England striker Daniel Sturridge is prepared to do almost anything
to avoid an early World Cup exit in Thursday's "do or die" meeting with
Uruguay.
Sturridge will be up against Liverpool team-mate Luis Suarez, who infamously
handled on the line
in the closing seconds as Uruguay beat Ghana on penalties in South Africa in 2010.
While he insists he will stay within the rules, Sturridge said: "I'm going to do anything in my power to win.
"I'm talking anything. I'm serious."
Sturridge, 24, said he was feeling "hungry and confident" after scoring in England's
2-1 defeat by Italy
on Saturday.
Daniel Sturridge not fixated on Luis Suarez
He added: "I'm prepared to do anything to win this next game. It's do or die. It's a World Cup."
Liverpool team-mate Suarez missed Uruguay's
3-1 defeat by Costa Rica
following his recovery from
a knee operation on 22 May
but is ready to face England.
"I'm 100%, otherwise I wouldn't be here," he said. "I feel in good condition. I never thought I would miss the World Cup."
Sturridge has not been in touch with his club-mate, saying his focus is solely on Thursday's game in Sao Paulo.
He added that he would be "devastated" to exit the
tournament at the group stage and said the England players would "work
our socks off more than we've ever done before".
The former Chelsea player added: "I'm not saying I'm
going to dive or do anything that's not within the laws of the game, but
I will do anything - like my team-mates - to win this game."
In a reference to the 2010 World Cup, when Suarez
denied quarter-final opponents Ghana a match-winning goal by stopping
Dominic Adiyiah's header with his hand, Sturridge said he would never do
the same thing.
"It's not in my nature," he said. "Within the rules of
the game, I'll do anything, just like every Uruguayan player will.
They're hungry and want to go through and we want to go through."
Last season with Liverpool (Premier League)
Daniel Sturridge, 24
Luis Suarez, 27
Appearances: 29
Appearances: 33
Goals: 21
Goals: 31
Assists: 7
Assists: 12
Sturridge insisted England want to maintain their reputation for fair play.
"We're an honest country and go about our business in
an honest way," he said. "No disrespect to other countries, but we play
within the laws of the game. We don't bend the rules. We play by the
book.
"That's how I was brought up. We don't like to break the rules. We don't like to cheat to win."
England team-mate Danny Welbeck, meanwhile, agreed with
comments from BBC Sport World Cup pundit Rio Ferdinand, a former
Manchester United team-mate, that he should take more risks in front of
goal.
Welbeck, 23, said: "I take what Rio says on board. He's
seen me grow up and develop from a young kid, from 13. He's helped me a
lot as a footballer. If he's telling me to take more risks, I will take
more risks."
He said he had spoken to Ferdinand before and after the
game against Italy, adding: "He just wants me to be the best I can. He
says I need to be a bit more positive at times."
England coach Gary Neville has backed Wayne Rooney to cope with the "drama" surrounding his role at the 2014 Fifa World Cup.
Rooney's position in Roy Hodgson's team has been the subject of intense debate, which heightened after
Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Italy.
BBC pundits on Rooney's best position after Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Italy
Neville
told the BBC:
"Our country love it, creating a drama around one player.
"This time it's Wayne Rooney but that comes with the territory of being an important player in a big nation."
Rooney, 28, was played in a wide left role by Hodgson in the Group D match with Italy.
Despite setting up Daniel Sturridge's equaliser,
Rooney attracted criticism for his performance
and was a largely peripheral figure.
The Football Association has
confirmed that he had extra training
on Monday at his own request.
A number of the players involved against Italy
completed two-day post-match recovery work but Rooney did a session with
the rest of the squad.
BBC pundit and former England captain
Alan Shearer
and
former England manager Graham Taylor
have called for Rooney to be played in his preferred central position.
Wayne Rooney's touch map against Italy
Former Manchester United defender Neville has been to
seven major tournaments with England as a player or coach and said the
scrutiny Rooney was facing was not new, comparing it to that received by
Paul Gascoigne and David Beckham.
"I've never known there not be an obsession around one player," Neville told BBC Radio 5 live.
"It was Gascoigne from 1996 to 1998, Beckham from 2000
to 2006. From 2006, it was Rooney and Beckham. Now it's Rooney to 2014.
"Unfortunately - or fortunately, because he is a big player - this time it's Wayne Rooney."
Neville described his former team-mate, who has scored 39 goals in 92 games for England, as a "street footballer".
He added: "You can't get him to do a light day's
training. That's his character. He just wants to play every second of
every day.
"He has an enthusiasm for football that is incredible
and he's been like that since the moment I played against him when he
was a young Everton kid."
Defeat in their opening match increases the pressure on England ahead of Thursday's clash with Uruguay.
Play Wayne Rooney up front - Rio Ferdinand
Neville said the disappointment of the result was
tempered by the quality of England's performance in Manaus, particularly
when compared with
the defeat they suffered against Italy in the 2012 European Championship.
The 39-year-old said: "Two years ago, we were on the ropes with our gloves up, defending for 12 rounds but losing on points.
"The other night, we won a few rounds. It doesn't win
you the football match but, in terms of the bigger picture, we see where
we're going.
"Some of the football was the best I've seen from England in 10 or 15 years in a World Cup or European Championship match.
"As we came off the pitch, we weren't thinking anything
other than the team played pretty well, but we got the fine lines
wrong."
Schalke midfielder Julian Draxler says he turned down a move to
Arsenal in January and plans to remain with the Bundesliga club this
summer.
The 20-year-old Germany international was linked with a
move to the Gunners
during the transfer window.
