title
stringlengths 13
112
| published_date
stringlengths 10
10
| authors
stringclasses 3
values | description
stringlengths 0
382
⌀ | section
stringlengths 2
31
⌀ | content
stringlengths 0
81.9k
| link
stringlengths 21
189
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Japanese women on their 'angry panda' moment - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
A heavy metal-loving panda full of rage is a new character Japanese working women can identify with.
| null |
Being kawaii - or cute - is a huge part of being a good Japanese girl.
For decades Hello Kitty was Japan's ambassador of cute, but now an angry red panda is channelling the frustrations of ordinary working women.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38915525
|
Oroville Dam: Aerials show damaged overspill - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Water gushes down a damaged overspill at the country's highest dam, where 180,000 people have been evacuated.
| null |
More than 180,000 people in northern California have been told to evacuate after two overflow channels at the US's tallest dam were found to be damaged.
The 770ft (230m) high Oroville Dam is not itself at risk of collapsing, but its emergency spillway was close to caving in, officials said.
The excess water has now stopped flowing.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38961400
|
Romanian protesters use mobile phones to protest - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Thousands of people protested in Bucharest on Sunday night.
| null |
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.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38952193
|
Drugs testing in football: At least 39% of EFL players not tested in 2015-16 - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Almost 800 players who appeared in the English Football League last season were not drugs tested by UK Anti-Doping.
| null |
At least 39% of players who played in the English Football League last season were not drugs tested by UK Anti-Doping (Ukad), according to official figures.
Ukad, which carries out testing on behalf of the Football Association, took 1,204 samples from 1,989 players to appear in the EFL in 2015-16.
From 550 players to play in the Premier League, 799 samples were taken. There were no tests in the National League.
These figures do not account for players being tested more than once.
That means one player being tested five times would account for five samples, while some samples may have been taken from players who were registered with clubs but did not make a first-team appearance.
The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show only 36 samples were taken from 169 players to appear in Women's Super League One - the top flight of domestic women's football in England - meaning at least 78% of players were not tested.
The Football Association said that "like any sport" it prioritised its anti-doping programme "at the elite end".
It added: "This applies not just to staggering downwards the number of tests per competition but also in terms of focusing attention around those players playing the most number of first-team minutes.
"In addition, the anti-doping programme is research and intelligence-led, meaning any player the FA believes presents a particular doping risk will be targeted."
A spokesperson for Ukad told BBC Sport: "Like all sports, we create and deliver a testing programme for football which places resources where they are most effective in order to target where we believe the greatest risk of doping lies.
"But anti-doping programmes are no longer focused solely on testing and test numbers. There are 10 anti-doping rule violations under the World Anti-Doping (Wada) code, of which the presence of a prohibited substance in a sample is just one."
How do the numbers stack up?
While there were more samples obtained than players who appeared in the Premier League during 2015-16, the ratio of samples to players tested across the three divisions making up the EFL was far lower:
• None In the Championship, 540 samples were taken from 689 players to make a minimum of one appearance last season, meaning at least 21% were not tested.
• None In League One, 347 samples were taken from 742 players to make an appearance, meaning at least 53% of players were not tested.
• None In League Two, 317 samples were taken from 749 players to make an appearance, meaning at least 57% of players were not tested.
These figures do not include samples collected from under-18 and under-21 squads or from national squads, while any players or teams competing in European competition are also subject to Uefa's anti-doping programmes.
According to Ukad, which says every anti-doping rule violation is listed on its website, Brentford midfielder Alan Judge was the only player in England and Wales tested on behalf of the FA to breach doping regulations during the 2015-16 season - an offence for which he was reprimanded.
The samples taken by Ukad, the only organisation that drug tests on behalf of the FA, are tested for both performance-enhancing and recreational drugs. The FA says there were three failed tests by unnamed players for recreational drugs last season.
Ukad, which carries out testing across more than 50 Olympic, Paralympic, Commonwealth and professional sports, says "it is incumbent on us as a publicly funded body to use our resources as effectively as possible across these sports and to target the right people at the right time".
But it also said the FA is "one of a small number of national governing bodies which supplements the testing programme allocated by Ukad" - and stressed the scale and breadth of testing within English football has "grown year on year".
"No other national governing body in the UK dedicates as much resource to prevent doping in its sport," the FA said, adding it operated "one of the most comprehensive national anti-doping testing programmes in the world.
"The programme is flexible in order to be able to respond to any emerging doping risk and adaptable to meet the demands of the growing game, with more tests already scheduled for this 2016-17 season and a further increase, again, in 2017-18."
The Press Association reported last Friday that the FA intends to double the number of tests carried out in 2017-18 compared to 2015-16, at a cost of almost £2m.
How do other major leagues in Europe compare?
During 2015-16, fewer samples were collected from players in the top two tiers of men's football in Germany - which each contain 18 teams - than in the top two tiers in England collectively, according to the German anti-doping agency (Nada).
However, more samples were collected per player in the German second division than in the English Championship, as there were 209 fewer players in Bundesliga Two.
In total, Nada obtained 1,110 samples from players in the top two leagues in Germany last season, and carried out additional tests on German national team players and around relegation matches.
In Spain, since the country's anti-doping body was declared non-compliant by Wada in March 2016, there has been an absence of drugs testing.
The most recent published results in Italy show the country's national anti-doping organisation carried out 3,309 tests across the whole Italian Football Federation in 2014, resulting in one adverse analytical finding and 65 atypical findings.
In March 2016, a BBC Sport investigation found only eight drugs tests had been conducted in Scottish football between April and December 2015, with 20 further tests in the first three months of 2016.
That prompted the Scottish Football Association to announce it had "already made plans to enhance the provision of testing from next season and will do so from its own funds".
What are other sports doing?
In rugby union, BBC Radio 5 live's Chris Jones reported on 26 January that "only about one third of Premiership players were tested during the 2015-16 season as part of the Rugby Football Union's anti-doping programme".
Golfer Rory McIlroy and tennis player Andy Murray called for improvements to the drug-testing regimes in their respective sports last year, with McIlroy even suggesting he could "get away with" doping at the time.
A report by Wada on the anti-doping methods employed at the Rio 2016 Olympics found that of the 11,470 athletes, 4,125 (36%) had no record of any testing in 2016, of whom 1,913 were competing in 10 "higher-risk sports".
Toni Minichiello, the former coach of Olympic and world heptathlon gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill, said in January "football isn't testing to the same level as athletics".
'Fans need total confidence in the competition'
In 2015-16, the Championship was the fourth-best attended football league in Europe, even outperforming Italy's Serie A in attracting a total of 9.7 million fans at an average of 17,583 per match.
The combined average attendance across the whole EFL was 9,933 per match, with the cheapest matchday ticket last season the £10 charged by Derby County, according to the BBC's 2015 Price of Football study.
"Like fans of other sports they need total confidence in the fairness of the competitions they watch week in, week out," said Malcolm Clarke, chair of the Football Supporters' Federation and the only fan representative on the FA Council.
"It is vital the game does not jeopardise this vibrant support by allowing the integrity of its competitions to be called into question."
'There should be testing in the National League'
Attendances in the National League exceeded one million in the 2015-16 season, with Tranmere Rovers averaging crowds of more than 5,200 for their home games.
The cheapest matchday ticket in the division was £13.50, at Southport, according the BBC's 2015 Price of Football survey.
"I am a bit surprised that there were no drugs tests at all [in the National League]," Forest Green Rovers chairman Dale Vince told BBC Sport.
"It is a professional league. There are very few part-time clubs in our league these days.
"Drugs in sport is a real issue and if testing is happening in the top four leagues in English football I don't see why it shouldn't be in the fifth league as well."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38744912
|
The man with millions of jobs that need doing - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
How Australian entrepreneur Matt Barrie set up and grew website Freelancer, which links people who need tasks done with others who bid for the work.
|
Business
|
Matt Barrie was trying to help his mother set up a website
It was doing a favour for his mother that gave entrepreneur Matt Barrie the idea for setting up a business that is now worth more than A$400m ($300m; £243m).
His company and website Freelancer has a simple concept - it connects people who have work they need doing with others who compete to do the task by submitting the fee they would charge.
Founded just eight years ago in Sydney, today the website has more than 22.5 million users around the world, both freelance workers and those seeking their services.
Jobs advertised on Freelancer include everything from help with building a mobile phone app, to writing a company report, designing a tattoo, and help with gaining publicity for something.
US space agency Nasa has even used the website since 2015, allowing people to bid to help design items for the International Space Station, including a new robotic arm.
It is a pretty good success story for a 43-year-old who admits that when he came up with the idea for Freelancer he was "a broken man".
In 2006 Mr Barrie had walked out of his first start-up - a Sydney-based firm called Sensory Networks that made computer chips for security equipment. He was not feeling good.
Site users submit photos from around the world - this one is from Maccu Pichu in Peru
"People used the product but everything was wrong with how we sold it," he says.
Despite a blaze of publicity and the support of venture capitalists (VCs), the marketing proved too tough, and the company was struggling. So Mr Barrie quit.
"You feel you have let your VCs down, the board, your friends that you hired, your family," he says.
Sensory Networks went on to survive without Mr Barrie, and was eventually bought by chip giant Intel in 2013 for $20m, but he says that back in 2006 he "really felt like a failure".
After a few months of "decompressing", Mr Barrie was beginning to think about his next move when the 2007 global financial crisis swept in.
"The whole world was collapsing. Businesses weren't getting funded anymore. I thought, 'what am I going to do with myself?'" he recalls.
He decided to take advantage of the enforced downtime to build a website for his mother, a wholesale art and craft supplier.
He wanted to include a directory of the stores she supplied, thinking it might encourage others to want to be included. The first Excel spreadsheet had 1,000 rows.
Faced with that, Mr Barrie decided to outsource the data entry side of things to local kids. But even offering A$2,000 overall, nobody came running.
"I looked around, asked a few people, and they'd say, 'oh it's boring.' I'd reply, 'I know it's boring! That's why I want you to do it.'"
Matt Barrie broke the bell when the company floated in 2013
After four months Mr Barrie started searching online in desperation for cheap data entry, and stumbled upon a site based in Sweden called Getafreelancer.
"It was the ugliest site you have ever seen in your life. I eventually figured out how to post a job," he says.
"I went to get lunch, and came back to 74 emails from people saying you're offering A$2,000, I'll do it for A$1,000, A$500 and so on… I thought it was a scam."
He eventually hired a team in India who did the job in three days for A$100.
"I thought was incredible, a whole army of people out there, many from emerging markets. I looked at all the projects on the website. It was like an ebay for jobs. I thought wow.
Matt's colleagues had fun when he was on the cover of Australian business magazine BRW
Mr Barrie was so impressed by the concept that he decided to set up his own version.
The VCs who had flocked to his first start-up were far more cautious this time round, and banks were unwilling to loan to a web-based business with no physical, recoverable assets in the event of failure.
In the end a friend who had sold his own firm stumped up the money, and Mr Barrie first secured workers via Getafreelancer, before then buying that business.
Freelancer, whose entire operation is cloud-based using Amazon Web Services, has since gone on to buy up 18 other rival sites. Its directly employed workforce now totals 570 people.
Sites like Freelancer have faced criticism for driving down prices for professionals trying to sell their services, but Mr Barrie counters that the company has had a huge, positive impact on millions of people in developing countries.
"You can be somewhere where your average wage is A$2 a day," he says.
Matt Barrie says he is a workaholic
"You can make your month's salary in a few days. It's the ultimate meritocracy. It's up to you to figure out what you want to do."
And it is also not necessarily the lowest bidder who wins the job - Freelancer says that 47% of the projects on its site are awarded to "the median bidder or higher".
Entrepreneur Emma Sinclair, co-founder of human resources software business Enterprise Jungle, says firms are increasingly looking to hire non-staff to complete projects rather than carry out the work in-house.
"Nearly 35% of today's total workforce is comprised of non-employee workers and this is set to continue to grow," she says
"Sites like Freelancer are therefore very well-placed to service both the growing on-demand labour force looking for work, as well as the corporates who are hiring them.
"It is an invaluable marketplace for talent, with an all-important rating system to weed out the poor or unreliable performers."
On a day-to-day basis Mr Barrie is, by his own admission, a workaholic.
"I live this, I breathe it. I get up in the morning and start work. I'm often in the office until 10pm.
"I've had several offers to sell - one formal. I had a good think, and said I couldn't think of doing anything else."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38881870
|
Is Saudi Arabia on the cusp of change? - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Observers say the country needs to adapt as its oil reserves start declining.
|
Middle East
|
Women are banned from driving in Saudi Arabia
Ask about change in Saudi Arabia.
The reply used to be: it will come, in its own way and in its own time, in the conservative kingdom.
It was another way of saying it would take a long time - and might never happen.
But, in Saudi Arabia now, talk of change is measured in months.
"I made a bet with a male colleague that the ban on women driving would end in the first six months of this year, and he said it would happen in the second half," a successful Saudi businesswoman says to me over lunch in the capital, Riyadh.
"But now I think it will happen early next year, and apply only to women over 40," she adds.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
That's a prediction you hear in Riyadh's royal circles too. Some even say younger women will be allowed to drive before too long.
Change on every front is still slow and cautious in a culture where ultra-conservative religious authorities wield great influence, and many Saudis want to hold on to their old ways of living.
But an accelerating pace is largely being forced on Saudi rulers and society by a dramatic change in fortune for the world's biggest oil producer.
The crash in world prices for Saudi Arabia's black gold halved its revenues a few years ago and now shapes the hard choices and changes it must make in many parts of life here.
"It's been a one engine jet for decades," is how John Sfakianakis of the Gulf Research Center explains a country that depends on oil and gas for 90% of its income.
"Now it needs multiple engines."
Enter a new master plan, grandly titled Vision 2030, which was unveiled with great fanfare last year.
It's stamped with the imprimatur of the 31-year-old Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, who crafted the ambitious blueprint with a cast of highly paid foreign consultants.
The deputy crown prince and those around him know that someday oil wells will run dry and, even before that, most people will be driving electric cars.
"It's absolutely necessary to get to Vision 2030 and our objectives," says the country's powerful Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih.
The former CEO of the state oil giant, Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, Mr al-Falih even has the need to diversify written into his new title. He's the minister of energy, industry and mineral resources.
"Whether we get there in 2030, whether we get some of them in 2025, some of them in 2030, some of them in 2035, we'll see," he explains in a nod to a master plan with demanding benchmarks for every ministry.
Saudi editor and writer Khaled Maeena points to a new accountability starting to emerge.
"Everybody is on the go, ministers bureaucrats and all, looking over their shoulders not to make mistakes," he says.
Those at the top, he adds, must "lead by example".
Two third's of Saudi Arabia's population is aged below 30
Salaries and lavish perks have been slashed in government jobs. The private sector is expected to provide one of the big engines for growth. It's still not up to speed.
"We're not hiring now," asserts a Saudi business executive who oversees a vast conglomerate of companies. "And we're not selling to the government unless we're sure we'll get paid for our goods."
"Vision 2030 is unlikely to reach its destination in 2030," a sceptical Saudi statistician replies when I ask for his view. Like most Saudis who criticise, he asks not to use his name.
"But at least there is a vision, and this time there are practicalities about how to achieve it," he adds, in a reference to previous schemes which never went anywhere.
"This is la la land," was the even more scathing assessment of another consultant. "Is there a bureaucracy able to implement it and a readiness at the top to change their own lives?"
Many of Saudi Arabia's young are educated abroad
The young deputy crown prince driving this plan, who is seen as the favourite son of 81-year-old King Salman, knows there's another clock fuelling pressure for change.
Two-thirds of Saudis are his age or younger.
Hundreds of thousands of them, men and women, were educated at the best western universities thanks to a generous scholarship programme started by the former King Abdullah.
Now they're back, looking for work but also ways to spend their weekends in an austere culture where even cinemas are banned,
Under the rules, men can only sit with women if they are dining with their female relatives, or "families" as that section is known.
But even since my last visit about a year ago, small but significant steps are visible.
Gone from the streets of the capital are the notorious religious police, the Mutawa, who used to roam in a mission to "prevent vice and promote virtue" and were often accused of zealously abusing their powers. The deputy crown prince is credited with sorting this out.
Many Saudis are excited at the prospect of more entertainment events
Wealthy Riyadh residents speak excitedly of newly opened restaurants where seating arrangements are less strict and music blares loudly.
"We need to see women drivers and cinemas here," insists Waleed al-Saedan when we meet at one of the few public places where the speed of life truly picks up.
"Dune bashing" in the desert provides one of the few legal thrills as Saudis rev the engines of sand buggies and SUVs to careen down the soft slopes of sand.
Dune bashing is a popular sport in parts of the Middle East
As is so often the case here, it's usually a men-only adventure.
But a new General Entertainment Authority is on the case. Despite its stern title, the people who run it are on a mission to bring some fun to Saudi lives, albeit within limits. No one is suggesting drinking and dancing.
"My mission is to make people happy," asserts the authority's chairman Ahmed al-Khatib, whose own serious demeanour is quickly brightened by a smile.
A calendar of some 80 events ranging from art festivals to light shows and live music concerts is carefully prepared and implemented to avoid any backlash which could put the whole project at risk.
Huge crowds turned out for a rare concert in January
"We will definitely provide things for the more open people and we will provide activities and things for the more conservative people," Mr al-Khatib explains, choosing his words carefully.
Opening up more social freedoms isn't just about providing more fun.
"Seventy billion riyals are being spent by Saudis on holidays abroad," laments a Saudi tour operator who is trying to tempt Saudis to spend more of their time and money at home instead of fleeing to the bright lights of Dubai or London.
Women are being encouraged to take part in Vision 2030
More profound changes like political reform, tackling a questionable human rights record, or easing a web of restrictions on women's lives aren't on the agenda.
And at the same time as happiness is on the agenda, so is pain.
This is a country where people have always lived with cheap petrol, without taxes, and free water and electricity.
Saudi Arabia will have to diversify its revenue streams in the coming years
Now subsidies are being cut and a sales tax introduced. A new "Citizen's Account" will help lighten the burden for poorer families, but Saudis are having to juggle their own finances now.
"Saudis have taken too much for granted for too long," insists Nadia al-Hazza, an engineer who used to work in the oil and gas sector who is now helping to get women involved in Vision 2030.
She starts her presentations with a famous mantra from former US President John F Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
So now Saudis are also being asked to do more, and faster, than they've ever been used to.
"We're like a turtle on wheels," says political observer Hassan Yassin. "We're moving in a faster way to try to meet local demands and 21st Century obligations."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38951539
|
Grammys 2017: The rise of Chance the Rapper - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
He's gone from releasing his first mixtape to Grammy winner in five years - without a major label.
|
Newsbeat
|
Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book has become the first streaming-only album to win a Grammy.
It made music history at the ceremony in Los Angeles, winning best rap album.
The unsigned 23-year-old, whose real name is Chancelor Bennett, also won best new artist and best rap performance for No Problem.
"This is for every indie artist, everybody who has been doing this mixtape stuff for a long time," he said.
Warning: Third party content may contain ads
It's a huge rise for the artist, who's gone from releasing his first mixtape to Grammy-winner in five years.
"I didn't think I was going to get this one so I don't have cool stuff to say," he said after picking up best rap album.
Chance the Rapper's following, from both fans and labels, has been growing since the release of his first mixtape, 10 Day, in 2012.
Warning: Third party content may contain ads
Although Coloring Book had the buzz of a major label style release, it appeared exclusively on Apple Music after only a week's notice.
Chance has turned down several contract offers and is still unsigned.
Chance the Rapper performed a medley of songs from Coloring Book at the Grammys
The Chicago-born rapper has never sold a single album, opting instead to make money through touring, carefully selected advert appearances and merchandise.
Chance often refers to his plans to stay independent in his music.
The hook on No Problem, which was up for best rap performance, takes a shot at labels that "try to stop me" and on Blessings he says; "I don't make songs for free, I make 'em for freedom".
Coloring Book references "Aunt Beyonce" and features appearances from his "big brother" Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Justin Beiber and 2 Chainz.
It also showcases a string of up and coming Chicago-based musicians.
Chance the Rapper thanked his manager Pat Corcoran (left) and friend and musician and friend Peter Cottontale (right)
During his acceptance speech for best new artist he said: "I want to thank God for putting Pete [musician and member of Chance's music collective The Social Experiment Peter Cottontale] and Pat [Corcoran, his manager] in my life. They've have carried me from 2012.
"I know I talk about my independence a lot. I know people think being independent means you do it by yourself.
"But independence means freedom, I do it with these folks right here."
This sense of inclusion, combined with a social media presence which floats between "daddy days" with his daughter Kinsley and a transparent view of life as an independent artist, has helped fans maintain a sense that they're backing an underdog.
(l-r) Musicians Nate Foxx, Peter Cottontale, Nico Segal, Greg Landfair Jr, AKA The Social Experiment, and his manager Pat Corcoran have always been a part of Chance the Rapper's career
Chance's approach has allowed him to keep an air of relatability and borderline vulnerability, concepts which have are all to easily lost by some of his peers through another picture of a private jet on Instagram. And he's made the most of it.
In May 2016 he showed an awareness of having the attention of the industry by tweeting a link to a petition asking Grammy judges to allow free music to be eligible for nomination.
Once they agreed, he followed it up with an advert in Billboard magazine in an effort to appeal to Grammy judges.
Chance was the first unsigned artist to perform on the popular US sketch show Saturday Night Live and recently became the first artist to release a music video through Facebook Live with the launch of Same Drugs.
Find us on Instagram at BBCNewsbeat and follow us on Snapchat, search for bbc_newsbeat
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/articles/38953734
|
Trump welcomes Trudeau to White House - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
The US president and Canadian prime minister exchange greetings ahead of their first face-to-face talks.
| null |
President Donald Trump has welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House.
The leaders are expected to discuss economic links and women in the workforce.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38961397
|
Baftas 2017: In pictures - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Images of this year's Bafta film awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
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.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38951372
|
Your stories: Breastfeeding toddlers - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Should nursing a toddler be controversial? Mothers share their experiences of breastfeeding for longer.
|
UK
|
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."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38943931
|
Reality Check: Are pensioners better off than workers? - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Resolution Foundation figures take household income after housing costs.
|
Business
|
The claim: Pensioners are on average £20 a week better off than working-age people.
Reality Check verdict: The calculation made by the Resolution Foundation is for household income after housing costs. Before housing costs are taken into account, working-age households still have higher incomes than pensioner households.
News that pensioner households are now better off than working-age families was widely reported on Monday.
There have been reports for some time that incomes for pensioners have been growing faster than those for working-age people, largely as a result of pensions being protected by the triple-lock, while many working-age benefits have been frozen.
The triple-lock guarantees that pensions rise by the same as average earnings, the consumer price index, or 2.5%, whichever is the highest.
But the report from the Resolution Foundation was the first suggestion that the retired had actually overtaken the working-age group.
The figures referred to the "typical pensioner household", by which it meant the median, which is the household for which half of pensioner households have higher income and half of them have lower incomes.
In this case, a pensioner household is one in which at least one member is of pension age or older (65 for men, 64 for women) whether or not that person is working. There can also be working people in a pensioner household.
But the important factor that has been mentioned little in the coverage is that the measure of income that the Resolution Foundation is using is one for income after housing costs have been paid.
This chart from the Resolution Foundation gives income after housing costs for the median pensioner and working household as well as a richer one and a poorer one.
Taking income after housing costs makes a huge difference because pensioner households are more likely to own their own homes and to have relatively small or paid-off mortgages.
The report says, for example, that 70% of the silent generation (born 1926-45) own their homes outright, while just over 40% of the baby boomers (1946-65) own theirs, with another 30% still having mortgages to pay.
The median income for both working-age and pensioner households is just over £20,000 a year, so housing costs would make a big difference.
Also, the figures do not take account of people in care homes, which would be expected to increase housing costs for those of pension age.
The Resolution Foundation confirms in the report that before housing costs are paid, the median working-age household still has a higher income than the median pensioner household.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38957903
|
Swansea City 2-0 Leicester City - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Leicester City slip to a fifth straight Premier League defeat to drop to 17th in the table, one point above the relegation zone.
| null |
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
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38871532
|
Thousands evacuate Californian homes amid dam collapse fears - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Nearly 190,000 people in Northern California have been told to evacuate their homes after the tallest dam in America was weakened by heavy rainfall.
| null |
Nearly 190,000 people in Northern California have been told to evacuate their homes after the tallest dam in America was weakened by heavy rainfall.
Officials say part of the Oroville Dam could collapse at any moment.
It is the first time the lake has experienced such an emergency in its near fifty year history.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38954475
|
Joe Root: England name batsman Test captain, succeeding Alastair Cook - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Batsman Joe Root succeeds Alastair Cook as England Test captain, with all-rounder Ben Stokes promoted to vice-captain.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Cricket
Joe Root has been named as England's new Test captain.
