bbc--2019-03-01--Uber drivers claim discrimination over London congestion plan

Private hire drivers are taking legal action against London Mayor Sadiq Khan over the congestion charge.  The group, which includes Uber drivers, says the charge is discriminatory as 94% of them are from black, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds.  The mayor's office says it is not prepared to ignore the damaging impact the rise in private hire vehicles is having on congestion and air pollution.  From 8 April, private hire vehicle drivers will have to pay the £11.50 daily congestion charge to drive in central London, under rules introduced by the mayor.  Uber driver Abdurzak Hadi says that as he drives in central London from Monday to Friday, he will be almost £60 a week worse off.  "I will be punished for coming to work. This is a tax on poor drivers," says Mr Hadi.  Most drivers, such as those working for Uber, will have to pay the charge themselves and cannot pass it on to passengers, because it is the company that sets the rates for fares.  London has roughly 114,000 private hire (PHV) drivers, who are overwhelmingly from black, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds, and this is what has led to a legal challenge.  The percentage figure comes from a report to the mayor entitled "Changes to the Congestion Charge", which followed a consultation which Transport for London says received 10,000 responses.  The report says: "As the majority of PHV drivers (about 94%) are from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds (BAME) and many are from deprived areas, there is a disproportionate impact on these groups."  However, it assesses the impact as being "minor adverse".  The report also includes analysis showing that a majority of black cab drivers are white British.  The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which represents private hire drivers, is seeking a judicial review of the mayor's decision on the basis that it indirectly discriminates against BAME PHV drivers.  On Friday, the union began that process by writing a pre-action letter to the mayor.  Indirect discrimination is covered by the Equality Act 2010. It occurs where there is a practice, policy or rule that is applied generally to a large group but a sub group that possess a particular 'protected' characteristic ends up being treated less favourably.  Those characteristics include race, age, disability, sex or sexual orientation, religion or belief, gender reassignment, maternity and pregnancy, marriage or civil partnership.  IWGB general secretary Dr Jason Moyer-Lee calls the plan "regressive" and "both discriminatory and fundamentally unfair".  "We would urge the mayor to adopt one of the many alternative policies which would actually address congestion, instead of just penalising low-paid ethnic minority workers," says Dr Moyer-Lee.  He argues that if the minimum wage was paid to all private hire drivers, companies would control the number of drivers because they would not want cars circulating without paying passengers.  TfL figures show licensed private hire drivers in the capital have almost doubled in less than a decade, from 59,000 in 2009-10 to 114,000 in 2017-18, while black cab drivers have fallen from 25,000 to just under 24,000.  Last summer, New York capped its total number of private hire vehicles, and London's mayor is pressing ministers to give him similar powers to control their numbers in the city.  The government has lost a number of legal challenges by environmental group ClientEarth over harmful levels of air pollution, and councils are under pressure to address the problem, with Birmingham and Manchester looking at imposing congestion charges.  In a statement, the mayor's office said: "The number of private hire vehicles entering the congestion charge zone has shot up from 4,000 a day in 2003, when it first came into operation, to more than 18,000 now.  "Sadiq simply isn't prepared to ignore the damaging impact this has on congestion and increasing air pollution.  "Congestion has a crippling impact on businesses across the capital.  "At the same time, our toxic air in London is a major public health crisis that is stunting the lung development of our children, leading to thousands of premature deaths, and increases the risk of asthma and dementia.  "Removing the congestion charge exemption for private hire vehicles is a key part of our plans to both reduce congestion and to protect Londoners from harmful emissions from polluting vehicles."  However, the mayor's own assessment says overall traffic will only be reduced by 1%, whereas private hire traffic will be reduced by 6%.  Dr Moyer-Lee says this shows "the biggest change envisaged by the mayor is not a real reduction in overall traffic but rather a shift away from minicabs to other vehicles".  The mayor's office points out that only around a third of PHV drivers enter the congestion charge zone, so the majority will not be affected by the changes.  It assesses the annual cost of congestion in London at around £5.5bn and predicts that, without action, by 2041 it could take more than an hour to travel 10km by road in central London, 15 minutes longer than today.


bbc--2019-03-15--Irish PM Leo Varadkar anti-discrimination message

Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar has delivered a strong message of anti-discrimination on his visit to the US.  Varadkar highlighted various forms of intolerance, in a speech hosted by Vice President Mike Pence.  His words carried particular significance as Pence has a history of anti-LGBT policies during his time in office.


bbc--2019-04-22--Supreme Court to hear LGBT workplace discrimination cases

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear three cases that ask if existing US job discrimination laws should extend to sexual orientation and gender identity.  Two of the cases involve alleged discrimination of gay men by their employers, and the third examines the discrimination of a transgender person.  The cases will signal the direction of LGBT rights in the US, four years after gay marriage was legalised nationwide.  The 5-4 conservative-majority court is set to examine the cases this fall.  The first two cases have been consolidated as both address the purported discrimination of gay employees.  Donald Zarda, a skydiving instructor from New York, and Gerald Bostock, a former county child welfare services coordinator from Georgia, both alleged they were fired because of their sexual orientation.  The top court will also examine the Michigan case of funeral home employee Aimee Stephens, who claims she was fired because she is transgender.  In its listing of the cases, the Supreme Court cites Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the section that prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex and national origin.  But it does not explicitly reference sexual orientation or gender identity, and lower courts have been divided in recent years on whether the protections should apply to either category.  The US Justice Department under President Donald Trump has supported the employers in each case, arguing that existing federal civil rights protections do not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.  This marks a change in course from the Obama administration, which supported treating LGBT discrimination as sex discrimination.  Some advocates for LGBT equality celebrated the opportunity for workplace protections to be cemented in law.  "The Supreme Court has an opportunity to clarify this area of law to ensure protections for LGBTQ people in many important areas of life", said Sarah Warbelow, Human Rights Campaign legal director, in a statement.  "The growing legal consensus is that our nation's civil rights laws do protect LGBTQ people against discrimination under sex nondiscrimination laws."  In her statement Ms Warbelow urged Congress to pass protections for LGBT employees, "regardless" of the court's decision.  In 2017, the Supreme Court chose not examine a case involving a lesbian working as a hospital security officer in Georgia, leaving a lower court ruling in place which sided with the woman's employer.


bbc--2019-06-02--Pope Francis apologises to Roma for Catholic discrimination

Pope Francis has apologised to the Roma people on behalf of the Catholic Church during his visit to Romania.  At a meeting with Roma people on the last day of his visit to the country, the pontiff asked forgiveness for "all those times in history when we have discriminated, mistreated or looked askance at you".  Roma people have faced persecution in Europe for centuries.  Hundreds of thousands are thought to have been killed during the Holocaust.  Nowadays Roma live mainly in southern and central Europe, and make up an estimated 8% of Romania's total population. They complain they struggle to get work because of discrimination, and many live in poverty.  "I ask forgiveness - in the name of the Church and of the Lord - and I ask forgiveness of you," Pope Francis said in the central town of Blaj.  "Indifference breeds prejudices and fosters anger and resentment," the pontiff said. "How many times do we judge rashly, with words that sting, with attitudes that sow hatred and division!"  "This is a historic moment for me and my people," Damian Draghici, a Roma MEP for Romania, told the BBC. "I hope this message will change people's attitude and stereotypes against our people."  The meeting with the Roma came after a ceremony in Blaj at which Pope Francis beatified seven bishops who were jailed and tortured during Communist rule in Romania.  Authorities detained the men in 1948 for treason after they refused to convert to Orthodox Christianity.  All seven died in confinement and were buried in secret.  "With great courage and interior fortitude, they accepted harsh imprisonment and every kind of mistreatment, in order not to deny their fidelity to their beloved Church," Pope Francis told tens of thousands of worshippers at the open-air Mass on Sunday.  Beatification - a papal "blessing" on a dead person" - is a crucial step on the way to sainthood.  The seven bishops were part of the Eastern Catholic church - a religious group that practises Orthodox Christian rituals but recognise the Pope's authority.  When a Communist regime took power in Romania following the end of World War II, the authorities outlawed Eastern Catholicism and demanded worshippers convert to Orthodoxy.  According to 2011 census data, only about 150,000 Eastern Catholics remain in Romania - roughly one 10th of the number that followed the church in 1948.  Historians believe thousands of Romanians were executed by Communist authorities, with many more imprisoned or tortured for opposing the regime.  The totalitarian government collapsed in December 1989. President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were executed on Christmas Day.


bbc--2019-06-28--California set to be first US state to ban hair discrimination

California is set to become the first US state to ban discrimination against natural hair.  The new bill, which the Senate passed in April, amends anti-discrimination laws to include "traits historically associated with race" and "blackness".  It bars discrimination against black hairstyles in schools and workplaces.  California's assembly voted unanimously in favour of the measure on Thursday, sending it to Governor Gavin Newsom's desk for signing into law.  The update to the law comes after years of nationwide reports of black students being sent home from school over braids or natural styles that violated dress code rules.  In the workplace, black employees have often reported unfair policies that describe natural hair as unhygienic and unprofessional. The US military had a ban on dreadlocks for women until 2017.  "Professionalism was, and still is, closely linked to European features and mannerisms, which entails that those who do not naturally fall into Eurocentric norms must alter their appearances, sometimes drastically and permanently, in order to be deemed professional," the California bill states.  "Hair remains a rampant source of racial discrimination with serious economic and health consequences, especially for black individuals."  The bill has been referred to as the Crown (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair) Act and was sponsored by Democratic Senator Holly Mitchell, who is black.  It passed 69-0 and notes that while afros are protected federally by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, black individuals are unfairly affected - deterred, burdened or punished - by dress code policies targeting "braids, twists and locks".  New York City enacted a similar anti-discrimination policy in February. The city's Human Rights Law now protects "natural hair or hairstyles that are closely associated with their racial, ethnic or cultural identities".  Black hair has been controlled and policed for centuries - during the 1700s in Louisiana, women of colour, whether they were enslaved or not, were ordered to cover their hair with scarves.  For decades in the US, black women have used sometimes dangerous or damaging chemical methods to straighten their natural hair. These harsh treatments could permanently damage hair, cause it to fall out, or burn the scalp.  California's measure, which is expected to be signed into law by the governor, has been praised on social media.  But some supporters have also pointed out that no other hair texture has needed legislation to prevent discrimination.


chicagotribune--2019-11-15--Meghan and Harry are skipping the family holidays. Maybe you should try it too.

