0:00:19 > 0:00:21Good afternoon.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to run a mile in under
0:00:25 > 0:00:32four minutes, has died at the age of 88.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35He set the record on a track in Oxford, in 1954, later winning
0:00:35 > 0:00:36gold at that year's Commonwealth Games.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38After retiring from athletics, Sir Roger became a distinguished
0:00:38 > 0:00:39doctor and neurologist.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42His family said Sir Roger died peacefully in his sleep.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Joe Wilson looks back at his life.
0:00:46 > 0:00:4925-year-old Roger Bannister, third from the left...
0:00:49 > 0:00:51There are some moments of sporting history which become part
0:00:51 > 0:00:53of the world's history.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57He's decided that this is the right moment...
0:00:57 > 0:01:00What Roger Bannister achieved in 1954 was like a lunar landing
0:01:00 > 0:01:03for 20th-century sport.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08Bannister's old friend and rival Chris Chataway is in third place,
0:01:08 > 0:01:10waiting his time to take over as pacer.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13To run a mile and stop the clock before it reached four minutes.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18In 1954, this was a magical number, a barrier of human achievement,
0:01:18 > 0:01:20a feat that would redefine what was humanly possible and it
0:01:20 > 0:01:25would fall to a young medical student to achieve it.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Brasher gives way to Chataway.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Bannister, a superb tactician, has suffered some criticism
0:01:30 > 0:01:32in the past for adopting his own rather unorthodox training methods,
0:01:32 > 0:01:34but they are paying dividends now.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38At this point, it becomes quite painful.
0:01:38 > 0:01:46I overtake Chris Chataway and begin the finish.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53And here he comes, Bannister goes streaking forward
0:01:53 > 0:01:55with about 250 yards to the tapes.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Every stride counted - the tape broke at three
0:01:57 > 0:01:58minutes 59.4 seconds.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01And Bannister has done it, though he is out on his feet.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04His coach and team manager tell him he has achieved his ambition.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06There was certainly a feeling of it being a national event,
0:02:06 > 0:02:11something of a landmark for the country.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15It might have felt like the world stopped when that clock stopped.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19The four-minute mile was a sporting catchphrase everyone recognised.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24All I can say is that I'm absolutely overwhelmed and delighted.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27It was a great surprise to me to be able to do it today
0:02:27 > 0:02:29and I think I was very lucky.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Sir Roger Bannister was knighted in 1975.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Athletics was only a small part of his life.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38He regarded his work as a neurologist as more significant.
0:02:38 > 0:02:44When he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease,
0:02:44 > 0:02:46he described the gentle irony that a neurologist should find himself
0:02:46 > 0:02:50with a neurological condition.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Training for Roger Bannister in athletics had been half an hour
0:02:53 > 0:02:55a day on a cinder track.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58The world's first four-minute miler was also perhaps
0:02:58 > 0:03:03sport's last great amateur.
0:03:03 > 0:03:11Sir Roger Bannister who has died at the age of 88.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14Let us talk more about his life.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16And we're hearing moving tributes to Roger Bannister.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Andy Moore is here.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23An extraordinary achievement, but also an extraordinary life.That is
0:03:23 > 0:03:28right. The tributes to Sir Roger have been led by the Prime Minister
0:03:28 > 0:03:31who said he was a great British sporting icon whose achievements for
0:03:31 > 0:03:37an inspiration to us all, he will be greatly missed. Sebastian Coe said,
0:03:37 > 0:03:41this is a day of intense sadness for our nation and all of us in
0:03:41 > 0:03:45athletics. There is not a single athlete of my generation who was not
0:03:45 > 0:03:55inspired by Sir Roger. From Roger black, he said, wonderful, always
0:03:55 > 0:03:59around athletics, always this iconic figure. Lots of touching tributes
0:03:59 > 0:04:05from members of the public, some words keep cropping up, legend,
0:04:05 > 0:04:10gentlemen, a source of inspiration. From his family, he died surrounded
0:04:10 > 0:04:16by his family, loved by them, they went on to say, he banked his
0:04:16 > 0:04:22treasure in the hearts of his friends.Thank you very much indeed.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25Ireland's Foreign Minister has suggested that the EU is likely
0:04:25 > 0:04:28to reject Theresa May's plan to keep a soft border between
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Northern Ireland and the Republic after Brexit.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35Mrs May says the UK will leave the single market and customs union
0:04:35 > 0:04:38but insists there will be no return to barriers and checks
0:04:38 > 0:04:39on the border.