The Yorkshire batsman, 26, succeeds Alastair Cook, who resigned last week after more than four years in charge.
"It is a huge honour to be given the Test captaincy," said Root, who will be the 80th man to lead the country in the longest form of the game. "I feel privileged, humbled and very excited."
Root steps up from vice-captain, with Durham all-rounder Ben Stokes, 25, filling the role as his deputy.
"The senior guys in the changing room play a very influential role and, whilst there's a natural progression for me, it's a huge support to know that they are there to help and advise," added Root.
"We have a very good group of players and I'm looking forward to leading them out in the summer, building on Alastair's achievements and making the most of our talents in the years ahead."
No batsman has scored more than Root's 4,594 runs since he made his Test debut in December 2012.
In the same time period, only India captain Virat Kohli has scored more runs than Root in all forms of international cricket.
"Joe is the right man to be our next Test captain and I'm thrilled that he has accepted the role," said England director of cricket Andrew Strauss.
"He is universally respected by his team mates, passionate about driving the Test team forward and extremely excited about the prospect of leading his country."
• None Is Root the right man for England?
Cook resigned on 6 February after a record 59 Tests at the helm.
Before the tour of India at the end of last year, the 32-year-old opener said he was looking forward to not being captain.
As England moved towards a 4-0 series defeat, Cook increased speculation over his future by saying he was questioning his position.
After he resigned, he confirmed he would like to continue at the top of the order, with England director of cricket Andrew Strauss leading the process to appoint a successor.
Root, Stokes, pace bowler Stuart Broad and one-day vice-captain Jos Buttler were all consulted.
But Root was always seen as the clear favourite and was offered the job over the weekend.
With England concentrating on limited-overs cricket for the first part of 2017, Root will not properly pick up the reins for almost five months, with the next Test not until July.
However, after the visits of South Africa and West Indies, he will lead England to Australia for the defence of the Ashes.
Root takes the job with very little captaincy experience - he has only ever skippered in four first-class matches.
However, he likened taking over as leader to becoming a father, a baby son having arrived in January.
"Being a dad, you don't really know what to do until you have to go with it," he told the BBC before Cook's resignation.
"I imagine being captain would be very similar. Until you're in that position I don't think you know.
"I've got quite a lot experience in Test cricket now, but it's one of these things you have to learn on the job."
For Stokes, the elevation to vice-captain is further confirmation of his importance to the England side after an occasionally turbulent start to his international career.
In 2013, he was sent home from the England Lions tour of Australia for disciplinary reasons after he and pace bowler Matt Coles were found to have ignored the management's instructions over preparation and recovery.
Though he was part of the England squad for the 2013-14 Ashes, scoring a maiden Test century, he missed the 2014 World Twenty20 with a broken hand sustained when punching a locker on a tour of the West Indies.
A spell of drifting in and out of the England team followed, including missing the 2015 World Cup, but he returned to hit the fastest Test century at Lord's - 101 from 85 balls against New Zealand - before smashing England's fastest Test double century against South Africa in January 2016.
"He has real presence and influence within the team environment that serve as a great source of support for Joe," said Strauss. "I have no doubts that the responsibility will also help Ben to continue his rapid rise as a world-class all-rounder."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/38954275
|
CEO Secrets: Airport boss 'lives in goldfish bowl' - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Declan Collier, head of London City Airport, shares his business tips for the CEO Secrets series.
| null |
Declan Collier, head of London City Airport, shares the business advice he wishes he had been given when he started out.
Shhh! Get all the #CEOSecrets on our website here and watch this video explaining the series.
To keep up to date with the CEO Secrets series and go behind the scenes, follow series producer Dougal Shaw on Twitter and Facebook.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38840296
|
Isle of Man ferry crash forces cancellation of UK services - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
The incident happened on the Isle of Man as the captain tried to dock in strong winds.
| null |
A ferry crashed into a pier on the Isle of Man as the captain tried to dock in strong winds.
Services from Douglas to the UK have been disrupted after the Ben-my-Chree, which sailed from Heysham, Lancashire, struck the pier on Sunday.
The Isle of Man Steam-Packet Company confirmed no passengers or crew were injured.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-38954909
|
Tom Arscott: Sale Sharks winger leaked team information to Bristol - RFU - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Sacked Sale Sharks winger Tom Arscott is found guilty of passing on confidential team information to Bristol by the RFU.
| null |
Sacked Sale Sharks winger Tom Arscott has been found guilty of passing on confidential team information to Bristol by the Rugby Football Union.
The 29-year-old met with his brother, Bristol back Luke, at their team hotel the night before Bristol's 24-23 Premiership win at Sale on 1 January.
The RFU investigation found Bristol were aware of some of Sale's defensive tactics but there was "no evidence to demonstrate" a change in strategy.
In addition, Arscott - who was suspended by Sale on 4 January and sacked 16 days later after an internal investigation - will be required to undertake a relevant World Rugby education module.
The RFU interviewed 25 people from both clubs after it was alleged Arscott breached regulation 17, which relates to anti-corruption and betting.
He was cleared of breaching that law as there was no evidence of betting or fixing, but the details that were passed were "inside information" relating to regulation 17.2.
Bristol boss Mark Tainton insisted "nothing of any sporting value" had been passed on to his coaches when it was claimed initially that Arscott had provided them with confidential details.
The RFU stated that two Bristol coaches were aware of Sale's proposed defensive structure and line-out details, but it was found that they "did not fail to comply with the relevant reporting requirements in relation to the inside information that the club received".
Neither Tom nor Luke Arscott entered the field during the match.
RFU head of discipline Gerard McEvilly said: "In determining what action should be taken following the investigation, we have taken into account that Tom Arscott has already paid a heavy price for his conduct in having been dismissed from his employment by Sale Sharks.
"These issues have arisen because of the inappropriate sharing of information while players were socialising in the same hotel before the match.
"Therefore, the RFU is strongly recommending to both clubs that all their players are reminded of their contractual and ethical obligations to their employing clubs and of the problems that may arise should confidential/inside information be passed between individuals."
Arscott, who has played for Bristol, Plymouth, Worcester and London Welsh, has responded to the decision by saying he wants to start playing again.
"I wish to state that although I am disappointed with the outcome, I would now like to draw a line under this episode," he said in statement from the Rugby Players Association.
"This has been an extremely difficult period for me, my family and friends and I would like to thank all those who have supported me. I look forward to resuming my playing career as soon as possible.
"I will not be making any further statement on the matter."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38958503
|
The children of Oxford Children's Hospital's craniofacial unit - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The children whose lives have been changed by Oxford Children's Hospital's highly-specialised craniofacial unit.
|
Oxford
|
Lucy had to have surgery at the craniofacial unit to have her skull shortened
Every year, more than a thousand children with facial abnormalities are treated at the Oxford Children's Hospital's pioneering craniofacial unit. The work carried out by the world-class team is quite simply life-changing.
"When you've got an odd-shaped head, children are probably more ruthless and cruel," says Tom Bowran, whose baby daughter Lucy is being treated at the unit at John Radcliffe Hospital.
"The name-calling, the possibility you'll miss out on something, the bullying even to a late age... that was something I was so keen that Lucy avoided. I wanted her to have as good a quality of life as any parent would."
Tom is watching Lucy go through a similar experience to the one he had as a child.
Lucy was seven weeks old when Tom and his wife Hanna, who are from Cambridge, were told she had sagittal synostosis.
The top plates on her skull had fused, stopping it from growing properly, and she had to be referred to the specialist department.
"I was absolutely terrified," Hanna says. "The fact that her dad had something similar and that was his worst fear, that Lucy would end up with anything like that.
"The hospital squeezed us in straight away and they've been absolutely brilliant... they've been holding her hands every step of the way."
Tom Bowran, pictured with wife Hanna, had a similar condition to his daughter as a child
David Johnson is head of the unit and a consultant plastic surgeon.
His department sees about 1,200 patients each year and carries out up to 100 complex procedures in that time, making it one of the busiest units of its kind in the world.
"Lucy's skull has not been able to grow very well from side to side, and has been forced to grow in a long and narrow fashion," he explains.
"The operation was to shorten her skull by taking the bone off the front and the bone off the back... reshaping that bone and fixing it back in position again."
Hanna says knowing the surgery had gone to plan "was the best feeling in the world".
As a result Lucy lost the "big forehead... the funny shape at the back, and she looks completely different".
"More importantly it's given her brain the room to grow that it needs."
"Yesterday was possibly the longest seven hours of my life waiting for her to come through the operation," Tom says.
"Just knowing what she was going through and the potential risks that had been spelt out.
"It was a big relief seeing the reassuring faces and Mr Johnson with his smiley face telling us he was delighted with the progress."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Staff are used to designing new operations from scratch to solve challenging cases
More than 25 people work on Mr Johnson's team and they are used to solving challenging cases, some affecting only one child in tens of thousands.
Their expertise is valued by the Department of Health, and the unit receives specific funding because of its designation as of one of the NHS's "highly specialised services".
Anthony Carter, father of two-year-old Brianne, remembers when his family first met the elite team.
"There were 10 people including Mr Johnson in there and it was so scary," says Mr Carter, who is from Wiltshire.
"It then hit us how serious it was. Then we went through each individual person, and they each explained, and we were a bit more at ease."
The first task for doctors was to repair Brianne's cleft lip
Then in June 2016 she had an operation to reconstruct her skull
"We have to look at doing unique and novel things for individuals," Mr Johnson explains.
"There are many examples where I've been doing things for the very first time, and a lot of conditions where we're having to think on our feet and almost design new operations from scratch.
"That in a way is one of the most challenging things of my job, but also one of the most rewarding."
Brianne has an extremely rare condition called cranio-fronto-nasal dysplasia. She was born with a flatness on one side of her forehead, a cleft lip and palate, and a complex craniofacial cleft, leaving her with a gap in the bones forming in her face. She's the only child in the UK with this set of issues.
"All the scans are quite strange to see... the work and detail that has gone into piecing the jigsaw puzzle of her head," Anthony says.
Mr Johnson describes the complex eight-hour procedure as akin to "robbing Peter to pay Paul".
"I created a new forehead based on a piece of bone on the top of her skull, and her old forehead has been cut up into little pieces and placed back where the new forehead's come from."
It has bought Brianne time, but she will still require a serious procedure when she is about 10 years old, to move her eye sockets closer together.
Unfortunately, the day after Brianne returned home she fell off a sofa on to her head. She had a seizure, and had to be flown to hospital by air ambulance.
It is a reminder why so many families that use the unit - and who often stay there for extended periods - take things one day at a time.
CT scans are used to solve the "jigsaw puzzle" of irregularly-shaped skulls
But Stephanie says her daughter, who has since recovered from her fall, loves visiting the unit, which takes pride in its welcoming atmosphere.
"She gets so excited when we pull in, it's like we're taking her to a theme park."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-38679069
|
Corbyn guessing game rises to new pitch - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Labour's new election coordinator 's comments on his leader's future crank up the volume on speculation.
|
UK Politics
|
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.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38950597
|
Cheltenham Festival brings in four alcoholic drinks rule - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Festival bosses want to avoid a repeat of anti-social behaviour witnessed at last year's event.
|
Gloucestershire
|
Organisers say they want people to come to the festival to enjoy the racing
Cheltenham Festival racegoers will be restricted to buying four alcoholic drinks at a time in a bid to crack down on anti-social antics.
Two footballers apologised after being photographed apparently urinating into a glass at last year's festival, where women were seen baring their breasts.
Chief executive Ian Renton said: "It's to ensure that drinking is not the rationale for people coming racing."
The measure is also to be imposed at the Jockey Club's other racecourses.
It comes in first at Cheltenham, where the festival takes place next month, but will be in place at Epsom, which stages the Derby, and Aintree, where the Grand National is held.
"It's an improvement on things we are already doing," Mr Renton said.
"Aintree has already got the ball rolling, with their Ladies' Day, they've already taken steps to improve the way that is perceived.
"We want them to come to racing and enjoy the sport and not have those people coming who will be a nuisance to other racegoers," added Mr Renton.
As well as the four-drink limit, corporate complimentary bars will close earlier and water points will be made available in every public bar.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-38960898
|
Australia bushfires: 'Most buildings' in community affected - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Aerial footage shows how bushfires have almost completely destroyed a small community in Australia.
| null |
Bushfires ravaging the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) have largely destroyed a tiny hamlet.
More than 80 fires - including 20 uncontained - were still burning on Monday following record temperatures.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-38954075
|
Waking up under the surgeon's knife - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Donna Penner woke up in the operating room, just before the surgeon made his first incision. She describes how she survived the excruciating pain of being cut open while awake.
|
Magazine
|
Canadian Donna Penner was relaxed at the prospect of abdominal surgery - until she woke up just before the surgeon made his first incision. She describes how she survived the excruciating pain of being operated on while awake.
In 2008, I was booked in for an exploratory laparoscopy at a hospital in my home province of Manitoba in Canada. I was 44 and I had been experiencing heavy bleeding during my periods.
I'd had a general anaesthetic before and I knew I was supposed to have one for this procedure. I'd never had a problem with them, but when we got to the hospital I found myself feeling quite anxious.
During a laparoscopy, the surgeon makes incisions into your abdomen through which they will push instruments so they can take a look around. You have three or four small incisions instead of one big one.
The operation started off well. They moved me on to the operating table and started to do all the normal things that they do - hooking me up to all the monitors and prepping me.
The anaesthesiologist gave me something in an intravenous drip and then he put a mask on my face and said, "Take a deep breath." So I did, and drifted off to sleep like I was supposed to.
When I woke up I could still hear the sounds in the operating room. I could hear the staff banging and clanging and the machines going - the monitors and that kind of thing. I thought, "Oh good, it's over, it's done."
I was lying there feeling a little medicated, but at the same time I was also alert and enjoying that lazy feeling of waking up and feeling completely relaxed.
That changed a few seconds later when I heard the surgeon speak.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. When Donna Penner woke she thought the operation must be over
They were moving around and doing their things and then all of a sudden I heard him say, "Scalpel please." I just froze. I thought, "What did I just hear?"
There was nothing I could do. I had been given a paralytic, which is a common thing they do when work on the abdomen because it relaxes the abdominal muscles so they don't resist as much when you're cutting through them.
Unfortunately the general anaesthetic hadn't worked, but the paralytic had.
I panicked. I thought this cannot be happening. So I waited for a few seconds, but then I felt him make the first incision. I don't have words to describe the pain - it was horrific.
I could not open my eyes. The first thing that I tried to do was to sit up, but I couldn't move. It felt like somebody was sitting on me, weighing me down.
Source: The Royal College of Anaesthetists/Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland
I wanted to say something, I wanted to move, but I couldn't. I was so paralysed I couldn't even make the tears to cry.
At that point, I could hear my heart-rate on the monitor. It kept going up higher and higher.
I was in a state of sheer terror. I could hear them working on me, I could hear them talking. I felt the surgeon make those incisions and push those instruments through my abdomen.
I felt him moving my organs around as he explored. I heard him say things like, "Look at her appendix, it's really nice and pink, colon looks good, ovary looks good."
I managed to twitch my foot three times to show I was awake. But each time, someone put their hand on it to still it, without verbally acknowledging I had moved.
The operation lasted for about an hour-and-a-half.
To top it all off, because I was paralysed, they had intubated me - put me on a breathing machine - and set the ventilator to breathe seven times a minute. Even though my heart rate was up at 148 beats per minute, that's all I got - those seven breaths a minute. I was suffocating. It felt as though my lungs were on fire.
There was a point when I thought they had finished operating and they were starting to do their final things. That's when I noticed I was able to move my tongue.
I realised that the paralytic was wearing off. I thought, "I'm going to play with the breathing tube that's still in my throat." So I started wiggling it with my tongue to get their attention.
And it worked. I did catch the attention of the anaesthesiologist. But I guess he must have thought I was coming out of the paralytic more than I was because he took the tube and pulled it out of my throat.
I lay there thinking, "Now I'm really in trouble." I'd already said mental goodbyes to my family because I didn't think I was going to pull through. Now I couldn't breathe.
I could hear the nurse yelling at me. She was on one side saying, "Breathe Donna, breathe." But there was nothing I could do.
As she was continuously telling me to breathe, the most amazing thing happened. I had an out-of-body experience and left my body.
I'm of Christian faith and I can't say I went to heaven, but I wasn't on Earth either. I knew I was somewhere else. It was quiet. The sounds of the operating room were in the background, I could still hear them. But it sounded as though they were very, very far away.
The fear was gone, the pain was gone. I felt warm, I felt comforted and I felt safe. And instinctively I knew I was not alone. There was a presence with me. I always say that was God with me because there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that he was there beside me. And then I heard a voice saying, "Whatever happens, you're going to be OK."
At that point I knew that if I lived or died, it would be just fine. I had been praying throughout the whole thing to keep my mind occupied, singing to myself and thinking of my husband and my children. But when this presence was with me, I thought, "Please let me die because I can't do this any more."
But just as quickly as I went there, I was back. In the time it takes to snap your fingers I was back in my body in the operating room again. I could still hear them working on me and the nurses yelling, "Breathe Donna."
All of a sudden the anaesthesiologist said, "Bag her!" They put a mask on my face and used a manual resuscitator to force air into my lungs.
As soon as they did, the burning sensation I'd had in my lungs left. It was huge relief. I started to breathe again. At that point, the anaesthesiologist gave me something to counteract the paralytic. It didn't take long before I was able to start talking.
Later, as I recovered from the ordeal, the surgeon came into my room, grabbed my hand with both of his and said, "I understand there were some problems, Mrs Penner."
I said to him, "I was awake, I felt you cutting me." His eyes filled with tears as he grabbed on to my hands and said, "I am so sorry."
I started telling him the different things that I had heard him say - the comments he had made about my appendix and my internal organs. He kept saying, "Yes I said that, I said that."
I said, "Have you noticed that I have not asked you what the diagnosis was?'" And he looked at me for a moment and said, "You already know, don't you?" And I said, "Yes I do," and I told him what my diagnosis was.
It's now nine years since I woke up during surgery. I have since pursued a legal claim against the hospital which was resolved.
Immediately after the operation I was referred to a therapist because I was so traumatised. I didn't even have a clue what day of the week it was on my first appointment. I was pretty messed up. It definitely takes its toll on a person.
But talking about it has helped. After time, I was able to tell my story.
I have done a lot of research into anaesthesia awareness. I contacted the University of Manitoba's anaesthesiology department and have spoken to the residents a couple of times now. They are usually horrified by my story. There are usually quite a few who have tears in their eyes when I'm speaking to them.
My story is not to lay blame or to point fingers. I want people to understand that this thing can happen and does happen. I want to raise awareness, and help something good come out of this awful experience.
Listen to Donna Penner speaking to Outlook on the BBC World Service
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38733131
|
The woman whose mum inspired her to track ethical food - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The woman who uses blockchain technology to prove where food comes from.
|
Business
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The woman using blockchain technology to prove where food comes from
Jessi Baker thanks her mother for the inspiration to start her company, Provenance.
Set up just a few years ago, Provenance says it is lighting a fire under the retail world.
The company is based on an app that allows retailers and customers to see where a product comes from, from its origins to its point of sale.
"Behind every product is a complex chain of people and places and that's a really important part of why people buy things," Ms Baker explains.
"Provenance is all about making that information transparent to shoppers but also to businesses all along the supply chain."
Jessi Baker with her mother Jenny who inspired her business
But it began with her mother Jenny.
"She raised me, my brother and sister, to care about what we eat and buy, but also helped us understand from an early age where things come from.
"For a long time, I think most of our meals came from under one mile from our home in Wiltshire, vegetables from the garden and animal products from our neighbour's farm."
While training to be a manufacturing engineer, Ms Baker visited dozens of supply chains to see how different products were sourced and created. But the breakthrough came in 2013, when she was studying for a PhD in computer science and started to look into the emerging blockchain technology.
"You can think of a blockchain," Ms Baker says, "as a shared data system that everyone can use in order to be able to trust information. What it's allowed us to do is to have a shared system of record that nobody can tamper with and everybody can see."
Provenance uses this technology to log and store every stage of a supply chain in a way that anyone can access.
Provenance has staff in four countries around the world
Now the company, which started as a part-time interest while Ms Baker was studying, has become a full-time business. She has put her PhD on hold, as she's busy running a company with 10 staff based in four countries: the UK, the US, France and Germany.
"We have no physical things apart from our laptops," Ms Baker points out. "So we can move the team wherever we want to around the world."
The company started out working with small brands and, in July 2016, signed its first commercial client, the UK's fifth largest food and grocery retailer, the Co-op. Provenance is now helping the Co-op track fresh products through its supply chains.
Customers can check the supply chain of a product on their phones in a shop using Provenance
"We've attracted lots of pioneering food and drinks businesses," Ms Baker says.
"It's as much about reassuring businesses that they are selling things that are correct and trustworthy as it is about consumers being able to understand that as well."
Provenance is built to tackle fraudulent claims about the ethical sourcing of products such as fish
Provenance's first victory for sourcing ethical products came with a humble fish.
In early 2016 in Indonesia, Provenance tracked the first fish on the blockchain.
Working with a non-governmental organisation to certify a socially sustainable catch of fish, the company in effect created a digital passport for the fish.
Provenance has now set up partnerships with tagging, DNA scanning and digital imaging companies to strengthen the connections between physical products and their digitised claims.
As well as fish, Provenance now tracks other foods, such as eggs and dairy. It says that lots of products, not just food, can be tracked and sourced in this way.
Chris Haley of Nesta says that blockchain technology is still immature
But Ms Baker admits that there are still some issues with the scaling up of the technology.
"We're on the bleeding edge of a new technology and occasionally having to wait for it to get developed a bit more in order to be able to develop on top of it," she says.
Another problem is the reputation of blockchains.
"The main challenge for Provenance is that it's being built upon a technology that is relatively immature," says Chris Haley, an analyst from innovation specialist, Nesta.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Karishma Vaswani takes a look at blockchain and explains how it works
"There are still some risks that are unclear, but we're beginning to see blockchains being used in really quite a wide variety of applications. It is potentially a much simpler way of transacting." he says.
"We are disruptive and we're trying to disrupt the industry for good." she says.
"The ultimate goal of Provenance is that one day it will be impossible to buy a product that compromises your health and morals. Businesses that have very opaque supply chains and are not taking active steps to make them transparent should really fear us."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38773878
|
The angry red panda that is Japan's new working woman - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A new character to compete with Hello Kitty draws on the frustrations of Japan's working women.
|
Asia
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A heavy metal-loving panda full of rage is a new character Japanese working women can identify with
Being kawaii - or cute - is a huge part of being a good Japanese girl, but what happens when you finally grow up? For decades Hello Kitty was Japan's ambassador of cute, but now an angry red panda is channelling the frustrations of ordinary working women.
In Japan, girls are taught etiquette from a young age and often much more strictly than boys. It's not just about your appearance, but also how you behave.
The Japanese firm most closely associated with kawaii products, Sanrio, understands this all too well.
It can take credit for the global phenomenon that is Hello Kitty, the well-mannered kitten which Sanrio claims is actually a British schoolgirl, despite being seen as perhaps the most quintessentially Japanese thing ever. She even appears in educational videos to teach children about manners.
But recently the company has introduced a character with a somewhat different approach to life.
Aggressive Retsuko - or Aggretsuko - is a 25-year-old red panda who works a mundane office job.
Aggretsuko is far from the cute Hello Kitty stereotype Sanrio is also responsible for
Her appearance is cute, but when she gets angry at her boss or colleagues her face transforms until it becomes a made-up mask somewhat reminiscent of American glam metal band Kiss.
"I'll quit one day anyway!!! This is not my fate!!!" she screams inside, as her boss piles up more paperwork on her desk.
After work, she goes to karaoke alone and sings metal songs with lyrics complaining about her day.
"She reminds me of myself when I was 25," said Reika Kataoka who is now a stay-at-home mother. "I used to spew venom like that at work."
"Japanese girls suffer from a social structure where we are supposed to act properly," a cross-dressing singer who goes by the stage name Charlie Shikazaki and works as a researcher by day, told the BBC.
"But many of us have two sides. They might look cute on the outside but can be aggressive inside. Sanrio shows this kind of girls quite well with Aggretsuko," she explained.
In a society which puts a lot of value on politeness, you don't often see people expressing raw emotions in public and the Japanese language doesn't have equivalents to the everyday profanities you might hear muttered at work in English.
She spends much of her time on the edge of rage
So how was Aggretsuko created? It was in fact through a popular vote of characters submitted by Sanrio staff and others. The theme was "salaryman" or office workers. It clearly struck a chord.
Sanrio says the designer, who goes by the name of Yeti, wants to remain anonymous. But through the company's corporate communications department, the designer said: "I observed office workers who are at the centre of Japan's corporate culture and I could hear their heartfelt screams."
"Japan's working environment often becomes an issue and I think there are many people who are enduring a lot of stress," Yeti added.