Invest in your marriage: A lot goes into planning the holidays when you become parents, but LaFreniere says the bottom line remains the same: Don’t forget about your partner. “A new baby is already going to take a lot of time and a lot of attention away from your spouse,” she says. “So it’s going to be even more important to make sure that you’re not losing sight of your spouse, especially when you are around extended family and others at the holidays.” Make sure that you know what to do to make your partner feel loved and supported, LaFreniere says — and that doesn’t just mean taking on your share of baby duties. “Changing a diaper might be really helpful,” she says, “but your spouse might not feel really loved by that. Maybe writing a little note or saying some encouraging words are what makes your spouse feel loved. A little bit of encouragement can go a long way.”


thedailymirror--2019-11-19--Family holidays have a long-term effect on kids' happiness says child psychologist

Going on a family holiday could have a long-lasting impact on children's happiness, according to a child psychologist.  While the act of going on holiday is exciting, it's spending that quality time with their parents which children value the most.  As mums and dads can leave responsibilities such as work behind, while kids escape the stresses of school, it can make for a longer period of playfulness for both sides - and this is what the children value the most.  Child psychologist and author Oliver James told the Telegraph : "The exam system that we put children through these days can be incredibly stressful, just as much so as the strains of adult life.  "Holidays remove us, physically, from our highly pressured everyday lives where everyone’s focused on meeting targets. They are times when everyone can relax and be playful together."  The benefit of the holiday is also that while the kids can enjoy it all in the moment, the trip remains in their memory long after you've come back home.  That doesn't mean you need to be splashing the cash on heaps of holidays every year - let's be honest, this isn't financially feasible.  The benefits come from spending that quality time together, whether that's sharing an ice cream together, taking a dip in the sea, or simply having a fun day out exploring on a walk.  You don't need to be jet-setting off to sunnier climates; a mini trip to the UK's best family-friendly destinations can be just the thing.  (Of course if you do want to go abroad you may want to check out our holiday deals round-up which we regularly update with the latest travel offers we think you'll love).  It's not the first time that travel has been linked to happiness. A recent scientific study found that girls' holidays can be a key factor to happiness for women.  Similar to Oliver's argument about family holidays, the benefits of the girls' getaways come from the quality time it offers for friends, who may not usually be able to get as much time together due to the stresses of daily life.

mirrornews@mirror.co.uk (Julie  Delahaye)


theindependent--2019-03-21--Family holidays during term time help push unauthorised school absences to record high

Unauthorised pupil absences have soared to a record high thanks to parents taking children out of school for term-time holidays – despite a sharp rise in the number of families hit with fines.  More than one in six pupils (17.6 per cent) missed at least half a day of lessons in 2017-18 for a holiday, up from 16.9 per cent the previous year, Department for Education (DfE) statistics show.  That helped push the unauthorised absence rate in all schools in England to 1.4 per cent, its highest since records began.  Term-time holidays taken without permission have been increasing over the past decade, as parents defy the threat of fines to avoid higher prices for travel and accommodation during school breaks.  The number of penalty notices issued last year jumped 75 per cent, from 149,300 to 260,877, with family holidays the most common reason behind their issue.  The figures come after father Jon Platt lost a high-profile case at the Supreme Court in April 2017 over taking his daughter to Disney World, Florida, during term time without permission.  He had initially won a High Court case in May 2016, and previous figures suggest many parents decided to take term-time holidays on the basis of the ruling.  The DfE data also suggests rising truancy has contributed to the increased unauthorised absence rate, as more than half of all unauthorised absences are as a result of persistent absentees.  One in nine pupils (11.2 per cent) are classified as persistently absent – where they miss 10 per cent of more of their possible teaching sessions – compared to 10.8 per cent the year before.  Ahead of the figures being published, education secretary Damian Hinds defended the school exclusions system and suggested truancy had a more explicit link to knife crime.  He said a “much bigger concern” than expulsions are those who are “persistently absent”, which includes pupils who skip school or are off sick long term.  His comments come after London mayor Sadiq Khan and police and crime commissioners wrote to the prime minister warning that a “broken” school exclusion system was contributing to the issue.  Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said requests for time off during term time could only be authorised in exceptional circumstances.  But he added: “However, the system of fines is clearly too blunt an instrument and in many cases it drives a wedge between schools and families.  “The real problem is holiday pricing. Neither parents nor schools set the prices of holidays.”  Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Ensuring every child has a good school attendance is of paramount concern for everyone working with children, including councils.  “Parents and carers have a legal responsibility to make sure children attend school regularly while schools will monitor attendance and raise any concerns with councils.  “If required, councils will support headteachers to take any action they feel necessary to address any issues with pupil attendance, including fining parents for unauthorised absences.”  A DfE spokesperson said: “The education secretary has made clear, persistent absence from school is a society-wide challenge that we all need to work together to resolve – and while significant progress has been made, today’s data shows that has now plateaued.  “High-quality education and pastoral care will make a real difference to children’s life chances, and that’s particularly important for those who are most vulnerable, but clearly key initiatives will only work if children are present.  “That’s why the rules on term-time absences are clear: no child should be taken out of school without good reason. We have put headteachers back in control by supporting them – and local authorities – to use their powers to deal with unauthorised absence.”  We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.  At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.


thetelegraph--2019-01-08--The family holidays your children need have companionship not Instagrammable moments

The family holidays your children need have companionship, not Instagrammable moments

My first clear summer memory is of a rainy beach in Cornwall sometime in the Seventies. I recall building a helter-skelter of sand with my mother and rolling a rubber ball down it repeatedly. I think I was five. This means that between that moment and the official onset of adulthood, there were only a baker’s dozen of summers: 13 formative seasons to provide a bedrock of memories for one entire life.  It’s not much, really. Especially not when you consider how quickly you’re changing in that period. Each childhood summer holiday contains milestones: the first time you ventured out of your depth in the sea, or opened your eyes under water, the first jellyfish sting, the first long bicycle ride, the first fizzy drink.  There are also more idiosyncratic landmarks: the first Punch and Judy show, the first encounter with black pudding at a hotel breakfast. And, of course, there are first crushes, first kisses, first loves. There’s a reason that summer holidays crop up time and again in fiction and cinema. It’s in their spacious weeks that you begin to experience your own life turning from potential into reality.  Now, as a parent, I find it hard to look at photographs of my children on summer holidays without a lump in my throat. The beach towels and T-shirts I recognise in the pictures are still folded away in some drawer awaiting sunny weather. But the children – vulnerable, impossibly tiny, water-winged and sun-creamed – have transformed. Now they’re strapping, independent and starting to chafe at the limitations of childhood.  The bulk of my childhood holidays were spent in the United States, in Massachusetts, where my dad was from and most of his family lived. My mum worked at the BBC and so my brother and I found ourselves alone for quite a lot of the time each summer. My brother and I watched Wheel of Fortune on a black and white telly, nursed futile crushes on girls, visited the beach (cold, pebbly), cycled to the library, went on camping expeditions and came back itchy with poison ivy. We swam, read a lot, and longed to have more freedom. I’ve returned with my own children to the beaches I knew as a child and have been amazed mainly that the vast creeks I remember have shrunk to tiny streams, the huge distances between landmarks are now a mere Frisbee-throw apart. Brobdingnag has become Lilliput.  Those summers taught me independence and the uses of boredom. In retrospect, I see that key parts of a summer holiday are those valuable longueurs, the hours spent sitting around chatting in a friend’s bedroom, playing football in the park, trying to pluck up courage to talk to someone you fancy. These are the moments when you think you’re waiting for life to start, but which you look back and realise were life itself.  And when I was old enough, unglamorous summer jobs – carrying furniture, peeling potatoes – gave me a glimpse of the qualities – turning up, being conscientious – that life mainly requires of you.  In those years, parents felt less obliged to provide their offspring with life-changing experiences. Summer was a time without school or childcare that just needed to be got through. Social media hadn’t arrived to give parents a nagging sense that every other parent was doing a better job of it. No one expected to return to school in September having visited Antarctica, speaking Mandarin or with a brown belt in ju-jitsu. Some children went abroad with their families, more of them moped around the city in record shops and arcades.  Few and fortunate still are the parents who can afford to take six weeks off work for summer and spend it with their children. Juggling work and childcare, calling in favours from grandparents, parking children at friends’ houses – isn’t that how most of us manage? But it does feel important to have some kind of joint adventure together over those precious weeks.  Our best summer holidays as a family have had an element of unpredictability. Some have been road trips: one across Iceland, while we listened to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and looked at the other-worldly terrain beyond the windows.   Last summer, we drove to Quebec – my ancestral province – through northern New England, staying in cabins and swimming in the region’s deep glacial lakes. We took a punt on the Skowhegan State Fair in Maine. In a land of hyperbole, its claim to specialness was intriguingly hedged with qualifications: “the nation’s oldest, consecutively running agricultural fair”. I heartily recommend it as a strange, eye-opening slice of old Americana.  Above all, we’ve had huge fun on cycling holidays together. I love cycling with my children, not because I love cycling – I own the world’s heaviest bike and no Lycra – but because we’re all in it together. Two years ago, the four of us spent a week cycling through the archipelago of little islands around Turku in Finland. It followed a very happy holiday cycling along the Danube and it suffered initially by comparison. The islands were surprisingly steep, the opportunities for refreshment far apart, and there was little strudel.  Looking back, that holiday provided us with more collective memories than any other: the doll’s house of a shared cabin at a campsite in which we barely fitted; the panicky cycles to catch departing ferries; the fresh cinnamon rolls whose aroma perfumed the waterfront at Nagu; evenings playing the card game Love Letters. It didn’t have Instagrammable moments, but it was full of companionship.  The bucket lists of life-changing summer moments don’t include Skowhegan or even Turku. Wet Cornish beaches are unlikely to feature. We’re urged to make it to the Galapagos, to the Maasai Mara, to Santorini for the sunset, to Angkor Wat at dawn – and fine they are, I’m sure. But the time is very brief, money may be short, and when it comes down to it, perhaps there is not much more that’s necessary for a memorable summer than being able to roll a rubber ball down a sandcastle on a beach, eat fish and chips, and play Bananagrams with someone you love.