Draxler, who signed a five-year contract with Schalke
in May, said: "In January, there was the offer of Arsenal, but I decided
to stay.
"I will do the same this summer. I want to play one year more in Schalke."
Draxler's current contract reportedly contains a
45m euros (£38m) buyout clause.
He has played on the left of midfield and in a central
attacking midfield role, scoring 15 goals in more than 100 appearances.
Draxler was an unused substitute
as Germany beat Portugal 4-0 in their opening World Cup group game in
Salvador on Monday and is confident his country can win the trophy for
the first time since 1990.
"We were a little bit nervous before the game," said
Draxler. "But we know we are very strong and we wanted to show the world
we can win the title.
"There are many other great nations and teams here, but we are one of the favourites."
Thomas Muller scored a hat-tick to add to the five goals he scored in earning the Golden Boot at the 2010 World Cup.
"He is so dangerous in front of goal," said Draxler.
"He always knows where he has to be. That's his secret. He knows where he has to be to score goals."
Draxler said the 24-year-old Muller has the potential to become a Germany great given his striker rate and age.
In 2007, Jeremy Askew left the UK practice where he was an
independent financial advisor and set out to see the world.
During his 22-month sabbatical, he watched England play
cricket in Sri Lanka, visited the part of India where his grandmother grew up
and biked around London visiting various museums.
In
the US, fewer than two in 10 employers offer sabbatical leave, and for
two-thirds of those companies, it’s unpaid time off, according to US
human resources company World At Work. In the UK, some 41% of employers
offer the ability to take a sabbatical, but only 2% of employees take
them up on the offer, according to UK human resources organization CIPD.
In Japan, only 14% of companies provide personal maintenance leave, and
only 8.5% provide volunteer leave, according to the Japanese Institute
for Labour Policy and Training.
If you can make it work for you, however, experts agree that it can be a life-changing experience. Here’s how to take the leap: Five Years to Go
Decide what you’d like to do, and what you hope to get out of it.
“Are
you looking for down time? Personal development? Or improving your
CV?,” asked Will Jones, marketing manager for i-to-i Volunteering in the
UK.
You can boost your resume on a break in a variety of ways —
by taking a class, interning for an overseas company, or volunteering.
After all, managing people, working as part of a team, teaching, and
organizing are all skills that are highly transferrable.
But don’t
underestimate the benefits of travel for exploration’s sake, either.
“Personal development is a by-product of traveling anyway,” Jones said.
“The nature of having to budget, plan, scrimp, save—it’s often quite an
extreme removal from your comfort zone.”
Set a time goal. How long will you be gone? How long can you be gone? If your company offers a sabbatical program you may have to work within the confines of what it provides.
And,
you must consider your own limits. “A lot of my clients are in health-
or technology-related professions, so they can take six months to a year
off,” said Brian Frederick, a financial planner with Stillwater
Financial Partners in Arizona in the US. “But if they take off longer
than that, they run the risk that their skills start to atrophy.”
Diane Byrne took three trips to tour the US with her husband. They spent 30% more than anticipated. (Courtesy Diane Byrne)
Once you’ve got a handle on what you hope to do and how long
you hope to do it, estimate how much money you will need. Check flights,
lodging expenses, prices for things you hope to do, plus day-to-day
expenses. And don’t forget about any costs you may incur while you’re
away, such as mortgage payments, utilities, and loan payments. Then
round up.
“We spent about 30% more than I had planned on,” said
Diane Byrne, a financial planner in Wisconsin who took three extended
trips in 2002 to tour the US with her husband in a motorhome. “It was
the experience of a lifetime so we weren’t going to scrimp on things.”
Once
you have a number, divide it by 60 months (five years) and start the
five-year clock. Each month, put away 1/60th of your total number.
Repeat. Checklist: Five Years Before
Decide what you want to do
Think about how long you’d like to be gone
Create a budget
Four Years to Go
Begin this way of life: save first and spend second.
That
means sending money to your savings account the moment you get paid.
Have it transferred automatically each payday. You might consider taking
on a seasonal job or freelance work for extra income to boost your
sabbatical savings. Katie Erickson, a US financial planner who is taking
a sabbatical in Jakarta, Indonesia, suggests taking that empty extra
room and “renting out on AirBnB,” a site available in 192 countries that
allows you to let a room in your home to guests, for bonus cash.
It’s also important to tackle debt before you go.
“You
better not be carrying consumer debt that’s going to be enslaving your
ability to be free and open,” said Mike Haubrich, a financial planner
with Financial Service Group in Wisconsin. Make a plan to clear any
credits cards while you still have a pay cheque. Checklist: Four Years Before
Save, save, save
Pay down debt
Consider ways to earn extra cash
Two to Three Years to Go
So what are you actually
going to do when you’re gone? If you have your heart set on a formal
volunteer program in a particular country, start early to secure your
spot. Or, if you're planning to attend a particular event like the
Olympics or the FIFA World Cup that occurs every four years, now is the
time to start researching.
Benefits are another concern to
consider far in advance. What are you going to do for health insurance
while you’re away? Can you get it through a spouse? Purchase a policy
while you travel? If your health insurance won’t cover you in another
country, consider a supplemental plan that will — the last thing you
need is to be without insurance in a foreign country and get seriously
ill.
David Leach wished he had saved more for retirement on sabbatical. (Courtesy David Leach)
As you get closer to two years before your sabbatical, start
watching flight prices so you can snag the best deal when you see it. If
you plan to rent your house while you’re gone, research in your local
area and online to determine how soon you will need to list your
property.
