28/12/2016 BBC News

Sir Bradley Wiggins - Britain's most decorated Olympian -

has announced his retirement from cycling.

He won eight Olympic medals, including five golds,

and was Britain's first Tour de France winner.

And a woman is killed as 20 cars are involved

in a series of accidents in fog on an A road in Oxfordshire.

How four in every five middle-aged people are overweight,

drinking too much or not doing enough exercise.

Britain's most decorated Olympian and Tour de France winner

Sir Bradley Wiggins has announced his retirement

In a statement this afternoon he said he had been lucky enough

to live a dream and make a career out of a sport he fell in love

It ends a stunning career which also brought him world championships

But it follows questions about medical treatments

This report from our Sports Correspondent Richard Conway.

On the road and on the track Sir Bradley Wiggins dominated his sport

like few others. Gold medallist and Olympic champion, Bradley Wiggins.

He is the U:K.'s most decorated Olympian winning eight medals over

16 years. In 2012 he became the first Briton to claim the Tour de

France title. Achievements which took him on a path to the palace.

But after so much success over the years, Sir Bradley Wiggins's

remarkable career has finally come to a halt, saying that he has

fulfilled all of his childhood dreams and aspirations. It is easy

sitting here with the glory of winning but when you're out there,

at any moment you think you idiot, why do you carry on. I always wanted

to go out on the top. Bradley Wiggins kindled his love of cycling

at his local club in London and aged 12 he knew what he wanted to

achieve, telling his teachers that one day he would be an Olympic

champion. He delivered on a promise, winning his first gold medal at the

Athens games in 2004. All at a time when British Cycling success was far

from normal. And his personality intertwined with the love of modern

culture helped him transcend and popularise his sword. His retirement

comes at a time of heightened scrutiny into his career. Earlier

this year Russian Hackers revealed that he had been given powerful

steroid injections before three key races including his 2012 Tour de

France win. The substance involved is banned under normal circumstances

as it can be performance enhancing but Bradley Wiggins legitimately

applied for a medical exemption, he says to treat hay fever. This was

about trying to find a way not to get an unfair advantage but to put

myself back on a level playing field to compete at the highest level. One

of the U:K.'s brightest sporting careers is now at an end. But it was

one that was coloured throughout by gold and yellow.

Bradley Wiggins became an unlikely British hero ,

what has his impact been on British cycling?

He leaves as a sporting legend, one of the greats of all time. A lot is

said about thinking the unthinkable, Bradley Wiggins thought about it but

then went and did it. That win at the Tour de France in 2012 one of

the defining moment in a career that was marked by high. There was

questioned about therapeutic use exemption is and they will no doubt

go on but the Olympic legacy that he leaves, and specific legacy, how he

inspired not just elite sportsmen and women but also millions of

people to get on a bike and pedal. Thank you.

aged between 40 and 60, are either overweight, inactive,

That's according to Public Health England which says their lifestyles

are greatly increasing their risk of diseases such as diabetes.

Our Health Correspondent Sophie Hutchinson has more.

This is the trim new look of Luke Parker since exercising and changing

his diet. A few months ago he weighed 22 stone but now he can fit

into one of those old trouser legs and a wake-up call came when his

seven-year-old son told that he loved comic even though he was fat.