sputnik--2019-11-22--Video: Man Fires Shots into Street From Assault Rifle Over Family Conflict in Russia's Koltushi

The video depicting the incident shows a couple of obscure silhouettes allegedly grappling on the balcony of an apartment block.  The quality of the footage makes it impossible to identify the exact type of weapon used by the individual. Local media said that police have responded to the incident. There has been no information on damage or casualties. The shooter reportedly opened fire after a family squabble.


bbcuk--2019-01-15--Family bids to get premature baby home to Wales from Vietnam

A couple is trying to get their baby back to Wales from Vietnam after she was born almost three months early.  Jessica Jones and Alfredo Duenas's daughter Aurelia was born by emergency Caesarean section in Hanoi in October.  Aurelia, who weighed 2lb 1oz (970g), could not breathe unaided, has under-developed organs and a heart defect.  Ms Jones, 36, from Borth-y-Gest, Gwynedd, said she spent the first few months of her daughter's life "thinking she was going to die".  She works as a teacher in Vietnam, where she has been living with her Mexican husband for a year and a half.  Ms Jones's waters broke at 05:00 on 10 October and she had Aurelia by 11:00 at just 27 weeks.  She said doctors told her there was a 5% chance her baby would survive if she had a Caesarean section and 2% or 3% if she had a natural birth.  Among her other health problems, Aurelia also has retinopathy of prematurity - which can lead to blindness - and needs reconstructive surgery on her nose after her septum was eroded by tubes providing air.  She spent spent two-and-a-half months in hospital before being discharged on Christmas Eve.  "To be told I was in labour and giving me a 5% chance of survival was one of the hardest things to hear," she said.  The couple had to use translators - and their phones - to communicate with doctors and nurses, but even with interpreters, they were left struggling to understand what was happening to their daughter.  "There aren't any words that can really do justice to the amount of trauma we've gone through - thinking your baby is going to die for the first three months and looking at them through a plastic box," Ms Jones said.  The couple are now trying to raise £15,000 to get Aurelia back to the UK so she can have the best possible care.  Ms Jones said Aurelia needed to have surgery on her nose done now to prevent further damage and to give surgeons in the future the best chance of reconstructing her septum.  "Working on premature babies and such small craniofacial surgery of that magnitude is incredibly specialised and that just makes you appreciate so much what the NHS does and offers," she said.  "The care and treatment that babies and children receive is second to none, and unfortunately living here it means she is suffering and is not able to have access to a higher standard of treatment."  She added: "She needs extra help and care and unfortunately it isn't here for her."  Money will go towards flying her home - due to her poor immune system, they have been advised to fly business class rather than economy in order to avoid the large number of people in a small space.  Ms Jones said: "It's been the only thing keeping me going is the thought of being able to go home, have some support from family and friends and the NHS.  "I cannot describe how much I'm counting the seconds until we can get her on that plane."  It will also fund the cost of getting to and from hospital when they are back in Wales, as well as the fact they will not be able to work while caring for Aurelia.  They have so far raised more than £9,000 in donations from people across the world.  "Words fail us - the kindness of strangers has been overwhelming - everybody has been blown away, it's been amazing," Ms Jones added.


theblaze--2019-04-04--A perfect match Nurse who always wanted a family adopts baby who never got visitors at hospital

A perfect match: Nurse who always wanted a family adopts baby who never got visitors at hospital


theblaze--2019-11-12--Texas family wins ruling to keep baby on life support the same day the hospital was planning to stop

Texas family wins ruling to keep baby on life support the same day the hospital was planning to stop treatment


thedailymirror--2019-11-01--Britain's biggest family The Radfords reveal their 22nd baby will be a girl

Britain's biggest family is poised to grow even bigger - with a Lancashire couple announcing they are expecting their 22nd child.  Sue and Noel Radford have announced they are expecting a girl - meaning they will have 11 girls and 11 boys.  Sue, 44, told The Sun she can't wait to give birth again.  She said: "Most people have one of each sex and stop there.  "It is perfect to have an exact balance of boys to girls so we have 11 to 11.  "I can't wait to go shopping for lovely pink clothes for her now."  Sue and Noel, who run a bakery in Morcambe, live in a 10 bedroom, four storey house which used to be a care home.  Sue - who was 14 when first child Chris was born - said after their last daughter, Bonnie, was born, they were not expecting any more.  She said their children were so excited that they decided to find out the gender of the unborn child rather than keep it a surprise.  They are parents to Chris, aged 30, Sophie, 26, Chloe, 24, Jack, 23, Daniel, 21, Luke, 19, Millie, 18, Katie, 16, James, 15, Ellie, 13, Aimee, 13, Josh, 12, Max, 10, Tillie, eight, Oscar, seven, Casper, six, Hallie, four, Phoebe, three, and Archie, two, and Bonnie, one.  Their new arrival is due in April next year.  The Radfords first found fame in 2012 when their lives were the focus of a Channel 4 documentary called 15 Kids and Counting.  Baby Bonnie was the last addition to the brood in November bringing the number of children to a whopping 21.  She arrived after a swift 12 minute labour weighing 8lb 4oz - and the couple, who have been having children for three decades, vowed she would be their last and had completed their family.  Sue and Noel run their own pie business and do not claim extra state benefits.  Some of the oldest offspring have since moved out and started families of their own with Sue and Noel being grandparents to four.  And when the entire family appeared on ITV's This Morning in January 2018, Sue said: "Archie is definitely going to be the last Radford baby."  But eldest daughter Sophie, who has three kids herself, shook her head and claimed she "can't see her mum stopping" - and she wasn't wrong as months later Sue fell pregnant with Bonnie.  Childhood sweethearts Sue and Noel's first child, Chris, was born when Sue was aged just 14.  The parents were both given up for adoption after they were born, and they decided to keep Chris and raise him as teenage parents.  They got married and had their second child, Sophie, when Sue was 17.  Noel even had a vasectomy, later reversed, after baby number nine.  The pair face a monumental task each day just to feed, clothe and ferry about their huge brood.  They spend an estimated £30,000 a year of their own money bringing up their children - including birthdays with a reported budget of £100 per child and Christmas at £100 to £250 per child.  In addition, they also have a holiday abroad each year.  And as we previously revealed, the family keep their home immaculate - as they proved in a house tour of their 'gorgeous' home.

mirrornews@mirror.co.uk (Amber Hicks, Dave Burke)


thedailymirror--2019-12-24--Family left heartbroken after baby boy dies five days before Christmas

A family have been left heartbroken following the death of their little baby boy who died just days before Christmas.  Mum Sammy Marson and dad Darran Gregory, both 22, have been left seeking answers after nine-month-old Devon Marson-Gregory died on Friday, December 20.  Devon had been brain damaged from birth and was being treated at Nottingham City Hospital and Boston Pilgrim Hospital for ongoing conditions since then.  Last Thursday, Sammy, from Swineshead, near Boston, rang the doctor after noticing Devon's hands and feet had become very cold, Lincolnshire Live reports.  She spoke to a doctor at Pilgrim Hospital where she says Devon was refused a bed despite an 'open bed' care plan being in place on the children's ward. She said she was told to call 111 instead.  Sammy then took Devon to see a doctor at Swineshead Medical Practice at about 5.30pm who advised her to give him Calpol and take him home.  Just a few hours later, at 12.15am, Devon stopped breathing.  Sammy performed CPR and paramedics attended and also gave resuscitation but despite all their efforts, Devon died at Pilgrim Hospital in the early hours of the morning.  Sammy, who also has a two-year-old son called Roman, said: "We could not grieve for Devon because we had police officers in the room with at the hospital.  "Even the police were asking themselves why they were there.  "We are absolutely devastated to lose Devon - we want to remember him as our little fighter.  "We want to know why the care plan was not followed.  The coroner is due to investigate the circumstances surrounding Devon's death.  The GP surgery has declined to comment.  Penny Snowden, divisional head of nursing and midwifery for family health at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, said: “We would like to offer our condolences to Devon’s family.  "We are unable to comment on individual cases, however, we would advise the family to get in touch when they are ready so that we can answer any concerns or questions they may have.”  A spokesman for the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust said: "It would be inappropriate to comment ahead of the inquest.”  A Go Fund Me appeal has been launched to support the family.


