bbc--2020-07-31--US election 2020: The war hero who could be Biden's running mate

Who is Tammy Duckworth , the US senator from Illinois who is reportedly on the short list for the vice-presidential slot on the Democratic ticket ?
Born in Bangkok and wounded in the Iraq war , Tammy Duckworth has a Purple Heart and the instincts of a street fighter .
Her name has come up frequently during high-level discussions about the vice-presidential slot for the presumptive Democratic nominee , Joe Biden .
She has also become a target for Fox News 's Tucker Carlson and other conservatives .
When she said recently on CNN that she was open-minded about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ founders and slave holders , Mr Carlson questioned her patriotism .
She fired back , saying that Mr Carlson should `` walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America '' .
Her challenge to Mr Carlson attracted national notice and drew people 's attention both to her political acumen and to her military background .
She was shot down in a helicopter during the Iraq war and lost her legs .
Many Democrats believe that her military record and her tenacity during fights with conservatives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an Asian-American , would strengthen Mr Biden 's candidacy .
If he chose her as a running mate , say her supporters , she would help to shore up votes among veterans , minorities and women .
Yet many believe that Mr Biden should pick a black running mate instead - Senator Kamala Harris is frequently mentioned as a possibility .
Besides that , Ms Duckworth 's home state is safely Democratic .
Other contenders for the Democratic ticket , a group that includes New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham , could help @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use a boost .
• Will Joe Biden 's record come back to haunt him ?
The choice of a running mate has added importance for Democrats because of Mr Biden 's age and his own assessment of his role .
He is 77 , and if he were elected he would be 82 by the end of his term .
He sees himself as a `` transition candidate '' , and even his diehard supporters assume that if he were elected he would not seek a second term .
That means that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could someday become president .
Ms Duckworth , who is 52 , is best known for her work on veterans ' issues .
In addition , she has worked on health-care policy and spoken frequently about national security .
She fought in the Iraq war , but she believes that it was a mistake .
`` It 's a tough lesson , '' she says .
`` And I hope this nation will be a lot more sceptical of the reasons to go to war . ''
She also has a compelling personal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bryan Bowlsbey , have two daughters , Abigail and Maile Pearl , and she was the first to bear a child while serving as a US senator .
Her father , Frank , a US citizen , worked for the United Nations , and her mother , Lamai , is originally from Thailand .
Ms Duckworth , who speaks Thai , lived with her parents in Singapore , Indonesia and Cambodia because of her father 's UN job .
The family was in Cambodia , living in Phnom Penh during a period of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power in the mid-1970s .
She recalls going to her market with her mother when , suddenly , bombs began falling .
Her mother pushed her to the floor of the car , Ms Duckworth says , `` so I would n't see the bloodiness '' .
• The 'miracle ' that helped a US mother make history Ms Duckworth later enlisted in the military , following in the footsteps of her father , a Vietnam veteran .
She once told me that she did not see herself ever running for president .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in my belly , '' she says .
But she is a ferocious advocate for Mr Biden , and he has taken a shine to her .
During an online fundraiser , he praised her bravery in battle and in politics .
`` I ca n't think of anyone who has shown more courage , '' he said .
Addressing her directly , he said : `` I 'm grateful for you here with me in this fight . ''
Ideologically , Ms Duckworth is a good match for Mr Biden , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US Senate , she , too , appears in the middle of the ideological spectrum .
In recent weeks , she has ripped into President Donald Trump and his `` failure to lead our nation '' , showing her willingness to act as Mr Biden 's attack dog during the campaign .
Mr Biden 's aides interviewed her not long ago for the vice-presidential slot , she said during a live Washington Post chat on Thursday .
She described the job interview as `` positive '' .
Who could be Joe Biden 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has pledged he would choose a woman as his running mate .
Those on the rumoured shortlist include : Read more about Mr Biden 's potential running mate here After retiring from the military , Ms Duckworth worked on veterans ' issues at the state and national level and was elected to Congress in 2012 .
She won a senate seat in 2016 , becoming the state 's junior senator and following in the footsteps of President Barack Obama .
Her rise from state politics to national prominence has been fast .
Dick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ science department at the University of Illinois at Chicago , says that she has moved up more rapidly than anyone in politics he has seen in half a century .
Mr Obama , who also got his start in Illinois politics , rose higher than Ms Duckworth .
But as Mr Simpson points out : `` It took a little longer . ''
Peter Levin , the founder of a software company in Washington , worked with her at the US department of veterans affairs and says that she has an innate talent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out the best in people even when there 's tension in the room , '' he says , explaining that she is skilled at tuning `` her language , her emphasis , to the person she 's speaking to '' in order to build consensus .
Her record in politics is far from perfect , however .
She has struggled to get legislation passed in Congress , and she has been criticised for her work on veterans ' issues .
She said all the right things , according to her detractors in Illinois @ @ @ @ @ @ @ programmes that she spoke about never got off the ground .
The criticism has hardly slowed her down , and throughout her career she has shown an unusual resolve .
While recovering from her war injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Maryland in 2004 , she was given `` heavy-duty pain blocks '' , she says , but they barely muffled the agony of losing her legs .
Yet during her recovery and in the years that followed , she has shown almost no self-pity : `` For me , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I 'm so grateful to be alive .
I know that sounds so corny , '' she says .
`` But I think of what my buddies did to get me out and of the pilot who carried me to safety .
I ca n't mope around . ''
Her supporters are hoping that Mr Biden will choose her as his running mate so that she can bring her enthusiasm to the campaign .
He is expected to announce his decision this week .

Dick Simpson, the head of the political science department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, says that she has moved up more rapidly than anyone in politics he has seen in half a century. Mr Obama, who also got his start in Illinois politics, rose higher than Ms Duckworth. But as Mr Simpson points out: "It took a little longer."


bbc--2020-07-31--Sir Alan Parker, director of Bugsy Malone and Evita, dies aged 76

Sir Alan Parker , the acclaimed British director of such films as Fame , Evita and Bugsy Malone , has died aged 76 .
The double Oscar nominee 's many other credits include Midnight Express , Mississippi Burning , The Commitments , Angela 's Ashes and Birdy .
Evita composer Andrew Lloyd Webber tweeted Sir Alan had been `` one of the few directors to truly understand musicals on screen '' .
The director died on Friday after a lengthy illness .
He is survived by his wife Lisa Moran-Parker , five children and seven grandchildren .
Film producer David @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oldest and closest friend , '' adding : `` I was always in awe of his talent . ''
A founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain , Sir Alan was also first chairman of the UK Film Council and received the CBE in 1995 and a knighthood in 2002 .
Bafta said it was `` deeply saddened '' to hear of Sir Alan 's death , adding that his films had `` brought us joy '' .
The British Film Institute , which Sir Alan chaired in the late 1990s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences remembered him as `` a chameleon '' and `` extraordinary talent '' whose work `` entertained us , connected us and gave us such a strong sense of time and place '' .
Despite not winning an Oscar for best director , his films won 10 Academy Awards as well as another 10 Golden Globes .
Actor John Cusack , who worked with Sir Alan on his 1994 comedy The Road to Wellville , said he had been `` a great film-maker '' .
Born in London @ @ @ @ @ @ @ career in advertising as a copywriter but quickly graduated to writing and directing commercials .
In 1974 he directed BBC film The Evacuees , winning a Bafta for best single play - the first of seven awards he received from the British Academy .
In 1984 Bafta honoured him with the Michael Balcon Award for outstanding contribution to British cinema , and in 2013 he was awarded the prestigious Bafta Fellowship .
Sir Alan 's last film as director was 2003 drama The Life of David Gale , starring Kevin Spacey and Kate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Write and Direct for Food , a compendium of his often satirical observations on making films in the UK and US .
In 2018 he donated his extensive collection of scripts and working papers to the British Film Institute 's National Archive .
According to a family spokeswoman , he spent his retirement indulging his passion for silk screen printing and painting .
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences remembered him as "a chameleon" and "extraordinary talent" whose work "entertained us, connected us and gave us such a strong sense of time and place".