It is a subject being debated in Japan at the moment as just last month, the chairman of Japan's top advertising agency Dentsu resigned to take responsibility for the death of a 24-year-old employee. Matsuri Takahashi who took her own life on Christmas Day in 2015, after complaining about excessive working hours.
Her death is part of a phenomenon known as karoshi, or "death from overwork", which was first recognised 30 years ago.
When we asked Japanese women what their Aggretsuko moment is, their most uncute habits, they were certainly forthcoming.
Singer Charlie Shikazaki says she got tired of the pressure to seem feminine
Ms Shikazaki said it was the pressure to look cute and behave appropriately that drove her to start singing in a band dressed as a man one year ago. It was "to express my feelings and emotions".
"Because I used to teach at universities, the reaction from my former students has been overwhelming - like 'what on earth happened?'," she said.
"I sing in both London and Tokyo but I find that people in London accept me without any hesitation."
"But in Japan, I don't really expect them to understand so I haven't told many people who I used to work with," she added.
Aggretsuko drowns her sorrows with beer and heavy metal - most unladylike
For communications specialist Momo Ohmura, it is about what she eats and drinks. "People say what I order at restaurants isn't cute," she said. "I like things like dried fish and inner organs like chicken liver. I also love Japanese sake - even more than champagne!"
Kawaii ladies are allowed to drink in Japanese society, but being able to drink more than men is not something you'd show off to your boyfriend.
Many Aggretsuko fans were surprised to find out that she was created by Sanrio.
But she is not their first unconventional character.
Gudetama or "lazy egg" was born in 2013 and suffers from crippling depression, spewing cold one-liners that reflect the dark realities of life.
The character was seen as reflective of the younger generation's diminishing self-esteem and growing unhappiness.
The character is occasionally cheerful, and even recently found love
"I always thought Sanrio's target audience was children but I wonder if they are targeting millennial or older people," said Ms Kataoka.
Ahead of Valentine's Day, Aggretsuko appears to have fallen in love. In her weekly programme on broadcaster TBS, for once, she didn't get angry for an entire episode.
While it is adorable to watch her being just cute, her many fans hope she will continue to vent her darker feelings even after finding the love of her life.
This appears to be what more working women in Japan want licence to do.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38606355
|
Worcester Cathedral bell-ringer thrown in air - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
A bell-ringer is recovering after being dropped in a "freak accident" at Worcester Cathedral.
| null |
A bell-ringer is recovering after being dropped in what's been described as a "freak accident" at Worcester Cathedral.
The ringing master at the cathedral, Mark Regan, gave a vivid account to BBC Hereford and Worcester of the moment Ian Bowman was flipped upside down.
Mr Bowman was lowered 80ft (24m) through a trap door in the cathedral by a specialist rescue unit.
The accident happened during Evensong on Saturday when the bell-ringing rope caught Mr Bowman's heel.
He's now back home in Devon and able to walk despite fracturing a bone in his back.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-38957489
|
Beyonce 'epitome of talent', say famous fans - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Beyonce's famous fans tell us why she is the Queen.
| null |
Beyonce's famous fans tell us why she is the Queen.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38956269
|
Alpine World Ski Championships: Luca Aerni wins combined gold by 0.01 secs - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Luca Aerni of Switzerland win's the men's combined downhill and slalom by 0.01 seconds at the Alpine World Ski Championships, despite being in last place after the downhill leg.
| null |
Luca Aerni of Switzerland win's the men's combined downhill and slalom by 0.01 seconds at the Alpine World Ski Championships, despite being in last place after the downhill leg.
Follow the Alpine World Ski Championships across the BBC from 7 February - 19 February.
Available to UK users only.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/38959529
|
What makes this New Zealand beach a whale graveyard? - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Shallow water and unusual geography are blamed for making a New Zealand beach a 'whale graveyard'.
|
Asia
|
The latest strandings are among the worst New Zealand has recorded
Each year locals from Golden Bay at the top of New Zealand's South Island know to expect a whale beaching at a narrow strip of sand curving into the Cook Strait, known as Farewell Spit. Ben Collins looks at what makes the area so deadly.
Each year, according to the conservation group Project Jonah, around 300 dolphins and whales become stranded in New Zealand.
Many of these incidents occur at Farewell Spit, a thin arc of sand at the top of the South Island which separates a shallow bay from the open ocean.
Last week, more than 400 pilot whales became stranded on this 5km-long (three mile-long) stretch and, while some were saved by conservation officials and volunteers in a desperate rescue effort, most died.
Farewell Spit curves around the top of New Zealand's South Island
The beachings occur in the summer months, according to Gary Riordan, who is 62 and has lived in the area for most of his life.
"It pretty much happens every year," says Mr Riordan, who runs a beachside camp ground not far from where they often become stranded.
"There's a lot of theories out there as to why it happens, but at the end of the day I think there's four or five hotspots where they strand [in New Zealand], and the one thing they all have in common is shallow water."
"As far as often goes: It's pretty much seasonal, always around January or February. It's something that the locals expect every year about this time."
Some of the stranded whales were saved, but most died
Joanna Wheaton, who also lives in the area, said she was pleasantly surprised there wasn't a mass stranding in 2016.
"Farewell Spit is a unique natural trap for them," she says.
In February 2015 about 200 pilot whales - which, despite their name, are actually members of the dolphin family - beached not far from the cafe where she works. At least half of them died.
"It's always the same species, pilot whales, and the same extreme tide situation on the inner beach," she says.
Dr Rochelle Constantine, a marine biologist at the University of Auckland, also says the shallow water around Farewell Spit is what causes the whales to beach.
"Farewell Spit, geographically, is quite an interesting place," she says. "It spans around in a broad arc. On either side is large bay and the open ocean.
Volunteers and officials worked to help save as many whales as possible
"There's a series of really large sand banks all through there in the bay, and it just gradually becomes more and more shallow," Dr Constantine says.
Because the water becomes shallower gradually, the whales may not be able to detect the change using echo-location, in the same way they would a sudden rise in gradient, she says.
"They can echo-locate, but it's [a problem with] the signal that they get bounced back. It's a combination of this gentle gradient and the soft sand. They probably aren't detecting that they are swimming into more and more shallow water."
By the time they do realise, it's often too late. The tide has already begun to run out.
Farewell Spit is especially deadly as it sits, like a hook, right in the pilot whales' path.
About 200 stranded whales were able to get back to sea with the help of a high tide
"They can swim straight into Golden Bay and the embrace of the Farewell Spit. It's just geographically a very tricky spot," Dr Constantine says.
While the shallow water and its effect on echolocation is the most likely reason the animals become stranded at Farewell Spit, Dr Constantine says pilot whales also have strong social bonds, and this could explain why such large numbers become stuck, or return once rescuers re-float them.
"I have attended a fair few strandings and what is highlighted is how variable they all are," she says.
"We do know that because they are quite strongly socially-bonded, they will hang out with each other, but to be honest, every stranding is different. Sometimes they just muck up and don't get the right cues, and other times its because they are strongly bonded to [stranded] individuals in the group."
"We think there's some confusion going on in each stranding, but finding a reason is often difficult," she says.
The dead whales have been marked with an "X"
Scientists don't know for sure why they regularly beach in January or February, though Dr Constantine said it could be because of feeding patterns and changes in ocean temperature which see more whales passing through the Cook Strait at that time of year.
"These are quite hard things to measure as scientists, because the reality is we don't often see pilot whales in this area until they are about to strand. They are not really coastal."
"We really don't know much about the movements of pilot whales in New Zealand. It could be simply they are not around at other times of the year."
According to the New Zealand Department of Conservation, the largest recorded stranding was an estimated 1,000 pilot whales on the Chatham Islands, another stranding hotspot, in 1918.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38953557
|
Tesco multi-buy offers widely out of date, BBC investigation finds - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
A BBC undercover reporter found shoppers being overcharged on out-of-date multi-buy offers around the country.
| null |
An undercover BBC investigation has revealed Tesco customers are being overcharged on multi-buy promotions.
A reporter for BBC Inside Out West Midlands, who secretly filmed inside 50 Tesco stores around the country, found discounted prices were not applied at 33 of them.
Money-off promotions were marked on the shelf, but the full cost of individual items was charged at the tills because the offers were out of date.
Tesco said it would be double checking price labels at all its stores as a result of the investigation. The company runs more than 3,500 stores across the UK.
A spokesperson said: "We are disappointed that errors occurred and will be working with the stores involved to reinforce our responsibilities to our customers."
The full investigation can be seen on BBC Inside Out in most English regions at 19:30 GMT on BBC1 on Monday 13 February and for 30 days after on the BBC iPlayer
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-38920695
|
Grammys mix hip flasks with politics - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Adele was the night's big winner, but what else was going on at the Grammy awards?
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
The big story at the 59th Grammy awards was Adele's victory over Beyonce in the best album category.
Most observers had expected Beyonce's Lemonade - a politically-charged opus that tackles themes of gender and black identity - to race home with the prize.
But Adele swooped in and stole it from under her nose, making her very much the Donald Trump of pop.
But what were the other big (and small) themes from the night? Here's a rundown.
She lost all eight of the awards she was nominated for, but this picture of Rihanna with a hip flask tells us she didn't care.
British star James Corden took over as Grammys host from rapper LL Cool J, and the difference couldn't have been more apparent.
While LL was always affable, he didn't do much beyond delivering his links.
James, in contrast, began the night by pretending to fall down a staircase ("this is a disaster!") before launching into a rap about the gathered celebrities:
"This room is insane, It's filled with 'Oh, Gods!' / Some of the faces like Madame Tussauds.
"Beyonce performing, the queen is here, dummy! / Slay the whole stage with twins in her tummy."
Later on, he performed an impromptu carpool karaoke (from inside a cardboard cut-out) with Neil Diamond, Jennifer Lopez and Jason Derulo singing a version of Sweet Caroline.
And he lived every child's worst nightmare when he found dad Malcolm canoodling with model Heidi Klum in the audience.
"Dad, what are you doing with Heidi Klum?" he exclaimed.
"Well, your mom and I have an understanding and I used my free pass tonight," replied Corden Senior.
Politics was always expected to play a role in the ceremony, but it wasn't until Busta Rhymes took to the stage that things got serious.
"I'm not feeling the political climate right now," he growled. "I just want to thank President Agent Orange for perpetuating all of the evil that you've been perpetuating throughout the United States.
"I just want to thank President Agent Orange for your unsuccessful attempt at the Muslim ban. We've come together. We, the people."
He then launched into We The People - a collaboration with A Tribe Called Quest that rejects the politics of division.
Surrounded by dancers in headscarves, the musicians brought their thunderous performance to a close with a chant of "resist, resist, resist".
It wasn't the only political moment in the ceremony, but it was the most incendiary.
Earlier Katy Perry, an ardent Hillary Clinton supporter, danced in a white pant suit and wore a "persist" arm band.
Presumably this alluded to Elizabeth Warren's persistence in Congress this week, where she attempted to read a 30-year-old letter by Martin Luther King Jr's widow, criticising President Trump's nominee for attorney general.
The president of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, also called on the President not to cut arts funding, saying Americans are "constantly reminded about the things that divide us".
"What we need so desperately are more reminders of all that binds us together," he continued.
US singer Joy Villa, however, bucked the trend by whipping off a white gown to reveal a pro-Trump dress.
Rock band Twenty One Pilots went trouser-less for their first ever acceptance speech.
After winning best group performance for their hit song Stressed Out, singer Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun stood up, dropped their trousers and walked to the podium in their underwear.
"This story, it starts in Columbus, Ohio, it was a few years ago and it was before Josh and I were able to make money playing music," explained Tyler.
"I called him up and I said, 'Hey Josh, want to come over to my rental house and watch the Grammys?' As we were watching, we noticed every single one of us was in our underwear.
"Seriously, Josh said to me... he turned to me and he said, 'If we ever go to the Grammys, if we ever win a Grammy, we should receive it just like this.'"
While a heavily pregnant Beyonce was on stage killing it in an epic, nine-minute performance celebrating motherhood, Jay Z was on the front row looking after their five-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy.
The father-daughter duo were beaming with pride throughout and gave Queen Bey a standing ovation.
Jay Z's next album - For God's Sake Will You Go to Sleep, Game of Thrones Starts in Five Minutes* - is due for release in October.
Adele might have needed a do-over on her tribute to George Michael, but her sombre rendition of Fastlove (arranged by Batman composer Hans Zimmer, we understand) was a mournful masterpiece.
Bruno Mars went the other direction, vamping up a cover of Prince's Let's Go Crazy to such an extent he seemed possessed by the spirit of the Minneapolis marvel.
And The Time - Prince's arch-rivals in Purple Rain - showed us how songs the star cast off, such as their hit Jungle Love, could bring a moderately-sized house down.
Those weren't the only stars we lost in 2016 of course, and the memorial montage would have brought a lump to any music fan's throat.
If that wasn't enough, John Legend and Cynthia Erivo's tender cover of The Beach Boys' God Only Knows -which soundtracked the segment - would have finished you off.
It's hard to believe it, but in his lifetime David Bowie only won two Grammys: best music video in 1985 for Jazzin' For Blue Jean and a lifetime achievement award in 2006.
That historical anomaly was corrected last night when the star won all five of the categories he was nominated for, including best alternative album for Blackstar and best rock song for its title track.
Recording engineer Kevin Killen, who worked with Bowie on the album, expressed his relief backstage.
"It's kind of startling it's taken that long for an artist who's been so magnificent throughout his whole career," he said.
Musician Donny McCaslin, who played on Blackstar, said it was "unfortunate" Bowie had not been nominated for the main prize, album of the year.
"Speaking artistically, it was clear he should have been nominated in one if not more of the major categories," he said.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38953862
|
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri threatens changes after Swansea defeat - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Claudio Ranieri admits he may have been too loyal to his Leicester players as their title defence descends into a relegation battle.
| null |
Claudio Ranieri says he may have been too loyal to his Leicester players as their Premier League title defence has descended into a relegation battle.
They are one point above the drop zone after Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Swansea.
Foxes boss Ranieri, who was given a vote of confidence by the club's board last week, is now considering changes.
"It is difficult when you achieve something so good you want to give them one chance, two chances, three chances. Maybe now, it is too much," he said.
"It is something I can change because in this way it is not possible to continue.
"I always question myself but I always say: 'Come on, we can do something good.'"
Having confounded the odds to win a remarkable Premier League title last season, Leicester have been in startling decline this year.
The Foxes are the only side in the top four English divisions without a league goal in 2017 and, with defeat at Swansea, they became the first reigning champions to lose five consecutive top flight matches since Chelsea in 1956.
Leicester's decline is embodied by striker Jamie Vardy and midfielder Riyad Mahrez, both of whom are shadows of the players who were so pivotal to the club's title success.
Last season Vardy scored 24 goals, but has just five so far this campaign, while Mahrez scored 17 goals and made 10 assists, compared to three goals and three assists this year.
Despite their current failings, Ranieri has stuck with the vast majority of the players who starred for Leicester last season - and believes they are capable of transforming their fortunes.
"Every time I speak to the players and the players speak to me we are always confident we can change the situation," the 65-year-old Italian added.
"But now there are a few matches in front of us so we have to find a solution very, very soon. There are two matches in front of us, one in the FA Cup and one in the Champions League but our mind is on the Premier League.
"I think the strength of the man is to have the right balance. Not to be so high when you win; not to be so down when you lose. You can remember what we did last season but you need to stay with your feet on the ground and say we have to react together."
Leicester have a two-week break from their Premier League struggles as they turn attentions to the FA Cup and Champions League.
Ranieri takes his team to League One side Millwall in next weekend's fifth-round tie, before a trip to Spanish title hopefuls Sevilla in the Champions League last 16 on 22 February.
The Foxes could be bottom of the league by the time they host Liverpool on Monday, 27 February.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38951901
|
Bournemouth 0-2 Manchester City - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Manchester City move up to second in the Premier League with a hard-fought victory over Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Manchester City moved up to second in the Premier League with a hard-fought victory over Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium.
Having started on the bench again, City striker Sergio Aguero appeared after just 14 minutes following an injury to Gabriel Jesus.
But it was Raheem Sterling who grabbed the opener from close range on the half-hour mark, having been denied by a brilliant Artur Boruc save two minutes before.
The hosts thought they had replied immediately, but Joshua King's strike was ruled out after he was adjudged to have pulled John Stones' shirt in the build-up.
Harry Arter's curling shot stretched City goalkeeper Willy Caballero into a fine save, before Tyrone Mings put City's second into his own net under pressure from Aguero.
Leroy Sane rattled the bar late on, as City extended their unbeaten run to five games in all competitions.
Pep Guardiola's side jumped three places in the table to emerge as Chelsea's closest challengers, eight points behind the leaders, who dropped points at Burnley on Sunday.
City face at Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 5 April. They will take inspiration from their title-winning team of 2011-12 when they clawed back the same deficit on rivals Manchester United - on that occasion with just six games remaining.
This time they have 13 games in which to do it as former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola looks to win a top-flight domestic title for the seventh time in the past eight seasons.
The Spaniard's pacy wingers were the difference on this occasion, as Sane's fleet-footedness set up Sterling for his sixth league goal of the season, before the England forward showed superb trickery to beat a defender and force Mings into a costly mistake, after pressure from Aguero.
The Argentine, who failed to start for the third consecutive game, was sent on after Jesus turned his ankle in the opening minutes.
Analysis - 'The gap is too big'
"I don't think City can catch Chelsea. It's too big a gap with Chelsea performing as they have done, but it was a comfortable performance - they are brilliant going forward.
"I thought John Stones was outstanding and David Silva majestic. Since being thrashed 4-0 by Everton in January they have responded superbly. Things are coming together for City at the right time."
Eddie Howe's men have big problems. They have not won a game in 2017, extending their winless run in all competitions to seven games.
Their main worry is in defence, having conceded at least two goals in each of their last 10 games, yet at the other end they tested Caballero just once in this game.
To make matters worse, the Cherries have picked up just one win from their last nine games and had midfielder Jack Wilshere and defender Simon Francis go off injured in the first half.
In their second ever season in the top-flight, Bournemouth are 14th in the table, six points above the relegation zone. With Swansea and Hull showing improvement, the south coast side could get dragged into a fight for survival should their poor form continue.
'The right result with a thousand million passes'
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe: "City were very good. For an away team that was a very controlled performance. Our lads gave absolutely everything, I can't ask any more of them.
"We need to get our bounce back - that's only going to come from a win, but I think today was a positive step."
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, speaking to BBC Sport: "We made a real performance. I am so pleased with how we did and especially the last 10-15 minutes, we did the right way to make the result with a thousand million passes. It is important to score goals, we are in deficit but it is OK."
Manchester City travel to Huddersfield in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Saturday (kick-off 15:00 GMT), while Bournemouth do not play again until 25 February when they go to West Brom (kick-off 15:00 GMT).
• None Raheem Sterling has scored five Premier League goals against Bournemouth, the most he has against a single opponent.
• None Sterling has equalled his Premier League goal tally from last season for City (six in 23 this season compared to six in 31 last season).
• None Sterling has won 24 of 25 Premier League games in which he has scored, only losing against West Ham in September 2014.
• None Pep Guardiola has won all six league games he has managed on a Monday, with an aggregate score of 20-1.
• None By contrast, Bournemouth have lost all four of their Premier League games contested on a Monday, without scoring a single goal.
• None Bournemouth have lost all four of their Premier League games against City, scoring once and conceding 15 goals.
• None The Cherries took until the 67th minute to register their first shot on target in the game.
• None Only Leicester (one) have collected fewer Premier League points in 2017 than Bournemouth (two).
• None Attempt missed. Leroy Sané (Manchester City) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne with a through ball.
• None Offside, Manchester City. Nolito tries a through ball, but David Silva is caught offside.
• None Offside, Manchester City. Aleksandar Kolarov tries a through ball, but David Silva is caught offside.
• None Attempt saved. Aleksandar Kolarov (Manchester City) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Fernandinho.
• None Leroy Sané (Manchester City) hits the bar with a left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left.
• None Attempt missed. Fernandinho (Manchester City) header from the right side of the six yard box is too high. Assisted by David Silva with a cross following a set piece situation. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38876924
|
'Conned trying to get my children back' - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A mother paid thousands of pounds to a man who said he could win her child custody battle.
|
UK
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Two parents fighting legal battles for custody of their children paid thousands of pounds to a company providing "McKenzie friends" - people with no legal training who assist in court. But they were badly let down.
Rupinder Randhawa had been feeling "very low" after her solicitor told her it was hopeless to pursue a court battle for custody of her children.
The mother-of-four had wanted to fight the adoption of her youngest two children, instigated by social services.
"I was not in a great space," she told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme, "but I was still willing to fight for my children."
Then, she came across David Bright, who ran The Parent's Voice London, a service that provided McKenzie friends.
Bright told Ms Randhawa he had "never lost a case" and charged her £480 a month, plus additional one-off charges, to work on her case as a McKenzie friend.
She subsequently lost her case and is no longer fighting the adoption of her children.
After this, Bright asked Ms Randhawa for an additional £6,000 to pay for a book to be published about her case, which he said would help her win her children back.
She paid him, but no book was ever published.
"I felt like I'd been conned," she said. "I felt my whole world came crashing around me, because there was no hope in getting my children back."
Bright was a director of The Parents' Voice, and both he and fellow director Claire Mann were jailed last year for perverting the course of justice in a case separate to Ms Randhawa's.
Bright denies any wrongdoing, and says he and The Parents' Voice "helped hundreds of families".
Claire Mann and David Bright acted as directors for The Parents' Voice
When families break up and there is a dispute over the custody of children it can end up in the family court.
But since changes to legal aid in 2013, it is more difficult for parents to get funding to help with their costs in these cases - which is why some are turning to McKenzie friends as a cheaper alternative.
There is presently no regulation of these services.
Stephen - not his real name - came across the The Parents' Voice after his marriage broke down and his ex-wife took custody of their children.
He said Bright initially "just sang to my ears".
"He told me exactly what I wanted to hear," Stephen said.
"He asked me if I wanted custody. He asked me how much I wanted to see the kids."
But, he said, Bright took more than £12,000 from him, by charging him twice and for work he did not do.
Richard Miller is concerned that some McKenzie friends advertise themselves as lawyers
Both Stephen and Ms Randhawa won county court judgements against David Bright and The Parents' Voice, for more than £10,000 each for work that was not carried out.
There have also been several other successful claims against the company.
Jenny Lewington worked for The Parents' Voice as a McKenzie friend before stopping in a dispute over payment.
She was also disturbed by some of David Bright's working practices.
"I'd gone to the hearing with a mother who was trying to appeal an adoption and [David Bright] had submitted the wrong form to apply for the appeal," she said.
Mrs Lewington said he had then told her he "did it to try and delay matters".
Ultimately the mother lost her case, and Mrs Lewington felt The Parents' Voice had given her false hope that she could win.
Senior judges have been considering making changes to the way paid-for McKenzie friends operate.
Among proposals in a consultation last year was the introduction of a code of practice.
The Law Society, which represents solicitors, has called for a ban on McKenzie friends being able to recover costs in court cases, to underline the fact that they are different to solicitors or barristers.
Richard Miller, from the Law Society, said: "One of our concerns about the rise in paid-for McKenzie friends is that a lot of these people are effectively acting as lawyers and advertising themselves as lawyers.
"But they do not have legal training and legal qualifications, and they do not have the duties to the court that a qualified lawyer does."
The Victoria Derbyshire programme is broadcast on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38912378
|
The clock is ticking for Spotify - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
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.
|
Business
|
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.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38930699
|
Lance Armstrong: Banned cyclist fails to block £79m US government lawsuit - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Banned cyclist Lance Armstrong loses his bid to block a $100m (£79m) lawsuit by the US government in relation to doping.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Cycling
Banned cyclist Lance Armstrong has lost his bid to block a $100m (£79m) lawsuit by the US government.
The suit alleges that Armstrong defrauded the government by cheating while riding for the publicly funded US Postal Service team.
It was filed by Armstrong's former team-mate Floyd Landis before being joined by the government in 2013.
A federal judge refused to block the lawsuit on Monday, which clears the way for the case to go to trial.
Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life in August 2012.
The 45-year-old won the seven titles between 1999 and 2005. The US Postal Service sponsored the team between 1996 and 2004.
Armstrong admitted to using drugs in all seven of his Tour wins in January 2013 while Landis was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for failing a doping test.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/38964396
|
Leaked sex tapes provoked woman's suicide - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Tiziana Cantone killed herself after private sex videos of her were leaked online.
| null |
In April 2015, the 31-year-old from Mugnano, on the outskirts of Naples, sent a series of sex videos to five people via WhatsApp.
The recipients included her boyfriend Sergio Di Palo, with whom she had an unstable relationship.