If you’re taking a sabbatical to do volunteer work, it
never hurts to canvas local businesses to see if any of them would be
interested in supporting you in your endeavour. In the UK, for instance,
many large organizations have a corporate social responsibility budget.
“Send
a letter out to local businesses and ask if they have any CSR budget”
to help with your trip, said Jones. “Even if you get nothing from it,
what you have is a story you can share [with future employers] about the
money acumen you picked up through fundraising.”
If your company has a formal sabbatical program and other employees have done it before, talk to them about it.
“Find
out what worked really well for them, and find out what their regrets
are so you can learn from their experience,” Haubrich said. If you don’t
have any colleagues who have taken the plunge, reach out to other
contacts who have done it. If you have to change course based on
someone’s recommendations, it’s far better to know it now.
Now is
also the time to tell your employer your plans. The more notice they
have, and the more you're able to sell the time away to them as
beneficial, the better the results are likely to be. Checklist: Two to Three Years Before
Find a volunteer program or must-see events and make arrangements
Fundraise with local businesses
Talk to people who have done it before
Tell your employer about your plans
One Year to Go
The
last year is all about details. For instance, do you need any
inoculations before you travel to a foreign country? If you’re traveling
to Indonesia, for instance, you should make sure you’ve had vaccines
for Hepatitis A and Typhoid, among other things.
Do you need a
visa? Visit the embassy website of the country you hope to visit to find
out exactly what you need and when you should apply for it. You may
have to send in your passport to acquire one, so plan accordingly.
Don’t
forget about the day-to-day minutia. For instance, what will happen to
your mail while you are away? Will you be paying your bills remotely?
And if no one is staying in your house while you’re away, do you have
someone checking on it?
“Many home insurance policies require that
your residence not be left vacant for any length of time, so check your
policy terms,” said Cynthia Kett, a financial advisor with Stewart
& Kett Financial Advisors in Toronto, Canada. If you plan to rent to
a stranger, take prudent precautions, such as requesting a damage
deposit and checking references
“One time we were gone for five
months and we had a college student live in our house,” Byrne said. “He
didn’t pay us rent but we didn’t have to pay a house sitter. He took
care of snow removal and all the maintenance type things. It was a
win-win.”
If you have to put any of your things in storage, take
this opportunity to purge what you don’t need. “This is a perfect
opportunity to pare down your personal belongings,” said Katie Erickson.
“Have a garage sale. Sell on Amazon Marketplace and Craigslist. Paying
for storage for things you never use is abysmal financial planning.”
Last,
give yourself time to adjust once you’ve started your adventure. When
Erickson left the US 11 months ago for Indonesia, she was nervous that
she’d hate Jakarta and she worried about financial security.
“There
were a lot of gut checks and questioning of the decision to shake up
everything about my life,” Erickson said. “At this point, I feel that
moving to Jakarta was one of the best major decisions I’ve ever made.” Checklist: One Year Before
To claim that Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo are somehow lacking something as footballers seems almost perverse.
These are the twin tornados of today's football
landscape, chasing each other in a statistical arms race, tearing up
records, making the impossible mundane.
But as their third World Cups come around, there remains a sense of incompleteness, of a final summit still to climb.
What separates Argentina's Messi and Portugal's Ronaldo
from footballing immortality? Certainly not goals, whether in quantity
or style, or club honours, or individual accolades won. By those
measures both match Pele and Maradona, arguably surpass Zinedine Zidane
and Johan Cruyff.
What it is missing is a World Cup: not a brilliant solo
goal, nor a single great win, but a tournament that they have dominated
and defined.
100 great World Cup moments - Teenage Pele shines in 1958
Diego Maradona achieved that grail in 1986, dancing and
driving Argentina to the title. Pele perhaps did it twice, as spearhead
in 1958 and embodiment of his team's brilliance 12 years later. Even in
defeat Cruyff (1974) and Roberto Baggio (1994) owned a tournament.
This is the power of a World Cup. Reputations are transformed. Legacies are gilded.
"Mexico changed my life, quite literally," says Gary Lineker,
whose six goals won him the Golden Boot in 1986.
"It made a massive difference to me - a player going from one who
was not assured of a starting place in the England team to suddenly,
after that World Cup, being known by everybody wherever I went."
Messi and Ronaldo have achieved far more in club
football than Lineker. Between them they have five Champions League
trophies and all six of the last Fifa World Player of the Year or Ballon
D'Or awards.
Unlike Lineker they are already global superstars. Yet
unlike the former England striker, or his successor as Golden Boot
winner, Italy's
Toto Schillaci,
they lack such a clearly defined peak.
Deep into their careers, at an age where pace and influence are yet to fade, they will never have a better chance.
Lineker's verdict on Messi & Ronaldo
In 571 minutes at World Cup finals Messi has scored
just one goal, the same number as Matthew Upson and Gary Breen. In 754
minutes, Ronaldo has only one more than the England and Ireland
centre-halves. To put that into goalscoring context, Denmark's
comparatively prosaic forward Jon Dahl Tomasson has five. Pele ended
with 12, and the Brazilian Ronaldo had 15.
"For the true greats of all time, you have got to make a
name for yourself at a World Cup, if you are lucky enough to have been
born in a country where you can," says Lineker.
"If you are a great player for a country like
Argentina, Italy, Germany or England you've got to prove it at a World
Cup - not necessarily to win it, but to make yourself one of the greats
of that tournament.
