17/09/2016 BBC Weekend News


17/09/2016

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A former defence chief warns Britain's armed forces

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are ill-prepared for any serious attack on the UK.

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General Sir Richard Barrons said he'd warned the Government over

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funding cuts and was speaking out as a matter of conscience.

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America says coalition forces fighting Islamic State might have

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accidentally struck a Syrian army position, killing 60 soldiers.

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A paralympic cyclist from Iran has died after a road race crash in Rio.

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Scotland Yard investigates after a video is released showing

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a policeman attacking a car when the driver refuses to get out.

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And a doubles victory for the Murray brothers maintains Britain's

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A retired general who was until recently one of the most

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senior military commanders in the UK has warned that the country has

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"taken its eye off the ball" in its defence planning.

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General Sir Richard Barrons warned the Defence Secretary in April that

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cuts had left the armed forces ill-prepared for any

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Here's our Defence Correspondent, Jonathan Beale.

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For over a decade, Britain's Armed Forces have been

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fighting counterinsurgency wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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But according to a former senior general, they are ill-equipped

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and ill-prepared to defend the homeland or to fight a war

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against a significant military power like Russia.

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General Sir Richard Barrons gave this stark assessment

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to the Defence Secretary just before he left the Army a few months ago.

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Although Nato is a considerably more powerful organisation

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in absolute terms than Russia, because of what Russia has,

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it is holding at higher readiness, we have created this gap

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for opportunism or miscalculation and I argue we should

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British forces have recently been training with Nato allies to meet

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the potential threat from a more aggressive Russia.

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But in his ten-page memo to the Defence Secretary,

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Sir Richard highlights serious gaps in the nation's defences.

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Military capability has been withered by design,

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repeatedly stripped out by recent defence cuts.

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Neither the UK homeland nor a deployed force could be

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protected from a concerted Russian air campaign.

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And he warns of extremely fragile equipment or platforms

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that we cannot afford to use fully, damage or lose.

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That appears to be a reference to the two new expensive aircraft

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carriers now being built for the Royal Navy.

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As for the new jets that will fly off them, the F35, Sir Richard

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says an enemy would not need to shoot them down.

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They would only need to target the 40 people

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Sir Richard is undoubtedly right and there are many people

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inside the Ministry of Defence at senior level and outside it

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It is only a shame that he did not raise these issues more

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strongly when he was Chief of Joint Forces Command.

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The Ministry of Defence point out that the defence budget is rising

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and the plans to buy more military hardware were recently

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approved by defence chiefs, including Sir Richard.

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He left after being passed over for promotion.

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But General Barrons insists this is not sour grapes.

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He says he is speaking out as a matter of conscience.

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Jonathan Beale, BBC News, at the Ministry of Defence.

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The United States says coalition aircraft fighting Islamic State have

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accidentally struck a Syrian army position, killing 60 Government

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Targets were struck near the town of Deir al-Zour.

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Straight now to Washington and our North America Editor,

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What do we know? We have had a qualified response from the

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Americans and an angry response from the Russians, the American said they

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hold of the air strike was a Russians told them it was possible

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that Syrian military units had been head and the statement says that

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Syria is a complex situation with complex forces and militias in close

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proximity but coalition forces would not intentionally target Syrian

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forces, the Russians on the other hand have said, look, if the air

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strike was caused by Ronco admits, that is a direct consequence of US

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stubbornness in discussing targeting. There is obviously a lot

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of anger and the bigger question is, where does this leave the hugely

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fragile ceasefire? It has already had a lot of insults traded between

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the Russians and Syrians and the Americans over what is happening and

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to have misplaced air strike at a time of high mistrust is not a great

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combination. John, thank you. A Paralympic cyclist from Iran has

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died after being involved in a crash Iran's Paralympic Committee said

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he died from his injuries after Our correspondent Wyre Davies

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is on the road race course in Rio. This is a start-finish on that road

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race course but it was in the hills behind me by the tragedy happened.

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The 48-year-old Iranian athlete came off his bike at speed and reportedly

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hit his head on a rock and according to reports from the scene he was

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treated at the scene but died on his way to hospital. The death was

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confirmed tonight by the Iranian Paralympic Association, saying this

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experience that's it, the veteran of many games, and sadly passed away.

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He was an Iranian champion who dig up the sport after losing his leg in

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the Iran Iraq war and the Iranians have said that they are devastated

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by the loss, the first mentality at the Paralympic or Olympic Games

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since 1960 and it comes on the last full day of competition here in Rio.

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Tonight there is a memorial service taking place as we speak at the

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Athletes' VIllage a couple of miles away from here and the Iranian flag

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is also flying at half-mast throughout the Olympic venues. Thank

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you. The Metropolitan Police have

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launched an investigation after a video was released

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and shared on social media purportedly showing a uniformed

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officer attacking a car in London. The windscreen was smashed

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after the driver refused to get out Our news correspondent

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Christian Fraser has more. Get out of the car so I can

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check your details. Police suspect the man filming this

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incident is banned from driving. My keys are out of

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the ignition, officer. My property, I'm

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putting it on the side. The officer first tries to pull down

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the window with his hands. But failing to get

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in, this happens... I've got insurance, you're

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smashing this for no reason. And having smashed the windscreen,

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he then tries to cut his way The driver inside, who released this

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video, is said to be Leon Fontana, who repeatedly

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protests his innocence. And it seems the police

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are looking for "TJ". We don't know what led

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to the incident, why police were so anxious

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to get into this vehicle, but the video has now been watched

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by thousands on social media. The Metropolitan Police say

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they are aware of this footage and it is now the subject

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of an investigation by the force's Directorate of Professional