The videos showed her performing sex acts with a number of unidentified men.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38934109
|
The Netherlands' populist moment? - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Assessing the national mood as the Netherlands prepares to go to the polls
|
Europe
|
I ask the Dutch ruling party's Europe spokesman what the election next month is about. "Identity," he replies without hesitation.
I try to ask his leader, the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, about their strategy.
Near the Dutch Parliament in The Hague, a small crowd gathers in the snow and begins a countdown for Mr Rutte. "Tien, negen, acht" - ten, nine, eight - they chant before he unveils the statue of Johan Rudolph Thorbecke, a 19th-Century statesman, hero to Rutte's Liberal party, the VVD.
The rather delightful mixture of old-fashioned marble for the statesman himself and burnished steel, portraying his modern equivalent, complete with a woman in a short skirt perched on his desk, is the work of Tom Pucke, an English sculptor who's lived here for 20 years.
He tells me his Thorbecke gazes into the future with worry. "You see in his face a sort of concern, in his expression, maybe he's concerned about the way things are going."
The prime minister may well feel the same. Another countdown is well under way, to the election on 15 March, and Mr Rutte is becoming decidedly less liberal in reaction to the man leading the opinion polls.
Long before there was Donald Trump, another populist politician with an exotic hairstyle was already making waves. Platinum blonde Geert Wilders was once banned from Britain.
Now he's on course, according to most polls, to head the largest group of MPs in the Dutch Parliament. He wants to ban the Koran and close the country's Mosques.
So one slogan you won't find Mr Rutte using is "It's the economy, stupid."
Dutch PM Mark Rutte says immigrants who "refuse to adapt" should "behave normally or leave"
He has devised a plan to ensure he isn't the first continental leader to drown in the new populist tide, joining Hillary Clinton and David Cameron bobbing in the waves. He has issued a very hard-line open letter.
It begins "there is something wrong with our country." He continues to appeal to "the silent majority," saying Dutch freedoms have been abused, women in short skirts and gay people have been abused. He tells those immigrants who he says "refuse to adapt" to "behave normally or leave."
When I try to talk to him at the unveiling his spokeswoman butts in: "This is not the moment."
So I asked his party's Europe spokesman MP, Anne Mulder, what the election is about.
"Identity," he replies. "What makes the Netherlands the Netherlands. I think it is globalisation, people travelling all around the world, people losing their jobs, so that's why people need some security.
"People are looking for identity, our shared feelings, acting normal. It is not only Islam, but if people leave their wife at home, if there's not equality between men and women...."
I say some people might think this was dancing to Geert Wilders' tune. "Some people might say so," he answers, expressionless.
So has his party been pushed to the right ? He hesitates. "We have been having discussions in the party. Ten years ago I start in this city council - telling people, "Act normal."
Wilders will launch his campaign next week in Spijkenisse, a suburb on the end of the Rotterdam tube line.
So I go to the community centre there. A group of women are executing a rather slow line dance to gently exercise the limbs. Keeping moving is on their minds, not the election. But when I mention politics, just one name is on all their lips.
"I am going to vote for Wilders. He's direct. Straight. We shouldn't take in so many people with the Islamic religion."
As they dance to a tune about a beautiful lady from South Texas, some of the views are very similar to those I've heard in the States recently. "I think we have to close the borders and have less foreigners. People here are getting poorer, kids going without breakfast, no clothes."
There's a paradox too - Wilders is valued for speaking out - but not all supporters want him to lead their country. "He dares to say things as they are, about the foreigners. They are not good to women, there's the crime, all the murders, they rob shops with guns.
"Even though I'm voting for him, he can't be prime minister. But we need him to show the truth about Holland."
Marianne Vorthoren from Spior, Rotterdam's Islamic umbrella organisation, says the atmosphere has changed.
"Many Muslims feel 'are we still part of this society?' It's not just that some people say these things, [like calling for a ban on the Koran] but that about 20% of the voters support this. That is shocking. We don't feel safe any more."
I ask her about the prime minister's comments that people should leave if they can't "act normal." Fair enough, surely ?
"Who do you define with 'we' and 'us' and 'our values'? There are lots of groups - some in Parliament, Christian orthodox groups - who don't agree with equal rights for homosexuals. Now we don't say to them 'get out!'"
Despite these concerns, Wilders' party seems likely to do very well in the election.
The diffidence I found in the community centre could play either way. People seem to say that they want Wilders around to speak his mind, but not to become their country's leader.
Both Germany and France will hold major elections in 2017
That might put people off voting for his party or, my guess, suggest that he's a safe protest vote. Unintentionally the political mainstream cements this appeal, by firmly rejecting him as a possible coalition partner.
Wilders has zero chance of becoming prime minister - according to the current prime minister - because the other parties simply won't do a deal with him.
I asked political editor of the right-wing Daily Standard blog Tim Engelbart how that would go down.
"A government would have to be formed with four or five parties. It would be an extremely unstable, unpopular government, featuring all kinds of parties from left to right with very little in common beyond the desire to keep Wilders out.
"It would anger Wilders voters, who are worried about security, their country, and who will be told: 'We're going to ignore you, regardless of the results.' Their faith in the Dutch political system won't improve."
It could be a script from the populist playbook - the people's will rejected, the people's choice excluded by a colluding elite. It would suggest betrayal wasn't a myth but a reality.
A lot hangs on several European elections this year. The vote next month in the Netherlands will be followed by even more critical elections in France and Germany.
But the Netherlands suggests some choices have already been made.
The 'politics of identity' mean many centrist politicians aren't hesitating at the crossroads, contemplatively chewing their fingers. Many who were once happy to occupy the centre lane have forked to the right and are zooming down the autobahn in emulation of their more popular opponents. The question is not the direction of travel - but how far it goes.
In the Netherlands, the revolution of the far-right has been brewing for a long time. We'll find out if they are near to taking power on 16 March. But you needn't wait until then to find out how Wilders has done. In one sense he has already won.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38956740
|
Six Nations 2017: Jeremy Guscott on England, Wales, Scotland & Ireland - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
England will lose at some point, but their win over Wales fed their player's belief in their own invincibility, says Jeremy Guscott.
| null |
Two Test matches of ferocious intensity and one well short of that.
After England and Wales served up a thriller that justified the build-up in Cardiff - capped off with a dramatic late match-winning score from the visitors' Elliot Daly - France out-muscled a spirited Scotland in Paris on Sunday.
Saturday's first fixture - Ireland's 63-10 steam-rollering of Italy - was the sort of confidence-booster that Joe Schmidt's side needed after an opening-weekend defeat by Scotland, but far sterner tests will follow.
With a fortnight's break before the next round, there is plenty to ponder. And it is still all up for grabs.
• None Watch the latest highlights and videos from the Six Nations
• None England have no more get-out-of-jail-free cards - Jones
England are very powerful and confident
England's win over Wales was a very tight game of fine margins, and it was the visitors' perfect execution of the chance they were given to win the match that proved to be the difference.
When Jonathan Davies kicked into the backfield in the last four minutes at the Principality Stadium, England were able to impose themselves enough to create an opportunity and were then clear-headed enough to take it.
This is a very powerful, confident, internally competitive 23-man England squad.
Individually Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes were mammoth in the second row, expending huge amounts of energy. Nathan Hughes racked up some huge numbers, with the most metres gained (75), carries (22) and defenders beaten (three) of any England player.
Elliot Daly showed himself to be a complete footballer. He showed the gas of a winger to round Alex Cuthbert for the crucial score, but he also has the vision of a very good full-back, the touch of a very good fly-half and added to which he can also kick penalties from his own half.
It is powerful thing to be part of a team that has got that winning habit. You are familiar with your team-mates, but training becomes very high level. There is no sympathy for mistakes that slow up the progress of the project and you go onto the field believing that you will find a way to win.
England are going to lose at some point and head coach Eddie Jones is right to say there are only so many times that they are going to come through these tight scrapes - but for the moment that confidence the players have is getting them over the line.
Jones may decide to use the Italy game to try some new starting combinations to see if the replacements can be as influential from the beginning of matches. Dylan Hartley was off the pace to my eye , but in modern rugby so much will depend on the condition of the players.
Compared with the game at Twickenham last year, where Wales made a host of errors and gave England a 16-point lead at half-time, this was a markedly better performance.
Wales could have easily won this year's match and when they play with that amount of energy they are a real threat to the top four in world rugby.
Some people questioned coach Rob Howley's decision to withdraw number eight Ross Moriarty after 52 minutes. The Gloucester man had had a blast up until then, a real physical presence with some immense hits in defence.
But it may have been that that impact was a result of him emptying the tanks in the time he was on the pitch, knowing he was going to be taken off soon after half-time. It is not a given that had he stayed on he would have been able to maintain that pace.
The balance of the Wales back row was good with Moriarty everywhere, blind-side flanker Sam Warburton doing the heavy-duty carrying and tackling and open-side Justin Tipuric fetching, disrupting and supporting in space.
They were more mobile than their England counterparts and were a big part of Wales securing seven turnovers to England's three.
There were a few mistakes and a few opportunities that went begging, but England's pressure and instinctive quality in those split-seconds perhaps forced that. The influence of an opposition as good as England cannot be discounted.
Scotland were not inventive enough
Considering they were outgunned in terms of bulk by an enormous France side, the challenge for Scotland was to manoeuvre their opponents around the pitch enough that they tired them out.
With eight pairs of fresh legs on the bench at French coach Guy Noves' disposal, that was always going to be difficult.
Scotland were capable of doing so, the problem was they could not muster the intensity for long enough periods.
It was not physical intensity they lacked. Instead, they had to be dynamic and inventive, and constantly remould their attacking shape to keep France guessing.
France knew that was going to be Vern Cotter's gameplan and the hosts were motivated enough to deny them space and momentum.
Stuart Hogg and Tim Swinson's tries were well worked, but there were not enough moments where they got around the outside or in behind France.
At times it seemed like Scotland had only 14 players on the field. Apart from their two tries, they rarely wobbled this French side.
France are brittle mentally in pressure situations, but Scotland did not cause them enough anxiety to see if they would crack again.
Scotland could have won the game - but they will not take much solace from that. That has been the story for too many seasons in recent times and they are supposed to have moved on from that.
The losing bonus point was something to take from a very tricky away trip though, especially considering how tight the standings are.
CJ Stander became the first Irishman to score a Six Nations hat-trick in 15 years, but the way he exploited the space and Italy's weak tackling did not reveal anything new.
We already knew from his performances in the autumn that he is a very impressive player who will batter his way through a brick wall with ball in hand.
For me, he is untouchable as the best number six in world rugby.
Ireland's intensity dropped for a 22-minute spell early in the second half between Stander scoring their fifth try and replacement Craig Gilroy crossing for their sixth, but Joe Schmidt's side kicked back with a strong finish.
You have to put this performance in perspective, though.
It was against a side who have spluttered badly over the past three halves of rugby that they have played.
Coach Conor O'Shea and his assistants Mike Catt and Brendan Venter - who were all together at London Irish in the mid 2000s - are trying to change Italy's culture alongside their style of play.
That is a major upheaval and, at the moment, they looked just off the pace.
This is my second-round selection of a Lions XV based on the form shown over the weekend.
• None Get all the latest Six Nations news by adding
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38950156
|
Has Facebook slipped up with VR? - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
It's been a brutal few weeks for Facebook's virtual reality ambitions - Mark Zuckerberg may have made a rare miscalculation.
|
Technology
|
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
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38941256
|
Wedding dresses passed onto the next generation - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
After a bride is reunited with her 150-year-old wedding dress, BBC News hears more stories of family heirlooms.
|
UK
|
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."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38944626
|
What is the 'gig' economy? - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
What is the so-called "gig" economy, a phrase increasingly associated with employment disputes?
|
Business
|
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.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38930048
|
Trudeau 'won't lecture Trump on refugees' - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are quizzed on their opposing views on immigration.
| null |
The Canadian prime minister has said he will not "lecture" the US president over his controversial immigration ban.
Journalists quizzed the two leaders over their opposing stances on refugees, after bilateral talks at the White House.
Asked if he believed President Trump's ban had merit on national security grounds, Justin Trudeau replied: "The last thing Canadians expect is for me to come down and lecture another country on how they choose to govern themselves."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38961633
|
Reporting undercover from the prison front line - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Undercover reporter Joe Fenton tells his story of working in the crisis-hit prison system.
|
UK
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
An undercover investigation by Panorama has revealed the reality of life behind bars in the crisis-hit prison system. From prisoner officers who say they've lost control to some inmates regularly taking drugs, undercover reporter Joe Fenton explains what it's like to work on the prison front line.
Prison custody officer Joe Fenton, Her Majesty's Prison Northumberland - this was my life for two months as an undercover reporter for the BBC's Panorama programme.
HMP Northumberland is a prison with a problem. Many problems in fact. And within hours of being in the job, I was to see astonishing examples of this.
On my very first day, I was taken into a room with some of the other new recruits where we were shown a table covered in drugs. It was a massive find by prison staff - 2.5kg of a drug called spice - a much stronger, cheaper, synthetic alternative to cannabis.
Spice is now one of the most popular illegal drugs used in prison. Prisoners told officers this find had barely scratched the surface.
In my first week, I was responsible for escorting 70 prisoners but in reality, it felt like they were escorting me. I didn't really know where I was going and I just followed the prisoners, opening the gates for them.
It didn't take too long to realise that the inmates were, in effect, running this prison. I saw prisoners stumbling around drunk, others who were high on drugs and some struggling to cope with addiction.
On a standard 10-hour shift, the demands from prisoners were endless.
The work didn't stop from the moment we got there to the moment we left. You just can't work five or six days solid there - it ruins you and you don't feel like a person any more, you just exist.
The prison officers were all drained and with the constant demands from prisoners, I felt like I was working in a very busy hotel with a lot of angry guests.
I've seen staff at their wits' ends and staff who are struggling to cope.
Nurses attend to a prisoner who has taken the drug spice
There were drugs everywhere in HMP Northumberland and I found myself walking through clouds of smoke, some of which were from prisoners smoking spice.
Spice affected prisoners in different ways. Some would look a bit blurry-eyed. One reacted by moving his forearms around uncontrollably, his eyes completely vacant and his face expressionless.
Officers called the nurses for this particular prisoner but they weren't called for every inmate who reacted badly to spice. It happens too often.
The time officers had least control was during the couple of hours in the evening when prisoners were allowed to socialise - they could go into each other's rooms, close the door and even lock it from the inside, although we could then unlock it again.
Often I would be alone on a landing and it wouldn't have been safe for me to challenge them by myself. I often felt that there was nothing I could really do if I suspected prisoners were about to deal or take drugs.
Some officers told me they often don't confront prisoners because they are not confident backup will arrive if they are attacked.
Prison officers have the power to challenge prisoners but the prisoners had lookouts and warning codes so they were often one step ahead. This enabled them to hide their drugs, put out their cigarettes or throw their mobile phone under the pillow.
Those few extra seconds were all they needed.
As in all walks of life you'll get people who can cope by themselves and those who need a little bit of help. It's the same in prison.
I met one vulnerable prisoner who was being bullied - we're calling him John in order to disguise his identity.
On one occasion, I witnessed him totally off his head while other prisoners watched, laughing - I suspect they had spiked his cigarettes with spice. He told me he'd previously had buckets of water thrown over him and had been burnt with cigarettes.
It would be great if staff were there to look after these prisoners every step of the way but I felt there just weren't enough officers to protect people like John all the time.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. BBC Panorama spent two months inside one of the country's biggest prisons
Prison officers repeatedly told me they had lost control of the prison. I saw officers worried about their safety and losing confidence.
I witnessed one officer convulsing on the floor because he had inadvertently inhaled spice while patrolling a landing.
It was hard to see this happening to a colleague, someone whose company I enjoyed. But this is what prison officers have to deal with and it wasn't an isolated incident.
Sources have told us that at least three members of staff at this prison needed hospital treatment for inhaling spice smoke in the last seven months.
And the drugs continue to flow in - prison officers told me that that's because of lapses in security.
While working on one house block at HMP Northumberland, staff found black clothing, balaclavas and wire-cutting tools.
I witnessed doors where the alarms weren't working and a hole in an internal security fence which would have allowed prisoners to collect drugs thrown in from the outside.
I have a lot of sympathy for the prison officers I met while working at HMP Northumberland - there are many good people there trying to do a difficult job with limited resources.
Prisoners are in prison for a reason and prisons must exist to both punish and rehabilitate. But from my experience, I didn't see much of either.
Watch Panorama Behind Bars: Prison Undercover on Monday 13 February at 20:30 GMT on BBC One. Or catch up on iPlayer.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38931583
|
Antonio Conte: Chelsea boss unhappy with Jose Mourinho's 'joking' - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Antonio Conte does not like Jose Mourinho's "joking" after the Man Utd boss said Chelsea cannot be caught because they are a defensive team.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Antonio Conte says he does not like Jose Mourinho's "joking" after the Manchester United boss said Premier League leaders Chelsea cannot be caught because they are a "defensive team".
Conte's side are 10 points clear at the top after Sunday's 1-1 draw at Burnley.
Mourinho, known for trying to engage in mind games with his rivals, said his former team will not slip up because they win with "counter attacks".
"He's playing," said Conte, who is in his first season as Chelsea manager.
"I have the experience to understand this."
Mourinho was speaking after Manchester United beat Watford 2-0 on Saturday to extend their unbeaten run to 16 games. They are sixth in the table, 12 points behind Chelsea.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has previously accused Mourinho of playing mind games, as did Sir Alex Ferguson when he was at Manchester United and Mourinho was in charge at Stamford Bridge.
However, Conte said: "I don't like to reply about the other coaches."
Chelsea are firmly on course for a second Premier League title in three seasons but endured one of their toughest games of the season at Burnley.
The Clarets have the third-best home record in the top flight, with 29 of their 30 points coming at Turf Moor.
They restricted Chelsea to just two shots on target on Sunday - none in the second half - and could have won the game but for a superb Thibaut Courtois save from Matt Lowton.
"The pitch is small and this is better for the team that has to defend and play this long ball," said Conte.
"You have less pitch to cover and then there is a good atmosphere with the supporters and I think it's good.
"We found a team that thought to disrupt our football, to play this long ball and to fight the second ball."
We've been here before?
Mourinho has often engaged in psychological battles with his rivals.
When he was Chelsea boss in 2014, he ruled the Blues out of a title battle with Manchester City and also challenged then City boss Manuel Pellegrini over his spending. Pellegrini chose to ignore his counterpart's comments.
The Portuguese also accused Wenger of being a "specialist in failure" that same year and then claimed the Arsenal manager was "not a rival" when Chelsea were on course for the 2014-15 Premier League title.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38951027
|
China drone 'performance' may be record-breaker - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Up to 1,000 coloured drones flew through the sky in Guangzhou, southern China.
| null |
Up to 1,000 coloured drones flew through the sky in Guangzhou, southern China.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38951391
|
Lego fans build giant Cambridgeshire Great Fen wetland model - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Lego dragonflies and spiders will feature on the 3D "map" of a conservation project.
|
Cambridgeshire
|
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.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-38917415
|
Six Nations: Scotland 'chucked it away' against France - Stuart Hogg - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Full-back Stuart Hogg laments "costly errors" for a 10th consecutive Scotland defeat in Paris as they lose 22-16 to France.
| null |
Full-back Stuart Hogg believes Scotland "chucked away" a first victory in Paris for 18 years as their Six Nations hopes were jolted by a 22-16 loss to France.
The visitors twice led after tries by Hogg - his fifth in three Tests - and Tim Swinson, early in the second half.
But with several injuries to contend with, they had to settle for a bonus point after beating Ireland first up.
"France had a massive forward pack and really brought it to us. I think we chucked it away at the end," Hogg said.
"Our errors cost us throughout the game. We got ourselves in a good position after the first try, but we didn't look after the ball, we didn't respect it enough and ultimately that cost us.
"It wasn't the result we were looking for. Our next job now is Wales in a couple of weeks and we have to get ourselves back on the horse."
France threatened to overwhelm Scotland with their power and offloading game at times, but could only manage one try, via Gael Fickou in the first half, although Remi Lamerat's effort was ruled out by the television match official.
"It was a physical encounter," noted Scotland head coach Vern Cotter. "Quite a few times we came off second best.
"I thought the boys stuck in really well defensively and defended our line well.
"At critical times perhaps we weren't accurate enough and we will look at that before the next game."
The Scots lost captain Greig Laidlaw to injury after 25 minutes, with Glasgow's Ali Price coming on for only his second cap.
John Barclay, who took over as captain, also departed with a head knock before half-time, only for his replacement John Hardie to suffer the same fate just a minute into the second half.
Props Allan Dell and Zander Fagerson also went off under the attentions of team doctor James Robson before the hour, with hooker Fraser Brown forced off with 15 minutes left. Centre Alex Dunbar departed for a head injury assessment before returning to the field.
"Greig has a big part to play as captain and half-back, but Ali played well when he came on and the guys behind adapted well," Cotter added. "These things do happen and we had trained for it.
"John Barclay and John Hardie both had head injury assessments so we will have to wait and see how they come through the return-to-play protocols. John Barclay hurt his shoulder as well. There are other bumps and bruises but we are hoping everyone will be all right for the next one."
Cotter played down the effect of Finn Russell's bizarre missed conversion after Swinson's try put Scotland 16-13 ahead, when the fly-half appeared rushed into taking it after the late arrival of a kicking tee.
"I will have to look at that," Cotter added. "It was only two points and it didn't really matter. At the end it was a six-point game. These things happen.
"We are happy to come away with one point but we would certainly have liked to come away with more."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38951506
|
Money via mobile: The M-Pesa revolution - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
How mobile technology is profoundly changing access to money in the developing world.
|
Business
|
M-Pesa now has about 20 million users in Kenya
When 53 police officers in Afghanistan checked their phones in 2009, they felt sure there had been some mistake.
They knew they were part of a pilot project to see if public sector salaries could be paid via a new mobile money service called M-Paisa.
But had they somehow overlooked the detail that their participation brought a pay rise?
Or had someone mistyped the amount to send them?
The message said their salary was significantly larger than usual.
In fact, the amount was what they should have been getting all along.
But previously, they received their salaries in cash, passed down from the ministry via their superior officers.
Somewhere along the line, about 30% of their pay had been skimmed off.
Indeed, the ministry soon realised that one in 10 police officers whose salaries they had been dutifully paying did not exist.
The police officers were delighted to be getting their full salary.
Their commanders were less cheerful about losing their cut.
50 Things That Made the Modern Economy highlights the inventions, ideas and innovations that helped create the economic world.
Afghanistan is one of a number of developing countries whose economies are currently being reshaped by mobile money - the ability to send payments by text message.
The ubiquitous kiosks that sell prepaid mobile airtime effectively function like bank branches: you deposit cash, and the agent sends you an SMS adding that amount to your balance.
Or you send the agent an SMS, and she gives you cash.
And you can text some of your balance to anyone else.
It is an invention with roots in many places.
But it first took off in Kenya, and that story starts with a presentation made at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 by Vodafone's Nick Hughes.
His topic was how to encourage large corporations to allocate research funding to ideas that looked risky but might help poor countries' development.
In the audience was an official for the United Kingdom's Department for International Development.
DfID had money to invest in a "challenge fund" to improve access to financial services.
DfID had noticed the customers of African mobile networks were transferring prepaid airtime to each other as a sort of quasi-currency.
So the man from DFID had a proposition.
DfID would chip in £1m, provided Vodafone committed the same.
That got the attention of Mr Hughes's bosses.
But his initial idea was not about tackling corruption in the public sector.
It was about something much more limited - microfinance, a hot topic in international development at the time.
Hundreds of millions of would-be entrepreneurs were too poor for the banking system to bother lending them money.
If only they could borrow a small amount - enough to buy a cow, or sewing machine, or motorbike - they could start their own business.
Mr Hughes wanted to explore microfinance clients repaying their loans via SMS.
Mobile phones allowed Africans to work around their often woefully inadequate landline networks
By 2005, Mr Hughes's colleague Susie Lonie was in Kenya with Safaricom, a mobile network part-owned by Vodafone.
She recalls conducting one training session in a sweltering tin shed, and the incomprehension of microfinance clients.
Before she could explain M-Pesa, she had to explain how mobile phones worked.
But once people started using the service, it soon became clear they were using it for much more than repaying microfinance loans.
One woman in the pilot project texted some money to her husband after he was robbed, so he could catch the bus home.
Others said they had used M-Pesa to avoid being robbed, depositing money before a journey and withdrawing it on arrival.
Businesses deposited money overnight rather than keeping it in a safe.
People paid each other for services.
And workers in the city used M-Pesa to send money to relatives back home: much safer than the previous option, entrusting the bus driver with an envelope of cash.
M-Pesa transactions now account for almost half of Kenya's GDP
Ms Lonie realised they were on to something big.
Just eight months after its launch, a million Kenyans had signed up to M-Pesa.
Today, there are about 20 million users.