"It is probably the one thing that counts against Messi
at the moment when set against the likes of Pele and Maradona. He has
not got that World Cup under his belt - but neither had Maradona until
he came to this stage of his career. Maybe Messi will now do the same."
In some ways it's a cruel yardstick. World Cups, by definition, are only a periodic barometer of greatness.
Some of the finest players in history have been denied
the opportunity to display at the greatest expo of all, whether through
nationality (George Best, Alfredo di Stefano, George Weah), injury and
insult (Bernd Schuster) or tragedy (Duncan Edwards, Valentino Mazzola).
Others have peaked in intervening years, been dragged
down by less liberated team-mates or found themselves neutered by the
sort of dedicated on-field attention that the most dangerous opponent
routinely attracts. All three could yet happen to Ronaldo and Messi.
In the 21st century, there is an argument that the
Champions League is a more accurate gauge of a superstar's influence:
more matches, more sustained pressure, a higher and more consistent
calibre of opposition.
100 great World Cup moments - Maradona stuns England in 1986
Messi has three winner's medals from European club
football's greatest competition, Ronaldo one each from two clubs. In
each triumph, each man played a pivotal role; both have scored key goals
in two separate finals.
These feats are not achieved by many, let alone the
ordinary. And while the Champions League final attracts a far smaller
global audience than the World Cup (the 2013 final had an average
audience of 150 million, the 2010 World Cup final six times that) its
cumulative reach across four years narrows the gap.
Then there is over-familiarity that modern media
saturation can bring. Very few of us have seen Pele live, whether in
person or on television. Even Maradona we know primarily from World Cups
and video compilations.
You can watch Ronaldo and Messi every week, should you
have the right satellite subscription. You can watch them at any moment
via video-sharing sites on your mobile and tablet.
Has this removed the untouchable aura that surrounds
their antecedents? Do we associate Pele with genius because 'best ofs',
by definition, do not include the average or off-form?
Head to Head
Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo
Date of birth (age)
24 June, 1987 (26)
5 February, 1985 (29)
Clubs played for
Barcelona
Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid
Total league matches played
277
386
Total league goals scored
243
264
International debut
17 August, 2005 v Hungary
20 August, 2003 v Kazakhstan
Caps
84
110
International goals
37
49
Club honours
Six league titles, three Champions Leagues, two domestic cups, two Club World Cups
Four league titles, two Champions Leagues, three domestic cups, one Club World Cup
Individual honours
Four Ballon d'Or awards
Two Ballon d'Or awards
The caveat most often used by those wishing to
contextualise the remarkable goal-scoring feats of today's two prodigies
is that the currency of the Primera Liga is devalued, in part by the
financial dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona and thus in part also
their on-pitch supremacy.
In which case, Pele's famous 1,283 goals in 1,366
appearances for Santos, Brazil and New York Cosmos are the equivalent of
old copper coins - some invaluable, some (like those accrued in endless
friendlies and promotional matches) near worthless.
Were the defences that Pele came up against as
organised and fit as those that face Messi and Ronaldo? Are those two
free to work their magic in a way that the often brutalised Maradona
never was?
Which is why we come back to the World Cup. You can
only judge a man in his historical context. Pele and Maradona made
tournaments their own. Messi and Ronaldo, deferential to their sport's
past, understand instinctively.
"Messi would give all the medals he has won at
Barcelona to win one World Cup," says Argentina's 1978 World Cup winner
Osvaldo Ardiles. Ronaldo already has his own museum in which to house
the greatest honour of them all.
Could Messi, Ronaldo or home favourite Neymar prove the defining figure in Brazil?
Providence and history call for both.
For Ronaldo, his country's captain, the astonishingly
dominant force in their qualification (all four goals in Portugal's
play-off against Sweden came from their number seven), 29 years and 110
caps into his career arc, now is the time - not in 2018, never again.
For Messi, less adored at home than the ragamuffin talents of Maradona or even Carlos Tevez, serendipity is on his side.
Argentina coach Alex Sabella has built his team around
the Barcelona man in a way that his predecessor in 2010, Maradona, never
did.
And with the tournament hosted by his nation's
arch-rivals, politics and culture are on his side too - not quite as
they were for Zidane in 1998, when his ethnic origins as much as his two
headers in the final made him the incarnation of the 'Black Blanc Beur'
philosophy, but in a way that creates the perfect backstory for his
deeds.
Only one, of course, could win the old gold pot. So
what will be enough - a glorious but doomed soliloquy, as with Baggio
two decades ago, or a semi-final, perhaps the Golden Boot?
Should one be crowned world champion, it might even be
enough to swing the eternal argument about which is the superior player.
That's what World Cups can do: complete careers, crown kings.
Local Government Minister Emmanuel Chenda (left) listens to Lusaka Mayor Mulenga Sata during a tour of Lusaka town centre market
PF Lusaka District Chairperson Mulenga Sata has boasted that his
responsive leadership is responsible for the stability that the ruling
PF has enjoyed in Lusaka.
Mr. Sata who is also Lusaka Mayor said from the time he took over as
Lusaka District PF Chairperson, there have been no unrests in the ruling
party.
He said Lusaka residents deserved to live in a peaceful city without any trouble from the party cadres.
“Lusaka is traditionally a peaceful place and what was happening
sometime back was a sign that leadership was failing. What I have tried
to do is provide leadership and everyone in the party is following
through,” Mr Sata said.
He said he does not expect a repeat of the leadership wrangles that rocked the party’s leadership in Lusaka.
Meanwhile, the Lusaka City Council (LCC) has sent a final warning to
defaulters owing the Council close to K1 billion to pay up or face legal
action.