It was a case of just order a pizza tonight, we have filled in but could

not be bothered cooking it. You just become a bit lazy and drawn out with

the daily grind of routine. Figures show worrying trends, almost 80% of

women aged 40 to 60 are either overweight, abuse, physically

inactive or drinking more beneficial guidelines and almost 90% of men

fall into the same category. Amongst the health risks is diabetes, it has

doubled in this age group in the past 20 years and treatment costs

the NHS in England an estimated ?14 billion per year. The reason why

seeing these increases in chronic disease like cancer, stroke and

heart disease, is in a large part because of behaviour is adopted

during the 40 to 60 age period, so still smoking, not taking enough

physical activity or drinking too much alcohol. And Public Health

England is offering some help. This is the online health quiz that

government officials want 40 to 60 rolls to take part in. It is on the

government website and ask 's question about whether you are a man

or woman and why you might want to become more healthy. It looks pretty

straightforward, but the question is, will it help to tackle the

health crisis for middle-aged people? It is extremely hard, I have

no willpower whatsoever and life is too good and we have too much

choice. I lead a very unhealthy lifestyle. Fatty food, smoking and

drinking, no exercise. There is too much temptation, it is too lazy to

go to the supermarket and buy a ready meal and put it in the

microwave. It is not that difficult to be healthy if you put your mind

to it. The government is hoping to nudge people into following the

example of Luke Parker with attacks on sugary drinks which comes in in

2018, that is also expected to help. But many health professionals and

campaigners are concerned that measures still do not go far enough.

A woman has died after up to 20 vehicles were involved in a series

of collisions on the A40 near Witney in Oxfordshire.

The crashes stretched for more than half a mile and took place

Sangita Myska sent this report from the scene.

Photographs taken minutes after this morning's crash

showing chilling detail, the mangled wreckage

Eyewitnesses described seeing cars skidding

across the road through thick fog, smashing into one another, spilling

I was just joining the A40 when I'd seen the brake

lights and hazard lights, so I came to a stop and then

obviously I got out of the vehicle and saw the carnage ahead

It was a bit like a movie scene, really.

This afternoon, recovery vehicles continued to clear wreckage

in an attempt to reopen a road that links London to Wales.

It is several hours since the accident this

morning and you can see there are about a dozen

vehicles yet to be cleared from this part of the A40.

There is still a thick fog over this area of road.

Visibility now is probably about 200 metres.

Police officers here tell me that this morning,

when the crashes happened, drivers could see no further

than about 15 metres ahead and that there was black ice

One woman in her 50s died at the scene of the crash.

Two other people remain in a serious condition in hospital.

As families continue to crisscross Britain this holiday,

the police are urging travellers to check weather conditions

German prosecutors have arrested a 40-year-old Tunisian man

in connection with the truck attack that killed 12 people

They say his contact details were found on the phone of the man

who drove the lorry - Anis Amri - and that further

investigations have shown he may have been involved in the attack.

There are fresh warnings tonight about millions of people

The charity Christian Aid estimates that 4 million people

And the UN is warning that more than a hundred thousand people -

most of them children - could die of starvation

The scale of the crisis is emerging as the Nigerian military pushes

into areas previously held by the Islamist

Our Nigeria correspondent Martin Patience sent this

It contains images you may find distressing.

But every day, more families emerge from the bush,

200 people arrived at this camp in the past few days.

TRANSLATION: Boko Haram whipped us like prisoners.

They stole our cattle, they stole our food.

When you get the chance to escape, you take it.

Uprooted from their farms, people can't feed themselves.

The UN is warning of mass starvation.

Aid relief is now getting through to some of the worst

affected areas, but the challenge is that as the army pushes

in to Boko Haram controlled territory, it frees more people.

What that means is the already enormous humanitarian

Halima's two-year-old son Uzman is suffering

It was better in the village, she says.

Uzman is taken to a clinic for treatment.

But he's far from being the worst case here.

Her tiny body weighs just a third of what it should at this stage.

There are those days that you just sit down and you just have

to sit back and just look at what is happening.

We've had two cases that died on the way here.

You know, it's really tough when you see those kind of things.

We flew over large parts of this state.

Every town we saw destroyed by the fighting.

Here, the Nigerian army is burning shrub to stop

Until people can return home, they'll need to rely on aid.

But a third of the houses in Borno State are destroyed.

And without more assistance, the governor has this

If Nigeria is to implode it is going to be a very

If 30 million English-speaking Africans will be knocking

on the doors of Europe, it will be a much more

Even the two or three million Syrians have unsettled Europe.

Something as simple as collecting water here can

Years of fighting have shattered this society.

And the war against Boko Haram is still not won.

Martin Patience, BBC News, North Eastern Nigeria.

The coastguard in Kent has called off an extensive

search for the night after a fishing boat sank around

One person has died and another was found clinging to the upturned

hull early this morning and was airlifted to hospital.

