bbc--2020-02-28--The boss who put everyone on 70K

The boss who put everyone on 70K

In 2015 , the boss of a card payments company in Seattle introduced a $ 70,000 minimum salary for all of his 120 staff - and personally took a pay cut of $ 1m .
Five years later he 's still on the minimum salary , and says the gamble has paid off .
Dan Price was hiking with his friend Valerie in the Cascade mountains that loom majestically over Seattle , when he had an uncomfortable revelation .
As they walked , she told him that her life was in chaos , that her landlord had put her monthly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was struggling to pay her bills .
It made Price angry .
Valerie , who he had once dated , had served for 11 years in the military , doing two tours in Iraq , and was now working 50 hours a week in two jobs to make ends meet .
`` She is somebody for whom service , honour and hard work just defines who she is as a person , '' he says .
Even though she was earning around $ 40,000 a year , in Seattle that was n't enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was angry that the world had become such an unequal place .
And suddenly it struck him that he was part of the problem .
At 31 , Price was a millionaire .
His company , Gravity Payments , which he set up in his teens , had about 2,000 customers and an estimated worth of millions of dollars .
Though he was earning $ 1.1m a year , Valerie brought home to him that a lot of his staff must be struggling - and he decided to change that .
Raised in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Price is upbeat and positive , generous in his praise of others and impeccably polite , but he has become a crusader against inequality in the US .
`` People are starving or being laid off or being taken advantage of , so that somebody can have a penthouse at the top of a tower in New York with gold chairs .
`` We 're glorifying greed all the time as a society , in our culture .
And , you know , the Forbes list is the worst example - 'Bill Gates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ man . '
Who cares !
? ''
Before 1995 the poorest half of the population of the United States earned a greater share of national wealth than the richest 1 % , he points out .
But that year the tables turned - the top 1 % earned more than the bottom 50 % .
And the gap is continuing to widen .
In 1965 , CEOs in the US earned 20 times more than the average worker but by 2015 it had risen to 300 times ( in the UK , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ earn 117 times the salary of their average worker ) .
Breathing in the crisp mountain air as he hiked with Valerie , Price had an idea .
He had read a study by the Nobel prize-winning economists Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton , looking at how much money an American needs to be happy .
He immediately promised Valerie he would significantly raise the minimum salary at Gravity .
After crunching the numbers , he arrived at the figure of $ 70,000 .
He realised that he would not only have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his two houses and give up his stocks and savings .
He gathered his staff together and gave them the news .
He 'd expected scenes of celebration , but at first the announcement floated down upon the room in something of an anti-climax , Price says .
He had to repeat himself before the enormity of what was happening landed .
Five years later , Dan laughs about the fact that he missed a key point in the Princeton professors ' research .
The amount they estimated people need to be happy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ third of those working at the company would have their salaries doubled immediately .
Since then , Gravity has transformed .
The headcount has doubled and the value of payments that the company processes has gone from $ 3.8bn a year to $ 10.2bn .
But there are other metrics that Price is more proud of .
`` Before the $ 70,000 minimum wage , we were having between zero and two babies born per year amongst the team , '' he says .
`` And since the announcement - and it 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 've had more than 40 babies . ''
More than 10 % of the company have been able to buy their own home , in one of the US 's most expensive cities for renters .
Before the figure was less than 1 % .
`` There was a little bit of concern amongst pontificators out there that people would squander any gains that they would have .
And we 've really seen the opposite , '' Price says .
The amount of money that employees are voluntarily putting into their own pension @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % of employees say they 've paid off debt .
But Price did get a lot of flak .
Along with hundreds of letters of support , and magazine covers labelling him `` America 's best boss '' , many of Gravity 's own customers wrote handwritten letters objecting to what they saw as a political statement .
At the time , Seattle was debating an increase to the minimum wage to $ 15 , making it the highest in the US at the time .
Small business owners were fighting it , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The right-wing radio pundit , Rush Limbaugh , whom Price had listened to every day in his childhood , called him a communist .
`` I hope this company is a case study in MBA programmes on how socialism does not work , because it 's going to fail , '' he said .
Two senior Gravity employees also resigned in protest .
They were n't happy that the salaries of junior staff had jumped overnight , and argued that it would make them lazy , and the company uncompetitive .
Rosita @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , says that since salaries were raised junior colleagues have been pulling more weight .
`` When money is not at the forefront of your mind when you 're doing your job , it allows you to be more passionate about what motivates you , '' she says .
Senior staff have found their workload reduced .
They 're under less pressure and can do things like take all of the holiday leave to which they are entitled .
Price tells the story about one staff member who works in Gravity 's call @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an hour and a half a day , '' he says .
`` He was worried that during his commute he was going to blow out a tyre and not have enough money to fix that tyre .
He was stressing about it every day . ''
When his salary was raised to $ 70,000 this man moved closer to the office , now he spends more money on his health , he exercises every day and eats more healthily .
`` We had another gentleman on a similar team and he literally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' he says .
Others report spending more time with their families or helping their parents pay off debt .
`` We saw , every day , the effects of giving somebody freedom , '' Price says .
He thinks it is why Gravity is making more money than ever .
Raising salaries did n't change people 's motivation - he says staff were already motivated to work hard - but it increased what he calls their capability .
`` You 're not thinking I have to go to work because I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barlow agrees .
`` Now it 's become focused on 'How do I do good work ? '
'' Barlow has been with Gravity since the early days and knows that Price was n't always so generous .
He acknowledges himself that there was a time in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis when he was obsessed with saving money .
The downturn in the US economy decimated Gravity 's customer base and its income fell by 20 % .
Business logic would have dictated letting go about 12 of the company @ @ @ @ @ @ @ focused on cutting costs .
After five tense months , the company started turning a profit again , but Price was profoundly spooked , and kept salaries low .
At this time Rosita Barlow was experiencing her own financial problems , and secretly working at McDonald 's outside work hours .
When McDonald 's offered her a promotion , she accidentally left a training manual on her desk at Gravity , and someone spotted it .
Her bosses called her in for a meeting .
`` They sat me down and my immediate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says .
She thought she was being fired .
Instead they told her to figure out how much money she 'd need to stay on at the company and they raised her salary to $ 40,000 .
`` I was very impressed and proud of her and mad at myself , '' Price says .
It took him a few more years to grasp the scale of the problem among his staff .
`` Most were too intimidated to come to me and tell me how a lack of pay was hurting them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he had already begun giving employees 20 % annual pay rises .
But it was his conversation with Valerie that convinced him to go further .
Price had hoped that Gravity 's example would lead to far-reaching changes in US business .
He 's deeply disappointed and sad that this has n't happened .
Some did follow suit , PharmaLogics in Boston raised their minimum salary to $ 50,000 , and Rented.com in Atlanta raised theirs too .
He believes that , by means of online lobbying , he also influenced Amazon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But he had hoped for widespread , structural change .
`` Boy , was I wrong , '' he says .
`` I 've really failed in that regard .
And it 's changed my perspective on things because I really believed that through the actions that I did and that other people could do , that we could turn the tide on runaway income inequality . ''
The change has had a profound effect on Price and his lifestyle .
Before taking a pay cut , Price was the cliché of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lived in a beautiful house overlooking Seattle 's Puget Sound , he drank champagne in expensive restaurants .
Afterwards , he rented his house out on Airbnb to help stay afloat .
A group of employees became sick of watching him turn up at work in a 12-year-old Audi and secretly clubbed together to buy him a Tesla .
A film the company posted on YouTube follows one of the group , Alyssa O'Neal , as she schemes with her colleagues to surprise him with the car .
`` I feel like this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you for all the sacrifices he 's made and any of the negative stuff he 's had to deal with , '' she says .
Price then walks out of the office into the car park , sees the car , and starts crying .
Five years later , Price is still on Gravity 's minimum salary .
He says he 's more fulfilled than he ever was when he was earning millions though it 's not all easy .
`` There 's tests every day , '' he says .
`` I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and I have dark moments where I think , ' I want to be just as rich as Mark Zuckerberg and I want to compete with him to be on the Forbes list .
And I want to be on the cover of Time magazine , making lots of money . '
All these greedy things are tempting . ''
`` It 's not like it 's easy to just turn down .
But my life is so much better . ''

"I'm the same age as Mark Zuckerberg and I have dark moments where I think, 'I want to be just as rich as Mark Zuckerberg and I want to compete with him to be on the Forbes list. And I want to be on the cover of Time magazine, making lots of money.' All these greedy things are tempting."


bbc--2020-02-28--Major League Soccer: American league's setbacks & successes, on eve of 25th season

