings and what he perceived to be a lack of progress. It was a relationship well beyond repair. Some will believe Warburton was agitating to get out, others will say the board turned on him. Whatever the truth, it's another mess this club could well do without.
Warburton's reign at Ibrox suffered a blow in November, when high-profile summer signing Joey Barton was sacked after a training ground disagreement with team-mate Andy Halliday and the manager following a 5-1 defeat by Celtic.
It called into question his signing policy, but Warburton gave another ringing endorsement to McParland, who was with him at Brentford, before Sunday's game.
"I've said time and again - his track record is outstanding," he said. "There would be no shortage of takers for someone of his quality."
Warburton also quoted a former Rangers manager in pointing out the pressures that come with the post.
"Walter Smith said to me that you are never more than two or three games away from a major crisis," he said. "That is life at Rangers.
"That is the nature of it. You just get on with it."
Warburton was in charge of Rangers for 82 games, winning 55, drawing 14 and suffering 13 losses.
His 67% win rate was more than Stuart McCall, who took charge at the end of the 2014-15 season, and had a 41% win rate, but less than his predecessor, Ally McCoist, with 72%.
Mark Warburton attempted to explain away his team's - or former team's - dreary draw against Ross County by saying a series of random events conspired against his players.
It was, he said, football's strange ways that denied them on the day, as if some cosmic force was to blame for the failings rather than his own players and his own management.
Warburton's comments were bizarre but nowhere near as surreal as the nonsense that took hold of Rangers on Friday evening as the club said that Warburton was leaving and Warburton said that he wasn't.
Rangers have known dysfunction in recent years, but those times are not as distant as some chose to believe.
They're just dysfunctional in a different way now. Rudderless, leaking like a sieve and now embarrassed in a way that surely took their supporters back to the dog days of Charles Green and chums.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38939432
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Brexit: Labour rebels to receive formal written warning - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Frontbenchers who voted against the party's three-line whip on the Brexit Bill will not be sacked.
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UK Politics
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Jeremy Corbyn imposed a three-line whip on his MPs in the Brexit vote
Labour frontbenchers who defied Jeremy Corbyn in this week's Commons Brexit vote will be sent a formal written warning but will not be sacked.
Mr Corbyn had imposed a three-line whip on his MPs to vote to back Brexit.
But 52 Labour MPs rebelled in Wednesday's vote, including 11 junior shadow ministers and three whips, whose job it is to impose party discipline.
Clive Lewis, who quit the shadow cabinet over the vote, said rumours of a leadership bid by him were "fantasy".
Mr Corbyn imposed the three-line whip after vowing his party would not seek to obstruct the implementation of the EU referendum result.
Convention dictates that members of the leader's shadow cabinet team should resign or be sacked if they defy such an order.
Some did resign but the remaining rebels are to receive only a letter insisting that they must comply with the whip in the future.
The decision not to sack them leaves Labour facing the prospect of three whips trying to persuade their colleagues to vote with a leader who himself rebelled against Labour more than 400 times - when they have defied him themselves, BBC political correspondent Chris Mason says.
Mr Lewis has since been replaced as shadow business secretary by Rebecca Long-Bailey.
Speaking to the Eastern Daily Press, Mr Lewis, who is MP for Norwich, said his resignation was not the beginning of a bid to challenge Mr Corbyn for the party leadership, adding that he was "working hard" to support him from the back benches.
A string of resignations from the Labour front bench mean there are still a "couple of vacancies" to be filled but it is not expected there will be any further announcements until next week.
New appointments announced on Friday include Ian Lavery and Andrew Gwynne, who become joint national elections and campaign coordinators.
Jon Trickett has become shadow minister for the Cabinet Office and will remain shadow Lord President of the Council.
The draft Brexit legislation was approved by 494 votes to 122 in Wednesday's vote and now moves to the House of Lords.
Prime Minister Theresa May wants to trigger formal Brexit talks by the end of March.
She will do this by invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty but requires Parliament's permission before doing so.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38856992
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Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins on losing legal case - BBC News
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2017-02-11
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Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins says they're very likely to appeal after losing a significant court case.
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Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins says his firm is "very likely" to appeal after losing a significant court case.
It comes after the Court of Appeal agreed with a tribunal that Garry Smith was entitled to basic workers' rights, following a heart attack, even though he'd been technically self-employed.
Charlie Mullins told the BBC that Mr Smith had chosen to be self-employed, meaning he was paid twice as much, but then would not receive worker benefits.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38929117
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Romanian protesters use mobile phones to protest - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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Thousands of people protested in Bucharest on Sunday night.
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Thousands of people protested in the Romanian capital of Bucharest on Sunday night.
Crowds gathered outside government offices in the latest of two weeks of protests.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38952193
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Six Nations - Wales v England: Rob Howley delighted - until last five minutes - BBC Sport
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2017-02-12
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Coach Rob Howley was "proud and delighted" of Wales' display until the last five minutes in which England sealed victory in Cardiff.
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Last updated on .From the section Welsh Rugby
Coverage: Live on BBC One Wales, S4C, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, plus live text commentary
Coach Rob Howley said he was "proud and delighted" about Wales' performance against England - until the visitors grabbed victory in the closing stages.
The hosts led until wing Elliot Daly finished off a counter-attack, after Jonathan Davies failed to find touch with a clearance kick, and Owen Farrell converted to seal a 21-16 victory.
"In the last five minutes we lacked a bit of composure," said Howley.
"Unfortunately, England know how to win. They've got a lot of confidence."
Defeat was Wales' second during Howley's second stint as stand-in for British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland.
They lost heavily to Australia in November and were criticised for their style of play in wins over Argentina, Japan and South Africa.
Howley's men opened their Six Nations campaign with a 33-7 victory over Italy in Rome, and produced a vastly improved display in defeat by England.
"I'm proud and delighted with the performance... up to about 75 minutes," said Howley.
'You have to applaud England'
Daly dived over under pressure from Alex Cuthbert, who was promoted into the team in the build-up to the match when George North failed to recover from a dead leg.
Northampton Saints player North says he will be fit to face Scotland in round three on Saturday, 25 February.
Howley added: "I felt England were getting on top in the last 10 to 15 minutes and they took their chance.
"You have to applaud them for that.
"International rugby is about taking your chances and keeping discipline."
Howley said fly-half Dan Biggar's display was one of the highlights for Wales.
"Dan Biggar delivers that level of performance whether it's in training or in a Test match," he said.
"He's one of the key players in the unit and he's matured to become a class player."
• None Never miss a Six Nations story - sign up for our rugby news alerts
Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones said: "Hopefully we answered some of the critics.
"We had a great first half. Yes we are disappointed, but the performance was there for 76 minutes. We will take huge belief from this."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38945183
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Fires ravage rural areas of New South Wales, Australia - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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Rural areas of Australia's New South Wales state have been evacuated as wildfires rage across the state, threatening homes and closing roads.
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Rural areas of Australia's New South Wales state have been evacuated as wildfires rage across the state, threatening homes and closing roads.
Some 97 fires were burning across the state, with 37 uncontained, the Rural Fire Service said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-38949906
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Life after death? Resurrecting a modern ruin - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The derelict St Peter's Seminary - in Scottish woods - is receiving a second chance.
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In Pictures
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About 20 miles west of Glasgow lies a modern ruin. St Peter's Seminary was built only 50 years ago, yet by the 1990s it was derelict. However, plans to breathe new life into the building are now close to being realised.
The concrete ghost is hidden in woods on the north side of the River Clyde - the shell of an ambitious 1960s modernist building which the Catholic Church had planned to use to train 100 novice priests.
But the seminary - at the back of a golf course on the edge of the village of Cardross - was built in changing times. The Church would soon shift away from training priests in seclusion, instead placing them in the community.
The inauguration ceremony was held on St Andrew's Day 1966.
At the ceremony, the Archbishop of Glasgow James Scanlan commented on the "unique edifice… of such architectural distinction as to merit the highest praise from the most qualified judges".
But by the 2000s, the same space would be in ruins.
The post-war years saw the break-up of many of the traditionally Catholic areas in Glasgow - as sections of the old inner city were demolished and people moved into new high-rise homes or out to new towns like East Kilbride or Cumbernauld.
In this photo taken in the mid-60s, newly-built 20-storey flats in the Gorbals area of Glasgow overlook St Francis Church and Friary.
The Catholic Church embarked on an ambitious building project to serve these new communities - using architects Gillespie, Kidd and Coia (GKC).
GKC was also asked to build a new St Peter's Seminary near Cardross - to replace the old St Peter's College in Bearsden, which was destroyed by fire in the 1940s.
The architectural drawing above, of the new St Peter's south elevation, includes Kilmahew House - the 19th Century mansion which had been used as a temporary seminary since the late 1940s.
The trainee priests were to have "cells" in the main block - directly above the chapel - as shown in this section drawing from 1961.
The first sod on the site was cut in 1960.
Architects John Cowell (left) and Isi Metzstein (right) - with project manager Stan Blair in the centre - celebrate here with pints of Guinness at the "topping out" ceremony in 1965.
Tucked away on a wooded hilltop, St Peter's was removed from the outside world.
The entrance to the main block was across a bridge spanning a shallow pool.
The architecture was celebrated at this early stage, and the project won a Royal Institute of British Architects Bronze Regional Award in 1967.
The granite altar in the sanctuary was the heart of the seminary complex.
Despite the sharp contrast between Kilmahew House and the St Peter's extension, the old mansion was an integral part of the college.
With the break up of traditional Catholic communities in the West of Scotland, and the increasing secularisation of society, St Peter's was never used to full capacity.
It was designed to hold 100 residents, but the highest number of students living there at any one time was 56.
This under population only exacerbated a series of maintenance problems on the site.
Inefficient heating, poor sound insulation and water leaks made life difficult for the trainee priests - but it did not stop them from enjoying a game of football.
In November 1979, only 13 years after it opened, the Archdiocese of Glasgow decided to close St Peter's because of the dwindling number of trainee priests, the maintenance issues and financial constraints.
The building was used as a drug rehabilitation centre for four years in the 1980s, but then fell into a state of disrepair.
Architectural interest remained though, and in 1992 Historic Scotland granted St Peter's Category A listed status.
Two years later, the adjoining Kilmahew House was gutted by fire and had to be demolished. Only the footprint of the mansion was left behind.
With no secure plans for the future, the site continued to deteriorate.
What the priests left behind, the graffiti artists claimed as their own.
Since the seminary's closure, numerous ideas have been submitted for repurposing St Peter's.
One ambitious plan - scuppered by the recession which followed the financial crash in 2008 - would have seen the modernist structure turned into a swimming pool and health spa.
Now arts charity NVA is working towards turning the site into a dramatic space for public art, performance and debate.
The idea is to consolidate the ruin into a new design - with only partial restoration. A master plan was submitted in 2011.
With significant help from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Creative Scotland, NVA has reached its £7m funding target - and later this year work is expected to start on returning the site to a usable space.
A big clean-up last year removed lots of the detritus.
The sanctuary and altar area could be turned into a performance space like this.
But the public has already been given a chance to see the ruin of St Peter's in a new light.
In Spring 2016, NVA created a journey in light and sound through the concrete. Called Hinterland, the event was sold out.
St Peter's made a dramatic architectural statement when it was built, but its first incarnation as a seminary was short-lived.
It is hoped this 21st Century rebirth by NVA, bringing the structure back into productive use, will prove more enduring.
Historic Environment Scotland, in partnership with NVA and Glasgow School of Art, has published a more detailed history of the site - St Peter's, Cardross: Birth, Death and Renewal by Diane M Watters.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-38884020
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Six Nations: Eddie Jones' England don't know how to lose - BBC Sport
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2017-02-12
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England's late victory against Wales is testament to a head coach and side who are full of determination, character and conviction.
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Believing you will win when all around see a match that's slipping away. Coming back for more when all game you have been turned over and picked off. Finding precision in the critical moment, having been imprecise in so much of what has gone before.
England, despite the late larceny in Cardiff that has extended their victory roll to 16 games and counting, are far from perfect. There are flaws and weaknesses there, but the abiding memory from this white-hot battle on a frozen winter's night will be of strength: of character, in depth, of conviction.
Wales thought they had done enough. For 76 minutes they had, playing with a pace and ferocity that stirred memories of the massacre of Stuart Lancaster's innocents here four years ago. The massed ranks of their support were singing them home.
And then it turned, ostensibly on one tired clearing kick from Jonathan Davies, but really on so much more.
Good teams go close and see the logic in their defeat. They vow to go away and learn the lessons. They accept that sometimes it is just not their day.
This England team don't appear to countenance defeat at all. They refuse to let the pressure of being close cloud their thinking. They keep winning that ugly way.
• None Howley delighted until last five minutes
• None 5 live In Short: England's backs 'more talented than Wilkinson era'
George Ford, fielding Davies' kick 40 metres out with England 16-14 down, might have gambled on a speculative drop-goal.
Owen Farrell, taking his pass at pace and with only one man outside him, might have twitched at the memory of the interception a few minutes earlier, or gone safely into contact to set up field position.
Elliot Daly, running on instead to another fast, sweetly timed pass, might have cut inside or allowed himself to be swallowed up by the onrushing arms of Alex Cuthbert.
Four minutes to go, everything hanging on that one moment, and they made it happen. If it was cruel on Wales, better than they have been in many a marooned year, it characterised the essence of what this England team has become.
Eddie Jones always thinks his side will win, no matter what mess they find themselves in. Rob Howley always looks worried that his Wales team will lose.
That belief has permeated through the ranks. Maro Itoje doesn't dwell on the possibility of defeat, not least because in his brief career it has been such an unfamiliar experience to him.
James Haskell's ego makes him relish coming off the bench to help turn games around. Farrell, hit so late and hard by Ross Moriarty early in the second half that he was left dry-retching, sucked it in, grinned and came back to produce the contest's pivotal pass and kick.
Howley is a nice man and a dedicated coach who, as a player, could do things few other scrum-halves could. His record as Wales' caretaker boss while Warren Gatland is away is statistically solid - seven wins in his past 10 matches - and has touched occasional heights: a record-breaking win over South Africa last autumn, that unprecedented 30-3 hammering of England in 2013.
But whereas Jones comes across as a general with both tactical mastery and troops who are genuinely frightened of him, Howley is more the well-meaning supply teacher whose optimistic lesson plans fail to survive the streetwise and disruptive elements inherent in every classroom.
It is the difference too between the England of Jones and that of his predecessor Lancaster, another honourable, hard-working man who saw crunch matches slip from his grasp in each of his four Six Nations campaigns.
It happened at Twickenham in 2012, when Scott Williams' brilliant solo burglary and escape sent Wales away towards a third Grand Slam in eight years and left England stalled in second.
It happened in Paris in 2014, when Gael Fickou's late acceleration inside Alex Goode snatched a victory at the death to spell another second place.
And it happened, most famously of all, at Twickenham in that tumultuous World Cup group showdown 18 months ago, when an England team 10 points ahead, with half an hour to go, let a Welsh side with a scrum-half on the wing, a wing at centre and a patched-up fly-half at full-back fight back to steal away a three-point win that will be sung about until the Severn runs dry.
Jones, reptilian grin and all, does not care who likes him or what others think of his team, as Howley often appears to do and Lancaster once did.
And he is becoming defined by these wins when all is nip and tuck and maybe not: here in Cardiff, when his inexperienced back row shipped eight turnovers to their opponents, when the usually unflustered Jonathan Joseph was throwing passes into touch, when only Daly's muscular speed had denied the excellent Dan Biggar a breakaway try; against France a week ago, when three opposition players all made more than 125m with ball in hand; when a red card for Daly meant 75 minutes against Argentina last autumn with 14 men.
The power of the bench
Jones spoke afterwards of his team having used up all their get-out-of-jail cards. It was an admission that he expects better and will drill his charges until it comes.
It was also a reflection of a bench that he calls his finishers but may be better described as his emergency services.
Normally the sight of a skipper being hauled off uninjured after 46 minutes would be a cause for crisis. Not when Jones can send on Jamie George for Dylan Hartley.
Haskell, bullish in mind and body, deserves better than the bench but repeatedly makes such an impact from it that he may suffer the unusual misfortune of playing himself out of the starting XV.
Ben Te'o, Danny Care, Kyle Sinckler; the names and minutes played may change from game to game, but the influence seldom does.
In the second row, Joe Launchbury: not a first choice, not with Itoje and George Kruis in town, but 20 tackles on Saturday night in a defence that kept Wales within range.
And so England rumble on, to play an Italian team who have never beaten them, to another home fixture after that against a Scotland side who are winless at Twickenham in 34 years.
No-one in the camp is talking yet about Grand Slams, but precedent suggests the trip to Ireland in five weeks time might be precisely for that.
Wales will take heart from their performance, if little comfort from helping produce a match that gripped from the start and carried all watching along to the end.
They might wonder how this one got away, look back with regret at those first-half penalties not aimed at the posts or the period of second-half dominance that featured wonderful possession and territory but nothing on the board to show for it.