bbc--2020-07-31--Belarus: The mother challenging an authoritarian president

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya would prefer to be frying cutlets than running for president of Belarus .
At least , that 's what the stay-at-home mum laughingly told a crowd of supporters at a recent campaign rally .
But she also told them this election bid to challenge Alexander Lukashenko 's 26-year-long grip on power was a `` mission '' she could not refuse .
The political novice only stepped in as a candidate for president when her husband was arrested and blocked from registering .
A second serious rival to Mr Lukashenko has also wound up in prison and a third @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tikhanovskaya , 37 , who had to send her two children abroad for safety reasons , has become the surprise face of change in Belarus .
She 's joined forces with Veronika Tsepkalo , the wife of one would-be candidate , and Maria Kolesnikova , campaign manager for another , And the three women have been drawing record crowds to rallies across the country .
`` They are not Margaret Thatcher , the type of ladies who are in politics all their lives , but they are very sincere , '' is how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appeal , in an interview in Moscow .
A former ambassador to the US , Mr Tsepkalo 's own attempt to register for the presidential race was rejected .
He told the BBC he had to leave Belarus after getting information `` from several sources '' that his arrest was imminent .
`` In previous election campaigns , Lukashenko had public support .
But this time it 's vanished and that 's why he is so nervous , '' Mr Tsepkalo argues .
The shift in mood was captured by Ms Tikhanovskaya 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ video blog .
For months , he toured Belarus interviewing people from farmers to pensioners .
Remarkably outspoken , they complained of pervasive corruption and poverty , a lack of opportunity and poor pay .
`` I was two when the cockroach came to power , '' a man called Vladimir told Mr Tikhanovsky in one video , using the blogger 's nickname for the Belarusian president .
`` My child is two now , and I just want something to change . ''
`` We are here to put an end to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That pent-up frustration became public when Belarusians began signing up in support of opposition candidates planning to register for the 9 August elections .
When they were barred , crowds flooded the streets in anger .
The human rights group Viasna says more than 1,000 peaceful protesters were detained this summer alone , almost 200 of them spending up to 15 days in custody .
`` It 's a reaction to the unprecedented level of public engagement , the spread of protests and opposition to the president , '' Minsk-based political analyst @ @ @ @ @ @ @ response .
He argues that a significant dip in support for Mr Lukashenko - even in traditional , rural strongholds - has been fed by a `` grim '' decade of economic stagnation topped off with anger at the president 's dismissive response to the Covid-19 crisis .
`` You had this perfect storm of factors that were against Lukashenko in this election campaign , '' Mr Shraibman says .
As Team Tikhanovskaya has been touring the country meeting and motivating voters , President Lukashenko has been visiting his security forces .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been as a guarantor of stability .
So on Tuesday , he was treated to a demonstration of the latest crowd-dispersing techniques by riot police .
And the next day , he claimed to have uncovered a foreign plot to `` destabilise '' the country - a threat the president had been warning of , and vowing to prevent `` at all cost '' .
Images of burly men being handcuffed in their underpants were screened on state television , and officials claimed 33 mercenaries with the private Russian military group , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sanatorium outside Minsk .
Russia has called for its citizens ' swift release saying they were in transit and had `` nothing to do with…Belarusian affairs '' , and the men had certainly been living very openly for alleged coup plotters .
But the odd affair is a blow to relations with Moscow , traditionally a close ally of Minsk .
It 's also a serious new worry for Ms Tikhanovskaya as investigators have linked her husband directly to the detainees and charged the blogger with planning `` mass unrest '' .
Her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as she admits to struggling with the pressure of a role she would never have chosen .
`` This is a scary time , but we feel huge support from the people , '' Ms Tsepkalo told the BBC by phone between rallies : when her husband fled Belarus , she stayed on to support Svetlana .
`` We see change for Belarus as like fresh air .
It 's needed as soon as possible , '' she says .
The women have no political programme , just one plea : vote for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 'll call fresh , fair elections and free all the political prisoners .
`` I 'll fulfil my mission , then step aside quietly , '' she told one rally , laughing when a man shouted up at her to stay .
Despite the buzz around the women 's bid , Alexander Lukashenko has been winning elections in Belarus by a landslide for almost three decades .
A recent official poll gave the president over 70 % popular support , even now .
So opposition supporters are on their guard against fraud .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ very important , '' Mr Shraibman argues .
`` The security forces are ready to crack down and in the past they 've not used 10 % of what 's in their toolkit .
`` I think it 's now a question of how brutal the crackdown will be - and how large the protests , '' he says .

The political novice only stepped in as a candidate for president when her husband was arrested and blocked from registering. A second serious rival to Mr Lukashenko has also wound up in prison and a third has fled the country.


bbc--2020-07-31--Vietnam records first Covid-19 deaths

Vietnam records first Covid-19 deaths

Vietnam has recorded its first Covid-19 fatalities , in a devastating blow for a country proud of its zero deaths .
The first man , who was aged 70 , was from the central city of Hoi An , state media said on Friday .
A second death , of a 61-year-old man , was reported later in the day .
There had been no new locally transmitted infections for more than three months , before an outbreak was reported in the nearby resort of Da Nang earlier this week .
Both of the patients who died had underlying health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The country , which has a population of around 95 million , has reported just 546 cases since the pandemic began .
Unlike many other countries , Vietnam acted before it even had confirmed cases , closing its borders early to almost all travellers , except returning citizens .
Anyone entering the country must quarantine in government facilities for 14 days and undergo testing .
And for a while , this approach appeared to be highly effective , with no new local transmissions reported since mid-April .
The country received praise for both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and for the care it was able to offer a Scottish pilot who spent two months in a coma after developing Covid-19..
But earlier this week came the difficult news that new cases had been discovered in the popular resort of Da Nang .
Tens of thousands of tourists from across the country were in the city at the time , many of whom believed the threat from coronavirus had passed .
The government initially closed the city to visitors , before ordering a total local lockdown on Wednesday .
Earlier this week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that every province and city in the country following the outbreak in Da Nang .
`` We have to act more swiftly and more fiercely in order to control the outbreak , '' state media quoted him as saying .
What this means for Vietnam At first , Vietnamese mainstream newspapers cited coronavirus as the main cause of the first man 's death .
But then , just a moment later , the story was deleted from most of the country 's state media websites .
The story only appeared again on their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 Prevention and Control finally confirmed the news .
Talking to the BBC Vietnamese Service , Dr Luong Ngoc Khue , vice-director of the Treatment Subcommittee under the National Covid-19 Taskforce , said the person `` died of heart attack , kidney cancer , high blood pressure and other severe diseases while positive for coronavirus '' .
Some speculate that the government found it difficult to announce the first death for fear of public embarrassment .
But as the news was confirmed today , Vietnam is trying to carry out an aggressive prevention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many quarantine facilities and mobilising all means and resources to treat every patient .
Since July 25 , 93 cases linked to Da Nang have been reported , and now the city is under a lockdown again .
Restrictions are also being reintroduced in many other cities and provinces .

The country received praise for both its timely efforts to contain the virus and for the care it was able to offer a Scottish pilot who spent two months in a coma after developing Covid-19..


bbc--2020-07-31--Bafta TV triumph 'stuns' Glenda Jackson

Bafta TV triumph 'stuns' Glenda Jackson

Glenda Jackson has won best actress at the Bafta TV Awards for Elizabeth Is Missing , her first television role in 27 years .
The 84-year-old , who was last nominated for a Bafta in 1974 , said she was `` absolutely stunned '' .
Sky Atlantic miniseries Chernobyl , starring Jared Harris , won awards for best miniseries and best leading actor .
The event was held as a closed studio , socially distanced show and awards were accepted virtually .
Host Richard Ayoade made light of the unusual circumstances during a sardonic opening address from BBC Television Centre @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sad it had taken a pandemic to enforce the most basic parameters of personal space , '' he joked .
The result , he said , would be `` the least touchy-feely Baftas to date '' .
His intro was followed by a satirical song from Tim Minchin about the pandemic 's impact on the film , TV and theatre industries .
`` If Matilda stays closed , am I still rich ? ''
he sang , referencing his own stage musical in a video filmed in Australia .
The first award of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ best entertainment performance .
He was recognised for his Channel 4 programme The Lateish Show , beating Frankie Boyle and previous winners Graham Norton and Lee Mack .
Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge lost out to her co-star Sian Clifford for the female performance in a comedy programme award .
A tearful Clifford called her win `` stupid , weird and surreal '' while insisting the nominees in her category were `` all winners '' .
Jamie Demetriou , who appeared in Fleabag 's first series , picked up the prize for male performance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Stath Lets Flats .
He used his speech to thank a childhood friend for `` getting me to do comedy when I was trying to be the bad boy of musical theatre when I was 21 '' .
Stath Lets Flats went on to win the award for best scripted comedy , beating Fleabag , Catastrophe and Derry Girls .
• The End of the F***Ing World - Drama series , Supporting actress ( Naomi Ackie ) The award for supporting actress went to Naomi Ackie for Channel 4 drama The End @ @ @ @ @ @ @ won best drama series .
The British actress dedicated her prize to her father and late mother , adding : `` This makes lockdown so much better . ''
The best supporting actor award went to Will Sharpe for his role as a sex worker in BBC Two crime drama Giri/Haji .
Strictly Come Dancing was named best entertainment programme for the second time .
Idris Elba said he was `` very proud '' to be recognised with a special Bafta for both his craft and for championing diversity and new talent .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ my opportunity and handed it backwards to other people that need that opportunity , '' the star of Luther and The Wire said .
`` One day I might get an acting award but until that day I am going to make more opportunities for more actors , more writers and more people to come and tell their story . ''
TV viewers voted the cliffhanger proposal scene from Gavin and Stacey 's Christmas special as their `` must-see moment '' of the year .
James Corden , one of the sitcom 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` the lovely icing on an already really lovely cake . ''
`` I just want to sink my teeth into that Bafta and suck all the sugary juices from it , '' joked Ruth Jones , his co-star and co-writer .
ITV 's Emmerdale was named best soap and continuing drama , while Taskmaster on Dave won the award for comedy entertainment programme .
Michael Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland received the factual series prize , while Blue Planet Live was crowned best live event .
Speaking ahead of the awards , Glenda @ @ @ @ @ @ @ privilege '' to play a woman with dementia in Elizabeth Is Missing .
`` What it deals with is being suffered by an increasing number of people , '' she said during a pre-show aired on Bafta 's social media channels .
The two-time Oscar winner gave up acting in the 1990s to pursue a career in politics as Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate .
She returned to acting in 2015 , appearing on radio and stage before taking the lead role in the TV version of Emma Healey 's novel .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the TV Craft Baftas , which saw Chernobyl receive seven prizes for technical achievement .
Bafta - the British Academy of Film and Television Arts - was founded in 1947 and has been presenting TV awards since 1955 .
The Bafta TV Awards were shown as-live on BBC One and can be watched on BBC iPlayer .
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bbc--2020-07-31--Tsitsi Dangarembga - Booker Prize nominee arrested in Zimbabwe