After all the slick presentations , after David Beckham has swept in and charmed the 40th floor of a Manhattan hotel , it is hard to believe that , not so long ago , Major League Soccer came close to falling apart .
That Beckham - or Zlatan Ibrahimovic , Wayne Rooney , Kaka , Andrea Pirlo , Thierry Henry and Steven Gerrard - might never have come as players .
That there might have been no Seattle Sounders , Atlanta United or Inter Miami - the team Beckham now represents as owner .
MLS was celebrating the approach of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ composer Hans Zimmer has created a new anthem to mark the anniversary .
However , in 2001 , it was `` on the brink '' of collapse , recalls MLS commissioner Don Garber .
`` We were with bankruptcy attorneys sitting around a table , '' Garber says .
`` The league was as close to folding as a signature on a page .
If it had , it would likely never have come back .
`` Rarely in life do you get the chance to put all your chips on the table @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and we won the pot . ''
Fast forward to today , and one owner bullishly describes the MLS as the United States ' third most popular spectator sport .
He predicts it will be one of the top five football competitions in the world within 10 years .
Six new teams are to join by 2022 - two a year .
Seven new stadiums will be opened .
There is no Las Vegas yet but it does have a 'Nash Vegas ' , as Nashville is amusingly known because of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life .
MLS is on the march .
For obvious reasons , former England captain Beckham is viewed as the most significant figure in MLS history .
But that does n't tell the whole story .
The last quarter of a century of football in America is a tale of chaos , hope and despair .
Of financial catastrophe , blind faith and a rebirth that seemed barely imaginable .
`` I did n't have football posters on my wall as a kid , '' says Alexi Lalas .
`` It was mostly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joe Elliott from Def Leppard .
I did n't grow up with the dream of being a soccer player . ''
For kids growing up in the 1970s and 1980s , it was a similar story across America as a whole .
USA team boss Gregg Berhalter remembers heading to Paterson to watch the New Jersey Eagles play in the late 1980s .
The stadium was a bowl , with an athletics track , that was primarily used for baseball .
`` There were national team members playing , '' he says .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ side playing on turf at a high school stadium .
The only alternative was to go abroad .
That 's how it was . ''
Lalas , 49 , was the face of pre-MLS soccer in the country .
With his distinctive ginger hair and long beard , he was already hard to miss .
But his performances in defence for the USA when they hosted the 1994 World Cup introduced him to a new audience .
By the time of the first MLS season in 1996 , professional soccer had been absent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the old North American Soccer League had disbanded in 1984 .
That Lalas was able to return was a direct consequence of world governing body Fifa making the creation of a new league a condition behind World Cup hosting rights .
`` There had been a lot of talk about it for a while , but nothing seemed to happen .
I just knew if a league did start , I wanted to be part of it , '' he says .
New England Revolution brought Lalas home from Italy , where he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Padova , for the debut 1996 campaign .
He moved on four times after that and ended his career with three seasons at LA Galaxy from 2001 .
`` It was a type of Wild West existence , '' he recalls of those early years .
`` I vividly recall training in the parking lot at the Rose Bowl .
We were using American football stadiums , with all the lines , and the training facilities were absolutely rudimentary .
Many players were barely earning a liveable wage .
It was a labour @ @ @ @ @ @ @ notable differences in how the game was played .
There was a countdown clock that struck zero at the end of each half , with the referee stopping their watch when the ball went out of play .
Penalty shootouts were used to decide drawn matches , with players taking on the goalkeeper - and a five-second timer - in a one on one starting from 35 yards out .
The idea behind these innovations was to jazz up the game , but 'Americanisation ' infuriated and alienated in equal measure .
Domestic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ felt they were n't being presented with an authentic experience .
Established football communities across the world treated the rules - and by extension the league - as a joke .
By his own admission , Garber was a `` career sports marketing guy '' with `` next to zero '' soccer knowledge when he left a senior vice-president 's role at the NFL to become MLS commissioner in 1999 .
But he quickly understood that the competition needed to adopt the universal rules of the game .
The countdown clock was ditched @ @ @ @ @ @ @ An increased number of substitutes was also scrapped .
By 2001 , MLS was recognisable to the rest of the world as a football competition .
But it was haemorrhaging money .
An estimated $ 250m ( £191m ) was lost across those first five turbulent seasons .
When MLS launched , it had done so in NFL or college American football stadiums .
The lowest capacity was 30,000 , the highest just over 100,000 .
The average attendance across that first season was 17,406 .
By 2001 , the figure had slipped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ six crowds were under 10,000 .
It was not an attractive look , and it was against that backdrop that the desperate calls surrounding the future of the league were made .
Billionaire businessmen Phil Anschutz , Lamar Hunt and Robert Kraft stepped in .
Anschutz took control of six teams , Hunt took over three and Kraft kept New England Revolution alive .
If they had chosen another path , the game would have died .
As it turned out , Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Munity folded anyway .
Florida , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ viable MLS state at that time .
With 10 teams and three owners , the league regrouped and went again .
From thinking he had made a terrible career decision by leaving the NFL , Garber was optimistic again .
`` Once I knew they were there , I was committed , '' he says .
`` I was a young guy and I had nothing to lose .
I started believing in my core , then it became a passion play and there was no way either I or the people around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to lose .
I would have hated to admit failure . ''
MLS moved forward tentatively for the next six years .
Then , in 2007 , the pace of progress changed dramatically - with the arrival of one man .
Chris Klein can still remember finding out Beckham was moving to MLS .
In January 2007 , he was with the Kansas City Wizards .
He had no idea that six months later he would be traded to LA Galaxy and form a friendship with Beckham that exists to this day .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the famous statue stunt played on the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder by Late Late Show host James Corden , which has over 28 million views online .
`` I was sitting in our bedroom at our house with my wife , '' he says .
`` Even she was completely blown away .
She would n't know the vast majority of players if she was sitting next to them .
But David Beckham ?
Instantly she knew .
I just knew it was going to change the league . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the time Beckham 's move from Real Madrid came into effect .
The specially created `` designated player rule '' allowed the deal to exist outside the salary cap and was quickly dubbed `` the Beckham rule '' .
It is the vehicle still used to sign higher-profile players and , in 2020 , each team has the option to sign three each .
`` He came into the dressing room wearing a finely tailored suit , '' says Klein of Beckham 's arrival in July 2007 .
`` He was a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted to be part of the team .
But even in the first couple of weeks , we were being invited to parties being thrown by Tom Cruise and Will Smith .
It was all just a bit overwhelming . ''
It took Beckham four hours to fulfil all his media obligations at his opening news conference .
He needed to be shielded at times when he waited for scheduled flights to away games , which remain a requirement for MLS clubs .
Not everything went smoothly .
Two loan stints at AC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down particularly badly .
But Beckham finished as a winner , lifting the MLS Cup in 2011 and 2012 - the only Englishman to win back-to-back titles .
`` Having him come here and win was the beginning of something , '' says Klein , now LA Galaxy president .
`` David made it OK for players to come to this league .
Thierry Henry followed , Wayne Rooney , Zlatan , Steven Gerrard .
We are not there yet but it made MLS part of the global conversation and a league that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this period `` Beckham 1.0 '' .
It is impossible to quantify the difference he made but it allowed MLS to feel more confident about itself and its future .
A league that had shrunk to 10 teams amid the 2001 financial turmoil was up to a healthy 19 by Beckham 's final season in 2012 .
Mistakes were still made .
In 2005 , Chivas became the 11th MLS franchise .
Aligned with the famous Mexican side Guadalajara , the idea was to tap into the massive Hispanic population around Los Angeles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were sharing an out-of-town stadium in Carson with LA Galaxy and support dwindled quickly .
In their final season in 2014 , the average attendance slumped to 3,467 .
Compare that figure to the 22,000 average that watch Chivas ' replacement , LAFC , play at their central location .
This season , Chicago Fire return to Soldier Field , having spent $ 65m ( £50m ) to buy themselves out of their contract with SeatGeek Stadium , some 15 miles out of the city , where they were supposed to be playing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ - have long since decided soccer-specific stadiums in the heart of a city are the way forward .
It does seem more good decisions are being made than bad ones .
It is a measure of MLS ' continued growth post-Beckham that 26 teams will start the 2020 campaign this weekend .
More than 200 journalists attended the season launch in New York .
Ian Ayre , chief executive of Nashville , says there will be more supporters at his new club 's first match - against Atlanta United on Saturday - than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after taking up a similar role with his beloved Liverpool .
There is reflected glory in the performances of Canada forward Alphonso Davies , who shone in Bayern Munich 's hammering of Chelsea on Tuesday , given the 19-year-old played in MLS for Vancouver Whitecaps a couple of seasons ago .
But there are criticisms as well .
Some argue Garber , through his positions at MLS , its commercial arm Soccer United Marketing , and on the board of the United States Soccer Federation , has too much power .
It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 90m ( £68.7m ) MLS receives in domestic TV rights pales in comparison to the $ 167m ( £127m ) NBC pay annually to beam Premier League matches into American homes .
And then there is New York City FC .
Four hours after Garber spoke to the BBC in Manhattan , NYCFC reached the last eight of the Concacaf Champions League for the first time , beating Costa Rica 's San Carlos 6-3 on aggregate .
The game was played in front of a couple of thousand at the Red Bull @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bulls , NYCFC 's fierce rivals .
NYCFC 's own home ground , the Yankee Stadium , is not in use following annual winter renovation work required before the baseball season .
Major fan groups chose to boycott the match rather than make the 20-mile , hour-long trip to New Jersey from the Bronx .
Plans to alter Major League Baseball 's format further complicates the Yankee Stadium tenure , given NYCFC already have to play on a pitch that is right at the 110x70-yard minimum limit for MLS .
A prospective ground @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proposed in a city notoriously short of land to build on .
Speaking to NYCFC officials privately , this clearly can not come soon enough in the club 's fight for recognition in a city that hardly struggles for attractions .
Nevertheless , wider confidence was not in short supply at the 25th season launch .
For Beckham and Ayre , there was a little bit of trepidation too .
Two years ago , while having a quiet coffee near his home on the Wirral , Ayre spoke about the excitement of having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Nashville project with .
The intervening period has been an interesting one .
`` I did say that and I meant that , '' says Ayre .
`` I did n't know what we would go through .
`` When you are building a football club , you tend to zero in on the 11 players , the pitch , coach and manager .
But it is everything - stadium , training ground , academy , offices .
Hundreds of people .
The colours , the carpets and curtains .
That is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I have been surprised at how much talking I have had to do .
Nashville is a really friendly town .
They want to know the story .
I feel I have had to speak at about 500 events , from 10 people to 1,000 .
`` Also , I was n't expecting the amount of collaboration between teams .
When we were building our first-year budget , I rang other MLS CEOs and presidents and asked what they could do to help me and they literally sent me their budget .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ executive vice-chairman ] Ed Woodward and he is a good friend , but I would n't have even called him about that because he would have said no . ''
Garber calls this weekend `` Beckham 2.0 '' , as the former United player 's Inter Miami outfit get ready for their first match , at LAFC on Sunday .
Like Nashville , their intended home is still a little way off , so they will host games at Fort Lauderdale .
`` They have spent $ 120m ( £92m ) on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many clubs ' main stadiums , '' says Garber .
Klein knows what his friend is going through .
He made the transition from player to senior club official .
It is not going to be easy .
`` Having the cameras on him when things are not going so well for the team is a huge challenge , '' he says .
`` David is a very competitive person and this is going to be very different .
He manages his emotions publicly very well , so he is going to have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ am confident he can handle it .
`` I guess this is a second career for him , and he will be wanting it to be even more successful than his first . ''

