04/03/2018 BBC Weekend News

The man who broke

the four-minute mile -

Sir Roger Bannister

- has died.

Bannister goes streaking forward.

His achievement in 1954 gave him

a place in the record books -

and in athletics history.

I was 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.

We'll be hearing tributes

to Sir Roger from some of those

he inspired to compete.

Also tonight...

'Where is the world' say

the people of Eastern Ghouta -

as the Syrian government advances

into the rebel-held area.

Still not enough detail

on how the Irish border

will work after Brexit -

the Irish government suggests

UK proposals may not

be enough for the EU.

Polls close in Italy,

after an election campaign

dominated by immigration.

And, I am in Hollywood,

on the Oscars red carpet,

where I will be reporting live

from the 90th Academy Awards.

Good evening.

Sir Roger Bannister -

the first man to run a mile

in under four minutes -

has died at the age of 88.

It was in 1954 that he made

athletics history as an amateur

runner on a track in Oxford a moment

that came to symbolise

sporting achievement.

After retiring from athletics

he became a distinguished

doctor and neurologist.

Today fellow athletes paid

tribute to a man who made

"the impossible possible"

while the Prime Minister described

him as a great British icon.

Joe Wilson looks back at his life.

NEWSREEL:

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 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 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.

After two-and-a-half laps,

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.

It might have felt like the world

stopped when that clock stopped.

Four minute mile was a sporting

catch phrase everyone recognised.

All I can say 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.

There was certainly a feeling of it

being a national event,

and something of a landmark

for the country.

Sir Roger Bannister was a hugely

influential figure in sport.

Especially for those whose

athletics careers came after.

Middle-distance running became

a British tradition, a speciality.

Today, at the World Indoor Athletics

Championships in Birmingham,

two men who also hold the mile world

record talked about their mentor.

Roger was a great athlete.

He would tease Seb and I in later

years about had he been around

in our day and had better tracks

and better shoes and better training

methods he would have beaten us.

He was one of the cleverest people

I think I've ever met,

and he was, in equal measure,

modest as well.

He never really got what he did

and it wasn't a front.

This weekend, Laura Muir ran

the 1500 metres at the World Indoors

in true style, giving

everything for silver.

She studied medicine to become

a vet, and recognises her link

to Sir Roger Bannister.

I think he was very influential

and very sort of inspirational

to a lot of people, and to me,

that you can combine, you know,

academics and running.

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 Bannister was half

an hour a day on a cinder track.

The world's first sub four minute

miler was also perhaps

sport's last great amateur.

Sir Roger Bannister who has

died at the age of 88.

The Syrian leader Bashar Al Assad

has said that the offensive

on Eastern Ghouta must continue,

as his forces take parts of the area

back from rebel groups.

More than 600 civilians have

died in the fighting

and thousands have been fleeing.

The United Nations has been

trying get an aid convoy

into Eastern Ghouta but so far,

conditions have made

that impossible.

Our Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen

sent this report from Damascus.

These people said their village

was moving because the

Syrian Army had arrived.

One man cursed the Russians and

Iranians, key allies of the regime.

Air strikes he said including banned

cluster bombs had not stopped.

TRANSLATION: It has been

four days, no fuel, no

bread, no food, no water.

Where is the world?

Where are human rights?

We are humans, not animals.

400,000 people live

in Eastern Ghouta, an area

of fields and small towns

about the size of Manchester.

Most of them are civilians who have

not been able to escape the war.

TRANSLATION: When the planes

shelled, I could not see

anything in front of me.

I did not wait for the ambulance,

I started running.

For people who don't get away

in time, the risk is death.

Syria's war creates rivers of tears.

And kills without

discrimination or hesitation.

Western countries and others have

condemned attacks that kill

and injure civilians.

The UN humanitarian chief called it

collective punishment.

President Bashar Assad

said the condemnation

was a ridiculous lie.

Syria, he said, was

fighting terrorism.

The air strikes have been

followed by ground troops

who are making rapid advances.