England? There will be no regrets, not when they keep marching forward, not when they keep finding a way.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38946919
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Week in pictures: 4-10 February 2017 - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A selection of the best news photographs from around the world, taken over the past week.
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In Pictures
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Lady Gaga rocked the half-time show at the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston. Her first song of the night was a cover of an American folk song called This Land is My Land by Woody Guthrie.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-38929490
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The clock is ticking for Spotify - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Spotify may be "too big to fail", according to Billboard magazine, but the clock is ticking as the company hatches its plans to go public.
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Business
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It's amazing to think that just 10 years ago, flat-rate digital music streaming services were a mere gleam in the eye of industry executives.
It was as recently as September 2007 that Rick Rubin, then co-head of Columbia Records, put forward the idea as a way of combating online music piracy and file-sharing.
"You'd pay, say, $19.95 a month, and the music will come from anywhere you'd like," he told the New York Times.
"In this new world, there will be a virtual library that will be accessible from your car, from your cell phone, from your computer, from your television."
As it turned out, he was essentially describing Spotify, which launched just over a year later.
He even got the price right. In those heady days, when the pound was a lot stronger, $19.95 was equivalent to £10, which, give or take a penny, is the monthly cost of Spotify Premium in the UK today.
But Spotify is yet to make a profit, while plans to float the firm on the stock market have reportedly been delayed, raising a big question mark over its business model.
Of course, Spotify isn't the only streaming platform out there. Others have joined it over the past decade, including Apple Music, Amazon Prime Music and Deezer, as well as high-resolution music services Tidal and Qobuz.
But Spotify is seen as the leader, with more than 100 million users, 40 million of them paid-up subscribers to its Premium tier.
Spotify's Daniel Ek is now the music industry's most powerful player, says Billboard
The Swedish firm is now a major player in 60 countries, including the world's biggest music market, the US, where streaming accounted for 51% of music consumption last year.
Reflecting the huge impact that Spotify has had, its chief executive, Daniel Ek, has just topped US music industry magazine Billboard's latest Power 100 list of the biggest movers and shakers in the business.
"For the first time since [former file-sharing service] Napster decimated music sales, the recorded music industry is showing signs of growth, and that reversal of fortune is largely due to one man," Billboard said in its citation.
The magazine also hailed Spotify as "the place fans discover music as well as consume it", pointing to its promoted playlists, including its Discover Weekly service.
However, the clock is ticking for Spotify as it hatches its plans to go public.
The firm originally planned to float this year, but according to the TechCrunch website, this could now be delayed until 2018.
There are various issues behind this move, not least of which is that Spotify needs to conclude new long-term licensing deals with the big three record companies - Universal, Sony and Warner - to avoid the risk of suddenly losing major chunks of its content.
It's thought that Spotify currently pays 55% of its revenue to record labels in royalties, with additional money going to music publishers.
In the interest of finally becoming a profitable company, it would like to lower that percentage, but this is unlikely to go down well with artists, who argue that the royalties they receive from streaming are unfairly low as it is.
But if it waits too long before floating, it could face a serious cash crisis.
In March last year, the firm raised $1bn from investors at an interest rate of 5% a year, plus a discount of 20% on shares once the initial public offering (IPO) of shares takes place.
Is Spotify now too big to fail?
However, under the terms of the agreement, the interest rate goes up by one percentage point and the discount by 2.5 percentage points every six months until the IPO happens.
So as time goes on, Spotify must pay ever larger sums to its creditors just to settle the interest on its loan, while the amount of money it can raise from its IPO is trimmed by an ever greater amount.
Unless Mr Ek can get the better of this brutal arithmetic, the future looks tough for Spotify.
But at the same time, as Billboard says, "the entire music business now has an interest in its success".
"If it's not already too big to fail, it's headed in that direction quickly," concludes the magazine.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38930699
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'Well-behaved' pupils get to leave school earlier - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Pupils who behave well during the day can go home 10 minutes before those who do not.
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Essex
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Castle View on Canvey Island hit the headlines in 2013 for banning triangular flapjacks after a student was injured by one
A school is letting pupils who behave well during the day go home before those who do not, it has emerged.
Castle View School on Canvey Island, Essex, said some pupils could finish at 14:50 if they had made "the right decisions, every lesson of the day".
Others finish 10 minutes later in what the school calls a "second dismissal".
An NUT official said he had not heard of a school doing this before, but that it was "not that innovative" if it was just another way of giving detentions.
The academy trust school, which hit the headlines in 2013 after banning triangular flapjacks, has about 1,100 students aged 11 to 16.
Pupils at the school begin their day at 08:30 with first lessons starting by 08:50.
In a letter to parents explaining the system, the school, rated "good" by Ofsted, said: "Our second dismissal system is designed to ensure students have an instant consequence that can be put right at the end of the day and start afresh the next day."
The BBC has asked the school whether the introduction of the new system had caused any issues for parents, but the school has yet to respond.
Jerry Glazier, general secretary of the Essex branch of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) said he had not heard of schools having split-time endings before.
"Then again, perhaps it is not that innovative if most pupils are leaving at the normal time and the rest are getting detentions," he said.
"It is up to schools to determine what rewards or sanctions they want to use to motivate pupils."
Michelle Doyle Wildman, policy and communications director at PTA UK, which represents parents and teacher associations, said: "PTA UK's position would be that its really important that parents are fully informed and preferably consulted on any changes to arrangements to the beginning and end of the school day.
"The best schools do see parents as key partners and will consider how they approach things from a parent and family perspective.
"This is especially relevant to parents juggling work and additional caring responsibilities."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-38898841
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Fed Cup: Great Britain beat Croatia to reach World Group II play-offs - BBC Sport
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2017-02-12
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Great Britain qualify for April's Fed Cup World Group II play-offs with a 2-1 victory over Croatia.
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Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Great Britain qualified for the Fed Cup World Group II play-offs with a 2-1 victory over Croatia.
The tie was decided in the final doubles contest, with Johanna Konta and Heather Watson beating Ana Konjuh and Darija Jurak 4-6 6-4 6-3.
Earlier, British number two Watson beat Donna Vekic 6-2 6-4 to give GB the lead in Tallinn, Estonia.
But leading Briton Konta lost 6-4 6-3 to Konjuh in the following singles match as the tie went to a decider.
Captain Anne Keothavong said she was "absolutely ecstatic" with her team's victory.
"It's been a real emotional rollercoaster, but the way the girls performed today and throughout the whole week, I'm just so proud of them," she said.
"It was so tight, everyone was on the edge of their seats. But they fought their hearts out and played with so much passion. I'm so proud of them."
Konta and Watson were broken twice in the opening three games of their doubles match as they lost the first set 6-4.
There was cause for concern when Australian Open quarter-finalist Konta needed treatment on her ankle early in the second set. But the world number 10 overcame the problem as the British pair levelled.
The opening four games of the deciding set went against serve before Konta and Watson secured the decisive break en route to victory.
Keothavong's team will now play one of the four losers from the World Group II matches.
The first big selection decision of Keothavong's captaincy proved successful, as Konta and Watson recovered from a set down, and twice a break of serve down in the decider, to wrap up the tie.
Laura Robson and Jocelyn Rae were Britain's first-choice doubles pair in the group matches in Tallinn, but were asked to make way for the higher-ranked singles players.
Britain crave a first home Fed Cup tie for 24 years, but depending on what happens in other ties this weekend, could end up heading to Australia or Chinese Taipei in April.
Unlike the men's team competition, the Davis Cup, which has a World Group of 16 nations, the Fed Cup divides its top teams into two groups of eight - World Group I and World Group II.
The 91 nations outside the top tiers are divided into three regional zones and Britain have one chance per year to escape - a format that hugely frustrated former captain Judy Murray.
The Europe/Africa Group I event, in Estonia, was made up of 14 teams divided into groups, with Poland, Croatia, Britain and Serbia the seeded nations.
Four group winners progressed to the promotion play-offs, with Britain one of the two nations to qualify for World Group II play-offs in April - which could see them given a home Fed Cup tie for the first time since 1993. Poland and Serbia are competing for the other place.
GB fell at the same stage in 2012 and 2013 - away ties in Sweden and Argentina - under the captaincy of Judy Murray.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38942931
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Catwalk models put cancer in spotlight - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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Cancer patients took to the catwalk as part of New York Fashion Week.
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Cancer patients took to the catwalk as part of New York Fashion Week.
The event was organised by Say Yes to Hope a charity which provides support for people with advanced cancer.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38948705
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Nazi-era German anthem at tennis tournament sparks outrage - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A German tennis team in Hawaii express outrage as a verse banned since Nazism is heard.
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US & Canada
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Petkovic was among the German team members outraged by the mistake
The United States Tennis Association has apologised after a version of the German national anthem associated with the Nazi era was accidentally sung at a tournament in Hawaii.
The obsolete first verse, including the words "Germany, Germany above all else" was sung by a soloist at the Fed Cup.
The error left members of the German team and fans upset and angry.
The USTA extended "a sincere apology to the German Fed Cup team and fans for the outdated National Anthem".
"This mistake will not occur again," it said.
Germany's Andrea Petkovic and Alison Riske of the US were about to play their first-round tie when the anthem was heard.
"It was an absolute outrage and affront, the lowest," Petkovic said. "It was by some way the worst thing that's happened to me, especially in the Fed Cup."
The song, the Deutschlandlied, became the official German anthem under the democratic Weimar Republic in the 1920s.
But after World War Two, the first, contentious verse was dropped and the Federal Republic adopted only the third verse beginning "Unity and justice and freedom".
The Fed Cup is the largest international team competition in women's tennis, and included 99 teams in 2015.
• None How many national anthems are plagiarised?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38948274
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Campaign to preserve 'Queen's' Malta cathedral - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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The cathedral where the then-Princess Elizabeth worshiped when she lived in Malta is in need of renovation.
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An appeal has been launched to save a cathedral on Malta where Queen Elizabeth II used to worship.
After World War II, the then-Princess Elzabeth lived on the Mediterranean island while Prince Philip was stationed there as a Royal Naval officer.
Now St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral in Valetta is in need of a €3m (£2.6m) renovation.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38934107
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Has Facebook slipped up with VR? - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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It's been a brutal few weeks for Facebook's virtual reality ambitions - Mark Zuckerberg may have made a rare miscalculation.
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Technology
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HTC Vive has been outselling the Oculus Rift
I first tried the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset in the corner of a drab conference room in Las Vegas. I was convinced within seconds - despite feeling a little dizzy - that the device, held together by duct tape and hope, was destined for big things.
A year or so later, I met the same company, Oculus VR, in a (slightly) fancier room at the E3 gaming event in Los Angeles. "Hold this," I said, abruptly thrusting an audio cable into the hands of a young man who I thought was helping out - but was in fact the company's chief executive, Palmer Luckey. Again, I was blown away by the technology.
The next time I'd meet Luckey he'd be many, many millions of dollars richer, and Oculus would be a Facebook-owned company. But despite that very real marker of success, our topic of conversation each time we met remained the same: How are you going to convince people it's worth it? And isn't it going to be way too expensive?
"It isn't," he said the last time I asked him - but he's wrong.
At around $600 (plus a powerful PC) to get started, it is too expensive.
But money isn't the problem. The price of the technology will come down, and I'm still convinced virtual reality can be a success - but will it be Facebook's success? The company's strategy in this blossoming market is under question.
This week we learned that demo stations set up in Best Buy - the huge US technology retail chain - are being rolled back due to poor foot traffic.
Facebook has described the move as a "seasonal" change, but suffice it to say, if they were shifting units they'd still be there. Instead, 200 of the 500 stations across the US are being shut down.
It's a potentially troubling moment for the company. Those who back virtual reality - myself included - always subscribed to the view that the key to selling them would be to get people to try it out. Once you've been in VR, we all assumed, you'd be hooked, and your wallet would follow soon after.
Google's Daydream VR system could be a threat to Facebook's budget VR success
But that doesn't seem to have been the case. For whatever reason, too few people were bothering to even try the demo, let alone buy the product. There are a few theories for this, but the most likely, in my mind, was suggested by NPR's Molly Wood. The problem, she observed recently, might be the "pink-eye factor”.
She said: "It could be as simple as - and I have said this a million times - not wanting to go into a store and put something on your face that has been on a bunch of other people's faces."
But that wouldn't explain why the Oculus Rift is apparently performing poorly against its closest rival.
At the high-end of the virtual reality market, Oculus is up against HTC's Vive, an extremely capable device which has the involvement of Valve, the revered games publisher.
Unofficial data (which I'm using as the companies themselves haven't shared sales figures with us) suggest that the Vive, despite being more expensive, is trouncing Oculus. Games research firm SuperData estimated that 420,000 Vive headsets were sold in 2016, compared to 250,000 sales for the Oculus Rift.
The lower end of the market is far more positive for Facebook. The Samsung Gear VR runs the Oculus VR experience, and that is by far and away the most popular device for VR on the market today, according to SuperData. But the hardware is all Samsung's and, for the most part, the headset itself (a simple plastic frame with lenses) has been given away with many smartphones.
The hope that the Gear VR might act as a kind of gateway drug into pricier VR experiences has yet to come to fruition.
Or maybe it has, just not for Oculus: the middle ground in VR is Sony's PlayStation VR, $399 and works with the PlayStation 4. It's more powerful than the Gear VR, but less powerful than the high-end headsets. But here's where Facebook should be worried - it seems to be good enough for most gamers.
And it's "good enough" that makes Facebook's strategy all the more precarious. Who is the Oculus Rift for, exactly? Super serious gamers are gravitating to the HTC Vive. Moderately serious gamers are happy with PlayStation VR. And at the budget end, the Gear VR, while popular now, faces a clear and present threat from Daydream, Google's new VR ecosystem which is far more open.
While Gear VR insists you have a Samsung smartphone, Daydream is designed to eventually work with any sufficiently powerful Android device (and it wouldn't be too tricky to make it work with Apple's iOS, either).
This compatibility comes at a price, mind - the Daydream View headset is far less comfortable, in my experience, than the Gear VR. But it's comfortable enough, and the little handheld controller provides a far more intuitive way of navigating the VR world than tapping blindly at the side of your head, a la Gear VR.
So what are the next steps if Facebook is to get on top of this? I'd ask Palmer Luckey, but he's hard to reach at the moment - hidden away from public view after controversy surrounding his support of Donald Trump which involved funding a hateful trolling group.
He still works at the company, but Facebook and Oculus have repeatedly refused to tell me what his job actually is. (Palmer, if you're reading... my Twitter direct messages are open!)
The only public appearance he has made since that debacle has been to turn up in court where Facebook (unsuccessfully) defended against claims Oculus illegally used intellectual property belonging to games publisher Zenimax in the early days. A $500m bill for damages awaits, unless Facebook can win on appeal.
In a recent earnings call, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is still incredibly enthusiastic about VR and what it means for his network's future, called for patience from his investors. "It's not going to be really profitable for a while," he said.
He's never claimed otherwise, it has to be said. VR appears on Facebook's 10-year strategy, a slow burner with potentially big rewards.
But falling behind now would be a serious blow, which is why Zuckerberg has brought in Hugo Barra, a man most recently at Chinese firm Xiaomi, but before that, a major name at Google. He'll be in charge of Facebook's efforts in virtual reality from here on in.
In Barra, Oculus gains both a visionary and a safe pair of hands. He having worked on Android, today's most popular smartphone platform.
At Xiaomi, his role was to help the company expand globally - and while the company didn't, as some had expected, break into the US under Barra's watch, it did cement a reputation as making good quality devices.
He hasn't started his new role at Facebook just yet - he'll be at the company in a month or so, apparently excited to be back in California after a few years away.
When he starts his first day - I feel those two questions I've been asking Palmer Luckey still stand: Isn't it still too expensive? And more importantly - how are you going to convince people it's worth it?
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38941256
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Baftas 2017: In pictures - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Images of this year's Bafta film awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Also up for best actress was Emily Blunt (left), for her role in The Girl on a Train, and Meryl Streep, nominated in the same category for Florence Foster Jenkins. Completing the trio is Andrew Garfield, who was nominated for best leading actor for his role in Hacksaw Ridge.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38951372
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Wedding dresses passed onto the next generation - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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After a bride is reunited with her 150-year-old wedding dress, BBC News hears more stories of family heirlooms.
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UK
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Kate and her Nanny Chat's wedding photos more than 60 years apart
Social media was captivated by a 150-year-old wedding dress that had been lost after a dry cleaners went bust.
Tess Newall, who had worn her great-great grandmother's dress at her wedding in June, posted a plea on Facebook to help find it, which was shared more than 300,000 times.
Luckily her dress was found but what is the appeal for brides of choosing a dress once worn by a relative? Three women explained why they had ditched trawling the bridal shops for the perfect dress in favour of a borrowed gown.
Kate Ridgway, from Stockport, made the decision to wear her grandmother's wedding dress in 2014.
"I remember it from when I was a child," said the 27-year-old. "I always knew nan had kept it and I tried it on for dressing up, but back then I thought it was a horrid lacy thing."
However, when she got engaged to her now-husband Stu, Joan Chatfield, known as "Nanny Chat", asked if she would like to wear it on her big day.