Beckham - then aged 32 - arrived at LA Galaxy in July 2007
After all the slick presentations, after David Beckham has swept in and charmed the 40th floor of a Manhattan hotel, it is hard to believe that, not so long ago, Major League Soccer came close to falling apart.
That Beckham - or Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney, Kaka, Andrea Pirlo, Thierry Henry and Steven Gerrard - might never have come as players. That there might have been no Seattle Sounders, Atlanta United or Inter Miami - the team Beckham now represents as owner.
MLS was celebrating the approach of its 25th season this week. Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer has created a new anthem to mark the anniversary.
However, in 2001, it was "on the brink" of collapse, recalls MLS commissioner Don Garber.
"We were with bankruptcy attorneys sitting around a table," Garber says. "The league was as close to folding as a signature on a page. If it had, it would likely never have come back.
"Rarely in life do you get the chance to put all your chips on the table and go all in. We did, and we won the pot."
Fast forward to today, and one owner bullishly describes the MLS as the United States' third most popular spectator sport. He predicts it will be one of the top five football competitions in the world within 10 years.
Six new teams are to join by 2022 - two a year. Seven new stadiums will be opened. There is no Las Vegas yet but it does have a 'Nash Vegas', as Nashville is amusingly known because of its impressive number of bars and lively night life. MLS is on the march.
For obvious reasons, former England captain Beckham is viewed as the most significant figure in MLS history. But that doesn't tell the whole story.
The last quarter of a century of football in America is a tale of chaos, hope and despair. Of financial catastrophe, blind faith and a rebirth that seemed barely imaginable.
"I didn't have football posters on my wall as a kid," says Alexi Lalas. "It was mostly hockey players. My English influence was Joe Elliott from Def Leppard. I didn't grow up with the dream of being a soccer player."
For kids growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, it was a similar story across America as a whole. USA team boss Gregg Berhalter remembers heading to Paterson to watch the New Jersey Eagles play in the late 1980s. The stadium was a bowl, with an athletics track, that was primarily used for baseball.
"There were national team members playing," he says. "You are talking about a semi-professional side playing on turf at a high school stadium. The only alternative was to go abroad. That's how it was."
Lalas, 49, was the face of pre-MLS soccer in the country. With his distinctive ginger hair and long beard, he was already hard to miss. But his performances in defence for the USA when they hosted the 1994 World Cup introduced him to a new audience.
By the time of the first MLS season in 1996, professional soccer had been absent from the US for 12 years - the old North American Soccer League had disbanded in 1984. That Lalas was able to return was a direct consequence of world governing body Fifa making the creation of a new league a condition behind World Cup hosting rights.
Alexi Lalas, pictured with New England Revolution in March 1997. New England had the league's highest average attendance that year - 21,423 in a 60,000 capacity ground designed for NFL
"There had been a lot of talk about it for a while, but nothing seemed to happen. I just knew if a league did start, I wanted to be part of it," he says.
New England Revolution brought Lalas home from Italy, where he had been playing his club football with Padova, for the debut 1996 campaign. He moved on four times after that and ended his career with three seasons at LA Galaxy from 2001.
"It was a type of Wild West existence," he recalls of those early years. "I vividly recall training in the parking lot at the Rose Bowl. We were using American football stadiums, with all the lines, and the training facilities were absolutely rudimentary. Many players were barely earning a liveable wage. It was a labour of love."
There were also notable differences in how the game was played. There was a countdown clock that struck zero at the end of each half, with the referee stopping their watch when the ball went out of play. Penalty shootouts were used to decide drawn matches, with players taking on the goalkeeper - and a five-second timer - in a one on one starting from 35 yards out.
The idea behind these innovations was to jazz up the game, but 'Americanisation' infuriated and alienated in equal measure. Domestic fans, particularly the younger generation, felt they weren't being presented with an authentic experience. Established football communities across the world treated the rules - and by extension the league - as a joke.
A September 1996 MLS game between New York-New Jersey Metrostars and LA Galaxy - with NFL markings on the pitch
By his own admission, Garber was a "career sports marketing guy" with "next to zero" soccer knowledge when he left a senior vice-president's role at the NFL to become MLS commissioner in 1999.
But he quickly understood that the competition needed to adopt the universal rules of the game. The countdown clock was ditched, as were the penalty shootouts. An increased number of substitutes was also scrapped.
By 2001, MLS was recognisable to the rest of the world as a football competition. But it was haemorrhaging money. An estimated $250m (£191m) was lost across those first five turbulent seasons.
When MLS launched, it had done so in NFL or college American football stadiums. The lowest capacity was 30,000, the highest just over 100,000. The average attendance across that first season was 17,406. By 2001, the figure had slipped to 14,961. In the play-offs, six crowds were under 10,000.
It was not an attractive look, and it was against that backdrop that the desperate calls surrounding the future of the league were made. Billionaire businessmen Phil Anschutz, Lamar Hunt and Robert Kraft stepped in.
Anschutz took control of six teams, Hunt took over three and Kraft kept New England Revolution alive. If they had chosen another path, the game would have died. As it turned out, Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Mutiny folded anyway. Florida, it was decided, was not a viable MLS state at that time.
With 10 teams and three owners, the league regrouped and went again. From thinking he had made a terrible career decision by leaving the NFL, Garber was optimistic again.
"Once I knew they were there, I was committed," he says. "I was a young guy and I had nothing to lose. I started believing in my core, then it became a passion play and there was no way either I or the people around me were giving up. I hate to lose. I would have hated to admit failure."
MLS moved forward tentatively for the next six years. Then, in 2007, the pace of progress changed dramatically - with the arrival of one man.
Chris Klein can still remember finding out Beckham was moving to MLS.
In January 2007, he was with the Kansas City Wizards. He had no idea that six months later he would be traded to LA Galaxy and form a friendship with Beckham that exists to this day. Klein was even a pivotal figure in the famous statue stunt played on the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder by Late Late Show host James Corden, which has over 28 million views online.
"I was sitting in our bedroom at our house with my wife," he says. "Even she was completely blown away. She wouldn't know the vast majority of players if she was sitting next to them. But David Beckham? Instantly she knew. I just knew it was going to change the league."
Beckham made his first LA Galaxy appearance in a friendly against Chelsea on 21 July 2007
Klein had been traded to the Galaxy by the time Beckham's move from Real Madrid came into effect. The specially created "designated player rule" allowed the deal to exist outside the salary cap and was quickly dubbed "the Beckham rule". It is the vehicle still used to sign higher-profile players and, in 2020, each team has the option to sign three each.
"He came into the dressing room wearing a finely tailored suit," says Klein of Beckham's arrival in July 2007.
"He was a gentleman and very gracious, someone who wanted to be part of the team. But even in the first couple of weeks, we were being invited to parties being thrown by Tom Cruise and Will Smith. It was all just a bit overwhelming."
It took Beckham four hours to fulfil all his media obligations at his opening news conference. He needed to be shielded at times when he waited for scheduled flights to away games, which remain a requirement for MLS clubs.
Not everything went smoothly. Two loan stints at AC Milan to further his international career went down particularly badly. But Beckham finished as a winner, lifting the MLS Cup in 2011 and 2012 - the only Englishman to win back-to-back titles.
"Having him come here and win was the beginning of something," says Klein, now LA Galaxy president.
"David made it OK for players to come to this league. Thierry Henry followed, Wayne Rooney, Zlatan, Steven Gerrard. We are not there yet but it made MLS part of the global conversation and a league that was taken seriously."
Garber calls this period "Beckham 1.0". It is impossible to quantify the difference he made but it allowed MLS to feel more confident about itself and its future. A league that had shrunk to 10 teams amid the 2001 financial turmoil was up to a healthy 19 by Beckham's final season in 2012.
David and Victoria Beckham attend an Los Angeles welcome party held in their honour. Here they are pictured with actors Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith.
Mistakes were still made. In 2005, Chivas became the 11th MLS franchise. Aligned with the famous Mexican side Guadalajara, the idea was to tap into the massive Hispanic population around Los Angeles. It did not work. They were sharing an out-of-town stadium in Carson with LA Galaxy and support dwindled quickly. In their final season in 2014, the average attendance slumped to 3,467. Compare that figure to the 22,000 average that watch Chivas' replacement, LAFC, play at their central location.
This season, Chicago Fire return to Soldier Field, having spent $65m (£50m) to buy themselves out of their contract with SeatGeek Stadium, some 15 miles out of the city, where they were supposed to be playing until 2036. MLS - and Garber - have long since decided soccer-specific stadiums in the heart of a city are the way forward.
It does seem more good decisions are being made than bad ones.
It is a measure of MLS' continued growth post-Beckham that 26 teams will start the 2020 campaign this weekend. More than 200 journalists attended the season launch in New York. Ian Ayre, chief executive of Nashville, says there will be more supporters at his new club's first match - against Atlanta United on Saturday - than were at Anfield for his first game after taking up a similar role with his beloved Liverpool.
There is reflected glory in the performances of Canada forward Alphonso Davies, who shone in Bayern Munich's hammering of Chelsea on Tuesday, given the 19-year-old played in MLS for Vancouver Whitecaps a couple of seasons ago.
But there are criticisms as well.
Some argue Garber, through his positions at MLS, its commercial arm Soccer United Marketing, and on the board of the United States Soccer Federation, has too much power. It is a point he denies strenuously.
A member of the 'Timbers Army' celebrates after the Portland Timbers score against Seattle Sounders. A colourful rivalry has developed between the teams since Portland's MLS entry in 2011.
The $90m (£68.7m) MLS receives in domestic TV rights pales in comparison to the $167m (£127m) NBC pay annually to beam Premier League matches into American homes.
And then there is New York City FC. Four hours after Garber spoke to the BBC in Manhattan, NYCFC reached the last eight of the Concacaf Champions League for the first time, beating Costa Rica's San Carlos 6-3 on aggregate.
The game was played in front of a couple of thousand at the Red Bull Arena, home of New York Red Bulls, NYCFC's fierce rivals. NYCFC's own home ground, the Yankee Stadium, is not in use following annual winter renovation work required before the baseball season. Major fan groups chose to boycott the match rather than make the 20-mile, hour-long trip to New Jersey from the Bronx. Plans to alter Major League Baseball's format further complicates the Yankee Stadium tenure, given NYCFC already have to play on a pitch that is right at the 110x70-yard minimum limit for MLS.
A prospective ground in Queens is the eighth to be proposed in a city notoriously short of land to build on. Speaking to NYCFC officials privately, this clearly cannot come soon enough in the club's fight for recognition in a city that hardly struggles for attractions.
Nevertheless, wider confidence was not in short supply at the 25th season launch. For Beckham and Ayre, there was a little bit of trepidation too.
Two years ago, while having a quiet coffee near his home on the Wirral, Ayre spoke about the excitement of having a blank piece of paper to begin the Nashville project with.
The intervening period has been an interesting one.
"I did say that and I meant that," says Ayre. "I didn't know what we would go through.
"When you are building a football club, you tend to zero in on the 11 players, the pitch, coach and manager. But it is everything - stadium, training ground, academy, offices. Hundreds of people. The colours, the carpets and curtains. That is part of the excitement.
"Genuinely I have been surprised at how much talking I have had to do. Nashville is a really friendly town. They want to know the story. I feel I have had to speak at about 500 events, from 10 people to 1,000.
"Also, I wasn't expecting the amount of collaboration between teams. When we were building our first-year budget, I rang other MLS CEOs and presidents and asked what they could do to help me and they literally sent me their budget. I have great respect for [Manchester United executive vice-chairman] Ed Woodward and he is a good friend, but I wouldn't have even called him about that because he would have said no."
Garber calls this weekend "Beckham 2.0", as the former United player's Inter Miami outfit get ready for their first match, at LAFC on Sunday.
Like Nashville, their intended home is still a little way off, so they will host games at Fort Lauderdale. "They have spent $120m (£92m) on a temporary stadium, which is more than many clubs' main stadiums," says Garber.
Klein knows what his friend is going through. He made the transition from player to senior club official. It is not going to be easy.
"Having the cameras on him when things are not going so well for the team is a huge challenge," he says. "David is a very competitive person and this is going to be very different. He manages his emotions publicly very well, so he is going to have to draw on those skills. I am confident he can handle it.
"I guess this is a second career for him, and he will be wanting it to be even more successful than his first."