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Standards. They say that since

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the incident they have been But Scotland Yard says that

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while the investigation is in its early stages,

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the officers involved in this They have also clarified that no one

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inside the vehicle Russians are going to the polls

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to elect a new parliament. The previous election five years

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ago sparked large-scale But as Steve Rosenberg reports

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from Arkhangels in northern Russia, This is a Russia that

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roads cannot reach. We are speeding along

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the Northern Dvina River. On board are election

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officials and a ballot box. Then it is off to build a polling

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station so that the three people who live here can vote early

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in the Parliamentary election. First, a village kitchen

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needs converting. This 84-year-old supports

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Vladimir Putin's party. TRANSLATION: When Putin

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raised my pension, I cried To some Russians, democracy

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means honest elections. Five years ago, in the regional

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capital and across Russia, vote-rigging in the last

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Parliamentary election sparked Alexander Feltz

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was a protester here. The opposition movement,

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he says, has faded. Most of the people, they don't

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think about democracy They think about their children,

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their families and they don't Crucially, most Russians still trust

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Vladimir Putin far more The Kremlin rules Russia

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through a power vertical with Vladimir Putin at the top

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and all other institutions, including the parliament,

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below him and subservient to him. But with economic problems rising,

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the danger for the Kremlin is that if people start to doubt

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the legitimacy of those other institutions, they will pin

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all their hopes on the one man Back on the river, the ballot box

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sails again, to another island. But Russians aren't expecting

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a new parliament to make They think they've got

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a President for that. Steve Rosenberg, BBC News,

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Arkhangels. It's the last full day

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of competition at the Paralympics in Rio and there have been more

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golds for Great Britain, with Dame Sarah Storey

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winning in the road race. This report from Andy Swiss contains

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some flash photography. Britain's 60th gold of the Games

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came from a very familiar source, as Dame Sarah Storey proved,

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once again, just why she's the country's most

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successful female Paralympian. After setting out with her rivals,

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more than two hours later, Another golden moment to share

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with her family. There was also history

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in the archery, a British one, Three more medals to add to

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Britain's ever expanding collection. COMMENTATOR: But it is going

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to be Hannah Cockroft Last night they raced past

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the 120 they won in London, thanks to another title

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for Hannah Cockroft So, four years on, is this British

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team even better? Our team, especially athletics team,

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is so much stronger here. We've got so much young

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talent, so much new talent and if that is not proof

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that there is a London legacy, Tonight, there's also been another

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gold in the pool for Ollie Hynd, a thrilling finish to his

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Individual Medley, as he just clung on to win his second

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title of the Games. COMMENTATOR: And Ollie Hynd

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is the Paralympic champion, again. There was the tensest of ends

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to the wheelchair basketball as, after trailing against Turkey,

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Britain forced their bronze medal match into extra-time before

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eventually and emotionally In the last few minutes there has

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been another gold medal in the pool for Britain's Hannah Russell but

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clearly all of this has been overshadowed by the tragic death of

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the Iranian cyclist, Bahman Golbarnezhad. Tonight, the British

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Paralympic Association described it as devastating news. Thank you.

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With all the rest of the day's sport, here's Lizzie Greenwood

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Great Britain's hopes of retaining their Davis Cup tennis

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title are still alive after an emotional doubles victory

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Britain now trail Argentina 2-1 in the semi-final and must win both

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of tomorrow's singles matches, as Patrick Geary reports.

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The British fans in Glasgow must be optimists.

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Having tried and tried again, nothing was working

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Open-and-shut from here, Great Britain had to win all three

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remaining semi-final rubbers - send for the Murray brothers.

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Andy had played and lost the longest match of his career only yesterday.

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Just as well his brother is US Open Doubles Champion.

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Jamie had his back and won a break - set one to the Murrays.

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Juan Martin del Potro, who'd been sent back out

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by Argentina, Friday's five sets still in his legs.

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He didn't need to expend much energy here, he and Leonardo Mayer battered

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But the Murrays began playing together as children.

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The intuitive understanding and positioning that

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Knowing there was simply no room for further errors,

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they forced the pressure on the Argentinian pair

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British desperation had ignited Murray inspiration.

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Whatever their opponents had, they had more.

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A victory finished by Andy, but it seemed to belong to Jamie.

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You know, it's not going to get better for me to, kind of,

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play with him in in a Scottish crowd, it gets quite emotional.

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Jamie's done now, Andy must play and win again tomorrow

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So much given, so much still to give.

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There were 22 goals in today's five Premier League matches.

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You can watch all of them on Match of the Day which follows the news,

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but I'm going to give you results now so avert your attention

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Pep Guardiola's perfect start at Manchester City

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continued with a 4-0 home win against Bournemouth.

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Kevin De Bruyne was the standout player.

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City are unbeaten this season and sit two points clear

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Elsewhere, there were wins for 2nd placed Everton,

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who are enjoying their best start to a Premier League season.

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Champions Leicester's record-signing Islam Slimani scored

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Not quite as many goals in the Scottish Premiership,

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where there were wins for Motherwell and St Johnstone -

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Warwickshire have won cricket's Royal London One Day Cup after one

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of the most one-sided Lord's finals in history.

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They cruised to an eight-wicket victory over Surrey,

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chasing down their meagre total of 136 with nearly

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Nico Rosberg is closing in on Lewis Hamilton's

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slender lead at the top of the Formula One

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Singapore Grand Prix in pole position after qualifying 0.7

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of a second faster than Hamilton, who's 3rd on the grid behind

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You can see more on all of today's stories on the BBC News Channel.

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Good evening. A quieter day today I'm pleased to say but still a day

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of contrasts, blue skies and sunshine to

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