Award-winning Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga , a nominee for this year 's Booker Prize , has been arrested in the country 's capital , Harare , during an anti-government protest .
Dangarembga , 61 , and another protester were bundled into a police lorry while carrying placards .
The government has warned that participation in Friday 's demonstration is regarded as insurrection .
Police and soldiers are patrolling cities where streets are mainly empty .
• BBC Africa Live : Updates from across the continent • Seven babies die in one night at Zimbabwe hospital • 'Our only radiotherapy machine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ civil society organisations had called for protests against alleged government corruption and a deepening economic crisis with inflation running at more than 700 % .
But President Emmerson Mnangagwa has accused the opposition of exploiting the country 's economic challenges to topple his government .
An opposition politician who called for the demonstration is in detention , arrested last week and charged with inciting violence .
He remains behind bars , along with prominent investigative journalist Hopewell Chin'ono , who was detained at the same time .
In June Chin'ono had exposed an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ - revelations which led to the sacking of the health minister .
Why is the protest banned ?
The authorities say that the demonstration is not allowed because of coronavirus restrictions .
Security forces have intensified their patrols and streets are deserted despite assurances by government that the public should go about their normal business without fear , reports the BBC 's Shingai Nyoka in Harare , Covid-19 checkpoints have meant only essential service workers have been allowed in the city centre , she says .
Most people have chosen to stay at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gone out to demonstrate have faced arrest .
The main opposition Movement Democratic Change ( MDC ) party says several of its supporters , including a party official , have been detained .
A photographer with the AFP news agency reports that police bundled Dangarembga and another protester into a lorry full of police armed with AK-47 rifles and riot gear .
Dangarembga was carrying placards calling for reforms and for the release of Chin'ono , the agency says .
The author later tweeted that they were being held at Borrowdale Police Station @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be able to tweet for a while . ''
On Thursday , Dangarembga had told the BBC that demonstrating against the government was `` necessary '' given the situation in the country .
`` Every sector is disintegrating .
Health , education , the economy .
I am concerned for my safety .
It would be naïve not to be because we have a very repressive regime and we know that they will most likely be deployed against the people , '' she said .
`` This is one of the grievances that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forces , the security service is often deployed against the people , instead of being deployed for the protection of the people . ''
The writer and film director was born in Mutoko town in the north-east of the country when it was under white-minority rule .
At the age of two she moved with her parents to the UK , returning to her homeland in 1980 just before Zimbabwe became independent .
• Is Zimbabwe once more on the brink of collapse ?
Her first novel Nervous Conditions won the African section @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Other award-winning credits include Neria , Zimbabwe 's most successful film released in 1993 .
Her latest book , This Mournable Body , is on the Booker Prize longlist , which was unveiled earlier this week .
It is a sequel to Nervous Conditions , and `` channels the hope and potential of one young girl and a fledgling nation to lead us on a journey to discover where lives go after hope has departed '' , the Booker Prize website says .

"Every sector is disintegrating. Health, education, the economy. I am concerned for my safety. It would be naïve not to be because we have a very repressive regime and we know that they will most likely be deployed against the people," she said.


bbc--2020-07-31--Coronavirus: 10 die drinking sanitiser after Indian state shuts liquor shops

At least 10 people have died after drinking alcohol-based sanitiser after liquor shops were closed in a village in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh .
The village of Kurichedu has been placed in lockdown after a local surge in cases of coronavirus .
District police chief Siddharth Kaushal said the people who died had mixed the sanitiser with water and soft drinks .
They were alcohol-dependent , he added , and had started drinking the mixture about 10 days before they died .
`` We are investigating whether the sanitiser had any other toxic content , '' Mr Kaushal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had sent samples of the sanitiser away for chemical analysis .
• 'It 's not Covid-19 death , it 's murder' • Why wo n't India admit how Covid-19 is spreading ?
• 'More than half of Mumbai slum-dwellers had Covid-19' '' Some people who are heavily addicted to alcohol had been consuming hand sanitisers for the high , '' he told Reuters news agency .
`` Alcohol is not available because of the lockdown , but hand sanitisers are easily available . ''
• SYMPTOMS : What are they and how to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ NUMBER : What it means and why it matters India 's federal government has reopened most businesses in order to prevent a severe economic crash .
Earlier this week it was announced that yoga institutes and gyms would be allowed to reopen , and that restrictions would be lifted on the movement of goods and people .
However , many states are continuing to enforce lockdowns in specific areas as clusters of the virus emerge .
Confirmed cases of coronavirus in Andhra Pradesh , in south India , have increased nine-fold over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recorded more than 55,000 new infections nationally over the past 24 hours .
The death toll rose by 779 to more than 35,700 in total .

Earlier this week it was announced that yoga institutes and gyms would be allowed to reopen, and that restrictions would be lifted on the movement of goods and people.


bbc--2020-07-31--Coimbra train crash: Two dead after train derails in Portugal

A high-speed train has derailed in the Portuguese district of Coimbra , killing two and injuring at least 30 others .
The train was travelling north from Lisbon to Braga , with scheduled stops in the cities of Coimbra and Porto .
However , at about 15:30 ( 14:30GMT ) it crashed into a railway maintenance machine in the town of Soure .
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that he offered `` his condolences to the families and friends of those killed '' in this `` serious accident '' .
The country 's national relief operations authority CNOS told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the scene .
A spokesman said there were 163 rescue personnel , including firefighters , and two medical helicopters .
There were 240 passengers on board the Alfa Pendular train , which is the fastest in Portugal , they said .
A witness told Portuguese newspaper Diário de Noticias that there was panic inside the train at the time of the crash .
`` I thought I was going to die , '' they said .
`` The carriage took about 10 or 15 seconds to stop .
People were screaming and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ carriage started to fill with dust .
`` We were stuck inside the carriage , because the doors were destroyed .
Someone managed to break one of them and we started to get out and help other people get out . ''

"We were stuck inside the carriage, because the doors were destroyed. Someone managed to break one of them and we started to get out and help other people get out."


bbc--2020-07-31--What's the difference between weather and climate?

Are we heading towards a water crisis ?
In the coming decade , billions could face a critical shortage of @ @ @ @ @ we can do about it .

With extreme weather events on the rise, Reality Check's Chris Morris unpacks the difference and relationship between weather and climate.
Motion graphics by Jacqueline Galvin.


bbc--2020-07-31--Oprah Magazine to honour Breonna Taylor on cover

For the first time in two decades , US talk show star Oprah Winfrey will not appear on the cover of her magazine , O .
Instead , the publication 's September edition will feature Breonna Taylor , a 26-year-old black woman .
The health worker was killed by police who entered her flat earlier this year .
`` She was just like me .
She was just like you , '' Winfrey said .
Ms Taylor 's name has featured prominently in anti-racism protests sparked by the death of George Floyd .
• Why Breonna Taylor 's name is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unidentified men burst into your home while you were sleeping .
And your partner fired a gun to protect you .
And then mayhem , '' Winfrey said in an article on the magazine 's website .
`` We have to use whatever megaphone we have to cry for justice .
And that is why Breonna Taylor is on the cover of O magazine . ''
Winfrey added that the cover illustration , which was created by digital artist Alexis Franklin , had captured `` not just a likeness , but a soul @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cover came after the magazine 's publisher announced that the print edition of O would end in December , but added that the publication would continue online .
One police officer involved in the raid on Ms Taylor 's home has been fired , but is appealing against the decision .
Two other officers remain in their posts .
Demonstrators have called for charges to be brought over Ms Taylor 's death .
Breonna Taylor was an emergency medical technician who lived in Louisville , Kentucky .
She and her boyfriend were at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her apartment shortly after midnight on 13 March .
The officers were acting under a so-called no-knock warrant , which authorised them to enter the home without warning .
Ms Taylor 's boyfriend , who has a gun license , fired shots during the incident , saying later that he thought there were intruders in the home .
Ms Taylor died after being shot eight times by police .
No drugs were found in the property .
A lawsuit filed by Ms Taylor 's family says the officers were not looking for her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unrelated suspect who did not live in the complex and was already in custody .

No drugs were found in the property. A lawsuit filed by Ms Taylor's family says the officers were not looking for her or her partner, but for an unrelated suspect who did not live in the complex and was already in custody.


bbc--2020-07-31--Fox found with impressive shoe collection in Berlin

A fox in a leafy suburb of Berlin has been getting into the spirit of summer - by collecting flip @ @ @ @ @ of Zehlendorf were baffled that a thief was stealing their flip flops and sports shoes @ @ @ @ @ .
Finally a man spotted the culprit on a patch of wasteland , `` in @ @ @ @ @ flip flops in its mouth '' , the daily Tagesspiegel reports .
The fox had @ @ @ @ @ shoes , but not the man 's missing running shoe .
The man had suspected @ @ @ @ @ after raising the matter on a neighbourhood watch website and getting complaints from other locals @ @ @ @ @ shoes , or one missing shoe .
Tagesspiegel editor Felix Hackenbruch posted photos of the @ @ @ @

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bbc--2020-07-31--NBA: Black Lives Matter and basketball’s role in discussion on racism