"I was heavily pregnant at the time, so I couldn't try it on," said Kate. "But she had always wanted me to wear it."
Then, three days after Kate's eldest son was born, her nan passed away.
When she travelled down to Sussex for the funeral, her mother handed her the box with the vintage wedding dress from 1951, and everything fell into place.
"When I tried it on, it fitted perfectly," she said. "I had it cleaned but I didn't have to do anything else to it.
"I had tried on brand new wedding dresses and I had fallen in love with one, but this felt different and so special.
"It meant so much to us as a family for me to wear it and, as you can imagine, it made for a very emotional day."
Emily Clark's dress was first worn by her mother Marilyn
London-based digital designer Emily Clark also hopes to start a tradition of her own by using her mother's frock for her wedding this October.
The 33-year-old said her mother's dress, which was first worn in 1980, had played a big part in her childhood.
"I used to dress in my mum's wedding dress from the age of five or six to - if I'm truthful - until I was 15.
"It's one of a kind, it's a dress you wouldn't be able to find now and you wouldn't be able to replicate."
The dress was bought by her grandfather, who died last year. She said the dress would act as a way of commemorating him at her wedding to fiance Andrew Stewart.
Emily and Andrew are due to get married in October
The dress is currently being altered, and when she heard that Mrs Newall's had gone missing at the dry cleaners she says she "did panic".
She added: "I just think it's wonderful that they've had it returned."
For Rachel Cohen, from Edinburgh, the discovery of her grandmother's dress in the loft spurred on the idea to go retro.
"I knew there were dresses up there amongst a lot of random stuff," she said.
"I even found one dress which much have been from a previous generation, but it just couldn't have been worn."
However, the one Granny Marie Waterston wore in the 1930s was in superb condition and perfect for Rachel's special day.
Marie Waterston in the 1930s (L) and Rachel Cohen in 2009 (R)
"I had never been the type of person to dream of a big white dress, so when I found it, packed away all neat and tidy in a box, I had the idea to wear it," she said.
"I had to cut the sleeves off as she had such tiny hands, but otherwise it was the same."
Having her grandmother's dress meant a lot to Rachel when she married in 2009.
"My mother died when I was young and I looked after my grandmother when she was old, so we had a close relationship," said Rachel.
"It was special to have her dress there, even when she couldn't be."
While those three brides opted for the personal touch with their dresses, they join growing numbers of people choosing vintage items more generally.
Louise Croft, ethical fashion blogger at PaupertoPrincess.com - who will be wearing a 1940s gown for her wedding later this year - said going vintage had many benefits, from following fashion cycles to stopping garments ending up in landfills.
She said the growth of online sharing had also led to brides wanting to stand out even more, and going down the classic route often means the dress is one of a kind.
"It feels like giving a precious piece of history a moment in the limelight rather than it being in a museum or attic," added Louise.
"Of course, you always wonder what tales and secrets it holds and if it's from a family member then you are lucky enough to also have all these answers."
Some brides choose to customise a handed down dress
Kat Williams, editor of Rock 'n Roll Bride, said although dresses have been passed down for many years, a lot more people were putting their own touches to them.
"We had one woman in the magazine who wore her grandmother's dress and customised it all to make it more modern," she said. "She shortened it, added a big petticoat and made it more fitted.
"It looked great but offered that little bit of family history too.
"Even if you buy a dress from a vintage shop, it means you won't see lots of other brides wearing the same thing and a bride wants to feel unique."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38944626
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Egypt's '500kg' woman arrives at India hospital for surgery - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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She is believed to be the world's heaviest woman and will undergo weight reduction surgery.
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An Egyptian woman, believed to be the world's heaviest woman at 500kg (78.5 stone), has arrived in Mumbai, India, for weight reduction surgery.
The family of 36-year-old Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty said it was the first time she had left home for 25 years.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-38944711
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Isle of Man night sky is a stargazer's dream - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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If stargazing is your idea of a great night out, the Isle of Man is the place to be.
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With the highest concentration of dark sky sites in the British Isles, the Isle of Man is the perfect spot for stargazing.
See more on BBC Inside Out North West at 19:30 GMT on Monday 13 February.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-38943424
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Your stories: Breastfeeding toddlers - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Should nursing a toddler be controversial? Mothers share their experiences of breastfeeding for longer.
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UK
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Women who breastfeed their toddlers say they are either branded "hippy earth mothers" or seen as "weird and disgusting".
Many have applauded model Tamara Ecclestone for braving the backlash to post a photograph of herself breastfeeding her daughter, who is nearly three.
The NHS says most women in the UK wish they could breastfeed for longer than they do, yet only one in 200 mothers do so past their baby's first birthday.
Here, five mothers who carried on breastfeeding share their stories.
Rebekah Ellis, 32, from Cambridge, breastfeeds both her six-month-old son and her daughter, who is three and a half.
She says: "The reaction from the NHS has been supportive, albeit surprised. The midwives who attended my son's birth at home said 'Good for you,' when my husband explained.
"Most people don't know that I am still feeding my daughter. I know that I would get a negative reaction from the vast majority. Even nursing past a year old is often seen as weird, disgusting - despite the WHO [World Health Organisation] recommendation [that children should be breastfed until the age of two or older].
"When I nurse my son out in public (my daughter hasn't wanted milk during the day since the age of 18 months), I use a cover. This is more for me than for the benefit of others.
"People still look uncomfortable though, even when they can't see anything."
Kelly Lane, 38, from Redditch in Worcestershire, breastfed her daughter, now nine, and her son, now seven, until the age of two and a half.
She says her confidence took a knock after a friend's husband criticised her, telling her it was "pointless" - but she carried on because she could see the health benefits for her children.
She says: "You do have to be dedicated to do it but I was happy to give that up for what was only a very short period of my life.
"The one quite hard thing is having a meal. I personally felt too uncomfortable to breastfeed in public and would use breast-feeding rooms or the toilet.
"But breastfeeding in toilets is horrendous - they're not hygienic, there's not enough space and you're conscious you are taking up space for someone who might be queuing.
"Both my children did not like having blankets thrown over them when feeding, as they like to look at Mummy and be talked to and, to be honest, rightly so. A child shouldn't be covered up when it's being nursed.
"I feel so sad that society is so negative and disgusted that a mother would be feeding her child the way nature intended in public, than actually congratulating her for doing a great thing.
"It's ok though for women to be up on billboards everywhere flashing every body part possible! The hypocrisy is astonishing!"
Rebecca Alexander, 34, from Liverpool, still breastfeeds her son who will be three in April. She says she loves Tamara Ecclestone's "continued support and promotion of breastfeeding".
She told the BBC: "I struggled feeding my elder daughter for more than three weeks first time around because of the lack of knowledge and support. Breastfeeding should be visible in our society. It's how we learn; by seeing others do it.
"I set out on this journey [with my son] thinking I would breastfeed till two years and then pump until four.
"When he has had big changes such as starting nursery, with a new childminder and me returning to work, breastfeeding has been his source of comfort and a way to reconnect after being apart all day.
"How anyone can see it as sexual completely shocks me, and I think it says more about our society, and the view of women than anything else."
Sarah Johnson, who breastfeeds her two-year-old son twice a day, says: "I think it is a benefit for his health and also a nice bonding moment for us both, especially as I work away part of the week.
"I have decided to continue until he is ready to stop, but I am coming under pressure from family members to stop - grandparents - who say he is 'no longer a baby'.
"I tell them about the WHO guidelines for breastfeeding until two and beyond, but I guess in our Western culture you are seen as a hippy earth mother or odd if you still breastfeed a toddler - shame as in other parts of the world it is totally normal.
"When did something natural become unnatural? I don't judge mothers who choose to bottle feed, so would not liked to be judged either.
"Although the pictures [of Tamara Ecclestone] are rather posed, I commend her for posting them."
Sue Burgess, 57, from Oxford, breastfed her daughter until she was two and a half, and while she says she cannot understand why anyone would describe it as disgusting, she admits she only did it in public "a handful of times" as she found it "embarrassing".
Although her daughter is now 16, Sue still cringes when she thinks about the "worst time" feeding her in a village square in Italy and feeling "exposed" as a solemn church procession took place close by.
"My daughter started to say 'A boo! A boo! A BOO!!!' at ever-increasing volumes, which was her way of asking for a breastfeed. I complied unwillingly."
Sue adds: "Nonetheless, if other people feel the strength to take such experiences in their stride, I can only admire them."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38943931
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Protests in France over alleged police rape - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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Violence has broken out at a protest in Paris in support of a young black man who was allegedly assaulted by police.
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Violence has broken out at a protest in Paris in support of a young black man who was allegedly assaulted by police.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38948337
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Hunt not in the mood to make excuses - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The health secretary appears to be crossing his fingers for more money in the Budget.
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Health
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The health secretary said he didn't want to make excuses about very long waiting times in A&E
My interview with the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt struck an interesting note after a day of bleak news from NHS England.
Official figures showed the worst performance in A&E units in December since records began in 2004.
The number of patients waiting on trolleys for more than four hours because beds were not free rose nearly 50% year on year.
Rather than hitting back with a raft of statistics on extra investment by the government, Jeremy Hunt acknowledged that progress had not always lived up to expectations.
Mr Hunt accepted the reality of the situation in some of England's hospitals, highlighted by images of patients waiting more than 13 hours for beds and a six-month delay discharging an elderly woman because of care shortcomings.
These were "unacceptable", he said, and "bad for the NHS".
He volunteered that "it's incredibly frustrating for me" and he "didn't want to make excuses".
This sounded like a health secretary who knew only too well that the NHS was under immense strain and there was no denying the real challenges facing staff and patients every day.
I repeatedly asked Mr Hunt what he was doing about it. He emphasised the government's long-term moves to get health and social care working together and the "big transformation programme" aiming to treat more people in their local community rather than in hospitals.
But on the pressures right now in hospitals, Mr Hunt had little new to say apart from noting that some were a lot better than others at managing the flow of patients.
So what can the government do? Ministers are now focused on social care, where successive spending cuts have made it harder to look after the frail elderly at home. Mr Hunt told me the government recognised there was a problem and it was being addressed.
All roads for a move on social care now lead to the Budget on 8 March. Rumours that the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, will announce a new financial package on social care have been rife in Whitehall.
The sudden scrapping of Surrey County Council's referendum on a 15% council tax rise fuelled suspicions that its leader had been quietly tipped off about an impending announcement on social care funding.
Intriguingly, when I asked the health secretary about what might happen in the Budget he said that was up to the prime minister and the chancellor. It sounded like a plea to Downing Street to come up with new money for social care.
Mr Hunt added, though, that a quick fix on its own was not enough and that a long-term answer was needed as well.
There is a danger in building up expectations which cannot be met on Budget Day.
But it feels like the health secretary and other ministers are resting their hopes on the chancellor. There is not much they can do about this winter's A&E pressures except to wait and hope.
Most worryingly for the health secretary is the knowledge that this was supposed to be the "year of plenty" for NHS England with a "frontloaded" financial settlement. Even with a relatively generous allocation for this year, the hospital system is in trouble.
Mr Hunt knows that funding in the next couple of years will tail off. He will hope that promised and planned efficiency savings start to materialise soon.
An intervention by his former adviser, the American health guru Don Berwick, has lent weight to calls for more funding for the NHS.
In a BBC interview, Mr Berwick, commenting on the government's current financial plans for health, said: "I have serious doubts whether you can have a healthcare which is universal, not rationed and responsive to needs at that target level - I am concerned."
He may also be alarmed that even with intense winter preparations in each area of England between local health and local care chiefs, some A&E units have struggled under the weight of patient numbers.
There were orders from on high for routine operations to be cancelled for four weeks but, even so, many hospitals had very few spare beds.
Understandably, Mr Hunt stressed that the NHS was not alone in experiencing pressures of rising patient numbers and that French and German hospitals were under strain this winter.
But he knows he will be judged only on the performance of the NHS. He will hope the chancellor has something to offer.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38921013
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What is the 'gig' economy? - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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What is the so-called "gig" economy, a phrase increasingly associated with employment disputes?
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Business
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A tribunal found courier Maggie Dewhurst should be classed as a worker
What is the so-called "gig" economy, a phrase increasingly in use, and seemingly so in connection with employment disputes?
According to one definition, it is "a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work, as opposed to permanent jobs".
And - taking opposing partisan viewpoints - it is either a working environment that offers flexibility with regard to employment hours, or... it is a form of exploitation with very little workplace protection.
The latest attempt to bring a degree of legal clarity to the employment status of people in the gig economy has been playing out in the Court of Appeal.
A London firm, Pimlico Plumbers, on Friday lost its appeal against a previous ruling that said one of its long-serving plumbers was a worker - entitled to basic rights, including holiday pay - rather than an independent contractor.
Like other cases of a similar nature, such as those involving Uber and Deliveroo, the outcome will now be closely scrutinised for what it means regarding the workplace rights of the millions of people employed in the gig economy in the UK.
In the gig economy, instead of a regular wage, workers get paid for the "gigs" they do, such as a food delivery or a car journey.
In the UK it's estimated that five million people are employed in this type of capacity.
Proponents of the gig economy claim that people can benefit from flexible hours, with control over how much time they can work as they juggle other priorities in their lives.
Workers in the gig economy may be delivering meals
In addition, the flexible nature often offers benefits to employers, as they only pay when the work is available, and don't incur staff costs when the demand is not there.
Meanwhile, workers in the gig economy are classed as independent contractors.
That means they have no protection against unfair dismissal, no right to redundancy payments, and no right to receive the national minimum wage, paid holiday or sickness pay.
It is these aspects that are proving contentious.
In the past few months two tribunal hearings have gone against employers looking to classify staff as independent contractors.
Last October Uber drivers in the UK won the right to be classed as workers rather than independent contractors.
The ruling by a London employment tribunal meant drivers for the ride-hailing app would be entitled to holiday pay, paid rest breaks and the national minimum wage.
Uber is appealing against the tribunal finding against it
The GMB union described the decision as a "monumental victory" for some 40,000 drivers in England and Wales. In December, Uber launched an appeal against the ruling that it had acted unlawfully.
And in January this year, a tribunal found that Maggie Dewhurst, a courier with logistics firm City Sprint, should be classed as a worker rather than independent contractor, entitling her to basic rights.
And, also towards the end of last year, a group of food takeaway couriers working for Deliveroo said they were taking legal steps in the UK to gain union recognition and workers' rights.
One difference worth noting is that workers in the gig economy differ slightly from those on zero-hours contracts.
Those are the - also controversial - arrangements used by companies such as Sports Direct, JD Wetherspoons and Cineworld.
Like workers in the gig economy, zero-hours contractors - or casual contractors - don't get guaranteed hours or much job security from their employer.
Chancellor Philip Hammond is looking for effective ways to tax workers
But people on zero-hours contracts are seen as employees in some sense, as they are entitled to holiday pay. But, like those in the gig economy, they are not entitled to sick pay.
Meanwhile, the Department for Business is holding an inquiry into a range of working practices - including the gig economy.
The department says it wants to ensure its employment rules are up to date to reflect "new ways of working".
The status of gig economy workers is of importance to the government, as last November's Autumn Statement showed for the first time how it is cutting into the government's tax take.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated that in 2020-21 it will cost the Treasury £3.5bn.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said then he would look to find more effective ways to tax workers in the UK's current shifting labour environment.
For more on the gig economy listen to In The Balance: Precarious Future on BBC World Service at 09:30 GMT on Saturday, 11 February.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38930048
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Swansea City 2-0 Leicester City - BBC Sport
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2017-02-12
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Leicester City slip to a fifth straight Premier League defeat to drop to 17th in the table, one point above the relegation zone.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Premier League champions Leicester were plunged deeper into relegation trouble as they were beaten by Swansea, whose vital victory gave their own hopes of survival an enormous lift.
After a cagey start, Alfie Mawson's thumping volley and an incisive team goal finished by Martin Olsson gave the hosts a commanding 2-0 half-time lead.
Leicester offered more resistance in the second half - substitute Islam Slimani was denied by a fine save by Lukasz Fabianski - but fell to a fifth successive defeat, increasing the pressure on manager Claudio Ranieri.
The Foxes, who are just one point above the relegation zone, are the only side in the top four English divisions without a league goal in 2017.
They are also the first reigning champions to lose five consecutive top flight matches since Chelsea in March 1956 and now find themselves embroiled in a congested relegation battle in which the bottom six teams are separated by just five points.
Winless in the Premier League in 2017 and without a goal in their previous five league outings, Leicester entered this fixture in apparent freefall.
Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel described their faltering title defence as "embarrassing" after last Sunday's 3-0 home defeat by Manchester United, while Wednesday's FA Cup replay win over Derby was preceded by a dreaded vote of confidence from the club's board for manager Ranieri.
The Italian cut a forlorn figure on the touchline at the Liberty Stadium, standing motionless as he watched his side surrender two goals in a potentially defining eight-minute spell at the end of the first half.
There was little Schmeichel could do to stop Mawson's brilliant swerving volley, but the goalkeeper was at fault for Swansea's second.