bbc--2020-02-28--The crisis forcing mothers to give away their babies

`` Dumping babies is forbidden , '' the sign created by Eric Mejicano reads .
The Venezuelan artist posted the signs on walls across Venezuela after a newborn was found in the rubbish near his apartment block in the capital , Caracas .
Mejicano says that he launched the campaign to alert people to the fact that in Venezuela `` something is becoming common which should never be considered normal '' .
The country 's economy is in freefall and one in three Venezuelans is struggling to put enough food on the table to meet minimum nutrition requirements , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Food Programme .
With contraceptives hard to come by and beyond the financial means of many , unwanted pregnancies are common .
Strict abortion laws which only allow for terminations in cases when the mother 's life is in danger further limit women 's choices .
• Why Venezuelan parents are keeping their children at home Amid the economic crisis , one charity said in 2018 that it had seen the number of babies abandoned in the streets or left at the entrances of public buildings increase by 70 % .
The Venezuelan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in recent years and neither the communications ministry nor the government body dealing with the rights of children answered requests for comment .
But social services and health workers consulted by the BBC confirmed there had been an increase in the number of abandoned babies as well as a spike in those handed over for informal adoption .
Nelson Villasmill is a member of a child protection council in one of Caracas ' poorest areas .
He explains that , faced with a poorly funded adoption system that is in total disarray , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The story of Baby Tomás ( not his real name ) is one such case .
He was born to a mother living in poverty in Caracas who felt she was in no position to raise him .
The gynaecologist who was present at Tomás ' birth agreed to help .
He says it was not the first time he came across a mother who felt she could not bring up her baby .
`` They almost always change their minds the first time they breastfeed the baby , '' he explains .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ case , and then you have to find a solution . ''
He contacted one of his patients .
In her forties and dreaming of having a baby , Tania ( not her real name ) had not been able to get pregnant .
She wanted to help Tomás and his mother , but after some thought decided against taking him in .
Instead , she contacted a couple with whom she is friends who agreed to raise Tomás as their own child in their home in rural Venezuela .
They had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not to arouse suspicion , so Tania paid a $ 250 ( £195 ) bribe for an official to turn a blind eye and put down her friend 's name as Tomás ' birth mother .
Tomás is now being raised by her friends in the countryside and his new family has just celebrated Tomás taking his first steps .
Tania says she does not regret what she did and insists that she bypassed the official adoption channels for Tomás ' benefit .
`` I never thought of doing anything like this but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that baby would have suffered a lot of hardships in a public orphanage , '' she explains .
Tomás was given away with his mother 's consent but there is no shortage of people exploiting the desperation of Venezuelan women .
While she was pregnant with her second child , Isabel 's husband died , making Isabel ( not her real name ) consider giving up the child she was expecting .
`` I was alone and feared that I would n't be able to feed my baby , '' she says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she flew to the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean to meet a couple she was told were interested in adopting her baby .
She was told she would have the final say in any decision but soon came under pressure from the Colombian woman making the arrangements .
`` I was told it was going to be all legal and never committed to give my baby away , '' she recalls .
But once in Trinidad , `` I realised I had been trapped in a net of human traffickers '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' she recalls .
Isabel says that she was not allowed to leave the house where she was staying and that the return ticket for the flight she had been promised would take her back to Venezuela never materialised .
Weeks later she gave birth prematurely in a Trinidadian hospital .
She decided to keep the baby but immediately was pressured by the Colombian woman and a man who claimed to be a lawyer .
`` They told me that the new parents were waiting in the parking lot and that I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that I did n't understand and to hand over my baby . ''
Isabel refused at first but over the following weeks , her captors increased the pressure , taking away her food , medicine and nappies .
`` In the end , I had to hand over my son to save his life and for me to return to Venezuela to get help , '' she says crying .
With the help of a non-governmental organisation , Isabel has now set off on a legal battle to recover her son who is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trinidad .
At present , she is only allowed to see him once a week .
She says she will not give up until she is reunited with him .

He says it was not the first time he came across a mother who felt she could not bring up her baby. "They almost always change their minds the first time they breastfeed the baby," he explains. "But sometimes that is not the case, and then you have to find a solution."


bbc--2020-02-28--Afghanistan conflict: US-Taliban deal raises hope for peace

An Afghan flag flutters above the busy roundabout which marks the centre of Kunduz city .
Pointing up to it , a policeman standing guard nearby tells me that whenever the Taliban have briefly captured the city , one of their first actions has been to replace the flag with their own white and black banner .
They 've done so twice in the past five years .
Behind us , in a corner of the square , a poster displays the pictures of senior police officials killed here in a suicide bombing during another assault by the insurgents last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roundabout is host to a small demonstration in support of peace by about 100 young men .
Patriotic songs blast out from a speaker - someone in the crowd is holding a large bunch of balloons with `` I love you '' written on them .
`` We 've come out in support of peace , '' says Zahid , one of the demonstrators .
`` I 'm so happy .
In the past few days it 's been calm in Kunduz and across the country .
We want a ceasefire that lasts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in violence '' is coming to an end in Afghanistan after the Taliban , Afghan army and US-led international forces agreed not to launch attacks against each other for seven days .
• The Afghan war : The short and long story • Who are the Taliban ?
The period has passed off largely successfully , and the US and Taliban look set to sign an agreement on Saturday in Qatar .
It will establish a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops in exchange for guarantees from the Taliban not to allow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their territory .
It 's a key development in the peace process , aimed at bringing an end to America 's longest-ever war , and it has boosted hopes amongst a war-weary Afghan population .
The rural areas on the outskirts of Kunduz have witnessed fierce fighting .
We travel to the village of Taluka , recently re-captured by the government after being in Taliban hands for the past three years .
The local school has been obliterated by an air strike , targeting the militants who used it as a base .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ door , saw part of his property destroyed too .
`` Four Taliban fighters climbed over the wall to hide , '' he says , `` I told them , 'go away or the house will be hit in an air strike ' , but they refused . ''
Everyone in the village wants to show us the devastation in their homes .
Many of the residents are yet to move back in .
The Afghan army has been helping to clear landmines but some still remain .
Another elderly resident points to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his house caused by a mortar shell .
`` I was sitting there with my wife .
She was hurt here , '' he says , grabbing his neck .
`` Another rocket landed over there .
I do n't have the money to rebuild all this . ''
Nevertheless , he is hopeful .
`` I have a TV , and I follow the news , '' he tells me .
`` Whenever I hear there will be peace , my heart fills with joy . ''
The US-Taliban agreement is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ceasefire , along with the political future of the country , is something that will have to be established in separate discussions between the Taliban and other Afghan leaders .
Those talks will follow the signing in Qatar and could last for months , if not longer .
Adding to the complication is an ongoing dispute over the results of the presidential elections .
Ashraf Ghani was narrowly declared the winner , but his main rival , Abdullah Abdullah , has alleged fraud and threatened to form his own , parallel government .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ violence '' will continue throughout the `` intra-Afghan '' talks as they 're known , has not been made public .
At an army checkpoint by the eastern entrance to Kunduz city , soldiers check for Taliban infiltrators , worried they might be using the partial truce to smuggle explosives inside .
• What has the war cost the US ?
• 'We embraced ... but I 'd still kill him' Salahuddin Safai , 32 , lives nearby with his extended family .
On average , he tells me , the Taliban attack @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surging forward from the fields just beyond his home .
Mr Safai says his young children have grown accustomed to the sounds of gunfire , but he worries about the effect on their mental health .
He is hopeful that peace will come , but cautious at the same time .
The family have seen false dawns before .
After the US overthrew the Taliban in 2001 , they moved back to Afghanistan from neighbouring Pakistan where they had been living in a refugee camp , thinking the country would prosper .
Instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fluid front lines of a war in which tens of thousands of Afghans have died .
`` If we look at our past , similar things have happened , '' he says .
`` When the Soviet Union pulled out from Afghanistan , there were peace negotiations , but they failed .
A civil war started and the country became what it is now . ''
He 's referring to what many see as one of the worst episodes in Afghanistan 's history , when the rival `` mujahideen '' groups that had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fought against both the local Afghan communist government and each other in a brutal quest for power .
`` We are a little sceptical of this process but , God willing , history wo n't repeat itself , '' Mr Safai tells me .
There are concerns , too , about what price Afghans might have to pay for peace .
Whether the Taliban will accept the country 's current democratic system , and the advances in women 's rights made in the past two decades .
The group have insisted that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and work , but local residents tell us that in some villages close to Kunduz under Taliban control , girls are prevented from attending school once they become teenagers .
For others , though , the priority is an end to the violence .
Ghayasuddin , in his 70s , from the village of Taluka , lost both his legs when he stepped on a landmine laid by the Taliban .
Could he ever forgive them , I ask ?
`` If they become our neighbours I 'll have to accept them , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have is in this village , there 's no choice but to learn to live with them . ''

