bbc--2020-03-03--Delhi riots: 'My brother died after police beating’

Naeem says his brother Faizan died after he was beaten by police during religious rioting in Delhi last week .
@ @ @ @ @ gone viral .
More than 40 people died in three days of violence , which @ @ @ @ @ both Hindus and Muslims were among the dead .
More than 200 others were injured @ @ @ @ @ first broke out between supporters and opponents of a controversial citizenship law that critics say @ @ @ @ @ police have not responded to a BBC request for comment on Faizan 's death .
@ @ @ @ @ failing to stop the rioters and , according to some reports , standing by as @ @ @ @ @ attacked .

Naeem says his brother Faizan died after he was beaten by police during religious rioting in Delhi last week. Video of the incident has gone viral.
More than 40 people died in three days of violence, which largely targeted Muslims - although both Hindus and Muslims were among the dead.
More than 200 others were injured in the violence, which first broke out between supporters and opponents of a controversial citizenship law that critics say discriminates against Muslims.
Delhi police have not responded to a BBC request for comment on Faizan's death. They have faced criticism for failing to stop the rioters and, according to some reports, standing by as Muslim homes and mosques were attacked.
UPDATE: Delhi police have now responded to the BBC's questions on allegations that policemen brutally beat up some Muslim men.
Joint Commissioner Alok Kumar told BBC Hindi's Salman Ravi that "an inquiry has been ordered into the incident".
"Action will be taken against whoever is found responsible," he said.
Video by Anshul Verma and Piyush Nagpal


bbc--2020-03-03--Bloodhound car: A month to save land speed record project

The UK-led bid to break the world land speed record is under threat once more .
Ian Warhurst , who owns the Bloodhound car that 's been built to go beyond 800mph ( 1,290km/h ) , says new money must come into the project this month or it will be wound up .
Bloodhound clocked 628mph ( 1,010km/h ) in trials last year while powered only by a jet engine .
With the addition of a rocket , the vehicle should easily beat the existing world record of 763mph ( 1,228km/h ) .
That wo n't happen , though , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ financing is there to support it .
• Bloodhound car has 800mph target in its sights • What 's it like to drive a car at over 500mph ?
Mr Warhurst rescued Bloodhound from administration at the end of 2018 but said at the time he would only use his own cash to take the project through the recent demonstration trials .
It would then require other individuals or corporates to come in with the backing to finish the job .
He thinks about £8m should do it .
`` We 've shown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's been huge support for it .
But although I 've had lots of conversations with people who are interested in taking it on , we have n't yet been able to get the money on the table , '' the automotive engineer told BBC News .
`` We really need to do that in the next month because of the timescales we 're operating to . ''
The £8m would cover the last elements of the rocket 's development and the work needed to prepare and run the car on its bespoke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dried out lakebed in South Africa 's Kalahari Desert .
The aim is to try to break the land speed record during the pan 's dry , cool months from July to August 2021 .
But that means kickstarting the final push no later than June this year .
`` I reckon there 's about a year 's worth of work to get the car ready , so we need to get going in the next few months , '' Mr Warhurst explained .
`` After we came back from South Africa at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ let team members take up other contracts .
But we need now to give them certainty if we 're to ask them to come back . ''
The businessman said the general public 's interest in the Gloucestershire-based project had been immense .
Independent analysis of the media coverage showed any sponsors involved in the South African trials could have received a 14:1 return on their investment , he claimed .
The privately funded Bloodhound project was launched in 2008 by then science minister and car racer Lord Paul Drayson as a `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ science , technology , engineering and mathematics ( STEM ) subjects .
An education charity has been operating in tandem with the development programme , using model rocket cars to teach fundamental concepts such as Newtonian laws .
Bloodhound was designed to run with a Eurofighter-Typhoon EJ200 jet engine in unison with a rocket .
Rolls-Royce supplies the turbofan and the Norwegian aerospace company Nammo is poised to provide the booster .
The speeds Bloodhound achieved last year using just the EJ200 power unit put it in a select group of only eight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sonic 1 , Blue Flame , Thrust2 , Budweiser Rocket , Sonic Arrow , Aussie Invader III , and Thrust SSC .
It is Thrust SSC which set the existing land speed record in 1997 .
Its driver was Andy Green .
The former RAF pilot is also the driver in Bloodhound .
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET @ bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter : @ BBCAmos

"I reckon there's about a year's worth of work to get the car ready, so we need to get going in the next few months," Mr Warhurst explained. "After we came back from South Africa at the end of last year, we let team members take up other contracts. But we need now to give them certainty if we're to ask them to come back."


bbc--2020-03-03--Indian PM Narendra Modi 'scares' millions of social followers

The world 's second most popular leader - when it comes to social media , at least - sent shockwaves through the internet on Monday , after announcing he was considering leaving the platforms .
After all , Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the only politician to even come close to challenging US President Donald Trump 's online dominance .
And so it was somewhat unsurprising that the hashtag # ModiQuitsSocialMedia began trending in India , with users quick to share a heady cocktail of conspiracy theories , memes and desperate pleas .
However , Mr Modi , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 35.2 million followers on picture sharing platform Instagram and 44 million followers on Facebook , soon revealed the true reason behind his abandonment of social media .
On Tuesday , he said that he would `` give away my social media accounts to women whose life & work inspire us '' .
But the `` big reveal '' came only after his first tweet generated an absolute social media storm .
Some theories suggested he was quitting social media platforms as they were being controlled by his opponents .
Others speculated that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to match Twitter and Facebook , something similar to social media platforms like WeChat and Weibo in China .
Apart from the theories , there were desperate pleas from his fans .
One wrote : `` Please Sir , You ca n't leave social media now for the sake of your fans ! ''
Another added : `` Modi Ji if you leave social media , they will use it against you and nation interest . ''
`` For me he is not only PM of India but also emotion .
You 're @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go sir . ''
Some users suggested that his account had been hacked .
Arun Yadav , the head of Haryana state IT and social media for BJP , tweeted asking the PM to not quit the platform as it was one way Indians could communicate with him .
But there were also jokes .
`` Spare a thought for Twitter , Facebook & their stocks .
PM Modi is all set to demonetise social media , '' wrote one user , referring to the overnight decision to ban high value currency notes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the prime minister was quitting all other platforms in order to make his TikTok debut .
`` Modi ji is a typical Indian boyfriend after breakup , '' quipped one Twitter user .
`` Modiji should be awarded Nobel Peace Prize for bringing peace in the digital world , '' said another .
There were political reactions too .
In a cheeky response , Rahul Gandhi , former president of the main opposition Congress party , tweeted : `` Give up hatred , not social media accounts . ''
Congress leader and MP @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` The PM 's abrupt announcement has led many to worry whether it 's a prelude to banning these services throughout the country too . ''
Mr Modi 's eventual tweet which clarified matters was seen by some as an anti-climax .
But for the millions who were pleading with him to reconsider , this is surely a big relief .

Apart from the theories, there were desperate pleas from his fans. One wrote: "Please Sir, You can't leave social media now for the sake of your fans!" Another added: "Modi Ji if you leave social media , they will use it against you and nation interest."


bbc--2020-03-03--LGBT activists: Using drag queens to unite communities

Jovan from Serbia and Lendi from Kosovo brush off their parents ' advice not to visit each other in their @ @ @ @ @ history of conflict between the Serbs and ethnic Albanians in the past have kept the @ @ @ @ @ the two young LGBT activists wanted to change that .
Thanks to Jovan and Lendi @ @ @ @ @ performed for the first time at the Pride Parade in Serbian capital Belgrade and Serbian @ @ @ @ @ debut in Kosovo capital Pristina .
This film is part of the BBC 's Crossing @ @ @

Jovan from Serbia and Lendi from Kosovo brush off their parents' advice not to visit each other in their respective homelands.
A fierce history of conflict between the Serbs and ethnic Albanians in the past have kept the two communities apart, but the two young LGBT activists wanted to change that.
Thanks to Jovan and Lendi, drag queens from Pristina performed for the first time at the Pride Parade in Serbian capital Belgrade and Serbian drag queen Ostroga had her debut in Kosovo capital Pristina.
This film is part of the BBC's Crossing Divides season.
Video journalist: Petra Zivic
Journalist: Lazara Marinkovic
Commissioning Editor: Kimberley Rowell


bbc--2020-03-03--Half-Life: Alyx - Hands on with Valve's virtual reality game-changer

It combined cinematic storytelling , taut and tense combat and extra-dimensional bad guys .
A successful sequel followed , but @ @ @ @ @ 13 years since the last release .
Now the series has returned in the form @ @ @ @ @ .
BBC Click 's Marc Cieslak was one of the first people in the world @ @ @ @ @ he suggests it could be VR 's first killer app .
See more at Click @ @ @ @ @