Attempting to launch a counter-attack, the Dane's throw landed at the feet of Swans midfielder Tom Carroll, who started a slick one-touch passing move which involved Fernando Llorente and Gylfi Sigurdsson and ended with Olsson, whose firm strike Schmeichel should have saved.
As impressive as the goal was from a Swansea perspective, it was indicative of Leicester's porous defence - a far cry from the solid backline which formed the foundation for their improbable title success last season.
Despite starting the day a place below their opponents, Swansea's resurgence under new head coach Paul Clement was in striking contrast to Leicester's decline.
The Swans had won three of their five league games since Clement's appointment on 2 January, lifting them off the foot of the table and out of the bottom three to earn the former Derby boss the Premier League manager of the month award.
That accolade is meant to carry something of a curse - with managers often losing their next game after receiving the award - but Clement avoided such a jinx as he oversaw a polished performance.
Swansea are far more organised defensively than they were under predecessor Bob Bradley, with the defence and midfield now structured and disciplined with and without the ball.
The home side's energetic pressing gave Leicester no time to settle, and their two brilliant goals gave them a firm foothold in the game they never looked like losing.
A fourth win from six league games under Clement means Swansea climb up to 15th place, four points clear of the bottom three and with renewed hope of avoiding relegation.
Swansea City boss Paul Clement: "We have had a really good start and I'm very pleased with the players. We totally deserved that victory.
"The goal before half-time put us in strong position, we were solid all of the game. We had a couple of moments around 60/61 minutes where Leicester threatened but otherwise we were good."
Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri: "Unbelievable. We started well. We wanted to make a good result against another team near the relegation zone. We make something good but the first shot on goal they score and then the second again. From there it was very difficult to get back.
"Our mind is on the Premier League. The FA Cup and Champions League is something different. We want to play well and be safe in the Premier League. Our main target is to be safe in the Premier League."
When will Leicester score again? - The stats
• None Leicester are the first reigning top-flight champions to fail to score in six consecutive league matches.
• None The Foxes have gone over 10 hours without scoring in the Premier League, 610 minutes.
• None No team in the top four tiers has won fewer points in 2017 than Leicester (one, level with Aston Villa, Coventry and Leyton Orient).
• None Gylfi Sigurdsson has been involved in eight goals in his last eight home Premier League games (three goals, five assists).
• None No defender has scored more Premier League goals in 2017 than Alfie Mawson (three, level with Marcos Alonso).
• None Leicester have kept just two clean sheets in their last 18 Premier League games.
By the time Leicester City start their next Premier League game, they could be bottom of the table. The Foxes host Liverpool on Monday, 27 February (20:00 GMT) - with all three teams below them in action before then.
Swansea's next game is a trip to leaders Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday, 25 February (15:00 GMT).
• None Attempt missed. Leroy Fer (Swansea City) left footed shot from more than 40 yards on the right wing is high and wide to the right.
• None Attempt missed. Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Martin Olsson with a cross.
• None Attempt missed. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Islam Slimani. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38871532
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How I overcame anorexia and bulimia - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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How I overcame anorexia and what to look for if you're worried someone you know has an eating disorder
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Rebecca was anorexic and bulimic for 12 years.
She explains what helped her and what didn't, as well as some of the signs people can look for if they're worried someone they know may have an eating disorder.
Rebecca's story was featured on Trust Me I'm A Doctor on BBC Two - @BBCTrustMe on Twitter
Join the conversation - find BBC Stories on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38933469
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Speaker John Bercow: I voted to remain in EU - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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This video has been removed for right reasons
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Commons Speaker John Bercow insists his impartiality has not been affected after he revealed he had voted Remain in the EU referendum.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38948486
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Burnley 1-1 Chelsea - BBC Sport
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2017-02-12
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Chelsea miss the chance to move 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League as they are held by a resilient Burnley at Turf Moor.
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Chelsea missed the chance to move 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League as they were held to a draw by a resilient Burnley at Turf Moor.
The hosts had won all four of their previous homes games without conceding but fell behind early on when Pedro finished off a sweeping attack.
The visitors dominated possession and it seemed only a matter of time before they added to their advantage.
However, Burnley's record signing Robbie Brady - making his full debut following a January move from Norwich - equalised with a stunning free-kick.
The Clarets almost went ahead before the break but Thibaut Courtois superbly denied Matt Lowton from close range.
Chelsea did not have a single shot on target in the second half as Burnley took the game to the Premier League leaders, Andre Gray testing Courtois with a low drive when he was through one-on-one.
In the end, manager Antonio Conte will perhaps consider this a point gained as the Blues moved 10 points ahead of Tottenham. Manchester City can close the gap to eight points if they beat Bournemouth on Monday.
Chelsea's away form in the Premier League is unrivalled but this was always going to be a difficult test for the Blues.
Just two sides have a better home record than Burnley - Chelsea and Tottenham - with 28 of the Clarets' 29 points collected prior to the visit of Conte's men coming at Turf Moor.
Initially, it looked like the visitors had the measure of their opponents, swiftly turning defence into attack to catch the Clarets out of position and open the scoring.
To Burnley's credit, they did not abandon a system that had brought them so much success on home soil. They allowed Chelsea to dominate possession but closed them down quickly as soon as they approached the box.
A disciplined four-man defence had the bustling Diego Costa and the mercurial Eden Hazard under control, limiting the Blues to just two shots on target in the whole game, both of which came in the first half.
It was only the second time all season they have dropped points against a side outside the top six. With just Manchester City and Manchester United left to face out of the leading group, it will take an almighty collapse to deny the Blues a fifth Premier League title.
A key factor in Chelsea's impressive season has been consistency, with Conte rarely making changes to his side unless forced to.
Against Burnley, he chose the same XI that started in the 3-1 home win against Arsenal last time out. That meant Cesc Fabregas - who scored against the Gunners - had to make do with a place on the bench.
Despite Conte recently calling Fabregas "a genius" and likening him to Italy midfielder Andrea Pirlo, the Spanish midfielder has started just five games this season.
N'Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic were preferred in midfield against Burnley but both are defensive-minded and it quickly became evident that Chelsea were lacking the creativity of someone like Fabregas.
Once again Fabregas climbed off the bench but with 20 minutes remaining against a determined Burnley side, it left him little time to make an impression.
It could be time for Conte to give Chelsea's 'Pirlo' his chance to shine for the run-in.
Burnley's home form has all but guaranteed their Premier League status for next season, with Sean Dyche's side comfortably in mid-table and 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
But while their home form is as good as anyone's in the top flight, their away form has been on par with a side battling to stay up. They've collected just one point on their travels, a daunting record going into four consecutive away games.
The addition of Brady appears an astute signing and, along with Joey Barton, means they possess two players who are deadly from set-pieces.
No side have scored more goals from direct free-kicks than Burnley this season and that could represent their best chance of picking up some much-needed points on the road.
What they said
Burnley boss Sean Dyche: "Chelsea are a fine side. They are the market leaders for a reason and we limited them to two shots on target and that is tough enough.
"We made four or five really good chances. I am very pleased overall. The mentality here, I am pleased about the growth in the side.
"We are maturing as a side as individuals and as a team. You need assuredness in the Premier League. I was super impressed with our reaction to their goal. We were not disappointed or stepping on the back foot."
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte: "It is one point and for sure we must be disappointed. We tried to win. We started very well and scored a goal and created chances to score the second goal.
"We tried to win but we know Burnley at home are not easy. They have taken 29 points at home. Now it is important to continue to work.
"I think we tried to build and do our football for sure. Burnley tried to disrupt our play. They played long balls and the second ball is not easy. It is not easy to play against this team. It is very particular. At home they are very tough."
• None Burnley have gone six top-flight games unbeaten at home for the first time since September 1975.
• None Chelsea (19) have scored the first goal of the game more times than any other Premier League team this season and have yet to lose (W16 D3).
• None Burnley have never won a Premier League encounter against Chelsea (D2 L4).
• None Pedro has now scored nine times in all competitions for Chelsea this season, surpassing his total of eight in 2015-16.
• None Robbie Brady is the first Premier League player to score a direct free-kick v Chelsea (in the PL) since Rickie Lambert in March 2013.
• None Brady is the third Burnley player to score on his first Premier League start for the club alongside Scott Arfield v Chelsea in August 2014 and Daniel Fox v West Ham in February 2010.
• None Diego Costa has failed to score in three consecutive Premier League appearances for the first time since April-May 2016.
After hosting non-league Lincoln City in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday [12:30 GMT], Burnley begin a run of four away games in a row when they travel to Hull City on 25 February.
Chelsea are also in FA Cup action at the weekend. They travel to Championship side Wolves [17:30] on Saturday before hosting Swansea in the Premier League the following weekend.
• None Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Joey Barton (Burnley) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Ashley Barnes (Burnley) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt missed. Pedro (Chelsea) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Cesc Fàbregas.
• None Attempt blocked. Scott Arfield (Burnley) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38871559
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Alec Baldwin's Trump act fools newspaper - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A national newspaper in the Dominican Republic apologises after using the wrong photo.
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Latin America & Caribbean
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Actor Alec Baldwin's impression on Saturday Night Live of Donald Trump tricked a national newspaper into thinking he was the real thing.
El Nacional in the Dominican Republic has now apologised for accidentally publishing a still of Alec Baldwin, captioned as the US president, next to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
The image accompanied an article about Israeli settlements.
The paper has said sorry to readers and "anyone affected".
The picture was sent to the newspaper along with information about Saturday Night Live, the long-running US satirical programme.
No-one spotted the mistake, says El Nacional.
Saturday Night Live is not Mr Trump's favourite TV programme. He says Baldwin's frequent impressions of him "stink".
"Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!" he once tweeted.
Just to make it clear...the apology
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38948265
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China drone 'performance' may be record-breaker - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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Up to 1,000 coloured drones flew through the sky in Guangzhou, southern China.
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Up to 1,000 coloured drones flew through the sky in Guangzhou, southern China.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38951391
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Lego fans build giant Cambridgeshire Great Fen wetland model - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Lego dragonflies and spiders will feature on the 3D "map" of a conservation project.
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Cambridgeshire
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A number of Lego creatures including this dragonfly have already been created for the map
A Lego-mad couple renowned for creating giant Christmas decorations are using their love of the plastic bricks to raise funds for a wildlife project.
Mike Addis and Catherine Weightman will use 500,000 bricks to create a 10m (32ft) 3D "map" of Cambridgeshire wetland the Great Fen, complete with Lego "native species".
The land is part of a long-term Wildlife Trust conservation project.
More than 100 people have paid to help build Lego creatures to go on the map.
The Great Fen is a 50-year project to create a huge wetland between Peterborough and Huntingdon.
The creatures, like this Lego longhorn beetle and froghopper, are about 10cm in length
Managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, it is one of the largest restoration projects of its type in Europe.
Working with organisations including Natural England and the Environment Agency, they aim to transform the land and conserve its wildlife.
In the future, the Great Fen will include a fully-equipped visitor centre
It will, of course, include toilet facilities which have already been created in Lego
Eventually the Great Fen should cover 3,700 hectares (9,140 acres). About 55% of that land has been acquired so far.
The idea for a fundraising and awareness-raising giant Lego model came about as Ms Weightman works for Natural England and colleagues were aware of her love of Lego creations.
The 10m (32ft) x 5m (16.5ft) map base will be created on about 14 tables in the visitor centre at Hinchingbrooke Country Park from Sunday.
Catherine Weightman with a few of the many boxes of Lego which will be used to make the map
A Lego cardinal beetle is one of many which will be put on the map
Ms Weightman and Mr Addis have already made a few creatures such as dragonflies and spiders to populate the map, as well as buildings including a proposed visitor centre for Great Fen, complete with Lego public toilets.
A number of sold-out sessions later in the week will see members of the public build their own creatures which will be added to the base.
Jo Dixon, from the Wildlife Trust, said: "We aren't too particular, and if the odd dinosaur or alien turns up, we'll add it to the map anyway."
A map showing the eventual extent of the Great fen - land in green has already been acquired
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-38917415
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Entertainment pictures of the week: 5-11 February 2017 - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A look at some of the images from this week's world of showbiz.
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Entertainment & Arts
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Pictures were released of the UK's first 3D art exhibition, to open at the Forman’s Smokehouse Gallery in London later this month. Visitors will need to pick up 3D glasses on the way into the collection of Sara Le Roy's works.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38909747
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Corbyn guessing game rises to new pitch - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Labour's new election coordinator 's comments on his leader's future crank up the volume on speculation.
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UK Politics
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Could Jeremy Corbyn be replaced as Labour leader? And if so when?
Those whispered questions have been echoing between Labour MPs and party apparatchiks at Westminster for weeks, for months. But today the guessing game has risen to a new pitch.
In BBC interviews, we have been given answers of a sort by two of the most prominent members of the shadow cabinet.
Yes, the Labour leader could be replaced. And the change could take place at the next election, "if and when" Mr Corbyn decides he has had enough.
This time, the helpful guidance was not contained in any unattributed, anonymous briefing from a "senior MP" or "party source", who may or may not be keen to hasten Mr Corbyn on his way. They were the words of the party's newly appointed election co-ordinator in the shadow cabinet, Ian Lavery.
In an interview with me for BBC Radio 5 live's Pienaar's Politics, I asked Mr Lavery if a report in the Sunday Times newspaper was true - that the party had conducted focus group research to gauge the potential appeal of two shadow cabinet colleagues, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Angela Raynor, as potential future leadership candidates.
His denial was as emphatic as it was unsurprising. It was, he said, "political poppycock."
Ian Lavery said Labour had "plenty" of future leaders to choose from
"I think they are fantastic candidates. We have got lots of quality in the Labour Party and it's not just the two who have been mentioned," he added.
More interesting was what he said next. "There's plenty of leaders to pick from, if and when Jeremy decides, of his own volition, that it's not for him at the election."
He concluded, again helpfully: "That isn't the case at this point in time."
So, in the space of one brief moment, the man now appointed to guide Labour through what could become a torrid series of electoral tests has volunteered that, in his judgement, Mr Corbyn may conceivably decide to pass on the leadership "at the election". And that there had been no such decision on Mr Corbyn's part "at this point in time".
All of which can only crank up the volume of whispered speculation.
Against this background, the verdict of Tom Watson, Labour's deputy Labour leader, in his interview with Andrew Marr, perhaps becomes a little more intriguing. He told Marr the party "has got the leadership settled for this Parliament".
As for the mood in the party, much depends on the coming Parliamentary by-elections in the once supposedly "safe" constituencies of Stoke-on-Trent Central and Copeland in Cumbria.
The new election co-ordinator, who replaced Jon Trickett amid a certain unease at the state of Labour's readiness for the fights ahead, was upbeat. Upbeat, at least up to a point.
"If you look at them separately, they are both relatively positive at this moment in time, despite what he polls might say, despite what individuals might say," he said.
It was not the most ringingly confident assessment I can remember from an election strategist.
If Labour loses one or both of these seats, expect the present simmering unease in the party to approach boiling point once again.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38950597
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Jonny Dymond tracks President Trump's third week - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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Jonny Dymond tracks President Trump's third week
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In his third week as President Donald Trump turned his attention to Wall Street, judges and the press. The BBC's Jonny Dymond brings you the results.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38938937
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BBC News - The NHS in Winter
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2017-02-12
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Winter pressures: A detailed look at how the NHS is coping Winter is the busiest time of year for the health service. The BBC looks at how hospitals are coping across the UK.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34905806
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Does by-election pain await Labour in its heartlands? - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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UKIP and nuclear power should be making Labour nervous in Stoke and Copeland, says John Pienaar.
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UK Politics
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Two parliamentary by-elections, two weeks away.
Is Labour a sitting duck in its own heartland territory?
A quick road-trip to the West Midlands and the Lake District was enough to conclude that Labour can look forward to a sweaty, and quite possibly a painful night on 23 February.
Both seats would normally be considered "safe" for Labour.
But "normal" now seems a long time ago. Stoke voted 70% to 30% to leave the EU. In Copeland the margin was 60% to 40%. That would be enough to give Remain-supporting Labour sleepless nights.
But add to that the fact that, in 2015, UKIP came second in Stoke - 5,000 odd votes behind Labour.
Throw in Labour's long term deficit in the polls, which suggests former Labour voters have turned away from Jeremy Corbyn.
Then, chat to people in Hanley town centre - in the Stoke-on-Trent Central constituency - before travelling north and doing the same in Whitehaven, the large coastal town in the sprawling, and beautiful, Copeland constituency in the Lake District.
If you don't hear enough cause for Labour to fear losing one or both of these seats, you're not listening.
In Copeland, the biggest employer by far is the Sellafield nuclear power plant.
In Whitehaven, where Sellafield has a large office block, Jeremy Corbyn's past opposition to nuclear power - which has since softened - comes up in almost every conversation.
The local grocer - whose family have run Kinsella's since the turn of the last century - told me customer after customer was switching allegiance away from Labour for that reason.
Could UKIP leader Paul Nuttall win the party's second seat?
That, and the doubts about Mr Corbyn's fitness to lead which have handed him a quite dismal personal rating of minus 40.
That's 46 points behind Theresa May who was the only national leader with a positive rating in the survey conducted by Yougov last week.