The LCC is owed millions of Kwacha in rates, rent and billboards that has accumulated over a period of time.
Assistant Public Relations Manager, Brenda Katongola said the Council
has since given tenants occupying its properties in Lusaka’s Ibex Hill,
a 21-day ultimatum which elapses today (Tuesday, 10th June) to pay up
or face eviction.
She said the Council has also sent warning letters to other
defaulters to pay up or come 1st July, the civic authority will send
bailiffs to help the institution recover the monies owed to it.
“The Council is owed a lot of money in unpaid rent and rates by
various institutions and individuals and from billboards over a long
period of time. Paying rent and rates is mandatory by law. This time we
are not encouraging defaulters to pay, but we are warning them.
We sent out letters to tenants occupying the few remaining Council
houses in Ibex Hill on 21st May, 2014 to pay up, failure to which they
will be evicted. Some tenants are owing the Council more than K100,000
in unpaid rentals,” Ms. Katongola said.
Ms. Katongola said the Council will not allow illegalities to hamper
its efforts of providing quality service delivery and warned defaulters
with outstanding amounts in rates, rent and billboards to pay for the
civic authority to deliver on its mandate.
“People need to honor their obligations and pay what they owe the
Council for us to offer quality service delivery to the community and
also for us to be able to function effectively.
“Come 1st July, bailiffs will pounce on the defaulters. This is in a
bid to generate revenue for the council especially that people have
failed to honor their obligations even after reminders were sent out.
Apart from sending bailiffs, we will also start taking defaulters to
the courts of law for the necessary action to be taken,” she said.
The rise in global stock markets has boosted private wealth held by households
The
amount of private wealth held by households globally surged more than
14% to $152 trillion (£90tn) last year, boosted mainly by rising stock
markets.
Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan, led the surge with a 31% jump to $37tn, a report by Boston Consulting Group says.
The number of millionaire households also rose sharply.
The report takes into account cash, deposits, shares and
other assets held by households. But businesses, real estate and luxury
goods are excluded.
"In nearly all countries, the growth of private wealth was
driven by the strong rebound in equity markets that began in the second
half of 2012," the firm said in its report.
"This performance was spurred by relative economic stability
in Europe and the US and signs of recovery in some European countries,
such as Ireland, Spain and Portugal."
The amount of wealth held in equities globally grew by 28% during the year, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said. Asia-Pacific growth
Economies in Asia have been key drivers of global growth in
the recent years. And households in the region have benefitted from this
growth.
Within the region, China has been the biggest driver - with private wealth in the country surging more than 49% in 2013.
High saving rates in countries such as China and India has also been a key contributing factor to this surge.
The wealth held in the region is expected to rise further, to nearly $61tn by the end of 2018.
"At this pace, the region is expected to overtake Western
Europe as the second-wealthiest region in 2014, and North America as the
wealthiest in 2018," BCG said.
The pace of wealth creation in China was also evident in the
growth in the number of millionaire households - in US dollar terms - in
the country, rising to 2.4 million in 2013, from 1.5 million a year
ago.
Overall, the total number of millionaire households in the world rose to 16.3 million in 2013, from 13.7 million in 2012.
According to the report, private wealth in:
North America rose by 15.6% to $50.3tn
Western Europe, which includes UK, Germany and France, rose by 5.2% to $37.9tn
Eastern Europe, which includes Russia, Poland and Czech Republic, jumped by 17.2% to $2.7tn
Latin America rose by 11.1% to $3.9tn
Middle East region increased by 11.6% to reach $5.2tn
Coverage: Live on BBC TV,
HD, Red Button, online, mobile, the BBC Sport app and Connected TV. TV
coverage: Monday-Friday 13:00-18:00 on BBC Two, Saturday 13:15-16:00 BBC
One & 16:00-17:30 BBC Two, Sunday 14:00-17:30 on BBC Two (all times
BST)
British pair Dan Evans and James Ward both earned opening-day wins
to move into the second round of the Aegon Championships at Queen's.
British number two Evans won 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-2) against Austria's world number 51 Jurgen Melzer.
Match stats
Melzer
Evans
Match time: 2 hr 11 mins
11
Aces
18
4
Double faults
7
67%
1st serve %
58%
78%
1st serve win %
89%
39%
2nd serve win %
43%
2/6
Break points
3/6
Ward also beat a higher-ranked opponent, winning 7-5 6-4 against Slovenia's Blaz Rola.
Third seed Andy Murray plays Paul-Henri Mathieu in the second round on Wednesday.
The British number one, who was
beaten by Rafael Nadal
in the French Open semi-finals on Friday, was given a first-round bye.
Murray took part in two practice sessions on Monday,
but it was the performances of Evans and Ward on Centre Court which
caught the eye of the home spectators.
Evans, ranked 112th in the world, fought back from a
break down in the final set to beat Melzer and set up a second-round
match against South African seventh seed Kevin Anderson on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old Briton started impressively against the
former world number eight, going a break up in the third game to race
into a 4-1 lead, eventually serving out at 6-3.
The pair exchanged breaks in successive games in the
second, before 33-year-old Melzer took advantage of two double faults
from Evans in the tie-break to take the match into a deciding set.
Austria's Jurgen Melzer, who lost to Dan Evans, reached a career-high ranking of eighth in April 2011.
Melzer made a breakthrough in the opening game of the
third, but Evans hit back instantly as both players regained composure
to hold serve in the next 10 games and go to a final set tie-break.
Evans secured an early mini-break and, after a wild shot by Melzer, secured victory with a thunderous ace.