Within two years, M-Pesa transfers amounted to 10% of Kenya's gross domestic product (GDP) - now it accounts for nearly half.
Soon, there were 100 times as many M-Pesa kiosks in Kenya as cash machines.
M-Pesa is a textbook "leapfrog" technology: where an invention takes hold because the alternatives are poorly developed.
Mobile phones allowed Africans to leapfrog their often woefully inadequate landline networks.
M-Pesa exposed their banking systems, typically too inefficient to turn a profit from serving the low-income majority.
If you are plugged into the financial system, it is easy to take for granted that paying your utility bill does not require wasting hours trekking to an office and standing in a queue, or that you have a safer place to accumulate savings than under the mattress.
About two billion people are still outside the system, though the number is falling fast - driven largely by mobile money.
Most of the poorest Kenyans - those earning under $1.25 (£0.99) a day - signed up to M-Pesa within a few years.
By 2014, mobile money was in 60% of developing-country markets.
Some, such as Afghanistan, have embraced it quickly - but it has not even reached some others.
Nor do most developed-country customers have the option of sending money by SMS, even though it is simpler than a banking app.
Why did M-Pesa take off in Kenya?
One big reason was the relaxed approach of the banking and telecoms regulators.
According to one study, what rural Kenyan households most like about M-Pesa is the convenience for family members sending money home.
But two more benefits could be even more profound.
The first was discovered by those Afghan police officers - tackling corruption.
In Kenya, similarly, drivers soon realised that the police officers who pulled them over would not take bribes in M-Pesa: it would be linked to their phone number, and could be used as evidence.
Estimates suggest that Kenya's matatus - public transportation minibuses - lose a third of their revenue to theft and extortion.
In response, Kenya's government announced an ambitious plan to make mobile money mandatory on matatus - after all, if the driver has no cash, he cannot be asked for bribes.
But many matatu drivers have resisted.
Cash transactions facilitate not only corruption, but also tax evasion.
When income is traceable, it is also taxable.
That is the other big promise of mobile money: broadening the tax base, by formalising the grey economy.
From corrupt police commanders to tax-dodging taxi drivers, mobile money could lead to a profound cultural change.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38667475
|
BBC Sport - Scores, Fixtures, News - Live Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Sports news and live sports coverage including scores, results, video, audio and analysis on Football, F1, Cricket, Rugby Union and all other UK sports.
| null |
'It was like every other game, just with 50,000 more people'
Dan Whelan became the first Irish-born player to play in the NFL in 38 years last weekend as he helped Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0
|
The town with the world's most romantic postmark - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Loveland, Colorado, is smitten with Valentine's Day. Ask nicely and they'll even send you a card.
|
Magazine
|
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.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38898926
|
Co-op Bank running out of options - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Determining the right price for Co-op Bank will be hard, as the amount of capital any buyer needs to sink in is far from clear.
|
Business
|
After a near death experience in 2013 when Co-op Bank nearly went bust, it has been limping along ever since.
It was kept alive back then when lenders wrote off their debts in return for a stake in the bank, in a so-called debt for equity swap, but it has been unable to earn itself back to health.
It had been operating without the recommended shock absorbing capital for some time, the Bank of England told the BBC last week. This morning, the Bank welcomed Co-op bank's announcement.
When a bank has too little capital it only has three realistic options.
The first is to earn your way out of trouble. Retain any earnings you make to bolster the rainy-day kitty. In this super-low interest rate environment we have seen since 2008, all banks have found it very difficult to make a margin between what they pay their borrowers and charge their lenders.
In fact, this year the Co-op is expected to make a loss - after any earnings have been more than offset by the costs of sorting out old problems.
The second is to get your owners to put in extra money. Those owners include the Co-op Group who own 20%, a group of former lenders, plus a few hedge funds.
Although Co-op Group has not ruled out putting in extra money, it's a questionable use of funds for all of them, given that the bank is finding it hard to make a return for that investment for the reasons mentioned in option one.
The third is to find someone else well placed to add four million customers to an existing business - one which is not so bedevilled by legacy issues and might be able to find some economies of scale.
This list is not a long one but one name does suggest itself. The TSB, which was carved out of Lloyds to satisfy competition concerns over the scale of the Lloyds/HBOS merger.
With 600 branches, it lacks the scale to compete against the Big Five and it has a very strong capital position with no legacy issues.
Whether the bank would want to take on the problems of Co-op is questionable but it terms of brand (both have a local and ethical flavour to them) it might work.
The TSB is currently focused on completing a complicated IT separation from Lloyds, but the BBC understands that at the right price it might consider it,
Determining the right price will be hard as the amount of capital any buyer needs to sink into the Co-op is very far from clear.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38954097
|
Nathan Dyer: Swansea City winger out for season with Achilles injury - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Swansea City winger Nathan Dyer is ruled out for the rest of the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Swansea City winger Nathan Dyer has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
The 29-year-old limped off after just seven minutes of the 2-0 win over Leicester City on Sunday.
A Premier League winner while on loan at Leicester last season, Dyer will have surgery in due course.
The former Southampton player has featured in five games since Paul Clement was appointed Swans manager last month.
"The initial prognosis is it doesn't look good," Clement said.
Swansea are also without fellow wingers Jefferson Montero (torn hamstring) and Mo Barrow, who is on loan at Leeds United.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38959906
|
Council apology over trees planted on football pitch - BBC News
|
2017-02-13
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A council apologises after trees are planted on a football pitch, sparking social media reaction.
|
NE Scotland, Orkney & Shetland
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The trees were planted on the pitch at Logie Durno
A council has apologised after trees were planted on a football pitch.
The trees appeared at the pitch at Logie Durno in Aberdeenshire, sparking social media reaction.
Aberdeenshire Council was contacted, and the local authority said the intention was to turn over part of the area for "biodiversity" - but talks would now be held with the community.
A spokeswoman said: "It would seem that we were barking up the wrong tree with plans for this site."
The spokeswoman said of the site: "Anecdotally it was rarely used. However it is clear now that the community were not engaged with this plan.
"As such, we are going back to first principles with them so they can help us decide what this area should be used for.
"There are full pitches immediately next to this area for community leisure use and the trees will remain on this site until we can come to an agreement with residents.
"We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused."
On social media, people had been quick to poke fun at the situation.
One person wrote: "Are they playing tree a side?"
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-38955586
|
How Burnley exposed a weak spot in Chelsea's defence - Ruud Gullit - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Burnley's fast transition from defence to attack helped them cause trouble down Chelsea's left, says Match of the Day pundit Ruud Gullit.
| null |
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.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38952000
|
Six Nations 2017: France 22-16 Scotland - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-13
| null |
Scotland suffer a 10th straight defeat in Paris as France emerge victorious from a tense tussle at the Stade de France.
| null |
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).
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38934397
|
Fifty Shades of Grey blamed for fire brigade sex game callout rise - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
London Fire Brigade warns adventurous couples inspired by the erotic hit to be careful.
|
London
|
The movie Fifty Shades of Grey has been cited as a reason for the upsurge in incidents
Firefighters have blamed a rise in callouts involving sex games on kinky blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey.
The London Fire Brigade said the number of people who had to be released from handcuffs almost doubled in two years, from 15 in 2014-15 to 27 in 2015-16.
There were nine callouts involving "men with rings stuck on their penises" since April, it said.
The brigade urged adventurous couples to be careful in order to to avoid an "embarrassing" visit.
In the last five years the capital's fire crews have been called out to:
Each incident costs taxpayers at least £326 - a total of £830,000 over the past three years.
London Fire Brigade director of operations Dave Brown said: "We're pleased that fewer people are getting themselves stuck in difficult situations and reducing callouts; however, it seems the Fifty Shades of Grey effect is still leading to some call embarrassing callouts."
The warning was issued upon the cinematic release of the second Fifty Shades of Grey film.
Based on EL James's trio of hit erotic novels, it follows an affair between student Anastasia Steele and billionaire Christian Grey.
According to BBC Entertainment, the film adaptation has received a "critical spanking" from reviewers.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38959746
|
Adele fluffs cover of George Michael's Fastlove - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
Adele calls halt to cover of George Michael track at Grammys and starts again.
| null |
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?"
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38954080
|
Donald Trump vs Justin Trudeau: The political handshake - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
Watch how Canadian PM Justin Trudeau handles President Trump's dominant handshake.
| null |
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has met President Donald Trump for the first time and discussed issues including trade and refugees.
President Trump has become known for his rather dominant handshake - but it seems Mr Trudeau found a way of dealing with it, as this video demonstrates.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38971859
|
Joe Root: Is England Test captain the right Alastair Cook replacement? - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-14
| null |
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?
| null |
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.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/38557962
|
Tom Hardy on CBeebies is mums' Valentine's Day delight - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
News that Tom Hardy will read the Bedtime Story on CBeebies on Valentine's Day has been met with delight on social media.
| null |
News that Tom Hardy will read the Bedtime Story on CBeebies on Valentine's Day has been met with delight on social media.
The trailer had more than four million views after it was posted on Facebook.
The star, whose films include The Dark Knight Rises and Mad Max: Fury Road, will read The Cloudspotter by Tom McLaughlin at 1850 GMT.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38965921
|
Crossing the border: US migrants seek refugee status in Canada - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
An increasing number of people are crossing into Canada seeking refugee status.
|
US & Canada
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Asylum seekers are illegally crossing from the US into Canada in growing numbers hoping to receive refugee status. One small prairie town in southern Manitoba has become the nexus point for migrants who have lost hope in the US.
It was a cold Seidu Mohammed and Razak Iyal could barely comprehend.
On Christmas Eve, they found themselves struggling through a waist-deep field of snow in a rash night-time bid to sneak across the Canada-US border.
The two men had met just few hours before at a Minneapolis bus station and both faced deportation back to Ghana after being denied refugee status in the US.
They had heard through a network of other refugees and African expats that if they could get into Canada, they had a second shot at asylum in the north.
The view towards the US from Emerson, Manitoba
The path was straightforward: find a ride to the border from Minneapolis, MN or Grand Forks, ND, avoid patrols until you reach Canadian soil, and then turn yourself into Canadian authorities as an asylum seeker.
Iyal and Mohammed decided to make the trek together, and paid US$200 each to a cab driver who dropped them near the international boundary.
They kept to the road until they neared the border.
"That's where we saw the big farm with the snow. Snow everywhere. We were seeing the light of the border far from us, but we are seeing the light," Iyal recalls.
Soon they had lost their gloves in the snow. The wind stole Mohammed's baseball cap.
"There is wind and cold," he says "And the wind is blowing the snow into our face. So I can't see nothing."
By the time they reached Highway 75 in Manitoba, their hands had frozen into claws. They could not reach the phones in their pockets to dial 9-1-1 as planned. Mohammed's eyes had frozen shut.
The only vehicles on the road before dawn on Christmas were transport trucks ferrying cargo between the US and Canada. Many passed, flashing their high beams at the two before blowing by, until one stopped to give them assistance.
They have been receiving treatment at a specialised burn unit in a Winnipeg hospital since that 10-hour journey. Both had most of their fingers amputated due to the severe frostbite.
Iyal says nurses had to chip away at the snow and ice between Mohammed's fingers.
Their story has brought attention to a phenomenon that is not new but has been growing steadily in recent years. And it has not deterred others from making the cross-border trip. Record numbers of people have crossed near Emerson in the past few weeks.
It is not just Manitoba. Quebec and British Columbia are also seeing more and more people illegally crossing the border to make refugee claims.
In the prairie province, the influx is centred on Emerson, a municipality of about 700 people that borders Minnesota.
The rural town, surrounded by farm fields, is about 625km (390 miles) up the Interstate from Minneapolis, which has the largest Somali population in North America. Word about the Emerson crossing has spread within the expat community, as far as down to Brazil.
Janzen and other officials held an emergency meeting
"We've always had people jumping the borders, for, I don't know, 30, 40, 50 years. Back then, it was people running away from something - usually the law," says town official Greg Janzen.
But in recent years it has been mostly asylum seekers, hailing mainly from Somalia but also Ghana, Djibouti, and Ethiopia, who are finding their way across. Community workers say most have been denied refugee status in the US.
Many have been met with generosity.
Yahya Samatar, a former human rights worker in Somalia, fled threats from Islamist al-Shabab militants and sought refugee status in the US, where he spent seven months in an immigration detention centre.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
The US denied his status but said it was too dangerous to deport him back to war-torn Somalia, and released him with a warning that he could be sent back anytime.
Like Iyal and Mohammed, he heard about the backdoor into Canada, and found himself in August 2015 on the banks of the Red River, which runs through Manitoba and between North Dakota and Minnesota.
He stripped to his underwear and swam across. Shivering and covered in mud, he then walked into Emerson, where a resident gave him a sweater and called border services.
"I was given clothes, I was given food, everything" by border agents, says Samatar, who has since received refugee status and lives in Winnipeg.
But now in Emerson, a wariness is emerging.
The municipality that has opened its doors to those seeking refuge is wondering how far town resources will be stretched and what happens if someone who comes across poses a danger.
There are also concerns that someone will die trying to make the trek across frozen fields in temperatures that can easily fall to -20C (-4F). Many also expect the number of attempts to cross will increase with warmer weather.
For now, they do not see what other option there is except to do what they can to help.
"If we don't they'll freeze and starve, and it would be on our conscience wouldn't it?" says resident Walter Kihn, who lives on the eastern edge of Emerson.
Mr Janzen says "most people in town are more concerned than scared" about the strangers wandering into town.
In the last three weeks, almost 60 people made the trek, including 21 who crossed in the hours before dawn on Saturday morning.
A group of 16 people, including women and children, rang doorbells in town seeking help.
"They went to the neighbours and got everybody riled up there," said resident Ernie Neufeld. One house took in the women and children, while "the RCMP tried to decide what to do with" the men.
The Manitoba-US border runs 500km (310 miles) along Minnesota and North Dakota.
Authorities from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which oversees the official border points, and the Mounties, which polices the rest, say they are confident in the border's integrity.
And they say those coming are quickly spotted or turn themselves so they can submit refugee claims.
Once apprehended, they are identified, searched and screened. If they are eligible to make an asylum claim, they are allowed entry and referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
Refugee claimants arrive at the Welcome Place in Winnipeg
A refugee claimant arrives at Welcome Place settlement agency in Winnipeg
Settlement workers assisting with the newest claims are pointing to the political rhetoric south of the border for the recent spike.
Rita Chahal, executive director of the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council, has opened over 300 files since April 2016 for refugee claimants crossing near Emerson.
"Anecdotally, many people do express that they are concerned about what they saw at the airports, what they are seeing in the US," she says.
In fact, in a November speech in Minnesota, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump singled out the state's Somali community.
"Here in Minnesota, you've seen first hand the problems caused with faulty refugee-vetting, with very large numbers of Somali refugees coming into your state without your knowledge, your support or approval," he said.
Mohammed says he once viewed the US as a beacon for human rights and a place that welcomed newcomers but "when we came, we didn't see that".
He and Iyal have hearings in March to determine whether they can stay in Canada.
Their lawyer has told them not to divulge too many details about the specifics of their refugee claims but Iyal says he left Ghana for personal and political reasons.
Mohammed left because of his sexuality - being gay is illegal in the African country.
They say in the meantime they will continue to heal from their injuries and learn how to live with their disability.
"We just wait, impatiently, for what is coming next," Iyal says.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spoken about how important it is for Canada to welcome refugees
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38960035
|
Russia looms large behind Flynn affair - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Mike Flynn's resignation won't put to rest wider questions about the Trump administration's connection with Russia.
|
US & Canada
|
As with any resignation there are a thousand small, but nevertheless important questions. Most are of the who-knew-what-and-when variety. But with this astonishing fall from grace there is one big overarching question. I'll save that best bit for last.
The small questions concern whether Donald Trump knew about the calls Mike Flynn was making to the Russian ambassador, and what the substance of their conversations were.
What happened to the advice given by the acting attorney general to the White House counsel cautioning that Gen Flynn had not been entirely honest. Was the president aware of this? Were there different factions operating within the White House yesterday with different agendas on the embattled national security adviser's future?
Then we can go a sub-section of those questions which revolve around management at the White House. The seemingly dull-sounding process questions: What are the lines of communication? Who reports to whom?
Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer had very different public reactions to stories about Flynn on Monday
If that all sounds rather trivial, ask this - how was it possible that within a single hour yesterday afternoon Kellyanne Conway, counsel to the president, said Mr Flynn enjoyed the full support of Mr Trump, and then shortly afterwards, Communications Director Sean Spicer said the president was evaluating Mr Flynn's position?
Those just aren't reconcilable statements. Who was speaking on whose authority? This is not good communications strategy; this is what shambles looks like.
And let's deal with one bit of smoke that has been thrown up since the resignation. Kellyanne Conway was across the US networks this morning with a simple and tempting argument - what sealed Flynn's fate was his misleading of the vice president over the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador.
That resulted in Mike Pence going on TV in the middle of January and saying: "It was strictly coincidental that they had a conversation. They did not discuss anything having to do with the United States' decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia."
Of course, you can't lie/mislead/deceive/inadvertently misreport to (delete as appropriate) the vice president. But, if you draw yourself a little timeline of what happened then, what is striking is this - it is not the lie/misleading/deception/inadvertent misreporting that cost General Flynn his job, it is the lie/misleading/deception/inadvertent misreporting being made public by the Washington Post that cost him his job.
We now know the acting attorney general went to the White House weeks before to say voice intercepts of Gen Flynn's call proved that lifting of sanctions was discussed. But no action was taken then.
Only when it blew up did this become an issue. This conforms to the little discussed 11th Commandment that Moses handed down on his tablets of stone: Thou Shall Not Get Found Out.
But let us move on to the really big question. What does this say about President Trump's relationship with Russia? For a man who at the drop of a hat will freely spray insults on Twitter to anyone and anything, the one person he stubbornly refuses to say a bad word about is Vladimir Putin. Not ever.
White House staff in the Oval Office as Donald Trump speaks by phone to Vladimir Putin in late January
In one recent interview he seemed to suggest that America as a state had no greater moral authority than Russia. It was the doctrine of American Unexceptionalism, if you like.
Michael Flynn had sat with the Russian president not that long ago at a dinner honouring the pro-Moscow TV network Russia Today. Extraordinary that a former three star US general would be there. A dossier drawn up by a former MI6 officer - that was flatly denied - alleged all manner of Russian involvement in President Trump's businesses and presidential campaign.
Make no mistake, the Trump base love what they've heard about the migrant ban, the eviction of illegal immigrants, the jobs pledges and a lot more besides.
But what causes a lot of people to scratch their heads is why the love-in with Putin? What is driving this? Even if the most lurid things in the dossier were untrue, are there other things that are? Does Putin have some kind of leverage over the new American president?
The smaller questions, like they often do, will fade away with the next news cycle. These huge ones won't.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38974215
|
Joe Root: New England captain ready made for role - Michael Vaughan - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-14
| null |
New England Test captain Joe Root is ideally suited to the role, says former England skipper Michael Vaughan.
| null |
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."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/38957606
|
Trudeau meets Trump: A diplomatic balancing act - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refuses to criticise his host on thorny issues such as immigration.
|
US & Canada
|
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Justin Trudeau was asked to comment on Donald Trump's migrant ban.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a fine line to walk on Monday and came through with his best diplomatic balancing act.
Mr Trudeau headed to Washington hoping to secure reassurances that President Donald Trump valued the Canada-US relationship, especially its economic ties.
The prime minister can travel back to Ottawa with Mr Trump on the record as calling the trade relationship between the two nations "outstanding" and only in need of a "tweaking".
What those tweaks might entail is still to be revealed, but you could almost hear anxious Canadian businesspeople breathing a sigh of relief.
Trade relations with the US are crucial for Canada. More than 75% of its exports head south of the border, while 18% of US exports are sent north.
But Mr Trudeau and his ministers have repeatedly hammered home other statistics over the past few weeks that underscore the importance of Canada to American commerce.
Nearly nine million US jobs depend on trade and investment from Canada, while Canada is the top customer for 35 US states.
Mr Trump also made it clear he views economic relations with Mexico in a very different light than those with Canada. Mexico is the third partner with Canada and the US in the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"It's a much less severe situation than what's taking place on the southern border," the president said in reference to Canada-US trade during the joint news conference with Mr Trudeau at the White House.
This first face-to-face meeting also offered a clue at how far Mr Trudeau was willing to go preserve those vital trade ties.
He refused to bite when the press repeatedly baited him to criticise his host on thorny issues like immigration, though many of his own policies stand as a reproach to those of the new US president's.
Mr Trudeau is a self-described feminist who calls himself "extremely free trade" and has made Canada's openness to immigration, diversity, and refugees part of the country's - and his own - brand.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A brief look at the long friendship between the United States and Canada
But on Monday his message was that "the last thing Canadians expect is for me to come down and lecture another country on how they chose to govern themselves".
In fact, Mr Trudeau and Liberal MPs have been disciplined in their refusal to criticise Mr Trump over the past few months.
The most pointed they got was when the prime minister tweeted out a welcome to refugees just as the US was implementing the temporary ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Opposition Conservative leader Rona Ambrose said that discipline is a smart move given how paramount relations with the US are to Canada.
"This is a delicate situation here. I don't think it would help anyone in this country if the prime minister went to the US and started a fight," she told reporters in Ottawa.
Another clue as to just how much significance Ottawa has placed on this first face-to-face meeting with the new American administration was the prime minister's entourage.
Mr Trudeau brought five ministers with him to Washington, a who's who of Canada's top Cabinet members, as well as his most trusted senior aides.
The two world leaders worked hard to play up the similarities in their first meeting and beyond that key trade assurance, the Canadian delegation will leave Washington having secured a few other commitments from the US.
Those include commitments to collaborate on improving clean energy and enhancing efficiency at border crossings, to tackle opioid trafficking, and the creation of a Canada-US council geared towards promoting women-owned enterprises.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38960968
|
MoD owes soldiers duty of care - father - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
One father on why the Ministry of Defence owes soldiers a duty of care, and should be held accountable in court when it fails.
| null |
Soldiers and their families must be able to sue the Ministry of Defence for negligence in court, a father has told the BBC.
The MoD says proposals to assess compensation claims in-house would see better payouts for service personnel injured or killed in combat.
But Colin Redpath, whose son was killed in Iraq, says they should be held accountable by the legal system.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38963634
|
The most 'swiped-right' man on dating app Tinder - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Stefan-Pierre Tomlin, the most "swiped-right" man in the UK on Tinder, shares his tips.
|
UK
|
Stefan spends up to half an hour a day on Tinder
It's Valentine's Day - and for many single people it may be difficult to find a date. But not for Stefan - the most coveted man on dating app Tinder. He receives more "swipe-rights" than any other man on the app, as he explains to the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme.
Job: Fashion model. Previously worked as a toy demonstrator in Hamleys and Harrods.
Claim to fame: The most swiped-right man on Tinder.
Popularity: I get around 40 matches a day. The number's doubled in the last month alone - I've had to turn my notifications off.
Relationship status: I've been single for around seven months now. I was seeing someone, but it didn't really work out.
Do you enjoy being single? When I find the right girl, I'm more than happy to settle down - I want someone who will be my best friend as well as a partner. But as I get older, there is a bit more added pressure to find someone. My mum drops little hints here and there that she wants to be a grandma.
Stefan has a piloting licence, having been in the RAF Air Cadets
Time spent on Tinder: Quite often half an hour a day, sometimes just 10 minutes.
Tips for success: Have a bit of character on your bio, definitely. There's no point in just being good looking in photos if you're bland to talk to. I always look for personality - someone who can have a laugh. One of my own previous bios was simply "Model. Too stupid to write a bio," playing on the idea that models aren't supposed to be clever.
And when it comes to starting the conversation: I'm looking for someone who has a good opening line, something funny or that makes them stand out. One match recently started with "so what gives you the privilege of me swiping right?". That's been one of the best.
What are your interests? I'm really into aviation. I used to be in the RAF air cadets, so I have a pilot's licence to fly the Cessna 152, a fixed-wing plane.
How often do you date? I don't get a lot of time because of my job. I've probably only been on five or six while on Tinder, but I have also met people at events with my work - so it's not just dating apps.
What are you like on a date? I'd say I'm shy to start off with, and then I warm up and become more confident. I like to think I'm good at getting the conversation flowing, but I think everyone finds first dates can become a bit like an interview with all the questions!
What's your worst Valentine's Day date? There was one time when I made lots of effort, with my girlfriend at that point. I bought lots of little gifts for her, and we went to a really nice restaurant - but I just got nothing back in return. Not even a card.
Do you have a Valentine's date this year? Yes, I'm going on a second date with a girl I met on Tinder - to a nice restaurant in Knightsbridge in London.
Are you paying? Of course! It would be rude not to.