In Stoke, the UK Independence Party's new leader, Paul Nuttall, is standing as a candidate. UKIP has a great deal invested in this fight.
It's not clear whether the perception of an outsider parachuting into the seat - a charismatic Scouser seizing his chance in an area with a strong identity of its own - will count against Mr Nuttall and his party.
If UKIP fails it will hurt, and suggests the party lost its way when it lost Nigel Farage as leader.
So Labour will throw everything into both campaigns. Jeremy Corbyn's visited both, and will visit again.
Victory in both seats will buy time and space to try to regain ground, to try to recover from the visible splits which opened up so glaringly during debate and voting on the bill to begin Brexit.
But if Labour loses in either or both seats - each of which has been held by the party since 1935 - it means talk of existential crisis for the party.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38935789
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Newspaper headlines: Trump to 'snub Parliament' - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Speculation about US President Donald Trump's state visit to the UK appears in the Sunday papers.
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The Papers
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Donald Trump will visit the UK later this year
Many column inches have been devoted to Commons Speaker John Bercow since he voiced his strong opposition to Donald Trump addressing both Houses of Parliament.
But according to the Sunday Express, Mr Trump plans to snub Parliament when he pays a state visit to the UK later this year.
The paper says the US president will "speak to the people" at a spectacular rally - and donate the proceeds of what he hopes will be a sell-out event to the Poppy Appeal.
The Express says venues in Birmingham, and even Wembley, are under consideration.
An accusation that Theresa May is putting Northern Ireland's peace process in jeopardy is carried in the Observer.
The claim is made by Bertie Ahern, the Irish leader who helped secure the Good Friday Agreement.
In an interview with the paper, Mr Ahern, who served three terms as taoiseach between 1997 and 2008, says the British government appeared to have resigned itself to the establishment of a border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic once the UK leaves the EU with, the paper says, potentially devastating results.
The Mail on Sunday says it has seen what it describes as "sexist" text messages sent by Brexit Secretary David Davis regarding an encounter with Diane Abbott in a Commons bar last week.
The shadow home secretary is said to have rebuffed Mr Davis with strong language when he approached her after she had voted in favour of triggering Article 50.
According to the paper, Mr Davis texted a Tory friend denying he had tried to hug Ms Abbott, adding "I'm not blind!"
A spokesman for Mr Davis said the texts were "self-evidently jocular and private".
Former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott has weighed into the debate over the future of the NHS and social care.
Writing in the Sunday Mirror, Lord Prescott says, at 78, he is among a generation of people who are living longer, have more complex conditions and need more care.
He calls for all parties to sit down and work out a long-term way of funding a social care system based on need, not ability to pay.
Lord Prescott says tax rises will be necessary but the government could implement two measures immediately to ease the strain on the NHS - cancel corporation tax cuts and sack Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
The Sunday Times says Labour is conducting secret "succession planning" for Jeremy Corbyn's departure.
The paper reports that it has seen leaked documents that warn the party is facing meltdown under Mr Corbyn's leadership.
Participants in a focus group reportedly delivered a damning verdict on Mr Corbyn, describing him as "boring" and "like a scruffy school kid".
While winning the Lottery may be a dream for many, Britain's youngest Euromillions winner tells the Sunday People it has ruined her life.
So much so, says the paper, that Jane Park is considering legal action against Lottery operators for negligence.
Ms Park was only 17 when she won £1m with her first-ever ticket in 2013.
She now complains of being sick of shopping for designer goods and staying in upmarket holiday resorts, struggling to find a boyfriend who is not after her money and being burdened with the stress of being a millionaire.
The paper is not entirely sympathetic. It describes her complaints as a "breathtaking whinge".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-38947218
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Six Nations: England boss Eddie Jones says 'no more get-out-of-jail-free cards' - BBC Sport
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2017-02-12
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Coach Eddie Jones says England "don't want to be in that position again" after a dramatic late Six Nations win over Wales.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Head coach Eddie Jones said England had used up all of their "get-out-of-jail-free cards", after Elliot Daly's 76th-minute try secured a 21-16 Six Nations victory over Wales in Cardiff.
That followed a 19-16 win over France in their opening match, when the winning try came in the 71st minute.
"We don't want to be in that position again," said Jones.
"We are a gritty team with characters in there that don't know how to get beaten, and that was evident here."
England, who have won a national record 16 Tests in a row, play Italy next.
The defending champions are yet to secure a bonus point in their first two games, and Jones said he wanted to "put Italy to the cleaners" at Twickenham in a fortnight's time.
After Ben Youngs' early try for England, Liam Williams' slicing first-half try and 11 points from the boot of Leigh Halfpenny looked to have given Wales a deserved victory.
But Owen Farrell's penalties had kept them within two points, and with time running out his long flat pass put Daly away down the left to score.
Jones said the match-winner - who features in the centres for Wasps - was being deployed in a position that suited the team rather than the player.
"The boy's got gas and he's got that X-factor about him and that's what we like about him," Jones said.
"I don't necessarily think wing is his best position, but it suits us at the moment."
• None 5 live In Short: England's backs 'more talented than Wilkinson era'
The Australian also returned to a topic that had featured heavily in the build-up to the match - the Principality Stadium roof.
Jones used the away team's veto to frustrate Wales' wishes and keep the match open to the elements.
England have now won five out of six matches at the ground with the roof open, and lost four out of five when it has been closed.
"They can close the roof now," he said. "The roof should be open unless the conditions are going to be absolutely terrible. That's how rugby should be played because it's a winter sport, so you play the conditions."
Captain Dylan Hartley, who was replaced by Saracens' Jamie George after 47 minutes, paid tribute to the influence of England's bench.
"I would have preferred to wrap it up a bit earlier. The finishers came on for us and showed great composure," he said.
How did the pundits view it?
Former England hooker Brian Moore: "It shows again that if you do not put this England side away when you are on top they will make you pay.
"They were outplayed for long periods but when it came down to taking the opportunity from a poor Welsh kick, they found a way to win."
Former Wales fly-half Jonathan Davies: "I felt that England looked far more threatening with ball in hand. When the opportunity came, they took it.
"They were so clinical in the opportunities they had. Wales had a lot of possession, a lot of territory and scored a great try in the first half, but unfortunately they couldn't turn that pressure into points."
Former England scrum-half Matt Dawson: "I've never watched an England side with only 40-60% territory, under that much pressure, win a game. They didn't even nick it, they worked it.
"That game was absolutely superb. On that evidence, there is no gap now between the southern hemisphere teams."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38946869
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The town with the world's most romantic postmark - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Loveland, Colorado, is smitten with Valentine's Day. Ask nicely and they'll even send you a card.
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Magazine
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The town of Loveland, Colorado, in the lap of the white-tipped Rocky Mountains, is smitten with Valentine's Day, writes Andy Jones. Ask nicely and they'll even send you a card.
In the Loveland postal room, the thump-thump sound of ink stamp on pad serves as a drum beat to the crooning swoon of a barbershop quartet.
The singing foursome, suited in crisp pink and white, are cooing the melody of Let Me Be Your Sweetheart as a chorus of pensioners sift through piles of pink mail.
For two weeks every year, Loveland volunteers stamp and redecorate hundreds of thousands of letters from all corners of the globe, so that lovers can present the objects of their desires with letters postmarked in the land of love.
The missives come from as far away as China and the UK, and are forwarded to all kinds of famous addresses.
President Obama received one at the White House, Hugh Hefner has them posted to his girls at the Playboy Mansion. Even TV star Oprah Winfrey is a fan.
Local businesses feed breakfast to the volunteers. An Elvis lookalike comes in to sing to them, and the stampers - like silver-haired Valentine's elves - busy away in the workshop, karaoke-ing along to toe-tapping bluegrass classics.
Among all the free pie and coffee, the head of the re-mailing programme, Mindy McCloughan, gushes: "It's just like being at your grandma's house."
The Loveland re-mailing programme was born some 70 years ago, when a postmaster called Mr Ivers, a devoted philatelist, began re-addressing all mail "From The Sweetheart City."
Cupid's bow now sends some 300,000 pieces of mail in Loveland's direction, each one them to be stamped with a unique poem, always a step up from the tired old "Roses are Red, violets are blue."
From the Sweetheart City in a land of love,
Warm Thoughts of you are sent above.
On Wings they fly from land to sea,
Searching and finding the one to be.
Any broken hearts had better leave town for the week - Loveland's Valentines motto is: "Go heart or go home."
On its neat, square boulevards, corner stores play slushy music, cake shops bake everything pink and even hardware stores try to add a little romance to the drills and saws.
There's a race to buy the best spot - some are sold off three months in advance - with the best pitches being those visible to all locals and drivers along the expressway to Estes Park.
You can almost picture a bitter sweetheart furious that her sign is three streets too far to the left.
Locals Nicole and Dominic Yost, who have been together for 13 years, always buy each other a heart. It's a treasure hunt finding them.
Nicole's says: "Dominic, you will always have my heart." In return, her husband's manfully boasts: "Nicole, I love you more than bacon."
It's OK, she says - just like everyone in this part of America, where ranchers still herd cattle, meat is a big deal for Dominic.
On Valentine's night itself, as in every city, the occasion is an excuse to get drunk or get kissing. Couples queue up for Loveland Aleworks' specially brewed pink beer, or at Grimm Brothers for its sell-out Bleeding Heart brews.
An ice festival adds a macho tone - tattooed sculptors chainsaw naked ladies or Chinese Koi carp designs on to ice blocks. Rock bands crash out tunes to audiences perched on hay bales.
But the best seats in the house are in the postal room. The Loveland Chamber of Commerce even has a "stamp camp" so postal volunteers can learn the necessary wrist action to transfer ink to envelope.
There's a 70-person waiting list to take part and couples sit side-by-side stamping away, sealing far-off loves forever in ink.
I'm told the only way most volunteers give up their seats in the postal room scheme is when a coffin carries them out of there. Till death us do part - a lot like love itself, then.
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38898926
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How Burnley exposed a weak spot in Chelsea's defence - Ruud Gullit - BBC Sport
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2017-02-12
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Burnley's fast transition from defence to attack helped them cause trouble down Chelsea's left, says Match of the Day pundit Ruud Gullit.
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Not many teams have tested Chelsea's three-man defence this season, but Burnley showed there is a way to get at Antonio Conte's side.
The Clarets were extremely clever in Sunday's 1-1 draw, especially in the way they targeted Chelsea's left flank, which is far less disciplined defensively than their right side.
Eden Hazard always wanders inside from the left - far more than Pedro does when he starts on the right - which is what happened at Turf Moor.
That leaves Chelsea's left wing-back Marcus Alonso to advance up the pitch and give them an option wide on that flank.
But, with Hazard often on the opposite side of the pitch, Alonso is sometimes left isolated when the Blues lose possession.
Alonso is also not as strong as their right wing-back Victor Moses when it comes to getting back to help his centre-halves. I look at him and think he is more of a left winger.
Touches in the first half v Burnley
It is a weak spot because it leaves space to exploit if teams can get the ball into that channel behind Alonso, but you usually have to do it quickly.
Burnley managed it early on by playing long balls up to Andre Gray that forced Gary Cahill and David Luiz to come out wide, out of their comfort zone.
The Clarets had more success in the second half when Ashley Barnes intercepted a Chelsea header down that flank, with Alonso further up the pitch, and Hazard over on the right.
Cahill should have done better with his challenge on Barnes inside the Burnley half, and Luiz should have cut out the cross after Barnes had burst forward - but the ball still found Gray, who missed an excellent chance to put his side ahead.
Burnley got their tactics exactly right on Sunday. Their attitude was spot-on too.
Their game plan, and the way they executed it, was an example of how the right system and attitude gives you a chance when you are facing a side with more technical quality.
Chelsea are always well organised under Conte as well, of course, but they struggled to control the game because of Burnley's approach.
The Blues' goal at Turf Moor was typical of the clinical counter-attacking play that has helped take Conte's side to the top of the table.
But the speed of Burnley's own transition from defence to attack meant they created chances that way too, especially in the first half.
Sean Dyche's side played a lot of long balls right from the start of the game, but they did not just lump the ball forward for the sake of it. Those passes had a purpose.
It meant they bypassed midfield - an area where Dyche knew his side would be over-powered - and got the ball to Burnley's two strikers as quickly as possible.
Burnley were attacking very well for a lot of the game but those long balls were also a defensive tactic. They stretched the play.
Instead of Chelsea winning back possession in midfield and launching attacks from there, which is what they wanted to do, they had to come at them from much further back.
That made it harder, especially against a team that does as much running as Burnley. The Clarets had more time to recover and get numbers back to hassle them outside their own area.
From Burnley's point of view, most of the second half was more about digging in and working hard defensively, rather than asking more questions of Chelsea.
But Dyche's side did well at that too. They were extremely well organised and were very difficult to break down. Their 4-4-2 formation sometimes became a six-man defence.
Chelsea had lots of the ball in the second half, but they did not find much space or create lots of chances and, after the break, it was significant that Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton did not have to make a save.
The Clarets have an incredible home record this season and, although they were beaten by Arsenal and Manchester City, they caused them plenty of problems too.
Dyche's side have to work very hard for every point they pick up but they got their reward for it this time - and they fully deserved their draw.
I think it was a good result for Chelsea too, because they could have lost. They did not play particularly well, but they still picked up a point, and they still have a very healthy lead at the top of the table.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38952000
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Sport must do more to fight homophobia, says report - BBC Sport
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2017-02-12
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MPs call for sports authorities to adopt a zero-tolerance approach, with lengthy bans for offenders.
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Sport is not doing enough to tackle homophobic abuse and authorities should issue lengthy bans to offenders, according to a report.
The report, published by the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, wants sports authorities to adopt a zero-tolerance approach at all levels.
In highlighting football, it said attitudes in sport in general are out of step with wider society.
There are no openly gay professional male players in British football.
The wide-ranging report said more should be done to show support for athletes who want to come out.
It also said match officials at all levels of sport should have a clear duty to report and document any kind of abuse, and sporting authorities should issue immediate one to two-year bans to indicate clearly that homophobic behaviour would not be tolerated.
Damian Collins MP, chairman of the committee, said: "From the evidence we have received in this inquiry, we believe there are many gay athletes who have not come out, because they are frightened of the impact this decision will have on their careers, and the lives of the people they love.
"That is not acceptable and should not be tolerated."
The committee said the report had been commissioned in part following Tyson Fury's inclusion in the shortlist for the 2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
The inclusion of Fury, who had made homophobic remarks, is "symptomatic of homophobia not being taken seriously enough in sport, or the media that shows it", according to the report.
The committee said it was "very dissatisfied" with BBC director general Tony Hall's response to the controversy.
In a statement, a BBC spokesperson said: "The British public decides who becomes Sports Personality of the Year.
"A panel of experts in sport unanimously agreed that Tyson Fury should be on the shortlist for the public vote based solely on his sporting achievement in being crowned world heavyweight champion - we were clear it was not an endorsement of his personal views."
• None There is a problem in schools and youth sports, with serious concerns over the effects of low participation among lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) youth on their mental and physical health and well-being.
• None In the long term, it is very likely that a number of sports have been robbed of talent, and young players and athletes may feel that they have to choose between coming out or continuing to participate in their sport.
• None National governing bodies should step up their commitment to anti-homophobic campaigns, giving greater funds and resources to visible interventions such as
• None This should incorporate television and cinema advertisements, screens at football matches and outside advertising such as bus-stop advertisements. This must be a sustained effort over a significant period of time, rather than a short-term commitment.
• None There is also a role for "straight allies" - straight players who act as champions for the cause and participate in education programmes and campaigns.
• None Clubs and major sportswear brands could state their support for gay athletes and write into their agreements with players that there would be no termination or downgrading of their contracts as a result of a player coming out.
• None Major sponsors should come together to launch an initiative in the UK to make clear that should any sportsperson wish to come out, they will have their support.
A Football Association spokesperson said: "We welcome the select committee's report on how to address homophobia in sport and we will review it in full.
"It is an issue that we take very seriously and, as the chairman has previously stated, tackling homophobia, transphobia and biphobia in football is one of his top priorities."
What is the background?
In 2012, a Culture, Media and Sport Committee report on racism in sport found homophobia was emerging as a "bigger problem in football than racism and other forms of discrimination".
Research at the time found 25% of fans thought homophobia was present in football, compared to 10% who thought racism was.
In May 2015, the 'Out on the Fields' study - the first international study into homophobia in sport - found 73% of survey participants did not believe youth sports were a 'supportive and safe' place for LGB participants.
A recent Stonewall survey reported 72% of football fans have heard homophobic abuse while, in October, a BBC Radio 5 live survey found 82% of supporters would have no issue with a gay player, but 8% said they would stop watching their team.
Damian Collins MP, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee
"No sportsperson should feel under pressure or feel 'forced' to come out, but sports authorities must create an environment, in the stadium and the locker room, where players and athletes at all levels feel it is a choice they can make, and that they will be supported and accepted if they do.
"More needs to be done by the authorities to address both the overt and latent homophobia that exists within sport.