bbc--2019-01-07--World Anti-Doping Agency to gain access to Russian laboratory nine days after deadline

A World Anti-Doping Agency team will access the Russian Anti-Doping Agency's laboratory in Moscow on Wednesday, nine days after an initial deadline.  Wada's inspection team were denied full access to data after Rusada was set a 31 December deadline to comply.  A three-year Wada suspension of Russian athletes was ended in September.  Wada president Sir Craig Reedie says access "will break a long impasse and will potentially lead to many cases being actioned".  Russia's failure to provide full access to the laboratory and data led to 16 national anti-doping bodies (Nados) and Wada's athlete committee to call for the country to be suspended.  The issue will be debated when Wada's compliance review committee (CRC), an independent body, meets on 14 January, after which it will make a recommendation to Wada's executive committee (ExCo).  Reedie added: "We are continuing to act on the basis of the 31 December deadline having been missed, with all the consequences that failure could bring."  US Anti-Doping Agency head Travis Tygart said: "This appears to be yet another round of the cat and mouse game between Wada and Russia we have unfortunately come to expect.  "We are all holding our breath as to how this one will end come 9 January and whether Wada will finally be given the data on the roughly 9,000 presumptive positive tests results on over 4,000 Russian athletes that hopefully has not already been destroyed by the Russians."  A report from Professor Richard McLaren in July 2016 found Russia operated a state-sponsored doping programme for four years across the "vast majority" of Olympic sports.  A subsequent report stated more than 1,000 Russian athletes benefited from doping and Russia was later banned from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics.  Wada had insisted Russia meet two criteria before Rusada could be reinstated to competition; accept the findings of the McLaren report, and grant access to Moscow's anti-doping laboratory.  Monday's Wada statement said: "Access to, and subsequent authentication and analysis of, the data remains crucial in order to build strong cases against cheats and exonerate other athletes suspected of having participated in widespread doping on the basis of previous Wada-backed investigations."  Wada says its five-person team in Moscow could not access the necessary data between 17 and 21 December because of an issue raised by Russian authorities "in relation to the certification of the equipment under Russian law".  Wada says the issue has since been resolved by the Russian authorities.  Reedie had previously said he was "bitterly disappointed" after it was confirmed Rusada had missed the deadline and that "the process agreed by Wada's ExCo in September will now be initiated".


bbc--2019-02-01--London 2012 high jump champion among 12 Russian athletes banned for doping

London 2012 Olympic high jump champion Ivan Ukhov is among 12 Russian track and field athletes banned for doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.  Three years of Ukhov's results, including the 2012 Olympics, have been disqualified, meaning Britain's Robert Grabarz could be upgraded to silver.  Cas acted on evidence from the McLaren report, which found Russia operated a state-sponsored doping programme.  The 12 athletes have 21 days to appeal against the decision.  Cas says the athletes "participated in and/or benefited from anabolic steroid doping programs and benefited from specific protective methods" from London 2012 to the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.  Ukhov has been banned for four years, as has 2013 high jump world champion Svetlana Shkolina, while Tatyana Lysenko, who won world gold in the hammer throw, is banned for eight years.  Grabarz was one of three athletes to finish third at London 2012, a Games that has since been dubbed the dirtiest ever Olympics because of the number of failed drugs tests.


bbc--2019-03-01--Nordic skiing Blood doping scandal rocks sport as five athletes arrested

Nordic skiing: Blood doping scandal rocks sport as five athletes arrested

The skiing world is embroiled in a "blood doping" scandal - where athletes illegally inject specially altered blood back into themselves.  Graphic footage has been leaked showing Austrian cross-country skier Max Hauke giving himself a blood transfusion.  He was one of five athletes arrested in Seefeld, Austria, which is hosting the Nordic World Ski Championships.  A police officer is also facing investigation for giving the video of Mr Hauke to the press.  The arrests have sent shockwaves through the skiing world, and have happened right in the middle of one of its biggest global competitions.  Here's what you need to know.  Blood doping is when an athlete injects oxygenated blood into themselves in an attempt to improve their athletic performance.  According to the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), dopers do it to increase their red blood cell mass, which means the body can transport more oxygen to the muscles. This, in turn, increases an athlete's stamina.  The three most common substances and methods of blood doping are synthetic oxygen carriers, blood transfusions, and erythropoietin (EPO).  All three are banned by Wada.  EPO is a hormone that is produced naturally in the body, and it stimulates red blood cell production. Misusing it, Wada warns, "can lead to serious health risks" because it thickens the blood, leading to "an increased risk of several deadly diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, and cerebral or pulmonary embolism".  Some readers may find this clip difficult to watch.  In the video, Mr Hauke is seen sitting on a sofa with a police officer in the background. He is in the middle of giving himself a blood transfusion.  It was reportedly filmed in the middle of one of the raids by a police officer, who later leaked it to the Norwegian broadcaster NRK.  In total nine people were arrested in a series of raids on 16 properties, carried out by 120 officers from both German and Austrian police, in what has now been dubbed "Operation Bloodletting".  Nine of the raided properties were in Erfurt, Germany, where officers apparently found a blood doping laboratory.  One Kazakh, two Estonian and two Austrian athletes were detained.  Among those was Mr Hauke, an Olympic skier who represented his country in Sochi in 2014, and fellow Austrian skier Dominik Baldauf.  The two Estonian athletes - Karel Tammjärv and Andreas Veerpalu - were both released on Thursday evening, while Mr Baldauf, Mr Hauke, and Kazakh skier Alexey Poltoranin were freed earlier in the day.  A 40-year-old sports doctor, named only as "Mark S", has also been arrested. He is believed to be a central figure in the doping ring.  Plus, Austrian broadcaster ORF reported that the police officer who leaked the video of Mr Hauke was now being investigated as well, and could face disciplinary and criminal proceedings for giving the clip to the press. The unnamed officer was also apparently let go from his post "with immediate effect".  In a press conference on Friday, Mr Tammjärv admitted that he started seeing his doping doctor back in 2016, after meeting veteran skiing coach Mati Alaver.  Mr Alaver told him that if he wanted to improve his performance, there was a "doctor in Germany who makes such things possible".  "I made that decision myself that I wanted to get help in the form of blood doping," Mr Tammjärv said, adding that he first withdrew blood that summer, and completed his first transfusion during the Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland, the following year.  Innsbruck regional prosecutor Hansjorg Mayr said that Mr Baldauf, Mr Hauke and Mr Poltoranin had also "admitted to using blood doping and gave comprehensive and in-depth information to investigators".  Trond Nystad, the Austrian team's coach, has quit his job - with effect from the end of the championship on Sunday.  He told Norwegian outlet VG that he made the decision after watching the leaked footage of Mr Hauke's blood doping, which reportedly made him feel so sick that he physically threw up.  Mr Hauke and Mr Baldauf, he said, had "done something completely illegal" - and he now has "no desire to work with the Austrian ski club anymore".  However, he added that he had no idea about the doping before this week: "If I had [had suspicions] I'd have reported it. I have zero tolerance for doping."  Like Mr Nystad, Mr Hauke's British training partner Andrew Young said he felt physically sick watching the video.  "I'm getting nauseous, it's disgusting to look at," he told NRK, adding that he too had no idea his friend and colleague was doping.  "It's difficult to describe what you feel after seeing a friend cheating," he said. "I don't hate him, but at the same time, I don't want him back in the cross-country circuit. You can't come back after you've done that."  Other skiers were similarly shocked by the allegations. Andrew Musgrave, a Scottish skier who had hit a personal best in Seefeld on Wednesday, said the news had overshadowed one of his "best ever classic races".  And GB Snowsport's chief executive Vicky Gosling said it was "extremely disappointing", and a sign that "doping remains a serious issue in elite sport".  "The athletes and staff on the cross country skiing World Cup circuit all know each other very well so today's news has been both shocking and disappointing," she said.


bbc--2019-07-24--Artur Taymazov stripped of London 2012 gold for doping offence

Uzbek freestyle wrestler Artur Taymazov has become the 60th athlete and seventh gold medallist disqualified from London 2012 under a doping re-test programme.  Taymazov had already lost his 2008 Olympic gold in 2016 after a positive test for an oral steroid in the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) reanalysis programme.  Now a politician in Russia, his only remaining gold is from Athens 2004.  The IOC re-tests samples using new techniques not available in 2012.  There were nine positive tests before and during London 2012.  Other athletes who originally won London 2012 golds, such as Russian racewalker Sergei Kirdyapkin, his compatriot and high jumper Ivan Ukhov and Turkish 1500m runner Asli Cakir Alptekin, were stripped of their medals after rulings by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.  However, the re-testing scheme has seen a further 60 caught cheating - including 24 medallists.  Samples from 2012 can be re-tested for up to eight years after the Games.  The statute of limitations on doping offences was extended from eight to 10 years in 2015, but that cannot be backdated so the IOC has until next summer to announce any more positives from London 2012.  "The IOC has been storing samples from the Olympic Games since Athens 2004 and has re-analysed them systematically," the governing body said after one of Taymazov's samples from London 2012 resulted in a positive test for oral steroid turinabol.  "The fight against doping is a top priority for the IOC, which has established a zero-tolerance policy to combat cheating and to make anyone responsible for using or providing doping products accountable."