He is hopeful that peace will come, but cautious at the same time. The family have seen false dawns before. After the US overthrew the Taliban in 2001, they moved back to Afghanistan from neighbouring Pakistan where they had been living in a refugee camp, thinking the country would prosper. Instead, they found themselves caught along the fluid front lines of a war in which tens of thousands of Afghans have died.


bbc--2020-02-28--Greta Thunberg: What does the teenage climate change activist want?

Greta Thunberg is the Swedish teenager who skipped school and inspired an international movement to fight climate change .
She has become a leading voice , inspiring millions to join protests around the world .
On Friday , she addressed students in Bristol .
But who is she and what does she want ?
She is a 17-year-old who grew up in Stockholm , in Sweden .
Greta 's mother , Malena Ernman , is an opera singer and former Eurovision Song Contest participant .
Her father Svante Thunberg , is an actor , and is a descendant of Svante @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a model of the greenhouse effect .
He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1903 .
The elder of two girls , she says she learned about climate change when she was eight , but that her parents were not climate activists .
Greta has Asperger 's syndrome , a developmental disorder , and has described it as a gift and said being different is a `` superpower '' .
When did she start campaigning ?
In May 2018 , aged 15 , Greta won a climate change essay competition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later , in August , she started protesting in front of the Swedish parliament building , vowing to continue until the Swedish government met the carbon emissions target agreed by world leaders in Paris , in 2015 .
She held a sign that read `` School Strike for Climate '' and began regularly missing lessons to go on strike on Fridays , urging students around the world to join her .
Her protests went viral on social media and as support for her cause grew , other strikes started around the world , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ By December 2018 , more than 20,000 students around the world had joined her in countries including Australia , the UK , Belgium , the US and Japan .
She joined strikes around Europe , choosing to travel by train to limit her impact on the environment .
What has she done since then ?
The teenager took the whole of 2019 off school to continue campaigning , to attend key climate conferences , and to join student protests around the world .
In September 2019 , she travelled to New York to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refuses to fly because of its environmental impact , so she made her way there on a racing yacht , in a journey that lasted two weeks .
When she arrived , millions of people around the world took part in a climate strike , underlining the scale of her influence .
Addressing the conference , she blasted politicians for relying on young people for answers to climate change .
She said : `` How dare you ?
I should n't be up here .
I should be back in school on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you all come to us young people for hope .
How dare you ? ''
She was named Time Magazine 's Person of the Year .
• 'You have stolen my dreams and my childhood' • Greta : 'Sorry , you 're not trying hard enough' What does she want ?
Greta says big governments and businesses around the world are not moving quickly enough to cut carbon emissions and has attacked world leaders for failing young people .
Initially , her protests focused on the Swedish government 's climate targets , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make similar demands in their own countries .
But as her fame has grown , she has called for governments around the world to do more to cut global emissions .
She has spoken at international meetings , including the UN 's 2019 climate change gathering in New York , and this year 's World Economic Forum in Davos .
At the forum , she called for banks , firms and governments to stop investing and subsidising fossil fuels , such as oil , coal and gas .
`` Instead , they should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , research and in restoring nature , '' she said .
• Greta named Time Person of the Year for 2019 • 'She is happy , but I worry ' - Greta Thunberg 's father What do people say about her ?
Millions of students around the world have been inspired by her strikes , and Greta has received support from climate activists , scientists , world leaders and the Pope , who told her to `` continue '' her work .
Broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough told her she had achieved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , adding : `` you have aroused the world .
I 'm very grateful to you . ''
But her message has not been well received by everyone .
After her UN appearance in September 2019 , US President Donald Trump appeared to mock her by saying she `` must work on her anger management problem '' .
Greta then changed her Twitter biography to include Mr Trump 's words .
She did the same weeks later when Russian President Vladimir Putin called her a `` kind but poorly informed teenager '' .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mnuchin told the teenager to go away and study economics before lecturing investors .
• YOUR HOME : How much warmer is your city ?
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She has also criticised goals for cutting emissions which cause global warming, saying: "We don't just need goals for just 2030 or 2050. We, above all, need them for 2020 and every following month and year to come."


bbc--2020-02-28--Protecting whales from the noise people make in the ocean

There is a rising din in the oceans - and whales are having to struggle to compete with it .
`` They 're spending more time or energy trying to communicate… by essentially screaming at each other - what we would have to do at a nightclub , '' explains says Mark Jessopp at University College Cork .
Dr Jessopp was recently involved in a research project to study the effects of marine seismic surveys on animals such as whales and dolphins .
He and his colleagues found a `` huge decrease '' in sightings of such species when the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accounting for other factors such as weather .
Seismic surveys are carried out by a range of organisations , including oil and gas companies , as a means of mapping what lies beneath the seafloor .
Shockwaves fired from an air gun - like a very powerful speaker - are blasted down towards the seabed .
The waves bounce off features below and are detected again at the surface .
The signal that returns reveals whether there is , for instance , oil locked in the rock beneath .
The process creates a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an explosion , '' says Lindy Weilgart at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia .
She says that there is now plenty of evidence to show that many marine animals are negatively affected by the clamour .
The effects are n't just felt by mammals like whales and dolphins , she adds .
Fish and invertebrates such as crabs have also been seen to change their behaviour when noise levels rise .
They can be put off feeding or become less able to detect predators , for example .
And yet a technology exists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It is called marine vibroseis and is a low-energy alternative to air guns .
Instead of explosive blasts , vibroseis uses smaller vibrations to transmit waves down to the seabed .
It actually emits a similar amount of energy overall but spreads it over a longer period , meaning the survey has a less `` shocking '' impact .
• 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 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tech is helping catch rats , wasps and bedbugs Stephen Chelminski , who invented the seismic air gun in the late 1950s , has become a proponent of vibroseis because of its perceived environmental benefits .
Dr Weilgart says there are many efforts to commercialise this quieter tech but she is unimpressed with how they are progressing .
`` It 's just creeping along at a glacial pace , '' she says .
Three of the world 's biggest oil companies - Shell , Total and ExxonMobil - have spent years developing a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a geophysicist at Total who works on the project , says that the system has been shown to function as intended but requires some further testing before it can be used in field work .
He says that one benefit of the prototype device is that it does n't produce noise across a wide range of frequencies .
`` We only emit energy within the frequency band of interest for the job at hand , '' he explains .
This reduces the number of sea creatures that would hear noise generated by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Norwegian firm Petroleum Geo-Services ( PGS ) , which helps oil and gas companies find offshore reserves of fossil fuel , has also been working on a vibroseis system .
It has a different , more compact design that uses a stack of plates to generate vibrations .
This allows for the production of a strong seismic signal but stops the device shaking itself apart .
`` Using stacked plates is an ingenious solution , '' argues Bard Stenberg , a spokesman for PGS .
The prototype has endured a 1,000-hour test @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 60m ( 197ft ) in a harbour .
However , it is yet to be trialled out at sea .
Nathan Merchant is a bioacoustician at the UK 's Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science ( Cefas ) .
He says that vibroseis would actually be a better technology for organisations seeking to survey the seabed because it can be more finely tuned .
And yet , commercial interest in it has not really materialised .
`` This is one of the areas where we need a bit of a push from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a market for that kind of technology , '' he argues .
Dr Merchant studies noise levels in the seas around the UK .
He and his team recently produced a detailed map of where the cacophony is greatest .
However , while it is difficult to confirm exactly how noise levels have changed in recent decades , he says they have probably increased overall .
`` The answer to that is almost certainly 'yes ' , '' he says .
He points out that there are other significant sources of noise pollution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shipping , where , for example , propellers slicing through the water create a wake and with it a mighty rumbling sound that can travel for hundreds or even thousands of kilometres .
Then there are offshore wind farms , which rely on pile-drivers that bash huge columns into the seabed to create the base platform for turbines .
Engineers on such projects also occasionally have to clear unexploded ordnance left behind , for instance from World War Two .
Detonating a bomb underwater creates a lot of noise but the bang can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ create a curtain of bubbles around the bomb .
Wind farms in the UK licensed to use bubble curtains for this purpose include Hornsea One and Two off the north-east coast .
Currently under construction , the full Hornsea complex will eventually form the largest offshore wind installation in the world .
Marine biologists continue to hope for technologies that will make human activity in the oceans quieter .
Dr Jessopp acknowledges that seismic air guns are cheap and have been proven to work .
With marine vibroseis still not available at a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any reason to change how they do things .
`` In the absence of any real viable alternative we 've just kept doing it .
It 's kind of business as usual , '' says Dr Jessopp .
So the seas will remain noisy for sometime and whales will have to continue to shout to be heard .