"Sanctions appear to be left to the discretion of the club or governing body involved: a zero-tolerance approach to the use of all homophobic language and behaviours must be implemented with standardised sanctions across all sports."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/38942441
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Arsene Wenger: I gave no indication on Arsenal future - BBC Sport
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2017-02-12
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Arsene Wenger says he gave no indication on his future as Arsenal manager to club legend Ian Wright.
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Arsene Wenger says he did not give any indication on his future as Arsenal manager to Ian Wright, after the Gunners legend claimed the Frenchman was "coming to the end".
Wenger, 67, was appointed as Arsenal manager in September 1996.
Wright told BBC Radio 5 live on Friday: "He looks tired. I feel he will go at the end of the season."
But Wenger said: "We had a little dinner, not the two of us. I appreciate you want me to rest but I'm not ready."
He added he could look tired because "I get up early in the morning".
Wright, who played under Wenger for two seasons between 1996 and 1998, reiterated during his analysis on Saturday's Match of the Day that he believes Wenger will go.
"We were at a question and answer session and the way he was speaking and his demeanour... it's my opinion. I could be wrong," said the 53-year-old.
"I still think he has some massive decisions to make and think it could be his last season."
'My job is to make these people happy'
Wenger is the Premier League's longest-serving manager and his contract expires at the end of the season.
The Frenchman last won the Premier League title in 2004 and has been under pressure at the Emirates following league defeats by Watford and Chelsea.
However, after his side's 2-0 win against Hull, he added: "I focus on what is important: winning football games and getting the team to perform. The rest, I cannot influence.
"I have big respect for this country and this club, and I am grateful because I have worked here for 20 years. My job is to make these people happy and when I don't do that I feel guilty - that's why it's important for us to win."
'It's too soon for Wenger to leave'
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown on Match of the Day 2 Extra:
"What Wenger has to decide is, 'has he come to end of road in terms of his managerial qualities?'. I do feel if he was to go now, without a success plan, it would be too soon.
"I don't think the board and the club are ready for him to go.
"That end is coming but maybe it needs another one or two years. Wenger should be part of the decision around the next manager who comes in - who should be in the same mould.
"Everyone is thinking that the grass is greener but will it be any better under another manager? While you have got such a good man there I believe they will hang on to him.
"I am disappointed in what has been done on the pitch but also, we are realistic.
"Chelsea came in with their millions, Manchester City did it and they both changed the landscape.
"Leicester showed that to win the league you don't need money and that will hurt Wenger. He can't quite get the recipe right and that is the biggest mystery for me."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38943962
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Vintage spy gadgets go under hammer - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The collection includes a dagger disguised as a pen and a watch with a hidden microphone.
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Kent
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The watch has a tiny, hidden microphone for a spy to secretly record conversations
A vintage collection of secret service gadgets including a dagger disguised as a pen and a watch with a hidden microphone are to go on sale.
The items - designed for British spies and troops caught behind enemy lines - date from World War Two onwards.
The anonymous seller claims he was never a spy himself, simply a historian with a passion for anything from WW2.
The objects are expected to fetch a total of thousands of pounds when they are sold at auction in Kent on Tuesday.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This fountain pen concealed a dagger and could be worth up to £500
The James Bond-style collection of sinister yet ingenious items includes a badge which unscrews to reveal a compass, which is expected to fetch up to £120.
There is also a key with a secret compartment for hiding things such as cyanide pills, which could be worth up to £200.
Matthew Tredwin of C&T Auctioneers said: "Most people that buy this stuff are historians who want to keep the story of these people alive."
The vendor said he would be "over the moon if they fetched the estimates placed on them".
But he added: "Money is not the concern. I would like to think they will go to a collector who will cherish them as much as I have over the years."
"I have had the pleasure of owning them and feel it is time that another collector or museum has the opportunity," he added.
The collection includes a button with a compass inside and a key with a secret compartment
• None Spy gadgets up for auction. Video, 00:00:43Spy gadgets up for auction
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-38943163
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Spy gadgets up for auction - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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A collection of items used by British spies during the Second World War is going up for auction.
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A collection of items used by British spies during the Second World War is going up for auction.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38942633
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New Zealand whales: Frantic bid to save stranded mammals - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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The mass stranding of whales on a remote beach in New Zealand has taken a turn for the worse as 240 more arrived.
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The mass stranding of whales on a remote beach in New Zealand has taken a turn for the worse as 240 more arrived.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38945011
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Nato says viral news outlet is part of "Kremlin misinformation machine" - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Critics, including NATO, say it's part of a campaign of Russian misinformation. But its UK editor says his outlet has been unfairly attacked by the West.
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BBC Trending
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In the world of viral news, it's a relative baby - but it's already become so controversial that a Nato spokesperson told BBC Trending that Sputnik is an agent of Russian misinformation.
Sputnik was set up in 2014 and puts out podcasts, radio shows and text stories which are shared thousands of times a day on Twitter and Facebook. It's recently been adding international bureaux, including a UK headquarters in Scotland.
But at the same time Sputnik has also been on the receiving end of criticism - by US intelligence agencies, the British defence secretary, and now by Nato, who says it is part of a "Kremlin misinformation machine."
"Outlets like Sputnik are part of a Kremlin propaganda machine which are trying to use information for political and military needs," Nato spokesperson Oana Lungescu told BBC Trending. "It is a way, not to convince people, but to confuse them, not to provide an alternative viewpoint, but to divide public opinions and to ultimately undermine our ability to understand what is going on and therefore take decisions if decisions need to be made."
"It's extremely unfair but we've been on the receiving end of other similar accusations in the past, without any substantive evidence being provided," says Nikolai Gorshkov, Sputnik's UK editor. "We prefer to leave those inclined towards this kind of conspiratorial thinking to it."
So what's the truth about Sputnik?
Many stories on Sputnik, whose motto is "Telling the Untold", are news items. Like other international broadcasters, it sees itself as a gift to the world to diversify the media diet - in this case, funded by the Russian government.
But Western officials and outside observers say that Sputnik follows an anti-West, pro-Russia, pro-Trump line in its selection of stories, in the way it frames them, and its choice of commentary. On Friday evening, for instance, Sputnik's top story was headlined "Americans 'Don't Buy' Media Criticism of Trump Following Years of Pro-Obama Bias".
A recent US intelligence report on alleged Russian interference in the American election described the editorial line of Sputnik and the TV station RT, which like Sputnik is funded by the Russian government-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya. "RT and Sputnik consistently cast President-elect Trump as the target of unfair coverage from traditional US media outlets that they claimed were subservient to a corrupt political establishment," the report said.
"The question of balance is really important - particularly if you're a public service broadcaster," says Ben Nimmo, a research fellow at the Atlantic Council, an international affairs think tank based in Washington DC. "Balance is where so much of the time I see Sputnik falling down. It will quote one side but it won't give an appropriate screen time, column inches or airtime to the other side and that's the big difference."
Nimmo and others suggest that Sputnik's UK base in Edinburgh - rather than London, where most international media companies set up shop - is an attempt to encourage Scottish independence and stoke up discontent towards the British government.
That's just not true, according to Sputnik themselves. Gorshkov says the reason for the Scottish base is more pragmatic. He cites the high cost of property prices in London and says he'd rather invest in journalists.
"We're not trying to influence Scottish thinking, because being based in Edinburgh, we do now realise how fiercely independently minded the Scots are," he says. "You can't influence a Scot."
Hear this story in full on the BBC World Service, or download our podcast
In addition to its news coverage, Sputnik's sharply opinionated blogs have also been the subject of criticism.
"If you look at the byline of people who write commentaries for Sputnik or RT, a lot of them are extremely obscure individuals connected to the far right or the far left, or so-called specialists or experts who nobody's heard of," says Lungescu, the Nato spokesperson. "You can always find somebody to say anything, but that doesn't make it journalism."
One of the bloggers heavily featured on the site, Angus Gallagher, specialises in pro-Russia, pro-Donald Trump pieces sharply critical of the West, with headlines such as "7 ways the EU-NATO Axis is Sabotaging Western Civilisation" and "Sacrificed for the EU-NATO Axis: Europe's Women Branded Whores and Liars". The latter article accuses Western think tanks of conspiring to play down reports of sex attacks by migrants, in an anti-Russian plot.
Ammon Cheskin, a professor in Central and Eastern European studies at Glasgow University, says the posts are typical of the "paranoid perspective" of commentators on the site.
"No one is quite sure who this individual is or if he actually exists," he says.
But Sputnik's UK editor Gorshkov told us that bloggers, including Gallagher, aren't members of staff, but rather are volunteers who use the Sputnik platform to write their opinion pieces. He says he's never met Gallagher and doesn't oversee the blogs section of the website. But he insisted that he is indeed a real person.
"He reflects the views of a good chunk of the audience," Gorshkov says. BBC Trending left Facebook messages left for Gallagher himself, but they went unanswered.
The Russian embassy in London denied the accusations that the Kremlin is behind a misinformation machine.
"In our view, the claims of perceived 'Russian misinformation campaign to undermine the West' are a way to avoid an open and reasoned debate of the issues raised in British and American societies," the embassy press office wrote in an email. "Obviously, sticking labels of 'fake news' and 'misinformation' testifies to the lack of [a] positive agenda."
Gorshkov says the criticisms against Sputnik have cascaded down from governments and think tanks because the establishment in Western countries feels threatened.
"They don't like the emergency of a mass media outlet which is giving more context, more background, more angles to stories. They probably think it's a threat to their view of the world," he says.
And he hopes that Sputnik will reach Westerners disaffected by the mainstream media.
"Are they all Russian stooges who voted for Brexit or for Trump? Are they all useful idiots? That's really preposterous," he says. "I think that's really an offence against them, all those millions."
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.
Next story: The alt-right's war on Netflix and Trump court memes
Why are some followers of the alt-right cancelling their Netflix accounts? READ MORE
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-38936812
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Six Nations 2017: France 22-16 Scotland - BBC Sport
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2017-02-12
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Scotland suffer a 10th straight defeat in Paris as France emerge victorious from a tense tussle at the Stade de France.
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Scotland's search for a first win in Paris since 1999 goes on after France emerged victorious from a tense Six Nations contest at the Stade de France.
Stuart Hogg's 16th Test try gave the Scots an early lead but Gael Fickou's try put France 13-5 clear before two Finn Russell penalties made it 13-11.
Tim Swinson's try regained the lead for the injury-hit visitors before Camille Lopez's third penalty tied it at 16-16.
Remi Lamerat had a try ruled out before two late Lopez kicks sealed victory.
Scotland salvaged a bonus point despite suffering a host of injuries, with captain Greig Laidlaw, flanker John Barclay, his replacement John Hardie and hooker Fraser Brown all trooping off.
They must now regroup for the visit of Wales on 25 February (14:25 GMT), while France head to Dublin to face Ireland on the same day (16:50 GMT).
This was a surreal Test, a day when Scotland's scrum was routinely demolished - it gave France six penalties and a free-kick - and when the visitors lost one captain, Laidlaw, to injury, lost his deputy, Barclay, then lost Barclay's replacement Hardie.
The Scots dropped like flies and yet they hung on gamely. They lived off scraps and yet were still banging away at the death hoping against hope for an opening that never came.
It all began with a Lopez penalty quickly cancelled out by a Hogg try when Huw Jones drew in Lopez and off-loaded to the full-back, who fixed Baptiste Serin and went over in the corner. Laidlaw's conversion hit the crossbar and stayed out.
Lopez put the French back in the lead at the end of the first quarter and it was then that Laidlaw went off, a cruel blow for Scotland, a setback that was only added to when Fickou scored on the half-hour.
It had been coming. France had threatened and had wasted some opportunities beforehand, but when the Toulouse centre went in under Hogg's tackle there was no stopping him.
The conversion was added and the gap stretched to eight points. Credit Scotland. Tommy Seymour won the restart and the Scots forced a penalty, which Russell put over.
Then he banged over another one just before the break. Quite how they were only two points down was a mystery.
The second injury blow had landed by then, the stand-in captain, Barclay, exiting with a head knock.
Hardie came on and went off again within minutes of the second half beginning. Another head knock. Poor Hardie. The man has suffered badly with concussions in his career.
Remarkably, Scotland brushed off that upset and hit the front again a few minutes later. A brilliant offload from Russell released the razor-sharp Seymour up the right touchline, chipping and chasing and getting the benefit of a kindly bounce in his tussle with Scott Spedding.
Seymour found Swinson steaming downfield on his lonesome and no sooner had he come on the field for Hardie, he scored.
Even more remarkably, Russell missed the conversion from almost touching distance of the posts. The kicking tee took too long to reach him and when it did he lost composure, with someone - believed to be Scotland resource coach Nathan Hines - urging him to 'Take it, take it'.
The ball was placed unsteadily on its mark, then flopped over as Russell was about to kick it. His effort had a dead duck quality, going under the posts instead of over.
Scotland had precious little ball after that. The French took control and those scrum horrors carried on. The visitors were clinging on from a long way out.
Lopez made it 16-16 with the boot and as Scotland became ragged under pressure, and started making some poor decisions, the fly-half steered them home. Two more penalties - in the 71st and 76th minutes - gave France their win.
On a monstrously testing day, Scotland contented themselves with a losing bonus point. In the circumstances, it was an achievement.
Scotland head coach Vern Cotter: "It was a physical encounter. Quite a few times we came off second best.
"The boys stuck in defensively and defended our line well. But a couple of times maybe we weren't accurate enough."
On Finn Russell's missed conversion: "It was only two points and it didn't really matter. At the end it was a six-point game."
France full-back Scott Spedding: "It was a scrappy affair and we made a lot of mistakes in the first half. We couldn't get our game-plan into place.
"But we desperately needed a win. We are disappointed with our performance but happy with the win."
What did the pundit make of it?
Former Scotland international Andy Nicol: "There was a lot of good stuff from Scotland. They were up against a huge French pack, there was some really courageous defence, but ultimately they lost the game.
"This is where Scotland are at the moment, they have the confidence and ability to win these tight games now. They didn't today, but it will come."
Replacements: 16-Christopher Tolofua (for Guirado, 79), 17-Rabah Slimani (for Atonio, 46) 18-Xavier Chiocci (for Baille, 59), 19-Julian Le Devedec (for Maestri, 59), 20-Damien Chouly (for Goujon, 60), 21-Maxime Machenaud (for Serin, 56), 22-Jean-Marc Doussain, 23-Yoann Huget (for Vakatawa, 53)
Replacements: 16-Ross Ford (for Brown, 66), 17-Gordon Reid (for Dell, 44), 18-Simon Berghan (for Fagerson, 59), 19-Tim Swinson (for Hardie, 41), 20-John Hardie (for Barclay, 37), 21-Alistair Price (for Laidlaw, 25), 22-Duncan Weir (for Russell, 75), 23-Mark Bennett (for Dunbar, 57-61).
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38934397
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The female soldiers serving in Israel's army - BBC News
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2017-02-12
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The BBC speaks to women in the Israeli army - one of the few in the world to conscript females.
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In most western armies women are taking a more and more prominent place on the front line, and in Israel, there are already mixed gender infantry battalions.
The BBC travelled to a training base in southern Israel and spoke to some of the soldiers being recruited.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38939834
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Liverpool 2-0 Tottenham: Jurgen Klopp excited by 'perfect Sunday' after win - BBC Sport
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2017-02-12
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Manager Jurgen Klopp is delighted by Liverpool's "fantastic" 2-0 win over Tottenham and looks forward to a "perfect Sunday".
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Manager Jurgen Klopp is delighted by Liverpool's "fantastic" 2-0 win over Tottenham and looks forward to a "perfect Sunday" now his side's winless league run ends after five games.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38945005
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150-year-old lost wedding dress returned to family - BBC News
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2017-02-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A 150-year-old antique wedding dress that was lost after a dry cleaners went bust is returned to the family.
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Edinburgh, Fife & East Scotland
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The dress pictured safely back at the family home in East Lothian
A 150-year-old antique wedding dress that was lost after a dry cleaners went bust has been given back to its family.
Tess Newall, 29, of Morham, East Lothian, had worn the dress - belonging to her great-great grandmother - when she got married in June last year.
However, after it was booked in to be cleaned by Kleen Cleaners in St Mary Street, Edinburgh, it went missing.
Mrs Newall's father, Patrick Gammell, confirmed to the BBC that the dress had now been returned.
It was handed back to the family on Monday by two officials from the sequestrators dealing with Kleen Cleaners financial affairs.
Mr Gammell said he and his wife were "petrified" to let it out of their sight again.
The 61-year-old, who is the Vice Lord-Lieutenant of East Lothian, told BBC Scotland's news website: "We are thrilled finally to have my wife's family's wedding dress back safely in our hands.
"This has been in no small part due to the media interest in which the BBC helped considerably, for which we are very grateful."
He added: "We are petrified to let it out of our sight now and I think my wife, Sally, is going to try to clean it herself instead of sending it somewhere again."
After the BBC highlighted the dress's disappearance, it was found "in a crumpled heap" at the closed shop.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Mrs Newall, who married Alfred Newall, 30, in East Lothian, said she was "absolutely over the moon" at the discovery.
