04/03/2018 BBC Weekend News

Good afternoon.

Sir Roger Bannister,

the first man to run a mile in under

four minutes, has died

at the age of 88.

He set the record on a track

in Oxford, in 1954, later winning

gold at that year's Commonwealth

Games.

After retiring from athletics,

Sir Roger became a distinguished

doctor and neurologist.

His family said Sir Roger died

peacefully in his sleep.

Joe Wilson looks back at his life.

25-year-old Roger Bannister,

third from the left...

There are some moments of sporting

history which become part

of the world's history.

He's decided that this

is the right moment...

What Roger Bannister achieved

in 1954 was like a lunar landing

for 20th-century sport.

Bannister's old friend and rival

Chris Chataway is in third place,

waiting his time to take

over as pacer.

To run a mile and stop the clock

before it reached four minutes.

In 1954, this was a magical number,

a barrier of human achievement,

a feat that would redefine

what was humanly possible and it

would fall to a young medical

student to achieve it.

Brasher gives way to Chataway.

Bannister, a superb tactician,

has suffered some criticism

in the past for adopting his own

rather unorthodox training methods,

but they are paying dividends now.

At this point, it

becomes quite painful.

I overtake Chris Chataway

and begin the finish.

And here he comes, Bannister

goes streaking forward

with about 250 yards to the tapes.

Every stride counted -

the tape broke at three

minutes 59.4 seconds.

And Bannister has done it,

though he is out on his feet.

His coach and team manager tell him

he has achieved his ambition.

There was certainly a feeling of it

being a national event,

something of a landmark

for the country.

It might have felt like the world

stopped when that clock stopped.

The four-minute mile was a sporting

catchphrase everyone recognised.

All I can say is that I'm absolutely

overwhelmed and delighted.

It was a great surprise to me

to be able to do it today

and I think I was very lucky.

Sir Roger Bannister

was knighted in 1975.

Athletics was only

a small part of his life.

He regarded his work as

a neurologist as more significant.

When he was diagnosed

with Parkinson's disease,

he described the gentle irony that

a neurologist should find himself

with a neurological condition.

Training for Roger Bannister

in athletics had been half an hour

a day on a cinder track.

The world's first four-minute

miler was also perhaps

sport's last great amateur.

Sir Roger Bannister who has

died at the age of 88.

Let us talk more about his life.

And we're hearing moving

tributes to Roger Bannister.

Andy Moore is here.

An extraordinary achievement, but

also an extraordinary life.

That is

right. The tributes to Sir Roger

have been led by the Prime Minister

who said he was a great British

sporting icon whose achievements for

an inspiration to us all, he will be

greatly missed. Sebastian Coe said,

this is a day of intense sadness for

our nation and all of us in

athletics. There is not a single

athlete of my generation who was not

inspired by Sir Roger. From Roger

black, he said, wonderful, always

around athletics, always this iconic

figure. Lots of touching tributes

from members of the public, some

words keep cropping up, legend,

gentlemen, a source of inspiration.

From his family, he died surrounded

by his family, loved by them, they

went on to say, he banked his

treasure in the hearts of his

friends.

Thank you very much indeed.

Ireland's Foreign Minister has

suggested that the EU is likely

to reject Theresa May's plan to keep

a soft border between

Northern Ireland and

the Republic after Brexit.

Mrs May says the UK will leave

the single market and customs union

but insists there will be no return

to barriers and checks

on the border.

Here's our political

correspondent, Suzana Mendonca.

It's 310 miles long,

30,000 people cross it every day,

and more than £1 billion a week

is done in trade across

the border between the UK

and the Republic of Ireland.

When Britain leaves

the European Union, this

currently invisible border

will become its frontier

with the EU and all sides

want to keep it invisible.

The question is how,

considering Britain doesn't

want to stay in the single market

or customs union.

We are committed, the Irish

government, all the parties

in Northern Ireland,

to making sure there

is no hard border.

The Prime Minister says a soft

border could be kept intact

through the use of technology and no

new trade restrictions

on smaller businesses,

but in its first in-depth response

to her plan, the Republic

of Ireland has cast doubt

on whether the EU would go for it.

I'm not sure that the European Union

will be able to support

a situation whereby 80% of companies

that trade North-South

and South-North would actually

protect the integrity

of the EU single market.

That Irish leader met the Prime

Minister last year to discuss

solutions to the Irish border

question which has been a sticking

point in the Brexit negotiations.

The EU wants Northern Ireland in a

customs union while the DUP and the

UK Government do not. Mrs May says

her speech moves the issue forward.

It sets out some ways particularly

on the issue of customs across the

border in which we can resolve that

and I am pleased to say that

Taoiseach has agreed the UK and

Irish governments and the commission

can look down in more detail at the

proposals we have put forward.

The

future of financial services is

another crucial area for the UK

economy and the Prime Minister has

made clear the City could lose some

access to European markets. She

knows the deal Britain is after in

this and other sectors is a vast

departure from the kinds of trade

deals that EU has done before.

It is

very broad, so it is covering issues

like industrial goods, cars, but

also financial services, energy,

transport, science, agriculture,

fisheries.

Tomorrow we will get a

clearer idea of what the EU thinks

when it responds to Mrs May's plans.

Large number of people are reported

to be fleeing the Syrian region

of Eastern Ghouta as government

forces continue a ground

assault against the last

remaining rebels there.

There are suggestions rebels

in some areas may be

negotiating a surrender.

The UN has cancelled

plans to deliver aid

to civilians in the area today.

Around 40 trucks had

been due to go in.

Voting is under way

in Italy's general election,

following a divisive

campaign dominated by immigration.

The centre-left government is facing

a stiff challenge from both

a right-wing coalition

and the populist Five Star Movement,

which could emerge

as the largest party.

An independent report

given to the board of

the construction giant,

Carillion, four months before it

collapsed has now been published.

It said the firm had been

aggressively managed

to make its balance sheet look

better than it was.

The document has been published

by two Commons committees

which are examining why Carillion

went out of business in January

with debts of almost £1 billion.

Work is continuing to clear snow

from roads and railway lines

after days of disruption.

15 flood warnings are still

in place in the south west

and north east of England.

Andy Gill is at Scotch Corner

on the A1 in North Yorkshire.

Andy.

What is the latest?

The snow is

still continuing to fall, as you can

see. This is the main A66 linking

Scotch Corner to Cumbria. It had

been closed for five days because of

the snow but in the last couple of

hours, it has reopened. The Highways

Agency has said crews worked hard to

clear the snow. Driving conditions

still very poor, not just because of

the snow, but because of fog. The

weather affecting trans-Pennine

railway routes too. No trains

between Newcastle and Carlisle, the

Leeds to Carlisle rail route also

affected. So far as the Maine coast

links between England and Scotland

go, the East Coast Main Line did get

trains running again yesterday, but

no trains on the west Coast line

today. There is a replacement bus

service. Rail companies across the

UK so the weather has been so bad

they are making cancellations and

delays throughout the country and

that will continue to be the case

tomorrow. You should check before

you try to make any rail journeys. A

number of minor roads in rural and

hilly areas in England, Wales and

Scotland still completely blocked by

snow drifts as well. There is a thaw

on the way but tomorrow's rush-hour,

because of power cuts as well, it is

unlikely to be anything like normal.

Many thanks.

You can see more on all of today's

stories on the BBC News Channel.

The next news on BBC

One is at 6.05pm.

Bye for now.