The Victoria Derbyshire programme is broadcast on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38967725
|
Joe Root: Natural cricketer has a huge job as captain - Jonathan Agnew - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-14
| null |
Joe Root is a natural cricketer but he has a huge job ahead of him as captain, says BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew.
| null |
There is no other job in major sport like a cricket captain. It is a huge job.
Joe Root thinks a lot about cricket. He is a natural cricketer and that is where captaincy comes into it. The most important thing for him is to get a good start.
It's not going to be easy and I hope people give him time. You get judged very quickly these days. People have got to be patient and understand this is a long-term appointment.
He's starting from a team that took a bit of a mauling in India. He has to come back and he has just a short time to get them ready for the Ashes. There's a lot going on.
He will be very excited about it and very proud when he walks down those steps for the first time, leading his team out. It will be fantastic - but there will be obviously some uncertainty about how things go.
He'll have a lot of help with Alastair Cook, Stuart Broad and James Anderson out there, but ultimately it's your responsibility. It needs to start well, otherwise you inevitably start to question yourself and so on.
I think he will be more adventurous than Cook. He is that sort of person: a bit of a jack-the-lad, a playful character, an impersonator. All that will have to change now in the dressing room. He will still have a bit of a laugh with his team-mates but there is now a bit of water between you and them.
They all respect him immensely as a batsman but now he's got to win the bowlers over and convince them he knows what he's doing in terms of bowling changes and field settings, all that sort of business.
Will being captain affect how he plays?
It's impossible to say if the captaincy will affect his batting. We saw Root have a hard time in Australia in 2013-14 and he ended up being dropped for the final Test in Sydney. He hasn't looked back since then.
Anybody can have a dip in form. When you are captain at the same time, that's when it gets difficult and when your own game starts to decay because you have other worries and pressures.
It will be a more standardised England formula in the summer. I would hope he would bat at four and I wasn't happy with him batting at three. I would have thought it would be Cook, Haseeb Hameed and Keaton Jennings at three. Jennings looks a natural three to me and it gives England a left-hand-right-hand opening combination.
How does he manage England's bowlers?
As a batting captain, you do have to earn bowlers' trust, especially when it comes to fields. I think Anderson and Broad can both be a little bit defensive at times with their field settings and I thought Cook allowed them to be.
They often fall back into defensive mode - and that's OK - but there are times when you have to attack: have a gully in rather than a backward point and so on. I would hope that Root will stamp his authority on them and say: "No actually, we're going to have a man there, catching, if he's just come in."
It's important he establishes who is boss, but you obviously want the bowlers to work for you. They all know him and like him, he is a very popular member of the team - so they will all work for him. Anderson and Broad have had their injury concerns and they both want to keep playing for as long as they can.
It's important for the captain to assert himself, particularly over experienced bowlers, and explain why he's making a decision - but at the same time making bowlers think for themselves. That is what makes a good bowler. The bowler is doing a lot of the thinking and the planning, then executing those plans.
For someone more inexperienced, like Moeen Ali, it is different. Moeen comes on quite relaxed and bowls well for his opening over, but he is not as consistent as I'm sure he would like to be. Root will decide if you give him some cover or defensive positions just to get him settled down and into a rhythm.
What sort of vice-captain will Stokes be?
Having Ben Stokes as vice-captain is good for both players. Stokes is a lively character, a real in-your-face cricketer. Vice-captains are rather good like that if you have a more mellow captain. With Stokes you want someone a bit like a sergeant major, to fire up everyone. I hope it'll lift his game too. I think he and Root will be quite an exciting combination.
Captains like India's Virat Kohli and New Zealand's Kane Williamson have taken to the job without any experience and that is what players are expected to do now. People are still going to have to be patient.
Joe is going to have to learn and he's going to have to talk to people. I think perhaps modern-day captains aren't as imaginative as those brought up playing three-day county cricket, where you had to really create matches and really work bowling to set matches up and win from difficult positions.
There's an awful lot Root could learn from driving a little way up the M1 for an hour and speaking to Ray Illingworth. That would be brilliant. Go back a bit, talk to some of the old fellas who were captains! You never stop learning in this game.
• None Is Root the right man?
How big a test will the summer be?
The odds are it is going to be a difficult summer for Root. First England face South Africa, who are the third-ranked Test team in the world. They have just beaten up Australia in Australia and they are not coming over here to give England a nice, easy time.
People will immediately start saying the captaincy is affecting his form. That puts him even more on the back foot - and these things can spiral.
I would suspect that potentially a bit of a tricky series is the West Indies series. Everyone will be expecting England to win handsomely. South Africa will be very tough and we know that - but the West Indies shouldn't be.
They should be dealt with easily by England in our conditions. That's the series that he mustn't slip up in otherwise, before the Ashes and everything else, that's when people might start talking.
It's a potential area where he needs to get through and not give anybody any opportunity to suggest the captaincy is in any way affecting his batting.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/38960067
|
Which countries love and hate Valentine's Day? - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
From condom raids to emoji bans: Valentine's Day gets political
|
World
|
Valentine's Day is sweet for some, but not everyone sees it through rose-tinted spectacles
For the cynics among us, Valentine's Day is an annual nightmare: everything turns pink and heart-shaped, restaurants slap a premium price on a sub-par "special menu", and Hallmark shareholders are laughing all the way to the bank.
But beyond the cuddly toys and red roses, the tradition draws mixed reactions around the world.
From the hardline to the downright bizarre, here are just some of the ways Valentine's Day is embraced - or spurned like an unwanted lover...
Authorities in some parts of Indonesia have banned students from celebrating Valentine's Day, saying it encourages casual sex. In the city of Makassar, police raided shops and dismantled condom displays.
The mayor told the BBC that condoms were removed from sight after customers complained, but would still be sold discreetly.
Valentine's Day has its roots in a Roman fertility celebration, but later evolved into a Christian feast day - a fact that worries conservatives in some Muslim-majority countries.
In Indonesia's second-largest city, Surabaya, pupils were told to reject the festival as it runs against cultural norms.
Next door to Indonesia, Malaysia has also seen a Valentine's backlash.
A group called the National Muslim Youth Association has urged women and girls to avoid using emoticons or overdoing the perfume, in a pre-Valentine's Day message.
The group's guidance included advice on how to combat the celebration of romance by making anti-Valentine posters and shunning Valentine-themed outfits.
The group made its anti-Cupid views clear through its Facebook picture
Robben Island will forever be associated with the infamous prison that held Nelson Mandela - but since 2000, it has hosted a mass celebration of love on 14 February.
The tradition was started by South Africa's Department of Home Affairs and the Robben Island Museum, and now attracts couples from across the globe.
This year, 20 pairs are planning to say "I do" in the island's little white chapel.
The service is offered for a small fee, and includes a tour of the island.
Organisers say 2017's couples were "chosen by the department based on their diversity and interesting romantic stories".
A bride and groom laugh during their Robben Island ceremony
Thailand's civil servants are handing out free pre-natal pills on the streets of Bangkok on Valentine's Day, hoping to boost the country's falling birth rate.
Around 1 million baht ($28,600; £22,900) has been spent on the pills, for prospective mothers aged 20 to 34.
The "very magical vitamins" (to use the government's words) contain folic acid and iron.
In 1970, Thai couples had an average of six children, but the figure now stands at 1.6.
The High Court in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, has banned public celebrations of Valentine's Day, saying it is not part of Muslim culture.
The festival has gained a foothold in recent years, but local critics say it is a decadent Western invention.
The court order bans the media from covering Valentine's events, and bans festivities in public places and government offices.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A court in Pakistan has banned public celebrations of Valentine's Day in Islamabad
Saudi Arabia's religious police are on alert at this time of year for love-themed merchandise, including flowers, cards and suspicious "red items".
Florists have been known to deliver bouquets in the middle of the night to avoid detection, as determined lovers flout the countrywide ban.
A black market in roses and wrapping paper helps some broadcast their feelings.
But for others, it's the perfect time of year for a romantic break - to nearby Bahrain or the UAE, where celebrations are more tolerated.
Holidays to Dubai are one way for Saudi couples to dodge the crackdown
As Japan geared up for the 14th, a group of Marxist protesters unfurled a giant "Smash Valentine's Day" banner in Tokyo.
The "Kakuhido", or Revolutionary Alliance of Men that Women find Unattractive, want an end to public displays of love that "hurt their feelings".
Members have been known to chant slogans including "public smooching is terrorism".
"Our aim is to crush this love capitalism," said Takayuki Akimoto, the group's PR chief.
"People like us who don't seek value in love are being oppressed by society," he added.
"It's a conspiracy by people who think unattractive guys are inferior, or losers - like cuddling in public, it makes us feel bad. It's unforgivable!"
The protests came as Japan's family planning association revealed that "sexless marriages" in the country are at a record high.
Nearly 50% of married Japanese couples had not had sex for more than a month and did not expect that to change in the near future, it said.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-38966636
|
Oroville Dam: Aerials show damaged overspill - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
Water gushes down a damaged overspill at the country's highest dam, where 180,000 people have been evacuated.
| null |
More than 180,000 people in northern California have been told to evacuate after two overflow channels at the US's tallest dam were found to be damaged.
The 770ft (230m) high Oroville Dam is not itself at risk of collapsing, but its emergency spillway was close to caving in, officials said.
The excess water has now stopped flowing.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38961400
|
India tiger cubs 'adopt' stuffed toy after losing mother - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
Three tiger cubs "adopt" a life-sized toy after their mother is found dead in an Indian park.
| null |
Three rescued tiger cubs in India have taken to a life-sized soft toy after their mother was found dead in a wildlife park.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-38970901
|
James Nesbitt: Hair transplants helped me get better roles - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
"In terms of the range of leading roles I've had since then, it's probably helped," the actor says.
|
Entertainment & Arts
|
Nesbitt had notably thicker hair in 2016 (r) than 2005 (l)
Hair transplants gave actor James Nesbitt a new lease of confidence, the Cold Feet star has revealed.
Speaking to the Radio Times, Nesbitt said the highly publicised transplants had benefited his career.
The 52-year-old underwent several procedures over a number of years.
"I was very happy to be open about it," he said. "I just thought, 'Come on, somebody is going to say it before I say it'."
"It was something I struggled with," he went on. "And that was probably the vanity in me.
"But also career-wise it had an impact; in terms of the range of leading roles I've had since then, it's probably helped."
Despite his own cosmetic changes, Nesbitt - whose TV roles also include Murphy's Law and The Missing - said he thought it was a shame when young men considered plastic surgery.
"There always used to be the sense that age adds character," he said.
"You look at Samuel Beckett when he was older, Richard Harris, but I think with younger men it seems to be a big pressure."
Nesbitt also spoke about his recent split from wife Sonia Forbes-Adam, with whom he has two grown-up children, after 22 years of marriage.
He said he regretted the amount of time he had put into work.
"I certainly regret things, but I'm also aware that I can't change them. You can try to learn from it. I regret any pain that was caused.
"I think separating has an impact because you look at why it happened and you see mistakes that were made," he added.
"I'm lucky enough to be able to look back at stuff and say, 'Oh well that was then, I've had a good lash at that, and this is now'."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38956876
|
Council apology over trees planted on football pitch - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
A council has apologised after trees were planted on a football pitch.
| null |
A council has apologised after trees were planted on a football pitch.
The trees appeared at the pitch at Logie Durno in Aberdeenshire, sparking social media reaction.
Aberdeenshire Council was contacted, and the local authority said the intention was to turn over part of the area for "biodiversity" - but talks would now be held with the community.
A spokeswoman said: "It would seem that we were barking up the wrong tree with plans for this site."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-38963887
|
The man with millions of jobs that need doing - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
How Australian entrepreneur Matt Barrie set up and grew website Freelancer, which links people who need tasks done with others who bid for the work.
|
Business
|
Matt Barrie was trying to help his mother set up a website
It was doing a favour for his mother that gave entrepreneur Matt Barrie the idea for setting up a business that is now worth more than A$400m ($300m; £243m).
His company and website Freelancer has a simple concept - it connects people who have work they need doing with others who compete to do the task by submitting the fee they would charge.
Founded just eight years ago in Sydney, today the website has more than 22.5 million users around the world, both freelance workers and those seeking their services.
Jobs advertised on Freelancer include everything from help with building a mobile phone app, to writing a company report, designing a tattoo, and help with gaining publicity for something.
US space agency Nasa has even used the website since 2015, allowing people to bid to help design items for the International Space Station, including a new robotic arm.
It is a pretty good success story for a 43-year-old who admits that when he came up with the idea for Freelancer he was "a broken man".
In 2006 Mr Barrie had walked out of his first start-up - a Sydney-based firm called Sensory Networks that made computer chips for security equipment. He was not feeling good.
Site users submit photos from around the world - this one is from Maccu Pichu in Peru
"People used the product but everything was wrong with how we sold it," he says.
Despite a blaze of publicity and the support of venture capitalists (VCs), the marketing proved too tough, and the company was struggling. So Mr Barrie quit.
"You feel you have let your VCs down, the board, your friends that you hired, your family," he says.
Sensory Networks went on to survive without Mr Barrie, and was eventually bought by chip giant Intel in 2013 for $20m, but he says that back in 2006 he "really felt like a failure".
After a few months of "decompressing", Mr Barrie was beginning to think about his next move when the 2007 global financial crisis swept in.
"The whole world was collapsing. Businesses weren't getting funded anymore. I thought, 'what am I going to do with myself?'" he recalls.
He decided to take advantage of the enforced downtime to build a website for his mother, a wholesale art and craft supplier.
He wanted to include a directory of the stores she supplied, thinking it might encourage others to want to be included. The first Excel spreadsheet had 1,000 rows.
Faced with that, Mr Barrie decided to outsource the data entry side of things to local kids. But even offering A$2,000 overall, nobody came running.
"I looked around, asked a few people, and they'd say, 'oh it's boring.' I'd reply, 'I know it's boring! That's why I want you to do it.'"
Matt Barrie broke the bell when the company floated in 2013
After four months Mr Barrie started searching online in desperation for cheap data entry, and stumbled upon a site based in Sweden called Getafreelancer.
"It was the ugliest site you have ever seen in your life. I eventually figured out how to post a job," he says.
"I went to get lunch, and came back to 74 emails from people saying you're offering A$2,000, I'll do it for A$1,000, A$500 and so on… I thought it was a scam."
He eventually hired a team in India who did the job in three days for A$100.
"I thought was incredible, a whole army of people out there, many from emerging markets. I looked at all the projects on the website. It was like an ebay for jobs. I thought wow.
Matt's colleagues had fun when he was on the cover of Australian business magazine BRW
Mr Barrie was so impressed by the concept that he decided to set up his own version.
The VCs who had flocked to his first start-up were far more cautious this time round, and banks were unwilling to loan to a web-based business with no physical, recoverable assets in the event of failure.
In the end a friend who had sold his own firm stumped up the money, and Mr Barrie first secured workers via Getafreelancer, before then buying that business.
Freelancer, whose entire operation is cloud-based using Amazon Web Services, has since gone on to buy up 18 other rival sites. Its directly employed workforce now totals 570 people.
Sites like Freelancer have faced criticism for driving down prices for professionals trying to sell their services, but Mr Barrie counters that the company has had a huge, positive impact on millions of people in developing countries.
"You can be somewhere where your average wage is A$2 a day," he says.
Matt Barrie says he is a workaholic
"You can make your month's salary in a few days. It's the ultimate meritocracy. It's up to you to figure out what you want to do."
And it is also not necessarily the lowest bidder who wins the job - Freelancer says that 47% of the projects on its site are awarded to "the median bidder or higher".
Entrepreneur Emma Sinclair, co-founder of human resources software business Enterprise Jungle, says firms are increasingly looking to hire non-staff to complete projects rather than carry out the work in-house.
"Nearly 35% of today's total workforce is comprised of non-employee workers and this is set to continue to grow," she says
"Sites like Freelancer are therefore very well-placed to service both the growing on-demand labour force looking for work, as well as the corporates who are hiring them.
"It is an invaluable marketplace for talent, with an all-important rating system to weed out the poor or unreliable performers."
On a day-to-day basis Mr Barrie is, by his own admission, a workaholic.
"I live this, I breathe it. I get up in the morning and start work. I'm often in the office until 10pm.
"I've had several offers to sell - one formal. I had a good think, and said I couldn't think of doing anything else."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38881870
|
Is Saudi Arabia on the cusp of change? - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Observers say the country needs to adapt as its oil reserves start declining.
|
Middle East
|
Women are banned from driving in Saudi Arabia
Ask about change in Saudi Arabia.
The reply used to be: it will come, in its own way and in its own time, in the conservative kingdom.
It was another way of saying it would take a long time - and might never happen.
But, in Saudi Arabia now, talk of change is measured in months.
"I made a bet with a male colleague that the ban on women driving would end in the first six months of this year, and he said it would happen in the second half," a successful Saudi businesswoman says to me over lunch in the capital, Riyadh.
"But now I think it will happen early next year, and apply only to women over 40," she adds.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
That's a prediction you hear in Riyadh's royal circles too. Some even say younger women will be allowed to drive before too long.
Change on every front is still slow and cautious in a culture where ultra-conservative religious authorities wield great influence, and many Saudis want to hold on to their old ways of living.
But an accelerating pace is largely being forced on Saudi rulers and society by a dramatic change in fortune for the world's biggest oil producer.
The crash in world prices for Saudi Arabia's black gold halved its revenues a few years ago and now shapes the hard choices and changes it must make in many parts of life here.
"It's been a one engine jet for decades," is how John Sfakianakis of the Gulf Research Center explains a country that depends on oil and gas for 90% of its income.
"Now it needs multiple engines."
Enter a new master plan, grandly titled Vision 2030, which was unveiled with great fanfare last year.
It's stamped with the imprimatur of the 31-year-old Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, who crafted the ambitious blueprint with a cast of highly paid foreign consultants.
The deputy crown prince and those around him know that someday oil wells will run dry and, even before that, most people will be driving electric cars.
"It's absolutely necessary to get to Vision 2030 and our objectives," says the country's powerful Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih.
The former CEO of the state oil giant, Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, Mr al-Falih even has the need to diversify written into his new title. He's the minister of energy, industry and mineral resources.
"Whether we get there in 2030, whether we get some of them in 2025, some of them in 2030, some of them in 2035, we'll see," he explains in a nod to a master plan with demanding benchmarks for every ministry.
Saudi editor and writer Khaled Maeena points to a new accountability starting to emerge.
"Everybody is on the go, ministers bureaucrats and all, looking over their shoulders not to make mistakes," he says.
Those at the top, he adds, must "lead by example".
Two third's of Saudi Arabia's population is aged below 30
Salaries and lavish perks have been slashed in government jobs. The private sector is expected to provide one of the big engines for growth. It's still not up to speed.
"We're not hiring now," asserts a Saudi business executive who oversees a vast conglomerate of companies. "And we're not selling to the government unless we're sure we'll get paid for our goods."
"Vision 2030 is unlikely to reach its destination in 2030," a sceptical Saudi statistician replies when I ask for his view. Like most Saudis who criticise, he asks not to use his name.
"But at least there is a vision, and this time there are practicalities about how to achieve it," he adds, in a reference to previous schemes which never went anywhere.
"This is la la land," was the even more scathing assessment of another consultant. "Is there a bureaucracy able to implement it and a readiness at the top to change their own lives?"
Many of Saudi Arabia's young are educated abroad
The young deputy crown prince driving this plan, who is seen as the favourite son of 81-year-old King Salman, knows there's another clock fuelling pressure for change.
Two-thirds of Saudis are his age or younger.
Hundreds of thousands of them, men and women, were educated at the best western universities thanks to a generous scholarship programme started by the former King Abdullah.
Now they're back, looking for work but also ways to spend their weekends in an austere culture where even cinemas are banned,
Under the rules, men can only sit with women if they are dining with their female relatives, or "families" as that section is known.
But even since my last visit about a year ago, small but significant steps are visible.
Gone from the streets of the capital are the notorious religious police, the Mutawa, who used to roam in a mission to "prevent vice and promote virtue" and were often accused of zealously abusing their powers. The deputy crown prince is credited with sorting this out.
Many Saudis are excited at the prospect of more entertainment events
Wealthy Riyadh residents speak excitedly of newly opened restaurants where seating arrangements are less strict and music blares loudly.
"We need to see women drivers and cinemas here," insists Waleed al-Saedan when we meet at one of the few public places where the speed of life truly picks up.
"Dune bashing" in the desert provides one of the few legal thrills as Saudis rev the engines of sand buggies and SUVs to careen down the soft slopes of sand.
Dune bashing is a popular sport in parts of the Middle East
As is so often the case here, it's usually a men-only adventure.
But a new General Entertainment Authority is on the case. Despite its stern title, the people who run it are on a mission to bring some fun to Saudi lives, albeit within limits. No one is suggesting drinking and dancing.
"My mission is to make people happy," asserts the authority's chairman Ahmed al-Khatib, whose own serious demeanour is quickly brightened by a smile.
A calendar of some 80 events ranging from art festivals to light shows and live music concerts is carefully prepared and implemented to avoid any backlash which could put the whole project at risk.
Huge crowds turned out for a rare concert in January
"We will definitely provide things for the more open people and we will provide activities and things for the more conservative people," Mr al-Khatib explains, choosing his words carefully.
Opening up more social freedoms isn't just about providing more fun.
"Seventy billion riyals are being spent by Saudis on holidays abroad," laments a Saudi tour operator who is trying to tempt Saudis to spend more of their time and money at home instead of fleeing to the bright lights of Dubai or London.
Women are being encouraged to take part in Vision 2030
More profound changes like political reform, tackling a questionable human rights record, or easing a web of restrictions on women's lives aren't on the agenda.
And at the same time as happiness is on the agenda, so is pain.
This is a country where people have always lived with cheap petrol, without taxes, and free water and electricity.
Saudi Arabia will have to diversify its revenue streams in the coming years
Now subsidies are being cut and a sales tax introduced. A new "Citizen's Account" will help lighten the burden for poorer families, but Saudis are having to juggle their own finances now.
"Saudis have taken too much for granted for too long," insists Nadia al-Hazza, an engineer who used to work in the oil and gas sector who is now helping to get women involved in Vision 2030.
She starts her presentations with a famous mantra from former US President John F Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
So now Saudis are also being asked to do more, and faster, than they've ever been used to.
"We're like a turtle on wheels," says political observer Hassan Yassin. "We're moving in a faster way to try to meet local demands and 21st Century obligations."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38951539
|
Laura Kenny and husband Jason expecting first child - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-14
| null |
Olympic cycling champions Laura and Jason Kenny announce they are expecting their first child.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Cycling
Britain's Olympic champions Jason and Laura Kenny are expecting their first child, the couple's agent confirmed.
Four-time Olympic gold medallist Laura Kenny, 24, revealed the news with a post on Instagram of two adult bikes lined up alongside a child's bike.
Husband Jason added his own post on Twitter, while Great Britain team-mate Dani King tweeted "best news ever".
Agent Luke Lloyd-Davies said the couple and their families are "absolutely thrilled and delighted with the news".
"They very much appreciate all the kind wishes and messages of support that they have received already," he added.
The couple, who married in September in a private ceremony, went public with the news following their 12-week scan.
Jason, 28, has won six track cycling Olympic gold medals, including three at last summer's Games in Rio.
Laura pulled out of last month's National Track Championships after injuring a hamstring, but said at the time she hoped to be fit for April's World Championships in Hong Kong
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/38976367
|
Rolls Royce – The good, the bad and the ugly - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
On the face of it, the latest results couldn't be more ugly - but they're not as ugly as they look.
|
Business
|
On the face of it, today's results couldn't be more ugly. A reported loss of £4.6bn is the biggest in the company's 133 year history and one of the biggest UK corporate losses of all time. However, while these results are certainly not good, they are not as ugly as they look.
The results are massively distorted by a whopping hit of £4.4bn thanks to an accounting charge which if you bear with me I can explain.
In simple terms, Rolls Royce sells engines and long term service contracts in dollars. Those contracts can last 20 years. The biggest risk for Rolls Royce is that the value of the dollar falls against the pound meaning those long term service revenues are worth less in sterling terms. The company insures itself against that by entering into long term foreign exchange deals to guarantee the revenues don't dwindle. If the dollar falls, it doesn't matter, because the value of your foreign exchange contract - or hedge - goes up as the dollar goes down.
When the opposite happens and the pound falls sharply (as in the 20% fall since the referendum) the paper value of the contract - or hedge - goes down.
The £4.4bn loss is a reflection of many years' worth of contracts being worth less than when they were taken out. Once a year you have to tot all these contracts up and this year the result was a whopping accounting charge. It's worth emphasising that the company has not had to fork out this £4.4bn in real money.
Taking that charge out, these results are not so much ugly as bad.
Underlying profits, meaning profits that strip out these confusing accounting charges have fallen by a half. That is a fair assessment of the business.
Many of Rolls Royce's older engines are being taken out of service faster than its new engines are being taken up by newer planes. Not only that, but the newer engines will take longer to make a profit as the costs of development, testing and launch overshadow the early years of an engines life.