When fans tuned in as the NBA season resumed at Disney World on Thursday , they were watching a game with a different feel .
Jerseys ordinarily emblazoned with well-known surnames - prized products sold to fans around the world - instead carried activist slogans : 'Justice Now ' , 'See Us ' , 'Hear Us ' , 'Respect Us ' , 'Love Us ' .
The stands were empty and silent , but one message is already echoing loudly : the NBA wants to talk about racism .
Even before the shocking death of George Floyd triggered a national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vehicle for protesting against what has been called America 's Original Sin .
Big moments - like the raising of a fist by Tommie Smith and John Carlos in a black power salute as the 'Star Spangled Banner ' played at the 1968 Olympics - have become iconic images .
More recent gestures , like those sparked by Colin Kaepernick 's refusal to stand for the national anthem , have become a contentious point of political debate in the United States .
Race , as the respected San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the room in our country '' - one that has come charging into the locker room on many occasions .
Of all sports , basketball is arguably the most obvious place for an unvarnished conversation .
From its earliest days of being popularised as entertainment by the Harlem Globetrotters , to a sport still primarily played by black athletes and , in the US , watched largely by ethnic minority fans ( two-thirds of those who tuned in during 2016-17 on US TV were non-white ) , race has figured prominently in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will embrace the conversation head-on this time .
But will it be any different than in the past - and will it make a difference ?
Black players have always been aware of the thin line that separates them from a life of professional success and a far different fate .
As the youngest of three sons of a single mother growing up in inner city Philadelphia , Rasheed Wallace realised early that it would be hard going , as did everyone around him .
`` The stakes are high , the stakes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who played for 2004 champions the Detroit Pistons - tells the BBC .
Growing up poor and with few opportunities , sports are one of the few ways young black men , especially , can conceive of success .
`` You see a lot of black parents getting on their kids , no matter [ whether ] it 's football , basketball , baseball or any sport .
It 's like , 'look - this could be our ticket out of here ' , '' he says .
`` There 's a standard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And for us , being black kids in the ghetto , we know that .
That if I can make it , I got a chance to make it better for my family . ''
But that success does not change how the world views a black man when he is out of team uniform , Wallace believes .
Stephen Jackson was sitting on his living room sofa in late May when his phone began to light up with messages .
`` I opened one from a close friend and it said : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your twin in Minnesota ? '
, '' Jackson , a former San Antonio Spurs shooting guard , tells the BBC .
He knew immediately what it meant .
George Floyd had been a close friend for more than 20 years .
Floyd , an imposing Texan of over 6ft 8in who was 46 when he was killed , and Jackson , 42 , looked so much alike they called themselves twins .
Today , one has an NBA championship ring and network sports podcast , and the other is dead .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jackson says .
`` I see myself down there because we look so much alike .
I definitely see myself getting murdered in the same fashion by a cop . ''
Wallace agrees .
`` For sure , it could have been me .
Especially with my attitude , the way I am . ''
He adds : `` Now I think [ race ] is even more of a bigger burden .
It 's almost like it 's a danger to stand up , to be black .
It 's a danger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neighbourhood .
It 's almost to the point where black men , we 're the targets . ''
Floyd had been a star athlete in his younger days , and was recruited to play basketball for a university team .
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in relation to his death .
Three other officers were also charged with aiding and abetting murder .
A tentative trial date has been set for March 2021 .
For those like Jackson and Wallace , talent has kept @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no guarantee of a happy outcome .
Asked who he would call basketball 's greatest of all time , the legendary Kareem Abdul Jabbar did not name Michael Jordan , Wilt Chamberlain or some other household star but Earl Manigault , a street ball player he knew in Harlem , New York as a youth .
Manigault is little known , for he never made it into the professional ranks .
Seen as a prodigy on street courts , he instead went from an impoverished youth to difficult adulthood , becoming addicted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` For every Michael Jordan , there 's an Earl Manigault , '' Manigault once told the New York Times .
`` We all ca n't make it .
Somebody has to fail .
I was the one . ''
This is the realisation the rest of the country has been waking up to in 2020 - that the cards are stacked this way in black America .
The NBA says it wants to bring it into further focus .
According to the league 's 2020 handbook , a `` central goal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use the NBA 's platform `` to bring attention and sustained action to issues of social injustice , including combating systemic racism , expanding educational and economic opportunities across the black community , enacting meaningful police and criminal justice reform and promoting greater civic engagement '' .
Some , including Jackson , are sceptical .
This is not the first time the league has made public statements on racial justice .
In 2014 , the league allowed players to wear T-shirts bearing the words ' I ca n't breathe ' before matches .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York , had uttered the words before he died in a police chokehold during an arrest .
The same year , commissioner Adam Silver ejected Donald Sterling , then owner of the Los Angeles Clippers , from the league after racist remarks he made about black players emerged .
The league publicly condemned Sterling and the team was sold .
But critics say that on the metrics that matter , nothing much has changed .
Three-quarters of players in the NBA are black , but only one of the 30 teams has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Charlotte Hornets .
As recently as 2017 , there were only three black general managers .
Now there are six .
After retiring from playing , Wallace served as an assistant coach for the Pistons for a season .
There were not many like him in the league .
`` We do n't get the quote-unquote 'white opportunities ' - to be that GM , to be that head coach , assistant GM or partial owner , whatever .
That 's always up to the white people , '' he says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be fully opened - but needs to be , he says , so that youngsters in neighbourhoods like the one he grew up in can see they `` do n't have to just play basketball or football or baseball to become someone , to become a significant person in my community , or to even make a lot of money '' .
He adds : `` That 's the only outlet that we see as young black men : I got ta make it in basketball or football or baseball .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
It would be hard to argue there has not been any progress .
The arc of basketball history has bent toward a bit more justice since the 1920s - when black athletes were forced to stay in segregated hotels while travelling through the American South - or even the 1980s , when white players were paid $ 26,000 more on average , despite poorer performances on the court .
Black players today have far greater power and command greater respect as public figures , plus the earnings to match .
Playing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was worth as little as $ 7.50 a game - $ 144 ( £111 ) today - according to basketball historian Doug Merlino , but it was often a choice between that or a life of menial labour .
The current top five NBA players , all of whom are black , will make a collective $ 192m ( £147m ) on salaries alone over 2019-20 .
There are those - fans , commentators and players themselves - who will see the limits of sports activism , or reject it altogether .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ response from Laura Ingraham , a right-wing news anchor , when in 2018 LeBron James gave an ESPN interview criticising President Trump 's attitudes on race .
That Ingraham did not have similar advice more recently for Drew Brees , a white American football player , to keep out of politics have , in many people 's view , lent her previous comments a racial tinge .
( Brees had made remarks rejecting the take the knee protest in his sport . )
But the sentiment is not unique to conservative news figures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ below sports talk shows , are complaints from fans decrying the forays of their favourite court stars into politics .
Others see a heavy dose of hypocrisy in how players , former players and the league handle divisive political issues .
Jackson , for example , was engulfed in controversy after making anti-Semitic comments on social media .
He said his comments were taken out of context , but the episode extinguished a measure of sympathy for his racial activism among many .
For some others , it nullified all goodwill entirely .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Jabbar said Jackson 's comments `` undid whatever progress his previous advocacy may have achieved '' by himself committing `` the kind of dehumanising characterisation of a people that causes the police abuses that killed his friend , George Floyd '' .
He wrote of `` a very troubling omen for the future of the Black Lives Matter movement , '' adding : `` So too is the shocking lack of massive indignation . ''
More recently , Houston Rockets star James Harden drew fury when he was photographed wearing a mask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ' , a counter-organisation to Black Lives Matter that backs police .
Harden said he was not trying to make a statement - he just thought that the design 'looked cool ' and covered his beard .
Detractors will say it proves sportsmen may not be the best agents of political messaging , and that it distracts from the experience fans are paying for with their time and money - a reprieve from politics .
And if politics should be allowed to enter in , where should the line be drawn ?
Another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Republican Missouri Senator , wrote to Silver to complain the NBA is allowing Black Lives Matter-themed slogans , but not those supporting US troops , or backing free speech in Hong Kong .
The senator accused the NBA of `` excusing and apologising for the brutal repression of the Chinese Communist regime '' .
`` Free expression appears to stop at the edge of your corporate sponsors ' sensibilities , '' he chided .
But even if thorny questions remain , there is no doubt that the zeitgeist in America has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2020 shows that , unlike in the past , Americans are largely accepting the idea that racism exists and plays a part in the many social ills black people face in the country .
The `` myth '' that America 's problems with race are largely overcome is being challenged , whether in basketball or in the greater society , believes Popovich , the 71-year-old Spurs coach .
`` You ca n't go on and enjoy your life if you do n't understand what has happened to so many , '' he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ race campaign , he is realistic about the prospect of influence .
`` Fans are like any other group of people - some will get it , some will understand , some will just enjoy the games and move on , '' he says .
`` Others will hopefully get involved in being part of the solution of being anti-racist , but that 's a pretty individual thing . ''
After all , sport - as much a cultural product of the times as any entertainment - can only reflect the realities of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reality is that to be black is in itself to be political , and that position is not a choice , whether you are a basketball star or a bouncer .
The slogan stencilled beside the NBA logo is a reminder .
The lives of so many of the men dribbling , jumping , performing feats of athleticism are black ones - and they matter not just on the court .