Our correspondent Simon Jones has more.

It's believed the fishing boat from Belgium overturned

But it wasn't until first light some eight hours later that one

of the crew members was spotted by another boat,

I mean at this time of year, in the southern North Sea,

water temperature about 9.5 degrees and the air temperature

So yes, a significant risk in terms of hypothermia.

But yeah, he's in the proper care of the hospital

He was able to tell his rescuers that two of his fellow crew

Two lifeboats from Ramsgate have been taking part in the search,

which has also involved two divers and a doctor being

The huge operation taking place around 17 miles off

After several hours, a second crew member was found,

The search for the third man has now been called off for the day.

Although the Coastguard says it's possible for people to survive

in the water at this time of year for 15 hours, hope is now fading.

President-elect Donald Trump has gone head-to-head

with the US government over its treatment of Israel.

Mr Trump tweeted that Israel was being treated with total

It came before a speech by the current secretary

of State John Kerry in which he warned settlement

building in the West Bank threatens both hope for peace

with the Palestinians and Israel's own future as a democracy.

Our Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell reports

a a bitter row between outgoing and incoming US Presidents, this time

over Israel. Donald Trump complaining the country is treated

with disdain and disrespect, but telling it to stay strong till

January, when he takes office. It was the idea of the speech by US

Secretary of State John Kerry that angered the President elect. The

truth is that trends on the ground, violence, terrorism, incitement,

settlement expansion and seemingly endless occupation, they are

combining to destroy hopes for piece on both sides. This follows last

week's UN security Council resolution calling for a total halt

to settlement building on occupied land. The Obama administration has

three weeks left but is still trying to make a difference in the Middle

East, knowing that when Donald Trump takes over he will be more

supportive of Israel and its position on settlements and

Jerusalem. The Secretary of State complains that settlers and this are

defining the future of Israel. A member of the coalition was quick to

give his response. It was a good speech but not connected to reality.

John Kerry is leaving behind a Middle East in flames, genocide in

Syria, Iran dashing to a nuclear weapon and throwing Israel under the

bus. There were two rounds of peace talks between Israel and the

Palestinians in President Obama's years, which breakdown

acrimoniously. The White House would like to advance peace efforts in the

coming day, but the danger is it is too little, too late.

NHS hospitals have made more money than ever

Figures from 89 health trusts across England suggest ?120 million

was raised from parking fees last year - that's up 5%

There's been sharp criticism of the charges from patient groups -

At this north London hospital today, despite the fog,

A charge of ?3 an hour for patients and visitors,

and that helped the trust to which it belongs bring in more

The hospital does offer concessionary rates.

For example, for blue badge holders and chemo or radiotherapy patients.

And it says all the money is invested in the trust and used

Still, some felt it was unreasonable.

I have a long-term condition and I go into hospital quite frequently.

My husband has to pay and my family have to pay to come

We are visiting sick people, or you are taking sick

And they are just taking the Mickey out of you.

If you come in as a patient, you should not be charged parking.

There has been pressure on hospitals in England

to reduce parking charges, but figures obtained

by the Press Association under Freedom of Information

requests show that, overall, the levels have never been higher.

More than half of the trusts that responded made at least ?1 million

In many cases, the figures were much higher, and they have been rising.

89 out of 120 trusts provided responses.

Of those, the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust had the highest

parking income at more than ?4.8 million.

Overall, NHS trusts in England made in excess of ?120 million.

That's an increase of 5% on the previous year.

And, say those pressing for reform, and unacceptable burden

We understand that hospitals are under enormous financial pressures.

Most trusts are in deficit, but the answer isn't to raise

revenue by charging patients, and particularly not patients

who are travelling regularly for life-saving cancer treatment.

That feels like it is a tax on illness, rather than a way

Campaigners say England should follow the lead

of Scotland and Wales, where charges have been abolished

Many trusts argue that some or all of the money raised goes

back into patient care, while the Department of Health says

it expects all NHS organisations to follow its guidelines and put

concessions in place for those who most The need help.

concessions in place for those who most need help.

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