The strategy seems to be to cut

Eastern Ghouta in half.

Negotiations between the rebel

groups and the Russians have been

going on for quite some time.

It is not clear if the objective

is a ceasefire or the effective

surrender of the rebels.

The biggest rebel group says

it is regrouping after a retreat.

The fighting is still going on,

for the regime the prize is the end

of the last major rebel

enclave around Damascus.

For the rebels, these

are desperate moments.

Jeremy Bowen, BBC News, Damascus.

The Irish foreign minister has

suggested that Britain's proposals

for the Irish border after Brexit

may be rejected by the EU because it

will need to protect how

the single market works.

Simon Coveney said there was little

new detail on how to avoid a hard

border in the Prime Minister's

speech on Friday -

today Theresa May said all parties

were committed to avoiding one.

Here's our Political

Correspondent Eleanor Garnier.

It is more than 300 miles long.

Tens of thousands of

people cross it everyday.

And more than £1 billion is done

in trade between Northern Ireland

and the Republic every week.

But after Brexit, these roads

will be the new frontier

between the UK and EU.

The challenge, how to keep

this border invisible,

when Britain is outside the single

market and the customs union.

We are committed, the Irish

government is committed,

all the parties in Northern Ireland,

to making sure there

is no hard border.

The Prime Minister's plans

would mean 80% of companies

would face no new customs checks

and with new technology,

she believes a hard

border can be avoided.

But the Irish government

has its doubts.

I am not sure that the

European Union will be able

to support a situation whereby 80%

of companies that trade north

and south and south north

will actually protect the integrity

of the EU single market.

To sort out this most difficult

of Brexit conundrums,

multiple sides need to be won over

and the Prime Minister

has already made clear,

she will not accept the fallback

position in Brussels.

One that would see Northern Ireland

stick to the rules and

regulations of the EU.

Mrs May believes her latest

thinking is a step 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 the Taoiseach,

when I met him recently,

has agreed that the UK and Irish

governments and the Commission can

sit down and look in more

detail at the proposals

that we have put forward.

But others elsewhere

in the UK have their doubts.

I think one of the most shameful

features of the whole Brexit

process has been the way,

the negligent way in

which the interests of Ireland have

just been cast aside.

So, when I hear her talk

about technological solutions,

I guess there is nobody

who would disagree with

the objectives she is setting,

but she is talking at the moment

about technological solutions that

perhaps do not even exist.

The Irish border is a key sticking

point in the talks, but other

problems need solving, too.

This week we will get a better

idea of how convinced

Brussels is when the EU side

publishes its draft guidelines

for the next round of talks

about the shape of our future

relationship with

the European Union.

It could give us a big sign as to

whether what the Prime Minister

is asking for is achievable.

Eleanor Garnier, BBC

News, Westminster.

Meanwhile Downing Street says

Theresa May spoke to President Trump

today to express her 'deep concern'

about his plans to

impose trade tariffs.

The President wants tariffs

on imported steel and aluminium

to protect American jobs.

But the plan has sparked

fears of a trade war

between the US, Europe and China.

In the last few minutes,

polling stations have closed

in Italy after an election campaign

dominated by concerns

about immigration and the economy.

Both right-wing parties and the anti

establishment Five Star movement

have been predicted to make gains.

We'll be live in Rome

with our Europe Editor

Katya Adler in a moment -

but first here's her

report from Naples.

In polling stations across Italy

today there was a sense of

uncertainty. Voters told us they

wanted change, but were not sure

which political party to trust.

TRANSLATION: Italians are

frustrated, but the politicians need

to hear our voice.

TRANSLATION: I am so worried about

Italy. I said a prayer before coming

to vote. Marty Lorenzi and other

centre-left leaders are preparing

for a bruising at the polls. Italian

say they're a top concerns remain

the insecure job market here,

frustrations with the euro and mass

irregular migration from Africa.

This is the leader of the

antiestablishment Five Star

movement, tipped tonight to become

the largest political party. I

caught up with him this morning just

before he cast his vote.