In 1998, Half Life changed first-person shooters forever.
It combined cinematic storytelling, taut and tense combat and extra-dimensional bad guys.
A successful sequel followed, but it’s been nearly 13 years since the last release.
Now the series has returned in the form of a virtual reality title.
BBC Click's Marc Cieslak was one of the first people in the world to play it, and he suggests it could be VR's first killer app.
See more at Click's website and @BBCClick


bbc--2020-03-03--Choppy waters of Brexit threaten Danish fishing

With an icy wind blowing behind it the fishing trawler Asbjoern 265 enters port in Skagen on the very northern tip of Denmark .
It 's Denmark 's busiest fishing harbour .
A flock of seagulls wheels overhead , raucous and hungry .
Snowflakes drift in the air .
Out to sea a line of white waves mark the turbulent waters where the currents of the North Sea and the Baltic collide .
The Asbjoern is an impressive sight .
It is 75m ( 246ft ) long , freshly painted , with a hold crammed with fish .
This catch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worth more than £1m ( $ 1.3m ) .
The boat is Danish .
These fish have been caught to the west of Ireland .
But most of what the Asbjoern lands comes from UK seas .
`` Sixty percent of our catches come from UK waters , so Brexit is a big issue for us , '' says Fridi Magnussen , owner of the Asbjoern .
`` The saying is they will 'take back control ' , '' he says , `` and we do n't know what that means .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history we have been able to fish in the North Sea and the UK waters , for all time . ''
After Brexit the UK is taking control of its exclusive economic zone , stretching up to 200 nautical miles offshore .
This concept of a country 's waters was adopted in the 1980s .
But fishing patterns that predate that , from the 1970s , were used to decide the division of fishing quotas between EU countries , the UK , Norway , the Faroe Islands and Iceland .
`` I ca @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anything back to the UK , as Danish fishermen have been operating in those waters for centuries , '' says Esben Sverdrup-Jensen of the Danish Pelagic Producer 's Organisation .
His members run the big trawlers , like the Asbjoern , that fish open waters for species like herring , mackerel , sprats and sand eel .
Much of it is not for human consumption but turned into fish meal for chicken , pig or salmon farming .
`` Handing back anything is not really any sort of an argument .
No , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signing up to anything that would be in conflict with the mandate agreed upon in the EU , '' he says .
Read more on Brexit and the fishing industry : • Is this the next big Brexit argument ?
• So long and thanks for all the fish ?
• Fishing will be a 'red line ' in Brexit negotiations The EU 's mandate , its position in the negotiations , is that both current access to UK waters and the current share held by each country must stay the same .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ fishing is a precondition for granting the UK a trade deal .
But the UK says it alone will decide what happens in UK waters and , because it has many of the rich fishing grounds , UK boats are entitled to a greater share of all the fish caught .
On the bridge of his trawler the Ceton 's skipper , Johannes Claesson , is surrounded by giant TV screens .
They show detailed , digital maps he has made of the fishing grounds .
All boats , including UK ones , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just the fish but the best markets for them , he says .
`` When UK vessels are fishing their quota in UK zone or European zone , they also cross the border , because maybe they can sell their catches of fish for a higher price in Norway , the Faroe Islands or Denmark .
So they are crossing the border same as we do . ''
A study by the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland estimates that UK boats land around 40 % of the fish caught in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 50 % of the catch measured by value .
In a building on Skagen 's quayside a conveyor belt carries a constant flow of glistening fresh herring .
Machines take in the fish and , within seconds , clean fillets appear .
The factory produces 800 million herring fillets a year .
CEO Johannes Palsson says if the UK insists its boats catch more of the herring in UK waters Britain 's problem will be finding markets for that fish .
`` The biggest volumes of herrings for instance are consumed in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the UK , '' he says .
It might be hard for the UK to sell , because the EU could impose tariffs , taxing any imports .
And he adds with a smile : `` Or English people have to learn to eat herring - a lot of it . ''
But British consumers generally do n't like herring , or the other main species caught in UK waters .
The UK exports up to 80 % of the fish it catches .
So businesses like salmon farmers , and crab and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the EU , could be vulnerable if there 's no fishing deal and the EU imposes tariffs .
In the fishmonger 's next to the herring factory they have displays of fresh seafood on ice : lumpfish , turbot , prawns , skate and many more .
Jan Nielson , who runs the shop , says even the fishermen on UK trawlers that call into Skagen do n't like to eat what they catch .
`` We supply the big trawlers with fish , because they do n't eat herring or hake @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they give us a call and say can you deliver to us haddock or cod . ''
Above the door of Skagen 's town hall there 's a huge carving of a fish .
Mayor Birgit Hansen 's own family history shows the ties that have bound fishing communities on both sides of the North Sea .
`` My uncle he was a big fisherman in Grimsby .
He went from Denmark and he had two boats , and he lived in Grimsby for many years , '' she says .
He did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ visit Denmark in his own plane .
`` Brexit will change the world , '' she adds .
`` But I think still we are dependent on each other .
And we have to make some agreements that respect your decision in some way .
But also make sure that the English , British fishermen can sell their fish . ''
Fishing represents just a tiny part of what 's at stake in the coming Brexit negotiations but it is a uniquely emotive issue and both sides have warned that failure to find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deal .

But British consumers generally don't like herring, or the other main species caught in UK waters. The UK exports up to 80% of the fish it catches. So businesses like salmon farmers, and crab and shellfish suppliers, who rely on exporting to the EU, could be vulnerable if there's no fishing deal and the EU imposes tariffs.


bbc--2020-03-03--Letter from Africa: Fake news and Nigeria's media

In our series of letters from African writers , Nigerian novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani reflects on the impact that fabricated news stories can have .
It described how David Oyedepo , founder of Winners ' Chapel , and one of Nigeria 's revered and influential religious leaders , allegedly threw a tantrum at the US consulate in Lagos after he was refused a visa .
According to the story , the bishop was `` obviously flustered '' .
It quoted an unnamed source as saying that the religious figure had `` immediately sent for his bodyguards to get his phones @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In a country where religious leaders are celebrities , and their every action or inaction scrutinised , the detailed story quickly went viral .
Comments on , and criticisms of , Bishop Oyedepo 's alleged behaviour poured out .
But there was one problem ; the ThisDay story turned out to be completely false .
`` False news alert , '' the US embassy said in a widely published statement , referring to the alleged visa row .
`` If you have seen this manufactured item in the media , help defeat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is completely false . ''
A spokesperson for Winners ' Chapel also released a statement , saying that the bishop had a valid US visa , so there was no need to have visited the consulate .
A few days later , ThisDay published an apology , then suspended the journalists responsible for the story .
`` The two deputy editors failed to follow the well-established traditions of carrying out the necessary checks and confirmations expected of personnel of their status in a sensitive story of that nature , '' the management @ @ @ @ @ @ @ original story came the disgust .
`` How could such a sensational story , about such an influential figure , have escaped the attention of gatekeepers at such a high-profile organisation ? ''
people asked .
The received wisdom was that while a certain recklessness is to be expected of stories published on social media , an established newspaper ought to be more responsible .
If only this was a one-off .
Working as a journalist in Nigeria is tough - even getting officials to confirm basic details can be hard .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high standards .
Nevertheless , that is no excuse for malicious fiction to be presented as fact , as is too often the case in some newspapers here .
Writing in his 2013 autobiography , state governor Nasir el-Rufai described an incident that took place years ago , when he was the mayor of the capital city , Abuja .
`` I came into my office and saw something that looked like a small tortoise on my seat , '' he wrote .
`` This was supposed to be some voodoo curse meant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , settled down and started working . ''
But this was not the end of the matter .
Mr el-Rufai continued : `` The very next day , one Nigeria newspaper , the Daily Times , had a story about how I came into my office , saw a tortoise , and collapsed , and had been flown out abroad in a coma… '' My [ head of security ] wanted [ the reporter ] arrested , but I did not see any sense in that . ''
While government officials , like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disposal state forces they can use to vent their frustrations on offending journalists , the average Nigerian does not .
At various times , people I know have had incredibly dangerous lies published about them , and the best they could do was phone around to all their friends and well-wishers and assure them that the stories were completely false .
Suing for libel would entail expensive litigation and drawn out proceedings .
Thus , Nigerians continue to endure the laziness of journalists willing to publish rumours picked up in bars and beauty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those who , in exchange for lucre , plant unsavoury stories calculated to embarrass the payer 's enemies .
There is no suggestion that this happened in the case of Bishop Oyedepo .
In April 2012 , the message carried in one of their video releases had been distorted in some local media reports .
In response , the jihadist group took direct action and bombed two newspaper offices , including a branch of ThisDay .
While claiming responsibility for the carnage , a Boko Haram spokesperson said : `` Each time we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or downplayed . ''
Journalists should not live in fear for their lives if they get something wrong , but they should be very careful about making mistakes .
Life is hard for reporters here .
At least 19 journalists and bloggers were arrested in Nigeria between January and September 2019 , according to Amnesty International .
That is troubling , and the government of President Muhammadu Buhari definitely needs to improve its record on freedom of the press .
But at the same time , some people at the helm of journalism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
There should be no place in the newsroom for tall tales .
• Mugabe and Moi : The legacy of a dying African generation • Where toilets have become a constitutional right • Brides under pressure to have genital mutilation - again Follow us on Twitter @ BBCAfrica , on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

At various times, people I know have had incredibly dangerous lies published about them, and the best they could do was phone around to all their friends and well-wishers and assure them that the stories were completely false.


bbc--2020-03-03--Why hasn’t AI changed the world yet?

Why hasn’t AI changed the world yet?