The real gravy is the money to service them which comes rolling in for many years at little additional cost. With several new engines launched recently those days are some way off.
The good is that orders for these new engines look pretty healthy which bodes well for future profits. The new management team has simplified a sprawling business and costs are lower which will increase future profit margins. Cash flow remains pretty strong which means that the many pension funds that own Rolls Royce shares should continue to receive their dividends.
There is something else distorting these results which really muddies the good bad and ugly waters as it pits ethical, pragmatic and political concerns against each other.
Selling civil aviation, nuclear and military hardware to companies and governments around the world can be a murky business. For decades, palms have been greased, strings pulled and backhanders given.
Rolls Royce was no exception and this year agreed to pay £671m to settle corruption charges which included falsifying accounts, attempting to thwart investigations, and paying tens of millions in bribes to win engine and other deals in Indonesia, Thailand, China and Russia. The charges relate to a 24 year period from 1989 to 2013.
The settlement is in place of a criminal conviction. A conviction could have meant Rolls Royce being banned from bidding on lucrative government contracts in the US, the UK and Brazil.
According to the judge who allowed this special settlement, Sir Brian Leveson, these were serious breaches of the law, and knowledge of them went right to the top.
He said: "The proceedings reveal the most serious breaches of the criminal law in the areas of bribery and corruption (some of which implicated senior management and, on the face of it, controlling minds of the company)."
Those controlling minds have mostly left the company and may yet have their individual collars felt by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
When asked whether former executives would have bonuses from that period clawed back, current chief executive, Warren East, said the board had looked "very hard at that" but the answer was no.
In other words, if we could legally have clawed it back years later - we would have done.
The judge's decision to allow a financial settlement, as opposed to criminal charges, was based on the co-operation of the current management, the reforms it has made to practices, and the significant damage a successful prosecution would do not only to a world-leading company, and "employees, others innocent of misconduct or what might otherwise be described as the consequences of a conviction".
The judge said that the national interest was "irrelevant" in fending off prosecution but it seems obvious that some of his concerns for the company and its workers overlap with what most would consider in the national interest.
No one is suggesting that £671m is a mere slap on the wrist. In fact, the £497m bit of the fine levied by the SFO is the biggest it has ever imposed and will be considered a feather in its cap.
Others will observe that when it comes to ethics versus jobs and money, jobs and money usually come out on top.
Depending on your own view of the world that is either good, bad or ugly.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38971028
|
India to launch 104 satellites in single space mission - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
India is set to launch a record 104 satellites into space in a single mission.
| null |
India is set to launch a record 104 satellites into space in a single mission on 15 February.
Although there is no direct space rivalry between China and India some analysts have compared it to the US-Soviet "space race".
Video produced by Suniti Singh and Pratik Jakhar; images courtesy of AP/AFP
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38959676
|
Police job candidate arrested for drinking and driving - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Man arrested for drink-driving after he turned up for a police job interview smelling of alcohol.
|
Manchester
|
A police job candidate was arrested for drinking and driving after he turned up for a interview smelling of alcohol.
A Greater Manchester Police employee noticed an "overpowering smell" on the man's breath during an interview for an IT management role.
Andrew Jackson, 48, then disclosed he had had trouble parking, was breathalysed and arrested.
In court, he admitted drinking and driving and was banned for a year, police said.
The IT worker appeared at Bury and Rochdale Magistrates' Court on Friday, was fined £120 with a £30 victim surcharge and ordered to pay £85 costs.
Mr Jackson, of Barlow Moor Road, Didsbury, Manchester was told his ban would be reduced to seven months on completion of a drink-driving awareness course.
His hour-long interview took place on 25 January at a training centre in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, but he fell foul of the law when he revealed his travel arrangements.
The interviewer, a civilian worker, said: "I asked if he had any trouble in finding us. As soon as he began to speak I could smell something on his breath which I thought was stale alcohol.
"He mentioned that he did have a little trouble in finding somewhere to park, which immediately raised concerns.
"Shortly after he arrived in the small office, the smell of alcohol became overpowering."
The job hopeful was arrested and taken to Bury police station
The interviewer then made his excuses at the end of the interview and left the room to ask a police officer's advice.
A traffic officer quizzed the man over whether he had been drinking but he was adamant that not a drop had touched his lips that morning.
However Mr Jackson did admit to sharing a bottle of wine with his wife the night before during a meal out.
The traffic officer then marched him out of the building to a nearby patrol car and gave him a breathalyser test, which he duly failed.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-38969740
|
Newspaper headlines: Brexit consequences debated in the press - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A leaked document warns of a Brexit backlash for Brits living abroad - and a new Bake Off judge is heralded.
|
The Papers
|
The ups and downs of Brexit are covered in some of the day's papers, as fears arise about Brits abroad while the forecast for the nation's economy improves.
According to the Guardian, a document leaked from the European parliament is warning that British expats living in European countries could face "a backlash" because of the UK government's stance on foreigners since the vote to leave the EU.
The document says that while member states will decide whether British citizens can carry on living in those countries, "the fact that it appears to be particularly difficult for foreign nationals... to acquire permanent residence status or British nationality may colour member states' approach to this matter".
The Daily Express proclaims good news on its front page, saying EU officials "have admitted" that UK's economy is "thriving since the Brexit vote".
It also says predictions that the "gloomy" forecast that the UK's economy would grow by 1%, made by Brussels last autumn, has been revised up to 1.5%.
The Times has alarming news for commuters. The paper reports a study by the University of Surrey, which says travelling to work by public transport exposes people to up to eight times as much air pollution as those who drive there.
According to the authors, there's little "environmental justice" - because those who contribute most to air pollution are also the least likely to suffer from it.
Researchers found that bus passengers, for example, experience higher levels of pollution, and their journeys last longer.
Diesel cars do the most harm to the wellbeing of other travellers - but motorists tend to keep their windows closed, and are protected from harmful particles by filters.
THE "I" devotes eight pages to an investigation which, it says, reveals that 19 NHS hospitals in England face closure. The paper has analysed 44 "sustainability and transformation plans" - which it describes as regional blueprints to remodel the health service - as bosses seeks to plug a £22bn "black hole" in funding.
The "I" concludes there is to be a massive shift towards "out-of-hospital" care, with patients encouraged to manage their own health needs.
Other far-reaching changes are proposed, including the loss of almost 3,000 jobs.
The Department of Health tells the paper the plans are designed to ensure best standards of care, with doctors, hospitals and councils working in partnership with local communities for the first time.
Reaction is mixed. A GP in Lancashire says the proposals merely move "the deckchairs around on the Titanic", as social care is collapsing, general practice is "on its knees", and the hospital service is in "meltdown".
But Harry Quilter-Pinner, from the Institute for Public Policy Research think-tank, tells the paper the NHS cannot stand still in the face of new technology and an ageing population.
He says that while the health service is under-funded, there are many instances where treatment could be moved out of hospital and into the community - saving money and improving outcomes for patients.
The Daily Telegraph carries a warning that half a million women are being left at a higher risk of breast cancer because GPs are unaware they should be prescribing a preventative drug.
The figures come from a study produced by researchers at University College London, Queen Mary London, and Cancer Research UK.
The paper says three in four family doctors are unaware they should be offering Tamoxifen, which can reduce the risk of the disease by a third while costing only six pence a day.
Prue Leith spent 11 years on the judging panel of the BBC Two cooking contest The Great British Menu.
The Sun leads with news that cookery queen Prue Leith will replace Mary Berry as a judge when the Great British Bake Off moves to Channel Four.
An unnamed source tells the paper that Prue Leith has all the attributes to take over, and that "in cookery circles, she's practically royalty".
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-38964476
|
Where is Nigeria's president? - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
Muhammadu Buhari has not been seen in public recently and the Nigerian rumour mill is in overdrive, as Martin Patience explains.
| null |
Muhammadu Buhari has not been seen in public recently and the Nigerian rumour mill is in overdrive, as Martin Patience explains.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-38965315
|
'Recognising the symptoms of toxic shock syndrome saved my life' - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
A student wants more to be done in schools to raise awareness about toxic shock syndrome.
|
Newsbeat
|
Phoebee Bambury survived toxic shock syndrome (TSS) by spotting the symptoms early - and she wants others to learn from her experience.
The rare condition, which can be fatal, is caused by bacteria getting into the body and releasing harmful toxins.
It's usually associated with using a tampon for too long.
The 19-year-old now wants more young people to be taught about the dangers of TSS in school.
Phoebee explains that she began with a headache and a fever, both symptoms that sound like the common cold.
It was the beginning of two weeks spent in hospital.
"The first symptom I had was the headache one evening while I was at university," she tells Newsbeat.
But later that night Phoebee's condition got worse, she developed muscle pains and started vomiting.
Phoebee had been spending the night at her boyfriend's house when her symptoms got worse
"Just like anyone would normally think, I thought maybe I'm ill and I'm just going to have a few bad days.
"You don't want to think 'oh no toxic shock', but in my head I thought those are the symptoms - I need to check this out."
Although there are many ways you can get toxic shock syndrome, it is often associated with the use of tampons.
The symptoms of TSS can be found on tampon packets.
"I thought [the symptoms] all matched so I phoned 111 and they said I was spot on and needed to get to a hospital ASAP," she said.
Phoebee's condition deteriorated and within 10 minutes of being in A&E she was hooked up to a drip, with an industrial-sized fan by her side to try and bring down her body temperature.
She also tells Newsbeat how the infection caused her body to swell.
Doctors confirmed that Phoebee's toxic shock syndrome was caused by her use of tampons but she insists that she followed the guidelines.
"I've never left a tampon in for longer than eight hours and at the time I started to feel very ill I didn't even have one in," she explains.
She adds that her degree in pharmacy and personal experiences had made her more aware of the infection.
"My friend's mum died of toxic shock so I'd always been aware of it," she said.
But cases like this are extremely rare.
There are no exact figures on how many women get TSS from using tampons but of the 40 people estimated to be diagnosed in the UK every year - on average only two people will die from the infection.
"To raise awareness in more young people, I genuinely believe toxic shock needs to be a part of sex education," Phoebee said.
"You get talks about tampons, periods and condoms at school and TSS should be a part of that.
"It's an associated risk with tampons and I know it's rare but it is serious," she added.
Phoebee has now been out of hospital for two weeks, and during her recovery she's been encouraging her university to do more to raise awareness about the infection.
"If you know the symptoms and take all the precautions then your chances of getting TSS are so slim.
"I know the best advice for women would be to just not use tampons but that's not possible for everyone, we just need to educate more people to take precautions."
"High-quality education on sex and relationships is a vital part of preparing young people for success in adult life," a Department for Education spokesman said.
"It is compulsory in all maintained secondary schools and, as the education secretary said recently, we are looking at options to ensure all children have access to high-quality teaching in these subjects."
Find us on Instagram at BBCNewsbeat and follow us on Snapchat, search for bbc_newsbeat
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/articles/38962250
|
Reality Check: Are pensioners better off than workers? - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Resolution Foundation figures take household income after housing costs.
|
Business
|
The claim: Pensioners are on average £20 a week better off than working-age people.
Reality Check verdict: The calculation made by the Resolution Foundation is for household income after housing costs. Before housing costs are taken into account, working-age households still have higher incomes than pensioner households.
News that pensioner households are now better off than working-age families was widely reported on Monday.
There have been reports for some time that incomes for pensioners have been growing faster than those for working-age people, largely as a result of pensions being protected by the triple-lock, while many working-age benefits have been frozen.
The triple-lock guarantees that pensions rise by the same as average earnings, the consumer price index, or 2.5%, whichever is the highest.
But the report from the Resolution Foundation was the first suggestion that the retired had actually overtaken the working-age group.
The figures referred to the "typical pensioner household", by which it meant the median, which is the household for which half of pensioner households have higher income and half of them have lower incomes.
In this case, a pensioner household is one in which at least one member is of pension age or older (65 for men, 64 for women) whether or not that person is working. There can also be working people in a pensioner household.
But the important factor that has been mentioned little in the coverage is that the measure of income that the Resolution Foundation is using is one for income after housing costs have been paid.
This chart from the Resolution Foundation gives income after housing costs for the median pensioner and working household as well as a richer one and a poorer one.
Taking income after housing costs makes a huge difference because pensioner households are more likely to own their own homes and to have relatively small or paid-off mortgages.
The report says, for example, that 70% of the silent generation (born 1926-45) own their homes outright, while just over 40% of the baby boomers (1946-65) own theirs, with another 30% still having mortgages to pay.
The median income for both working-age and pensioner households is just over £20,000 a year, so housing costs would make a big difference.
Also, the figures do not take account of people in care homes, which would be expected to increase housing costs for those of pension age.
The Resolution Foundation confirms in the report that before housing costs are paid, the median working-age household still has a higher income than the median pensioner household.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38957903
|
Things not to say to a single person - BBC Three
|
2017-02-14
| null |
With Valentine's Day upon us, we ask a group of singletons to reveal some of the most irritating questions they get asked about their relationship status.
| null |
Things not to say to a single person
With Valentine's Day upon us, we ask a group of singletons to reveal some of the most irritating questions they get asked about their relationship status.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/e6361bcd-7438-4404-96ae-dad6761d0b98?intc_type=promo&intc_location=news&intc_campaign=thingsnottosaytoasingleperson&intc_linkname=bbcthree_ent_vidclip1
|
Iceland police tell drivers to stop staring at sky - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Tourists mesmerised by the Aurora Borealis are causing a hazard on Iceland's roads.
|
News from Elsewhere
|
Want to gape at the Northern Lights? Pull over first
The Northern Lights are a spectacle many people travel to Iceland to see, but police are having to warn tourists not to try to view them while driving.
Officers in southern Iceland say that twice last week they had to pull over cars driving erratically, initially on suspicion that the drivers had been drinking. But on both occasions the entirely sober visitors were simply mesmerised by the appearance of the Aurora Borealis in the sky above them, Iceland Magazine reports. The site has dubbed it "driving under the influence of the Aurora".
The first incident was on the road to the airport, with the car swerving between lanes. "The driver told the police he saw the Northern Lights and couldn't bring himself to stop looking at them," a police statement said. "The police asked him to park the vehicle if he wanted to keep on gazing at the sky."
Tourists don't always make life easy for Icelanders, especially behind the wheel. In 2015, a roads official complained that visitors were causing collisions by stopping their cars abruptly in the middle of the road in order to photograph sheep, horses "or anything else which captures their attention". He suggested that creating designated photo stops could ease the problem.
Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-38970477
|
Isle of Man ferry crash forces cancellation of UK services - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
The incident happened on the Isle of Man as the captain tried to dock in strong winds.
| null |
A ferry crashed into a pier on the Isle of Man as the captain tried to dock in strong winds.
Services from Douglas to the UK have been disrupted after the Ben-my-Chree, which sailed from Heysham, Lancashire, struck the pier on Sunday.
The Isle of Man Steam-Packet Company confirmed no passengers or crew were injured.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-38954909
|
The children of Oxford Children's Hospital's craniofacial unit - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The children whose lives have been changed by Oxford Children's Hospital's highly-specialised craniofacial unit.
|
Oxford
|
Lucy had to have surgery at the craniofacial unit to have her skull shortened
Every year, more than a thousand children with facial abnormalities are treated at the Oxford Children's Hospital's pioneering craniofacial unit. The work carried out by the world-class team is quite simply life-changing.
"When you've got an odd-shaped head, children are probably more ruthless and cruel," says Tom Bowran, whose baby daughter Lucy is being treated at the unit at John Radcliffe Hospital.
"The name-calling, the possibility you'll miss out on something, the bullying even to a late age... that was something I was so keen that Lucy avoided. I wanted her to have as good a quality of life as any parent would."
Tom is watching Lucy go through a similar experience to the one he had as a child.
Lucy was seven weeks old when Tom and his wife Hanna, who are from Cambridge, were told she had sagittal synostosis.
The top plates on her skull had fused, stopping it from growing properly, and she had to be referred to the specialist department.
"I was absolutely terrified," Hanna says. "The fact that her dad had something similar and that was his worst fear, that Lucy would end up with anything like that.
"The hospital squeezed us in straight away and they've been absolutely brilliant... they've been holding her hands every step of the way."
Tom Bowran, pictured with wife Hanna, had a similar condition to his daughter as a child
David Johnson is head of the unit and a consultant plastic surgeon.
His department sees about 1,200 patients each year and carries out up to 100 complex procedures in that time, making it one of the busiest units of its kind in the world.
"Lucy's skull has not been able to grow very well from side to side, and has been forced to grow in a long and narrow fashion," he explains.
"The operation was to shorten her skull by taking the bone off the front and the bone off the back... reshaping that bone and fixing it back in position again."
Hanna says knowing the surgery had gone to plan "was the best feeling in the world".
As a result Lucy lost the "big forehead... the funny shape at the back, and she looks completely different".
"More importantly it's given her brain the room to grow that it needs."
"Yesterday was possibly the longest seven hours of my life waiting for her to come through the operation," Tom says.
"Just knowing what she was going through and the potential risks that had been spelt out.
"It was a big relief seeing the reassuring faces and Mr Johnson with his smiley face telling us he was delighted with the progress."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Staff are used to designing new operations from scratch to solve challenging cases
More than 25 people work on Mr Johnson's team and they are used to solving challenging cases, some affecting only one child in tens of thousands.
Their expertise is valued by the Department of Health, and the unit receives specific funding because of its designation as of one of the NHS's "highly specialised services".
Anthony Carter, father of two-year-old Brianne, remembers when his family first met the elite team.
"There were 10 people including Mr Johnson in there and it was so scary," says Mr Carter, who is from Wiltshire.
"It then hit us how serious it was. Then we went through each individual person, and they each explained, and we were a bit more at ease."
The first task for doctors was to repair Brianne's cleft lip
Then in June 2016 she had an operation to reconstruct her skull
"We have to look at doing unique and novel things for individuals," Mr Johnson explains.
"There are many examples where I've been doing things for the very first time, and a lot of conditions where we're having to think on our feet and almost design new operations from scratch.
"That in a way is one of the most challenging things of my job, but also one of the most rewarding."
Brianne has an extremely rare condition called cranio-fronto-nasal dysplasia. She was born with a flatness on one side of her forehead, a cleft lip and palate, and a complex craniofacial cleft, leaving her with a gap in the bones forming in her face. She's the only child in the UK with this set of issues.
"All the scans are quite strange to see... the work and detail that has gone into piecing the jigsaw puzzle of her head," Anthony says.
Mr Johnson describes the complex eight-hour procedure as akin to "robbing Peter to pay Paul".
"I created a new forehead based on a piece of bone on the top of her skull, and her old forehead has been cut up into little pieces and placed back where the new forehead's come from."
It has bought Brianne time, but she will still require a serious procedure when she is about 10 years old, to move her eye sockets closer together.
Unfortunately, the day after Brianne returned home she fell off a sofa on to her head. She had a seizure, and had to be flown to hospital by air ambulance.
It is a reminder why so many families that use the unit - and who often stay there for extended periods - take things one day at a time.
CT scans are used to solve the "jigsaw puzzle" of irregularly-shaped skulls
But Stephanie says her daughter, who has since recovered from her fall, loves visiting the unit, which takes pride in its welcoming atmosphere.
"She gets so excited when we pull in, it's like we're taking her to a theme park."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-38679069
|
Norwich City 2-2 Newcastle United - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-14
| null |
Norwich City and Newcastle United play out a thrilling draw at Carrow Road after the Magpies had led after 23 seconds.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
Norwich City and Newcastle United had to settle for a draw after a frantic Championship game at Carrow Road.
Newcastle had led after just 23 seconds thanks to Ayoze Perez's placed effort.
Jacob Murphy's far-post finish made it 1-1 before goalkeeper Karl Darlow gifted Norwich the lead as he scuffed a clearance and Cameron Jerome tucked in.
Matt Ritchie hit the bar for Newcastle before they deservedly levelled through Jamaal Lascelles' sweet finish, keeping them top after Brighton also drew.
The draw saw seventh-placed Norwich slip further behind sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday, who won to move themselves four points clear of Alex Neil's side with a game in hand.
The hosts were stunned when Perez had time and space to tuck in a right-footed shot in the opening minute, and a lively Newcastle could have doubled their lead but John Ruddy saved well from Aleksandar Mitrovic.
A fine throw from keeper Ruddy then led to Norwich levelling from an exquisite team move, with Murphy applying the close-range finish at the far post after Jerome had shown good strength to get to the byeline and square the ball.
The former Birmingham and Stoke forward then capitalised on Darlow's howler to score the simplest of his 10 league goals so far this season and the Canaries were on course for what would have been a fifth win in six games.
But the visitors began to dominate after half-time and Ritchie's shot struck the underside of the crossbar as they controlled possession and created the greater number of chances.
Lascelles' crisp, left-footed effort from the far post after a neat team move was enough to earn the Magpies a point, though they could have won it late on when Jonjo Shelvey scuffed a shot wide and Perez was denied by Ruddy.
"To be honest, there are mixed emotions after that. Obviously, you are not expecting to concede a goal in the first minute and we were really nervy in the first five minutes.
"But once we got our goal and then got ahead, I thought we were excellent - the response from the players was top class.
"In the second half, we started okay and then we started to drop deeper and deeper to protect what we had and the frustrating thing from our point of view is that we didn't see it out."
"I thought we responded brilliantly to going behind - the character of the players, and their reaction to the setbacks, was the most positive thing for me tonight.
"We had a lot of supporters in the corner and I am sure they will have enjoyed the effort the players put in.
"It was a very open game - good for the fans but perhaps not for the managers. Norwich might think differently but I think we had enough chances to have won it - but you can't always take three points and if we can take four points every two games we will go up."
• None Attempt saved. Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle United) right footed shot from long range on the left is saved in the centre of the goal.
• None Jonny Howson (Norwich City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt saved. Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Christian Atsu with a through ball.
• None Attempt missed. Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle United) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ayoze Pérez.
• None Offside, Newcastle United. Jamaal Lascelles tries a through ball, but Christian Atsu is caught offside.
• None Goal! Norwich City 2, Newcastle United 2. Jamaal Lascelles (Newcastle United) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ayoze Pérez with a cross following a set piece situation. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38889065
|
Trump-Russia inquiry: How did we get here? - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
How the sacking of James Comey may be tied to the dismissal of Mr Trump's top aide Michael Flynn.
|
US & Canada
|
The news that the president's son, Donald Trump Jr, has admitted meeting a Russian lawyer who promised to reveal damaging material on Hillary Clinton is just the latest twist in a row over the president's potential ties to Russia.
Here's how it all unfolded:
11 July: Donald Trump Jr releases an email chain that reveals how the meeting was set up. The intermediary, a British publicist, said the lawyer represented the Russian government.
9 July: Trump Jr admits he met Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya on 9 June 2016 after being told that she had damaging material on Mrs Clinton. He insists the lawyer provided "no meaningful information" but it marks the first time a member of President Trump's inner circle has admitted seeking Russian help in winning the election.
25 June: President Trump accuses Barack Obama of inaction after a Washington Post article says the former president knew well before the 8 November election about the accusations against Russia
15 June: US media report that special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating President Trump for possible obstruction of justice in asking for the end of an inquiry into sacked national security adviser Michael Flynn, and in the firing of FBI chief James Comey
08 June: Mr Comey testifies to a Senate panel, saying the president asked for his loyalty and to drop the inquiry into Mr Flynn. But he backs up the president by saying he had assured him he was not under personal scrutiny
26 May: The New York Times and the Washington Post report that Jared Kushner allegedly proposed setting up a back channel between the Kremlin and the White House through Mr Kislyak. He reportedly wanted to use Russian facilities to avoid any US interception of discussions with Moscow
18 May: The department of justice appoints ex-FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to look into the Russian matter
17 May: Russian President Vladimir Putin offers to release a record of Mr Trump's 10 May meeting with Russian officials. Moscow maintains that Mr Trump did not pass on classified information
16 May: US media reports that Mr Comey wrote a memo about his 14 February meeting with the president, saying that Mr Trump asked him to shut down his agency's inquiry into Mr Flynn. The White House says that is "not an accurate description"
15 May: Media reports suggest Mr Trump let slip highly classified information during his meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian envoy Sergei Kislyak
11 May: In an interview with NBC News, Mr Trump says: "When I decided to just do it [fire Mr Comey], I said to myself, I said, 'you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story...'
10 May: The president meets a Russian delegation in the Oval Office and US press is excluded. A photographer for a Russian state news agency is allowed in
9 May: The president sends his bodyguard to deliver a letter to FBI HQ, informing Mr Comey that he is fired. The White House says Mr Trump fired Mr Comey on the recommendation of the deputy attorney general, who argued that Mr Comey botched an inquiry into Hillary Clinton's emails
8 May: Mr Trump meets Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to discuss firing Mr Comey. The president later tweets: "The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?"