0:04:39 > 0:04:46Here's our political correspondent, Suzana Mendonca.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49It's 310 miles long, 30,000 people cross it every day,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52and more than £1 billion a week is done in trade across
0:04:52 > 0:04:54the border between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
0:04:54 > 0:05:00When Britain leaves the European Union, this
0:05:00 > 0:05:03currently invisible border will become its frontier
0:05:03 > 0:05:05with the EU and all sides want to keep it invisible.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07The question is how, considering Britain doesn't
0:05:07 > 0:05:09want to stay in the single market or customs union.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11We are committed, the Irish government, all the parties
0:05:11 > 0:05:13in Northern Ireland, to making sure there
0:05:13 > 0:05:15is no hard border.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17The Prime Minister says a soft border could be kept intact
0:05:17 > 0:05:24through the use of technology and no new trade restrictions
0:05:24 > 0:05:26on smaller businesses, but in its first in-depth response
0:05:26 > 0:05:28to her plan, the Republic of Ireland has cast doubt
0:05:28 > 0:05:30on whether the EU would go for it.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35I'm not sure that the European Union will be able to support
0:05:35 > 0:05:38a situation whereby 80% of companies that trade North-South
0:05:38 > 0:05:40and South-North would actually protect the integrity
0:05:40 > 0:05:45of the EU single market.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49That Irish leader met the Prime Minister last year to discuss
0:05:49 > 0:05:52solutions to the Irish border question which has been a sticking
0:05:52 > 0:05:57point in the Brexit negotiations. The EU wants Northern Ireland in a
0:05:57 > 0:06:01customs union while the DUP and the UK Government do not. Mrs May says
0:06:01 > 0:06:06her speech moves the issue forward. It sets out some ways particularly
0:06:06 > 0:06:10on the issue of customs across the border in which we can resolve that
0:06:10 > 0:06:17and I am pleased to say that Taoiseach has agreed the UK and
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Irish governments and the commission can look down in more detail at the
0:06:21 > 0:06:24proposals we have put forward.The future of financial services is
0:06:24 > 0:06:28another crucial area for the UK economy and the Prime Minister has
0:06:28 > 0:06:32made clear the City could lose some access to European markets. She
0:06:32 > 0:06:37knows the deal Britain is after in this and other sectors is a vast
0:06:37 > 0:06:41departure from the kinds of trade deals that EU has done before.It is
0:06:41 > 0:06:47very broad, so it is covering issues like industrial goods, cars, but
0:06:47 > 0:06:52also financial services, energy, transport, science, agriculture,
0:06:52 > 0:06:56fisheries.Tomorrow we will get a clearer idea of what the EU thinks
0:06:56 > 0:07:01when it responds to Mrs May's plans.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Large number of people are reported to be fleeing the Syrian region
0:07:05 > 0:07:07of Eastern Ghouta as government forces continue a ground
0:07:07 > 0:07:14assault against the last remaining rebels there.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17There are suggestions rebels in some areas may be
0:07:17 > 0:07:18negotiating a surrender.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20The UN has cancelled plans to deliver aid
0:07:20 > 0:07:21to civilians in the area today.
0:07:21 > 0:07:29Around 40 trucks had been due to go in.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32Voting is under way in Italy's general election,
0:07:32 > 0:07:34following a divisive campaign dominated by immigration.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36The centre-left government is facing a stiff challenge from both
0:07:36 > 0:07:38a right-wing coalition and the populist Five Star Movement,
0:07:38 > 0:07:45which could emerge as the largest party.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47An independent report given to the board of
0:07:47 > 0:07:49the construction giant, Carillion, four months before it
0:07:49 > 0:07:50collapsed has now been published.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53It said the firm had been aggressively managed
0:07:53 > 0:07:57to make its balance sheet look better than it was.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01The document has been published by two Commons committees
0:08:01 > 0:08:03which are examining why Carillion went out of business in January
0:08:03 > 0:08:11with debts of almost £1 billion.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14Work is continuing to clear snow from roads and railway lines
0:08:14 > 0:08:15after days of disruption.
0:08:15 > 0:08:1815 flood warnings are still in place in the south west
0:08:18 > 0:08:19and north east of England.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22Andy Gill is at Scotch Corner on the A1 in North Yorkshire.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Andy.
0:08:24 > 0:08:32What is the latest?The snow is still continuing to fall, as you can
0:08:32 > 0:08:38see. This is the main A66 linking Scotch Corner to Cumbria. It had
0:08:38 > 0:08:45been closed for five days because of the snow but in the last couple of
0:08:45 > 0:08:48hours, it has reopened. The Highways Agency has said crews worked hard to
0:08:48 > 0:08:52clear the snow. Driving conditions still very poor, not just because of
0:08:52 > 0:08:58the snow, but because of fog. The weather affecting trans-Pennine
0:08:58 > 0:09:03railway routes too. No trains between Newcastle and Carlisle, the
0:09:03 > 0:09:10Leeds to Carlisle rail route also affected. So far as the Maine coast
0:09:10 > 0:09:13links between England and Scotland go, the East Coast Main Line did get
0:09:13 > 0:09:15trains running again yesterday, but no trains on the west Coast line
0:09:15 > 0:09:20today. There is a replacement bus service. Rail companies across the
0:09:20 > 0:09:25UK so the weather has been so bad they are making cancellations and
0:09:25 > 0:09:29delays throughout the country and that will continue to be the case
0:09:29 > 0:09:33tomorrow. You should check before you try to make any rail journeys. A
0:09:33 > 0:09:39number of minor roads in rural and hilly areas in England, Wales and
0:09:39 > 0:09:43Scotland still completely blocked by snow drifts as well. There is a thaw
0:09:43 > 0:09:49on the way but tomorrow's rush-hour, because of power cuts as well, it is
0:09:49 > 0:09:55unlikely to be anything like normal. Many thanks.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58You can see more on all of today's stories on the BBC News Channel.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00The next news on BBC One is at 6.05pm.
0:10:00 > 0:10:07Bye for now.