He is joined in the second round by compatriot Ward,
who started the tournament with a straight-sets success over world
number 91 Rola.
Match stats
Ward
Rola
Match time: 1 hr 28 mins
2
Aces
5
3
Double faults
2
71%
1st serve %
64%
67%
1st serve win %
76%
62%
2nd serve win %
30%
3/4
Break points
1/3
The British number three, ranked
64 places below Rola, broke his opponent's serve to lead 6-5 before
holding his own to clinch the opening set.
A double fault from Rola, who was playing his first
professional match on grass, in the ninth game of the second set allowed
Ward to serve out for the win.
It was the Briton's second victory in three weeks against Rola after
a gruelling French Open qualifier
last month.
The 27-year-old wildcard will now face Bulgarian world number 13 Grigor Dimitrov, the number four seed, on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday, France's
Mathieu
earned a 7-6 6-4 win over Aljaz Bedene to set up a second-round meeting with defending champion Murray.
Australia's
Bernard Tomic,
who could meet Murray in the third round, started his Queen's
campaign with a 6-4 3-6 7-5 success against Tim Smyczek of the United
States.
Elsewhere, four-time Queen's champion
Lleyton Hewitt
needed just one hour and nine minutes to win 6-3 6-3 against Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver.
Prof John Morgan (left) called the new device a "milestone for cardiac rhythm management in the UK"
The world's smallest pacemaker has been fitted inside the heart of a UK patient, medics have said.
The Micra Transcatheter Pacing System was fitted for the first time in England at Southampton General Hospital.
Consultant cardiologist Prof John Morgan said the procedure was a "landmark moment".
He said the device was "not much larger than an antibiotic pill" and was one tenth the size of traditional models.
A brief history of the pacemaker
Electrical activity within the heart was discovered in the 1800s
The first artificial pacemaker, built by Albert Hyman in 1932, was powered by a hand-cranked motor
Post World War 2 smaller devices were pioneered, with some worn like a necklace
In 1958 the first implanted pacemaker was given to Arne Larsson in Sweden, but the device failed after three hours
Early pacemaker batteries had short lifetimes until Wilson Greatbatch pioneered long-life lithium batteries in the 1970s
Source: The Science Museum, London
Currently, pacemakers, which use
electrical impulses to regulate the beating of the heart, are inserted
under the skin and connected to the heart via a lead.
The lead carries electrical signals to correct slow or
irregular heartbeats, but they can require replacement due to broken or
dislodged wires.
The new device can be implanted directly in the heart and
delivers electrical impulses from an electrode, removing the need for a
lead.
Prof Morgan said: "In addition to the advantages of the
device's size and wireless technology, the procedure reduces the risk of
infection and extended recovery time associated with traditional, more
invasive surgical pacemaker implants.
"This a big step forward in patient treatment and a milestone for cardiac rhythm management in the UK."
AnalysisBy Fergus Walsh, BBC Medical correspondent
This new technology has several potential advantages.
Most important is the absence of a wire or lead which carries
the electrical impulse from conventional pacemakers to the heart.
These wires can come under immense pressure and can be a source of
complications.
Standard pacemakers are implanted under the skin in the chest
which can be a potential infection risk. By contrast, the tiny
pacemaker used in these trials is inserted via a catheter from the groin
and sits in the heart.
At 26mm long and weighing 2g, the Micra TM used in Southampton can claim to be the world's smallest pacemaker.
Southampton General is the only UK hospital which is taking part in a global clinical trial of the device.
A patient in Austria was the first to have the device implanted in December 2013. A rival system called Nanostim from St Jude Medical is also undergoing trials. It is 41mm long.
A third technology under
development by EBR Systems combines a pacemaker implanted under the
skin which wirelessly sends ultrasound energy to a receiving electrode -
about the size of a grain of rice - implanted in the left ventricle.
Exercise can aid recovery after breast cancer but many women are not active enough, a study suggests.
Being active is known to be beneficial but US researchers,
writing in the journal Cancer, said they had found many women did too
little.
Only a third met recommended activity levels.
UK breast cancer groups said women here also needed more support to keep active after having the disease.
“Start Quote
Although this study was conducted in
America rather than the UK, the results suggest that women who have
received a breast cancer diagnosis need better support to keep active”
Caroline Dalton, Breakthrough Breast Cancer
The American study looked at the
pre and post-diagnosis exercise levels of 1,735 women aged 20-74 who
had breast cancer between 2008 and 2011 in North Carolina.
In the US and the UK, adults are recommended to do at least
150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes of
vigorous-intensity physical activity each week.
But this study found only 35% of women who had experienced breast cancer met the physical activity guidelines. 'Helps patients cope'
In the UK, campaigners said women here also needed to exercise more.
Caroline Dalton, of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said:
"Physical activity after a breast cancer diagnosis has been shown to
improve a patient's chances of survival and there is also some evidence
that it may help to reduce the risk of breast cancer returning.
"Keeping active may also help patients cope, both during and after treatment, by improving general health and wellbeing."
She added: "Although this study was conducted in America
rather than the UK, the results suggest that women who have received a
breast cancer diagnosis need better support to keep active."
"There are no specific guidelines in place at the moment to
tell us precisely how much physical activity is needed after a breast
cancer diagnosis, but Breakthrough Breast Cancer suggests aiming for 3.5
hours per week, after checking with your treatment team to see what is
appropriate for you."
Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive at Breast Cancer
Campaign, said: "This study serves as a reminder of how important it is
that women with breast cancer are made aware that physical activity can
improve their chances of survival.