When Kursat Ceylan , who is blind , was trying to find his way to a hotel , he used an app on his phone for directions , but also had to hold his cane and pull his luggage .
He ended up walking into a pole , cutting his forehead .
This inspired him to develop , along with a partner , Wewalk - a cane equipped with artificial intelligence ( AI ) , that detects objects above chest level and pairs with apps including Google Maps and Amazon 's Alexa , so the user can ask questions .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ develop the product , also has an eye condition .
In his case his vision is severely impaired when the light is not good .
While the smart cane itself only integrates with basic AI functions right now , the aim is for Wewalk , to use information gathered from the gyroscope , accelerometer and compass installed inside the cane .
It will used that data to understand more about how visually impaired people use the product and behave in general to create a far more sophisticated product using machine learning ( an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would include the creation of an AI voice service with Microsoft , specifically designed for visually-impaired people , and eventually allowing the device to integrate with other internet connected devices .
• Would you eat a 'steak ' printed by robots • Will your next colleague be a robot ?
• Blockchain : The revolution that has n't quite happened • What happens to all the old wind turbines ?
• Protecting whales from the din made by people '' It is n't just meant to be a smart cane , it 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and autonomous vehicles , '' Mr Feghali says .
The idea is that Wewalk could interact with traffic lights to help people cross roads without needing to push a button , and could alert a bus to wait at a specific stop ahead of time .
Such innovations would be welcome , but perhaps falls short of the dreams originally inspired by AI .
When the field emerged at the end of the 20th century it was hoped that computers would be able to operate on their own , with human-like abilities - @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` Back in the 1970s , there were predictions that by 2020 , we should have generalised AI by now , we should have been having some Moon and Mars bases and we 're nowhere near that , '' says Aditya Kaul , Research Director at Omdia .
Progress has been picking up in recent years as artificial neural networks have become more sophisticated .
Inspired by the way the brain forms connections and learns , artificial neural networks are layers of complex equations known as algorithms which are fed data until they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own conclusions , a process known as deep learning .
In 2012 , Mr Kaul explains , a neural-network framework known as AlexNet emerged , which started a deep learning revolution .
`` That has led to a number of different innovations from facial recognition , to voice and speech recognition , as well as to some extent what you see on Netflix or Amazon in personalizing and predicting what you want to watch or buy , '' he says .
The founder and chief technology officer of autonomous vehicle software company Oxbotica @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of deep learning as the step change for AI between a hand drill and a power drill .
`` We can now attack problems that before we would have no idea of how to start , '' he says .
But if consumers have n't noticed this progress , that 's maybe because it mostly happens behind the scenes .
`` If there was a robotic device that was integrated in your office that you see every day , then perhaps people would n't be disappointed but many of the advances in AI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that we just forget about them , '' says Dennis Mortensen , chief executive and co-founder of x.ai , an AI scheduling tool .
Currently , AI used in everyday life consists of either automating or optimising things that humans can do - whether that is detecting fraud by analysing millions of transactions , sifting through CVs to select the right candidates for a job , or using facial recognition to enable people to get through some form of security .
Mr Mortensen used his scheduling app to set up a telephone call @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tell his virtual assistant Amy to find some time for a call next week .
Amy then emails me automatically to select a time and date which works for both of us .
The next stage of AI , Mr Mortensen says , is to allow Amy to be able to interact with other Amys to co-ordinate schedules .
That means that if there is a network of 100 people who all use x.ai , Amy could effectively schedule meetings for all of these people to meet each other - and others - @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in their own preferences .
This would be something even the ablest paid human assistant would not be able to do - and this is where AI is heading .
It 's hard to predict when breakthroughs will occur .
But in the last few months there have been world firsts : Scientists have used AI to discover the antibiotic properties of an existing drug , while an entirely new drug molecule 'invented ' by AI will soon be used in human trials to treat patients who have obsessive-compulsive disorder ( OCD ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ executive of the company behind the OCD drug , Exscientia , says that drug development usually takes five years to get to trial as there are potentially billions of design decisions that need to be made - but the AI drug took just 12 months .
`` The reason it 's accelerated is because we 're making and testing fewer compounds , and this is because the algorithms that undertake the design work are able to learn faster and reach the optimised molecule quicker , '' he says , adding that early stage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a 30 % cost saving to bring the drug to market .
Although his team did n't know when the breakthrough would happen , they were confident AI would be the best way to find it .
But according to Oxbotica 's Mr Newman , the `` monster problem in AI '' is predicting the future .
Autonomous cars are reasonably good at identifying stop signs or pedestrians .
When it comes to path planning - making decisions about where to go to avoid the pedestrians - there is a long way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even identifying pedestrians and signs were almost intractable problems for decades , and in the last five years many of these have been solved .
He suggests that there may need to be another revolution - like that of AlexNet - to help the industry to overcome these other challenges .
Perhaps then , we will see a world of autonomous vehicles , smart canes and transport networks that are all interlinked .
This article is the third in a mini-series on disruptive industries .
You can find the first on blockchain here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the third on 3D printing here .

The next stage of AI, Mr Mortensen says, is to allow Amy to be able to interact with other Amys to co-ordinate schedules. That means that if there is a network of 100 people who all use x.ai, Amy could effectively schedule meetings for all of these people to meet each other - and others - at convenient times and locations, factoring in their own preferences. This would be something even the ablest paid human assistant would not be able to do - and this is where AI is heading.


bbc--2020-03-03--Steroids at 16: South Africa's schoolboy rugby scene faces a widespread doping problem

The butcher in Salmon van Huyssteen 's home town did more than sell meat .
It also operated as an informal post office , a collection point for parcels and packages in his Pretoria suburb .
Then 16 years old and a promising number eight , he wanted to fill out his frame fast .
But instead of steak , sausages or some other protein hit from over the counter , a small container , wrapped in tape to hide the contents , waited for him in the back .
It had been sent by his body-building cousin and was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evening , Van Huyssteen 's mother took a syringe and injected him with a millilitre of the product , named 'Deca 300 ' .
In the morning , she did the same again .
A year later , Van Huyssteen was part of an excited band of teenagers collected together at Loftus Versfeld , home of the Bulls , Pretoria 's Super Rugby team .
Wearing the garish green , red and yellow blazer of his prestigious Afrikaans Boys ' High School , he crowded close to his new team-mates as a photographer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under-18 side .
They were to compete in Craven Week , perhaps the world 's most famous showcase of elite teenage rugby players .
Televised by South Africa 's biggest broadcaster and sponsored by a global soft drinks giant , it draws in overseas and local talent scouts to watch the age-grade sides from the country 's biggest teams face off in a week-long festival format .
Alongside Van Huyssteen in the squad photo was RG Snyman , who would go on to play in South Africa 's World Cup final win over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zyl , another future Springbok .
But any plans that Van Huyssteen had of following a similar path were derailed .
A sample given to anti-doping officers at Craven Week showed traces of the steroid nandrolone , two times over the World Anti-Doping Authority 's permitted limit .
Van Huysteen appealed unsuccessfully against a two-year ban .
World Rugby 's lawyers had questions over his story .
If , as he claimed , his parents had stopped using it after those first two injections , why was nandrolone still present in his system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
Why was the container still in the family 's fridge ?
As for the question of why he took the drug in the first place - there is perhaps an easy answer .
But it would n't tell the full story .
`` Steroids are going to give you everything that a young rugby player would want - strength , power , speed , '' says Dr Jon Patricios , a past president of the South African Sports Medicine Association and a former team doctor to the Cats and Golden Lions teams @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you a much better athlete , regardless what position you play .
Those are the benefits .
What these young players do n't realise are the side effects .
`` Steroids can affect almost any system in the body , but most are hidden .
Blood pressure , changes to the heart , sugar and cholesterol levels , potential infertility , liver , kidneys , psychological damage - almost every aspect can be affected .
`` That is what they are not too concerned about , because they ca n't see them .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ one to run the risk .
Flick to page 40 of the South African Institute of Drug-Free Sport 's ( Saids ) latest annual report and 'Name redacted ( minor ) ' appears six times in the annual list of doping offenders .
All were teenage rugby players who tested positive for steroids at the 2018 edition of Craven Week .
It was no blip .
The event has turned into one of the most reliable hunting grounds for anti-doping officers .
Three players tested positive at the 2017 event , four in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2014 .
All for steroids .
It would be more surprising if all these schoolboys turned out to be clean .
A survey of more than 12,000 boys in 23 rugby-playing schools in South Africa 's KwaZulu-Natal province in 2014 revealed that almost a tenth of 18-year-old boys had tried steroids .
One prominent Johannesburg school offered an amnesty to its pupils , encouraging them to hand in unused steroids and turn things around .
The director of rugby at a school in Cape Town was suspended last year after a former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ steroids .
The director has denied the allegation .
Dr Patricios has been visited by parents who want advice after discovering cooler bags of potions and pills under their sons ' beds .
`` A lot of it is pressure that builds in making an elite sports team or the first XV rugby team , '' he says .
`` That pressure may be internal from the boys themselves , or from their parents or peers , and certainly a significant amount of it is from the coaches .
`` There are cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pick up 10kg before the start of the season if you want to make the team .
`` There is that sort of innuendo that the kid interprets as them needing to 'bulk up ' to make the team .
`` I honestly believe that there are coaches and headmasters who are turning a blind eye , and I think there are parents who turn a blind eye .
Not all parents come to see me . ''
Clinton van den Berg agrees .
Formerly sports editor at South Africa 's Sunday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communications manager for SuperSport , the country 's leading rugby broadcaster .
`` Anecdotally people tell me it is happening all over schoolboy rugby , '' he tells BBC Sport .
`` There is a demographic of schoolboy whose great ambition is to become a professional rugby player and there are absurd amounts for contracts .
`` Even if that does n't happen there is the possibility of being poached by another school , where the bursary system would see part of your fees being paid .
There is an enormous incentive to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , stronger , better .
`` But what you have to also understand is that a lot of schoolboys are taking 'juice ' for vanity , not performance .
It is because they want to be big and buff .
That also comes into it .
`` There is a big gym culture in South Africa .
People love the outdoors and the beach and the guys want to look big . ''
It is an aesthetic the Springboks have perfected .
In the build-up to to the Rugby World Cup , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Apparently shot in the aftermath of an intensive training session , the squad are stripped to their shorts , gleefully showing off a collective mountain of shrink-wrapped , shredded muscle .
One Twitter user shot back with a GIF of peak-dominance Lance Armstrong making his infamous 'zipped-lips ' gesture during the 2004 Tour de France .
The syringe emoji was also given an extensive work-out .
Despite none of the Springbok World Cup squad ever having tested positive , South Africa 's schoolboy steroid tests have fed into a subculture of suspicion .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Aphiwe Dyantyi , International Breakthrough player of the year in 2018 , was not part of that Springboks gym group shot .
The 25-year-old wing , who made a try-scoring debut in June 2018 's win over England in Johannesburg , tested positive for a sophisticated cocktail of banned substances a little over a year later .
As he waits for his hearing , so does Chiliboy Ralepelle .
The hooker , who preceded Siya Kolisi as the first black player to captain the Springboks when he led them in a non-cap @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is facing the third anti-doping ban of his career .
For Ralepelle , now 33 , another ban would surely mark the end of his playing days .
For Dyanti , perhaps not .
During his time with Munster , current Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus decided that a served steroid ban was no reason not to sign second row and compatriot Gerbrandt Grobler for the Irish province .
Grobler has since moved to Gloucester where the head coach is Johan Ackermann , another former Springbok who served his own two-year doping suspension @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ban expired , Van Huyssteen was back in the Blue Bulls set-up as a replacement in their under-19 team .
The incidence of doping in South African rugby and the speed with which offenders have been reintegrated prompted questions during the World Cup .
And not only of the Springboks .
Ireland back row CJ Stander , a star turn at Craven Week in 2007 and 2008 , was asked about his experiences of youth rugby and drugs in his homeland .
`` It 's something that , if you want to go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do it , it 's probably there , '' he said .
Two days earlier South Africa 's then forwards coach Matt Proudfoot , now with England , had made a strong defence of the testing regime his players were put through , but admitted he `` understood why the narrative is there '' .
Patricios believes that the positive tests at Craven Week come because South African youth rugby builds so momentously towards that one week , rather than being indicative of a malaise that has spread to the upper reaches .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ watershed .
If you break through at that level you are going to be noticed , pulled into the Varsity Cup system , contracted to unions and the path is easier for you , '' he says .
`` Those kids that do n't break through then and make it later are few and far between .
`` There is a massive disconnect between what goes on in schoolboy rugby and what goes on in professional rugby .
`` As soon as these players enter the professional ranks they are subjected to regular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by South African drug authorities but also in other countries , for Super Rugby fixtures for instance .
`` You are tested regularly and it is difficult to get away with it . ''
Rugby is second only to athletics as the most tested sport in South Africa .
A total of 342 tests in rugby last year unearthed 16 offenders .
All but two were for steroids .
By comparison , UK Anti-Doping carried out 837 tests for the Rugby Football Union in England alone during that time .
Across a total @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , only eight athletes returned positive tests for illegal steroid use .
But those stark stats are no reason for northern hemisphere complacency or condescension .
The majority of UK teenage players are educated , rather than tested .
Daniel Spencer-Tonks , a former England Under-16 rugby union player banned for four years for steroid use in 2015 at the age of 20 , warned that doping was `` hugely widespread through all levels of rugby '' .
In the wake of Sam Chalmers testing positive for two anabolic steroids while on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 19-year-old Scottish National League player told the BBC that illegal drug use was rife north of the border as well .
On his way out of the Wales door this November , head coach Warren Gatland said he had suspicions over one of his players during his time in charge .
`` I can not comment on how South Africa compares to other countries .
I have no data to support such comparisons , '' says Khalid Galant , chief executive at the South African Institute of Drug-Free Sport .
`` Sport @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Currently in South Africa we are dealing with lots of corruption and ethical breaches at the highest level of leadership .
`` Our society may be becoming more tolerant towards cheating as a means to achieve goals because there is also an absence of consequences . ''
Van Huyssteen , Ralepelle , Grobler and Dyantyi have certainly felt the full implications of their offences .
For unknown others , in South Africa and beyond , Galant is right .

Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Salmon van Huyssteen's story is just one of many around a widespread problem in South African rugby
The butcher in Salmon van Huyssteen's home town did more than sell meat.
It also operated as an informal post office, a collection point for parcels and packages in his Pretoria suburb.
In September 2012, a delivery arrived for Van Huyssteen.
Then 16 years old and a promising number eight, he wanted to fill out his frame fast. But instead of steak, sausages or some other protein hit from over the counter, a small container, wrapped in tape to hide the contents, waited for him in the back.
It had been sent by his body-building cousin and was collected by his parents. That same evening, Van Huyssteen's mother took a syringe and injected him with a millilitre of the product, named 'Deca 300'. In the morning, she did the same again.
A year later, Van Huyssteen was part of an excited band of teenagers collected together at Loftus Versfeld, home of the Bulls, Pretoria's Super Rugby team.
Wearing the garish green, red and yellow blazer of his prestigious Afrikaans Boys' High School, he crowded close to his new team-mates as a photographer captured their call-ups to the Blue Bulls under-18 side. external-link
They were to compete in Craven Week, perhaps the world's most famous showcase of elite teenage rugby players.
Van Huyssteen, circled red, alongside Snyman and Van Zyl, circled green, in the Blue Bulls squad for 2013 Craven Week - neither Snyman, Van Zyl nor any the Springbok World Cup squad have ever tested positive
Televised by South Africa's biggest broadcaster and sponsored by a global soft drinks giant, it draws in overseas and local talent scouts to watch the age-grade sides from the country's biggest teams face off in a week-long festival format.
Alongside Van Huyssteen in the squad photo was RG Snyman, who would go on to play in South Africa's World Cup final win over England in 2019, and Ivan van Zyl, another future Springbok.
But any plans that Van Huyssteen had of following a similar path were derailed.
A sample given to anti-doping officers at Craven Week showed traces of the steroid nandrolone, two times over the World Anti-Doping Authority's permitted limit.
Van Huysteen appealed unsuccessfully against a two-year ban. World Rugby's lawyers had questions over his story.
If, as he claimed, his parents had stopped using it after those first two injections, why was nandrolone still present in his system at such high levels 10 months later? Why was the container still in the family's fridge?
As for the question of why he took the drug in the first place - there is perhaps an easy answer. But it wouldn't tell the full story.
"Steroids are going to give you everything that a young rugby player would want - strength, power, speed," says Dr Jon Patricios, a past president of the South African Sports Medicine Association and a former team doctor to the Cats and Golden Lions teams.
"It is going to make you a much better athlete, regardless what position you play. Those are the benefits. What these young players don't realise are the side effects.
"Steroids can affect almost any system in the body, but most are hidden. Blood pressure, changes to the heart, sugar and cholesterol levels, potential infertility, liver, kidneys, psychological damage - almost every aspect can be affected.
"That is what they are not too concerned about, because they can't see them."
Van Huyssteen is not the only one to run the risk.
Flick to page 40 of the South African Institute of Drug-Free Sport's (Saids) latest annual report external-link and 'Name redacted (minor)' appears six times in the annual list of doping offenders.
All were teenage rugby players who tested positive for steroids at the 2018 edition of Craven Week. It was no blip. The event has turned into one of the most reliable hunting grounds for anti-doping officers.
Patricios addresses the World Rugby conference in 2014
Three players tested positive at the 2017 event, four in 2016, five in 2015 and three in 2014. All for steroids.
It would be more surprising if all these schoolboys turned out to be clean.
A survey of more than 12,000 boys in 23 rugby-playing schools in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province in 2014 revealed that almost a tenth of 18-year-old boys had tried steroids.
One prominent Johannesburg school offered an amnesty to its pupils, encouraging them to hand in unused steroids and turn things around.
The director of rugby at a school in Cape Town was suspended external-link last year after a former pupil claimed he was helped to inject steroids. The director has denied the allegation.
Dr Patricios has been visited by parents who want advice after discovering cooler bags of potions and pills under their sons' beds.
"A lot of it is pressure that builds in making an elite sports team or the first XV rugby team," he says.
"That pressure may be internal from the boys themselves, or from their parents or peers, and certainly a significant amount of it is from the coaches.
"There are cases where coaches will tell players they need to pick up 10kg before the start of the season if you want to make the team.
"There is that sort of innuendo that the kid interprets as them needing to 'bulk up' to make the team.
"I honestly believe that there are coaches and headmasters who are turning a blind eye, and I think there are parents who turn a blind eye. Not all parents come to see me."
Clinton van den Berg agrees. Formerly sports editor at South Africa's Sunday Times, he now works as a communications manager for SuperSport, the country's leading rugby broadcaster.
"Anecdotally people tell me it is happening all over schoolboy rugby," he tells BBC Sport.
"There is a demographic of schoolboy whose great ambition is to become a professional rugby player and there are absurd amounts for contracts.
"Even if that doesn't happen there is the possibility of being poached by another school, where the bursary system would see part of your fees being paid. There is an enormous incentive to excel - to be faster, bigger, stronger, better.
"But what you have to also understand is that a lot of schoolboys are taking 'juice' for vanity, not performance. It is because they want to be big and buff. That also comes into it.
"There is a big gym culture in South Africa. People love the outdoors and the beach and the guys want to look big."
It is an aesthetic the Springboks have perfected.
In the build-up to to the Rugby World Cup, a photo of the champions-to-be went viral. Apparently shot in the aftermath of an intensive training session, the squad are stripped to their shorts, gleefully showing off a collective mountain of shrink-wrapped, shredded muscle.
Admiration was not universal.
One Twitter user shot back with a GIF of peak-dominance Lance Armstrong making his infamous 'zipped-lips' gesture during the 2004 Tour de France. The syringe emoji was also given an extensive work-out.
Despite none of the Springbok World Cup squad ever having tested positive, South Africa's schoolboy steroid tests have fed into a subculture of suspicion.
But they are not the only factor.
Aphiwe Dyantyi picks up his breakthrough player of the year award at the World Rugby Awards in Monaco, a little more than seven months before his positive doping test
Aphiwe Dyantyi, International Breakthrough player of the year in 2018, was not part of that Springboks gym group shot.
The 25-year-old wing, who made a try-scoring debut in June 2018's win over England in Johannesburg, tested positive for a sophisticated cocktail of banned substances a little over a year later.
As he waits for his hearing, so does Chiliboy Ralepelle.
The hooker, who preceded Siya Kolisi as the first black player to captain external-link the Springboks when he led them in a non-cap match against a World XV in 2006, is facing the third anti-doping ban of his career.
For Ralepelle, now 33, another ban would surely mark the end of his playing days. For Dyanti, perhaps not.
During his time with Munster, current Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus decided that a served steroid ban was no reason not to sign second row and compatriot Gerbrandt Grobler for the Irish province.
Grobler has since moved to Gloucester where the head coach is Johan Ackermann, another former Springbok who served his own two-year doping suspension.
Grobler, right, with former Western Province team-mates Elton Jantjies (left) and Bryan Habana (centre) in 2013. He tested positive for steroids the following year. He claims he was taking them to aid his recovery from injury rather than enhance performance.
The day after his own two-year ban expired, Van Huyssteen was back in the Blue Bulls set-up as a replacement in their under-19 team. external-link
The incidence of doping in South African rugby and the speed with which offenders have been reintegrated prompted questions during the World Cup. And not only of the Springboks.
Ireland back row CJ Stander, a star turn at Craven Week in 2007 and 2008, was asked about his experiences of youth rugby and drugs in his homeland. external-link
"It's something that, if you want to go look for it and you want to do it, it's probably there," he said.
Two days earlier South Africa's then forwards coach Matt Proudfoot external-link , now with England, had made a strong defence of the testing regime his players were put through, but admitted he "understood why the narrative is there".
Patricios believes that the positive tests at Craven Week come because South African youth rugby builds so momentously towards that one week, rather than being indicative of a malaise that has spread to the upper reaches.
"Craven Week is pretty much a watershed. If you break through at that level you are going to be noticed, pulled into the Varsity Cup system, contracted to unions and the path is easier for you," he says.
"Those kids that don't break through then and make it later are few and far between.
"There is a massive disconnect between what goes on in schoolboy rugby and what goes on in professional rugby.
"As soon as these players enter the professional ranks they are subjected to regular squad and random testing, not only by South African drug authorities but also in other countries, for Super Rugby fixtures for instance.
"You are tested regularly and it is difficult to get away with it."
Drugs in sport: Dangers of doping in rugby
Rugby is second only to athletics as the most tested sport in South Africa. A total of 342 tests in rugby last year unearthed 16 offenders. All but two were for steroids.
By comparison, UK Anti-Doping carried out 837 tests for the Rugby Football Union in England alone during that time. Across a total of 11,922 tests external-link in all different sports, only eight athletes returned positive tests for illegal steroid use.
But those stark stats are no reason for northern hemisphere complacency or condescension.
The majority of UK teenage players are educated, rather than tested.
Daniel Spencer-Tonks, a former England Under-16 rugby union player banned for four years for steroid use in 2015 at the age of 20, warned that doping was "hugely widespread through all levels of rugby".
In the wake of Sam Chalmers testing positive for two anabolic steroids while on a Scotland under-20s training camp in 2013, an anonymous 19-year-old Scottish National League player told the BBC that illegal drug use was rife north of the border as well.
On his way out of the Wales door this November, head coach Warren Gatland said he had suspicions over one of his players during his time in charge. external-link
"I cannot comment on how South Africa compares to other countries. I have no data to support such comparisons," says Khalid Galant, chief executive at the South African Institute of Drug-Free Sport.
"Sport is only a mirror of our society. Currently in South Africa we are dealing with lots of corruption and ethical breaches at the highest level of leadership.
"Our society may be becoming more tolerant towards cheating as a means to achieve goals because there is also an absence of consequences."
Van Huyssteen, Ralepelle, Grobler and Dyantyi have certainly felt the full implications of their offences. For unknown others, in South Africa and beyond, Galant is right.