bbc--2019-09-02--Anti-doping case dropped against fastest man

The US Anti-Doping Agency has withdrawn its case against sprinter Christian Coleman, the fastest man in the world this year.  Coleman, 23, had been charged with missing three drugs tests and was facing an automatic one-year ban.  Usada said it had withdrawn the charge after receiving guidance from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).  Coleman is now free to compete at the World Athletics Championships, beginning in Doha on 28 September.  The American ran a world-leading time of 9.81 seconds in the Diamond League in California in June.  Under the 'whereabouts' system, athletes must let officials know where they will be for one hour every day as well as details of overnight accommodation and training.  Failure to do so - a 'filing failure' - three times in a 12-month period could lead to a rule violation under the World Anti-Doping code.  Usada said clarification from Wada had been sought around the interpretation of the current International Standard for Testing and Investigations (ISTI)  This concerned the date on which a failure to update an athlete's changed whereabouts information should be considered to have occurred.  Usada recorded filing failures for Coleman on 6 June, 2018, 16 January, 2019 and 26 April, 2019.  Two of the three tests were directed by Usada, while a third was initiated by the Athletics Integrity Unit.  However, as the ISTI states that filing failures relate back to the first day of the quarter, Coleman contended that his failure to update which was discovered on 6 June, 2018, should relate back to 1 April, 2018.  That is more than 12 months prior to Coleman's third filing failure on 26 April, 2019.  Wada clarified this fact to Usada, resulting in the charge being withdrawn.  The decision by Usada to drop the charges can still be appealed by Wada or the IAAF, athletics' governing body.  If found guilty, Coleman would have faced an automatic one-year ban and would miss the World Championships and the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.  Coleman had denied the charge and, in a statement to former sprinter Ato Bolden for the NBC network last month, said: "I'm not a guy who takes any supplements at all, so I'm never concerned about taking drugs tests, at any time."  Former Great Britain 400m Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu received a year's ban in 2006 under the 'whereabouts' system for three missed tests.  Coleman won the US National Championships in July in 9.99 seconds.  He finished second at the 2017 World Championships in London behind fellow American Justin Gatlin and has a personal best of 9.79, making him the seventh fastest man in history.  He also set a world record for the 60m when he claimed gold at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham last year and was talked about as a new superstar sprinter in the post-Usain Bolt era.


bbc--2019-11-15--Chinese swimmer Sun blames doping officials for missed test

China's triple Olympic champion swimmer Sun Yang has told an appeal hearing that he missed a doping test because testers failed to prove their identity.  Sun, 27, was cleared of wrongdoing by Fina, the international swimming federation, in January.  The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) is appealing against the decision at a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing, being held in public in Switzerland.  "I realised they didn't have papers to prove their identification," Sun said.  Speaking via translator during his hour-long evidence at the hearing in Montreux, he added: "The officials were not even capable of proving their identity. How could I allow them to take my sample?  "If they had been professional and had shown their identification, we would not be here today."  It is only the second time such a hearing has been held in public, following a request from multiple world champion Sun.  Technical difficulties with sound and issues with Sun's translator hindered the progress of the hearing on multiple occasions. Ian Meakin, the swimmer's lawyer, complained that the translation standards were "so bad".  "If you want him to answer the question, the translation must be correct," said Meakin, when referring to a Wada question which had been translated into Chinese as "200 millilitres of blood" instead of "200 times".  Sun, who denies smashing with a hammer a vial containing his blood samples, faces a potential eight-year ban if he loses the case.  The freestyle specialist served a three-month doping suspension in 2014 for taking the stimulant trimetazidine, which he says he took to treat a heart condition.  At the World Aquatics Championships in July, Sun won gold in the 200m freestyle but Britain's Duncan Scott refused to share the podium with him.  Australian swimmer Mack Horton took a similar stance after the 400m freestyle competition, years after accusing him of being a "drug cheat".


bbc--2019-11-27--Wada must ban all Russian athletes from Olympics, says US Anti-Doping chief

The World Anti-Doping Agency "must get tougher" and ban all Russian athletes from competing at the Olympics, says US Anti-Doping Agency chief Travis Tygart.  World Athletics, formerly the IAAF, has halted Russia's reinstatement after senior officials were suspended for anti-doping rule breaches.  Russia has been banned from competing as a nation in athletics since 2015.  Some athletes have been able to compete under a neutral status, including at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics.  "Wada must get tougher and impose the full restriction on Russian athlete participation in the Olympics that the rules allow," said Tygart.  "Only such a resolute response has a chance of getting Russia's attention, changing behaviour, and protecting today's clean athletes who will compete in Tokyo, as well as future generations of athletes in Russia who deserve better than a cynical, weak response to the world's repeated calls for Russia to clean up its act.  "It is sad when a country's athletes suffer for the fraud of the governmental and sport system they represent. However, the failure to stand up to Russia's five-year flaunting of the rules would cause even more harm to athletes in and outside of Russia. The time for the toughest penalty available is now."  Last week, Wada's compliance review committee (CRC) recommended a raft of measures - including banning Russia from hosting and competing in major international events - after declaring the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) non-compliant over inconsistencies in anti-doping data.  Wada's executive committee will consider the recommendations and make the final decision at a meeting in Paris on 9 December.  Athletes have not been able to compete for Russia since November 2015 after state-sponsored doping was uncovered. Under the terms of the ban, athletes who have met World Athletics' doping review board's drug-testing criteria can compete under a neutral flag.  The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has demanded the "toughest sanctions" against Russia but would be willing to allow clean athletes to compete under a neutral flag again.  "Russia continues to flaunt the world's anti-doping rules, kick clean athletes in the gut and poke Wada in the eye and get away with it time and time again," Tygart added.  "Wada must stand up to this fraudulent and bullying behaviour as the rules and Olympic values demand. The response proposed by the CRC is inadequate, especially given the deceit perpetuated by the Russian sport system which is controlled by the government.  "History has taught us the response to Russian doping used in Rio 2016 and Pyeongchang 2018 - in which a secretly managed process permitted Russians to compete - did not work."  Russian doping whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov - the former head of Moscow's anti-doping laboratory - has also called for harsher punishments.  "The Russian gangster state continues to deploy a predictable and deplorable policy of deception, evidence tampering and lying to cover up its crimes," his lawyers said in a statement.  "The Kremlin must think the people of the world are idiots to believe this shameless and transparent stunt.  "Wada should be applauded for revealing Russia's latest crime, but if the IOC and the international sports regulatory framework gives Russia yet another free pass, other countries will simply follow in their footsteps."  All the signs are that, on 9 December, Wada's leadership will accept the recommendation of its compliance panel and cast Russia into the international sporting wilderness.  For the second successive Olympic Games, and in many other major events, for the next four years, there would be no official Russia team, with athletes forced to compete as neutrals and only after passing eligibility checks. Given the scale of cheating and deception, many critics will argue a blanket ban on all Russian athletes would be a more appropriate punishment.  But even though almost five years have now passed since the Russian doping scandal was first exposed, this is unlikely be the end of the story. Russia is expected to appeal via the Court of Arbitration for Sport and argue that individuals acting on behalf of the state - rather than its sports authorities - were responsible for the audacious manipulation and deletion of data, and therefore athletes should not be punished.  Do not be surprised therefore if the build-up to another Olympics is overshadowed by further twists in what has arguably become the gravest scandal in sports history.