The dress was sent to be dry cleaned in September and the shop shut in October.
The business is now being dealt with under Scottish bankruptcy law in a process known as sequestration.
An AiB spokeswoman said: "Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) was appointed as trustee in this case.
"Wylie & Bisset were allocated the case in October 2016 to administer on AiB's behalf and handled the closure of the Kleen Cleaners dry cleaning business in Edinburgh.
"In a bankruptcy, the whole estate of the debtor vests with the trustee, with specific exceptions laid down in law.
"When business is involved in a bankruptcy, it is normal practice to immediately close down the trading premises and investigate and identify assets of the bankruptcy."
She said in these circumstances attempts are made to notify customers of the bankruptcy and return any items that belong to them.
She added: "At the commencement of a bankruptcy, a bankrupt individual will complete a questionnaire to disclose assets, income, creditors and other information.
"This will be used as a starting point for the trustee to establish the value of the estate and the extent of liabilities. The trustee will not seek to realise assets unless satisfied he is entitled to do so.
"AiB has been advised of the issues surrounding this particular case and while it is our policy not to comment on individual cases, we can confirm this issue has now been concluded satisfactorily."
Tess Newall on her wedding day in her great-great grandmother's dress
Tess and Alfred Newall on their wedding day
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-38957124
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Life after death? Resurrecting a modern ruin - BBC News
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2017-02-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The derelict St Peter's Seminary - in Scottish woods - is receiving a second chance.
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In Pictures
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About 20 miles west of Glasgow lies a modern ruin. St Peter's Seminary was built only 50 years ago, yet by the 1990s it was derelict. However, plans to breathe new life into the building are now close to being realised.
The concrete ghost is hidden in woods on the north side of the River Clyde - the shell of an ambitious 1960s modernist building which the Catholic Church had planned to use to train 100 novice priests.
But the seminary - at the back of a golf course on the edge of the village of Cardross - was built in changing times. The Church would soon shift away from training priests in seclusion, instead placing them in the community.
The inauguration ceremony was held on St Andrew's Day 1966.
At the ceremony, the Archbishop of Glasgow James Scanlan commented on the "unique edifice… of such architectural distinction as to merit the highest praise from the most qualified judges".
But by the 2000s, the same space would be in ruins.
The post-war years saw the break-up of many of the traditionally Catholic areas in Glasgow - as sections of the old inner city were demolished and people moved into new high-rise homes or out to new towns like East Kilbride or Cumbernauld.
In this photo taken in the mid-60s, newly-built 20-storey flats in the Gorbals area of Glasgow overlook St Francis Church and Friary.
The Catholic Church embarked on an ambitious building project to serve these new communities - using architects Gillespie, Kidd and Coia (GKC).
GKC was also asked to build a new St Peter's Seminary near Cardross - to replace the old St Peter's College in Bearsden, which was destroyed by fire in the 1940s.
The architectural drawing above, of the new St Peter's south elevation, includes Kilmahew House - the 19th Century mansion which had been used as a temporary seminary since the late 1940s.
The trainee priests were to have "cells" in the main block - directly above the chapel - as shown in this section drawing from 1961.
The first sod on the site was cut in 1960.
Architects John Cowell (left) and Isi Metzstein (right) - with project manager Stan Blair in the centre - celebrate here with pints of Guinness at the "topping out" ceremony in 1965.
Tucked away on a wooded hilltop, St Peter's was removed from the outside world.
The entrance to the main block was across a bridge spanning a shallow pool.
The architecture was celebrated at this early stage, and the project won a Royal Institute of British Architects Bronze Regional Award in 1967.
The granite altar in the sanctuary was the heart of the seminary complex.
Despite the sharp contrast between Kilmahew House and the St Peter's extension, the old mansion was an integral part of the college.
With the break up of traditional Catholic communities in the West of Scotland, and the increasing secularisation of society, St Peter's was never used to full capacity.
It was designed to hold 100 residents, but the highest number of students living there at any one time was 56.
This under population only exacerbated a series of maintenance problems on the site.
Inefficient heating, poor sound insulation and water leaks made life difficult for the trainee priests - but it did not stop them from enjoying a game of football.
In November 1979, only 13 years after it opened, the Archdiocese of Glasgow decided to close St Peter's because of the dwindling number of trainee priests, the maintenance issues and financial constraints.
The building was used as a drug rehabilitation centre for four years in the 1980s, but then fell into a state of disrepair.
Architectural interest remained though, and in 1992 Historic Scotland granted St Peter's Category A listed status.
Two years later, the adjoining Kilmahew House was gutted by fire and had to be demolished. Only the footprint of the mansion was left behind.
With no secure plans for the future, the site continued to deteriorate.
What the priests left behind, the graffiti artists claimed as their own.
Since the seminary's closure, numerous ideas have been submitted for repurposing St Peter's.
One ambitious plan - scuppered by the recession which followed the financial crash in 2008 - would have seen the modernist structure turned into a swimming pool and health spa.
Now arts charity NVA is working towards turning the site into a dramatic space for public art, performance and debate.
The idea is to consolidate the ruin into a new design - with only partial restoration. A master plan was submitted in 2011.
With significant help from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Creative Scotland, NVA has reached its £7m funding target - and later this year work is expected to start on returning the site to a usable space.
A big clean-up last year removed lots of the detritus.
The sanctuary and altar area could be turned into a performance space like this.
But the public has already been given a chance to see the ruin of St Peter's in a new light.
In Spring 2016, NVA created a journey in light and sound through the concrete. Called Hinterland, the event was sold out.
St Peter's made a dramatic architectural statement when it was built, but its first incarnation as a seminary was short-lived.
It is hoped this 21st Century rebirth by NVA, bringing the structure back into productive use, will prove more enduring.
Historic Environment Scotland, in partnership with NVA and Glasgow School of Art, has published a more detailed history of the site - St Peter's, Cardross: Birth, Death and Renewal by Diane M Watters.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-38884020
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Six Nations: Eddie Jones' England don't know how to lose - BBC Sport
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2017-02-13
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England's late victory against Wales is testament to a head coach and side who are full of determination, character and conviction.
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Believing you will win when all around see a match that's slipping away. Coming back for more when all game you have been turned over and picked off. Finding precision in the critical moment, having been imprecise in so much of what has gone before.
England, despite the late larceny in Cardiff that has extended their victory roll to 16 games and counting, are far from perfect. There are flaws and weaknesses there, but the abiding memory from this white-hot battle on a frozen winter's night will be of strength: of character, in depth, of conviction.
Wales thought they had done enough. For 76 minutes they had, playing with a pace and ferocity that stirred memories of the massacre of Stuart Lancaster's innocents here four years ago. The massed ranks of their support were singing them home.
And then it turned, ostensibly on one tired clearing kick from Jonathan Davies, but really on so much more.
Good teams go close and see the logic in their defeat. They vow to go away and learn the lessons. They accept that sometimes it is just not their day.
This England team don't appear to countenance defeat at all. They refuse to let the pressure of being close cloud their thinking. They keep winning that ugly way.
• None Howley delighted until last five minutes
• None 5 live In Short: England's backs 'more talented than Wilkinson era'
George Ford, fielding Davies' kick 40 metres out with England 16-14 down, might have gambled on a speculative drop-goal.
Owen Farrell, taking his pass at pace and with only one man outside him, might have twitched at the memory of the interception a few minutes earlier, or gone safely into contact to set up field position.
Elliot Daly, running on instead to another fast, sweetly timed pass, might have cut inside or allowed himself to be swallowed up by the onrushing arms of Alex Cuthbert.
Four minutes to go, everything hanging on that one moment, and they made it happen. If it was cruel on Wales, better than they have been in many a marooned year, it characterised the essence of what this England team has become.
Eddie Jones always thinks his side will win, no matter what mess they find themselves in. Rob Howley always looks worried that his Wales team will lose.
That belief has permeated through the ranks. Maro Itoje doesn't dwell on the possibility of defeat, not least because in his brief career it has been such an unfamiliar experience to him.
James Haskell's ego makes him relish coming off the bench to help turn games around. Farrell, hit so late and hard by Ross Moriarty early in the second half that he was left dry-retching, sucked it in, grinned and came back to produce the contest's pivotal pass and kick.
Howley is a nice man and a dedicated coach who, as a player, could do things few other scrum-halves could. His record as Wales' caretaker boss while Warren Gatland is away is statistically solid - seven wins in his past 10 matches - and has touched occasional heights: a record-breaking win over South Africa last autumn, that unprecedented 30-3 hammering of England in 2013.
But whereas Jones comes across as a general with both tactical mastery and troops who are genuinely frightened of him, Howley is more the well-meaning supply teacher whose optimistic lesson plans fail to survive the streetwise and disruptive elements inherent in every classroom.
It is the difference too between the England of Jones and that of his predecessor Lancaster, another honourable, hard-working man who saw crunch matches slip from his grasp in each of his four Six Nations campaigns.
It happened at Twickenham in 2012, when Scott Williams' brilliant solo burglary and escape sent Wales away towards a third Grand Slam in eight years and left England stalled in second.
It happened in Paris in 2014, when Gael Fickou's late acceleration inside Alex Goode snatched a victory at the death to spell another second place.
And it happened, most famously of all, at Twickenham in that tumultuous World Cup group showdown 18 months ago, when an England team 10 points ahead, with half an hour to go, let a Welsh side with a scrum-half on the wing, a wing at centre and a patched-up fly-half at full-back fight back to steal away a three-point win that will be sung about until the Severn runs dry.
Jones, reptilian grin and all, does not care who likes him or what others think of his team, as Howley often appears to do and Lancaster once did.
And he is becoming defined by these wins when all is nip and tuck and maybe not: here in Cardiff, when his inexperienced back row shipped eight turnovers to their opponents, when the usually unflustered Jonathan Joseph was throwing passes into touch, when only Daly's muscular speed had denied the excellent Dan Biggar a breakaway try; against France a week ago, when three opposition players all made more than 125m with ball in hand; when a red card for Daly meant 75 minutes against Argentina last autumn with 14 men.
The power of the bench
Jones spoke afterwards of his team having used up all their get-out-of-jail cards. It was an admission that he expects better and will drill his charges until it comes.
It was also a reflection of a bench that he calls his finishers but may be better described as his emergency services.
Normally the sight of a skipper being hauled off uninjured after 46 minutes would be a cause for crisis. Not when Jones can send on Jamie George for Dylan Hartley.
Haskell, bullish in mind and body, deserves better than the bench but repeatedly makes such an impact from it that he may suffer the unusual misfortune of playing himself out of the starting XV.
Ben Te'o, Danny Care, Kyle Sinckler; the names and minutes played may change from game to game, but the influence seldom does.
In the second row, Joe Launchbury: not a first choice, not with Itoje and George Kruis in town, but 20 tackles on Saturday night in a defence that kept Wales within range.
And so England rumble on, to play an Italian team who have never beaten them, to another home fixture after that against a Scotland side who are winless at Twickenham in 34 years.
No-one in the camp is talking yet about Grand Slams, but precedent suggests the trip to Ireland in five weeks time might be precisely for that.
Wales will take heart from their performance, if little comfort from helping produce a match that gripped from the start and carried all watching along to the end.
They might wonder how this one got away, look back with regret at those first-half penalties not aimed at the posts or the period of second-half dominance that featured wonderful possession and territory but nothing on the board to show for it.
England? There will be no regrets, not when they keep marching forward, not when they keep finding a way.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38946919
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Adele fluffs cover of George Michael's Fastlove - BBC News
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2017-02-13
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Adele calls halt to cover of George Michael track at Grammys and starts again.
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Adele called a halt to her performance as she paid tribute to George Michael at the Grammys.
The star was performing a sombre version of Fastlove in honour of the star, who died on Christmas Day, but went badly off-key as she went into the first chorus.
"I can't mess this up for him," she said, fighting back tears. "I'm sorry for swearing. Can we start again?"
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38954080
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Newspaper headlines: Crime and punishment divides press - BBC News
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2017-02-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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There are widely different views ahead of a speech on prison numbers by Justice Secretary Liz Truss.
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The Papers
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Several papers concern themselves with matters of crime and punishment, as Justice Secretary Liz Truss prepares to deliver a speech rejecting calls for cuts in the number of people in prison.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Ms Truss will say it would be dangerous to public safety if the number of inmates went down, simply to meet a target.
The paper describes the forthcoming speech as a "rebuke" to Labour, which had called for the prison population to be reduced by half.
The Daily Express praises the justice secretary's approach, calling it a "forceful riposte" to Labour's "softly, softly" attitude.
While the Express acknowledges that rehabilitation is vital, it says Ms Truss's assertion that "public protection is paramount" cannot be said often enough.
An editorial in the Times, though, cautions that prisons in England and Wales are "full to bursting" and will breed more violence and criminality if ministers fail to tackle overcrowding.
The paper urges the justice secretary to revisit sentencing guidelines, which are "keeping too many people inside for too long", as the only way to repair what it calls a broken system.
Writing in the i, commentator Ian Birrell challenges politicians to "defy the media" and adopt some radical new approaches.
He argues that tougher sentencing is rarely the answer.
When it comes to knife crime, for example, he says the threat of prison does not deter "scared or silly people from carrying these weapons, just as prohibition of drugs fuels gangsterism".
"What a waste!" proclaims the front of the Daily Mail.
The paper accuses government ministers and officials of a series of blunders that have cost the public £5.5bn in two years.
The Mail has analysed the accounts of Whitehall's 20 departments.
It says the biggest money waster was the Ministry of Defence, which wrote off almost £2bn - including £11m on two RAF drones that crashed during testing.
Another £1m went on x-ray equipment which was intended to screen passengers for TB at two airports but was then scrapped after a change in policy.
The paper laments a combination of "blunder, muddle and incompetence", and describes such "arrant waste" as an insult to taxpayers.
The Sun reports how a man it calls an "Albanian murderer" was deported from the UK but managed to sneak back in under the noses of the "bungling" Border Force.
It says the "violent criminal" was kicked out of the UK in 2009 when he was found to have escaped from prison in Albania.
He is pictured apparently running a car wash business in Leicestershire.
The paper's leader column says the case "beggars belief", and exposes how vulnerable Britain's borders are.
While variety may be the spice of life, the Times reports that bland uniformity is more the order of the day for millions of us when it comes to lunch.
A survey suggests that more than three-quarters of office workers have eaten the same midday meal for the past nine months.
More than seven in ten of the unimaginative diners said eating the same thing was "easy".
In the most extreme example, one respondent reported eating a ham sandwich and a piece of fruit every day since they started work 20 years ago.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-38952295
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Joe Root: Is England Test captain the right Alastair Cook replacement? - BBC Sport
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2017-02-13
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Joe Root may have been the only realistic candidate to replace Alastair Cook as England captain, but does that make him the right man for the job?
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In the least surprising move since England last needed a new Test captain, England have appointed Joe Root as the successor to Alastair Cook.
Like Cook before him, Root has been promoted from vice-captain, an elevation such a formality that the anointing of another leader would have come as a seismic shock.
But an expected coronation does not guarantee that the crown will sit right, especially when Root is such an inexperienced skipper.
Why is he the man for the job? What type of leader might he be? And how will it affect his batting?
No ordinary Joe - why he is the right man...
Root has long been tipped for the top job. As a 13-year-old playing club cricket for Sheffield Collegiate he was nicknamed 'FEC', for 'future England captain', a title once bestowed on Michael Atherton with similar accuracy.
Since he made his debut at the age of 21 in December 2012, no batsman on the planet has made more than Root's 4,594 Test runs and only India's Virat Kohli has a better tally in all international cricket. He is perhaps the most complete three-format player that England have ever produced.
The English way is to push the batting totem towards leadership - it was the same with Atherton, Michael Vaughan, Kevin Pietersen and Cook, with varying degrees of success.
Now it is Root's turn. Although his leadership experience amounts to only four first-class matches, the tiny glimpses offered when he has briefly deputised for Cook hint towards an enthusiasm and dynamism for the job.
At 26, he is a year older than Atherton when he took charge, but a year younger than Cook was. With 53 Tests to his name, he has 22 more than Vaughan when he was named skipper in 2003.
"He's the obvious candidate," said England pace bowler James Anderson. "The decision is a big one because he's our best player, so you obviously don't want that to be affected.
"He is fairly quiet but he has got that fire in his belly. He's a really impressive young man.
"Root gets into situations, one-on-ones, with people. He speaks a lot of sense when he does speak and he's a really impressive young man."
...or is he?
Root hasn't quite been named captain by default, but it's not far off. Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler were all consulted after Cook's resignation, but it always seemed incredibly unlikely that any would beat Root to the job.
Still, there is the suggestion that Root's carefree, jovial approach might not be best suited to leadership.
"Root is the outstanding candidate, but you wouldn't want it to be a case of making your best player captain, only for it to backfire on you later," said former England off-spinner Graeme Swann.
"I'm still not convinced Root is the right man for the job. I want him to concentrate on being the best player we have ever had, rather than having his talent curbed by the pressures of captaincy.