bbc--2020-03-03--Olympics 'could be postponed' until later in year

Japan 's Olympic minister says the Tokyo 2020 Games could be postponed from the summer until later in the year amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak .
In a response to a question in Japan 's parliament , Seiko Hashimoto said Tokyo 's contract with the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) `` calls for the Games to be held within 2020 '' .
She added that `` could be interpreted as allowing a postponement '' .
The Games are due to be held from 24 July to 9 August .
`` We are doing all we can to ensure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' Hashimoto added .
IOC president Thomas Bach said last week that the organisation is `` fully committed '' to hosting the event as scheduled .
Under the hosting agreement the right to cancel the Games remains with the IOC .
A number of high-profile sporting events have already been cancelled or postponed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak , including the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Athletics Championships and the Chinese Grand Prix , which was scheduled for 19 April .
The coronavirus , which originated in China , has spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than 3,000 lives so far .
• Coronavirus & sport : What now for Six Nations , Tokyo Olympics , F1 , Euro 2020 & Cheltenham ?
• Tokyo Olympics still 'business as usual ' , says IOC 's Dick Pound

Last updated on .From the section Olympics
Seiko Hashimoto says Tokyo 2020 organisers are "doing all we can" to make sure the Games go ahead as planned
Japan's Olympic minister says the Tokyo 2020 Games could be postponed from the summer until later in the year amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak.
In a response to a question in Japan's parliament, Seiko Hashimoto said Tokyo's contract with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) "calls for the Games to be held within 2020".
She added that "could be interpreted as allowing a postponement".
The Games are due to be held from 24 July to 9 August.
"We are doing all we can to ensure that the Games go ahead as planned," Hashimoto added.
Under the hosting agreement the right to cancel the Games remains with the IOC.
IOC president Thomas Bach says his organisation remains "very confident with regard the success" of the Games in Tokyo.
"I would like to encourage all the athletes to continue their preparations with great confidence and full steam," added the German.
A number of high-profile sporting events have already been cancelled or postponed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, including the World Athletics Indoor Athletics Championships and the Chinese Grand Prix, which was scheduled for 19 April.
Coronavirus, which originated in China, has spread to more than 60 countries and claimed more than 3,000 lives so far.
The IOC executive board met in Lausanne, Switzerland on Tuesday and in a statement "expressed its full commitment to the success of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 taking place from 24 July to 9 August".
It said a "joint task force" was started in mid-February, involving the IOC, Tokyo 2020 organisers, the host city of Tokyo, the government of Japan and the World Health Organization.
The executive board added that it "appreciates and supports the measures being taken, which constitute an important part of Tokyo's plans to host safe and secure Games".
"We will continue to support the athletes and their NOCs with regular updates of information, which we will provide," Bach added.


bbc--2020-03-03--Quarantined riders 'held against their will' in UAE and treated 'like plague victims'

Cofidis riders are being `` held against their will '' and `` treated like plague victims '' in the UAE says team president Thierry Vittu .
The final two stages of the UAE Tour were cancelled after two `` suspected '' coronavirus cases , with riders at the event then tested for the virus .
However , while the majority of teams have left UAE , the French outfit are one of four still under lockdown .
`` We always hope things will get better soon and nothing happens , '' Vittu said .
On Saturday , the organisers of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people at the event who were put into quarantine , including British riders Chris Froome and Adam Yates , had returned negative tests for coronavirus .
But French teams Cofidis and Groupama-FDJ plus the UAE team and Russian team Gazprom , who underwent a second test on Sunday , have all remained under quarantine in their hotel .
`` I think that this situation is really not normal .
We 're being held against our will in a place we did n't choose and for an unknown length of time , '' Vittu @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be nice if the media would take over our situation , just to add pressure where necessary .
`` When we meet someone from the hotel in the corridor , he runs away .
We are treated like plague victims ; our rooms have not been made since we arrived five days ago , we have to go in front of the elevator , there is a cart and we help ourselves with sheets , soaps and towels .
`` That 's the situation , some live it well , for others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the UCI and race organisers have been asked to comment .
The team 's sporting director Roberto Damiani has reportedly threatened to go on hunger strike if the coronavirus quarantine does n't end soon , while Australian rider Nathan Haas told BBC Radio 5 Live it all appears to be a `` bit of a hullabaloo for nothing '' .
For the 30-year-old , who excels in the early-season classics , the situation is also threatening to `` derail '' his season .
`` From a professional perspective our team is really hurting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ teams have not been , '' said the former Tour of Britain winner .
`` This is now five , six days without being able to touch a bike .
It is already enough to completely derail the whole process .
`` It 's a strange situation , we are not really getting any information and that is the most frustrating part of the whole experience .
You are following the news pattern of your story in the media as opposed to being told from your hotel .
There are security guards everywhere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` Our particular floor was where there were some suspected positive cases .
The irony was , that everyone on this floor , which is three of the 18 teams at the race , were actually dining together for the first three days of the quarantine - sharing the same buffet room and public spaces .
`` Anyone who could have been contact with us , which everyone was , has now left the UAE and travelled abroad .
So it 's very fortunate that everyone on the fourth floor has tested negative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you have to say it was not done very well because there could have been 600 people - potential positives - flying to everywhere in the world . ''