bbc--2019-12-08--Russia doping: Athletes wait in fear of fresh world ban

Russia has become the master of denial in recent years. From military incursions to hacking to assassinations, the Kremlin has sworn blind it's not involved.  But now the country's athletes are waiting nervously, facing sweeping sanctions for another doping-linked scandal, and senior officials are keeping their silence.  There is one, striking exception.  Yuri Ganus has been warning for months that Russian sport stands on a "cliff-edge" and needs to radically clean up its act. For that, the head of Russia's anti-doping agency, Rusada, says he has received pressure and threats.  "Threats or not, clean sport is my mission," Mr Ganus told the BBC, in offices whose corridors are hung with messages of encouragement for a reformed Rusada from other anti-doping bodies around the world.  The Rusada boss is sure the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) executive committee will ban Russian athletes from global competition on Monday for four years, including next year's Olympics. He argues that is Russia's own fault.  The story goes back to the 2014 Sochi games, a prestige project for President Vladimir Putin that was meant to project Russian skill, strength and superiority to the world.  The nation's athletes bagged medals and glory across the board. But two years later Russia's reputation was in tatters when a scientist-turned-whistleblower revealed a massive, state-backed doping programme.  Returning to the sporting fold depended on Moscow proving it had turning a new page. That included handing over a key database of athletes' test results.  But Yuri Ganus confirms that someone altered or deleted "thousands" of entries first.  "When I opened the documents [from Wada], I was in real stress. I saw huge changes," he says. "It's a real tragedy for our sport."  The "tragedy" is that this apparently crude attempt at a cover-up will hurt a generation of Russian athletes, barred from the competitions they've spent their lives preparing for.  Anna Sidorova, who's won multiple medals curling for her country, is trying to blot out thoughts of a blanket ban.  "I'm still training and just trying to focus on this, because that an area I can control," she says as other curlers glide by, one knee bent, on the ice behind her.  "I'm not thinking about the other stuff."  So pro-Kremlin TV channels have been working to channel public anger.  One chat show claimed Wada's accusations were invented by Europeans to eliminate a powerful sporting rival. A documentary claimed the original whistleblower was responsible, accessing the electronic database remotely from the US to alter it.  Some sports officials are also apparently in denial.  "Why I should I believe Wada and not our own people here in Russia?" Yelena Vyalbe, the head of the cross-country ski federation, wants to know.  The former Olympic champion's office is stuffed with trophies and decorated with an image of Vladimir Putin on horseback.  "This anti-Russian hysteria is a multi-part series we've all seen before," she says. "Even [1990s soap-opera] Santa Barbara was more interesting than this show on Russia and doping."  "Do they think we're total idiots?" the skier asks.  Was it all down to stupidity?  That is part of the key question.  Were those who altered the database - and so dug Russia into an even deeper hole - incompetent, imagining they'd never be found out?  Or did they not care about the consequences?  Sergei Medvedev, of Moscow's Higher School of Economics, suspects the former.  "It was crystal clear this would be detected. It was such stupidity, so outrageous! It's like Monty Python stuff," he says, adding that the world had seen "such a strain of idiocy" before, with the 2018 poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in the UK.  The two suspects then appeared on state TV with a ridiculously implausible cover story.  Mr Medvedev doesn't see the direct hand of the Kremlin in the latest doping scandal, though. He suggests it's more likely that influential people - possibly former athletes - wanted the data purged.  "I think someone tried to protect their reputation," Yuri Ganus agrees. "Perhaps those who now work in high level authority structures, in sports. I don't know, exactly.  "This is a wrong and bad old school approach. We need to change."  As athletes wait to learn their fate, the minister responsible for handing the files over to Wada remains tight-lipped.  A former champion fencer, Pavel Kolobkov was appointed to head the sports ministry in the post-Sochi era, part of Russia demonstrating its commitment to clean sport.  But he has not condemned the apparent cover-up, refusing to comment at all until Wada rules on any sanctions.  For Russia, though, all this runs deeper than sport: it's about how the country is run, its priorities - and how it behaves in a crisis. So far, the traditional techniques - deny, accuse, bluster - are all in play.  But the stakes are different.  Threatened with political isolation by the West, Moscow can shrug that off - pointing to other allies, other options.  In sport, a stage on which Russia loves to strut its stuff, there is no alternative to integration.  "In politics, you can play with a poker face, deny the undeniable - but not in sport," Sergei Medvedev argues. "There are clear sanctions - and you can't do sport on your own."  "Russia could hold a 'home' Olympics with Turkmenistan, Belarus and North Korea," he says. "But everyone would laugh at that."


bbc--2019-12-08--Russian doping scandal: Athletes call for blanket Olympic ban

Members of the World Anti-Doping Agency's Athletes Committee have demanded a blanket ban on Russian athletes competing at the Olympics.  Wada holds a key meeting in Lausanne on Monday to discuss sanctions.  Russia was declared non-compliant for manipulating laboratory data handed over to investigators.  A key panel has recommended a raft of measures - including banning Russia from hosting and competing in major international events.  The International Olympic Committee has said it would would be willing to allow Russian athletes who can prove they are clean to compete under a neutral flag, as at last year's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.  But a majority of the members of Wada's influential athletes' committee say they "strongly believe the only appropriate response is a complete ban on Russian participation", ruling them out of the Tokyo Games next year, and Beijing 2022.  In a joint statement, nine members of the 17-strong group, including chair Beckie Scott, and British former Paralympian Vicki Aggar, said such a step was "the only meaningful sanction."  "We maintain that the fraud, manipulation and deception revealed to date will only be encouraged and perpetuated with a lesser response" they added.  "Until these critical abuses of integrity in sport are confronted with courage and a resolute commitment to protect athletes and clean sport, they will continue, and the sports we love remain tarnished.  "To date, the Russian doping saga has dominated three Olympic and Paralympic Games, with a fourth on the horizon. Russia's ongoing and intentional acts of deception, fraud and corruption have made a mockery not only those who play by the rules, but those who create and safeguard them."  Russia had to hand over data to Wada as a condition of its controversial reinstatement in 2018 after a three-year suspension for its vast state-sponsored doping scandal.  With the US and UK Anti-Doping Agencies also calling on Wada's executive committee to issue the "strongest possible sanctions", Russia now faces the threat of being thrown into the international sporting wilderness, but is expected to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.  In Russia, there is scepticism with one chat show claiming Wada's accusations were invented by Europeans to eliminate a powerful sporting rival. A documentary claimed the original whistleblower was responsible, accessing the electronic database remotely from the US to alter it. • From Moscow: Athletes wait in fear of fresh ban


bbc--2019-12-19--Russia to appeal against four-year ban from major sporting events for doping offences

Russia is set to appeal against the decision to ban it from all major sporting events for four years.  Its anti-doping agency, Rusada, says it does not agree with the punishment from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).  The bans means Russia's flag and anthem will not be allowed at events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics and football's 2022 World Cup in Qatar.  Rusada says a letter to Wada will be prepared on behalf of the president "in the next 10-15 days".  "Then the ball will be in Wada's court and the situation will be developing in the legal field," added Alexander Ivlev, head of Rusada's supervisory board.  Wada's executive committee made the unanimous decision to impose the ban on Russia in a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, last week.  It comes after Rusada was declared non-compliant for manipulating laboratory data handed over to investigators in January 2019.  It had to hand over data to Wada as a condition of its controversial reinstatement in 2018 after a three-year suspension for its vast state-sponsored doping scandal.  Russian president Vladimir Putin said after the ruling the country had grounds to appeal against the decision. • Can Russia still play at the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2020? • Promoters 'confident' race will go ahead despite sporting ban  Wada president Sir Craig Reedie said the decision showed its "determination to act resolutely in the face of the Russian doping crisis".  However, vice-president Linda Helleland says the ban was "not enough", and it has also been criticised by other nations' doping bodies.  Athletes who can prove they are untainted by the doping scandal will be able to compete under a neutral flag.  A total of 168 Russian athletes competed under a neutral flag at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.  Russia has been banned from competing as a nation in athletics since 2015.


newyorkpost--2019-01-03--These badass bodybuilding bros start workouts with chocolate

Brodie Van Wagenen’s suggestion last summer that the Mets need...


sputnik--2019-01-31--Israeli Muezzin Muscled Out of Mosque Over Bodybuilding Contest Outfit Reports

Israeli Muezzin Muscled Out of Mosque Over Bodybuilding Contest Outfit – Reports

READ MORE: Instant Karma? Police Kill Bodybuilder After He Attacks His Tinder Date  The Israeli Interior Ministry decided that his participation in the 2017 competition contradicted his religion. According to a ministry spokesman, Masri was sacked over his inappropriate attire – bodybuilders typically wear brief trunks during contests.  “This is an unjust decision. The religion of Islam encourages any individual to practice sport. They showed me the pictures of me participating in the competition, and they considered it was not appropriate for a muezzin to practice this sport”, the 46-year-old athlete, who won the 2017 championships in his category, told AFP.  He even sent a letter to the Interior Ministry with an apology and a promise not to participate in any other competitions.  “They knew I was involved in this sport before I was hired”, said Masri, who has filed an appeal, which is expected to be heard next month.


sputnik--2019-05-29--Women With Perfect Bodies and Strong Muscles Asian Bodybuilding Championships

Women With Perfect Bodies and Strong Muscles: Asian Bodybuilding Championships

Six countries: Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the host country Kazakhstan have participated in the competition, which was organised by the Bodybuilding, Powerlifting & Fitness Federation of the Kazakhstan Republic. The participants of the imposing event impressed the audience with their sculpted, muscular bodies. Athletes literally inspired viewers to pull themselves together and to work on themselves.


sputnik--2019-11-15--Indian Bodybuilder Crowned First Ever  ‘Mr. Universe’ at Int’l Bodybuilding Championship

Chitharesh Natesan from the Indian state of Kerala has been named Mr Universe 2019, after first winning the Mr World title and then competing against finalists to claim the coveted top honour in the 90 kg category. He also became the first Indian ever to have won both titles at the World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championship which was held in South Korea this year.  A total of 38 countries participated at the 11th World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championship (WBFF) and India bagged a tally of 23 medals in total, including 6 gold, 13 silver and 4 bronze medals in an event held between November 5 and November 10.  India secured the second position in the team championship category, followed by Thailand.  Thrilled to have won the coveted titles and represent India on a global platform, Natesan said he was training and bodybuilding for the past 10 years when he was selected for the Indian team, and began preparations for the international championship.  He shared that he added another feather to his cap earlier this year, by winning the International Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation Mr Asia 2019 title in Indonesia in September.  “After winning the Asian Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championship earlier this year, I went on to participate in the World Championship. I am very happy to bring gold for my country India,” the Indian daily Indian Express quoted Natesan as saying.  The bodybuilder, who has several titles to his name, works as a fitness trainer in Delhi at a gymnasium. He had earlier won Mr Delhi four times and Mr India in 2015. He was also was crowned Mr World in 2018.  Natesan is also a trained Latin dancer and loves to dance for fun to take a break from bodybuilding.


thedailymirror--2019-11-06--Vegan bodybuilding champs insist 'you don't need meat to build muscle'