LeBron James has been among the most vocal of those calling for change
When fans tuned in as the NBA season resumed at Disney World on Thursday, they were watching a game with a different feel.
On gleaming courts refashioned from ballrooms, in a basketball 'bubble' protected from coronavirus at the Florida resort, three words were stencilled alongside the enormous NBA logo: 'Black Lives Matter'.
Jerseys ordinarily emblazoned with well-known surnames - prized products sold to fans around the world - instead carried activist slogans: 'Justice Now', 'See Us', 'Hear Us', 'Respect Us', 'Love Us'.
The stands were empty and silent, but one message is already echoing loudly: the NBA wants to talk about racism.
Even before the shocking death of George Floyd triggered a national reckoning, sport had long been a vehicle for protesting against what has been called America's Original Sin.
Big moments - like the raising of a fist by Tommie Smith and John Carlos in a black power salute as the 'Star Spangled Banner' played at the 1968 Olympics - have become iconic images.
More recent gestures, like those sparked by Colin Kaepernick's refusal to stand for the national anthem, have become a contentious point of political debate in the United States.
Race, as the respected San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich puts it, is the "elephant in the room in our country" - one that has come charging into the locker room on many occasions.
Of all sports, basketball is arguably the most obvious place for an unvarnished conversation.
From its earliest days of being popularised as entertainment by the Harlem Globetrotters, to a sport still primarily played by black athletes and, in the US, watched largely by ethnic minority fans (two-thirds of those who tuned in during 2016-17 on US TV were non-white), race has figured prominently in the NBA.
The league says it will embrace the conversation head-on this time. But will it be any different than in the past - and will it make a difference?
Black players have always been aware of the thin line that separates them from a life of professional success and a far different fate.
As the youngest of three sons of a single mother growing up in inner city Philadelphia, Rasheed Wallace realised early that it would be hard going, as did everyone around him.
"The stakes are high, the stakes are real high," Wallace - who played for 2004 champions the Detroit Pistons - tells the BBC. Growing up poor and with few opportunities, sports are one of the few ways young black men, especially, can conceive of success.
"You see a lot of black parents getting on their kids, no matter [whether] it's football, basketball, baseball or any sport. It's like, 'look - this could be our ticket out of here'," he says.
"There's a standard you have to live up to. And for us, being black kids in the ghetto, we know that. That if I can make it, I got a chance to make it better for my family."
But that success does not change how the world views a black man when he is out of team uniform, Wallace believes.
Stephen Jackson (right) and George Floyd called themselves twins
Stephen Jackson was sitting on his living room sofa in late May when his phone began to light up with messages.
"I opened one from a close friend and it said: 'Do you see what they did to your twin in Minnesota?'," Jackson, a former San Antonio Spurs shooting guard, tells the BBC. He knew immediately what it meant.
George Floyd had been a close friend for more than 20 years.
Floyd, an imposing Texan of over 6ft 8in who was 46 when he was killed, and Jackson, 42, looked so much alike they called themselves twins.
Today, one has an NBA championship ring and network sports podcast, and the other is dead.
"That could have been me," Jackson says. "I see myself down there because we look so much alike. I definitely see myself getting murdered in the same fashion by a cop."
Wallace agrees. "For sure, it could have been me. Especially with my attitude, the way I am."
He adds: "Now I think [race] is even more of a bigger burden. It's almost like it's a danger to stand up, to be black. It's a danger for you to be jogging in a neighbourhood. It's almost to the point where black men, we're the targets."
Floyd had been a star athlete in his younger days, and was recruited to play basketball for a university team. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in relation to his death. Three other officers were also charged with aiding and abetting murder. A tentative trial date has been set for March 2021.
Wallace, pictured here in 2016, was assistant coach with Detroit from 2013-2014
For those like Jackson and Wallace, talent has kept misfortune at bay, but it is no guarantee of a happy outcome.
Asked who he would call basketball's greatest of all time, the legendary Kareem Abdul Jabbar did not name Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain or some other household star but Earl Manigault, a street ball player he knew in Harlem, New York as a youth.
Manigault is little known, for he never made it into the professional ranks. Seen as a prodigy on street courts, he instead went from an impoverished youth to difficult adulthood, becoming addicted to heroin and serving time for drug possession.
"For every Michael Jordan, there's an Earl Manigault," Manigault once told the New York Times. "We all can't make it. Somebody has to fail. I was the one."
This is the realisation the rest of the country has been waking up to in 2020 - that the cards are stacked this way in black America. The NBA says it wants to bring it into further focus.
According to the league's 2020 handbook, a "central goal" of the season will be to use the NBA's platform "to bring attention and sustained action to issues of social injustice, including combating systemic racism, expanding educational and economic opportunities across the black community, enacting meaningful police and criminal justice reform and promoting greater civic engagement".
Some, including Jackson, are sceptical. This is not the first time the league has made public statements on racial justice.
In 2014, the league allowed players to wear T-shirts bearing the words 'I can't breathe' before matches. Eric Garner, a black man from New York, had uttered the words before he died in a police chokehold during an arrest.
The same year, commissioner Adam Silver ejected Donald Sterling, then owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, from the league after racist remarks he made about black players emerged.
The league publicly condemned Sterling and the team was sold.
But critics say that on the metrics that matter, nothing much has changed. Three-quarters of players in the NBA are black, but only one of the 30 teams has a black majority owner - Michael Jordan of the Charlotte Hornets. As recently as 2017, there were only three black general managers. Now there are six.
After retiring from playing, Wallace served as an assistant coach for the Pistons for a season. There were not many like him in the league.
"We don't get the quote-unquote 'white opportunities' - to be that GM, to be that head coach, assistant GM or partial owner, whatever. That's always up to the white people," he says.
It is another closed door yet to be fully opened - but needs to be, he says, so that youngsters in neighbourhoods like the one he grew up in can see they "don't have to just play basketball or football or baseball to become someone, to become a significant person in my community, or to even make a lot of money".
He adds: "That's the only outlet that we see as young black men: I gotta make it in basketball or football or baseball. And that's all that we're offered."
It would be hard to argue there has not been any progress.
The arc of basketball history has bent toward a bit more justice since the 1920s - when black athletes were forced to stay in segregated hotels while travelling through the American South - or even the 1980s, when white players were paid $26,000 more on average, despite poorer performances on the court.
Black players today have far greater power and command greater respect as public figures, plus the earnings to match. Playing for the Harlem Globetrotters in the 1930s was worth as little as $7.50 a game - $144 (£111) today - according to basketball historian Doug Merlino, but it was often a choice between that or a life of menial labour.
The current top five NBA players, all of whom are black, will make a collective $192m (£147m) on salaries alone over 2019-20.
James Harden was criticised for wearing this mask with an emblem supporting 'Blue Lives Matter'
There are those - fans, commentators and players themselves - who will see the limits of sports activism, or reject it altogether.
"Shut up and dribble" was the response from Laura Ingraham, a right-wing news anchor, when in 2018 LeBron James gave an ESPN interview criticising President Trump's attitudes on race.
That Ingraham did not have similar advice more recently for Drew Brees, a white American football player, to keep out of politics have, in many people's view, external-link lent her previous comments a racial tinge. (Brees had made remarks rejecting the take the knee protest in his sport.)
But the sentiment is not unique to conservative news figures. On plenty of forums and comments below sports talk shows, are complaints from fans decrying the forays of their favourite court stars into politics.
Others see a heavy dose of hypocrisy in how players, former players and the league handle divisive political issues.
Jackson, for example, was engulfed in controversy after making anti-Semitic comments on social media.
He said his comments were taken out of context, but the episode extinguished a measure of sympathy for his racial activism among many. For some others, it nullified all goodwill entirely.
In a column for the Hollywood Reporter, external-link Jabbar said Jackson's comments "undid whatever progress his previous advocacy may have achieved" by himself committing "the kind of dehumanising characterisation of a people that causes the police abuses that killed his friend, George Floyd".
He wrote of "a very troubling omen for the future of the Black Lives Matter movement," adding: "So too is the shocking lack of massive indignation."
More recently, Houston Rockets star James Harden drew fury when he was photographed wearing a mask with an emblem supporting 'Blue Lives Matter', a counter-organisation to Black Lives Matter that backs police.
Harden said he was not trying to make a statement - he just thought that the design 'looked cool' and covered his beard.
Detractors will say it proves sportsmen may not be the best agents of political messaging, and that it distracts from the experience fans are paying for with their time and money - a reprieve from politics.
And if politics should be allowed to enter in, where should the line be drawn? Another row was stirred up after Josh Hawley, the Republican Missouri Senator, wrote to Silver to complain the NBA is allowing Black Lives Matter-themed slogans, but not those supporting US troops, or backing free speech in Hong Kong.
The senator accused the NBA of "excusing and apologising for the brutal repression of the Chinese Communist regime".
"Free expression appears to stop at the edge of your corporate sponsors' sensibilities," he chided.
But even if thorny questions remain, there is no doubt that the zeitgeist in America has shifted more broadly.
Poll after poll in 2020 shows that, unlike in the past, Americans are largely accepting the idea that racism exists and plays a part in the many social ills black people face in the country.
The "myth" that America's problems with race are largely overcome is being challenged, whether in basketball or in the greater society, believes Popovich, the 71-year-old Spurs coach.
"You can't go on and enjoy your life if you don't understand what has happened to so many," he says.
As for the league's race campaign, he is realistic about the prospect of influence.
"Fans are like any other group of people - some will get it, some will understand, some will just enjoy the games and move on," he says.
"Others will hopefully get involved in being part of the solution of being anti-racist, but that's a pretty individual thing."
After all, sport - as much a cultural product of the times as any entertainment - can only reflect the realities of its era. In 2020, the reality is that to be black is in itself to be political, and that position is not a choice, whether you are a basketball star or a bouncer.
The slogan stencilled beside the NBA logo is a reminder. The lives of so many of the men dribbling, jumping, performing feats of athleticism are black ones - and they matter not just on the court.


bbc--2020-07-31--Coronavirus: Tracking new outbreaks in the sewers

Covid-19 cases are on the rise in Spain .
Around 15,000 new cases of the disease have been reported in @ @ @ @ @ the city of Valencia a team of engineers and scientists are going into the sewer @ @ @ @ @ find out where outbreaks are likely to spring up next .