3 May: Mr Comey testifies before a congressional panel about why he decided to re-open the Clinton investigation just days before the election. He says it makes him "mildly nauseous" to think he may have had an impact on the election
2 May: The president tweets: "FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!"
12 April: Mr Trump says in an interview he has "confidence" in Mr Comey
30 March: Mr Flynn's lawyer, Robert Kelner, says his client wants immunity to testify on alleged Russian election meddling. Mr Flynn "has a story to tell", but needs to guard against "unfair prosecution", Mr Kelner says in a statement
20 March: Mr Comey confirms publicly for the first time in a congressional hearing that the FBI is investigating Russia's alleged interference in the US election and that there is no evidence to support the president's wiretapping allegations
4 March: The president claims on Twitter that former President Barack Obama wiretapped his phones during the US election. A spokesman for Mr Obama denies the claim. Mr Comey reportedly asks the Justice Department to publicly reject the allegation, but no such denial is forthcoming
2 March: Attorney General Jeff Sessions recuses himself from any current or future Russia investigations after it emerges that he met Russian officials during the US election campaign, which he had not previously disclosed to Congress
16 February: Mr Trump says Mr Flynn is "a fine person" during a raucous 77-minute press conference at the White House, but that he was "not happy" with his performance
14 February: Mr Trump again meets Mr Comey. Mr Flynn, meanwhile, is under investigation for his contacts with the Russian ambassador and his business dealings with Russian and Turkish lobbyists
13 February: Mr Flynn resigns. In his resignation letter, he writes: "I inadvertently briefed the vice-president elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador"
11/12 February: Mr Flynn spends the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, Mr Trump's Florida estate, alongside the president and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Trump administration faces its first international crisis: a North Korean missile launch
10 February: President Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One he has not seen media reports about Mr Flynn: "I don't know about that. I haven't seen it"
27 January: Mr Comey and Mr Trump have dinner. Mr Trump later says that during the meal Mr Comey asked to keep his job and assured the president he was not under investigation. But Comey associates say the president asked the law enforcement chief to pledge his loyalty. Mr Comey reportedly declined to do so
26/27 January: The Justice Department contacts the top lawyer in the White House, Donald McGahn, about Mr Flynn's communications with Mr Kislyak, warning that Mr Flynn may be vulnerable to Russian blackmail.
20 January: President Trump and his executive team, including Mr Flynn, take office
15 January: Vice-President Mike Pence says, on US television network CBS, that he spoke to Mr Flynn about his phone call with the Russian envoy and asserts it had "nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions"
6 January 2017: President-elect Trump meets Mr Comey for the first time for an intelligence briefing on a report concluding that Russia had interfered with the US election
29 December 2016: Mr Obama announces sanctions expelling 35 Russian diplomats for the country's alleged interference in the US presidential elections. On the same day, Mr Flynn holds a phone call with the Russian ambassador
December 2016: White House adviser and Mr Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner meets Russian ambassador to the US, Sergei Kislyak, at Trump Tower in New York. He also meets the head of a US-sanctioned, Russia state-owned bank
18 November 2016: Mr Flynn is announced as the next US national security adviser, despite major questions over his links to Russia. His role, as part of the president's executive office, does not require approval from the Senate
10 November 2016: Then-President Barack Obama warns newly elected President Donald Trump against hiring Mr Flynn as his national security adviser
December 2015: Michael Flynn, a retired US Army lieutenant general, is paid more than $45,000 (£35,000) by state-sponsored broadcaster Russia Today to address the network's 10th anniversary gala in Moscow
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38966119
|
Is losing top job in 24 days a record? - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
The former Trump adviser - fired after three weeks - set a record, but he's not alone when it comes to short political tenures.
| null |
Former Trump adviser Michael Flynn - fired after three weeks - set a record, but he's not alone when it comes to short political tenures.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38964108
|
Cheltenham Festival brings in four alcoholic drinks rule - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Festival bosses want to avoid a repeat of anti-social behaviour witnessed at last year's event.
|
Gloucestershire
|
Organisers say they want people to come to the festival to enjoy the racing
Cheltenham Festival racegoers will be restricted to buying four alcoholic drinks at a time in a bid to crack down on anti-social antics.
Two footballers apologised after being photographed apparently urinating into a glass at last year's festival, where women were seen baring their breasts.
Chief executive Ian Renton said: "It's to ensure that drinking is not the rationale for people coming racing."
The measure is also to be imposed at the Jockey Club's other racecourses.
It comes in first at Cheltenham, where the festival takes place next month, but will be in place at Epsom, which stages the Derby, and Aintree, where the Grand National is held.
"It's an improvement on things we are already doing," Mr Renton said.
"Aintree has already got the ball rolling, with their Ladies' Day, they've already taken steps to improve the way that is perceived.
"We want them to come to racing and enjoy the sport and not have those people coming who will be a nuisance to other racegoers," added Mr Renton.
As well as the four-drink limit, corporate complimentary bars will close earlier and water points will be made available in every public bar.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-38960898
|
Most swiped-right man on Tinder - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
The top tips from the most swiped man on Tinder.
| null |
The top tips from the most swiped man on Tinder.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38974858
|
Fireworks and faith at general synod - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The Church of England's legislative body faces a further rigorous debate on same-sex marriage.
|
UK
|
The Archbishop of Canterbury was certainly the highlight of the opening day at general synod.
Less an address, more a sermon, he appealed to Christians to turn away from self-indulgence and toward self-sacrifice in order to contribute positively at a time of uncertainty and fear… a climate that he said had been brought about by populist movements across Europe and the election of Donald Trump.
"It is a moment of challenge, but challenge that as a nation can be overcome with the right practices, values, culture and spirit," explained the archbishop. "Which is where we come in. Let's not be too self-important. I don't mean we, the Church of England, are the answer.
"But we can be part of the answer, we have a voice and a contribution and a capacity and a reach and above all a Lord who is faithful when we fail and faithful when we flourish."
But while these comments were made in the context of post-Brexit uncertainty, it was obvious to everyone gathered in the assembly hall of Church House in Westminster that the archbishop was also thinking of Wednesday, when synod will debate the bishops' report on same-sex marriage.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
GS2055, as it is known, was published last month and provoked an immediate outcry. Members of the LGBTI community expressed anger that, after engaging in three years of so-called "shared conversations", the bishops decided not to recommend any change to church practice. Marriage in church would remain the lifelong union of a man and a woman; there would be no facility to bless same-sex marriages.
Wednesday has therefore become the focal point for both traditionalists and those who want the church to mirror a change in the law of the land, which has allowed same-sex marriage since March 2014.
Mr Tatchell, anticipating the protest, said: "The bishops' report defends heterosexual superiority and opposes same-sex blessings and marriages. The church blesses dogs and cats but it refuses to bless loving, committed same-sex couples. It treats LGBTI clergy and laity as second class, both within the church and the wider society."
The bishops' report says marriage in church will remain the lifelong union of a man and a woman
The debate inside, which begins at 17:30 GMT and is scheduled to last for 90 minutes, will be no less accusatory. It is likely to expose the fractures and fissures that exist within the heart of Christian unity.
Evangelical christians, like Ed Shaw, a member of synod and a trustee of Living Out, a charity that exists to support same-sex-attracted Christians who have chosen to remain celibate, are relieved that the bishops have upheld what they say is the biblical position on marriage.
"I think the Church of England has carefully listened," he said. "I think the Church has also come to the settled view of what Christians have always believed down the centuries and what most Christians believe around the world."
For the moment, this remains the official position of the Church of England.
As the Archbishop of Canterbury drew his opening address to a close, he did make one explicit reference to same-sex marriage. He described "the painful discussions" that will take place on Wednesday. That phrase may yet prove to be the understatement of the year.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38970147
|
Gabriel Jesus: Manchester City forward has broken metatarsal - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-14
| null |
Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus is diagnosed with a broken metatarsal after their 2-0 win at Bournemouth.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Football
The 19-year-old was taken off in the 15th minute at Vitality Stadium after appearing to pick up the foot injury.
City said in a statement: "He will undergo further examinations in the coming days to establish the extent of his layoff."
The Brazil international, who completed a £27m from Palmeiras in January, has played five times for City.
Jesus was hoping to become the third City player to find the net on each of his first three Premier League starts, having scored at West Ham and two against Swansea.
The other two players to have achieved that feat are former striker Emmanuel Adebayor and and current midfielder Kevin de Bruyne.
Michael Owen (2006): Fifth metatarsal - predicted six to eight weeks; returned after 17 weeks Wayne Rooney (2004): Fifth metatarsal - predicted eight weeks; returned after 14 weeks David Beckham (2002): Second metatarsal - predicted six weeks; returned after seven weeks
Metatarsals are the five long bones in the forefoot which connect the ankle bones to those of the toes.
The first is linked to the big toe and the fifth, on the outer foot, links to the little toe.
Together, the five metatarsals act as a unit to help share the load of the body, and they move position to cope with uneven ground.
Injuries usually occur as a result of a direct blow to the foot, a twisting injury or over-use.
Medical experts recommend rest with no exercise and sport for four to eight weeks.
The patient might be asked to wear walking boots or stiff-soled shoes to protect the injury while it heals.
If the cause is over-use, then treatment can vary hugely. Training habits, equipment used and athletic technique should all be investigated.
It all depends on the damage and which metatarsal bone is involved. It is impossible to put a timescale on recovery from a stress injury.
With an impact fracture, after the plaster and protective boot is not needed (usually after four to six weeks), it will be a case of exercise and increasing weight-bearing activities.
Ice packs, strapping and even the use of oxygen tents can be used to assist recovery.
Full return to action can be anything from another four weeks and upwards - depending on the extent of initial damage. Young bones heal quicker.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38971944
|
Waking up under the surgeon's knife - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Donna Penner woke up in the operating room, just before the surgeon made his first incision. She describes how she survived the excruciating pain of being cut open while awake.
|
Magazine
|
Canadian Donna Penner was relaxed at the prospect of abdominal surgery - until she woke up just before the surgeon made his first incision. She describes how she survived the excruciating pain of being operated on while awake.
In 2008, I was booked in for an exploratory laparoscopy at a hospital in my home province of Manitoba in Canada. I was 44 and I had been experiencing heavy bleeding during my periods.
I'd had a general anaesthetic before and I knew I was supposed to have one for this procedure. I'd never had a problem with them, but when we got to the hospital I found myself feeling quite anxious.
During a laparoscopy, the surgeon makes incisions into your abdomen through which they will push instruments so they can take a look around. You have three or four small incisions instead of one big one.
The operation started off well. They moved me on to the operating table and started to do all the normal things that they do - hooking me up to all the monitors and prepping me.
The anaesthesiologist gave me something in an intravenous drip and then he put a mask on my face and said, "Take a deep breath." So I did, and drifted off to sleep like I was supposed to.
When I woke up I could still hear the sounds in the operating room. I could hear the staff banging and clanging and the machines going - the monitors and that kind of thing. I thought, "Oh good, it's over, it's done."
I was lying there feeling a little medicated, but at the same time I was also alert and enjoying that lazy feeling of waking up and feeling completely relaxed.
That changed a few seconds later when I heard the surgeon speak.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. When Donna Penner woke she thought the operation must be over
They were moving around and doing their things and then all of a sudden I heard him say, "Scalpel please." I just froze. I thought, "What did I just hear?"
There was nothing I could do. I had been given a paralytic, which is a common thing they do when work on the abdomen because it relaxes the abdominal muscles so they don't resist as much when you're cutting through them.
Unfortunately the general anaesthetic hadn't worked, but the paralytic had.
I panicked. I thought this cannot be happening. So I waited for a few seconds, but then I felt him make the first incision. I don't have words to describe the pain - it was horrific.
I could not open my eyes. The first thing that I tried to do was to sit up, but I couldn't move. It felt like somebody was sitting on me, weighing me down.
Source: The Royal College of Anaesthetists/Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland
I wanted to say something, I wanted to move, but I couldn't. I was so paralysed I couldn't even make the tears to cry.
At that point, I could hear my heart-rate on the monitor. It kept going up higher and higher.
I was in a state of sheer terror. I could hear them working on me, I could hear them talking. I felt the surgeon make those incisions and push those instruments through my abdomen.
I felt him moving my organs around as he explored. I heard him say things like, "Look at her appendix, it's really nice and pink, colon looks good, ovary looks good."
I managed to twitch my foot three times to show I was awake. But each time, someone put their hand on it to still it, without verbally acknowledging I had moved.
The operation lasted for about an hour-and-a-half.
To top it all off, because I was paralysed, they had intubated me - put me on a breathing machine - and set the ventilator to breathe seven times a minute. Even though my heart rate was up at 148 beats per minute, that's all I got - those seven breaths a minute. I was suffocating. It felt as though my lungs were on fire.
There was a point when I thought they had finished operating and they were starting to do their final things. That's when I noticed I was able to move my tongue.
I realised that the paralytic was wearing off. I thought, "I'm going to play with the breathing tube that's still in my throat." So I started wiggling it with my tongue to get their attention.
And it worked. I did catch the attention of the anaesthesiologist. But I guess he must have thought I was coming out of the paralytic more than I was because he took the tube and pulled it out of my throat.
I lay there thinking, "Now I'm really in trouble." I'd already said mental goodbyes to my family because I didn't think I was going to pull through. Now I couldn't breathe.
I could hear the nurse yelling at me. She was on one side saying, "Breathe Donna, breathe." But there was nothing I could do.
As she was continuously telling me to breathe, the most amazing thing happened. I had an out-of-body experience and left my body.
I'm of Christian faith and I can't say I went to heaven, but I wasn't on Earth either. I knew I was somewhere else. It was quiet. The sounds of the operating room were in the background, I could still hear them. But it sounded as though they were very, very far away.
The fear was gone, the pain was gone. I felt warm, I felt comforted and I felt safe. And instinctively I knew I was not alone. There was a presence with me. I always say that was God with me because there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that he was there beside me. And then I heard a voice saying, "Whatever happens, you're going to be OK."
At that point I knew that if I lived or died, it would be just fine. I had been praying throughout the whole thing to keep my mind occupied, singing to myself and thinking of my husband and my children. But when this presence was with me, I thought, "Please let me die because I can't do this any more."
But just as quickly as I went there, I was back. In the time it takes to snap your fingers I was back in my body in the operating room again. I could still hear them working on me and the nurses yelling, "Breathe Donna."
All of a sudden the anaesthesiologist said, "Bag her!" They put a mask on my face and used a manual resuscitator to force air into my lungs.
As soon as they did, the burning sensation I'd had in my lungs left. It was huge relief. I started to breathe again. At that point, the anaesthesiologist gave me something to counteract the paralytic. It didn't take long before I was able to start talking.
Later, as I recovered from the ordeal, the surgeon came into my room, grabbed my hand with both of his and said, "I understand there were some problems, Mrs Penner."
I said to him, "I was awake, I felt you cutting me." His eyes filled with tears as he grabbed on to my hands and said, "I am so sorry."
I started telling him the different things that I had heard him say - the comments he had made about my appendix and my internal organs. He kept saying, "Yes I said that, I said that."
I said, "Have you noticed that I have not asked you what the diagnosis was?'" And he looked at me for a moment and said, "You already know, don't you?" And I said, "Yes I do," and I told him what my diagnosis was.
It's now nine years since I woke up during surgery. I have since pursued a legal claim against the hospital which was resolved.
Immediately after the operation I was referred to a therapist because I was so traumatised. I didn't even have a clue what day of the week it was on my first appointment. I was pretty messed up. It definitely takes its toll on a person.
But talking about it has helped. After time, I was able to tell my story.
I have done a lot of research into anaesthesia awareness. I contacted the University of Manitoba's anaesthesiology department and have spoken to the residents a couple of times now. They are usually horrified by my story. There are usually quite a few who have tears in their eyes when I'm speaking to them.
My story is not to lay blame or to point fingers. I want people to understand that this thing can happen and does happen. I want to raise awareness, and help something good come out of this awful experience.
Listen to Donna Penner speaking to Outlook on the BBC World Service
Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38733131
|
Monte Carlo Hillman Imp rally car's £50k auction hope - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
The car made in Scotland was bought by its current owner after he saw an advert while on holiday.
|
Wiltshire
|
The car took part in several races including a televised rally cross event in 1967
A car that took part in the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally could fetch up to £50,000 at auction next month.
The specially modified Hillman Imp was built in 1966 by the Rootes Group, which had bought the Hillman name.
Auctioneer Richard Edmonds, said: "We're thrilled to be able to offer this historic and much-loved vehicle."
The car, with the registration plate JDU46E will be sold at Richard Edmonds Auctions in Chippenham on 4 March.
Its racing history also includes competing in the Tulip Rally in the Netherlands.
It was also driven in the 1967 Coupe des Alpines, but did not complete the race because a gasket failed. It was also driven in the UK's first-ever televised rally cross event in the same year.
The Imp was manufactured in Linwood, Renfrewshire, as a rival to the Mini, but never gained as much popularity.
Just under 500,000 were sold before the final model rolled off the production line in 1976.
The Imp is being sold by private collector Mark Tudge who has kept it at his home near Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
Mr Tudge, who has owned the car since 2013, said he was selling it for personal reasons.
"I was incredibly lucky to buy the car. I was on holiday in North Wales in 2013 when I saw a classified advert in a local paper selling the car.
"As it was in Cheshire not too far away, I went to see it and met the then owner, a retired banker and rally fan.
"He wouldn't sell the car to me for about a month - not until he was sure I was going to look after it.
Mr Tudge said the car's scratched paintwork was a reminder of its racing days, so it had not been refurbished.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-38960897
|
Breast cancer survivors model lingerie at New York Fashion Week - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
Women who survived breast cancer proudly bare their scars in alternative lingerie.
| null |
Women who survived breast cancer hit the catwalk at New York Fashion Week in alternative lingerie, to raise money for the charity Cancerland.
The AnaOno Intimates show was the brainchild of US designer, and breast cancer survivor, Dana Donofree.
Model Paige Moore, 24, said: "I felt sexy, I felt beautiful, and I was proud."
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38966641
|
Retired army sniffer dog inspires readers - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
The story of a sniffer dog who was retired from the front line in Afghanistan after becoming scared of loud noises is used to inspire those who struggle to read.
| null |
The story of a sniffer dog who was retired from the front line in Afghanistan after becoming scared of loud noises will be used to inspire those who struggle to read.
Vidar, a Belgian Malinois, hunted out roadside bombs and weapons with the Army in Helmand Province.
Medic Angie McDonnell, from the Vale of Glamorgan, adopted him and wrote Gun Shy about his exploits.
After two years of service, five-year-old Vidar suddenly became "gun shy" - a term used in the Army to describe dogs who are scared of loud noises.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-38973776
|
Worcester Cathedral bell-ringer thrown in air - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
| null |
A bell-ringer is recovering after being dropped in a "freak accident" at Worcester Cathedral.
| null |
A bell-ringer is recovering after being dropped in what's been described as a "freak accident" at Worcester Cathedral.
The ringing master at the cathedral, Mark Regan, gave a vivid account to BBC Hereford and Worcester of the moment Ian Bowman was flipped upside down.
Mr Bowman was lowered 80ft (24m) through a trap door in the cathedral by a specialist rescue unit.
The accident happened during Evensong on Saturday when the bell-ringing rope caught Mr Bowman's heel.
He's now back home in Devon and able to walk despite fracturing a bone in his back.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-38957489
|
EU split over pace of reform as crisis bites - BBC News
|
2017-02-14
|
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
|
Brexit fuels a sense of EU crisis - but reforms are likely to be slow, Kevin Connolly reports.
|
Europe
|
There is a theory in politics that times of upheaval and uncertainty present opportunities as well as problems.
It's best summed up in the saying that you should never let a good crisis go to waste - an aphorism so seductive that it has been attributed to all the usual historical suspects, from Machiavelli to Winston Churchill.
It is perhaps in this spirit that the European Parliament has been debating how the EU is going to work in future, in the looming shadow of Brexit.
The UK's vote to leave the EU, last June, came as a seismic shock to most MEPs. And many are quite open in their view that it amounts to a self-destructive decision by the British to uncouple themselves from one of modern history's primary drivers of peace and prosperity.
British Eurosceptics of course would cast the Brexit vote in an entirely different light, and now foresee a future in which the UK will be free to make its fortune - and make its own new global trading relationships - unfettered from the dead hand of stifling Brussels bureaucracy.
It will be years of course - perhaps many years - before we know who is on the right side of that debate.
But one consequence of Brexit is already with us - the EU is now free to debate how it might work in the future without any input from the UK.
In theory that should leave Europe's federalists freer to dream than they have been in the past. Britain's voice has generally been raised to question the wisdom and value of further integration that would give EU institutions greater powers at the expense of individual national governments.
You would expect such dreams to be articulated best by Guy Verhofstadt - the former prime minister of Belgium, who now leads the liberal bloc in the European Parliament and who will represent that body in Brexit negotiations.
Guy Verhofstadt rejects claims that European voters have turned against the EU
In the debate on future reform Mr Verhofstadt said: "The union is in crisis. The European Union doesn't have much friends: not at home, not abroad.
"The Union does not deliver anymore. Rather than to talk about an 'ever closer union', we have a union of 'too little, too late'.
"That's why people are angry: they see all these European institutions, all these summits, all these empty words, but they don't see enough results."
Mr Verhofstadt has a long list of suggested fixes for this continental malaise, including reducing or ending the right of individual members to opt out of collective decisions - something no British government would ever have countenanced.
He has other ideas for how the EU should respond to Brexit too - including moving out of London the headquarters of two EU agencies: the European Banking Authority and the European Medicines Agency.
UKIP's Nigel Farage - an anti-EU MEP in the vanguard of Brexit
But for now, at least, it seems radical visions for reform will be quietly kicked into touch.
The vice-president of the EU Commission, Frans Timmermans, politely welcomed the display of "vision" in the proposals, but noted that most of the suggestions would require EU treaty change. He said simply: "We have to acknowledge that treaty change is not on the top of the political agenda now, in member states in particular."
There are plenty of true believers in the European project who would see in the Verhofstadt proposals the start of a kind of counter-revolution against events which have dismayed them - including Brexit, the US election of Donald Trump and the strong opinion poll showing of insurgent parties in a number of European countries.
But for now a more cautious and pragmatic approach will prevail - partly because there is a general sense in Strasbourg and Brussels that the European institutions will have enough on their plates negotiating Brexit, without kicking off a parallel process of structural reform which would also take years.
That takes us back to the idea that every crisis is an opportunity that shouldn't go to waste.
There are, no doubt, those in Strasbourg who take that view - but it seems for the moment they are outweighed by those who feel that when you find yourself in the middle of a crisis - as they would see Brexit - the smartest course of action is to fix the crisis first and worry about the future later.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38970265
|
Laureus Awards 2017: Bolt, Biles, Rosberg, Atherton & Leicester among winners - BBC Sport
|
2017-02-14
| null |
Sprinter Usain Bolt and gymnast Simone Biles claim the top accolades at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Monaco.
| null |
Last updated on .From the section Sport
Usain Bolt and Simone Biles claimed the top accolades at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Monaco.
Eight-time Olympic sprint champion Bolt and four-time Olympic gold gymnast Biles were named sportsman and sportswoman of the year for their 2016 achievements.
Britain's Rachel Atherton won the action sportsperson of the year award for her downhill mountain biking feats.
Leicester City won the spirit of sport award for winning the Premier League.
Atherton, 29, became the first rider in history to complete a perfect downhill World Cup season and then won a fourth World Championship title a week later.
Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri and captain Wes Morgan were in Monaco to collect the spirit of sport prize, awarded after the Foxes, 5,000-1 outsiders, won the Premier League by 10 points last season.
Is this the greatest ever sporting selfie?
Bolt won three gold medals at Rio 2016 in the 100m,200m and 4x100m relay.
That took his all-time Olympic medal tally to nine but last month he was asked to hand one back after Jamaican team-mate Nesta Carter tested positive for a banned substance.
Carter was part of the Jamaican quartet that won the 4x100m in Beijing in 2008.
Biles' four gold medals at Rio were in the team, all-around, vault and floor exercise events.
Nico Rosberg, who quit Formula 1 in December five days after being crowned world champion, received the breakthrough of the year prize.
Team of the year: Chicago Cubs, who ended a 108-year wait to win Major League Baseball's World Series.
Comeback of the year: American swimmer Michael Phelps, who won his 23rd Olympic gold in his final Games in Rio.
Sportsperson of the Year with a disability: Beatrice Vio, Italian wheelchair fencer who won gold at the 2016 Paralympics.
Sport for Good Award: for Sporting Inspiration: The Refugee Olympic Team, who competed at the Rio Olympics.
Best Sporting Moment: Barcelona Under-12 team whose players consoled their distraught Japanese opponents at the end of the Junior Soccer World Challenge in a touching show of sportsmanship.
The Laureus Sport for Good Award: Waves for Change.
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/38976144
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.