Nathan Haas (left) is one of seven Cofidis riders still under quarantine in the UAE
Cofidis riders are being "held against their will" and "treated like plague victims" in the United Arab Emirates, says team president Thierry Vittu.
The final two stages of the UAE Tour were cancelled after two "suspected" coronavirus cases, with riders at the event then tested for the virus.
While the majority of teams have left the UAE, Cofidis are one of four still under lockdown.
"We always hope things will get better soon and nothing happens," Vittu said.
On Saturday, the organisers of the UAE Tour said all 167 people at the event who were put into quarantine, including British riders Chris Froome and Adam Yates, had returned negative tests for coronavirus.
But French teams Cofidis and Groupama-FDJ, the UAE team and Russian team Gazprom, who had a second test on Sunday, remain under quarantine in their hotel.
"I think that this situation is really not normal. We're being held against our will in a place we didn't choose and for an unknown length of time," Vittu said in a statement.
"It would be nice if the media would take over our situation, just to add pressure where necessary.
"When we meet someone from the hotel in the corridor, he runs away. We are treated like plague victims; our rooms have not been made since we arrived five days ago, we have to go in front of the elevator, there is a cart and we help ourselves with sheets, soaps and towels.
"That's the situation, some live it well, for others it's more complicated."
In a statement, the UCI, world cycling's governing body, said: "We've directly contacted government authorities and hopefully riders and staff will be able to leave the country today."
'A hullabaloo for nothing'
Cofidis sporting director Roberto Damiani has reportedly threatened external-link to go on hunger strike if the coronavirus quarantine does not end soon, while Australian rider Nathan Haas told BBC Radio 5 Live it all appears to be a "bit of a hullabaloo for nothing".
The 30-year-old, who excels in the early-season classics, said the situation is threatening to "derail" his season.
"From a professional perspective our team is really hurting because we're being disadvantaged when other teams have not been," said the former Tour of Britain winner.
"This is now five, six days without being able to touch a bike. It is already enough to completely derail the whole process.
"It's a strange situation. We are not really getting any information and that is the most frustrating part of the whole experience.
"You are following the news pattern of your story in the media as opposed to being told from your hotel. There are security guards everywhere and all the doors are shut.
"Our particular floor was where there were some suspected positive cases. The irony was, that everyone on this floor, which is three of the 18 teams at the race, were actually dining together for the first three days of the quarantine - sharing the same buffet room and public spaces.
"Anyone who could have been contact with us, which everyone was, has now left the UAE and travelled abroad. So it's very fortunate that everyone on the fourth floor has tested negative but if you look at the protocol you have to say it was not done very well because there could have been 600 people - potential positives - flying to everywhere in the world."


bbc--2020-03-02--Arsenal youngsters show they are 'worth the risk' in win at Portsmouth - Arteta

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said the club 's young players are `` worth the risk '' after his youthful team beat League One Portsmouth at a noisy Fratton Park to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals .
Arteta named a side with six players aged 20 or under and they looked in control , especially in the second half , as they beat a team which had not lost in 19 home games and had won their previous 10 .
Pompey played well in the first half but trailed to Sokratis Papastathopoulos ' volley from Reiss Nelson 's cross just before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from close range from another Nelson cross to wrap up the victory six minutes after the restart .
Pompey 's only shot on target came in the second half , with substitute Ronan Curtis ' effort saved .
`` I 'm really pleased with them , '' Arteta told BBC Sport .
`` I 'm enjoying working with the players .
They deserve a chance .
It 's always a risk but they 're worth the risk .
`` It was a great atmosphere and Portsmouth made it difficult .
We knew we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we reacted and got control of the game .
We got two goals and could have had a few more . ''
The other fifth-round ties are on Tuesday , Wednesday and Thursday .
The quarter-final draw is on BBC One on Wednesday at 21:50 GMT after Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City .
Arsenal came into this game on the back of their shock Europa League exit to Olympiakos on Thursday .
Arteta - slightly surprisingly - made nine changes , with several fringe players starting , and defender Pablo Mari making his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the only hope of silverware for the record 13-time winners .
They lost Lucas Torreira to injury in the first half , the midfielder taken off on a stretcher after a tough but fair sliding tackle by James Bolton .
That was their only negative from the game at Fratton Park , though .
Left-back Bukayo Saka - one of the two players to keep their place from Thursday 's defeat - forced a save and Gabriel Martinelli , also 18 , headed over the bar .
Sokratis opened the scoring with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And Nketiah scored his third goal since his loan spell at Leeds was cut short when he controlled Nelson 's cross before rifling into the roof of the net from close range .
From that point on Arsenal looked comfortable .
They extended their unbeaten run against Portsmouth to 22 games and have not lost to them since 1958 .
`` There is a long way to go [ in the FA Cup ] , '' said Arteta .
`` But we 're on the right path .
We 'll see what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep going because we love this competition . ''
This was something of a bonus match for Portsmouth , who are third in League One and pushing for promotion .
That was reflected by their starting line-up with their two top scorers - Curtis and John Marquis - and captain Tom Naylor on the bench .
Kenny Jackett 's side played well in the first half , with eight shots - but Curtis ' 73rd-minute effort from the corner of the box was their only one on target .
Arguably this was not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ - they go to seventh-placed Peterborough on Saturday , with the clubs separated by only three points .
They also have a Wembley trip to come , against Salford City in the EFL Trophy final on 5 April .
`` In terms of winning the game , getting the first goal would have been key and with the pressure we had , we needed one , '' said Jackett .
`` But after their second they dominated and it would have been a goal out of nothing from us .
Then realistically we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did n't buckle , kept going and that was good . ''
• Arsenal have gone 11 games without defeat on the road since a 2-0 loss at Leicester in Unai Emery 's last away game in charge .
• The Gunners have reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in five of the past seven seasons but for the first time since 2016-17 , when they won the cup .
• This was Portsmouth 's first defeat at Fratton Park since September 2019 against Southampton in the Carabao Cup ( 4-0 ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home .
• Sokratis is the first Greek to score in the FA Cup since Apostolos Vellios for Nottingham Forest against Hull in January 2018 .
• Sokratis has scored with all three of his shots on target for Arsenal this season .
• Eddie Nketiah has scored three goals in his past four starts for Arsenal , with two of those coming in the FA Cup .
• Reiss Nelson has been directly involved in five goals in his last eight starts for Arsenal ( two goals and three assists ) .

Last updated on .From the section FA Cup
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said the club's young players are "worth the risk" after his youthful team beat League One Portsmouth at a noisy Fratton Park to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Arteta named a side with six players aged 20 or under and they looked in control, especially in the second half, as they beat a team which had not lost in 19 home games and had won their previous 10.
Pompey played well in the first half but trailed to Sokratis Papastathopoulos' volley from Reiss Nelson's cross just before the break.
Eddie Nketiah bundled home from close range from another Nelson cross to wrap up the victory six minutes after the restart.
Pompey's only shot on target came in the second half, with substitute Ronan Curtis' effort saved.
"I'm really pleased with them," Arteta told BBC Sport. "I'm enjoying working with the players. They deserve a chance. It's always a risk but they're worth the risk.
"It was a great atmosphere and Portsmouth made it difficult. We knew we'd have moments we could suffer but we reacted and got control of the game. We got two goals and could have had a few more."
The other fifth-round ties are on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The quarter-final draw is on BBC One on Wednesday at 21:50 GMT after Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City.
Gunners keep trophy hopes alive
Arsenal came into this game on the back of their shock Europa League exit to Olympiakos on Thursday.
Arteta - slightly surprisingly - made nine changes, with several fringe players starting, and defender Pablo Mari making his debut, despite the FA Cup being the only hope of silverware for the record 13-time winners.
They lost Lucas Torreira to injury in the first half, the midfielder taken off on a stretcher after a tough but fair sliding tackle by James Bolton.
That was their only negative from the game at Fratton Park, though.
Left-back Bukayo Saka - one of the two players to keep their place from Thursday's defeat - forced a save and Gabriel Martinelli, also 18, headed over the bar.
Sokratis opened the scoring with a wonderful volley from Nelson's right-wing cross.
And Nketiah scored his third goal since his loan spell at Leeds was cut short when he controlled Nelson's cross before rifling into the roof of the net from close range.
From that point on Arsenal looked comfortable. They extended their unbeaten run against Portsmouth to 22 games and have not lost to them since 1958.
"There is a long way to go [in the FA Cup]," said Arteta. "But we're on the right path. We'll see what happens in the draw. We'll keep going because we love this competition."
Portsmouth can focus on promotion
This was something of a bonus match for Portsmouth, who are third in League One and pushing for promotion.
That was reflected by their starting line-up with their two top scorers - Curtis and John Marquis - and captain Tom Naylor on the bench.
Kenny Jackett's side played well in the first half, with eight shots - but Curtis' 73rd-minute effort from the corner of the box was their only one on target.
Arguably this was not even their biggest game of the week - they go to seventh-placed Peterborough on Saturday, with the clubs separated by only three points.
They also have a Wembley trip to come, against Salford City in the EFL Trophy final on 5 April.
"In terms of winning the game, getting the first goal would have been key and with the pressure we had, we needed one," said Jackett.
"But after their second they dominated and it would have been a goal out of nothing from us. Then realistically we were playing damage limitation. My players didn't buckle, kept going and that was good."
Match stats - Arsenal unbeaten away under Arteta
Arsenal have gone 11 games without defeat on the road since a 2-0 loss at Leicester in Unai Emery's last away game in charge.
The Gunners have reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in five of the past seven seasons but for the first time since 2016-17, when they won the cup.
This was Portsmouth's first defeat at Fratton Park since September 2019 against Southampton in the Carabao Cup (4-0), ending their 19-game unbeaten run at home.
Sokratis is the first Greek to score in the FA Cup since Apostolos Vellios for Nottingham Forest against Hull in January 2018.
Sokratis has scored with all three of his shots on target for Arsenal this season.
Eddie Nketiah has scored three goals in his past four starts for Arsenal, with two of those coming in the FA Cup.
Reiss Nelson has been directly involved in five goals in his last eight starts for Arsenal (two goals and three assists).