Covid-19 cases are on the rise in Spain. Around 15,000 new cases of the disease have been reported in the past week.
In the city of Valencia a team of engineers and scientists are going into the sewer network in an attempt to find out where outbreaks are likely to spring up next.
Video produced by Silvio Castellanos, Juan Antonio Dominguez and Bruno Boelpaep


bbc--2020-08-01--Why a new generation of Thais are protesting against the government

Thailand 's youth were among thousands on the streets of Bangkok last week in one of the biggest anti-government protests the capital has seen in years , despite a coronavirus ban on large gatherings .
They say they will continue protesting if their three main demands are not met - for parliament to be dissolved , for the constitution to be rewritten , and for authorities to stop harassing critics .
Many have found creative ways to protest - including the use of a Japanese anime character and a `` Hunger Games '' salute .
Thailand has a long history @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a new wave began in February this year , after a popular opposition political party was ordered to dissolve .
March 2019 saw the first elections since the military seized power in 2014 .
For many young people and first-time voters , it was seen as a chance for change after years of military rule .
But the military had taken steps to entrench its political role , and the election saw Prayuth Chan-ocha - the military leader who led the coup - re-installed as prime minister .
The pro-democracy Future Forward Party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit , garnered the third-largest share of seats and was particularly popular with young , first-time voters .
But in February , a court ruled FFP had received a loan from Thanathorn which was deemed a donation - thus making it illegal - and the party was forced to disband .
Thousands joined street protests , but these were halted by Covid-19 restrictions .
Things heated up again in June when a prominent pro-democracy activist went missing .
Wanchalearm Satsaksit , who had been living in Cambodia in exile since 2014 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and bundled off into a vehicle .
• The satirist who vanished in broad daylight Protesters accused the Thai state of orchestrating his kidnapping , which the police and government have denied .
Punchada Sirivunnabood , a professor of politics at Mahidol University , says this combination of events has driven the new wave of protest .
`` The students feel like what the government has done is not really democratic .
They want a fair government , '' she told the BBC .
Disillusioned by years of military rule , protesters are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a new election , the prime minister 's resignation and an end to the harassment of rights activists .
The protests are technically banned under Thailand 's coronavirus state of emergency - and breaking this ban carries a sentence of up to two years in jail .
The movement is largely leaderless , but driven by a group known as the Free Youth .
This group , says Dr Am Sinpeng at the University of Sydney , is `` loosely composed of a number of university student associations and affiliated groups… [ there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
She says they 've learned from the Hong Kong protests of recent years , `` where these groups represent free individuals that come together rather than being anchored down by particular organisations or political parties '' .
Pro-democracy - and anti-China - protesters in Thailand , Hong Kong and Taiwan have even dubbed themselves the `` Milk Tea Alliance '' - after the classic drink loved in all three places .
And the Thais have found creative - and sometimes whimsical - methods of protest .
A Japanese hamster character , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rebel symbol .
Protesters have taken the Hamtaro theme song and changed its lyrics , using it as an anti-government anthem .
A line in the song which says `` the most delicious food is sunflower seeds '' has been changed to `` the most delicious food is taxpayers ' money '' .
Protesters have also been seen giving a three-fingered salute , a gesture taken from the Hunger Games film franchise where it 's a rousing symbol of defiance against an authoritarian state .
`` Thai youths have always used more subversive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dr Sinpeng says .
`` That 's because of years of living in repressive environments that do not always allow for freedom of expression .
[ They 're ] having to always find creative ways to get around all kinds of censorship . ''
As well as in Bangkok , small `` flashmob '' type protests which are easy to organise and can quickly disperse are being organised in smaller cities , driven by social media .
`` Twitter has really gained ground in the past few years , '' says Dr Sinpeng @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only important for mobilising public participation , but it is also a branding exercise for a movement that is still forming with evolving and dynamic identities . ''
According to Prof Punchada , `` most of the older generation , they do n't understand what the students want .
`` Most of them support this government , but the young people have opposite ideas . ''
Unlike previous conflicts between the Red and Yellow shirts - supporters of opposing political factions in Thailand - `` this conflict is between the older and younger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Who are Thailand 's reds and yellows ?
`` There [ have been ] off remarks from senior officials that are patronising and demonstrate a deeply-held belief among some older sections of the population that 'kids should not defy their elders ' , '' says Dr Sinpeng .
`` [ The youth ] want to know the elders running the country hear them and take their concerns seriously .
They want respect . ''
Back on the streets , a real fight continues to brew - but is this protest wave likely to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are not going to shake up the government too much now as they are not at the scale that they could yet , '' says Dr Sinpeng .
`` [ They ] are notable , but will require more momentum . ''

"Twitter has really gained ground in the past few years," says Dr Sinpeng. "The trending hashtags are not only important for mobilising public participation, but it is also a branding exercise for a movement that is still forming with evolving and dynamic identities."


bbc--2020-07-31--Arsenal want to 'save season' by winning FA Cup - Lacazette

Arsenal are excited about Saturday 's Heads Up FA Cup final against Chelsea because the players want to `` save our season '' , says Alexandre Lacazette .
The Gunners , who have won a record 13 FA Cups , finished eighth in the Premier League and will not qualify for the Europa League if they lose at Wembley .
`` We missed a few of our targets , '' said France striker Lacazette , 29 .
Arsenal 's Mikel Arteta and Chelsea 's Frank Lampard are both aiming to win first trophies as managers .
Lacazette added : `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We had the long stop , we changed manager [ Arteta replaced Unai Emery in December ] , had different players .
`` It was a difficult season , maybe the most difficult in my career , but I know I learned a lot .
The FA Cup means a lot .
I came to Arsenal to win trophies . ''
Meanwhile , Blues boss Lampard has backed winger Willian to produce another `` fantastic '' performance in the final game before the Brazilian 's deal runs out .
`` He 's been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fantastic this season - he 's shown the right attitude , '' said Lampard .
`` So I would expect nothing less than he 's shown already , and that 's Willian for you . ''
Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin missed the win over Watford as a precaution with a tight calf but has been back in training this week .
Cedric Soares is cup-tied , while Calum Chambers , Pablo Mari , Shkodran Mustafi and Gabriel Martinelli remain out .
Influential Chelsea pair N'Golo Kante and Willian are both in the squad @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sustained a minor injury in training on Thursday and has been ruled out .
• How to watch and follow the FA Cup final on the BBC • Pick your combined Arsenal and Chelsea XI for the FA Cup final @ Guymowbray : The 139th FA Cup final will be one that makes history , of a kind that nobody wished for .
A crowdless Wembley for the semi-finals was an eerie enough experience , but for nobody to be there for our game 's annual showpiece occasion ?
That 's a whole @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their best to ensure it still stands out as special , from the singing of Abide With Me ( pre-recorded by Emeli Sande from the stadium roof ) to a modified trophy and medal presentation , but it 's inevitable that the day just wo n't have the same joy and excitement .
At least we can expect some from the game , a relatively evenly matched one between clubs who served up a truly entertaining final just three years ago .
It certainly ought to be closer than last year 's season-ending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arsenal undoubtedly improving under Mikel Arteta - bidding to follow George Graham in playing for and managing a Gunners cup-winning side .
Frank Lampard could be the third to do that for Chelsea ( after Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Di Matteo ) , with the chance to put a trophy-winning seal on a first season in charge that has surpassed realistic expectations .
Let 's hope the contest does too , to end the longest , strangest domestic season with at least some sort of smile .
To borrow a line from Abide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies '' .
Unlike last year 's final between Manchester City and Watford , this game is very hard to call .
For starters , it is going to be a very different sort of occasion .
We know now that football behind closed doors is strange , but this is going to be the strangest game yet .
It 's an FA Cup final , and a derby game too , but it does n't really feel like that .
Fans are an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that is even more the case for the moments when you win things .
Without them at Wembley , it just wo n't be the same .
I am still expecting a good game , though , and it is Arsenal who I think will edge it .
That 's not to say Chelsea are not dangerous too .
I just feel like Arsenal have got more momentum and confidence at the moment , but otherwise it is difficult to split the two sides .
• Arsenal have won both of their previous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2002 and 2-1 in 2017 .
• However , Chelsea have won their other two meetings in major finals , by 2-1 in the 2007 League Cup and 4-1 in last year 's Europa League showpiece .
• Chelsea 's only win in their past nine FA Cup clashes with the Gunners came in the 2009 semi-final .
• Arsenal have reached the FA Cup final a record 21 times and have also won the competition 13 times - more than any other side .
They have featured in 15 % of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gunners have not lost an FA Cup final at Wembley since a 1-0 defeat by West Ham in 1980 .
• Arsenal finished outside the Premier League 's top six this season for the first time in 25 years .
• They 've failed to score in only one of their past 31 FA Cup matches .
• This is Chelsea 's 14th FA Cup final ; only Arsenal ( 21 ) and Manchester United ( 20 ) have reached more .
• They have lost only one of their past 15 FA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cup debut in 2013 , Olivier Giroud has scored 16 goals in the competition - second only to Manchester City 's Sergio Aguero .
• The Frenchman is aiming to become just the second player to score for and against a specific side ( Arsenal ) in separate FA Cup finals .
Frank Stapleton netted for Arsenal against Manchester United in the 1979 final , and then for the Red Devils in the 1983 final versus Brighton .
• Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty : How did the media empire shape Brexit and @ @ @