And yet a technology exists that could be far less harmful. It is called marine vibroseis and is a low-energy alternative to air guns. Instead of explosive blasts, vibroseis uses smaller vibrations to transmit waves down to the seabed. It actually emits a similar amount of energy overall but spreads it over a longer period, meaning the survey has a less "shocking" impact.


bbc--2020-02-27--Forced sterilisation in South Africa: They removed my uterus

A woman in South Africa has told the BBC how she was sterilised without her consent after she gave birth at the age of 17 , and only learned about it 11 years later when she tried to have another child .
Bongekile Msibi was among 48 women sterilised without consent at state hospitals , the Commission for Gender Equality found .
Despite being a statutory body , the commission said its inquiry was hampered by the `` disappearance '' of patients ' files , and its investigators had received a `` hostile reception '' from hospital staff .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after civil rights groups brought the cases , some dating back to 2001 , to its attention .
South Africa 's health department has not yet given a detailed response to the report , but said its minister , Zweli Mkhize , had requested a meeting with the commission to discuss it .
Ms Msibi recalled her ordeal to the BBC 's Clare Spencer : I woke up after giving birth , looked down and asked : `` Why do I have a huge bandage on my stomach ? ''
I did not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to my baby daughter .
She was a big baby and I had been anaesthetised and gone through a Caesarean section .
I left hospital five days after giving birth , with a healthy baby daughter and a huge scar across my stomach .
I did not find out what had really happened for another 11 years .
Things unravelled when I was trying to conceive again .
I had been taking the contraceptive pill for that whole time since I had given birth and so it was not strange that I had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ got engaged and wanted to have another baby so went to the doctor .
He examined me , sat me down , gave me a glass of water and told me I had no uterus .
'It is very cruel' I was devastated and confused .
It did not make sense because I was already a mother .
I worked out my uterus must have been removed and the only time it could have happened was after I had given birth .
It is very cruel what they did to me .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health ministry and eventually ended up back at the hospital where I gave birth with the doctor who said he was there that day .
He did not say sorry .
He told me that he had sterilised me in order to save my life .
I still do not know what he was trying to save me from .
There are no records at the hospital .
I am not the only one .
An inquiry has found there are 47 others .
Some were told it was because they had HIV @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just do n't know why they did it .
The doctor told me that I had signed a consent form .
I had not .
I was a minor at the time so would not have been able to .
He then said my mother , who was with me at the birth , had signed the consent form .
She said she did not .
More on women 's issues in Africa : • Why I went public about being raped , 67 years later • The women who make argan oil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ split up with my fiancé .
I had to let him go because he really wanted children and I could not give him that .
When I met the doctor I was asked what I want .
I want a baby so badly .
When I saw a pregnant colleague this week I could not stand it .
My daughter wants a sibling and when we go past street kids she suggests I bring one up as my own .
I still have ovaries and so I think the hospital should pay for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be held accountable .
We can not allow doctors to keep on doing this because our rights as women are being violated .
Doctors need to know that they are under scrutiny , that we know what they get up to when we are lifeless .
And then I want the doctor who did this to say he is sorry .
The way this has been handled , you would think they had just removed a finger when actually this is my entire womanhood they have stolen .
I can never get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be a reminder .
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I am not the only one. An inquiry has found there are 47 others. Some were told it was because they had HIV, but I do not. I just don't know why they did it.


bbc--2020-02-27--Climate change: Pressure on big investors to act on environment

Ever wondered if your bank or insurance company is funding the coal industry ?
Or whether your pension fund is backing oil companies drilling new wells in the Arctic ?
Investors are facing scrutiny like never before about what they 're doing to tackle climate change .
And the Bank of England has now launched a push to engage the entire business world .
The aim is to get every company , large or small , to think about global warming as a normal part of their decision-making .
And the hope is this will encourage them to come up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` net zero '' .
This comes amid a flurry of climate announcements from some very big corporate names .
The oil giant BP has pledged to be net zero by 2050 and the world 's largest asset manager , Blackrock , has warned companies that it wo n't invest in them unless they try to decarbonise .
There 's a series of moves to involve private finance in the run-up to the crucial COP26 climate summit in Glasgow later this year .
The diplomatic focus at that event will be on whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cuts in the gases that are heating the planet .
But it 's also seen as vital to persuade business to take action in ways that avoid the most dangerous effects of rising temperatures .
One plan is to boost the number of banks , insurers and pension funds signed up to be more open about their carbon footprints and plans to improve them .
Known as the TCFD - or Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures - the project already has the backing of companies with balance sheets worth a total of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there are no obligations on business leaders to come up with plans to go net zero , but if a company is not taking much action , that fact will be exposed to public gaze .
And already investors with $ 5tn in assets have committed to making sure their portfolios are carbon neutral by 2050 .
Another initiative was launched last year for banks to `` stress test '' the risks they face of losing money as the world moves away from fossil fuels .
For example , loans to coal-fired power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decides to phase out coal power sooner than expected , leaving the bank with what are called `` stranded assets '' .
Central to this process is Mark Carney , the governor of the Bank of England , who is the prime minister 's finance adviser for the climate summit and also a special envoy for the UN secretary-general .
Speaking at an event to launch this agenda , he said : `` Given the scale of the climate challenge and the rising expectations of our citizens , 2020 must be a year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and that includes the world 's leading financial centre .
`` To identify the largest opportunities and to manage the associated risks , disclosures of climate risk must become comprehensive , climate risk management must be transformed , and investing for a net zero world must go mainstream . ''
In his first public comments as business secretary and president of the summit , Alok Sharma echoed the appeal for the corporate world to support the move to net zero .
Describing this year as `` pivotal for the planet '' , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ climate change was not just for governments .
`` We are calling on action from everyone - businesses , civil society and each part of the global financial system to meet the Paris agreement goals . ''
• YOUR HOME : How much warmer is your city ?
• FOOD : What is your diet 's carbon footprint ?
• IN CHARTS : How warm has the world got ?

The aim is to get every company, large or small, to think about global warming as a normal part of their decision-making. And the hope is this will encourage them to come up with plans to become carbon neutral or "net zero".


bbc--2020-02-28--Man Utd, Wolves and Rangers discover last-16 opponents

Manchester United have been drawn against Austrian league leaders LASK in the last 16 of the Europa League .
Fellow @ @ @ @ @ face Olympiakos , who knocked Arsenal out to reach this stage .
Five-time champions Sevilla @ @ @ @ @ duel sees Inter Milan , third in Serie A , up against Getafe .
The @ @ @ @ @ played on 12 and 19 March .

Last updated on .From the section European Football
Odion Ighalo (right) scored the second goal for Manchester United - who won the competition in 2017 - in Thursday's 5-0 win over Club Bruges
Manchester United have been drawn against Austrian league leaders LASK in the last 16 of the Europa League.
Fellow Premier League side Wolves will face Olympiakos, who knocked Arsenal out to reach this stage.
Scottish Premiership outfit Rangers will face former winners Bayer Leverkusen.
Five-time champions Sevilla face Roma and another Spanish-Italian duel sees Inter Milan, third in Serie A, up against Getafe.
Full draw
Istanbul Basaksehir v Copenhagen
Olympiakos v Wolves
Rangers v Bayer Leverkusen
Wolfsburg v Shakhtar Donetsk
Inter Milan v Getafe
Sevilla v Roma
Eintracht Frankfurt v Basel
LASK v Manchester United
The matches are set to be played on 12 and 19 March.


bbc--2020-02-28--England fast bowler Wood out of Sri Lanka Tests

Fast bowler Mark Wood has been ruled out of England 's Test tour of Sri Lanka with a left side @ @ @ @ @ sustained the injury at the end of the South Africa tour earlier this month .
@ @ @ @ @ London , which confirmed a small tear to his left side - the same side @ @ @ @ @ World Cup final , which meant he missed the Ashes .
Lancashire seamer Saqib Mahmood @ @ @ @ @ Test squad .
Wood will now start an injury rehabilitation programme , working with England @ @ @ @ @ The England Test squad travels to Sri Lanka on Monday before two Tests later in @ @

Last updated on .From the section Cricket
Mark Wood was ruled out of the Ashes with side and knee injuries
Fast bowler Mark Wood has been ruled out of England's Test tour of Sri Lanka with a left side strain.
The Durham player sustained the injury at the end of the South Africa tour earlier this month.
He had several scans in London, which confirmed a small tear to his left side - the same side he injured in July's World Cup final, which meant he missed the Ashes.
Lancashire seamer Saqib Mahmood will replace Wood in the Test squad.
Wood will now start an injury rehabilitation programme, working with England and Durham medical teams.
The England Test squad travels to Sri Lanka on Monday before two Tests later in March.