A pair of vegan bodybuilding champs have insisted 'you don't need meat to build muscle'.  Clare, 47, and Mark Bennett, 51, from Hull, believe they are proof that a plant-based diet can still achieve amazing results.  The pair, who run their own gym, ditched meat many years ago and have not looked back, reports Hull Live.  And they were recently crowned winners of the couples category at Hull FMU Bodybuilding and Fitness show.  They are now on a mission to break down misconceptions that you need meat to bulk up and that 'eating flesh builds flesh'.  Mum-of-two Clare, who has been eating a fully plant-based diet since 2015, said: "Being plant-based certainly did not hinder us which is the perception in bodybuilding.  "Mark and I have always wanted to get on stage as bodybuilders. It was the best feeling ever to get that first place trophy, like a dream come true.  "Also it is a beautiful legacy for our children, Amy and Dax. Hopefully they will get over the embarrassment of Mum and Dad on stage in very little clothing and they will be inspired by the fact that at 47 and 51 Dad could still lift Mum above his head!  "How many couples can say this?"  Clare, who was a vegetarian for 18 years before going vegan, said her and husband Mark want to show a plant-based diet is a good way of life, and inspire others to follow in their footsteps.  She went plant- based after reading 'The China Study’ and was introduced to a whole new world of nutritional thinking.  She said: "I decided that I was going to go plant-based and tried my best to persuade everyone to do the same - usually by spouting facts and figures and wondering why people were not listening.  "I have two aims when I meet people and that is to persuade them to resistance train – either in a gym, on a pole or in the aerial studio, and to stop eating animals and their excretions - for your health and longevity, for the animals and the environment."  Clare said it can be hard for people to transition to a plant-based diet, but that many people like her never look back once converted.  She said: "Experience has now taught me that transitioning to a whole foods plant-based diet is different for everyone and people need space and guidance to transition into this way of eating.  "In the early days we came across lots of prejudice. People are always shocked. The first thing everyone says is 'where do you get your protein?' To which I always reply ‘plants'."  Bodybuilding diets are notoriously restrictive, but Clare says being vegan allows her to eat a range of foods like oats, berries, scrambled tofu, avocado, brown rice and quinoa.  "I absolutely love cooking and my Instagram account is full of everything we eat," she said. "We have lots and lots of colourful food and full of variety.  "We eat rice and beans, chilli, pizza bean burgers, in fact anything a meat eater eats, I can create a meat and animal product free version.  "During competition preparation food is less varied and more mono foods based as this is easer to track calories and how much fat, protein and carbs we are eating.  "We eat like a typical bodybuilder by maintaining a high protein low calorie diet coming up to competition so that we can preserve muscle whist losing fat.  "I tend to use foods that are slightly more processed such as fake meats as these are easy to calculate because they have a food label and its easier to find foods with lower carbohydrates compared to whole foods.  "Once the season is over we are right back on the whole foods plant based diet."


thesun--2019-01-29--Divorcee and timid stay-at-home mum transforms herself to bodybuilding champ using her kids as makes

Divorcee and timid stay-at-home mum transforms herself to bodybuilding champ using her kids as makeshift weights… but now can’t find jeans to fit her bulky thighs

A DIVORCEE has transformed herself into a bodybuilding champion using her kids as makeshift weights when she can't hit the gym - but now can't find jeans to fit her bulky thighs.  After hitting rock bottom following a relationship breakdown, single mum-of-three Natasha Noble, 36, has become so ripped that her waist has shrunk from 30 to 25 inches.  But her muscular 23 inch thighs are so powerful it’s a struggle to find trousers that will accommodate them.  Now working as a personal trainer, Natasha, of Loughborough, Leicestershire said: “Flicking through Instagram in 2012 when I was eight months pregnant with my youngest child, I saw these pictures of female bodybuilders and was in awe of them.  “I was so determined to change that I went to the gym just two weeks after giving birth and used the treadmill, despite being warned by the midwife against doing any strenuous activity for the first six weeks.  “Now I want to encourage other women who have lost their confidence to do the same, as it was the start of a whole new me.”  When she could not get to the gym, Natasha even used her children as makeshift weights.  “When my 10-year-old daughter, Simran, was about five, I used to lift her right across my back,” she recalled.  “Of course, she and her big sister Satinder, who’s 13, are too big even for me to use as weights now.”  Natasha, who does not wish to name her third child, who has a different dad, explained how she feels training helped her to “take back control” of her life after splitting up with her ex in 2014.  She said: “I was a stay-at-home mum for 10 years and I loved bringing up my kids, but I was married at 20 and soon started to feel like I was losing sight of who I was.  “I met my daughters’ dad when we were both working in a nightclub, but I soon left to have children and stopped having real goals in life.  “I felt that once I had kids, that was basically it for me and my life, and all of a sudden everything I did was for my kids and my husband. I lost myself really, and then sadly our marriage ended after running its course.”  Throwing herself into training after her most recent serious relationship ended has changed her entire outlook on life.  She continued: “I realised that I didn’t have to be timid anymore and I could start investing in myself and striving towards personal greatness.  “I’d seen how beautiful and powerful female bodybuilders were and had one thought, ‘This is what I want to be.'”  “I just fell in love with the sheer power of those women and the beauty of their muscles.  “From that moment on, all I could think about was how I was going to become like them one day.”  Six months after having her third child, Natasha graduated from the treadmill to doing squats, to build up strength in her quads.  Encouraged by the results, she would visit the gym for between two and four hours every day, following a strict regime, fuelled by protein-packed meals every two hours.  “The results were really encouraging,” she said. “I remember lots of my friends coming over to see me and being amazed at how flat my stomach was just days after leaving hospital.  “I think I had been so fixated on getting stronger after seeing those bodybuilder pics that I was really mentally prepared and, when I started working out, my body responded almost immediately.”  When school holidays and looking after her children made going to the gym impossible, she would use her daughters as weights.  She joked: “They were the perfect substitute. At around three or four stone then, they were the perfect weight for me to lift.  “And they loved it – jumping on my back as soon as they saw me come downstairs in my exercise gear.”  Now, Natasha tours the country competing in bodybuilding contests and, since around 2015, has worked as a personal trainer.  She said: “My greatest achievements to date were both in 2015, when I won gold in the UK Body Fitness Federation Grand Prix in London, and the Sugar’s Classic in Leicester in the big girls’ class.”  Now happy to be single and to concentrate on her career and motherhood, Natasha’s big goal is to encourage other women to follow her lead and find themselves through bodybuilding.  She said: “At the moment I don’t have any desire to be with a man, because it’s a waste of the time that I could be devoting to my daughters or my training.  “I want to keep getting fitter and stronger so that when I’m 70 years old I’ll still be able to run around with my daughters.  “I want my story to inspire other women to find and love themselves and improve their confidence through bodybuilding, like me. Self-love is the key.  “I feel like a different person to the woman I was. I’m confident and strong and don’t need anyone to look after me – I’m finally my own person.”  We previously told how a woman was homeless at 18 and dropped to a skinny size 4 – but now she's a professional bodybuilder after gaining three stone.


sputnik--2019-09-24--Russian Female Bodybuilder Wins 2019 Arnold Classic Europe

"Yes! We did it!", Makarova said on Instagram, adding that her dream had come true. The Russian athlete thanked her fans for their support and said that she now plans to have a rest.  Notably, Makarova changed her daily office routine for professional fitness two years ago. She holds the title of absolute 2018 bodybuilding champion in Russia's Krasnoyarsk region and absolute Siberian champion of the same year.  The Arnold Classic is one of the most prestigious bodybuilding tournaments in the world. The 2019 event was held in Spain's Barcelona on 20-22 September.


thesun--2019-11-06--Pit Trenz dead at 53: Legendary German bodybuilder passes away after lungs collapse following battle

Pit Trenz dead at 53: Legendary German bodybuilder passes away after lungs collapse following battle with pneumonia

LEGENDARY German bodybuilder Pit Trenz has died at the age of 53.  Trenz represented Germany throughout his career as an IFBB Pro bodybuilder and his devastated wife - and fellow bodybuilder - Sarah has confirmed his death.  In a heartbreaking statement, Sarah revealed she doesn't know “how her life can go on” without Pit.  Trenz spent time in hospital earlier this year to deal with an unspecified heart condition.  Reports claims the medicine he was given led to organ failure after his body reacted poorly to it.  Trenz contracted pneumonia before his lungs collapsed. He died in a German hospital on November 3.  His wife posted a photo of the pair on social media with the caption: “Yesterday when we planned that I compete at my Pro Debut.  "My husband, Pit Trenz (Former IFBB PRO), died after we were fighting side by side for 4 weeks.  "He was my heart, my life, my second half. He always said, we are one person.  "I don't know how life can go on. He was my life.  "I will push forward, only for him. Pit was most afraid of being separated from me. And I of him. The best person I have ever met."  Pit himself had updated fans on his condition six days before his death, writing: “Still alive. Not much news.  "After three weeks of intensive care there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.  “No day is predictable. Every two days a new problem appears.”  Pit had retired from bodybuilding but helped prepare and support other professionals such as Roman Fritz, Dennis Wolf and Markus Ruhl.