bbc--2020-03-03--England to play India in T20 World Cup semi-finals after South Africa's washout

England will play India in the Women 's T20 World Cup semi-finals on Thursday after South Africa 's match with West Indies was abandoned because of rain .
The washout means unbeaten South Africa top Group B ahead of England and will meet Australia in the last four .
Both semi-finals will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground , with England 's match starting at 04:00 GMT .
However , further rain is forecast for Sydney on Thursday and no reserve day is in place for the matches .
Were a game to be washed out , the group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would progress to Sunday 's final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground , meaning England and hosts Australia would be eliminated .
England 's 2017 World Cup winner Alex Hartley told Test Match Special it is `` mind-blowing '' there is no reserve day .
`` Rain happens , even in Australia , '' she added .
`` I 'd rather have the chance of playing - it 's an hour 's flight to Melbourne from Sydney .
It 's not like they 're asking players to fly halfway round the world .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most consistent cricket so they do deserve to be top of the group but it is mind-blowing there 's no reserve day . ''
Organisers are hoping to set a new record for the highest attendance for a women 's sporting event for the final and further tickets have gone on sale with more than than 50,000 already purchased .
The record is 90,185 , set at the 1999 football World Cup final between hosts USA and China at the Rose Bowl in California .
'England could be called off without a ball @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impacted Tuesday 's games in Sydney but with the remnants of Tropical Storm Esther moving in over the next few days , it 's going to get much wetter .
Rain is expected to fall for most of Thursday with the chance of the odd thunderstorm mixed in .
`` The first semi-final featuring England is definitely under threat for being called off without a ball being bowled .
With the rain eventually clearing away later on Thursday , there 's a very small chance of some drier weather for the second semi-final @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the day . ''

Last updated on .From the section Women's Cricket
Women's T20 World Cup: Could England face semi-final washout?
England could be eliminated from the Women's T20 World Cup without a ball being bowled, with heavy rain forecast for their semi-final on Thursday.
England are set to face India in the last four in Sydney at 04:00 GMT.
However, Tropical Storm Esther is expected to bring rain for most of Thursday.
With no reserve day in place for the semi-finals, India will progress if no result is possible as they won Group A whereas England came second in Group B.
"It's going to get much wetter," BBC Weather's lead presenter Simon King said. "Rain is expected to fall for most of Thursday with the chance of the odd thunderstorm mixed in.
"The first semi-final featuring England is definitely under threat for being called off without a ball being bowled."
Defending champions Australia meet South Africa in the second semi-final at 08:00 GMT and the hosts would face the same fate as England in the event of a no result because they were runners-up in Group A.
"With the rain eventually clearing away later on Thursday, there's a very small chance of some drier weather for the second semi-final but it may be too late in the day," King added.
The final takes place on Sunday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with organisers hoping to set a new attendance record for a women's sporting event.
England's 2017 World Cup winner Alex Hartley told Test Match Special it is "mind-blowing" there is no reserve day for the semi-final. The forecast for Sydney on Friday is for sunshine.
"Rain happens, even in Australia," Hartley said. "I'd rather have the chance of playing - it's an hour's flight to Melbourne from Sydney. It's not like they're asking players to fly halfway round the world.
"India and South Africa have played the most consistent cricket so they do deserve to be top of the group but it is mind-blowing there's no reserve day."
On Tuesday, South Africa's match against West Indies was washed out, sealing the Proteas' place as Group B winners and confirming England's second-place finish.
Thailand's match against Pakistan was also abandoned with only 20 overs possible.


bbc--2020-03-03--Coronavirus: Twitter tells staff to work from home

Twitter has told its employees to work from home to help stop the spread of the coronavirus .
In a blog post , the social media giant said it was mandatory for staff in Hong Kong , Japan and South Korea to work remotely .
The company also said it was `` strongly encouraging '' all of its 5,000 employees around the world to not come into work .
It comes a day after the firm banned all non-essential business travel and events for its workers .
The company had already announced that it was pulling out of this month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Austin , Texas .
Twitter 's head of human resources Jennifer Christie said : `` Our goal is to lower the probability of the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus for us - and the world around us . ''
The post also highlighted that Twitter has been developing ways to work from home for some time : `` While this is a big change for us , we have already been moving towards a more distributed workforce that 's increasingly remote .
We 're a global service and we 're committed to enabling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
Twitter 's chief executive Jack Dorsey has long-supported remote working and in November announced plans to live in Africa for up to six months of this year .
The move is similar to measures put in place by many companies in Asia as the virus sweeps the region , but goes further than most big American businesses as they respond to the outbreak .
Other leading technology companies , including Facebook and Google , have postponed or cancelled conferences in the US .
Facebook has also joined Twitter by pulling out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Google 's European headquarters in Dublin will work from home on Tuesday as the company tests its preparedness for a potential outbreak in Ireland , but most of the 8,000 workers are expected to return to their desks on Wednesday .
At the same time companies , including telecoms operator A & T and banking giant Citigroup , have restricted international travel , especially to Asia .
The announcement comes as deaths due to the coronavirus around the world have passed 3,000 as the outbreak spreads from Asia to the US , Europe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employer advised you to work from home because of Covid-19 fears ?
Tell us by emailing haveyoursay @ bbc.co.uk .
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist .
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The post also highlighted that Twitter has been developing ways to work from home for some time: "While this is a big change for us, we have already been moving towards a more distributed workforce that's increasingly remote. We're a global service and we're committed to enabling anyone, anywhere to work at Twitter."


bbc--2020-03-03--Coronavirus: US in emergency rate cut as coronavirus spreads

The US central bank has slashed interest rates in response to mounting concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus .
The Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark rate by 50 basis points to a range of 1 % to 1.25 % .
The emergency move comes after the G7 group of finance ministers pledged action earlier on Tuesday .
It follows warnings that slowdown from the outbreak could tip countries into recession .
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the US economy remains strong but it is difficult to predict the `` magnitude and persistence '' of the effects of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the measures that are being taken to contain it will surely weigh on economic activity for some time , both here and abroad , '' he said at a press conference in Washington .
`` We do n't think we have all the answers .
But we do believe that our action will provide a meaningful boost to the economy . ''
The last time the bank made an interest rate cut at an emergency meeting was during the global financial crisis of 2008 .
The unanimous decision is a `` dramatic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many Fed officials appeared confident that rates , already low by historical standards , would not need to be cut further , said Paul Ashworth , chief US economist at Capital Economics said .
`` With financial markets in turmoil and evidence growing that the coronavirus is developing into a pandemic , the Fed 's change of heart is entirely understandable , '' he said .
Mr Powell said the bank believed the rate cut would help strengthen consumer and business confidence , and keep money flowing .
Many analysts in recent days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ act .
However , Peter Tuchman , a stock trader at Quattro Securities , said he did not think financial markets would necessarily welcome the move .
`` They 're doing it to support the markets but that makes people fearful that we must be in bad shape , '' he told the BBC .
`` To pull that bullet out so fast and so furiously leaves us with not that much ammo , '' he said .
Earlier on Tuesday , both Australia and Malaysia cut interest rates as a result of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the G7 group of nations pledged to use `` all appropriate policy tools '' to tackle the economic impact of coronavirus .
The group of major economies said in a joint statement they were monitoring the outbreak and ready to deploy `` fiscal measures '' .
• Up to fifth of UK workers 'off sick at same time' • How is the UK planning for an outbreak ?
• What is coronavirus and what are the symptoms ?
• Coronavirus : What are the chances of dying ?
On Monday , the Organisation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) warned the global economy could grow at its slowest rate since 2009 this year because of the virus .
The influential think tank forecast growth of just 2.4 % in 2020 , down from 2.9 % in November , but it said a longer `` more intensive '' outbreak could halve growth and tip many countries into recession .
Growth concerns contributed to sharp falls on major stock markets last week , but shares had started to rebound on Monday amid signs that governments and major central banks would work together to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On Tuesday , shares briefly rallied on the decision before turning negative .
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called on Mr Powell to lower interest rates , ignoring tradition that presidents stay quiet on bank policy to preserve the bank 's independence .
Following the bank 's announcement , he said it should cut further .
`` It is finally time for the Federal Reserve to LEAD .
More easing and cutting ! ''
he Tweeted .
Mr Powell denied that the bank had been influenced by political considerations .
But he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Satyam Panday , senior US economist at S & P Global Ratings , said the Fed `` did well by acting decisively and moving sooner '' .
`` Given that monetary policy works with a lag , cutting now will help speed up recovery when the coronavirus concerns have passed , '' he said .
`` If the rout in the financial market continues , more rate cuts are likely to follow in the upcoming March policy meeting , and beyond if required . ''
First the G7 finance ministers and central @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all appropriate policy tools .
Not much more than an hour later , the Fed acted .
Will it help ?
Jerome Powell said it could avoid what he called a tightening of financial conditions - higher borrowing costs for businesses and households , banks becoming more reluctant to lend and being less willing to give some leeway to businesses with cash flow problems .
Those are real risks if the disruption were to get more serious .
Mr Powell also said it could boost confidence .
But it does n't look like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ direct economic damage .
A rate cut now is probably not going to make people more enthusiastic about getting on a plane .
Nor is it much direct help for firms struggling with shortages of components due to transport disruptions .
Mr Powell acknowledged that a rate cut would not `` fix a broken supply chain '' .
The main effort in this crisis is for health agencies .
But we can expect to see more actions from finance ministries and central banks seeking to mitigate the economic impact .