"Recent research has shown that even small increases to the
amount of exercise done after a breast cancer diagnosis can give women a
better chance of survival.
"This is why it is essential that women are given a clear
written follow-up care plan, which should include practical advice about
diet and exercise."
Ever since Judy
Murray started to organise indoor games of tennis for a very young Andy
and Jamie, the Wimbledon champion has had a strong female influence on
his career.
In those days, the ball was a balloon filled with a few
grains of rice and the net a piece of rope stretched between the
radiator and the wall. But the games evolved, and Judy - who remained
heavily involved in coaching Andy up until the age of 17 - still
frequently attends his matches.
Boris Becker once suggested that Mum should travel less, and
Andy's decision to appoint Amelie Mauresmo as his coach
will have raised some eyebrows so high that you just hope the wind doesn't change any time soon.
Andy Murray explains why he chose new coach Amelie Mauresmo
Not that Murray will mind. In fact, it turns out that he was actively seeking a female coach.
He turned for advice to Darren Cahill, with whom he's worked closely as part of the Adidas player development programme.
"I mentioned to him that I was thinking about possibly a
female coach," Murray told BBC Sport at Queen's Club, on the eve of
his Aegon Championship defence.
"I didn't know a lot of the females that were playing
around the last 10 years or so, and he thought Amelie would be a good
fit. We also came up with a few other names, and after I spoke to her I
just had a good feeling about it."
His next answer was the most revealing.
"I've found, with my mum especially, that she listened
extremely well and that was something that I felt right now that I
needed," he said.
"I've started to listen to my body a lot more and I
think it's important that the people you work with respect that and
understand and listen to how you are feeling. You can't just be pushed
extremely hard every single day. I need to pick my moments during the
year when I really go for it in training."
Murray added that Mauresmo appeared 'extremely calm'
when they spoke on the phone. The reason he was happy to tell the BBC -
on the eve of the French Open - that
he had a "first choice candidate in mind"
was the one-and-a-half hours they spent together just before the tournament began.
As six-time Wimbledon champion Billie Jean King points
out: "It is not the gender of the coach that is important, it is the
strength of the relationship between the coach and the player that will
make the partnership work."
Mauresmo is said to have a good sense of humour, which
is a very important quality to Murray, and brings with her the
experience of two Grand Slam titles and the world number one ranking.
She did though let some winning positions slip in Grand
Slam finals and, as the current French Fed Cup captain, can't be
expected to have a deep knowledge of the men's tour.
The arrangement is initially for the grass court
season, but if both pass their probationary period, then it's a
relationship which Murray hopes will flourish.
Murray's mother Judy guided
him for much of his early career and cheered him to his 2004 victory in
the US Open junior tournament
The 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash was one of those
surprised by the news, but points to another advantage of employing such
a classy grass court player.
"I believe he still has plenty of room to improve
around the net. That would make him a better player - and Amelie's a
fantastic player around the net," the Australian said.
"If he can improve 10 or 20% around the net, and
continue attacking, then he doesn't need to get into long grinding
matches."
Will the relationship be a success? Check Murray's Grand Slam tally when Mauresmo's work is done.
India's
new government has unveiled a programme for rapid economic reforms
aimed at creating jobs and boosting foreign investment.
The announcement by President Pranab Mukherjee included plans designed to simplify taxation and reduce inflation.
Industrial reforms included attracting private investment to the coal and defence sectors.
He also spoke of India's hopes for good relations with neighbours and pledged to tackle violence against women.
The President's parliamentary address was made to lawmakers
elected in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landslide victory last month.
Mr Mukherjee said that the government would introduce a
general sales tax, encourage foreign investment and speed up approvals
for major business projects. It would also tackle bottlenecks that make
India's food inflation the highest among major economies.
The anti-inflationary message will be welcomed by central
bank governor Raghuram Rajan, who has made lowering India's
growth-stifling high interest rates contingent on containing consumer
prices.
India's economic expansion has slowed markedly, growing by
4.7% in the 2013-14 financial year and marking the second year of sub-5%
growth.
Britain's Chris Froome made it two wins out of two at the Criterium
du Dauphine to build a 12-second lead after the second of the eight
stages.
The defending champion, who also won Sunday's
opening time trial,
won the 156km run from Tarare to Col du Beal in four hours, 24 minutes, 41 seconds.
Alberto Contador was second and is also second in the overall standings.
The race is seen as a warm-up for next month's Tour de France, where Froome is also the
defending champion.
Froome triumphed in stage two when a breakaway by
Alessandro de Marchi, who was two minutes and 40 seconds clear going
into the final ascent, was reeled in with 7.5km remaining.
Tuesday's third stage is a 194km ride from Ambert to Teil.
Stage Two result:
1. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 4:24:41"
2. Alberto Contador (Spain / Tinkoff - Saxo) ST
3. Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands / Belkin) +4"
4. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Belgium / Lotto) +10"
5. Andrew Talansky (U.S. / Garmin) +12"
Other:
8. Adam Yates (Britain / Orica) +42"
Overall standings after stage 2 of 8:
1. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 4:37:44"
2. Alberto Contador (Spain / Tinkoff - Saxo) +12"
3. Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands / Belkin) +21"
4. Andrew Talansky (U.S. / Garmin) +33"
5. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Belgium / Lotto) +35"
Other:
9. Adam Yates (Britain / Orica) +1:31"
British comedian and actor Rik Mayall has died aged 56, according to his management team.
He played the obnoxious, poetry-writing anarchist Rick in The
Young Ones alongside his friend Adrian Edmondson before the duo later
went on to star in their sitcom Bottom.