Last updated on .From the section FA Cup
Arsenal's talisman Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang worked his Wembley magic once again as they came from behind to beat Chelsea and win the FA Cup for a record 14th time.
Chelsea took the lead in the Heads Up FA Cup final inside five minutes through Christian Pulisic's smart finish but then fell victim to the brilliance of Aubameyang, who was also Arsenal's hero when he scored twice in the semi-final win over Manchester City.
The Gabon forward drew Arsenal level from the penalty spot before the break after he was fouled by Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta, then produced a moment of world-class finishing to make the defining contribution to the first behind-closed-doors FA Cup final.
Chelsea were hampered by a first-half injury to Azpilicueta and were struggling even further when they lost the outstanding Pulisic to a hamstring problem after the break.
As the Blues battled to overcome those setbacks, the brilliant Aubameyang was able to give Mikel Arteta silverware in his first season as the Gunners' manager.
Aubameyang, who Arsenal are understandably desperate to secure on a new long-term contract, turned Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma inside out in the 67th minute before delivering the most audacious finish, chipping over keeper Willy Caballero from an angle.
Chelsea's agony increased further when Mateo Kovacic was very harshly sent off for a second yellow card, awarded by referee Anthony Taylor for the most innocuous of challenges on Granit Xhaka.
Arsenal closed out the win to secure a place in the Europa League next season but it was bitter disappointment for Chelsea manager Frank Lampard at the conclusion of his first campaign in charge.
Arteta's winning feeling
'I can't even talk' - Martinez in tears after FA Cup win
Arteta's delight at the final whistle was obvious as he secured his first major trophy as a manager, having only succeeded Unai Emery in December.
There have been some mixed moments - but in recent weeks, Arsenal have shown their development by defeating new Premier League champions Liverpool and ending Manchester City's hopes of retaining the FA Cup by beating them to reach the final. Now the Gunners have the trophy in their hands after seeing off Chelsea.
In each game they have shown character, courage and resilience - all qualities they have regularly been accused of lacking - and have a world-class spearhead in Aubameyang.
A player of that calibre makes the difference in the big games. Aubameyang has shown that, making Wembley his personal playground in both the semi-final and the final.
It may have been a surreal occasion, this FA Cup final played in a virtually deserted Wembley and missing so much of the traditional ceremony and atmosphere, but the joy of victory was still relished by Arteta and his players and rightly so.
And when the celebrations end, Arsenal will know with even more certainty what their summer priority must be, even above any acquisitions.
Arsenal must find a way to keep Aubameyang. Their cause is helped by being able to offer him European football, albeit the Europa League rather than the Champions League.
He is quite simply a talent that gives Arsenal another dimension of danger. He is a match-winner - and in this instance, an FA Cup final winner.
Lampard's Chelsea suffer Wembley pain
It all started so well for Chelsea and Lampard as they dominated the opening phases at Wembley and led through Pulisic's goal.
The momentum changed after the first-half drinks break as Chelsea were undone by their own injuries, Arsenal's vast improvement and the dismissal of Kovacic.
Chelsea lost the experience of Azpilicueta and the thrilling talent of Pulisic, who actually injured his hamstring as he raced in on goal with a very good chance, and were then fighting an uphill battle.
They tried to regain that earlier supremacy but were hit by that brilliant goal from Aubameyang and the sending off of Kovacic.
The Croatia international was shown a second yellow card for a challenge with Xhaka that raised questions as to whether it was actually a foul before referee Anthony Taylor eventually produced the red card.
It more or less signalled the end of Chelsea's hopes. Lampard's first season, which has contained so much promise, concludes with a place in next season's Champions League but not a trophy.
There has been much to admire from Chelsea as Lampard has mixed youth and experience but there is a defensive frailty he must address, having added to his attacking resources with the exciting addition of Timo Werner.
Those defensive weaknesses were clear as Aubameyang preyed on them in deadly fashion.
As they trooped to collect their losers' medals, Chelsea and Lampard will reflect on a day when little went right after that opening five minutes.
Man of the match - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang once again showed his value to Arsenal as he inspired them to their first major trophy since 2017
Arteta writes name into Gunners history books - the stats
Mikel Arteta has become the first person to both captain and manage Arsenal to victory in an FA Cup final.
Chelsea have lost three of their past 10 FA Cup final matches, with all three defeats coming against Arsenal.
The Gunners have won each of their past seven FA Cup final appearances since 2002 - no team has had a longer run of successive final triumphs in the competition.
Arteta is the first Arsenal manager to win a major trophy in their first season in charge of the club since George Graham in 1986-87.
There was just one shot on target in the whole of the second half, which was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's winning goal.
Since his debut for Arsenal in February 2018, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored 70 goals in all competitions, more than any other Premier League player in that time.
Christian Pulisic's opener was the first FA Cup final goal scored by an American player.
Mateo Kovacic became the sixth player to be sent off in an FA Cup final, with the last two of them being Chelsea players (Victor Moses was dismissed, also against Arsenal, in 2017).
Willy Caballero (38 years 308 days) became the oldest player to play for Chelsea in an FA Cup final, while substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi (19 years 268 days) became the youngest to play in the showpiece for the Blues.


bbc--2020-07-31--'We must put ourselves under FA Cup final pressure' - Lampard

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard says his side `` can not cruise '' into Saturday 's Heads Up FA Cup final against Arsenal .
The Blues have already qualified for next season 's Champions League by finishing fourth in the Premier League , but the Gunners must win at Wembley to qualify for the Europa League .
Lampard told BBC Football Focus : `` I 've heard how there 's more on this game for Arsenal , and that idea worries me .
`` We must put ourselves under pressure .
This is a huge game for Chelsea . ''
• @ @ @ @ @ @ @ why Arteta and Lampard have a bright future • FA Cup final 2020 : Who has managed and played in an FA Cup final ?
• How to follow the FA Cup final on the BBC Both Lampard and Arsenal counterpart Mikel Arteta can win their first managerial honours at Wembley - and both are on Football Focus from 12:00 BST on Saturday on BBC One .
Despite knowing they will be playing in Europe 's elite club competition in 2020-21 , Lampard - who won the FA Cup four times as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feel the pressure to deliver trophies to Stamford Bridge .
`` It worries me that we as a club , as a team , think we achieved something last week by finishing in the top four , '' said the 42-year-old former England midfielder .
`` We are happy with that but that 's gone now .
We do n't consider what it means for Arsenal - we want to win the match .
`` I 've been in this game a fairly short time but I 've played for many years and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be around a final .
It needs to be pressured ; we need to be on edge .
We can not cruise into a final .
You lose them that way .
`` The feeling of losing as a manager is worse than as a player because you take on more responsibility - but the feeling of winning is better . ''
Lampard would not confirm whether Kepa Arrizabalaga or Willy Caballero will start in goal , but France midfielder N'Golo Kante and Brazil winger Willian are both available .
The 139th @ @ @ @ @ @ @ BST at Wembley and can be watched on BBC One , the iPlayer and the BBC Sport website .
This season 's showpiece has been renamed the Heads Up FA Cup final to raise mental health awareness .
• Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty : How did the media empire shape Brexit and Donald Trump ?

Last updated on .From the section FA Cup
FA Cup final: Chelsea must put themselves under pressure - Frank Lampard
FA Cup final: Arsenal v Chelsea - Wembley Date: Saturday, 1 August Venue: Wembley Stadium Kick-off: 17:30 BST Coverage : Live on BBC One - build-up from 16:30 BST. Live on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website. Full commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live. Live text commentary and goal clips on the BBC Sport website
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard says his side "cannot cruise" into Saturday's Heads Up FA Cup final against Arsenal.
The Blues have already qualified for next season's Champions League by finishing fourth in the Premier League, but the Gunners must win at Wembley to qualify for the Europa League.
Lampard told BBC Football Focus: "I've heard how there's more on this game for Arsenal, and that idea worries me.
"We must put ourselves under pressure. This is a huge game for Chelsea."
Both Lampard and Arsenal counterpart Mikel Arteta can win their first managerial honours at Wembley - and both are on Football Focus from 12:00 BST on Saturday on BBC One.
Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Roberto di Matteo - Great Chelsea FA Cup final goals
Despite knowing they will be playing in Europe's elite club competition in 2020-21, Lampard - who won the FA Cup four times as a Chelsea player - says his squad must feel the pressure to deliver trophies to Stamford Bridge.
"It worries me that we as a club, as a team, think we achieved something last week by finishing in the top four," said the 42-year-old former England midfielder.
"We are happy with that but that's gone now. We don't consider what it means for Arsenal - we want to win the match.
"I've been in this game a fairly short time but I've played for many years and I know what I want the feeling to be around a final. It needs to be pressured; we need to be on edge. We cannot cruise into a final. You lose them that way.
"The feeling of losing as a manager is worse than as a player because you take on more responsibility - but the feeling of winning is better."
De Gea mistakes send Chelsea to FA Cup final
Lampard would not confirm whether Kepa Arrizabalaga or Willy Caballero will start in goal, but France midfielder N'Golo Kante and Brazil winger Willian are both available.
The 139th FA Cup final kicks off at 17:30 BST at Wembley and can be watched on BBC One, the iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
This season's showpiece has been renamed the Heads Up FA Cup final to raise mental health awareness.


bbc--2020-07-31--Fans not allowed to attend pilot events after rise in coronavirus cases