Traditional

politicians have kept telling

Italians that everything is fine and

it is not. Our motto is to be

amongst the people.

But the

political system here favours

coalitions, so his controversial

party could be left out in the cold.

Meaning this familiar face could be

kingmaker in stead. Naples and the

south of Italy will swing the vote

today. Silvio Berlusconi campaigned

here this weekend on behalf of a

right-wing Coalition peppered with

populists. Like this rising star

anti-immigration politician voting

today in Milan. So what does this

rather chaotic political picture

being for Italy and Europe? After

all, this is the Eurozone's

third-largest economy.

third-largest economy. Confusion is

quintessentially Italian, Brussels

is used to it, the financial markets

seem prepared for it and they

believe that a Coalition government

will water down more extremist

populist policies on offer. But how

does that help Italians get to grips

with their problems? This person has

a civilian protest party in Naples.

TRANSLATION: These days the Italian

politicians blame everything on

immigration but that is alive. Use

an employment, precarious contracts,

that is our problem and that is why

Italians live badly. Their votes now

cars, all Italians can do is wait.

The election will be followed by

weeks of political Horst trading,

change does not come fast in Italy.

Let us join our reporter. Exit polls

are coming through and what do they

suggest?

They are literally just

coming in and on this rainy, cloudy

night in Italy, the political

results look equally nebulous and

what will be a bitter shock for the

traditional parties, it looks like

the Five Star party has become

Italy's largest party. But with not

enough seats to govern alone in

either the upper or lower house of

Parliament, Silvio Berlusconi's

Coalition looks like it can garner

more seats but you can bet that the

next few weeks will be full of

arguing and fighting and horse

trading. That will frustrate Italian

voters enormously after this

divisive election campaign, they are

just demanding change.

Thank you.

Higher temperatures are expected

almost everywhere tomorrow. The thaw

has meant flooding in some places

and there have been problems on the

railways. Our correspondent is at

Carlisle station. Yes, there have

been some frustrated passengers here

because even though Network Rail has

been able to clear their West Coast

mainline, there is still no trains

heading north to Glasgow. Anyone

wanting to travel has to get a coach

to head into Scotland. There are

other branch lines that are still

blocked by snow and we saw engineers

earlier trying to dig out a train

that had been stuck in a snow drift

for three days and they say the snow

keeps blowing over the line but they

are hoping that things can go back

to something like normal tomorrow.

In other parts of the country, there

are villages in Devon

are villages in Devon that have no

water. There have been power cuts in

parts of the country, water

shortages in London and an appeal

for blood donors to come forward.

The effects of the storm and snow

are still having an impact.

Oscars shortly - first,

Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes

is at the BBC Sport Centre.

Thank you.

Good evening.

Andrew Pozzi credited

the late Sir Roger Bannister

as his inspiration behind winning

gold in the 60 metres

hurdles at the World Indoor

Athletics Championships.

Pozzi had to dip on the line to win

by a hundreth of a second.

Great Britain also won two bronzes

on the final day in Birmingham,

taking their medal tally to seven.

Meanwhile, Sir Mo Farah

won the new "Big Half"

race in London today.

The four-time Olympic champion,

who's switched from the track

to road-running, took part

in the 13.1 mile event as part

of his preparation for next

month's London Marathon,

where he's hoping to become

the first British male

winner for 15 years.

Onto the day's football,

and Match of the Day and Sportscene

are on BBC One later,

so if you don't want

to hear what happened,

you know what to do...

Manchester City are just four

wins away from clinching

the Premier League title,

after beating champions,

Chelsea, 1-0 at home.

Bernado Silva's goal means

they're now 18 points clear

at the top of the table.

Meanwhile, in the early kick off,

Arsenal's woes continue -

beaten by Brighton for the first

time in 36 years, with pressure

mounting on their manager,

Arsene Wenger, who's admitted it's

now almost impossible for Arsenal

to finish in the top four.