bbc--2020-02-28--England ease to victory over Pakistan at Women's T20 World Cup

England cruised to a 42-run victory over Pakistan to boost their Women 's T20 World Cup semi-final hopes in Canberra .
Asked to bat first , England made 158-7 , with captain Heather Knight impressing once again with 62 from 47 balls .
Pakistan were comfortably outplayed , dismissed for 116 with two balls remaining , with leg-spinner Sarah Glenn claiming a career-best 3-15 from her four overs .
Anya Shrubsole took 3-25 to become the leading wicket-taker in the history of the competition .
England , who have not won the Twenty20 title since 2009 , now have back-to-back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because leaders South Africa have a superior net run-rate .
There are still some batting issues for England to address - they lost openers Amy Jones and Danni Wyatt cheaply once again - but this was a solid performance .
England 's final group game against West Indies takes place on Sunday in Sydney ( 08:00 GMT ) - where a win would book their semi-final place - while Pakistan face South Africa earlier on the same day .
Pakistan stunned West Indies in their opening group match and they would have looked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hopes of another surprise .
They quickly had England 4-1 , as Jones was trapped lbw by a fine Diana Baig delivery , before an unsettled Wyatt slapped Aiman Anwar to point .
Once again , Knight and Natalie Sciver produced a rescue job , their 34-run stand settling England before Sciver was stumped as she accidentally dragged her back foot out of the crease .
Aided by some awful Pakistan fielding , which included a terrible drop at deep mid-wicket , Knight moved to her half-century before hoicking a huge six over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fell after being caught in the same area , England stumbled .
They lost three wickets in 11 balls and could scramble only eight runs from the final over which , ultimately , proved to be enough .
Pakistan have not beaten England in a T20 international since 2013 and , while they have improved since then , their batting was not strong enough to consistently worry Friday 's opponents .
They stuttered to 35-2 inside the powerplay , and wickets fell regularly throughout the innings .
Players came and went , occasionally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ holing out , and Glenn excelled to dismiss their middle order .
Shrubsole bowled a superb 19th over , taking a fine caught and bowled to dismiss Baig and claim her 100th T20 wicket , while Sophie Ecclestone was barely hit off the square and finished with brilliant figures of 2-12 .
But England 's bowlers were a little sloppy towards the end of Pakistan 's innings - a furious Brunt leaked 17 runs from her penultimate over , while they conceded 17 wides .
However , the victory has made their progress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ - beat West Indies on Sunday and they will be through .
'We ca n't think about that final yet ' - what they said England seamer Anya Shrubsole , speaking to BBC Test Match Special about her caught and bowled : `` I 'm not the best off my own bowling - I 'm getting on a bit now and it was the last ball of my spell .
I was pretty lucky to cling on to it .
`` It is a massive tournament and 50,000 tickets already sold for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you need to know .
`` We ca n't think about that final yet .
We 've got a game against West Indies and hopefully a semi-final first . ''
England captain Heather Knight : `` There are still areas we can improve on .
We went hard in the powerplay and it was nice to go in when there was a good score on the board .
`` We would 've liked more but the wicket was slow .
We were good in the field and with the ball , but you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opener Javeria Khan : `` There are times bowlers ca n't execute their plans but fielders always have to stand up .
We made a lot of mistakes and that was the real difference between the sides .
`` England are a side that if you give them anything loose , they wo n't let you off . ''
England leg-spinner Sarah Glenn : `` I 've learned a lot in Australia about bowling wicket to wicket and not giving any width and it worked well for me .
`` The wicket was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to score , and with the total we had set we knew a good start with the ball would make it quite hard work for their batters . ''

Last updated on .From the section Women's Cricket
ICC Women's T20 World Cup, Group B, Canberra: England 158-7 (20 overs): Knight 62, Sciver 36, Aiman 3-30 Pakistan 116 (19.4 overs): Aliya 41, Glenn 3-15, Shrubsole 3-25 England won by 42 runs Scorecard and tables
England cruised to a 42-run victory over Pakistan to boost their Women's T20 World Cup semi-final hopes in Canberra.
Asked to bat first, England made 158-7, with captain Heather Knight impressing once again with 62 from 47 balls.
Pakistan were comfortably outplayed, dismissed for 116 with two balls remaining, with leg-spinner Sarah Glenn claiming a career-best 3-15 from her four overs.
Anya Shrubsole took 3-25 to become the leading wicket-taker in the history of the competition.
England, who have not won the Twenty20 title since 2009, now have back-to-back wins in Group B but remain second because leaders South Africa have a superior net run-rate.
There are still some batting issues for England to address - they lost openers Amy Jones and Danni Wyatt cheaply once again - but this was a solid performance.
England's final group game against West Indies takes place on Sunday in Sydney (08:00 GMT) - where a win should book their semi-final place - while Pakistan face South Africa earlier on the same day.
England secure tidy win
Pakistan stunned West Indies in their opening group match and they would have looked at England's faltering batting line-up with hopes of another surprise.
They quickly had England 4-1, as Jones was trapped lbw by a fine Diana Baig delivery, before an unsettled Wyatt slapped Aiman Anwar to point.
Once again, Knight and Natalie Sciver produced a rescue job, their 34-run stand settling England before Sciver was stumped as she accidentally dragged her back foot out of the crease.
Aided by some awful Pakistan fielding, which included a terrible drop at deep mid-wicket, Knight moved to her half-century before hoicking a huge six over long-on.
However, once the captain fell after being caught in the same area, England stumbled. They lost three wickets in 11 balls and could scramble only eight runs from the final over which, ultimately, proved to be enough.
Pakistan slide to defeat
Pakistan have not beaten England in a T20 international since 2013 and, while they have improved since then, their batting was not strong enough to consistently worry Friday's opponents.
They stuttered to 35-2 inside the powerplay, and wickets fell regularly throughout the innings.
Players came and went, occasionally slapping the ball to the ropes before holing out, and Glenn excelled to dismiss their middle order.
Shrubsole bowled a superb 19th over, taking a fine caught and bowled to dismiss Baig and claim her 100th T20 wicket, while Sophie Ecclestone was barely hit off the square and finished with brilliant figures of 2-12.
But England's bowlers were a little sloppy towards the end of Pakistan's innings - a furious Brunt leaked 17 runs from her penultimate over, while they conceded 17 wides.
However, the victory has made their progress to the knockout stages a little easier - beat West Indies on Sunday and they will be through.
'We can't think about that final yet' - what they said
England seamer Anya Shrubsole, speaking to BBC Test Match Special about her caught and bowled: "I'm not the best off my own bowling - I'm getting on a bit now and it was the last ball of my spell. I was pretty lucky to cling on to it.
"It is a massive tournament and 50,000 tickets already sold for the final at the MCG tells you all you need to know.
"We can't think about that final yet. We've got a game against West Indies and hopefully a semi-final first."
England captain Heather Knight: "There are still areas we can improve on. We went hard in the powerplay and it was nice to go in when there was a good score on the board.
"We would've liked more but the wicket was slow. We were good in the field and with the ball, but you can always get better."
Pakistan opener Javeria Khan: "There are times bowlers can't execute their plans but fielders always have to stand up. We made a lot of mistakes and that was the real difference between the sides.
"England are a side that if you give them anything loose, they won't let you off."
England leg-spinner Sarah Glenn: "I've learned a lot in Australia about bowling wicket to wicket and not giving any width and it worked well for me.
"The wicket was quite slow so it wasn't easy to score, and with the total we had set we knew a good start with the ball would make it quite hard work for their batters."


bbc--2020-02-28--'I do not know how I missed' - Aubameyang agony as Arsenal bow out

From ecstasy to despair , Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang experienced it all within the space of just seven minutes on Thursday .
The striker had scored a sensational goal in the 113th minute of the Gunners ' Europa League second-leg match with Olympiakos to put them 2-1 up on aggregate and seemingly on their way into the last 16 .
The Greek side then hit back when Youssef El Arabi stabbed in following a corner to give the visitors a 2-1 lead on the night that made it 2-2 on aggregate and put them on course to advance via away @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , dramatic moment to come when , with seconds left , the ball ricocheted into Aubameyang 's path six yards from goal and , with just the goalkeeper to beat , the striker missed .
The Gabon international has scored 61 times for the club since his debut in February 2018 - a tally only Liverpool 's Mohamed Salah ( 64 ) can better among Premier League players But this time the usually deadly forward skewed his effort wide and , after a miss which left players from both teams with their heads @ @ @ @ @ @ @ himself was at a loss to explain what happened .
`` I do n't even know , '' he said when asked how he missed it .
`` It can happen but I do not know how I missed this chance .
I was tired , I had some cramps but it is not an excuse . ''
Gunners legend Ian Wright was every Arsenal fan in those final seven minutes as he went from this ... 'It hurts .
It is cruel .
A massive disappointment' It is hard to blame Aubameyang @ @ @ @ @ @ @ goal late in extra time should have been enough to send Arsenal into the next round but the Gunners ' inability to deal with a set-piece - for the fourth time in just two games - was ultimately the knockout blow .
`` We were in control but conceded a set-piece to put us in a difficult position .
If you concede four goals from set-pieces in two games it makes it very difficult .
`` Attack against defence in 25 metres is difficult but we created enough chances to win the game @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's first of 2020 and only their second under Arteta but the manner of the loss and the competition it came in will have been particularly painful for Gunners fans .
Arsenal had been disappointing for much of the game and did not have a shot on target until the 77th minute , but Arteta refused to criticise his players .
He added : `` It is cruel .
It is a massive disappointment but at the same time I am very proud of the players .
`` It would have been an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go through the tie .
The players have my backing for the way they played but it is painful . ''
'Every single player could have done more' Former Arsenal captain Martin Keown felt it had been a disappointing performance from start to finish by his former side , with defeat closing off one avenue to Champions League qualification .
Speaking on BT Sport , Keown said : `` It was the first time I felt that the players were not responding to the manager and the manager did not know what changes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many disappointments in that Arsenal performance .
There were so many unprofessional performances from players .
Such a poor game for Arsenal .
`` If you break down the performance you could have looked at every single player and say that they could have all done more .
Nicolas Pepe is going to have to improve .
Gabriel Martinelli should have come on a lot earlier .
Granit Xhaka was taking the easy way out .
A lot of players were not playing their best . ''