"He has tried to be more sensible later, but part of his cheeky chappy persona makes him the player he is, and I don't want to see that taken away."
And although Cook proclaimed Root to be "ready" for the captaincy during the tour of India, it was Root himself who said that he needs to "start growing up a bit" after an angry reaction to a dismissal in the fifth Test in Chennai.
Fatherhood should help, a first-born son having arrived on 7 January, but if it is a different Root who leads England out against South Africa at Lord's on 6 July, will he have the same success that brought him to the captaincy?
"It's hard to say how ready I am," said Root in January.
"I've got quite a lot experience in Test cricket now, but it's one of these things where you have to learn on the job.
"Being a dad you don't know what to do, you just have to go with it and see how it goes. I imagine being captain would be very similar."
What type of captain will he be?
It is a downside of central contracts that England players have little or no opportunity to learn captaincy in the county game.
Arguably, another related negative is that a player can only ever be schooled by the limited number of captains he has played under.
Root, for example, has never played a Test under anyone other than Cook, while Cook's style of leadership was heavily influenced by predecessor Andrew Strauss.
With just those four first-class matches under his belt, Root is one of the most inexperienced captains ever appointed by England - at least Cook had benefited from 18 months in charge of the one-day side.
Root's style of leadership is therefore something of a mystery. The perception is that he will be more adventurous than Cook - but so is popping to the corner shop in your slippers instead of your shoes.
"Joe will know what he would like to improve or what he would like to do differently," said former England captain Vaughan. "When all the speculation over Cook's future began, he will have gone home at night and thought 'what if I do get the job?'
"But you're never too sure how you're going to be as a person until you get it. You can think you're going to be X or Y, but you can't be 100% sure."
Of the four times Root has led in the first-class game, one match was in charge of England Lions, with the other three as Yorkshire skipper.
In each of Root's matches as Tykes captain, fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom was part of the Yorkshire team.
"I get changed next to him and he can be a scruffy little git, but when it comes to cricket knowledge he's very clued up and knows everything about the game," said Sidebottom.
"If you look at the way he bats, he's got all the shots. He works hard on innovation, so I think he will be a creative captain.
"When he plays, he takes the game to the opposition. The English way can be quite conservative; I'm sure he'll change that for the better."
How will it affect his batting?
It is incredibly English to fret over how taking on the responsibility of captaincy might affect the new leader's batting (they are almost always batsmen, after all).
However, of the seven men with the most Tests as England captain, only one - Vaughan - has an average significantly worse as captain than when in the ranks.
The batting records of Cook, Strauss and Nasser Hussain are similar whether captain or not, while Atherton, Peter May and Graham Gooch saw their runs increase with responsibility, the latter two dramatically so.
It is not just English leaders with lengthy tenures who have seen a spike in their scoring.
Of Root, India's Kohli, Australia's Steve Smith and New Zealand's Kane Williamson - widely regarded as the four finest batsmen on the planet right now - the Englishman is the last of the quartet to take over as his nation's Test captain.
Each has seen an improvement in his batting average, Williamson by a small amount, Kohli and Smith by more than 20 runs each.
Realistically, though, England would probably settle for Root's record to hold steady.
His batting average of 52.80 is the highest by any England player to have played at least 20 innings since 1968. Any improvement on that would be pretty remarkable.
What about the one-day captaincy?
The status quo of Cook leading the Test side and Eoin Morgan taking charge of the one-day and Twenty20 outfits worked well for England because neither was a threat to the other. Both were miles away from getting into the teams they did not lead.
Three-format man Root's elevation to lead the Test side poses a problem for the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Do they leave Morgan, who has presided over an incredible improvement in England's one-day cricket and guided them to the World Twenty20 final, in charge, or give Root three sets of reins?
Those in favour of change will say there are very few examples of a Test captain playing for too long under a different limited-overs skipper, while any dip in results or form could increase pressure on Morgan.
However, director of cricket Strauss' crusade to bring limited-overs success to the England side has seen greater and greater separation between the red-ball and the white-ball teams. One skipper for all could be seen as a return to a uniform approach that had largely been abandoned.
And the relentless scheduling of international cricket more than justifies two skippers, particularly if resting Root from the shorter formats helps him cope with the mental and physical demands of Test leadership.
Consider the winter schedule of 2017-18. The five Ashes Tests that begin at the end of November are followed by an ODI series against Australia, which rolls into a T20 tri-series also involving New Zealand. After that, England play five more ODIs and two Tests against the Kiwis, which might not conclude until the end of March.
A player involved in all parts of that tour could be on the other side of the world for five months or more. Even two captains might not be enough.
How long might Root be captain for?
Of the seven skippers with the most Tests, discounting any time as a stand-in, only May's reign spanned more than five years - and that ended in 1961.
Of the longest-serving skippers since the late 1980s, Gooch managed five years, Atherton four, Hussain four, Vaughan five (with an enforced 18-month break because of a knee injury), Strauss four and Cook just over four.
From the seven longest serving of all-time, Cook has taken charge of most matches thanks to the Test-hungry nature of the ECB's scheduling department.
That Root's tenure begins with five Test-free months is an anomaly, but one that will soon be compensated for. Over the succeeding 14 months or so, England will cram in 21 Tests.
If we take July to be the proper start to Root's reign and assume that the fickle mistresses of form, fitness and results allow him to be in charge for four and a half years, then his spell as skipper could end with the 2021-22 Ashes in Australia.
By then, he could have been at the helm for more than 60 Tests - an England record - and, at his current rate of scoring, will have become the second Englishman to reach 10,000 runs.
He will have just turned 31, so will still feasibly have half a decade of Test batting left in him, much like Cook does now.
At the point, a 25-year-old Haseeb Hameed could be the next unsurprising candidate to be given the keys to the kingdom.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/38557962
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Protests in France over alleged police rape - BBC News
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2017-02-13
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Violence has broken out at a protest in Paris in support of a young black man who was allegedly assaulted by police.
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Violence has broken out at a protest in Paris in support of a young black man who was allegedly assaulted by police.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38948337
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Joe Root: New England captain ready made for role - Michael Vaughan - BBC Sport
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2017-02-13
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New England Test captain Joe Root is ideally suited to the role, says former England skipper Michael Vaughan.
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Last updated on .From the section Cricket
New England Test captain Joe Root is ideally suited to the role, says former skipper Michael Vaughan.
Root, 26, takes over from Alastair Cook despite having led in only four first-class matches - three for Yorkshire and one for England Lions.
"People who say he's not quite ready are talking nonsense. He's driven and got the right attitude," ex-Yorkshire batsman Vaughan told BBC Radio 5 live.
Root, who has played 53 Tests, will not properly take over until the first Test against South Africa in July, with England only playing limited-over cricket for the first half of 2017.
His four matches as captain in first-class cricket have produced mixed results.
In April 2014, his Yorkshire side conceded 472 in the fourth innings to lose to Middlesex, but later that year he skippered them to a victory over Nottinghamshire that sealed the County Championship.
'Root has to take risks' - Boycott
Former Yorkshire and England captain Geoffrey Boycott said fans will be looking for Root "to take a risk now and again" and the nature of Test cricket means the new captain will occasionally "have to make things happen".
"Everything that has ever been thrown at Joe, every time he's moved upwards in his career, he's handled it," Boycott told BBC Radio 5 live.
"If not straight away, then he's quickly got to it because he's got an acute cricket brain."
Boycott, who led England in four Tests in 1978, said he hoped to see Root move back down the order to bat at four, to give him more time to cope with the added interview demands of the captaincy.
The 76-year-old added that being a Yorkshireman will stand Root in good stead as captain, because "we're good at it".
'He looked like the Milky Bar kid' - Gale
Yorkshire director of cricket Martyn Moxon described Root as "a born leader".
"He has always studied the game and different tactics throughout his career," said Moxon.
"It's not something that he is going to have to learn before his first Test. I'm sure he will do a good job."
Root is a "fantastic role model" and vastly experienced for a player in his mid-20s, said Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale, who captained Root at the county.
"Whatever level he has stepped up to, it hasn't taken him long to adapt and he has learned very quickly. I would say that I have actually learned more from him," added Gale.
"You learn on the job. I think we will see a different style of cricket with Joe in charge. He's a bit of tinkerman and not afraid to think outside the box."
Root made his England debut in 2012 and since then has scored more Test runs than any other batsman in the world.
The right-hander, a product of the Yorkshire youth set-up, was made England vice-captain in 2015 and steps up to lead after Cook resigned last week.
"I remember him as a 13-year-old, saying to the batting coach that he wanted to know what he needed to do to play for England," added Gale. "That's a big statement for a 13-year-old.
"He made his one-day debut for Yorkshire against Essex in 2009. He was a little lad who looked like the Milky Bar Kid and couldn't hit the ball off the square. He's never been overawed and that will stand him in good stead."
Root's appointment sees him join Australia's Steve Smith, India's Virat Kohli and New Zealander Kane Williamson as captain of his country.
The quartet, widely regarded as the four finest batsman in the world, occupy the top four spots in the International Cricket Council's batting rankings.
"It's exciting for cricket, for all of us who are supporters of the game, seeing four wonderful batsmen ply their trade and now lead their countries," said former Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie.
The Australian told the BBC World Service: "It reminds me a little bit of when we had four wonderful all-rounders - Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev and Imran Khan.
"Now we have four high-class batsmen who are absolutely brilliant and happen to be captain of their country. It's very exciting."
Root's father Matt said he was "incredibly proud" and insisted his son would not get carried away with the appointment.
"He's taken it in his stride. He won't get ahead of himself. His feet are firmly on the ground," he said.
"People say his form might dip but I absolutely think he can do the job. He's got a great team to manage."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/38957606
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Alec Baldwin's Trump act fools newspaper - BBC News
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2017-02-13
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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A national newspaper in the Dominican Republic apologises after using the wrong photo.
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Latin America & Caribbean
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Actor Alec Baldwin's impression on Saturday Night Live of Donald Trump tricked a national newspaper into thinking he was the real thing.
El Nacional in the Dominican Republic has now apologised for accidentally publishing a still of Alec Baldwin, captioned as the US president, next to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
The image accompanied an article about Israeli settlements.
The paper has said sorry to readers and "anyone affected".
The picture was sent to the newspaper along with information about Saturday Night Live, the long-running US satirical programme.
No-one spotted the mistake, says El Nacional.
Saturday Night Live is not Mr Trump's favourite TV programme. He says Baldwin's frequent impressions of him "stink".
"Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!" he once tweeted.
Just to make it clear...the apology
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38948265
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Bell ringing is a 'contact sport' - BBC News
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2017-02-13
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Worcester Cathedral's ringing master Mark Regan describes how bell ringing accidents can happen
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A 51-year-old man was winched down 80ft to the floor of Worcester Cathedral after being pulled upside down when his foot was caught by a bell rope.
He fractured a bone in his back but is still able to walk.
Mark Regan is the ringing master at the cathedral and tells BBC Radio 4's Today bell ringing can be like a "contact sport" and is all based on maths.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38954853
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Who was the only English Premier League scorer this weekend? - BBC Sport
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2017-02-13
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An unlikely sole English scorer in the Premier League and has Big Sam lost that new manager bounce? The weekend in stats.
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An unlikely sole English goalscorer, Burnley find home comforts again and is this the end of the Big Sam bounce?
BBC Sport takes a look at the quirkiest and more interesting statistics from the weekend.
Not Kane. Not Vardy. But who?
With Gareth Southgate set to name his squad for next month's friendly against Germany soon, the England manager may have been an alarmed observer this weekend, as one after another, English strikers failed to find the net.
Harry Kane started but barely threatened. Marcus Rashford and Danny Welbeck were reduced to cameo appearances. Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge were unused substitutes. And wildcard possibilities like Andy Carroll or Jermain Defoe were injured and off-form respectively.
Not even the likes of Dele Alli, Adam Lallana or Theo Walcott got on the scoresheet, meaning no English player had scored this weekend before Sunday's late game between Swansea and Leicester.
But it wasn't Foxes striker Jamie Vardy who finally broke the duck, as Swans centre-back Alfie Mawson produced a stunning volley to become the only English goalscorer in all nine of this weekend's fixtures.
Though perhaps Mawson, 23, should not be considered an unlikely scorer, having struck three times in his past six Premier League games, of which Swansea have won four.
Indeed, no defender has scored more Premier League goals in 2017 than Mawson, with Chelsea' Marcos Alonso also scoring three times.
Mawson is not the only symbol of Swansea's improvement under boss Paul Clement, as they possess - by one measure - the best midfielder in the Premier League this season.
After his pass set up Martin Olsson for Swansea's second against Leicester, Gylfi Sigurdsson has now been directly involved in 16 goals this season, more than any other midfielder, in an even split of eight goals and eight assists.
The Iceland international has scored three goals and assisted three others in Swansea's six games since Clement's appointment on 2 January, putting him ahead of perhaps more lauded names on the list.
Liverpool duo Sadio Mane and Lallana are close behind with 15 and 14 respectively, while the talents of Spurs pair Alli and Christian Eriksen, Chelsea's Eden Hazard and Manchester City's Kevin de Bruyne are all tied on 13.
In victory over Watford at Old Trafford on Saturday, Manchester United became the first team to win 2,000 points in the Premier League.
It's no surprise the Red Devils got there first, given they have won 13 out of the 24 total Premier League titles to date but here is how they did it...
It is no shock either that the top six are the only six clubs to have played in every Premier League season so far but Arsenal, in second for many years, may want to be wary of Chelsea bearing down on them before long.
Manchester United have a fairly lengthy wait until they try for win 600, with Jose Mourinho's side not back in Premier League action until 4 March against Bournemouth.
Home is where the points are
Most sides tend to prefer their home comforts - a vocal crowd, a familiar pitch, that ideal spot in the dressing room - but Burnley are taking that preference to remarkable levels at Turf Moor this season.
A battling draw with runaway leaders Chelsea on Sunday is the 29th point Sean Dyche's side have claimed at home this campaign, as many as Arsenal have taken at the Emirates, and putting them fourth in the Premier League home table.
Their home form has seen 12th-placed Burnley punch above their weight and all but secure their Premier League status, 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
Every yin must have its yang though and Burnley's away record is in startling contrast to their home form, having taken only one point in 11 games so far before a run of four consecutive matches on the road.
Travel sickness is a large factor in Leicester's alarming decline too - Sunday's defeat to Swansea meaning they are still yet to win away this season, with only three draws in 13 away games.
Indeed, at the moment the Foxes do not look like picking up another point anywhere in 2017 as they are now the first reigning top-flight champions to fail to score in six consecutive league matches, having gone over 10 hours without a goal.
No side in the top four tiers has won fewer points than Claudio Ranieri's side this calendar year - a draw against Middlesbrough in January giving the Foxes a solitary point, level with Aston Villa, Coventry City and Leyton Orient.
Yet if there is to be solace for Leicester it is probable that, like Burnley, it will come at home.
Both Leicester and Burnley are currently two of only six sides in Premier League history to have won more than 80% of their total points at home in a single season.
On current trend, with a remarkable 96.7% of points (29 out of 30) at Turf Moor this season, Burnley could be set to smash their 2009-10 record of 86.7% (26 out of 30). Fortunately for Dyche, his team have already equalled that 2009-10 side's final tally of 30 points.
Despite arriving at the Riverside with a free-scoring Romelu Lukaku and on a fine run, Everton's match with Middlesbrough was perhaps destined to end in a goalless draw.
Boro have easily the meanest defence of the current bottom six, having conceded only 27 goals in 25 games - the same amount as seventh-placed Everton - despite being only two points above the relegation zone.
If Aitor Karanka's side keep conceding at the rate of 1.08 goals per game, they will end the season with 41 goals against their name - and should they fail to beat the drop that would be comfortably the fewest number of goals conceded by a relegated Premier League side.
That is of course only half the story with Middlesbrough, as they are also the most miserly team in attack this season, with only 19 goals.
At a rate of 0.76 goals per game, they are on course to finish the campaign with just 29 goals - but there is precedent for staying up with such a sterile strike force.
In the 1996-97 season, Leeds United finished 11th, six points clear of relegation, despite scoring 28 goals in 38 games.
An ageing Ian Rush failed to fire after signing from Liverpool, while Brian Deane and Lee Sharpe were top scorers with just five strikes.
Yet manager George Graham's defensive nous saw them cough up just 38 goals (six fewer than champions Manchester United) as they eased to safety. Can Karanka do the same?
The end of the Big Sam bounce
In finance, the 'dead cat bounce' is a small, short-lived recovery as the price of a stock declines.
Football has its own theory - the new manager bounce, where a team's form improves after hiring a new boss and Sam Allardyce was once one of its finest proponents.
Though just as the dead cat bounce gives way to further decline, perhaps we've seen the peak of Big Sam's survival skills.
Defeat to Stoke on Saturday means Allardyce's side have taken just four points from eight Premier League games since he replaced the sacked Alan Pardew.
Allardyce has previously always won more than a point per game in his first eight in charge when taking over a Premier League side mid-season, in spells with Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland.
Whether or not his typical dead cat bounce is simply delayed, 19th-placed Palace find themselves in a relegation dogfight.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38951101
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