In the Scottish Cup,

Carl McHugh scored a wonder-goal

against Hearts to put Motherwell

into the semi-finals.

Rangers are also through - they'll

play Celtic in the last four.

England's women have drawn

with Germany 2-2 at

the "She Believes" Cup.

Ellen White's goals helped

make-up for some costly

errors in New Jersey.

Still Neville...

David Beckham was amongst the crowd,

after giving the side

a pre-match pep talk.

His former team mate,

and Lionesses' new manager,

Phil Neville, has now one win

and a draw to his name.

That's it from me, but there's much

more on the BBC Sport website

including news of a gripping final

at the Welsh Open Snooker.

The Oscars ceremony gets underway

in just over two hours' time.

This year's Academy Awards takes

place against the backdrop

of the Harvey Weinstein allegations,

and the MeToo and TimesUp movement.

We'll be live shortly

with our Arts Editor Will Gompertz

but first here's his look,

at some of the main contenders.

Here on a still concealed

Oscars red carpet, just

about everybody has got an opinion

about what is going

to happen tonight.

But what does a genuine Hollywood

insider, with her ear

to the ground, think?

Does she expect there to be

a post-Weinstein reaction that might

change how Academy members vote?

I don't think so.

I think Harvey Weinstein has changed

the scope of the awards season,

he has changed what people ask

about on red carpets,

what they wear, he has changed how

the whole industry is behaving,

but, in terms of voting

on the Oscars, I don't think

that there will be a real effect

on who wins and who loses.

My daughter, Angela,

was murdered seven months ago.

It seems to me that the police

department is too busy torturing

black folks and eating Krispy Kremes

to solve actual crime.

I would be surprised

if Three Billboards repeated

its BAFTA success and won Best

Picture.

That movie is quite polarising among

American Academy members.

The Shape of Water,

Guillermo Del Toro's film is one

that has won a lot of the precursor

awards that lead up to the Oscars,

so that seems to be sort

of a rising contender.

Who is going to win?

I would put my money on Get Out.

Chris was just telling me

how he felt much more

comfortable with my being here.

Noted.

What about Best Actor?

You cannot reason with a tiger!

When your head is in its mouth!

The front runner for Best Actor

is Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour,

for whom this is, in many ways,

possibly a lifetime

achievement award.

There is an outside contender,

Timothee Chalamet for

Call Me By Your Name.

He has kind of captured,

what I think of as the

ingenue spot this year.

Normally reserved for a beautiful

young woman, this year it seems

to be held by a beautiful young man.

Surely Francis McDormand

is a shoo-in as Best Actress for her

performance in Three Billboards

as a grieving, seething mother.

What is with the new

attitude, Dixon?

Your mamma been coaching ya?

Her performance in Three Billboards,

if there is any movie that sort

of captured the #MeToo movement

and the idea of female rage,

surely it is this one

and McDormand's performance

in the whole film.

Go, girl.

And what about Greta Gerwig

and her film Lady Bird?

Could she become just the second

woman in the history

of the Oscars to walk away

with the Best Director prize?

I think Greta Gerwig is a long shot.

I think her being nominated is

a milestone for a female director.

It has happened so rarely.

Kathryn Bigelow is the only

one who has actually

won in the category.

Three, two, one.

Ready?

Action!

Guillermo Del Toro is the person

I would put my money on.

This may very well be the most

sensitive asset ever to be held.

This could indeed be the year,

but The Shape of Water is the film

that makes the biggest...

Splash?

Will Gompertz, BBC News, Hollywood.

So, as the stars begin to arrive for

the Oscars, we can see that the red

carpet will be a more colourful

affair than the BAFTAs and the

Golden Globes and that is because

there is no black dress code. It is

not to say that there is a

forgetfulness about what has been

going on, the stories and the

revelations, there is still a great

deal of seriousness about it and it

is here where you can seal it. The

social engagement has gone to

another level and you can see that

reflected in the movie short listed

for the awards. Thank you.

That's all from me,

stay with us on BBC1 -