Aubameyang had his head in his hands after missing a glorious chances seconds before full-time
"I feel very, very bad."
From ecstasy to despair, Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang experienced it all within the space of just seven minutes on Thursday.
The striker had scored a sensational goal in the 113th minute of the Gunners' Europa League second-leg match with Olympiakos to put them 2-1 up on aggregate and seemingly on their way into the last 16.
The Greek side then hit back when Youssef El Arabi stabbed in following a corner to give the visitors a 2-1 lead on the night that made it 2-2 on aggregate and put them on course to advance via away goals.
But there was one final, dramatic moment to come when, with seconds left, the ball ricocheted into Aubameyang's path six yards from goal and, with just the goalkeeper to beat, the striker missed.
Somehow.
The Gabon international has scored 61 times for the club since his debut in February 2018 - a tally only Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (64) can better among Premier League players
But this time the usually deadly forward skewed his effort wide and, after a miss which left players from both teams with their heads in their hands in disbelief, Aubameyang himself was at a loss to explain what happened.
"I don't even know," he said when asked how he missed it.
"It can happen but I do not know how I missed this chance. I was tired, I had some cramps but it is not an excuse."
Gunners legend Ian Wright was every Arsenal fan in those final seven minutes as he went from this...
...to this...
'It hurts. It is cruel. A massive disappointment'
It is hard to blame Aubameyang for the defeat, however.
His goal late in extra time should have been enough to send Arsenal into the next round but the Gunners' inability to deal with a set-piece - for the fourth time in just two games - was ultimately the knockout blow.
"It hurts a lot," said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
"We were in control but conceded a set-piece to put us in a difficult position. If you concede four goals from set-pieces in two games it makes it very difficult.
"Attack against defence in 25 metres is difficult but we created enough chances to win the game comfortably."
The defeat was Arsenal's first of 2020 and only their second under Arteta but the manner of the loss and the competition it came in will have been particularly painful for Gunners fans.
Arsenal had been disappointing for much of the game and did not have a shot on target until the 77th minute, but Arteta refused to criticise his players.
He added: "It is cruel. It is a massive disappointment but at the same time I am very proud of the players.
"It would have been an incredible lift if we had managed to go through the tie. The players have my backing for the way they played but it is painful."
'Every single player could have done more'
Former Arsenal captain Martin Keown felt it had been a disappointing performance from start to finish by his former side, with defeat closing off one avenue to Champions League qualification.
Speaking on BT Sport, Keown said: "It was the first time I felt that the players were not responding to the manager and the manager did not know what changes to make.
"There were so many disappointments in that Arsenal performance. There were so many unprofessional performances from players. Such a poor game for Arsenal.
"If you break down the performance you could have looked at every single player and say that they could have all done more. Nicolas Pepe is going to have to improve. Gabriel Martinelli should have come on a lot earlier. Granit Xhaka was taking the easy way out. A lot of players were not playing their best."


bbc--2020-02-28--Coronavirus: Should Americans be worried?

The coronavirus that began in Wuhan , China , has now reached dozens of countries and it is just a matter of time before it begins to spread in the US .
So how prepared is the country ?
Thousands of new cases are being reported each day , and the true scale could be 10 times higher .
There are 60 confirmed cases in the US , 10 in Canada .
Officials say local risk remains low , but this could change .
How prepared is the US ?
President Donald Trump says the situation is `` well under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Centers for Disease Control ( CDC ) warn the virus will spread and may severely disrupt daily life .
US health chief Alex Azar has asked Congress for $ 2.5bn ( £1.9bn ) - with over $ 1bn needed to develop a vaccine .
The rest would fund quarantine efforts and supplies , including surgical masks .
Mr Azar said the US only has 30 million - and it needs 300 million .
The president 's political rivals have also renewed criticisms over his 2018 decision to dismantle the National Security Council global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health division also saw drastic cuts that year .
Meanwhile , an anonymous whistleblower at the Department of Health and Human Services has complained that government workers interacting with quarantined Americans were not provided with proper safety gear , and were allowed to come and go from the secure zone freely .
Mr Azar has denied the allegations .
The New York health department has asked 700 people to self-isolate .
California 's governor said 8,400 people are being monitored by authorities and 33 have tested positive .
What are the main concerns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ particularly problematic - many Americans avoid doctor 's visits because of unaffordable charges .
Last month , a Florida man with symptoms had a coronavirus test and was handed a $ 3,270 bill from his insurance company .
Taking sick leave is another concern .
Not all employers offer paid leave and workplace culture often pushes employees to go to work ill .
This could contribute to the virus spreading , as infected people may not show significant symptoms for up to 14 days .
• Reality Check : Does UK spend half @ @ @ @ @ @ @ What should you do ?
You should wash your hands regularly - using soap and water for at least 20 seconds , avoid contact with people who have respiratory illness symptoms and stay away from animals .
The CDC does not recommend wearing a face mask if you are not sick or taking care of someone who is ill. • How worried should we be ?
It may be useful to ensure you have enough supplies - like extra water , non-perishable food and medicines - in case you need to self-quarantine .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ with your employer and plan for child care if schools need to close .

Coronavirus: Should Americans be worried? Published 12 March 2020
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Media caption, 'The positive things we learnt from quarantine'
The coronavirus that began in Wuhan, China, has now reached dozens of countries and has started to take its toll in the US.
So how prepared is the country?
How fast is Covid-19 spreading?
Thousands of new cases across the world are being reported each day, and the true scale could be 10 times higher.
There are 1,323 confirmed cases in the US, 117 in Canada.
Thirty-eight people have died in the US due to the virus and one person has died in Canada.
Officials say risk remains low for the general US public, but is growing.
Bans on large gatherings have been announced, with national guard troops dispatched to cities on both the US East and West coasts
Several states, including Washington, have declared emergencies to deal with the outbreak. The global outbreak has now been labelled a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Stock markets around the world have been in free-fall forcing trading to temporarily halt and causing many people to worry about their retirement funds.
How prepared is the US?
President Donald Trump has claimed the situation is "well under control", while officials at the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) warn the virus will spread and may severely disrupt daily life.
Relative to other countries dealing with coronavirus, the US has done only a handful of tests.
On 6 March, the president signed an $8.3bn (£6.4bn) emergency funding bill to develop a vaccine and help states combat the virus. The UK, for instance, has allocated $38bn (£30bn) to deal with its impacts.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Media caption, Coronavirus 'risk to the American people remains very low'
Concerns have deepened amid the sharp rise in the number of cases reported in the first week of March. More than half of US states have now reported cases of the sickness.
What are the main concerns?
High medical costs make the virus particularly problematic - many Americans avoid doctor's visits because of unaffordable charges.
On 10 March, Vice-President Mike Pence - who is leading the US response - announced that a group of major health insurance companies covering almost 240 million Americans have agreed not to charge patients for coronavirus testing.
They have also vowed to extend coverage for Covid-19 treatment in all benefit plans - but it's unclear what this extended coverage will entail, and it could still leave insured Americans with thousands of dollars in medical bills.
Taking sick leave is another concern. Not all employers offer paid leave and workplace culture often pushes employees to go to work ill. President Trump's claim that coronavirus patients may get better "by sitting around and even going to work" drew widespread criticism from health experts.
This could contribute to the virus spreading, as infected people may not show significant symptoms for up to 14 days.
What's happening with testing?
Mr Pence has said one million tests are available in all state labs. So far fewer than 10,000 people have been tested - compared to 20,000 per day in South Korea.
The administration has also granted labs permission to develop and use their own diagnostic tests even as they are being reviewed by the national drug agency.
Critics say the shortage of test and facilities has contributed to the community spread of the virus and some have raised doubts that health officials can meet the demand for more tests.
The tests themselves have also had problems. Last month, some health centres noted difficulties using CDC tests. Kits developed at the CDC's lab in Atlanta were contaminated, Axios reported. Officials say the manufacturing issues have since been resolved.
Where can you get tested in the US?
You will need a doctor to refer you to either the CDC or a state health department for testing. Your doctor can take a sample - a nose or throat swab - but it must be processed at a proper facility.
You should call your doctor's office first - officials advise against going to an emergency room for testing.
At least four states - California, Washington New York and Nevada - have mandated some insurers to cover tests.
Even if the test is covered, however, patients may still have to pay fees for office or emergency room visits and any other tests, as well as hospital stays.
And those who work at self-insured companies and uninsured Americans do not have these protections.
What should you do?
You should wash your hands regularly - using soap and water for at least 20 seconds, avoid contact with people who have respiratory illness symptoms and stay away from animals.
The CDC does not recommend wearing a face mask if you are not sick or taking care of someone who is ill.
It may be useful to ensure you have enough supplies - like extra water, non-perishable food and medicines - in case you need to self-quarantine.
You might want to discuss work-from-home options with your employer and plan for child care if schools need to close.
How do you self-quarantine?
If you self-isolate for 14 days, that means not going to work, school, or other public places and avoiding any public transit, including ride-shares and taxis.
Friends and family can drop off supplies, but you shouldn't have any visitors. If you share a home with others, the key is to limit contact as much as possible. Try to avoid using the kitchen when others are there and make sure you clean all surfaces daily.
While the CDC has encouraged businesses to not punish workers who self-quarantine, in the US, the decision is still ultimately left to the employers.
Many states do not have laws regarding whether an employer can fire an employee who is in quarantine, Forbes reported.
A February survey by the Business Group on Health, published by the New York Times, found 68% of employers would pay employees for a quarantine, even if they were unable to work from home, while 12% would pay only for a set amount of time. Another 20% said they had not yet made a decision.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has called for a paid sick leave bill, which he has championed in the past.