Mayall also appeared in shows including Blackadder and The New Statesman.
He died at home in London. The Metropolitan Police said the death was not believed to be suspicious.
They said they were called to reports of a sudden death of a
man in his 50s at 13:19 BST on Monday, in Barnes in south west London.
London Ambulance Service said "a man, aged in his 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene".
The actor, who was married with three children, was left
seriously ill after a quad bike accident in 1998 which left him in a
coma for several days.
Rik Mayall's hit comedies included The Young Ones and Bottom
His big break came at The Comic Strip Club, performing with
comedy partner Adrian Edmondson as 20th Century Coyote in the 1980s,
which led to cult television hit The Comic Strip Presents.
He co-wrote The Young Ones with Lise Mayer and Ben Elton,
which ran for 12 episodes between 1982 and 1985. It shared cult status
and schoolboy humour with later sitcom Bottom.
Mayall and Edmondson's slapstick comedy often involved fires, explosions, and hefty blows to the head with a frying pan.
The pair met at Manchester University before forming the on-stage comedy duo The Dangerous Brothers.
Mayall's film roles included the comedies Drop Dead Fred and Guest House Paradiso. Anarchic characters
He also famously played the loud-mouthed and lecherous Lord
Flashheart in BBC comedy series Blackadder, starring Rowan Atkinson.
The actor appeared in the second and fourth series, shouting catchphrases such as "woof!" and "let's do-oo-oo it!".
But his early, anarchic characters gave way to the smooth,
scheming Conservative politician Alan B'Stard in The New Statesman,
which ran on ITV from 1986 to 1992.
A statement from Mayall's management, Brunskill, said: "We
are deeply saddened to announce the death of Rik Mayall who passed away
this morning.
"We will be issuing a further statement in the fullness of time."
The sitcom Bottom was one of the fruits of Mayall and Edmondson's long comedy partnership
Blackadder producer and writer John Lloyd paid tribute, telling the BBC: "It's really a dreadful piece of news."
"He was the most extraordinarily good actor as well as being
an amazing stand-up comic. Apart from being great company, he was a
great professional," said Lloyd
Comedian David Walliams was among those paying tribute on Twitter
He wrote: "I am heartbroken that my comedy idol growing up Rik Mayall has died. He made me want to be a comedian."
Writer Caitlin Moran tweeted: "Oh, Lord Flashheart RIP. God I loved you so hard." 'Truly brilliant comedian'
Director Edgar Wright also paid tribute:
"Shocked and saddened that a comedy hero is gone; for those who grew up
on The Young Ones, Rik Mayall was one of funniest performers ever."
Speaking about his 1998 quad bike accident last year, Mayall
said doctors had kept him alive on a life-support machine for five days
and were about to turn it off when he began to show signs of life.
He used to mark the occasion by exchanging presents with his
wife and children and said the near-death experience changed his life.
Mayall and Marsha Fitzalan as Alan and Sarah B'Stard in The New Statesman
He said: "The main difference between now and before my accident is I'm just very glad to be alive.
"Other people get moody in their 40s and 50s - men get the male menopause. I missed the whole thing. I was just really happy."
Mayall had hoped he and Edmonson would reprise Bottom but
despite rumours in 2012 that there would be a television adaptation of
their 1997 tour Hooligan's Island, Edmonson decided against it.
Mayall told The Mirror
in March last year: "I thought it would be fun and Ade thought it would
be fun but then he had a change of heart. It's a shame."
Earlier this year Edmonson explained his decision to told The Daily Express.
"I started writing it. I just couldn't. It's not what I want to do," said Edmonson.
"I enjoy my life. I do a lot of different things now and we
did what we did for about 30 years. I'm very proud of it. I just wanted
to have a different life, I wanted to do different stuff.
Edmonson added: "It's caused a bit of a bad air between us,
which is unfortunate. [Mayall] just doesn't understand why I don't want
to do it really, as do a lot of people out there."
The BBC's director of television Danny Cohen called Mayall a "truly brilliant comedian".
"His comic timing was outstanding and his screen presence
unique. For a generation of viewers he was a true comedy hero," said
Cohen.
Privacy Policy http://nje-ndani.blogspot.com/
Privacy Policy for http://nje-ndani.blogspot.com/
If you require any more information or have any questions about our
privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at imebuma@gmail.com.
At http://nje-ndani.blogspot.com/, the privacy of our visitors is of
extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the
types of personal information is received and collected by http://nje-ndani.blogspot.com/ and how it is used. Log Files
Like many other Web sites, http://nje-ndani.blogspot.com/
makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes
internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service
Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of
clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track users movement
around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and
other such information are not linked to any information that is
personally identifiable. Cookies and Web Beacons
http://nje-ndani.blogspot.com/ does
use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record
user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit,
customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other
information that the visitor sends via their browser. DoubleClick DART Cookie
.... Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on http://nje-ndani.blogspot.com/.
.:: Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to your
users based on their visit to http://nje-ndani.blogspot.com/
and other sites on the Internet.
.:: Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the
Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL -
http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html
Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include .......
Google Adsense
These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the
advertisements and links that appear on http://nje-ndani.blogspot.com/ send
directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address
when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or
Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure
the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the
advertising content that you see.
http://nje-ndani.blogspot.com/ has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.
You should consult the respective privacy policies of these
third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices
as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain
practices.http://nje-ndani.blogspot.com's privacy policy does not apply
to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or
web sites.
If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your
individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie
management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers'
respective websites.