Fans will not be allowed to attend the pilot sports events scheduled for this weekend in England after a spike in coronavirus cases , UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said .
Spectators were due to watch the first two days of two county cricket matches , while 205 fans were at the start of the World Snooker Championship on Friday .
It was also hoped to allow 4,000 racegoers at Goodwood on Saturday .
The new restrictions on fans will be enforced until at least 15 August .
The announcement comes after general restrictions were reintroduced for people in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of larger crowds at sports venues will not take place , '' Johnson said at a news conference on Friday .
`` I said from May we would not hesitate to put on the brakes at the slightest sign that the numbers were going in the wrong direction . ''
Johnson had said earlier this month that spectators could be able to return to stadiums in England from October .
• Premier League looking at 'clinical passports ' to help get fans back into stadiums • Beers , big screens and sanitiser - @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pilot Fans were already at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield when the prime minister spoke on Friday , with announcer Rob Walker shouting `` we are back '' as play started , before adding : `` Our socially distanced crowd are poised to roar once more . ''
World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn was shown smiling , clapping and fist-pumping , as spectators - some wearing masks - cheered on the first players Judd Trump and Tom Ford .
Just hours earlier , Hearn had told BBC of his `` pride '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back at events .
However , while those with tickets for Friday 's further sessions were allowed to stay , there will now be no spectators permitted at the Crucible Theatre from Saturday .
Fans with tickets will be given a refund , or be allowed to use them next year .
After the government decision , Hearn told BBC Sport he was `` gutted '' and `` disappointed '' to not have an atmosphere , but added : `` The show must go on .
`` There is a chance - I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a return for the final [ on 16 August ] is the earliest possible opportunity .
`` Congratulations to those guys who went today because they will be able to talk about this for the rest of their lives - the ultimate golden ticket .
`` I 've never known a circumstance change in a couple of hours , but that is symbolic of what is happening in the world at the moment .
`` We do n't go off into a corner or go into sulks or tears , we get the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the World Snooker Championship live Two matches in cricket 's Bob Willis Trophy starting on Saturday had been due to welcome spectators - Surrey v Middlesex at the Oval and Warwickshire against Northamptonshire at Edgbaston .
The England and Wales Cricket Board ( ECB ) said : `` We understand the reasons the government has made this decision , and remain ready to work with them to ensure supporters can safely return to stadiums when government advice allows .
`` We are pleased the Bob Willis Trophy will still begin this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be able to watch their teams in action through the online streams being provided . ''
The Oval had been due to host 2,500 fans on Saturday and Sunday , having held the first pilot last weekend of 1,000 fans .
Surrey chief executive Richard Gould said : `` A lot of hard work has taken place to ensure that members and fans could return to our ground safely .
`` We still hope to welcome members to the ground for future matches this summer , and we will continue to work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ encourage this to happen . ''
A statement from Goodwood racecourse said : `` We are very disappointed for those who were hoping to attend tomorrow 's event and for all those who have worked so hard to make it possible for spectators to be present .
`` We will engage with public health authorities and the DCMS ( Department for Digital , Culture , Media and Sport ) over a rescheduled pilot at the earliest opportunity . ''
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden posted on social media that it was `` very disappointing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ huge efforts cricket , snooker and horseracing have made to welcome fans back .
We 'll keep working together on their safe return ASAP , '' he added .
This will be hugely disappointing news for the events involved , and obviously very worrying for the wider sports industry , which is increasingly desperate to get paying fans back through the turnstiles to ease an unprecedented financial crisis - especially for those sports bodies dependent on matchday revenue , like English Football League clubs .
Until now , the effort to get sports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gone relatively smoothly , with the football season resuming and now almost completed , along with other events such as Test cricket , Formula 1 and horse racing .
This then is a first major setback in the wider effort to return sport to some kind of normality .
However , crucially , I am told by Whitehall sources that the government remains keen to work with sports and Public Health England with a view to getting fans back inside venues from 1 October .
Some sports organisations - like the Premier League @ @ @ @ @ @ @ date brought forward , but Friday 's news will not have helped them win that argument .
Attendances of 20 % to 40 % capacity - depending on the nature of the venue - is envisaged by officials from October , and more pilots are being planned in the coming weeks .
It is simply too early to tell whether this is now unrealistic .
It remains the aim but there are no guarantees .
This is a stark reminder that the nature of the pandemic means it is difficult to plan months @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to take decisive action when data shows worrying trends .
• Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty : How did the media empire shape Brexit and Donald Trump ?

Last updated on .From the section Sport
Barry Hearn says 'the show must go on' after government restriction wreck snooker plans
Fans will not be allowed to attend the pilot sports events scheduled for this weekend in England after a spike in coronavirus cases, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.
Spectators were due to watch the first two days of two county cricket matches, while 205 fans were at the start of the World Snooker Championship on Friday.
It was also hoped to allow 4,000 racegoers at Goodwood on Saturday.
The new restrictions on fans will be enforced until at least 15 August.
The announcement comes after general restrictions were reintroduced for people in parts of northern England.
"Pilots of larger crowds at sports venues will not take place," Johnson said at a news conference on Friday.
"I said from May we would not hesitate to put on the brakes at the slightest sign that the numbers were going in the wrong direction."
Johnson had said earlier this month that spectators could be able to return to stadiums in England from October.
The planned pilots - and reaction
Fans were already at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield when the prime minister spoke on Friday, with announcer Rob Walker shouting "we are back" as play started, before adding: "Our socially distanced crowd are poised to roar once more."
World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn was shown smiling, clapping and fist-pumping, as spectators - some wearing masks - cheered on the first players Judd Trump and Tom Ford.
Just hours earlier, Hearn had told BBC of his "pride" and "relief" at getting fans back at events.
However, while those with tickets for Friday's further sessions were allowed to stay, there will now be no spectators permitted at the Crucible Theatre from Saturday. Fans with tickets will be given a refund, or be allowed to use them next year.
After the government decision, Hearn told BBC Sport he was "gutted" and "disappointed" to not have an atmosphere, but added: "The show must go on.
"There is a chance - I'm forever the optimist - that maybe a return for the final [on 16 August] is the earliest possible opportunity.
"Congratulations to those guys who went today because they will be able to talk about this for the rest of their lives - the ultimate golden ticket.
"I've never known a circumstance change in a couple of hours, but that is symbolic of what is happening in the world at the moment.
"We don't go off into a corner or go into sulks or tears, we get the job done."
Sport has been held behind closed doors since its return, including England's Test series against West Indies
Two matches in cricket's Bob Willis Trophy starting on Saturday had been due to welcome spectators - Surrey v Middlesex at the Oval and Warwickshire against Northamptonshire at Edgbaston.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said: "We understand the reasons the government has made this decision, and remain ready to work with them to ensure supporters can safely return to stadiums when government advice allows.
"We are pleased the Bob Willis Trophy will still begin this weekend behind closed doors, and fans will be able to watch their teams in action through the online streams being provided."
The Oval had been due to host 2,500 fans on Saturday and Sunday, having held the first pilot last weekend of 1,000 fans.
Surrey chief executive Richard Gould said: "A lot of hard work has taken place to ensure that members and fans could return to our ground safely.
"We still hope to welcome members to the ground for future matches this summer, and we will continue to work with the ECB and the government to encourage this to happen."
A statement from Goodwood racecourse said: "We are very disappointed for those who were hoping to attend tomorrow's event and for all those who have worked so hard to make it possible for spectators to be present.
"We will engage with public health authorities and the DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) over a rescheduled pilot at the earliest opportunity."
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden posted on social media that it was "very disappointing news".
"I know the huge efforts cricket, snooker and horseracing have made to welcome fans back. We'll keep working together on their safe return ASAP," he added.
Analysis
BBC sports editor Dan Roan
This will be hugely disappointing news for the events involved, and obviously very worrying for the wider sports industry, which is increasingly desperate to get paying fans back through the turnstiles to ease an unprecedented financial crisis - especially for those sports bodies dependent on matchday revenue, like English Football League clubs.
Until now, the effort to get sports back up and running after lockdown had gone relatively smoothly, with the football season resuming and now almost completed, along with other events such as Test cricket, Formula 1 and horse racing.
This then is a first major setback in the wider effort to return sport to some kind of normality.
However, crucially, I am told by Whitehall sources that the government remains keen to work with sports and Public Health England with a view to getting fans back inside venues from 1 October.
Some sports organisations - like the Premier League - would like to see that target date brought forward, but Friday's news will not have helped them win that argument.
Attendances of 20% to 40% capacity - depending on the nature of the venue - is envisaged by officials from October, and more pilots are being planned in the coming weeks.
It is simply too early to tell whether this is now unrealistic. It remains the aim but there are no guarantees.
This is a stark reminder that the nature of the pandemic means it is difficult to plan months in advance, and that officials will need to take decisive action when data shows worrying trends.


bbc--2020-07-31--Former Patriots wide receiver Brown suspended for eight games without pay

Last updated on .From the section American Football Former New England Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown has been suspended for @ @ @ @ @ the NFL has announced .
Brown , 32 , was investigated by the NFL for @ @ @ @ @ two sexual misconduct allegations that he denies .
An NFL statement said the suspension was @ @ @ @ @ of the league 's personal conduct policy .
In June , Brown was given two @ @ @ @ @ hours of community service , as well as being ordered to attend a 13-week anger @ @ @ @ @ charged with burglary and battery .
Brown said he would not play in the NFL @ @ @ @ @ by the Patriots after just one game in September .
But should he rejoin the @ @ @ @ @ Brown will have to continue a programme of counselling and future violations will result in @ @ @ @

Last updated on .From the section American Football
Antonio Brown was with the New England Patriots for less than two weeks before being released in September 2019
Former New England Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown has been suspended for eight games without pay, the NFL has announced.
The free agent can sign for a team but will be suspended for half the season.
Brown, 32, was investigated by the NFL for several off-field incidents, including two sexual misconduct allegations that he denies.
An NFL statement said the suspension was for "multiple violations" of the league's personal conduct policy.
In June, Brown was given two years of probation and 100 hours of community service, as well as being ordered to attend a 13-week anger management course, after being charged with burglary and battery.
Brown said he would not play in the NFL again when he was released by the Patriots after just one game in September.
But should he rejoin the league, the NFL says Brown will have to continue a programme of counselling and future violations will result in a heavier punishment.