Those are real risks if the disruption were to get more serious. Mr Powell also said it could boost confidence. But it doesn't look like it will help much with the most direct economic damage. A rate cut now is probably not going to make people more enthusiastic about getting on a plane.


bbc--2020-03-03--Coronavirus: Iran temporarily frees 54,000 prisoners to combat spread

Iran has temporarily released more than 54,000 prisoners in an effort to combat the spread of the new coronavirus disease in crowded jails .
Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told reporters the inmates were allowed out of prison after testing negative for Covid-19 and posting bail .
`` Security prisoners '' sentenced to more than five years will not be let out .
The jailed British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe may be freed soon , according to a British MP .
Tulip Siddiq cited the Iranian ambassador to the UK as saying that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe `` may be released on furlough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said on Saturday that he believed she had contracted Covid-19 at Tehran 's Evin prison and that authorities were refusing to test her .
But Mr Esmaili insisted on Monday that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe had subsequently been in contact with her family and `` told them about her good health '' .
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was jailed for five years in 2016 after being convicted of espionage charges that she has denied .
The UK has also insisted she is innocent .
A Foreign Office spokesman said : `` We call on the Iranian government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prison to assess the situation of British-Iranian dual nationals there . ''
What do I need to know about the coronavirus ?
• WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS ?
A simple guide • WAYS TO PREVENT CATCHING IT : How to wash your hands • WHERE ARE WE WITH A VACCINE ?
Progress so far • A VISUAL GUIDE TO THE OUTBREAK : Virus maps and charts There have been more than 90,000 reported cases of Covid-19 worldwide and 3,110 deaths since the disease emerged late last year - the vast majority in China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least 77 people in less than two weeks .
On Tuesday , the health ministry said the number of confirmed cases had risen by more than 50 % for the second day in a row .
It now stands at 2,336 , although the real figure is believed to far higher .
Cases linked to Iran have also been reported by Afghanistan , Canada , Lebanon , Pakistan , Kuwait , Bahrain , Iraq , Oman , Qatar and the United Arab Emirates .
A number of senior Iranian officials have contracted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the head of the emergency medical services , Pirhossein Kolivand .
Twenty-three of the 290 members of parliament have also tested positive .
On Monday , a member of the Expediency Council , which advises Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , died as a result of Covid-19 in Tehran .
State media said Mohammad Mirmohammadi , 71 , had a close relationship with Ayatollah Khamenei .
At a tree-planting ceremony to mark World Wildlife Day on Tuesday , the supreme leader urged the public to observe the health ministry 's hygiene guidelines and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ necessary help to the health ministry .
Ayatollah Khamenei also insisted Iranian authorities were not concealing information about the scale of the problem , saying : `` Our officials have reported with sincerity and transparency since day one .
However , some countries where the outbreak has been more serious have tried to hide it . ''
Iran 's outbreak , he added , `` will not last long in the country and will pack up '' .
Meanwhile , Health Minister Saeed Namaki said a nationwide screening campaign would begin on Wednesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suspected of being infected with Covid-19 and who do not have access to medical services .
A team of experts from the World Health Organization ( WHO ) , who arrived in Iran on Monday , is supporting local health authorities .
The WHO said they would `` review readiness and response efforts , visit designated health facilities , laboratories and points of entry , and provide technical guidance '' .
The plane carrying the experts also contained a shipment of medical supplies and protective equipment to support more than 15,000 healthcare workers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to test and diagnose almost 100,000 people .

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bbc--2020-03-03--Afghan conflict: Clashes shatter partial truce after US deal

Fighting has resumed in Afghanistan after the Taliban ended a partial truce with government troops , casting doubt on peace talks scheduled for next week .
Dozens of incidents in more than 16 provinces left eight militants and six civilians dead , officials said .
Eight security personnel were also killed .
Meanwhile Donald Trump says he had a `` very good talk '' with a Taliban leader .
Their phone call follows the peace deal signed between the US and the Taliban at the weekend .
A Taliban spokesman said the call between the US president and Mullah Abdul @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hour , and both expressed a desire to bring peace to Afghanistan .
The Taliban said that Mr Trump would ask his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to talk with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in order to make sure negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban went ahead as planned as part of the peace deal .
A dispute over a prisoner swap has raised questions over the agreement - to which the Afghan government is not a direct party .
Under the accord , some 5,000 Taliban prisoners and 1,000 Afghan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by 10 March , when talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government are due to start .
But Afghanistan 's President Ashraf Ghani said on Sunday his government had agreed to no such release .
And on Monday the militants said talks would not take place if their prisoners were not released first .
• What will Taliban do after signing US deal ?
• The Afghan war : The short and long story The Afghan government said more than 20 people had died in the 24 hours since the Taliban resumed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a result , six civilians were killed and 14 wounded .
Eight enemy were also killed , 15 wounded , '' interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said .
Two soldiers were killed in an attack in Kandahar province , AFP news agency reported , quoting a government statement .
In Logar province near Kabul , an attack killed five policemen at a checkpoint outside a copper mine , the provincial governor 's spokesman said .
In Herat in the west , one Afghan National Army soldier was killed in a Taliban attack , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ What have the Taliban said ?
The Taliban say they will meet Afghan officials but only to discuss the prisoner release .
`` Now it is in the agreement and it is up to the US how it fulfils the commitments they made in the agreement , '' the Taliban 's Doha office spokesman , Suhail Shaheen , tweeted .
Although the US-Taliban deal provides for the prisoner swap , a separate US-Afghan declaration commits the government in Kabul only to participating in talks on the `` feasibility '' of such a release @ @ @ @ @ @ @ estimated 10,000 captured Taliban are being held in Afghanistan .
The hardline Islamist group had observed a `` reduction in violence '' in the week leading up to the agreement with the US being signed on Saturday in Qatar .
They have said they will resume fighting Afghan forces , but would not target international troops .
The Taliban have previously refused to negotiate with the Afghan government , so Saturday 's deal was just with the US , which invaded Afghanistan weeks after the September 2001 attacks in New York by al-Qaeda @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Taliban were ousted from power but became an insurgent force that by 2018 was active in more than two-thirds of the country .
How has the US reacted ?
General Scott Miller , the US forces commander in Afghanistan , said the reduction in violence `` was a confidence builder '' , adding : `` We 're very serious about our obligations and we expect the Taliban will be serious about their obligations .
`` The United States has been very clear about our expectations - the violence must remain low . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ US troops and its Nato allies from Afghanistan within 14 months - if the militants stick to the deal .
About 12,000 US troops are still stationed in the country .
President Trump , who had promised to end the Afghan conflict , said on Saturday that it was `` time to bring our people back home '' .
Mr Trump said 5,000 US troops would leave Afghanistan by May .
• What could peace look like ?
• Who are the Taliban ?
• The Afghan women determined not to lose out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ killing militants in Afghanistan `` by the thousands '' and now it was `` time for someone else to do that work and it will be the Taliban and it could be surrounding countries '' .


bbc--2020-03-03--Deadly tornadoes kill 25 and injure many in Tennessee

The death toll from two tornadoes that ripped through central Tennessee has risen to 25 , the state 's Governor William Lee said on Tuesday .
In Nashville , Tennessee 's biggest city , the tornadoes caused widespread damage to homes and other buildings .
The storm hit after midnight and moved so quickly that many people sleeping did n't have time to take shelter , US media reports .
President Donald Trump has said he plans to visit the state on Friday .
A number of people remain unaccounted for , Governor Lee said in a press conference .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a war zone '' one resident told the BBC .
Two others , David Haskell and his wife , sprinted into a storm shelter when emergency alarms went off on their phones .
`` Ten seconds later the house just exploded , '' Mr Haskell told a Tennessee newspaper .
Much of the damage is centred in Putnam County - 80 miles ( 130km ) east of Nashville - where 19 deaths have been reported so far .
In Wilson County , three people are reported to have died , as well as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Benton .
Nashville Mayor John Cooper said the city was `` devastated '' , and urged people to `` lend a helping hand '' to neighbours .
Around 150 injured people were taken to medical facilities , Mayor Cooper said .
`` It is an ongoing search and rescue right now , '' the state 's Emergency Community Relations Officer Maggie Hannan told the BBC .
About 44,000 people have been left without power , Nashville Electric said .
There was also `` significant damage '' to John C Tune Airport , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the airport said .
Police in the Mt Juliet suburb , east of Nashville , said : `` There are gas lines that are leaking , power lines that are on the ground , and multiple emergency responders are responding to those who are injured . ''
Nashville 's Emergency Operations Centre said it had opened a shelter with running water in a farmer 's market to help displaced residents .
The city 's schools , courts and transport lines will be closed on Tuesday due to the damage , officials said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be open , but four polling stations have been moved .
Tennessee is one of 14 US states holding primary contest votes on vSuper Tuesday to select a Democratic nominee to stand in November 's presidential election .

"We were flying in the air, into the trees back there, where once we hit those trees, the house... it just exploded. The house just disintegrated," Seth Wells said.