Ghana's backyard bodybuilders

A group of bodybuilding enthusiasts are finding an alternative way to keep fit by setting up their own gym in a backyard in Ghana.  Most of the equipment in the gym in Akropong, southern Ghana, has been made from scrap metal.  BBC Sport Africa's Emeline Nsingi Nkosi went to see them at work.


thedailymirror--2019-11-10--Michael Griffiths plans huge bodybuilding return as he moves on from reality TV

Michael Griffiths ' former trainer has dropped a huge hint he could be competing in bodybuilding competitions again before the end of the year.  The 28-year-old gym-obsessed Liverpudlian had a lengthy history of competing in the sport before he entered the Love Island villa, but has since made no return due to a busy schedule.  Now his trainer and close pal Nathan De Asha, 32, has lifted the lid to Mirror Online on Michael's life as a competitor and what his future could shape into.  Speaking about former firefighter Michael's past experience at competing and if he's considering taking to the stage again, Nathan told Mirror Online: "I believe he is from what I gather."  Michael trains at Prophecy Performance Centre in his hometown - where International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) pro De Asha is the gym owner.  After his Love Island stint, Michael accumulated a rather busy schedule, working with different brands since leaving the hit ITV2 show - meaning he's laid off the training for a while as he isn't able to "fully commit".  Nathan, nicknamed 'The Prophecy', confessed: "When I've spoken to him he said he'll get back to it when he's able to fully commit."  While IFBB pro Nathan hasn't given a date Michael could potentially return, it's likely to be soon as the star has already shared his thoughts on competing to Nathan.  "He doesn't just want to be another athlete up there he wants to win and dominate like he has in the past and like many of his pals at our gym do," Nathan added.  Having just finished filming Ex On The Beach , it could be the perfect break for Michael to get back into training once again.  With Michael's huge ego, it's no surprise he wants to "win and dominate" in future competitions and to perform at his best.  Nathan continued: "If he has the time and in Liverpool, he will be with us at Prophecy Performance Centre, that's where he trains from.  "He has access 24/7 to the gym as he has a set of keys, due to his schedule when he was a firefighter."  It seems De Asha has a lot of faith in Michael, having seen him compete before.  The pro bodybuilder said: "I think he will dominate his physique when he's fully training is awesome."  When asked if it's something he was always going to go back to, Nathan unveiled: "I believe so you know. It's a passion and a hobby he's really interested in.  "All his friends are from the same gym. We train at my gym Prophecy Performance Centre," referring to his personal trainer pals.  Although Michael didn't mention his bodybuilding past on Love Island, he managed to keep up a daily gym routine alongside his pals in the villa, including Tommy Fury .  And having managed to keep in good shape, Nathan shared how he didn't see it being a problem for Michael to train again when he came out.  "I don't see how leaving Love Island would affect him from training really, and doing what he enjoys, and his friends enjoy training together," he said.  The reality TV star came 2nd when he competed in a Physical Culture Association show for pro men's physique on May 13 2018 - and he even bagged himself some cash.  Michael himself has hinted at having another go at his hobby, as he posted a photo on Instagram shortly after his win with a lengthy caption - suggesting it'll be before the end of this year.  It read: "It's Monday and time to start progressing to bring the best package to the stage yet 2019 is going to be a big year for building and I'm already looking forward to stepping back on stage."  Nathan - now one of the world's most recognised bodybuilders - has turned his life around since he was jailed for encouraging Liverpool riots in 2011. He was widely condemned for his role in the L1 rioting.  His Facebook posts during the riots landed him behind bars after someone sent a print out of his rants to a police station.  De Asha posted a string of statuses which whipped up enthusiasm for the trouble, as he encouraged his 855 friends to "terrorise police" and "hit town and get something out of it".  Now he claims he is a changed man as he told Liverpool Echo: "I'm sorry for what I did. When I look back on it, my words were stupid, they were wrong. I'm not willing to ever do that or be in that place again."


bbc--2019-03-15--Fifa approves 24-team Club World Cup despite European boycott threat

Fifa has approved a revised 24-team Club World Cup starting in 2021 despite top European clubs saying they would boycott the tournament.  The new competition is expected to include eight teams from Europe.  It will run every four years and take place from June to July in the slot currently used for the World Cup warm-up event, the Confederations Cup.  Fifa president Gianni Infantino said he was "extremely happy" after the Fifa Council backed his plan on Friday.  "Now the world will see a real Club World Cup where fans will see the best teams in the world compete to be crowned the real world champions," he said.  The Club World Cup is currently held every December and features seven teams from six confederations, but the competition is largely ignored by European fans.  As well as eight European clubs, the new tournament would see six teams from South America, three each from Africa, Asia and North and Central America and one from Oceania.  It has been suggested each club could earn £50m from taking part.  The European Club Association (ECA) says any new competitions should be part of an agreed framework for the international match calendar post-2024.  ECA board members, including Manchester United's chief executive Ed Woodward, signed a letter expressing concerns, which was revealed earlier on Friday.  "[We are] firmly against any potential approval of a revised CWC - no ECA clubs would take part," it said.  When asked if he was concerned about staging a new Club World Cup without any of Europe's elite clubs, Infantino said: "We hope that all the best teams will participate and we've had some very positive discussions with Uefa.  "But it was our responsibility to take a decision because we have to deal with the organisational matters - it is only two years away."  The Fifa Council also decided that it would be "feasible" to expand the Qatar 2022 World Cup from 32 to 48 teams.  World football's governing body voted to expand the 2026 World Cup - which will be hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States - to 48 teams in 2017.  The council will now discuss potential additional hosts to Qatar and a final decision will be made at a Fifa congress in Paris in June.  "If it happens, fantastic. If it doesn't happen, fantastic also," said Infantino.  The ECA's letter was addressed to Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin, who has been asked to explain the position at the Fifa Council meeting, which is taking place in Miami.  The letter, obtained by BBC Sport, stated that there should be no changes to the current fixed international match calendar (IMC), which runs until 2024, and raised concerns about fixture congestion.  It said: "We wish to restate the position of ECA: (a) ECA is unwilling to consider any new or significantly revised competition prior to a holistic assessment of the IMC post-2024 being conducted and an agreement as to its underlying principles being reached; and (b) in any event, a Club World Cup in June 2021, as proposed by Fifa, is not acceptable in light of the existing competitions and the IMC, which is fixed until 2024."  According to a Fifa document seen by Associated Press, it has been proposed the tournament would run from 17 June to 4 July, with 2022 World Cup qualifiers (31 May to 8 June) preceding it and the African Cup of Nations and Concacaf Gold Cup possibly taking place from 5 July to 31 July.  Fifa said it was aware of concerns of "serious interference with critical matches" but added that members of its own task force "felt that it was feasible to play the Club World Cup" during that period.


bbc--2019-06-02--Fifa Womens World Cup Fixtures groups and BBC coverage

Fifa Women's World Cup: Fixtures, groups and BBC coverage

R16 winner four v R16 winner five, 20:00, Paris, BBC Four  SF one loser v SF two loser 16:00, Nice, BBC Two  SF one winner v SF two winner, 16:00, Lyon, BBC One


bbc--2019-06-24--Womens World Cup Fifa to look into Cameroon behaviour in England defeat

Women's World Cup: Fifa to look into Cameroon behaviour in England defeat

Fifa says it is "currently looking into" Cameroon's behaviour during their World Cup last-16 defeat by England.  It comes after an African football chief said it "reflected badly on African football".  England's 3-0 victory on Sunday was marred by Cameroon's reaction to two video assistant referee decisions and poor challenges on England's players.  A Fifa spokesperson told BBC Sport: "further updates will be provided in due course".  Earlier on Monday, Isha Johansen, chair of the Confederation of African Football's women's football committee, said she wanted an investigation to be opened.  Johansen, who is also the president of the Sierra Leone Football Association, told BBC Sport it was an "embarrassing situation".  In a statement, she said: "Whilst remaining proud of our African teams that participated in the Fifa Women's World Cup, yesterday's match between England and Cameroon reflected badly, not only on African women's football but African football on the whole.  "It is an issue which will be addressed and dealt with at the appropriate levels of governance."  There was an on-pitch protest by Cameroon's players after England's second goal, scored by Ellen White, was awarded by VAR.  Cameroon were also visibly upset when, with the score at 2-0, Ajara Nchout's goal was ruled out for offside by VAR.  They were fortunate to finish the game with 11 players on the pitch after Yvonne Leuko was booked for an apparent elbow on England winger Nikita Parris, Augustine Ejangue spat on Toni Duggan and Alexandra Takounda was shown a yellow card for a late challenge on captain Steph Houghton in stoppage time.  Johansen told BBC Sport: "Clearly when something happens like what happened yesterday, the disappointment that we saw on the pitch, we as Africans felt for Cameroon as a family, as one.  "We take the collective blame, but at the same time, without sounding like we are condoning what happened, I think it's all about now actually understanding why it happened.  "These are the issues that I think CAF has got to address and will address, clearly so we can avoid the same mistakes happening."  Speaking after the match, England boss Phil Neville said he was "ashamed" by Cameroon's behaviour, adding it "didn't feel like football".  But Cameroon coach Alain Djeumfa blamed the referee in his post-match news conference, saying the match was a "miscarriage of justice".  BBC Sport has launched #ChangeTheGame this summer to showcase female athletes in a way they never have been before. Through more live women's sport available to watch across the BBC this summer, complemented by our journalism, we are aiming to turn up the volume on women's sport and alter perceptions. Find out more here.


bbc--2019-12-07--Fifa forced to change stadium for Club World Cup final

Fifa has been forced to switch the venue for the final of the Club World Cup in Qatar because the stadium where it was scheduled to be held has not been signed off.  The Education City Stadium in Doha was due to host Liverpool's semi-final on 18 December, plus the third-place play-off and the final on 21 December.  The 40,000-capacity ground is built but yet to hold any test events.  Matches will now be held at the city's Khalifa International Stadium.  The venue, which has a capacity of 48,000, hosted the World Athletics Championships in September and October, and was already scheduled to host two games in the seven-team competition.  Organisers believe the change will lead to minimum disruption. • BBC to show every Club World Cup game live as Liverpool bid for glory